On this day in History - Dec. 13

• 0872 - Pope John VIII is elected. 108th Pope.
• 1048 - Al-Biruni dies (b. 0973). Persian mathematician.
• 1124 - Pope Callixtus II dies.
• 1126 - Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria dies.
• 1204 - Maimonides dies (b. 1135). Spanish rabbi and philosopher. He was the foremost intellectual figure of medieval Judaism, whose works, written in Hebrew and Arabic, influenced both Jewish and non-Jewish scholars.
• 1250 - Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor dies (b. 1194).
• 1294 - Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
• 1404 - Albert, Count of Holland dies (b. 1336).
• 1466 - Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi) dies (b. 1386). Florentine artist and sculptor.
• 1516 - Johannes Trithemius dies (b. 1462). German cryptographer.
• 1521 - King Manuel I of Portugal dies (b. 1469).
• 1521 - Pope Sixtus V was born (d. 1590) . Religious leader.
• 1533 - King Eric XIV of Sweden was born (d. 1577).
• 1545 - Council of Trent begins.
• 1550 - The city of Ferreñafe is founded in Perú.
• 1553 - King Henry IV of France was born (d. 1610).
• 1557 - Niccolo Fontana Tartaglia dies. Italian mathematician
• 1565 - Conrad Gessner dies (b. 1516). Swiss naturalist.
• 1577 - Sir Francis Drake sets out with five ships from Plymouth, England, on a nearly three-year journey that would take him around the world.
• 1585 - William Drummond of Hawthornden was born (d. 1649). Scottish poet.
• 1603 - D. Antonio de Meneses was born (d. 1675). Portuguese militar, 1st Marquis of Marialva and 3rd Count of Cantanhede.
• 1603 - François Viète dies (b. 1540). French mathematician.
• 1621 - Katarina Stenbock dies (b. 1535). Queen of Gustav I of Sweden.
• 1636 - The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. This organization is recognized today as the founding of the United States National Guard.
• 1640 - Robert Plot was born (d. 1696). English naturalist.
• 1642 - Abel Janszoon Tasman reaches New Zealand.
• 1643 - English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.
• 1662 - Francesco Bianchini was born (d. 1729). Italian philosopher and scientist.
• 1678 - Yongzheng Emperor of China was born (d. 1735).
• 1716 - Charles de La Fosse dies (b. 1640). French painter.
• 1720 - Carlo Gozzi was born (d. 4 Apr 1806). Italian poet and dramatist.
• 1721 - Alexander Selkirk dies (b. 1676). Scottish sailor and castaway.
• 1724 - Franz Aepinus was born (d. 1802). German scientist.
• 1729 - Anthony Collins dies (b. 1676). English philosopher.
• 1730 - Sir William Hamilton was born (d. 6 Apr 1803). English diplomat and archaeologist.
• 1754 - Mahmud I dies (b. 1696). Ottoman Sultan.
• 1769 - Dartmouth College founded by the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, with a Royal Charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal Governor John Wentworth.
• 1769 - Christian Fürchtegott Gellert dies (b. 1715). German poet.
• 1783 - Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin dies (b. 1717). Swedish astronomer.
• 1784 - Samuel Johnson dies in London (b. 1709). British writer and lexicographer, regarded as one of the greatest figures of 18th-century life and letters for his biographies and essays.
• 1784 - Archduke Louis of Austria was born (d. 1864).
• 1789 - The National Guard was created in France.
• 1797 - Heinrich Heine was born in Dusseldorf (d. 1856). German poet. "Onde livros são queimados, seres humanos estão destinados a ser queimados também". Leia em português «Com Mirtos e Rosas...».
  
• 1804 - Joseph Howe was born (d. 1873). Canadian statesman and publisher.
• 1807 - Almirante Tamandaré (Joaquim Marques Lisboa) was born in Rio Grande-RS (d. 20 Mar 1897). Brazilian almirant.
• 1809 – Dr. Ephraim McDowell performed the first ovariotomy, removing a twenty-two pound tumor.
• 1814 - Ana Nery was born in Cachoeira de Paraguaçu- Bahia (d. 20 May 1880). Brazilian nurse.
• 1814 - Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne dies (b. 1735). Belgian-born Austrian field marshal.
• 1816 - Ernst Werner von Siemens was born (d. 1892). German engineer, inventor and industrialist.
• 1818 - Mary Todd Lincoln was born (d. 1882). First Lady of the United States.
  
• 1835 - John Storm dies (b. 1760). American Revolutionary soldier.
