December 23th

December 23 is the 357th (three hundred and fifty-seventh) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar and the 358th in leap years. There are 8 days left to end the year.

Events

• 1235: In the framework of the Christian conquest of Cordoba, Christian soldiers take advantage of the night and climb the city walls with the help of stairs and dressed in Arab clothes to begin the siege.
• 1292: in Palencia, Spain, the Hospital de la Herrada grants to the village Quintanilla de Onsoña la Foral Charter.
• 1524: In Valencia, the regent doña Germana de Foix grants a pardon to the perayres.
• 1569: in Spain, the corrector Juan Rodríguez de Villafuerte Maldonado departs from Granada with 9000 infants to fight with the rebellious Moors, heading to Güéjar Sierra.
• 1586: In the town of Antigua Guatemala (Guatemala), an earthquake leaves a balance of "many" dead.
• 1588: In the current Mexico, the Spaniards founded Zacatecas.
• 1715: An interview between the Queen of Spain, Isabel de Farnesio, and the Princess of the Ursinos is held in Jadraque (Guadalajara).
• 1738 (or the previous day): in Qinghai, China, an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 in the seismological scale of Richter (and intensity of 8) leaves a balance of 115 dead.
• 1783: In the United States, George Washington deposes his powers, once the War of Independence is over.
• 1788: In Spain, Charles IV is proclaimed king.
• 1808: in Spain, guarded by the French army, José I Bonaparte accedes to the throne, granted by his brother Napoleon Bonaparte.
• 1876: In Turkey, Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II promulgated a constitution similar to that of European monarchies.
• 1889: at the Casa Colón de Huelva is founded the Huelva Recreation Club (current Real Club Recreativo de Huelva), the dean club of Spanish football.
• 1901: The Philippines proposes the United States to enter into peace negotiations.
• 1906: Spanish king Alfonso XIII solves the border conflict between Honduras and Nicaragua by award.
• 1907: In Sweden, Gustavo V is proclaimed king.
• 1907: in Barcelona two bombs explode in different places, wounding four people.
• 1908: France and Belgium signed a treaty demarcating the edges in the lower part of the Belgian Congo.
• 1909: In Belgium, Alberto I is proclaimed king.
• 1910: In Spain, the Government of Canalejas approves the "law of the lock, which prevents the establishment in Spain of new religious orders without the express authorization of the Council of Ministers.
• 1910: in Chile, Ramón Barros Luco assumes as president of the Republic.
• 1912: In Egypt the prey of Aswan was inaugurated.
• 1913: in the United States the FED (Federal Reserve System) is created.
• 1915: in Chile, Juan Luis Sanfuentes assumes as president of the Republic.
• 1919: The United Kingdom promulgates a new Constitution for India, a country that has invaded since the previous century.
• 1920: in Chile, Arturo Alessandri assumes as president, after defeating for a narrow margin his contendant, Luis Barros Borgoño.
• 1925: in Madrid, Ramón Menéndez Pidal is elected director of the Royal Spanish Academy.
• 1932: In Spain the law of the Income Tax is enacted.
• 1933: the rapid from Strasbourg clashes with Nancy's express, causing 210 dead and 300 wounded.
• 1933: In Uruguay, the Pan-American Conference, attended by members of the League of Nations, is closed.
• 1938: In the framework of the Spanish civil war, Francoist troops enter Catalonia after breaking the republican lines at various points.
• 1940: In China, Chiang Kai-shek dissolves communist organizations.
• 1941: During World War II the second Japanese assault on the American garrison on Wake Island occurs.
• 1942: In the Netherlands, the civilians of the city of Den Helder receive a British air strike.
• 1944: Rodolfo Llopis is elected secretary general of the PSOE at a congress held in Africa.
• 1947: in Panama, the United States abandons the military bases outside the canal area.
• 1947: the new constitution of the Kuomintang enters into force in China.
• 1948: the Cuban State and the private banks of the country founded the National Bank of Cuba.
• 1952: in France he resigns the cabinet of Antoine Pinay.
• 1953: in Madrid, Pedro Laín Entralgo is appointed academic of the Royal Spanish Academy.
• 1955: José Félix de Lequerica is appointed representative of Spain to the UN.
• 1959: in the Cuban village of Casiseis (province of Guantánamo)—in the framework of the terrorist attacks organized by the U.S. CIA—Cuban elevations Olegario Charlot Espileta and Carlos Caraballo Guzmán (members of the terrorist band La Rosa Blanca) assault the home of a couple of teachers of the National Literacy Campaign—Luis Lestapíje-Blí
• 1962: Part of the medicines and goods agreed to for the exchange by the exiles who participated in a frustrated attempt to invade Cochinos Bay come to Cuba in an American boat.
• 1963: In the Caribbean Sea, U.S. CIA agents sink the Cuban torpedo boat LT385.
• 1967: in Rome, American President Lyndon B. Johnson is received by Pope Paul VI.
• 1970: French writer Régis Debray is released in Bolivia.
• 1970: Boca Juniors wins Rosario Central for 2-1 the end of the National Tournament of that year and is dedicated champion once again of Argentina.

