December 11 facts for kids

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

Events

Pre-1600

• 220 – Emperor Xian of Han is forced to abdicate the throne by Cao Cao's son Cao Pi, ending the Han dynasty.
• 361 – Julian enters Constantinople as sole Roman Emperor.
• 969 – Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas is assassinated by his wife Theophano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes.
• 1041 – Michael V, adoptive son of Empress Zoë of Byzantium, is proclaimed emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire.
• 1282 – Battle of Orewin Bridge: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri near Builth Wells in mid-Wales.

1601–1900

• 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. (Commemorated annually by the Fête de l'Escalade.)
• 1640 – The Root and Branch petition, signed by 15,000 Londoners calling for the abolition of the episcopacy, is presented to the Long Parliament.
• 1675 – Antonio de Vea expedition enters San Rafael Lake in western Patagonia.
• 1688 – Glorious Revolution: James II of England, while trying to flee to France, throws the Great Seal of the Realm into the River Thames.
• 1792 – French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.
• 1815 – The U.S. Senate creates a select committee on finance and a uniform national currency, predecessor of the United States Senate Committee on Finance.
• 1816 – Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state.
• 1868 – Paraguayan War: Brazilian troops defeat the Paraguayan Army at the Battle of Avay.
• 1899 – Second Boer War: In the Battle of Magersfontein the Boers commanded by general Piet Cronjé inflict a defeat on the forces of the British Empire commanded by Lord Methuen trying to relieve the Siege of Kimberley.

1901–present

• 1901 – Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first transatlantic radio signal from Poldhu, Cornwall, England to Saint John's, Newfoundland.
• 1905 – A workers' uprising occurs in Kyiv, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire), and establishes the Shuliavka Republic.
• 1907 – The New Zealand Parliament Buildings are almost completely destroyed by fire.
• 1913 – More than two years after it was stolen from the Louvre, Leonardo da Vinci's painting Mona Lisa is recovered in Florence, Italy. The thief, Vincenzo Peruggia, is immediately arrested.
• 1917 – World War I: British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law.
• 1920 – Irish War of Independence: In retaliation for a recent IRA ambush, British forces burn and loot numerous buildings in Cork city.
• 1925 – Roman Catholic papal encyclical Quas primas introduces the Feast of Christ the King.
• 1927 – Guangzhou Uprising: Communist Red Guards launch an uprising in Guangzhou, China, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet.
• 1931 – Statute of Westminster 1931: The British Parliament establishes legislative equality between the UK and the Dominions of the Commonwealth—Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland.
• 1934 – Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the final time.
• 1936 – Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India, becomes effective.
• 1937 – Second Italo-Ethiopian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations.
• 1941 – World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on them.
• 1941 – World War II: Poland declares war on the Empire of Japan.
• 1941 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy suffers its first loss of surface vessels during the Battle of Wake Island.
• 1946 – The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.
• 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The United Nations passes General Assembly Resolution 194, creating a Conciliation Commission to mediate the conflict.
• 1958 – French Upper Volta and French Dahomey gain self-government from France, becoming the Republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and the Republic of Dahomey (now Benin), respectively, and joining the French Community.
• 1960 – French forces crack down in a violent clash with protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French President Charles de Gaulle.
• 1962 – Arthur Lucas is the last person to be executed in Canada.
• 1964 – Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
• 1972 – Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and final Apollo mission to land on the Moon.
• 1978 – The Lufthansa heist is committed by a group led by Lucchese family associate Jimmy Burke. It was the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil, at that time.
• 1980 – The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress.
• 1981 – El Mozote massacre: Armed forces in El Salvador kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War.
• 1988 – A Soviet Air Force Il-76 aircraft crashes while participating in the Armenian earthquake relief, killing 78 people.
• 1990 – Demonstrations by students and workers across Albania begin, which eventually trigger the fall of communism in Albania.
• 1990 – Several fatal collisions in the 1990 Interstate 75 fog disaster result in a total of 12 deaths and 42 being injured
• 1993 – A block of the Highland Towers condominium complex collapses following a landslide caused by heavy rain and water flowing from a construction site at Ampang district in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 48 of its residents die, including one who died in hospital after being rescued alive, leaving only two survivors.
• 1994 – First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.
• 1997 – The Kyoto Protocol opens for signature.
• 1998 – Thai Airways Flight 261 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101. The pilot flying the Airbus A310-200 is thought to have suffered spatial disorientation.
• 2001 – China joins the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• 2005 – The Buncefield Oil Depot catches fire in Hemel Hempstead, England.
• 2006 – The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran, by then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; nations such as Israel and the United States express concern.
• 2007 – Insurgency in the Maghreb: Two car bombs explode in Algiers, Algeria, one near the Supreme Constitutional Court and the other near the offices of the United Nations.
• 2008 – Bernie Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
• 2009 – Finnish game developer Rovio Entertainment releases the hit mobile game Angry Birds internationally on iOS.
• 2017 – New York City Subway bombing: A pipe bomb partially detonates in the New York City Subway, in the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal. Four people are injured, including the perpetrator.
• 2019 – The results of the 2019 Bougainvillean independence referendum are announced. The results are overwhelmingly one-sided. Over 98% of voters vote for Bougainville's independence.
• 2020 – The Food and Drug Administration issues an Emergency Use Authorization on the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the agency.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1445 – Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1496)
• 1465 – Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (d. 1489)
• 1475 – Pope Leo X (d. 1521)
• 1566 – Manuel Cardoso, Portuguese organist and composer (d. 1650)
• 1595 – Heo Mok, Korean politician, poet and scholar (d. 1682)

