December 21
Events
Pre-1600
1601–1900
- 1620 - Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land near what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
- 1826 - American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion.
- 1832 - Egyptian–Ottoman War: Egyptian forces decisively defeat Ottoman troops at the Battle of Konya.
- 1844 - The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers commences business at its cooperative in Rochdale, England, History of the [cooperative movement|starting the Cooperative movement].
- 1861 - Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.
- 1872 - Challenger expedition:, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth, England.
- 1879 - the fictional character of Nora Helmer is first portrayed by Betty Hennings at a showing of A Doll's House at the Royal Danish Theatre.
- 1883 - The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, the first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army, are formed.
1901–present
- 1907 - The Chilean Army commits a massacre of at least 2,000 striking saltpeter miners in Iquique, Chile.
- 1910 - An underground explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, England, kills 344 miners.
- 1919 - American anarchist Emma Goldman is deported to Russia.
- 1923 - United Kingdom and Nepal formally sign an agreement of friendship, called the Nepal–Britain Treaty of 1923, which superseded the Treaty of Sugauli signed in 1816.
- 1934 - Lieutenant Kijé, one of Sergei Prokofiev's best-known works, premiered.
- 1941 - World War II: A Thai-Japanese Pact of Alliance is signed.
- 1946 - An 8.1 Mw earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Nankaidō, Japan, kills over 1,300 people and destroys over 38,000 homes.
- 1963 - "Bloody Christmas" begins in Cyprus, ultimately resulting in the displacement of 25,000–30,000 Turkish Cypriots and destruction of more than 100 villages.
- 1965 - International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is adopted.
- 1967 - Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a human-to-human heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, having lived for 18 days after the transplant.
- 1968 - Apollo program: Apollo 8 is launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.
- 1973 - The Geneva Conference on the Arab–Israeli conflict opens.
- 1979 - Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara.
- 1988 - A bomb explodes on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270. This is to date the deadliest air disaster to occur on British soil.
- 1991 - Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The leaders of 11 now effectively autonomous Soviet republics sign the Alma-Ata Protocol establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States in place of the collapsing Soviet Union.
- 1992 - A Dutch DC-10, flight Martinair MP 495, crashes at Faro Airport, Portugal, killing 56.
- 1995 - The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.
- 1999 - The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid, Spain.
- 1999 - Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216 overshoots the runway at La Aurora International Airport, killing 18.
- 2004 - Iraq War: A suicide bomber 2004 [Forward Operating Base Marez bombing|kills 22] at the forward operating base next to the main U.S. military airfield at Mosul, Iraq, the single deadliest suicide attack on American soldiers in Iraq.
- 2012 - 2012 phenomenon: Festivities are held in parts of Mesoamerica to commemorate the conclusion of b'ak'tun 13, a roughly 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar whose passing many New Age spiritualists had earlier held to portend a variety of cataclysmic or transformative events.
- 2020 - A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623.
- 2023 - Fourteen people are killed and 25 others injured during 2023 [Prague shooting|a mass shooting] at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.
