December 21

Updated on Oct 18, 2023

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Western zodiac Capricorn
Holidays & Observances Blue Christmas, Forefathers' Day Events 2012 phenomenon, December 2010 lunar eclipse Famous birthdays Emmanuel Macron, Tamannaah, Steven Yeun, Samuel L Jackson, Mahira Khan

December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 10 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday (58 in 400 years each) than on Saturday or Sunday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Tuesday or Thursday (56).

In the Northern Hemisphere, December 21st is usually the shortest day of the year and is sometimes regarded as the first day of winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, December 21st is usually the longest day of the year and occurs during the southern summer.

Events

AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.

1124 – Pope Honorius II is elected.

1140 – Conrad III of Germany besieged Weinsberg.

1237 – The city of Ryazan is sacked by the Mongol army of Batu Khan.

1361 – 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.

1598 – Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile.

1620 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

1826 – American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion.

1832 – Egyptian–Ottoman War: Egyptian forces decisively defeat Ottoman troops at the Battle of Konya.

1844 – The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers commences business at its cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.

1861 – Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.

1872 – Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth, England.

1879 – World premiere of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1883 – The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, the first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army, are formed.

1907 – The Chilean Army commits a massacre of at least 2,000 striking saltpeter miners in Iquique, Chile.

1910 – An underground explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, England, kills 344 miners.

1913 – Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.

1919 – American anarchist Emma Goldman is deported to Russia.

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

1936 – First flight of the Junkers Ju 88 multi-role combat aircraft.

1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first full-length animated feature, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.

1941 – World War II: A formal treaty of alliance between Thailand and Japan is signed in the presence of the Emerald Buddha in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.

1946 – An 8.1 M_w earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Nankaidō, Japan, kills over 1,300 people and destroys over 38,000 homes.

1962 – Rondane National Park is established as Norway's first national park.

1963 – The episode of intercommunal violence called "Bloody Christmas" begins in Cyprus, ultimately resulting in the displacement of 25,000-30,000 Turkish Cypriots and destruction of more than 100 villages.

1965 – International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is adopted.

1967 – Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, having lived for 18 days after the transplant.

1968 – 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.

1970 – First flight of F-14 multi-role combat aircraft.

1973 – The Geneva Conference on the Arab–Israeli conflict opens.

1979 – Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Peter Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara.

1988 – A bomb explodes on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270.

1992 – A Dutch DC-10, flight Martinair MP 495, crashes at Faro Airport, killing 56.

1994 – Mexican volcano Popocatépetl, dormant for 47 years, erupts gases and ash.

1995 – The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.

1999 – 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.

2004 – Iraq War: A suicide bomber killed 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.

Births

968 – Minamoto no Yorinobu, Japanese samurai (d. 1048)

1401 – Masaccio, Italian painter (d. 1428)

1468 – William Conyers, 1st Baron Conyers, English baron (d. 1524)

1596 – Peter Mogila, Romanian-Ukrainian metropolitan and saint (d. 1646)

1603 – Roger Williams, English minister, theologian, and politician, 9th President of the Colony of Rhode Island (d. 1684)

1672 – Benjamin Schmolck, German pastor and composer (d. 1737)

1714 – John Bradstreet, Canadian-English general (d. 1774)

1728 – Hermann Raupach, German harpsichord player and composer (d. 1778)

1778 – Anders Sandøe Ørsted, Danish jurist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1860)

1795 – Jack Russell, English priest, hunter, and dog breeder (d. 1883)

1795 – Leopold von Ranke, German historian, author, and academic (d. 1886)

1803 – Achille Vianelli, Italian painter and academic (d. 1894)

1804 – Benjamin Disraeli, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1881)

1805 – Thomas Graham, Scottish chemist and academic (d. 1869)

1811 – Archibald Tait, Scottish-English archbishop (d. 1882)

1815 – Thomas Couture, French painter and educator (d. 1879)

1820 – William H. Osborn, American businessman (d. 1894)

1830 – Bartolomé Masó, Cuban soldier and politician (d. 1907)

1832 – John H. Ketcham, American general and politician (d. 1906)

1840 – Namık Kemal, Turkish journalist, playwright, and activist (d. 1888)

1843 – Thomas Bracken, Irish-New Zealand journalist, poet, and politician (d. 1898)

