EVENTS OF THIS DAY IN THE PAST

[edit]

• 1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church.
• 1427 – Army of Ming dynasty started withdrawing from Hanoi, put an end to the domination of Đại Việt.
• 1508 – Portuguese forces under the command of Francisco de Almeida attack Khambhat at the Battle of Dabul.
• 1778 – American Revolutionary War: 3,000 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell capture Savannah, Georgia.
• 1786 – French Revolution: The Assembly of Notables is convened.
• 1812 – The USS Constitution under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three hour battle.
• 1835 – The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
• 1845 – In accordance with International Boundary delimitation, United States annexes the Republic of Texas, following the manifest destiny doctrine. The Republic of Texas, which had been independent since the Texas Revolution of 1836, is thereupon admitted as the 28th U.S. state.
• 1851 – The first American YMCA opens in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1860 – The first British seagoing ironclad warship, HMS Warrior is launched.
• 1876 – The Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
• 1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment.
• 1911 – Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty, enthroning 9th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu as Khagan of Mongolia.
• 1911 – Sun Yat-sen becomes the provisional President of the Republic of China; he formally takes office on January 1, 1912.

• 1914 – A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the first novel by James Joyce, is serialized in The Egoist.
• 1930 – Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the two-nation theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
• 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 with the adoption of a new constitution.
• 1939 – First flight of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator.
• 1940 – World War II: In the Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, England, UK, killing almost 200 civilians.
• 1949 – KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
• 1959 – Physicist Richard Feynman gives a speech entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", which is regarded as the birth of nanotechnology.
• 1959 – The Lisbon Metro begins operation.
• 1972 – An Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar) crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.
• 1975 – A bomb explodes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 74.
• 1989 – Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.
• 1992 – Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
• 1996 – Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
• 1997 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
• 1998 – Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over one million lives.
• 2001 – A fire at the Mesa Redonda shopping center in Lima, Peru, kills at least 291.
• 2003 – The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.
• 2006 – UK settles its Anglo-American loan, post-WWII loan debt.
• 2012 – A Tupolev Tu-204 airliner crashes in a ditch between the airport fence and the M3 highway after overshooting a runway at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing five people and leaving three others critically injured.
• 2013 – A suicide bomb attack at the Volgograd-1 railway station in the southern Russian city of Volgograd kills at least 18 people and wounds 40 others.

Births[edit]