1601–1900

• 1613 – Amar Singh Rathore, Rajput nobleman (d. 1644)
• 1712 – Francesco Algarotti, Italian poet, philosopher, and critic (d. 1764)
• 1725 – George Mason, American lawyer and politician (d. 1792)
• 1758 – Carl Friedrich Zelter, German composer, conductor, and educator (d. 1832)
• 1761 – Gian Domenico Romagnosi, Italian physicist, economist, and jurist (d. 1835)
• 1781 – David Brewster, Scottish physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (d. 1868)
• 1801 – Christian Dietrich Grabbe, German poet and playwright (d. 1836)
• 1803 – Hector Berlioz, French composer, conductor, and critic (d. 1869)
• 1810 – Alfred de Musset, French dramatist, poet, and novelist (d. 1857)
• 1830 – Kamehameha V of Hawaii (d. 1872)
• 1837 – Webster Paulson, English civil engineer (d. 1887)
• 1838 – John Labatt, Canadian brewer and businessman (d. 1915)
• 1843 – Robert Koch, German microbiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1910)
• 1856 – Georgi Plekhanov, Russian philosopher, theorist, and author (d. 1918)
• 1858 – Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian director, producer, and playwright (d. 1943)
• 1861 – Frederick Eveleigh-de-Moleyns, 5th Baron Ventry, British Army officer and Anglo-Irish peer (d. 1923)
• 1863 – Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer and academic (d. 1941)
• 1872 – René Bull, British illustrator and photographer (d. 1942)
• 1873 – Josip Plemelj, Slovenian mathematician and academic (d. 1967)
• 1875 – Yehuda Leib Maimon, Moldovan-Israeli rabbi and politician (d. 1962)
• 1880 – Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer and umpire (d. 1951)
• 1882 – Subramania Bharati, Indian journalist and poet (d. 1921)
• 1882 – Max Born, German physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
• 1882 – Fiorello H. La Guardia, American lawyer and politician, 99th Mayor of New York City (d. 1947)
• 1884 – Piet Ooms, Dutch swimmer and water polo player (d. 1961)
• 1889 – Walter Knott, American farmer and businessman, founded Knott's Berry Farm (d. 1981)
• 1890 – Carlos Gardel, French-Argentinian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1935)
• 1890 – Mark Tobey, American-Swiss painter and educator (d. 1976)
• 1892 – Arnold Majewski, Finnish military hero of Polish descent (d. 1942)
• 1893 – Leo Ornstein, Russian-American pianist and composer (d. 2002)
• 1897 – Ronald Skirth, English soldier (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Julio de Caro, Argentinian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1980)
• 1900 – Hermína Týrlová, Czechoslovakian animator, screenwriter, and film director (d. 1993)
• 1900 – Gerd Arntz, German Modernist artist, co-creator of Isotype (d. 1988)

