December 21 in History

Fourteen people are killed and 25 others injured during a mass shooting at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.

A Vega C rocket carrying two Pléiades Neo satellites fails after liftoff.

A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623.

2012 phenomenon: Festivities are held in parts of Mesoamerica to commemorate the conclusion of b'ak'tun 13, a roughly 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar whose passing many New Age spiritualists had earlier held to portend a variety of cataclysmic or transformative events.

Iraq War: A suicide bomber kills 22 at the forward operating base next to the main U.S. military airfield at Mosul, Iraq, the single deadliest suicide attack on American soldiers in Iraq.

The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid, Spain.

Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216 overshoots the runway at La Aurora International Airport, killing 18.

The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.

A Dutch DC-10, flight Martinair MP 495, crashes at Faro Airport, Portugal, killing 56.

Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The leaders of 11 now effectively autonomous Soviet republics sign the Alma-Ata Protocol establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States in place of the collapsing Soviet Union.

A bomb explodes on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270. This is to date the deadliest air disaster to occur on British soil.

Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara.

The Geneva Conference on the Arab–Israeli conflict opens.

Apollo program: Apollo 8 is launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.

Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a human-to-human heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, having lived for 18 days after the transplant.

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is adopted.

"Bloody Christmas" begins in Cyprus, ultimately resulting in the displacement of 25,000–30,000 Turkish Cypriots and destruction of more than 100 villages.

An 8.1 Mw earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Nankaidō, Japan, kills over 1,300 people and destroys over 38,000 homes.

World War II: A Thai-Japanese Pact of Alliance is signed.

Lieutenant Kijé, one of Sergei Prokofiev's best-known works, premiered.

United Kingdom and Nepal formally sign an agreement of friendship, called the Nepal–Britain Treaty of 1923, which superseded the Treaty of Sugauli signed in 1816.

American anarchist Emma Goldman is deported to Russia.

An underground explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, England, kills 344 miners.

The Chilean Army commits a massacre of at least 2,000 striking saltpeter miners in Iquique, Chile.

The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, the first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army, are formed.

the fictional character of Nora Helmer is first portrayed by Betty Hennings at a showing of A Doll's House at the Royal Danish Theatre.

Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth, England.

Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.

The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers commences business at its cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.

Egyptian–Ottoman War: Egyptian forces decisively defeat Ottoman troops at the Battle of Konya.

American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion.

Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land near what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile.

The Battle of Linuesa is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the forces of the Emirate of Granada and the combined army of the Kingdom of Castile and of Jaén resulting in a Castilian victory.

The city of Ryazan is sacked by the Mongol army of Batu Khan.

After a siege of several weeks, the city of Weinsberg and its castle surrender to Conrad III of Germany.

Pope Honorius II is consecrated, having been elected after the controversial dethroning of Pope-Elect Celestine II.

The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.

Cooper Flagg, American basketball player

Clara Tauson, Danish tennis player

Madelyn Cline, American actress and model

Charlie McAvoy, American ice hockey player

Ben Chilwell, English footballer

Kaitlyn Dever, American actress

Luke Brooks, Australian rugby league player

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, American football player

Jamie Oleksiak, Canadian ice hockey player

Nic Maddinson, Australian cricketer

Otis, American wrestler

Riccardo Saponara, Italian footballer

Mark Ingram II, American football player

Tamannaah, Indian actress

Danny Duffy, American baseball player

Perri Shakes-Drayton, English sprinter and hurdler

Khris Davis, American baseball player

Tom Sturridge, English actor

Taylor Teagarden, American baseball player

Steven Yeun, American actor

Primo Colón, Puerto Rican wrestler

Philip Humber, American baseball player

Tom Payne, English actor

Marta Fernández, Spanish basketball player

Cristian Zaccardo, Italian footballer

Steve Montador, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2015)

Emiliano Brembilla, Italian swimmer

Charles Dera, American pornographic actor, dancer, model, and mixed martial arts fighter

