- Dec 1 John Crowley, American sci-fi author (Deep, Beasts, Novelty)
- Dec 1 Peter Kalikow, Queens real estate developer/publisher (NY Post), born in NYC, New York
- Dec 3 Alice Schwarzer, German journalist
- Dec 6 Peter Handke, Austrian writer (A Sorrow Beyond Dreams), 2019 Nobel Prize for Literature, born in Griffen, Austria
- Dec 8 Mario Savio, American political activist, born in NYC, New York (d. 1996)
- Dec 9 Joe McGinniss, American author (The Selling of the President 1968), born in Rye, New York (d. 2014)
- Dec 11 Derek Parfit, British philosopher who specialized in problems of personal identity, rationality and ethics, born in Chengdu, China (d. 2017)
- Dec 13 Anna Eshoo, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California), born in New Britain, Connecticut
- Dec 14 David Band, British banker (BZW) (d. 1996)
- Dec 16 Donald Carcieri, American politician, governor of Rhode Island
Muhammadu Buhari
Dec 17 Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerian military leader and politician (President of Nigeria 2015-), born in Daura, Katsina State
Muhammadu Buhari
- Dec 25 Mani Kaul, director (Idiot, Nazar, Dhrupad, Duvidha)
- Dec 26 Vinicio Cerezo, President of Guatemala (1986-91), born in Guatemala City
- Dec 26 Gray Davis, former Governor of California
- Dec 28 Paul Horowitz, American physicist, META project (Sloan Award 1971-3), born in NYC, New York
- Dec 30 Vladimir Bukovsky, Russian author and dissident
- Dec 30 Janko Prunk, Slovenian historian
About December 1942
How Old? 78 years old
Generation: Silent Generation
Leap Year: No
Chinese Zodiac: Horse
Star Signs: Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21), Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19)