text:
David Mamet

David Alan Mamet (born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) and Speed-the-Plow (1988). He first gained critical acclaim for a trio of off-Broadway 1970s plays: The Duck Variations, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and American Buffalo. His plays Race and The Penitent, respectively, opened on Broadway in 2009 and previewed off-Broadway in 2017.

Feature films that Mamet both wrote and directed include House of Games (1987), Homicide (1991), The Spanish Prisoner (1997), and his biggest commercial success, Heist (2001). His screenwriting credits include The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), The Verdict (1982), The Untouchables (1987), Hoffa (1992), Wag the Dog (1997), and Hannibal (2001). Mamet himself wrote the screenplay for the 1992 adaptation of Glengarry Glen Ross, and wrote and directed the 1994 adaptation of his play Oleanna (1992). He created and produced the CBS series The Unit (2006–2009).

Mamet's books include: On Directing Film (1991), a commentary and dialogue about film-making; The Old Religion (1997), a novel about the lynching of Leo Frank; Five Cities of Refuge: Weekly Reflections on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy (2004), a Torah commentary with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner; The Wicked Son (2006), a study of Jewish self-hatred and antisemitism; Bambi vs. Godzilla, a commentary on the movie business; The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture (2011), a commentary on cultural and political issues; Three War Stories (2013), a trio of novellas about the physical and psychological effects of war; and Everywhere an Oink Oink: An Embittered, Dyspeptic, and Accurate Report of Forty Years in Hollywood (2023), an autobiographical account of his experiences in Hollywood.

Early life
Mamet was born in 1947 in Chicago to Lenore June (née Silver), a teacher, and Bernard Morris Mamet, a labor attorney. He is Jewish. His paternal grandparents were Polish Jews. Mamet has said his parents were communists and described himself as a red diaper baby. One of his earliest jobs was as a busboy at Chicago's London House and The Second City. He also worked as an actor, editor for Oui magazine and as a cab-driver. He was educated at the progressive Francis W. Parker School and at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. At the Chicago Public Library Foundation 20th anniversary fundraiser in 2006, though, Mamet announced "My alma mater is the Chicago Public Library. I got what little educational foundation I got in the third-floor reading room, under the tutelage of a Coca-Cola sign".

After a move to Chicago's North Side, Mamet met theater director Robert Sickinger, and began to work occasionally at Sickinger's Hull House Theatre. Thus began Mamet's lifelong involvement with the theater.

Theater
Mamet is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company; he first gained acclaim for a trio of off-Broadway plays in 1976, The Duck Variations, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and American Buffalo. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for Glengarry Glen Ross, which received its first Broadway revival in the summer of 2005. His play Race, which opened on Broadway on December 6, 2009, and featured James Spader, David Alan Grier, Kerry Washington, and Richard Thomas in the cast, received mixed reviews. His play The Anarchist, starring Patti LuPone and Debra Winger, in her Broadway debut, opened on Broadway on November 13, 2012, in previews and was scheduled to close on December 16, 2012. His 2017 play The Penitent previewed off-Broadway on February 8, 2017.

In 2002, Mamet was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. Mamet later received the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award for Grand Master of American Theater in 2010.

In 2017, Mamet released an online class for writers entitled David Mamet teaches dramatic writing.

In 2019 Mamet returned to the London West End with a new play, Bitter Wheat, at the Garrick Theatre, starring John Malkovich.

In 2023 it was announced Mamet was writing a new play entitled, Henry Johnson. The production is announced to debut in Los Angeles starring Shia LaBeouf.

Film
Mamet's first film work was as a screenwriter, later directing his own scripts.

According to Joe Mantegna, Mamet worked as a script doctor for the 1978 film Towing.

Mamet's first produced screenplay was the 1981 production of The Postman Always Rings Twice, based on James M. Cain's novel. He received an Academy Award nomination one year later for the 1982 legal drama, The Verdict. He also wrote the screenplays for The Untouchables (1987), Hoffa (1992), The Edge (1997), Wag the Dog (1997), Ronin (1998), and Hannibal (2001). He received a second Academy Award nomination for Wag the Dog.

In 1987, Mamet made his film directing debut with his screenplay House of Games, which won Best Screenplay awards at the 1987 Venice Film Festival and the Film of the Year in 1989 from the London Film Critics' Circle Awards. The film starred his then-wife, Lindsay Crouse, and many longtime stage associates and friends, including fellow Goddard College graduates. Mamet was quoted as saying, "It was my first film as a director and I needed support, so I stacked the deck." After House of Games, Mamet later wrote and directed two more films focusing on the world of con artists, The Spanish Prisoner (1997) and Heist (2001). Among those films, Heist enjoyed the biggest commercial success.

Other films that Mamet both wrote and directed include: Things Change (1988), Homicide (1991) (nominated for the Palme d'Or at 1991 Cannes Film Festival and won a "Screenwriter of the Year" award for Mamet from the London Film Critics' Circle Awards), Oleanna (1994), The Winslow Boy (1999), State and Main (2000), Spartan (2004), Redbelt (2008), and the 2013 bio-pic TV movie Phil Spector.

A feature-length film, a thriller titled Blackbird, was intended for release in 2015, but is still in development.

When Mamet adapted his play for the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross, he wrote an additional part (including the monologue "Coffee's for closers") for Alec Baldwin.

Mamet continues to work with an informal repertory company for his films, including Crouse, William H. Macy, Joe Mantegna, and Rebecca Pidgeon, as well as the aforementioned school friends.

Mamet rewrote the script for Ronin under the pseudonym "Richard Weisz" and turned in an early version of a script for Malcolm X which was rejected by director Spike Lee. Mamet also wrote an unproduced biopic script about Roscoe Arbuckle with Chris Farley intended to portray him. In 2000, Mamet directed a film version of Catastrophe, a one-act play by Samuel Beckett featuring Harold Pinter and John Gielgud (in his final screen performance). In 2008, he wrote and directed the mixed martial arts movie Redbelt, about a martial arts instructor tricked into fighting in a professional bout.

In On Directing Film, Mamet advocates for a method of storytelling based on Eisenstein's montage theory, stating that the story should be told through the juxtaposition of uninflected images. This method relies heavily on the cut between scenes, and Mamet urges directors to eliminate as much narration as possible. Mamet asserts that directors should focus on getting the point of a scene across, rather than simply following a protagonist, or adding visually beautiful or intriguing shots. Films should create order from disorder in search of the objective.

In 2023, reports emerged that Mamet would direct and co-write a new film titled Assassination, his first film since 2008. The film will center around the Chicago Mob ordering the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and will star Viggo Mortensen, Shia LaBeouf, Courtney Love, Al Pacino, and John Travolta. The film's production was scheduled to start in September 2023. In October, Barry Levinson took over as the film's director, while Mamet remained as the screenwriter.

In March 2024, Mamet stated that he is currently writing a screenplay centering about Hunter Biden, the second son of U.S. President Joe Biden. In June, Deadline reported that the film, titled The Prince, will directed by Cameron Van Hoy and star Scott Haze as the lead character Parker; alongside Nicolas Cage, J.K. Simmons, Giancarlo Esposito, and Andy Garcia. Mamet added that the film won't be "a travelogue", and will be inspired by Hunter's life, rather than serve as a biopic.

