/year

December 16 in history

216 sourced entries recorded on December 16, from 533 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 533The Digesta or Pandectae, a collection of jurist writings and other sources, is completed (see Corpus Juris Civilis).source
  • 755General An Lushan begins the Anshi Rebellion against Emperor Xuan Zong of the Tang Dynasty (China). His army surges down from Fanyang (near modern Beijing), and moves rapidly along the Grand Canal. Meanwhile, Xuan Zong sends Feng Changqing, governor of Fanyang, to build up defenses at the eastern capital of Luoyang.source
  • 944Emperor Romanos I is arrested and deposed after a 14-year reign by his own sons, the co-emperors Stephen and Constantine. He is carried off to the Prince Islands and forced to become a monk.source
  • 11241124 papal election: Teobaldo Boccapecci is elected the new Pope, three days after the death of Pope Callixtus II. Boccapecci takes the name Celestine II, but the Frangipani family attacks the investment ceremony and Boccapecci is injured. He resigns before being enthroned in order to avoid schism.source
  • 1232Battle of Cheoin: Korean forces defeat a Mongol attack at Cheoin (modern-day Yongin). The Mongol Empire concludes a peace treaty with Goryeo and withdraws its forces.source
  • 1237December 16–21 – Siege of Ryazan: The Mongols under Batu Khan lay siege to Ryazan. The townspeople repel the first Mongol attacks but after 5 days the city walls are breached by Chinese catapults. On December 21, the Mongols storm the walls and plunder the capital, killing Yuri Igorevich and all inhabitants. Yuri II of Vladimir stands by and does nothing to intervene while Ryazan burns.source
  • 1308Tran Anh Tong becomes the new Emperor of Dai Viet (corresponding to northern Vietnam) upon the death of his father, Tran Nhan Tong.source
  • 1316Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan becomes the new Mongol Ikhanate of the Middle East upon the death of his father, the Ikhan Öljaitü.source
  • 1332Battle of Annan: The loyalists of David II defeat Edward Balliol in Scotland.source
  • 1332Battle of Annan, decisive victory for Bruce loyalist forces, ejecting Balliol from Scotlandsource
  • 1378The antipope Clement VII declares nine clerics to be added as cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, joining those already allied with him as part of the Avignon Obedience against the cardinals of Pope Urban VI. Among the new "pseudo-cardinals", assigned to secure allegiance to the Antipope Clement from other European nations are Niccolò Brancaccio, Nicolas de Saint-Saturnin, Pierre Raimundi de Barrière Mirepoix, and Giacomo d'Itri.source
  • 1383As Queen Beatriz of Portugal flees Lisbon toward Alenquer. João, Master of Aviz is declared to be the new regent.source
  • 1404Willem VI becomes the new Count of Holland upon the death of his father, Albrecht I, Duke of Lower Bavaria.source
  • 1415The Treaty of Eberswalde is signed between Pomerania-Stettin (ruled by Otto II and Casimir V) and Brandenburg (ruled by the Elector Frederick I), temporarily ending the Uckermark War between the two duchies. In return for payment by Brandenburg, Pomerania-Stettin gives up Uckermark, Boitzenburg and Zehdenick.source
  • 1416December 16 (26 Shawwal 819 AH) – Hasan ibn Ajlan, the Vice Sultan of the Hejaz, becomes the Emir of Mecca again upon the surrender of Rumaythah ibn Muhammad, who usurped the Emirate in February.source
  • 1431Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre-Dame de Paris.source
  • 1431Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre-Dame de Parissource
  • 1441(2 Sha'ban 845 AH) Ali ibn Hasan ibn Ajlan takes office as the new Emir of Mecca.source
  • 1447Lodovico di Campofregoso becomes the Doge of the Republic of Genoa, succeeding his older brother, Giano I, who had taken office "for lifesource
  • 1487The war between Hungary and Austria is ended with an armistice signed at Sankt Pölten between Duke Albert III of Saxony (on behalf of the Holy Roman Empire) and Hungary's King Matthias Corvinus.source
  • 1497The Vasco da Gama expedition travels past the Great Fish River on South Africa's Eastern Cape and sails into previously unexplored waters in the Indian Ocean.source
  • 1540Honoré I, Lord of Monaco reaches the age of 19 and after the future principality of Monaco had been administered by regents for more than 18 years.source
  • 1575An earthquake hits Valdivia.source
  • 1579After Willem van Pamele, the Spanish Governor of Flanders, is forced to flee during the Dutch Revolt, the Duke of Parma orders Pamele and the Catholic members of the Council of Flanders to convene at Douai as the temporary Flemish capital.source
  • 1598December 16 (Keichō 3, 19th day of the 11th month, lunar calendar) – Battle of Noryang: An allied Korean and Chinese fleet under Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin and Chinese Admiral Chen Lin defeats the Japanese navy, ending the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98).source
