December 11

December 11 in recent years

2023 (Monday)

2022 (Sunday)

2021 (Saturday)

2020 (Friday)

2019 (Wednesday)

2018 (Tuesday)

2017 (Monday)

2016 (Sunday)

2015 (Friday)

2014 (Thursday)

December 11 is the 345th day of the year (346th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 20 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 220 – Emperor Xian of Han is forced to abdicate the throne by his son Cao Cao, ending the Han dynasty.
• 361 – Julian enters Constantinople as sole Emperor of the Roman Empire.
• 861 – Assassination of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil by the Turkish guard, who raise al-Muntasir to the throne. Start of the "Anarchy at Samarra".
• 969 – Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas is assassinated by his wife Theophano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes.
• 1282 – Battle of Orewin Bridge: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, in mid-Wales.
• 1602 – A surprise attack by forces under the command of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. (Commemorated annually by the Fête de l'Escalade.)
• 1688 – Glorious Revolution: James II of England, while trying to flee to France, throws the Great Seal of the Realm into the River Thames.
• 1789 – The University of North Carolina is chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly.
• 1792 – French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.
• 1815 – The U.S. Senate creates a select committee on finance and a uniform national currency, predecessor of the United States Senate Committee on Finance.
• 1816 – Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state.
• 1868 – Paraguayan War: Brazilian troops defeat Paraguayan at the Battle of Avay.
• 1899 – Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein the Boers commanded by general Piet Cronjé inflict a defeat on the forces of the British Empire commanded by Lord Methuen trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley.
• 1905 – A workers' uprising occurs in Kiev, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire), and establishes the Shuliavka Republic.
• 1907 – The New Zealand Parliament Buildings are almost completely destroyed by fire.
• 1917 – World War I: British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law.
• 1920 – Irish War of Independence: In retaliation for a recent IRA ambush, British forces burn and loot numerous buildings in Cork city. Many civilians report being beaten, shot at, robbed and verbally abused by British forces.
• 1925 – Roman Catholic papal encyclical Quas primas introduces the Feast of Christ the King.
• 1927 – Guangzhou Uprising: Communist Red Guards launch an uprising in Guangzhou, China, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet.
• 1931 – Statute of Westminster 1931: The British Parliament establishes legislative equality between the UK and the Dominions of the Commonwealth—Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland.
• 1934 – Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the final time.
• 1936 – Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India, becomes effective.
• 1937 – Second Italo-Ethiopian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations.
• 1941 – World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on them.
• 1941 – World War II: Poland declares war on the Empire of Japan.
• 1941 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy suffers its first loss of surface vessels during the Battle of Wake Island.
• 1946 – The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.
• 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The United Nations passes General Assembly Resolution 194, creating a Conciliation Commission to mediate the conflict.
• 1958 – French Upper Volta and French Dahomey gain self-government from France, becoming the Republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and the Republic of Dahomey (now Benin), respectively, and joining the French Community.
• 1960 – French forces crack down in a violent clash with protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French President Charles de Gaulle.
• 1962 – Arthur Lucas, convicted of murder, is the last person to be executed in Canada.
• 1964 – Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
• 1968 – The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, featuring the Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull, the Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and the Dirty Mac with Yoko Ono, is filmed in Wembley, London.
• 1972 – Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and final Apollo mission to land on the Moon.
• 1978 – The Lufthansa heist is committed by a group led by Lucchese family associate Jimmy Burke. It was the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil, at that time.
• 1980 – The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress.
• 1981 – El Mozote massacre: Armed forces in El Salvador kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War.
• 1990 – Demonstrations by students and workers across Albania begin, which eventually trigger the fall of communism in Albania.
• 1994 – First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.
• 1994 – A bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, en route from Manila, Philippines, to Tokyo, Japan, killing one. The captain is able to safely land the plane.
• 1997 – The Kyoto Protocol opens for signature.
• 1998 – Thai Airways Flight 261 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101. The pilot flying the Airbus A310-200 is thought to have suffered spatial disorientation.
• 2001 – The People's Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• 2005 – The Buncefield Oil Depot catches fire in Hemel Hempstead, England.
• 2005 – Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese in Cronulla, New South Wales; these are followed up by retaliatory ethnic attacks on Cronulla.
• 2006 – The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran, by then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; nations such as Israel and the United States express concern.
• 2006 – Felipe Calderón, the President of Mexico, launches a military-led offensive to put down the drug cartel violence in the state of Michoacán. This effort is often regarded as the first event in the Mexican Drug War.
• 2007 – Insurgency in the Maghreb: Two car bombs explode in Algiers, Algeria, one near the Supreme Constitutional Court and the other near the offices of the United Nations.
• 2008 – Bernard Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
• 2012 – At least 125 people are killed and up to 200 injured in bombings in the Alawite village of Aqrab, Syria.
• 2017 – A bomb detonated in the New York City Subway, in the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City. It is known as the 2017 New York City attempted bombing.

