December 25

December 25 in recent years

2024 (Wednesday)

2023 (Monday)

2022 (Sunday)

2021 (Saturday)

2020 (Friday)

2019 (Wednesday)

2018 (Tuesday)

2017 (Monday)

2016 (Sunday)

2015 (Friday)

December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; six days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 333 – Roman Emperor Constantine the Great elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar.
• 336 – First documentary sign of Christmas celebration in ancient Rome
• 350 – Vetranio meets Constantius II at Naissus (Serbia) and is forced to abdicate his title (Caesar). Constantius allows him to live as a private citizen on a state pension.
• 496 – Clovis I, king of the Franks, is baptized into the Catholic faith at Reims, by Saint Remigius.
• 597 – Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow-labourers baptise in Kent more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.
• 800 – Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.
• 1000 – The foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary: Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.
• 1025 – Coronation of Mieszko II Lambert as King of Poland
• 1066 – William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy is crowned king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.
• 1076 – Coronation of Boleslav II the Generous as king of Poland
• 1100 – Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity.
• 1130 – Count Roger II of Sicily is crowned the first King of Sicily.
• 1261 – John IV Laskaris of the restored Eastern Roman Empire is deposed and blinded by orders of his co-ruler Michael VIII Palaiologos.
• 1493 – Caravel "Santa Maria" captained by Christopher Columbus ran into reefs near Haiti shores due to fault of sailor on duty. Local Indians helped to save food, armory and amunition but not ship.
• 1553 – Battle of Tucapel: Mapuche rebels under Lautaro defeat the Spanish conquistadors and executes the governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia.
• 1643 – Christmas Island found and named by Captain William Mynors of the East India Company vessel, the Royal Mary.
• 1776 – George Washington and the Continental Army cross the Delaware River at night to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, New Jersey, the next day.
• 1809 – Dr. Ephraim McDowell performs the first ovariotomy, removing a 22 pound tumor.
• 1814 – Rev. Samuel Marsden holds the first Christian service on land in New Zealand at Rangihoua Bay.
• 1815 – The Handel and Haydn Society, oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance.
• 1826 – The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy concludes after beginning the previous evening.
• 1837 – Second Seminole War: American general Zachary Taylor leads 1100 troops against the Seminoles at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee.
• 1868 – U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.
• 1926 – Emperor Taishō of Japan dies. His son, Prince Hirohito, succeeds him as Emperor Shōwa.
• 1927 – The Vietnamese Nationalist Party is founded.
• 1932 – A magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China kills 275 people.
• 1941 – Admiral Chester W. Nimitz arrives at Pearl Harbor to assume command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet
• 1941 – World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.
• 1941 – Admiral Émile Muselier seizes the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which become the first part of France to be liberated by the Free French Forces.
• 1946 – The first in Europe artificial, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is initiated within Soviet nuclear reactor F-1.
• 1947 – The Constitution of the Republic of China goes into effect.
• 1950 – The Stone of Scone, traditional coronation stone of British monarchs, is taken from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students. It later turns up in Scotland on April 11, 1951.
• 1963 – Turkish Cypriot Bayrak Radio begins transmitting in Cyprus after Turkish Cypriots are forcibly excluded from Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
• 1965 – The Yemeni Nasserist Unionist People's Organisation is founded in Ta'izz
• 1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8 performs the very first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.
• 1968 – 42 Dalits are burned alive in Kilavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, India, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit laborers.
• 1974 – Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Northern Territory Australia.
• 1974 – Marshall Fields drives a vehicle through the gates of the White House, resulting in a four-hour standoff.
• 1977 – Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat.
• 1989 – Deposed President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, First-Deputy Prime-Minister Elena Ceaușescu are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.
• 1991 – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as General Secretary of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine's referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.
• 2000 – Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a bill into law that officially establishes a new National Anthem of Russia, with music adopted from the anthem of the Soviet Union that was composed by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov.
• 2003 – The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe, released from the Mars Express Spacecraft on December 19, disappears shortly before its scheduled landing.
• 2004 – Cassini orbiter releases Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005.
• 2009 – Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab unsuccessfully attempts a terrorist attack against the US while on board a flight to Detroit Metro Airport Northwest Airlines Flight 253

