December 6

For the novel, see December 6 (novel).

December 6 in recent years

2023 (Wednesday)

2022 (Tuesday)

2021 (Monday)

2020 (Sunday)

2019 (Friday)

2018 (Thursday)

2017 (Wednesday)

2016 (Tuesday)

2015 (Sunday)

2014 (Saturday)

December 6 is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 25 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 1060 – Béla I is crowned King of Hungary.
• 1240 – Mongol invasion of Rus': Kiev under Daniel of Galicia and Voivode Dmytro falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan.
• 1534 – The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar.
• 1648 – Colonel Thomas Pride of the New Model Army purges the Long Parliament of MPs sympathetic to King Charles I of England, in order for the King's trial to go ahead; came to be known as "Pride's Purge".
• 1704 – Battle of Chamkaur (1704): During the Mughal-Sikh Wars, an outnumbered Sikh Khalsa defeats a Mughal army.
• 1745 – Charles Edward Stuart's army begins retreat during the second Jacobite Rising.
• 1768 – The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.
• 1790 – The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia.
• 1865 – The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, banning slavery.
• 1877 – The first edition of The Washington Post is published.
• 1884 – The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., is completed.
• 1897 – London becomes the world's first city to host licensed taxicabs.
• 1904 – Theodore Roosevelt articulated his "Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the U.S. would intervene in the Western Hemisphere should Latin American governments prove incapable or unstable.
• 1907 – A coal mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia, kills 362 workers.
• 1916 – World War I: The Central Powers capture Bucharest.
• 1917 – Finland declares independence from Russia.
• 1917 – Halifax Explosion: A munitions explosion near Halifax, Nova Scotia kills more than 1,900 people in the largest artificial explosion up to that time.
• 1917 – World War I: USS Jacob Jones is the first American destroyer to be sunk by enemy action when it is torpedoed by German submarine SM U-53.
• 1921 – The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives.
• 1922 – One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence.
• 1928 – The government of Colombia sends military forces to suppress a month-long strike by United Fruit Company workers, resulting in an unknown number of deaths.
• 1933 – U.S. federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that James Joyce's novel Ulysses is not obscene.
• 1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom and Canada declare war on Finland in support of the Soviet Union during the Continuation War. Camp X opens in Canada to begin training Allied Secret Agents for the War.
• 1947 – The Everglades National Park in Florida is dedicated.
• 1953 – Vladimir Nabokov completes his controversial novel Lolita.
• 1956 – A violent water polo match between Hungary and the USSR takes place during the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, against the backdrop of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
• 1957 – Project Vanguard: A launchpad explosion of Vanguard TV3 thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite into Earth orbit.
• 1967 – Adrian Kantrowitz performs the first human heart transplant in the United States.
• 1971 – Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with India, initiating the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
• 1973 – The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States House of Representatives votes 387 to 35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States. (On November 27, the Senate confirmed him 92 to 3.)
• 1975 – The Troubles: Fleeing from the police, a Provisional IRA unit takes a British couple hostage in their flat on Balcombe Street, London, beginning a six-day siege.
• 1977 – South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country.
• 1982 – The Troubles: The Irish National Liberation Army bombed a pub frequented by British soldiers in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, killing eleven soldiers and six civilians.
• 1989 – The École Polytechnique massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders 14 young women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal.
• 1991 – In Croatia, forces of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) bombard Dubrovnik after laying siege to the city for seven months.
• 1992 – The Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India, is demolished, leading to widespread riots causing the death of over 1,500 people.
• 1997 – A Russian Antonov An-124 Ruslan cargo plane crashes into an apartment complex near Irkutsk, Siberia, killing 67.
• 1998 – in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez is victorious in presidential elections.
• 2005 – An Iranian Air Force C-130 military transport aircraft crashes into a ten-floor apartment building in a residential area of Tehran, killing all 84 on board and 44 more on the ground.
• 2006 – NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.
• 2015 – Venezuelan elections are held. For the first time in 17 years the United Socialist Party of Venezuela loses its majority in parliament.

