Born on Sunday, 21st December – Famous Birthdays

21/12/2006

Cooper Flagg, American basketball player

Cooper Flagg is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He began his high school career at Nokomis Regional High School in Newport, Maine, before transferring to Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida, where he won multiple national high school player of the year honors as a senior. Ranked as the top recruit in the 2024 class, Flagg played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, earning both consensus first-team All-American and consensus national player of the year honors as a freshman. He was selected with the first overall pick by the Mavericks in the 2025 NBA draft.

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21/12/2002

Clara Tauson, Danish tennis player

Clara Tauson is a Danish professional tennis player. Her career-high rankings are world No. 12 in singles on 8 September 2025 and No. 65 in doubles on 16 February 2025. Tauson has won three WTA Tour titles, all on hardcourts.

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21/12/1997

Madelyn Cline, American actress and model

Madelyn Cline is an American actress and model. She is best known for her roles in the Netflix teen drama series Outer Banks (2020–present), in Rian Johnson's mystery film Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022), and in the slasher film I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025).

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Charlie McAvoy, American ice hockey player

Charles Patrick McAvoy Jr. is an American professional ice hockey player who is a defenseman and alternate captain for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 14th overall in the 2016 NHL entry draft.

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21/12/1996

Ben Chilwell, English footballer

Benjamin James Chilwell is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back or left wing-back for Ligue 1 club Strasbourg.

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Kaitlyn Dever, American actress

Kaitlyn Rochelle Dever is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the television series Justified (2011–2015), Last Man Standing (2011–2021), Unbelievable (2019), Dopesick (2021), Apple Cider Vinegar (2025), and The Last of Us (2025–present). She earned two Golden Globe Award nominations for Unbelievable and Dopesick, in addition to two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Dopesick and The Last of Us.

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21/12/1994

Luke Brooks, Australian rugby league player

Luke Brooks is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a five-eighth for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League (NRL).

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21/12/1992

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, American football player

Ha'Sean Treshon "Ha Ha" Clinton-Dix is an American former professional football player who was a safety for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Green Bay Packers. He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide and was selected by the Packers in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. He later played for the Washington Redskins and the Chicago Bears, before briefly appearing with the Las Vegas Raiders. He is currently the Director of Player Development for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

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Jamie Oleksiak, Canadian ice hockey player

Jamieson Oleksiak is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed the "Big Rig", Oleksiak was selected 14th overall in the first round of the 2011 NHL entry draft by the Dallas Stars, the highest draft choice in Northeastern University's history.

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21/12/1991

Nic Maddinson, Australian cricketer

Nicolas James Maddinson is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-handed opening batsman who has represented Australia in both Test matches and Twenty20 Internationals. Domestically, he plays for New South Wales and the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League, previously having played for Victoria, Melbourne Stars, Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Sixers.

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Otis, American wrestler

Nikola Michal Bogojević is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Otis and is a member of the Alpha Academy stable.

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Riccardo Saponara, Italian footballer

Riccardo Saponara is an Italian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder.

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21/12/1989

Mark Ingram II, American football player

Mark Valentino Ingram II is an American former professional football running back and current on-air personality for Fox Sports. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, becoming the first Alabama player to win the Heisman Trophy after rushing for 1,658 yards in 2009 en route to winning the 2010 BCS National Championship Game.

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Tamannaah, Indian actress

Tamanna Santosh Bhatia, better known as Tamannaah Bhatia, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. Having appeared in 89 films, she is recognized as a leading actress in South Indian cinema and has received several awards, including three Santosham Film Awards, two SIIMA Awards and the Kalaimamani Award.

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21/12/1988

Danny Duffy, American baseball player

Daniel Richard Duffy is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals.

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Perri Shakes-Drayton, English sprinter and hurdler

Peirresha Alexandra Shakes-Drayton is a British retired track and field athlete. After specialising in the 400 metres hurdles in the early part of her career, a knee injury at the 2013 World Championships forced Shakes-Drayton to concentrate on the 400 metres on her return to athletics. She is the 2013 European Indoor Champion in the 400 metres and won a 2012 World Indoor Championship gold medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay. She has also won silver and bronze medals in the 4 × 400 m relay at the World Championships.

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21/12/1987

Khris Davis, American baseball player

Khristopher Adrian Davis, nicknamed “Khrush”, is an American former professional baseball left fielder and designated hitter. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers. Davis led MLB with 48 home runs in the 2018 season.

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21/12/1985

Tom Sturridge, English actor

Thomas Sidney Jerome Sturridge is an English actor. His early films include Being Julia (2004), Like Minds (2006), and The Boat That Rocked (2009). He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performances in Orphans (2013) and Sea Wall/A Life (2019). He was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2016 for his performance in a West End revival of the play American Buffalo. Sturridge has starred as Dream in the Netflix fantasy series The Sandman (2022–2025).

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21/12/1983

Taylor Teagarden, American baseball player

Taylor Hill Teagarden is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2008 to 2015 for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, and Chicago Cubs.

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Steven Yeun, American actor

Sang-yeop Yeun, known professionally as Steven Yeun, is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Glenn Rhee in the television series The Walking Dead (2010–2016). He earned critical acclaim for the films Burning (2018) and Minari (2020). For the latter, he became the first East Asian-American nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021. For the Netflix dark comedy series Beef (2023), which he produced and starred in, Yeun received Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Lead Actor.

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21/12/1982

Primo Colón, Puerto Rican wrestler

Edwin Carlos Colón Coates is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He works with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as Eddie Colón and is in a tag team with his cousin Orlando Colón. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Primo Colón.

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Philip Humber, American baseball player

Philip Gregory Humber is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and Houston Astros in seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Although he debuted in the major leagues in 2006 and had worked mostly as a starter in the minor leagues, he did not become a regular MLB starter until 2011.

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Tom Payne, English actor

Tom Payne is an English actor. He is known for appearing on AMC's The Walking Dead as Paul "Jesus" Rovia, and BBC's Waterloo Road as Brett Aspinall. He portrayed Malcolm Bright on the American television series Prodigal Son from 2019 to 2021. Payne also currently has a recurring role in Law & Order: Organized Crime.

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21/12/1981

Marta Fernández, Spanish basketball player

Marta Fernández Farrés is a retired Spanish women's basketball player. A 1.80 m guard, she won three bronze medals with the Spain women's national basketball team. At club level, she played in 2007 with the Los Angeles Sparks of the United States' WNBA., the Polish team Wisła Can-Pack Kraków and the Spanish teams Universitari Barcelona, Ros Casares Valencia and Perfumerías Avenida, where she retired in 2015. Marta Fernández is the sister of former Spanish international and Real Madrid shooting guard Rudy Fernández.

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Cristian Zaccardo, Italian footballer

Cristian Zaccardo is an Italian former footballer who played as a defender. He mainly played as a centre back, although he was also capable of playing as a full-back or in midfield.

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21/12/1979

Steve Montador, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2015)

Steven Richard "The Matador" Montador was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 571 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres and Chicago Blackhawks before ending his career in 2014 as a member of Medveščak Zagreb of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

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21/12/1978

Emiliano Brembilla, Italian swimmer

Emiliano Brembilla is a freestyle swimmer from Italy who was five-time individual European Champion, four in 400 m freestyle and one in 1500 m freestyle (1997).