Births

• 1250 – John IV Laskaris, Byzantine emperor (d. 1305)
• 1461 – Christina of Saxony (d. 1521)
• 1583 – Orlando Gibbons, English composer and organist (d. 1625)
• 1584 – Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain (d. 1611)
• 1628 – Noël Coypel, French painter (d. 1707)
• 1642 – Isaac Newton, English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1727)
• 1652 – Archibald Pitcairne, Scottish physician (d. 1713)
• 1665 – Grizel Baillie, Scottish songwriter (d. 1746)
• 1667 – Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal (d. 1743)
• 1674 – Thomas Halyburton, Scottish theologian (d. 1712)
• 1686 – Giovanni Battista Somis, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1763)
• 1696 – Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar (d. 1715)
• 1700 – Leopold II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (d. 1758)
• 1711 – Jean-Joseph de Mondonville, French composer (d. 1772)
• 1716 – Johann Jakob Reiske, German physician and scholar (d. 1774)
• 1728 – Johann Adam Hiller, German composer and conductor (d. 1804)
• 1730 – Philip Mazzei, Italian physician (d. 1816)
• 1742 – Charlotte von Stein, German assistant of Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (d. 1827)
• 1745 – Chevalier de Saint-George, Caribbean-French composer, conductor, and violinist (d. 1799)
• 1757 – Benjamin Pierce, American politician, 17th Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1839)
• 1763 – Claude Chappe, French engineer (d. 1805)
• 1771 – Dorothy Wordsworth, English author and poet (d. 1855)
• 1776 – Sydney, Lady Morgan, Irish author (d. 1859)
• 1810 – Alexandros Rizos Rangavis, Greek poet (d. 1892)
• 1817 – John Hewitt Jellett, Irish academic (d. 1888)
• 1821 – Clara Barton, American nurse and humanitarian, founded the American Red Cross (d. 1912)
• 1829 – Patrick Gilmore, Irish-American composer (d. 1892)
• 1856 – Pud Galvin, American baseball player (d. 1902)
• 1856 – Hans von Bartels, German painter (d. 1913)
• 1860 – Manwel Dimech, Maltese journalist, author, and philosopher (d. 1921)
• 1861 – Madan Mohan Malaviya, Indian educator and politician, founder of Banaras Hindu University (d. 1946)
• 1864 – Thomas Cahill, American soccer player and coach (d. 1951)
• 1865 – Evangeline Booth, English 4th General of the Salvation Army (d. 1950)
• 1869 – Charles Finger, British author (d. 1941)
• 1870 – Lloyd Hildebrand, French cyclist (d. 1924)
• 1870 – Helena Rubinstein, Polish-American businesswoman (d. 1965)
• 1871 – Katherine McKinley, American daughter of William McKinley (d. 1875)
• 1873 – Otto Frederick Hunziker, Swiss-American educator (d. 1959)
• 1874 – Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano (d. 1944)
• 1875 – Theodor Innitzer, Austrian cardinal (d. 1955)
• 1876 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Indian-Pakistani lawyer and politician, founder of Pakistan (d. 1948)
• 1876 – Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
• 1877 – Noël Bas, French gymnast (d. 1960)
• 1878 – Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-American race car driver and automobile magnate (d. 1941)
• 1878 – Noël Leslie, Countess of Rothes (d. 1956)
• 1883 – Hugo Bergmann, German-Israeli philosopher (d. 1975)
• 1884 – Samuel Berger, American boxer (d. 1925)
• 1884 – Evelyn Nesbit, American actress (d. 1967)
• 1886 – Edward "Kid" Ory, American trombonist and bandleader (d. 1973)
• 1887 – Conrad Nicholson Hilton Sr., American businessman, founded the Hilton Hotels & Resorts (d. 1979)
• 1889 – Lila Bell Wallace, American publisher, co-founded Reader's Digest (d. 1984)
• 1890 – Noel Odell, English geologist and mountaineer (d. 1987)
• 1890 – Robert LeRoy Ripley, American cartoonist and anthropologist, founded Ripley's Believe It or Not! (d. 1949)
