the-french-artist/wikipedia_20220301.simple_sentence_split huggingface dataset:
1920 - Albert Memmi, Tunisian-French writer and essayist
1923 – Freeman Dyson, English-American physicist
1923 - Uziel Gal, German-Israeli firearms designer (d. 2001)
1923 - Inge Keller, German actress (d. 2017)
1923 - Valentin Varennikov, Soviet general and politician (d. 2009)
1928 – Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian artist (d. 2000)
1928 - Ida Haendel, Polish-English violinist
1930 - Edna O'Brien, Irish author
1931 – Klaus Rifbjerg, Danish writer (d. 2015)
1932 - John Meurig Thomas, Welsh chemist
1933 - Bapu, Indian movie director (d. 2014)
1933 - Tim Conway, American comedian and actor (d. 2019)
1933 - Donald Woods, South African journalist and Anti-Apartheid activist (d. 2001)
1934 - Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, President of Somalia (d. 2012)
1934 - Mohamed Farrah Aidid, Somali leader (d. 1996)
1934 - Curtis Fuller, American jazz musician
1936 – Joe D'Amato, Italian movie maker (d. 1999)
1938 – Juan Carlos Wasmosy, former President of Paraguay
1938 - Bob Foster, American boxer (d. 2015)
1939 – Cindy Birdsong, American singer
1942 – Kathleen Blanco, American politician, 54th Governor of Louisiana (d. 2019)
1942 - Dave Clark, English drummer, songwriter and producer
1943 - Lorenzo Piretto, Italian archbishop
1944 – Chico Mendes, Brazilian activist (d. 1988)
1946 - Carmine Appice, American rock musician
1948 – Cassandra Harris, Australian actress (d. 1991)
1949 - Don Johnson, American actor, singer and producer
1950 - Melanie Chartoff, American actress and comedienne
1951 - Joe Jordan, Scottish footballer and manager
1952 – Allan Simonsen, Danish footballer
1952 - Julie Taymor, American director, producer and screenwriter
1953 - Robert Charles Wilson, American-Canadian science fiction author
1954 – Mark Warner, American politician
1955 – Paul Simonon, English musician (The Clash)
1955 – Renate Künast, German politician
1957 - Laura Molina, American singer, guitarist, actress and painter
1957 - Tim Reynolds, German-American singer-songwriter and musician
1958 - Alfredo Ormando, Italian writer (d. 1998)
1958 - Stephan Weil, German politician, Minister-President of Lower Saxony since 2013
1960 - Irma Boom, Dutch graphic designer
1962 – Gary Mason, British boxer (d. 2011)
1963 - Ellie Cornell, American actress and movie producer
1963 – Helen Slater, American actress
1964 - Michael Le Vell, English actor
1964 - Paul Kaye, English comedian, actor and screenwriter
1966 - Carl Hooper, Guyanese cricketer
1966 - Molly Price, American actress
1969 – Chantal Petitclerc, Canadian wheelchair athlete
1970 – Frankie Dettori, Italian jockey
1970 - Lawrence Funderburke, American basketball player
1970 - Michael Shanks, Canadian actor
1971 - Clint Lowery, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
1971 - Arne Quinze, Belgian conceptual artist
1972 - Kaye Wragg, English actress
1973 - Ryoo Seung-wan, South Korean director, screenwriter and actor
1976 - Bhaichung Bhutia, Indian footballer
1977 – Dave Mackintosh, Scottish musician
1977 - Mehmet Aurélio, Brazilian-Turkish footballer
1978 - Mark Jansen, Dutch guitarist
1979 – Adam Brody, American actor
1980 – Serge Pizzorno, English musician (Kasabian)
1981 - Michelle Dockery, English actress
1981 – Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russian footballer
1981 – Hossam Ghaly, Egyptian footballer
1982 - Charlie Cox, English actor
1983 - Wang Hao, Chinese table tennis player
1983 – Delon Armitage, English rugby player
1983 – Ronnie Radke, American singer
1984 - Kirsty Lee Allan, Australian actress
1984 – Martin Skrtel, Slovakian footballer
1986 - Keylor Navas, Costa Rican footballer
1986 - Kim Junsu, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
1986 - Snejana Onopka, Ukrainian model
1988 - Emily Head, English actress
1988 - Steven Nzonzi, French footballer
1992 - Jesse Lingard, English footballer
1993 - Kyle Waddell, Scottish curler
1994 - Emma Lockhart, American actress
1998 - Chandler Canterbury, American actor
1025 – Basil II, Byzantine Emperor (b. 958)
1072 – Alp Arslan, Turkish sultan in Persia (b. 1029)
1161 - Emperor Hailingwang of Jin of China
1230 - Ottokar I of Bohemia (b. 1155)
1263 – King Haakon IV of Norway (b. 1204)
1598 – Philips van Marnix, lord of Sint-Aldegonde, Dutch writer and statesman (b. 1538)
1621 – Charles de Luynes, Constable of France (b. 1578)
1673 – Margaret Cavendish, English writer (b. 1623)
1675 – Johannes Vermeer, Dutch painter (b. 1632)
1683 – Izaak Walton, English writer (b. 1593)
1715 – George Hickes, English minister and scholar (b. 1642)
1753 – Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect (b. 1694)
1792 – Joseph Martin Kraus, Swedish composer (b. 1756)
1855 - Joseph Charles François Sturm, French mathematician (b. 1803)
1878 - Alfred Bird, English chemist and manufacturer (b. 1811)
1885 - Ferdinand II of Portugal (b. 1816)
1890 – Sitting Bull, Sioux nation leader (b. c.1831)
1943 – Fats Waller, American musician (b. 1904)
1944 – Glenn Miller, American musician (b. 1904)
1950 - Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian politician (b. 1875)
1953 - Robert Stangland, American jumper (b. 1881)
1958 – Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
1962 - Charles Laughton, English-American actor, director and producer (b. 1899)
1966 – Walt Disney, American animator (b. 1901)
1968 – Jess Willard, American boxer (b. 1881)
1968 - Antonio Barrette, 18th Premier of Quebec (b. 1899)
1974 – Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-born writer (b. 1902)
1977 - Wilfred Kitching, 7th General of the Salvation Army (b. 1893)
1984 – Jan Peerce, American tenor (b. 1904)
1985 – Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Mauritian politician (b. 1900)
1989 – Arnold Moss, American character actor  (b. 1910)
1991 – Vasily Zaytsev, Soviet World War II hero (b. 1915)
2001 – Rufus Thomas, American musician (b. 1917)
2001 – Russ Haas, Pro Wrestler (b. 1974)
2003 – George Fisher, American political cartoonist (b. 1923)
2006 – Clay Regazzoni, Swiss racing driver (b. 1939)
2007 – Julia Carson, American politician (b. 1938)
