December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years ) in the Gregorian calendar .
It is widely known as New Year's Eve since the following day is New Year's Day . It is the last day of the year. The following day is January 1 of the following year.
Events
406 – Vandals , Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine , beginning an invasion of Gaul .
535 – Byzantine general Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily , defeating the Gothic garrison of Palermo (Panormos), and ending his consulship for the year.
1225 – The Lý dynasty of Vietnam ends after 216 years by the enthronement of the boy emperor Trần Thái Tông , husband of the last Lý monarch, Lý Chiêu Hoàng , starting the Trần dynasty .
1229 – James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma , Spain) thus consummating the Christian reconquest of the island of Majorca .
1501 – The First Battle of Cannanore commences.
1600 – The British East India Company is chartered.
1660 – James II of England is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France .
1687 – The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope .
1696 – A window tax is imposed in England, causing many householders to brick up windows to avoid the tax.
1757 – Empress Elizabeth I of Russia issues her ukase incorporating Königsberg into Russia .
1759 – Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000 year lease at £ 45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness .
1775 – American Revolutionary War : Battle of Quebec : British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army General Richard Montgomery .
1790 – Efimeris , the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time.
1796 – The incorporation of Baltimore as a city.
1831 – Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City.
1853 – A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an iguanodon created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London, England.
1857 – Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa , then a small logging town, as the capital of Canada.
1862 – American Civil War : Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union , thus dividing Virginia in two.
1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Stones River begins near Murfreesboro, Tennessee .
1878 – Karl Benz , working in Mannheim , Germany, filed for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine , and he was granted the patent in 1879.
1879 – Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey .
1906 – Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar signs the Persian Constitution of 1906 .
1907 – The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) in New York, New York.
1909 – Manhattan Bridge opens.
1923 – The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC .
1944 – World War II : Hungary declares war on Nazi Germany .
1944 – World War II: Operation Nordwind , the last major German offensive on the Western Front begins.
1946 – President Harry S. Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
1951 – The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than US$13.3 billion in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.
1955 – General Motors becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over US$1 billion in a year.
1960 – The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.
1961 – RTÉ , Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service.
1963 – The Central African Federation officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia , Malawi and Rhodesia .
1965 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa , leader of the Central African Republic army, and his military officers begins a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko .
1967 – The Youth International Party , popularly known as the "Yippies", is founded.
1968 – The first flight of the Tupolev Tu-144 , the first civilian supersonic transport.
1981 – A coup d'état in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann 's PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings .
1983 – The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
1983 – In Nigeria a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic .
1985 – United Kingdom founds a member state of UNESCO .
1986 – A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico , kills 97 and injures 140.
1988 – Pittsburgh Penguins ' Mario Lemieux becomes the only National Hockey League player to score goals in five different ways: even strength, shorthanded, power play, penalty shot, and empty net, during an 8–6 win over the New Jersey Devils .
1988 – First Winter Ascent of Lhotse (8,516m) by Krzysztof Wielicki (solo).
1991 – All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date and the Soviet Union is officially dissolved .
1992 – Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved in what is dubbed by media as the Velvet Divorce , resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia .
1994 – This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC−10:00 to UTC+14:00 , respectively.
1994 – The First Chechen War : Russian army began a New Year's storming of Grozny .
1998 – The European Exchange Rate Mechanism freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone , and establishes the value of the euro currency.
1999 – First President of Russia , Boris Yeltsin , resigns from office, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President and successor.
1999 – The United States Government hands control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone ) to Panama . This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties .
1999 – Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking ended after seven days with the release of 190 survivors at Kandahar Airport , Afghanistan .
2004 – The official opening of Taipei 101 , the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 ft).
2009 – Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur.
2010 – Tornadoes touch down in midwestern and southern United States , including Washington County, Arkansas ; Greater St. Louis , Sunset Hills, Missouri , Illinois , and Oklahoma , with a few tornadoes in the early hours. A total 36 tornadoes touched down, resulting in the deaths of nine people and $113 million in damages.