1850 – Zdeněk Fibich, Czech composer and poet (d. 1900)

1851 – Thomas Chipman McRae, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Arkansas (d. 1929)

1859 – Gustave Kahn, French poet and critic (d. 1936)

1866 – Maud Gonne, Irish nationalist and political activist (d. 1953)

1868 – George W. Fuller, American chemist and engineer (d. 1934)

1872 – Trevor Kincaid, Canadian-American zoologist and academic (d. 1970)

1872 – Lorenzo Perosi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1956)

1872 – Albert Payson Terhune, American journalist and author (d. 1942)

1873 – Blagoje Bersa, Croatian composer and educator (d. 1934)

1876 – Jack Lang, Australian lawyer and politician, 23rd Premier of New South Wales (d. 1975)

1877 – Jaan Sarv, Estonian mathematician and scholar (d. 1954)

1878 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish-Irish mathematician and philosopher (d. 1956)

1885 – Frank Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1960)

1888 – Jean Bouin, French runner and rugby player (d. 1914)

1889 – Sewall Wright, American geneticist and biologist (d. 1988)

1890 – Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)

1891 – John William McCormack, American lawyer and politician, 53rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1980)

1892 – Walter Hagen, American golfer (d. 1969)

1892 – Rebecca West, English journalist and author (d. 1983)

1896 – Leroy Robertson, American composer and educator (d. 1971)

1905 – Anthony Powell, English author (d. 2000)

1908 – Herbert Hutner, American banker and lawyer (d. 2008)

1909 – Seichō Matsumoto, Japanese journalist and author (d. 1992)

1911 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (d. 1947)

1913 – Arnold Friberg, American illustrator and painter (d. 2010)

1914 – Frank Fenner, Australian microbiologist and virologist (d. 2010)

1915 – Werner von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 2007)

1917 – Diana Athill, English author

1917 – Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)

1918 – Donald Regan, American colonel and politician, 11th White House Chief of Staff (d. 2003)

1918 – Kurt Waldheim, Austrian colonel, war criminal, and politician; 9th President of Austria (d. 2007)

1920 – Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina and choreographer, founded the Cuban National Ballet

1920 – Adele Goldstine, American computer programmer (d. 1964)

1921 – Robert Lipshutz, American lawyer and politician, 17th White House Counsel (d. 2010)

1922 – Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician (d. 1989)

1922 – Paul Winchell, American actor, voice artist, and ventriloquist (d. 2005)

1922 – Cécile DeWitt-Morette, French mathematician and physicist

1926 – Freddie Hart, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist

1926 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech author and playwright (d. 2011)

1926 – Joe Paterno, American football player and coach (d. 2012)

1932 – U. R. Ananthamurthy, Indian author, poet, and critic (d. 2014)

1932 – Edward Hoagland, American author and critic

1933 – Jackie Hendriks, Jamaican cricketer

1933 – Robert Worcester, American businessman and academic, founded MORI

1934 – Giuseppina Leone, Italian sprinter

1934 – Hanif Mohammad, Pakistani cricketer (d. 2016)

1935 – John G. Avildsen, American director, producer, and cinematographer

1935 – Lorenzo Bandini, Italian race car driver (d. 1967)

1935 – Phil Donahue, American talk show host and producer

1935 – Edward Schreyer, Canadian academic and politician, 22nd Governor General of Canada

1937 – Jane Fonda, American actress, producer, and activist

1937 – Donald F. Munson, American soldier and politician

1938 – Frank Moorhouse, Australian journalist, author, and screenwriter

1938 – John Quayle, English actor

1939 – Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian academic and politician, 2nd Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs

1939 – Wafic Saïd, Syrian-Saudi Arabian financier, businessman and philanthropist

1940 – Arvi Lind, Finnish journalist

1940 – Frank Zappa, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1993)

1942 – Hu Jintao, Chinese engineer and politician, 6th President of China

1943 – André Arthur, Canadian journalist and politician

1943 – Albert Lee, English guitarist and songwriter

1943 – Walter Spanghero, French rugby player

1944 – Bill Atkinson, English footballer and referee (d. 2013)

1944 – Michael Tilson Thomas, American pianist, composer, and conductor

1944 – Zheng Xiaoyu, Chinese diplomat (d. 2007)

