December 23

Holidays

• Festivus (from sitcom Seinfeld)
• Oaxaca - Night of the Radishes
• Secular humanism (American) - HumanLight observed
• R.C. Saints - John Cantius ; Thorlac Thorhallsson, patron saint of Iceland
• Sweden - Birthday of Queen Silvia, an official flag day
• Japan - The Emperor's Birthday - Birthday of Akihito, the current Emperor of Japan
• Roman festivals - Larentalia, a festival in honor of Larenta
• Ancient Latvia - Ziemassvetki held
• See more

Events

• 2018 Gatwick Airport drone incident: The two people arrested by police two days earlier are released without charges. (Reuters)
• 2017 2017 Pacific typhoon season: Tropical Storm Tembin: More than 200 people are dead in the southern Philippines as a result of floods and mudslides caused by Severe Tropical Storm Vinta. (Reuters)
• 2016 Syrian Civil War: The bodies of over 100 Syrian Army POWs are reportedly found in what was the last rebel held territory of East Aleppo. Syrian Army officers claim they were executed by rebel forces. (Al-Masdar News)
• 2015 Syrian Civil War: Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War: Amnesty International reports at least 200 civilians have been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria, indicating "serious failures by Russia to respect international humanitarian law". Moscow denies causing civilian deaths. (BBC)
• 2014 Insurgency in Northeast India:: December 2014 Assam violence: Attacks on villages in the Indian state of Assam kill dozens of people. Suspicion falls on the insurgents of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland. (NDTV)(Euronews)(Al Jazeera)As a result, India imposes curfew on parts of Assam. (NBC News)
• 2013 War in North-West Pakistan:: The Pakistani army launches a military offensive against Taliban insurgents near the Afghan border. There are accusations that dozens of civilians are killed. (Reuters)
• 2012 Syrian civil war:: Up to 200 civilians are killed by Syrian government warplanes in the town of Helfaya, Hama province. (Reuters) (BBC) (Al Arabiya)
• 2011 2011 Syrian uprising: Syrian state media report the deaths of at least 40 people in two car bombings in the capital Damascus. (BBC)
• 2010 Hundreds of South Korean troops, tanks, helicopters and jet fighters gather 12 miles from the border with North Korea to stage one of South Korea's largest ever live fire military drills in a ampquotshow of forceampquot before its neighbour. North Korea describes the exercises as ampquotwarmongeringampquot, and threatens a ampquotsacred warampquot. (Al Jazeera)
• 2009 Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin Jim Moriarty resigns, the second bishop to do so following the publication of the Murphy Report. (RTÉ) (BBC) (Bangkok Post)
• 2008 US President George W. Bush signs H.R. 6184 "America's Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008" into law, as Public Lal 110-456. The program encompasses a new series of circulating and non-circulating coins depicting national sites of each state and territory, and the District of Columbia, five designs per year, beginning in 2010. In addition to circulating quarter dollar coins, 5-ounce silver coins will also be produced for each design.
• 2007 Thailand's People Power Party, led by Samak Sundaravej, wins the 2007 general elections. (BBC News)
• 2006 The UN Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 1737, sanctioning Iran for its nuclear program. (Bloomberg)
• 2005 U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announces the first in an expected series of troop drawdowns following the Iraqi elections.
• 2004 An earthquake of moment magnitude 8.1 occurs at 14:59 UTC, 305 miles (491 km) north of Macquarie Island. (USGS)
• 2003 PetroChina Chuandongbei natural gas field explosion, Guoqiao, Kai County, Chongqing, China, killing at least 234.
• 2002 A MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25, making it the first time in history that an aircraft and an unmanned drone had engaged in combat.
• 2000 Victor Borge, 91, Danish comedian, conductor and pianist.
