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

• 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.
• 1883 –
  The first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army are formed: The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment.
• 1913 –
  Arthur Wynne’s “word-cross”, the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.
• 1968 –
  Apollo program: Apollo 8 launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.
• 1969 –
  The United Nations adopts the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
• 1979 –
  Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara.
• 1995 –
  The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control.
• 2004 –
  Iraq War: A suicide bomber killed 22 at the forward operating base next to the main U.S. military airfield at Mosul, the single deadliest suicide attack on American soldiers.

Who were born on December 21?

• 1714 –
  John Bradstreet, Canadian-born soldier (d. 1774)
• 1896 –
  Leroy Robertson, American composer (d. 1971)
• 1922 –
  Paul Winchell, American ventriloquist (d. 2005)
• 1935 –
  John G. Avildsen, American film director
• 1938 –
  Larry Bryggman, American actor
• 1953 –
  Betty Wright, American singer
• 1967 –
  Ervin Johnson, American basketball player
• 1969 –
  Julie Delpy, French actress
• 1972 –
  Latroy Hawkins, American baseball player
• 1984 –
  Darren Potter, Irish football player

Who died on December 21?

• 72 –
  Thomas the Apostle
• 1308 –
  Henry I of Hesse (b. 1244)
• 1920 –
  Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, Somalian nationalist leader (b. 1856)
• 1974 –
  Richard Long, American actor (b. 1927)
• 1982 –
  Hafeez Jullundhri, Pakistani writer, poet composer of the National Anthem of Pakistan (b. 1900)
• 1983 –
  Paul de Man, Belgian-born literary critic (b. 1919)
• 1992 –
  Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1903)
• 1998 –
  Ernst-Günther Schenck, German physician (b. 1904)
• 2006 –
  Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan (b. 1940)
• 2006 –
  Scobie Breasley, Australian jockey (b. 1914)