December 8 - Births

Births

• 65 BC– Horace, Roman poet (d. 8 BC)
• 1542 – Mary, Queen of Scots (d. 1587)
• 1574 – Maria Anna of Bavaria, consort of Ferdinand II (d. 1616)
• 1626 – Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689)
• 1678 – Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton, English diplomat (d. 1757)
• 1699 – Queen Maria Josepha of Poland (d. 1757)
• 1708 – Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1765)
• 1724 – Claude Balbastre, French composer, organist and harpsichordist (d. 1799)
• 1730 – Jan Ingenhousz, Dutch physician, physiologist and botanist (d. 1799)
• 1731 – František Xaver Dušek, Czech composer (d. 1799)
• 1756 – Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria (d. 1801)
• 1765 – Eli Whitney, American inventor (d. 1825)
• 1795 – Peter Andreas Hansen, Danish astronomer (d. 1874)
• 1815 – Adolph Menzel, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1905)
• 1816 – August Belmont, Sr., Prussian-born American financier (d. 1890)
• 1817 – Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs, Danish nobleman and politician (d. 1896)
• 1818 – Charles III, Prince of Monaco, founder of the Monte Carlo casino (d. 1889)
• 1822 – Jakov Ignjatović, Serbian novelist and prose writer (d. 1889)
• 1832 – Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author and Nobel laureate (d. 1910)
• 1860 – Amanda McKittrick Ros, Irish novelist and poet (d. 1939)
• 1861 – William C. Durant, American automobile executive (d. 1947)
• 1861 – Aristide Maillol, French sculptor (d. 1944)
• 1861 – Georges Méliès, French filmmaker and innovator (d. 1938)
• 1862 – Georges Feydeau, French playwright (d. 1921)
• 1864 – Camille Claudel, French graphic artist and sculptor (d. 1943)
• 1865 – Jacques Hadamard, French mathematician (d. 1963)
• 1865 – Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (d. 1957)
• 1874 – Ernst Moro, Austrian physician (d. 1951)
• 1875 – Frederik Buch, Danish actor (d. 1925)
• 1886 – Diego Rivera, Mexican painter (d. 1957)
• 1890 – Bohuslav Martinů, Czech composer (d. 1959)
• 1894 – E.C. Segar, American cartoonist (Popeye) (d. 1938)
• 1894 – James Thurber, American humorist and cartoonist (d. 1961)
• 1899 – John Qualen, Canadian actor (d. 1987)
• 1900 – Sun Li-jen, Chinese general (d. 1990)
• 1902 – Wifredo Lam, Cuban artist (d. 1982)
• 1908 – John A. Volpe, American politician and 2nd United States Secretary of Transportation (d. 1994)
• 1909 – Lesslie Newbigin, English theologian and bishop (d. 1998)
• 1909 – Gratien Gélinas, French-Canadian playwright and producer (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Nikos Gatsos, Greek poet and lyricist (d. 1992)
• 1913 – Delmore Schwartz, American poet (d. 1966)
• 1915 – Ernest Lehman, American screenwriter (d. 2005)
• 1916 – Richard Fleischer, American film director (d. 2006)
• 1918 – Gérard Souzay, French baritone (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Peter Tali Coleman, American politician and 43rd, 51st and 53rd Governor of American Samoa (d. 1997)
• 1922 – Lucian Freud, English painter (d. 2011)
• 1922 – Jean Ritchie, American folk singer
• 1923 – Rudolph Pariser, Chinese-born American chemist
• 1924 – Lionel Gilbert, Australian historian, author, curator, and recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia
• 1925 – Sammy Davis Jr., American actor and singer (d. 1990)
• 1925 – Carmen Martín Gaite, Spanish author (d. 2000)
• 1925 – Jimmy Smith, American jazz organist (d. 2005)
• 1925 – Nasir Kazmi, renowned Urdu poet of Pakistan (d. 1972)
• 1927 – Ferdie Pacheco, American boxing trainer
• 1927 – Vladimir Shatalov, Soviet cosmonaut
• 1928 – Bill Hewitt, Canadian sportscaster (d. 1996)