Books
Mamet published the essay collection Writing in Restaurants in 1986, followed by the poetry collection The Hero Pony in 1990. He has also published a series of short plays, monologues and four novels, The Village (1994), The Old Religion (1997), Wilson: A Consideration of the Sources (2000), and Chicago (2018). He has written several non-fiction texts, and children's stories, including True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor (1997). In 2004 he published a lauded version of the classical Faust story, Faustus, however, when the play was staged in San Francisco during the spring of 2004, it was not well received by critics. On May 1, 2010, Mamet released a graphic novel The Trials of Roderick Spode (The Human Ant).

Mamet detailed his conversion from modern liberalism to "a reformed liberal" in The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture in 2011. Mamet published Three War Stories, a collection of novellas, in 2013 ; the novel The Diary of a Porn Star by Priscilla Wriston-Ranger: As Told to David Mamet With an Afterword by Mr. Mamet in 2019; and the political commentary Recessional: The Death of Free Speech and the Cost of a Free Lunch in 2022. In 2023 Mamet recounted his experiences in Hollywood and the movie-making industry in Everywhere an Oink Oink: An Embittered, Dyspeptic, and Accurate Report of Forty Years in Hollywood.

Television and radio
Mamet wrote one episode of Hill Street Blues, "A Wasted Weekend", that aired in 1987. His then-wife, Lindsay Crouse, appeared in numerous episodes (including that one) as Officer McBride. Mamet is also the creator, producer and frequent writer of the television series The Unit, where he wrote a well-circulated memo to the writing staff. He directed a third-season episode of The Shield with Shawn Ryan. In 2007, Mamet directed two television commercials for Ford Motor Company. The two 30-second ads featured the Ford Edge and were filmed in Mamet's signature style of fast-paced dialogue and clear, simple imagery. Mamet's sister, Lynn, is a producer and writer for television shows, such as The Unit and Law & Order.

Mamet has contributed several dramas to BBC Radio through Jarvis & Ayres Productions, including an adaptation of Glengarry Glen Ross for BBC Radio 3 and new dramas for BBC Radio 4. The comedy Keep Your Pantheon (or On the Whole I'd Rather Be in Mesopotamia) was aired in 2007. The Christopher Boy's Communion was another Jarvis & Ayres production, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on March 8, 2021.

Archives
The papers of David Mamet were sold to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin in 2007 and first opened for research in 2009. The growing collection consists mainly of manuscripts and related production materials for most of his plays, films, and other writings, but also includes his personal journals from 1966 to 2005. In 2015, the Ransom Center secured a second major addition to Mamet's papers, including more recent works. Additional materials relating to Mamet and his career can be found in the Ransom Center's collections of Robert De Niro, Mel Gussow, Tom Stoppard, Sam Shepard, Paul Schrader, Don DeLillo, and John Russell Brown.

Mamet speak
Mamet's style of writing dialogue, marked by a cynical, street-smart edge, has come to be called Mamet speak. Mamet himself has criticized his (and other writers') tendency to write "pretty" at the expense of sound, logical plots. When asked how he developed his style for writing dialogue, Mamet said, "In my family, in the days prior to television, we liked to while away the evenings by making ourselves miserable, based solely on our ability to speak the language viciously. That's probably where my ability was honed."

Gender issues
Mamet's plays have frequently sparked debate and controversy. Following a 1992 staging of Oleanna, a play in which a college student accuses her professor of trying to rape her, a critic reported that the play divided the audience by gender and recounted that "couples emerged screaming at each other".

In his 2014 book David Mamet and Male Friendship, Arthur Holmberg examined Mamet's portrayal of male friendships, especially focusing on the contradictions and ambiguities of male bonding as dramatized in Mamet's plays and films.

Personal life
Mamet and actress Lindsay Crouse married in 1977 and divorced in 1990. The couple have two children. Mamet has been married to actress and singer-songwriter Rebecca Pidgeon since 1991, and they have two children. Mamet and Pidgeon live in Santa Monica, California.

Mamet is a Reform Jew and strongly pro-Israel.

Political views
In 2005, Mamet became a contributing blogger for The Huffington Post, drawing satirical cartoons with themes including political strife in Israel. In a 2008 essay at The Village Voice titled "Why I Am No Longer a 'Brain-Dead Liberal he discussed how his political views had shifted from liberalism to conservatism. In interviews, Mamet has highlighted his agreement with free market theorists such as Friedrich Hayek, the historian Paul Johnson, and economist Thomas Sowell, whom Mamet called "one of our greatest minds". In 2022, Mamet declined to explicitly label himself a Republican, but described himself as a conservative who "would like to conserve those things I grew up with: the love of family, the love of the country, love of service, love of God, love of community".

During promotion of a book, Mamet said British people had "a taint of anti-semitism," claiming they "want to give [Israel] away to some people whose claim is rather dubious." In the same interview, Mamet went on to say that "there are famous dramatists and novelists [in the UK] whose works are full of anti-Semitic filth." He refused to give examples because of British libel laws (the interview was conducted in New York City for the Financial Times). He is known for his pro-Israel positions; in his book The Secret Knowledge he claimed that "Israelis would like to live in peace within their borders; the Arabs would like to kill them all."

Mamet endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for president in 2012, and wrote an article for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles imploring fellow Jewish Americans to vote for Romney.

In an essay for Newsweek, published on January 29, 2013, Mamet argued against gun control laws: "It was intended to guard us against this inevitable decay of government that the Constitution was written. Its purpose was and is not to enthrone a Government superior to an imperfect and confused electorate, but to protect us from such a government."

Mamet has described the NFL anthem protests as "absolutely fucking despicable". In a 2020 interview, he described Donald Trump as a "great president" and supported his re-election. After Trump lost the election, Mamet appeared to endorse claims that the election had been illegitimate in his 2022 book Recessional: The Death of Free Speech and the Cost of a Free Lunch, though shortly after its publication, he said he "misspoke" on the subject.

In 2022, Mamet made comments in support of Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act, called the "Don't Say Gay" bill by its critics, which restricts what public school teachers in Florida can discuss with children in kindergarten through third grade about sexual orientation and gender identity. In an interview with Fox News, Mamet claimed that the law was necessary because teachers "are abusing [children] mentally and using sex to do so", further alleging that "teachers are inclined, particularly men because men are predators, to pedophilia".

Plays

 * Lakeboat (1970)
 * The Duck Variations (1972)
 * Lone Canoe (1972)
 * Sexual Perversity in Chicago (1974)
 * Squirrels (1974)
 * American Buffalo (1975)
 * Reunion (1976)
 * The Water Engine (1976)
 * A Life in the Theatre (1977)
 * The Woods (1977)
 * The Revenge of the Space Pandas, or Binky Rudich and the Two-Speed Clock (1978)
 * Mr. Happiness (1978)
 * Prairie du Chien (1979)
 * The Blue Hour (1979)
 * Lakeboat (revision) (1980)
 * Edmond (1982)
 * The Frog Prince (1983)
 * Glengarry Glen Ross (1983)
 * The Shawl (1985)
 * Goldberg Street: Short Plays and Monologues (1985)
 * The Poet & The Rent (1986)
 * Speed-the-Plow (1988)
 * Bobby Gould in Hell (1989)
 * Oleanna (1992)
 * The Cryptogram (1994)
 * The Old Neighborhood (1997)
 * Boston Marriage (1999)
 * Faustus (2004)
 * Romance (2005)
 * The Voysey Inheritance (adaptation) (2005)
 * Keep Your Pantheon (2007)
 * November (2007)
 * The Vikings and Darwin (2008)
 * Race (2009)
 * School (2009)
 * The Anarchist (2012)
 * China Doll (2015)
 * The Penitent (2017)
 * Bitter Wheat (2019)
 * The Christopher Boy's Communion (2020)
 * Henry Johnson (2023)

