2nd December — International Day for the Abolition of Slavery & World Computer Literacy Day

On this day, 230 notable people were born on 2nd December — spanning from 503 to 2005. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

02/12/2005

Learner Tien, American tennis player

Learner Tien is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 17, achieved in June 2026 and doubles ranking of No. 298, achieved in May 2026. His best result is reaching a quarterfinal at the 2026 Australian Open. He is currently the No. 3 American singles player.

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02/12/2004

Ilia Malinin, American competitive figure skater

Ilia Malinin, is an American figure skater. He is a 2026 Olympic Games team event gold medalist, three-time World champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion, seven-time Grand Prix gold medalist, four-time Challenger Series gold medalist, and four-time U.S. national champion (2023–26). At the junior level, Malinin is the 2022 World Junior champion and a two-time Junior Grand Prix gold medalist. He holds the current world junior record for the men's free skate and combined score, as well as the senior record for the men's free skate.

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02/12/2003

Neil Erasmus, South African-Australian footballer

Neil Erasmus is an Australian rules football player who plays for Fremantle in the Australian Football League (AFL).

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02/12/1998

Annalise Basso, American actress

Annalise Basso is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as LJ Folger in the post-apocalyptic dystopian thriller series Snowpiercer (2020–2022). She started her career as a child actress, appearing in the films Bedtime Stories (2008), Love Takes Wing (2009), Standing Up (2013) and Oculus (2013). From 2014 until 2015, she starred in the television series The Red Road.

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Anna Kalinskaya, Russian tennis player

Anna Nikolayevna Kalinskaya is a Russian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 11 in singles on 28 October 2024, and No. 37 in doubles on 11 August 2025. On the WTA Tour, she has won four doubles titles. She also has won one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour, and seven singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. Her best singles performance at a major event is reaching the quarterfinals at the 2024 Australian Open and 2026 French Open.

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Juice Wrld, American rapper, singer and songwriter (died 2019)

Jarad Anthony Higgins, known professionally as Juice Wrld, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He emerged as a leading figure in the emo and SoundCloud rap genres, which garnered mainstream attention during the mid-to-late 2010s. His stage name, which he said represents "taking over the world", was derived from the crime thriller film Juice (1992).

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02/12/1997

De'Andre Hunter, American basketball player

De'Andre James Hunter is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers and was named the NABC Defensive Player of the Year for 2019.

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02/12/1996

Jake Doran, Australian cricketer

Jake Richard Doran is an Australian cricketer who plays for Tasmania. He previously represented Sydney Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes. He is the youngest player to be signed to a Big Bash League contract. Doran is the younger brother of cricketer Luke Doran and attended The Hills Sports High School.

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02/12/1995

Uladzislau Hancharou, Belarusian trampolinist

Uladzislau Alehavich Hancharou is a Belarusian trampoline gymnast. He is the 2016 Olympic champion in individual trampoline. He is a two-time World champion in synchronized trampoline with partner Aleh Rabtsau. Additionally, at the European level, he is a two-time individual champion and a two-time synchro champion. He also competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics and finished fourth in the individual event.

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Inori Minase, Japanese actress, voice actress and singer

Inori Minase is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Axl One.

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02/12/1994

Zach Cunningham, American football player

Zachary Daniel Cunningham is an American professional football linebacker. He played college football for the Vanderbilt Commodores and was selected in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft by the Houston Texans. He also played for the Tennessee Titans, Philadelphia Eagles, and Denver Broncos.

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Aaron Jones, American football player

Aaron LaRae Jones Sr. is an American professional football running back for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UTEP Miners and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL draft. In seven seasons with the Packers, Jones led the league in rushing touchdowns in 2019, made the Pro Bowl in 2020, and ranks third in the team's all-time rushing yards list.

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Elias Lindholm, Swedish ice hockey player

Elias Viktor Zebulon Lindholm is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a forward for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the 2013 NHL entry draft, and spent his first five NHL seasons with them.

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Fumika Shimizu, Japanese actress and model

Fumika Shimizu is a Japanese actress, gravure idol and model. In February 2017, she announced her temporary retirement from the entertainment industry to join the controversial Happy Science religion, declaring she had been a member of the group since childhood under the influence of her parents, both of whom have been devout believers in Happy Science for a long time. Through Happy Science, she announced a return to acting under her new name Yoshiko Sengen with Happy Science's ARI Production company. In the same month, Kana-Boon's Yuma Meshida apologized for being in an adulterous relationship with her.

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Tomokaze Yūta, Japanese sumo wrestler

Tomokaze Sōdai is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kawasaki, Kanagawa. He debuted in sumo wrestling in May 2017 and made his makuuchi debut in March 2019. His highest rank has been maegashira 3. Originally a member of Oguruma stable, he moved to Nishonoseki stable in 2022. In June 2024, he moved to the newly-established Nakamura stable. He has one special prize and two kinboshi for defeating a yokozuna.

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02/12/1993

Haruka Ishida, Japanese singer and actress

Haruka Ishida is a Japanese actress, voice actress and a former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. She has been a co-host on the variety show Dream Creator on TV Tokyo. and has voiced on a handful of anime shows, including Nobunaga the Fool, where she voiced Bianchi Țepeş.

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Kostas Stafylidis, Greek footballer

Konstantinos "Kostas" Stafylidis is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Cypriot First Division club APOEL. He has represented the Greece national team.

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02/12/1992

Sim Bhullar, Canadian basketball player

Gursimrana Singh "Sim" Bhullar is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers of the Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL). He played college basketball for New Mexico State University and is the first player of Indian descent to play in the NBA. At 7'5", he also became the sixth-tallest player in NBA history, being tied with Chuck Nevitt and Pavel Podkolzin for that record.

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Gary Sánchez, Dominican baseball player

Gary Sánchez Herrera is a Dominican professional baseball catcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, and Baltimore Orioles.

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02/12/1991

Chloé Dufour-Lapointe, Canadian skier

Chloé Dufour-Lapointe is a Canadian freestyle skier. She was the 2013 FIS World Champion in dual moguls with her winning run at the 2013 World Championships. Dufour-Lapointe was the runner-up and silver medallist at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships 2011 as well and placed fifth at the 2010 Olympic Games. She won silver at the 2014 Olympic Games behind her sister Justine.

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Brandon Knight, American basketball player

Brandon Emmanuel Knight is an American professional basketball player for the Mets de Guaynabo of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). A two-time Gatorade National Player of the Year, Knight played one season of college basketball for Kentucky before being selected by the Detroit Pistons in the 2011 NBA draft. After two seasons with the Pistons, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. He spent a season and a half in Milwaukee before being traded to the Phoenix Suns in February 2015. In August 2018, he was traded to the Houston Rockets. At the 2019 trade deadline, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns before being traded to the Lakers at the 2020 trade deadline.

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Charlie Puth, American singer-songwriter and pianist

Charles Otto Puth Jr. is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his song covers uploaded to YouTube. Puth signed with the record label eleveneleven in 2011.

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02/12/1990

Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Ghanaian footballer

Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, known mononymously as Badu, is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He earned 78 caps for the Ghana national team.

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Gastón Ramírez, Uruguayan footballer

Gastón Exequiel Ramírez Pereyra is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Boston River.

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02/12/1989

Etta Bond, English singer-songwriter

Henrietta "Etta" Bond is a British singer-songwriter. She was the first signing to OddChild Music, partially owing to Bond becoming friends with Labrinth thanks to a fluke Myspace encounter.

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Matteo Darmian, Italian footballer

Matteo Darmian is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a full-back or wing-back.

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Cassie Steele, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress

Cassandra Rae Steele is a Canadian actress and singer known for portraying Manny Santos on Degrassi: The Next Generation and Abby Vargas on The L.A. Complex. In 2014, she played Sarah in the MTV horror television movie The Dorm. She also voices Tammy Gueterman and Tricia Lange in Adult Swim's Rick and Morty.

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Robert Turbin, American football player

Robert James Turbin is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah State Aggies, and was selected in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL draft by the Seahawks. With the Seahawks, he won Super Bowl XLVIII over the Denver Broncos. He has also played for the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, and Indianapolis Colts. He appears on CBS Sports Network as a commentator for their college football broadcasts.

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02/12/1988

Alfred Enoch, English actor

Alfred Lewis Enoch is a British actor. He is best known for playing Dean Thomas in the fantasy film series Harry Potter and Wes Gibbins in the legal thriller television series How to Get Away with Murder.

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Stephen McGinn, Scottish footballer

Stephen McGinn is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently a first-team coach at Scottish Premiership club Falkirk.

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02/12/1986

Song Ha-yoon, South Korean actress

Kim Mi-sun, better known by the stage name Song Ha-yoon (송하윤), is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her roles in the television series Fight for My Way (2017) and Marry My Husband (2024).

