December 16

Pre-1600

• 714 – Pepin of Herstal, mayor of the Merovingian palace, dies at Jupille (modern Belgium). He is succeeded by his infant grandson Theudoald, while his widow Plectrude holds actual power in the Frankish Kingdom.^[1]
• 755 – An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Yanjing, initiating the An Lushan Rebellion during the Tang dynasty of China.^[2]
• 1431 – Hundred Years' War: Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.^[3]
• 1497 – Vasco da Gama passes the Great Fish River at the southern tip of Africa, where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.^[4]
• 1575 – An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.5M_w  strikes Valdivia, Chile.^[5]
• 1598 – Seven-Year War: Battle of Noryang: The final battle of the Seven-Year War is fought between the China and the Korean allied forces and Japanese navies, resulting in a decisive allied forces victory.^[6]

1601–1900

• 1653 – English Interregnum: The Protectorate: Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
• 1689 – Convention Parliament: The Declaration of Right is embodied in the Bill of Rights.
• 1707 – Most Recent Eruption of Mount Fuji.^[7]
• 1761 – Seven Years' War: After a four-month siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kołobrzeg.
• 1773 – American Revolution: Boston Tea Party: Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dump hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.
• 1777 – Virginia becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation. [1]
• 1782 – British East India Company: Muharram Rebellion: Hada and Mada Miah lead the first anti-British uprising in the subcontinent against Robert Lindsay and his contingents in Sylhet Shahi Eidgah.^[8]
• 1811 – The first two in a series of four severe earthquakes occur in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri.
• 1826 – Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican-controlled Nacogdoches, Texas, and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.
• 1838 – Great Trek: Battle of Blood River: Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius and Sarel Cilliers defeat Zulu impis, led by Dambuza (Nzobo) and Ndlela kaSompisi in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.^[9]
• 1850 – The Charlotte Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton, New Zealand.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Joseph E. Johnston replaces Braxton Bragg as commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Nashville: The Union's Army of the Cumberland routs and destroys the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee, ending its effectiveness as a combat unit.
• 1880 – Outbreak of the First Boer War between the Boer South African Republic and the British Empire.
• 1882 – Wales and England contest the first Home Nations (now Six Nations) rugby union match.
• 1883 – Tonkin Campaign: French forces capture the Sơn Tây citadel.

1901–present

• 1905 – In Rugby Union, The "Match of the Century" is played between Wales and New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park.^[10][11]
• 1912 – First Balkan War: The Royal Hellenic Navy defeats the Ottoman Navy at the Battle of Elli.
• 1914 – World War I: Admiral Franz von Hipper commands a raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby.
• 1920 – The Haiyuan earthquake of 8.5M_w , rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000.
• 1942 – The Holocaust: Schutzstaffel chief Heinrich Himmler orders that Roma candidates for extermination be deported to Auschwitz.
• 1944 – World War II: The Battle of the Bulge begins with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.
• 1951 – A Miami Airlines Curtiss C-46 Commando crashes in Elizabeth, New Jersey, killing all 58 aboard including dancer Doris Ruby.^[12]
• 1960 – A United Airlines Douglas DC-8 and a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation collide over Staten Island, New York and crash, killing all 128 people aboard both aircraft and six more on the ground.
• 1968 – Second Vatican Council: Official revocation of the Edict of Expulsion of Jews from Spain.^[13]
• 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The Surrender of the Pakistan Army brings an end to both conflicts. This is commemorated annually as Victory Day in Bangladesh and India respectively.
• 1971 – The United Kingdom recognizes Bahrain's independence, which is commemorated annually as Bahrain's National Day.
• 1973 – Aeroflot Flight 2022 crashes in the Soviet Union's (now Russia) Volokolamsky District, killing all 51 aboard, including 4 Lithuanian doctors.^[14]
• 1986 – Jeltoqsan: Riots erupt in Alma-Ata, Kazakh SSR, in response to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's dismissal of ethnic Kazakh Dinmukhamed Kunaev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, and his replacement with Gennady Kolbin, an ethnic Russian from the Russian SFSR.^[15]
• 1989 – Romanian Revolution: Protests break out in Timișoara, Romania, in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor László Tőkés.
• 2011 – Zhanaozen massacre: Violent protests by oil workers take place in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, leading to 16 people dead and 100 injured by the security forces.^[16]
• 2013 – A bus falls from an elevated highway in the Philippines capital Manila killing at least 18 people with 20 injured.
• 2014 – Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants attack an Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 150 people, 132 of them schoolchildren.^[17]
• 2022 – A landslide occurs at a camp at an organic farm near the town of Batang Kali in Selangor, Malaysia, trapping 92 people and killing 31.^[18][19]

