December 5
Events
Pre-1600
- 63 BC - Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.
- 633 - Fourth Council of Toledo opens, presided over by Isidore of Seville.
- 1033 - The Jordan Rift Valley earthquake destroys multiple cities across the Levant, triggers a tsunami and kills many.
- 1082 - Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated, most likely by his brother, Berenguer Ramon II.
- 1408 - Seeking to resubjugate Muscovy, Emir Edigu of the Golden Horde reaches Moscow, burning areas around the city but failing to take the city itself.
- 1456 - The first of two earthquakes measuring 7.2 strikes Italy, causing extreme destruction and killing upwards of 70,000 people.
- 1484 - Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany.
- 1496 - King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree ordering the expulsion of Jews from the country.
- 1560 - Ten-year-old Charles IX becomes king of France, with Queen Mother Catherine de' Medici as regent.
- 1578 - Sir Francis Drake, after sailing through Strait of Magellan, raids Valparaiso.
1601–1900
1901–present
- 1914 - The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition begins in an attempt to make the first land crossing of Antarctica.
- 1919 - Ukrainian War of Independence: The Polonsky conspiracy is suppressed and its participants are executed by the Kontrrazvedka.
- 1921 - The Football Association bans women's football in England from league grounds, a ban that stays in place for 50 years.
- 1933 - The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, repealing Prohibition in the United States.
- 1934 - Abyssinia Crisis: Italian troops attack Wal Wal in Abyssinia, taking four days to capture the city.
- 1935 - Mary McLeod Bethune founds the National Council of Negro Women in New York City.
- 1936 - The Soviet Union adopts a new constitution and the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic is established as a full Union Republic of the USSR.
- 1941 - World War II: In the Battle of Moscow, Georgy Zhukov launches a massive Soviet counter-attack against the German army.
- 1941 - World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.
- 1943 - World War II: Allied air forces begin attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow.
- 1945 - Flight 19, a group of TBF Avengers, disappears in the Bermuda Triangle.
- 1952 - Beginning of the Great Smog in London. A cold fog combines with air pollution and brings the city to a standstill for four days. Later, a Ministry of Health report estimates 4,000 fatalities as a result of it.
- 1955 - The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge and form the AFL–CIO.
- 1955 - The Civil Rights Movement: the Montgomery bus boycott begins, led by E. D. Nixon and Rosa Parks.
- 1958 - Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II when she speaks to the Lord Provost in a call from Bristol to Edinburgh.
- 1958 - The Preston By-pass, the UK's first stretch of motorway, opens to traffic for the first time.
- 1964 - Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.
- 1964 - Lloyd J. Old discovers the first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex and disease—mouse leukemia—opening the way for the recognition of the importance of the MHC in the immune response.
- 1971 - Battle of Gazipur: Pakistani forces are defeated as India cedes Gazipur to Bangladesh.
- 1977 - Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen in retaliation to preventing President Anwar el-Sadat from pursuing negotiations with Israel at the Tripoli confer.
- 1983 - Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.
- 1991 - Leonid Kravchuk is elected the first president of Ukraine.
- 1994 - The Budapest Memorandum is signed at the OSCE conference in Budapest, Hungary.
- 1995 - Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lanka's government announces the conquest of the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.
- 1995 - Azerbaijan Airlines Flight A-56 crashes near Nakhchivan International Airport in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, killing 52 people.
- 2001 - Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-108, carrying the Expedition 4 crew to the International Space Station.
- 2005 - The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect in the United Kingdom, and the first civil partnership is registered there.
- 2005 - The 6.8 Lake Tanganyika earthquake shakes the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X, killing six people.
- 2006 - Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.
- 2007 - Westroads Mall shooting: Nineteen-year-old Robert A. Hawkins kills nine people, including himself, with a WASR-10 at a Von Maur department store in Omaha, Nebraska.
- 2013 - Militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sanaa, Yemen, killing at least 56 people and injuring 200 others.
