Died on Tuesday, 16th December – Famous Deaths

16/12/2025

Lusanda Dumke, South African professional rugby union player who played as a flanker (born 1996)

Lusanda Dumke was a South African professional rugby union player who played as a flanker.

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16/12/2024

Dick Van Arsdale, American basketball player (born 1943)

Richard Albert Van Arsdale was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time NBA All-Star selection, his No. 5 was retired by the Phoenix Suns.

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Tulsi Gowda, Indian environmentalist (born 1937/1938)

Tulsi Gowda was an Indian environmentalist from Honnali village. She planted more than 30,000 saplings and looked after the nurseries of the Forest Department. Her work has been honoured by the Government of India and other organisations. In 2021, the Government of India awarded her the Padma Shri, the country's fourth highest civilian award. She is known as the "Encyclopedia of the Forest" for her ability to recognise the mother tree of any species of tree.

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16/12/2023

Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (born 1937)

Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was Emir of Kuwait from 2020 until his death in 2023.

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16/12/2017

Keely Smith, American singer and actress (born 1928)

Dorothy Jacqueline Keely, professionally known as Keely Smith, was an American jazz and popular music singer, who performed and recorded extensively in the 1950s with then-husband Louis Prima, and throughout the 1960s as a solo artist.

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16/12/2015

Peter Dickinson, Rhodesian-English author and poet (born 1927)

Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL was an English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories.

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Lizmark, Mexican wrestler (born 1950)

Juan Baños was a Mexican luchador enmascarado, or masked professional wrestler better known by the ring name Lizmark. The name was taken from the German battleship Bismarck. He was a multiple-time champion, having held singles and tag team championships in both Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre / Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (EMLL/CMLL) and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). In 2001, Lizmark was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. His nickname was El Geniecillo Azul, which is Spanish for "The Little Blue Genius". He has two sons who are also professional wrestlers, Lizmark, Jr. and El Hijo de Lizmark.

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George Earl Ortman, American painter and sculptor (born 1926)

George Earl Ortman was an American painter, printmaker, constructionist and sculptor. His work has been referred to as Neo-Dada, pop art, minimalism and hard-edge painting. His constructions, built with a variety of materials and objects, deal with the exploration of visual language derived from geometry—geometry as symbol and sign.

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16/12/2014

Martin Brasier, English paleontologist, biologist, and academic (born 1947)

Martin David Brasier FGS, FLS was an English palaeobiologist and astrobiologist known for his conceptual analysis of microfossils and evolution in the Precambrian and Cambrian.

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Tim Cochran, American mathematician and academic (born 1955)

Thomas "Tim" Daniel Cochran was a professor of mathematics at Rice University specializing in topology, especially low-dimensional topology, the theory of knots and links and associated algebra.

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Tahira Qazi, Pakistani educationist and principal of Army Public School Peshawar who was killed in the Peshawar school attack.

Tahira Qazi was a Pakistani educationist and principal of Army Public School Peshawar who was killed in the Peshawar school attack on 16 December 2014.

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16/12/2013

James Flint, English commander (born 1913)

Wing Commander James Flint, was a British businessman and decorated Royal Air Force officer. During active service in World War II, he gained the unique distinction of receiving two gallantry awards for separate actions during the same operation.

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Ray Price, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1926)

Noble Ray Price was an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone is regarded as among the best male voices of country music, and his innovations, such as propelling the country beat from 2/4 to 4/4, known as the "Ray Price beat", helped make country music more popular.

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Marta Russell, American journalist, author, and activist (born 1951)

Marta Russell was an American writer and disability rights activist. Her book, Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract published in 1998 by Common Courage Press analyzes the relationship between disability, social Darwinism, and economic austerity under capitalism. Her political views, which she described as "left, not liberal," informed her writing on topics such as healthcare, the prison-industrial complex, physician-assisted suicide, poverty, ableism, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

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16/12/2012

Elwood V. Jensen, American biologist and academic (born 1920)

Elwood Vernon Jensen was the Distinguished University Professor, George and Elizabeth Wile Chair in Cancer Research at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Vontz Center for Molecular Studies. In 2004 he received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research for his research on estrogen receptors. He is considered the father of the field of hormone action.

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Jake Adam York, American poet and academic (born 1972)

Jake Adam York was an American poet. He published three books of poetry before his death: Murder Ballads, which won the 2005 Elixir Prize in Poetry; A Murmuration of Starlings, which won the 2008 Colorado Book Award in Poetry; and Persons Unknown, an editor's selection in the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry. A fourth book, Abide, was released posthumously, in 2014. That same year he was also named a posthumous recipient of the Witter Bynner Fellowship by the U.S. Poet Laureate.

