December 11

December 11 is the 345th day of the year (346th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 20 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

• 220 – China: Cao Pi forces Emperor Xian of Han to abdicate the Han Dynasty throne. The Cao Wei Empire is created.
• 361 – Julian the Apostate enters Constantinople as the sole Emperor of the Roman Empire.
• 630 – The Prophet Muhammad leads an army of 10,000 to conquer Mecca.
• 969 – Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas is murdered by his wife Theophano and her lover, later–Emperor John I Tzimiskos.
• 1282 – Llywelyn the Last, the last native–born Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri, near Bulith Wells, South Wales.
• 1602 – A surprise attack by forces under the command of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and his brother–in–law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva.
• 1792 – Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.
• 1816 – Indiana becomes the 16th State of the US.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fredericksburg begins.
• 1868 – Brazil defeats Paraguay at the Battle of Avay during the Paraguayan War.
• 1872 – King Kamehameha V of Hawaii dies on his 42nd birthday, ending the line of the Kamehamehas. His cousin, William Charles Lunalilo, succeeds him as King.

1901 – 2000

• 1905 – A workers' uprising occurs in Kiev, present–day Ukraine, then a part of the Russian Empire, and creates the Shuliavka Republic.
• 1907 – The New Zealand Parliament buildings are almost completely destroyed by fire.
• 1917 – British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law.
• 1920 – Irish War of Independence: In retaliation for an IRA ambush, British forces burn and loot numerous buildings in the city of Cork. There were reports from civilians of beatings, shootings and verbal abuse by the forces.
• 1927 – Guangzhou Uprising: Communist militia and worker red guards launch an uprising in the city of Guangzhou, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of the Guangzhou Soviet.
• 1931 – The British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster, establishing legislative equality between the self–governing Dominions of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland and the Union of South Africa.
• 1934 – Bill W., co–founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last alcoholic drink and enters treatment for the last time.
• 1936 – United Kingdom: Edward VIII abdicates (resigns) the throne in order to marry his love, Wallis Warfield Simpson, making George VI King.
• 1937 – Italy leaves the League of Nations.
• 1941 – World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States. The US, in turn, declares war on Germany and Italy.
• 1941 – World War II: Poland declares war on the Empire of Japan.
• 1946 – UNICEF is established.
• 1958 – French Upper Volta and French Dahomey, in western Africa, gain self–government from France, becoming the Republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and the Republic of Dahomey (now Benin) respectively.
• 1960 – French forces crack down in a violent clash with protestors in then–French Algeria during a visit by Charles de Gaulle.
• 1961 – Adolf Eichmann is found guilty of Crimes Against Humanity at his trial in Jerusalem, Israel. He is sentenced to death on December 15 and executed on May 31 of the following year.
• 1962 – Arthur Lucas becomes the last person to be executed in Canada.
• 1964 – Che Guevara speaks to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
• 1972 – Apollo 17 becomes the last manned mission to land on the Moon.
• 1978 – The Lufthansa heist carried out at JFK International Airport near New York City by an associate of the Lucchese Crime Family, James Burke. At least $5 million in cash (17.9 million) and $875,000 ($3.1 million) worth of jewels are stolen.
• 1981 – Armed forces in El Salvador, kill around 900 civilians, in an anti–guerrilla campaign.
• 1990 – Demonstrations by workers and students across Albania begin. This eventually leads to the end of Communist rule in Albania and an end to the country's diplomatic isolation.
• 1993 – 48 people are killed when a block of the Highland Towers collapses in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• 1994 – Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.
• 1994 – A bomb explodes on Philippine Airlines Flight 434 from Manila to Tokyo, killing 1 person. The pilot is able to safely land the plane safely.
• 1995 – Lithuania applies to join the EU.
• 1997 – The Kyoto protocol is opened for signature.
• 1998 – Thai Airways Flight 261 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101 people.
• 1999 – Turkey applies to join the EU.

From 2001

• 2001 – The People's Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization.
• 2005 – Riots against Lebanese youths happen in Cronulla, a suburb of Sydney, Australia
• 2005 – The Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, catches fire.
• 2006 – The Mexican Drug War begins.
• 2007 – Two car bombs explode at the Constitutional building and UN office in Algiers, Algeria, killing around 45 people.
• 2008 – Bernard Madoff is arrested on fraud charges.
• 2010 – Two bombs explode in central Stockholm, killing 1, and injuring 2.
• 2012 – At least 125 people are killed and up to 200 injured in bombings in the Alawite village in Agrab, Syria.
• 2016 – St. Mark's Coptic Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt, is bombed, killing at least 25 people.
• 2016 – President of Italy Sergio Mattarella nominates Paolo Gentiloni to form a government, after the resignation of Matteo Renzi.
• 2019 – Test cricket is played in Pakistan for the first time since 2009, when the Sri Lankan national team was attacked there.
• 2019 – The Autonomous Region of Bougainville is revealed to have voted, by a big majority, in favour of independence from Papua New Guinea.
• 2019 – Time Magazine names climate change activist Greta Thunberg as its Person of the Year; she is the youngest person to be named as such, being almost 17 years old at the time of the announcement.

