December 25 in history

247 sourced entries recorded on December 25, from 36 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

36Wu Han commands the forces of Emperor Guang Wu of the Eastern Han to conquer the separatist Chengjia Empire, reuniting China.source
274Aurelian has the Temple of the Sun dedicated to Sol Invictus, on the third day after the solstice and day of rebirth of the sun. This religion, which is in essence monotheistic, becomes the state religion of Rome.source
333Constantine I elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar at Constantinople.source
336The first celebration of Christmas is recorded.source
350Vetranio meets Constantius II at Naissus (Serbia) and joins forces with him. Vetranio is forced to abdicate his title, and Constantius allows him to live as a private citizen on a state pension.source
432Christmas is celebrated for the first time in Alexandria (approximate date).source
496Clovis I is baptized into the Catholic faith at Rheims, by Saint Remigius. The conversion strengthens the bonds between his Gallo-Roman subjects, led by their Catholic bishops.source
597At Christmas, Christianity spreads rapidly in Kent; Augustine and his fellow-labourers baptise more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.source
604Battle of Ėtampes: Theuderic II, with the aid of Berthoald, defeats the Frankish forces under King Chlothar II of Neustria, at Étampes (near Paris).source
784Tarasios is elected patriarch of Constantinople.source
800Charlemagne, king of the Franks, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III as Charles I, with the title "Emperor of the Romans". The coronation takes place during Mass at the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome, on Christmas Day. The Frankish Empire is formed in Western Europe, which is not recognized by Empress Irene at Constantinople. This triggers a series of disputes with the Byzantines around who is officially ruling the former Western Roman Empire.source
924Stephen Lekapenos and Constantine Lekapenos are promoted to the position of co-Emperors of Byzantium, joining Constantine VII, Romanos I and Christopher, creating a pentarchy with five monarchs.source
983Otto III is crowned at Aachen by Archbishops Willigis of Mainz and John X of Ravenna. The Holy Roman Empire comes under the regency of his mother, Empress consort Theophanu.source
1013Sweyn Forkbeard takes control of the Danelaw and is proclaimed king of England in London. Some of the English provinces refuse to pay homage to Sweyn, who has no dynastic right to claim the throne.source
1025Mieszko II Lambert, son of Bolosław I, is formally crowned as king of Poland by the Archbishop Hippolytus in Gniezno Cathedral.source
1046Pope Clement II succeeds Gregory VI as the 149th pope, and crowns Henry III as Holy Roman Emperor.source
1075Gregory VII is kidnapped in the church during Christmas night in Rome and briefly imprisoned by the Roman nobleman Cencio I Frangipane.source
1096Godfrey of Bouillon is appointed the primary leader of the First Crusade, making it a largely French war in practice and causing the inhabitants of the Holy Land to refer to Europeans generally as "Franks". Godfrey and the other leaders agree to take an oath of loyalty to Alexios I.source
1100Philip I of France elevates his son Louis VI as co-ruler to the government of the realm.source
1100French Crusader Baldwin I is crowned first King of Jerusalem at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, by Daimbert, the new Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, following the death of the previous ruler, Baldwin's brother Godfrey of Bouillon, on July 18.source
1121December 25 (Christmas Day) – The Praemonstratensian Order (Norbertines) is formed, when a group of canons make solemn vows at Prémontré.source
1130Antipope Anacletus crowns Roger II of Sicily king.source
1146Diet of Speyer: King Conrad III takes the cross and secures the election of his 10-year-old son Henry as his successor in Germany.source
1194Henry VI deposes the 8-year-old William III (son of Tancred de Lecce) and is crowned king of Sicily. The next day, Constance I, who stays in the town of Iesi, gives birth to Frederick II, the future emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.source
1222The 1222 Brescia earthquake is so powerful that the inhabitants of Brescia leave their city en masse and camp outside so that falling buildings would not crush them, according to chronicler Salimbene de Adam.source
1252Christopher I of Denmark is crowned King of Denmark, in the Lund Cathedral.source
1307On Christmas Day, the 3-day Battle of Slioch begins in Scotland, with King Robert the Bruce and his men turning back the forces of John Comyn.source
