Important events in history
on December 24 ^th

Events

2018
1. A helicopter crash kills Martha Érika Alonso, first female Governor of Puebla, Mexico, and her husband Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, former governor.
  1. 2018 Puebla helicopter crash
    
    On December 24, 2018, a helicopter carrying Martha Érika Alonso Hidalgo, the newly elected Governor of the Mexican state of Puebla, and her husband, Senator and former Governor Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, crashed on a hill in Coronango near the city of Puebla. Five people on board the helicopter were killed in the crash: Alonso, Moreno, the two pilots, Captain Roberto Coppe Obregón and Captain Marco Antonio Tavera Romero, and an assistant to the senator. Alonso was 10 days into her term as governor. The accident investigation found a preexisting problem with a stability system on the helicopter.
  2. Martha Érika Alonso
    
    Martha Érika Alonso Hidalgo was a Mexican politician of the National Action Party (PAN) who served as the first female governor of Puebla from 14 December 2018 until her death ten days later in a helicopter crash. She was the spouse of Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, who was governor of Puebla from 2011 to 2017 and was also killed in the crash.
  3. Governor of Puebla
    
    The governor of Puebla is the chief executive of the Mexican state of Puebla.
  4. Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas
    
    Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas was a Mexican politician affiliated with the National Action Party (PAN). He was the governor of Puebla from February 2011 through January 2017.
2008
1. The Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, began attacks on several villages in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing hundreds and committing numerous atrocities.
  1. Lord's Resistance Army
    
    The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and heterodox Christian group which operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Originally known as the United Holy Salvation Army and Uganda Christian Army/Movement, its stated goals include establishment of multi-party democracy, ruling Uganda according to the Ten Commandments, and Acholi nationalism.
  2. 2008 Christmas massacres
    
    The Christmas massacres took place on 24–27 December 2008, when the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group, attacked several villages in Haut-Uele District, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The massacres were the fifth deadliest acts of terrorism in world history.
2. The Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, begins a series of attacks against civilians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, massacring more than 400.
  1. Lord's Resistance Army
    
    The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and heterodox Christian group which operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Originally known as the United Holy Salvation Army and Uganda Christian Army/Movement, its stated goals include establishment of multi-party democracy, ruling Uganda according to the Ten Commandments, and Acholi nationalism.
  2. Uganda
    
    Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region. Uganda also lies within the Nile basin and has a varied but generally a modified equatorial climate. It has a population of around 46 million, of which 8.5 million live in the capital and largest city of Kampala.
  3. 2008 Christmas massacres
    
    The Christmas massacres took place on 24–27 December 2008, when the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group, attacked several villages in Haut-Uele District, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The massacres were the fifth deadliest acts of terrorism in world history.
  4. Democratic Republic of the Congo
    
    The Democratic Republic of the Congo, informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered to the northwest by the Republic of the Congo, to the north by the Central African Republic, to the northeast by South Sudan, to the east by Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, and by Tanzania, to the south and southeast by Zambia, to the southwest by Angola, and to the west by the South Atlantic Ocean and the Cabinda exclave of Angola. By area, it is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world. With a population of around 108 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most populous officially Francophone country in the world. The national capital and largest city is Kinshasa, which is also the nation's economic center.
2005
1. Chad–Sudan relations: Chad declares a state of belligerence against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead.
  1. Chad–Sudan relations
    
    The populations of eastern Chad and western Sudan established social and religious ties long before either nation's independence, and these remained strong despite disputes between governments. In recent times, relations have been strained due to the conflict in Darfur and a civil war in Chad, which both governments accuse the other of supporting.
  2. Chad
    
    Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon to the southwest, Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Chad has a population of 16 million, of which 1.6 million live in the capital and largest city of N'Djamena.
  3. Declaration of war
    
    A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government, in order to create a state of war between two or more states.
  4. Sudan
    
    Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in East Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south and the Red Sea. It has a population of 45.70 million people as of 2022 and occupies 1,886,068 square kilometres, making it Africa's third-largest country by area, and the third-largest by area in the Arab League. It was the largest country by area in Africa and the Arab League until the secession of South Sudan in 2011, since which both titles have been held by Algeria. Its capital is Khartoum and its most populated city is Omdurman.
  5. Battle of Adré
    
    The Battle of Adré took place in Adré, Chad on 18 December 2005. The battle began when the Chadian rebel groups Rally for Democracy and Liberty (RDL) and Platform for Change, Unity, and Democracy (SCUD), allegedly backed by the government of Sudan, attacked the garrison in this city. However, Chadian loyalists, who had been forewarned by military intelligence of the attack, easily repulsed the attackers. Either seventy, one hundred, or three hundred rebels were killed, depending on reports. Governmental losses are unknown, but they lost at least one Russian-made helicopter in a collision with electric wires during the fighting, while another Mil Mi-17 helicopter was heavily damaged by rebel fire which killed at least one crew member.
2003
1. The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station.
  1. ETA (separatist group)
    
    ETA, an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, was an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization in the Basque Country. The group was founded in 1959 and later evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group engaged in a violent campaign of bombing, assassinations, and kidnappings in the Southern Basque Country and throughout Spanish territory. Its goal was gaining independence for the Basque Country. ETA was the main group within the Basque National Liberation Movement and was the most important Basque participant in the Basque conflict.
  2. Explosive
    
    An explosive is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An explosive charge is a measured quantity of explosive material, which may either be composed solely of one ingredient or be a mixture containing at least two substances.
  3. Madrid
    
    Madrid is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and its monocentric metropolitan area is the third-largest in the EU. The municipality covers 604.3 km2 (233.3 sq mi) geographical area.
  4. Madrid Chamartín railway station
    
    The Estación de Madrid-Chamartín Clara Campoamor or Madrid Chamartín is the second major railway station in Madrid, Spain. Located on the northern side of the city, it was built between 1970 and 1975, but more work was carried on into the early 1980s. It then superseded Atocha station, which is located just south of the city centre.
1999
1. Jihadists linked to al-Qaeda hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 to force the release of Islamist figures held in prison in India.
  1. Jihadism
    
    Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam." Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Western journalists adopted the term in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks of 2001. Since then, it has been applied to various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideologies are based on the Islamic notion of jihad. It has also been applied to various Islamic empires in history, such as the Arab Umayyad Caliphate and the Ottoman empire, who extensively campaigned against non-Muslim nations in the name of jihad.
  2. Al-Qaeda
    
    Al-Qaeda is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countries, including the 1998 United States embassy bombings, the September 11 attacks, and the 2002 Bali bombings; it has been designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, India, and various other countries.
  3. Indian Airlines Flight 814
    
    Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India, on Friday, 24 December 1999, when it was hijacked and flown to several locations before landing in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
2. Indian Airlines Flight 814 is hijacked in Indian airspace between Kathmandu, Nepal, and Delhi, India. The aircraft landed at Kandahar in Afghanistan. The incident ended on December 31 with the release of 190 survivors (one passenger is killed).
  1. Indian Airlines Flight 814
    
    Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India, on Friday, 24 December 1999, when it was hijacked and flown to several locations before landing in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
  2. Kathmandu
    
    Kathmandu, officially Kathmandu Metropolitan City, is the capital and most populous city of Nepal with 845,767 inhabitants living in 105,649 households in 2021 and 2.9 million people in its urban agglomeration. It is located in the Kathmandu Valley, a large valley in the high plateaus in central Nepal, at an altitude of 1,400 metres.
  3. Nepal
    
    Nepal, formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, and India in the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural state, with Nepali as the official language. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the largest city.
  4. Delhi
    
    Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders with the state of Uttar Pradesh in the east and with the state of Haryana in the remaining directions. The NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres (573 sq mi). According to the 2011 census, Delhi's city proper population was over 11 million, while the NCT's population was about 16.8 million. Delhi's urban agglomeration, which includes the satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Noida in an area known as the National Capital Region (NCR), has an estimated population of over 28 million, making it the largest metropolitan area in India and the second-largest in the world.
  5. Kandahar
    
    Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of 1,010 m (3,310 ft). It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the capital of Kandahar Province as well as the de facto capital of the Taliban, formally known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. It also happens to be the centre of the larger cultural region called Loy Kandahar. In 1709, Mirwais Hotak made the region an independent kingdom and turned Kandahar into the capital of the Hotak dynasty. In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the Durrani dynasty, made Kandahar the capital of the Afghan Empire. Historically this province is considered as important political area for Afghanistan revelations.
  6. Afghanistan
    
    Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. As of 2021, its population is 40.2 million, composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks. Kabul is the country's largest city and serves as its capital.
1997
1. The Sid El-Antri massacre in Algeria kills between 50 and 100 people.
  1. Sid El-Antri massacre
    
    The Sid El-Antri massacre took place on the night of 23–24 December 1997 in two small villages near Tiaret, Algeria. The death toll is unclear; Reuters cites "at least 80", or 48 according to the government, Le Jeune Independent says 117 people were killed and 11 abducted by terrorists, and a timeline gives 53 killed in Sidi el-Antri and 28 in Shari. On the same day, 11 were killed further away in the Bainem area near Algiers. A few days later, another 26 civilians were killed in the Zouabria massacre, also near Tiaret.
  2. Algeria
    
    Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in North Africa. Algeria is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia; to the east by Libya; to the southeast by Niger; to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. It is considered part of the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has a semi-arid geography, with most of the population living in the fertile north and the Sahara dominating the geography of the south. Algeria covers an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), making it the world's tenth largest nation by area, and the largest nation in Africa, being more than 200 times as large as the smallest country in the continent, The Gambia. With a population of 44 million, Algeria is the ninth-most populous country in Africa, and the 32nd-most populous country in the world. The capital and largest city is Algiers, located in the far north on the Mediterranean coast.
1996
1. A Learjet 35 crashes into Smarts Mountain near Dorchester, New Hampshire, killing both pilots on board.
  1. Learjet 35
    
    The Learjet Model 35 and Model 36 are a series of American multi-role business jets and military transport aircraft manufactured by Learjet. When used by the United States Air Force they carry the designation C-21A.
  2. 1996 New Hampshire Learjet crash
    
    On Christmas Eve 1996, a Learjet 35A business jet disappeared near Dorchester, New Hampshire, United States. The crash led to the longest missing aircraft search in the state's history, lasting almost three years. Media attention eventually resulted in congressional legislation mandating improved emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) be installed in U.S.-registered business jets.
  3. Smarts Mountain
    
    Smarts Mountain is a 3,238-foot-high (987 m) mountain in the town of Lyme in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. Smarts is flanked to the north by Mount Cube, at 2,909 feet (887 m), and to the southwest by Holts Ledge, at 2,110 feet (640 m). Although of only moderate elevation, Smarts is separated from the southwestern White Mountains by Oliverian Notch, a fairly low pass traversed by New Hampshire Route 25 southwest of Mount Moosilauke. That gives Smarts a relative height of 2,190 ft (670 m), which makes it one of twelve mountains in New Hampshire with a prominence over 2,000 ft (610 m).
  4. Dorchester, New Hampshire
    
    Dorchester is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 339 at the 2020 census.
1994
1. Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked on the ground at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers, Algeria. Over the course of three days three passengers are killed, as are all four terrorists.
  1. Air France Flight 8969
    
    Air France Flight 8969 was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers. The terrorists murdered three passengers and their intention was either to blow up the plane over the Eiffel Tower in Paris or crash the plane into it. When the aircraft reached Marseille, the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN), a counter-terror unit of the French National Gendarmerie, stormed the plane and killed all four hijackers.
  2. Houari Boumediene Airport
    
    Houari Boumediene International Airport, also known as Algiers Airport or Algiers International Airport, is the main international airport serving Algiers, the capital of Algeria. It is located 9.1 NM east southeast of the city.
  3. Algiers
    
    Algiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145 and in 2020 was estimated to be around 4,500,000. Algiers is located on the Mediterranean Sea and in the north-central portion of Algeria.
1979
1. The Soviet government deployed troops in Afghanistan, starting the Soviet–Afghan War.
  1. Soviet–Afghan War
    
    The Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989) was a nine-year guerrilla war fought by insurgent groups known collectively as the Mujahideen, as well as smaller Maoist groups, against the military occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union and their satellite state, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA). The conflict lasted throughout the 1980s and fighting took place mostly in the Afghan countryside.
1974
1. Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia.
  1. Cyclone Tracy
    
    Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from 24 to 26 December 1974. The small, developing easterly storm had been observed passing clear of the city initially, but then turned towards it early on 24 December. After 10:00 p.m. ACST, damage became severe, and wind gusts reached 217 kilometres per hour (134.84 mph) before instruments failed. The anemometer in Darwin Airport control tower had its needle bent in half by the strength of the gusts.
  2. Darwin, Northern Territory
    
    Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory.
1973
1. The U.S. Congress granted home rule to Washington, D.C., allowing the residents to elect their own mayor and a city council.
  1. United States Congress
    
    The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a governor's appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives. The vice president of the United States has a vote in the Senate only when senators are evenly divided. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members.
  2. District of Columbia home rule
    
    District of Columbia home rule is District of Columbia residents' ability to govern their local affairs. As the federal capital, the Constitution grants the United States Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the District in "all cases whatsoever".
  3. Washington, D.C.
    
    Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia, also known as just Washington or simply D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. It is located on the east bank of the Potomac River, which forms its southwestern and southern border with the U.S. state of Virginia, and it shares a land border with the U.S. state of Maryland on its other sides. The city was named for George Washington, a Founding Father and the first president of the United States, and the federal district is named after Columbia, the female personification of the nation. As the seat of the U.S. federal government and several international organizations, the city is an important world political capital. It is one of the most visited cities in the U.S. with over 20 million annual visitors as of 2016.
  4. List of mayors of Washington, D.C.
    
    Below is a list of mayors of Washington, D.C. and associated political entities.
  5. Council of the District of Columbia
    
    The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state and is overseen directly by the federal government.
2. District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.
  1. District of Columbia Home Rule Act
    
    The District of Columbia Home Rule Act is a United States federal law passed on December 24, 1973, which devolved certain congressional powers of the District of Columbia to local government, furthering District of Columbia home rule. In particular, it includes the District Charter, which provides for an elected mayor and the Council of the District of Columbia. The council is composed of a chair elected at large and twelve members, four of whom are elected at large, and one from each of the District's eight wards. Council members are elected to four-year terms.
  2. Local government
    
    Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-localised and has limited powers. While in some countries, "government" is normally reserved purely for a national administration (government), the term local government is always used specifically in contrast to national government – as well as, in many cases, the activities of sub-national, first-level administrative divisions. Local governments generally act only within powers specifically delegated to them by law and/or directives of a higher level of government. In federal states, local government generally comprises a third or fourth tier of government, whereas in unitary states, local government usually occupies the second or third tier of government.
1971
1. LANSA Flight 508 is struck by lightning and crashes in the Puerto Inca District in the Department of Huánuco in Peru, killing 91.
  1. LANSA Flight 508
    
    LANSA Flight 508 was a Lockheed L-188A Electra turboprop, registered OB-R-941, operated as a scheduled domestic passenger flight by Lineas Aéreas Nacionales Sociedad Anonima (LANSA), which crashed in a thunderstorm en route from Lima to Pucallpa in Peru on 24 December 1971, killing 91 people — all six of its crew and 85 of its 86 passengers. It is the deadliest lightning strike disaster in history.
  2. Puerto Inca District
    
    Puerto Inca District is one of five districts of the province Puerto Inca in Peru.
  3. Department of Huánuco
    
    Huánuco is a department and region in central Peru. It is bordered by the La Libertad, San Martín, Loreto and Ucayali regions in the north, the Ucayali Region in the east, the Pasco Region in the south and the Lima and Ancash regions in the west. Its capital is the city Huánuco.
  4. Peru
    
    Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. Peru is a megadiverse country with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the Andes mountains extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the tropical Amazon basin rainforest in the east with the Amazon River. Peru has a population of 32 million, and its capital and largest city is Lima. At 1.28 million km2, Peru is the 19th largest country in the world, and the third largest in South America.
1969
1. Nigerian troops capture Umuahia, the Biafran capital.
  1. Umuahia
    
    Umuahia is the capital city of Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. Umuahia is located along the rail road that lies between Port Harcourt to its south,and Enugu city to its north. Umuahia has a population of 359,230 according to the 2006 Nigerian census. Umuahia is indigenously Igbo.
  2. Biafra
    
    Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated then Eastern Region of Nigeria which is now divided into the South-East and South-South regions of Nigeria. Biafra was established on 30 May 1967 by Igbo military officer C. Odumegwu Ojukwu under his leadership as the governor of the then Eastern region of Nigeria, following a series of ethnic tensions and military coups after Nigerian independence in 1960 that culminated in the 1966 massacres of Igbo people and other Eastern ethnic groups living in northern Nigeria. The military of Nigeria proceeded to invade Biafra shortly after its secession, resulting in the start of the Nigerian Civil War.
1968
1. Piloted by Jim Lovell, Apollo 8 became the first human spaceflight to reach and orbit the moon.
  1. Jim Lovell
    
    James Arthur Lovell Jr. is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of the first three astronauts to fly to and orbit the Moon. He then commanded the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970 which, after a critical failure en route, circled the Moon and returned safely to Earth.
  2. Apollo 8
    
    Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing, and then departed safely back to Earth. These three astronauts—Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders—were the first humans to personally witness and photograph the far side of the Moon and an Earthrise.
  3. Human spaceflight
    
    Human spaceflight is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be remotely operated from ground stations on Earth, or autonomously, without any direct human involvement. People trained for spaceflight are called astronauts, cosmonauts (Russian), or taikonauts (Chinese); and non-professionals are referred to as spaceflight participants or spacefarers.
2. Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed ten lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures.
  1. Apollo program
    
    The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the third United States human spaceflight program carried out by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which succeeded in preparing and landing the first humans on the Moon from 1968 to 1972. It was first conceived in 1960 during President Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration as a three-person spacecraft to follow the one-person Project Mercury, which put the first Americans in space. Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal for the 1960s of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in an address to Congress on May 25, 1961. It was the third US human spaceflight program to fly, preceded by the two-person Project Gemini conceived in 1961 to extend spaceflight capability in support of Apollo.
  2. Apollo 8
    
    Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing, and then departed safely back to Earth. These three astronauts—Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders—were the first humans to personally witness and photograph the far side of the Moon and an Earthrise.
  3. Moon
    
    The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth. The Moon is a planetary-mass object with a differentiated rocky body, making it a satellite planet under the geophysical definitions of the term and larger than all known dwarf planets of the Solar System. It lacks any significant atmosphere, hydrosphere, or magnetic field. Its surface gravity is about one-sixth of Earth's at 0.1654 g, with Jupiter's moon Io being the only satellite in the Solar System known to have a higher surface gravity and density.
  4. Lunar orbit
    
    In astronomy, lunar orbit is the orbit of an object around the Moon.
1966
1. A Canadair CL-44 chartered by the United States military crashes into a small village in South Vietnam, killing 111.
  1. Canadair CL-44
    
    The Canadair CL-44 was a Canadian turboprop airliner and cargo aircraft based on the Bristol Britannia that was developed and produced by Canadair in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although innovative, only a small number of the aircraft were produced for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and for commercial operators worldwide.
  2. United States Armed Forces
    
    The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and forms military policy with the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), both federal executive departments, acting as the principal organs by which military policy is carried out. All six armed services are among the eight uniformed services of the United States.
  3. 1966 Flying Tiger Line Canadair CL-44 crash
    
    On December 24, 1966, a Flying Tiger Line Canadair CL-44 flying from Tachikawa Air Force Base in Japan to Da Nang Airport struck an obstacle, stalled, and crashed into Binh Thai village, killing all four crew members and 107 people on the ground. The flight was on a subcontract for the United States Air Force. This was the first fatal accident for the CL-44 and the deadliest as well.
  4. South Vietnam
    
    South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam, was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of the Cold War after the 1954 division of Vietnam. It first received international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with its capital at Saigon, before becoming a republic in 1955. South Vietnam was bordered by North Vietnam to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. Its sovereignty was recognized by the United States and 87 other nations, though it failed to gain admission into the United Nations as a result of a Soviet veto in 1957. It was succeeded by the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975.
1964
1. The Viet Cong bombed the Brinks Hotel in Saigon, killing two U.S. Army officers and raising fears of an escalation of the Vietnam War.
  1. Viet Cong
    
    The Viet Cong, officially the National Liberation Front for South Vietnam, was an armed communist revolutionary organization in South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. It fought under the direction of North Vietnam, against the South Vietnamese and United States governments during the Vietnam War, eventually emerging on the winning side. It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory the Viet Cong controlled. During the war, communist fighters and anti-war activists claimed that the Viet Cong was an insurgency indigenous to the South, while the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a tool of North Vietnam. According to Trần Văn Trà, the Viet Cong's top commander, and the post-war Vietnamese government's official history, the Viet Cong followed orders from Hanoi and were part of the People's Army of Vietnam, or North Vietnamese army.
  2. 1964 Brinks Hotel bombing
    
    The Brinks Hotel in Saigon, also known as the Brink Bachelor Officers Quarters (BOQ), was bombed by the Viet Cong on the evening of December 24, 1964, during the Vietnam War. Two Viet Cong operatives detonated a car bomb underneath the hotel, which housed United States Army officers. The explosion killed two Americans, an officer and an NCO, and injured approximately 60, including military personnel and Vietnamese civilians.
  3. Ho Chi Minh City
    
    Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam, with a population of around 9 million in 2019. Situated in the southeast region of Vietnam, the city surrounds the Saigon River and covers about 2,061 km2 (796 sq mi).
  4. United States Army
    
    The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution. The oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military in order of precedence, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed 14 June 1775 to fight the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)—before the United States was established as a country. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself to be a continuation of the Continental Army, and thus considers its institutional inception to be the origin of that armed force in 1775.
  5. Vietnam War
    
    The Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The north was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist states, while the south was supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies. The war is widely considered to be a Cold War-era proxy war. It lasted almost 20 years, with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973. The conflict also spilled over into neighboring states, exacerbating the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist states by 1975.
2. Vietnam War: Viet Cong operatives bomb the Brinks Hotel in Saigon, South Vietnam to demonstrate they can strike an American installation in the heavily guarded capital.
  1. Vietnam War
    
    The Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The north was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist states, while the south was supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies. The war is widely considered to be a Cold War-era proxy war. It lasted almost 20 years, with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973. The conflict also spilled over into neighboring states, exacerbating the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist states by 1975.
  2. Viet Cong
    
    The Viet Cong, officially the National Liberation Front for South Vietnam, was an armed communist revolutionary organization in South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. It fought under the direction of North Vietnam, against the South Vietnamese and United States governments during the Vietnam War, eventually emerging on the winning side. It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized peasants in the territory the Viet Cong controlled. During the war, communist fighters and anti-war activists claimed that the Viet Cong was an insurgency indigenous to the South, while the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments portrayed the group as a tool of North Vietnam. According to Trần Văn Trà, the Viet Cong's top commander, and the post-war Vietnamese government's official history, the Viet Cong followed orders from Hanoi and were part of the People's Army of Vietnam, or North Vietnamese army.
  3. 1964 Brinks Hotel bombing
    
    The Brinks Hotel in Saigon, also known as the Brink Bachelor Officers Quarters (BOQ), was bombed by the Viet Cong on the evening of December 24, 1964, during the Vietnam War. Two Viet Cong operatives detonated a car bomb underneath the hotel, which housed United States Army officers. The explosion killed two Americans, an officer and an NCO, and injured approximately 60, including military personnel and Vietnamese civilians.
  4. Ho Chi Minh City
    
    Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam, with a population of around 9 million in 2019. Situated in the southeast region of Vietnam, the city surrounds the Saigon River and covers about 2,061 km2 (796 sq mi).
  5. South Vietnam
    
    South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam, was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of the Cold War after the 1954 division of Vietnam. It first received international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with its capital at Saigon, before becoming a republic in 1955. South Vietnam was bordered by North Vietnam to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand across the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. Its sovereignty was recognized by the United States and 87 other nations, though it failed to gain admission into the United Nations as a result of a Soviet veto in 1957. It was succeeded by the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975.
3. Flying Tiger Line Flight 282 crashes after takeoff from San Francisco International Airport, killing three.
  1. Flying Tiger Line Flight 282
    
    Flying Tiger Line Flight 282 refers to the crash of a Lockheed Super Constellation aircraft, N6915C, shortly after takeoff from San Francisco International Airport in the early morning hours of Thursday, December 24, 1964. There were 3 crewmen aboard: pilot Jabez A. Richards, 49, of Bayhead, New Jersey; Daniel W. Hennessy, 33, of Hillsborough, California, as co-pilot, and Paul M. Entz, 37, of North Hollywood, California, as flight engineer.
  2. San Francisco International Airport
    
    San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, 13 miles (21 km) south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia.
1955
1. According to legend, the NORAD Tracks Santa program began after children began calling the Continental Air Defense Command Center to inquire about Santa Claus's whereabouts due to a misprinted phone number in an advertisement.
  1. NORAD Tracks Santa
    
    NORAD Tracks Santa is an annual Christmas-themed program in which North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) simulates the tracking of Santa Claus, who is said to leave the North Pole to travel around the world on his mission to deliver presents to children every year on Christmas Eve. The program starts on December 1, but the actual Santa-tracking simulation starts at midnight annually on December 23. It is a community outreach function of NORAD, and has been held annually since 1955.
  2. NORAD
    