2011 – NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon.
2014 – A New Year's Eve celebration stampede in Shanghai kills at least 36 people and injures 49 others.
2015 – A fire broke out at the Downtown Address Hotel in Downtown Dubai , United Arab Emirates located near the Burj Khalifa 2 hours before the fireworks display was due to commence. 16 injuries were reported 14 with minor injuries 1 had a heart attack and 1 had a major injury.
Births
695 – Muhammad bin Qasim , Syrian general (d. 715)
1378 – Pope Callixtus III (d. 1458)
1491 – Jacques Cartier , French navigator and explorer (d. 1557)
1493 – Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino (d. 1570)
1514 – Andreas Vesalius , Belgian anatomist, physician, and author (d. 1564)
1552 – Simon Forman , English occultist and astrologer (d. 1611)
1572 – Emperor Go-Yōzei of Japan, (d. 1617)
1585 – Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba , Spanish general and politician, 24th Governor of the Duchy of Milan (d. 1645)
1668 – Herman Boerhaave , Dutch botanist and physician (d. 1738)
1714 – Arima Yoriyuki , Japanese mathematician and educator (d. 1783)
1720 – Charles Edward Stuart , Italian husband of Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern (d. 1788)
1738 – Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis , English general and politician, 3rd Governor-General of India (d. 1805)
1741 – Gottfried August Bürger , German poet and academic (d. 1794)
1741 – Princess Isabella of Parma (d. 1763)
1763 – Pierre-Charles Villeneuve , French admiral (d. 1806)
1776 – Johann Spurzheim , German-American physician and phrenologist (d. 1832)
1790 – Antonie Adamberger , Austrian actress (d. 1867)
1798 – Friedrich Robert Faehlmann , Estonian physician, philologist, and academic (d. 1850)
1805 – Marie d'Agoult , German-French historian and author (d. 1876)
1815 – George Meade , American general and engineer (d. 1872)
1830 – Isma'il Pasha , Egyptian ruler (d. 1895)
1830 – Alexander Smith , Scottish poet and critic (d. 1867)
1838 – Émile Loubet , French lawyer and politician, 7th President of France (d. 1929)
1842 – Giovanni Boldini , Italian painter (d. 1931)
1851 – Henry Carter Adams , American economist and academic (d. 1921)
1855 – Giovanni Pascoli , Italian poet and scholar (d. 1912)
1857 – King Kelly , American baseball player and manager (d. 1894)
1860 – Joseph S. Cullinan , American businessman, co-founded Texaco (d. 1937)
1864 – Robert Grant Aitken , American astronomer and academic (d. 1951)
1869 – Henri Matisse , French painter and sculptor (d. 1954)
1872 – Fred Marriott , American race car driver (d. 1956)
1873 – Konstantin Konik , Estonian surgeon and politician, 19th Estonian Minister of Education (d. 1936)
1874 – Julius Meier , American businessman and politician, 20th Governor of Oregon (d. 1937)
1877 – Lawrence Beesley , English journalist and author (d. 1967)
1878 – Elizabeth Arden , Canadian businesswoman, founded Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (d. 1966)
1878 – Horacio Quiroga , Uruguayan-Argentinian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1937)
1880 – Fred Beebe , American baseball player and coach (d. 1957)
1880 – George Marshall , American general and politician, 50th United States Secretary of State , Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
1881 – Max Pechstein , German painter and academic (d. 1955)
1884 – Bobby Byrne , American baseball and soccer player (d. 1964)
1884 – Mihály Fekete , Hungarian actor, screenwriter, and film director (d. 1960)
1885 – Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1970)
1899 – Silvestre Revueltas , Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1940)
1901 – Nikos Ploumpidis , Greek educator and politician (d. 1954)
1902 – Lionel Daunais , Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1982)
1904 – William Heynes , English engineer (d. 1989)