Births

• 1445 – Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1496)
• 1465 – Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (d. 1489)
• 1475 – Pope Leo X (d. 1521)
• 1566 – Manuel Cardoso, Portuguese organist and composer (d. 1650)
• 1595 – Heo Mok, Korean politician, poet and scholar (d. 1682)
• 1613 – Amar Singh Rathore, Rajput nobleman (d. 1644)
• 1680 – Emanuele d'Astorga, Italian composer (d. 1736)
• 1712 – Francesco Algarotti, Italian poet, philosopher, and critic (d. 1764)
• 1725 – George Mason, American lawyer and politician (d. 1792)
• 1758 – Carl Friedrich Zelter, German composer, conductor, and educator (d. 1832)
• 1761 – Gian Domenico Romagnosi, Italian physicist, economist, and jurist (d. 1835)
• 1781 – David Brewster, Scottish physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (d. 1868)
• 1801 – Christian Dietrich Grabbe, German poet and playwright (d. 1836)
• 1803 – Hector Berlioz, French composer, conductor, and critic (d. 1869)
• 1810 – Alfred de Musset, French dramatist, poet, and novelist (d. 1857)
• 1830 – Kamehameha V of Hawaii (d. 1872)
• 1837 – Webster Paulson, English civil engineer (d. 1887)
• 1838 – John Labatt, Canadian brewer and businessman (d. 1915)
• 1843 – Robert Koch, German microbiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1910)
• 1856 – Georgi Plekhanov, Russian philosopher, theorist, and author (d. 1918)
• 1858 – Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian director, producer, and playwright (d. 1943)
• 1861 – Frederick Eveleigh-de-Moleyns, 5th Baron Ventry, British Army officer and Anglo-Irish peer (d. 1923)
• 1863 – Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer and academic (d. 1941)
• 1872 – René Bull, British illustrator and photographer (d. 1942)
• 1873 – Josip Plemelj, Slovenian mathematician and academic (d. 1967)
• 1875 – Yehuda Leib Maimon, Moldovan-Israeli rabbi and politician (d. 1962)
• 1880 – Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer and umpire (d. 1951)
• 1882 – Subramania Bharati, Indian journalist and poet (d. 1921)
• 1882 – Max Born, German physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
• 1882 – Fiorello H. La Guardia, American lawyer and politician, 99th Mayor of New York City (d. 1947)
• 1884 – Piet Ooms, Dutch swimmer and water polo player (d. 1961)
• 1889 – Walter Knott, American farmer and businessman, founded Knott's Berry Farm (d. 1981)
• 1890 – Carlos Gardel, French-Argentinian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1935)
• 1890 – Mark Tobey, American-Swiss painter and educator (d. 1976)
• 1893 – Leo Ornstein, Russian-American pianist and composer (d. 2002)
• 1897 – Ronald Skirth, English soldier (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Julio de Caro, Argentinian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1980)
• 1900 – Hermína Týrlová, Czechoslovakian animator, screenwriter, and film director (d. 1993)
• 1904 – Marge, American cartoonist (d. 1993)
• 1905 – Robert Henriques, English farmer, author, and broadcaster (d. 1967)
• 1905 – Gilbert Roland, Mexican-American actor and singer (d. 1994)
• 1908 – Elliott Carter, American composer and academic (d. 2012)
• 1908 – Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
• 1908 – Hákun Djurhuus, Faroese educator and politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1987)
• 1908 – Amon Göth, Austrian Nazi war criminal (d. 1946)
• 1909 – Ronald McKie, Australian soldier, journalist, and author (d. 1991)
• 1910 – Mildred Cleghorn, Native American chairwoman and educator (d. 1997)
• 1911 – Val Guest, English-American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 2006)
• 1911 – Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian author, playwright, and screenwriter, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
• 1911 – Qian Xuesen, Chinese aerodynamicist and academic (d. 2009)
• 1912 – Carlo Ponti, Italian-Swiss film producer (d. 2007)
• 1913 – Jean Marais, French actor and director (d. 1998)
• 1916 – Pérez Prado, Cuban-Mexican singer-songwriter, pianist, and bandleader (d. 1989)
• 1916 – Elena Garro, Mexican author and playwright (d. 1998)
• 1918 – Clinton Adams, American painter and historian (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian novelist, historian, and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
• 1919 – Cliff Michelmore, English television host and producer (d. 2016)
• 1919 – Marie Windsor, American actress (d. 2000)