• 1836 - Franz von Lenbach was born (d. 1904). German painter.
• 1837 - Herman of Alaska dies (b. 1756). Russian Orthodox hermit.
• 1839 - Pedro Luís (P. L. Pereira de Sousa) was born in Araruama, RJ (d. 16 Jul 1884). Brazilian poet, journalist and politician.
• 1854 - Thomas Watson was born (d. 1934). American assistant to Alexander Graham Bell , telephone pioneer.
• 1856 - Svetozar Boroević was born (d. 1920). Austro-Hungarian field marshal.
• 1856 - Lawrence Lowell was born (d. 6 Jan 1943). American lawyer, educator, and president of Harvard University (1909-1933).
• 1860 - Lucien Guitry was born (d. 1925). French actor.
• 1862 - American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats the Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside.
• 1863 - Christian Friedrich Hebbel dies (b. 1813). German writer.
• 1864 - Emil Seidel was born (d. 1947). Mayor of Milwaukee.
• 1867 – Fenian bomb explodes in Clerkenwell, London, killing six.
• 1867 - Kristian Birkeland was born (d. 1917). Norwegian explorer and scientist.
• 1868 - Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius dies (b. 1794). German botanist.
• 1870 - Edward LeSaint was born (d. 1940). American actor and director.
• 1871 - Emily Carr was born (d. 1945). Canadian artist.
• 1874 - Josef Lhévinne was born (d. 1944). Russian-born pianist.
• 1881 - August Senoa dies (b. 1838). Austro-Hungarian writer.
• 1883 - Belle da Costa Greene was born (d. 1950). American librarian, bibliographer and archivist.
• 1883 - Victor de Laprade dies (b. 1812). French poet and critic.
• 1884 - first performance of any of Richard Strauss's compositions in the United States (Symphony in f, New York Philharmonic).
• 1886 - Diego Rivera was born (d. 1957). Mexican painter and muralist (d. 1957).
• 1887 - George Polya was born (d. 1985). Hungarian-born mathematician.
• 1887 - Alvin York was born (d. 1964). American military hero of World War.
• 1890 - Marc Connelly was born (d. 21 Dec. 1980). American playwright and journalist.
• 1895 - Premiere of Gustav Mahler's Resurrection Symphony in Berlin.
• 1895 - Anyos Jedlik dies (b. 1800). Hungarian physicist.
• 1897 - Drew Pearson was born (d. 1969). American journalist.
• 1902 - Talcott Parsons wasborn (d. 1979). American sociologist.
• 1903 - Italo Marcioni patented the first ice-cream cone, in New Jersey, USA.
• 1903 - Carlos Montoya was born (d. 1993). Spanish guitarist.
• 1903 - Ella Baker was born in Norfolk, Virginia (d. 13 Dec 1986). American civil rights activist.
• 1903 - John Piper was born. English writer and painter.
• 1906 - Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent was born (d. 1968).
• 1906 - Sir Laurens van der Post was born (d. 1996). Afrikaner-born South African author.
• 1910 - Van Heflin was born (d. 1971). American actor.
• 1911 - Trygve Haavelmo was born (d. 1999). Norwegian economist and Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1911 - Kenneth Patchen was born (d. 1972). American poet and painter.
• 1912 - Luiz Gonzaga do Nascimento was born. Brazilan musician and popular composer known as "rei do baião".
• 1913 - Lu Marival was born in São Paulo. Brazilian actress.
• 1913 - Archie Moore was born (d. 1998). American boxer and World Light-Heavyweight from 1952 to 1962.
• 1913 - Arnold Brown was born (d. 2002). The 11th General of The Salvation Army.
• 1915 - Curd Jürgens was born (d. 1982). German-born Austrian actor.
• 1915 - Ross Macdonald was born (d. 1983). American-born author.
• 1915 - B. J. Vorster was born (d. 1983). Prime Minister of South Africa 1966-1978.
• 1917 - John Hart was born. American actor.
• 1918 - President Wilson arrived in France, becoming the first U.S. president to visit Europe while in office.
• 1918 - Bill Vukovich was born in Fresno, California (d. 30 May 1955). American F-Indy car racer.
• 1919 - Hans-Joachim Marseille was born (d. 1942). German Fighter Ace of World War II.
• 1919 - Woldemar Voigt dies (b. 1850). German physicist.
• 1920 - League of nations established the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
• 1920 - George Shultz was born. United States Secretary of State 1982-1989.
