Monday 23rd of December 1805

Founder of the Latter Day Saint movement aka Mormonism Joseph Smith is born in Sharon, Vermont, United States.

Friday 23rd of December 1825

Showman and circus proprietor George Sanger is born in Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 23rd of December 1890

Double murderess Mary Pearcey is executed by hanging at the age of 24 in Newgate Prison, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Thursday 23rd of December 1926

Murderer Petrus Stephanus François Hauptfleisch is executed by hanging at the age of 40 in Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa.

Hauptfleisch killed his elderly mother and burnt the body on the stove.

Sunday 23rd of December 1928

Spree killer Billy William Edward Cook aka Billy Boy Cockeyed Cook is born in Joplin, Missouri, United States.

Friday 23rd of December 1932

31-year-old Wife of Joseph Goebbels Magda Johanna Maria Magdalena Ritschel aka Engelchen suffers a miscarriage in München, Bayern, Germany.

Tuesday 23rd of December 1941

Musician Tim James Timothy Hardin is born in Eugene, Oregon, United States.

Thursday 23rd of December 1948

General of the Imperial Japanese Army Hideki Tōjō is executed by hanging at the age of 64 in Sugamo Prison, Tokyo, Ikebukuro, Kantō, Japan.

On the same day 6 more officals were hanged for war-crimes.

Tuesday 23rd of December 1952

Murderer Leslie Green is executed by hanging at the age of 29 in Stafford Goal, Gaol Road, Stafford, Staffordshire, United Kingdom.

Thursday 23rd of December 1954

29-year-old Wesley Whitney Kerr is shot in the head by serial killer Leslie Irvin aka The Mad Dog Killer in Evansville, Indiana, United States.

Saturday 23rd of December 1961

71 die in train derailment in Fiumarella Viaduct, Catanzaro, Calabria, Italy.

Saturday 23rd of December 1972

Aircraft designer Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev dies of unknown causes at the age of 84 in Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia.

Sunday 23rd of December 1979

Art collector, bohemian and socialite Peggy Marguerite Guggenheim dies of a stroke at the age of 81 in Camposampiero, Veneto, Italy.

Guggenheim's ashes are buried in the garden of the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice next to her beloved dogs.

Sunday 23rd of December 1984

17 die in Rapido 904 train bomb explosion in Apennine Base Tunnel, San Benedetto Val di Sambro, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

There were 267 injured. The motive behind the bomb attack was to distract Italian security forces from investigating the Sicilian Mafia.

Monday 23rd of December 1985

Heavy Metal fan Raymond Eugene Belknap commits suicide by a shot through the head at the age of 18 in Reno, Nevada, United States.

Belknap and his 20-year-old friend James Vance engaged in a suicide pact after listening intensively to the Judas Priest song "Better by You, Better than Me" that supposedly contained a subliminal message "do it". Vance followed but survived the self-inflicted gunshot wound with a severely disfigured face. He died three years later after a suicidal overdose of painkillers.

Tuesday 23rd of December 1986

19-year-old Lisa Thomas is abducted and held imprisoned by serial killer Gary Heidnik aka The Cellar of Horror Murderer in 3520 North Marshall Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Wednesday 23rd of December 1987

15-year-old Hijacker Adalgiso Scioni hijacks KLM Flight 343 Boeing 737 from Amsterdam to Milan with 97 people on board, claiming to have a bomb in his luggage which could be detonated by a control on his wristwatch in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Scioni allowed about 60 passengers to deplane while he negotiated with authorities. He was eventually overpowered by police when he was apparently lured from the aircraft on the pretence of being driven to another aircraft for a flight to New York.

Wednesday 23rd of December 1987

39-year-old Member of the 'Manson Family' Lynette Alice Fromme aka Squeaky known for attempting to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford escapes in Federal Prison Camp, Alderson, West Virginia, United States.

Fromme attempted to meet Charles Manson who she had heard had testicular cancer. She was captured again two days later and incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas.

Saturday 23rd of December 1995

The charred bodies of 13 adults and three 2, 4, and 6-year-old children, members of Secret society L'Ordre International Chevaleresque de Tradition Solaire aka Ordre du Temple Solaire are found in Trou de l'Enfer, Saint-Pierre-de-Chérennes, Rhône-Alpes, France.

In the night of 15-16 December 1995, 14 victims, including Edith and Patrick Vuarnet, overdosed on sedatives before being shot dead by André Friedli and Jean-Luc Lardanchet. Then the bodies were doused with petrol and set ablaze before the two men shot themselves in the head.

Tuesday 23rd of December 1997

48-year-old Terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez aka Carlos the Jackal is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

Tuesday 23rd of December 1997

The New Year, a two-story houseboat where 28-year-old Serial killer Andrew Phillip Cunanan aka American Gigolo/American Psycho shot himself through the head, days after killing Gianni Versace in July, sinks to the bottom in Indian Creek, Miami Beach, Florida, United States.

Workers believe the boat developed a leak that caused it to sink overnight.

Tuesday 23rd of December 2003

Noise music band Club Moral record their 100th concert live in Stanleystraat, Antwerpen, Berchem, Antwerpen, Belgium.

The recording was released as 'Living(Stone)' in 2004.

Tuesday 23rd of December 2003

The Club Moral flag on the balcony of Lies and Marthe's house where we performed our 'Livingstone' concert in Stanleystraat, Antwerpen, Berchem, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Saturday 23rd of December 2006

Noise music band Club Moral play their 123rd concert as Bum Collar in Dampfzentrale, Marzilistrasse 47, Bern, Mittelland, Switzerland.

Saturday 23rd of December 2006

An anti-riot van of the Swiss police stationed in Bern, Mittelland, Switzerland.

Monday 23rd of December 2013

Serial killer András Pándy aka Father Bluebeard dies of natural causes at the age of 86 in Penitentiair Complex, Legeweg 200, Brugge, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Monday 23rd of December 2013

Weapon designer Mikhail Kalashnikov known for the AK-47 assault rifle dies of cancer at the age of 94 in Izhevsk, Udmurtia, Russia.