December 18

December 18 in recent years

2023 (Monday)

2022 (Sunday)

2021 (Saturday)

2020 (Friday)

2019 (Wednesday)

2018 (Tuesday)

2017 (Monday)

2016 (Sunday)

2015 (Friday)

2014 (Thursday)

December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 13 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 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 Mongolia and China.
• 1622 – Portuguese forces score a military victory over the Kingdom of Kongo at the Battle of Mbumbi in present-day Angola.
• 1642 – Abel Tasman becomes first European to land in New Zealand.
• 1655 – The Whitehall Conference ends with the determination that there was no law preventing Jews from re-entering England after the Edict of Expulsion of 1290.
• 1777 – The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the Americans over British General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October.
• 1787 – New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
• 1793 – Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by French Royalists to Lord Samuel Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck.
• 1878 – John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires is executed in Pennsylvania.
• 1878 – The Al-Thani family become the rulers of the state of Qatar
• 1888 – Richard Wetherill and his brother in-law discover the ancient Indian ruins of Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde.
• 1892 – Premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
• 1898 – Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat sets the first officially recognized land speed record of 39.245 mph (63.159 km/h) in a Jeantaud electric car.
• 1900 – The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook, Victoria Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia is opened for traffic.
• 1912 – The Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, is announced by Charles Dawson.
• 1916 – World War I: The Battle of Verdun ends when German forces under Chief of staff Erich von Falkenhayn are defeated by the French, and suffer 337,000 casualties.
• 1917 – The resolution containing the language of the Eighteenth Amendment to enact Prohibition is passed by the United States Congress.
• 1932 – The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 in the first ever NFL Championship Game. Because of a blizzard, the game is moved from Wrigley Field to the Chicago Stadium, the field measuring 80 yards (73 m) long.
• 1935 – The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Ceylon.
• 1939 – World War II: The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of the war, takes place.
• 1944 – World War II: 77 B-29 Superfortress and 200 other aircraft of U.S. Fourteenth Air Force bomb Hankow, China, a Japanese supply base.
• 1956 – Japan joins the United Nations.
• 1958 – Project SCORE, the world's first communications satellite, is launched.
• 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 make permanent the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, which had temporarily suspended capital punishment in England, Wales and Scotland for murder (but not for all crimes) for a period of five years.
• 1971 – Capitol Reef National Park is established in Utah.
• 1972 – Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th.
• 1973 – Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.
• 1973 – The Islamic Development Bank is founded.
• 1978 – Dominica joins the United Nations.
• 1987 – Larry Wall releases the first version of the Perl programming language.
• 1989 – The European Economic Community and the Soviet Union sign an agreement on trade and commercial and economic cooperation.
• 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.
• 2002 – 2003 California recall: Then 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.
• 2005 – The civil war in Chad begins when rebel groups, allegedly backed by neighbouring Sudan, launch an attack in Adré.
• 2006 – The first of a series of floods strikes Malaysia. The death toll of all flooding is at least 118, with over 400,000 people displaced.
• 2006 – United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections.
• 2010 – Anti-government protests begin in Tunisia, heralding the Arab Spring.

