December 23

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 583 &ndash; Maya Queen Yohl Ik'nal is crowned ruler of Palenque.
* 679 &ndash; King Dagobert II of Paris is murdered on a hunting trip.
* 962 &ndash; Arab-Byzantine Wars: Under future Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, Byzantine troops storm the city of Aleppo in present–day Syria.
* 1572 &ndash; Theologian Johann Sylvan is executed in Heidelberg.
* 1631 &ndash; Thirty Years' War: Sweden takes over the city of Mainz.
* 1672 &ndash; Giovanni Cassini discovers Saturn's moon Rhea.
* 1688 &ndash; James II of England flees to Paris, as Mary II and William III take the throne to rule jointly.
* 1783 &ndash; George Washington resigns as commander–in–chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis.
* 1787 &ndash; The HMVA Bounty is sent to Tahiti to collect breadfruit plants.
* 1793 &ndash; Battle of Savenay: Decisive defeat of the royalist counter–revolutionaries in the war in the Vendee during the French Revolution.
* 1823 &ndash; "A Visit from St. Nicholas", also known as "The Night Before Christmas", is published anonymously.
* 1876 &ndash; First day of the Constantinople Conference which results in an agreement for the political reforms in the Balkans.
* 1888 &ndash; Part of Vincent van Gogh's left ear is cut off in as–yet unexplained circumstances.
* 1893 &ndash; The opera Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is performed for the first time.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1913 &ndash; The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by US President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve Bank.
* 1914 &ndash; World War I: Australian and New Zealand troops land in Cairo, Egypt.
* 1916 &ndash; World War I: Battle of Maghdaba – Allied forces defeat Turkish forces on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
* 1920 &ndash; The UK government agrees on the *Government of Ireland Act*, which ends up splitting the island of Ireland in two.
* 1933 &ndash; A train crash occurs at Lagny–Pomponne in France, killing 204 people, and injuring 120.
* 1936 &ndash; Colombia becomes a signatory of the Buenos Aires Convention.
* 1938 &ndash; The first modern coelacanth fish is discovered in South Africa. The species was thought to be extinct.
* 1940 &ndash; World War II: Greek submarine *Papanikolis (Y-2)* sinks the Italian motor ship *Antonietta*.
* 1941 &ndash; World War II: After 15 days of fighting, Japan takes control of Wake Island.
* 1947 &ndash; The transistor is first demonstrated.
* 1948 &ndash; Japanese officials who were found guilty of war crimes, are executed.
* 1954 &ndash; The first successful kidney transplant is performed by J. Hartwell Harrison and Joseph Murray.
* 1957 &ndash; Ian Craig of Australia becomes the youngest test cricket captain in history. 
* 1958 &ndash; The Tokyo Tower is dedicated, becoming the world's tallest self–supporting iron tower.
* 1968 &ndash; The 82 sailors from the USS *Pueblo* are released after 11 months of internment in North Korea.
* 1970 &ndash; The North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City is topped out at a height of 417 metres.
* 1970 &ndash; The Democratic Republic of the Congo officially becomes a single–party state.
* 1972 &ndash; A major earthquake hits Nicaragua, killing thousands of people. It was of magnitude 6.2.
* 1972 &ndash; Members of a Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes, near the border between Chile and Argentina, are rescued.
* 1973 &ndash; Royal Air Maroc airliner crashes over Morocco, killing 106 people.
* 1978 &ndash; An Alitalia Douglas DC–9 crashes on landing, into the Mediterranean Sea off Palermo, Sicily, killing 108 people. 22 people are saved and transported to land in fishing boats.
* 1979 &ndash; Soviet forces occupy Kabul, Afghanistan.
* 1982 &ndash; The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces that it has detected dangerous levels of dioxin in the soil of Times Beach, Missouri.
* 1986 &ndash; Voyager becomes the first aircraft without an aerial or ground refuelling to fly non–stop around the world.
* 1990 &ndash; In a referendum, most of Slovenia's voters support independence from Yugoslavia.
* 1991 &ndash; Germany recognises Croatia's independence.

### From 2001 
* 2003 &ndash; An explosion at the PetroChina Chuandongbei natural gas field near Chongqing, China, kills 234 people.
* 2005 &ndash; Lech Kaczynski becomes President of Poland. His time in office ends with his death in a plane crash on April 10, 2010.
