December 24

December 24 – Famous Birthdays:

1900 – Joey Smallwood, Canadian journalist and politician, 1st Premier of Newfoundland (d. 1991)
1900 – Hawayo Takata, Japanese-American teacher and master practitioner of Reiki (d. 1980)
1903 – Joseph Cornell, American sculptor and director (d. 1972)
1903 – Ernst Krenkel, Polish-Russian geographer and explorer (d. 1971)
1903 – Ava Helen Pauling, American humanitarian and activist (d. 1981)
1904 – Joseph M. Juran, Romanian-American engineer and businessman (d. 2008)
1905 – Howard Hughes, American businessman, engineer, and pilot (d. 1976)
1906 – Franz Waxman, German-American composer and conductor (d. 1967)
1907 – I. F. Stone, American journalist and author (d. 1989)
1910 – Ellen Braumüller, German javelin thrower and triathlete (d. 1991)
1910 – Fritz Leiber, American author and poet (d. 1992)
1910 – Max Miedinger, Swiss typeface designer, created Helvetica (d. 1980)
1913 – Ad Reinhardt, American painter and academic (d. 1967)
1914 – Ralph Marterie, Italian-American trumpet player and bandleader (d. 1978)
1914 – Herbert Reinecker, German author and screenwriter (d. 2007)
1919 – Qateel Shifai, Pakistani poet and songwriter (d. 2001)
1919 – Pierre Soulages, French artist
1920 – Franco Lucentini, Italian author and screenwriter (d. 2002)
1920 – Yevgeniya Rudneva, Ukrainian-Russian lieutenant and navigator (d. 1944)
1921 – Bill Dudley, American football player (d. 2010)
1922 – Ava Gardner, American actress (d. 1990)
1923 – George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004)
1924 – Lee Dorsey, American singer-songwriter (d. 1986)
1924 – Abdirizak Haji Hussein, Somalian soldier and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (d. 2014)
1924 – Mohammed Rafi, Indian singer (d. 1980)
1924 – Norman Rossington, English actor (d. 1999)
1927 – Mary Higgins Clark, American author
1928 – Lev Vlassenko, Georgian-Australian pianist and educator (d. 1996)
1929 – Lennart Skoglund, Swedish footballer (d. 1975)
1929 – Philip Ziegler, English historian and author
1930 – Robert Joffrey, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1988)
1930 – John J. Kelley, American runner (d. 2011)
1931 – Ray Bryant, American pianist and composer (d. 2011)
1931 – Mauricio Kagel, Argentinian-German composer and scholar (d. 2008)
1932 – Colin Cowdrey, Indian-English cricketer (d. 2000)
1932 – On Kawara, Japanese-American painter (d. 2014)
1934 – John Critchinson, English pianist and composer (d. 2017)
1934 – Stjepan Mesić, Croatian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Croatia
1934 – Alex Hutchinson, Australian jazz musician.
1936 – Ivan Lawrence, English lawyer and politician
1937 – Félix Miélli Venerando, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
1937 – John Taylor, Baron Kilclooney, Northern Irish politician, Irish Minister of Home Affairs
1938 – Bobby Henrich, American baseball player
1938 – Valentim Loureiro, Portuguese soldier and politician
1940 – Janet Carroll, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
1941 – Mike Hazlewood, English singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
1942 – Indra Bania, Indian actor, director, and playwright (d. 2015)
1942 – Jonathan Borofsky, American sculptor and painter
1942 – Đoàn Viết Hoạt, Vietnamese journalist, educator, and activist
1943 – Tarja Halonen, Finnish lawyer and politician, 11th President of Finland
1943 – Suzy Menkes, English journalist and critic
1944 – Barry Elliott, English actor and screenwriter
1944 – Mike Curb, American businessman and politician, 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California
1944 – Oswald Gracias, Indian cardinal
1944 – Daniel Johnson, Jr., Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Premier of Quebec
1944 – Erhard Keller, German speed skater
1944 – Bob Shaw, Australian golfer
1944 – Woody Shaw, American trumpeter (d. 1989)
1945 – Lemmy, English hard rock singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2015)
1945 – Steve Smith, Canadian-American actor and comedian
1946 – Jan Akkerman, Dutch rock guitarist and songwriter
1946 – Jeff Sessions, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 44th Attorney General of Alabama and 84th Attorney General of the United States
1947 – Kevin Sheedy, Australian footballer and coach
1948 – Stan Bowles, English footballer and sportscaster
1948 – Frank Oliver, New Zealand rugby player and coach
1949 – Warwick Brown, Australian race car driver
1949 – Randy Neugebauer, American accountant and politician
1950 – Dana Gioia, American poet and critic
1950 – Hiroshi Ikushima, Japanese businessman and academic
1950 – Libby Larsen, American composer
1951 – John D’Acquisto, American baseball player
1951 – Nick Kent, English-French journalist and author
1952 – Michael Ray, American jazz musician
1953 – Timothy Carhart, American actor
1954 – Yves Debay, Congolese-French commander and journalist (d. 2013)
1954 – José María Figueres, Costa Rican businessman and politician, President of Costa Rica