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16/12/2011

Robert Easton, American actor and screenwriter (born 1930)

Robert Easton was an American actor whose career spanned more than 60 years. His mastery of English dialect earned him the epithet "The Man of a Thousand Voices". For decades, he was a leading Hollywood dialogue or accent coach.

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Nicol Williamson, Scottish actor (born 1938)

Thomas Nicol Williamson was a British actor. He was described as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando" and "touched by genius" by John Osborne and Samuel Beckett, respectively.

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16/12/2010

Melvin E. Biddle, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1923)

Melvin Earl "Bud" Biddle was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.

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Ayinde Barrister, Nigerian fuji musician (born 1948)

Sikiru Ololade Ayinde Balogun, MFR, better known by his stage names Ayinde Barrister and Barry Wonder, was a Nigerian-born Yoruba singer-songwriter, music performer and producer. He is regarded as a pioneer of Fuji and Wéré music. After his first break into music in 1965, Ayinde Barrister went on to release over 70 studio albums. In 2024, the first episode of The Fuji Documentary, titled "Mr. Fuji: Barry Wonder," which chronicles his life and career, was released by director and producer, Saheed Aderinto.

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16/12/2009

Roy E. Disney, American businessman (born 1930)

Roy Edward Disney was an American businessman, media executive, and filmmaker. He was best known for serving as a senior executive for the Walt Disney Company and the chairman of its animation division, both of which were founded by his uncle, Walt Disney, and his father, Roy O. Disney.

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Yegor Gaidar, Russian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Russia (born 1956)

Yegor Timurovich Gaidar was a Soviet and Russian economist, politician, and author who was the acting Prime Minister of Russia in 1992 and simultaneously held several other cabinet roles. Gaidar was also in the State Duma from 1993 to 1996 and from 1999 to 2003 as a member of Democratic Choice of Russia and the Union of Right Forces.

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Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, South African physician and politician, 22nd South African Minister of Health (born 1940)

Mantombazana "Manto" Edmie Tshabalala-Msimang OMSS was a South African politician. She was Deputy Minister of Justice from 1996 to 1999 and served as Minister of Health from 1999 to 2008 under President Thabo Mbeki. She also served as Minister in the Presidency under President Kgalema Motlanthe from September 2008 to May 2009.

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16/12/2007

Dan Fogelberg, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1951)

Daniel Grayling Fogelberg was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist widely known for his 1970s and 1980s soft rock hits, including "Longer" (1979), "Same Old Lang Syne" (1980), and "Leader of the Band" (1981).

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16/12/2006

Don Jardine, Canadian wrestler and trainer (born 1940)

Donald Delbert Jardine was a Canadian professional wrestler best known for his masked gimmick as The Spoiler. Jardine was a major star in various wrestling promotions. He worked in the World Wrestling Federation, first in 1974 and again from 1984 to 1986. However Jardine had his greatest successes in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated territories of Florida, Georgia and Texas, from the early 1960s through the mid-1980s.

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Taliep Petersen, South African singer-songwriter and director (born 1950)

Taliep Petersen was a South African singer, composer and director of a number of popular musicals. He worked most notably with David Kramer, with whom he won an Olivier Award.

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Pnina Salzman, Israeli pianist and educator (born 1922)

Pnina Salzman was an Israeli classical pianist and piano pedagogue.

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Stanford J. Shaw, American historian and academic (born 1930)

Stanford Jay Shaw was an American historian, best known for his works on the late Ottoman Empire, Turkish Jews, and the early Turkish Republic. Shaw's works have been criticized for their lack of factual accuracy as well as denial of the Armenian genocide, and other pro-Turkish bias.

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16/12/2005

Kenneth Bulmer, English author (born 1921)

Henry Kenneth Bulmer was a British writer, primarily of science fiction.

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Ed Hansen, American director and screenwriter (born 1937)

Edward Hansen was an American film writer, director and editor.

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John Spencer, American actor (born 1946)

John Spencer was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Leo McGarry on the NBC political drama series The West Wing (1999–2006) and for his role as attorney Tommy Mullaney in NBC legal drama series L.A. Law (1990–1994). His performance on The West Wing earned him a Primetime Emmy Award in 2002, out of five total nominations.

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16/12/2004

Ted Abernathy, American baseball player (born 1933)

Ted Wade Abernathy was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher. He appeared in 681 games in Major League Baseball (MLB), 647 as a relief pitcher, for seven different clubs over all or parts of 14 seasons between 1955 and 1972, amassed 148 saves, and twice led the National League (NL) in that category. He batted and threw right-handed, stood 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall, and weighed 215 pounds (98 kg).