* 2007 &ndash; An agreement is made for Nepal to change its system of government from a monarchy to a republic.
* 2011 &ndash; At least 40 people are killed in bomb attacks in Damascus, Syria.
* 2013 &ndash; A storm hits the UK and Ireland, with strong winds and heavy rain, killing 2 people and affecting transport in the run–up to Christmas.
* 2017 &ndash; A fire at a shopping center in Davao City, Southern Philippines, kills at least 37 people.

## Births 
### Up to 1900 
* 968 &ndash; Emperor Zhenzong of Song of China (d. 1022)
* 1173 &ndash; Louis I, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1231)
* 1525 &ndash; John I, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1576)
* 1537 &ndash; John III of Sweden, King of Sweden (d. 1592)
* 1582 &ndash; Severo Bonini, composer (d. 1663)
* 1597 &ndash; Martin Opitz von Boberfeld, German poet (d. 1639)
* 1613 &ndash; Carl Gustaf Wrangel, Swedish soldier (d. 1676)
* 1689 &ndash; Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, French composer (d. 1755)
* 1690 &ndash; Pamheiba, Indian Emperor (d. 1755)
* 1713 &ndash; Maruyama Gondazaemon, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1749)
* 1732 &ndash; Richard Arkwright, industrialist, and inventor of the Water Frame (d. 1792)
* 1750 &ndash; King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (d. 1827)
* 1777 &ndash; Tsar Alexander I of Russia (d. 1825)
* 1783 &ndash; Giovanni Bechet, Italian poet and patriot (d. 1851)
* 1790 &ndash; Jean François Champollion, French Egyptologist, deciphered the Rosetta Stone (d. 1832)
* 1793 &ndash; Dost Mohammad Khan, ruler of Afghanistan (d. 1863)
* 1797 &ndash; Adrien-Henri de Jussieu, French botanist and physician (d. 1853)
* 1799 &ndash; Karl Bryullov, Russian painter (d. 1852)
* 1804 &ndash; Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, French literary critic (d. 1869)
* 1805 &ndash; Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement (d. 1844)
* 1810 &ndash; Edward Blyth, English zoologist and ornithologist (d. 1873)
* 1819 &ndash; Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, Dutch poet and clergyman (d. 1889)
* 1822 &ndash; Wilhelm Bauer, engineer (d. 1875)
* 1839 &ndash; Janos Murkovics, Slovenian–Hungarian writer and clergyman (d. 1889)
* 1841 &ndash; Ignacio Agramonte, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1873)
* 1854 &ndash; Henry B. Guppy, English botanist (d. 1926)
* 1856 &ndash; James Buchanan Duke, American industrialist (d. 1925)
* 1858 &ndash; Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian theatre director, writer and playwright (d. 1943)
* 1864 &ndash; Zorka of Montenegro, Princess of Serbia (d. 1890)
* 1867 &ndash; Madam C. J. Walker, first African American millionaire (d. 1919).
* 1878 &ndash; Mikheil Tsereteli, Georgian historian, philologist and sociologist (d. 1965)
* 1881 &ndash; Juan Ramon Jimenez, Spanish poet (d. 1958)
* 1885 &ndash; Pierre Brissaud, French artist (d. 1964)
* 1886 &ndash; Albert Ehrenstein, Austrian–German poet (d. 1950)
* 1887 &ndash; John Cromwell, American actor and director (d. 1979)
* 1891 &ndash; Alexandr Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer (d. 1956)
* 1896 &ndash; Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Italian writer (d. 1957)
* 1900 &ndash; Arnold Bode, German artist (d. 1977)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1902 &ndash; Charan Singh, Prime Minister of India (d. 1987)
* 1903 &ndash; Boleslaw Kominek, Polish Roman Catholic Archbishop of Wroclaw (d. 1974)
* 1907 &ndash; Manuel Lopes, Cape Verdean writer and poet (d. 2005)
* 1907 &ndash; Avraham Stern, Zionist group leader (d. 1942)
