December 11

December 11 is the 345th day of the year (346th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 20 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 220 – Cao Pi forces Emperor Xian of Han to abdicate the Han dynasty throne. The Cao Wei empire is established. The Three Kingdoms period begins.
• 361 – Julian enters Constantinople as sole Emperor of the Roman Empire.
• 630 – Muhammad leads an army of 10,000 to conquer Mecca.
• 969 – Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas is assassinated by his wife Theophano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes.
• 1282 – Battle of Orewin Bridge: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, in mid-Wales.
• 1602 – A surprise attack by forces under the command of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. (Commemorated annually by the Fête de l'Escalade.)
• 1688 – Glorious Revolution: James II of England, while trying to flee to France, allegedly throws the Great Seal of the Realm into the River Thames.
• 1789 – The University of North Carolina is chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly.
• 1792 – French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.
• 1815 – The U.S. Senate creates a select committee on finance and a uniform national currency, predecessor of the United States Senate Committee on Finance.
• 1816 – Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state.
• 1868 – Paraguayan War: Brazilian troops defeat Paraguayan at the Battle of Avay.
• 1899 – Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein the Boers commanded by general Piet Cronjé inflict a defeat on the forces of the British Empire commanded by Lord Methuen trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley.
• 1905 – A workers' uprising occurs in Kiev, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire), and establishes the Shuliavka Republic.
• 1907 – The New Zealand Parliament Buildings are almost completely destroyed by fire.
• 1917 – World War I: British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law.
• 1920 – Irish War of Independence: In retaliation for an IRA ambush, British forces burn and loot numerous buildings in Cork city. Many civilians also reported being beaten, shot at, robbed and verbally abused by British forces.
• 1925 – Roman Catholic papal encyclical Quas primas introduces the Feast of Christ the King.
• 1927 – Guangzhou Uprising: Communist Red Guards launch an uprising in Guangzhou, China, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet.
• 1931 – Statute of Westminster 1931: The British Parliament establishes legislative equality between the UK and the Dominions of the Commonwealth—Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland.
• 1934 – Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the last time.
• 1936 – Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India, becomes effective.
• 1937 – Second Italo-Ethiopian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations.
• 1941 – World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on them.
• 1941 – World War II: Poland declares war on the Empire of Japan.
• 1941 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy suffers its first loss of surface vessels during the Battle of Wake Island.
• 1946 – The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.
• 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The United Nations passes General Assembly Resolution 194, creating a Conciliation Commission to mediate the conflict.
• 1958 – French Upper Volta and French Dahomey gain self-government from France, becoming the Republic of Upper Volta and the Republic of Dahomey (now Benin), respectively, and joining the French Community.
• 1960 – French forces crack down in a violent clash with protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French President Charles de Gaulle.
• 1962 – Arthur Lucas, convicted of murder, is the last person to be executed in Canada.
• 1964 – Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
• 1968 – The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, featuring the Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull, the Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and the Dirty Mac with Yoko Ono, is filmed in Wembley, London.
• 1972 – Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and last Apollo mission to land on the Moon.
• 1978 – The Lufthansa heist is committed by a group led by Lucchese family associate Jimmy Burke. It was the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil, at that time.
• 1980 – The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress.
• 1981 – El Mozote massacre: Armed forces in El Salvador kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War.
• 1990 – Demonstrations by students and workers across Albania begin, which eventually trigger the fall of communism in Albania.
• 1993 – Forty-eight people are killed when a block of the Highland Towers collapses near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• 1994 – First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.
• 1994 – A bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, en route from Manila, Philippines, to Tokyo, Japan, killing one. The captain is able to safely land the plane.
• 1997 – The Kyoto Protocol opens for signature.
• 1998 – Thai Airways Flight 261 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101. The pilot flying the Airbus A310-300 is thought to have suffered spatial disorientation.
• 2001 – The People's Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization.
• 2005 – The Buncefield Oil Depot catches fire in Hemel Hempstead, England, United Kingdom.
• 2005 – Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese (and many who are not) in Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia. These are followed up by retaliatory ethnic attacks on Cronulla.
• 2006 – The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran, by then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; nations such as Israel and the United States express concern.
• 2006 – Felipe Calderón, the President of Mexico, launches a military-led offensive to put down the drug cartel violence in the state of Michoacán. This effort is often regarded as the first event in the Mexican Drug War.
