Events Pre-1600 1118 – The city of Zaragoza is conquered by king Alfonso I of Aragon from the Almoravid.Gilbert Meynier (2010) L'Algérie cœur du Maghreb classique. De l'ouverture islamo-arabe au repli (658-1518). Paris: La Découverte; pp.86. 1271 – Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan dynasty of Mongolia and China. 1499 – A rebellion breaks out in Alpujarras in response to the forced conversions of Muslims in Spain.
1601–1900 1622 – Portuguese forces score a military victory over the Kingdom of Kongo at the Battle of Mbumbi in present-day Angola. 1655 – The Whitehall Conference ends with the determination that there was no law preventing Jews from re-entering England after the Edict of Expulsion of 1290. 1777 – The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the American rebels over British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga in October. 1787 – New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. 1833 – The national anthem of the Russian Empire, "God Save the Tsar!", is first performed. 1854 – The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada abolishes the seigneurial system. 1865 – US Secretary of State William Seward proclaims the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery throughout the United States. 1867 – A magnitude 7.0 earthquakes strikes off the coast of Taiwan, triggering a tsunami and killing at least 580 people. 1878 – The Al-Thani family become the rulers of the state of Qatar. 1892 – The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky premiers in Saint Petersburg, Russia. 1898 – Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat sets the first officially recognized land speed record of in a Jeantaud electric car.
1901–present 1916 – World War I: The Battle of Verdun ends when the second French offensive pushes the Germans back two or three kilometres, causing them to cease their attacks. 1917 – The resolution containing the language of the Eighteenth Amendment to enact Prohibition is passed by the United States Congress. 1932 – The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans in the first NFL playoff game to win the NFL Championship. 1935 – The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Ceylon. 1939 – World War II: The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of the war, takes place. 1944 – World War II: XX Bomber Command responds to the Japanese Operation Ichi-Go offensive by dropping five hundred tons of incendiary bombs on a supply base in Hankow, China. 1944 – The Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Korematsu v. United States supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 which cleared the way for the incarceration of nearly all 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens, born and raised in the United States. 1957 – A violent F5 tornado wipes out the entire community of Sunfield, Illinois. 1958 – Project SCORE, the world's first communications satellite, is launched. 1966 – Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by astronomer Richard Walker. 1972 – Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th. 1973 – Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union. 1977 – United Airlines Flight 2860 crashes near Kaysville, Utah, killing all three crew members on board. 1977 – SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 crashes near Madeira Airport in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, killing 36. 1981 – First flight of the Russian heavy strategic bomber Tu-160, the world's largest combat aircraft, largest supersonic aircraft and largest variable-sweep wing aircraft built. 1995 – A Lockheed L-188 Electra crashes in Jamba, Cuando, Angola, killing 141 people. 1999 – NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT. 2002 – California gubernatorial recall: Then Governor of California Gray Davis announces that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier. 2005 – The Chadian Civil War begins when rebel groups, allegedly backed by neighbouring Sudan, launch an attack in Adré. 2006 – The first of a series of floods strikes Malaysia. The death toll of all flooding is at least 118, with over 400,000 people displaced. 2006 – United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections. 2015 – Kellingley Colliery, the last deep coal mine in Great Britain, closes. 2017 – Amtrak Cascades passenger train 501, derailed near DuPont, Washington, a city in United States near Olympia, Washington killing six people, and injuring 70 others. 2019 – The United States House of Representatives impeaches Donald Trump for the first time. 2022 – Argentina win the FIFA World Cup final, defeating title holders France 4–2 on penalties following a 3–3 draw after extra time.
