December 19

December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 12 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 211 – Publius Septimius Geta, co-emperor of Rome, is lured to come without his bodyguards to meet his brother Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla), to discuss a possible reconciliation. When he arrives, the Praetorian Guard murders him and he dies in the arms of his mother, Julia Domna.
• 1154 – Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.
• 1490 – Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy.
• 1562 – The Battle of Dreux takes place during the French Wars of Religion.
• 1606 – The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery depart England carrying settlers who found, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
• 1675 – The Great Swamp Fight, a pivotal battle in King Philip's War, gives the English settlers a bitterly won victory.
• 1776 – Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled "The American Crisis".
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
• 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Two British frigates under Commodore Horatio Nelson and two Spanish frigates under Commodore Don Jacobo Stuart engage in battle off the coast of Murcia.
• 1828 – Nullification Crisis: Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun pens the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828.
• 1900 – Hopetoun Blunder: The first Governor-General of Australia John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, appoints Sir William Lyne premier of the new state of New South Wales, but he is unable to persuade other colonial politicians to join his government and is forced to resign.
• 1907 – Two hundred thirty-nine coal miners die in a mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.
• 1912 – William Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over 1,000 people, is pardoned by U.S. President William Howard Taft after three-and-a-half-years in Sing Sing prison.
• 1916 – World War I: Battle of Verdun: On the Western Front, the French Army successfully holds off the German Army and drives it back to its starting position.
• 1920 – King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander of Greece and a plebiscite.
• 1924 – The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.
• 1927 – Three Indian revolutionaries, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan are executed by the British Empire.
• 1932 – BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service.
• 1941 – World War II: Adolf Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-chief of the German Army.
• 1941 – World War II: Limpet mines placed by Italian divers heavily damage the HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth in Alexandria harbour.
• 1946 – Start of the First Indochina War.
• 1956 – Irish-born physician John Bodkin Adams is arrested in connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 patients. Eventually he is convicted only of minor charges.
• 1961 – India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India.
• 1964 – The South Vietnamese military junta of Nguyễn Khánh dissolve the High National Council and arrest some of the members.
• 1967 – Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia, is officially presumed dead.
• 1972 – Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
• 1974 – Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford under the provisions of the twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• 1975 – John Paul Stevens is appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
• 1981 – Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
• 1983 – The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• 1984 – The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997 is signed in Beijing, China by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.
• 1986 – Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from exile in Gorky.
• 1995 – The United States Government restores federal recognition to the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Native American tribe.
• 1997 – SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.
• 1998 – President Bill Clinton is impeached by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the second President of the United States to be impeached.
• 2000 – The Leninist Guerrilla Units wing of the Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist attack a Nationalist Movement Party office in Istanbul, Turkey, killing one person and injuring three.
• 2001 – A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl, Mongolia.
• 2001 – Argentine economic crisis: December 2001 riots – Riots erupt in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 2012 – Park Geun-hye is elected the first female president of South Korea.

