Events in History
Murder of Interest
Dec 2 Abolitionist John Brown hanged for murder, treason, and conspiring slaves to revolt at Charles Town, Virginia
Birthdays in History
Georges Seurat
Dec 2 Georges Seurat, French post-impressionist painter (A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grande Jatte), born in Paris, France (d. 1891)
John Jellicoe
Dec 5 John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, British Admiral of the Fleet in World War I (Battle of Jutland), born in Southampton, England (d. 1935)
- Dec 12 Maurice Donnay, French playwright (Lovers), born in Paris (d. 1945)
- Dec 15 L. L. Zamenhof, Polish physician and linguist (Esperanto), born in Białystok, Poland, Russian Empire (d. 1917)
- Dec 17 Paul César Helleu, French artist (d. 1927)
- Dec 20 Antonius Derkinderen, Dutch painter & artist, born in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands (d. 1925)
- Dec 21 Gustave Kahn, French symbolist poet & art critic, born in Metz, France (d. 1936)
- Dec 26 Johan F van Bemmelen, Dutch zoologist
- Dec 26 William Stephens, U.S. political figure (d. 1944)
- Dec 28 John W Fortescue, British military historian and archivist at Windsor Castle, born in Madeira (d. 1933)
- Dec 29 Venustiano Carranza, Mexican revolutionary and President of Mexico (1915-20), born in Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila, Mexico (d. 1920)
Deaths in History
John Brown
Dec 2 John Brown, American abolitionist and revolutionary (Harpers Ferry), hanged at 59
- Dec 8 Thomas De Quincey, English writer (Confessions of English Opium Eater), dies at 74
Wilhelm Grimm
Dec 16 Wilhelm Grimm, German writer (Grimm's Fairy Tales), dies at 73
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists