On this day in History - Dec. 17

• 0283 - St Gaius becomes Pope.
• 0384 - St Siricius becomes Pope.
• 0535 - Emperor Ankan of Japan dies (b. 466).
• 0546 - Gothic War (535–552): The Ostrogoths of King Totila conquer Rome bribing the Byzantine garrison.
• 0920 - Romanos I is crowned co-emperor of the underage Emperor Constantine VII.
• 0942 - Assassination of William I of Normandy.
• 1187 - Pope Gregory VIII [Alberto de Morra] dies. Italian Pope.
• 1195 - Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut dies (b. 1150).
• 1239 - Kujo Yoritsugu was born (d. 1256). Japanese shogun.
• 1267 - Emperor Go-Uda of Japan was born (d. 1324).
• 1273 - Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi dies (b. 1207). Persian poet and mystic.
• 1398 - Sultan Mehmud's armies in Delhi defeated by Timur.
• 1471 - Isabel of Portugal dies (b. 1397). Duchess of Burgundy.
• 1493 - Philippus A Paracelsus was born (d. 1754). Swiss alquimist and physician.
• 1531 - Pope Clement VII established a parallel to the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal.
• 1538 - Pope Paul III excommunicates King Henry VIII of England.
• 1577 - Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for British Queen Elizabeth I.
• 1586 - Emperor Go-Yozei becomes Emperor of Japan.
• 1600 - Marriage of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici.
• 1619 - Prince Rupert of the Rhine was born (d. 1682). Royalist commander in the English Civil War.
• 1632 - Anthony Wood was born (d. 1695). English antiquarian.
• 1637 - The Shimabara Rebellion breaks out in Japan.
• 1663 - Dona Ana de Souza, Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (Angola), dies (b. 1583).
• 1685 - Thomas Tickell was born (d. 1740). English writer.
• 1706 - Émilie du Châtelet was born (d. 1749). French mathematician and physicist.
• 1718 - Great Britain declares war on Spain.
• 1721 - Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough dies (b. 1640). English statesman.
• 1734 - Maria I of Portugal was born (d. 1816). Portuguese queen.
• 1749 - Domenico Cimarosa was born (d. 1801). Italian composer.
• 1763 - Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony dies (b. 1722).
• 1770 - Johann Friedrich Schubert was born. Composer.
• 1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven is baptized (d. 1827). German composer.
• 1777 - France recognized American independence.
• 1778 - Humphry Davy was born (d. 1829). English chemist.
• 1787 - Jan Evangelista Purkyne was born (d. 1869). Czech anatomist.
• 1796 - Thomas Chandler Haliburton was born (d. 1865). Canadian novelist.
• 1797 - Joseph Henry was born. American scientist, inventor, pioneer of electromagnetism.
• 1799 - Titian Peale was born (d. 1885). American artist.
• 1807 - France issues the Milan Decree, which confirms the Continental System.
• 1807 - John Greenleaf Whittier was born [d. 1892]. American Poet and abolicionist. Whittier was a pioneer in regional literature as well as a crusader for many humanitarian causes.
• 1812 – War of 1812: U.S. forces attack a friendly Lenape village in the Battle of the Mississinewa.
• 1812 - Kaspar Hauser dies (b. 1812). German foundling.
• 1819 - Simón Bolívar declares the independence of the Republic of Gran Colombia in Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar in Venezuela).
• 1830 - Simon Bolivar died in Santa Marta [b. 1783]; General and Venezuelan statesman, first President of Colombia.
• 1830 - Jules de Goncourt was born (d. 1870). French publisher.
• 1833 - Kaspar Hauser dies (b. 1812). German foundling.
• 1834 - The Dublin and Kingstown Railway opened in Ireland, the first public railway on the island of Ireland.
• 1835 - Alexander Emanuel Agassiz was born (d. 1910). American scientist; son of Louis Agassiz.
• 1837 – Fire in the Winter Palace of Saint Petersburg occurred.
• 1843 - A Christmas Carol a fictional short story by Charles Dickens is published.
• 1847 - Émile Faguet was born (d. 1916). French writer and critic.