Births

• 1507 – Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese daimyo (d. 1551)
• 1602 – Simonds d'Ewes, English historian and politician (d. 1650)
• 1610 – Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, French philologist and historian (d. 1688)
• 1620 – Heinrich Roth, German scholar (d. 1668)
• 1661 – Christopher Polhem, Swedish scientist and inventor (d. 1751)
• 1662 – James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, Scottish politician (d. 1711)
• 1707 – Charles Wesley, English composer (d. 1788)
• 1725 – Johann Salomo Semler, German historian (d. 1791)
• 1734 – Jean-Baptiste Rey, French conductor and composer (d. 1810)
• 1778 – Joseph Grimaldi, English actor and dancer (d. 1837)
• 1825 – Charles Griffin, American general (d. 1876)
• 1825 – John S. Harris, American politician (d. 1906)
• 1835 – Lyman Abbott, American author (d. 1922)
• 1847 – Augusta Holmès, French composer (d. 1903)
• 1849 – Henrietta Edwards, Canadian activist and author (d. 1931)
• 1851 – Graciano López Jaena, Filipino journalist (d. 1896)
• 1856 – J. J. Thomson, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)
• 1860 – Edward MacDowell, American composer and pianist (d. 1908)
• 1861 – Lionel Monckton, English composer (d. 1924)
• 1863 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (d. 1914)
• 1867 – Foxhall P. Keene, American polo player (d. 1941)
• 1870 – Saki, Burmese-English author and playwright (d. 1916)
• 1873 – Francis Burton Harrison, American politician, 6th Governor-General of the Philippines (d. 1957)
• 1878 – Joseph Stalin, Soviet marshal and politician, 4th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1953)
• 1879 – Paul Klee, Swiss-German painter (d. 1940)
• 1882 – Paulin Lemaire, French gymnast
• 1882 – Richard Maury, American-Argentine engineer, designed the Salta–Antofagasta railway (d. 1950)
• 1883 – Raimu, French actor (d. 1946)
• 1886 – Ty Cobb, American baseball player (d. 1961)
• 1886 – Martin Dooling, American soccer player (d. 1966)
• 1887 – Bhikhari Thakur, Indian author (d. 1971)
• 1888 – Gladys Cooper, English actress (d. 1971)
• 1888 – Robert Moses, American urban planner, designed the Northern State Parkway and Southern State Parkway (d. 1981)
• 1890 – Edwin Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (d. 1954)
• 1897 – Fletcher Henderson, American composer (d. 1952)
• 1899 – Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian philosopher and author (d. 1990)
• 1904 – George Stevens, American director (d. 1975)
• 1907 – Bill Holland, American race car (d. 1984)
• 1907 – Lawrence Lucie, American guitarist (Mills Blue Rhythm Band) (d. 2009)
• 1908 – Celia Johnson, English actress (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Paul Siple, American geographer and explorer (d. 1969)
• 1910 – Abe Burrows, American author, playwright, and director (d. 1985)
• 1910 – Eric Tindill, New Zealand rugby player, cricketer, and umpire (d. 2010)
• 1911 – Jules Dassin, American director (d. 2008)
• 1912 – Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American general (d. 2002)
• 1913 – Alfred Bester, American author (d. 1987)
• 1913 – Willy Brandt, German politician, 4th Chancellor of Germany, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
• 1913 – Ray Meyer, American basketball coach (d. 2006)
• 1916 – Douglas Fraser, Scottish-American union leader (d. 2008)
• 1916 – Betty Grable, American actress (d. 1973)
• 1917 – Ossie Davis, American actor and activist (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Robert Leckie, American marine and author (d. 2001)
• 1922 – Jack Brooks, American politician (d. 2012)
• 1927 – Ramsey Clark, American lawyer, 66th United States Attorney General
• 1927 – Roméo LeBlanc, Canadian journalist and politician, 25th Governor General of Canada (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Indian-Pakistani 4th caliph of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (d. 2003)
• 1929 – Gino Cimoli, American baseball player (d. 2011)
• 1929 – Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Moose Skowron, American baseball player (d. 2012)
