Events

• 54 – Roman emperor Claudius dies from poisoning under mysterious circumstances.
  • He is succeeded by his adoptive son Nero, rather than by Britannicus, his son with Messalina.
• 409 – Vandals and Alans cross the Pyrenees and appear in Hispania.
• 1307 – Hundreds of the Knights Templar in France are arrested at dawn by King Philip the Fair, and later confess under torture to heresy.
• 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).
• 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.
• 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 formalize 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.
  • Twenty-eight 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.
• 2019 – Kenyan Brigid Kosgei sets a new world record for a woman runner with a time of 2:14:04 at the 2019 Chicago Marathon.

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.
• 1950 – Annegret Richter, German sprinter.
• 1964 – Nie Haisheng, Chinese general, pilot, and astronaut.
• 1965 – Johan Museeuw, Belgian cyclist.
• 1972 – Summer Sanders, American swimmer and sportscaster.
• 1982 – Ian Thorpe, Australian swimmer.
• 1989 – Brace Belden, American communist and trade union activist, volunteer in the People’s Protection Units.

People (Deaths)

• 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).
• 2014 – Mohammad Sarengat, Indonesian sprinter (b. 1939).
• 2015 – Michael J. H. Walsh, English general (b. 1927).