1603 – William Watson, English conspirator (b. 1559)
1819 – Ann C Coleman, American socialite and fiancée of lawyer and future US President James Buchanan, dies of a laudanum overdose at 23
1966 – Yury Alexandrovich Shaporin, Russian-Ukrainian Soviet composer, dies at 79
1975 – Frank Signorelli, American swing jazz pianist (Original Dixieland Jazz Band; Joe Venuti’s Blue Four), and songwriter (Stairway to the Stars), dies at 74
1982 – Fritz Usinger, German writer (Song Against Death), dies at 87
2001 – Michael Carver, British soldier (b. 1915)
2002 – Stan Rice, American painter, educator, and poet (b. 1942)
2012 – Patrick Moore, English astronomer, author and TV presenter (The Sky at Night), dies from an infection at 89
2014 – Mary Ann Mobley, American model and actress (Miss America 1959, Diff’rent Strokes), dies from breast cancer at 77
2018 – (Arie) “Aat” Veldhoen, Dutch visual artist, dies at 84
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 9th December 2025
1640 – Settler Hugh Bewitt banished from Mass colony when he declares himself to be free of original sin
1824 – Battle of Ayacucho (Candorcangui), Peru defeats Spain
1907 – First Christmas Seals sold (Wilmington, Delaware, post office)
1967 – Nicolae Ceaușescu becomes President of Romania (overthrown in 1989)
1978 – First game of Women’s Professional Basketball League (WBL): Chicago Hustle vs. Milwaukee Does
1990 – 23rd NAACP Image Awards: “Coming to America” wins Outstanding Motion Picture
2012 – The Social Liberal Union Party and Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta win by a landslide in the parliamentary elections
2019 – Chilean Air Force plane lost on flight to Antarctica with presumed loss of 38 lives
Today in History for 9th December 2025
Historical Events
1974 – Howard Cosell briefly interviews rocker John Lennon, and Frank Gifford chats with California governor Ronald Reagan, during halftime of Monday Night Football broadcast from the Coliseum in Los Angeles, California
1988 – Premiere of fact based crime drama film “Mississippi Burning”
2016 – South Korean MPs vote to impeach President Park Geun-hye
2019 – US officials “deliberately misled” the public on progress of the Afghanistan war, hid that it was a lost cause, according to The Washington Post analysis of the “Afghanistan Papers”
2023 – 89th Heisman Trophy Award: Jayden Daniels, LSU (QB)
Famous Birthdays
1787 – John Dobson, English architect, born in High Chirton, North Shields, England (d. 1865)
1902 – Rab Butler, British politician who favoured appeasement, born in Attock Serai, British India (d. 1982)
1904 – Roger Wolcott Sperry, American neurobiologist (1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, work with split-brain research), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1994)
1965 – Brad Savage, American actor (Red Dawn), born in Livonia, Michigan
1974 – Wendy Dillinger, American female soccer player and coach, born in St. Charles County, Missouri
Famous Deaths
1674 – Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English statesman, lawyer, chief advisor to Charles I, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II, dies at 65
1775 – Pietro Gnocchi, Italian sacred music composer, choir director Brescia Cathedral, 1723-33 and 1762-75), priest, historian, and geographer, dies at 86
2004 – David Brudnoy, American radio personality (b. 1940)
2014 – José Feghali, Brazilian concert pianist (Van Cliburn Gold Medalist, 1985), takes his own life at 53
2023 – Frank Wycheck, American football tight end (Pro Bowl 1998, 99, 2000; Washington Redskins, Houston/Tennessee Oilers-Titans), dies after a fall at 52
Famous Deaths for 8th December 2025
644 – Omar I, 2nd Caliph of Islam (634-44), oversaw conquest of Persia and Egypt, murdered at 59 or 60
1680 – Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, English politician (b. 1606)
1768 – Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary and painter, dies at 66
1963 – Field Marshal Sarit Dhanarajata, Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1908)
1982 – André Kamperveen, Suriname footballer, politician, administrator, and pro-democracy advocate murdered by the military at 58
1992 – William Shawn, American magazine editor (New Yorker, 1952-87), dies at 85
1993 – Carlotta Monti [Montijo], American actress and memoirist (W. C. Fields and Me), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 86
2015 – Mattiwilda Dobbs, American soprano, dies at 90
