December 19 in History

Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov is assassinated while at an art exhibition in Ankara. The assassin, Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, is shot and killed by a Turkish guard.

A vehicular attack in Berlin, Germany, kills 12 and injures 56 people at a Christmas market.

Spacecraft Gaia is launched by the European Space Agency.

Park Geun-hye is elected the first female president of South Korea.

Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 crashes into the Government Cut channel immediately after takeoff from Miami Seaplane Base, killing 20.

A passenger train from Sucha Beskidzka to Żywiec in Poland loses its brakes while on a steep downhill part of the route. It is stopped in a controlled collision in Świnna by a train travelling in opposite direction. 2 drivers and 6 passengers are injured.

Argentine economic crisis: December riots: Riots erupt in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-103, the third Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

President Bill Clinton is impeached by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the second president of the United States to be impeached.

SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.

The United States Government restores federal recognition to the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Native American tribe.

Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from exile in Gorky.

Aeroflot Flight 101/435 is hijacked to China by its first officer.

The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997, is signed in Beijing by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.

The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.

The Ms 5.8 Bob–Tangol earthquake strikes Kerman Province in Iran, destroying villages and killing 665 people.

Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford under the provisions of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Apollo program: The last crewed lunar flight, Apollo 17, carrying Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.

Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia, is officially presumed dead.

India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India.

Irish-born physician John Bodkin Adams is arrested in connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 patients. Eventually he is convicted only of minor charges.

Start of the First Indochina War.

John Amery, British Fascist, is executed at the age of 33 by the British Government for treason.

World War II: Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Oberkommando des Heeres.

World War II: Limpet mines placed by Italian divers heavily damage HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth in Alexandria harbour.

Risto Ryti, the Prime Minister of Finland, is elected President of the Republic of Finland in a presidential election, which is exceptionally held by the 1937 electoral college.

BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service.

The Indian National Congress promulgates the Purna Swaraj (the Declaration of the Independence of India).

Three Indian revolutionaries, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan, are executed by the British Raj for participation in the Kakori conspiracy.

The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.

German serial killer Fritz Haarmann is sentenced to death for a series of murders.

King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander of Greece and a plebiscite.

William Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over one thousand people, is pardoned by U.S. President William Howard Taft after 3+1⁄2 years in Sing Sing prison.

Two hundred thirty-nine coal miners die in the Darr Mine Disaster in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.

Hopetoun Blunder: The first Governor-General of Australia John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, appoints Sir William Lyne premier of the new state of New South Wales, but he is unable to persuade other colonial politicians to join his government and is forced to resign.

French parliament votes amnesty for all involved in scandalous army treason trial known as Dreyfus affair.

Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun sparks the Nullification Crisis when he anonymously publishes the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828.

French Revolutionary Wars: Two British frigates under Commodore Horatio Nelson and two Spanish frigates under Commodore Don Jacobo Stuart engage in battle off the coast of Murcia.

War of the First Coalition: The Siege of Toulon ends when Napoleon's French artillery forces the British to abandon the city, securing southern France from invasion.

William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at 24.

American Revolutionary War: George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled "The American Crisis".

Glorious Revolution: Williamite forces defeat Jacobites at Battle of Reading, forcing James II to flee England.

The Great Swamp Fight, a pivotal battle in King Philip's War, gives the English settlers a bitterly won victory.

The ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery depart England carrying settlers who founded, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.

The Battle of Dreux takes place during the French Wars of Religion.

Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy.

Pope Clement III is elected.

Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.

Pope Martin I, having been abducted by Byzantine authorities from Rome for his opposition to Monothelitism, is tried in Constantinople.