Managua Earthquake of 1972.

• 1972: in Nicaragua, an earthquake of magnitude 6.2 on the Richter scale destroys the capital, Managua (especially the center), causing more than 10,000 deaths.
• 1973: in Morocco a Caravelle plane crashes; 106 people die.
• 1974: in Cadiz, 5000 Spanish shipyard workers are suspended from employment and salary.
• 1975: in Argentina there is a coup attempt.
• 1978: in Spain the death penalty was abolished for the military in time of peace.
• 1985: In Pamplona, the terrorist group ETA murders Juan Atarés, General of the Guardia Civil.
• 1985: France compensates Greenpeace for the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior vessel.
• 1985: Marrakech Medina is declared a universal heritage.
• 1986: The Nobel Peace Prize Andréi Sájarov returns to Moscow after being authorized to leave his exile in the city of Gorki.
• 1989: American troops invade Panama.
• 1990: Slovenia voted in favour of the gradual separation of the Yugoslav Federation.
• 2005: in the square of the Citizenship (in Santiago de Chile) the new Cultural Centre Palacio de La Moneda was inaugurated.
• 2007: Baghdad (Irak) happens an explosion on the subway.
• 2009: at the BEC (Bilbao Exhibition Centre), in Galicia, the terrorist band ETA made a false bomb notice.
• 2010: in Spain, the leader of CIU, Artur Mas is invested as president of the Generality of Catalonia.
• 2011: in the municipality of Dosquebradas (Colombia) a polyduct explodes, leaving a balance of 13 dead and at least 80 injured
• 2012: Spanish cyclist Óscar Freire retires from cycling.
• 2019: Chilean President Sebastián Piñera promulgates the constitutional reform that initiates the Constituent Process in Chile.

Births

Zenobia de Palmira

• 245: Zenobia, queen of Palmira (f. v. 274).
• 968: Zhenzong, Chinese emperor (f. 1022).
• 1173: Luis I de Baviera, German aristocrat (f. 1231).
• 1537: John III of Sweden, Swedish king (f. 1592).
• 1597: Martin Opitz, German poet (f. 1639).
• 1613: Carl Gustaf Wrangel, general and Swedish soldier (f. 1676).
• 1644: Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco, organist and Spanish composer (f. 1728).
• 1689: Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, French composer (f. 1755).
• 1722: Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, Swedish chemist (f. 1765).
• 1732: Richard Arkwright, British industrialist (f. 1792).
• 1750: Frederick Augustus I, king Saxon (f. 1827).
• 1777: Alexander I, Russian tsar (f. 1825).
• 1790: Jean-François Champollion, a French egyptologist, considered the father of Egyptology (f. 1832).
• 1793: Juan José Neira, was a Colombian military man who participated in the war of Independence of his country and later in the internal struggles. (f. 1841).
• 1804: Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, French critic and literary (f. 1869).
• 1805: Joseph Smith, American prophet, founder of Mormonism (f. 1844).
• 1807: Antonio María Claret, Spanish clergy (f. 1870).
• 1810: Edward Blyth, zoologist and British chemist (f. 1873).
• 1810: Karl Richard Lepsius, German egyptologist, founder of the Egyptians (f. 1884).
• 1815: Ildefonso Cerdá, urban and Spanish political engineer (f. 1876).
• 1816: Luis Hernández-Pinzón Álvarez, Spanish admiral (f. 1891).
• 1823: Manuel María de Zamacona, attorney, politician and Mexican diplomat (f. 1904).
• 1828: Mathilde Wesendonck, German poet (f. 1902).
• 1831: Lucio V. Mansilla, Argentine writer (f. 1913).
• 1842: Frascuelo (Salvador Sánchez Povedano), Spanish bullfighter (f. 1898).
• 1852: Miguel Ramón Demetrio Faílde and Pérez, Cuban musician, creator of the danzón, national dance of Cuba (f. 1921).
• 1865: Somerset Gough-Calthorpe, British Admiral (f. 1937).
• 1872: Santiago Alba Bonifaz, Spanish politician (f. 1949).