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Charles Dera, American pornographic actor, dancer, model, and mixed martial arts fighter

Charles Dera is a former Marine, an American adult entertainer, actor, mixed martial artist and former exotic dancer. Dera has received several adult industry awards, including the NightMoves Award for Male Performer of the Year. In 2022, he was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame.

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Shaun Morgan, South African musician, singer, and guitarist

Shaun Morgan Welgemoed is a South African musician. He is the lead singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Seether.

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Rutina Wesley, American actress

Rutina Wesley is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Tara Thornton in the HBO fantasy drama series True Blood, Nova Bordelon on the OWN drama series Queen Sugar, and Maria Miller in the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us.

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21/12/1977

Buddy Carlyle, American baseball player

Earl Lester "Buddy" Carlyle is an American former professional baseball pitcher and current coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, and New York Mets. He also played for in the KBO League for the LG Twins, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hanshin Tigers and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

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Corey Collymore, Barbadian cricketer

Corey Dalanelo Collymore is a former Barbadian cricketer, who represented the West Indies team in both Tests and ODIs cricket as seam bowler. Collymore was a member of the West Indies team that won the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy.

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Leon MacDonald, New Zealand rugby player

Leon Raymond MacDonald is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer, and former head coach for the Auckland Blues rugby team, who played 56 tests for the national team, the All Blacks. He played as a first five-eighth (fly-half), centre, and fullback. He is currently a coaching consultant with the Western Force.

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Emmanuel Macron, French politician, 25th President of France

Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He served as Minister of Economics and Finance under President François Hollande from 2014 to 2016. He has been a member of Renaissance since founding the party in 2016.

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Freddy Sanchez, American baseball player

Frederick Phillip Sanchez Jr. is an American former professional baseball second baseman. Sanchez played in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox (2002–2003), Pittsburgh Pirates (2004–2009) and San Francisco Giants (2009–2011). He batted and threw right-handed.

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21/12/1975

Paloma Herrera, Argentine ballerina

Paloma Herrera is a prominent Argentine ballet dancer, choreographer, and artistic director who was a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, where she worked for twenty-four years. She was the director of Colon Theater Ballet from 2017 until 2022.

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21/12/1974

Karrie Webb, Australian golfer

Karrie Anne Webb is an Australian professional golfer. She plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour, and also turns out once or twice a year on the ALPG Tour in her home country. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. She has 41 wins on the LPGA Tour, more than any other active player.

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21/12/1973

Irakli Alasania, Georgian colonel and politician, Georgian Minister of Defense

Irakli Alasania is a Georgian politician, soldier and former diplomat who served as the Minister of Defense of Georgia from 2012 to 2014. He was Georgia's Ambassador to the United Nations from September 11, 2006, until December 4, 2008. His previous assignments include Chairman of the Government of Abkhazia(-in-exile) and the President of Georgia's aide in the Georgian-Abkhaz talks. Soon after his resignation, Alasania withdrew into opposition to the Mikheil Saakashvili administration, setting up the Our Georgia – Free Democrats party in July 2009. In 2012 Alasania was appointed Minister of Defense, a position he held until 2014.

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Matías Almeyda, Argentine footballer and manager

Matías Jesús Almeyda is an Argentine professional football manager and former player.

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21/12/1972

Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, Indian politician, 17th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

Yeduguri Sandinti Jagan Mohan Reddy, also known mononymously as Jagan, is an Indian politician and a Member of Legislative Assembly representing Pulivendula Assembly constituency in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative assembly. He previously served as the 17th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He is the founding president of YSR Congress Party. He is also the son of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Y. S. Vijayamma. He is also the brother of APCC president Y. S. Sharmila.

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21/12/1971

Matthieu Chedid, French singer-songwriter and guitarist

Matthieu Chedid is a French multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter.

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Natalie Grant, American singer-songwriter and author

Natalie Diane Grant is an American singer and songwriter of contemporary Christian music. She received the Gospel Music Association's Dove Award for Female Vocalist of the Year four consecutive years, 2006–2009, and a fourth additional prize in 2012. She has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards.

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21/12/1969

Julie Delpy, French model, actress, director, and screenwriter

Julie Delpy is a French-American actress, screenwriter, and film director. She studied filmmaking at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, and acted in more than 30 films, including Europa Europa (1990), Voyager (1991), Three Colours: White (1993), the Before trilogy, An American Werewolf in Paris (1997), and 2 Days in Paris (2007).

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Mihails Zemļinskis, Latvian footballer, coach, and manager

Mihails Zemļinskis is a Latvian politician and former professional footballer. He played as a centre-back or sweeper, making over 100 appearances for the Latvia national team.

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21/12/1967

Terry Mills, American basketball player and coach

Terry Richard Mills is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a power forward. He was a member of the Michigan Wolverines' 1989 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's Division I Basketball Championship winning team before playing over a decade in the NBA.

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Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Georgia

Mikheil "Misha" Saakashvili is a Georgian-Ukrainian politician. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from January 2004 to November 2013, with a break from November 2007 to January 2008 after he stepped down following anti-government demonstrations and ahead of an early presidential election. He is the founder and former chairman of Georgia's United National Movement party. From May 2015 until November 2016, Saakashvili was the governor of Ukraine's Odesa Oblast.

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21/12/1966

Michelle Hurd, American actress

Michelle Hurd is an American actress and secretary-treasurer of SAG AFTRA. Hurd has worked as a television character actress, she first appeared on the soap opera Another World (1991–1997) and earned recognition for playing Monique Jeffries in the legal drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–2001). Afterwards, she led the drama series Leap Years (2001–2002) and held recurring roles in the drama series Skin (2003), the comedy According to Jim (2004), the medical drama ER (2006–2007), and the teen drama Gossip Girl (2007–2008).

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William Ruto, 5th President of Kenya

William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto is a Kenyan politician who is the fifth and current president of Kenya since 13 September 2022. Prior to becoming president, he served as the first elected deputy president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. He previously served in three cabinet portfolios as the Minister for Home Affairs, the Minister of Agriculture and as Minister for Higher Education.

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Kiefer Sutherland, British-Canadian actor, director, and producer

Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland is a British and Canadian actor. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox drama series 24, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, and President Tom Kirkman in the ABC political drama series Designated Survivor.

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21/12/1965

Glenn Coleman, Australian rugby league player

Glenn Coleman is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played his entire club football career with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. He primarily played on the wing

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Andy Dick, American actor and comedian

Andrew Roane Dick is an American actor and comedian. Dick was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and joined The Second City and studied improvisational theater. Dick has had a long career as a stand-up comedian; he has appeared throughout the United States, has released several comedy albums, and has acted in television and film. Dick's first regular television role was on The Ben Stiller Show on Fox. In the mid-1990s, he regularly appeared on NBC's NewsRadio and as a supporting character on Less than Perfect. He also had two short-lived television series on MTV; these were the sketch comedy series The Andy Dick Show (2001) and the reality series The Assistant (2004). He also is noted for his behavior on a number of Comedy Central Roasts, stand-up comedy performances, and late night talk show appearances.

