December 11
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December 11 is the 345th day of the year (346th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 20 days remain until the end of the year.
Events
- 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, took office.
- 1282 - Llywelyn the Last (b. c. 1228), the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales.
- 1602 - A surprise attack by forces under the command of the Duke of Savoy and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. Commemorations/celebrations on Fête de l'Escalade are usually held on December 11 or the closest weekend.)
- 1792 - French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.
- 1816 - Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state.
- 1872 - P.B.S. Pinchback becomes the first black member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
- 1886 - Dial Square FC, a football club from Woolwich, London that will eventually become known as Arsenal FC, play their first match.
- 1917 - British troops take Jerusalem from the troops of the Ottoman Empire
- 1925 - Quas Primas encyclical was promulgated, introducing the Feast of Christ the King.
- 1927 - Guangzhou Uprising: Communist militia and worker red guards launch an uprising in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet.
- 1931 - The British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster, establishing legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.
- 1936 - Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India becomes effective.
- 1937 - Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations
- 1941 - World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.
- 1946 - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.
- 1958 - Upper Volta declares its independence from France, and becomes an autonomous republic in the French Community.
- 1961 - Melvin Calvin awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry for process of photosynthesis.
- 1964 - Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. An unknown terrorist fired a mortar shell at the building during the speech.
- 1971 - The Libertarian Party of the United States is formed.
- 1972 - Apollo 17 becomes the sixth mission to land on the Moon.
- 1980 - The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (known as either CERCLA or Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress.
- 1981 - El Mozote massacre: Salvadoran armed forces kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the country's civil war.
- 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
- 1997 - The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change opens for signature.
- 1998 - A Thai Airways Airbus A310-200 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101.
- 2001 - The People's Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization.
- 2005 - The Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead is rocked by explosions, causing a huge oil fire.
- 2005 - Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese (and many who were not) in Cronulla Sydney. These are followed up by ethnic attacks on Cronulla.
- 2006 - The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Births
- 1465 - Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (d. 1489)
- 1475 - Pope Leo X (d. 1521)
- 1566 - Manuel Cardoso, Portuguese composer (d. 1650)
- 1680 - Emanuele d'Astorga, Italian composer (d. 1736)
- 1709 - Louise Elisabeth of Orléans, queen consort of Spain (d. 1742)
- 1712 - Francesco Algarotti. Italian philosopher (d. 1764)
- 1725 - George Mason, American statesman (d. 1792)
- 1761 - Gian Domenico Romagnosi, Italian physicist (d. 1835)
- 1781 - Sir David Brewster, Scottish physicist (d. 1868)
- 1801 - Christian Dietrich Grabbe, German writer (d. 1836)
- 1803 - Hector Berlioz, French composer (d. 1869)
- 1810 - Alfred de Musset, French poet (d. 1857)
- 1838 - John Labatt, Irish-Canadian brewer (d. 1915)
- 1843 - Robert Koch, German bacteriologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1910)
