Who was born on December 8?
December 8 is packed with notable birthdays. Explore 126 famous birthdays, sorted by recent English Wikipedia pageviews. Top ranked names include Aaron Allston, Abdullah Ercan, Adolph Menzel, Alfredo Aceves, Amanda McKittrick Ros. Filter by actor, musician, athlete, and more — or open any other calendar day.
December 8
126 people
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Aaron Allston
Aaron Dale Allston (December 8, 1960 – February 27, 2014) was an American game designer and author of many science fiction books, notably Star Wars novels. His works as a game designer include game supplements for role-playing games, several of which served to establish the basis for products and subsequent development of TSR's Dungeons & Dragons game setting Mystara. His later works as a novelist include those of the X-Wing series: Wraith Squadron, Iron Fist, Solo Command, Starfighters of Adumar, and Mercy Kill. He wrote two entries in the New Jedi Order series: Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream and Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand. Allston wrote three of the nine Legacy of the Force novels: Betrayal, Exile, and Fury, and three of the nine Fate of the Jedi novels: Outcast, Backlash, and Conviction.
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Abdullah Ercan
Abdullah Ercan (born 8 December 1971 in Istanbul, Turkey) is a retired Turkish international footballer and manager.
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Adolph Menzel
Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel (8 December 1815 – 9 February 1905) was a German Realist artist noted for drawings, etchings, and paintings. Along with Caspar David Friedrich, he is considered one of the two most prominent German painters of the 19th century, and was the most successful artist of his era in Germany. First known as Adolph Menzel, he was knighted in 1898 and changed his name to Adolph von Menzel. His popularity in his native country, owing especially to his history paintings, was such that few of his major paintings left Germany, as many were quickly acquired by museums in Berlin. Menzel's graphic work (and especially his drawings) were more widely disseminated; these, along with informal paintings not initially intended for display, have largely accounted for his posthumous reputation. Although he traveled in order to find subjects for his art, to visit exhibitions, and to meet with other artists, Menzel spent most of his life in Berlin, and was, despite numerous friendships, by his own admission detached from others. It is likely that he felt socially estranged for physical reasons alone—he had a large head, and stood about four foot six inches (137 cm).
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Alfredo Aceves
Alfredo Aceves Martínez (born 8 December 1982) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Aceves used a fastball, which could reach the mid 90s, a curveball, a changeup, and a cut fastball. He was known for his control and his ability to throw any pitch in any count.
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Amanda McKittrick Ros
Anna Margaret Ross (née McKittrick; 8 December 1860 – 2 February 1939), known by her pen-name Amanda McKittrick Ros, was an Irish writer. She published her first novel Irene Iddesleigh at her own expense in 1897. However, it was reprinted by Nonesuch Press in 1926; the reprint sold out immediately. She wrote poetry and a number of novels. She has been described as a "writer with an immense power of words but uncertain use of them."
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Anselm Adornes
Anselm Adornes (8 December 1424 in Bruges – 1483 in Scotland), also known as Anselm Adorno, was a merchant, patron, politician and diplomat, who belonged to the fifth generation of the Adornes family to live in Bruges.
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Antonio de Benavides
Antonio Benavides Bazán y Molina (8 December 1678 – 9 January 1762) was a Lieutenant General in the Spanish Army who held administrative positions in the Americas as Royal Governor of Spanish Florida (1718–1734), Governor of Veracruz (1734–1745), Governor and Captain General of Yucatán province (1745 – 1750), as well as Governor of Manila in the Philippines (September 1750 – ?). Before his successive appointments to these various positions, he served with distinction in several campaigns of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1710, and perhaps saved the life of Philip V, the first Bourbon King of Spain, at Guadalajara. During his term of office in Florida, Benavides jailed Juan de Ayala y Escobar, the previous governor, for dealing in contraband, and repelled several attempts by the English to invade Florida by land and sea. He secured the friendship of the neighboring Indian groups who had previously been inimical to the Spaniards, a state of affairs that continued without interruption while he governed the province. He defended the rights of the indigenous people and established the first black militia unit in Florida to defend St. Augustine, the capital of the province, from British attacks. Over the course of his various administrative appointments, Benavides apparently donated most of his income to the poor people of Florida, Yucatan, Veracruz and Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
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Arthur Leslie
Arthur Leslie Scottorn Broughton (8 December 1899 – 30 June 1970), better known as Arthur Leslie, was a British actor and playwright, best known for original character of public house landlord Jack Walker in television soap Coronation Street.
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Astorre II Manfredi
Astorre II Manfredi (8 December 1412 – 12 March 1468) was lord of Imola from 1439 and of Faenza from 1443. He was born in Faenza, the son of Gian Galeazzo I Manfredi. Apart from Faenza and Imola, he was Papal vicar at Fusignano and other lands in Romagna together with his brother Gian Galeazzo II. He also fought as a captain for several local rulers. In 1431, he married Giovanna da Barbiano, daughter of the famous condottiero Alberico da Barbiano. His sons Carlo and Galeotto were both lords of Faenza after Astorre's death.
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August Belmont
August Belmont Sr. (born Aron Belmont; December 8, 1813 – November 24, 1890) was a German-American financier, diplomat, and Democratic Party politician. As chair of the Democratic National Committee from 1860 to 1872, during a period of turmoil and reconciliation for the party following the American Civil War, Belmont was one of the longest serving party leaders in American history. During his life, he was one of the wealthiest men in the United States. He was also a thoroughbred racehorse owner and the founder and namesake of the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown of American Thoroughbred horse racing. Belmont was born in the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1813 to a leading Jewish family. After attending the Philanthropin, he joined the Rothschild banking house as an apprentice and clerk. In 1837, en route to Cuba to stabilize Rothschild holdings following the First Carlist War, Belmont stopped in New York City during a catastrophic financial panic and learned that the Rothschilds' American agent had collapsed. Acting on his own judgment, he established himself as the house's American agent, a position which rapidly elevated him to the top of New York society. Through his wife Caroline Slidell Perry and her uncle, John Slidell, Belmont became involved in the Democratic Party as a major donor and organizer in 1844, the same year he was naturalized as a United States citizen. In 1853, Belmont was appointed as United States minister to the Netherlands by Franklin Pierce. His diplomatic career was controversial for his roles in the Ostend Manifesto, calling for the American acquisition of Cuba, and the Walter M. Gibson affair. Although Belmont was a leading supporter of James Buchanan in his presidential campaigns in both 1852 and 1856, Buchanan did not appoint Belmont to any position in his administration, and Belmont supported Stephen A. Douglas for the party's nomination in 1860. When the Democratic Party split between its northern and southern wings in 1860, Belmont became chair of the northern (or national) wing, leading its campaign against Abraham Lincoln. His plan to create anti-Lincoln fusion tickets in key swing states failed, and Lincoln was elected, leading to the American Civil War.
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Bill Bryson
William McGuire Bryson ( BRYE-sən; born 8 December 1951) is an American journalist and author who was naturalized as a British citizen in 2014. Bryson has written nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Bryson moved to Britain in his twenties and remained in the country for most of his adult life. However, he periodically returned to live in the U.S. such as between 1995 and 2003. He was the chancellor of Durham University from 2005 to 2011. In 1995, while in the United Kingdom, Bryson wrote Notes from a Small Island, an exploration of Britain. In 2003, he authored A Short History of Nearly Everything. In October 2020, he announced that he had retired from writing books. He has sold over 16 million books worldwide. He recorded an audiobook for Audible, The Secret History of Christmas, in 2022.
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Bill Hewitt
Foster William Alfred Hewitt (December 6, 1928 – December 25, 1996) was a Canadian radio and television sportscaster. He was the son of hockey broadcaster Foster Hewitt and the grandson of Toronto Star journalist W. A. Hewitt.
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Billie Starkz
Lillian Renia Bridget (born December 8, 2004), better known by the ring name Billie Starkz, is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), but predominantly appears in AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where she is a member of the M.I.T stable and a former one-time and the inaugural ROH Women's World Television Champion. Bridget has also wrestled in numerous promotions such as Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling, Major League Wrestling, and Game Changer Wrestling where she is the former one-time JCW World Champion.
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Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( BYURN-sən, Norwegian: [ˈbjø̂ːɳstjæːɳə mɑrˈtiːnɪʉ̂s ˈbjø̂ːɳsɔn]; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit". The first Norwegian Nobel laureate, he was a prolific polemicist and extremely influential in Norwegian public life and Scandinavian cultural debate. Bjørnson is considered to be one of "the four greats" of Norwegian literature, alongside Ibsen, Lie, and Kielland. He is also celebrated for his lyrics to the Norwegian national anthem, "Ja, vi elsker dette landet". The composer Fredrikke Waaler based a composition for voice and piano (Spinnersken) on a text by Bjørnson, as did Anna Teichmüller (Die Prinzessin).
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Bob Arum
Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorney in the tax division of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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Bob Love
Robert Earl Love (December 8, 1942 – November 18, 2024) was an American professional basketball player who spent the prime of his career with the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Chicago Bulls. He is also remembered for his efforts in striving to overcome a severe stutter that had plagued him for decades; taking him from jobs as a dishwasher and busboy after retiring from the NBA, to ultimately becoming an executive with the Bulls (as a community affairs director and good will ambassador) and Nordstrom (managing health and sanitation for a 70-restaurant chain); and being a motivational speaker to thousands of children. Love did not become a starter in the NBA until he was 27-years old, with the 1969–70 Chicago Bulls. Over a seven-season period with the Bulls from 1969 to 1976, the ambidextrous Love averaged over 21 points per game in six consecutive seasons, led the Bulls in scoring in six consecutive seasons, was an NBA All-Star three times, second-team All-NBA twice, and a second-team NBA All-Defensive Team selection three times. Love averaged between six and 8.7 rebounds per game during that same time period. He led the Bulls in minutes played in multiple seasons, and is in the top-five Bulls players all-time in career minutes played per game and scoring average. In 47 playoff games with Bulls, Love averaged nearly 44 minutes and 23 points per game. He was a member of the Chicago Bulls Ring of Honor's inaugural class in 2023. He was the second Bulls player to have his number retired. Love attended Southern University, where he played four years of varsity basketball. He averaged double-doubles as a sophomore (22.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game), junior (25.6 points and 18 rebounds per game), and as a senior (30.6 points and 18.2 rebounds per game). He was an NAIA All-American as a junior (third-team) and senior (first-team), and was first team All-Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) for three consecutive seasons. He was the selected as the SWAC's most valuable player in 1965. Southern retired his number in 2012. Love was nicknamed "Butterbean" because of his fondness for the legume in childhood, and the name went with him throughout his life.