2008 - León Febres Cordero, 46th President of Ecuador (b. 1931)
2009 – Oral Roberts, American television evangelist (b. 1918)
2010 – Blake Edwards, American movie director (b. 1922)
2010 – Bob Feller, American baseball player (b. 1918)
2010 – Jean Rollin, French movie director and producer (b. 1938)
2011 – Christopher Hitchens, British-American writer, journalist and critic (b. 1949)
2013 - Joan Fontaine, British-American actress (b. 1917)
2013 - Harold Camping, American evangelist and Doomsday predictor (b. 1921)
2014 - Chakri, Indian movie composer and singer (b. 1974)
2014 - Mustapha Maarof, Malaysian actor (b. 1935)
2015 - Licio Gelli, Italian financier (b. 1919)
2015 - Harry Zvi Tabor, British-Israeli physicist (b. 1917)
2016 - Craig Sager, American sportscaster (b. 1951)
2017 - A. B. M. Mohiuddin Chowdhury, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1944)
2017 - Reinhart Fuchs, German chess player (b. 1934)
2017 - Ana María Vela Rubio, Spanish supercentenarian (b. 1901)
2017 - Heinz Wolff, German-British scientist and broadcaster (b. 1928)
2018 - Girma Wolde-Giorgis, President of Ethiopia (b. 1924)
2018 - Philippe Moureaux, Belgian politician (b. 1939)
2019 - Nicky Henson, English actor (b. 1945)
2019 - Chuck Peddle, American electrical engineer (b. 1937)
Homecoming Day (Alderney)
Kingdom Day (Netherlands)
Zamenhof Day (Esperanto)
1431 – Henry VI of England is crowned King of France.
1497 - Vasco da Gama sails around the Cape of Good Hope in present-day South Africa, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.
1575 - A massive earthquake hits Valdivia, Chile.
1598 - Second War of Jeong-yu: Battle of Noryang - Chinese general Chen Lin heavily damages the Japanese fleet, which successfully retreats.
1631 – An eruption of Mount Vesuvius kills around 4,000 people.
1653 – Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1689 – Convention Parliament: In England, the Declaration of the Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights.
1707 – The last eruption of Mount Fuji, to date, occurs.
1761 - Seven Years' War: After a four-month siege, Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress in Kolobrzeg.
1773 – Boston Tea Party: American patriots dump crates of tea into Boston Harbor at protest against the tea act.
1796 - French ship Seduisant sinks off Brest, Brittany, France, killing 680.
1811 – The first in a series of strong earthquakes hits New Madrid, Missouri.
1830 – Uruguay adopts its current flag.
1838 - Great Trek: Battle of Blood River - Voortrekkers under Andries Pretorius and Sarel Cilliers defeat Zulu "impis" led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in present-day KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
1857 - An earthquake strikes the Basilicata region of Italy, killing 11,000 people.
1863 - American Civil War: Joseph E. Johnston replaces Braxton Bragg as commander of the Confederate army of Tennessee.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Nashville - Major General George Thomas' Union forces defeat Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's Confederate army of Tennessee.
1880 - The Boer Republic Transvaal declares independence from the United Kingdom under the name of "South African Republic".
The first shots of the First Boer War are fired.
1899 – AC Milan FC is founded.
1900 - German ship Gneisenau sinks in a storm off Malaga, Spain, killing 40 people.
1903 - The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel in Bombay, India, opens to guests for the first time.
1912 - First Balkan War: The Royal Hellenic Navy defeats the Ottoman Empire Navy at the Battle of Elli.
1914 - World War I: German battleships under Franz von Hipper bombard the English ports of Hartlepool and Scarborough.
1918 - Vincas Mickevicius-Kapsukas declares the formation of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.
1920 – An earthquake in Gansu province in China kills an estimated 200,000 people.
1922 – Polish President Gabriel Narutowicz is assassinated.
1927 - Donald Bradman first appears in a first-class cricket match, for New South Wales against South Australia.
1937 - Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from Alcatraz, but are never seen again.
1941 - World War II: Japanese forces occupy Miri, Sarawak.
1942 - Holocaust: Heinrich Himmler orders Roma candidates for extermination to be deported to Auschwitz.
1944 - World War II: The Battle of the Bulge begins with a surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.
1946 – Thailand joins the UN.
1947 - William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain build the first practical point-contact transistor.
1950 - Korean War: Harry S. Truman declares a state of emergency, after Chinese troops enter the war in support of North Korea.
1957 - Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
1960 - New York City Air Disaster: Approaching New York Idlewild Airport from Chicago, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 collides with a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation Aircraft during a snowstorm on Staten Island, killing 134 people.
1965 – Taufa'ahau Tupou IV becomes King of Tonga.
1965 - The Pioneer 6 space probe is launched.
1966 - South Korean ferry Namjung-Ho sinks, killing 270 people.
1966 - International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are adopted.
1971 – Bahrain becomes independent.
1971 – The Bangladesh War of Independence and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 come to an end.
1972 – Vietnam War: Henry Kissinger announces that North Vietnam has left peace negotiations.
1979 - Libya increases crude oil prices.
1985 - New York City crime: Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead on the orders of John Gotti.
1988 - In the UK, Edwina Currie resigns as junior health minister, after suggesting that most eggs contain salmonella.
1989 – Romanian Revolution: Clashes begins between protestors and Securitate in Timisoara, Romania.
1991 – Egyptian ferry Salem Express crashes into a reef and sinks, killing over 700 people.
200 can be rescued.
1991 – Kazakhstan becomes independent from the Soviet Union.
