December 31 - Births

Births

695 – Muhammad bin Qasim, Syrian general (d. 715)
1378 – Pope Callixtus III (d. 1458)
1491 – Jacques Cartier, French explorer (d. 1557)
1514 – Andreas Vesalius, Flemish anatomist (d. 1564)
1552 – Simon Forman, English occultist and astrologer (d. 1611)
1572 – Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan, (d. 1617)
1585 – Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, (d. 1645)
1668 – Herman Boerhaave, Dutch humanist and physician (d. 1738)
1704 – Carl Gotthelf Gerlach, German organist (d. 1761)
1720 – Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (d. 1788)
1738 – Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British general (d. 1805)
1741 – Isabella Maria of Parma, wife of future Holy Roman emperor (d. 1763)
1741 – Gottfried August Bürger, German poet d.(1794)
1763 – Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (d. 1806)
1805 – Marie d'Agoult, French author (d.1876)
1815 – George Meade, American Civil War general (d. 1872)
1830 – Isma'il Pasha, Governor of Egypt (d. 1895)
1830 – Alexander Smith, Scottish poet (d. 1867)
1851 – Henry Carter Adams, American economist (d. 1921)
1855 – Giovanni Pascoli, Italian poet (d. 1912)
1857 – King Kelly, American baseball player (d. 1894)
1860 – Joseph S. Cullinan, American oil industrialist (d. 1937)
1864 – Robert Grant Aitken, American astronomer (d. 1951)
1869 – Henri Matisse, French painter (d. 1954)
1877 – Lawrence Beesley, English journalist and author (d. 1967)
1878 – Elizabeth Arden, Canadian businesswoman (d. 1966)
1878 – Horacio Quiroga, Uruguayan-Argentinian writer (d. 1937)
1880 – Fred Beebe, American baseball player (d. 1957)
1880 – George C. Marshall, United States Secretary of State, Nobel Laureate (d. 1959)
1881 – Max Pechstein, German painter (d. 1955)
1882 – Martin O'Meara, Australian soldier (d. 1935)
1884 – Bobby Byrne, American baseball player (d. 1964)
1885 – Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1970)
1899 – Silvestre Revueltas, Mexican composer (d. 1940)
1901 – Julia Bathory, Hungarian glass designer(d. 2000)
1901 – Nikos Ploumpidis, Greek resistance fighter (d. 1954)
1902 – Lionel Daunais, French-Canadian singer and composer (d. 1982)
1903 – Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian violinist (d. 1992)
1904 – Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer and actress (d. 1975)
1905 – Jule Styne, English-born composer (d. 1994)
1908 – Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian Holocaust survivor (d. 2005)
1909 – Jonah Jones, American jazz trumpeter (d. 2000)
1910 – Carl Dudley, American film director (d. 1973)
1911 – Dal Stivens, Australian novelist (d. 1997)
1912 – Maj-Gen John Frost, British para commander (d. 1993)
1915 – Sam Ragan, American author, journalist and poet (d. 1996)
1917 – Wilfrid Noyce, English mountaineer (d. 1962)
1919 – Tommy Byrne, American baseball player (d. 2007)
1920 – Rex Allen, American actor, singer, and songwriter (d. 1999)
1924 – Taylor Mead, American actor
1926 – Billy Snedden, Australian politician (d. 1987)
1928 – Siné, French cartoonist
1929 – Mies Bouwman, Dutch television personality
1930 – Odetta, American singer (d. 2008)
1930 – Jaime Escalante, American teacher (d. 2010)
1931 – Bob Shaw, Irish writer (d. 1996)
1933 – Edward Bunker, American author and actor (d. 2005)
1934 – Akram Awan, Islamic scholar
1934 – Noel Tyl, American astrologer
1937 – Avram Hershko, Israeli biologist, Nobel laureate
1937 – Sir Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor
1937 – Barry Hughes, Welsh professional football player and manager and entertainer
1938 – Rosalind Cash, American actress (d. 1995)
1940 – Mani Neumeier, German musician (Guru Guru)
1941 – Sean S. Cunningham, American film director
1941 – Alex Ferguson, Scottish football manager
1941 – Sarah Miles, English actress
1942 – Andy Summers, British guitarist (The Police)
1943 – John Denver, American singer and songwriter (d. 1997)
1943 – Sir Ben Kingsley, English actor
1943 – Pete Quaife, English bassist (The Kinks) (d. 2010)
1944 – Taylor Hackford, American producer and director
1944 – Neil Ross, British-American voice actor
1945 – Diane von Fürstenberg, Belgian-born fashion designer
1945 – Barbara Carrera, Nicaraguan actress and model
1945 – Connie Willis, American writer
1946 – Pius Ncube, Zimbabwean human rights advocate
1947 – Burton Cummings, Canadian keyboardist (The Guess Who)
