Who was born on December 21?
December 21 is packed with notable birthdays. Explore 114 famous birthdays, sorted by recent English Wikipedia pageviews. Top ranked names include Achille Vianelli, Albert Lee, Alicia Alonso, Anders Sandøe Ørsted, András Schiff. Filter by actor, musician, athlete, and more — or open any other calendar day.
December 21
114 people
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Achille Vianelli
Achille Vianelli or Vianelly (21 December 1803 – 2 April 1894) was an Italian painter of landscapes with genre scenes, often in watercolor. He was born in Porto Maurizio; he moved as a child to Otranto, where his father was consul for the French government. In 1819, he moved to Naples, where he first worked in the Royal Topographic Office, where he met Giacinto Gigante. With Gigante, he began training first under Jakob Wilhelm Hüber, then in the Academy under Pitloo. He published (with Gigante and others) a series of lithographs in a Viaggio pittorico nel Regno delle Due Sicilie (1829–1834). In 1848, he moved to Benevento, where he continued drawing and painting. He married Gigante's sister, and vice versa, and is considered a member of the School of Posillipo. His son, Alberto Vianelli, also a landscape painter moved to Paris. Vianelli's sister, Flora, married Theodore Witting, a German landscape artist and engraver. His nephew Gustavo Witting, also became a landscape painter. He was a knight of the Order of Francesco I of the Two Sicilies, and honorary professor of the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples. Vianelli died in Benevento on 2 April 1894.
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Albert Lee
Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) 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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Alicia Alonso
Alicia Alonso (born Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad del Cobre Martínez del Hoyo; 21 December 1920 – 17 October 2019) 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. From the age of nineteen, Alonso was afflicted with an eye condition and became partially blind. Her partners always had to be in the exact place she expected them to be, and she used lights in different parts of the stage to guide herself.
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Anders Sandøe Ørsted
Anders Sandøe Ørsted (21 December 1778 – 1 May 1860) 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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András Schiff
Sir András Schiff (Hungarian: [ˈɒndraːʃ ˈʃif]; born 21 December 1953) 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. Schiff continues to travel widely to perform, although there are countries which he chooses not to visit because of their politics. Schiff is a distinguished visiting professor of piano at the Barenboim–Said Akademie in Berlin, and the first artist-in-residence of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
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Archibald Tait
Archibald Campbell Tait (21 December 1811 – 3 December 1882) 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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Arnold Friberg
Arnold Friberg (December 21, 1913 – July 1, 2010) was an American illustrator and painter of religious and patriotic works. One example is his 1975 painting The Prayer at Valley Forge, a depiction of George Washington praying at Valley Forge. He is also 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. Friberg was appointed a lifetime member of the Royal Society of Arts. He also painted a series of scenes from the Book of Mormon for Adele Cannon Howells, the Primary President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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Barry Gordon
Barry Gordon (born December 21, 1948) 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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Bartolomé Masó
Bartolomé de Jesús Masó Márquez (21 December 1830 in Yara – 14 June 1907 in Manzanillo) was a Cuban politician and military patriot for Cuban independence from the colonial power of Spain, and later President of the República en Armas ("Republic in Arms").
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Ben Chilwell
Benjamin James Chilwell (born 21 December 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back or left wing-back for Ligue 1 club Strasbourg. Beginning his career at Leicester City, Chilwell had a loan spell with Huddersfield Town. He joined Chelsea in 2020 and won the UEFA Champions League in his first season with the club. He has since made over 100 appearances for Chelsea, as well as winning the FA Cup on loan with Crystal Palace in 2025. He departed Chelsea and joined French side Strasbourg permanently in 2025. At international level, Chilwell made his debut for England in 2018. He was a member of the England squad that finished as runners-up at UEFA Euro 2020.
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Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold (December 21, 1615 – June 19, 1678) 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 (now Cranston). 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. Arnold learned the Indian languages at an early age and became one of the two leading interpreters in the Rhode Island colony (Roger Williams being the other). He was frequently called upon to interpret during negotiations with the Indians, but they accused him of misrepresentation on one occasion. In 1651, Arnold left Providence and Pawtuxet with his family, settling in Newport where he began his public service, which lasted continuously until his death. He became a freeman, Commissioner, and Assistant, and he succeeded Roger Williams as president of the colony in 1657, serving for three years. In 1662, he was once again elected president, and Williams brought the Royal Charter of 1663 from England in the second year of this term, naming him as the first governor and offering broad freedoms and self-determination to the colony. Arnold was a bold and decisive leader. He was elected for two additional terms as governor, the last time following the devastation of King Philip's War. He died on June 19, 1678, while still in office and was buried in the Arnold Burying Ground located on Pelham Street in Newport. In his will, he left his "stone built wind mill" to his wife, which still stands as an important Newport landmark. His many descendants include General Benedict Arnold, notorious for his treason during the American Revolutionary War, and Senator Stephen Arnold Douglas who debated Abraham Lincoln in 1858 and lost to him during the 1860 presidential election.
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Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (born Benjamin D'Israeli; 21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881), 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 into a Jewish family. Disraeli was born in Bloomsbury, at that time a part of Middlesex. His father left Judaism after a dispute at his synagogue; Benjamin became an Anglican at the age of 12. After several unsuccessful attempts, Disraeli entered the House of Commons in 1837. In 1846, Prime Minister Robert Peel split the party over his proposal to repeal the Corn Laws, which involved ending the tariff on imported grain. Disraeli clashed with Peel in the House of Commons, becoming a major figure in the party. When Lord Derby, the party leader, thrice formed governments in the 1850s and 1860s, Disraeli served as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. Upon Derby's retirement in 1868, Disraeli became prime minister briefly before losing that year's general election. He returned to the opposition before leading the party to a majority in the 1874 general election. He maintained a close friendship with Queen Victoria who, in 1876, elevated him to the peerage as Earl of Beaconsfield. Disraeli's second term was dominated by the Eastern question—the slow decay of the Ottoman Empire and the desire of other European powers, such as Russia, to gain at its expense. Disraeli arranged for the British to purchase a major interest in the Suez Canal Company in Egypt. In 1878, faced with Russian victories against the Ottomans, he worked at the Congress of Berlin to obtain peace in the Balkans at terms favourable to Britain and unfavourable to Russia, its longstanding enemy. This diplomatic victory established Disraeli as one of Europe's leading statesmen. World events thereafter moved against the Conservatives. Controversial wars in Afghanistan and South Africa undermined his public support. He angered farmers by refusing to reinstitute the Corn Laws in response to poor harvests and cheap imported grain. With Gladstone conducting a massive speaking campaign, the Liberals defeated Disraeli's Conservatives at the 1880 general election. In his final months, Disraeli led the Conservatives in opposition. Disraeli wrote novels throughout his career, beginning in 1826, and published his last completed novel, Endymion, shortly before he died at the age of 76.