• 1928 – Ulric Neisser, American cognitive psychologist
• 1930 – Julian Critchley, British politician (d. 2000)
• 1930 – Maximilian Schell, Austrian-born Swiss actor and film director
• 1931 – Bob Arum, American boxing promoter
• 1933 – Flip Wilson, American comedian (d. 1998)
• 1935 – Dharmendra, Indian actor
• 1935 – Tatiana Zatulovskaya, Israeli chess player
• 1936 – David Carradine, American actor (d. 2009)
• 1936 – Michael Hobson, American publisher
• 1937 – James MacArthur, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1937 – Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountaineer and businessman (d. 2004)
• 1939 – Red Berenson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1939 – Jerry "The Iceman" Butler, American soul singer
• 1939 – Sir James Galway, Northern Irish flautist
• 1939 – Soko Richardson, American rhythm and blues drummer (d. 2004)
• 1940 – Brant Alyea, American baseball player
• 1941 – Ed Brinkman, American baseball player
• 1941 – Bob Brown, American football player
• 1941 – Randall Cunningham, First Navy Vietnam Ace, American politician
• 1941 – Sir Geoff Hurst, English footballer
• 1941 – Bobby Elliott, English musician (Drummer for The Hollies)
• 1943 – Ken Johnson, American professional wrestling manager
• 1943 – Jim Morrison, American singer (The Doors) (d. 1971)
• 1943 – Bodo Tümmler, German middle-distance runner
• 1943 – Mary Woronov, American actress
• 1944 – George Baker, Dutch singer and songwriter
• 1944 – Vince MacLean, Canadian politician
• 1945 – John Banville, Irish novelist and journalist
• 1946 – John Rubinstein, American actor, composer, director
• 1946 – Sharmila Tagore, Indian Actress
• 1947 – Chava Alberstein, Israeli singer, lyricist, composer, and musical arranger
• 1947 – Gregg Allman, American musician (The Allman Brothers Band)
• 1947 – Thomas R. Cech, American chemist, Nobel laureate
• 1947 – Kati-Claudia Fofonoff, Finnish author
• 1947 – Gérard Blanc, French singer
• 1948 – Luis Caffarelli, Argentine-born American mathematician
• 1949 – Mary Gordon, American writer
• 1949 – Nancy Meyers, American film director, producer and screenwriter
• 1949 – Ray Shulman, English musician
• 1949 – Robert Sternberg, American psychologist and psychometrician
• 1950 – Rick Baker, American film makeup artist
• 1950 – Tim Foli, American baseball player
• 1950 – Dan Hartman, American musician (Edgar Winter Group) (d. 1994)
• 1951 – Bill Bryson, American author
• 1951 – Richard Desmond, English publisher and businessman, founded Northern & Shell
• 1951 – Jan Eggum, Norwegian singer and songwriter
• 1952 – Khaw Boon Wan, Singapore Health Minister
• 1953 – Kim Basinger, American actress
• 1953 – Roy Firestone, American sports announcer
• 1953 – Norman Finkelstein, American professor
• 1953 – Sam Kinison, American comedian (d. 1992)
• 1954 – Harold Hongju Koh, American lawyer and Obama Administration advisor
• 1954 – Frits Pirard, Dutch road bicycle racer
• 1954 – Gadowar Singh Sahota, Indian professional wrestler
• 1955 – Milenko Zablaćanski, Serbian actor, director, and playwright (d. 2008)
• 1956 – Warren Cuccurullo, American musician
• 1956 – Andrew Edge English musician
• 1957 – Phil Collen, English guitarist (Def Leppard)
• 1958 – Rob Curling, British television presenter
• 1958 – Bird McIntyre, Thai pop singer, musician
• 1958 – Bob Greene, American exercise physiologist
• 1959 – Stephen Jefferies, South African cricketer
• 1959 – Mark Steyn, Canadian writer and cultural critic
• 1960 – Lim Guan Eng, Malaysian statesman
• 1961 – Ann Coulter, American political commentator
• 1961 – Mikey Robins, Australian comedian
• 1962 – Berry van Aerle, Dutch footballer