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Anke Engelke, Canadian-German actress, director, and screenwriter

Anke Christina Fischer is a German comedian, actress, voice-actress, and television presenter.

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21/12/1964

Kunihiko Ikuhara, Japanese director and illustrator

Kunihiko Ikuhara , also known by the nickname Ikuni, is a Japanese director, writer, artist, and music producer. He has created and collaborated on several notable anime and manga series, including Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Penguindrum, Yurikuma Arashi, and Sarazanmai.

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Joe Kocur, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Gregory Joseph "Joey" Kocur is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is best known for his activities as a fighter and enforcer, as well as being one half of the "Bruise Brothers" with then- Detroit Red Wings teammate Bob Probert, during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Joe Kocur is a 4 time Stanley Cup champion.

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21/12/1963

Govinda, Indian actor, singer, and politician

Govinda Arun Ahuja, is an Indian actor-turned-politician, who has appeared in more than 120 Hindi-language films. A leading actor throughout 1990s, Govinda is known for his slapstick performances and dancing skills. He has received 12 Filmfare Award nominations and won two Filmfare Special Awards and one Filmfare Award for Best Comedian.

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21/12/1961

Ryuji Sasai, Japanese bass player and composer

Ryuji Sasai is a Japanese video game composer and bass guitarist. He is best known for his work on Xak, Final Fantasy Legend III and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. His musical career came about when he was 15 years old, and he formed a band. Before entering the gaming industry, Sasai was involved in the anime department, scoring two television series and a film. After creating music for four games as a freelancer, he was employed at Square from 1991 to 1998, where he worked on five games in total. Sasai often collaborated with fellow composers Tadahiro Nitta and Chihiro Fujioka during his career. He has also been a member of the rock bands Novela and Action and is currently performing as a bassist.

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21/12/1960

Sherry Rehman, Pakistani journalist, politician, and diplomat, 25th Pakistan Ambassador to the United States

Shehrbano "Sherry" Rehman is a Pakistani politician and journalist who has been the member of the Senate of Pakistan since 2015. She was the first female Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from March to August 2018 and served as Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States from 2011 to 2013. She is currently serving as the Federal Minister for the Ministry of Climate Change.

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21/12/1959

Florence Griffith Joyner, American sprinter and actress (died 1998)

Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner, also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete and the fastest woman ever recorded, setting world records in the 100m and 200m in 1988. She was married to Al Joyner, a 1984 Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump. He was also her coach and husband during her success as a four-time Olympic medalist. During the late 1980s, she became a popular figure due to both her record-setting athleticism and eclectic personal style.

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Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Indian cricketer

Krishnamachari "Kris" Srikkanth, also known as Cheeka, is a former Indian cricket captain and coach. He also serves as a cricket commentator. He was a hard-hitting opening batter and an occasional right arm offbreak bowler. He has served as a captain of the Indian cricket team and chairman of the men's selection committee later.

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21/12/1958

Tamara Bykova, Russian high jumper

Tamara Vladimirovna Bykova is a Russian former track and field athlete who represented the Soviet Union and competed in the high jump. She is the 1983 World Champion, the 1987 World Championship silver medallist, the 1988 Olympic bronze medallist, and is a former world record holder, with clearances of 2.03 and 2.04 metres in 1983 and 2.05 metres in 1984. She also won silver medals at the 1982 European Championships, the 1989 and 1991 World Indoor Championships, and three times at the World Cup.

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21/12/1957

Ray Romano, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

Raymond Albert Romano is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his role as Raymond "Ray" Barone on the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005), for which he won three Primetime Emmy Awards. He is also known for being the voice of Manny in the Ice Age franchise. He has received several other awards including nominations for two Grammy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.

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Tony Lewis, English singer and songwriter (died 2020)

Tony G Lewis was an English singer and musician. He was the lead singer and bassist of the pop-rock band the Outfield, best known for their hit singles "Your Love" and "All the Love in the World". After a long career with that band, Lewis began work as a solo artist, releasing his first album Out of the Darkness in 2018 on Madison Records.

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21/12/1956

Dave Laut, American shot putter (died 2009)

David Lester Laut was an American shot putter. He was born in Findlay, Ohio, and grew up in Oxnard, California. Laut attended Art Haycox Elementary School, E. O. Green Junior High School, Santa Clara High School, Moorpark College, along with San Jose City College and UCLA, where he was a two-time NCAA champion and ranked No. 1 shot putter in the United States.

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21/12/1955

Jane Kaczmarek, American actress

Jane Frances Kaczmarek is an American actress. Her role as Lois on the Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle (2000–2006) earned her three Golden Globe nominations and seven Primetime Emmy nominations. She also appeared as Linda Bauer in Equal Justice (1990–1991), Judge Trudy Kessler in Raising the Bar (2008–2009), Ann in Falling in Love (1984), Emily in The Heavenly Kid (1985), and Gayle in 6 Balloons (2018). She had recurring roles as Holly in Cybill and as Maureen Cutler in Frasier. Kaczmarek was a replacement for the character of Bella in the Broadway production of Neil Simon's Lost In Yonkers.

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Kazuyuki Sekiguchi, Japanese singer-songwriter and bass player

Kazuyuki Sekiguchi is a Japanese musician, best known for playing the bass guitar for Southern All Stars. As a solo artist, he has played ukulele. He is a fan of Hawaiian music, and is the founder of the annual Ukulele Picnic music festival in Hawaii. For over thirty years, Sekiguchi has worked with Akira Sakuma in the Momotaro Dentetsu video game series as a music composer.

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21/12/1954

Chris Evert, American tennis player and coach

Christine Marie Evert is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful players of all time, she was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 260 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 seven times: 1974–1978, 1980 and 1981. Evert won 157 singles titles, including 18 majors. Alongside Martina Navratilova, her greatest rival, Evert dominated women's tennis from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s.

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21/12/1953

András Schiff, Hungarian-English pianist and conductor

Sir András Schiff is a Hungarian and British classical pianist and conductor. He has received numerous awards and honours, including the Grammy Award, Gramophone Award, Mozart Medal, and Royal Academy of Music Bach Prize, and was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to music.

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Betty Wright, American singer-songwriter (died 2020)

Bessie Regina Norris, better known by her stage name Betty Wright, was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter and background vocalist. Beginning her professional career in the late 1960s as a teenager, Wright rose to fame in the 1970s with hits such as "Clean Up Woman" and "Tonight Is the Night". Wright was also prominent in her use of whistle register.

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21/12/1952

Joaquín Andújar, Dominican baseball player (died 2015)

Joaquín Andújar was a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, and Oakland Athletics from 1976 through 1988. Andújar was a four-time MLB All-Star and a Gold Glove Award winner.

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Dennis Boutsikaris, American actor

Dennis Boutsikaris is an American stage and film actor. A two-time Obie Award Winner, he has appeared on and off Broadway, being the first American to play Mozart in Amadeus. On television he is best known for his role on Better Call Saul as Rich Schweikart. He has also narrated over 200 audiobooks.