Juan Ramón Jiménez

• 1876: Franz Osten, Bavarian filmmaker.
• 1881: Juan Ramón Jiménez, Spanish poet, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1956 (f. 1958).
• 1882: Mokichi Okada, Japanese religious, creator of the Johrei technique (f. 1955).
• 1887: Victorio Macho, Spanish sculptor (f. 1966).
• 1893: Manuel Bartlett Bautista, Mexican politician (f. 1963).
• 1896: Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Italian writer (f. 1957).
• 1897: Rafael Rivelles, a Spanish actor (f. 1971).
• 1899: Emilio Antonio Di Pasquo, Argentine bishop (f. 1962).
• 1900: Jean Lacroix, French philosopher (f. 1986).
• 1908: Yousuf Karsh, Canadian photographer of Armenian origin (f. 2002).
• 1910: María de las Mercedes de Borbón-Dos Sicilias, Infanta española (f. 2000).
• 1911: James Gregory, American actor (f. 2002).
• 1911: Niels Kaj Jerne, British immunologist, nobel prize for physiology or medicine in 1984 (f. 1994).
• 1912: Anna J. Harrison, American chemistry and teacher (f. 1998).
• 1916: Dino Risi, Italian filmmaker (f. 2008).
• 1918: José Greco, choreographer and Italian flamenco dancer (f. 2000).

Helmut Schmidt

• 1918: Helmut Schmidt, German chancellor (f. 2015).
• 1922: Zuleika Alambert, a feminist writer and Brazilian communist politics (f. 2012).
• 1922: Jonas Mekas, Lithuanian filmmaker (f. 2019).
• 1922: Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician (f. 2001).
• 1925: Pierre Bérégovoy, French politician (f. 1993).
• 1926: Joseíto (José Iglesias Fernández), Spanish footballer (f. 2007).
• 1926: Jorge Medina Estévez, Archbishop and Chilean Cardinal (f. 2021).
• 1927: Horangel (Horacio Germán Tirigall), an Argentine astrologer (f. 2021).
• 1928: Joaquín Capilla, Mexican cloister (f. 2010).
• 1929: Chet Baker, American jazz singer and trompetist (f. 1988).
• 1930: Ana Casares, an Argentine actress of Polish origin (f. 2007).
• 1931: Ronnie Schell, American actor.