• 2007 – Insurgency in the Maghreb: Two car bombs explode in Algiers, Algeria, one near the Supreme Constitutional Court and the other near the offices of the United Nations.
• 2008 – Bernard Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
• 2012 – At least 125 people are killed and up to 200 injured in bombings in the Alawite village of Aqrab, Syria.
• 2014 – The city of Detroit, Michigan emerges from the largest municipal bankruptcy in United States history.

Births

• 1465 – Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (d. 1489)
• 1475 – Pope Leo X (d. 1521)
• 1566 – Manuel Cardoso, Portuguese organist and composer (d. 1650)
• 1680 – Emanuele d'Astorga, Italian composer (d. 1736)
• 1709 – Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, French wife of Louis I of Spain (d. 1742)
• 1712 – Francesco Algarotti, Italian poet, philosopher, and critic (d. 1764)
• 1725 – George Mason, American lawyer and politician (d. 1792)
• 1758 – Carl Friedrich Zelter, German composer, conductor, and educator (d. 1832)
• 1761 – Gian Domenico Romagnosi, Italian physicist, economist, and jurist (d. 1835)
• 1781 – David Brewster, Scottish physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (d. 1868)
• 1801 – Christian Dietrich Grabbe, German poet and playwright (d. 1836)
• 1803 – Hector Berlioz, French composer, conductor, and critic (d. 1869)
• 1810 – Alfred de Musset, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1857)
• 1830 – Kamehameha V of Hawaii (d. 1872)
• 1838 – John Labatt, Canadian brewer and businessman (d. 1915)
• 1843 – Robert Koch, German microbiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1910)
• 1856 – Georgi Plekhanov, Russian philosopher, theorist, and author (d. 1918)
• 1858 – Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian director, producer, and playwright (d. 1943)
• 1863 – Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer and academic (d. 1941)
• 1872 – René Bull, British illustrator and photographer (d. 1942)
• 1873 – Josip Plemelj, Slovenian mathematician and academic (d. 1967)
• 1875 – Yehuda Leib Maimon, Moldovan-Israeli rabbi and politician (d. 1962)
• 1880 – Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer and umpire (d. 1951)
• 1882 – Subramania Bharati, Indian journalist and poet (d. 1921)
• 1882 – Max Born, German physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
• 1882 – Fiorello H. La Guardia, American lawyer and politician, 99th Mayor of New York City (d. 1947)
• 1884 – Piet Ooms, Dutch swimmer and water polo player (d. 1961)
• 1885 – Carlo Wieth, Danish actor (d. 1943)
• 1889 – Walter Knott, American farmer and businessman, founded Knott's Berry Farm (d. 1981)
• 1890 – Carlos Gardel, French-Argentinian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1935)
• 1890 – Mark Tobey, American-Swiss painter and educator (d. 1976)
• 1897 – Ronald Skirth, English soldier (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Julio de Caro, Argentinian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1980)
• 1904 – Marge, American cartoonist (d. 1993)
• 1905 – Robert Henriques, English farmer, author, and broadcaster (d. 1967)
• 1905 – Gilbert Roland, Mexican-American actor and singer (d. 1994)
• 1908 – Elliott Carter, American composer and academic (d. 2012)
• 1908 – Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
• 1908 – Hákun Djurhuus, Faroese educator and politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1987)
• 1908 – Amon Goeth, Austrian captain (d. 1946)
• 1909 – Ronald McKie, Australian soldier, journalist, and author (d. 1991)
• 1910 – Noel Rosa, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1937)
• 1911 – Val Guest, English-American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 2006)
• 1911 – Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian author, playwright, and screenwriter, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
• 1911 – Qian Xuesen, Chinese aerodynamicist and academic (d. 2009)
• 1912 – Carlo Ponti, Italian-Swiss film producer (d. 2007)
• 1913 – Jean Marais, French actor and director (d. 1998)
• 1916 – Pérez Prado, Cuban-Mexican singer-songwriter, pianist, and bandleader (d. 1989)
• 1916 – Elena Garro, Mexican author and playwright (d. 1998)
• 1918 – Clinton Adams, American painter and historian (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian historian, author, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
• 1919 – Cliff Michelmore, English television host and producer