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Steve Furniss, American swimmer

Steven Charles Furniss is an American former swimmer, business owner, Olympic bronze medalist and world record-holder.

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21/12/1951

Steve Perryman, English footballer and manager

Stephen John Perryman MBE is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. He is best-known for his successes with Tottenham Hotspur during the 1970s and early 1980s. He has won the FA Cup, League Cup, and UEFA Cup all twice with Tottenham in his 17 years at the club. Perryman was voted Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year in 1982 and made a club record 854 first team appearances for Tottenham. He was the director of football at Exeter City from 2003 until his temporary retirement in March 2018.

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21/12/1950

Jeffrey Katzenberg, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded DreamWorks Animation

Jeffrey Katzenberg is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chair of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and business operations for the company's feature films. Following his departure, he co-founded DreamWorks SKG in 1994, where he served as the company's chief executive officer (CEO) and executive producer of its animated franchises—including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon—until stepping down from the title in 2016. He has since founded the venture capital firm WndrCo in the same year, which invests in digital media projects, and launched Quibi in 2020, a defunct short-form mobile video platform that lost US$1.35 billion in seven months.

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Max Maven, American magician and mentalist (died 2022)

Max Maven was an American illusionist and mentalist whose performances were considered erudite and intelligent. He is ranked as one of the most influential mentalists of all time, and one of the 100 "Most Influential Magicians of the 20th Century" by Magic Magazine.

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Lillebjørn Nilsen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2024)

Lillebjørn Falk Nilsen was a Norwegian singer-songwriter and folk musician. He was considered by many to be a leading "voice of Oslo", alongside Ole Paus, thanks to numerous classic songs about the city from the 1970s and onwards.

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21/12/1949

Thomas Sankara, Burkinabé captain and politician, 5th President of Burkina Faso (died 1987)

Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara was a Burkinabé military officer, Marxist and Pan-Africanist revolutionary who, following his takeover in a coup, remained in power as the first President of Burkina Faso from 1983 until his assassination in 1987. He was also the 5th Prime Minister of Upper Volta from January to May 1983.

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Nikolaos Sifounakis, Greek lawyer and politician

Nikolaos Sifounakis is a Greek politician, former Minister for the Aegean and ex-member of the European Parliament (MEP). He was elected on the Panhellenic Socialist Movement ticket and sat with the Party of European Socialists group. On 23 July 2004 he was elected Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education.

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21/12/1948

Barry Gordon, American actor and voice artist; longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild (1988–95)

Barry Gordon is an American actor and political talk show host. He was the longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild, having served from 1988 to 1995. He is perhaps best known as the original voice of Donatello and Bebop in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1963 for his performance in A Thousand Clowns.

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Samuel L. Jackson, American actor and producer

Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American actor and film producer. He is one of the most widely recognized actors of his generation. The films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed more than $27 billion worldwide, making him the highest-grossing actor of all time. In 2022, he received the Academy Honorary Award as "a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide".

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Dave Kingman, American baseball player

David Arthur Kingman, nicknamed "Kong", "King Kong", and "Sky King", is an American former Major League Baseball left fielder, first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter who was a three-time MLB All-Star with 442 career home runs and 1,210 runs batted in (RBI) in 16 seasons. In his career, Kingman averaged a home run every 15.11 at bats, tied for 19th best all-time.

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21/12/1947

Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer (died 2014)

Francisco Gustavo Sánchez Gómez, known as Paco de Lucía, was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flamenco guitarists to branch into classical and jazz. Richard Chapman and Eric Clapton, authors of Guitar: Music, History, Players, describe de Lucía as a "titanic figure in the world of flamenco guitar", and Dennis Koster, author of Guitar Atlas, Flamenco, has referred to de Lucía as "one of history's greatest guitarists".

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21/12/1946

Roy Karch, American director, producer, and screenwriter

The AVN Hall of Fame has honored people for their work in the adult entertainment industry since 1995. The individuals inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame have "made significant contributions to the adult industry" and have had "a minimum of 10 years in the industry" to be considered for induction.

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Carl Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1998)

Carl Dean Wilson was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's de facto leader in the early to mid-1970s. He was also the band's musical director on stage from 1965 until his death.

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21/12/1945

Doug Walters, Australian cricketer

Kevin Douglas Walters is a former Australian cricketer. He was known as an attacking batsman, a useful part-time bowler, and also as a typical ocker. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1975 Cricket World Cup.

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21/12/1944

Michael Tilson Thomas, American pianist, composer, and conductor

Michael Tilson Thomas is an American conductor, pianist, and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, and Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra. He gave his final performance with the San Francisco Symphony in April 2025 while fighting brain cancer.

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Zheng Xiaoyu, Chinese diplomat (died 2007)

Zheng Xiaoyu was the director of the State Food and Drug Administration of the People's Republic of China from 2003 to 2005. He was sentenced to death for corruption and allowing possibly tainted products in mainland China in the first instance trial at Beijing No.1 Intermediate Court on May 29, 2007. He was executed on July 10, 2007.

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21/12/1943

Albert Lee, English guitarist and songwriter

Albert William Lee is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also maintained a solo career and is a noted composer and musical director.

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Walter Spanghero, French rugby player

Walter Spanghero is a former French rugby union footballer. His father, Ferruccio Dante Spanghero, emigrated from Friuli, arriving in France in the 1930s to make a living as a bricklayer. He was a part of the France national team which won the 1968 Grand Slam in the Five Nations. He was also a part of the French side which won the Five Nations in 1967 and 1973. He played for France over 50 times. He played at number 8, lock and flanker. He famously had a very stormy relationship with his brother, Claude, who was also an international rugby player for France.

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21/12/1942

Hu Jintao, Chinese engineer and politician, 5th Paramount leader of China

Hu Jintao is a Chinese retired politician who served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, president of China from 2003 to 2013, and chairman of the Central Military Commission from 2004 to 2012. He was a member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee, China's top decision-making body, from 1992 to 2012, and served as the paramount leader of China from 2002 to 2012.

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Carla Thomas, American singer

Carla Venita Thomas is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits "Gee Whiz " (1960), "B-A-B-Y" (1966) and "Tramp" (1967), a duet with Otis Redding. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas.

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21/12/1940

Frank Zappa, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer and producer (died 1993)

Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, songwriter, guitarist, conductor, actor, satirist, filmmaker, and activist. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works; he additionally produced nearly all the 60-plus albums he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. His discography is characterized by nonconformity, improvisation, sonic experimentation, musical virtuosity and satire of American culture. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation.

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21/12/1939

Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian academic and politician, 2nd Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs

Lloyd Norman Axworthy is a Canadian politician, elder statesman and academic. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Following his retirement from parliament, he served as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Winnipeg from 2004 to 2014 and as chancellor of St. Paul's University College. He is currently the Chair of the World Refugee & Migration Council.

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Wafic Saïd, Syrian-Saudi Arabian financier, businessman and philanthropist

Wafic Rida Saïd is a Syrian-Saudi-Canadian businessman, financier, and philanthropist who has resided for many years in Monaco.