Akihito

• 1933: Akihito, 125th Japanese emperor.
• 1934: Claudio Scimone, director of orchestra and Italian musician (f. 2018).
• 1934: Luis Gómez-Acebo, Spanish aristocrat (f. 1991).
• 1936: Frederic Forrest, an American actor.
• 1937: Ethel Rojo, vedette and Argentine actress (f. 2012).
• 1938: Robert Kahn, American inventor, co-inventor of the TCP/IP protocol.
• 1940: Mamnoon Hussain, a Pakistani businessman and politician, president of Pakistan between 2013 and 2018 (f. 2021).
• 1940: Jorma Kaukonen, American musician, of the Jefferson Airplane band.
• 1941:
  • Carlos Cruz de Castro, Spanish composer.
  • Ron Bushy, American drummer, of the Iron Butterfly band (f. 2021).
• 1942: Quentin Bryce, a former governor-general of Australia.
• 1943: Mikhail Grómov, Russian-American mathematician.
• 1943: Elizabeth Hartman, American actress (f. 1987).
• 1943: Harry Shearer, American actor.
• 1943: Silvia Renate Sommerlath, Swedish queen.
• 1944: Wesley Clark, American military.
• 1945: Antonio Cervantes "Kid Pambelé", is a former boxer and Colombian boxing coach who was twice the world champion of the June Wélter weight.
• 1945: Adli Mansur, Egyptian politician.
• 1946: Edita Gruberová, Czechoslovak opera singer (f. 2021).
• 1946: Susan Lucci, American actress.
• 1948: David Davis, British politician.
• 1948: Jack Ham, American football player.
• 1949: Adrian Belew, American guitarist, King Crimson and Talking Heads.

Vicente del Bosque

• 1950: Vicente del Bosque, footballer and Spanish coach.
• 1950: Liliana Pécora, an Argentine actress.
• 1950: Dante Delgado, Mexican politician.
• 1951: Anthony Phillips, British guitarist, of the Genesis band.
• 1954: Brian Teacher, American tennis player.
• 1955: Carol Ann Duffy, Scottish poet.
• 1956: Michele Alboreto, Italian pilot of Formula 1 (f. 2001).
• 1956: Dave Murray, British guitarist, Iron Maiden band.
• 1959: Geoff Willis, British engineer.
• 1960: Iosu Expósito, guitarist and Spanish singer, by the band Eskorbuto (f. 1992).
• 1960: Zindzi Mandela, South African poet and diplomat (f. 2020).
• 1962: Bertrand Gachot, Belgian Formula 1 pilot.
• 1962: Trward Anh Hùng, Vietnamese filmmaker.
• 1962: Keiji Mutō, Japanese professional fighter.
• 1962: Stefan Hell, Romanian biochemical.
• 1963: Rafael Chaparro Madiedo, Colombian writer (f. 1995).
• 1964: Eddie Vedder, American singer, songwriter and leader, of the Pearl Jam band.

Carla Bruni

• 1967: Carla Bruni, exmodel and Italian singer, first French lady.
• 1968: Quincy Jones III, Swedish-American musician.
• 1968: Manuel Rivera-Ortiz, American photographer.
• 1969: Grim (Erik Brødreskift), Norwegian drummer, Immortal, Borknagar and Gorgoroth (f. 1999).
• 1969: Secun de la Rosa, Spanish actor.
• 1970: Catriona Le May Doan, Canadian speed skater.
• 1971: Corey Haim, Canadian actor (f. 2010).
• 1971: Masayoshi Yamazaki, Japanese singer and composer.
• 1972: Laura Alonso, Argentine policy.
• 1974: Agustín Delgado, Ecuadorian footballer.
• 1975: Lady Starlight, DJ and American artist.
• 1976: Joanna Hayes, American athlete.
• 1976: Dimitris Mavrogenidis, Greek footballer.
• 1976: Jamie Noble, American professional fighter.
• 1977: Jari Mäenpää, Finnish vocalist, of the Wintersun band.
• 1977: Paul Shirley, American basketball player.
• 1978: Esthero (Jenny-Bea Englishman), Canadian singer.
• 1978: Jodie Marsh, British model.
• 1978: Estella Warren, Canadian actress.
• 1978: Victor Martínez, Venezuelan baseball player.
• 1979: Jacqueline Bracamontes, Mexican actress and model.
• 1979: Holly Madison, American Playboy model and bunny.
• 1979: Kenny Miller, Scottish footballer.
• 1980: María Fernanda Yepes, a Colombian actress and model.
• 1980: Francisco Cabrera, Peruvian actor.
• 1982: Mane de la Parra, Mexican actor and singer.
• 1982: Beatriz Luengo, Spanish singer and dancer.
• 1982: Pella Kågerman, Swedish film director and screenwriter
• 1983: Michael Chopra, British footballer.
• 1985: Archangel (Austin Santos Santos), American regatta singer.
• 1985: Harry Judd, British drummer, McFly band.
• 1986: Nataly Valencia, Ecuadorian film and theatre actress.
• 1987: Carla Guerrero, Chilean footballer.
• 1990: Anna María Pérez de Tagle, American actress and singer.
• 1992: Jeff Schlupp, a German-born footballer.
• 1994: Reed Alexander, American actor.
• 1996: Bartosz Kapustka, Polish footballer.
• 1997: Luka Jović, Serbian footballer.
• 2002: Finn Wolfhard, actor, model, singer and Canadian director.

