December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years ) in the Gregorian calendar . There are 15 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
714 – Pepin of Herstal , mayor of the Merovingian palace, dies at Jupille (modern Belgium). He is succeeded by his infant grandson Theudoald while his wife Plectrude holds actual power in the Frankish Kingdom .
755 – An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Yanjing , initiating the An Lushan Rebellion during the Tang dynasty of China.
1431 – Hundred Years' War : Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.
1497 – Vasco da Gama passes the Great Fish River , where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.
1575 – An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.5 strikes Valdivia, Chile.
1598 – Seven-Year War : Battle of Noryang : The final battle of the Seven-Year War is fought between the China and the Korean allied forces and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive allied forces victory.
1653 – English Interregnum : The Protectorate : Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England , Scotland and Ireland.
1689 – Convention Parliament : The Declaration of Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights .
1707 – Last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan.
1761 – Seven Years' War : After a four-month siege , the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kołobrzeg .
1773 – American Revolution : Boston Tea Party : Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dump hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act .
1811 – The first two in a series of four severe earthquakes occur in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri .
1826 – Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican-controlled Nacogdoches, Texas , and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia .
1838 – Great Trek : Battle of Blood River : Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius and Sarel Cilliers defeat Zulu impis , led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal , South Africa.
1850 – The Charlotte Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton, New Zealand .
1863 – American Civil War : Joseph E. Johnston replaces Braxton Bragg as commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee .
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Nashville : Major General George Thomas 's Union forces defeat Lieutenant General John Bell Hood 's Confederate Army of Tennessee .
1880 – Outbreak of the First Boer War between the Boer South African Republic and the British Empire .
1883 – Tonkin Campaign : French forces capture the Sơn Tây citadel.
1903 – Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel in Bombay first opens its doors to the guests.
1907 – The American Great White Fleet begins its circumnavigation of the world.
1912 – First Balkan War : The Royal Hellenic Navy defeats the Ottoman Navy at the Battle of Elli .
1914 – World War I : German battleships under Franz von Hipper bombard the English ports of Hartlepool and Scarborough .
1918 – Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas declares the formation of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic .
1920 – The Haiyuan earthquake , magnitude 8.5, rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000.
1922 – President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz is assassinated by Eligiusz Niewiadomski at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw .
1930 – Bank robber Herman Lamm and members of his crew are killed by a 200-strong posse, following a botched bank robbery in Clinton, Indiana .
1937 – Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay ; neither is ever seen again.
1938 – Adolf Hitler institutes the Cross of Honour of the German Mother .
1941 – World War II : Japanese forces occupy Miri , Sarawak .
1942 – The Holocaust : Schutzstaffel chief Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination be deported to Auschwitz .
1944 – World War II: The Battle of the Bulge begins with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.
1946 – Thailand joins the United Nations .
1947 – William Shockley , John Bardeen and Walter Brattain build the first practical point-contact transistor .
1950 – Korean War : U.S. President Harry S. Truman declares a state of emergency, after Chinese troops enter the fight in support of communist North Korea .
1957 – Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan .
1960 – A United Airlines Douglas DC-8 and a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation collide over Staten Island , New York and crash, killing all 128 people aboard both aircraft and 6 more on the ground.
1965 – Vietnam War : General William Westmoreland sends U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara a request for 243,000 more men by the end of 1966 .
1968 – Second Vatican Council : Official revocation of the Edict of Expulsion of Jews from Spain .
1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 : The surrender of the Pakistan Army brings an end to both conflicts. This is commemorated annually as Victory Day in Bangladesh, and as Vijay Diwas in India.
1971 – The United Kingdom recognizes Bahrain 's independence. This is commemorated annually as Bahrain's National Day .
1978 – Cleveland , Ohio , becomes the first major American city to default on its financial obligations since the Great Depression .
1979 – Libya joins four other OPEC nations in raising crude oil prices, which has an immediate, dramatic effect on the United States.