2016 – Florence Finch, Filipino-American war hero who fought against the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II, dies at 101
2018 – Evelyn Berezin, American computer pioneer, invented first word processor, dies at 93
Historical Events for 8th December 2025
1914 – Battle of the Falkland Island: British Royal Navy destroys a German battle squadron
1952 – First TV acknowledgment of a pregnancy in the “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy is Enceinte,” which incorporates Lucy’s real-life pregnancy into the storyline
1961 – Philadelphia Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain scores 78 points in a 151-147 triple-overtime defeat to the LA Lakers at Philadelphia Civic Center, the third-highest individual game total in NBA history
1982 – “Sophie’s Choice”, directed by Alan J. Pakula and based on William Styton’s 1979 novel of the same name, starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, is released (Academy Awards Best Actress 1983)
2004 – Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the Union of South American Nations
2019 – Sanna Marin becomes Finland’s youngest-ever Prime Minister at the age of 34
2022 – Iran announces first known execution of a protester from recent anti-government unrest, after convicting a man in a revolutionary court of “moharebeh” (enmity against God)
2024 – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad resigns and flees to Moscow after rebel forces sweep into the capital city of Damascus
Today in History for 8th December 2025
Historical Events
1925 – George S. Kaufman and Irving Berlin’s musical “The Cocoanuts” starring the Marx Brothers opens at the Lyric Theatre, NYC; runs for 276 performances
1973 – 39th Heisman Trophy Award: John Cappelletti, Penn State (RB)
1974 – Soyuz 16 returns to Earth
2007 – 73rd Heisman Trophy Award: Tim Tebow, Florida (QB)
2022 – Canadian pop singer Celine Dion reveals via Instagram that she has been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disorder
Famous Birthdays
1741 – Maximilien Gardel, French ballet dancer and choreographer (Menuet Reine), born in Mannheim, Electorate of the Palatinate, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1787)
1822 – Luther Prentice Bradley, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1910)
1965 – Carina Lau, Hong Kong actress and singer (Days of Being Wild), born in Suzhou, China
1967 – Ron George, American linebacker (Minnesota Vikings), born in Heidelberg, Germany
1989 – Drew Doughty, Canadian hockey defenseman (Stanley Cup 2012, 14 LA Kings; Olympic gold 2010, 14; Norris Trophy 2016), born in London, Canada
Famous Deaths
1625 – Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen consort of Sweden as the wife of King Charles IX, dies at 52
1680 – Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, English politician (b. 1606)
1989 – Hans Hartung, German-French painter, dies at 85
2008 – Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer and writer, dies at 83
2021 – Lars Høgh, Danish soccer goalkeeper (8 caps; OB 603 games) and GK coach (Denmark, Brøndby IF), dies from pancreatic cancer at 62
Famous Deaths for 7th December 2025
1254 – Innocent IV [Sinibaldo Fieschi], Italian pope (1243-54), dies at 58 or 59
1383 – Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg (1354-83), Duke of Brabant and Limburg (1355-83), dies at 46
1867 – Rudolf Viole, German pianist and composer, dies at 42
1877 – Benjamin Huger, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 72
1909 – Whitcomb Judson, American inventor (zipper), dies at 63
1938 – Harry Moses, cricketer (6 Tests for Australia 1887-95), dies
1995 – Larry Bartlett, British photographic printer (Larry Bartlett’s Black and White Photographic Printing Workshop), dies at 42
2011 – Harry Morgan, American actor (December Bride; M*A*S*H, 1975-83 – “Col. Sherman Potter”; AfterMASH; Dragnet – “Bill Gannon”), dies in his sleep at 96
2012 – Saul Steinberg, American businessman, founder of Leasco and CEO of Reliance Insurance Company, dies at 73
2014 – John Bartholomew Tucker, American TV host (Candid Camera, Treasure Island), dies at 84
Historical Events for 7th December 2025
1937 – Russian chess player Alexander Alekhine recaptures his final world title from Dutch grand master Max Euwe by a large margin (+10−4=11)
1941 – Japanese Emperor Hirohito signs a declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire
1966 – A fire at an army barracks in Erzurum, Turkey kills 68 people.
