Events Pre-1600 771 – Austrasian king Carloman I dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne as sole king of the Frankish Kingdom. 963 – The lay papal protonotary is elected pope and takes the name Leo VIII, being consecrated on 6 December after ordination. 1110 – An army led by Baldwin I of Jerusalem and Sigurd the Crusader of Norway captures Sidon at the end of the First Crusade.; ; 1259 – Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy) in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels. 1563 – The final session of the Council of Trent is held nearly 18 years after the body held its first session on December 13, 1545.
1601–1900 1619 – Thirty-eight colonists arrive at Berkeley Hundred, Virginia. The group's charter proclaims that the day "be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God." 1623 – 50 Christians are executed in Edo, Japan, during the Great Martyrdom of Edo. 1676 – The Battle of Lund occurs, and is the bloodiest battle in Scandinavian history. 1745 – Charles Edward Stuart's army reaches Derby, its furthest point during the Second Jacobite Rising. 1783 – At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, U.S. General George Washington bids farewell to his officers. 1786 – Mission Santa Barbara is dedicated (on the feast day of Saint Barbara). 1791 – The first edition of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published. 1804 – The United States House of Representatives adopts articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase. 1808 – Napoleonic Wars: Under the orders by commander Tomás de Morla, the city of Madrid surrenders to French Emperor Napoleon I after a 4 day long siege. 1829 – In the face of fierce local opposition, British Governor-General Lord William Bentinck issues a regulation declaring that anyone who abets sati in Bengal is guilty of culpable homicide. 1861 – American Civil War: The 109 electors of the several states of the Confederate States of America unanimously elect Jefferson Davis as President and Alexander H. Stephens as Vice President. 1863 – American Civil War: Confederate General James Longstreet lifts his unsuccessful siege of Knoxville, Tennessee after failing to capture the city. 1864 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Union cavalry forces defeat Confederate cavalry in the Battle of Waynesboro, Georgia, opening the way for General William T. Sherman's army to approach the coast. 1865 – North Carolina ratifies 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, followed two days later by Georgia, and U.S. slaves were legally free within two weeks. 1867 – Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange). 1872 – The American brigantine is discovered drifting in the Atlantic. Her crew is never found. 1875 – Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison; he is later recaptured in Spain. 1881 – The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published. 1893 – First Matabele War: A patrol of 34 British South Africa Company soldiers is ambushed and annihilated by more than 3,000 Matabele warriors on the Shangani River in Matabeleland.
1901–present 1906 – Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek lettered fraternity for African-Americans, was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. 1909 – In Canadian football, the First Grey Cup game is played. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeat the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club, 26–6. 1909 – The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest surviving professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association. 1917 – The Finnish Senate submits to the Parliament of Finland a proposal for the form of government of the Republic of Finland and issues a communication to Parliament declaring the independence of Finland. 1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office. 1919 – Ukrainian War of Independence: The Polonsky conspiracy is initiated, with an attempt to assassinate the high command of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine. 1928 – Cosmo Gordon Lang was enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first bachelor to be appointed in 150 years. 1939 – World War II: is struck by a mine (laid by ) off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940. 1942 – World War II: Carlson's patrol during the Guadalcanal campaign ends. 1943 – World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile. 1943 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States. 1945 – By a vote of 65–7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations. (The UN had been established on October 24, 1945.) 1948 – Chinese Civil War: The SS Kiangya, carrying Nationalist refugees from Shanghai, explodes in the Huangpu River. 1949 – Sir Duncan George Stewart, governor of the Crown Colony of Sarawak, was fatally stabbed by a member of the Rukun 13. 1950 – Korean War: Jesse L. Brown (the 1st African-American Naval aviator) is killed in action during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. 1950 – Korean War: Associated Press photographer Max Desfor photographs hundreds of Korean refugees crossing a downed bridge in the Taedong River: 1951 Pulitzer Prize winner Flight of Refugees Across Wrecked Bridge in Korea. 1956 – The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studio for the first and last time. 1964 – Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest of the UC Regents' decision to forbid protests on UC property. 