On This Day: 14 December

14 December in world history

• 2025Filmmakers Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner are stabbed to death in their Brentwood, Los Angeles residence.
• 2025At least 16 people are killed, including one gunman, and 43 injured in a mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in the deadliest terror incident in Australia.
• 2017The Walt Disney Company announces that it would acquire 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox movie studio, for $52.4 billion.
• 2012A 20-year-old gunman shot twenty children and six adult staff members in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
• 2008During a press conference in Baghdad, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at U.S. president George W. Bush and Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, yelling "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq".
• 1999Torrential rains caused flash floods in the Venezuelan state of Vargas, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, the destruction of thousands of homes, and the complete collapse of the state's infrastructure.
• 1998Kosovo War: Yugoslav forces ambushed a group of Kosovo Liberation Army militants attempting to smuggle weapons into Yugoslavia from Albania.
• 1995Yugoslav Wars: The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris by the leaders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the same day, NATO began ground peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 1992War in Abkhazia: A helicopter carrying evacuees was shot down during the siege of Tkvarcheli, resulting in at least 52 deaths and catalysing more concerted Russian military intervention on behalf of Abkhazia.
• 1986Qasba Aligarh massacre: Over 400 Muhajirs killed in revenge killings in Qasba colony after a raid on Pashtun heroin processing and distribution center in Sohrab Goth by the security forces.
• 1972Upon completing the third extra-vehicular activity of Apollo 17, American astronaut Gene Cernan became the last person to date to walk on the Moon.
• 1964American Civil Rights Movement: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Congress can use the Constitution's Commerce Clause to fight discrimination.
• 1962NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.
• 1960Australian cricketer Ian Meckiff was run out on the last day of the first Test match between Australia and the West Indies, resulting in the first tied Test in cricket history.
• 1955Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Ceylon, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania and Spain join the United Nations through United Nations Security Council Resolution 109.
• 1913Haruna, the fourth and last Kongō-class ship, launches, eventually becoming one of the Japanese workhorses during World War I and World War II.
• 1909New South Wales Premier Charles Wade signs the Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909, formally completing the transfer of State land to the Commonwealth to create the Australian Capital Territory.
• 1863American Civil War: The Confederate victory under General James Longstreet at the Battle of Bean's Station in East Tennessee ends the Knoxville Campaign, but achieves very little as Longstreet returns to Virginia next spring.

Born on 14 December

• 1965Craig Biggio, American baseball player and coach
• 1953Vijay Amritraj, Indian tennis player and sportscasterIndia
• 1941Karan Armstrong, American soprano and actress (died 2021)
• 1934Shyam Benegal, Indian director and screenwriter (died 2024)India
• 1918B. K. S. Iyengar, Indian yoga instructor and author, founded Iyengar Yoga (died 2014)India
• 1640Aphra Behn, English playwright and author (died 1689)

Died on 14 December

• 2020Gérard Houllier, French Football manager (born 1947)
• 2013C. N. Karunakaran, Indian painter and illustrator (born 1940)India
• 1943John Harvey Kellogg, American physician and businessman, co-invented corn flakes (born 1852)
• 1929Henry B. Jackson, British admiral (born 1855)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 14 December in history?

2025: Filmmakers Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner are stabbed to death in their Brentwood, Los Angeles residence. 2025: At least 16 people are killed, including one gunman, and 43 injured in a mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in the deadliest terror incident in Australia. 2017: The Walt Disney Company announces that it would acquire 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox movie studio, for $52.4 billion. 2012: A 20-year-old gunman shot twenty children and six adult staff members in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Which famous people were born on 14 December?

Craig Biggio, American baseball player and coach (1965); Vijay Amritraj, Indian tennis player and sportscaster (1953); Karan Armstrong, American soprano and actress (died 2021) (1941); Shyam Benegal, Indian director and screenwriter (died 2024) (1934).

Which day is observed on 14 December?

National Energy Conservation Day; Alabama Day (Alabama); Forty-seven Ronin Remembrance Day (Sengaku-ji, Tokyo); Martyred Intellectuals Day (Bangladesh); Monkey Day.