Important events in history
on December 25 ^th

Events

2021
1. The James Webb Space Telescope is launched.
  1. James Webb Space Telescope
    
    The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope which conducts infrared astronomy. As the largest optical telescope in space, its high resolution and sensitivity allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope. This will enable investigations across many fields of astronomy and cosmology, such as observation of the first stars, the formation of the first galaxies, and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets.
  2. Ariane flight VA256
    
    Ariane flight VA256 was an Ariane 5 rocket flight that launched the James Webb Space Telescope into space on 25 December 2021. It was 2021's final Ariane flight, its most valuable payload to date, and the 256th Ariane mission. The launch was described by NASA as "flawless" and "perfect".
2020
1. An explosion in Nashville, Tennessee occurs, leaving three civilians in the hospital.
  1. 2020 Nashville bombing
    
    On December 25, 2020, Anthony Quinn Warner detonated a recreational vehicle (RV) bomb in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States, killing himself, injuring eight people and damaging dozens of buildings in the surrounding area. It took place at 166 Second Avenue North between Church Street and Commerce Street at 6:30 am, adjacent to an AT&T network facility, resulting in days-long communication service outages.
2019
1. Twenty people are killed and thousands are left homeless by Typhoon Phanfone in the Philippines.
  1. Typhoon Phanfone
    
    Typhoon Phanfone, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Ursula, was a relatively strong and deadly tropical cyclone which traversed the Philippines on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 2019, the first typhoon to do so since Nock-ten in 2016.
  2. Philippines
    
    The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It is situated in the western Pacific Ocean and consists of around 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the southwest. It shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east and southeast, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest. The Philippines covers an area of 300,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi) and, as of 2021, it had a population of around 109 million people, making it the world's thirteenth-most populous country. The Philippines has diverse ethnicities and cultures throughout its islands. Manila is the country's capital, while the largest city is Quezon City; both lie within the urban area of Metro Manila.
2016
1. A Tupolev Tu-154 of the Russian Defence Ministry crashed into the Black Sea shortly after taking off from Sochi International Airport, killing all 92 people on board.
  1. Tupolev Tu-154
    
    The Tupolev Tu-154 is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russian airlines for several decades, it carried half of all passengers flown by Aeroflot and its subsidiaries, remaining the standard domestic-route airliner of Russia and former Soviet states until the mid-2000s. It was exported to 17 non-Russian airlines and used as a head-of-state transport by the air forces of several countries.
  2. Ministry of Defence (Russia)
    
    The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces.
  3. 2016 Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 crash
    
    On 25 December 2016, a Tupolev Tu-154 jetliner of the Russian Defence Ministry crashed into the Black Sea shortly after taking off from Sochi International Airport, Russia, while en route to Khmeimim Air Base, Syria. All 92 passengers and crew on board, including 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble choir of the Russian Armed Forces, were killed. The aircraft had flown from Chkalovsky Airport and had landed at Sochi to refuel.
  4. Black Sea
    
    The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The Black Sea is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper, and Don. Consequently, while six countries have a coastline on the sea, its drainage basin includes parts of 24 countries in Europe.
  5. Sochi International Airport
    
    Sochi International Airport is an airport located in Adler District of the resort city of Sochi, on the coast of the Black Sea in the federal subject of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Sochi International Airport is among the ten largest Russian airports, with an annual passenger turnover of 5.2 million.
2. A Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 carrying members of the Alexandrov Ensemble crashes into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff, killing all 92 people on board.
  1. Ministry of Defence (Russia)
    
    The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces.
  2. Tupolev Tu-154
    
    The Tupolev Tu-154 is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russian airlines for several decades, it carried half of all passengers flown by Aeroflot and its subsidiaries, remaining the standard domestic-route airliner of Russia and former Soviet states until the mid-2000s. It was exported to 17 non-Russian airlines and used as a head-of-state transport by the air forces of several countries.
  3. Alexandrov Ensemble
    
    The Alexandrov Ensemble is an official army choir of the Russian armed forces. Founded during the Soviet era, the ensemble consists of a male choir, an orchestra, and a dance ensemble.
  4. 2016 Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 crash
    
    On 25 December 2016, a Tupolev Tu-154 jetliner of the Russian Defence Ministry crashed into the Black Sea shortly after taking off from Sochi International Airport, Russia, while en route to Khmeimim Air Base, Syria. All 92 passengers and crew on board, including 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble choir of the Russian Armed Forces, were killed. The aircraft had flown from Chkalovsky Airport and had landed at Sochi to refuel.
  5. Black Sea
    
    The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The Black Sea is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper, and Don. Consequently, while six countries have a coastline on the sea, its drainage basin includes parts of 24 countries in Europe.
2012
1. An Antonov An-72 plane crashes close to the city of Shymkent, killing 27 people.
  1. Antonov An-72
    
    The Antonov An-72 is a Soviet/Ukrainian transport aircraft, developed by Antonov. It was designed as an STOL transport and intended as a replacement for the Antonov An-26, but variants have found success as commercial freighters.
  2. 2012 Kazakhstan Antonov An-72 crash
    
    On 25 December 2012, an Antonov An-72 military transport aircraft operated by the Kazakh Armed Forces crashed about 20 km (12 mi) from the city of Shymkent, Kazakhstan, where the aircraft was preparing to land. All 27 people on board died in the crash.
  3. Shymkent
    
    Shymkent, known until 1993 as Chimkent ; Russian: Чимкент, romanized: Chimkent, is a city in Kazakhstan. It is near the border with Uzbekistan. It is one of three Kazakh cities which have the status equal to that of a region. It is the third-most populous city in Kazakhstan, behind Almaty and Astana, with an estimated population of 1,002,291 as of 1 June 2018. According to regional and city officials, the millionth resident of Shymkent was born on 17 May 2018. It is a regional cultural centre.
2. Air Bagan Flight 011, a Fokker 100, crashes on approach to Heho Airport in Heho, Myanmar, killing two people.
  1. Air Bagan Flight 011
    
    Air Bagan Flight 011 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight of a Fokker 100 twinjet from Yangon to Heho, Myanmar. On 25 December 2012, the aircraft crash-landed short of the runway at Heho Airport in fog, coming to a stop in a paddy field and bursting into flames. One of the 71 people on board and a motorcyclist on the ground were killed and more than 10 people were injured.
  2. Fokker 100
    
    The Fokker 100 is a regional jet produced by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 100 is based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by 18.8 ft (5.7 m) to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85. It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans, and it has an updated glass cockpit and a wider wing and tail for increased maximum weights.
  3. Heho Airport
    
    Heho Airport is an airport serving Heho, a town in Kalaw Township, Taunggyi District, Shan State, Myanmar. It is the main airport serving Inle Lake and Taunggyi the former of the top tourist destinations of Myanmar.
  4. Heho
    
    Heho is a small town in Kalaw Township, Taunggyi District, Shan State of Myanmar. It is the primary air gateway to tourist areas such as Inle Lake.
  5. Myanmar
    
    Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a country in Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia, and has a population of about 54 million as of 2017. Myanmar is bordered by Bangladesh and India to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city is Yangon (Rangoon).
2009
1. Aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear.
  1. Northwest Airlines Flight 253
    
    The attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 occurred on December 25, 2009, aboard an Airbus A330 as it prepared to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport following a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam. Attributed to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the act was undertaken by 23-year-old Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab using chemical explosives sewn to his underwear. These circumstances, including the date, led to Abdulmutallab being commonly nicknamed either the "Underwear bomber" or "Christmas day bomber" by American media outlets.
  2. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
    
    Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab popularly referred to as the "Underwear Bomber" or "Christmas Bomber", is a Nigerian-born terrorist who, at the age of 23, attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, on December 25, 2009.
  3. Plastic explosive
    
    Plastic explosive is a soft and hand-moldable solid form of explosive material. Within the field of explosives engineering, plastic explosives are also known as putty explosives or blastics.
2. A fire destroyed Longford's 19th-century St Mel's Cathedral, considered the "flagship cathedral" of the Irish midlands.
  1. Longford
    
    Longford is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of Ireland's N4 and N5 National Primary Route roads, which means that traffic travelling between Dublin and County Mayo, or north County Roscommon passes around the town. Longford railway station, on the Dublin-Sligo line, is used heavily by commuters.
  2. St Mel's Cathedral
    
    The Cathedral Church of St Mel is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, located in the town of Longford in Ireland. Built between 1840 and 1856, with the belfry and portico as later additions, it has been considered the "flagship cathedral" of the Irish midlands region, Longford's "landmark building" and "one of the finest Catholic churches in Ireland". The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Mél, who came to Ireland with Saint Patrick and who was ordained bishop at Ardagh, County Longford.
  3. Midland Region, Ireland
    
    The Midland Region is a NUTS Level III statistical region of Ireland. It consists of the territory of the counties of Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford. The Midland region spans 6,524 km2, 9.5% of the total area of the state and according to the 2016 census has a population of 292,301.
2007
1. A tiger at the San Francisco Zoo escaped from its enclosure and attacked three patrons before it was shot and killed.
  1. San Francisco Zoo
    
    The San Francisco Zoo is a 100-acre (40 ha) zoo located in the southwestern corner of San Francisco, California, between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway. The SF Zoo is a public institution, managed by the non-profit San Francisco Zoological Society, a 501(c)(3) organization. As of 2016, the zoo housed more than one thousand individual animals, representing more than 250 species. It is noted as the birthplace of Koko the gorilla, and, since 1974, the home of Elly, the oldest black rhinoceros in North America.
  2. San Francisco Zoo tiger attacks
    
    Two tiger attacks occurred at the San Francisco Zoo, in 2006 and 2007, both involving a female Siberian tiger named Tatiana. In the first incident, a zookeeper was bitten on the arm during a public feeding. In the second incident, one person was killed and two others were injured before police shot and killed Tatiana.
2004
1. The Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005.
  1. Cassini–Huygens
    
    Cassini–Huygens, commonly called Cassini, was a space-research mission by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to send a space probe to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites. The Flagship-class robotic spacecraft comprised both NASA's Cassini space probe and ESA's Huygens lander, which landed on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Cassini was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter its orbit, where it stayed from 2004 to 2017. The two craft took their names from the astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens.
  2. Huygens (spacecraft)
    
    Huygens was an atmospheric entry robotic space probe that landed successfully on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005. Built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), launched by NASA, it was part of the Cassini–Huygens mission and became the first spacecraft to land on Titan and the farthest landing from Earth a spacecraft has ever made. The probe was named after the 17th-century Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, who discovered Titan in 1655.
  3. Saturn
    
    Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; however, with its larger volume, Saturn is over 95 times more massive.
  4. Titan (moon)
    
    Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and the second-largest natural satellite in the Solar System. It is the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere, and is the only known object in space other than Earth on which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found.
2003
1. UTA Flight 141, a Boeing 727-223, crashes at the Cotonou Airport in Benin, killing 141 people.
  1. UTA Flight 141
    
    UTA Flight 141 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Guinean regional airline Union des Transports Africains de Guinée, flying from Conakry to Dubai with stopovers in Benin, Libya and Lebanon. On 25 December 2003, the Boeing 727–223 operating the flight struck a building and crashed into the Bight of Benin while rolling for take off from Cotonou, killing 141 people. The crash of Flight 141 was the deadliest crash in Benin's aviation history.
  2. Boeing 727
    
    The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airports. On December 5, 1960, the 727 was launched with 40 orders each from United Airlines and Eastern Air Lines. The first 727-100 rolled out November 27, 1962, first flew on February 9, 1963, and entered service with Eastern on February 1, 1964.
  3. Cadjehoun Airport
    
    Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport is an airport in the Cadjehoun neighborhood of Cotonou, the largest city in Benin, in West Africa. The airport is the largest in the country, and as such, is the primary entry point into the country by air, with flights to Africa and Europe.
  4. Benin
    
    Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its population lives on the southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Porto-Novo, and the seat of government is in Cotonou, the most populous city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of 114,763 square kilometres (44,310 sq mi) and its population in 2021 was estimated to be approximately 13 million. It is a tropical nation, dependent on agriculture, and is an exporter of palm oil and cotton. Some employment and income arise from subsistence farming.
2. The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe, released from the Mars Express spacecraft on December 19, stops transmitting shortly before its scheduled landing.
  1. Beagle 2
    
    The Beagle 2 is an inoperative British Mars lander that was transported by the European Space Agency's 2003 Mars Express mission. It was intended to conduct an astrobiology mission that would have looked for evidence of past life on Mars.
  2. Mars Express
    
    Mars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA). The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the spacecraft was designed and built. However, "Express" also describes the spacecraft's relatively short interplanetary voyage, a result of being launched when the orbits of Earth and Mars brought them closer than they had been in about 60,000 years.
2000
1. Russian president Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill officially adopting a new national anthem, with music by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov originally composed for the anthem of the Soviet Union.
  1. Vladimir Putin
    
    Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has held office as president of Russia since 2012, having previously done so between 2000 and 2008. He was the Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012, thus having served continuously as either president or prime minister from 1999 onwards.
  2. National anthem of Russia
    
    The "State Anthem of the Russian Federation" is the national anthem of Russia. It uses the same melody as the "State Anthem of the Soviet Union", composed by Alexander Alexandrov, and new lyrics by Sergey Mikhalkov, who had collaborated with Gabriel El-Registan on the original anthem. From 1944, that earliest version replaced "The Internationale" as a new, more Soviet-centric and Russia-centric Soviet anthem. The same melody, but without any lyrics, was used after 1956. A second version of the lyrics was written by Mikhalkov in 1970 and adopted in 1977, placing less emphasis on World War II and more on the victory of communism, and without mentioning the denounced Stalin by name.
  3. Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov
    
    Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov was a Soviet and Russian composer and founder of the Alexandrov Ensemble, who wrote the music for the State Anthem of the Soviet Union, which in 2000 became the national anthem of Russia. During his career, he also worked as a professor of the Moscow Conservatory, and became a Doctor of Arts. His work was recognized by the awards of the title of People's Artist of the USSR and two Stalin Prizes.
  4. State Anthem of the Soviet Union
    
    The "State Anthem of the Soviet Union" was the national anthem of the Soviet Union and the regional anthem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1944 to 1991, replacing "The Internationale". Its original lyrics were written by Sergey Mikhalkov (1913–2009) in collaboration with Gabriyel’ Arkadyevich Ureklyan (1899–1945), and its music was composed by Alexander Alexandrov (1883–1946). For a two-decade interval following de-Stalinization, the anthem was performed without lyrics. The second set of lyrics, also written by Mikhalkov and in which Stalin's name was omitted, was adopted in 1977.
1999
1. Cubana de Aviación Flight 310, a Yakovlev Yak-42, crashes near Bejuma, Carabobo State, Venezuela, killing 22 people.
  1. Cubana de Aviación Flight 310
    
    Cubana de Aviación Flight 310 was a scheduled international flight from José Martí International Airport, Havana, Cuba, to Arturo Michelena International Airport, Valencia, Venezuela, which crashed near Bejuma, Venezuela, on 25 December 1999. All 22 people on board were killed.
  2. Yakovlev Yak-42
    
    The Yakovlev Yak-42 is a 100/120-seat three-engined mid-range passenger jet developed in the mid 1970s to replace the technically obsolete Tu-134. It was the first airliner produced in the Soviet Union to be powered by modern high-bypass turbofan engines.
  3. Bejuma
    
    Bejuma is a small town in Carabobo State, Venezuela, seat of the Bejuma Municipality.
  4. Carabobo
    
    Carabobo State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, located in the north of the country, about two hours by car from Caracas. The capital city of this state is Valencia, which is also the country's main industrial center. The state's area is 4,369 km2 (1,687 sq mi) and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 2,245,744.
  5. Venezuela
    
    Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It has a territorial extension of 916,445 km2 (353,841 sq mi), and its population was estimated at 29 million in 2022. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the city of Caracas.
1991
1. In a nationally televised speech, Mikhail Gorbachev (pictured) resigned as President of the Soviet Union.
  1. Mikhail Gorbachev
    
    Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 and additionally as head of state beginning in 1988, as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1989 to 1990 and the only President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. Ideologically, Gorbachev initially adhered to Marxism–Leninism but moved towards social democracy by the early 1990s.
  2. President of the Soviet Union
    
    The president of the Soviet Union, officially the president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, abbreviated as president of the USSR, was the head of state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 15 March 1990 to 25 December 1991.
2. Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.
  1. Mikhail Gorbachev
    
    Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 and additionally as head of state beginning in 1988, as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1989 to 1990 and the only President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. Ideologically, Gorbachev initially adhered to Marxism–Leninism but moved towards social democracy by the early 1990s.
  2. President of the Soviet Union
    
    The president of the Soviet Union, officially the president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, abbreviated as president of the USSR, was the head of state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 15 March 1990 to 25 December 1991.
  3. Dissolution of the Soviet Union
    
    The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the process of internal disintegration within the Soviet Union (USSR) which resulted in the end of the country's and its federal government's existence as a sovereign state, thereby resulting in its constituent republics gaining full sovereignty on 26 December 1991. It brought an end to General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's effort to reform the Soviet political and economic system in an attempt to stop a period of political stalemate and economic backslide. The Soviet Union had experienced internal stagnation and ethnic separatism. Although highly centralized until its final years, the country was made up of fifteen top-level republics that served as homelands for different ethnicities. By late 1991, amid a catastrophic political crisis, with several republics already departing the Union and the waning of centralized power, the leaders of three of its founding members declared that the Soviet Union no longer existed. Eight more republics joined their declaration shortly thereafter. Gorbachev resigned in December 1991 and what was left of the Soviet parliament voted to end itself.
  4. 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum
    
    A referendum on the Act of Declaration of Independence was held in Ukraine on 1 December 1991. An overwhelming majority of 92.3% of voters approved the declaration of independence made by the Verkhovna Rada on 24 August 1991.
1990
1. British computer programmer Tim Berners-Lee introduced WorldWideWeb, the world's first web browser and WYSIWYG HTML editor.
  1. Tim Berners-Lee
    
    Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He is a Professorial Fellow of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Berners-Lee proposed an information management system on 12 March 1989, then implemented the first successful communication between a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) client and server via the Internet in mid-November.
  2. WorldWideWeb
    
    WorldWideWeb is the first web browser and web page editor. It was discontinued in 1994. It was the first WYSIWYG HTML editor.
  3. Web browser
    
    A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on a range of devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. In 2020, an estimated 4.9 billion people used a browser. The most used browser is Google Chrome, with a 65% global market share on all devices, followed by Safari with 18%.
  4. WYSIWYG
    
    In computing, WYSIWYG, an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, is a system in which editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed document, web page, or slide presentation. WYSIWYG implies a user interface that allows the user to view something very similar to the end result while the document is being created. In general, WYSIWYG implies the ability to directly manipulate the layout of a document without having to type or remember names of layout commands.
1989
1. Romanian Revolution: Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena were condemned to death on a wide range of charges and executed.
  1. Romanian Revolution
    
