December 5

Events

• 63 BC - Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.
• 633 - Fourth Council of Toledo takes place.
• 1082 - Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated.
• 1408 - Emir Edigu of Golden Horde reaches Moscow.
• 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.
• 1492 - Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola.
• 1496 - King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree ordering the expulsion of Jewish "heretics" from the country.
• 1560 - Charles IX becomes king of France.
• 1757 - Seven Years' War: Battle of Leuthen: Frederick II of Prussia leads Prussian forces to a decisive victory over Austrian forces under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine.
• 1766 - In London, auctioneer James Christie holds his first sale.
• 1775 - At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• 1776 - Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society in the U.S., holds its first meeting at the College of William & Mary.
• 1831 - Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.
• 1847 - Jefferson Davis is elected to the U.S. Senate.
• 1848 - California Gold Rush: In a message to the United States Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.
• 1865 - Chincha Islands War: Peru allies with Chile against Spain.
• 1931 - Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow was destroyed on orders from Joseph Stalin.
• 1933 - The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
• 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 - World War II: Flight 19, a group of TBF Avengers, disappears in the Bermuda Triangle, in one of the most famous aviation mysteries in history.
• 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 - E. D. Nixon and Rosa Parks lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• 1958 - Subscriber Trunk Dialling 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 discovered 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.
• 1966 - The musical I Do! I Do!, starring Mary Martin and Robert Preston opens at the 46th Street Theatre, in New York City, and closes on June 15, 1968, after 560 performances.
• 1971 - Battle of Gazipur: Pakistani forces stand defeated as India cedes Gazipur to Bangladesh.
• 1977 - Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen. The move is in retaliation for the Declaration of Tripoli against Egypt.
• 1983 - Dissolution of the Military Junta in Argentina.
• 1991 - Leonid Kravchuk is elected the first president of Ukraine.
• 1995 - Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lanka's government announces the conquest of the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna.
• 1999 - Helen Clark is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand, the second woman to hold the post and the first to be elected to the role.
• 2004 - 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 eight people, including himself, with a WASR-10 at a Von Maur department store in Omaha, Nebraska.
• 2013 - Militants attack a Defense Ministry compound in Sana'a, 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

• 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
• 1595 - Henry Lawes, English composer
• 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
• 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 - 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 - Gus Mancuso, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1905 - Otto Preminger, Austrian-American actor, director, and producer
• 1905 - Francisco Javier Arana, Guatemalan Army colonel and briefly Guatemalan head of state
• 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 - Sonny Boy Williamson II, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player
• 1912 - Kate Simon, American travel writer
• 1913 - Esther Borja, Cuban soprano and actress
• 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 race car driver
• 1918 - Charity Adams Earley, Black American Army officer
• 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 - Adetowun Ogunsheye, first female Nigerian professor and university dean
• 1927 - Bhumibol Adulyadej, Thai king
• 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 Lee Glashow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1932 - Jim Hurtubise, American race car driver
• 1932 - Little Richard, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor
• 1932 - Nadira, Indian actress
• 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 race car 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 - 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 - Link Byfield, Canadian journalist and author
• 1951 - Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Belgian painter and illustrator
• 1952 - Eva Dillner, Swedish author
• 1953 - Gwen Lister, South African-Namibian journalist, publisher, and activist
• 1954 - Hanif Kureishi, English author and playwright
• 1954 - Gary Roenicke, American baseball player and scout
• 1955 - Miyuki Kawanaka, Japanese singer
• 1955 - Juha Tiainen, Finnish hammer thrower
• 1956 - Klaus Allofs, German footballer and manager
• 1956 - Adam Thorpe, French-English author, poet, and playwright
• 1956 - Krystian Zimerman, Polish virtuoso pianist
• 1957 - Raquel Argandoña, Chilean model, actress, and politician
• 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
• 1963 - Michael “Eddie the Eagle” Edwards, British Olympic ski jumper
• 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
• 1968 - Dynamite Kid, English wrestler
• 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, Chancellor of the Exchequer
• 1969 - Lewis Pugh, English swimmer and lawyer
• 1969 - Ramón Ramírez, Mexican footballer
• 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
• 1972 - Cliff Floyd, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1972 - Mike Mahoney, American baseball player
• 1972 - Duane Ross, American hurdler and coach
• 1973 - Argo Arbeiter, Estonian footballer
• 1973 - Andrei Krasnopjorov, Estonian footballer
• 1973 - Mikelangelo Loconte, Italian singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1973 - Luboš Motl, Czech physicist and academic
• 1973 - Shalom Harlow, Canadian model
• 1974 - Charlie Batch, American football player and sportscaster
• 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 - 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 and producer
• 1980 - Ibrahim Maalouf, Lebanese-French trumpet player and composer
• 1980 - Jessica Paré, Canadian actress
• 1982 - Eddy Curry, American basketball player
• 1982 - Trai Essex, American football player
• 1982 - Keri Hilson, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1983 - Cooper Cronk, Australian rugby league player
• 1985 - Shikhar Dhawan, Indian cricketer
• 1985 - Frankie Muniz, American actor, drummer, and race car driver
• 1985 - Nico Verdonck, Belgian race car driver
• 1985 - Danny Wicks, Australian rugby league player
• 1986 - LeGarrette Blount, American football player
• 1986 - James Hinchcliffe, Canadian race car driver
• 1986 - Justin Smoak, American baseball player
• 1987 - Tommy Fraser, English footballer
• 1988 - Joanna Rowsell, English cyclist
• 1989 - Jurrell Casey, American football player
• 1990 - Montee Ball, American football player
• 1991 - Jacopo Sala, Italian footballer
• 1992 - Ilja Antonov, Estonian footballer
• 1992 - Natalie Sourisseau, Canadian field hockey player
• 1993 - Ross Barkley, English footballer
• 1994 - Ondrej Duda, Slovak footballer
• 1994 - Grant Ward, English footballer
• 1995 - Danny Levi, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1995 - Anthony Martial, French footballer
• 1995 - Kaetlyn Osmond, Canadian figure skater

  Deaths

• 63 BC - Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, Roman politician
• 334 - Li Ban, emperor of Cheng Han
• 902 - Ealhswith, queen consort and wife of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex
• 1082 - Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona
• 1212 - Dirk van Are, bishop and lord of Utrecht
• 1244 - Joan, Countess of Flanders and Hainault
• 1355 - John III, Duke of Brabant
• 1560 - Francis II of France
• 1570 - Johan Friis, Danish politician
• 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
• 1870 - Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright
• 1887 - Eliza R. Snow, American poet and songwriter
• 1891 - Pedro II of Brazil
• 1917 - Jean Sandberg
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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 race car 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 - Jayalalithaa, Indian politician, chief minister of Tamil Nadu
• 2017 - Michael I of Romania, fifth and last king of Romania
• 2017 - August Ames, Canadian American pornographic actress
• 2018 - Dynamite Kid, English wrestler

  Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
• *Abercius
• *Clement of Alexandria
• *Crispina
• *Dalmatius of Pavia
• *Gerbold
• *Justinian of Ramsey Island
• *Nicetius
• *Pelinus of Brindisi
• *Sabbas the Sanctified
• *December 5
• Children's Day
• Day of Military Honour - Battle of Moscow
• Discovery Day
• International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development
• Klozum
• Saint Nicholas' Eve
• *Krampusnacht
• The King Bhumibol Adulyadej Memorial Birthday
• World Soil Day