What happened today December 9th and 10th weekend?

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December 9th

Events
536 - Byzantine General Belisarius enters in Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city, returning the old capital to its empire.
1425 - The Catholic University of Leuven is founded.
1531 - First supposed apparition of the Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Guadalupe) to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin on Tepeyac Hill
1793 - New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah Webster.
1824 - Battle of Ayacucho: Peruvian nationalists led by Antonio José de Sucre defeat Spanish colonial forces and secure the independence of Peru.
1835 - The Republic of Texas captures San Antonio.
1851 - The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal, Quebec.
1856 - The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces.
1861 - American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by the U.S. Congress.
1872 - In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first serving African-American governor of a U.S. state.
1875 - Massachusetts Rifle Association "America's Oldest Active Gun Club" is founded.
1888 - Statistician Herman Hollerith installs his self-designed computing device at the United States War Department.
1897 - Activist Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper, La Fronde in Paris.
1905 - In France, the law separating church and state is passed.
1917 - In Palestine, Allenby captures Jerusalem.
1931 - The Constituent Cortes approves the constitution which establishes the Second Spanish Republic.
1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanjing - Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Asaka Yasuhiko launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanjing.
1940 - World War II: Operation Compass - British and Indian troops under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor attack Italian forces near Sidi Barrani in Egypt.
1941 - World War II: The Republic of China, Cuba, Guatemala, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and the Philippine Commonwealth, declare war on Germany and Japan.
1945 - General George S. Patton is injured in an automobile crash in occupied Germany. He dies twelve days later.
1946 - The "Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals" began with the "Doctors' Trial", prosecuting doctors alleged to be involved in human experimentation.
1950 - Harry Gold is sentenced to thirty years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
1953 - Red Scare: General Electric announces that all communist employees will be discharged from the company
1958 - Red Scare: The John Birch Society founded in the United States.
1960 - The first episode of ITV soap-opera Coronation Street is aired.
1961 - The trial of Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Israel ends with him being found guilty of 15 criminal charges, including charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people and membership of an outlawed organization.
1961 - Tanganyika becomes independent from Britain.
1965 - Kecksburg UFO incident
1968 - NLS (a system for which hypertext and the computer mouse were developed) is publicly demonstrated for the first time in San Francisco.
1969 - Groundbreaking of Washington, D.C.'s Metrorail system.
1977 - Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers punches Rudy Tomjanovich of the Houston Rockets. The punch nearly kills Tomjanovich and leads to major rules changes in the National Basketball Association.
1981 - Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner is shot and killed during a routine traffic stop. Mumia Abu-Jamal is later convicted of the murder.
1982 - Activist Norman Mayer threatens to blow up the Washington Monument, before being killed by United States Park Police.
1987 - Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank
1990 - Lech Wałęsa becomes the first directly elected president of Poland.
1992 - The separation of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales is announced
2003 - A blast in the center of Moscow kills six people and wounds at least 11. (See Red Square Bombing)