• 1931 – Allen Klein, American talent agent and businessman (d. 2009)
• 1931 – Alison Plowden, English historian (d. 2007)
• 1932 – Roger Smith, American actor
• 1933 – Lonnie Brooks, American singer and guitarist
• 1934 – Marc Rich, Belgian-American businessman (d. 2013)
• 1934 – Boris Volynov, Russian astronaut and engineer
• 1935 – Jacques Pépin, French-American chef and author
• 1936 – Malcolm Kirk, English wrestler (d. 1987)
• 1938 – Chas Chandler, English bass player and producer (The Animals) (d. 1996)
• 1938 – Joel Hirschhorn, American songwriter and composer (d. 2005)
• 1938 – Roger E. Mosley, American actor
• 1939 – Michael Moorcock, English author
• 1939 – Harold E. Varmus, American scientist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1941 – Wadada Leo Smith, American trumpet player and composer (Creative Construction Company)
• 1941 – Sam Andrews, American musician, singer, songwriter, composer, artist and guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company)
• 1942 – Harvey Atkin, Canadian actor
• 1943 – Keith Richards, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (The Rolling Stones, The Dirty Mac, and The New Barbarians)
• 1943 – Alan Rudolph, American director and screenwriter
• 1945 – Jean Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1946 – Steve Biko, South African activist, founded the Black Consciousness Movement (d. 1977)
• 1946 – Alex Ligertwood, Scottish singer (Average White Band and The Senate)
• 1946 – Steven Spielberg, American director
• 1947 – Leonid Yuzefovich, Russian author
• 1948 – Edmund Kemper, American serial killer
• 1948 – Bill Nelson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Be-Bop Deluxe and Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
• 1948 – Laurent Voulzy, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1949 – Terry Hertzler, American poet
• 1949 – David A. Johnston, American volcanologist (d. 1980)
• 1950 – Gillian Armstrong, Australian director
• 1950 – Randy Castillo, American drummer (Red Square Black and Mötley Crüe) (d. 2002)
• 1950 – Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lankan general and politician
• 1950 – Heinz-Josef Kehr, German footballer
• 1950 – Leonard Maltin, American critic and author
• 1951 – V. Balachandran, Sri Lankan Tamil politician
• 1952 – Brian M. Chapman, American Patriot, Husband and Father
• 1952 – John Leventhal, American songwriter and producer
• 1953 – Elliot Easton, American guitarist and singer (The Cars, The New Cars, and Creedence Clearwater Revisited)
• 1953 – Khas-Magomed Hadjimuradov, Chechen singer-songwriter
• 1954 – John Booth, English race car driver
• 1954 – Ray Liotta, American actor
• 1955 – Vijay Mallya, Indian businessman and politician
• 1956 – Ron White, American comedian and actor
• 1957 – Jonathan Cainer, English astrologer
• 1958 – Geordie Walker, English guitarist (Killing Joke, The Damage Manual, and Murder, Inc.)
• 1958 – Julia Wolfe, American composer
• 1960 – Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist
• 1961 – Brian Orser, Canadian figure skater
• 1961 – Leila Steinberg, American poet
• 1962 – Renaldo Lapuz, Filipino-American singer-songwriter
• 1963 – Norman Brown, American singer and guitarist (BWB)
• 1963 – Greg D'Angelo, American drummer (White Lion, Britny Fox, Pride and Glory, and AntiProduct)
• 1963 – Karl Dorrell, American football player and coach
• 1963 – Pauline Ester, French singer
• 1963 – Allan Kayser, American actor
• 1963 – Charles Oakley, American basketball player
• 1963 – Brad Pitt, American actor and producer
• 1963 – Pierre Nkurunziza, Burundian politician, President of Burundi
• 1964 – Stone Cold Steve Austin, American wrestler, actor, and producer
• 1964 – Don Beebe, American football player
• 1964 – Robson Green, English actor and singer
• 1965 – Shawn Christian, American actor
• 1965 – Mick Collins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Gories and The Dirtbombs)
• 1965 – Manuel Peña Escontrela, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