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Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Jan Martinů (Czech: [ˈboɦuslaf ˈmarcɪnuː] ; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores, and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal, and instrumental works. He became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and briefly studied under Czech composer and violinist Josef Suk. After leaving Czechoslovakia in 1923 for Paris, Martinů deliberately withdrew from the Romantic style in which he had been trained. During the 1920s he experimented with modern French stylistic developments, exemplified by his orchestral works Half-time and La Bagarre. He also adopted jazz idioms, for instance in his Kitchen Revue (Kuchyňská revue). In the early 1930s he found his main fount for compositional style: neoclassicism, creating textures far denser than those found in composers treating Stravinsky as a model. He was prolific, quickly composing chamber, orchestral, choral, and instrumental works. His Concerto Grosso and the Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano and Timpani are among his best-known works from this period. Among his operas, Juliette and The Greek Passion are considered the finest. He has been compared to Prokofiev and Bartók in his innovative incorporation of Czech folk elements into his music. He continued using Bohemian and Moravian folk melodies throughout his oeuvre, for instance in The Opening of the Springs (Otvírání studánek). His symphonic career began when he emigrated to the United States in 1941, fleeing the German invasion of France. His six symphonies were performed by all the major US orchestras. Martinů returned to live in Europe for two years starting in 1953, then was back in New York until returning to Europe in May 1956. He died in Switzerland in August 1959.
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Brant Alyea
Garrabrant Ryerson Alyea (December 8, 1940 – February 4, 2024) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, and St. Louis Cardinals. In 1965, he became the ninth player to hit a home run on his first MLB pitch.
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Brettina
Brettina Lorena Robinson (born December 8, 1970, in Nassau, Bahamas) is a Bahamian singer-songwriter, model, and actress, based in Los Angeles.
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Bushwick Bill
Richard William Stephen Shaw (December 8, 1966 – June 9, 2019), better known by his stage name Bushwick Bill, was a Jamaican rapper. He was a member of the Texas hip hop group Geto Boys, a group he originally joined as a breakdancer in 1986 as Little Billy. He went on to become one third of the most popular incarnation of the group, alongside Willie D and Scarface.
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Camille Claudel
Camille Rosalie Claudel (French pronunciation: [kamij klodɛl] ; 8 December 1864 – 19 October 1943) was a French sculptor known for her figurative works in bronze and marble. She died in relative obscurity. Later in the 20th century, she gained renewed attention and recognition for the originality and quality of her work. Since that time, she has been the subject of several biographies and films. Claudel is well known for her sculptures, including The Waltz and The Mature Age. The Camille Claudel Museum was established in Nogent-sur-Seine, where she lived as a teenager. It opened in 2017. Claudel was a longtime associate of sculptor Auguste Rodin, and the Musée Rodin in Paris has a room dedicated to her works. Sculptures created by Claudel are also held in the collections of several major museums including the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
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Charles Lincoln Edwards
Charles Lincoln Edwards (December 8, 1863 – May 6, 1937) was an American zoologist. His research included studies of development in reptiles and sea cucumbers, chromosomes of Ascaris roundworms, and taxonomy of sea cucumbers and copepods, naming at least five species of copepods found in sea cucumber body cavities. Edwards was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Society of Zoologists, the American Society of Naturalists, and Southern California Academy of Sciences, as well as the Mexican Society for Geography and Statistics, Mexican Society of Natural History, and Antonio Alzate Scientific Society. He had a secondary interest in folklore, being the author of Bahama Songs and Stories, and was in 1889 the president of the American Folklore Society. Edwards was a member of Delta Tau Delta and was inducted into the Distinguish Service Chapter in recognition of his lifetime involvement. Edwards was born in Oquawka, Illinois, on December 8, 1863, to John and Nancy (Stockton) Edwards. His father, of Welsh descent, was a banker and member of the Indiana legislature. Edwards attended Lombard College and joined the Lambda (prime) chapter of Delta Tau Delta. In 1882, he transferred to the University of Minnesota where he founded the Beta Eta Chapter of Delta Tau Delta in 1883. He also served as Western Division President of Delta Tau Delta from 1883 to 1884. He returned to Lombard College in 1884 and received his B.S. degree. He subsequently pursued another B.S degree at the Indiana University. While he was at Indiana, he refounded the Beta Alpha chapter of Delta Tau Delta. In 1886, he determined to devote himself to the study of biology. He studied three years at Johns Hopkins University and then went to the University of Leipzig, where he received Ph.D. in 1890. He worked for two years as graduate fellow in Clark University, Massachusetts, and became assistant professor of biology at the University of Texas at Austin, where after two years he was dismissed for libeling a member of the board of regents. He was made full professor at the University of Cincinnati in 1894 and remained there six years. From 1900 to 1910 he was the J. Pierpont Morgan Professor of Natural History in Trinity College, Connecticut. He then moved to University of Southern California where he was associate professor of biology (1911–1912), and Professor of Embryology and Histology (1912–1913). Beginning in 1912 he was director of nature studies in Los Angeles city schools. Edwards was married to Jessie Withers Safford on June 5, 1889. He died May 6, 1937, at the age of 73. A species of eel, Moringua edwardsi, was named for him in 1889 by David Starr Jordan and C. H. Bollman.
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Chava Alberstein
Chava Alberstein (Hebrew: חוה אלברשטיין [ˈχava ˈʔalbeʁʃtejn], born 8 December 1946 in Poland) is an Israeli musician, lyricist, composer, and musical arranger. She moved to Israel in 1950 and started her music career in 1964. Alberstein has released over sixty albums in Hebrew, English, and Yiddish. She is known for her liberal activism and advocacy for human rights and Arab-Israeli unity, which has sometimes stirred controversy, such as the ban of her song "Had Gadya" by Israel State Radio in 1989. Alberstein has received numerous accolades, including the Kinor David Prize, the Itzik Manger Prize, and honorary doctorates from several universities.
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Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs
Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs (8 December 1817 – 12 October 1896) was a Danish nobleman and politician. He was Council President of Denmark from 1865 to 1870 as the leader of the Frijs Cabinet.
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Claude Balbastre
Claude Balbastre (8 December 1724 – 9 May 1799) was a French composer, organist, harpsichordist and fortepianist. He was one of the most famous musicians of his time.
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Claus Luthe
Claus Luthe (December 8, 1932 – March 17, 2008) was a German car designer, noted for his design work on the NSU Ro 80, Volkswagen K70 and numerous seminal models from Audi and BMW. Luthe was a pioneer of aerodynamics and digital design within the automotive field. On his death in 2008, The Guardian called Luthe "one of the most important figures in postwar European car styling."
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Concha Piquer
María de la Concepción Piquer López (13 December 1906 – 12 December 1990), better known as Concha Piquer (and sometimes billed as Conchita Piquer), was a Spanish singer and actress. She was known for her work in the copla form, and she performed her own interpretations of some of the key pieces in the Spanish song tradition, mostly works of the mid-20th century trio of composers Antonio Quintero, Rafael de León y Manuel Quiroga.
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Corey Taylor
Corey Todd Taylor (born December 8, 1973) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #8, as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Stone Sour. Taylor co-founded Stone Sour with drummer Joel Ekman in March 1992, playing in the Des Moines, Iowa area, and working on a demo. He joined Slipknot in late 1997 to replace their original lead singer Anders Colsefni and has subsequently released seven studio albums with them. After the first two Slipknot albums went Platinum, Taylor revived Stone Sour to record an album and tour in 2002. His debut solo studio album, CMFT, was released in 2020. His second solo studio album, CMF2, was released in 2023. Taylor has also worked with several other artists and bands, including Junk Beer Kidnap Band, Korn, Disturbed, Apocalyptica, Code Orange, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Avenged Sevenfold, Steel Panther, Tonight Alive, Falling in Reverse, Soulfly, Damageplan, Tech N9ne, Ho99o9, Wargasm, the Clay People, and Motionless in White.
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Cristian Castro
Cristian Sáinz Castro (born 8 December 1974) is a Mexican pop singer. He is the son of actors Verónica Castro and Manuel "El Loco" Valdés, and nephew of actors Ramón Valdés (known for playing Don Ramón in El Chavo del Ocho) and Germán "Tin-Tan" Valdés. Castro has sold over 12 million records, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all-time. Juan Gabriel described Castro as "the man with the most faculties to sing in Mexico".
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Cyriel Dessers
Cyriel Kolawole Dessers (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club Panathinaikos. Born in Belgium, he plays for the Nigeria national team. Dessers has spent the majority of his club career playing in Belgian and Dutch football. He was the top scorer in the Eredivisie in the 2019–20 season, while playing for Heracles Almelo. He was the top scorer in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League and was named in the competition's Team of the Season, while playing for Feyenoord. Dessers qualified to play for Nigeria at international level because of his Nigerian mother. He made his senior international debut in October 2020.
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Daniel Fitzhenry
Daniel Fitzhenry (born 8 December 1979) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s. He played for the Wests Tigers in the NRL and Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League. He primarily played on the wing.
