December 24 - Births

Births

3 BC – Servius Sulpicius Galba, Roman Emperor (d. 69)
1166 – King John of England (d. 1216)
1389 – John VI, Duke of Brittany (d. 1442)
1475 – Thomas Murner, German writer (d. c. 1537)
1508 – Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian humanist (d. 1567)
1588 – Constance of Austria, queen of Poland (d. 1631)
1609 – Philip Warwick, English writer and politician (d. 1683)
1625 – Johann Rudolph Ahle, German composer, organist, theorist, and Protestant church musician (d. 1673)
1635 – Mariana of Austria, second wife of king Philip IV of Spain (d. 1696)
1679 – Domenico Sarro, Italian composer (d. 1744)
1698 – William Warburton, English Bishop of Gloucester (d. 1779)
1724 – Johann Conrad Ammann, Swiss physician and naturalist (d. 1811)
1726 – Johann Hartmann, Danish composer (d. 1793)
1745 – Benjamin Rush, doctor and Founding Father of the United States (d. 1813)
1754 – George Crabbe, British poet and naturalist (d. 1832)
1761 – Jean-Louis Pons, French astronomer (d. 1831)
1784 – Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia (d. 1803)
1798 – Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet (d. 1855)
1809 – Kit Carson, American frontiersman (d. 1868)
1810 – Wilhelm Marstrand, Danish painter (d. 1873)
1812 – Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal, German jurist (d. 1894)
1818 – James Prescott Joule, British physicist (d. 1889)
1822 – Matthew Arnold, British poet (d. 1888)
1837 – Elisabeth of Bavaria, also known as Sissi, Empress of Austria (d. 1898)
1843 – Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet (d. 1886)
1845 – King George I of Greece (d. 1913)
1867 – Kantarō Suzuki, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
1868 – Emanuel Lasker, German chess player (d. 1941)
1872 – Adam Gunn, American athlete (d. 1935)
1872 – Frederick Semple, American golfer and tennis player (d. 1927)
1875 – Émile Wegelin, French rower (d. 1962)
1877 – Sigrid Schauman, Finnish painter (d. 1979)
1879 – Otto Fickeisen, German rower (d. 1963)
1879 – Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, Queen Consort to Christian X (d. 1952)
1879 – Émile Nelligan, Quebec poet (d. 1941)
1880 – Johnny Gruelle, American cartoonist, children's book writer and creator of Raggedy Ann (d. 1939)
1881 – Charles Wakefield Cadman, American composer (d. 1946)
1881 – Juan Ramón Jiménez, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
1886 – Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-born director (d. 1962)
1887 – Louis Jouvet, French actor and producer (d. 1951)
1893 – Ruth Chatterton, American actress (d. 1961)
1893 – Harry Warren, American composer and lyricist (Chattanooga Choo Choo – I Only Have Eyes for You) (d. 1981)
1894 – Georges Guynemer, French aviator (d. 1917)
1894 – Jack Thayer, RMS Titanic survivor (d. 1945)
1895 – E. Roland Harriman, American financier (d. 1978)
1895 – Noel Streatfeild, English children's writer (d. 1986)
1896 – Jens Oliver Lisberg, Faroese law student, designer of the Flag of the Faroe Islands (d. 1920)
1898 – Baby Dodds, American jazz drummer (d. 1959)
1898 – Héctor Scarone, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1967)
1900 – Joey Smallwood, Canadian politician, Premier of Newfoundland (d. 1991)
1903 – Ava Helen Pauling, American human rights activist (d. 1981)
1904 – Joseph Moses Juran, American industrial engineer and philanthropist (d. 2008)
1905 – Howard Hughes, American film producer and inventor (d. 1976)
1906 – Franz Waxman, German film composer (d. 1967)
1907 – I. F. Stone, American journalist (d. 1989)
1910 – Fritz Leiber, American writer (d. 1992)
1910 – Max Miedinger, typeface designer, famous for creating Helvetica in 1957. (d. 1980)
1914 – Ralph Marterie, American trumpet player and big band leader (d. 1978)
1914 – Herbert Reinecker, German writer (d. 2007)
1919 – Qateel Shifai, Pakistani Urdu poet, Lyricist (d. 11 July 2001)
1920 – Franco Lucentini, Italian writer (d. 2002)
1920 – Yevgeniya Rudneva, Russian World War II heroine (d. 1944)
1922 – Ava Gardner, American actress (d. 1990)
1923 – Michael DiBiase, American wrestler (d. 1969)
1923 – George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004)
1924 – Lee Dorsey, American singer (d.1986)
1924 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian actor and playback singer (d. 1980)
1924 – Norman Rossington, British actor (d. 1999)
1926 – Paul Buissonneau, French-born Quebec theatre director
1927 – Mary Higgins Clark, American author
1930 – Robert Joffrey, American choreographer (d. 1988)
1931 – Ray Bryant, American jazz pianist and composer
1931 – Mauricio Kagel, Argentine composer (d. 2008)
1932 – On Kawara, Japanese conceptual artist