• 1997 Woody Allen, 62 weds Soon-Yi Previn 27, adopted Daughter of Mia Farrow
• 1994 Baseball owners impose salary cap, fiercely opposed by players.
• 1991 New York Daily News publisher Kevin Maxwell resigns.
• 1990 Lettice & Lovage closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 284 performances
• 1989 Nicolae and Elena Ceauşescu are captured in Târgoviște.
• 1987 Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, serving a life sentence for attempted assassination of US President Gerald R Ford escapes from Alderson Prison.
• 1986 Rutan andYeager make 1st around-the-world flight without refueling
• 1983 Journal Science publishes first report on nuclear winter.
• 1982 Jack Webb, actor (Joe Friday - Dragnet), dies of a heart attack at age 62.
• 1979 New York Islanders' greatest shutout loss (8-0) versus Chicago Black Hawks.
• 1976 A new volcano, Murara, erupts in eastern Zaire.
• 1975 Peter Seitz makes Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally free agents
• 1974 Good News opens at St. James Theater NYC for 16 performances
• 1973 Young and the Restless premieres on TV
• 1972 6.25 Earthquake destroys central Managua Nicaragua, 10,000 die
• 1970 New York World Trade Center reaches highest point (411 m).
• 1968 Borman, Lovell and Anders become 1st men to orbit Moon
• 1967 Brussels: NATO-Council accept Flexible Response-strategy
• 1966 Britains rock TV show, Ready Steady Go, last program
• 1964 India and Ceylon hit by cyclone, about 4,850 killed.
• 1963 Beach Boys 1st appearance on Shindig
• 1962 Cuba starts returning US prisoners from the Bay of Pigs invasion.
• 1961 KICU TV channel 43 in Visalia-Fresno, CA (IND) begins broadcasting
• 1960 King Saudi of Saudi-Arabia takes power.
• 1958 Party with Comden & Green opens at John Golden NYC for 38 performances
• 1956 British and French troops leave the Suez Canal region.
• 1953 Dodgers 2nd baseman Jim Junior Gilliam wins NL Rookie of Year
• 1951 Last Belgian communities get electricity.
• 1948 Seven Japanese convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East are executed at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo.
• 1947 Transistor invented by Bardeen, Brattain and Shockley in Bell Labs
• 1946 Highest ridership in NYC subway history (8.8 million passengers)
• 1945 Frederick Astons Cinderella premieres in London
• 1944 Beginning of harsh winter
• 1943 First telecast of a complete opera (Hansel and Gretel), Schenectady, New York.
• 1941 American forces on Wake Island surrender to Japanese
• 1940 World War II: Greek submarine Papanikolis (?-2) sinks the Italian motor ship Antonietta.
• 1939 South Australia score 7-821 against Queensland in cricket.
• 1938 Discovery of the first modern coelacanth in South Africa.
• 1937 First flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber.
• 1936 Colombia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
• 1933 Marinus van der Lubbe sentenced to death
• 1931 Tyrone Power Sr, American actor (Big Trial, Test of Donald Norton), dies at age 62.
• 1930 Bette Davis arrives in Hollywood under contract to Universal Studios
• 1928 NBC sets up a permanent, coast-to-coast radio network.
• 1926 KEX-AM in Portland OR begins radio transmissions
• 1925 Sultan Ibn Saud of Nedzjed conquers Djeddah.
• 1922 Pope Pius XI pleas for peace: encyclical Ubi arcano.
• 1921 Visva-Bharati University is inaugurated.
• 1920 Ireland divided into two parts, each with its own parliament.
• 1919 Alice H Parker patents gas heating furnace.
• 1916 World War I: Battle of Magdhaba : Allied forces defeat Turkish forces in Egypt's Sinai peninsula.
• 1915 The HMHS ''Britannic'', the largest individual British loss in WWI, departs Liverpool on her maiden voyage.
• 1914 World War I: Australian and New Zealand troops arrive in Cairo, Egypt.
• 1913 President Woodrow Wilson signs Federal Reserve Act into law
• 1912 Aswan Dam in Nile begins operation.
• 1909 Albert becomes king of Belgium.
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Famous Birthday

