December 5

December 5 is the 339th day of the year (340th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 26 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Wednesday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Thursday or Friday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Tuesday or Sunday (56).

Events

• 63 BC – Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.
• 633 – Fourth Council of Toledo takes place.
• 1082 – Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated.
• 1408 – Emir Edigu of Golden Horde reaches Moscow.
• 1484 – Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany.
• 1492 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic).
• 1496 – King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree of expulsion of "heretics" from the country.
• 1560 – Charles IX becomes king of France.
• 1757 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Leuthen – Frederick II of Prussia leads Prussian forces to a decisive victory over Austrian forces under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine.
• 1766 – In London, James Christie holds his first sale.
• 1775 – At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• 1815 – Foundation of Maceió, Brazil.
• 1831 – Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.
• 1847 – Jefferson Davis is elected to the U.S. senate.
• 1848 – California Gold Rush: In a message to the United States Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.
• 1865 – Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.
• 1876 – The Brooklyn Theatre fire kills at least 278 people in Brooklyn, New York.
• 1916 – British premier H. H. Asquith resigns from his post.
• 1920 – Dimitrios Rallis forms a government in Greece.
• 1931 – Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow was destroyed by an order of Joseph Stalin.
• 1932 – German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.
• 1933 – Prohibition in the United States ends: Utah becomes the 36th U.S. state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus establishing the required 75% of states needed to enact the amendment. (This overturned the 18th Amendment which had made the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol illegal in the United States.)
• 1934 – Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.
• 1936 – The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.
• 1941 – World War II: In the Battle of Moscow, Georgy Zhukov launches a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army, with the biggest offensive launched against Army Group Centre.
• 1941 – World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.
• 1943 – World War II: Allied air forces begin attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow.
• 1945 – Flight 19 is lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
• 1952 – Great Smog: A cold fog descends upon London, combining with air pollution and killing at least 12,000 in the weeks and months that follow.
• 1955 – The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL–CIO.
• 1955 – E. D. Nixon and Rosa Parks lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• 1957 – Sukarno expels all Dutch people from Indonesia.
• 1958 – Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.
• 1958 – The Preston By-pass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. (It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.)
• 1964 – Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.
• 1964 – Lloyd J. Old discovered the first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease—mouse leukemia—opening the way for the recognition of the importance of the MHC in the immune response.
• 1969 – The four node ARPANET network is established.
• 1977 – Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen. The move is in retaliation for the Declaration of Tripoli against Egypt.
• 1978 – The Soviet Union signs a "friendship treaty" with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
• 1983 – Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.
• 1993 – The mayor of Vienna, Helmut Zilk, is injured by a letter bomb.
• 1995 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lankan government announces the conquest of the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.
• 2004 – The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.
• 2005 – The Lake Tanganyika earthquake causes significant damage, mostly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• 2006 – Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.
• 2007 – Westroads Mall shooting: A gunman opens fire with a semi-automatic rifle at an Omaha, Nebraska, mall, killing eight people before taking his own life.
• 2012 – At least 8 people are killed and 12 others injured after a 5.6 earthquake strikes Iran's South Khorasan Province.
• 2013 – Militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sana'a, Yemen, killing at least 56 people and injuring 200 others.
• 2014 – The first flight test of NASA's Orion spacecraft launches successfully.