Births

• 1554 – Philip William, Prince of Orange (d. 1618)
• 1587 – Dorothea Sophia, Abbess of Quedlinburg (d. 1645)
• 1683 – Philip V of Spain (d. 1746)
• 1699 – William Bowyer, English printer (d. 1777)
• 1714 – John Winthrop, American astronomer and educator (d. 1779)
• 1778 – Marie Thérèse of France (d. 1851)
• 1779 – Albine de Montholon, French mistress of Napoleon (d. 1848)
• 1796 – Manuel Bretón de los Herreros, Spanish poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1873)
• 1817 – James J. Archer, American lawyer and general (d. 1864)
• 1820 – Mary Livermore, American journalist and activist (d. 1905)
• 1825 – George Frederick Bristow, American violinist and composer (d. 1898)
• 1831 – Bernice Pauahi Bishop, American philanthropist (d. 1884)
• 1849 – Henry Clay Frick, American businessman (d. 1919)
• 1852 – Albert Abraham Michelson, Prussian-American physicist, chemist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)
• 1853 – Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec (d. 1942)
• 1861 – Italo Svevo, Italian author and playwright (d. 1928)
• 1863 – Wallace Bryant, American archer (d. 1953)
• 1865 – Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress and playwright (d. 1932)
• 1873 – Alphonse Kirchhoffer, French fencer (d. 1913)
• 1875 – Carter G. Woodson, American historian and author, founded Black History Month (d. 1950)
• 1876 – Bernard Friedberg, Austrian-Israeli scholar and author (d. 1961)
• 1881 – John Fraser, Canadian soccer player (d. 1959)
• 1888 – Fritz Reiner, Hungarian-American conductor (d. 1963)
• 1891 – Juhan Kallaste, Estonian cleric and actor (d. 1999)
• 1891 – Edward Bernard Raczyński, Polish politician, 4th President-in-exile of Poland (d. 1993)
• 1894 – Ford Frick, American journalist and businessman (d. 1978)
• 1895 – Ingeborg Refling Hagen, Norwegian author and educator (d. 1989)
• 1899 – Martin Luther King, Sr., American pastor, missionary, and activist (d. 1984)
• 1901 – Rudolf Hell, German engineer, invented the Hellschreiber (d. 2002)
• 1901 – Oliver La Farge, American anthropologist and author (d. 1963)
• 1901 – Fritz Mauruschat, German footballer and manager (d. 1974)
• 1902 – Ralph Richardson, English actor (d. 1983)
• 1903 – George Davis Snell, American geneticist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
• 1905 – Irving Kahn, American businessman (d. 2015)
• 1905 – Giovanni Lurani, Italian race car driver, engineer, and journalist (d. 1995)
• 1906 – Leonid Brezhnev, Ukrainian-Russian marshal, engineer, and politician, 4th Head of State of the Soviet Union (d. 1982)
• 1907 – Jimmy McLarnin, Irish-American boxer, actor, and golfer (d. 2004)
• 1909 – W. A. Criswell, American pastor and author (d. 2002)
• 1910 – Jean Genet, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1986)
• 1914 – Mel Shaw, American animator and screenwriter (d. 2012)
• 1915 – Édith Piaf, French singer-songwriter and actress (d. 1963)
• 1915 – Claudia Testoni, Italian hurdler, sprinter, and long jumper (d. 1998)
• 1916 – Roy Ward Baker, English director and producer (d. 2010)
• 1916 – Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, German political scientist, journalist, and academic (d. 2010)
• 1918 – Professor Longhair, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1980)
• 1920 – Little Jimmy Dickens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
• 1920 – David Susskind, American talk show host and producer (d. 1987)
• 1922 – Eamonn Andrews, Irish radio and television host (d. 1987)
• 1923 – Robert V. Bruce, American historian and author (d. 2008)
• 1923 – Armando Filiput, Italian hurdler (d. 1982)
• 1923 – Gordon Jackson, Scottish actor (d. 1990)
• 1924 – Carlo Chiti, Italian engineer (d. 1994)
• 1924 – Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1989)
• 1924 – Gary Morton, American comedian, actor, and producer (d. 1999)
• 1924 – Edmund Purdom, English-Italian actor (d. 2009)
• 1925 – Tankred Dorst, German playwright and author
• 1925 – William Schutz, American psychologist and academic (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter and screenwriter (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Bobby Layne, American football player and coach (d. 1986)
