December 25

Events

• 36 - Forces of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han, under the command of Wu Han, conquer the separatist Chengjia empire, reuniting China.
• 274 - A temple to Sol Invictus is dedicated in Rome by Emperor Aurelian.
• 333 - Roman Emperor Constantine the Great elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar.
• 336 - First documentary sign of Christmas celebration in Rome.
• 350 - Vetranio meets Constantius II at Naissus and is forced to abdicate his title. Constantius allows him to live as a private citizen on a state pension.
• 508 - Clovis I, king of the Franks, is baptized into the Catholic faith at Reims, by Saint Remigius.
• 597 - Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow-labourers baptise in Kent more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.
• 800 - The coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.
• 1000 - The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.
• 1013 - Sweyn Forkbeard takes control of the Danelaw and is proclaimed king of England.
• 1025 - Coronation of Mieszko II Lambert as king of Poland.
• 1066 - William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy is crowned king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.
• 1076 - Coronation of Bolesław II the Generous as king of Poland.
• 1100 - Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
• 1130 - Count Roger II of Sicily is crowned the first king of Sicily.
• 1261 - Eleven-year-old John IV Laskaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaiologos.
• 1492 - The carrack Santa María, commanded by Christopher Columbus, runs onto a reef off Haiti due to an improper watch.
• 1553 - Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeat the Spanish conquistadors and executes the governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia.
• 1559 - Pope Pius IV is elected.
• 1758 - Halley's Comet is sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch, confirming Edmund Halley's prediction of its passage. This was the first passage of a comet predicted ahead of time.
• 1766 - Mapuches in Chile launch a series of surprise attacks against the Spanish starting the Mapuche uprising of 1766.
• 1776 - George Washington and the Continental Army cross the Delaware River at night to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, New Jersey, the next day.
• 1793 - General "Mad Anthony" Wayne and a 300 man detachment identify the site of St. Clair's 1791 defeat by the large number of unburied human remains at modern Fort Recovery, Ohio.
• 1809 - Dr. Ephraim McDowell performs the first ovariotomy, removing a 22-pound tumor.
• 1814 - Rev. Samuel Marsden holds the first Christian service on land in New Zealand at Rangihoua Bay.
• 1815 - The Handel and Haydn Society, oldest continually performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance.
• 1826 - The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy concludes after beginning the previous evening.
• 1831 - The Great Jamaican Slave Revolt begins; up to 20% of Jamaica's slaves mobilize in an ultimately unsuccessful fight for freedom.
• 1837 - Second Seminole War: American general Zachary Taylor leads 1,100 troops against the Seminoles at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee.
• 1868 - Pardons for ex-Confederates: United States President Andrew Johnson grants an unconditional pardon to all Confederate veterans.
• 1914 - A series of unofficial truces occur across the Western Front to celebrate Christmas.
• 1932 - A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills 275 people.
• 1941 - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz arrives at Pearl Harbor to assume command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
• 1941 - World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.
• 1941 - Admiral Émile Muselier seizes the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which become the first part of France to be liberated by the Free French Forces.
• 1946 - The first European self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is initiated within the Soviet Union's F-1 nuclear reactor.
• 1950 - The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.
• 1951 - A bomb explodes at the home of Harry T. Moore and Harriette V. S. Moore, early leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, killing Harry instantly and fatally wounding Harriette.
• 1962 - The Soviet Union conducts its final above-ground nuclear weapon test, in anticipation of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
• 1963 - Turkish Cypriot Bayrak Radio begins transmitting in Cyprus after Turkish Cypriots are forcibly excluded from Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
• 1968 - Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the first successful Trans-Earth injection maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.
• 1968 - Kilvenmani massacre: Forty-four Dalits are burnt to death in Kizhavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit laborers.
• 1976 - EgyptAir Flight 664, a Boeing 707-366C, crashes on approach to Don Mueang International Airport, killing 71 people.
• 1977 - Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat.
• 1989 - Romanian Revolution: Deposed President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.
• 1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the Soviet Union. Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.
• 2003 - UTAGE Flight 141, a Boeing 727-223, crashes at the Cotonou Airport in Benin, killing 141 people.
• 2003 - The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe, released from the Mars Express spacecraft on December 19, stops transmitting shortly before its scheduled landing.
• 2004 - The Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005.
• 2012 - An Antonov An-72 plane crashes close to the city of Shymkent, killing 27 people.