    North American Aerospace Defense Command, known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Canada and the continental United States.
  3. Santa Claus
    
    Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary character originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christmas Eve of toys and candy or coal or nothing, depending on whether they are "naughty or nice". He supposedly accomplishes this with the aid of Christmas elves, who make the toys in his workshop, often said to be at the North Pole, and flying reindeer who pull his sleigh through the air.
1953
1. A railway bridge at Tangiwai on New Zealand's North Island was damaged by a lahar and collapsed beneath a passenger train, killing 151 people.
  1. North Island
    
    The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is 113,729 square kilometres (43,911 sq mi), making it the world's 14th-largest island. The world's 28th-most-populous island, Te Ika-a-Māui has a population of 3,922,000, accounting for approximately 77% of the total residents of New Zealand.
  2. Lahar
    
    A lahar is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley.
  3. Tangiwai disaster
    
    The Tangiwai disaster occurred at 10:21 p.m. on 24 December 1953 when a railway bridge over the Whangaehu River collapsed beneath an express passenger train at Tangiwai, North Island, New Zealand. The locomotive and the first six carriages derailed into the river, killing 151 people. The subsequent board of inquiry found that the accident was caused by the collapse of the tephra dam holding back nearby Mount Ruapehu's crater lake, creating a rapid mudflow (lahar) in the Whangaehu River, which destroyed one of the bridge piers at Tangiwai only minutes before the train reached the bridge. The volcano itself was not otherwise erupting at the time. The disaster remains New Zealand's worst rail accident.
2. Tangiwai disaster: In New Zealand's North Island, at Tangiwai, a railway bridge is damaged by a lahar and collapses beneath a passenger train, killing 151 people.
  1. Tangiwai disaster
    
    The Tangiwai disaster occurred at 10:21 p.m. on 24 December 1953 when a railway bridge over the Whangaehu River collapsed beneath an express passenger train at Tangiwai, North Island, New Zealand. The locomotive and the first six carriages derailed into the river, killing 151 people. The subsequent board of inquiry found that the accident was caused by the collapse of the tephra dam holding back nearby Mount Ruapehu's crater lake, creating a rapid mudflow (lahar) in the Whangaehu River, which destroyed one of the bridge piers at Tangiwai only minutes before the train reached the bridge. The volcano itself was not otherwise erupting at the time. The disaster remains New Zealand's worst rail accident.
  2. New Zealand
    
    New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island and the South Island —and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area, covering 268,021 square kilometres (103,500 sq mi). New Zealand is about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland.
  3. North Island
    
    The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is 113,729 square kilometres (43,911 sq mi), making it the world's 14th-largest island. The world's 28th-most-populous island, Te Ika-a-Māui has a population of 3,922,000, accounting for approximately 77% of the total residents of New Zealand.
  4. Tangiwai
    
    Tangiwai is a 2,696.63 km2 (1,041.17 sq mi) census area and a small rural community in the Ruapehu District of the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located east of Ohakune and Rangataua and west of Waiouru on State Highway 49. In 2018 37.5% of the area's 1,281 residents worked in agriculture, forestry and fishing and 7.1% in manufacturing.
  5. Lahar
    
    A lahar is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley.
1952
1. First flight of Britain's Handley Page Victor strategic bomber.
  1. Handley Page Victor
    
    The Handley Page Victor is a British jet-powered strategic bomber developed and produced by Handley Page during the Cold War. It was the third and final V bomber to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), the other two being the Avro Vulcan and the Vickers Valiant. Entering service in 1958, the Victor was initially developed as part of the United Kingdom's airborne nuclear deterrent, but it was retired from the nuclear mission in 1968, following the discovery of fatigue cracks which had been exacerbated by the RAF's adoption of a low-altitude flight profile to avoid interception, and due to the pending introduction of the Royal Navy's submarine-launched Polaris missiles in 1969.
  2. Strategic bomber
    
    A strategic bomber is a medium- to long-range penetration bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of air-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, penetrators, fighter-bombers, and attack aircraft, which are used in air interdiction operations to attack enemy combatants and military equipment, strategic bombers are designed to fly into enemy territory to destroy strategic targets. In addition to strategic bombing, strategic bombers can be used for tactical missions. There are currently only three countries that operate strategic bombers: the United States, Russia and China.
1951
1. Libya becomes independent. Idris I is proclaimed King of Libya.
  1. Libya
    
    Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest. Libya is made of three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica. With an area of almost 700,000 square miles, it is the fourth-largest country in Africa and the Arab world, and the 16th-largest in the world. Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves in the world. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya and contains over three million of Libya's seven million people.
  2. Idris of Libya
    
    Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi was a Libyan political and religious leader who was King of Libya from 24 December 1951 until his overthrow on 1 September 1969. He ruled over the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1963, after which the country became known as simply the Kingdom of Libya. Idris had served as Emir of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania from the 1920s until 1951. He was the chief of the Senussi Muslim order.
1945
1. Five of nine children become missing after their home in Fayetteville, West Virginia, is burned down.
  1. Sodder children disappearance
    
    On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1945, a fire destroyed the Sodder residence in Fayetteville, West Virginia, United States. At the time, it was occupied by George Sodder, his wife Jennie, and nine of their ten children. During the fire, George, Jennie, and four of the nine children escaped. The bodies of the other five children have never been found. The surviving Sodder family believed for the rest of their lives that the five missing children survived.
  2. Fayetteville, West Virginia
    
    Fayetteville is a town in and the county seat of Fayette County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,892 at the 2010 census.
1944
1. World War II: The Belgian Troopship Leopoldville was torpedoed and sank with the loss of 763 soldiers and 56 crew.
  1. SS Léopoldville (1928)
    
    SS Léopoldville was a 11,509 GRT passenger liner of the Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo. She was converted for use as a troopship in the Second World War, and on December 24, 1944, while sailing between Southampton and Cherbourg, was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-486. As a result, about 763 US soldiers and 56 of the ship's crew died.
1943
1. World War II: U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is named Supreme Allied Commander for the Operation Overlord.
  1. Dwight D. Eisenhower
    
    Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe and achieved the five-star rank of General of the Army. He planned and supervised the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–1943 as well as the invasion of Normandy (D-Day) from the Western Front in 1944–1945.
  2. Supreme Allied Commander
    
    Supreme Allied Commander is the title held by the most senior commander within certain multinational military alliances. It originated as a term used by the Allies during World War I, and is currently used only within NATO for Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.
  3. Operation Overlord
    
    Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Normandy landings. A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August.
1942
1. World War II: French monarchist, Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, assassinates Vichy French Admiral François Darlan in Algiers, Algeria.
  1. Monarchism in France
    
    Monarchism in France is the advocacy of restoring the monarchy in France, which was abolished after the 1870 defeat by Prussia, arguably before that in 1848 with the establishment of the French Second Republic. The French monarchist movements are roughly divided today in three groups:The Legitimists for the royal House of Bourbon, the Orléanists for the cadet branch of the House of Orléans, and the Bonapartists for the imperial House of Bonaparte
  2. Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle
    
    Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle was a royalist member of the French resistance during World War II. He assassinated Admiral of the Fleet François Darlan, the former chief of government of Vichy France and the high commissioner of French North Africa and West Africa, on 24 December 1942.
  3. Vichy France
    
    Vichy France, officially the French State, was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its territory occupied under harsh terms of the armistice, it adopted a policy of collaboration with Nazi Germany, which occupied the northern and western portions before occupying the remainder of Metropolitan France in November 1942. Though Paris was ostensibly its capital, the collaborationist Vichy government established itself in the resort town of Vichy in the unoccupied "Free Zone", where it remained responsible for the civil administration of France as well as its colonies.
  4. François Darlan
    
    Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan was a French admiral and political figure. Born in Nérac, Darlan graduated from the École navale in 1902 and quickly advanced through the ranks following his service during World War I. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1929, vice admiral in 1932, lieutenant admiral in 1937 before finally being made admiral and Chief of the Naval Staff in 1937. In 1939, Darlan was promoted to admiral of the fleet, a rank created specifically for him.
  5. Algiers
    
    Algiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145 and in 2020 was estimated to be around 4,500,000. Algiers is located on the Mediterranean Sea and in the north-central portion of Algeria.
  6. Algeria
    
    Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in North Africa. Algeria is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia; to the east by Libya; to the southeast by Niger; to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. It is considered part of the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has a semi-arid geography, with most of the population living in the fertile north and the Sahara dominating the geography of the south. Algeria covers an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), making it the world's tenth largest nation by area, and the largest nation in Africa, being more than 200 times as large as the smallest country in the continent, The Gambia. With a population of 44 million, Algeria is the ninth-most populous country in Africa, and the 32nd-most populous country in the world. The capital and largest city is Algiers, located in the far north on the Mediterranean coast.
1941
1. World War II: Kuching is conquered by Japanese forces.
  1. Kuching
    
    Kuching, officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River at the southwest tip of the state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo and covers an area of 431 square kilometres (166 sq mi) with a population about 165,642 in the Kuching North administrative region and 159,490 in the Kuching South administrative region—a total of 325,132 people.
2. World War II: Benghazi is conquered by the British Eighth Army.
  1. Benghazi
    
    Benghazi is a city in Libya. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean, Benghazi is a major seaport and the second-most populous city in the country, as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 807,250 in 2020.
  2. Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
    
    The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Forces, Greece, New Zealand, Poland, Rhodesia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
1939
1. World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.
  1. World War II
    
    World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries.
  2. Pope Pius XII
    
    Pope Pius XII, born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli, was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his election to the papacy, he served as secretary of the Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, papal nuncio to Germany, and Cardinal Secretary of State, in which capacity he worked to conclude treaties with European and Latin American nations, such as the Reichskonkordat with the German Reich.
  3. Christmas Eve
    
    Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society.
1929
1. Assassination attempt on Argentine President Hipólito Yrigoyen.
  1. Argentina
    
    Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of 2,780,400 km2 (1,073,500 sq mi), making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourth-largest country in the Americas, and the eighth-largest country in the world. It shares the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, and is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. Argentina is a federal state subdivided into twenty-three provinces, and one autonomous city, which is the federal capital and largest city of the nation, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system. Argentina claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and a part of Antarctica.
  2. Hipólito Yrigoyen
    
    Juan Hipólito del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Yrigoyen was an Argentine politician of the Radical Civic Union and two-time President of Argentina, who served his first term from 1916 to 1922 and his second term from 1928 to 1930. He was the first president elected democratically by means of the secret and mandatory male suffrage established by the Sáenz Peña Law of 1912. His activism was the prime impetus behind the passage of that law in Argentina.
2. A four alarm fire breaks out in the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C.
1924
1. Albania becomes a republic.
  1. Albania
    
    Albania, officially the Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. Tirana is its capital and largest city, followed by Durrës, Vlorë, and Shkodër.
1920
1. Gabriele D'Annunzio surrendered the Italian Regency of Carnaro in the city of Fiume to Italian Armed Forces.
  1. Gabriele D'Annunzio
    
    General Gabriele D'Annunzio, Prince of Montenevoso, sometimes written d'Annunzio, was an Italian poet, playwright, orator, journalist, aristocrat, and Royal Italian Army officer during World War I. He occupied a prominent place in Italian literature from 1889 to 1910 and later political life from 1914 to 1924. He was often referred to under the epithets Il Vate, or Il Profeta.
  2. Italian Regency of Carnaro
    
    The Italian Regency of Carnaro, also known in Italian as Impresa di Fiume, was a self-proclaimed state in the city of Fiume led by Gabriele d'Annunzio between 1919 and 1920.
  3. Rijeka
    
    Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and in 2021 had a population of 108,622 inhabitants. Historically, because of its strategic position and its excellent deep-water port, the city was fiercely contested, especially between the Holy Roman Empire, Italy and Croatia, changing rulers and demographics many times over centuries. According to the 2011 census data, the majority of its citizens are Croats, along with small numbers of Serbs, Bosniaks and Italians.
  4. Italian Armed Forces
    
    The Italian Armed Forces encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and are also involved in missions and operations abroad as a combat force. Despite not being a branch of the armed forces, the Guardia di Finanza has military status and is organized along military lines. These five forces comprise a total of 340,885 men and women with the official status of active military personnel, of which 167,057 are in the Army, Navy and Air Force. The President of the Italian Republic heads the armed forces as the President of the High Council of Defence established by article 87 of the Constitution of Italy. According to article 78, the Parliament has the authority to declare a state of war and vest the powers to lead the war in the Government.
1918
1. Region of Međimurje is captured by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from Hungary.
  1. 1918 occupation of Međimurje
    
    The 1918 occupation of Međimurje was takeover of the region of Međimurje by the forces deployed by the National Council of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in November and December 1918 in immediate aftermath of the World War I. The territory, predominantly inhabited by the Croats was a part of the Kingdom of Hungary until the troops under command of Colonel Slavko Kvaternik captured and added it to the just established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
  2. Kingdom of Yugoslavia
    
    The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" was its colloquial name due to its origins. The official name of the state was changed to "Kingdom of Yugoslavia" by King Alexander I on 3 October 1929.
  3. Kingdom of Hungary
    
    The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen I at Esztergom around the year 1000; his family led the monarchy for 300 years. By the 12th century, the kingdom became a European middle power within the Western world.
1914
1. World War I: British and German soldiers interrupted fighting to celebrate Christmas, beginning the Christmas truce (pictured).
  1. World War I
    
    World War I or the First World War, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1, and referred to by some Anglophone authors as the "Great War" or the "War to End All Wars", was a global conflict which lasted from 1914 to 1918, and is considered one of the deadliest conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war.
  2. Christmas truce
    
    The Christmas truce was a series of widespread unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front of the First World War around Christmas 1914.
2. World War I: The "Christmas truce" begins.
  1. World War I
    
    World War I or the First World War, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1, and referred to by some Anglophone authors as the "Great War" or the "War to End All Wars", was a global conflict which lasted from 1914 to 1918, and is considered one of the deadliest conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war.
  2. Christmas truce
    
    The Christmas truce was a series of widespread unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front of the First World War around Christmas 1914.
1913
1. Seventy-three people were crushed to death in a stampede after someone falsely yelled "fire" at a crowded Christmas party in Calumet, Michigan, U.S.
  1. Italian Hall disaster
    
    The Italian Hall Disaster was a tragedy that occurred on Wednesday, December 24, 1913, in Calumet, Michigan, United States. Seventy-three men, women, and children – mostly striking mine workers and their families – were crushed to death in a stampede when someone falsely shouted "fire" at a crowded Christmas party.
  2. Stampede
    
    A stampede is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants, reindeer, sheep, pigs, goats, blue wildebeests, walruses, wild horses, and rhinoceroses.
  3. Shouting fire in a crowded theater
    
    "Shouting fire in a crowded theater" is a popular analogy for speech or actions made for the principal purpose of creating panic. The phrase is a paraphrasing of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s opinion in the United States Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States in 1919, which held that the defendant's speech in opposition to the draft during World War I was not protected free speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The case was later partially overturned by Brandenburg v. Ohio in 1969, which limited the scope of banned speech to that which would be directed to and likely to incite imminent lawless action.
  4. Calumet, Michigan
    
    Calumet is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County, in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that was once at the center of the mining industry of the Upper Peninsula. Also known as Red Jacket, the village includes the Calumet Downtown Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The village may itself be included within the Calumet Historic District, a larger area which is NRHP-listed and which is a National Historic Landmark District. It is bordered on the north by Calumet Township, on the south by the unincorporated towns of Newtown and Blue Jacket, on the east by Blue Jacket and Calumet Township, and on the west by Yellow Jacket and Calumet Township. The population was 726 at the 2010 census. Calumet's nickname is Copper Town U.S.A.
2. The Italian Hall disaster in Calumet, Michigan results in the deaths of 73 Christmas party participants (including 59 children) when someone falsely yells "fire".
  1. Italian Hall disaster
    
    The Italian Hall Disaster was a tragedy that occurred on Wednesday, December 24, 1913, in Calumet, Michigan, United States. Seventy-three men, women, and children – mostly striking mine workers and their families – were crushed to death in a stampede when someone falsely shouted "fire" at a crowded Christmas party.
  2. Calumet, Michigan
    
    Calumet is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County, in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that was once at the center of the mining industry of the Upper Peninsula. Also known as Red Jacket, the village includes the Calumet Downtown Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The village may itself be included within the Calumet Historic District, a larger area which is NRHP-listed and which is a National Historic Landmark District. It is bordered on the north by Calumet Township, on the south by the unincorporated towns of Newtown and Blue Jacket, on the east by Blue Jacket and Calumet Township, and on the west by Yellow Jacket and Calumet Township. The population was 726 at the 2010 census. Calumet's nickname is Copper Town U.S.A.
  3. Christmas
    
    Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the holiday season organized around it.
1906
1. Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast; consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech.
  1. Reginald Fessenden
    
    Reginald Aubrey Fessenden was a Canadian-born inventor, who did a majority of his work in the United States and also claimed U.S. citizenship through his American-born father. During his life he received hundreds of patents in various fields, most notably ones related to radio and sonar.
  2. Radio
    
    Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to an antenna which radiates the waves, and received by another antenna connected to a radio receiver. Radio is very widely used in modern technology, in radio communication, radar, radio navigation, remote control, remote sensing, and other applications.
  3. Violin
    
    The violin, sometimes known as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular use. The violin typically has four strings, usually tuned in perfect fifths with notes G3, D4, A4, E5, and is most commonly played by drawing a bow across its strings. It can also be played by plucking the strings with the fingers (pizzicato) and, in specialized cases, by striking the strings with the wooden side of the bow.
1871
1. Aida, one of Giuseppe Verdi's most popular operas, made its debut in Cairo, Egypt.
  1. Aida
    
    Aida is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December 1871, in a performance conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Today the work holds a central place in the operatic canon, receiving performances every year around the world; at New York's Metropolitan Opera alone, Aida has been sung more than 1,100 times since 1886. Ghislanzoni's scheme follows a scenario often attributed to the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, but Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz argues that the source is actually Temistocle Solera.
  2. Giuseppe Verdi
    
    Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, whose works significantly influenced him.
  3. Cairo
    
    Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East. The Greater Cairo metropolitan area, with a population of 21.9 million, is the 12th-largest in the world by population. Cairo is associated with ancient Egypt, as the Giza pyramid complex and the ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are located in its geographical area. Located near the Nile Delta, the city first developed as Fustat, a settlement founded after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640 next to an existing ancient Roman fortress, Babylon. Under the Fatimid dynasty a new city, al-Qāhirah, was founded nearby in 969. It later superseded Fustat as the main urban centre during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life, and is titled "the city of a thousand minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture. Cairo's historic center was awarded World Heritage Site-status in 1979. Cairo is considered a World City with a "Beta +" classification according to GaWC.
2. The opera Aida premieres in Cairo, Egypt.
  1. Aida
    
    Aida is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December 1871, in a performance conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Today the work holds a central place in the operatic canon, receiving performances every year around the world; at New York's Metropolitan Opera alone, Aida has been sung more than 1,100 times since 1886. Ghislanzoni's scheme follows a scenario often attributed to the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, but Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz argues that the source is actually Temistocle Solera.
  2. Cairo
    
    Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East. The Greater Cairo metropolitan area, with a population of 21.9 million, is the 12th-largest in the world by population. Cairo is associated with ancient Egypt, as the Giza pyramid complex and the ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are located in its geographical area. Located near the Nile Delta, the city first developed as Fustat, a settlement founded after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640 next to an existing ancient Roman fortress, Babylon. Under the Fatimid dynasty a new city, al-Qāhirah, was founded nearby in 969. It later superseded Fustat as the main urban centre during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life, and is titled "the city of a thousand minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture. Cairo's historic center was awarded World Heritage Site-status in 1979. Cairo is considered a World City with a "Beta +" classification according to GaWC.
  3. Egypt
    
    Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip of Palestine and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt, while Alexandria, the second-largest city, is an important industrial and tourist hub at the Mediterranean coast. At approximately 100 million inhabitants, Egypt is the 14th-most populated country in the world.
1868
1. The Greek Presidential Guard is established as the royal escort by King George I.
  1. Presidential Guard (Greece)
    
    The Presidential Guard is a ceremonial infantry unit that guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Presidential Mansion in Athens, Greece. The unit is distinguished as the last unit of Evzones in the Hellenic Army, and is closely associated with the traditional Evzone's uniform, which evolved from the clothes worn by the klephts in the Greek War of Independence. The most visible item of this uniform is the fustanella, a kilt-like garment. In 1868–1914 and 1937–1973, the guard also included a cavalry company.
  2. George I of Greece
    
    George I was King of Greece from 30 March 1863 until his assassination in 1913.
1865
1. Six Confederate veterans of the American Civil War founded a social club they named the Ku Klux Klan, which later became a white supremacist group.
  1. Confederate States Army
    
    The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting against the United States forces in order to win the independence of the Southern states and uphold the institution of slavery. On February 28, 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress established a provisional volunteer army and gave control over military operations and authority for mustering state forces and volunteers to the newly chosen Confederate president, Jefferson Davis. Davis was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, and colonel of a volunteer regiment during the Mexican–American War. He had also been a United States senator from Mississippi and U.S. Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. On March 1, 1861, on behalf of the Confederate government, Davis assumed control of the military situation at Charleston, South Carolina, where South Carolina state militia besieged Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, held by a small U.S. Army garrison. By March 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress expanded the provisional forces and established a more permanent Confederate States Army.
  2. American Civil War
    
    The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union and the Confederacy, the latter formed by states that had seceded. The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, which was widely believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction.
  3. Ku Klux Klan
    
    The Ku Klux Klan, commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Catholics, as well as immigrants, leftists, homosexuals, Muslims, abortion providers and atheists.
  4. White supremacy
    
    White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine of scientific racism and was a key justification for European colonialism.
2. Jonathan Shank and Barry Ownby form The Ku Klux Klan.
  1. Ku Klux Klan
    
    The Ku Klux Klan, commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Catholics, as well as immigrants, leftists, homosexuals, Muslims, abortion providers and atheists.
1846
1. The Sultanate of Brunei ceded the island of Labuan to the British Empire.
  1. Bruneian Sultanate (1368–1888)
    
    In the history of Brunei, the Sultanate of Brunei or simply Brunei was a Malay sultanate, centred in Brunei on the northern coast of Borneo island in Southeast Asia. Brunei became a sovereign state around the 15th century, when it grew substantially after the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese, extending throughout coastal areas of Borneo and the Philippines, before it declined in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first ruler or sultan of Brunei was a Muslim. It became a British protectorate in the 19th century.
  2. Crown Colony of Labuan
    
    The Crown Colony of Labuan was a Crown colony on the northwestern shore of the island of Borneo established in 1848 after the acquisition of the island of Labuan from the Sultanate of Brunei in 1846. Apart from the main island, Labuan consists of six smaller islands; Burung, Daat, Kuraman, Papan, Rusukan Kecil, and Rusukan Besar.
  3. Labuan
    
    Labuan, officially the Federal Territory of Labuan, is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes Labuan Island and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support hub for deepwater oil and gas activities in the region. It is also a tourist destination for people travelling through Sabah, nearby Bruneians and scuba divers. The name Labuan derives from the Malay word labuhan which means harbour.
2. British acquired Labuan from the Sultanate of Brunei for Great Britain.
  1. Crown Colony of Labuan
    
    The Crown Colony of Labuan was a Crown colony on the northwestern shore of the island of Borneo established in 1848 after the acquisition of the island of Labuan from the Sultanate of Brunei in 1846. Apart from the main island, Labuan consists of six smaller islands; Burung, Daat, Kuraman, Papan, Rusukan Kecil, and Rusukan Besar.
  2. Bruneian Sultanate (1368–1888)
    
    In the history of Brunei, the Sultanate of Brunei or simply Brunei was a Malay sultanate, centred in Brunei on the northern coast of Borneo island in Southeast Asia. Brunei became a sovereign state around the 15th century, when it grew substantially after the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese, extending throughout coastal areas of Borneo and the Philippines, before it declined in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first ruler or sultan of Brunei was a Muslim. It became a British protectorate in the 19th century.
  3. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
    
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into a unified state. The establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 led to the remainder later being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927.
1826
1. The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning.
  1. Eggnog Riot
    
    The Eggnog Riot, sometimes known as the Grog Mutiny, was a riot that took place at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, on 24–25 December 1826. It was caused by a drunken Christmas Day party in the North Barracks of the academy. Two days prior to the incident, a large quantity of whiskey was smuggled into the academy to make eggnog for the party, giving the riot its name.
  2. United States Military Academy
    
    The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high ground overlooking the Hudson River with a scenic view, 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. It is the oldest of the five American service academies and educates cadets for commissioning into the United States Army.
1818
1. The Christmas carol "Silent Night" by Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber was first performed in a chapel in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria.
  1. Christmas carol
    
    A Christmas carol is a carol on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French origin. Christmas carols may be regarded as a subset of the broader category of Christmas music.
  2. Silent Night
    
    "Silent Night" is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011. The song was first recorded in 1905 and has remained a popular success, appearing in films and multiple successful recordings, as well as being quoted in other musical compositions.
  3. Joseph Mohr
    
    Josephus Franciscus Mohr, sometimes spelled Josef was an Austrian Roman Catholic priest and writer, who wrote the words to the Christmas carol "Silent Night."
  4. Franz Xaver Gruber
    