* 1908 &ndash; Yousuf Karsh, Armenian–Canadian portrait photographer (d. 2002)
* 1910 &ndash; Kurt Meyer, German SS officer (d. 1961)
* 1911 &ndash; Niels Kaj Jerne, Danish immunologist (d. 1994)
* 1911 &ndash; James Gregory, American actor (d. 2002)
* 1911 &ndash; Marie Olav, Estonian chess player (d. 1994)
* 1916 &ndash; Dino Risi, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 2008)
* 1918 &ndash; Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1974–1982 (d. 2015)
* 1918 &ndash; José Greco, dancer (d. 2000)
* 1922 &ndash; Calder Willingham, writer (d. 1995)
* 1922 &ndash; Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician (d. 2001)
* 1923 &ndash; James Stockdale, United States Navy admiral (d. 2005)
* 1923 &ndash; Günther Schifter, Austrian music journalist (d. 2008)
* 1924 &ndash; Bob Kurland, American basketball player (d. 2013)
* 1925 &ndash; Pierre Bérégovoy, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)
* 1925 &ndash; Mohammed Mzali, Prime Minister of Tunisia (d. 2010)
* 1926 &ndash; Robert Bly, American poet
* 1929 &ndash; Chet Baker, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1988)
* 1931 &ndash; Lev Durov, Russian actor (d. 2015)
* 1933 &ndash; Akihito, Emperor of Japan
* 1934 &ndash; Claudio Scimone, Italian conductor
* 1935 &ndash; Paul Hornung, American football player
* 1935 &ndash; Esther Phillips, American singer (d. 1984)
* 1936 &ndash; Frederic Forrest, American actor
* 1937 &ndash; Barney Rosenzweig, American screenwriter and producer
* 1937 &ndash; Nelson Shanks, American artist (d. 2015)
* 1939 &ndash; La Lupe, Cuban–American singer-songwriter (d. 1992)
* 1939 &ndash; Nancy Graves, American sculptor, painter and printmaker (d. 1995)
* 1940 &ndash; Jorma Kaukonen, Finnish–American musician (Jefferson Airplane)
* 1941 &ndash; Tim Hardin, musician
* 1941 &ndash; Nigel Anthony, English actor
* 1942 &ndash; Quentin Bryce, 25th Governor-General of Australia
* 1942 &ndash; M. M. Ruhul Amin, Bangladeshi judge (d. 2017)
* 1942 &ndash; Lars-Erik Berenett, Swedish actor (d. 2017)
* 1943 &ndash; Mikhail Gromov, Russian mathematician
* 1943 &ndash; Harry Shearer, American actor, voice actor (*This Is Spinal Tap*, *The Simpsons*)
* 1943 &ndash; Silvia, Queen of Sweden
* 1943 &ndash; Elizabeth Hartman, American actress (d. 1987)
* 1944 &ndash; Wesley Clark, American General and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander
* 1945 &ndash; Adly Mansour, Interim President of Egypt
* 1946 &ndash; Ray Tabano, American musician
* 1946 &ndash; John Sullivan, English television writer (d. 2011)
* 1947 &ndash; Susan Lucci, soap opera actress
* 1948 &ndash; David Davis, British politician
* 1948 &ndash; Jim Ferguson, American guitarist, composer, writer and journalist
* 1948 &ndash; Jack Ham, American football player
* 1949 &ndash; Adrian Belew, American guitarist
* 1950 &ndash; Michael C. Burgess, American politician
* 1950 &ndash; Vicente del Bosque, Spanish football manager
* 1950 &ndash; Richard Dannatt, Baron Dannatt, English general

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1951 &ndash; Anthony Phillips, British musician (Genesis)
* 1952 &ndash; William Kristol, American conservative commentator
* 1952 &ndash; David Loebsack, American politician
* 1953 &ndash; Andres Alver, Estonian architect
* 1953 &ndash; Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia, Russian aristocrat
* 1955 &ndash; Carol Ann Duffy, Scottish poet and playwright
* 1956 &ndash; Dave Murray, English musician (Iron Maiden)
* 1957 &ndash; Trisha Goddard, English television presenter
* 1958 &ndash; Victoria Williams, singer
* 1961 &ndash; Carol Smillie, Scottish television personality