    The Romanian Revolution, also known as the Christmas Revolution, was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world. The Romanian Revolution started in the city of Timișoara and soon spread throughout the country, ultimately culminating in the drumhead trial and execution of longtime Romanian Communist Party (PCR) General Secretary Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena, and the end of 42 years of Communist rule in Romania. It was also the last removal of a Marxist–Leninist government in a Warsaw Pact country during the events of 1989, and the only one that violently overthrew a country's leadership and executed its leader; according to estimates, over one thousand people died and thousands more were injured.
  2. Nicolae Ceaușescu
    
    Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was also the country's head of state from 1967, serving as President of the State Council and from 1974 concurrently as President of the Republic, until his overthrow and execution in the Romanian Revolution in December 1989, part of a series of anti-Communist uprisings in Eastern Europe that year.
  3. Elena Ceaușescu
    
    Elena Ceaușescu was a Romanian communist politician who was the wife of Nicolae Ceaușescu, General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party and leader of the Socialist Republic of Romania. She was also the Deputy Prime Minister of Romania.
  4. Trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu
    
    The trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu was held on 25 December 1989 by an Exceptional Military Tribunal, a drumhead court-martial created at the request of a newly formed group called the National Salvation Front. Its outcome was pre-determined, and it resulted in guilty verdicts and death sentences for former Romanian President and Romanian Communist Party General Secretary, Nicolae Ceaușescu, and his wife, Elena Ceaușescu.
2. Romanian Revolution: Deposed President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.
  1. Romanian Revolution
    
    The Romanian Revolution, also known as the Christmas Revolution, was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world. The Romanian Revolution started in the city of Timișoara and soon spread throughout the country, ultimately culminating in the drumhead trial and execution of longtime Romanian Communist Party (PCR) General Secretary Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena, and the end of 42 years of Communist rule in Romania. It was also the last removal of a Marxist–Leninist government in a Warsaw Pact country during the events of 1989, and the only one that violently overthrew a country's leadership and executed its leader; according to estimates, over one thousand people died and thousands more were injured.
  2. President of Romania
    
    The president of Romania is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves for five years. An individual may serve two terms. During their term in office, the president may not be a formal member of a political party.
  3. Nicolae Ceaușescu
    
    Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was also the country's head of state from 1967, serving as President of the State Council and from 1974 concurrently as President of the Republic, until his overthrow and execution in the Romanian Revolution in December 1989, part of a series of anti-Communist uprisings in Eastern Europe that year.
  4. Elena Ceaușescu
    
    Elena Ceaușescu was a Romanian communist politician who was the wife of Nicolae Ceaușescu, General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party and leader of the Socialist Republic of Romania. She was also the Deputy Prime Minister of Romania.
  5. Trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu
    
    The trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu was held on 25 December 1989 by an Exceptional Military Tribunal, a drumhead court-martial created at the request of a newly formed group called the National Salvation Front. Its outcome was pre-determined, and it resulted in guilty verdicts and death sentences for former Romanian President and Romanian Communist Party General Secretary, Nicolae Ceaușescu, and his wife, Elena Ceaușescu.
1986
1. Iraqi Airways Flight 163, a Boeing 737-270C, is hijacked and crashes in Arar, Saudi Arabia, killing 63 people.
  1. Iraqi Airways Flight 163
    
    Iraqi Airways Flight 163 was a Boeing 737-270C, registered YI-AGJ, that was hijacked in 1986. On 25 December 1986, en route from Baghdad's Saddam International Airport to Amman, Jordan, Flight 163 was hijacked by four men. Iraqi Airways security personnel tried to stop the hijackers, but a hand grenade was detonated in the passenger cabin, forcing the crew to initiate an emergency descent. Another hand grenade exploded in the cockpit, causing the aircraft to crash near Arar, Saudi Arabia where it broke in two and caught fire.
  2. Boeing 737
    
    The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two underwing turbofans. Envisioned in 1964, the initial 737-100 made its first flight in April 1967 and entered service in February 1968 with Lufthansa. The lengthened 737-200 entered service in April 1968, and evolved through four generations, offering several variants for 85 to 215 passengers.
  3. Arar, Saudi Arabia
    
    Arar is the capital of Northern Borders Province in Saudi Arabia. It has a population of 145,237.
1977
1. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat.
  1. Menachem Begin
    
    Menachem Begin was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Israel, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944, against the British mandatory government, which was initially opposed by the Jewish Agency. Later, the Irgun fought the Arabs during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine.
  2. Anwar Sadat
    
    Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981. Sadat was a senior member of the Free Officers who overthrew King Farouk in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and a close confidant of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, under whom he served as Vice President twice and whom he succeeded as president in 1970. In 1978, Sadat and Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, signed a peace treaty in cooperation with United States President Jimmy Carter, for which they were recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize.
1976
1. EgyptAir Flight 664, a Boeing 707-366C, crashes on approach to Don Mueang International Airport, killing 71 people.
  1. EgyptAir Flight 864
    
    EgyptAir Flight 864 was a flight from Rome Fiumicino Airport to Tokyo International Airport, via Cairo, Bombay, and Bangkok. On 25 December 1976, the Boeing 707 crashed into an industrial complex in Bangkok. All 52 people on board were killed, plus 19 on the ground in the crash.
  2. Boeing 707
    
    The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial 707-120 first flew on December 20, 1957. Pan American World Airways began regular 707 service on October 26, 1958. With versions produced until 1979, the 707 was a swept wing, quadjet with podded engines. Its larger fuselage cross-section allowed six-abreast economy seating, retained in the later 720, 727, 737, and 757 models.
  3. Don Mueang International Airport
    
    Don Mueang International Airport is one of two international airports serving the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, the other one being Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). Before Suvarnabhumi opened in 2006, Don Mueang was previously known as Bangkok International Airport.
1968
1. In Tamil Nadu, India, families of striking Dalit workers were massacred by a gang, allegedly led by their landlords.
  1. Tamil Nadu
    
    Tamil Nadu is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language—one of the longest surviving classical languages in the world—is widely spoken in the state and serves as its official language.
  2. Dalit
    
    Dalit, also previously known as untouchable, is a name for people belonging to the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama. Dalits now profess various religious beliefs, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam and various other belief systems. Scheduled Castes is the official term for Dalits as per the Constitution of India.
  3. Kilvenmani massacre
    
    The Kilvenmani massacre was an incident in Kizhavenmani village, Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu state in India on 25 December 1968 in which a group of around 44 people, the families of striking Dalit village labourers, were murdered by a gang, allegedly led by their landlords. The chief accused was Gopalakrishnan Naidu.
2. Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.
  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. Trans-Earth injection
    
    A trans-Earth injection (TEI) is a propulsion maneuver used to set a spacecraft on a trajectory which will intersect the Earth's sphere of influence, usually putting the spacecraft on a free return trajectory.
  4. Earth
    
    Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surface is made up of the ocean, dwarfing Earth's polar ice, lakes, and rivers. The remaining 29% of Earth's surface is land, consisting of continents and islands. Earth's surface layer is formed of several slowly moving tectonic plates, interacting to produce mountain ranges, volcanoes, and earthquakes. Earth's liquid outer core generates the magnetic field that shapes the magnetosphere of the Earth, deflecting destructive solar winds.
  5. Lunar orbit
    
    In astronomy, lunar orbit is the orbit of an object around the Moon.
3. Kilvenmani massacre: Forty-four Dalits (untouchables) are burnt to death in Kizhavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit laborers.
  1. Kilvenmani massacre
    
    The Kilvenmani massacre was an incident in Kizhavenmani village, Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu state in India on 25 December 1968 in which a group of around 44 people, the families of striking Dalit village labourers, were murdered by a gang, allegedly led by their landlords. The chief accused was Gopalakrishnan Naidu.
  2. Dalit
    
    Dalit, also previously known as untouchable, is a name for people belonging to the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama. Dalits now profess various religious beliefs, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam and various other belief systems. Scheduled Castes is the official term for Dalits as per the Constitution of India.
  3. Kizhavenmani
    
    Kizhavenmani is a village in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu state in India. The village is about 25 km from the district headquarters town of Nagapattinam. It is in the fertile river Cauvery Delta, known for its agrarian economy.
1963
1. Turkish Cypriot Bayrak Radio begins transmitting in Cyprus after Turkish Cypriots are forcibly excluded from Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
  1. Bayrak
    
    Bayrak Radio and Television Corporation, is the official radio and television broadcasting corporation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
  2. Cyprus
    
    Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geographically in Western Asia, its cultural ties and geopolitics are overwhelmingly Southern European. Cyprus is the third-largest and third-most populous island in the Mediterranean. It is located north of Egypt, east of Greece, south of Turkey, and west of Lebanon and Syria. Its capital and largest city is Nicosia. The northeast portion of the island is de facto governed by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which was established after the 1974 invasion and which is recognised as a country only by Turkey.
  3. Turkish Cypriots
    
    Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land once they arrived in Cyprus. Additionally, many of the island's local Christians converted to Islam during the early years of Ottoman rule. Nonetheless, the influx of mainly Muslim settlers to Cyprus continued intermittently until the end of the Ottoman period. Today, while Northern Cyprus is home to a significant part of the Turkish Cypriot population, the majority of Turkish Cypriots live abroad, forming the Turkish Cypriot diaspora. This diaspora came into existence after the Ottoman Empire transferred the control of the island to the British Empire, as many Turkish Cypriots emigrated primarily to Turkey and the United Kingdom for political and economic reasons.
  4. Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation
    
    Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, or CyBC, is Cyprus' public broadcasting service. It transmits island-wide on four radio and two domestic television channels, and uses one satellite channel for the Cypriot diaspora. It also transmits on a separate high definition channel.
1962
1. The Soviet Union conducts its final above-ground nuclear weapon test, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
  1. Soviet Union
    
    The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national republics; in practice, both its government and its economy were highly centralized until its final years. It was a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with the city of Moscow serving as its capital as well as that of its largest and most populous republic: the Russian SFSR. Other major cities included Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Tashkent, Alma-Ata, and Novosibirsk. It was the largest country in the world, covering over 22,402,200 square kilometres (8,649,500 sq mi) and spanning eleven time zones.
  2. 1962 Soviet nuclear tests
    
    The Soviet Union's 1962 nuclear test series was a group of 78 nuclear tests conducted in 1962. These tests followed the Soviet Project K nuclear tests series and preceded the 1964 Soviet nuclear tests series.
  3. Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
    
    The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) is the abbreviated name of the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, which prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground. It is also abbreviated as the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT) and Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (NTBT), though the latter may also refer to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which succeeded the PTBT for ratifying parties.
1951
1. A bomb explodes at the home of Harry T. Moore and Harriette V. S. Moore, early leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, killing Harry instantly and fatally wounding Harriette.
  1. Murder of Harry and Harriette Moore
    
    Harry T. Moore and his wife, Harriette V. S. Moore, were pioneer activists and leaders of the early Civil Rights Movement in the United States and became the first martyrs of the movement. On the night of Christmas, December 25, 1951, a bomb that had been planted under the bedroom floor of the Moores' home in Mims, Florida, exploded. They had celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary earlier that day. Harry died in the ambulance in transit from the attack, and Harriette died from her injuries nine days later, on January 3, 1952. Their death was the first assassination of any activist to occur during the Civil Rights Movement and the only time that a husband and wife were killed during the history of the movement.
  2. Harry T. Moore
    
    Harry Tyson Moore was an African-American educator, a pioneer leader of the civil rights movement, founder of the first branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Brevard County, Florida, and president of the state chapter of the NAACP.
  3. Harriette Moore
    
    Harriette Vyda Simms Moore was an American educator and civil rights worker. She was the wife of Harry T. Moore, who founded the first branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Brevard County, Florida. The murder of the Moores was the first assassination to happen during the Civil Rights Movement and the only time both a husband and a wife were killed for their activism.
  4. Civil rights movement
    
    The civil rights movement was a political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United States. The movement had its origins in the Reconstruction era during the late 19th century, although it made its largest legislative gains in the 1960s after years of direct actions and grassroots protests. The social movement's major nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience campaigns eventually secured new protections in federal law for the civil rights of all Americans.
1950
1. Four Scottish university students removed the Stone of Scone, used in the coronations of Scottish and British monarchs, from Westminster Abbey in London.
  1. 1950 removal of the Stone of Scone
    
    On Christmas Day 1950, four Scottish students from the University of Glasgow stole the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey in London and took it back to Scotland. The students were members of the Scottish Covenant Association, a group that supported home rule for Scotland. In 2008, the incident was made into a film called Stone of Destiny. It seems likely that the escapade was based on the fictional account of a plot by Scottish Nationalists to liberate the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Cathedral and to return it to Scotland, as told in Compton Mackenzie's novel The North Wind of Love Bk.1, published six years earlier in 1944.
  2. Stone of Scone
    
    The Stone of Scone —also known as the Stone of Destiny, and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone—is an oblong block of red sandstone that has been used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland. It is also known as Jacob's Pillow Stone and the Tanist Stone, and as clach-na-cinneamhain in Scottish Gaelic.
  3. Coronation
    
    A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of other items of regalia, marking the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power. Aside from the crowning, a coronation ceremony may comprise many other rituals such as the taking of special vows by the monarch, the investing and presentation of regalia to the monarch, and acts of homage by the new ruler's subjects and the performance of other ritual deeds of special significance to the particular nation. Western-style coronations have often included anointing the monarch with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called; the anointing ritual's religious significance follows examples found in the Bible. The monarch's consort may also be crowned, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event.
  4. Westminster Abbey
    
    Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and a burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all coronations of English and British monarchs have occurred in Westminster Abbey. Sixteen royal weddings have occurred at the abbey since 1100.
2. The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.
  1. Stone of Scone
    
    The Stone of Scone —also known as the Stone of Destiny, and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone—is an oblong block of red sandstone that has been used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland. It is also known as Jacob's Pillow Stone and the Tanist Stone, and as clach-na-cinneamhain in Scottish Gaelic.
  2. Monarchy of the United Kingdom
    
    The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. The current monarch is King Charles III, who ascended the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
  3. 1950 removal of the Stone of Scone
    
    On Christmas Day 1950, four Scottish students from the University of Glasgow stole the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey in London and took it back to Scotland. The students were members of the Scottish Covenant Association, a group that supported home rule for Scotland. In 2008, the incident was made into a film called Stone of Destiny. It seems likely that the escapade was based on the fictional account of a plot by Scottish Nationalists to liberate the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Cathedral and to return it to Scotland, as told in Compton Mackenzie's novel The North Wind of Love Bk.1, published six years earlier in 1944.
  4. Scottish nationalism
    
    Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and national identity.
1946
1. The first European self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is initiated within the Soviet Union's F-1 nuclear reactor.
  1. Nuclear chain reaction
    
    In nuclear physics, a nuclear chain reaction occurs when one single nuclear reaction causes an average of one or more subsequent nuclear reactions, thus leading to the possibility of a self-propagating series of these reactions. The specific nuclear reaction may be the fission of heavy isotopes. A nuclear chain reaction releases several million times more energy per reaction than any chemical reaction.
  2. Soviet Union
    
    The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national republics; in practice, both its government and its economy were highly centralized until its final years. It was a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with the city of Moscow serving as its capital as well as that of its largest and most populous republic: the Russian SFSR. Other major cities included Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Tashkent, Alma-Ata, and Novosibirsk. It was the largest country in the world, covering over 22,402,200 square kilometres (8,649,500 sq mi) and spanning eleven time zones.
  3. F-1 (nuclear reactor)
    
    The F-1 is a research reactor operated by the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, Russia. When started on December 25, 1946, it became the first nuclear reactor in Europe to achieve a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. It was still in operation in the beginning of the 2010s, with a power level of 24 kW, making it, at that time, the world's oldest operating reactor. The fuel in F-1 is metallic uranium with the natural content of the 235 U isotope (0.72%), graphite as a moderator, and cadmium rods to control the neutron flux. Structurally, it is a spherical structure with a diameter of about 6 meters, made of loose graphite bricks. The graphite stack has holes in which fuel and control rods are placed, as well as research and control equipment. The weight of graphite is 400 tons, uranium is 50 tons.
1941
1. Second World War: The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when Mark Aitchison Young, the Governor of Hong Kong, surrendered the territory to Japan after 18 days of fierce fighting.
  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. Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
    
    The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surrender occurred after 18 days of fierce fighting against the overwhelming Japanese forces that had invaded the territory. The occupation lasted for three years and eight months until Japan surrendered at the end of the Second World War. The length of this period later became a metonym of the occupation.
  3. Mark Aitchison Young
    
    Sir Mark Aitchison Young was a British administrator who became the Governor of Hong Kong during the years immediately before and after the Japanese occupation of the territory.
  4. Governor of Hong Kong
    
    The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. The governor's roles were defined in the Hong Kong Letters Patent and Royal Instructions. Upon the end of British rule and the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, most of the civil functions of this office went to the chief executive of Hong Kong, and military functions went to the commander of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison.
  5. Battle of Hong Kong
    
    The Battle of Hong Kong, also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the British Crown colony of Hong Kong, without declaring war against the British Empire. The Hong Kong garrison consisted of British, Indian and Canadian units, also the Auxiliary Defence Units and Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps (HKVDC).
2. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, appointed commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on December 17, arrives at Pearl Harbor.
  1. Chester W. Nimitz
    
    Chester William Nimitz was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, commanding Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II.
  2. United States Pacific Fleet
    
    The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii, with large secondary facilities at Naval Air Station North Island, California.
3. World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.
  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. Battle of Hong Kong
    
    The Battle of Hong Kong, also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the British Crown colony of Hong Kong, without declaring war against the British Empire. The Hong Kong garrison consisted of British, Indian and Canadian units, also the Auxiliary Defence Units and Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps (HKVDC).
  3. Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
    
    The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surrender occurred after 18 days of fierce fighting against the overwhelming Japanese forces that had invaded the territory. The occupation lasted for three years and eight months until Japan surrendered at the end of the Second World War. The length of this period later became a metonym of the occupation.
4. Admiral Émile Muselier seizes the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which become the first part of France to be liberated by the Free French Forces.[citation needed]
  1. Émile Muselier
    
    Émile Henry Muselier was a French admiral who led the Free French Naval Forces during World War II. He was responsible for the idea of distinguishing his fleet from that of Vichy France by adopting the Cross of Lorraine, which later became the emblem of all of the Free French. After entering the French Naval Academy in 1899, he embarked on a brilliant and eventful military career. He ran unsuccessfully in the legislative elections of 1946 as vice-president of the Rally of Republican Lefts and then entered private life as a consulting engineer before his retirement in 1960. He is buried in the cemetery of St. Pierre, at Marseilles.
  2. Saint Pierre and Miquelon
    