1965 – Launch of Gemini 7 with crew members Frank Borman and Jim Lovell. The Gemini 7 spacecraft was the passive target for the first crewed space rendezvous performed by the crew of Gemini 6A. 1969 – Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers. 1971 – The PNS Ghazi, a Pakistan Navy submarine, sinks during the course of the Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971. 1971 – During a concert by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at the Montreux Casino, an audience member fires a flare gun into the ceiling, causing a fire that destroys the venue. The incident served as the inspiration for Deep Purple's 1973 song Smoke on the Water. 1974 – Martinair Flight 138 crashes into the Saptha Kanya mountain range in Maskeliya, Sri Lanka, killing 191. 1977 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire. 1977 – Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100. 1978 – Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor. 1979 – The Hastie fire in Hull kills three schoolboys and eventually leads police to arrest Bruce George Peter Lee. 1981 – South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa). 1982 – The China adopts its current constitution. 1983 – US Navy aircraft from USS John F. Kennedy and USS Independence attack Syrian missile sites in Lebanon in response to an F-14 being fired on by an SA-7. One A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair are shot down. One American pilot is killed, one is rescued, and one is captured. 1984 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Army soldiers kill 107–150 civilians in Mannar. 1986 – The MV Amazon Venture oil tanker begins leaking oil while at the port of Savannah in the United States, resulting in an oil spill of approximately . 1991 – Terry A. Anderson is released after seven years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut; he is the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon. 1991 – Pan American World Airways ceases its operations after 64 years. 1992 – Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa. 1996 – Journalists Fernando Balderas Sánchez and Yolanda Figueroa and their three children are murdered in a case that initially prompted speculation about links to organized crime, corruption, or their journalistic work. 1998 – The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched. 2005 – Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the government to allow universal and equal suffrage. 2006 – Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana. 2014 – Islamic insurgents kill three state police at a traffic circle before taking an empty school and a "press house" in Grozny. Ten state forces die with 28 injured in gun battles ending with ten insurgents killed. 2015 – A firebomb is thrown into a restaurant in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing 17 people. 2017 – The Thomas Fire starts near Santa Paula in California. It eventually became the largest wildfire in modern California history to date after burning in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. 2021 – Semeru on the Indonesian island of Java erupts, killing at least 68 people. 2024 – UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is shot and killed in Manhattan, New York City near the entrance of the New York Hilton Midtown. 2025 – Yasser Abu Shabab is assassinated near Rafah, Gaza Strip.
Births
Pre-1600 AD 34 – Persius, Roman poet (died 62) 846 – Hasan al-Askari 11th Imam of Twelver Shia Islam (died 874) 1428 – Bernard VII, Lord of Lippe (died 1511) 1506 – Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche (died 1558) 1555 – Heinrich Meibom, German poet and historian (died 1625) 1575 – Sister Virginia Maria, Italian nun (died 1650) 1580 – Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (died 1626) 1585 – John Cotton, English-American minister and theologian (died 1652) 1595 – Jean Chapelain, French poet and critic (died 1674)
1601–1900 1647 – Daniel Eberlin, German composer (died 1715) 1660 – André Campra, French composer and conductor (died 1744) 1667 – Michel Pignolet de Montéclair, French composer and educator (died 1737) 1670 – John Aislabie, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (died 1742) 1713 – Gasparo Gozzi, Italian playwright and critic (died 1786) 1727 – Johann Gottfried Zinn, German anatomist and botanist (died 1759)И. Г. Цинн на сайте Берлинско-Бранденбургской академии наук 1777 – Juliette Récamier, French businesswoman (died 1849) 1795 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish-English historian, philosopher, and academic (died 1881) 1798 – Jules Armand Dufaure, French lawyer and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of France (died 1881) 1817 – Nikoloz Baratashvili, Georgian poet and author (died 1845) 1835 – Samuel Butler, English author and critic (died 1902) 1844 – Franz Xavier Wernz, German religious leader, 25th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (died 1914) 1861 – Hannes Hafstein, Icelandic poet and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Iceland (died 1922) 1865 – Edith Cavell, English nurse, humanitarian, and saint (Anglicanism) (died 1915) 1867 – Stanley Argyle, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of Victoria (died 1940) 1868 – Jesse Burkett, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 1953) 1875 – Agnes Forbes Blackadder, Scottish medical doctor (died 1964) 1875 – Joe Corbett, American baseball player and coach (died 1945) 1875 – Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian-Swiss poet and author (died 1926) 1877 – Morris Alexander, South African politician (died 1946) 1881 – Erwin von Witzleben, Polish-German field marshal (died 1944)