• 1919 – Marie Windsor, American actress and singer (d. 2000)
• 1920 – Denis Jenkinson, English motorcycle racer and journalist (d. 1996)
• 1921 – Ilmar Laaban, Estonian poet and publicist (d. 2000)
• 1921 – Liz Smith, English actress
• 1922 – Grigoris Bithikotsis, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
• 1922 – Maila Nurmi, Finnish-American actress, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1922 – Grace Paley, American author and poet (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Dilip Kumar, Pakistani-Indian actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1923 – Betsy Blair, American-English actress and dancer (d. 2009)
• 1923 – Lilian Cahn, Hungarian-American businesswoman, co-founded Coach, Inc. (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Doc Blanchard, American football player and colonel (d. 2009)
• 1925 – Aaron Feuerstein, American businessman and philanthropist
• 1925 – Paul Greengard, American neuroscientist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1925 – James Sullivan, American politician (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Big Mama Thornton, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
• 1926 – Dick Tufeld, American actor (d. 2012)
• 1927 – John Buscema, American illustrator (d. 2002)
• 1929 – Axel Anderson, German-Puerto Rican actor and production manager (d. 2012)
• 1930 – Chus Lampreave, Spanish actress
• 1930 – Jean-Louis Trintignant, French actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1931 – Rajneesh, Indian guru, mystic, and educator (d. 1990)
• 1931 – Ronald Dworkin, American philosopher and scholar (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican-American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1931 – Pierre Pilote, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1931 – Jerome Rothenberg, American anthropologist and poet
• 1932 – Enrique Bermúdez, Nicaraguan colonel and engineer (d. 1991)
• 1932 – Anne Heywood, English actress and singer
• 1932 – Keith Waldrop, American author and poet
• 1933 – Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., Filipino civil servant and politician, 23rd President of the Senate of the Philippines
• 1935 – Ron Carey, American actor (d. 2007)
• 1935 – Pranab Mukherjee, Indian journalist and politician, 13th President of India
• 1935 – Elmer Vasko, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1998)
• 1936 – Taku Yamasaki, Japanese politician
• 1936 – Hans van den Broek, Dutch lawyer and politician, Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1937 – Jim Harrison, American author and poet
• 1938 – Reg Livermore, Australian actor and singer
• 1938 – Enrico Macias, Algerian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1938 – McCoy Tyner, American pianist and composer
• 1939 – Tom Hayden, American academic and politician
• 1939 – Thomas McGuane, American author and screenwriter
• 1940 – David Gates, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Bread)
• 1940 – Donna Mills, American actress and producer
• 1941 – Max Baucus, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 11th United States Ambassador to China
• 1941 – J. P. Parisé, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2015)
• 1941 – Rogier van Otterloo, Dutch conductor and composer (d. 1988)
• 1941 – J. Frank Wilson, American singer-songwriter (J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers) (d. 1991)
• 1942 – Anna Carteret, Indian-English actress
• 1943 – Errol Brown, Jamaican-English singer-songwriter (Hot Chocolate) (d. 2015)
• 1943 – John Kerry, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 68th United States Secretary of State
• 1944 – Jon Garrison, American tenor and educator
• 1944 – Lynda Day George, American actress
• 1944 – Brenda Lee, American singer-songwriter
• 1944 – Juan E. Méndez, Argentinian lawyer, academic, and activist
• 1946 – Rhoma Irama, Indonesian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1946 – Diana Palmer, American journalist and author
• 1947 – Teri Garr, American actress and dancer
• 1948 – Tanimura Shinji, Japanese singer-songwriter
• 1948 – Stamatis Spanoudakis, Greek guitarist and composer
• 1949 – Noel Campbell, Irish footballer and manager
• 1950 – Nino Frassica, Italian actor
• 1950 – Christina Onassis, American-Argentinian businesswoman (d. 1988)
• 1951 – Mazlan Othman, Malaysian astrophysicist and astronomer
• 1951 – Ria Stalman, Dutch discus thrower and shot putter
• 1953 – Bess Armstrong, American actress
• 1954 – Brad Bryant, American golfer
