[edit]

• 218 BC – Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia – Hannibal's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Roman Republic.
• 1271 – Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan dynasty of Mongolia and China.
• 1622 – Portuguese forces score a military victory over the Kingdom of Kongo at the Battle of Mbumbi in present-day Angola.
• 1655 – The Whitehall Conference ends with the determination that there was no law preventing Jews from re-entering England after the Edict of Expulsion of 1290.
• 1777 – The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the Americans over British General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October.
• 1787 – New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
• 1793 – Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by French Royalists to Lord Samuel Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck.
• 1867 – The Angola Horror train wreck occurred.
• 1878 – John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires is executed in Pennsylvania.
• 1878 – The Al-Thani family become the rulers of the state of Qatar
• 1888 – Richard Wetherill and his brother in-law discover the ancient Indian ruins of Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde.
• 1892 – Premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
• 1898 – Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat sets the first officially recognized land speed record of 39.245 mph (63.159 km/h) in a Jeantaud electric car
• 1900 – The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook, Victoria Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia is opened for traffic.
• 1912 – The Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, is announced by Charles Dawson.
• 1916 – World War I: The Battle of Verdun ends when German forces under Chief of staff Erich von Falkenhayn are defeated by the French, and suffer 337,000 casualties.
• 1917 – The resolution containing the language of the Eighteenth Amendment to enact Prohibition is passed by the United States Congress.
• 1932 – The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans in the first NFL Championship Game.
• 1935 – The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Ceylon.
• 1939 – World War II: The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of the war, takes place.
• 1944 – World War II: Seventy-seven B-29 Superfortress and 200 other aircraft of U.S. Fourteenth Air Force bomb Hankow, China, a Japanese supply base.
• 1956 – Japan joins the United Nations.
• 1958 – Project SCORE, the world's first communications satellite, is launched.
• 1966 – Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.
• 1969 – Capital punishment in the United Kingdom: Home Secretary James Callaghan's motion to make permanent the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, which had temporarily suspended capital punishment in England, Wales and Scotland for murder (but not for all crimes) for a period of five years.
• 1971 – Capitol Reef National Park is established in Utah.
• 1972 – Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th.
• 1973 – Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.
• 1973 – The Islamic Development Bank is founded.
• 1978 – Dominica joins the United Nations.
• 1987 – Larry Wall releases the first version of the Perl programming language.
• 1989 – The European Economic Community and the Soviet Union sign an agreement on trade and commercial and economic cooperation.
• 1997 – HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium.
• 1999 – NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.
• 2002 – 2003 California recall: Then Governor of California Gray Davis announces that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier.
• 2005 – The Chadian Civil War begins when rebel groups, allegedly backed by neighbouring Sudan, launch an attack in Adré.
• 2006 – The first of a series of floods strikes Malaysia. The death toll of all flooding is at least 118, with over 400,000 people displaced.
• 2006 – United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections.
• 2010 – Anti-government protests begin in Tunisia, heralding the Arab Spring.

Births[edit]

• 1507 – Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese daimyo (d. 1551)
• 1602 – Simonds d'Ewes, English historian and politician (d. 1650)
• 1610 – Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, French philologist and historian (d. 1688)
• 1620 – Heinrich Roth, German missionary and scholar (d. 1668)
• 1626 – Christina, Queen of Sweden (d. 1689)
• 1661 – Christopher Polhem, Swedish physicist and inventor (d. 1751)
• 1662 – James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, Scottish politician, Secretary of State for Scotland (d. 1711)
• 1707 – Charles Wesley, English missionary and composer (d. 1788)
• 1725 – Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and theologian (d. 1791)
• 1734 – Jean-Baptiste Rey, French conductor and composer (d. 1810)
• 1778 – Joseph Grimaldi, English actor and dancer (d. 1837)
• 1825 – Charles Griffin, American general (d. 1876)
• 1825 – John S. Harris, American surveyor and politician (d. 1906)
• 1835 – Lyman Abbott, American minister, theologian, and author (d. 1922)
• 1847 – Augusta Holmès, French composer (d. 1903)
• 1849 – Henrietta Edwards, Canadian activist and author (d. 1931)
• 1851 – Graciano López Jaena, Filipino journalist (d. 1896)
• 1856 – J. J. Thomson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)
• 1860 – Edward MacDowell, American pianist and composer (d. 1908)
• 1861 – Lionel Monckton, English composer and critic (d. 1924)
• 1863 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (d. 1914)
• 1867 – Foxhall P. Keene, American polo player and horse breeder (d. 1941)
• 1870 – Saki, Burmese-English author and playwright (d. 1916)
• 1873 – Francis Burton Harrison, American general and politician, 6th Governor-General of the Philippines (d. 1957)
• 1875 – Matt McGrath, Irish-American thrower (d. 1941)
• 1878 – Joseph Stalin, Georgian-Russian marshal and politician, 4th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1953)
• 1879 – Paul Klee, Swiss-German painter (d. 1940)
• 1882 – Paulin Lemaire, French gymnast
• 1882 – Richard Maury, American-Argentinian engineer, designed the Salta–Antofagasta railway (d. 1950)
• 1883 – Raimu, French actor (d. 1946)
• 1884 – Emil Starkenstein, Czech-Jewish co-founder of clinical pharmacology, murdered at Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp (d. 1942)
• 1886 – Ty Cobb, American baseball player and manager (d. 1961)
• 1886 – Martin Dooling, American soccer player (d. 1966)
• 1887 – Bhikhari Thakur, Indian actor, singer, and playwright (d. 1971)
• 1888 – Gladys Cooper, English actress and singer (d. 1971)
• 1888 – Robert Moses, American urban planner, designed the Northern State Parkway and Southern State Parkway (d. 1981)
• 1890 – Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (d. 1954)
• 1897 – Fletcher Henderson, American pianist and composer (d. 1952)
• 1899 – Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian philosopher and author (d. 1990)
• 1904 – George Stevens, American director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer (d. 1975)
• 1907 – Bill Holland, American race car driver (d. 1984)
• 1907 – Lawrence Lucie, American guitarist (Mills Blue Rhythm Band) (d. 2009)
• 1908 – Celia Johnson, English actress (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Hans Scheele, German hurdler (d. 1941)
• 1908 – Paul Siple, American geographer and explorer (d. 1969)
• 1910 – Abe Burrows, American author, playwright, and director (d. 1985)
• 1910 – Eric Tindill, New Zealand rugby player, cricketer, and umpire (d. 2010)
• 1911 – Jules Dassin, American-Greek actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1912 – Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American pilot and general (d. 2002)
• 1913 – Alfred Bester, American author and screenwriter (d. 1987)
• 1913 – Willy Brandt, German politician, 4th Chancellor of Germany, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
• 1913 – Ray Meyer, American basketball player and coach (d. 2006)
• 1916 – Douglas Fraser, Scottish-American union leader and academic (d. 2008)
• 1916 – Betty Grable, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1973)
• 1917 – Ossie Davis, American actor and activist (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Robert Leckie, American soldier and author (d. 2001)
• 1922 – Jack Brooks, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
• 1923 – Edwin Bramall, English field marshal
• 1927 – Ramsey Clark, American lawyer and politician, 66th United States Attorney General
• 1927 – Roméo LeBlanc, Canadian journalist and politician, 25th Governor General of Canada (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Indian-English caliph (d. 2003)
• 1929 – Gino Cimoli, American baseball player (d. 2011)
• 1929 – Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Moose Skowron, American baseball player (d. 2012)
• 1931 – Allen Klein, American talent agent and businessman (d. 2009)
• 1931 – Alison Plowden, English historian and author (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Bill Thompson, American television host (d. 2014)
• 1932 – Roger Smith, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1933 – Lonnie Brooks, American singer and guitarist
• 1934 – Marc Rich, Belgian-American businessman, founded Glencore (d. 2013)
• 1934 – Boris Volynov, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut
• 1935 – Rosemary Leach, English actress
• 1935 – Jacques Pépin, French-American chef and author
• 1936 – Malcolm Kirk, English rugby player and wrestler (d. 1987)
• 1938 – Chas Chandler, English bass player and producer (The Animals) (d. 1996)
• 1938 – Joel Hirschhorn, American songwriter and composer (d. 2005)
• 1938 – Roger E. Mosley, American actor
• 1939 – Michael Moorcock, English author and songwriter
• 1939 – Harold E. Varmus, American biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1940 – John Cooper, British hurdler (d. 1974)
• 1941 – Sam Andrew, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company)
• 1941 – Joan Wallach Scott, American historian
• 1941 – Wadada Leo Smith, American trumpet player and composer (Creative Construction Company)
• 1942 – Harvey Atkin, Canadian actor
• 1943 – Bobby Keys, American saxophonist (d. 2014)
• 1943 – Keith Richards, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (The Rolling Stones, The Dirty Mac, and The New Barbarians)
• 1943 – Alan Rudolph, American director and screenwriter
• 1944 – Crispian Steele-Perkins, English trumpet player
• 1945 – Jean Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1946 – Steve Biko, South African activist, founded the Black Consciousness Movement (d. 1977)
• 1946 – Alex Ligertwood, Scottish singer (Average White Band and The Senate)
• 1946 – Steven Spielberg, American director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded DreamWorks
• 1947 – Leonid Yuzefovich, Russian author and screenwriter
• 1948 – Edmund Kemper, American serial killer