    Saint Pierre and Miquelon, officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean near the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a remaining vestige of the once-vast territory of New France. Its residents are French citizens; the collectivity elects its own deputy to the National Assembly and participates in senatorial and presidential elections. It covers 242 km2 (93 sq mi) of land and had a population of 6,008 as of the March 2016 census.
  3. Free France
    
    Free France was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general Charles de Gaulle, Free France was established as a government-in-exile in London in June 1940 after the Fall of France during World War II and fought the Axis as an Allied nation with its Free French Forces. Free France also supported the resistance in Nazi-occupied France, known as the French Forces of the Interior, and gained strategic footholds in several French colonies in Africa.
  4. Wikipedia:Citation needed
1932
1. A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills 275 people.
  1. 1932 Changma earthquake
    
    The 1932 Changma earthquake occurred at 10:04:27 local time on 25 December. With an estimated magnitude of 7.6 on the surface wave magnitude scale, and a maximum felt intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale, the quake destroyed 1,167 houses and caused 275 to 70,000 deaths and 320 injuries.
1927
1. The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng, a revolutionary socialist political party that sought Vietnamese independence from French colonial rule, was formed in Hanoi.
  1. Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng
    
    The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng, abbreviated VNQDĐ or Việt Quốc, was a nationalist and democratic socialist political party that sought independence from French colonial rule in Vietnam during the early 20th century. Its origins lie in a group of young Hanoi-based intellectuals who began publishing revolutionary material in the mid-1920s. In 1927, after the publishing house failed because of French harassment and censorship, the VNQDĐ was formed under the leadership of Nguyễn Thái Học. Modelling itself on the Kuomintang of Nationalist China the VNQDĐ gained a following among northerners, particularly teachers and intellectuals. The party, which was less successful among peasants and industrial workers, was organised in small clandestine cells.
  2. French colonial empire
    
    The French colonial empire comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that existed until 1814, by which time most of it had been lost or sold, and the "Second French Colonial Empire", which began with the conquest of Algiers in 1830. At its apex between the two world wars, the second French colonial empire was the second-largest colonial empire in the world behind the British Empire.
  3. Hanoi
    
    Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam. It covers an area of 3,359.82 km2 (1,297.2 sq mi). The second largest city in Vietnam consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is the cultural and political centre of Vietnam.
2. B. R. Ambedkar and his followers burn copies of the Manusmriti in Mahad, Maharashtra, to protest its treatment of Dalit people.
  1. B. R. Ambedkar
    
    Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served as Law and Justice minister in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru, and inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement after renouncing Hinduism.
  2. Manusmriti
    
    The Manusmṛiti, also known as the Mānava-Dharmaśāstra or Laws of Manu, is one of the many legal texts and constitution among the many Dharmaśāstras of Hinduism. In ancient India, the sages often wrote their ideas on how society should run in the manuscripts. It is believed that the original form of Manusmriti was changed as many things written in the manuscript contradict each other.
  3. Mahad
    
    Mahad is a city in Raigad district situated in the North Konkan region of Maharashtra state, India. It is located 108.5 km (67.4 mi) from District's headquarter Alibag, and 167 km (104 mi) from Mumbai, the state capital of Maharashtra and economic capital of India, towards western coast. Mahad is home to Raigad Fort, the capital of the Maratha Empire in Shivaji's era and revolutionary Mahad Satyagraha launched by at Chavdar Tale in the wake of modern India.
  4. Maharashtra
    
    Maharashtra is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdivision globally. It was formed on 1 May 1960 by splitting the bilingual Bombay State, which had existed since 1956, into majority Marathi-speaking Maharashtra and Gujarati-speaking Gujarat. Maharashtra is home to the Marathi people, the predominant ethno-linguistic group, who speak the Marathi language, the official language of the state. The state is divided into 6 divisions and 36 districts, with the state capital being Mumbai, the most populous urban area in India, and Nagpur serving as the winter capital, which also hosts the winter session of the state legislature. Godavari and Krishna are the two major rivers in the state. Forests cover 16.47 per cent of the state's geographical area. Out of the total cultivable land in the state, about 60 per cent is used for grain crops in the Deccan region, rice in coastal Konkan, and other high rainfall areas.
  5. Dalit
    
    Dalit, also previously known as untouchable, is a name for people belonging to the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama. Dalits now profess various religious beliefs, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam and various other belief systems. Scheduled Castes is the official term for Dalits as per the Constitution of India.
1915
1. The National Protection War breaks out against the Empire of China, as military leaders Cai E and Tang Jiyao proclaim the independence of Yunnan and begin a campaign to restore the Republic.
  1. National Protection War
    
    The National Protection War, also known as the Anti-Monarchy War, was a civil war that took place in China between 1915 and 1916. Only three years earlier, the last Chinese dynasty, the Qing dynasty, had been overthrown and the Republic of China was established in its place. The cause of the war was the proclamation by Yuan Shikai, the President of the Republic, of himself as the Hongxian Emperor, Emperor of the Empire of China.
  2. Empire of China (1915–1916)
    
    The Empire of China was a short-lived attempt by statesman, general and president Yuan Shikai from late 1915 to early 1916 to reinstate monarchy in China, with himself as the Hongxian Emperor. The attempt was unsuccessful; it set back the Chinese republican cause by many years and fractured China into a period of conflict between various local warlords.
  3. Cai E
    
    Cai E (simplified Chinese: 蔡锷; traditional Chinese: 蔡鍔; pinyin: Cài È; Wade–Giles: Ts'ai4 O4; 18 December 1882 – 8 November 1916) was a Chinese revolutionary leader and general. He was born Cai Genyin (Chinese: 蔡艮寅; pinyin: Cài Gěnyín) in Shaoyang, Hunan, and his courtesy name was Songpo (Chinese: 松坡; pinyin: Sōngpō). Cai eventually became an influential warlord in Yunnan (Yunnan clique), and is best known for his role in challenging the imperial ambitions (Hongxian emperor) of Yuan Shikai during the Anti-Monarchy War.
  4. Tang Jiyao
    
    Tang Jiyao was a Chinese general and warlord of Yunnan during the Warlord Era of early Republican China. He was military governor of Yunnan from 1913-27.
  5. Yunnan
    
    Yunnan, is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately 394,000 km2 (152,000 sq mi) and has a population of 48.3 million. The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan, autonomous regions of Guangxi, and Tibet as well as Southeast Asian countries: Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. Yunnan is China's fourth least developed province based on disposable income per capita in 2014.
  6. Republic of China (1912–1949)
    
    The Republic of China (ROC), between 1912 and 1949, was a sovereign state recognised as the official designation of China when it was based on Mainland China, prior to the relocation of its central government to Taiwan as a result of the Chinese Civil War. At a population of 541 million in 1949, it was the world's most populous country. Covering 11.4 million square kilometres, it consisted of 35 provinces, 1 special administrative region, 2 regions, 12 special municipalities, 14 leagues, and 4 special banners. The People's Republic of China (PRC), which rules mainland China today, considers ROC as a country that ceased to exist since 1949; thus, the history of ROC before 1949 is often referred to as Republican Era of China. The ROC, now based in Taiwan, today considers itself a continuation of the country, thus calling the period of its mainland governance as the Mainland Period of the Republic of China in Taiwan.
1914
1. A series of unofficial truces occur across the Western Front to celebrate Christmas.
  1. 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. Western Front (World War I)
    
    The Western Front was one of the main theatres of war during the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The German advance was halted with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France, which changed little except during early 1917 and in 1918.
1868
1. Pardons for ex-Confederates: United States President Andrew Johnson grants an unconditional pardon to all Confederate veterans.
  1. Pardons for ex-Confederates
    
    Both during and after the American Civil War, pardons for ex-Confederates were given by US Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson and were usually extended for those who had served in the military above the rank of colonel or civilians who had exercised political power under the Confederate government. The power to pardon offences to the US government was given to the chief executive in the US Constitution under Article II.
  2. Andrew Johnson
    
    Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union ticket, coming to office as the Civil War concluded. He favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union without protection for the newly freed people who were formerly enslaved. This led to conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress, culminating in his impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1868. He was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.
  3. Pardon
    
    A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the jurisdiction.
  4. 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.
1837
1. Second Seminole War: American general Zachary Taylor leads 1,100 troops against the Seminoles at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee.
  1. Second Seminole War
    
    The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Native Americans and Black Indians. It was part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars. The Second Seminole War, often referred to as the Seminole War, is regarded as "the longest and most costly of the Indian conflicts of the United States".
  2. Zachary Taylor
    
    Zachary Taylor was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to the rank of major general and becoming a national hero for his victories in the Mexican–American War. As a result, he won election to the White House despite his vague political beliefs. His top priority as president was to preserve the Union. He died 16 months into his term, having made no progress on the most divisive issue in Congress and the nation: slavery.
  3. Seminole
    
    The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, as well as independent groups. The Seminole people emerged in a process of ethnogenesis from various Native American groups who settled in Spanish Florida beginning in the early 1700s, most significantly northern Muscogee Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama.
  4. Battle of Lake Okeechobee
    
    The Battle of Lake Okeechobee was one of the major battles of the Second Seminole War. It was fought between 800 troops of the 1st, 4th, and 6th Infantry Regiments and 132 Missouri Volunteers, and between 380 and 480 Seminoles led by Billy Bowlegs, Abiaca, and Halpatter Tustenuggee (Alligator) on 25 December 1837. Halpatter Tustenuggee had played a major role in the Dade Battle two years earlier. The Seminole warriors were resisting forced relocation to a reservation in Oklahoma. Though both the Seminoles and Taylor's troops emerged from the battle claiming victory, Taylor was promoted to the rank of brigadier general as a result, and his nickname of "Old Rough and Ready" came mostly due to this battle.
1831
1. A Baptist preacher named Samuel Sharpe began an unsuccessful eleven-day slave revolt in Jamaica.
  1. Baptists
    
    Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only, and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul competency, sola fide, sola scriptura and congregationalist church government. Baptists generally recognize two ordinances: baptism and communion.
  2. Samuel Sharpe
    
    Samuel Sharpe, or Sharp, also known as Sam Sharpe, was an enslaved Jamaican who was the leader of the widespread 1831–32 Baptist War slave rebellion in Jamaica.
  3. Baptist War
    
    The Baptist War, also known as the Sam Sharp Rebellion, the Christmas Rebellion, the Christmas Uprising and the Great Jamaican Slave Revolt of 1831–32, was an eleven-day rebellion that started on 25 December 1831 and involved up to 60,000 of the 300,000 slaves in the Colony of Jamaica. The uprising was led by a black Baptist deacon, Samuel Sharpe, and waged largely by his followers. The revolt, though militarily unsuccessful, played a major part in the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire.
2. The Great Jamaican Slave Revolt begins; up to 20% of Jamaica's slaves mobilize in an ultimately unsuccessful fight for freedom.
  1. Baptist War
    
    The Baptist War, also known as the Sam Sharp Rebellion, the Christmas Rebellion, the Christmas Uprising and the Great Jamaican Slave Revolt of 1831–32, was an eleven-day rebellion that started on 25 December 1831 and involved up to 60,000 of the 300,000 slaves in the Colony of Jamaica. The uprising was led by a black Baptist deacon, Samuel Sharpe, and waged largely by his followers. The revolt, though militarily unsuccessful, played a major part in the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire.
  2. Jamaica
    
    Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola ; the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands lies some 215 kilometres (134 mi) to the north-west.
1826
1. The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy concludes after beginning the previous evening.
  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.
1815
1. The Handel and Haydn Society, oldest continually performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance.
  1. Handel and Haydn Society
    
    The Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Known colloquially as 'H+H', the organization has been in continual performance since its founding in 1815, the longest-serving such performing arts organization in the United States.
1814
1. Rev. Samuel Marsden holds the first Christian service on land in New Zealand at Rangihoua Bay.
  1. Samuel Marsden
    
    Samuel Marsden was an English-born priest of the Church of England in Australia and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand. Marsden was a prominent figure in early New South Wales and Australian history, partly through his ecclesiastical offices as the colony's senior Church of England cleric and as a pioneer of the Australian wool industry, but also for his employment of convicts for farming and his actions as a magistrate at Parramatta, both of which attracted contemporary criticism.
  2. Rangihoua Bay
    
    Rangihoua Bay is a bay at the southern end of the Purerua Peninsula, on the north-west shore of the Bay of Islands in Northland, New Zealand. It is 10 km north across the Bay of Islands from Russell and 12 km north from Paihia. By road it is 32 km from Kerikeri.
1809
1. American physician Ephraim McDowell performed the world's first removal of an ovarian tumor.
  1. Ephraim McDowell
    
    Ephraim McDowell was an American physician and pioneer surgeon. The first person to successfully remove an ovarian tumor, he has been called "the father of ovariotomy" as well as founding father of abdominal surgery.
  2. Ovarian tumor
    
    Ovarian tumors, or ovarian neoplasms, are tumors arising from the ovary. They can be benign or malignant. They consist of mainly solid tissue, while ovarian cysts contain fluid.
2. Dr. Ephraim McDowell performs the first ovariotomy, removing a 22-pound tumor.
  1. Ephraim McDowell
    
    Ephraim McDowell was an American physician and pioneer surgeon. The first person to successfully remove an ovarian tumor, he has been called "the father of ovariotomy" as well as founding father of abdominal surgery.
  2. Oophorectomy
    
    Oophorectomy, historically also called ovariotomy is the surgical removal of an ovary or ovaries. The surgery is also called ovariectomy, but this term is mostly used in reference to animals, e.g. the surgical removal of ovaries from laboratory animals. Removal of the ovaries of females is the biological equivalent of castration of males; the term castration is only occasionally used in the medical literature to refer to oophorectomy of women. In veterinary medicine, the removal of ovaries and uterus is called ovariohysterectomy (spaying) and is a form of sterilization.
  3. Neoplasm
    
    A neoplasm is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists in growing abnormally, even if the original trigger is removed. This abnormal growth usually forms a mass, when it may be called a tumor.
1793
1. General "Mad Anthony" Wayne and a 300 man detachment identify the site of St. Clair's 1791 defeat by the large number of unburied human remains at modern Fort Recovery, Ohio.
  1. Anthony Wayne
    
    Anthony Wayne was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him promotion to brigadier general and the nickname "Mad Anthony". He later served as the Senior Officer of the Army on the Ohio Country frontier and led the Legion of the United States.
  2. Legion of the United States
    
    The Legion of the United States was a reorganization and extension of the Continental Army from 1792 to 1796 under the command of Major General Anthony Wayne. It represented a political shift in the new United States, which had recently adopted the United States Constitution. The new Congressional and Executive branches authorized a standing army composed of professional soldiers, rather than relying on state militias.
  3. St. Clair's defeat
    
    St. Clair's defeat, also known as the Battle of the Wabash, the Battle of Wabash River or the Battle of a Thousand Slain, was a battle fought on 4 November 1791 in the Northwest Territory of the United States. The U.S. Army faced the Western Confederacy of Native Americans, as part of the Northwest Indian War. It was "the most decisive defeat in the history of the American military" and its largest defeat ever by Native Americans.
  4. Fort Recovery, Ohio
    
    Fort Recovery is a village in Mercer County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,501 at the 2020 census. The village is near the location of Fort Recovery, first established in 1793 under orders from General Anthony Wayne. The town is located near the headwaters of the Wabash River.
1776
1. George Washington and the Continental Army cross the Delaware River at night to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, New Jersey, the next day.
  1. George Washington
    
    George Washington was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army, Washington led the Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and served as the president of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which created the Constitution of the United States and the American federal government. Washington has been called the "Father of his Country" for his manifold leadership in the formative days of the country.
  2. Continental Army
    
    The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was established by a resolution of Congress on June 14, 1775. The Continental Army was created to coordinate military efforts of the Colonies in their war for independence against the British, who sought to keep their American lands under control. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war.
  3. George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River
    
    George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on the night of December 25–26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington against Hessian forces, which were German auxiliaries aiding the British, in Trenton, New Jersey, on the morning of December 26. Planned in secrecy, Washington led a column of Continental Army troops from today's Bucks County, Pennsylvania across the icy Delaware River to today's Mercer County, New Jersey, in a logistically challenging and dangerous operation.
  4. Battle of Trenton
    
    The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River north of Trenton the previous night, Washington led the main body of the Continental Army against Hessian auxiliaries garrisoned at Trenton. After a brief battle, almost two-thirds of the Hessian force were captured, with negligible losses to the Americans. The battle significantly boosted the Continental Army's waning morale, and inspired re-enlistments.
  5. Hessian (soldier)
    
    Hessians were German soldiers who served as auxiliaries to the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. The term is an American synecdoche for all Germans who fought on the British side, since 65% came from the German states of Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Hanau. Known for their discipline and martial prowess, around 30,000 Germans fought for the British during the war, comprising a quarter of British land forces.
  6. Kingdom of Great Britain
    
    The Kingdom of Great Britain was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the kingdoms of England and Scotland to form a single kingdom encompassing the whole island of Great Britain and its outlying islands, with the exception of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The unitary state was governed by a single parliament at the Palace of Westminster, but distinct legal systems – English law and Scots law – remained in use.
  7. Trenton, New Jersey
    
    Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784. The city's metropolitan area, consisting of Mercer County, is grouped with the New York Metropolitan Area by the United States Census Bureau, but it directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and was from 1990 until 2000 part of the Philadelphia Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Trenton had a population of 90,871, making it the state's 10th-largest municipality.
1766
1. Mapuches in Chile launch a series of surprise attacks against the Spanish starting the Mapuche uprising of 1766.
  1. Mapuche
    
    The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of present-day south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of present-day Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious, and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage as Mapudungun speakers. Their influence once extended from Aconcagua Valley to Chiloé Archipelago and later spread eastward to Puelmapu, a land comprising part of the Argentine pampa and Patagonia. Today the collective group makes up over 80% of the indigenous peoples in Chile, and about 9% of the total Chilean population. The Mapuche are particularly concentrated in the Araucanía region. Many have migrated from rural areas to the cities of Santiago and Buenos Aires for economic opportunities.
  2. Colonial Chile
    
    In Chilean historiography, Colonial Chile is the period from 1600 to 1810, beginning with the Destruction of the Seven Cities and ending with the onset of the Chilean War of Independence. During this time, the Chilean heartland was ruled by Captaincy General of Chile. The period was characterized by a lengthy conflict between Spaniards and native Mapuches known as the Arauco War. Colonial society was divided in distinct groups including Peninsulars, Criollos, Mestizos, Indians and Black people.
  3. Mapuche uprising of 1766
    
    The Mapuche uprising of 1766 was the last major Spanish–Mapuche conflict in Araucanía.
1758
1. Based on predictions by Edmond Halley in 1705, Johann Georg Palitzsch observed a comet that was later named Halley's Comet.
  1. Edmond Halley
    
    Edmond Halley was an English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720.
  2. Johann Georg Palitzsch
    