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21/12/1938

Larry Bryggman, American actor

Arvid Laurence Bryggman is an American actor. He is known for playing the role of Dr. John Dixon on the CBS Daytime soap opera As the World Turns. He won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his work on As the World Turns in 1984 and 1987. He received six other Daytime Emmy Award nominations. He has had roles in many theatrical productions, including Ulysses in Nighttown (1974), The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel (1977), Prelude to a Kiss (1990), Picnic (1994), Proof (2000), Romance (2005), Festen (2006), and Harvey (2012). He has received two Tony Award nominations and won two Obie Awards. He has also appeared in the films ...And Justice for All (1979), Hanky Panky (1982), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) and Spy Game (2001).

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21/12/1937

Jane Fonda, American actress and activist

Jane Seymour Fonda is an American actress and activist. Fonda's work spans several genres and over seven decades of film and television. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, eight Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award and two Tony Awards. Fonda is also the recipient of various honorary awards including the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2007, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2014, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2017, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2021, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2025.

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21/12/1935

John G. Avildsen, American director, producer, and cinematographer (died 2017)

John Guilbert Avildsen was an American film director. He is best known for directing Rocky (1976), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Director. He is also known for directing the first three films in The Karate Kid franchise (1984–1989). Other films he directed include Joe (1970), Save the Tiger (1973), The Formula (1980), Neighbors (1981), Lean on Me (1989), Rocky V (1990), 8 Seconds (1994), and Inferno (1999).

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Lorenzo Bandini, Italian racing driver (died 1967)

Lorenzo Bandini was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1961 to 1967. Bandini won the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix with Ferrari. In endurance racing, Bandini won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963, as well as the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1967, both with Ferrari.

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Phil Donahue, American talk show host and producer (died 2024)

Phillip John Donahue was an American media personality, writer, film producer, and the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, later known simply as Donahue, was the first popular talk show to feature a format that included audience participation. The show had a 29-year run on national television that began in Dayton, Ohio, in 1967 and ended in New York City in 1996.

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Stela Popescu, Romanian actress (died 2017)

Stela Popescu was a Romanian actress and TV personality considered the greatest comedy actress and one of best female actresses of all time in Romania. With Ștefan Bănică and Alexandru Arșinel she was successively half of two famous romantic partnerships.

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Edward Schreyer, Canadian academic and politician, Governor General of Canada

Edward Richard Schreyer is a Canadian politician, diplomat, and statesman who served as the 22nd governor general of Canada from 1979 to 1984. He previously served as the 16th premier of Manitoba from 1969 to 1977.

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Janet Metcalf, American politician (died 2025)

Janet S. Metcalf was an American politician in the state of Iowa.

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21/12/1934

Giuseppina Leone, Italian sprinter

Giuseppina "Giusy" Leone is a retired Italian sprinter. She competed in the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m events at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics and reached the final on five occasions. In 1960 she won a bronze medal in the 100 m.

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Hanif Mohammad, Pakistani cricketer (died 2016)

Hanif Mohammad PP was a Pakistani cricketer. He played for the Pakistani cricket team in 55 Test matches between the 1952–53 season and the 1969–70 season. He averaged 43.98, scoring twelve centuries. At his peak, he was considered one of the best batsmen in the world despite playing at a time when Pakistan played very little Test cricket; Hanif played just 55 Test matches in a career spanning 17 years. In his obituary by ESPNcricinfo, he was honoured as the original Little Master, a title later assumed by Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. He was the first Pakistani to score a triple hundred in a Test match.

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21/12/1933

Jackie Hendriks, Jamaican cricketer

John Leslie Hendriks is a former Jamaican cricketer who was a Test wicket-keeper in the West Indies cricket team from 1962 to 1969.

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Robert Worcester, American businessman and academic, founded MORI (died 2025)

Sir Robert Milton Worcester, was an American-born British pollster who was the founder of MORI and a member and contributor to many voluntary organisations. He was a well-known figure in British public opinion research and political circles and as a media commentator, especially about voting intentions in British and American elections.

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21/12/1932

U. R. Ananthamurthy, Indian author, poet, and critic (died 2014)

Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy was an Indian contemporary writer and critic in the Kannada language. He was born in Thirtahalli Taluk and is considered one of the pioneers of the Navya movement. In 1994, he became the sixth Kannada writer to be honored with the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India. In 1998, he received the Padma Bhushan award from the Government of India. He was the vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala during the late 1980s. He was one of the finalists of Man Booker International Prize for the year 2013. He remained a fervent critic of nationalistic political parties until his death from kidney failure and cardiac arrest on 22 August 2014.

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Edward Hoagland, American author and critic

Edward Morley Hoagland was an American author best known for his nature and travel writing.

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21/12/1930

Phil Roman, American animator

Philip Roman is an American animator. He is the director of the Peanuts and Garfield animated specials and is the founder of the animation studios Film Roman and Phil Roman Entertainment.

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21/12/1927

Charles Bailleul, French linguist and missionary (died 2026)

Charles Bailleul was a French linguist and Roman Catholic missionary, a member of the White Fathers.

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21/12/1926

Arnošt Lustig, Czech author and playwright (died 2011)

Arnošt Lustig was a Czech Jewish writer, playwright and screenwriter. His works have often involved the Holocaust.

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Joe Paterno, American football player and coach (died 2012)

Joseph Vincent Paterno, sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2011. With 409 victories, Paterno is the most victorious coach in NCAA FBS history. He recorded his 409th victory on October 29, 2011; his career ended with his dismissal from the team on November 9, 2011, as a result of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. He died 74 days later, of complications from lung cancer.

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21/12/1923

Wat Misaka, American basketball player (died 2019)

Wataru Misaka was an American professional basketball player. A 5-foot-7-inch (1.70 m) point guard of Japanese descent, he broke a color barrier in professional basketball by being the first non-white player and the first player of Asian descent to play in the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The National Basketball Association (NBA), which was created in 1949 with the merger of the BAA and the NBL, later adopted the BAA's history and thus considers Misaka to be the first non-white player of the league.

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21/12/1922

Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician (died 1989)

The Reverend Alfred Itubwa Amram was a Nauruan pastor and political figure.

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Cécile DeWitt-Morette, French mathematician and physicist (died 2017)

Cécile Andrée Paule DeWitt-Morette was a French mathematician and physicist. She founded the Les Houches School of Physics in the French Alps. For this and her publications, she was awarded the American Society of the French Legion of Honour 2007 Medal for Distinguished Achievement. Attendees at the summer school included over twenty students who would go on to be Nobel Prize winners, including Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Georges Charpak, and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, who identify the school for assisting in their success.

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Paul Winchell, American actor, voice artist, and ventriloquist (died 2005)

Paul Winchell was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, humanitarian, and inventor whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted The Paul Winchell Show, which also used two other titles during its prime time run on NBC: The Speidel Show, and What's My Name? From 1965 to 1968, Winchell hosted the children's television series Winchell-Mahoney Time.

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21/12/1920

Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina and choreographer, founded the Cuban National Ballet (died 2019)

Alicia Alonso was a Cuban prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer whose company became the Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1955. She is best known for her portrayals of Giselle and the ballet version of Carmen.

