- 283 Catholic Pope Saint Eutychian
- 983 Otto II the Red, German king/emperor (973-83), dies at about 28
- 1254 Innocent IV, [Sinibaldo dei Fieschi], Pope (1243-54), dies
- 1279 Bolesław V the Chaste, High Duke of Poland (1243-79), dies at 53
- 1295 Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford, English politician (b. 1243)
- 1383 Wenceslaus, duke of Brabant, dies
- 1498 Alexander Hegius von Heek, German humanist
- 1649 Charles Garnier, French Jesuit missionary in New France, killed at 43
- 1672 Richard Bellingham, English-born Massachusetts colonial magistrate (b. 1592)
- 1683 John Oldham, English poet, dies of smallpox at 30
- 1723 Jan Santini Aichel, Bohemian architect (b. 1677)
- 1725 Florent Carton Dancourt, French dramatist and actor (Le Chevalier à la mode), dies at 64
- 1775 Charles Saunders, British admiral, First Lord of the Admiralty, dies at about 60
- 1793 Joseph Bara, French revolutionary (b. 1780)
- 1811 Ignaz Spangler, composer, dies at 54
- 1815 Michel Ney, French marshal (Waterloo), murdered at 46
William Bligh
1817 William Bligh, British naval officer of "HMS Bounty" fame, dies at 63
William Bligh
- 1823 Johann Gottlieb Schwencke, composer, dies at 79
- 1826 John Flaxman, Engl sculptor (tombs at St Paul's Cathedral), dies at 71
- 1829 Johann Christoph Kienlen, German composer, dies at 45
- 1834 Ludwig Schuncke, composer, dies at 23
- 1839 Jan Matyas Nepomuk August Vitasek, composer, dies at 69
- 1841 Johann Daniel Ferstenberg, composer, dies at 83
- 1842 Thomas Hamilton, Scottish writer (b. 1789)
- 1860 Konstantin Sergeyevich Aksakov, Russian historian and poet, dies at 43
- 1862 Sylvester Churchill, US Union brigadier general, dies
- 1867 Rudolf Viole, composer, dies at 42
- 1874 Constantin von Tischendorf, German biblical scholar (b. 1815)
- 1879 Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic independence fighter and Icelandic historian, dies at 68
- 1881 Julius FA Bahnsen, German philosopher (Tragic as Weltgesetz), dies at 51
- 1894 Ferdinand de Lesseps, French engineer/diplomat/earl, dies at 89
- 1899 Antoni de Kontski, Polish pianist and composer, dies at 82
Thomas Nast
1902 Thomas Nast, US political cartoonist, dies at 62
Thomas Nast
- 1906 Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1833)
- 1909 Whitcomb Judson, American inventor (zipper), dies at 63
- 1911 William Griggs, English inventor (photo chromo lithography), dies at 79
- 1912 George Darwin, theorized Moon was pulled out of Pacific Ocean, dies
- 1913 Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Italian Catholic churchman and last surviving cardinal of Pius IX, dies at 85
- 1917 Ludwig Minkus, Austrian ballet composer, dies at 91
- 1927 Albert Griffiths ("Young Griffo"), Australian boxer (World Featherweight champion), dies of apoplexy at 56
- 1938 Harry Moses, cricketer (6 Tests for Australia 1887-95), dies
- 1941 Cecil Forsyth, composer, dies at 71
- 1941 Iida, Japanese pilot/lt, dies in battle at 28
- 1941 Mervyn S. Bennion, United States Navy Captain, Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (b. 1887)
- 1941 Herbert C. Jones, United States Navy, Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (b. 1918)
- 1941 Thomas J. Reeves, United States Navy, Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (b. 1895)
- 1941 Franklin Van Valkenburgh, United States Navy, Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (b. 1888)
- 1946 Sada Yacco, Japanese stage actress (b. 1871)
- 1947 Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher, diplomat (Nobel Peace Prize 1931), educator (Columbia University President), dies at 85
- 1947 Tristan Bernard, French playwright and novelist, dies at 81
- 1948 Godfrey Turner, composer, dies at 35
- 1956 Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor, dies at 77
