Born on Wednesday, 24th December – Famous Birthdays

24/12/2002

Joshua Primo, Canadian basketball player

Joshua Lincoln Alexander Primo is a Canadian professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Ontario Clippers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

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Jeremiah Trotter Jr., American football player

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is an American professional football linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Clemson Tigers, and was selected by the Eagles in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL draft He is the son of former Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter.

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24/12/2001

Choi Sung-beom, South Korean football player

Choi Sung-beom is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a winger for K League 1 club FC Anyang. He made his appearance in the 2023 K League 2 season and scored his debut goal at the 2023 Korean FA Cup. His first pair of league goals occurred in 2024 and, following Anyang's promotion to the top division, he scored a second pair in the 2025 season.

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24/12/1998

Alexis Mac Allister, Argentine footballer

Alexis Mac Allister is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool and the Argentina national team. Considered as one of the best midfielders in the world, he is known for his passing, shooting ability, and versatility.

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24/12/1997

Neeraj Chopra, Indian javelin thrower

Lieutenant Colonel Neeraj Chopra is an Indian javelin thrower. He has won gold medals at the Olympic Games, World Championships and Asian Games. Chopra has won the Diamond League once. He won the Olympic gold medal in 2020 and became the first Asian javelin thrower to do so. He became the first Asian to win a gold medal in javelin throw at the 2023 World Championships. Chopra finished in the top two in 26 consecutive tournaments from June 2021 to September 2025, the second longest such streak in history behind that of javelin world record holder Jan Železný.

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William Contreras, Venezuelan baseball player

William Jesus Contreras is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves.

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24/12/1995

Anett Kontaveit, Estonian tennis player

Anett Kontaveit is an Estonian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as high as world No. 2 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which she first achieved on 6 June 2022 to become the highest-ranked Estonian tennis player in history. She also attained a career-high ranking of No. 95 in doubles on 2 March 2020.

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24/12/1994

Fa'amanu Brown, New Zealand rugby league player

Fa'amanu Brown is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a hooker for the St. George Illawarra Dragons and has represented Samoa and New Zealand at international level. He played as a halfback, five-eighth and lock earlier in his career.

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Miguel Castro, Dominican baseball player

Miguel Ángel Castro is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher in the for the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League. He has previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox. Castro signed with the Blue Jays as an international free agent in 2012, and made his MLB debut in 2015.

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Matt Frawley, Australian rugby league player

Matthew Frawley is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a Stand-off, Scrum-half or hooker for the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League.

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Han Seung-woo, South Korean singer

Han Seung-woo, known mononymously as Seungwoo, is a South Korean singer, singer-songwriter, and actor. He debuted as a member of South Korean group Victon in 2016. In 2019, he finished third on Produce X 101 and became a member of X1. He debuted as a solo artist in August 2020 with the extended play Fame.

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24/12/1992

Davante Adams, American football player

Davante Lavell Adams is an American professional football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played two seasons of college football for the Fresno State Bulldogs and was named a second-team All-American in 2013 before being selected in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers. He is the only player in NFL history to lead the league in receiving touchdowns with three different teams.

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Serge Aurier, Ivorian footballer

Serge Alain Stéphane Aurier is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis.

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P. J. Hairston, American basketball player

Samuel Peterson "P. J." Hairston Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. He finished his sophomore season in 2013 and was eligible for the 2014 NBA draft. He was selected with the 26th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Miami Heat, and was later traded to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Shabazz Napier.

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24/12/1991

Sofia Black-D'Elia, American actress

Sofia Black-D'Elia is an American actress. She is known for her television roles, such as Tea Marvelli in Skins, Sage Spence in Gossip Girl, Andrea Cornish in The Night Of, and Frannie Latimer in Your Honor. From 2017 to 2018 Black-D'Elia starred as Sabrina on the Fox comedy The Mick. She also starred in the 2015 film Project Almanac and the 2016 film Viral. From 2022–2023, Black-D'Elia played the lead role in the Freeform comedy series Single Drunk Female.

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Lara Michel, Swiss tennis player

Lara Michel is a Swiss tennis player.

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Eric Moreland, American basketball player

Eric Andrew Moreland is an American professional basketball player for the Liaoning Flying Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Oregon State Beavers.

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Louis Tomlinson, English singer

Louis William Tomlinson is an English singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Doncaster, England, Tomlinson auditioned for British singing competition The X Factor as a solo artist in 2010, where he and four rejected solo contestants were placed into a group which became the British-Irish band One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.

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Taylor Zakhar Perez, American actor

Taylor Zakhar Perez is an American actor. He began his career by appearing in several series, before his breakthrough role in the romantic comedy films The Kissing Booth 2 (2020) and The Kissing Booth 3 (2021). Perez had a supporting role in the sex comedy series Minx (2022) and a starring role in the romantic comedy film Red, White & Royal Blue (2023).

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24/12/1990

Brigetta Barrett, American high jumper

Beloved Promise is a former high jumper from the United States. Her biggest success is winning the silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the gold medal at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. She retired in 2016 at the age of 25 before coming back in 2017.

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Ryo Miyake, Japanese fencer

Ryo Miyake is a Japanese fencer. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he competed in the Men's foil, but was defeated in the second round. He won a silver medal in the team foil event.

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24/12/1989

Matt Calvert, Canadian ice hockey player

Matthew Dean Calvert is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche during his career in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Blue Jackets in the fifth round, 127th overall, of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

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24/12/1988

Stefanos Athanasiadis, Greek footballer

Stefanos "Klaus" Athanasiadis is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker.

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Emre Özkan, Turkish footballer

Emre Özkan is a Turkish football defender who plays for TFF Third League club Ergene Velimeşe.

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Simon Zenke, Nigerian footballer

Simon Terwase Zenke is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward.

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24/12/1987

Jane Summersett, American ice dancer

Jane Summersett is an American former competitive ice dancer. She teamed up with Todd Gilles in April 2007. The two won the bronze medal at the 2008 Nebelhorn Trophy and placed seventh at the 2010 Four Continents Championships.

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24/12/1986

Tim Elliott, American mixed martial artist

Timothy Samuel Elliott is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Competing professionally since 2009, Elliott is the former Titan FC Flyweight Champion and the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions. As of March 3, 2026, he is #11 in the UFC flyweight rankings.

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Kyrylo Fesenko, Ukrainian basketball player

Kyrylo Anatoliyovych Fesenko is a Ukrainian former professional basketball player who last played for Al-Nasr SC of the Libyan Division I Basketball League. Standing at 2.16 m, he plays the center position. He wears a size 18 shoe and has a 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) wingspan and 9 ft 4 in (2.84 m) standing reach.

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24/12/1985

Alexey Dmitriev, German ice hockey player

Alexey Dmitriev is a Belarusian-born German professional ice hockey player currently playing for the ESC Moskitos Essen of the Oberliga Nord

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24/12/1984

Isaac De Gois, Australian rugby league player

Isaac De Gois, also known by the nickname of "Goisy", is a former Portugal international rugby league footballer. His position was hooker and he played for the Wests Tigers, Newcastle Knights, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League.

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Austin Stowell, American actor

Austin Miles Stowell is an American actor. He is known for his roles in Dolphin Tale (2011), its sequel Dolphin Tale 2 (2014), Love and Honor (2013), Whiplash (2014), as Francis Gary Powers in Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies (2015), as Nately in Catch-22 (2019), The Hating Game (2021), and as young Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the prequel series NCIS: Origins (2024–present).

