- 1857 King Kelly, American baseball player, born in Troy, New York (d. 1894)
- 1870 Thomas Connolly, English-American baseball umpire, born in Manchester, United Kingdom (d. 1961)
- 1880 Fred Beebe, American baseball player, born in Lincoln, Nebraska (d. 1957)
- 1882 Ben Jones, American horse trainer (Citation, Whirlaway), born in Parnell, Missouri (d. 1961)
- 1884 Bobby Byrne, American baseball player, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1964)
- 1893 Jimmy Blanckenberg, South African cricketer (60 wkts in 18 Tests for South Africa), born in Cape Town, South Africa (d. 1955)
- 1904 Chuck Gardiner, Canadian NHL goalie (Vezina winner), born in Edinburgh, United Kingdom (d. 1934)
- 1906 Erna Bogen-Bogáti, Hungarian foils (Olympic bronze 1932), born in Jaroslaw, Poland (d. 2002)
- 1919 Tommy Byrne, American baseball player, born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 2007)
- 1924 Victoria Draves, American platform/springboard diver (Olympic gold 1948)
- 1928 Hugh McElhenny, American NFL halfback (SF, Minnesota, Giants, Detroit), born in Los Angeles, California
- 1928 Amarillo Slim [Thomas Preston], American hall of fame professional poker player (1971 World Series main event), born in Amarillo, Texas (d. 2012)
- 1929 Peter May, English cricketer (dashing batsman of 50's), born in Reading (d. 1994)
- 1935 Peter Allan, Australian cricketer (1 Test Australia v England 1965, 2-58 & 0-25), born in Brisbane, Australia
- 1938 Atje Keulen-Deelstra, Dutch speed skater (world champ, born in Grou, Netherlands (d. 2013)
- 1939 Afaq Hussain, Pakistani cricketer (Pakistani off-spinner in 2 Tests 1961-64), born in Lucknow, India (d. 2002)
- 1939 Willye White, American long jumper (Olympic silver 1956, appeared in 5 Olympics), born in Money, Mississippi (d. 2007)
- 1941 Milkha Singh, Indian cricketer (bro of Kripal Singh India batsman in 4 Tests), born in Madras, India (d. 2017)
- 1941 Sir Alex Ferguson, Scottish football manager, born in Glasgow, United Kingdom
- 1950 Inge Helten, German sprinter (Olympic bronze 1976), born in Sinzig, Germany
- 1950 Bob Gilder, American PGA golfer (1980 Canadian Open), born in Corvallis, Oregon
- 1951 Michael Allen Bantom, American basketball player (Olympic silver 1972), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1957 David Allen Ogrin, American PGA golfer (1994 Byron Nelson-2nd), born in Waukegan, Illinois
- 1958 Geoff Marsh, Australian cricketer (Aust opening batsman 1985-92), born in Northam, Australia
- 1960 Broderick Dyke, Australian tennis player, born in Gumeracha, Australia
- 1961 Rick Aguilera, American baseball pitcher (Minnesota Twins), born in San Gabriel, California
- 1962 Tyrone Corbin, American NBA forward (Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks), born in Columbia, South Carolina
- 1963 Ed Simmons, American NFL tackle (Washington Redskins), born in French Camp, California
- 1963 Konishiki, Japanese-Samoan sumo wrestler, born in Honolulu, Hawaii
- 1964 Denis Hickey, Australian cricketer (fast bowler for Vic, SA & Glamorgan), born in Mooroopna, Australia
- 1964 Klari MacAskill, Canadian kayaker (Olympics-5-92, 96), born in Budapest, Hungary
- 1964 Winston Benjamin, Antiguan cricketer (WI righty quick 1987-95), born in All Saints, Antigua and Barbuda
- 1965 Michelle Dobek, American golfer (1995 GHP Heartland Classic-45th), born in Holyoke, Massachusetts
- 1967 Brad Daluiso, American NFL placekicker (NY Giants), born in San Diego, California
- 1970 Bryon Russell, American NBA forward (Utah Jazz), born in San Bernardino, California
- 1970 Dan Howe, Canadian canoeist (Olympics 1996), born in Kingston, Ontario
- 1970 Dunstan Anderson, NFL defensive end (Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, Rhein Fire), born in Fort Worth, Texas
- 1970 Edwin Huizinga, Dutch football player (SC Heerenveen, Emmen), born in Drachten, Netherlands
- 1970 Michel Brunet, Canadian ice dancer (1996 Canadians-2nd), born in Gatineau, Quebec
- 1971 Brent Barry, American NBA guard (LA Clippers), born in Hempstead, New York
- 1971 Erin Warren, American luger (Olympics 1994), born in Winchester Massachusetts
- 1971 Heath Shuler, NFL quarterback (Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints), born in Bryson City, North Carolina
- 1971 Ricardo López Felipe, Spanish footballer, born in Madrid, Spain
- 1972 Chris Parker, American football running back (Jacksonville Jaguars), born in Lynchburg, Virginia
- 1972 Kelvin Kinney, American football defensive end (Washington Redskins), born in Montgomery, West Virginia
- 1972 Cole Ford, American football placekicker (Oakland Raiders), born in Tucson, Arizona
- 1973 Curtis Myden, Canadian 200m/400m swimmer (Olympic 2 bronze-96), born in Calgary, Alberta
- 1973 George Jones, American running back (Pittsburgh Steelers), born in Greenville, South Carolina
- 1973 Hiroyuki Miura, Japanese hockey defenceman (Team Japan 1998), born in Hokkaido, Japan
- 1974 Mario Aerts, Belgian cyclist, born in Herentals, Belgium
- 1974 Tony Kanaan, Brazilian racing driver, born in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
- 1975 Toni Kuivasto, Finnish footballer, born in Tampere, Finland
- 1977 Wardy Alfaro, Costa Rican footballer, born in Alajuela, Costa Rica
- 1980 Richard "Richie" McCaw, New Zealand rugby player (All Blacks), born in Oamaru, New Zealand
- 1981 Jason Campbell, American football player, born in Laurel, Mississippi
- 1981 Matthew Pavlich, Australian football player, born in Adelaide, Australia
- 1982 Julio DePaula, Dominican baseball player, born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- 1982 Luke Schenscher, Australian basketball player, born in South Australia, Australia
- 1982 Craig Gordon, Scottish footballer, born in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- 1987 Javaris Crittenton, American basketball player, born in Atlanta, Georgia
- 1987 Émilie Le Pennec, French gymnast, born in La Garenne-Colombes, France
December in History
Business a Rocky Road for Hansom Cab Pioneer
Architect and inventor Joseph Hansom was a man of vision who somehow found it impossible to turn his great ideas into money-making ventures.
December 23, 1834
The Day Murdoch Spoilt the Queen's Christmas
Queen Elizabeth II made the first live Christmas Day broadcast of her reign on December 25, 1952. Forty years later a pre-recorded message would be leaked.
December 25, 1952
'Hitler Will Have to Break Us or Lose the War'
The German Luftwaffe were hammering the British RAF until a furious and frustrated Hitler changed the plan and possibly the outcome of the war.
December 29, 1940
The Taming of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill made an emotional speech to the Canadian Parliament on this day, December 30, 1941. His photograph from that day is just as memorable.
December 30, 1941