- 1488 Ulrich von Hutten, German scholar and poet, born in Schlüchtern, Hesse
- 1555 Ludovico Carracci, Italian painter, born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1619)
- 1619 Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Colony (Cape Town), born in Culemborg (d. 1677)
- 1651 Joseph Vaz, Oratorian priest and missionary in Ceylon, born in Benaulim, Goa, Portuguese India (d. 1711)
- 1652 Michel Rolle, French mathematician (Rolle's theorem), born in Ambert, Basse-Auvergne (d. 1719)
- 1671 John Law, Scottish economist and author (Money and Trade Considered), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1729)
- 1673 Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Holy Roman Empire Empress, born in Hanover, Germany (d. 1742)
- 1713 Louis de Noailles, Marshal of France, born in Versailles, France (d. 1793)
Catherine the Great (1729-1796)
German-born Empress of Russia (1762-96) who expanded the Russian empire, born in Stettin, Kingdom of Prussia
- 1774 Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist (Biot-Savart law), born in Paris (d. 1862)
- 1775 Alexander Anderson, American engraver and illustrator (Shakespeare), born in NYC, New York (d. 1870)
- 1795 Vincenzo Pallotti, Italian saint (founder of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate), born in Rome (d. 1850)
- 1803 Levin Minn Powell, American Commander (Union Navy), born in Winchester, Winchester City, Virginia (d. 1885)
- 1806 Peter van Schendel, Dutch-Belgian painter (Monsieur Chandelle), born in Terheijden, Netherlands (d. 1870)
- 1809 Robert M. T. Hunter, American lawyer and politician (2nd Confederate States Secretary of State), born in Loretto, Virginia (d. 1887)
- 1810 John Putnam Chapin, American politician (10th Mayor of Chicago (1846-47), born in Bradford, Vermont (d. 1864)
- 1811 Alson Sherman, American politician (8th Mayor of Chicago 1844-45), born in Barre, Vermont (d. 1903)
- 1814 Angela Burdett-Coutts, English philanthropist extrordinaire and "the richest heiress in England", born in London (d. 1906)
Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855)
English novelist (Jane Eyre), born in Thornton, West Yorkshire, England
- 1816 Louis Wigfall, American politician (Confederate States Senator from Texas 1862-85), born in Edgefield, South Carolina (d. 1874)
- 1828 Hippolyte Taine, French philosopher and historian (Voyage in Italy), born in Vouziers, Ardennes, France (d. 1893)
- 1834 William Rufus Terrill, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Covington City, Virginia (d. 1862)
- 1837 Fredrik Bajer, Danish politician, feminist and pacifist politician (Nobel 1908), born in Næstved, Denmark (d. 1922)
John Muir (1838-1914)
Scottish naturalist and discoverer (glaciers in High Seirras), born in Dunbar
- 1849 Oskar Hertwig, German embryologist (discovered fertilization), born in Friedberg, Germany (d. 1922)
- 1851 Charles Barrois, French geologist and palaeontologist, born in Lille, France (d. 1939)
- 1854 Eusapia Palladino, Italian spiritual medium, born in Minervino Murge, Apulia (d. 1918)
- 1854 William Stang, German Roman Catholic Bishop, born in Bad Schönborn, Germany (d. 1907)
- 1864 Max Weber, German sociologist, economist and historian (Ancient Judaism), born in Erfurt, Province of Saxony, Prussia (d. 1920)
- 1868 Robert Herrick, American novelist (Common lot), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1938)
- 1872 Billy Bitzer, American cinematography pioneer, born in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1944)
- 1878 Albert Weisgerber, German painter and graphic artist, born in Sankt Ingbert, Germany (d. 1915)
- 1879 Kartini, Indonesian national heroine, born in Jepara, Central Java, Dutch East Indies (d. 1904)
- 1881 Jules-Marie Canneel, Flemish painter and caricaturist (Rocks of Oran), born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1953)
- 1882 Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist (Nobel 1946 - physics of high pressure), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1961)
- 1889 Paul Karrer, Swiss organic chemist (Nobel 1937), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1971)
- 1896 Henry de Montherlant, French novelist and stage author (La Reine Morte), born in Paris (d. 1972)
- 1902 Ben Stroman, Dutch writer (Jomtof & Blue Beard), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1985)
- 1903 Hans Hedtoft, 14th Prime Minister of Denmark (1947-50, 53-55), born in Århus, Denmark (d. 1955)
- 1904 Gijs van Hall, Dutch politician and Mayor of Amsterdam (1957-67), born in Amsterdam (d. 1977)
- 1905 Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, American politician and Governor of California (D: 1959-67), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1996)
- 1906 Tom Burns, British-Chilean publisher and editor, born in Chile (d. 1995)
- 1909 Rollo May, American psychologist (Love & Will), born in Ada, Ohio (d. 1994)
- 1911 Ivan Combe, American inventor of personal care products (Clearasil), born in Fremont, Iowa (d. 2000)
- 1912 Eve Arnold, photojournalist (Marilyn Monroe) (d. 2012), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1913 Choh Hao Li, bio-chemist professor, isolated growth hormones)
- 1913 Kai-Uwe von Hassel, German politician
- 1913 Norman Parkinson, English fashion photographer (Harper's Bazaar), born in London (d. 1990)
- 1915 Frick [W Groebli], Swiss clown, Frick & Frack)
- 1917 Emanuel Vardi, Jerusalem Israel, violist, SD Symph 1978-82)
- 1919 Franc [Franklin E] Essed, Suriname agricultural eng, Oper Grasshopper)
- 1923 John Mortimer, English barrister and writer
- 1924 Daniel Melnick, American producer, Get Smart), born in NYC, New York
Elizabeth II (1926-2022)
Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland (country's longest reigning monarch 1952-2022), born in London
- 1927 Robert Brustein, American dean, Yale School of Drama), born in NYC, New York
- 1930 Don Tyson, American businessman, founder of Tyson Foods, born in Olathe, Kansas (d. 2011)
- 1935 Thomas Kean, American politician
- 1936 James Dobson, American evangelist
- 1937 Charles Lee Herron, Ky, FBI most wanted fugitive (Jan 1 1986)
- 1939 Helen Prejean, American writer
- 1940 Souleymane Cisse, director (Waati, Yeelen, Finye, Baara)
- 1941 David Lyle Boren, American politician, Governor and Senator from Oklahoma, born in Washington, D.C.
- 1947 Alan Warner, rocker (Foundations)
- 1948 Gary Condit, American politician (Rep-D-California 1989-2003, affair with Chandra Levy), born in Salina, Oklahoma
- 1948 Max Wyndham, 2nd Baron Egremont, English peer and author
- 1951 Aleksandr Ivanovich Laveykin, Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-2)
- 1951 Michael Hartley Freedman, American mathematician
- 1956 Phillip Longman, American demographer
- 1958 Michael Zarnock, American author and columnist
- 1958 Yoshito Usui, Japanese manga artist
- 1959 Tim Jacobus, American artist (Goosebumps)
- 1962 Sergei Viktorovich Zalyotin, Russian major/cosmonaut
- 1965 Fiona Kelleghan, American academic and critic
- 1969 Robin Meade, American reporter
- 1971 Alexander Kravchenko, Russian professional poker player
- 1971 Hasan Akbar, American convicted murderer
- 2007 Princess Isabella of Denmark, third in line of succession to the Danish throne, born in Copenhagen, Denmark