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Benjamin Schmolck
Benjamin Schmolck (21 December 1672 – 12 February 1737) was a German Lutheran writer of hymns. He was born a pastor's son in Brauchitschdorf (Chróstnik), Silesia. After attending the gymnasium in Liegnitz (Legnica), he studied theology at the University of Leipzig from 1693 to 1697. In 1702 he was ordained as a deacon at the Protestant Church of Peace and in 1714 as the pastor of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Schweidnitz (Świdnica), where he stayed for the rest of his life. Influenced by the pietism movement he became the most popular hymn writer of his day. His compositions include My Jesus as Thou Wilt and A faithful friend is wandering yonder. One of his pupils was the poet Johann Christian Günther. Schmolck died in Schweidnitz.
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Buddy Carlyle
Earl Lester "Buddy" Carlyle (born December 21, 1977) 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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Champ Butler
Champ Clark Butler (December 21, 1926 – March 8, 1992) was an American popular music singer who had several Billboard singles chart hits in the 1950s, and recorded primarily for Columbia Records. The label's head of A & R, Mitch Miller, writing about Butler's singing in 1953, described him as "one of the most versatile lads in the business." Butler had six gold records, with his singles "Them There Eyes", "Down Yonder", "Oh, Looka There, Ain't She Pretty", "Be Anything (But Be Mine)", "Fit as a Fiddle" and "I Apologize". He also featured in a nightly CBS television show, Musical Nightcap, for over two years.
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Charles Bailleul
Charles Bailleul (French: [ʃaʁl bajœl]; 21 December 1927 – 9 February 2026) was a French linguist and Roman Catholic missionary, a member of the White Fathers. Also known by the name Baabilen Kulubali, he was vicar of a parish in Kolokani, Mali from 1986 to 1992. From 1992 to 2009, he participated in various language-related projects, including the translations of dictionaries, proverbs, a book on medicinal plants, and illustrated tales. Bailleul died in Bry-sur-Marne on 9 February 2026, at the age of 98.
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Chris Evert
Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954) 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 (fourth-most of all time), and finished as the year-end No. 1 seven times: 1974–1978, 1980 and 1981. Evert won 157 singles titles, including 18 majors (among which a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record six US Open titles). Alongside Martina Navratilova, her greatest rival, Evert dominated women's tennis from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. In singles, Evert reached the semifinals or better in 52 of the 56 majors she played, including at 34 consecutive majors entered from the 1971 US Open through the 1983 French Open. She never lost in the first or second round of a major, and lost in the third round only twice. Evert holds the record of most consecutive years (13) of winning at least one major title, and contested an all-time record 34 major women's singles finals. Evert's career winning percentage in singles matches of 89.97% (1309–146) is the second highest in the Open Era, for men or women. On clay courts, Evert's career winning percentage in singles matches of 94.55% (382–22) remains a WTA Tour record. She also won three major doubles titles, two partnering with Navratilova and one with Olga Morozova. Evert served as president of the Women's Tennis Association for eleven years, 1975–76 and 1983–91. She was awarded the Philippe Chatrier award and inducted into the Hall of Fame. In later life, Evert was a coach and is now an analyst for ESPN, and has a line of tennis and active apparel.
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Clara Tauson
Clara Tauson (born 21 December 2002) is a Danish professional tennis player. Her career-high rankings are world No. 12 in singles, achieved on 8 September 2025, and No. 56 in doubles, achieved on 23 February 2026. Tauson has won three WTA Tour titles, all on hardcourts. As a junior, at the age of 13, Tauson became the youngest winner of the Danish tennis championship (surpassing Caroline Wozniacki's record who won at age 14). She won the 2019 Australian Open girls' singles event and became the first Danish girl to top the junior world ranking. On the professional ITF Circuit, she has won eleven titles, the first at age 14. Tauson's WTA Tour debut came in April 2019, and her major debut came at the 2020 French Open. In 2021, her first year as a senior, Tauson won her two first WTA Tour singles titles at the Lyon Open and at Luxembourg Open on top of one Challenger and two ITF tournament wins. This led to her entering the top 50 in the WTA rankings. Her 2022 and 2023 seasons were marred by injuries but since 2024 she has begun to move up again. In 2025 she managed to participate in all major tournaments for the first time. Tauson has also represented Denmark in the Billie Jean King Cup, with a win–loss record of 16–6 (as of January 2025).
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Cooper Flagg
Cooper Flagg (born December 21, 2006) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the first overall pick of the 2025 NBA draft, selected by the Mavericks, and became that season's Rookie of the Year. Mainly a forward, Flagg 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.
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Danny Duffy
Daniel Richard Duffy (born December 21, 1988) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals. After being drafted by the Royals in 2007, Duffy spent the next several years in the Royals' minor league system, and represented the team in the 2009 All-Star Futures Game. However, personal issues led Duffy to temporarily retire from baseball in 2010, although he returned to the Royals later that year. Duffy made his MLB debut in 2011. After his rookie season, Duffy did not pitch in MLB on a regular basis again until 2014. He was a member of the Royals' pitching staffs during the team's successful 2014 and 2015 seasons, and won a World Series championship with the Royals in 2015. Duffy had a career year in 2016, setting career highs in many statistical categories. After the 2016 season, Duffy signed a $65 million extension to remain with the Royals. The Royals traded Duffy to the Dodgers during the 2021 season, but due to injury, he did not appear in an MLB game for the Dodgers.
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Dave Laut
David Lester Laut (December 21, 1956 – August 27, 2009) 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 (all in Ventura County), 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. Laut was shot and killed at his home, and several years later his wife was convicted for the crime.
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Donald Regan
Donald Thomas Regan (December 21, 1918 – June 10, 2003) 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. Regan studied at Harvard University before he served in the U.S. Marine Corps, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1946, he began to work for Merrill Lynch, serving as its chairman and CEO from 1971 to 1980. In the Reagan administration, Regan advocated "Reaganomics" and tax cuts as a means to create jobs and to stimulate production.
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Doug Walters
Kevin Douglas Walters (born 21 December 1945) 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. In 2011, he was inducted into the Cricket Hall of Fame by the CA.
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Doug Young
Douglas Hiram Young (December 21, 1919 – January 7, 2018) was an American voice actor who worked on radio programs and in animated cartoons.
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Emiliano Brembilla
Emiliano Brembilla (born 21 December 1978) is a freestyle swimmer from Italy who was five-time individual European Champion, four in 400 m freestyle (1997, 2000, 2002 and 2004) and one in 1500 m freestyle (1997).
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Ernest de Munck
Ernest de Munck (December 21, 1840 – January 19, 1915) 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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Florence Griffith Joyner
Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (née Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete who set world records in the 100m and 200m in 1988. During the late 1980s, she became a popular figure due to both her record-setting athleticism and eclectic personal style. Griffith Joyner was born and raised in California. She was athletic from a young age and began running at track meets as a child. While attending California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), she continued to compete in track and field. While still in college, she qualified for the 100 m 1980 Olympics but did not compete due to the U.S. boycott. She made her Olympic debut four years later, winning a silver medal in the 200-meter distance at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. At the 1988 U.S. Olympic trials, Griffith set a new world record in the 100-meter sprint. She won three gold medals at the 1988 Olympics. In February 1989, Griffith Joyner abruptly retired from athletics. She remained a pop culture figure through endorsement deals, acting, and designing. In 1998, at age 38, she died in her sleep during an epileptic seizure caused by a birth defect. Griffith Joyner is buried at the El Toro Memorial Park in Lake Forest.