- 1858 - Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian theatre director (d. 1943)
- 1863 - Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer (d. 1941)
- 1873 - Josip Plemelj, Slovenian mathematician (d. 1967)
- 1880 - Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer (d. 1951)
- 1882 - Subramanya Bharathy, Indian poet (d. 1921)
- 1882 - Max Born, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1970)
- 1882 - Fiorello LaGuardia, American statesman (d. 1947)
- 1883 - Victor McLaglen, English-born American actor (d. 1959)
- 1889 - Walter Knott, American farmer (d. 1981)
- 1890 - Carlos Gardel, tango singer (d. 1935)
- 1890 - Mark Tobey, American painter (d. 1976)
- 1905 - Robert Henriques, English writer (d. 1967)
- 1905 - Gilbert Roland, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1908 - Elliott Carter, American composer
- 1910 - Noel Rosa, Brazilian songwriter (d. 1937)
- 1911 - Val Guest, English film director (d. 2006)
- 1911 - Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian writer, Nobel laureate (d. 2006)
- 1912 - Carlo Ponti, Italian film producer (d. 2007)
- 1913 - Jean Marais, French actor (d. 1998)
- 1916 - Dámaso Pérez Prado, Cuban-born bandleader (d. 1989)
- 1918 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer, Nobel laureate
- 1919 - Marie Windsor, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1922 - Grigoris Bithikotsis, Greek singer (d. 2005)
- 1922 - Dilip Kumar, Indian actor
- 1922 - Grace Paley, American writer
- 1923 - Betsy Blair, American actress
- 1925 - Paul Greengard, American neuroscientist, Nobel laureate
- 1926 - Big Mama Thornton, American singer (d. 1984)
- 1927 - John Buscema, American comics artist (d. 2002)
- 1930 - Chus Lampreave, Spanish actress
- 1930 - Jean-Louis Trintignant, French actor
- 1931 - Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican actress
- 1931 - Pierre Pilote, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1931 - Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Indian guru (d. 1990)
- 1932 - Anne Heywood, English actress
- 1933 - Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., Filipino politician
- 1935 - Ron Carey, American actor (d. 2007)
- 1935 - Pranab Mukherjee, Indian politician
- 1935 - Elmer Vasko, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1998)
- 1936 - Taku Yamasaki, Japanese politician
- 1937 - Jim Harrison, American writer
- 1938 - Enrico Macias, Algerian-born French singer
- 1938 - McCoy Tyner, American jazz pianist
- 1939 - Tom Hayden, American politician and activist
- 1939 - Thomas McGuane, American writer
- 1940 - David Gates, American musician (Bread)
- 1941 - Jean-Paul Parise, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1942 - Donna Mills, American actress
- 1943 - John Kerry, American politician
- 1944 - Teri Garr, American film actress
- 1944 - Jon Garrison, American tenor
- 1944 - Lynda Day George, American actress
- 1944 - Brenda Lee, American singer
- 1948 - Stamatis Spanoudakis, Greek composer
- 1950 - Christina Onassis, American heiress (d. 1988)
- 1953 - Bess Armstrong, American actress
- 1954 - Jermaine Jackson, American singer
- 1954 - Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson, Icelandic engineer
- 1956 - Lani Brockman, Playwright
- 1958 - Nikki Sixx, American musician (Mötley Crüe)
- 1959 - Lisa Gastineau, American reality show star
- 1961 - Marco Pierre White, English chef and restaurateur
- 1962 - Ben Browder, American actor
- 1962 - Nele Karajlić, Bosnian singer
- 1963 - Jon Brion, American musician/record producer
- 1964 - Michel Courtemanche, Quebec comedian
- 1964 - John Mark Karr, American who claimed involvement in JonBenét Ramsey case
- 1964 - David Schools, American musician (Widespread Panic)
- 1964 - Cosy Sheridan, American singer
- 1964 - Carolyn Waldo, Canadian synchronized swimmer
- 1966 - Gary Dourdan, American actor
- 1966 - Leon Lai, Cantonese singer/actor
- 1967 - Mo'Nique, American actress/comedienne
- 1967 - DJ Yella, American DJ and music producer (N.W.A.)