• Corey Haim

  Canadian actor (Born 1971).

• Estella Warren

  Canadian model and actress.

• Holly Madison
• Marie Bell

  French actress on screen from 1924 to...

• Donna Tartt

  American author.

• Joan Severance

  American model actress and producer.

• Finn Wolfhard
• Nick Moran
• Robert Bly

  American poet, translator, editor and...

• Esther Phillips

  American singer known for her R&B...

• Harry Shearer

  American actor and director, a satirical...

• Elizabeth Hartman

  Actress (Fixer, Patch of Blue), dies at...

• Fredi Washington
• Martha Byrne

  American actress singer and...

• Spencer Daniels

  American actor.

• Maurice Denham

  Beckenham, England -- Actor (Mr Love,...

• Lorna Tolentino

  Filipino actress and producer.

• Noël Wells

  American actress.

• Ronnie Schell

  American actor.

• Charles Herbert

  American actor (d. 2015).

• Carla Bruni Sarkozy
• Eddie Vedder

  American musician (Pearl Jam).

• Jean-Luc Lahaye

  French pop singer, former TV host, and...

• Beatriz Luengo
• Chet Baker

  Jazz trumpeter, fell to death out of a...

• Queen Silvia of Sweden
• Pierre Bérégovoy

  French economist.

• Albert Jacquard

  French geneticist, researcher and...

• Cláudia Raia

  Brazilian actress on TV and theater;...

• Jodie Marsh

  British glamour model.

• Susan Lucci
• Akihito

  Japanese royalty, the son of Emperor...

• Georges Aperghis

  Composer.

• Christa Worthington

  American writer, a fashion journalist...

• Helmut Schmidt

  German Social Democratic (SPD)...

• Summer Altice

  American model and actress.

• Ina Klink
• Jim Harbaugh

  American quarterback and athlete.

• Michele Alboreto

  Italian race car driver, Champion in the...

• Noël Lucas
• Giba (volleyball player)
• Laurent Negro

  French founder of the first agency in...

• Serge Reding

  Belgian weightlifter, the world champion...

• Carol Smillie

  British television personality.

• Jean Gachassin

  French rugby player, nicknamed ‘’Peter...

• Katie Underwood
• Astrid Zekul

  German physicist, mathematician,...

• Suzi Harvey

  American-British pro astrologer,...

• Gala León García
• Dino Risi

  Italian film critic, scriptwriter and...

• Tatana Kucharova
• Vicente Del Bosque
• A Fine Frenzy
• Dan Bigras

  Canadian singer-songwriter and actor.

• Wesley Clark

  American politician and retired military...

• Wesley Clark

  American politician and retired military...

• Anna Maria Perez de Taglé
• Frederic Forrest

  American actor; off-Broadway debut in...

• Manuela Moura Guedes
• Jennifer Hoffman
• Hanley Ramírez

  Dominican baseball player.

• Amédée Borsari
• Jose Greco

  Italian-American dancer; born in Italy...

• Jean Lacroix
• Didier Quentin
• Dave Murray

  Guitarist.

• Holly Dale

  Canadian film maker who works in team...

• Micheline Ostermeyer

  French athlete and concert pianist, a...

• Mikhail Gromov

  Russian-French mathematician and...

• Harry Judd

  Drummer.

• Kenneth Negus

  American astrologer and professor of...

• Claudio Scimone

  Italian musician and founder of the...

• Monique Watteau

  Belgian author, artist, painter, wrote...

• Bertrand Gachot

  Belgian race car driver.

• Jean-Louis Fousseret
• Joseph Crane

  American professional astrologer,...

• Jorma Kaukonen

  American singer-songwriter and guitarist...

• Pernilla Mansson-Colt
• James Ippolito

  American engineer, the State Director of...

• James Roosevelt

  American politician and businessman from...

• Charlie Williams (comedian)
• Esthero

  Canadian-American singer-songwriter and...

• Marcelin Pleynet
• Belsy (singer)
• Jamie Noble

  American professional wrestler.

• Andrée Putman

  French designer.

• Bill Rodgers

  American runner who dominated the...

• Jerry Koosman

  American baseball pitcher for the Auburn...

• Henry Cuesta

  American musician, a clarinet player...

• Paul Hornung

  American athlete, pro football player,...

• Dante Spanghero

  French rugby player.

• Augustin Delgado
• Mathieu Brosseau
• Adrian Belew

  American singer-songwriter and guitarist...

• George Brasno

  American midget, the brother of fellow...

• Yuka Kashino

  Japanese singer and dancer.

• Éric Lévi
• Dominique Manotti
• Bernard Grasset (politician)
• Theo Kogan
• See more

Famous Deaths

• Jack Webb

  American actor who was onscreen from...

• Charlie Drake

  British comic (Plank, Rhubarb Rhubarb,...

• Billy Barty

  American actor and singer (d. 2000).

• Didier Rocher

  French business executive and noted...

• Rina Ketty

  Italian-French singer (d. 1996).

• Edward Schillebeeckx

  Flemish theologian who worked in the...

• Eddie Hazel

  American guitarist...