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Adele Goldstine, American computer programmer (died 1964)

Adele Goldstine was an American mathematician and computer programmer. She wrote the manual for the first electronic digital computer, ENIAC. Through her programming work, she was instrumental in converting the ENIAC from a computer that required reprogramming each time it was used to one capable of performing a set of fifty stored instructions.

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Iris Cummings, American swimmer and aviator (died 2025)

Iris Cummings, also known by her married name Iris Critchell, was an American aviator and competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. After an active athletic career in swimming, which included a reign as U.S. national 200-meter breaststroke champion from 1936 to 1939, she was accepted into the University of Southern California's first Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1939. After graduation, she worked as a flight instructor prior to being selected to serve her country during World War II as a member of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). Following the conflict, she returned to California, where she developed and taught a curriculum on civilian flight for veterans returning from the war at the University of Southern California.

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21/12/1919

Doug Young, American voice actor (died 2018)

Douglas Hiram Young was an American voice actor who worked on radio programs and in animated cartoons.

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21/12/1918

Donald Regan, American colonel and politician, 11th White House Chief of Staff (died 2003)

Donald Thomas Regan was an American government official and business executive who served as the 66th United States secretary of the treasury from 1981 to 1985 and as the 11th White House chief of staff from 1985 to 1987 under President Ronald Reagan.

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Kurt Waldheim, Austrian colonel and politician; 9th President of Austria (died 2007)

Kurt Josef Waldheim was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the secretary-general of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and the president of Austria from 1986 to 1992.

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21/12/1917

Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985)

Heinrich Theodor Böll was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post–World War II writers, Böll received the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972).

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21/12/1914

Frank Fenner, Australian microbiologist and virologist (died 2010)

Frank John Fenner was an Australian scientist with a distinguished career in the field of virology. His two greatest achievements are cited as overseeing the eradication of smallpox, and the attempted control of Australia's rabbit plague through the introduction of Myxoma virus.

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21/12/1913

Arnold Friberg, American illustrator and painter (died 2010)

Arnold Friberg was an American illustrator and painter noted for his religious and patriotic works. He is perhaps best known for his 1975 painting The Prayer at Valley Forge, a depiction of George Washington praying at Valley Forge. He is also well known for his 15 "pre-visualization" paintings for the Cecil B. DeMille film The Ten Commandments which were used to promote the film worldwide and for which he received an Academy Award nomination.

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21/12/1911

Josh Gibson, American baseball player (died 1947)

Joshua Gibson was an American baseball catcher who played primarily in the Negro leagues. In 1972, he became the second Negro league player to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, after Satchel Paige.

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21/12/1909

Seichō Matsumoto, Japanese journalist and author (died 1992)

Seichō Matsumoto was a Japanese writer, credited with popularizing detective fiction in Japan.

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21/12/1905

Käte Fenchel, German mathematician (died 1983)

Käte Fenchel née Käte Sperling was a German-born Jewish mathematician, best known for her work on non-abelian groups.

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Anthony Powell, English author (died 2000)

Anthony Dymoke Powell was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work A Dance to the Music of Time, published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English.

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21/12/1900

Luis Arturo González López, Guatemalan supreme court judge and briefly acting president (died 1965)

Luis Arturo González López was a Guatemalan attorney and politician who served as the acting President of Guatemala from 27 July 1957 to 24 October 1957. He became president after the assassination of Carlos Castillo Armas, under whom he was designated as first in the presidential line of succession by Congress.

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21/12/1896

Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union during World War II (died 1968)

Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky was a Soviet and Polish general who served as a top commander in the Red Army during World War II and achieved the ranks of Marshal of the Soviet Union and Marshal of Poland. He also served as Defence Minister of Poland from 1949 to 1956.

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21/12/1892

Walter Hagen, American golfer (died 1969)

Walter Charles Hagen was an American professional golfer and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of 11 professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (15). Known as the "father of professional golf," he brought publicity, prestige, big prize money, and lucrative endorsements to the sport. Hagen is rated one of the greatest golfers ever.

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Rebecca West, English journalist and author (died 1983)

Dame Cecily Isabel Fairfield, known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books for The Times, the New York Herald Tribune, The Sunday Telegraph and The New Republic, and she was a correspondent for The Bookman.

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21/12/1891

John William McCormack, American lawyer and politician, 53rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (died 1980)

John William McCormack was an American politician from Boston, Massachusetts who served as the 45th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1962 until his retirement in 1971. McCormack served in the United States Army during World War I, and afterwards in the Massachusetts State Senate before winning election to the United States House of Representatives.

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21/12/1890

Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1967)

Hermann Joseph Muller was an American geneticist who was awarded the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of the production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation". Muller warned of long-term dangers of radioactive fallout from nuclear war and nuclear testing, which resulted in greater public scrutiny of these practices.

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21/12/1889

Sewall Wright, American geneticist and biologist (died 1988)

Sewall Green Wright ForMemRS HonFRSE was an American geneticist known for his influential work on evolutionary theory and also for his work on path analysis. He was a founder of population genetics alongside Ronald Fisher and J. B. S. Haldane, which was a major step in the development of the modern synthesis combining genetics with evolution. He discovered the inbreeding coefficient and methods of computing it in pedigree animals. He extended this work to populations, computing the amount of inbreeding between members of populations as a result of random genetic drift, and along with Fisher he pioneered methods for computing the distribution of gene frequencies among populations as a result of the interaction of natural selection, mutation, migration and genetic drift. Wright also made major contributions to mammalian and biochemical genetics.

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21/12/1888

Jean Bouin, French runner and rugby player (died 1914)

Alexandre François Étienne Jean Bouin was a French middle-distance runner. He competed in the 1500m at the 1908 Olympics and the 5000m at the 1912 Olympics. He won a silver medal in the 5000m in 1912, behind Hannes Kolehmainen. His race against Kolehmainen has long been regarded as one of the most memorable moments in running. Kolehmainen and Bouin quickly pulled away from the others, with Bouin leading and Kolehmainen repeatedly trying to pass him. Kolehmainen succeeded only 20 metres from the finish, winning by 0.1 seconds. Both contenders broke the previous world record.

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21/12/1885

Frank Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 1960)

Francis Alexis Patrick was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, head coach, manager, and executive. Along with his brother Lester, he founded the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), the first major professional hockey league in Western Canada. Patrick, who also served as president of the league, took control of the Vancouver Millionaires, serving as a player, coach, and manager of the team. It was in the PCHA that Patrick would introduce many innovations to hockey that remain today, including the blue line, the penalty shot, and tracking assists, among others.

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21/12/1884

María Cadilla, Puerto Rican writer, educator, women's rights activist (died 1951)

Dr. María Cadilla Colón de Martínez was a Puerto Rican writer, educator, women's rights activist and one of the first women in Puerto Rico to earn a doctoral degree.

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21/12/1878

Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish-Irish mathematician and philosopher (died 1956)

Jan Łukasiewicz was a Polish logician and philosopher who is best known for Polish notation and Łukasiewicz logic. His work centred on philosophical logic, mathematical logic and history of logic. He thought innovatively about traditional propositional logic, the principle of non-contradiction and the law of excluded middle, offering one of the earliest systems of many-valued logic. Contemporary research on Aristotelian logic also builds on innovative works by Łukasiewicz, which applied methods from modern logic to the formalization of Aristotle's syllogistic.