Births

• 852 – Zhu Wen, Chinese emperor (d. 912)
• 1377 – Jianwen Emperor of China (d. 1402)
• 1443 – Pope Julius II (d. 1513)
• 1470 – Willibald Pirckheimer, German lawyer and author (d. 1530)
• 1479 – Ayşe Hafsa Sultan, Ottoman sultan (d. 1534)
• 1495 – Nicolas Cleynaerts, Flemish philologist and lexicographer (d. 1542)
• 1537 – Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shogun (d. 1597)
• 1539 – Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and author (d. 1604)
• 1547 – Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (d. 1625)
• 1595 – Henry Lawes, English composer (d. 1662)
• 1661 – Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (d. 1724)
• 1666 – Francesco Scarlatti, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1741)
• 1687 – Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1762)
• 1697 – Giuseppe de Majo, Italian organist and composer (d. 1771)
• 1782 – Martin Van Buren, American lawyer and politician, 8th President of the United States (d. 1862)
• 1784 – George Shepherd, English illustrator and painter (d. 1862)
• 1803 – Fyodor Tyutchev, Russian poet and diplomat (d. 1873)
• 1820 – Afanasy Fet, Russian poet and author (d. 1892)
• 1822 – Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American philosopher and academic, co-founded Radcliffe College (d. 1907)
• 1829 – Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, French-Canadian lawyer and politician, 4th Premier of Quebec (d. 1908)
• 1830 – Christina Rossetti, English poet and author (d. 1894)
• 1839 – George Armstrong Custer, American general (d. 1876)
• 1841 – Marcus Daly, Irish-American businessman (d. 1900)
• 1849 – Eduard Seler, German anthropologist, ethnohistorian, linguist, and academic (d. 1922)
• 1855 – Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist, and ethnographer (d. 1942)
• 1859 – John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, English admiral and politician, 2nd Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1935)
• 1861 – Konstantin Korovin, Russian-French painter and set designer (d. 1939)
• 1863 – Paul Painlevé, French mathematician and politician, 84th Prime Minister of France (d. 1933)
• 1866 – Traian Demetrescu, Romanian poet and author (d. 1896)
• 1867 – Antti Aarne, Finnish author and academic (d. 1925)
• 1867 – Józef Piłsudski, Polish field marshal and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Poland (d. 1935)
• 1868 – Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist and academic (d. 1951)
• 1869 – Ellis Parker Butler, American author and poet (d. 1937)
• 1870 – Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer and educator (d. 1949)
• 1871 – Bill Pickett, American rodeo performer (d. 1932)
• 1872 – Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American chess player (d. 1906)
• 1875 – Arthur Currie, Canadian general (d. 1933)
• 1879 – Clyde Vernon Cessna, American pilot and businessman, founded the Cessna Aircraft Corporation (d. 1954)
• 1881 – René Cresté, French actor and director (d. 1922)
• 1886 – Pieter Oud, Dutch historian, academic, and politician, Minister of Finance of the Netherlands (d. 1968)
• 1886 – Rose Wilder Lane, American journalist and author (d. 1968)
• 1890 – David Bomberg, English painter, illustrator, and academic (d. 1957)
• 1890 – Fritz Lang, Austrian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1976)
• 1891 – Paul Kogerman, Estonian chemist and academic (d. 1951)
• 1894 – Charles Robberts Swart, South African lawyer and politician, 1st State President of South Africa (d. 1982)
• 1895 – Elbert Frank Cox, American mathematician and academic (d. 1969)
• 1896 – Ann Nolan Clark, American historian, author, and educator (d. 1995)
• 1896 – Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
• 1897 – Nunnally Johnson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1977)
• 1897 – Gershom Scholem, German-Israeli philosopher and historian (d. 1982)
• 1898 – Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and translator (d. 1982)
• 1898 – Grace Moore, American soprano and actress (d. 1947)
• 1900 – Jimmy Dimmock, English footballer (d. 1972)
• 1901 – Walt Disney, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (d. 1966)
• 1901 – Milton H. Erickson, American psychiatrist and author (d. 1980)
• 1901 – Werner Heisenberg, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
• 1901 – Marjorie Eaton, American painter and actress (d. 1986)
• 1902 – Emeric Pressburger, Hungarian-English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Strom Thurmond, American educator, general, and politician, 103rd Governor of South Carolina (d. 2003)
• 1903 – Johannes Heesters, Dutch-German actor and singer (d. 2011)
• 1903 – C. F. Powell, English-Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
• 1905 – Gus Mancuso, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 1984)