• 1948 – Bill Nelson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Be-Bop Deluxe and Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
• 1948 – Laurent Voulzy, French-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1949 – David A. Johnston, American geologist (d. 1980)
• 1950 – Gillian Armstrong, Australian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Randy Castillo, American drummer (Red Square Black and Mötley Crüe) (d. 2002)
• 1950 – Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lankan general and politician
• 1950 – Heinz-Josef Kehr, German footballer
• 1950 – Leonard Maltin, American historian, author, and critic
• 1951 – V. Balachandran, Sri Lankan politician
• 1952 – John Leventhal, American songwriter and producer
• 1953 – Elliot Easton, American guitarist and singer (The Cars, The New Cars, and Creedence Clearwater Revisited)
• 1953 – Khas-Magomed Hadjimuradov, Chechen singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1954 – John Booth, English race car driver
• 1954 – Ray Liotta, American actor, singer, and producer
• 1954 – Willi Wülbeck, German middle-distance runner
• 1955 – Vijay Mallya, Indian businessman and politician
• 1955 – Bogusław Mamiński, Polish steeplechase runner
• 1956 – Ron White, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1957 – Jonathan Cainer, English astrologer and author
• 1958 – Geordie Walker, English guitarist (Killing Joke, The Damage Manual, and Murder, Inc.)
• 1958 – Julia Wolfe, American composer and educator
• 1960 – Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist and academic
• 1961 – Brian Orser, Canadian figure skater and coach
• 1961 – Leila Steinberg, American singer, producer, author, and poet
• 1961 – Daniel S. Loeb, American businessman
• 1962 – Renaldo Lapuz, Filipino-American singer-songwriter
• 1963 – Rikiya Koyama, Japanese actor
• 1963 – Norman Brown, American singer and guitarist (BWB)
• 1963 – Greg D'Angelo, American drummer (White Lion, Britny Fox, Pride and Glory, and AntiProduct)
• 1963 – Karl Dorrell, American football player and coach
• 1963 – Pauline Ester, French singer
• 1963 – Allan Kayser, American actor
• 1963 – Pierre Nkurunziza, Burundian soldier and politician, President of Burundi
• 1963 – Charles Oakley, American basketball player and coach
• 1963 – Rikiya Koyama, Japanese voice actor
• 1963 – Brad Pitt, American actor and producer
• 1964 – Stone Cold Steve Austin, American wrestler, actor, and producer
• 1964 – Don Beebe, American football player and coach
• 1964 – Robson Green, English actor, singer, and producer
• 1965 – Shawn Christian, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1965 – Mick Collins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Gories and The Dirtbombs)
• 1965 – Manuel Peña Escontrela, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
• 1965 – Fawna MacLaren, American model and actress
• 1966 – Makiko Esumi, Japanese actress
• 1966 – Gianluca Pagliuca, Italian footballer and sportscaster
• 1966 – Mille Petrozza, German singer-songwriter and guitarist (Kreator and Voodoocult)
• 1967 – Mario Frangoulis, Greek tenor and actor
• 1967 – Toine van Peperstraten, Dutch journalist
• 1968 – Mario Basler, German footballer and manager
• 1968 – Rachel Griffiths, Australian actress
• 1968 – Alejandro Sanz, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1968 – Casper Van Dien, American actor and producer
• 1968 – Nina Wadia, Indian-English actress
• 1969 – Santiago Cañizares, Spanish footballer
• 1969 – Justin Edinburgh, English footballer and manager
• 1969 – Akira Iida, Japanese race car driver
• 1970 – DMX, American rapper and actor
• 1970 – Lucious Harris, American basketball player
• 1970 – Giannis Ploutarhos, Greek singer-songwriter
• 1970 – Victoria Pratt, Canadian actress and model
• 1970 – Fernando Solabarrieta, Chilean journalist
• 1970 – Cowboy Troy, American rapper (MuzikMafia)
• 1970 – Rob Van Dam, American wrestler and actor
• 1970 – Jonathan Yeo, English painter
• 1971 – Barkha Dutt, Indian journalist
• 1971 – Noriko Matsueda, Japanese pianist and composer
• 1971 – Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish tennis player
• 1972 – Anzhela Balakhonova, Ukrainian pole vaulter
• 1972 – Rah Digga, American rapper and actress (The Conglomerate)
• 1972 – Raymond Herrera, American drummer (Fear Factory, Arkaea, and Brujeria)
• 1972 – DJ Lethal, Latvian-American DJ and producer (House of Pain, Limp Bizkit, and La Coka Nostra)
• 1973 – Leila Arcieri, American actress and model
• 1973 – Neil Busch, American singer-songwriter and bass player (...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead)
• 1973 – Fatuma Roba, Ethiopian long-distance runner
• 1974 – Peter Boulware, American football player
• 1974 – Bill Duggan, American actor
• 1974 – Mutassim Gaddafi, Libyan colonel (d. 2011)
• 1974 – Knut Schreiner, Norwegian singer, guitarist, and producer (Turbonegro, Euroboys, and Mirror Lakes)
• 1974 – Kari Byron, American television host and artist
• 1975 – Sia Furler, Australian singer-songwriter
• 1975 – Randy Houser, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1975 – David O'Doherty, Irish comedian, actor, and singer
• 1975 – Trish Stratus, Canadian wrestler and actress
• 1975 – Masaki Sumitani, Japanese wrestler and comedian
• 1975 – Vincent van der Voort, Dutch darts player
• 1976 – Koyuki, Japanese actress and model
• 1977 – Axwell, Swedish DJ and producer (Swedish House Mafia)
• 1977 – José Acevedo, Dominican baseball player
• 1977 – Claudia Gesell, German runner
• 1978 – Daniel Cleary, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Ali Curtis, American soccer player
• 1978 – Katie Holmes, American actress
• 1978 – Naomi Lang, American ice dancer
• 1979 – Eric Pérez, Puerto Rican wrestler
• 1979 – Mamady Sidibé, Malian footballer
• 1980 – Christina Aguilera, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1980 – Heinz Inniger, Swiss snowboarder
• 1980 – Benjamin Watson, American football player
• 1983 – Andy Fantuz, Canadian football player
• 1984 – Derrick Tribbett, American bass player and singer (Twisted Method, Makeshift Romeo, and Dope)
• 1985 – Tara Conner, American model, Miss USA 2006
• 1985 – Natalie Gal, Russian-American model and actress
• 1985 – Hana Soukupová, Czech model
• 1986 – François Hamelin, Canadian speed skater
• 1986 – Usman Khawaja, Australian cricketer
• 1986 – Bill Stull, American football player
• 1987 – Ayaka, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
• 1987 – Miki Ando, Japanese figure skater
• 1987 – Fernando Jara, Panamanian jockey
• 1988 – Lizzie Armitstead, English cyclist
• 1988 – Seth Doege, American football player
• 1988 – Brianne Theisen-Eaton, Canadian heptathlete
• 1989 – Emily Atack, English actress
• 1989 – Ashley Benson, American actress
• 1989 – Ashley Slanina-Davies, English actress
• 1990 – Sierra Kay, American singer-songwriter (Versa)
• 1992 – Bridgit Mendler, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