Pre-1600

• 1364 – Emperor Manuel III of Trebizond (d. 1417)
• 1485 – Catherine of Aragon, Spanish princess, later queen consort of England (d. 1536)
• 1534 – Hans Bol, Flemish artist (d. 1593)
• 1582 – Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey (d. 1642)
• 1584 – John Selden, English jurist and scholar (d. 1654)
• 1585 – Livia della Rovere, Italian noble (d. 1641)

1601–1900

• 1605 – Jerome Weston, 2nd Earl of Portland, English diplomat (d. 1663)
• 1614 – Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1674)
• 1630 – Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort, British botanist (d. 1715)
• 1714 – George Whitefield, English Anglican priest (d. 1770)
• 1716 – Louis Jules Mancini Mazarini, French poet and diplomat (d. 1798)
• 1717 – Elizabeth Carter, English poet and scholar (d. 1806)^[20]
• 1730 – Diego Silang, Filipino revolutionary leader (d. 1763)^[21]
• 1742 – Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, German field marshal (d. 1819)
• 1770 – Ludwig van Beethoven, composer (d. 1827)
• 1775 – Jane Austen, English novelist (d. 1817)^[22]
• 1775 – François-Adrien Boieldieu, French pianist and composer (d. 1834)
• 1776 – Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German chemist, physicist, and philosopher (d. 1810)
• 1778 – John Ordronaux, French-American soldier (d. 1841)
• 1787 – Mary Russell Mitford, English author and playwright (d. 1855)
• 1790 – Leopold I of Belgium (d. 1865)
• 1804 – Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1889)
• 1812 – Stuart Donaldson, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of New South Wales (d. 1867)
• 1834 – Léon Walras, French-Swiss economist and theorist (d. 1910)
• 1836 – Ernst von Bergmann, Latvian-German surgeon and academic (d. 1907)
• 1849 – Mary Hartwell Catherwood, American author and poet (d. 1902)^[23]
• 1861 – Antonio de La Gándara, French painter and illustrator (d. 1917)
• 1863 – George Santayana, Spanish philosopher, novelist, and poet (d. 1952)
• 1865 – Olavo Bilac, Brazilian journalist and poet (d. 1918)
• 1866 – Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-French painter and theorist (d. 1944)
• 1867 – Amy Carmichael, Irish missionary and humanitarian (d. 1951)^[24]
• 1869 – Hristo Tatarchev, Bulgarian physician and activist, co-founded the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (d. 1952)
• 1869 – Bertha Lamme Feicht, American electrical engineer (d. 1943)
• 1872 – Anton Denikin, Russian general (d. 1947)
• 1882 – Jack Hobbs, English cricketer and journalist (d. 1963)
• 1882 – Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer, conductor, and musicologist (d. 1967)
• 1882 – Walther Meissner, German physicist and engineer (d. 1974)
• 1883 – Károly Kós, Hungarian-Romanian architect, ethnologist, and politician (d. 1977)
• 1883 – Max Linder, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1925)
• 1884 – John Gunn, Australian politician, 29th Premier of South Australia (d. 1959)
• 1884 – Seibo Kitamura, Japanese sculptor (d. 1987)
• 1888 – Alexander I of Yugoslavia (d. 1934)
• 1888 – Alphonse Juin, Algerian-French general (d. 1967)
• 1889 – Kim Chwa-chin, South Korean guerrilla leader (d. 1930)
• 1895 – Marie Hall Ets, American author and illustrator (d. 1984)
• 1896 – Anna Anderson, an imposter who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia (d. 1984)
• 1899 – Noël Coward, English actor, playwright, and composer (d. 1973)
• 1900 – Lucille Lortel, American actress and producer (d. 1999)
• 1900 – V. S. Pritchett, British writer and literary critic (d. 1997)

