/year

December 6 in history

227 sourced entries recorded on December 6, from 343 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 963Pope Leo VIII is appointed to the office of Protonotary and begins his papacy as antipope of Rome – a reign with the concurrently deposed John XII.source
  • 1060Béla I ("the Champion") is crowned king of Hungary after his nephew, Solomon is deprived of the crown. He is supported by Duke Bolesław II the Generous – who helps him (with Polish troops) to obtain the Hungarian throne.source
  • 1067A fire, the second in as many years, heavily damages Canterbury Cathedral in England.source
  • 1203King John abandons the lands that have been held by the Dukes of Normandy for over a hundred years and returns to England. Only two castles hold out against the French forces – they are Chinon Castle, controlled by Hubert de Burgh and Loches Castle.source
  • 1216Prince Louis of France takes Hertford Castle. He allows the defending knights to leave with their horses and weapons.source
  • 1301In Spain, Ferdinand IV of Castile reaches the age of 16 and is proclaimed of the age of majority to be crowned as King of Castile and as King of León. Ferdinand IV had become the nominal monarch at age 9, under the regency of his mother, María de Molina.source
  • 1306The monetary policy of King Philip IV of France triggers a revolt in Paris. The provost's house is burned, and King Philip the Fair has to flee to the fortress of the Temple.source
  • 1330The British Isles are hit by a great storm, creating large areas of sand dunes on Anglesey.source
  • 1344Five-year-old Erik Magnusson, the eldest son of King Magnus IV of Sweden, is appointed heir to the Swedish throne, even though Sweden is an elective monarchy at this time.source
  • 1370Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, leads a siege of Moscow itself, the capital of the Grand Principality, and his forces burn and pillage the city as Moscow's Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy retreats to the safety of the Kremlin. Donskoy's allies, his cousin Vladimir the Bold of Serpukhov and Prince Vladimir Dmitrievich Yaroslavich of Pronsk, come to Moscow's aid.source
  • 1380The English parliament adjourns and King Richard II gives royal assent to laws passed during the 31 day session, including an act providing that "All vessels of wine, honey, and oil brought into this realm shall be gauged" and a general pardon of "escapes and felons and clerks convict."source
  • 1394The astronomical clock of St. Nicholas Church in Stralsund is finished and signed by Nikolaus Lilienfeld.source
  • 1405King Zsigmond of Hungary marries for the second time, in a wedding to Barbara of Cilli.source
  • 1437King Henry VI reaches the age of majority on his 16th birthday and is deemed ready to rule the Kingdom of England in his own right.source
  • 1471John Foxal appointed Archbishop of Armagh following death of John Bolesource
  • 1491King Charles VIII of France marries the Duchess Anne of Brittany, forcing her to break her marriage contract with Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, and incorporating the Duchy of Brittany into the kingdom of France.source
  • 1491King Charles VIII marries Anne of Britany, securing the duchy of Britany under French control.source
  • 1517Bona Sforza of Italy, daughter of the late Duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo Sforza, marries King Sigismund of Poland by proxy at Naples, then begins a three month journey to Kraków to assume the throne.source
  • 1519The Magellan expedition reaches the South American coast.source
  • 1523Setting off from the Mexican Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan with an army of 550 Spanish soldiers and 120 horses, Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras begins the Spanish conquest of Guatemala.source
  • 1527Pope Clement VII, held prisoner at the Castel Sant'Angelo since the sack of Rome in May, is released after seven months of captivity, along with 16 Roman Catholic cardinals.source
  • 1534Over 200 Spanish settlers, led by conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar, found what becomes Quito, Ecuador.source
  • 1547The Battle of Perlis River is fought between the Portuguese Navy and the navy of the Aceh Sultanate (now a province of Indonesia) at the Perlis River in Malaysia. With nine light warships and 230 soldiers, the Portuguese sink or capture 45 of the 60 ships of Aceh vessel leave 4,000 of their 5,380 soldiers dead or missing.source
  • 1560Charles IX of France succeeds his elder brother, Francis II, at the age of ten.source