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Claudiu Keșerü, Romanian footballer

Claudiu Andrei Keșerü is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

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Renee Montgomery, American basketball player and executive

Renee Danielle Montgomery is an American former professional basketball player, sports broadcaster and an activist; who is currently vice president, part-owner, and investor of the Atlanta Dream, and one of three owners of the FCF Beasts Indoor Football Team; making her the first player in the WNBA to become an owner and executive of a team and first female owner in the FCF. During her 11-year playing career in the Women's National Basketball Association, she won two championships with the Minnesota Lynx in 2015 and 2017. During her college playing career, she won a national championship with the UConn Huskies in 2009. In 2020, Montgomery opted-out of the WNBA season in protest of police brutality, bringing forth awareness throughout the league and leading multiple campaigns dedicated to human rights.

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Tal Wilkenfeld, Australian bass player and composer

Tal Wilkenfeld is an Australian bassist, singer and songwriter. She has performed with artists including Chick Corea, Jeff Beck, Prince, Incubus, Eric Clapton, Herbie Hancock, Toto, and Mick Jagger. In 2008, Wilkenfeld was voted "The Year's Most Exciting New Player" in a Bass Player magazine readers' choice poll. In 2013, Wilkenfeld was awarded the Bass Player magazine's "Young Gun Award".

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02/12/1985

Amaury Leveaux, French swimmer

Amaury Raymond Leveaux is a French swimmer from Delle, Territoire de Belfort. Leveaux is a former world record holder in the 100 m freestyle, the 50 m freestyle, and the 50 m butterfly. He also formerly held the national record in the 200 m freestyle.

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Dorell Wright, American basketball player

Dorell Lawrence Wright is an American former professional basketball player. A small forward, he was drafted in the 2004 NBA draft by the Miami Heat directly out of high school. He also played for the Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers. He once led the league in three-pointers made, and was selected to participate in the NBA Three-Point Contest in 2011.

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02/12/1984

Péter Máté, Hungarian footballer

Péter Máté is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as a defender.

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02/12/1983

Action Bronson, American rapper, songwriter, chef, and television host

Ariyan Arslani, better known by his stage name Action Bronson, is an American rapper, chef, and television host. Born and raised in Queens, he released his debut mixtape Bon Appetit ..... Bitch!!!!! in January 2011 and independently released his debut album, Dr. Lecter, in March 2011. In August 2012, Arslani signed his first major-label deal with Warner Bros. Records, but was later moved to the Atlantic Records-distributed label Vice Records.

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Chris Burke, Scottish footballer

Christopher Robert Burke is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is currently an assistant head coach of Brentford B and Scotland U19. As a player, her was primarily deployed as a right-winger, but also played on the left wing.

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Bibiana Candelas, Mexican volleyball player

Bibiana Candelas Ramírez is a 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) female beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player who represented her native country, Mexico, at the 2008 Olympics with her beach partner, Mayra García.

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Jaime Durán, Mexican footballer

Jaime Durán Gómez is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defender.

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Eugene Jeter, American-Ukrainian basketball player, coach, and executive

Eugene "Pooh" Jeter III is an American-born naturalized Ukrainian professional basketball coach, executive and former player, currently serving as a player development coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and assistant GM for the Rip City Remix of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Portland Pilots and was a naturalized player for the Ukraine national team with his naturalized name being Yudzhin Dzheter.

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Jana Kramer, American actress and singer

Jana Rae Kramer is an American actress and country singer. She rose to prominence by playing Alex Dupre in the CW's teen drama series One Tree Hill (2009–2012).

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Aaron Rodgers, American football player

Aaron Charles Rodgers is an American professional football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, setting the school's record for lowest single-season and career interception rates before being selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most talented quarterbacks of all time.

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Daniela Ruah, Portuguese-American actress

Daniela Sofia Korn Ruah Olsen is an American-Portuguese actress and film director best known for playing NCIS Special Agent Kensi Blye in the CBS police procedural series NCIS: Los Angeles.

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02/12/1982

Christos Karipidis, Greek footballer

Christos Karipidis is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Managerial career from PAOK

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Matt Walsh, American basketball player

Matthew Vincent Walsh is an American former professional basketball player who played in several leagues across the world for ten seasons. Listed at 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), he could play both shooting guard and small forward. He played college basketball for the Florida Gators.

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02/12/1981

Maria Ferekidi, Greek canoe racer

Maria Ferekidi is a Greek slalom canoeist who has competed since the early 2000s. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, she was eliminated in the qualifying round of the K-1 event, finishing in 17th place. Four years later in Beijing, Ferekidi was eliminated in the semifinals of the same event where she was classified in 11th place.

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Eric Jungmann, American actor

Eric Joseph Jungmann is an American film and television actor perhaps best known for his role as "the obsessed best friend," Ricky Lipman in Not Another Teen Movie. He is also known for his role of Jain McManus in Night Stalker and had a recurring role of Ivan, Larry Beale's yes-man in the Disney Channel original sitcom Even Stevens.

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Thomas Pöck, Austrian ice hockey player

Thomas Dietmar Pöck is an Austrian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders.

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Danijel Pranjić, Croatian footballer

Danijel Pranjić is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who played as a full-back. Being a versatile left-footed player, he could play all across the left wing and could also be used as a central midfielder.

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Britney Spears, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress

Britney Jean Spears is an American singer. Referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she is widely regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of the 21st century. Her impact on pop music—particularly her role in reviving teen pop—and energetic stage performances contributed to her success.

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02/12/1980

Adam Kreek, Canadian rower

Adam Kreek is an author, executive business coach and Canadian rower. He is a member of the BC Sports Hall of Fame and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.

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Darryn Randall, South African cricketer (died 2013)

Darryn Randall was a South African cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper who played for Border during the 2009–10 season, making four first-class and four List-A appearances. He was born in East London. Randall made his first-class debut against Northerns on 8 October 2009.

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Joel Ward, Canadian ice hockey player

Joel Randal Ward is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks. He is currently the head coach of the Henderson Silver Knights.

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02/12/1979

Yvonne Catterfeld, German singer-songwriter and actress

Yvonne Catterfeld is a German singer, actress and television personality. Born and raised in Erfurt, Thuringia, she later moved to Leipzig to pursue her career in music. In 2000, she participated in the debut season of the singing competition series Stimme 2000, where she came in second place. Catterfeld subsequently signed a recording deal with Hansa Records, which released her debut single "Bum" in 2001. The same year, she was propelled to stardom when she was cast in a main role in the German soap opera Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten. In 2003, Catterfeld made her musical breakthrough when her fifth single, "Für dich", became an international number-one hit and produced the equally successful album Meine Welt.

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Michael McIndoe, Scottish footballer

Michael McIndoe is a Scottish football coach and former player, who is the manager of Edinburgh City.

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Abdul Razzaq, Pakistani cricketer

Abdul Razzaq is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer, who played all formats of the game. Known as a gifted all-rounder, he was a right-arm fast-medium bowler and a right-handed batsman. He emerged in international cricket in 1996 with his One Day International debut against Zimbabwe at his home ground in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; just one month before his seventeenth birthday. He was part of the Pakistan Cricket squad that won the ICC World Twenty20 2009. He was a part of the Pakistan squad which finished as runners-up at the 1999 Cricket World Cup. He played 265 ODIs and 46 Tests.

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02/12/1978

Jarron Collins, American basketball player and coach

Jarron Thomas Collins is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected in the second round of the 2001 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz, and played 10 seasons in the NBA. His twin brother, Jason, also played in the league.

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Jason Collins, American basketball player (died 2026)

Jason Paul Collins was an American professional basketball player who was a center for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal, earning third-team All-American honors in 2001. Collins was selected by the Houston Rockets in the first round of the 2001 NBA draft with the 18th overall pick. He went on to play for the New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards, and Brooklyn Nets.

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Nelly Furtado, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted Furtado's musical versatility and experimentation with genres.

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Luigi Malafronte, Italian footballer

Luigi Malafronte is an Italian former footballer who last played for Pisticci.

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Peter Moylan, Australian baseball player

Peter Michael Moylan is an Australian former professional baseball player and current television sports commentator. In 2003, he played in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) as a member of the Macoto Gida team, and from 2006 to 2018 he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed relief pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and Kansas City Royals. He featured a mid-90s miles per hour fastball and threw sidearm. After his playing career Moylan became a baseball analyst covering the Atlanta Braves for the Fox Sports South network.

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Maëlle Ricker, Canadian snowboarder

Maëlle Danica Ricker is a Canadian retired snowboarder, who specialised in snowboard cross. She won an Olympic gold medal in the snowboard cross event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, to become the first Canadian woman to win a gold medal on home soil at the Olympics. She is also the 2013 World Champion and two-time Winter X Games Champion.

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David Rivas, Spanish footballer

David Rivas Rodríguez is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central defender.