• 1847 - Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria dies (b. 1791). Second wife of Napoleon.
• 1853 - Herbert Beerbohm Tree was born (d. 1917). English actor.
• 1853 - Emile Roux was born (d. 1933). French physician.
• 1859 - Paul César Helleu was born (d. 1927). French artist.
• 1860 - Désirée Clary dies (b. 1777). Queen of Sweden and Norway.
• 1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues General Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
• 1865 - First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert.
• 1872 - Mistinguett was born (d. 1956). French actress and singer.
• 1873 - Ford Madox Ford was born (d. 1939). English writer.
• 1874 - William Lyon Mackenzie King was born (d. 1950). Tenth Prime Minister of Canada
• 1876 - Júlio Afrânio Peixoto was born (to some sources 14 Dec). Brazilian writer (A esfinge).
• 1883 - Raimu was born (d. 1946). French actor.
• 1887 - Josef Lada was born (d. 1957). Czech painter.
• 1887 - Hermine Reuss was born (d. 1947). Empress of Germany and Duchess of Bohemia.
• 1887 - Harry Reid was born (d. 1932). Famous engineer and photographer.
• 1888 - King Alexander I of Yugoslavia was born (d. 1934).
• 1892 - Sam Barry was born (d. 1950). American basketball coach.
• 1893 - Erwin Piscator was born (d. 1966). German film director.
• 1894 - Arthur Fiedler was born (d. 1979). American conductor.
• 1897 - Alphonse Daudet dies. French writer.
• 1900 - Katina Paxinou was born (d. 1973). Greek actress.
• 1900 - Mary Cartwright was born (d. 1998). English mathematician.
• 1901 - Lee Strasberg was born (d. 1982). Austrian-born actor and director.
• 1903 - The Wright Brothers make their first powered and heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
• 1903 - Erskine Caldwell was born (d. 1987). American author.
• 1903 - Ray Noble was born (d. 1978). English musician.
• 1903 - Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first flight in a heavier-than-air plane at Kitty Hawk, N.C.
• 1904 - Paul Cadmus was born (d. 1999). American artist.
• 1905 - Érico Veríssimo was born (d. 28 Nov. 1975). Brazilian writer.
• 1905 - Simo Häyhä was born (d. 2002). Finnish sniper.
• 1906 - Fernando Lopes Graça was born in Tomar. Portuguese composer and musicologist.
• 1907 - Independence of Bhutan.
• 1907 - William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin dies (b. 1824). Irish-born physicist.
• 1908 - Willard Frank Libby was born (d. 1980). American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1909 - King Leopold II of Belgium dies (b. 1835).
• 1910 - Sy Oliver was born (d. 1988). American jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer and bandleader.
• 1915 - André Claveau was born (d. 2003). French singer.
• 1916 - Penelope Fitzgerald was born (d. 2000). English writer.
• 1917 - Elizabeth Garrett Anderson dies (b. 1836). English physician.
• 1917 - Frank Gotch dies (b. 1878). American professional wrestler.
• 1918 - Culmination of the Darwin Rebellion as some 1000 demonstrators marched on Government House in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
• 1919 - Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
• 1920 - Kenneth E. Iverson was born. Canadian computer scientist.
• 1922 - Alan Voorhees was born (d. 2005). American engineer and urban planner.
• 1923 - Jaroslav Pelikan was born (d. 2006). American historian.
• 1925 - Manuel Teixeira Gomes abandona definitivamente Portugal. Depois de ser eleito presidente, o seu mandato foi marcado por grande instabilidade política e social, conduzindo à sua resignação em 11 de Dezembro de 1925. Em 17 de Dezembro, embarca no paquete grego "Zeus". Nunca mais regressará a Portugal.
• 1925 - Russia & Turkey sign non-aggresion pact.
• 1926 - Antanas Smetona assumes power in Lithuania as the ‎1926 coup d'état‎ is successful.
• 1926 - Ray Jablonski was born (d. 1985). American baseball player.
• 1927 - Richard Long was born (d. 1974). American actor.
• 1929 - Manuel Gomes da Costa dies (b. 1863). President of Portuguese Republic in 1926.