1901–present

• 1901 – Margaret Mead, American anthropologist and author (d. 1978)^[25]
• 1902 – Rafael Alberti, Spanish poet and playwright (d. 1999)
• 1903 – Hardie Albright, American actor (d. 1975)
• 1903 – Harold Whitlock, English race walker and coach (d. 1985)
• 1905 – Piet Hein, Danish mathematician, author, and poet (d. 1996)
• 1905 – Ruben Nirvi, Finnish linguist and professor (d. 1986)^[26]
• 1907 – Barbara Kent, Canadian-born American film actress (d. 2011)
• 1908 – Remedios Varo, Spanish-Mexican surrealist painter & anarchist (d. 1963)
• 1910 – Freddie Brown, Peruvian-English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1991)
• 1913 – George Ignatieff, Russian-Canadian scholar and diplomat, 8th Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 1989)
• 1914 – O. Winston Link, American photographer (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Ruth Johnson Colvin, American author and educator, founded ProLiteracy Worldwide
• 1917 – Nabi Bux Khan Baloch, Pakistani author and scholar (d. 2011)
• 1917 – Pete T. Cenarrusa, American soldier, pilot, and politician, Secretary of State of Idaho (d. 2013)
• 1917 – Arthur C. Clarke, English science fiction writer (d. 2008)^[27]
• 1920 – Frederick Rotimi Williams, Nigerian lawyer and politician (d. 2005)
• 1921 – Eulalio González, Mexican singer-songwriter, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
• 1922 – Cy Leslie, American record producer, founded Pickwick Records (d. 2008)
• 1923 – Menahem Pressler, German-American pianist (d. 2023)
• 1923 – Ernst Florian Winter, Austrian-American historian and political scientist (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Nicolas Sidjakov, Latvian-American illustrator (d. 1993)
• 1926 – James McCracken, American tenor and actor (d. 1988)
• 1926 – A. N. R. Robinson, Tobagonian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago (d. 2014)^[28]
• 1926 – Jeffrey Stone, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2012)
• 1927 – Peter Dickinson, Rhodesian-English author and poet (d. 2015)
• 1927 – Randall Garrett, American author and poet (d. 1987)
• 1928 – Terry Carter, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2024)
• 1928 – Philip K. Dick, American philosopher and author (d. 1982)^[29]
• 1929 – Nicholas Courtney, Egyptian-English actor (d. 2011)
• 1930 – Bill Brittain, American author (d. 2011)
• 1930 – Sam Most, American flute player and saxophonist (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Bill Young, American sergeant and politician (d. 2013)
• 1932 – Grace Alele-Williams, Nigerian mathematician and academic (d. 2022) ^[30]
• 1932 – Quentin Blake, English author and illustrator
• 1932 – Lin Zhao, Chinese dissident and Christian executed during the Cultural Revolution (d. 1968)
• 1936 – Morris Dees, American lawyer and activist, co-founded the Southern Poverty Law Center
• 1937 – Joyce Bulifant, American actress^[31]
• 1937 – Edward Ruscha, American painter and photographer
• 1938 – Frank Deford, American journalist and author (d. 2017)^[29]
• 1938 – Liv Ullmann, Norwegian actress, director, and screenwriter^[31]
• 1939 – Philip Langridge, English tenor (d. 2010)
• 1939 – Gordon Miller, English high jumper
• 1941 – Lesley Stahl, American journalist and actress^[31]
• 1941 – Roger Neil Wheeler, English general
• 1942 – Donald Carcieri, American educator and politician, 73rd Governor of Rhode Island
• 1943 – Steven Bochco, American television writer and producer (d. 2018)^[29]
• 1943 – Patti Deutsch, American actress and comedian (d. 2017)^[32]
• 1944 – Jeff Kanew, American director and screenwriter
• 1944 – Don Meyer, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1945 – Tony Hicks, English singer and guitarist^[31]