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Andrew Ryan, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster

Andrew Ryan is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played his club football in the National Rugby League for the Parramatta Eels and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, winning the 2004 NRL premiership with the club and becoming their captain.

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Christopher Wolstenholme, English singer-songwriter and bass player

Christopher Tony Wolstenholme is an English musician. He is the bassist and backing vocalist for the rock band Muse. He combines bass guitar with effects and synthesisers to create overdriven fuzz bass tones, a motif of many Muse songs. He wrote and sang lead vocals from two songs from Muse's sixth album, The 2nd Law (2012). In 2024, Wolstenholme launched a solo project, Chromes.

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02/12/1977

Siyabonga Nomvethe, South African footballer

Siyabonga Eugene Nomvethe is a South African former professional Footballer player who played as a forward.

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02/12/1976

Masafumi Gotoh, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Masafumi Gotoh or Gotch is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for the rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation. Masafumi met fellow band members Kensuke Kita and Takahiro Yamada while attending a music club of Kanto Gakuin University. The three formed Asian Kung-Fu Generation in 1996, with drummer Kiyoshi Ijichi joining the band shortly after. As the main songwriter of the band, Gotoh is credited with writing a majority of their lyrics, but has a strong tendency to share songwriting duties equally among his bandmates. His vocal style most often alternates between soft, melodic singing, and harder, harsher, yelling. Masafumi has a degree in economics and his favourite artists include Weezer, Number Girl, Oasis, Teenage Fanclub, and Beck. He produces records for other artists such as Chatmonchy, Dr. Downer and The Chef Cooks Me. He was also one of the founding members of the band Skeletons (スケルトンズ).

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02/12/1975

Mark Kotsay, American baseball player and manager

Mark Steven Kotsay is an American professional baseball manager and former outfielder. He is the manager for the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Kotsay appeared in 1,914 MLB games for the San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, Athletics, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and Milwaukee Brewers. He coached for the Padres and Athletics before becoming the Athletics' manager for the 2022 season.

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02/12/1973

Graham Kavanagh, Irish footballer and manager

Graham Anthony Kavanagh is an Irish football manager and former professional players.

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Monica Seles, Serbian-American tennis player

Monica Seles is a retired professional tennis player who represented Yugoslavia and the United States. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 178 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 three times. Seles won 53 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including nine majors: eight as a teenager while representing Yugoslavia and the final one while representing the United States.

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Lee Steele, English footballer

Lee Steele is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.

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Jan Ullrich, German cyclist

Jan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in front of a home crowd in Hamburg in 1997. He had podium finishes in the hilly classic Clásica de San Sebastián. His victorious ride in the 1997 Tour de France led to a bicycle boom in Germany. He retired in February 2007.

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02/12/1972

Alan Henderson, American basketball player

Alan Lybrooks Henderson is an American former professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He stands 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) tall. Born in Morgantown, West Virginia, Henderson attended Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, Indiana. They lost the state championship game his senior year to Glenn Robinson's Gary Roosevelt squad. In 1994, he was a part of the US men's basketball team for the Goodwill Games.

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Sergei Zholtok, Latvian ice hockey player (died 2004)

Sergei Zholtok, also known as Sergejs Žoltoks was a Latvian professional ice hockey centre. He played ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators from 1993 to 2004.

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02/12/1971

Wilson Jermaine Heredia, American actor and singer

Wilson Jermaine Heredia is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Angel Dumott Schunard in the Broadway musical Rent, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor Featured in a Musical in 1996. The same year, he also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. Heredia also originated the role at London's Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End theatre district and in the 2005 film adaptation.

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Rachel McQuillan, Australian tennis player

Rachel McQuillan is a retired tennis player from Australia.

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Jüri Reinvere, Estonian-German composer and poet

Jüri Reinvere is an Estonian composer, poet and essayist who has been living in Germany since 2005. Jüri Reinvere's polystylistic art does not follow any dogmas of material nor technique. It is often devoted to existential themes of history, nature, politics and the poetics of human perception. His poetry and music theatre works are based on precise psychological observation and are often accompanied by subtle theological allusions. His essays in Postimees and in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung take part in debates on current cultural and political affairs and have been awarded with prizes for journalism in Estonia. His music has received international attention through conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Paavo Järvi, Franz Welser-Möst, Pablo Heras-Casado, Juraj Valcuha or Pietari Inkinen and through orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

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Francesco Toldo, Italian footballer

Francesco Toldo is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is regarded by some pundits as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation.

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Mine Yoshizaki, Japanese illustrator

Mine Yoshizaki is a Japanese manga creator. His most well known works are Sgt. Frog, a manga he created which later received an anime adaption, and Kemono Friends, a multimedia franchise for which Yoshizaki serves as concept designer.

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02/12/1970

Joe Lo Truglio, American actor and comedian

Joe Lo Truglio is an American actor and comedian. Best known for his role as Charles Boyle on the Fox/NBC sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, he also was a cast member on the television series The State and Reno 911!. His notable film roles include Wet Hot American Summer, I Love You, Man, Superbad, Paul, Role Models, and Wanderlust.

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Maksim Tarasov, Russian pole vaulter

Maksim Vladimirovich Tarasov is a retired Russian pole vaulter. He is the Russian national record holder for pole vault, with 6.05, result achieved in 1996.

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Treach, American rapper and actor

Anthony Shawn Criss, better known by his stage name Treach, is an American rapper and actor. He is best known as the lead rapper of the hip hop group Naughty by Nature.

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02/12/1969

Ulrika Bergquist, Swedish journalist

Ulrika Bergquist is a Swedish journalist and television presenter who works for TV4. She is a newsreader for the TV4 News and presenter of Nyhetsmorgon. She was previously the presenter of the TV4 Stockholm local news. She presented Cityliv, Sommarstockholm and Närbilden for the local Stockholm part of the TV4 news. She has also in the mid 1990s worked for Sveriges Radio.

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Chris Kiwomya, English footballer

Christopher Mark Kiwomya is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who was the manager of British Virgin Islands national football team.

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Pavel Loskutov, Estonian runner

Pavel Loskutov is an Estonian former long-distance runner who specialized in marathon races. He has competed in the Olympic marathon race four times consecutively, from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics to the 2008 Beijing Games.

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Tanya Plibersek, Australian journalist and politician, 45th Australian Minister of Health

Tanya Joan Plibersek is an Australian politician who has served as Minister for Social Services since 2025 and the member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales division of Sydney since 1998. Previously, she served as the Minister for the Environment and Water from 2022 to 2025, deputy leader of the Labor Party from 2013 to 2019, and held ministerial offices in the Rudd and Gillard governments.

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02/12/1968

David Batty, English footballer

David Batty is an English former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

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Jiří Dopita, Czech ice hockey player

Jiří Dopita is former Czech professional ice hockey player, and later ice hockey coach. He has played in the Czech Elite League most of his career. He briefly played in the National Hockey League. Dopita has primarily played center throughout his career.

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Darryl Kile, American baseball player (died 2002)

Darryl Andrew Kile was an American professional baseball starting pitcher. He pitched from 1991 to 2002 for three Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, primarily for the Houston Astros. Kile was known for his sharp, big-breaking curveball. He died at the age of 33 of coronary artery disease in 2002 in Chicago, where he and the St. Louis Cardinals were staying for a weekend series against the Chicago Cubs. He was the first active major league player to die during the regular season since 1979, when the New York Yankees' Thurman Munson died in a plane crash.

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Lucy Liu, American actress and producer

Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress, producer, and artist. Regarded as a Hollywood icon and a trailblazer for Asian American representation in Hollywood, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Critics' Choice Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards. A prominent sex symbol in the late 1990s and early 2000s, she has been recognized for shifting Western mainstream beauty standards. In 2019, Liu became the second Chinese American woman to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Nate Mendel, American singer-songwriter and bass player

Nathan ‍Gregor ‍Mendel is an American musician who is the bass guitarist for the rock band Foo Fighters, as well as a former member of Sunny Day Real Estate. He has also worked with musical acts The Jealous Sound and The Fire Theft. He has released one solo album, If I Kill This Thing We're All Going to Eat for a Week, under the name Lieutenant. Though not a founding member, he is the longest-serving member of the band after lead vocalist and guitarist Dave Grohl, and has appeared on every album by the group since The Colour and the Shape.

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Rena Sofer, American actress

Rena Sherel Sofer is an American actress, known for her appearances in daytime television, episodic guest appearances, and made-for-television movies. In 1995, Sofer received a Daytime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Lois Cerullo in the soap opera General Hospital. She reprised the role of Lois in October 2023. From 2013 to 2022, she played Quinn Fuller on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.

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02/12/1967

Mary Creagh, English scholar and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport

Mary Helen Creagh is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry East since 2024, having previously served as MP for Wakefield from 2005 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature since July 2024.

