Events

• 1170 - Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
• 1778 - American Revolutionary War: 3,500 British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell captures Savannah, Georgia without firing a shot.
• 1786 - French Revolution: The Assembly of Notables is convoked
• 1812 - The USS Constitution under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three hour battle.
• 1813 - British soldiers burn Buffalo, New York during the War of 1812.
• 1835 - The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
• 1845 - Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state.
• 1851 - The first American YMCA opens in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1860 - The first British seagoing iron-clad warship, HMS Warrior is launched.
• 1876 - The Ashtabula River Railroad bridge disaster occurs, leaving 64 injured and 92 dead at Ashtabula, Ohio.
• 1890 - United States soldiers clash with members of the Great Sioux Nation in the Wounded Knee Massacre.
• 1911 - Sun Yat-sen becomes the first President of the Republic of China.
• 1911 - Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty.
• 1930 - Sir Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address in Allahabad introduces the Two-Nation Theory and outlines a vision for the creation of Pakistan.
• 1934 - Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930.
• 1937 - The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
• 1939 - First flight of the Consolidated B-24.
• 1940 - World War II: In The Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe firebombs London, killing almost 200 civilians.
• 1949 - KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
• 1972 - An Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed "Tristar") crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.
• 1975 - A bomb exploded at La Guardia Airport in New York City, killing 11 people and injuring 74.
• 1989 - Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.
• 1989 - Václav Havel is elected president of Czechoslovakia. He became the first non-Communist to attain the post in more than four decades.
• 1992 - Fernando Collor de Mello, president of Brazil, tries to resign amidst corruption charges, but is then impeached.
• 1996 - Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war.
• 1997 - Hong Kong begins to kill all the nation's chickens (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.
• 1998 - Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million.
• 2001 - Mesa Redonda shopping center fire, Lima, Peru, at least 291 killed.

Births

• 1709 - Empress Elizabeth of Russia (d. 1762)
• 1721 - Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France (d. 1764)
• 1796 - Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (d. 1877)
• 1800 - Charles Goodyear, American inventor (d. 1860)
• 1806 - William Gladstone, Liberal Prime Minister
• 1808 - Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875)
• 1809 - William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1898)
• 1816 - Carl Ludwig, German physician (d. 1895)
• 1843 - Elisabeth of Wied (pen name was Carmen Sylva), queen of Romania and writer (d. 1916)
• 1856 - Thomas Joannes Stieltjes, Dutch mathematician (d. 1894)
• 1859 - Venustiano Carranza, 54th President of Mexico (d. 1920)
• 1876 - Pablo Casals, Catalan musician (d. 1973)
• 1881 - Jess Willard, American boxer (d. 1968)
• 1896 - David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican painter (d. 1974)
• 1899 - Nie Rongzhen, People's Liberation Army Chief of General Staff (d. 1992)
• 1902 - Nels Stewart, National Hockey League player (d. 1957)
• 1908 - Helmut Gollwitzer, German theologian (d. 1993)
• 1910 - Ronald Coase, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1914 - Billy Tipton, American musician (d. 1989)
• 1914 - Albert Tucker, Australian artist (d. 1999)
• 1915 - Bill Osmanski, American football player (d. 1996)
• 1917 - Tom Bradley, American politician (d. 1998)
• 1917 - Ramanand Sagar, Indian film director (d. 2005)
• 1920 - Viveca Lindfors, Swedish-American actress (d. 1995)
• 1922 - William Gaddis, American writer (d. 1998)
• 1925 - Pete Dye, American golf course architect
• 1927 - Andy Stanfield, American athlete (d. 1985)
• 1928 - Bernard Cribbins, British actor
• 1931 - Prince Gu of Korea, Korean royalty (d. 2005)
• 1932 - Inga Swenson, American actress
• 1934 - Ed Flanders, American actor (d. 1995)
• 1936 - Mary Tyler Moore, American actress
• 1936 - Ray Nitschke, American football player (d. 1998)
• 1937 - Wayne Huizenga, American football team owner
• 1937 - Barbara Steele, British actress
• 1938 - Harvey Smith, English showjumper
• 1938 - Jon Voight, American actor
• 1941 - Ray Thomas, British musician (The Moody Blues)
• 1942 - Rick Danko, Canadian musician (The Band) (d. 1999)
• 1942 - Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor
• 1946 - Marianne Faithfull, British singer
• 1947 - Ted Danson, American actor
• 1947 - Cozy Powell, English rock drummer (d. 1998)
• 1947 - Vincent Winter, British actor (d. 1998)
• 1949 - Syed Kirmani, Indian cricket player
• 1949 - David Topliss, rugby league player
• 1950 - Jon Polito, American actor
• 1951 - Yvonne Elliman, American disco singer
• 1951 - Georges Thurston, Canadian singer (d. 2007)
• 1952 - Gelsey Kirkland, American dancer
• 1953 - Stanley Tookie Williams, American author/murderer (executed 2005)
• 1953 - Gali Atari, Israeli singer and actress
• 1954 - Roger Voudouris, American singer
• 1954 - Prince Takamado of Japan (d. 2002)
• 1956 - Fred MacAulay, Scottish comedian
• 1957 - Brad Grey, American film producer
• 1957 - Paul Rudnick, American screenwriter/playwright
• 1958 - Nancy J. Currie, American astronaut
• 1959 - Patricia Clarkson, American actress
• 1959 - Paula Poundstone, American comedian
• 1960 - David Boon, Australian Cricketer
• 1960 - Katerina Didaskou, Greek actress
• 1960 - Thomas Lubanga, founder and leader of Union of Congolese Patriots
• 1961 - Kevin Granata, American associate professor at Virginia Tech, victim of the Virginia Tech massacre (d. 2007)
• 1961 - Jim Reid, Scottish singer (The Jesus and Mary Chain, Freeheat)
• 1962 - Blake Mitchell, American adult actress
• 1962 - Devon White, Jamaican baseball player
• 1963 - Francisco Bustamante, Filipino billiard player
• 1963 - Des Foy, British rugby league player
• 1963 - Dave McKean, British artist and filmmaker
• 1963 - Sean Payton, American football coach
• 1965 - Dexter Holland, American musician (The Offspring)
• 1966 - Stefano Eranio, Italian footballer
• 1967 - Ashleigh Banfield, Canadian journalist
• 1967 - Chris Barnes, American singer
• 1967 - Andy Wachowski, American director
• 1969 - Jennifer Ehle, American actress
• 1969 - Allan McNish, Scottish race car driver
• 1970 - Aled Jones, Welsh singer
• 1970 - Hidetoshi Mitsusada, Japanese racing driver
• 1970 - Glen Phillips, American musician (Toad The Wet Sprocket)
• 1970 - Kevin Weisman, American actor
• 1972 - Asheru, American rapper
• 1972 - Jason Kreis, American soccer player
• 1972 - Jude Law, British actor
• 1972 - Evan Seinfeld, American musician (Biohazard) and actor
• 1973 - Pimp C, American rapper (UGK) (d. 2007)
• 1973 - Theo Epstein, American baseball general manager
• 1974 - Mekhi Phifer, American actor
• 1974 - Richie Sexson, American baseball player
• 1975 - Jaret Wright, American baseball player
• 1976 - Danny R. McBride, American actor, writer, and producer
• 1977 - Katherine Moennig, American actress
• 1977 - Jimmy Journell, American baseball player
• 1978 - Alexis Amore, Peruvian pornographic actress
• 1978 - Kieron Dyer, English footballer
• 1978 - LaToya London, American singer
• 1979 - Diego Luna, Mexican actor
• 1979 - Mitsuhiro Ishida, Japanese mixed-martial arts fighter
• 1979 - Ariel Schrag, American Cartoonist
• 1981 - Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater
• 1982 - Gabrielle Destroismaisons, Quebec singer
• 1983 - Jessica Andrews, American country/pop singer
• 1986 - Kim Ok-bin, South Korean actress and model
• 1989 - Nathan Forbes, British footballer
• 1994 - Princess Kako of Akishino of Japan