- 1959 Charlie Hall, English comedic actor (Tit for Tat, A Chump at Oxford), dies at 60
- 1960 Clara Haskil, Swiss pianist (b. 1895)
- 1962 Kirsten Flagstad, Norwegian soprano (Wagner), dies at 67
- 1967 House Peters, British silent film actor (This Is the Life, Kansas Territory), dies at 87
- 1969 Eric Portman, actor (Naked Edge), dies from heart ailment at 66
- 1969 Hugh Williams, British dramatist, actor and writer (Wuthering Heights, Bank Holiday), dies after surgery at 65
- 1969 Lefty O'Doul, American baseball player (b. 1897)
Rube Goldberg
1970 Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (who made the easy outrageously difficult) Pulitzer Prize 1948, dies at 87
Rube Goldberg
- 1970 Romaine Brooks [Beatrice Romaine Goddard], American painter, dies at 96
- 1971 Milton Rosmer, director (Murder in the Red Barn), dies at 90
- 1972 Adrian J Zoetmulder, author (God's Hour), dies at 91
- 1975 Hardie Albright, actress (Silver Streak, Scarlet Letter), dies at 71
- 1975 Thornton Wilder, American playwright and writer (Bridge of San Luis Rey), dies at 78
- 1975 Beatrix Loughran, American figure skater (Olympic gold 1924, 1928, 1932), dies at 75
- 1977 Paul Gibb, cricketer (England batsman, 8 Tests), dies
- 1977 Peter Carl Goldmark, German-Hungarian engineer (developed the LP record format), dies in a car accident at 77
- 1978 Alexander Wetmore, American ornithologist (b. 1886)
- 1979 Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, British-American astronomer and astrophysicist who proposed that stars are composed largely of hydrogen and are not glowing balls of molten rock, dies at 79
- 1979 Mari Andriessen, Dutch sculptor (Docker), dies at 82
- 1979 Nicolas Born, German writer, dies of cancer at 41
- 1979 Prince Chahryar Shafik, Shah of Iran's nephew, murdered in Paris
- 1980 Darby Crash, American Punk rocker (Germs), dies of an overdose at 22
- 1982 Charlie Brooks Jr, convicted murderer became 1st US prisoner to be executed by lethal injection, at a prison in Huntsville, Texas
- 1982 George Kistiakowsky, Ukrainian-American Chemist who helped develop the first atomic bomb (Manhattan Project) but later opposed nuclear weapons, dies at 82
- 1982 William "Will" Lee, American actor (They Live by Night, Melody Lane), dies from a heart attack at 74
- 1983 Edgar Graham, member of N Ireland Assembly, shot dead by IRA
- 1983 Fanny Cano, Mexican actress (b. 1944)
- 1984 Jeanne Cagney, American actress (Lion is in the Streets, Quicksand, Kentucky Rifle), dies of cancer at 65
- 1984 Lee Roy Yarbrough, American race car (Nascar) driver (b. 1938)
- 1985 Potter Stewart, 94th Supreme Court Justice (1958-81), dies in NH at 70
- 1985 Robert Graves, English writer and poet (King Jesus), dies at 90
- 1988 Andrei P Ershov, Russian computer pioneer, dies
- 1988 Christopher Connelly, actor (Liar's Moon, Hawmps), dies at 47
- 1988 Peter Langan, Irish restaurateur (Langans London), dies in fire
- 1989 William Calhoun, professional wrestler (b. 1934)
- 1989 Haystacks Calhoun, American professional wrestler, dies at 55
- 1990 Delecta "Dee" Clark, American singer (Raindrops), dies at 52
- 1990 Horst Bienek, German writer and director (The First Polka), dies at 60
- 1990 Joan Bennett, American actress (House Across the Bay), dies at 80
- 1990 Jean Paul Lemieux, Quebec painter (b. 1904)
- 1990 Peter Mieg, Swiss composer, dies at 84
- 1990 Jean Duceppe, Quebec actor (Mon oncle Antoine), dies at 67
- 1990 Reinaldo Arenas, Cuban poet and novelist (Pentagonia), dies at 47
- 1991 Michael Taylor, Male Model (b. 1913)
- 1992 Maurice Coutinho, writer/translator (Silent Struggle), dies at 79
- 1992 Ruth Corbett Thom, dies after long illness at 78
- 1993 Félix Houphouet-Boigny, President of Ivory Coast (1960-93), dies at 88
- 1994 Elga Andersen, German/French model/actress (Global Affair), dies at 58