  • 1569The Kanbara castle, held by the Hōjō clan in what becomes the Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan falls after a siege by Takeda Katsuyori of the Takeda clan. Hōjō Ujinobu, who had 1,000 men defending, commits suicide after the defeat.source
  • 1576Representatives of France's three estates convene at the Estates General of 1576 in Blois at the invitation of King Henri III. Of the 383 delegates, the 187 of the Third Estate (commoners) narrowly vote in favor of outlawing Protestantism and expelling Protestant pastors from the kingdom, while the 110 of the First Estate (clergy) and 86 of the Second Estate (the nobility) strongly oppose ending hostility in the name of religious tolerance.source
  • 1593The Battle of Dryfe Sands takes place in Scotland at Annandale, between rival clans as John Maxwell leads Clan Maxwell, aided by Clan Grierson and Clan Pollock, in an invasion of the lands of Clan Johnstone, led by Sir James Johnstone. With their defense aided by Clan Scott and Clan Graham, the Johnstone clan wins the battle, but only 160 of the 600 defenders survive the fight.source
  • 1597Queen Elizabeth of England appoints George Nicholson as the English Resident in Scotland, the London's chief diplomatic official to Edinburgh, with a letter of accreditation for Nicholson to present to King James VI of Scotland.source
  • 1601The Battle of Castlehaven is fought off of the coast of southern Ireland as six Spanish Navy ships led by General Pedro de Zubiaur are intercepted by an English fleet of four warships led and commanded by Sir Richard Levenson. Two of the Spanish ships are sunk, and the other four are run aground.source
  • 1601The Battle of Castlehaven is fought off the south coast of Ireland as six Spanish navy ships led by General Pedro de Zubiaur are intercepted by an English fleet of four warships led and commanded by Sir Richard Levenson. Two of the Spanish ships are sunk and the other four are run aground.source
  • 1605In England, Thomas Bonham petitions to become a member of the College of Physicians in order for his practice to be legal, and is rejected. Dr. Bonham continues to practice, and is eventually imprisoned on November 13, 1606, leading to the landmark decision in Dr. Bonham's Case in 1610.source
  • 1615In England, John Winthrop, later governor of the future Massachusetts Bay Colony, marries his second wife (of four), Thomasine Clopton, daughter of William Clopton of Castleins, near Groton, Suffolk.source
  • 1632Indians wipe out a new Dutch settlement of Swanadael in New Netherland.source
  • 1648Pride's Purge: Troops of the New Model Army under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride (and under the orders of General Ireton) arrest or exclude Presbyterian members of the Long Parliament who are not supporters of the Army's Grandees or Independents, creating the Rump Parliament which on 13 December annuls the Treaty of Newport.source
  • 1648"Pride's Purge" in England: Elements of the New Model Army, under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell invade London and expel a majority of the Long Parliament, resulting in the creation of the Rump Parliament.source
  • 1649The Scottish defenders of Ireland are defeated by Cromwell's forces in the Battle of Lisnagarvey in County Antrim, with 1,500 Scots killed or captured, and New Model Army battalion of Colonel Robert Venables suffering minimal losses. The battle ends the Scottish presence in Ireland and settlers are expelled from the island in the days that follow.source
  • 1649Battle of Lisnagarvey – a Scottish Covenanter force is routed by the English Parliamentarian New Model Army.source
  • 1656The Treaty of Radnot is signed between Sweden, the Electorate of Brandenburg, Transylvania (now Romania), and two rebels groups within Poland on how to divide the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the event of a victory in the Second Northern War.source
  • 1668The Order of the Jesuati, founded in 1360 by Giovanni Colombini, is abolished by Pope Clement IX.source
  • 1691During the Morean War, Captain Luca Dalla Rocca of Naples betrays Venice by surrendering the fortress of Gramvousa, on the island of Crete to the Ottoman Turks, in return for a large amount of money and sanctuary in Istanbul.source
  • 1694Thomas Tenison is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.source
  • 1695A total eclipse of the sun is visible across the Middle East and western Asia.source
  • 1704Battle of Chamkaur: During the Mughal-Sikh Wars, an outnumbered Sikh Khalsa defeats a Mughal army.source
  • 1717Colley Cibber's play The Non-Juror premieres at Drury Lane. Strongly anti-Jacobite, it is a popular success.source