Filmography
Films Short films Television Acting roles Unrealized projects
 * Ace in the Hole remake (1990) – Script for Brian De Palma to direct
 * Charlie Chan in Horse and Rider (1992) – Script for Warner Bros.
 * Ordinary Daylight (1992) – Adaptation of the memoir, for Warner Bros.
 * High and Low remake (1993) – Script for Martin Scorsese to direct
 * Diary of a Young London Physician (2002) – Adaptation of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, for Warner Bros.
 * Joan of Bark: The Dog That Saved France (2004) – Writer/director, for Columbia Pictures
 * The Prince of Providence  (2004) – Adaptation of the novel, for Michael Corrente to direct
 * The Bones (2005) – Adaptation of the novel, for Columbia Pictures
 * Whistle (2005) – Adaptation of the novel, for Columbia Pictures
 * The Diary of Anne Frank (2009) – Adaptation of the novel, for Disney Pictures
 * Have Gun – Will Travel TV series reboot (2013) – Writer/director, for CBS
 * Blackbird (2013) – Writer/director
 * 7 Deadly Sins TV miniseries (2013) – Writer/director, for Fox
 * Speed-the-Plow film adaptation (2016) – Writer/director
 * The Force (2017) – Adaptation of the novel, for James Mangold to direct

Books

 * Writing in Restaurants (1987)
 * Some Freaks (1989)
 * On Directing Film (1991)
 * The Cabin: Reminiscence and Diversions (1992)
 * The Village (1994)
 * A Whore's Profession (1994)
 * Make-Believe Town: Essays and Remembrances (1996)
 * The Old Religion (1997)
 * Three Uses of the Knife (1998)
 * True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor (1999)
 * The Chinaman (1999)
 * Jafsie and John Henry: Essays (1999)
 * Wilson: A Consideration of the Sources (2000)
 * South of the Northeast Kingdom (2002)
 * Five Cities of Refuge: Weekly Reflections on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (with Lawrence Kushner) (2003)
 * The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-hatred, and the Jews (2006)
 * Bambi Vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business (2007)
 * Theatre (2010)
 * The Trials of Roderick Spode (The Human Ant) (2010)
 * The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture (2011)
 * Three War Stories (2013)
 * Chicago (2018)
 * The Diary of a Porn Star by Priscilla Wriston-Ranger: As Told to David Mamet With an Afterword by Mr. Mamet (2019)
 * Recessional: The Death of Free Speech and the Cost of a Free Lunch (2022)
 * Everywhere an Oink Oink: An Embittered, Dyspeptic, and Accurate Report of Forty Years in Hollywood (2023)

Theatre
Drama Desk Award

New York Drama Critics' Circle

Pulitzer Prize

Tony Awards

Film
Academy Awards

'''BAFTA Awards

Golden Globe Awards

Television
Primetime Emmy Awards

title: David Mamet


text:
December 6

Pre-1600

 * 1060 – Béla I is crowned king of Hungary.
 * 1240 – Mongol invasion of Rus': Kyiv, defended by Voivode Dmytro, falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan.
 * 1492 – After exploring the island of Cuba (which he had mistaken for Japan) for gold, Christopher Columbus lands on an island he names Hispaniola.
 * 1534 – The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar.

1601–1900

 * 1648 – Pride's Purge removes royalist sympathizers from Parliament so that the High Court of Justice could put the King on trial.
 * 1704 – Battle of Chamkaur: During the Mughal-Sikh Wars, an outnumbered Sikh Khalsa defeats a Mughal army.
 * 1745 – Charles Edward Stuart's army begins retreat during the second Jacobite Rising.
 * 1790 – The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia.
 * 1803 – Five French warships attempting to escape the Royal Naval blockade of Saint-Domingue are all seized by British warships, signifying the end of the Haitian Revolution.
 * 1865 – Georgia ratifies the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
 * 1882 – Transit of Venus, second and last of the 19th century.
 * 1884 – The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., is completed.
 * 1897 – London becomes the world's first city to host licensed taxicabs.

1901–present

 * 1904 – Theodore Roosevelt articulated his "Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the U.S. would intervene in the Western Hemisphere should Latin American governments prove incapable or unstable.
 * 1907 – A coal mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia, kills 362 workers.
 * 1912 – The Nefertiti Bust is discovered.
 * 1916 – World War I: The Central Powers capture Bucharest.
 * 1917 – Finland declares independence from the Russian Empire.
 * 1917  – Halifax Explosion: A munitions explosion near Halifax, Nova Scotia kills more than 1,900 people in the largest artificial explosion up to that time.
 * 1917  – World War I: USS Jacob Jones (DD-61) is the first American destroyer to be sunk by enemy action when it is torpedoed by German submarine SM U-53.
 * 1921 – The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives.
 * 1922 – One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence.
 * 1928 – The government of Colombia sends military forces to suppress a month-long strike by United Fruit Company workers, resulting in an unknown number of deaths.
 * 1933 – In United States v. One Book Called Ulysses Judge John M. Woolsey rules that James Joyce's novel Ulysses is not obscene despite coarse language and sexual content, a leading decision affirming free expression.
 * 1941 – World War II: Camp X opens in Canada to begin training Allied secret agents for the war.
 * 1956 – A violent water polo match between Hungary and the USSR takes place during the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, against the backdrop of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
 * 1957 – Project Vanguard: A launchpad explosion of Vanguard TV3 thwarts the first United States attempt to launch a satellite into Earth orbit.
 * 1967 – Adrian Kantrowitz performs the first human heart transplant in the United States.
 * 1969 – Altamont Free Concert: At a free concert performed by the Rolling Stones, eighteen-year old Meredith Hunter is stabbed to death by Hells Angels security guards.
 * 1971 – Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with India, initiating the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
 * 1973 – The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States House of Representatives votes 387–35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States. (On November 27, the Senate confirmed him 92–3.)
 * 1975 – The Troubles: Fleeing from the police, a Provisional IRA unit takes a British couple hostage in their flat on Balcombe Street, London, beginning a six-day siege.
 * 1977 – South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country.
 * 1978 – Spain ratifies the Spanish Constitution of 1978 in a referendum.
 * 1982 – The Troubles: The Irish National Liberation Army bombs a pub frequented by British soldiers in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, killing eleven soldiers and six civilians.
 * 1989 – The École Polytechnique massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders 14 young women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal.
 * 1990 – A military jet of the Italian Air Force, abandoned by its pilot after an on-board fire, crashed into a high school near Bologna, Italy, killing 12 students and injuring 88 other people.
 * 1991 – Yugoslav Wars: In Croatia, forces of the Serb-dominated Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) heaviest bombardment of Dubrovnik during a siege of seven months.
 * 1992 – The Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India, is demolished, leading to widespread riots causing the death of over 1,500 people.
 * 1998 – in Venezuela, Hugo Chávez is victorious in presidential elections.
 * 1999 – A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.: The Recording Industry Association of America sues the peer-to-peer file-sharing service Napster, alleging copyright infringement.
 * 2005 – An Iranian Air Force C-130 military transport aircraft crashes into a ten-floor apartment building in a residential area of Tehran, killing all 94 on board and 12 more on the ground.
 * 2006 – NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.
 * 2015 – Venezuelan parliamentary election: For the first time in 17 years, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela loses its majority in parliament.
 * 2017 – Donald Trump's administration officially announces the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Pre-1600