- 2014 - Exploration Flight Test-1, the first flight test of Orion, is launched.
- 2017 - The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics for doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Births
Pre-1600
- 852 - Zhu Wen, Chinese emperor
- 1377 - Jianwen Emperor of China
- 1389 - Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Polish cardinal and statesman
- 1443 - Pope Julius II
- 1470 - Willibald Pirckheimer, German lawyer and author
- 1495 - Nicolas Cleynaerts, Flemish philologist and lexicographer
- 1537 - Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shōgun
- 1539 - Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and author
- 1547 - Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer
- 1556 - Anne Cecil, Countess of Oxford, English countess
- 1596 - Henry Lawes, English composer
1601–1900
- 1661 - Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department
- 1666 - Francesco Scarlatti, Italian violinist and composer
- 1687 - Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer
- 1697 - Giuseppe de Majo, Italian organist and composer
- 1782 - Martin Van Buren, American lawyer and politician, 8th President of the United States
- 1784 - George Shepherd, English illustrator and painter
- 1803 - Fyodor Tyutchev, Russian poet and diplomat
- 1820 - Afanasy Fet, Russian poet and author
- 1822 - Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American philosopher and academic, co-founded Radcliffe College
- 1829 - Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, French-Canadian lawyer and politician, 4th Premier of Quebec
- 1830 - Christina Rossetti, English poet and author
- 1839 - George Armstrong Custer, American general
- 1841 - Marcus Daly, Irish-American businessman
- 1849 - Eduard Seler, German anthropologist, ethnohistorian, linguist, and academic
- 1855 - Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist, and ethnographer
- 1859 - John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, English admiral and politician, 2nd Governor-General of New Zealand
- 1861 - Konstantin Korovin, Russian-French painter and set designer
- 1862 - John Henry Leech, English entomologist
- 1863 - Paul Painlevé, French mathematician and politician, 84th Prime Minister of France
- 1866 - John Beresford, Irish polo player
- 1866 - Traian Demetrescu, Romanian poet and author
- 1867 - Antti Aarne, Finnish author and academic
- 1867 - Józef Piłsudski, Polish field marshal and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Poland
- 1868 - Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist and academic
- 1869 - Ellis Parker Butler, American author and poet
- 1870 - Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer and educator
- 1872 - Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American chess player
- 1875 - Arthur Currie, Canadian general
- 1879 - Clyde Vernon Cessna, American pilot and businessman, founded the Cessna Aircraft Corporation
- 1881 - René Cresté, French actor and director
- 1886 - Rose Wilder Lane, American journalist and author
- 1886 - Pieter Oud, Dutch historian, academic, and politician, Minister of Finance of the Netherlands
- 1886 - Nikolai Uglanov, Soviet politician
- 1888 - Sabás Reyes Salazar, Mexican Catholic priest
- 1890 - David Bomberg, English painter, illustrator, and academic
- 1890 - Fritz Lang, Austrian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1891 - Paul Kogerman, Estonian chemist and academic
- 1894 - Charles Robberts Swart, South African lawyer and politician, 1st State President of South Africa
- 1895 - Elbert Frank Cox, American mathematician and academic
- 1896 - Ann Nolan Clark, American historian, author, and educator
- 1896 - Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1897 - Nunnally Johnson, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1897 - Gershom Scholem, German-Israeli philosopher and historian
- 1898 - Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and translator
- 1898 - Grace Moore, American soprano and actress
- 1900 - Jimmy Dimmock, English footballer
1901–present
- 1901 - Walt Disney, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded The Walt Disney Company
- 1901 - Milton H. Erickson, American psychiatrist and author