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02/12/1966

Philippe Etchebest, French chef and television host

Philippe Etchebest is a French chef. He was awarded two Michelin stars at the Hostellerie de Plaisance in Saint-Émilion, France. He appears on French television in Top Chef, Objectif Top Chef and Cauchemar en cuisine, the French-language version of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

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Jinsei Shinzaki, Japanese wrestler and promoter, co-founded Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling

Kensuke Shinzaki is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive, better known by his ring name, Jinsei Shinzaki. He is signed to the Michinoku Pro Wrestling promotion where he is the promotion's president. He also performs for Michinoku Pro as a wrestler, serving as the sole heavyweight wrestler on the roster. Shinzaki is also known for his appearances with other Japanese promotions such as All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW). To American fans, Shinzaki is perhaps most known for his stint in the United States–based World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1994 to 1996 under the ring name Hakushi (白紙).

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02/12/1965

Shane Flanagan, Australian rugby league player and coach

Shane Flanagan is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and commentator, and is the former head coach of the St George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League. He was appointed assistant coach of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2006 and was subsequently appointed to the top position when former coach Ricky Stuart resigned on 20 July 2010. Flanagan guided Cronulla to their first premiership in 2016. Flanagan was previously the Coaching Director of the PNG Kumuls. He is the father of Dragons player Kyle Flanagan.

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02/12/1963

Brendan Coyle, English actor

Brendan Coyle is a British-Irish actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for The Weir in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries North & South, Robert Timmins in the first three series of Lark Rise to Candleford, and more recently Mr Bates, the valet, in Downton Abbey, which earned him a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

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Ann Patchett, American author

Ann Patchett is an American author. In 2002 she received the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel Bel Canto. Patchett's other novels include The Patron Saint of Liars (1992), Taft (1994), The Magician's Assistant (1997), Run (2007), State of Wonder (2011), Commonwealth (2016), The Dutch House (2019), and Tom Lake (2023). The Dutch House was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

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Rich Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player and scout

Richard G. Sutter is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning. He is part of the Sutter family, the family that sent six brothers to the NHL. He is the twin brother of Ron Sutter.

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Ron Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Ronald T. Sutter is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is the Player Development coach for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the brother of Brian, Brent, Darryl, Duane and Rich Sutter, all of whom played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the twin brother of Rich and was the last Sutter brother to retire from the NHL.

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02/12/1962

John Dyegh, Nigerian businessman and politician

John Dyegh is a Nigerian politician, businessman and philanthropist from Gboko, Benue State who served as a member of the 9th Nigeria National Assembly, representing Gboko/Tarka Federal constituency at the House of Representatives of Nigeria. Dyegh previously served as a member of committee on Appropriations, Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Education, Gas Resources, Inter-Parliamentary Relations, Science and Technology in the 7th National Assembly. He ran for the second term as a favourite candidate, bearing the flag of the All Progressives Congress and retained his seat, following the announcement of 28 March National Assembly Polls in the 2015 General Elections in which he polled 67,463 votes to defeat his challenger, Bernard Nenger of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) with 26,329 votes. He ran for a third term on the platform of the All Progressives Congress and won. Dyegh successfully served his 3rd term in the National Assembly and was the House committee chairman on Human Rights. He ran for a fourth term under the platform of the Peoples' Democratic Party where he lost to Regina Akume, a candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 general elections.

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02/12/1960

Peter Blakeley, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Peter Blakeley is an Australian white soul/adult contemporary singer and songwriter.

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Deb Haaland, American politician, 54th United States Secretary of the Interior

Debra Anne Haaland is an American politician who served as the 54th United States secretary of the interior from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the U.S. representative for New Mexico's 1st congressional district from 2019 to 2021 and was chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party from 2015 to 2017. Haaland, a Native American, is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe.

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Razzle, English rock drummer (died 1984)

Nicholas Charles Dingley, better known by his stage name Razzle, was an English musician, who was the drummer of the Finnish glam rock band Hanoi Rocks from 1982 until his death in 1984.

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Rick Savage, English singer-songwriter and bass player

Richard Savage is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist and a founding member of the rock band Def Leppard. Savage and lead singer Joe Elliott are the only two remaining original members of the band. With drummer Rick Allen, they are also the only members who have performed on every album.

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Silk Smitha, Indian film actress

Vadlapati Vijayalakshmi, better known by her stage name Silk Smitha, was an Indian actress and dancer who worked in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films. She became one of India's most popular sex symbols of the 1980s and early 1990s, as well as one of the most sought-after erotic actresses in South Indian cinema in the 1980s. Smitha was a key figure in the Malayalam softcore film genre in the late 1980s.

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02/12/1959

Kelefa Diallo, Guinean general (died 2013)

General Souleymane Kelefa Diallo was chief of staff of the Guinean Army. Born to Elhadj Kelefa Diallo and Fatoumata Diakité. He was a graduate of the University of Conakry and an army school in Thies, Senegal. He and several military officials were killed on February 11, 2013, when their CASA 235 crashed near the town of Charlesville, near Harbel, Liberia, about 8 kilometers away from Roberts International Airport. At his funeral, which took place at the Palais du Peuple he was decorated by the President Alpha Condé. Diallo was one of the leaders who had seized power in Guinea in 2008.

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02/12/1958

Randy Gardner, American figure skater

Randy Gardner is an American former pair skater. Together with Tai Babilonia, he won the 1979 World Figure Skating Championships and five U.S. Figure Skating Championships (1976–1980). The pair qualified for the 1976 and 1980 Winter Olympics.

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Andrew George, English politician

Andrew Henry George is an English and Cornish Liberal Democrat politician. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for St Ives in Cornwall since 2024, previously representing the constituency from 1997 to 2015, when he was defeated by the Conservatives' Derek Thomas. He was the vice-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Housing and Planning Group in the 2010 parliament. George has served as a member of Cornwall Council for Ludgvan, Madron, Gulval and Heamoor, having been elected in the 2021 council election.

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Vladimir Parfenovich, Belarusian canoe racer and politician

Vladimir Vladimirovich Parfenovich is a Belarusian retired sprint canoer and politician.

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George Saunders, American short story writer and essayist

George Saunders is an American writer. He is best known for his short stories and his novel Lincoln in the Bardo (2017), which won the Booker Prize. Saunders's short stories have been published as several collections, including CivilWarLand in Bad Decline (1996) and Tenth of December: Stories (2013).

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02/12/1957

Dagfinn Høybråten, Norwegian political scientist and politician, Norwegian Minister of Health

Dagfinn Høybråten is a Norwegian politician. He was the leader of the Christian Democratic Party 2004–2011. He was also Parliamentary leader from 2005 when he was elected as Member of Parliament representing Rogaland. He was Vice President of the Norwegian Parliament from 2011 to 2013. He was President of the Nordic Council in 2007. Høybråten was granted leave from his duty as Member of Parliament from March 2013 to take up the position as Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers. He was elected board member of the GAVI Alliance in 2006 and chair of the board from 2011 to 2015.

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02/12/1956

Steven Bauer, Cuban-American actor and producer

Steven Bauer is an American actor.

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02/12/1954

Dan Butler, American actor, director, and screenwriter

Daniel Eugene Butler is an American actor known for his role as Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe on the TV series Frasier (1993–2004), later reprising the role in 2024; Art in Roseanne (1991–1992); for the voice of Mr. Simmons on the Nickelodeon TV show Hey Arnold! (1997–2002), later reprising the role in Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie (2017); and for film roles in Enemy of the State (1998) and Sniper 2 (2001).

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02/12/1953

Pertti Sveholm, Finnish actor

Pertti Edvin Sveholm is a Finnish actor. He has won the Jussi Awards for Best Supporting Actor in 2002 and 2009 for the films The Classic and The Home of Dark Butterflies.

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02/12/1952

Carol Shea-Porter, American social worker, academic, and politician

Carol Shea-Porter is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who is the former member of the United States House of Representatives for New Hampshire's 1st congressional district. She held the seat from 2007 to 2011, 2013 to 2015, and 2017 to 2019.

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Keith Szarabajka, American actor

Keith Szarabajka is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Mickey Kostmayer on The Equalizer, Daniel Holtz on Angel, Gerard Stephens in The Dark Knight and Adam Engell in Argo. He has also voiced Dr. Terrence Kyne in Dead Space, Major General Spencer Mahad in Dead Space 3, Joshua Graham in Fallout: New Vegas, Harbinger in Mass Effect 2, Detective Herschel Biggs in L.A. Noire and the Didact in Halo 4.

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02/12/1950

John Wesley Ryles, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist

John Wesley Ryles was an American country music artist. He recorded a string of hit country songs, beginning in 1968 when he was still a teenager and continuing through the 1980s. His recordings include the 1968 single "Kay", a top-ten hit on the Billboard country charts. From the late 1980s until his death, Ryles worked mainly as a session backing vocalist.