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Frank Fenner
Frank John Fenner (21 December 1914 – 22 November 2010) 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. The Australian Academy of Science awards annually the prestigious Fenner Medal for distinguished research in biology by a scientist under 40 years of age.
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Frank Patrick
Francis Alexis Patrick (December 21, 1885 – June 29, 1960) 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. Born in Ottawa and raised in Montreal, Patrick first played hockey there along with his brother Lester. In 1904 he made his debut in the top Canadian league, though was limited as he attended McGill University and then moved west to British Columbia with his family in 1907 to establish a lumber company. The Patrick brothers returned to Central Canada in 1909 when they signed with the Renfrew Creamery Kings for one season. The Patrick family sold their lumber company in 1910 and used the proceeds to establish the PCHA, setting up teams in Vancouver, Victoria, and New Westminster. The league soon established itself as a legitimate enterprise, and their champions played for the Stanley Cup starting in 1915. Patrick played for, coached, and managed the Vancouver Millionaires, which won the Cup in 1915, the first team west of Manitoba to do so, and played for the Cup again in 1918, 1921, and 1922, losing each time. Patrick also served as president of the PCHA for nearly its entire existence, and in this role introduced many rules that helped modernize the game, making it both faster and more entertaining. In 1926 the PCHA, which had since merged with the Western Canada Hockey League and was later renamed the Western Hockey League, was sold to the eastern-based National Hockey League (NHL). Patrick would later join the NHL in 1933, serving first in an executive role for the league and then as coach for the Boston Bruins from 1934 to 1936, and worked with the Montreal Canadiens from 1940 to 1941 in a business management role. Outside of hockey he faced financial difficulties, and died in 1960, four weeks after Lester. In recognition of his role in establishing modern hockey, Patrick was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 1950.
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Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) 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 the 20th century. As a mostly self-taught composer and performer, Zappa had diverse musical influences that led him to create music that was sometimes difficult to categorize. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for 20th-century classical modernism, African-American rhythm and blues, and doo-wop music. He began writing classical music in high school, while simultaneously playing drums in rhythm-and-blues bands, later switching to electric guitar. His debut studio album with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out! (1966), combined satirical but seemingly conventional rock-and-roll songs with extended sound collages. He continued this eclectic and experimental approach throughout his career. Zappa's output is unified by a conceptual continuity he termed "Project/Object", with numerous musical phrases, ideas and characters reappearing throughout his albums. His lyrics reflected his iconoclastic views of established social and political processes, structures and movements, often humorously so, and he has been described as the "godfather" of comedy rock. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship. Unlike many other rock musicians of his generation, he disapproved of recreational drug use, but supported decriminalization and regulation. Zappa was a highly productive and prolific musician with a controversial critical standing; supporters of his music admired its compositional complexity, while detractors found it lacking emotional depth. He had greater commercial success outside the U.S., particularly in Europe. Though he worked as an independent artist, Zappa mostly relied on distribution agreements he had negotiated with the major record labels. He remains a major influence on musicians. His many honors include his posthumous 1995 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the 1997 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
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George W. Fuller
George Warren Fuller (December 21, 1868 – June 15, 1934) 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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Giuseppina Leone
Giuseppina "Giusy" Leone (born 21 December 1934) 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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Glenn Coleman
Glenn Coleman (born 21 December 1965) 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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Govinda
Govind Arun Ahuja (born 21 December 1963) is an Indian actor-turned-politician, who has appeared in more than 120 Hindi-language films. A leading actor throughout late 1980s & 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. Starting out as an action and dancing hero in the 1980s, his first film was 1986's Love 86, which turned out to be a profitable venture at the box office. He then appeared in subsequent commercial successes, including Ilzaam (1986), Marte Dam Tak (1987), Khudgarz (1987), Sindoor (1987), Dariya Dil (1988), Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani (1988), Hatya (1988), Jaisi Karni Waisi Bharni (1989), Swarg (1990) and Hum (1991). However, Govinda would go on to reinvent himself as a comic hero in the 1990s after his role as a mischievous young NCC cadet in the 1992 romance Shola Aur Shabnam and 1993 action comedy Aankhen, both of which were huge hits. Following the success of these films, Govinda had lead roles in top-grossing films, almost, like Raja Babu (1994), Coolie No. 1 (1995), Saajan Chale Sasural (1996), Hero No. 1 (1997), Deewana Mastana (1997), Dulhe Raja (1998), Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998), Haseena Maan Jayegi (1999), Hadh Kar Di Aapne (2000) and Jodi No. 1 (2001). He won the Filmfare Special Award for Saajan Chale Sasural and the Filmfare Award for Best Comedian for Haseena Maan Jaayegi. After a series of several unsuccessful films in the 2000s, his later commercial hits include Bhagam Bhag (2006), Partner (2007), and Holiday (2014), none of which where he was the solo male lead. In 2015, Govinda became a judge on Zee TV's reality show, Dance India Dance Super Moms. Govinda was a member of the Parliament of India from 2004 to 2009. As the Indian National Congress party member, he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) from the Mumbai North constituency of Maharashtra, India in the Lok Sabha elections of 2004. In 2024, just before the Lok Sabha elections, he joined Shiv Sena.
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Gustave Kahn
Gustave Kahn (21 December 1859, in Metz – 5 September 1936, in Paris) 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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Ha Ha Clinton-Dix
Ha'Sean Treshon "Ha Ha" Clinton-Dix (born December 21, 1992) 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, Chicago Bears, and Las Vegas Raiders. He is currently the director of player development for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
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Heinrich Böll
Heinrich Theodor Böll (; German: [ˈhaɪnʁɪç ˈteːodoːɐ̯ ˈbœl] ; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) 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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Hermann Joseph Muller
Hermann Joseph Muller (December 21, 1890 – April 5, 1967) 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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Hermann Raupach
Hermann Friedrich Raupach (December 21, 1728 – December 12, 1778) was an 18th-century German composer.
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Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) 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, chairman of the Party Central Military Commission (CMC) from 2004 to 2012 and chairman of the State Central Military Commission from 2005 to 2013. 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. Born in Tai County, Jiangsu, Hu studied engineering at Tsinghua University, joining the CCP while in college. First working as a political counselor at Tsinghua, Hu later worked as an engineer in Gansu, later joining the province's Construction Department. He led the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) branch in Gansu before joining the CYLC leadership in Beijing, eventually becoming the first secretary of the CYLC. Hu was appointed as Party Committee secretary for Guizhou and the Tibet Autonomous Region, where his harsh repression of dissent gained him attention from Beijing. He became a member of the CCP Central Secretariat and vice president under CCP general secretary Jiang Zemin, becoming Jiang's presumed successor as paramount leader. Hu reintroduced state control in some sectors of the economy that were relaxed by the previous administration, and provided support for state-owned enterprises. He oversaw the response to the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak, as well as a significant increase in national healthcare coverage. He sought to improve socio-economic equality under his Scientific Outlook on Development, which aimed to build a Harmonious Society that was prosperous and free of social conflict. His leadership responded to the 2008 Tibetan unrest, the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the 2009 Ürümqi riots. He oversaw the passing of the Anti-Secession Law, which laid conditions for authorizing military force for unification with Taiwan, and later saw closer relations with Taiwan, leading to the signing of the trade agreement Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in 2010. Hu advocated for China's peaceful rise, pursuing a corporate and soft power approach to China's diplomacy. Throughout Hu's tenure, China's influence in Africa, Latin America, and other developing regions increased. Hu won praise for retiring voluntarily from all positions, succeeded by Xi Jinping. Hu possessed a reserved and collective leadership style, making him an enigmatic figure in the public eye. His administration was known for technocratic competence and cautious political reforms. Alongside Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, Hu presided over a decade of consistent economic growth and development that cemented China as a major world power. Following Jiang's death, Hu is the only living former paramount leader of the People's Republic of China.
