December 11 is the 345th day of the year (346th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 20 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 361 – Julian the Apostate enters Constantinople as sole Emperor of the Roman Empire.
- 629 – Muhammad leads an army of 10,000 to conquer Mecca.
- 969 – Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas is assassinated by his wife Theophano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes.
- 1282 – Llywelyn the Last, the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales.
- 1602 – A surprise attack by forces under the command of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva.
- 1789 – The University of North Carolina is chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly.
- 1792 – French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.
- 1815 – The U.S. Senate created a select committee on finance and a uniform national currency, predecessor of the United States Senate Committee on Finance.
- 1816 – Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state.
- 1868 – Brazilians defeat Paraguayans at the Battle of Avay during the Paraguayan War.
- 1905 – A workers' uprising occurs in Kiev, Ukraine and establishes the Shuliavka Republic.
- 1907 – The New Zealand Parliament Buildings are almost completely destroyed by fire.
- 1917 – British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law.
- 1920 – Irish War of Independence: In revenge for an IRA ambush, British forces burn and loot numerous buildings in Cork city. Many civilians also reported being beaten, shot at, robbed and verbally abused by British forces.
- 1925 – Roman Catholic papal encyclical Quas Primas introduces the Feast of Christ the King.
- 1927 – Guangzhou Uprising: Communist militia and worker Red Guards launch an uprising in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet.
- 1931 – The British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster 1931, establishing legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Dominion of Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.
- 1934 – Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the last time.
- 1936 – Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom, the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India becomes effective.
- 1937 – Second Italo–Ethiopian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations.
- 1941 – World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on Germany and Italy.
- 1946 – The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.
- 1948 – The United Nations passes General Assembly Resolution 194, which established and defined the role of the United Nations Conciliation Commission as an organization to facilitate peace in the British Mandate for Palestine.
- 1958 – French Upper Volta and French Dahomey gain self-government from France, becoming the Republic of Upper Volta and the Republic of Dahomey (now Benin) respectively, joining the French Community.
- 1960 – French forces crack down in a violent clash with protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French president Charles de Gaulle.
- 1962 – Arthur Lucas, convicted of murder, is the last person to be executed in Canada.
- 1964 – Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New York.
- 1968 – The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus featuring The Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull (band), The Who, Taj Mahal (musician), Marianne Faithfull, The Dirty Mac, Yoko Ono, Sir Robert Fossett's Circus and the Nurses is filmed at the Intertel (V.T.R. Services) Studio, Wycombe Road, Wembley
- 1972 – Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and last Apollo mission to land on the Moon.
- 1980 – The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as CERCLA or Superfund, is enacted by the U.S. Congress.
- 1981 – El Mozote massacre: Armed forces in El Salvador kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War.
- 1993 – Forty-eight people are killed when a block of the Highland Towers collapses near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- 1994 – First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.
- 1994 – A bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, en route from Manila, Philippines to Tokyo, Japan, killing one. The captain is able to safely land the plane.
- 1997 – The Kyoto Protocol opens for signature.
- 1998 – Thai Airways Flight 261 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101. The pilot flying the Thai Airways Airbus A310-300 is thought to have suffered spatial disorientation.
- 2001 – China joins the World Trade Organization.
- 2005 – The Buncefield Oil Depot catches fire in Hemel Hempstead, England, United Kingdom.
- 2005 – Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese (and many who are not) in Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia. These are followed up by retaliatory ethnic attacks on Cronulla.
- 2006 – The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Nations such as Israel and the United States express concern.
- 2006 – Felipe Calderón, the President of Mexico, launches a military-led offensive to put down the drug cartel violence in the state of Michoacán. This effort is often regarded as the first event in the Mexican Drug War.
- 2007 – Two car bombs explode at the Constitutional court building in Algiers, Algeria and the United Nations office. An estimated 45 people are killed in the bombings.