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David Carradine
David Carradine ( KARR-ə-deen; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor and director, whose career included over 200 major and minor roles in film, television and on stage. He was widely known to television audiences as the star of the series Kung Fu (1972–1975), playing Kwai Chang Caine, a peace-loving Shaolin monk traveling through the American Old West. A member of the Carradine family of actors, he got his break playing Atahuallpa in the 1965 Broadway production of The Royal Hunt of the Sun. He became known for his B movie and martial arts roles, particularly as Big Bill Shelly in Martin Scorsese's Boxcar Bertha (1972), Frankenstein in Death Race 2000 (1975), the titular character in Cannonball (1976), Kaz Oshay in Deathsport (1978), Detective Shepherd in Q – The Winged Serpent (1982), and Rawley Wilkes in Lone Wolf McQuade (1983). He portrayed Woody Guthrie in the biopic Bound for Glory (1976), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. He also received Golden Globe nominations for Kung Fu and for the television miniseries North and South (1985), as well as an Emmy Award nomination, also for Kung Fu. Carradine experienced a resurgence after playing the title character in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill duology (2003–2004). The role of Bill earned him his fourth Golden Globe nomination and he won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. On April 1, 1997, Carradine received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Throughout his life, Carradine was arrested and prosecuted for a variety of offenses, which often involved substance abuse. Films that featured Carradine continued to be released after his death. In addition to his acting career, Carradine was a director and musician. Influenced by his Kung Fu role, he studied martial arts, particularly Shaolin quan. In 2014, Carradine was posthumously inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame. On June 4, 2009, he was found dead in a hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand, hanging from a rope tied around his neck and genitals. The cause of death was determined to be accidental death by autoerotic asphyxiation.
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David Harewood
David Michael Harewood OBE (born 8 December 1965) is an English actor and presenter who has served as president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art since February 2024. He is known for his television roles as David Estes in Homeland (2011–2012), J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman in Supergirl (2015–2021). He has also appeared in films such as Blood Diamond, The Merchant of Venice, and Strings, whilst his video game roles include Usef Omar in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016) and Warlin Door in Alan Wake II (2023).
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DeMario Douglas
DeMario "Pop" Douglas (born December 8, 2000) is an American professional football wide receiver for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Liberty Flames, and was selected by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL draft.
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Delmore Schwartz
Delmore Schwartz (December 8, 1913 – July 11, 1966) was an American poet and short story writer.
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Dewey Martin
Dewey Dallas Martin (December 8, 1923 – April 9, 2018) was an American film and television actor.
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Dharmendra
Dharmendra (Punjabi pronunciation: [d̪ʱəɾmɪnd̪əɾ]; 8 December 1935 – 24 November 2025) was an Indian actor, producer and politician, primarily known for his work in Hindi films. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema. Known as the "He-man", he was popular for his handsome looks and leading roles in several blockbusters. In a career spanning 65 years, he worked in over 300 films, holding the record for starring in the highest number of hit films in Hindi cinema. Dharmendra was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2012, and was later posthumously conferred the Padma Vibhushan in 2026. Born in Nasrali, Punjab, Dharmendra made his debut in 1960 with Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere. He first gained popularity in the mid-1960s, for films such as Ayee Milan Ki Bela, Phool Aur Patthar and Aaye Din Bahar Ke. He achieved greater stardom in later years, being dubbed India's "He-Man" for several of his on-screen roles in Hindi films. He consistently starred in several successful Hindi films from the late-1960s to the 1980s, such as Ankhen, Shikar, Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke, Jeevan Mrityu, Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Seeta Aur Geeta, Jugnu, Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Dost, Sholay, Pratiggya, Charas, Dharam Veer, Chacha Bhatija, Ghulami, Hukumat, Aag Hi Aag, Elaan-E-Jung and Tahalka. Some of his critically acclaimed performances include Bandini, Haqeeqat, Anupama, Mamta, Devar, Satyakam, Naya Zamana, Samadhi, Black Mail, Resham Ki Dori, Chupke Chupke, Dillagi, The Burning Train, Ghazab and Hathyar. Beginning in the late 1990s, he appeared in character roles in several successful and acclaimed films, such as Life in a... Metro, Apne, Johnny Gaddaar, Yamla Pagla Deewana, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani and Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya. In 1997, he received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to Bollywood. He was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha of India, representing the Bikaner constituency in Rajasthan from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The patriarch of the Deol family, Dharmendra's private life received much attention, particularly his marriages to Prakash Kaur and actress Hema Malini. For his contributions to the arts, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 2012 and was later awarded Padma Vibhushan, posthumously in 2026.
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Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈdjeɣo riˈβeɾa]; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the mural movement in Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted murals in, among other places, Mexico City, Chapingo, and Cuernavaca in Mexico, and San Francisco, Detroit, and New York City in the United States. In 1931, a retrospective exhibition of his works was held at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, shortly before Rivera's commencement of his 27-mural series known as Detroit Industry Murals the next year. Rivera had four wives and numerous children, including at least one illegitimate daughter. His first child and only son died at the age of two. His third wife was fellow Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, with whom he had a volatile relationship that continued until her death. His previous two marriages, ending in divorce, were respectively to a fellow artist and a novelist, and his final marriage was to his agent. Due to his importance in the country's art history, the government of Mexico declared Rivera's works as monumentos históricos. Rivera held the record for highest price at auction for a work by a Latin American artist until November 2021, with his 1931 painting The Rivals. The painting was part of the record-setting collection of Peggy Rockefeller and David Rockefeller, and sold for $9.76 million USD at a 2018 Christie's auction.
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Drew Doughty
Drew Doughty (born December 8, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman and alternate captain for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected second overall by the Kings in the 2008 NHL entry draft from the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), where he was twice voted the league's top offensive defenceman. He is considered to be one of the NHL's top defencemen of the 2010s. Doughty made his NHL debut in 2008 as an 18-year-old and was named to the All-Rookie Team. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Kings in 2012 and 2014, two-time Olympic gold medallist with the Canadian national team in 2010 and 2014, 2009 World Championship silver medallist, 2008 World Junior Championship gold medalist, and a Norris Trophy finalist in 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2018, winning the trophy in 2016.
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E. C. Segar
Elzie Crisler Segar (; December 8, 1894 – October 13, 1938), known by the pen name E. C. Segar, was an American cartoonist. He created Popeye in 1929, introducing the character in his comic strip Thimble Theatre. Charles M. Schulz said of Segar's work: "I think Popeye was a perfect comic strip, consistent in drawing and humor". Carl Barks described Segar as "the unbridled genius as far as I was concerned".
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Ed Brinkman
Edwin Albert Brinkman (December 8, 1941 – September 30, 2008) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball from 1961 to 1975, most prominently as a member of the Washington Senators and the Detroit Tigers. Brinkman was a light-hitting, defensive specialist who spent the first 10 years of his career with the 1961 expansion team the Washington Senators, before being traded to the Detroit Tigers where he helped lead the team to the 1972 American League Eastern Division title and was voted 1972 Tiger of the Year. He won the American League (AL) Gold Glove Award in 1972, and made his only All-Star team in 1973 while with the Tigers. Brinkman ended his career playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, and the New York Yankees. After his playing career, Brinkman worked for several major league organizations as a scout, coach and minor league manager until he retired in 2000.
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Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney Jr. (December 8, 1765 – January 8, 1825) was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin in 1793, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South. Whitney's invention made upland short cotton into a profitable crop, which strengthened the economic foundation of slavery in the United States and prolonged the institution. Despite the social and economic impact of his invention, Whitney lost much of his profits in legal battles over patent infringement for the cotton gin. Thereafter, he turned his attention to securing contracts with the government in the manufacture of muskets for the newly formed United States Army. He continued making arms and inventing until his death in 1825.
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Elizabeth Daryush
Elizabeth Daryush (8 December 1887 – 7 April 1977) was an English poet.
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Emma Green Tregaro
Emma Anna-Maria Green, also known as Emma Green Tregaro (born 8 December 1984) is a retired Swedish high jumper. She won a bronze medal in the event at the 2005 IAAF World Championships. She represented Sweden at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. She finished 2nd at the 2010 European Athletics Championships with a new personal best of 2.01 m.
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Enzo Amore
Eric Arndt (born December 8, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is performing on the independent circuit under the ring name Real1. He is best known for his tenure in WWE under the ring name Enzo Amore and came to prominence for his partnership with Big Cass, whom he teamed with from 2013 to 2017. Together, they won the NXT Year-End Award for Tag Team of the Year in 2015. He was later moved to the 205 Live brand, where he was a two-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion. Since leaving WWE for controversial reasons in January 2018, he has also embarked on a rap music career under the name Real1.
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Ernest Lehman
Ernest Paul Lehman (December 8, 1915 – July 2, 2005) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He was nominated six times for Academy Awards for his screenplays during his career, but did not win. At the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001, he received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of his achievements and his influential works for the screen. He was the first screenwriter to receive that honor. He received two Edgar Awards of the Mystery Writers of America for screenplays of suspense films he wrote for director Alfred Hitchcock: North by Northwest (1959), his only original screenplay, and Family Plot (1976), one of numerous adaptations.
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Ernst Moro
Ernst Moro (1874–1951) was a Slovenian physician and pediatrician who was the first in western medicine to describe an infant reflex that was named after him (Moro reflex).
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Floyd Tillman
Floyd Tillman (December 8, 1914 – August 22, 2003) was an American country musician who, in the 1930s and 1940s, helped create the Western swing and honky tonk genres. Tillman was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1984.
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Francis Balfour
Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Cecil Campbell Balfour (8 December 1884 – 16 April 1965) was a British military officer and colonial administrator.
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František Xaver Dušek
František Xaver Dušek (German: Franz Xaver Duschek or Dussek); 8 December 1731 – 12 February 1799) was a Czech composer and musician. He was one of the most important harpsichordists and pianists of his time.
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François de La Rochefoucauld
François de La Rochefoucauld ([fʁɑ̃swa də la ʁɔʃfuka]; 8 December 1558 – 14 February 1645) was a French Cardinal and an "important figure in the French Counter Reformation church".
