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December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are nine days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 1790 – The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies.
- 1807 – The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.
- 1809 – The Non-Intercourse Act, lifting the Embargo Act except for the United Kingdom and France, is passed by the U.S. Congress.
- 1849 – The execution of Fyodor Dostoevsky is called off at the last second.
- 1851 – The first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India.
- 1864 – Savannah, Georgia falls to General William Tecumseh Sherman, concluding his "March to the Sea".
- 1885 – Ito Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.
- 1890 – Cornwallis Valley Railway begins operation between Kingsport and Kentville, Nova Scotia.
- 1894 – The Dreyfus affair begins in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason, on antisemitic grounds.
- 1920 – The GOELRO economic development plan is adopted by the 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR.
- 1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.
- 1940 – World War II: Himarë is captured by the Greek army.
- 1942 – World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.
- 1944 – World War II: Battle of the Bulge – German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!"
- 1944 – World War II: The People's Army of Vietnam is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indo-China, now Vietnam.
- 1947 – The Constituent Assembly of Italy approves the Constitution of Italy.
- 1951 – The Selangor Labour Party is founded in Selangor, Malaya.
- 1956 – Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity.
- 1963 – The cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 miles north of Madeira with the loss of 128 lives.
- 1964 – First flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird).
- 1965 – In the United Kingdom, a 70mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time. Previously, there had been no speed limit.
- 1974 – Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration.
- 1974 – The house of former British Prime Minister Ted Heath is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.
- 1978 – The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform.
- 1984 – Bernhard Hugo Goetz shoots four would-be African-American muggers on an express train in Manhattan, New York City.
- 1988 – Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist, is assassinated.
- 1989 – After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceauşescu's Communist dictatorship.
- 1989 – Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
- 1990 – Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship.
- 1992 – The Archives of Terror are discovered.
- 1997 – Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
- 1997 – Hussein Aidid relinquishes the disputed title of President of Somalia by signing the Cairo Declaration, in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first major step towards reconciliation in Somalia since 1991.
- 1999 – Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509, a Boeing 747-200F crashes shortly after take-off from London Stansted Airport due to pilot error. All 4 crew members are killed.
- 2001 – Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
- 2001 – Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
Births
- 244 – Diocletian, Roman Emperor (d. 311)
- 1095 – Roger II of Sicily, King of Sicily (d. 1154)
- 1178 – Emperor Antoku of Japan (d. 1185)
- 1546 – Kuroda Yoshitaka, Japanese Daimyo (d. 1604)
- 1550 – Cesare Cremonini, Italian philosopher (d. 1631)
- 1639 – Jean Racine, French dramatist (d. 1699)
- 1666 – Guru Gobind Singh, Sikh guru (d. 1708)
- 1690 – Meidingnu Pamheiba, King of Manipur (d. 1751)
- 1694 – Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher and writer (d. 1768)
- 1696 – James Oglethorpe, English general and founder of the state of Georgia (d. 1785)
- 1723 – Carl Friedrich Abel, German composer (d. 1787)
- 1765 – Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathematician (d. 1825)
- 1805 – John Obadiah Westwood, British entomologist (d. 1893)
- 1807 – Johann Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian poet (d. 1873)
- 1819 – Franz Wilhelm Abt, German composer (d. 1870)
- 1819 – Pierre Ossian Bonnet, French mathematician (d. 1892)
- 1853 – Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan pianist (d. 1917)
