December 5

Pre-1600

• 63 BC – Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.
• 633 – Fourth Council of Toledo opens, presided over by Isidore of Seville.
• 1033 – The Jordan Rift Valley earthquake destroys multiple cities across the Levant, triggers a tsunami and kills many.
• 1082 – Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated, most likely by his brother, Berenguer Ramon II.
• 1408 – Seeking to resubjugate Muscovy, Emir Edigu of the Golden Horde reaches Moscow, burning areas around the city but failing to take the city itself.
• 1456 – The first of two earthquakes measuring M_w  7.2 strikes Italy, causing extreme destruction and killing upwards of 70,000 people.
• 1484 – Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany.
• 1496 – King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree ordering the expulsion of Jews from the country.
• 1560 – Thirteen-year-old Charles IX becomes king of France, with Queen Mother Catherine de' Medici as regent.
• 1578 – Sir Francis Drake, after sailing through Strait of Magellan, raids Valparaiso.

1601–1900

• 1649 – The town of Raahe (Swedish: Brahestad) is founded by Count Per Brahe the Younger.
• 1757 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Leuthen: Frederick II of Prussia leads Prussian forces to a decisive victory over Austrian forces under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine.
• 1766 – In London, auctioneer James Christie holds his first sale.
• 1770 – 29th Regiment of Foot privates Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Kilroy are found guilty for the manslaughter of Crispus Attucks and Samuel Gray respectively in the Boston Massacre.
• 1775 – At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• 1776 – Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society in the U.S., holds its first meeting at the College of William & Mary.
• 1831 – Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.
• 1847 – Jefferson Davis is elected to the U.S. Senate.
• 1848 – California Gold Rush: In a message to the United States Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.
• 1865 – Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.
• 1895 – New Haven Symphony Orchestra of Connecticut performs its first concert.

1901–present

• 1914 – The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition began in an attempt to make the first land crossing of Antarctica.
• 1919 – Ukrainian War of Independence: The Polonsky conspiracy is suppressed and its participants are executed by the Kontrrazvedka.
• 1921 – The Football Association bans women's football in England from league grounds, a ban that stays in place for 50 years.
• 1933 – The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
• 1934 – Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.
• 1935 – Mary McLeod Bethune founds the National Council of Negro Women in New York City.
• 1936 – The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.
• 1941 – World War II: In the Battle of Moscow, Georgy Zhukov launches a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army.
• 1941 – World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.
• 1943 – World War II: Allied air forces begin attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow.
• 1945 – Flight 19, a group of TBF Avengers, disappears in the Bermuda Triangle.
• 1952 – Beginning of the Great Smog in London. A cold fog combines with air pollution and brings the city to a standstill for four days. Later, a Ministry of Health report estimates 4,000 fatalities as a result of it.
• 1955 – The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL–CIO.
• 1955 – E. D. Nixon and Rosa Parks lead the Montgomery bus boycott.
• 1958 – Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.
• 1958 – The Preston By-pass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. (It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.)
• 1964 – Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.
• 1964 – Lloyd J. Old discovers the first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease—mouse leukemia—opening the way for the recognition of the importance of the MHC in the immune response.
• 1971 – Battle of Gazipur: Pakistani forces stand defeated as India cedes Gazipur to Bangladesh.
• 1977 – Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen. The move is in retaliation for the Declaration of Tripoli against Egypt.
• 1983 – Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.
• 1991 – Leonid Kravchuk is elected the first president of Ukraine.
• 1995 – Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lanka's government announces the conquest of the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.
• 1995 – Azerbaijan Airlines Flight A-56 crashes near Nakhchivan International Airport in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, killing 52 people.
• 2005 – The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.
• 2005 – The 6.8 M_w  Lake Tanganyika earthquake shakes the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing six people.
• 2006 – Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.
• 2007 – Westroads Mall shooting: Nineteen-year-old Robert A. Hawkins kills nine people, including himself, with a WASR-10 at a Von Maur department store in Omaha, Nebraska.
• 2013 – Militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sana'a, Yemen, killing at least 56 people and injuring 200 others.
• 2014 – Exploration Flight Test-1, the first flight test of Orion, is launched.
• 2017 – The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics for doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Pre-1600