King Princess, American singer-songwriter and musician

Gabriel Magalhães, Brazilian footballer

Fikayo Tomori, English footballer

Franck Kessié, Ivorian footballer

Maudy Ayunda, Indonesian actress and singer-songwriter

M'Baye Niang, French footballer

Young K, South Korean singer-songwriter

Isiah Koech, Kenyan runner

Iker Muniain, Spanish footballer

Raphael Spiegel, Swiss footballer

Steven Berghuis, Dutch footballer

Declan Galbraith, English singer-songwriter

Josh Huestis, American basketball player

Keiynan Lonsdale, Australian actor, singer-songwriter, and dancer

Sumire Uesaka, Japanese voice actress and singer

Greg Bretz, American snowboarder

Torrey Craig, American basketball player

Yong Jun-hyung, South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper and producer

Michał Masłowski, Polish footballer

Kousei Miura, Japanese jockey

Hamza Riazuddin, English cricketer

Alexis Sánchez, Chilean footballer

Peter Winn, English footballer

Cédric Baseya, French-Congolese footballer

Karim Benzema, French footballer

Ronan Farrow, American activist, journalist, and lawyer

Calvin Andrew, English footballer

Lauren Boebert, American politician

Ryan Babel, Dutch footballer

Ingrid Burley, American rapper and songwriter

Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, Greek footballer

Zuzana Hejnová, Czech hurdler

Miguel Lopes, Portuguese footballer

Annie Murphy, Canadian actress

Andrea Baldini, Italian fencer

Gary Cahill, English footballer

Neil Kilkenny, English-Australian footballer

Sally Kipyego, Kenyan runner

Dan Logan, English bass player

Lady Sovereign, English rapper

Ian Kennedy, American baseball player

Nektarios Alexandrou, Cypriot footballer

Casey Crescenzo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Bridget Phillipson, English politician

Laura Pomeroy, Canadian swimmer

Matt Stajan, Canadian ice hockey player

Mo Williams, American basketball player

Grégory Dufer, Belgian footballer

Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor and producer

Marla Sokoloff, American actress and musician

Kevin Devine, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Rafael Soriano, Dominican baseball player

Patrick Casey, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

Jorge Garbajosa, Spanish basketball player

LaTasha Jenkins, American sprinter

Irina Voronina, Russian model

Elisa (Italian singer), Italian singer, songwriter and record producer.

Makis Belevonis, Greek footballer

Brandon Sanderson, American author and academic

Jeremy Soule, American composer

Olivier Tébily, Ivorian-French footballer

Dean Treister, Australian rugby league player

Eduard Ivakdalam, Indonesian footballer

Joe Jurevicius, American football player

Felipe Lopez, Dominican-American basketball player

Jake Plummer, American football player and sportscaster

Ricky Ponting, Australian cricketer and sportscaster

Mige (musician), Finnish musician, bassist and founding member of the gothic rock band HIM

Michalis Grigoriou, Greek footballer and coach

Erick Wainaina, Kenyan runner

Zulfiya Zabirova, Russian cyclist

Takashi Sorimachi, Japanese actor and singer

Rosa Blasi, American actress

Alyssa Milano, American actress, television personality, and activist

Warren Sapp, American football player and analyst

Amy Locane, American actress

Karen Pickering, English swimmer

Tyson Beckford, American model and actor

Robert Lang, Czech ice hockey player

Michael Bates, American sprinter and football player

Tom Gugliotta, American basketball player

Richard Hammond, English journalist and producer

Nayan Mongia, Indian cricketer

Aziza Mustafa Zadeh, Azerbaijani composer, pianist, and singer

Kristy Swanson, American actress

Kristina Keneally, American-Australian politician, 42nd Premier of New South Wales

Ken Marino, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

Criss Angel, American magician

Charles Austin, American high jumper

Chuckii Booker, American singer-songwriter and producer

Rajesh Chauhan, Indian cricketer

Robert MacNaughton, American actor

Alberto Tomba, Italian skier

Eric Weinrich, American ice hockey player and coach

Chito Martínez, Belizean-American baseball player

Béatrice Dalle, French actress

Lorie Kane, Canadian golfer

Randall McDaniel, American football player

Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player

Jennifer Beals, American model and actress

Til Schweiger, German actor, director, and producer

Gary Fleder, American director, producer, and screenwriter

Scott Cohen, American actor

Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Matthew Waterhouse, English actor and author

Reggie White, American football player and wrestler (died 2004)

Derrick Jensen, American author and activist

Michelangelo Signorile, American journalist and author

Iván Vallejo, Ecuadorian mountaineer

Lisa Wilkinson, Australian television host and journalist

Steven Isserlis, English cellist and author

Limahl, English pop singer

Cyril Collard, French actor, director, and composer (died 1993)