• 1921 - The Four-Power Pact was signed during the Washington Conference by the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and France, stipulating that all the signatories would be consulted in the event of a controversy between two of them over “any Pacific question.”
• 1922 - Hannes Hafstein dies (b. 1861). Icelandic politician and poet.
• 1923 - Philip Warren Anderson was born. American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1923 - Larry Doby was born (d. 2003). American baseball player.
• 1924 - Samuel Gompers dies (b. 1850). American labor and political leader, founder of AFL
• 1925 - Dick Van Dyke was born in West Plains, Missouri. American actor and comedian whose film credits include 'Mary Poppins' (1964) and 'Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang' (1968).
• 1926 - George Rhoden was born. Jamaican athlete and Olympic gold medalist.
• 1926 - Simões de Almeida dies (b. 1884). Portuguese sculptor.
• 1928 - George Gershwin's musical work "An American in Paris" had its premiere, at Carnegie Hall in New York. The debut was performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Walter Damrosch.
• 1929 - Christopher Plummer was born. Canadian actor (The Sound of Music' (1965) and 'The Man Who Would be King' (1975).
• 1930 - Buck White was born. Country singer.
• 1930 - Robert Prosky was born. American actor.
• 1930 - Fritz Pregl dies (b. 1869). Austrian chemist who was Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1931 - Gustave le Bon dies (b. 1840). French psychologist.
• 1932 - Georgios Jakobides dies (b. 1853). Greek painter.
• 1933 - Lou Adler was born. Music-movie producer.
• 1934 - British astronomer J.P.M. Prentice discovered Nova Herculis, one of the brightest novas of the 20th century.
• 1934 - Richard D. Zanuck was born. American film producer.
• 1934 - Tião Carreiro was born (d. 15 Oct 1993). Brazilian singer, musician.
• 1934 - Thomas A. Watson dies (b. 1854). American assistant to Alexander Graham Bell.
• 1935 - Adélia Prado was born. Brazilian writer.
• 1935 - Joe Christopher was born. American baseball player.
• 1935 - Ken Hall was born. American football player.
• 1935 - Lindy McDaniel was born. American baseball player.
• 1935 - Victor Grignard dies (b. 1871). French chemist and Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1936 - His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan (Prince Karim El Husseni) was born. (49th) Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims since July 11, 1957.
• 1936 - J. C. Martin was born. American baseball playern.
• 1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanjing - Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under the command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese, leading to the Nanjing Massacre, in which up to 300,000 Chinese may have been killed.
• 1937 - Nanjing Massacre. Japanese troops begin carrying out several weeks of raping and killing of civilians and suspected Chinese resistance after the fall of Nanjing.
• 1937 - Ron Taylor was born. Canadian baseball player.
• 1938 – The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.
• 1938 - Alvin Curran was born. American composer.
• 1938 - Heino was born. German folk singer.
• 1939 - World War II: Battle of the River Plate - Captain Hans Langsdorff scuttles the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee after battle with Royal Navy cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles.
• 1939 - Eric Flynn was born (d. 2002). British actor and singer.
• 1940 - Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval dies (b. 1851). French physicist.
• 1941 - World War II: Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States.
• 1941 - John Davidson was born. American actor and game show host.
• 1942 - Anna Eshoo was born. American politician.
• 1942 - Wlodimir Ledochowski dies (b. 1866). Polish-Austrian director of the Society of Jesus.
• 1943 – World War II: The Massacre of Kalavryta by German occupying forces in Greece.
• 1943 - World War II: 710 Bombers of U.S. 8th Air Force attack Kiel, Germany.
• 1943 - Ferguson Jenkins was born. Canadian baseball player.
• 1943 - Gösta Winbergh was born (d. 2002). Swedish tenor.
• 1944 - During World War II, the U.S. cruiser Nashville was badly damaged in a Japanese kamikaze suicide attack that claimed 138 lives.
• 1944 - Hwang Jang Lee was born. Korean martial artist and film actor.
• 1944 - Lupe Vélez dies (b. 1908). Mexican actress.
• 1944 - Wassily Kandinsky dies (b. 1866). Russian-born French artist.
• 1945 - Brian McGuire was born (d. 1977). Australian racing driver.
• 1945 - Kathy Garver was born. American actress.
• 1945 - Irma Grese dies (b. 1923). Nazi war criminal.
• 1945 - Josef Kramer dies (b. 1906). Commandant of Bergen Belsen concentration camp.
• 1945 - Elisabeth Volkenrath dies (b. 1919). Supervisor at concentration camps.
