So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

December 19th


- Christian Feast Day
- Liberation day (Goa)
- Opalia (Roman Empire)

December 19th


- 2001 - A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) is recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia.
- 2001 - Argentine economic crisis: December 2001 riots – Riots erupt in Buenos Aires.
- 2000 - The Leninist Guerrilla Units wing of the Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist attack a Nationalist Movement Party office in Istanbul, killing one person and injuring three.
- 1998 - Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives forwards articles I and III of impeachment against President Bill Clinton to the Senate.
- 1997 - SilkAir Flight 185 crashes into the Musi River, near Palembang in Indonesia, killing 104.
- 1995 - The United States Government restores federal recognition to the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indian tribe.
- 1986 - Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from internal exile in Gorky.
- 1984 - The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that the People's Republic of China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997 is signed in Beijing by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.
- 1983 - The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro.
- 1981 - Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
- 1975 - John Paul Stevens is appointed a justice of The United States Supreme Court.
- 1972 - Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
- 1967 - Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt is officially presumed dead.
- 1964 - The South Vietnamese military junta of Nguyen Khanh dissolved the High National Council and arrested some of the members.
- 1961 - India annexes Daman and Diu, part of Portuguese India.
- 1946 - Start of the First Indochina War.
- 1941 - World War II: Adolf Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the German Army.
- 1932 - BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service
- 1924 - The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.
- 1920 - King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I of Greece and a plebiscite.
- 1916 - World War I: Battle of Verdun – On the Western Front, the French Army successfully holds off the German Army and drives it back to its starting position.
- 1912 - William H. Van Schaick, captain of the steamship General Slocum which caught fire and killed over 1,000 people, is pardoned by U.S. President William Howard Taft after three-and-a-half-years in Sing Sing prison.
- 1909 - Football club Borussia Dortmund is founded.
- 1907 - A group of 239 coal miners die during a mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.
- 1835 - The first issue of The Blade newspaper is published in Toledo, Ohio.
- 1828 - Nullification Crisis: Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun pens the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, protesting the Tariff of 1828.
- 1777 - American Revolutionary War: George Washington's Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
- 1776 - Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in the Pennsylvania Journal titled The American Crisis.
- 1606 - The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery depart England carrying settlers who found, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
- 1490 - Anne, Duchess of Brittany, is married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor by proxy.
- 1154 - Henry II of England is crowned at Westminster Abbey.
- 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor.
- 211 - Publius Septimius Geta, co-emperor of Rome, is lured to come without his bodyguards to meet his brother Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla), do discuss a possible reconciliation. When he arrives the Praetorian Guard murders him and he dies in the arms of his mother Julia Domna.

