Events

• 69 – The end of the Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian becomes the fourth Emperor of Rome within a year.

• 1140 – Conrad III of Germany besieged Weinsberg.

• 1598 – Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile; all Spanish cities south of the Biobio river are eventually taken by the Mapuches, and all conquest of Mapuche territories by Europeans practically ceases, until the 1870s "Pacification of Araucania".

• 1620 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

• 1844 – The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.

• 1861 – Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.

• 1872 – Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth.

• 1883 – The first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army are formed: The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment.

• 1913 – Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.

• 1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated film ever, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theater.

• 1958 – French presidential election: Charles de Gaulle is elected President of France as his Union des Démocrates pour la République party gain 78.5% of the vote.

• 1962 – Rondane National Park is established as Norway's first national park.

• 1967 – Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, after living for 18 days.

• 1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At 2h:50m:37s Mission elapsed time (MES), the crew performs the first ever manned Trans Lunar Injection and become the first humans to leave Earth's gravity.

• 1971 – The United Nations Security Council chooses Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as Secretary-General.

• 1973 – The Geneva Conference on the Arab-Israeli conflict opens.

• 1979 – Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara.

• 1988 – A bomb explodes on board Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270.

• 1989 – The Romanian Revolution of 1989 moves from Timişoara to Bucharest.

• 1992 – A Dutch DC-10, flight Martinair MP 495, crashes at Faro Airport (Portugal), killing 56 people.

• 1994 – Mexican volcano Popocatepetl awakes from its 47-year sleep with an eruption of gases and ash.

• 1995 – The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.

• 1999 – The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid.

• 2001 – The 8th Congress of the Communist Youth of Greece starts.

• 2007 – The Schengen Agreement area increases to include 9 European Union member states; Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia on land and sea borders.

Births

• 1118 – Thomas Becket, Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1170)

• 1401 – Tommaso Masaccio, Italian painter (d. 1428)

• 1596 – Petro Mohyla, Moldovan Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of Kiev and Galicia (d. 1646)

• 1603 – Roger Williams, English theologian and colonist (d. 1684)

• 1682 – Calico Jack Rackham, English pirate

• 1714 – John Bradstreet, Canadian-born soldier (d. 1774)

• 1778 – Anders Sandøe Ørsted, Danish politician (d. 1860)

• 1795 – Leopold von Ranke, German historian (d. 1886)

• 1804 – Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1881)

• 1805 – Thomas Graham, British chemist (d. 1869)

• 1811 – Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1882)

• 1815 – Thomas Couture French painter and teacher (d. 1879)

• 1818 – Amalia of Oldenburg, Queen of Greece (d. 1875)

• 1832 – John H. Ketcham, American politician (d. 1906)

• 1843 – Thomas Bracken, Irish-born New Zealand poet (d. 1898)

• 1850 – Zdeněk Fibich, Bohemian composer (d. 1900)

• 1850 – William Wallace Lincoln, son of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (d. 1862)

• 1851 – Thomas Chipman McRae, American politician, 34th Governor of Arkansas (d. 1929)

• 1859 – Gustave Kahn, French poet (d. 1936)

• 1872 – Sidney Ainsworth, British actor (d. 1922)

• 1872 – Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (d. 1956)

• 1872 – Albert Payson Terhune, American author (d. 1942)

• 1873 – Blagoje Bersa, Croatian composer (d. 1934)

• 1876 – Jack Lang (John Thomas Lang), Premier of New South Wales (d. 1975)

• 1878 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish philosopher and mathematician (d. 1956)

• 1885 – Frank Patrick, Canadian hockey player (d. 1960)

• 1889 – Sewall Wright, American biologist (d. 1988)

• 1890 – Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and Nobel laureate (d. 1967)

• 1891 – John William McCormack, American politician (d. 1980)

• 1892 – Amy Key Clarke, English mystical poet (d. 1980)

• 1892 – Walter Hagen, American golfer (d. 1969)

• 1892 – Rebecca West, British writer (d. 1983)

• 1896 – Leroy Robertson, American composer (d. 1971)

• 1905 – Anthony Powell, British author (d. 2000)

• 1909 – Seicho Matsumoto, Japanese mystery writer and journalist (d. 1992)

• 1911 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (d. 1947)

• 1914 – Ivan Generalić, Austro-Hungarian-born Croatian painter (d. 1992)

• 1915 – Werner von Trapp, member of the Trapp Family Singers (d. 2007)

• 1917 – Heinrich Böll, German writer and Nobel laureate (d. 1985)

• 1917 – Sophie Masloff, American politician

• 1918 – Donald Regan, American White House Chief of Staff (d. 2003)

• 1918 – Kurt Waldheim, Austrian United Nations Secretary-General and Federal President of Austria (d. 2007)