Births

Up to 1900

• 1465 – Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (d. 1489)
• 1475 – Pope Leo X (d. 1521)
• 1566 – Manuel Cardoso, Portuguese composer (d. 1650)
• 1709 – Louise Elisabeth d'Orleans, French consort of King Louis I of Spain (d. 1742)
• 1712 – Francesco Algarotti, Italian philosopher (d. 1764)
• 1725 – George Mason, American statesman (d. 1792)
• 1750 – Isaac Shelby, 1st and 5th Governor of Kentucky (d. 1826)
• 1758 – Carl Friedrich Zelter, German composer, conductor and educator (d. 1832)
• 1761 – Gian Domenico Romagnosi, Italian physicist (d. 1835)
• 1764 – Sir John Gladstone, 1st Baronet, Scottish merchant, slave owner and politician (d. 1851)
• 1781 – David Brewster, Scottish physicist, mathematician, astronomer, inventor and writer (d. 1868)
• 1792 – Joseph Mohr, Austrian composer (d. 1848)
• 1801 – Christian Dietrich Grabbe, German playwright (d. 1836)
• 1803 – Hector Berlioz, French composer (d. 1869)
• 1810 – Alfred de Musset, French dramatist, poet and novelist (d. 1857)
• 1830 – Kamehameha V, King of Hawai'i (d. 1872)
• 1843 – Robert Koch, German doctor, won the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1910)
• 1856 – Georgi Plekhanov, Russian revolutionary and theoretician (d. 1918)
• 1858 – Vladimir Nemirovich Danchenko, Russian playwright, director and producer (d. 1943)
• 1863 – Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer (d. 1941)
• 1867 – Antonio Conte, Italian fencer (d. 1953)
• 1873 – Josip Plemelj, Slovenian mathematician (d. 1967)
• 1882 – Max Born, German physicist (d. 1970)
• 1882 – Fiorello La Guardia, 99th Mayor of New York City (d. 1947)
• 1883 – Victor McLaglen, British actor (d. 1959)
• 1890 – Carlos Gardel, French–Argentine singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1935)
• 1890 – Mark Tobey, American painter (d. 1976)
• 1899 – Julio de Caro, Argentine composer, musician and conductor (d. 1980)

1901 – 1925

• 1901 – Dave Halliday, Scottish footballer (d. 1970)
• 1905 – Erskine Hamilton Childers, 4th President of Ireland (d. 1974)
• 1905 – Gilbert Roland, American actor (d. 1984)
• 1906 – Pietro Serantoni, Italian footballer (d. 1964)
• 1908 – Elliott Carter, American composer (d. 2012)
• 1908 – Hakun Djurhuus, Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1987)
• 1908 – Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese director (d. 2015)
• 1908 – Carlos Arias Navarro, Spanish politician (d. 1989)
• 1908 – Amon Goeth, German SS officer and war criminal (d. 1946)
• 1910 – Noel Rosa, Brazilian singer, songwriter and guitarist (d. 1937)
• 1911 – Qian Xuesen, Chinese scientist (d. 2009)
• 1911 – Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian writer (d. 2006)
• 1912 – Carlo Ponti, Italian movie producer (d. 2007)
• 1913 – Jean Marais, French actor (d. 1998)
• 1916 – Perez Prado, Cuban–Mexican singer, pianist, composer and bandleader (d. 1989)
• 1918 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer (d. 2008)
• 1919 – Marie Windsor, American actress (d. 2000)
• 1919 – Cliff Michelmore, British television presenter (d. 2016)
• 1921 – Liz Smith, British actress (d. 2016)
• 1921 – Maila Nurmi, Finnish–American actress (d. 2008)
• 1921 – Pierre Bec, French Occitan language linguist, philologist and poet (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Betsy Blair, American actress (d. 2009)
• 1925 – Paul Greengard, American neuroscientist (d. 2019)
• 1925 – Patrick Reyntiens, English stained glass artist

