Events

• AD 54 – Roman emperor Claudius dies from poisoning under mysterious circumstances.
• 409 – Vandals and Alans cross the Pyrenees and appear in Hispania.
• 1307 – Hundreds of Knights Templar in France are arrested at dawn by King Phillip the Fair, and later confess under torture to heresy.
• 1332 – Rinchinbal Khan becomes the Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan dynasty, reigning for only 53 days.
• 1644 – A Swedish–Dutch fleet defeats the Danish fleet at Fehmarn and captures about 1,000 prisoners.
• 1710 – Port Royal, the capital of French Acadia, falls in a siege by British forces.
• 1775 – The Continental Congress establishes the Continental Navy (predecessor of the United States Navy).
• 1792 – In Washington, D.C., the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) is laid.
• 1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: Austro-Prussian victory over Republican France at the First Battle of Wissembourg.
• 1812 – War of 1812: Sir Isaac Brock’s British and native forces repel an invasion of Canada by General Rensselaer’s United States forces.
• 1821 – The Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire is publicly proclaimed.
• 1884 – The International Meridian Conference establishes the meridian of the Greenwich Observatory as the prime meridian.
• 1915 – First World War: The Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt marks the end of the Battle of Loos.
• 1921 – Soviet republics sign the Treaty of Kars to formalise the borders between Turkey and the South Caucasus states.
• 1923 – Ankara becomes the capital of Turkey.
• 1943 – World War II: Marshal Pietro Badoglio announces that Italy has officially declared war on Germany.
• 1944 – World War II: The Soviet Riga Offensive captures the city.
• 1946 – France adopts the constitution of the Fourth Republic.
• 1972 – Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes mountains. 28 survive the crash.
  • All but 16 succumb before rescue on 23 December.
• 1990 – Syrian forces attack free areas of Lebanon, removing General Michel Aoun from the presidential palace.

People (Births)

• 1756 – James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, English admiral and politician, 36th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1833).
• 1768 – Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, French admiral and explorer (d. 1839).
• 1924 – Roberto Eduardo Viola, Argentinian general and politician, 44th President of Argentina (d. 1994).
• 1945 – Dési Bouterse, Surinamese general and politician, 9th President of Suriname.
• 1960 – Eric Joyce, Scottish soldier and politician.
• 1964 – Nie Haisheng, Chinese general, pilot, and astronaut.

People (Deaths)

• 1195 – Gualdim Pais, Portuguese crusader (b. 1118).
• 1812 – Isaac Brock, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (b. 1769).
• 1815 – Joachim Murat, French general (b. 1767).
• 1841 – Patrick Campbell, Scottish admiral (b. 1773).
• 1904 – Pavlos Melas, French-Greek captain (b. 1870).
• 1950 – Ernest Haycox, American soldier and author (b. 1899).
• 1955 – Manuel Ávila Camacho, Mexican general and politician, 45th President of Mexico (b. 1897).
• 1973 – Albert Mandler, Austrian-Israeli general (b. 1929).
• 1990 – Lê Đức Thọ, Vietnamese general and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911).
• 2007 – Bob Denard, French soldier and academic (b. 1929).
• 2013 – Martin Drewes, German soldier and pilot (b. 1918).
• 2015 – Michael J. H. Walsh, English general (b. 1927).