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Irakli Alasania
Irakli Alasania (Georgian: ირაკლი ალასანია) (born 21 December 1973) 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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Itubwa Amram
The Reverend Alfred Itubwa Amram (21 December 1922 – 17 July 1989) was a Nauruan pastor and political figure.
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Jaan Sarv
Jaan Sarv (Võro: Sarvõ Jaan; 21 December 1877 – 23 August 1954) 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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Jack Lang
John Thomas "Jack" Lang (21 December 1876 – 27 September 1975), nicknamed "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. Lang was born to a working-class family in Sydney and grew up in the city's inner suburbs. He left school at the age of 14 and worked a variety of jobs, eventually establishing a real estate agency in the Sydney suburb of Auburn. Lang was first elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly at the 1913 state election and would hold several seats over the following 30 years. He remained loyal to the ALP following the 1916 party split over conscription and served as state treasurer from 1920 to 1922 in the governments of John Storey and James Dooley. In 1923, Lang replaced Dooley as state leader of the ALP, a position he would maintain for 15 years despite a confrontational and pugnacious leadership style and competing factional demands. He led the party to a narrow victory at the 1925 state election. His first term as premier saw the passage of social and industrial reforms, but was also marked by conflict with the conservative Legislative Council and by internal party conflict. He was forced to an early election in 1927, which saw the ALP defeated. However, Lang and the ALP were returned to office in a landslide victory at the 1930 election. During the Great Depression, Lang was a key figure in the ALP split of 1931, which saw the defeat of the federal Labor government led by James Scullin. He advocated economic populism and produced the "Lang Plan", which called for the repudiation or deferral of overseas debts to avoid the austerity measures in the Premiers' Plan. Lang's supporters in federal parliament supported a no-confidence motion in Scullin's government, with the ALP suffering a landslide defeat at the 1931 federal election. Lang's continued conflict with the new federal government led by Joseph Lyons, including defiance of federal laws, precipitated the 1932 New South Wales constitutional crisis. The crisis culminated when the Governor, Sir Philip Game, used his reserve power to dismiss Lang and his government, the only such dismissal of an Australian state premier. After his dismissal, Lang suffered a landslide defeat at the 1932 state election and led the ALP to further defeats at the 1935 and 1938 state elections. His faction rejoined the official ALP in 1936, but factional conflict continued and he was finally ousted as leader in 1939. Attributing his defeat to communists, in 1940 he formed the Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist), which achieved some electoral success but soon rejoined the official ALP in the interests of wartime unity. Lang was expelled from the ALP in 1943 and later served a single term in the House of Representatives from 1946 to 1949, representing the seat of Reid. He assumed the role of elder statesman in retirement and was re-admitted to the ALP in 1971 a few years before his death at the age of 98.
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Jack Russell
John "Jack" Russell (21 December 1795 – 28 April 1883), was an English parson, dog breeder, and enthusiastic follower of country sports, particularly fox hunting. He was known as "The Sporting Parson". Russell developed the Jack Russell Terrier and the Parson Russell Terrier, both of which are a variety of the Fox Terrier breed.
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Jackie Hendriks
John Leslie Hendriks (born 21 December 1933) is a former Jamaican cricketer who was a Test wicket-keeper in the West Indies cricket team from 1962 to 1969. Born in St Andrew, Kingston, Hendriks was educated at Wolmer's Boys' School in Kingston. He played first-class cricket for Jamaica from 1954 to 1967, and captained the team towards the end of his career. During Australia's tour of the West Indies in 1964–65, he was hit on the head by a delivery from Graham McKenzie, which he needed brain surgery for. After his career as a well-respected player (as a batsman as well as keeping) he moved to cricket management. In 1984 and 1988, he managed tours to England, and during the 1990s, he became a top International Cricket Council referee. In June 1988, Hendriks was celebrated on the 25c Jamaican stamp alongside the Barbados Cricket Buckle. In July 2010, when he was included in Cricinfo's all-time West Indies XI, it was noted that he earned his place in the team because of his wicket-keeping ability rather than his run-scoring.
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Jan Łukasiewicz
Jan Leopold Łukasiewicz (Polish: [ˈjan wukaˈɕɛvit͡ʂ] ; 21 December 1878 – 13 February 1956) 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. The Łukasiewicz approach was reinvigorated in the early 1970s in a series of papers by John Corcoran and Timothy Smiley that inform modern translations of Prior Analytics by Robin Smith in 1989 and Gisela Striker in 2009. Łukasiewicz is regarded as one of the most important historians of logic.
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Jane Fonda
Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) 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 (Oscars), 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. Born to socialite Frances Ford Seymour and actor Henry Fonda, she made her acting debut with the 1960 Broadway play There Was a Little Girl, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, and made her screen debut the same year in the romantic comedy Tall Story (1960). She rose to prominence with the comedies Period of Adjustment (1962), Sunday in New York (1963), Cat Ballou (1965), Barefoot in the Park (1967), and Barbarella (1968). Her first husband was Barbarella director Roger Vadim. A seven-time Academy Award nominee, she received her first nomination for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and went on to establish herself as one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation, winning two Academy Awards for Best Actress for her roles as a prostitute in the thriller Klute (1971) and the woman in love with a Vietnam War veteran in the drama Coming Home (1978). Her other nominations were for Julia (1977), The China Syndrome (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), and The Morning After (1986). Consecutive hits Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), California Suite (1978), The Electric Horseman (1979), and 9 to 5 (1980) sustained Fonda's box-office drawing power, and she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Dollmaker (1984). In 1982 she released her first exercise video, Jane Fonda's Workout, which became the highest-selling VHS ever. It would be the first of 22 such videos over the next 13 years, which would collectively sell over 17 million copies. Divorced from second husband Tom Hayden, she married billionaire media mogul Ted Turner in 1991 and retired from acting, following a row of commercially unsuccessful films concluded by Stanley & Iris (1990). Fonda divorced Turner in 2001 and returned to screens with the hit comedy Monster-in-Law (2005). In 2009, she returned to Broadway after 46-year absence from the stage, in 33 Variations, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, and released another five exercise videos between 2009 and 2012. Subsequent films have included This Is Where I Leave You (2014), Youth (2015), Our Souls at Night (2017), Book Club (2018), and 80 for Brady (2023). From 2015 to 2022, Fonda starred in Netflix's comedy series Grace and Frankie, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Fonda was a political activist in the counterculture era during the Vietnam War. She was photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun on a 1972 visit to Hanoi, during which she gained the nickname "Hanoi Jane". Fonda protested against the Iraq War along with violence against women, and she describes herself as a feminist and environmental activist. Fonda cofounded the Hollywood Women's Political Committee in 1984 and the Women's Media Center in 2005.