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21/12/1877

Jaan Sarv, Estonian mathematician and scholar (died 1954)

Jaan Sarv was an Estonian mathematician and educator. Most of his life he worked as a professor at the University of Tartu. Sarv laid the foundation of Estonian language mathematical education.

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21/12/1876

Jack Lang, Australian lawyer and politician, 23rd Premier of New South Wales (died 1975)

John Thomas "Jack" Lang, nicknamed as The Big Fella, was an Australian politician who served as the 23rd premier of New South Wales from 1925 to 1927 and from 1930 to 1932. He was the state leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1923 to 1939 and his Lang Labor faction was an influential force in both state and federal politics, breaking away from the official ALP on several occasions.

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21/12/1872

Trevor Kincaid, Canadian-American zoologist and academic (died 1970)

Trevor Kincaid was a Canadian-American scientist and professor at the University of Washington who achieved national acclaim for his scientific achievements while an undergraduate student. Kincaid's interests ranged from insect life to marine biology to mollusks, though he once described himself as an "omniologist". He is best known for introducing the gypsy moth parasite to the United States, for helping establish the Washington state oyster industry, and as the driving force behind the creation of the Friday Harbor Laboratories. Kincaid is responsible for the identification and naming of hundreds of species; at least 47 plant and animal species were, in turn, named after him. In 1938 he was designated Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus of the University of Washington, that school's highest honor for its alumni.

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Lorenzo Perosi, Italian priest and composer (died 1956)

Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi was an Italian composer of sacred music and the only member of the Giovane Scuola who did not write opera. In the late 1890s, while he was still only in his twenties, Perosi was an internationally celebrated composer of sacred music, especially large-scale oratorios. Nobel Prize winner Romain Rolland wrote, "It's not easy to give you an exact idea of how popular Lorenzo Perosi is in his native country." Perosi's fame was not restricted to Europe. A 19 March 1899 New York Times article entitled "The Genius of Don Perosi" began, "The great and ever-increasing success which has greeted the four new oratorios of Don Lorenzo Perosi has placed this young priest-composer on a pedestal of fame which can only be compared with that which has been accorded of late years to the idolized Pietro Mascagni by his fellow-countrymen." Gianandrea Gavazzeni made the same comparison: "The sudden clamors of applause, at the end of the [19th] century, were just like those a decade earlier for Mascagni." Perosi worked for five Popes, including Pope Pius X who greatly fostered his rise.

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Albert Payson Terhune, American journalist and author (died 1942)

Albert Payson Terhune was an American writer, dog breeder, and journalist. He was popular for his novels relating the adventures of his beloved collies and as a breeder of collies at his Sunnybank Kennels, the lines of which still exist in today's Rough Collies.

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21/12/1868

George W. Fuller, American chemist and engineer (died 1934)

George Warren Fuller was an American sanitary engineer who was also trained in bacteriology and chemistry. His career extended from 1890 to 1934 and he was responsible for important innovations in water and wastewater treatment. He designed and built the first modern water filtration plant, and he designed and built the first chlorination system that disinfected a U.S. drinking water supply. In addition, he performed groundbreaking engineering work on sewage treatment facilities in the U.S. He was President of both the American Water Works Association and the American Public Health Association, and he was recognized internationally as an expert civil and sanitary engineer.

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21/12/1866

Maud Gonne, Irish nationalist and political activist (died 1953)

Maud Gonne MacBride was an Irish republican revolutionary, suffragette and actress. She was, contrary to her own claims of Anglo-Irish descent, English on the sides of both parents, and was won over to Irish nationalism by the plight of people evicted in the Land Wars. MacBride actively agitated for Home Rule and then for the republic declared in 1916. During the 1930s, as a founding member of the Social Credit Party, she promoted the distributive programme of C. H. Douglas. Gonne was well known for being the muse and long-time love interest of Irish poet W. B. Yeats.

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21/12/1859

Gustave Kahn, French poet and critic (died 1936)

Gustave Kahn was a French Symbolist poet and art critic. He was also active, via publishing and essay-writing, in defining Symbolism and distinguishing it from the Decadent Movement.

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21/12/1857

Joseph Carruthers, Australian politician, 16th Premier of New South Wales (died 1932)

Sir Joseph Hector McNeil Carruthers was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1904 to 1907.

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21/12/1851

Thomas Chipman McRae, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Arkansas (died 1929)

Thomas Chipman McRae was an American attorney and politician from Arkansas. Described as a “Woodrow Wilson progressive," he served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives and the 26th governor of Arkansas, from 1921 to 1925.

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21/12/1850

Zdeněk Fibich, Czech composer and poet (died 1900)

Zdeněk Fibich was a Czech composer of classical music. Among his compositions are chamber works, symphonic poems, three symphonies, at least seven operas, melodramas including the substantial trilogy Hippodamia, liturgical music including a mass – a missa brevis; and a large cycle of piano works called Moods, Impressions, and Reminiscences. The piano cycle served as a diary of sorts of his love for a piano pupil, and one of the pieces formed the basis for the short instrumental work Poème, for which Fibich is best remembered today.

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21/12/1843

Thomas Bracken, Irish-New Zealander journalist, poet, and politician (died 1898)

Thomas Bracken was an Irish-born New Zealand poet, journalist and politician. He wrote "God Defend New Zealand", one of the two national anthems of New Zealand, and was the first person to publish the phrase "God's Own Country" as applied to New Zealand. He also won the Otago Caledonian Society's prize for poetry.

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21/12/1840

Ernest de Munck, Belgian cellist and composer (died 1915)

Ernest de Munck was a Belgian cellist and composer. Born in Brussels, de Munck learned the cello from his professional cellist father François de Munck as well as Adrien-François Servais. He later became a professor at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music in London.

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Namık Kemal, Turkish journalist, playwright, and activist (died 1888)

Namık Kemal was an Ottoman writer, poet, democrat, intellectual, reformer, journalist, playwright, and political activist who was influential in the formation of the Young Ottomans and their struggle for governmental reform in the Ottoman Empire during the late Tanzimat period, which led to the First Constitutional Era in the Empire in 1876. Kemal championed notions of freedom and fatherland in his plays and poems, and his works had a significant impact on the establishment of and future reform movements in Turkey, as well as other former Ottoman territories. He is often regarded as being instrumental in redefining Western concepts like natural rights and constitutional government.

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21/12/1832

John H. Ketcham, American general and politician (died 1906)

John Henry Ketcham was an American politician and military officer who was a United States representative from New York for over 33 years from 1877 to 1893 and from 1897 to 1906. He also served as a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

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21/12/1830

Bartolomé Masó, Cuban soldier and politician (died 1907)

Bartolomé de Jesús Masó Márquez was a Cuban politician and military patriot for Cuban independence from the colonial power of Spain, and later President of the República en Armas.