• 2016 - A Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 carrying members of the Alexandrov Ensemble crashes into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff, killing all 92 people on board.
• 2019 - Twenty people are killed and thousands are left homeless by Typhoon Phanfone in the Philippines.

  Births

• 1250 - John IV Laskaris, Byzantine emperor
• 1281 - Alice de Lacy, 4th Countess of Lincoln
• 1400 - John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
• 1424 - Margaret Stewart, Dauphine of France
• 1461 - Christina of Saxony, Queen consort of Denmark
• 1490 - Francesco Marinoni, Italian Roman Catholic priest
• 1493 - Antoinette de Bourbon, French noblewoman
• 1505 - Christine of Saxony, German noblewoman
• 1564 - Johannes Buxtorf, German Calvinist theologian
• 1583 - Orlando Gibbons, English organist and composer
• 1584 - Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain
• 1601 - Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha
• 1628 - Noël Coypel, French painter and educator
• 1642 - Isaac Newton, English physicist and mathematician
• 1652 - Archibald Pitcairne, Scottish physician, anatomist, and scholar
• 1665 - Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish-English poet and songwriter
• 1674 - Thomas Halyburton, Scottish minister and theologian
• 1686 - Giovanni Battista Somis, Italian violinist and composer
• 1700 - Leopold II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
• 1711 - Jean-Joseph de Mondonville, French violinist and composer
• 1716 - Johann Jakob Reiske, German physician and scholar
• 1717 - Pope Pius VI
• 1728 - Johann Adam Hiller, German composer and conductor
• 1730 - Philip Mazzei, Italian-American physician and philosopher
• 1745 - Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Caribbean-French violinist, composer, and conductor
• 1757 - Benjamin Pierce, American general and politician, 17th Governor of New Hampshire
• 1766 - Christmas Evans, Welsh Nonconformist preacher
• 1771 - Dorothy Wordsworth, English diarist and poet
• 1776 - Sydney, Lady Morgan, Irish author and poet
• 1810 - L. L. Langstroth, American apiarist, clergyman and teacher
• 1821 - Clara Barton, American nurse and humanitarian, founder of the American Red Cross
• 1825 - Stephen F. Chadwick, American lawyer and politician, 5th Governor of Oregon
• 1829 - Patrick Gilmore, Irish-American composer and bandleader
• 1856 - Pud Galvin, American baseball player and manager
• 1861 - Madan Mohan Malaviya, Indian educator, lawyer, and politician, President of the Indian National Congress
• 1865 - Evangeline Booth, English 4th General of The Salvation Army
• 1869 - Charles Finger, English-American journalist and author
• 1870 - Helena Rubinstein, Polish-American businesswoman and philanthropist
• 1873 - Otto Frederick Hunziker, Swiss-American agriculturalist and educator
• 1874 - Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano and actress
• 1875 - Francis Aveling, Canadian psychologist and priest
• 1875 - Theodor Innitzer, Austrian cardinal
• 1876 - Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Indian-Pakistani lawyer and politician, 1st Governor-General of Pakistan
• 1876 - Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1878 - Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-American race car driver and businessman, co-founded Chevrolet
• 1878 - Noël, Countess of Rothes, philanthropist, social leader and heroine of Titanic disaster
• 1878 - Joseph M. Schenck, Russian-American film producer
• 1883 - Hugo Bergmann, Czech-Israeli philosopher and academic
• 1883 - Hana Meisel, Belarusian-Israeli agronomist and politician
• 1884 - Samuel Berger, American boxer
• 1884 - Evelyn Nesbit, American model and actress
• 1886 - Malak Hifni Nasif, Egyptian poet and activist
• 1886 - Kid Ory, American trombonist and bandleader
• 1887 - Conrad Hilton, American entrepreneur
• 1889 - Lila Bell Wallace, American publisher and philanthropist, co-founded Reader's Digest
• 1890 - Noel Odell, English geologist and mountaineer
• 1890 - Robert Ripley, American anthropologist and publisher
• 1891 - Kenneth Arthur Noel Anderson, Indian-English general and politician, Governor of Gibraltar
• 1891 - Clarrie Grimmett, New Zealand-Australian cricketer
• 1899 - Humphrey Bogart, American actor
• 1901 - Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