1308Forfar Castle recaptured by Scottish forcessource
1322King James II of Aragon marries for the fourth time during his reign, taking as his bride Elisenda de Montcada, in a ceremony in the Spanish city of Tarragona.source
1324The Shōchū era begins in Japan during the reign of the Emperor Go-Daigo.source
1347The first cases of the plague are recorded in the city of Split, in Croatia.source
1347"At Christmas, Domhnall Ó Ceinnéidigh, son of Phillip, conspired with the Irish of Munster, Connacht, Meath and Leinster, and they burnt and destroyed the town of Nenagh and the whole neighbourhood and all the Ormond castles except the castle of Nenagh." (see also 28 March 1348 and 2 June 1348).source
1356Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, promulgates the Golden Bull, a constitution for his empire.source
1369Frederick the Simple, King of Sicily, issues an order on Christmas Day directing all Jews on the island to wear a red badge identifying their heritage.source
1375Queen Joanna of Naples signs a marriage contract for the fourth time, agreeing to be married to Otto, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen. Queen Joanna's first three husbands (Andrew of Calabria, King Louis I of Naples and the Margrave James IV of Majorca) had all died, in 1345, 1362 and 1375, respectively.source
1376John of Gaunt presents his nephew, Richard of Bordeaux, to the feudatories of the realm and swears to uphold Richard's right to succeed Edward III.source
1384Use of the Spanish era dating system in the Crown of Castile is suppressed.source
1391Jean II Le Maingre is named as the Marshal of France by King Charles V in a ceremony at the cathedral of St. Martin at Tours. Lalande, Denis, Jean II le Meingre, dit Boucicaut: (1366–1421) - étude d'une biographie héroïque, Genève 1988.source
1394Richard defines the borders of English rule in Ireland; later to become known as the English Pale.source
1400In China, the Jingnan campaign of Prince Zhu Di of Yan suffers a serious reversal at the Battle of Dongchang as Imperial General Sheng Yong, replacement of Li Jinglong, encircles the Yan forces. Yan Army General Zhang Yu is killed, but Zhu Di is able to escape to the northern capital at Beijing and regroups his forces for a second attack to take place in February.source
1406John II becomes King of Castile aged 21 months on the death of his father.source
1429Princess Isabella arrives at Sluys in Burgundy after storms have sunk many of the 20 ships that had been in her convoy that had left on October 19 from Portugal. She disembarks the next day to meet Philip.source
1445In northeastern Africa, the Battle of Gomit is fought between the Ethiopian Empire (whose troops are led by the Emperor Zara Yaqob ) and the Adal Sultanate, whose invading army is led by the Sultan Badlay ibn Sa'ad ad-Din. The Sultan charges toward the Emperor, who kills him with his spear. The Adal troops flee and many are killed by the pursuing Ethiopian troops. Badlay's son, Muhammad ibn Badlay, survives and becomes the new Sultan.source
1471The Great Comet of 1472 is first observed from Earth passing in front of the constellation of Virgo. The comet is recorded by astronomers in Korea and by the German astronomers Regiomontanus and Bernhard Walther, and will come within 6.5 million miles of Earth, the closest in recorded history that a great comet approaches. The comet is visible for 59 days, disappearing after March 1.source
1483At Rennes Cathedral in France, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, leader of the House of Lancaster after Richard III of England of the House of York had seized the throne, pledges to marry Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter the late King Edward IV, in order to strengthen his support for the overthrow of King Richard.source
1492Columbus' ship Santa María runs aground off Cap-Haïtien in present day Haiti, and is abandoned. The local chief, Guacanagaríx, allows 39 men of Columbus' crew to remain on the island after his departure.source
1494Second Battle of Acentejo: The Spanish crush the native forces of the island of Tenerife, leading to the subjugation of this last bastion of resistance in the Canary Islands.source
1547Wyndham burns Balmerino Abbey.source
1553Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeat the Spanish conquistadors, and execute Pedro de Valdivia, the first Royal Governor of Chile.source
1559After a conclave of almost four months, Giovanni Angelo Medici is elected as the 224th pope, and takes the name Pope Pius IV.source
1579Protestant French troops, under the command of Matthieu Merle, seized the capital of Gévaudan, Mende.source