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24/12/1983

Gregor Blanco, Venezuelan baseball player

Grégor Miguel Blanco Pedraza is a Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, and Arizona Diamondbacks. His nickname was "White Shark", as blanco is white in Spanish, and he played for Los Tiburones de La Guaira, The Sharks of CUA.

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Tim Jennings, American football player

Timothy DeShawn Jennings is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs, and was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft.

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24/12/1981

Dima Bilan, Russian singer-songwriter and actor

Dima Nikolayevich Bilan is a Russian singer. In 2002, Bilan participated in the first edition of New Wave. At the end of the contest, he finished in fourth place. He represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with "Never Let You Go", finishing second, and he won the contest in 2008 in Belgrade, with the song "Believe".

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24/12/1980

Stephen Appiah, Ghanaian footballer

Stephen Leroy Appiah is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career, he played for Udinese, Parma, Brescia, Juventus and Fenerbahçe.

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Tomas Kalnoky, Czech-American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Tomas Kalnoky is a Czechoslovak-born American musician. He is the lead singer/guitarist and songwriter of the bands Streetlight Manifesto and Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution, and goes by the pseudonym Toh Kay as a solo performer. He is the former lead singer/guitarist for 3rd-wave ska band Catch 22, but left the band after making only one album to attend Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia, for visual art. According to the booklet of Somewhere in the Between, Kalnoky attended Rutgers University. He is the owner of Pentimento Music Company, a record company.

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Maarja-Liis Ilus, Estonian pop musician

Maarja-Liis Ilus, sometimes better known by her performing name Maarja is an Estonian pop musician and presenter. She has represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest twice. She was only 15 when she participated in the 1996 contest.

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24/12/1978

Yıldıray Baştürk, German-Turkish footballer

Yıldıray Baştürk is a retired professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

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Heinrich Himmer, Austrian politician

Heinrich Himmer is an Austrian politician of the Social Democratic Party serving as a member of the National Council since 2024. From 2021 to 2023, he served as deputy president of the BSA.

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24/12/1977

Michael Raymond-James, American actor

Michael Raymond-James is an American actor. He is best known for playing René Lenier in the first season of the HBO series True Blood, Britt Pollack on the FX series Terriers, Neal Cassidy / Baelfire on the ABC series Once Upon a Time, Mitch Longo on the CBS All Access series Tell Me a Story and Joseph Colombo in Godfather of Harlem.

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24/12/1976

Linda Ferga, French hurdler

Linda Ferga married Khodadin is a French former athlete who competed in the 100 metres hurdles and 60 metres hurdles indoor.

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24/12/1974

Thure Lindhardt, Danish actor

Thure Frank Lindhardt is a Danish actor.

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Paal Nilssen-Love, Norwegian drummer and composer

Paal Nilssen-Love is a Norwegian drummer and composer in the jazz, free jazz and free improvisation genres.

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Marcelo Salas, Chilean footballer

José Marcelo Salas Melinao, nicknamed Matador, El Fenómeno and Shileno, is a Chilean former footballer who played as a striker. Salas is considered the best striker in the history of Chile. He stood out during the 1990s and 2000s in clubs such as Universidad de Chile, River Plate, Lazio and Juventus. He was the captain of the Chile national team and the top scorer – scoring 45 goals in total: 37 goals for the Chile national football team and 8 goals with the Chile Olympic football team.

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Ryan Seacrest, American radio host and television personality, and producer

Ryan John Seacrest is an American television host and producer. Seacrest is the host of Wheel of Fortune, having hosted since replacing long-time host Pat Sajak in September 2024. Seacrest co-hosted and served as executive producer of Live with Kelly and Ryan, and has hosted other media including American Idol, American Top 40, and On Air with Ryan Seacrest. He became co-host of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve in 2005, and he became the sole host following Clark's death in 2012.

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J.D. Walsh, American actor, director, and producer

John Douglas Walsh is an American actor, writer, producer, and improv comedy leader. He is best known for his role as Gordon on Two and a Half Men. He wrote, produced and directed the show Battleground.

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24/12/1973

Liu Dong, Chinese-Spanish runner

Liu Dong is a Chinese retired middle-distance runner. She holds the current Asian record over 800 metres with 1:55.54. She set that record while winning at the 7th Chinese National Games. Her personal best over 1500 metres was 3:56.31. She was trained from 1991 to 1993 by Ma Junren in Liaoning Province.

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Stephenie Meyer, American author and film producer

Stephenie Meyer is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire romance series Twilight, which has sold over 160 million copies, with translations in 37 different languages. She was the bestselling author of 2008 and 2009 in the United States, having sold over 29 million books in 2008 and 26.5 million in 2009.

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Ali Salem Tamek, Moroccan activist

Ali Salem Tamek is a Sahrawi independence activist and trade unionist.

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24/12/1972

Álvaro Mesén, Costa Rican footballer

Álvaro Mesén Murillo is a retired Costa Rican footballer.

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24/12/1971

Geoff Allott, New Zealand cricketer

Geoffrey Ian Allott is a former New Zealand cricketer who played in 10 Tests and 31 One Day Internationals (ODIs) from 1996 to 2000. In the New Zealand domestic competition he played for the Canterbury cricket team as an opening bowler. Allot retired from all cricket in 2001, following series of injuries. Allott was a member of the New Zealand team that won the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy.

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Sascha Fischer, German rugby player

Sascha Fischer is retired a German international rugby union player, having last played for Le Bugue athletic club in the Federale 1 and also the German national rugby union team.

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Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter and actor

Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his discography incorporating a wide variety of many elements, such as Latin pop, dance, reggaeton, salsa, and other genres. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at age nine and began his musical career at twelve, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He began his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.

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24/12/1970

Adam Haslett, American fiction writer and journalist

Adam Haslett is an American fiction writer and journalist. His debut short story collection, You Are Not a Stranger Here, and his second novel, Imagine Me Gone, were both finalists for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He has been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy in Berlin. In 2017, he won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

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Amaury Nolasco, Puerto Rican actor

Amaury Nolasco Garrido is a Puerto Rican actor. He is best known for the role of Fernando Sucre on the Fox television series Prison Break, and for his role in Transformers (2007).

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24/12/1969

Milan Blagojevic, Australian footballer and manager

Milan Blagojević is an Australian former soccer player and coach. As a player, he appeared for clubs in Australia, Belgium, The Netherlands, Malaysia and Singapore. At national team level, he represented Australia at youth and full international level. As a teenager, he played futsal, representing White Eagles in the Australian National Indoor Soccer League.

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Pernille Fischer Christensen, Danish director and screenwriter

Pernille Fischer Christensen is a Danish film director and the older sister of actress Stine Fischer Christensen. She started out in the movie business when she was 20 years old as an assistant to Tómas Gislason. During that time, Gislason was closely connected to Lars von Trier, and she got to listen to Gislason and von Trier's discussions about movies. In 1993, she went to The European Film College where she met and collaborated with Nanna Arnfred. In 1999, she graduated from the National Film School of Denmark with the movie India, which later went on to win the Cinéfondations 3rd Prize at the Film festival in Cannes. After finishing film school she made a short film called Habibti My Love, which won a Robert in 2003 for best short subject.