- 1994 J.C. Tremblay, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1939)
- 1995 Larry Bartlett, photographer, dies at 42
- 1995 Tom Burns, British-Chilean publisher and editor, dies at 89
- 1996 Eugene Izzi, mystery writer, hangs himself at 43
- 1996 Jose Donoso, Chilean writer (The Place Without Limits), dies at 72
- 1997 Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer dies at 54 from a suspected heart attack
- 1998 John Addison, British composer (b. 1920)
- 2000 Vladimir Gotovac, Croatian poet and politician (b. 1930)
- 2001 Charles McClendon, LSU Tigers head football coach (b. 1923)
- 2001 Pauline Moore [Joless Love], American actress (Colorado, Young Mr. Lincoln), dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at 87
- 2003 Carl F. H. Henry American theologian and publisher (b. 1913)
- 2003 Azie Taylor Morton, Treasurer of the United States (b. 1936)
- 2004 Frederick Fennell, American conductor (b. 1914)
- 2004 Jerry Scoggins, American singer (b. 1913)
- 2004 Jay Van Andel, co-founder and former chairman of Amway (b. 1924)
- 2005 Bud Carson, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
- 2005 Lucy d'Abreu, was the oldest living person in the United Kingdom from April 2004 until her death (b. 1892)
- 2005 Rigoberto Alpizar, airplane passenger fatally shot by U.S. Air Marshals after allegedly claiming he had placed a bomb aboard (b. 1961)
- 2006 Jeane Kirkpatrick, American ambassador (b. 1926)
- 2006 Jay McShann, American musician (b. 1910)
- 2008 Marky Cielo, Filipino and Igorot dancer and actor (b. 1988)
- 2008 Dennis Yost, American vocalist, dies at 65
- 2009 Mark Ritts, American actor (b. 1946)
- 2010 Elizabeth Edwards, American lawyer and wife of John Edwards (b. 1949)
- 2010 Gus Mercurio, American-born Australian actor (The Blue Lagoon, Crocodile Dundee II), dies at 82
Harry Morgan
2011 Harry Morgan, American actor (M*A*S*H) dies at 96
Harry Morgan
- 2012 Saul Steinberg, American businessman, founder of Leasco and CEO of Reliance Insurance Company, dies at 73
- 2013 Édouard Molinaro, French film actor, director and screenwriter (La Cage aux Folles), dies a respiratory insufficiency at 85
- 2014 Ken Weatherwax, American actor, dies from a heart attack at 59
- 2014 John Bartholomew Tucker, American TV host (Candid Camera, Treasure Island), dies at 84
- 2016 Greg Lake, English rock vocalist and bassist (King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer), dies of cancer at 69
- 2016 Paul Elvstrøm, Danish sailer (4 Olympic gold, Finn class 1948, 52, 56, 60), dies at 88
- 2017 Peter Walwyn, British thoroughbred trainer (champion trainer 1974-75), dies at 84
- 2017 James "Sunny" Murray, American jazz musician and drummer, dies at 81
- 2018 Belisario Betancur, Colombian politician, President of Colombia (1982-86), dies at 95
December in History
![Mozart, the Incomparable Musical Genius]()
Mozart, the Incomparable Musical Genius
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a musical genius who composed over 600 works in his short lifetime, died mysteriously on this day and was buried unceremoniously.
December 5, 1791![Real-life Tragedy for Theatrical Family]()
Real-life Tragedy for Theatrical Family
On this day a tragedy engulfed one of Britain’s noted theatrical families of the early 20th century.
December 8, 1926![Coronation Street, King of the Soaps]()
Coronation Street, King of the Soaps
Thought to have no great future when launched on this day, Coronation Street still reigns supreme
December 9, 1960![Marconi's Dream: Telegraphy Without Wires]()
Marconi's Dream: Telegraphy Without Wires
Italian radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi's career received a big boost on this day with backing from the British Post Office.
December 11, 1896
