| 0 | | Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas and of Mexico |
| 627 | | the East Roman Emperor Heraclius inflicted a crushing defeat on the Sassanid Persians in the Battle of Nineveh, winning a 26 year war, but leaving both empires exhausted |
| 1098 | | After a siege, the Crusaders storm and loot Ma'arrat al-Numan, Syria. amidst great slaughter |
| 1479 | | Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III expels the Jews from Alsace |
| 1654 | | a munitions explosion in Delft killed c. 300 people, including Carel Fabritius, c. 32, Rembrant's most promising student |
| 1781 | | Second Battle of Ushant: Richard Kempenfelt's British fleet of 12 ships-of-the line defeats le Comte de Guichen's French fleet of 19 |
| 1813 | | British and French cavalry skirmished at Hasparen, in the south of France -- Learn More |
| 1820 | | Ismail Pasha's Egypto-Sudanese army defeated the Hannekab at the Battle of Jebel Dager -- Learn More |
| 1862 | | Battle of Dumfries, Va |
| 1862 | | a Confederate "torpedo" sank the USS 'Cairo' in the Yazoo River |
| 1899 | | Winston S. Churchill escaped from a Boer prisoner-of-war compound -- Learn More |
| 1901 | | Guglielmo Marconi makes the first trans-Atlantic radio transmission, from Cornwall to Nova Scotia |
| 1915 | | Russian troops capture Hamadan, Persia |
| 1917 | | French troop train derails in the Alps, killing 543 |
| 1925 | | Reza Pahlavi is proclaimed Shah of Persia by the Majlis of Iran (1925-1941) |
| 1937 | | Japanese aircraft and artillery "accidentally" sank the USS 'Panay' (PR 5) and damaged several American merchant ships, and some British gunboats and ships on the Yangtze |
| 1939 | | Battle of Tolvajärvi: The greatly outnumbered Finns defeat the Soviet invaders in the first major action of the "Winter War" |
| 1940 | | British troops capture Sidi el-Barrani |
| 1941 | | British decide to abandon northern Malaya |
| 1941 | | Germans begin house-by-house search for Jews in Paris |
| 1941 | | Japanese abandon their first attempt to capture Wake |
| 1941 | | Japanese complete the occupation of southern Thailand |
| 1941 | | Japanese invade Burma |
| 1941 | | Japanese troops land at Legaspi, southeastern Luzon |
| 1941 | | Luzon: Japanese advance from Vigan & Aparri |
| 1942 | | Guadalcanal: 2nd Marine Div begins taking over from the 1st, as Japanese infiltrators destroy a P-39 and fuel truck |
| 1942 | | USS 'PT-45' sinks Japanese DD 'Teruzuki' off Kolombangara |
| 1944 | | Leyte: US forces consolidate their positions |
| 1945 | | Dutch court sentences Nazi leader Mussert to death |
| 1953 | | Chuck Yeager reaches Mach 2.43 in a Bell X-1A |
| 1958 | | Charles de Gaulle becomes President of France (1959-1969) |
| 1985 | | DC-8 crashes near Gander, 248 US military personnnel & 8 crew members die |
| 1991 | | the Russian Federation seceded from the USSR |
| 1298 | | Duke Albert II of Austria (1308-1358) |
| 1418 | | Arch Duke Albert VI of Austria (1457-1463) |
| 1526 | | Álvaro de Bazán, Marquis of Santa Cruz, Spanish admiral who never lost a battle (Relief of Malta, Lepanto, etc.), d. 1588, before he could command the Armada of England |
| 1574 | | Ottoman Sultan Selim II "the Drunkard" or "the Blond" (1556-1574), at 50 [Alt, Dec 15] |
| 1673 | | Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III (1703-30) |
| 1712 | | Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Hapsburg general, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, d. 1780 |
| 1724 | | Samuel Hood, later Admiral and Viscount Hood, d. 1816 -- Learn More [Diamond Rock] |
| 1745 | | John Jay, Founding Father, signer of the Treaty of Paris, first Chief Justice of the United States (1789–95), d. 1829 |
| 1791 | | Maria Louisa of Austria, Mrs Napoleon Bonaparte No. 2; d. 1847 |
| 1792 | | Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek national hero, Russian soldier, d. 1828 |
| 1805 | | William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist, d. 1879 |
| 1806 | | Stand Watie, Indian Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1871 |
| 1814 | | Don Juan Prim y Prats, later Marquis of Los Castillejos, Grandee of Spain, Count of Reus, Viscount of El Bruch, Spanish soldier and Prime Minister, assassinated 1870 |
| 1818 | | Paul Octave Hebert, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1880 |
| 1830 | | Joseph Orville Shelby, Brig Gen, d. 1897 |
| 1875 | | Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal, d. 1953 |
| 1913 | | James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens, who spoiled Hitler's Olympics, d. 1980 |
| 1915 | | Frank Sinatra, notorius draft dodger, actor ("Von Ryan's Express"), d. 1998 |
| 1924 | | Edward Irving "Ed" Koch, sometime infantryman, 104th Inf Div., Mayor of New York (1978-1989), d. 2013 |
| 404 | BC | Shah Darius II Nothos of Persia (424-404 BC) |
| 884 | | King Carloman II of the West Franks (879-884), c. 18-19 |
| 1112 | | Tancred, c. 40, Crusader, Prince of Galilee, Count of Edessa, Regent of Antioch |
| 1586 | | Stephen Báthory , 53, Voivode and Prince of Transylvania (1571-86), and by marriage King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576-1586). |
| 1718 | | Tekle Giyorgis I, 56, the Solomonic Emperor of Ethiopia "Feqr Sagad" (1779-1800), several times deposed, restored, and deposed again, in exile |
| 1843 | | King William I of the Netherlands (1815-1843), 71 |
| 1913 | | Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia (1889-1913), 69, born Sahle Maryam, King of Shewa (1866-89) |
| 1914 | | Watkins Lewis, black American, lynched in Shrevport, La. |
| 1977 | | Clementine Nozier Ogilvy Spencer-Churchill, Baroness Spencer-Churchill, Winston's closest advisor, at 92 |