December 19

Pre-1600

 * 1154 – Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.
 * 1187 – Pope Clement III is elected.
 * 1490 – Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy.
 * 1562 – The Battle of Dreux takes place during the French Wars of Religion.

1601–1900

 * 1606 – The ships Susan Constant,  Godspeed, and  Discovery depart England carrying settlers who founded, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
 * 1675 – The Great Swamp Fight, a pivotal battle in King Philip's War, gives the English settlers a bitterly won victory.
 * 1776 – Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled "The American Crisis".
 * 1777 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
 * 1783 – William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at 24.
 * 1793 – War of the First Coalition: The Siege of Toulon ends when Napoleon's French artillery forces the British to abandon the city, securing southern France from invasion.
 * 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Two British frigates under Commodore Horatio Nelson and two Spanish frigates under Commodore Don Jacobo Stuart engage in battle off the coast of Murcia.
 * 1828 – Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun sparks the Nullification Crisis when he anonymously publishes the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828.
 * 1900 – Hopetoun Blunder: The first Governor-General of Australia John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, appoints Sir William Lyne premier of the new state of New South Wales, but he is unable to persuade other colonial politicians to join his government and is forced to resign.
 * 1900  – French parliament votes amnesty for all involved in scandalous army treason trial known as Dreyfus affair.

1901–present

 * 1907 – Two hundred thirty-nine coal miners die in the Darr Mine Disaster in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.
 * 1912 – William Van Schaick, captain of the steamship PS General Slocum which caught fire and killed over one thousand people, is pardoned by U.S. President William Howard Taft after $3 1/2$ years in Sing Sing prison.
 * 1920 – King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander of Greece and a plebiscite.
 * 1924 – The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.
 * 1924  – German serial killer Fritz Haarmann is sentenced to death for a series of murders.
 * 1927 – Three Indian revolutionaries, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqulla Khan, are executed by the British Raj for participation in the Kakori conspiracy.
 * 1929 – The Indian National Congress promulgates the Purna Swaraj (the Declaration of the Independence of India).
 * 1932 – BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service.
 * 1940 – Risto Ryti, the Prime Minister of Finland, is elected President of the Republic of Finland in a presidential election, which is exceptionally held by the 1937 electoral college.
 * 1941 – World War II: Adolf Hitler appoints himself as head of the Oberkommando des Heeres.
 * 1941  – World War II: Limpet mines placed by Italian divers heavily damage HMS Valiant (1914) and HMS Queen Elizabeth (1913) in Alexandria harbour.
 * 1945 – John Amery, British Fascist, is executed at the age of 33 by the British Government for treason.
 * 1946 – Start of the First Indochina War.
 * 1956 – Irish-born physician John Bodkin Adams is arrested in connection with the suspicious deaths of more than 160 patients. Eventually he is convicted only of minor charges.
 * 1961 – India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India.
 * 1967 – Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia, is officially presumed dead.
 * 1972 – Apollo program: The last crewed lunar flight, Apollo 17, carrying Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
 * 1974 – Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford under the provisions of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
 * 1977 – The 5.8 Bob–Tangol earthquake strikes Kerman Province in Iran, destroying villages and killing 665 people.
 * 1981 – Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
 * 1983 – The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
 * 1984 – The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997, is signed in Beijing by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.
 * 1985 – Aeroflot Flight 101/435 is hijacked to China by its first officer.
 * 1986 – Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from exile in Gorky.
 * 1995 – The United States Government restores federal recognition to the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Native American tribe.
 * 1997 – SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.
 * 1998 – President Bill Clinton is impeached by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the second president of the United States to be impeached.
 * 2000 – The Leninist Guerrilla Units wing of the Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist attack a Nationalist Movement Party office in Istanbul, Turkey, killing one person and injuring three.
 * 2001 – A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa is recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl, Mongolia.
 * 2001  – Argentine economic crisis: December riots: Riots erupt in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
 * 2005 – Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 crashes into the Government Cut channel immediately after takeoff from Miami Seaplane Base, killing 20.
 * 2012 – Park Geun-hye is elected the first female president of South Korea.
 * 2013 – Spacecraft Gaia is launched by the European Space Agency.
 * 2016 – Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov is assassinated while at an art exhibition in Ankara. The assassin, Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, is shot and killed by a Turkish guard.
 * 2016  – A vehicular attack in Berlin, Germany, kills and injures multiple people at a Christmas market.