Deaths

• 721 - Empress Gemmei of Japan (b. 661)
• 1170 - Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (assassinated) (b. 1118)
• 1563 - Sebastian Castellio, French theologian (b. 1515)
• 1634 - John Albert Vasa, Polish bishop (b. 1612)
• 1661 - Antoine Gérard de Saint-Amant, French poet (b. 1594)
• 1689 - Thomas Sydenham, English physician (b. 1624)
• 1731 - Brook Taylor, English mathematician (b. 1685)
• 1737 - Joseph Saurin, French mathematician (b. 1659)
• 1785 - Johan Herman Wessel, Norwegian poet (b. 1742)
• 1825 - Jacques-Louis David, French painter (b. 1748)
• 1891 - Leopold Kronecker, German mathematician (b. 1823)
• 1894 - Christina Rossetti, English poet (b. 1830)
• 1897 - William James Linton, American wood engraver and political reformer. (b. 1812)
• 1916 - Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)
• 1924 - Carl Spitteler, Swiss writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
• 1926 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian writer (b. 1875)
• 1929 - Wilhelm Maybach, German automobile designer (b. 1846)
• 1937 - Don Marquis, American author (b. 1878)
• 1953 - Violet MacMillan, American Broadway theatre actress(b. 1887)
• 1960 - Eden Phillpotts, British writer (b. 1862)
• 1960 - Philippe Panneton, Quebec physician, diplomat and writer (b. 1895)
• 1967 - Paul Whiteman, American musician and conductor (b. 1890)
• 1968 - Austin Farrer, English theologian and philosopher (b. 1904)
• 1970 - Marie Menken, American experimental filmmaker and socialite (b. 1909)
• 1975 - Euell Gibbons, American outdoorsman and proponent of natural diets (b. 1911).
• 1976 - Ivo Van Damme, Belgian athlete (b. 1954)
• 1980 - Tim Hardin, American musician (b. 1941)
• 1980 - Nadezhda Mandelstam, Russian writer (b. 1899)
• 1981 - Miroslav Krle?a, Croatian writer (b. 1893)
• 1986 - Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
• 1988 - Mike Beuttler, British racing driver (b. 1940)
• 1993 - Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Soviet Armenian actor (b. 1930)
• 1995 - Lita Grey, American actress (b. 1908)
• 1996 - Mireille Hartuch, French singer and actress (b. 1906)
• 1998 - Jean-Claude Forest, writer and illustrator of comics (Barbarella) (b. 1930)
• 1999 - Leon Radzinowicz, British criminologist (b. 1906)
• 2001 - Takashi Asahina, Japanese conductor (b. 1908)
• 2003 - Earl Hindman, American actor (b. 1942)
• 2003 - Dinsdale Landen, English actor (b. 1932)
• 2003 - Bob Monkhouse, English comedian and game show host (b. 1928)
• 2004 - Julius Axelrod, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1912)
• 2004 - Liddy Holloway, New Zealand actress (b. 1947)
• 2004 - Ken Burkhart, American baseball player (b. 1915)
• 2005 - Gerda Boyesen, Norwegian-born body psychotherapist (b. 1922)
• 2007 - Phil O'Donnell, Scottish footballer (b. 1972)
• 2007 - Kevin Greening, British radio presenter (b. 1962)

Holidays and observances

• The fourth day of Christmas in Western Christianity.
• R.C. Saints - Thomas Becket (optional memorial)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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