What happened on December 21 ?

1295 - Marguerite Berenger of Provence, wife of Louis IX of France

1308 - Henry I of Hesse (b. 1244)

1375 - Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian writer (b. 1313)

1504 - Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild, German archbishop and elector (b. 1442)

1549 - Marguerite of Navarre, wife of Henry II of Navarre (b. 1492)

1579 - Vicente Masip, Spanish painter

1597 - Petrus Canisius, Dutch Jesuit (b. 1521)

1807 - John Newton, English cleric and hymnist (b. 1725)

1824 - James Parkinson, English physician, geologist, paleontologist, and political activist (b. 1755)

1873 - Francis Garnier, French explorer (b. 1839)

1889 - Friedrich August von Quenstedt, German geologist (b. 1809)

1935 - Kurt Tucholsky, German journalist and satirist (b. 1890)

1937 - Frank B. Kellogg, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1856)

1940 - F. Scott Fitzgerald, American writer (b. 1896)

1945 - George S. Patton, U.S. general (b. 1885)

1957 - Eric Coates, English composer (b. 1886)

1958 - Lion Feuchtwanger, German writer (b. 1884)

1959 - Rosanjin, Japanese calligrapher, restauranteur and ceramicist (b. 1883)

1983 - Paul de Man, Belgian-born literary critic (b. 1919)

1974 - James Henry Govier, British artist (b. 1910)

1988 - Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ornithologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1907)

1992 - Albert King, American musician (b. 1924)

1992 - Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1903)

2001 - Dick Schaap, American sports journalist (b. 1931)

2004 - Autar Singh Paintal, Indian medical scientist (b. 1925)