Shaun Morgan, South African musician, singer, and guitarist

Rutina Wesley, American actress

Buddy Carlyle, American baseball player

Corey Collymore, Barbadian cricketer

Leon MacDonald, New Zealand rugby player

Emmanuel Macron, French politician, 25th President of France

Freddy Sanchez, American baseball player

Paloma Herrera, Argentine ballerina

Karrie Webb, Australian golfer

Irakli Alasania, Georgian colonel and politician, Georgian Minister of Defense

Matías Almeyda, Argentine footballer and manager

Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, Indian politician, 17th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

Matthieu Chedid, French singer-songwriter and guitarist

Natalie Grant, American singer-songwriter and author

Julie Delpy, French model, actress, director, and screenwriter

Mihails Zemļinskis, Latvian footballer, coach, and manager

Terry Mills, American basketball player and coach

Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Georgia

Michelle Hurd, American actress

William Ruto, 5th President of Kenya

Kiefer Sutherland, British-Canadian actor, director, and producer

Glenn Coleman, Australian rugby league player

Andy Dick, American actor and comedian

Anke Engelke, Canadian-German actress, director, and screenwriter

Kunihiko Ikuhara, Japanese director and illustrator

Joe Kocur, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Govinda, Indian actor, singer, and politician

Ryuji Sasai, Japanese bass player and composer

Sherry Rehman, Pakistani journalist, politician, and diplomat, 25th Pakistan Ambassador to the United States

Florence Griffith Joyner, American sprinter and actress (died 1998)

Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Indian cricketer

Tamara Bykova, Russian high jumper

Ray Romano, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

Tony Lewis, English singer and songwriter (died 2020)

Dave Laut, American shot putter (died 2009)

Jane Kaczmarek, American actress

Kazuyuki Sekiguchi, Japanese singer-songwriter and bass player

Chris Evert, American tennis player and coach

András Schiff, Hungarian-English pianist and conductor

Betty Wright, American singer-songwriter (died 2020)

Joaquín Andújar, Dominican baseball player (died 2015)

Dennis Boutsikaris, American actor

Steve Furniss, American swimmer

Steve Perryman, English footballer and manager

Jeffrey Katzenberg, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded DreamWorks Animation

Max Maven, American magician and mentalist (died 2022)

Lillebjørn Nilsen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2024)

Thomas Sankara, Burkinabé captain and politician, 5th President of Burkina Faso (died 1987)

Nikolaos Sifounakis, Greek lawyer and politician

Barry Gordon, American actor and voice artist; longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild (1988–95)

Samuel L. Jackson, American actor and producer

Dave Kingman, American baseball player

Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer (died 2014)

Roy Karch, American director, producer, and screenwriter

Carl Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1998)

Doug Walters, Australian cricketer

Michael Tilson Thomas, American pianist, composer, and conductor (died 2026)

Zheng Xiaoyu, Chinese diplomat (died 2007)

Albert Lee, English guitarist and songwriter

Walter Spanghero, French rugby player

Hu Jintao, Chinese engineer and politician, 5th Paramount leader of China

Carla Thomas, American singer

Frank Zappa, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer and producer (died 1993)

Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian academic and politician, 2nd Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs

Wafic Saïd, Syrian-Saudi Arabian financier, businessman and philanthropist

Larry Bryggman, American actor

Jane Fonda, American actress and activist

John G. Avildsen, American director, producer, and cinematographer (died 2017)

Lorenzo Bandini, Italian racing driver (died 1967)

Phil Donahue, American talk show host and producer (died 2024)

Stela Popescu, Romanian actress (died 2017)

Edward Schreyer, Canadian academic and politician, Governor General of Canada

Janet Metcalf, American politician (died 2025)

Giuseppina Leone, Italian sprinter

Hanif Mohammad, Pakistani cricketer (died 2016)

Jackie Hendriks, Jamaican cricketer

Robert Worcester, American businessman and academic, founded MORI (died 2025)

U. R. Ananthamurthy, Indian author, poet, and critic (died 2014)

Edward Hoagland, American author and critic

Phil Roman, American animator

Charles Bailleul, French linguist and missionary (died 2026)

Champ Butler, American singer (died 1992)

Arnošt Lustig, Czech author and playwright (died 2011)

Joe Paterno, American football player and coach (died 2012)

