Historical Events on Sunday, 21st December

21/12/2023

Fourteen people are killed and 25 others injured during a mass shooting at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.

On 21 December 2023, a mass shooting occurred at Charles University's Faculty of Arts main building in central Prague, Czech Republic. A lone gunman, 24-year-old postgraduate student David Kozák, killed 13 people and injured 25 others before committing suicide after exchanging gunfire with police; an additional victim died indirectly from falling to her death while trying to escape the perpetrator.

---

21/12/2020

A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623.

A great conjunction is a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, when the two planets appear closest together in the sky. Great conjunctions occur approximately every 20 years when Jupiter "overtakes" Saturn in its orbit. They are named "great" for being by far the rarest of the conjunctions between naked-eye planets.

---

21/12/2012

2012 phenomenon: Festivities are held in parts of Mesoamerica to commemorate the conclusion of b'ak'tun 13, a roughly 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar whose passing many New Age spiritualists had earlier held to portend a variety of cataclysmic or transformative events.

The 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, and festivities took place on 21 December 2012 to commemorate the event in the countries that were part of the Maya civilization, with main events at Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala.

---

21/12/2004

Iraq War: A suicide bomber kills 22 at the forward operating base next to the main U.S. military airfield at Mosul, Iraq, the single deadliest suicide attack on American soldiers in Iraq.

The Iraq War, also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a protracted armed conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States–led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. During the US occupation of Iraq, the conflict persisted as an insurgency that arose against coalition forces and the newly established Iraqi government. US forces were officially withdrawn in 2011. In 2014, the US became re-engaged in Iraq, leading a new coalition under Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, as the conflict evolved into the ongoing Islamic State insurgency.

---

21/12/1999

The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives that ETA intended to use to blow up Torre Picasso in Madrid, Spain.

The Civil Guard is one of the two national law enforcement agencies of Spain. As a national gendarmerie, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the authority of both the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defence. The role of the Ministry of Defence is limited except in times of war when the Ministry has exclusive authority. The corps is colloquially known as the benemérita. In annual surveys, it generally ranks as the national institution most valued by Spaniards, closely followed by other law enforcement agencies and the armed forces.

---

Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216 overshoots the runway at La Aurora International Airport, killing 18.

Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 that overran the runway at La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala City, on 21 December 1999. 8 passengers and 8 crew members on board were killed as well as 2 people on the ground.

---

21/12/1995

The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.

Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about ten kilometres south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of 28,591 people, as of 2017. The city's economy is strongly linked to tourism, especially during the Christmas period, when Christians embark on a pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity, which is revered as the location of the birth of Jesus.

---

21/12/1992

A Dutch DC-10, flight Martinair MP 495, crashes at Faro Airport, Portugal, killing 56.

The Netherlands, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces and three overseas special municipalities. European Netherlands has land borders with Germany to the east and with Belgium to the south, and a coastline to the north and west. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium in the North Sea. The official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland. Dutch, English, and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean territories. People from the Netherlands are referred to as Dutch.

---

21/12/1991

Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The leaders of 11 now effectively autonomous Soviet republics sign the Alma-Ata Protocol establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States in place of the collapsing Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. It also brought an end to the Soviet Union's federal government and CPSU general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's effort to reform the Soviet political and economic system in an attempt to stop a period of political stalemate and economic backslide.

---

21/12/1988

A bomb explodes on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270. This is to date the deadliest air disaster to occur on British soil.

Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, the Boeing 747 Clipper Maid of the Seas was destroyed by a bomb while flying over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew aboard. Large sections of the aircraft crashed in a residential street in Lockerbie, killing 11 residents. With a total of 270 fatalities, the event, which became known as the Lockerbie bombing, is the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom.

---

21/12/1979

Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara.

The Lancaster House Agreement is an agreement signed on 21 December 1979 in Lancaster House, following the conclusion of a constitutional conference where different parties discussed the future of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, formerly known as Rhodesia. The agreement effectively concluded the Rhodesian Bush War. It also marked the nullification of Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, as British colonial authority was to be restored for a transitional period to internationally recognised independence, during which free elections under supervision by the British government would take place. Crucially, ZANU and ZAPU, the political wings of ZANLA and ZIPRA, would be permitted to stand candidates in the forthcoming elections. This was however conditional to compliance with the ceasefire and the verified absence of voter intimidation.

---

21/12/1973

The Geneva Conference on the Arab–Israeli conflict opens.