• Edward FLW Halifax

  English viscount / Viceroy of India,...

• Lester Lonergan Jr

  Actor (Growing Paynes), dies at 65.

• Arrigo Pedrollo

  Composer, dies at 86.

• Hv Doderer

  Writer, dies at 70.

• Robert Keith

  Actor (Battle Circus, Men in War), dies...

• Donald Foster

  Actor (Scaramouche), dies after long...

• Nora Dunfree

  US actress (Grass Harp), dies at 78.

• Sebastian Lewis Shaw

  Actor (High Season, Ace of Spades), dies...

• Patric Reginald Lawrence Knowles

  Actor (Chisum, Mutiny), dies at 84.

• Stanlye Cortez

  Cinematographer, dies at 89.

• Norman D Vaughan

  American polar explorer and musher (Born...

• Karl L Hoschna composer

  dies at age 34.

• Anthony H G Fokker

  Dutch airplane builder (Spider), dies at...

• Lavrenti P Beria

  soviet minister of internal security,...

• Ruth Fuller Sasaki

  head of first Zen Institute of America,...

• Richard S Welch

  US Central Intelligence Agency station...

• James Vance (20) and Raymond Belknap (18) commit suicide

  sparking their families to sue rock...

• Gertrude "Trudi" Duby Blom

  actress, shot to death at about age 92.

• Gabrielle Keiller

  collector/golfer, dies at age 87.

• David Land

  impressario, dies at age 77.

• Austin Whitaker

  schoolmaster classical...

• Brian Malzard Foss

  psychologist, dies at age 76.

• Donald Gunn MacRae

  sociologist, dies at age 76.

• Hrvoje Horvatic

  video artist, dies at age 39.

• Keith Bentley

  international racing cyclist, dies at...

• Wilson Bentley

  American scientist (Born 1865).

• Kiki Preston

  American socialite (Born 1898).

• John A Sampson

  American gynecologist (Born 1873).

• Rene Iche

  French sculptor (Born 1897).

• Pasha Hristova

  Bulgarian singer (Born 1946).

• Bola Ige

  Nigerian politician (Born 1930).

• Lajos Baroti

  Hungarian footballer and coach (Born...

• Johnny Vincent

  English footballer (Born 1947).

• Timothy J Tobias

  American composer and musician (Born...

• William Francis Ganong

  American physiologist (Born 1924).

• Robert L Howard

  American Vietnam War soldier; Medal of...

• Fred Hargesheimer

  American World War II pilot (Born 1916).

• Roland Leighton

  English soldier and poet (d. 1915).

• K Karunakaran

  Indian lawyer and politician 7th Chief...

• Robert Herrick

  US writer (Chimes), dies at age 70.

• Johannes H Been

  Brielle archivist, dies at 71.

• Stanley Cortez

  American cinematographer and...

• Joan Lindsay

  Australian author and critic (d. 1984).

• Frederick Temple

  English archbishop and academic (d....

• Peggy Guggenheim

  American-Italian art collector and...

• Alfreds Kalnins

  Composer, dies at 72.

• Benito Lynch

  Irish / Argentine writer (Palo Verde),...

• George Saiko

  Writer, dies at 70.

• Karen Verne

  Actress (Ships of Fools, Underground),...

• Richard Flury

  Composer, dies at 71.

• Carlo Jachino

  Composer, dies at 84.

• Frank Forest

  Actor (Big Broadcast of 1937, Champagne...

• Paul M Frank Forest

  Dies at 80.

• Walter Bauer

  Writer, dies at 72.

• Norman Dinnerstein

  Composer, dies at 45.

• Josef Alexander

  Composer, dies at 82.

• Eduard Wachmann composer

  dies at age 72.

• Lord Irwin

  ambassador to US (1940-46), dies at age...

• Andrej N Tupolev

  Russian aircraft builder, dies at age...

• Byron Q Griffith

  producer/actor, dies at age 73.

• Francois A Gevaert

  Belg / Dutch Composer (Diable au...

• Charles Atlas

  Italian-American physical culturist...

• Anthony Fokker

  Indonesian Dutch-German engineer, pilot,...

• Michelle Thomas

  American actress (Born 1968).

• Ronnie Scott

  British jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz...

• Charlie Ruggles

  Actor (Ruggles, Aesop-Bullwinkle Show),...