• 1920 – Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina

• 1920 – Bob Bindig, American cartoonist (d. 2006)

• 1920 – Jean Gascon, Canadian actor (d. 1988)

• 1921 – Maila Nurmi, aka Vampira, Finnish-born American actress (d. 2008)

• 1921 – John Severin, American comics artist

• 1922 – Paul Winchell, American ventriloquist (d. 2005)

• 1922 – Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician (d. 1989)

• 1923 – Intizar Hussain, Urdu writer and columnist of Pakistan

• 1926 – Joe Paterno, American football coach

• 1932 – Edward Hoagland, American essayist

• 1935 – John G. Avildsen, American film director

• 1935 – Lorenzo Bandini, Italian racecar driver (d. 1967)

• 1935 – Yusuf Bey (Joseph Stephens), American activist (d. 2003)

• 1935 – Phil Donahue, American talk show host

• 1935 – Edward Schreyer, Canadian politician, Premier of Manitoba

• 1937 – Jane Fonda, American actress

• 1937 – Donald F. Munson, American politician

• 1938 – Frank Moorhouse, Australian author

• 1939 – Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian politician

• 1940 – Frank Zappa, American musician (d. 1993)

• 1940 – Ray Hildebrand, American singer (Paul & Paula)

• 1942 – Hu Jintao, Chinese president

• 1942 – Reinhard Mey, German singer

• 1942 – Carla Thomas, American singer

• 1943 – André Arthur. Quebec radio host

• 1943 – Albert Lee, English guitarist

• 1944 – Zheng Xiaoyu, Chinese bureaucrat (d. 2007)

• 1944 – Bill Atkinson, English footballer

• 1944 – Michael Tilson Thomas, American conductor

• 1946 – Christopher Keene, American conductor (d. 1995)

• 1946 – Carl Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (d. 1998)

• 1947 – Bryan Hamilton, Northern Irish footballer

• 1947 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish musician

• 1948 – Samuel L. Jackson, American actor

• 1948 – Dave Kingman, American baseball player

• 1948 – Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician

• 1949 – Nikolaos Sifounakis, Greek politician

• 1949 – Thomas Sankara, President of Burkina Faso (d. 1987)

• 1950 – Jeffrey Katzenberg, American film producer

• 1950 – Lillebjørn Nilsen, Norwegian singer-songwriter

• 1951 – Nick Gilder, English musician (Sweeney Todd)

• 1952 – Joaquín Andújar, Dominican baseball player

• 1953 – Betty Wright, American singer

• 1954 – Chris Evert, American tennis player

• 1955 – Jane Kaczmarek, American actress

• 1955 – Kazuyuki Sekiguchi, Japanese musician

• 1957 – Tom Henke, American baseball player

• 1957 – Ray Romano, Italian-American comedian

• 1959 – Florence Griffith Joyner, American sprinter (d. 1998)

• 1960 – Louis Demetrius Alvanis, London-based pianist

• 1960 – Roger McDowell, American Major League Baseball Pitcher

• 1960 – Andy Van Slyke, American baseball player

• 1961 – Francis Ng, Hong Kong actor

• 1961 – Ryūji Sasai, Japanese composer

• 1963 – Govinda Ahuja, Indian actor and politician

• 1964 – Rob Kelly, English football manager

• 1964 – Fabiana Udenio, Argentine actress

• 1965 – Andy Dick, American actor and comedian

• 1965 – Stuart Mitchell, Scottish Composer

• 1965 – Anke Engelke, German comedian

• 1966 – Kiefer Sutherland, British-born Canadian actor

• 1966 – Karri Turner, American actress

• 1967 – Ervin Johnson, American basketball player

• 1967 – Terry Mills, American basketball player

• 1967 – Mikhail Saakashvili, Soviet-born President of Georgia

• 1969 – Julie Delpy, French actress

• 1969 – Jack Noseworthy, American actor

• 1969 – Mihails Zemļinskis, Latvian footballer

• 1971 – Matthieu Chedid, French musician

• 1971 – Fenton Keogh, Australian celebrity chef

• 1971 – Brett Scallions, American singer (Fuel, The X's)

• 1972 – Gloria De Piero, English journalist

• 1972 – Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Indian politician and member of the Parliament of India

• 1972 – Claudia Poll, Costa Rican swimmer

• 1972 – Latroy Hawkins, American baseball player

• 1972 – Dustin Hermanson, American baseball player

• 1972 – Erwin Schrott, Uruguayan opera singer

• 1973 – Karmen Stavec, German-born Slovenian singer

• 1973 – Mike Alstott, American football player

• 1973 – Irakli Alasania,Georgian politician and diplomat

• 1974 – Karrie Webb, Australian golfer

• 1975 – Paloma Herrera, Argentine ballet dancer

• 1976 – Mirela Manjani, Greek javelin thrower

• 1976 – Lukas Rossi Lead Singer for Supernova

• 1977 – Toby Rand Lead Singer for Juke Kartel

• 1978 – Mike Vitar, American actor

• 1979 – Tuva Novotny, Swedish actress and singer

• 1980 – Royce Ring, American Major League Baseball Player

• 1981 – Frankie Abernathy, American actress, The Real World: San Diego (d. 2007)

