December 16
is the 350th day of the year (351st in
leap years) in the
Gregorian Calendar. There are 15 days remaining.
*
1392 -
Historku-cho -
Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant
Go-Komatsu.
*
1598 -
Seven Year War:
Battle of Noryang Point - The final battle of the Seven Year War is fought between the Korean and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive Korean 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.
*
1761 -
Seven Years' War: After four-month siege, the Russians under
Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of
Kolobrzeg.
*
1773 -
American Revolution:
Boston Tea Party - Members of the
Sons of Liberty disguised as
Mohawks dump crates of tea into
Boston harbor as a protest against the
Tea Act.
*
1811 - The first two in a series of severe
earthquakes occurs, in the vicinity of
New Madrid, Missouri.
*
1838 -
Battle of Blood River:
Voortrekkers led by
Andries Pretorius combat
Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and
Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today
KwaZulu-Natal,
South Africa.
*
1850 -
History of New Zealand: The
Charlotte-Jane and the
Randolph bring the first of the
Canterbury Pilgrims to
Lyttelton.
*
1864 -
American Civil War:
Franklin-Nashville Campaign -
Battle of Nashville - Major General
George H. Thomas's
Union forces defeat Lieutenant General
John Bell Hood's
Confederate Army of Tennessee.
*
1893 -
Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, "From The New World" was given its world premiere at Carnagie Hall.
*
1899 -
Brooklyn Children's Museum opens.
*
1910 - During a ground test of his
Coandă-1910 plane,
Henri Coandă, caught unaware by the power of the engine, finds himself briefly airborne and loses control of the machine which crashes to the ground.
*
1922 -
President of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz is assassinated by
Eligiusz Niewiadomski at the Zachęta Gallery in
Warsaw.
*
1925 - A regular broadcasting service was instituted in
Ceylon.
*
1941 -
World War II: Japanese occupy
Miri,
Sarawak*
1942 -
Holocaust:
Porajmos -
Heinrich Himmler orders that
Roma candidates for extermination should be deported to
Auschwitz.
*
1944 -
World War II:
Battle of the Bulge -
General Dwight D. Eisenhower's allied forces and
Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt's
German army engage in the Belgian
Ardennes.
*
1946 -
Léon Blum becomes
Prime Minister of France.
*
1957 -
Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces
Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as
Prime Minister of Pakistan.
*
1960 -
1960 New York air disaster: While approaching New York's
Idlewild Airport, a
United Airlines Douglas DC-8 collides with a
TWA Lockheed Super Constellation in a blinding
snowstorm over
Staten Island, killing 134.
*
1971 -
Liberation War of Bangladesh &
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the
Pakistan army simultaneously brings an end to both conflicts.
*
1985 -
Mafia: In
New York City,
Paul Castellano and
Thomas Bilotti are shot dead on the orders of
John Gotti, who assumes leadership of the
Gambino family.
*
1989 - Protest breaks out in
Timişoara in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident
Hungarian pastor,
László Tőkés.
*
1991 -
United Nations General Assembly:
UN General Assembly Resolution 4686 revokes
UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 after Israel makes revocation of resolution 3379 a condition of its participation in the
Madrid Peace Conference of 1991.
*
1997 -
Typhoon Paka makes landfall on the island of
Guam with 150
mph winds.
* 1997 - The
Pokémon episode
Electric Soldier Porygon triggers attacks of
photosensitive epilepsy in hundreds of
Japanese children.
*
1998 -
Iraq disarmament crisis:
Operation Desert Fox - The
United States and
United Kingdom bomb targets in
Iraq.
*
2005 - The last scheduled edition of US radio program
The Howard Stern Show is broadcast on terrestrial radio.
*
1485 -
Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England (d.
1536)
*
1584 -
John Selden, English jurist and oriental scholar (d.
1654)
*
1614 -
Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (d.
1674)
*
1714 -
George Whitefield, British-born Methodist leader (d.
1770)
*
1716 -
Louis-Jules Mancini-Mazarini, Duc de Nivernais, French diplomat and writer (d.
1798)
*
1717 -
Elizabeth Carter, British writer (d.
1806)
*
1742 -
Gebhard Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt, German Field Marshal (d.
1819)
*
1770 -
Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (d.
1827)
*
1775 -
Jane Austen, British writer (d.
1817)
* 1775 -
François-Adrien Boïeldieu, French composer (d.
1834)
*
1776 -
Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German physicist (d.
1810)
*
1790 - King
Léopold I of Belgium (d.
1865)
*
1834 -
Léon Walras, French economist (d.
1910)
*
1861 -
Antonio de La Gandara, French painter (d.
1917)
*
1863 -
George Santayana, Spanish philosopher and writer (d.
1952)
*
1865 -
Olavo Bilac, Brazilian poet (d.
1918)
*
1866 (
N.S.) -
Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born French abstract painter (d.
1944)
*
1867 -
Amy Carmichael - a missionary in Dohnavur,
India*
1869 -
Hristo Tatarchev -
Bulgarian revolutionary (d.
1952)
*
1872 -
Anton Ivanovich Denikin, Russian general (d.
1947)
*
1882 -
Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer (d.
1967)
* 1882 -
Walther Meissner, German physicist (d.
1974)
* 1882 - Sir
Jack Hobbs,
English test cricketer (d.
1963)
*
1888 - King
Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d.
1934)
*
1899 - Sir
Noel Coward, British playwright, actor and composer (d.
1973)
*
1901 -
Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (d.
1978)
*
1905 -
Piet Hein, Danish mathematician and inventor (d.
1996)
*
1917 - Sir
Arthur C. Clarke, British writer
*
1926 -
James McCracken, American tenor (d.