Kevin McHale, American basketball player, coach, and manager

Phil Harris, American captain and fisherman (died 2010)

Tom Lawless, American baseball player and manager

Shane McEntee, Irish farmer and politician, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (died 2012)

Merzbow, Japanese noise musician

Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (died 2012)

Rob Portman, American lawyer and politician

Jeff Allam, English race car driver

Tim Parks, English author and translator

Walter Murphy, American pianist and composer

Mohammad Reza Aref, Iranian engineer and politician, 2nd Vice President of Iran

Alan Rouse, English mountaineer and author (died 1986)

Orna Berry, Israeli computer scientist and businesswoman

Claudia Kolb, American swimmer

Sebastian, Danish singer-songwriter and guitarist

Lenny White, American musician

Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (died 2022)

Jimmy Bain, Scottish bass player and songwriter (died 2016)

Rosemary Conley, English businesswoman, author, and broadcaster

Robert Urich, American actor and producer (died 2002)

John McEuen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

William Christie, American-French harpsichord player and conductor

Mitchell Feigenbaum, American physicist and mathematician (died 2019)

Martin Hume Johnson, English physiologist and academic

Richard Leakey, Kenyan paleontologist and politician (died 2022)

Alvin Lee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2013)

Tim Reid, American actor and director

Steve Tyrell, American singer-songwriter and producer

Zal Yanovsky, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2002)

James L. Jones, American general and politician, 22nd United States National Security Advisor

Elaine Joyce, American actress, singer, and dancer

Ross M. Lence, American political scientist and academic (died 2006)

Cornell Dupree, American guitarist (died 2011)

Gene Okerlund, American sports announcer (died 2019)

Lee Myung-bak, South Korean businessman and politician, 10th President of South Korea

Maurice White, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2016)

Phil Ochs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1976)

Jay Arnette, American basketball player

Tony Taylor, Cuban baseball player and coach (died 2020)

Bobby Timmons, American pianist and composer (died 1974)

Joanne Weaver, American baseball player (died 2000)

Al Kaline, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2020)

Pratibha Patil, Indian lawyer and politician, 12th President of India

Casper R. Taylor, Jr., American lawyer and politician (died 2023)

Kevan Gosper, Australian runner and politician (died 2024)

Christopher Smout, Scottish historian and academic

Salvador Elizondo, Mexican author, poet, playwright, and critic (died 2006)

Lola Hendricks, African American civil rights activist (died 2013)

Wayne Tippit, American actor (died 2009)

Ginger Stanley, American model, actress and stunt woman (died 2023)

Anca Giurchescu, Romanian academic (died 2015)

Knut Helle, Norwegian historian and professor (died 2015)

Wally Olins, English businessman and academic (died 2014)

Bob Brookmeyer, American trombonist, pianist, and composer (died 2011)

Gregory Carroll, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2013)

David Douglas, 12th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish potter

Howard Sackler, American playwright and screenwriter (died 1982)

Eve Bunting, Irish-American author and academic (died 2023)

Nathan Oliveira, American painter and sculptor (died 2010)

James Booth, English actor and screenwriter (died 2005)

Bobby Layne, American football player and coach (died 1986)

Fikret Otyam, Turkish painter and journalist (died 2015)

Tankred Dorst, German author and playwright (died 2017)

William Schutz, American psychologist and academic (died 2002)

Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter and screenwriter (died 2012)

Carlo Chiti, Italian engineer (died 1994)

Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 1989)

Gary Morton, American comedian and producer (died 1999)

Edmund Purdom, British-Italian actor (died 2009)

Michel Tournier, French journalist and author (died 2016)

Cicely Tyson, American actress (died 2021)

Robert V. Bruce, American historian and author (died 2008)

Gordon Jackson, Scottish-English actor and singer (died 1990)

Eamonn Andrews, Irish radio and television host (died 1987)

Little Jimmy Dickens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2015)

David Susskind, American talk show host and producer (died 1987)

Professor Longhair, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 1980)