• 1954 – Santiago Creel, Mexican lawyer and politician, Mexican Secretary of the Interior
• 1954 – Jermaine Jackson, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (Jackson 5)
• 1954 – Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson, Icelandic guitarist, mathematician, and engineer
• 1955 – Gene Grossman, American economist and academic
• 1955 – Stu Jackson, American basketball player, coach, and manager
• 1955 – Christian Sackewitz, German footballer and manager
• 1956 – Lani Brockman, American actress and director, founded Studio East
• 1956 – Andrew Lansley, English politician, Secretary of State for Health
• 1956 – Stevie Young, Scottish-Australian guitarist and songwriter (AC/DC and Starfighters)
• 1957 – Peter Bagge, American author and illustrator
• 1958 – Isabella Hofmann, American actress
• 1958 – Chris Hughton, English-Irish footballer and manager
• 1958 – Tom Shadyac, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1958 – Nikki Sixx, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (Mötley Crüe, Sixx:A.M., Sister, and Brides of Destruction)
• 1960 – Rachel Portman, English composer, conductor, and producer
• 1961 – Dave King, Irish-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Flogging Molly and Fastway)
• 1961 – Steve Nicol, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1961 – Macky Sall, Senegalese engineer and politician, 4th President of Senegal
• 1961 – Marco Pierre White, English chef and television host
• 1962 – Ben Browder, American actor and screenwriter
• 1962 – Paul Haslinger, Austrian-American keyboard player, guitarist, and composer (Tangerine Dream)
• 1962 – Nele Karajlić, Serbian singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and actor (Zabranjeno Pušenje)
• 1963 – Mario Been, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1963 – Jon Brion, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1963 – Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, German tennis player
• 1963 – John Lammers, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1963 – Nigel Winterburn, English footballer and coach
• 1964 – Michel Courtemanche, Canadian comedian and actor
• 1964 – Justin Currie, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Del Amitri and The Uncle Devil Show)
• 1964 – Ella Kovacs, Romanian runner
• 1964 – Dave Schools, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (Widespread Panic, Stockholm Syndrome, and J Mascis + The Fog)
• 1964 – Cosy Sheridan, American singer-songwriter
• 1964 – Carolyn Waldo, Canadian swimmer and sportscaster
• 1965 – Jay Bell, American baseball player and coach
• 1965 – Gavin Hill, New Zealand rugby player
• 1965 – Giannis Ragousis, Greek economist and politician, Greek Minister for National Defence
• 1966 – Gary Dourdan, American actor
• 1966 – Göran Kropp, Swedish race car driver and mountaineer (d. 2002)
• 1966 – Leon Lai, Chinese singer and actor
• 1966 – Erik Honoré, Norwegian guitarist and producer
• 1967 – Mo'Nique, American comedian, actress, and producer
• 1967 – DJ Yella, American DJ and producer (N.W.A and World Class Wreckin' Cru)
• 1968 – Fabrizio Ravanelli, Italian footballer and manager
• 1969 – Viswanathan Anand, Indian chess player
• 1969 – Francisco Javier Arellano Félix, Mexican drug trafficker
• 1969 – Stig Inge Bjørnebye, Norwegian footballer and manager
• 1969 – Max Martini, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1969 – Alessandro Melli, Italian footballer and manager
• 1970 – Victoria Fuller, American model and actress
• 1971 – Willie McGinest, American football player and sportscaster
• 1972 – Daniel Alfredsson, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1972 – Sami Al-Jaber, Saudi Arabian footballer and manager
• 1972 – Andriy Husin, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
• 1972 – Rusty Joiner, American model and actor
• 1973 – Mos Def, American rapper and actor (Black Star and Soulquarians)
• 1974 – Rey Mysterio, American wrestler and actor
• 1974 – Maarten Lafeber, Dutch golfer
• 1974 – Lisa Ortiz, American voice actress and director
• 1974 – Ben Shephard, English journalist and television host
• 1974 – Gete Wami, Ethiopian runner
• 1975 – Gerben de Knegt, Dutch cyclist
• 1975 – Tomoka Kurotani, Japanese actress
• 1975 – Dawn Steele, Scottish actress
• 1976 – Shareef Abdur-Rahim, American basketball player, coach, and manager
• 1976 – Yujiro Shirakawa, Japanese actor
• 1977 – Brandon Rogers, American singer and actor
• 1977 – Mark Streit, Swiss ice hockey player