1997 - A Japanese airing of the Denno Senshi-Porygon episode of Pokémon causes seizures in 685 viewers.
1998 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The United Kingdom and United States bomb targets in Iraq.
2011 – Typhoon Washi hits the Philippines in the night to December 17.
2012 - 2012 Delhi gang rape case: A 23-year-old female student is gang-raped by a group of men while getting off a bus in Delhi.
She dies on December 29 and the attack attracts much attention and debate around the world.
2014 - The 2014 Sydney hostage crisis comes to an end, as police storm the café in Sydney, Australia, where Man Haron Monis had held people hostage since the previous day.
Three people are killed, including the hostage taker.
2014 - Members of the Pakistani Taliban carry out a massacre at an army school in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing at least 141 people, most of them children.
868 - Emperor Yozei of Japan (d. 949)
1364 - Emperor Manuel III of Trebizond (d. 1417)
1485 – Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England (d. 1536)
1584 - John Selden, English polymath (d. 1654)
1614 - Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1674)
1714 - George Whitefield, English clergyman (d. 1770)
1716 - Louis Jules Mancini Mazarini, French diplomat (d. 1798)
1717 - Elizabeth Carter, English poet (d. 1806)
1742 – Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prussian field marshal (d. 1819)
1770 – Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (d. 1827)
1775 – Jane Austen, English novelist (d. 1817)
1775 - François Adrien Boieldieu, French composer (d. 1834)
1776 – Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German physicist (d. 1810)
1787 - Mary Russell Mitford, English author and playwright (d. 1855)
1790 – King Leopold I of Belgium (d. 1865)
1804 – Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (d. 1889)
1808 - Kinsley S. Bingham, 11th Governor of Michigan (d. 1864)
1826 - Giambattista Donati, Italian astronomer (d. 1873)
1834 - Léon Walras, French economist (d. 1910)
1858 - Agnes Baden-Powell, English Girl Scout leader (d. 1945)
1861 - Antonio de la Gandara, French painter (d. 1917)
1863 – George Santayana, Spanish philosopher (d. 1962)
1865 - Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet (d. 1918)
1866 – Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born abstract painter (d. 1944)
1869 – Hristo Tatarchev, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1952)
1872 - Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian general (d. 1947)
1876 - Rodolphe Seeldrayers, Belgian FIFA President (d. 1955)
1882 - Walther Meissner, German physicist (d. 1974)
1882 – Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer (d. 1967)
1883 - Karoly Kos, Hungarian-Romanian architect, ethnologist and politician (d. 1977)
1883 - Max Linder, French actor, director, screenwriter and producer (d. 1925)
1884 - Seibo Kitamura, Japanese sculptor (d. 1987)
1888 – King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934)
1889 - Kim Chwa-chin, South Korean guerrilla leader (d. 1930)
1899 – Noël Coward, English playwright, actor and composer (d. 1973)
1900 - Horatio Fitch, American sprinter (d. 1985)
1901 – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (d. 1978)
1902 - Rafael Alberti, Spanish poet (d. 1999)
1903 - Misao Tamai, Japanese footballer (d. 1978)
1905 – Piet Hein, Danish mathematician and inventor (d. 1996)
1913 - George Ignatieff, Russian-Canadian diplomat (d. 1989)
1915 - Turk Murphy, American trombonist and singer (d. 1987)
1916 - Birgitta Valberg, Swedish actress (d. 2014)
1917 – Arthur C. Clarke, British writer (d. 2008)
1918 – Pierre Delanoe, French songwriter and lyricist (d. 2006)
1923 - Ernst Florian Winter, Austrian-American historian, political scientist and author (d. 2014)
1925 – Geir Hallgrimsson, Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1990)
1926 - A. N. R. Robinson, 3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago (d. 2014)
1927 - Peter Dickinson, British writer (d. 2015)
1928 - Terry Carter, American actor, director and producer
1928 – Philip K. Dick, American writer (d. 1982)
1929 - Nicholas Courtney, English actor (d. 2012)
1932 - Rodion Shchedrin, Russian pianist and composer
1932 - Quentin Blake, English illustrator
1934 - Nobuyuki Aihara, Japanese gymnast (d. 2013)
1934 - Rodolfo Llinas, Colombian-American neuroscientist
1935 - Nikos Sampson, President of Cyprus (d. 2001)
1936 - Morris Dees, American lawyer and Civil Rights activist
1937 - Mitsuo Kamata, Japanese footballer
1938 – Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress
1939 – Philip Langridge, English tenor (d. 2010)
1939 – Barney McKenna, Irish musician (Dubliners) (d. 2012)
1941 - Lesley Stahl, American TV host
1942 – Donald Carcieri, American politician, former Governor of Rhode Island
1943 – Tony Hicks, English guitarist (The Hollies)
1943 - Steven Bochco, American television producer and writer (d. 2018)
1944 – N!xau, Namibian actor and bush farmer (d. 2003)
1945 - Bobby George, English darts player
1946 – Benny Andersson, Swedish musician, singer and songwriter (ABBA)
1946 - Christopher Ellison, English actor
1946 - Trevor Pinnock, English conductor
1947 - Vince Matthews, American athlete
1948 – Christopher Biggins, English actor
1948 – Pat Quinn, American politician, former Governor of Illinois
1949 - Billy Gibbons, American musician, songwriter and actor
1952 – Francesco Graziani, Italian footballer
1952 - Joel Garner, Barbadian cricketer
1953 - Rebecca Forstadt, American voice actress
1955 - Xander Berkeley, American actor
1955 - Carol Browner, American lawyer, environmentalist and businesswoman
1955 - Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este
1956 - Liliane Maury Pasquier, Swiss politician
1956 - Lizzy Mercier Descloux, French singer-songwriter, musician and actress (d. 2004)
1956 – Tommy Burns, Scottish footballer (d. 2008)
1957 - Antonio Vega, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
1958 - Cathy Inglese, American football coach (d. 2019)
1958 - Katie Leigh, American actress
1959 - Alison LaPlaca, American actress
1959 - H. D. Kumaraswamy, Indian politician, 18th Chief Minister of Karnataka
1959 - Alexander Lebedev, Russian businessman
1960 - Pat Van Den Hauwe, Belgian footballer and manager
1961 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (d. 1994)
1961 – Jon Tenney, American actor
1962 - Melanie Smith, American actress
1963 – Benjamin Bratt, American actor
1964 – Heike Drechsler, German athlete
1964 - Paul Vogt, American actor and comedian
1966 - Paul McGinley, Irish golfer
1966 – Dennis Wise, English footballer
1967 - Donovan Bailey, Canadian sprinter
1968 - Ross Burden, New Zealand chef (d. 2014)
1969 - Kevin McCowne, Scottish footballer
1969 - Adam Riess, American physicist and astronomer
1970 - Daniel Cosgrove, American actor
1971 - Scott Booth, Scottish footballer
1972 – Zeljko Kalac, Australian footballer
1972 - Paul Leyden, Australian actor, director, producer and screenwriter