• 1920 – Mary Ivy Burks, American environmental activist (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Denis Jenkinson, English motorcycle racer and journalist (d. 1996)
• 1921 – Ilmar Laaban, Estonian poet and publicist (d. 2000)
• 1921 – Liz Smith, English actress (d. 2016)
• 1922 – Grigoris Bithikotsis, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
• 1922 – Dilip Kumar, Pakistani-Indian actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1922 – Maila Nurmi, Finnish-American actress, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1922 – Grace Paley, American short story writer and poet (d. 2007)
• 1923 – Betsy Blair, American actress and dancer (d. 2009)
• 1923 – Lillian Cahn, Hungarian-born American businesswoman, co-founded Coach, Inc. (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Morrie Turner, American comics creator (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Doc Blanchard, American football player and colonel (d. 2009)
• 1925 – Aaron Feuerstein, American businessman and philanthropist
• 1925 – Paul Greengard, American neuroscientist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1925 – James Sullivan, American politician (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Big Mama Thornton, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
• 1927 – John Buscema, American illustrator (d. 2002)
• 1929 – Axel Anderson, German actor and production manager (d. 2012)
• 1929 – Subhash Gupte, Indian cricketer (d. 2002)
• 1930 – Chus Lampreave, Spanish actress (d. 2016)
• 1930 – Jean-Louis Trintignant, French actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1931 – Rajneesh, Indian guru, mystic, and educator (d. 1990)
• 1931 – Ronald Dworkin, American philosopher and scholar (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican-American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1932 – Enrique Bermúdez, Nicaraguan colonel and engineer (d. 1991)
• 1932 – Keith Waldrop, American author and poet
• 1933 – Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., Filipino civil servant and politician, 23rd President of the Senate of the Philippines (d. 2019)
• 1934 – Salim Durani, Afghan-Indian cricketer
• 1935 – Pranab Mukherjee, Indian journalist and politician, 13th President of India
• 1935 – Elmer Vasko, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1998)
• 1936 – Taku Yamasaki, Japanese politician
• 1936 – Hans van den Broek, Dutch lawyer and politician, Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1937 – Jim Harrison, American novelist, essayist, and poet (d. 2016)
• 1938 – Enrico Macias, Algerian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1938 – McCoy Tyner, American jazz musician
• 1939 – Tom Hayden, American activist and politician (d. 2016)
• 1939 – Thomas McGuane, American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter
• 1940 – David Gates, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1940 – Donna Mills, American actress and producer
• 1941 – Max Baucus, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 11th United States Ambassador to China
• 1941 – J. P. Parisé, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2015)
• 1941 – Rogier van Otterloo, Dutch conductor and composer (d. 1988)
• 1941 – J. Frank Wilson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1991)
• 1942 – Anna Carteret, English actress
• 1943 – John Kerry, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 68th United States Secretary of State
• 1944 – Jon Garrison, American tenor and educator
• 1944 – Lynda Day George, American actress
• 1944 – Brenda Lee, American singer-songwriter
• 1946 – Rhoma Irama, Indonesian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1946 – Rick McCosker, Australian cricketer
• 1946 – Diana Palmer, American journalist and author
• 1948 – Tanimura Shinji, Japanese singer-songwriter
• 1948 – Stamatis Spanoudakis, Greek guitarist and composer
• 1949 – Christina Onassis, American-born Greek/Argentine businesswoman, socialite, and heiress (d. 1988)
• 1951 – Mazlan Othman, Malaysian astrophysicist and astronomer
• 1951 – Ria Stalman, Dutch discus thrower and shot putter
• 1953 – Bess Armstrong, American actress
• 1954 – Brad Bryant, American golfer
• 1954 – Sylvester Clarke, Barbadian cricketer (d. 1999)
• 1954 – Santiago Creel, Mexican lawyer and politician, Mexican Secretary of the Interior
• 1954 – Jermaine Jackson, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
• 1954 – Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson, Icelandic guitarist, mathematician, and engineer
• 1955 – Gene Grossman, American economist and academic
