/year

December 2 in history

184 sourced entries recorded on December 2, from 503 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 1023Abd al-Rahman V becomes the Muslim Caliph of Córdoba in what is now most of the southern two-thirds of Spain and Portugal by overthrowing Al-Qasim al-Ma'mun, but only serves for six weeks until his assassination by Muhammad III.source
  • 1302The coronation of Martha of Denmark, wife of Sweden's King Birger since 1298, as Queen consort of Sweden takes place in a ceremony at Söderköping.source
  • 1347"The confraternity of the Friars Minor of Kilkenny is established for the purpose of erecting a new bell tower and for repairing the church."source
  • 1372Ruprecht and his brothers Waclaw, Boleslaw and Henryk sign an agreement that they will not divide the Duchy of Legnica (in Poland) for at least 10 years, having jointly inherited from their father, Waclaw the First.source
  • 1375With the threat of the Russian Orthodox believers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania being converted to the Roman Catholic Church, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Philotheos Kokkinos, creates the Orthodox metropolis of Lithuania with the approval of the other bishops at the Council of Constantinople. Philotheos consecrates Cyprian as the first Orthodox Metropolitan of Lithuania and designates Cyprian will be the successor to Alexius II, Metropolitan of Kiev and all Russia.source
  • 1401Jingnan campaign: Rebel General Zhu Di adopts a new approach in his war against the Chinese Imperial troops and departs from Beiping to drive troops southward to the Yangtze River, capturing Dong'e, Dongping, Wenshang, and Pei over the next two months.source
  • 1402(6 Jumada al-Awwal 805 A.H.) With 4,000 troops, Tamerlane, Amir of the Timurid Empire covering much of what is now Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan begins the Siege of Smyrna (now Izmir in Turkey). Smyrna is captured after two days of attacks on its outer walls. After the Christian Knights of Saint John, who are ruling Smyrna, refuse to convert to Islam or pay tribute, Timur has the entire Christian population massacred. The Knights subsequently begin building Bodrum Castle in Bodrum, to defend against future attacks.source
  • 1407The English Parliament closes after having met for six weeks.source
  • 1407China's Emperor Cheng Zu sends an order to Marquis Zhang Fu, who had recently conquered Vietnam and executed many of its officials, to avoid harming any innocent Vietnamese civilians.source
  • 1409The University of Leipzig opens.source
  • 1416Through the Council of Constance and diplomatic treaties during late 1416, Sigismund, King of Germany unifies the fractured Catholic Church and isolates the Bohemian reformers, providing him with the necessary authority to later initiate the Hussite Wars against Jan Žižka.source
  • 1420The 9th Parliament of King Henry V of England is opened at Westminster, and selects Roger Hunt as Speaker of the House of Commons.source
  • 1428The Appenzell Wars come to an end in Switzerland as Frederick VII, Count of Toggenburg and knights of the Order of St. George's Shield defeat the rebel army of the Canton of Appenzell in a battle on the field between Gossau and Herisau. In a truce the next year, Appenzell is forced to repay the back taxes owed to the Abbey of St. Gallbut is relieved from future obligations.source
  • 1460In Spain, the popular Prince Carlos de Viana, heir to the throne of Navarre, is arrested at Lleida and jailed in Morella by order of his father, King Juan II, leading to an uprising in Catalonia. King Juan eventually yields and frees Prince Carlos two months later on February 25.source
  • 1475In the Spanish kingdom of Castile, the siege by Portugal of the Castle of Burgos ends with the commander of the garrison agreeing to surrender within 70 days, "the waiting period decreed by chivalric courtesy" and Queen Isabella enters the city to a welcoming crowd.source
  • 1510Battle of Merv: Shah Ismail I's defeats the Uzbek forces of Shaybani Khan, in Khorasan. Shaybani flees the battle only to be captured and killed by Ismail I troops, his head is turned into a skull cup used as a drinking goblet.source
  • 1569The Catholic army of the Duc d'Anjou inflicts another defeat on the Huguenots of Coligny, successfully besieging Saint-Jean-d'Angély.source
  • 1594The proposal for the Union of Brest (moving the Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Church to the Roman Catholic Church) is made in a petition by the Metropolitan Michael Rohoza in a petition to Sigismund, monarch of Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and Finland. After a similar petition to Pope Clement VIII on June 12, 1595, the Union will be proclaimed on October 8, 1596.source