- 1853 – Yevgraf Fyodorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1919)
- 1856 – Frank B. Kellogg, 45th U.S. Secretary of State, Nobel laureate (d. 1937)
- 1858 – Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (d. 1924)
- 1860 – Austin Norman Palmer, American penmanship innovator (d. 1927)
- 1862 – Connie Mack, American baseball executive (d. 1956)
- 1869 – Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet (d. 1935)
- 1869 – Dmitri Egorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1931)
- 1872 – Camille Guérin, French veterinarian and bacteriologist (d. 1961)
- 1874 – Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer (d. 1939)
- 1876 – Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Italian poet and editor (d. 1944)
- 1883 – Edgard Varèse French-born composer (d. 1965)
- 1885 – Deems Taylor American conductor and music critic (d. 1966)
- 1885 – Abe Manley, Negro League Baseball owner (d. 1952)
- 1887 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (d. 1920)
- 1888 – J. Arthur Rank, British film producer (d. 1972)
- 1898 – Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock, Russian physicist (d. 1974)
- 1899 – Gustav Gründgens, German actor (d. 1963)
- 1900 – Marc Allégret, French film director and screenwriter (d. 1973)
- 1901 – André Kostelanetz, American popular music orchestra leader and arranger (d. 1980)
- 1903 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1983)
- 1905 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet (d. 1982)
- 1905 – Pierre Brasseur, French actor (d. 1972)
- 1907 – Dame Peggy Ashcroft, English actress (d. 1991)
- 1909 – Patricia Hayes, English actress (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the United States (d. 2007)
- 1912 – Elias Degiannis, Greek navy officer and Resistance fighter (d. 1943)
- 1914 – Swami Satchidananda, Yogi and Spiritual teacher (d. 2002)
- 1915 – Barbara Billingsley, American actress
- 1917 – Gene Rayburn, American game show host (d. 1999)
- 1921 – Hawkshaw Hawkins, American country singer (d. 1963)
- 1922 – Jack Brooks, American politician
- 1922 – Ruth Roman, American actress (d. 1999)
- 1924 – Frank Corsaro, American stage director
- 1925 – Lewis Glucksman, American financier (d. 2006)
- 1934 – David Pearson, American racecar driver
- 1936 – James Burke, British writer
- 1936 – Hector Elizondo, American actor
- 1936 – Wojciech Frykowski, Polish actor (d. 1969)
- 1937 – Eduard Uspensky, Russian writer
- 1938 – Matty Alou, Dominican baseball player
- 1938 – Lucien Bouchard, Quebec politician
- 1939 – James Gurley, American musician (d. 2009)
- 1940 – Luis Francisco Cuéllar, Colombian politician (d. 2009)
- 1942 – Dick Parry, English musician (Pink Floyd)
- 1943 – Paul Wolfowitz, American politician
- 1944 – Steve Carlton, American baseball player
- 1944 – Guido De Angelis, Italian musician
- 1945 – Diane Sawyer, American journalist
- 1946 – Rick Nielsen, American musician (Cheap Trick)
- 1948 – Noel Edmonds, English game show host
- 1948 – Steve Garvey, American baseball player
- 1948 – Chris Old, English cricketer
- 1948 – Lynne Thigpen, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1949 – Maurice Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees) (d. 2003)
- 1949 – Robin Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees)
- 1951 – Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster
- 1951 – Dan Martin, American voice actor
- 1953 – Bern Nadette Stanis, actress
- 1953 – Ian Turnbull, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1954 – Hideshi Matsuda, Japanese racing driver
- 1955 – Lonnie Smith, American baseball player
- 1957 – Carole James, Canadian politician
- 1958 – Frank Gambale, Australian musician
- 1958 – David Heavener, American actor and musician
- 1959 – Bernd Schuster, German footballer
- 1960 – Wakin Chau, Chinese singer
- 1960 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (d. 1988)
- 1960 – Luther Campbell (Luke), American rap artist (2 Live Crew)
- 1960 – Patrick Fitzgerald, American attorney
- 1961 – Andrew Fastow, American businessman
- 1962 – Ralph Fiennes, English actor
- 1963 – Giuseppe Bergomi, Italian footballer
- 1963 – Luna H. Mitani, Japanese American surrealism painter
- 1963 – Brian McMillan, South African cricketer
- 1966 – Dmitry Bilozerchev, Soviet gymnast
- 1966 – Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer, German singer and bassplayer (Destruction)
- 1967 – Dan Petrescu, Romanian footballer
- 1967 – Richey James Edwards, Welsh musician (Manic Street Preachers) (disappeared in 1995)