• 1946 – Benny Andersson, Swedish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer^[31]
• 1946 – Charles Dennis, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1946 – Trevor Pinnock, English harpsichord player and conductor
• 1946 – Tom Stern, American cinematographer
• 1947 – Ben Cross, English actor (d. 2020)^[29]
• 1947 – Vincent Matthews, American sprinter
• 1947 – Martyn Poliakoff, English chemist and academic
• 1947 – Trevor Żahra, Maltese novelist, poet and illustrator^[33]
• 1949 – Billy Gibbons, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer^[31]
• 1949 – Heather Hallett, English lawyer and judge
• 1950 – Claudia Cohen, American journalist (d. 2007)
• 1950 – Roy Schuiten, Dutch cyclist and manager (d. 2006)
• 1951 – Aykut Barka, Turkish scientist (d. 2002)
• 1951 – Sally Emerson, English author and poet
• 1951 – Mike Flanagan, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2011)
• 1951 – Robben Ford, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1951 – Mark Heard, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1992)
• 1952 – Joel Garner, Barbadian cricketer and manager
• 1952 – Francesco Graziani, Italian footballer and manager
• 1953 – Rebecca Forstadt, American voice actress and screenwriter
• 1955 – Xander Berkeley, American actor and producer^[31]
• 1955 – Carol Browner, American lawyer and environmentalist, 8th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
• 1955 – Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este
• 1955 – Chiharu Matsuyama, Japanese singer-songwriter
• 1956 – Lizzy Mercier Descloux, French musician, singer-songwriter, composer, actress, writer and painter (d. 2004)
• 1957 – Antonio Vega, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
• 1958 – Bart Oates, American football player and lawyer
• 1958 – Jeff Ruland, American basketball player^[34]
• 1959 – H. D. Kumaraswamy, Indian social worker and politician, 18th Chief Minister of Karnataka
• 1959 – Alison La Placa, American actress^[31]
• 1959 – Alexander Lebedev, Russian businessman and politician
• 1959 – Steve Mattsson, American author and illustrator
• 1960 – Pat Van Den Hauwe, Belgian footballer and manager
• 1961 – André Andersen, Russian-Danish keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
• 1961 – Shane Black, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1961 – Bill Hicks, American comedian and musician (d. 1994)
• 1961 – LaChanze, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1961 – Sam Robards, American actor^[31]
• 1961 – Jon Tenney, American actor and director^[31]
• 1962 – Maruschka Detmers, Dutch-French actress
• 1962 – William Perry, American football player and wrestler
• 1963 – Benjamin Bratt, American actor and producer^[31]
• 1963 – Cathy Johnston-Forbes, American golfer
• 1963 – James Mangold, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1964 – Heike Drechsler, German sprinter and long jumper
• 1964 – Todd Glass, American comedian
• 1964 – John Kirwan, New Zealand rugby player and coach
• 1964 – Georgie Parker, Australian actress
• 1964 – Billy Ripken, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1965 – Melanie Sloan, American lawyer and activist
• 1965 – J. B. Smoove, American comedian, writer, and actor^[31]
• 1966 – Paul McGinley, Irish golfer
• 1966 – Clifford Robinson, American basketball player (d. 2020)
• 1966 – Dennis Wise, English footballer and manager
• 1967 – Donovan Bailey, Canadian sprinter and sportscaster
• 1967 – Indrek Kaseorg, Estonian decathlete
• 1967 – Miranda Otto, Australian actress^[31]
• 1968 – Wendy Doolan, Australian golfer
• 1968 – Lalah Hathaway, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