    Johann Georg Palitzsch was a German astronomer who became famous for recovering Comet 1P/Halley on Christmas Day, 1758. The periodic nature of this comet had been deduced by its namesake Edmond Halley in 1705, but Halley had died before seeing if his prediction would come true.
  3. Halley's Comet
    
    Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the only naked-eye comet that can appear twice in a human lifetime. Halley last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061.
2. Halley's Comet is sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch, confirming Edmund Halley's prediction of its passage. This was the first passage of a comet predicted ahead of time.
  1. Halley's Comet
    
    Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the only naked-eye comet that can appear twice in a human lifetime. Halley last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061.
  2. Johann Georg Palitzsch
    
    Johann Georg Palitzsch was a German astronomer who became famous for recovering Comet 1P/Halley on Christmas Day, 1758. The periodic nature of this comet had been deduced by its namesake Edmond Halley in 1705, but Halley had died before seeing if his prediction would come true.
  3. Edmond Halley
    
    Edmond Halley was an English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720.
1559
1. Pope Pius IV is elected, four months after his predecessor's death.
  1. Pope Pius IV
    
    Pope Pius IV, born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered itself a branch of the House of Medici and used the same coat of arms. Although modern historians have found no proof of this connection, the Medici of Florence recognized the claims of the Medici of Milan in the early 16th century.
  2. 1559 papal conclave
    
    The 1559 papal conclave was convened on the death of Pope Paul IV and elected Pope Pius IV as his successor. Due to interference from secular rulers and the cardinals' disregard for their supposed isolation from the outside world, it was the longest conclave of the 16th century.
1553
1. Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeat the Spanish conquistadors and executes the governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia.
  1. Battle of Tucapel
    
    The Battle of Tucapel is the name given to a battle fought between Spanish conquistador forces led by Pedro de Valdivia and Mapuche (Araucanian) Indians under Lautaro that took place at Tucapel, Chile on December 25, 1553. This battle happened in the context of the first stage of the Arauco War, named the "offensive war" within a larger uprising by Araucanians against the Spanish conquest of Chile. It was a defeat for the Spaniards, resulting in the capture and eventual death of Valdivia.
  2. Mapuche
    
    The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of present-day south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of present-day Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious, and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage as Mapudungun speakers. Their influence once extended from Aconcagua Valley to Chiloé Archipelago and later spread eastward to Puelmapu, a land comprising part of the Argentine pampa and Patagonia. Today the collective group makes up over 80% of the indigenous peoples in Chile, and about 9% of the total Chilean population. The Mapuche are particularly concentrated in the Araucanía region. Many have migrated from rural areas to the cities of Santiago and Buenos Aires for economic opportunities.
  3. Lautaro
    
    Lautaro was a young Mapuche toqui known for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile and developing the tactics that would continue to be employed by the Mapuche during the long-running Arauco War. Levtaru was captured by Spanish forces in his early youth, and he spent his teenage years as a personal servant of chief conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, but escaped in 1551. Back among his people he was declared toqui and led Mapuche warriors into a series of victories against the Spanish, culminating in the Battle of Tucapel in December 1553, where Pedro of Valdivia was killed. The outbreak of a typhus plague, a drought and a famine prevented the Mapuche from taking further actions to expel the Spanish in 1554 and 1555. Between 1556 and 1557, a small group of Mapuche commanded by Levtaru attempted to reach Santiago to liberate the whole of Central Chile from Spanish rule. Levtaru's attempts ended in 1557 when he was killed in an ambush by the Spanish.
  4. Conquistador
    
    Conquistadors or conquistadores were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, Oceania, Africa, and Asia, colonizing and opening trade routes. They brought much of the Americas under the dominion of Spain and Portugal.
  5. Chile
    
    Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Chile covers an area of 756,096 square kilometers (291,930 sq mi), with a population of 17.5 million as of 2017. It shares land borders with Peru to the north, Bolivia to the north-east, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Chile also controls the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Isla Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. It also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometers (480,000 sq mi) of Antarctica under the Chilean Antarctic Territory. The country's capital and largest city is Santiago, and its national language is Spanish.
  6. Pedro de Valdivia
    
    Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command.
1492
1. The carrack Santa María, commanded by Christopher Columbus, runs onto a reef off Haiti due to an improper watch.
  1. Carrack
    
    A carrack is a three- or four-masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade from the Mediterranean to the Baltic and quickly found use with the newly found wealth of the trade between Europe and Africa and then the trans-Atlantic trade with the Americas. In their most advanced forms, they were used by the Portuguese for trade between Europe and Asia starting in the late 15th century, before eventually being superseded in the 17th century by the galleon, introduced in the 16th century.
  2. Santa María (ship)
    
    La Santa María, alternatively La Gallega, was the largest of the three Spanish ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, the others being the Niña and the Pinta. Her master and owner was Juan de la Cosa, a man from Santoña, Cantabria, operating in south Spanish waters. Requisitioned by order of Queen Isabella and by contract with Christopher Columbus, whom de la Cosa knew previously, the Santa María became Columbus's flagship on the voyage as long as it was afloat. Having gone aground on Christmas Day, 1492, on the shores of Haiti, through inexperience of the helmsman, it was partially dismantled to obtain timbers for Fort Navidad, "Christmas Fort," placed in a native Taíno village. The fort was the first Spanish settlement in the New World, which Columbus had claimed for Spain. He thus regarded the wreck as providential. The hull remained where it was, the subject of much modern wreck-hunting without successful conclusion.
  3. Christopher Columbus
    
    Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.
  4. Reef
    
    A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes—deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock outcrops, etc.—but there are also reefs such as the coral reefs of tropical waters formed by biotic processes dominated by corals and coralline algae, and artificial reefs such as shipwrecks and other anthropogenic underwater structures may occur intentionally or as the result of an accident, and sometimes have a designed role in enhancing the physical complexity of featureless sand bottoms, to attract a more diverse assemblage of organisms. Reefs are often quite near to the surface, but not all definitions require this.
  5. Haiti
    
    Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti ; French: République d'Haïti) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the Dominican Republic. To its south-west lies the small Navassa Island, which is claimed by Haiti but is disputed as a United States territory under federal administration. Haiti is 27,750 km2 (10,714 sq mi) in size, the third largest country in the Caribbean by area, and has an estimated population of 11.4 million, making it the most populous country in the Caribbean. The capital is Port-au-Prince.
  6. Watchkeeping
    
    Watchkeeping or watchstanding is the assignment of sailors to specific roles on a ship to operate it continuously. These assignments, also known at sea as watches, are constantly active as they are considered essential to the safe operation of the vessel and also allow the ship to respond to emergencies and other situations quickly. These watches are divided into work periods to ensure that the roles are always occupied at all times, while those members of the crew who are assigned to work during a watch are known as watchkeepers.
1261
1. Eleven-year-old John IV Laskaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaiologos.
  1. John IV Laskaris
    
    John IV Doukas Laskaris was emperor of Nicaea from August 16, 1258, to December 25, 1261. This empire was one of the Greek states formed from the remaining fragments of the Byzantine Empire, after the capture of Constantinople by Roman Catholics during the Fourth Crusade in 1204.
  2. Byzantine Empire
    
    The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. The terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" were coined after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire, and to themselves as Romans—a term which Greeks continued to use for themselves into Ottoman times. Although the Roman state continued and its traditions were maintained, modern historians distinguish Byzantium from its earlier incarnation because it was centered on Constantinople and not Rome, oriented towards Greek rather than Latin culture, and characterised by Eastern Orthodox Christianity, instead of Roman Catholicism or Paganism.
  3. Michael VIII Palaiologos
    
    Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea from 1259 to 1261, and as Byzantine emperor from 1261 until his death in 1282. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. He recovered Constantinople from the Latin Empire in 1261 and transformed the Empire of Nicaea into a restored Byzantine Empire. His reign saw considerable recovery of Byzantine power, including the enlargement of the Byzantine army and navy. It would also include the reconstruction of the city of Constantinople, and the increase of its population. Additionally, he re-established the University of Constantinople, which led to what is regarded as the Palaiologan Renaissance between the 13th and 15th centuries.
1130
1. Count Roger II of Sicily is crowned the first king of Sicily.
  1. Roger II of Sicily
    
    Roger II was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in 1127, then King of Sicily in 1130 and King of Africa in 1148. By the time of his death at the age of 58, Roger had succeeded in uniting all the Norman conquests in Italy into one kingdom with a strong centralized government.
  2. Kingdom of Sicily
    
    The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of the southern peninsula. The island was divided into three regions: Val di Mazara, Val Demone and Val di Noto.
1100
1. Baldwin I was crowned the first king of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
  1. Baldwin I of Jerusalem
    
    Baldwin I, also known as Baldwin of Boulogne, was the first count of Edessa from 1098 to 1100, and king of Jerusalem from 1100 to his death. He was the youngest son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lorraine and married a Norman noblewoman, Godehilde of Tosny. He received the County of Verdun in 1096, but he soon joined the crusader army of his brother Godfrey of Bouillon and became one of the most successful commanders of the First Crusade.
  2. King of Jerusalem
    
    The King of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was conquered in 1099.
  3. Church of the Nativity
    
    The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity, is a basilica located in Bethlehem in the West Bank, Palestine. The grotto it contains holds a prominent religious significance to Christians of various denominations as the birthplace of Jesus. The grotto is the oldest site continuously used as a place of worship in Christianity, and the basilica is the oldest major church in the Holy Land.
  4. Bethlehem
    
    Bethlehem is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about 10 km south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000, and it is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine. The economy is primarily tourist-driven, peaking during the Christmas season, when Christians make pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity. The important holy site of Rachel's Tomb is at the northern entrance of Bethlehem, though not freely accessible to the city's own inhabitants and in general Palestinians living in the West Bank due to the Israeli West Bank barrier.
2. Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
  1. Baldwin I of Jerusalem
    
    Baldwin I, also known as Baldwin of Boulogne, was the first count of Edessa from 1098 to 1100, and king of Jerusalem from 1100 to his death. He was the youngest son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lorraine and married a Norman noblewoman, Godehilde of Tosny. He received the County of Verdun in 1096, but he soon joined the crusader army of his brother Godfrey of Bouillon and became one of the most successful commanders of the First Crusade.
  2. King of Jerusalem
    
    The King of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was conquered in 1099.
  3. Church of the Nativity
    
    The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity, is a basilica located in Bethlehem in the West Bank, Palestine. The grotto it contains holds a prominent religious significance to Christians of various denominations as the birthplace of Jesus. The grotto is the oldest site continuously used as a place of worship in Christianity, and the basilica is the oldest major church in the Holy Land.
  4. Bethlehem
    
    Bethlehem is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about 10 km south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000, and it is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine. The economy is primarily tourist-driven, peaking during the Christmas season, when Christians make pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity. The important holy site of Rachel's Tomb is at the northern entrance of Bethlehem, though not freely accessible to the city's own inhabitants and in general Palestinians living in the West Bank due to the Israeli West Bank barrier.
1076
1. Coronation of Bolesław II the Generous as king of Poland.
  1. Bolesław II the Generous
    
    Bolesław II the Bold, also known as the Generous, was Duke of Poland from 1058 to 1076 and third King of Poland from 1076 to 1079. He was the eldest son of Duke Casimir I the Restorer and Maria Dobroniega of Kiev.
1066
1. Norman Conquest: William the Conqueror was crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey, although he continued to face rebellions over the following years and was not secure on the throne until after 1072.
  1. Norman Conquest
    
    The Norman Conquest was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqueror.
  2. William the Conqueror
    
    William I, usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward. By 1060, following a long struggle to establish his throne, his hold on Normandy was secure. In 1066, following the death of Edward the Confessor, William invaded England, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, and by difficulties with his eldest son, Robert Curthose.
  3. List of English monarchs
    
    This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself King of the Anglo-Saxons from about 886, and while he was not the first king to claim to rule all of the English, his rule represents the start of the first unbroken line of kings to rule the whole of England, the House of Wessex.
  4. Westminster Abbey
    
    Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and a burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all coronations of English and British monarchs have occurred in Westminster Abbey. Sixteen royal weddings have occurred at the abbey since 1100.
2. William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy is crowned king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.
  1. William the Conqueror
    
    William I, usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward. By 1060, following a long struggle to establish his throne, his hold on Normandy was secure. In 1066, following the death of Edward the Confessor, William invaded England, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, and by difficulties with his eldest son, Robert Curthose.
  2. Duke of Normandy
    
    In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles III in 911. In 924 and again in 933, Normandy was expanded by royal grant. Rollo's male-line descendants continued to rule it until 1135. In 1202 the French king Philip II declared Normandy a forfeited fief and by 1204 his army had conquered it. It remained a French royal province thereafter, still called the Duchy of Normandy, but only occasionally granted to a duke of the royal house as an apanage.
  3. Westminster Abbey
    
    Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and a burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all coronations of English and British monarchs have occurred in Westminster Abbey. Sixteen royal weddings have occurred at the abbey since 1100.
  4. London
    
    London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.
1046
1. Henry III was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement II.
  1. Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
    
    Henry III, called the Black or the Pious, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 until his death in 1056. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was the eldest son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia.
  2. Holy Roman Emperor
    
    The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans during the Middle Ages, and also known as the German-Roman Emperor since the early modern period, was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. The title was held in conjunction with the title of king of Italy from the 8th to the 16th century, and, almost without interruption, with the title of king of Germany throughout the 12th to 18th centuries.
  3. Pope Clement II
    
    Pope Clement II, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1046 until his death in 1047. He was the first in a series of reform-minded popes from Germany. Suidger was the bishop of Bamberg. In 1046, he accompanied King Henry III of Germany, when at the request of laity and clergy of Rome, Henry went to Italy and summoned the Council of Sutri, which deposed Benedict IX and Sylvester III, and accepted the resignation of Gregory VI. Henry suggested Suidger as the next pope, and he was then elected, taking the name of Clement II. Clement then proceeded to crown Henry as emperor. Clement's brief tenure as pope saw the enactment of more stringent prohibitions against simony.
2. Henry III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement II.
  1. Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
    
    Henry III, called the Black or the Pious, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 until his death in 1056. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was the eldest son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia.
  2. Holy Roman Emperor
    
    The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans during the Middle Ages, and also known as the German-Roman Emperor since the early modern period, was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. The title was held in conjunction with the title of king of Italy from the 8th to the 16th century, and, almost without interruption, with the title of king of Germany throughout the 12th to 18th centuries.
  3. Pope Clement II
    
    Pope Clement II, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1046 until his death in 1047. He was the first in a series of reform-minded popes from Germany. Suidger was the bishop of Bamberg. In 1046, he accompanied King Henry III of Germany, when at the request of laity and clergy of Rome, Henry went to Italy and summoned the Council of Sutri, which deposed Benedict IX and Sylvester III, and accepted the resignation of Gregory VI. Henry suggested Suidger as the next pope, and he was then elected, taking the name of Clement II. Clement then proceeded to crown Henry as emperor. Clement's brief tenure as pope saw the enactment of more stringent prohibitions against simony.
1025
1. Coronation of Mieszko II Lambert as king of Poland.
  1. Mieszko II Lambert
    
    Mieszko II Lambert was King of Poland from 1025 to 1031, and Duke from 1032 until his death.
1013
1. Sweyn Forkbeard takes control of the Danelaw and is proclaimed king of England.
  1. Sweyn Forkbeard
    
    Sweyn Forkbeard was King of Denmark from 986 to 1014, also at times King of the English and King of Norway. He was the father of King Harald II of Denmark, King Cnut the Great, and Queen Estrid Svendsdatter.
  2. Danelaw
    
    The Danelaw was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian law. The term is first recorded in the early 11th century as Dena lage. The areas that constituted the Danelaw lie in northern and eastern England, long occupied by Danes and other Norsemen.
  3. Kingdom of England
    
    The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1000
1. The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.
  1. AD 1000
    
    Year 1000 (M) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. In the proleptic Gregorian calendar, it was a non-leap century year starting on Wednesday. It was also the last year of the 10th century as well as the last year of the 1st millennium of the Christian Era ending on December 31, but the first year of the 1000s decade.
  2. 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.
  3. Stephen I of Hungary
    
    Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen, was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the first King of Hungary from 1000 or 1001, until his death in 1038. The year of his birth is uncertain, but many details of his life suggest that he was born in, or after, 975, in Esztergom. He was given the pagan name Vajk at birth, but the date of his baptism is unknown. He was the only son of Grand Prince Géza and his wife, Sarolt, who was descended from a prominent family of gyulas. Although both of his parents were baptized, Stephen was the first member of his family to become a devout Christian. He married Gisela of Bavaria, a scion of the imperial Ottonian dynasty.
820
1. Eastern Emperor Leo V is murdered in a church of the Great Palace of Constantinople by followers of Michael II.
  1. Leo V the Armenian
    
    Leo V the Armenian was the Byzantine emperor from 813 to 820. A senior general, he forced his predecessor, Michael I Rangabe, to abdicate and assumed the throne. He ended the decade-long war with the Bulgars, and initiated the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm. He was assassinated by supporters of Michael the Amorian, one of his most trusted generals, who succeeded him on the throne.
  2. Church of the Virgin of the Pharos
    
    The Church of the Virgin of the Pharos was a Byzantine chapel built in the southern part of the Great Palace of Constantinople, and named after the tower of the lighthouse (pharos) that stood next to it. It housed one of the most important collections of Christian relics in the city, and functioned as the chief palatine chapel of the Byzantine emperors.
  3. Great Palace of Constantinople
    
    The Great Palace of Constantinople, also known as the Sacred Palace, was the large imperial Byzantine palace complex located in the south-eastern end of the peninsula now known as Old Istanbul, in modern Turkey. It served as the main imperial residence of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine emperors until 1081 and was the centre of imperial administration for over 690 years. Only a few remnants and fragments of its foundations have survived into the present day.
  4. Constantinople
    
    Constantinople was the capital of the Roman Empire, and later, the Eastern Roman Empire, the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). Following the Turkish War of Independence, the Turkish capital then moved to Ankara. Officially renamed Istanbul in 1930, the city is today the largest city and financial centre of the Republic of Turkey (1923–present). It is also the largest city in Europe.
  5. Michael II
    
    Michael II, called the Amorian and the Stammerer, reigned as Byzantine Emperor from 25 December 820 to his death on 2 October 829, the first ruler of the Amorian dynasty.
800
1. The coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.
  1. Charlemagne
    
    Charlemagne or Charles the Great, a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Emperor of the Romans from 800. Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of western and central Europe and was the first recognized emperor to rule from western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire around three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded was the Carolingian Empire. He was canonized by Antipope Paschal III—an act later treated as invalid—and he is now regarded by some as beatified in the Catholic Church.
  2. Holy Roman Emperor
    