- 1967 – Stéphane Gendron, Quebec politician
- 1967 – Paul Morris, Australian racing driver
- 1968 – Dina Meyer, American actress
- 1968 – Lauralee Bell, American actress
- 1969 – Myriam Bédard, Canadian athlete
- 1971 – Pat Mastroianni, Canadian actor
- 1972 – Big Tigger, television host
- 1972 – Vanessa Paradis, French singer
- 1974 – Heather Donahue, American actress
- 1975 – Chris Adler, American actor
- 1975 – Dmitri Khokhlov, Russian footballer
- 1975 – Crissy Moran, American pornographic actress
- 1975 – Stanislav Neckář, Czech ice hockey player
- 1975 – Sergei Aschwanden, Swiss judoka
- 1976 – Brian A. Alexander, American screenwriter and director
- 1976 – Katleen De Caluwé, Belgian athlete
- 1976 – Jason Lane, American baseball player
- 1977 – Steve Kariya, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Emmanuel Olisadebe, Nigerian/Polish footballer
- 1979 – Jamie Langfield, Scottish football player
- 1980 – Chris Carmack, American actor
- 1982 – Brooke Nevin, Canadian actress
- 1983 – Drew Hankinson, American professional wrestler
- 1983 – Jennifer Hawkins, Australian beauty pageant contestant
- 1984 – Basshunter, Swedish singer
- 1986 – Dennis Armfield, Australian footballer
- 1986 – Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Nigerian terrorist suspect
- 1989 – Logan Huffman, American actor
- 1989 – Jordin Sparks, American singer
- 1993 – Ali Lohan, American singer
Deaths
- 1100 – Duke Bretislaus II of Bohemia
- 1550 – Richard Plantagenet (Richard of Eastwell) possibly a son of Richard III
- 1603 – Mehmed III, Ottoman Emperor (b. 1566)
- 1646 – Peter Mogila, Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia (b. 1596)
- 1660 – André Tacquet, Flemish mathematician (b. 1612)
- 1681 – Richard Alleine, English Puritan clergyman (b. 1611)
- 1708 – Hedwig Sophia, duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, Swedish writer (b. 1681)
- 1738 – Constantia Jones, British prostitute (executed)
- 1767 – John Newbery, English publisher (b. 1713)
- 1788 – Percivall Pott, English physician and surgeon (b. 1714)
- 1806 – William Vernon, American merchant (b. 1719)
- 1828 – William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist (b. 1766)
- 1867 – Jean-Victor Poncelet, French mathematician (b. 1788)
- 1870 – Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet and writer (b. 1836)
- 1880 – George Eliot, English writer (b. 1819)
- 1899 – Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist (b. 1837)
- 1902 – Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German psychiatrist (b. 1840)
- 1917 – Mother Cabrini, first American citizen canonized by the Catholic Church (b. 1850)
- 1939 – Ma Rainey, American singer (b. 1886)
- 1940 – Nathanael West, American writer (b. 1903)
- 1942 – Franz Boas, German anthropologist (b. 1858)
- 1943 – Beatrix Potter, English writer (b. 1866)
- 1944 – Harry Langdon, American silent film actor (b. 1884)
- 1959 – Gilda Gray, Polish-born American dancer and actress (b. 1901)
- 1960 – Sir John Ninian Comper, Scottish architect (b. 1864)
- 1965 – Richard Dimbleby, English journalist and broadcaster (b. 1913)
- 1971 – Godfried Bomans, Dutch author and television personality (b. 1913)
- 1979 – Darryl F. Zanuck, American producer (b. 1902)
- 1985 – D. Boon, American singer and guitarist (The Minutemen) (b. 1958)
- 1986 – Ida Cook (Mary Burchell), British novelist (b. 1904)
- 1987 – Luca Prodan, Italian-Scottish singer (Sumo) (b. 1953)
- 1988 – Chico Mendes, Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist, and environmental activist (assassinated) (b. 1944)
- 1989 – Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 1992 – Frederick Franz, Watchtower president (b. 1893)10
- 1995 – Butterfly McQueen, American actress (b. 1911)
- 1995 – James Meade, English economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (b. 1907)
- 2001 – Ovidiu Iacov, Romanian footballer (b. 1981)
- 2002 – Desmond Hoyte, President of Guyana (b. 1929)
- 2002 – Joe Strummer, English musician (The Clash) (b. 1952)
- 2003 – Dave Dudley, American singer (b. 1928)
- 2004 – Doug Ault, American baseball player (b. 1950)
- 2006 – Elena Mukhina, Russian gymnast (b. 1960)
- 2006 – Galina Ustvolskaya, Russian composer (b. 1919)
- 2006 – Dennis Linde, American songwriter (b. 1943)
- 2007 – Adrian Cristobal, Filipino writer (b. 1932)
- 2009 – Albert Scanlon, English footballer (b. 1935)
- 2009 – Luis Francisco Cuéllar, Colombian politician (b. 1940)
Holidays and observances
External links
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