 * 846 – Hasan al-Askari, Arabian 11th of the Twelve Imams (d. 874)
 * 1285 – Ferdinand IV of Castile (d. 1312)
 * 1421 – Henry VI of England (d. 1471)
 * 1478 – Baldassare Castiglione, Italian courtier, diplomat, and author (d. 1529)
 * 1520 – Barbara Radziwiłł, queen of Poland (d. 1551)
 * 1545 – Janus Dousa, Dutch historian and noble (d. 1604)
 * 1586 – Niccolò Zucchi, Italian astronomer and physicist (d. 1670)
 * 1592 – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle (d. 1676)

1601–1900

 * 1608 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1670)
 * 1637 – Edmund Andros, English courtier and politician, 4th Colonial Governor of New York (d. 1714)
 * 1640 – Claude Fleury, French historian and author (d. 1723)
 * 1645 – Maria de Dominici, Maltese sculptor and painter (d. 1703)
 * 1685 – Marie Adélaïde of Savoy (d. 1712)
 * 1721 – Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French minister and politician (d. 1794)
 * 1721  – James Elphinston, Scottish philologist and linguist (d. 1809)
 * 1732 – Warren Hastings, British colonial administrator of India (d. 1818)
 * 1752 – Gabriel Duvall, American jurist and politician (d. 1844)
 * 1778 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French physicist and chemist (d. 1850)
 * 1792 – William II of the Netherlands (d. 1849)
 * 1803 – Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony (d. 1829)
 * 1805 – Richard Hanson, English-Australian politician, 4th Premier of South Australia (d. 1876)
 * 1812 – Robert Spear Hudson, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1884)
 * 1823 – Max Müller, German-English philologist and orientalist (d. 1900)
 * 1827 – William Arnott, Australian biscuit manufacturer and founder of Arnott's Biscuits (d. 1901)
 * 1833 – John S. Mosby, American colonel (d. 1916)
 * 1835 – Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig, German chemist (d. 1910)
 * 1841 – Frédéric Bazille, French painter and soldier (d. 1870)
 * 1848 – Johann Palisa, Austrian astronomer (d. 1925)
 * 1849 – August von Mackensen, German field marshal (d. 1945)
 * 1853 – Hans Molisch, Czech-Austrian botanist and academic (d. 1937)
 * 1853  – Haraprasad Shastri, Indian historian and scholar (d. 1931)
 * 1863 – Charles Martin Hall, American chemist and engineer (d. 1914)
 * 1864 – William S. Hart, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1946)
 * 1872 – Arthur Henry Adams, Australian journalist and author (d. 1936)
 * 1875 – Albert Bond Lambert, American golfer and pilot (d. 1946)
 * 1875  – Evelyn Underhill, English mystic and author (d. 1941)
 * 1876 – Fred Duesenberg, German-American businessman, co-founded the Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Company (d. 1932)
 * 1878 – Elvia Carrillo Puerto, Mexican politician (d. 1968)
 * 1882 – Warren Bardsley, Australian cricketer (d. 1954)
 * 1884 – Cornelia Meigs, American author, playwright, and academic (d. 1973)
 * 1886 – Joyce Kilmer, American soldier, author, and poet (d. 1918)
 * 1887 – Lynn Fontanne, British actress (d. 1983)
 * 1887  – Joseph Lamb, American pianist and composer (d. 1960)
 * 1888 – Will Hay, English actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1949)
 * 1890 – Dion Fortune, Welsh occultist, psychologist, and author (d. 1946)
 * 1890  – Yoshio Nishina, Japanese physicist and academic (d. 1951)
 * 1890  – Rudolf Schlichter, German painter and illustrator (d. 1955)
 * 1892 – Osbert Sitwell, English-Italian captain, poet, and author (d. 1969)
 * 1893 – Homer N. Wallin, American admiral (d. 1984)
 * 1893  – Sylvia Townsend Warner, English author and poet (d. 1978)
 * 1896 – Ira Gershwin, American songwriter (d. 1983)
 * 1898 – Alfred Eisenstaedt, German-American photographer and journalist (d. 1995)
 * 1898  – John McDonald, Scottish-Australian politician, 37th Premier of Victoria (d. 1977)
 * 1898  – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
 * 1898  – Winifred Lenihan, American actress, writer, and director (d. 1964)
 * 1900 – Agnes Moorehead, American actress (d. 1974)