• 765 – Ali al-Ridha, Saudi Arabian 8th of the Twelve Imams (d. 818)
• 1709 – Elizabeth of Russia (d. 1762)
• 1721 – Madame de Pompadour, French mistress of Louis XV of France (d. 1764)
• 1796 – Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist and journalist (d. 1877)
• 1800 – Charles Goodyear, American engineer (d. 1860)
• 1808 – Andrew Johnson, American general and politician, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875)
• 1809 – William Ewart Gladstone, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1898)
• 1816 – Carl Ludwig, German physician and physiologist (d. 1895)
• 1843 – Elisabeth of Wied (d. 1916)
• 1855 – August Kitzberg, Estonian author and poet (d. 1927)
• 1856 – Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch-French mathematician and academic (d. 1894)
• 1874 – François Brandt, Dutch rower (d. 1949)
• 1876 – Pablo Casals, Catalan cellist and conductor (d. 1973)
• 1877 – Max Hess, American gymnast (d. 1969)
• 1879 – Billy Mitchell, American general (d. 1936)
• 1881 – Scott Leary, American swimmer (d. 1958)
• 1881 – Jess Willard, American boxer (d. 1968)
• 1885 – Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, Austrian-Russian general (d. 1921)
• 1886 – Norman Hallows, English middle-distance runner (d. 1968)
• 1895 – Oswald Freisler, German lawyer (d. 1939)
• 1896 – David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (d. 1974)
• 1899 – Nie Rongzhen, Chinese general and politician, Mayor of Beijing (d. 1992)
• 1902 – Nels Stewart, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1957)
• 1904 – Kuvempu, Indian author and poet (d. 1994)
• 1908 – Helmut Gollwitzer, German theologian and author (d. 1993)
• 1908 – Magnus Pyke, British Scientist, Author and TV Presenter (1992)
• 1910 – Ronald Coase, English-American economist, author, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
• 1911 – Klaus Fuchs, German physicist and spy (d. 1988)
• 1914 – Zainul Abedin, Bangladeshi painter (d. 1976)
• 1914 – Billy Tipton, American pianist and saxophonist (d. 1989)
• 1914 – Albert Tucker, Australian painter (d. 1999)
• 1915 – Bill Osmanski, American football player and coach (d. 1996)
• 1915 – Robert Ruark, American hunter and author (d. 1965)
• 1917 – Tom Bradley, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 38th Mayor of Los Angeles (d. 1998)
• 1917 – Ramanand Sagar, Indian director and producer (d. 2005)
• 1919 – Alfred de Grazia, American political scientist and author (d. 2014)
• 1919 – Roman Vlad, Italian pianist and composer (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Viveca Lindfors, Swedish actress and singer (d. 1995)
• 1921 – Robert C. Baker, American chef, invented the chicken nugget (d. 2006)
• 1921 – Dobrica Ćosić, Serbian politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Little Joe Cook, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
• 1922 – William Gaddis, American author and academic (d. 1998)
• 1923 – Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian, anthropologist, and physicist (d. 1986)
• 1923 – Shlomo Venezia, Greek-Italian holocaust survivor and author (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Joe Allbritton, American businessman and publisher, founded the Allbritton Communications Company (d. 2012)
• 1925 – Pete Dye, American golf course designer
• 1927 – Andy Stanfield, American sprinter (d. 1985)
• 1928 – Bernard Cribbins, English actor, singer, and director
• 1929 – Matt Murphy, American guitarist (The Blues Brothers)
• 1931 – Yi Gu, Japanese-American son of Bangja, Crown Princess Euimin of Korea (d. 2005)
• 1931 – Stasys Stonkus, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (d. 2012)
• 1932 – Inga Swenson, American actress
• 1933 – Samuel Brittan, English journalist and author
• 1934 – Ed Flanders, American actor (d. 1995)
