Events Pre-1600 1060 – Béla I is crowned king of Hungary. 1240 – Mongol invasion of Rus': Kyiv, defended by Voivode Dmytro, falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan. 1492 – After exploring the island of Cuba (which he had mistaken for Japan) for gold, Christopher Columbus lands on an island he names Hispaniola. 1534 – The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar.
1601–1900 1648 – Pride's Purge removes royalist sympathizers from Parliament so that the High Court of Justice could put the King on trial. 1745 – Charles Edward Stuart's army begins retreat during the second Jacobite Rising. 1790 – The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia. 1803 – Five French warships attempting to escape the Royal Naval blockade of Saint-Domingue are all seized by British warships, signifying the end of the Haitian Revolution. 1865 – Georgia ratifies the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 1882 – Transit of Venus, second and last of the 19th century. 1884 – The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., is completed. 1897 – London becomes the world's first city to host licensed taxicabs.
1901–present 1904 – Theodore Roosevelt articulated his "Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the U.S. would intervene in the Western Hemisphere should Latin American governments prove incapable or unstable. 1907 – A coal mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia, kills 362 workers. 1912 – The Nefertiti Bust is discovered. 1916 – World War I: The Central Powers capture Bucharest. 1917 – Finland declares independence from the Russian Empire. 1917 – Halifax Explosion: A munitions explosion near Halifax, Nova Scotia kills more than 1,900 people in the largest artificial explosion up to that time. 1917 – World War I: is the first American destroyer to be sunk by enemy action when it is torpedoed by German submarine . 1921 – The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives. 1922 – Ireland is partitioned, with Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State coming into existence, one year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. 1928 – The government of Colombia sends military forces to suppress a month-long strike by United Fruit Company workers, resulting in an unknown number of deaths. 1933 – In United States v. One Book Called Ulysses Judge John M. Woolsey rules that James Joyce's novel Ulysses is not obscene despite coarse language and sexual content, a leading decision affirming free expression. 1939 – Winter War: The Red Army's advance on the Karelian Isthmus is stopped by Finns at the Mannerheim Line during the Battle of Taipale. 1941 – World War II: Camp X opens in Canada to begin training Allied secret agents for the war. 1956 – A violent water polo match between Hungary and the USSR takes place during the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, against the backdrop of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. 1957 – Project Vanguard: A launchpad explosion of Vanguard TV3 thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite into Earth orbit. 1967 – Adrian Kantrowitz performs the first human heart transplant in the United States. 1969 – Altamont Free Concert: At a free concert performed by the Rolling Stones, eighteen-year old Meredith Hunter is stabbed to death by Hells Angels security guards. 1971 – Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with India, initiating the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. 1973 – The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States House of Representatives votes 387–35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States. (On November 27, the Senate confirmed him 92–3.) 1975 – The Troubles: Fleeing from the police, a Provisional IRA unit takes a British couple hostage in their flat on Balcombe Street, London, beginning a six-day siege. 1977 – South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country. 1978 – Spain ratifies the Spanish Constitution of 1978 in a referendum. 1982 – The Troubles: The Irish National Liberation Army bombs a pub frequented by British soldiers in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, killing eleven soldiers and six civilians. 1989 – The École Polytechnique massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders 14 young women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal. 1990 – A military jet of the Italian Air Force, abandoned by its pilot after an on-board fire, crashed into a high school near Bologna, Italy, killing 12 students and injuring 88 other people. 1991 – Yugoslav Wars: In Croatia, forces of the Serb-dominated Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) heaviest bombardment of Dubrovnik during a siege of seven months. 1992 – The Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India, is demolished, leading to widespread riots causing the death of over 1,500 people. 1995 – The United States Food and Drug Administration approves Saquinavir, the first protease inhibitor to treat HIV/AIDS. Within 2 years of its approval, annual deaths from AIDS in the United States fall from over 50,000 to approximately 18,000. 1998 – in Venezuela, Hugo Chávez is victorious in presidential elections. 1999 – A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.: The Recording Industry Association of America sues the peer-to-peer file-sharing service Napster, alleging copyright infringement. 2005 – An Iranian Air Force C-130 military transport aircraft crashes into a ten-floor apartment building in a residential area of Tehran, killing all 94 on board and 12 more on the ground. 2006 – NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars. 2015 – Venezuelan parliamentary election: For the first time in 17 years, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela loses its majority in parliament. 2017 – Donald Trump's administration officially announces the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Births Pre-1600 846 – Hasan al-Askari, Arabian 11th of the Twelve Imams (died 874) 1285 – Ferdinand IV of Castile (died 1312) 1421 – Henry VI of England (died 1471) 1478 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian courtier, diplomat, and author (died 1529) 1520 – Barbara Radziwiłł, queen of Poland (died 1551) 1545 – Janus Dousa, Dutch historian and noble (died 1604) 1586 – Niccolò Zucchi, Italian astronomer and physicist (died 1670) 1592 – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle (died 1676)