1972 - Julia Klöckner, German politician
1973 – Mariza, Portuguese singer
1976 - Geoff Norcott, English comedian
1977 – Sylvain Distin, French footballer
1979 – Trevor Immelman, South African golfer
1979 - Daniel Narcisse, French handball player
1981 - Krysten Ritter, American actress
1981 - Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian-American singer and actress
1982 – Stanislav Sestak, Slovakian footballer
1982 – Justin Mentell, American actor (d. 2010)
1983 - Kelenna Azubuike, American basketball player
1983 – Danielle Lloyd, English model
1984 - Theo James, English actor
1986 - Candice Crawford, American model and journalist
1986 - Alcides Escobar, Venezuelan baseball player
1987 – Mamé Biram Diouf, Senegalese footballer
1988 – Mats Hummels, German footballer
1988 - Anna Popplewell, English actress
1988 - Park Seo-jeon, South Korean actor and model
1988 - Alexey Shved, Russian basketball player
1989 - Vera Nebolsina, Russian chess player
1989 - Lee Biran, Israeli singer, actor and composer
1992 - Lieke Martens, Dutch footballer
1992 - Tom Rogic, Australian footballer
1993 - Jyoti Amge, Indian actress and world's smallest living woman
1994 - Stephen Sutton, English activist, blogger and cancer charity fundraiser (d. 2014)
1996 - Wilfred Ndidi, Nigerian footballer
1997 - Zara Larsson, Swedish singer
1999 - Bryce Robinson, American actor
401 - Pope Anastasius I
705 – Empress Wu of Zhou (China; b. 625)
714 – Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia
867 - Eberhard of Friuli, Frankish literary patron, diplomat and saint (b. 815)
999 – Saint Adelaide of Italy (b. 931)
1263 - King Haakon IV of Norway (b. 1204)
1325 – Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France (b. 1270)
1379 – John Fitzalan, Marshal of England (drowned)
1470 – John II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1425)
1474 - Ali Qushji, astronomer, mathematician and physicist (b. 1403)
1515 – Afonso de Albuquerque Portuguese naval general (b. 1453)
1598 - Yi Sun-sin, Korean admiral (b. 1515)
1669 – Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician
1687 – William Petty, English scientist and philosopher (b. 1623)
1751 – Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian general (b. 1700)
1774 – François Quesnay, French economist (b. 1694)
1783 – Johann A. Hasse, German composer (b. 1699)
1783 – Sir William James British naval commander (b. 1720)
1801 - Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden (b. 1755)
1809 – Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist (b. 1755)
1859 – Wilhelm Grimm, German writer and folklorist (b. 1786)
1865 - Philip Allen, American politician, Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1785)
1892 - Henry Yesler, 7th Mayor of Seattle (b. 1810)
1897 - Alphonse Daudet, French author (b. 1840)
1898 – Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and art collector (b. 1832)
1914 – Ivan Zajc, Austro-Hungarian composer (b. 1832)
1916 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)
1921 – Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (b. 1835)
1922 – Gabriel Narutowicz, first President of Poland (b. 1865)
1928 – Elinor Wylie, American poet and writer (b. 1885)
1935 - Thelma Todd, American actress (b. 1905)
1944 - Betsie ten Boom, Dutch Holocaust victim (b. 1885)
1945 – Giovanni Agnelli, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1866)
1945 – Fumimaro Konoe, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1891)
1949 – Sidney Olcott, Canadian movie director (b. 1873)
1956 – Nina Hamnett, British artist (b. 1890)
1963 - Nam Phuong, Empress of Vietnam (b. 1914)
1965 – Salote Tupou III, Queen of Tonga (b. 1900)
1965 – W. Somerset Maugham, British writer (b. 1874)
1968 - Futabayama Sadaji, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1912)
1968 - Muhammad Suheimat, Jordanian general and politician (b. 1916)
1977 – Risto Jarva, Finnish movie maker (b. 1934)
1980 – Colonel Harland Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1890)
1980 – Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (b. 1900)
1982 – Colin Chapman, British engineer and automobile manufacturer, founder of Lotus Cars (b. 1928)
1985 – Paul Castellano, American mafioso (b. 1915)
1985 – Thomas Bilotti, American mafioso (b. 1940)
1989 – Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (b. 1930)
1989 – Lee Van Cleef, American actor (b. 1925)
1989 – Aileen Pringle, American actress (b. 1895)
1990 – Douglas Campbell, American pilot (b. 1896)
1993 – Moses Gunn, American actor (b. 1929)
1993 – Tanaka Kakuei, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1918)
1995 – Mariele Ventre, Italian choir director (b. 1939)
1996 – Quentin Bell, British art historian (b. 1910)
2001 - Stuart Adamson, British singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1958)
2001 – Stefan Heym, German writer (b. 1913)
2003 – Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1914)
2003 – Gary Stewart, American musician, singer and songwriter (suicide) (b. 1945)
2004 – Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (b. 1933)
2004 - Deyda Hadara, Gambian journalist (b. 1946)
2005 – Kenneth Bulmer, British writer (b. 1921)
2005 – John Spencer, American actor (b. 1946)
2007 – Dan Fogelberg, American musician (b. 1951)
2009 – Roy E. Disney, American businessman (b. 1930)
2009 – Yegor Gaidar, Soviet politician (b. 1956)
2009 - Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, South African physician and politician (b. 1940)
2011 – Bob Brookmeyer, American jazz musician (b. 1929)
2013 - Ray Price, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1926)
2014 - Man Haron Monis, Iranian-Australian self-styled Muslim cleric and hostage taker (b. 1964)
2014 - Tim Cochran, American mathematician (b. 1955)
2014 - Martin Brasier, English biologist (b. 1947)
2014 - Phillip Archuleta, American politician (b. 1949)
2014 - Sultan Singh, Indian politician, 5th Governor of Tripura (b. 1923)
2015 - Peter Dickinson, British writer (b. 1927)
2015 - Gabre Gabric, Croatian-Italian athlete (b. 1914)
2016 - Faina Melnyk, Ukrainian-Russian discus thrower (b. 1945)
2017 - Tu An, Chinese poet and translator (b. 1923)
2017 - Ralph Carney, American saxophonist (b. 1956)
2017 - Len Ceglarski, American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1926)
2017 - Richard Dobson, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
2017 - E. Hunter Harrison, American railroad executive (b. 1944)
2017 - Sharon Laws, British racing cyclist (b. 1974)
2017 - Keely Smith, American singer (b. 1928)
2017 - Z'EV, American percussionist and poet (b. 1951)
2017 - Muriel Turner, Baroness Turner of Camden, British politician (b. 1927)
2018 - Eraldo Isidori, Italian politician (b. 1940)
2018 - T. K. Wetherell, American politician (b. 1945)
2019 - Dmitri Chesnokov, Russian footballer (b. 1973)
2019 - Hans Kornberg, German-born British-American biochemist; (b. 1928)
2019 - Bill Simpson, American racing driver; (b. 1940)
Independence Day (Kazakhstan)
Day of Reconciliation (South Africa)
Victory Day (India and Bangladesh)