• 1935 – Virgil Johnson, American singer (The Velvets) (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Mary Tyler Moore, American actress and singer
• 1936 – Ray Nitschke, American football player (d. 1998)
• 1937 – Wayne Huizenga, American businessman, founded AutoNation
• 1937 – Barbara Steele, English actress and producer
• 1938 – Harvey Smith, English horse rider
• 1938 – Jon Voight, American actor and producer
• 1940 – Fred Hansen, American pole vaulter
• 1941 – Ray Thomas, English singer-songwriter and flute player (The Moody Blues)
• 1942 – Dinah Christie, English-Canadian actress and singer
• 1942 – Rick Danko, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (The Band) (d. 1999)
• 1942 – Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor, singer, and producer (d. 2012)
• 1942 – Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, Honduran cardinal
• 1943 – Bill Aucoin, American talent manager (d. 2010)
• 1943 – Molly Bang, American author and illustrator
• 1946 – Marianne Faithfull, English singer-songwriter and actress
• 1947 – Richard Crandall, American physicist and computer scientist (d. 2012)
• 1947 – Ted Danson, American actor and producer
• 1947 – Leonhard Lapin, Estonian architect and poet
• 1947 – Cozy Powell, English drummer, songwriter, and producer (Emerson, Lake & Powell, The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Whitesnake, and Black Sabbath) (d. 1998)
• 1947 – David Tanner, English rower and coach
• 1947 – Vincent Winter, Scottish actor, director, and production manager (d. 1998)
• 1948 – Peter Robinson, Irish politician, 3rd First Minister of Northern Ireland
• 1949 – Syed Kirmani, Indian cricketer
• 1949 – David Topliss, English rugby player and coach (d. 2008)
• 1950 – Jon Polito, American actor
• 1951 – Yvonne Elliman, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1951 – Georges Thurston, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
• 1952 – Gelsey Kirkland, American ballerina and choreographer
• 1953 – Gali Atari, Israeli singer and actress
• 1953 – Alan Rusbridger, Zambian-English journalist and academic
• 1953 – Kate Schmidt, American javelin thrower
• 1953 – Stanley Williams, American gang leader, co-founded the Crips (d. 2005)
• 1954 – Albrecht Böttcher, German mathematician and author
• 1954 – Norihito, Prince Takamado of Japan (d. 2002)
• 1954 – Roger Voudouris, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
• 1956 – Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian and radio host
• 1957 – Brad Grey, American screenwriter and producer
• 1957 – Oliver Hirschbiegel, German actor, director, and producer
• 1957 – Iain Paxton, Scottish rugby player and coach
• 1957 – Paul Rudnick, American author and screenwriter
• 1958 – Nancy J. Currie, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut
• 1959 – Keith Crossan, Irish rugby player
• 1959 – Patricia Clarkson, American actress
• 1959 – Ann Demeulemeester, Belgian fashion designer
• 1959 – Martin Moran, American actor
• 1959 – Milton Ottey, Canadian high jumper
• 1959 – Paula Poundstone, American comedian, actress, and author
• 1960 – David Boon, Australian cricketer
• 1960 – Katerina Didaskalou, Greek actress
• 1960 – Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Congolese militia leader, founded the Union of Congolese Patriots
• 1961 – Kevin Granata, American engineer and academic (d. 2007)
• 1961 – Jim Reid, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Jesus and Mary Chain and Freeheat)
• 1961 – Richard Horton, English physician and journalist
• 1962 – Devon White, Jamaican-American baseball player
• 1963 – Francisco Bustamante, Filipino Pool player
• 1963 – Des Foy, English rugby player
• 1963 – Dave McKean, English illustrator, photographer, director, and pianist
• 1963 – Sean Payton, American football player and coach
• 1963 – Liisa Savijarvi, Canadian skier