  • 1611December 2 (Keichō 16, 10th month, 28th day) – The 1611 Sanriku earthquake of 8.1 magnitude strikes off of the coast of Japan and causes a tsunami that kills almost 5,000 people in the northern section of Honshu island.source
  • 1616The Order of the Armed Arm is bestowed for the first and only time, at the great celebrations that took place in Kolding, on the occasion of the enfeoffment of Slesvig to the King's nephew,source
  • 1697The first service is held in St Paul's Cathedral since rebuilding work after the Great Fire of London began.source
  • 1697first service (to celebrate the Treaty of Ryswick) held in St Paul's Cathedral since rebuilding work after the Great Fire of London began.source
  • 1701Humphrey Humphreys is consecrated Bishop of Hereford; he is replaced as Bishop of Bangor in the following year by John Evans.source
  • 1718Georg Heinrich von Görtz is arrested by Frederick of Hesse for supporting Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, the rival of Ulrika Eleonora to the throne.source
  • 1719Workers in Falun Mine, Sweden, find the apparently petrified body of "Fet-Mats" Israelsson (died 1677), in a flooded part of the copper workings.source
  • 1724The Metropolitan Mojsije Petrović, leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church within the Habsburg monarchy, issues a 57-point decree to purge the church of the Turkish influence.source
  • 1729George Frideric Handel's famous opera Lotario is given its first performance, premiering at the King's Theatre in London.source
  • 1742The Pennsylvania Journal first appears in the United States.source
  • 1755The second Eddystone Lighthouse off the coast of England is destroyed by fire.source
  • 1755the second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire.source
  • 1763Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island, is dedicated; by the end of the 20th century, this will be the oldest surviving synagogue in North America.source
  • 1766The Law on the Freedom of Printing abolishes censorship in Sweden and guarantees freedom of the press, making Sweden the first country of the world to introduce constitutional protection of press freedom, and to pass wide-ranging freedom of information legislation.source
  • 1766The law of the Freedom of the press and the public access to public documents is passed.source
  • 1767Future Pennsylvania chief executive John Dickinson begins publishing his revolutionary "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania" in the Pennsylvania Chronicle.source
  • 1776The Swedish Freedom of Print.source
  • 1790Holy Roman Empire forces recapture Brussels, bringing an end to the short-lived United States of Belgium and restoring the Austrian Netherlands.source
  • 1796Two passenger boats, the Camden and the Phelan go into service on the Royal Canal with a fare of 1s-1d (first class cabin) or 6d (second class cabin) from Dublin to Leixlip, a journey of approximately 20km. This contrasts with the stagecoach price at the time, which cost 8s-8d for the same journey.source
  • 1802The Health and Morals of Apprentices Act in the United Kingdom comes into effect, regulating conditions for child labour in factories. Although poorly enforced, it pioneers a series of Factory Acts.source
  • 1802The Health and Morals of Apprentices Act (2 June) comes into effect, regulating conditions for child labour in factories. Although poorly enforced, it pioneers a series of Factory Acts.source
  • 1804Coronation of Napoleon I: At the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, Napoleon crowns himself as the first Emperor of the French in a thousand years. Witnessing this, Simón Bolívar dedicates himself to liberating Venezuela from Spanish rule.source
  • 1804Coronation of Napoleon Isource
  • 1805Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Austerlitz – French troops under Napoleon decisively defeat a joint Russo-Austrian force.source
  • 1805Battle of Austerlitz. A decisive victory for the French army over Austria and Russia.source
  • 1810November 29–December 3 – Invasion of Isle de France: British forces force the French to surrender Isle de France (Mauritius).source
  • 1811Reverend Samuel Marsden sends the first commercial shipment of wool from New South Wales to England.source
  • 1811Reverend Samuel Marsden sent the first commercial shipment of wool from New South Wales to England.source
  • 1816John Oxley allots the first land grants in the Illawarra district.source