• 1891 – Clarrie Grimmett, Australian cricketer (d. 1980)
• 1899 – Humphrey Bogart, American actor (d. 1957)
• 1901 – Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (d. 2004)
• 1902 – Barton MacLane, American actor (d. 1969)
• 1904 – Gerhard Herzberg, German-Canadian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
• 1906 – Lew Grade, Ukrainian-English film producer (d. 1998)
• 1906 – Ernst Ruska, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
• 1907 – Cab Calloway, American singer-songwriter and bandleader (d. 1994)
• 1907 – Mike Mazurki, Ukrainian-American actor (d. 1990)
• 1907 – Glenn McCarthy, American businessman, founded the Shamrock Hotel (d. 1988)
• 1908 – Quentin Crisp, English author (d. 1999)
• 1908 – Ernest L. Massad, American general (d. 1993)
• 1908 – Jo-Jo Moore, American baseball player (d. 2001)
• 1909 – Zora Arkus-Duntov, Belgian-American engineer (d. 1996)
• 1911 – Louise Bourgeois, French-American sculptor (d. 2010)
• 1912 – Natalino Otto, Italian singer (d. 1969)
• 1913 – Tony Martin, American singer and actor (d. 2012)
• 1913 – Henri Nannen, German journalist (d. 1966)
• 1914 – James Muir Cameron Fletcher, New Zealand businessman (d. 2007)
• 1915 – Pete Rugolo, Italian-born composer (d. 2011)
• 1916 – Ahmed Ben Bella, Algerian soldier and politician, 1st President of Algeria (d. 2012)
• 1917 – Lincoln Verduga Loor, Ecuadorian journalist and politician (d. 2009)
• 1918 – Anwar Sadat, Egyptian politician, 3rd President of Egypt, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
• 1919 – Naushad Ali, Indian composer and director (d. 2006)
• 1919 – Paul David, Canadian cardiologist and politician, founded the Montreal Heart Institute (d. 1999)
• 1919 – Noele Gordon, English actress (d. 1985)
• 1920 – Artur Agostinho, Portuguese journalist (d. 2011)
• 1921 – Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah, Pakistani journalist (d. 2000)
• 1921 – Steve Otto, Canadian politician (d. 1989)
• 1922 – William Demby, American author (d. 2013)
• 1923 – René Girard, French historian, critic, and philosopher
• 1924 – Rod Serling, American screenwriter and producer, created The Twilight Zone (d. 1975)
• 1924 – Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indian politician, 10th Prime Minister of India
• 1925 – Carlos Castaneda, Peruvian-American author (d. 1998)
• 1925 – Ned Garver, American baseball player
• 1925 – Sam Pollock, Canadian businessman (d. 2007)
• 1926 – Febo Conti, Italian actor (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Enrique Jorrín, Cuban composer and violinist (d. 1987)
• 1927 – Nellie Fox, American baseball player (d. 1975)
• 1927 – Ram Narayan, Indian sarangi player
• 1927 – Leo Kubiak, American basketball player
• 1928 – Dick Miller, American actor
• 1929 – Stuart Hall, English radio and television host
• 1929 – Christine M. Jones, American politician (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Chris Kenner, American singer-songwriter (d. 1976)
• 1930 – Emmanuel Agassi, Iranian boxer
• 1930 – Armenak Alachachian, Armenian basketball player and coach
• 1930 – Salah Jahin, Egyptian poet and cartoonist (d. 1986)
• 1932 – Mabel King, American actress (d. 1999)
• 1935 – Sadiq al-Mahdi, Sudanese politician, Prime Minister of Sudan
• 1935 – Stephen Barnett, American academic and scholar (d. 2009)
• 1935 – Jeanne Hopkins Lucas, American politician (d. 2007)
• 1935 – Al Jackson, American baseball player
• 1935 – Anne Roiphe, American author and activist
• 1936 – Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy of Kent
• 1936 – Ismail Merchant, Indian-English director and producer (d. 2005)
• 1937 – O'Kelly Isley, Jr., American singer-songwriter (The Isley Brothers) (d. 1986)
• 1938 – Duane Armstrong, American painter
• 1938 – David Borden, American composer