1579In France, Protestant French troops under the command of Matthieu Merle, make a surprise attack on the Roman Catholic cathedral in the village of Mende during Mass, and kill 400 civilians.source
1589December 25 (Christmas Day) – The monks of the Pechenga Monastery, the northernmost in the world, are massacred by Swedes, led by a Finnish peasant chief, in the course of the Russo-Swedish War.source
1611Novgorod grants full power to its embassy heading to Stockholm with the objective of bringing back a Swedish prince to rule Novgorod.source
1616Captain Nathaniel Courthope reaches the nutmeg-rich island of Run in the Moluccas, to defend it against the Dutch East India Company. A contract with the inhabitants, accepting James I of England as their sovereign, makes it part of the English colonial empire.source
1616"Father Christmas" is a main character of Christmas, His Masque, written by Ben Jonson and presented at the court of King James I of England. Father Christmas is considered a papist symbol by Puritans, and later banished from England until the English Restoration. The traditional, comical costume for this jolly figure, as well as regional names, indicate that he is descended from the presenter of the medieval Feast of Fools.source
1638Capture of Baghdad by the Ottomans under Sultan Murad IV.source
1643Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean is sighted and named by Captain William Mynors of the British East India Company ship Royal Mary.source
1643Christmas Island is sighted and named by Captain William Mynors of the English East India Company's ship Royal Mary.source
1644Christmas falls on a date set aside for fasting by Parliament, whose supporters are enjoined to observe the fast.source
1645Christmas, being omitted from the Directory of Public Worship is not officially observed under Parliamentarian rule.source
1646scuffles in Bury St Edmunds over the celebration of Christmas.source
1647rioting in Canterbury and elsewhere over the celebration of Christmas.source
1650Thomas Cooper, former Usher of Gresham's School, England, is hanged as a Royalist rebel.source
1654An English Navy fleet of 17 warships and 20 transports, carrying 325 cannons, 1,145 seamen, and 1,830 troops, under the command of Admiral William Penn departs from Portsmouth to begin Oliver Cromwell's planned surprise attack on Spain's colonies in the New World.source
1656The pendulum clock is invented by Christiaan Huygens, so accurate that it only loses 10 seconds per day. Huygens will mention the date in a letter to Ismail Boulliau a year later.source
1658Polish and Danish forces defeat a Swedish Army in the Battle of Kolding in Denmark.source
1683George Ducas, the Prince of Moldavia installed by the Ottomans in 1678, is arrested by Polish authorities while on his way back to Bucharest from the defeat by Poland in the Battle of Vienna. Ducas is replaced by Ștefan Petriceicu.source
1700First Christmas hymn authorised to be sung in the Anglican church, "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks", the words by Nahum Tate having been first published this year, in a supplement to "Tate and Brady".source
1704The fall of the meteorite of Barcelona is seen and heard over distances up to hundreds of kilometres and is interpreted as a divine sign.source
1709From London, ten ships leave for the New York Colony carrying over 4,000 people.source
1709ten ships leave for the New York Colony from London carrying over 4,000 people.source
1711The rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral in London to a design by Sir Christopher Wren is declared complete by Parliament; Old St Paul's had been destroyed by the 1666 Great Fire of London.source
1717December 24–25 – Christmas flood: A disastrous flood hits the North Sea coast, between the Netherlands and Denmark; thousands die or lose their houses.source
1717The Christmas Flood of 1717 affects the west coast of Sønderjylland.source
1724J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91, in Leipzig, based on Luther's 1524 Christmas hymn.source
1725J. S. Bach leads the first performance of the Christmas cantata Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, BWV 110, making laughter audible in singing.source
1728William Burnet, the British Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay since July 19, is appointed by King George II to be the Governor of the Province of New Hampshire as well, governing both future U.S. states simultaneously until September 7. Up until July, Burnet had been Governor of both New York and New Jersey since 1720.source
1733The Molasses Act goes into full effect.source
1739February 1740 – the 'Great Frost': unusually harsh winter in southern England and Ireland.source
1741Anders Celsius develops his own thermometer scale, Centigrade, the predecessor of the Celsius scale.source
