Historical Anniversaries this Week

December 16

 Events (450 years ago today): 1575 – An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.5M_w  strikes Valdivia, Chile.^[6]

 Births (250 years ago today): 1775 – Jane Austen, English novelist (died 1817)^[26]

 Births (250 years ago today): 1775 – François-Adrien Boieldieu, French pianist and composer (died 1834)

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Valentin B?doi, Romanian footballer and manager

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Kaba Diawara, French-Guinean footballer

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Paul Maynard, English politician

 Deaths (700 years ago today): 1325 – Charles, French nobleman (born 1270)

 Deaths (0 years ago today): 2025 – Lusanda Dumke, South African professional rugby union player who played as a flanker (born 1996)^[67]

December 17

 Births (100 years ago today): 1925 – Calvin Tomkins, American author and art critic^[24]

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Nick Dinsmore, American wrestler and trainer

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Susanthika Jayasinghe, Sri Lankan sprinter

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-American actress^[26]

December 18

 Births (300 years ago today): 1725 – Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and theologian (died 1791)

 Births (200 years ago today): 1825 – Charles Griffin, American general (died 1876)

 Births (200 years ago today): 1825 – John S. Harris, American surveyor and politician (died 1906)

 Births (200 years ago today): 1825 – Mariano Ignacio Prado, Peruvian general, twice President of Peru (died 1901)^[16]

 Births (150 years ago today): 1875 – Matt McGrath, Irish-American hammer thrower (died 1941)

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Randy Houser, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Sia, Australian singer-songwriter^[22]

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Trish Stratus, Canadian wrestler and actress

 Deaths (950 years ago today): 1075 – Edith of Wessex (born 1025)

 Deaths (100 years ago today): 1925 – Hamo Thornycroft, English sculptor and academic (born 1850)^[50]

 Deaths (50 years ago today): 1975 – Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist and biologist (born 1900)

Commemorations:
International Migrants Day

December 19

 Events (350 years ago today): 1675 – The Great Swamp Fight, a pivotal battle in King Philip's War, gives the English settlers a bitterly won victory.^[8]

 Births (200 years ago today): 1825 – George Frederick Bristow, American violinist and composer (died 1898)

 Births (150 years ago today): 1875 – Mileva Mari?, Serbian physicist (died 1948)

 Births (150 years ago today): 1875 – Carter G. Woodson, American historian and author, founded Black History Month (died 1950)

 Births (150 years ago today): 1875 – Grace Marie Bareis, American mathematician (died 1962)

 Births (100 years ago today): 1925 – Tankred Dorst, German author and playwright (died 2017)

 Births (100 years ago today): 1925 – William Schutz, American psychologist and academic (died 2002)

 Births (100 years ago today): 1925 – Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter and screenwriter (died 2012)

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Makis Belevonis, Greek footballer

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Brandon Sanderson, American author and academic

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Jeremy Soule, American composer

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Olivier Tébily, Ivorian-French footballer

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Dean Treister, Australian rugby league player

December 20

 Births (100 years ago today): 1925 – Benito Lorenzi, Italian footballer (died 2007)

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Bartosz Bosacki, Polish footballer

 Deaths (100 years ago today): 1925 – João Ferreira Sardo, the founder of Gafanha da Nazaré, also known as Prior Sardo (born 1873).^[97]

Commemorations:
International Human Solidarity Day

December 21

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Paloma Herrera, Argentine ballerina

 Deaths (1050 years ago today): 975 – Al-Mu'izz, Fatimid caliph (born 932)

 Deaths (650 years ago today): 1375 – Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian author and poet (born 1313)

December 22

 Events (50 years ago today): 1975 – U.S. President Gerald Ford creates the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to the 1970s energy crisis.^[29]

 Births (100 years ago today): 1925 – Lewis Glucksman, American businessman and philanthropist (died 2006)

 Births (100 years ago today): 1925 – Lefter Küçükandonyadis, Turkish footballer and manager (died 2012)

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Sergei Aschwanden, Swiss martial artist

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Dmitri Khokhlov, Russian footballer and manager

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Marcin Mi?ciel, Polish footballer

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Stanislav Necká?, Czech ice hockey player

 Births (50 years ago today): 1975 – Takuya Onishi, Japanese astronaut^[57]

 Deaths (100 years ago today): 1925 – Amelie Beese, German pilot and engineer (born 1886)