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Frederik Buch
Frederik Buch (8 December 1875 – 13 April 1925) was a Danish film actor of the silent era in Denmark. He starred in over 100 films, and prolifically worked under Lau Lauritzen Sr. for thirty years.
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Friedrich Traugott Kützing
Friedrich Traugott Kützing (8 December 1807 in Ritteburg – 9 September 1893) was a German pharmacist, botanist and phycologist. Despite his limited background in regard to higher education, Kützing made significant scientific contributions. In 1833, he demonstrated differences between diatoms and desmids, thus separating the two groups into families of their own. Also, independent of Charles Cagniard-Latour (1777–1859) and Theodor Schwann (1810–1882), he was among the first to provide comprehensive answers in regard to yeast and the role it played in fermentation. In 1849, he published Species Algarum, a large work that provided descriptions for 6000 species of algae. He is the taxonomic authority of the genera Syringodium (family Cymodoceaceae) and Phlebothamnion (family Ceramiaceae).
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George Baker
Johannes "Hans" Bouwens (born 8 December 1944), known as George Baker, is a Dutch singer and songwriter who, with his band George Baker Selection, scored three international hits: "Little Green Bag" (1969), "Paloma Blanca" (1975) and "Santa Lucia by Night" (1985).
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Georges Feydeau
Georges-Léon-Jules-Marie Feydeau (French: [ʒɔʁʒ fɛ.do]; 8 December 1862 – 5 June 1921) was a French playwright of the Belle Époque era, remembered for his farces, written between 1886 and 1914. Feydeau was born in Paris to middle-class parents and raised in an artistic and literary environment. From an early age he was fascinated by the theatre, and as a child he wrote plays and organised his schoolfellows into a drama group. In his teens he wrote comic monologues and moved on to writing longer plays. His first full-length comedy, Tailleur pour dames ('Ladies' tailor'), was well received, but was followed by a string of comparative failures. He gave up writing for a time in the early 1890s and studied the methods of earlier masters of French comedy, particularly Eugène Labiche, Alfred Hennequin and Henri Meilhac. With his technique honed, and sometimes in collaboration with a co-author, he wrote seventeen full-length plays between 1892 and 1914, many of which have become staples of the theatrical repertoire in France and abroad. They include L'Hôtel du libre échange ('The Free Exchange Hotel', 1894), La Dame de chez Maxim ('The lady from Maxim's', 1899), La Puce à l'oreille ('A flea in her ear', 1907) and Occupe-toi d'Amélie! ('Look after Amélie', 1908). The plays of Feydeau are marked by closely observed characters, with whom his audiences could identify, plunged into fast-moving comic plots of mistaken identity, attempted adultery, split-second timing and a precariously happy ending. After the great success they enjoyed in his lifetime they were neglected after his death, until the 1940s and 1950s, when productions by Jean-Louis Barrault and the Comédie-Française led a revival of interest in his works, at first in Paris and subsequently worldwide. Feydeau's personal life was marred by depression, unsuccessful gambling and divorce. In 1919 his mental condition deteriorated sharply and he spent his final two years in a sanatorium at Rueil (now Rueil-Malmaison), near Paris. He died there in 1921 at the age of fifty-eight.
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Greg Howe
Gregory Howe (born December 8, 1963) is an American guitarist and composer. An active musician across four decades, he has released ten studio albums in addition to collaborating with a wide variety of artists.
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Gregg Allman
Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for being a founding member, lead singer, and keyboardist for the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Brothers Band fused it with rock music, jazz, and country. He wrote several of the band's most popular songs, including "Whipping Post", "Melissa", and "Midnight Rider". Allman also had a successful solo career, releasing eight studio albums. He was born and spent much of his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee, before relocating to Daytona Beach, Florida, and then Macon, Georgia. He and his brother Duane Allman formed the Allman Brothers Band in 1969, which reached mainstream success with their 1971 live album At Fillmore East, but shortly thereafter, Duane was killed in a motorcycle crash. The band continued, and released Brothers and Sisters, which became their most successful album, in 1973. Allman began a solo career with Laid Back the same year. He gained some additional fame for his 1975 to 1979 marriage to pop star Cher. He had an unexpected mid-career hit with his cover of the song "I'm No Angel" in 1987, and his seventh solo album, Low Country Blues (2011), saw the highest chart positions of his career. Throughout his life, Allman struggled with alcohol and substance use, which formed the basis of his memoir My Cross to Bear (2012). His final album, Southern Blood, was released posthumously on September 8, 2017. As a musician, Allman was fundamentally an organist, performing with a Hammond B3 organ, but also was skilled in the guitar. As a lead singer, he was recognized for his soulful voice. For his work in music, Allman was referred to as a Southern rock pioneer and received numerous awards, including one Grammy Award; he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. His distinctive voice placed him 70th in the Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".
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Hakeem Adeniji
Hakeem Adeniji (born December 8, 1997) is an American former professional football offensive tackle. He played college football for the Kansas Jayhawks, making the first-team in 2019 and second-team in 2018 before being selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL draft. He also played for the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys.
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Harold Hongju Koh
Harold Hongju Koh (born December 8, 1954) is an American diplomat, lawyer, legal scholar, politician, and writer. Except for his periods of government service, he has taught at Yale Law School from 1985 to the present, including as the law school's 15th Dean from 2004 to 2009, and currently as a Sterling Professor of international law. From 1998 to 2001, he served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor under President Bill Clinton. From 2009 to 2013, he served as the legal adviser of the Department of State in the Obama administration. He has published more than ten books on topics including international law, the U.S. Constitution, and international relations. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2007.
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Ian Johnson
Ian William Geddes Johnson, (8 December 1917 – 9 October 1998) was an Australian cricketer who played 45 Test matches as a slow off-break bowler between 1946 and 1956. Johnson captured 109 Test wickets at an average of 29.19 runs per wicket and as a capable lower order batsman made 1,000 runs at an average of 18.51 runs per dismissal. He captained the Australian team in 17 Tests, winning seven and losing five, with a further five drawn. Despite this record, he is better known as the captain who lost consecutive Ashes series against England. Urbane, well-spoken and popular with his opponents and the public, he was seen by his teammates as a disciplinarian and his natural optimism was often seen as naive. Aged 17, Johnson made his first-class cricket debut for Victoria in the 1935–36 season but did not establish a permanent place in the team until 1939–40. His career was interrupted by the Second World War; he served with the Royal Australian Air Force as a pilot and later as a flight instructor. He returned to cricket after his discharge and was selected to tour New Zealand with the Australian team, making his Test debut. Johnson was part of Don Bradman's Invincibles team; undefeated on tour in England in 1948. He was a regular member of the national team until poor form saw him left out of the Australian squad for the 1953 tour of England. Johnson was appointed Australian captain following Lindsay Hassett's retirement. The appointment was not universally popular; some teammates and supporters felt Keith Miller had a better claim to the position. In his first series as captain, Australia was defeated by a strong English team on home soil. The tour of the West Indies that followed was a cricketing and diplomatic triumph for Johnson. Australia won the Test series comfortably and Johnson's astute public relations skills helped avoid a repeat of the crowd disturbances that had marred England's visit to the islands 12 months before. However, his Australian team then went on to lose the 1956 Ashes series in England. Johnson's Test career ended with Australia's first Test tour of the Indian subcontinent, which occurred during the voyage back to Australia. Australia lost the one-off Test against Pakistan, the first between the two nations, before claiming the series against India. On his return to Australia, he retired from all forms of cricket at age 39. After retirement, Johnson worked for a time as a sports commentator, including covering the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. In 1957 he was appointed Secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club, one of the most prestigious positions in Australian sport. He would remain in the role for 26 years, overseeing the development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground and playing a key role in the organisation of the Centenary Test in 1977. In 1956 he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to cricket; this was twice upgraded: to OBE in 1977 and to CBE in 1982.
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Indrek Allmann
Indrek Allmann (born 8 December 1972) is an Estonian architect and city planner. Allmann was born in Viljandi and attended J. Köler 4th Secondary School (Viljandi Maagümnaasium) from 1987 to 1990. He obtained his higher education in the Faculty of Architecture in the Estonian Academy of Arts from 1990 to 1999. From 1995 to 1998, Allmann worked in the architectural bureau R. Puusepp Stuudio 911 OÜ. From 1998 to 2000, he worked as a senior architect in the architectural bureau Kolde Projekt AS and from 2000 to 2004 as a senior architect in the architectural bureau Kolde Grupp OÜ. Since 2004, Indrek Allmann has worked as the lead architect and partner in Pluss Architects. Architectural bureau Pluss OÜ was founded in 2002 and has designed more than a million square metres of public buildings, apartment buildings and private residences – both new builds as well as renovations and restorations. Indrek Allmann has been a member of the Estonian Association of Architects since 1999. Since 2000, he has been a member of the supervisory board and from 2006 to 2010 he performed his duties as vice-chairman of the association. Indrek Allmann was the President of the Estonian Association of Architects from 2014 to 2016 and vice-president from 2016 to 2017.
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Jakov Ignjatović
Jakov Ignjatović (Serbian Cyrillic: Јаков Игњатовић; 8 December 1822 – 5 July 1889) was a novelist and prose writer, who primarily wrote in Serbian but also in Hungarian. He was also an active member of Matica Srpska.
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James Blundell
James Blundell (born 8 December 1964) is an Australian country music singer. Born in Stanthorpe, Queensland, Blundell first rose to prominence after being named "best new talent" at the 1987 Country Music Awards of Australia. Blundell has since released several albums in both Australia and the United States, with his most successful album This Road (released in 1992) selling more than 145,000 copies in Australia. Blundell was an unsuccessful candidate for the Senate in Queensland at the 2013 federal election, running for Katter's Australian Party. At the 2019 Country Music Awards of Australia, Blundell was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
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James MacArthur
James Gordon MacArthur (December 8, 1937 – October 28, 2010) was an American actor and recording artist. He had a long career in both movies and television, and his early work was predominantly in supporting roles in films. Later he had a starring role as Danny "Danno" Williams in the long-running television series Hawaii Five-O. In 1963 his spoken-word recording "The Ten Commandments of Love" charted on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 94.
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Jan Ingenhousz
Jan Ingenhousz (8 December 1730 – 7 September 1799) was a Dutch-British physiologist, biologist and chemist. He is best known for discovering photosynthesis by showing that light is essential to the process by which green plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. He also discovered that plants, like animals, have cellular respiration. In his lifetime he was known for successfully inoculating the members of the Habsburg family in Vienna against smallpox in 1768 and subsequently being the private counsellor and personal physician to the Austrian-Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa.
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Janari Jõesaar
Janari Jõesaar (born 8 December 1993) is an Estonian professional basketball player for Start Lublin of the Polish Basketball League (PLK). He is a 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) tall small forward. He played college basketball for the Ole Miss Rebels and the Texas–Pan American Broncs. He also represents the Estonian national basketball team internationally.
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Jeff George
Jeffrey Scott George (born December 8, 1967) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini, earning the Sammy Baugh Trophy and first-team All-Big Ten honors in 1989. George was selected first overall by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1990 NFL draft. A member of seven NFL teams, he helped the Atlanta Falcons in 1995 and the Minnesota Vikings in 1999 reach the playoffs and led the league in passing yards in 1997 with the Oakland Raiders. George's NFL career would also be marked by frequent conflicts with coaches and management, which resulted in brief tenures with each of his teams.
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Johannes Aavik
Johannes Aavik (8 December [O.S. 26 November] 1880 – 18 March 1973) was an Estonian linguist and innovator of the Estonian language.
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John Banville
William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, adapter of dramas, and screenwriter. A former member of Aosdána, he voluntarily relinquished the financial stipend in 2001 to another, more impoverished, writer. Banville has been publishing books since 1970, when a short story collection appeared, with his first novels emerging soon after. His "Revolutions Trilogy", published between 1976 and 1982, comprises works named after renowned scientists: Doctor Copernicus, Kepler and The Newton Letter. His next work, Mefisto, had a mathematical theme, and, in combination with the three books from the "Revolutions Trilogy," is the fourth book from the "Scientific Tetralogy." Banville's 1989 novel The Book of Evidence began the "Frames Trilogy," dealing with the work of art; it was completed by Ghosts and Athena during the 1990s. This early fiction was the subject of numerous academic studies in the late 20th-century, including Rüdiger Imhof's John Banville: A Critical Introduction (1989), Joseph McMinn's John Banville: A Critical Study (1991) and The Supreme Fictions of John Banville (1999). Doctor Copernicus won him the 1976 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and he also won the 2003 International Nonino Prize. His thirteenth novel — The Sea — won the Booker Prize in 2005, and with it came wider international recognition for Banville among the reading public. Subsequently, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2007, and recognised with a selection of European accolades, among which were the 2011 Franz Kafka Prize from Czechia, the 2013 Austrian State Prize for European Literature and the 2014 Prince of Asturias Award for Literature from Spain. Italy made Banville a Cavaliere (knight) of the Ordine della Stella d'Italia in 2017. Born and raised in the town of Wexford in the southeast of Ireland, and living in Howth, Dublin, he has been mentioned as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Banville had a 30-year career working in the Irish newspaper industry, and served as literary editor of The Irish Times between 1988 and 1999. As Benjamin Black, he took to publishing crime novels in later life, mostly based in 1950s Dublin and featuring an Irish pathologist character named Quirke. An alternative history novel, The Secret Guests, was published under the name B. W. Black in 2020.
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John Oster
John Morgan Oster (born 8 December 1978) is an English football coach and former professional player who played as a midfielder. Oster was a product of the youth team at Grimsby Town where he was added to the first team squad in 1994, however he didn't make his debut until the 1996–97 season. His performances that season caught the eye of Premier League side Everton who paid £1.5 million for him during the summer of 1997. Two years later he was sold to Sunderland where he remained until 2005. Whilst with The Black Cats he spent time on loan with Barnsley before returning to Grimsby for two separate loan spells during the 2002–03 season, in his time back at Blundell Park he was unable to save the club from relegation. He later moved on loan to Leeds United before joining Burnley permanently. His stay with Burnley was brief and he moved to Reading where he helped them earn promotion to the Premier League for the first time. In 2008 he moved to Crystal Palace where he remained for a year before transferring to Doncaster Rovers. He departed Rovers in the summer of 2012 and joined League Two side Barnet. Prior to his move to the North London club he had played his entire professional football career inside the top two divisions of English football. He joined Gateshead in September 2013. Born in England, Oster represented Wales at international level, where he earned 13 caps between 1997 and 2004. He was renowned for his excellent first touch and wide range of passing. He was often deployed on the wing, but played as a deep-lying playmaker later in his career.
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Johnny Green
John Michael Green (December 8, 1933 – November 16, 2023), nicknamed "Jumpin' Johnny", was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans, earning consensus second-team All-American honors. He was a four-time NBA All-Star.
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Josh Christopher
Joshua Evan Christopher (born December 8, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Shenzhen Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Arizona State Sun Devils. He is a 6-foot-4-inch (1.93 m), 215-pound (98 kg) shooting guard.
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Josh Donaldson
Joshua Adam Donaldson (born December 8, 1985) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. In his 13-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Milwaukee Brewers. The Chicago Cubs drafted Donaldson in the 2007 MLB draft after he had played college baseball at Auburn University. He made his MLB debut with the Athletics in 2010 as a catcher. Donaldson progressed with the team, switched positions to third base, and eventually became an All-Star in 2014. Donaldson was traded to the Blue Jays following the 2014 season. He was named as a starter to the 2015 MLB All-Star Game, earning the most fan votes obtained by a player in the process, and was voted the American League's Most Valuable Player in 2015. Donaldson also won the Silver Slugger Award and led the American League in RBIs (runs batted in) and runs scored that year. Donaldson was traded to the Indians in August 2018, signed with the Braves for the 2019 season, signed a four-year deal with the Twins in January 2020, was traded to the Yankees in March 2022, was released by the Yankees in August 2023, and spent the rest of the 2023 season with the Brewers before retiring in March 2024. In 2026, Donaldson was inducted into the Auburn Baseball Wall of Fame at Plainsman Park. Donaldson became the first inductee since the four inaugural members were added in 2010.
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Josh Dunne
Josh Dunne (born December 8, 1998) is an American professional ice hockey forward for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). His elder sister Jincy, currently plays for the Minnesota Frost, and his younger sister Joy currently plays for Ohio State.
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Julian Critchley
Sir Julian Michael Gordon Critchley (8 December 1930 – 9 September 2000) was a British journalist, author and Conservative Party politician. He was the member of parliament for Rochester and Chatham from 1959 to 1964 and Aldershot from 1970 to 1997.
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Kevin Harvick
Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and commentator for NASCAR on Fox. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang GT for Stewart–Haas Racing. Harvick won the Cup Series championship in 2014 as well as the 2001 and 2006 Xfinity Series championships, and the 2007 Daytona 500. Harvick holds the all-time record for Cup Series wins at Phoenix Raceway with nine wins. Harvick's 121 combined national series wins currently rank him third all-time in NASCAR history, behind Richard Petty and Kyle Busch, respectively, while his 60 Cup wins are tenth in series history. He has the second most national series (Cup, Xfinity, Truck) starts in NASCAR history, behind Kyle Busch. Harvick began his NASCAR career in 1992. He is the third of only six drivers to have won a championship in both the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series, and the fifth of 36 drivers to have won a race in each of NASCAR's three national series. While still racing full time, Harvick worked as a broadcaster off-and-on for NASCAR on FOX starting in 2015, calling Xfinity Series races. Since retiring from NASCAR Cup Series competition, Harvick has called Cup Series races for Fox starting in 2024. Harvick is the owner of Kevin Harvick Incorporated, a race team that fielded cars in the Xfinity Series from 2004 to 2011 and the Truck Series between 2001 and 2011. The team's No. 29 late model is driven part-time in the CARS Tour by Harvick himself, alongside the No. 62 late model, which is driven full-time by Harvick's son Keelan Harvick. In the media, he has sometimes been nicknamed "the Closer" and "Happy Harvick."
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Kim Basinger
Kimila Ann Basinger ( BAY-sing-ər; born December 8, 1953) is an American actress. She has garnered acclaim for her work in film, for which she has received various accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Initially a TV starlet, she shot to fame as a Bond girl in 1983 and enjoyed a long heyday over the next two decades. Basinger began her career as a model and switched to acting in 1976. She appeared in several television productions, including a remake of From Here to Eternity (1979), before making her feature debut in the rural drama Hard Country (1981). Basinger first gained widespread attention for her performance of Domino Petachi in the James Bond entry Never Say Never Again (1983). She went on to receive a Golden Globe nomination for her role in The Natural (1984), starred in the erotic drama 9½ Weeks (1986), and played Vicki Vale in Tim Burton's Batman (1989), which remains the highest-grossing film of her career. For her femme fatale portrayal in L.A. Confidential (1997), Basinger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other films include No Mercy (1986), Blind Date (1987), My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988), Cool World (1992), The Real McCoy (1993), I Dreamed of Africa (2000), 8 Mile (2002), The Door in the Floor (2004), Cellular (2004), The Sentinel (2006), The Burning Plain (2009), Grudge Match (2013), and Fifty Shades Darker (2017). Divorced from makeup artist Ron Snyder and actor Alec Baldwin, Basinger cohabitates with her longtime hairdresser, Mitch Stone. She had a high-profile relationship between marriages with musician Prince, with whom she recorded an album, Hollywood Affair, and is the mother of social media influencer Ireland Baldwin from her marriage to Baldwin.