- 1901 - Werner Heisenberg, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1902 - Emeric Pressburger, Hungarian-English director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1902 - Strom Thurmond, American educator, general, and politician, 103rd Governor of South Carolina
- 1903 - Johannes Heesters, Dutch-German actor and singer
- 1903 - C. F. Powell, English-Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1905 - Francisco Javier Arana, Guatemalan Army colonel and briefly Guatemalan head of state
- 1905 - Otto Preminger, Austrian-American actor, director, and producer
- 1907 - Lin Biao, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
- 1907 - Giuseppe Occhialini, Italian-French physicist and academic
- 1910 - Abraham Polonsky, American director and screenwriter
- 1911 - Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist and composer
- 1912 - Kate Simon, American travel writer
- 1912 - Sonny Boy Williamson II, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
- 1913 - Esther Borja, Cuban soprano and actress
- 1913 - Bruce Conde, American army officer, mercenary, stamp collector, and royalty claimant
- 1914 - Helen Dettweiler, American golfer
- 1914 - Hans Hellmut Kirst, German lieutenant and author
- 1916 - Hilary Koprowski, Polish-American virologist and immunologist, created the world's first effective live polio vaccine
- 1916 - Walt McPherson, American basketball player and coach
- 1917 - Ken Downing, English racing driver
- 1919 - Alun Gwynne Jones, Baron Chalfont, English historian and politician
- 1921 - Alvy Moore, American actor and producer
- 1922 - Casey Ribicoff, American philanthropist
- 1922 - Don Robertson, American songwriter and pianist
- 1924 - Robert Sobukwe, South African banker and politician
- 1925 - Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Nicaraguan politician, 73rd President of Nicaragua
- 1926 - Adetoun Ogunsheye, first female Nigerian professor and university dean
- 1927 - Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand
- 1927 - W.D. Amaradeva, Sri Lankan musician and composer
- 1929 - Madis Kõiv, Estonian physicist, philosopher, and author
- 1930 - Yi-Fu Tuan, Chinese-American geographer
- 1931 - Ladislav Novák, Czech footballer and manager
- 1932 - Alf Dubs, Baron Dubs, British politician
- 1932 - Sheldon Glashow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1932 - Jim Hurtubise, American race car driver
- 1932 - Nadira, Indian actress
- 1932 - Little Richard, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor
- 1933 - Gennadiy Agapov, Russian race walker
- 1933 - Harry Holgate, Australian politician, 36th Premier of Tasmania
- 1934 - Joan Didion, American novelist and screenwriter
- 1935 - Calvin Trillin, American novelist, humorist, and journalist
- 1935 - Yury Vlasov, Ukrainian-Russian weightlifter and politician
- 1936 - James Lee Burke, American journalist, author, and academic
- 1938 - J. J. Cale, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1940 - Tony Crafter, Australian cricket umpire
- 1940 - Boris Ignatyev, Russian footballer and manager
- 1940 - Peter Pohl, Swedish author, director, and screenwriter
- 1940 - Frank Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1942 - Bryan Murray, Canadian ice hockey coach
- 1943 - Eva Joly, Norwegian-French judge and politician
- 1943 - Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, South Korean cardinal
- 1944 - Jeroen Krabbé, Dutch actor, director, and producer
- 1945 - Serge Chapleau, Canadian cartoonist
- 1945 - Moshe Katsav, Iranian-Israeli educator and politician, 8th President of Israel
- 1946 - José Carreras, Spanish tenor and actor
- 1946 - Andy Kim, Canadian pop singer-songwriter
- 1946 - Sarel van der Merwe, South African racing driver
- 1947 - Rudy Fernandez, Filipino triathlete
- 1947 - Bruce Golding, Jamaican lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Jamaica
- 1947 - Tony Gregory, Irish activist and politician
- 1947 - Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa, Mongolian cosmonaut and military leader
- 1947 - Jim Messina, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1947 - Jim Plunkett, American football player and radio host
- 1947 - Kim Simmonds, Welsh blues-rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1947 - Don Touhig, Welsh journalist and politician
- 1948 - Denise Drysdale, Australian television host and actress
- 1949 - John Altman, English composer and conductor