• 1906 – Otto Preminger, Austrian-American actor, director, and producer (d. 1986)
• 1907 – Lin Biao, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 1971)
• 1907 – Giuseppe Occhialini, Italian-French physicist and academic (d. 1993)
• 1909 – Musashiyama Takeshi, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1969)
• 1910 – Abraham Polonsky, American director and screenwriter (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist and composer (d. 2000)
• 1912 – Sonny Boy Williamson II, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (d. 1965)
• 1913 – Esther Borja, Cuban soprano and actress (d. 2013)
• 1914 – Hans Hellmut Kirst, German lieutenant and author (d. 1989)
• 1916 – Hilary Koprowski, Polish-American virologist and immunologist, created the world's first effective live polio vaccine (d. 2013)
• 1916 – Walt McPherson, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
• 1917 – Ken Downing, English race car driver (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Alun Gwynne Jones, Baron Chalfont, English historian and politician
• 1921 – Alvy Moore, American actor and producer (d. 1997)
• 1922 – Casey Ribicoff, American philanthropist (d. 2011)
• 1924 – Robert Sobukwe, South African banker and politician (d. 1978)
• 1925 – Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Nicaraguan politician, 73rd President of Nicaragua (d. 1980)
• 1927 – Bhumibol Adulyadej, Thai king
• 1929 – Stanisław Bareja, Polish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1987)
• 1929 – Madis Kõiv, Estonian physicist, philosopher, and author (d. 2014)
• 1931 – Ladislav Novák, Czech footballer and manager (d. 2011)
• 1932 – Alf Dubs, Baron Dubs, Czech-English politician
• 1932 – Sheldon Lee Glashow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1932 – Jim Hurtubise, American race car driver (d. 1989)
• 1932 – Little Richard, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor
• 1933 – Gennadiy Agapov, Russian race walker (d. 1999)
• 1934 – Joan Didion, American author and screenwriter
• 1934 – Nikos Kourkoulos, Greek actor and director (d. 2007)
• 1935 – Marise Chamberlain, New Zealand runner
• 1935 – Calvin Trillin, American journalist, author, and poet
• 1935 – Yury Vlasov, Ukrainian-Russian weightlifter and politician
• 1936 – James Lee Burke, American journalist, author, and academic
• 1938 – JJ Cale, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Leathercoated Minds) (d. 2013)
• 1938 – J. D. McDuffie, American race car driver (d. 1991)
• 1940 – Boris Ignatyev, Russian footballer and manager
• 1940 – Peter Pohl, Swedish author, director, and screenwriter
• 1940 – Adrian Street, Welsh-American wrestler and actor
• 1940 – Frank Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2012)
• 1943 – Eva Joly, Norwegian-French judge and politician
• 1943 – Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, South Korean cardinal
• 1944 – Jeroen Krabbé, Dutch actor, director, and producer
• 1944 – Loukas Sideras, Greek drummer and producer (Aphrodite's Child)
• 1945 – Serge Chapleau, Canadian cartoonist
• 1945 – Moshe Katsav, Iranian-Israeli educator and politician, 8th President of Israel
• 1946 – José Carreras, Spanish tenor and actor
• 1946 – Sarel van der Merwe, South African race car driver
• 1947 – Rudy Fernandez, Filipino triathlete
• 1947 – Bruce Golding, Jamaican lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Jamaica
• 1947 – Tony Gregory, Irish educator and politician (d. 2009)
• 1947 – Jim Messina, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Buffalo Springfield, Loggins and Messina, and Poco)
• 1947 – Jim Plunkett, American football player and radio host
• 1947 – Don Touhig, Welsh journalist and politician
• 1947 – Rick Wills, English bass player (Foreigner, Small Faces, Bad Company, Jokers Wild, and The Jones Gang)
• 1949 – John Altman, English composer and conductor
• 1949 – David Manning, English civil servant and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
• 1949 – Abdullah Senussi, Sudanese-Libyan general
• 1950 – Camarón de la Isla, Spanish singer and guitarist (d. 1992)
• 1950 – James Knaggs, American Salvation Army officer
• 1951 – Morgan Brittany, American actress
• 1951 – Link Byfield, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2015)
• 1951 – Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Belgian painter and illustrator
• 1951 – Larry Zbyszko, American wrestler and trainer
• 1952 – Bobby Barth, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Blackfoot and Axe)
• 1953 – Gwen Lister, South African-Namibian journalist, publisher, and activist
• 1954 – Hanif Kureishi, English author and playwright
• 1954 – Gary Roenicke, American baseball player and scout
• 1955 – Miyuki Kawanaka, Japanese singer
• 1955 – Juha Tiainen, Finnish hammer thrower (d. 2003)
• 1956 – Klaus Allofs, German footballer and manager
