December 11 is the 345th day of the year (346th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 20 days remaining until the end of the year.
- 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office.
- 1282 - Llywelyn the Last, the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales.
- 1602 - A surprise attack by forces under the command of the Duke of Savoy and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. Commemorations/celebrations on Fête de l'Escalade are usually held on December 11 or the closest weekend.
- 1789 - The University of North Carolina is chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly.
- 1792 - French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention.
- 1816 - Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state.
- 1905 - A workers' uprising occurs, establishing the Shuliavka Republic in Kiev.
- 1907 - The New Zealand Parliament Buildings are almost completely destroyed by fire.
- 1917 - British General Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem on foot and declares martial law.
- 1925 - Quas Primas Roman Catholic papal encyclical introduces the Feast of Christ the King.
- 1927 - Guangzhou Uprising: Communist militia and worker Red Guards launch an uprising in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, taking over most of the city and announcing the formation of a Guangzhou Soviet.
- 1931 - The British Parliament enacts the 1931 Statute of Westminster, establishing legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Dominion of Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.
- 1936 - Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII abdicates as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India becomes effective.
- 1937 - Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italy leaves the League of Nations.
- 1941 - World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on Germany and Italy.
- 1946 - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.
- 1958 - French Upper Volta gains self-government from France, and becomes the Republic of Upper Volta, taking membership in the French Community.
- 1960 - French forces crack down in a violent clash with protesters in French Algeria during a visit by French president Charles de Gaulle.
- 1964 - Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. An unknown terrorist fires a mortar shell at the building during the speech.
- 1971 - The Libertarian Party of the United States is formed.
- 1972 - Apollo 17 becomes the sixth Apollo mission to land on the Moon.
- 1980 - The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (also known as CERCLA or Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress.
- 1981 - El Mozote massacre: Armed forces in El Salvador kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War.
- 1993 - Forty-eight people are killed when a block of the Highland Towers collapses near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- 1994 - First Chechen War: Russian President Boris Yeltsin orders Russian troops into Chechnya.
- 1997 - The Kyoto Protocol opens for signature.
- 1998 - Thai Airways Flight 261 crashes near Surat Thani Airport, killing 101. The pilot flying the Thai Airways Airbus A310-300 is thought to have suffered spatial disorientation.
- 2001 - The People's Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization.
- 2005 - The Buncefield Oil Depot catches fire in Hemel Hempstead, England.
- 2005 - Cronulla riots: Thousands of White Australians demonstrate against ethnic violence resulting in a riot against anyone thought to be Lebanese (and many who were not) in Cronulla Sydney. These are followed up by retaliatory ethnic attacks on Cronulla.
- 2006 - The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Nations such as Israel and the United States express concern.
- 2007 - Two car bombs explode at the Constitutional Court building in Algiers and the United Nations office. An estimated 45 people are killed in the bombings.
- 2008 - Bernard Madoff arrested and charged with securities fraud in $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
- 1465 - Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (d. 1489)
- 1475 - Pope Leo X (d. 1521)
- 1566 - Manuel Cardoso, Portuguese composer (d. 1650)
- 1680 - Emanuele d'Astorga, Italian composer (d. 1736)
- 1709 - Louise Elisabeth of Orléans, queen consort of Spain (d. 1742)
- 1712 - Francesco Algarotti, Italian philosopher (d. 1764)
- 1725 - George Mason, American statesman (d. 1792)
- 1761 - Gian Domenico Romagnosi, Italian physicist (d. 1835)
- 1781 - Sir David Brewster, Scottish physicist (d. 1868)
- 1801 - Christian Dietrich Grabbe, German writer (d. 1836)
- 1803 - Hector Berlioz, French composer (d. 1869)
- 1810 - Alfred de Musset, French poet (d. 1857)
- 1830 - Kamehameha V, Hawaiian king (d. 1872)
- 1838 - John Labatt, Irish-Canadian brewer (d. 1915)
- 1843 - Robert Koch, German bacteriologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1910)
- 1856 - Georgi Plekhanov, Russian revolutionary and Marxist theoretician (d. 1918)
- 1858 - Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian theatre director (d. 1943)
- 1863 - Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer (d. 1941)
- 1873 - Josip Plemelj, Slovenian mathematician (d. 1967)
- 1880 - Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer (d. 1951)
- 1882 - Subramanya Bharathy, Indian poet (d. 1921)
- 1882 - Max Born, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1970)
- 1882 - Fiorello La Guardia, American statesman (d. 1947)
- 1883 - Victor McLaglen, English-born American actor (d. 1959)
- 1889 - Walter Knott, American farmer (d. 1981)
- 1890 - Carlos Gardel, tango singer (d. 1935)
- 1890 - Mark Tobey, American painter (d. 1976)
- 1904 - Marge, American cartoonist (d. 1993)
- 1905 - Robert Henriques, English writer (d. 1967)
- 1905 - Gilbert Roland, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1908 - Elliott Carter, American composer
- 1908 - Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese director
- 1909 - Ronald McKie, Australian author (d. 1991)
- 1909 - John Wyer, English sports car racing team manager (d. 1989)
- 1910 - Noel Rosa, Brazilian songwriter (d. 1937)
- 1911 - Val Guest, English film director (d. 2006)
- 1911 - Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian writer, Nobel laureate (d. 2006)
- 1912 - Carlo Ponti, Italian film producer (d. 2007)
- 1913 - Jean Marais, French actor (d. 1998)
- 1916 - Dámaso Pérez Prado, Cuban-born bandleader (d. 1989)
- 1918 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer and Soviet dissident, Nobel laureate (d. 2008)
- 1919 - Marie Windsor, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1921 - Liz Smith, British actress
- 1922 - Grigoris Bithikotsis, Greek singer (d. 2005)
- 1922 - Dilip Kumar, Indian actor
- 1922 - Grace Paley, American writer (d. 2007)
- 1923 - Betsy Blair, American actress
- 1925 - Paul Greengard, American neuroscientist, Nobel laureate
- 1926 - Big Mama Thornton, American singer (d. 1984)
- 1927 - John Buscema, American comics artist (d. 2002)
- 1930 - Chus Lampreave, Spanish actress
- 1930 - Jean-Louis Trintignant, French actor
- 1931 - Rita Moreno, Puerto Rican actress
- 1931 - Pierre Pilote, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1931 - Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Indian guru (d. 1990)
- 1932 - Enrique Bermúdez, Nicaraguan Contra leader (d. 1991)
- 1932 - Anne Heywood, English actress
- 1933 - Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., Filipino politician
- 1935 - Ron Carey, American actor (d. 2007)
- 1935 - Pranab Mukherjee, Indian politician
- 1935 - Elmer Vasko, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1998)
- 1936 - Taku Yamasaki, Japanese politician
- 1937 - Jim Harrison, American writer
- 1938 - Enrico Macias, Algerian-born French singer
- 1938 - McCoy Tyner, American jazz pianist
- 1939 - Tom Hayden, American politician and activist
- 1939 - Thomas McGuane, American writer
- 1940 - David Gates, American musician (Bread)
- 1941 - Max Baucus, American politician, senior senator of Montana
- 1941 - J. P. Parise, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1942 - Donna Mills, American actress
- 1943 - John Kerry, American politician
- 1944 - Teri Garr, American film actress
- 1944 - Jon Garrison, American tenor
- 1944 - Lynda Day George, American actress
- 1944 - Brenda Lee, American singer
- 1948 - Stamatis Spanoudakis, Greek composer
- 1950 - Christina Onassis, American heiress (d. 1988)
- 1953 - Bess Armstrong, American actress
- 1954 - Jermaine Jackson, American singer
- 1954 - Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson, Icelandic engineer
- 1954 - Santiago Creel, Mexican politician
- 1956 - Lani Brockman, playwright
- 1958 - Nikki Sixx, American musician (Mötley Crüe)
- 1959 - Lisa Gastineau, American reality show star
- 1960 - Rachel Portman, English film composer
- 1961 - Marco Pierre White, English chef and restaurateur
- 1962 - Ben Browder, American actor
- 1962 - Paul Haslinger, Austrian-born composer
- 1962 - Nele Karajlić, Bosnian singer
- 1963 - Jon Brion, American musician/record producer
- 1964 - Michel Courtemanche, French Canadian comedian
- 1964 - Justin Currie, Scottish singer and songwriter
- 1964 - John Mark Karr, American who claimed involvement in JonBenét Ramsey case
- 1964 - David Schools, American musician (Widespread Panic)
- 1964 - Cosy Sheridan, American singer
- 1964 - Carolyn Waldo, Canadian synchronized swimmer
- 1966 - Gary Dourdan, American actor
- 1966 - Leon Lai, Hong Kong Cantonese singer/actor
- 1967 - Mo'Nique, American actress/comedienne
- 1967 - DJ Yella, American DJ and music producer (N.W.A)
- 1969 - Vishwanathan Anand, Indian chess grandmaster
- 1969 - Stig Inge Bjørnebye, Norwegian footballer