• 1938 – Noel Picard, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1939 – Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Pakistani businessman
• 1939 – Bob James, American keyboard player and songwriter (Fourplay)
• 1939 – Akong Rinpoche, Tibetan-Chinese spiritual leader (d. 2013)
• 1940 – Pete Brown, English poet and songwriter
• 1940 – Hilary Spurling, English journalist and writer
• 1941 – Kenneth Calman, Scottish medical researcher
• 1942 – Françoise Dürr, French tennis player
• 1942 – Barbara Follett, Jamaican born British businesswoman
• 1942 – Enrique Morente, Spanish singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
• 1943 – Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior, Brazilian race car driver
• 1943 – Hanna Schygulla, German actress
• 1944 – Jairzinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1944 – Kenny Everett, English comedian and radio host (d. 1995)
• 1944 – Nigel Starmer-Smith, English rugby player and journalist
• 1944 – Henry Vestine, American guitarist (Canned Heat and The Mothers of Invention) (d. 1997)
• 1945 – Rick Berman, American television producer
• 1945 – Eve Pollard, English journalist and author
• 1945 – Noel Redding, English singer-songwriter and bass player (The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Fat Mattress, Road, and The Noel Redding Band) (d. 2003)
• 1945 – Gary Sandy, American actor
• 1945 – Ken Stabler, American football player
• 1945 – Mike Pringle, Scottish politician
• 1946 – Jimmy Buffett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
• 1946 – Larry Csonka, American football player
• 1946 – Christopher Frayling, English educationalist and writer
• 1946 – Gene Lamont, American baseball player and manager
• 1947 – Twink Caplan, American actress and comedian
• 1948 – Alia al-Hussein, Egyptian wife of Hussein of Jordan (d. 1977)
• 1948 – Barbara Mandrell, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1948 – Joel Santana, Brazilian footballer and coach
• 1949 – Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira, Brazilian singer
• 1949 – Nawaz Sharif, Pakistani politician, 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan
• 1949 – Sissy Spacek, American actress
• 1949 – Joe Louis Walker, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
• 1950 – Peter Boardman, English mountaineer and author (d. 1982)
• 1950 – Yehuda Poliker, Israeli singer-songwriter
• 1950 – Karl Rove, American journalist, White House Deputy Chief of Staff
• 1950 – Manny Trillo, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1952 – Desireless, French singer
• 1952 – C. C. H. Pounder, Guyanese-American actress
• 1954 – Annie Lennox, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Tourists and Eurythmics)
• 1954 – Steve Wariner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1955 – Brett Vroman, American basketball player
• 1957 – Chris Kamara, English footballer and sportscaster
• 1957 – Shane MacGowan, English-Irish singer-songwriter (The Pogues, The Nips, and Shane MacGowan and The Popes)
• 1958 – Cheryl Chase, American voice actress and singer
• 1958 – Hanford Dixon, American football player
• 1958 – Rickey Henderson, American baseball player
• 1958 – Konstantin Kinchev, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Alisa)
• 1958 – Alannah Myles, Canadian singer-songwriter
• 1958 – Martin Wiesner, German footballer
• 1959 – Michael P. Anderson, American astronaut (d. 2003)
• 1960 – Ron Bottitta, English actor
• 1961 – Íngrid Betancourt, Colombian politician
• 1962 – Dean Cameron, American actor
• 1964 – Gary McAllister, Scottish footballer
• 1964 – Ian Bostridge, English tenor
• 1964 – Tim Royes, American director
• 1964 – Bob Stanley, English keyboard player, songwriter, producer, and journalist (Saint Etienne)
• 1965 – David Rath, Czech doctor and politician
