What happened today December 13th?

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Events
1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
1545 - Council of Trent begins.
1577 - Sir Francis Drake sets out from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.
1636 - The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. This organization is recognized today as the founding of the United States National Guard.
1642 - Abel Janszoon Tasman reaches New Zealand.
1643 - English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.
1769 - Dartmouth College founded by the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, with a Royal Charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal Governor John Wentworth.
1862 - American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats the Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside.
1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanjing - Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under the command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese.
1938 - The Holocaust: 100 deportees from Sachsenhausen build the Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg.
1939 - World War II: Battle of the River Plate - Captain Hans Langsdorff of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee engages with Royal Navy cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles.
1941 - World War II: Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States.
1949 - The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem.
1959 - Archbishop Makarios becomes the first President of Cyprus.
1973 - Rael, leader of the Raelian Movement claims to meet an ET he says is named Yahweh, during an alleged UFO encounter in Puy de Lassolas, France.
1974 - Malta becomes a republic.
1974 - The Detroit Wheels of the WFL are established.
1977 - A United States government aircraft DC-3 crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team.
1978 - The first Susan B. Anthony dollar enters circulation.
1979 - The Canadian Government of Prime Minister Joe Clark is defeated in the House of Commons, prompting the 1980 Canadian election.
1981 - General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland to prevent dismantling of the communist system by Solidarity.
1989 - The last issue of Gnistan (The Spark), the organ of the Solidaritetspartiet, is published in Sweden.
1996 - Kofi Annan is elected as Secretary-General of the United Nations.
2000 - The "Texas 7" escape from the John Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas and go on a robbery spree, during which police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot and killed.
2000 - American Vice President Al Gore delivers his concession speech ending his hopes of becoming the 43rd President of the United States.
2001 - the Indian Parliament Sansad is attacked by Terrorists, killing 15 people, including all the terrorists. Tensions escalate in South Asia, with nuclear war likelihoods.
2002 - Enlargement of the European Union: The European Union announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members from May 1, 2004.
2003 - Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit (see Operation Red Dawn).
2003 - In the most-attended basketball game in history, 78,129 watch Michigan State University lose 79-74 to the University of Kentucky at Ford Field.
2004 - Former Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet is put under house arrest, after being sued under accusations over 9 kidnapping actions and manslaughter. The house arrest is lifted the same day on appeal.

