This Day in History for 23rd DecemberFamous Deaths558 - Childebert, king of France (511-58), dies at about 62
679 - Dagobert II, king of Austrasia (676-679), murdered
910 - Naum of Preslav, Bulgarian scholar
918 - Conrad I, East Frankish/German king (911-18), dies. Born 890
1116 - Ivo van Chartres, French canonist/bishop of Chartres/saint, dies
1230 - Berengaria of Navarre, queen of Richard I of England
1236 - Philippus Cancellarius, French theologist/poet (Summa Cum Laude), dies
1502 - Margaretha, English princess of Burgundy, dies at 57
1556 - Nicholas Udall, English playwright (b. 1504)
1568 - Roger Ascham, tutor of Elizabeth I of England
1569 - St Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow, martyred by Ivan the Terrible
1575 - Akiyama Nobutomo, Japanese warrior (hanged) (b. 1531)
1588 - Hendrik de Guise, French leader of Catholic League, murdered at 37
1619 - Johan Sigismund, elector of Brandenburg/duke of Prussia, dies at 47
1631 - Michael Drayton, English poet (b. 1563)
1646 - François Maynard, French poet (b. 1582)
1652 - John Cotton, Mass Bay Puritan preacher, dies at 68
1675 - Caesar, duc de Choiseul, French marshal and diplomat (b. 1602)
1688 - Jean-Louis Lully, composer, dies at 21
1696 - Johann David Mayer, composer, dies at 60
1722 - Pierre Varignon, French mathematician (b. 1654)
1761 - Alestair Ruadh MacDonnell, Scottish Jacobite spy
1771 - Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, Canadian saint (b. 1701)
1779 - Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, British admiral and politician (b. 1724)
1789 - Charles-Michel de l'Épée, French philanthropist (b. 1712)
1793 - Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer (b. 1699)
1793 - Antoine François Prévost, French author and novelist (b. 1697)
1795 - Henry Clinton, British general (b. 1730)
1805 - Pehr Osbeck, Swedish explorer and naturalist (b. 1723)
1812 - Michel Delalande, composer, dies at 73
1834 - Reverend Thomas Malthus, English demographer and economist (b. 1766)
1846 - Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent, French naturalist (b. 1780)
1891 - Holger Simon Paulli, composer, dies at 81
1908 - Eduard Wachmann, composer, dies at 72
1908 - Francois A Gevaert, Belg/Dutch composer (Diable au Moulin), dies at 68
1911 - Karl L Hoschna, composer, dies at 34
1912 - Otto Schoetensack, German anthropologist (b. 1850)
1913 - James Middleton, cricketer (24 wkt of lefty pace S Af 1895-1903), dies
1915 - Roland Leighton, dies at 20
1925 - A S C Wallis, [Adele von Antal-Opzoomer], writer (Vorstengunst), dies
1930 - Johannes H Been, Brielle archivist, dies at 71
1931 - Wilson Bentley, American scientist (b. 1865)
1938 - Robert Herrick, US writer (Chimes), dies at 70
1939 - Anthony H G Fokker, Dutch airplane builder (Spider), dies at 49
1943 - Theo[dorus J] Thijssen, Dutch writer (Kees de Jongen), dies at 64
1945 - Mogens Klitgaard, Danish author (Brunkul), dies at 39
1946 - John A. Sampson, American gynecologist (b. 1873)
1948 - Hideki Tojo, Japan PM (1941-44) & 6 Japs, hanged for war crimes at 64
1950 - Vincenzo Tommasini, composer, dies at 72
1951 - Alfreds Kalnins, composer, dies at 72
1951 - Benito Lynch, Irish/Argentine writer (Palo Verde), dies at 66
1953 - Lavrenti P Beria, soviet minister of internal security, executed
1954 - René Iché, French sculptor (b. 1897)
1959 - Edward FLW Halifax, English viscount/viceroy of India, dies at 78
1959 - Lester Lonergan Jr, actor (Growing Paynes), dies at 65
1959 - Lord Irwin, ambassador to US (1940-46), dies at 78
1961 - Kurt Meyer, German SS officer (b. 1910)
1962 - George Saiko, writer, dies at 70
1962 - Luis Alberni, actor (Topaze), dies at 76
1964 - Arrigo Pedrollo, composer, dies at 86
1966 - Hv Doderer, writer, dies at 70
1966 - Robert Keith, actor (Battle Circus, Men in War), dies at 68
1967 - Karen Verne, actress (Ships of Fools, Underground), dies at 49
1967 - Richard Flury, composer, dies at 71
1967 - Ruth Fuller Sasaki, head of 1st Zen Institute of America, dies at 75
1969 - Donald Foster, actor (Scaramouche), dies after long illness at 80
1970 - Charlie Ruggles, actor (Ruggles, Aesop-Bullwinkle Show), dies at 84
1971 - Carlo Jachino, composer, dies at 84
1972 - Andrej N Tupolev, Russian aircraft builder, dies at 84
1972 - Charles Atlas, [Angelo Siciliano], body builder, dies at 79
1973 - Arthur Richardson, cricketer (9 Tests 1924-26), dies
1975 - Richard S Welch, CIA station chief in Athens, shot dead
1976 - Frank Forest, actor (Big Broadcast of 1937, Champagne Waltz), dies
1976 - Paul M Frank Forest, dies at 80
1976 - Walter Bauer, writer, dies at 72
1979 - Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (b. 1898)
1982 - Jack Webb, actor (Joe Friday-Dragnet), dies of a heart attack at 62
1982 - Norman Dinnerstein, composer, dies at 45
1983 - Colin Middleton, Northern Irish artist (b. 1910)
1984 - Joan Lindsay, Australian author (b. 1896)
1985 - James Vance (20) & Raymond Belknap (18), commit suicide, sparking their families to sue rock group Judas Priest for subliminal messages
1989 - Josef Alexander, composer, dies at 82
1990 - Frank King, cricketer (WI fast bowler played 14 Tests 1953-56), dies
1991 - Byron Q Griffith, producer/actor, dies at 73
1992 - Cyril Walters, cricketer (11 Tests for England, 784 runs), dies
1992 - Eddie Hazel, US pop guitarist (Funkadelic-Knee Deep), dies at 42
1993 - Gertrude "Trudi" Duby Blom, actress, shot to death at about 92
1994 - Charles Shirley, jazz arranger, dies at 74
1994 - Didier Rocher, son of French cosmetic maker Yves Rocher, dies at 41
1994 - Nora Dunfree, US actress (Grass Harp), dies at 78
1994 - Sebastian Lewis Shaw, actor (High Season, Ace of Spades), dies at 89
1995 - David Land, impressario, dies at 77
1995 - Gabrielle Keiller, collector/golfer, dies at 87
1995 - Patric Reginald Lawrence Knowles, actor (Chisum, Mutiny), dies at 84
1996 - Rina Ketty, singer, dies at 85
1996 - Ronnie Scott, musician/club-owner, dies at 69
1997 - Austin Whitaker, schoolmaster classical scholar/archivist, dies at 90
1997 - Brian Malzard Foss, psychologist, dies at 76
1997 - Donald Gunn MacRae, sociologist, dies at 76
1997 - Hrvoje Horvatic, video artist, dies at 39