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Ed Miliband, English academic and politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office

Edward Samuel Miliband is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since July 2024. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2010 to 2015. Alongside his brother, David Miliband, he served in the Cabinet from 2007 to 2010 under Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

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Luis Musrri, Chilean footballer and manager

Luis Eduardo Musrri Saravia is a Chilean football coach and former player who coaches Unión Compañías in the Chilean Tercera B.

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Oleg Skripochka, Russian astronaut and engineer

Oleg Ivanovich Skripochka is a Russian engineer and cosmonaut. In 2011 he was in space serving as an Expedition 25/26 crewmember.

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Gintaras Staučė, Lithuanian footballer and manager

Gintaras Staučė is a Lithuanian football coach and former player.

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24/12/1968

Marleen Renders, Belgian runner

Marleen Renders is a retired female long-distance runner from Belgium, who represented her native country thrice at the Summer Olympics: in 1988, 1996 and 2000. In 1995 she won the Antwerp Marathon, in 1998 the Berlin Marathon, and she triumphed twice in the Paris Marathon in 2000 and 2002.

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24/12/1967

Mikhail Shchennikov, Russian race walker

Mikhail Anatolyevich Shchennikov is a Russian race walker.

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Pernilla Wahlgren, Swedish singer and actress

Pernilla Nina Elisabet Wahlgren is a Swedish singer and actress. She has sung in Melodifestivalen several times; her 1985 entry titled "Piccadilly Circus" became popular and successful. She has acted in several plays and films, playing roles including Esmeralda in the Academy Award-winning Fanny and Alexander. She has twice received the Guldmasken award for her work in theater.

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24/12/1966

Diedrich Bader, American actor

Karl Diedrich Bader is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his comedic and voice acting roles. He has appeared as a series regular in television sitcoms The Drew Carey Show, American Housewife, and Outsourced, along with recurring roles in Better Things and Veep. His film credits include The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), Office Space (1999), and Napoleon Dynamite (2004).

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24/12/1964

Mark Valley, American actor

Mark Valley is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Brad Chase in the TV drama Boston Legal, Oliver Richard in the NBC drama Harry's Law, FBI Special Agent John Scott in the Fox sci fi series Fringe, Christopher Chance in Fox's action drama Human Target, and Tommy Sullivan in ABC's Body of Proof.

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24/12/1963

Caroline Aherne, English actress, producer, and screenwriter (died 2016)

Caroline Mary Aherne was an English actress, comedian, writer and director.

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Jay Bilas, American basketball player and sportscaster

Jay Scot Bilas is an American college basketball analyst who currently works for ESPN. Bilas is a former professional basketball player and coach who played for and served as an assistant under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke University, as well as a practicing attorney in North Carolina. In February 2024, Bilas signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Washington Speakers Bureau (WSB).

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Timo Jutila, Finnish ice hockey player and sportscaster

Timo Juhani "Juti" Jutila is a retired Finnish ice hockey defenceman. Jutila was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 1982 NHL Entry Draft. He played internationally for the Finland men's national ice hockey team and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2003.

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Mary Ramsey, American singer-songwriter and violinist

Mary Ramsey is a member of folk rock duo John & Mary and lead singer and violist for the American alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs. Ramsey has also worked with other well-known artists such as Jackson Browne, Goo Goo Dolls, Billy Bragg, Warren Zevon, Alex Chilton and Ani DiFranco.

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24/12/1962

Kate Spade, American fashion designer (died 2018)

Katherine Noel Valentine Brosnahan Spade was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. She was the co-founder and co-owner of the designer brand Kate Spade New York.

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24/12/1961

Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijani businessman and politician, 4th President of Azerbaijan

Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev is an Azerbaijani politician who has been the fourth president of Azerbaijan since 2003. He has been the leader of the New Azerbaijan Party since 2005.

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Mary Barra, American businesswoman, current CEO and chairwoman of General Motors

Mary Teresa Barra is an American businesswoman who has been the chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of General Motors since January 15, 2014. She is the first female CEO of a 'Big Three' automaker. In December 2013, GM named her to succeed Daniel Akerson as CEO. Prior to being named CEO, Barra was executive vice president of global product development, purchasing, and supply chain.

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Eriko Kitagawa, Japanese director and screenwriter

Eriko Kitagawa is a Japanese screenwriter and film director. She is best known for writing Japanese television dramas, notably Long Vacation (1996), Beautiful Life (2000), Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi (2002), and Orange Days (2004).

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Wade Williams, American actor

Wade Williams is an American actor. He is known for his various character roles, and for a major supporting role as correctional officer Brad Bellick on the Fox television series Prison Break and Father Cronin on The Bernie Mac Show (2001–2004). Williams also voiced Two-Face in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2012–2013).

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Jay Wright, American basketball player and coach

Jerold Taylor "Jay" Wright Jr. is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach of Villanova University from 2001 until 2022. Wright led the Villanova Wildcats to six Big East Conference championships and 16 NCAA tournament appearances in 21 seasons as head coach. Under Wright, Villanova reached four Final Fours and won two national championships in 2016 and 2018.

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24/12/1960

Glenn McQueen, Canadian-American animator (died 2002)

Glenn John McQueen was a Canadian supervisor of digital animation and supervising character animator at Pixar and Pacific Data Images.

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Carol Vorderman, Welsh television host

Carol Jean Vorderman is a Welsh broadcaster, media personality, and writer. Her media career began when she joined the Channel 4 game show Countdown, appearing with Richard Whiteley from 1982 until his death in 2005, and subsequently with Des Lynam and Des O'Connor, before leaving in 2008.

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24/12/1959

Chris Blackhurst, English journalist

Chris Blackhurst is a strategic communications advisor and commentator, who is a former editor of The Independent.

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Lee Daniels, American director and producer

Lee Daniels is an American film and television show maker. He made his directorial film debut with Shadowboxer (2005), followed by Precious (2009) which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Picture. He has since directed The Paperboy, The Butler (2013), The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021), and The Deliverance (2024). He also produced the films Monster's Ball (2001), The Woodsman (2004), Tennessee (2008), Pimp (2018), and Concrete Cowboy (2020).

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24/12/1958

Munetaka Higuchi, Japanese drummer and producer (died 2008)

Munetaka Higuchi was a Japanese musician and record producer. He is best known as the original drummer of the heavy metal band Loudness, but first rose to prominence as a member of Lazy in the 1970s. In 2018, readers and professional musicians voted Higuchi the second best drummer in the history of hard rock and heavy metal in We Rock magazine's "Metal General Election".

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Diane Tell, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Diane Tell is a Canadian musician who was born in Quebec City, Quebec.

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24/12/1957

Hamid Karzai, Afghan politician, 12th President of Afghanistan

Hamid Karzai is an Afghan politician who served as the seventh president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He also served as chairman of the Afghan Interim Administration from 2001 to 2002.

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24/12/1956

Shim Hwa-jin, South Korean academic and educator

Shim Hwa-jin is a South Korean academic specialising in the history of clothing and textiles. She was president of Sungshin Women's University from 2007 until 2017, when she was imprisoned for embezzlement.

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Anil Kapoor, Indian actor and producer

Anil Surinder Kapoor is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, in addition to Indian television and international films. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a producer, Kapoor has appeared in more than 100 films. He has received several accolades, including two National Film Awards and seven Filmfare Awards.