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Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Frances Kaczmarek (; born December 21, 1955) 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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Jean Bouin
Alexandre François Étienne Jean Bouin (French: [bwɛ̃]; 21 December 1888 – 29 September 1914) 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. Bouin set three more world records: two in 1911, in the 3,000 m and 10,000 metres, and one in 1913, in the one-hour run (19,021 metres). The following year, he was killed in action during World War I. After that the Stade Jean-Bouin in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, home of the Stade Français rugby union club, was named after him. The French government made a stamp with his picture on it and many games have been held in his honor. A 10 km race under the name of Jean Bouin has occurred every year through the streets of Barcelona since 1920.
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Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg ( KAT-sən-burg; born December 21, 1950) 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. Katzenberg has also been involved in politics as an election donor. With active support of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, he was named "one of Hollywood's premier political kingmakers and one of the Democratic Party's top national fund-raisers". He served as a campaign co-chair for Joe Biden's 2024 presidential re-election campaign, and subsequently Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign.
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Joaquín Andújar
Joaquín Andújar (Spanish: [xoaˈkin anˈduxaɾ]; December 21, 1952 – September 8, 2015) 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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John Bradstreet
Major-General John Bradstreet (born Jean-Baptiste Bradstreet; 21 December 1714 – 25 September 1774) 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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John G. Avildsen
John Guilbert Avildsen (December 21, 1935 – June 16, 2017) 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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John H. Ketcham
John Henry Ketcham (December 21, 1832 – November 4, 1906) 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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John William McCormack
John William McCormack (December 21, 1891 – November 22, 1980) 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. McCormack's congressional career was highlighted by his support for the New Deal measures undertaken to combat the Great Depression, U.S. involvement in World War II, and support for the Great Society programs of the 1960s, including civil rights, education, and health care for the elderly. A staunch anti-communist, McCormack supported U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. His support for the war and the seniority system in Congress caused increasing numbers of younger members to challenge his leadership; McCormack survived a 1969 contest with Mo Udall for the Speakership. He did not run for reelection to his House seat in 1970, and retired to his home in Boston. He later resided at a Dedham nursing home, where he died in 1980. At 42 years and 58 days, as of 2025, McCormack's service in the U.S. House ranks 19th in terms of uninterrupted time and 21st in total. He is the longest-serving member of the U.S. House in Massachusetts history.
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Joseph Carruthers
Sir Joseph Hector McNeil Carruthers (21 December 1857 – 10 December 1932) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1904 to 1907. Carruthers is perhaps best remembered for founding the Liberal and Reform Association, the forerunner to the modern Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division). Zachary Gorman has argued that Carruthers played a central role in re-orientating Australian liberalism to sit on the centre-right of the political divide, influencing political developments at both the Federal and State level.
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Josh Gibson
Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 – January 20, 1947) was an American professional 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. Gibson played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946. In 1937, he played for Ciudad Trujillo in Trujillo's Dominican League and from 1940 to 1941, he played in the Mexican League for Azules de Veracruz. Gibson served as the first manager of the Cangrejeros de Santurce, one of the most historic franchises of the Puerto Rico Baseball League. Gibson was known as a spectacular power hitter who, by some accounts, hit close to 800 career home runs. Many encyclopedic sources only credit him with 176 home runs in league play, as Negro league records are incomplete and many of his home runs were hit in exhibition games. He was known as the "black Babe Ruth"; in fact, some fans at the time who saw both Ruth and Gibson play called Ruth "the white Josh Gibson". Gibson never played in the American League or the National League because of the unwritten "gentleman's agreement" that prevented non-white players from participating. He stood 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) and weighed 210 lb (95 kg) at the peak of his career. He was the first player since Oscar Charleston to win consecutive batting Triple Crowns (leading the league in home runs, runs batted in, batting average) and no batter has achieved the feat since. On May 28, 2024, Major League Baseball announced that it had integrated Negro league statistics into its records, giving Gibson the highest single-season major league batting average at .466 in 1943 and the highest career batting average at .371.
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Julie Delpy
Julie Delpy (French: [ʒyli dɛlpi]; born 21 December 1969) is a French and 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 (1995, 2004, 2013), An American Werewolf in Paris (1997), and 2 Days in Paris (2007). She has been nominated for three César Awards, two Online Film Critics Society Awards, and two Academy Awards. She moved to the United States in 1990 and became a US citizen in 2001.
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Karrie Webb
Karrie Anne Webb (born 21 December 1974) 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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Khris Davis
Khristopher Adrian Davis (born December 21, 1987), 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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Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky (9 December [O.S. 21 December] 1896 – 3 August 1968) 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. Rokossovsky was born to a Polish noble family in Warsaw in present-day Poland, then part of the Russian Empire, or according to other sources in Velikiye Luki in present-day Russia. He served in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, and in 1918, joined the Red Army and fought with distinction during the Russian Civil War. Rokossovsky rose to hold senior Red Army commands by 1937, when he fell victim to Joseph Stalin's Great Purge and was branded a traitor, imprisoned and tortured. After Soviet failures in the Winter War, Rokossovsky was released from prison in 1940 and returned to command of an army corps. Following Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Rokossovsky played key roles in the Battle of Smolensk and defense of Moscow, where he led the 16th Army to victory. He was commander of the front that defeated the Axis at the Battle of Stalingrad in early 1943, and that summer played a vital role in the Battle of Kursk. In 1944, Rokossovsky was instrumental in planning and executing parts of Operation Bagration, and was promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union that June. His 1st Belorussian Front reached the outskirts of Warsaw by July 1944, when its command was transferred to Georgy Zhukov. Rokossovsky commanded the 2nd Belorussian Front during the Vistula–Oder Offensive into Germany and final victory. After the war, Rokossovsky was the commander of the Soviet forces in Poland from 1945 to 1949, when he was given the title of Marshal of Poland and became the Defence Minister of the newly-established Polish People's Republic. He also served as deputy chairman of its Council of Ministers from 1952 to 1954. After being forced out of his post in 1956 when Władysław Gomułka became leader during the Polish October, Rokossovsky returned to the Soviet Union, where he lived out the rest of his life until his death in 1968.
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Kunihiko Ikuhara
Kunihiko Ikuhara (幾原 邦彦, Ikuhara Kunihiko; born December 21, 1964), 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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Käte Fenchel
Käte Fenchel née Käte Sperling (21 December 1905 – 19 December 1983) was a German-born Jewish mathematician, best known for her work on non-abelian groups.
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Larry Bryggman
Arvid Laurence Bryggman (born December 21, 1938) 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 (1969 to 2004, 2010). 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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Lloyd Axworthy
Lloyd Norman Axworthy (born December 21, 1939) 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 (a constituent institution of the University of Waterloo). He is currently the Chair of the World Refugee & Migration Council.
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Luigi d'Este
Luigi d'Este (21 December 1538 – 30 December 1586) 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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Luis Arturo González López
Luis Arturo González López (21 December 1900 – 11 November 1965) 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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Luke Brooks
Luke Brooks (born 21 December 1994) 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). He previously played for the Wests Tigers in the NRL mainly as a halfback. He represented the NRL All Stars in 2015 and the Prime Minister's XIII in 2024.