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Amin Saikal, Afghan-Australian political scientist and academic

Amin Saikal, is emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, and Founding Director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, at the Australian National University. He is also adjunct professor of Social Sciences at the University of Western Australia. Professor Saikal has specialised in the politics, history, political economy and international relations of the Middle East and Central Asia. He has been a visiting professor at Princeton University, Indiana University, Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Zayed University, and visiting fellow at Cambridge University and the Institute of Development Studies, as well as a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow in International Relations (1983–1988). He is a member of many national and international academic organisations.

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Benjamin Stora, Algerian-French historian and author

Benjamin Stora is a French historian, expert on North Africa, who is widely considered one of the world's leading authorities on Algerian history. He was born in a Jewish family that left the country following its War of Independence in 1962. Stora holds two PhDs and a Doctorate of the State (1991).

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Paul Watson, Canadian activist, founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Paul Franklin Watson is a Canadian-American eco-terroist and a environmental, conservation and animal rights activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conservation activism. The tactics used by Sea Shepherd have attracted opposition, with the group accused of eco-terrorism by both the Japanese government and Greenpeace. Watson is a citizen of Canada and the United States.

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02/12/1948

Elizabeth Berg, American nurse and author

Elizabeth Berg is an American novelist and former registered nurse. She writes character‑focused stories about family life and personal change, and her work has been recognized by the American Library Association.

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T. Coraghessan Boyle, American novelist and short story writer

Thomas Coraghessan Boyle is an American novelist and short story writer. Since the mid-1970s, he has published thirty one novels and more than 150 short stories. He won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1988, for his third novel, World's End, which recounts 300 years in upstate New York.

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Patricia Hewitt, Australian-English educator and politician, English Secretary of State for Health

Dame Patricia Hope Hewitt is an Australian-born British government adviser and former politician, who was the Secretary of State for Health from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, she had previously been the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry from 2001 to 2005.

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Toninho Horta, Brazilian guitarist and composer

Antônio Maurício Horta de Melo is a Brazilian jazz guitarist and vocalist.

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Antonín Panenka, Czech footballer

Antonín Panenka is a Czech former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He spent most of his career at Czechoslovak club Bohemians Prague before having spells with various Austrian clubs including Rapid Wien. Panenka won UEFA Euro 1976 with Czechoslovakia and gained recognition for his winning penalty kick in the shoot-out of the final against West Germany where he scored with a softly-chipped ball up the middle of the goal as the goalkeeper dived away. This style of penalty is now known as a panenka. In 1980, he won Czechoslovak Footballer of the Year and his team finished third at Euro 1980.

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02/12/1947

Isaac Bitton, Moroccan-French drummer and songwriter

Isaac "Jacky" Bitton is a French-American musician. Initially gaining fame as the drummer for secular rock band Les Variations, Bitton became a baal teshuva through Chabad in the late 1970s and subsequently began a career in contemporary Jewish music.

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Tommy Jenkins, English footballer and manager

Thomas Ernest Jenkins is an English retired footballer. He played professionally in two continents as a winger and is now a soccer coach in the United States.

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Ivan Atanassov Petrov, Bulgarian neurologist and author

Ivan Atanassov Petrov, is a Bulgarian neurologist and the head of the Clinic of Neurology at the Medical Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Sofia, Bulgaria. He holds an MD and a PhD.

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02/12/1946

John Banks, New Zealand businessman and politician, 38th Mayor of Auckland City

John Archibald Banks is a New Zealand former politician. He was a member of Parliament for the National Party from 1981 to 1999, and for ACT New Zealand from 2011 to 2014. He was a Cabinet Minister from 1990 to 1996 and 2011 to 2013. He left Parliament after being convicted of filing a false electoral return – a verdict which was later overturned.

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David Macaulay, English-American author and illustrator

David Macaulay is a British-born American illustrator and writer. His works include Cathedral (1973), The Way Things Work (1988), and its updated revisions The New Way Things Work (1998) and The Way Things Work Now (2016). His illustrations have been featured in nonfiction books combining text and illustrations explaining architecture, design, and engineering, and he has written a number of children's fiction books.

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Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer, founded Versace (died 1997)

Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace was an Italian fashion designer and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-up, home furnishings and clothes. He also designed costumes for theatre and films. As a friend of Eric Clapton, Princess Diana, Whitney Houston, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Madonna, Elton John, Tupac Shakur, Joan Collins and many other celebrities, he was one of the first designers to link fashion to the music world. He and his partner Antonio D'Amico were regulars on the international party scene. The place where he was born and raised, Reggio di Calabria, greatly influenced his career.

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02/12/1945

Penelope Spheeris, American director, producer, and screenwriter

Penelope Spheeris is an American filmmaker. Her best-known works include The Decline of Western Civilization trilogy of music documentaries (1981–98), each covering an aspect of Los Angeles underground culture, and has been referred to as a "rock 'n roll anthropologist". She is also known for directing the comedy films Wayne's World, Dudes (1987) and The Beverly Hillbillies (1993).

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Alan Thomson, Australian cricketer (died 2022)

Alan Lloyd Thomson was an Australian cricketer, Australian rules football umpire and school teacher. Thomson, who "bowled off his front leg like a frog in a windmill" played in four Tests and one ODI in the 1970–71 season.

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02/12/1944

Cathy Lee Crosby, American actress and tennis player

Cathy Lee Crosby is an American actress and former professional tennis player. She achieved TV and film success in the 1980s and was a co-host of the television series That's Incredible!

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Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovan journalist and politician, 1st President of Kosovo (died 2006)

Ibrahim Rugova was a Kosovo-Albanian politician, scholar, and writer, who served as the President of the partially recognised Republic of Kosova, serving from 1992 to 2000 and as President of Kosovo from 2002 until his death in 2006. He oversaw a popular struggle for independence, advocating a peaceful resistance to Yugoslav rule and lobbying for U.S. and European support, especially during the Kosovo War.

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Dionysis Savvopoulos, Greek singer-songwriter (died 2025)

Dionysis Savvopoulos was a Greek singer-songwriter. As a musician and songwriter, he made significant contributions to modern Greek music as part of the Greek New Wave.

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Botho Strauß, German author and playwright

Botho Strauss is a German playwright, novelist, and essayist.

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02/12/1943

Wayne Allard, American veterinarian and politician

Alan Wayne Allard is an American veterinarian and politician who served as a United States representative (1991–1997) and United States senator (1997–2009) from Colorado, as well as previously a Colorado state senator (1983–1991). A member of the Republican Party, he did not seek re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2008. In February 2009, he began work as a lobbyist at the Livingston Group, a Washington, D.C.–based government relations consulting firm.

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02/12/1942

Anna G. Jónasdóttir, Icelandic political scientist and academic

Anna Guðrún Jónasdóttir is an Icelandic political scientist and gender studies academic. She is Professor Emerita at the Center for Feminist Social Studies at Örebro University and co-director of the GEXcel International Collegium for Advanced Transdisciplinary Gender Studies, established as a centre of excellence in gender studies in 2006. She is the author and editor of several books. Anna Jónasdóttir is known, i.a., for her theory of "love power." Her book Why Women Are Oppressed was described as a "thorough attempt to revitalize one of the most provocative early themes of America's women's liberation movement" by The New York Times Book Review. She "explores the concept of women's interests in participatory democratic political theory."

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02/12/1941

Mike England, Welsh footballer and manager

Harold Michael England is a Welsh retired football player and manager.

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Tom McGuinness, English guitarist, songwriter, author, and producer

Thomas John Patrick McGuinness is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who played guitar and bass with rock band Manfred Mann, among others, before becoming a record and television producer.

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02/12/1940

Willie Brown, American football player, coach, and manager (died 2019)

William Ferdie Brown was an American professional football player, coach, and administrator. He played as a cornerback for the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and later in the National Football League (NFL). Following his playing career, Brown remained with the Raiders as an assistant coach. He served as the head football coach at California State University, Long Beach in 1991, the final season before the school's football program was terminated. Brown was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1984. At the time of his death he was on the Raiders' administrative staff.

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02/12/1939

Yael Dayan, Israeli journalist, author, and politician

Yael Dayan, also known as Yaël Dayan, was an Israeli politician and author. She served as a member of the Knesset between 1992 and 2003, and from 2008 to 2013 was the chair of Tel Aviv city council. Her service on the city council ended with the 2013 election. She was the daughter of Moshe Dayan and the sister of Assaf (Assi) and Ehud (Udi) Dayan.

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Francis Fox, Canadian lawyer and politician, 48th Secretary of State for Canada (died 2024)

Francis Fox was a Canadian politician who was a member of the Senate, Cabinet minister, and Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, and thus was a senior aide to Prime Minister Paul Martin. He also worked as a lobbyist in the 1980s.

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Harry Reid, American lawyer and politician, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Nevada (died 2021)

Harry Mason Reid Jr. was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015.