• 1965 – Ed Davey, English politician
• 1966 – Toshi Arai, Japanese race car driver
• 1967 – Jason Thirsk, American bass player (Pennywise and Humble Gods) (d. 1996)
• 1968 – Helena Christensen, Danish model
• 1968 – Jim Dowd, American ice hockey player
• 1970 – Nagma, Indian actress
• 1970 – Emmanuel Amuneke, Nigerian footballer
• 1970 – Rodney Dent, American basketball player
• 1971 – Dido, English singer-songwriter
• 1971 – Noel Hogan, Irish guitarist and producer (The Cranberries, Mono Band, and Arkitekt)
• 1971 – Justin Trudeau, Canadian politician
• 1972 – Josh Freese, American drummer and songwriter (The Vandals and Devo)
• 1972 – Mac Powell, American singer-songwriter and producer (Third Day)
• 1973 – Robbie Elliott, English footballer
• 1973 – Chris Harris, American wrestler
• 1973 – Alexandre Trudeau, Canadian journalist
• 1974 – Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, Mexican drug lord (d. 2012)
• 1975 – Rob Mariano, American reality show contestant, winner of Survivor: Redemption Island
• 1975 – Daniel Mustard, American singer-songwriter
• 1975 – Hideki Okajima, Japanese baseball player
• 1975 – Choi Sung-Yong, South Korean footballer
• 1975 – Marcus Trescothick, English cricketer
• 1976 – Tuomas Holopainen, Finnish keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (Nightwish and For My Pain...)
• 1976 – Armin van Buuren, Dutch DJ and producer
• 1976 – Tim James, American basketball player, coach, and U.S. Army specialist
• 1976 – Atko Väikmeri, Estonian footballer
• 1977 – Uhm Ji-won, South Korean actress
• 1977 – Priya Rai, Indian-American pornographic actress
• 1977 – Israel Vázquez, Mexican boxer
• 1978 – Simon Jones, English cricketer
• 1978 – Joel Porter, Australian footballer
• 1978 – Bridgetta Tomarchio, American actress and model
• 1979 – Robert Huff, English race car driver
• 1979 – Hyun Young-Min, South Korean footballer
• 1979 – Laurent Bonnart, French footballer
• 1980 – Kahi, South Korean singer, dancer, and actress (After School)
• 1980 – Locó, Angolan footballer
• 1980 – Reika Hashimoto, Japanese actress
• 1980 – Laura Sadler, English actress (d. 2003)
• 1980 – Marcus Trufant, American football player
• 1981 – Trenesha Biggers, American wrestler
• 1981 – Willy Taveras, Dominican baseball player
• 1981 – Katie Wright, American actress
• 1981 – Christian Holst, Danish/Faroese footballer
• 1982 – Dev, Indian actor
• 1982 – Shawn Andrews, American football player
• 1982 – Rob Edwards, Welsh footballer
• 1982 – Ethan Kath, Canadian keyboard player, songwriter and producer (Crystal Castles and Kïll Cheerleadër)
• 1982 – Chris Rene, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1984 – Chris Cahill, Samoan footballer
• 1984 – Alastair Cook, English cricketer
• 1984 – Georgia Moffett, English actress
• 1984 – Jessica Origliasso, Australian singer-songwriter and actress (The Veronicas)
• 1984 – Lisa Origliasso, Australian singer-songwriter and actress (The Veronicas)
• 1984 – Chris Richard, American basketball player
• 1985 – Leon Pisani, Welsh singer-songwriter (V)
• 1985 – Perdita Weeks, Welsh actress
• 1987 – Ceyhun Gülselam, Turkish footballer
• 1987 – Julian Lage, American guitarist and composer
• 1987 – Jorgie Porter, English actress
• 1987 – Justin Sweeney, Australian footballer
• 1987 – LJ Reyes, Filipino actress
• 1988 – Eric Gordon, American basketball player
• 1988 – Lukas Hinds-Johnson, German rugby player
• 1988 – Joãozinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1989 – Shahzaib Hasan, Pakistani cricketer
• 1989 – Michael Green, American soccer player
• 1989 – Djameleddine Benlamri, Algerian football player
• 1990 – Conny Perrin, Swiss tennis player
• 1993 – Emi Takei, Japanese actress, model and singer
• 1995 – Mimmi Sandén, Swedish singer and actress