• 1981 – Sajid Mahmood, English cricketer

• 1981 – Lynda Thomas, Mexican singer

• 1981 – Cristian Zaccardo, Italian football player

• 1982 – Charlie Cox, English actor

• 1982 – Mike Gansey, American basketball player

• 1982 – Erica Hayden, American journalist and radio personality

• 1982 – Philip Humber, American baseball player

• 1982 – Iljo Keisse, Belgian cyclist

• 1982 – Tom Payne, British actor

• 1984 – Darren Potter, Irish football player

• 1984 – Jackson Rathbone, American actor

• 1985 – James Stewart Jr., American motorcycle racer

• 1987 – Brad Howard, Australian rules footballer

• 1987 – Valerie Concepcion, Filipino actress

• 1989 – Tamanna Bhatia, Indian actress

Deaths

• 882 – Hincmar, French bishop (b. 806)

• 1295 – Marguerite Berenger of Provence, wife of Louis IX of France (b. c.1221)

• 1308 – Henry I of Hesse (b. 1244)

• 1375 – Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian writer (b. 1313)

• 1504 – Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild, German archbishop and elector (b. 1442)

• 1549 – Marguerite of Navarre, wife of Henry II of Navarre (b. 1492)

• 1579 – Vicente Masip, Spanish painter

• 1597 – Petrus Canisius, Dutch Jesuit (b. 1521)

• 1807 – John Newton, English cleric and hymnist (b. 1725)

• 1824 – James Parkinson, English physician, geologist, paleontologist, and political activist (b. 1755)

• 1873 – Francis Garnier, French explorer (b. 1839)

• 1889 – Friedrich August von Quenstedt, German geologist (b. 1809)

• 1900 – Roger Wolcott, American political figure, 39th Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1847)

• 1920 – Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, Somalian nationalist leader (b. 1856)

• 1933 – Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen, Greenlandic polar explorer and anthropologist (b. 1879)

• 1935 – Kurt Tucholsky, German journalist and satirist (b. 1890)

• 1937 – Frank B. Kellogg, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1856)

• 1940 – F. Scott Fitzgerald, American writer (b. 1896)

• 1945 – George S. Patton, U.S. general (b. 1885)

• 1957 – Eric Coates, English composer (b. 1886)

• 1958 – Lion Feuchtwanger, German writer (b. 1884)

• 1959 – Rosanjin, Japanese calligrapher, restaurateur and ceramicist (b. 1883)

• 1964 – Carl Van Vechten, American writer and photographer (b. 1880)

• 1963 – Jack Hobbs, English cricketer (b. 1882)

• 1965 – Claude Champagne, Quebec composer (b. 1891)

• 1967 – Stuart Erwin, American actor (b. 1903)

• 1974 – James Henry Govier, British artist (b. 1910)

• 1974 – Richard Long, American actor (b. 1927)

• 1981 – Allan Dwan, Canadian-born American director and screenwriter (b. 1885)

• 1983 – Paul de Man, Belgian-born literary critic (b. 1919)

• 1987 – John Spence, founding No Doubt member (b. 1969)

• 1988 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ornithologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1907)

• 1990 – Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, American aeronautical engineer (Lockheed Skunk Works (b. 1910)

• 1992 – Albert King, American blues musician (b. 1924)

• 1992 – Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1903)

• 1997 – Amie Comeaux, American country music singer (b. 1976)

• 1998 – Roger Avon, Durham actor (b. 1914)

• 1998 – Karl Denver, Scottish singer (b. 1931)

• 1998 – Ernst Gunther Schenck, German doctor who joined the Sturmabteilung in 1933 (b. 1904)

• 2001 – Dick Schaap, American sports journalist (b. 1934)

• 2003 – Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Spanish playboy and businessman (b. 1924)

• 2004 – Autar Singh Paintal, Indian medical scientist (b. 1925)

• 2005 – Elrod Hendricks, American baseball player and coach (b. 1940)

• 2006 – Scobie Breasley, Australian jockey (b. 1914)

• 2006 – Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan (b. 1940)

• 2007 – Ken Hendricks, American businessman (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances

• Roman festivals – Divalia in honour of Angerona

• R.C. Saints – O Oriens, Saint Petrus Canisius; formerly feast day of Thomas the apostle

• In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice, sometimes known as Yule, occurs on or very close to this date. In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs around this time.