• 1965 – Dexter Holland, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Offspring)
• 1966 – Laurent Boudouani French boxer
• 1966 – Stefano Eranio, Italian footballer and coach
• 1966 – Martin Offiah, English rugby player and sportscaster
• 1967 – Ashleigh Banfield, Canadian-American journalist
• 1967 – Chris Barnes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Six Feet Under, Cannibal Corpse, and Torture Killer)
• 1967 – Evan Seinfeld, American bass player, actor, and director (Biohazard and Damnocracy)
• 1969 – Jennifer Ehle, American-English actress
• 1969 – Allan McNish, Scottish race car driver
• 1969 – José Antonio Noriega, Mexican footballer
• 1970 – Aled Jones, Welsh singer and television host
• 1970 – Hidetoshi Mitsusada, Japanese race car driver
• 1970 – Glen Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Toad the Wet Sprocket and Works Progress Administration)
• 1970 – Kevin Weisman, American actor
• 1971 – Um Sang-hyun, South Korean voice actor
• 1971 – Margot Thien, American swimmer
• 1972 – Asheru, American rapper
• 1972 – Jason Kreis, American soccer player and manager
• 1972 – Jude Law, English actor, director, and producer
• 1972 – Leonor Varela, Chilean-American actress
• 1973 – Pimp C, American rapper and producer (UGK) (d. 2007)
• 1973 – Theo Epstein, American businessman
• 1974 – Twinkle Khanna, Indian actress and producer
• 1974 – Mekhi Phifer, American actor and producer
• 1974 – Richie Sexson, American baseball player
• 1974 – Ryan Shore, Canadian composer and producer
• 1975 – Shawn Hatosy, American actor
• 1975 – Jaret Wright, American baseball player
• 1976 – Filip Kuba, Czech ice hockey player
• 1976 – Danny McBride, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1977 – Jimmy Journell, American baseball player
• 1977 – Katherine Moennig, American actress
• 1978 – Alexis Amore, Peruvian-American porn actress
• 1978 – Jake Berry, English lawyer and politician
• 1978 – Matthew Carr, Australian footballer
• 1978 – Pierre Dagenais, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Kieron Dyer, English footballer
• 1978 – Danny Higginbotham, English footballer
• 1978 – Steve Kemp, English drummer (Hard-Fi)
• 1978 – LaToya London, American singer and actress
• 1978 – Angelo Taylor, American hurdler and sprinter
• 1979 – Mitsuhiro Ishida, Japanese mixed martial artist
• 1979 – Diego Luna, Mexican actor, director, and producer
• 1979 – Ariel Schrag, American cartoonist and screenwriter
• 1981 – Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater
• 1981 – Shaun Suisham, American football player
• 1981 – Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko, Estonian footballer
• 1982 – Alison Brie, American actress
• 1982 – Gabrielle Destroismaisons, Canadian singer
• 1982 – Brian Hill, Canadian Paralympic swimmer
• 1982 – Dale Morris, Australian footballer
• 1983 – Jessica Andrews, American singer-songwriter
• 1983 – James Kelly, Australian footballer
• 1983 – Gonzalo Olave, Chilean actor (d. 2009)
• 1984 – Reimo Tamm, Estonian basketball player
• 1985 – Alexa Ray Joel, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1985 – Wang Ji-hye, South Korean actress
• 1986 – Joe Anyon, English footballer
• 1986 – Kim Ok-bin, South Korean actress and singer
• 1987 – Yuhi Sekiguchi, Japanese race car driver
• 1988 – Eric Berry, American football player
• 1988 – Ágnes Szávay, Hungarian tennis player
• 1989 – Left Brain, American rapper and producer (Odd Future and MellowHype)
• 1989 – Jane Levy, American actress
• 1989 – Kei Nishikori, Japanese tennis player
• 1990 – Allen Kim, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor (U-KISS and Xing)
• 1994 – Princess Kako of Akishino
• 1995 – Rina Ikoma, Japanese singer (Nogizaka46 and AKB48)
• 1995 – Ross Lynch, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (R5)
• 1998 – Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, American actor