1901–present

 * 1901 – Eliot Porter, American photographer and academic (d. 1990)
 * 1903 – Tony Lazzeri, American baseball player and manager (d. 1946)
 * 1904 – Ève Curie, French-American journalist and pianist (d. 2007)
 * 1905 – Elizabeth Yates, American journalist and author (d. 2001)
 * 1907 – John Barkley Rosser Sr., American logician (d. 1989)
 * 1908 – Herta Freitag, Austrian-American mathematician (d. 2000)
 * 1908  – Pierre Graber, Swiss lawyer and politician, 69th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 2003)
 * 1908  – Baby Face Nelson, American gangster (d. 1934)
 * 1908  – Miklós Szabó, Hungarian runner (d. 2000)
 * 1909 – Rulon Jeffs, American religious leader (d. 2002)
 * 1909  – Alan McGilvray, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1996)
 * 1910 – David M. Potter, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1971)
 * 1913 – Karl Haas, German-American pianist, conductor, and radio host (d. 2005)
 * 1913  – Eleanor Holm, American swimmer and actress (d. 2004)
 * 1914 – Cyril Washbrook, English cricketer (d. 1999)
 * 1916 – Yekaterina Budanova, Russian captain and pilot (d. 1943)
 * 1916  – Kristján Eldjárn, Icelandic educator and politician, 3rd President of Iceland (d. 1982)
 * 1916  – Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and producer (d. 1986)
 * 1917 – Dean Hess, American minister and colonel (d. 2015)
 * 1917  – Kamal Jumblatt, Lebanese lawyer and politician (d. 1977)
 * 1917  – Irv Robbins, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded Baskin-Robbins (d. 2008)
 * 1918 – Tauba Biterman, Polish Holocaust survivor (d. 2019)
 * 1919 – Skippy Baxter, Canadian-American figure skater and coach (d. 2012)
 * 1919  – Paul de Man, Belgian-born philosopher, literary critic and theorist (d. 1983)
 * 1920 – Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (d. 2012)
 * 1920  – Peter Dimmock, English sportscaster and producer (d. 2015)
 * 1920  – George Porter, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
 * 1921 – Otto Graham, American football player and coach (d. 2003)
 * 1921  – Piero Piccioni, Italian lawyer, pianist, and composer (d. 2004)
 * 1922 – John Brunt, English captain, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1944)
 * 1922  – Benjamin A. Gilman, American soldier and politician (d. 2016)
 * 1924 – Wally Cox, American actor (d. 1973)
 * 1927 – Jim Fuchs, American shot putter and discus thrower (d. 2010)
 * 1928 – Bobby Van, American actor, dancer, and singer (d. 1980)
 * 1929 – Philippe Bouvard, French journalist and radio host
 * 1929  – Nikolaus Harnoncourt, German-Austrian cellist and conductor (d. 2016)
 * 1929  – Frank Springer, American comic book illustrator (d. 2009)
 * 1929  – Alain Tanner, Swiss director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2022)
 * 1930 – Daniel Lisulo, Zambian banker and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Zambia (d. 2000)
 * 1931 – Zeki Müren, Turkish singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1996)
 * 1932 – Kamleshwar, Indian author, screenwriter, and critic (d. 2007)
 * 1933 – Henryk Górecki, Polish composer and academic (d. 2010)
 * 1933  – Donald J. Kutyna, American general
 * 1934 – Nick Bockwinkel, American wrestler, sportscaster, and actor (d. 2015)
 * 1935 – Jean Lapointe, Canadian actor, singer, and politician (d. 2022)
 * 1936 – Bill Ashton, English saxophonist and composer
 * 1936  – Kenneth Copeland, American evangelist and author
 * 1936  – David Ossman, American writer and comedian
 * 1937 – Alberto Spencer, Ecuadorian-American soccer player (d. 2006)
 * 1938 – Patrick Bauchau, Belgian-American actor
 * 1939 – Franco Carraro, Italian politician and sports administrator
 * 1940 – Lawrence Bergman, Canadian lawyer and politician
 * 1940  – Richard Edlund, American visual effects designer and cinematographer
 * 1941 – Helen Cornelius, American country singer-songwriter and actress
 * 1941  – Bruce Nauman, American sculptor and illustrator
 * 1941  – Richard Speck, American murderer (d. 1991)
 * 1941  – Bill Thomas, American academic and politician
 * 1942 – Peter Handke, Austrian author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1942  – Robb Royer, American guitarist, keyboard player, and songwriter
 * 1943 – Mike Smith, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2008)
 * 1943  – Keith West, English rock singer-songwriter and music producer
 * 1944 – Jonathan King, English singer-songwriter, record producer, music entrepreneur, television/radio presenter, and convicted sex offender
 * 1945 – Shekhar Kapur, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1946 – Frankie Beverly, American soul/funk singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
 * 1946  – Willy van der Kuijlen, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2021)
 * 1947 – Lawrence Cannon, Canadian businessman and politician, 9th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * 1947  – Henk van Woerden, Dutch-South African painter and author (d. 2005)
 * 1947  – Miroslav Vitouš, Czech-American bassist and songwriter
 * 1948 – Jean-Paul Ngoupandé, Central African politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (d. 2014)
 * 1948  – Don Nickles, American businessman and politician
 * 1948  – Keke Rosberg, Finnish racing driver
 * 1948  – JoBeth Williams, American actress
 * 1949 – Linda Barnes, American author, playwright, and educator
 * 1949  – Linda Creed, American singer-songwriter (d. 1986)
 * 1949  – Doug Marlette, American author and cartoonist (d. 2007)
 * 1949  – Peter Willey, English cricketer and umpire
 * 1950 – Guy Drut, French hurdler and politician
 * 1950  – Joe Hisaishi, Japanese pianist, composer, and conductor
 * 1950  – Helen Liddell, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke, Scottish journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
 * 1951 – Wendy Ellis Somes, English ballerina and producer
 * 1951  – Maurice Hope, Caribbean-English boxer
 * 1952 – Nicolas Bréhal, French author and critic (d. 1999)
 * 1952  – Craig Newmark, American computer programmer and entrepreneur; founded Craigslist
 * 1952  – Shio Satō, Japanese illustrator (d. 2010)
 * 1953 – Sue Carroll, English journalist (d. 2011)
 * 1953  – Gary Goodman, Australian cricketer and coach
 * 1953  – Geoff Hoon, English academic and politician, Minister of State for Europe
 * 1953  – Tom Hulce, American actor
 * 1953  – Masami Kurumada, Japanese author and illustrator
 * 1954 – Nicola De Maria, Italian painter
 * 1954  – Chris Stamey, American singer-songwriter, musician, and music producer
 * 1955 – Anne Begg, Scottish educator and politician
 * 1955  – Rick Buckler, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
 * 1955  – Graeme Hughes, Australian cricketer, rugby league player, and sportscaster
 * 1955  – Tony Woodcock, English footballer
 * 1955  – Steven Wright, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
 * 1956 – Peter Buck, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
 * 1956  – Hans Kammerlander, Italian mountaineer and guide
 * 1956  – Randy Rhoads, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1982)
 * 1957 – Adrian Borland, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1999)
 * 1957  – Andrew Cuomo, American politician, 56th Governor of New York
 * 1957  – Bill Hanzlik, American basketball player and coach
 * 1958 – Nick Park, English animator, director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1959 – Deborah Estrin, American computer scientist and academic
 * 1959  – Stephen Hepburn, English politician
 * 1959  – Satoru Iwata, Japanese game programmer and businessman (d. 2015)
 * 1959  – Stephen Muggleton, English computer scientist and engineer
 * 1960 – Masahiko Katsuya, Japanese journalist and photographer (d. 2018)
 * 1961 – David Lovering, American drummer
 * 1961  – Jonathan Melvoin, American musician (d. 1996)
 * 1961  – Manuel Reuter, German race car driver
 * 1962 – Janine Turner, American actress
 * 1962  – Ben Watt, English singer-songwriter, musician, author, DJ, and radio presenter
 * 1963 – Ulrich Thomsen, Danish actor and producer
 * 1964 – Mall Nukke, Estonian painter
 * 1965 – Gordon Durie, Scottish footballer and manager
 * 1966 – Natascha Badmann, Swiss triathlete
 * 1966  – Per-Ulrik Johansson, Swedish golfer
 * 1967 – Judd Apatow, American director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1967  – Helen Greiner, American businesswoman and engineer
 * 1967  – Arnaldo Mesa, Cuban boxer (d. 2012)
 * 1968 – Karl Ove Knausgård, Norwegian author
 * 1968  – Ali Latifiyan, Iranian writer and political theorist
 * 1968  – Akihiro Yano, Japanese baseball player
 * 1969 – Torri Higginson, Canadian actress
 * 1970 – Ulf Ekberg, Swedish singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
 * 1970  – Adrian Fenty, American lawyer and politician, 6th Mayor of the District of Columbia
 * 1970  – Mark Reckless, English politician
 * 1970  – Jeff Rouse, American swimmer
 * 1971 – Craig Brewer, American director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1971  – José Contreras, Cuban baseball player
 * 1971  – Richard Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
 * 1971  – Naozumi Takahashi, Japanese singer and voice actor
 * 1971  – Carole Thate, Dutch field hockey player
 * 1971  – Ryan White, American activist (d. 1990)
 * 1972 – Ewan Birney, English scientist
 * 1972  – Heather Mizeur, American lawyer and politician
 * 1974 – Jens Pulver, American mixed martial artist and boxer
 * 1974  – Nick Stajduhar, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1975 – Noel Clarke, English actor, director, and screenwriter
 * 1975  – Adrian García Arias, Mexican footballer
 * 1976 – Lindsay Price, American actress
 * 1977 – Kevin Cash, American baseball player and manager
 * 1977  – Andrew Flintoff, English cricketer, coach, and sportscaster
 * 1977  – Paul McVeigh, Irish footballer
 * 1978 – Chris Başak, American baseball player
 * 1978  – Darrell Jackson, American football player
 * 1978  – Adriana Moisés Pinto, Brazilian basketball player
 * 1978  – Ramiro Pez, Argentine rugby player
 * 1979 – Tim Cahill, Australian footballer
 * 1980 – Danielle Downey, American golfer and coach (d. 2014)
 * 1980  – Steve Lovell, English footballer
 * 1980  – Carlos Takam, Cameroonian-French boxer
 * 1981 – Federico Balzaretti, Italian footballer
 * 1982 – Ryan Carnes, American actor and producer
 * 1982  – Alberto Contador, Spanish cyclist
 * 1982  – Sean Ervine, Zimbabwean cricketer
 * 1982  – Robbie Gould, American football player
 * 1982  – Aaron Sandilands, Australian footballer
 * 1982  – Susie Wolff, Scottish race car driver
 * 1984 – Syndric Steptoe, American football player
 * 1984  – Nora Kirkpatrick, American actress and musician
 * 1984  – Princess Sofia, Duchess of Värmland
 * 1985 – Shannon Bobbitt, American basketball player
 * 1985  – Aristeidis Grigoriadis, Greek swimmer
 * 1985  – R. P. Singh, Indian cricketer
 * 1986 – Sean Edwards, English race car driver (d. 2013)
 * 1986  – Matt Niskanen, American ice hockey player
 * 1988 – Adam Eaton, American baseball player
 * 1988  – Ravindra Jadeja, Indian cricketer
 * 1988  – Sandra Nurmsalu, Estonian singer and violinist
 * 1988  – Nils Petersen, German footballer
 * 1988  – Nobunaga Shimazaki, Japanese voice actor
 * 1989 – Felix Schiller, German footballer
 * 1990 – Tamira Paszek, Austrian tennis player
 * 1991 – Rachel Jarry, Australian basketball player
 * 1991  – Milica Mandić, Serbian taekwondo athlete
 * 1991  – Coco Vandeweghe, American tennis player
 * 1992 – Viktor Antipin, Russian ice hockey player
 * 1992  – Britt Assombalonga, Congolese footballer
 * 1992  – Johnny Manziel, American football player
 * 1993 – Jasprit Bumrah, Indian cricketer
 * 1993  – Elián González, Cuban technician, known for a child custody and immigration case held in 2000
 * 1993  – Tautau Moga, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
 * 1994 – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greek-Nigerian basketball player
 * 1994  – Wakatakakage Atsushi, Japanese sumo wrestler
 * 1994  – Shreyas Iyer, Indian cricketer
 * 1995 – A Boogie wit da Hoodie, American rapper and singer-songwriter
 * 1996 – Davide Calabria, Italian footballer
 * 1996  – Stefanie Scott, American actress and singer
 * 1997 – Sabrina Ionescu, American basketball player
 * 1998 – Angelīna Kučvaļska, Latvian figure skater