    Franz Xaver Gruber was an Austrian primary school teacher, church organist and composer in the village of Arnsdorf, who is best known for composing the music to "Stille Nacht".
  5. Silent-Night-Chapel
    
    The Silent Night Chapel is located in the town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg in the Austrian province of Salzburg, and is a monument to the Christmas carol "Silent Night", its lyricist Joseph Mohr, and its composer Franz Xaver Gruber. The chapel stands on the site of the former St. Nicholas Church, where on 24 December 1818, the Christmas carol was performed for the first time.
  6. Oberndorf bei Salzburg
    
    Oberndorf bei Salzburg is a small city in the Austrian state of Salzburg, about 17 km (11 mi) north of the City of Salzburg. It is situated on the river Salzach in the Flachgau district. Town privileges were granted on April 30th, 2001.
2. The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.
  1. Silent Night
    
    "Silent Night" is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011. The song was first recorded in 1905 and has remained a popular success, appearing in films and multiple successful recordings, as well as being quoted in other musical compositions.
  2. Oberndorf bei Salzburg
    
    Oberndorf bei Salzburg is a small city in the Austrian state of Salzburg, about 17 km (11 mi) north of the City of Salzburg. It is situated on the river Salzach in the Flachgau district. Town privileges were granted on April 30th, 2001.
  3. Austrian Empire
    
    The Austrian Empire was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, it was the third most populous monarchy in Europe after the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom. Along with Prussia, it was one of the two major powers of the German Confederation. Geographically, it was the third-largest empire in Europe after the Russian Empire and the First French Empire.
1814
1. The United Kingdom and the United States signed a peace treaty in Ghent, present-day Belgium, ending the War of 1812.
  1. Treaty of Ghent
    
    The Treaty of Ghent was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands. The treaty restored relations between the two parties to status quo ante bellum by restoring the pre-war borders of June 1812.
  2. Ghent
    
    Ghent is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in size only by Brussels and Antwerp. It is a port and university city.
  3. War of 1812
    
    The War of 1812 was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It began when the United States declared war on 18 June 1812 and, although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent, did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by Congress on 17 February 1815.
2. Representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.
  1. United Kingdom
    
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is 242,495 square kilometres (93,628 sq mi), with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people.
  2. United States
    
    The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. It is the third-largest country by both land and total area. The United States shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south. It has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 331 million, it is the most populous country in North America and the third most populous in the world. The national capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city and financial center is New York City.
  3. Treaty of Ghent
    
    The Treaty of Ghent was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands. The treaty restored relations between the two parties to status quo ante bellum by restoring the pre-war borders of June 1812.
  4. War of 1812
    
    The War of 1812 was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It began when the United States declared war on 18 June 1812 and, although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent, did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by Congress on 17 February 1815.
1800
1. The Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise fails to kill Napoleon Bonaparte.
  1. Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise
    
    The Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise, also known as the Machine infernale plot, was an assassination attempt on the First Consul of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, in Paris on 24 December 1800. It followed the conspiration des poignards of 10 October 1800, and was one of many Royalist and Catholic plots. Though Napoleon and his wife Josephine narrowly escaped the attempt, five people were killed and twenty-six others were injured.
  2. Napoleon
    
    Napoleon Bonaparte, later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. He was the de facto leader of the French Republic as First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814 and again in 1815. Napoleon's political and cultural legacy endures to this day, as a highly celebrated and controversial leader. He initiated many liberal reforms that have persisted in society, and is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history, but between three and six million civilians and soldiers perished in what became known as the Napoleonic Wars.
1777
1. Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook.
  1. Kiritimati
    
    Kiritimati is a Pacific Ocean atoll in the northern Line Islands. It is part of the Republic of Kiribati. The name is derived from the English word "Christmas" written in Gilbertese according to its phonology, in which the combination ti is pronounced s, giving [kiˈrɪsmæs].
  2. James Cook
    
    James Cook was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and to New Zealand and Australia in particular. He made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.
1737
1. The Marathas defeat the combined forces of the Mughal Empire, Rajputs of Jaipur, Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab of Awadh and Nawab of Bengal in the Battle of Bhopal.
  1. Maratha Empire
    
    The Maratha Empire, later referred as Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian empire that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shivaji of the Bhonsle Dynasty as the Chhatrapati. Although Shivaji came from the Maratha caste, the Maratha empire also included warriors, administrators and other notables from Maratha and several other castes from Maharashtra.
  2. Mughal Empire
    
    The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. For some two hundred years, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus river basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of present-day Assam and Bangladesh in the east, and the uplands of the Deccan Plateau in South India.
  3. Jaipur State
    
    Jaipur State was a princely state in India during East India Company rule and thereafter under the British Raj. It signed a treaty creating a subsidiary alliance with the Company in 1818, after the Third Anglo-Maratha War. It acceded to independent India in 1947 and was integrated into India by 1949. Upon integration, the ruler was granted a pension, certain privileges, and the use of the title Maharaja of Jaipur by the Government of India. However, the pension, privileges, and the use of the title were ended in 1971 by the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India.
  4. Nizam of Hyderabad
    
    The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State. Nizam, shortened from Nizam-ul-Mulk, meaning Administrator of the Realm, was the title inherited by Asaf Jah I. He was the former Naib (suzerain) of the Great Mughal in the Deccan, the premier courtier of Mughal India until 1724, the founding of an independent monarchy as the "Nizam (title) of Hyderabad".
  5. Nawab of Awadh
    
    The Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Awadh in north India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishapur, Iran. In 1724, Nawab Sa'adat Khan established the Oudh State with their capital in Faizabad and Lucknow.
  6. Nawabs of Bengal
    
    The Nawab of Bengal was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the de facto independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa which constitute the modern-day sovereign country of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. They are often referred to as the Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The Nawabs were based in Murshidabad which was centrally located within Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha. Their chief, a former prime minister, became the first Nawab. The Nawabs continued to issue coins in the name of the Mughal Emperor, but for all practical purposes, the Nawabs governed as independent monarchs. Bengal continued to contribute the largest share of funds to the imperial treasury in Delhi. The Nawabs, backed by bankers such as the Jagat Seth, became the financial backbone of the Mughal court. During the 18th century, the Nawabs of Bengal were among the wealthiest rulers in the world.
  7. Battle of Bhopal
    
    The Battle of Bhopal was fought on 24 December 1737 in Bhopal between the Maratha Empire and the combined army of the Nizam and several Mughal generals.
1500
1. A joint Venetian–Spanish fleet captures the Castle of St. George on the island of Cephalonia.
  1. Republic of Venice
    
    The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic, traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and maritime republic in parts of present-day Italy that existed for 1100 years from AD 697 until AD 1797. Centered on the lagoon communities of the prosperous city of Venice, it incorporated numerous overseas possessions in modern Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Greece, Albania and Cyprus. The republic grew into a trading power during the Middle Ages and strengthened this position during the Renaissance. Citizens spoke the still-surviving Venetian language, although publishing in (Florentine) Italian became the norm during the Renaissance.
  2. Spain
    
    Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country primarily located in southwestern Europe with parts of territory in the Atlantic Ocean and across the Mediterranean Sea. The largest part of Spain is situated on the Iberian Peninsula; its territory also includes the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla in Africa. The country's mainland is bordered to the south by Gibraltar; to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea; to the north by France, Andorra and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. With an area of 505,990 km2 (195,360 sq mi), Spain is the second-largest country in the European Union (EU) and, with a population exceeding 47.4 million, the fourth-most populous EU member state. Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid; other major urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Málaga, Murcia, Palma de Mallorca, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Bilbao.
  3. Siege of the Castle of Saint George
    
    The siege of the Castle of Saint George occurred from 8 November 1500 until 24 December 1500, when following a series of Venetian disasters at the hands of the Turks, the Spanish-Venetian army under Captain Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba succeeded in capturing the Turkish stronghold of Cephalonia.
  4. Cephalonia
    
    Kefalonia or Cephalonia, formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (Κεφαλληνία), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region. It was a former Latin Catholic diocese Kefalonia–Zakynthos (Cefalonia–Zante) and short-lived titular see as just Kefalonia. The capital city of Cephalonia is Argostoli.
1294
1. Pope Boniface VIII is elected, replacing St. Celestine V, who had resigned.
  1. Pope Boniface VIII
    
    Pope Boniface VIII was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial origin, with connections to the papacy. He succeeded Pope Celestine V, who had abdicated from the papal throne. Boniface spent his early career abroad in diplomatic roles.
  2. Pope Celestine V
    
    Pope Celestine V, born Pietro Angelerio, also known as Pietro da Morrone, Peter of Morrone, and Peter Celestine, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States for five months from 5 July to 13 December 1294, when he resigned. He was also a monk and hermit who founded the order of the Celestines as a branch of the Benedictine order.
  3. Papal renunciation
    
    A papal renunciation also called a papal abdication, occurs when the reigning pope of the Catholic Church voluntarily steps down from his position. As the reign of the pope has conventionally been from election until death, papal renunciation is an uncommon event. Before the 21st century, only five popes unambiguously resigned with historical certainty, all between the 10th and 15th centuries. Additionally, there are disputed claims of four popes having resigned, dating from the 3rd to the 11th centuries; a fifth disputed case may have involved an antipope.
1144
1. The capital of the crusader County of Edessa falls to Imad ad-Din Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo.
  1. Crusades
    
    The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were intended to recover Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Islamic rule. Beginning with the First Crusade, which resulted in the recovery of Jerusalem in 1099, dozens of Crusades were fought, providing a focal point of European history for centuries.
  2. County of Edessa
    
    The County of Edessa was one of the Crusader states in the 12th century. Its seat was the city of Edessa.
  3. Siege of Edessa (1144)
    
    The siege of Edessa took place from November 28 to December 24, 1144, resulting in the fall of the capital of the crusader County of Edessa to Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo. This event was the catalyst for the Second Crusade.
  4. Imad al-Din Zengi
    
    Imad al-Din Zengi, also romanized as Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, and Zanki, was a Turkmen atabeg, who ruled Mosul, Aleppo, Hama, and, later, Edessa. He was the namesake of the Zengid dynasty.
  5. Atabeg
    
    Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The first instance of the title's use was with early Seljuk Turks who bestowed it on the Persian vizier Nizam al-Mulk It was later used in the Kingdom of Georgia, first within the Armeno-Georgian family of Mkhargrdzeli as a military title and then within the house of Jaqeli as princes of Samtskhe.
  6. Mosul
    
    Mosul is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second largest city in Iraq in terms of population and area after the capital Baghdad, with a population of over 3.7 million. Mosul is approximately 400 km (250 mi) north of Baghdad on the Tigris river. The Mosul metropolitan area has grown from the old city on the western side to encompass substantial areas on both the "Left Bank" and the "Right Bank", as locals call the two riverbanks. Mosul encloses the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on its east side.
  7. Aleppo
    
    Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents as of 2021, it is Syria's second-largest city and also one of the largest cities in the Levant region.
759
1. The Tang-dynasty poet Du Fu departed for Chengdu, where he lived for the next five years and composed poems about life in his thatched cottage.
  1. Tang dynasty
    
    The Tang dynasty, or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty.
  2. Du Fu
    
    Du Fu was a Chinese poet and politician of the Tang dynasty. Along with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai, he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant, but he proved unable to make the necessary accommodations. His life, like the whole country, was devastated by the An Lushan Rebellion of 755, and his last 15 years were a time of almost constant unrest.
  3. Chengdu
    
    Chengdu, alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a population of 20,937,757 inhabitants during the 2020 Chinese census, it is the fourth most populous city in China, and it is the only city apart from the four direct-administered municipalities with a population of over 20 million. It is traditionally the hub in Southwest China.
  4. Du Fu Thatched Cottage
    
    Du Fu Thatched Cottage is a 24-acre (97,000 m2) park and museum in honour of the Tang dynasty poet Du Fu at the western outskirts of Chengdu, adjacent to the Huanhua Xi. In 1961 the Chinese government made the cottage a National Heritage site.
2. Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, where he is hosted by fellow poet Pei Di.
  1. Tang dynasty
    
    The Tang dynasty, or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty.
  2. Du Fu
    
    Du Fu was a Chinese poet and politician of the Tang dynasty. Along with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai, he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant, but he proved unable to make the necessary accommodations. His life, like the whole country, was devastated by the An Lushan Rebellion of 755, and his last 15 years were a time of almost constant unrest.
  3. Pei Di
    
    Pei Di was a Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty, with one work included in the popular Three Hundred Tang Poems. Pei Di was a contemporary of Wang Wei, although younger by fifteen years. Pei Di has twenty preserved poems in the Wangchuan ji poetry collection, which collects twenty matching poems by Wang Wei and Pei Di. The poet's name is also rendered into English as "P'ei Ti" or "Pei Shidi". The close personal friendship between Wang Wei and Pei Di is preserved in a letter by Wang Wei inviting Pei for a Springtime visit together at Wang's country estate. This letter has been translated by Arthur Waley. Pei also had a poetic relationship with Du Fu. Other than through Pei Di's few surviving poems, and the poems addressed to him by Wang Wei and Du Fu, "pitifully little" is known about Pei Di, other than that he had a reasonably successful government career.
640
1. Pope John IV is elected, several months after his predecessor's death.
  1. Pope John IV
    
    Pope John IV was the bishop of Rome from 24 December 640 to his death. His election followed a four-month vacancy. He wrote to the clergy of Ireland and Scotland to tell them of the mistakes they were making with regard to the time of keeping Easter and condemned Monothelitism as heresy. According to sacred tradition, he created the Catholic Church in Croatia with Abbot Martin.
  2. Sede vacante
    
    Sede vacante is a term for the state of a diocese while without a bishop. In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the term is used to refer to the vacancy of the bishop's or Pope's authority upon his death or resignation.
502
1. Chinese emperor Xiao Yan names Xiao Tong his heir designate.
  1. Emperor of China
    
    Huangdi, translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heaven and the autocrat of all under Heaven. Under the Han dynasty, Confucianism replaced Legalism as the official political theory and succession in most cases theoretically followed agnatic primogeniture. The lineage of emperors descended from a paternal family line constituted a dynasty.
  2. Emperor Wu of Liang
    
    Emperor Wu of Liang, personal name Xiao Yan (蕭衍), courtesy name Shuda (叔達), childhood name Lian'er (練兒), was the founding emperor of the Chinese Liang dynasty, during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. His reign, until its end, was one of the most stable and prosperous among the Southern dynasties. He came from the same Xiao clan of Lanling (蘭陵蕭氏) that ruled the preceding Southern Qi dynasty, but from a different branch.
  3. Xiao Tong
    
    Xiao Tong, courtesy name Deshi (德施), formally Crown Prince Zhaoming, was a Crown Prince of the Chinese Liang Dynasty, posthumously honored as Emperor Zhaoming (昭明皇帝). He was the oldest son of Emperor Wu of Liang, whom he predeceased. Xiao Tong's enduring legacy is the literary compendium Wen Xuan.

Births & Deaths

2018
1. Martha Érika Alonso, first female Governor of Puebla, Mexico, and her husband Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, former governor; helicopter crash (Alonso b. 1973, Valle b. 1968) deaths
  1. Martha Érika Alonso
    
    Martha Érika Alonso Hidalgo was a Mexican politician of the National Action Party (PAN) who served as the first female governor of Puebla from 14 December 2018 until her death ten days later in a helicopter crash. She was the spouse of Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas, who was governor of Puebla from 2011 to 2017 and was also killed in the crash.
  2. Governor of Puebla
    
    The governor of Puebla is the chief executive of the Mexican state of Puebla.
  3. Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas
    
    Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas was a Mexican politician affiliated with the National Action Party (PAN). He was the governor of Puebla from February 2011 through January 2017.
2017
1. Jerry Kindall, American baseball player and coach (b. 1935) deaths
  1. Jerry Kindall
    
    Gerald Donald Kindall was an American professional baseball player and college baseball player and coach. He was primarily a second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who appeared in 742 games played over nine seasons for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians (1962–64), and Minnesota Twins (1964–65). After his playing career, he became the head baseball coach of the University of Arizona Wildcats, winning 860 games and three College World Series (CWS) championships over 24 seasons (1973–1996). Kindall batted and threw right-handed and was listed as 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and 175 pounds (79 kg).
2. Heather Menzies, Canadian-American model and actress (b. 1949) deaths
  1. Heather Menzies
    
    Heather Menzies Urich was a Canadian–American model and actress, known for her roles as Louisa von Trapp in the 1965 film The Sound of Music and Jessica 6 in the TV series Logan's Run.
2016
1. Rick Parfitt, British musician (b. 1948) deaths
  1. Rick Parfitt
    
    Richard John Parfitt, was an English musician, best known as a singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist with rock band Status Quo.
2. Liz Smith, English actress (b. 1921) deaths
  1. Liz Smith (actress)
    
    Betty Gleadle, known by the stage name Liz Smith, was an English character actress, known for her roles in BBC sitcoms, including as Annie Brandon in I Didn't Know You Cared (1975–1979), the sisters Bette and Belle in 2point4 Children (1991–1999), Letitia Cropley in The Vicar of Dibley (1994–1996) and Norma Jean Speakman ("Nana") in The Royle Family. She also played Zillah in Lark Rise to Candleford (2008) and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the 1984 film A Private Function.
3. Richard Adams, English author (b. 1920) deaths
  1. Richard Adams
    
    Richard George Adams was an English novelist and writer of the books Watership Down, Maia, Shardik and The Plague Dogs. He studied modern history at university before serving in the British Army during World War II. Afterwards, he completed his studies, and then joined the British Civil Service. In 1974, two years after Watership Down was published, Adams became a full-time author.
4. Ben Xi, Chinese singer (b.1994) deaths
  1. Ben Xi
    
    Benxi, also known as Mǎ Xiǎochén or Utaoki, was a Chinese Hui singer-songwriter.
2015
1. Turid Birkeland, Norwegian businesswoman and politician, Norwegian Minister of Culture (b. 1962) deaths
  1. Turid Birkeland
    
    Turid Birkeland was a Norwegian cultural executive and former politician for the Labour Party. She was Minister of Culture in 1996–97. She was an author and also worked in television, including being chief of cultural programming at NRK and a member of the board at Telenor. She also headed the Risør Chamber Music Festival, and was the director of Concerts Norway.
  2. Minister of Culture and Equality
    
    The Minister of Culture and Equality is a councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Culture. The ministry is responsible for the government's policy related to culture, church affairs, religion, media, sports and gambling. Subordinate agencies include the Gaming and Foundation Authority, the National Archival Services, the National Library, the Arts Council and the Media Authority. The portfolio includes issues related to the Church of Norway.
2. Letty Jimenez Magsanoc, Filipino journalist (b. 1941) deaths
  1. Letty Jimenez Magsanoc
    
    Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc was a Filipino journalist and editor, notable for her role in overthrowing the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. She was an icon of democracy. Magsanoc was editor of the crusading weekly opposition tabloid Mr & Ms Special Edition. She was editor in chief of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
3. Adriana Olguín, Chilean lawyer and politician, Chilean Minister of Justice (b. 1911) deaths
  1. Adriana Olguín
    
    Adriana Margarita Olguín Büche was a Chilean lawyer and politician. She was the Minister of Justice during the rule of Gabriel González Videla, making Olguín the first female minister of Chile.
  2. Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (Chile)
    
    The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Chile is the Ministry of State responsible for the law and judiciary. The current Minister of Justice and Human Rights is Marcela Ríos, who has served since March 11, 2022.
2014
1. Buddy DeFranco, American clarinet player (b. 1923) deaths
  1. Buddy DeFranco
    
    Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco was an Italian-American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and 1970s.
2. Edward Greenspan, Canadian lawyer and author (b. 1944) deaths
  1. Edward Greenspan
    
    Edward Leonard Greenspan, was one of Canada's most famous defence lawyers, and a prolific author of legal volumes. His fame was owed to numerous high-profile clients and to his national exposure on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio series The Scales of Justice (1982–94).
3. Herbert Harris, American lawyer and politician (b. 1926) deaths
  1. Herbert Harris
    
    Herbert Eugene Harris II was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia. His district included part of Fairfax County.
4. Krzysztof Krauze, Polish director and screenwriter (b. 1953) deaths
  1. Krzysztof Krauze
    
    Krzysztof Krauze was a Polish film director, cinematographer and actor, best known for his thriller The Debt (1999).
2013
1. Frédéric Back, German-Canadian director, animator, and screenwriter (b. 1924) deaths
  1. Frédéric Back
    
    Frédéric Back was a Canadian artist and film director of short animated films. During a long career with Radio-Canada, the French-language service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning two, for his 1981 film Crac and the 1987 film The Man Who Planted Trees.
2. Ian Barbour, Chinese-American author and scholar (b. 1923) deaths
  1. Ian Barbour
    
    Ian Graeme Barbour (1923–2013) was an American scholar on the relationship between science and religion. According to the Public Broadcasting Service his mid-1960s Issues in Science and Religion "has been credited with literally creating the contemporary field of science and religion."
3. John M. Goldman, English haematologist and oncologist (b. 1938) deaths
  1. John M. Goldman
    
    John M. Goldman was a British haematologist, oncologist and medical researcher. A specialist in chronic myeloid leukaemia, Goldman conducted pioneering research into leukaemia treatment – he was instrumental in the development of bone marrow transplantation as a clinical method, and later in the development of the drug imatinib. He was also a prolific author of scientific papers, was involved with numerous medical charities and had a decades-long surgical career at Hammersmith Hospital, London.
4. Allan McKeown, English-American screenwriter and producer (b. 1946) deaths
  1. Allan McKeown
    
    Allan McKeown, was a British television and stage producer.
2012
1. Richard Rodney Bennett, English-American composer and academic (b. 1936) deaths
  1. Richard Rodney Bennett
    
    Sir Richard Rodney Bennett was an English composer of film, TV and concert music, and also a jazz pianist and occasional vocalist. He was based in New York City from 1979 until his death there in 2012.
2. Charles Durning, American soldier and actor (b. 1923) deaths
  1. Charles Durning
    
    Charles Edward Durning was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays. Durning's best-known films include The Sting (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Muppet Movie (1979), True Confessions (1981), Tootsie (1982), Dick Tracy (1990), and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and To Be or Not to Be (1983). Prior to his acting career, Durning served in World War II and was decorated for valor in combat.
3. Jack Klugman, American actor (b. 1922) deaths
  1. Jack Klugman
    
    Jack Klugman was an American actor of stage, film, and television.
4. Dennis O'Driscoll, Irish poet and critic (b. 1954) deaths
  1. Dennis O'Driscoll
    
    Dennis O'Driscoll was an Irish poet, essayist, critic and editor. Regarded as one of the best European poets of his time, Eileen Battersby considered him "the lyric equivalent of William Trevor" and a better poet "by far" than Raymond Carver. Gerard Smyth regarded him as "one of poetry's true champions and certainly its most prodigious archivist". His book on Seamus Heaney is regarded as the definitive biography of the Nobel laureate.
2011
1. Johannes Heesters, Dutch-German entertainer (b. 1903) deaths
  1. Johannes Heesters
    
    Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters, known professionally as Johannes Heesters, was a Dutch actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the concert stage with a career dating back to the 1920s. He worked as an actor until his death and was one of the oldest performing entertainers in history, performing shortly before his death at the age of 108. Heesters was almost exclusively active in the German-speaking world from the mid-1930s and became a film star in Nazi Germany, which later led to controversy in his native country. He was able to maintain his popularity in Germany in the decades until his death.
2010
1. Elisabeth Beresford, English journalist and author (b. 1926) deaths
  1. Elisabeth Beresford
    
    Elisabeth Beresford, MBE, also known as Liza Beresford, was an English author of children's books, best known for creating The Wombles. Born into a literary family, she took work as a journalist, but struggled for success until she created the Wombles in the late 1960s. Their recycling theme was noted especially and the Wombles became popular with children across the world. While Beresford wrote many other works, the Wombles remained her best-known.
2. Frans de Munck, Dutch footballer and manager (b. 1922) deaths
  1. Frans de Munck
    
    Frans de Munck was a Dutch footballer and football manager.
3. Orestes Quércia, Brazilian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 28th Governor of São Paulo State (b. 1938) deaths
  1. Orestes Quércia
    
    Orestes Quércia was a Brazilian politician. He was the 28th governor of São Paulo State.
  2. List of governors of São Paulo
    
    Governor of São Paulo is the position of the head of state and government of São Paulo, Brazil.
4. Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer and educator (b. 1930) deaths
  1. Eino Tamberg
    
    Eino Tamberg was an Estonian composer whose works are performed internationally. He composed operas such as Cyrano de Bergerac, four symphonies, and several concertos. He taught composition for decades at the Estonian Academy of Music.
2009
1. Marcus Bakker, Dutch journalist and politician (b. 1923) deaths
  1. Marcus Bakker
    
    Marcus Bakker was a Dutch politician of the defunct Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) now merged into the GroenLinks (GL) party and journalist.
2. Rafael Caldera, Venezuelan lawyer and politician, 65th President of Venezuela (b. 1916) deaths
  1. Rafael Caldera
    
    Rafael Antonio Caldera Rodríguez, twice elected the president of Venezuela, served for two five-year terms, becoming the longest serving democratically elected leader to govern the country in the twentieth century. His first term marked the first peaceful transfer of power to the opposition in Venezuela's history.
  2. President of Venezuela
    