1901–present

• 1904 – Marge, American cartoonist (d. 1993)
• 1905 – Robert Henriques, English farmer, author, and broadcaster (d. 1967)
• 1905 – Gilbert Roland, Mexican-American actor and singer (d. 1994)
• 1908 – Elliott Carter, American composer and academic (d. 2012)
• 1908 – Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
• 1908 – Hákun Djurhuus, Faroese educator and politician, fourth Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1987)
• 1908 – Amon Göth, Austrian Nazi war criminal (d. 1946)
• 1909 – Ronald McKie, Australian soldier, journalist, and author (d. 1991)
• 1910 – Mildred Cleghorn, Native American chairwoman and educator (d. 1997)
• 1911 – Val Guest, English-American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 2006)
• 1911 – Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian author, playwright, and screenwriter, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
• 1911 – Qian Xuesen, Chinese aerodynamicist and academic (d. 2009)
• 1912 – Carlo Ponti, Italian-Swiss film producer (d. 2007)
• 1913 – Jean Marais, French actor and director (d. 1998)
• 1916 – Elena Garro, Mexican author and playwright (d. 1998)
• 1916 – Pérez Prado, Cuban-Mexican singer-songwriter, pianist, and bandleader (d. 1989)
• 1918 – Clinton Adams, American painter and historian (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian novelist, historian, and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
• 1919 – Cliff Michelmore, English television host and producer (d. 2016)
• 1919 – Marie Windsor, American actress (d. 2000)
• 1920 – Mary Ivy Burks, American environmental activist (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Denis Jenkinson, English motorcycle racer and journalist (d. 1996)
• 1921 – Ilmar Laaban, Estonian poet and publicist (d. 2000)
• 1921 – Liz Smith, English actress (d. 2016)
• 1922 – Grigoris Bithikotsis, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
• 1922 – Dilip Kumar, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2021)
• 1922 – Maila Nurmi, Finnish-American actress, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1922 – Grace Paley, American short story writer and poet (d. 2007)
• 1923 – Betsy Blair, American actress and dancer (d. 2009)
• 1923 – Lillian Cahn, Hungarian-born American businesswoman, co-founded Coach, Inc. (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Morrie Turner, American comics creator (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Doc Blanchard, American football player and colonel (d. 2009)
• 1925 – Aaron Feuerstein, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2021)
• 1925 – Paul Greengard, American neuroscientist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
• 1925 – James Sullivan, American politician (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Big Mama Thornton, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
• 1927 – John Buscema, American illustrator (d. 2002)
• 1929 – Axel Anderson, German actor and production manager (d. 2012)
• 1929 – Subhash Gupte, Indian cricketer (d. 2002)
• 1930 – Chus Lampreave, Spanish actress (d. 2016)
• 1930 – Jean-Louis Trintignant, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2022)
• 1931 – Ernie Beck, American basketball player
• 1931 – Ronald Dworkin, American philosopher and scholar (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican actress, singer, and dancer
• 1931 – Pierre Pilote, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2017)
• 1931 – Rajneesh, Indian guru, mystic, and educator (d. 1990)
• 1932 – Enrique Bermúdez, Nicaraguan colonel and engineer (d. 1991)
• 1932 – Keith Waldrop, American author and poet (d. 2023)
• 1933 – Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., Filipino civil servant and politician, 23rd President of the Senate of the Philippines (d. 2019)
• 1934 – Salim Durani, Afghan-Indian cricketer (d. 2023)
• 1935 – Pranab Mukherjee, Indian journalist and politician, 13th President of India (d. 2020)
• 1935 – Elmer Vasko, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1998)
• 1936 – Hans van den Broek, Dutch lawyer and politician, Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1936 – Taku Yamasaki, Japanese politician
• 1937 – Jim Harrison, American novelist, essayist, and poet (d. 2016)
• 1938 – Enrico Macias, Algerian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1938 – McCoy Tyner, American jazz musician (d. 2020)
• 1939 – Tom Hayden, American activist and politician (d. 2016)
• 1939 – Thomas McGuane, American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter
• 1940 – David Gates, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1940 – Donna Mills, American actress and producer
• 1941 – Max Baucus, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 11th United States Ambassador to China
• 1941 – J. P. Parisé, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2015)
• 1941 – Rogier van Otterloo, Dutch conductor and composer (d. 1988)
• 1941 – J. Frank Wilson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1991)
• 1942 – Anna Carteret, English actress
• 1943 – John Kerry, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 68th United States Secretary of State
• 1944 – Teri Garr, American actress and comedian
• 1944 – Jon Garrison, American tenor and educator
• 1944 – Lynda Day George, American actress
• 1944 – Michael Lang, American concert promoter and producer (d. 2022)
• 1944 – Brenda Lee, American singer-songwriter
• 1946 – Rhoma Irama, Indonesian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1946 – Rick McCosker, Australian cricketer
• 1946 – Diana Palmer, American journalist and author
• 1948 – Stamatis Spanoudakis, Greek guitarist and composer
• 1948 – Shinji Tanimura, Japanese singer-songwriter (d. 2023)
