What happened on December 22 ?

1100 - Duke Bretislaus II of Bohemia

1603 - Mehmed III, Ottoman Emperor (b. 1566)

1646 - Peter Mogila, Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia (b. 1596)

1660 - André Tacquet, Belgian mathematician (b. 1612)

1681 - Richard Alleine, English Puritan clergyman (b. 1611)

1708 - Hedwig Sophia, duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, Swedish writer (b. 1681)

1738 - Constantia Jones, British prostitute (executed)

1767 - John Newbery, English publisher (b. 1713)

1788 - Percivall Pott, English physician and surgeon (b. 1714)

1806 - William Vernon, American merchant (b. 1719)

1870 - Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet and writer (b. 1836)

1828 - William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist (b. 1766)

1880 - George Eliot, English writer (b. 1819)

1899 - Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist (b. 1837)

1902 - Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German psychiatrist (b. 1840)

1936 - Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger, Croatian paleontologist (b. 1856)

1939 - Ma Rainey, American singer (b. 1886)

1940 - Nathanael West, American writer (b. 1903)

1942 - Franz Boas, German anthropologist (b. 1858)

1943 - Beatrix Potter, English writer (b. 1866)

1947 - Hans Aumeier, German Nazi official and concentration camp commandant (b. 1906)

1959 - Gilda Gray, Polish-born American dancer and actress (b. 1901)

1965 - Richard Dimbleby, English journalist and broadcaster (b. 1913)

1971 - Godfried Bomans, Dutch author and television personality (b. 1913)

1979 - Darryl F. Zanuck, American producer (b. 1902)

1980 - Karl Dönitz, German politician and U-boat commander (b. 1891)

1985 - D. Boon, American singer and guitarist (The Minutemen) (b. 1958)

1988 - Chico Mendes, Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist, and environmental activist (assassinated) (b. 1944)

1989 - Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)

1995 - Butterfly McQueen, American actress (b. 1911)

1995 - James Meade, English economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (b. 1907)

2002 - Desmond Hoyte, President of Guyana (b. 1929)

2002 - Joe Strummer, British musician (The Clash) (b. 1952)

2003 - Dave Dudley, American singer (b. 1928)

2004 - Doug Ault, baseball player (b. 1950)

2005 - James Dungy, eldest son of Tony Dungy (b.1987)