• 1956 – Adam Thorpe, French-English author, poet, and playwright
• 1957 – Raquel Argandoña, Chilean model, actress, and politician
• 1957 – Art Monk, American football player and businessman
• 1959 – Lee Chapman, English footballer
• 1959 – Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, Ukrainian businessman
• 1960 – Frans Adelaar, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1960 – Osvaldo Golijov, Argentinian-American composer and educator
• 1960 – Jack Russell, American singer-songwriter and producer (Great White)
• 1960 – Matthew Taylor, English businessman and politician
• 1961 – Ralf Dujmovits, German mountaineer
• 1961 – Laura Flanders, English journalist radio host
• 1961 – Sophia Vossou, Greek singer and producer
• 1962 – José Cura, Argentinian tenor, conductor, and director
• 1962 – Pablo Morales, American swimmer and coach
• 1962 – Nivek Ogre, Canadian singer-songwriter and actor (Skinny Puppy, ohGr, Ministry, and Rx)
• 1962 – Samart Payakaroon, Thai boxer, actor, and singer
• 1962 – Fred Rutten, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1963 – Doctor Dré, American television and radio host
• 1963 – Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, English ski jumper and sportscaster
• 1963 – Ty England, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1963 – Carrie Hamilton, American actress and playwright (d. 2002)
• 1963 – Alberto Nisman, Argentinian lawyer (d. 2015)
• 1964 – Cliff Eidelman, American composer and conductor
• 1965 – Manish Malhotra, Indian fashion designer
• 1965 – John Rzeznik, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Goo Goo Dolls)
• 1965 – Wayne Smith, Jamaican rapper (d. 2014)
• 1965 – Valeriy Spitsyn, Russian race walker
• 1966 – Patricia Kaas, French singer-songwriter and actress
• 1966 – Lee Seung-chul, South Korean singer-songwriter (Boohwal)
• 1967 – Gary Allan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1968 – Margaret Cho, American comedian, actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1968 – Lisa Marie, American model and actress
• 1968 – Lydia Millet, American author
• 1968 – Falilat Ogunkoya, Nigerian sprinter
• 1969 – Eric Etebari, American actor, director, and producer
• 1969 – Morgan J. Freeman, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1969 – Sajid Javid, English banker and politician, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
• 1969 – Lewis Pugh, English swimmer and lawyer
• 1969 – Ramón Ramírez, Mexican footballer
• 1970 – Michel'le, American singer-songwriter (World Class Wreckin' Cru)
• 1970 – Kevin Haller, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1971 – Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, German businessman and politician, German Federal Minister of Defence
• 1971 – Ashia Hansen, American-English triple jumper
• 1971 – Kali Rocha, American actress and screenwriter
• 1971 – Kavus Torabi, Iranian-English guitarist and composer (Knifeworld, Cardiacs, The Monsoon Bassoon, Guapo, and Chrome Hoof)
• 1972 – Cliff Floyd, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1972 – Mike Mahoney, American baseball player
• 1972 – Duane Ross, American hurdler and coach
• 1972 – Angela Shelton, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1973 – Argo Arbeiter, Estonian footballer
• 1973 – Arik Benado, Israeli footballer and manager
• 1973 – Shalom Harlow, Canadian model and actress
• 1973 – Andrei Krasnopjorov, Estonian footballer
• 1973 – Mikelangelo Loconte, Italian singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1973 – Luboš Motl, Czech physicist and academic
• 1973 – Danielle Winits, Brazilian actress, singer, and dancer
• 1974 – Charlie Batch, American football player and sportscaster
• 1974 – Ravish Kumar, Indian journalist and author
• 1974 – Brian Lewis, American sprinter
• 1974 – Elbrus Tedeyev, Ukrainian wrestler and politician
• 1975 – Ronnie O'Sullivan, English snooker player and radio host
• 1975 – Paula Patton, American actress
• 1976 – Amy Acker, American actress
• 1976 – Xavier Garbajosa, French rugby player
• 1976 – Sachiko Kokubu, Japanese actress and model
• 1976 – Rachel Komisarz, American swimmer and coach
• 1977 – Peter van der Vlag, Dutch footballer
• 1978 – Neil Druckmann, American video game designer and author
• 1978 – Olli Jokinen, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1978 – Marcelo Zalayeta, Uruguayan footballer
• 1979 – Matteo Ferrari, Italian footballer
• 1979 – Niklas Hagman, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1979 – Gareth McAuley, Northern Irish footballer
• 1979 – Nick Stahl, American actor and producer
• 1980 – Ibrahim Maalouf, Lebanese-French trumpet player and composer
• 1982 – Eddy Curry, American basketball player
• 1982 – Trai Essex, American football player
• 1982 – Keri Hilson, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (The Clutch)