Deaths[edit]

• 821 – Theodulf of Orléans, Spanish bishop (b. 750)
• 1075 – Edith of Wessex (b. 1025)
• 1133 – Hildebert, French poet and scholar (b. 1055)
• 1495 – Alfonso II of Naples (b. 1448)
• 1591 – Marigje Arriens, Dutch woman accused of witchcraft (b. 1520)
• 1692 – Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German politician and scholar (b. 1626)
• 1737 – Antonio Stradivari, Italian instrument maker (b. 1644)
• 1787 – Soame Jenyns, English poet and politician (b. 1704)
• 1799 – Jean-Étienne Montucla, French mathematician and historian (b. 1725)
• 1803 – Johann Gottfried Herder, German philosopher, theologian, and poet (b. 1744)
• 1829 – Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French soldier, biologist, and academic (b. 1744)
• 1843 – Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch, Scottish-English general and politician (b. 1748)
• 1848 – Bernard Bolzano, Bohemian priest and mathematician (b. 1781)
• 1869 – Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American pianist and composer (b. 1829)
• 1880 – Michel Chasles, French mathematician and academic (b. 1793)
• 1892 – Richard Owen, English biologist, anatomist, and paleontologist (b. 1804)
• 1922 – Sir Carl Meyer, 1st Baronet, German-English banker and businessman (b. 1851)
• 1936 – Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian meteorologist and seismologist (b. 1857)
• 1944 – Alexander Cudmore, American soccer player (b. 1888)
• 1950 – Johnny Hyde, Russian-American talent agent (b. 1895)
• 1968 – Joan Tabor, American actress (b. 1932)
• 1969 – Charles Dvorak, American pole vaulter (b. 1878)
• 1971 – Bobby Jones, American golfer and lawyer (b. 1902)
• 1971 – Diana Lynn, American actress and singer (b. 1926)
• 1973 – Allamah Rasheed Turabi, Indian-Pakistani religious leader and philosopher (b. 1908)
• 1974 – Harry Hooper, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1887)
• 1975 – Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist and biologist (b. 1900)
• 1977 – Michio Nishizawa, Japanese baseball player and manager (b. 1921)
• 1980 – Alexei Kosygin, Russian soldier and politician (b. 1904)
• 1980 – Gabrielle Robinne, French actress (b. 1886)
• 1982 – Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German colonel and pilot (b. 1916)
• 1984 – Aris Maliagros, Greek actor and tenor (b. 1895)
• 1985 – Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet (b. 1916)
• 1987 – Conny Plank, German keyboard player and producer (Moebius & Plank and Cluster) (b. 1940)
• 1988 – Niyazi Berkes, Turkish Cypriot sociologist (b. 1908)
• 1990 – Anne Revere, American actress (b. 1903)
• 1990 – Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (b. 1914)
• 1990 – Joseph Zubin, Lithuanian-American psychologist (b. 1900)
• 1991 – George Abecassis, English race car driver (b. 1913)
• 1992 – Mark Goodson, American game show producer, created Family Feud and The Price Is Right (b. 1915)
• 1993 – Sam Wanamaker, American-English actor, director, and producer (b. 1919)
• 1994 – Roger Apéry, Greek-French mathematician and academic (b. 1916)
• 1995 – Brian Brockless, English organist, composer, and conductor (b. 1926)
• 1995 – Ross Thomas, American author (b. 1926)
• 1995 – Konrad Zuse, German engineer, designed the Z3 computer (b. 1910)
• 1996 – Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist (b. 1904)
• 1997 – Chris Farley, American comedian and actor (b. 1964)
• 1998 – Lev Dyomin, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1926)
• 1999 – Robert Bresson, French director and screenwriter (b. 1901)
• 2000 – Stan Fox, American race car driver (b. 1952)
• 2000 – Randolph Apperson Hearst, American businessman (b. 1915)
• 2000 – Kirsty MacColl, English singer-songwriter (b. 1959)
• 2001 – Gilbert Bécaud, French singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (b. 1927)
• 2001 – Dimitris Dragatakis, Greek violinist and composer (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Marcel Mule, French saxophonist (b. 1901)
• 2002 – Ray Hnatyshyn, Canadian lawyer and politician, 24th Governor General of Canada (b. 1934)
• 2002 – Wayne Owens, American lawyer and politician (b. 1937)
• 2002 – Necip Hablemitoğlu, Turkish historian and intellectual (b. 1954)
• 2004 – Anthony Sampson, English journalist and author (b. 1926)
• 2005 – Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (b. 1922)
• 2006 – Joseph Barbera, American animator, director, and producer, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (b. 1911)
• 2006 – Ruth Bernhard, German-American photographer (b. 1905)
• 2006 – Mike Dickin, English radio host (b. 1943)
• 2006 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani author and activist (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Gerald Le Dain, Canadian lawyer and judge (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Jack Linkletter, American television host (b. 1937)
• 2007 – William Strauss, American author and playwright (b. 1947)
• 2007 – Alan Wagner, American businessman and critic (b. 1931)
• 2008 – Majel Barrett, American actress and producer (b. 1932)
• 2008 – Mark Felt, American FBI agent (b. 1913)
• 2010 – Phil Cavarretta, American baseball player and manager (b. 1916)
• 2010 – Jacqueline de Romilly, French philologist, author, and scholar (b. 1913)
• 2010 – Tasso Kavadia, Greek actress (b. 1921)
• 2010 – Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Italian economist and politician, Italian Minister of Economy and Finances (b. 1940)
• 2010 – James Pickles, English judge and journalist (b. 1925)
• 2011 – Václav Havel, Czech poet, playwright, and politician, 1st President of the Czech Republic (b. 1936)
• 2012 – Koko, Australian acting dog (b. 2005)
• 2012 – Skippy Baxter, Canadian-American figure skater (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Leman Çıdamlı, Turkish actress (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Georgi Kaloyanchev, Bulgarian actor (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Ben Luján, American politician (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Frank Macchiarola, American lawyer and academic (b. 1941)
• 2012 – Mustafa Ould Salek, Mauritanian colonel and politician, President of Mauritania (b. 1936)
• 2012 – Camil Samson, Canadian radio host and politician (b. 1935)
• 2012 – George Showell, English-Welsh footballer (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Danny Steinmann, American director and screenwriter (b. 1942)
• 2012 – Jim Whalen, American football player (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Marcus Worsley, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Anatoliy Zayaev, Ukrainian footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Ronnie Biggs, English criminal (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Ken Hutcherson, American football player (b. 1952)
• 2013 – Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza, Mexican drug lord (b. 1971)
• 2013 – Boyuk Jeddikar, Iranian footballer (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Larry Lujack, American radio host (b. 1940)
• 2013 – Graham Mackay, South African businessman (b. 1949)
• 2013 – Brunon Synak, Polish sociologist and politician (b. 1943)
• 2013 – Paul Torday, English author (b. 1946)

Holidays and observances[edit]

• Christian feast day:
  • Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
  • Flannán
  • Gatianus of Tours
  • O Adonai
  • Our Lady of Expectation
  • Sebastian (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • Winibald
  • December 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Eponalia, feast of Epona, celebrated during Saturnalia. (Roman Empire)
• International Migrants Day (International)
• National Day (Qatar)
• Republic Day (Niger)
• UN Arabic Language Day (United Nations)

Μια έρευνα που διενήργησε το site γνωριμιών WhatsYourPrice με περισσότερους από 115.000 ανθρώπους να συμμετέχουν αποκάλυψε τις 20 πιο αμαρτωλές πόλεις στον κόσμο. 