Wat Misaka, American basketball player (died 2019)

Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician (died 1989)

Cécile DeWitt-Morette, French mathematician and physicist (died 2017)

Paul Winchell, American actor, voice artist, and ventriloquist (died 2005)

Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina and choreographer, founded the Cuban National Ballet (died 2019)

Adele Goldstine, American computer programmer (died 1964)

Iris Cummings, American swimmer and aviator (died 2025)

Doug Young, American voice actor (died 2018)

Donald Regan, American colonel and politician, 11th White House Chief of Staff (died 2003)

Kurt Waldheim, Austrian colonel and politician; 9th President of Austria (died 2007)

Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985)

Frank Fenner, Australian microbiologist and virologist (died 2010)

Arnold Friberg, American illustrator and painter (died 2010)

Josh Gibson, American baseball player (died 1947)

Seichō Matsumoto, Japanese journalist and author (died 1992)

Käte Fenchel, German mathematician (died 1983)

Anthony Powell, English author (died 2000)

Luis Arturo González López, Guatemalan supreme court judge and briefly acting president (died 1965)

Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union during World War II (died 1968)

Walter Hagen, American golfer (died 1969)

Rebecca West, English journalist and author (died 1983)

John William McCormack, American lawyer and politician, 53rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (died 1980)

Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1967)

Sewall Wright, American geneticist and biologist (died 1988)

Jean Bouin, French runner and rugby player (died 1914)

Frank Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 1960)

María Cadilla, Puerto Rican writer, educator, women's rights activist (died 1951)

Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish-Irish mathematician and philosopher (died 1956)

Jaan Sarv, Estonian mathematician and scholar (died 1954)

Jack Lang, Australian lawyer and politician, 23rd Premier of New South Wales (died 1975)

Trevor Kincaid, Canadian-American zoologist and academic (died 1970)

Lorenzo Perosi, Italian priest and composer (died 1956)

Albert Payson Terhune, American journalist and author (died 1942)

George W. Fuller, American chemist and engineer (died 1934)

Maud Gonne, Irish nationalist and political activist (died 1953)

Gustave Kahn, French poet and critic (died 1936)

Joseph Carruthers, Australian politician, 16th Premier of New South Wales (died 1932)

Thomas Chipman McRae, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Arkansas (died 1929)

Zdeněk Fibich, Czech composer and poet (died 1900)

Thomas Bracken, Irish-New Zealander journalist, poet, and politician (died 1898)

Ernest de Munck, Belgian cellist and composer (died 1915)

Namık Kemal, Turkish journalist, playwright, and activist (died 1888)

John H. Ketcham, American general and politician (died 1906)

Bartolomé Masó, Cuban soldier and politician (died 1907)

William H. Osborn, American businessman (died 1894)

Thomas Couture, French painter and educator (died 1879)

Archibald Tait, Scottish-English archbishop (died 1882)

Thomas Graham, Scottish chemist and academic (died 1869)

Benjamin Disraeli, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1881)

Achille Vianelli, Italian painter and academic (died 1894)

Jack Russell, English priest, hunter, and dog breeder (died 1883)

Leopold von Ranke, German historian, author, and academic (died 1886)

Anders Sandøe Ørsted, Danish jurist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Denmark (died 1860)

Hermann Raupach, German harpsichord player and composer (died 1778)

John Bradstreet, Canadian-English general (died 1774)

Benjamin Schmolck, German pastor and composer (died 1737)

Benedict Arnold, Rhode Island colonial governor (died 1678)

Roger Williams, English minister, theologian, and politician, 9th President of the Colony of Rhode Island (died 1684)

Peter Mohyla, Ruthenian Orthodox metropolitan and saint (died 1646)

Man Singh I, Mughal noble (died 1614)

Thomas Allen, English mathematician and astrologer (died 1632)

Luigi d'Este, Catholic cardinal (died 1586)

Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, English politician (died 1550)

William Conyers, 1st Baron Conyers, English baron (died 1524)

Masaccio, Italian painter (died 1428)

Minamoto no Yorinobu, Japanese samurai (died 1048)

Michelle Botes, South African actress (born 1962)