Births

• 846 – Hasan al-Askari, Arabian 11th of the Twelve Imams (d. 874)
• 1285 – Ferdinand IV of Castile (d. 1312)
• 1421 – Henry VI of England (d. 1471)
• 1478 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian courtier, diplomat, and author (d. 1529)
• 1586 – Niccolò Zucchi, Italian astronomer and physicist (d. 1670)
• 1608 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1670)
• 1637 – Edmund Andros, English courtier and politician, 4th Colonial Governor of New York (d. 1714)
• 1640 – Claude Fleury, French historian and author (d. 1723)
• 1642 – Johann Christoph Bach, German organist and composer (d. 1703)
• 1685 – Marie Adélaïde of Savoy (d. 1712)
• 1721 – Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French minister and politician (d. 1794)
• 1721 – James Elphinston, Scottish philologist and linguist (d. 1809)
• 1752 – Gabriel Duvall, American jurist and politician (d. 1844)
• 1778 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French physicist and chemist (d. 1850)
• 1792 – William II of the Netherlands (d. 1849)
• 1803 – Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony (d. 1829)
• 1805 – Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, French magician (d. 1861)
• 1812 – Robert Spear Hudson, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1884)
• 1823 – Max Müller, German-English philologist and orientalist (d. 1900)
• 1833 – John S. Mosby, American colonel (d. 1916)
• 1841 – Frédéric Bazille, French painter and soldier (d. 1870)
• 1849 – August von Mackensen, German field marshal (d. 1945)
• 1853 – Hans Molisch, Czech-Austrian botanist and academic (d. 1937)
• 1853 – Haraprasad Shastri, Indian historian and scholar (d. 1931)
• 1863 – Charles Martin Hall, American chemist and engineer (d. 1914)
• 1872 – Arthur Henry Adams, Australian journalist and author (d. 1936)
• 1872 – William S. Hart, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1946)
• 1875 – Albert Bond Lambert, American golfer and pilot (d. 1946)
• 1875 – Evelyn Underhill, English mystic and author (d. 1941)
• 1876 – Fred Duesenberg, German-American businessman, co-founded the Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Company (d. 1932)
• 1884 – Cornelia Meigs, American author, playwright, and academic (d. 1973)
• 1886 – Joyce Kilmer, American soldier, author, and poet (d. 1918)
• 1887 – Lynn Fontanne, British actress (d. 1983)
• 1887 – Joseph Lamb, American pianist and composer (d. 1960)
• 1888 – Will Hay, English actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1949)
• 1890 – Dion Fortune, Welsh occultist, psychologist, and author (d. 1946)
• 1890 – Yoshio Nishina, Japanese physicist and academic (d. 1951)
• 1890 – Rudolf Schlichter, German painter and illustrator (d. 1955)
• 1892 – Osbert Sitwell, English-Italian captain, poet, and author (d. 1969)
• 1893 – Homer N. Wallin, American admiral (d. 1984)
• 1896 – Ira Gershwin, American songwriter (d. 1983)
• 1898 – Alfred Eisenstaedt, German-American photographer and journalist (d. 1995)
• 1898 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
• 1900 – Agnes Moorehead, American actress (d. 1974)
• 1901 – Eliot Porter, American photographer and academic (d. 1990)
• 1903 – Tony Lazzeri, American baseball player and manager (d. 1946)
• 1904 – Ève Curie, French-American journalist and pianist (d. 2007)
• 1905 – Elizabeth Yates, American journalist and author (d. 2001)
• 1907 – John Barkley Rosser Sr., American logician (d. 1989)
• 1908 – Pierre Graber, Swiss lawyer and politician, 69th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 2003)
• 1908 – Baby Face Nelson, American gangster (d. 1934)
• 1908 – Miklós Szabó, Hungarian runner (d. 2000)
• 1909 – Rulon Jeffs, American religious leader (d. 2002)
• 1910 – David M. Potter, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1971)
• 1913 – Karl Haas, German-American pianist, conductor, and radio host (d. 2005)
• 1913 – Eleanor Holm, American swimmer and actress (d. 2004)
• 1916 – Yekaterina Budanova, Russian captain and pilot (d. 1943)
• 1916 – Kristján Eldjárn, Icelandic educator and politician, 3rd President of Iceland (d. 1982)
• 1916 – Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and producer (d. 1986)
• 1917 – Dean Hess, American minister and colonel (d. 2015)
• 1917 – Kamal Jumblatt, Lebanese lawyer and politician (d. 1977)
• 1917 – Irv Robbins, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (d. 2008)