- 2008 – Bernard Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
Births
- 1465 – Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (d. 1489)
- 1475 – Pope Leo X (d. 1521)
- 1566 – Manuel Cardoso, Portuguese composer and organist (d. 1650)
- 1680 – Emanuele d'Astorga, Italian composer (d. 1736)
- 1709 – Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, French wife of Louis I of Spain (d. 1742)
- 1712 – Francesco Algarotti, Italian philosopher (d. 1764)
- 1725 – George Mason, American politician (d. 1792)
- 1758 – Carl Friedrich Zelter, German composer, conductor, and educator (d. 1832)
- 1761 – Gian Domenico Romagnosi, Italian physicist (d. 1835)
- 1781 – David Brewster, Scottish physicist (d. 1868)
- 1801 – Christian Dietrich Grabbe, German playwright (d. 1836)
- 1803 – Hector Berlioz, French composer (d. 1869)
- 1810 – Alfred de Musset, French poet (d. 1857)
- 1830 – Kamehameha V of Hawaii (d. 1872)
- 1838 – John Labatt, Canadian businessman (d. 1915)
- 1843 – Robert Koch, German physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1910)
- 1856 – Georgi Plekhanov, Russian revolutionary and theoretician (d. 1918)
- 1858 – Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian playwright, director, and producer (d. 1943)
- 1863 – Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer (d. 1941)
- 1867 – Antonio Conte, Italian fencer (d. 1953)
- 1872 – René Bull, Irish illustrator (d. 1942)
- 1873 – Josip Plemelj, Slovenian mathematician (d. 1967)
- 1875 – Yehuda Leib Maimon, Bassarabian-Israeli rabbi and politician (d. 1962)
- 1880 – Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer (d. 1951)
- 1882 – Subramanya Bharathy, Indian poet (d. 1921)
- 1882 – Max Born, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
- 1882 – Fiorello La Guardia, American politician, 99th Mayor of New York City (d. 1947)
- 1883 – Victor McLaglen, English-American actor (d. 1959)
- 1884 – Piet Ooms, Dutch swimmer and water polo player (d. 1961)
- 1885 – Carlo Wieth, Danish actor (d. 1943)
- 1889 – Walter Knott, American farmer, founded Knott's Berry Farm (d. 1981)
- 1890 – Carlos Gardel, French-Argentinian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1935)
- 1890 – Mark Tobey, American painter (d. 1976)
- 1897 – Ronald Skirth, English army officer (d. 1977)
- 1904 – Marge, American cartoonist (d. 1993)
- 1905 – Robert Henriques, English author, broadcaster, and farmer (d. 1967)
- 1905 – Gilbert Roland, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1908 – Elliott Carter, American composer (d. 2012)
- 1908 – Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese director and screenwriter
- 1908 – Hákun Djurhuus, Faroese politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1987)
- 1908 – Amon Goeth, German SS officer (d. 1946)
- 1909 – Ronald McKie, Australian author (d. 1991)
- 1909 – John Wyer, English race car manager and engineer (d. 1989)
- 1910 – Noel Rosa, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1937)
- 1911 – Val Guest, English director (d. 2006)
- 1911 – Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
- 1911 – Qian Xuesen, Chinese scientist (d. 2009)
- 1912 – Carlo Ponti, Italian film producer (d. 2007)
- 1913 – Jean Marais, French actor (d. 1998)
- 1916 – Pérez Prado, Cuban singer, pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1989)
- 1918 – Clinton Adams, American painter (d. 2002)
- 1918 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian soldie and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
- 1919 – Marie Windsor, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1921 – Liz Smith, English actress
- 1922 – Grigoris Bithikotsis, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Pauline Jewett, Canadian politician (d. 1992)
- 1922 – Dilip Kumar, Indian actor
- 1922 – Maila Nurmi, Finnish-American actress (d. 2008)
- 1922 – Grace Paley, American author and poet (d. 2007)
- 1923 – Betsy Blair, American actress (d. 2009)
- 1924 – Doc Blanchard, American football player (d. 2009)
- 1925 – Aaron Feuerstein, American businessman