• 1965 – Fawna MacLaren, American model and actress
• 1966 – Makiko Esumi, Japanese actress
• 1966 – Mille Petrozza, German singer-songwriter and guitarist (Kreator and Voodoocult)
• 1966 – Gianluca Pagliuca, Italian footballer
• 1967 – Toine van Peperstraten, Dutch journalist
• 1968 – Mario Basler, German footballer
• 1968 – Mark Cooper, English footballer
• 1968 – Rachel Griffiths, Australian actress
• 1968 – Alejandro Sanz, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1968 – Casper Van Dien, American actor
• 1969 – Santiago Cañizares, Spanish footballer
• 1969 – Justin Edinburgh, English footballer
• 1969 – Akira Iida, Japanese race car driver
• 1970 – DMX, American rapper and actor
• 1970 – Anthony Catanzaro, American bodybuilder and model
• 1970 – Lucious Harris, American basketball player
• 1970 – Miles Marshall Lewis, American author
• 1970 – Giannis Ploutarhos, Greek singer-songwriter
• 1970 – Victoria Pratt, Canadian actress and model
• 1970 – Fernando Solabarrieta, Chilean journalist
• 1970 – Cowboy Troy, American rapper (MuzikMafia)
• 1970 – Rob Van Dam, American wrestler and actor
• 1970 – Jonathan Yeo, English painter
• 1971 – Barkha Dutt, Indian journalist
• 1971 – Noriko Matsueda, Japanese composer
• 1971 – Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish tennis player
• 1972 – Trevor Chowning, American painter
• 1972 – Rah Digga, American rapper and actress (The Conglomerate)
• 1972 – Raymond Herrera, American drummer (Fear Factory, Arkaea, and Brujeria)
• 1972 – DJ Lethal, Latvian-American DJ and producer (House of Pain, Limp Bizkit, and La Coka Nostra)
• 1973 – Leila Arcieri, American actress and model
• 1973 – Neil Busch, American former bassist and sampler/sound manipulator for rock band ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
• 1974 – Peter Boulware, American football player
• 1974 – Bill Duggan, American actor
• 1974 – Mutassim Gaddafi, Libyan army officer (d. 2011)
• 1974 – Knut Schreiner, Norwegian singer, guitarist, and producer (Turbonegro, Euroboys, and Mirror Lakes)
• 1975 – Sia Furler. Australian singer-songwriter
• 1975 – David O'Doherty, Irish comedian and actor
• 1975 – Trish Stratus, Canadian wrestler and actress
• 1975 – Masaki Sumitani, Japanese wrestler and comedian
• 1975 – Vincent van der Voort, Dutch darts player
• 1976 – Koyuki, Japanese actress and model
• 1977 – Axwell, Swedish DJ and producer
• 1977 – José Acevedo, Dominican baseball player
• 1977 – Claudia Gesell, German runner
• 1977 – Ryan Scott Ottney, American journalist and author
• 1978 – Daniel Cleary, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Ali Curtis, American soccer player
• 1978 – Katie Holmes, American actress
• 1978 – Naomi Lang, American ice dancer
• 1979 – Mamady Sidibé, Malian footballer
• 1979 – Carlos Fernandes, Portuguese footballer
• 1979 – Eric Pérez, Puerto Rican wrestler
• 1980 – Christina Aguilera, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1980 – Heinz Inniger, Swiss snowboarder
• 1980 – Benjamin Watson, American football player
• 1981 – Joshua Dallas, American actor
• 1981 – Jens Schmidt, German rugby player
• 1983 – Darren Carter, English footballer
• 1983 – Andy Fantuz, Canadian football player
• 1984 – Derrick Tribbett, American bass player and singer (Twisted Method, Makeshift Romeo, and Dope)
• 1985 – Tara Conner, American model, Miss USA 2006
• 1985 – Natalie Gal, Russian-American model and actress
• 1985 – Hana Soukupová, Czech model
• 1986 – François Hamelin, Canadian speed skater
• 1986 – Usman Khawaja, Australian cricketer
• 1987 – Ayaka, Japanese singer-songwriter
• 1987 – Miki Ando, Japanese figure skater
• 1987 – Fernando Jara, Panamanian jockey
• 1987 – Sneha Ullal, Indian actress
• 1988 – Lizzie Armitstead, English cyclist
• 1989 – Emily Atack, English actress
• 1989 – Ashley Benson, American actress
• 1989 – Ashley Slanina-Davies, English actress
• 1990 – Sierra Kusterbeck, American singer-songwriter (VersaEmerge)
• 1990 – James Lawrie, Irish footballer
• 1992 – Bridgit Mendler, American actress and singer
• 1995 – Barbora Krejčíková, Czech tennis player