Pre-1600

 * 1343 – William I, Margrave of Meissen (d. 1407)
 * 1498 – Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian (d. 1552)
 * 1554 – Philip William, Prince of Orange (d. 1618)
 * 1587 – Dorothea Sophia, Abbess of Quedlinburg (d. 1645)

1601–1900

 * 1683 – Philip V of Spain (d. 1746)
 * 1699 – William Bowyer, English printer (d. 1777)
 * 1714 – John Winthrop, American astronomer and educator (d. 1779)
 * 1778 – Marie Thérèse of France (d. 1851)
 * 1796 – Manuel Bretón de los Herreros, Spanish poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1873)
 * 1797 – Antoine Louis Dugès, French obstetrician and naturalist (d. 1838)
 * 1817 – James J. Archer, American lawyer and general (d. 1864)
 * 1820 – Mary Livermore, American journalist and activist (d. 1905)
 * 1825 – George Frederick Bristow, American violinist and composer (d. 1898)
 * 1831 – Bernice Pauahi Bishop, American philanthropist (d. 1884)
 * 1849 – Henry Clay Frick, American businessman and financier (d. 1919)
 * 1852 – Albert Abraham Michelson, Prussian-American physicist, chemist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)
 * 1853 – Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec (d. 1942)
 * 1861 – Italo Svevo, Italian author and playwright (d. 1928)
 * 1863 – Wallace Bryant, American archer (d. 1953)
 * 1865 – Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress and playwright (d. 1932)
 * 1873 – Alphonse Kirchhoffer, French fencer (d. 1913)
 * 1875 – Mileva Marić, Serbian physicist (d. 1948)
 * 1875  – Carter G. Woodson, American historian and author, founded Black History Month (d. 1950)
 * 1875  – Grace Marie Bareis, American mathematician (d. 1962)
 * 1876 – Bernard Friedberg, Austrian-Israeli scholar and author (d. 1961)
 * 1884 – Antonín Zápotocký, Czech politician, President of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (d. 1957)
 * 1888 – Fritz Reiner, Hungarian-American conductor (d. 1963)
 * 1891 – Edward Bernard Raczyński, Polish politician and diplomat, 4th President-in-exile of Poland (d. 1993)
 * 1894 – Ford Frick, American journalist and businessman (d. 1978)
 * 1895 – Ingeborg Refling Hagen, Norwegian author and educator (d. 1989)
 * 1899 – Martin Luther King Sr., American pastor, missionary, and activist (d. 1984)

1901–present

 * 1901 – Rudolf Hell, German engineer, invented the Hellschreiber (d. 2002)
 * 1901  – Oliver La Farge, American anthropologist and author (d. 1963)
 * 1901  – Fritz Mauruschat, German footballer and manager (d. 1974)
 * 1902 – Ralph Richardson, English actor (d. 1983)
 * 1903 – George Davis Snell, American geneticist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
 * 1905 – Irving Kahn, American businessman (d. 2015)
 * 1905  – Giovanni Lurani, Italian race car driver, engineer, and journalist (d. 1995)
 * 1906 – Leonid Brezhnev, Ukrainian-Russian marshal, engineer, and politician, 4th Head of State of the Soviet Union (d. 1982)
 * 1907 – Jimmy McLarnin, Irish-American boxer, actor, and golfer (d. 2004)
 * 1909 – W. A. Criswell, American pastor and author (d. 2002)
 * 1910 – Jean Genet, French novelist, playwright, and poet (d. 1986)
 * 1914 – Mel Shaw, American animator and screenwriter (d. 2012)
 * 1915 – Édith Piaf, French singer-songwriter and actress (d. 1963)
 * 1915  – Claudia Testoni, Italian hurdler, sprinter, and long jumper (d. 1998)
 * 1916 – Roy Ward Baker, English director and producer (d. 2010)
 * 1916  – Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, German political scientist, journalist, and academic (d. 2010)
 * 1918 – Professor Longhair, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1980)
 * 1918  – Lee Rich, American producer and production manager (d. 2012)
 * 1920 – Little Jimmy Dickens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
 * 1920  – David Susskind, American talk show host and producer (d. 1987)
 * 1922 – Eamonn Andrews, Irish radio and television host (d. 1987)
 * 1923 – Robert V. Bruce, American historian and author (d. 2008)
 * 1923  – Gordon Jackson, Scottish-English actor and singer (d. 1990)
 * 1924 – Carlo Chiti, Italian engineer (d. 1994)
 * 1924  – Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1989)
 * 1924  – Gary Morton, American comedian and producer (d. 1999)
 * 1924  – Edmund Purdom, British-Italian actor (d. 2009)
 * 1924  – Michel Tournier, French journalist and author (d. 2016)
 * 1924  – Cicely Tyson, American actress (d. 2021)
 * 1925 – Tankred Dorst, German author and playwright (d. 2017)
 * 1925  – William Schutz, American psychologist and academic (d. 2002)
 * 1925  – Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter and screenwriter (d. 2012)
 * 1926 – Bobby Layne, American football player and coach (d. 1986)
 * 1926  – Fikret Otyam, Turkish painter and journalist (d. 2015)
 * 1927 – James Booth, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2005)
 * 1928 – Eve Bunting, Irish-American author and academic (d. 2023)
 * 1928  – Nathan Oliveira, American painter and sculptor (d. 2010)
 * 1929 – Bob Brookmeyer, American trombonist, pianist, and composer (d. 2011)
 * 1929  – Gregory Carroll, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2013)
 * 1929  – David Douglas, 12th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish potter
 * 1929  – Howard Sackler, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 1982)
 * 1930 – Knut Helle, Norwegian historian and professor (d. 2015)
 * 1930  – Wally Olins, English businessman and academic (d. 2014)
 * 1931 – Ginger Stanley, American model, actress and stunt woman (d. 2023)
 * 1932 – Salvador Elizondo, Mexican author, poet, playwright, and critic (d. 2006)
 * 1932  – Lola Hendricks, African American civil rights activist (d. 2013)
 * 1932  – Wayne Tippit, American actor (d. 2009)
 * 1933 – Kevan Gosper, Australian runner and politician
 * 1933  – Christopher Smout, Scottish historian and academic
 * 1934 – Al Kaline, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2020)
 * 1934  – Pratibha Patil, Indian lawyer and politician, 12th President of India
 * 1934  – Casper R. Taylor, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 2023)
 * 1935 – Tony Taylor, Cuban baseball player and coach (d. 2020)
 * 1935  – Bobby Timmons, American pianist and composer (d. 1974)
 * 1935  – Joanne Weaver, American baseball player (d. 2000)
 * 1938 – Jay Arnette, American basketball player
 * 1940 – Phil Ochs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1976)
 * 1941 – Lee Myung-bak, South Korean businessman and politician, 10th President of South Korea
 * 1941  – Maurice White, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
 * 1942 – Cornell Dupree, American guitarist (d. 2011)
 * 1942  – Gene Okerlund, American sports announcer (d. 2019)
 * 1943 – James L. Jones, American general and politician, 22nd United States National Security Advisor
 * 1943  – Elaine Joyce, American actress, singer, and dancer
 * 1943  – Ross M. Lence, American political scientist and academic (d. 2006)
 * 1944 – William Christie, American-French harpsichord player and conductor
 * 1944  – Mitchell Feigenbaum, American physicist and mathematician (d. 2019)
 * 1944  – Martin Hume Johnson, English physiologist and academic
 * 1944  – Richard Leakey, Kenyan paleontologist and politician (d. 2022)
 * 1944  – Alvin Lee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist  (d. 2013)
 * 1944  – Tim Reid, American actor and director
 * 1944  – Steve Tyrell, American singer-songwriter and producer
 * 1944  – Zal Yanovsky, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
 * 1945 – John McEuen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1946 – Rosemary Conley, English businesswoman, author, and broadcaster
 * 1946  – Robert Urich, American actor and producer (d. 2002)
 * 1947 – Jimmy Bain, Scottish bass player and songwriter (d. 2016)
 * 1948 – Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (d. 2022)
 * 1949 – Orna Berry, Israeli computer scientist and businesswoman
 * 1949  – Claudia Kolb, American swimmer
 * 1949  – Sebastian, Danish singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1949  – Lenny White, American musician
 * 1950 – Eleanor J. Hill, American lawyer and diplomat
 * 1951 – Mohammad Reza Aref, Iranian engineer and politician, 2nd Vice President of Iran
 * 1951  – Alan Rouse, English mountaineer and author (d. 1986)
 * 1952 – Walter Murphy, American pianist and composer
 * 1954 – Jeff Allam, English race car driver
 * 1954  – Tim Parks, English author and translator