Births
1447 - Chenghua, Emperor of China (d. 1487)
1508 - Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and cartographer (d. 1555)
1561 - Sir Edwin Sandys, British-born Virginian colonist (d. 1629)
1571 - Metius (Adriaan Adriaanszoon), Dutch mathematician and astronomer (d. 1635)
1579 - Martin de Porres, Peruvian saint (d. 1639)
1594 - Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (d. 1632)
1608 - John Milton, English poet (d. 1674)
1610 - Baldassare Ferri, Italian castrato (d. 1680)
1652 - Augustus Quirinus Rivinus, German physician (d. 1723)
1667 - William Whiston, English mathematician (d. 1752)
1748 - Claude Louis Berthollet, French chemist (d. 1822)
1806 - Jean-Olivier Chénier, French Canadian physician and Patriote (d. 1838)
1837 - Émile Waldteufel, French composer (d. 1915)
1842 - Peter Kropotkin, Russian anarchist (d. 1921)
1847 - George Grossmith, English actor (d. 1912)
1850 - Emma Abbott, American soprano (d. 1891)
1868 - Fritz Haber, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1934)
1871 - Joe Kelley, American baseball player (d. 1943)
1876 - Berton Churchill, American actor (d. 1940)
1882 - Joaquín Turina, Spanish composer (d. 1949)
1883 - Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician (d. 1950)
1886 - Clarence Birdseye, American frozen food manufacturer (d. 1956)
1889 - Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish Olympic gold medalist (d. 1966)
1891 - Maksim Bahdanovič, Belarusian poet (d. 1917)
1895 - Conchita Supervía, Spanish opera singer (d. 1936)
1897 - Hermione Gingold, British actress (d. 1987)
1898 - Emmett Kelly, American circus clown (d. 1979)
1899 - Jean de Brunhoff, French author (d. 1937)
1901 - Carol Dempster, American actress (d. 1991)
1901 - Ödön von Horváth, Hungarian-born writer (d. 1938)
1901 - Jean Mermoz, French pilot (d. 1936)
1902 - Margaret Hamilton, American actress (d. 1985)
1905 - Dalton Trumbo, American writer (d. 1976)
1906 - Grace Murray Hopper, American computer pioneer (d. 1992)
1909 - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American actor (d. 2000)
1911 - Broderick Crawford, American actor (d. 1986)
1912 - Tip O'Neill, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1994)
1915 - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-born soprano (d. 2006)
1916 - Kirk Douglas, American actor
1917 - James Rainwater, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
1918 - Jerome Beatty Jr., American author
1919 - William Lipscomb, Nobel Prize laureate
1920 - Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of the Italian Republic
1922 - Redd Foxx, American comedian (d. 1991)
1925 - Dina Merrill, American actress
1926 - Henry Way Kendall, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
1926 - Jan Křesadlo, Czech writer (d. 1995)
1927 - Pierre Henry, French composer
1928 - Dick Van Patten, American actor
1929 - John Cassavetes, American actor and director (d. 1989)
1929 - Bob Hawke, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia
1930 - Buck Henry, American actor
1931 - Ladislav Smoljak, Czech actor
1933 - Morton Downey Jr., American talk show host (d. 2001)
1934 - Judi Dench British actress
1934 - Junior Wells, American harmonica player (d. 1998)
1937 - Darwin Joston, American actor (d. 1998)
1938 - Deacon Jones, American football player
1938 - David Houston, American country music singer (d. 1993)
1941 - Beau Bridges, American actor
1941 - Dan Hicks, American musician
1942 - Dick Butkus, American football player
1943 - Pit Martin, National Hockey League player
1946 - Sonia Gandhi, Italian-born Indian politician
1947 - Tom Daschle, American politician
1947 - Jaak Jõerüüt, Soviet-born Estonian politician
1949 - Tom Kite, American golfer
1950 - Joan Armatrading, West Indian-born British singer
1952 - Michael Dorn, American actor
1952 - Liaqat Baloch, Pakistani politician
1953 - John Malkovich, American actor
1953 - Monique Miller, French Canadian actress
1954 - Herman Finkers, Dutch comedian
1957 - Donny Osmond, American singer and actor
1958 - Nick Seymour, Australian bassist (Crowded House)
1960 - Juan Samuel, Major League Baseball Player
1961 - David Anthony Higgins, American actor
1962 - Felicity Huffman, American actress
1963 - Masako, Crown princess of Japan
1964 - Paul Landers, German guitarist (Rammstein)
1966 - Toby Huss, American actor
1967 - Joshua Bell, American violinist
1967 - Gheorghe Popescu, Romanian footballer
1968 - Kurt Angle, American wrestler
1968 - Dave Harold, British snooker player
1968 - Brian Bell, American guitarist (Weezer)
1969 - Jakob Dylan, American singer (The Wallflowers)
1969 - Bixente Lizarazu, French footballer
1971 - Petr Nedved, National Hockey League player
1972 - Tre Cool, German-born American drummer (Green Day)
1972 - Reiko Aylesworth, American actress
1972 - Fabrice Santoro, Tahitian-born French tennis player
1976 - Chris Booker, American baseball player
1977 - Imogen Heap, British singer and songwriter
1978 - Jesse Metcalfe, American actor (Desperate Housewives)
1979 - Olivia Lufkin, Japanese singer
1980 - Ryder Hesjedal, Canadian professional cyclist
1981 - Diya Mirza, Indian actress
1982 - Tamilla Abassova, Russian cyclist
1983 - Dariusz Dudka, Polish footballer
1990 - LaFee, German Singer
1991 - Prince Joachim, Archduke of Austria-Este, Belgian Prince