Births
1521 - Pope Sixtus V (d. 1590)
1533 - King Eric XIV of Sweden (d. 1577)
1553 - King Henry IV of France (d. 1610)
1585 - William Drummond of Hawthornden, Scottish poet (d. 1649)
1640 - Robert Plot, English naturalist (d. 1696)
1662 - Francesco Bianchini, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1729)
1678 - Yongzheng Emperor of China (d. 1735)
1720 - Carlo Gozzi, Italian dramatist (d. 1804
1724 - Franz Aepinus, German scientist (d. 1802)
1784 - Archduke Louis of Austria (d. 1864)
1797 - Heinrich Heine, German poet (d. 1856)
1804 - Joseph Howe, Canadian politician (d. 1873)
1813 - David Spangler Kaufman, American politician (d. 1851)
1816 - Ernst Werner von Siemens, German engineer, inventor, and industrialist (d. 1892)
1818 - Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady of the United States (d. 1882)
1836 - Franz von Lenbach, German painter (d. 1904)
1854 - Thomas Watson, American assistant to Alexander Graham Bell (d. 1934)
1856 - Svetozar Boroević, Austro-Hungarian field marshal (d. 1920)
1860 - Lucien Guitry, French actor (d. 1925)
1864 - Emil Seidel, Mayor of Milwaukee (d. 1947)
1867 - Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian explorer and scientist (d. 1917)
1870 - Edward LeSaint, American actor and director (d. 1940)
1871 - Emily Carr, Canadian artist (d. 1945)
1874 - Josef Lhévinne, Russian-born pianist (d. 1944)
1883 - Belle da Costa Greene, American librarian, bibliographer and archivist (d. 1950)
1887 - George Polya, Hungarian-born mathematician (d. 1985)
1887 - Alvin York, American soldier & Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)
1897 - Drew Pearson, American journalist (d. 1969)
1903 - Carlos Montoya, Spanish guitarist (d. 1993)
1906 - Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (d. 1968)
1906 - Sir Laurens van der Post, Afrikaner-born South African author (d. 1996)
1910 - Van Heflin, American actor (d. 1971)
1911 - Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and Bank of Sweden Prize winner (d. 1999)
1911 - Kenneth Patchen, American poet and painter (d. 1972)
1913 - Archie Moore, American boxer and World Light-Heavyweight Champion (d. 1998)
1913 - Arnold Brown, the 11th General of The Salvation Army (d. 2002)
1915 - Curd Jürgens, German actor (d. 1982)
1915 - Ross Macdonald, American-born author (d. 1983)
1919 - Hans-Joachim Marseille, German Fighter Ace of World War 2 (d. 1942)
1923 - Philip Warren Anderson, American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
1923 - Larry Doby, American baseball player (d. 2003)
1925 - Dick Van Dyke, American actor and comedian
1926 - George Rhoden, Jamaican athlete and Olympic gold medalist
1929 - Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor
1934 - Richard D. Zanuck, American film producer
1935 - Lindy McDaniel, American baseball player
1936 - His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan (Prince Karim El Husseni)
1939 - Eric Flynn, British actor and singer (d. 2002)
1942 - Anna Eshoo, American politician
1943 - Ferguson Jenkins, Canadian baseball player
1944 - Hwang Jang Lee, Korean martial artist and film actor
1948 - Ted Nugent, American guitarist
1948 - Jeff Baxter, American guitarist (Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers)
1948 - Lillian Board, British athlete (d. 1970)
1948 - Brian Wilson, British politician
1949 - Tom Verlaine, American singer/guitarist of Television
1950 - Tom Vilsack, Governor of Iowa
1952 - Sylvester Ritter, Professional wrestler better known as Junkyard Dog (d. 1998)
1953 - Ben Bernanke, American economist
1953 - Bob Gainey, Canadian hockey player
1954 - John Anderson, American country musician
1957 - Steve Buscemi, American actor
1957 - Morris Day, American singer (The Time)
1957 - Jean-Marie Messier, French businessman
1958 - Lynn-Holly Johnson, American figure skater and actress
1959 - Nadia Russ, Soviet-born artist
1959 - Jim Darrel, American professional wrestler
1961 - Harry Gregson-Williams, British composer
1963 - Jake White, South African rugby union coach
1964 - Matsumoto Hideto, Japanese guitarist and singer (X-Japan)
1965 - Marko Mäetamm, Estonian artist
1967 - Jamie Foxx, American actor
1969 - Sergei Fedorov, Russian hockey player
1972 - Mauricio Solís, Costa Rican footballer
1973 - Christie Clark, American actress
1974 - Nicholas McCarthy, British-born guitarist (Franz Ferdinand)
1974 - Sara Cox, TV and Radio presenter
1975 - Tom Delonge, American guitarist (Blink-182, Angels and Airwaves)
1976 - Josh Fogg, American baseball player
1976 - Radosław Sobolewski, Polish footballer
1977 - Christopher Hudgens, American Painter
1979 - Jon Elliott, Professional Athlete, Industry Mogu
1980 - Ivan Milković, Professional Basketball Player, Šibenik, Croatia
1981 - Amy Lee, American singer/songwriter (Evanescence)
1982 - Ricky Nolasco, Major League Baseball Pitcher, Florida Marlins
1983 - Otylia Jędrzejczak, Polish swimmer, FINA World Champion and Olympic gold medalist
1985 - Laurence Leboeuf, Canadian actress