497 BC - The first Saturnalia festival is first celebrated in Ancient Rome.
546 - Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoths under King Totila plunder Rome, by bribing the Byzantine garrison.
942 – William I of Normandy is assassinated.
1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicates King Henry VIII of England.
1577 - Francis Drake sails from Plymouth on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Ocean coasts of the Americas.
1583 - Cologne War: Forces under Ernest of Bavaria defeat troops under Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg at the Siege of Godesberg.
1586 - Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan becomes Emperor.
1600 - Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.
1637 – In Japan, the Shimabara Rebellion led by Amakusa Shigeharu against daimyo Matsukura Shigeharu begins.
1718 – Great Britain declares war on Spain.
1777 - American Revolutionary War: France formally recognizes the United States as an independent country.
1790 – The Aztec calendar stone Piedra del Sol is discovered during building work in Mexico City.
1819 - Simon Bolivar declares the independence of Gran Colombia (present-day Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador) in Angostura, now Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela.
1830 - Simon Bolivar dies at the age of 47.
1835 - Great Fire of New York City: Fire levels Lower Manhattan.
1837 - A fire rips through the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, killing 30 guards.
1862 – Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order Number 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky.
1865 – First performance of Franz Schubert's 'Unfinished' Symphony.
1892 - The first issue of Vogue magazine is published.
1903 – The Wright Brothers make their first powered and heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1907 – Ugyen Wangchuck becomes the first King of Bhutan.
1909 - Albert I of Belgium becomes King.
1918 - Up to 1,000 demonstrators march on Government House in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
1919 – Uruguay becomes a signatory of the Buenos Aires Convention.
1922 - The last British troops leave the Irish Free State.
1926 – Antanas Smetona becomes President of Lithuania.
1938 - Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.
1939 - World War II: Battle of River Plate - The German Navy sinks its own ship Admiral Graf Spee outside Montevideo.
1941 – World War II: Japanese forces land in northern Borneo.
1960 - Haile Selassie is re-installed as Emperor of Ethiopia, after he had previously been removed by a coup, while he was in Brazil, on December 13.
1960 - 1960 Munich Convair 340 crash: 20 people on board the aircraft and 32 on the ground are killed.
1961 – The world's biggest circus tragedy occurs in Niteroi, Brazil when the circus is set on fire by angry workers, killing 323 people.
1967 – Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt goes missing on a diving trip off the state of Victoria.
He is declared dead two days later.
1970 – The current flag of Oman comes into use.
1973 – 30 passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport.
1981 – Senegal and Gambia form the Senegambia Confederation.
1983 – An IRA bomb at a Harrods Department store in London kills 6 people.
1989 – Fernando Collor de Mello is elected President of Brazil.
1989 – The first full length episode of The Simpsons aires.
2003 – The Soham murder trial ends with Ian Huntley being found guilty of the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman near Soham, Cambridgeshire, in 2002.
2004 – Out of health and cultural reasons, Bhutan bans the sale of tobacco.
2005 – King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan decides to abdicate the throne.
2010 – Arab Spring: Tunisian fruit seller Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself on fire in an act of protest.
He dies as a result of this on January 4, 2011.
Shortly after, Tunisia's President, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali is overthrown, and this starts a series of uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East.
2010 – Murder of Joanna Yeates: Vincent Tabak murders Joanna Yeates at her home in Clifton, Bristol.
More than 10 months later, he is sentenced to life imprisonment.
2011 – A typhoon hits the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, killing at least 400 people.
2011 - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il dies.
His son, Kim Jong-un, takes over from him.
2014 - US President Barack Obama declares a normalization in US-Cuba relations for the first time in over 50 years, after the release of American Alan Gross, who was held in Cuba since December 2009.
2017 - Sebastian Pinera is elected President of Chile for a second time.
2019 - Fallon Sherrock becomes the first woman to win a match in a World Darts Championship.