• 1968 – Greg Kovacs, Canadian bodybuilder (d. 2013)
• 1969 – Simon Grayson, English footballer and manager
• 1969 – Kent Hehr, Canadian politician
• 1969 – Adam Riess, American astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic Nobel Prize laureate
• 1969 – Michelle Smith, Irish swimmer
• 1969 – Dmitri Tymoczko, American composer and theorist
• 1969 – Craig White, English cricketer and coach
• 1970 – Valerie Chow, Canadian-Hong Kong actress and publicist
• 1970 – Daniel Cosgrove, American actor^[31]
• 1971 – Seyhan Kurt, French-Turkish poet and sociologist
• 1971 – Paul van Dyk, German musician, producer and DJ^[35]
• 1971 – Michael McCary, American R&B singer^[31]
• 1972 – Charles Gipson, American baseball player
• 1972 – Paul Leyden, Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1972 – Travis Morrison, American singer-songwriter
• 1973 – Themba Mnguni, South African footballer
• 1973 – Scott Storch, American songwriter and producer, founded Storch Music Company
• 1975 – Valentin Bădoi, Romanian footballer and manager
• 1975 – Kaba Diawara, French-Guinean footballer
• 1975 – Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1975 – Paul Maynard, English politician
• 1976 – Jen Golbeck, American computer scientist and academic
• 1977 – Éric Bélanger, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 – Sylvain Distin, French footballer
• 1978 – John Morris, Canadian curler and firefighter
• 1978 – Gunter Van Handenhoven, Belgian footballer and manager
• 1979 – Trevor Immelman, South African golfer
• 1979 – Brodie Lee, American wrestler (d. 2020)^[36]
• 1979 – Daniel Narcisse, French handball player^[37]
• 1979 – Mihai Trăistariu, Romanian singer-songwriter
• 1979 – Jessie Ward, American wrestler and producer
• 1980 – Danish Kaneria, Pakistani cricketer
• 1981 – Krysten Ritter, American actress, musician, and model^[31]
• 1981 – Reanna Solomon, Nauruan weightlifter (d. 2022)^[38]
• 1981 – Gareth Williams, Scottish footballer
• 1982 – Antrel Rolle, American football player
• 1982 – Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer, actress and television presenter
• 1982 – Stanislav Šesták, Slovak footballer
• 1983 – Kelenna Azubuike, Nigerian-American basketball player
• 1983 – Frankie Ballard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1983 – Joey Dorsey, American basketball player^[39]
• 1984 – Theo James, English actor^[31]
• 1985 – Stanislav Manolev, Bulgarian footballer
• 1985 – James Nash, English race car driver
• 1985 – Amanda Setton, American actress^[31]
• 1986 – Alcides Escobar, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1986 – Zoltán Kovács, Hungarian footballer (d. 2013)
• 1986 – Pärt Uusberg, Estonian actor, composer, and conductor.
• 1987 – Mame Biram Diouf, Senegalese footballer
• 1987 – Beau Dowler, Australian footballer
• 1987 – Hallee Hirsh, American actress^[31]
• 1988 – Mats Hummels, German footballer
• 1988 – Anna Popplewell, English actress^[31]
• 1988 – Alexey Shved, Russian basketball player^[40]
• 1989 – Mikkel Bødker, Danish ice hockey player^[41]
• 1990 – Rebecca Marino, Canadian tennis player^[42]
• 1991 – Craig Goodwin, Australian footballer
• 1991 – David Johnson, American football player^[43]
• 1992 – Ulrikke Eikeri, Norwegian tennis player^[44]
• 1992 – Anamul Haque, Bangladeshi cricketer
• 1992 – Pietro Perdichizzi, Belgian footballer
• 1992 – Tom Rogic, Australian footballer
• 1993 – Jyoti Amge, Indian actress^[29]
• 1993 – Stephan James, Canadian actor^[31]
• 1994 – Nigel Hayes, American basketball player^[45]
• 1994 – Elliot Lee, English footballer
• 1994 – Nicola Murru, Italian footballer
• 1994 – José Rodríguez, Spanish footballer
• 1998 – Mira Antonitsch, Austrian tennis player^[46]