Deaths

• 130: Keikō, Japanese emperor (n. 60).
• 484: Hunerico, king of vandals and alanos (n. c. 430).
• 679: Dagobert II, king of Austrasia (n. 652).
• 918: Conrado I, king franc (n. ca. 881).
• 1230: Berenguela de Navarra, queen consort of England, duchess of Normandy and Countess of Anjou (n. ca. 1165-1170).
• 1588: Enrique I de Guisa, French aristocrat (n. 1550).
• 1596: Hattori Hanzō, Japanese ninja (n. 1541).
• 1631: Michael Drayton, British poet (n. 1563).
• 1635: Giovanni Ambrogio Mazenta, religious and Italian architect (n. 1565).
• 1646: François Maynard, French poet (n. 1582).
• 1652: John Cotton, Minister of New England (n. 1585).
• 1688: Jean-Louis Lully, French musician (n. 1667).
• 1749: Mark Catesby, a British naturalist (n. 1683).
• 1783: Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer (n. 1699).
• 1802: Camillo Federici, playwright and Italian actor (n. 1749).
• 1805: Pehr Osbeck, Swedish explorer and naturalist (n. 1723).
• 1805: Geneviève Thiroux d’Arconville, a French writer and anatomist (n. 1720).
• 1814: María de la Consolación Azlor (Condesa de Bureta), Spanish heroin (n. 1775).
• 1822: Antonio de Santa Ana Galvao, a Brazilian religious (n. 1739).
• 1865: Fermin Toro, a politician and a Venezuelan writer (n. 1806).
• 1901: José Narcissus Rovirosa Andrade, a Mexican naturalist engineer (n. 1849).
• 1907: Pierre Janssen, French astronomer (n. 1824).
• 1928: William Turner Thiselton Dyer, British botanist (n. 1843).
• 1931: Wilson Bentley, American scientist (n. 1865).
• 1939: Anthony Fokker, a neerlando-American engineer (n. 1890).
• 1948: Hideki Tōjō, Japanese military and political (n. 1884).
• 1949: Olimpio Bobbio, an Argentine actor of Italian origin (n. 1896).
• 1949: María Santos, an Argentine actress of Spanish origin (n. 1899).
• 1950: Francisco Lomuto, director of orchestra, composer and Argentine pianist of tango (n. 1893).