    The president of Venezuela, officially known as the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is the head of state and head of government in Venezuela. The president leads the National Executive of the Venezuelan government and is the commander-in-chief of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces. Presidential terms were set at six years with the adoption of the 1999 Constitution of Venezuela, and presidential term limits were removed in 2009.
3. George Michael, American sportscaster (b. 1939) deaths
  1. George Michael (sportscaster)
    
    George Michael was an American broadcaster best known nationally for The George Michael Sports Machine, his long-running sports highlights television program. Originally named George Michael's Sports Final when it began as a local show in Washington, D.C., in 1980, it was nationally syndicated by NBC from 1984 until its final installment was aired on March 25, 2007. Michael won a Sports Emmy in 1985 for his work on The George Michael Sports Machine.
4. Gero von Wilpert, German author and academic (b. 1933) deaths
  1. Gero von Wilpert
    
    Gero von Wilpert was a German author, a senior lecturer in German at the University of New South Wales and, from 1980, Professor of German at the University of Sydney.
2008
1. Ralph Harris, British journalist (b. 1921) deaths
  1. Ralph Harris (journalist)
    
    Ralph Harris was a British journalist and Reuters presidential correspondent. He was Reuters' official White House correspondent for the presidents from Truman until Reagan.
2. Harold Pinter, English playwright, screenwriter, director, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1930) deaths
  1. Harold Pinter
    
    Harold Pinter was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party (1957), The Homecoming (1964) and Betrayal (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others' works include The Servant (1963), The Go-Between (1971), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), The Trial (1993) and Sleuth (2007). He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television and film productions of his own and others' works.
  2. Nobel Prize in Literature
    
    The Nobel Prize in Literature is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction". Though individual works are sometimes cited as being particularly noteworthy, the award is based on an author's body of work as a whole. The Swedish Academy decides who, if anyone, will receive the prize. The academy announces the name of the laureate in early October. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895. Literature is traditionally the final award presented at the Nobel Prize ceremony. On some occasions the award has been postponed to the following year, most recently in 2018 as of May 2022.
2007
1. Nicholas Pumfrey, English lawyer and judge (b. 1951) deaths
  1. Nicholas Pumfrey
    
    Sir Nicholas Richard Pumfrey styled The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Pumfrey, was a British barrister. He served as a High Court judge for 10 years, and was promoted to the Court of Appeal little more than a month before his sudden death.
2. George Warrington, American businessman (b. 1952) deaths
  1. George Warrington
    
    George David Warrington was an American transportation official, who served New Jersey Transit for 28 years, latterly in the post of executive director.
2006
1. Braguinha, Brazilian singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1907) deaths
  1. Braguinha (composer)
    
    Carlos Alberto Ferreira Braga, commonly known as Braguinha or João de Barro, was a Brazilian songwriter and occasional singer.
2. Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian guitarist and composer (b. 1961) deaths
  1. Kenneth Sivertsen (musician)
    
    Kenneth Sivertsen was a Norwegian musician, composer, poet, and comedian.
3. Frank Stanton, American businessman (b. 1908) deaths
  1. Frank Stanton (executive)
    
    Frank Nicholas Stanton was an American broadcasting executive who served as the president of CBS between 1946 and 1971 and then as vice chairman until 1973. He also served as the chairman of the Rand Corporation from 1961 until 1967.
2004
1. Johnny Oates, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1946) deaths
  1. Johnny Oates
    
    Johnny Lane Oates was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees from 1970 to 1981. During his playing career, Oates was a light-hitting player who was valued for his defensive skills and played most of his career as a reserve player. It was as a big league manager that Oates experienced his greatest success, when, under his leadership, the Texas Rangers won three American League Western Division titles.
2002
1. Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author and poet (b. 1920) deaths
  1. Kjell Aukrust
    
    Kjell Aukrust was a Norwegian author, poet, artist and humorist. Aukrust is principally known for his Flåklypa stories and Flåklypa drawings.
2. Jake Thackray, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1938) deaths
  1. Jake Thackray
    
    John Philip "Jake" Thackray was an English singer-songwriter, poet, humourist and journalist. Best known in the late 1960s and early 1970s for his topical comedy songs performed on British television, his work ranged from satirical to bawdy to sentimental to pastoral, with a strong emphasis on storytelling, making him difficult to categorise.
2000
1. John Cooper, English businessman, co-founded the Cooper Car Company (b. 1923) deaths
  1. John Cooper (car maker)
    
    John Newton Cooper CBE was a co-founder, with his father Charles Cooper, of the Cooper Car Company. Born in Surbiton, Surrey, United Kingdom, he became an auto racing legend with his rear-engined chassis design that would eventually change the face of the sport at its highest levels, from Formula One to the Indianapolis 500.
  2. Cooper Car Company
    
    The Cooper Car Company is a British car manufacturer founded in December 1947 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles's small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England, in 1946. Through the 1950s and early 1960s they reached motor racing's highest levels as their mid-engined, single-seat cars competed in both Formula One and the Indianapolis 500, and their Mini Cooper dominated rally racing. The Cooper name lives on in the Cooper versions of the Mini production cars that are built in England, but is now owned and marketed by BMW.
1999
1. Bill Bowerman, American runner, coach, and businessman, co-founded Nike, Inc. (b. 1911) deaths
  1. Bill Bowerman
    
    William Jay Bowerman was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 22 NCAA champions and 16 sub-4 minute milers.
  2. Nike, Inc.
    
    Nike, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of US$37.4 billion in its fiscal year 2020. As of 2020, it employed 76,700 people worldwide. In 2020, the brand alone was valued in excess of $32 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses. Previously, in 2017, the Nike brand was valued at $29.6 billion. Nike ranked 89th in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
2. Maurice Couve de Murville, French soldier and politician, 152nd Prime Minister of France (b. 1907) deaths
  1. Maurice Couve de Murville
    
    Jacques-Maurice Couve de Murville was a French diplomat and politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1958 to 1968 and Prime Minister from 1968 to 1969 under the presidency of General de Gaulle. As foreign minister he played the leading role in the critical Franco-German treaty of cooperation in 1963, he laid the foundation for the Paris-Bonn axis that was central in building a united Europe.
  2. List of prime ministers of France
    
    The head of the government of France has been called the prime minister of France since 1959, when Michel Debré became the first officeholder appointed under the Fifth Republic. During earlier periods of history, the head of government of France was known by different titles. As was common in European democracies of the 1815–1958 period, the head of government was called President of the Council of Ministers, generally shortened to President of the Council. This should not be confused with the elected office of president of the French Republic, who appoints the prime minister as head of state.
3. João Figueiredo, Brazilian general and politician, 30th President of Brazil (b. 1918) deaths
  1. João Figueiredo
    
    João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo was a Brazilian military leader and politician who was the 30th president of Brazil from 1979 to 1985, the last of the military regime that ruled the country following the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état. He was chief of the Secret Service (SNI) during the term of his predecessor, Ernesto Geisel, who appointed him to the presidency at the end of his own mandate.
  2. President of Brazil
    
    The president of Brazil, officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil or simply the President of the Republic, is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces.
4. William C. Schneider, American aerospace engineer (b. 1923) deaths
  1. William C. Schneider
    
    William Charles Schneider served in the United States Naval Reserve 1942–1946 as an Aviation Machinist's Mate, 1st Class Petty Officer. He joined NASA in June 1963 and served as the Gemini mission director for seven of the ten piloted Gemini missions. From 1967 to 1968, he served as Apollo mission director and the Apollo program's deputy director for missions. He then served from 1968 to 1974 as the Skylab program's director. From 1974 to 1978, he worked as the Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Transportation Systems. From 1978 to 1980, he served as the Associate Administrator for Space Tracking and Data systems. He received a Ph.D. in engineering from Catholic University of America.
1998
1. Syl Apps, Canadian ice hockey player and pole vaulter (b. 1915) deaths
  1. Syl Apps
    
    Charles Joseph Sylvanus Apps,, was a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1936 to 1948, an Olympic pole vaulter and a Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario. In 2017 Apps was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
1997
1. James Komack, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1930) deaths
  1. James Komack
    
    James Komack was an American television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best known for producing several hit television series, including The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Chico and the Man, and Welcome Back, Kotter.
2. Toshiro Mifune, Chinese-Japanese actor and producer (b. 1920) deaths
  1. Toshiro Mifune
    
    Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo. He also portrayed Miyamoto Musashi in Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy and one earlier Inagaki film, Lord Toranaga in the NBC television miniseries Shōgun, and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in three different films.
3. Pierre Péladeau, Canadian businessman, founded Quebecor (b. 1925) deaths
  1. Pierre Péladeau
    
    Pierre Péladeau, was a French-Canadian businessman. He was the founder of Quebecor Inc., a Canadian media and telecommunications conglomerate in Quebec.
  2. Quebecor
    
    Quebecor Inc. is a Canadian diversified media and telecommunications company serving Québec based in Montreal. It was spelled Quebecor in both English and French until May 2012, when shareholders voted to add the acute accent, Québecor, in French only.
1995
1. Anett Kontaveit, Estonian tennis player births
  1. Anett Kontaveit
    
    Anett Kontaveit is an Estonian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 2 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which she first achieved on 6 June 2022, making her the highest-ranked Estonian player in history. In 2021, she became the first Estonian to participate in the WTA Finals, where she reached the final. Kontaveit also holds a career-high ranking of No. 95 in doubles, achieved on 2 March 2020.
1994
1. Fa'amanu Brown, New Zealand rugby league player births
  1. Fa'amanu Brown
    
    Fa'amanu Brown is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker and lock.
2. Miguel Castro, Dominican baseball player births
  1. Miguel Castro
    
    Miguel Ángel Castro is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets and New York Yankees. Castro signed with the Blue Jays as an international free agent in 2012, and made his MLB debut in 2015.
3. Matt Frawley, Australian rugby league player births
  1. Matt Frawley
    
    Matt Frawley is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a five-eighth, halfback or hooker for the Canberra Raiders in the NRL.
4. Han Seung-woo, South Korean singer births
  1. Han Seung-woo (singer)
    
    Han Seung-woo, known mononymously as Seungwoo, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper, dancer and actor. He debuted as a member of South Korean group Victon in 2016. In 2019, he finished third on Produce X 101 and became a member of X1. He debuted as a solo artist in August 2020 with the extended play Fame.
5. Seola, South Korean singer and actress births
  1. Seola (singer)
    
    Kim Hyun-jung, known professionally as Seola, is a South Korean singer and actress, best known as a member of the South Korean-Chinese girl group WJSN.
6. John Boswell, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1947) deaths
  1. John Boswell
    
    John Eastburn Boswell was an American historian and a full professor at Yale University. Many of Boswell's studies focused on the issue of religion and homosexuality, specifically Christianity and homosexuality. All of his work focused on the history of those at the margins of society.
7. Rossano Brazzi, Italian actor (b. 1916) deaths
  1. Rossano Brazzi
    
    Rossano Brazzi was an Italian actor.
1993
1. Norman Vincent Peale, American minister and author (b. 1898) deaths
  1. Norman Vincent Peale
    
    Norman Vincent Peale was an American Protestant clergyman, and an author best known for popularizing the concept of positive thinking, especially through his best-selling book The Power of Positive Thinking (1952). He served as the pastor of Marble Collegiate Church, New York, from 1932, leading this Reformed Church in America congregation for more than a half century until his retirement in 1984. Alongside his pulpit ministry, he had an extensive career of writing and editing, and radio and television presentations. Despite arguing at times against involvement of clergy in politics, he nevertheless had some controversial affiliations with politically active organizations in the late 1930s, and engaged with national political candidates and their campaigns, having influence on some, including a personal friendship with President Richard Nixon.
1992
1. Bobby LaKind, American singer-songwriter and conga player (b. 1945) deaths
  1. Bobby LaKind
    
    Robert Jay LaKind was an American conga player, vocalist, songwriter and occasional backup drummer with The Doobie Brothers. Originally a lighting roadie for the band, he was invited to join as a sideman for studio sessions after band members noticed his talent when LaKind goofed around on the congas after a concert.
2. James Mathews, Australian rugby league player (b. 1968) deaths
  1. James Mathews (rugby league)
    
    James Burlton Mathews was a rugby league footballer in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition.
3. Peyo, Belgian cartoonist, created The Smurfs (b. 1928) deaths
  1. Peyo
    
    Pierre Culliford was a Belgian comics writer and artist who worked under the pseudonym Peyo. His best-known works are the comic book series The Smurfs and Johan and Peewit, the latter in which the Smurfs first appeared.
  2. The Smurfs
    
    The Smurfs is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. The Smurfs was first created and introduced as a series of comic characters by the Belgian comics artist Peyo in 1958, wherein they were known as Les Schtroumpfs. There are more than 100 Smurf characters, and their names are based on adjectives that emphasise their characteristics, such as "Jokey Smurf", who likes to play practical jokes on his fellow Smurfs. "Smurfette" was the first female Smurf to be introduced in the series. The Smurfs wear Phrygian caps, which came to represent freedom during the modern era.
1991
1. Lara Michel, Swiss tennis player births
  1. Lara Michel
    
    Lara Michel is a Swiss tennis player.
2. Louis Tomlinson, English singer births
  1. Louis Tomlinson
    
    Louis William Tomlinson is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Tomlinson began his career appearing in television dramas before he auditioned on the British music competition series The X Factor in 2010. After being eliminated as a solo performer, he was placed into a group with four other contestants, forming One Direction. One Direction went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
3. Virginia Sorensen, American author (b. 1912) deaths
  1. Virginia Sorensen
    
    Virginia Louise Sorensen, also credited as Virginia Sorenson, was an American regionalist writer. Her role in Utah and Mormon literature places her within the "lost generation" of Mormon writers. She was awarded the 1957 Newbery Medal for her children's novel, Miracles on Maple Hill.
1990
1. Brigetta Barrett, American high jumper births
  1. Brigetta Barrett
    
    Brigetta LaShea Barrett is a former high jumper from the United States. Her biggest success is winning the silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and a gold medal at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. She retired in 2016 at the age of 25 before coming back in 2017.
2. Marcus Jordan, American basketball player births
  1. Marcus Jordan
    
    Marcus James Jordan is an American former college basketball player who played for the UCF Knights men's basketball team. He is the second oldest son of retired Hall of Fame basketball player Michael Jordan.
3. Ryo Miyake, Japanese fencer births
  1. Ryo Miyake
    
    Ryo Miyake is a Japanese fencer. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he competed in the Men's foil, but was defeated in the second round. He won a silver medal in the team foil event.
4. Thorbjørn Egner, Norwegian playwright and songwriter (b. 1922) deaths
  1. Thorbjørn Egner
    
    Thorbjørn Egner was a Norwegian playwright, songwriter and illustrator known principally for his books, plays and musicals for children. He is principally associated with his narratives for children including Karius og Baktus (1949) and Folk og røvere i Kardemomme by (1955).
1988
1. Stefanos Athanasiadis, Greek footballer births
  1. Stefanos Athanasiadis
    
    Stefanos "Klaus" Athanasiadis is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a striker for Super League 2 club Anagennisi Karditsa.
2. Emre Özkan, Turkish footballer births
  1. Emre Özkan
    
    Emre Özkan is a Turkish football defender who plays for Afjet Afyonspor.
3. Simon Zenke, Nigerian footballer births
  1. Simon Zenke
    
    Simon Terwase Zenke is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward.
4. Jainendra Kumar, Indian author (b. 1905) deaths
  1. Jainendra Kumar
    
    Jainendra Kumar was a 20th century Indian writer who wrote in Hindi. He wrote novels include Sunita and Tyagapatra. He was awarded one of India's highest civilian honours, the Padma Bhushan in 1971. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award by the Sahitya Akademi in 1966, for his work Muktibodh (novelette), and its highest award, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 1979.
1987
1. Jane Summersett, American ice dancer births
  1. Jane Summersett
    
    Jane Summersett is an American former competitive ice dancer. She teamed up with Todd Gilles in April 2007. The two won the bronze medal at the 2008 Nebelhorn Trophy and placed seventh at the 2010 Four Continents Championships.
2. Joop den Uyl, Dutch journalist, economist, and politician, 45th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1919) deaths
  1. Joop den Uyl
    
    Johannes Marten den Uijl, better known as Joop den Uyl was a Dutch politician and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 to 1977. He was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA).
  2. Prime Minister of the Netherlands
    
    The prime minister of the Netherlands is the head of the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands. Although the monarch is the de jure head of government, the prime minister de facto occupies this role as the officeholder chairs the Council of Ministers and coordinates its policy with the rest of the cabinet. The current prime minister has been Mark Rutte since 14 October 2010, whose fourth cabinet was inaugurated on 10 January 2022.
3. M. G. Ramachandran, Sri Lankan-Indian actor, producer, and politician, 5th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (b. 1917) deaths
  1. M. G. Ramachandran
    
    Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran, also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987. He was the AIADMK's founder and J. Jayalalithaa's mentor. On 19 March 1988, M.G.R. was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.
  2. List of chief ministers of Tamil Nadu
    
    The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the [[Conis a state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites the party with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.
1986
1. Tim Elliott, American mixed martial artist births
  1. Tim Elliott
    
    Timothy Samuel Elliott is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is the former Titan FC Flyweight Champion. He has been professional competitor since 2009 and is currently in his second tenure with the UFC. He is a four-time winner of bonuses in the UFC, winning Fight of the Night three times, Performance of the Night once and won The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions. As of August 23, 2022, he is #11 in the UFC flyweight rankings.
2. Kyrylo Fesenko, Ukrainian basketball player births
  1. Kyrylo Fesenko
    
    Kyrylo Anatoliyovych Fesenko is a Ukrainian professional basketball player who plays for Sanaye Hormozgan of the Iranian Basketball Super League. Standing at 2.16 m, he plays the center position. He wears a size 18 shoe and has a 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) wingspan and 9 ft 4 in (2.84 m) standing reach.
3. Gardner Fox, American author (b. 1911) deaths
  1. Gardner Fox
    
    Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics. Fox was also a science fiction author and wrote many novels and short stories.
1985
1. Alexey Dmitriev, German ice hockey player births
  1. Alexey Dmitriev
    
    Alexey Dmitriev is a Belarusian-born German professional ice hockey player currently playing for the Löwen Frankfurt of the DEL2
2. David Ragan, American race car driver births
  1. David Ragan
    
    David Lee Ragan is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing, and is also an analyst for NASCAR on Fox on NASCAR Race Hub.
3. Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, American lawyer (b. 1904) deaths
  1. Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith
    
    Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith was an American gentleman farmer known as a great-grandson of Abraham Lincoln. In 1975, he became the last undisputed descendant of Lincoln when his sister, Mary Lincoln Beckwith, died without children.
4. Camille Tourville, Canadian-American wrestler and manager (b. 1927) deaths
  1. Tarzan Tyler
    
    Camille Tourville was a Canadian professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, Tarzan Tyler. He was one-half of the first WWWF World Tag Team Champions, along with Luke Graham.
1984
1. Isaac De Gois, Australian rugby league player births
  1. Isaac De Gois
    
    Isaac De Gois, also known by the nickname of "Goisy", is a former Portugal international rugby league footballer. His position was hooker and he played for the Wests Tigers, Newcastle Knights, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League.
2. Peter Lawford, English-American actor (b. 1923) deaths
  1. Peter Lawford
    
    Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford was an English-American actor.
1982
1. Louis Aragon, French author and poet (b. 1897) deaths
  1. Louis Aragon
    
    Louis Aragon was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review Littérature. He was also a novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt. After 1959, he was a frequent nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
1981
1. Dima Bilan, Russian singer-songwriter and actor births
  1. Dima Bilan
    
    Dima Nikolayevich Bilan is a Russian singer, songwriter and actor. He represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with "Never Let You Go", finishing second, and he won the contest in 2008 in Belgrade, with the song "Believe". He has had several Russian number one hit records. He is sometimes referred to as "Russia's Iglesias" due to his similarity to the Spanish singer.
1980
1. Stephen Appiah, Ghanaian footballer births
  1. Stephen Appiah
    
    Stephen Leroy Appiah is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Appiah was a member of the Ghana national team, which he has represented at the youth, Olympic, and senior levels. He captained Ghana at their World Cup debut in 2006 and at the 2010 World Cup.
2. Tomas Kalnoky, Czech-American singer-songwriter and guitarist births
  1. Tomas Kalnoky
    
    Tomas Kalnoky is a Czechoslovakia-born American musician. He is the lead singer/guitarist and songwriter of the bands Streetlight Manifesto and Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution, and goes by the pseudonym Toh Kay as a solo performer. He is the former lead singer/guitarist for 3rd-wave ska band Catch 22, but left the band after making only one album to attend Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia, for visual art. According to the booklet of Somewhere in the Between, Kalnoky attended Rutgers University. He is the owner of Pentimento Music Company, a record company.
3. Maarja Liis-Ilus, Estonian pop musician births
  1. Maarja-Liis Ilus
    
    Maarja-Liis Ilus, sometimes better known by her performing name Maarja is an Estonian pop musician and presenter. She has represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest twice. She was only 15 when she participated in the 1996 contest.
4. Karl Dönitz, German admiral and politician, President of Germany (b. 1891) deaths
  1. Karl Dönitz
    
    Karl Dönitz was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government following Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies days later. As Supreme Commander of the Navy beginning in 1943, he played a major role in the naval history of World War II.
  2. List of presidents of Germany
    
    A number of presidential offices have existed in Germany since the collapse of the German Empire in 1918.
1979
1. Chris Hero, American wrestler and trainer births
  1. Chris Hero
    
    Chris Spradlin, better known by his ring name Chris Hero, is an American professional wrestler and trainer. He is currently signed to Ring of Honor as a producer. Hero has worked for a number of independent wrestling promotions, including Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Ring of Honor (ROH), Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South, Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) and Chikara, as well as Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan. Hero has had two stints in WWE, both as part of their development territory NXT, under the ring name Kassius Ohno. His second tenure with the company saw him work as a "player-coach" for the trainees in NXT and NXT UK.
1978
1. Yıldıray Baştürk, German-Turkish footballer births
  1. Yıldıray Baştürk
    
    Yıldıray Baştürk is a retired professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
2. Warren Tredrea, Australian footballer and sportscaster births
  1. Warren Tredrea
    
    Warren Gary Tredrea is a former Australian Rules Footballer with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and former Weekday Sports Presenter on Nine News Adelaide. Since his retirement from football, he has become a sports media personality featuring on Nine News Adelaide, 3AW, FiveAA and in The Advertiser newspaper.
1977
1. Michael Raymond-James, American actor births
  1. Michael Raymond-James
    
    Michael Raymond-James is an American actor. He is best known for playing René Lenier in the first season of the HBO series True Blood, Britt Pollack on the FX series Terriers, Neal Cassidy/Baelfire on the ABC series Once Upon a Time, and Mitch Longo on the CBS All Access series Tell Me a Story.
2. Samael Aun Weor, Colombian author and educator (b. 1917) deaths
  1. Samael Aun Weor
    
    Samael Aun Weor, born Víctor Manuel Gómez Rodríguez, was a spiritual teacher and author of over sixty books of esoteric spirituality. He taught and formed groups under the banner of "Universal Gnosticism", or simply gnosis. A prolific author of syncretistic books, Gómez first made a name in the early gnostic movement in his native country of Colombia, before moving to Mexico in 1956, where his movement gained increased popularity, and his works became popular among practitioners of occultism and esotericism, and were translated to other languages.
1976
1. Linda Ferga, French hurdler births
  1. Linda Ferga
    
    Linda Ferga married Khodadin is a French former athlete who competed in the 100 metres hurdles and 60 metres hurdles indoor.
1975
1. Bernard Herrmann, American composer and conductor (b. 1911) deaths
  1. Bernard Herrmann
    
    Bernard Herrmann was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest film composers.
1974
1. Thure Lindhardt, Danish actor births
  1. Thure Lindhardt
    
    Thure Frank Lindhardt is a Danish actor, educated at the drama school at Odense Theatre in 1998.
2. Paal Nilssen-Love, Norwegian drummer and composer births
  1. Paal Nilssen-Love
    
    Paal Nilssen-Love is a Norwegian drummer and composer in the jazz, free jazz and free improvisation genres.
3. Marcelo Salas, Chilean footballer births
  1. Marcelo Salas
    
    José Marcelo Salas Melinao, nicknamed Matador, El Fenómeno and Shileno, is a Chilean former footballer who played as a striker. Salas is considered the best striker in the history of Chile. He stood out during the 1990s and 2000s in clubs such as Universidad de Chile, River Plate, Lazio and Juventus. He was captain of the Chilean national team and the top scorer – scoring 45 goals in total: 37 goals for the Chile national football team and 8 goals with the Chile Olympic football team.
4. Ryan Seacrest, American radio host and television personality, and producer births
  1. Ryan Seacrest
    
    Ryan John Seacrest is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of Live with Kelly and Ryan, as well as the host of multiple media shows including American Idol, American Top 40, and On Air with Ryan Seacrest.
5. J.D. Walsh, American actor, director, and producer births
  1. J. D. Walsh (actor)
    
