Events

Up to 1950 
 480 - Odoacer, the first King of Italy, occupies Dalmatia in present-day Croatia.
 536 - Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed.
 1531 - The Virgin of Guadalupe is said to have first appeared to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City.
 1775 – American Revolutionary War: British troops lose in the Battle of Great Bridge and leave Virginia shortly after.
 1793 - New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is created by Noah Webster.
 1824 – Battle of Ayacucho: Peruvian troops defeat the Spanish, who then end their colonial rule over Peru.
 1835 – The Texan Army captures San Antonio, Texas.
 1851 – The YMCA in North America is founded in Montreal.
 1872 – P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first African American State Governor in the US, in Louisiana.
 1888 - Statistician Herman Hollerith installs his computing device at the United States Department of War.
 1892 - English football club Newcastle United is created.
 1897 – Activist Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper, La Fronde, in Paris.
 1905 – France passes the law separating church and state.
 1911 – A mine explosion in Briceville, Tennessee kills 84 miners.
 1917 - World War I: Hussein al-Husseyni, Ottoman Mayor of Jerusalem, surrenders the city to the British.
 1922 – Gabriel Narutowicz is confirmed as President of Poland.
 1931 - The Constituent Cortes approves a constitution which establishes the Second Spanish Republic.
 1935 - American football: The trophy that later becomes the Heisman Trophy is given for the first time. The winner is Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago.
 1937 – In the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese troops launch an assault on the city of Nanjing.
 1940 - World War II: Operation Compass - British and Indian troops under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor attack Italian forces near Sidi Barrani, Egypt.
 1941 – World War II: The Republic of China, Cuba, Guatemala, the Republic of Korea and the Philippine Commonwealth declare war on Japan.
 1946 – The Constituent Assembly of India meets to write the Constitution.
 1946 - The Doctors' trial begins over physicians believed to have committed Nazi war crimes and medical experiments on people.
 1948 - The Genocide Convention is adopted.
 1950 - Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in prison for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union.

From 1951 
 1953 – Red Scare: General Electric announces the discharge of all Communist employees.
 1956 - Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, a Canadair, crashes near Hope, British Columbia, killing all 62 people on board.
 1960 – Coronation Street is broadcast for the first time on British television.
 1961 – Tanganyika becomes independent. In 1964 it joins with Zanzibar to form Tanzania.
 1962 – Tanganyika joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
 1962 - The Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona is created. 
 1966 – Barbados joins the UN.
 1968 - Douglas Engelbart demonstrates the computer mouse and hypertext.
 1971 – The United Arab Emirates join the UN.
 1973 – Britain and Ireland sign the Sunningdale Agreement.
 1979 – The eradication of Smallpox is announced.
 1990 – Lech Walesa becomes President of Poland.
 1998 - In the Swiss Federal Council, Ruth Dreifuss is chosen to be Switzerland's President for the year 1999, making her the first woman to take up the role, on January 1, 1999.
 2003 – A blast in central Moscow kills 6 people.
 2005 - End of the London Routemaster Red Double-Decker Bus Service.
 2008 – Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is arrested by federal agents on a number of crimes, including trying to sell the United States Senate Seat of Barack Obama, who had been elected President.
 2009 - Carwyn Jones becomes First Minister of Wales, succeeding Rhodri Morgan.
 2016 - President of South Korea Park Geun-hye is impeached by the country's National Assembly, as a result of a major corruption scandal.
 2016 - A suicide bomb attack in Madagali, Nigeria, kills at least 45 people.
 2019 - 2019 Whakaari/White Island eruption: The Whakaari-White Island volcano in New Zealand erupts, killing at least 18 people.
 2019 - A Chilean plane crashes en-route from Chile to Antarctica with 38 people on board.