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Madelyn Cline
Madelyn Cline (born December 21, 1997) 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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Man Singh I
Mirza Raja Man Singh I (21 December 1550 – 6 July 1614) was the 24th Kachawaha 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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Mark Ingram II
Mark Valentino Ingram II (born December 21, 1989) 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. Ingram was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft. With the Saints, he earned two Pro Bowl selections and, at the time of his retirement, was their all-time leader in rushing yardage. Ingram was also a member of the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans.
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Marta Fernández
Marta Fernández Farrés (born 21 December 1981 in Barcelona) is a Spanish retired women's basketball player. A 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 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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María Cadilla
Dr. María Cadilla Colón de Martínez (December 21, 1884 – August 23, 1951) 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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Masaccio
Masaccio (UK: , US: ; Italian: [maˈzattʃo]; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), 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. The name Masaccio is a humorous version of Maso (short for Tommaso), meaning "clumsy" or "messy" Tom. The name may have been created to distinguish him from his principal collaborator, also called Maso, who came to be known as Masolino ("little/delicate Tom"). Despite his brief career, he had a profound influence on other artists and is considered to have started the Early Italian Renaissance in painting with his works in the mid- and late-1420s. He was one of the first to use linear perspective in his painting, employing techniques such as vanishing point in art for the first time. He moved away from the International Gothic style and elaborate ornamentation of artists like Gentile da Fabriano to a more naturalistic mode that employed perspective and chiaroscuro for greater realism. Masaccio died at the age of twenty-six and little is known about the exact circumstances of his death. Upon hearing of Masaccio's death, Filippo Brunelleschi said: "We have suffered a great loss."
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Matthieu Chedid
Matthieu Chedid (born 21 December 1971) is a French multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. Chedid began his career as a session musician playing both acoustic and electric guitar. In the late 1990s, he rose to fame as a singer-songwriter and musician under the alias M (often stylized as -M-), blending Nouvelle Chanson, electronic and rock music. In studio, he experiments with various instruments and electronic music, while on tour as -M- he mostly plays the guitar, and is known for his eccentric outfits and dramatic live performances, sometimes including special effects. Chedid has also performed in the 2005 stage musical Le soldat rose and is part of French-Malian band Lamomali. Since 2018, he has been the most awarded artist at the Victoires de la Musique Awards with 13 awards, tied with Alain Bashung.
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Maud Gonne
Maud Gonne MacBride (Irish: Maud Nic Ghoinn Bean Mhic Giolla Bhríghde; born Edith Maud Gonne; 21 December 1866 – 27 April 1953) was an Irish republican revolutionary, suffragette and actress. She claimed Anglo-Irish descent, but had been born in England to English parents. Gonne 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. At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, she expressed support for Germany. Gonne was well known for being the muse and long-time love interest of Irish poet W. B. Yeats.
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Michael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas (December 21, 1944 – April 22, 2026) was an American conductor, composer, pianist and music pedagogue. He was music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra from 1971 to 1979. He founded the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, in 1987, serving as artistic director until 2022 and then as artistic director laureate. Thomas was principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1988 to 1995, and then music director of the San Francisco Symphony until 2020. He conducted a wide repertoire of music, with a focus on the works by Gustav Mahler and of contemporary American music; he was the first to record some works by Aaron Copland, Charles Ives, and Steve Reich. Thomas appeared on television in the Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic and hosted the Keeping Score series. He collaborated with popular artists including Elvis Costello and Metallica. His compositions include From the Diary of Anne Frank (1990), Shówa/Shoáh (1995) for the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Poems of Emily Dickinson (2002), and Meditations on Rilke (2019). He was the subject of the American Masters documentary Michael Tilson Thomas: Where Now Is.
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Michelle Hurd
Michelle Hurd (born December 21, 1966) is an American actress and secretary-treasurer of SAG AFTRA. Hurd has worked as a television character actress, first appearing on the soap opera Another World (1991–1997). She later 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). Hurd starred in the crime drama The Glades (2010–2013), the comedy horror Ash vs Evil Dead (2016), and the crime drama Blindspot (2015–2018). She played Raffi Musiker in the science fiction series Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023), and achieved her highest-grossing film with the romantic comedy Anyone but You (2023). Hurd ran in 2025 for secretary-treasurer of SAG-AFTRA and was elected to a two year term.
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Minamoto no Yorinobu
Minamoto no Yorinobu (源 頼信; December 21, 968 – June 1, 1048) 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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Nic Maddinson
Nicolas James Maddinson (born 21 December 1991) 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 (as captain) and Sydney Sixers.
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Paco de Lucía
Francisco Gustavo Sánchez Gómez (Spanish: [fɾanˈθisko ɡusˈt̪a.β̞o ˈsantʃeθ ˈɣomeθ]; 21 December 1947 – 25 February 2014), known as Paco de Lucía (Spanish: [ˈpako ðe luˈθi.a]), 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". De Lucía was noted for his fast and fluent picados (fingerstyle runs). A master of contrast, he often juxtaposed picados and rasgueados (flamenco strumming) with more sensitive playing and was known for adding abstract chords and scale tones to his compositions with jazz influences. These innovations played a key role in the development of traditional flamenco and the evolution of new flamenco and Latin jazz fusion from the 1970s. He received acclaim for his recordings with flamenco singer Camarón de la Isla in the 1970s, recording ten albums which are considered some of the most important and influential in flamenco history. Some of de Lucía's best known recordings include "Río Ancho" (later fused with Al Di Meola's "Mediterranean Sundance"), "Entre dos aguas", "La Barrosa", "Ímpetu", "Cepa Andaluza" and "Gloria al Niño Ricardo". His collaborations with guitarists John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola and Larry Coryell in the late 1970s gained him wider popularity outside his native Spain. De Lucía formed the Paco de Lucía Sextet in 1981 with his brothers, singer Pepe de Lucía and guitarist Ramón de Algeciras, and collaborated with jazz pianist Chick Corea on their 1990 album, Zyryab. In 1992, he performed live at Expo '92 in Seville and a year later on the Plaza Mayor in Madrid. He also collaborated with guitarist Juan d'Anyelica on his album Cositas Buenas. After 2004 he greatly reduced his public performances, retiring from full touring, and typically only gave several concerts a year, usually in Spain and Germany and at European festivals during the summer months.