1985 – Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead on the orders of John Gotti , who assumes leadership of New York's Gambino crime family
1986 – Gennady Kolbin replaces Dinmukhamed Konayev as First Secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party , prompting the Jeltoqsan protests which began the next day.
1989 – Romanian Revolution : Protests break out in Timișoara , Romania , in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor László Tőkés .
1989 – U.S. Appeals Court Judge Robert Smith Vance is assassinated by a mail bomb sent by Walter Leroy Moody, Jr.
1991 – Kazakhstan declares independence from the Soviet Union .
2013 – A bus falls from an elevated highway in the Philippines capital Manila killing at least 18 people with 20 injured.
2014 – Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants attacked an Army Public School in Peshawar , Pakistan , killing 145 people, mostly schoolchildren.
Births
1485 – Catherine of Aragon (d. 1536)
1584 – John Selden , English jurist and scholar (d. 1654)
1614 – Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1674)
1716 – Louis Jules Mancini Mazarini , French poet and diplomat (d. 1798)
1717 – Elizabeth Carter , English poet and scholar (d. 1806)
1742 – Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher , German field marshal (d. 1819)
1770 – Ludwig van Beethoven , Composer (d. 1827)
1775 – Jane Austen , English author (d. 1817)
1775 – François-Adrien Boieldieu , French pianist and composer (d. 1834)
1776 – Johann Wilhelm Ritter , German chemist, physicist, and philosopher (d. 1810)
1778 – John Ordronaux , French-American soldier (d. 1841)
1787 – Mary Russell Mitford , English author and playwright (d. 1855)
1790 – Leopold I of Belgium (d. 1865)
1804 – Viktor Bunyakovsky , Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1889)
1834 – Léon Walras , French-Swiss economist and theorist (d. 1910)
1836 – Ernst von Bergmann , Latvian-German surgeon and academic (d. 1907)
1861 – Antonio de La Gándara , French painter and illustrator (d. 1917)
1863 – George Santayana , Spanish philosopher, author, and poet (d. 1952)
1865 – Olavo Bilac , Brazilian journalist and poet (d. 1918)
1866 – Wassily Kandinsky , Russian-French painter and theorist (d. 1944)
1867 – Amy Carmichael , Irish-Indian missionary and humanitarian (d. 1951)
1869 – Hristo Tatarchev , Bulgarian physician and activist, co-founded the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (d. 1952)
1872 – Anton Denikin , Russian general (d. 1947)
1882 – Jack Hobbs , English cricketer and journalist (d. 1963)
1882 – Zoltán Kodály , Hungarian composer, conductor, and musicologist (d. 1967)
1882 – Walther Meissner , German physicist and engineer (d. 1974)
1883 – Károly Kós , Hungarian-Romanian architect, ethnologist, and politician (d. 1977)
1883 – Max Linder , French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1925)
1884 – Seibo Kitamura , Japanese sculptor (d. 1987)
1888 – Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934)
1888 – Alphonse Juin , Algerian-French general (d. 1967)
1889 – Kim Chwa-chin , South Korean guerrilla leader (d. 1930)
1895 – Marie Hall Ets , American author and illustrator (d. 1984)
1899 – Noël Coward , English actor, playwright, and composer (d. 1973)
1900 – Lucille Lortel , American actress and producer (d. 1999)
1900 – V. S. Pritchett , English author and critic (d. 1997)
1901 – Margaret Mead , American anthropologist and author (d. 1978)
1902 – Rafael Alberti , Spanish poet and playwright (d. 1999)
1903 – Hardie Albright , American actor (d. 1975)
1903 – Harold Whitlock , English race walker and coach (d. 1985)
1905 – Piet Hein , Danish mathematician, author, and poet (d. 1996)
1907 – Barbara Kent , Canadian-American actress (d. 2011)
1910 – Freddie Brown , Peruvian-English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1991)
1913 – George Ignatieff , Russian-Canadian scholar and diplomat, 8th Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1989)