• 1917 – Waldemar von Gazen, German soldier and lawyer (d. 2014)
• 1919 – Skippy Baxter, Canadian-American figure skater and coach (d. 2012)
• 1919 – Paul de Man, Belgian-American philosopher, critic, and academic (d. 1983)
• 1920 – Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Peter Dimmock, English sportscaster and producer (d. 2015)
• 1920 – George Porter, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
• 1921 – Otto Graham, American football player and coach (d. 2003)
• 1921 – Piero Piccioni, Italian lawyer, pianist, and composer (d. 2004)
• 1922 – John Brunt, English captain, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1944)
• 1922 – Benjamin A. Gilman, American soldier and politician
• 1924 – Wally Cox, American actor (d. 1973)
• 1927 – Jim Fuchs, American shot putter and discus thrower (d. 2010)
• 1928 – Bobby Van, American actor, dancer, and singer (d. 1980)
• 1929 – Philippe Bouvard, French journalist and radio host
• 1929 – Nikolaus Harnoncourt, German-Austrian cellist and conductor (d. 2016)
• 1929 – Frank Springer, American author and illustrator (d. 2009)
• 1929 – Alain Tanner, Swiss director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1930 – Daniel Lisulo, Zambian banker and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Zambia (d. 2000)
• 1931 – Zeki Müren, Turkish singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1996)
• 1932 – Kamleshwar, Indian author, screenwriter, and critic (d. 2007)
• 1933 – Henryk Górecki, Polish composer and academic (d. 2010)
• 1933 – Donald J. Kutyna, American general
• 1934 – Nick Bockwinkel, American wrestler, sportscaster, and actor (d. 2015)
• 1935 – Jean Lapointe, Canadian actor, singer, and politician
• 1936 – Bill Ashton, English saxophonist and composer
• 1936 – Kenneth Copeland, American evangelist and author
• 1937 – Alberto Spencer, Ecuadorian-American soccer player (d. 2006)
• 1938 – Patrick Bauchau, Belgian-American actor
• 1940 – Lawrence Bergman, Canadian lawyer and politician
• 1940 – Richard Edlund, American visual effects designer and cinematographer
• 1941 – Richard Speck, American murderer (d. 1991)
• 1941 – Bruce Nauman, American sculptor and illustrator
• 1941 – Bill Thomas, American academic and politician
• 1942 – Peter Handke, Austrian author and playwright
• 1942 – Robb Royer, American guitarist, keyboard player, and songwriter
• 1943 – Mike Smith, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2008)
• 1945 – Larry Bowa, American baseball player and manager
• 1945 – Dan Harrington, American lawyer and poker player
• 1945 – Shekhar Kapur, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1946 – Willy van der Kuijlen, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1947 – Lawrence Cannon, Canadian businessman and politician, 9th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1947 – Henk van Woerden, Dutch-South African painter and author (d. 2005)
• 1947 – Miroslav Vitouš, Czech-American bassist and songwriter
• 1948 – Jean-Paul Ngoupandé, Central African politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (d. 2014)
• 1948 – Don Nickles, American businessman and politician
• 1948 – Keke Rosberg, Finnish race car driver
• 1948 – JoBeth Williams, American actress
• 1949 – Linda Barnes, American author, playwright, and educator
• 1949 – Linda Creed, American singer-songwriter (d. 1986)
• 1949 – Doug Marlette, American author and cartoonist (d. 2007)
• 1950 – Guy Drut, French hurdler and politician
• 1950 – Joe Hisaishi, Japanese pianist, composer, and conductor
• 1950 – Helen Liddell, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke, Scottish journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
• 1951 – Wendy Ellis Somes, English ballerina and producer
• 1951 – Gerry Francis, English footballer and manager
• 1951 – Maurice Hope, Caribbean-English boxer
• 1952 – Chuck Baker, American baseball player
• 1952 – Nicolas Bréhal, French author and critic
• 1952 – Joe Harris, American football player
• 1952 – Craig Newmark, American computer programmer and entrepreneur; founded Craigslist
• 1952 – Charles Salvador, English boxer and criminal
• 1952 – Shio Satō, Japanese illustrator (d. 2010)
• 1952 – Jeff Schneider, American baseball player
• 1952 – David L. Spector, American biologist and academic
• 1953 – Sue Carroll, English journalist (d. 2011)