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Deyda Hydara, Gambian journalist, co-founded The Point (born 1946)

Deyda Hydara was co-founder and primary editor of The Point, a major independent Gambian newspaper. He worked as a radio presenter for Radio Syd during his early years as a freelance journalist before becoming a correspondent for AFP News Agency and Reporters Without Borders.

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Agnes Martin, American painter and educator (born 1912)

Agnes Bernice Martin was a Canadian-American abstract painter known for her minimalist style and abstract expressionism. Born in Saskatchewan, she moved to the United States in 1931, where she pursued higher education and became a U.S. citizen in 1950. Martin's artistic journey began in New York City, where she immersed herself in modern art and developed a deep interest in abstraction. Despite often being labeled a minimalist, she identified more with abstract expressionism. Her work has been defined as an "essay in discretion, inwardness and silence."

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16/12/2003

Robert Stanfield, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician, 17th Premier of Nova Scotia (born 1914)

Robert Lorne Stanfield was a Canadian politician who served as the 17th premier of Nova Scotia from 1956 to 1967 and the leader of the Official Opposition and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1967 to 1976.

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Gary Stewart, American singer-songwriter (born 1945)

Gary Ronnie Stewart was an American musician and songwriter, known for his distinctive vibrato voice. At the height of his popularity in the mid-1970s, Time magazine described him as the "king of honkytonk." He had a series of country chart hits from the mid- to late 1970s, the biggest of which was "She's Actin' Single ", which topped the U.S. country singles chart in 1975.

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16/12/2001

Stuart Adamson, English-Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1958)

William Stuart Adamson was a Scottish rock guitarist and singer. Adamson began his career in the late 1970s as a founding member and performer with the punk rock band Skids. After leaving Skids in 1981, he formed Big Country and was the band's lead singer and guitarist. The group's commercial heyday was in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he was a member of the alternative country band the Raphaels. In the late 1970s the British music journalist John Peel referred to his musical virtuosity as a guitarist as "a new Jimi Hendrix".

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Stefan Heym, German-American soldier and author (born 1913)

Helmut Flieg was a German writer, known by his pseudonym Stefan Heym. He lived in the United States and trained at Camp Ritchie in 1943, making him one of the Ritchie Boys of World War II. In 1952, he returned to his home to the part of his native Germany which was, from 1949 to 1990, the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. He published works in English and German at home and abroad, and despite longstanding criticism of the GDR remained a committed socialist. He was awarded the 1953 Heinrich Mann Prize, the 1959 National Prize of East Germany, and the 1993 Jerusalem Prize.

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16/12/1998

William Gaddis, American author and academic (born 1922)

William Thomas Gaddis Jr. was an American novelist. The first and longest of his five novels, The Recognitions, was named one of TIME magazine's 100 best novels from 1923 to 2005 and two others, J R and A Frolic of His Own, won the annual U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. A collection of his essays was published posthumously as The Rush for Second Place (2002). The Letters of William Gaddis was published by Dalkey Archive Press in February 2013.

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16/12/1997

Lillian Disney, American illustrator and philanthropist (born 1899)

Lillian Marie Disney was an American ink artist at the Walt Disney Animation Studios and the wife of Walt Disney from 1925 until his death in 1966. Born in Spalding, Idaho, Disney graduated from high school in Lapwai before moving to Lewiston to attend college. She left Idaho in 1923 to move to Southern California, where she met future husband Walt while working as a secretary for his company.

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16/12/1996

Quentin Bell, English historian and author (born 1910)

Quentin Claudian Stephen Bell was an English art historian and author.

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16/12/1993

Moses Gunn, American actor (born 1929)

Moses Gunn was an American actor of stage and screen. An Obie Award-winning stage player, he is an alumnus of the Negro Ensemble Company. His 1962 off-Broadway debut was in Jean Genet's The Blacks, and his Broadway debut was in A Hand Is on the Gate, an evening of African-American poetry. He was nominated for the 1976 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in The Poison Tree, and he also played Othello on Broadway in 1970. For his screen performances, Gunn is best known for his roles as Clotho in WUSA (1970), Bumpy Jonas in Shaft (1971) and Joe Kagan on Little House on the Prairie (1977–1981).

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Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (born 1918)

Kakuei Tanaka was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974. Known for his background in construction and earthy and tenacious political style, Tanaka is the only modern Japanese prime minister who did not finish high school or graduate from a university.

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16/12/1991

Eszter Tamási, Hungarian actress and journalist (born 1938)

Eszter Tamási was a Hungarian actress and TV announcer.

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16/12/1989

Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Argentinian race car driver (born 1913)

Oscar Alfredo Gálvez was an Argentine racing driver, known best for participating – and for scoring two championship points – in the Formula One World Championship Grand Prix on 18 January 1953.