1913 – Salik Lucknawi , Indian journalist and poet (d. 2013)
1915 – Turk Murphy , American trombonist and singer (d. 1987)
1916 – Birgitta Valberg , Swedish actress (d. 2014)
1917 – Nabi Bux Khan Baloch , Pakistani author and scholar (d. 2011)
1917 – Pete T. Cenarrusa , American soldier, pilot, and politician, Secretary of State of Idaho (d. 2013)
1917 – Arthur C. Clarke , English-Sri Lankan soldier and author (d. 2008)
1917 – Ruth Johnson Colvin , American author and educator, founded ProLiteracy Worldwide
1918 – Pierre Delanoë , French songwriter (d. 2006)
1918 – Vida Hope , English actress (d. 1963)
1920 – Frederick Rotimi Williams , Nigerian lawyer and politician (d. 2005)
1921 – Eulalio González , Mexican singer-songwriter, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1922 – Cy Leslie , American record producer, founded Pickwick Records (d. 2008)
1923 – Menahem Pressler , German-American pianist (Beaux Arts Trio )
1923 – Ernst Florian Winter , Austrian-American historian and political scientist (d. 2014)
1924 – Nicolas Sidjakov , Latvian-American illustrator (d. 1993)
1926 – James McCracken , American tenor and actor (d. 1988)
1926 – A. N. R. Robinson , Trinidadian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago (d. 2014)
1926 – Jeffrey Stone , American actor and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1927 – Peter Dickinson , Rhodesian-English author and poet (d. 2015)
1927 – Randall Garrett , American author and poet (d. 1987)
1928 – Terry Carter , American actor, director, and producer
1928 – Philip K. Dick , American philosopher and author (d. 1982)
1929 – Nicholas Courtney , Egyptian-English actor (d. 2011)
1930 – Bill Brittain , American author (d. 2011)
1930 – Sam Most , American flute player and saxophonist (d. 2013)
1930 – Bill Young , American sergeant and politician (d. 2013)
1931 – Karl Denver , Scottish-English singer (d. 1998)
1932 – Rodion Shchedrin , Russian pianist and composer
1932 – Quentin Blake , English author and illustrator
1936 – Morris Dees , American lawyer and activist, co-founded the Southern Poverty Law Center
1937 – Joyce Bulifant , American actress and singer
1937 – Edward Ruscha , American painter and photographer
1938 – Frank Deford , American journalist and author
1938 – Liv Ullmann , Norwegian actress, director, and screenwriter
1939 – Philip Langridge , English tenor and actor (d. 2010)
1939 – Gordon Miller , English high jumper
1941 – Robert Kerman , American porn actor and producer
1941 – Lesley Stahl , American journalist and actress
1941 – Roger Neil Wheeler , English general
1942 – Donald Carcieri , American educator and politician, 73rd Governor of Rhode Island
1942 – Eugene Robert Glazer , American actor
1943 – Steven Bochco , American screenwriter and producer
1944 – Jeff Kanew , American director and screenwriter
1944 – Don Meyer , American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
1945 – Patti Deutsch , American actress
1945 – Bobby George , English darts player and sportscaster
1945 – Yukio Hattori , Japanese television host
1945 – Tony Hicks , English singer and guitarist (The Hollies )
1946 – Benny Andersson , Swedish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (ABBA and Hep Stars )
1946 – Charles Dennis , Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1946 – Christopher Ellison , English actor
1946 – Terence Knox , American actor
1946 – Trevor Pinnock , English harpsichord player and conductor
1946 – Tom Stern , American cinematographer
1947 – Ben Cross , English actor
1947 – Vincent Matthews , American sprinter
1947 – Martyn Poliakoff , English chemist and academic
1948 – Christopher Biggins , English actor
1949 – Billy Gibbons , American guitarist, songwriter, producer, and actor (ZZ Top and Moving Sidewalks )
1949 – Heather Hallett , English lawyer and judge
1950 – Claudia Cohen , American journalist (d. 2007)
1950 – Roy Schuiten , Dutch cyclist and manager (d. 2006)
1951 – Sally Emerson , English author and poet