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24/12/1955

Grand L. Bush, American actor

Grand Lee Bush is an American retired actor of stage, television and film.

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Scott Fischer, American mountaineer and guide (died 1996)

Scott Eugene Fischer was an American mountaineer and mountain guide. He was renowned for ascending the world's highest mountains without supplemental oxygen. Fischer and Wally Berg were the first Americans to summit Lhotse, the world's fourth highest peak. Fischer, Charley Mace, and Ed Viesturs summitted K2 without supplemental oxygen. Fischer first climbed Mount Everest in 1994 and later died during the 1996 blizzard on Everest while descending from the peak.

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Clarence Gilyard, American actor and educator (died 2022)

Clarence Darnell Gilyard Jr. was an American actor. On television, he played private investigator Conrad McMasters on the legal drama series Matlock (1986–95) and Texas Ranger Jimmy Trivette on Walker, Texas Ranger (1993–2001).

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24/12/1954

Yves Debay, Congolese-French commander and journalist (died 2013)

Yves Debay, was a veteran French-Belgian war correspondent, who founded and reported for the French-language magazines Raids and later Assaut ("Assault"), which is published out of Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France. He was the first Belgian journalist to be killed in Syria.

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José María Figueres, Costa Rican businessman and politician, President of Costa Rica (1994–1998)

José María Figueres Olsen is a Costa Rican businessman and politician, who served as President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. He also ran for president in the 2022 presidential election but was defeated by Rodrigo Chaves.

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24/12/1953

Timothy Carhart, American actor

Timothy Carhart is an American actor. He starred in the CBS drama Island Son (1989–90) and has had recurring roles in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–03) and 24 (2002). He also starred in the 1992 Broadway revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. His film appearances include Ghostbusters (1984), Pink Cadillac (1989), Thelma & Louise (1991), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), and Motocrossed (2001).

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24/12/1951

John D'Acquisto, American baseball player

John Francis D'Acquisto is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played ten seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the cousin of former major league pitcher Lou Marone.

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24/12/1950

Dana Gioia, American poet and critic

Michael Dana Gioia is an American poet, literary critic, literary translator, and essayist.

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Hiroshi Ikushima, Japanese businessman and academic

Hiroshi Ikushima is a Japanese announcer and financial planner who is the chief executive officer of Ikushima Planning Office. He is the visiting professor of Tohoku Fukushi University.

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Libby Larsen, American composer

Elizabeth Brown Larsen is a contemporary American classical composer. Along with composer Stephen Paulus, she is a co-founder of the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composers Forum.

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Tommy Turtle, British soldier (died 2020)

Thomas James Turtle BEM, known as Touché or Tommy Turtle, was a British Army soldier originally from Ireland who took part in many special forces campaigns, including the Falklands War and the Bosnian War.

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24/12/1949

Warwick Brown, Australian racing driver

Warwick Brown is a former racing driver from Australia.

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24/12/1948

Stan Bowles, English footballer and sportscaster (died 2024)

Stanley Bowles was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Known for his skills as a player in the 1970s and 1980s, he also gained a reputation as one of the game's great non-conformists and mavericks. He played 315 games for Queens Park Rangers, and earned five England caps.

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Frank Oliver, New Zealand rugby player and coach (died 2014)

Francis James "Frank" Oliver was a New Zealand rugby union player and coach. He captained the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, in four matches.

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24/12/1947

Kevin Sheedy, Australian footballer and coach

Kevin John Sheedy AO is a former Australian rules football coach and player in the Australian Football League. He played and coached in a combined total of 929 games over 47 years from 1967 until 2013, which is a VFL/AFL record. Sheedy was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and on 29 May 2018 was elevated to Legend status.

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24/12/1946

Jan Akkerman, Dutch rock guitarist and songwriter

Jan Akkerman is a Dutch guitarist. He first found international commercial success with the band Focus, which he co-founded with Thijs van Leer. After leaving Focus, he continued as a solo musician, adding jazz rock influences.

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Jeff Sessions, American lawyer and politician, 44th Attorney General of Alabama and 84th Attorney General of the United States

Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States attorney general from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States senator from Alabama from 1997 to 2017 before resigning that position to serve as attorney general in the first administration of President Donald Trump. Trump fired Sessions in 2018 due to his inaction and recusal from the Russian collusion probes.

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24/12/1945

Lemmy, English hard rock singer-songwriter and bass player (died 2015)

Ian Fraser Kilmister, better known as Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he was the only continuous member. Kilmister had previously been a member of Hawkwind from 1971 to 1975, before being sacked from that band.

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Nicholas Meyer, American screenwriter, film director, and author

Nicholas Meyer is an American screenwriter, director and author known for his best-selling novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, and for directing the films Time After Time, two of the Star Trek feature films, the 1983 television film The Day After, and the 1999 HBO original film Vendetta.

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24/12/1944

Jan Erik Berntsen, Norwegian actor and singer (died 2025)

Jan Erik Berntsen was a Norwegian actor and singer. He made his acting debut at Trøndelag Teater in 1964 and participated in over 130 productions at the theatre before retiring in 2014. At the Melodi Grand Prix 1971, he and Odd Børre performed "Ironside" and finished as runners-up.

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Mike Curb, American businessman and politician, 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California

Michael Charles Curb is an American politician, record executive, and philanthropist who served as the 42nd lieutenant governor of California from 1979 to 1983. He is the founder of Curb Records and is the chairman of Word Entertainment. He was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2006. A member of the Republican Party, Curb is the most recent Republican to have been elected lieutenant governor of California as of 2025.

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Daniel Johnson, Jr., Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Premier of Quebec

Daniel Johnson Jr. is a former Canadian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Quebec and was the 25th premier of Quebec for nine months in 1994 until his party's defeat in the provincial general election.

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Erhard Keller, German speed skater

Erhard Keller is a former speed skater from Germany.

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Bob Shaw, Australian golfer

Robert J. Shaw is an Australian professional golfer. He played on the PGA Tour in the 1970s.

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Woody Shaw, American trumpeter (died 1989)

Woody Herman Shaw Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the 20th century's most important and influential jazz trumpeters and composers. He is often credited with revolutionizing the technical and harmonic language of modern jazz trumpet playing, and is regarded by many as one of the major innovators of the instrument. He was an acclaimed virtuoso, mentor, and spokesperson for jazz and worked and recorded alongside many of the leading musicians of his time.

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24/12/1943

Tarja Halonen, Finnish lawyer and politician, 11th President of Finland

Tarja Kaarina Halonen is a Finnish politician who served as the president of Finland, and the first and to date only woman to hold the position in Finland, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), and as the prime minister's parliamentary secretary (1974–1975) and a member of the City Council of Helsinki (1977–1996). Halonen was a Social Democratic Party member of parliament from 1979 until her election to the presidency in 2000. She also served as a minister at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health from 1987 to 1990, as Minister of Justice from 1990 to 1991, and as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2000.

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24/12/1942

Indra Bania, Indian actor, director, and playwright (died 2015)

Indra Bania was an Indian theatre actor, playwright, film actor and director from Assam. His performance in Jahnu Barua's Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai earned him the Silver Leopard Best Actor's award at the Locarno International Film Festival. He was the recipient of the Natasurya Phani Sarma Award.