Births Pre-1600
1406 – Richard Olivier de Longueil, French Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal (died 1470) 1481 – Sophie of Mecklenburg, Duchess of Mecklenburg, Duchess of Saxony (died 1503) 1499 – Sebald Heyden, German musicologist and theologian (died 1561) 1505 – Philipp von Hutten, German explorer (died 1546) 1507 – Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese daimyō (died 1551) 1552 – Ahmad Ibn al-Qadi, Moroccan writer, judge and mathematician (died 1616) 1590 – William Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken (died 1640)
1601–1900 1602 – Simonds d'Ewes, English historian and politician (died 1650) 1610 – Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, French philologist and historian (died 1688) 1620 – Heinrich Roth, German missionary and scholar (died 1668) 1624 – John Hull, colonial American merchant and politician (died 1683) 1626 – Christina, Queen of Sweden (died 1689) 1660 – Countess Johanna Magdalene of Hanau-Lichtenberg (died 1715) 1661 – Christopher Polhem, Swedish physicist and inventor (died 1751) 1662 – James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, Scottish colonel and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland (died 1711) 1707 – Charles Wesley, English missionary and composer (died 1788) 1725 – Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and theologian (died 1791) 1734 – Jean-Baptiste Rey, French conductor and composer (died 1810) 1800 – James Watney, English brewer and businessman (died 1884) 1824 – John Hall, English-New Zealand politician, 12th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1907) 1825 – Charles Griffin, American general (died 1876) 1825 – John S. Harris, American surveyor and politician (died 1906) 1825 – Mariano Ignacio Prado, Peruvian general, twice President of Peru (died 1901) 1835 – Lyman Abbott, American minister, theologian, and author (died 1922) 1847 – Augusta Holmès, French pianist and composer (died 1903) 1849 – Henrietta Edwards, Canadian activist and author (died 1931) 1856 – J. J. Thomson, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1940) 1860 – Edward MacDowell, American pianist and composer (died 1908) 1861 – Lionel Monckton, English composer and critic (died 1924) 1863 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (died 1914) 1867 – Foxhall P. Keene, American polo player and horse breeder (died 1941) 1869 – Edward Willis Redfield, American painter and educator (died 1965) 1870 – Saki, British short story writer (died 1916) 1873 – Francis Burton Harrison, American general and politician, 6th Governor-General of the Philippines (died 1957) 1875 – Matt McGrath, Irish-American hammer thrower (died 1941) 1878 – Joseph Stalin, Georgian-Russian marshal and politician,General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (died 1953) 1879 – Paul Klee, Swiss-German painter and educator (died 1940) 1882 – Richard Maury, American-Argentinian engineer, designed the Salta–Antofagasta railway (died 1950) 1884 – Emil Starkenstein, Czech pharmacologist, co-founded clinical pharmacology (died 1942) 1886 – Ty Cobb, American baseball player and manager (died 1961) 1887 – Bhikhari Thakur, Indian actor, singer, and playwright (died 1971) 1888 – Gladys Cooper, English actress and singer (died 1971) 1888 – Robert Moses, American urban planner (died 1981) 1890 – Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (died 1954) 1896 – Gerald Barry, English colonel and cricketer (died 1977) 1897 – Fletcher Henderson, American pianist and composer (died 1952) 1899 – Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian philosopher and author (died 1990)
1901–present 1904 – George Stevens, American director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer (died 1975) 1907 – Bill Holland, American race car driver (died 1984) 1907 – Lawrence Lucie, American guitarist and educator (died 2009) 1908 – Celia Johnson, English actress (died 1982) 1908 – Paul Siple, American geographer and explorer (died 1969) 1910 – Abe Burrows, American author, playwright, and director (died 1985) 1910 – Eric Tindill, New Zealand rugby player, cricketer, and umpire (died 2010) 1911 – Jules Dassin, American-Greek actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2008) 1912 – Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American general and pilot (died 2002) 1913 – Alfred Bester, American author and screenwriter (died 1987) 1913 – Willy Brandt, German politician, 4th Chancellor of Germany, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1992) 1913 – Ray Meyer, American basketball player and coach (died 2006) 1916 – Douglas Fraser, Scottish-American trade union leader and academic (died 2008) 1916 – Betty Grable, American actress, singer, and dancer (died 1973) 1917 – Ossie Davis, American actor and activist (died 2005) 1920 – Robert Leckie, American soldier and author (died 2001) 1922 – Jack Brooks, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (died 2012) 1922 – Esther Lederberg, American microbiologist (died 2006) 1923 – Edwin Bramall, Baron Bramall, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Greater London (died 2019) 1927 – Ramsey Clark, American lawyer and politician, 66th United States Attorney General (died 2021) 1927 – Roméo LeBlanc, Canadian journalist and politician, 25th Governor General of Canada (died 2009) 1928 – Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Indian-English caliph and author (died 2003) 1928 – Harold Land, American tenor saxophonist (died 2001) 1929 – Gino Cimoli, American baseball player (died 2011) 1929 – Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal (died 2013) 1930 – Moose Skowron, American baseball player (died 2012) 1931 – Allen Klein, American businessman and music publisher (died 2009) 1931 – Alison Plowden, English historian and author (died 2007) 1931 – Gene Shue, American basketball player, coach, and executive (died 2022) 1931 – Bill Thompson, American television host (died 2014) 1932 – Norm Provan, Australian rugby league player, coach, and businessman (died 2021) 1932 – Roger Smith, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2017) 1933 – Lonnie Brooks, American blues singer and guitarist (died 2017) 1934 – Marc Rich, Belgian-American businessman, founded Glencore (died 2013) 1934 – Boris Volynov, Russian colonel, engineer, and cosmonaut 1935 – Rosemary Leach, English actress (died 2017) 1935 – Jacques Pépin, French-American chef and author 1936 – Malcolm Kirk, English rugby player and wrestler (died 1987) 1937 – Nancy Ryles, American politician (died 1990) 1938 – Chas Chandler, English bass player and producer (died 1996) 1938 – Joel Hirschhorn, American songwriter and composer (died 2005) 1939 – Pedro Jirón, Nicaraguan footballer (died 2018) 1939 – Michael Moorcock, English author and songwriter 1939 – Harold E. Varmus, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1940 – Ilario Castagner, Italian football manager (died 2023) 1940 – John Cooper, English sprinter and hurdler (died 1974) 1941 – Sam Andrew, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2015) 1941 – Wadada Leo Smith, American trumpet player and composer