Birthdays in History on December 31

Jacques Cartier

1491 Jacques Cartier, French explorer who claimed what is now Canada for France, born in St. Malo, Brittany (d. 1557)

Andreas Vesalius

1514 Andreas Vesalius [Andries van Wesel], Flemish physician and anatomist (De humani corporis fabrica), born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1564)

1540 Silvio Antoniano, Italian cardinal/theologist (Tre libri)
1572 Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan, (d. 1617)
1668 Hermannus Boerhaave, Dutch botanist & physician, born in Voorhout, Netherlands (d. 1738)

Bonnie Prince Charlie

1720 Bonnie Prince Charlie [Charles Edward Stuart], English pretender to throne (Jacobite rebellion), born in Palazzo Muti, Rome, Papal States (d. 1788)

Charles Cornwallis

1738 Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British general and colonial administrator (leading British general in the American War of Independence), born in London (d. 1805)

1741 Isabella Maria of Parma, wife of future Holy Roman emperor, born in Madrid, Spain (d. 1763)
1763 Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral, born in Valensole, France (d. 1806)
1776 Johann Spurzheim, German physician, born in Trier, Electorate of Trier, Germany (d. 1832)
1805 Marie d'Agoult (Daniel Stern), French author (Knife), born in Frankfurt, Germany (d. 1876)
1815 George Gordon Meade, Spanish-American Major General (Union Army), born in Cádiz, Spain (d. 1872)
1825 Francis Trowbridge Sherman, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Newtown, Connecticut (d. 1905)
1830 Isma'il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt (1863-79), born in Cairo, Egypt (d. 1895)

1838 Emile Loubet, French politician (President 1899-1906), born in Marsanne, France (d. 1929)
1846 Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, vicar/Dutch anarchist (Right for all)
1855 Giovanni Pascoli, Italian classicist & poet, born in San Mauro Pascoli, Italy (d. 1912)
1860 Joseph S. Cullinan, American oil industrialist, born in Pennsylvania, United States (d. 1937)
1863 Alfredo Panzini, Italian author (Dizionario Moderno), born in Senigallia, Italy (d. 1939)
1864 Robert G Aitken, American astronomer (Binary Stars), born in Jackson, California (d. 1951)

Henri Matisse

1869 Henri Matisse, French impressionist painter (Odalisque), born in Le Cateau-Cambresis, France (d. 1954)

1877 Lawrence Beesley, English journalist and author, born in Wirksworth, United Kingdom (d. 1967)
1878 Horacio Quiroga, Uruguayan playwright, poet, and short story writer (Anaconda, El Crimen del Otro), born in Salto, Uruguay (d. 1937)
1878 Elizabeth Arden, Canadian businesswoman, born in Woodbridge, Ontario (d. 1966)

George Marshall

1880 George Marshall, US Secretary of State (1947-49) who authored the Marshall Plan (Nobel 1953), born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania (d. 1959)

1881 Colin G Fink, American chemist (electro chemistry), born in Hoboken, New Jersey
1881 Jacob Israël de Haan, Dutch poet/writer (Pipelines, Jewish Song), born in Holland, Netherlands (d. 1924)
1881 Max Pechstein, German "entartet" painter and graphic artist (The Bridge), born in Zwickau, Germany (d. 1955)
1882 David Cohen, Dutch historian and chairman of the Jewish Council, born in Deventer, Holland (d. 1967)
1885 Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein, born in Province of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1970)
1893 Max Lamberty, Flemish sociologist & author (Flemish Resurrection), born in Saint-Gilles, Brussels (d. 1975)
1905 Guy Mollet, Prime Minister of France (1956-57), born in Flers, France (d. 1975)
1905 Tadeusz Breza, Polish writer (The Bronze Gate), born in Sekežintsõ, Ostrog (d. 1970)
1908 Simon Wiesenthal, Jewish-Austrian holocaust survivor & Nazi hunter (Wiesenthal Center), born in Buchach, Ukraine (d. 2005)