Pre-1600

 * 343 – Saint Nicholas, Greek bishop and saint (b. 270)
 * 735 – Prince Toneri of Japan (b. 676)
 * 762 – Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, Arab rebel leader (b. 710)
 * 1185 – Afonso I of Portugal (b. 1109)
 * 1305 – Maximus, Metropolitan of Kyiv
 * 1306 – Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk (b. 1270)
 * 1352 – Pope Clement VI (b. 1291)
 * 1562 – Jan van Scorel, Dutch painter (b. 1495)

1601–1900

 * 1616 – Ahmad Ibn al-Qadi, Moroccan writer, judge and mathematician (b. 1552)
 * 1618 – Jacques Davy Duperron, French cardinal (b. 1556)
 * 1658 – Baltasar Gracián, Spanish priest and author (b. 1601)
 * 1675 – John Lightfoot, English priest, scholar, and academic (b. 1602)
 * 1686 – Eleonora Gonzaga, Queen consort of Ferdinand III (b. 1630)
 * 1716 – Benedictus Buns, Dutch priest and composer (b. 1642)
 * 1718 – Nicholas Rowe, English poet and playwright (b. 1674)
 * 1746 – Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish poet and songwriter (b. 1665)
 * 1771 – Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist and pathologist (b. 1682)
 * 1779 – Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter (b. 1699)
 * 1788 – Jonathan Shipley, English bishop (b. 1714)
 * 1855 – William John Swainson, English ornithologist and entomologist (b. 1789)
 * 1867 – Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist and academic (b. 1794)
 * 1868 – August Schleicher, German linguist and academic (b. 1821)
 * 1878 – Theodoros Vryzakis, Greek painter and educator (b. 1814)
 * 1879 – Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American businessman (b. 1814)
 * 1882 – Alfred Escher, Swiss businessman and politician, founded Credit Suisse (b. 1819)
 * 1882  – Anthony Trollope, English novelist, essayist, and short story writer  (b. 1815)
 * 1889 – Jefferson Davis, American general and politician, President of the Confederate States of America (b. 1808)
 * 1892 – Werner von Siemens, German engineer and businessman, founded the Siemens Company (b. 1816)