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Kristin Lauter
Kristin Estella Lauter (born 1969) is an American mathematician and cryptographer whose research interest is broadly in application of number theory and algebraic geometry in cryptography. She is particularly known for her work in the area of elliptic curve cryptography. She was a researcher at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Washington, from 1999–2021 and the head of the Cryptography Group from 2008–2021; her group developed Microsoft SEAL. In April 2021, Lauter joined Facebook AI Research (FAIR) as the West Coast Head of Research Science. She became the President-Elect of the Association for Women in Mathematics in February 2014 and served as President February 1, 2015 - January 31, 2017.
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Larry Martin
Larry Dean Martin (December 8, 1943 – March 9, 2013) was an American vertebrate paleontologist and curator of the Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center at the University of Kansas. Among Martin's work is research on the Triassic reptile Longisquama and theropod dinosaur (or fossil bird) Caudipteryx and Dakotaraptor. According to the University of Kansas, he "has been a leading opponent of the theory that birds are 'living dinosaurs.'" Later he acknowledged a correlation and further contributed. He has also appeared in a few television documentaries about dinosaurs, including Jurassic Fight Club. He died of cancer at the age of 69 on March 9, 2013, after a long battle with the disease.
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Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb (born Leo Jacoby; December 8, 1911 – February 11, 1976) was an American actor, known both for film roles and his work on the Broadway stage, as well as for his starring role on the television series The Virginian. He often played arrogant, intimidating, and abrasive characters, but he also acted as respectable figures such as judges and police officers. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, all in the Best Supporting Actor category. Cobb was a member of the Group Theatre and originated the role of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's 1949 play Death of a Salesman under the direction of Elia Kazan. He received his first Oscar nomination for playing Johnny Friendly in Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954). His subsequent film performances included Juror #3 in 12 Angry Men (1957), patriarch Fyodor Karamazov in The Brothers Karamazov (also 1958), Dock Tobin in Man of the West (1958), Barak Ben Canaan in Exodus (1960), Marshall Lou Ramsey in How the West Was Won (1962), Cramden in Our Man Flint (1966) and its sequel In Like Flint (1967), and Lt. William Kinderman in The Exorcist (1973). On television, Cobb played a leading role in the first four seasons of the Western series, The Virginian as Judge Henry Garth and the ABC legal drama The Young Lawyers as David Barrett, and was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor three times. In 1981, Cobb was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
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Lionel Gilbert
Lionel Arthur Gilbert CF (8 December 1924 – 28 January 2015) was an Australian historian, author, curator, lecturer, and biographer, specializing in applied, natural, and local history. Born in Burwood, New South Wales, he studied at Sydney Teachers College and, beginning in 1946, worked as a teacher and later a headmaster in state schools in various locations around New South Wales until 1961. In 1963 Gilbert graduated from the University of New England with a Bachelor of Arts in History. That same year, he was appointed a lecturer and curator at the Armidale Teachers' College Museum of Education, in which capacity he served until his retirement in 1984, overseeing several expansions of the museum and establishment of a historical research centre. During his time with the college, Gilbert published a number of articles, papers, and books, many of them focusing on local history of New South Wales, including the state's New England area. He attained a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Botanical History from the University of New England in 1972. After retirement, Gilbert authored several books on Australian natural history, including biographies of three Australian botanists and a history of Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens. In recognition of his work in education and history, he was selected as a fellow by several historical organizations. In 1995 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, a Centenary Medal in 2001, and in 2007 with an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of New England.
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Lucian Freud
Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, who is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. His early career as a painter was influenced by surrealism, and afterwards by expressionism, but by the early 1950s his often stark and alienated paintings tended towards realism. Freud was an intensely private and guarded man, and his paintings, completed over a 60-year career, are mostly of friends and family. They are generally sombre and thickly impastoed, often set in unsettling interiors and urban landscapes. The works are noted for their psychological penetration and often discomfiting examination of the relationship between artist and model. Freud worked from life studies and was known for asking for extended and punishing sittings from his models.
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Luis Caffarelli
Luis Ángel Caffarelli (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlwis 'anxel kafaˈɾeli]; born December 8, 1948) is an Argentine-American mathematician. He studies partial differential equations and their applications. Caffarelli is a professor of mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin, and the winner of the 2023 Abel Prize.
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Marcus Lee Hansen
Marcus Lee Hansen (December 8, 1892 – May 11, 1938) was an American historian, who won the 1941 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Atlantic Migration, 1607–1860 (1940).
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Maria Josepha of Austria, Queen of Poland
Maria Josepha of Austria (Maria Josepha Benedikta Antonia Theresia Xaveria Philippine, Polish: Maria Józefa, Lithuanian: Marija Juozapa; 8 December 1699 – 17 November 1757) was the Queen of Poland, Grand Duchess of Lithuania and Electress of Saxony by marriage to Augustus III. From 1711 to 1717, she was heiress presumptive to the Habsburg monarchy.
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Mark Bugden
Mark Bugden (born 8 December 1961), nicknamed "Buggo", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who primarily played as a hooker. The teams he played for at a club level were: the Newtown Jets (1981−83), the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (1984−88), and the Parramatta Eels (1989−90).
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Mary Gordon
Mary Catherine Gordon (born December 8, 1949) is an American writer from Queens and Valley Stream, New York. She is the McIntosh Professor of English at Barnard College. She is best known for her novels, memoirs and literary criticism. In 2008, she was named Official State Author of New York.
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Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication on 24 July 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of King James V of Scotland, Mary was six days old when her father died, and she inherited the throne. During her childhood, Scotland was governed by regents, first by the heir to the throne, James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, and then by her mother, Mary of Guise. In 1548, she was betrothed to Francis, the Dauphin of France, and was sent to be brought up in France, where she would be safe from invading English forces during the Rough Wooing. Mary married Francis in 1558, becoming queen consort of France from his accession in 1559 until his death in December 1560. Widowed, Mary returned to Scotland in August 1561. The tense religious and political climate following the Scottish Reformation that Mary encountered on her return to Scotland was further agitated by prominent Scots such as John Knox, who openly questioned whether her subjects had a duty to obey her. The early years of her personal rule were marked by pragmatism, tolerance, and moderation. She issued a proclamation accepting the religious settlement in Scotland as she had found it upon her return, retained advisers such as James Stewart, Earl of Moray (her illegitimate half-brother), and William Maitland of Lethington, and governed as the Catholic monarch of a Protestant kingdom. In 1565, Mary married her half-cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley; they had a son, James. Their marriage soured after Darnley orchestrated the murder of Mary's Italian secretary and close friend David Rizzio. In February 1567, Darnley's residence was destroyed by an explosion, and he was found murdered in the nearby garden. James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, was generally believed to have orchestrated Darnley's death, but he was acquitted of the charge in April 1567 and in the following month, he married Mary. Following an uprising against the couple, Mary was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle. In July 1567, she was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son James VI. After an unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne, she fled southward seeking the protection of her first cousin once removed, Elizabeth I of England. As a great-granddaughter of Henry VII of England, Mary had once claimed Elizabeth's throne as her own and was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many English Catholics, including participants in a rebellion known as the Rising of the North. Perceiving Mary as a threat, Elizabeth had her confined in various castles and manor houses in the interior of England. After eighteen and a half years in captivity, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth in 1586 and was beheaded the following year at Fotheringhay Castle. Mary's life and execution established her in popular culture as a romanticised historical figure.
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Mattias Janmark
Mattias Janmark Nylén (born 8 December 1992) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a centre for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played in the NHL for the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks and Vegas Golden Knights. Janmark was drafted 79th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2013 NHL entry draft.
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McDonald Bailey
Emmanuel McDonald Bailey (8 December 1920 – 4 December 2013) was a British and Trinidadian athlete, who was born in Williamsville, Trinidad and Tobago and competed at two Olympic Games.
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Michael Cole
Sean Michael Coulthard (born December 8, 1966), better known by his on screen name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator and journalist. Since 1997, he has been signed to WWE, where he serves as the play-by-play commentator for the Raw brand, and was the vice president of announcing between 2020 and 2024. Coulthard began his career in journalism in 1988 for CBS Radio before being hired by the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1997 (WWF was renamed WWE in 2002). He has performed multiple on-screen hosting and commentary roles across his two-decade-plus-long career.
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Mike Buchanan
Gordon Michael Alexander Buchanan (born 8 December 1957) is a retired businessman and men's rights activist, who founded and for two separate periods has led the organisation Justice for Men and Boys (and the Women Who Love Them) (J4MB), which formerly operated as a minor political party, in the United Kingdom.
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Miklós Istvánffy
Baron Miklós Istvánffy de Baranyavár et Kisasszonyfalva (Latin: Nicolaus Istuanfius; 8 December 1538 – 1 April 1615) was a Hungarian politician, Humanist historian and poet, who served as Palatinal Governor of Hungary (Hungarian: nádori helytartó) from 19 January 1582 to November 1608. He is often called as "Livy of Hungary", because of his historiographical activity and, because, he studied in Padua, the birthplace of the great Roman historian (then called Patavium).
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Milenko Zablaćanski
Milenko Zablaćanski, (Serbian Cyrillic: Миленко Заблаћански), (8 December 1955 — 22 January 2008), was a Serbian actor, director, and screenwriter.
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Neel Jani
Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983) is a Swiss professional racing driver. Jani achieved his greatest success winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche's LMP1 programme for the 2014 season driving in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Previously, Jani drove for A1 Team Switzerland in A1 Grand Prix, helping them win the 2007–2008 title and finishing runner-up in 2005–06 and 2008–09. He raced for PKV Racing in the North American Champ Car series in 2007. He is also a GP2 Series race-winner and will be a Formula One test driver for Audi in 2026. Jani joined Formula E's Faraday Future Dragon Racing squad for the 2017/2018 season but left the team after one weekend. For the 2019-20 Formula E season, he returned with his home brand Porsche with teammate André Lotterer.
