From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
December 22
is the 356th day of the year (357th in
leap years
) in the
Gregorian calendar
. There are nine days remaining until the end of the year.
- 69
- Roman Emperor
Vitellius
is captured and
murdered
at the Gemonian Stairs in
Rome
.
- 401
-
Pope Innocent I
is elected.
- 856
-
An earthquake
, near
Damghan
,
Persia
, kills an estimated 200,000 people.
- 880
-
China
:
Luoyang
, eastern capital of the
Tang Dynasty
, is captured by rebel leader
Huang Chao
during the reign of
Emperor Xizong of Tang
.
- 1135
-
Stephen of Blois
becomes
King
of
England
.
- 1603
?
Mehmed III
Sultan
of the
Ottoman Empire
dies and is succeeded by his son
Ahmed I
.
- 1622
- The
city
of
Bucaramanga
in present-day
Colombia
is founded.
- 1647
- A
hurricane
strikes the
Canary Islands
, with
Fuerteventura
being hit particularly hard.
- 1711
-
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
is crowned.
- 1769
- The
Sino-Burmese War of 1765-1769
ends with an uneasy truce.
- 1789
-
Revolutionary
France
is divided into
departments
.
- 1790
- The
Turkish
fortress of
Izmail
is stormed and captured by
Alexander Suvorov
and his
Russian
armies.
- 1807
? The
Embargo Act
, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the
United States Congress
, at the urging of
President
Thomas Jefferson
.
- 1809
? The
Non-Intercourse Act
, lifting the
Embargo Act
except for the
United Kingdom
and
France
, passes the
United States Congress
.
- 1849
? The execution of
Fyodor Dostoevsky
is canceled at the last second.
- 1851
? The first freight train is operated in
Roorkee
in
India
.
- 1857
-
Mountaineering
: The
Alpine Club
is founded in
London
.
- 1864
?
Savannah, Georgia
falls to General
William Tecumseh Sherman
during the
American Civil War
.
- 1885
?
Ito Hirobumi
, a
samurai
, becomes the first
Prime Minister of Japan
.
- 1891
-
Asteroid
323 Brucia
becomes the first
asteroid
discovered by the use of
photography
- 1894
? The
Dreyfus affair
begins, in
France
, when
Alfred Dreyfus
is wrongly convicted of
treason
, on
antisemitic
grounds.
- 1894
- The
United States Golf Association
is founded.
- 1910
?
Chicago Union Stock Yards Fire
, 21 firemen were killed.
- 1937
? The
Lincoln Tunnel
opens to traffic in
New York City
.
- 1939
- Worst day in history of
German
train
travel: Two separate accidents kill 287 people in total.
- 1942
-
World War II
:
Adolf Hitler
orders the development of the V-2
rocket
as a weapon.
- 1944
?
World War II
:
German
troops demand the surrender of
United States
troops at
Bastogne
,
Belgium
. See
Battle of the Bulge
- 1944
?
World War II
:
Vietnam People's Army
is formed to resist Japanese occupation of
Vietnam
.
- 1947
- The
Constituent Assembly of Italy
approves the country's new
constitution
.
- 1956
-
Colo
, the first
gorilla
to be bred in captivity, is born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in
Ohio
.
- 1963
? Cruise ship
Lakonia
burns 180 miles north of
Madeira
with the loss of 128 lives.
- 1964
? Comedian
Lenny Bruce
is convicted of
obscenity
.
- 1965
? A 65
miles
per
hour
speed limit is introduced on country roads and
motorways
in the
United Kingdom
.
- 1968
-
Cultural Revolution
: People's Daily posted the instructions of
Mao Zedong
that it is "The intellectual youth must go to the country, and will be educated from living in rural poverty."(
Down to the Countryside Movement
)
- 1974
?
Grande Comore
,
Anjouan
and
Moheli
vote to become the independent nation of
Comoros
.
Mayotte
remains under
French
administration.
- 1974
- The house of
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Edward Heath
is attacked by members of the
Provisional Irish Republican Army
.
- 1979
-
Catalonia
is given
autonomy
within
Spain
.
- 1984
? Subway vigilante
Bernhard Hugo Goetz
shoots four
African-American
youths on an express train in
The Bronx
borough of
New York City
.
- 1988
?
Chico Mendes
, a
Brazilian
rubber tapper
,
unionist
and
environmental activist
, is
assassinated
.
- 1988
?
Yitzhak Shamir
present his 3rd government in front of the Israeli Parliament
- 1989
? After a week of bloody demonstrations,
Ion Iliescu
takes over as president of
Romania
, ending
Nicolae Ceau?escu
's
Communist
dictatorship.
- 1989
?
Berlin
's
Brandenburg Gate
re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of
East
and
West Germany
.
- 1989
? Two Tourist coaches collide on the Pacific Highway north of Kempsey NSW (Kempsey Bus Crash).