• 1929 - Jacqueline Hill was born (d. 1993). British actress.
• 1929 - William Safire was born. American columnist.
• 1930 - Armin Mueller-Stahl was born. German actor.
• 1930 - Bob Guccione was born. Publisher of Penthouse magazine.
• 1930 - Bob Mathias was born (d. 2006). American decathlete and congressman.
• 1931 - Dave Madden was born. Canadian-born American actor.
• 1933 - Thubten Gyatso dies (b. 1876). 13th Dalai Lama.
• 1934 - Ray Wilson was born. English football player.
• 1935 - First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane.
• 1935 - Cal Ripken, Sr. was born (d. 1999). American baseball coach.
• 1935 - George Lindsey was born. American actor
• 1936 - Tommy Steele was born. English singer and actor.
• 1937 - Calvin Waller was born (d. 1996). US Army general.
• 1937 - John Kennedy Toole was born (d. 1969). American novelist.
• 1937 - Kerry Packer was born (d. 2005). Australian businessman.
• 1937 - Jaime Lerner was born. Brazilian architect and urbanist.
• 1938 - Peter Snell was born. New Zealand athlet.
• 1938 - Carlo Little was born (d. 2005). UK influential rock and roll drummer.
• 1939 - World War II: Battle of the River Plate -The German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.
• 1939 - Eddie Kendricks was born (d. 1992). American singer (The Temptations).
• 1940 - Kåre Valebrokk was born. Norwegian journalist.
• 1940 - Alicia Boole Stott dies (b. 1860). Irish mathematician.
• 1941 - World War II: Beginning of the Siege of Sebastopol.
• 1941 - World War II: Japanese forces land in Northern Borneo.
• 1941 - Dutch & Australian troops lands on Portuguese-Timor.
• 1941 - Gene Clark was born (d. 1991). American musician.
• 1942 - Paul Butterfield was born (d. 1987). American musician.
• 1943 - Mary Brunner was born. American former "Manson Family" member.
• 1943 - Ron Geesin was born. Scottish musician.
• 1943 - Lauren Hutton was born. American model and actress.
• 1944 - The U.S. Army announced the end of its policy of holding Japanese-Americans in internment camps, allowing "evacuees" to return home.
• 1944 - World War II: Battle of the Bulge - Malmedy massacre - American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs are shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper.
• 1944 - Ference Bene was born. Hungarian football player. Record twelve goals (Olympic Gold-1964).
• 1944 - Bernard Hill was born. English actor.
• 1944 - Jack L. Chalker was born. American novelist.
• 1945 - Honduras becomes member of United Nations.
• 1945 - Chris Matthews was born. American journalist.
• 1945 - Elvin Hayes was born. American basketball player.
• 1945 - Ernie Hudson was born. American actor.
• 1945 - Jacqueline Wilson was born. British author.
• 1946 - Eugene Levy was born. Canadian actor.
• 1947 – First flight of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber.
• 1947 - Wes Studi was born. American actor.
• 1949 - Paul Rodgers was born. British singer (Free).
• 1949 - Sotiris Kaiafas was born. Cypriot footballer.
• 1950 - The F-86 Sabre's first mission over Korea.
• 1950 - Laurence F. Johnson was born. American futurist and educator.
• 1951 - Ken Hitchcock was born. Canadian hockey coach.
• 1951 - Tatyana Kazankina was born in Petrovsk, USSR. Middle distance runner (Olympic Gold-1976).
• 1953 - Dmitri Shostakovitch' 10th Symphony, premieres in Leningrad.
• 1953 - Barry Livingston was born. American actor.
• 1953 - Bill Pullman was born. American actor.
• 1953 - Brad Davis was born. American basketball player.
• 1953 - Samuel Hadida was born in Casablanca. Moroccon film distributor.
• 1955 - Brad Davis was born. American basketball player.
• 1956 - Peter Farrelly was born. American film director.
• 1957 - The United States successfully test-fired the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.
• 1957 - "Partido Acción Nacional" is created in Mexico.
• 1957 - Earl Hudson was born. American drummer (Bad Brains).
