Events

• AD 69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.
• 1140 – After a siege of several weeks, the city of Weinsberg and its castle surrender to Conrad III of Germany.
• 1237 – The city of Ryazan is sacked by the Mongol army of Batu Khan.
• 1361 – The Battle of Linuesa is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the forces of the Emirate of Granada and the combined army of the Kingdom of Castile and of Jaén resulting in a Castilian victory.
• 1598 – Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile.
• 1620 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• 1826 – American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion.
• 1832 – Egyptian-Ottoman War: Egyptian forces decisively defeat Ottoman troops at the Battle of Konya.
• 1861 – Medal of Honour: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valour, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.
• 1872 – Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth, England.
• 1883 – The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, the first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army, are formed.
• 1907 – The Chilean Army commits a massacre of at least 2,000 striking saltpeter miners in Iquique, Chile.
• 1923 – United Kingdom and Nepal formally sign an agreement of friendship, called the Nepal-Britain Treaty of 1923, which superseded the Treaty of Sugauli signed in 1816.
• 1934 – Lieutenant Kijé, one of Sergei Prokofiev’s best-known works, premiered.
• 1936 – First flight of the Junkers Ju 88 multi-role combat aircraft.
• 1941 – World War II: A Thai-Japanese Pact of Alliance is signed.
• 1963 – “Bloody Christmas” begins in Cyprus, ultimately resulting in the displacement of 25,000-30,000 Turkish Cypriots and destruction of more than 100 villages.
• 1970 – First flight of F-14 multi-role combat aircraft.
• 1973 – The Geneva Conference on the Arab-Israeli conflict opens.
• 1979 – Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara.
• 1995 – The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.
• 2004 – Iraq War: A suicide bomber kills 22 at the forward operating base next to the main US military airfield at Mosul, Iraq, the single deadliest suicide attack on American soldiers.
• Armed Forces Day (Philippines).

People (Births)

• 968 – Minamoto no Yorinobu, Japanese samurai (d. 1048).
• 1714 – John Bradstreet, Canadian-English general (d. 1774).
• 1830 – Bartolomé Masó, Cuban soldier and politician (d. 1907).
• 1832 – John H. Ketcham, American general and politician (d. 1906).
• 1888 – Jean Bouin, French runner and rugby player (d. 1914).
• 1896 – Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union during World War II (d. 1968).
• 1918 – Donald Regan, American colonel and politician, 11th White House Chief of Staff (d. 20030.
• 1918 – Kurt Waldheim, Austrian colonel and politician; 9th President of Austria (d. 2007).
• 1934 – Giuseppina Leone, Italian sprinter.
• 1949 – Thomas Sankara, Burkinabé captain and politician, 5th President of Burkina Faso (d. 1987).
• 1952 – Steve Furniss, American swimmer.
• 1959 – Florence Griffith Joyner, American sprinter and actress (d. 1998).
• 1973 – Irakli Alasania, Georgian colonel and politician, Georgian Minister of Defence.
• 1978 – Emiliano Brembilla, Italian swimmer.
• 1978 – Charles Dera, American pornographic actor, dancer, model, and mixed martial arts fighter.
• 1988 – Perri Shakes-Drayton, English sprinter and hurdler.

People (Deaths)

• 1001 – Hugh of Tuscany, Italian margrave (b. 950).
• 1581 – Jean de la Cassière, 51st Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (b. 1502).
• 1807 – John Newton, English soldier and minister (b. 1725).
• 1873 – Francis Garnier, French admiral and explorer (b. 1839).
• 1920 – Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, leader of the Dervish movement (b. 1856).
• 1945 – George S. Patton, American general (b. 1885).
• 1998 – Ernst-Günther Schenck, German colonel and physician (b. 1904).
• 2013 – John Eisenhower, American historian, general, and diplomat, 45th United States Ambassador to Belgium (b. 1922).
• 2017 – Bruce McCandless II, US naval officer and astronaut who conducted the first untethered spacewalk (b. 1937).