• 1953 – Gary Goodman, Australian cricketer and coach
• 1953 – Geoff Hoon, English academic and politician, Minister of State for Europe
• 1953 – Tom Hulce, American actor and producer
• 1953 – Masami Kurumada, Japanese author and illustrator
• 1953 – Dwight Stones, American high jumper and sportscaster
• 1953 – Gary Ward, American baseball player and coach
• 1955 – Anne Begg, Scottish educator and politician
• 1955 – Rick Buckler, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
• 1955 – Steven Wright, American actor and screenwriter
• 1956 – Peter Buck, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
• 1956 – Hans Kammerlander, Italian mountaineer and guide
• 1956 – Randy Rhoads, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1982)
• 1957 – Adrian Borland, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1999)
• 1957 – Luis Delís, Cuban discus thrower and shot putter
• 1958 – Nick Park, English animator, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1959 – Stephen Hepburn, English politician
• 1959 – Satoru Iwata, Japanese game programmer and businessman (d. 2015)
• 1959 – Stephen Muggleton, English computer scientist and engineer
• 1960 – Masahiko Katsuya, Japanese journalist and photographer
• 1961 – David Lovering, American drummer
• 1961 – Manuel Reuter, German race car driver
• 1963 – Ulrich Thomsen, Danish actor and producer
• 1964 – Mall Nukke, Estonian painter
• 1965 – Gordon Durie, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1966 – Natascha Badmann, Swiss triathlete
• 1967 – Judd Apatow, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1967 – Arnaldo Mesa, Cuban boxer (d. 2012)
• 1967 – Helen Greiner, American businesswoman and engineer
• 1968 – Akihiro Yano, Japanese baseball player
• 1969 – Torri Higginson, Canadian actress
• 1970 – Ulf Ekberg, Swedish singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
• 1970 – Adrian Fenty, American lawyer and politician, 6th Mayor of the District of Columbia
• 1970 – Mark Reckless, English politician
• 1970 – Jeff Rouse, American swimmer
• 1971 – Craig Brewer, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1971 – Richard Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
• 1971 – Naozumi Takahashi, Japanese singer and voice actor
• 1971 – Carole Thate, Dutch field hockey player
• 1972 – Heather Mizeur, American lawyer and politician
• 1972 – Rick Short, American baseball player
• 1974 – Jens Pulver, American mixed martial artist and boxer
• 1974 – Nick Stajduhar, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1975 – Noel Clarke, English actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1975 – Adrian García Arias, Mexican footballer
• 1977 – Kevin Cash, American baseball player and coach
• 1977 – Andrew Flintoff, English cricketer and coach
• 1977 – Paul McVeigh, Irish footballer
• 1978 – Chris Başak, American baseball player
• 1978 – Darrell Jackson, American football player
• 1978 – Ramiro Pez, Argentine rugby player
• 1979 – Tim Cahill, Australian footballer
• 1980 – Danielle Downey, American golfer and coach (d. 2014)
• 1980 – Steve Lovell, English footballer
• 1980 – Ehren Wassermann, American baseball player
• 1980 – Kei Yasuda, Japanese singer, musician, and actress
• 1981 – Federico Balzaretti, Italian footballer
• 1981 – Robbie Gould, American football player
• 1982 – Ryan Carnes, American actor and producer
• 1982 – Alberto Contador, Spanish cyclist
• 1982 – Sean Ervine, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1982 – Aaron Sandilands, Australian footballer
• 1982 – Susie Wolff, Scottish race car driver
• 1984 – Syndric Steptoe, American football player
• 1985 – Shannon Bobbitt, American basketball player
• 1985 – Aristeidis Grigoriadis, Greek swimmer
• 1985 – Rudra Pratap Singh, Indian cricketer
• 1986 – Sean Edwards, English race car driver (d. 2013)
• 1986 – Matt Niskanen, American ice hockey player
• 1988 – Sandra Nurmsalu, Estonian singer and violinist
• 1988 – Nils Petersen, German footballer
• 1988 – Nobunaga Shimazaki, Japanese voice actor
• 1989 – Felix Schiller, German footballer
• 1990 – Tamira Paszek, Austrian tennis player
• 1991 – Coco Vandeweghe, American tennis player
• 1992 – Britt Assombalonga, Congolese footballer
• 1992 – Johnny Manziel, American football player
• 1993 – Pedro Rafael Amado Mendes, Portuguese footballer
• 1998 – Angelīna Kučvaļska, Latvian figure skater