December 19th


- 1991 - Declan Galbraith, English singer
- 1989 - Valdimar Bergstað, Icelandic horse rider
- 1988 - Peter Winn, English footballer
- 1988 - Alexis Sánchez, Chilean footballer
- 1988 - Paulina Gretzky, American singer and model
- 1987 - Karim Benzema, French footballer
- 1986 - Ryan Babel, Dutch footballer
- 1985 - Gary Cahill, English footballer
- 1985 - Neil Kilkenny, English-born Australian footballer
- 1985 - Lady Sovereign, English musician
- 1984 - Ian Kennedy, Baseball player
- 1983 - Matt Stajan, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1982 - Maurice Williams, American basketball player
- 1982 - Tero Pitkamaki, Finnish javelin thrower
- 1980 - Iman Ali, Pakistani model and actress
- 1980 - Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor
- 1980 - Chris Haslam, Canadian skateboarder and bassist (Kobra Triangle)
- 1980 - Marla Sokoloff, American actress
- 1979 - Kevin Devine, American musician
- 1979 - Paola Rey, Colombian actress
- 1978 - Patrick Casey, American screenwriter and actor
- 1977 - Jorge Garbajosa, Spanish basketball player
- 1975 - Russell Branyan, American baseball player
- 1975 - Jon Smith, British writer
- 1975 - Olivier Tebily, Ivorian footballer
- 1974 - Felipe Lopez, American basketball player
- 1974 - Jake Plummer, American football player
- 1974 - Ricky Ponting, Australian cricketer
- 1974 - Mikko Paananen, Finnish bassist (HIM)
- 1974 - Joe Jurevicius, American football player
- 1973 - Takashi Sorimachi, Japanese actor
- 1973 - Zulfiya Zabirova, Russian cyclist
- 1972 - Alyssa Milano, American actress
- 1972 - Rosa Blasi, American actress
- 1972 - Warren Sapp, American football player
- 1971 - Tyson Beckford, American model
- 1971 - Liz Cho, American television reporter
- 1971 - Amy Locane, American actress
- 1969 - Richard Hammond, English television presenter
- 1969 - Tom Gugliotta, American basketball player
- 1969 - Kristy Swanson, American actress
- 1969 - Villano IV, Mexican professional wrestler
- 1967 - Criss Angel, American illusionist
- 1967 - Frankie Lam, Hong Kong actor
- 1966 - Chuckii Booker, American singer, musician and producer
- 1966 - Robert MacNaughton, American stage and screen actor
- 1966 - Alberto Tomba, Italian alpine skier
- 1966 - Eric Weinrich, American ice hockey player
- 1965 - Chito Martínez, Belizean baseball player
- 1965 - Jessica Steen, American actress
- 1964 - Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1964 - Béatrice Dalle, French actress
- 1963 - Jennifer Beals, American actress
- 1963 - Til Schweiger, German actor
- 1962 - Gary Fleder, American film director
- 1962 - Jill Talley, American actress
- 1961 - Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist, Nobel laureate
- 1961 - Matthew Waterhouse, English actor
- 1961 - Reggie White, American football player (d. 2004)
- 1960 - Derrick Jensen, American author and activist
- 1960 - Mike Lookinland, American actor
- 1960 - Michelangelo Signorile, American writer
- 1959 - Ivan Vallejo, Ecuadorian mountaineer
- 1958 - Limahl, English singer (Kajagoogoo)
- 1958 - Steven Isserlis, English cellist
- 1957 - Cyril Collard, French film director (d. 1993)
- 1957 - John Gulager, American film director
- 1957 - Kevin McHale, American basketball player
- 1956 - Tom Lawless, American baseball player
- 1956 - Phil Harris, American fisherman (Deadliest Catch) (d. 2010)
- 1955 - Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer
- 1952 - Walter Murphy, American composer, pianist and arranger
- 1951 - Alan Rouse, British mountaineer (d. 1986)
- 1949 - Nancy Kyes, American actress
- 1949 - Sebastian, Danish musician
- 1948 - Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1947 - Jimmy Bain, Scottish musician
- 1947 - Charlie Van Dyke, American actor and radio disc jockey
- 1946 - Rosemary Conley, English businesswoman, author and broadcaster
- 1946 - Robert Urich, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1945 - Elaine Joyce, American actress
- 1944 - William Christie, American-born French musician (Les Arts Florissants)
- 1944 - Mitchell Feigenbaum, American mathematical physicist
- 1944 - Richard Leakey, Kenyan paleontologist, conservationist and politician
- 1944 - Alvin Lee, English singer and musician (Ten Years After)
- 1944 - Tim Reid, American actor
- 1944 - Zal Yanovsky, Canadian guitarist (The Lovin' Spoonful) (d. 2002)