• 1957 - Dorothy L. Sayers dies (b. 1893). English writer.
• 1958 - Mike Mills was born. American bassist (R.E.M.).
• 1960 - Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Ethiopia after being ousted by his son.
• 1960 - Moreno Argentin was born. Italian cyclist.
• 1960 - Sara Dallin was born. English singer (Bananarama).
• 1961 - India seizes Goa, Damão and Diu from Portugal.
• 1961 - A fire at a circus in Niteroi, Brazil kills 323 people.
• 1962 - Paul Dobson was born. English footballer.
• 1962 - Richard Jewell was born (d. 2007). Central figure in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing.
• 1962 - Rocco Mediate was born. American golfer.
• 1962 - Thomas Mitchell dies (b. 1892). American actor.
• 1963 - Tsjoi Doo Sun forms government in South Korea.
• 1964 - Ginger was born. English singer and guitarist (The Wildhearts).
• 1964 - Frank Musil was born. Czech ice hockey player.
• 1964 - Joe Wolf was born. American basketball player.
• 1964 - Michele Tafoya was born. American sportcaster.
• 1964 - Victor Franz Hess was born (d. 1883). Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1965 - Craig Berube was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1966 - Hans Visser was born. Dutch football player (MVV, FC Utrecht).
• 1966 - Kristiina Ojuland was born. Estonian politician.
• 1966 - Tracy Byrd was born. Country musician.
• 1966 - Valeri Liukin was born. Former Soviet Union Gymnast.
• 1967 - Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria and was presumed drowned.
• 1967 - Gigi D'Agostino was born. Italian DJ and musician.
• 1967 - Chris Mason was born. English darts player.
• 1967 - Vincent Damphousse was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1967 - Harold Holt dies (b. 1908). Australian Prime Minister.
• 1967 - Jack Perrin dies (b. 1896). American actor.
• 1968 - Andrey Golovatiuk was born. Russian politician.
• 1968 - Paul Tracy was born. Canadian race car driver.
• 1969 - The SALT I talks begin.
• 1969 - Project Blue Book: The USAF closes its study of UFOs, stating that sightings were generated as a result of "A mild form of mass hysteria, Individuals who fabricate such reports to perpetrate a hoax or seek publicity, psychopathological persons, and misidentification of various conventional objects."
• 1969 - Chuck Lidell was born. American martial artist.
• 1969 - Chris Mason wasd born. English darts player.
• 1969 - General Costa e Silva dies in Rio de Janeiro (b. 1902). President of Brazil.
• 1969 - Signature d'un traité d'amitié de 20 ans entre l'Algérie et la Tunisie.
• 1970 - Polish 1970 protests: In Gdynia, soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens.
• 1970 - My Lai trial begins.
• 1970 - Joshua Seth was born. American voice actor and hypnotist.
• 1970 - Sean Patrick Thomas was born. American actor.
• 1971 - Alan Khan was born. South African radio disc jockey.
• 1971 - Antoine Rigaudeau was born. French basketball player.
• 1971 - Cease fire between India & Pakistan in Kashmir.
• 1972 - Ivan Pedroso was born. Cuban long jumper (Olympics-4th-92).
• 1972 - John Abraham was born. Indian actor and model.
• 1972 - Laurie Holden was born. American actress.
• 1973 -Terrorism: 30 passengers are killed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists on Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport.
• 1973 - The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.
• 1973 - Konstadinos Gatsioudis was born. Greek javelin thrower.
• 1973 - Paula Radcliffe was born. British distance runner in athletics.
• 1974 - Duff Goldman was born. American chef.
• 1974 - Giovanni Ribisi was born. American actor.
• 1974 - Sarah Paulson was born. American actress.
• 1975 - Lynette Fromme was sentenced in federal court in Sacramento, California, to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Ford.
• 1975 - Bree Sharp was born. American singer/songwriter.
• 1975 - Mayuko Aoki was born. Japanese voice actress.
• 1975 - Milla Jovovich was born. Ukrainian-born actress.
• 1975 - Nick Dinsmore (Eugene) was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1975 - Sarah Paulson was born. American actress.