• 1926 – Herb Stempel, American game show contestant
• 1927 – James Booth, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2005)
• 1928 – Eve Bunting, Irish-American author and academic
• 1928 – Nathan Oliveira, American painter and sculptor (d. 2010)
• 1929 – Bob Brookmeyer, American trombonist, pianist, and composer (The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra) (d. 2011)
• 1929 – David Douglas, 12th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish ceramic designer
• 1929 – Gregory Carroll, American singer-songwriter and producer (The Orioles and The Four Buddies) (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Howard Sackler, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 1982)
• 1930 – Wally Olins, English businessman and academic (d. 2014)
• 1932 – Salvador Elizondo, Mexican author, poet, playwright, and critic (d. 2006)
• 1933 – Kevan Gosper, Australian runner and politician
• 1933 – Christopher Smout, Scottish historian and academic
• 1934 – Rudi Carrell, Dutch actor and singer (d. 2006)
• 1934 – Al Kaline, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1934 – Pratibha Patil, Indian lawyer and politician, 12th President of India
• 1934 – Casper R. Taylor, Jr., American politician
• 1935 – Barbara Bostock, American actress
• 1935 – Bobby Timmons, American pianist and composer (d. 1974)
• 1935 – Joanne Weaver, American baseball player (d. 2000)
• 1936 – Marian McKnight, American model, Miss America 1957
• 1940 – Phil Ochs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1976)
• 1941 – Lee Myung-bak, South Korean politician, 10th President of South Korea
• 1941 – Maurice White, American singer-songwriter and producer (Earth, Wind & Fire)
• 1942 – Rufus, French actor
• 1942 – Cornell Dupree, American guitarist (d. 2011)
• 1942 – Dennis E. Fitch, American pilot (d. 2012)
• 1943 – Ross M. Lence, American political scientist and academic (d. 2006)
• 1943 – James L. Jones, American general and politician, 22nd United States National Security Advisor
• 1943 – Sam Kelly, English actor (d. 2014)
• 1944 – William Christie, American-French harpsichord player and conductor (Les Arts Florissants)
• 1944 – Mitchell Feigenbaum, American physicist and mathematician
• 1944 – Martin Hume Johnson, English physiologist and academic
• 1944 – Richard Leakey, Kenyan paleontologist and politician
• 1944 – Alvin Lee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Ten Years After) (d. 2013)
• 1944 – Tim Reid, American actor and director
• 1944 – Zal Yanovsky, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Lovin' Spoonful) (d. 2002)
• 1945 – Elaine Joyce, American actress
• 1945 – John McEuen, American guitarist (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
• 1946 – Rosemary Conley, English businesswoman, author, and broadcaster
• 1946 – Robert Urich, American actor and producer (d. 2002)
• 1947 – Jimmy Bain, Scottish bass player and songwriter (Rainbow and Wild Horses)
• 1947 – Charlie Van Dyke, American actor and radio host
• 1948 – Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
• 1949 – Orna Berry, Israeli scientist and businesswoman
• 1949 – Sebastian, Danish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1949 – Nancy Kyes, American actress
• 1950 – Eleanor J. Hill, American lawyer and diplomat
• 1951 – Mohammad Reza Aref, Iranian engineer and politician, 2nd Vice President of Iran
• 1951 – Alan Rouse, English mountaineer and author (d. 1986)
• 1952 – Walter Murphy, American pianist and composer
• 1954 – Jeff Allam, English race car driver
• 1954 – Tim Parks, English author and translator
• 1955 – Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (d. 2012)
• 1955 – Rob Portman, American lawyer and politician
• 1956 – Tom Lawless, American baseball player and manager
• 1956 – Shane McEntee, Irish farmer and politician, Minister of State for Food, Horticulture and Food Safety (d. 2012)
• 1957 – Cyril Collard, French actor, director, and composer (d. 1993)
• 1957 – John Gulager, American actor, director, and cinematographer