1926 – 1950

• 1926 – Big Mama Thornton, American blues singer (d. 1984)
• 1927 – John Buscema, American comic artist (d. 2002)
• 1927 – Stein Eriksen, Norwegian skier (d. 2015)
• 1929 – Kenneth MacMillan, Scottish dancer and choreographer (d. 1992)
• 1930 – Jean-Louis Trintignant, French actor
• 1930 – Chus Lampreave, Spanish actress (d. 2016)
• 1931 – Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican singer and actress
• 1931 – Ronald Dworkin, American philosopher and scholar (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Pierre Pilote, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1931 – Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Indian philosopher and spiritual leader (d. 1990)
• 1932 – Enrique Bermudez, Nicaraguan army officer, founder of the Contras (d. 1991)
• 1932 – Anne Heywood, English actress
• 1933 – Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., politician from the Philippines
• 1935 – Pranab Mukherjee, former President of India
• 1935 – Ron Carey, American actor (d. 2002)
• 1936 – Hans van den Broek, French–Dutch politician
• 1938 – Enrico Macias, Algerian–French singer
• 1938 – McCoy Tyner, American jazz pianist
• 1939 – Tom Hayden, American politician and activist (d. 2016)
• 1940 – Donna Mills, American actress
• 1941 – Max Baucus, United States Senator from Montana
• 1941 – Rogier van Otterloo, Dutch conductor and composer (d. 1988)
• 1941 – J. P. Parisé, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
• 1942 – Anna Carteret, British actress
• 1942 – Derek Parfit, British philosopher (d. 2017)
• 1943 – John Kerry, 68th United States Secretary of State
• 1944 – Teri Garr, American actress and dancer
• 1944 – Lynda Day George, American television and movie actress
• 1944 – Brenda Lee, American singer
• 1944 – Juan E. Mendez, American human rights activist
• 1946 – Rhoma Irama, Indonesian singer-songwriter
• 1947 – David E. Stone, American sound editor
• 1950 – Christina Onassis, American–Greek heiress and shopping magnate (d. 1988)

1951 – 1975

• 1951 – Spike Edney, British musician
• 1951 – Ria Stalman, Dutch athlete
• 1952 – Andrea de Carlo, Italian writer
• 1952 – Susan Seidelman, American movie director
• 1953 – Bess Armstrong, American actress
• 1954 – Jermaine Jackson, American singer
• 1954 – Brad Bryant, American golfer
• 1954 – Santiago Creel, Mexican politician
• 1956 – Andrew Lansley, British politician
• 1957 – Antonio Napolioni, Italian bishop
• 1958 – Nikki Sixx, American musician (Mötley Crüe)
• 1958 – Chris Hughton, English–Irish footballer and manager
• 1958 – Isabella Hofmann, American actress
• 1960 – Rachel Ritman, English composer
• 1961 – Macky Sall, President of Senegal
• 1961 – Ingo Appelt, Austrian bobsledder and politician
• 1961 – Marco Pierre White, English chef and TV personality
• 1962 – Denise Biellmann, Swiss figure skater
• 1963 – Mario Been, Dutch footballer
• 1963 – John Lammers, Dutch footballer
• 1963 – Jon Brion, American singer-songwriter, composer and producer
• 1963 – Nigel Winterburn, English footballer
• 1964 – Michel Courtemanche, French Canadian comedian
• 1964 – Franco Ballerini, Italian road racing cyclist (d. 2010)
• 1966 – Göran Kropp, Swedish mountaineer (d. 2002)
• 1966 – Gary Dourdan, American actor
• 1967 – Mo'Nique, American comedienne and actress
• 1967 – Michaela Tabb, English snooker referee
• 1968 – Fabrizio Ravanelli, Italian footballer
• 1969 – Viswanathan Anand, Indian chess player and world champion
• 1969 – Max Martini, American actor
• 1969 – Alessandro Melli, Italian footballer
• 1970 – Victoria Fuller, American model, artist and actress
• 1972 – Andriy Husin, Ukrainian footballer (d. 2014)
• 1972 – Sami Al-Jaber, Saudi footballer
• 1972 – Daniel Alfredsson, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1973 – Mos Def, American musician and actor
• 1974 – Rey Mysterio, Mexican–American professional wrestler
• 1974 – Ben Shephard, English journalist and TV host

From 1976

• 1976 – Shareef Abdur-Rahim, American basketball player
• 1979 – Rider Strong, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
• 1981 – Nicki Benz, Ukrainian–German model and pornographic actress
• 1981 – Javier Saviola, Argentine footballer
• 1981 – Mohamed Zidan, Egyptian footballer
• 1981 – Zacky Vengeance, American musician (Avenged Sevenfold)
• 1984 – Leighton Baines, English footballer
• 1985 – Mario Gjurovski, Macedonian footballer
• 1985 – Aiko Kayo, Japanese singer and voice actress
• 1985 – Anja Prislan, Slovenian tennis player
• 1986 – Roy Hibbert, American basketball player
• 1987 – Natalia Gordienko, Moldovan dancer and singer
• 1988 – Ashley Hinshaw, American actress and model
• 1991 – Anna Bergendahl, Swedish singer
• 1992 – Tiffany Alvord, American singer
• 1992 – Gen Shoji, Japanese footballer
• 1993 – Yalitza Aparicio, Mexican actress
• 1996 – Hailee Steinfeld, American actress and singer

