21December Births

December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 10 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday (58 in 400 years each) than on Saturday or Sunday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Tuesday or Thursday (56).

968 –Minamoto no Yorinobu, Japanese samurai (d. 1048)
1118 – Thomas Becket, English archbishop and saint (d. 1170)
1401 – Masaccio, Italian painter (d. 1428)
1596 – Peter Mogila, Romanian-Ukrainian metropolitan and saint (d. 1646)
1603 – Roger Williams, English minister, theologian, and politician, 9th President of the Colony of Rhode Island (d. 1684)
1672 – Benjamin Schmolck, German pastor and composer (d. 1737)
1714 – John Bradstreet, Canadian-English general (d. 1774)
1728 – Hermann Raupach, German harpsichord player and composer (d. 1778)
1778 – Anders Sandøe Ørsted, Danish jurist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1860)
1795 – Jack Russell, English priest, hunter, and dog breeder (d. 1883)
1795 – Leopold von Ranke, German historian, author, and academic (d. 1886)
1803 – Achille Vianelli, Italian painter and academic (d. 1894)
1804 – Benjamin Disraeli, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1881)
1805 – Thomas Graham, Scottish chemist and academic (d. 1869)
1811 – Archibald Tait, Scottish-English archbishop (d. 1882)
1815 – Thomas Couture, French painter and educator (d. 1879)
1820 – William H. Osborn, American businessman (d. 1894)
1830 – Bartolomé Masó, Cuban soldier and politician (d. 1907)
1832 – John H. Ketcham, American general and politician (d. 1906)
1840 – Namık Kemal, Turkish journalist, playwright, and activist (d. 1888)
1843 – Thomas Bracken, Irish-New Zealand journalist, poet, and politician (d. 1898)
1850 – Zdeněk Fibich, Czech composer and poet (d. 1900)
1851 – Thomas Chipman McRae, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Arkansas (d. 1929)
1859 – Gustave Kahn, French poet and critic (d. 1936)
1866 – Maud Gonne, Irish nationalist activist (d. 1953)
1868 – George W. Fuller, American chemist and engineer (d. 1934)
1872 – Trevor Kincaid, Canadian-American zoologist and academic (d. 1970)
1872 – Lorenzo Perosi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1956)
1872 – Albert Payson Terhune, American journalist and author (d. 1942)
1873 – Blagoje Bersa, Croatian composer and educator (d. 1934)
1876 – Jack Lang, Australian lawyer and politician, 23rd Premier of New South Wales (d. 1975)
1877 – Jaan Sarv, Estonian mathematician and scholar (d. 1954)
1878 – Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish-Irish mathematician and philosopher (d. 1956)
1885 – Frank Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1960)
1888 – Jean Bouin, French runner and rugby player (d. 1914)
1889 – Sewall Wright, American geneticist and biologist (d. 1988)
1890 – Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
1891 – John William McCormack, American lawyer and politician, 53rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1980)
1892 – Walter Hagen, American golfer (d. 1969)
1892 – Rebecca West, English journalist and author (d. 1983)
1896 – Leroy Robertson, American composer and educator (d. 1971)
1905 – Anthony Powell, English author (d. 2000)
1908 – Herbert Hutner, American banker and lawyer (d. 2008)
1909 – Seichō Matsumoto, Japanese journalist and author (d. 1992)
1911 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (d. 1947)
1913 – Arnold Friberg, American illustrator and painter (d. 2010)
1914 – Frank Fenner, Australian microbiologist and virologist (d. 2010)
1914 – Ivan Generalić, Hungarian-Croatian painter (d. 1992)
1915 – Werner von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 2007)
1917 – Diana Athill, English author
1917 – Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
1918 – Donald Regan, American colonel and politician, 11th White House Chief of Staff (d. 2003)
1918 – Kurt Waldheim, Austrian colonel, war criminal, and politician, 9th President of Austria (d. 2007)
1920 – Adele Goldstine, American computer programmer (d. 1964)
1921 – Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina and choreographer, founded the Cuban National Ballet
1921 – Robert Lipshutz, American lawyer and politician, 17th White House Counsel (d. 2010)
1922 – Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician (d. 1989)
1922 – Paul Winchell, American actor, voice artist, and ventriloquist (d. 2005)
1923 – Richard Hugo American poet (d. 1982)
1924 – Rita Reys, Dutch singer and actress (d. 2013)
1926 – Freddie Hart, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist
1926 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech author and playwright (d. 2011)
1926 – Joe Paterno, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
1928 – Michalis Kounelis, Greek violinist (d. 1999)
1932 – U. R. Ananthamurthy, Indian author, poet, and critic (d. 2014)
1932 – Edward Hoagland, American author and critic
1933 – Denis E. Dillon, American jurist and politician (d. 2010)
1933 – Jackie Hendriks, Jamaican cricketer
1933 – Robert Worcester, American businessman and academic, founded MORI
1934 – Giuseppina Leone, Italian sprinter
1934 – Hanif Mohammad, Pakistani cricketer (d. 2016)
1935 – John G. Avildsen, American director, producer, and cinematographer
1935 – Lorenzo Bandini, Italian race car driver (d. 1967)
