What happened on December 21 ?

1118 - Thomas Becket, Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1170)

1401 - Tommaso Masaccio, Italian painter (d. 1428)

1596 - Petro Mohyla, Moldovan Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of Kiev and Galicia (d. 1646)

1603 - Roger Williams, English theologian and colonist (d. 1684)

1714 - John Bradstreet, Canadian-born soldier (d. 1774)

1804 - Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1881)

1805 - Thomas Graham, British chemist (d. 1869)

1811 - Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1882)

1815 - Thomas Couture French painter and teacher (d. 1879)

1843 - Thomas Bracken, Irish-born New Zealander poet (d. 1898)

1850 - Zden?k Fibich, Bohemian composer (d. 1900)

1859 - Gustave Kahn, French poet (d. 1936)

1872 - Albert Payson Terhune, American author (d. 1942)

1876 - Jack Lang (John Thomas Lang), Premier of New South Wales (d. 1975)

1878 - Jan ?ukasiewicz, Polish philosopher and mathematician (d. 1956)

1879 - Joseph Stalin, Leader of the Russian Communist Party from 1928 to 1953 (d. 1953)

1889 - Sewall Wright, American biologist (d. 1988)

1890 - Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)

1892 - Walter Hagen, American golfer (d. 1969)

1892 - Rebecca West, American writer (d. 1983)

1896 - Leroy Robertson, American composer (d. 1971)

1914 - Ivan Generali?, Austro-Hungarian-born Croatian painter (d. 1992)

1917 - Heinrich Böll, German writer and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)

1918 - Donald Regan, White House Chief of Staff and United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 2003)

1918 - Kurt Waldheim, Austrian United Nations Secretary-General and Federal President of Austria

1921 - Vampira (Maila Nurmi), Finnish-born actress

1921 - Alicia Alonso (Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad del Cobre Martinez Hoya), Cuban ballerina

1922 - Paul Winchell, American ventriloquist (d. 2005)

1926 - Joe Paterno, American Football coach

1935 - John G. Avildsen, American film director and editor

1935 - Yusuf Bey (Joseph Stephens), American activist and businessman (d. 2003)

1935 - Phil Donahue, American talk show host

1937 - Jane Fonda, American actress and activist

1940 - Frank Zappa, American singer, guitarist and composer (d. 1993)

1942 - Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China

1942 - Reinhard Mey, German singer

1942 - Carla Thomas, American singer

1944 - Michael Tilson Thomas, American conductor

1944 - Bill Atkinson, English footballer

1946 - Carl Wilson, American singer and guitarist (The Beach Boys) (d. 1998)

1947 - Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist

1947 - Bryan Hamilton, Northern Irish footballer and football manager

1948 - Samuel L. Jackson, American actor

1948 - Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician and cabaret artist

1950 - Jeffrey Katzenberg, American producer

1954 - Chris Evert, American tennis player

1955 - Jane Kaczmarek, American actress

1955 - Kazuyuki Sekiguchi, Japanese musician

1957 - Tom Henke, American baseball player

1957 - Ray Romano, American comedian and actor

1959 - Florence Griffith Joyner, American sprinter, Olympic gold medalist and 100 m & 200 m world record holder (d. 1998)

1960 - Louis Demetrius Alvanis, London-based pianist

1961 - Francis Ng, Hong Kong actor

1964 - Rob Kelly, English football manager

1965 - Andy Dick, American actor and comedian

1965 - Anke Engelke, German comedienne

1966 - Kiefer Sutherland, British-born Canadian actor

1967 - Mikhail Saakashvili, Soviet-born President of Georgia

1969 - Julie Delpy, French actress

1969 - Mihails Zem?inskis, Latvian footballer

1971 - Brett Scallions, American singer (Fuel)

1972 - Latroy Hawkins, professional baseball player

1973 - Karmen Stavec, German-born Slovenian singer

1973 - Mike Alstott, American football player

1974 - Karrie Webb, Australian golfer

1975 - Paloma Herrera, Argentine ballet dancer (American Ballet Theatre)

1977 - Jim Carson, American music producer and disc jockey

1978 - Mike Vitar, American actor

1980 - Lee Eun Ju, Korean actress (d. 2005)

1981 - Dima Bilan, Russian singer

1981 - Cristian Zaccardo,Italian footballer

1982 - Mike Gansey, American basketball player

1984 - Darren Potter, Irish international footballer

1985 - James Stewart Jr., professional motocross racer

1987 - Edward Speleers., Actor (Eragon)