• 1947 - Darlene Cates was born. American actress
• 1947 - Dave Hamilton was born. American baseball player
• 1947 - Nicholas Roerich dies (b. 1874). Russian-born painter.
• 1948 - Brian Wilson was born. Scottish politician.
• 1948 - Jeff Baxter was born. American guitarist (Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers).
• 1948 - Lillian Board was born (d. 1970). British athlete.
• 1948 - Ted Nugent was born. American guitarist.
• 1948 - Ron Getman was born. Country singer (The Tractors).
• 1949 - The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem.
  
• 1949 - Paula Wilcox was born. English actress.
• 1949 - Robert Lindsay was born. British actor, who became known for the title role in the television series 'Citizen Smith' (1973-7).
• 1949 - Tom Verlaine was born. American singer/guitarist of Television.
• 1949 - Randy Owen was born. Country singer-musician (Alabama).
• 1950 - Tom Vilsack was born. Governor of Iowa.
• 1950 - Wendie Malick was born. American actress.
• 1950 - Abraham Wald dies (b. 1902). Hungarian mathematician.
• 1951 - Margaret Thatcher (Roberts) marries Denis Thatcher at City Methodist in London.
• 1952 - Sylvester Ritter was born (d. 1998). Professional wrestler better known as Junkyard Dog.
• 1953 - Ben Bernanke was born. American economist and current United States Chairman of the Federal Reserve.
• 1953 - Bill Castro was born. Dominican baseball player.
• 1953 - Bob Gainey was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1954 - John Anderson was born. American country musician.
• 1954 - Tamora Pierce was born. American author.
• 1954 - Steve Forbert was born. Rock singer.
• 1954 - John Raymond Hubbell dies (b. 1879). American writer.
• 1955 - Sporting Cristal is founded. Peruvian football club.
• 1955 - Egas Moniz dies (b. 1874). Portuguese physician and Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1956 - Dale Berra was born. American baseball player.
• 1956 - Majida El Roumi was born. Lebanese singer.
• 1957 - Jean-Marie Messier was born. French businessman.
• 1957 - Morris Day was born. American singer (The Time).
• 1957 - Steve Buscemi was born. American actor.
• 1958 - The UN rejects a call for Algerian independence.
• 1958 - Lynn-Holly Johnson was born. American figure skater and actress.
• 1958 - Tim Moore dies (b. 1887). American actor.
• 1959 - Archbishop Makarios becomes the first President of Cyprus.
• 1959 - Nadia Russ was born. Soviet-born artist.
• 1959 - Jim Barrell was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1959 - Johnny Whitaker was born. American actor.
• 1960 - Daggubati Venkatesh was born. Indian actor.
• 1960 - José Eduardo Águalusa was born in Huambo. Angolan writer.
• 1961 - Gary Zimmerman was born. American football player.
• 1961 - Harry Gregson-Williams was born. British composer.
• 1961 - Irene Sáez was born. Venezuelan, Miss Univers 1981 and politician.
• 1961 - Grandma Moses dies (b. 1860). American painter.
• 1962 - NASA "Relay 1" launch, first active repeater communications satellite in orbit.
• 1963 - Jake White was born. South African rugby union coach.
• 1964 - Matsumoto Hideto was born (d. 1998). Japanese musician.
• 1965 - Marko Mäetamm was born. Estonian artist.
• 1966 - Premiers bombardements américains sur la ville de Hanoï.
• 1966 - Don Roff was born. American writer and filmmaker.
• 1966 - Ross Burden was born. New Zealand celebrity chef.
• 1967 - Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels.
  
• 1967 - Bo Pelini was born. American football coach.
• 1967 - Jamie Foxx was born. American actor.
• 1968 - Brazilian president Artur da Costa e Silva decrees the AI-5 (or the fifth Institutional Act), which lasts until 1978 and marks the beginning of the hard times of Brazilian military dictatorship.
• 1968 - Tony Curran was born. Scottish actor.
• 1969 - Murat Nasyrov was born (d. 2007). Russian singer.
• 1969 - Sergei Fedorov was born. Russian hockey player.
• 1969 - Raymond A. Spruance dies (b. 1886). American admiral.
• 1969 - Spencer Williams, Jr. dies (b. 1893). American actor.
• 1972 - A chartered Spanish airliner crashes on takeoff from the Canary Islands, killing 155.
• 1972 - Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the sixth and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. This was the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th century.
• 1972 - Mauricio Solís was born. Costa Rican football player.