• 1949 – Christina Onassis, Greek-Argentine businesswoman, socialite, and heiress (d. 1988)
• 1951 – Mazlan Othman, Malaysian astrophysicist and astronomer
• 1951 – Ria Stalman, Dutch discus thrower and shot putter
• 1953 – Bess Armstrong, American actress
• 1954 – Brad Bryant, American golfer
• 1954 – Sylvester Clarke, Barbadian cricketer (d. 1999)
• 1954 – Santiago Creel, Mexican lawyer and politician, Mexican Secretary of the Interior
• 1954 – Jermaine Jackson, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
• 1954 – Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson, Icelandic guitarist, mathematician, and engineer
• 1955 – Gene Grossman, American economist and academic
• 1955 – Stu Jackson, American basketball player, coach, and manager
• 1955 – Ray Kelvin, British fashion designer
• 1955 – Christian Sackewitz, German footballer and manager
• 1956 – Lani Brockman, American actress and director
• 1956 – Andrew Lansley, English politician, Secretary of State for Health
• 1957 – Peter Bagge, American author and illustrator
• 1958 – Chris Hughton, English-born Irish footballer and manager
• 1958 – Tom Shadyac, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1958 – Nikki Sixx, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
• 1960 – Anders Eldebrink, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
• 1961 – Dave King, Irish-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1961 – Steve Nicol, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1961 – Macky Sall, Senegalese engineer and politician, fourth President of Senegal
• 1961 – Marco Pierre White, English chef and mentor
• 1962 – Ben Browder, American actor
• 1963 – Mario Been, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1963 – Mark Greatbatch, New Zealand cricketer
• 1963 – Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, German tennis player
• 1963 – John Lammers, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1963 – Nigel Winterburn, English footballer and coach
• 1964 – Justin Currie, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1964 – Dave Schools, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
• 1964 – Carolyn Waldo, Canadian swimmer and sportscaster
• 1965 – Jay Bell, American baseball player and coach
• 1965 – Gavin Hill, New Zealand rugby player
• 1965 – Glenn Lazarus, Australian rugby league player and politician
• 1965 – Giannis Ragousis, Greek economist and politician, Greek Minister for National Defence
• 1966 – Gary Dourdan, American actor
• 1966 – Erik Honoré, Norwegian guitarist and producer
• 1966 – Göran Kropp, Swedish race car driver and mountaineer (d. 2002)
• 1966 – Leon Lai, Hong Kong singer and actor
• 1967 – Peter Kelamis, Australian voice actor
• 1967 – Mo'Nique, American comedian, actress, and producer
• 1967 – Chris Shepherd, English animator, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1967 – Katy Steding, American basketball player and coach
• 1968 – Emmanuelle Charpentier, French researcher in microbiology, genetics and biochemistry, and Nobel laureate
• 1968 – Fabrizio Ravanelli, Italian footballer and manager
• 1969 – Viswanathan Anand, Indian chess player
• 1969 – Stig Inge Bjørnebye, Norwegian footballer and manager
• 1969 – Max Martini, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1969 – Alessandro Melli, Italian footballer and manager
• 1970 – Victoria Fuller, American model and actress
• 1971 – Willie McGinest, American football player and sportscaster
• 1972 – Daniel Alfredsson, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1972 – Sami Al-Jaber, Saudi Arabian footballer and manager
• 1972 – Murray Goodwin, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1972 – Andriy Husin, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
• 1973 – Mos Def, American rapper
• 1974 – Maarten Lafeber, Dutch golfer
• 1974 – Rey Mysterio, American wrestler
• 1974 – Lisa Ortiz, American theatre and voice actress
• 1974 – Ben Shephard, English journalist and television host
• 1974 – Gete Wami, Ethiopian runner
• 1975 – Gerben de Knegt, Dutch cyclist
• 1976 – Shareef Abdur-Rahim, American basketball player, coach, and manager
• 1976 – Yujiro Shirakawa, Japanese actor
• 1977 – Mark Streit, Swiss ice hockey player
• 1978 – Roy Wood, Jr., American comedian, actor, and radio host
• 1979 – Colleen Hoover, American author
• 1979 – Valdis Mintals, Estonian figure skater
• 1979 – Rider Strong, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1980 – Adi Keissar, Israeli poet
• 1980 – Kristjan Kitsing, Estonian basketball player
• 1981 – Rebekkah Brunson, American basketball player and coach
• 1981 – Jason Kennedy, American journalist
• 1981 – Jeff McComsey, American author and illustrator
• 1981 – Paul Medhurst, Australian footballer
• 1981 – Javier Saviola, Argentine footballer
• 1982 – Roman Harper, American football player
• 1982 – Pablo Pérez Companc, Argentine race car driver
• 1984 – Leighton Baines, English footballer
• 1984 – Sandra Echeverría, Mexican actress and singer
• 1984 – James Ellsworth, American wrestler
• 1984 – Xosha Roquemore, American actress
• 1985 – Karla Souza, Mexican actress
• 1986 – Roy Hibbert, American basketball player
• 1987 – Clifton Geathers, American football player
• 1987 – Alex Russell, Australian actor
• 1987 – Miranda Tapsell, Australian actress
• 1988 – Tim Southee, New Zealand cricketer
• 1989 – Kellie Harrington, Irish boxer
• 1990 – Alexa Demie, American actress and singer
• 1992 – Tiffany Alvord, American singer-songwriter
• 1992 – Malcolm Brogdon, American basketball player
• 1993 – Yalitza Aparicio, Mexican actress
• 1995 – Abbi Grant, Scottish footballer
• 1996 – Hailee Steinfeld, American actress, singer and songwriter
• 1997 – Matthew Tkachuk, American ice hockey player
• 2000 – Onyeka Okongwu, American basketball player