• 1982 – Karl Palatu, Estonian footballer
• 1983 – Cooper Cronk, Australian rugby player
• 1983 – Tiffany Weimer, American soccer player
• 1984 – Chris Solinsky, American runner
• 1985 – Shikhar Dhawan, Indian cricketer
• 1985 – Frankie Muniz, American actor, drummer, and race car driver
• 1985 – Josh Smith, American basketball player
• 1985 – Nico Verdonck, Belgian race car driver
• 1986 – LeGarrette Blount, American football player
• 1986 – James Hinchcliffe, Canadian race car driver
• 1986 – Justin Smoak, American baseball player
• 1987 – Tommy Fraser, English footballer
• 1988 – Joanna Rowsell, English cyclist
• 1988 – Miralem Sulejmani, Serbian footballer
• 1989 – Pamela Jelimo, Kenyan runner
• 1989 – Linet Masai, Kenyan runner
• 1989 – Kim Ye-won, South Korean singer and actress (Jewelry)
• 1989 – Kwon Yuri, South Korean singer, dancer, and actress (Girls' Generation)
• 1990 – Montee Ball, American football player
• 1991 – Jacopo Sala, Italian footballer
• 1991 – Carolin Schäfer, German heptathlete
• 1992 – Ilja Antonov, Estonian footballer
• 1993 – Ross Barkley, English footballer
• 1994 – Ondrej Duda, Slovak footballer
• 1994 – Grant Ward, English footballer

Deaths

• 63 BC – Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, Roman politician (b. 114 BC)
• 902 – Ealhswith, English wife of Alfred the Great
• 1082 – Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona (b. 1053)
• 1355 – John III, Duke of Brabant (b. 1300)
• 1560 – Francis II of France (b. 1544)
• 1570 – Johan Friis, Danish politician (b. 1494)
• 1624 – Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist and physician (b. 1560)
• 1654 – Jean François Sarrazin, French author and poet (b. 1611)
• 1663 – Severo Bonini, Italian organist and composer (b. 1582)
• 1749 – Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, Canadian commander and explorer (b. 1685)
• 1758 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (b. 1688)
• 1770 – James Stirling, Scottish mathematician and surveyor (b. 1692)
• 1784 – Phillis Wheatley, Senegalese-American slave and poet (b. 1753)
• 1791 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer and musician (b. 1756)
• 1819 – Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg, German poet and lawyer (b. 1750)
• 1870 – Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright (b. 1802)
• 1887 – Eliza R. Snow, American poet and songwriter (b. 1804)
• 1891 – Pedro II of Brazil (b. 1825)
• 1895 – Gall, American tribal chief (b. 1840)
• 1918 – Schalk Willem Burger, South African commander, lawyer, and politician, 6th President of the South African Republic (b. 1852)
• 1925 – Władysław Reymont, Polish noelist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
• 1926 – Claude Monet, French painter (b. 1840)
• 1931 – Vachel Lindsay, American poet (b. 1879)
• 1940 – Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist and composer (b. 1880)
• 1941 – Amrita Sher-Gil, Hungarian-Pakistani painter (b. 1913)
• 1942 – Jock Delves Broughton, English captain (b. 1883)
• 1946 – Louis Dewis, Belgian-French painter and educator (b. 1872)
• 1950 – Sri Aurobindo, Indian guru and poet (b. 1872)
• 1951 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player and manager (b. 1887)
• 1951 – Abanindranath Tagore, Indian painter, author, and academic (b. 1871)
• 1953 – Jorge Negrete, Mexican-American singer and actor (b. 1911)
• 1953 – William Sterling Parsons, American admiral (b. 1901)
• 1955 – Glenn L. Martin, American pilot and businessman, founded the Glenn L. Martin Company (b. 1886)
• 1961 – Emil Fuchs, German-American lawyer and businessman (b. 1878)
• 1963 – Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer and educator (b. 1905)
• 1963 – Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Indian-Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1892)
• 1964 – V. Veerasingam, Sri Lankan educator and politician (b. 1892)
• 1965 – Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist, neuroscientist, and academic Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
• 1966 – Sylvère Maes, Belgian cyclist (b. 1909)
• 1968 – Fred Clark, American actor (b. 1914)
• 1969 – Princess Alice of Battenberg (b. 1885)
• 1969 – Claude Dornier, German engineer and businessman, founded Dornier Flugzeugwerke (b. 1884)
• 1973 – Robert Watson-Watt, Scottish engineer, invented the radar (b. 1892)
• 1975 – Constance McLaughlin Green, American historian and author (b. 1897)
• 1977 – Katherine Milhous, American author and illustrator (b. 1894)
• 1977 – Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Russian marshal and politician, Minister of Defence for the Soviet Union (b. 1895)
• 1979 – Jesse Pearson, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
• 1983 – Robert Aldrich, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1918)