 * 1955 – Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (d. 2012)
 * 1955  – Rob Portman, American lawyer and politician
 * 1956 – Phil Harris, American captain and fisherman (d. 2010)
 * 1956  – Tom Lawless, American baseball player and manager
 * 1956  – Shane McEntee, Irish farmer and politician, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (d. 2012)
 * 1956  – Merzbow, Japanese noise musician
 * 1957 – Cyril Collard, French actor, director, and composer (d. 1993)
 * 1957  – Kevin McHale, American basketball player, coach, and manager
 * 1958 – Steven Isserlis, English cellist and author
 * 1958  – Limahl, English pop singer
 * 1959 – Iván Vallejo, Ecuadorian mountaineer
 * 1959  – Lisa Wilkinson, Australian television host and journalist
 * 1960 – Derrick Jensen, American author and activist
 * 1960  – Michelangelo Signorile, American journalist and author
 * 1961 – Scott Cohen, American actor
 * 1961  – Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1961  – Matthew Waterhouse, English actor and author
 * 1961  – Reggie White, American football player and wrestler (d. 2004)
 * 1962 – Gary Fleder, American director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1963 – Jennifer Beals, American model and actress
 * 1963  – Til Schweiger, German actor, director, and producer
 * 1964 – Béatrice Dalle, French actress
 * 1964  – Lorie Kane, Canadian golfer
 * 1964  – Randall McDaniel, American football player
 * 1964  – Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player
 * 1965 – Chito Martínez, Belizean-American baseball player
 * 1966 – Chuckii Booker, American singer-songwriter and producer
 * 1966  – Rajesh Chauhan, Indian cricketer
 * 1966  – Robert MacNaughton, American actor
 * 1966  – Alberto Tomba, Italian skier
 * 1966  – Eric Weinrich, American ice hockey player and coach
 * 1967 – Criss Angel, American magician
 * 1967  – Charles Austin, American high jumper
 * 1968 – Kristina Keneally, American-Australian politician, 42nd Premier of New South Wales
 * 1968  – Ken Marino, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1969 – Michael Bates, American sprinter and football player
 * 1969  – Tom Gugliotta, American basketball player
 * 1969  – Richard Hammond, English journalist and producer
 * 1969  – Nayan Mongia, Indian cricketer
 * 1969  – Aziza Mustafa Zadeh, Azerbaijani composer, pianist, and singer
 * 1969  – Kristy Swanson, American actress
 * 1970 – Tyson Beckford, American model and actor
 * 1970  – Robert Lang, Czech ice hockey player
 * 1971 – Amy Locane, American actress
 * 1971  – Karen Pickering, English swimmer
 * 1972 – Rosa Blasi, American actress
 * 1972  – Alyssa Milano, American actress, television personality, and activist
 * 1972  – Warren Sapp, American football player and analyst
 * 1973 – Michalis Grigoriou, Greek footballer and coach
 * 1973  – Erick Wainaina, Kenyan runner
 * 1973  – Zulfiya Zabirova, Russian cyclist
 * 1974 – Eduard Ivakdalam, Indonesian footballer
 * 1974  – Joe Jurevicius, American football player
 * 1974  – Felipe Lopez, Dominican-American basketball player
 * 1974  – Jake Plummer, American football player and sportscaster
 * 1974  – Ricky Ponting, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
 * 1975 – Makis Belevonis, Greek footballer
 * 1975  – Brandon Sanderson, American author and academic
 * 1975  – Jeremy Soule, American composer
 * 1975  – Olivier Tébily, Ivorian-French footballer
 * 1975  – Dean Treister, Australian rugby league player
 * 1977 – Jorge Garbajosa, Spanish basketball player
 * 1977  – LaTasha Jenkins, American sprinter
 * 1977  – Irina Voronina, Russian model
 * 1978 – Patrick Casey, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1979 – Kevin Devine, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1979  – Rafael Soriano, Dominican baseball player
 * 1980 – Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor and producer
 * 1980  – Marla Sokoloff, American actress and musician
 * 1981 – Grégory Dufer, Belgian footballer
 * 1982 – Mo Williams, American basketball player
 * 1983 – Nektarios Alexandrou, Cypriot footballer
 * 1983  – Casey Crescenzo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1983  – Bridget Phillipson, English politician
 * 1983  – Laura Pomeroy, Canadian swimmer
 * 1983  – Matt Stajan, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1984 – Ian Kennedy, American baseball player
 * 1985 – Andrea Baldini, Italian fencer
 * 1985  – Gary Cahill, English footballer
 * 1985  – Neil Kilkenny, English-Australian footballer
 * 1985  – Sally Kipyego, Kenyan runner
 * 1985  – Dan Logan, English bass player
 * 1985  – Lady Sovereign, English rapper
 * 1986 – Calvin Andrew, English footballer
 * 1986  – Ryan Babel, Dutch footballer
 * 1986  – Ingrid Burley, American rapper and songwriter
 * 1986  – Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, Greek footballer
 * 1986  – Zuzana Hejnová, Czech hurdler
 * 1986  – Miguel Lopes, Portuguese footballer
 * 1986  – Annie Murphy, Canadian actress
 * 1987 – Cédric Baseya, French-Congolese footballer
 * 1987  – Karim Benzema, French footballer
 * 1987  – Ronan Farrow, American activist, journalist, and lawyer
 * 1988 – Alexis Sánchez, Chilean footballer
 * 1988  – Peter Winn, English footballer
 * 1989 – Yong Jun-hyung, South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper and producer
 * 1989  – Michał Masłowski, Polish footballer
 * 1989  – Kousei Miura, Japanese jockey
 * 1989  – Hamza Riazuddin, English cricketer
 * 1990 – Greg Bretz, American snowboarder
 * 1990  – Torrey Craig, American basketball player
 * 1991 – Steven Berghuis, Dutch footballer
 * 1991  – Declan Galbraith, English singer-songwriter
 * 1991  – Josh Huestis, American basketball player
 * 1991  – Keiynan Lonsdale, Australian actor, singer-songwriter, and dancer
 * 1991  – Sumire Uesaka, Japanese voice actress and singer
 * 1992 – Iker Muniain, Spanish footballer
 * 1992  – Raphael Spiegel, Swiss footballer
 * 1993 – Young K, South Korean singer-songwriter
 * 1993  – Isiah Koech, Kenyan runner
 * 1994 – Maudy Ayunda, Indonesian actress and singer-songwriter
 * 1994  – M'Baye Niang, French footballer
 * 1996 – Franck Kessié, Ivorian footballer
 * 1998 – King Princess, American singer-songwriter and musician

