What happened on December 4 ?

1555 - Heinrich Meibom, German historian and poet (d. 1625)

1580 - Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (d. 1626)

1585 - John Cotton, American Puritan leader (d. 1652)

1595 - Jean Chapelain, French writer (d. 1674)

1612 - Samuel Butler, English poet (d. 1680)

1660 - André Campra, French composer (d. 1744)

1670 - John Aislabie, English politician (d. 1742)

1713 - Gasparo Gozzi, Italian critic and dramatist (d. 1786)

1777 - Madame Récamier, French writer (d. 1849)

1795 - Thomas Carlyle, British writer and historian (d. 1881)

1798 - Jules Armand Dufaure, French statesman (d. 1881)

1835 - Samuel Butler, British writer (d. 1902)

1849 - Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux chief (d. 1877)

1852 - Orest Khvolson, Russian physicist (d. 1934)

1861 - Lillian Russell, American singer and actress (d. 1922)

1866 (O.S.) - Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born painter (d. 1944)

1875 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet (d. 1926)

1881 - Erwin von Witzleben, German field marshal (d. 1944)

1892 - Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain (d. 1975)

1895 - Fung Yu-lan, Chinese philosopher (d. 1990)

1903 - Cornell Woolrich, American writer (d. 1968)

1908 - Alfred Hershey, American bacteriologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1997)

1912 - Pappy Boyington, American pilot (d. 1988)

1914 - Rudolf Hausner, Austrian artist (d. 1995)

1916 - Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr., American writer (d. 1994)

1921 - Deanna Durbin, Canadian actress

1922 - Gérard Philipe, French actor (d. 1959)

1930 - Jim Hall, jazz guitarist

1931 - Alex Delvecchio, Canadian hockey player

1931 - Wally George, American TV commentator (d. 2003)

1934 - Victor French, American actor (d. 1989)

1934 - Wink Martindale, American game show host

1937 - Max Baer, Jr., American actor

1938 - Yvonne Minton, Australian soprano

1939 - Freddy Cannon, American musician

1940 - John Cale, Welsh musician (The Velvet Underground)

1942 - Gemma Jones, British actress

1942 - Roh Tae-woo, President of South Korea

1944 - Dennis Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (d. 1983)

1945 - Roberta Bondar, Canadian astronaut

1949 - Jeff Bridges, American actor

1953 - Rick Middleton, Canadian ice hockey player

1955 - Dave Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player

1957 - Eric S. Raymond, American open source advocate

1958 - Steve Sailer, American political commentator

1960 - Glynis Nunn, Australian athlete

1961 - Frank Reich, American football player

1963 - Sergei Bubka, Ukrainian pole vaulter

1964 - Marisa Tomei, American actress

1966 - Fred Armisen, American actor and musician

1966 - Chris Shepherd, British film director

1969 - Lucas Radebe, South-african footballer

1969 - Jay-Z (Shawn Carter), American rapper

1972 - Nikki Tyler, American actress

1973 - Tyra Banks, American supermodel

1973 - Steven Menzies, Australian rugby league player

1974 - Tadahito Iguchi, Japanese baseball player