• 1962 – Steve Elkington, Australian golfer
• 1962 – Marty Friedman, American guitarist
• 1962 – Nikos Karageorgiou, Greek footballer
• 1962 – Wendell Pierce, American actor
• 1963 – Greg Howe, Americal guitarist
• 1963 – Toshiaki Kawada, Japanese wrestler
• 1964 – James Blundell, Australian country singer
• 1964 – Teri Hatcher, American actress
• 1964 – Chigusa Nagayo, Japanese wrestler
• 1964 – Mike Ruiz, Canadian model, photographer, and director
• 1965 – David Harewood, British actor
• 1965 – Carina Lau, Hong Kong actress
• 1965 – Theo Maassen, Dutch comedian and actor
• 1966 – Sinéad O'Connor, Irish musician
• 1967 – Jeff George, American football player
• 1967 – Junkie XL, Dutch musician
• 1967 – Kotono Mitsuishi, Japanese voice actress
• 1967 – Darren Sheridan, English footballer and manager
• 1967 – Andy Kapp, German curler
• 1968 – Michael Cole, American professional wrestling commentator
• 1968 – Mike Mussina, American baseball player
• 1969 – Steve Van Wormer, American actor
• 1970 – Me Phi Me, American rapper and author
• 1972 – Marco Abreu, Angolan footballer
• 1972 – Frank Shamrock, American mixed martial artist
• 1973 – Doron Bell Jr., Canadian actor
• 1973 – Corey Taylor, American singer (Slipknot, Stone Sour)
• 1974 – Cristian Castro, Mexican singer
• 1974 – Tony Simmons, American football player
• 1974 – Nick Zinner, American guitarist (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
• 1975 – Jerrelle Clark, American wrestler
• 1975 – Kevin Harvick, American racing driver
• 1976 – Naimee Coleman, Irish singer and songwriter
• 1976 – Reed Johnson, American baseball player
• 1976 – Dominic Monaghan, English actor
• 1976 – Joshua Butler, Celebrity Chef
• 1976 – Brettina Robinson, singer and songwriter
• 1977 – Elsa Benítez, Mexican supermodel
• 1977 – Sébastien Chabal, French rugby union footballer
• 1977 – Ryan Newman, American racing driver
• 1978 – John Oster, Welsh footballer
• 1978 – Anwar Siraj, Ethiopian footballer
• 1978 – Ian Somerhalder, American actor
• 1978 – Vernon Wells, American baseball player
• 1978 – Park Kyung-lim, South Korean entertainer
• 1978 – Frédéric Piquionne, France footballer
• 1979 – Daniel Fitzhenry, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1979 – Johan Forssell, Swedish politician
• 1979 – Raymond Lam, Hong Kong actor and singer
• 1979 – Ingrid Michaelson, American indie-pop singer-songwriter
• 1979 – José Peña, Venezuelan track and field athlete
• 1979 – Christian Wilhelmsson, Swedish footballer
• 1980 – Lisa Kelly, American reality television personality
• 1981 – Jeremy Accardo, American baseball player
• 1981 – Philip Rivers, American football player
• 1982 – Alfredo Aceves, American baseball player
• 1982 – Hamit Altıntop, Turkish footballer
• 1982 – Halil Altıntop, Turkish footballer
• 1982 – Nicki Minaj, rapper and singer-songwriter
• 1982 – Noelle Pikus-Pace, American skeleton racer
• 1982 – Jimmy Rave, American wrestler
• 1982 – DeeDee Trotter, American athlete
• 1983 – Neel Jani, Swiss racing driver
• 1983 – Liu Song, Chinese snooker player
• 1984 – Greg Halford, English footballer
• 1984 – Badr Hari, Dutch kickboxer
• 1985 – Meagan Duhamel, Canadian figure skater
• 1985 – Dwight Howard, American basketball player
• 1985 – Oleksiy Pecherov, Ukrainian basketball player
• 1986 – Amir Khan, English boxer
• 1986 – Kate Voegele, American musician
• 1989 – Drew Doughty, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1989 – Jen Ledger, English drummer "Skillet"
• 1993 – AnnaSophia Robb, American actress and singer
• 1993 – Jordan Obita, English footballer
• 1994 – Raheem Sterling, English footballer
• 1995 – Jordan Ibe, English footballer
• 1996 – Teala Dunn, American actress