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Niklas Luhmann
Niklas Luhmann (; German: [ˈluːman]; December 8, 1927 – November 11, 1998) was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and systems theorist. Niklas Luhmann is one of the most influential German sociologists of the 20th century. His thinking was based on the philosophical tradition and at the same time the reception of a wide variety of concepts from modern science. From this foundation he developed a functionalist-oriented systems theory, which claims to be able to describe all social phenomena in a theoretically consistent language. Social systems are understood as communication contexts that have autonomy from the actors involved in them. On this basis, three types of social systems can be distinguished: interaction, organization and society. On his general theory he developed a social theory, which describes modern society as a global society that is characterized by an internal differentiation into various autonomously working functional areas such as politics, law, economics, science, religion and art. According to Luhmann, their operations can not be coordinated centrally.
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Paul Ladmirault
Paul Émile Ladmirault (8 December 1877 – 30 October 1944) was a French composer and music critic whose music expressed his devotion to Brittany. Claude Debussy wrote that his work possessed a "fine dreamy musicality", commenting on its characteristically hesitant character by suggesting that it sounded as if it was "afraid of expressing itself too much". Florent Schmitt said of him: "Of all the musicians of his generation, he was perhaps the most talented, most original, but also the most modest". Peter Warlock dedicated his Capriol Suite to him and Swan Hennessy his Trio, Op. 54.
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Peter Andreas Hansen
Peter Andreas Hansen (born 8 December 1795, Tønder, Schleswig, Denmark; died 28 March 1874, Gotha, Thuringia, Germany) was a Danish-born German astronomer.
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Peter Tali Coleman
Peter Tali Coleman (December 8, 1919 – April 28, 1997) was an American Samoan politician and lawyer. Coleman was the first and only person of Samoan descent to be appointed governor of American Samoa between 1956 and 1961 and later became the territory's first and third popularly elected governor from 1978 to 1985 and 1989 to 1993, serving a total of three elected terms. In between, he had served in different administrative positions for Pacific islands. Born to an American navy officer and a native mother in American Samoa, he grew up there and in Hawaii and participated in World War II, before becoming a lawyer and then returning to American Samoa to practice law there. In 1955 he was briefly appointed by the Republican federal government as the first Attorney General of American Samoa and then became governor in 1956. During his first administration, Coleman chaired the convention that drafted the Constitution of American Samoa, containing the bill of rights and providing protection for Samoans against alienation of their lands and loss of their culture. His administration also laid the foundation for the American Samoa Fono legislature and produced the official seal and flag of American Samoa. When the Democrats overtook the federal government, he was replaced and appointed to different administrative positions for Pacific islands. He came back to American Samoa once more in 1977 to run for the first gubernatorial election of the territory. After American Samoans had finally approved electing their own governor in that year, he was elected the first and third governor in 1977, 1980, and 1988 over his Democratic rival A. P. Lutali each time, losing against him in 1992. He also was the founding chairman of the territory's Republican Party, serving from 1985 to 1988. He was the first Republican governor in American Samoa and one of only two Republicans to hold the office, with the other being Pula Nikolao Pula who is the ninth and current governor as of May 2025. Coleman's career spanned over the entire second half of the 20th century. He is the only governor in the United States whose service spanned five decades and one of the longest-serving governors of any jurisdiction in American history. He was a recipient of the 1997 American Samoan Governor's Humanitarian Award and gained the chiefly title Uifa’atali from his home village of Pago Pago. The Peter Tali Coleman Lecture on Pacific Public Policy has been a part of the Pacific Islands Project at Georgetown University, where Coleman received his degree. In 1978, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Chaminade University of Honolulu and in 1970 one from the University of Guam.
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Philip Holm
Philip Holm (born 8 December 1991) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman for Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).
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Philip Rivers
Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football for the NC State Wolfpack, winning ACC Player of the Year and ACC Athlete of the Year between 2003 and 2004. Rivers was selected fourth overall in the 2004 NFL draft by the New York Giants, who traded him to the San Diego Chargers during the draft. After spending his first two seasons as a backup, Rivers served as the Chargers' starting quarterback from 2006 to 2019. During his tenure, Rivers received eight Pro Bowl selections while leading the team to six postseason appearances and four division titles. Rivers also helped the franchise win their first playoff game since 1994 and reach the AFC Championship Game during the 2007 season. He joined the Colts in 2020, making a seventh playoff appearance before retiring. Following four years away from the NFL, Rivers re-signed with the Colts near the end of the 2025 season, where he played his final three games. Rivers ranks sixth all-time in passing yards and touchdowns, both of which are the highest among quarterbacks without Super Bowl appearances. He is also second all-time in consecutive regular season starts by a quarterback, having started every regular season game between 2006 and 2020. Rivers is considered among the greatest quarterbacks to have never played in a Super Bowl.
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Queen Jeonghui
Queen Jeonghui (Korean: 정희왕후; Hanja: 貞熹王后; 25 December 1418 – 15 May 1483), of the Papyeong Yun clan, was the wife of King Sejo, the seventh monarch of Joseon, and the mother of Crown Prince Uigyeong and King Yejong. She was queen of Joseon from 1455 until her husband's death in 1468. She was then styled as Queen Dowager Jaseong during the reign of her son, King Yejong, and as Grand Queen Dowager Jaseong during the reign of her grandson, King Seongjong. Lady Yun was the first Joseon royal consort to receive the title of grand queen dowager and to serve as regent. She initially took over governing during the brief reign of her sickly second son, and subsequently continued to fulfill the role following the ascension to the throne of her young grandson.
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Ralph Puckett
Ralph Puckett Jr. (December 8, 1926 – April 8, 2024) was a United States Army officer. He led the Eighth Army Ranger Company during the Korean War and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on November 25, 1950, when his company of 51 Rangers was attacked by several hundred Chinese soldiers at the battle for Hill 205. He later served in the Vietnam War and retired from the army in 1971 as a colonel. After being appointed on July 19, 1996, he served as the Honorary Colonel of the 75th Ranger Regiment. In April 2021, Puckett's Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on November 25, 1950, was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. He received the award from President Joe Biden during a ceremony at the White House on May 21, 2021. Until his death in 2024, Puckett was the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient of the Korean War, until navy pilot Royce Williams received the award in February 2026.
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Red Berenson
Gordon Arthur "Red" Berenson (born December 8, 1939) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre, world champion, Stanley Cup champion and head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team from 1984 to 2017. Berenson was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Reece James
Reece Lewis James (born 8 December 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Premier League club Chelsea, which he captains, and the England national team. James joined the Chelsea academy as a youth and turned professional in 2017, a season where he captained the under-18s to victory in the FA Youth Cup and was named Academy Player of the Season. A productive loan spell with Wigan Athletic of the Championship saw him promoted to the Chelsea first team upon his return in 2019. He won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup with the club in 2021, and was appointed captain in 2023. He led Chelsea to victory at the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup in 2025. After representing England at various youth levels, James made his senior debut in 2020, and went on to appear at UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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Richard Fleischer
Richard Owen Fleischer (; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director. His career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1940s, and lasting through the New Hollywood era, until the late 1980s. He was the son of animation pioneer Max Fleischer, and served as chairman of Fleischer Studios. Fleischer began his career in B department of RKO Pictures, mainly directing noirs and crime dramas like The Narrow Margin (1952). Though he went on to direct films across many genres and styles, he is best known for his big-budget "tentpole" films and star vehicles, including: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), The Vikings (1958), Barabbas (1961), Fantastic Voyage (1966), Doctor Dolittle (1967), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Soylent Green (1973), Mandingo (1975), and the Robert E. Howard sword-and-sorcery films Conan the Destroyer (1984) and Red Sonja (1985). He is also known for his informal series of true crime films — The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955), based on the Nesbit-Thaw scandal; Compulsion (1959), based on the Leopold and Loeb trial; The Boston Strangler (1968), based on the early 1960s serial killer; and 10 Rillington Place (1971), based on John Christie. Early in his career, he directed the Oscar-winning documentary Design for Death (1947). Noted for his versatility, Fleischer was popular among producers and studios, earning a reputation as a reliable journeyman. Though he was not considered an auteur and was never a highly acclaimed artist in his lifetime, many of Fleischer's films proved very financially and critically successful, winning accolades and being some of the highest-grossing features of their respective release years.
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Rick Baker
Richard Alan Baker (born December 8, 1950) is an American actor and retired special make-up effects creator. He is mostly known for his creature designs and effects. Baker has won the Academy Award for Best Makeup a record seven times from a record eleven nominations, beginning with his win in the first year of the category's existence, for the 1981 horror comedy An American Werewolf in London.
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Rob Byrnes
Robert Charles "Rob" Byrnes Jr. (born December 8, 1958) is a 21st-century gay American, novelist and blogger, whose fiction focuses primarily on gay men and other sexual minorities. He serves on the Steering Committee for The Publishing Triangle, and was also a member of the Executive Council of the International Association of Crime Writers/North American Branch from 2011 to 2015.
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Ryan Newman
Ryan Joseph Newman (born December 8, 1977), nicknamed "Rocket Man", is an American professional stock car racing driver that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2000 to 2023. He claimed 18 official wins including the 2008 Daytona 500 and 2013 Brickyard 400, as well as 117 top-fives, 51 pole positions, and a non-points win at the 2002 Winston. Newman was runner-up in 2014, and ranked sixth in 2002, 2003, and 2005. Newman currently competes in the SMART Modified Tour for Coulter Motorsports.
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Rüdiger von der Goltz
Gustav Adolf Joachim Rüdiger Graf von der Goltz (8 December 1865 – 4 November 1946) was a German army general during the First World War. He commanded the Baltic Sea Division, which intervened decisively in the Finnish Civil War in the spring of 1918, landing at Hanko and capturing Helsinki. After the armistice Goltz remained in Finland until December 1918, exercising significant political influence; the Quartermaster General of the White Army, Hannes Ignatius, described him as the "true regent of Finland". In 1919 he commanded German and Baltic German forces in Latvia, defeating the Bolsheviks and capturing Riga, before being recalled under Allied pressure in October 1919. After the war he was active in right-wing nationalist politics in Germany, participating in the Kapp Putsch and later the Harzburg Front.