  • 1628In the Joseon Kingdom of Korea, O Yun-gyeom becomes the new Yeonguijeong (Chief of the State Council, similar to Prime Minister) during the reign of King Injo.source
  • 1631A volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius at Pompeii occurs, for the first time in several centuries.source
  • 1634Gregorio Panzani, an emissary of Pope Urban VIII, is welcomed in England by King Charles I, marking the first time since England's break with the Roman Catholic Church that a monarch has received an agent of the Vatican.source
  • 1641Pope Urban VIII announces the creation of 12 new cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church.source
  • 1653The Instrument of Government in England becomes Britain's first written constitution, under which Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland, being advised by a remodelled English Council of State. This is the start of The First Protectorate, bringing an end to the first period of republican government in the country, the Commonwealth of England.source
  • 1653Instrument of Government: Britain's first written constitution, under which Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland, being advised by a remodelled Council of State. This is the start of The First Protectorate, bringing an end to the first period of republican government in the country, the Commonwealth of England.source
  • 1653Cromwell proclaimed Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.source
  • 1656English Quaker James Nayler is convicted of blasphemy but spared the death penalty.source
  • 1659General George Monck demands free parliamentary elections in Scotland and resolves to overthrow the military government that has ruled the British Isles since 1648.source
  • 1661Abraham Cowley's comedy The Cutter of Coleman Street premieres at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Playhouse in London as a production of the Duke's Company.source
  • 1668In China, the 1661 edict of the "Great Clearance", the forcible evacuation of the coastal areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangnan, and Shandong in order to fight a rebellion, is rescinded by the Kangxi Emperor after lobbying by Zhou Youde, the Viceroy of Liangguang.source
  • 1679December 16 (December 6 O.S.) – Oliver Plunkett, the Roman Catholic Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh, is arrested on false charges of plotting to aid a French invasion of the British Isles, the so-called "Popish Plot". Executed in 1681, Plunkett will be canonized as a Roman Catholic saint almost 300 years later in 1975.source
  • 1689The Bill of Rights (An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown), drawn up by the Convention Parliament of England to establish constitutional monarchy in England, but with Roman Catholics barred from the throne, receives royal assent; it will remain substantially in force into the 21st century.source
  • 1689the Bill of Rights (An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown), drawn up by the Convention Parliament, receives royal assent; it will remain substantially in force into the 21st century.source
  • 1693Diego de Vargas, Spanish colonial governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México (now the area around the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico), returns to the walled city of Santa Fe and requests the Pueblo people to accept the authority of the colonial government. Negotiations fail and a siege begins on December 29. The Pueblo defenders surrender the next day and the 70 rebels are executed soon after. The 400 civilian women and children are made slaves and distributed to the Spanish colonists.source
  • 1694A total solar eclipse is visible across South America.source
  • 1707The last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji begins in Japan.source
  • 1740Frederick II of Prussia invades the Habsburg possession of Silesia, starting the War of the Austrian Succession.source
  • 1750The Norwegian Military Academy is founded.source
  • 1761Seven Years' War: After four months of siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kolberg.source
  • 1761Under the leadership of Pyotr Rumyantsev, Russian forces besiege and take control of the Prussian city of Kolberg during the Seven Years' War.source
  • 1773Boston Tea Party: A group of American colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, steal aboard ships of the East India Company and dump their cargo of tea into Boston Harbor, in protest against British tax policies.source
  • 1773a group of American colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, steal aboard ships of the East India Company and dump their cargo of tea into Boston Harbor in a protest against British tax policies that became known as the Boston Tea Party.source
  • 1780Emperor Kōkaku accedes to the throne of Japan.source
  • 1782East India Company: Hada and Mada Miah lead a rebellion in the Indian subcontinent against East India Company officer Robert Lindsay and his troops in Sylhet Shahi Eidgah.source