Deaths[edit]

• 721 – Empress Genmei of Japan (b. 660)
• 1170 – Thomas Becket, English archbishop (b. 1118)
• 1563 – Sebastian Castellio, French preacher and theologian (b. 1515)
• 1565 – Queen Munjeong of Korea (b. 1501)
• 1634 – John Albert Vasa, Polish cardinal (b. 1612)
• 1661 – Antoine Girard de Saint-Amant, French poet (b. 1594)
• 1689 – Thomas Sydenham, English physician (b. 1624)
• 1731 – Brook Taylor, English mathematician (b. 1685)
• 1737 – Joseph Saurin, French minister and mathematician (b. 1659)
• 1785 – Johan Herman Wessel, Norwegian-Danish poet and playwright (b. 1742)
• 1825 – Jacques-Louis David, French painter and illustrator (b. 1748)
• 1887 – Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann, Estonian-Russian linguist and botanist (b. 1805)
• 1891 – Leopold Kronecker, Polish-German mathematician and academic (b. 1823)
• 1894 – Christina Rossetti, English poet and hymn-writer (b. 1830)
• 1896 – Jacob ben Moses Bachrach, Polish apologist (b. 1824)
• 1897 – William James Linton, English-American painter, author, and activist (b. 1812)
• 1910 – Reginald Doherty, English tennis player (b. 1872)
• 1924 – Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
• 1926 – Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian author and poet (b. 1875)
• 1929 – Wilhelm Maybach, German engineer and businessman, founded Maybach (b. 1846)
• 1934 – Alma Tell, American actress (b. 1898)
• 1937 – Don Marquis, American journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1878)
• 1941 – Tullio Levi-Civita, Italian mathematician and scholar (b. 1873)
• 1949 – Tyler Dennett, American historian and author (b. 1883)
• 1952 – Fletcher Henderson, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1897)
• 1953 – Violet MacMillan, American actress (b. 1887)
• 1959 – Robin Milford, English composer (b. 1903)
• 1960 – Eden Phillpotts, English author and poet (b. 1862)
• 1967 – Paul Whiteman, American violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1890)
• 1968 – Austin Farrer, English theologian and philosopher (b. 1904)
• 1970 – Marie Menken, American director and painter (b. 1909)
• 1972 – Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos, Greek priest and missionary (b. 1903)
• 1976 – Ivo Van Damme, Belgian runner (b. 1954)
• 1980 – Tim Hardin, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
• 1980 – Nadezhda Mandelstam, Russian author and educator (b. 1899)
• 1981 – Miroslav Krleža, Croatian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1893)
• 1984 – Indus Arthur, American actress (b. 1941)
• 1986 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
• 1986 – Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1932)
• 1988 – Mike Beuttler, Egyptian race car driver (b. 1940)
• 1989 – Süreyya Ağaoğlu, Turkish Azerbaijani origin writer, jurist, and the first female lawyer in Turkish history (b. 1903)
• 1993 – Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Armenian actor (b. 1930)
• 1995 – Lita Grey, American actress (b. 1908)
• 1996 – Mireille Hartuch, French singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1906)
• 1998 – Jean-Claude Forest, French author and illustrator (b. 1930)
• 1999 – Leon Radzinowicz, Polish-English criminologist and academic (b. 1906)
• 2001 – Takashi Asahina, Japanese conductor (b. 1908)
• 2001 – Cássia Eller, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1962)
• 2002 – Ralph Clanton, American actor (d. 1914)
• 2003 – Earl Hindman, American actor (b. 1942)
• 2003 – Dinsdale Landen, English actor (b. 1932)
• 2003 – Bob Monkhouse, English comedian, actor, and game show host (b. 1928)
• 2004 – Julius Axelrod, American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
• 2004 – Ken Burkhart, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1915)
• 2004 – Liddy Holloway, New Zealand actress and screenwriter (b. 1947)
• 2005 – Gerda Boyesen, Norwegian-English psychotherapist and author (b. 1922)
• 2007 – Kevin Greening, English radio host (b. 1962)
• 2007 – Phil O'Donnell, Scottish footballer (b. 1972)
• 2008 – Freddie Hubbard, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1938)
• 2009 – Akmal Shaikh, Pakistani-English businessman and drug trafficker (b. 1956)
• 2009 – "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, American football player and wrestler (b. 1960)
• 2010 – Bill Erwin, American actor (b. 1914)
• 2011 – Tyron Perez, Filipino model and actor (b. 1985)
• 2012 – Mike Auldridge, American singer and guitarist (The Seldom Scene and Chesapeake) (b. 1938)
• 2012 – Tony Greig, South African-Australian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1946)
• 2012 – Edward Meneeley, American painter and sculptor (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Ben Overton, American jurist (b. 1926)
• 2012 – William Rees-Mogg, English journalist (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Salvador Reyes Monteón, Mexican footballer and manager (b. 1936)
• 2012 – Paulo Rocha, Portuguese director and screenwriter (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Bruce Stark, American cartoonist (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Ignacy Tokarczuk, Polish archbishop (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Roland Griffiths-Marsh, Malaysian-Australian soldier and author (b. 1923)
• 2013 – C. T. Hsia, Chinese-American critic and scholar (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Paul Comstive, English footballer (b. 1961)
• 2013 – Benjamin Curtis, American guitarist, drummer, and songwriter (Secret Machines, School of Seven Bells, Tripping Daisy, and UFOFU) (b. 1978)
• 2013 – Connie Dierking, American basketball player (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Wojciech Kilar, Polish composer (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Besik Kudukhov, Russian wrestler (b. 1986)
• 2013 – Jagadish Mohanty, Indian author (b. 1951)
• 2013 – Mike O'Connor, German-American journalist (b. 1946)
• 2013 – Paul Sally, American mathematician and academic (b. 1933)

Holidays and observances[edit]

• Christian feast day:
  • David, King and prophet (Catholic, Lutheran)
  • Thomas Becket
  • Trophimus of Arles
  • December 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Constitution Day (Ireland)
• Independence Day (Mongolia)
• The fifth day of Christmas (Western Christianity)