    The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans during the Middle Ages, and also known as the German-Roman Emperor since the early modern period, was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. The title was held in conjunction with the title of king of Italy from the 8th to the 16th century, and, almost without interruption, with the title of king of Germany throughout the 12th to 18th centuries.
597
1. Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow-labourers baptise in Kent more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.
  1. Augustine of Canterbury
    
    Augustine of Canterbury was a monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church.
  2. Kingdom of Kent
    
    The Kingdom of the Kentish, today referred to as the Kingdom of Kent, was an early medieval kingdom in what is now South East England. It existed from either the fifth or the sixth century AD until it was fully absorbed into the Kingdom of Wessex in the late 9th century and later into the Kingdom of England in the early 10th century.
  3. Anglo-Saxons
    
    The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened within Britain, and the identity was not merely imported. Anglo-Saxon identity arose from interaction between incoming groups from several Germanic tribes, both amongst themselves, and with indigenous Britons. Many of the natives, over time, adopted Anglo-Saxon culture and language and were assimilated. The Anglo-Saxons established the concept, and the Kingdom, of England, and though the modern English language owes somewhat less than 26% of its words to their language, this includes the vast majority of words used in everyday speech.
508
1. Clovis I, king of the Franks, is baptized into the Catholic faith at Reims, by Saint Remigius.
  1. Clovis I
    
    Clovis was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single king and ensuring that the kingship was passed down to his heirs. He is considered to have been the founder of the Merovingian dynasty, which ruled the Frankish kingdom for the next two centuries.
  2. Franks
    
    The Franks were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire. Later the term was associated with Romanized Germanic dynasties within the collapsing Western Roman Empire, who eventually commanded the whole region between the rivers Loire and Rhine. They imposed power over many other post-Roman kingdoms and Germanic peoples. Beginning with Charlemagne in 800, Frankish rulers were given recognition by the Catholic Church as successors to the old rulers of the Western Roman Empire.
  3. Baptism
    
    Baptism is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three times, once for each person of the Trinity. The synoptic gospels recount that John the Baptist baptised Jesus. Baptism is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. Baptism according to the Trinitarian formula, which is done in most mainstream Christian denominations, is seen as being a basis for Christian ecumenism, the concept of unity amongst Christians. Baptism is also called christening, although some reserve the word "christening" for the baptism of infants. In certain Christian denominations, such as the Lutheran Churches, baptism is the door to church membership, with candidates taking baptismal vows. It has also given its name to the Baptist churches and denominations.
  4. Catholic Church
    
    The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2019. As the world's oldest and largest continuously functioning international institution, it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization. The church consists of 24 sui iuris churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies located around the world. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The bishopric of Rome, known as the Holy See, is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, a small enclave of the Italian city of Rome, of which the pope is head of state.
  5. Reims
    
    Reims is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies 129 km (80 mi) northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
  6. Saint Remigius
    
    Remigius, was the Bishop of Reims and "Apostle of the Franks". On 25 December 496, he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks. The baptism, leading to about 3000 additional converts, was an important event in the Christianization of the Franks. Because of Clovis's efforts, a large number of churches were established in the formerly pagan lands of the Frankish empire, establishing a distinct Catholic variety of Christianity for the first time in Germanic lands, most of whom had been converted to Arian Christianity.
350
1. Vetranio meets Constantius II at Naissus (Serbia) and is forced to abdicate his imperial title. Constantius allows him to live as a private citizen on a state pension.
  1. Vetranio
    
    Vetranio was a Roman soldier, statesman and co-Emperor, a native of the province of Moesia.
  2. Constantius II
    
    Constantius II was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civil wars, court intrigues, and usurpations. His religious policies inflamed domestic conflicts that would continue after his death.
  3. Niš
    
    Niš is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 183,164, while its administrative area has a population of 260,237 inhabitants.
  4. Serbia
    
    Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgaria to the southeast, North Macedonia to the south, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west, and Montenegro to the southwest, and claims a border with Albania through the disputed territory of Kosovo. Serbia with Kosovo has about 8.6 million inhabitants. Its capital Belgrade is also the largest city.
336
1. First documentary sign of Christmas celebration in Rome.
  1. 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.
333
1. Roman Emperor Constantine the Great elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar.
  1. Constantine the Great
    
    Constantine I, also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, and the first to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea, he was the son of Flavius Constantius, a Roman army officer of Illyrian origin who had been one of the four rulers of the Tetrarchy. His mother, Helena, was a Greek Christian of low birth. She was a saint and is attributed with the conversion of her son. Constantine served with distinction under the Roman emperors Diocletian and Galerius. He began his career by campaigning in the eastern provinces before being recalled in the west to fight alongside his father in Britain. After his father's death in 306, Constantine became emperor. He was acclaimed by his army at Eboracum, and eventually emerged victorious in the civil wars against emperors Maxentius and Licinius to become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire by 324.
  2. Constans
    
    Flavius Julius Constans, sometimes called Constans I, was Roman emperor from 337 to 350. He held the imperial rank of caesar from 333, and was the youngest son of Constantine the Great.
  3. Caesar (title)
    
    Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, a Roman dictator. The change from being a familial name to a title adopted by the Roman emperors can be traced to AD 68, following the fall of the Julio–Claudian dynasty.
274
1. A temple to Sol Invictus is dedicated in Rome by Emperor Aurelian.
  1. Temple of the Sun (Rome)
    
    The Temple of the Sun was a temple in the Campus Agrippae in Rome. It was dedicated to Sol Invictus on 25 December 274 by the emperor Aurelian to fulfil a vow he made following his successful campaign against Palmyra in 272 and funded by spoils from that campaign. A college of pontifices (Dei) Solis and annual games with circus races was established for the cult, as well as four-year games to be held at the end of the Saturnalia.
  2. Sol Invictus
    
    Sol Invictus, sometimes simply known as Helios, was long considered to be the official sun god of the later Roman Empire. In recent years, however, the scholarly community has become divided on Sol between traditionalists and a growing group of revisionists.
  3. Ancient Rome
    
    In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire.
  4. Aurelian
    
    Aurelian was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disintegrated under the pressure of barbarian invasions and internal revolts.
36
1. After the death of Emperor Gongsun Shu of Chengjia, the empire was conquered by the Eastern Han dynasty.
  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.
  4. Han dynasty
    
    The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China, established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty and a warring interregnum known as the Chu–Han contention, and it was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period. The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty established by usurping regent Wang Mang, and is thus separated into two periods—the Western Han and the Eastern Han (25–220 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history, and it has influenced the identity of the Chinese civilization ever since. Modern China's majority ethnic group refers to themselves as the "Han people", the Sinitic language is known as "Han language", and the written Chinese is referred to as "Han characters".
2. Forces of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han, under the command of Wu Han, conquer the separatist Chengjia empire, reuniting China.
  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. Emperor Guangwu of Han
    
    Emperor Guangwu of Han, born Liu Xiu (劉秀), courtesy name Wenshu (文叔), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Eastern Han dynasty. He ruled over parts of China at first, and through suppression and conquest of regional warlords, the whole of China proper was consolidated by the time of his death in AD 57. During his reign, Taoism was made the official religion of China, and the Chinese folk religion began to decline.
  3. Han dynasty
    
    The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China, established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty and a warring interregnum known as the Chu–Han contention, and it was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period. The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty established by usurping regent Wang Mang, and is thus separated into two periods—the Western Han and the Eastern Han (25–220 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history, and it has influenced the identity of the Chinese civilization ever since. Modern China's majority ethnic group refers to themselves as the "Han people", the Sinitic language is known as "Han language", and the written Chinese is referred to as "Han characters".
  4. Wu Han (Han dynasty)
    
    Wu Han, courtesy name Ziyan, was an Eastern Han dynasty general who made great contributions to Emperor Guangwu 's reestablishment of the Han Dynasty and who is commonly regarded as Emperor Guangwu's best general, but who was also known for cruelty against civilians. He was also one of the 28 Generals of Yuntai.
  5. 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.

Births & Deaths

2021
1. Wayne Thiebaud, American artist (b. 1920) deaths
  1. Wayne Thiebaud
    
    Morton Wayne Thiebaud was an American painter known for his colorful works depicting commonplace objects—pies, lipsticks, paint cans, ice cream cones, pastries, and hot dogs—as well as for his landscapes and figure paintings. Thiebaud is associated with the pop art movement because of his interest in objects of mass culture, although his early works, executed during the fifties and sixties, slightly predate the works of the classic pop artists. Thiebaud used heavy pigment and exaggerated colors to depict his subjects, and the well-defined shadows characteristic of advertisements are almost always included in his work.
2020
1. K. C. Jones, American basketball player and coach (b. 1932) deaths
  1. K. C. Jones
    
    K. C. Jones was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is best known for his association with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA), with whom he won 11 of his 12 NBA championships. As a player, he is tied for third for most NBA championships in a career, and is one of three NBA players with an 8–0 record in NBA Finals series. He is the only African-American coach other than Bill Russell to have won multiple NBA championships. Jones was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989.
2019
1. Ari Behn, Norwegian writer (b. 1972) deaths
  1. Ari Behn
    
    Ari Mikael Behn was a Norwegian author, playwright, and visual artist.
2018
1. Sulagitti Narasamma, Indian midwife (b. 1920) deaths
  1. Sulagitti Narasamma
    
    Sulagitti Narasamma was an Indian midwife from Pavagada town, in Tumkur district of Karnataka state. She performed more than 20,000 traditional deliveries free of charge over a 70-year period of service in deprived regions of Karnataka with no medical facilities. Her work was honored with the National Citizen's award of India in 2012 and the country's fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, in 2018.
2017
1. D. Herbert Lipson, American magazine publisher (Philadelphia, Boston) deaths
  1. D. Herbert Lipson
    
    David Herbert Lipson was an American magazine publisher and longtime owner of Philadelphia and Boston magazines. Born in Philadelphia to newspaper owner S. Arthur Lipson, he graduated from Lafayette College in 1952, and joined his father at what would become Philadelphia. He became publisher in 1963 and owner in 1968. He purchased Boston in 1970, and launched Manhattan, inc. in 1984. He married three times and had three children. He died in Philadelphia at the age of 88.
2016
1. Valery Khalilov, Russian military musician and composer (b. 1952) deaths
  1. Valery Khalilov
    
    Valery Mikhaylovich Khalilov was an Uzbek-born Russian military band conductor and composer. A lieutenant general in the Russian military, he was the Senior Director of Music of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Russia, most famously conducting the massed Russian military bands at the annual "Victory Day" parade held in the Moscow's Red Square a record 14 times. He died when the plane he was on, en route to Syria, crashed into the Black Sea off Sochi, Russia.
2. George Michael, British singer and songwriter (b. 1963) deaths
  1. George Michael
    
    George Michael was an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, with sales of over 120 million records worldwide. Michael was known as a leading creative force in music production, songwriting, vocal performance, and visual presentation. He achieved seven number-one songs on the UK Singles Chart and eight number-one songs on the US Billboard Hot 100. Michael won various music awards, including two Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, three American Music Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards. In 2015, he was ranked 45th in Billboard's list of the "Greatest Hot 100 Artists of All Time". The Radio Academy named him the most played artist on British radio during the period 1984–2004.
3. Vera Rubin, American astronomer (b. 1928) deaths
  1. Vera Rubin
    
    Vera Florence Cooper Rubin was an American astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates. She uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted and observed angular motion of galaxies by studying galactic rotation curves. Identifying the galaxy rotation problem, her work provided the first evidence for the existence of dark matter. These results were confirmed over subsequent decades.
2015
1. George Clayton Johnson, American author and screenwriter (b. 1929) deaths
  1. George Clayton Johnson
    
    George Clayton Johnson was an American science fiction writer, best known for co-writing with William F. Nolan the novel Logan's Run, the basis for the MGM 1976 film. He was also known for his television scripts for The Twilight Zone, and the first telecast episode of Star Trek, entitled "The Man Trap". He also wrote the story and screenplay on which the 1960 and 2001 films Ocean's Eleven were based.
2. Dorothy M. Murdock, American author and historian (b. 1961) deaths
  1. Acharya S
    
    Dorothy Milne Murdock, better known by her pen names Acharya S and D. M. Murdock, was an American writer supporting the Christ myth theory that Jesus never existed as a historical person, but was rather a mingling of various pre-Christian myths, Sun deities and dying-and-rising deities.
2014
1. Ricardo Porro, Cuban-French architect (b. 1925) deaths
  1. Ricardo Porro
    
    Ricardo Porro Hidalgo was a Cuban-born architect. He graduated in architecture from the Universidad de la Habana in 1949 and built this year his first project Villa Armenteros in Havana, following which he spent two years in post-graduate studies at the Institute of Urbanism at the Sorbonne.
2. Geoff Pullar, English cricketer (b. 1935) deaths
  1. Geoff Pullar
    
    Geoffrey Pullar was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire and Gloucestershire and in 28 Tests for England.
3. David Ryall, English actor (b. 1935) deaths
  1. David Ryall
    
    David John Ryall was an English stage, film and television character actor. He had leading roles in Lytton's Diary and Goodnight Sweetheart, as well as memorable roles in Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective and Andrew Davies's adaptation of To Play the King. He also portrayed Billy Buzzle in the ITV sitcom Bless Me, Father and Frank in the BBC sitcom Outnumbered.
2013
1. Anthony J. Bryant, American historian and author (b. 1961) deaths
  1. Anthony J. Bryant
    
    Anthony J. Bryant was an American author and editor.
2. David R. Harris, English geographer, anthropologist, archaeologist and academic (b. 1930) deaths
  1. David R. Harris (geographer)
    
    David Russell Harris, FSA, FBA was a British geographer, anthropologist, archaeologist and academic, well known for his detailed work on the origins of agriculture and the domestication of plants and animals. He was a director of the Institute of Archaeology at University College London, and retained a position as Professor Emeritus of the Human Environment at the Institute.
3. Wayne Harrison, English footballer (b. 1967) deaths
  1. Wayne Harrison (footballer, born 1967)
    
    Wayne Harrison was an English professional footballer who played as a striker.
4. Mike Hegan, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1942) deaths
  1. Mike Hegan
    
    James Michael Hegan was an American professional baseball player, who later worked as a sports commentator. In Major League Baseball (MLB) he was a first baseman and outfielder, and played for three different American League (AL) franchises between 1964 and 1977. He was the son of longtime Cleveland Indians catcher Jim Hegan.
5. Lola Lange, Canadian rural feminist and appointee to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women (b. 1922) deaths
  1. Lola Lange
    
    Lola M. Lange was a Canadian rural feminist and a member of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.
  2. Royal Commission on the Status of Women
    
    The Royal Commission on the Status of Women was a Canadian Royal Commission that examined the status of women and recommended steps that might be taken by the federal government to ensure equal opportunities with men and women in all aspects of Canadian society. The Commission commenced on 16 February 1967 as an initiative of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. Public sessions were conducted the following year to accept public comment for the Commission to consider as it formulated its recommendations. Florence Bird was the Commission's chair.
6. Mel Mathay, Filipino politician, 8th Mayor of Quezon City (b. 1932) deaths
  1. Mel Mathay
    
    Ismael Austria Mathay Jr., also known as Mel Mathay, was the Mayor of Quezon City from 1992 to 2001.
  2. Mayor of Quezon City
    
    The mayor of Quezon City is the head of the executive branch of Quezon City's government. The mayor holds office at the Quezon City Hall.
2012
1. Erico Aumentado, Filipino journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1940) deaths
  1. Erico Aumentado
    
    Erico Boyles Aumentado was a former governor, vice governor, and senior provincial board member of Bohol, and congressman and deputy speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives. He is the first governor of Bohol who served for three consecutive terms (2001-2010).
2. Halfdan Hegtun, Norwegian radio host and politician (b. 1918) deaths
  1. Halfdan Hegtun
    
    Halfdan Hegtun was a Norwegian radio personality, comedian and writer, former politician for the Liberal Party and later the Liberal People's Party.
3. Joe Krivak, American football player and coach (b. 1935) deaths
  1. Joe Krivak
    
    Joseph John Krivak was an American football player and coach. He served as head coach for the Maryland Terrapins football team from 1987 to 1991, where he compiled a 20–34–2 record. He also served as an assistant coach at Maryland, Syracuse, Navy, and Virginia. As a coach at Maryland, Krivak mentored future National Football League (NFL) quarterbacks Boomer Esiason, Neil O'Donnell, Frank Reich, Stan Gelbaugh, and Scott Zolak. In all, he coached on seven Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship team staffs and in 14 bowl games as an assistant or head coach.
4. Turki bin Sultan, Saudi Arabian politician (b. 1959) deaths
  1. Turki bin Sultan Al Saud
    
    Turki bin Sultan Al Saud was deputy minister of culture and information of Saudi Arabia and a member of House of Saud.
5. Şerafettin Elçi, Turkish lawyer, politician, government minister (b. 1938) deaths
  1. Şerafettin Elçi
    
    Şerafettin Elçi was a Kurdish lawyer, politician, government minister and statesman in Turkey. He was one of the pioneers of Kurdish politics in Turkey.
2011
1. Giorgio Bocca, Italian journalist (b. 1920) deaths
  1. Giorgio Bocca
    
    Giorgio Valentino Bocca was an Italian essayist and journalist, also known for his participation in the World War II partisan movement.
2. Jim Sherwood, American saxophonist (b. 1942) deaths
  1. Jim Sherwood
    
    Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood was an American rock musician notable for playing soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, tambourine, vocals and vocal sound effects in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. He appeared on all the albums of the original Mothers line-up and the 'posthumous' releases Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Ripped My Flesh, as well as certain subsequent Zappa albums. He also appeared in the films 200 Motels, Video from Hell and Uncle Meat.
3. Simms Taback, American author and illustrator (b. 1932) deaths
  1. Simms Taback
    
    Simms Taback was an American writer, graphic artist, and illustrator of more than 35 books. He won the 2000 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, and was a runner-up in 1998 for There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.
2010
1. Carlos Andrés Pérez, Venezuelan politician, 66th President of Venezuela (b. 1922) deaths
  1. Carlos Andrés Pérez
    
    Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez also known as CAP and often referred to as El Gocho, was a Venezuelan politician and the president of Venezuela from 12 March 1974 to 12 March 1979 and again from 2 February 1989 to 21 May 1993. He was one of the founders of Acción Democrática, the dominant political party in Venezuela during the second half of the twentieth century. His first presidency was known as the Saudi Venezuela due to its economic and social prosperity thanks to enormous income from petroleum exportation. However, his second presidency saw a continuation of the economic crisis of the 1980s, a series of social crises, widespread riots known as Caracazo and two coup attempts in 1992. In May 1993 he became the first Venezuelan president to be forced out of office by the Supreme Court on charges for the embezzlement of 250 million bolívars belonging to a presidential discretionary fund, whose money was used to support the electoral process in Nicaragua and hire bodyguards for President Violeta Chamorro.
  2. List of presidents of Venezuela
    