  • 1823James Monroe first introduces the Monroe Doctrine in the State of the Union address, declaring that any European attempts to recolonize the Americas would be considered a hostile act towards the United States.source
  • 1845Manifest destiny: U.S. President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the Monroe Doctrine should be strictly enforced, and that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.source
  • 1848Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicates in favour of his nephew, Franz Joseph I, who will serve as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary and Bohemia, until his death in 1916.source
  • 1851In what amounts to a coup d'etat, President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte of France dissolves the French National Assembly, and declares a new constitution to extend his term. A year later he declares himself as Emperor Napoleon III, ending the Second Republic.source
  • 1852Napoleon III becomes Emperor of the French.source
  • 1854The Canterbury Jockey Club is formed, the first club of its kind in New Zealand. It holds its first meeting, at Riccarton Racecourse, in 1855.source
  • 1856The National Portrait Gallery, London, is established.source
  • 1859Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October 16 raid on Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.source
  • 1859John Brown is hanged at Charles Town, West Virginia for his October 16 raid on Harpers Ferry.source
  • 1862The first United States Navy hospital ships enter service.source
  • 1862The first U.S. Navy hospital ships enter service.source
  • 1867In a New York City theater, English author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.source
  • 1876Chugai Economic Daily, predecessor of Nikkei Economic Daily (Nihon Keizai Shinbun), is first issued in Tokyo, Japan.source
  • 1879December 2-28 – the Winter 1879 cold wave freeze Europe with record low temperatures.source
  • 1889The S.S. Alice, the first mechanically powered vessel on the Rotorua Lakes, is launched.source
  • 1898The French Chamber of Deputies declines to endorse the policies of Prime Minister Charles Dupuy, with the vote failing 228 to 243.source
  • 1899During the new moon, a near-grand conjunction of the classical planets and several binocular Solar System bodies occur. The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars and Saturn are all within 15° of each other, with Venus 5° ahead of this conjunction and Jupiter 15° behind.source
  • 1904The St. Petersburg Soviet urges a run on the banks; the attempt fails, and the executive committee is arrested.source
  • 1905Norsk hydro-elektrisk Kvælstofaktieselskab, later known simply as Norsk Hydro, is foundedsource
  • 1905Norsk Hydro, predecessor of Equinor, a state-run energy product and grid brand in Scandinavia, is founded in Norway.source
  • 1907The Victorian Railways A2 class locomotive begins operating in Victoria.source
  • 1908Emperor Puyi ascends the Chinese throne at age 2 in succession to his uncle. He will reign for 3 years, then again for 11 days, and finally for 11 years as a puppet emperor.source
  • 1908Aisin Gioro Puyi ascended the throne at the age of three as the Xuantong Emperor, the twelfth and final ruler of the Qing dynasty.source
  • 1911Australasian Antarctic Expedition sets sail from Hobart.source
  • 1911The Australasian Antarctic Expedition, led by Douglas Mawson, leaves Hobart to begin an expedition to Antarctica.source
  • 1916Sydney Twelve: 12 members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) convicted in Sydney of conspiring to commit arson and sedition.source
  • 1926British prime minister Stanley Baldwin ends the state of emergency that had been declared due to the miners' strike.source
  • 1931The Armed Forces of El Salvador deposed President Araujo in a military coup d'état and established the Civic Directory.source
  • 1933Newfoundland's independence is revoked due to its financial difficulties.source
  • 1935Albert Russell becomes Solicitor General for Scotland, replacing Thomas Mackay Coopersource
  • 1940Transvaal: Germiston to Jupiter, 2 mi 68 ch.source
  • 1942Manhattan Project: Below the bleachers of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction (a coded message, "The Italian navigator has landed in the new world" is then sent to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt).source
  • 1943Fifteen atomic scientists, including Soviet spy Klaus Fuchs, arrive from Britain to join the US atomic research project.source
  • 1943WWII: Bari chemical warfare disaster: A surprise Luftwaffe air raid on Bari, Italy sinks 28 Allied ships in the harbor, including the American Liberty ship SS John Harvey, releasing its secret cargo of mustard gas bombs, inflating the number of casualties.source