1905 – Helen Dodson Prince , American astronomer and academic (d. 2002)
1905 – Jule Styne , English-American composer (d. 1994)
1908 – Simon Wiesenthal , Ukrainian-Austrian nazi hunter and author (d. 2005)
1909 – Jonah Jones , American trumpet player and saxophonist (d. 2000)
1910 – Carl Dudley , American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1973)
1911 – Dal Stivens , Australian soldier and author (d. 1997)
1912 – John Frost , Indian-English general (d. 1993)
1914 – Yrjö Nikkanen , Finnish javelin thrower (d. 1985)
1915 – Sam Ragan , American journalist, author, and poet (d. 1996)
1917 – Evelyn Knight , American singer (d. 2007)
1917 – Wilfrid Noyce , English mountaineer and author (d. 1962)
1918 – Virginia Davis , American actress and dancer (d. 2009)
1919 – Tommy Byrne , American baseball player, coach, and politician (d. 2007)
1919 – Carmen Contreras-Bozak , Puerto Rican-American soldier
1919 – G. Wood , American actor (d. 2000)
1920 – Rex Allen , American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1999)
1922 – Tomás Balduino , Brazilian bishop (d. 2014)
1922 – Halina Czerny-Stefańska , Polish pianist and educator (d. 2001)
1922 – Luis Zuloaga , Venezuelan baseball player (d. 2013)
1923 – Giannis Dalianidis , Greek actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1924 – Taylor Mead , American actor and poet (d. 2013)
1925 – Irina Korschunow , German author and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1925 – Sri Lal Sukla , Indian author (d. 2011)
1926 – Valerie Pearl , English historian and academic
1926 – Billy Snedden , Australian lawyer and politician, 17th Attorney-General for Australia (d. 1987)
1928 – Siné , French singer and cartoonist
1928 – Tatyana Shmyga , Russian actress and singer (d. 2011)
1928 – Veijo Meri , Finnish author and translator (d. 2015)
1929 – Mies Bouwman , Dutch television host
1930 – Odetta , American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (d. 2008)
1930 – Jaime Escalante , Bolivian-American educator (d. 2010)
1931 – Ray Graves , American football player and coach (d. 2015)
1931 – Bob Shaw , Northern Irish journalist and author (d. 1996)
1932 – Don James , American football player and coach (d. 2013)
1932 – Felix Rexhausen , German journalist and author (d. 1992)
1933 – Edward Bunker , American author, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2005)
1934 – Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan , Indian author, poet, and scholar
1935 – Salman of Saudi Arabia
1936 – Noel Jan Tyl , American astrologer and author
1937 – Avram Hershko , Hungarian-Israeli biochemist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate
1937 – Anthony Hopkins , Welsh actor, director, and composer
1937 – Barry Hughes , Welsh footballer and manager
1937 – Tess Jaray , Austrian-English painter and educator
1937 – Alvis Wayne , American singer (d. 2013)
1938 – Berkant , Turkish singer-songwriter (d. 2012)
1938 – Rosalind Cash , American actress and singer (d. 1995)
1938 – Atje Keulen-Deelstra , Dutch speed skater (d. 2013)
1939 – Willye White , American sprinter and long jumper (d. 2007)
1940 – Mani Neumeier , German drummer (Guru Guru )
1941 – Alex Ferguson , Scottish footballer and manager
1941 – Johnny Leeze , English actor
1941 – Sarah Miles , English actress
1942 – Taufiq Kiemas , Indonesian politician, 5th First Gentleman of Indonesia (d. 2013)
1942 – Andy Summers , English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (The Police and Zoot Money's Big Roll Band )
1943 – John Denver , American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (The John Denver Band and Chad Mitchell Trio ) (d. 1997)
1943 – Ben Kingsley , English actor
1943 – Mavis Maclean , English scholar and academic
1943 – Pete Quaife , English bass player (The Kinks ) (d. 2010)
1944 – Taylor Hackford , American director, producer, and screenwriter
1944 – Neil Ross , English-American voice actor