Births

Up to 1900 
 1392 - Peter, Duke of Coimbra, Portuguese prince (d. 1449)
 1447 – Chenghua Emperor of China (d. 1487)
 1508 – Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and mapmaker (d. 1555)
 1571 – Metius, Dutch mathematician and astronomer (d. 1635)
 1579 - Martín de Porres, Peruvian saint (d. 1639)
 1594 – King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (d. 1632)
 1608 – John Milton, English poet (d. 1674)
 1610 - Baldassare Ferri, Italian singer and actor (d. 1680)
 1652 - Augustus Quirinus Rivenus, German physician and botanist (d. 1723)
 1667 - William Whiston, English mathematician, historian and theologian (d. 1752)
 1748 – Claude Louis Berthollet, French chemist (d. 1822)
 1751 – Maria Luisa of Parma, Queen of Spain (d. 1819)
 1787 - John Dobson, English architect (d. 1865)
 1842 – Peter Kropotkin, Russian anarchist and writer (d. 1921)
 1845 - Joel Chandler Harris, American journalist and author (d. 1908)
 1850 – Emma Abbott, American soprano (d. 1891)
 1863 - John Burnet, Scottish classical philologist (d. 1928)
 1868 – Fritz Haber, German chemist (d. 1934)
 1872 - Thomas W. Hardwick, American politician, Governor of Georgia (d. 1944)
 1873 - Henry S. Caulfield, American politician, 37th Governor of Missouri (d. 1966)
 1876 - Berton Churchill, Canadian-American actor and singer (d. 1940)
 1877 - Mart Kuusik, Russian-Estonian rower (d. 1964)
 1882 - Joaquin Turina, Spanish composer (d. 1949)
 1883 - Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician, theorist and academic (d. 1950)
 1883 – Alexander Papagos, Greek general and Prime Minister (d. 1955)
 1883 - Joseph Pilates, German-American fitness expert (d. 1967)
 1886 – Clarence Birdseye, American frozen food manufacturer (d. 1956)
 1887 - Tim Moore, American actor (d. 1958)
 1889 – Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish long-distance runner (d. 1966)
 1890 - Laura Salverson, Canadian author (d. 1970)
 1896 - Goodwin Knight, American politician, 31st Governor of California (d. 1970)
 1897 - Hermione Gingold, English-American actress and singer (d. 1987)
 1898 - Emmett Kelly, American clown (d. 1979)
 1900 - Albert Weisbord, American activist (d. 1977)

1901  1950 
 1901 - Jean Mermoz, French pilot (d. 1936)
 1901 – Carol Dempster, American actress (d. 1991)
 1901 – Odon von Horvath, Austro-Hungarian writer (d. 1938)
 1902 - Rab Butler, British politician (d. 1982)
 1902 - Margaret Hamilton, American actress (d. 1985)
 1906 – Grace Hopper, American computer scientist (d. 1992)
 1909 – Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American actor (d. 2000)
 1911 - Broderick Crawford, American actor (d. 1986)
 1912 – Tip O'Neill, American politician (d. 1994)
 1914 - Max Manus, Norwegian resistance activist (d. 1996)
 1915 – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German soprano (d. 2006)
 1916 – Kirk Douglas, American actor (d. 2020)
 1917 – James Rainwater, American physicist (d. 1986)
 1919 – William Lipscomb, American chemist (d. 2011)
 1920 – Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, former President of Italy (d. 2016)
 1924 - Manlio Sgalambro, Italian philosopher and poet (d. 2014)
 1926 - Erhard Eppler, German politician (d. 2019)
 1926 – Henry Way Kendall, American physicist (d. 1999)
 1928 - Dick Van Patten, American actor (d. 2015)
 1929 – Bob Hawke, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2019)
 1929 – John Cassavetes, American director and actor (d. 1989)
 1930 - Edoardo Sanguineti, Italian writer (d. 2010)
 1930 - Buck Henry, American actor, director and writer (d. 2020)
 1931 - William Reynolds, American actor
 1933 - Milt Campbell, American decathlete (d. 2012)
 1933 - Morton Downey, Jr., American singer-songwriter, actor and talk show host (d. 2001)
 1934 – Judi Dench, English actress
 1941 - Beau Bridges, American actor
 1942 – Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer (d. 1997)
 1942 - Germain Gagnon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
 1942 - Joe McGinniss, American writer (d. 2014)
 1943 - Joanna Trollope, English writer
 1944 - Bob O'Connor, American politician, 57th Mayor of Pittsburgh
 1944 - Neil Innes, English musician and composer (d. 2019)
 1944 - Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, 80th Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (d. 2020)
 1945 - Michael Nouri, American actor
 1946 - Mervyn Davies, Welsh rugby player (d. 2012)
 1946 – Sonia Gandhi, Italian-born Indian politician
 1948 – Dennis Dunaway, American musician
 1949 – Tom Kite, American golfer
 1949 – Nando Parrado, Uruguayan plane crash survivor
 1950 – Joan Armatrading, British musician and singer-songwriter.