1745The Treaty of Dresden gives Prussia full possession of Silesia.source
1750Prussia and Russia break off diplomatic relations after the Russians refuse to stop assisting the Electorate of Saxony. Five years later, the two Empires fight the Seven Years' War.source
1758Halley's Comet is sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch, confirming Edmund Halley's 1705 prediction of its periodicity.source
1762Francis Baring is released from his apprenticeship and with his brothers forms the partnership in London that becomes Barings Bank.source
1766Mapuches in Chile launch a series of surprise attacks against the Spanish starting the Mapuche uprising of 1766.source
1776American Revolution: George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River – At 6 p.m. Gen. George Washington and his troops, numbering 2,400, march to McConkey's Ferry, cross the Delaware River and land on the New Jersey bank by 3 a.m. the following morning.source
1779Fort Nashborough (later to become Nashville, Tennessee) is founded by James Robertson.source
1784The Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States is officially formed at the "Christmas Conference", led by Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury.source
1784The Methodist Episcopal Church is officially formed at the so-called "Christmas Conference" led by Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury.source
1786Plymouth ironworks is leased to Richard Hill.source
1799HMS Ethalion is wrecked off the Penmarks.source
1800The Armistice of Steyr is signed between French and Imperial forces in Germany, ending active hostilities of the War of the Second Coalition in Germany.source
1806Stotfield fishing disaster: all 21 able-bodied men of the village of Stotfield are drowned when all three of their fishing boats are overwhelmed by a storm in the Moray Firth.source
1809American physician Ephraim McDowell performs the first ovariotomy, removing a 22-pound tumor.source
1813William Debenham joins Thomas Clark in a partnership to manage a draper's store in London, origin of the Debenhams business which will run department stores until 2020.source
1814Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society preaches the first sermon in New Zealand, probably in the Māori language, at Oihi.source
1814Marsden preaches the first sermon in New Zealand.source
1815The Handel and Haydn Society, the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance, in Boston.source
1815Thomas Hansen Jnr marries Elizabeth Tollis in Sydney. (see also 1816 & 1817)source
1815The Handel and Haydn Society, the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the U.S., gives its first performance, at the King's Chapel in Boston.source
1826Major Edmund Lockyer arrives at King George Sound to take possession of the western part of Australia, establishing a settlement near Albany.source
1826Major Edmund Lockyer arrives at King George Sound to take possession of the western part of the continent, establishing a settlement near Albany.source
1826The Eggnog Riot breaks out at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York during the early morning hours.source
1831John Guard Junior baptised in Sydney. (see above)source
1848Hungarian forces, led by Józef Bem, enter Kolozsvár (Cluj), after defeating the Austrian armies in northern Transylvania.source
1868U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War rebels.source
1871Reading F.C. is formed as an Association football club in England.source
1875The first Edinburgh derby in Association football is played: Heart of Midlothian F.C. wins 1–0 against Hibernian F.C.source
1878Stella Maris Church, Sliema on Malta becomes a parish, seceding from the Parish of St. Helen's in Birkirkara.source
1880Pope Leo XIII issues a breve to establish a new chair in Thomist philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain.source
1881December 25–27 – The Warsaw pogrom is carried out in Vistula Land, Russian Empire.source
1881Catholic religious congregation Mothers of the Forsaken and Saint Joseph of the Mountain is founded by Blessed Petra of Saint Joseph.source
1886great snow storm in London.source
1887Glenfiddich single malt Scotch whisky is first produced.source
1894Julius Nicolai Jacobsen, businessperson and politician (born 1829)source
1896John Philip Sousa composes The Stars and Stripes Forever which will become the national march of the United States.source
1898Penny postage goes into effect throughout the British Empire, setting the cost of mailing a letter to most British colonies at one pence. Rates remain the same for mail to Australia, New Zealand and the Cape Colony.source