• 1957 – Kevin McHale, American basketball player, coach, and manager
• 1958 – Limahl, English singer and keyboard player (Kajagoogoo and Brooks)
• 1958 – Steven Isserlis, English cellist and author
• 1959 – Iván Vallejo, Ecuadorian mountaineer
• 1960 – Derrick Jensen, American author and activist
• 1960 – Mike Lookinland, American actor and singer
• 1960 – Michelangelo Signorile, American journalist and author
• 1961 – Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1961 – Matthew Waterhouse, English actor and author
• 1961 – Reggie White, American football player and wrestler (d. 2004)
• 1962 – Gary Fleder, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1962 – Jill Talley, American actress
• 1963 – Jennifer Beals, American model, actress, and singer
• 1963 – Til Schweiger, German actor, director, and producer
• 1964 – Béatrice Dalle, French actress
• 1964 – Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1965 – Chito Martínez, Belizean-American baseball player
• 1965 – Jessica Steen, Canadian actress
• 1966 – Chuckii Booker, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1966 – Rajesh Chauhan, Indian cricketer
• 1966 – Robert MacNaughton, American actor
• 1966 – Alberto Tomba, Italian skier
• 1966 – Eric Weinrich, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1967 – Criss Angel, American magician and singer (Angel and Angeldust)
• 1967 – Charles Austin, American high jumper
• 1967 – Frankie Lam, Hong Kong actor
• 1968 – Ken Marino, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1969 – Michael Bates, American sprinter and football player
• 1969 – Tom Gugliotta, American basketball player
• 1969 – Richard Hammond, English journalist and producer
• 1969 – Nayan Mongia, Indian cricketer
• 1969 – Kristy Swanson, American actress
• 1970 – Iman Ali, Pakistani model and actress
• 1970 – Tyson Beckford, American model and actor
• 1971 – Amy Locane, American actress
• 1971 – Karen Pickering, English swimmer
• 1972 – Rosa Blasi, American actress
• 1972 – Alyssa Milano, American actress and singer
• 1972 – Warren Sapp, American football player and sportscaster
• 1973 – Michalis Grigoriou, Greek footballer and coach
• 1973 – Takashi Sorimachi, Japanese actor and singer
• 1973 – Erick Wainaina, Kenyan runner
• 1973 – Zulfiya Zabirova, Russian cyclist
• 1974 – Eduard Ivakdalam, Indonesian footballer
• 1974 – Joe Jurevicius, American football player
• 1974 – Felipe Lopez, Dominican-American basketball player
• 1974 – Mikko Paananen, Finnish bass player (HIM)
• 1974 – Jake Plummer, American football player and sportscaster
• 1974 – Ricky Ponting, Australian cricketer
• 1975 – Makis Belevonis, Greek footballer
• 1975 – Russell Branyan, American baseball player
• 1975 – Brandon Sanderson, American author and academic
• 1975 – Jon Smith, English journalist and author
• 1975 – Olivier Tébily, Ivorian-French footballer
• 1977 – Jorge Garbajosa, Spanish basketball player
• 1977 – LaTasha Jenkins, American sprinter
• 1978 – Patrick Casey, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1979 – Kevin Devine, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Bad Books)
• 1979 – Paola Rey, Colombian model and actress
• 1979 – Rafael Soriano, Dominican baseball player
• 1980 – Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor and producer
• 1980 – Chris Haslam, Canadian skateboarder
• 1980 – Marla Sokoloff, American actress and singer
• 1981 – Grégory Dufer, Belgian footballer
• 1981 – Eriko Sato, Japanese actress
• 1982 – Tero Pitkämäki, Finnish javelin thrower
• 1982 – Mo Williams, American basketball player
• 1983 – Nektarios Alexandrou, Cypriot footballer
• 1983 – Casey Crescenzo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Dear Hunter and The Receiving End of Sirens)
• 1983 – AJ Lamas, American model and actor
• 1983 – Bridget Phillipson, English politician
• 1983 – Laura Pomeroy, Canadian swimmer
• 1983 – Matt Stajan, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1984 – Ian Kennedy, American baseball player
• 1985 – Gary Cahill, English footballer
• 1985 – Neil Kilkenny, English-Australian footballer
• 1985 – Sally Kipyego, Kenyan runner