    John Douglas Walsh is an American actor, writer, producer, and improv comedy leader. He is best known for his role as Gordon on Two and a Half Men. He wrote, produced and directed the show Battleground.
1973
1. Liu Dong, Chinese-Spanish runner births
  1. Liu Dong
    
    Liu Dong is a retired Chinese middle-distance runner. She holds the current Asian record over 800 metres with 1:55.54 minutes. She set that record while winning at the 7th Chinese National Games. Her personal best over 1500 metres was 3:56.31 minutes. She was trained from 1991 to 1993 by the famous Ma Junren in Liaoning Province.
2. Paul Foot, English comedian births
  1. Paul Foot (comedian)
    
    Paul Foot is an English comedian. Foot is known for his musings, rants, "disturbances" and apparent aversion to pop culture. The Daily Express likened him to "a rare exotic bird", and six national newspapers including The Independent and The Age have described him as "a comedy genius".
3. Stephenie Meyer, American author and film producer births
  1. Stephenie Meyer
    
    Stephenie Meyer is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire romance series Twilight, which has sold over 100 million copies, with translations into 37 different languages. Meyer was the bestselling author of 2008 and 2009 in the U.S., having sold over 29 million books in 2008, and 26.5 million in 2009. Meyer received the 2009 Children's Book of the Year award from the British Book Awards for Breaking Dawn, the Twilight series finale.
4. Ali Salem Tamek, Moroccan activist births
  1. Ali Salem Tamek
    
    Ali Salem Tamek is a Sahrawi independence activist and trade unionist.
5. Fritz Gause, German historian and author (b. 1893) deaths
  1. Fritz Gause
    
    Fritz Gause was a German historian, archivist, and curator described as the last great historian of his native city, Königsberg, East Prussia. Gause's most important work was his three-volume history of Königsberg, Die Geschichte der Stadt Königsberg in Preußen. He was connected to nationalist historic movement called Ostforschung
1972
1. Álvaro Mesén, Costa Rican footballer births
  1. Álvaro Mesén
    
    Álvaro Mesén Murillo is a retired Costa Rican footballer.
2. Klaus Schnellenkamp, Chilean businessman and author births
  1. Klaus Schnellenkamp
    
    Klaus Schnellenkamp was a German Chilean author. Schnellenkamp escaped from Colonia Dignidad community to Germany in December 2005. His book, Geboren im Schatten der Angst; Ich überlebte die Colonia Dignidad. , details his escape and life during the Military dictatorship of Chile.
3. Gisela Richter, English-American archaeologist and historian (b. 1882) deaths
  1. Gisela Richter
    
    Gisela Marie Augusta Richter was a classical archaeologist and art historian. She was a prominent figure and an authority in her field.
1971
1. Geoff Allott, New Zealand cricketer births
  1. Geoff Allott
    
    Geoffrey Ian Allott is a former New Zealand cricketer who played in 10 Tests and 31 One Day Internationals (ODIs) from 1996 to 2000. He retired from all cricket in 2001, following series of injuries
2. Sascha Fischer, German rugby player births
  1. Sascha Fischer
    
    Sascha Fischer is retired a German international rugby union player, having last played for Le Bugue athletic club in the Federale 1 and also the German national rugby union team.
3. Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and actor births
  1. Ricky Martin
    
    Enrique Martín Morales, known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his discography spanning multiple genres, including Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton, and salsa. Dubbed the "King of Latin Pop", the "King of Latin Music", and the "Latin Pop God", he is regarded as one of the most influential artists in the world. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at age nine and began his musical career at twelve, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He began his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.
4. Maria Koepcke, German-Peruvian ornithologist and zoologist (b. 1924) deaths
  1. Maria Koepcke
    
    Maria Koepcke was a German ornithologist known for her work with Neotropical bird species. Koepcke was a well-respected authority in South American ornithology and her work is still referenced today. For her efforts, she is commemorated in the scientific names of four Peruvian bird species and, along with her husband, a Peruvian lizard species.
1970
1. Adam Haslett, American author and academic births
  1. Adam Haslett
    
    Adam Haslett is an American fiction writer and journalist. His debut short story collection, You Are Not a Stranger Here, and his second novel, Imagine Me Gone, were both finalists for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy in Berlin. In 2017, he won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
2. Amaury Nolasco, Puerto Rican-American actor births
  1. Amaury Nolasco
    
    Amaury Nolasco Garrido is a Puerto Rican actor and producer, best known for the role of Fernando Sucre on the Fox television series Prison Break, and for his role in Transformers.
1969
1. Brad Anderson, American wrestler births
  1. Brad Anderson (wrestler)
    
    Bradley Anderson is an American professional wrestler. He is the son of fellow professional wrestler Gene Anderson.
2. Milan Blagojevic, Australian footballer and manager births
  1. Milan Blagojevic (soccer)
    
    Milan Blagojevic is an Australian retired soccer player.
3. Pernille Fischer Christensen, Danish director and screenwriter births
  1. Pernille Fischer Christensen
    
    Pernille Fischer Christensen is a Danish film director and the older sister of actress Stine Fischer Christensen. She started out in the movie business when she was 20 years old as an assistant to Tómas Gislason. During that time, Gislason was closely connected to Lars von Trier, and she got to listen to Gislason and von Trier's discussions about movies. In 1993, she went to The European Film College where she met and collaborated with Nanna Arnfred. In 1999, she graduated from the National Film School of Denmark with the movie India, which later went on to win the Cinéfondations 3rd Prize at the Film festival in Cannes. After finishing film school she made a short film called Habibti My Love, which won a Robert in 2003 for best short subject.
4. Taro Goto, Japanese soccer player births
  1. Taro Goto
    
    Taro Goto is a former Japanese football player.
5. Leavander Johnson, American boxer (d. 2005) births
  1. Leavander Johnson
    
    Leavander Johnson was an American lightweight boxer from Atlantic City, New Jersey, who once held the International Boxing Federation version of the world title. He won the title on June 17, 2005, against the Italian fighter Stefano Zoff, winning after the referee stopped the fight in the seventh round. Johnson lost his first IBF title defense. After walking out of the ring following that fight, he collapsed in the locker room and died of brain injuries several days later.
6. Ryuji Kato, Japanese soccer player births
  1. Ryuji Kato
    
    Ryuji Kato is a former Japanese football player.
7. Nick Love, English director and screenwriter births
  1. Nick Love
    
    Nick Love is an English film director and writer. His credits include the films The Football Factory, The Business, Goodbye Charlie Bright, Outlaw, The Sweeney, and a 2009 remake of football hooliganism drama The Firm.
8. Clinton McKinnon, American saxophonist and keyboard player births
  1. Clinton McKinnon (musician)
    
    Clinton "Bär" McKinnon is an American musician, perhaps best known for being a saxophonist in the San Francisco-based band Mr. Bungle.
9. Ed Miliband, English academic and politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office births
  1. Ed Miliband
    
    Edward Samuel Miliband is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2010 and 2015, resigning after Labour's defeat at the 2015 general election. Alongside his brother, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, he served in the Cabinet from 2007 to 2010 under Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
  2. Minister for the Cabinet Office
    
    The minister for the Cabinet Office is a position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The minister is responsible for the work and policies of the Cabinet Office, and since February 2022, reports to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The position is currently the third highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
10. Mark Millar, Scottish author births
  1. Mark Millar
    
    Mark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series The Authority, published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written extensively for Marvel Comics, including runs on The Ultimates, which has been called "the comic book of the decade" by Time magazine and described as a major inspiration for the 2012 film The Avengers by its screenwriter Zak Penn, X-Men, Fantastic Four and Avengers for Marvel's Ultimate imprint, as well as Marvel Knights Spider-Man and Wolverine. In 2006, Millar wrote the Civil War mini-series that served as the centrepiece for the eponymous company-wide crossover storyline and later inspired the Marvel Studios film Captain America: Civil War. The "Old Man Logan" storyline, published as part of Millar's run on Wolverine, served as the inspiration for the 2017 film Logan.
11. Luis Musrri, Chilean footballer and manager births
  1. Luis Musrri
    
    Luis Eduardo Musrri Saravia is a former Chilean footballer and current coach of San Antonio Unido.
12. Oleg Skripochka, Russian astronaut and engineer births
  1. Oleg Skripochka
    
    Oleg Ivanovich Skripochka is a Russian engineer and cosmonaut. In 2011 he was in space serving as an Expedition 25/26 crewmember.
13. Gintaras Staučė, Lithuanian footballer and manager births
  1. Gintaras Staučė
    
    Gintaras Staučė is a Lithuanian football coach and a former player.
14. Michael Zucchet, American economist and politician births
  1. Michael Zucchet
    
    Michael J. Zucchet is an American Democratic politician, a former member of the San Diego City Council, and a former Deputy Mayor of San Diego. In 2005, he briefly served as the Acting Mayor of San Diego.
15. Stanisław Błeszyński, Polish-German entomologist and lepidopterist (b. 1927) deaths
  1. Stanisław Błeszyński
    
    Stanisław Błeszyński was a Polish entomologist and lepidopterist specializing in Crambidae, the grass moths.
16. Cortelia Clark, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1907) deaths
  1. Cortelia Clark
    
    Cortelia Clark was an American blues singer and guitarist, known for his performances on the streets of Nashville. He won a Grammy for Best Folk Recording in 1967, for the album Blues in the Street, his only recording.
17. Olivia FitzRoy, English soldier and author (b. 1921) deaths
  1. Olivia FitzRoy
    
    Olivia Gwyneth Zoe FitzRoy, was a British author of children's books. She was the granddaughter of Muriel FitzRoy, 1st Viscountess Daventry, raised to the peerage as widow of Edward FitzRoy, the Speaker of the House of Commons from 1928 until his death in 1943; her mother was a member of the famous Guinness family. Olivia FitzRoy was one of five sisters.
18. Alfred B. Skar, Norwegian journalist and politician (b. 1896) deaths
  1. Alfred B. Skar
    
    Alfred B. Skar was a Norwegian newspaper editor, writer, trade unionist and politician for the Labour and Communist parties.
1968
1. Doyle Bramhall II, American singer-songwriter and guitarist births
  1. Doyle Bramhall II
    
    Doyle Bramhall II is an American guitarist, producer and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. He is the son of the songwriter and drummer Doyle Bramhall.
2. Marleen Renders, Belgian runner births
  1. Marleen Renders
    
    Marleen Renders is a retired female long-distance runner from Belgium, who represented her native country thrice at the Summer Olympics: in 1988, 1996 and 2000. In 1995 she won the Antwerp Marathon, in 1998 the Berlin Marathon, and she triumphed twice in the Paris Marathon in 2000 and 2002.
1967
1. Mikhail Shchennikov, Russian race walker births
  1. Mikhail Shchennikov
    
    Mikhail Anatolyevich Shchennikov is a Russian race walker.
2. Pernilla Wahlgren, Swedish singer and actress births
  1. Pernilla Wahlgren
    
    Pernilla Nina Elisabeth Wahlgren is a Swedish singer and actress. She has sung in Melodifestivalen several times; her 1985 entry titled "Piccadilly Circus" became popular and successful. She has acted in several plays and films, playing roles including Esmeralda in the Academy Award-winning Fanny and Alexander. She has twice received the Guldmasken award for her work in theater.
3. Burt Baskin, American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (b. 1913) deaths
  1. Burt Baskin
    
    Burt "Butch" Baskin was an American businessman who co-founded the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor chain in 1946 with business partner and brother-in-law Irv Robbins.
  2. Baskin-Robbins
    
    Baskin-Robbins is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake speciality shops owned by Inspire Brands. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Burt Baskin (1913–1967) and Irv Robbins (1917–2008) in Glendale, California. It is the world's largest chain of ice cream speciality stores, with more than 8,000 locations, including nearly 2,500 shops in the United States and over 5,000 in other countries. Baskin-Robbins has stores in nearly 50 countries.
1966
1. Diedrich Bader, American actor births
  1. Diedrich Bader
    
    Karl Diedrich Bader is an American actor and comedian who is best known for his comedy roles. He has appeared as a series regular in television sitcoms The Drew Carey Show, American Housewife, and Outsourced, along with notable recurring roles in Better Things and Veep. His film credits include The Beverly Hillbillies, Office Space, EuroTrip, and Napoleon Dynamite. He has also had a prolific voiceover career, playing characters such as Hoss Delgado in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Zeta in The Zeta Project, Tank in the film Surf's Up, and provided the voice of Bruce Wayne / Batman in multiple animated films and television series, beginning in 2008 with Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
1965
1. Millard Powers, American bass player, songwriter, and producer births
  1. Millard Powers
    
    Avery Millard Powers III is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and Grammy-nominated recording engineer. While a student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the 1980s, he collaborated with fellow student Ben Folds and with Alabama-based singer-songwriter Owsley, both of which he continued to work with as a musician and as a producer for the next several decades. Since 2005 he has played bass guitar in the band Counting Crows.
2. John Black, English businessman (b. 1895) deaths
  1. John Black (businessman)
    
    Sir John Paul Black held several senior positions in the British motor industry including chairman of Standard-Triumph.
3. William M. Branham, American minister and theologian (b. 1906) deaths
  1. William M. Branham
    
    William Marrion Branham was an American Christian minister and faith healer who initiated the post–World War II healing revival, and claimed to be a prophet with the anointing of Elijah, who had come to prelude Christ's second coming; some of his followers have been labeled a "doomsday cult". He is credited as "a principal architect of restorationist thought" for charismatics by some Christian historians, and has been called the "leading individual in the Second Wave of Pentecostalism." He made a lasting influence on televangelism and the modern charismatic movement, and his "stage presence remains a legend unparalleled in the history of the Charismatic movement". At the time they were held, his inter-denominational meetings were the largest religious meetings ever held in some American cities. Branham was the first American deliverance minister to successfully campaign in Europe; his ministry reached global audiences with major campaigns held in North America, Europe, Africa, and India.
1964
1. Mark Valley, American actor births
  1. Mark Valley
    
    Mark Thomas Valley is an American film and television actor, best known for his roles as Brad Chase in the TV drama Boston Legal, Oliver Richard in the NBC drama Harry's Law, FBI Special Agent John Scott in the Fox sci fi series Fringe, Christopher Chance in Fox's action drama Human Target, and Tommy Sullivan in ABC's Body of Proof.
2. Claudia Jones, Trinidad-British journalist and activist (b. 1915) deaths
  1. Claudia Jones
    
    Claudia Vera Jones was a Trinidad and Tobago-born journalist and activist. As a child, she migrated with her family to the US, where she became a Communist political activist, feminist and black nationalist, adopting the name Jones as "self-protective disinformation". Due to the political persecution of Communists in the US, she was deported in 1955 and subsequently lived in the United Kingdom. Upon arriving in the UK, she immediately joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and would remain a member for the rest of her life. She then founded Britain's first major black newspaper, the West Indian Gazette, in 1958, and played a central role in founding the Notting Hill Carnival, the second-largest annual carnival in the world.
1963
1. Caroline Aherne, English actress, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016) births
  1. Caroline Aherne
    
    Caroline Mary Aherne was an English actress, comedian and writer. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host Mrs Merton, in various roles in The Fast Show, and as Denise in The Royle Family, a series which she co-wrote. She won BAFTA awards for her work on The Mrs Merton Show and The Royle Family.
2. Jay Bilas, American basketball player and sportscaster births
  1. Jay Bilas
    
    Jay Scot Bilas is an American college basketball analyst who currently works for ESPN. Bilas is a former professional basketball player and coach who played for and served as an assistant under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke University, as well as a practicing attorney in North Carolina.
3. Timo Jutila, Finnish ice hockey player and sportscaster births
  1. Timo Jutila
    
    Timo Juhani "Juti" Jutila is a retired Finnish ice hockey defenceman.
4. Mary Ramsey, American singer-songwriter and violinist births
  1. Mary Ramsey
    
    Mary Ramsey is a member of folk rock duo John & Mary and lead singer and violinist for the American alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs. Ramsey has also worked with other well-known artists such as Jackson Browne, Goo Goo Dolls, Billy Bragg, Warren Zevon, Alex Chilton and Ani DiFranco.
5. Neil Turbin, American singer-songwriter births
  1. Neil Turbin
    
    Neil Turbin is an American singer known for being the first full-time vocalist for thrash metal band Anthrax. He is the current lead vocalist and songwriter of heavy metal band DeathRiders and a member of hard rock band Bleed the Hunger.
1962
1. Kate Spade, American fashion designer (d. 2018) births
  1. Kate Spade
    
    Katherine Noel Valentine Brosnahan Spade was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur as well as a fashion Icon. She was the founder and co-owner of the designer brand Kate Spade New York.
2. Wilhelm Ackermann, German mathematician (b. 1896) deaths
  1. Wilhelm Ackermann
    
    Wilhelm Friedrich Ackermann was a German mathematician and logician best known for his work in mathematical logic and the Ackermann function, an important example in the theory of computation.
3. Eveline Adelheid von Maydell, German illustrator (b. 1890) deaths
  1. Eveline Adelheid von Maydell
    
    Eveline Adelheid von Maydell was an ethnic German silhouette artist. Born in Iran, she studied drawing in Pärnu, Estonia, in Riga, Latvia and in St. Petersburg, Russia. She moved to the United States in 1922.
1961
1. Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijani businessman and politician, 4th President of Azerbaijan births
  1. Ilham Aliyev
    
    Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003.
  2. President of Azerbaijan
    
    The president of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the head of state of Azerbaijan. The Constitution states that the president is the embodiment of executive power, commander-in-chief, "representative of Azerbaijan in home and foreign policies", and "shall have the right of immunity [from prosecution]." The president rules through his executive office, the Presidential Administration, consisting of a group of secretaries and departmental ministers. Additionally, there is a Cabinet of Ministers regarding economic and social policy and a Security Council regarding foreign, military, and judicial matters.
2. Mary Barra, American businesswoman, current CEO and chairwoman of General Motors births
  1. Mary Barra
    
    Mary Teresa Barra is an American businesswoman who has been the chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of General Motors since January 15, 2014. She is the first female CEO of a 'Big Three' automaker. In December 2013, GM named her to succeed Daniel Akerson as CEO. Prior to being named CEO, Barra was executive vice president of global product development, purchasing, and supply chain.
  2. General Motors
    
    The General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the top spot to Toyota in 2008.
3. Eriko Kitagawa, Japanese director and screenwriter births
  1. Eriko Kitagawa
    
    Eriko Kitagawa is a Japanese screenwriter and film director. She is best known for writing Japanese television dramas, notably Long Vacation (1996), Beautiful Life (2000), Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi (2002), and Orange Days (2004).
4. Darren Wharton, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player births
  1. Darren Wharton
    
    Darren Leigh Wharton is a British keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He has fronted his own band, Dare, since 1985, but first came to attention as a member of Thin Lizzy. His son, Paris, is also a musician.
5. Wade Williams, American actor births
  1. Wade Williams
    
    Wade Andrew Williams is an American actor. He is known for his various character roles, and for a major supporting role as correctional officer Brad Bellick on the Fox television series Prison Break and Father Cronin on The Bernie Mac Show (2001–2004). Williams also voiced Two-Face in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2012–2013).
6. Jay Wright, American basketball player and coach births
  1. Jay Wright (basketball)
    
    Jerold Taylor "Jay" Wright Jr. is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach of Villanova University from 2001 until 2022. Wright led the Villanova to six Big East Conference championships and 16 NCAA Tournament appearances in his 21 seasons as head coach. Under Wright, Villanova reached four Final Fours and won two National championships in 2016 and 2018.
7. Robert Hillyer, American poet and academic (b. 1895) deaths
  1. Robert Hillyer
    
    Robert Silliman Hillyer was an American poet and professor of English literature. He won a Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1934.
1960
1. Glenn McQueen, Canadian-American animator (d. 2002) births
  1. Glenn McQueen
    
    Glenn John McQueen was a Canadian supervisor of digital animation and supervising character animator at Pixar and Pacific Data Images.
2. Carol Vorderman, English television host births
  1. Carol Vorderman
    
    Carol Jean Vorderman, HonFIET is a Welsh media personality, best known for appearing on the game show Countdown for 26 years from 1982 until 2008, as a newspaper columnist and nominal author of educational and diet books, and hosting the annual Pride of Britain awards.
1959
1. Chris Blackhurst, English journalist births
  1. Chris Blackhurst
    
    Chris Blackhurst is a strategic communications advisor and commentator, who is a former editor of The Independent.
2. Lee Daniels, American director and producer births
  1. Lee Daniels
    
    Lee Daniels is an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter. His first producer credit was Monster's Ball (2001), for which Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress, making Daniels the first African-American film producer to solely produce an Oscar-winning film. He made his directorial debut with Shadowboxer in 2005, and has since then directed the films Precious (2009), The Paperboy, The Butler (2013) and The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021). Of these, Precious was the most critically acclaimed, and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including two nominations for Daniels, for Best Director and Best Picture. Other films he has produced include The Woodsman (2004), Tennessee (2008), Pimp (2018) and Concrete Cowboy (2020).
1958
1. Munetaka Higuchi, Japanese drummer and producer (d. 2008) births
  1. Munetaka Higuchi
    
    Munetaka Higuchi was a Japanese musician and record producer. He is best known as the original drummer of the heavy metal band Loudness, but first rose to prominence as a member of Lazy in the 1970s.
2. Paul Pressey, American basketball player and coach births
  1. Paul Pressey
    
    Paul Matthew Pressey is an American former professional basketball player who was also an assistant coach for seven different National Basketball Association (NBA) teams. Pressey is widely credited as being one of the initial point forwards, combining the attributes of a point guard and forward.
3. Gene Sperling, American economist births
  1. Gene Sperling
    
    Eugene Benton Sperling is an American lawyer who was director of the National Economic Council and assistant to the president for economic policy under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. He is the only person to serve as national economic advisor under two presidents. Outside of government, he founded the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in 2002.
4. Diane Tell, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist births
  1. Diane Tell
    
    Diane Tell is a Canadian musician who was born in Quebec City, Quebec. She entered the Val d’Or conservatory at the age of six. She continued her studies at the Montréal conservatory and then at CEGEP Saint-Laurent and she wrote her first songs at the age of twelve. As one of Québec's pioneering female singer-songwriters, she proposed her personal repertoire over the course of her first four albums. She won six Félix prizes before the age of 25: breakout artist, best artist, best album, best song and, twice, songwriter of the year. Several of her songs have become SOCAN Classics and Si j’étais un homme was inducted in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017. She earned a MIDEM Award for her album Chimères and a Victoire Award for her album Faire à nouveau connaissance. In 1990, she was chosen by Plamondon, Berger and Savary to play a leading role in the musical La légende de Jimmy. Following that, she played the lead and composed the score for another musical, Marilyn Montreuil, written and stage directed by Jérôme Savary and the Théâtre National du Chaillot, in Paris. Over 300 performances of both shows were presented in France and Europe. Over the past 25 years, Tell has toured relentlessly, written, composed and recorded in Canada, France, the U.K. and Switzerland. In 2018, she produced her 15th studio album of original material in Montréal. As an independent artist, she owns the phonographic rights of her entire catalogue, manages her own publishing company, and produces and finances her albums herself. Also a photographer, she directs the majority of her music videos. Her YouTube channel gets 400,000 views per month on average. In her blog, Diane Cause Musique, she engages up-and-coming artists by explaining the inner workings of the music industry.
1957
1. Hamid Karzai, Afghan politician, 12th President of Afghanistan births
  1. Hamid Karzai
    
    Hamid Karzai is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from December 2004 to September 2014. He previously served as Chairman of the Afghan Interim Administration from December 2001 to July 2002. He is the chief (khān) of the Popalzai Durrani tribe of Pashtuns in Kandahar Province.
  2. President of Afghanistan
    
    The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was constitutionally the head of state and head of government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021) and Commander-in-Chief of the Afghan Armed Forces.
2. Norma Talmadge, American actress and producer (b. 1894) deaths
  1. Norma Talmadge
    
    Norma Marie Talmadge was an American actress and film producer of the silent era. A major box-office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among the most popular idols of the American screen.
1956
1. Anil Kapoor, Indian actor and producer births
  1. Anil Kapoor
    
    Anil Kapoor is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, besides television and international films and television. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a producer, Kapoor has appeared in more than 100 films. Recognised for multiple iconic, popular and cult films, he has received several accolades including two National Film Awards and six Filmfare Awards.
2. Shim Hwa-jin, South Korean academic and educator births
  1. Shim Hwa-jin
    
    Shim Hwa-jin is a South Korean academic specialising in the history of clothing and textiles. She was president of Sungshin Women's University from 2007 until 2017, when she was imprisoned for embezzlement.
1955
1. Scott Fischer, American mountaineer and guide (d. 1996) births
  1. Scott Fischer
    
    Scott Eugene Fischer was an American mountaineer and mountain guide. He was renowned for his ascents of the world's highest mountains made without the use of supplemental oxygen. Fischer and Wally Berg were the first Americans to summit Lhotse, the world's fourth highest peak. Fischer, Charley Mace, and Ed Viesturs summitted K2 without supplemental oxygen. Fischer first climbed Mount Everest in 1994 and later died during the 1996 blizzard on Everest while descending from the peak.
2. Clarence Gilyard, American actor and educator births
  1. Clarence Gilyard
    
    Clarence Alfred Gilyard Jr. was an American university professor, actor, and author. As a performer, he appeared in film, television, and stage productions; some sources give his middle name as Alfred.
1954
1. Yves Debay, Congolese-French commander and journalist (d. 2013) births
  1. Yves Debay
    
