December 24 -

3 BC - 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)
1491 - Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish founder of the Jesuit order (d. 1556)
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)
1635 - Mariana of Austria, second wife of king Philip IV of Spain (d. 1696)
1698 - William Warburton, English Bishop of Gloucester (d. 1779)
1724 - Johann Conrad Ammann, Swiss physician and naturalist (d. 1811)
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)
1812 - Karl Eduard Zachariae, German jurist (d. 1894)
1818 - James Prescott Joule, British physicist (d. 1889)
1822 - Matthew Arnold, British poet (d. 1888)
1837 - Elisabeth of Bavaria a.k.a Sissi, Empress of Austria (d. 1898)
1843 - Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet (d. 1886)
1845 - King George I of Greece (d. 1913)
1867 - Kantaro Suzuki, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
1868 - Emanuel Lasker, German chess player (d. 1941)
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 - 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 - Harry Warren, American composer and lyricist (Chattanooga Choo Choo - I Only Have Eyes for You) (d. 1981)
1894 - Georges Guynemer, French aviator (d. 1917)
1895 - E. Roland Harriman, American financier (d. 1978)
1898 - Héctor Scarone, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1967)
1898 - Baby Dodds, American jazz drummer (d. 1959)
1900 - Joey Smallwood, Canadian politician, Premier of Newfoundland (d. 1991)
1904 - Joseph Moses Juran, American industrial engineer and philanthropist.
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)
1914 - Ralph Marterie, American trumpet player and big band leader (d. 1978)
1914 - Herbert Reinecker, German writer
1917 - Kim Jong-suk, Wife of Kim Il-sung, mother of Kim Jung-Il, "The Heroine of the Anti-Japanese Revolution" (d. 1949)
1920 - Evgeniya Rudneva, Russian World War II heroine (d. 1944)
1922 - Ava Gardner, American actress (d. 1990)
1923 - George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004)
1923 - Michael DiBiase, American wrestler (d. 1969)
1924 - Lee Dorsey, American singer (d. 1986)
1924 - Grigory Kriss, Russian Olympic champion fencer
1925 - Mohd. Rafi, Indian actor and playback singer (d. 1980)
1926 - Paul Buissonneau, French-born Quebec theatre director
1929 - Mary Higgins Clark, American author
1931 - Mauricio Kagel, Argentine composer
1931 - Ray Bryant, American jazz pianist and composer
1932 - On Kawara, Japanese conceptual artist
1937 - Félix Miéli Venerando, Brazilian football player
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
1941 - John Levene, British actor
1943 - Tarja Halonen, President of Finland
1944 - Daniel Johnson, Jr., Quebec politician, Premier of Quebec
1944 - Mike Curb, American musician, record company executive and politician
1944 - Oswald Gracias, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bombay
1944 - Barry Chuckle, British comedian
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
1947 - Kevin Sheedy, coach of Australian Football League club Essendon FC
1948 - Frank Oliver, New Zealand rugby player
1949 - Randy Neugebauer, American politician
1949 - Warwick Brown, Australian racing driver
1950 - Dana Gioia, American poet
1951 - John D'Acquisto, baseball player
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
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 Republic
1961 - Jay Wright, American basketball coach
1963 - Mary Ramsey, American singer (10,000 Maniacs)
1963 - Caroline Aherne, British comedienne, writer and actress
1964 - Mark Valley, American actor
1966 - Diedrich Bader, American actor
1967 - Mikhail Shchennikov, Russian race walker
1968 - Doyle Bramhall II, American guitarist
1969 - Mark Millar, Scottish comic book writer
1970 - Amaury Nolasco, American actor
1970 - Will Oldham, American singer and songwriter
1971 - Christopher Daniels, American professional wrestler
1971 - Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican singer
1971 - Giorgos Alkaios, Greek singer
1972 - Alvaro Mesen, Costa Rican footballer
1973 - Eddie Pope, American soccer player
1973 - Stephenie Meyer, Author
1974 - Marcelo Salas, Chilean footballer
1974 - Ryan Seacrest, American television host
1978 - Yıldıray Baştürk, Turkish footballer
1979 - Chris Hero, American professional wrestler
1980 - Tomas Kalnoky, American musician (Streetlight Manifesto)
1981 - Dima Bilan, Karachay-Russian pop artist
1982 - Aiba Masaki, Japanese singer and actor
1985 - David Ragan, American race car driver
1986 - Edward Southall, British composer
1986 - Riyo Mori, Miss Universe 2007 from Japan

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