  • 1943A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sinks an American ship with a mustard gas stockpile, causing numerous fatalities; the exact death toll is unresolved, as the bombing raid itself causes hundreds of deaths as well.source
  • 1945French banks (Bank of France, BNCI, CNEP, Crédit Lyonnais and Société Générale) are nationalized.source
  • 1946The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling is signed in Washington, D.C., to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry" through establishment of the International Whaling Commission.source
  • 1948The United States House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenas and retrieves the "Pumpkin Papers" from the farm of Whittaker Chambers.source
  • 1950Korean War: The Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River ends with the Chinese People's Volunteer Army expelling United Nations forces from North Korea.source
  • 1953The United Kingdom and Iran reform diplomatic relations.source
  • 1954Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty.source
  • 1954Red Scare: The United States Senate votes 67–22 to censure Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy, for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute."source
  • 1959Malpasset Dam in southern France collapses and water flows over the town of Fréjus, killing 412.source
  • 1959Journalist Antônio Callado from Correio da Manhã publishes a series of reports on the Peasant Leagues of the Northeast.source
  • 1960U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the use of $1.0 million for the relief and resettlement of Cuban refugees, who have been arriving in Florida at the rate of about 1,000 per week.source
  • 1961Cold War: In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro announces he is a Marxist–Leninist, and that Cuba will adopt socialism.source
  • 1961Sven Sømme, zoologist and ichthyologist (born 1904).source
  • 1962Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to make a pessimistic public comment on the war's progress.source
  • 1969The Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its first passenger flight. It carries 191 people, most of them reporters and photographers, from Seattle to New York City.source
  • 1970The United States Environmental Protection Agency is established.source
  • 1970One of Cargolux's two CL-44's crashes in East Pakistan while conducting a humanitarian airlift, killing four crew members and four villagers.source
  • 1971Six of the emirates of the Trucial States form the United Arab Emirates.source
  • 1971The Soviet Mars 3 lander reaches the surface of Mars, transmits for a few seconds and then goes silent. It is the first spacecraft to reach the planet.source
  • 19721972 Australian federal election: The Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam defeats the Liberal/Country Coalition government led by Prime Minister William McMahon. Consequently, Whitlam becomes the first Labor Prime Minister of Australia since the defeat of Ben Chifley in 1949. Whitlam will be sworn in on December 5; his first action using executive power is to withdraw all Australian personnel from the Vietnam War. McMahon resigns from the Liberal leadership almost immediately; he will be replaced by outgoing Treasurer Billy Snedden.source
  • 1972According to Seoul Fire Department official confirmed report, a massibie caught fire in Seoul Citizen Hall (now Sejong Center), Jongno-gu, Seoul, 51 persons were human fatalities, 76 persons were wounded.source
  • 1975In Laos, the Second Indochina War ends, when the communist party of the Pathet Lao takes over Vientiane and defeats the Kingdom of Laos, forcing King Sisavang Vatthana to abdicate and creating the Lao People's Democratic Republic. This ends the Laotian Civil War, with mass evacuation of American troops and Laotian civilians, but effectively begins the Insurgency in Laos with the Pathet Lao fighting the Hmong people, Royalist-in-exile and the Right-wings.source
  • 1975In Laos, the communist party of the Pathet Lao takes over Vientiane and defeats the Kingdom of Laos, forcing King Sisavang Vatthana to abdicate and creating the Lao People's Democratic Republic. This ends the Laotian Civil War, with mass evacuation of American troops and Laotian civilians, but effectively begins the Insurgency in Laos with the Pathet Lao fighting the Hmong people, Royalist-in-exile and the Right-wings. The Insurgency in Laos wouldn't end until March 30, 2022, when the last unorganized resistance against the Lao People's Army was finally put down.source