    Under the Venezuelan Constitution, the president of Venezuela is the head of state and head of government of Venezuela. As chief of the executive branch and face of the government as a whole, the presidency is the highest political office in the country by influence and recognition. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela. The president is directly elected through a popular vote to a six-year term. Since the 2009 constitutional referendum, any person can be elected to the office an indefinite number of times. Upon the death, resignation, or removal from office of an incumbent president, the vice president assumes the office. The president must be at least 30 years of age, and has to be a "natural born" citizen of Venezuela, and cannot possess any other citizenship.
2009
1. Vic Chesnutt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1964) deaths
  1. Vic Chesnutt
    
    James Victor Chesnutt was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little, was released in 1990. His commercial breakthrough came in 1996 with the release of Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, a charity record of alternative artists covering his songs.
2008
1. Eartha Kitt, American singer and actress (b. 1927) deaths
  1. Eartha Kitt
    
    Eartha Kitt was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby".
2007
1. Des Barrick, English cricketer (b. 1927) deaths
  1. Des Barrick
    
    Desmond William Barrick was an English cricketer who played in 301 first-class matches between 1949 and 1960.
2. Jim Beauchamp, American baseball player and coach (b. 1939) deaths
  1. Jim Beauchamp
    
    James Edward Beauchamp was a Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder who played from 1963 to 1973 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Colt .45s/Astros, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Mets. He attended Grove High School in Grove, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University before being signed by the Cardinals in 1957. He was the father of former minor league baseball player Kash Beauchamp. He was 6'2' and weighed 205 pounds.
2006
1. James Brown, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933) deaths
  1. James Brown
    
    James Joseph Brown was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "the Hardest Working Man in Show Business", "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986.
2005
1. Derek Bailey, English guitarist (b. 1930) deaths
  1. Derek Bailey (guitarist)
    
    Derek Bailey was an English avant-garde guitarist and an important figure in the free improvisation movement. Bailey abandoned conventional performance techniques found in jazz, exploring atonality, noise, and whatever unusual sounds he could produce with the guitar. Much of his work was released on his own label Incus Records. In addition to solo work, Bailey collaborated frequently with other musicians and recorded with collectives such as Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Company.
2. Robert Barbers, Filipino police officer, lawyer, and politician, 15th Filipino Secretary of the Interior (b. 1944) deaths
  1. Robert Barbers
    
    Robert "Bobby" Zabala Barbers was a police officer, Secretary of the Interior and Local Government and Senator of the Philippines.
  2. Secretary of the Interior and Local Government
    
    The secretary of the interior and local government is the member of the Cabinet in charge of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
3. Birgit Nilsson, Swedish operatic soprano (b. 1918) deaths
  1. Birgit Nilsson
    
    Märta Birgit Nilsson was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano. Although she sang a wide répertoire of operatic and vocal works, Nilsson was best known for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Her voice was noted for its overwhelming force, bountiful reserves of power, and the gleaming brilliance and clarity in the upper register.
4. Joseph Pararajasingham, Sri Lankan journalist, businessman, and politician (b. 1934) deaths
  1. Joseph Pararajasingham
    
    Joseph Pararajasingham was a Sri Lankan Tamil civil servant, journalist, businessman and politician. He was Member of Parliament for Batticaloa District from 1990 to 2004 and a National List Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2005. A member of the Tamil National Alliance, he was shot dead on Christmas Day 2005 as he attended midnight mass at St. Mary's Cathedral, Batticaloa.
2004
1. Gennadi Strekalov, Russian engineer and astronaut (b. 1940) deaths
  1. Gennady Strekalov
    
    Gennady Mikhailovich Strekalov was an engineer, cosmonaut, and administrator at Russian aerospace firm RSC Energia. He flew into space five times and lived aboard the Salyut 6, Salyut 7, and Mir space stations, spending over 268 days in space. The catastrophic explosion of a Soyuz rocket in 1983 led to him being one of only four people to use a launch escape system. He was decorated twice as Hero of the Soviet Union and received the Ashoka Chakra from India.
2003
1. Nicholas Mavroules, American politician (b. 1929) deaths
  1. Nicholas Mavroules
    
    Nicholas James Mavroules was an American Democratic Party politician from Massachusetts. He served as Mayor of Peabody, Massachusetts for a decade, then represented Peabody and much of the surrounding North Shore region in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 until 1993. In 1993, he pleaded guilty to 15 counts of racketeering and extortion and later served 15 months in prison.
2001
1. Alfred A. Tomatis, French otolaryngologist and academic (b. 1920) deaths
  1. Alfred A. Tomatis
    
    Alfred A. Tomatis was a French otolaryngologist and inventor. He received his Doctorate in Medicine from the Paris School of Medicine. His alternative medicine theories of hearing and listening are known as the Tomatis method or Audio-Psycho-Phonology (APP).
2000
1. Neil Hawke, Australian cricketer and footballer (b. 1939) deaths
  1. Neil Hawke
    
    Neil James Napier Hawke was an Australian Test cricketer and leading Australian rules footballer.
2. Willard Van Orman Quine, American philosopher and academic (b. 1908) deaths
  1. Willard Van Orman Quine
    
    Willard Van Orman Quine was an American philosopher and logician in the analytic tradition, recognized as "one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century". From 1930 until his death 70 years later, Quine was continually affiliated with Harvard University in one way or another, first as a student, then as a professor. He filled the Edgar Pierce Chair of Philosophy at Harvard from 1956 to 1978.
1998
1. John Pulman, English snooker player (b. 1923) deaths
  1. John Pulman
    
    Herbert John Pulman was an English professional snooker player who was the World Snooker Champion from 1957 to 1968. He won the title at the 1957 Championship, and retained it across seven challenges from 1964 to 1968, three of them against Fred Davis and two against Rex Williams. When the tournament reverted to a knockout event in 1969 he lost 18–25 in the first round to the eventual champion John Spencer, and he was runner-up to Ray Reardon in 1970. He never reached the final again, although he was a losing semi-finalist in 1977.
1997
1. Anatoli Boukreev, Kazakh mountaineer and explorer (b. 1958) deaths
  1. Anatoli Boukreev
    
    Anatoli Nikolaevich Boukreev was a Soviet and Kazakhstani mountaineer who made ascents of 10 of the 14 eight-thousander peaks—those above 8,000 m (26,247 ft)—without supplemental oxygen. From 1989 through 1997, he made 18 successful ascents of peaks above 8000 m.
2. Denver Pyle, American actor (b. 1920) deaths
  1. Denver Pyle
    
    Denver Dell Pyle was an American film and television actor and director. He was well known for a number of TV roles from the 1960s through the 1980s, including his portrayal of Briscoe Darling Jr. in several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, as Jesse Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard from 1979 to 1985, as Mad Jack in the NBC television series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, and as the titular character's father, Buck Webb, in CBS's The Doris Day Show. In many of his roles, he portrayed either authority figures, or gruff, demanding father figures, often as comic relief. Perhaps his most memorable film role was that of Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in the movie Bonnie and Clyde (1967), as the lawman who relentlessly chased down and finally killed the notorious duo in an ambush.
1996
1. Bill Hewitt, Canadian sportscaster (b. 1928) deaths
  1. Bill Hewitt (sportscaster)
    
    Foster William Alfred Hewitt was a Canadian radio and television sportscaster. He was the son of hockey broadcaster Foster Hewitt and the grandson of Toronto Star journalist W. A. Hewitt.
1995
1. Emmanuel Levinas, Lithuanian-French philosopher and academic (b. 1906) deaths
  1. Emmanuel Levinas
    
    Emmanuel Levinas was a French philosopher of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry who is known for his work within Jewish philosophy, existentialism, and phenomenology, focusing on the relationship of ethics to metaphysics and ontology.
2. Dean Martin, American singer and actor (b. 1917) deaths
  1. Dean Martin
    
    Dean Martin was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". Martin gained his career breakthrough together with comedian Jerry Lewis, billed as Martin and Lewis, in 1946. They performed in nightclubs and later had numerous appearances on radio, television and in films.
3. Chang Kee-ryo, Korean surgeon (b. 1914) deaths
  1. Chang Kee-ryo
    
    Chang Kee-ryo was a surgeon, educator, and philanthropist of South Korea. He established Gospel hospital, in Busan, Korea, in 1951, during the Korean War. In 1979, he won the Ramon Magsaysay Award "for his practical, personal Christian charity and in founding the Blue Cross Health Cooperative in Pusan".
1994
1. Zail Singh, Indian politician, 7th President of India (b. 1916) deaths
  1. Zail Singh
    
    Giani Zail Singh was an Indian politician from Punjab who served as the seventh president of India from 1982 to 1987. He was the first Sikh and the first person from a backward caste to become president.
  2. President of India
    
    The president of India is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu is the 15th and current president, having taken office from 25 July 2022.
1993
1. Emi Takei, Japanese actress, fashion model and singer births
  1. Emi Takei
    
    Emi Takei is a Japanese actress and model.
2. Pierre Victor Auger, French physicist and academic (b. 1899) deaths
  1. Pierre Victor Auger
    
    Pierre Victor Auger was a French physicist, born in Paris. He worked in the fields of atomic physics, nuclear physics, and cosmic ray physics. He is famous for being one of the discoverers of the Auger effect, named after him.
1992
1. Mitakeumi Hisashi, Japanese sumo wrestler births
  1. Mitakeumi Hisashi
    
    Mitakeumi Hisashi is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Agematsu, Nagano. He is in the Dewanoumi stable. He is a pusher thruster-type wrestler. A former amateur champion at Toyo University, he made his professional debut in March 2015, reaching the top makuuchi division in November of the same year. He has ten special prizes for Fighting Spirit, Technique and Outstanding Performance, as well two gold stars for defeating a yokozuna while ranked as a maegashira. His highest rank has been ōzeki. He won his first top division championship (yūshō) in July 2018, his second in September 2019, and his third in January 2022. All three yūshō were won at the rank of sekiwake.
2. Monica Dickens, British-American nurse and author (b. 1915) deaths
  1. Monica Dickens
    
    Monica Enid Dickens, MBE was an English writer, the great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens.
1991
1. Wilbur Snyder, American football player and wrestler (b. 1929) deaths
  1. Wilbur Snyder
    
    Wilbur Snyder was an American football player and professional wrestler.
1989
1. Benny Binion, American poker player and businessman (b. 1904) deaths
  1. Benny Binion
    
    Lester Ben Binion, better known as Benny Binion, was an American gambling icon, career criminal, and convicted murderer who established illegal gambling operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area. He would later relocate to Nevada, where gambling was legal, and open the successful Binion's Horseshoe casino in downtown Las Vegas.
2. Elena Ceaușescu, Romanian politician, First Lady of Romania (b. 1916) deaths
  1. Elena Ceaușescu
    
    Elena Ceaușescu was a Romanian communist politician who was the wife of Nicolae Ceaușescu, General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party and leader of the Socialist Republic of Romania. She was also the Deputy Prime Minister of Romania.
  2. First Lady of Romania
    
    First Lady of Romania is an unofficial honorific applied to the wife of the president of Romania, concurrent with his term of office.
3. Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian general and politician, 1st President of Romania (b. 1918) deaths
  1. Nicolae Ceaușescu
    
    Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was also the country's head of state from 1967, serving as President of the State Council and from 1974 concurrently as President of the Republic, until his overthrow and execution in the Romanian Revolution in December 1989, part of a series of anti-Communist uprisings in Eastern Europe that year.
  2. President of Romania
    
    The president of Romania is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves for five years. An individual may serve two terms. During their term in office, the president may not be a formal member of a political party.
4. Betty Garde, American actress (b. 1905) deaths
  1. Betty Garde
    
    Katharine Elizabeth Garde was an American stage, radio, film and television actress.
5. Frederick F. Houser, American judge and politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of California (b. 1905) deaths
  1. Frederick F. Houser
    
    Frederick Francis Houser was an American politician and judge. A member of the Republican Party, he served as 34th Lieutenant Governor of California under Governor Earl Warren from 1943 to 1947.
  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.
6. Billy Martin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928) deaths
  1. Billy Martin
    
    Alfred Manuel Martin Jr., commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yankees. First known as a scrappy infielder who made considerable contributions to the championship Yankee teams of the 1950s, he then built a reputation as a manager who would initially make bad teams good, before ultimately being fired amid dysfunction. In each of his stints with the Yankees he managed them to winning records before being fired by team owner George Steinbrenner or resigning under fire, usually amid a well-publicized scandal such as Martin's involvement in an alcohol-fueled fight.
7. Robert Pirosh, American director and screenwriter (b. 1910) deaths
  1. Robert Pirosh
    
    Robert Pirosh was an American motion picture and television screenwriter and director.
1988
1. Joãozinho, Brazilian footballer births
  1. Joãozinho (footballer, born 1988)
    
    João Natailton Ramos dos Santos or simply Joãozinho is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right or left winger for Sochi.
2. Eric Gordon, American basketball player births
  1. Eric Gordon
    
    Eric Ambrose Gordon Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In high school, he was named "Mr. Basketball" of Indiana during his senior year while playing at North Central High School. He is known, in part, as the subject of a recruiting competition between the University of Illinois and Indiana University in the spring and summer of 2006; because of Gordon's talent and high level of play that year, his recruitment was the subject of media coverage.
3. Lukas Hinds-Johnson, German rugby player births
  1. Lukas Hinds-Johnson
    
    Lukas Hinds-Johnson is a German international rugby union player, playing for the RK 03 Berlin in the Rugby-Bundesliga and the German national rugby union team.
4. Shōhei Ōoka, Japanese author and critic (b. 1909) deaths
  1. Shōhei Ōoka
    
    Shōhei Ōoka was a Japanese novelist, literary critic, and lecturer and translator of French literature who was active during the Shōwa period of Japan. Ōoka belongs to the group of postwar writers whose World War II experiences at home and abroad figure prominently in their works. Over his lifetime, he contributed short stories and critical essays to almost every literary magazine in Japan.
5. Edward Pelham-Clinton, 10th Duke of Newcastle, English entomologist and lepidopterist (b. 1920) deaths
  1. Edward Pelham-Clinton, 10th Duke of Newcastle
    
    Edward Charles Pelham-Clinton, 10th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, known as Edward Pelham-Clinton until November 1988, was an English nobleman, a duke for less than two months at the end of his life, inheriting the titles from a third cousin. He had previously served in the Royal Artillery in the Second World War, during which he was once mentioned in dispatches. He later had a career as a lepidopterist.
1987
1. Ceyhun Gülselam, Turkish footballer births
  1. Ceyhun Gülselam
    
    Ceyhun Gülselam is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a center back and defensive midfielder. He plays for Altay.
2. Demaryius Thomas, American football player (d. 2021) births
  1. Demaryius Thomas
    
    Demaryius Antwon Thomas was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. He played college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and was drafted by the Broncos in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. With Denver, Thomas made four Pro Bowls and won Super Bowl 50 against the Carolina Panthers. He also played for the Houston Texans, New England Patriots, and New York Jets.
1985
1. Martin Mathathi, Kenyan runner births
  1. Martin Mathathi
    
    Martin Irungu Mathathi is a Kenyan long-distance runner, who competes in track, cross country and road running events. Mathathi won the bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. He represented his country in the same event at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He holds the 10 miles world junior record of 44:51.
2. Rusev, Bulgarian-American professional wrestler births
  1. Miro (wrestler)
    
    Miroslav Barnyashev is a Bulgarian-American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Miro and is a one-time AEW TNT Champion. He is also known for his decade-long career in WWE under the ring name Rusev, where he became the first and so far only Bulgarian wrestler to have worked for WWE.
1984
1. Chris Cahill, Samoan footballer births
  1. Chris Cahill
    
    Christopher Cahill is a retired footballer. Born in Australia, he represented Samoa at International level.
2. Alastair Cook, English cricketer births
  1. Alastair Cook
    
    Sir Alastair Nathan Cook is an English cricketer who plays for Essex County Cricket Club, and played for England in all international formats from 2006 to 2018. A former captain of the England Test and One-Day International (ODI) teams, he is the fifth-highest Test run scorer of all time and holds a number of English and international records.
3. Jessica Origliasso, Australian singer, actress, and fashion designer births
  1. Jessica Origliasso
    
    Jessica Origliasso is an Australian singer-songwriter and producer. She and her twin sister formed the pop band The Veronicas.
4. Lisa Origliasso, Australian singer, actress, and fashion designer births
  1. Lisa Origliasso
    
    Lisa Marie Huffman is an Australian singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Albany Creek, Queensland, Lisa and her identical twin sister, Jessica Origliasso, performed in show business at a young age. Origliasso rose to fame in the 2000s when she and her sister formed the pop duo The Veronicas.
5. Chris Richard, American basketball player births
  1. Chris Richard (basketball)
    
    Chris Richard is an American former professional basketball player. Richard, a power forward, played college basketball for the University of Florida. He has a wingspan of 7'4½". His role was that of the sixth man that came off the bench for the Florida Gators national championship men's team during the 2006–07 season. He is a former Mr. Basketball in the state of Florida (2002) and scored 8 points to go along with 8 rebounds in his final game of his college career. He was taken 1st overall in 2008 D-League draft by the Tulsa 66ers.
1983
1. Joan Miró, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1893) deaths
  1. Joan Miró
    
    Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona in 1975, and another, the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró, was established in his adoptive city of Palma in 1981.
1982
1. Shawn Andrews, American football player births
  1. Shawn Andrews
    
    Shawn Cornelius Andrews is a former American football offensive lineman who played for the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Arkansas, and was a two-time consensus All-American. The Philadelphia Eagles chose him in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft, and he earned two Pro Bowl selections during his career. He was inducted to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
2. Rob Edwards, Welsh footballer births
  1. Rob Edwards (footballer, born 1982)
    
    Robert Owen Edwards is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back and is currently the manager of Championship club Luton Town.
3. Ethan Kath, Canadian keyboard player, songwriter and producer births
  1. Ethan Kath
    
    Claudio Paolo Palmieri known professionally as Ethan Kath, is a co-founder and songwriter/producer for Crystal Castles and previously the bassist of Kïll Cheerleadër and Die Mannequin.
4. Chris Rene, American singer-songwriter and producer births
  1. Chris Rene
    
    Christopher Rene is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He was in a band called Diversion and also had a solo career, releasing the album Soul'd Out. Chris auditioned for the first season of The X Factor USA with one of his original compositions "Young Homie" and was one of the finalists during season one, with L.A. Reid as his mentor. He finished third overall in the competition, behind winner Melanie Amaro and runner-up Josh Krajcik. He is most popular in New Zealand, with his single "Young Homie" reaching number one in the New Zealand charts. He is also notorious for alienating half of his fanbase back In 2019 with a post allegedly from his manager saying he doesn’t care to listen to his fans “problems”
1981
1. Trenesha Biggers, American wrestler and model births
  1. Rhaka Khan
    