• 852 – Zhu Wen, Chinese emperor (d. 912)
• 1377 – Jianwen Emperor of China (d. 1402)
• 1389 – Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Polish cardinal and statesman (d. 1455)
• 1443 – Pope Julius II (d. 1513)
• 1470 – Willibald Pirckheimer, German lawyer and author (d. 1530)
• 1495 – Nicolas Cleynaerts, Flemish philologist and lexicographer (d. 1542)
• 1537 – Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shōgun (d. 1597)
• 1539 – Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and author (d. 1604)
• 1547 – Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (d. 1625)
• 1556 – Anne Cecil, Countess of Oxford, English countess (d. 1588)
• 1596 – Henry Lawes, English composer (d. 1662)

1601–1900

• 1661 – Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (d. 1724)
• 1666 – Francesco Scarlatti, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1741)
• 1687 – Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1762)
• 1697 – Giuseppe de Majo, Italian organist and composer (d. 1771)
• 1782 – Martin Van Buren, American lawyer and politician, 8th President of the United States (d. 1862)
• 1784 – George Shepherd, English illustrator and painter (d. 1862)
• 1803 – Fyodor Tyutchev, Russian poet and diplomat (d. 1873)
• 1820 – Afanasy Fet, Russian poet and author (d. 1892)
• 1822 – Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American philosopher and academic, co-founded Radcliffe College (d. 1907)
• 1829 – Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, French-Canadian lawyer and politician, 4th Premier of Quebec (d. 1908)
• 1830 – Christina Rossetti, English poet and author (d. 1894)
• 1839 – George Armstrong Custer, American general (d. 1876)
• 1841 – Marcus Daly, Irish-American businessman (d. 1900)
• 1849 – Eduard Seler, German anthropologist, ethnohistorian, linguist, and academic (d. 1922)
• 1855 – Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist, and ethnographer (d. 1942)
• 1859 – John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, English admiral and politician, 2nd Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1935)
• 1861 – Konstantin Korovin, Russian-French painter and set designer (d. 1939)
• 1862 – John Henry Leech, English entomologist (d. 1900)
• 1863 – Paul Painlevé, French mathematician and politician, 84th Prime Minister of France (d. 1933)
• 1866 – John Beresford, Irish polo player (d. 1944)
• 1866 – Traian Demetrescu, Romanian poet and author (d. 1896)
• 1867 – Antti Aarne, Finnish author and academic (d. 1925)
• 1867 – Józef Piłsudski, Polish field marshal and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Poland (d. 1935)
• 1868 – Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist and academic (d. 1951)
• 1869 – Ellis Parker Butler, American author and poet (d. 1937)
• 1870 – Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer and educator (d. 1949)
• 1872 – Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American chess player (d. 1906)
• 1875 – Arthur Currie, Canadian general (d. 1933)
• 1879 – Clyde Vernon Cessna, American pilot and businessman, founded the Cessna Aircraft Corporation (d. 1954)
• 1881 – René Cresté, French actor and director (d. 1922)
• 1886 – Rose Wilder Lane, American journalist and author (d. 1968)
• 1886 – Pieter Oud, Dutch historian, academic, and politician, Minister of Finance of the Netherlands (d. 1968)
• 1886 – Nikolai Uglanov, Soviet politician (d. 1937)
• 1890 – David Bomberg, English painter, illustrator, and academic (d. 1957)
• 1890 – Fritz Lang, Austrian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1976)
• 1891 – Paul Kogerman, Estonian chemist and academic (d. 1951)
• 1894 – Charles Robberts Swart, South African lawyer and politician, 1st State President of South Africa (d. 1982)
• 1895 – Elbert Frank Cox, American mathematician and academic (d. 1969)
• 1896 – Ann Nolan Clark, American historian, author, and educator (d. 1995)
• 1896 – Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
• 1897 – Nunnally Johnson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1977)
• 1897 – Gershom Scholem, German-Israeli philosopher and historian (d. 1982)
• 1898 – Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and translator (d. 1982)
• 1898 – Grace Moore, American soprano and actress (d. 1947)
• 1900 – Jimmy Dimmock, English footballer (d. 1972)

