# What happened on December 21 in history?

**Date:** December 21  
**Events recorded:** 38  
**Years spanned:** 69 – 2023  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/december/21/

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## Featured Event

**2004** — Iraq War: A suicide bomber kills 22 at the forward operating base next to the main U.S. military airfield at Mosul, Iraq, the single deadliest suicide attack on American soldiers in Iraq.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War)

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## Events on this date

- **69** — The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AD_69))
- **1124** — Pope Honorius II is consecrated, having been elected after the controversial dethroning of Pope-Elect  Celestine II. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Honorius_II))
- **1140** — After a siege of several weeks, the city of Weinsberg and its castle surrender to Conrad III of Germany. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Weinsberg))
- **1237** — The city of Ryazan is sacked by the Mongol army of Batu Khan. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryazan))
- **1361** — The Battle of Linuesa is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the forces of the Emirate of Granada and the combined army of the Kingdom of Castile and of Jaén resulting in a Castilian victory. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Linuesa))
- **1598** — Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Curalaba))
- **1620** — Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land near what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Colony))
- **1826** — American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacogdoches%2C_Texas))
- **1832** — Egyptian–Ottoman War: Egyptian forces decisively defeat Ottoman troops at the Battle of Konya. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian%E2%80%93Ottoman_War_(1831%E2%80%931833)))
- **1844** — The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers commences business at its cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochdale_Society_of_Equitable_Pioneers))
- **1861** — Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor))
- **1872** — Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth, England. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenger_expedition))
- **1879** — the fictional character of Nora Helmer is first portrayed by Betty Hennings at a showing of A Doll's House at the Royal Danish Theatre. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora_Helmer))
- **1883** — The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, the first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army, are formed. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Canadian_Dragoons))
- **1907** — The Chilean Army commits a massacre of at least 2,000 striking saltpeter miners in Iquique, Chile. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_Army))
- **1910** — An underground explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, England, kills 344 miners. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretoria_Pit_disaster))
- **1919** — American anarchist Emma Goldman is deported to Russia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism))
- **1923** — United Kingdom and Nepal formally sign an agreement of friendship, called the Nepal–Britain Treaty of 1923, which superseded the Treaty of Sugauli signed in 1816. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal))
- **1934** — Lieutenant Kijé, one of Sergei Prokofiev's best-known works, premiered. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_Kij%C3%A9_(Prokofiev)))
- **1941** — World War II: A Thai-Japanese Pact of Alliance is signed. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II))
- **1946** — An 8.1 Mw earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Nankaidō, Japan, kills over 1,300 people and destroys over 38,000 homes. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_magnitude_scale))
- **1963** — "Bloody Christmas" begins in Cyprus, ultimately resulting in the displacement of 25,000–30,000 Turkish Cypriots and destruction of more than 100 villages. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Christmas_(1963)))
- **1965** — International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is adopted. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Convention_on_the_Elimination_of_All_Forms_of_Racial_Discrimination))
- **1967** — Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a human-to-human heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, having lived for 18 days after the transplant. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Washkansky))
- **1968** — Apollo program: Apollo 8 is launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program))
- **1973** — The Geneva Conference on the Arab–Israeli conflict opens. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conference_(1973)))
- **1979** — Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancaster_House_Agreement))
- **1988** — A bomb explodes on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270. This is to date the deadliest air disaster to occur on British soil. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103))
- **1991** — Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The leaders of 11 now effectively autonomous Soviet republics sign the Alma-Ata Protocol establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States in place of the collapsing Soviet Union. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union))
- **1992** — A Dutch DC-10, flight Martinair MP 495, crashes at Faro Airport, Portugal, killing 56. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands))
- **1995** — The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem))
- **1999** — The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid, Spain. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Guard_(Spain)))
- **1999** — Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216 overshoots the runway at La Aurora International Airport, killing 18. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubana_de_Aviaci%C3%B3n_Flight_1216))
- **2004** — Iraq War: A suicide bomber kills 22 at the forward operating base next to the main U.S. military airfield at Mosul, Iraq, the single deadliest suicide attack on American soldiers in Iraq. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War))
- **2012** — 2012 phenomenon: Festivities are held in parts of Mesoamerica to commemorate the conclusion of b'ak'tun 13, a roughly 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar whose passing many New Age spiritualists had earlier held to portend a variety of cataclysmic or transformative events. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon))
- **2020** — A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_conjunction))
- **2022** — A Vega C rocket carrying two Pléiades Neo satellites fails after liftoff. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vega_C))
- **2023** — Fourteen people are killed and 25 others injured during a mass shooting at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Prague_shootings))

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## Notable births on December 21

- **2006** — **Cooper Flagg** — American basketball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_Flagg))
- **2002** — **Clara Tauson** — Danish tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Tauson))
- **1997** — **Madelyn Cline** — American actress and model ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madelyn_Cline))
- **1997** — **Charlie McAvoy** — American ice hockey player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_McAvoy))
- **1996** — **Ben Chilwell** — English footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Chilwell))
- **1996** — **Kaitlyn Dever** — American actress ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaitlyn_Dever))
- **1994** — **Luke Brooks** — Australian rugby league player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Brooks))
- **1992** — **Ha Ha Clinton-Dix** — American football player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha_Ha_Clinton-Dix))
- **1992** — **Jamie Oleksiak** — Canadian ice hockey player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Oleksiak))
- **1991** — **Nic Maddinson** — Australian cricketer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nic_Maddinson))

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## Notable deaths on December 21

- **2024** — **Michelle Botes** — South African actress (born 1962) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Botes))
- **2024** — **Art Evans** — American actor (born 1942) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Evans_(actor)))
- **2019** — **Andrew Clennel Palmer** — British engineer (born 1938) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Clennel_Palmer))
- **2017** — **Bruce McCandless II** — US astronaut who conducted the first untethered spacewalk (born 1937) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_McCandless_II))
- **2014** — **Udo Jürgens** — Austrian-Swiss singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1934) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udo_J%C3%BCrgens))
- **2014** — **Sitor Situmorang** — Indonesian poet and author (born 1923) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitor_Situmorang))
- **2014** — **Billie Whitelaw** — English actress (born 1932) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Whitelaw))
- **2013** — **Edgar Bronfman Sr.** — Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist (born 1929) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Bronfman_Sr.))
- **2013** — **John Eisenhower** — American historian, general, and diplomat, 45th United States Ambassador to Belgium (born 1922) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Eisenhower))
- **2010** — **Enzo Bearzot** — Italian footballer and manager (born 1927) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzo_Bearzot))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/december/21/](https://thisday.info/events/december/21/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.