1951 – Mike Flanagan , American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2011)
1951 – Robben Ford , American guitarist and songwriter (L.A. Express and Yellowjackets )
1951 – Mark Heard , American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1992)
1951 – Shinji Yamashita , Japanese actor
1951 – Aykut Barka , Turkish scientist (d. 2002)
1952 – Joel Garner , Barbadian cricketer and manager
1952 – Francesco Graziani , Italian footballer and manager
1953 – Rebecca Forstadt , American voice actress and screenwriter
1955 – Xander Berkeley , American actor and producer
1955 – Carol Browner , American lawyer and environmentalist, 8th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
1955 – Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este
1955 – Chiharu Matsuyama , Japanese singer-songwriter
1956 – Spagna , Italian singer-songwriter
1956 – Lizzy Mercier Descloux , French musician, singer-songwriter, composer, actress, writer and painter (d. 2004)
1957 – H. D. Kumaraswamy , Indian social worker and politician, 18th Chief Minister of Karnataka
1957 – Antonio Vega , Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Nacha Pop ) (d. 2009)
1958 – Katie Leigh , American voice actress
1958 – Bart Oates , American football player and lawyer
1959 – Alison LaPlaca , American actress
1959 – Alexander Lebedev , Russian businessman and politician
1959 – Steve Mattsson , American author and illustrator
1959 – Larry Poindexter , American actor and singer
1960 – Pat Van Den Hauwe , Belgian footballer and manager
1961 – LaChanze , American actress, singer, and dancer
1961 – André Andersen , Russian-Danish keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (Royal Hunt )
1961 – Shane Black , American actor, director, and screenwriter
1961 – Bill Hicks , American comedian, actor, and singer (d. 1994)
1961 – Gretchen Palmer , American actress
1961 – Sam Robards , American actor
1961 – Jon Tenney , American actor and director
1962 – Maruschka Detmers , Dutch-French actress
1962 – William Perry , American football player and wrestler
1962 – Melanie Smith , American actress
1963 – Benjamin Bratt , American actor and producer
1963 – Jeff Carson , American singer-songwriter
1963 – James Mangold , American director, producer, and screenwriter
1964 – Heike Drechsler , German sprinter and long jumper
1964 – Todd Glass , American comedian and actor
1964 – Gail Harris , English actress and producer
1964 – Georgie Parker , Australian actress
1964 – Billy Ripken , American baseball player and sportscaster
1964 – Paul Vogt , American actor
1965 – Chris Jones , American baseball player and manager
1965 – Melanie Sloan , American lawyer and activist
1965 – Nancy Valen , American actress and producer
1966 – Clifford Robinson , American basketball player
1966 – Dennis Wise , English footballer and manager
1967 – Donovan Bailey , Canadian sprinter and sportscaster
1967 – Indrek Kaseorg , Estonian decathlete
1967 – Miranda Otto , Australian actress and singer
1968 – Peter Dante , American actor and singer
1968 – Lalah Hathaway , American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1968 – Greg Kovacs , Canadian bodybuilder (d. 2013)
1968 – Mark Dean Schwab , American rapist and murderer (d. 2008)
1969 – Shane , American porn actress and director
1969 – Simon Grayson , English footballer and manager
1969 – Florencia Lozano , American actress
1969 – Adam Riess , American astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic Nobel Prize laureate
1969 – Dmitri Tymoczko , American composer and theorist
1969 – Craig White , English cricketer and coach
1970 – Valerie Chow , Canadian-Hong Kong actress and publicist
1970 – Daniel Cosgrove , American actor
1971 – Shigeki Hosokawa , Japanese model and actor
1971 – Seyhan Kurt , French-Turkish poet and sociologist
1971 – Michael McCary , American singer-songwriter (Boyz II Men )
1971 – Paul van Dyk , German DJ and producer
1972 – Charles Gipson , American baseball player