• 1985 – Dan Logan, English bass player (The Kooks, Cat the Dog, and The Ordinary Boys)
• 1985 – Lady Sovereign, English rapper
• 1986 – Ryan Babel, Dutch footballer
• 1986 – Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1986 – Zuzana Hejnová, Czech hurdler
• 1986 – Miguel Lopes, Portuguese footballer
• 1986 – Calvin Andrew, English footballer
• 1987 – Cédric Baseya, French-Congolese footballer
• 1987 – Karim Benzema, French footballer
• 1987 – Slater Young, Filipino-Chinese actor and host
• 1988 – Paulina Gretzky, American singer and actress
• 1988 – Alexis Sánchez, Chilean footballer
• 1988 – Peter Winn, English footballer
• 1989 – Valdimar Bergstað, Icelandic horse rider
• 1989 – Yong Jun-hyung, South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper and producer (Beast and Xing)
• 1989 – Michał Masłowski, Polish footballer
• 1989 – Hamza Riazuddin, English cricketer
• 1990 – Greg Bretz, American snowboarder
• 1990 – Sally Fitzgibbons, Australian surfer
• 1991 – Jorge Blanco, Mexican-Argentinian actor and singer
• 1991 – Declan Galbraith, English singer-songwriter
• 1991 – Sumire Uesaka, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1992 – Iker Muniain, Spanish footballer
• 1992 – Raphael Spiegel, Swiss footballer
• 1993 – Isiah Koech, Kenyan runner
• 1994 – M'Baye Niang, French footballer

Deaths

• 211 – Publius Septimius Geta, Roman emperor (b. 189)
• 1111 – Al-Ghazali, Iranian jurist, philosopher, and mystic (b. 1058)
• 1123 – Saint Berardo, Italian bishop
• 1327 – Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundy (b. 1260)
• 1370 – Pope Urban V (b. 1310)
• 1737 – James Louis Sobieski, Polish son of John III Sobieski (b. 1667)
• 1741 – Vitus Bering, Danish-Russian hydrographer and explorer (b. 1681)
• 1745 – Jean-Baptiste van Loo, French painter (b. 1684)
• 1749 – Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (b. 1672)
• 1751 – Louise of Great Britain (b. 1724)
• 1807 – Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, German-French author and playwright (b. 1723)
• 1813 – James McGill, Scottish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded McGill University (b. 1744)
• 1819 – Thomas Fremantle, English admiral and politician (b. 1765)
• 1848 – Emily Brontë, English author and poet (b. 1818)
• 1878 – Bayard Taylor, American author and poet (b. 1825)
• 1899 – Henry Ware Lawton, American general (b. 1843)
• 1915 – Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist and neuropathologist (b. 1864)
• 1916 – Thibaw Min, Burmese king (b. 1859)
• 1927 – Ashfaqulla Khan, Indian activist (b. 1900)
• 1927 – Ram Prasad Bismil, Indian poet and activist (b. 1897)
• 1927 – Roshan Singh, Indian activist (b. 1892)
• 1932 – Yun Bong-gil, South Korean activist (b. 1908)
• 1933 – George Jackson Churchward, English engineer (b. 1857)
• 1938 – Stephen Warfield Gambrill, American lawyer and politician (b. 1873)
• 1939 – Hans Langsdorff, German captain (b. 1894)
• 1944 – Abbas II of Egypt (b. 1874)
• 1944 – Rudolph Karstadt, German businessman (b. 1856)
• 1946 – Paul Langevin, French physicist and academic (b. 1872)
• 1953 – Robert Andrews Millikan, American physicist and eugenicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
• 1962 – Warren Brittingham, American soccer player (b. 1886)
• 1968 – Norman Thomas, American minister and politician (b. 1884)
• 1970 – Mihkel Müller, Estonian-Finnish wrestler (b. 1887)
• 1972 – Ahmet Emin Yalman, Turkish journalist, author, and academic (b. 1888)
• 1982 – Dwight Macdonald, American philosopher, author, and critic (b. 1906)
• 1984 – Joy Ridderhof, American missionary (b. 1903)
• 1986 – V. C. Andrews, American author (b. 1923)
• 1986 – Werner Dankwort, Russian-German colonel and diplomat (b. 1895)
• 1987 – August Mälk, Estonian author, playwright, and politician (b. 1900)
• 1988 – Robert Bernstein, American author and playwright (b. 1919)
• 1989 – Preben Mahrt, Danish actor (b. 1920)
• 1989 – Stella Gibbons, English journalist, author, and poet (b. 1902)
• 1991 – Joe Cole, American roadie and author (b. 1961)
• 1993 – Michael Clarke, American drummer (The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Firefall) (b. 1946)