- 1969 - Sean Grande, American sportscaster
- 1969 - Alessandro Melli, Italian footballer
- 1971 - Willie McGinest, American football player
- 1972 - Daniel Alfredsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1972 - Sami Al-Jaber, Saudi Arabian footballer
- 1972 - Dana Macsim, Romanian television news reporter
- 1973 - Mos Def, American rapper and actor
- 1974 - Rey Mysterio, Mexican professional wrestler
- 1974 - Ben Shephard, English TV personality
- 1975 - Gerben de Knegt, Dutch cyclist
- 1975 - Tomoka Kurotani, Japanese actress
- 1976 - Shareef Abdur-Rahim, American basketball player
- 1977 - Mark Streit, Swiss ice hockey player
- 1979 - Rider Strong, American actor
- 1980 - Arya, Indian actor
- 1981 - Nikki Benz, Ukraine-born Canadian pornographic actress
- 1981 - Hamish Blake, Australian comedian
- 1981 - Paul Medhurst, Australian rules footballer
- 1981 - Javier Saviola, Argentine footballer
- 1981 - Zacky Vengeance, American musician (Avenged Sevenfold)
- 1982 - Pablo Pérez Companc, Argentine racing driver
- 1983 - Yoh Miyamori, Japanese musician (Orange Range)
- 1984 - Leighton Baines, English footballer
- 1987 - Natalia Gordienko, Moldovan singer and dancer
- 1988 - Tim Southee, New Zealand cricketer
- 1989 - Murugan Thiruchelvam, English chess player
- 384 - Pope Damasus I
- 1121 - Al-Afdal Shahanshah, Caliph of Egypt (b. 1066)
- 1226 - Robert de Ros, English politician (b. 1177)
- 1282 - Llywelyn the Last, Prince of Gwynedd
- 1282 - Michael VIII Palaiologos, Greek Byzantine Emperor (b. 1225)
- 1532 - Pietro Accolti, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1455)
- 1582 - Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b. 1508)
- 1694 - Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1630)
- 1737 - John Strype, English historian (b. 1643)
- 1747 - Edmund Curll, English bookseller (b. c. 1675)
- 1797 - Richard Brocklesby, English physician (b. 1722)
- 1840 - Emperor Kokaku of Japan (b. 1771)
- 1872 - Kamehameha V, Hawaiian king (b. 1830)
- 1880 - Oliver Fisher Winchester, American businessman and politician (b. 1810)
- 1892 - William Milligan, Scottish theologian (b. 1821)
- 1909 - Innokenty Annensky, Russian poet (b. 1855)
- 1918 - Ivan Cankar, Slovenian writer (b. 1876)
- 1920 - Olive Schreiner, South African writer (b. 1855)
- 1938 - Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1869)
- 1941 - John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American poet and aviator (b. 1922)
- 1941 - Charles Émile Picard, French mathematician (b. 1856)
- 1945 - Charles Fabry, French physicist (b. 1867)
- 1950 - Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1893)
- 1957 - Musidora (Jeanne Roques), French actress (b. 1889)
- 1959 - Jim Bottomley, American baseball player (b. 1900)
- 1964 - Sam Cooke, American singer (b. 1931)
- 1964 - Percy Kilbride, American actor (b. 1888)
- 1968 - Richard Sagrits, Estonian painter (b.1910)
- 1971 - Maurice "Mac" McDonald, American fast-food pioneer (b. 1902)
- 1975 - Lee Wiley, American jazz singer (b. 1908)
- 1978 - Vincent du Vigneaud, American chemist and Nobel laureate (b. 1901)
- 1978 - Paul O'Dea, American baseball player (b. 1920)
- 1979 - James J. Gibson, American perceptual psychologist (b. 1904)
- 1983 - Sir Neil Ritchie, British General (b. 1897)
- 1984 - Oskar Seidlin, German-born American scholar (b. 1911)
- 1987 - G. A. Kulkarni, Indian (Marathi) writer (b. 1923)
- 1989 - Louise Dahl-Wolfe, American photographer (b. 1895)
- 1991 - Robert Q. Lewis, American game show host and actor (b. 1921)
- 1991 - Artur Lundkvist, Swedish author and critic (b. 1906)
- 1992 - Michael Robbins, English actor (b. 1930)
- 1993 - Elvira Popescu, Romanian-born French actress (b. 1894)
- 1994 - Philip Phillips, American archaeologist (b. 1900)
- 1995 - Arthur Mullard, English comedy actor (b. 1910)
- 1996 - Willie Rushton, English cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor, performer and co-founder of the Private Eye satirical magazine. (b. 1937)
- 1998 - André Lichnerowicz, Polish-French physicist (b. 1915)
- 1998 - Lynn Strait, American singer (Snot) (b. 1968)
- 2000 - Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, Pakistani politician, diplomat and author (b. 1915)
- 2000 - David Lewis, American actor (b. 1916)
- 2003 - Ahmadou Kourouma, Ivorian writer (b. 1927)
- 2004 - José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1962)
- 2004 - Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand running coach (b. 1917)
- 2004 - M.S. Subbulakshmi, Indian singer (b. 1916)
- 2006 - Elizabeth Bolden, American, oldest verified person in the world at the time of her death (b. 1890)
- 2007 - Christie Hennessy, Irish singer (b. 1945)
- 2007 - Grace Paley, American writer (b. 1922)
- 2007 - Ashleigh Aston Moore, Canadian Actress (b. 1981)
- 2008 - Bettie Page, American model (b. 1923)
- 2008 - Maddie Blaustein, American voice actress (b. 1960)