1972 – Željko Kalac , Australian footballer and coach
1972 – Paul Leyden , Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1972 – Travis Morrison , American singer-songwriter (The Dismemberment Plan )
1973 – Sarah Kozer , American model and actress
1973 – Themba Mnguni , South African footballer
1973 – Jason Molina , American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1973 – Luisa Ranieri , Italian actress
1973 – Scott Storch , American songwriter and producer, founded Storch Music Company
1974 – Frida Hallgren , Swedish actress
1975 – Valentin Bădoi , Romanian footballer and manager
1975 – Kaba Diawara , French-Guinean footballer
1975 – Nao Kawakita , Japanese drummer (Maximum the Hormone )
1975 – Benjamin Kowalewicz , Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Billy Talent )
1975 – Paul Maynard , English politician
1975 – Jonathan Scarfe , Canadian actor
1976 – Jen Golbeck , American computer scientist and academic
1976 – Emiri Henmi , Japanese actress and singer
1977 – Éric Bélanger , Canadian ice hockey player
1977 – Sylvain Distin , French footballer
1978 – Joe Absolom , English actor
1978 – Satoshi Matsuda , Japanese actor
1978 – John Morris , Canadian curler and firefighter
1978 – Gunter Van Handenhoven , Belgian footballer and manager
1979 – Luke Harper , American wrestler
1979 – Trevor Immelman , South African golfer
1979 – Mihai Trăistariu , Romanian singer-songwriter
1979 – Jessie Ward , American wrestler and producer
1980 – Danish Kaneria , Pakistani cricketer
1981 – Imran Nazir , Pakistani cricketer
1981 – Krysten Ritter , American model, actress, and producer
1981 – Gareth Williams , Scottish footballer
1982 – Justin Mentell , American actor (d. 2010)
1982 – Antrel Rolle , American football player
1982 – Stanislav Šesták , Slovakian footballer
1982 – Hanna Syedokova , Ukrainian-American singer and actress (Nu Virgos )
1983 – Kelenna Azubuike , American basketball player
1983 – Frankie Ballard , American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1983 – Mika Kikuchi , Japanese actress and singer
1983 – Danielle O'Hara , English model and actress, Miss Great Britain 2006
1984 – Theo James , English-American actor and singer
1985 – Stanislav Manolev , Bulgarian footballer
1985 – James Nash , English race car driver
1985 – Amanda Setton , American actress
1985 – Keita Tachibana , Japanese singer and dancer (W-inds )
1986 – Candice Crawford , American model and journalist, Miss Missouri USA 2008
1986 – Alcides Escobar , Venezuelan baseball player
1986 – Zoltán Kovács , Hungarian footballer (d. 2013)
1986 – Pärt Uusberg , Estonian actor, composer, and conductor
1987 – Mame Biram Diouf , Senegalese footballer
1987 – Beau Dowler , Australian footballer
1987 – Hallee Hirsh , American actress
1988 – Mats Hummels , German footballer
1988 – Edita Janeliunaite , Lithuanian cyclist
1988 – Nitya Krishinda Maheswari , Indonesian badminton player
1988 – Anna Popplewell , English actress
1988 – Park Seo-joon , South Korean model and actor
1989 – Mirei Kiritani , Japanese model, actress, and journalist
1992 – Ulrikke Eikeri , Norwegian tennis player
1992 – Anamul Haque , Bangladeshi cricketer
1992 – Moe Miura , Japanese model, actress, and singer (9nine )
1992 – Pietro Perdichizzi , Belgian footballer
1992 – Tom Rogić , Australian footballer
1993 – Jyoti Amge , Indian actress
1993 – Rikako Sakata , Japanese model and actress
1994 – Elliot Lee , English footballer
1994 – Nicola Murru , Italian footballer
1994 – José Rodríguez Martínez , Spanish footballer
1994 – Stephen Sutton , English activist and blogger (d. 2014)
Deaths
705 – Wu Zetian , Chinese wife of Emperor Taizong of Tang (b. 625)
714 – Pepin of Herstal (b. 635)
867 – Eberhard of Friuli (b. 815)
999 – Adelaide of Italy (b. 931)
1263 – Haakon IV of Norway (b. 1204)
1325 – Charles, Count of Valois (b. 1270)
1378 – Secondotto, Marquess of Montferrat (b. 1360)
1379 – John FitzAlan, 1st Baron Arundel , English general and politician, Lord Marshall of England (b. 1348)