Deaths
1048 - Al-Biruni, Persian mathematician (b. 973)
1124 - Pope Callixtus II
1204 - Maimonides, Spanish rabbi and philosopher (b. 1135)
1250 - Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1194)
1404 - Albert, Count of Holland (b. 1336)
1466 - Donatello, Florentine artist and sculptor (b. 1386)
1516 - Johannes Trithemius, German cryptographer (b. 1462)
1521 - Manuel I of Portugal (b. 1469)
1557 - Niccolo Fontana Tartaglia, Italian mathematician
1565 - Conrad Gessner, Swiss naturalist (b. 1516)
1603 - François Viète, French mathematician (b. 1540)
1621 - Katarina Stenbock, Queen of Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1535)
1716 - Charles de La Fosse, French painter (b. 1640)
1721 - Alexander Selkirk, Scottish sailor and castaway (b. 1676)
1729 - Anthony Collins, English philosopher (b. 1676)
1754 - Mahmud I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1696)
1769 - Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, German poet (b. 1715)
1783 - Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin, Swedish astronomer (b. 1717)
1784 - Samuel Johnson, British writer and lexicographer (b. 1709)
1814 - Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne, Belgian-born Austrian field marshal (b. 1735)
1837 - Herman of Alaska, Russian Orthodox hermit (b. 1756)
1863 - Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German writer (b. 1813)
1868 - Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist (b. 1794)
1881 - August Senoa, Croatian writer (b. 1838)
1883 - Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (b. 1812)
1895 - Anyos Jedlik, Hungarian physicist (b. 1800)
1919 - Woldemar Voigt, German physicist (b. 1850)
1930 - Fritz Pregl, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
1931 - Gustave le Bon, French psychologist (b. 1840)
1935 - Victor Grignard, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1871)
1940 - Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval, French physicist (b. 1851)
1942 - Wlodimir Ledochowski, Polish-Austrian director of the Society of Jesus (b. 1866)
1944 - Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born French artist (b. 1866)
1947 - Nicholas Roerich, Russian-born painter (b. 1874)
1955 - Egas Moniz, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
1961 - Grandma Moses, American painter (b. 1860)
1983 - Alexander Schmemann, Orthodox Christian priest and theologian (b. 1921)
1983 - Nichita Stanescu, Romanian poet (b.1933)
1992 - Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman and heir (b. 1899)
1992 - K.C. Irving, Canadian industrialist (b. 1899)
1993 - Vanessa Duriès, French novelist (b. 1972)
2001 - Chuck Schuldiner, American musician (Death) (b. 1967)
2002 - Zal Yanofsky, American musician (The Lovin' Spoonful) (b. 1945)
2003 - William V. Roth, Jr., U.S. Senator (b. 1921)
2004 - Andre Rodgers, Bahamian baseball player (b. 1934)
2004 - David Wheeler, British computer scientist (b. 1927)
2005 - Stanley Williams, co-founder of the Crips (b. 1953)

Holidays and observances
Roman festivals - Tellus was worshipped in the district Carinae at the Esquiline Hill, and a lectisternium or table was spread for Ceres.
R.C. Saints - memorial of Saint Lucy
Also see December 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
In the Julian calendar before the Gregorian reform, this was the shortest day and longest night, and widely celebrated as such
In the Irish calendar the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following the Feast of Saint Lucy were observed as Quarter tense.
Malta - Republic Day (since 1974)
St. Lucia's Day in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and some regions of Italy, mainly Sicily, Veneto and Trentino.

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

What happened today December 12th?

Offered by:



Events
627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeated Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.
1098 - First Crusade: Massacre of Ma'arrat al-Numan - Crusaders breach the town's walls and massacre about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they resort to cannibalism.
1531 - Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego in Mexico City.
1719 - The Boston Gazette is published for the first time.
1781 - American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant - A Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt in HMS Victory, defeats a French fleet.
1787 - Pennsylvania becomes the 2nd state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1862 - USS Cairo sunk on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.
1870 - Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first black U.S. congressman.
1897 - Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, is inaugurated.
1901 - Guglielmo Marconi receives the first trans-Atlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
1903 - The city of Fairfield, California is incorporated.
1911 - Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
1914 - The largest one-day percentage drop in the history of Dow Jones Industrial Average, down 24.39%.
1915 - President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, reinstates the monarchy and proclaims himself Emperor of China.
1917 - In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
1925 - The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.
1936 - Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
1937 - Panay incident: Japanese aircraft shell and sink US gunboat Panay on the Yangtze River in China.
1939 - Winter War: Battle of Tolvajärvi - Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.
1940 - Approximately 70 people are killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield as a result of a German air raid.
1941 - Fifty four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesus Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; Cesar Basa is killed.
1941 - World War II: Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
1942 - A fire in a hostel in St. John's, Newfoundland kills 100 people.
1946 - A fire at a New York City ice plant spreads to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.
1948 - Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali Massacre - 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
1950 - Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.
1956 - Commencement of the Irish Republican Army's Border Campaign.
1963 - Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
1964 - Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
1969 - Strategia della tensione: Piazza Fontana bombing - The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
1972 - Two million people filled the streets of Azadi Square (Then Shahyad Square) in Tehran to protest against the Shah.
1979 - Coup d'état of December Twelfth: South Korean military officer Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee.
1979 - Pakistan President Zia-ul-Haq conferred Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
1979 - Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe.
1982 - Women's peace protest at Greenham Common - 30,000 women hold hands and form a human chain around the 14.5 km (9 mi) perimeter fence.
1985 - Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland killing 256, including 248 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division.
1988 - Clapham Junction rail crash killed 35 and injured 100's after two collisions of three commuter trains. One of the worst train crashes in Britain.
1990 - Pakistan became the 37th country in the world to send an expedition to Antarctica.
1996 - Uday Hussein is seriously injured in an assassination attempt.
2000 - The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore
2003 - Paul Martin, Jr. is sworn-in as the 21st Prime Minister of Canada.