Deaths

• 343 – Saint Nicholas, Greek bishop and saint (b. 270)
• 735 – Prince Toneri of Japan (b. 676)
• 762 – Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, Arab rebel leader (b. 710)
• 1185 – Afonso I of Portugal (b. 1109)
• 1352 – Pope Clement VI (b. 1291)
• 1562 – Jan van Scorel Dutch painter (b. 1495)
• 1618 – Jacques Davy Duperron, French cardinal (b. 1556)
• 1658 – Baltasar Gracián, Spanish priest and author (b. 1601)
• 1675 – John Lightfoot, English priest, scholar, and academic (b. 1602)
• 1716 – Benedictus Buns, Dutch priest and composer (b. 1642)
• 1718 – Nicholas Rowe, English poet and playwright (b. 1674)
• 1746 – Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish poet and songwriter (b. 1665)
• 1771 – Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist and pathologist (b. 1682)
• 1779 – Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter (b. 1699)
• 1788 – Jonathan Shipley, English bishop (b. 1714)
• 1855 – William John Swainson, English ornithologist and entomologist (b. 1789)
• 1867 – Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist and academic (b. 1794)
• 1868 – August Schleicher, German linguist and academic (b. 1821)
• 1878 – Theodoros Vryzakis, Greek painter and educator (b. 1814)
• 1879 – Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American businessman (b. 1814)
• 1882 – Alfred Escher, Swiss businessman and politician, founded Credit Suisse (b. 1819)
• 1882 – Anthony Trollope, English novelist, essayist, and short story writer (b. 1815)
• 1889 – Jefferson Davis, American general and politician, President of the Confederate States of America (b. 1808)
• 1892 – Werner von Siemens, German engineer and businessman, founded the Siemens Company (b. 1816)
• 1921 – Said Halim Pasha, Ottoman politician, 280th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1865)
• 1924 – Gene Stratton-Porter, American author and screenwriter (b. 1863)
• 1951 – Harold Ross, American journalist and publisher, founded The New Yorker (b. 1892)
• 1955 – Honus Wagner, American baseball player and manager (b. 1874)
• 1956 – B. R. Ambedkar, Indian economist and politician, 1st Indian Minister of Justice (b. 1891)
• 1961 – Frantz Fanon, Martinique-French psychiatrist and author (b. 1925)
• 1964 – Evert van Linge, Dutch footballer and architect (b. 1895)
• 1972 – Janet Munro, English actress and singer (b. 1934)
• 1976 – João Goulart, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 24th President of Brazil (b. 1918)
• 1980 – Charles Deutsch, French engineer and businessman, co-founded DB (b. 1911)
• 1982 – K. Kailasapathy, Sri Lankan journalist and academic (b. 1933)
• 1982 – Jean-Marie Seroney, Kenyan activist and politician (b. 1927)
• 1983 – Lucienne Boyer, French singer and actress (b. 1903)
• 1983 – Gul Khan Nasir, Pakistani poet, historian, and politician (b. 1914)
• 1985 – Burr Tillstrom, American actor and puppeteer (b. 1917)
• 1985 – Burleigh Grimes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1893)
• 1988 – Roy Orbison, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
• 1989 – Frances Bavier, American actress (b. 1902)
• 1989 – Sammy Fain, American pianist and composer (b. 1902)
• 1989 – John Payne, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1912)
• 1990 – Pavlos Sidiropoulos, Greek singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1948)
• 1990 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia (b. 1903)
• 1991 – Mimi Smith, English nurse (b. 1906)