1901–present

• 1901 – Walt Disney, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (d. 1966)
• 1901 – Milton H. Erickson, American psychiatrist and author (d. 1980)
• 1901 – Werner Heisenberg, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
• 1902 – Emeric Pressburger, Hungarian-English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Strom Thurmond, American educator, general, and politician, 103rd Governor of South Carolina (d. 2003)
• 1903 – Johannes Heesters, Dutch-German actor and singer (d. 2011)
• 1903 – C. F. Powell, English-Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
• 1905 – Francisco Javier Arana, Guatemalan Army colonel and briefly Guatemalan head of state (d. 1949)
• 1905 – Otto Preminger, Austrian-American actor, director, and producer (d. 1986)
• 1907 – Lin Biao, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 1971)
• 1907 – Giuseppe Occhialini, Italian-French physicist and academic (d. 1993)
• 1910 – Abraham Polonsky, American director and screenwriter (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist and composer (d. 2000)
• 1912 – Kate Simon, American travel writer (d. 1990)
• 1912 – Sonny Boy Williamson II, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (d. 1965)
• 1913 – Esther Borja, Cuban soprano and actress (d. 2013)
• 1914 – Helen Dettweiler, American golfer (d. 1990)
• 1914 – Hans Hellmut Kirst, German lieutenant and author (d. 1989)
• 1916 – Hilary Koprowski, Polish-American virologist and immunologist, created the world's first effective live polio vaccine (d. 2013)
• 1916 – Walt McPherson, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
• 1917 – Ken Downing, English racing driver (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Alun Gwynne Jones, Baron Chalfont, English historian and politician (d. 2020)
• 1921 – Alvy Moore, American actor and producer (d. 1997)
• 1922 – Casey Ribicoff, American philanthropist (d. 2011)
• 1922 – Don Robertson, American songwriter and pianist (d. 2015)
• 1924 – Robert Sobukwe, South African banker and politician (d. 1978)
• 1925 – Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Nicaraguan politician, 73rd President of Nicaragua (d. 1980)
• 1926 – Adetowun Ogunsheye, first female Nigerian professor and university dean
• 1927 – Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand (d. 2016)
• 1927 – W.D. Amaradeva, Sri Lankan musician and composer (d. 2016)
• 1929 – Madis Kõiv, Estonian physicist, philosopher, and author (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Yi-Fu Tuan, Chinese-American geographer (d. 2022)
• 1931 – Ladislav Novák, Czech footballer and manager (d. 2011)
• 1932 – Alf Dubs, Baron Dubs, British politician
• 1932 – Sheldon Glashow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1932 – Jim Hurtubise, American race car driver (d. 1989)
• 1932 – Nadira, Indian actress (d. 2006)
• 1932 – Little Richard, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 2020)
• 1933 – Gennadiy Agapov, Russian race walker (d. 1999)
• 1933 – Harry Holgate, Australian politician, 36th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1997)
• 1934 – Joan Didion, American novelist and screenwriter (d. 2021)
• 1935 – Calvin Trillin, American novelist, humorist, and journalist
• 1935 – Yury Vlasov, Ukrainian-Russian weightlifter and politician (d. 2021)
• 1936 – James Lee Burke, American journalist, author, and academic
• 1938 – J. J. Cale, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
• 1940 – Tony Crafter, Australian cricket umpire
• 1940 – Boris Ignatyev, Russian footballer and manager
• 1940 – Peter Pohl, Swedish author, director, and screenwriter
• 1940 – Frank Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2012)
• 1942 – Bryan Murray, Canadian ice hockey coach (d. 2017)
• 1943 – Eva Joly, Norwegian-French judge and politician
• 1943 – Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, South Korean cardinal
• 1944 – Jeroen Krabbé, Dutch actor, director, and producer
• 1945 – Serge Chapleau, Canadian cartoonist
• 1945 – Moshe Katsav, Iranian-Israeli educator and politician, 8th President of Israel
• 1946 – José Carreras, Spanish tenor and actor
• 1946 – Andy Kim, Canadian pop singer-songwriter
• 1946 – Sarel van der Merwe, South African racing driver
• 1947 – Rudy Fernandez, Filipino triathlete
• 1947 – Bruce Golding, Jamaican lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Jamaica
• 1947 – Tony Gregory, Irish activist and politician (d. 2009)
• 1947 – Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa, Mongolian cosmonaut and military leader
• 1947 – Jim Messina, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1947 – Jim Plunkett, American football player and radio host
• 1947 – Kim Simmonds, Welsh blues-rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1947 – Don Touhig, Welsh journalist and politician
• 1948 – Denise Drysdale, Australian television host and actress
• 1949 – John Altman, English composer and conductor
• 1949 – David Manning, English civil servant and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
• 1951 – Morgan Brittany, American actress
• 1951 – Link Byfield, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2015)
• 1951 – Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Belgian painter and illustrator
• 1953 – Gwen Lister, South African-Namibian journalist, publisher, and activist
• 1954 – Hanif Kureishi, English author and playwright
• 1955 – Miyuki Kawanaka, Japanese singer
• 1955 – Juha Tiainen, Finnish hammer thrower (d. 2003)
• 1956 – Klaus Allofs, German footballer and manager
• 1956 – Butch Lee, Puerto Rican basketball player