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Jonathan Borofsky, American sculptor and painter

Jonathan Borofsky is an American sculptor and printmaker who lives and works in Ogunquit, Maine.

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Đoàn Viết Hoạt, Vietnamese journalist, educator, and activist

Đoàn Viết Hoạt was a Vietnamese journalist, educator and democratic activist who was repeatedly imprisoned for his criticisms of Vietnam's Communist leadership. He received numerous international awards in recognition of his work, including the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, and is often referred to as the "Sakharov of Vietnam".

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24/12/1941

Mike Hazlewood, English singer-songwriter (died 2001)

Mike Hazlewood was a British singer-songwriter and composer. He variously worked with Albert Hammond, T-Bone Burnett, Van Dyke Parks and Harry Nilsson.

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Nel Beltrán Santamaría, Colombian Roman Catholic prelate (died 2025)

Nel Hedye Beltrán Santamaría was a Colombian prelate and Bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Sincelejo.

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24/12/1940

Janet Carroll, American actress and singer (died 2012)

Janet Carroll was an American film, stage and television character actress.

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Anthony Fauci, American physician, Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Anthony Stephen Fauci is an American physician-scientist and immunologist who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 1984 to 2022, and the chief medical advisor to the president from 2021 to 2022. Fauci was one of the world's most frequently cited scientists across all scientific journals from 1983 to 2002. In 2008, President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, for his work on the AIDS relief program PEPFAR.

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24/12/1938

Valentim Loureiro, Portuguese soldier and politician

Valentim dos Santos de Loureiro ComM is a Portuguese politician and former football chairman of Boavista and Portuguese League for Professional Football. He has the rank of Major of the Portuguese Army. He was involved in the Apito Dourado sports scandal, for which he was sentenced by the Courts of Portugal.

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24/12/1937

Félix, Brazilian footballer and manager (died 2012)

Félix Miélli Venerando was a Brazilian football player, more commonly known as Félix.

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24/12/1936

Ivan Lawrence, English lawyer and politician

Sir Ivan John Lawrence, KC is a former British Conservative Member of Parliament and criminal barrister.

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24/12/1934

Stjepan Mesić, Croatian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Croatia

Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić is a Croatian lawyer and politician who served as the president of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was prime minister of SR Croatia (1990) after the first multi-party elections, the last president of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1991) and consequently secretary general of the Non-Aligned Movement (1991), as well as the speaker of the Croatian Parliament (1992–1994), and mayor of his hometown of Orahovica.

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24/12/1932

Colin Cowdrey, Indian-English cricketer (died 2000)

Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, was an English cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1976, and in 114 Test matches for England from 1954 to 1975. He was born in Ootacamund, Madras Presidency, British India and died in Littlehampton, West Sussex.

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On Kawara, Japanese-American painter (died 2014)

On Kawara was a Japanese conceptual artist who lived in SoHo, New York City, from 1965 until his death. He took part in many solo and group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1976.

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24/12/1931

Ray Bryant, American pianist and composer (died 2011)

Raphael Homer "Ray" Bryant was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.

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Mauricio Kagel, Argentinian-German composer and scholar (died 2008)

Mauricio Raúl Kagel was an Argentine-German composer and academic teacher.

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24/12/1930

Robert Joffrey, American dancer and choreographer (died 1988)

Robert Joffrey was an American dancer, teacher, producer, choreographer, and co-founder of the Joffrey Ballet, known for his highly imaginative modern ballets. He was born Anver Bey Abdullah Jaffa Khan in Seattle, Washington to a Pashtun father from Afghanistan and a mother from Italy.

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John J. Kelley, American runner (died 2011)

John Joseph Kelley was an American long-distance runner who won the 1957 Boston Marathon and the marathon at the 1959 Pan American Games. He was also a member of the United States Olympic teams of 1956 and 1960, competing in the marathon. He was often dubbed "Kelley the Younger" to avoid confusion with Johnny Kelley, winner of the 1935 and 1945 Boston Marathons; the two men were not related.

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24/12/1929

Lennart Skoglund, Swedish footballer (died 1975)

Karl Lennart "Nacka" Skoglund was a Swedish footballer who played as left winger. He began his career in his home country with Hammarby IF, but later played for several Italian clubs, most notably Inter Milan, with whom he won two Serie A titles over nine years.

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Red Sullivan, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2019)

George James "Red" Sullivan was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1949 to 1961. After finishing his playing career Sullivan became a coach, serving in that role between 1962 and 1975.

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24/12/1928

Adam Exner, Canadian Roman Catholic prelate (died 2023)

Adam Joseph Exner, OMI was a Canadian bishop of the Catholic Church. He was the Archbishop of Vancouver from 1991 until 2004, having previously served as the Bishop of Kamloops and Archbishop of Winnipeg. Prior to his appointment as bishop, he was a professor at seminaries run by his religious order.

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Lev Vlassenko, Georgian-Australian pianist and educator (died 1996)

Lev Nikolaevich Vlassenko, was a Soviet pianist and teacher.

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24/12/1927

Mary Higgins Clark, American author (died 2020)

Mary Higgins Clark was an American author of suspense novels. Each of her 51 books was a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of her novels remained in print as of 2015, with her debut suspense novel, Where Are the Children?, in its 75th printing.

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24/12/1924

Lee Dorsey, American singer-songwriter (died 1986)

Irving Lee Dorsey was an American pop and R&B singer during the 1960s. His biggest hits were "Ya Ya" (1961) and "Working in the Coal Mine" (1966). Much of his work was produced by Allen Toussaint, with instrumental backing provided by the Meters.

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Abdirizak Haji Hussein, Somalian soldier and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (died 2014)

Abdirizak Haji Hussein was a Somali diplomat and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Somali Republic from 14 June 1964 to 15 July 1967.

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24/12/1923

George Patton IV, American general (died 2004)

George Smith Patton IV was a major general in the United States Army and the son of World War II General George S. Patton Jr. He served in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

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William C. Schneider, American aerospace engineer (died 1999)

William Charles Schneider was an American aerospace engineer. He served in the United States Naval Reserve 1942–1946 as an Aviation Machinist's Mate, 1st Class Petty Officer. He joined NASA in June 1963 and served as the Gemini mission director for seven of the ten piloted Gemini missions. From 1967 to 1968, he served as Apollo mission director and the Apollo program's deputy director for missions. He then served from 1968 to 1974 as the Skylab program's director. From 1974 to 1978, he worked as the Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Transportation Systems. From 1978 to 1980, he served as the Associate Administrator for Space Tracking and Data systems. He received a Ph.D. in engineering from Catholic University of America.

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24/12/1922

Ava Gardner, American actress (died 1990)

Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her performance in Robert Siodmak's film noir The Killers.

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24/12/1920

Franco Lucentini, Italian author and screenwriter (died 2002)

Franco Lucentini was an Italian writer, journalist, translator and editor of anthologies.

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Yevgeniya Rudneva, Ukrainian-Russian lieutenant and navigator (died 1944)

Yevgeniya Maksimovna Rudneva was the head navigator of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Regiment posthumously awarded Hero of the Soviet Union. Prior to World War II she was an astronomer, the head of the Solar Department of the Moscow branch of the Astronomical-Geodesical Society of the USSR.