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 384 – Pope Damasus I (b. c.304)
• 861 – Al-Fath ibn Khaqan, chief confidant and councillor to al-Mutawakkil
• 969 – Nikephoros II Phokas, Byzantine emperor (b. 912)
• 1121 – Al-Afdal Shahanshah, Egyptian political adviser (b. 1066)
• 1198 – Averroes, Spanish astronomer, physicist, and philosopher (b. 1126)
• 1241 – Ögedei Khan, Mongolian emperor (b. 1186)
• 1282 – Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Welsh prince (b. 1223)
• 1282 – Michael VIII Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1225)
• 1474 – Henry IV of Castile, King of the Crown of Castile (b. 1425)
• 1532 – Pietro Accolti, Italian cardinal (b. 1455)
• 1582 – Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, Spanish general and politician, 12th Constable of Portugal (b. 1508)

1601–1900

• 1610 – Adam Elsheimer, German artist working in Rome (b. 1578)
• 1686 – Louis, Grand Condé, French general (b. 1621)
• 1694 – Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1630)
• 1737 – John Strype, English priest, historian, and author (b. 1643)
• 1747 – Edmund Curll, English bookseller and publisher (b. 1675)
• 1797 – Richard Brocklesby, English physician (b. 1722)
• 1826 – Maria Leopoldina of Austria (b. 1797)
• 1840 – Emperor Kōkaku of Japan (b. 1771)
• 1872 – Kamehameha V of Hawaii (b. 1830)
• 1880 – Oliver Winchester, American businessman, founded the Winchester Repeating Arms Company (b. 1810)
• 1892 – William Milligan, Scottish theologian and scholar (b. 1821)