Pre-1600

• 604 – Houzhu, emperor of the Chen dynasty (b. 553)
• 705 – Wu Zetian, Empress of the Zhou dynasty (b. 624)
• 714 – Pepin of Herstal, Frankish statesman (b. 635)
• 867 – Eberhard of Friuli, Frankish duke (b. 815)
• 874 – Ado, archbishop of Vienne
• 882 – John VIII, pope of the Catholic Church
• 902 – Wei Yifan, chancellor of the Tang dynasty
• 999 – Adelaide of Italy, Holy Roman Empress (b. 931)
• 1153 – Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, Norman nobleman
• 1263 – Haakon IV, king of Norway (b. 1204)
• 1316 – Öljaitü, Mongolian ruler (b. 1280)
• 1325 – Charles, French nobleman (b. 1270)
• 1378 – Secondotto, marquess of Montferrat (b. 1360)
• 1379 – John FitzAlan, 1st Baron Arundel, English general and politician, Lord Marshall of England (b. 1348)
• 1470 – John II, duke of Lorraine (b. 1424)
• 1474 – Ali Qushji, Uzbek astronomer, mathematician, and physicist (b. 1403)
• 1515 – Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese admiral and politician, 3rd Viceroy of Portuguese India (b. 1453)
• 1558 – Thomas Cheney, English diplomat and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
• 1583 – Ivan Fyodorov, Russian printer
• 1594 – Allison Balfour, Scottish witch
• 1598 – Yi Sun-sin, Korean general (b. 1545)

1601–1900

• 1669 – Nathaniel Fiennes, English soldier and politician (b. 1608)
• 1687 – William Petty, English economist and philosopher (b. 1623)^[47]
• 1751 – Leopold II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (b. 1700)
• 1774 – François Quesnay, French economist, physician, and philosopher (b. 1694)
• 1783 – Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer and educator (b. 1699)
• 1783 – Sir William James, 1st Baronet, Welsh-English commander and politician (b. 1720)
• 1805 – Saverio Cassar, Gozitan priest and rebel leader (b. 1746)
• 1809 – Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist and entomologist (b. 1755)
• 1859 – Wilhelm Grimm, German anthropologist and author (b. 1786)
• 1892 – Henry Yesler, American businessman and politician, 7th Mayor of Seattle (b. 1810)
• 1897 – Alphonse Daudet, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1840)
• 1898 – Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and art collector (b. 1832)