• 1973 - Rael, leader of the Raelian Movement claims to meet an ET he says is named Yahweh, during an alleged UFO encounter in Puy de Lassolas, France.
• 1973 - Christie Clark was born. American actress.
• 1973 - Henry Green dies (b. 1905). English author.
• 1974 - Malta becomes a republic.
• 1974 - The Detroit Wheels of the WFL are established.
• 1974 - Nicholas McCarthy was born. British-born guitarist (Franz Ferdinand).
• 1974 - Sara Cox was born. TV and Radio presenter.
• 1975 - Bates Battaglia was born. American ice hockey player.
• 1975 - Matthew LeCroy was born. American baseball player.
• 1975 - Tom DeLonge was born. American guitarist (blink-182, Angels & Airwaves).
• 1976 - Josh Fogg was born. American baseball player.
• 1976 - Radoslaw Sobolewski was born. Polish football player.
• 1976 - Søren Friis was born. Danish footballer.
• 1977 - A United States government aircraft DC-3 crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team.
• 1977 - Christopher Hudgens was born. American painter.
• 1977 - Peter Stringer was born. Irish rugby union footballer.
• 1977 - Sascha Kindred was born. British Paralympic swimmer.
• 1978 -The U.S. Mint began stamping the Susan B. Anthony dollar, the first U.S. coin honoring a woman.
• 1978 - BJ Penn was born. American mixed martial artist.
• 1978 - Ryo Kawakita was born. Japanese guitarist (Maximum the Hormone).
• 1979 - The Canadian Government of Prime Minister Joe Clark is defeated in the House of Commons, prompting the 1980 Canadian election.
• 1979 - Jon Hall dies (b. 1915). American actor.
• 1980 - Doug Stepina dies (b. 1980). Musician, American rock band, Dialogue.
• 1981 - The Brazilian club Flamengo wins the Intercontinental Cup in football (soccer) beating Liverpool by 3-0.
• 1981 - General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in an attempt to crush the Solidarity movement.
• 1981 - Amy Lee was born. American singer (Evanescence).
• 1981 - Chelsea Hertford was born. Actress (''Major Dad'').
• 1981 - Pigmeat Markham dies (b. 1904). American entertainer.
• 1982 - Um terramoto no Iêmen resulta em cerca de 3000 mortos e 2000 feridos.
• 1982 - Anthony Callea was born. Australian singer/songwriter.
• 1982 - Dominik Werling was born. German footballer.
• 1982 - Freddie Weinke was born. American football player.
• 1982 - Ricky Nolasco was born. American baseball player.
• 1982 - Tuka Rocha was born. Brazilian racing driver.
• 1983 - The Denver Nuggets and the Detroit Pistons play in the highest scoring NBA game in history, with the Pistons winning 186-184 in triple overtime. In addition to most points in a game, this game also set the record for most field goals made (136), and most assists (93).
• 1983 - Matt Deis was born. American bassist.
• 1983 - Otylia Jędrzejczak was born. Polish swimmer, FINA World Champion and Olympic gold medalist .
• 1983 - Nichita Stanescu dies (b. 1933). Romanian poet.
• 1983 - Alexander Schmemann dies (b. 1921). Orthodox Christian priest and theologian.
• 1983 - Mary Renault dies (b.1905 in Forest Gate, London). English novelist, whose books often deal with life in Ancient Greece.
• 1984 - Alina Vacariu was born. Romanian supermodel.
  
• 1987 - FC Porto were World Champions winning in Tokyo, by the first time in their historial, the Intercontinental Cup (the second time was on 12 Dec 2005 in Yokohama).
• 1987 - Belgium Christian Democrats (CVP) loses parliamentary election.
• 1988 - PLO chairman Yasser Arafat addressed the U.N. General Assembly in Geneva, where it had reconvened after the United States refused to grant Arafat a visa to visit New York.
• 1988 - Agreement is reached between the US, South Africa, Angola and Cuba for Namibian independence and the withdrawal of Cuban forces from Angola.
• 1988 - Darcy Blake was born. Welsh footballer.
• 1988 - María Teresa León Goyri dies (b. 1903). Spanish writer.
• 1989 - The last issue of Gnistan (The Spark), the organ of the Solidaritetspartiet, is published in Sweden.
• 1989 – Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launch an attack on a British Army permanent vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea, Northern Ireland. Two British soldiers are killed and one badly wounded.
• 1989 - South African President F.W. de Klerk met for the first time with imprisoned African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela, at de Klerk's office in Cape Town.
• 1989 - Taylor Swift was born. American singer/songwriter.