Deaths

Up to 1900

• 384 – Pope Damasus I
• 969 – Nikephoros II Phokas, Byzantine Emperor (b. 912)
• 1198 – Averroes, Spanish–Arab philosopher (b. 1126)
• 1241 – Emperor Ogedei of Japan
• 1282 – Prince Llywelyn the Last of Wales
• 1282 – Michael VIII Palaiologus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1225)
• 1474 – Henry IV of Castile
• 1532 – Pietro Accotti, Italian cardinal (b. 1455)
• 1582 – Pedro Alvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, Spanish general and politician (b. 1508)
• 1694 – Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1630)
• 1797 – Richard Brocklesby, English physician (b. 1722)
• 1826 – Maria Leopoldina of Austria (b. 1797)
• 1840 – Emperor Kokaku of Japan (b. 1771)
• 1872 – Kamehameha V, King of Hawai'i (b. 1830)

1901 – 2000

• 1906 – Charles Townsend, American fencer (b. 1872)
• 1909 – Innokenty Annensky, Russian poet (b. 1855)
• 1918 – Ivan Cankar, Slovenian writer, poet and playwright (b. 1876)
• 1937 – Jaan Anvelt, Soviet–Estonian Communist, revolutionary and writer (b. 1884)
• 1938 – Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian pacifist (b. 1869)
• 1941 – John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American pilot and poet (b. 1922)
• 1941 – Emile Picard, French mathematician (b. 1856)
• 1945 – Charles Fabry, French actress and dancer (b. 1867)
• 1950 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1893)
• 1957 – Musidora, French actress and movie director (b. 1889)
• 1959 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player (b. 1900)
• 1964 – Sam Kilbride, American actor (b. 1888)
• 1964 – Alma Mahler, wife of Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius and Franz Werfel (b. 1879)
• 1964 – Percy Kilbride, American actor (b. 1888)
• 1968 – Arthur Hays Sulzberger, American publisher (b. 1891)
• 1971 – Maurice McDonald, American businessman (b. 1902)
• 1978 – Vincent de Vigneaud, American chemist (b. 1901)
• 1989 – Louise Dahl-Wolfe, American photographer (b. 1895)
• 1992 – Michael Robbins, English actor (b. 1930)
• 1993 – Raymond D. Gary, American politician, 15th Governor of Oklahoma (b. 1908)
• 1993 – Paul Mebus, German footballer (b. 1920)
• 1996 – Willie Rushton, British cartoonist, writer and publisher (b. 1937)
• 1997 – Eddie Chapman, British World War II spy (b. 1914)
• 1998 – Max Streibl, German politician (b. 1932)

From 2001

• 2001 – Mainza Chona, 1st Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1930)
• 2004 – Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand runner and coach (b. 1917)
• 2006 – Elizabeth Bolden, American supercentenarian (b. 1890)
• 2008 – Bettie Page, American model (b. 1923)
• 2008 – Ali Alatas, Indonesian politician (b. 1932)
• 2011 – John Patrick Foley, American cardinal (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian operatic soprano (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Ravi Shankar, Indian sitarist (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Nadir Afonso, Portuguese painter (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Barbara Branden, American writer (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Tom Adams, English actor (b. 1938)
• 2014 – Giorgio Ardisson, Italian actor (b. 1931)
• 2015 – H. Arnold Steinberg, Canadian business and education administrator (b. 1933)
• 2017 – Keith Chegwin, English television presenter and actor (b. 1957)
• 2017 – Aline Griffith, Dowager Countess of Romanones, American–Spanish aristocrat, socialite and writer (b. 1923)
• 2017 – Charles Robert Jenkins, American soldier (b. 1940)
• 2017 – Vera Katz, German–born American politician, former Mayor of Portland, Oregon (b. 1933)
• 2017 – Suzanna Leigh, British actress (b. 1945)
• 2017 – Walter Mafli, Swiss painter (b. 1915)
• 2018 – Winifred Griffin, New Zealand swimmer (b. 1932)
• 2018 – Hiwi Tauroa, New Zealand rugby union player (b. 1927)
• 2019 – David Bellamy, English naturalist and writer (b. 1933)
• 2019 – James McCarthy, American oceanographer (b. 1944)

Observances

• Republic Day (Burkina Faso)
• Indiana Day
• International Mountain Day
• Human Rights and Peace Day (Kiribati)
• National Tango Day (Argentina)