  • 1800Denmark enters a pact of neutrality with Sweden and Russia, and on 18 December also with Prussia.source
  • 1811The New Madrid earthquake in the Mississippi Valley, near New Madrid, reverses the course of the river for a while. Other earthquakes along the fault occur on January 23, 1812 and February 7, 1812.source
  • 1811The New Madrid earthquake in Mississippi Valley near New Madrid reverses the course of the river for a while. Other earthquakes along the fault occur on January 23, 1812, and February 7, 1812.source
  • 1816December 9–21 – The American Colonization Society is established, to support the emigration of free African Americans to Africa.source
  • 1826Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican-controlled Nacogdoches, Texas, and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.source
  • 1830Felix Mendelssohn completes composition of his concert overture The Hebrides as Die einsame Insel ("The Lonely Island").source
  • 1835The Great Fire of New York begins and lasts until the next day, destroying 530 buildings, including the New York Stock Exchange.source
  • 1835December 16–17 – The Great Fire of New York destroys 530–700 buildings and kills two.source
  • 1837William Lyon MacKenzie occupies Navy Island and proclaims the short-lived Republic of Canada.source
  • 1838Battle of Blood River: The Boers win a decisive victory over the Zulus.source
  • 1844Edinburgh Stock Exchange formed.source
  • 1848The main Austrian imperial forces, led by Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, cross the Hungarian border.source
  • 1850Members of the Canterbury Association, the first settlers bound for Christchurch, arrive from England at the port of Lyttelton, New Zealand, aboard the Charlotte Jane and Randolph.source
  • 1850The Charlotte-Jane, one of the First Four Ships bringing settlers to Canterbury arrives in Lyttelton Harbour followed by the Randolph later the same afternoon.source
  • 1857The 7.0 Mw Basilicata earthquake shakes the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Southern Italy) with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing about 10,000 people.source
  • 1864December 15–16 – American Civil War: Battle of Nashville – Union forces decisively defeat the Confederate Army of Tennessee.source
  • 1865Leopold I of Belgium buried in Laken, despite his wish to be buried in Windsor; Auguste t'Kint arrives in Yokohama as the first Belgian diplomat in Japan.source
  • 1873The Heineken Brewery is founded in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.source
  • 1877The premiere of Bruckner's Symphony No. 3 is given by the Vienna Philharmonic. Many of the audience walk out.source
  • 1880High Court of Justice reorganised into the Chancery, Queen's Bench and the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Divisions, with abolition of the Common Pleas and Exchequer Divisions.source
  • 1883Tonkin Campaign: French forces capture the Sơn Tây citadel.source
  • 1884The World Cotton Centennial world's fair opens in New Orleans.source
  • 1884The World Cotton Centennial World's Fair opens in New Orleans, Louisiana.source
  • 1893Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 (From the New World) receives its premiere at Carnegie Hall, New York City, conducted by the composer, to immediate acclaim.source
  • 1897Charles-Gustave Walravens appointed bishop of Tournaisource
  • 1899Football club A.C. Milan is founded in Milan by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others.source
  • 1900The German training frigate Gneisenau, with 450 naval cadets on board, sinks in a storm during exercises off of the Spanish coast at Málaga, drowning 136.source
  • 1900The German training frigate Gneisenau, with 450 naval cadets on board, sinks in a storm during exercises off of the Spanish coast at Malaga, drowning 136.source
  • 1903The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Bombay (now Mumbai), India opens.source
  • 1905December 7–18 – Moscow Uprising: A Bolshevik-led revolt is suppressed by the army.source
  • 1907The American Great White Fleet begins its circumnavigation of the world.source
  • 1908Construction begins on the RMS Olympic, at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast.source
  • 1911National Insurance Act 1911 passed, providing for (limited) contributory health and unemployment insurance for working people.source
  • 1911The Imperial Copyright Act (coming into effect in 1912) entitles the National Library of Wales to be given by legal deposit a copy of all British publications in specified categories, based on a memorandum drafted by Daniel Lleufer Thomas.source
  • 1913December 16–17 – Parliamentary elections are held in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. The Croat-Serb Coalition wins with 39.09% of the vote.source
  • 1914World War I: Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby: Imperial German Navy battlecruisers bombard British North Sea ports, resulting in 137 deaths, mostly civilians.source