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02/12/1937

Manohar Joshi, Indian lawyer and politician, 15th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (died 2024)

Manohar Gajanan Joshi was an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra, who served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999, and Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2002 to 2004. He was one of the prominent leaders of the Shiv Sena, and also one of the Indians to be elected to all of the four legislatures. He was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour, by the Government of India in 2025.

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02/12/1935

David Hackett Fischer, American historian, author, and academic

David Hackett Fischer is University Professor of History Emeritus at Brandeis University. Fischer's major works have covered topics ranging from large macroeconomic and cultural trends to narrative histories of significant events to explorations of historiography.

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02/12/1934

Tarcisio Bertone, Italian cardinal

Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and a Vatican diplomat. A cardinal since 2003, he served as Archbishop of Vercelli from 1991 to 1995, as Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop of Genoa from 2002 to 2006, and as Cardinal Secretary of State from 2006 to 2013. On 10 May 2008, he was named Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati.

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02/12/1933

Peter Robin Harding, English marshal and pilot (died 2021)

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Peter Robin Harding, was a Royal Air Force officer who served as a bomber pilot in the 1950s, a helicopter squadron commander in the 1960s and a station commander in the 1970s. He became Chief of the Air Staff in 1988 and served in that role during the Gulf War in 1991. He became Chief of the Defence Staff in December 1992 but resigned after his affair with Lady (Bienvenida) Buck, the wife of Conservative MP Antony Buck, became public.

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Mike Larrabee, American sprinter and educator (died 2003)

Michael Denny Larrabee was an American athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1964 Summer Olympics.

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02/12/1931

Nigel Calder, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (died 2014)

Nigel David McKail Ritchie-Calder was a British science writer and climate change skeptic.

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Masaaki Hatsumi, Japanese martial artist and educator, founded Bujinkan

Masaaki Hatsumi is a Japanese martial artist best known as the founder of the Bujinkan organization and the 34th Togakure-ryū ninjutsu grandmaster (soke). He studied various martial arts before becoming the student and successor of Toshitsugu Takamatsu. Hatsumi dedicated his life to preserving and teaching nine traditional Japanese martial lineages, collectively known as Bujinkan Budō Taijutsu. Through books, seminars, and international outreach, he introduced authentic ninjutsu principles to a global audience. His teachings emphasize natural movement, adaptability, and spiritual discipline, shaping modern perceptions of historical ninja traditions. He is no longer active as a teacher and passed over his grandmaster titles to his students.

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Wynton Kelly, American pianist and composer (died 1971)

Wynton Charles Kelly was an American jazz pianist and composer. He is known for his lively, blues-based playing and as one of the finest accompanists in jazz. He began playing professionally at the age of 12 and was pianist on a No. 1 R&B hit at the age of 16. His recording debut as a leader occurred three years later, around the time he started to become better known as an accompanist to singer Dinah Washington, and as a member of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie's band. This progress was interrupted by two years in the United States Army, after which Kelly worked again with Washington and Gillespie, and played with other leaders. Over the next few years, these included instrumentalists Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Wes Montgomery, and Sonny Rollins, and vocalists Betty Carter, Billie Holiday, and Abbey Lincoln.

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Edwin Meese, American lawyer, 75th United States Attorney General

Edwin Meese III is an American attorney, law professor, author served as 75th United States attorney general from 1985 until 1988. A member of the Republican Party, Meese served in the Ronald Reagan administration including as counselor to the president (1981–1985), on his transition team (1980–81), and during Reagan's governorship of California (1967–1974).

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Gareth Wigan, British film studio executive (died 2010)

Gareth Wigan was a British agent, producer and studio executive known for working on such films as George Lucas's Star Wars. His early recognition of the power of the global entertainment market allowed his employer, Sony Pictures Entertainment, to take advantage of films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

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02/12/1930

Gary Becker, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2014)

Gary Stanley Becker was an American economist who received the 1992 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He was a professor of economics and sociology at the University of Chicago, and was a leader of the third generation of the Chicago school of economics.

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David Piper, English race car driver

David Ruff Piper is a British former Formula One and sports car racing driver from England. He participated in 3 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 July 1959.

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02/12/1929

Dan Jenkins, American journalist and author (died 2019)

Daniel Thomas Jenkins was an American author and sportswriter who often wrote for Sports Illustrated. He was also a high-standard amateur golfer who played college golf at Texas Christian University.

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Leon Litwack, American historian and author (died 2021)

Leon Frank Litwack was an American historian whose scholarship focused on slavery, the Reconstruction Era of the United States, and its aftermath into the 20th century. He won a National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize for History, and the Francis Parkman Prize for his 1979 book Been In the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery. He also received a Guggenheim Fellowship.

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02/12/1928

Guy Bourdin, French photographer (died 1991)

Guy Bourdin was a French artist and fashion photographer known for his highly stylized and provocative images. From 1955, Bourdin worked mostly with Vogue as well as other publications including Harper's Bazaar. He shot ad campaigns for Chanel, Charles Jourdan, Pentax and Bloomingdale's.

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02/12/1927

Ralph Beard, American basketball player (died 2007)

Ralph Milton Beard Jr. was an American collegiate and professional basketball player. He won two NCAA national basketball championships at the University of Kentucky and played two years in the National Basketball Association prior to being barred for life for his participation in the 1951 college basketball point-shaving scandal.

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02/12/1925

Julie Harris, American actress (died 2013)

Julia Ann Harris was an American actress. Widely regarded as one of the greatest actresses of the American theater, she earned numerous accolades including a record five Tony Awards for Best Lead Actress in a Play, as well as three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1979, received the National Medal of Arts in 1994, the Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2002, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2005.

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02/12/1924

Jonathan Frid, Canadian actor (died 2012)

John Herbert Frid, known as Jonathan Frid, was a Canadian actor, best known for his role as vampire Barnabas Collins on the gothic television soap opera Dark Shadows. The introduction in 1967 of Frid's reluctant, guilt-ridden vampire caused the floundering daytime drama to soar to 20 million daily viewers. His watershed portrayal has been cited as a key influence on contemporary genre film and television series such as Twilight, True Blood and The Vampire Diaries.

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Alexander Haig, American general and politician, 59th United States Secretary of State (died 2010)

Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. was an American politician who served as the 59th United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and previously as White House chief of staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, as well as United States Deputy National Security Advisor under President Nixon. A member of the Republican Party, he was a general in the U.S. Army prior to and in between these cabinet-level positions, serving first as the vice chief of staff of the Army and then as Supreme Allied Commander Europe. In 1973, Haig became the youngest four-star general in the U.S. Army's history.

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Else Marie Pade, Danish composer (died 2016)

Else Marie Pade was a Danish composer of electronic music. She was educated as a pianist at the Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium in Copenhagen. She studied composition first with Vagn Holmboe, and later with Jan Maegaard, from whom she learned twelve-tone technique. In 1954, she became the first Danish composer of electronic and concrete music. She worked with Pierre Schaeffer and Karlheinz Stockhausen, as well as Pierre Boulez.

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Vilgot Sjöman, Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2006)

David Harald Vilgot Sjöman was a Swedish writer and film director. His films deal with controversial issues of social class, morality, and sexual taboos, combining the emotionally tortured characters of Ingmar Bergman with the avant garde style of the French New Wave. He is best known as the director of the films 491 (1964), I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967), and I Am Curious (Blue) (1968), which stretched the boundaries of acceptability of what could then be shown on film, deliberately treating their subjects in a provocative and explicit manner.

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02/12/1923

Maria Callas, American-Greek soprano and actress (died 1977)

Maria Callas was an American and Greek soprano, and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Critics praised her bel canto technique, wide-ranging voice, and dramatic interpretations. Her repertoire ranged from classical opera seria to the bel canto operas of Donizetti, Bellini, and Rossini, and further to the works of Verdi and Puccini, and in her early career to the music dramas of Wagner. Her musical and dramatic talents led to her being hailed as La Divina.

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02/12/1922

Iakovos Kambanelis, Greek author, poet, and screenwriter (died 2011)

Iakovos Kambanellis was a Greek poet, playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, and novelist.

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02/12/1921

Carlo Furno, Italian cardinal (died 2015)

Carlo Furno was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church.

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02/12/1917

Sylvia Syms, American singer (died 1992)

Sylvia Syms was an American jazz singer. One music journalist noted that she was "One of America's most distinguished cabaret and jazz singers with a profound appreciation of lyrics".

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02/12/1916

Howard Finster, American minister and painter (died 2001)

Howard Finster was an American artist and Baptist minister from Georgia. He claimed to be inspired by God to spread the gospel through the design of his swampy land into Paradise Garden, a folk art sculpture garden with over 46,000 pieces of art. His creations include outsider art, naïve art, and visionary art. Finster came to widespread notice in the 1980s with his album cover designs for R.E.M. and Talking Heads.