- 1925 – Paul Greengard, American neuroscientist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1925 – James Sullivan, American politician (d. 2012)
- 1926 – Big Mama Thornton, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
- 1927 – John Buscema, American illustrator (d. 2002)
- 1929 – Axel Anderson, German-Puerto Rican actor (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Chus Lampreave, Spanish actress
- 1930 – Jean-Louis Trintignant, French actor
- 1931 – Ronald Dworkin, American philosopher and scholar
- 1931 – Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican actress, singer, and dancer
- 1931 – Pierre Pilote, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1931 – Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Indian mystic, guru, and educator (d. 1990)
- 1932 – Enrique Bermúdez, Nicaraguan army officer, founder and leader of the Contras (d. 1991)
- 1932 – Anne Heywood, English actress
- 1932 – Aladár Kovácsi, Hungarian modern pentathlete (d. 2010)
- 1933 – Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., Filipino politician, 23rd President of the Senate of the Philippines
- 1935 – Ron Carey, American actor (d. 2007)
- 1935 – Pranab Mukherjee, Indian politician, 13th President of India
- 1935 – Elmer Vasko, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1998)
- 1936 – Hans van den Broek, French-Dutch politician
- 1936 – Taku Yamasaki, Japanese politician
- 1937 – Jim Harrison, American author
- 1938 – Reg Livermore, Australian actor and singer
- 1938 – Enrico Macias, Algerian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1938 – McCoy Tyner, American pianist and composer
- 1939 – Tom Hayden, American politician and activist
- 1939 – Thomas McGuane, American author
- 1940 – David Gates, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Bread)
- 1941 – Max Baucus, American politician
- 1941 – J. P. Parisé, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1941 – Rogier van Otterloo, Dutch conductor and composer (d. 1988)
- 1941 – J. Frank Wilson, American singer-songwriter (J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers) (d. 1991)
- 1942 – Donna Mills, American actress
- 1943 – John Kerry, American politician
- 1944 – Teri Garr, American actress
- 1944 – Jon Garrison, American tenor
- 1944 – Lynda Day George, American actress
- 1944 – Brenda Lee, American singer
- 1944 – Juan E. Méndez, Argentinian activist
- 1946 – Rhoma Irama, Indonesian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1946 – Diana Palmer, American author
- 1948 – Stamatis Spanoudakis, Greek composer
- 1949 – Noel Campbell, Irish footballer
- 1950 – Nino Frassica, Italian actor
- 1950 – Christina Onassis, American businesswoman (d. 1988)
- 1951 – Ria Stalman, Dutch discus thrower
- 1952 – Peter Geyer, German footballer
- 1953 – Bess Armstrong, American actress
- 1954 – Brad Bryant, American golfer
- 1954 – Santiago Creel, Mexican politician
- 1954 – Jermaine Jackson, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (Jackson 5)
- 1954 – Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson, Icelandic guitarist, engineer, and mathematician
- 1955 – Stu Jackson, American basketball coach
- 1955 – Christian Sackewitz, German footballer
- 1956 – Lani Brockman, American actress and director, founded Studio East
- 1956 – Andrew Lansley, English politician
- 1957 – Peter Bagge, American illustrator and writer
- 1958 – Isabella Hofmann, American actress
- 1958 – Nikki Sixx, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (Mötley Crüe, Sixx:A.M., Brides of Destruction, London, 58, and Sister)
- 1960 – Rachel Portman, English composer
- 1961 – Dave King, Irish-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Flogging Molly and Fastway)
- 1961 – Macky Sall, Senegalese politician, 4th President of Senegal
- 1961 – Marco Pierre White, English chef
- 1962 – Ben Browder, American actor
- 1962 – Paul Haslinger, Austrian-American composer (Tangerine Dream)
- 1962 – Nele Karajlić, Serbian singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and actor (Zabranjeno Pušenje)