Births
Pre-1600
- 968 - Minamoto no Yorinobu, Japanese samurai
- 1401 - Masaccio, Italian painter
- 1468 - William Conyers, 1st Baron Conyers, English baron
- 1505 - Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, English politician
- 1538 - Luigi d'Este, Catholic cardinal
- 1542 - Thomas Allen, English mathematician and astrologer
- 1550 - Man Singh I, Mughal noble
- 1596 - Peter Mohyla, Ruthenian Orthodox metropolitan and saint
1601–1900
- 1603 - Roger Williams, English minister, theologian, and politician, 9th President of the Colony of Rhode Island
- 1615 - Benedict Arnold, Rhode Island colonial governor
- 1672 - Benjamin Schmolck, German pastor and composer
- 1714 - John Bradstreet, Canadian-English general
- 1728 - Hermann Raupach, German harpsichord player and composer
- 1778 - Anders Sandøe Ørsted, Danish jurist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Denmark
- 1795 - Jack Russell, English priest, hunter, and dog breeder
- 1795 - Leopold von Ranke, German historian, author, and academic
- 1803 - Achille Vianelli, Italian painter and academic
- 1804 - Benjamin Disraeli, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1805 - Thomas Graham, Scottish chemist and academic
- 1811 - Archibald Tait, Scottish-English archbishop
- 1815 - Thomas Couture, French painter and educator
- 1820 - William H. Osborn, American businessman
- 1830 - Bartolomé Masó, Cuban soldier and politician
- 1832 - John H. Ketcham, American general and politician
- 1840 - Ernest de Munck, Belgian cellist and composer
- 1840 - Namık Kemal, Turkish journalist, playwright, and activist
- 1843 - Thomas Bracken, Irish-New Zealander journalist, poet, and politician
- 1850 - Zdeněk Fibich, Czech composer and poet
- 1851 - Thomas Chipman McRae, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Arkansas
- 1857 - Joseph Carruthers, Australian politician, 16th Premier of New South Wales
- 1859 - Gustave Kahn, French poet and critic
- 1866 - Maud Gonne, Irish nationalist and political activist
- 1868 - George W. Fuller, American chemist and engineer
- 1872 - Trevor Kincaid, Canadian-American zoologist and academic
- 1872 - Lorenzo Perosi, Italian priest and composer
- 1872 - Albert Payson Terhune, American journalist and author
- 1876 - Jack Lang, Australian lawyer and politician, 23rd Premier of New South Wales
- 1877 - Jaan Sarv, Estonian mathematician and scholar
- 1878 - Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish-Irish mathematician and philosopher
- 1884 - María Cadilla, Puerto Rican writer, educator, women's rights activist
- 1885 - Frank Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1888 - Jean Bouin, French runner and rugby player
- 1889 - Sewall Wright, American geneticist and biologist
- 1890 - Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1891 - John William McCormack, American lawyer and politician, 53rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
- 1892 - Walter Hagen, American golfer
- 1892 - Rebecca West, English journalist and author
- 1896 - Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union during World War II
- 1900 - Luis Arturo González López, Guatemalan supreme court judge and briefly acting president
1901–present
- 1905 - Käte Fenchel, German mathematician
- 1905 - Anthony Powell, English author
- 1909 - Seichō Matsumoto, Japanese journalist and author
- 1911 - Josh Gibson, American baseball player
- 1913 - Arnold Friberg, American illustrator and painter
- 1914 - Frank Fenner, Australian microbiologist and virologist
- 1917 - Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1918 - Donald Regan, American colonel and politician, 11th White House Chief of Staff
- 1918 - Kurt Waldheim, Austrian colonel and politician; 9th President of Austria
- 1919 - Doug Young, American voice actor
- 1920 - Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina and choreographer, founded the Cuban National Ballet
- 1920 - Adele Goldstine, American computer programmer
- 1920 - Iris Cummings, American swimmer and aviator
- 1922 - Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician
- 1922 - Cécile DeWitt-Morette, French mathematician and physicist
- 1922 - Paul Winchell, American actor, voice artist, and ventriloquist
- 1923 - Wat Misaka, American basketball player
- 1926 - Arnošt Lustig, Czech author and playwright
- 1926 - Joe Paterno, American football player and coach
- 1930 - Phil Roman, American animator
- 1932 - U. R. Ananthamurthy, Indian author, poet, and critic
- 1932 - Edward Hoagland, American author and critic
- 1933 - Jackie Hendriks, Jamaican cricketer
- 1933 - Robert Worcester, American businessman and academic, founded MORI
- 1934 - Giuseppina Leone, Italian sprinter
- 1934 - Hanif Mohammad, Pakistani cricketer
- 1935 - John G. Avildsen, American director, producer, and cinematographer
- 1935 - Lorenzo Bandini, Italian racing driver