Pre-1600

 * 401 – Pope Anastasius I
 * 966 – Sancho I, king of León
 * 1091 – Adelaide of Susa, margravine of Turin
 * 1111 – Al-Ghazali, Persian jurist, philosopher, theologian, and mystic (b. 1058)
 * 1123 – Saint Berardo, Italian bishop and saint
 * 1327 – Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundy (b. 1260)
 * 1370 – Pope Urban V (b. 1310)
 * 1442 – Elizabeth of Luxembourg (b. 1409)
 * 1385 – Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan (b. 1319)
 * 1558 – Cornelius Grapheus, Flemish writer (b. 1482)

1601–1900

 * 1637 – Christina of Lorraine, Grand Duchess consort of Tuscany (b. 1565)
 * 1741 – Vitus Bering, Dutch explorer (b. 1681)
 * 1745 – Jean-Baptiste van Loo, French painter (b. 1684)
 * 1749 – Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (b. 1672)
 * 1807 – Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, German-French author and playwright (b. 1723)
 * 1813 – James McGill, Scottish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded McGill University (b. 1744)
 * 1819 – Thomas Fremantle, English admiral and politician (b. 1765)
 * 1848 – Emily Brontë, English novelist and poet (b. 1818)
 * 1851 – Joseph Mallord William Turner, English painter (b. 1775)
 * 1878 – Bayard Taylor, American author and poet (b. 1825)
 * 1899 – Henry Ware Lawton, American general (b. 1843)