Births
1298 - Albert II of Austria (d. 1358)
1418 - Albert VI of Austria (d. 1463)
1574 - Anne of Denmark, wife of James I of England (d. 1619)
1610 - Saint Vasilije (d. 1671)
1659 - Francesco Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/designer (d. 1739)
1712 - Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Austrian military leader (d. 1780)
1724 - Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, British admiral (d. 1816)
1745 - John Jay, 1st Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1829)
1779 - Madeline Sophie Barat, French saint (d. 1865)
1783 - Ner Alexander Middleswarth, American politician (d. 1865)
1786 - William L. Marcy, American statesman (d. 1857)
1799 - Karl Briullov, Russian painter (d. 1852)
1805 - William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist (d. 1879)
1806 - Stand Watie, American Confederate general (d. 1871)
1821 - Gustave Flaubert, French writer (d. 1880)
1845 - Bruce Price, American architect (d. 1903)
1849 - William Kissam Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (d. 1920)
1863 - Edvard Munch, Norwegian expressionist painter (d. 1944)
1864 - Paul Elmer More, American critic and essayist (d. 1937)
1866 - Alfred Werner, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)
1870 - Walter Benona Sharp, American oil baron (d. 1912)
1875 - Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (d. 1953)
1876 - Alvin Kraenzlein, Olympic gold medalist (d. 1928)
1887 - Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (d. 1974)
1892 - Herman Potočnik Noordung, Austro-Hungarian-born rocket engineer (d. 1929)
1893 - Edward G. Robinson, American actor (d. 1973)
1900 - Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (d. 1988)
1903 - Dagmar Nordstrom, American composer and pianist (d. 1976)
1903 - Yasujiro Ozu, Japanese film director (d. 1963)
1904 - Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor and socialite (d. 1981)
1905 - Mànes Sperber, Austro-Hungarian-born writer (d. 1984)
1907 - Roy Douglas, British composer and orchestrator
1909 - Karen Morley, American actress (d. 2003)
1914 - Patrick O'Brian (Richard Patrick Russ), British author (d. 2000)
1915 - Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (d. 1998)
1918 - Joe Williams, American singer (d. 1999)
1919 - Olivia Barclay, British astrologer (d. 2001)
1923 - Bob Barker, American television game show host
1924 - Ed Koch, Mayor of New York City
1927 - Honor Blackman, British actress
1927 - Robert Noyce, American inventor (d. 1990)
1928 - Chinghiz Aitmatov, Soviet-born Kyrgyz writer
1929 - John Osborne, British dramatist (d. 1994)
1929 - Toshiko Akiyoshi, Japanese musician
1930 - Bill Beutel, American Journalist (d. 2006)
1931 - Lionel Blair, British actor, choreographer, tap dancer and television presenter
1932 - Bob Pettit, American basketball player
1934 - Miguel de la Madrid, President of Mexico
1938 - Connie Francis, American singer
1940 - Sharad Pawar, Indian politician
1940 - Dionne Warwick, American singer
1943 - Dickey Betts, American guitarist and singer (The Allman Brothers)
1943 - Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (d. 1999)
1944 - Jean Doré, Quebec politician, mayor of Montreal
1946 - Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian racing driver
1948 - Tom Wilkinson, English actor
1949 - Rajnikanth (Shivaji Rao Gaekwad), Indian actor
1950 - Billy Smith, National Hockey League goaltender
1952 - Harbance Singh (Herb) Dhaliwal, Canadian politician
1952 - Cathy Rigby, American gymnast
1953 - Bruce Kulick, American guitarist (KISS)
1954 - Liz Claman, American television anchor
1956 - Johan Van der Velde, Dutch cyclist
1957 - Sheila E., American musician
1957 - Robert Lepage, Quebec playwright, actor and film director
1962 - Tracy Austin, American tennis player
1964 - Sabu, American professional wrestler
1966 - Royce Gracie, Brazilian martial artist
1967 - John Randle, American football player
1968 - Laurie Williams, Indian cricket player
1970 - Jennifer Connelly, American actress
1970 - Madchen Amick, American actress
1970 - Regina Hall, American actress
1972 - Hank Williams III, grandson of Hank Williams
1972 - Nicky Eaden, English footballer
1972 - Kevin Parent, Quebec singer and songwriter
1972 - Brandon Teena, American hate crime victim
1974 - Rey Mysterio, Jr., American wrestler
1974 - Nolberto Solano, Peruvian footballer
1975 - Mayim Bialik, American actress
1975 - Craig Moore, Australian footballer
1976 - Dan Hawkins, British guitarist (The Darkness)
1976 - Keiko, Orca Whale in Free Willy
1977 - Orlando Hudson, American baseball player
1977 - Bridget Hall, American supermodel
1978 - Monica Barladeanu, Romanian actress
1978 - Nicole, Erica and Jaclyn Dahm, Triplet models
1978 - Evren Genis, Turkish composer
1979 - Garrett Atkins, American baseball player
1979 - Nate Clements, American football player
1981 - Jeret Peterson, American aerial skier
1981 - Ronnie Brown, American football player
1981 - Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricket player
1981 - Stephen Warnock, British footballer
1981 - Pedro Ríos, Spanish footballer
1982 - Dmitry Tursunov, Russian tennis player
1983 - Katrina Elam, American singer
1983 - Brad Smith, American football player
1984 - Daniel Agger, Danish footballer
1988 - Nicholas Walsh, musician
1989 - Harry Eden, British actor