1901–present

• 1908 – American Horse, American tribal leader and educator (b. 1840)
• 1917 – Frank Gotch, American wrestler (b. 1878)
• 1921 – Camille Saint-Saëns, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1835)
• 1922 – Gabriel Narutowicz, Lithuanian–Polish engineer and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Poland (b. 1865)
• 1928 – Elinor Wylie, American poet and author (b. 1885)
• 1935 – Thelma Todd, American actress and comedian (b. 1905)
• 1936 – Frank Eugene, American-German photographer and educator (b. 1865)
• 1940 – Eugène Dubois, Dutch paleoanthropologist (b. 1858)
• 1940 – Billy Hamilton, American baseball player and manager (b. 1866)
• 1943 – George Bambridge, English diplomat (b. 1892)
• 1944 – Betsie ten Boom, Dutch Holocaust victim (b. 1885)
• 1945 – Giovanni Agnelli, Italian businessman, founded Fiat (b. 1866)
• 1945 – Fumimaro Konoe, Japanese lawyer and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1891)
• 1949 – Sidney Olcott, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1873)
• 1952 – Robert Henry Best, American journalist (b. 1896)
• 1956 – Nina Hamnett, Welsh painter and author (b. 1890)
• 1961 – Hans Rebane, Estonian journalist and politician, 8th Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1882)
• 1965 – W. Somerset Maugham, British playwright, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1874)
• 1968 – Futabayama Sadaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 35th Yokozuna (b. 1912)
• 1968 – Muhammad Suheimat, Jordanian general and politician (b. 1916)
• 1969 – Alphonse Castex, French rugby union player (b. 1899)
• 1969 – Soe Hok Gie, Indonesian activist and academic (b. 1942)
• 1970 – Oscar Lewis, American anthropologist of Latin America (b. 1914)
• 1974 – Kostas Varnalis, Greek poet and playwright (b. 1884)
• 1976 – Réal Caouette, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1917)
• 1977 – Risto Jarva, Finnish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
• 1980 – Colonel Sanders, American businessman, founded KFC (b. 1890)
• 1980 – Hellmuth Walter, German-American engineer (b. 1900)
• 1982 – Colin Chapman, English engineer and businessman, founded Lotus Cars (b. 1928)
• 1983 – Debs Garms, American baseball player (b. 1907)
• 1984 – Karl Deichgräber, German philologist and academic (b. 1903)
• 1985 – Thomas Bilotti, American mobster (b. 1940)
• 1985 – Paul Castellano, American mobster (b. 1915)
• 1989 – Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1913)
• 1989 – Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (b. 1930)
• 1989 – Aileen Pringle, American actress (b. 1895)
• 1989 – Lee Van Cleef, American actor (b. 1925)
• 1991 – Eszter Tamási, Hungarian actress and journalist (b. 1938)
• 1993 – Moses Gunn, American actor (b. 1929)
• 1993 – Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1918)
• 1996 – Quentin Bell, English historian and author (b. 1910)
• 1997 – Lillian Disney, American illustrator and philanthropist (b. 1899)
• 1998 – William Gaddis, American author and academic (b. 1922)
• 2001 – Stuart Adamson, English-Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
• 2001 – Stefan Heym, German-American soldier and author (b. 1913)
• 2003 – Robert Stanfield, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician, 17th Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Gary Stewart, American singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
• 2004 – Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (b. 1933)
• 2004 – Deyda Hydara, Gambian journalist, co-founded The Point (b. 1946)
• 2004 – Agnes Martin, American painter and educator (b. 1912)
• 2005 – Kenneth Bulmer, English author (b. 1921)
• 2005 – Ed Hansen, American director and screenwriter (b. 1937)
• 2005 – John Spencer, American actor (b. 1946)
• 2006 – Don Jardine, Canadian wrestler and trainer (b. 1940)
• 2006 – Taliep Petersen, South African singer-songwriter and director (b. 1950)
• 2006 – Pnina Salzman, Israeli pianist and educator (b. 1922)
• 2006 – Stanford J. Shaw, American historian and academic (b. 1930)
• 2007 – Dan Fogelberg, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1951)
• 2009 – Roy E. Disney, American businessman (b. 1930)
• 2009 – Yegor Gaidar, Russian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1956)
• 2009 – Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, South African physician and politician, 22nd South African Minister of Health (b. 1940)
• 2010 – Melvin E. Biddle, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1923)
• 2010 – Ayinde Barrister, Nigerian fuji musician (b. 1948)
• 2011 – Robert Easton, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1930)
• 2011 – Nicol Williamson, Scottish actor (b. 1938)
• 2012 – Elwood V. Jensen, American biologist and academic (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Jake Adam York, American poet and academic (b. 1972)
• 2013 – James Flint, English commander (b. 1913)
• 2013 – Ray Price, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Marta Russell, American journalist, author, and activist (b. 1951)
• 2014 – Martin Brasier, English paleontologist, biologist, and academic (b. 1947)
• 2014 – Tim Cochran, American mathematician and academic (b. 1955)
• 2015 – Peter Dickinson, Rhodesian-English author and poet (b. 1927)
• 2015 – Lizmark, Mexican wrestler (b. 1950)
• 2015 – George Earl Ortman, American painter and sculptor (b. 1926)
• 2017 – Keely Smith, American singer and actress (b. 1928)^[48]

• Christian feast day:
  • Adelaide of Italy^[49]
  • Haggai
  • Ralph Adams Cram, Richard Upjohn and John La Farge (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • December 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Day of Reconciliation, formerly celebrated as Day of the Vow by the Afrikaners (South Africa)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Kazakhstan from the Soviet Union in 1991.^[50]
• National Day, celebrates the withdrawal of United Kingdom from Bahrain, making Bahrain an independent emirate in 1971.
• National Sports Day (Thailand)
• The beginning of the nine-day celebration beginning December 16 and ending December 24, celebrating the trials which Mary and Joseph endured before finding a place to stay where Jesus could be born (Hispanidad):
  • The first day of Las Posadas (Mexico, Latin America)
  • The first day of the Simbang Gabi novena of masses (Philippines)
• Victory Day observances, celebration of the Indo-Bangla allied victory over Pakistan armed forces and the Liberation of Bangladesh. (Bangladesh and India)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to December 16.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Historical Events on December 16