1911 Dal Stivens, Australian novelist, born in Blayney, Australia (d. 1997)
1912 John Frost, British airborne officer, born in Pune, India (d. 1993)
1919 Artur Fischer, German inventor with more patents than Edison, born in Tumlingen, Baden-Württemberg (d. 2016)
1919 Recy Taylor, American sexual assault victim, born in Abbeville, Alabama (d. 2017)
1921 Lynn Compton, American jurist (Sirhan Sirhan prosecutor) and commissioned officer (Easy Company, 101st Airborne), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2012)
1927 Dieter Noll, German writer (Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt), born in Riesa, Saxony (d. 2008)
1928 Veijo Meri, Finnish writer, born in Viipuri (d. 2015)
1928 Siné [Maurice Sinet], French cartoonist, born in Paris, France (d. 2016)
1928 Amarillo Slim [Thomas Preston], American hall of fame professional poker player (1971 World Series main event), born in Amarillo, Texas (d. 2012)
1929 Sidney Greenbaum, British scholar, born in London, United Kingdom (d. 1996)
1931 Bob Shaw, Northern Irish sci-fi author (Light of Other Days, The Ragged Astronauts), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland (d. 1996)
1933 Chryssa [Vardea-Mavromichali], Greek-American artist, born in Athens, Greece (d. 2013)
1934 Akram Awan, Islamic scholar & spiritual leader, born in Chakwal, Pakistan (d. 2017)
1935 Rolf Haufs, German writer, born in Düsseldorf (d. 2013)

Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

1935 Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia (2015-present), born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

1937 Nicolas Born, German writer, born in Duisburg (d. 1979)
1937 Avram Hershko, Hungarian-born Israeli biochemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry, born in Karcag, Hungary
1938 Henricus G Wijmans, Dutch graphic artist
1939 Hugh Lewin, South African anti-apartheid activist and writer (Bandiet: Seven Years in a South African Prison), born in Lydenburg, South Africa (d. 2019)
1940 Oleg Anatolyevich Yakovlev, Russian cosmonaut, born in Leningrad

1944 Taylor Hackford, American director (Devil's Advocate, Ray), born in Santa Barbara, California
1945 Claude Marks, FALN member (FBI most wanted), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
1946 Pius Ncube, Zimbabwean human rights advocate, born in Filabusi, Zimbabwe

Diane von Furstenberg

1946 Diane von Furstenberg, Belgian-born American fashion designer (wrap dress), born in Brussels

1948 Viktor Mikhailovich Afanasieyv, Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-11, TM-18)
1949 Ellen Datlow, American editor, born in NYC, New York
1949 Susan Shwartz, American author, born in Youngstown, Ohio
1953 Yahya Ould Hademine, Mauritanian politician & 13th Prime Minister of Mauritania (2014-present), born in Timbédra, French West Africa
1954 Alex Salmond, Scottish politician (Scottish National Party) First Minister of Scotland (2007-14), born in Linlithgow, Scotland
1954 Hermann Tilke, German racing circuit architect, born in Olpe, Germany
1955 Dawood Ibrahim, Indian crime boss (D-Company), born in Khed, Ratnagiri, India
1956 Martin Joseph Fettman, American researcher & astronaut (STS 58), born in Brooklyn, New York
1956 Steve Rude, American comics artist, born in Madison, Wisconsin
1959 Phill Kline, American politician, born in Kansas City, Kansas
1962 Heather McCartney, American-British potter & artist, born in Tucson, Arizona
1965 Julie Doucet, Canadian underground cartoonist, born in Montreal, Quebec
1965 Nicholas Sparks, American author (The Notebook), born in Omaha, Nebraska
1969 Dominik Diamond, Scottish presenter & newspaper columnist, born in Arbroath, United Kingdom
1977 Donald Trump Jr., American businessman and son of Donald Trump and Ivana Trump, born in NYC, New York
1979 Josh Hawley, American politician (Senator(R) Missouri 2019-), 1st to object to certification of Biden victory, born in Springdale, Arkansas

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