1988)
*
1927 -
Randall Garrett, American writer
*
1928 -
Philip K. Dick, American writer (d.
1982)
*
1929 -
Nicholas Courtney, British actor
*
1932 -
Rodion Shchedrin, Soviet-born Russian composer
*
1934 -
Elgin Baylor, American basketball player
*
1938 -
Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress
*
1941 -
Lesley Stahl, American journalist
*
1943 -
Steven Bochco, American television producer and writer
*
1945 -
Yukio Hattori, Japanese
Iron Chef commentator
*
1946 -
Benny Andersson, Swedish musician, singer and songwriter (
ABBA)
* 1946 -
Trevor Pinnock, British conductor and harpsichordist
*
1947 -
Vincent Matthews, American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist
*
1949 -
Billy Gibbons, American guitarist (
ZZ Top)
*
1951 -
Robben Ford, American guitarist
*
1952 -
Joel Garner,
West Indian test cricketer
*
1955 -
Xander Berkeley, American actor
*
1961 -
Bill Hicks, American comedian (d.
1994)
*
1962 -
William Perry, American football player
*
1963 -
Benjamin Bratt, American actor
*
1964 -
Heike Drechsler, East German-born German sprinter
* 1964 -
Billy Ripken, former American baseball player.
*
1966 -
Denis Wise,
British soccer player
*
1967 -
Donovan Bailey, Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter
*
1970 -
Nancy Valen, American actress
*
1972 -
Željko Kalac, Australian footballer
*
1973 -
Scott Storch- American hip-hop producer
*
1975 -
Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian singer (
Billy Talent)
*
1977 -
Sylvain Distin, French footballer
*
1978 -
Gunter Van Handenhoven, Belgian footballer
*
1979 -
Mihai Trăistariu,
Romanian singer
*
1981 -
Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer
*1981 -
Gareth Williams, Scottish footballer
*
1983 -
Kelenna Azubuike, Basketball player
*
1985 -
Keita Tachibana, Japanese singer
*
1987 -
Hallee Hirsh, American actress
*
1988 -
Anna Popplewell, British actress
*
1989 -
Chen Yaoye, professional
Go player
*
705 -
Empress Wu of Zhou (China; b.
625)
*
714 -
Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia
*
999 - Saint
Adelaide of Italy (b.
931)
*
1325 -
Charles of Valois, son of
Philip III of France (b.
1270)
*
1379 -
John Fitzalan, Marshal of England (drowned)
*
1470 -
John II, Duke of Lorraine (b.
1425)
*
1515 -
Afonso de Albuquerque Portuguese naval general (b.
1453)
*
1598 -
Yi Sun-sin, Korean admiral (b.
1545)
*
1669 -
Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician
*
1687 -
William Petty, English scientist and philosopher (b.
1623)
*
1751 -
Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian general (b.
1700)
*
1774 -
François Quesnay, French economist (b.
1694)
*
1783 -
Johann A. Hasse, German composer (b.
1699)
* 1783 - Sir
William James British naval commander (b.
1720)
*
1809 -
Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist (b.
1755)
*
1859 -
Wilhelm Grimm, German writer and folklorist (b.
1786)
*
1898 -
Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and art collector (b.
1832)
*
1914 -
Ivan Zajc, Austro-Hungarian composer (b.
1832)
*
1916 -
Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b.
1869)
*
1921 -
Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (b.
1835)
*
1922 -
Gabriel Narutowicz, first
President of Poland (b.
1865)
*
1928 -
Elinor Wylie, American poet and writer (b.
1885)
*
1945 -
Giovanni Agnelli, Italian automobile manufacturer (b.
1866)
* 1945 -
Fumimaro Konoye,
Prime Minister of Japan (b.
1891)
*
1949 -
Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (b.
1873)
*
1956 -
Nina Hamnett, British artist (b.
1890)
*
1965 -
W. Somerset Maugham, British writer (b.
1874)
*
1977 -
Risto Jarva, Finnish filmmaker (b.
1934)
*
1980 -
Colonel Harland Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (b.
1890)
* 1980 -
Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (b.
1900)
*
1982 -
Colin Chapman, British engineer and automobile manufacturer, founder of
Lotus Cars (b.
1928)
*
1984 -
Debs Garms, baseball player (b.
1907)
*
1985 -
Paul Castellano, American mafioso (b.
1915)
* 1985 -
Thomas Bilotti, American mafioso (b.
1940)
*
1989 -
Lee Van Cleef, American actor (b.
1925)
* 1989 -
Aileen Pringle, American actress (b.
1895)
*
1990 -
Douglas Campbell, American pilot (b.
1896)
*
1993 -
Moses Gunn, American actor (b.
1929)
* 1993 -
Tanaka Kakuei,
Prime Minister of Japan (b.
1918)
*
1995 -
Mariele Ventre, Italian choir director (b.
1939)
*
1996 -
Quentin Bell, British art historian (b.
1910)
*
2001 -
Stuart Adamson, British musician (suicide) (b.
1958)
*
2003 -
Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (b.
1914)
* 2003 -
Gary Stewart, American musician, singer and songwriter (suicide) (b.
1945)
*
2004 -
Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (b.
1933)
*
2005 -
Kenneth Bulmer, British author (b.
1921)
* 2005 -
John Spencer, American actor (b.
1946)
*
R.C. Saints -
O Sapientia ;
Adelaide of Italy*
Bahrain -
National Day*
Bangladesh -
Victory Day*
Kazakhstan -
Independence Day*
Nepal -
Constitution Day (To be confirmed)
*
South Africa -
Day of Reconciliation*
BBC: On This DayDecember 15 -
December 17 -
November 16 -
January 16 --
listing of all days