Art Evans, American actor (born 1942)

Andrew Clennel Palmer, British engineer (born 1938)

Bruce McCandless II, US astronaut who conducted the first untethered spacewalk (born 1937)

Udo Jürgens, Austrian-Swiss singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1934)

Sitor Situmorang, Indonesian poet and author (born 1923)

Billie Whitelaw, English actress (born 1932)

Edgar Bronfman Sr., Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist (born 1929)

John Eisenhower, American historian, general, and diplomat, 45th United States Ambassador to Belgium (born 1922)

Enzo Bearzot, Italian footballer and manager (born 1927)

Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)

Christos Lambrakis, Greek journalist and businessman (born 1934)

Saparmyrat Nyýazow, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (born 1940) (date death announced)

Autar Singh Paintal, Indian physiologist and neurologist (born 1925)

Ernst-Günther Schenck, German colonel and physician (born 1904)

Stella Adler, American actress and educator (born 1901)

Albert King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1924)

Nathan Milstein, Russian-American violinist and composer (born 1903)

Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1907)

Paul de Man, Belgian-born philosopher, literary critic and theorist (born 1919)

Abu Al-Asar Hafeez Jullundhri, Pakistani poet and composer (born 1900)

Richard Long, American actor and director (born 1927)

Ásta Sigurðardóttir, Icelandic writer and visual artist (born 1930)

Vittorio Pozzo, Italian footballer, coach, and manager (born 1886)

Claude Champagne, Canadian violinist, pianist, and composer (born 1891)

Carl Van Vechten, American author and photographer (born 1880)

Jack Hobbs, English cricketer and journalist (born 1882)

Rosanjin, Japanese calligrapher, engraver, and painter (born 1883)

H.B. Warner, English actor (born 1875)

Lion Feuchtwanger, German-American author and playwright (born 1884)

Eric Coates, English viola player and composer (born 1886)

Kaarlo Koskelo, Finnish-American wrestler and businessman (born 1888)

Kenneth Edwards, American golfer (born 1886)

Władysław Witwicki, Polish psychologist, philosopher, translator, historian (of philosophy and art) and artist (born 1878)

George S. Patton, American general (born 1885)

F. Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist and short story writer (born 1896)

Violette Neatley Anderson, American judge (born 1882)

Ted Healy, American comedian and actor (born 1896)

Frank B. Kellogg, American lawyer and politician, 45th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1856)

Ted Birnie, English footballer and manager (born 1878)

Kurt Tucholsky, German-Swedish journalist and author (born 1890)

Knud Rasmussen, Greenlandic anthropologist and explorer (born 1879)

I. L. Patterson, American politician, 18th Governor of Oregon (born 1859)

Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, leader of the Dervish movement (born 1856)

Friedrich August von Quenstedt, German geologist and palaeontologist (born 1809)

Francis Garnier, French admiral and explorer (born 1839)

Friedrich Ernst Scheller, German jurist and politician (born 1791)

James Parkinson, English physician and paleontologist (born 1755)

John Newton, English soldier and minister (born 1725)

Sir Hugh Paterson, Baronet of Bannockburn (born 1659)

Sophie Axelsdatter Brahe, Danish noblewoman (born 1578)

Catherine Vasa, Swedish princess (born 1539)

William Davison, secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England (born c. 1541)

Peter Canisius, Dutch priest and saint (born 1521)

Jean de la Cassière, 51st Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (born 1502)

Marguerite de Navarre, queen of Henry II of Navarre (born 1492)

John Seymour, English courtier (born 1474)

Berthold von Henneberg, German archbishop (born 1442)

Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian author and poet (born 1313)

Constantine III, king of Armenia (born 1313)

Thomas Hemenhale, bishop of Worcester

Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse (born 1244)

Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Walid, Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq of Tayyibi Isma'ilism (born c. 1128)

Hugh of Tuscany, Italian margrave (born 950)

Al-Mu'izz, Fatimid caliph (born 932)

Sun Sheng, Chinese chancellor

Hincmar, French archbishop and historian (born 806)

Thomas the Apostle, Roman martyr and saint (born 1 AD)