• 1902 - Barton MacLane, American actor, playwright, and screenwriter
• 1902 - William Bell, American tuba player and educator
• 1903 - Antiochos Evangelatos, Greek composer and conductor
• 1904 - Gerhard Herzberg, German-Canadian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1906 - Lew Grade, Baron Grade, Ukrainian-English film producer
• 1906 - Ernst Ruska, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1907 - Cab Calloway, American singer-songwriter and bandleader
• 1907 - Mike Mazurki, Ukrainian-American wrestler and actor
• 1907 - Glenn McCarthy, American businessman, founded the Shamrock Hotel
• 1908 - Quentin Crisp, English author and illustrator
• 1908 - Ernest L. Massad, American general
• 1908 - Jo-Jo Moore, American baseball player
• 1909 - Zora Arkus-Duntov, Belgian-American engineer
• 1911 - Louise Bourgeois, French-American sculptor and painter
• 1913 - Candy Candido, American singer, bass player, and voice actor
• 1913 - Tony Martin, American singer
• 1914 - James Fletcher Jnr, New Zealand businessman
• 1914 - Oscar Lewis, American anthropologist of Latin America
• 1915 - Pete Rugolo, Italian-American composer and producer
• 1916 - Ahmed Ben Bella, Algerian soldier and politician, 1st President of Algeria
• 1917 - Arseny Mironov, Russian scientist, engineer, pilot, oldest active researcher in aircraft aerodynamics and flight testing
• 1917 - Lincoln Verduga Loor, Ecuadorian journalist and politician
• 1918 - Anwar Sadat, Egyptian lieutenant and politician, 3rd President of Egypt, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1919 - Naushad Ali, Indian composer and director
• 1919 - Paul David, Canadian cardiologist and politician, founded the Montreal Heart Institute
• 1921 - Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah, Indian-Pakistani journalist and author
• 1921 - Steve Otto, Polish-Canadian lawyer and politician
• 1922 - William Demby, American author
• 1923 - René Girard, French-American historian, philosopher, and critic
• 1923 - Louis Lane, American conductor and educator
• 1924 - Rod Serling, American screenwriter and producer, created The Twilight Zone
• 1924 - Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indian poet and politician, 10th Prime Minister of India
• 1925 - Carlos Castaneda, Peruvian-American anthropologist and author
• 1925 - Ned Garver, American baseball player
• 1925 - Sam Pollock, Canadian businessman
• 1926 - Enrique Jorrín, Cuban violinist and composer
• 1927 - Nellie Fox, American baseball player and coach
• 1927 - Leo Kubiak, American basketball and baseball player
• 1927 - Ram Narayan, Indian sarangi player
• 1928 - Irish McCalla, American actress and model
• 1928 - Dick Miller, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1929 - Christine M. Jones, American educator and politician
• 1929 - China Machado, Chinese-born Portuguese-American fashion model, editor and television producer
• 1930 - Emmanuel Agassi, Iranian-American boxer and coach
• 1930 - Armenak Alachachian, Armenian basketball player and coach
• 1932 - Mabel King, American actress and singer
• 1933 - Basil Heatley, English runner
• 1935 - Sadiq al-Mahdi, Sudanese politician, Prime Minister of Sudan
• 1935 - Stephen Barnett, American scholar and academic
• 1935 - Jeanne Hopkins Lucas, American educator and politician
• 1936 - Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy
• 1936 - Ismail Merchant, Indian-English director and producer
• 1937 - O'Kelly Isley Jr., American R&B/soul singer-songwriter
• 1938 - Duane Armstrong, American painter
• 1938 - Noel Picard, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1939 - Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Pakistani businessman and politician
• 1939 - Bob James, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
• 1939 - Akong Rinpoche, Tibetan-Chinese spiritual leader
• 1940 - Hilary Spurling, English journalist and author
• 1941 - Kenneth Calman, Scottish physician and academic
• 1942 - Françoise Dürr, French tennis player and coach
• 1942 - Barbara Follett, English politician
• 1942 - Barry Goldberg, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
• 1942 - Enrique Morente, Spanish singer-songwriter
• 1943 - Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior, Brazilian race car driver and businessman
• 1943 - Hanna Schygulla, German actress
• 1944 - Kenny Everett, British comedian and broadcaster