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21/12/1820

William H. Osborn, American businessman (died 1894)

William Henry Osborn was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was a railroad tycoon who, as head of the Illinois Central Railroad and later the Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans Railroad, became one of the most prominent railroad leaders in the United States. A friend and patron of the painter Frederic Edwin Church, he was an avid art collector. His two sons went on to become presidents of prominent museums in New York City.

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21/12/1815

Thomas Couture, French painter and educator (died 1879)

Thomas Couture was a French history painter and teacher. He taught many notable contemporary figures of the art world, such as Édouard Manet, Henri Fantin-Latour, John La Farge, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, John Ward Dunsmore, Karel Javůrek, William Morris Hunt, and Joseph-Noël Sylvestre.

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21/12/1811

Archibald Tait, Scottish-English archbishop (died 1882)

Archibald Campbell Tait was an Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England and theologian. He was the first Scottish priest to become Archbishop of Canterbury and thus, head of the Church of England.

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21/12/1805

Thomas Graham, Scottish chemist and academic (died 1869)

Thomas Graham was a Scottish chemist known for his pioneering work in dialysis and the diffusion of gases. He is regarded as one of the founders of colloid chemistry.

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21/12/1804

Benjamin Disraeli, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1881)

Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, was a British statesman, Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies and its broad outreach. Disraeli is remembered for his influential voice in world affairs, his political battles with the Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone, and his one-nation conservatism or "Tory democracy". He made the Conservatives the party most identified with the British Empire and military action to expand it, both of which were popular among British voters. He is the only British prime minister to have been born Jewish.

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21/12/1803

Achille Vianelli, Italian painter and academic (died 1894)

Achille Vianelli or Vianelly was an Italian painter of landscapes with genre scenes, often in watercolor.

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21/12/1795

Jack Russell, English priest, hunter, and dog breeder (died 1883)

John "Jack" Russell, was an English parson, dog breeder, and enthusiastic follower of country sports, particularly fox hunting. He was known as "The Sporting Parson".

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Leopold von Ranke, German historian, author, and academic (died 1886)

Leopold von Ranke was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of historical documents. Building on the methods of the Göttingen school of history, he was the first to establish a historical seminar. Ranke set the standards for much of later historical writing, introducing such ideas as reliance on primary sources (empiricism), an emphasis on narrative history and especially international politics (Außenpolitik). He was ennobled in 1865, with the addition of a "von" to his name.

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21/12/1778

Anders Sandøe Ørsted, Danish jurist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Denmark (died 1860)

Anders Sandøe Ørsted was a Danish lawyer, politician and jurist. He served as the Prime Minister of Denmark between 1853–1855. He was brother of Hans Christian Ørsted.

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21/12/1728

Hermann Raupach, German harpsichord player and composer (died 1778)

Hermann Friedrich Raupach was an 18th-century German composer.

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21/12/1714

John Bradstreet, Canadian-English general (died 1774)

Major-General John Bradstreet was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served in King George's War, the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. He was born in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, to a British army lieutenant and an Acadian mother. He also served as the Commodore-Governor for Newfoundland.

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21/12/1672

Benjamin Schmolck, German pastor and composer (died 1737)

Benjamin Schmolck was a German Lutheran writer of hymns.

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21/12/1615

Benedict Arnold, Rhode Island colonial governor (died 1678)

Benedict Arnold was president and then governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for a total of 11 years in these roles. He was born and raised in the town of Ilchester, Somerset, England, likely attending school in Limington nearby. In 1635 at age 19, he accompanied his parents, siblings, and other family members on a voyage from England to New England where they first settled in Hingham in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In less than a year, they moved to Providence Plantation at the head of the Narragansett Bay at the request of Roger Williams. In about 1638, they moved once again about five miles (8 km) south to the Pawtuxet River, settling on the north side at a place commonly called Pawtuxet. Here they had serious disputes with their neighbors, particularly Samuel Gorton, and they put themselves and their lands under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, a situation which lasted for 16 years.

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21/12/1603

Roger Williams, English minister, theologian, and politician, 9th President of the Colony of Rhode Island (died 1684)

Roger Williams was an English-born New England minister, theologian, author, and founder of the Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and later the State of Rhode Island. He was a staunch advocate for religious liberty, separation of church and state, and fair dealings with the Native Americans.

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21/12/1596

Peter Mohyla, Ruthenian Orthodox metropolitan and saint (died 1646)

Petro Mohyla or Peter Mogila was the Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus' in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Eastern Orthodox Church from 1633 to 1646.

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21/12/1550

Man Singh I, Mughal noble (died 1614)

Mirza Raja Man Singh I was the 24th Kachawaha Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Amber from 1589 to 1614. For the Mughals, he also served as the foremost imperial Subahdar of Bihar Subah from 1587 to 1594, then for Bengal Subah for three terms from 1595 to 1606 and the Subahdar of Kabul Subah from 1585 to 1586. He served in the imperial Mughal Army under Emperor Akbar. Man Singh fought sixty-seven important battles in Kabul, Balkh, Bukhara, Bengal and Central and Southern India. He was well versed in the battle tactics of both the Rajputs as well as the Mughals. He is commonly considered to be one of the Navaratnas, or the nine (nava) gems (ratna) of the royal court of Akbar.

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21/12/1542

Thomas Allen, English mathematician and astrologer (died 1632)

Thomas Allen (or Alleyn) (21 December 1542 – 30 September 1632) was an English mathematician and astrologer. Highly reputed in his lifetime, he published little, but was an active private teacher of mathematics. He was also well connected in the English intellectual networks of the period.

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21/12/1538

Luigi d'Este, Catholic cardinal (died 1586)

Luigi d'Este was an Italian Catholic cardinal, the second son of the five children of Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Modena and Ferrara, and Renée de Valois, daughter of Louis XII of France.

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21/12/1505

Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, English politician (died 1550)

Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, was an English peer, secretary of state, Lord Chancellor and Lord High Admiral. A naturally skilled but unscrupulous and devious politician who changed with the times, Wriothesley served as a loyal instrument of King Henry VIII in the latter's break with the Catholic Church. Richly rewarded with royal gains from the Dissolution of the Monasteries, he nevertheless prosecuted Calvinists and other Protestants when political winds changed.

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21/12/1468

William Conyers, 1st Baron Conyers, English baron (died 1524)

William Conyers, 1st Baron Conyers, also known as William Conyers of Hornby, was an English baron and aristocrat.

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21/12/1401

Masaccio, Italian painter (died 1428)

Masaccio, born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, Masaccio was the best painter of his generation because of his skill at imitating nature, recreating lifelike figures and movements as well as a convincing sense of three-dimensionality. He employed nudes and foreshortenings in his figures. This had seldom been done before him.

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21/12/0968

Minamoto no Yorinobu, Japanese samurai (died 1048)

Minamoto no Yorinobu was a samurai commander and member of the powerful Minamoto clan. Along with his brother Yorimitsu, Yorinobu served the regents of the Fujiwara clan, taking the violent measures the Fujiwara were themselves unable to take. He held the title, passed down from his father, of Chinjufu-shōgun, Commander-in-chief of the Defense of the North. He served as Governor of Ise, Shinano, Sagami, Mutsu and Kai Provinces, and was the progenitor of the Kawachi Genji.

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