1901–present

• 1906 – Charles Townsend, American fencer, engineer, and academic (b. 1872)
• 1909 – Ludwig Mond, German-born chemist and British industrialist who discovered the metal carbonyls (b. 1839)
• 1913 – Carl von In der Maur, Governor of Liechtenstein (b. 1852)
• 1918 – Ivan Cankar, Slovenian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1876)
• 1920 – Olive Schreiner, South African author and activist (b. 1855)
• 1936 – Myron Grimshaw, American baseball player (b. 1875)
• 1937 – Jaan Anvelt, Estonian theorist and politician (b. 1884)
• 1937 – Hugh Thackeray Turner, English architect and painter (b. 1853)
• 1938 – Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian historian and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
• 1941 – John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American pilot and poet (b. 1922)
• 1941 – Émile Picard, French mathematician and academic (b. 1856)
• 1945 – Charles Fabry, French physicist and academic (b. 1867)
• 1950 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and author (b. 1893)
• 1951 – Mustafa Muğlalı, Turkish general (b. 1882)
• 1951 – Hijri Dede, Iraqi Turkmen poet and writer (b. 1881)
• 1953 – Sedat Simavi, Turkish journalist and director (b. 1896)
• 1957 – Musidora, French actress, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1889)
• 1959 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player and manager (b. 1900)
• 1964 – Sam Cooke, American singer-songwriter (b. 1931)
• 1964 – Percy Kilbride, American actor (b. 1888)
• 1966 – Augusta Fox Bronner, American psychologist, specialist in juvenile psychology (b. 1881)
• 1968 – Richard Sagrits, Estonian painter and author (b. 1910)
• 1968 – Arthur Hays Sulzberger, American publisher (b. 1891)
• 1971 – Maurice McDonald, American businessman, co-founded McDonald's (b. 1902)
• 1975 – Lee Wiley, American singer (b. 1908)
• 1975 – Nihal Atsız, Turkish philosopher, author, and poet (b. 1905)
• 1978 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
• 1978 – Paul O'Dea, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
• 1979 – James J. Gibson, American psychologist and author (b. 1904)
• 1983 – Neil Ritchie, Guyanese-English general (b. 1897)
• 1984 – Oskar Seidlin, German-American author, poet, and scholar (b. 1911)
• 1984 – George Waggner, American director, producer and actor (b. 1894)
• 1987 – G. A. Kulkarni, Indian author and academic (b. 1923)
• 1989 – Louise Dahl-Wolfe, American photographer (b. 1895)
• 1991 – Robert Q. Lewis, American actor, comedian, game show host/panelist, and television personality (b. 1921)
• 1991 – Artur Lundkvist, Swedish author and critic (b. 1906)
• 1994 – Philip Phillips, American archaeologist and scholar (b. 1900)
• 1995 – Greg Bahnsen, American minister and philosopher (b. 1948)
• 1996 – Willie Rushton, English cartoonist, author, and publisher, co-founded Private Eye (b. 1937)
• 1997 – Eddie Chapman, English spy (b. 1914)
• 1997 – Simon Jeffes, English guitarist and composer (b. 1949)
• 1998 – André Lichnerowicz, French physicist and mathematician (b. 1915)
• 1998 – Lynn Strait, American singer-songwriter (b. 1968)
• 2000 – Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, Pakistani politician and diplomat (b. 1915)
• 2000 – David Lewis, American actor (b. 1916)
• 2001 – Mainza Chona, Zambian lawyer and politician, first Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1930)
• 2003 – Ahmadou Kourouma, Ivorian author and playwright (b. 1927)
• 2004 – José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1962)
• 2004 – Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand runner and coach (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Bettie Page, American model (b. 1923)
• 2010 – Dick Hoerner, American football player (b. 1922)
• 2011 – John Patrick Foley, American cardinal (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano and actress (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Mendel Weinbach, Polish-Israeli rabbi and scholar (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Nadir Afonso, Portuguese painter and architect (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Barbara Branden, Canadian-American author and academic (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Javier Jáuregui (boxer), Mexican boxer (b. 1973)
• 2013 – Sheikh Mussa Shariefi, Indian philosopher and scholar (b. 1942)
• 2014 – Hans Wallat, German conductor and director (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Abish Kekilbayev, Kazakh academic and politician (b. 1939)
• 2015 – H. Arnold Steinberg, Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and academic (b. 1933)
• 2015 – Hema Upadhyay, Indian painter and sculptor (b. 1972)
• 2015 – John "Hot Rod" Williams, American basketball player (b. 1962)
• 2015 – Ken Woolley, Australian architect (b. 1933)
• 2017 – Keith Chegwin, British TV presenter (b. 1957)
• 2020 – James Flynn, New Zealand intelligence researcher. (b. 1934)
• 2021 – Anne Rice, American author (b. 1941)
• 2023 – Andre Braugher, American actor (b. 1962)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Cian
  • Daniel the Stylite
  • María de las Maravillas de Jesús
  • Pope Damasus I
  • Sabinus of Piacenza
  • Victoricus, Fuscian, and Gentian
  • December 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Establishment of Kurdish Women's Union (Iraqi Kurdistan)
• Indiana Day (United States)
• International Mountain Day
• National Tango Day (Argentina)
• Pampanga Day (Pampanga province, Philippines)
• Republic Day, the day when Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French Community in 1958. (Burkina Faso)

See also

In Spanish: 11 de diciembre para niños