Deaths
884 - Carloman, King of the West Franks
1212 - Geoffrey, Archbishop of York
1569 - Metropolitan Philip of Moscow (b. 1507)
1574 - Selim II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1524)
1586 - Stefan Batory, King of Poland (b. 1533)
1685 - John Pell, English mathematician (b. 1610)
1751 - Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English statesman and philosopher (b. 1678)
1754 - Wu Jingzi, Chinese writer (b. 1701)
1766 - Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (b. 1700)
1789 - John Ponsonby, Irish politician (b. 1713)
1790 - Mikhail Shcherbatov, Russian philosopher and writer (b. 1733)
1843 - King William I of the Netherlands, (b. 1772)
1858 - Jacques Viger, antiquarian and archeologist, first mayor of Montreal (b. 1787)
1889 - Robert Browning, British poet (b. 1812)
1889 - Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1804)
1894 - Sir John Thompson, fourth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1845)
1913 - Emperor Menelek II of Ethiopia (b. 1844)
1923 - Raymond Radiguet, French author (b. 1903)
1926 - Jean Richepin, French poet (b. 1849)
1929 - Charles Goodnight, American cattle baron (b. 1836)
1939 - Douglas Fairbanks, American actor (b. 1883)
1952 - Bedřich Hrozný, Austro-Hungarian-born Czechoslovak orientalist and linguist (b. 1879)
1963 - Yasujiro Ozu, Japanese film director (b. 1903)
1968 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (b. 1902)
1970 - Doris Blackburn, Australian politician (b. 1889)
1971 - David Sarnoff, Russian-born American General Manager of RCA (b. 1891)
1976 - Vinko Zganec, Croatian ethnomusicologist (b. 1890)
1977 - Lady Spencer Churchill, wife of Winston Churchill (b. 1885)
1980 - Jean Lesage, politician, premier of Quebec (b. 1912)
1985 - Anne Baxter, American actress (b. 1923)
1985 - Ian Stewart, Scottish musician (b. 1938)
1993 - József Antall, Hungarian politician (b. 1932)
1994 - Stuart Roosa, American astronaut (b. 1933)
1996 - Vance Packard, American author (b. 1914)
1997 - Yevgeniy Landis, Russian mathematician (b. 1921)
1998 - Lawton Chiles, U.S. Senator from Florida and Governor of Florida (b. 1930)
1999 - Joseph Heller, American author (b. 1923)
2000 - George Montgomery, American actor (b. 1916)
2001 - Jean Richard, French actor (b. 1921)
2002 - Dee Brown, American author (b. 1908)
2002 - Jay Wesley Neill, American convicted murderer (b. 1965)
2002 - Brad Dexter, American actor (b. 1917)
2003 - Geidar Aliev, President of Azerbaijan
2003 - Joseph Anthony Ferrario, American Catholic prelate (b. 1926)
2003 - Keiko (Orca), Willy in Free Willy
2005 - Annette Vadim, Danish actress (b. 1936)

Holidays and observances
R.C. Saints - optional memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Also see December 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Masá'il (Questions) - First day of the 15th month of the Bahá'í Calendar
Kenya - Jamhuri Day: Independence Day (from Britain, 1963)

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