- 1949 - David Manning, English civil servant and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States
- 1951 - Morgan Brittany, American actress
- 1951 - Link Byfield, Canadian journalist and author
- 1951 - Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Belgian painter and illustrator
- 1953 - Gwen Lister, South African-Namibian journalist, publisher, and activist
- 1954 - Hanif Kureishi, English author and playwright
- 1955 - Miyuki Kawanaka, Japanese singer
- 1955 - Juha Tiainen, Finnish hammer thrower
- 1956 - Klaus Allofs, German footballer and manager
- 1956 - Butch Lee, Puerto Rican basketball player
- 1956 - Adam Thorpe, French-English author, poet, and playwright
- 1956 - Krystian Zimerman, Polish virtuoso pianist
- 1957 - Raquel Argandoña, Chilean model, actress, and politician
- 1957 - Art Monk, American football player
- 1958 - Dynamite Kid, English wrestler
- 1959 - Lee Chapman, English footballer
- 1959 - Oleksandr Yaroslavsky, Ukrainian businessman
- 1960 - Frans Adelaar, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1960 - Osvaldo Golijov, Argentinian-American composer and educator
- 1960 - Jack Russell, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1960 - Matthew Taylor, English businessman and politician
- 1961 - Ralf Dujmovits, German mountaineer
- 1961 - Laura Flanders, British journalist
- 1962 - José Cura, Argentinian tenor, conductor, and director
- 1962 - Pablo Morales, American swimmer and coach
- 1962 - Nivek Ogre, Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1962 - Fred Rutten, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1963 - Doctor Dré, American television and radio host
- 1963 - Carrie Hamilton, American actress and playwright
- 1963 - Alberto Nisman, Argentinian lawyer
- 1964 - Martin Vinnicombe, Australian cyclist
- 1965 - Manish Malhotra, Indian fashion designer
- 1965 - John Rzeznik, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1965 - Wayne Smith, Jamaican rapper
- 1965 - Valeriy Spitsyn, Russian race walker
- 1967 - Gary Allan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1968 - Margaret Cho, American comedian, actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 - Lisa Marie, American model and actress
- 1968 - Lydia Millet, American novelist
- 1968 - Falilat Ogunkoya, Nigerian sprinter
- 1969 - Eric Etebari, American actor, director, and producer
- 1969 - Morgan J. Freeman, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1969 - Sajid Javid, British Pakistani banker and politician, former Chancellor of the Exchequer
- 1969 - Lewis Pugh, English swimmer and lawyer
- 1969 - Ramón Ramírez, Mexican footballer
- 1969 - Catherine Tate, English actress, comedian, and writer
- 1970 - Kevin Haller, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1970 - Michel'le, American singer-songwriter
- 1971 - Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, German businessman and politician, German Federal Minister of Defence
- 1971 - Ashia Hansen, American-English triple jumper
- 1971 - Gabriel Hjertstedt, Swedish golfer
- 1971 - Kali Rocha, American actress
- 1972 - Cliff Floyd, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1972 - Duane Ross, American hurdler and coach
- 1973 - Argo Arbeiter, Estonian footballer
- 1973 - Arik Benado, Israeli footballer
- 1973 - Mikelangelo Loconte, Italian singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
- 1973 - Luboš Motl, Czech physicist and academic
- 1974 - Ravish Kumar, Indian journalist and author
- 1974 - Brian Lewis, American sprinter
- 1975 - Ronnie O'Sullivan, English snooker player and radio host
- 1975 - Paula Patton, American actress
- 1976 - Amy Acker, American actress
- 1976 - Xavier Garbajosa, French rugby player
- 1976 - Norishige Kanai, Japanese doctor and astronaut
- 1976 - Sachiko Kokubu, Japanese actress and model
- 1976 - Rachel Komisarz, American swimmer and coach
- 1977 - Peter van der Vlag, Dutch footballer
- 1978 - Neil Druckmann, American video game designer and author
- 1978 - Olli Jokinen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1978 - Marcelo Zalayeta, Uruguayan footballer
- 1979 - Matteo Ferrari, Italian footballer
- 1979 - Niklas Hagman, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1979 - Gareth McAuley, Northern Irish footballer
- 1979 - Nick Stahl, American actor