• 1984 – Cecil M. Harden, American politician (b. 1894)
• 1986 – Edward Youde, Welsh-Chinese sinologist and diplomat, 26th Governor of Hong Kong (b. 1924)
• 1989 – John Pritchard, English conductor and director (b. 1921)
• 1989 – George Selden, American author (b. 1929)
• 1990 – Alfonso A. Ossorio, Filipino-American painter and sculptor (b. 1916)
• 1993 – Doug Hopkins, American guitarist and songwriter (Gin Blossoms) (b. 1961)
• 1994 – Harry Horner, Czech-American director, producer, and production designer (b. 1910)
• 1994 – Günter Meisner, German actor and director (b. 1926)
• 1995 – L. B. Cole, American illustrator and publisher (b. 1918)
• 1995 – Charles Evans, English mountaineer, surgeon, and educator (b. 1918)
• 1995 – Gwen Harwood, Australian poet and playwright (b. 1920)
• 1995 – Lisa McPherson, American homicide victim (b. 1959)
• 1998 – Albert Gore, Sr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1907)
• 2001 – Franco Rasetti, Italian-American physicist and academic (b. 1901)
• 2002 – Roone Arledge, American sportscaster and producer (b. 1931)
• 2002 – Ne Win, Burmese general and politician, 4th President of Burma (b. 1911)
• 2005 – Edward L. Masry, American lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
• 2005 – Kevin McQuay, Australian businessman (b. 1949)
• 2005 – Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (b. 1905)
• 2006 – David Bronstein, Ukrainian-Belarusian chess player and theoretician (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Andrew Imbrie, American composer and academic (b. 1921)
• 2007 – George Paraskevaides, Greek-Cypriot businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Joannou & Paraskevaides (b. 1916)
• 2007 – Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer and academic (b. 1928)
• 2008 – Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow (b. 1929)
• 2008 – George Brecht, American chemist and composer (b. 1926)
• 2008 – Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (b. 1924)
• 2008 – Beverly Garland, American actress and businesswoman (b. 1926)
• 2008 – Anca Parghel, Romanian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1957)
• 2009 – William Lederer, American soldier and author (b. 1912)
• 2010 – Alan Armer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
• 2010 – Don Meredith, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (b. 1938)
• 2011 – Peter Gethin, English race car driver (b. 1940)
• 2011 – Gennady Logofet, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1942)
• 2012 – Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (b. 1909)
• 2012 – Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, designed the United Nations Headquarters and Cathedral of Brasília (b. 1907)
• 2012 – Yves Niaré, French shot putter (b. 1977)
• 2012 – Ignatius IV of Antioch, Syrian patriarch (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (b. 1917)
• 2013 – William B. Edmondson, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Africa (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Danny Matt, German-Israeli general (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Colin Wilson, English philosopher and author (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Ernest C. Brace, American captain and pilot (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Manuel De Sica, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1949)
• 2014 – Queen Fabiola of Belgium (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Talât Sait Halman, Turkish poet, translator, and historian (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Jackie Healy-Rae, Irish hurdler and politician (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian and author (b. 1909)
• 2015 – Vic Eliason, American clergyman and radio host, founded VCY America (b. 1936)
• 2015 – William McIlvanney, Scottish author and poet (b. 1936)
• 2015 – Tibor Rubin, Hungarian-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Chuck Williams, American businessman and author, founded Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (b. 1915)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Abercius
  • Clement of Alexandria (Episcopal Church)
  • Sabbas the Sanctified
  • December 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Children's Day (Suriname)
• Day of the Ninja (unofficial)
• Discovery Day (Haiti and Dominican Republic)
• International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development (International)
• Klozum (Schiermonnikoog, Netherlands)
• Saint Nicholas' Eve (Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Hungary, Romania, Germany, Poland and the UK)
  • Krampusnacht (Austria)
• The King's Birthday (Thailand), which is a National Day and Father's Day
• World Soil Day (international)

External links

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