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02/12/1915

Takahito, Prince Mikasa of Japan (died 2016)

Takahito, Prince Mikasa was a Japanese prince, the youngest of the four sons of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako). He was their last surviving child. His eldest brother was Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). After serving as a junior cavalry officer in the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, Takahito embarked upon a post-war career as a scholar and part-time lecturer in Middle Eastern studies and Semitic languages.

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02/12/1914

Bill Erwin, American actor (died 2010)

William Lindsey Erwin was an American actor with over 250 television and film credits. A veteran character actor, he is widely known for his 1993 Emmy Award–nominated performance on Seinfeld, portraying the embittered, irascible retiree Sid Fields. He also made notable appearances on shows such as I Love Lucy and Star Trek: The Next Generation. In cinema, his most recognized role is that of Arthur Biehl, a kindly bellman at the Grand Hotel, in Somewhere in Time (1980).

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Adolph Green, American playwright and composer (died 2002)

Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright, who with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for musicals on Broadway and in Hollywood. Although they were not a romantic couple, they shared a unique comic genius and sophisticated wit that enabled them to forge a six-decade-long partnership. They received numerous accolades including four Tony Awards and nominations for two Academy Awards and a Grammy Award. Green was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 and American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981. Comden and Green received the Kennedy Center Honor in 1991.

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02/12/1913

Marc Platt, American actor, singer, and dancer (died 2014)

Marcel Emile Gaston LePlat, known professionally as Marc Platt, was an American ballet dancer, musical theatre performer, and actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Daniel Pontipee, one of the seven brothers in the film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

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02/12/1912

George Emmett, English cricketer and coach (died 1976)

George Malcolm Emmett was an English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. He also played one Test match for England in 1948.

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02/12/1911

Meng Qingshu, Chinese politician (died 1983)

Meng Qingshu, also known as Roza Vladimirovna Osetrova was a Chinese politician, member of the 28 Bolsheviks and wife of the Chinese Communist Party active leader, Wang Ming.

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02/12/1910

Russell Lynes, American photographer, historian, and author (died 1991)

Russell Lynes was an American art historian, photographer, author and managing editor of Harper's Magazine.

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Taisto Mäki, Finnish runner (died 1979)

Taisto Armas Mäki was a Finnish long-distance runner – one of the so-called "Flying Finns". Like his coach and close friend, Paavo Nurmi, Mäki broke world records over two miles, 5000 metres and 10,000 metres – holding the records simultaneously between 1939 and 1942. Mäki was the first man to run 10,000 metres in less than 30 minutes, breaking his own world record in a time of 29:52.6 on 17 September 1939.

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02/12/1909

Arvo Askola, Finnish runner (died 1975)

Arvo Askola was a Finnish long-distance runner. He won silver medals in the 10,000 m event at the 1936 Olympics and 1934 European Championships.

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Walenty Kłyszejko, Estonian–Polish basketball player and coach (died 1987)

Walenty Kłyszejko was an Estonian–Polish basketball coach and player. He was also a professor of physical education at the Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw.

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Joseph P. Lash, American activist and author (died 1987)

Joseph Paul Lash was an American radical political activist, journalist, and writer. A close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, Lash won both the Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the National Book Award in Biography for Eleanor and Franklin (1971), the first of two volumes he wrote about the former First Lady.

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02/12/1906

Peter Carl Goldmark, Hungarian-American engineer (died 1977)

Peter Carl Goldmark was a Hungarian-American engineer who, during his time with Columbia Records, was instrumental in developing the long-playing microgroove 331⁄3 rpm phonograph disc, the standard for incorporating multiple or lengthy recorded works on a single disc for two generations. The LP was introduced by Columbia's Goddard Lieberson in 1948. Lieberson was later president of Columbia Records from 1956–1971 and 1973–1975. According to György Marx, Goldmark was one of The Martians.

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02/12/1905

Khan Bahadur Abdul Hakim, Bangladeshi mathematician (died 1985)

Khan Bahadur Abdul Hakim CIE was a Bangladeshi educationist, mathematician and writer. He was the former Dhaka Division school inspector. He was awarded both Khan Sahib and Khan Bahadur by the British Raj. He later served as the president of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh and established its first scholarship endowment.

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02/12/1901

Raimundo Orsi, Argentinian-Italian footballer (died 1986)

Raimundo Bibiani "Mumo" Orsi was an Italian Argentine footballer who played as a winger or as a forward. At the international level, he represented both Argentina and Italy, winning the 1927 Copa América and the silver medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with Argentina, as well as two editions of the Central European International Cup and the 1934 FIFA World Cup, with Italy.

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02/12/1900

Elisa Godínez Gómez de Batista, former First Lady of Cuba (died 1993)

Elisa Godínez Gómez de Batista was the First Lady of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 as the first wife of Cuban then-president Fulgencio Batista.

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Herta Hammerbacher, German landscape architect and professor (died 1985)

Herta Hammersbacher (2 December 1900 in Nuremberg – 25 May 1985 in Niederpöcking near Starnberg) was a German landscape architect who taught for more than 20 years at the TU Berlin.

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02/12/1899

John Barbirolli, English cellist and conductor (died 1970)

Sir John Barbirolli was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 1943 and conducted for the rest of his life. Earlier in his career he was Arturo Toscanini's successor as music director of the New York Philharmonic, serving from 1936 to 1943. He was also chief conductor of the Houston Symphony from 1961 to 1967, and was a guest conductor of many other orchestras, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic, with all of which he made recordings.

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John Cobb, English race car driver and pilot (died 1952)

John Rhodes Cobb was an early to mid 20th century English racing motorist. He was three times holder of the World Land Speed Record, in 1938, 1939 and 1947, set at Bonneville Speedway in Utah, US. He was awarded the Segrave Trophy in 1947. He was killed in 1952 whilst piloting a jet-powered speedboat attempting to break the World Water Speed Record on Loch Ness in Scotland.

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Ray Morehart, American baseball player (died 1989)

Raymond Anderson Morehart was an American Major League Baseball player.

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02/12/1898

Indra Lal Roy, Indian lieutenant and first Indian fighter aircraft pilot (died 1918)

Indra Lal Roy was the sole Indian World War I flying ace. While serving in the Royal Flying Corps and its successor, the Royal Air Force, he claimed ten aerial victories; five aircraft destroyed, and five 'down out of control' in just over 170 hours flying time, making him the first Indian flying ace.

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02/12/1897

Ivan Bagramyan, Russian general (died 1982)

Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan, born Hovhannes Baghramyan, was a Soviet military commander of Armenian origin who held the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. As commander of the 1st Baltic Front, he orchestrated the offensives which pushed German forces out of the Baltic countries on the Eastern Front of World War II.

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Rewi Alley, New Zealand writer and political activist (died 1987)

Rewi Alley was a New Zealand-born writer and political activist. A member of the Chinese Communist Party, he dedicated 60 years of his life to the cause and was a key figure in the establishment of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives and technical training schools, including the Bailie Schools and Peili Vocational Institute, both named after his mentor Joseph Bailie. Alley was a prolific writer about 20th century China, and especially the communist revolution. He also translated numerous Chinese poems.

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02/12/1895

Harriet Cohen, English pianist (died 1967)

Harriet Pearl Alice Cohen CBE was a British pianist.

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02/12/1894

Warren William, American actor (died 1948)

Warren William Krech was an American stage and screen actor, who achieved Hollywood stardom during the early 1930s. Later earning the nickname the "King of Pre-Code", he typified the cunning, often-amoral leading men of early sound cinema. According to one critic, "no other actor embodied the classy mix of charm and sleaze that epitomized pre-Code Hollywood." He was also the first actor to portray fictional lawyer Perry Mason.

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02/12/1891

Otto Dix, German painter and illustrator (died 1969)

Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Along with George Grosz and Max Beckmann, he is widely considered one of the most important artists of the Neue Sachlichkeit.

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Charles H. Wesley, American historian and author (died 1987)

Charles Harris Wesley was an American historian, educator, minister, and author. He published more than 15 books on African-American history, taught for decades at Howard University, and served as president of Wilberforce University, and founding president of Central State University, both in Ohio.

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02/12/1885

George Minot, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1950)

George Richards Minot was an American medical researcher who shared the 1934 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George Hoyt Whipple and William P. Murphy for their pioneering work on pernicious anemia.

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02/12/1884

Erima Harvey Northcroft, New Zealand soldier, lawyer, and judge (died 1953)

Sir Erima Harvey Northcroft was a New Zealand lawyer, judge, and military leader. His papers from the Tokyo War Crimes Trial are held by the University of Canterbury.

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Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, Turkish poet and author (died 1958)

Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, known by the pen name Yahya Kemal, was a Turkish poet, author, politician and diplomat.

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02/12/1877

Cahir Healy, Northern Irish Anti Partitionist, writer and politician (died 1970)

Charles Everard Healy was an Irish politician. He was a leader of northern nationalists and a self-educated man who made major contributions to Ireland's political, cultural and literary heritage.