• 1955 – Stu Jackson, American basketball player, coach, and manager
• 1955 – Ray Kelvin, British fashion designer
• 1955 – Christian Sackewitz, German footballer and manager
• 1956 – Lani Brockman, American actress and director, founded Studio East
• 1956 – Andrew Lansley, English politician, Secretary of State for Health
• 1957 – Peter Bagge, American author and illustrator
• 1958 – Chris Hughton, English-born Irish footballer and manager
• 1958 – Tom Shadyac, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1958 – Nikki Sixx, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
• 1961 – Dave King, Irish-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1961 – Steve Nicol, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1961 – Macky Sall, Senegalese engineer and politician, 4th President of Senegal
• 1961 – Marco Pierre White, English chef and mentor
• 1963 – Mario Been, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1963 – Mark Greatbatch, New Zealand cricketer
• 1963 – Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, German tennis player
• 1963 – John Lammers, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1963 – Nigel Winterburn, English footballer and coach
• 1964 – Justin Currie, British singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1964 – Dave Schools, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
• 1964 – Carolyn Waldo, Canadian swimmer and sportscaster
• 1965 – Jay Bell, American baseball player and coach
• 1965 – Gavin Hill, New Zealand rugby player
• 1965 – Glenn Lazarus, Australian rugby league player and politician
• 1965 – Giannis Ragousis, Greek economist and politician, Greek Minister for National Defence
• 1966 – Gary Dourdan, American actor
• 1966 – Göran Kropp, Swedish race car driver and mountaineer (d. 2002)
• 1966 – Erik Honoré, Norwegian guitarist and producer
• 1966 – Leon Lai, Hong Kong singer and actor
• 1967 – Peter Kelamis, Australian voice actor
• 1967 – Mo'Nique, American comedian, actress, and producer
• 1967 – Chris Shepherd, English animator, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1968 – Fabrizio Ravanelli, Italian footballer and manager
• 1969 – Viswanathan Anand, Indian chess player
• 1969 – Stig Inge Bjørnebye, Norwegian footballer and manager
• 1969 – Max Martini, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1969 – Alessandro Melli, Italian footballer and manager
• 1970 – Victoria Fuller, American model and actress
• 1971 – Willie McGinest, American football player and sportscaster
• 1972 – Daniel Alfredsson, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1972 – Sami Al-Jaber, Saudi Arabian footballer and manager
• 1972 – Murray Goodwin, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1972 – Andriy Husin, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
• 1973 – Mos Def, American rapper
• 1974 – Rey Mysterio, American wrestler
• 1974 – Maarten Lafeber, Dutch golfer
• 1974 – Ben Shephard, English journalist and television host
• 1974 – Gete Wami, Ethiopian runner
• 1974 – Lisa Ortiz, American theatre and voice actress
• 1975 – Gerben de Knegt, Dutch cyclist
• 1976 – Shareef Abdur-Rahim, American basketball player, coach, and manager
• 1976 – Yujiro Shirakawa, Japanese actor
• 1977 – Brandon Rogers, American singer and actor
• 1977 – Mark Streit, Swiss ice hockey player
• 1978 – Roy Wood, Jr., American comedian, actor, and radio host
• 1979 – Valdis Mintals, Estonian figure skater
• 1979 – Rider Strong, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1980 – Kristjan Kitsing, Estonian basketball player
• 1980 – Adi Keissar, Israeli poet
• 1981 – Jason Kennedy, American journalist
• 1981 – Jeff McComsey, American author and illustrator
• 1981 – Paul Medhurst, Australian footballer
• 1981 – Javier Saviola, Argentinian footballer
• 1982 – Pablo Pérez Companc, Argentinian race car driver
• 1984 – Leighton Baines, English footballer
• 1984 – Sandra Echeverría, Mexican actress and singer
• 1984 – James Ellsworth, American professional wrestler
• 1985 – Karla Souza, Mexican actress
• 1986 – Roy Hibbert, American basketball player
• 1987 – Clifton Geathers, American football player
• 1987 – Alex Russell, Australian actor
• 1987 – Miranda Tapsell, Australian actress
• 1988 – Tim Southee, New Zealand cricketer
• 1990 – Derrick Nix, American basketball player
• 1992 – Tiffany Alvord, American singer-songwriter
• 1992 – Dalton Pompey, Canadian baseball player
• 1993 – Yalitza Aparicio, Mexican actress (Roma)
• 1996 – Hailee Steinfeld, American actress and singer