The Geneva Conference of 1973 was an attempt to negotiate a solution to the Arab–Israeli conflict as envisioned in United Nations Security Council Resolution 338 following the called-for cease-fire to end the Yom Kippur War. After considerable "shuttle diplomacy" negotiations by Henry Kissinger, the conference opened on 21 December 1973 under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary General, with the United States and the USSR as co-chairmen. The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Israel were in attendance. The table with Syria's nameplate remained unoccupied, although Syria had indicated possible future participation. Each foreign minister spoke, mainly directed to their domestic audiences rather than to each other. Kissinger articulated his step-by-step strategy and stated that the goal of the conference was peace; the immediate need was to strengthen the cease-fire by accomplishing a disengagement of forces as the "essential first step" toward implementation of UN 242. The meeting was then adjourned.

---

21/12/1968

Apollo program: Apollo 8 is launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.

The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo was conceived in 1960 in the Dwight D. Eisenhower presidency during Project Mercury and executed after Project Gemini. Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal, "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in his address to the U.S. Congress on May 25, 1961.

---

21/12/1967

Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a human-to-human heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, having lived for 18 days after the transplant.

Louis Joshua Washkansky was a South African man who was the recipient of the world's first human-to-human heart transplant, and the first patient to regain consciousness following the operation. Washkansky lived for 18 days and was able to speak with his wife and reporters.

---

21/12/1965

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is adopted.

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is a United Nations convention. A third-generation human rights instrument, the Convention commits its members to the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion of understanding among all races. The convention also requires its parties to criminalize hate speech and criminalize membership in racist organizations.

---

21/12/1963

"Bloody Christmas" begins in Cyprus, ultimately resulting in the displacement of 25,000–30,000 Turkish Cypriots and destruction of more than 100 villages.

Bloody Christmas refers to intercommunal violence between Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot populations during the Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, on the night of 20–21 December 1963 and the subsequent period of island-wide violence amounting to civil war. This initial episode of violence lasted until 31 December and was somewhat subdued with the start of peace talks at the London Conference, but outbursts of violence continued thereafter. The violence precipitated the end of Turkish Cypriot representation in the Republic of Cyprus.

---

21/12/1946

An 8.1 Mw earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Nankaidō, Japan, kills over 1,300 people and destroys over 38,000 homes.

The moment magnitude scale is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude based on its seismic moment. Mw was defined in a 1979 paper by Thomas C. Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori. Similar to the local magnitude/Richter scale (ML ) defined by Charles Francis Richter in 1935, it uses a logarithmic scale; small earthquakes have approximately the same magnitudes on both scales. Despite the difference, news media often use the term "Richter scale" when referring to the moment magnitude scale.

---

21/12/1941

World War II: A Thai-Japanese Pact of Alliance is signed.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace.

---

21/12/1934

Lieutenant Kijé, one of Sergei Prokofiev's best-known works, premiered.

Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé music was originally written to accompany the film of the same name, produced by the Belgoskino film studios in Leningrad in 1933–34 and released in March 1934. It was Prokofiev's first attempt at film music, and his first commission.

---

21/12/1923

United Kingdom and Nepal formally sign an agreement of friendship, called the Nepal–Britain Treaty of 1923, which superseded the Treaty of Sugauli signed in 1816.

Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, and India to the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point above mean sea level on Earth. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and its largest city. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural sovereign state, with Nepali as the official language.

---

21/12/1919

American anarchist Emma Goldman is deported to Russia.

Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or hierarchy, primarily targeting the state and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state with stateless societies and voluntary free associations. A left-wing movement, anarchism is sometimes described as the libertarian wing of the socialist movement.

---

21/12/1910

An underground explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, England, kills 344 miners.

The Pretoria Pit disaster was a mining accident on 21 December 1910, when an underground explosion occurred at the Hulton Colliery Bank Pit No. 3, known as the Pretoria Pit, in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, then in the historic county of Lancashire, in North West England. A total of 344 men and boys lost their lives.

---

21/12/1907

The Chilean Army commits a massacre of at least 2,000 striking saltpeter miners in Iquique, Chile.

The Chilean Army is the land arm of the Chilean Armed Forces. This 80,000-person army is organized into six divisions, an army aviation brigade and a special operations brigade.

---

21/12/1883

The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, the first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army, are formed.

The Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD) is the senior armoured regiment of the Canadian Army by precedence. It is one of three armoured regiments in the Regular Force and forms part of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.

---

21/12/1879

the fictional character of Nora Helmer is first portrayed by Betty Hennings at a showing of A Doll's House at the Royal Danish Theatre.

Nora Helmer is a fictional character in Henrik Ibsen's 1879 play A Doll's House. She is introduced as a seemingly devoted wife and mother, living in a comfortable middle-class home with her husband Torvald, a recently promoted bank manager, and their three children. After committing forgery to pay for her husband's medical treatment without his knowledge, Nora attempts to deal with the consequences that threaten her marriage.