- 1980 - Jessica Paré, Canadian actress
- 1981 - Adan Canto, Mexican actor
- 1982 - Eddy Curry, American basketball player
- 1982 - Keri Hilson, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1982 - Gabriel Luna, American actor
- 1983 - Joakim Lindström, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1984 - Lauren London, American actress
- 1985 - Shikhar Dhawan, Indian cricketer
- 1985 - André-Pierre Gignac, French footballer
- 1985 - Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, Emirati princess
- 1985 - Frankie Muniz, American actor, drummer, and race car driver
- 1985 - Josh Smith, American basketball player
- 1985 - Danny Wicks, Australian rugby league player
- 1986 - LeGarrette Blount, American football player
- 1986 - James Hinchcliffe, Canadian Indycar racing driver
- 1986 - Justin Smoak, American baseball player
- 1987 - A. J. Pollock, American baseball player
- 1988 - Ross Bagley, American actor
- 1988 - Tina Charles, American basketball player
- 1988 - Kyle Long, American football player
- 1988 - Joanna Rowsell, English cyclist
- 1989 - Jurrell Casey, American football player
- 1989 - Kwon Yu-ri, South Korean singer-songwriter and actress
- 1990 - Montee Ball, American football player
- 1991 - Cam Fowler, Canadian-American ice hockey player
- 1991 - Christian Yelich, American baseball player
- 1992 - Natalie Sourisseau, Canadian field hockey player
- 1993 - Ross Barkley, English footballer
- 1993 - Luciano Vietto, Argentine footballer
- 1994 - Ondrej Duda, Slovak footballer
- 1994 - Semi Ojeleye, American basketball player
- 1995 - Danny Levi, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1995 - Anthony Martial, French footballer
- 1995 - Kaetlyn Osmond, Canadian figure skater
- 1995 - Levy Rozman, American chess International Master, streamer and YouTuber
- 1995 - Alexander Sørloth, Norwegian footballer
- 1997 - Maddie Poppe, American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1997 - Quinnen Williams, American football player
- 1998 - Conan Gray, American singer-songwriter
- 1998 - Randal Kolo Muani, French footballer
- 2000 - Soobin, South Korean singer-songwriter
- 2009 - Owen Cooper, English actor
Deaths
Pre-1600
1601–1900
- 1624 - Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist and physician
- 1654 - Jean François Sarrazin, French author and poet
- 1663 - Severo Bonini, Italian organist and composer
- 1749 - Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, Canadian commander and explorer
- 1758 - Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer
- 1770 - James Stirling, Scottish mathematician and surveyor
- 1784 - Phillis Wheatley, Senegal-born slave, later American poet
- 1791 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer and musician
- 1819 – Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg, German poet and lawyer
- 1854 - Henry Ross, Canadian-Australian gold miner
- 1870 - Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright
- 1887 - Eliza R. Snow, American poet and songwriter
- 1891 - Pedro II of Brazil
1901–present
- 1918 - Schalk Willem Burger, South African commander, lawyer, and politician, 6th President of the South African Republic
- 1925 - Władysław Reymont, Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1926 - Claude Monet, French painter
- 1931 - Vachel Lindsay, American poet
- 1933 - Alexander Atabekian, Armenian physician and anarchist publisher
- 1940 - Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist and composer
- 1941 - Amrita Sher-Gil, Hungarian-Pakistani painter
- 1942 - Jock Delves Broughton, English captain
- 1946 - Louis Dewis, Belgian-French painter and educator
- 1951 - Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player and manager
- 1951 - Abanindranath Tagore, Indian painter, author, and academic
- 1953 - William Sterling Parsons, American admiral
- 1955 - Glenn L. Martin, American pilot and businessman, founded the Glenn L. Martin Company
- 1961 - Emil Fuchs, German-American lawyer and businessman
- 1963 - Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer and educator
- 1963 - Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Indian-Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan
- 1964 - V. Veerasingam, Sri Lankan educator and politician
- 1965 - Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist, neuroscientist, and academic Nobel Prize laureate