1899The 6.7 Mw San Jacinto earthquake shook the Inland Empire area of Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), causing six deaths and $50,000 in damage.source
1907Kristian Johansson, ski jumper and World Championsource
1915Establishment of Varzim S.C.source
1916The law transferring the Romanian Treasure to Moscow for safekeeping is passed. The Treasure would never entirely return to Romania.source
1917Jesse Lynch Williams's Why Marry?, the first play to win a Pulitzer Prize, opens at the Astor Theatre, New York City.source
1918Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten, is formed in Germany as a nationalist veterans' organization.source
1919Cliftonhill Stadium in Coatbridge, Scotland, opens as the home of Albion Rovers F.C. They lose the opening match 2–0 to St Mirren.source
1920The Rosicrucian Fellowship's spiritual healing temple The Ecclesia is dedicated at Mount Ecclesia, Oceanside, California.source
1922a 6.4 magnitude earthquake strikes Motunau on Christmas day, causing widespread damage in North Canterbury and Christchurchsource
1925IG Farben is formed by the merger of six chemical companies in Germany.source
1931Norte Grande insurrectionsource
1932IG Farben files a patent application in Germany for the medical application of the first sulfonamide oral antibiotic, which will be marketed as Prontosil, following Gerhard Domagk's laboratory demonstration of its properties as an antibiotic.source
1932King George V delivers the first Royal Christmas Message on the new BBC Empire Service radio from Sandringham House; the text has been written by Rudyard Kipling.source
1932A patent is filed for Prontosil, an antibacterial drug discovered in Wuppertal.source
1932The 7.6 Ms Changma earthquake shakes the Gansu Province in China with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Two-hundred and seventy-five people are killed.source
1934dedication of the permanent St Columba's Cathedral at Oban, Mother Church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Argyll and the Isles.source
1937At the age of 70, conductor Arturo Toscanini conducts the NBC Symphony Orchestra on radio for the first time, beginning his successful 17-year tenure with that orchestra. This first concert consists of music by Vivaldi (at a time when he is seldom played), Mozart, and Brahms. Millions tune in to listen, including U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.source
1940The German cruiser Admiral Hipper attacks a British shipping convoy (WS 5A) en route to Sierra Leone 700 miles (1,100 km) west of Cape Finisterre in Spain. Admiral Hipper sinks one ship but has to withdraw with engine trouble.source
1941Admiral Émile Muselier seizes the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon off Newfoundland, the first part of France to be liberated by the Free French Forces.source
1946The first artificial, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in Europe is initiated, within the Soviet (Russian) nuclear reactor F-1.source
1953The Amami Islands are returned to Japan, after 8 years of United States military occupation.source
1962Thai-language tabloid newspaper Thairath is foundedsource
1965The Yemeni Nasserist Unionist People's Organisation is founded in Ta'izz.source
1970ETA releases Eugen Beihl in Spain.source
1971Daeyeonggak Hotel fire: A fire at a 22-story hotel in Seoul, South Korea, kills 158 people.source
1971Daeyeonggak Hotel fire, according to official confirmed report, 164 fatalities in Jung-gu, Seoul.source
1974December 24–25 – Darwin, Australia is almost completely destroyed by Cyclone Tracy.source
1978Vietnam launches a major offensive against the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia.source
1984Soviet premier Nikolai Tikhonov arrives in Ankara for official visit.source
1989Bank of Japan governors announce a major interest rate hike, eventually leading to the peak and fall of the economic bubble.source
1989Trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu: Deposed Romanian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife are summarily tried and executed outside Bucharest.source
1989Romanian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife are captured and executed in the Romanian revolution.source
1990Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is commissioned.source
1996At least 283 migrants drown in the sinking of F174 near Capo Passero (Sicily).source
1997Hussein Mohamed Aidid and Former President Ali Mahdi Mohamed sign a power sharing pact to discuss forming Somalia's first central government for six years in the next two months.source
1999Hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 lands in Afghanistan at the Kandahar Airport.source
2000The Luoyang Christmas fire at a shopping center in China kills 309 people.source