Deaths
1165 - King Malcolm IV of Scotland
1292 - Sheikh Saadi, Persian sufi poet
1437 - Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1368)
1544 - Teofilo Folengo, Italian poet (b. 1491)
1565 - Pope Pius IV (b. 1499)
1603 - William Watson, English conspirator (b. 1559)
1625 - Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (b. 1547)
1636 - Fabian Birkowski, Polish writer (b. 1566)
1641 - Anthony van Dyck, Flemish painter (b. 1599)
1669 - Pope Clement IX (b. 1600)
1674 - Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English statesman and historian (b. 1609)
1692 - William Mountfort, English actor and dramatist
1706 - King Peter II of Portugal (b. 1648)
1718 - Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian cartographer and encylopaedist (b. 1650)
1793 - Gabrielle de Polastron, comtesse de Polignac, French aristocrat (b. 1749)
1798 - Johann Reinhold Forster, German botanist (b. 1729)
1830 - Heinrich Christian Friedrich Schumacher, Danish surgeon, botanist and professor of anatomy (b. 1757)
1854 - Almeida Garrett, Portuguese writer (b. 1799)
1858 - Robert Baldwin, Canadian politician (b. 1804)
1887 - Mahmadu Lamine, Senegalese marabout and military leader
1894 - Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician (b. 1821)
1916 - Natsume Soseki, Japanese novelist (b. 1867)
1930 - Andrew "Rube" Foster, American baseball player and founder of the Negro National League
1937 - Nils Gustaf Dalén, Swedish physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
1941 - Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Russian writer and philosopher (b. 1865)
1955 - Hermann Weyl, German mathematician (b. 1885)
1964 - Dame Edith Sitwell, British poet and critic (b. 1887)
1965 - Branch Rickey, American baseball commissioner (b. 1884)
1970 - Sir Feroz Khan Noon, Prime Minister of Pakistan
1971 - Ralph Bunche, American diplomat and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
1971 - Sergey Konenkov, Russian sculptor (b. 1874)
1972 - Louella Parsons, American gossip columnist (b. 1881)
1975 - William A. Wellman, American movie director (b. 1896)
1979 - Fulton J. Sheen, American archbishop and television preacher (Life is Worth Living) (b. 1895)
1981 - Daniel Faulkner, Philadelphia police officer (b. 1955)
1982 - Leon Jaworski, Watergate scandal special prosecutor (b. 1905)
1984 - Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley, British drummer (Hanoi Rocks) (b. 1960)
1990 - Mike Mazurki, Ukrainian-born professional wrestler and actor (b. 1907)
1992 - Vincent Gardenia, American stage, film and television actor (b. 1922)
1993 - Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish footballer and football manager (b. 1926)
1995 - Toni Cade Bambara, American author (b. 1939)
1996 - Mary Leakey, British archeologist and anthropologist (b. 1913)
1998 - Shaughnessy Cohen, Canadian politician (b. 1948)
1998 - Archie Moore, American boxer and World Light-Heavyweight Champion (b. 1913)
2002 - Stan Rice, American painter, educator, and poet (b. 1942)
2003 - Paul Simon, U.S. Senator from Illinois (b. 1928)
2004 - David Brudnoy, American radio personality (b. 1940)
2004 - Lea De Mae, Czech actress (b. 1976)
2005 - György Sándor, Hungarian pianist (b. 1912)
2005 - Robert Sheckley, American author (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances
Calendar of saints:
Saint Leocadia; Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin : optional memorial
Peter Fourier, founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame
Also see December 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics); specifically the conception of Saint Anne
Scandinavia (specifically Sweden): Anna's Day. Recognizes everyone named Anna, and marks the day to start the preparation process of the lutefisk to be consumed on Christmas Eve.
Tanzania - Independence Day (of Tanganyika from Britain, 1961)

External links
BBC: On This Day
The New York Times: On This Day
On This Day in Canada