Ennio Morricone: 'I regret saying no to Clint Eastwood'

Ennio Morricone has received 56 awards for his musical scores

Ennio Morricone was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2007 by Clint Eastwood

Morricone wrote the musical scores for some of Leone's westerns such as Once Upon a Time in the West

Με τη Μελίνα, παντρεύτηκε το 1966 και υιοθέτησε τόσο την υπηκοότητα του Έλληνα, όσο και το όραμα της συντρόφου του για την επιστροφή των μαρμάρων του Παρθενώνα. Μαζί ανέπτυξαν έντονη αντιδικτατορική δράση την περίοδο της χούντας των συνταγματαρχών και με την αποκατάσταση της Δημοκρατίας το 1974 εγκαταστάθηκαν μόνιμα στην Ελλάδα.

Φιλμογραφία

• Στα 16 γνώρισα τον έρωτα (1980)
• Κραυγή γυναικών (1978)
• Η Δοκιμή (1974)
• Υπόσχεση την Αυγή (1970)
• Εκτέλεση εν ψυχρώ (1968)
• Hamilchama al hashalom- Survivor (1968)
• 0:30 Καλοκαίρι Βράδυ (1966)
• Τοπκαπί (1964)
• Φαίδρα (1962)
• Ποτέ την Κυριακή (1960)
• Ο Νόμος (1959)
• Ο Χριστός Ξανασταυρώνεται (1957)
• Ριφιφί (1955)
• Η Νύχτα και η Πόλη (1950)
• Thieves' Highway (1949)
• Γυμνή Πόλη (1948)
• Brute Force (1947)
• A Letter for Evie (1946)
• Two Smart People (1946)
• The Canterville Ghost (1944)
• Young Ideas (1943)
• Reunion in France (1942)
• The Affairs of Martha (1942)
• Nazi Agent (1942)
• The Tell-Tale Heart (1941)

Η διαδικασία εκλογής

[edit]

• 69 – Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor.
• 217 – The papacy of Zephyrinus ends. Callixtus I is elected as the sixteenth pope, but is opposed by the theologian Hippolytus who accuses him of laxity and of being a Modalist, one who denies any distinction between the three persons of the Trinity.
• 1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the Third Crusade.
• 1522 – Siege of Rhodes: Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle on Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta.
• 1606 – The Virginia Company loads three ships with settlers and sets sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
• 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
• 1808 – Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins.
• 1832 – HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrives at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands
• 1860 – South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States.
• 1915 – World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli.
• 1917 – Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force, is founded.
• 1924 – Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison
• 1941 – World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.
• 1942 – World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India.
• 1946 – The popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life is first released in New York City.
• 1951 – The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs.
• 1952 – A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87.
• 1955 – Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.
• 1957 – The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight.
• 1959 – Unknown attackers murder the Walker family in Osprey, Florida.
• 1960 – The National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam is formed.
• 1967 – A Pennsylvania Railroad Budd Metroliner exceeds 155 mph on their New York Division, also present day Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
• 1968 – The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California.
• 1971 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto takes over as the fourth President of Pakistan.
• 1973 – The Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid.
• 1977 – Djibouti and Vietnam join the United Nations.
• 1984 – The Summit Tunnel fire is the largest underground fire in history, as a freight train carrying over 1 million liters of gasoline derails near the town of Todmorden, England, in the Pennines.
• 1985 – Pope John Paul II announces the institution of World Youth Day.
• 1987 – In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
• 1988 – The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed in Vienna, Austria.
• 1989 – United States invasion of Panama: The United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega. This is also the first combat use of purpose-designed stealth aircraft.
• 1991 – A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
• 1991 – Paul Keating sworn in as the 24th Prime Minister of Australia after defeating Bob Hawke in a leadership ballot of the Australian Labor Party.
• 1995 – NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia.
• 1995 – American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia killing 159.
• 1996 – NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
• 1999 – Macau is handed over to China by Portugal.
• 2004 – A gang of thieves steal £26.5 million worth of currency from the Donegall Square West headquarters of Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, one of the largest bank robberies in British history.
• 2005 – Aleksandër Moisiu University was founded in Durrës, Albania.
• 2007 – Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.
• 2007 – The Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, and O Lavrador de Café by Brazilian modernist painter Cândido Portinari, are stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art.
• 2013 – China successfully launches the Bolivian Túpac Katari 1 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

Births[edit]