Disciplinary

• 1951: Enrique Santos Discépolo (Discepolín), composer, musician, playwright and Argentine filmmaker (n. 1901).
• 1951: Benito Lynch, Argentine writer (n. 1880).
• 1953: Lavrenti Beria, Soviet politician (n. 1899).
• 1954: Rene Iché, French sculptor (n. 1897).
• 1956: Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Spanish architect (n. 1867).
• 1962: José Giral, Spanish politician (n. 1879).
• 1962: Modesto López Otero, Spanish architect (n. 1885).
• 1963: Harmodio Arias Madrid, Panamanian president (n. 1886).
• 1970: Charles Ruggles, American actor (n. 1886).
• 1972: Charles Atlas, American physicist (n. 1892).
• 1972: Andréi Túpolev, designer and Russian aircraft builder (n. 1888).
• 1974: Florentino Pérez Embid, Spanish historian (n. 1918).
• 1976: Duarte I Nuño de Braganza, aristocrat Portuguese (n. 1907).
• 1979: Peggy Guggenheim, American philanthropist (n. 1898).
• 1982: Jack Webb, filmmaker and American actor (n. 1920).
• 1983: María Sepúlveda, a Spanish writer (n. 1895).
• 1988: Consuelo Berges, Spanish writer (n. 1899).
• 1991: José Guerrero, Spanish painter (n. 1914).
• 1992: Vincent Fourcade, a French-American interior designer (n. 1934).
• 1992: Eddie Hazel, American guitarist, of the Parliament and Funkadelic band (n. 1950).
• 1993: Lauchlin Currie, Canadian economist (n. 1902).
• 1994: Eduardo Orrego Villacorta, Peruvian architect and politician (n. 1933).
• 1994: Sebastian Shaw, British actor (n. 1905).
• 1995: Joan Sardà i Dexeus, Spanish economist (n. 1910).
• 1997: Stanley Cortez, American filmmaker (n. 1908).
• 2000: Billy Barty, American actor (n. 1924).
• 2000: Victor Borge, a Danish American comedian (n. 1909).
• 2000: Noor Jehan, Pakistani actress and singer (n. 1926).
• 2005: P. V. Narasimha Rao, politician and Indian prime minister (n. 1921).
• 2006: Charlie Drake, British comedian (n. 1925).
• 2007: Romulo Caicedo, Colombian singer (n. 1930).
• 2007: Oscar Peterson, Canadian jazz pianist (n. 1925).
• 2008: Luisito Domínguez, Argentine actor and humorist with enanism (n. 1953).
• 2009: Carlos López García-Picos, Spanish composer (n. 1922).
• 2010: Janine Pommy Vega, American poet of the beat generation (n. 1942).
• 2011: Ricardo Krebs, Chilean historian (n. 1918).
• 2012: Lêdo Ivo, journalist, poet, writer and Brazilian essayist (n. 1924).
• 2013: Mikhail Kaláshnikov, engineer, military and designer of Soviet-Russian firearms (n. 1919).
• 2013: Yusef Lateef, American musician (n. 1920).
• 2015: Alfred G. Gilman, American scientist (n. 1941).
• 2015: Margarita Alexandre, Spanish actress and producer (n. 1923)
• 2019: Mr. Child, Mexican professional fighter (n. 1973)
• 2020: James E. Gunn, American science fiction writer (n. 1923).
• 2021: Jaime Osorio Márquez, was a producer, screenwriter, filmmaker and director of Colombian cinema. (n. 1975).
• 2021: Joan Didion, novelist, screenwriter and American journalist (n. 1934).
• 2022: Odette Roy Fombrun, feminist, suffristic, writer, teacher, intellectual and centenary Haitian (n. 1917).

Celebrations

• CanadaCanada: (Terranova and Labrador), Tibb's Eve.
• EgyptEgypt: Day of victory.
• United States: HumanLight, Festivus.
• India: (Uttar Pradesh), Kisan Diwas.
• Mexico Mexico: (Oaxaca), Rainbow Night.
• Sweden Sweden: Birthday of Queen Silvia, Official Flag Day.
• Sudan: Child Day.
• South Sudan: Child Day.
• Ukraine Ukraine: Day of all levels of technical service operational control structures.

Catholic saints list

• San Juan de Kety, priest (1473).
• Saints Theodule, Saturnino, Euporio, Gelasio, Euniciano, Zótico, Poncio, Agatopio, Basílides and Evaristo de Gortina, martyrs (250).
• Saint Servulus of Rome (c. 590).
• Saint Ivón de Chartres, Bishop (1116).
• Blessed Hartman of Brixen, Bishop (1164).
• St. Thorlaco of Skalholt, Bishop (1193).
• Saint John Stone, priest and martyr (1539).
• Blessed Nicholas Factor, priest (1583).
• Santa Maria Margarita d’Youville, religious (1771).
• beato Antonio de Santa Ana Galvao de França, presbyter (1822).
• Saint Joseph Cho Yun-ho, martyr (1866).
• Blessed Paul Meléndez Gonzalo, martyr (1936).