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Paloma Herrera
Paloma Herrera (born 21 December 1975) 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. Herrera was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and began studying ballet there at the age of seven with teacher Olga Ferri. She quickly became a noted prodigy in South America, winning many competitions throughout and was able to continue her training at the Minsk Ballet School in the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (now Belarus); returning to Buenos Aires, she was cast as Cupid in a performance of Don Quixote at the Teatro Colón. With her reputation growing, Herrera was invited by Natalia Makarova to study with her at the English National Ballet in London. Soon afterwards, she studied at the School of American Ballet in New York City, where she made such an impression that she was selected to dance the lead role in Raymonda in the school's annual workshop performance. She officially became a member of the American Ballet Theatre's corps de ballet in 1991; by 1993, she was promoted to soloist, and by 1995 she became a principal dancer. Herrera was honored by the American Immigration Law Foundation in 2001 for her contributions as a member of New York's immigrant population. In addition to being a respected ballerina, she is a common presence in the New York social scene. Herrera retired from professional ballet as a dancer in 2015. ABT's 2015 Spring Season was her final one with the company. Principal dancers Julie Kent and Xiomara Reyes retired at the same time. On 8 August 2017, she was appointed director of the Colon Theater Ballet, a position in which she replaced Maximiliano Guerra, who was removed from office after a public confrontation with the dance corps. The inauguration took place in a ceremony in the Theatre itself directed by the city's mayor, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta. She resigned from the position in 2022 due to confrontation with dance corps and lack of support from the city authorities.
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Peter Mohyla
Petro Mohyla or Peter Mogila (21 December 1596 – 1 January [O.S. 22 December] 1647) 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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Phil Roman
Philip Roman (born December 21, 1930) 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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Primo Colón
Edwin Carlos Colón Coates (born December 21, 1982) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is signed to World Wrestling Council (WWC), where he performs as Orlando Colón and is in a tag team with his cousin Epico Colón. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Primo Colón. He is the son of Carlos Colón and the younger brother of Carlos (Carly) Colón Jr. (who performs in WWE under the ring name Carlito) and Stacy Colón. He began wrestling in the World Wrestling Council (WWC), where he won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship five times, as well as numerous secondary and tertiary titles. In 2007, Colón signed a developmental contract with WWE, being assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He was teamed with Eric Pérez, forming a tag team known as The Puerto Rican Nightmares, and they became the first wrestlers to hold the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. Upon being promoted to the main roster in 2008, he was teamed with Carlito. Subsequently, The Colóns became the first team to hold the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship at the same time, making them the first Unified WWE Tag Team Champions. After Carlito left the promotion, he began teaming with his cousin Orlando Colón (best known in WWE as Epico), with whom he held the WWE Tag Team Championship once. After two years of inactivity, Colón left WWE in 2020.
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Ray Romano
Raymond Albert Romano (born December 21, 1957) 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 (one as an actor and two as producer). 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. He created and starred in the TNT comedy drama Men of a Certain Age (2009–2011). From 2012 to 2015, Romano had a recurring role as Hank Rizzoli, a love interest of Sarah Braverman in the NBC series Parenthood. More recently he co-starred in the romantic comedy The Big Sick (2017) and portrayed mob lawyer Bill Bufalino in Martin Scorsese's epic crime film The Irishman (2019). From 2017 to 2019, Romano portrayed Rick Moreweather in the Epix comedy-drama series Get Shorty.
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Roger Williams
Roger Williams (c. 1603 – March 1683) 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. Initially a Puritan minister, his beliefs evolved and he questioned the authority of the Puritan church in enforcing religious conformity. He was expelled by the Puritan leaders from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and he established Providence Plantations in 1636 as a refuge offering what he termed "liberty of conscience" making Rhode Island the first government in the Western world to guarantee religious freedom in its founding charter. His ideas on religious tolerance and civil government directly influenced the principles later enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. He briefly became a Baptist, and in 1638 he founded the First Baptist Church in America in Providence. He then moved beyond organized religion, becoming a "seeker" who did not identify with any specific church. Williams studied the language of the New England Native Americans and published the first book-length study of it in English. Today, Williams's legacy continues to shape debates on religious liberty and the role of government in matters of conscience, with his writings cited in legal arguments and Supreme Court decisions on the separation of church and state.
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Roy Karch
The AVN (Adult Video News) 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. There are several branches of the AVN Hall of Fame: Performers and directors enter the original AVN, video-based Hall of Fame. The Founders branch is "for those who founded the industry's pioneering companies". The Internet Founders branch is "for those who built the online sector" of the industry. The Pleasure Products branch is "for manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of sex toys". The Executive branch is "for key members of the industry who work behind the scenes in the corporate offices or excelled in other capacities—for example, in sales, marketing, or education".
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Ryuji Sasai
Ryuji Sasai (笹井隆司, Sasai Ryūji; born December 21, 1961) 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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Seichō Matsumoto
Seichō Matsumoto (松本 清張, Matsumoto Seichō; December 21, 1909 – August 4, 1992; born Kiyoharu Matsumoto) was a Japanese writer, credited with popularizing detective fiction in Japan. Matsumoto's works broke new ground by incorporating elements of human psychology and ordinary life. His works often reflect a wider social context and postwar nihilism that expanded the scope and further darkened the atmosphere of the genre. His exposé of corruption among police officials and criminals was a new addition to the field. The subject of investigation was not just the crime but also the society affected. Although Matsumoto was a self-educated prolific author, his first book was not printed until he was in his forties. In the following 40 years, he published more than 450 works. Matsumoto's work included historical novels and non-fiction, but it was his mystery and detective fiction that solidified his reputation as a writer internationally. Credited with popularizing the genre among readers in his country, Matsumoto became Japan's best-selling and highest earning author in the 1960s. His most acclaimed detective novels, including Ten to sen (1958; Points and Lines, 1970); Suna no utsuwa (1961; Inspector Imanishi Investigates, 1989) and Kiri no hata (1961; Pro Bono, 2012), have been translated into a number of languages, including English. He received the Akutagawa Prize in 1952, the Kikuchi Kan Prize in 1970, and the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1957. He served as president of the Mystery Writers of Japan from 1963 to 1971. Matsumoto also collaborated with film director Yoshitarō Nomura on adaptations of eight of his novels to film, including Castle of Sand.
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Sewall Wright
Sewall Green Wright ForMemRS HonFRSE (December 21, 1889 – March 3, 1988) 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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Sherry Rehman
Shehrbano "Sherry" Rehman (Urdu: شیری رحمان; born 21 December 1960) 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. Born in Karachi, Rehman received her B.A. from Smith College and her M.A. in art history from the University of Sussex. In 1988, she joined the Herald as its editor and remained with the magazine until 1999. In 2002, she was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan. She was re-elected in 2008, and became a member of the Federal Cabinet under Prime Minister Gillani as the Minister for Information. She resigned from the cabinet in 2009 and went on to serve as the Chair of the Pakistan Red Crescent and founded the non-partisan think tank, Jinnah Institute. In November 2011, she was appointed as the Ambassador to the United States and remained until April 2013. In 2015, she was elected to the Senate.
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Steve Montador
Steven Richard "The Matador" Montador (December 21, 1979 – February 15, 2015) 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). An undrafted player, Montador signed with the Flames as a free agent in 2000 and began his professional career with their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Saint John Flames, and was a member of their 2001 Calder Cup championship team. Montador also played with France's Ligue Magnus champion Mulhouse Scorpions in 2004–05.
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Steve Perryman
Stephen John Perryman MBE (born 21 December 1951) 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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Tamara Bykova
Tamara Vladimirovna Bykova (Russian: Тамара Владимировна Быкова; born December 21, 1958) 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 (1981, 1985 and 1989).
