December 16

2024 Calendar

December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 15 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

401 - Pope Anastasius I
705 – Empress Wu of Zhou (China; b. 625)
714 – Pippin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia
867 - Eberhard of Friuli, Frankish literary patron, diplomat and saint (b. 815)
999 – Saint Adelaide of Italy (b. 931)
1263 - King Haakon IV of Norway (b. 1204)
1325 – Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France (b. 1270)
1379 – John Fitzalan, Marshal of England (drowned)
1470 – John II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1425)
1474 - Ali Qushji, astronomer, mathematician and physicist (b. 1403)
1515 – Afonso de Albuquerque Portuguese naval general (b. 1453)
1598 - Yi Sun-sin, Korean admiral (b. 1515)
1669 – Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician
1687 – William Petty, English scientist and philosopher (b. 1623)
1751 – Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian general (b. 1700)
1774 – François Quesnay, French economist (b. 1694)
1783 – Johann A. Hasse, German composer (b. 1699)
1783 – Sir William James British naval commander (b. 1720)
1801 - Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden (b. 1755)
1809 – Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist (b. 1755)
1859 – Wilhelm Grimm, German writer and folklorist (b. 1786)
1865 - Philip Allen, American politician, Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1785)
1892 - Henry Yesler, 7th Mayor of Seattle (b. 1810)
1897 - Alphonse Daudet, French author (b. 1840)
1898 – Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and art collector (b. 1832)

1901 – 2000

1914 – Ivan Zajc, Austro-Hungarian composer (b. 1832)
1916 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk (b. 1869)
1921 – Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (b. 1835)
1922 – Gabriel Narutowicz, first President of Poland (b. 1865)
1928 – Elinor Wylie, American poet and writer (b. 1885)
1935 - Thelma Todd, American actress (b. 1905)
1944 - Betsie ten Boom, Dutch Holocaust victim (b. 1885)
1945 – Giovanni Agnelli, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1866)
1945 – Fumimaro Konoe, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1891)
1949 – Sidney Olcott, Canadian movie director (b. 1873)
1956 – Nina Hamnett, British artist (b. 1890)
1963 - Nam Phuong, Empress of Vietnam (b. 1914)
1965 – Salote Tupou III, Queen of Tonga (b. 1900)
1965 – W. Somerset Maugham, British writer (b. 1874)
1968 - Futabayama Sadaji, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1912)
1968 - Muhammad Suheimat, Jordanian general and politician (b. 1916)
1977 – Risto Jarva, Finnish movie maker (b. 1934)
1980 – Colonel Harland Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1890)
1980 – Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (b. 1900)
1982 – Colin Chapman, British engineer and automobile manufacturer, founder of Lotus Cars (b. 1928)
1985 – Paul Castellano, American mafioso (b. 1915)
1985 – Thomas Bilotti, American mafioso (b. 1940)
1989 – Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (b. 1930)
1989 – Lee Van Cleef, American actor (b. 1925)
1989 – Aileen Pringle, American actress (b. 1895)
1990 – Douglas Campbell, American pilot (b. 1896)
1993 – Moses Gunn, American actor (b. 1929)
1993 – Tanaka Kakuei, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1918)
1995 – Mariele Ventre, Italian choir director (b. 1939)
1996 – Quentin Bell, British art historian (b. 1910)

From 2001

2001 - Stuart Adamson, British singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1958)
2001 – Stefan Heym, German writer (b. 1913)
2003 – Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1914)
2003 – Gary Stewart, American musician, singer and songwriter (suicide) (b. 1945)
2004 – Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (b. 1933)
2004 - Deyda Hadara, Gambian journalist (b. 1946)
2005 – Kenneth Bulmer, British writer (b. 1921)
2005 – John Spencer, American actor (b. 1946)
2007 – Dan Fogelberg, American musician (b. 1951)
2009 – Roy E. Disney, American businessman (b. 1930)
2009 – Yegor Gaidar, Soviet politician (b. 1956)
2009 - Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, South African physician and politician (b. 1940)
2011 – Bob Brookmeyer, American jazz musician (b. 1929)
2013 - Ray Price, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1926)
2014 - Man Haron Monis, Iranian-Australian self-styled Muslim cleric and hostage taker (b. 1964)
2014 - Tim Cochran, American mathematician (b. 1955)
2014 - Martin Brasier, English biologist (b. 1947)
2014 - Phillip Archuleta, American politician (b. 1949)
2014 - Sultan Singh, Indian politician, 5th Governor of Tripura (b. 1923)
2015 - Peter Dickinson, British writer (b. 1927)
2015 - Gabre Gabric, Croatian-Italian athlete (b. 1914)
2016 - Faina Melnyk, Ukrainian-Russian discus thrower (b. 1945)
2017 - Tu An, Chinese poet and translator (b. 1923)
2017 - Ralph Carney, American saxophonist (b. 1956)
2017 - Len Ceglarski, American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1926)
2017 - Richard Dobson, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
2017 - E. Hunter Harrison, American railroad executive (b. 1944)
2017 - Sharon Laws, British racing cyclist (b. 1974)
2017 - Keely Smith, American singer (b. 1928)
2017 - Z'EV, American percussionist and poet (b. 1951)
2017 - Muriel Turner, Baroness Turner of Camden, British politician (b. 1927)
2018 - Eraldo Isidori, Italian politician (b. 1940)
2018 - T. K. Wetherell, American politician (b. 1945)
2019 - Dmitri Chesnokov, Russian footballer (b. 1973)
2019 - Hans Kornberg, German-born British-American biochemist; (b. 1928)
2019 - Bill Simpson, American racing driver; (b. 1940)

