December 21 - Births

Births

• 1118 – Thomas Becket, Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1170)
• 1401 – Tommaso Masaccio, Italian painter (d. 1428)
• 1596 – Petru Movilă, Moldovan religious figure (d. 1646)
• 1603 – Roger Williams, English theologian and founder of the American colony Providence Plantations (d. 1684)
• 1672 – Benjamin Schmolck, German Lutheran composer of hymns (d. 1737)
• 1682 – Calico Jack Rackham, English pirate (d. 1720)
• 1714 – John Bradstreet, Canadian-born soldier (d. 1774)
• 1728 – Hermann Raupach, German composer (d. 1778)
• 1778 – Anders Sandøe Ørsted, Danish politician (d. 1860)
• 1795 – Leopold von Ranke, German historian (d. 1886)
• 1795 – John Russell, English parson and dog breeder (d. 1883)
• 1804 – Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1881)
• 1805 – Thomas Graham, British chemist (d. 1869)
• 1811 – Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1882)
• 1815 – Thomas Couture, French painter and teacher (d. 1879)
• 1818 – Amalia of Oldenburg, Queen of Greece (d. 1875)
• 1832 – John H. Ketcham, American politician (d. 1906)
• 1840 – Namık Kemal, Turkish nationalist poet (d. 1888)
• 1843 – Thomas Bracken, Irish-born New Zealand poet (d. 1898)
• 1850 – Zdeněk Fibich, Bohemian composer (d. 1900)
• 1850 – William Wallace Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1862)
• 1851 – Thomas Chipman McRae, American politician (d. 1929)
• 1859 – Gustave Kahn, French poet (d. 1936)
• 1866 – Maud Gonne, Irish activist (d. 1953)
• 1868 – George W. Fuller: American sanitary engineer (d. 1934)
• 1872 – Sidney Ainsworth, British actor (d. 1922)
• 1872 – Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (d. 1956)
• 1872 – Albert Payson Terhune, American author (d. 1942)
• 1873 – Blagoje Bersa, Croatian composer (d. 1934)
• 1876 – Jack Lang, Australian politician (d. 1975)
• 1878 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish philosopher and mathematician (d. 1956)
• 1885 – Frank Patrick, Canadian hockey player (d. 1960)
• 1889 – Sewall Wright, American biologist (d. 1988)
• 1890 – Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and Nobel laureate (d. 1967)
• 1891 – John William McCormack, American politician (d. 1980)
• 1892 – Amy Key Clarke, English mystical poet (d. 1980)
• 1892 – Walter Hagen, American golfer (d. 1969)
• 1892 – Rebecca West, British writer (d. 1983)
• 1896 – Leroy Robertson, American composer (d. 1971)
• 1905 – Anthony Powell, British author (d. 2000)
• 1908 – Herbert Hutner, American banker and attorney (d. 2008)
• 1909 – Seicho Matsumoto, Japanese mystery writer and journalist (d. 1992)
• 1911 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (d. 1947)
• 1913 – Arnold Friberg, American illustrator (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Frank Fenner, Australian microbiologist (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Ivan Generalić, Austro-Hungarian-born Croatian painter (d. 1992)
• 1915 – Joe Mantell, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1915 – Werner von Trapp, member of the Trapp Family Singers (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Heinrich Böll, German writer and Nobel laureate (d. 1985)
• 1917 – Sophie Masloff, American politician
• 1918 – Donald Regan, American civil servant (d. 2003)
• 1918 – Kurt Waldheim, Austrian politician and diplomat (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina
• 1920 – Bob Bindig, American cartoonist (d. 2006)
• 1920 – Jean Gascon, Canadian actor (d. 1988)
• 1921 – Robert Lipshutz, American attorney and counsel to the Carter Adminisrtation (d. 2010)
• 1921 – John Severin, American comics artist
• 1922 – Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician (d. 1989)
• 1922 – Paul Winchell, American ventriloquist (d. 2005)
• 1923 – Intizar Hussain, Urdu writer and columnist
• 1924 – Rita Reys, Dutch jazzsinger
• 1926 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech author
• 1926 – Joe Paterno, American football coach (d. 2012)
• 1928 – Ed Nelson, American actor
• 1931 – David Baker, American symphonic jazz composer
• 1932 – Edward Hoagland, American essayist
• 1933 – Denis E. Dillon, American politician (d. 2010)
• 1935 – John G. Avildsen, American film director
• 1935 – Lorenzo Bandini, Italian racecar driver (d. 1967)
• 1935 – Yusuf Bey, American activist (d. 2003)
• 1935 – Phil Donahue, American talk show host
• 1935 – Edward Schreyer, Canadian politician, Premier of Manitoba
• 1937 – Jane Fonda, American actress
• 1937 – Donald F. Munson, American politician
• 1938 – Larry Bryggman, American actor
• 1938 – Frank Moorhouse, Australian author
• 1939 – Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian politician
• 1940 – Arvi Lind, Finnish news broadcaster
• 1940 – Ray Hildebrand, American singer (Paul & Paula)
• 1940 – Frank Zappa, American musician (d. 1993)
• 1942 – Hu Jintao, CPC General Secretary, Chinese president
• 1942 – Reinhard Mey, German singer
• 1942 – Carla Thomas, American singer
• 1943 – André Arthur. Canadian radio host
• 1943 – Albert Lee, English guitarist
• 1943 – Jack Nance, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1944 – Bill Atkinson, English footballer
• 1944 – Michael Tilson Thomas, American conductor
• 1944 – Zheng Xiaoyu, Chinese bureaucrat (d. 2007)
• 1946 – Christopher Keene, American conductor (d. 1995)
• 1946 – Carl Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (d. 1998)
• 1947 – Bryan Hamilton, Northern Irish footballer
• 1947 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish musician
• 1948 – Samuel L. Jackson, American actor
• 1948 – Dave Kingman, American baseball player
• 1948 – Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician
• 1949 – Thomas Sankara, Burkinabé military figure (d. 1987)
• 1949 – Nikolaos Sifounakis, Greek politician
• 1950 – Jeffrey Katzenberg, American film producer
• 1950 – Lillebjørn Nilsen, Norwegian singer-songwriter
• 1951 – Nick Gilder, English musician (Sweeney Todd)
• 1952 – Joaquín Andújar, Dominican baseball player
• 1953 – Betty Wright, American singer
• 1954 – Chris Evert, American tennis player
• 1955 – Jane Kaczmarek, American actress
• 1955 – Kazuyuki Sekiguchi, Japanese musician
• 1957 – Tom Henke, American baseball player
• 1957 – Rolf Kanies, German actor
• 1957 – Ray Romano, Italian-American comedian
• 1959 – Florence Griffith Joyner, American sprinter (d. 1998)
• 1960 – Louis Demetrius Alvanis, British pianist
• 1960 – Roger McDowell, American baseball player
• 1960 – Sherry Rehman, Pakistani politician
• 1960 – Andy Van Slyke, American baseball player
• 1961 – Francis Ng, Hong Kong actor
• 1961 – Ryuji Sasai, Japanese video game composer
• 1961 – Del Wilkes, American pro wrestler
• 1963 – Govinda Ahuja, Indian actor and politician
• 1964 – Rob Kelly, English football manager
• 1964 – Fabiana Udenio, Argentine actress
• 1964 – Joe Kocur, Canadian hockey player
• 1965 – Andy Dick, American actor and comedian
• 1965 – Anke Engelke, German comedian
• 1965 – Stuart Mitchell, Scottish Composer
• 1966 – Adam Schefter, American sports journalist
• 1966 – Kiefer Sutherland, British-born Canadian actor
• 1966 – Karri Turner, American actress
• 1967 – Ervin Johnson, American basketball player
• 1967 – Fritz Karl, Austrian actor
• 1967 – Terry Mills, American basketball player
• 1967 – Mikheil Saakashvili, Soviet-born President of Georgia
• 1969 – Julie Delpy, French actress
• 1969 – Jack Noseworthy, American actor
• 1969 – Mihails Zemļinskis, Latvian footballer
• 1971 – Matthieu Chedid, French musician
• 1971 – Fenton Keogh, Australian celebrity chef
• 1971 – Brett Scallions, American singer (Fuel)
• 1972 – Gloria De Piero, English journalist
• 1972 – Latroy Hawkins, American baseball player
• 1972 – Dustin Hermanson, American baseball player
• 1972 – Claudia Poll, Costa Rican swimmer
• 1972 – Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Indian politician
• 1972 – Erwin Schrott, Uruguayan opera singer
• 1973 – Irakli Alasania, Georgian politician and diplomat
• 1973 – Mike Alstott, American football player
• 1973 – Karmen Stavec, German-Slovenian singer
• 1974 – Karrie Webb, Australian golfer
• 1975 – Paloma Herrera, Argentine ballet dancer
• 1976 – Mirela Manjani, Greek javelin thrower
• 1976 – Lukas Rossi, Canadian singer (Rock Star Supernova)
• 1977 – A. J. Bowen, American actor
• 1977 – Toby Rand, Australian singer (Juke Kartel)
• 1978 – Emiliano Brembilla, Italian swimmer
• 1978 – Mike Vitar, American actor
• 1979 – Tuva Novotny, Swedish actress and singer
• 1980 – Royce Ring, American baseball player
• 1980 – Michele Di Piedi, Italian footballer
• 1981 – Frankie Abernathy, American actress (d. 2007)
• 1981 – Mohammed Jabarah, Kuwaiti convicted terrorist
• 1981 – Sanita Puspure, Latvian and Irish rower
• 1981 – Lynda Thomas, Mexican singer
• 1981 – Cristian Zaccardo, Italian football player
• 1982 – Eddie Colón, Puerto Rican wrestler
• 1982 – Mike Gansey, American basketball player
• 1982 – Erica Hayden, American journalist and radio personality
• 1982 – Philip Humber, American baseball player
• 1982 – Iljo Keisse, Belgian cyclist
• 1982 – Tom Payne, British actor
• 1984 – Darren Potter, Irish football player
• 1985 – James Stewart Jr., American motorcycle racer
• 1985 – Tom Sturridge, British actor
• 1987 – Valerie Concepcion, Filipino actress
• 1987 – Brad Howard, Australian rules footballer
• 1988 – Alexa Goddard, British R&B singer
• 1988 – Yasmin, British DJ and Singer
• 1989 – Mark Ingram, Jr., American football player
• 1989 – Tamannaah, Indian actress