1935 – Phil Donahue, American talk show host and producer
1935 – Edward Schreyer, Canadian academic and politician, 22nd Governor General of Canada
1937 – Jane Fonda, American actress, producer, and activist
1937 – Donald F. Munson, American soldier and politician
1938 – Frank Moorhouse, Australian journalist, author, and screenwriter
1938 – John Quayle, English actor
1939 – Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian academic and politician, 2nd Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1939 – Wafic Saïd, Syrian-Saudi Arabian financier, businessman and philanthropist
1940 – Arvi Lind, Finnish journalist
1940 – Kelly Cherry American poet
1940 – Frank Zappa, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1993)
1942 – Hu Jintao, Chinese engineer and politician, 6th President of China
1942 – Anthony Summers, Irish journalist and author
1942 – Carla Thomas, American soul singer
1943 – André Arthur, Canadian journalist and politician
1943 – Albert Lee, English guitarist and songwriter
1943 – Gwen McCrae, American soul singer
1943 – Walter Spanghero, French rugby player
1944 – Bill Atkinson, English footballer and referee (d. 2013)
1944 – Michael Tilson Thomas, American pianist, composer, and conductor
1944 – Zheng Xiaoyu, Chinese diplomat (d. 2007)
1945 – Doug Walters, Australian cricketer
1946 – Roy Karch, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1946 – Christopher Keene, American conductor (d. 1995)
1946 – Kevin Peek, Australian guitarist and songwriter (d. 2013)
1946 – Carl Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998)
1947 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 2014)
1948 – Samuel L. Jackson, American actor and producer
1948 – Dave Kingman, American baseball player
1949 – Thomas Sankara, Burkinabé captain and politician, 5th President of Burkina Faso (d. 1987)
1949 – Nikolaos Sifounakis, Greek lawyer and politician
1950 – Jeffrey Katzenberg, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded DreamWorks Animation
1950 – Lillebjørn Nilsen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Nick Gilder, English-Canadian singer-songwriter
1951 – Steve Perryman, English footballer and manager
1952 – Joaquín Andújar, Dominican baseball player (d. 2015)
1952 – Steve Furniss, American swimmer
1953 – András Schiff, Hungarian-English pianist and conductor
1953 – Betty Wright, American singer-songwriter
1954 – Chris Evert, American tennis player and coach
1955 – Jane Kaczmarek, American actress
1955 – Kazuyuki Sekiguchi, Japanese singer-songwriter and bass player
1956 – Dave Laut, American shot putter (d. 2009)
1957 – Ray Romano, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1958 – Tamara Bykova, Russian high jumper
1959 – Florence Griffith Joyner, American sprinter and actress (d. 1998)
1959 – Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Indian cricketer
1960 – Roger McDowell, American baseball player and coach
1960 – Sherry Rehman, Pakistani journalist, politician, and diplomat, 25th Pakistan Ambassador to the United States
1961 – Henry Ford Kamel, Ghanaian banker and politician (d. 2012)
1961 – Ryuji Sasai, Japanese bass player and composer
1963 – Govinda, Indian actor, singer, and politician
1964 – Joe Kocur, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1964 – Kunihiko Ikuhara, Japanese director and illustrator
1964 – Daniel Suarez, American author
1965 – Andy Dick, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
1965 – Anke Engelke, Canadian-German actress, director, and screenwriter
1966 – Martin Bayfield, English rugby player
1966 – William Ruto, Kenyan politician, Deputy President of Kenya
1966 – Adam Schefter, American journalist and sportscaster
1966 – Kiefer Sutherland, Canadian actor, director, and producer
1967 – Ervin Johnson, American basketball player
1967 – Terry Mills, American basketball player and coach
1967 – Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Georgia
1969 – Julie Delpy, French model, actress, director, and screenwriter
1969 – Mihails Zemļinskis, Latvian footballer, coach, and manager
1971 – Matthieu Chedid, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
1972 – Gloria De Piero, English journalist and politician, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
1972 – Claudia Poll, Nicaraguan-Costa Rican swimmer and sportscaster
1972 – Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, Indian journalist and politician
1973 – Irakli Alasania, Georgian colonel and politician, Georgian Minister of Defense
1974 – Karrie Webb, Australian golfer
1975 – Paloma Herrera, Argentinian ballerina
1977 – Leon MacDonald, New Zealand rugby palyer
1978 – Emiliano Brembilla, Italian swimmer
1979 – Steve Montador, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
1980 – Michele Di Piedi, Italian footballer
1980 – Royce Ring, American baseball player
1981 – Sajid Mahmood, English cricketer
1981 – Cristian Zaccardo, Italian footballer
1982 – Primo, Puerto Rican-Canadian wrestler
1982 – Philip Humber, American baseball player
1982 – Iljo Keisse, Belgian cyclist
1984 – Darren Potter, English footballer
1985 – Tom Sturridge, English actor
1987 – Denis Alekseyev, Russian sprinter
1988 – Perri Shakes-Drayton, English sprinter and hurdler
1994 – Luke Brooks, Australian rugby league player
1995 – Bobby, South Korean-American rapper

Source: Wikipedia