1945 – Connie Willis , American author
1946 – Roy Greenslade , English journalist and academic
1946 – Pius Ncube , Zimbabwean archbishop
1946 – Lyudmila Pakhomova , Russian ice dancer (d. 1986)
1946 – Eric Robson , Scottish journalist and author
1946 – Nigel Rudd , English businessman, founded Williams Holdings
1946 – Tim Stevens , English bishop
1946 – Diane von Fürstenberg , Belgian-American fashion designer
1947 – Burton Cummings , Canadian keyboard player and songwriter (The Guess Who )
1947 – Rita Lee , Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (Os Mutantes )
1947 – Tim Matheson , American actor, director, and producer
1948 – Joe Dallesandro , American model and actor
1948 – Sandy Jardine , Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
1948 – René Robert , Canadian ice hockey player
1948 – Donna Summer , American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2012)
1949 – Ellen Datlow , American anthologist and author
1949 – Seub Nakhasathien , Thai environmentalist (d. 1990)
1949 – Susan Shwartz , American author
1950 – Phil Blakeway , Welsh-English rugby player
1950 – Inge Helten , German sprinter
1950 – Cheryl Womack , American businesswoman and philanthropist
1951 – Tom Hamilton , American bass player and songwriter (Aerosmith )
1951 – Terry Rhoads , American actor (d. 2013)
1952 – Vaughan Jones , New Zealand mathematician and academic
1952 – Elizabeth Norment , American actress (d. 2014)
1953 – Jane Badler , American actress and singer
1953 – Michael Hedges , American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1997)
1953 – Trevor Phillips , English broadcaster and politician
1953 – James Remar , American actor
1954 – Alex Salmond , Scottish economist and politician, 4th First Minister of Scotland
1954 – Hermann Tilke , German race car driver and engineer
1954 – Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu , Turkish sergeant and politician (d. 2009)
1956 – Robert Goodwill , English farmer and politician
1956 – Helma Knorscheidt , German shot putter
1956 – Steve Rude , American author and illustrator
1956 – Hussein Ahmed Salah , Djiboutian runner
1958 – Bebe Neuwirth , American actress and singer
1959 – Liveris Andritsos , Greek basketball player
1959 – Ron Bennington , American comedian and radio host
1959 – Val Kilmer , American actor, singer, and producer
1959 – Phill Kline , American lawyer and politician, Kansas Attorney General
1959 – Baron Waqa , Nauruan composer and politician, 14th President of Nauru
1959 – Paul Westerberg , American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Replacements )
1960 – Steve Bruce , English footballer and manager
1960 – John Allen Muhammad , American murderer (d. 2009)
1961 – Rick Aguilera , American baseball player and coach
1961 – Jeremy Heywood , English economist and civil servant
1961 – Nina Li , Chinese actress
1962 – Tyrone Corbin , American basketball player and coach
1962 – Don Diamont , American actor
1962 – Chris Hallam , English-Welsh swimmer and wheelchair racer (d. 2013)
1962 – Heather McCartney , American-English potter
1963 – Scott Ian , American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Anthrax , Stormtroopers of Death , The Damned Things , and Damnocracy )
1963 – Konishiki Yasokichi , American-Japanese sumo wrestler and singer
1964 – Michael McDonald , American comedian, actor, and director
1965 – Tony Dorigo , Australian-English footballer and sportscaster
1965 – Julie Doucet , Canadian cartoonist and author
1965 – Gong Li , Chinese actress
1965 – Nicholas Sparks , American author, screenwriter, and producer
1965 – Jeff Williams , American sprinter
1966 – Lisa Joyner , American journalist and actress
1968 – Gerry Dee , Canadian comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1968 – Junot Díaz , Dominican-American author and academic
1968 – Luciano Szafir , Brazilian model and actor
1969 – Dominik Diamond , Scottish radio and television host