2005An express train bound for the city of Niigata, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, is derailed by strong winds in Shonai, Yamagata Prefecture. Five people are killed and at least 33 injured.source
2008The finalists of the Korean Astronaut Program are selected.source
2009A Nigerian terrorist plotted an attempted terrorist bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 en route from Amsterdam to Detroit.source
2009Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, an Islamic extremist, attempted to bomb the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 while it was travelling from Amsterdam to Detroit.source
2016Ten thousand households within Southwest Finland go without power for an hour after an equipment failure at grid operator Fingrid's hub in the town of Uusikaupunki.source
20162016 Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 crash: A Tupolev Tu-154 jetliner of the Russian Defence Ministry crashes into the Black Sea shortly after taking off from Sochi International Airport, Russia, while en route to Khmeimim Air Base, Syria. All 92 people on board, including 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble choir of the Russian Armed Forces, are killed.source
2021NASA, ESA, the Canadian Space Agency and the Space Telescope Science Institute launch the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope.source
2022December 21–December 26 – A major winter storm hits the northern United States and southern Canada. Killing at least 91 people, the storm also severely disrupts North American air traffic, with Southwest Airlines alone canceling more than half of its schedule.source
2024Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243, an Embraer ERJ-190AR, crashes in Kazakhstan. Twenty-nine out of the 67 on board survive the crash.source
2025The United States, in cooperation with the Nigerian government, initiates a series of airstrikes targeting Islamic State-affiliated militants operating in the country's Sokoto State. US President Donald Trump states that rising extremist violence against Christians is a primary reason for the strikes.source

Births

1250John IV Doukas Laskaris, emperor of Nicaea (died 1305)source
1281Alice de Lacy, English noblewoman (died 1348)source
1400John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (died 1487)source
1424Margaret Stewart, Dauphine of France (died 1445)source
1458Amago Tsunehisa, Japanese warlord (died 1541)source
1463Johann of Schwarzenberg, German judge and poet (died 1528)source
1490Francesco Marinoni, Italian Roman Catholic priest (died 1562)source
1493Antoinette of Bourbon, French noblewoman (died 1583)source
1505Christine of Saxony, German noble (died 1549)source
1577Noël Brûlart de Sillery, French diplomat (d.1640).source
1583Orlando Gibbons, English composer (died 1625)source
1584Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain (died 1611)source
1585Christian, Count of Waldeck-Wildungen (1588–1637) (died 1637)source
1601Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha (1640–1675) and Saxe-Altenburg (1672–1675) (died 1675)source
1624Angelus Silesius, German writer (died 1677)source
1642December 25 (O.S.) – Sir Isaac Newton, English scientist (died 1727)source
1642Isaac Newton, mathematician and physicist (died 1727)source
1652Archibald Pitcairne, Scottish physician (died 1713)source
1665Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish songwriter (died 1746)source
1667Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal and Munster (died 1743)source
1674Thomas Halyburton, Scottish theologian (died 1712)source
1696Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar, composer (died 1715)source
1716Johann Jakob Reiske, German scholar (died 1774)source
1719George Campbell, figure of the Scottish Enlightenment (died 1796)source
1724John Michell, English scientist and geologist (died 1793)source
1730Filippo Mazzei, Italian physician, friend of Thomas Jefferson (died 1816)source
1749Samuel Jackson Pratt (known as Courtney Melmoth), English writer, poet and actor (died 1814)source
1762Michael Kelly, Irish composer and singer (died 1826)source
1766Christmas Evans, preacher (died 1838)source
1821Clara Barton, first president of American Red Cross (died 1912)source
1876Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder, first governor general of Pakistan (official birthday; d. 1948)source
1899Humphrey Bogart, American actor (died 1957)source
1918Anwar Sadat, 3rd President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 1981)source
1924Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 10th Prime Minister of India (died 2018)source
1924Rod Serling, American television screenwriter (The Twilight Zone) (died 1975)source