  • 1718Following the death of Charles XII on November 30, his sister Ulrika Eleonora proclaims herself Queen regnant of Sweden, as the news of her brother's death reaches Stockholm.source
  • 1735The second successful appendectomy is performed by naturalised British surgeon Claudius Aymand at St George's Hospital in London (the first was in 1731).source
  • 1735the second successful appendectomy is performed by naturalised French-born surgeon Claudius Aymand at St George's Hospital in London (the first was in 1731).source
  • 17416 December (N.S.) / 25 November (O.S.) – Elizabeth Petrovna stages a bloodless coup with the Preobrazhensky Regiment, deposes Ivan VI and Anna Leopoldovna, and is proclaimed Empress of Russia.source
  • 1741December 6 (November 25, O.S.) – Elizabeth of Russia becomes czarina after a palace coup.source
  • 1744first performance of Handel's Irish-premiered oratorio Messiah in Cork, at St. Finbarr's Cathedral.source
  • 1745Jacobite rising: Jacobite forces decide to retreat to Scotland.source
  • 1757Seven Years' War – Battle of Leuthen: Frederick defeats Prince Charles's Austrian army.source
  • 1757In Buddhist tradition, Jigme Lingpa discovers the Longchen Nyingthig terma through a meditative vision, which brings him to Boudhanath. The Longchen Nyingtig is a popular cycle of teachings in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.source
  • 1759The Germantown Union School (later called Germantown Academy), America's oldest nonsectarian day school, is founded.source
  • 1760The siege of Pondicherry, a stronghold of France in India, is begun by British Army Lieutenant General Eyre Coote. The French commander, General Thomas Lally, is finally forced to surrender Pondicherry to the British on January 15, 1761.source
  • 1765The Penrhyn estate comes into the possession of the Pennant family, through the marriage of Richard Pennant with the heiress of the Warburton family.source
  • 1774Empress Maria Theresa, the ruler of Austria, Hungary and Croatia, signs the General School Ordinance providing for education for both males and females and setting compulsory education for children aged six through 12.source
  • 1776The General Assembly of Virginia votes to create Kentucky County as the portion of the colony's Fincastle County that is located west of the Cumberland Mountains.source
  • 1788Russo-Turkish War (1787–92): The Ottoman fortress of Ochakiv falls to the Russians after a prolonged siege, and a murderous storm with a temperature of -23 °C.source
  • 1790The United States Congress opens its first session in the new temporary U.S. capital in Philadelphia.source
  • 1798General Joubert of the Piedmontese Republic occupies the Sardinian capital of Turin.source
  • 1807December 5–11 – Napoleonic Wars: Raid on Griessie – A British Royal Navy squadron attacks the Dutch port of Griessie on Java in the Dutch East Indies, eliminating the last Dutch naval force in the Pacific and concluding the Java campaign of 1806–1807.source
  • 1817Joseph Tregelles Price advertises Neath Abbey ironworks for sale.source
  • 1821The South Orkney Islands are discovered by seal hunters George Powell and Nathaniel Palmer.source
  • 1839The Whig Party (United States), at its first ever national convention, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, nominates former U.S. Army General William Henry Harrison to be its candidate for President of the United States in the 1840 election. Although Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky has received 103 of the 128 necessary votes on the first ballot, he obtains only 90 on the final vote, while Harrison gets 148. Former U.S. Senator John Tyler is unanimously nominated for vice president.source
  • 1848The Austrian imperial army, led by Franz Schlik, attacks Hungary.source
  • 1851Trial of Hélène Jégado begins; she is eventually sentenced to death and executed by guillotine.source
  • 1853Taiping Rebellion: French minister de Bourboulon arrives at the Heavenly Capital, aboard the Cassini.source
  • 1863C.S.A.C. Fides Quadrat Intellectum, the First Reformed student society, is founded at the Theologische Universiteit Kampen (Broederweg), in Kampen, the Netherlands.source
  • 1868Paraguayan War – Battle of Ytororó or Itororó: Field-Marshal Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias, leads 13,000 Brazilian troops against a Paraguayan fortified position of 5,000 troops.source
  • 1875The German emigrant ship SS Deutschland runs aground off the English coast, killing 157 passengers and crew.source
  • 1875A firedamp explosion at kills 143 miners at the Swaithe Main Colliery in the South Yorkshire Coalfield of England.source