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Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (born 1930)

Silvana Mangano was an Italian film actress. She was one of a generation of thespians who arose from the neorealist movement, and went on to become a major female star, regarded as a sex symbol for the 1950s and '60s. She won the David di Donatello for Best Actress three times – for The Verona Trial (1963), The Witches (1967), and The Scientific Cardplayer (1972) – and the Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress twice.

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Aileen Pringle, American actress (born 1895)

Aileen Pringle was an American stage and film actress during the silent film era.

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Lee Van Cleef, American actor (born 1925)

Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of spaghetti Westerns, holding starring roles in the Sergio Leone-directed Dollars Trilogy films, For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). In 1983, he received a Golden Boot Award for his contribution to the Western film and television genre.

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16/12/1985

Thomas Bilotti, American mobster (born 1940)

Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti was an American mobster who was briefly the underboss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. His promotion helped trigger the 1985 assassination of Gambino boss Paul Castellano; Bilotti was killed as part of the assassination.

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Paul Castellano, American mobster (born 1915)

Constantino Paul Castellano was an American crime boss who succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family of New York City. Castellano ran the organization from 1976 until his murder on December 16, 1985.

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16/12/1984

Karl Deichgräber, German philologist and academic (born 1903)

Karl Marienus Deichgräber was a German classical philologist. Deichgräber was a member of the Nazi Party.

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16/12/1983

Debs Garms, American baseball player (born 1907)

Debs C. Garms was an American professional baseball player for 12 seasons as an outfielder and third baseman for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals. Garms broke up Johnny Vander Meer's streak of hitless innings in 1938. He won the National League batting title in 1940, hitting .355 for the Pirates despite having played in only 103 games and garnering 358 at bats. Garms' batting title proved very controversial because of his limited playing time. In 1941, he set a then-major league record for consecutive pinch hits with seven, which stood until Dave Philley broke it in 1958.

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Mitchell WerBell III, American mercenary (born 1918)

Mitchell Livingston WerBell III was a U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) operative, mercenary, paramilitary trainer, firearms engineer, and arms dealer.

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16/12/1982

Colin Chapman, English engineer and businessman, founded Lotus Cars (born 1928)

Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of the sports car company Lotus Cars.

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16/12/1980

Colonel Sanders, American businessman, founded KFC (born 1890)

Harland David Sanders was an American entrepreneur and founder of fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). He later acted as the company's brand ambassador and symbol. His name and image are still symbols of the company today.

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Hellmuth Walter, German-American engineer (born 1900)

Hellmuth Walter was a German engineer who pioneered research into rocket engines and gas turbines. His most noteworthy contributions were rocket motors for the Messerschmitt Me 163 and Bachem Ba 349 interceptor aircraft, so-called Starthilfe jettisonable rocket propulsion units used for a variety of Luftwaffe aircraft during World War II, and a revolutionary new propulsion system for submarines known as air-independent propulsion (AIP).

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16/12/1977

Risto Jarva, Finnish director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1934)

Risto Antero Jarva was a Finnish filmmaker.

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16/12/1976

Réal Caouette, Canadian journalist and politician (born 1917)

David Réal Caouette was a Canadian politician from Quebec. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) and leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada and founder of the Ralliement des créditistes. Outside politics he worked as a car dealer.

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16/12/1974

Kostas Varnalis, Greek poet and playwright (born 1884)

Kostas Varnalis was a Greek poet and writer.

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16/12/1970

Oscar Lewis, American anthropologist of Latin America (born 1914)

Oscar Lewis, born Lefkowitz was an American anthropologist. He is best known for his vivid depictions of the lives of slum dwellers and his argument that a cross-generational culture of poverty transcends national boundaries. Lewis contended that the cultural similarities occurred because they were "common adaptations to common problems" and that "the culture of poverty is both an adaptation and a reaction of the poor classes to their marginal position in a class-stratified, highly individualistic, capitalistic society." He won the 1967 U.S. National Book Award in Science, Philosophy and Religion for La vida: a Puerto Rican family in the culture of poverty--San Juan and New York.

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16/12/1969

Alphonse Castex, French rugby union player (born 1899)

Alphonse Castex was a French rugby union player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. In 1920, he won the silver medal as a member of the French team.

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Soe Hok Gie, Indonesian activist and academic (born 1942)

Soe Hok Gie was a Chinese Indonesian activist who opposed the successive dictatorships of Presidents Sukarno and Suharto.

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16/12/1968

Futabayama Sadaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 35th Yokozuna (born 1912)

Futabayama Sadaji was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Oita Prefecture. Entering sumo in 1927, he was the sport's 35th yokozuna from 1937 until his retirement in 1945. He won twelve yūshō or top division championships and had a winning streak of 69 consecutive bouts, an all-time record. Despite his dominance he was extremely popular with the public. After his retirement he was head coach of Tokitsukaze stable and chairman of the Japan Sumo Association.