    Trenesha Biggers is an American former model and professional wrestler. She is best known for her appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Rhaka Khan; she also appeared with WWE as Trenesha, competing in the 2005 WWE Diva Search.
2. Christian Holst, Danish-Faroese footballer births
  1. Christian Holst
    
    Christian Lamhauge Holst is a retired Danish/Faroese football player and is currently working as specific coach at BK Frem.
3. Willy Taveras, Dominican baseball player births
  1. Willy Taveras
    
    Willy Taveras is a Dominican former professional baseball player. A center fielder, Taveras has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, and Washington Nationals.
1980
1. Marcus Trufant, American football player births
  1. Marcus Trufant
    
    Marcus Lavon Trufant is a former American football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for Washington State University, and was chosen by the Seattle Seahawks 11th overall in the 2003 NFL Draft.
2. Laura Sadler, English actress (d. 2003) births
  1. Laura Sadler
    
    Laura Ruth Sadler was an English actress. She played pupil Judi Jeffreys in the children's school drama series Grange Hill, and nurse Sandy Harper in the BBC One hospital drama series Holby City for three years from 2000 until her death in 2003.
3. Fred Emney, English actor and comedian (b. 1900) deaths
  1. Fred Emney
    
    Frederick Arthur Round Emney was an English character actor and comedian.
1979
1. Ferman Akgül, Turkish singer-songwriter births
  1. Ferman Akgül
    
    İbrahim Ferman Akgül is a Turkish singer, songwriter, TV host and actor. He is the lead singer of Turkish rock band maNga. In 2015 he opened the independent record label 06 Records and released his first solo single "İstemem Söz Sevmeni" in early 2016.
2. Laurent Bonnart, French footballer births
  1. Laurent Bonnart
    
    Laurent Bonnart is a French retired footballer who played as a full-back.
3. Robert Huff, English race car driver births
  1. Robert Huff
    
    Robert Peter "Rob" Huff is a British professional racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) driving for Zengő Motorsport. He was the 2012 World Touring Car Championship champion and the 2020 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship champion.
4. Hyun Young-min, South Korean footballer births
  1. Hyun Young-min
    
    Hyun Young-min is a retired South Korean football player.
5. Joan Blondell, American actress and singer (b. 1906) deaths
  1. Joan Blondell
    
    Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years.
6. Jordi Bonet, Canadian painter and sculptor (b. 1932) deaths
  1. Jordi Bonet
    
    Jordi Bonet i Godó, known professionally as Jordi Bonet, was a Spanish-born Canadian painter, ceramist, muralist, and sculptor who worked principally in Quebec.
1978
1. Simon Jones, Welsh cricketer births
  1. Simon Jones (cricketer)
    
    Simon Philip Jones is a Welsh former cricketer, and data analytics head. He played international cricket for England, and county cricket for Glamorgan, Worcestershire and Hampshire, before retiring in 2013. His father, Jeff Jones, played cricket for Glamorgan and England in the 1960s.
2. Joel Porter, Australian footballer and manager births
  1. Joel Porter
    
    Joel William Porter is an Australian football (soccer) player.
3. Jeremy Strong, American actor births
  1. Jeremy Strong (actor)
    
    Jeremy Strong is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Kendall Roy in the HBO television series Succession (2018–present), for which he has won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2020 and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama in 2022. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.
1977
1. Israel Vázquez, Mexican boxer births
  1. Israel Vázquez
    
    Israel Vázquez Castañeda is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2010. He is a three-time super bantamweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 2004 to 2005; and the WBC, The Ring titles twice from 2005 to 2008. Vázquez is best known for his series of four fights against fellow Mexican Rafael Márquez.
2. Ali Tandoğan, Turkish footballer births
  1. Ali Tandoğan
    
    Ali Tandoğan is a Turkish former football player and coach who was most recently the manager of Altay S.K.
3. Charlie Chaplin, English actor and director (b. 1889) deaths
  1. Charlie Chaplin
    
    Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered one of the film industry's most important figures. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both adulation and controversy.
1976
1. Tuomas Holopainen, Finnish keyboard player, songwriter, and producer births
  1. Tuomas Holopainen
    
    Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish songwriter, record producer and musician, best known as one of the founders and the leader, keyboardist and songwriter of symphonic metal band Nightwish. He has stated that his songwriting is influenced by harmonic film music.
2. Tim James, American basketball player and coach births
  1. Tim James (basketball)
    
    Tim O'Connor James is a retired American professional basketball player and United States Army specialist and former head coach of the Vance-Granville Community College men's basketball team. In a three-year National Basketball Association career, he played for the Miami Heat, the Charlotte Hornets and the Philadelphia 76ers. He also played professional basketball in Japan, Turkey and Israel.
3. Atko Väikmeri, Estonian footballer births
  1. Atko Väikmeri
    
    Atko Väikmeri is a football (soccer) defender from Estonia. He played for several clubs in his native country, including JK Tervis Pärnu and FC Toompea.
4. Armin van Buuren, Dutch DJ and record producer births
  1. Armin van Buuren
    
    Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Leiden, South Holland. Since 2001, he has hosted A State of Trance (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40 million listeners in 84 countries on over 100 FM radio stations. According to the website DJs and Festivals, "the radio show propelled him to stardom and helped cultivate an interest in trance music around the world".
1975
1. Daniel Mustard, American singer-songwriter births
  1. Daniel Mustard
    
    Daniel "Homeless" Mustard is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His nickname is derived from the fact that he is homeless. He appeared on the Opie and Anthony Show after being chosen to participate in their "Homeless Shopping Spree" charity event. However, due to restrictions placed by SirusXM management they were unable to follow through. With airtime set aside for the event that needed to be filled, and because they had already brought in several other homeless people, they decided to improvise a "Homeless Talent Show". During his interview Daniel disclosed his history as a musician and was asked to perform a song. He obliged, playing "Creep" by Radiohead, and delivered a solo performance that was extremely well received by surprised critics and an audience alike. He has since recorded an EP, Daniel Mustard EP released on November 30, 2010.
2. Hideki Okajima, Japanese baseball player births
  1. Hideki Okajima
    
    Hideki Okajima is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. Okajima pitched for the Yomiuri Giants, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, and the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball. Okajima was elected to the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game as a first time All-Star via the All-Star Final Vote. He became the first Japanese-born pitcher to play in the World Series in Game 2 of the 2007 World Series. On July 18, 2016, Okajima announced his retirement.
3. Choi Sung-yong, South Korean footballer and manager births
  1. Choi Sung-yong
    
    Choi Sung-yong is a former South Korean football wing-back and midfielder. Known for his good stamina and concentration, Choi was noted for his ability for man-to-man defense. He performed a role to concentrate on marking Hidetoshi Nakata, considered the best Asian player at the time, when South Korea played against Japan in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
4. Marcus Trescothick, English cricketer births
  1. Marcus Trescothick
    
    Marcus Edward Trescothick is an English former cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals. He was Somerset captain from 2010-16 and temporary England captain for several Tests and ODIs. Since retirement he has commentated and coached at both county and international level.
5. Gaston Gallimard, French publisher, founded Éditions Gallimard (b. 1881) deaths
  1. Gaston Gallimard
    
    Gaston Gallimard was a French publisher.
  2. Éditions Gallimard
    
    Éditions Gallimard, formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles.
6. Gunnar Kangro, Estonian mathematician and author (b. 1913) deaths
  1. Gunnar Kangro
    
    Gunnar Kangro was an Estonian mathematician. He worked mainly on summation theory. He taught various courses on mathematical analysis, functional analysis and algebra in University of Tartu and he has written several university textbooks.
1973
1. Robbie Elliott, English footballer and coach births
  1. Robbie Elliott
    
    Robert James Elliott is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is the strength coach for the United States U-20 men's football team.
2. Chris Harris, American wrestler births
  1. Chris Harris (wrestler)
    
    Christopher Eric Harris is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "Wildcat" Chris Harris. He is best known for his time with NWA Total Nonstop Action (TNA) as one-half of the tag team America's Most Wanted alongside James Storm, where the duo won the NWA World Tag Team Championship six times. He is also known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment as Braden Walker.
3. Daisuke Miura, Japanese baseball player and coach births
  1. Daisuke Miura
    
    Daisuke Miura is a Japanese former professional baseball player from Kashihara, Nara, Japan. He was a starting pitcher for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars from 1992 through 2016.
4. Alexandre Trudeau, Canadian journalist and director births
  1. Alexandre Trudeau
    
    Alexandre Emmanuel "Sacha" Trudeau is a Canadian filmmaker, journalist and author of Barbarian Lost. He is the second son of Canada's former prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, and Margaret Trudeau, and the younger brother of Canada's current prime minister, Justin Trudeau.
5. İsmet İnönü, Turkish general and politician, 2nd President of Turkey (b. 1884) deaths
  1. İsmet İnönü
    
    Mustafa İsmet İnönü was a Turkish army officer and statesman who served as the second president of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its prime minister three times: from 1923 to 1924, 1925 to 1937, and 1961 to 1965.
  2. President of Turkey
    
    The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye, is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Turkish military. The president also heads the National Security Council.
6. Gabriel Voisin, French pilot and engineer (b. 1880) deaths
  1. Gabriel Voisin
    
    Gabriel Voisin was a French aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained (1 km), circular, controlled flight, which was made by Henry Farman on 13 January 1908 near Paris, France. During World War I the company founded by Voisin became a major producer of military aircraft, notably the Voisin III. Subsequently, he switched to the design and production of luxury automobiles under the name Avions Voisin.
1972
1. Mac Powell, American singer-songwriter and producer births
  1. Mac Powell
    
    Mac Powell, originally from Clanton, Alabama, is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and musician who formed the Christian rock band Third Day with guitarist Mark Lee, with both of them being the only continuous members of the band prior to their disbandment in 2018. Powell also delves into country music, having released several independent country albums. As of 2021, he continues his career in Christian music as a solo artist.
2. Qu Yunxia, Chinese runner births
  1. Qu Yunxia
    
    Qu Yunxia is a Chinese Olympic athlete who specialized in the 1500 metres.
1971
1. Dido, English singer-songwriter births
  1. Dido (singer)
    
    Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong, known professionally as Dido, is an English singer and songwriter. She attained international success with her debut album No Angel (1999). Hit singles from the album include "Here with Me" and "Thank You". It sold over 21 million copies worldwide, and won her several awards, including two Brit Awards; for Best British Album and Best British Female, as well as the MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Act. The first verse of "Thank You" is sampled in "Stan", a collaboration with American rapper Eminem. Her next album, Life for Rent (2003), continued her success with the hit singles "White Flag" and "Life for Rent". In 2004, Dido performed with other British and Irish artists in the Band Aid 20 version of the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?".
2. Justin Trudeau, Canadian educator and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Canada births
  1. Justin Trudeau
    
    Justin Pierre James Trudeau is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2013. Trudeau is the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history after Joe Clark; he is also the first to be the child or other relative of a previous holder of the post, as the eldest son of Pierre Trudeau.
  2. Prime Minister of Canada
    
    The prime minister of Canada is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a member of Parliament (MP) and leads the largest party or a coalition of parties. As first minister, the prime minister selects ministers to form the Cabinet, and serves as its chair. Constitutionally, the Crown exercises executive power on the advice of the Cabinet, which is collectively responsible to the House of Commons.
1970
1. Emmanuel Amunike, Nigerian footballer and manager births
  1. Emmanuel Amunike
    
    Emmanuel Amunike is a Nigerian professional football manager and former professional football player who played as a winger. and is currently the assistant coach of Nigeria national team.
2. Rodney Dent, American basketball player births
  1. Rodney Dent
    
    Rodney Dent is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Edison, Georgia, Dent played college basketball at the University of Kentucky. He was drafted by the Orlando Magic in the 1994 NBA draft. He was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies in the 1995 NBA expansion draft in exchange for a second-round draft pick.
3. Michael Peto, Hungarian-English photographer and journalist (b. 1908) deaths
  1. Michael Peto
    
    Michael Peto was an internationally recognized Hungarian-British photojournalist of the twentieth century. Emigrating to London before World War II through business, in the postwar years he became one of a generation of Hungarian artists working abroad. During the war, he worked for the British Ministry of Labour. With exiled Hungarians, he also worked to found a postwar socialist government in Hungary, but they were defeated by the Soviet Union.
1969
1. Nicolas Godin, French musician births
  1. Nicolas Godin
    
    Nicolas Godin is a French musician best known for being half of the music duo Air.
2. Noel Goldthorpe, Australian rugby league player births
  1. Noel Goldthorpe
    
    Noel Goldthorpe is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the halves in the 1990s. He played most of his career for the St George Dragons. Goldthorpe also played for the Western Suburbs Magpies, Hunter Mariners, Adelaide Rams and the North Queensland Cowboys, whom he captained.
3. Frederick Onyancha, Kenyan runner births
  1. Frederick Onyancha
    
    Frederick ("Fred") Onyancha is a Kenyan 800 metres runner who won the bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta in a personal best time of 1:42.79 minutes.
1968
1. Helena Christensen, Danish model and actress births
  1. Helena Christensen
    
    Helena Christensen is a Danish model and photographer. She is a former Victoria's Secret Angel, clothing designer and beauty queen. Christensen was also the co-founder and original creative director for Nylon magazine, and she is a supporter of funding for breast cancer organizations and other philanthropic charities.
2. Jim Dowd, American ice hockey player births
  1. Jim Dowd (ice hockey)
    
    James Thomas Dowd is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for ten different teams over the course of 17 NHL seasons. Dowd, who won the 1995 Stanley Cup with his hometown New Jersey Devils, was the second New Jersey high school hockey player to make it to the NHL. He is also a frequent guest on NHL Live.
1967
1. Jason Thirsk, American bass player (d. 1996) births
  1. Jason Thirsk
    
    Jason Matthew Thirsk was the bass player of the California punk rock band Pennywise from 1988 through his death in 1996. He grew up in Hermosa Beach, California.
1966
1. Toshi Arai, Japanese race car driver births
  1. Toshi Arai
    
    Toshihiro 'Toshi' Arai is a Japanese rally driver and team owner. He is the first Japanese FIA world champion.
1965
1. Ed Davey, English politician, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change births
  1. Ed Davey
    
    Sir Edward Jonathan Davey is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015 and as Deputy Leader to Jo Swinson in 2019. An "Orange Book" liberal, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston and Surbiton since 2017, and from 1997 to 2015.
  2. Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
    
    Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change was a British government cabinet position from 2008 to 2016. The Department of Energy and Climate Change was created on 3 October 2008 when then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown reshuffled his Cabinet.
2. David Rath, Czech physician and politician births
  1. David Rath
    
    David Rath is a Czech physician, former politician who served as Minister of Health from 2005 to 2006, and convicted criminal. He was a member of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) until 16 May 2012 when he resigned after being charged with bribery. He also served as Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 2006 to 2013, first as representative from Prague and then from Central Bohemian Region where he was Governor between 2008 and 2012.
1964
1. Ian Bostridge, English tenor births
  1. Ian Bostridge
    
    Ian Charles Bostridge CBE is an English tenor, well known for his performances as an opera and lieder singer.
2. Gary McAllister, Scottish footballer and manager births
  1. Gary McAllister
    
    Gary McAllister MBE is a Scottish professional football coach and former player.
3. Kevin Simms, English rugby player births
  1. Kevin Simms
    
    Kevin Gerard Simms is a former English rugby union footballer; he gained 15 caps for England as a centre between 1985 and 1988. He played in the 1987 Rugby World Cup. He played club rugby for Liverpool St Helens and Wasps. During his career he captained the North of England against South Africa at Elland RD and the All Blacks at Anfield. He is now a GP in Liverpool.
4. Bob Stanley, English keyboard player, songwriter, producer, and journalist births
  1. Bob Stanley (musician)
    
    Bob Stanley is a British musician, journalist, author, and film producer. He is a member of the indie pop group Saint Etienne and has had a parallel career as a music journalist, writing for NME, Melody Maker, Mojo, The Guardian and The Times, as well as writing three books on music and football. He also has a career as a DJ and as a producer of record labels, and has collaborated on a series of films about London. His second publication, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Modern Pop, was published by Faber & Faber in 2013. His third publication Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop Music: A History was published by Pegasus in 2022.
1963
1. Tristan Tzara, Romanian-French poet, playwright, painter, and critic (b. 1896) deaths
  1. Tristan Tzara
    
    Tristan Tzara was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, composer and film director, he was known best for being one of the founders and central figures of the anti-establishment Dada movement. Under the influence of Adrian Maniu, the adolescent Tzara became interested in Symbolism and co-founded the magazine Simbolul with Ion Vinea and painter Marcel Janco.
1962
1. Francis Dunnery, English musician births
  1. Francis Dunnery
    
    Francis Dunnery is an English musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and record label owner.
1961
1. Íngrid Betancourt, Colombian political scientist and politician births
  1. Íngrid Betancourt
    
    Íngrid Betancourt Pulecio is a Colombian politician, former senator and anti-corruption activist, especially opposing political corruption.
2. Owen Brewster, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 54th Governor of Maine (b. 1888) deaths
  1. Ralph Owen Brewster
    
    Ralph Owen Brewster was an American politician from Maine. Brewster, a Republican, served as the 54th Governor of Maine from 1925 to 1929, in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1935 to 1941 and in the U.S. Senate from 1941 to 1952. Brewster was a close confidant of Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin and an antagonist of Howard Hughes. He was defeated by Frederick G. Payne, whose campaign was heavily funded by Hughes, in the 1952 Republican primary.
  2. Governor of Maine
    
    The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive.
3. Otto Loewi, German-American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1873) deaths
  1. Otto Loewi
    
    Otto Loewi was a German-born pharmacologist and psychobiologist who discovered the role of acetylcholine as an endogenous neurotransmitter. For his discovery he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1936, which he shared with Sir Henry Dale, who was a lifelong friend that helped to inspire the neurotransmitter experiment. Loewi met Dale in 1902 when spending some months in Ernest Starling's laboratory at University College, London.
  2. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    
    The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's 1895 will, are awarded "to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind". Nobel Prizes are awarded in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace.
1959
1. Michael P. Anderson, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003) births
  1. Michael P. Anderson
    
    Michael Phillip Anderson was a United States Air Force officer and NASA astronaut. Anderson and his six fellow crew members were killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when the craft disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. Anderson served as the payload commander and lieutenant colonel in charge of science experiments on the Columbia. Anderson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
2. Ramdas Athawale, Indian poet and politician births
  1. Ramdas Athawale
    
    Ramdas Bandu Athawale is an Indian politician and social activist from Maharashtra. He is the president of the Republican Party of India (A), a splinter group of the Republican Party of India and has its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by B. R. Ambedkar. Currently, he is the Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in Second Modi ministry and represents Maharashtra in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's Parliament. Previously he was Lok Sabha MP from Pandharpur.
1958
1. Cheryl Chase, American voice actress and singer births
  1. Cheryl Chase (actress)
    
