On This Day — December 21
3807 noted people were born and 2002 died on December 21 in our archive, including John Benjamin Murphy, Leopold von Ranke and Maurice Nivat.
Lists people with a recorded full birth or death date; people known only by year are not included.
Born on December 21
John Benjamin Murphy
1857 – 1916
Leopold von Ranke
1795 – 1886
Maurice Nivat
1937 – 2017
Robert Brown
1773 – 1858
Adebayo Adedeji
1930 – 2018
Alex Saab
b. 1971
Alexander Vasilyevich Belyakov
1897 – 1982
Alice Bah Kuhnke
b. 1971
Andreas Voßkuhle
b. 1963
Benjamin Disraeli
1804 – 1881
Carl Romme
1896 – 1980
Cécile DeWitt-Morette
1922 – 2017
Dmitry Rogozin
b. 1963
Edward Capps
1866 – 1950
Emilio T. González
b. 1956
Georges Bruhat
1887 – 1945
Graeme Segal
b. 1941
Halima Nosirova
1913 – 2003
Hermann Joseph Muller
1890 – 1967
Ira S. Bowen
1898 – 1973
Iris Cummings
1920 – 2025
Jan Łukasiewicz
1878 – 1956
John L. Moll
1921 – 2011
Kerry Sanderson
b. 1950
Kurt Waldheim
1918 – 2007
Lawrence Roberts
1937 – 2018
Lincoln Moses
1921 – 2006
Lloyd Axworthy
b. 1939
Massimiliano Versace
b. 1972
Michael Spindelegger
b. 1959
Mikheil Saakashvili
b. 1967
Newton Ennis Morton
1929 – 2018
Pyotr Demichev
1917 – 2010
Rein Raud
b. 1961
Rod Kemp
b. 1944
Samuel Haughton
1821 – 1897
Sewall Wright
1889 – 1988
Song Sang-Hyun
b. 1941
Stanislav Molchanov
b. 1940
Stine Bosse
b. 1960
Svetislav Basara
b. 1953
Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński
1874 – 1941
Tom Enders
b. 1958
Tonje Skinnarland
b. 1967
Tsui Lap-chee
b. 1950
Viktor Gerashchenko
1937 – 2025
Vivian Nutton
b. 1943
Zoe Lofgren
b. 1947
Abe McGregor Goff
1899 – 1984
Adkham Ikramov
b. 1968
Alfredo Lim
1929 – 2020
Alicia Alonso
1920 – 2019
Anders Sandøe Ørsted
1778 – 1860
Andika Perkasa
b. 1964
Andor Földes
1913 – 1992
Andrew Hook
b. 1932
András Schiff
b. 1953
Anke Engelke
b. 1965
Anna Otke
b. 1974
Anne-Lise Grobéty
1949 – 2010
Archibald Campbell Tait
1811 – 1882
Askanaz Mravyan
1885 – 1929
Bachtiar Aly
1949 – 2026
Barry Gordon
b. 1948
Bart De Wever
b. 1970
Bruno Dary
b. 1952
Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb
b. 1979
Charles Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart
1783 – 1859
Charles Frederick
1709 – 1785
Charles Homer Haskins
1870 – 1937
Charles Le Coq de Kerland
1887 – 1978
Charles Michel
b. 1975
Christian Ludvig Scheel von Plessen
1741 – 1801
Colin Goad
1914 – 1998
Cornelis Dirk Andriesse
b. 1939
Dave Weeks
b. 1960
David Baker
1931 – 2016
David H. Berger
b. 1959
David L. Goldfein
b. 1959
Delphine Zanga Tsogo
1935 – 2020
Donald D. Chamberlin
b. 1944
Donald Regan
1918 – 2003
Dziga Vertov
1895 – 1954
Edward Schreyer
b. 1935
Emanuel Rádl
1873 – 1942
Emmett J. Rice
1919 – 2011
Esperidião Amin
b. 1947
Francesco Ragonesi
1850 – 1931
Francisco Javier Muñiz
1795 – 1871
Francisco Miró Quesada Cantuarias
1918 – 2019
Francisco de la Torre Prados
b. 1942
Frank Rossavik
b. 1965
François Georges-Picot
1870 – 1951
Frederic Y. Bois
b. 1958
Georg Erhard Hamberger
1697 – 1755
George Ball
1909 – 1994
George Downing Liveing
1827 – 1924
Georges Balandier
1920 – 2016
Gia Getsadze
b. 1968
Giordano Bruno Guerri
b. 1950
Giorgio Grigolli