  • 1875German emigrant ship SS Deutschland (built in Scotland 1866) runs aground on Kentish Knock resulting in the death of 157 passengers and crew and inspiring Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem The Wreck of the Deutschland.source
  • 1875A firedamp explosion at Swaithe Main Colliery in the South Yorkshire Coalfield results in the death of 143 miners.source
  • 1876The first cremation in the U.S. takes place in a crematory built by Francis Julius LeMoyne.source
  • 1876The first cremation in the United States takes place, in a crematory built by Francis Julius LeMoyne at North Franklin Township, Pennsylvania.source
  • 1878The Phonograph is introduced in Swedensource
  • 1882A transit of Venus, the last until 2004, occurs.source
  • 1882A rare transit of Venus across the disc of the Sun is visible from Australia, and many scientific parties arrive from around the world to observe and record the transit. The next occurrence was June 2004.source
  • 1883Steamer Plantyn abandoned in the North Atlantic after being damaged in a storm.source
  • 1884Representation of the People Act ("Third Reform Act") extends the franchise uniformly across the U.K. to all male tenants paying a £10 rental or occupying land to that value, and restricts multiple voting; this increases the Irish electorate from 126,000 to 738,000.source
  • 1884The Third Reform Act widens the adult male electorate in the United Kingdom to around 60%.source
  • 1884The Washington Monument is completed in Washington, D.C., becoming the tallest structure in the world at this date.source
  • 1892Giolitti's Treasury Minister, Bernardino Grimaldi, and Agriculture Minister, Pietro Lacava, introduce a bill aimed at providing the existing banks the right to issue currency for another six years. The close friendship of Grimaldi with the governor of the Banca Romana, Bernardo Tanlongo, increased suspicion of wrongdoing in Banca Romana scandal.source
  • 1894Kate Chopin's feminist short story "The Story of an Hour" is first published, in the American magazine Vogue.source
  • 1904Theodore Roosevelt announces his "Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States will intervene in the Western Hemisphere should Latin American governments prove incapable or unstable.source
  • 1906The Transvaal Colony is granted responsible self-government by Britain.source
  • 1907Monongah Mining disaster: A coal mine explosion kills 362 workers in Monongah, West Virginia.source
  • 1912The Nefertiti Bust was found at Amarna by the German Oriental Company (Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft – DOG), led by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt.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
  • 1917The Senate of Finland officially declares the country's independence from Russia.source
  • 1917Finnish Declaration of Independence: Finland declares its independence from the Russian Empire following the Bolsheviks taking power.source
  • 1917Halifax Explosion: Two freighters collide in Halifax Harbour at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and cause a huge explosion that kills at least 1,963 people, injures 9,000 and destroys part of the city (the biggest man-made explosion in recorded history until the Trinity nuclear test in 1945).source
  • 1917WWI: U.S. Navy destroyer USS Jacob Jones is torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean south west of the British Isles by German submarine SMU U-53, killing 66 crew in the first significant American naval loss of the war, the first ever U.S. destroyer loss to an enemy.source
  • 1917Halifax Explosion kills 1,900 people and injures 9,000. The largest ever man-made explosion pre-Hiroshima atomic bomb.source
  • 1918A magnitude (M w ) 7.2 earthquake shakes British Columbia.source
  • 1920The Histadrut is established in Haifa to look after the interests of Jewish workers.source
  • 1921The Anglo-Irish Treaty establishing the Irish Free State, an independent nation incorporating 26 of Ireland's 32 counties, is signed in London.source
  • 1921Agnes Macphail becomes the first woman to be elected to the Canadian Parliament.source
  • 1921British and Irish negotiators sign the Anglo-Irish Treaty in London giving independence to the Irish Free State.source
  • 1922The Irish Free State officially comes into existence. George V becomes the Free State's monarch. Tim Healy is appointed first Governor-General of the Irish Free State, and W. T. Cosgrave becomes President of the Executive Council.source
  • 1922First domestically designed 2d postage stamp issued depicting a map of Ireland and inscribed Éire.source