• 1494 – Oronce Finé, French mathematician and cartographer (d. 1555)
• 1537 – John III of Sweden (d. 1592)
• 1626 – Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German politician and scholar (d. 1692)
• 1629 – Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (d. 1684)
• 1641 – Urban Hjärne, Swedish chemist, geologist, and physician (d. 1724)
• 1717 – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French politician and diplomat, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1787)
• 1740 – Arthur Lee, American physician and diplomat (d. 1792)
• 1786 – Pietro Raimondi, Italian composer (d. 1853)
• 1792 – Nicolas Toussaint Charlet, French painter (d. 1845)
• 1833 – Samuel Mudd, American physician (d. 1883)
• 1838 – Edwin Abbott Abbott, English theologian, author, and educator (d. 1926)
• 1841 – Ferdinand Buisson, French academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
• 1860 – Dan Leno, English actor (d. 1904)
• 1861 – Ferdinand Bonn, German actor (d. 1933)
• 1861 – Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian painter (d. 1926)
• 1865 – Elsie de Wolfe, American actress and interior decorator (d. 1950)
• 1868 – Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (d. 1938)
• 1869 – Charley Grapewin, American actor and singer (d. 1956)
• 1873 – Kan'ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian, author, and academic (d. 1948)
• 1874 – Frederick Steep, Canadian soccer player (d. 1956)
• 1881 – Branch Rickey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965)
• 1886 – Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis player (d. 1974)
• 1888 – Yitzhak Baer, German-Israeli historian and academic (d. 1980)
• 1888 – Fred Merkle, American baseball player and manager (d. 1958)
• 1890 – Yvonne Arnaud, French-English actress and singer (d. 1958)
• 1890 – Jaroslav Heyrovský, Czech chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
• 1891 – Erik Almlöf, Swedish triple jumper (d. 1971)
• 1893 – Piero Campelli, Italian footballer (d. 1946)
• 1894 – Robert Menzies, Australian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1978)
• 1898 – Konstantinos Dovas, Greek general and politician, 156th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1973)
• 1898 – Irene Dunne, American actress and singer (d. 1990)
• 1901 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist and academic, invented the Van de Graaff generator (d. 1967)
• 1902 – Prince George, Duke of Kent (d. 1942)
• 1902 – Sidney Hook, American philosopher and author (d. 1989)
• 1904 – Spud Davis, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1984)
• 1904 – Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian author (d. 1977)
• 1905 – Bill O'Reilly, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1992)
• 1907 – Paul Francis Webster, American songwriter (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Dennis Morgan, American actor and singer (d. 1994)
• 1909 – Vakkom Majeed, Indian politician (d. 2000)
• 1911 – Hortense Calisher, American author (d. 2009)
• 1914 – Harry F. Byrd, Jr., American lieutenant, publisher, and politician (d. 2013)
• 1915 – Aziz Nesin, Turkish author (d. 1995)
• 1916 – Michel Chartrand, Canadian union leader and activist (d. 2010)
• 1917 – David Bohm, American-English physicist, neuropsychologist, and philosopher (d. 1992)
• 1917 – Audrey Totter, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
• 1918 – Jean Marchand, Canadian union leader and politician, 43rd Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1988)
• 1922 – George Roy Hill, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
• 1922 – Beverly Pepper, American sculptor and painter
• 1924 – Judy LaMarsh, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1980)
• 1925 – Benito Lorenzi, Italian footballer (d. 2007)
• 1926 – Geoffrey Howe, Welsh lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1926 – Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Economics (d. 2009)
• 1927 – Michael Beaumont, 22nd Seigneur of Sark
• 1927 – Charlie Callas, American actor (d. 2011)
• 1927 – Kim Young-sam, South Korean soldier and politician, 7th President of South Korea
• 1931 – Ike Skelton, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Mala Powers, American actress (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Terry Sanders, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1932 – Leslie Adams, American composer and educator
• 1932 – John Hillerman, American actor
• 1933 – Jean Carnahan, American politician
• 1933 – Olavi Salonen, Finnish middle-distance runner
• 1933 – Rik Van Looy, Belgian cyclist
• 1935 – Khalid Ibadulla, Pakistani cricketer and sportscaster
• 1937 – Charles Denton, English businessman
• 1938 – John Harbison, American composer and academic
• 1939 – Kathryn Joosten, American actress (d. 2012)
• 1940 – Pat Chapman, English chef and author, founded The Curry Club
• 1941 – Tommy Cole, American actor, singer, and makeup artist
• 1942 – Rana Bhagwandas, Pakistani judge, Chief Justice of Pakistan
• 1942 – Bob Hayes, American sprinter and football player (d. 2002)
• 1942 – Jean-Claude Trichet, French banker and economist
• 1944 – Bobby Colomby, American drummer and producer (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
• 1944 – Jimmie F. Skaggs, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1945 – Peter Criss, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer (Kiss, Wicked Lester, and Chelsea)
• 1945 – Sivakant Tiwari, Singaporean lawyer (d. 2010)
• 1946 – Uri Geller, Israeli-English psychic
• 1946 – Lesley Judd, English dancer and television host
• 1946 – Lloyd Mumphord, American football player
• 1946 – Sonny Perdue, American captain and politician, 81st Governor of Georgia
• 1946 – John Spencer, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1946 – Dick Wolf, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1947 – Roger Alton, English journalist
• 1947 – Gigliola Cinquetti, Italian singer-songwriter
• 1947 – Bo Ryan, college basketball coach
• 1948 – Alan Parsons, English keyboard player and producer (The Alan Parsons Project)
• 1948 – Carol Smart, British sociologist
• 1948 – Mitsuko Uchida, Japanese-English pianist
• 1948 – Stevie Wright, English-Australian singer-songwriter (The Easybeats)
• 1949 – Soumaïla Cissé, Malian engineer and politician
• 1949 – Cecil Cooper, American baseball player and manager
• 1949 – Oscar Gamble, American baseball player
• 1949 – Leigh Hamilton, New Zealand-American actress (d. 2012)
• 1950 – Arturo Márquez, Mexican-American composer
• 1950 – Geoffrey Grimmett, British mathematician
• 1951 – Lynne Featherstone, English politician