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Taylor Teagarden
Taylor Hill Teagarden (born December 21, 1983) 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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Terry Mills
Terry Richard Mills (born December 21, 1967) 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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Thomas Allen
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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Thomas Bracken
Thomas Bracken (c. December 1843 – 16 February 1898) 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. His mother Margaret died in 1846 and his father Thomas in 1852. He was sent to Australia at the age of 12 to join his uncle, John Kiernan, at Geelong, Victoria. Bracken was apprenticed to a pharmacist in Bendigo, later moved around to work on farms as a shearer and drover, and for a time was a gold fossicker and store keeper. At that time he began writing tales over the activities of the diggers involved in the goldrush, and about stock men and sheep men. He also established Thomas Bracken and Co with Alexander Bathgate to buy and operate the Evening Herald until it was superseded in 1890 by the liberal Globe.
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Thomas Chipman McRae
Thomas Chipman McRae (December 21, 1851 – June 2, 1929) 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 (1885 to 1903) and the 26th governor of Arkansas, from 1921 to 1925.
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Thomas Couture
Thomas Couture (French pronunciation: [tɔma kutyʁ]; 21 December 1815 – 30 March 1879) 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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Thomas Graham
Thomas Graham FRSE, FRS (20 December 1805 – 11 September 1869) was a British 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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Thomas Sankara
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) 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. After Sankara was appointed Prime Minister of the Republic of Upper Volta in 1983, he had political disputes with the sitting government that resulted in his eventual imprisonment. While he was under house arrest, a group of revolutionaries seized power on his behalf in a popular coup later that year. At the age of 33, Sankara became the President of the Republic of Upper Volta and launched an unprecedented series of social, ecological, and economic reforms that were part of what he referred to as the people's democratic revolution. In 1984, Sankara oversaw the renaming of the country as Burkina Faso ('land of the upright people'), and personally wrote its national anthem. His foreign policy was centered on what he called anti-imperialism and he rejected loans and capital from such organizations as the International Monetary Fund. However, he welcomed some foreign aid in an effort to boost the domestic economy, diversify the sources of assistance, and make Burkina Faso self-sufficient. His domestic policies included famine prevention, agrarian expansion, land reform, and suspending rural poll taxes, as well as a nationwide literacy campaign and vaccination program to reduce meningitis, yellow fever and measles. Sankara's health programmes distributed millions of doses of vaccines to children across Burkina Faso. His government also focused on building schools, health centres, water reservoirs, and infrastructure projects. He combatted desertification of the Sahel by causing the planting of more than 10 million trees. Socially, his government enforced the prohibition of female circumcision, forced marriages, and polygamy. Sankara reinforced his populist image by ordering the sale of luxury vehicles and properties owned by the government in order to reduce costs, and refusing to use his office's air conditioning. He established Cuban-inspired Committees for the Defense of the Revolution purportedly to serve as a new foundation of society and promote popular mobilization. His Popular Revolutionary Tribunals prosecuted public officials charged with graft, political crimes and corruption, considering such elements of the state counter-revolutionaries. Amnesty International criticised his government for alleged human rights violations, such as arbitrary detentions of political opponents. Sankara's revolutionary programmes and reforms for African self-reliance made him an icon to many of Africa's poverty-stricken nations, and the president remained popular with a substantial majority of his country's citizens, as well as those outside Burkina Faso. Some of his policies alienated elements of the former ruling class, including tribal leaders, and the governments of France and its ally the Ivory Coast. On 15 October 1987, Sankara was assassinated by troops led by Blaise Compaoré, who assumed leadership of the country shortly thereafter. Compaoré retained power until the 2014 Burkina Faso uprising. In 2021, he was formally charged by a military tribunal with the murder of Sankara and found guilty.
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Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton
Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton (21 December 1505 – 30 July 1550), 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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Tom Sturridge
Thomas Sidney Jerome Sturridge (born 5 December 1985) 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 starred as Dream in the Netflix fantasy series The Sandman (2022–2025).
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Trevor Kincaid
Trevor Charles Digby Kincaid (December 21, 1872 – July 1, 1970) 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" (one who studies everything). 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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U. R. Ananthamurthy
Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy (21 December 1932 – 22 August 2014) 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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Walter Hagen
Walter Charles Hagen (December 21, 1892 – October 6, 1969) 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. Hagen won the U.S. Open twice, and in 1922 he became the first native-born American to win The Open Championship, and won the Claret Jug three more times. He also won the PGA Championship a record-tying five times (all in match play), and the Western Open five times when it had near-major championship status. Hagen totaled 44 PGA wins in his career, and was a six-time Ryder Cup captain.
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Wat Misaka
Wataru Misaka (December 21, 1923 – November 20, 2019) 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. Misaka played college basketball for the Utah Utes and helped lead the team to championships in the 1944 NCAA tournament and 1947 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). He took a two-year hiatus between these titles to serve in the United States Army in the American occupation of Japan. Misaka subsequently played three games for the New York Knicks during the 1947–48 season.
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William Conyers, 1st Baron Conyers
William Conyers, 1st Baron Conyers (21 December 1468 – 14 April 1524), also known as William Conyers of Hornby, was an English baron and aristocrat.
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William H. Osborn
William Henry Osborn (December 21, 1820 – March 2, 1894) 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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Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy
Yeduguri Sandinti Jagan Mohan Reddy (born 21 December 1972), 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. Jagan Mohan Reddy started his political career in the Indian National Congress and was elected as the Member of Parliament of Kadapa in 2009. After his father's death due to a helicopter crash in 2009, he started an Odarpu Yatra (a consoling tour) across the state. He then eventually left the Congress Party and established his own party, YSR Congress Party which also matches his father's acronym, YSR. On 27 May 2012, Reddy was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on embezzlement charges. CBI summoned Reddy for allegedly amassing huge assets through illegal means by using his father's office, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, when he was the chief minister. CBI and ED has also summoned 58 companies of investing in Reddy's businesses, for the favours they allegedly received in the form of mining leases, allotments of projects. His judicial custody was extended repeatedly as the investigation proceeded. The Supreme Court of India dismissed his Bail petition on 4 July 2012, 9 August 2012, 7 November 2012, 9 May 2013, 13 May 2013. After 16 months of punishment, he walked out of Jail on 24 September 2013. In the 2014 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, YSRCP won 67 seats and he became the Leader of the Opposition. Five years later, in 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, he led the party to a landslide victory in the state elections by winning 151 seats of the total 175 assembly segments. On 12 June 2024, YSR Congress Party lost the elections after the TDP in alliance with the BJP and the JSP had a landslide victory in the 2024 state elections, garnering 164 out of 175 seats, with Jagan and his party winning only 11 out of 175 seats.
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Zdeněk Fibich
Zdeněk Fibich (Czech pronunciation: [ˈzdɛɲɛk ˈfɪbɪx], 21 December 1850 in Všebořice – 15 October 1900 in Prague) was a Czech composer of classical music. Among his compositions are chamber works (including two string quartets, a piano trio, piano quartet and a quintet for piano, strings and winds), symphonic poems, three symphonies, at least seven operas (the most famous probably Šárka and The Bride of Messina), melodramas including the substantial trilogy Hippodamia, liturgical music including a mass – a missa brevis; and a large cycle (a total of 376 pieces, from the 1890s) 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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