1934 – Stjepan Mesić, president of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Secretary General of Non-Aligned Movement and president of Croatia
1937 – Félix Miéli Venerando, Brazilian footballer (d. 2012)
1938 – Bobby Henrich, American baseball player
1938 – Valentim Loureiro, Portuguese politician, and former football chairman of Boavista F.C. and Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional
1940 – Janet Carroll, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
1941 – John Levene, British actor
1942 – Jonathan Borofsky, American artist
1942 – Doan Viet Hoat, Vietnamese dissident journalist
1943 – Tarja Halonen, President of Finland
1944 – Barry Chuckle, British comedian
1944 – Mike Curb, American musician, record company executive and politician
1944 – Oswald Gracias, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bombay
1944 – Daniel Johnson, Jr., Quebec politician, Premier of Quebec
1945 – Lemmy, British singer, bassist (Motörhead)
1945 – Nicholas Meyer, American author
1945 – Steve Smith, Canadian Comedian, The New Red Green Show, Duct Tape Forever
1946 – Brenda Howard, American bisexual activist (d. 2005)
1946 – Jeff Sessions, American politician
1946 – Jan Akkerman, Dutch guitarist, Focus
1947 – Kevin Sheedy, coach of Australian Football League club Essendon FC
1948 – Frank Oliver, New Zealand rugby player
1949 – Warwick Brown, Australian racing driver
1949 – Randy Neugebauer, American politician
1950 – Dana Gioia, American poet
1951 – John D'Acquisto, baseball player
1952 – Christopher Buckley, American author and political commentator
1953 – Timothy Carhart, American actor
1953 – François Loos, French politician
1954 – José María Figueres, Costa Rican politician
1955 – Grand L. Bush, American actor
1955 – Clarence Gilyard, American actor
1957 – Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan
1957 – Diane Tell, Quebec singer
1958 – Munetaka Higuchi, Japanese drummer (d. 2008)
1958 – Paul Pressey, American basketball player
1958 – Gene Sperling, American economist and government official
1959 – Keith Deller, British darts player
1959 – Anil Kapoor, Indian actor
1960 – Glenn McQueen, American animator (d. 2002)
1960 – Carol Vorderman, British television presenter
1961 – Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan
1961 – Jay Wright, American basketball coach
1963 – Caroline Aherne, British comedienne, writer and actress
1963 – Jay Bilas, American basketball analyst
1963 – Mary Ramsey, American singer (10,000 Maniacs)
1964 – Mark Valley, American actor
1965 – Millard Powers, American musician (Counting Crows)
1966 – Diedrich Bader, American actor
1967 – Mikhail Shchennikov, Russian race walker
1968 – Choi Jin-sil, South Korean actress and model (d. 2008)
1968 – Doyle Bramhall II, American guitarist
1968 – Marleen Renders, Belgian athlete
1969 – Brad Anderson, American professional wrestler
1969 – Sean Michael, South African actor
1969 – Ed Miliband, British politician
1969 – Mark Millar, Scottish comic book writer
1970 – Amaury Nolasco, American actor
1970 – Will Oldham, American singer and songwriter
1971 – Giorgos Alkaios, Greek singer
1971 – Christopher Daniels, American professional wrestler
1971 – Sascha Fischer, German rugby player
1971 – Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican singer
1971 – Oro, Mexican professional wrestler (d. 1993)
1972 – Alvaro Mesen, Costa Rican footballer
1972 – Klaus Schnellenkamp, German-Chilean author
1973 – Stephenie Meyer, American author
1973 – Eddie Pope, American soccer player
1973 – Ali Salem Tamek, Sahrawi independence activist
1974 – Thure Lindhardt, Danish actor
1974 – Marcelo Salas, Chilean footballer
1974 – Ryan Seacrest, American television host
1976 – Yuri, Korean singer
1978 – Yıldıray Baştürk, Turkish footballer
1978 – Warren Tredrea, Australian rules footballer
1979 – Chris Hero, American professional wrestler
1980 – Tomas Kalnoky, Czech musician (Streetlight Manifesto)
1981 – Dima Bilan, Russian pop artist
1981 – Shane Tuck, Australian rules footballer
1982 – Robert Carmine, American singer
1982 – Masaki Aiba, Japanese singer and actor (Arashi)
1985 – Alexey Dmitriev, German ice hockey player
1985 – David Ragan, American race car driver
1986 – Tim Elliott, American Mixed Martial Artist
1986 – Kyrylo Fesenko, Ukrainian basketball player
1986 – Riyo Mori, Japanese model
1987 – Jane Summersett, American ice dancer
1988 – Stefanos Athanasiadis, Greek footballer
1988 – Simon Zenke, Nigerian footballer
1991 – Wasim Tareen, Pakistani footballer
1992 – Melissa Suffield, English actress
1995 – Anett Kontaveit, Estonian tennis player
2000 – Ethan Bortnick, American musician