    Yves Debay, a veteran French-Belgian war correspondent, founded and reported for French-language magazines Raids and later Assaut, which is published out of Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France. He was the first Belgian journalist to be killed in Syria.
2. José María Figueres, Costa Rican businessman and politician, President of Costa Rica births
  1. José María Figueres
    
    José María Figueres Olsen is a Costa Rican businessman and politician, who served as President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. He also ran for president in the 2022 presidential election but was defeated by Rodrigo Chaves.
  2. President of Costa Rica
    
    The president of the Republic of Costa Rica is the head of state and head of government of Costa Rica. The president is currently elected in direct elections for a period of four years, which is not immediately renewable. Two vice presidents are elected in the same ticket with the president. The president appoints the Council of Ministers. Due to the abolition of the military of Costa Rica in 1948, the president is not a commander-in-chief, unlike the norm in most other countries, although the Constitution does describe him as commander-in-chief of the civil defense public forces.
3. Helen Jones, English lawyer and politician births
  1. Helen Jones
    
    Helen Mary Jones is a British Labour politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Warrington North from 1997 to 2019.
1953
1. Timothy Carhart, American actor births
  1. Timothy Carhart
    
    Timothy Carhart is an American actor. He starred in the CBS drama Island Son (1989–90) and has had recurring roles in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–03) and 24 (2002). He also starred in the 1992 Broadway revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. His film appearances include Ghostbusters (1984), Pink Cadillac (1989), Thelma & Louise (1991), and Beverly Hills Cop III (1994).
1952
1. Michael Ray, American jazz musician births
  1. Michael Ray (trumpeter)
    
    Michael Ray is an American jazz trumpeter. He tours extensively with Sun Ra and the successor Sun Ra Arkestra under Marshall Allen's direction following Sun Ra's passing. For a period from the mid-1990s to the present he leads his own band, Michael Ray and the Cosmic Krewe. His playing with Sun Ra and independently has incorporated funkjazz, R & B, electronica and fusion genres.
1951
1. John D'Acquisto, American baseball player births
  1. John D'Acquisto
    
    John Francis D'Acquisto is a former Major League Baseball player who pitched for six teams in his ten-year career that spanned from 1973 to 1982. He is the cousin of former major league pitcher Lou Marone.
2. Nick Kent, English-French journalist and author births
  1. Nick Kent
    
    Nick Kent is a British rock critic best known for his writing for the NME in the 1970s, and his books The Dark Stuff (1994) and Apathy for the Devil (2010).
1950
1. Dana Gioia, American poet and critic births
  1. Dana Gioia
    
    Michael Dana Gioia is an American poet, literary critic, literary translator, and essayist.
2. Hiroshi Ikushima, Japanese businessman and academic births
  1. Hiroshi Ikushima
    
    Hiroshi Ikushima is a Japanese announcer and financial planner who is the chief executive officer of Ikushima Planning Office. He is the visiting professor of Tohoku Fukushi University.
3. Libby Larsen, American composer births
  1. Libby Larsen
    
    Elizabeth Brown Larsen is a contemporary American classical composer. Along with composer Stephen Paulus, she is a co-founder of the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composers Forum.
4. Tommy Turtle, British soldier births
  1. Tommy Turtle
    
    Thomas James Turtle BEM, known as Touché or Tommy Turtle, was a British Army soldier originally from Ireland who took part in many special forces campaigns, including the Falklands War and the Bosnian War.
1949
1. Warwick Brown, Australian race car driver births
  1. Warwick Brown
    
    Warwick Brown is a former racing driver from Australia.
2. Randy Neugebauer, American accountant and politician births
  1. Randy Neugebauer
    
    Robert Randolph "Randy" Neugebauer is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Texas's 19th congressional district, having served from a special election in 2003 to 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes a large swath of West Texas, including Lubbock and Abilene. According to a 2011 survey by the National Journal, Neugebauer was "the most conservative" member of the House.
1948
1. Stan Bowles, English footballer and sportscaster births
  1. Stan Bowles
    
    Stanley Bowles is an English former professional footballer who as a player in the 1970s was known for his skills as a forward, and also gained a reputation as one of the game's great non-conformists and mavericks.
2. Frank Oliver, New Zealand rugby player and coach births
  1. Frank Oliver (rugby union)
    
    Francis James "Frank" Oliver was a New Zealand rugby union player and coach. He captained the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, in four matches.
1947
1. Kevin Sheedy, Australian footballer and coach births
  1. Kevin Sheedy (Australian footballer)
    
    Kevin John Sheedy AO is a former Australian rules football coach and player in the Australian Football League. He played and coached in a combined total of 929 games over 47 years from 1967 until 2013, which is a VFL/AFL record. Sheedy was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and on 29 May 2018 was elevated to legend status.
2. Charles Gondouin, French rugby player and tug of war competitor (b. 1875) deaths
  1. Charles Gondouin
    
    Charles Gondouin was a French rugby union player and tug of war competitor, who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was a member of the French rugby union team, which won the gold medal.Gondouin studied at the Lycée Condorcet, then worked as a sports journalist. He also participated in the tug of war competition and won a silver medal as a member of French team. He was killed on Christmas Eve when he was struck by a car in Paris while returning from a meeting for a racing club in france.
  2. Tug of war
    
    Tug of war is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certain distance in one direction against the force of the opposing team's pull.
1946
1. Jan Akkerman, Dutch rock guitarist and songwriter births
  1. Jan Akkerman
    
    Jan Akkerman is a Dutch guitarist. He first found international commercial success with the band Focus, which he co-founded with Thijs van Leer. After leaving Focus, he continued as a solo musician, adding jazz fusion influences.
2. Jeff Sessions, American lawyer and politician, 44th Attorney General of Alabama and 84th Attorney General of the United States births
  1. Jeff Sessions
    
    Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States Attorney General from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States Senator from Alabama from 1997 to 2017 before resigning that position to serve as attorney general in the administration of President Donald Trump.
  2. Attorney General of Alabama
    
    The attorney general of Alabama is an elected, constitutional officer of the State of Alabama. The office of the attorney general is located at the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama. Henry Hitchcock was elected Alabama's first attorney general in 1819.
  3. United States Attorney General
    
    The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States.
1945
1. Lemmy, English hard rock singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2015) births
  1. Lemmy
    
    Ian Fraser Kilmister, better known as Lemmy or Lemmy Kilmister, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he was the only continuous member, and a member of Hawkwind from 1971 to 1975.
2. Steve Smith, Canadian-American actor and comedian births
  1. Steve Smith (comedian)
    
    Steven Smith Jr., is a Canadian actor, writer and comedian. He is best known as the co-creator and star of the sketch comedy show The Red Green Show (1991–2006), for which he portrayed the title character.
3. Josephine Sabel, American singer and comedian (b. 1866) deaths
  1. Josephine Sabel
    
    Josephine Domingue Sabel was an American singer and comedian, billed as "The Queen of Song" in vaudeville.
1944
1. Barry Elliott, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2018) births
  1. Chuckle Brothers
    
    The Chuckle Brothers were an English comedy double act comprising Barry David Elliott and Paul Harman Elliott. They were known for their BBC children's programme ChuckleVision, which aired from 1987 to 2009 and celebrated its twenty-first series with a 2010 stage tour titled An Audience with the Chuckle Brothers. The comedy of the Chuckle Brothers usually derived from slapstick, other visual gags, and wordplay, and their catchphrases included "To me, to you!" and "Oh dear, oh dear!"
2. Mike Curb, American businessman and politician, 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California births
  1. Mike Curb
    
    Michael Curb is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also serves as Chairman of Word Entertainment. He is an inductee of the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. A Republican, Curb served as the 42nd lieutenant governor of California from 1979 to 1983.
  2. Lieutenant Governor of California
    
    The lieutenant governor of California is the second highest executive officer of the government of the U.S. state of California. The lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms. In addition to largely ministerial roles, serving as acting governor in the absence of the governor of California and as President of the California State Senate, the lieutenant governor either sits on many of California's regulatory commissions and executive agencies.
3. Oswald Gracias, Indian cardinal births
  1. Oswald Gracias
    
    Oswald Gracias is an Indian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed Latin Church Archbishop of Bombay by Pope Benedict XVI on 14 October 2006 and was raised to the cardinalate in 2007. In 2008, he became vice-president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India; and in 2010, he was elected president. He was also elected secretary general and then president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences from 2010 to 2019. On 13 April 2013, he was appointed to the eight-member Council of Cardinals, informally the Council of Cardinal Advisers, established by Pope Francis to help with governing the Catholic Church and reforming its central administration. He was mentioned as a possible candidate to succeed Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.
4. Daniel Johnson, Jr., Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Premier of Quebec births
  1. Daniel Johnson Jr.
    
    Daniel Johnson Jr. is a former Canadian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Quebec and was the 25th premier of Quebec for nine months in 1994 until his party's defeat in the provincial general election.
  2. Premier of Quebec
    
    The premier of Quebec is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec, sworn in on October 18, 2018, following that year's election.
5. Erhard Keller, German speed skater births
  1. Erhard Keller
    
    Erhard Keller is a former speed skater from Germany.
6. Bob Shaw, Australian golfer births
  1. Bob Shaw (golfer)
    
    Robert J. Shaw is an Australian professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1970s.
7. Woody Shaw, American trumpeter (d. 1989) births
  1. Woody Shaw
    
    Woody Herman Shaw Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the most important and influential jazz trumpeters and composers of the twentieth century. He is often credited with revolutionizing the technical and harmonic language of modern jazz trumpet playing, and to this day is regarded by many as one of the major innovators of the instrument. He was an acclaimed virtuoso, mentor, and spokesperson for jazz and worked and recorded alongside many of the leading musicians of his time.
1943
1. Tarja Halonen, Finnish lawyer and politician, 11th President of Finland births
  1. Tarja Halonen
    
    Tarja Kaarina Halonen is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), and as the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary (1974–1975) and a member of the City Council of Helsinki (1977–1996). Halonen was a Social Democratic Party member of parliament from 1979 until her election to the presidency in 2000. She also served as a minister at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health from 1987 to 1990, as Minister of Justice from 1990 to 1991, and as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2000.
  2. President of Finland
    
    The president of the Republic of Finland is the head of state of Finland. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the president, with the latter possessing only residual powers. The president is directly elected by universal suffrage for a term of six years. Since 1994, no president may be elected for more than two consecutive terms. The president must be a natural-born Finnish citizen. The presidential office was established in the Constitution Act of 1919. The incumbent president is Sauli Niinistö. He was elected for the first time in 2012 and was re-elected in 2018.
2. Suzy Menkes, English journalist and critic births
  1. Suzy Menkes
    
    Suzy Peta Menkes is a British journalist and fashion critic. Formerly the fashion editor for the International Herald Tribune, Menkes also served as editor, Vogue International, for 25 international editions of Vogue online until October 2020.
1942
1. Indra Bania, Indian actor, director, and playwright (d. 2015) births
  1. Indra Bania
    
    Indra Bania was an Indian theatre actor, playwright, film actor and director from Assam. His performance in Jahnu Barua's Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai earned him the Silver Leopard Best Actor's award at the Locarno International Film Festival. He was the recipient of the Natasurya Phani Sarma Award.
2. Jonathan Borofsky, American sculptor and painter births
  1. Jonathan Borofsky
    
    Jonathan Borofsky is an American sculptor and printmaker who lives and works in Ogunquit, Maine.
3. Đoàn Viết Hoạt, Vietnamese journalist, educator, and activist births
  1. Đoàn Viết Hoạt
    
    Đoàn Viết Hoạt is a Vietnamese journalist, educator, and democratic activist who was repeatedly imprisoned for his criticisms of Vietnam's Communist leadership. He has received numerous international awards in recognition of his work, including the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, and is often referred to as the "Sakharov of Vietnam".
4. François Darlan, French admiral and politician, 122nd Prime Minister of France (b. 1881) deaths
  1. François Darlan
    
    Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan was a French admiral and political figure. Born in Nérac, Darlan graduated from the École navale in 1902 and quickly advanced through the ranks following his service during World War I. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1929, vice admiral in 1932, lieutenant admiral in 1937 before finally being made admiral and Chief of the Naval Staff in 1937. In 1939, Darlan was promoted to admiral of the fleet, a rank created specifically for him.
  2. Prime Minister of France
    
    The prime minister of France, officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers.
1941
1. Mike Hazlewood, English singer-songwriter (d. 2001) births
  1. Mike Hazlewood
    
    Michael Edward Hazlewood was a British singer, composer and songwriter. He variously worked with Albert Hammond, T-Bone Burnett, Van Dyke Parks and Harry Nilsson.
2. Siegfried Alkan, German composer (b. 1858) deaths
  1. Siegfried Alkan
    
    Siegfried Alkan was a German composer.
1940
1. Janet Carroll, American actress and singer (d. 2012) births
  1. Janet Carroll
    
    Janet Carroll was an American film, stage and television character actress.
2. Anthony Fauci, American physician, Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases births
  1. Anthony Fauci
    
    Anthony Stephen Fauci is an American physician-scientist and immunologist serving as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Chief Medical Advisor to the President.
  2. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
    
    The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NIAID's mission is to conduct basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.
1938
1. Bobby Henrich, American baseball player births
  1. Bobby Henrich
    
    Robert Edward Henrich is a former Major League Baseball shortstop. He played parts of three seasons, from 1957 until 1959, for the Cincinnati Redlegs. He was used most frequently as a pinch runner.
2. Valentim Loureiro, Portuguese soldier and politician births
  1. Valentim Loureiro
    
    Valentim dos Santos de Loureiro ComM is a Portuguese politician, and former football chairman of Boavista F.C. and Portuguese League for Professional Football. He has the rank of Major of the Portuguese Army. He was involved in the Apito Dourado sports scandal, of which he was completely rehabilitated by the Courts of Portugal.
3. Bruno Taut, German architect and urban planner (b. 1880) deaths
  1. Bruno Taut
    
    Bruno Julius Florian Taut was a renowned German architect, urban planner and author of Prussian Lithuanian heritage. He was active during the Weimar period and is known for his theoretical works as well as his building designs.
1937
1. Félix Miélli Venerando, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2012) births
  1. Félix (footballer)
    
    Félix Miélli Venerando was a Brazilian football player, more commonly known as Félix.
2. John Taylor, Baron Kilclooney, Northern Irish politician, Irish Minister of Home Affairs births
  1. John Taylor, Baron Kilclooney
    
    John David Taylor, Baron Kilclooney, PC (NI) is a Crossbench life peer from Northern Ireland, who has sat in the House of Lords since 2001. He previously served as the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Strangford from 1983 to 2001. He was deputy leader of the UUP from 1995 to 2001, and a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 1998 to 2007.
  2. Minister of Home Affairs (Northern Ireland)
    
    The Minister of Home Affairs was a member of the Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland (Cabinet) in the Parliament of Northern Ireland which governed Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1972. The Minister of Home Affairs was responsible for a range of non-economic domestic matters, although for a few months in 1953 the office was combined with that of the Minister of Finance.
1936
1. Ivan Lawrence, English lawyer and politician births
  1. Ivan Lawrence
    
    Sir Ivan John Lawrence is a former British Conservative Member of Parliament and criminal barrister.
1935
1. Alban Berg, Austrian composer and educator (b. 1885) deaths
  1. Alban Berg
    
    Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively small oeuvre, he is remembered as one of the most important composers of the 20th century for his expressive style encompassing "entire worlds of emotion and structure".
1934
1. John Critchinson, English pianist and composer (d. 2017) births
  1. John Critchinson
    
    John William Frank Critchinson also known as "Critch", was an English jazz pianist.
2. Stjepan Mesić, Croatian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Croatia births
  1. Stjepan Mesić
    
    Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić is a Croatian lawyer and politician who served as President of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was prime minister of SR Croatia (1990) after the first multi-party elections, the last president of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1991) and consequently secretary general of the Non-Aligned Movement (1991), as well as speaker of the Croatian Parliament (1992–1994), a judge in Našice, and mayor of his hometown of Orahovica.
  2. President of Croatia
    
    The president of Croatia, officially the President of the Republic of Croatia, is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the country and abroad. The president is the holder of the highest office in Croatia. However, the president is not the head of the executive branch as Croatia has a parliamentary system in which the holder of the post of prime minister is the most powerful person within the country's constitutional framework and everyday politics.
3. Alex Hutchinson, Australian jazz musician births
  1. Alex Hutchinson
    
    Alexander Hutchinson is a Melbourne based Australian musician, who mainly plays clarinet, but also saxophone. His lifetime non-stop seventy year career extends from when he was first professionally employed as a performer at the age of fifteen (1949) until his effective retirement in 2019.
1932
1. Colin Cowdrey, Indian-English cricketer (d. 2000) births
  1. Colin Cowdrey
    
    Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, was an English first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University (1952–1954), Kent County Cricket Club (1950–1976) and England (1954–1975). Universally known as Colin Cowdrey, he "delighted crowds throughout the world with his style and elegance", and was the first cricketer to play 100 Test matches, celebrating the occasion with 104 against Australia in 1968. In all he played 114 Tests, making 7,624 runs at an average of 44.06, overtaking Wally Hammond as the most prolific Test batsman, and taking 120 catches as a fielder, breaking another Hammond record. Cowdrey made 22 Test centuries and was the first batsman to make centuries against the six other Test playing countries of his era; Australia, South Africa, the West Indies, New Zealand, India and Pakistan, making hundreds against them all both home and away. He toured Australia six times in 1954–55, 1958–59, 1962–63, 1965–66, 1970–71 and 1974–75, equalling Johnny Briggs's record, and in his last Test fans hung out a banner 'M.C.G. FANS THANK COLIN – 6 TOURS'.
2. On Kawara, Japanese-American painter (d. 2014) births
  1. On Kawara
    
    On Kawara was a Japanese conceptual artist who lived in New York City from 1965. He took part in many solo and group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1976.
1931
1. Ray Bryant, American pianist and composer (d. 2011) births
  1. Ray Bryant
    
    Raphael Homer "Ray" Bryant was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.
2. Mauricio Kagel, Argentinian-German composer and scholar (d. 2008) births
  1. Mauricio Kagel
    
    Mauricio Raúl Kagel was an Argentine-German composer.
3. Carlo Fornasini, micropalaeontologist (b. 1854) deaths
  1. Carlo Fornasini
    
    Cavaliere dottore Carlo Fornasini was an Italian micropalaeontologist who specialised in Foraminifera ('forams'). He was a pioneer in using fossil forams to sequence marine sedimentary deposits by their relative dates; a technique called biostratigraphy.
4. Flying Hawk, American warrior, educator and historian (b. 1854) deaths
  1. Flying Hawk
    
    Flying Hawk was an Oglala Lakota warrior, historian, educator and philosopher. Flying Hawk's life chronicles the history of the Oglala Lakota people through the 19th and early 20th centuries, as he fought to deflect the worst effects of white rule; educate his people and preserve sacred Oglala Lakota land and heritage. Chief Flying Hawk was a combatant in Red Cloud's War and in nearly all of the fights with the U.S. Army during the Great Sioux War of 1876. He fought alongside his first cousin Crazy Horse and his brothers Kicking Bear and Black Fox II in the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876, and was present at the death of Crazy Horse in 1877 and the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. Chief Flying Hawk was one of the five warrior cousins who sacrificed blood and flesh for Crazy Horse at the Last Sun Dance of 1877. Chief Flying Hawk was the author of his commentaries and accounts of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Crazy Horse and the Wounded Knee Massacre, and of Native American warriors and statesmen from who fought to protect their families, defend the invasion of their lands and preserve their culture. Chief Flying Hawk was probably the longest standing Wild Wester, traveling for over 30 years throughout the United States and Europe from about 1898 to about 1930. Chief Flying Hawk was an educator and believed public education was essential to preserve Lakota culture. He frequently visited public schools for presentations. Chief Flying Hawk leaves a legacy of Native American philosophy and his winter count covers nearly 150 years of Lakota history.
1930
1. Robert Joffrey, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1988) births
  1. Robert Joffrey
    
    Robert Joffrey was an American dancer, teacher, producer, choreographer, and co-founder of the Joffrey Ballet, known for his highly imaginative modern ballets. He was born Anver Bey Abdullah Jaffa Khan in Seattle, Washington to a Pashtun father from Afghanistan and a mother from Italy.
2. John J. Kelley, American runner (d. 2011) births
  1. John J. Kelley
    
    John Joseph "Johnny" Kelley was an American long-distance runner who won the 1957 Boston Marathon and the marathon at the 1959 Pan American Games. He was also a member of the United States Olympic teams of 1956 and 1960, competing in the marathon. He was often dubbed "Kelley the Younger" to avoid confusion with Johnny Kelley, winner of the 1935 and 1945 Boston Marathons; the two men were not related.
1929
1. Lennart Skoglund, Swedish footballer (d. 1975) births
  1. Lennart Skoglund
    
    Karl Lennart "Nacka" Skoglund was a Swedish footballer who played as left winger. He began his career in his home country with Hammarby IF, but later played for several Italian clubs, most notably Inter Milan, with whom he won two Serie A titles over nine years.
2. Philip Ziegler, English historian and author births
  1. Philip Ziegler
    
    Philip Sandeman Ziegler is a British biographer and historian.
1928
1. Lev Vlassenko, Georgian-Australian pianist and educator (d. 1996) births
  1. Lev Vlassenko
    
    Lev Nikolaevich Vlassenko, was a Soviet pianist and teacher.
2. Norman Rossington, English actor (d. 1999) births
  1. Norman Rossington
    
    Norman Rossington was an English actor best remembered for his roles in The Army Game, the Carry On films and the Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night.
1927
1. Mary Higgins Clark, American author (d. 2020) births
  1. Mary Higgins Clark
    
    Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins Clark was an American author of suspense novels. Each of her 51 books was a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of her novels remained in print as of 2015, with her debut suspense novel, Where Are the Children?, in its seventy-fifth printing.
1926
1. Wesley Coe, American shot putter, hammer thrower, and discus thrower (b. 1879) deaths
  1. Wesley Coe
    
    Wesley William Coe Jr., sometimes listed as William Wesley Coe Jr., was an American track and field athlete who competed principally in the shot put and also in the hammer throw, discus throw, and tug of war.
1924
1. Lee Dorsey, American singer-songwriter (d. 1986) births
  1. Lee Dorsey
    
    Irving Lee Dorsey was an American pop and R&B singer during the 1960s. His biggest hits were "Ya Ya" (1961) and "Working in the Coal Mine" (1966). Much of his work was produced by Allen Toussaint, with instrumental backing provided by the Meters.
2. Abdirizak Haji Hussein, Somalian soldier and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (d. 2014) births
  1. Abdirizak Haji Hussein
    
    Abdirizak Haji Hussein was a Somali diplomat and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Somali Republic from 14 June 1964 to 15 July 1967. From 1975 to early 1980, he also served as the country's ambassador to the United Nations. A former Secretary General of the Somali Youth League, Hussein played a leading role in the nation's early civilian administration.
  2. List of prime ministers of Somalia
    
    This is a list of prime ministers of Somalia. The prime minister of Somalia is the head of government of Somalia. There have been 22 official prime ministers since the office was created in 1956. The first prime minister was Abdullahi Issa, who served prior to independence in the Trust Territory of Somaliland. The current prime minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia is Hamza Abdi Barre, approved by the House of the People on 25 June 2022.
3. Mohammed Rafi, Indian singer (d. 1980) births
  1. Mohammed Rafi
    
    Mohammed Rafi was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice; his songs varied from fast peppy numbers to patriotic songs, sad numbers to highly romantic songs, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans to classical songs. He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona and style of the actor lip-syncing the song on screen in the movie. He received six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award. In 1967, he was honored with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India. In 2001, Rafi was honoured with the "Best Singer of the Millennium" title by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine. In 2013, Rafi was voted for the Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema in the CNN-IBN's poll.
1923
1. George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004) births
  1. George Patton IV
    
    George Smith Patton IV was a major general in the United States Army and the son of World War II General George S. Patton Jr. He served in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
2. William C. Schneider, American aerospace engineer (d. 1999) births
  1. William C. Schneider
    
    William Charles Schneider served in the United States Naval Reserve 1942–1946 as an Aviation Machinist's Mate, 1st Class Petty Officer. He joined NASA in June 1963 and served as the Gemini mission director for seven of the ten piloted Gemini missions. From 1967 to 1968, he served as Apollo mission director and the Apollo program's deputy director for missions. He then served from 1968 to 1974 as the Skylab program's director. From 1974 to 1978, he worked as the Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Transportation Systems. From 1978 to 1980, he served as the Associate Administrator for Space Tracking and Data systems. He received a Ph.D. in engineering from Catholic University of America.
1922
1. Ava Gardner, American actress (d. 1990) births
  1. Ava Gardner
    
    Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her performance in Robert Siodmak's film noir The Killers. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in John Ford's Mogambo (1953), and for best actress for both a Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award for her performance in John Huston's The Night of the Iguana (1964). She was a part of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
1921
1. Bill Dudley, American football player (d. 2010) births
  1. Bill Dudley
    
    William McGarvey "Bullet Bill" Dudley was an American professional football player in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions, and Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966 and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1972.
1920
1. Franco Lucentini, Italian author and screenwriter (d. 2002) births
  1. Franco Lucentini
    
    Franco Lucentini was an Italian writer, journalist, translator and editor of anthologies.
2. Yevgeniya Rudneva, Ukrainian-Russian lieutenant and navigator (d. 1944) births
  1. Yevgeniya Rudneva
    
    Yevgeniya Maksimovna Rudneva was the head navigator of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Regiment posthumously awarded Hero of the Soviet Union. Prior to World War II she was an astronomer, the head of the Solar Department of the Moscow branch of the Astronomical-Geodesical Society of the USSR.
3. Stephen Mosher Wood, American lieutenant and politician (b. 1832) deaths
  1. Stephen Mosher Wood
    
    Stephen Mosher Wood was an American politician. Mr. Wood represented Chase County, Kansas in the Kansas House of Representatives in 1871 and 1875, and was a member of the Kansas Senate in 1876 after replacing S. R. Peters who resigned.
1919
1. Qateel Shifai, Pakistani poet and songwriter (d. 2001) births
  1. Qateel Shifai
    
    Muhammad Aurangzeb or Qateel Shifai, was a Pakistani Urdu poet and lyricist.
2. Pierre Soulages, French artist (d. 2022) births
  1. Pierre Soulages
    
    Pierre Jean Louis Germain Soulages was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor. In 2014, President François Hollande of France described him as "the world's greatest living artist." His works are held by leading museums of the world, and there is a museum dedicated to his art in his hometown of Rodez.
1918
1. Dave Bartholomew, American bandleader, composer and arranger (d. 2019) births
  1. Dave Bartholomew
    
    David Louis Bartholomew was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally a trumpeter, he was active in many musical genres, including rhythm and blues, big band, swing music, rock and roll, New Orleans jazz, and Dixieland. In his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he was cited as a key figure in the transition from jump blues and swing to R&B and as "one of the Crescent City's greatest musicians and a true pioneer in the rock and roll revolution".
1914
1. Ralph Marterie, Italian-American trumpet player and bandleader (d. 1978) births
  1. Ralph Marterie
    
    Ralph Marterie was an Italian big-band leader born in Acerra, Italy.
2. Herbert Reinecker, German author and screenwriter (d. 2007) births
  1. Herbert Reinecker
    
    Herbert Reinecker was a very prolific German novelist, dramatist, screenwriter and former Nazi SS officer.
3. John Muir, Scottish-American geologist, botanist, and author, founded Sierra Club (b. 1838) deaths
  1. John Muir
    
    John Muir, also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States of America.
  2. Sierra Club
    
    The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who became the first president as well as the longest-serving president, at approximately 20 years in this leadership position. The Sierra Club operates only in the United States and holds the legal status of 501(c)(4) nonprofit social welfare organization. Sierra Club Canada is a separate entity.
1913
1. Ad Reinhardt, American painter and academic (d. 1967) births
  1. Ad Reinhardt
    
    Adolph Dietrich Friedrich Reinhardt was an abstract painter active in New York for more than three decades. He was a member of the American Abstract Artists (AAA) and part of the movement centered on the Betty Parsons Gallery that became known as abstract expressionism. He was also a member of The Club, the meeting place for the New York School abstract expressionist artists during the 1940s and 1950s. He wrote and lectured extensively on art and was a major influence on conceptual art, minimal art and monochrome painting. Most famous for his "black" or "ultimate" paintings, he claimed to be painting the "last paintings" that anyone can paint. He believed in a philosophy of art he called Art-as-Art and used his writing and satirical cartoons to advocate for abstract art and against what he described as "the disreputable practices of artists-as-artists".
1910
1. Ellen Braumüller, German javelin thrower and triathlete (d. 1991) births
  1. Ellen Braumüller
    
    Ellen Braumüller was a track and field athlete from Germany, who competed mainly in the javelin throw. She competed for her native country at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States, where she won the silver medal in the javelin throw. At the 1932 Olympics, she also competed in the relay, discus and high jump. Born in Berlin, she was the younger sister of Inge Braumüller.
2. Fritz Leiber, American author and poet (d. 1992) births
  1. Fritz Leiber
    
    Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, Leiber is one of the fathers of sword and sorcery and coined the term.
3. Max Miedinger, Swiss typeface designer, created Helvetica (d. 1980) births
  1. Max Miedinger
    
    Max Miedinger was a Swiss typeface designer, best known for creating the Neue Haas Grotesk typeface in 1957, renamed Helvetica in 1960. Marketed as a symbol of cutting-edge Swiss technology, Helvetica achieved immediate global success.
  2. Helvetica
    
    Helvetica is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann.
1907
1. I. F. Stone, American journalist and author (d. 1989) births
  1. I. F. Stone
    
    Isidor Feinstein "I. F." Stone was an American investigative journalist, writer, and author.
1906
1. Franz Waxman, German-American composer and conductor (d. 1967) births
  1. Franz Waxman
    
    Franz Waxman was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include Bride of Frankenstein, Rebecca, Sunset Boulevard, A Place in the Sun, Stalag 17, Rear Window, Peyton Place, The Nun's Story, and Taras Bulba. He received twelve Academy Award nominations, and won two Oscars in consecutive years. He also received a Golden Globe Award for the former film. Bernard Herrmann said that the score for Taras Bulba was "the score of a lifetime."
1905
1. Howard Hughes, American businessman, engineer, and pilot (d. 1976) births
  1. Howard Hughes
    
    Howard Robard Hughes Jr. was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in the world. He first became prominent as a film producer, and then as an important figure in the aviation industry. Later in life, he became known for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle—oddities that were caused in part by his worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), chronic pain from a near-fatal plane crash, and increasing deafness.
1904
1. Joseph M. Juran, Romanian-American engineer and businessman (d. 2008) births
  1. Joseph M. Juran
    
    Joseph Moses Juran was a Romanian-born American engineer and management consultant. He was an evangelist for quality and quality management, having written several books on those subjects. He was the brother of Academy Award winner Nathan Juran.
1903
1. Joseph Cornell, American sculptor and director (d. 1972) births
  1. Joseph Cornell
    
    Joseph Cornell was an American visual artist and film-maker, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of assemblage. Influenced by the Surrealists, he was also an avant-garde experimental filmmaker. He was largely self-taught in his artistic efforts, and improvised his own original style incorporating cast-off and discarded artifacts. He lived most of his life in relative physical isolation, caring for his mother and his disabled brother at home, but remained aware of and in contact with other contemporary artists.
2. Ernst Krenkel, Polish-Russian geographer and explorer (d. 1971) births
  1. Ernst Krenkel
    
    Ernst Teodorovich Krenkel was a Soviet Arctic explorer, radio operator, doctor of geographical sciences (1938), and Hero of the Soviet Union (1938). Amateur radio callsigns: U3AA, UA3AA, RAEM.
3. Ava Helen Pauling, American humanitarian and activist (d. 1981) births
  1. Ava Helen Pauling
    
    Ava Helen Pauling was an American human rights activist and wife of Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling. Throughout her life, she was involved in various social movements including women's rights, racial equality, and international peace.
1900
1. Joey Smallwood, Canadian journalist and politician, 1st Premier of Newfoundland (d. 1991) births
  1. Joey Smallwood
    
    Joseph Roberts Smallwood was a Newfoundlander and Canadian politician. He was the main force who brought the Dominion of Newfoundland into Canadian Confederation in 1949, becoming the first premier of Newfoundland, serving until 1972. As premier, he vigorously promoted economic development, championed the welfare state, and emphasized modernization of education and transportation. The results of his efforts to promote industrialization were mixed, with the most favourable results in hydroelectricity, iron mining and paper mills.
  2. Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
    
    The premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Since 1949, the premier's duties and office has been the successor to the ministerial position of the prime minister of the former Dominion of Newfoundland. Before 2001, the official title was Premier of Newfoundland.
2. Hawayo Takata, Japanese-American teacher and master practitioner of Reiki (d. 1980) births
  1. Hawayo Takata
    
    Hawayo Hiromi Takata was a Japanese-American woman born in Hanamaulu, Territory of Hawaii, who helped introduce the spiritual practice of Reiki to the Western World.
  2. Reiki
    
    Reiki is a Japanese form of energy healing, a type of alternative medicine. Reiki practitioners use a technique called palm healing or hands-on healing through which a "universal energy" is said to be transferred through the palms of the practitioner to the patient in order to encourage emotional or physical healing.
1898
1. Baby Dodds, American drummer (d. 1959) births
  1. Baby Dodds
    
    Warren "Baby" Dodds was an American jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He is regarded as one of the best jazz drummers of the pre-big band era, and one of the most important early jazz drummers. He varied his drum patterns with accents and flourishes, and he generally kept the beat with the bass drum while playing buzz rolls on the snare. Some of his early influences included Louis Cottrell, Sr., Harry Zeno, Henry Martin, and Tubby Hall. Dodds was among the first drummers to be recorded improvising while performing.
2. Charbel Makhluf, Lebanese priest and saint (b. 1828) deaths
  1. Charbel Makhlouf
    
    Charbel Makhlouf, O.L.M., born Youssef Antoun Makhlouf and venerated as Saint Charbel, was a Maronite monk and priest from Lebanon. During his life, he obtained a wide reputation for holiness, and for his ability to unite Christians and Muslims. He is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church.
1897
1. Ville Pörhölä, Finnish shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1964) births
  1. Ville Pörhölä
    
    Frans Wilhelm "Ville" Pörhölä was a Finnish athlete who competed in shot put, discus throw, hammer throw and weight throw.
2. Väinö Sipilä, Finnish runner (d. 1987) births
  1. Väinö Sipilä
    
    Väinö Jeremias Sipilä was a Finnish long-distance runner. Sipilä competed in the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics, placing fourth in the 10,000 metres and being part of Finland's winning cross-country team in the 1924 Games. He held world records at the unusual distances of 20,000 metres and 30,000 metres for several years.
1895
1. E. Roland Harriman, American financier and philanthropist (d. 1978) births
  1. E. Roland Harriman
    
    Edward Roland Noel "Bunny" Harriman was an American financier and philanthropist.
2. Noel Streatfeild, English author (d. 1986) births
  1. Noel Streatfeild
    
    Mary Noel Streatfeild OBE was an English author, best known for children's books including the "Shoes" books, which were not a series. Random House, the U.S. publisher of the 1936 novel Ballet Shoes (1936), published some of Streatfeild's subsequent children's books using the word "Shoes" in their titles, to capitalize on the popularity of Ballet Shoes; thus Circus Shoes, Party Shoes, Skating Shoes and many more. She won the third annual Carnegie Medal for Circus Shoes. She was a member of the historic Streatfeild family.
3. Marguerite Williams, American geologist (d. 1991) births
  1. Marguerite Williams
    
    Marguerite Thomas Williams was an American geologist. She was the first African American to earn a doctorate in geology in the United States.
1894
1. Georges Guynemer, French captain and pilot (d. 1917) births
  1. Georges Guynemer
    
    Georges Guynemer was the second highest-scoring French fighter ace with 54 victories during World War I, and a French national hero at the time of his death. Guynemer's death was a profound shock to France.
2. Jack Thayer, American businessman (d. 1945) births
  1. Jack Thayer
    
    John Borland Thayer III was a first-class passenger on RMS Titanic who survived after the ship struck an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912. Aged 17 at the time, he was one of only a handful of passengers to survive jumping into the frigid sea. He later wrote and privately published his recollection of the sinking.
1893
1. Harry Warren, American pianist and composer (d. 1981) births
  1. Harry Warren
    
    Harry Warren was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe". He wrote the music for the first blockbuster film musical, 42nd Street, choreographed by Busby Berkeley, with whom he would collaborate on many musical films.
2. B. T. Finniss, Australian politician, 1st Premier of South Australia (b. 1807) deaths
  1. B. T. Finniss
    
    Boyle Travers Finniss was the first premier of South Australia, serving from 24 October 1856 to 20 August 1857.
  2. Premier of South Australia
    
    The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is appointed by the Governor of South Australia, and by modern convention holds office by virtue of his or her ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house of Parliament, the House of Assembly.
1892
1. Ruth Chatterton, American actress (d. 1961) births
  1. Ruth Chatterton
    
    Ruth Chatterton was an American stage, film, and television actress, aviator and novelist. She was at her most popular in the early to mid-1930s, and in the same era gained prominence as an aviator, one of the few female pilots in the United States at the time. In the late 1930s, Chatterton retired from film acting but continued her career on the stage. She had several TV roles beginning in the late 1940s and became a successful novelist in the 1950s.
1891
1. Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky, Russian illustrator and painter (d. 1970) births
  1. Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky
    
    Feodor Stepanovich "Rojan" Rojankovsky, also known as Rojan, was a Russian émigré illustrator. He is well known both for children's book illustration and for erotic art. He won the 1956 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration from the American Library Association, recognizing Frog Went A-Courtin' by John Langstaff.
1889
1. Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, Dutch pastor and poet (b. 1819) deaths
  1. Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate
    
    Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate was a Dutch divine, prose writer and poet.
1887
1. Louis Jouvet, French actor and producer (d. 1951) births
  1. Louis Jouvet
    
    Jules Eugène Louis Jouvet was a French actor, theatre director and filmmaker.
1886
1. Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-American actor, director, and producer (d. 1962) births
  1. Michael Curtiz
    
    Michael Curtiz was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silent era and numerous others during Hollywood's Golden Age, when the studio system was prevalent.
1885
1. Paul Manship, American sculptor (d. 1966) births
  1. Paul Manship
    
    Paul Howard Manship was an American sculptor. He consistently created mythological pieces in a classical style, and was a major force in the Art Deco movement. He is well known for his large public commissions, including the iconic Prometheus in Rockefeller Center and the Celestial Sphere Woodrow Wilson Memorial in Geneva, Switzerland. He is also credited for designing the modern rendition of New York City's official seal.
1883
1. Stefan Jaracz, Polish actor and producer (d. 1945) births
  1. Stefan Jaracz
    
    Stefan Jaracz was a Polish actor and theater producer. He served as the artistic director of Ateneum Theatre in Warsaw during the interwar period (1930–32), and within a short period raised its reputation as one of the leading voices for Poland's new intelligentsia, with groundbreaking productions of Danton's Death by Georg Büchner (1931), The Captain of Köpenick by Carl Zuckmayer (1932), as well as popular Ladies and Husars by Aleksander Fredro (1932) and The Open House by Michał Bałucki.
1882
1. Hans Rebane, Estonian journalist and politician, 8th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1961) births
  1. Hans Rebane
    
    Hans Rebane was an Estonian politician, diplomat and journalist. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia from 1927 to 1928 in Jaan Tõnisson's third cabinet. Rebane was Estonian envoy in Helsinki 1931–1937, 1937–1940 in Riga.
  2. Minister of Foreign Affairs (Estonia)
    
    The Minister of Foreign Affairs is the senior minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Estonian Government. The Minister is one of the most important members of the Estonian government, with responsibility for the relations between Estonia and foreign states.
2. Georges Legagneux, French aviator (d. 1914) births
  1. Georges Legagneux
    
    Georges Théophile Legagneux was a French aviator, the first person to fly an aircraft in several countries, and the first to fly a fixed wing aircraft higher than 10,000 and 20,000 feet.
1881
1. Charles Wakefield Cadman, American composer and critic (d. 1946) births
  1. Charles Wakefield Cadman
    
    Charles Wakefield Cadman was an American composer. For 40 years he worked closely with Nelle Richmond Eberhart, who wrote most of the texts to his songs, including Four American Indian Songs. She also wrote the librettos for his five operas, two of which were based on Indian themes. He composed in a wide variety of genres.
1880
1. Johnny Gruelle, American author and illustrator (d. 1939) births
  1. Johnny Gruelle
    
    John Barton Gruelle was an American artist, political cartoonist, children's book and comics author, illustrator, and storyteller. He is best known as the creator of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls and as the author/illustrator of dozens of books. He also created the Beloved Belindy doll. Gruelle also contributed cartoons and illustrations to at least ten newspapers, four major news syndicates, and more than a dozen national magazines. He was the son of Hoosier Group painter Richard Gruelle.
1879
1. Émile Nelligan, Canadian poet (d. 1941) births
  1. Émile Nelligan
    
    Émile Nelligan was a Canadian Symbolist poet from Montreal who wrote in French. Even though he stopped writing poetry after being institutionalized at the age of 19, Nelligan remains an iconic figure in Quebec culture and was considered by Edmund Wilson to be the greatest Canadian poet in any language.
2. Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1952) births
  1. Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
    
    Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was Queen of Denmark from 1912 to 1947, as well Queen of Iceland from 1918 to 1944 as the spouse of King Christian X. She was the paternal grandmother of the current reigning Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II.
3. Anna Bochkoltz, German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer (b. 1815) deaths
  1. Anna Bochkoltz
    
    Anna Juliane Bochkoltz was a German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer. She performed her first concert in 1843, then studied in Brussels and Paris. After singing concerts in Paris, London and Berlin, she appeared in the 1850s on opera stages in Wiesbaden, Frankfurt, Munich and Coburg. She was known for the range of her voice, and was regarded as one of the important dramatic coloratura sopranos of her era, appearing as Mozart's Donna Anna, Beethoven's Fidelio and Bellini's Norma. She later taught singing in Vienna, Strasbourg and Paris.
1877
1. Sigrid Schauman, Finnish painter and critic (d. 1979) births
  1. Sigrid Schauman
    
    Sigrid Maria Schauman was a Finnish artist and art critic.
1875
1. Émile Wegelin, French rower (d. 1962) births
  1. Émile Wegelin
    
    Émile Robert Wegelin was a French rower who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was part of the French boat Club Nautique de Lyon, which won the silver medal in the coxed fours.
1873
1. Johns Hopkins, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1795) deaths
  1. Johns Hopkins
    
    Johns Hopkins was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most of his life.
1872
1. Frederick Semple, American golfer and tennis player (d. 1927) births
  1. Frederick Semple
    
    Frederick Humphrey Semple was an American golfer and tennis player who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics.
2. William John Macquorn Rankine, Scottish physicist and engineer (b. 1820) deaths
  1. William Rankine
    
    William John Macquorn Rankine was a Scottish mechanical engineer who also contributed to civil engineering, physics and mathematics. He was a founding contributor, with Rudolf Clausius and William Thomson, to the science of thermodynamics, particularly focusing on the first of the three thermodynamic laws. He developed the Rankine scale, an equivalent to the Kelvin scale of temperature, but in degrees Fahrenheit rather than Celsius.
1869
1. Henriette Roland Holst, Dutch poet, playwright, and politician (d. 1952) births
  1. Henriette Roland Holst
    
    Henriette Goverdine Anna "Jet" Roland Holst-van der Schalk was a Dutch poet and communist. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
1868
1. Charles Harvey Bollman, American naturalist (d. 1889) births
  1. Charles Harvey Bollman
    
    Charles Harvey Bollman (1868–1889) was an American naturalist who published on fishes and myriapods, becoming known internationally for his work in a short career before dying at the age of 20, considered by David Starr Jordan one of the most brilliant and promising naturalists he had ever known.
2. Emanuel Lasker, German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1941) births
  1. Emanuel Lasker
    
    Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially recognised World Chess Champion in history. In his prime, Lasker was one of the most dominant champions, and he is still generally regarded as one of the strongest players in history.
3. Adolphe d'Archiac, French paleontologist and geologist (b. 1802) deaths
  1. Adolphe d'Archiac
    
    Étienne Jules Adolphe Desmier de Saint-Simon, Vicomte d'Archiac was a French geologist and paleontologist.
1867
1. Tevfik Fikret, Turkish poet and educator (d. 1915) births
  1. Tevfik Fikret
    
    Tevfik Fikret was the pseudonym of Mehmed Tevfik, an Ottoman-Turkish educator and poet, who is considered the founder of the modern school of Turkish poetry.
2. José Mariano Salas, Mexican general and politician. President of Mexico (1846, 1859) and regent of the Second Mexican Empire (b. 1797) deaths
  1. José Mariano Salas
    
    José Mariano de Salas was a Mexican soldier and politician who served twice as interim president of Mexico, once in 1846, during the Mexican American War, and once in 1859 during the War of Reform.
  2. Regent
    
    A regent is a person appointed to govern a state pro tempore because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, or the throne is vacant and the new monarch has not yet been determined. One variation is in the Monarchy of Liechtenstein, where a competent monarch may chose to assign regency to their of-age heir, handing over the majority of their responsibilities to prepare the heir for future succession. The rule of a regent or regents is called a regency. A regent or regency council may be formed ad hoc or in accordance with a constitutional rule. Regent is sometimes a formal title granted to a monarch's most trusted advisor or personal assistant. If the regent is holding their position due to their position in the line of succession, the compound term prince regent is often used; if the regent of a minor is their mother, she would be referred to as queen regent.
  3. Second Mexican Empire
    
    The Second Mexican Empire, officially the Mexican Empire, was a constitutional monarchy established in Mexico by Mexican monarchists with support mainly from the Second French Empire referred to as the Second French intervention in Mexico. Emperor Napoleon III of France, with the support of the Mexican conservatives, clergy, and nobility, established a monarchist ally in the Americas intended as a restraint upon the growing power of the United States. It has been viewed as both an independent monarchy and as a client state of France. Elected as the emperor of Mexico was Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, whose ancestors had previously ruled Mexico. His wife and empress consort of Mexico was the Belgian princess Charlotte of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, known as ‘Carlota’.
1865
1. Szymon Askenazy, Polish historian, educator, and diplomat, founded the Askenazy school (d. 1935) births
  1. Szymon Askenazy
    
    Szymon Askenazy was a Jewish-Polish historian, educator, statesman and diplomat, founder of the Askenazy school.
  2. Askenazy school
    
    The Askenazy school was an informal group of Polish historians formed in the early 20th century under the influence of Szymon Askenazy in the University of Lwów and Warsaw University.
2. Charles Lock Eastlake, English painter and historian (b. 1793) deaths
  1. Charles Lock Eastlake
    
    Sir Charles Lock Eastlake was a British painter, gallery director, collector and writer of the 19th century. After a period as keeper, he was the first director of the National Gallery.
1863
1. William Makepeace Thackeray, English author and poet (b. 1811) deaths
  1. William Makepeace Thackeray
    
    William Makepeace Thackeray was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of British society, and the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon, which was adapted for a 1975 film by Stanley Kubrick.
1845
1. George I of Greece (d. 1913) births
  1. George I of Greece
    
    George I was King of Greece from 30 March 1863 until his assassination in 1913.
1844
1. Friedrich Bernhard Westphal, Danish-German painter (b. 1803) deaths
  1. Friedrich Bernhard Westphal
    
    Friedrich Bernhard Westphal was a German-Danish genre painter and illustrator. He was also known by his nickname Fritz Westphal.
1843
1. Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet and playwright (d. 1886) births
  1. Lydia Koidula
    
    Lydia Emilie Florentine Jannsen,, known by her pen name Lydia Koidula, was an Estonian poet. Her sobriquet means 'Lydia of the Dawn' in Estonian. It was given to her by the writer Carl Robert Jakobson. She is also frequently referred to as Koidulaulik – 'Singer of the Dawn'.
1837
1. Empress Elisabeth of Austria (d. 1898) births
  1. Empress Elisabeth of Austria
    
    Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie of Bavaria was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on 24 April 1854 until her assassination in 1898.
1827
1. Alexander von Oettingen, German theologian and statistician (d. 1905) births
  1. Alexander von Oettingen
    
    Alexander Konstantin von Oettingen was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and statistician.
1822
1. Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (d. 1888) births
  1. Matthew Arnold
    
    Matthew Arnold was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator. Matthew Arnold has been characterised as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues. He was also an inspector of schools for thirty-five years, and supported the concept of state-regulated secondary education.
1818
1. James Prescott Joule, English physicist and brewer (d. 1889) births
  1. James Prescott Joule
    
    James Prescott Joule was an English physicist, mathematician and brewer, born in Salford, Lancashire. Joule studied the nature of heat, and discovered its relationship to mechanical work. This led to the law of conservation of energy, which in turn led to the development of the first law of thermodynamics. The SI derived unit of energy, the joule, is named after him.
1813
1. Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (b. 1740) deaths
  1. Empress Go-Sakuramachi
    
    Empress Go-Sakuramachi was the 117th monarch of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. She was named after her father Emperor Sakuramachi, the word go- (後) before her name translates in this context as "later" or "second one". Her reign spanned the years from 1762 through to her abdication in 1771. The only significant event during her reign was an unsuccessful outside plot, that intended to displace the shogunate with restored imperial powers.
1812
1. Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal, German lawyer and jurist (d. 1894) births
  1. Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal
    
    Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal was an eminent German jurist and the son of Karl Salomo Zachariae von Lingenthal.
1810
1. Wilhelm Marstrand, Danish painter and illustrator (d. 1873) births
  1. Wilhelm Marstrand
    
    Nicolai Wilhelm Marstrand, painter and illustrator, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Nicolai Jacob Marstrand, instrument maker and inventor, and Petra Othilia Smith. Marstrand is one of the most renowned artists belonging to the Golden Age of Danish Painting.
1809
1. Kit Carson, American general (d. 1868) births
  1. Kit Carson
    
