627 – Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.
884 – King Carloman II dies after a hunting accident. He is succeeded by his cousin, emperor Charles the Fat, who for the last time reunites the Frankish Empire.
1098 – First Crusade: Siege of Ma'arrat al-Numan: Crusaders breach the town's walls and massacre about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they reportedly resort to cannibalism.
1388 – Mary of Enghien sells the lordship of Argos and Nauplia to the Republic of Venice.
1408 – The Order of the Dragon, a monarchical chivalric order, is created by Sigismund of Luxembourg, then king of Hungary.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant: A British fleet led by HMS Victory defeats a French fleet.
1787 – Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, five days after Delaware became the first.
1862 – American Civil War: USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by a controlled mine.
1866 – Oaks explosion: The worst mining disaster in England kills 383 miners and rescuers.
1870 – Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the second black U.S. congressman, the first being Hiram Revels.
1897 – Belo Horizonte, the first planned city in Brazil, is founded.
1901 – Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter "S" [***] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
1911 – Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
1911 – King George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck are enthroned as Emperor and Empress of India.
1915 – President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy and proclaim himself Emperor of China.
1917 – In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
1918 – The Flag of Estonia is raised atop the Pikk Hermann for the first time.
1925 – The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Iran, starting the Pahlavi dynasty.
1935 – Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler.
1936 – Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek, is kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze river in China.
1939 – Winter War: Battle of Tolvajärvi: Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.
1939 – HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
1940 – World War II: Approximately 70 people are killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield, as a result of a German air raid.
1941 – World War II: Fifty-four JapaneseA6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesús Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa is killed.
1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
1941 – Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery
1942 – World War II: German troops begin Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad.
1946 – A fire at an ice plant in Hudson Heights, Manhattan spreads to an adjacent tenement, killing 37 people.
1948 – Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali massacre: Fourteen members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaya allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
1950 – Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.
1956 – Beginning of the Irish Republican Army's "Border Campaign".
1963 – Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
1964 – Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta becomes the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
1969 – Years of Lead: Piazza Fontana bombing: The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
1979 – Coup d'état of December Twelfth: South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung-hee.
1979 – President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
1979 – The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia.
1979 – The 8.2 MwTumaco earthquake shakes Colombia and Ecuador with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300–600, and generating a large tsunami.
1983 – The Australian Labor government led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating floats the Australian dollar.
1984 – Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya becomes the third president of Mauritania after a coup d'état against Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla while the latter is attending a summit.
1985 – Arrow Air Flight 1285, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing all 256 people on board, including 236 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division.
1988 – The Clapham Junction rail crash kills thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains—one of the worst train crashes in the United Kingdom.
1991 – The Russian Federation gains independence from the USSR.
2000 – The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore.
2001 – Prime Minister of VietnamPhan Văn Khải announces the decision on upgrading the Phong Nha–Kẻ Bàng nature reserve to a national park, providing information on projects for the conservation and development of the park and revised maps.
2012 – North Korea successfully launches its first satellite, Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2, using an Unha-3 carrier rocket.
Births[]
1298 – Albert II, Duke of Austria (d. 1358)
1526 – Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, Spanish admiral (d. 1588)
1574 – Anne of Denmark (d. 1619)
1610 – Basil of Ostrog, Serbian monk and saint (d. 1671)
1685 – Lodovico Giustini, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1743)
1712 – Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (d. 1780)
1724 – Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, English admiral and politician (d. 1816)
1731 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician and poet (d. 1802)
1745 – John Jay, American jurist and politician, 1st Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1829)
1753 – William Beechey, English portrait-painter (d. 1839)
1766 – Nikolay Karamzin, Russian poet and historian (d. 1826)
1779 – Madeleine Sophie Barat, French nun and saint, founded the Society of the Sacred Heart (d. 1865)
1786 – William L. Marcy, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 21st United States Secretary of State (d. 1857)
1791 – Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma (d. 1847)
1792 – Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek-Russian general and politician, Military ruler of Moldavia (d. 1828)
1799 – Karl Bryullov, Russian painter (d. 1852)
1805 – Henry Wells, American businessman, co-founded Wells Fargo and American Express (d. 1878)
1806 – Stand Watie, American general (d. 1871)
1812 – John Sandfield Macdonald, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Premier of Ontario (d. 1872)
1814 – Juan Prim, 1st Marquis of los Castillejos, Spanish general and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1870)
1821 – Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (d. 1880)
1842 – Adolf Bötticher, German journalist and historian (d. 1901)
1845 – Bruce Price, American architect, designed the American Surety Building and Bank of the Metropolis (d. 1903)
1849 – William Kissam Vanderbilt, American businessman and horse breeder (d. 1920)
1862 – J. Bruce Ismay, English businessman (d. 1937)
1863 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter and illustrator (d. 1944)
1864 – Paul Elmer More, American journalist, author, and critic (d. 1937)
1866 – Alfred Werner, Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)
1870 – Walter Benona Sharp, American businessman, co-founded Hughes Tool Company (d. 1912)
1875 – Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (d. 1953)
1876 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American hurdler and runner (d. 1928)
1881 – Harry Warner, Polish-American businessman, co-founded Warner Bros (d. 1958)
1882 – Ioannis Demestichas, Greek admiral and politician (d. 1960)
1884 – Zinaida Serebriakova, Ukrainian-French painter (d. 1967)
1887 – Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer and engineer (d. 1974)
1892 – Milko Kos, Slovenian historian and academic (d. 1972)
1893 – Edward G. Robinson, American actor (d. 1973)
1900 – Sammy Davis, Sr., American actor and dancer (d. 1988)
1901 – Harald Kaarmann, Estonian footballer (d. 1942)
1902 – Adele Dunlap, American educator and supercentenarian
1903 – Dagmar Nordstrom, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1976)
1903 – Yasujirō Ozu, Japanese director and screenwriter (d. 1963)
1904 – Nicolas de Gunzburg, French-American banker and journalist (d. 1981)
1905 – Manès Sperber, Austrian-French psychologist and author (d. 1984)
1905 – Vasily Grossman, Russian journalist and author (d. 1964)
1907 – Roy Douglas, English pianist and composer (d. 2015)
1908 – Gustav Ernesaks, Estonian composer and conductor (d. 1993)
1909 – Hans Keilson, German-Dutch psychologist, author, and poet (d. 2011)
1909 – Karen Morley, American actress and political activist (d. 2003)
1911 – Boun Oum, Laotian politician, 5th Prime Minister of Laos (d. 1980)