• 1996 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian-French actor and singer (b. 1924)
• 1997 – Masaru Ibuka, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (b. 1908)
• 1997 – Jimmy Rogers, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1924)
• 1998 – Mel Fisher, American treasure hunter (b. 1922)
• 1998 – Antonio Ordóñez, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1932)
• 1999 – Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh-English actor (b. 1914)
• 2000 – Rob Buck, American guitarist and songwriter (10,000 Maniacs) (b. 1958)
• 2000 – Milt Hinton, American bassist and photographer (b. 1910)
• 2000 – David Dewayne Johnson, American murderer (b. 1963)
• 2000 – John Lindsay, American lawyer and politician, 103rd Mayor of New York City (b. 1921)
• 2000 – Pops Staples, American singer and guitarist (The Staple Singers) (b. 1915)
• 2001 – Arkie Whiteley, Australian actress (b. 1964)
• 2002 – Will Hoy, English race car driver (b. 1952)
• 2002 – Arthur Rowley, English footballer and manager (b. 1926)
• 2002 – George Weller, American author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1907)
• 2003 – Peter Carter-Ruck, English lawyer, founded Carter-Ruck (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Hope Lange, American actress (b. 1933)
• 2003 – Les Tremayne, English-American actor (b. 1913)
• 2004 – Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
• 2004 – Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano (b. 1922)
• 2005 – Vincent Gigante, American mobster (b. 1927)
• 2008 – James Bevel, American minister and activist (b. 1936)
• 2008 – Carol Chomsky, American linguist and educator (b. 1930)
• 2008 – Michael Connell, American political consultant (b. 1963)
• 2008 – Kenny Cox, American pianist (b. 1940)
• 2008 – Dock Ellis, American baseball player and coach (b. 1945)
• 2009 – Giridharilal Kedia, Indian businessman (b. 1936)
• 2009 – Hussein-Ali Montazeri, Iranian theologian, scholar, and activist (b. 1922)
• 2009 – Zeki Ökten, Turkish director and producer (b. 1941)
• 2009 – Kim Peek, American megasavant (b. 1951)
• 2010 – Anthony Howard, English journalist and author (b. 1934)
• 2010 – Trudy Pitts, American singer and pianist (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Inez Andrews, American singer-songwriter (The Caravans) (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Robert Bork, American lawyer, judge, and scholar, United States Attorney General (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Paul Crauchet, French actor (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Georges Jobé, Belgian motocross rider (b. 1961)
• 2012 – Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli general and politician, 22nd Transportation Minister of Israel (b. 1944)
• 2012 – Larry Morris, American football player (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Peter Struck, German lawyer and politician, 13th German Federal Minister of Defence (b. 1943)
• 2013 – Winton Dean, English musicologist and author (b. 1916)
• 2013 – Herb Geller, American-German saxophonist and composer (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Al Goldstein, American publisher and pornographer (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Nae Lăzărescu, Romanian actor (b. 1940)
• 2013 – Ned Vizzini, American author and screenwriter (b. 1981)
• 2014 – S. Balasubramanian, Indian journalist and director (b. 1936)
• 2014 – Philip Bradbourn, English politician (b. 1951)
• 2014 – Arthur Gardner, American actor and producer (b. 1910)
• 2014 – Igor Rodionov, Russian general and politician, 3rd Russian Minister of Defence (b. 1936)
• 2014 – Dick Thornton, American-Canadian football player and coach (b. 1939)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Lillian Trasher (Episcopal Church)
  • O Radix
  • Pope Anastasius I
  • Pope Urban V
  • December 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Liberation day (Goa)
• United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation (International)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada