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619 - Boniface V becomes Pope.

1493 - Georg Alt's German translation of Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle is published.

1783 - George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland.

1823 - The poem A Visit From St. Nicholas (AKA The Night Before Christmas) is published in the Sentinel.

1888 - Vincent Van Gogh cuts off the lower part of his left ear, takes it to a brothel, and gives it to a prostitute named Rachel.

1913 - The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve.

1916 - World War I: Battle of Magdhaba - Allied forces defeat Turkish forces in Egypt's Sinai peninsula.

1921 - Visva-Bharati University inaugurated.

1936 - Colombia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

1941 - Japanese Imperial Army occupied Wake Island.

1947 - The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.

1948 - Seven former Japanese leaders sentenced to death by hanging at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East were executed at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo.

1954 - The first human kidney transplant is performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

1958 - Dedication of Tokyo Tower, world's highest self-supporting iron tower.

1970 - The North Tower of the World Trade Center is topped out at 1,368 feet, making it the tallest building in the world.

1972 - The Nicaraguan capital of Managua is struck by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake, killing more than 10,000.

1972 - All 16 survivors of the October 13 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 are rescued.

1979 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital.

1982 - The Environmental Protection Agency announces it has identified dangerous levels of dioxin in the soil of Times Beach, Missouri.

1986 - Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California and becomes the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world.

1990 - History of Slovenia: 88% of Slovenia's population vote for independence from Yugoslavia in a referendum.

2004 - Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean is hit by an 8.1 magnitude earthquake.

2005 - Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 from Baku, Azerbaijan to Aktau, Kazakhstan crashed shortly after takeoff killing 23 people.

2005 - Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18th attack on Adre, which left about 100 people dead.

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1513 - Thomas Smith, English diplomat and scholar (d. 1577)

1537 - King John III of Sweden (d. 1592)

1582 - Severo Bonini, Italian composer (d. 1663)

1597 - Martin Opitz von Boberfeld, German poet (d. 1639)

1613 - Carl Gustaf Wrangel, Swedish soldier (d. 1676)

1621 - Edmund Berry Godfrey, English magistrate (d. 1678)

1621 - Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1682)

1689 - Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, French composer (d. 1755)

1732 - Richard Arkwright, English industrialist and inventor (d. 1792)

1743 - Ippolit Bogdanovich, Russian poet (d. 1803)

1750 - King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (d. 1827)

1777 - Tsar Alexander I of Russia (d. 1825)

1790 - Jean François Champollion, French Egyptologist (d. 1832)

1804 - Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, French literary critic (d. 1869)

1805 - Joseph Smith, Jr., American founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1844)

1819 - Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, Dutch poet and clergyman (d. 1889)

1822 - Wilhelm Bauer, German engineer (d. 1875)

1843 - Richard Conner, American Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient (d. 1924)

1864 - Zorka of Montenegro, Princess of Serbia (d. 1890)

1867 - Madame C. J. Walker, American millionaire (d. 1919)

1878 - Stephen Timoshenko, Ukrainian-born mechanical engineer (d. 1972)

1885 - Pierre Brissaud, French artist (d. 1964)

1891 - Alexandr Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer (d. 1956)

1907 - Avraham Stern, Polish-born Zionist leader (d. 1942)

1908 - Yousuf Karsh, Turkish-born photographer (d. 2002)

1911 - Niels Kaj Jerne, English-born immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1994)

1918 - Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of Germany

1918 - José Greco, Italian-born flamenco dancer (d. 2001)

1922 - Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician

1923 - Günther Schifter, Austrian music journalist

1923 - Claudio Scimone, Italian conductor

1923 - James Stockdale, U.S. Navy admiral (d. 2005)

1926 - Robert Bly, American poet

1931 - Ronnie Schell, American actor

1933 - Akihito, Emperor of Japan

1935 - Paul Hornung, American football player

1936 - Frederic Forrest, American actor

1938 - Bob Kahn, American Internet pioneer

1940 - Jorma Kaukonen, American musician

1941 - Tim Hardin, American musician (d. 1980)

1943 - Mikhail Gromov, Russian-born mathematician

1943 - Harry Shearer, American actor

1943 - Silvia Sommerlath, Queen of Sweden

1943 - Ron Allen, Baseball player

1944 - Wesley Clark, U.S. general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander

1946 - Susan Lucci, American actress

1948 - Jack Ham, American football player

1949 - Adrian Belew, American musician

1950 - Michael C. Burgess, American politician

1951 - Anthony Phillips, British guitarist (Genesis)

1952 - William Kristol, American political commentator

1955 - Bruce Hornsby, American singer, pianist (Bruce Hornsby & the Range)

1956 - Dave Murray, English guitarist (Iron Maiden)

1956 - Michele Alboreto, Italian Formula one driver (d. 2001)

1958 - Victoria Williams, American singer

1961 - Carol Smillie, British television personality

1962 - Keiji Muto, Japanese professional wrestler

1963 - Jim Harbaugh, American football player

1964 - Eddie Vedder, American musician (Pearl Jam)

1968 - Carla Bruni, Italian-French model, songwriter and singer

1969 - Martha Byrne, American actress

1970 - Catriona LeMay Doan, Canadian speed skater

1970 - Raymont Harris, American football player

1971 - Corey Haim, Canadian actor

1971 - Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, British socialite

1974 - Agustín Delgado, Ecuadorian footballer

1975 - Sky Lopez, American actress

1976 - Jamie Noble, American professional wrestler

1977 - Alge Crumpler, American football player

1978 - Andra Davis, American football player

1978 - Esthero, Canadian musician and singer

1978 - Víctor Martínez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player

1978 - Estella Warren, Canadian model and actress

1978 - Jodie Marsh, British adult model

1979 - Summer Altice, American model and actress

1981 - Beth, Spanish singer

1985 - Harry Judd, British drummer (McFly)

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910 - Naum of Preslav, Bulgarian scholar

913 - Conrad of Franconia

1230 - Berengaria of Navarre, queen of Richard I of England

1556 - Nicholas Udall, English playwright (b. 1504)

1568 - Roger Ascham, tutor of Elizabeth I of England

1575 - Akiyama Nobutomo, Japanese warrior (b. 1531)

1588 - Henry I, Duke of Guise, French Catholic leader (b. 1550)

1631 - Michael Drayton, English poet (b. 1563)

1646 - François Maynard, French poet (b. 1582)

1652 - John Cotton, founder of Boston, Massachusetts (b. 1585)

1675 - Caesar, duc de Choiseul, French marshal and diplomat (b. 1602)

1722 - Pierre Varignon, French mathematician (b. 1654)

1771 - Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, Canadian saint (b. 1701)

1761 - Alestair Ruadh MacDonnell, Scottish Jacobite spy

1779 - Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, British admiral and politician (b. 1724)

1789 - Charles-Michel de l'Épée, French philanthropist and developer of signed French (b. 1712)

1793 - Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer (b. 1699)

1795 - Henry Clinton, British general (b. 1730)

1805 - Pehr Osbeck, Swedish explorer and naturalist (b. 1723)

1834 - Thomas Malthus, English demographer and economist (b. 1766)

1846 - Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent, French naturalist (b. 1780)

1872 - Theophile Gautier, French writer (b. 1811)

1902 - Frederick Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1821)

1912 - Otto Schoetensack, German anthropologist (b. 1850)

1939 - Anthony Fokker, Dutch aircraft manufacturer (b. 1890)

1948 - Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan (hanged) (b. 1884)

1948 - Akira Muto, Japanese army commander (hanged) (b. 1883)

1953 - Lavrenty Beria, Soviet Communist leader (b. 1899)

1954 - René Iché, French sculptor (b. 1897)

1970 - Charles Ruggles, American actor (b. 1886)

1973 - Charles Atlas, Italian-born bodybuilder (b. 1892)

1973 - Irna Phillips, American television writer, director, and producer (b. 1901)

1979 - Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (b. 1898)

1982 - Jack Webb, American actor, producer, and director (b. 1920)

1983 - Colin Middleton, Northern Irish artist (b. 1910)

1992 - Vincent Fourcade, French American interior designer and socialite (b. 1934)

1992 - Eddie Hazel, American guitarist (Funkadelic) (b. 1950)

1994 - Sebastian Shaw, English actor (b. 1905)

2000 - Billy Barty, American actor (b. 1924)

2000 - Victor Borge, Danish-born comedian and pianist (b. 1909)

2002 - Joe Strummer, Punk guitarist (b. 1952)

2004 - P. V. Narasimha Rao, ninth Prime Minister of India (b. 1921)

2005 - Norman D. Vaughan, polar explorer and dogsled driver (b. 1905)

2005 - Lajos Baróti, Hungarian footballer and coach (b. 1914)

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Roman festivals - Larentalia, a festival in honor of Larenta

R.C. Saints - O Emmanuel, John Cantius

Thorlac Thorhallsson, patron saint of Iceland

Japan - The Emperor's Birthday - Birthday of Akihito, the current Emperor of Japan

Jämtland – Sjursmäss ("Sigurd's Mass"), a local holiday

Festivus

Ancient Latvia - Ziemassvetki held

Sweden - Birthday of Queen Silvia, an official flag day

Oaxaca - Night of the Radishes

Secular humanism (American) - HumanLight observed