Lee Rich, American producer and production manager (died 2012)

Roy Ward Baker, English director and producer (died 2010)

Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, German political scientist, journalist, and academic (died 2010)

Édith Piaf, French singer-songwriter and actress (died 1963)

Claudia Testoni, Italian hurdler, sprinter, and long jumper (died 1998)

Mel Shaw, American animator and screenwriter (died 2012)

Jean Genet, French novelist, playwright, and poet (died 1986)

W. A. Criswell, American pastor and author (died 2002)

Jimmy McLarnin, Irish-American boxer, actor, and golfer (died 2004)

Leonid Brezhnev, Ukrainian-Russian marshal, engineer, and politician, 4th Head of State of the Soviet Union (died 1982)

Irving Kahn, American businessman (died 2015)

Giovanni Lurani, Italian race car driver, engineer, and journalist (died 1995)

George Davis Snell, American geneticist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1996)

Ralph Richardson, English actor (died 1983)

Rudolf Hell, German engineer, invented the Hellschreiber (died 2002)

Oliver La Farge, American anthropologist and author (died 1963)

Fritz Mauruschat, German footballer and manager (died 1974)

Martin Luther King Sr., American pastor, missionary, and activist (died 1984)

Ingeborg Refling Hagen, Norwegian author and educator (died 1989)

Ford C. Frick, American journalist and businessman (died 1978)

Edward Bernard Raczyński, Polish politician and diplomat, 4th President-in-exile of Poland (died 1993)

Fritz Reiner, Hungarian-American conductor (died 1963)

Antonín Zápotocký, Czech politician, President of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (died 1957)

Bernard Friedberg, Austrian-Israeli scholar and author (died 1961)

Mileva Marić, Serbian physicist (died 1948)

Carter G. Woodson, American historian and author, founded Black History Month (died 1950)

Grace Marie Bareis, American mathematician (died 1962)

Alphonse Kirchhoffer, French fencer (died 1913)

Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress and playwright (died 1932)

Wallace Bryant, American archer (died 1953)

Italo Svevo, Italian author and playwright (died 1928)

Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec (died 1942)

Albert Abraham Michelson, Prussian-American physicist, chemist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1931)

Henry Clay Frick, American businessman and financier (died 1919)

Bernice Pauahi Bishop, American philanthropist (died 1884)

George Frederick Bristow, American violinist and composer (died 1898)

Mary Livermore, American journalist and activist (died 1905)

James J. Archer, American lawyer and general (died 1864)

Antoine Louis Dugès, French obstetrician and naturalist (died 1838)

Manuel Bretón de los Herreros, Spanish poet, playwright, and critic (died 1873)

Marie Thérèse of France (died 1851)

John Winthrop, American astronomer and educator (died 1779)

William Bowyer, English printer (died 1777)

Philip V of Spain (died 1746)

Dorothea Sophia, Abbess of Quedlinburg (died 1645)

Philip William, Prince of Orange (died 1618)

Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian (died 1552)

William I, Margrave of Meissen (died 1407)

Michael Leunig, Australian cartoonist (born 1945)

Wincey Willis, British broadcaster (born 1948)

Sally Ann Howes, English-American singer and actress (born 1930)

Johnny Isakson, American politician (born 1944)

Rosalind Knight, English actress (born 1933)

Andrei Karlov, Russian diplomat, Ambassador to Turkey (born 1954)

Jimmy Hill, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster (born 1928)

Greville Janner, Baron Janner of Braunstone, Welsh-English lawyer and politician (born 1928)

Karin Söder, Swedish educator and politician, 33rd Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs (born 1928)

S. Balasubramanian, Indian journalist and director (born 1936)

Philip Bradbourn, English lawyer and politician (born 1951)

Arthur Gardner, American actor and producer (born 1910)

Igor Rodionov, Russian general and politician, 3rd Russian Minister of Defence (born 1936)

Dick Thornton, American-Canadian football player and coach (born 1939)

Roberta Leigh (Rita Shulman Lewin), British writer, artist and TV producer (born 1926).