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Sammy Davis Jr.
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian and dancer. Known as "Mr. Entertainment" and "Mister Show Business", Davis was regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century and as a black entertainer, he helped to break racial barriers in several venues, including nightclubs, music, film and television. Davis began his career at the age of two in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and Will Mastin in the Will Mastin Trio. At seven, he started his film career with the musical shorts Rufus Jones for President and Seasoned Greetings. In 1951, Davis's career breakthrough came after he and the Will Mastin Trio opened for Janis Paige the week before the 23rd Academy Awards at the Hollywood nightclub Ciro's. Three years later he became the first black entertainer to headline a show in Las Vegas and two years later starred in his first Broadway musical, Mr. Wonderful. After starring in his first box-office film, Anna Lucasta (1958), Davis earned rave reviews for his role in Porgy and Bess (1959). A year later he became a member of the Rat Pack alongside lifelong friends Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. In 1964, he returned to Broadway in the musical adaptation of Clifford Odets's Golden Boy, which featured the first interracial kiss in a Broadway play and won Davis a Tony Award nomination. Two years after that, Davis hosted his own variety series. Davis also became a successful recording artist. His 1955 debut album, Starring Sammy Davis Jr., spawned hits such as "Hey There" and "The Birth of the Blues" and topped the Billboard pop albums chart. His other hits included "Something's Gotta Give", "That Old Black Magic" and the Grammy Award-nominated "What Kind of Fool Am I?". Later hits "I've Gotta Be Me", "The Candy Man" (his only number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100) and "Mr. Bojangles" became his signature songs. In 1954, at the age of 29, Davis lost his left eye in a car accident. Three years later, Davis faced backlash for his involvement with white actress Kim Novak at a time when interracial relationships were taboo in the U.S. and when interracial marriage was not yet legalized nationwide (until 1967). In 1960, Davis converted to Judaism, finding commonalities between the oppression experienced by both African Americans and Jewish Americans. One day on a golf course with Jack Benny, he was asked what his handicap was. "Handicap?" he asked. "Talk about handicap. I'm a one-eyed Negro who's Jewish." This was to become a signature comment. After reuniting with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in 1987, Davis toured with them and Liza Minnelli internationally before his death from lung cancer in 1990. He died in debt to the Internal Revenue Service, and his estate was the subject of legal battles after the death of his wife. Davis was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Primetime Emmy Award for his television performances. He was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1987, and in 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2017, Davis was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
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Scott McTominay
Scott Francis McTominay (born 8 December 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Napoli. Born in England, he plays for the Scotland national team. McTominay played for Manchester United's youth academy and made his senior debut for the club in May 2017. He went on to make more than 250 appearances for United, winning the FA Cup and the EFL Cup. In 2024, McTominay signed for Napoli in a £25.7 million transfer; he emerged as a focal player to the club winning the Serie A title in his debut season, being named the league's Most Valuable Player and receiving a nomination for the Ballon d'Or. Born in Lancashire, England, McTominay qualified to play for Scotland through his father. He has been capped more than 70 times since making his senior international debut in March 2018, and has represented Scotland at Euro 2020, Euro 2024 and the 2026 World Cup.
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Stephen Jefferies
Stephen Thomas Jefferies (born 8 December 1959) is a former South African first-class cricketer.
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Steve Atkinson
Stephen Robert Atkinson (born 8 December 1952) is an English-born former cricketer who represented both the Netherlands and Hong Kong in international cricket. A right-handed batsman, he also played minor counties cricket for Durham and played for the second XIs of first-class counties Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.
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Steve Elkington
Stephen John Elkington (born 8 December 1962) is an Australian professional golfer on the PGA Tour Champions. Formerly on the PGA Tour, he spent more than fifty weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking from 1995 to 1998. Elkington won a major title at the PGA Championship in 1995, and is a two-time winner of The Players Championship.
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Sun Li-jen
Sun Li-jen (traditional Chinese: 孫立人; simplified Chinese: 孙立人; pinyin: Sūn Lìrén; art name Chung-neng (仲能; Zhòngnéng); courtesy name Fu-min (撫民; Fǔmín); December 8, 1900 – November 19, 1990) was a Chinese National Revolutionary Army general best known for his leadership in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. His military achievements earned him the laudatory nickname "Rommel of the East". Sun's commands were credited with effectively confronting Japanese troops in the 1937 Battle of Shanghai and in 1943–1944 during the Burma campaign; his New 1st Army was known as the "Best Army under heaven" (天下第一軍). A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Sun did not have the full confidence of Chiang Kai-shek, possibly because of his foreign military training. He was relieved of battle command in the Chinese Civil War in 1946, and although he was made commander-in-chief in 1950 after the retreat of the Nationalist government to Taiwan, he was given only ceremonial roles. He was charged with conspiracy in 1955 and spent 33 years under virtual house arrest, released only after president Chiang Ching-kuo's death in 1988.
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Sunghoon
Park Sung-hoon (Korean: 박성훈; born December 8, 2002), known mononymously as Sunghoon, is a South Korean singer and former figure skater. He competed as a figure skater from 2010 to early 2020; while simultaneously being a K-pop trainee since 2018. He retired from the sport and debuted as a member of the South Korean boy band Enhypen from the survival show I-Land in November 2020. Sunghoon is the 2016–2017 junior silver medalist and the 2015 novice gold medalist of Asian Figure Skating Trophy, and the 2015 novice gold medalist of Lombardia Trophy. He also won silver medals at the 2013 novice competition and the 2014 junior competition of South Korean Figure Skating Championships.
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Thatcher Demko
Thatcher Douglas Demko (born December 8, 1995) is an American professional ice hockey player who is a goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Demko was selected by the Canucks in the second round (36th overall) of the 2014 NHL entry draft.
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Tuomas Bryggari
Tuomas Bryggari (8 December 1881 – 31 October 1964) was a Finnish trade unionist, politician and member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he represented Vaasa Province East between September 1922 and July 1948. Prior to being elected, he was imprisoned for political reasons following the Finnish Civil War.
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Victor Nosach
Victor Ivanovich Nosach (December 8, 1929, in Fyodorovka village in Novovodolazhskiy district of Kharkiv Oblast – May 7, 2011 in Saint-Petersburg, Russia) was a Soviet and Russian historian, Doctor of Historian Sciences, Member of the Academy of Humanitarian Sciences, Honored Scientist of Russian Federation. Known as a chronicler of the history of workers and trade union of Russia, he created the fundamentals of the science of trade unions in Soviet Union. He worked in Leningrad High Trade Union School of Culture, Saint-Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences.
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Wang Anshi
Wang Anshi ([wǎŋ ánʂɨ̌]; Chinese: 王安石; December 8, 1021 – May 21, 1086), courtesy name Jiefu (介甫), art name Banshan (半山), was a Chinese politician, poet, philosopher, and economist during the Song dynasty. He served as chancellor and attempted major and controversial socioeconomic reforms known as the New Policies. These reforms constituted the core concepts of the Song-dynasty Reformists, in contrast to their rivals, the Conservatives, led by the Chancellor Sima Guang. Wang Anshi's ideas are usually analyzed in terms of the influence the Rites of Zhou or Legalism had on him. His economic reforms included increased currency circulation, breaking up of private monopolies, and early forms of government regulation and social welfare. His military reforms expanded the use of local militias, and his government reforms expanded the education system and attempted to suppress nepotism in government. Although successful for a while, he eventually fell out of favor with the emperor.
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Warren Cuccurullo
Warren Bruce Cuccurullo (born December 8, 1956) is an American musician, songwriter, restaurant owner, and former bodybuilder who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s. In 1989, Cuccurullo joined Duran Duran, becoming a long-term member of the band until 2001. In 2022, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Duran Duran.
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Wifredo Lam
Wifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla (Chinese: 林飛龍; Jyutping: lam4 fei1lung4; December 8, 1902 – September 11, 1982), better known as Wifredo Lam, was a Cuban artist who sought to portray and revive the enduring Afro-Cuban spirit and culture. Inspired by and in contact with some of the most renowned artists of the 20th century, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera, Lam melded his influences and created a unique style, which was ultimately characterized by the prominence of hybrid figures. This distinctive visual style of his also influenced many artists. Though he was predominantly a painter, he also worked with sculpture, ceramics, and printmaking in his later life.
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William C. Durant
William Crapo Durant (December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was an American businessman. A leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry, he was the founder of General Motors and a co-founder of Chevrolet. He created a system in which a company held multiple brands – each seemingly independent, with different automobile lines – bound under a unified corporate holding company. He also founded Frigidaire.
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Yuliya Krevsun
Yuliya Krevsun (nee Gurtovenko; born on 8 December 1980) is a Ukrainian middle-distance running athlete who specialises in the 800 metres. She is a member of Fenerbahçe Athletics club in Turkey. She won the silver medal at the 1999 European Athletics Junior Championships. In 2002–03 she competed in the European Championships and World Championships but began feeling tired of athletics. She gave up competitive athletics and settled down into family life, giving birth to her first child in 2005. However, in late 2005 she began feeling drawn back to running and started training with Olympic medallist Iryna Lishchynska. She regained full fitness in 2007 and won silver at the 2007 European Cup and gold at the 2007 Summer Universiade. After a poor performance at the 2007 World Championships, she rebounded in 2008, reaching the 800 metres final at the Beijing Olympics and competing at the World Athletics Final. She won the gold medal at the 2009 European Team Championships in Leiria, and finish fourth in the 800 metres final at the World Championships that year.
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Zelma Watson George
Zelma Watson George (December 8, 1903 – July 3, 1994) was an African-American philanthropist who was famous for being an alternate in the United Nations General Assembly and as a headliner in Gian Carlo Menotti's opera The Medium in 1949, the first African-American to play a role that was typically played by a white actress.
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