What happened on December 31 ?

1378 - Pope Callixtus III (d. 1458)

1491 - Jacques Cartier, French explorer (d. 1557)

1514 - Vesalius, Flemish anatomist (d. 1564)

1572 - Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan, (d. 1617)

1668 - Herman Boerhaave, Dutch humanist and physician (d. 1738)

1720 - Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (d. 1788)

1738 - Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British general (d. 1805)

1763 - Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (d. 1806)

1830 - Isma'il Pasha, Governor of Egypt (d. 1895)

1869 - Henri Matisse, French painter and graphic artist (d. 1954)

1880 - George C. Marshall, United States Secretary of State, recipient of Nobel Peace Prize, World War II Chief of Staff of the United States Army (d. 1959)

1881 - Max Pechstein, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1955)

1903 - Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian violinist (d. 1992)

1905 - Jule Styne, English-born composer (d. 1994)

1908 - Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian Holocaust survivor and activist (d. 2005)

1910 - Carl Dudley, American film director (died 1973)

1919 - Tommy Byrne, baseball player

1920 - Rex Allen, American actor and singer (d. 1999)

1928 - Siné, French cartoonist

1930 - Odetta, American singer

1931 - Bob Shaw, Irish writer (d. 1996)

1934 - Akram Awan, Islamic scholar, Sufi

1937 - Avram Hershko, Israeli biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

1937 - Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor

1938 - Rosalind Cash, American actress (d. 1995)

1941 - Alex Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager

1942 - Andy Summers, British musician (The Police)

1943 - John Denver, American musician (d. 1997)

1943 - Ben Kingsley, English actor

1945 - Taylor Hackford, American film producer and director

1945 - Diane von Fürstenberg, fashion designer

1945 - Connie Willis, American writer

1947 - Burton Cummings, Canadian musician (The Guess Who)

1947 - Tim Matheson, American actor

1948 - Donna Summer, American singer

1949 - Ellen Datlow, American editor and anthologist

1949 - Susan Shwartz, American writer

1951 - George Thorogood, American musician

1951 - Tom Hamilton, American musician (Aerosmith)

1953 - James Remar, American actor

1953 - Jane Badler, American actress

1958 - Bebe Neuwirth, American actress

1959 - Phill Kline, American politician

1959 - Val Kilmer, American actor

1959 - Paul Westerberg, American singer, songwriter, and musician (Replacements)

1960 - John Allen Muhammad, American serial killer

1963 - Scott Ian, American musician (Anthrax)

1964 - Allen D'Nulderf, American stuntman

1971 - Brent Barry, American basketball player

1980 - Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby player and current captain of the All Blacks

1980 - Bob Bryar, American drummer (My Chemical Romance)

1981 - Jason Campbell, American Quarterback (Washington Redskins (NFL))