• 1944 - Jairzinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1944 - Sam Strahan, New Zealand rugby player
• 1945 - Rick Berman, American screenwriter and producer
• 1945 - Eve Pollard, English journalist and author
• 1945 - Mike Pringle, Zambian-Scottish lawyer and politician
• 1945 - Noel Redding, English singer-songwriter and bass player
• 1945 - Ken Stabler, American football player and sportscaster
• 1946 - Jimmy Buffett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
• 1946 - Larry Csonka, American football player and sportscaster
• 1946 - Christopher Frayling, English author and academic
• 1946 - Gene Lamont, American baseball player and manager
• 1948 - Kay Hymowitz, American sociologist and writer
• 1948 - Barbara Mandrell, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1948 - Joel Santana, Brazilian footballer and manager
• 1949 - Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira, Brazilian singer
• 1949 - Nawaz Sharif, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan
• 1949 - Sissy Spacek, American actress
• 1950 - Peter Boardman, English mountaineer and author
• 1950 - Karl Rove, American political strategist and activist
• 1950 - Manny Trillo, Venezuelan baseball player and manager
• 1952 - Tolossa Kotu, Ethiopian runner and coach
• 1952 - CCH Pounder, Guyanese-American actress
• 1953 - Kaarlo Maaninka, Finnish runner
• 1954 - Annie Lennox, Scottish singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1957 - Mansoor Akhtar, Pakistani cricketer
• 1957 - Chris Kamara, English footballer and sportscaster
• 1957 - Shane MacGowan, English-Irish singer-songwriter
• 1958 - Cheryl Chase, American voice actress and singer
• 1958 - Hanford Dixon, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1958 - Rickey Henderson, American baseball player and coach
• 1958 - Konstantin Kinchev, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1958 - Alannah Myles, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1959 - Michael P. Anderson, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
• 1959 - Ramdas Athawale, Indian poet and politician
• 1961 - Íngrid Betancourt, Colombian political scientist and politician
• 1962 - Francis Dunnery, English musician
• 1964 - Ian Bostridge, English tenor
• 1964 - Gary McAllister, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1964 - Kevin Simms, English rugby player
• 1964 - Bob Stanley, English keyboard player, songwriter, producer, and journalist
• 1965 - Ed Davey, English politician, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
• 1965 - David Rath, Czech physician and politician
• 1966 - Toshi Arai, Japanese race car driver
• 1967 - Jason Thirsk, American bass player
• 1968 - Helena Christensen, Danish model and actress
• 1968 - Jim Dowd, American ice hockey player
• 1969 - Nicolas Godin, French musician
• 1969 - Noel Goldthorpe, Australian rugby league player
• 1969 - Frederick Onyancha, Kenyan runner
• 1970 - Emmanuel Amunike, Nigerian footballer and manager
• 1970 - Rodney Dent, American basketball player
• 1971 - Dido, English singer-songwriter
• 1971 - Justin Trudeau, Canadian educator and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Canada
• 1972 - Mac Powell, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1972 - Qu Yunxia, Chinese runner
• 1973 - Robbie Elliott, English footballer and coach
• 1973 - Chris Harris, American wrestler
• 1973 - Daisuke Miura, Japanese baseball player and coach
• 1973 - Alexandre Trudeau, Canadian journalist and director
• 1975 - Daniel Mustard, American singer-songwriter
• 1975 - Hideki Okajima, Japanese baseball player
• 1975 - Choi Sung-yong, South Korean footballer and manager
• 1975 - Marcus Trescothick, English cricketer
• 1976 - Tuomas Holopainen, Finnish keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
• 1976 - Tim James, American basketball player and coach
• 1976 - Atko Väikmeri, Estonian footballer
• 1976 - Armin van Buuren, Dutch DJ and record producer
• 1977 - Israel Vázquez, Mexican boxer
• 1977 - Ali Tandoğan, Turkish footballer
• 1978 - Simon Jones, Welsh cricketer
• 1978 - Joel Porter, Australian footballer and manager
• 1978 - Jeremy Strong, American actor
• 1979 - Ferman Akgül, Turkish singer-songwriter
• 1979 - Laurent Bonnart, French footballer
• 1979 - Robert Huff, English race car driver
• 1979 - Hyun Young-min, South Korean footballer