1969 – Are Kalvø , Norwegian author and radio host
1970 – Jorge Alberto da Costa Silva , Brazilian footballer
1970 – Danny McNamara , English singer-songwriter (Embrace )
1970 – Carlos Morales Quintana , Spanish-Danish architect and sailor
1970 – Bryon Russell , American basketball player
1970 – Chandra West , Canadian actress
1971 – Brent Barry , American basketball player and sportscaster
1971 – Esteban Loaiza , Mexican baseball player
1972 – Joey McIntyre , American singer-songwriter and actor (New Kids on the Block )
1973 – Shandon Anderson , American basketball player
1973 – Crystal Knight , American porn actress and model
1973 – Malcolm Middleton , Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Arab Strap )
1974 – Joe Abercrombie , English author
1974 – Mario Aerts , Belgian cyclist
1974 – Tony Kanaan , Brazilian race car driver
1974 – Ryan Sakoda , Japanese-American wrestler and trainer
1975 – Rami Alanko , Finnish ice hockey player
1975 – Toni Kuivasto , Finnish footballer and coach
1975 – Rob Penders , Dutch footballer
1975 – Sander Schutgens , Dutch runner
1976 – Luís Carreira , Portuguese motorcycle racer (d. 2012)
1976 – Matthew Hoggard , English cricketer
1976 – Craig Reucassel , Australian comedian, actor, and screenwriter
1977 – Ceza , Turkish rapper
1977 – Psy , South Korean singer-songwriter, producer, and dancer
1977 – Wardy Alfaro , Costa Rican footballer and coach
1977 – Donald Trump, Jr. , American businessman
1978 – Eisa Al Dah , Emirati boxer
1979 – Elaine Cassidy , Irish actress
1979 – Noriko Nakagoshi , Japanese model and actress
1979 – Paul O'Neill , English race car driver
1979 – Jeff Waldstreicher , American lawyer and politician
1980 – Jesse Carlson , American baseball player
1980 – Matt Cross , American wrestler
1980 – Richie McCaw , New Zealand rugby player
1980 – Carsten Schlangen , German runner
1981 – Jason Campbell , American football player
1981 – Matthew Pavlich , Australian footballer
1981 – Margaret Simpson , Ghanaian heptathlete
1981 – Ricky Whittle , English actor
1982 – Deniz Çakır , Turkish actress
1982 – Julio DePaula , Dominican baseball player
1982 – Craig Gordon , Scottish footballer
1982 – Luke Schenscher , Australian basketball player
1982 – The Rocket Summer , American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1983 – Mariana Renata , French-Indonesian model and actress
1984 – Édgar Lugo , Mexican footballer
1984 – Paul Rodriguez , American skateboarder and actor
1984 – Calvin Zola , Congolese footballer
1985 – Jonathan Horton , American gymnast
1985 – Jan Smit , Dutch singer and television host
1986 – Nate Freiman , American baseball player
1986 – Bronson Pelletier , Canadian actor
1987 – Javaris Crittenton , American basketball player
1987 – Danny Holla , Dutch footballer
1987 – Émilie Le Pennec , French gymnast
1987 – Nemanja Nikolić , Hungarian footballer
1990 – Patrick Chan , Canadian figure skater
1990 – Sam Faiers , English model
1991 – Camila Giorgi , Italian tennis player
1991 – Bojana Jovanovski , Serbian tennis player
1992 – Karl Kruuda , Estonian race car driver
1993 – Ryan Blaney , American race car driver
1995 – Gabby Douglas , American gymnast
2005 – Lakshmi Tatma , Indian deformed girl
Deaths
192 – Commodus , Roman emperor (b. 161)
335 – Pope Sylvester I
669 – Li Shiji , Chinese general (b. 594)
1164 – Ottokar III of Styria (b. 1124)
1194 – Leopold V, Duke of Austria (b. 1157)
1297 – Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford , English politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1249)
1302 – Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1238)
1384 – John Wycliffe , English philosopher, theologian, and translator (b. 1331)
1426 – Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter (b. 1377)
1460 – Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury , English politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (b. 1400)