1927 – 2016
Heinrich Böll
1917 – 1985
Henri de Dion
1828 – 1878
Herbert Ehrenberg
1926 – 2018
Hershel W. Gober
1936 – 2024
Hioki Eki
1861 – 1926
Hirokichi Nadao
1899 – 1994
Hu Jintao
b. 1942
Ian Norman
b. 1952
Ingrid Scheffer
b. 1958
Ivan Bodiul
1917 – 2013
Jaan Sarv
1877 – 1954
Jacques Pierre Charles Abbatucci
1791 – 1857
Jacques Simonet
1963 – 2007
Jaime Eyzaguirre
1908 – 1968
James Whiteside McCay
1864 – 1930
Jemele Hill
b. 1975
Joe Paterno
1926 – 2012
Johann Christian Konrad von Hofmann
1810 – 1877
Johannes Edfelt
1904 – 1997
John Burdon-Sanderson
1828 – 1905
John Campbell, 7th Duke of Argyll
1777 – 1847
Joseph Carruthers
1857 – 1932
Jérôme Louis Heldring
1917 – 2013
Kalevi Sorsa
1930 – 2004
Kazuhiko Shigetoku
b. 1970
Kelly Cherry
1940 – 2022
Konstantin Possiet
1819 – 1899
Lajos Für
1930 – 2013
Leyla Yunus
b. 1955
Linda Birnbaum
b. 1946
Lluís Domènech i Montaner
1850 – 1923
Lorenzo D. Lewelling
1846 – 1900
Lorenzo Perosi
1872 – 1956
Louis Bastien
1869 – 1961
Lowry Cole, 4th Earl of Enniskillen
1845 – 1924
Lü Shuxiang
1904 – 1998
Marc Angenot
b. 1941
Marinus van der Goes van Naters
1900 – 2005
Markus Neteler
b. 1969
Martin Kitchen
b. 1936
Maurice Dockrell
1850 – 1929
Mehdi Mabrouk
b. 1963
Michael Fordham
b. 1964
Miguel Junyent Rovira
1871 – 1936
Mikhail Kotiukov
b. 1976
Miklós Kocsár
1933 – 2019
Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev
1836 – 1910
Murakami Kakuichi
1862 – 1927
Mykola Suk
b. 1945
Nkandu Luo
b. 1951
Odd Brochmann
1909 – 1992
Olav Vesaas
b. 1935
Ole Birk Olesen
b. 1972
Olga Aroseva
1925 – 2013
Ora Entin
b. 1943
P. K. Koshevoĭ
1904 – 1976
Patrick Duncan
1870 – 1943
Paul Kurtz
1925 – 2012
Pavel Lebedev-Polianskii
1881 – 1948
Pornthip Rojanasunand
b. 1955
Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati
1921 – 2017
Rebecca West
1892 – 1983
Ricardo Galvão
b. 1947
Richard Jacobs
b. 1956
Robert D. Bullard
b. 1946
Robert Fulton
b. 1948
Robert Worcester
1933 – 2025
Samuil Bernstein
1910 – 1997
Seichō Matsumoto
1909 – 1992
Sergei Neverov
b. 1961
Sherry Rehman
b. 1960
Sihasak Phuangketkeow
b. 1957
Sir Henry Howse
1841 – 1914
Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton, 3rd Baronet
1784 – 1841
Spencer MacCallum
1931 – 2020
Stephen B. McMahon
1954 – 2021
Steven Mnuchin
b. 1962
Thibault de Montaigu
b. 1978
Thomas Sankara
1949 – 1987
Tim Armstrong
b. 1971
Tomás José González-Carvajal
1753 – 1834
Tore Ulstein
b. 1967
Vasile Patilineț
1923 – 1986
Vasily Degtyaryov
1879 – 1949
Viktor Topolov
b. 1945
Wafic Saïd
b. 1939
Walther Bronsart von Schellendorff
1833 – 1914
Wilhelm Maurenbrecher
1838 – 1892
Willem Vermeend
b. 1948
William R. Timken
b. 1938
Zhang Kangyang
b. 1991
Aaron Fechter
b. 1953
Aaron L. Ford
1903 – 1983
Abdul Ghani Kasuba
1951 – 2025
Adam Schefter
b. 1966
Adrien Karbowsky
1855 – 1945
Aegidius Hunnius
1550 – 1603
Akira Ogawa
b. 1982
Albert D. Shaw
1841 – 1901
… and 3,607 more
Died on December 21
Arnold Wolfendale
1927 – 2020
Ivan Knunyants
1906 – 1990
Roxbee Cox, Baron Kings Norton
1902 – 1997
Émile Lemoine
1840 – 1912
Adolf Bayersdorfer
1842 – 1901
Alexei Starobinski
1948 – 2023
Boris Ponomarev
1905 – 1995
Edgar Bronfman, Sr.