1901–present

 * 1915 – Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist and neuropathologist (b. 1864)
 * 1916 – Thibaw Min, Burmese king (b. 1859)
 * 1927 – Ashfaqulla Khan, Indian activist (b. 1900)
 * 1927  – Ram Prasad Bismil, Indian poet and activist (b. 1897)
 * 1932 – Yun Bong-gil, South Korean activist (b. 1908)
 * 1933 – George Jackson Churchward, English engineer and businessman (b. 1857)
 * 1938 – Stephen Warfield Gambrill, American lawyer and politician (b. 1873)
 * 1940 – Kyösti Kallio, Finnish politician, the 4th President of Finland (b. 1873)
 * 1944 – Abbas II of Egypt (b. 1874)
 * 1944  – Rudolph Karstadt, German businessman (b. 1856)
 * 1946 – Paul Langevin, French physicist and academic (b. 1872)
 * 1953 – Robert Andrews Millikan, American physicist and eugenicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
 * 1968 – Norman Thomas, American minister and politician (b. 1884)
 * 1972 – Ahmet Emin Yalman, Turkish journalist, author, and academic (b. 1888)
 * 1976 – Giuseppe Caselli, Italian painter (b. 1893)
 * 1982 – Dwight Macdonald, American philosopher, author, and critic (b. 1906)
 * 1984 – Joy Ridderhof, American missionary (b. 1903)
 * 1986 – V. C. Andrews, American author (b. 1923)
 * 1986  – Werner Dankwort, Russian-German colonel and diplomat (b. 1895)
 * 1987 – August Mälk, Estonian author, playwright, and politician (b. 1900)
 * 1988 – Robert Bernstein, American author and playwright (b. 1919)
 * 1988 - Win Maw Oo, Burmese student activist (b. 1971)
 * 1989 – Stella Gibbons, English journalist, author, and poet (b. 1902)
 * 1989  – Kirill Mazurov, Belarusian Soviet politician (b. 1914)
 * 1993 – Michael Clarke, American drummer (b. 1946)
 * 1996 – Marcello Mastroianni, Italian-French actor and singer (b. 1924)
 * 1997 – Sara Northrup Hollister, American occultist (b. 1924)
 * 1997  – Masaru Ibuka, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (b. 1908)
 * 1997  – Jimmy Rogers, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1924)
 * 1998 – Mel Fisher, American treasure hunter (b. 1922)
 * 1999 – Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh soldier and actor (b. 1914)
 * 2000 – Rob Buck, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1958)
 * 2000  – Milt Hinton, American bassist and photographer (b. 1910)
 * 2000  – John Lindsay, American lawyer and politician, 103rd Mayor of New York City (b. 1921)
 * 2002 – Will Hoy, English race car driver (b. 1952)
 * 2002  – Arthur Rowley, English footballer and manager (b. 1926)
 * 2002  – George Weller, American author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1907)
 * 2003 – Peter Carter-Ruck, English lawyer, founded Carter-Ruck (b. 1914)
 * 2003  – Hope Lange, American actress (b. 1933)
 * 2004 – Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
 * 2004  – Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano and actress (b. 1922)
 * 2005 – Vincent Gigante, American mobster (b. 1927)
 * 2008 – James Bevel, American minister and activist (b. 1936)
 * 2008  – Carol Chomsky, American linguist and educator (b. 1930)
 * 2008  – Michael Connell, American political consultant (b. 1963)
 * 2008  – Dock Ellis, American baseball player and coach (b. 1945)
 * 2009 – Kim Peek, American megasavant (b. 1951)
 * 2010 – Anthony Howard, English journalist and author (b. 1934)
 * 2012 – Robert Bork, American lawyer, judge, and scholar, United States Attorney General (b. 1927)
 * 2012  – Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli general and politician, 22nd Transportation Minister of Israel (b. 1944)
 * 2012  – Larry Morris, American football player (b. 1933)
 * 2012  – Peter Struck, German lawyer and politician, 13th German Federal Minister of Defence (b. 1943)
 * 2013 – Winton Dean, English musicologist and author (b. 1916)
 * 2013  – Al Goldstein, American publisher and pornographer (b. 1936)
 * 2013  – Ned Vizzini, American author and screenwriter (b. 1981)
 * 2014 – S. Balasubramanian, Indian journalist and director (b. 1936)
 * 2014  – Philip Bradbourn, English lawyer and politician (b. 1951)
 * 2014  – Arthur Gardner, American actor and producer (b. 1910)
 * 2014  – Igor Rodionov, Russian general and politician, 3rd Russian Minister of Defence (b. 1936)
 * 2014  – Dick Thornton, American-Canadian football player and coach (b. 1939)
 * 2014  – Roberta Leigh (Rita Shulman Lewin), British writer, artist and TV producer (b. 1926).
 * 2015 – Jimmy Hill, English footballer, manager, and sportscaster (b. 1928)
 * 2015  – Greville Janner, Baron Janner of Braunstone, Welsh-English lawyer and politician (b. 1928)
 * 2015  – Karin Söder, Swedish educator and politician, 33rd Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs (b. 1928)
 * 2016 – Andrei Karlov, Russian diplomat, Ambassador to Turkey (b. 1954)
 * 2020 – Rosalind Knight, English actress (b. 1933)
 * 2021 – Sally Ann Howes, English-American singer and actress (b. 1930)
 * 2021  – Johnny Isakson, American politician (b. 1944)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Lillian Trasher (Episcopal Church)
 * O Radix
 * Pope Anastasius I
 * Pope Urban V
 * December 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Saint Nicholas Day
 * Goa Liberation Day (Goa, India)
 * National Heroes and Heroines Day (Anguilla)