1510 – Bianca Maria Sforza , Italian wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1472)
1535 – William Skeffington , English-Irish politician, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1465)
1568 – Shimazu Tadayoshi , Japanese daimyo (b. 1493)
1575 – Pierino Belli , Italian commander and jurist (b. 1502)
1583 – Thomas Erastus , Swiss physician and theologian (b. 1524)
1610 – Ludolph van Ceulen , German-Dutch mathematician and academic (b. 1540)
1650 – Dorgon , Chinese emperor (b. 1612)
1655 – Janusz Radziwiłł , Polish–Lithuanian politician (b. 1612)
1673 – Oliver St John , English judge and politician, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (b. 1598)
1679 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli , Italian physiologist and physicist (b. 1608)
1691 – Robert Boyle , Irish chemist and physicist (b. 1627)
1691 – Dudley North , English merchant and economist (b. 1641)
1705 – Catherine of Braganza (b. 1638)
1719 – John Flamsteed , English astronomer and academic (b. 1646)
1742 – Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (b. 1661)
1799 – Jean-François Marmontel , French historian and author (b. 1723)
1872 – Aleksis Kivi , Finnish author and playwright (b. 1834)
1876 – Catherine Labouré , French nun and saint (b. 1806)
1877 – Gustave Courbet , French-Swiss painter and sculptor (b. 1819)
1888 – Samson Raphael Hirsch , German rabbi and scholar (b. 1808)
1889 – Ion Creangă , Romanian author and educator (b. 1837)
1890 – Pancha Carrasco , Costa Rican soldier (b. 1826)
1891 – Samuel Ajayi Crowther , Nigerian bishop and linguist (b. 1809)
1894 – Thomas Joannes Stieltjes , Dutch mathematician and academic (b. 1856)
1909 – Spencer Trask , American financier and philanthropist (b. 1844)
1910 – Archibald Hoxsey , American pilot (b. 1884)
1910 – John Moisant , American pilot and engineer (b. 1868)
1921 – Boies Penrose , American lawyer and politician (b. 1860)
1936 – Miguel de Unamuno , Spanish philosopher, author, and poet (b. 1864)
1948 – Malcolm Campbell , English race car driver and journalist (b. 1885)
1949 – Rıza Tevfik Bölükbaşı , Turkish philosopher, poet, and politician (b. 1869)
1949 – Raimond Valgre , Estonian pianist and composer (b. 1913)
1950 – Charles Koechlin , French composer and educator (b. 1867)
1953 – Albert Plesman , Dutch businessman, founded KLM (b. 1889)
1964 – Bobby Byrne , American baseball and soccer player (b. 1884)
1964 – Ólafur Thors , Icelandic lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1892)
1964 – Henry Maitland Wilson , English field marshal (b. 1881)
1968 – George Lewis , American clarinet player and composer (b. 1900)
1971 – Pete Duel American actor (b. 1940)
1971 – Marin Sais , American actress (b. 1890)
1972 – Roberto Clemente , Puerto Rican baseball player and soldier (b. 1934)
1972 – Henry Gerber , German-American activist, founded the Society for Human Rights (b. 1892)
1977 – Sabah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah , Kuwaiti ruler (b. 1924)
1978 – Basil Wolverton , American illustrator (b. 1909)
1980 – Marshall McLuhan , Canadian philosopher and theorist (b. 1911)
1980 – Raoul Walsh , American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1887)
1983 – Sevim Burak , Turkish author and playwright (b. 1931)
1985 – Ricky Nelson , American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1940)
1987 – Jerry Turner , American journalist (b. 1929)
1988 – Nicolas Calas , Greek-American poet and critic (b. 1907)
1990 – George Allen , American football player and coach (b. 1918)
1990 – Vasily Lazarev , Russian physician, colonel, and astronaut (b. 1928)
1990 – Giovanni Michelucci , Italian architect and urban planner, designed the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station (b. 1891)
1993 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia , Georgian anthropologist and politician, 1st President of Georgia (b. 1939)