1947 – Rita Lee, Brazilian rock singer
1947 – Tim Matheson, American actor
1948 – Joe Dallesandro American actor
1948 – René Robert, National Hockey League player
1948 – Donna Summer, American singer (d. 2012)
1949 – Ellen Datlow, American editor
1949 – Seub Nakhasathien, Thai conservationist (d. 1990)
1949 – Susan Shwartz, American writer
1951 – Tom Hamilton, American bassist (Aerosmith)
1952 – Vaughan F. R. Jones, New Zealand mathematician
1953 – James Remar, American actor
1953 – Jane Badler, American actress
1953 – Michael Hedges, American composer, singer-songwriter, guitarist (d. 1997)
1954 – Alex Salmond, Scottish politician
1954 – Hermann Tilke, German racing circuit architect
1956 – Steve Rude, American comics artist
1958 – Bebe Neuwirth, American actress
1959 – Liveris Andritsos, Greek basketball player
1959 – Alfie Anido, Filipino actor (d. 1981)
1959 – Val Kilmer, American actor
1959 – Phill Kline, American politician
1959 – Baron Waqa, Nauruan politician and musician
1959 – Paul Westerberg, American musician (The Replacements)
1960 – John Allen Muhammad, American spree killer (d. 2009)
1960 – Steve Bruce, English footballer
1961 – Rick Aguilera, American baseball player
1961 – Nina Li Chi, Chinese actress
1962 – Tyrone Corbin, American basketball player
1962 – Don Diamont, American actor
1962 – Heather McCartney, British activist
1963 – Scott Ian, American guitarist (Anthrax)
1963 – Konishiki, American sumo wrestler
1964 – Michael McDonald, American actor-comedian
1965 – Tony Dorigo, English footballer
1965 – Julie Doucet, Canadian underground cartoonist
1965 – Gong Li, Chinese actress
1965 – Nicholas Sparks, American author
1966 – Lisa Joyner, American entertainment reporter
1968 – Gerry Dee, Canadian comedian and actor
1968 – Luciano Szafir, Brazilian actor
1969 – Dominik Diamond, Scottish presenter and newspaper columnist
1969 – Are Kalvø, Norwegian writer and satirist
1969 – Lance Reddick, American actor
1970 – Jorjão, Brazilian footballer
1970 – Sven Kretschmer, German footballer
1970 – Danny McNamara, Lead singer of English band Embrace
1970 – Carlos Morales Quintana, husband of Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark
1970 – Bryon Russell, American basketball player
1971 – Brent Barry, American basketball player
1971 – Esteban Loaiza, Mexican Major League Baseball player
1972 – Joey McIntyre, American singer (New Kids on the Block)
1973 – Shandon Anderson, American basketball player
1973 – Crystal Knight, American pornographic actress and model
1973 – Malcolm Middleton, Scottish musician (Arab Strap)
1974 – Mario Aerts, Belgian cyclist
1974 – Tony Kanaan, Brazilian racing driver
1974 – Ryan Sakoda, Japanese American professional wrestler
1975 – Rami Alanko, Finnish ice hockey player
1975 – Toni Kuivasto, Finnish footballer
1975 – Rob Penders, Dutch footballer
1975 – Sander Schutgens, Dutch runner
1976 – Luis Carreira, Portuguese motorcycle racer (d. 2012)
1976 – Craig Reucassel, Australian comedian, member of The Chaser
1977 – Psy, South Korean singer and rapper
1977 – Wardy Alfaro, Costa Rican footballer
1977 – Donald Trump Jr., son of Donald Trump and Ivana Trump
1978 – Papoose, American rapper
1978 – Johnny Sins, Pornographic actor
1979 – Elaine Cassidy, Irish actress
1979 – Paul O'Neill, British racing driver
1980 – Matthew Capiccioni, American professional wrestler
1980 – Jesse Carlson, American baseball player
1980 – Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby player
1980 – Carsten Schlangen, German athlete
1981 – Jason Campbell, American football player
1982 – Bryce Avary, The Rocket Summer, American musician
1982 – Julio DePaula, Dominican baseball player
1982 – Craig Gordon, Scottish footballer
1982 – Luke Schenscher, Australian basketball player
1983 – Mariana Renata, French-Indonesian actress
1984 – Brittany Beede, American wrestler and model
1984 – Édgar Lugo, Mexican footballer
1984 – Paul Rodriguez Jr., American skateboarder
1985 – Jan Smit, Dutch singer
1986 – Bronson Pelletier, Canadian actor
1987 – Javaris Crittenton, American basketball player
1987 – Danny Holla, Dutch footballer
1987 – Émilie Le Pennec, French gymnast
1990 – Patrick Chan, Canadian figure skater
1991 – Camila Giorgi, Italian tennis player
1991 – Bojana Jovanovski, Serbian tennis player
1995 – Gabby Douglas, American gymnast
1996 – Altay Akça, Turkish person
2005 – Lakshmi Tatma, Indian deformed girl