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24/12/1919

Qateel Shifai, Pakistani poet and songwriter (died 2001)

Muhammad Aurangzeb, commonly known by his pen name Qateel Shifai, was a Pakistani Urdu poet and lyricist.

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Pierre Soulages, French artist (died 2022)

Pierre Jean Louis Germain Soulages was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor. In 2014, President François Hollande of France described him as "the world's greatest living artist." His works are held by leading museums of the world, and there is a museum dedicated to his art in his hometown of Rodez.

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24/12/1918

Dave Bartholomew, American bandleader, composer and arranger (died 2019)

David Louis Bartholomew was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally a trumpeter, he was active in many musical genres, including rhythm and blues (R&B), big band, swing music, rock and roll, New Orleans jazz, and Dixieland. In his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he was cited as a key figure in the transition from jump blues and swing to R&B and as "one of the Crescent City's greatest musicians and a true pioneer in the rock and roll revolution".

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24/12/1914

Ralph Marterie, Italian-American trumpet player and bandleader (died 1978)

Ralph Marterie was an Italian big-band leader born in Acerra, Italy.

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Herbert Reinecker, German author and screenwriter (died 2007)

Herbert Reinecker was a German novelist, dramatist and screenwriter.

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24/12/1913

Ad Reinhardt, American painter and academic (died 1967)

Adolph Friedrich Reinhardt was an American abstract painter and art theorist active in New York City for more than three decades. As a theorist he wrote and lectured extensively on art and was a major influence on conceptual art, minimal art, and monochrome painting.

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24/12/1910

Ellen Braumüller, German javelin thrower and triathlete (died 1991)

Ellen Braumüller was a track and field athlete from Germany, who competed mainly in the javelin throw. She competed for her native country at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States, where she won the silver medal in the javelin throw. At the 1932 Olympics, she also competed in the relay, discus and high jump. Born in Berlin, she was the younger sister of Inge Braumüller.

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Fritz Leiber, American author and poet (died 1992)

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

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Max Miedinger, Swiss typeface designer, created Helvetica (died 1980)

Max Miedinger was a Swiss typeface designer, best known for creating the Neue Haas Grotesk typeface in 1957, renamed Helvetica in 1960. Marketed as a symbol of cutting-edge Swiss technology, Helvetica achieved immediate global success.

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24/12/1907

I. F. Stone, American journalist and author (died 1989)

Isidor Feinstein Stone was an American investigative journalist, writer, and author.

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24/12/1906

Franz Waxman, German-American composer and conductor (died 1967)

Franz Waxman was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include Bride of Frankenstein, Rebecca, Sunset Boulevard, A Place in the Sun, Stalag 17, Rear Window, Peyton Place, The Nun's Story, and Taras Bulba. He received twelve Academy Award nominations, and won two Oscars in consecutive years. He also received a Golden Globe Award for the former film. Bernard Herrmann said that the score for Taras Bulba was "the score of a lifetime."

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24/12/1905

Howard Hughes, American businessman, engineer, and pilot (died 1976)

Howard Robard Hughes Jr. was an American aviator, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was one of the richest and most influential people in the world during his lifetime. He first became prominent as a film producer, and then as an important figure in the aviation industry. Later in life, he became known for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle—oddities that were caused in part by his worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), chronic pain from a near-fatal plane crash, and increasing deafness.

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24/12/1904

Joseph M. Juran, Romanian-American engineer and businessman (died 2008)

Joseph Moses Juran was a Romanian-born American engineer, management consultant and author. He was an advocate for quality and quality management and wrote several books on the topics. He was the brother of Academy Award winner Nathan Juran.

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24/12/1903

Joseph Cornell, American sculptor and director (died 1972)

Joseph Cornell was an American visual artist and filmmaker, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of assemblage. Influenced by the Surrealists, he was also an avant-garde experimental filmmaker. He was largely self-taught in his artistic efforts, and improvised his own original style incorporating cast-off and discarded artifacts. He lived most of his life in relative physical isolation, caring for his mother and his disabled brother at home, but remained aware of and in contact with other contemporary artists.

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Ernst Krenkel, Polish-Russian geographer and explorer (died 1971)

Ernst Teodorovich Krenkel was a Soviet Arctic explorer, radio operator, and doctor of geographical sciences (1938). He is best known as one of the four members of the North Pole-1 expedition, for which he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1938. Amateur radio callsigns: EU2EQ, U3AA, UA3AA, RAEM.

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Ava Helen Pauling, American humanitarian and activist (died 1981)

Ava Helen Pauling was an American human rights activist. Throughout her life, she was involved in various social movements including women's rights, racial equality, and international peace.

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24/12/1901

Nina Negri, Argentine-French painter and engraver (died 1981)

Nina Negri was an Argentine-French surrealist painter and engraver who was a part of the art studio Atelier 17.

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24/12/1900

Joey Smallwood, Canadian journalist and politician, 1st Premier of Newfoundland (died 1991)

Joseph Roberts Smallwood was a Newfoundlander and Canadian politician. He was the main force who brought the Dominion of Newfoundland into Canadian Confederation in 1949, becoming the first premier of Newfoundland, serving until 1972. As premier, he vigorously promoted economic development, championed the welfare state, and emphasized modernization of education and transportation. The results of his efforts to promote industrialization were mixed, with the most favourable results in hydroelectricity, iron mining and paper mills.

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Hawayo Takata, Japanese-American teacher and master practitioner of Reiki (died 1980)

Hawayo Hiromi Takata was a Japanese-American woman born in Hanamaulu, Territory of Hawaii, who helped introduce the spiritual practice of Reiki to the Western World. Takata even went so far as to recommend that Reiki masters be ordained as ministers.

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24/12/1898

Baby Dodds, American drummer (died 1959)

Warren "Baby" Dodds was an American jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is regarded as one of the best jazz drummers of the pre-big band era. He varied his drum patterns with accents and flourishes, and he generally kept the beat with the bass drum while playing buzz rolls on the snare. Early influences included Louis Cottrell, Sr., Dave Perkins, and Tubby Hall. Dodds was among the first drummers to be recorded improvising while performing.

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24/12/1897

Ville Pörhölä, Finnish shot putter and discus thrower (died 1964)

Frans Wilhelm "Ville" Pörhölä was a Finnish athlete who competed in shot put, discus throw, hammer throw and weight throw.

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Väinö Sipilä, Finnish runner (died 1987)

Väinö Jeremias Sipilä was a Finnish long-distance runner. Sipilä competed in the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics, placing fourth in the 10,000 metres and being part of Finland's winning cross-country team in the 1924 Games. He held world records at the unusual distances of 20,000 metres and 30,000 metres for several years.

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24/12/1895

E. Roland Harriman, American financier and philanthropist (died 1978)

Edward Roland Noel "Bunny" Harriman was an American financier and philanthropist.

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Noel Streatfeild, English author (died 1986)

Mary Noel Streatfeild OBE was an English author, best known for children's books including the "Shoes" books, which were not a series. Random House, the U.S. publisher of the 1936 novel Ballet Shoes (1936), published some of Streatfeild's subsequent children's books using the word "Shoes" in their titles, to capitalise on the popularity of Ballet Shoes; thus Circus Shoes, Party Shoes, Skating Shoes and many more. She won the third annual Carnegie Medal for The Circus Is Coming.