  • 1979The U.S. Embassy in Tripoli is burned during protests.source
  • 1981The December 1981 Gaza general strike breaks out as part of the protests against the Civil Administration, sparked by the Israeli government's decision to appoint General Yosef Luntz as the head of the Civil Administration in Gaza.source
  • 1982At the University of Utah, 61-year-old retired dentist Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart (he lives for 112 days with the device).source
  • 1983The Church of Latter Day Saints founds its Mexico City Mexico Temple.source
  • 1983Michael Jackson's music video for "Thriller" is broadcast for the first time. It becomes the most often repeated and famous music video of all time, increasing his own popularity and record sales of the album Thriller.source
  • 19841984 Australian federal election: Bob Hawke's Labor government is re-elected with a reduced majority, defeating the Liberal/National Coalition led by Andrew Peacock.source
  • 1988Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state.source
  • 1988A cyclone in Bangladesh leaves 5 million homeless and thousands dead.source
  • 1988The worst cyclone for 20 years strikes Bangladesh. The cyclone eventually leaves 5 million homeless and thousands dead.source
  • 1989The Second Malayan Emergency concludes with a peace agreement. The Malayan Communist Party disbands and Chin Peng remains in exile in Thailand until his death in 2013.source
  • 1989The Solar Maximum Mission scientific research satellite, launched in 1980, crashes back to earth.source
  • 1993STS-61: NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair an optical flaw in the Hubble Space Telescope.source
  • 1993Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is gunned down by police.source
  • 1994The Australian government agrees to pay reparations to indigenous Australians who were displaced during the nuclear tests at Maralinga in the 1950s and 1960s.source
  • 1996The Government announced the building of Terminal 3 in Changi Airport to handle more passengers, with completion initially targeted by 2004. However, several crises have delayed the project, which started operating on 9 January 2008. An airport hotel is also considered for travellers, which is ultimately built as Crowne Plaza Changi Airport.source
  • 2001Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection five days after Dynegy cancels a US$8.4 billion buyout bid (to this point, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history).source
  • 2001Haifa bus 16 suicide bombing: A Hamas militant carries out a suicide bombing in Haifa, Israel, killing 15 people.source
  • 2004EUFOR takes over peacekeeping duties in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the United Nations.source
  • 2004November 29–December 3 – Typhoon Nanmadol kills 775 people in the Philippines.source
  • 2010November 29–December 10 – The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference is held in Cancún, Mexico. Formally referred to as the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 16), it serves too as the 6th meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 6).source
  • 2012Borut Pahor wins the Slovenian presidential election runoffsource
  • 2012November 25–December 9 – Typhoon Bopha, known as "Pablo" in the Philippines, kills at least 1,067 with around 838 people missing. The typhoon causes considerable damage in the island of Mindanao.source
  • 2014Transparency International issues its 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index with Somalia tying with North Korea with the lowest ranking.source
  • 2014The Lebanese government arrests a wife and daughter of ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.source
  • 2015Two gunmen open fire at a workplace in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 before dying themselves in a shootout with police. ISIL claimed responsibility.source
  • 2018December 1–8 – France experiences its worst civil unrest since the protests of 1968 due to the yellow vests movement. Protests in Paris morph into riots, with hundreds of people injured and thousands arrested; over 100 cars are burned, the Arc de Triomphe is vandalized and numerous other tourist sites are closed, both in the capital and elsewhere in the country.source
  • 2019December 2–13 – The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference takes place in Madrid, Spain, after Chilean President Sebastián Piñera announced in October that his country could not host the conference due to political unrest in the country.source