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Muhammad Suheimat, Jordanian general and politician (born 1916)

Muhammad Suheimat or Muhammad Pasha Suheimat was a Jordanian military general and a statesman. He was born in the city of Al Karak in 1916, the son of Sheikh Attallah Suheimat,a national leader, who was a member of the first Legislative Council of the Emirate of Transjordan and held several political positions in the Ottoman Empire and later Transjordan. After completing high school studies, Suheimat was commissioned into the Jordanian Armed Forces in 1941, and later graduated from The Police Staff College, Bramshill-Hampshire, England.

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16/12/1965

W. Somerset Maugham, British playwright, novelist, and short story writer (born 1874)

William Somerset Maugham was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories.

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16/12/1961

Hans Rebane, Estonian journalist and politician, 8th Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1882)

Hans Rebane was an Estonian politician, diplomat and journalist. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia from 1927 to 1928 in Jaan Tõnisson's third cabinet. Rebane was Estonian envoy in Helsinki 1931–1937, 1937–1940 in Riga.

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16/12/1956

Nina Hamnett, Welsh painter and author (born 1890)

Nina Hamnett was a Welsh artist and writer, and an expert on sailors' shanties, who became known as the Queen of Bohemia.

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16/12/1952

Robert Henry Best, American journalist (born 1896)

Robert Henry Best was an American foreign correspondent who covered events in Europe for American media outlets during the interwar period. He later became a supporter of the Nazis and a well-known broadcaster of Nazi propaganda during World War II. After the war, Best was arrested and returned to the United States to stand trial for collaboration. In 1948, Best was convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in prison in 1952.

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16/12/1949

Sidney Olcott, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1873)

Sidney Olcott was a Canadian-born film producer, director, actor and screenwriter.

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16/12/1945

Giovanni Agnelli, Italian businessman, founded Fiat (born 1866)

Giovanni Agnelli was an Italian industrialist and principal founder of Fiat S.p.A., established in 1899. Under his leadership, Fiat became a cornerstone of Italy's automotive industry, significantly contributing to the country's industrialization during the early 20th century. Agnelli also served as a Senator from 1923 to 1944.

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Fumimaro Konoe, Japanese lawyer and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Japan (born 1891)

Prince Fumimaro Konoe was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1937 to 1939 and from 1940 to 1941. He presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and breakdown in relations with the United States which eventually culminated in the Second World War's expansion to the Asia-Pacific theater. Konoe also played a central role in transforming Japan into a totalitarian state by pushing through the State General Mobilization Law and establishing the Imperial Rule Assistance Association.

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16/12/1944

Betsie ten Boom, Dutch Holocaust victim (born 1885)

Elisabeth ten Boom was a Dutch woman, the daughter of a watchmaker, who suffered persecution under the Nazi regime in World War II, including incarceration in Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she died aged 59. The daughter of Casper ten Boom, she is one of the leading characters in The Hiding Place, a book written by her sister Corrie ten Boom about the family′s experiences during World War II. Nicknamed Betsie, she had suffered from pernicious anemia since birth. The oldest of four Ten Boom children, she neither left the family nor married, but remained at home until World War II. She was honored by the State of Israel in 2008 as a Righteous Among the Nations.

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16/12/1943

George Bambridge, English diplomat (born 1892)

George Louis St Clair Bambridge was a British diplomat. His wife, Elsie, was the daughter of the author Rudyard Kipling.

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16/12/1940

Eugène Dubois, Dutch paleoanthropologist (born 1858)

Marie Eugène François Thomas Dubois was a Dutch paleoanthropologist and geologist. He earned worldwide fame for his discovery of Pithecanthropus erectus, or "Java Man". Dubois was the first anthropologist to embark upon a purposeful search for hominid fossils.

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Billy Hamilton, American baseball player and manager (born 1866)

William Robert Hamilton, nicknamed "Sliding Billy", was an American professional baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB) during the 19th century. He played for the Kansas City Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Beaneaters between 1888 and 1901.

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16/12/1936

Frank Eugene, American-German photographer and educator (born 1865)

Frank Eugene was an American-born photographer who was a founding member of the Photo-Secession and one of the first university-level professors of photography in the world.

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16/12/1935

Thelma Todd, American actress and comedian (born 1905)

Thelma Alice Todd was an American actress and businesswoman who carried the nicknames "The Ice Cream Blonde" and "Hot Toddy". Appearing in about 120 feature films and shorts between 1926 and 1935, she is remembered for her comedic roles opposite ZaSu Pitts, and in films such as the Marx Brothers' Monkey Business and Horse Feathers and a number of Charley Chase's short comedies. She co-starred with Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante in Speak Easily. She also had roles in several Wheeler and Woolsey and Laurel and Hardy films, the last of which featured her in a part that was cut short by her sudden death in 1935 at the age of 29.