1267 – Emperor Go-Uda, emperor of Japan (d. 1324)
1554 - Ernest of Bavaria (d. 1612)
1619 – Prince Rupert, Royalist commander in the English Civil War (d. 1682)
1632 – Anthony Wood, English antiqurian (d. 1695)
1638 - Anna Sophia II, Abbess of Quedlinburg (d. 1683)
1685 – Thomas Tickell, English writer (d. 1740)
1706 – Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1749)
1734 – Maria I of Portugal (d. 1816)
1749 – Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer (d. 1801)
1758 – Nathaniel Macon, American politician (d. 1837)
1778 – Humphrey Davy, English chemist (d. 1829)
1789 - Clement Comer Clay, 8th Governor of Alabama (d. 1866)
1796 – Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian novelist (d. 1865)
1797 - Joseph Henry, American physicist (d. 1878)
1799 – Titian Peale, American artist (d. 1885)
1807 – John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet and abolitionist (d. 1892)
1824 - John Kerr, Scottish physicist (d. 1907)
1830 – Jules de Goncourt, French publisher (d. 1870)
1835 - Alexander Emanuel Agassiz, Swiss-American scientist (d. 1910)
1842 – Sophus Lie, Norwegian mathematician (d. 1899)
1853 – Herbert Beerbohm Tree, English actor (d. 1917)
1866 - Kazys Grinius, 3rd President of Lithuania (d. 1950)
1866 - Mario García Menocal, 3rd President of Cuba (d. 1941)
1872 – Mistinguett, French actress and singer (d. 1956)
1873 – Ford Madox Ford, English writer (d. 1939)
1874 – William Lyon Mackenzie King, tenth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1950)
1884 - Alison Uttley, English writer (d. 1976)
1887 - Hermine Reuss of Greiz, wife of Wilhelm II of Germany (d. 1947)
1889 - Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish-Russian ballet dancer and choreographer (d. 1950)
1892 – Sam Barry, American basketball coach (d. 1950)
1893 – Erwin Piscator, German movie director (d. 1966)
1894 - Willem Schermerhorn, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977)
1894 – Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (d. 1979)
1898 - Loren Murchison, American athlete (d. 1979)
1900 - Mary Cartwright, English mathematician (d. 1998)
1901 – Lee Strasberg, Austrian-born actor and director (d. 1982)
1903 – Erskine Caldwell, American writer (d. 1987)
1903 – Ray Noble, English musician {d. 1978}
1905 – Simo Häyhä, Finnish soldier (d. 2002)
1905 - Mohammad Hidayatullah, 11th Chief Justice of India (d. 1992)
1905 - Jan Valtin, German writer (d. 1951)
1908 – Willard Frank Libby, American physicist and chemist (d. 1980)
1913 - Burt Baskin, American businessman (d. 1967)
1915 – André Claveau, French singer (d. 2003)
1915 - Robert A. Dahl, American political theorist (d. 2014)
1916 – Penelope Fitzgerald, English writer (d. 2000)
1919 - Tomas Spidlik, Czech cardinal (d. 2010)
1920 - Kenneth E. Iverson, Canadian computer scientist (d. 2004)
1922 - Mario Rigamonti, Italian footballer (d. 1949)
1926 - Stephen Lewis, English actor (d. 2015)
1926 - Patrice Wymore, American actress (d. 2014)
1928 - Marilyn Beck, American columnist (d. 2014)
1928 - George Lindsey, American actor (d. 2012)
1929 – William Safire, American columnist (d. 2009)
1929 – Jacqueline Hill, British actress (d. 1993)
1930 – Bob Guccione, American magazine publisher (d. 2010)
1930 – Armin Mueller-Stahl, German actor
1931 - Dave Madden, Canadian-American actor (d. 2014)
1934 - Ray Wilson, English footballer (d. 2018)
1935 - Cal Ripken, Sr.,
American baseball player, coach and manager (d. 1999)
1936 - Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires)
1936 – Tommy Steele, English singer and actor
1936 - Klaus Kinkel, German politician (d. 2019)
1937 - John Kennedy Toole, American author (d. 1969)
1937 - Art Neville, American singer and keyboardist (d. 2019)
1937 - Kerry Packer, Australian businessman (d. 2005)
1938 - Gilles Tremblay, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
1938 – Peter Snell, New Zealand athlete (d. 2019)
1939 – Eddie Kendricks, American musician (d. 1992)
1941 – Gene Clark, American musician (d. 1991)
1941 - Dave Dee, English singer (d. 2009)
1942 – Paul Butterfield, American musician (d. 1987)
1942 - Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerian leader
1943 - Christopher Cazenove, English actor (d. 2010)
1943 – Ron Geesin, Scottish musician
1943 – Lauren Hutton, American model and actress
1944 – Jack L. Chalker, American novelist
1944 – Lorne Michaels, Canadian television producer
1944 – Bernard Hill, English actor
1945 – Jacqueline Wilson, English writer
1945 – Elvin Hayes, American basketball player
1945 – Ernie Hudson, American actor
1946 – Eugene Levy, Canadian actor
1947 – Wes Studi, American actor
1947 - Robert Dornhelm, Romanian-Austrian film and television director
1948 - Valery Belousov, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
1949 – Paul Rodgers, British singer (Free)
1951 – Ken Hitchcock, Canadian ice hockey coach
1953 – Bill Pullman, American actor
1953 - Sally Menke, American movie producer (d. 2010)
1955 – Brad Davis, American basketball player
1956 - Peter John Farrelly, American screenwriter and director
1958 - Mike Mills, American musician in band R.E.M.