* 1962 &ndash; Stefan Hell, Romanian–German physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize winner
* 1962 &ndash; Kang Je-gyu, South Korean movie director, producer and screenwriter
* 1963 &ndash; Jim Harbaugh, American football quarterback
* 1964 &ndash; Eddie Vedder, musician (Pearl Jam)
* 1966 &ndash; Badi Assad, Brazilian singer, guitarist and composer
* 1967 &ndash; Carla Bruni–Sarkozy, Italian–French singer, model and former First Lady of France
* 1968 &ndash; Quincy Jones III, English–Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
* 1968 &ndash; Barry Kooser, American artist and animation filmmaker
* 1968 &ndash; Manuel Rivera-Ortiz, Puerto Rican photographer
* 1968 &ndash; Sandra Roelofs, Dutch–born former First Lady of Georgia
* 1968 &ndash; Olga Shishigina, Kazakhstani hurdler
* 1969 &ndash; Martha Byrne, soap opera actress
* 1969 &ndash; Rob Pelinka, American basketball player, agent and lawyer
* 1970 &ndash; Catriona LeMay Doan, Canadian speed skater
* 1971 &ndash; Corey Haim, Canadian actor (d. 2010)
* 1971 &ndash; Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, British socialite (d. 2017)
* 1971 &ndash; Jo Johnson, British politician
* 1974 &ndash; Agustin Delgado, Ecuadorean footballer

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Joanna Hayes, American hurdler
* 1977 &ndash; Matt Baker, British television presenter
* 1977 &ndash; Alge Crumpler, American football player
* 1978 &ndash; Andra Davis, American football player
* 1978 &ndash; Víctor Martínez, Venezuelan baseball player
* 1978 &ndash; Estella Warren, Canadian actress and model
* 1978 &ndash; Esthero, Canadian musician and singer
* 1979 &ndash; Kenny Miller, Scottish footballer
* 1979 &ndash; Holly Madison, American model and actress
* 1981 &ndash; Agnes Milowka, Polish–Australian diver, explorer, writer and photographer (d. 2011)
* 1981 &ndash; Beth, Spanish singer
* 1981 &ndash; Mario Santana, Argentine footballer
* 1983 &ndash; Michael Chopra, English footballer
* 1983 &ndash; Lisa Dobriskey, English middle–distance runner
* 1984 &ndash; Alison Sudol, American actress, singer and songwriter
* 1985 &ndash; Harry Judd, English drummer (McFly)
* 1987 &ndash; Owen Franks, New Zealand rugby player
* 1988 &ndash; Eri Kamei, Japanese singer
* 1988 &ndash; Yuka Kashino, Japanese singer and dancer
* 1989 &ndash; Lils Koger, Estonian painter and architect
* 1990 &ndash; Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, American actress
* 1992 &ndash; Spencer Daniels, American actor
* 1992 &ndash; Jeff Schlupp, German–Ghananian footballer
* 1996 &ndash; Bartosz Kapustka, Polish footballer
* 2002 &ndash; Finn Wolfhard, Canadian actor

## Deaths 
### Up to 1900 
* 130 &ndash; Emperor Keiko of Japan (b. 60)
* 484 &ndash; Huneric, Vandal king
* 558 &ndash; Childebert I, King of Paris
* 668 &ndash; Mor Gabriel, Syriac bishop and saint (b. 594)
* 679 &ndash; Dagobert II, Frankish king (b. 650)
* 910 &ndash; Saint Naum of Ohrid, Macedonian missionary and scholar (b. 830)
* 918 &ndash; Conrad I of Germany (b. 890)
* 1193 &ndash; Saint Thorlak, patron Saint of Iceland (b. 1133)
* 1230 &ndash; Berengia of Navarre (b. 1165)
* 1572 &ndash; Johann Sylvan, German theologian
* 1575 &ndash; Akiyama Nobutomo, Japanese military commander (b. 1531)
* 1588 &ndash; Henry I, Duke of Guise (b. 1550)
* 1631 &ndash; Michael Drayton, English poet (b. 1563)
* 1652 &ndash; John Cotton, English–born American minister (b. 1585)
* 1722 &ndash; Pierre Varignon, French mathematician (b. 1654)
* 1745 &ndash; Jan Dismas Zelenka, Bohemian composer (b. 1679)
* 1795 &ndash; Henry Clinton, English general and politician (b. 1730)
* 1831 &ndash; Emilia Plater, Lithuanian countess and freedom fighter (b. 1806)
