On this day: December 21

Events on December 21

• 69 The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors. Wikipedia
• 1237 The city of Ryazan is sacked by the Mongol army of Batu Khan. Wikipedia
• 1832 Egyptian–Ottoman War: Egyptian forces decisively defeat Ottoman troops at the Battle of Konya. Wikipedia
• 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
• 1919 American anarchist Emma Goldman is deported to Russia. Wikipedia
• 1919 After serving two years in prison for encouraging people to resist military conscription, anarchist Emma Goldman was deported from the United States to Russia. Wikipedia
• 1923 United Kingdom and Nepal formally sign an agreement of friendship, called the Nepal–Britain Treaty of 1923, which superseded the Treaty of Sugauli signed in 1816.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
• 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length cel-animated feature in film history, premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: A Thai-Japanese Pact of Alliance is signed. Wikipedia
• 1946 An 8.1 Mw earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Nankaidō, Japan, kills over 1,300 people and destroys over 38,000 homes. Wikipedia
• 1963 An attempt by Greek Cypriot police to search certain Turkish Cypriot women in Nicosia escalated into island-wide violence, leading to 538 deaths and the displacement of nearly 27,000 people. Wikipedia
• 1965 The United Nations adopted the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which 88 member states have since signed. Wikipedia
• 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
• 1968 Apollo 8 launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a trajectory to the Moon; its crew became the first humans to visit another celestial body. Wikipedia
• 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
• 1973 The Geneva Conference on the Arab–Israeli conflict opens. Wikipedia
• 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
• 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
• 1992 A Dutch DC-10, flight Martinair MP 495, crashes at Faro Airport, Portugal, killing 56. Wikipedia
• 1995 The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control. Wikipedia
• 1995 In accordance with the Oslo II Accord, Israeli troops withdrew from Bethlehem in preparation for the transfer of control to the Palestinian National Authority. Wikipedia
• 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
• 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
• 2012 Countries that were part of the Maya civilization celebrated the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Wikipedia
• 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
• 2023 Fourteen people are killed and 25 others injured during a mass shooting at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. Wikipedia

Born on December 21

• 1401 Masaccio, Italian painter (died 1428) Wikipedia
• 1728 Hermann Raupach, German harpsichord player and composer (died 1778) Wikipedia
• 1795 Leopold von Ranke, German historian, author, and academic (died 1886) Wikipedia
• 1804 Benjamin Disraeli, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1881) Wikipedia
• 1890 Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1967) Wikipedia
• 1892 Rebecca West, English journalist and author (died 1983) Wikipedia
• 1896 Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union during World War II (died 1968) Wikipedia
• 1917 Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1918 Kurt Waldheim, Austrian colonel and politician; 9th President of Austria (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1937 Jane Fonda, American actress and activist Wikipedia
• 1940 Frank Zappa, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer and producer (died 1993) Wikipedia
• 1942 Hu Jintao, Chinese engineer and politician, 5th Paramount leader of China Wikipedia
• 1947 Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1948 Samuel L. Jackson, American actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1949 Thomas Sankara, Burkinabé captain and politician, 5th President of Burkina Faso (died 1987) Wikipedia
• 1950 Jeffrey Katzenberg, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded DreamWorks Animation Wikipedia
• 1954 Chris Evert, American tennis player and coach Wikipedia
• 1966 Kiefer Sutherland, British-Canadian actor, director, and producer Wikipedia
• 1966 William Ruto, 5th President of Kenya Wikipedia
• 1967 Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Georgia Wikipedia
• 1969 Julie Delpy, French model, actress, director, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1977 Emmanuel Macron, French politician, 25th President of France Wikipedia

Died on December 21

• 72 Thomas the Apostle, Roman martyr and saint (born 1 AD) Wikipedia
• 1375 Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian author and poet (born 1313) Wikipedia
• 1549 Marguerite de Navarre, queen of Henry II of Navarre (born 1492) Wikipedia
• 1581 Jean de la Cassière, 51st Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (born 1502) Wikipedia
• 1608 William Davison, secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England (born c. 1541) Wikipedia
• 1935 Kurt Tucholsky, German-Swedish journalist and author (born 1890) Wikipedia
• 1937 Frank B. Kellogg, American lawyer and politician, 45th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1856) Wikipedia
• 1940 F. Scott Fitzgerald, American novelist and short story writer (born 1896) Wikipedia
• 1945 George S. Patton, American general (born 1885) Wikipedia
• 1958 Lion Feuchtwanger, German-American author and playwright (born 1884) Wikipedia
• 1988 Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1907) Wikipedia
• 2006 Saparmyrat Nyýazow, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (born 1940) (date death announced) Wikipedia
• 2009 Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 2014 Udo Jürgens, Austrian-Swiss singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1934) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Armed Forces Day (Philippines) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: O Oriens Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Peter Canisius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Thomas the Apostle Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: December 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Forefathers' Day (Plymouth, Massachusetts) Wikipedia
• São Tomé Day (São Tomé and Príncipe) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “December 21” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.