EVENTS:
- 1622 – Bucaramanga, Colombia is founded.
- 1851 – India’s first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India.
- 1891 – Asteroid 323 Brucia becomes the first asteroid discovered using photography.
- 1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.
- 1939 – Indian Muslims observe a “Day of Deliverance” to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over their not having been consulted over the decision to enter World War II with the United Kingdom.
- 1942 – World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.
- 1947 – The Constituent Assembly of Italy approves the Constitution of Italy.
- 1951 – The Selangor Labour Party is founded in Selangor, Malaya.
- 1974 – The house of former British Prime Minister Edward Heath is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.
- 1990 – The Croatian Parliament adopts the current Constitution of Croatia.
- 2015 – SpaceX lands a first stage Falcon 9 rocket on ground, after reaching Low Earth orbit at 1:40 UTC for the first time in history.
- 2016 – A study finds the VSV-EBOV vaccine against the Ebola virus between 70-100% effective, and thus making it the first proven vaccine against the disease.
- 2017 – The UN Security Council votes 15–0 in favor of additional sanctions on North Korea, including measures to slash the country’s petroleum imports by up to 90%.
BIRTHS:
- 1666 – Guru Gobind Singh, Indian guru and poet (d. 1708)
- 1853 – Sarada Devi, Indian mystic and philosopher (d. 1920)
- 1887 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and theorist (d. 1920)
- 1903 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
- 1948 – Chris Old, English cricketer
- 1949 – Ray Guy, American football player
- 1959 – Bernd Schuster, German footballer and manager
- 1963 – Brian McMillan, South African cricketer and educator
- 1969 – Mark Robins, English footballer and manager
- 1971 – Ajeenkya Patil, Indian economist and academic
- 1974 – Michael Barron, English footballer, coach, and manager
- 1986 – Dennis Armfield, Australian footballer
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
- Armed Forces Day (Vietnam)
- Mother’s Day (Indonesia)
- National Mathematics Day (India)
- Unity Day (Zimbabwe)
- Winter solstice-related observance
- Dongzhi Festival (East Asia)