• 1951 – Christopher Le Brun, English painter and sculptor
• 1951 – Peter May, Scottish author and screenwriter
• 1951 – Marta Russell, American author and activist (d. 2013)
• 1951 – Joey Silvera, American porn actor and director
• 1952 – Jenny Agutter, English actress
• 1952 – Sky Gilbert, Canadian drag queen performer, actor, and author
• 1954 – Michael Badalucco, American actor and producer
• 1954 – Sandra Cisneros, American author and poet
• 1955 – David Breashears, American mountaineer, director, and producer
• 1955 – Ed Kuepper, German-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Saints, Laughing Clowns, and The Apartments)
• 1955 – Rory Markas, American sportscaster (d. 2010)
• 1956 – Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Mauritanian general and politician, President of Mauritania
• 1956 – Guy Babylon, American keyboard player and songwriter (d. 2009)
• 1956 – Blanche Baker, American actress and screenwriter
• 1956 – Andrew Mackenzie, British businessman
• 1957 – Anita Ward, American singer and musician
• 1957 – Stephen Bicknell, English organ builder (d. 2007)
• 1957 – Billy Bragg, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1957 – Joyce Hyser, American actress
• 1957 – Anna Vissi, Cypriot singer-songwriter and actress (Epikouri)
• 1957 – Mike Watt, American singer-songwriter and bass player (Banyan, Minutemen, Dos, The Stooges, and Firehose)
• 1958 – Doug Nordquist, American high jumper
• 1958 – James Thomson, American biologist and academic
• 1959 – Simon Hughes, English cricketer and journalist
• 1959 – Hildegard Körner, German middle-distance runner
• 1959 – Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Polish physicist and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Poland
• 1959 – Trent Tucker, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1960 – Nalo Hopkinson, Jamaican-American author
• 1960 – Kim Ki-duk, South Korean director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1961 – Mohammad Fouad, Egyptian singer-songwriter and actor
• 1961 – Mike Keneally, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Dethklok)
• 1961 – Freddie Spencer, American motorcycle racer
• 1963 – Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo
• 1963 – Joel Gretsch, American actor
• 1963 – Iqbal Theba, Pakistani-American actor
• 1964 – Mark Coleman, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
• 1965 – Jim Carr, American academic
• 1965 – Robert Cavanah, Scottish actor and director
• 1965 – Rich Gannon, American football player and sportscaster
• 1966 – Matt Neal, English race car driver
• 1966 – Veronica Pershina, Soviet figure skater and American figure skating coach
• 1966 – Chris Robinson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Black Crowes, Phil Lesh and Friends, and Chris Robinson Brotherhood)
• 1968 – Joe Cornish, English actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1968 – Karl Wendlinger, Austrian race car driver
• 1969 – Alain de Botton, Swiss-English philosopher and author
• 1969 – Brian O'Halloran, American actor
• 1969 – Zahra Ouaziz, Moroccan runner
• 1969 – Bobby Phills, American basketball player (d. 2000)
• 1970 – Nicole de Boer, Canadian actress
• 1970 – Grant Flower, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach
• 1970 – Alister McRae, Scottish rally driver
• 1970 – Jörg Schmidt, German footballer
• 1971 – Roger J. Beaujard, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Mortician)
• 1972 – Anders Odden, Norwegian guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Cadaver, Magenta, Satyricon, Celtic Frost, Apoptygma Berzerk, and Doctor Midnight & The Mercy Cult)
• 1972 – Anja Rücker, German sprinter
• 1973 – Maarja Kangro, Estonian author and poet
• 1973 – David Nedohin, Canadian curler
• 1973 – Cory Stillman, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1974 – Die, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Dir En Grey)
• 1975 – Bartosz Bosacki, Polish footballer
• 1975 – Jaydy Michel, Mexican model and actress
• 1976 – Aubrey Huff, American baseball player
• 1976 – Jang Hyuk, South Korean actor
• 1976 – Adam Powell, Welsh game designer and businessman, co-founded Meteor Games
• 1976 – Ramon Stoppelenburg, Dutch businessman and author
• 1976 – Nenad Vučković, Croatian footballer
• 1978 – Andrei Markov, Russian-Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Geremi Njitap, Cameroon footballer
• 1978 – Bouabdellah Tahri, French runner
• 1979 – David DeJesus, American baseball player
• 1979 – George Lamb, English radio and television host
• 1979 – Michael Rogers, Australian cyclist
• 1979 – Ramón Rodríguez, Puerto Rican-American actor
• 1980 – Israel Castro, Mexican footballer
• 1980 – Ashley Cole, English footballer
• 1980 – Anthony da Silva, French-Portuguese footballer
• 1980 – Martín Demichelis, Argentinian footballer
• 1980 – Fitz Hall, English footballer
• 1981 – Royal Ivey, American basketball player
• 1981 – Darya Pchelnik, Belarusian hammer thrower
• 1981 – James Shields, American baseball player
• 1981 – Roy Williams, American football player
• 1982 – Keny Arkana, French rapper
• 1982 – Mohammad Asif, Pakistani cricketer
• 1982 – David Cook, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Axium and Midwest Kings)
• 1982 – Kasper Klausen, Danish footballer
• 1982 – David Wright, American baseball player
• 1983 – Jonah Hill, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1983 – Chelsea Johnson, American pole vaulter
• 1983 – Lucy Pinder, English model and actress
• 1983 – Darren Sammy, Saint Lucian cricketer
• 1983 – Lara Stone, Dutch model
• 1983 – Adrián Varela, Mexican singer
• 1984 – Nikolaos Karabelas, Greek footballer
• 1984 – Bobby Morley, Australian actor and singer
• 1984 – David Tavaré, Spanish singer and DJ
• 1985 – Jillian Grace, American model
• 1985 – Gilbert Kirwa, Kenyan long-distance runner
• 1986 – Benjamin Brierley, English-German rugby player
• 1986 – Anoop Desai, American singer-songwriter
• 1987 – Yutaka Otsuka, Japanese baseball player
• 1987 – Tariel Zintiridis, Greek martial artist
• 1988 – Andrés Bottiglieri, Italian–Argentinian footballer
• 1989 – Allan Hyde, Danish actor and screenwriter
• 1990 – JoJo, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1990 – Filipp Breytveyt, Russian footballer
• 1991 – Hunter Gomez, American actor and producer
• 1992 – Ksenia Makarova, Russian-American figure skater
• 1994 – Jacko Gill, New Zealand shot puuter
• 1994 – Nazriya Nazim, Indian actress
• 1997 – Nazlati Mohamed Andhumdine, Comorian swimmer
• 1997 – Suzuka Nakamoto, Japanese model and singer (Babymetal, Karen Girl's, and Sakura Gakuin)
• 1998 – Ivett Tóth, Hungarian figure skater

