21 Azar 1385

Events

• 1939 (87 years ago) Winter War: The Battle of Tolvajärvi, also known as the first major Finnish victory in the Winter War, begins.
• 1941 (85 years ago) World War II: Fifty-four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesús Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa is killed.
• 1945 (81 years ago) The People's Republic of Korea is outlawed in the South, by order of the United States Army Military Government in Korea.
• 1946 (80 years ago) United Nations Security Council Resolution 13 relating to acceptance of Siam (now Thailand) to the United Nations is adopted.
• 1956 (70 years ago) United Nations Security Council Resolution 121 relating to acceptance of Japan to the United Nations is adopted.
• 1963 (63 years ago) Kenya declares independence from Great Britain.
• 1979 (47 years ago) The 8.2 Mw Tumaco earthquake shakes Colombia and Ecuador with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300–600, and generating a large tsunami.
• 2021 (5 years ago) Dutch Formula One racing driver Max Verstappen wins the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, beating seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton to become the first Formula One World Champion to come from the Netherlands.

Births

• 1821 (205 years ago) Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (died 1880)
• 1863 (163 years ago) Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (died 1944)
• 1866 (160 years ago) Alfred Werner, Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1919)
• 1915 (111 years ago) Frank Sinatra, American singer, actor, and producer (died 1998)
• 1937 (89 years ago) Connie Francis, American singer, musician, and actress (died 2025)
• 1950 (76 years ago) Rajinikanth, Indian actor
• 1970 (56 years ago) Jennifer Connelly, American actress
• 2001 (25 years ago) Michael Olise, French footballer

Deaths

• 1204 (822 years ago) Maimonides, Jewish physician, philosopher, and scholar (born 1135 or 1138)
• 1913 (113 years ago) Menelik II, Ethiopian emperor (born 1844)
• 1921 (105 years ago) Henrietta Swan Leavitt, American astronomer and academic (born 1868)
• 1939 (87 years ago) Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1883)
• 1985 (41 years ago) Anne Baxter, American actress (born 1923)
• 1999 (27 years ago) Joseph Heller, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright(born 1923)
• 2003 (23 years ago) Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijani general and politician, 3rd President of Azerbaijan (born 1923)
• 2020 (6 years ago) John le Carré, English author (born 1931)

All 239 events, births and deaths of December 12