- 1963 – Mario Been, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1963 – Jon Brion, American singer-songwriter, composer, and producer
- 1963 – Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, German tennis player
- 1963 – John Lammers, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1964 – Michel Courtemanche, Canadian comedian and actor
- 1964 – Justin Currie, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Del Amitri and The Uncle Devil Show)
- 1964 – Alexis Reich, American who falsely confessed to the murder of JonBenét Ramsey
- 1964 – Dave Schools, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (Widespread Panic, Stockholm Syndrome, and J Mascis + The Fog)
- 1964 – Cosy Sheridan, American singer-songwriter
- 1964 – Carolyn Waldo, Canadian swimmer
- 1965 – Jay Bell, American baseball player
- 1965 – Giannis Ragousis, Greek economist and politician
- 1966 – Gary Dourdan, American actor
- 1966 – Göran Kropp, Swedish mountaineer (d. 2002)
- 1966 – Leon Lai, Chinese singer and actor
- 1967 – Mo'Nique, American comedian and actress
- 1967 – DJ Yella, American DJ and producer (N.W.A and World Class Wreckin' Cru)
- 1968 – Fabrizio Ravanelli, Italian footballer
- 1969 – Viswanathan Anand, Indian chess player
- 1969 – Francisco Javier Arellano Félix, Mexican drug trafficker
- 1969 – Stig Inge Bjørnebye, Norwegian footballer
- 1969 – Sean Grande, American sportscaster
- 1969 – Alessandro Melli, Italian footballer
- 1971 – Willie McGinest, American football player
- 1972 – Daniel Alfredsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1972 – Sami Al-Jaber, Saudi Arabian footballer
- 1972 – Rusty Joiner, American model and actor
- 1973 – Mos Def, American rapper and actor (Black Star and Soulquarians)
- 1974 – Rey Mysterio, American wrestler
- 1974 – Maarten Lafeber, Dutch golfer
- 1974 – Lisa Ortiz, American actress
- 1974 – Ben Shephard, English journalist and television host
- 1975 – Gerben de Knegt, Dutch cyclist
- 1975 – Tomoka Kurotani, Japanese actress
- 1976 – Shareef Abdur-Rahim, American basketball player
- 1977 – Mark Streit, Swiss ice hockey player
- 1978 – Roy Wood, Jr., American comedian and actor
- 1979 – Rider Strong, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1980 – Arya, Indian actor
- 1981 – Nikki Benz, Ukraine-Canadian porn actress
- 1981 – Hamish Blake, Australian comedian, actor, and author
- 1981 – Jeff McComsey, American author and illustrator
- 1981 – Paul Medhurst, Australian footballer
- 1981 – Javier Saviola, Argentine footballer
- 1981 – Zacky Vengeance, American guitarist (Avenged Sevenfold)
- 1982 – Pablo Pérez Companc, Argentine race car driver
- 1984 – Leighton Baines, English footballer
- 1984 – Spyros Vrontaras, Greek footballer
- 1985 – Aiko Kayō, Japanese singer and voice actress
- 1985 – Yekta Kurtuluş, Turkish footballer
- 1985 – Anja Prislan, Slovenian tennis player
- 1986 – Roy Hibbert, American basketball player
- 1987 – Clifton Geathers, American football player
- 1987 – Natalia Gordienko, Moldovan singer and dancer
- 1988 – Tim Southee, New Zealand cricketer
- 1989 – Murugan Thiruchelvam, English chess player
- 1996 – Hailee Steinfeld, American actress
Deaths
- 384 – Pope Damasus I (b. 305)
- 861 – Al-Mutawakkil, Pakistani caliph (b. 822)
- 969 – Nikephoros II Phokas, Byzantine emperor (b. 912)
- 1121 – Al-Afdal Shahanshah, Israeli political adviser (b. 1066)
- 1241 – Ögedei Khan Mongolian emperor (b. 1186)
- 1282 – Llywelyn the Last, Welsh prince (b. 1223)
- 1282 – Michael VIII Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1225)
- 1532 – Pietro Accolti, Italian cardinal (b. 1455)
- 1582 – Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, Spanish general and politician, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b. 1508)
- 1686 – Louis, Grand Condé, French general (b. 1621)
- 1694 – Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1630)
- 1737 – John Strype, English clergyman and historian (b. 1643)
- 1747 – Edmund Curll, English bookseller and publisher (b. 1675)
- 1797 – Richard Brocklesby, English physician (b. 1722)
- 1826 – Maria Leopoldina of Austria (b. 1797)
- 1840 – Emperor Kōkaku of Japan (b. 1771)