  • 19231923 United Kingdom general election: The governing Conservatives under Stanley Baldwin fail to achieve an overall majority and allow the Labour Party to form a minority government.source
  • 1923Calvin Coolidge addresses the United States Congress in the first radio broadcast from a President of the U.S.source
  • 1928The government of Colombia sends military forces to suppress a month-long strike by United Fruit Company workers, resulting in an unknown number of deaths.source
  • 19366 December Anthon B. Nilsen, businessman, politician and author (born 1855)source
  • 1938German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop visits Paris, where he is allegedly informed by French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet that France now recognizes all of Eastern Europe as being in Germany's exclusive sphere of influence. Bonnet's alleged statement (he subsequently always denies making the remark) to Ribbentrop is a major factor in German policy in 1939.source
  • 1939WWII: Winter War – The Red Army's advance on the Karelian Isthmus is stopped by Finns at the Mannerheim Line during the Battle of Taipale.source
  • 1940British submarine HMS Regulus is sunk near Taranto.source
  • 1941British submarine HMS Perseus is mined off Cephalonia.source
  • 1943Occupying forces requisition 129,000 tonnes of agricultural produce.source
  • 1947Arturo Toscanini conducts a concert performance of the first half of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello, for a broadcast on NBC Radio in the United States. The second half of the opera is broadcast a week later.source
  • 1948Richard Nixon displays microfilm from the "Pumpkin Papers" to the press.source
  • 1951A state of emergency is declared in Egypt, due to increasing riots.source
  • 1952The 1952 Singapore City Council election was held.source
  • 1953Moshe Dayan is appointed as the fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.source
  • 1953The Calama Earthquake occurs. With a magnitude of 7.4 degrees on the Richter scale, it affects the Antofagasta Region. The earthquake leaves 3 dead and 15 injured.source
  • 1953With the NBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor Arturo Toscanini performs what he claims is his favorite Beethoven symphony, Eroica, for the last time. The live performance is broadcast across the United States on radio, and later released on records and CD.source
  • 1957The first U.S. attempt to launch a satellite fails, when the Vanguard rocket blows up on the launch pad.source
  • 1958The Indian President Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the first foreign leader to visit Malaya.source
  • 1962last permanent residents leave the Island of Stroma.source
  • 1964The 1-hour stop-motion animated special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, based on the popular Christmas song, is broadcast for the first time, on NBC. It becomes a Christmas tradition, despite moving to CBS in 1972.source
  • 1968Karl Ove Knausgård, authorsource
  • 1969Meredith Hunter is stabbed to death by Hells Angels at the Altamont Free Concert, an event which came to be viewed as the end of the hippie era and the de facto conclusion of late-1960s American youth culture.source
  • 1971India becomes the first country to recognize the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra radio station becomes Bangladesh Betarsource
  • 1973The United States House of Representatives votes 387–35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States; he is sworn in the same day.source
  • 1977South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country.source
  • 1978Spanish transition to democracy: The Spanish Constitution officially restores the country's democratic government.source
  • 1979The world premiere of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.source
  • 1986Johnny Hallyday released his 35th album Gang.source
  • 1988The Australian Capital Territory is granted self-government by the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988.source
  • 1989Egon Krenz resigns as Chairman of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic, and is replaced by Manfred Gerlach, the first non-Communist to hold that post.source
  • 1989École Polytechnique massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders fourteen young women at the École Polytechnique de Montréal.source
  • 1990Iraq announces the release of thousands of foreign nationals being held in the Gulf since the fall of Kuwait.source
  • 19901990 Italian Air Force MB-326 crashsource