1951  1975 
 1952 - Michael Dorn, American actor and director
 1953 – John Malkovich, American actor
 1954 – Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Luxembourg
 1954 - Phil Bryant, American politician, 63rd Governor of Mississippi
 1954 - Mary Fallin, American politician, Governor of Oklahoma
 1954 - Henk ten Cate, Dutch footballer and manager
 1954 - Kip Hanrahan, American musician and producer
 1955 - Otis Birdsong, American basketball player
 1956 – Jean-Pierre Thiollet, French author
 1957 – Donny Osmond, American singer and actor
 1960 – Caroline Lucas, English politician, MP for and former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
 1960 - Juan Samuel, Dominican-American baseball player and manager
 1961 - John Anthony Higgins, American actor
 1961 - Joe Lando, American actor
 1962 – Felicity Huffman, American actress
 1963 – Empress Masako of Japan
 1963 – Zurab Zhvania, Prime Minister of Georgia (d. 2005)
 1964 – Hape Kerkeling, German comedian, actor and television presenter
 1964 – Johannes B. Kerner, German television presenter
 1964 – Paul Landers, German guitarist
 1964 - Michael Müller, German politician, Governing Mayor of Berlin
 1966 – Kirsten Gillibrand, American politician
 1966 - Spencer Rochfort, American-Canadian actor
 1966 - Gideon Sa'ar, Israeli lawyer and politician
 1966 - Shane Scott, American director, producer, cinematographer and screenwriter
 1967 - Gheorghe Popescu, Romanian footballer
 1968 – Kurt Angle, American professional wrestler
 1969 – Bixente Lizarazu, French footballer
 1970 - Lance Krall, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
 1971 - Geoff Barrow, English drummer, DJ, composer and producer
 1972 - Michael Corcoran, American singer-songwriter and producer
 1972 – Fabrice Santoro, Tahitian-French tennis player
 1972 – Tré Cool, American musician (Green Day)

From 1976 
 1976 - Booba, French rapper
 1977 – Imogen Heap, English singer-songwriter
 1978 – Jesse Metcalfe, American actor
 1981 - Gemma Fay, Scottish footballer
 1981 – Mardy Fish, American tennis player
 1981 - Dia Mirza, Indian model, actress and producer
 1983 – Jermaine Beckford, English footballer
 1983 – Dariusz Dudka, Polish footballer
 1987 - Hikaru Nakamura, Japanese-American chess player
 1987 - Adam Szalai, Hungarian footballer
 1988 - Kwadwo Asamoah, Ghanaian footballer
 1989 – Lindsey Evans, American glamour model
 1990 – LaFee, German singer
 1991 – Prince Joachim of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este
 1991 - Choi Minho, South Korean singer, dancer and actor
 1995 - McKayla Maroney, American gymnast

Deaths

Up to 1950 
 638 - Sergius I of Constantinople
 1165 – King Malcolm IV of Scotland (b. 1141)
 1437 – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1368)
 1565 – Pope Pius IV (b. 1499)
 1625 - Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (b. 1547)
 1641 – Anthony van Dyck, Flemish painter (b. 1599)
 1669 – Pope Clement XI (b. 1600)
 1706 – King Peter II of Portugal (b. 1648)
 1718 - Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian monk, cosmographer and cartographer (b. 1650)
 1830 - Heinrich Christian Friedrich Schumacher, Danish surgeon, botanist and academic (b. 1757)
 1858 - Robert Baldwin, Canadian politician (b. 1804)
 1916 – Natsume Soseki, Japanese novelist (b. 1867)
 1930 - Rube Foster, American baseball player and manager (b. 1879)
 1937 – Nils Gustaf Dalén, Swedish physicist (b. 1869)
 1941 - Dmitry Merezhovsky, Russian author, poet and philosopher (b. 1865)