• 1976 - Éric Bédard was born. Canadian speed skater.
• 1976 - Nir Davidovich was born. Israeli footballer.
• 1976 - Patrick Müller was born. Swiss footballer.
• 1976 - Takeo Spikes was born. American football player.
• 1976 - Zsanett Égerházi was born. Hungarian-born porn actress and nude model.
• 1977 - Arnaud Clement was born. French tennis player.
• 1978 - The Workers Party of Jamaica is founded by Trevor Munroe.
• 1978 - OPEC raises oil prices 18%.
• 1978 - Referendum approves new constitution of Rwanda.
• 1978 - Alex Cintrón was born. Puerto Rican baseball player.
• 1978 - Chase Utley was born. American baseball player.
• 1978 - Manny Pacquiao was born. Filipino boxer.
• 1978 - Neil Sanderson was born. Drummer for rock band "Three Days Grace".
• 1978 - Riteish Deshmukh was born. Indian actor.
• 1978 - Don Ellis dies (b. 1934). American jazz trumpeter, composer and big band leader.
• 1979 - in a case that aggravated racial tensions, Arthur McDuffie, a black insurance executive, was fatally beaten after a police chase in Miami. (Four white police officers were later acquitted of charges stemming from McDuffie’s death).
• 1979 - Jaimee Foxworth was born. American actress.
• 1979 - Matt Murley was born. American ice hockey player.
• 1979 - Ryan Key was born. American musician and songwriter (Yellowcard).
• 1980 - Eli Pariser was born. American political activist (MoveOn.org).
• 1980 - Ryan Hunter-Reay was born. American race car driver.
• 1981 - Members of the Red Brigades kidnapped Brigadier General James L. Dozier, the highest-ranking U.S. Army official in southern Europe, from his home in Verona, Italy. (Dozier was rescued 42 days later).
• 1981 - The Senegambia Confederation is founded.
• 1982 - Tootsie opens in theaters, starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, Sydney Pollack, George Gaynes, and Geena Davis.
• 1982 - Craig Kielburger was born. Canadian labour activist.
• 1982 - Josh Barfield was born. Venezuelan born, American baseball player.
• 1982 - Ryan Moats was born. American football runningback.
• 1982 - Stephane Lasme was born. Gabonese basketball player.
• 1982 - Homer S. Ferguson dies (b. 1889). United States Senator.
• 1983 - The IRA bomb Harrods Department Store in London, killing seven people and injuring dozens.
• 1983 - A fire at a night club in Madrid kills 82.
• 1983 - Erik Christensen was born. Canadian hockey player.
• 1984 - Andrew Davies was born. English footballer.
• 1985 - Ryuichi Ogata was born. Member of Japanese boy band w-inds.
• 1986 - Eugene Hasenfus, the American convicted by Nicaragua for his part in running guns to the Contras, was pardoned, then released.
• 1986 - US Congress forms "Irangate" committee.
• 1986 - Vanessa Zima was born. American actress.
• 1987 - Mega Man makes his debut on the NES in the video game Mega Man.
• 1987 - Irving Allen dies (b.1916). American producer.
• 1987 - Linda Wong dies (b. 1951). American porn actress.
• 1987 - Marguerite Yourcenar dies (b. 1903). Belgian novelist (Memoirs of Hadrien). First woman to be elected for The French Academy (Académie française).
• 1988 - 77th Davis Cup: Germany beats Sweden in Gothenburg (4-1).
• 1989 - Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timişoara with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
• 1989 - The first half-hour length episode of The Simpsons debuts with their Christmas special, "Simpsons Roasting Over an Open Fire".
• 1989 - Brazil holds its first direct free election in 29 years. Fernando Collor de Mello is elected President.
• 1989 - 78th Davis Cup: Germany beats Sweden in Stuttgart (3-2).
• 1992 - North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed by U.S (President Bush), Canada, (Prime Minister Brian Mulroney) and Mexico (President Carlos Salinas) in separate ceremonies.
• 1992 - Jordan Garrett was born. American actor.
• 1992 - Thomas Law was born. British actor.
• 1992 - Dana Andrews dies (b. 1909). American actor.