1929 – 2013
Elías Tormo
1869 – 1957
Emmanuel de Margerie
1862 – 1953
Eric Temple Bell
1883 – 1960
Gilbert Laithwaite
1894 – 1986
John C. Kornblum
1943 – 2023
José Ibáñez Martín
1896 – 1969
Knud Rasmussen
1879 – 1933
Lars Vegard
1880 – 1963
Lewis Terman
1877 – 1956
Nikolaas Tinbergen
1907 – 1988
Roger Caillois
1913 – 1978
Sidney Drell
1926 – 2016
Thomas Sebeok
1920 – 2001
Welington de Melo
1946 – 2016
Wilhelm Wackernagel
1806 – 1869
Yamao Yōzō
1837 – 1917
Abu Sayeed Ayyub
1906 – 1982
Ahmed Asmat Abdel-Meguid
1923 – 2013
Anton II of Georgia
1762 – 1827
Ants Oras
1900 – 1982
Arnljot Høyland
1924 – 2002
Arthur Purdy Stout
1885 – 1967
Asanali Ashimov
1937 – 2025
Bruce McCandless II
1937 – 2017
Béla Szőkefalvi-Nagy
1913 – 1998
Caleb Frank Gates
1903 – 1955
Carlyle Glean
1932 – 2021
Charles Lamoureux
1834 – 1899
Claude Champagne
1891 – 1965
César Roux
1857 – 1934
Dammes Paulus Dirk Fabius
1851 – 1931
David M. Young, Jr.