1949Nawaz Sharif, Pakistani prime ministersource
1949Nawaz Sharif, former prime ministersource
1961Ghislaine Maxwell, British socialitesource
1971Justin Trudeau, 23rd Prime Minister of Canadasource

Deaths

304Saint Anastasia of Sirmium (martyred by beheading)source
795Adrian I, pope of the Catholic Church (born 700)source
795Pope Adrian I, age 95, dies after a 23-year reign, and is succeeded by Leo III as the 96th pope of Rome.source
820Emperor Leo V (the Armenian) is assassinated by conspirators in the Hagia Sophia, at Constantinople. Though unarmed, he fights back fiercely but dies of his wounds. He is succeeded by Michael II, the commander of the palace guard (excubitores). Leo's family (including his mother and his wife Theodosia) are exiled to monasteries in Princes' Islands.source
936Zhang Jingda, general of Later Tangsource
940Makan ibn Kaki, Daylamite warlordsource
1009Bernard William, French noblemansource
1086Judith of Bohemia, duchess of Polandsource
1147Guy II, French noblemansource
1156Sverker I (the Elder), king of Swedensource
1156King Sverker I (the Elder) is murdered on his way to church. He is succeeded by his rival, Eric IX (the Holy), as ruler of Sweden.source
1156Peter the Venerable, French monk and abbotsource
1179Roger de Bailleul, French monk and abbotsource
1199Helena of Hungary, duchess of Austriasource
1229Herman II, Lord of Lippe, German nobleman and knight (born 1175)source
1231Folquet de Marselha, French bishopsource
1283Manuel of Castile, Spanish nobleman (born 1234)source
1294Mestwin II, Duke of Pomeraniasource
1306Jacopone da Todi, Italian monk and mystic (born 1230)source
1395Elisabeth, Countess of Neuchâtel, Swiss rulersource
1406King Henry III of Castile (born 1379)source
1553Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador (born 1497)source
1627Vincenzo II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, dies of poor health at the age of 33. Charles I Gonzaga becomes the Duke over the objections of Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy, leading to the War of the Mantuan Succession.source
1634Lettice Knollys, English noblewoman (born 1543)source
1634Count Walter Butler, Irish immigrant living in Germany (born 1600s)source
1635Samuel de Champlain, French explorer and founder of Quebec (born c.1567)source
1639John Christian of Brieg, Duke of Brzeg (born 1591)source
1650Thomas Cooper, former Usher of Gresham's School and Royalist, hangedsource
1676Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of England (born 1609)source
1676William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, English soldier, politician and writer (born 1592)source
1676Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice (born 1609)source
1683Kara Mustafa Pasha, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire since 1676, is executed on orders of Sultan Mehmed IV after being blamed for the Ottoman loss of the Battle of Vienna on September 12. The execution is carried out in Belgrade as Kara Mustafa is strangled with a silk cord. The Sultan appoints Bayburtlu Kara Ibrahim Pasha as the new Grand Vizier.source
1705In Munich, capital of Bavaria, 1,100 militiamen from the Oberland are killed during the Sendlinger Mordweihnacht after a failed attempt to break through several gates and capture a depot to seize better weaponry; many men are slaughtered by German federal infantry and Hungarian Hussars, despite their capitulation to Austrian officers.source
1717Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers, English peer and courtier (born 1650)source
1753Godolphin Arabian, Yemeni-foaled English thoroughbred stallion (born c. 1724)source
1820Joseph Fouché, French statesman (born 1759)source
1926Emperor Taishō dies and is succeeded by his eldest son, Hirohito who becomes 124th Emperor. This event marks the end of the Taishō period and the beginning of the Shōwa period. Hirohito, Emperor Shōwa reigned as Emperor of Japan until his death in 1989.source
1963Tristan Tzara, French poet (born 1896)source
1972C. Rajagopalachari, Indian politician and freedom-fighter. Last Governor-General of India (1948–50) (born 1878)source
1973İsmet İnönü, Turkish general and statesman, 3-time Prime Minister of Turkey and 2nd President of Turkey during World War II (born 1884)source
1989Nicolae Ceaușescu, 71, presidentsource
2006James Brown, 73, American Hall of Fame soul singer ("Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)", "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"), heart failure.source
2016George Michael, 53, British singer (Wham!) and songwriter ("Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Careless Whisper", "Faith"), Grammy winner (1987, 1989), cardiomyopathy.source