• 1993 - American troops are pulled out of Somalia following a series of gun battles with Somali troops under the command of General Mohammed Farah Aidid.
• 1993 -Tennis star Boris Becker (26) weds Barbara Feltus (27).
• 1994 - North Korea shot down a U.S. Army helicopter which had strayed north of the demilitarized zone — the co-pilot, Chief Warrant Officer David Hilemon, was killed; the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Hall, was captured and held for nearly two weeks.
• 1994 - Six shots were fired at the White House by an unidentified gunman.
• 1994 - Lisbon 94 — European Capital of Culture ends.
• 1994 - Nat Wolff was born. American singer, actor and songwriter.
• 1996 - Inauguration de la Bibliothèque François-Miterrand par Jacques Chirac.
• 1996 -Guerrilheiros do Movimento Revolucionário Tupac Amaru invadem a residência do embaixador japonês em Lima, Peru, e fazem 500 reféns.
• 1996 - A Assembléia Geral das Nações Unidas elege Kofi Annan, do país africano de Gana, como seu novo secretário-geral.
• 1996 - Stanko Todorov, PM of Bulgaria (1971-81), dies.
• 1997 - A chartered Yakovlev-42 from Ukraine crashes into the mountains near Katerini, Greece killing 70.
• 1998 - Claudia Benton (b. 1959) is murdered in her West University, Texas home by Angel Maturino Resendiz. Peruvian child psychologist.
• 1999 - The United Nations General Assembly passes resolution 54/134 designating November 25 as the annual International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women.
• 1999 - Grover Washington, Jr. dies (b. 1943). American musician.
• 1999 - Rex Allen dies (b. 1920). American actor, singer and songwriter.
• 2002 - Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and prrresidential elections within two years.
• 2002 - Giovanni Intra dies (b. in New Zealand in 1968). Co-founder in 1998 (with artist Steve Hanson) of China Art Objects Galleries in Los Angeles.
• 2002 - James Hazeldine dies (b. 1947). British actor, well known for his role on series London's Burning.
• 2002 - Evandro Lins e Silva dies (b. 1912). Brazilian jurist, journalist, writer and politician.
• 2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the third and final Lord of the Rings movie to open in theaters.
• 2003 - The British government announced the first reported case of a person dying from the human form of mad cow disease after a blood transfusion from an infected donor.
• 2003 - The Soham murder trial ends at the Old Bailey in London, with Ian Huntley found guilty of two counts of murder. His girlfriend Maxine Carr is found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
• 2003 - SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first supersonic flight.
• 2003 - Ed Devereaux dies (b. 1925). Australian actor.
• 2003 - Otto Graham dies (b. 1921). American football player.
• 2004 - Dietrich Schwanitz dies (b. 23 Apr 1940). German writer and essayst.
• 2004 - Tom Wesselmann dies (b. 1931). American collage artist.
• 2005 - Anti-WTO protesters riot in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
• 2005 - Jack Anderson dies (b. 1922). American journalist.
• 2005 - Marc Favreau dies (b. 1929). French-Canadian humourist and actor (Sol).
• 2006 - Internacional, Brazilian club, wins the World Champinship of clubs in football (soccer) beating FC Barcelona, in Yokohama, Japan.
• 2006 - Larry Sherry dies (b. 1935). American baseball player.
• 2007 - Republic of Lakotah asserts independence from the United States.
• 2007 - James Windsor, Viscount Severn was born. British royal and heir to Earldom of Wessex and Dukedom of Edinburgh.
• 2008 – Dave Smith dies (b. 1955). American baseball player.
• 2008 – Freddy Breck dies (b. 1942). German schlager singer, composer, record producer and news anchor.
• 2008 – Sammy Baugh dies (b. 1914). American football player.
• Roman festivals - Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn, began.
• Roman Catholic Church - O Sapientia; Saint Lazarus (local commemoration: Cuba).
• Greek Orthodox Church - Saint Barbaras day – Feast of Daniel the Prophet.
• Bhutan - National Day (1907).
• USA - Wright Brothers Day (National Observance by Presidential Proclamation).
• International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.