  • 1992Demolition of Babri Masjid: Extremist Hindu activists in India demolish Babri Masjid – a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya which has been used as a temple since 1949 – leading to widespread communal violence, including the Bombay riots, in all killing over 1,500 people.source
  • 1995The United States Food and Drug Administration approves Saquinavir, the first protease inhibitor to treat HIV/AIDS. Within 2 years of its approval, annual deaths from AIDS in the United States fall from over 50,000 to approximately 18,000.source
  • 1996A series of events are held marking the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of Jews from Portugal by Manuel I. Speaking in the National Assembly, President Jorge Sampaio describes the 1496 expulsion as "iniquitous act with deep and disastrous consequences", and joins Dan Tichon, the Speaker of the Knesset in Israel, and leaders of the Portuguese Catholic Church in a session of prayers at the Lisbon Synagogue.source
  • 1996A Russian military airplane transported the body of former Afghan President Babrak Karmal to Mazari Sharif to be buried.source
  • 1996Gamahara Swamp Landslide disaster, A landslide recurs, during restoration work for landslide by heaviest rain hit in July 1995, borders between Nagano Prefecture and Niigata Prefecture, according to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency confirmed report, 14 workers lost their lives and 9 were wounded.source
  • 1998Hugo Chávez, politician and former officer of the Venezuelan army, is elected President of Venezuela.source
  • 1998Presidential elections were held in the country.source
  • 2002Coordinated bombing of four movie theaters caused in the deaths of 27 people and injured over 200 others in Mymensingh, Bangladesh.source
  • 2003December 5–13 – 2003 SEA Games was held. This was the first time Vietnam staged the SEA Games.source
  • 2007Radio France Internationale launches third FM relay in Togosource
  • 2008The police shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropulos lead to riots across Greece.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
  • 2012The U.S. state of Washington becomes the first jurisdiction in the modern world to officially legalize the possession of cannabis for personal use.source
  • 2012December 4-6 – Egyptian protestors protest outside the presidential palace against the 2012 constitutional declaration which gave President Morsi influence over the judiciary and turns violent when Morsi supporters clashed with anti-Morsi protestors. It led to the intervention of security forces. The incident caused the deaths of at least 10, including anti-Morsi protestors and supporters of Morsi as well as hundreds of injuries.source
  • 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
  • 2012December 6–16 – The 2012 FIFA Club World Cup is held in Japan and won by Sport Club Corinthians Paulista.source
  • 2017The United States officially recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital.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
  • 2019The inauguration of Port Moresby Power Station.source
  • 2021Three of 17 missionaries who were kidnapped by a street gang in October are released.source
  • 2021The United States announces a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in response to China's human rights record. Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia join shortly after.source
  • 2023Google DeepMind releases the Gemini Language Model. Gemini will act as a foundational model integrated into Google's existing tools, including Search and Bard.source
  • 2023A Malian health director said that Dengue fever was on the rise in the country, with 21 deaths and 600 cases of the disease counted days earlier.source
  • 2025A fire at a nightclub in Arpora, Goa, India, leaves at least 25 people dead and 50 injured.source

Births

  • 1285Ferdinand IV, king of Castile and León (died 1312)source
  • 1309Humphrey de Bohun, English nobleman (died 1361)source
  • 1421King Henry VI of England (died 1471)source
  • 1421Henry VI of England, son of Catherine of Valois and claimant to the French throne (died 1471)source
  • 1449Dorotea Gonzaga, Italian noble (died 1467)source
  • 1478Baldassare Castiglione, Italian courtier and writer (died 1529)source
  • 1520Barbara Radziwiłł, queen of Poland (died 1551)source
  • 1531Vespasiano I Gonzaga, Italian noble and diplomat (died 1591)source
  • 1586Niccolò Zucchi, Italian astronomer and physicist (died 1670)source
  • 1592William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle (died 1676)source
  • 1608George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English soldier (died 1670)source
