Birthdays in History on December 5

1377 Jianwen, 2nd Emperor of the Ming Empire (1398-1402), born in China (d. 1402)

Julius II (1443-1513)

Italian Pope (1503-13) and patron of Michelangelo, Bramante and Raphael, born in Albisola, Republic of Genoa

1495 Nicolas Cleynaerts, Flemish grammarian, born in Diest, Belgium (d. 1542)
1537 Ashikaga Yoshiaki, 15th Japanese shōgun, born in Japan (d. 1597)
1539 Fausto Paolo Sozzini, Italian theologian and founder of Socinianism, born in Siena, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1604)
1545 Janus Dousa [Johan van de Does], Dutch politician and poet, born in Noordwijk, Netherlands (d. 1604)
1547 Ubbo Emmius [van Embden], Dutch-Frisian humanist and historian, born in Greetsiel, East Frisia (d. 1625)
1661 Robert Haley, 1st Earl of Oxford and English premier (Whig, 1710-14), born in Covent Garden, Middlesex, Kingdom of England (d. 1725)

Martin Van Buren (1782-1862)

8th President of the United States (Democrat: 1837-41), born in Kinderhook, New York

1786 Henry Drummond, English banker and religious leader, born in The Grange, Hampshire (d. 1860)
1803 Fyodor Tyutchev, Russian poet and statesman, born in Bryansk, Oryol Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1873)
1820 Afanasy Fet, Russian poet, born in Mtsensk, Russia (d. 1892)
1822 Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American educator and the co-founder and first president of Radcliffe College, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1907)
1824 Titian James Coffey, Atty Gen (Union), (d. 1867)
1826 John Benjamin Sanborn, American lawyer, politician, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Epsom, New Hampshire (d. 1904)
1829 Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, French-Canadian politician (7th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia), born in Épernay, France (d. 1908)
1830 Christina Rossetti, English poet (Winter Rain, Passing Away), born in London, England (d. 1894)

George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876)

United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars, born in New Rumley, Ohio

1841 Marcus Daly, Irish-American mining tycoon, born in Ballyjamesduff, Ulster, Ireland (d. 1900)
1848 Edwin Blashfield, American painter who decorated the dome of Library of Congress, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1936)
1855 Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist and ornithologist, born in NYC, New York (d. 1942)

John Jellicoe (1859-1935)

1st Earl Jellicoe, British Admiral of the Fleet in World War I (Battle of Jutland), born in Southampton, England

1861 Armando Diaz, Italian marshal and minister of War (1922-24), born in Naples, Kingdom of Italy (d. 1928)
1863 Paul Painlevé, French Prime Minister (1917, 1925), born in Paris (d. 1933)
1867 Antti Aarne, Finnish folklorist, born in Pori, Finland (d. 1925)

Józef Piłsudski (1867-1935)

Father of the Second Polish Republic who served as its Chief of State (1918-22), Marshall of Poland and later its de facto leader (1926-35), born in Zułów, Russian Empire

1868 Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist, born in Königsberg, Prussia (d. 1951)
1869 Ellis Parker Butler, American author (Pigs is Pigs), born in Muscatine, Iowa (d. 1937)
1871 Bill Pickett, American rodeo performer (invented bulldogging), born in Jenks-Branch, Texas (d. 1932)
1875 Arthur Currie, Canadian soldier (fought in WWI), born in Napperton, Ontario (d. 1933)
1879 Clyde Cessna, American aviator and airplane manufacturer, born in Hawthorne, Louisiana (d. 1954)
1886 Pieter Oud, Dutch politician and Mayor of Rotterdam (1945-52), born in Purmerend, Netherlands (d. 1968)
1890 David Bomberg, English painter, born in Birmingham, England (d. 1957)
1891 Alexander Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer, born in St Petersburg (d. 1956)
1894 C. R. Swart, South African politician (1st State President of South Africa 1961-67), born in Winburg, Orange Free State (d. 1982)
1895 Elbert Frank Cox, African-American mathematician (first African-American to receive PhD in Mathematics), born in Evansville, Indiana (d. 1969)
1896 Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech-American bio-chemist (Nobel 1947-discovery of how glycogen (animal starch) – a derivative of glucose – is broken down and resynthesized in the body, for use as a store and source of energy), born in Prague (d. 1984)
1896 Lady Huxley [Marie Juliette Baillot], Swiss sculptor and author, born in Auvernier, Switzerland (d. 1994)
1896 Willem Frederik Meinhardt Lampe, Dutch ambassador of the Dutch Antilles, born in Netherlands Antilles (d. 1973)
1898 Josh Malihabadi, Urdu poet of India and Pakistan, born in Malihabad, North-Western Provinces, British India (d. 1982)
1901 Milton H. Erickson, American psychiatrist and psychologist, born in Aurum, Nevada (d. 1980)