• 1980 - Marcus Trufant, American football player
• 1980 - Laura Sadler, English actress
• 1981 - Trenesha Biggers, American wrestler and model
• 1981 - Christian Holst, Danish-Faroese footballer
• 1981 - Willy Taveras, Dominican baseball player
• 1982 - Shawn Andrews, American football player
• 1982 - Rob Edwards, Welsh footballer
• 1982 - Ethan Kath, Canadian keyboard player, songwriter and producer
• 1982 - Chris Rene, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1984 - Chris Cahill, Samoan footballer
• 1984 - Alastair Cook, English cricketer
• 1984 - Jessica Origliasso, Australian singer, actress, and fashion designer
• 1984 - Lisa Origliasso, Australian singer, actress, and fashion designer
• 1984 - Chris Richard, American basketball player
• 1985 - Martin Mathathi, Kenyan runner
• 1985 - Rusev, Bulgarian-American professional wrestler
• 1987 - Ceyhun Gülselam, Turkish footballer
• 1987 - Demaryius Thomas, American football player
• 1988 - Joãozinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1988 - Eric Gordon, American basketball player
• 1988 - Lukas Hinds-Johnson, German rugby player
• 1992 - Mitakeumi Hisashi, Japanese sumo wrestler

  Deaths

• 304 - Saint Anastasia
• 795 - Pope Adrian I
• 936 - Zhang Jingda, general of Later Tang
• 940 - Makan ibn Kaki, Iranian general
• 1147 - Guy II, Count of Ponthieu
• 1156 - Peter the Venerable, French abbot and saint
• 1156 - Sverker the Elder, king of Sweden
• 1294 - Mestwin II, Duke of Pomerania
• 1395 - Elisabeth, Countess of Neuchâtel, Swiss ruler
• 1406 - Henry III of Castile
• 1505 - George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent, English politician
• 1553 - Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish explorer and politician, 1st Royal Governor of Chile
• 1634 - Lettice Knollys, English noblewoman
• 1635 - Samuel de Champlain, French soldier, geographer, and explorer
• 1676 - William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire
• 1676 - Matthew Hale, English lawyer and jurist, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
• 1683 - Kara Mustafa Pasha, Ottoman general and politician, 111th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
• 1730 - Henry Scott, 1st Earl of Deloraine, Scottish peer and general
• 1758 - James Hervey, English priest and author
• 1784 - Yosa Buson, Japanese poet and painter
• 1796 - Velu Nachiyar, Queen of Sivagangai
• 1824 - Barbara von Krüdener, German mystic and author
• 1868 - Linus Yale, Jr., American engineer and businessman
• 1875 - Young Tom Morris, Scottish golfer
• 1880 - Fridolin Anderwert, Swiss lawyer and politician, President of the Swiss National Council
• 1824 - William Lawless, Irish revolutionary, later French Army general
• 1916 - Albert Chmielowski, Polish saint, founded the Albertine Brothers
• 1921 - Vladimir Korolenko, Russian journalist, author, and activist
• 1925 - Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst and author
• 1926 - Emperor Taishō of Japan
• 1928 - Miles Burke, American boxer
• 1930 - Jakob Mändmets, Estonian journalist and author
• 1933 - Francesc Macià, Catalan colonel and politician, 122nd President of Catalonia
• 1935 - Paul Bourget, French author and critic
• 1938 - Karel Čapek, Czech author and playwright
• 1940 - Agnes Ayres, American actress
• 1941 - Richard S. Aldrich, American lawyer and politician
• 1944 - George Steer, South African-English journalist and author
• 1946 - W. C. Fields, American actor, comedian, juggler, and screenwriter
• 1947 - Gaspar G. Bacon, American lawyer and politician, 51st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
• 1949 - Leon Schlesinger, American animator and producer, founded Warner Bros. Cartoons
• 1950 - Neil Francis Hawkins, English politician
• 1952 - Margrethe Mather, American photographer
• 1953 - Patsy Donovan, Irish-American baseball player and manager
• 1953 - William Haselden, British cartoonist
• 1956 - Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright
• 1957 - Charles Pathé, French record producer, founded Pathé Records
• 1961 - Owen Brewster, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 54th Governor of Maine
• 1961 - Otto Loewi, German-American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1963 - Tristan Tzara, Romanian-French poet, playwright, painter, and critic
• 1970 - Michael Peto, Hungarian-English photographer and journalist