1470 – John II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1425)
1474 – Ali Qushji , Uzbek astronomer, mathematician, and physicist (b. 1403)
1515 – Afonso de Albuquerque , Portuguese admiral and politician, 3rd Viceroy of Portuguese India (b. 1453)
1598 – Yi Sun-sin , Korean general (b. 1545)
1669 – Nathaniel Fiennes , English soldier and politician (b. 1608)
1687 – William Petty , English economist and philosopher (b. 1623)
1751 – Leopold II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (b. 1700)
1765 – Peter Frederick Haldimand , Swiss-Canadian lieutenant and surveyor (b. 1741)
1774 – François Quesnay , French economist, physician, and philosopher (b. 1694)
1783 – Johann Adolph Hasse , German composer and educator (b. 1699)
1783 – Sir William James, 1st Baronet , Welsh-English commander and politician (b. 1720)
1809 – Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy , French chemist and entomologist (b. 1755)
1859 – Wilhelm Grimm , German anthropologist and author (b. 1786)
1892 – Henry Yesler , American businessman and politician, 7th Mayor of Seattle (b. 1810)
1897 – Alphonse Daudet , French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1840)
1898 – Pavel Tretyakov , Russian businessman and art collector (b. 1832)
1908 – American Horse , American tribal leader and educator (b. 1840)
1914 – Ivan Zajc , Croatian composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1832)
1917 – Frank Gotch , American wrestler (b. 1878)
1921 – Camille Saint-Saëns , French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1835)
1922 – Gabriel Narutowicz , Lithuanian-Polish engineer and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Poland (b. 1865)
1928 – Elinor Wylie , American poet and author (b. 1885)
1930 – Herman Lamm , German-American bank robber (b. 1890)
1935 – Thelma Todd , American actress and singer (b. 1905)
1936 – Frank Eugene , American-German photographer and educator (b. 1865)
1940 – Billy Hamilton , American baseball player and manager (b. 1866)
1943 – George Bambridge , English diplomat (b. 1892)
1944 – Betsie ten Boom , Dutch holocaust victim (b. 1885)
1945 – Giovanni Agnelli , Italian businessman, founded the Fiat Automobile Company (b. 1866)
1945 – Fumimaro Konoe , Japanese lawyer and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1891)
1948 – Denham Fouts , American prostitute (b. 1914)
1949 – Sidney Olcott , Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1873)
1952 – Robert Henry Best , American journalist (b. 1896)
1956 – Nina Hamnett , Welsh painter and author (b. 1890)
1961 – Hans Rebane , Estonian journalist and politician, 8th Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1882)
1963 – Nam Phương , Vietnamese wife of Bảo Đại (b. 1914)
1965 – W. Somerset Maugham , French-English author and playwright (b. 1874)
1968 – Futabayama Sadaji , Japanese sumo wrestler, the 35th Yokozuna (b. 1912)
1968 – Muhammad Suheimat , Jordanian general and politician (b. 1916)
1969 – Soe Hok Gie , Indonesian activist and academic (b. 1942)
1974 – Kostas Varnalis , Greek poet and playwright (b. 1884)
1976 – Réal Caouette , Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1917)
1977 – Risto Jarva , Finnish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
1977 – Gustaf Aulén Well-known Swedish theologian, and the author of the influential work, Christus Victor (b. 1879)
1980 – Colonel Sanders , American businessman, founded KFC (b. 1890)
1980 – Hellmuth Walter , German-American engineer (b. 1900)
1982 – Colin Chapman , English engineer and businessman, founded Lotus Cars (b. 1928)
1983 – Debs Garms , American baseball player (b. 1907)
1984 – Karl Deichgräber , German philologist and academic (b. 1903)
1985 – Thomas Bilotti , American mobster (b. 1940)
1985 – Paul Castellano , American mobster (b. 1915)
1988 – Sylvester , American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1948)
1989 – Oscar Alfredo Gálvez , Argentinian race car driver (b. 1913)