- 1990
? The
Marshall Islands
and the
Federated States of Micronesia
become independent after the end of their trusteeship.
- 1990
?
Lech Wał?sa
is sworn in as
President of Poland
.
- 1991
- Armed opposition groups launch a
military
coup
against
President
of
Georgia
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
.
- 1992
? An MiG23 and a
Boeing 727
of
Libyan
Arab Airlines collide near
Tripoli
, killing 157 people.
- 1997
?
Acteal massacre
: Attendees at a prayer meeting of
Roman Catholic
activists for
indigenous
causes in the small village of Acteal in the
Mexican
state of Chiapas were
massacred
by
paramilitary
forces.
- 1999
? The
Spanish
Civil Guard
finds near
Calatayud
(
Zaragoza
) another van loaded by
ETA
with 750 kg of
explosives
(see related event on
December 21
1999
).
- 1999
?
Tandja Mamadou
becomes
President
of
Niger
.
- 244
?
Diocletian
, Roman Emperor (d.
311
)
- 1095
? King
Roger II of Sicily
(d.
1154
)
- 1178
?
Emperor Antoku
of
Japan
(d.
1185
)
- 1183
-
Chagatai Khan
, Mongol ruler (d.
1242
)
- 1546
-
Kuroda Yoshitaka
, Japanese
daimyo
(d.
1604
)
- 1550
-
Cesare Cremonini
, Italian
philosopher
(d.
1631
)
- 1639
?
Jean Racine
, French
dramatist
(d.
1699
)
- 1666
?
Gobind Singh
,
Sikh
guru
(d.
1708
)
- 1694
?
Hermann Samuel Reimarus
, German writer and
philosopher
(d.
1768
)
- 1696
?
James Oglethorpe
, English general, founder of the State of
Georgia
(d.
1785
)
- 1723
?
Carl Friedrich Abel
, German composer (d.
1787
)
- 1765
?
Johann Friedrich Pfaff
, German
mathematician
(d.
1825
)
- 1798
-
George W. Crawford
, American politician,
Governor
of
Georgia
(d.
1872
)
- 1805
-
John Obadiah Westwood
, English
entomologist
and
archaeologist
(d.
1893
)
- 1807
?
Johann Christian Welhaven
, Norwegian
poet
(d.
1873
)
- 1819
?
Franz Abt
, German composer (d.
1870
)
- 1819
?
Pierre Ossian Bonnet
, French
mathematician
(d.
1892
)
- 1848
?
Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff
, German classical
philologist
(d.
1931
)
- 1850
-
Victoriano Huerta
,
President
of
Mexico
(d.
1916
)
- 1853
-
Yevgraf Fyodorov
, Russian
mathematician
(d.
1919
)
- 1856
?
Frank B. Kellogg
, American lawyer and diplomat, 45th
United States Secretary of State
(d.
1937
)
- 1858
?
Giacomo Puccini
, Italian
composer
(d.
1924
)
- 1862
-
Connie Mack
, American
baseball
player, manager and team owner (d.
1956
)
- 1865
-
Charles Sands
, American
golfer
and
tennis
player (d.
1945
)
- 1869
-
Dmitri Egorov
, Russian
mathematician
(d.
1931
)
- 1869
-
Edwin Arlington Robinson
, American
poet
(d.
1935
)
- 1876
?
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
, Italian
poet
and editor (d.
1944
)
- 1883
?
Edgard Varese
, French-American composer (d.
1965
)
- 1887
?
Srinivasa Ramanujan
, Indian
mathematician
(d.
1920
)
- 1888
-
J. Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank
, British
movie producer
(d.
1972
)
- 1892
-
Lawrence Sperry
, American
pilot
(d.
1923
)
- 1899
?
Gustaf Grundgens
, German actor (d.
1963
)
- 1900
?
Marc Allegret
, French
movie director
and
screenwriter
(d.
1973
)
- 1900
-
John C. Slater
, American
chemist
and
physicist
(d.
1976
)
- 1901
-
Andre Kostelanetz
, American popular music
orchestra
leader and arranger (d.
1980
)
- 1903
?
Haldan Keffer Hartline
, American
physiologist
(d.
1983
)
- 1905
?
Pierre Brasseur
, French actor (d.
1972
)
- 1907
?
Peggy Ashcroft
, British actress (d.
1991
)
- 1907
-
Fred M. Wilcox
, American film director (d.
1964
)
- 1909
-
Patricia Hayes
, British actress (d.
1998
)
- 1912
?
Lady Bird Johnson
,
First Lady of the United States
(d.
2007
)
- 1914
-
Colin Hannah
, Australian air force commander and 19th
Governor
of
Queensland
(d.
1978
)
- 1915
?
Barbara Billingsley
, American actress (d.
2010
)
- 1917
-
Gene Rayburn
, American game show host (d.