• 1991 – Richard Stone, English economist and statistician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
• 1993 – Don Ameche, American actor (b. 1908)
• 1994 – Heinz Baas, German footballer and manager (b. 1922)
• 1994 – Gian Maria Volontè, Italian actor and director (b. 1933)
• 1996 – Pete Rozelle, American businessman (b. 1926)
• 1997 – Willy den Ouden, Dutch swimmer (b. 1918)
• 1998 – César Baldaccini, French sculptor and educator (b. 1921)
• 2000 – Werner Klemperer, German-American actor (b. 1920)
• 2000 – Aziz Mian, Pakistani singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1942)
• 2001 – Peter Blake, New Zealand sailor and environmentalist (b. 1948)
• 2001 – Charles McClendon, American football player and coach (b. 1923)
• 2002 – Philip Berrigan, American priest and activist (b. 1923)
• 2003 – Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, Guatemalan general and politician, President of Guatemala (b. 1918)
• 2003 – Jerry Tuite, American wrestler (b. 1966)
• 2004 – Raymond Goethals, Belgian footballer and manager (b. 1921)
• 2005 – Charly Gaul, Luxembourger cyclist (b. 1932)
• 2005 – Devan Nair, Malaysian-Singaporean union leader and politician, 3rd President of Singapore (b. 1923)
• 2005 – Danny Williams, South African singer (b. 1942)
• 2005 – William P. Yarborough, American general (b. 1912)
• 2006 – John Feeney, New Zealand director and producer (b. 1922)
• 2010 – Mark Dailey, American-Canadian journalist and actor (b. 1953)
• 2011 – Dobie Gray, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1940)
• 2012 – Miguel Abia Biteo Boricó, Equatoguinean engineer and politician, Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea (b. 1961)
• 2012 – Jan Carew, Guyanese author, poet, and playwright (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Jeffrey Koo Sr., Taiwanese banker and businessman (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Huw Lloyd-Langton, English guitarist (b. 1951)
• 2012 – Pedro Vaz, Uruguayan lawyer and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay (b. 1963)
• 2013 – Jean-Pierre Desthuilliers, French poet and critic (b. 1939)
• 2013 – Stan Tracey, English pianist and composer (b. 1926)
• 2013 – M. K. Turk, American basketball player and coach (b. 1942)
• 2014 – Ralph H. Baer, German-American video game designer, created the Magnavox Odyssey (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Jimmy Del Ray, American wrestler and manager (b. 1962)
• 2014 – Fred Hawkins, American golfer (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Luke Somers, English-American photographer and journalist (b. 1981)
• 2015 – Ko Chun-hsiung, Taiwanese actor, director, and politician (b. 1945)
• 2015 – Liu Juying, Chinese general and politician (b. 1917)

Holidays and observances

• Anniversary of the Founding of Quito (Ecuador)
• Armed Forces Day (Ukraine)
• Christian feast day:
  • Abraham of Kratia
  • Aemilianus (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Blessed János Scheffler
  • María del Monte Carmelo Sallés y Barangueras
  • Nicholas of Myra, and its related observances:
    • St Nicholas Day, where St. Nicholas/Santa Claus leaves little presents in children's shoes. (International)
  • December 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (Spain)
• Day of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan
• Independence Day of Finland, celebrates the independence of Finland from Russia in 1917.
• National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (Canada)

External links

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