1945 – Doug Walters, Australian cricketer

1946 – Roy Karch, American director, producer, and screenwriter

1946 – Christopher Keene, American conductor (d. 1995)

1946 – Kevin Peek, Australian guitarist and songwriter (d. 2013)

1946 – Carl Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998)

1947 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 2014)

1948 – Barry Gordon, American actor and voice artist; longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild (1988–95)

1948 – Samuel L. Jackson, American actor and producer

1948 – Dave Kingman, American baseball player

1949 – Thomas Sankara, Burkinabé captain and politician, 5th President of Burkina Faso (d. 1987)

1949 – Nikolaos Sifounakis, Greek lawyer and politician

1950 – Jeffrey Katzenberg, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded DreamWorks Animation

1950 – Lillebjørn Nilsen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist

1951 – Nick Gilder, English-Canadian singer-songwriter

1951 – Steve Perryman, English footballer and manager

1952 – Joaquín Andújar, Dominican baseball player (d. 2015)

1952 – Steve Furniss, American swimmer

1953 – András Schiff, Hungarian-English pianist and conductor

1953 – Betty Wright, American singer-songwriter

1954 – Chris Evert, American tennis player and coach

1955 – Jane Kaczmarek, American actress

1955 – Kazuyuki Sekiguchi, Japanese singer-songwriter and bass player

1956 – Dave Laut, American shot putter (d. 2009)

1957 – Ray Romano, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

1958 – Tamara Bykova, Russian high jumper

1959 – Florence Griffith Joyner, American sprinter and actress (d. 1998)

1959 – Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Indian cricketer

1960 – Roger McDowell, American baseball player and coach

1960 – Sherry Rehman, Pakistani journalist, politician, and diplomat, 25th Pakistan Ambassador to the United States

1961 – Henry Ford Kamel, Ghanaian banker and politician (d. 2012)

1961 – Ryuji Sasai, Japanese bass player and composer

1963 – Govinda, Indian actor, singer, and politician

1964 – Joe Kocur, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1964 – Kunihiko Ikuhara, Japanese director and illustrator

1964 – Daniel Suarez, American author

1965 – Andy Dick, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter

1965 – Anke Engelke, Canadian-German actress, director, and screenwriter

1966 – Martin Bayfield, English rugby player

1966 – William Ruto, Kenyan politician, Deputy President of Kenya

1966 – Adam Schefter, American journalist and sportscaster

1966 – Kiefer Sutherland, Canadian actor, director, and producer

1967 – Ervin Johnson, American basketball player

1967 – Terry Mills, American basketball player and coach

1967 – Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Georgia

1969 – Julie Delpy, French model, actress, director, and screenwriter

1969 – Mihails Zemļinskis, Latvian footballer, coach, and manager

1971 – Matthieu Chedid, French singer-songwriter and guitarist

1972 – Gloria De Piero, English journalist and politician, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities

1972 – Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, Indian journalist and politician

1973 – Irakli Alasania, Georgian colonel and politician, Georgian Minister of Defense

1974 – Karrie Webb, Australian golfer

1975 – Paloma Herrera, Argentinian ballerina

1977 – Mark Dice, American author and conspiracy theorist

1977 – Leon MacDonald, New Zealand rugby player

1978 – Emiliano Brembilla, Italian swimmer

1978 – Shaun Morgan, South African musician, singer, and guitarist

1979 – Steve Montador, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2015)

1980 – Michele Di Piedi, Italian footballer

1980 – Royce Ring, American baseball player

1981 – Sajid Mahmood, English cricketer

1981 – Cristian Zaccardo, Italian footballer

1982 – Philip Humber, American baseball player

1982 – Tom Payne, English actor

1983 – Steven Yeun, Korean-American actor

1984 – Darren Potter, English footballer

1985 – Tom Sturridge, English actor

1987 – Denis Alekseyev, Russian sprinter

1988 – Perri Shakes-Drayton, English sprinter and hurdler

1988 – Danny Duffy, American baseball player

1994 – Luke Brooks, Australian rugby league player

1995 – Bobby, South Korean-American rapper

Deaths

AD 72 – Thomas the Apostle, Roman martyr and saint (b. 1 AD)

882 – Hincmar, French archbishop and historian (b. 806)

1001 – Hugh of Tuscany, margrave of Tuscany (b. 950)

1308 – Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1244)