  • 2019Typhoon Kammuri hits the Philippines, causing the evacuation of 200,000 people, but without reports of injuries or serious damage.source
  • 2020Three activists in Hong Kong were jailed for their roles in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, with Joshua Wong getting the heaviest at 13.5 months.source
  • 2022The G7 and Australia join the EU in imposing a cap of $60 a barrel on Russian crude oil, designed to "prevent Russia from profiting from its war of aggression against Ukraine."source
  • 2024Barbados completes the world’s first debt-for-climate resilience swap, freeing $165 million for water, agriculture, and environmental projects.source
  • 2025Yemeni civil war: The Southern Transitional Council launches a large-scale military offensive across Southern Yemen, breaking years of military stalemate in the conflict.source

Births

  • 503Xiao Gang, later Emperor Jianwen of Liang, emperor of the Chinese Liang dynasty (killed 551)source
  • 885Zhuang Zong, emperor of Later Tang (died 926)source
  • 1501Queen Munjeong, Korean queen (died 1565)source
  • 1629Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg, German Catholic cardinal (died 1704)source
  • 1675Johan Abraham Lillie, officer in the Great Northern War, served with distinction in the battles of Helsingborg and Battle of Gadebusch. Was ennobled for his defence of New Älvsborg Fortress against Peter Tordenskjold.source
  • 1694William Shirley, British governor of Massachusetts and then of the Bahamas (died 1771)source
  • 1825Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil (died 1891)source
  • 1825Pedro II of Brazil, Emperor of Brazil from 1831 to 1889 (died 1891).source
  • 1842C. W. Alcock, English footballer, football official (died 1907)source
  • 1889Anita Malfatti, artist (died 1964)source
  • 1923Maria Callas, Greek soprano (died 1977)source
  • 1992Jonathan Sundy Zongo, footballersource
  • 1998Juice Wrld, American rapper and singer (died 2019)source

Deaths

  • 930Ma Yin, Chinese warlord and king (born 853)source
  • 949Odo of Wetterau, German noblemansource
  • 1022Elvira Menéndez, queen of Leónsource
  • 1060Gebhard III, bishop of Regensburgsource
  • 1067Shaykh Tusi, Persian Shia scholar (born 995)source
  • 1071Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Moorish judge (born 978)source
  • 1156William IX, count of Poitiers (born 1153)source
  • 1198Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, High King of Irelandsource
  • 1242Al-Mustansir, Abbasid caliph (born 1192)source
  • 1340Geoffrey le Scrope, Chief Justice of King Edward III of Englandsource
  • 1381John of Ruysbroeck, Flemish mysticsource
  • 1455Isabel of Coimbra, queen of Portugal (born 1432)source
  • 1463Albert VI, Archduke of Austria (born 1418)source
  • 1464Blanche II of Navarre (born 1424)source
  • 1469Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (born 1416)source
  • 1510Muhammad Shaybani, Khan of Bukhara (born 1451)source
  • 1515Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general and statesman (born 1453)source
  • 1547Hernán Cortés, Spanish conquistador of Mexico (born 1485)source
  • 1594Gerardus Mercator, Flemish-German cartographer (born 1512)source
  • 1594Gerardus Mercator (born 1512), cartographersource
  • 1615In the Venetian Republic, Giovanni Bembo is elected chief executive as the new Doge of Venice after the October 31 death of Marcantonio Memmo.source
  • 1694Pierre Puget, French painter, sculptor, architect and engineer (born 1620)source
  • 1723Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, regent of France (born 1674)source
  • 1748Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, English politician (born 1662)source
  • 1810Philipp Otto Runge, German painter (born 1777)source
  • 1814Marquis de Sade, French writer for whom sadism is named (born 1740)source
  • 1849Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen of William IV of the United Kingdom (born 1792)source
  • 1859John Brown, American abolitionist (hanged) (born 1800)source
  • 1860Ferdinand Christian Baur, German theologian (born 1792)source
  • 1863Jane Pierce, 15th First Lady of the United States (born 1806)source
  • 1892Jay Gould, American financier (born 1836)source
  • 1961Dulcie Mary Pillers, English medical illustrator (born 1891)source
  • 1968Adamson-Eric, artist (born 1902)source
  • 1980A missionary (Jean Donovan) and three Roman Catholic nuns (Maura Clarke, Ita Ford, Dorothy Kazel), all Americans, are murdered by a military death squad in El Salvador while doing charity work during that country's civil war.source
  • 1985Philip Larkin, 63, English poet (The Whitsun Weddings, The Less Deceived, High Windows), esophageal cancer.source