• 1956 – Adam Thorpe, French-English author, poet, and playwright
• 1956 – Krystian Zimerman, Polish virtuoso pianist
• 1957 – Raquel Argandoña, Chilean model, actress, and politician
• 1957 – Art Monk, American football player
• 1958 – Dynamite Kid, English wrestler (d. 2018)
• 1959 – Lee Chapman, English footballer
• 1959 – Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, Ukrainian businessman
• 1960 – Frans Adelaar, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1960 – Osvaldo Golijov, Argentinian-American composer and educator
• 1960 – Jack Russell, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1960 – Matthew Taylor, English businessman and politician
• 1961 – Ralf Dujmovits, German mountaineer
• 1961 – Laura Flanders, British journalist
• 1962 – José Cura, Argentinian tenor, conductor, and director
• 1962 – Pablo Morales, American swimmer and coach
• 1962 – Nivek Ogre, Canadian singer-songwriter
• 1962 – Fred Rutten, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1963 – Doctor Dré, American television and radio host
• 1963 – Carrie Hamilton, American actress and playwright (d. 2002)
• 1963 – Alberto Nisman, Argentinian lawyer (d. 2015)
• 1964 – Martin Vinnicombe, Australian cyclist
• 1965 – Manish Malhotra, Indian fashion designer
• 1965 – John Rzeznik, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1965 – Wayne Smith, Jamaican rapper (d. 2014)
• 1965 – Valeriy Spitsyn, Russian race walker
• 1967 – Gary Allan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1968 – Margaret Cho, American comedian, actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1968 – Lisa Marie, American model and actress
• 1968 – Lydia Millet, American novelist
• 1968 – Falilat Ogunkoya, Nigerian sprinter
• 1969 – Eric Etebari, American actor, director, and producer
• 1969 – Morgan J. Freeman, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1969 – Sajid Javid, British Pakistani banker and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
• 1969 – Lewis Pugh, English swimmer and lawyer
• 1969 – Ramón Ramírez, Mexican footballer
• 1969 – Catherine Tate, English actress, comedian, and writer
• 1970 – Kevin Haller, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1970 – Michel'le, American singer-songwriter
• 1971 – Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, German businessman and politician, German Federal Minister of Defence
• 1971 – Ashia Hansen, American-English triple jumper
• 1971 – Gabriel Hjertstedt, Swedish golfer
• 1971 – Kali Rocha, American actress
• 1972 – Cliff Floyd, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1972 – Duane Ross, American hurdler and coach
• 1973 – Argo Arbeiter, Estonian footballer
• 1973 – Arik Benado, Israeli footballer
• 1973 – Mikelangelo Loconte, Italian singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1973 – Luboš Motl, Czech physicist and academic
• 1974 – Ravish Kumar, Indian journalist and author
• 1974 – Brian Lewis, American sprinter
• 1975 – Ronnie O'Sullivan, English snooker player and radio host
• 1975 – Paula Patton, American actress
• 1976 – Amy Acker, American actress
• 1976 – Xavier Garbajosa, French rugby player
• 1976 – Norishige Kanai, Japanese doctor and astronaut
• 1976 – Sachiko Kokubu, Japanese actress and model
• 1976 – Rachel Komisarz, American swimmer and coach
• 1977 – Peter van der Vlag, Dutch footballer
• 1978 – Neil Druckmann, American video game designer and author
• 1978 – Olli Jokinen, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1978 – Marcelo Zalayeta, Uruguayan footballer
• 1979 – Matteo Ferrari, Italian footballer
• 1979 – Niklas Hagman, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1979 – Gareth McAuley, Northern Irish footballer
• 1979 – Nick Stahl, American actor
• 1980 – Ibrahim Maalouf, Lebanese-French trumpet player and composer
• 1980 – Jessica Paré, Canadian actress
• 1981 – Adan Canto, Mexican actor (d. 2024)
• 1982 – Eddy Curry, American basketball player
• 1982 – Keri Hilson, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1982 – Gabriel Luna, American actor
• 1983 – Joakim Lindström, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1984 – Lauren London, American actress
• 1985 – Shikhar Dhawan, Indian cricketer
• 1985 – Frankie Muniz, American actor, drummer, and race car driver
• 1985 – Josh Smith, American basketball player
• 1985 – Danny Wicks, Australian rugby league player
• 1986 – LeGarrette Blount, American football player
• 1986 – James Hinchcliffe, Canadian Indycar racing driver
• 1986 – Justin Smoak, American baseball player
• 1987 – A. J. Pollock, American baseball player
• 1988 – Ross Bagley, American actor
• 1988 – Tina Charles, American basketball player
• 1988 – Kyle Long, American football player
• 1988 – Joanna Rowsell, English cyclist
• 1989 – Jurrell Casey, American football player
• 1989 – Kwon Yu-ri, South Korean singer-songwriter and actress
• 1990 – Montee Ball, American football player
• 1991 – Cam Fowler, Canadian-American ice hockey player
• 1991 – Jacopo Sala, Italian footballer
• 1991 – Christian Yelich, American baseball player
• 1992 – Ilja Antonov, Estonian footballer
• 1992 – Natalie Sourisseau, Canadian field hockey player
• 1993 – Ross Barkley, English footballer
• 1994 – Ondrej Duda, Slovak footballer
• 1994 – Semi Ojeleye, American basketball player
• 1995 – Danny Levi, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1995 – Anthony Martial, French footballer
• 1995 – Kaetlyn Osmond, Canadian figure skater
• 1997 – Maddie Poppe, American singer-songwriter and musician
• 1997 – Quinnen Williams, American football player
• 1998 – Conan Gray, American singer-songwriter

Pre-1600

• 63 BC – Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, Roman politician (b. 114 BC)
• 334 – Li Ban, emperor of Cheng Han (b. 288)
• 902 – Ealhswith, queen consort and wife of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex
• 1082 – Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona (b. 1053)
• 1212 – Dirk van Are, bishop and lord of Utrecht
• 1244 – Joan, Countess of Flanders and Hainault (b. 1199 or 1200)
• 1355 – John III, Duke of Brabant (b. 1300)
• 1560 – Francis II of France (b. 1544)
• 1570 – Johan Friis, Danish politician (b. 1494)

1601–1900

• 1624 – Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist and physician (b. 1560)
• 1654 – Jean François Sarrazin, French author and poet (b. 1611)
• 1663 – Severo Bonini, Italian organist and composer (b. 1582)
• 1749 – Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, Canadian commander and explorer (b. 1685)
• 1758 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (b. 1688)
• 1770 – James Stirling, Scottish mathematician and surveyor (b. 1692)
• 1784 – Phillis Wheatley, Senegal-born slave, later American poet (b. 1753)
• 1791 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer and musician (b. 1756)
• 1819 – Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg, German poet and lawyer (b. 1750)
• 1870 – Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright (b. 1802)
• 1887 – Eliza R. Snow, American poet and songwriter (b. 1804)
• 1891 – Pedro II of Brazil (b. 1825)

1901–present

• 1918 – Schalk Willem Burger, South African commander, lawyer, and politician, 6th President of the South African Republic (b. 1852)
• 1925 – Władysław Reymont, Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
• 1926 – Claude Monet, French painter (b. 1840)
• 1931 – Vachel Lindsay, American poet (b. 1879)
• 1933 – Alexander Atabekian, Armenian physician and anarchist publisher (b. 1869)
• 1940 – Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist and composer (b. 1880)
• 1941 – Amrita Sher-Gil, Hungarian-Pakistani painter (b. 1913)
• 1942 – Jock Delves Broughton, English captain (b. 1883)
• 1946 – Louis Dewis, Belgian-French painter and educator (b. 1872)
• 1951 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player and manager (b. 1887)
• 1951 – Abanindranath Tagore, Indian painter, author, and academic (b. 1871)
• 1953 – William Sterling Parsons, American admiral (b. 1901)
• 1955 – Glenn L. Martin, American pilot and businessman, founded the Glenn L. Martin Company (b. 1886)
• 1961 – Emil Fuchs, German-American lawyer and businessman (b. 1878)
• 1963 – Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer and educator (b. 1905)
• 1963 – Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Indian-Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1892)
• 1964 – V. Veerasingam, Sri Lankan educator and politician (b. 1892)
• 1965 – Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist, neuroscientist, and academic Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
• 1968 – Fred Clark, American actor (b. 1914)
• 1969 – Claude Dornier, German engineer and businessman, founded Dornier Flugzeugwerke (b. 1884)
• 1969 – Princess Alice of Battenberg (b. 1885)
• 1973 – Robert Watson-Watt, Scottish engineer, invented the radar (b. 1892)
• 1975 – Constance McLaughlin Green, American historian and author (b. 1897)
• 1977 – Katherine Milhous, American author and illustrator (b. 1894)
• 1977 – Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Russian marshal and politician, Minister of Defence for the Soviet Union (b. 1895)
• 1979 – Jesse Pearson, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
• 1983 – Robert Aldrich, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1918)
• 1984 – Cecil M. Harden, American politician (b. 1894)
• 1986 – Edward Youde, Welsh-Chinese sinologist and diplomat, 26th Governor of Hong Kong (b. 1924)
• 1989 – John Pritchard, English conductor and director (b. 1921)
• 1990 – Alfonso A. Ossorio, Filipino-American painter and sculptor (b. 1916)
• 1991 – Richard Speck, American mass murderer (b. 1941)
• 1994 – Harry Horner, Czech-American director, producer, and production designer (b. 1910)
• 1995 – L. B. Cole, American illustrator and publisher (b. 1918)
• 1995 – Charles Evans, English mountaineer, surgeon, and educator (b. 1918)
• 1995 – Gwen Harwood, Australian poet and playwright (b. 1920)
• 1995 – Clair Cameron Patterson, American scientist (b. 1922)
• 1997 – Eugen Cicero, Romanian-German jazz pianist (b. 1940)
• 1998 – Albert Gore, Sr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1907)
• 2001 – Franco Rasetti, Italian-American physicist and academic (b. 1901)
• 2002 – Roone Arledge, American sportscaster and producer (b. 1931)
• 2002 – Ne Win, Burmese general and politician, 4th President of Burma (b. 1911)
• 2005 – Edward L. Masry, American lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
• 2006 – David Bronstein, Ukrainian-Belarusian chess player and theoretician (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Andrew Imbrie, American composer and academic (b. 1921)
• 2007 – George Paraskevaides, Greek-Cypriot businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Joannou & Paraskevaides (b. 1916)
• 2007 – Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer and academic (b. 1928)
• 2008 – Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow (b. 1929)
• 2008 – George Brecht, American chemist and composer (b. 1926)
• 2008 – Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (b. 1924)
• 2008 – Beverly Garland, American actress and businesswoman (b. 1926)
• 2008 – Anca Parghel, Romanian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1957)
• 2009 – William Lederer, American soldier and author (b. 1912)
• 2010 – Alan Armer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
• 2010 – Don Meredith, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (b. 1938)
• 2011 – Peter Gethin, English racing driver (b. 1940)
• 2011 – Gennady Logofet, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1942)
• 2012 – Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (b. 1909)
• 2012 – Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, designed the United Nations Headquarters and Cathedral of Brasília (b. 1907)
• 2012 – Ignatius IV of Antioch, Syrian patriarch (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (b. 1917)
• 2013 – William B. Edmondson, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Africa (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
• 2014 – Ernest C. Brace, American captain and pilot (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Fabiola, Queen of Belgium (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Talât Sait Halman, Turkish poet, translator, and historian (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Jackie Healy-Rae, Irish hurdler and politician (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian and author (b. 1909)
• 2015 – Vic Eliason, American clergyman and radio host, founded VCY America (b. 1936)
• 2015 – Tibor Rubin, Hungarian-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Chuck Williams, American businessman and author, founded Williams Sonoma (b. 1915)
• 2016 – Tyruss Himes ("Big Syke"), American rapper (b. 1968)
• 2017 – Michael I of Romania, fifth and last king of Romania (b. 1921)
• 2017 – August Ames, Canadian American pornographic actress (b. 1994)
• 2019 – Robert Walker, American actor (b. 1940)
• 2020 – Peter Alliss, English professional golfer (b. 1931)
• 2021 – Bob Dole, American politician (b. 1923)
• 2022 – Kirstie Alley, American actress and producer (b. 1951)
• 2023 – Norman Lear, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1922)

• Christian feast day:
  • Abercius
  • Clement of Alexandria (Episcopal Church)
  • Crispina
  • Dalmatius of Pavia
  • Gerbold
  • Justinian of Ramsey Island
  • Nicetius (Nizier)
  • Pelinus of Brindisi
  • Sabbas the Sanctified
  • December 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Children's Day (Suriname)
• Day of Military Honour - Battle of Moscow (Russia)
• Discovery Day (Haiti and Dominican Republic)
• International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development
• Klozum (Schiermonnikoog, Netherlands)
• Saint Nicholas' Eve (Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Hungary, Romania, Germany, Poland and the UK)
  • Krampusnacht (Austria)
• The King Bhumibol Adulyadej Memorial Birthday (Thailand)
• World Soil Day