• 1978 – Roy Wood, Jr., American comedian, actor, and radio host
• 1979 – Valdis Mintals, Estonian figure skater
• 1979 – Rider Strong, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1980 – Kristjan Kitsing, Estonian basketball player
• 1981 – Nikki Benz, Ukrainian-Canadian porn actress
• 1981 – Hamish Blake, Australian comedian, actor, and author
• 1981 – Jason Kennedy, American journalist
• 1981 – Jeff McComsey, American author and illustrator
• 1981 – Paul Medhurst, Australian footballer
• 1981 – Kevin Phillips, American actor and producer
• 1981 – Javier Saviola, Argentinian footballer
• 1981 – Zacky Vengeance, American guitarist and songwriter (Avenged Sevenfold)
• 1982 – Pablo Pérez Companc, Argentinian race car driver
• 1984 – Leighton Baines, English footballer
• 1984 – P.J. Lane, Australian actor and singer
• 1984 – Spyros Vrontaras, Greek footballer
• 1985 – Aiko Kayō, Japanese singer and actress
• 1985 – Yekta Kurtuluş, Turkish footballer
• 1985 – Anja Prislan, Slovenian tennis player
• 1985 – Karla Souza, Mexican-American actress
• 1986 – Roy Hibbert, American basketball player
• 1987 – Clifton Geathers, American football player
• 1987 – Natalia Gordienko, Moldovan singer and dancer
• 1988 – Ashley Hinshaw, American model and actress
• 1988 – Tim Southee, New Zealand cricketer
• 1989 – Murugan Thiruchelvam, English chess player
• 1990 – Derrick Nix, American basketball player
• 1991 – Anna Bergendahl, Swedish singer
• 1992 – Tiffany Alvord, American singer-songwriter
• 1992 – Dalton Pompey, Canadian baseball player
• 1993 – William Corkery, American actor
• 1993 – Tyrone Gilks, Australian motorcycle racer (d. 2013)
• 1994 – Gabriel Basso, American actor
• 1994 – Alice Hirose, Japanese model and actress
• 1996 – Jack Griffo, American actor and singer
• 1996 – Hailee Steinfeld, American actress and singer

Deaths

• 384 – Pope Damasus I (b. 305)
• 861 – Al-Mutawakkil, Abbasid caliph (b. 822)
• 969 – Nikephoros II Phokas, Byzantine emperor (b. 912)
• 1121 – Al-Afdal Shahanshah, Egyptian political adviser (b. 1066)
• 1241 – Ögedei Khan, Mongolian emperor (b. 1186)
• 1282 – Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Welsh prince (b. 1223)
• 1282 – Michael VIII Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1225)
• 1532 – Pietro Accolti, Italian cardinal (b. 1455)
• 1582 – Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, Spanish general and politician, 12th Constable of Portugal (b. 1508)
• 1686 – Louis, Grand Condé, French general (b. 1621)
• 1694 – Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1630)
• 1737 – John Strype, English priest, historian, and author (b. 1643)
• 1747 – Edmund Curll, English bookseller and publisher (b. 1675)
• 1797 – Richard Brocklesby, English physician (b. 1722)
• 1826 – Maria Leopoldina of Austria (b. 1797)
• 1840 – Emperor Kōkaku of Japan (b. 1771)
• 1872 – Kamehameha V of Hawaii (b. 1830)
• 1880 – Oliver Winchester, American businessman, founded the Winchester Repeating Arms Company (b. 1810)
• 1892 – William Milligan, Scottish theologian and scholar (b. 1821)
• 1906 – Charles Townsend, American fencer, engineer, and academic (b. 1872)
• 1918 – Ivan Cankar, Slovenian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1876)
• 1920 – Olive Schreiner, South African author and activist (b. 1855)
• 1936 – Myron Grimshaw, American baseball player (b. 1875)
• 1937 – Jaan Anvelt, Estonian theorist and politician (b. 1884)
• 1938 – Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian historian and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
• 1941 – John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American pilot and poet (b. 1922)
• 1941 – Émile Picard, French mathematician and academic (b. 1856)
• 1945 – Charles Fabry, French physicist and academic (b. 1867)
• 1950 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and author (b. 1893)
• 1951 – Mustafa Muğlalı, Turkish general (b. 1882)
• 1953 – Sedat Simavi, Turkish journalist and director (b. 1896)
• 1957 – Musidora, French actress, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1889)
• 1959 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player and manager (b. 1900)
• 1964 – Sam Cooke, American singer-songwriter (The Highway Q.C.'s and The Soul Stirrers) (b. 1931)
• 1964 – Percy Kilbride, American actor and singer (b. 1888)
• 1968 – Richard Sagrits, Estonian painter and author (b. 1910)
• 1968 – Arthur Hays Sulzberger, American publisher (b. 1891)
• 1971 – Maurice McDonald, American businessman, co-founded McDonald's (b. 1902)