Deaths

• 384 – Pope Damasus I (b. 305)
• 861 – Al-Mutawakkil, Abbasid caliph (b. 822)
• 861 – Al-Fath ibn Khaqan, chief confidant and councillor to al-Mutawakkil
• 969 – Nikephoros II Phokas, Byzantine emperor (b. 912)
• 1121 – Al-Afdal Shahanshah, Egyptian political adviser (b. 1066)
• 1241 – Ögedei Khan, Mongolian emperor (b. 1186)
• 1282 – Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Welsh prince (b. 1223)
• 1282 – Michael VIII Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1225)
• 1474 – Henry IV of Castile, King of the Crown of Castile (b. 1425)
• 1532 – Pietro Accolti, Italian cardinal (b. 1455)
• 1582 – Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, Spanish general and politician, 12th Constable of Portugal (b. 1508)
• 1610 – Adam Elsheimer, German artist working in Rome who died at only thirty-two (b. 1578)
• 1686 – Louis, Grand Condé, French general (b. 1621)
• 1694 – Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1630)
• 1737 – John Strype, English priest, historian, and author (b. 1643)
• 1747 – Edmund Curll, English bookseller and publisher (b. 1675)
• 1797 – Richard Brocklesby, English physician (b. 1722)
• 1826 – Maria Leopoldina of Austria (b. 1797)
• 1840 – Emperor Kōkaku of Japan (b. 1771)
• 1872 – Kamehameha V of Hawaii (b. 1830)
• 1880 – Oliver Winchester, American businessman, founded the Winchester Repeating Arms Company (b. 1810)
• 1892 – William Milligan, Scottish theologian and scholar (b. 1821)
• 1906 – Charles Townsend, American fencer, engineer, and academic (b. 1872)
• 1909 – Ludwig Mond, German-born chemist and British industrialist who discovered the metal carbonyls (b. 1839)
• 1913 – Carl von In der Maur, Governor of Liechtenstein (b. 1852)
• 1918 – Ivan Cankar, Slovenian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1876)
• 1920 – Olive Schreiner, South African author and activist (b. 1855)
• 1936 – Myron Grimshaw, American baseball player (b. 1875)
• 1937 – Jaan Anvelt, Estonian theorist and politician (b. 1884)
• 1937 – Hugh Thackeray Turner, English architect and painter (b. 1853)
• 1938 – Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian historian and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
• 1941 – John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American pilot and poet (b. 1922)
• 1941 – Émile Picard, French mathematician and academic (b. 1856)
• 1945 – Charles Fabry, French physicist and academic (b. 1867)
• 1950 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and author (b. 1893)
• 1951 – Mustafa Muğlalı, Turkish general (b. 1882)
• 1951 – Hijri Dede, Iraqi Turkmen poet and writer (b. 1881)
• 1953 – Sedat Simavi, Turkish journalist and director (b. 1896)
• 1957 – Musidora, French actress, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1889)
• 1959 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player and manager (b. 1900)
• 1964 – Sam Cooke, American singer-songwriter (b. 1931)
• 1964 – Percy Kilbride, American actor (b. 1888)
• 1966 – Augusta Fox Bronner, American psychologist, specialist in juvenile psychology (b. 1881)
• 1968 – Richard Sagrits, Estonian painter and author (b. 1910)
• 1968 – Arthur Hays Sulzberger, American publisher (b. 1891)
• 1971 – Maurice McDonald, American businessman, co-founded McDonald's (b. 1902)
• 1975 – Lee Wiley, American singer (b. 1908)
• 1975 – Nihal Atsız, Turkish philosopher, author, and poet (b. 1905)
• 1978 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