---

21/12/1872

Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth, England.

The Challenger expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific programme that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, HMS Challenger.

---

21/12/1861

Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.

The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the highest military decoration of the United States Armed Forces and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, guardians, and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. The medal is normally awarded by the president of the United States and is presented "in the name of Congress." It is often referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor (CMOH), though the official name of the award is simply "Medal of Honor."

---

21/12/1844

The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers commences business at its cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.

The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844, was an early consumers' co-operative, and one of the first to pay a patronage dividend, forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement. Although other co-operatives preceded it, the Rochdale Pioneers co-operative became the prototype for societies in Great Britain. The Rochdale Pioneers are most famous for designing the Rochdale Principles, a set of principles of co-operation, which provide the foundation for the principles on which co-ops around the world operate to this day. The model the Rochdale Pioneers used is a focus of study within co-operative economics.

---

21/12/1832

Egyptian–Ottoman War: Egyptian forces decisively defeat Ottoman troops at the Battle of Konya.

The First Egyptian–Ottoman War or First Syrian War (1831–1833) was a military conflict between the Ottoman Empire and Egypt brought about by Muhammad Ali Pasha's demand to the Sublime Porte for control of Greater Syria, as reward for aiding the Sultan during the Greek War of Independence. As a result, Egyptian forces temporarily gained control of Syria, advancing as far north as Kütahya.

---

21/12/1826

American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion.

Nacogdoches is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Nacogdoches had a population of 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and specializes in forestry and agriculture. Nacogdoches is also known as "The Oldest Town in Texas". Its sister city is Natchitoches, Louisiana.

---

21/12/1620

Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land near what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Plymouth Colony was the first permanent English colony in New England, founded in 1620, and the third permanent English colony in America, after Newfoundland and the Jamestown Colony. It was settled by the passengers on the Mayflower at a location that had previously been surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement served as the capital of the colony and developed as the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. At its height, Plymouth Colony occupied most of what is now the southeastern portion of Massachusetts; it was approximately coterminous with the combined territories of Plymouth, Barnstable, and Bristol Counties, all of which were originally established by the General Court of the Plymouth Colony. Many of the people and events surrounding Plymouth Colony have become part of American folklore, including the American tradition of Thanksgiving and the monument of Plymouth Rock.

---

21/12/1598

Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile.

The Battle of Curalaba was a battle and an ambush in 1598 when Mapuche people led by Pelantaru defeated Spanish conquerors led by Martín García Óñez de Loyola at Curalaba, southern Chile. In Chilean historiography, where the event is often called the Disaster of Curalaba, the battle marks the end of the conquest period in Chile's history, although the fast Spanish expansion in the south had already been halted in the 1550s. The battle led to a general Mapuche uprising that resulted in Destruction of the Seven Cities. This severe crisis reshaped Colonial Chile and forced the Spanish to reassess their mode of warfare.

---

21/12/1361

The Battle of Linuesa is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the forces of the Emirate of Granada and the combined army of the Kingdom of Castile and of Jaén resulting in a Castilian victory.

The Battle of Linuesa was an action fought on 21 December 1361 in the city of Huesa, Kingdom of Jaén. The battle was fought between the Kingdom of Castile and the forces of the Emirate of Granada. The battle resulted in a victory for the forces of the Kingdom of Castile.

---

21/12/1237

The city of Ryazan is sacked by the Mongol army of Batu Khan.

Ryazan is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, 196 km (122 mi) southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Ryazan had a population of 524 927, making it the 33rd most populated city in Russia, and the fourth most populated in Central Russia after Moscow, Voronezh, and Yaroslavl.

---

21/12/1140

After a siege of several weeks, the city of Weinsberg and its castle surrender to Conrad III of Germany.

The siege of Weinsberg took place in 1140 in Weinsberg, in the modern state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, which was then part of the Holy Roman Empire. The siege was a decisive battle between two dynasties, the Welfs and the Hohenstaufen. The Welfs for the first time changed their war cry from "Kyrie Eleison" to their party cries. The Hohenstaufen used the 'Strike for Gibbelins' war cry.

---

21/12/1124

Pope Honorius II is consecrated, having been elected after the controversial dethroning of Pope-Elect Celestine II.

Pope Honorius II, born Lamberto Scannabecchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 December 1124 to his death in 1130.

---

21/12/0069

The Roman Senate declares Vespasian emperor of Rome, the last in the Year of the Four Emperors.

AD 69 (LXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the consulship of Galba and Vinius. The denomination AD 69 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

---