• 1975 – Lee Wiley, American singer (b. 1908)
• 1975 – Nihal Atsız, Turkish philosopher, author, and poet (b. 1905)
• 1978 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
• 1978 – Paul O'Dea, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
• 1979 – James J. Gibson, American psychologist and author (b. 1904)
• 1983 – Neil Ritchie, Guyanese-English general (b. 1897)
• 1984 – Oskar Seidlin, German-American author, poet, and scholar (b. 1911)
• 1984 – George Waggner, American director, producer and actor (b. 1894)
• 1987 – G. A. Kulkarni, Indian author and academic (b. 1923)
• 1987 – Adile Naşit, Turkish actress (b. 1930)
• 1989 – Louise Dahl-Wolfe, American photographer (b. 1895)
• 1991 – Robert Q. Lewis, American actor and game show host (b. 1921)
• 1991 – Artur Lundkvist, Swedish author and critic (b. 1906)
• 1991 – Pat Walshe, American actor (b. 1900)
• 1992 – Michael Robbins, English actor (b. 1930)
• 1993 – Elvira Popescu, Romanian-French actress and director (b. 1894)
• 1994 – Philip Phillips, American archaeologist and scholar (b. 1900)
• 1995 – Greg Bahnsen, American minister and philosopher (b. 1948)
• 1995 – Arthur Mullard, English actor and singer (b. 1910)
• 1996 – Willie Rushton, English cartoonist, author, and publisher, co-founded Private Eye (b. 1937)
• 1997 – Eddie Chapman, English spy (b. 1914)
• 1997 – Simon Jeffes, English guitarist and composer (Penguin Cafe Orchestra) (b. 1949)
• 1998 – André Lichnerowicz, French physicist and mathematician (b. 1915)
• 1998 – Lynn Strait, American singer-songwriter (Snot) (b. 1968)
• 2000 – Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, Pakistani politician and diplomat (b. 1915)
• 2000 – David Lewis, American actor (b. 1916)
• 2001 – Mainza Chona, Zambian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1930)
• 2003 – Ahmadou Kourouma, Ivorian author and playwright (b. 1927)
• 2004 – José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1962)
• 2004 – Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand runner and coach (b. 1917)
• 2004 – M. S. Subbulakshmi, Indian singer and actress (b. 1916)
• 2006 – Elizabeth Bolden, American super-centenarian (b. 1890)
• 2007 – Christie Hennessy, Irish singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1945)
• 2008 – Maddie Blaustein, American voice actress and singer (b. 1960)
• 2008 – Bettie Page, American model and actress (b. 1923)
• 2010 – Dick Hoerner, American football player (b. 1922)
• 2011 – John Patrick Foley, American cardinal (b. 1935)
• 2011 – Susan Gordon, American actress (b. 1949)
• 2012 – Toni Blankenheim, German opera singer (b. 1921)
• 2012 – B. B. Nimbalkar, Indian cricketer (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano and actress (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Mendel Weinbach, Polish-Israeli rabbi and scholar (b. 1933)
• 2013 – Nadir Afonso, Portuguese painter and architect (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Barbara Branden, Canadian-American author and academic (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Javier Jauregui, Mexican boxer (b. 1973)
• 2013 – Garry Robbins, Canadian wrestler and actor (b. 1957)
• 2013 – Sheikh Mussa Shariefi, Indian philosopher and scholar (b. 1942)
• 2014 – Tom Adams, English actor (b. 1938)
• 2014 – Michel duCille, Jamaican-American photographer and journalist (b. 1956)
• 2014 – Dawn Sears, American singer-songwriter (b. 1961)
• 2014 – Hans Wallat, German conductor and director (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Abish Kekilbayev, Kazakh academic and politician (b. 1939)
• 2015 – H. Arnold Steinberg, Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and academic (b. 1933)
• 2015 – Hema Upadhyay, Indian painter and sculptor (b. 1972)
• 2015 – John "Hot Rod" Williams, American basketball player (b. 1962)
• 2015 – Ken Woolley, Australian architect (b. 1933)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Daniel the Stylite
  • Maravillas de Jesús
  • Pope Damasus I
  • Victoricus, Fuscian, and Gentian
  • December 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Human Rights and Peace Day (Kiribati)
• Indiana Day (United States)
• International Mountain Day (International)
• National Tango Day (Buenos Aires)
• Pampanga Day (Pampanga province, Philippines)
• Republic Day, the day when Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French Community in 1958. (Burkina Faso)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Today in Canadian History