What happened on December 8 ?

65 BC - Horace, Roman poet (d. 8 BC)

1542 - Mary Queen of Scots (d. 1587)

1626 - Queen Christina of Sweden (d. 1689)

1678 - Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton, English diplomat (d. 1757)

1708 - Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1765)

1730 - Jan Ingenhousz, Dutch-born British physiologist and botanist (d. 1799)

1765 - Eli Whitney, American inventor (d. 1825)

1815 - Adolph Menzel, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1905)

1816 - August Belmont, Sr., Prussian-born American financier (d. 1890)

1832 - Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1910)

1848 - Joel Chandler Harris, American author and folklorist (d. 1908)

1861 - William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer (d. 1947)

1861 - Aristide Maillol, French sculptor (d. 1944)

1862 - Georges Feydeau, French playwright (d. 1921)

1864 - Camille Claudel, French graphic artist and sculptor (d. 1943)

1865 - Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (d. 1957)

1874 - Ernst Moro, Austrian physician (d. 1951)

1886 - Diego Rivera, Mexican painter (d. 1957)

1890 - Bohuslav Martin?, Czech composer (d. 1959)

1894 - James Thurber, American writer (d. 1961)

1911 - Lee J. Cobb, American actor (d. 1976)

1913 - Delmore Schwartz, American Poet (d. 1966)

1915 - Ernest Lehman, American screenwriter (d. 2005)

1918 - Gérard Souzay, French baritone (d. 2004)

1919 - Peter Tali Coleman, American politician (d. 1997)

1923 - Rudolph Pariser, Chinese-born American chemist

1925 - Sammy Davis Jr., American actor and singer (d. 1990)

1927 - Vladimir Shatalov, Soviet Union-born cosmonaut

1930 - Maximilian Schell, Austrian-born Swiss actor, film director, and author

1933 - Flip Wilson, American comedian (d. 1998)

1936 - David Carradine, American actor

1937 - James MacArthur, American actor

1937 - Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountain climber and businessman (d. 2004)

1939 - Sir James Galway, Northern Irish flautist

1941 - Sir Geoff Hurst, Ex-English footballer

1943 - Jim Morrison, American singer (The Doors) (d. 1971)

1943 - Mary Woronov, American actress

1946 - John Rubinstein, American actor, composer, director

1947 - Gregg Allman, American musician

1947 - Thomas R. Cech, American chemist and Nobel Prize laureate

1948 - Gary Thain, New Zealand bassist (Uriah Heep) (d. 1975

1949 - Robert Sternberg, Proposed the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

1950 - Rick Baker, American film makeup artist

1951 - Jan Eggum, Norwegian singer-songwriter

1953 - Kim Basinger, American actress

1956 - Warren Cuccurullo, American musician

1957 - Phil Collen, British guitarist (Def Leppard)

1961 - Ann Coulter, American author, political commentator, and attorney

1962 - Marty Friedman, American guitarist

1964 - Sandy Burnett, British record producer

1964 - Teri Hatcher, American actress

1966 - Sinéad O'Connor, Irish musician

1967 - Kotono Mitsuishi, Japanese seiyu (voice actress)

1968 - Mike Mussina, American baseball player

1973 - Corey Taylor, American singer (Slipknot)

1975 - Kevin Harvick, American NASCAR driver

1976 - Dominic Monaghan, German-born British actor

1976 - Naimee Coleman, Irish singer and songwriter

1977 - Ryan Newman, American NASCAR driver

1977 - Elsa Benítez, Mexican supermodel

1978 - Ian Somerhalder, American actor

1978 - Vernon Wells, American baseball player

1982 - Michael Essien, Ghanaian international footballer

1982 - Jimmy Rave, American professional wrestler

1986 - Amir Khan, British boxer

1993 - AnnaSophia Robb, American child actress