Deaths[edit]

• 217 – Pope Zephyrinus
• 860 – Æthelbald of Wessex (b. 834)
• 1295 – Margaret of Provence (b. 1221)
• 1355 – Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (b. 1308)
• 1539 – Johannes Lupi, Flemish composer (b. 1506)
• 1590 – Ambroise Paré, French physician and surgeon (b. 1510)
• 1722 – Kangxi Emperor of China (b. 1654)
• 1723 – Augustus Quirinus Rivinus, German physician and botanist (b. 1652)
• 1740 – Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Portsmouth (b. 1675)
• 1765 – Louis, Dauphin of France (b. 1729)
• 1768 – Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni, Italian poet and academic (b. 1692)
• 1783 – Antonio Soler, Spanish priest and composer (b. 1729)
• 1812 – Sacagawea, American explorer (b. 1788)
• 1820 – John Bell, central figure in the Bell Witch ghost story of southern American folklore (b. 1750)
• 1856 – Francesco Bentivegna, Italian activist (b. 1820)
• 1862 – Robert Knox, Scottish surgeon and zoologist (b. 1791)
• 1880 – Gaspar Tochman, Polish-American colonel and lawyer (b. 1797)
• 1893 – George C. Magoun, American businessman (b. 1840)
• 1915 – Upendrakishore Ray, Indian painter and composer (b. 1863)
• 1916 – Louis de Champsavin, French horse rider (b. 1867)
• 1917 – Lucien Petit-Breton, French cyclist (b. 1882)
• 1920 – Linton Hope, English sailor and architect (b. 1863)
• 1921 – Hans Hartwig von Beseler, German general and politician (b. 1850)
• 1927 – Frederick Semple, American golfer and tennis player (b. 1872)
• 1929 – Émile Loubet, French lawyer and politician, 8th President of France (b. 1838)
• 1935 – Martin O'Meara, Irish-Australian sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1882)
• 1937 – Erich Ludendorff, German general (b. 1865)
• 1938 – Annie Armstrong, American missionary (b. 1850)
• 1938 – Matilda Howell, American archer (b. 1859)
• 1941 – Igor Severyanin, Russian-Estonian poet (b. 1887)
• 1950 – Enrico Mizzi, Maltese politician, 6th Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1885)
• 1954 – James Hilton, English-American author (b. 1900)
• 1956 – Ramón Carrillo, Argentinian neurologist and physician (b. 1906)
• 1959 – Juhan Simm, Estonian composer and conductor (b. 1885)
• 1961 – Moss Hart, American director and playwright (b. 1904)
• 1961 – Earle Page, Australian soldier and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1880)
• 1968 – John Steinbeck, American author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
• 1971 – Roy O. Disney, American businessman, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (b. 1893)
• 1973 – Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (b. 1904)
• 1973 – Bobby Darin, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1936)
• 1974 – Rajani Palme Dutt, English journalist and politician (b. 1896)
• 1974 – André Jolivet, French composer (b. 1905)
• 1976 – Richard J. Daley, American lawyer and politician, 48th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1902)
• 1981 – Dimitris Rontiris, Greek actor and director (b. 1899)
• 1982 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and composer (b. 1887)
• 1986 – Joe DeSa, American baseball player (b. 1959)
• 1988 – Alphonse Ouimet, Canadian businessman (b. 1908)
• 1989 – Kurt Böhme, German opera singer (b. 1908)
• 1991 – Simone Beck, French chef and author (b. 1904)
• 1991 – Sam Rabin, English wrestler, sculptor and singer (b. 1903)
• 1991 – Albert Van Vlierberghe, Belgian cyclist (b. 1942)
• 1993 – W. Edwards Deming, American statistician, academic, and author (b. 1900)
• 1994 – Dean Rusk, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 54th United States Secretary of State (b. 1909)
• 1996 – Carl Sagan, American astronomer, astrophysicist, and cosmologist (b. 1934)
• 1997 – Juzo Itami, Japanese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1933)
• 1997 – Denise Levertov, English-American poet (b. 1923)
• 1997 – Dawn Steel, American film producer (b. 1946)
• 1998 – Irene Hervey, American actress (b. 1909)
• 1998 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, English physiologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
• 1998 – C. P. Lyons, Canadian historian and author (b. 1915)
• 1999 – Riccardo Freda, Egyptian-Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1909)
• 1999 – Hank Snow, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1914)
• 2000 – Mirza Ghulam Hafiz, Bangladeshi politician and philanthropist (b. 1920)
• 2001 – Foster Brooks, American actor (b. 1912)
• 2001 – Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese poet and politician, 1st President of Senegal (b. 1906)
• 2002 – Bernard King, Australian actor and chef (b. 1934)
• 2005 – M. Moorthy, Malaysian soldier and mountaineer
• 2006 – Anne Rogers Clark, American dog breeder and trainer (b. 1929)
• 2006 – Piergiorgio Welby, Italian poet and activist (b. 1945)
• 2006 – Shi Yuejun, Chinese spree killer (b. 1970)
• 2008 – Adrian Mitchell, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1932)
• 2009 – Mairoon Ali, Trinidadian actress (b. 1954)
• 2009 – Jack Hixon, English sports scout (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Brittany Murphy, American actress and singer (b. 1977)
• 2009 – Arnold Stang, American actor and singer (b. 1918)
• 2010 – Brian Hanrahan, English journalist (b. 1949)
• 2010 – Steve Landesberg, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1936)
• 2010 – James Robert Mann, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1920)
• 2010 – K. P. Ratnam, Sri Lankan academic and politician (b. 1914)
• 2011 – Barry Reckord, Jamaican playwright (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Stan Charlton, English footballer and manager (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Leslie Claudius, Indian field hockey player and manager (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Richard Crandall, American physicist and computer scientist (b. 1947)
• 2012 – Niall FitzGerald, Irish footballer (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Robert Juniper, Australian painter and sculptor (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Eagle Keys, American-Canadian football player and coach (b. 1923)
• 2012 – Larry L. King, American journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Jimmy McCracklin, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Victor Merzhanov, Russian pianist and educator (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Kamil Sönmez, Turkish singer and actor (b. 1947)
• 2013 – Pyotr Bolotnikov, Russian runner (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Lord Infamous, American rapper (Three 6 Mafia) (b. 1973)
• 2013 – Didi Menosi, Israeli journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Nelly Omar, Argentinian actress and singer (b. 1911)
• 2013 – Masafumi Ōura, Japanese volleyball player and coach (b. 1969)
• 2013 – Reginaldo Rossi, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1944)
• 2013 – Vivian St. John, American wrestler (b. 1950)

Holidays and observances[edit]

• Abolition of Slavery Day, also known as Fête des Cafres (Réunion, French Guiana)
• Bo Aung Kyaw Day (Myanmar)
• Christian feast day:
  • Dominic of Silos
  • O Clavis
  • Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne
  • Katharina von Bora (Lutheran)
  • December 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Earliest date for Winter solstice's eve (Northern Hemisphere), and its related observances:
  • Yaldā (Iran)
• International Human Solidarity Day (International)
• Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (Macau)

 Αμφίπολη- ο κορυφαίος επιστημονικός γρίφος της χρονιάς