    Cheryl Chase is an American actress and children's book author. She is best known for voicing Angelica Pickles in the television series Rugrats and its spinoffs All Grown Up!, Angelica and Susie's Pre-School Daze, and the reboot of the same name.
2. Hanford Dixon, American football player, coach, and sportscaster births
  1. Hanford Dixon
    
    Hanford Dixon is a former professional American football cornerback who played his entire career (1981–1989) for the Cleveland Browns of the NFL. Dixon made the Pro Bowl three times, in 1986, 1987 and 1988. He was drafted by the Browns out of the University of Southern Mississippi with the 22nd pick in the first round of the 1981 NFL Draft. He also is credited with naming the Cleveland Browns "Dawg Pound," the section of the stadium known for their antics during Browns home games at the old Municipal Stadium inspired by Dixon's "barking" to teammates, especially fellow cornerback Frank Minnifield.
3. Rickey Henderson, American baseball player and coach births
  1. Rickey Henderson
    
    Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with his original team, the Oakland Athletics. Nicknamed the "Man of Steal", he is widely regarded as baseball's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner. He holds the major league records for career stolen bases, runs, unintentional walks and leadoff home runs. At the time of his last major league game in 2003, the ten-time American League (AL) All-Star ranked among the sport's top 100 all-time home run hitters and was its all-time leader in walks. In 2009, he was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot appearance.
4. Konstantin Kinchev, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist births
  1. Konstantin Kinchev
    
    Konstantin Evgenievich Kinchev (Panfilov) is a Russian rock singer, musician, frontman and the main songwriter for the Russian rock/hard rock band Alisa.
5. Alannah Myles, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress births
  1. Alannah Myles
    
    Alannah Myles is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has won both a Grammy and a Juno Award for the song "Black Velvet". The song was a top-ten hit in Canada; it was also a number one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1990.
1957
1. Mansoor Akhtar, Pakistani cricketer births
  1. Mansoor Akhtar
    
    Mansoor Akhtar is a Pakistani former cricketer who played in 19 Test matches and 41 One Day Internationals between 1980 and 1990. In his Test career Mansoor scored one century and three half-centuries, with a highest score of 111 against Australia in Faisalabad. In his ODI career he failed to even record a half century and took only two wickets.
2. Chris Kamara, English footballer and sportscaster births
  1. Chris Kamara
    
    Christopher Kamara, often referred to as "Kammy", is an English former professional football player and manager who worked as a presenter and football analyst at Sky Sports from 1992 to 2022.
3. Shane MacGowan, English-Irish singer-songwriter births
  1. Shane MacGowan
    
    Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and songwriter of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He was also a member of the Nipple Erectors and Shane MacGowan and the Popes, as well as producing his own solo material and working on collaborations with artists such as Kirsty MacColl, Joe Strummer, Nick Cave, Steve Earle, Sinéad O'Connor, and Ronnie Drew.
4. Charles Pathé, French record producer, founded Pathé Records (b. 1863) deaths
  1. Charles Pathé
    
    Charles Morand Pathé was a pioneer of the French film and recording industries. As the founder of Pathé Frères, its roots lie in 1896 Paris, France, when Pathé and his brothers pioneered the development of the moving image. Pathé adopted the national emblem of France, the cockerel, as the trademark for his company. After the company, now called Compagnie Générale des Éstablissements Pathé Frères Phonographes & Cinématographes, invented the cinema newsreel with Pathé-Journal.
  2. Pathé Records
    
    Pathé Records was an international record company and label and producer of phonographs, based in France, and active from the 1890s through the 1930s.
1956
1. Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (b. 1878) deaths
  1. Robert Walser (writer)
    
    Robert Walser was a German-speaking Swiss writer. Walser is understood to be the missing link between Heinrich von Kleist and Franz Kafka. As writes Susan Sontag, "at the time [of Walser's writing], it was more likely to be Kafka [who was understood] through the prism of Walser." For example, Robert Musil once referred to Kafka's work as "a peculiar case of the Walser type."
1954
1. Annie Lennox, Scottish singer-songwriter and pianist births
  1. Annie Lennox
    
    Ann Lennox is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart went on to achieve international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics. Appearing in the 1983 music video for "Sweet Dreams " with orange cropped hair and wearing a man's business suit, the BBC states, "all eyes were on Annie Lennox, the singer whose powerful androgynous look defied the male gaze". Subsequent hits with Eurythmics include "There Must Be an Angel " and "Here Comes the Rain Again".
1953
1. Kaarlo Maaninka, Finnish runner births
  1. Kaarlo Maaninka
    
    Kaarlo Hannes Maaninka is a Finnish former long-distance runner who won a silver medal in the 10,000 metres and a bronze medal in the 5,000 metres at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. He later admitted that he had used blood transfusions at the 1980 Olympics, though this was not against the rules at that time.
2. Patsy Donovan, Irish-American baseball player and manager (b. 1865) deaths
  1. Patsy Donovan
    
    Patrick Joseph "Patsy" Donovan was an Irish-American right fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played for several teams from 1890 to 1907, most notably the Pittsburgh Pirates.
3. William Haselden, British cartoonist (b. 1872) deaths
  1. William Haselden
    
    William Kerridge Haselden was an English cartoonist and caricaturist.
1952
1. Tolossa Kotu, Ethiopian runner and coach births
  1. Tolossa Kotu
    
    Tolossa Kotu Terfe is an Ethiopian long-distance runner and coach. He placed fourth in men's 10,000 metres at the 1980 Summer Olympics and has coached the national teams of both Ethiopia and Bahrain.
2. CCH Pounder, Guyanese-American actress births
  1. CCH Pounder
    
    Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder is a Guyanese-American actress known for her work on stage and screen. She has received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her roles in The X-Files, ER, The Shield, and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
3. Margrethe Mather, American photographer (b. 1886) deaths
  1. Margrethe Mather
    
    Margrethe Mather was an American photographer. She was one of the best known female photographers of the early 20th century. Initially she influenced and was influenced by Edward Weston while working in the pictorial style, but she independently developed a strong eye for patterns and design that transformed some of her photographs into modernist abstract art. She lived a mostly uncompromising lifestyle in Los Angeles that alternated between her photography and the creative Hollywood community of the 1920s and 1930s. In later life she abandoned photography, and she died unrecognized for her photographic accomplishments."in artistic matters Margaret was, of course, the teacher, Edward (Weston) the pupil" — Imogen Cunningham
1950
1. Peter Boardman, English mountaineer and author (d. 1982) births
  1. Peter Boardman
    
    Peter Boardman was an English mountaineer and author. He is best known for a series of bold and lightweight expeditions to the Himalayas, often in partnership with Joe Tasker, and for his contribution to mountain literature. Boardman and Tasker died on the North East Ridge of Mount Everest in 1982. The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature was established in their memory.
2. Karl Rove, American political strategist and activist births
  1. Karl Rove
    
    Karl Christian Rove is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on August 31, 2007. He has also headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives.
3. Manny Trillo, Venezuelan baseball player and manager births
  1. Manny Trillo
    
    Jesús Manuel Marcano Trillo, also nicknamed "Indio", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball second baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics (1973–1974), Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies (1979–1982), Cleveland Indians (1983), Montreal Expos (1983), San Francisco Giants (1984–1985), and Cincinnati Reds (1989). A four-time All-Star, he was the Phillies' starting second baseman when the franchise won its first-ever World Series Championship in 1980. He was known as one of the best fielding second basemen of his era, with a strong throwing arm.
4. Neil Francis Hawkins, English politician (b. 1903) deaths
  1. Neil Francis Hawkins
    
    Neil Lanfear Maclean Francis Hawkins was a British writer and politician who was a leading proponent of British fascism in the United Kingdom both before and after the Second World War. He played a leading role in the British Union of Fascists and controlled the organisational structure of the movement.
1949
1. Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira, Brazilian singer births
  1. Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira
    
    Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira, better known as Simone, is a Brazilian singer of Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) who has recorded more than 30 albums.
2. Nawaz Sharif, Pakistani politician, 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan births
  1. Nawaz Sharif
    
    Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pakistan, having served a total of more than 9 years across three tenures. Each term has ended in his ousting.
  2. List of prime ministers of Pakistan
    
    The prime minister of Pakistan is the popularly elected politician who is the chief executive of the Government of Pakistan. The prime minister is vested with the responsibility of running the administration through his appointed federal cabinet, formulating national policies to ensure the safeguard of the interests of the nation and its people through the Council of Common Interests as well as making the decision to call nationwide general elections for the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan.
3. Sissy Spacek, American actress births
  1. Sissy Spacek
    
    Mary Elizabeth Spacek is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for four British Academy Film Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. Spacek was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.
4. Leon Schlesinger, American animator and producer, founded Warner Bros. Cartoons (b. 1884) deaths
  1. Leon Schlesinger
    
    Leon Schlesinger was an American film producer who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the Golden Age of American animation. He was a distant relative of the Warner Brothers. As head of his own studio, Schlesinger served as the producer of Warner's Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons from 1930, when Schlesinger assumed production from his subcontractors, Harman and Ising, to 1944, when Warner acquired the studio.
  2. Warner Bros. Cartoons
    
    Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short films. The characters featured in these cartoons, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig, are among the most famous and recognizable characters in the world. Many of the creative staff members at the studio, including directors and animators such as Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Robert McKimson, Tex Avery, Robert Clampett, Arthur Davis, and Frank Tashlin, are considered major figures in the art and history of traditional animation.
1948
1. Merry Clayton, American singer and actress births
  1. Merry Clayton
    
    Merry Clayton is an American soul and gospel singer. She provided a number of backing vocal tracks for major performing artists in the 1960s, most notably in her duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter". Clayton is prominently featured in 20 Feet from Stardom, the Oscar-winning documentary about background singers and their contributions to the music industry.
2. Kay Hymowitz, American sociologist and writer births
  1. Kay Hymowitz
    
    Kay S. Hymowitz is an American author. Born in Philadelphia, she earned her B.A. at Brandeis University, and her M.A. in English literature from Tufts University. She taught English literature and composition at Brooklyn College and at the Parsons School of Design. As of 2010 she was the William E. Simon fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal. Her writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three children.
3. Barbara Mandrell, American singer-songwriter and actress births
  1. Barbara Mandrell
    
    Barbara Ann Mandrell is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artists. She had six number one singles and 25 top ten singles reach the Billboard country songs chart. She also hosted her own prime–time television show in the early 1980s that featured music, dance numbers and comedy sketches. Mandrell also played a variety of musical instruments during her career that helped earn her a series of major–industry awards.
4. Joel Santana, Brazilian footballer and manager births
  1. Joel Santana
    
    Joel Natalino Santana is a Brazilian football coach and former player. The last team he coached was Vasco da Gama, in 2014.
1947
1. Gaspar G. Bacon, American lawyer and politician, 51st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1886) deaths
  1. Gaspar G. Bacon
    
    Gaspar Griswold Bacon, Sr. served on the board of overseers of Harvard University, as the President of the Massachusetts Senate from 1929 to 1932 and as the 51st lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 1933 to 1935.
  2. Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
    
    The lieutenant governor of Massachusetts is the first in the line to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor following the incapacitation of the Governor of Massachusetts. The constitutional honorific title for the office is His, or Her, Honor.
1946
1. Jimmy Buffett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor births
  1. Jimmy Buffett
    
    James William Buffett is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, actor, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett has recorded hit songs including "Margaritaville" and "Come Monday". He has a devoted base of fans known as "Parrotheads".
2. Larry Csonka, American football player and sportscaster births
  1. Larry Csonka
    
    Larry Richard Csonka is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Memphis Southmen in the WFL. Csonka is mostly remembered for his success during his tenure with the Dolphins, which included being a member of their 17–0 perfect season in 1972, and winning Super Bowl championships in 1972 and 1973, the latter of which he was named Super Bowl MVP when he ran for a then-record 145 yards.
3. Christopher Frayling, English author and academic births
  1. Christopher Frayling
    
    Sir Christopher John Frayling is a British educationalist and writer, known for his study of popular culture.
4. Gene Lamont, American baseball player and manager births
  1. Gene Lamont
    
    Gene William Lamont is an American special assistant to the general manager of the Kansas City Royals. He was a catcher and manager in Major League Baseball who managed the Chicago White Sox (1992–1995) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1997–2000) and served as a coach for the Detroit Tigers (2006-2017). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
5. W. C. Fields, American actor, comedian, juggler, and screenwriter (b. 1880) deaths
  1. W. C. Fields
    
    William Claude Dukenfield, better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathetic character despite his supposed contempt for children and dogs.
1945
1. Rick Berman, American screenwriter and producer births
  1. Rick Berman
    
    Richard Keith Berman is an American television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as the executive producer of several of the Star Trek television series: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as several of the Star Trek films, and for ultimately succeeding Gene Roddenberry as head of the Star Trek franchise until the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005.
2. Eve Pollard, English journalist and author births
  1. Eve Pollard
    
    Evelyn, Lady Lloyd, is an English author and journalist, and has been the editor of several tabloid newspapers.
3. Mike Pringle, Zambian-Scottish lawyer and politician births
  1. Mike Pringle (politician)
    
    Mike Pringle is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh South from 2003 to 2011.
4. Noel Redding, English singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2003) births
  1. Noel Redding
    
    David Noel Redding was an English rock musician, best known as the bass player for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and guitarist/singer for Fat Mattress.
5. Ken Stabler, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2015) births
  1. Ken Stabler
    
    Kenneth Michael Stabler was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. Nicknamed "Snake", he played college football at Alabama and was selected by the Raiders in the second round of the 1968 NFL Draft. During his 10 seasons in Oakland, Stabler received four Pro Bowl selections and was named Most Valuable Player in 1974. Stabler also helped the Raiders win their first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XI. He was posthumously inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
1944
1. Kenny Everett, British comedian and broadcaster (d. 1995) births
  1. Kenny Everett
    
    Kenny Everett was an English comedian, radio disc jockey and television presenter. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the mid-1960s, he was one of the first DJs to join BBC Radio's newly created BBC Radio 1 in 1967. It was here he developed his trademark voices and surreal characters which he later adapted for television.
2. Jairzinho, Brazilian footballer births
  1. Jairzinho
    
    Jair Ventura Filho, better known as Jairzinho, is a Brazilian former footballer. A quick, skillful, and powerful right winger known for his finishing ability and eye for goal, he was a key member and top scorer of the legendary Brazilian national team that won the 1970 FIFA World Cup. He is nicknamed as The Hurricane for scoring limitless goals. A versatile forward, he was also capable of playing in a variety of other attacking positions, as a main striker, second striker, or even as an attacking midfielder. Jairzinho was known for his large afro towards the later stages of his career, as well as his burst of pace, dribbling, ball skills, finishing ability, shot power and devastating strength due to his large muscular build.
3. Sam Strahan, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2019) births
  1. Sam Strahan
    
    Samuel Cuningham Strahan was a New Zealand rugby union player. He represented Manawatu at a provincial level, and represented New Zealand in the national team, the All Blacks.
4. George Steer, South African-English journalist and author (b. 1909) deaths
  1. George Steer
    
    George Lowther Steer was a South African-born British journalist, author and war correspondent who reported on wars preceding World War II, especially the Second Italo-Abyssinian War and the Spanish Civil War. During those wars he was employed by The Times, and his eye-witness reports did much to alert western nations of war crimes committed by the Italians in Ethiopia and by the Germans in Spain, although little was done to prevent them by the League of Nations. He returned to Ethiopia after the world war started and helped the campaign defeat the Italians and restore Hailie Selassie to the throne.
1943
1. Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior, Brazilian race car driver and businessman births
  1. Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior
    
    Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior is a Brazilian former racing driver and Formula One team owner. He participated in 38 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 1, 1972, scoring a total of three championship points. He ran the Fittipaldi Formula One team between 1974 and 1982. He also participated in numerous non-Championship Formula One races.
2. Hanna Schygulla, German actress births
  1. Hanna Schygulla
    
    Hanna Schygulla is a German actress and chanson singer associated with the theater and film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She first worked for Fassbinder in 1965 and became an active participant in the New German Cinema. Schygulla won the 1979 Berlin Silver Bear for Best Actress for Fassbinder's The Marriage of Maria Braun, and the 1983 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the Marco Ferreri film The Story of Piera.
1942
1. Françoise Dürr, French tennis player and coach births
  1. Françoise Dürr
    
    Françoise Dürr is a retired French tennis player. She won 50 singles titles and over 60 doubles titles.
2. Barbara Follett, English politician births
  1. Barbara Follett (politician)
    
    Daphne Barbara Follett is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stevenage from 1997 to 2010. During this time she held several parliamentary and ministerial positions.
3. Barry Goldberg, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer births
  1. Barry Goldberg
    
    Barry Joseph Goldberg is an American blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Goldberg has co-produced albums by Percy Sledge, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, and the Textones, plus Bob Dylan's version of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready".
4. Enrique Morente, Spanish singer-songwriter (d. 2010) births

Important events in history on December 25 th

Events

James Webb Space Telescope

Ariane flight VA256

2020 Nashville bombing

Typhoon Phanfone

Philippines

Tupolev Tu-154

Ministry of Defence (Russia)

2016 Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 crash

Black Sea

Sochi International Airport

Ministry of Defence (Russia)

Tupolev Tu-154

Alexandrov Ensemble

2016 Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 crash

Black Sea

Antonov An-72

2012 Kazakhstan Antonov An-72 crash

Shymkent

Air Bagan Flight 011

Fokker 100

Heho Airport

Heho

Myanmar

Northwest Airlines Flight 253

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Plastic explosive

Longford

St Mel's Cathedral

Midland Region, Ireland

San Francisco Zoo

San Francisco Zoo tiger attacks

Cassini–Huygens

Huygens (spacecraft)

Saturn

Titan (moon)

UTA Flight 141

Boeing 727

Cadjehoun Airport

Benin

Beagle 2

Mars Express

Vladimir Putin

National anthem of Russia

Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov

State Anthem of the Soviet Union

Cubana de Aviación Flight 310

Yakovlev Yak-42

Bejuma

Carabobo

Venezuela

Mikhail Gorbachev

President of the Soviet Union

Mikhail Gorbachev

President of the Soviet Union

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

1991 Ukrainian independence referendum

Tim Berners-Lee

WorldWideWeb

Web browser

WYSIWYG

Romanian Revolution

Nicolae Ceaușescu

Elena Ceaușescu

Trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu

Romanian Revolution

President of Romania

Nicolae Ceaușescu

Elena Ceaușescu

Trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu

Iraqi Airways Flight 163

Boeing 737

Arar, Saudi Arabia

Menachem Begin

Anwar Sadat

EgyptAir Flight 864

Boeing 707

Don Mueang International Airport

Tamil Nadu

Important events in history
on December 25 ^th