• 1991 - Jay Greenberg was born. American composer.
• 1991 - La Corée du Nord et la Corée du Sud signent un traité de non agression et de réconciliation après 46 ans de conflit.
• 1991 - Jay Greenberg was born. American composer.
• 1992 - Foootball: São Paulo F.C., Brazilian club, wins Intercontinental Cup beating Barcelona (2-1).
• 1992 - Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney dies (b. 1899). American businessman and heir.
  
• 1992 - K.C. Irving dies (b. 1899). Canadian industrialist.
• 1993 - Vanessa Duriès dies (b. 1972). French novelist.
• 1994 - Norman Beaton dies. Guyanese actor.
• 1996 - Kofi Annan of Ghana chosen to become Secretary-General of The United Nations.
• 1998 - Puerto Rico voters rejected statehood by a vote of 50.2% to 46.5%. The winning option was none of the above, but interpreted as a decision to remain as commonwealth, a US territory with local autonomy.
• 1998 - Baron Lew Grade dies (b.1906 in Odessa, Ukraine). Theatrical impresario, who headed several large British film entertainment and communications companies.
• 1999 - Lysâneas Maciel dies (b. 1927). Brazilian politician, human rights activist.
• 2000 - The "Texas 7" escape from the John Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas and go on a robbery spree, during which police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot and killed.
• 2000 - Republican George W. Bush claimed the presidency 36 days after Election Day; Democrat Al Gore conceded defeat. American Vice President Al Gore delivers his concession speech ending his hopes of becoming the 43rd President of the United States.
• 2001 - The Indian Parliament Sansad is attacked by Terrorists, killing 15 people, including all the terrorists. Tensions escalate in South Asia, with nuclear war likelihoods.
• 2001 - The Pentagon released a captured videotape of Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader said the deaths and destruction achieved by the Sept. 11 attacks exceeded his ''most optimistic'' expectations.
• 2001 - In Belgium some 80,000 antiglobalization protesters rallied in Brussels against an EU summit set to start the next day.
• 2001 - Chuck Schuldiner dies (b. 1967). American guitarist, singer and songwriter (Death)
• 2002 - Enlargement of the European Union: The European Union announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members from May 1, 2004.
• 2002 - Zal Yanovsky dies (b. 1945). American musician (The Lovin' Spoonful).
• 2003 - Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit.
• 2003 - In the most-attended basketball game in history, 78.129 watch Michigan State University lose 79-74 to the University of Kentucky at Ford Field.
• 2003 - William V. Roth, Jr. dies (b. 1921). U.S. Senator.
• 2004 - Former Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet is put under house arrest, after being sued under accusations over 9 kidnapping actions and manslaughter. The house arrest is lifted the same day on appeal.
• 2004 - Andre Rodgers dies (b. 1934). Bahamian baseball player.
• 2004 - David Wheeler dies (b. 1927). British computer scientist.
• 2004 - A moderate 5.4 Richter Scale earthquake hits Portugal.
• 2005 - Crips gang co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams, whose supporters argued he had redeemed himself inside prison, was executed in California for killing four people in robberies.
• 2005 - Prince Aymeric of Belgium and Prince Nicolas of Belgium were born.
• 2005 - Stanley Williams dies (b. 1953). Co-founder of the Crips and convicted murderer.
• 2005 - Timothy Jordan II dies (b. 1981). American musician (The All American Rejects, Jonezetta).
• 2006 - The Baiji, or Chinese River Dolphin, announced as extinct.
• 2006 - Lamar Hunt dies (b. 1932). American sports executive.
• 2007 - EU Treaty of Lisbon which reformulates the European Union is signed in Portugal.
• 2007 - The Mitchell Report is publicly released listing the names of 89 Major League Baseball players that have presumably used anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. Notable players to be named include Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada.
• 2007 - Floyd Red Crow Westerman dies (b. 1936). American actor.
• 2007 - Mark Partridge dies (b. 1922). Rhodesian politician.
• 2008 - John Drake dies (b. 1959). New Zealand rugby union footballer.
• 2008 – Kathy Staff dies (b. 1928). British actress.
• 2009 - Paul Samuelson dies (b. 1915). American economist who was the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Economics.
  
• Catholicism - Saint Lucy's day.
• Malta - Republic Day (since 1974).
• St. Lucia Day in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and some regions of Italy, mainly Sicily, Veneto and Trentino. Also in Póvoa de Varzim (Portugal) "Santa Luzia" and several cities in Brazil, specially in Minas Gerais.