- 1935 - Phil Donahue, American talk show host and producer
- 1935 - Stela Popescu, Romanian actress
- 1935 - Edward Schreyer, Canadian academic and politician, Governor General of Canada
- 1935 - Janet Metcalf, American politician
- 1937 - Jane Fonda, American actress and activist
- 1938 - Larry Bryggman, American actor
- 1939 - Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian academic and politician, 2nd Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1939 - Wafic Saïd, Syrian-Saudi Arabian financier, businessman and philanthropist
- 1940 - Frank Zappa, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer and producer
- 1942 - Hu Jintao, Chinese engineer and politician, 5th Paramount leader of China
- 1942 - Carla Thomas, American singer
- 1943 - Albert Lee, English guitarist and songwriter
- 1943 - Walter Spanghero, French rugby player
- 1944 - Michael Tilson Thomas, American pianist, composer, and conductor
- 1944 - Zheng Xiaoyu, Chinese diplomat
- 1945 - Doug Walters, Australian cricketer
- 1946 - Roy Karch, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1946 - Carl Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 - Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1948 - Barry Gordon, American actor and voice artist; longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild
- 1948 - Samuel L. Jackson, American actor and producer
- 1948 - Dave Kingman, American baseball player
- 1949 - Thomas Sankara, Burkinabé captain and politician, 5th President of Burkina Faso
- 1949 - Nikolaos Sifounakis, Greek lawyer and politician
- 1950 - Jeffrey Katzenberg, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded DreamWorks Animation
- 1950 - Max Maven, American magician and mentalist
- 1950 - Lillebjørn Nilsen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 - Steve Perryman, English footballer and manager
- 1952 - Joaquín Andújar, Dominican baseball player
- 1952 - Dennis Boutsikaris, American actor
- 1952 - Steve Furniss, American swimmer
- 1953 - András Schiff, Hungarian-English pianist and conductor
- 1953 - Betty Wright, American singer-songwriter
- 1954 - Chris Evert, American tennis player and coach
- 1955 - Jane Kaczmarek, American actress
- 1955 - Kazuyuki Sekiguchi, Japanese singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1956 - Dave Laut, American shot putter
- 1957 - Ray Romano, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1957 - Tony Lewis, English singer and songwriter
- 1958 - Tamara Bykova, Russian high jumper
- 1959 - Florence Griffith Joyner, American sprinter and actress
- 1959 - Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Indian cricketer
- 1960 - Sherry Rehman, Pakistani journalist, politician, and diplomat, 25th Pakistan Ambassador to the United States
- 1961 - Ryuji Sasai, Japanese bass player and composer
- 1963 - Govinda, Indian actor, singer, and politician
- 1964 - Kunihiko Ikuhara, Japanese director and illustrator
- 1964 - Joe Kocur, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1965 - Glenn Coleman, Australian rugby league player
- 1965 - Andy Dick, American actor and comedian
- 1965 - Anke Engelke, Canadian-German actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1966 - Michelle Hurd, American actress
- 1966 - William Ruto, 5th List of [heads of state of Kenya|President of Kenya]
- 1966 - Kiefer Sutherland, British-Canadian actor, director, and producer
- 1967 - Terry Mills, American basketball player and coach
- 1967 - Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Georgia
- 1969 - Julie Delpy, French model, actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1969 - Mihails Zemļinskis, Latvian footballer, coach, and manager
- 1971 - Matthieu Chedid, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1971 - Natalie Grant, American singer-songwriter and author
- 1972 - Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, Indian politician, 17th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
- 1973 - Irakli Alasania, Georgian colonel and politician, Georgian Minister of Defense
- 1973 - Matías Almeyda, Argentine footballer and manager
- 1974 - Karrie Webb, Australian golfer
- 1975 - Paloma Herrera, Argentine ballerina
- 1977 - Buddy Carlyle, American baseball player
- 1977 - Corey Collymore, Barbadian cricketer
- 1977 - Leon MacDonald, New Zealand rugby player
- 1977 - Emmanuel Macron, French politician, 25th President of France
- 1977 - Freddy Sanchez, American baseball player
- 1978 - Emiliano Brembilla, Italian swimmer
- 1978 - Charles Dera, American pornographic actor, dancer, model, and mixed martial arts fighter
- 1978 - Shaun Morgan, South African musician, singer, and guitarist
- 1978 - Rutina Wesley, American actress
- 1979 - Steve Montador, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 - Marta Fernández, Spanish basketball player
- 1981 - Cristian Zaccardo, Italian footballer