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02/12/1876

Yusuf Akçura, Tatar-Turkish activist and ideologue of Turanism (died 1935)

Yusuf Akçura was a prominent Turkish politician, writer and ideologist of ethnic Tatar origin. He developed into a prominent ideologue and advocate of Pan-Turkism during the early republican period, whose writings became widely read and who became one of the leading university professors in Istanbul.

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02/12/1866

Harry Burleigh, American singer-songwriter (died 1949)

Harry Burleigh was an American classical composer, arranger, and professional singer known for his baritone voice. The first black composer who was instrumental in developing characteristically American music, Burleigh made black music available to classically trained artists both by introducing them to spirituals and by arranging spirituals in a more classical form. Burleigh also introduced Antonín Dvořák to Black American music, which influenced some of Dvořák's most famous compositions and led him to say that Black music would be the basis of an American classical music.

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02/12/1863

Charles Edward Ringling, American businessman, co-founded the Ringling Brothers Circus (died 1926)

Charles Edward Ringling was one of the Ringling brothers, who owned the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was in charge of production and greatly admired by the employees, who called him "Mr. Charlie" and sought his advice and help even for personal problems.

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02/12/1860

Charles Studd, England cricketer and missionary (died 1931)

Charles Thomas Studd, often known as C. T. Studd, was a British missionary, a contributor to The Fundamentals, and a cricketer.

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02/12/1859

Kateryna Melnyk-Antonovych, Ukrainian historian and archaeologist (died 1942)

Kateryna Mykolayivna Antonovych-Melnyk was a Ukrainian historian and archaeologist.

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Georges Seurat, French painter (died 1891)

Georges Pierre Seurat was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough surface.

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02/12/1847

Deacon White, American baseball player and manager (died 1939)

James Laurie "Deacon" White was an American baseball player who was one of the principal stars during the first two decades of the sport's professional era. The outstanding catcher of the 1870s during baseball's barehanded period, he caught more games than any other player during the decade, and was a major figure on five consecutive championship teams from 1873 to 1877 – three in the National Association (NA), in which he played throughout its five-year existence from 1871 to 1875, and two in the National League (NL), which was formed as the first fully recognized major league in 1876, partially as a result of White and three other stars moving from the powerhouse Boston Red Stockings to the Chicago White Stockings. Although he was already 28 when the NL was established, White played 15 seasons in the major leagues, completing a 23-year career at the top levels of the sport.

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02/12/1846

Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau, French lawyer and politician, 68th Prime Minister of France (died 1904)

Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau was a French Republican politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 1899 to 1902. He served as Minister of the Interior at the same time, having previously occupied the latter office in 1881-1882 and 1883-1885.

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02/12/1827

William Burges, English architect and designer (died 1881)

William Burges was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoclassical architectural style and re-establish the architectural and social values of a utopian medieval England. Burges stands within the tradition of the Gothic Revival, his works echoing those of the Pre-Raphaelites and heralding those of the Arts and Crafts movement.

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02/12/1825

Pedro II of Brazil (died 1891)

Dom Pedro II, known as "the Magnanimous", was the second and final emperor of the Empire of Brazil. He reigned from 1831 until his deposition in the military coup of 1889, presiding over the longest and most stable reign in Brazilian history.

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02/12/1817

Heinrich von Sybel, German historian, academic, and politician (died 1895)

Heinrich Karl Ludolf von Sybel was a German historian and politician, who served in the Landtag of Prussia from 1862 to 1864 and from 1874 to 1880. He was a professor at the University of Bonn from 1861 to 1875 and director of the Prussian Archives from 1875.

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02/12/1811

Jean-Charles Chapais, Canadian farmer and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Agriculture (died 1885)

Jean-Charles Chapais, was a Canadian Conservative politician, and considered a Father of Canadian Confederation for his participation in the Quebec Conference to determine the form of Canada's government.

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02/12/1810

Henry Yesler, American businessman and politician, 7th Mayor of Seattle (died 1892)

Henry Leiter Yesler was an American entrepreneur and a politician, regarded as a founder of the city of Seattle. Yesler served two non-consecutive terms as Mayor of Seattle, and was the city's wealthiest resident during his lifetime.

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02/12/1798

António Luís de Seabra, 1st Viscount of Seabra, Portuguese magistrate and politician (died 1895)

D. António Luís de Seabra e Sousa, 1st Viscount of Seabra was a Portuguese politician, jurist, and magistrate. A notable figure of the Constitutional Monarchy period, he was a government minister, a rector of the University of Coimbra, a judge in the Oporto appellate court, a member of Parliament, a Peer of the Realm, and a judge of the Supreme Court of Justice.

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02/12/1760

John Breckinridge, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th United States Attorney General (died 1806)

John Breckinridge was an American politician, militia officer, planter, and lawyer. He served several terms in the state legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky before being elected to the United States Senate. Breckinridge also served as the United States Attorney General during the second term of President Thomas Jefferson. He was the progenitor of Kentucky's Breckinridge family and the namesake of Breckinridge County, Kentucky.

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Joseph Graetz, German organist, composer, and educator (died 1826)

Joseph Graetz was a German composer, organist, and music educator.

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02/12/1759

James Edward Smith, English botanist and mycologist, founded the Linnean Society (died 1828)

Sir James Edward Smith was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society.

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02/12/1754

William Cooper, American judge and politician, founded Cooperstown, New York (died 1809)

William Cooper was an American politician, judge, merchant, land speculator and developer who was the founder of Cooperstown, New York. He was appointed as a county judge and later served two terms in the United States Congress, representing Otsego County and central New York. He was the father of James Fenimore Cooper, a writer of historical novels related to the New York frontier.

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02/12/1738

Richard Montgomery, Irish-American general (died 1775)

Richard Montgomery was an Irish-born American army officer. First serving in the British Army, he later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. On 31 December 1775, Montgomery was killed while leading an unsuccessful invasion of Quebec.

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02/12/1703

Ferdinand Konščak, Croatian missionary and explorer (died 1759)

Fernando Consag, known in his native Croatian as Ferdinand Konščak, was a Croatian Jesuit missionary, explorer and cartographer, who spent most of his life in Mexico, in Baja California.

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02/12/1694

William Shirley, English-American lawyer and politician, Governor of the province of Massachusetts Bay (died 1771)

William Shirley was a British colonial administrator who served as the governor of the British American colonies of Massachusetts Bay and the Bahamas. He is best known for his role in organizing the successful capture of Louisbourg during King George's War, and for his role in managing military affairs during the French and Indian War. He spent most of his years in the colonial administration of British North America working to defeat New France, but his lack of formal military training led to political difficulties and his eventual downfall.

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02/12/1629

Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg, Catholic cardinal (died 1704)

Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg was a German count and later prince of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg in the Holy Roman Empire. He was a clergyman who became bishop of Strasbourg, and was heavily involved in European politics after the Thirty Years' War. He worked for the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne and Louis XIV of France at the same time, and was arrested and tried for treason for convincing the Elector to fight on the opposite side of a war from the Empire.

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02/12/1599

Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin, Scottish nobleman (died 1663)

Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin, 3rd Lord Bruce of Kinloss, of Houghton House in the parish of Maulden in Bedfordshire, was a Scottish nobleman.

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02/12/1578

Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer and theorist (died 1641)

Agostino Agazzari was an Italian composer and music theorist.

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02/12/1501

Queen Munjeong, Korean queen (died 1565)

Queen Munjeong, of the Papyeong Yun clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the third wife and queen consort of Yi Yeok, King Jungjong. She was queen consort of Joseon from 1517 until her husband's death in 1544, after which she was honoured as Queen Dowager Seongryeol (성렬왕대비) during the reign of her step-son, Yi Ho, King Injong. She was honored as Grand Queen Dowager Seongryeol (성렬대왕대비) during the reign of her son, Yi Hwan, King Myeongjong.

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02/12/0503

Emperor Jianwen of Liang, emperor of the Chinese Liang dynasty (died 551)

Emperor Jianwen of Liang, personal name Xiao Gang (蕭綱), courtesy name Shizuan (世纘), childhood name Liutong (六通), was an emperor of the Chinese Liang Dynasty. He was initially not the crown prince of his father Emperor Wu, the founder of the dynasty, but became the crown prince in August 531 after his older brother Xiao Tong died. In 549, the rebellious general Hou Jing captured the capital Jiankang, and Hou subsequently held both Emperor Wu and Crown Prince Gang under his power, having Crown Prince Gang take the throne after Emperor Wu's death later that year. During Emperor Jianwen's reign, he was almost completely under Hou's control, and in 551, Hou, planning to take the throne himself, first forced Emperor Jianwen to yield the throne to his grandnephew Xiao Dong the Prince of Yuzhang, and then sent messengers to suffocate the former emperor.

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