1951  2000 
 1955 – Hermann Weyl, German mathematician (b. 1885)
 1964 – Edith Sitwell, English poet (b. 1887)
 1967 - Charles Leon Hammes, Luxembourgish lawyer and judge (b. 1898)
 1970 - Artem Mikoyan, Armenian-Russian engineer and businessman (b. 1905)
 1970 - Feroz Khan Noon, 7th Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1893)
 1971 – Ralph Bunche, American diplomat (b. 1904)
 1972 - Louella Parsons, American journalist and screenwriter (b. 1881)
 1975 - William A. Wellman, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1896)
 1977 - Clarice Lispector, Ukrainian-Brazilian writer (b. 1920)
 1979 - Fulton J. Sheen, American archbishop (b. 1895)
 1981 – Daniel Faulkner, Philadelphia police officer (b. 1955)
 1982 – Asmundur Sveinsson, Icelandic sculptor (b. 1893)
 1991 – Berenice Abbott, American photographer (b. 1898)
 1993 - Danny Blanchflower, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1926)
 1995 - Douglas Corrigan, American pilot (b. 1907)
 1996 – Mary Leakey, British archaeologist and anthropologist (b. 1913)
 1996 - Alain Poher, French politician (b. 1909)
 1998 – Archie Moore, American boxer (b. 1913)

From 2001 
 2004 – Lea De Mae, Czech actress (b. 1976)
 2005 – György Sándor, Hungarian pianist (b. 1912)
 2009 – Gene Barry, American actor (b. 1919)
 2010 – James Moody, American jazz musician (b. 1925)
 2012 - Jenni Rivera, American singer-songwriter, producer and actress (b. 1969)
 2012 - Patrick Moore, English astronomer, writer and broadcaster (b. 1923)
 2012 - Charles Rosen, American pianist and musicologist (b. 1927)
 2013 - Eleanor Parker, American actress (b. 1922)
 2014 - Mary Ann Mobley, American actress (b. 1939)
 2014 - Jane Freilicher, American painter (b. 1924)
 2014 - Karl Otto Pöhl, German economist (b. 1929)
 2015 - Rusty Jones, American jazz drummer (b. 1942)
 2017 - James Joseph Brady, American judge (b. 1944)
 2017 - Leonid Bronevoy, Ukrainian-Russian actor (b. 1928)
 2017 - Lando Fiorini, Italian actor (b. 1938)
 2017 - Grant Munro, Canadian animator, filmmaker and actor (b. 1923)
 2017 - Joe Newton, American track and field coach (b. 1929)
 2018 - Yigal Bashan, Israeli singer and composer (b. 1950)
 2018 - Robert Bergland, American politician (b. 1928)
 2018 - William Blum, American author and historian (b. 1933)
 2018 - Riccardo Giacconi, Italian-American astrophysicist (b. 1931)
 2018 - Bob Giggie, American baseball player (b. 1933)
 2018 - Gordon Scholes, Australian politician (b. 1931)
 2018 - Dick Van Orden, American rear admiral (b. 1921)
 2019 - John R. Broxson, American politician (b. 1932)
 2019 - Marie Fredriksson, Swedish singer (Roxette) (b. 1958)
 2019 - Omar Graffigna, Argentine air force officer (b. 1926)
 2019 - William Luce, American writer (b. 1931)
 2019 - Veijo Puhjo, Finnish politician (b. 1948)
 2019 - Imre Varga, Hungarian sculptor and painter (b. 1923)

Observances 
 National holiday in Tanzania, celebrating independence of Tanganyika in 1961
 Anna's Day (Sweden and Finland)
 Armed Forces Day (Peru)
 International Anti-Corruption Day

December 09