- 1982 - Primo Colón, Puerto Rican wrestler
- 1982 - Philip Humber, American baseball player
- 1982 - Tom Payne, English actor
- 1983 - Taylor Teagarden, American baseball player
- 1983 - Steven Yeun, American actor
- 1985 - Tom Sturridge, English actor
- 1987 - Khris Davis, American baseball player
- 1988 - Danny Duffy, American baseball player
- 1988 - Perri Shakes-Drayton, English sprinter and hurdler
- 1989 - Mark Ingram II, American football player
- 1989 - Tamannaah, Indian actress
- 1991 - Nic Maddinson, Australian cricketer
- 1991 - Otis, American wrestler
- 1991 - Riccardo Saponara, Italian footballer
- 1992 - Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, American football player
- 1992 - Jamie Oleksiak, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1994 - Luke Brooks, Australian rugby league player
- 1996 - Ben Chilwell, English footballer
- 1996 - Kaitlyn Dever, American actress
- 1997 - Madelyn Cline, American actress and model
- 1997 - Charlie McAvoy, American ice hockey player
- 2002 - Clara Tauson, Danish tennis player
- 2006 - Cooper Flagg, American basketball player
Deaths
Pre-1600
- AD 72 - Thomas the Apostle, Roman martyr and saint
- 882 - Hincmar, French archbishop and historian
- 956 - Sun Sheng, Chinese chancellor
- 975 - Al-Mu'izz, Fatimid caliph
- 1001 - Hugh of Tuscany, Italian margrave
- 1215 - Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Walid, Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq of Tayyibi Isma'ilism
- 1308 - Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse
- 1338 - Thomas Hemenhale, bishop of Worcester
- 1362 - Constantine III, king of Armenia
- 1375 - Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian author and poet
- 1504 - Berthold von Henneberg, German archbishop
- 1536 - John Seymour, English courtier
- 1549 - Marguerite de Navarre, queen of Henry II of Navarre
- 1581 - Jean de la Cassière, 51st Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller
- 1597 - Peter Canisius, Dutch priest and saint
1601–1900
1901–present
- 1920 - Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, leader of the Dervish movement
- 1929 - I. L. Patterson, American politician, 18th Governor of Oregon
- 1933 - Knud Rasmussen, Greenlandic anthropologist and explorer
- 1935 - Ted Birnie, English footballer and manager
- 1935 - Kurt Tucholsky, German-Swedish journalist and author
- 1937 - Violette Neatley Anderson, American judge
- 1937 - Ted Healy, American comedian and actor
- 1937 - Frank B. Kellogg, American lawyer and politician, 45th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1940 - F. Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist and short story writer
- 1945 - George S. Patton, American general
- 1948 - Władysław Witwicki, Polish psychologist, philosopher, translator, historian and artist
- 1952 - Kenneth Edwards, American golfer
- 1953 - Kaarlo Koskelo, Finnish-American wrestler and businessman
- 1957 - Eric Coates, English viola player and composer
- 1958 - H.B. Warner, English actor
- 1958 - Lion Feuchtwanger, German-American author and playwright
- 1959 - Rosanjin, Japanese calligrapher, engraver, and painter
- 1963 - Jack Hobbs, English cricketer and journalist
- 1964 - Carl Van Vechten, American author and photographer
- 1965 - Claude Champagne, Canadian violinist, pianist, and composer
- 1968 - Vittorio Pozzo, Italian footballer, coach, and manager
- 1971 – Ásta Sigurðardóttir, Icelandic writer and visual artist
- 1974 - Richard Long, American actor and director
- 1982 - Abu Al-Asar Hafeez Jullundhri, Pakistani poet and composer
- 1983 - Paul de Man, Belgian-born philosopher, literary critic and theorist
- 1988 - Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1992 - Stella Adler, American actress and educator
- 1992 - Albert King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1992 - Nathan Milstein, Russian-American violinist and composer
- 1998 - Ernst-Günther Schenck, German colonel and physician
- 2004 - Autar Singh Paintal, Indian physiologist and neurologist
- 2006 - Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan
- 2009 - Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 2009 - Christos Lambrakis, Greek journalist and businessman
- 2010 - Enzo Bearzot, Italian footballer and manager
- 2013 - Edgar Bronfman Sr., Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist
- 2013 - John Eisenhower, American historian, general, and diplomat, 45th United States Ambassador to Belgium
- 2014 - Udo Jürgens, Austrian-Swiss singer-songwriter and pianist
- 2014 - Sitor Situmorang, Indonesian poet and author
- 2014 - Billie Whitelaw, English actress
- 2017 - Bruce McCandless II, US astronaut who conducted the first untethered spacewalk
- 2019 - Andrew Clennel Palmer, British engineer
- 2024 - Michelle Botes, South African actress
- 2024 - Art Evans, American actor
Holidays and observances