- 1968 - Fred Clark, American actor
- 1969 - Claude Dornier, German engineer and businessman, founded Dornier Flugzeugwerke
- 1969 - Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip of the United Kingdom
- 1973 - Robert Watson-Watt, Scottish engineer, invented the radar
- 1975 - Constance McLaughlin Green, American historian and author
- 1977 - Katherine Milhous, American author and illustrator
- 1977 - Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Russian marshal and politician, Minister of Defence for the Soviet Union
- 1979 - Jesse Pearson, American actor, singer, and screenwriter
- 1983 - Robert Aldrich, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1984 - Cecil M. Harden, American politician
- 1986 - Edward Youde, Welsh-Chinese sinologist and diplomat, 26th Governor of Hong Kong
- 1989 - John Pritchard, English conductor and director
- 1990 - Alfonso A. Ossorio, Filipino-American painter and sculptor
- 1991 - Richard Speck, American mass murderer
- 1994 - Harry Horner, Czech-American director, producer, and production designer
- 1995 - L. B. Cole, American illustrator and publisher
- 1995 - Charles Evans, English mountaineer, surgeon, and educator
- 1995 - Gwen Harwood, Australian poet and playwright
- 1995 - Clair Cameron Patterson, American scientist
- 1997 - Eugen Cicero, Romanian-German jazz pianist
- 1998 - Albert Gore, Sr., American lawyer and politician
- 2001 - Franco Rasetti, Italian-American physicist and academic
- 2002 - Roone Arledge, American sportscaster and producer
- 2002 - Ne Win, Burmese general and politician, 4th President of Burma
- 2005 - Edward L. Masry, American lawyer and politician
- 2006 - David Bronstein, Ukrainian-Belarusian chess player and theoretician
- 2007 - Andrew Imbrie, American composer and academic
- 2007 - George Paraskevaides, Greek-Cypriot businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Joannou & Paraskevaides
- 2007 - Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer and academic
- 2008 - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow
- 2008 - George Brecht, American chemist and composer
- 2008 - Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress
- 2008 - Beverly Garland, American actress and businesswoman
- 2008 - Anca Parghel, Romanian singer-songwriter and pianist
- 2009 - William Lederer, American soldier and author
- 2010 - Alan Armer, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 2010 - Don Meredith, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
- 2011 - Peter Gethin, English racing driver
- 2011 - Gennady Logofet, Russian footballer and manager
- 2012 - Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer
- 2012 - Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist
- 2012 - Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, designed the United Nations Headquarters and Cathedral of Brasília
- 2012 - Ignatius IV of Antioch, Syrian patriarch
- 2013 - Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects
- 2013 - William B. Edmondson, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Africa
- 2013 - Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate
- 2014 - Ernest C. Brace, American captain and pilot
- 2014 - Fabiola, Queen of Belgium
- 2014 - Talât Sait Halman, Turkish poet, translator, and historian
- 2014 - Jackie Healy-Rae, Irish hurdler and politician
- 2014 - Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian and author
- 2015 - Vic Eliason, American clergyman and radio host, founded VCY America
- 2015 - Tibor Rubin, Hungarian-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient
- 2015 - Chuck Williams, American businessman and author, founded Williams Sonoma
- 2016 - Tyruss Himes, American rapper
- 2017 - Michael I of Romania, fifth and last king of Romania
- 2017 - August Ames, Canadian American pornographic actress
- 2019 - Robert Walker, American actor
- 2020 - Peter Alliss, English professional golfer
- 2021 - Bob Dole, American politician
- 2022 - Kirstie Alley, American actress and producer
- 2023 - Norman Lear, American screenwriter and producer
- 2024 - Jacques Roubaud, French poet, writer, and mathematician
- 2025 - Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect and designer
- 2025 - Michael Annett, American Former NASCAR Driver
Holidays and observances