- 1872 – Kamehameha V of Hawaii (b. 1830)
- 1880 – Oliver Winchester, American businessman and politician (b. 1810)
- 1892 – William Milligan, Scottish theologian (b. 1821)
- 1906 – Charles Townsend, American fencer (b. 1872)
- 1909 – Innokenty Annensky, Russian poet (b. 1855)
- 1918 – Ivan Cankar, Slovenian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1876)
- 1920 – Olive Schreiner, South African author (b. 1855)
- 1938 – Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian historian and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
- 1941 – John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American pilot and poet (b. 1922)
- 1941 – Charles Émile Picard, French mathematician (b. 1856)
- 1945 – Charles Fabry, French physicist (b. 1867)
- 1950 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1893)
- 1957 – Musidora, French actress and director (b. 1889)
- 1959 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player (b. 1900)
- 1964 – Sam Cooke, American singer-songwriter (The Highway Q.C.'s and The Soul Stirrers) (b. 1931)
- 1964 – Percy Kilbride, American actor (b. 1888)
- 1968 – Richard Sagrits, Estonian painter (b. 1910)
- 1968 – Arthur Hays Sulzberger, American publisher (b. 1891)
- 1971 – Maurice McDonald, American businessman, co-founded McDonald's (b. 1902)
- 1975 – Lee Wiley, American singer (b. 1908)
- 1978 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
- 1978 – Paul O'Dea, American baseball player (b. 1920)
- 1979 – James J. Gibson, American psychologist (b. 1904)
- 1983 – Neil Ritchie, Guyanese-English general (b. 1897)
- 1984 – Oskar Seidlin, German-American author, poet, and scholar (b. 1911)
- 1987 – G. A. Kulkarni, Indian author (b. 1923)
- 1989 – Louise Dahl-Wolfe, American photographer (b. 1895)
- 1991 – Robert Q. Lewis, American actor and game show host (b. 1921)
- 1991 – Artur Lundkvist, Swedish author and critic (b. 1906)
- 1992 – Michael Robbins, English actor (b. 1930)
- 1993 – Elvira Popescu, Romanian-French actress (b. 1894)
- 1994 – Philip Phillips, American archaeologist (b. 1900)
- 1995 – Arthur Mullard, English actor (b. 1910)
- 1996 – Willie Rushton, English cartoonist, author, and publisher, co-founded Private Eye (b. 1937)
- 1997 – Eddie Chapman, English spy (b. 1914)
- 1998 – André Lichnerowicz, Polish-French physicist (b. 1915)
- 1998 – Lynn Strait, American singer-songwriter (Snot) (b. 1968)
- 2000 – Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, Pakistani diplomat and author (b. 1915)
- 2000 – David Lewis, American actor (b. 1916)
- 2003 – Ahmadou Kourouma, Ivorian author (b. 1927)
- 2004 – José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1962)
- 2004 – Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand runner and coach (b. 1917)
- 2004 – M. S. Subbulakshmi, Indian singer (b. 1916)
- 2006 – Elizabeth Bolden, American super-centenarian (b. 1890)
- 2007 – Christie Hennessy, Irish singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1945)
- 2008 – Maddie Blaustein, American voice actress (b. 1960)
- 2008 – Bettie Page, American model (b. 1923)
- 2010 – Dick Hoerner, American football player (b. 1922)
- 2011 – John Patrick Foley, American cardinal (b. 1935)
- 2011 – Susan Gordon, American actress (b. 1949)
- 2012 – Toni Blankenheim, German opera singer (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Antonie Hegerlíková, Czech actress (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Albert O. Hirschman, German-American economist (b. 1915)
- 2012 – William B. Hopkins, American politician (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Pedro Reginaldo Lira, Argentinian bishop (b. 1915)
- 2012 – B. B. Nimbalkar, Indian cricketer (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Dindi Gowa Nyasulu, Malawian politician (b. 1944)
- 2012 – Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Walter Francis Sullivan, American bishop (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Colleen Walker, American golfer (b. 1956)
- 2012 – Mendel Weinbach, Polish-Israeli rabbi (b. 1933)
Holidays and observances
External links