1923 – 2008
Donald A. S. Fraser
1925 – 2020
Eiichi Baba
1879 – 1937
Ernest Havet
1813 – 1889
Eugene Lukacs
1906 – 1987
Frank Tompkins
1868 – 1954
Franz Boas
1858 – 1942
Friedrich August von Quenstedt
1809 – 1889
Félix Amiot
1894 – 1974
Geneviève Meurgues
1931 – 2021
Georges Catroux
1877 – 1969
Guy des Cars
1911 – 1993
Hattie Caraway
1878 – 1950
Helge Sivertsen
1913 – 1986
Helmut Paul
1929 – 2015
Henri Dallier
1849 – 1934
Henry Fielding Dickens
1849 – 1933
Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf
1893 – 1961
Hugo Rahner
1900 – 1968
J. B. Lightfoot
1828 – 1889
James E. Sheridan
1922 – 2015
Jerzy Topolski
1928 – 1998
Joaquín Víctor González
1863 – 1923
John Gilbert
1871 – 1934
Joseph George Cumming
1812 – 1868
Ján Cikker
1911 – 1989
Kaneshichi Masuda
1898 – 1985
Karo Ghafadaryan
1907 – 1976
Kelly Johnson
1910 – 1990
Kjell Bondevik
1901 – 1983
Lambert Hepenstal Ormsby
1850 – 1923
Laurynas Gucevičius
1753 – 1798
Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal
1810 – 1900
Leslie Brent
1925 – 2019
Loren Carpenter
1947 – 2025
Louis Diémer
1843 – 1919
Luigi Cadorna
1850 – 1928
Léon Couturier
1842 – 1935
Mahmut Esat Bozkurt
1892 – 1943
Martin Dülfer
1859 – 1942
Mati Õun
1942 – 2024
Michael O'Neill
1953 – 2018
Michelle Tisseyre
1918 – 2014
Nancy Atkinson
1910 – 1999
Nikolay Koksharov
1818 – 1892
Odilon Lannelongue
1840 – 1911
Oleg Troyanovsky
1919 – 2003
Paul Gordan
1837 – 1912
Peter Canisius
1521 – 1597
Pyotr Durnovo
1835 – 1918
Renaat Van Elslande
1916 – 2000
Rob Burgess
1957 – 2025
Robert Solow
1924 – 2023
Roswell Rudd
1935 – 2017
Saparmyrat Nyýazow
1940 – 2006
Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet
1754 – 1835
Tattybübü Tursunbayeva
1944 – 1981
Ted Mattner
1893 – 1977
Trenchard Cox
1905 – 1995
Vincenzo Tangorra
1866 – 1922
Vyacheslav Shalevich
1934 – 2016
Věra Galatíková
1938 – 2007
Wenceslao Benítez Inglott
1879 – 1954
William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire
1808 – 1891
William McMillan
1850 – 1926
Władysław Machejek
1920 – 1991
Władysław Szajnocha
1857 – 1928
A. J. Thomas, Jr.
1923 – 2004
Adolfo Pérez Muñoz
1864 – 1945
Adrien-Louis de Bonnières, duc de Guînes
1735 – 1806
Alan McLeod McCulloch
1907 – 1992
Albert Cambriels
1816 – 1891
Aleksandr Kurlyandskiy
1938 – 2020
Alex Quaison-Sackey
1924 – 1992
Alfred J. Gross
1918 – 2000
Aloysius Baes
1948 – 2006
Alpheus S. Williams
1810 – 1878
Amasi Martirosyan
1897 – 1971
Amos T. Akerman
1821 – 1880
Américo Ghioldi
1899 – 1984
Anatole Beck
1930 – 2014
André LeBlanc
1921 – 1998
Anne Ferguson
1941 – 1998
Anthony F. Tauriello
1899 – 1983
Antonino D'Antona
1842 – 1913
Arthur Jones
1872 – 1914
Bernhard Worms
1930 – 2024
Bernt Carlsson
1938 – 1988
Betty Reid-Soskin
1921 – 2025
Billie Whitelaw
1932 – 2014
Burrill Bunn Battle
1838 – 1917
Byron N. Scott
1903 – 1991
Carl E. McGowan
1911 – 1987
Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova
1937 – 2023
Carlos Matus
1931 – 1998
Carmen Barros
1925 – 2023
Charles Benjamin Dudley
1842 – 1909
Charles Lawson
1795 – 1873
Charles Miller
1843 – 1927
Charles S. Morehead
1802 – 1868
Clarence Clyde Ferguson, Jr.
1924 – 1983
Clarence Gosse
1912 – 1996
Claude Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne
1618 – 1679
Clelia Duel Mosher
1863 – 1940
Constance Endicott Hartt
1900 – 1984
Cornelis Eliza Bertus Bremekamp
1888 – 1984
Daniel Oliver
1830 – 1916
David Heinrich Müller
1846 – 1912
David Kozák
1999 – 2023
Dick Enberg
1935 – 2017
Dmitri Kachenovsky
1827 – 1872
Don Martina
1935 – 2024
Dudley Graham Johnson
1884 – 1975
Edward H. Williams
1824 – 1899
Edward Stanhope
1840 – 1893
Edwin Foster Coddington
1870 – 1950
Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
1691 – 1750
Elliott Organick
1925 – 1985
Emil Stang
1882 – 1964
Engelbert Endrass
1911 – 1941
Ernst Herter
1846 – 1917
Ethel Swanbeck
1893 – 1989
Eugene Talmadge
1884 – 1946
Evgenii Wulff
1885 – 1941
F. Scott Fitzgerald
1896 – 1940
Ferdinand Gottlieb von Gmelin
1782 – 1848
Field Harris
1895 – 1967
Fons Aler
1896 – 1981
Francis Bousquet
1890 – 1942
Francis Garnier
1839 – 1873
Frank B. Kellogg
1856 – 1937
Frank Hereford
1825 – 1891
François Autain
1935 – 2019
François de Rovérié de Cabrières
1830 – 1921
Fred Bartram
1869 – 1948
Fred Jay Seaver
1877 – 1970
Frederick J. Harlfinger II
1913 – 1993
Garegin Nzhdeh
1886 – 1955
Gary Hocking
1937 – 1962
Gen-ichi Koidzumi
1883 – 1953
George Edward Akerson
1889 – 1937
George F. Roesch
1855 – 1917
George S. Patton
1885 – 1945
George W. Morrison
1809 – 1888
Gerard Bernacki
1942 – 2018
Giuseppe Tassinari
1891 – 1944
Godwin Abbe
1949 – 2024
Graham C. Newbury
1910 – 1985
Grant E. Mouser, Jr.
1895 – 1943
Gregorio Mayans
1699 – 1781
Gyula Rimanóczy
1903 – 1958
Gérard de Berny
1880 – 1957
H. B. Warner
1875 – 1958
Hannelore Hoger
1939 – 2024
Hans Konrad von Orelli
1846 – 1912
Harold Livingstone Tapley
1875 – 1932
Harry Järv
1921 – 2009
Harry Marks
1855 – 1916
Harvey du Cros
1846 – 1918
Heinrich Dreser
1860 – 1924
Helmut Beinert
1913 – 2007
… and 1,802 more