Winton Dean, English musicologist and author (born 1916)

Al Goldstein, American publisher and pornographer (born 1936)

Ned Vizzini, American author and screenwriter (born 1981)

Robert Bork, American lawyer, judge, and scholar, United States Attorney General (born 1927)

Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli general and politician, 22nd Transportation Minister of Israel (born 1944)

Larry Morris, American football player (born 1933)

Peter Struck, German lawyer and politician, 13th German Federal Minister of Defence (born 1943)

Anthony Howard, English journalist and author (born 1934)

Kim Peek, American megasavant (born 1951)

James Bevel, American minister and activist (born 1936)

Carol Chomsky, American linguist and educator (born 1930)

Michael Connell, American political consultant (born 1963)

Dock Ellis, American baseball player and coach (born 1945)

Vincent Gigante, American mobster (born 1927)

Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1912)

Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano and actress (born 1922)

Peter Carter-Ruck, English lawyer, founded Carter-Ruck (born 1914)

Hope Lange, American actress (born 1933)

Will Hoy, English race car driver (born 1952)

Arthur Rowley, English footballer and manager (born 1926)

George Weller, American author, playwright, and journalist (born 1907)

Rob Buck, American guitarist and songwriter (born 1958)

Milt Hinton, American bassist and photographer (born 1910)

John Lindsay, American lawyer and politician, 103rd Mayor of New York City (born 1921)

Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh soldier and actor (born 1914)

Mel Fisher, American treasure hunter (born 1922)

Sara Northrup Hollister, American occultist (born 1924)

Masaru Ibuka, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (born 1908)

Jimmy Rogers, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1924)

Marcello Mastroianni, Italian-French actor and singer (born 1924)

Michael Clarke, American drummer (born 1946)

Stella Gibbons, English journalist, author, and poet (born 1902)

Kirill Mazurov, Belarusian Soviet politician (born 1914)

Robert Bernstein, American author and playwright (born 1919)

Win Maw Oo, Burmese student activist (born 1971)

August Mälk, Estonian author, playwright, and politician (born 1900)

V. C. Andrews, American author (born 1923)

Werner Dankwort, Russian-German colonel and diplomat (born 1895)

Joy Ridderhof, American missionary (born 1903)

Dwight Macdonald, American philosopher, author, and critic (born 1906)

Giuseppe Caselli, Italian painter (born 1893)

Ahmet Emin Yalman, Turkish journalist, author, and academic (born 1888)

Norman Thomas, American minister and politician (born 1884)

Robert Andrews Millikan, American physicist and eugenicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1868)

Paul Langevin, French physicist and academic (born 1872)

Abbas II of Egypt (born 1874)

Rudolph Karstadt, German businessman (born 1856)

Kyösti Kallio, Finnish politician, the 4th President of Finland (born 1873)

Stephen Warfield Gambrill, American lawyer and politician (born 1873)

George Jackson Churchward, English engineer and businessman (born 1857)

Yun Bong-gil, South Korean activist (born 1908)

Ashfaqulla Khan, Indian activist (born 1900)

Ram Prasad Bismil, Indian poet and activist (born 1897)

Thibaw Min, Burmese king (born 1859)

Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist and neuropathologist (born 1864)

Henry Ware Lawton, American general (born 1843)

Bayard Taylor, American author and poet (born 1825)

Joseph Mallord William Turner, English painter (born 1775)

Emily Brontë, English novelist and poet (born 1818)

Thomas Fremantle, English admiral and politician (born 1765)

James McGill, Scottish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded McGill University (born 1744)

Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, German-French author and playwright (born 1723)

Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (born 1672)

Jean-Baptiste van Loo, French painter (born 1684)

Vitus Bering, Danish-born Russian explorer (born 1681)

Christina of Lorraine, Grand Duchess consort of Tuscany (born 1565)

Cornelius Grapheus, Flemish writer (born 1482)

Elizabeth of Luxembourg (born 1409)

Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan (born 1319)

Pope Urban V (born 1310)

Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundy (born 1260)

Saint Berardo, Italian bishop and saint

Al-Ghazali, Persian jurist, philosopher, theologian, and mystic (born 1058)

Adelaide of Susa, margravine of Turin

Sancho I, king of León

Pope Anastasius I