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December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 10 days remaining until the end of the year. This is a frequent day for the winter solstice to occur in the northern hemisphere and summer solstice to occur in the southern hemisphere.
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.
- 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, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theater.
- 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 after the transplant.
- 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.
- 1969 – The Gay Activists Alliance is formed in New York City.
- 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, dormant for 47 years, erupts 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.
- 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 ((d. 1720)
- 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)
- 1840 – Namık Kemal, Turkish nationalist poet (d. 1888)
- 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 – Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee (d. 1953)
- 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 66th United States Secretary of the Treasury (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 – Adam Schefter, American sports journalist and NFL insider
- 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 – Valerie Concepcion, Filipino actress
- 1987 – Brad Howard, Australian footballer
- 1989 – Tamannaah 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)
- 2008 – Ron Hornaday, Sr. American stock car racer (b. 1931)
Holidays and observances
External links
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