Deaths

• 795 – Pope Adrian I (b. 700)
• 820 – Leo V the Armenian, Byzantine emperor (b. 775)
• 940 – Makan ibn Kaki, Iranian warlord
• 1156 – Peter the Venerable, French abbot of Cluny (b. 1092)
• 1553 – Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador, 1st Royal Governor of Chile (b. 1500)
• 1635 – Samuel de Champlain, French soldier, geographer, and explorer (b. 1567)
• 1676 – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, English soldier and politician (b. 1592)
• 1676 – Matthew Hale, English jurist (b. 1609)
• 1683 – Kara Mustafa Pasha, Ottoman general (b. 1634)
• 1758 – James Hervey, English clergyman (b. 1714)
• 1763 – Suraj Mal, Indian ruler of Bharatpur (b. 1707)
• 1765 – Prokop Diviš, Czech theologian and scientist (b. 1698)
• 1784 – Yosa Buson, Japanese painter (b. 1716)
• 1824 – Barbara von Krüdener, German mystic and author (b. 1764)
• 1868 – Linus Yale, Jr., American engineer and inventor (b. 1821)
• 1875 – Young Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (b. 1851)
• 1880 – Fridolin Anderwert, Swiss politician (b. 1828)
• 1916 – Albert Chmielowski, Polish saint, founded the Albertine Brothers (b. 1845)
• 1916 – Solko van den Bergh, Dutch target shooter (b. 1854)
• 1921 – Vladimir Korolenko, Russian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1853)
• 1925 – Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst (b. 1877)
• 1926 – Emperor Taishō of Japan (b. 1879)
• 1928 – Miles Burke, American boxer (b. 1885)
• 1933 – Francesc Macià i Llussà, Catalan politician, 122nd President of Catalonia (b. 1859)
• 1935 – Paul Bourget, French author and critic (b. 1852)
• 1938 – Karel Čapek, Czech author (b. 1890)
• 1940 – Agnes Ayres, American actress (b. 1898)
• 1944 – George Steer, South African-English journalist (b. 1909)
• 1945 – Franz Kröwerath, German rower (b. 1880)
• 1946 – W. C. Fields, American comedian and actor (b. 1880)
• 1947 – Gaspar G. Bacon, American politician, 51st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1886)
• 1949 – Leon Schlesinger, American film producer, founded Warner Bros. Cartoons (b. 1884)
• 1950 – Neil Francis Hawkins, English politician (b. 1903)
• 1952 – Margrethe Mather, American photographer (b. 1886)
• 1953 – Patsy Donovan, Irish-American baseball player (b. 1865)
• 1953 – William Haselden, English cartoonist (b. 1872)
• 1954 – Johnny Ace, American singer (b. 1929)
• 1956 – Robert Walser, Swiss author (b. 1878)
• 1957 – Charles Pathé, French film and record producer, founded Pathé and Pathé Records (b. 1863)
• 1961 – Owen Brewster, American politician, 54th Governor of Maine (b. 1888)
• 1961 – Otto Loewi, German-American pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1873)
• 1963 – Tristan Tzara, Romanian-French poet (b. 1896)
• 1970 – Michael Peto, Hungarian-English photographer and journalist (b. 1908)
• 1973 – İsmet İnönü, Turkish general and politician, 2nd President of Turkey (b. 1884)
• 1973 – Gabriel Voisin, French engineer (b. 1880)
• 1975 – Gaston Gallimard, French publisher, founded Éditions Gallimard (b. 1881)
• 1975 – Gunnar Kangro, Estonian mathematician (b. 1913)
• 1977 – Charlie Chaplin, English actor and director (b. 1889)
• 1979 – Joan Blondell, American actress (b. 1906)
• 1979 – Jordi Bonet, Canadian painter and sculptor (b. 1932)
• 1983 – Joan Miró, Catalan painter (b. 1893)
• 1988 – Shōhei Ōoka, Japanese author (b. 1909)
• 1988 – Edward Pelham-Clinton, 10th Duke of Newcastle, English lepidopterist (b. 1920)
• 1989 – Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian politician, 1st President of Romania (b. 1918)
• 1989 – Elena Ceaușescu, Romanian politician (b. 1919)
• 1989 – Billy Martin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
• 1989 – Benny Binion, American businessman (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Robert Pirosh, American screenwriter and director (b. 1910)
• 1989 – Betty Garde, American actress (b. 1905)
• 1989 – Frederick F. Houser, American politician (b. 1905)
