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218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Roman Republic.

1271 - Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China.

1352 - Innocent VI is elected Pope.

1787 - New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the United States Constitution.

1793 - Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by Frech royalists to Lord Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck.

1892 - The first performance of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker is held at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.

1900 - The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia opened for traffic.

1926 - The first performance of Leoš Janáček's opera The Makropulos Affair is held in Brno, Czechoslovakia.

1935 - The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Sri Lanka.

1961 - Indonesia invades Netherlands New Guinea.

1966 - Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.

1969 - Capital punishment in the United Kingdom: Home Secretary James Callaghan's motion to remove the limit on the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act, which suspended the death penalty in England, Wales and Scotland for all crimes, except treason, piracy with violence, and certain crimes under the jurisdiction of the armed forces for a period of five years, is carried by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

1973 - Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.

1996 - The Oakland, California school board passes a resolution officially declaring "Ebonics" a language or dialect.

1997 - HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium.

1999 - NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.

2001 - The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan, New York City, is damaged by fire.

2002 - 2003 California recall: Governor of California Gray Davis announces that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier.

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1507 - Ouchi Yoshitaka, Japanese warlord (d. 1551)

1602 - Simonds d'Ewes, English antiquarian and politician (d. 1650)

1610 - Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, French philologist (d. 1688)

1620 - Heinrich Roth, German Sanskrit scholar (d. 1668)

1626 - Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689)

1661 - Christopher Polhem, Swedish scientist and inventor (d. 1751)

1662 - James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, Scottish politician (d. 1711)

1724 - Louise of Great Britain, wife of Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1751)

1725 - Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and Bible commentator (d. 1791)

1825 - Charles Griffin (general), American general (d. 1876)

1835 - Lyman Abbott, American author (d. 1922)

1847 - Augusta Holmès, French composer (d. 1903)

1856 - Sir J.J. Thomson, British physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)

1863 - Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (d. 1914)

1870 - Saki, British writer (d. 1916)

1873 - Francis Burton Harrison, American political figure (d. 1957)

1878 - Josef Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1953)

1879 - Paul Klee, Swiss-born painter and graphic artist (d. 1940)

1886 - Ty Cobb, American baseball player (d. 1961)

1888 - Robert Moses, American public works official (d. 1981)

1888 - Dame Gladys Cooper, British actress (d. 1971)

1890 - Edwin Armstrong, American inventor (d. 1954)

1897 - Fletcher Henderson, American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer (d. 1952)

1904 - George Stevens, American film director, producer, writer and cinematographer (d. 1975)

1907 - Bill Holland, American auto racer (d. 1984)

1912 - Benjamin O. Davis Jr., American General (d. 2002)

1913 - Alfred Bester, American author (d. 1987)

1913 - Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)

1913 - Ray Meyer, former head coach of DePaul University men's basketball team )(d. 2006)

1916 - Betty Grable, American actress (d. 1973)

1916 - Douglas Fraser, British-born trade unionist

1917 - Ossie Davis, American actor (d. 2005)

1927 - Ramsey Clark, U.S. Attorney General

1927 - Romeo LeBlanc, 25th Governor General of Canada

1928 - Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal

1929 - Gino Cimoli, baseball player

1930 - Moose Skowron, baseball player

1931 - Allen Klein, rock and roll business manager

1934 - Boris Volynov, cosmonaut

1935 - Jacques Pépin, French chef

1936 - Malcolm Kirk, wrestler (d. 1987)

1938 - Roger E. Mosley, American actor

1939 - Michael Moorcock, British author

1939 - Harold E. Varmus, American scientist and Nobel Prize laureate

1940 - Bramwell Morrison, member of children's musical group Sharon, Lois & Bram

1943 - Keith Richards, British guitarist (The Rolling Stones)

1946 - Steven Spielberg, American film director

1946 - Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 1977)

1948 - Bill Nelson, British musician (Be Bop Deluxe)

1950 - Gillian Armstrong, Australian film director

1950 - Leonard Maltin, American film critic

1950 - Randy Castillo, American drummer(d.2002)

1953 - Elliot Easton, American guitarist (The Cars)

1955 - Ray Liotta, American actor

1956 - Ron White, American comedian

1960 - Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist

1961 - Brian Orser, Canadian figure skater

1963 - Karl Dorrell, American football coach

1963 - Brad Pitt, American actor

1964 - Stone Cold Steve Austin, American professional wrestler

1964 - Don Beebe, American football player

1964 - Robson Green, British actor and singer

1965 - Tommy Davidson, American actor

1967 - Toine van Peperstraten, Dutch sports journalist

1968 - Casper Van Dien, American actor

1970 - DMX, American rapper and actor

1970 - Miles Marshall Lewis, American author

1970 - Rob Van Dam, American professional wrestler

1970 - Cowboy Troy, American rapper

1970 - Anthony Catanzaro, American male fitness model and bodybuilder

1970 - Johnny Yeo, British artist

1971 - Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish tennis player

1971 - Barkha Dutt, Indian Journalist

1972 - DJ Lethal, American DJ (House of Pain & Limp Bizkit)

1973 - Raymond Herrera, American drummer (Fear Factory)

1974 - Peter Boulware, American football player

1974 - Knut Euroboy Schreiner, Norwegian musician (Turbonegro)

1975 - Trish Stratus, Canadian professional wrestler

1975 - Masaki Sumitani, Japanese comedian

1976 - Koyuki, Japanese actress and model

1977 - José Acevedo, Baseball player

1978 - Curtis Taylor, "Bullycide" victim (d. 1993)

1979 - Carlos Fernandes, Portuguese footballer

1978 - Katie Holmes, American actress

1980 - Christina Aguilera, American singer

1983 - Darren Carter, English footballer

1985 - Hana Soukupová, Czech supermodel

1987 - Miki Ando, Japanese figure skater

1989 - Ashley Benson, American actress

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821 - Theodulf, Bishop of Orléans

1133 - Hildebert, French writer

1290 - King Magnus I of Sweden (b. 1240)

1442 - Pierre Cauchon, French Catholic bishop (b. 1371)

1495 - King Alphonso II of Naples (b. 1448)

1692 - Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German statesman (b. 1626)

1737 - Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker (b. 1644)

1787 - Francis William Drake, British Admiral and Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1724)

1787 - Soame Jenyns, English writer (b. 1704)

1799 - Jean-Étienne Montucla, French mathematician (b. 1725)

1803 - Johann Gottfried Herder, German writer (b. 1744)

1843 - Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch, British Viceroy of India (b. 1748)

1848 - Bernard Bolzano, Bohemian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1781)

1869 - Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American composer and pianist (b. 1829)

1880 - Michel Chasles, French mathematician (b. 1793)

1936 - Andrija Mohorovičić, Austro-Hungarian-born Yugoslav seismologist (b. 1857)

1971 - Bobby Jones, American golfer (b. 1902)

1974 - Harry Hooper, American baseball player (b. 1887)

1975 - Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist (b. 1900)

1980 - Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the USSR (b. 1904)

1982 - Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German pilot (b. 1916)

1985 - Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet (b. 1916)

1990 - Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (b. 1914)

1991 - George Abecassis, British Formula 1 driver (b. 1913)

1992 - Mark Goodson, American game show producer (b. 1915)

1993 - Sam Wanamaker, American actor (b. 1919)

1994 - Roger Apéry, French mathematician (b. 1916)

1995 - Konrad Zuse, German engineer and computing pioneer (b. 1910)

1996 - Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist (b. 1904)

1997 - Chris Farley, American actor and comedian (b. 1964)

1998 - Lev Demin, cosmonaut (b. 1926)

1999 - Robert Bresson, French film director (b. 1907)

2000 - Kirsty MacColl, British singer and songwriter (b. 1959)

2001 - Gilbert Bécaud, French singer (b. 1927)

2002 - Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1934)

2004 - Anthony Sampson, British journalist and biographer (b. 1926)

2005 - Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (b. 1922)

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Roman festivals - Feast of Epona (during Saturnalia)

R.C. Saints - Gatianus of Tours, O Adonai

Also see December 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Niger - Republic Day (autonomous in 1958)

Greek Orthodox Church – Feast of Sebastian the Martyr