1338 – Thomas Hemenhale, Bishop of Worcester

1362 – Constantine III, King of Armenia (b. 1313)

1375 – Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian author and poet (b. 1313)

1495 – Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford (b. c. 1431)

1504 – Berthold von Henneberg, German archbishop (b. 1442)

1549 – Marguerite de Navarre, queen of Henry II of Navarre (b. 1492)

1597 – Peter Canisius, Dutch priest and saint (b. 1521)

1701 – Sir Hugh Paterson, Baronet of Bannockburn (b. 1659)

1807 – John Newton, English soldier and minister (b. 1725)

1824 – James Parkinson, English physician and paleontologist (b. 1755)

1869 – Friedrich Ernst Scheller, German jurist and politician (b. 1791)

1873 – Francis Garnier, French admiral and explorer (b. 1839)

1889 – Friedrich August von Quenstedt, German geologist and palaeontologist (b. 1809)

1920 – Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, Somalian general, founded the Dervish state (b. 1856)

1929 – I. L. Patterson, American politician, 18th Governor of Oregon (b. 1859)

1933 – Knud Rasmussen, Greenlandic anthropologist and explorer (b. 1879)

1935 – Ted Birnie, English footballer and manager (b. 1878)

1935 – Kurt Tucholsky, German-Swedish journalist and author (b. 1890)

1937 – Ted Healy, American comedian and actor (b. 1896)

1937 – Frank B. Kellogg, American lawyer and politician, 45th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)

1940 – F. Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1896)

1945 – George S. Patton, American general (b. 1885)

1952 – Kenneth Edwards, American golfer (b. 1886)

1953 – Kaarlo Koskelo, Finnish-American wrestler and businessman (b. 1888)

1957 – Eric Coates, English-American viola player and composer (b. 1886)

1958 – Lion Feuchtwanger, German-American author and playwright (b. 1884)

1959 – Rosanjin, Japanese calligrapher, engraver, and painter (b. 1883)

1963 – Jack Hobbs, English cricketer and journalist (b. 1882)

1964 – Carl Van Vechten, American author and photographer (b. 1880)

1965 – Claude Champagne, Canadian violinist, pianist, and composer (b. 1891)

1968 – Vittorio Pozzo, Italian footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1886)

1974 – Richard Long, American actor and director (b. 1927)

1982 – Abu Al-Asar Hafeez Jullundhri, Pakistani poet and composer (b. 1900)

1983 – Paul de Man, Belgian-born philosopher, literary critic and theorist (b. 1919)

1987 – John Spence, American singer (b. 1969)

1988 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)

1992 – Stella Adler, American actress and educator (b. 1901)

1992 – Albert King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1924)

1992 – Nathan Milstein, Russian-American violinist and composer (b. 1903)

1998 – Ernst-Günther Schenck, German colonel and physician (b. 1904)

2004 – Autar Singh Paintal, Indian physiologist and neurologist (b. 1925)

2006 – Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (b. 1940)

2009 – Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)

2009 – Christos Lambrakis, Greek journalist and businessman (b. 1934)

2010 – Enzo Bearzot, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1927)

2013 – Edgar Bronfman, Sr., Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1929)

2013 – John Eisenhower, American historian, general, and diplomat, 45th United States Ambassador to Belgium (b. 1922)

2013 – Richard Hart, Jamaican-English historian, lawyer, and politician (b. 1917)

2014 – Udo Jürgens, Austrian-Swiss singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1934)

2014 – Sitor Situmorang, Indonesian poet and author (b. 1923)

2014 – Billie Whitelaw, English actress (b. 1932)

Holidays and observances

Armed Forces Day (Philippines)

Christian feast day:

O Oriens

Petrus Canisius

Thomas the Apostle (Anglicanism)

December 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Earliest date for the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, and its related observances:

Blue Christmas (Western Christianity)

Dongzhi Festival (Asia)

Sanghamitta Day (Theravada Buddhism)

Yule in the Northern Hemisphere (Neopagan Wheel of the Year)

Ziemassvētki (ancient Latvia)

Forefathers' Day (Plymouth, Massachusetts)

São Tomé Day (São Tomé and Príncipe)

The first day of Pancha Ganapati, celebrated until December 25 (Saiva Siddhanta Church)

References

December 21 Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

Riding with Buffalo Bill

Arcane Device

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

References