  • 1915December 4–18 – The 'Peace Ship' Oscar II chartered by industrialist Henry Ford sails from Hoboken, New Jersey to Oslo on an independent and eventually unsuccessful mission to broker a peace conference.source
  • 1916Robert Baden-Powell gives the first public display of the new Wolf Cub section of Scouting at Caxton Hall, Westminster.source
  • 1918Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas declares the formation of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, a puppet state created by the Russian SFSR to justify the Lithuanian–Soviet War.source
  • 1918Mackansen arrested in Budapestsource
  • 1919George Bolt makes the first experimental airmail flight in New Zealand. He flies from Auckland to Dargaville and back again on the same day, a total distance of approximately 320 km.source
  • 1920December 15–22 – The Brussels Conference establishes a timetable for German war reparations, intended to extend for over 42 years.source
  • 1920Bank of Yokohama was founded, as predecessor name was Yokohama Kōshō Bank (横浜興商銀行) in Kanagawa Prefecture.source
  • 1920An 8.2 Richter scale Haiyuan earthquake causes a landslide in Gansu Province, China, killing 273,000.source
  • 19201920 Haiyuan earthquakesource
  • 1926Philipp Scheidemann of the Social Democratic Party reveals that the Reichswehr is secretly working with the Soviet Red Army and anti-republican groups in Germany.source
  • 1929Rothbury Riot in which police shoot at locked out miners, killing Norman Brown.source
  • 1932Shirokiya Department Store firesource
  • 1937The original production of the musical Me and My Girl opens at the Victoria Palace Theatre, in London's West End. A later revival will win an award.source
  • 1938The cornerstone of the Voortrekker Monument is laid.source
  • 1943WWII: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is returned to the United States by the USS Iowa after completing his trip to the Cairo and Tehran Conferences.source
  • 1944General George C. Marshall becomes the first U.S. Five-Star General.source
  • 1944Germany begins the Ardennes offensive, later known as the Battle of the Bulge.source
  • 1949The Voortrekker Monument is officially inaugurated in Pretoria.source
  • 1952Independent candidate Madai Puthan Damodaran Nair was sworn in as legislative councillor for Seletar Constituency in an uncontested walkover.source
  • 1952Harold Winstanley, the perpetrator of the Knowsley Hall shootings, is found guilty but insane at Manchester Assizes, and sentenced to detention at Broadmoor Hospital.source
  • 1958Soviet polar pilot V. M. Perov on Li-2 rescues four Belgian polar explorers, led by Gaston de Gerlache, who have survived a plane crash in Antarctica 250 km from their base five days earlier.source
  • 1958A fire breaks out in the Vida Department Store in Bogotá, Colombia and kills 84 persons.source
  • 1959The establishment of China Airlines.source
  • 1960Secretary of State Christian Herter announces that the United States will commit five nuclear submarines and eighty Polaris missiles to the defense of the NATO countries by the end of 1963.source
  • 1960New York mid-air collision: A United Air Lines DC-8 collides in mid-air with a TWA Lockheed Constellation over Staten Island in New York City. All 128 passengers and crewmembers on the two airliners, and six people on the ground, are killed.source
  • 1962Trolleybus services in Singapore cease operations.source
  • 19641964–66 Balkans Cup: Albania ties with Bulgaria 0-0 at Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tiranasource
  • 1965The Ministry of Housing and Urbanism (Chile) is created, in charge of the planning, development and construction of houses, in addition to planning the urbanization of cities.source
  • 1966The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are adopted by the General Assembly, as Resolution 2200 A (XXI).source
  • 1968Paul Wilwertz resigns from the Council of State to take up his seat in the Chamber of Deputies.source
  • 1968Mobster Castor de Andrade is arrested, after Secretary of Public Security of Guanabara, General Luís de França Oliveira, starts one of the biggest attacks against crime.source
  • 1970The Ethiopian government declares a state of emergency in the region of Eritrea over the activities of the Eritrean Liberation Front.source
  • 1971Victory Day of Bangladesh: The Pakistan Army in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) surrenders to the joint forces of India and the Bengali nationalist separatists, ending the Bangladesh Liberation War.source
  • 1971The 25th anniversary of the installation of Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah as Sultan of Terengganu was celebrated.source
  • 1972The Constitution of Bangladesh comes into effect.source
  • 1972Mozambican War of independence: The Portuguese army kills 400 Africans in Tete, Mozambique.source
  • 1978The Mystery of Mamo is released in cinemas in Japan.source
  • 1978The Mystery of Mamo is released in cinemas.source
  • 1978Train 87 from Nanjing to Xining collides with train 368 from Xi'an to Xuzhou near Yangzhuang railway station in China, killing 106, injuring 218.source
  • 1982The United Freedom Front bombs an office of South African Airways in Elmont, NY and an IBM office in Harrison, NY. Two police officers suffer hearing damage. In March 1984, the UFF claims responsibility for the IBM building bombing, stating that the company was targeted because of its business in South Africa under Apartheid.source
  • 1986Jeltoqsan, mass anti-government protests, break out across the Kazakh SSR, resulting in the massacre of over 165 protesters.source
  • 1988State visit of Turgut Özal to the United States.source
  • 1988Perennial U.S. presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche is convicted of mail fraud.source
  • 1991United Nations General Assembly Resolution 4686 revokes UN General Assembly Resolution 3379, which had equated Zionism with a form of racism. Israel had made revocation of resolution 3379 a condition for Israel's participation in the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991.source
  • 1991The UN General Assembly adopts UN General Assembly Resolution 46/86, repealing a previous resolution adopted in 1975 which had ruled that Zionism is a form of racism.source
  • 1995Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi scuba divers, under the direction of the United Nations Special Commission, dredge the Tigris near Baghdad. The divers find over 200 prohibited Russian-made missile instruments and components.source
  • 1997In Japan, over 700 children suffer photosensitive epilepsy attacks after watching an episode of the Pokémon anime.source
  • 1998Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President Bill Clinton orders airstrikes on Iraq. UNSCOM withdraws all weapons inspectors from Iraq.source
  • 2003Robert Dunlop announces he would quit motorcycle racing after the 2004 season.source
  • 2005Find-a-drug medical distributed computing project is concluded.source
  • 2009December 7–18 – The UNFCCC's 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference is held in Copenhagen, Denmark.source
  • 2009Astronomers discover GJ 1214 b, the first-known exoplanet on which water could exist.source
  • 2010After 25 years on CNN, Larry King Live airs its final episode. Contemporary reporting noted that King had recorded more than 6,000 programs for the network and that he was reported to be listed in the Guinness World Records for hosting the longest-running show with the same host in the same network time slot.source
  • 2011Tropical Storm Washi causes 1,268 flash flood fatalities in the Philippines, with 85 people officially listed as missing.source
  • 2012The 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, otherwise known as the Nirbhaya case, occurred on the night of December 16, 2012. The case involved the fatal assault of a 22-year-old physiotherapy intern by a group of six men in a moving bus.source
  • 2012December 6–16 – The 2012 FIFA Club World Cup is held in Japan and won by Sport Club Corinthians Paulista.source
  • 2013A new counterterrorism law is passed by Saudi Council of ministerssource
  • 20142014 Peshawar school massacre: The Pakistani Taliban carry out a mass shooting at an army school in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing at least 145 people, mostly schoolchildren.source
  • 2019Pope Francis abolishes pontifical secrecy in sex abuse cases; the move follows the Vatican's Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church months prior. The Pope also raises the definition of "child pornography" from 14 to 18 years old.source
  • 2020Couscous is added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.source
  • 2020Couscous is added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.source
  • 2021Typhoon Rai, also known as Typhoon Odette, hits the Philippines and caused destruction to agriculture, establishments, and houses, and caused many injured and deaths.source
  • 2023Bahrain National Day: The celebrations will be held 3 days later due to the Kingdom's mourning because of the Death of Emir of Kuwait, Nawaf Al-Ahmad.source
  • 2023The Royal Navy's HMS Diamond shoots down a drone launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen over the Red Sea using a Sea Viper missile.source
  • 2025US President Donald Trump issues a proclamation barring Sierra Leonean nationals from entering the United States.source
  • 2025US President Donald Trump issues a proclamation imposing partial travel restrictions on Mauritanian nationals travelling to the United States.source

Births

  • 1364Emperor Manuel III of Trebizond (died 1417)source
  • 1485Catherine of Aragon, first queen of Henry VIII of England, and daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (died 1536)source
  • 1522Honoré I, Lord of Monaco (died 1581)source
  • 1529Laurent Joubert of Montpellier, French Doctor and academic in medicine. (d.1582)source
  • 1534Hans Bol, Flemish artist (died 1593)source
  • 1534Lucas Osiander the Elder, German pastor (died 1604)source
  • 1582Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey, English adventurer and soldier (died 1642)source
  • 1584John Selden, English jurist (died 1654)source
  • 1585Livia della Rovere, Italian noble (died 1641)source
  • 1622Cort Adeler, naval officer, admiral (died 1675).source
  • 1669Arnold Boonen, Dutch portrait painter (died 1729)source
  • 1708Robert Livingston, third and final Lord of Livingston Manor (died 1790)source
  • 1714George Whitefield, English Anglican priest (died 1770)source
  • 1742Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prussian general (died 1819)source
  • 1775Jane Austen, English novelist (died 1817)source
  • 1777Madame Clicquot Ponsardin, French champagne producer (died 1866)source
  • 1787Mary Russell Mitford, English novelist and dramatist (died 1855)source
  • 1790Leopold I of Belgium (died 1865)source
  • 1834Léon Walras, French economist (died 1910)source
  • 1866December 16 (December 4 O.S.) – Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born painter (died 1944)source
  • 1882Jack Hobbs, English cricketer (died 1963)source
  • 1899Noël Coward, English actor, playwright and composer (died 1973)source
  • 1917Sir Arthur C. Clarke, English science-fiction author, best known for co-writing the screenplay of 2001: A Space Odyssey (died 2008)source

Deaths

  • 604Houzhu, emperor of the Chen dynasty (born 553)source
  • 705Wu Zetian, Empress of the Zhou Dynasty (born 624)source
  • 714Pepin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palacesource
  • 714Pepin II (of Herstal), mayor of the Merovingian palace, dies at Jupille (modern Belgium). His grandson Theudoald (who at age eight was still well into early childhood) becomes the nominal mayor of the palace, while his wife Plectrude holds actual power and imprisons Pepin's illegitimate son Charles Martel.source
  • 874Ado, archbishop of Viennesource
  • 882John VIII, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • 882Pope John VIII is assassinated at Rome after a 10-year reign, probably the victim of a political conspiracy. He is succeeded by Marinus I, as the 108th pope of the Catholic Church.source
  • 902Wei Yifan, chancellor of the Tang dynastysource
  • 999Adelaide of Italy, empress regent of the Holy Roman Empire (born 931)source
  • 1150Raynald of Bar, French abbotsource
  • 1153Ranulf de Gernon, Norman nobleman (born 1099)source
  • 1263Haakon IV of Norway ("the Old"), king of Norway (born 1204)source
  • 1308Tran Nhan Tong, Vietnamese emperor (born 1258)source
  • 1316Öljaitü, Mongol viceroy and ruler (born 1282)source
  • 1325Charles, Count of Valois, uncle of King Charles IV of France and heir apparent to the throne, dies at the age of 55 at Nogent-le-Roi, leaving his son Philip as heir to the throne.source
  • 1325Charles of Valois, French nobleman (born 1270)source
  • 1379John Fitzalan, Marshal of England (drowned)source
  • 1463Sir Philip Courtenay, British noble (born 1404)source
  • 1470John II, Duke of Lorraine (born 1425)source
  • 1474Ali Qushji, Ottoman astronomer and mathematician (born 1403)source
  • 1495Charles Orlando, Dauphin of France, French noble (born 1492)source
  • 1515Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese naval general (born 1453)source
  • 1515Afonso de Albuquerque (born 1453)source
  • 1551George Martinuzzi, the Hungarian Archbishop of Esztergom and the Governor of Transylvania, is assassinated by Marco Aurelio Ferrari on orders of Ferdinand, King of Hungary. Martinuzzi had been suspected of treason after attempting to negotiate a separate peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire.source
  • 1558Thomas Cheney, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (born c. 1485)source
  • 1583Ivan Fyodorov, Russian printersource
  • 1594Allison Balfour, alleged Scottish witchsource
  • 1598Yi Sun-sin, Korean naval leader (born 1545)source
  • 1669Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician (born c. 1608)source
  • 1687Sir William Petty, English scientist, philosopher, statistician, economist (born 1623)source
  • 1708Nicolas Pasquin, early pioneer in New France (now Quebec) (born 1648)source
  • 1722Abel Morgan, Baptist minister, pastor of Pennepack Baptist Church in Philadelphia, 49source
  • 1774François Quesnay, French economist (born 1694)source
  • 1779Emperor Go-Momozono of Japan (born 1758)source
  • 1783Sir William James, 1st Baronet, British naval commander (born 1720)source
  • 1783Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer (born 1699)source
  • 1798Thomas Pennant, Welsh naturalist (born 1726)source
  • 1921Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (born 1835)source
  • 1922Gabriel Narutowicz, sworn on December 11 as first president of the Second Polish Republic, is assassinated by a right-wing sympathizer in Warsaw.source
  • 1922Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (born 1858), Russian (Belarus)-born Jewish lexicographer and newspaper editor, the driving spirit behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era.source
  • 1999Jorge Tuero, Venezuelan television actor and comedian, killed during the Vargas tragedy.source