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16/12/1928

Elinor Wylie, American poet and author (born 1885)

Elinor Morton Wylie was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensuous poetry."

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16/12/1922

Gabriel Narutowicz, Lithuanian–Polish engineer and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Poland (born 1865)

Gabriel Józef Narutowicz was a Polish engineer and politician who served as the first president of Poland from 11 December 1922 until his assassination five days after assuming office. He previously served as the minister of public works from 1920 to 1922 and briefly as the minister of foreign affairs in 1922. A non-partisan and an engineer by profession, Narutowicz was the first elected head of state following Poland's regained sovereignty from partitioning powers.

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16/12/1921

Camille Saint-Saëns, French pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1835)

Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Second Piano Concerto (1868), the First Cello Concerto (1872), Danse macabre (1874), the opera Samson and Delilah (1877), the Third Violin Concerto (1880), the Third ("Organ") Symphony (1886) and The Carnival of the Animals (1886).

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16/12/1917

Frank Gotch, American wrestler (born 1878)

Frank Alvin Gotch was an American professional wrestler who was the first American to win the World Heavyweight Championship in catch wrestling, and is credited for popularizing professional wrestling in the United States. Gotch competed back when the contests at championship level were largely legit, and his reign as World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion is one of the ten longest in the history of professional wrestling. He became one of the most popular athletes in the United States from the 1900s to the 1910s. Pro Wrestling Illustrated described Gotch as "arguably the best North American professional wrestler of the 20th century".

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16/12/1908

American Horse, American tribal leader and educator (born 1840)

American Horse was an Oglala Lakota chief, statesman, educator and historian. American Horse is notable in American history as a U.S. Army Indian Scout and a progressive Oglala Lakota leader who promoted friendly associations with whites and education for his people. American Horse opposed Crazy Horse during the Great Sioux War of 1876–1877 and the Ghost Dance Movement of 1890, and was a Lakota delegate to Washington. American Horse was one of the first Wild Westers with Buffalo Bill's Wild West and a supporter of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. His record as a councilor of his people and his policy in the new situation that confronted them was consistent, and he was known for his eloquence.

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16/12/1898

Pavel Tretyakov, Russian businessman and art collector (born 1832)

Pavel Mikhaylovich Tretyakov was a Russian businessman, patron of art, collector, and philanthropist who gave his name to the Tretyakov Gallery and Tretyakov Drive in Moscow. His brother Sergei Tretyakov was also a famous patron of art and a philanthropist.

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16/12/1897

Alphonse Daudet, French author, poet, and playwright (born 1840)

Louis Marie Alphonse Daudet was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet.

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16/12/1892

Henry Yesler, American businessman and politician, 7th Mayor of Seattle (born 1810)

Henry Leiter Yesler was an American entrepreneur and a politician, regarded as a founder of the city of Seattle. Yesler served two non-consecutive terms as Mayor of Seattle, and was the city's wealthiest resident during his lifetime.

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16/12/1859

Wilhelm Grimm, German anthropologist and author (born 1786)

Wilhelm Carl Grimm was a German author, philologist and anthropologist. He was the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm.

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16/12/1809

Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist and entomologist (born 1755)

Antoine François Fourcroy was a French chemist and a contemporary of Antoine Lavoisier. Fourcroy collaborated with Lavoisier, Guyton de Morveau, and Claude Berthollet on the Méthode de nomenclature chimique, a work that helped standardize chemical nomenclature.

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16/12/1805

Saverio Cassar, Gozitan priest and rebel leader (born 1746)

Saverio Cassar was a Gozitan priest and patriot, who was Governor-general of an independent Gozo from 1798 to 1801.

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16/12/1783

Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer and educator (born 1699)

Johann Adolph Hasse was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a considerable quantity of sacred music. Married to soprano Faustina Bordoni and a friend of librettist Pietro Metastasio, whose libretti he frequently set, Hasse was a pivotal figure in the development of opera seria and 18th-century music.

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Sir William James, 1st Baronet, Welsh-English commander and politician (born 1720)

Commodore Sir William James, 1st Baronet was a Bombay Marine officer and politician who represented West Looe in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1774 to 1783. Born in Pembrokeshire, Wales to a family of unclear background, James went to sea at a young age and worked onboard merchant ships which traded between Britain's Southern Colonies and the West Indies, during which he was captured by the Spanish during the War of the Austrian Succession. James eventually returned to England at some point in the early 1740s and possibly married either the landlady of a Wapping public house or a widow named Elizabeth Birch; historical records are not fully clear if James actually married during this period.