1907 Giuseppe Occhialini, Italian physicist (Contribution to the discovery of the pion or pi-meson decay), born in Fossombrone, Pesaro, Italy (d. 1993)
1907 Lin Biao, Chinese Communist Marshal during the Civil War and party leader, born in Huanggang, Hubei, Qing Empire (d. 1971)
1911 Alfred Manessier, French painter (leaded windows), born in Saint-Ouen, Somme, France (d. 1993)
1912 Maisie Fitter, editor and conservationist (d. 1996)
1914 Hans Hellmut Kirst, German author (The Lieutenant Must Be Mad), born in Osterode, Germany (d. 1989)
1914 Lina Bo Bardi, Italian born Brazilian modernist architect (SESC Pompéia Factory), born in Rome, Italy (d. 1992)
1917 Simone Gallimard, French editor and publisher (d. 1995)
1919 Victor Collin Matthews, British businessman, born in Islington, London (d. 1995)
1921 George Henderson, Scottish priest (Bishop of Argyll and the Isles from 1977-92), born in Oban, Scotland (d. 1996)
1923 Vladimir Tendryakov, Russian writer (Three, Seven, Ace), born in Makarovskaya, Vologda Oblast (d. 1984)

Anastasio Somoza Debayle (1925-1980)

President of Nicaragua (1967-72 and 1974-79), born in León, Nicaragua

1925 Glen "Frosty" Little, American circus clown (Ringling Brothers, 1968-91), and instructor (Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, 1980-87), born in Genoa, Nebraska (d. 2010)
1932 Fazu Aliyeva, Russian poet, novelist and journalist who helped develop Dagestani in Russian literature, born in Khunzakhsky District, Soviet Union (d. 2016)
1932 Sheldon Lee Glashow, American theoretical physicist (Electroweak theory, Georgi–Glashow model), born in NYC, New York
1933 Edward Daly, Irish Bishop "Bloody Sunday" priest, born in Belleek, County Fermanagh (d. 2016)
1934 Joan Didion, American author and journalist (The year of Magical Thinking), born in Sacramento, California
1935 Calvin Trillin, American author (New Yorker), born in Kansas City, Missouri
1936 James Lee Burke, American writer (Dave Robicheaux series), born in Houston, Texas
1939 Jack Whitten, American abstract painter, born in Bessemer, Alabama (d. 2018)
1940 Peter Pohl, Swedish writer, born in Hamburg, Germany
1943 Eva Joly, Norwegian-French magistrate and politician (Europe Écologie–The Greens), born in Grünerløkka, Oslo, Norway
1945 J W "Corkey" Fornof, American stunt coordinator (Octopussy), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
1946 Andy Kim [Andrew Joachim], Canadian rocker (Baby, I Love You), born in Montreal, Quebec
1947 Bruce Golding, Jamaican politician (8th Prime Minister of Jamaica 2007-11), born in Chapelton, Jamaica
1947 Jugderdemidjin Gurragcha, Mongolian cosmonaut (Soyuz 39), born in Gurvanbulag, Bulgan, Mongolia
1947 Tony Gregory, Irish politician, born in Dublin
1949 Bruce E Melnick, American Cmdr USCG/astronaut (STS 41, STS 49), born in NYC, New York
1949 Ray Comfort, New Zealand evangelist, born in Christchurch, New Zealand
1951 Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Belgian artist, born in Antwerp
1959 Nikki Gianulias, American ten-pin bowler (LPBT Rookie of Year 1979), born in Vallejo, California
1967 Konstantin-Assen, Prince of Vidin (fourth son of Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria and his wife Doña Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela), born in Madrid
1969 Sajid Javid, British politician, Home Secretary (2018-), born in Littleborough, England
1973 Luboš Motl, Czech theoretical physicist, born in Plzeň, Czech Republic
1973 Sorin Grindeanu, Romanian Prime Minister (2017), born in Caransebeș, Romania
1978 Neil Druckmann, Israeli-American writer & co-president Naughty Dog, born in Israel