1901–present

 * 1918 – Alexander Dianin, Russian chemist (b. 1851)
 * 1921 – Said Halim Pasha, Ottoman politician, 280th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1865)
 * 1924 – Gene Stratton-Porter, American author and screenwriter (b. 1863)
 * 1945 – Edmund Dwyer-Gray, Irish-Australian politician, 29th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1870)
 * 1951 – Harold Ross, American journalist and publisher, founded The New Yorker (b. 1892)
 * 1955 – Honus Wagner, American baseball player and manager (b. 1874)
 * 1956 – B. R. Ambedkar, Indian economist and politician, 1st Indian Minister of Justice (b. 1891)
 * 1961 – Frantz Fanon, Martinique-French psychiatrist and author (b. 1925)
 * 1964 – Evert van Linge, Dutch footballer and architect (b. 1895)
 * 1972 – Janet Munro, English actress and singer (b. 1934)
 * 1974 – Nikolay Kuznetsov, Soviet naval officer (b. 1904)
 * 1976 – João Goulart, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 24th President of Brazil (b. 1918)
 * 1980 – Charles Deutsch, French engineer and businessman, co-founded DB (b. 1911)
 * 1982 – Jean-Marie Seroney, Kenyan activist and politician (b. 1927)
 * 1983 – Lucienne Boyer, French singer and actress (b. 1903)
 * 1983  – Gul Khan Nasir, Pakistani poet, historian, and politician (b. 1914)
 * 1985 – Burr Tillstrom, American actor and puppeteer (b. 1917)
 * 1985  – Burleigh Grimes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1893)
 * 1985 – Carroll Cole, American serial killer, arsonist, and cannibal (b. 1938)
 * 1988 – Roy Orbison, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
 * 1989 – Frances Bavier, American actress (b. 1902)
 * 1989  – Sammy Fain, American pianist and composer (b. 1902)
 * 1989  – John Payne, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1912)
 * 1990 – Pavlos Sidiropoulos, Greek singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1948)
 * 1990  – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Malaysia (b. 1903)
 * 1991 – Mimi Smith, English nurse (b. 1906)
 * 1991  – Richard Stone, English economist and statistician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
 * 1993 – Don Ameche, American actor (b. 1908)
 * 1994 – Heinz Baas, German footballer and manager (b. 1922)
 * 1994  – Gian Maria Volonté, Italian actor and director (b. 1933)
 * 1996 – Pete Rozelle, American businessman (b. 1926)
 * 1997 – Willy den Ouden, Dutch swimmer (b. 1918)
 * 1998 – César Baldaccini, French sculptor and educator (b. 1921)
 * 2000 – Werner Klemperer, German-American actor (b. 1920)
 * 2000  – Aziz Mian, Pakistani singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1942)
 * 2001 – Charles McClendon, American football player and coach (b. 1923)
 * 2002 – Philip Berrigan, American priest and activist (b. 1923)
 * 2003 – Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, Guatemalan general and politician, President of Guatemala (b. 1918)
 * 2005 – Charly Gaul, Luxembourger cyclist (b. 1932)
 * 2005  – Devan Nair, Malaysian-Singaporean union leader and politician, 3rd President of Singapore (b. 1923)
 * 2005  – Danny Williams, South African singer (b. 1942)
 * 2005  – William P. Yarborough, American general (b. 1912)
 * 2006 – John Feeney, New Zealand director and producer (b. 1922)
 * 2010 – Mark Dailey, American-Canadian journalist and actor (b. 1953)
 * 2011 – Dobie Gray, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1940)
 * 2012 – Miguel Abia Biteo Boricó, Equatoguinean engineer and politician, Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea (b. 1961)
 * 2012  – Jan Carew, Guyanese author, poet, and playwright (b. 1920)
 * 2012  – Jeffrey Koo Sr., Taiwanese banker and businessman (b. 1933)
 * 2012  – Huw Lloyd-Langton, English guitarist (b. 1951)
 * 2012  – Pedro Vaz, Uruguayan lawyer and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay (b. 1963)
 * 2013 – Jean-Pierre Desthuilliers, French poet and critic (b. 1939)
 * 2013  – Stan Tracey, English pianist and composer (b. 1926)
 * 2013  – M. K. Turk, American basketball player and coach (b. 1942)
 * 2014 – Ralph H. Baer, German-American video game designer, created the Magnavox Odyssey (b. 1922)
 * 2014  – Jimmy Del Ray, American wrestler and manager (b. 1962)
 * 2014  – Fred Hawkins, American golfer (b. 1923)
 * 2014  – Luke Somers, English-American photographer and journalist (b. 1981)
 * 2015 – Ko Chun-hsiung, Taiwanese actor, director, and politician (b. 1945)
 * 2015  – Liu Juying, Chinese general and politician (b. 1917)
 * 2015  – Nicholas Smith, British actor (b. 1934)
 * 2016 – Peter Vaughan, British actor (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

 * Anniversary of the Founding of Quito (Ecuador)
 * Armed Forces Day (Ukraine)
 * Christian feast day:
 * Abraham of Kratia
 * Aemilianus (Roman Catholic Church)
 * Denise and companions
 * Blessed János Scheffler
 * María del Monte Carmelo Sallés y Barangueras
 * Nicholas of Myra, and its related observances:
 * St Nicholas Day, where St. Nicholas/Santa Claus leaves little presents in children's shoes. (International)
 * December 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Constitution Day (Spain)
 * Day of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan
 * Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Finland from Russia in 1917.
 * National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (Canada)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: December 6


text:
December 5

Pre-1600

 * 63 BC – Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations.
 * 633 – Fourth Council of Toledo opens, presided over by Isidore of Seville.
 * 1033 – The Jordan Rift Valley earthquake destroys multiple cities across the Levant, triggers a tsunami and kills many.
 * 1082 – Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona is assassinated, most likely by his brother, Berenguer Ramon II.
 * 1408 – Seeking to resubjugate Muscovy, Emir Edigu of the Golden Horde reaches Moscow, burning areas around the city but failing to take the city itself.
 * 1456 – The first of two earthquakes measuring 7.2 strikes Italy, causing extreme destruction and killing upwards of 70,000 people.
 * 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.
 * 1496 – King Manuel I of Portugal issues a decree ordering the expulsion of Jews from the country.
 * 1560 – Thirteen-year-old Charles IX becomes king of France, with Queen Mother Catherine de' Medici as regent.
 * 1578 – Sir Francis Drake, after sailing through Strait of Magellan, raids Valparaiso.

1601–1900

 * 1649 – The town of Raahe (Brahestad) is founded by Count Per Brahe the Younger.
 * 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.
 * 1770 – 29th Regiment of Foot privates Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Kilroy are found guilty for the manslaughter of Crispus Attucks and Samuel Gray respectively in the Boston Massacre.
 * 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.
 * 1895 – New Haven Symphony Orchestra of Connecticut performs its first concert.

1901–present

 * 1914 – The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition began in an attempt to make the first land crossing of Antarctica.
 * 1919 – Ukrainian War of Independence: The Polonsky conspiracy is suppressed and its participants are executed by the Kontrrazvedka.
 * 1921 – The Football Association bans women's football in England from league grounds, a ban that stays in place for 50 years.
 * 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 – Flight 19, a group of TBF Avengers, disappears in the Bermuda Triangle.
 * 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 (STD) 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. (It is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.)
 * 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 discovers the first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease—mouse leukemia—opening the way for the recognition of the importance of the MHC in the immune response.
 * 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.
 * 1995  – Azerbaijan Airlines Flight A-56 crashes near Nakhchivan International Airport in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, killing 52 people.
 * 2005 – 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 (Extreme), killing six people.
 * 2006 – Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.
 * 2007 – Westroads Mall shooting: Nineteen-year-old Robert A. Hawkins kills nine 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.

Pre-1600

 * 852 – Zhu Wen, Chinese emperor (d. 912)
 * 1377 – Jianwen Emperor of China (d. 1402)
 * 1389 – Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Polish cardinal and statesman (d. 1455)
 * 1443 – Pope Julius II (d. 1513)
 * 1470 – Willibald Pirckheimer, German lawyer and author (d. 1530)
 * 1495 – Nicolas Cleynaerts, Flemish philologist and lexicographer (d. 1542)
 * 1537 – Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shōgun (d. 1597)
 * 1539 – Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and author (d. 1604)
 * 1547 – Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (d. 1625)
 * 1556 – Anne Cecil, Countess of Oxford, English countess (d. 1588)
 * 1596 – Henry Lawes, English composer (d. 1662)