• Irna Phillips

  American television writer, director,...

• Otto Schoetensack

  German anthropologist and academic (d....

• Michael Kidd

  American film and stage choreographer...

• Vincenzo Tommasini

  Italian composer (d. 1950).

• Luis Alberni

  Spanish-American actor and singer (d....

• Andrei Tupolev

  Russian engineer and designer founded...

• Kurt Meyer

  German SS officer (Born 1910).

• Charles Ruggles

  American actor (Born 1886).

• Charles Shirley

  jazz arranger, dies at age 74.

• Theo[dorus J] Thijssen

  Dutch writer (Kees de Jongen), dies at...

• Mogens Klitgaard

  Danish Author (Brunkul), dies at 39.

• Hideki Tojo

  Prime Minister of Japan (1941-44) and 6...

• See more

Top #1 songs in the USA

• 2017 Ed Sheeran - Perfect
• 2016 Rae Sremmurd Featuring Gucci Mane - Black Beatles
• 2015 Adele - Hello
• 2014 Taylor Swift - Blank Space
• 2013 Eminem - The Monster
• 2012 Bruno Mars - Locked Out Of Heaven
• 2011 Rihanna - We Found Love
• 2010 Katy Perry - Firework
• 2009 Jay-Z - Empire State Of Mind
• 2008 T.I. - Live Your Life
• 2007 Alicia Keys - No One
• 2006 Beyonce - Irreplaceable
• 2005 Chris Brown - Run It!
• 2004 Snoop Dogg - Drop It Like It's Hot
• 2003 OutKast - Hey Ya!
• 2002 Eminem - Lose Yourself
• 2001 Nickelback - How You Remind Me
• 2000 Destiny's Child - Independent Women Part I
• 1999 Santana - Smooth
• 1998 R. Kelly - I'm Your Angel
• 1997 Elton John - Something About The Way You Look Tonight
• 1997 Elton John - Candle In The Wind 1997
• 1996 Toni Braxton - Un-Break My Heart
• 1995 Mariah Carey - One Sweet Day
• 1994 Ini Kamoze - Here Comes The Hotstepper
• 1993 Mariah Carey - Hero
• 1992 Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
• 1991 Michael Jackson - Black Or White
• 1990 Stevie B - Because I Love You (The Postman Song)
• 1989 Phil Collins - Another Day In Paradise
• 1988 Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn
• 1987 George Michael - Faith
• 1986 Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian
• 1985 Lionel Richie - Say You, Say Me
• 1984 Madonna - Like A Virgin
• 1983 Paul McCartney - Say Say Say
• 1982 Daryl Hall & John Oates - Maneater
• 1981 Olivia Newton-John - Physical
• 1980 Kenny Rogers - Lady
• 1979 Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
• 1978 Chic - Le Freak
• 1977 Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love
• 1976 Rod Stewart - Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)
• 1975 K.C and the Sunshine Band - That's The Way (I Like It)
• 1974 Harry Chapin - Cat's In The Cradle
• 1973 Charlie Rich - The Most Beautiful Girl
• 1972 Billy Paul - Me And Mrs. Jones
• 1971 Melanie - Brand New Key
• 1970 Smokey Robinson - The Tears Of A Clown
• 1969 Peter, Paul and Mary - Leaving on A Jet Plane
• 1968 Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
• 1967 The Monkees - Daydream Believer
• 1966 The New Vaudeville Band - Winchester Cathedral
• 1965 The Dave Clark Five - Over And Over
• 1964 The Supremes - Come See About Me
• 1963 The Singing Nun - Dominique
• 1962 The Tornadoes - Telstar
• 1961 The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight
• 1960 Elvis Presley - Are You Lonesome To-Night?
• 1959 Guy Mitchell - Heartaches By The Number
• 1958 The Teddy Bears - To Know Him, Is To Love Him
• 1957 Sam Cooke - You Send Me
• See more

Top #1 Rock songs

• 2017 Imagine Dragons - Thunder
• 2016 twenty one pilots - Heathens
• 2015 Elle King - Ex's & Oh's
• 2014 Hozier - Take Me To Church
• 2013 Lorde - Royals
• 2012 The Lumineers - Ho Hey
• 2011 The Black Keys - Lonely Boy
• 2010 The Black Keys - Tighten Up
• 2009 Three Days Grace - Break