1999
)
- 1922
-
Ruth Roman
, American actress (d.
1999
)
- 1922
-
Jim Wright
, American politician (d.
2015
)
- 1924
-
Lefter Kucukandonyadis
, Turkish
footballer
(d.
2012
)
- 1926
-
Alcides Ghiggia
,
Uruguayan
footballer
(d.
2015
)
- 1928
-
Fredrik Barth
, Norwegian
ethnologist
(d.
2016
)
- 1931
-
Gisela Birkemeyer
, German athlete
- 1933
-
Abel Pacheco
, former
President
of
Costa Rica
- 1935
-
Paulo Rocha
, Portuguese
director
and
screenwriter
(d.
2012
)
- 1936
?
Hector Elizondo
, American actor
- 1936
-
Wojciech Frykowski
, Polish actor (d.
1969
)
- 1937
?
Eduard Uspensky
, Russian writer
- 1938
-
Lucien Bouchard
, 27th
Premier
of
Quebec
- 1940
?
Luis Francisco Cuellar
,
Colombian
politician (d.
2009
)
- 1942
-
Yasuyuki Kuwahara
, Japanese
footballer
(d.
2017
)
- 1943
?
Paul Wolfowitz
, former World Bank President
- 1944
-
Barry Jenkins
, English
drummer
(
The Animals
)
- 1945
-
Diane Sawyer
, American
journalist
and
television
presenter
- 1948
-
Rick Nielsen
, rock musician
- 1948
?
Noel Edmonds
, British television presenter
- 1948
?
Lynne Thigpen
, American actress (d.
2003
)
- 1949
?
Maurice Gibb
, British singer and musician (
Bee Gees
) (d.
2003
)
- 1949
?
Robin Gibb
, British singer and musician (
Bee Gees
) (d.
2012
)
- 1951
-
Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster
. British businessman (d.
2016
)
- 1952
-
Sandra Kalniete
,
Latvian
politician
- 1955
-
Thomas C. Sudhof
, German-American biochemist,
2013
Nobel Prize
winner
- 1956
-
Colo
, American-bred
Western gorilla
(d.
2017
)
- 1958
-
Frank Gambale
, Australian
guitarist
,
songwriter
and
musician
- 1958
-
Masaaki Kato
, Japanese
footballer
- 1959
?
Bernd Schuster
, German
footballer
- 1960
-
Jean-Michel Basquiat
, American artist (d.
1988
)
- 1961
-
Yuri Malenchenko
, Russian
colonel
,
pilot
and
astronaut
- 1962
- 1963
?
Giuseppe Bergomi
, Italian
footballer
- 1963
-
Bryan Gunn
, British
footballer
- 1967
?
Dan Petrescu
, Romanian
footballer
- 1967
?
Richey James Edwards
, Welsh musician (
Manic Street Preachers
) (disappeared in
1995
)
- 1968
-
Luis Hernandez
, Mexican
footballer
- 1968
-
Lauralee Bell
, American
actress
,
director
,
producer
and
screenwriter
- 1969
-
Myriam Bedard
, Canadian
biathlete
- 1970
-
Gary Anderson
, Scottish
darts
player
- 1970
-
Ted Cruz
, American
lawyer
and
politician
- 1972
?
Vanessa Paradis
, French actress and singer
- 1972
-
Franck Cammas
, French sailor
- 1972
-
Steffi Jones
, German
footballer
- 1973
-
Traci Dinwiddie
, American actress
- 1973
-
Heather Donahue
, American actress
- 1975
?
Dmitri Khokhlov
, Russian
footballer
- 1975
?
Stanislav Neckar
, Czech
ice hockey
player
- 1978
-
Joy Ali
, Fijian boxer (d.
2015
)
- 1978
?
Emmanuel Olisadebe
, Nigerian-Polish
footballer
- 1978
-
Mia Tyler
, American model
- 1979
-
Naotake Hanyu
, Japanese
footballer
- 1979
?
Jamie Langfield
, Scottish
footballer
- 1980
-
Chris Carmack
, American
actor
,
singer
and
model
- 1982
-
Teko Modise
, South African
footballer
- 1982
-
Agbani Darego
, Nigerian
model
- 1982
-
Alinne Moraes
, Brazilian
actress
- 1983
-
Jennifer Hawkins
, Australian model
- 1984
?
Basshunter
, Swedish DJ and singer
- 1985
-
Edurne
, Spanish
singer
,
actress
,
model
and presenter
- 1986
?
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
, Nigerian Islamist militant
- 1987
-
Lisa Andreas
, English-Cypriot singer
- 1987
-
Eder
, Portuguese
footballer
- 1988
?
Leigh Halfpenny
, Welsh
rugby
player
- 1989
?
Jordin Sparks
, American singer
- 1989
-
Logan Huffman
, American actor
- 1990
?
Jean-Baptiste Maunier
, French singer and actor
- 1990
-
Josef Newgarden
, American racing driver
- 1992
-
Anis Amri
, Tunisian suspected terrorist (
2016 Berlin attack
) (d.
2016
)
- 1993
-
Ali Lohan
, American
actress
and
singer
- 1993
-
Meghan Trainor
, American singer
- 1995
-
Imam-ul-Haq
, Pakistani cricketer
- 1998
-
Genevieve Hannelius
, American
actress
and
musician
- 2001
-
CC
, first cloned pet
- 69
?
Vitellius
, Roman Emperor (b.
15
)
- 1100
-
Bretislaus II, Duke of Bohemia
(b.
1060
)
- 1603
?
Mehmed III
,
Ottoman Sultan
(b.
1566
)
- 1646
-
Peter Mogila
,
Moldovan
religious figure (b.
1596
)
- 1708
-
Hedvig Sophia of Sweden
(b.
1681
)
- 1767
-
John Newbery
, English children's writer (b.
1713
)
- 1788
?
Percival Pott
, English
physician
and surgeon (b.
1714
)
- 1828
-
William Hyde Wollaston
, English
chemist
and
physicist
(b.
1766
)
- 1867
?
Jean-Victor Poncelet
, French mathematician (b.
1788
)
- 1880
?
George Eliot
, English writer (b.
1819
)
- 1899
-
Dwight E. Moody
, American evangelist and publisher (b.
1837
)
- 1902
?
Richard von Krafft-Ebing
, German
psychiatrist
(b.
1840
)
- 1917
? St.
Francesca Xavier Cabrini
, American Catholic saint (b.
1850
)
- 1918
-
Aristeidis Moraitinis
, Greek aviator (b.
1891
)
- 1925
-
Amelie Beese
, German
aviatrix
(b.
1886
)
- 1939
?
Ma Rainey
, American singer (b.
1886
)
- 1940
?
Nathanael West
, American writer (b.
1903
)
- 1943
?
Beatrix Potter
, British writer (b.
1866
)
- 1944
-
Harry Langdon
, American
actor
,
singer
,
director
and
screenwriter
(b.
1884
)
- 1959
?
Gilda Gray
, Polish-American singer (b.
1901
)
- 1961
-
Elia Dalla Costa
,
Archbishop
of
Florence
(b.
1872
)
- 1965
?
Richard Dimbleby
, British broadcaster (b.
1913
)
- 1974
-
Sterling North
, American author (b.
1906
)
- 1979
?
Darryl F. Zanuck
, American producer (b.
1902
)
- 1988
?
Chico Mendes
, Brazilian
activist
(b.
1944
)
- 1989
?
Samuel Beckett
, Irish
playwright
(b.
1906
)
- 1995
?
Butterfly McQueen
, American actress (b.
1911
)
- 1995
?
James Meade
, British
economist
(b.
1907
)
- 2002
?
Joe Strummer
, British musician (b.
1952
)
- 2002
?
Desmond Hoyte
,
Guyanese
politician (b.
1929
)
- 2007
-
Julien Gracq
, French writer (b.
1910
)
- 2008
?
Lansana Conte
,
President
of
Guinea
(b.
1934
)
- 2009
?
Luis Francisco Cuellar
,
Colombian
politician (b.
1940
)
- 2012
-
Cliff Osmond
, American actor (b.
1937
)
- 2013
-
Diomedes Diaz
, Colombian
singer-songwriter
(b.
1956
)
- 2014
-
Joe Cocker
, English singer (b.
1944
)
- 2014
-
Abd El Aziz Muhammad Hegazi
, former
Prime Minister
of
Egypt
(b.
1923
)
- 2014
-
Joseph Sargent
, American
movie director
,
producer
and
actor
(b.
1925
)
- 2014
-
Fritz Sdunek
, German boxing trainer (b.
1947
)
- 2014
-
Christine Cavanaugh
, American
actress
(b.
1963
)
- 2015
-
George Clayton Johnson
, American
science fiction
writer (b.
1929
)
- 2015
-
Rolf Bossi
, German
lawyer
(b.
1923
)
- 2015
-
Freda Meissner-Blau
, Austrian
politician
(b.
1927
)
- 2015
-
Peter Lundblad
, Swedish
singer
(b.
1950
)
- 2016
-
Yevgeny Dzhugashvili
, Russian-Georgian
activist
and
politician
(b.
1936
)
- 2016
-
Franca Sozzani
, Italian
journalist
, editor of
Vogue Italia
(b.
1950
)
- 2016
-
Miruts Yifter
, Ethiopian long-distance runner (b.
1944
)
- 2017
-
Jason Lowndes
, Australian racing cyclist (b.
1994
)
- 2017
-
Gerald B. Greenberg
, American film editor (b.
1936
)