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December 10th

Events
1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V.
1508 - The League of Cambrai is formed by Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon as an alliance against Venice.
1520 - Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate.
1684 - Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmund Halley.
1817 - Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.
1836 - Emory College (now Emory University) is chartered in Oxford, Georgia.
1861 - American Civil War: Kentucky becomes the 13th state admitted to the Confederacy.
1864 - American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea - Major General William T. Sherman's Union Army troops reach Savannah, Georgia.
1868 - The first traffic lights are installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.
1869 - Wyoming grants women the right to vote.
1869 - The first American chapter of Kappa Sigma is founded at the University of Virginia.
1898 - Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict.
1899 - The Delta Sigma Phi fraternity is founded at the City College of New York.
1901 - The first Nobel Prizes are awarded.
1904 - The Pi Kappa Phi fraternity is founded at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina.
1906 - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize of any kind.
1932 - Thailand adopts a Constitution and becomes a constitutional monarchy.
1936 - Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signs his Instrument of Abdication.
1941 - World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers.
1941 - World War II: Battle of the Philippines - Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on the Philippine mainland.
1948 - The UN General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
1949 - Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan.
1953 - Dr. Albert Schweitzer is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work.
1963 - The United States Air Force's X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane program is cancelled by Robert McNamara.
1965 - The Grateful Dead play their first concert, at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
1968 - Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million yen robbery", occurs in Tokyo.
1970 - Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, "father of the Green Revolution", is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1971 - Jim Hart throws a football for a record 98 yards, the longest recorded throw.
1972 - The American League votes to adopt the Designated Hitter position for the following season.
1975 - Activist Andrei Sakharov is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, accepted by his wife, Yelena Bonner.
1978 - Arab-Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1981 - The United Nations General Assembly approves Pakistan proposal for establishing nuclear free-zone in South Asia.
1983 - Democracy is restored in Argentina with the assumption of President Raúl Alfonsín.
1983 - Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, accepted by his wife, Danuta.
1984 - Apartheid: Cleric and activist Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1986 - The Holocaust: Elie Wiesel is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1986 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan declares the date Human Rights Day in the United States.
1989 - Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj announced the establishment of Mongolia's democratic movement that peacefully changed the second oldest communist country into a democratic society.
1993 - First release of the videogame Doom.
1996 - Rwandan Genocide: Military Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations Maurice Baril recommends that the UN multi-national forces in Zaire stand down.
2002 - The High Court of Australia hands down its judgement in the internet defamation case of Gutnick v Dow Jones.
2004 - A tombstone commemorating the 35th anniversary of the death of Brazilian guerrilla Carlos Marighella is inaugurated in Salvador, Bahia.
2005 - Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashes in Nigeria.

Births
1394 - King James I of Scotland (d. 1437)
1452 - Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1531)
1588 - Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (d. 1637)
1750 - Tipu Sultan, ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore (d. 1799)
1787 - Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, American educator (d. 1851)
1804 - Carl Gustav Jakob Jacobi, German mathematician (d. 1851)
1805 - Josef Skoda, Bohemian physician (d. 1881)
1815 - Ada Lovelace, British computer programmer (d. 1852)
1821 - Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, Russian poet (d. 1877)
1822 - César Franck, Belgian composer and organist (d. 1890)
1824 - George MacDonald, British writer and preacher (d. 1905)
1830 - Emily Dickinson, American poet (d. 1886)
1851 - Melvil Dewey, American librarian (d. 1931)
1870 - Pierre Louÿs, French author (d. 1925)
1870 - Adolf Loos, Austrian architect (d. 1933)
1872 - Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (d. 1956)
1882 - Otto Neurath, Austrian philosopher (d. 1945)
1884 - Zinaida Serebriakova, Russian-born painter (d. 1967)
1886 - Marco Minghetti, Italian statesman (b. 1813)
1891 - Nelly Sachs, German-born writer and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
1903 - Una Merkel, American actress (d. 1986)
1907 - Rumer Godden (Margaret Rumer Godden), British writer (d. 1998)
1907 - Lucien Laurent, French international footballer (d. 2005)
1908 - Olivier Messiaen, French composer and ornithologist (d. 1992)
1909 - Hermes Pan, American choreographer and dancer (d. 1990)
1911 - Chet Huntley, American journalist (d. 1974)
1912 - Philip A. Hart, U.S. Senator (d. 1976)
1913 - Morton Gould, American composer (d. 1996)
1913 - Harry Locke, British character actor (d. 1987)
1914 - Dorothy Lamour, American actress (d. 1996)
1917 - Sultan Yahya Petra, King of Malaysia (d. 1979)
1918 - Anne Gwynne, American actress (d. 2003)
1918 - Anatoli Tarasov, Russian hockey coach (d. 1995)
1919 - Alexander Courage, American composer
1920 - Reginald Rose, American writer (d. 2002)
1920 - Clarice Lispector, Ukrainian-Brazilian writer (d. 1977)
1928 - Dan Blocker, American actor (d. 1972)
1933 - Mako, Japanese-born American actor (b. 2006)
1934 - Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
1941 - Chad Stuart, British folk singer (Chad and Jeremy)
1941 - Tommy Rettig, American actor (d. 1996)
1944 - Steve Renko, American baseball player
1947 - Douglas Kenney, American humorist (d. 1980)
1947 - Rəsul Quliyev, Azerbaijani politician and chairman of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party.
1947 - Rainer Seifert, German field hockey player
1948 - Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (d. 2004)
1951 - Ellen Nikolaysen, Norwegian singer
1952 - Clive Anderson, British television host
1952 - Susan Dey, American actress
1957 - Michael Clarke Duncan, American actor
1960 - Kenneth Branagh, Northern Irish actor and director
1965 - J Mascis, American musician
1966 - Mel Rojas, Major League Baseball pitcher
1967 - Harland Williams, Canadian actor
1969 - Rob Blake, Canadian hockey player
1972 - Brian Molko, Belgian-born singer and songwriter (Placebo)
1974 - Meg White, American drummer (The White Stripes)
1975 - Josip Skoko, Australian footballer
1978 - Donna Williams, co-founder of Neopets
1978 - Brandon Novak, skateboarder
1979 - Matt Bentley, American professional wrestler
1980 - Sarah Chang, American violinist
1980 - Ledley King, English footballer
1981 - Taufik Batisah, Singaporean singer
1981 - Fabio Rochemback, Brazilian footballer
1981 - Ryan Pini, Papua New Guinea swimmer and Commonwealth Games Gold medalist
1982 - Tim Deegan, MuchMusic VJ
1983 - Patrick Flueger, American actor
1983 - Zé Kalanga, Angolan footballer
1985 - Raven-Symoné, American actress and singer
1993 - Rachel Trachtenburg, American drummer and singer (Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players)