• 1973 - İsmet İnönü, Turkish general and politician, 2nd President of Turkey
• 1973 - Gabriel Voisin, French pilot and engineer
• 1975 - Gaston Gallimard, French publisher, founded Éditions Gallimard
• 1975 - Gunnar Kangro, Estonian mathematician and author
• 1977 - Charlie Chaplin, English actor and director
• 1979 - Joan Blondell, American actress and singer
• 1979 - Jordi Bonet, Canadian painter and sculptor
• 1980 - Fred Emney, English actor and comedian
• 1983 - Joan Miró, Spanish painter and sculptor
• 1988 - Shōhei Ōoka, Japanese author and critic
• 1988 - Edward Pelham-Clinton, 10th Duke of Newcastle, English entomologist and lepidopterist
• 1989 - Benny Binion, American poker player and businessman
• 1989 - Elena Ceaușescu, Romanian politician, First Lady of Romania
• 1989 - Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian general and politician, 1st President of Romania
• 1989 - Betty Garde, American actress
• 1989 - Frederick F. Houser, American judge and politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of California
• 1989 - Billy Martin, American baseball player and manager
• 1989 - Robert Pirosh, American director and screenwriter
• 1991 - Wilbur Snyder, American football player and wrestler
• 1992 - Monica Dickens, British-American nurse and author
• 1993 - Pierre Victor Auger, French physicist and academic
• 1994 - Zail Singh, Indian politician, 7th President of India
• 1995 - Emmanuel Levinas, Lithuanian-French philosopher and academic
• 1995 - Dean Martin, American singer and actor
• 1995 - Chang Kee-ryo, Korean surgeon
• 1996 - Bill Hewitt, Canadian sportscaster
• 1997 - Anatoli Boukreev, Kazakh mountaineer and explorer
• 1997 - Denver Pyle, American actor
• 2000 - Neil Hawke, Australian cricketer and footballer
• 2000 - Willard Van Orman Quine, American philosopher and academic
• 2001 - Alfred A. Tomatis, French otolaryngologist and academic
• 2003 - Nicholas Mavroules, American politician
• 2004 - Gennadi Strekalov, Russian engineer and astronaut
• 2005 - Derek Bailey, English guitarist
• 2005 - Robert Barbers, Filipino police officer, lawyer, and politician, 15th Filipino Secretary of the Interior
• 2005 - Birgit Nilsson, Swedish operatic soprano
• 2005 - Joseph Pararajasingham, Sri Lankan journalist, businessman, and politician
• 2006 - James Brown, American singer-songwriter
• 2007 - Des Barrick, English cricketer
• 2007 - Jim Beauchamp, American baseball player and coach
• 2008 - Eartha Kitt, American singer and actress
• 2009 - Vic Chesnutt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 2010 - Carlos Andrés Pérez, Venezuelan politician, 66th President of Venezuela
• 2011 - Giorgio Bocca, Italian journalist
• 2011 - Jim Sherwood, American saxophonist
• 2011 - Simms Taback, American author and illustrator
• 2012 - Erico Aumentado, Filipino journalist, lawyer, and politician
• 2012 - Halfdan Hegtun, Norwegian radio host and politician
• 2012 - Joe Krivak, American football player and coach
• 2012 - Turki bin Sultan, Saudi Arabian politician
• 2012 - Şerafettin Elçi, Turkish lawyer, politician, government minister
• 2013 - Anthony J. Bryant, American historian and author
• 2013 - David R. Harris, English geographer, anthropologist, archaeologist and academic
• 2013 - Wayne Harrison, English footballer
• 2013 - Mike Hegan, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 2013 - Lola Lange, Canadian rural feminist and appointee to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women
• 2013 - Mel Mathay, Filipino politician, 8th Mayor of Quezon City
• 2014 - Ricardo Porro, Cuban-French architect
• 2014 - Geoff Pullar, English cricketer
• 2014 - David Ryall, English actor
• 2015 - George Clayton Johnson, American author and screenwriter
• 2015 - Dorothy M. Murdock, American author and historian
• 2016 - Valery Khalilov, Russian military musician and composer
• 2016 - George Michael, British singer and songwriter
• 2016 - Vera Rubin, American astronomer
• 2017 - D. Herbert Lipson, American magazine publisher
• 2018 - Sulagitti Narasamma, Indian midwife
• 2019 - Ari Behn, Norwegian writer

  Holidays and observances

• Children's Day
• Christian feast day:
• *Anastasia of Sirmium
• *December 25
• Christmas Day, Christian festival commemorating the birth of Jesus.
• Tulsi Pujan Diwas
• Constitution Day
• Good Governance Day
• Malkh-Festival
• Quaid-e-Azam's Day
• Takanakuy