  • 1615Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg (died 1690)source
  • 1637Edmund Andros, English colonial administrator in North America (died 1714)source
  • 1637Edmund Andros, colonial administrator (died 1714)source
  • 1650Johann Friedrich Mayer (theologian), German Lutheran theologian (died 1712)source
  • 1685Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, wife of Louis, Duke of Burgundy (died 1712)source
  • 1721Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French statesman (died 1794)source
  • 1727Johann Gottfried Zinn, German anatomist, botanist (died 1757)source
  • 1732Warren Hastings, British administrator (died 1818)source
  • 1732Warren Hastings, colonial administrator (died 1818)source
  • 1792William II of the Netherlands (died 1849)source
  • 1823Friedrich Max Müller, German-born Orientalist (died 1900)source
  • 1849August von Mackensen, German field marshal (died 1945)source
  • 1856Louise Catherine Breslau, artist (died 1927)source
  • 18596 December − Einar Hjörleifsson Kvaran, novelist, poet, playwright.source
  • 1869Momulu Massaquoi, Vai monarch and Liberian diplomat, in Jabacca, Grand Cape Mount County (died 1938)source
  • 1957Andrew Cuomo, American politiciansource
  • 1959Satoru Iwata, Japanese president of Nintendo (died 2015)source
  • 1972Mónica Santa María, model and TV hostess (died 1994)source
  • 1981Kimmie Weeks, human rights activistsource
  • 1994Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greek basketball playersource

Deaths

  • 343Saint Nicholas (or Santa Claus) (born 270)source
  • 735Toneri, Japanese prince (born 676)source
  • 1082Count Ramon Berenguer II of Barcelona is killed while hunting in the woods. He is succeeded by his twin brother Berenguer Ramon II as the sole ruler of Catalonia (modern Spain).source
  • 1185King Afonso I of Portugal ("the Great") dies after a 36-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Sancho I ("the Populator") as ruler of Portugal.source
  • 1185Afonso I ("the Great"), king of Portugal (born 1109)source
  • 1240Constance, queen consort of Bohemia (born 1180)source
  • 1306Roger Bigod, English nobleman, knight and Marshalsource
  • 1315William Greenfield, English rector and archbishopsource
  • 1352Pope Clement VI (born 1291)source
  • 1383In a coup d'etat, Count João Fernandes Andeiro, the brother of the regent Leonor Teles and uncle of Queen Beatriz of Portugal, is assassinated by João, Master of Aviz.source
  • 1468Zanobi Strozzi, Italian painter (born 1412)source
  • 1495Charles Orlando, Dauphin of France (born 1492)source
  • 1550Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Flemish painter (born 1502)source
  • 1586Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt (born 1536)source
  • 1613Anton Praetorius, German pastor (born 1560)source
  • 1618Jacques Davy Duperron, French cardinal (born 1556)source
  • 1658Baltasar Gracián y Morales, Spanish writer (born 1601)source
  • 1672King John II Casimir of Poland (born 1609)source
  • 1686Eleonora Gonzaga, Queen consort of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1630)source
  • 1688Gert Miltzow, priest and historical writer (born 1629).source
  • 1718Nicholas Rowe, English poet and dramatist (born 1674)source
  • 1759Princess Louise-Élisabeth of France, daughter of King Louis XV (born 1727)source
  • 1771Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist (born 1682)source
  • 1779Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter (born 1699)source
  • 1785Kitty Clive, English actress, playwright (born 1711)source
  • 1799Joseph Black, Scottish physician, physicist and chemist (born 1728)source
  • 1855William Swainson, English naturalist, artist (born 1789)source
  • 1882Anthony Trollope, British novelist, postal service official (born 1815)source
  • 1887Shimazu Hisamitsu, samurai (born 1817)source
  • 1889Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America (born 1808)source
  • 1924Gene Stratton-Porter, American author, screenwriter and naturalist (born 1863)source
  • 1942Stary Ciepielów and Rekówka massacre: 5 families in Occupied Poland are executed by the Ordnungspolizei as part of the German retribution against Poles who helped Jews.source
  • 1956B. R. Ambedkar, Indian jurist and politician (born 1891)source
  • 1967Vice President Jorge Pacheco Areco is sworn in as President of Uruguay after President Oscar Gestido dies in office.source
  • 1982Jean-Marie Seroney, human rights advocatesource
  • 1988Roy Orbison, 52, American singer and songwriter (Pretty Woman, Only the Lonely, Crying), heart attack.source