• 1978 – Paul O'Dea, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
• 1979 – James J. Gibson, American psychologist and author (b. 1904)
• 1983 – Neil Ritchie, Guyanese-English general (b. 1897)
• 1984 – Oskar Seidlin, German-American author, poet, and scholar (b. 1911)
• 1984 – George Waggner, American director, producer and actor (b. 1894)
• 1987 – G. A. Kulkarni, Indian author and academic (b. 1923)
• 1989 – Louise Dahl-Wolfe, American photographer (b. 1895)
• 1991 – Robert Q. Lewis, American actor, comedian, game show host/panelist, and television personality (b. 1921)
• 1991 – Artur Lundkvist, Swedish author and critic (b. 1906)
• 1994 – Philip Phillips, American archaeologist and scholar (b. 1900)
• 1995 – Greg Bahnsen, American minister and philosopher (b. 1948)
• 1996 – Willie Rushton, English cartoonist, author, and publisher, co-founded Private Eye (b. 1937)
• 1997 – Eddie Chapman, English spy (b. 1914)
• 1997 – Simon Jeffes, English guitarist and composer (b. 1949)
• 1998 – André Lichnerowicz, French physicist and mathematician (b. 1915)
• 1998 – Lynn Strait, American singer-songwriter (b. 1968)
• 2000 – Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, Pakistani politician and diplomat (b. 1915)
• 2000 – David Lewis, American actor (b. 1916)
• 2001 – Mainza Chona, Zambian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1930)
• 2003 – Ahmadou Kourouma, Ivorian author and playwright (b. 1927)
• 2004 – José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1962)
• 2004 – Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand runner and coach (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Bettie Page, American model (b. 1923)
• 2010 – Dick Hoerner, American football player (b. 1922)
• 2011 – John Patrick Foley, American cardinal (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano and actress (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Mendel Weinbach, Polish-Israeli rabbi and scholar (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Nadir Afonso, Portuguese painter and architect (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Barbara Branden, Canadian-American author and academic (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Javier Jauregui, Mexican boxer (b. 1973)
• 2013 – Sheikh Mussa Shariefi, Indian philosopher and scholar (b. 1942)
• 2014 – Hans Wallat, German conductor and director (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Abish Kekilbayev, Kazakh academic and politician (b. 1939)
• 2015 – H. Arnold Steinberg, Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and academic (b. 1933)
• 2015 – Hema Upadhyay, Indian painter and sculptor (b. 1972)
• 2015 – John "Hot Rod" Williams, American basketball player (b. 1962)
• 2015 – Ken Woolley, Australian architect (b. 1933)
• 2017 – Keith Chegwin, British TV presenter (b. 1957)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Cian
  • Daniel the Stylite
  • Maravillas de Jesús
  • Peris
  • Pope Damasus I
  • Sabinus of Piacenza
  • Victoricus, Fuscian, and Gentian
  • December 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Establishment of Kurdish Women's Union (Iraqi Kurdistan)
• Indiana Day (United States)
• International Mountain Day
• National Tango Day (Argentina)
• Pampanga Day (Pampanga province, Philippines)
• Republic Day, the day when Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French Community in 1958. (Burkina Faso)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Today in Canadian History