1959 - Gregg Araki, American filmmaker
1959 - Albert King, American basketball player
1960 - Moreno Argentin, Italian cyclist
1961 - Sara Dallin, English singer (Bananarama)
1962 - Ari Folman, Israeli film director, screenwriter and film score composer
1963 – Jón Kalman Stefánsson, Icelandic writer
1966 – Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician
1966 – Valery Liukin, Soviet gymnast
1967 – Gigi D'Agostino, Italian musician and DJ
1968 – Paul Tracy, Canadian race car driver
1969 - Chris Mason, English darts player
1970 - Sean Patrick Thomas, American actor
1971 – Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
1973 – Paula Radcliffe, English runner
1973 - Codrin Tapu, Romanian psychologist
1974 - Sarah Paulson, American actress
1974 - Giovanni Ribisi, American actor
1974 - Marissa Ribisi, American actress and screenwriter
1975 – Nick Dinsmore, American professional wrestler
1975 – Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-born actress and model
1976 – Patrick Müller, Swiss footballer
1976 – Takeo Spikes, American football player
1976 - Andrew Simpson, English sailor (d. 2013)
1977 – Liédson, Portuguese footballer
1977 - Arnaud Clément, French tennis player
1977 - Oxana Fedorova, Russian model, actress and singer
1978 – Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer and politician
1978 - Riteish Deshmukh, Indian actor
1979 - Charlotte Edwards, English cricketer
1979 – William Green, American football player
1980 - Eli Pariser, American internet activist and computer programmer
1981 – Tim Wiese, German footballer
1982 - Dynamo, English magician
1982 – Boubacar Sanogo, Ivory Coast footballer
1982 - Craig Kielburger, Canadian author and activist
1983 - Sébastien Ogier, French rally driver
1983 - Chidi Odiah, Nigerian footballer
1984 - Shannon Woodward, American actress
1985 - Ryuichi Ogata, Japanese singer and actor
1986 - Emma Bell, American actress
1987 – Chelsea Manning, American soldier, leaked information on WikiLeaks
1988 - David Rudisha, Kenyan athlete
1989 – André Ayew, Ghanaian footballer
1989 - Taylor York, American musician (Paramore)
1991 - Tom Walker, Scottish singer
1993 - Patricia Ku Flores, Peruvian tennis player
1993 - Buddy Hield, Bahamian basketball player
1994 - Nat Wolff, American actor, singer and musician
1998 - Martin Odegaard, Norwegian footballer
2007 – James, Viscount Severn, British royal and youngest grandchild of Elizabeth II
942 – William I of Normandy
1187 – Pope Gregory VIII
1195 – Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut (b. 1150)
1273 – Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, Persian poet and mystic (b. 1207)
1663 – Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (b. 1583)
1721 – Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, English statesman (b. 1640)
1830 – Simón Bolívar, Latin American politician and activist (b. 1783)
1833 - Kaspar Hauser, German foundling (b. 1812)
1847 - Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma (b. 1791)
1857 - Hiram Runnels, Governor of Mississippi (b. 1796)
1860 - Desirée Clary, French-born Queen Consort of Sweden (b. 1777)
1881 - Isaac Israel Hayes, American physician and polar explorer (b. 1832)
1881 - Lewis H. Morgan, American anthropologist (b. 1818)
1897 – Alphonse Daudet, French writer (b. 1840)
1901 - Josep Manyanet i Vives, Catalan priest (b. 1833)
1907 – William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-born physicist (b. 1824)
1909 – King Léopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
1917 – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician (b. 1836)
1927 - Rajendra Lahiri, Indian activist (b. 1892)
1929 - Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa, 10th President of Portugal (b. 1863)
1933 – Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (b. 1876)
1934 - William L. Harding, 20th Governor of Iowa (b. 1877)
1935 - Juan Vicente Gómez, President of Venezuela (b. 1857)
1940 - Alicia Boole Stott, Irish-English mathematician (b. 1860)
1957 – Dorothy L. Sayers, English writer (b. 1893)
1962 - Thomas Mitchell, American actor (b. 1892)
1964 – Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1883)
1967 – Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
1969 - Artur da Costa e Silva, President of Brazil (b. 1899)
1973 - Charles Greeley Abbott, American astrophysicist (b. 1872)
1973 - Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, Italian cardinal (b. 1883)
1978 - Josef Frings, German cardinal (b. 1887)
1982 - Homer S. Ferguson, American politician (b. 1889)
1987 – Irving Allen, American producer (b. 1916)
1987 – Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian novelist (b. 1903)
1992 – Dana Andrews, American actor (b. 1909)
1998 – Claudia Benton, Peruvian child psychologist (b. 1959)
1999 – Grover Washington Jr., American musician (b. 1943)
2003 – Ed Devereaux, Australian actor (b. 1925)
2003 – Otto Graham, American football player (b. 1921)
2009 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (b. 1919)
2010 – Captain Beefheart, American musician (b. 1941)
2011 – Cesaria Evora, Cape Verdean singer (b. 1941)
2011 – Kim Jong-il, North Korean leader (b. 1941)
2012 - Dina Manfredini, Italian-born American supercentenarian (b. 1897)
2012 - Daniel Inouye, United States Senator from Hawaii (b. 1924)
2013 - Janet Rowley, American cancer researcher (b. 1925)
2014 - Dieter Grau, German-American rocket scientist (b. 1913)
2014 - Richard C. Hottelet, American broadcast journalist (b. 1917)
2014 - Oleh Lysheha, Ukrainian poet (b. 1949)
2015 - Buckshot Hoffner, American politician (b. 1924)
2016 - Henry Heimlich, American physician (b. 1920)
2016 - Benjamin A. Gilman, American politician (b. 1922)
2017 - Johnny Fox, American sword swallower (b. 1953)
2017 - Bob Glidden, American drag racer (b. 1944)
2017 - Kevin Mahogany, American jazz singer (b. 1958)
2017 - Edward Rowny, American army officer (b. 1917)
2017 - Terry Cavanagh, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1926)
2018 - Jon Bluming, Dutch martial artist and actor (b. 1933)
2018 - Penny Marshall, American actress (b. 1943)
2018 - Amélie Mummendey, German social psychologist (b. 1944)
2018 - Rona Ramon, Israeli educator and activist (b. 1964)
2018 - Francis Roache, American police officer and politician (b. 1936)
2019 - Karin Balzer, German hurdler (b. 1938)
2019 - Hayden Fry, American football player (b. 1929)
2019 - Bronco Horvath, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1930)
2019 - Shriram Lagoo, Indian actor (b. 1927)
National Day of Bhutan
1170 – Thomas Becket, is slain in his own cathedral on orders from Henry II of England.
1778 - American Revolutionary War: 3,000 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia, US.
1786 - French Revolution: The Assembly of the Notables is convened.
1813 – War of 1812: British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York.
1837 – The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, is destroyed by fire.
1845 – Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state.
1851 – The first American-based YMCA opens, in Boston, Massachusetts
1860 – The first British seagoing iron-clad warship, the HMS Warrior is launched.
1874 - Alfonso XII of Spain is declared as King.
1876 – The Ashtabula River Railroad bridge disaster, 64 injured, 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre: The United States soldiers massacre over 400 men, women and children of the Great Sioux Nation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
1891 – Thomas Edison patents the radio.