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16/12/1774

François Quesnay, French economist, physician, and philosopher (born 1694)

François Quesnay was a French economist and physician of the Physiocratic school. He is known for publishing the "Tableau économique" in 1758, which provided the foundations of the ideas of the Physiocrats. This was perhaps the first work attempting to describe the workings of the economy in an analytical way, and as such can be viewed as one of the first important contributions to economic thought. His Le Despotisme de la Chine, written in 1767, describes Chinese politics and society, and his own political support for enlightened despotism.

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16/12/1751

Leopold II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (born 1700)

Leopold II Maximilian, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau from 1747 to 1751; he also was a Prussian general.

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16/12/1687

William Petty, English economist and philosopher (born 1623)

Sir William Petty was an English economist, physician, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth in Ireland. He developed efficient methods to survey the land that was to be confiscated and given to Cromwell's soldiers. He also remained a significant figure under King Charles II and King James II, as did many others who had served Cromwell. Petty was also a scientist, inventor, and merchant, a charter member of the Royal Society, and briefly a member of the Parliament of England. However, he is best remembered for his theories on economics and his methods of political arithmetic. He was knighted in 1661.

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16/12/1669

Nathaniel Fiennes, English soldier and politician (born 1608)

Nathaniel Fiennes, c. 1608 to 16 December 1669, was a younger son of the Puritan nobleman and politician, William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele. He sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1659, and served with the Parliamentarian army in the First English Civil War. In 1643, he was dismissed from the army for alleged incompetence after surrendering Bristol and sentenced to death before being pardoned. Exonerated in 1645, he actively supported Oliver Cromwell during The Protectorate, being Lord Keeper of the Great Seal from 1655 to 1659.

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16/12/1598

Yi Sun-sin, Korean general (born 1545)

Yi Sun-sin was a Korean admiral and military general known for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin War in the Joseon period. Yi's courtesy name was Yŏhae (여해), and he was posthumously honored with the title Lord of Loyal Valor.

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16/12/1594

Allison Balfour, Scottish woman accused of witchcraft

The 1594 trial of alleged witch Allison Balfour or Margaret Balfour is one of the most frequently cited Scottish witchcraft cases. Balfour lived in the Orkney Islands of Scotland in the area of Stenness. At that time in Scotland, the Scottish Witchcraft Act 1563 had made a conviction for witchcraft punishable by death.

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16/12/1583

Ivan Fyodorov, Russian printer

Ivan Fyodorov or Ivan Fеdorov sometimes transliterated as Fiodorov, was one of the fathers of Eastern Slavonic printing. He was also a skilled cannon maker and the inventor of a multibarreled mortar. Fyodorov was forced out of Moscow because of his attempts to employ the “blasphemous” new printing techniques, and found refuge in Poland–Lithuania, first in Zabłudów, then most notably in Ostroh, where he was instrumental in the publication of the Ostrog Bible.

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16/12/1558

Thomas Cheney, English diplomat and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports

Sir Thomas Cheney of the Blackfriars, City of London and Shurland, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, was an English administrator and diplomat, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in south-east England from 1536 until his death.

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16/12/1515

Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese admiral and politician, 3rd Viceroy of Portuguese India (born 1453)

Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa, was a Portuguese general, admiral, statesman, and conquistador. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean and built a reputation as a fierce and skilled military commander.

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16/12/1474

Ali Qushji, Uzbek astronomer, mathematician, and physicist (born 1403)

Ala al-Dīn Ali ibn Muhammed, Persian: علاءالدین علی بن محمد سمرقندی known as Ali Qushji was a Timurid theologian, jurist, astronomer, mathematician and physicist, who settled in the Ottoman Empire some time before 1472. As a disciple of Ulugh Beg, he is best known for the development of astronomical physics independent from natural philosophy, and for providing empirical evidence for the Earth's rotation in his treatise, Concerning the Supposed Dependence of Astronomy upon Philosophy. In addition to his contributions to Ulugh Beg's famous work Zij-i-Sultani and to the founding of Sahn-ı Seman Medrese, one of the first centers for the study of various traditional Islamic sciences in the Ottoman Empire, Ali Kuşçu was also the author of several scientific works and textbooks on astronomy.

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16/12/1470

John II, duke of Lorraine (born 1424)

John II of Anjou was Duke of Lorraine from 1453 to his death. He was the son of René of Anjou and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. He was married to Marie de Bourbon, daughter of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon.

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16/12/1379

John FitzAlan, 1st Baron Arundel, English general and politician, Lord Marshall of England (born 1348)

John Fitzalan, 1st Baron Arundel, also known as Sir John Arundel, was an English soldier.