    Christopher Houston Carson was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and news articles, and exaggerated versions of his exploits were the subject of dime novels. His understated nature belied confirmed reports of his fearlessness, combat skills, tenacity, and profound effect on the westward expansion of the United States. Although he was famous for much of his life, historians in later years have written that Kit Carson did not like, want, or even fully understand the fame that he experienced during his life.
1798
1. Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet and playwright (d. 1855) births
  1. Adam Mickiewicz
    
    Adam Bernard Mickiewicz was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Romanticism, he is one of Poland's "Three Bards" and is widely regarded as Poland's greatest poet. He is also considered one of the greatest Slavic and European poets and has been dubbed a "Slavic bard". A leading Romantic dramatist, he has been compared in Poland and Europe to Byron and Goethe.
1797
1. Carl Georg von Wächter, German jurist (d. 1880) births
  1. Carl Georg von Wächter
    
    Carl Joseph Georg Sigismund Wächter, from 1835 von Wächter, was a leading German jurist in the 19th century. For a brief period he served as president of the Oberappellationsgericht der vier Freien Städte.
1761
1. Selim III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1808) births
  1. Selim III
    
    Selim III was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, the Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV. Selim was subsequently killed by a group of assassins.
2. Jean-Louis Pons, French astronomer (d. 1831) births
  1. Jean-Louis Pons
    
    Jean-Louis Pons was a French astronomer. Despite humble beginnings and being self-taught, he went on to become the greatest visual comet discoverer of all time: between 1801 and 1827 Pons discovered thirty-seven comets, more than any other person in history.
1754
1. George Crabbe, English priest, surgeon, and poet (d. 1832) births
  1. George Crabbe
    
    George Crabbe was an English poet, surgeon and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people.
1731
1. Julie Bondeli, Swiss salonist and lady of letters (d. 1778) births
  1. Julie Bondeli
    
    Susanna Julie von Bondeli, was a famous Swiss salonist and lady of letters. She hosted a salon which became the center of intellectual life in Bern.
1726
1. Johann Hartmann, Danish composer (d. 1793) births
  1. Johann Hartmann
    
    Johann Ernst Hartmann was a Danish composer and violinist. He is remembered in particular for his two operas on texts by Johannes Ewald in which he helped creating a national musical style. The first of these, Balders død, builds on the old Nordic mythology and uses dark colours when depicting the old Gods and Valkyries. The second, Fiskerne, describes contemporary fishermen’s lives, and uses melodies inspired by the Scandinavian folk style.
1707
1. Noël Coypel, French painter and educator (b. 1628) deaths
  1. Noël Coypel
    
    Noël Coypel was a French painter, and was also called Coypel le Poussin, because he was heavily influenced by Poussin.
1698
1. William Warburton, English bishop (d. 1779) births
  1. William Warburton
    
    William Warburton was an English writer, literary critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759 until his death. He edited editions of the works of his friend Alexander Pope, and of William Shakespeare.
1679
1. Domenico Sarro, Italian composer and educator (d. 1744) births
  1. Domenico Sarro
    
    Domenico Natale Sarro, also Sarri was an Italian composer.
1660
1. Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (b. 1631) deaths
  1. Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange
    
    Mary, Princess Royal, was an English princess, member of the House of Stuart, and by marriage Princess of Orange and Countess of Nassau; she also acted as regent for her minor son from 1651 to 1660. She also was the first holder of the title Princess Royal.
1635
1. Mariana of Austria (d. 1696) births
  1. Mariana of Austria
    
    Mariana of Austria or Maria Anna was Queen of Spain as the second wife of her uncle Philip IV of Spain from their marriage in 1649 until Philip died in 1665. She was then appointed regent for their three-year-old son Charles II, and due to his ill health remained an influential figure until her own death in 1696.
2. Hester Jonas, German nurse (b. 1570) deaths
  1. Hester Jonas
    
    Hester Jonas was a German midwife and cunning woman. She was executed for witchcraft and is known as the so-called Witch of Neuss.
1625
1. Johann Rudolph Ahle, German organist, composer, and theorist (d. 1673) births
  1. Johann Rudolph Ahle
    
    Johann Rudolph Ahle was a German composer, organist, theorist, and Protestant church musician.
1597
1. Honoré II, Prince of Monaco (d. 1662) births
  1. Honoré II, Prince of Monaco
    
    Honoré II was Prince of Monaco from 1604 to 1662. He was the first to be called Prince, but started his reign as Lord of Monaco.
1596
1. Leonaert Bramer, Dutch painter (d. 1674) births
  1. Leonaert Bramer
    
    Leonaert Bramer, also Leendert or Leonard, was a Dutch painter known primarily for genre, religious, and history paintings. Very prolific as a painter and draftsman, he is noted especially for nocturnal scenes which show a penchant for exotic details of costume and setting. He also painted frescos—a rarity north of the Alps—which have not survived, as well as murals on canvas, few of which are extant. Bramer is one of the most intriguing personalities in seventeenth-century Dutch art.
1588
1. Constance of Austria (d. 1631) births
  1. Constance of Austria
    
    Constance of Austria was Queen of Poland as the second wife of King Sigismund III Vasa and the mother of King John II Casimir.
1549
1. Kaspar Ulenberg, German theologian (d. 1617) births
  1. Kaspar Ulenberg
    
    Kaspar Ulenberg was a Catholic convert, theological writer and translator of the Bible.
1541
1. Andreas Karlstadt, Christian theologian and reformer (b. 1486) deaths
  1. Andreas Karlstadt
    
    Andreas Rudolph Bodenstein von Karlstadt, better known as Andreas Karlstadt or Andreas Carlstadt or Karolostadt, or simply as Andreas Bodenstein, was a German Protestant theologian, University of Wittenberg chancellor, a contemporary of Martin Luther and a reformer of the early Reformation.
  2. 1486
    
    Year 1486 (MCDLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday.
1537
1. Willem IV van den Bergh, Stadtholder of Guelders and Zutphen (d. 1586) births
  1. Willem IV van den Bergh
    
    Willem IV, Count van den Bergh (1537-1586) was the Dutch Stadtholder of Guelders and Zutphen from 1581 until his arrest for treason in 1583.
1524
1. Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer and politician, Governor of Portuguese India (b. 1469) deaths
  1. Vasco da Gama
    
    Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira, was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea.
  2. List of governors of Portuguese India
    
    The government of Portuguese India started on 12 September 1505, seven years after the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Portuguese viceroy Francisco de Almeida, then settled at Cochin. Until 1752, the name India included all Portuguese possessions in the Indian Ocean, from Southern Africa to Southeast Asia, governed – either by a viceroy or governor – from its headquarters, established in Old Goa since 1510. In 1752 Portuguese Mozambique was granted its own government, and in 1844 the Portuguese government of India ceased administering the territory of Portuguese Macau, Solor and Portuguese Timor, seeing itself thus confined to a reduced territorial possessions along the Konkan, Canara and Malabar Coasts, which would further be reduced to the present-day state of Goa and the union territory of Daman. Portuguese control ceased in Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 1954, and finally ceased in Goa in 1961, when the area was occupied by the Republic of India. This ended four and a half centuries of Portuguese rule in parts – though tiny – of India.
1520
1. Martha Leijonhufvud, Swedish noble (d. 1584) births
  1. Martha Leijonhufvud
    
    Martha Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud, known as Kung Märta, was a politically-active Swedish noblewoman. She was the sister of Queen Margaret Leijonhufvud and sister-in-law of King Gustav I of Sweden: she was also the maternal aunt of Queen Catherine Stenbock and the daughter-in-law of the regent Christina Gyllenstierna. In 1568, she financed the deposition of King Eric XIV of Sweden, which placed her nephew John III of Sweden on the throne.
1508
1. Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian scholar (d. 1567) births
  1. Pietro Carnesecchi
    
    Pietro Carnesecchi was an Italian humanist.
1475
1. Thomas Murner, German poet and translator (d. 1537) births
  1. Thomas Murner
    
    Thomas Murner, OFM was an Alsatian satirist, poet and translator.
1474
1. Bartolomeo degli Organi, Italian musician (d. 1539) births
  1. Bartolomeo degli Organi
    
    Bartolomeo degli Organi was an Italian composer, singer and organist of the Renaissance. Living in Florence, he was closely associated with Lorenzo de' Medici, and was music teacher both to the Florentine composer Francesco de Layolle and Guido Machiavelli, the son of the famous writer.
1473
1. John Cantius, Polish scholar and theologian (b. 1390) deaths
  1. John Cantius
    
    John Cantius was a Polish priest, scholastic philosopher, physicist and theologian.
1456
1. Đurađ Branković, Despot of Serbia (b. 1377) deaths
  1. Đurađ Branković
    
    Đurađ Branković was the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456. He was one of the last Serbian medieval rulers. He was a participant in the battle of Ankara (1402) and Ottoman Interregnum (1403-1413). During his reign, the despotate was a vassal of both Ottoman sultans as well as Hungarian kings. Despot George was neutral during the Polish-Lithuanian (1444) and Hungarian-Wallachian (1448) crusades. In 1455, he was wounded and imprisoned during clashes with the Hungarians, after which the young Sultan Mehmed II launched the siege of Belgrade and its large Hungarian garrison. Despot Đurađ died at the end of 1456, due to complications stemming from the wound. After his death, Serbia, Bosnia and Albania became practically annexed by sultan Mehmed II, which only ended after centuries of additional conquests of Byzantine lands. Đurađ attained a large library of Serbian, Slavonic, Latin, and Greek manuscripts. He made his capital Smederevo a centre of Serbian culture. He was the first of the Branković dynasty to hold the Serbian monarchy.
1453
1. John Dunstaple, English composer (b. 1390) deaths
  1. John Dunstaple
    
    John Dunstaple was an English composer whose music helped inaugurate the transition from the medieval to the Renaissance periods. The central proponent of the Contenance angloise style, Dunstaple was the leading English composer of his time, and is often coupled with William Byrd and Henry Purcell as England's most important early music composers. His surviving music is exclusively vocal, and frequently uses isorhythms, while pioneering the prominent use of harmonies with thirds and sixths. His style would have an immense influence on the subsequent music of continental Europe, inspiring composers such as Du Fay, Binchois, Ockeghem and Busnois.
1449
1. Walter Bower, Scottish chronicler (b. 1385) deaths
  1. Walter Bower
    
    Walter Bower was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Scotland. In 1991, Donald Watt said of Bower's Scotichronicon that "We are more and more convinced that this book is one of the national treasures of Scotland, which should be studied in depth for many different kinds of enquiry into Scotland's past."
1389
1. John V, Duke of Brittany (d. 1442) births
  1. John V, Duke of Brittany
    
    John V, sometimes numbered as VI, bynamed John the Wise, was Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort from 1399 to his death. His rule coincided with the height of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. John's reversals in that conflict, as well as in other internal struggles in France, served to strengthen his duchy and to maintain its independence.
1281
1. Henry V of Luxembourg (b. 1216) deaths
  1. Henry V, Count of Luxembourg
    
    Henry V the Blondell, called the Great, was the Count of Arlon from 1226 to his death, lord of Ligny from 1240 to his death, Count of Luxembourg and Laroche from 1247 to his death, and the Marquis of Namur between 1256 and 1264 as Henry III. He was the son and successor of Waleran III, Duke of Limburg and Ermesinde, Countess of Luxembourg.
1263
1. Hōjō Tokiyori, regent of Japan (b. 1227) deaths
  1. Hōjō Tokiyori
    
    Hōjō Tokiyori was the fifth shikken (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan.
1257
1. John I, Count of Hainaut (b. 1218) deaths
  1. John I, Count of Hainaut
    
    John of Avesnes was the count of Hainaut from 1246 to his death.
1193
1. Roger III of Sicily (b. 1175) deaths
  1. Roger III of Sicily
    
    Roger III, of the House of Hauteville, was the eldest son and heir of King Tancred of Sicily and Queen Sibylla. He was made Duke of Apulia, probably in 1189, shortly after his father's accession. In the summer of 1192 he was crowned co-king with his father. Follari were minted at Messina bearing both Tancred and Roger's names as kings.
1166
1. John, King of England (d. 1216) births
  1. John, King of England
    
    John was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empire and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the French Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, a document considered an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.
950
1. Shi Hongzhao, Chinese general deaths
  1. Shi Hongzhao
    
    Shi Hongzhao, courtesy name Huayuan (化元), formally the Prince of Zheng (鄭王), was a major general of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Han. Shi was one of the key officials that Later Han's founding emperor Liu Zhiyuan left in charge of the government during the youth of his son and successor Liu Chengyou, but Liu Chengyou eventually tired of these officials' governance and had Shi killed, along with Yang Bin and Wang Zhang.
2. Wang Zhang, Chinese official deaths
  1. Wang Zhang
    
    Wang Zhang was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Han. Wang was one of the key officials that Later Han's founding emperor Liu Zhiyuan left in charge of the government during the youth of his son and successor Liu Chengyou, but Liu Chengyou eventually tired of these officials' governance and had Wang killed, along with Yang Bin and Shi Hongzhao.
3. Yang Bin, Chinese chancellor deaths
  1. Yang Bin
    
    Yang Bin (楊邠), formally the Prince of Hongnong (弘農王), was a chancellor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Han, serving effectively as the head of the government for most of the reign of its second emperor Liu Chengyou, leading a group of high-ranking officials in doing so. However, Liu Chengyou eventually tired of these officials' governance and had Yang killed, along with Shi Hongzhao and Wang Zhang.
903
1. Hedwiga, duchess of Saxony deaths
  1. Hedwig of Babenberg
    
    Hedwig, was Duchess of Saxony from about 880 until her death by her marriage with the Liudolfing duke Otto the Illustrious. She is the mother of King Henry the Fowler.
  2. Duchy of Saxony
    
    The Duchy of Saxony was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the Carolingian Empire (Francia) by 804. Upon the 843 Treaty of Verdun, Saxony was one of the five German stem duchies of East Francia; Duke Henry the Fowler was elected German king in 919.
427
1. Archbishop Sisinnius I of Constantinople deaths
  1. Sisinnius I of Constantinople
    
    Sisinnius I was the Archbishop of Constantinople from 426 to 427.
36
1. Gongsun Shu, emperor of Chengjia deaths
  1. AD 36
    
    AD 36 (XXXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Allenius and Plautius. The denomination AD 36 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
  2. Gongsun Shu
    
    Gongsun Shu was the founder and only emperor of Chengjia, a state that controlled China's Sichuan Basin from 25 to 36. A successful official of the Western Han and short-lived Xin dynasties, Gongsun was the Administrator of Daojiang Commandery when the Xin regime fell in 23, amid rebellions aimed at restoring the Han dynasty. Through a series of political and military maneuvers, Gongsun secured control of Yi Province and in 24 proclaimed himself king of Shu. In the following year, he assumed imperial title and founded the Cheng dynasty. Under his administration, the Sichuan region experienced a period of peace and economic prosperity, and the city of Chengdu was developed into an imperial capital. But Gongsun adopted a defensive military posture that kept his influence confined within Sichuan while Liu Xiu's revived Eastern Han regime reunified the rest of China proper. In 36, Gongsun was mortally wounded in battle against an Eastern Han invasion force, and Chengjia capitulated on the following day.
  3. Chengjia
    
    Chengjia, also called the Cheng dynasty or Great Cheng, was a self-proclaimed empire established by Gongsun Shu in 25 AD after the collapse of the Xin dynasty of Chinese history, rivalling the Eastern Han dynasty founded by Emperor Guangwu later in the same year. Based in the Sichuan Basin with its capital at Chengdu, Chengjia covered a large area including modern Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, and southern Shaanxi, and comprised about 7% of China's population at the time. Chengjia was the most dangerous rival to the Eastern Han and was the last separatist regime in China to be conquered by the latter, in 36 AD.
-3
1. Galba, Roman emperor (d. 69) births
  1. Galba
    
    Galba was the sixth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 68 to 69. After his adoption by his stepmother, and before becoming emperor, he was known as Livius Ocella Sulpicius Galba. He was the first emperor in the Year of the Four Emperors and assumed the throne following Emperor Nero's suicide.

Holidays

Christian feast day: Adela and Irmina
1. Adela and Irmina
  
  Adela and Irmina refers to two sisters and princesses, Adela of Pfalzel and Irmina of Oeren, who are jointly venerated on 24 December.
Christian feast day: Paola Elisabetta Cerioli
1. Paola Elisabetta Cerioli
  
  Paola Elisabetta Cerioli, born Costanza Cerioli Buzecchi-Tasis, was an Italian Roman Catholic widow and the founder of both the Institute of Sisters of the Holy Family and the congregation of the Family of Bergamo.
Christian feast day: Adam and Eve
1. Adam
  
  Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, adam is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as "mankind". Genesis 1 tells of God's creation of the world and its creatures, including adam, meaning humankind; in Genesis 2 God forms "Adam", this time meaning a single male human, out of "the dust of the ground", places him in the Garden of Eden, and forms a woman, Eve, as his helpmate; in Genesis 3 Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge and God condemns Adam to labour on the earth for his food and to return to it on his death; Genesis 4 deals with the birth of Adam's sons, and Genesis 5 lists his descendants from Seth to Noah.
2. Eve
  
  Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story of the Abrahamic religions, she was the first woman, yet some debate within Judaism has also given that position to Lilith. Eve is known also as Adam's wife.
Christian feast day: December 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
1. December 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  
  December 23 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - December 25
Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Aðfangadagskvöld, the day when the 13th and the last Yule Lad arrives to towns. (Iceland)
1. Christmas in Iceland
  
  Christmas in Iceland (Jól) starts four Weeks before proper Christmas, which begins on December 24 (Aðfangadagur) and ends thirteen days later on January 6 (Epiphany).
2. Icelandic Christmas folklore
  
  Icelandic Christmas folklore depicts mountain-dwelling characters and monsters who come to town during Christmas. The stories are directed at children and are used to scare them into good behavior. The folklore includes both mischievous pranksters who leave gifts during the night and monsters who eat disobedient children.
3. Iceland
  
  Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which is home to over 65% of the population. Iceland is the biggest part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that rises above sea level, and its central volcanic plateau is erupting almost constantly. The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains, and glaciers, and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, and most of its islands have a polar climate.
Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Feast of the Seven Fishes (Italian Americans)
1. Feast of the Seven Fishes
  
  The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian-American celebration of Christmas Eve with dishes of fish and other seafood.
2. Italian Americans
  
  Italian Americans are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, with significant communities also residing in many other major US metropolitan areas.
Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Juleaften (Denmark)/Julaften (Norway)/Julafton (Sweden)
1. Yule and Christmas in Denmark
  
  Jul, the Danish Jule and Christmas, is celebrated throughout December starting either at the beginning of Advent or on 1 December with a variety of traditions. Christmas Eve, Juleaften, the main event of Jul, is celebrated on the evening of 24 December, the evening before the two Christmas holidays, 25 and 26 December. Celebrating on the eve before Christmas is also used for most other holidays in Denmark.
2. Christmas in Norway
  
  Jul or jol is the term used for the Christmas holiday season in Scandinavia and parts of Scotland. Originally, "jul" was the name of a month in the old Germanic calendar. The concept of "jul" as a period of time rather than a specific event prevailed in Scandinavia; in modern times, "Jul" is a period of time stretching from the fourth sunday before Christmas Eve, December 24, to (traditionally) mid-January at the date of Epiphany with the month of December and Christmas, and the week up to the New Year, as its highlight. The modern English yule and yuletide are cognates with this term.
3. Christmas Eve
  
  Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society.
Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Nittel Nacht (certain Orthodox Jewish denominations)
1. Nittel Nacht
  
  Nittel Nacht or Nittel is a name given to Christmas Eve by Jewish scholars in the 17th century, observed as early as the late 16th century by Rabbi Samuel Eidels.
Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Nochebuena (Spain and Spanish-speaking countries)
1. Christmas Eve
  
  Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society.
Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: The Declaration of Christmas Peace (Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official Christmas City)
1. Christmas Peace
  
  Christmas Peace is a tradition based on old Swedish legislation created by Birger Jarl in the 13th century, extending the tradition of the Truce of God. Offenders who committed crimes on religious holidays like Christmas were given harsher punishments. Today it is a tradition to recommend that people behave in a respectful and peaceful manner at Christmas. The Declaration of Christmas Peace has remained in Finland where it is an essential part of the Christmas tradition.
2. Old Great Square (Turku)
  
  The Old Great Square is a medieval market square located in the city centre of Turku, Finland. It is located in the II District in very close proximity to Turku Cathedral. The area was the administrative and commercial centre of Turku since the founding of the city in the 13th century up until the Great Fire of Turku.
3. Turku
  
  Turku is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi) and the former Turku and Pori Province. The region was originally called Suomi (Finland), which later became the name for the whole country. As of 31 March 2021, the population of Turku was 194,244 making it the sixth largest city in Finland after Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa and Oulu. There were 281,108 inhabitants living in the Turku Central Locality, ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Capital Region area and Tampere Central Locality. The city is officially bilingual as 5.2 percent of its population identify Swedish as a mother-tongue.
Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Wigilia (Poland)
1. Wigilia
  
  Wigilia is the traditional Christmas Eve vigil supper in Poland, held on December 24. The term is often applied to the whole of Christmas Eve, extending further to Pasterka—midnight Mass, held in Roman Catholic churches all over Poland and in Polish communities worldwide at or before midnight. The custom is sometimes referred to as "wieczerza" or "wieczerza wigilijna", in Old Polish meaning evening repast, linked to the late church service, Vespers from the Latin.
Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Quviasukvik, the Inuit new year (Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia)
1. Quviasukvik
  
  Quviasukvik, is the first day of the year according to the Inuit. The festival of the New Year is celebrated by the Inuit, Yupik, Aleut, Chukchi and the Iñupiat. The feast originally derives from traditional Inuit religion but in modern times, it has Christian influences.
2. Alaska
  
  Alaska is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., it borders the Canadian province of British Columbia and the Yukon territory to the east; it also shares a maritime border with the Russian Federation's Chukotka Autonomous Okrug to the west, just across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas of the Arctic Ocean, while the Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest.
3. Canada
  
  Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Its southern and western border with the United States, stretching 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest binational land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
4. Greenland
  
  Greenland is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is the world's largest island. It is one of three constituent countries that form the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark and the Faroe Islands; the citizens of these countries are all citizens of Denmark and the European Union. Greenland's capital is Nuuk.
5. Russia
  
  Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering 17,098,246 square kilometres (6,601,670 sq mi), and encompassing one-eighth of Earth's inhabitable landmass. Russia extends across eleven time zones and shares land boundaries with fourteen countries, more than any other country but China. It is the world's ninth-most populous country and Europe's most populous country, with a population of 146 million people. The country's capital and largest city is Moscow, the largest city entirely within Europe. Saint Petersburg is Russia's cultural centre and second-largest city. Other major urban areas include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan.
Independence Day (Libya)
1. Public holidays in Libya
  
  This is a list of public holidays in Libya.
Day of Military Honour – Siege of Ismail (Russia)
1. Days of Military Honour
  
  The Days of Military Honour are special memorable dates in the Russian Armed Forces dedicated to the most outstanding victories won by Russia. Some of these dates are state holidays but the majority of them is celebrated purely in the armed forces, while 7 November is marked by parades in Moscow and Samara.
2. Russia
  
  Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering 17,098,246 square kilometres (6,601,670 sq mi), and encompassing one-eighth of Earth's inhabitable landmass. Russia extends across eleven time zones and shares land boundaries with fourteen countries, more than any other country but China. It is the world's ninth-most populous country and Europe's most populous country, with a population of 146 million people. The country's capital and largest city is Moscow, the largest city entirely within Europe. Saint Petersburg is Russia's cultural centre and second-largest city. Other major urban areas include Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan.

Important events in history on December 24 th

Events

2018 Puebla helicopter crash

Martha Érika Alonso

Governor of Puebla

Rafael Moreno Valle Rosas

Lord's Resistance Army

2008 Christmas massacres

Lord's Resistance Army

Uganda

2008 Christmas massacres

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Chad–Sudan relations

Chad

Declaration of war

Sudan

Battle of Adré

ETA (separatist group)

Explosive

Madrid

Madrid Chamartín railway station

Jihadism

Al-Qaeda

Indian Airlines Flight 814

Indian Airlines Flight 814

Kathmandu

Nepal

Delhi

Kandahar

Afghanistan

Sid El-Antri massacre

Algeria

Learjet 35

1996 New Hampshire Learjet crash

Smarts Mountain

Dorchester, New Hampshire

Air France Flight 8969

Houari Boumediene Airport

Algiers

Soviet–Afghan War

Cyclone Tracy

Darwin, Northern Territory

United States Congress

District of Columbia home rule

Washington, D.C.

List of mayors of Washington, D.C.

Council of the District of Columbia

District of Columbia Home Rule Act

Local government

LANSA Flight 508

Puerto Inca District

Department of Huánuco

Peru

Umuahia

Biafra

Jim Lovell

Apollo 8

Human spaceflight

Apollo program

Apollo 8

Moon

Lunar orbit

Canadair CL-44

United States Armed Forces

1966 Flying Tiger Line Canadair CL-44 crash

South Vietnam

Viet Cong

1964 Brinks Hotel bombing

Ho Chi Minh City

United States Army

Vietnam War

Vietnam War

Viet Cong

1964 Brinks Hotel bombing

Ho Chi Minh City

South Vietnam

Flying Tiger Line Flight 282

San Francisco International Airport

NORAD Tracks Santa

NORAD

Important events in history
on December 24 ^th