Events

• 1183 – Genpei War: The Battle of Mizushima takes place off the Japanese coast, where Minamoto no Yoshinaka’s invasion force is intercepted and defeated by the Taira clan.
• 1511 – Henry VIII of England concludes the Treaty of Westminster, a pledge of mutual aid against the French, with Ferdinand II of Aragon.
• 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Bridge of Arcole: French forces defeat the Austrians in Italy.
• 1810 – Sweden declares war on its ally the United Kingdom to begin the Anglo-Swedish War, although no fighting ever takes place.
• 1831 – Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Gran Colombia.
• 1856 – American Old West: On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins: Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee, under siege.
• 1869 – In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated.
• 1885 – Serbo-Bulgarian War: The decisive Battle of Slivnitsa begins.
• 1903 – The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party splits into two groups: The Bolsheviks (Russian for “majority”) and Mensheviks (Russian for “minority”).
• 1939 – Nine Czech students are executed as a response to anti-Nazi demonstrations prompted by the death of Jan Opletal.
  • All Czech universities are shut down and more than 1,200 students sent to concentration camps.
  • Since this event, International Students’ Day is celebrated in many countries, especially in the Czech Republic.
• 1947 – American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th century.
• 1950 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 89 relating to the Palestine Question is adopted.
• 1967 – Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports that he had been given on 13 November, US President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the nation that, while much remained to be done, “We are inflicting greater losses than we’re taking…We are making progress.”
• 1969 – Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, Finland to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.
• 1970 – Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai Massacre.
• 1973 – The Athens Polytechnic uprising against the military regime ends in a bloodshed in the Greek capital.
• 1983 – The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded in Mexico.
• 1989 – Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins: In Czechoslovakia, a student demonstration in Prague is quelled by riot police.
  • This sparks an uprising aimed at overthrowing the communist government (it succeeds on 29 December).
• 1993 – In Nigeria, General Sani Abacha ousts the government of Ernest Shonekan in a military coup.

People (Births)

• 1685 – Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Canadian commander and explorer (d. 1749).
• 1749 – Nicolas Appert, French chef, invented canning (d. 1841).
• 1765 – Jacques MacDonald, French general (d. 1840).
• 1835 – Andrew L. Harris, American general and politician, 44th Governor of Ohio (d. 1915).
• 1854 – Hubert Lyautey, French general and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1934).
• 1878 – Augustus Goessling, American swimmer and water polo player (d. 1963).
• 1887 – Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, English field marshal (d. 1976).
• 1930 – Bob Mathias, American decathlete, actor, and politician (d. 2006).
• 1932 – Jeremy Black, English admiral (d. 2015).
• 1934 – Jim Inhofe, American soldier and politician, senior senator of Oklahoma.
• 1938 – Charles Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank, Scottish general.
• 1942 – Derek Clayton, English-Australian runner.
• 1946 – Terry Branstad, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 39th Governor of Iowa.
• 1949 – Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, Vietnamese soldier and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Vietnam.
• 1949 – Michael Wenden, Australian swimmer.
• 1950 – Roland Matthes, German swimmer (d. 2019).
• 1961 – Robert Stethem, American soldier (d. 1985).
• 1974 – Eunice Barber, Sierra Leonean-French heptathlete and long jumper.
• 1977 – Ryk Neethling, South African swimmer.
• 1983 – Jodie Henry, Australian swimmer.
• 1987 – Gemma Spofforth, English swimmer.

People (Deaths)

• 1104 – Nikephoros Melissenos, Byzantine general (b. 1045).
• 1417 – Gazi Evrenos, Ottoman general (b. 1288).
• 1600 – Kuki Yoshitaka, Japanese commander (b. 1542).
• 1632 – Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim, Bavarian field marshal (b. 1594).
• 1643 – Jean-Baptiste Budes, Comte de Guébriant, French general (b. 1602).
• 1690 – Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier, French general and politician (b. 1610).
• 2002 – Abba Eban, South African-Israeli soldier and politician, 3rd Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1915).
• 2008 – George Stephen Morrison, American admiral (b. 1919).
• 2012 – Armand Desmet, Belgian cyclist (b. 1931).
• 2013 – Alfred Blake, English colonel and lawyer (b. 1915).