- 1969 - Vishwanathan Anand, Indian chess grandmaster
- 1969 - Stig Inge Bjørnebye, Norwegian footballer
- 1969 - Sean Grande, American sportscaster
- 1972 - Daniel Alfredsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1972 - Sami Al-Jaber, Saudi Arabian footballer
- 1972 - Dana Macsim, Romanian television news reporter
- 1973 - Mos Def, American rapper and actor
- 1974 - Rey Mysterio, American professional wrestler
- 1974 - Ben Shephard, English TV personality
- 1975 - Gerben de Knegt, Dutch cyclist
- 1975 - Tomoka Kurotani, Japanese actress
- 1976 - Shareef Abdur-Rahim, American basketball player
- 1977 - Mark Streit, Swiss ice hockey player
- 1979 - Rider Strong, American actor
- 1980 - Arya, Indian actor
- 1981 - Nikki Benz, Canadian actress
- 1981 - Hamish Blake, Australian comedian
- 1981 - Paul Medhurst, Australian rules footballer
- 1981 - Javier Saviola, Argentine footballer
- 1981 - Zacky Vengeance, American musician (Avenged Sevenfold)
- 1982 - Pablo Pérez Companc, Argentine racing driver
- 1984 - Leighton Baines, English footballer
- 1987 - Natalia Gordienko, Moldovan singer and dancer
- 1988 - Murugan Thiruchelvam, English chess prodigy
- 1993 - Gina Miele, American singer and actress
Deaths
- 384 - Pope Damasus I
- 1121 - Al-Afdal Shahanshah, Caliph of Egypt (b. 1066)
- 1226 - Robert de Ros, English politician (b. 1177)
- 1282 - Llywelyn the Last, Prince of Gwynedd
- 1282 - Michael VIII Palaiologos, Greek Byzantine Emperor (b. 1225)
- 1532 - Pietro Accolti, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1455)
- 1694 - Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1630)
- 1737 - John Strype, English historian (b. 1643)
- 1757 - Edmund Curll, English bookseller (b. 1675)
- 1797 - Richard Brocklesby, English physician (b. 1722)
- 1840 - Emperor Kokaku of Japan (b. 1771)
- 1880 - Oliver Fisher Winchester, American businessman and politician (b. 1810)
- 1892 - William Milligan, Scottish theologian (b. 1821)
- 1909 - Innokenty Annensky, Russian poet (b. 1855)
- 1918 - Ivan Cankar, Slovenian writer (b. 1876)
- 1920 - Olive Schreiner, South African writer (b. 1855)
- 1938 - Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1869)
- 1941
- John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American poet and aviator (b. 1922)
- Charles Émile Picard, French mathematician (b. 1856)
- 1945 - Charles Fabry, French physicist (b. 1867)
- 1950 - Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1893)
- 1957 - Musidora (Jeanne Roques), French actress (b. 1889)
- 1959 - Jim Bottomley, American baseball player (b. 1900)
- 1964 - Sam Cooke, American singer (b. 1931)
- 1971 - Maurice "Mac" McDonald, American fast-food pioneer (b. 1902)
- 1978
- Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist and Nobel laureate (b. 1901)
- Paul O'Dea, American baseball player (b. 1920)
- 1983 - Sir Neil Ritchie, British General (b. 1897)
- 1984 - Oskar Seidlin, German-born American scholar (b. 1911)
- 1987 - G. A. Kulkarni, Indian (Marathi) writer (b. 1923)
- 1989 - Louise Dahl-Wolfe, American photographer (b. 1895)
- 1991
- Robert Q. Lewis, American game show host and actor (b. 1921)
- Artur Lundkvist, Swedish author and critic (b. 1906)
- 1994 - Philip Phillips, American archaeologist (b. 1900)
- 1993 - Elvira Popescu, Romanian-born French actress (b. 1894)
- 1996 - Willie Rushton, English cartoonist (b. 1937)
- 1998 - André Lichnerowicz, Polish-French physicist (b. 1915)
- 1999 - Kami, Japanese drummer (Malice Mizer) (b. 1972)
- 2000 - Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, Pakistani politician, diplomat and author (b. 1915)
- 2003 - Ahmadou Kourouma, Côte d'Ivoire writer (b. 1927)
- 2004 - José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1962)
- 2004 - Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand running coach (b. 1917)
- 2004 - M.S. Subbulakshmi, Indian singer (b. 1916)
- 2006 - Elizabeth Bolden, American, oldest verified person in the world at the time of her death (b. 1890)
Holidays and observances
- Roman festivals - One of the four Agonalia, this day in honour of Sol Indiges; also the Septimontium festival
- R.C. Saints - Pope Damasus I: optional memorial; Victoricus, Fuscian, and Gentian
- Argentina - Tango Day, Buenos Aires
- Burkina Faso - Republic Day (1958, Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French Community.)
- USA - Admission day for Indiana (19th state, 1816)
- USA - Governor Ralph Carr Day, Colorado's State Holiday since 2002
- Wales - Remembrance Day of Llywelyn II
- Philippines - Pampanga Day, local official holiday