1993 – Brandon Teena , American murder victim (b. 1972)
1994 – Leigh Bowery , Australian-English singer and actor (b. 1961)
1994 – Woody Strode , American football player, wrestler, and actor (b. 1914)
1996 – Wesley Addy , American actor (b. 1913)
1997 – Floyd Cramer , American singer-songwriter and pianist (Million Dollar Band ) (b. 1933)
1997 – Billie Dove , American actress (b. 1903)
1997 – Michael LeMoyne Kennedy , American son of Robert F. Kennedy (b. 1958)
1999 – Elliot Richardson , American lawyer and politician, 69th United States Attorney General (b. 1920)
2000 – Alan Cranston , American journalist and politician (b. 1914)
2000 – José Greco , Italian-American dancer and choreographer (b. 1918)
2000 – Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane , American-Israeli rabbi and scholar (b. 1966)
2001 – Eileen Heckart , American actress (b. 1919)
2002 – Kevin MacMichael , American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Cutting Crew ) (b. 1951)
2003 – Arthur R. von Hippel German-American physicist and author (b. 1898)
2004 – Gérard Debreu , French economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1921)
2005 – Enrico Di Giuseppe , American tenor and educator (b. 1932)
2005 – Phillip Whitehead , English screenwriter, producer, and politician (b. 1937)
2006 – Seymour Martin Lipset , American sociologist, author, and academic (b. 1922)
2006 – George Sisler, Jr. , American businessman (b. 1917)
2007 – Roy Amara , American scientific researcher (b. 1925)
2007 – Tommy Dickson , Irish footballer (b. 1929)
2007 – Michael Goldberg , American painter and educator (b. 1924)
2007 – Bill Idelson , American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1919)
2007 – Kathryn Ish , American actress (b. 1936)
2007 – Milton L. Klein , Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1910)
2007 – Markku Peltola , Finnish actor and singer (b. 1956)
2007 – Ettore Sottsass , Austrian-Italian architect and designer (b. 1917)
2008 – Donald E. Westlake , American author and screenwriter (b. 1933)
2009 – Erica Boyer , American porn actress, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1956)
2009 – Cahal Daly , Irish cardinal and philosopher (b. 1917)
2009 – Justin Keating , Irish surgeon, journalist, and politician, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (b. 1930)
2010 – Raymond Impanis , Belgian cyclist (b. 1925)
2010 – Per Oscarsson , Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1927)
2012 – Peter Ebert , English director and producer (b. 1918)
2012 – Tarak Mekki , Tunisian businessman and politician (b. 1958)
2012 – Jovette Marchessault , Canadian author and playwright (b. 1938)
2012 – James B. Reuter , American-Filipino priest and journalist (b. 1916)
2012 – Günter Rössler , German photographer and journalist (b. 1926)
2013 – Antonio Allocca , Italian actor (b. 1937)
2013 – James Avery , American actor (b. 1945)
2013 – Roberto Ciotti , Italian guitarist and composer (b. 1953)
2013 – John Fortune , English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1939)
2013 – Bob Grant , American radio host (b. 1929)
2013 – Irina Korschunow , German author and screenwriter (b. 1925)
2014 – Edward Herrmann , American actor and singer (b. 1943)
2014 – Abdullah Hussain , Malaysian author (b. 1920)
2014 – Norm Phelps , American author and activist (b. 1939)
2014 – S. Arthur Spiegel , American captain, lawyer, and judge (b. 1920)
2014 – Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington , Italian-English soldier and politician (b. 1915)
2015 – Natalie Cole , American singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1950)
2015 – Marvin Panch , American race car driver (b. 1926)
2015 – Wayne Rogers , American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1933)
Holidays and observances
External links
Months and days of the year
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December