1839 – A cyclone slams India with high winds and a 40-foot storm surge, destroying the port city of Coringa (never to be entirely rebuilt again). The storm wave sweeps inland, taking with it 20,000 ships and thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths result from the disaster.
1984 – 36 top musicians gather in a Notting Hill studio and record Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
1987 – Typhoon Nina pummels the Philippines with category 5 winds of 165 mph and a surge that swallows entire villages. at least 1,036 deaths caused by the storm.
2008 – 'Yellow Shirt' anti-government demonstrators begin a week-long blockade of Bangkok Airport, forcing the ThaiPrime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to resign.
2009 – Torrential rain in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, causes major flooding, killing 100 people, many of them pilgrims participating in the Hajj Pilgrimage.
2012 - Sebastian Vettel wins the Formula One World Championship for the third year in a row, becoming the youngest driver to win three Formula One World Championships.
2014 - Australian cricketerPhillip Hughes is hit on the neck by a ball during a match. He dies two days later.