Deaths
1041 - Michael IV, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1010)
1198 - Averroes, Arab physician and philosopher (b. 1126)
1508 - René II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1451)
1603 - William Gilbert, English scientist (plague) (b. 1544)
1618 - Giulio Caccini, Italian composer
1626 - Edmund Gunter, English mathematician (b. 1581)
1665 - Tarquinio Merula, Italian composer
1736 - António Manoel de Vilhena, Portuguese ruler of Malta (b. 1663)
1831 - Thomas Seebeck, Baltic German physicist (b. 1770)
1850 - François Sulpice Beudant, French mineralogist and geologist (b. 1787)
1865 - King Léopold I of Belgium (b. 1790)
1896 - Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor and founder of the Nobel Prize (b. 1833)
1911 - Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, British botanist (b. 1817)
1917 - Sir Mackenzie Bowell, fifth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1823)
1920 - Horace Elgin Dodge, American automobile manufacturing pioneer (b. 1868)
1928 - Charles Rennie Mackintosh, British architect, designer, and illustrator (b. 1868)
1936 - Bobby Abel, English test cricketer (b. 1857)
1936 - Luigi Pirandello, Italian writer and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
1941 - Colin Kelly, American pilot
1945 - Theodor Dannecker, SS officer (b. 1913)
1946 - Walter Johnson, American baseball player (b. 1887)
1946 - Damon Runyon, American writer (b. 1884)
1951 - Algernon Blackwood, British writer (b. 1869)
1953 - Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-born scholar and translator (b. 1872)
1967 - Otis Redding, American soul singer (b. 1941)
1968 - Thomas Merton, American monk and author (b. 1915)
1968 - Karl Barth, Swiss theologian (b. 1886)
1968 - George Forrest, Northern Irish MP (b. 1921)
1969 - Carlos Marighella, Brazilian politician
1978 - Ed Wood, Jr., American filmmaker (b. 1924)
1979 - Ann Dvorak, American film actress (b. 1912)
1982 - Freeman F. Gosden, American actor (b. 1899)
1986 - Susan Cabot, American actress (murdered) (b. 1927)
1987 - Jascha Heifetz, Russian-born violinist (b. 1901)
1990 - Armand Hammer, American industrialist and art collector (b. 1898)
1991 - Greta Kempton, American artist (b. 1901)
1994 - Alexander Wilson, Canadian and Notre Dame athlete (b. 1905)
1994 - Keith Joseph, British politician (b. 1918)
1996 - Faron Young, American singer (b. 1932)
1999 - Franjo Tuđman, President of Croatia (b. 1922)
1999 - Rick Danko, Canadian bassist and singer (The Band) (b. 1942)
2000 - Marie Windsor, American film actress (b. 1919)
2001 - Ashok Kumar, Indian actor (b. 1911)
2005 - Eugene J. McCarthy, United States Senator (b. 1916)
2005 - Richard Pryor, American comedian and actor (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances
Human Rights Day - United Nations

External links
BBC: On This Day
The New York Times: On This Day
On This Day in Canada