1989 – Silvana Mangano , Italian actress and dancer (b. 1930)
1989 – Aileen Pringle , American actress (b. 1895)
1989 – Lee Van Cleef , American actor and singer (b. 1925)
1990 – Douglas Campbell , American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1896)
1991 – Eszter Tamási , Hungarian actress and journalist (b. 1938)
1993 – Charizma , American rapper (b. 1973)
1993 – Moses Gunn , American actor (b. 1929)
1993 – Kakuei Tanaka , Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1918)
1995 – Johnny Moss , American poker player (b. 1907)
1995 – Mariele Ventre , Italian singer and director (b. 1939)
1996 – Quentin Bell , English historian and author (b. 1910)
1997 – Lillian Disney , American illustrator and philanthropist (b. 1899)
1997 – Nicolette Larson , American singer (b. 1952)
1998 – William Gaddis , American author and academic (b. 1922)
2001 – Stuart Adamson , English-Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Skids , Big Country , and The Raphaels ) (b. 1958)
2001 – Stefan Heym , German-American soldier and author (b. 1913)
2003 – Alfred Lynch , English actor (b. 1931)
2003 – Robert Stanfield , Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician, 17th Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1914)
2003 – Gary Stewart , American singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
2004 – Ted Abernathy , American baseball player (b. 1933)
2004 – Deyda Hydara , Gambian journalist, co-founded The Point (b. 1946)
2004 – Agnes Martin , American painter and educator (b. 1912)
2005 – Kenneth Bulmer , English author (b. 1921)
2005 – Ed Hansen , American director and screenwriter (b. 1937)
2005 – John Spencer , American actor (b. 1946)
2006 – Don Jardine , Canadian wrestler and trainer (b. 1940)
2006 – Taliep Petersen , South African singer-songwriter and director (b. 1950)
2006 – Pnina Salzman , Israeli pianist and educator (b. 1922)
2006 – Stanford J. Shaw , American historian and academic (b. 1930)
2007 – Dan Fogelberg , American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1951)
2009 – Roy E. Disney , American businessman (b. 1930)
2009 – Yegor Gaidar , Russian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1956)
2009 – Manto Tshabalala-Msimang , South African physician and politician, 22nd South African Minister of Health (b. 1940)
2010 – Melvin E. Biddle , American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1923)
2011 – Robert Easton , American actor and screenwriter (b. 1930)
2011 – Dan Frazer , American actor (b. 1921)
2011 – Nicol Williamson , Scottish actor (b. 1938)
2012 – Axel Anderson , German-Puerto Rican actor and production manager (b. 1929)
2012 – Elwood V. Jensen , American biologist and academic (b. 1920)
2012 – Iñaki Lejarreta , Spanish cyclist (b. 1983)
2012 – Josh Weston , American porn actor (b. 1973)
2012 – Jake Adam York , American poet and academic (b. 1972)
2013 – James Flint , English commander (b. 1913)
2013 – Ray Price , American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1926)
2013 – Marta Russell , American journalist, author, and activist (b. 1951)
2013 – Zvi Yanai , Israeli publicist and philosopher (b. 1935)
2014 – Martin Brasier , English paleontologist, biologist, and academic (b. 1947)
2014 – Tim Cochran , American mathematician and academic (b. 1955)
2014 – Man Haron Monis , Iranian-Australian cleric (b. 1964)
2014 – Wendy Rene , American singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
2014 – Ernie Terrell , American boxer and singer (b. 1939)
2015 – Lizmark , Mexican wrestler (b. 1949)
2015 – Peter Dickinson , Rhodesian-English author and poet (b. 1927)
2015 – Gabre Gabric , Croatian-Italian discus thrower and shot putter (b. 1914)
2015 – Aafje Heynis , Dutch singer (b. 1924)
2015 – George Earl Ortman , American painter and sculptor (b. 1926)
Holidays and observances
External links
Months and days of the year
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December