Births

1901 – 1950

1901 – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (d. 1978)
1902 - Rafael Alberti, Spanish poet (d. 1999)
1903 - Misao Tamai, Japanese footballer (d. 1978)
1905 – Piet Hein, Danish mathematician and inventor (d. 1996)
1913 - George Ignatieff, Russian-Canadian diplomat (d. 1989)
1915 - Turk Murphy, American trombonist and singer (d. 1987)
1916 - Birgitta Valberg, Swedish actress (d. 2014)
1917 – Arthur C. Clarke, British writer (d. 2008)
1918 – Pierre Delanoe, French songwriter and lyricist (d. 2006)
1923 - Ernst Florian Winter, Austrian-American historian, political scientist and author (d. 2014)
1925 – Geir Hallgrimsson, Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1990)
1926 - A. N. R. Robinson, 3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago (d. 2014)
1927 - Peter Dickinson, British writer (d. 2015)
1928 - Terry Carter, American actor, director and producer
1928 – Philip K. Dick, American writer (d. 1982)
1929 - Nicholas Courtney, English actor (d. 2012)
1932 - Rodion Shchedrin, Russian pianist and composer
1932 - Quentin Blake, English illustrator
1934 - Nobuyuki Aihara, Japanese gymnast (d. 2013)
1934 - Rodolfo Llinas, Colombian-American neuroscientist
1935 - Nikos Sampson, President of Cyprus (d. 2001)
1936 - Morris Dees, American lawyer and Civil Rights activist
1937 - Mitsuo Kamata, Japanese footballer
1938 – Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress
1939 – Philip Langridge, English tenor (d. 2010)
1939 – Barney McKenna, Irish musician (Dubliners) (d. 2012)
1941 - Lesley Stahl, American TV host
1942 – Donald Carcieri, American politician, former Governor of Rhode Island
1943 – Tony Hicks, English guitarist (The Hollies)
1943 - Steven Bochco, American television producer and writer (d. 2018)
1944 – N!xau, Namibian actor and bush farmer (d. 2003)
1945 - Bobby George, English darts player
1946 – Benny Andersson, Swedish musician, singer and songwriter (ABBA)
1946 - Christopher Ellison, English actor
1946 - Trevor Pinnock, English conductor
1947 - Vince Matthews, American athlete
1948 – Christopher Biggins, English actor
1948 – Pat Quinn, American politician, former Governor of Illinois
1949 - Billy Gibbons, American musician, songwriter and actor

1951 – 1975

1952 – Francesco Graziani, Italian footballer
1952 - Joel Garner, Barbadian cricketer
1953 - Rebecca Forstadt, American voice actress
1955 - Xander Berkeley, American actor
1955 - Carol Browner, American lawyer, environmentalist and businesswoman
1955 - Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este
1956 - Liliane Maury Pasquier, Swiss politician
1956 - Lizzy Mercier Descloux, French singer-songwriter, musician and actress (d. 2004)
1956 – Tommy Burns, Scottish footballer (d. 2008)
1957 - Antonio Vega, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
1958 - Cathy Inglese, American football coach (d. 2019)
1958 - Katie Leigh, American actress
1959 - Alison LaPlaca, American actress
1959 - H. D. Kumaraswamy, Indian politician, 18th Chief Minister of Karnataka
1959 - Alexander Lebedev, Russian businessman
1960 - Pat Van Den Hauwe, Belgian footballer and manager
1961 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (d. 1994)
1961 – Jon Tenney, American actor
1962 - Melanie Smith, American actress
1963 – Benjamin Bratt, American actor
1964 – Heike Drechsler, German athlete
1964 - Paul Vogt, American actor and comedian
1966 - Paul McGinley, Irish golfer
1966 – Dennis Wise, English footballer
1967 - Donovan Bailey, Canadian sprinter
1968 - Ross Burden, New Zealand chef (d. 2014)
1969 - Kevin McCowne, Scottish footballer
1969 - Adam Riess, American physicist and astronomer
1970 - Daniel Cosgrove, American actor
1971 - Scott Booth, Scottish footballer
1972 – Zeljko Kalac, Australian footballer
1972 - Paul Leyden, Australian actor, director, producer and screenwriter
1972 - Julia Klöckner, German politician
1973 – Mariza, Portuguese singer

From 1976

1976 - Geoff Norcott, English comedian
1977 – Sylvain Distin, French footballer
1979 – Trevor Immelman, South African golfer
1979 - Daniel Narcisse, French handball player
1981 - Krysten Ritter, American actress
1981 - Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian-American singer and actress
1982 – Stanislav Sestak, Slovakian footballer
1982 – Justin Mentell, American actor (d. 2010)
1983 - Kelenna Azubuike, American basketball player
1983 – Danielle Lloyd, English model
1984 - Theo James, English actor
1986 - Candice Crawford, American model and journalist
1986 - Alcides Escobar, Venezuelan baseball player
1987 – Mamé Biram Diouf, Senegalese footballer
1988 – Mats Hummels, German footballer
1988 - Anna Popplewell, English actress
1988 - Park Seo-jeon, South Korean actor and model
1988 - Alexey Shved, Russian basketball player
1989 - Vera Nebolsina, Russian chess player
1989 - Lee Biran, Israeli singer, actor and composer
1992 - Lieke Martens, Dutch footballer
1992 - Tom Rogic, Australian footballer
1993 - Jyoti Amge, Indian actress and world's smallest living woman
1994 - Stephen Sutton, English activist, blogger and cancer charity fundraiser (d. 2014)
1996 - Wilfred Ndidi, Nigerian footballer
1997 - Zara Larsson, Swedish singer
1999 - Bryce Robinson, American actor

Deaths

Observances

Independence Day (Kazakhstan)
Day of Reconciliation (South Africa)
Victory Day (India and Bangladesh)