• 1989 – Wally Ris, American swimmer (b. 1924)
• 1989 – Florică Murariu, Romanian rugby player (b. 1955)
• 1992 – Monica Dickens, English author (b. 1915)
• 1993 – Pierre Victor Auger, French physicist (b. 1899)
• 1994 – Zail Singh, Indian politician, 7th President of India (b. 1916)
• 1995 – Emmanuel Levinas, French philosopher (b. 1906)
• 1995 – Dean Martin, American singer and actor (b. 1917)
• 1996 – Bill Hewitt, Canadian sportscaster (b. 1928)
• 1997 – Anatoli Boukreev, Kazakh mountaineer (b. 1958)
• 1997 – Denver Pyle, American actor (b. 1920)
• 1998 – Bryan MacLean, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Love) (b. 1946)
• 1998 – John Pulman, English snooker player (b. 1926)
• 1999 – Peter Jeffrey, English actor (b. 1929)
• 2000 – Neil Hawke, Australian cricketer and footballer (b. 1939)
• 2000 – Willard Van Orman Quine, American philosopher (b. 1908)
• 2000 – Vibhuti Narayan Singh, Indian king,Kashi Raj(b.1927)
• 2002 – William T. Orr, American actor and producer (b. 1917)
• 2003 – Nicholas Mavroules, American politician (b. 1929)
• 2004 – Gennadi Strekalov, Russian astronaut(b. 1940)
• 2005 – Derek Bailey, English guitarist (b. 1930)
• 2005 – Robert Barbers, Filipino police officer and politician (b. 1944)
• 2005 – Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano (b. 1918)
• 2006 – James Brown, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (The Famous Flames) (b. 1933)
• 2006 – Hiroaki Hidaka, Japanese serial killer (b. 1962)
• 2007 – Des Barrick, English cricketer (b. 1927)
• 2007 – Jim Beauchamp, American baseball player (b. 1939)
• 2007 – Mighty King Kong, Kenyan singer (b. 1973)
• 2008 – Eartha Kitt, American singer and actress (b. 1927)
• 2008 – Asheem Chakravarty, Indian tabla player, percussionist and lead vocalist of Indian Ocean (b. 1957)
• 2009 – Vic Chesnutt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (brute. and The Undertow Orchestra) (b. 1964)
• 2010 – Carlos Andrés Pérez, Venezuelan politician, 66th President of Venezuela (b. 1922)
• 2011 – Giorgio Bocca, Italian journalist (b. 1920)
• 2011 – Ben Breedlove, American blogger (b. 1993)
• 2011 – Jim Sherwood, American saxophonist (The Mothers of Invention) (b. 1942)
• 2011 – Simms Taback, American author and illustrator (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Sita bint Fahd Al Damir, Saudi Arabian wife of Khalid of Saudi Arabia (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Erico B. Aumentado, Filipino journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1940)
• 2012 – Turki bin Sultan, Saudi Arabian politician (b. 1959)
• 2012 – Augusto Bracca, Venezuelan composer (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Frank Calabrese, Sr., American mobster (b. 1937)
• 2012 – Jane Dixon, American bishop (b. 1937)
• 2012 – Rachel Douglas-Home, 27th Baroness Dacre, English wife of William Douglas-Home (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Halfdan Hegtun, Norwegian radio host and politician (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Edward Hughes, American bishop (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Henry Ford Kamel, Ghanaian banker and politician (b. 1961)
• 2012 – Joe Krivak, American football coach (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Othmar Schneider, Austrian skier (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Rudolf Müller, German bishop (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Anastasia of Sirmium (Catholic Church)
  • December 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Christmas Day, Christian holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus. (International)
• Constitution Day (Taiwan)
• Malkh-Festival (Nakh peoples of Chechnya and Ingushetia)
• Quaid-e-Azam's Day (Pakistan)
• Takanakuy (Chumbivilcas Province, Peru)
• Brumalia The celebration of the pagan solstice, after Julian calendar instituted. (Italy)

External links

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