1954 – Helen Jones, English lawyer and politician
1954 – Dale Brown Emeagwali, American microbiologist and cancer researcher
1955 – Scott Fischer, American mountaineer and guide (d. 1996)
1955 – Clarence Gilyard, American actor and educator
1956 – Shim Hwa-jin, South Korean academic and educator
1957 – Hamid Karzai, Afghan politician, 12th President of Afghanistan
1958 – Munetaka Higuchi, Japanese drummer and producer (d. 2008)
1958 – Paul Pressey, American basketball player and coach
1958 – Gene Sperling, American economist
1958 – Diane Tell, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1959 – Chris Blackhurst, English journalist
1959 – Lee Daniels, American director and producer
1960 – Glenn McQueen, Canadian-American animator (d. 2002)
1960 – Carol Vorderman, English television host
1961 – Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijani businessman and politician, 4th President of Azerbaijan
1961 – Mary Barra, American businesswoman, current CEO and chairwoman of General Motors
1961 – Eriko Kitagawa, Japanese director and screenwriter
1961 – Darren Wharton, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
1961 – Wade Williams, American actor
1961 – Jay Wright, American basketball player and coach
1962 – Kate Spade, American fashion designer, co-founded Kate Spade New York (d. 2018)
1963 – Caroline Aherne, English actress, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1963 – Jay Bilas, American basketball player and sportscaster
1963 – Timo Jutila, Finnish ice hockey player and sportscaster
1963 – Mary Ramsey, American singer-songwriter and violinist
1963 – Neil Turbin, American singer-songwriter
1964 – Mark Valley, American actor
1965 – Millard Powers, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
1965 – William Branham, American minister
1966 – Diedrich Bader, American actor
1967 – Mikhail Shchennikov, Russian race walker
1967 – Pernilla Wahlgren, Swedish singer and actress
1968 – Doyle Bramhall II, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1968 – Marleen Renders, Belgian runner
1969 – Brad Anderson, American wrestler
1969 – Milan Blagojevic, Australian footballer and manager
1969 – Pernille Fischer Christensen, Danish director and screenwriter
1969 – Taro Goto, Japanese soccer player
1969 – Leavander Johnson, American boxer (d. 2005)
1969 – Ryuji Kato, Japanese soccer player
1969 – Nick Love, English director and screenwriter
1969 – Clinton McKinnon, American saxophonist and keyboard player
1969 – Ed Miliband, English academic and politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office
1969 – Mark Millar, Scottish author
1969 – Luis Musrri, Chilean footballer and manager
1969 – Oleg Skripochka, Russian astronaut and engineer
1969 – Gintaras Staučė, Lithuanian footballer and manager
1969 – Michael Zucchet, American economist and politician
1970 – Adam Haslett, American author and academic
1970 – Amaury Nolasco, Puerto Rican-American actor
1971 – Geoff Allott, New Zealand cricketer
1971 – Sascha Fischer, German rugby player
1971 – Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and actor
1972 – Álvaro Mesén, Costa Rican footballer
1972 – Klaus Schnellenkamp, Chilean businessman and author
1973 – Liu Dong, Chinese-Spanish runner
1973 – Paul Foot, English comedian
1973 – Stephenie Meyer, American author and film producer
1973 – Ali Salem Tamek, Moroccan activist
1974 – Thure Lindhardt, Danish actor
1974 – Paal Nilssen-Love, Norwegian drummer and composer
1974 – Marcelo Salas, Chilean footballer
1974 – Ryan Seacrest, American radio host and television personality, and producer
1974 – J.D. Walsh, American actor, director, and producer
1976 – Linda Ferga, French hurdler
1977 – Michael Raymond-James, American actor
1978 – Yıldıray Baştürk, German-Turkish footballer
1978 – Warren Tredrea, Australian footballer and sportscaster
1979 – Chris Hero, American wrestler and trainer
1980 – Maarja Liis-Ilus, Estonian pop musician
1980 – Stephen Appiah, Ghanaian footballer
1980 – Tomas Kalnoky, Czech-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1981 – Dima Bilan, Russian singer-songwriter and actor
1984 – Isaac De Gois, Australian rugby league player
1985 – Alexey Dmitriev, German ice hockey player
1985 – David Ragan, American race car driver
1986 – Tim Elliott, American mixed martial artist
1986 – Kyrylo Fesenko, Ukrainian basketball player
1987 – Jane Summersett, American ice dancer
1988 – Stefanos Athanasiadis, Greek footballer
1988 – Emre Özkan, Turkish footballer
1988 – Simon Zenke, Nigerian footballer
1990 – Brigetta Barrett, American high jumper
1990 – Marcus Jordan, American basketball player
1990 – Ryo Miyake, Japanese fencer
1991 – Lara Michel, Swiss tennis player
1991 – Wasim Tareen, Pakistani footballer
1991 – Louis Tomlinson, English singer-songwriter
1994 – Fa’amanu Brown, New Zealand rugby league player
1994 – Miguel Castro, Dominican baseball player
1994 – Matt Frawley, Australian rugby league player