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Marguerite Williams, American geologist (died 1991)

Marguerite Thomas Williams was an American geologist. She was the first African American to earn a doctorate in geology in the United States and dedicated most of her career to teaching geography and social sciences. Williams is a pioneer among geoscientists in recognizing how human activity and landscape management impact erosional processes and the risks of natural flooding.

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24/12/1894

Georges Guynemer, French captain and pilot (died 1917)

Georges Marie Lodovic Jules Guynemer was the second highest-scoring French fighter ace with 54 victories during World War I, and a French national hero at the time of his death. Guynemer's death was a profound shock to France.

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Jack Thayer, American businessman and Titanic survivor (died 1945)

John Borland Thayer III was a first-class passenger on RMS Titanic who survived the ship's sinking. Aged 17 at the time, he was one of only a handful of passengers to survive jumping into the frigid ocean. He later wrote and privately published his recollection of the sinking.

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24/12/1893

Harry Warren, American pianist and composer (died 1981)

Harry Warren was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe". He wrote the music for the first blockbuster film musical, 42nd Street, choreographed by Busby Berkeley, with whom he would collaborate on many musical films.

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24/12/1892

Ruth Chatterton, American actress (died 1961)

Ruth Chatterton was an American stage, film, and television actress, aviator and novelist. She was at her most popular in the early to mid-1930s, and in the same era gained prominence as an aviator, one of the few female pilots in the United States at the time. In the late 1930s, Chatterton retired from film acting but continued her career on the stage. She had several TV roles beginning in the late 1940s and became a successful novelist in the 1950s.

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24/12/1891

Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky, Russian illustrator and painter (died 1970)

Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky, also known as Rojan, was a Russian émigré illustrator. He is well known both for children's book illustration and for erotic art. He won the 1956 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration from the American Library Association, recognizing Frog Went A-Courtin' by John Langstaff.

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24/12/1887

Louis Jouvet, French actor and producer (died 1951)

Jules Eugène Louis Jouvet was a French actor, theatre director and filmmaker.

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Axel Revold, Norwegian painter (died 1962)

Axel Revold was a Norwegian painter, illustrator, and art professor at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts for twenty years. He was highly decorated for his merits.

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24/12/1886

Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-American actor, director, and producer (died 1962)

Michael Curtiz was a Hungarian and American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silent era and numerous others during Hollywood's Golden Age, when the studio system was prevalent.

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24/12/1885

Paul Manship, American sculptor (died 1966)

Paul Howard Manship was an American sculptor. He consistently created mythological pieces in a classical style, and was a major force in the Art Deco movement. He is well known for his large public commissions, including the iconic Prometheus in Rockefeller Center and the Celestial Sphere Woodrow Wilson Memorial in Geneva, Switzerland. He is also credited for designing the modern rendition of New York City's official seal.

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24/12/1883

Stefan Jaracz, Polish actor and producer (died 1945)

Stefan Jaracz was a Polish actor and theater producer. He served as the artistic director of Ateneum Theatre in Warsaw during the interwar period (1930–32), and within a short period raised its reputation as one of the leading voices for Poland's new intelligentsia, with groundbreaking productions of Danton's Death by Georg Büchner (1931), The Captain of Köpenick by Carl Zuckmayer (1932), as well as popular Ladies and Husars by Aleksander Fredro (1932) and The Open House by Michał Bałucki.

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24/12/1882

Hans Rebane, Estonian journalist and politician, 8th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 1961)

Hans Rebane was an Estonian politician, diplomat and journalist. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia from 1927 to 1928 in Jaan Tõnisson's third cabinet. Rebane was Estonian envoy in Helsinki 1931–1937, 1937–1940 in Riga.

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Georges Legagneux, French aviator (died 1914)

Georges Théophile Legagneux was a French aviator, the first person to fly an aircraft in several countries, and the first to fly a fixed-wing aircraft higher than both 10,000 and 20,000 feet.

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24/12/1881

Charles Wakefield Cadman, American composer and critic (died 1946)

Charles Wakefield Cadman was an American composer. For 40 years, he worked closely with Nelle Richmond Eberhart, who wrote most of the texts to his songs, including Four American Indian Songs. She also wrote the librettos for his five operas, two of which were based on Indian themes. He composed in a wide variety of genres.

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24/12/1880

Johnny Gruelle, American author and illustrator (died 1939)

John Barton Gruelle was an American artist, political cartoonist, children's book and comics author, illustrator, and storyteller. He is best known as the creator of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls and as the author/illustrator of dozens of books. He also created the Beloved Belindy doll. Gruelle also contributed cartoons and illustrations to at least ten newspapers, four major news syndicates, and more than a dozen national magazines. He was the son of Hoosier Group painter Richard Gruelle.

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24/12/1879

Émile Nelligan, Canadian poet (died 1941)

Émile Nelligan was a French Canadian Symbolist poet influenced by Romanticism. Although he almost entirely ceased writing poetry after being institutionalized at the age of nineteen, Nelligan remains an iconic figure in Quebecois culture and was considered by Edmund Wilson to be the greatest Canadian poet in any language.

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Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (died 1952)

Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was Queen of Denmark from 1912 to 1947, as well as Queen of Iceland from 1918 to 1944 as the wife of King Christian X.

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24/12/1877

Sigrid Schauman, Finnish painter and critic (died 1979)

Sigrid Maria Schauman was a Finnish artist and art critic.

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24/12/1875

Émile Wegelin, French rower (died 1962)

Émile Robert Wegelin was a French rower who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was part of the French boat Club Nautique de Lyon, which won the silver medal in the coxed fours.

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24/12/1872

Frederick Semple, American golfer and tennis player (died 1927)

Frederick Humphrey Semple was an American golfer and tennis player who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics.

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24/12/1869

Henriette Roland Holst, Dutch poet, playwright, and politician (died 1952)

Henriette Goverdine Anna "Jet" Roland Holst-van der Schalk was a Dutch poet and Council communist. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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24/12/1868

Charles Harvey Bollman, American naturalist (died 1889)

Charles Harvey Bollman (1868–1889) was an American naturalist who published on fishes and myriapods, becoming known internationally for his work in a short career before dying at the age of 20, considered by David Starr Jordan one of the most brilliant and promising naturalists he had ever known.

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Emanuel Lasker, German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher (died 1941)

Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher. He was the second World Chess Champion, holding the title for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially recognised World Chess Champion, winning 6 World Chess Championships. In his prime, Lasker was one of the most dominant champions.

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24/12/1867

Tevfik Fikret, Turkish poet and educator (died 1915)

Tevfik Fikret was the pseudonym of Mehmed Tevfik, an Ottoman educator and poet, who is considered the founder of the modern school of Turkish poetry.

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24/12/1865

Szymon Askenazy, Polish historian, educator, and diplomat, founded the Askenazy school (died 1935)

Szymon Askenazy was a Jewish-Polish historian, educator, statesman and diplomat, founder of the Askenazy school.

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24/12/1845

George I of Greece (died 1913)

George I was King of Greece from 30 March 1863 until his assassination on 18 March 1913.

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24/12/1843

Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet and playwright (died 1886)

Lydia Emilie Florentine Jannsen, known by her pen name and sobriquet Lydia Koidula, was an Estonian poet. She is also frequently referred to as Koidulaulik.

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24/12/1837

Empress Elisabeth of Austria (died 1898)

Elisabeth, nicknamed Sisi, was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Franz Joseph I on 24 April 1854 until her assassination in 1898.

