What are the important events that happened on December 21? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

December 21: Facts & Myths About This Day

December 21 is the 355^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 10 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is December 8, 2025 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,437,920 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘trihectapentacontapentagon’ day.

Sagittarius is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Turquoise is the modern birthstone for this month. Onyx is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 58 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,748 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

December 21: This Day In History

This is a frequent day for the winter solstice to occur in the northern hemisphere and summer solstice to occur in the southern hemisphere.

December 21 Historical Events

• 1140 –
  Conrad III of Germany besieged Weinsberg.
• 1826 –
  American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion.
• 1844 –
  The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.
• 1861 –
  Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.
• 1872 –
  Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth.
• 1879 –
  World première of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen.
• 1910 –
  An underground explosion at the Hulton Bank Colliery No. 3 Pit in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, England, kills 344 miners.
• 1962 –
  Rondane National Park is established as Norway’s first national park.
• 1969 –
  The United Nations adopts the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
• 1988 –
  A bomb explodes on board Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270.

Who were born on December 21?

• 1401 –
  Tommaso Masaccio, Italian painter (d. 1428)
• 1840 –
  Namık Kemal, Turkish nationalist poet (d. 1888)
• 1850 –
  William Wallace Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1862)
• 1885 –
  Frank Patrick, Canadian hockey player (d. 1960)
• 1913 –
  Arnold Friberg, American illustrator (d. 2010)
• 1924 –
  Rita Reys, Dutch jazzsinger
• 1938 –
  Larry Bryggman, American actor
• 1948 –
  Samuel L. Jackson, American actor
• 1955 –
  Jane Kaczmarek, American actress
• 1982 –
  Tom Payne, British actor

Who died on December 21?

• 1504 –
  Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild, German archbishop and elector (b. 1442)
• 1549 –
  Marguerite of Navarre, wife of Henry II of Navarre (b. 1492)
• 1597 –
  Petrus Canisius, Dutch Jesuit (b. 1521)
• 1824 –
  James Parkinson, English physician and paleontologist (b. 1755)
• 1869 –
  Friedrich Ernst Scheller, German jurist and politician (b. 1791)
• 1937 –
  Frank B. Kellogg, American diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1856)
• 1967 –
  Stuart Erwin, American actor (b. 1903)
• 2001 –
  Dick Schaap, American sports journalist (b. 1934)
• 2004 –
  Autar Singh Paintal, Indian medical scientist (b. 1925)
• 2006 –
  Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan (b. 1940)