1893 - French astronomer Stéphane Javelle discovers the pair of galaxies named IC 298.
1911 – Sun Yat-sen becomes the first President of the Republic of China.
1911 – Mongolia becomes independent.
1913 – The first movie serial, The Unwelcome Throne is released by Seligs Polyscope Company.
1921 – William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes Prime Minister of Canada for the first time.
1930 - Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the two-nation theory and outlines a vision for what would become Pakistan.
1934 – The first college basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York City is played, between the University of Notre Dame and New York University.
1934 – Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
1937 – The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland when a new constitution is adopted.
1940 – Battle of Britain: Luftwaffe firebombs London, killing almost 3000 civilians .
1949 – KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
1959 - The Lisbon Metro begins operating.
1972 – An Eastern Airlines Lockheed Tristar crashed on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101
1975 – A bomb explodes at New York City's LaGuardia Airport killing 11.
1978 – The first post-Franco constitution in Spain becomes effective.
1981 - Singapore Changi Airport opens.
1987 – Yuri Romanenko of USSR remained in outer space for 326 days and came back to Earth on this day that year.
1989 – Václav Havel becomes President of Czechoslovakia
1989 – Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.
1989 – On the final day of trading for the year and decade, the Japanese Nikkei 225 Average closes at an all-time high of 38,915.87.
1992 – Fernando Collor de Mello, President of Brazil, resigns.
1993 – Construction of the Tian Tan Buddha, the world's tallest outdoor bronze statue of the seated Buddha, is completed.
1993 – Garry Kasparov wins the world champion chess title from Anatoly Karpov.
1996 – Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord that ends a 36-year civil war.
1997 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's chickens (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
1998 – Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million lives in the 1970s.
2001 – A fire at the Mesa Redonda Shopping Centre in Lima, Peru, kills 292 people.
2003 – The last speaker of the Akkala Sami language dies, making the language extinct.
2007 - The New England Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38-35 and became the first team with 16 wins and no losses.
2009 – Akmal Shaikh becomes the first citizen of a present-day European Union country to be executed in the People's Republic of China for over 50 years.
2011 – This date is followed by December 31 in Samoa and Tokelau, as the International Date Line is shifted.
2012 - 2012 Delhi gang rape case: A 23-year-old student attacked on a bus on December 16 dies of her injuries.
2013 - A suicide bomb attack on a train station in Volgograd, southern Russia, kills at least 16 people.
2013 - Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is severely injured in a skiing accident in the French Alps.
2014 - Politicians in Greece are unable to elect a President, with main candidate Stavros Dimas failing to get enough votes.
New elections are called for January 2015.
2016 - The Duge Bridge in Luipanshui, People's Republic of China, the tallest bridge in the world, is opened to traffic.
2016 - Barack Obama's administration expels 35 Russian diplomats in response to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
2017 - A fire at a hotel and restaurant complex in Mumbai kills 14 people.
1019 - Munjong of Goryeo, Korean monarch (d. 1083)
1709 – Empress Elizabeth of Russia (d. 1762)
1721 – Madame de Pompadour, mistress to King Louis XV of France (d. 1764)
1766 - Charles Macintosh, Scottish inventor (d. 1843)
1778 – Friedrich Ast, German philosopher (d. 1841)
1788 - Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, Danish historian (d. 1865)
1788 - Tomas de Zumalacarregui, Spanish general (d. 1835)
1796 – Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (d. 1877)
1800 – Charles Goodyear, American inventor of the vulcanization of rubber (d. 1860)
1808 – Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875)
1809 – William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1897)
1809 - Albert Pike, American attorney, soldier and writer (d. 1891)
1813 - Alexander Parkes, English metallurgist and inventor (d. 1890)
1813 - Karel Sabina, Czech journalist, politician and writer (d. 1877)
1816 - Carl Ludwig, German physician (d. 1895)
1838 - Walter Runeberg, Finnish sculptor (d. 1920)
1840 – Anton Dohrn, zoologist (d. 1909)
1843 - Elisabeth of Wied, Queen of Romania and novelist (d. 1916)
1844 - Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee, Indian barrister and first President of the Indian National Congress (d. 1906)
1856 - Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch-French mathematician and academic (d. 1894)
1859 – Venustiano Carranza, President of Mexico (d. 1920)
1871 - William Thomas Calman, Scottish zoologist (d. 1952)
1871 - Giuseppe Motta, Swiss politician (d. 1940)
1876 – Pablo Casals, Catalan cellist and conductor (d. 1973)
1879 – Billy Mitchell, United States Army officer, United States Air Force pioneer (d. 1936)
1881 – Jess Willard, boxing champion (d. 1968)
1888 - Josef Beran, Czech cardinal (d. 1969)
1890 – Käthe Dorsch, German actress (d. 1957)
1899 - Nie Rongzhen, Chinese Communist leader (d. 1992)
1904 - Kuvempu, Indian Kannada writer (d. 1994)
1908 – Helmut Gollwitzer, German theologian (d. 1993)
1910 – Ronald Coase, British economist (d. 2013)
1910 – Gunnar Thoroddsen, Icelandic politician, Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1983)
1911 – Klaus Fuchs, German-British theoretical physicist and atomic spy (d. 1988)
1913 – Pierre Werner, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 2002)
1914 – Billy Tipton, American jazz musician (d. 1989)
1914 – Albert Tucker, Australian artist (d 1999)
1917 – Tom Bradley, Mayor of Los Angeles, California (d. 1998)
1919 - Alfred de Grazia, American political scientist and author (d. 2014)
1919 - Roman Vlad, Romanian-Italian composer (d. 2013)
1920 – Ratu Iosefa Iloilo, President of Fiji (d. 2011)
1920 – Viveca Lindfors, Swedish actress (d. 1995)
1921 - Dobrica Cosic, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (d. 2014)
1921 - Robert C. Baker, American chef, inventor of the Chicken nugget (d. 2006)
1923 - Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian, anthropologist and physicist (d. 1986)
1923 - Dina Merrill, American actress (d. 2017)
1925 - Luis Alberto Monge, President of Costa Rica (d. 2016)
1926 - John Spellman, American politician, Governor of Washington (d. 2018)
1927 – Andy Stanfield, American athlete (d. 1985)