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16/12/1378

Secondotto, marquess of Montferrat (born 1360)

Secondotto Palaeologus was the Margrave of Montferrat from 1372 to his death, the third of the House of Palaeologus-Montferrat. His name Secondotto may derive from his being the second Otto to rule Montferrat in his own right, though he would really be Otto III. More probably it is derived from Saint Secundus, the patron saint of Asti, which his father treated as the capital of the marquisate. The Otto may be in honour of Otto, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen, a close ally of his father.

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16/12/1325

Charles, French nobleman (born 1270)

Charles, Count of Valois, was a member of the House of Capet and founder of the House of Valois, which ruled over France from 1328 to 1589. He was the fourth son of King Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon.

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16/12/1316

Öljaitü, Mongolian ruler (born 1280)

Öljaitü, also known as Mohammad-e Khodabandeh, was the eighth Ilkhanid dynasty ruler from 1304 to 1316 in Tabriz, Iran. His name 'Öjaitü' means 'blessed' in the Mongolian language and his last name 'Khodabandeh' means 'God's servant' in the Persian language.

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16/12/1263

Haakon IV, king of Norway (born 1204)

Haakon IV Haakonsson, sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his namesake son, was King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. His reign lasted for 46 years, longer than any Norwegian king since Harald Fairhair. Haakon was born into the troubled civil war era in Norway, but his reign eventually managed to put an end to the internal conflicts. At the start of his reign, during his minority, Earl Skule Bårdsson served as regent. As a king of the Birkebeiner faction, Haakon defeated the uprising of the final Bagler royal pretender, Sigurd Ribbung, in 1227. He put a definitive end to the civil war era when he had Skule Bårdsson killed in 1240, a year after Skule had himself proclaimed king in opposition to Haakon. Haakon thereafter formally appointed his own eldest son, Haakon the Young, as his co-regent.

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16/12/1153

Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, Norman nobleman

Ranulf II, 4th Earl of Chester (1099–1153), was an Anglo-Norman baron who inherited the honour of the palatine county of Chester and the viscountcy of Avranches upon the death of his father Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester. He was descended from the Counts of Bessin in Normandy.

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16/12/0999

Adelaide of Italy, Holy Roman Empress (born 931)

Year 999 (CMXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.

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16/12/0902

Wei Yifan, chancellor of the Tang dynasty

Wei Yifan (韋貽範), courtesy name Chuixian (垂憲), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, who briefly served as chancellor in 902, while Emperor Zhaozong was under the physical control of the warlord Li Maozhen the military governor (Jiedushi) of Fengxiang Circuit and Li's eunuch allies, led by Han Quanhui.

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16/12/0882

John VIII, pope of the Catholic Church

Pope John VIII was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 14 December 872 to his death. He is often considered one of the most able popes of the 9th century.

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16/12/0874

Ado, archbishop of Vienne

Ado was a Frankish churchman and writer. He served as the archbishop of Vienne from 850 until his death and is venerated as a saint. His writings include hagiography and historiography.

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16/12/0867

Eberhard of Friuli, Frankish duke (born 815)

Eberhard was the Frankish Duke of Friuli from 846. His name is alternatively spelled Everard, Evrard, Erhard, or Eberard; in Latinized fashion, Everardus, Eberardus, or Eberhardus. He wrote his own name "Evvrardus". He was an important political, military, and cultural figure in the Carolingian Empire during his lifetime. He kept a large library, commissioned works of Latin literature from Lupus Servatus and Sedulius Scottus, and maintained a correspondence with the theologians and church leaders Gottschalk, Rabanus Maurus, and Hincmar.

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16/12/0714

Pepin of Herstal, Frankish statesman (born 635)

Pepin II, commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, was a Frankish statesman and military leader who was the de facto ruler of Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke and Prince of the Franks upon his conquest of all the Frankish realms.

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16/12/0705

Wu Zetian, Empress of the Zhou dynasty (born 624)

Empress Wu, commonly known as Wu Zetian, personal name Wu Zhao, was the only female sovereign in the history of China. She had previously held power as the empress consort of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang dynasty from 660 to 683 and as empress dowager during the reigns of her sons, Emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong, between 683 and 690. She was the sole ruler of the self-styled Zhou dynasty from 690 to 705.

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16/12/0604

Houzhu, emperor of the Chen dynasty (born 553)

Chen Shubao, also known as Houzhu of Chen, posthumous name Duke Yáng of Chángchéng, courtesy name Yuánxiù (元秀), childhood name Huángnú (黃奴), was the fifth and last emperor of the Chinese Chen dynasty, which was conquered by the Sui dynasty in 589.

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