Date·Lore

On This Day · The 348th day of the year

December 14

December 14 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 835 and 2012. Sweet Dew Incident: Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty conspires to kill the powerful eunuchs of the Tang court, but the plot is foiled.

♐ZodiacSagittarius ◈BirthstoneTurquoise ❀Birth flowerHolly

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on December 14?

December 14 is the 348th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 835 and 2012. Famous people born on December 14 include Karl Carstens, Karl Renner and Tycho Brahe.

The shape of the day

December 14's record stretches 1,177 years, from 835 to 2012. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and conflict is a recurring thread.

Sagittarius is the sign for December 14 — read more on the Sagittarius page, or see December's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on December 14

Movies, games, albums & shows

2025

  • Movie David

2023

  • Game Palia

2022

  • Movie Avatar: The Way of Water

2021

  • Game Praey for the Gods

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 835

    Sweet Dew incident

    Sweet Dew Incident: Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty conspires to kill the powerful eunuchs of the Tang court, but the plot is foiled.

  2. 1836

    Toledo War

    The Toledo War unofficially ends as the "Frostbitten Convention" votes to accept Congress' terms for admitting Michigan as a U.S. state.

  3. 1863

    American Civil War

    American Civil War: The Confederate victory under General James Longstreet at the Battle of Bean's Station in East Tennessee ends the Knoxville Campaign, but achieves very little as Longstreet returns to Virginia next spring.

  4. 1911

    Roald Amundsen

    Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole.

  5. 1913

    Japanese battleship Haruna

    Haruna, the fourth and last Kongō-class ship, launches, eventually becoming one of the Japanese workhorses during World War I and World War II.

  6. 1918

    Giacomo Puccini

    Giacomo Puccini's comic opera Gianni Schicchi premieres at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

  7. 1925

    Wozzeck

    Wozzeck, Alban Berg's first opera, is premiered at the Berlin State Opera conducted by Erich Kleiber.

  8. 1992

    War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)

    War in Abkhazia: Siege of Tkvarcheli: A helicopter carrying evacuees from Tkvarcheli is shot down, resulting in at least 52 deaths, including 25 children. The incident catalyses more concerted Russian military intervention on behalf of Abkhazia.

  9. 1999

    Vargas tragedy

    Torrential rains cause flash floods in Vargas, Venezuela, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, the destruction of thousands of homes, and the complete collapse of the state's infrastructure.

  10. 2012

    Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting

    Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

Famous birthday twins

Born on December 14

Karl Carstens

b. 1914

German lieutenant and politician, 5th President of the Federal Republic of Germany

Karl Renner

b. 1870

Austrian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Austria

Tycho Brahe

b. 1546

Danish astronomer and chemist

Dilma Rousseff

b. 1947

Brazilian economist and politician, 36th President of Brazil

Anna Maria Jopek

b. 1970

Polish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer

Hanni Wenzel

b. 1956

German skier

Stan Smith

b. 1946

American tennis player and coach

Shyam Benegal

b. 1934

Indian director and screenwriter

Deaths

  • 2025Rob Reiner
  • 1990Friedrich Dürrenmatt
  • 1989Andrei Sakharov
  • 1860George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
  • 1799George Washington
  • 1332Rinchinbal Khan

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Folcwin
  • —Christian feast day: John of the Cross
  • —Christian feast day: John III of the Sedre (Syriac Orthodox Church)
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Mary Frances Schervier
  • —Christian feast day: Nicasius of Rheims
  • —Christian feast day: Nimatullah Kassab (Maronite Church)
  • —Christian feast day: Spyridon (Western Church)
  • —Christian feast day: Venantius Fortunatus

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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