- 1943 - Ross M. Lence, American political scientist (d. 2006)
- 1943 - General James L. Jones, American military figure
- 1942 - Rufus, French actor
- 1941 - Maurice White, American singer and songwriter (Earth, Wind & Fire)
- 1941 - Lee Myung-bak, South Korean politician
- 1940 - Phil Ochs, American folk singer (d. 1976)
- 1936 - Marian McKnight, American beauty pageant contestant (Miss America 1957)
- 1935 - Barbara Bostock, American actress
- 1935 - Bobby Timmons, American jazz pianist (d. 1974)
- 1934 - Rudi Carrell, Dutch singer (d. 2006)
- 1934 - Al Kaline, American baseball player
- 1934 - Casper R. Taylor, Jr., American politician
- 1934 - Pratibha Patil, Indian politician
- 1933 - Kevan Gosper, Australian athlete
- 1933 - Cicely Tyson, American actress
- 1932 - Salvador Elizondo, Mexican writer
- 1929 - Bob Brookmeyer, American jazz musician
- 1929 - Howard Sackler, American screenwriter (d. 1982)
- 1928 - Nathan Oliveira, American artist
- 1927 - James Booth, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2005)
- 1926 - Bobby Layne, American football player (d. 1986)
- 1926 - Herb Stempel, American game show contestant
- 1925 - Tankred Dorst, German dramatist
- 1925 - Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter
- 1925 - William Schutz, American psychologist (d. 2002)
- 1924 - Carlo Chiti, Italian race car engineer (d. 1994)
- 1924 - Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1989)
- 1924 - Gary Morton, American comic; widower of Lucille Ball (d. 1999)
- 1924 - Edmund Purdom, English actor (d. 2009)
- 1923 - Gordon Jackson, Scottish actor (d. 1990)
- 1922 - Eamonn Andrews, Irish-born television presenter (d. 1987)
- 1920 - Little Jimmy Dickens, American country singer
- 1920 - David Susskind, American TV talk show host (d. 1987)
- 1918 - Professor Longhair, American blues musician (d. 1980)
- 1916 - Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, German political scientist (d. 2010)
- 1916 - Roy Ward Baker, English film director
- 1915 - Édith Piaf, French singer and actress (d. 1963)
- 1910 - Jean Genet, French writer (d. 1986)
- 1909 - W.A. Criswell, American (Baptist) preacher (d. 2002)
- 1907 - Jimmy McLarnin, former Welterweight Champion (d. 2004)
- 1906 - Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union (d. 1982)
- 1905 - Irving Kahn, American financial analyst and investor
- 1903 - George Davis Snell, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (d. 1996)
- 1902 - Sir Ralph Richardson, English actor (d. 1983)
- 1901 - Rudolf Hell, German inventor (d. 2002)
- 1899 - Martin Luther King, Sr., American Baptist minister and father of Civil Rights activist, Martin Luther King, Jr. (d. 1984)
- 1895 - Werner Dankwort, German diplomat (d. 1986)
- 1895 - Ingeborg Refling Hagen, Norwegian author and teacher (d. 1989)
- 1894 - Ford Frick, American baseball commissioner (d. 1978)
- 1888 - Fritz Reiner, Hungarian-born American conductor (d. 1963)
- 1885 - Joe "King" Oliver, American jazz musician (d. 1938)
- 1875 - Carter Woodson, American historian and author, founder of Black History Month (d. 1950)
- 1865 - Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress (d. 1932)
- 1861 - Italo Svevo, Italian author (d. 1928)
- 1853 - Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian politician, lieutenant-governor of Quebec (d. 1942)
- 1852 - Albert Abraham Michelson, Prussian-born American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1931)
- 1831 - Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Hawaiian philanthropist (d. 1884)
- 1820 - Mary Livermore, American journalist and women's rights advocate (d. 1905)
- 1817 - James J. Archer, Confederate general (d. 1864)
- 1813 - Thomas Andrews, Irish chemist (d. 1885)
- 1796 - Breton de los Herreros, Spanish playwright (d. 1873)
- 1784 - Marcus Morton, 16th and 18th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1864)
- 1778 - Princess Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, daughter of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI (d. 1851)
- 1714 - John Winthrop, American astronomer (d. 1779)
- 1699 - William Bowyer, English printer (d. 1777)
- 1683 - Philip V of Spain (d. 1746)
- 1587 - Dorothea Sophia, Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg (d. 1645)
- 1554 - Philip William, Prince of Orange (d. 1618)