1601–1900 1608 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (died 1670) 1637 – Edmund Andros, English courtier and politician, 4th Colonial Governor of New York (died 1714) 1640 – Claude Fleury, French historian and author (died 1723) 1645 – Maria de Dominici, Maltese sculptor and painter (died 1703) 1685 – Marie Adélaïde of Savoy (died 1712) 1721 – Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French minister and politician (died 1794) 1721 – James Elphinston, Scottish philologist and linguist (died 1809) 1732 – Warren Hastings, British colonial administrator of India (died 1818) p. 1. 1752 – Gabriel Duvall, American jurist and politician (died 1844) 1778 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French physicist and chemist (died 1850) 1792 – William II of the Netherlands (died 1849) 1803 – Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony (died 1829) 1805 – Richard Hanson, English-Australian politician, 4th Premier of South Australia (died 1876) 1812 – Robert Spear Hudson, English businessman and philanthropist (died 1884) 1823 – Max Müller, German-English philologist and orientalist (died 1900) 1827 – William Arnott, Australian biscuit manufacturer and founder of Arnott's Biscuits (died 1901) 1833 – John S. Mosby, American colonel (died 1916) 1835 – Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig, German chemist (died 1910) 1841 – Frédéric Bazille, French painter and soldier (died 1870) 1848 – Johann Palisa, Austrian astronomer (died 1925) 1849 – August von Mackensen, German field marshal (died 1945) 1853 – Hans Molisch, Czech-Austrian botanist and academic (died 1937) 1853 – Haraprasad Shastri, Indian historian and scholar (died 1931) 1863 – Charles Martin Hall, American chemist and engineer (died 1914) 1864 – William S. Hart, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1946) 1875 – Albert Bond Lambert, American golfer and pilot (died 1946) 1875 – Evelyn Underhill, English mystic and author (died 1941) 1876 – Fred Duesenberg, German-American businessman, co-founded the Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Company (died 1932) 1878 – Elvia Carrillo Puerto, Mexican politician (died 1968) 1882 – Warren Bardsley, Australian cricketer (died 1954) 1884 – Cornelia Meigs, American author, playwright, and academic (died 1973) 1886 – Joyce Kilmer, American soldier, author, and poet (died 1918) 1887 – Lynn Fontanne, British actress (died 1983) 1887 – Joseph Lamb, American pianist and composer (died 1960) 1888 – Will Hay, English actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1949) 1890 – Dion Fortune, Welsh occultist, psychologist, and author (died 1946) 1890 – Yoshio Nishina, Japanese physicist and academic (died 1951) 1890 – Rudolf Schlichter, German painter and illustrator (died 1955) 1892 – Osbert Sitwell, English-Italian captain, poet, and author (died 1969) 1893 – Homer N. Wallin, American admiral (died 1984) 1893 – Sylvia Townsend Warner, English author and poet (died 1978) 1896 – Ira Gershwin, American songwriter (died 1983) 1898 – Alfred Eisenstaedt, German-American photographer and journalist (died 1995) 1898 – John McDonald, Scottish-Australian politician, 37th Premier of Victoria (died 1977) 1898 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1987) 1898 – Winifred Lenihan, American actress, writer, and director (died 1964) 1900 – Agnes Moorehead, American actress (died 1974)
1901–present 1901 – Eliot Porter, American photographer and academic (died 1990) 1903 – Tony Lazzeri, American baseball player and manager (died 1946) 1904 – Ève Curie, French-American journalist and pianist (died 2007) 1905 – Elizabeth Yates, American journalist and author (died 2001) 1907 – John Barkley Rosser Sr., American logician (died 1989) 1908 – Herta Freitag, Austrian-American mathematician (died 2000) 1908 – Pierre Graber, Swiss lawyer and politician, 69th President of the Swiss Confederation (died 2003) 1908 – Baby Face Nelson, American gangster (died 1934) 1908 – Miklós Szabó, Hungarian runner (died 2000) 1909 – Rulon Jeffs, American religious leader (died 2002) 1909 – Alan McGilvray, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (died 1996) 1910 – David M. Potter, American historian, author, and academic (died 1971) 1912 – Eleanor Holm, American swimmer and actress (died 2004)Social Security Death Index: HOLM, ELEANOR H. was born 6 December 1912, received Social Security number 559-12-4524 (indicating California) and, Death Master File says, died 31 January 2004 Source: Death Master File (public domain) 1913 – Karl Haas, German-American pianist, conductor, and radio host (died 2005) 1914 – Cyril Washbrook, English cricketer (died 1999) 1916 – Yekaterina Budanova, Russian captain and pilot (died 1943) 1916 – Kristján Eldjárn, Icelandic educator and politician, 3rd President of Iceland (died 1982) 1916 – Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and producer (died 1986) 1916 – Trisno Sumardjo, Indonesian writer, translator, and painter (died 1969) 1917 – Dean Hess, American minister and colonel (died 2015) 1917 – Kamal Jumblatt, Lebanese lawyer and politician (died 1977) 1917 – Irv Robbins, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (died 2008) 1918 – Tauba Biterman, Polish Holocaust survivor (died 2019) 1919 – Skippy Baxter, Canadian-American figure skater and coach (died 2012) 1919 – Paul de Man, Belgian-born philosopher, literary critic and theorist (died 1983) 1920 – Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (died 2012) 1920 – Peter Dimmock, English sportscaster and producer (died 2015) 1920 – George Porter, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2002)