1973 – Orioles sell pitcher Eddie Watt to the Phillies
1988 – A 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Spitak, Armenia, kills 25,000 to 50,000 people and leaves up to 500,000 homeless
2006 – A Tornado strikes Kensal Green in northwest London, seriously damaging around 150 properties
2018 – Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is elected the new leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union party, replacing Angela Merkel
2024 – Restored Notre Dame Cathedral re-opens after the 2019 fire with a VIP ceremony attended by world leaders in Paris, France
Today in History for 7th December 2025
Historical Events
1703 – Great storm of 1703 hits Southern England – thousands killed, Royal Navy losses 13 ships and around 1,500 seamen
1924 – German election (Social Democrats win, Nazis and Communists lose)
1941 – The Imperial Japanese Navy, with 353 planes, attacks the US fleet at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii, killing 2,403 people
1964 – George Harrison changes his music publishing company’s name from Mornyork to Harrisongs
2020 – Australian states celebrate “Freedom Day” easing COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria and New South Wales
Famous Birthdays
1557 – Girolamo Trombetti [Cavallari], Italian singer, trombonist, composer (Sustinuimus pacem), and maestro di cappella (San Giovanni de Monti, 1591-1628), baptized in Bologna, Papal States (d. 1628)
1830 – Luigi Cremona, Italian mathematician (grafostatica), born in Pavia, Italy (d. 1903)
1935 – Jean-Claude Casadesus, French conductor (Orchestre national de Lille, 1976-2016), born in Paris, France
1954 – Bertín Osborne, Italian entertainer, born in Madrid, Spain
1988 – Emily Browning, Australian actress (Ghost Ship), born in Melbourne, Australia
Famous Deaths
1498 – Alexander Hegius, German humanist and pioneering teacher of Erasmus and Pope Adrian VI, dies at about 65
1775 – Charles Saunders, British admiral, First Lord of the Admiralty, dies at about 60
1956 – Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor, dies at 77
1996 – Jose Donoso, Chilean writer (The Place Without Limits), dies at 72
2019 – Denis Lalanne, French sports journalist (‘Le grand combat du XV de France’; ‘Rugbymania: French flair attitude’), dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 6th December 2025
1951 – J Edward Bromberg, Hungarian actor (The Mark of Zorro, Under 2 Flags), dies from a heart attack at 47
1970 – Thomas S Power, American USAF-gen (Raid on Tokyo-March 1945), dies at 65
1996 – Trevor Key, British photographer and graphic designer, known for his album cover art (Mike Oldfield; Phil Collins; New Order; OMD), dies of a brain tumor at 48
1997 – Eddie Myers, British WWII soldier and engineer, dies at 91
2001 – Robert Camac, American horse trainer, murdered by a family member at 61
2005 – Charly Gaul, Luxembourg cyclist (b. 1932)
2007 – Katy French, Irish Supermodel and Socialite, dies at 24
2010 – Hugues Cuénod, Swiss tenor and musical educator, dies at 108
2018 – Pete Shelley [Peter McNeish], English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Buzzcocks “Going Steady”), dies at 63
2023 – Tore Aleksandersen, Norwegian women’s volleyball coach (Allianz MTV Stuttgart; Norway, Finland women’s national teams), dies from prostate cancer at 55