Deaths

• 821 – Theodulf of Orléans, Spanish bishop (b. 750)
• 1075 – Edith of Wessex (b. 1025)
• 1133 – Hildebert, French scholar and poet (b. 1055)
• 1495 – Alfonso II of Naples (b. 1448)
• 1591 – Marigje Arriens, Dutch suspected witch (b. 1520)
• 1692 – Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German politician (b. 1626)
• 1737 – Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker (b. 1644)
• 1787 – Francis William Drake, English admiral (b. 1724)
• 1787 – Soame Jenyns, English author (b. 1704)
• 1799 – Jean-Étienne Montucla, French mathematician (b. 1725)
• 1803 – Johann Gottfried Herder, German philosopher, theologian, and poet (b. 1744)
• 1829 – Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French soldier and biologist (b. 1744)
• 1843 – Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch, Scottish army officer and politician (b. 1748)
• 1848 – Bernard Bolzano, Bohemian mathematician and priest (b. 1781)
• 1869 – Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American composer and pianist (b. 1829)
• 1880 – Michel Chasles, French mathematician (b. 1793)
• 1892 – Richard Owen, English biologist (b. 1804)
• 1922 – Sir Carl Meyer, 1st Baronet, German-English banker and businessman (b. 1851)
• 1936 – Andrija Mohorovičić, Hungarian-Croatian meteorologist (b. 1857)
• 1944 – Alexander Cudmore, American soccer player (b. 1888)
• 1950 – Johnny Hyde, Russian-American talent agent (b. 1895)
• 1968 – Joan Tabor, American actress (b. 1932)
• 1969 – Charles Dvorak, American pole vaulter (b. 1878)
• 1971 – Bobby Jones, American golfer (b. 1902)
• 1971 – Diana Lynn, American actress (b. 1926)
• 1973 – Allamah Rasheed Turabi, Indian-Pakistani religious leader and philosopher (b. 1908)
• 1974 – Harry Hooper, American baseball player (b. 1887)
• 1975 – Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist and biologist (b. 1900)
• 1977 – Michio Nishizawa, Japanese baseball player (b. 1921)
• 1980 – Alexei Kosygin, Soviet politician (b. 1904)
• 1980 – Gabrielle Robinne, French actress (b. 1886)
• 1982 – Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German pilot (b. 1916)
• 1984 – Aris Maliagros, Greek actor (b. 1895)
• 1985 – Xuan Dieu, Vietnamese poet (b. 1916)
• 1987 – Conny Plank, German musician and producer (Moebius & Plank) (b. 1940)
• 1990 – Anne Revere, American actress (b. 1903)
• 1990 – Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (b. 1914)
• 1991 – George Abecassis, English race car driver (b. 1913)
• 1992 – Mark Goodson, American television producer (b. 1915)
• 1993 – Sam Wanamaker, American actor (b. 1919)
• 1994 – Roger Apéry, Greek-French mathematician (b. 1916)
• 1995 – Brian Brockless, English organist, conductor, and composer (b. 1926)
• 1995 – Konrad Zuse, German engineer, designed the Z3 computer (b. 1910)
• 1996 – Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist (b. 1904)
• 1997 – Chris Farley, American comedian and actor (b. 1964)
• 1998 – Lev Dyomin, Soviet astronaut (b. 1926)
• 1999 – Robert Bresson, French director (b. 1907)
• 2000 – Stan Fox, American race car driver (b. 1952)
• 2000 – Randolph Apperson Hearst, American businessman (b. 1915)
• 2000 – Kirsty MacColl, English singer-songwriter (b. 1959)
• 2001 – Gilbert Bécaud, French singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1927)
• 2001 – Dimitris Dragatakis, Greek composer (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Marcel Mule, French saxophonist (b. 1901)
• 2002 – Ray Hnatyshyn, Canadian politician, 24th Governor General of Canada (b. 1934)
• 2002 – Wayne Owens, American politician (b. 1937)
• 2004 – Anthony Sampson, English journalist and author (b. 1926)
• 2005 – Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (b. 1922)
• 2006 – Joseph Barbera, American animator, director, and producer, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (b. 1911)
• 2006 – Ruth Bernhard, American photographer (b. 1905)
• 2006 – Mike Dickin, English radio host (b. 1943)
• 2006 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani author and activist (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Gerald Le Dain, Canadian lawyer and judge (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Jack Linkletter, American television host (b. 1937)
• 2007 – William Strauss, American author and playwright (b. 1947)
• 2007 – Alan Wagner, American businessman and critic (b. 1931)
• 2008 – Majel Barrett, American actress and producer (b. 1932)
• 2008 – Mark Felt, American FBI agent (b. 1913)
• 2010 – Phil Cavarretta, American baseball player (b. 1916)
• 2010 – Jacqueline de Romilly, French philologist, author, and scholar (b. 1913)
• 2010 – Tasso Kavadia, Greek actress (b. 1921)
• 2010 – Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Italian banker and economist (b. 1940)
• 2010 – James Pickles, English judge and columnist (b. 1925)
• 2011 – Václav Havel, Czech politician, 1st President of the Czech Republic (b. 1936)
• 2012 – Koko, Australian acting dog (b. 2005)
• 2012 – Skippy Baxter, American figure skater (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Leman Çıdamlı, Turkish actress (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Georgi Kaloyanchev, Bulgarian actor (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Ben Luján, American politician (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Frank Macchiarola, American academic (b. 1941)
• 2012 – Bessie Moody-Lawrence, American politician (b. 1941)
• 2012 – Mustafa Ould Salek, Mauritanian army officer and politician, President of Mauritania (b. 1936)
• 2012 – Camil Samson, Canadian politician (b. 1935)
• 2012 – George Showell, English footballer (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Danny Steinmann, American director and screenwriter (b. 1942)
• 2012 – Jim Whalen, American football player (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Marcus Worsley, English politician (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Anatoliy Zayaev, Ukrainian footballer and coach (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Flannán
  • Gatianus of Tours
  • O Adonai
  • Our Lady of Expectation
  • Sebastian (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • Winibald
  • December 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Eponalia, feast of Epona, celebrated during Saturnalia. (Roman Empire)
• International Migrants Day (International)
• National Day (Qatar)
• Republic Day (Niger)
• UN Arabic Language Day (United Nations)

External links

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

---