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24/12/1827

Alexander von Oettingen, German theologian and statistician (died 1905)

Alexander Konstantin von Oettingen was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and statistician.

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24/12/1822

Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (died 1888)

Matthew Arnold was an English poet and cultural critic. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, and brother of both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator. He has been characterised as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues. He was also an inspector of schools for thirty-five years, and supported the concept of state-regulated secondary education.

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Charles Hermite, French mathematician (died 1901)

Charles Hermite FRS FRSE MIAS was a French mathematician who studied analysis, number theory, and algebra. One of his most remarkable achievements was the proof of the transcendence of the number e.

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24/12/1818

James Prescott Joule, English physicist and brewer (died 1889)

James Prescott Joule was an English physicist. Joule studied the nature of heat and discovered its relationship to mechanical work. This led to the law of conservation of energy, which in turn led to the development of the first law of thermodynamics. The SI unit of energy, the joule (J), is named after him.

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24/12/1812

Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal, German lawyer and jurist (died 1894)

Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal was a German jurist and the son of Karl Salomo Zachariae von Lingenthal.

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24/12/1810

Wilhelm Marstrand, Danish painter and illustrator (died 1873)

Nicolai Wilhelm Marstrand, painter and illustrator, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Nicolai Jacob Marstrand, instrument maker and inventor, and Petra Othilia Smith. Marstrand is one of the most renowned artists belonging to the Golden Age of Danish Painting.

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24/12/1809

Kit Carson, American general (died 1868)

Christopher Houston Carson, popularly known as Kit Carson, was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and U.S. Army officer.

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24/12/1798

Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet and playwright (died 1855)

Adam Bernard Mickiewicz was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. He also largely influenced Ukrainian literature and affected Russian literature. A principal figure in Polish Romanticism, he is one of Poland's "Three Bards" and is widely regarded as Poland's greatest poet. He is also considered one of the greatest Slavic and European poets and has been dubbed a "Slavic bard".

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24/12/1797

Carl Georg von Wächter, German jurist (died 1880)

Carl Joseph Georg Sigismund Wächter, from 1835 von Wächter, was a leading German jurist in the 19th century. For a brief period he served as president of the Oberappellationsgericht der vier Freien Städte.

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24/12/1761

Selim III, Ottoman sultan (died 1808)

Selim III was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, he was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV. A group of assassins subsequently killed Selim.

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Jean-Louis Pons, French astronomer (died 1831)

Jean-Louis Pons was a French astronomer. Despite humble beginnings and being self-taught, he went on to become the greatest visual comet discoverer of all time: between 1801 and 1827 Pons discovered thirty-seven comets, more than any other person in history.

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24/12/1754

George Crabbe, English priest, surgeon, and poet (died 1832)

George Crabbe was an English poet and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people.

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24/12/1731

Julie Bondeli, Swiss salonist and lady of letters (died 1778)

Susanna Julie von Bondeli, was a famous Swiss salonnière and lady of letters. She hosted a salon which became the center of intellectual life in Bern.

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24/12/1726

Johann Hartmann, Danish composer (died 1793)

Johann Ernst Hartmann was a Danish classical composer and violinist. He is remembered in particular for his two operas on texts by Johannes Ewald in which he helped creating a national musical style. The first of these, Balders død, builds on the old Nordic mythology and uses dark colours when depicting the old Gods and Valkyries. The second, Fiskerne, describes contemporary fishermen's lives, and uses melodies inspired by the Scandinavian folk style.

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24/12/1698

William Warburton, English bishop (died 1779)

William Warburton was an English writer, literary critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759 until his death. He edited editions of the works of his friend Alexander Pope, and of William Shakespeare.

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24/12/1679

Domenico Sarro, Italian composer and educator (died 1744)

Domenico Natale Sarro, also Sarri was an Italian composer.

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24/12/1635

Mariana of Austria (died 1696)

Mariana of Austria was Queen of Spain from 1649 until her husband Philip IV of Spain died in 1665. Appointed Regent for their infant son Charles II, she remained an influential figure until her own death in 1696.

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24/12/1625

Johann Rudolph Ahle, German organist, composer, and theorist (died 1673)

Johann Rudolph Ahle was a German composer, organist, theorist, and Protestant church musician.

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24/12/1597

Honoré II, Prince of Monaco (died 1662)

Honoré II was Prince of Monaco from 1604 to 1662. He was the first to be called Prince, but started his reign as Lord of Monaco.

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24/12/1596

Leonaert Bramer, Dutch painter (died 1674)

Leonaert Bramer, also Leendert or Leonard, was a Dutch painter known primarily for genre, religious, and history paintings. Very prolific as a painter and draftsman, he is noted especially for nocturnal scenes which show a penchant for exotic details of costume and setting. He also painted frescos—a rarity north of the Alps—which have not survived, as well as murals on canvas, few of which are extant. Bramer is one of the most intriguing personalities in seventeenth-century Dutch art.

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24/12/1588

Constance of Austria (died 1631)

Constance of Austria was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of King-Grand Duke Sigismund III Vasa and the mother of King John II Casimir.

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24/12/1549

Kaspar Ulenberg, German theologian (died 1617)

Kaspar Ulenberg was a Catholic convert, theological writer and translator of the Bible.

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24/12/1537

Willem IV van den Bergh, Stadtholder of Guelders and Zutphen (died 1586)

Willem IV, Count van den Bergh (1537-1586) was the Dutch Stadtholder of Guelders and Zutphen from 1581 until his arrest for treason in 1583.

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24/12/1520

Martha Leijonhufvud, Swedish noble (died 1584)

Martha Eriksdotter Leijonhufvud, known as Kung Märta, was a politically active Swedish noblewoman. She was the sister of Queen Margaret Leijonhufvud and sister-in-law of King Gustav I of Sweden: she was also the maternal aunt of Queen Catherine Stenbock and the daughter-in-law of the regent Christina Gyllenstierna. In 1568, she financed the deposition of King Eric XIV of Sweden, which placed her nephew John III of Sweden on the throne.

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24/12/1508

Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian scholar (died 1567)

Pietro Carnesecchi was an Italian humanist.

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24/12/1475

Thomas Murner, German poet and translator (died 1537)

Thomas Murner, OFM was an Alsatian satirist, poet and translator.

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24/12/1474

Bartolomeo degli Organi, Italian musician (died 1539)

Bartolomeo degli Organi was an Italian composer, singer and organist of the Renaissance. Living in Florence, he was closely associated with Lorenzo de' Medici, and was music teacher both to the Florentine composer Francesco de Layolle and Guido Machiavelli, the son of the famous writer.

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24/12/1389

John V, Duke of Brittany (died 1442)

John V, sometimes numbered as VI, bynamed John the Wise, was Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort from 1399 to his death. His rule coincided with the height of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. John's reversals in that conflict, as well as in other internal struggles in France, served to strengthen his duchy and to maintain its independence.

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24/12/1166

John, King of England (died 1216)

John was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empire and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the French Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, a document considered a foundational milestone in English and later British constitutional history.

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01/01/1970

Galba, Roman emperor (died 69)

Galba was Roman emperor, ruling for 7 months from 8 June AD 68 to 15 January 69. He was the first emperor in the Year of the Four Emperors and assumed the throne following Emperor Nero's suicide.

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