* 1850 &ndash; Samuel Bell, Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1770)
* 1851 &ndash; Giovanni Bechet, Italian poet and patriot (b. 1783)
* 1872 &ndash; George Catlin, American painter (b. 1796)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1902 &ndash; Frederick Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1821)
* 1920 &ndash; Walter Runeberg, Finnish sculptor (b. 1838)
* 1931 &ndash; Wilson Bentley, American scientist (b. 1865)
* 1939 &ndash; Anthony Fokker, Dutch aircraft manufacturer (b. 1890)
* 1948 &ndash; Akira Muto, Japanese military commander (b. 1892)
* 1948 &ndash; Hideki Tōjō, 40th Prime Minister of Japan, Led the Attack on Pearl Harbour (b. 1884)
* 1950 &ndash; Vincenzo Tommasini, Italian composer (b. 1878)
* 1953 &ndash; Lavrentiy Beria, Soviet–Georgian politician (b. 1899)
* 1954 &ndash; René Iché, French sculptor and scholar (b. 1897)
* 1961 &ndash; Kurt Meyer, German SS officer (b. 1910)
* 1970 &ndash; Aleksander Warma, Estonian politician (b. 1890)
* 1972 &ndash; Charles Atlas, American bodybuilder (b. 1892)
* 1972 &ndash; Andrei Tupolev, Russian aircraft designer (b. 1888)
* 1973 &ndash; Charles Atlas, Italian–American bodybuilder (b. 1892)
* 1978 &ndash; Misao Tamai, Japanese footballer (b. 1903)
* 1979 &ndash; Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (b. 1898)
* 1984 &ndash; Joan Lindsay, Australian writer (b. 1896)
* 1992 &ndash; Eddie Hazel, American musician (b. 1950)
* 1994 &ndash; Sebastian Shaw, British actor (b. 1905)
* 1997 &ndash; Stanley Cortez, American cinematographer (b. 1908)
* 1998 &ndash; Anatoly Rybakov, Russian writer (b. 1911)
* 1998 &ndash; Joe Orlando, Italian–American comics writer, artist and editor (b. 1927)
* 1998 &ndash; Michelle Thomas, American actress (b. 1969)
* 2000 &ndash; Victor Borge, Danish comedian and pianist (b. 1909)

### From 2001 
* 2004 &ndash; P. V. Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister of India (b. 1921)
* 2005 &ndash; Lajos Baroti, Hungarian footballer (b. 1914)
* 2007 &ndash; Oscar Peterson, American jazz pianist and composer (b. 1925)
* 2009 &ndash; Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, Tibetan politician (b. 1910)
* 2010 &ndash; K. Karunakaran, Indian politician (b. 1918)
* 2013 &ndash; Mikhail Kalashnikov, Russian inventor of the AK-47 (b. 1919)
* 2013 &ndash; Yusef Lateef, American saxophonist (b. 1920)
* 2013 &ndash; Robert W. Wilson, American philanthropist and businessman (b. 1926)
* 2014 &ndash; K. Balachander, Indian director and producer (b. 1930)
* 2014 &ndash; Jeremy Lloyd, English writer, screenwriter, writer, poet and actor (b. 1930)
* 2014 &ndash; Jacques Chancel, French journalist and writer (b. 1928)
* 2015 &ndash; Hocine Aït Ahmed, Algerian politician (b. 1926)
* 2015 &ndash; Don Howe, English footballer (b. 1935)
* 2015 &ndash; Bülent Ulusu, Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1923)
* 2015 &ndash; Jean-Marie Pelt, French biologist, botanist and pharmacist (b. 1933)
* 2015 &ndash; Alfred G. Gilman, American pharmacologist and biochemist (b. 1941)
* 2016 &ndash; Anis Amri, Tunisian suspected terrorist (2016 Berlin attack) (b. 1992)
* 2016 &ndash; Heinrich Schiff, Austrian cellist and conductor (b. 1951)
* 2016 &ndash; Piers Sellers, English–American astronaut (b. 1955)
* 2017 &ndash; Maurice Hayes, Irish politician (b. 1927)
* 2020 &ndash; Kay Purcell, English actress (b. 1963)

## Observances 
* Akihito's birthday (Japan)
* Saint Thorlak's Day (Iceland)
* HumanLight (secular humanism in the United States)
* Festivus
* Kiran Diwas (Uttar Pradesh)
* Victory Day (Egypt)
* Children's Day (Sudan and South Sudan)