1601–1900

 * 1661 – Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (d. 1724)
 * 1666 – Francesco Scarlatti, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1741)
 * 1687 – Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1762)
 * 1697 – Giuseppe de Majo, Italian organist and composer (d. 1771)
 * 1782 – Martin Van Buren, American lawyer and politician, 8th President of the United States (d. 1862)
 * 1784 – George Shepherd, English illustrator and painter (d. 1862)
 * 1803 – Fyodor Tyutchev, Russian poet and diplomat (d. 1873)
 * 1820 – Afanasy Fet, Russian poet and author (d. 1892)
 * 1822 – Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American philosopher and academic, co-founded Radcliffe College (d. 1907)
 * 1829 – Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, French-Canadian lawyer and politician, 4th Premier of Quebec (d. 1908)
 * 1830 – Christina Rossetti, English poet and author (d. 1894)
 * 1839 – George Armstrong Custer, American general (d. 1876)
 * 1841 – Marcus Daly, Irish-American businessman (d. 1900)
 * 1849 – Eduard Seler, German anthropologist, ethnohistorian, linguist, and academic (d. 1922)
 * 1855 – Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist, and ethnographer (d. 1942)
 * 1859 – John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, English admiral and politician, 2nd Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1935)
 * 1861 – Konstantin Korovin, Russian-French painter and set designer (d. 1939)
 * 1862 – John Henry Leech, English entomologist (d. 1900)
 * 1863 – Paul Painlevé, French mathematician and politician, 84th Prime Minister of France (d. 1933)
 * 1866 – John Beresford, Irish polo player (d. 1944)
 * 1866  – Traian Demetrescu, Romanian poet and author (d. 1896)
 * 1867 – Antti Aarne, Finnish author and academic (d. 1925)
 * 1867  – Józef Piłsudski, Polish field marshal and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Poland (d. 1935)
 * 1868 – Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist and academic (d. 1951)
 * 1869 – Ellis Parker Butler, American author and poet (d. 1937)
 * 1870 – Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer and educator (d. 1949)
 * 1872 – Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American chess player (d. 1906)
 * 1875 – Arthur Currie, Canadian general (d. 1933)
 * 1879 – Clyde Vernon Cessna, American pilot and businessman, founded the Cessna Aircraft Corporation (d. 1954)
 * 1881 – René Cresté, French actor and director (d. 1922)
 * 1886 – Rose Wilder Lane, American journalist and author (d. 1968)
 * 1886  – Pieter Oud, Dutch historian, academic, and politician, Minister of Finance of the Netherlands (d. 1968)
 * 1886  – Nikolai Uglanov, Soviet politician (d. 1937)
 * 1890 – David Bomberg, English painter, illustrator, and academic (d. 1957)
 * 1890  – Fritz Lang, Austrian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1976)
 * 1891 – Paul Kogerman, Estonian chemist and academic (d. 1951)
 * 1894 – Charles Robberts Swart, South African lawyer and politician, 1st State President of South Africa (d. 1982)
 * 1895 – Elbert Frank Cox, American mathematician and academic (d. 1969)
 * 1896 – Ann Nolan Clark, American historian, author, and educator (d. 1995)
 * 1896  – Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
 * 1897 – Nunnally Johnson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1977)
 * 1897  – Gershom Scholem, German-Israeli philosopher and historian (d. 1982)
 * 1898 – Josh Malihabadi, Indian-Pakistani poet and translator (d. 1982)
 * 1898  – Grace Moore, American soprano and actress (d. 1947)
 * 1900 – Jimmy Dimmock, English footballer (d. 1972)

1901–present

 * 1901 – Walt Disney, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (d. 1966)
 * 1901  – Milton H. Erickson, American psychiatrist and author (d. 1980)
 * 1901  – Werner Heisenberg, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
 * 1902 – Emeric Pressburger, Hungarian-English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
 * 1902  – Strom Thurmond, American educator, general, and politician, 103rd Governor of South Carolina (d. 2003)
 * 1903 – Johannes Heesters, Dutch-German actor and singer (d. 2011)
 * 1903  – C. F. Powell, English-Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
 * 1905 – Francisco Javier Arana, Guatemalan Army colonel and briefly Guatemalan head of state (d. 1949)
 * 1905  – Otto Preminger, Austrian-American actor, director, and producer (d. 1986)
 * 1907 – Lin Biao, Chinese general and politician, 2nd Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 1971)
 * 1907  – Giuseppe Occhialini, Italian-French physicist and academic (d. 1993)
 * 1910 – Abraham Polonsky, American director and screenwriter (d. 1999)
 * 1911 – Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist and composer (d. 2000)
 * 1912 – Kate Simon, American travel writer (d. 1990)
 * 1912  – Sonny Boy Williamson II, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (d. 1965)
 * 1913 – Esther Borja, Cuban soprano and actress (d. 2013)
 * 1914 – Helen Dettweiler, American golfer (d. 1990)
 * 1914  – Hans Hellmut Kirst, German lieutenant and author (d. 1989)
 * 1916 – Hilary Koprowski, Polish-American virologist and immunologist, created the world's first effective live polio vaccine (d. 2013)
 * 1916  – Walt McPherson, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
 * 1917 – Ken Downing, English racing driver (d. 2004)
 * 1919 – Alun Gwynne Jones, Baron Chalfont, English historian and politician (d. 2020)
 * 1921 – Alvy Moore, American actor and producer (d. 1997)
 * 1922 – Casey Ribicoff, American philanthropist (d. 2011)
 * 1922  – Don Robertson, American songwriter and pianist (d. 2015)
 * 1924 – Robert Sobukwe, South African banker and politician (d. 1978)
 * 1925 – Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Nicaraguan politician, 73rd President of Nicaragua (d. 1980)
 * 1926 – Adetowun Ogunsheye, first female Nigerian professor and university dean
 * 1927 – Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand (d. 2016)
 * 1927  – W.D. Amaradeva, Sri Lankan musician and composer (d. 2016)
 * 1929 – Madis Kõiv, Estonian physicist, philosopher, and author (d. 2014)
 * 1930 – Yi-Fu Tuan, Chinese-American geographer (d. 2022)
 * 1931 – Ladislav Novák, Czech footballer and manager (d. 2011)
 * 1932 – Alf Dubs, Baron Dubs, British politician
 * 1932  – Sheldon Glashow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1932  – Jim Hurtubise, American race car driver (d. 1989)
 * 1932  – Nadira, Indian actress (d. 2006)
 * 1932  – Little Richard, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 2020)
 * 1933 – Gennadiy Agapov, Russian race walker (d. 1999)
 * 1933  – Harry Holgate, Australian politician, 36th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1997)
 * 1934 – Joan Didion, American novelist and screenwriter (d. 2021)
 * 1935 – Calvin Trillin, American novelist, humorist, and journalist
 * 1935  – Yury Vlasov, Ukrainian-Russian weightlifter and politician (d. 2021)
 * 1936 – James Lee Burke, American journalist, author, and academic
 * 1938 – J. J. Cale, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
 * 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 (d. 2012)
 * 1942 – Bryan Murray, Canadian ice hockey coach (d. 2017)
 * 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 racing driver
 * 1947 – Rudy Fernandez, Filipino triathlete (d. 2022)
 * 1947  – Bruce Golding, Jamaican lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Jamaica
 * 1947  – Tony Gregory, Irish activist and politician (d. 2009)
 * 1947  – Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa, Mongolian cosmonaut and military leader
 * 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 (d. 2022)
 * 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 – Morgan Brittany, American actress
 * 1951  – Link Byfield, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2015)
 * 1951  – Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Belgian painter and illustrator
 * 1953 – Gwen Lister, South African-Namibian journalist, publisher, and activist
 * 1954 – Hanif Kureishi, English author and playwright
 * 1955 – Miyuki Kawanaka, Japanese singer
 * 1955  – Juha Tiainen, Finnish hammer thrower (d. 2003)
 * 1956 – Klaus Allofs, German footballer and manager
 * 1956  – Butch Lee, Puerto Rican basketball player
 * 1956  – Adam Thorpe, French-English author, poet, and playwright
 * 1956  – Krystian Zimerman, Polish virtuoso pianist
 * 1957 – Raquel Argandoña, Chilean model, actress, and politician
 * 1957  – Art Monk, American football player
 * 1958 – Dynamite Kid, English wrestler (d. 2018)
 * 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 (d. 2002)
 * 1963  – Alberto Nisman, Argentinian lawyer (d. 2015)
 * 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 (d. 2014)
 * 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
 * 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
 * 1969  – Catherine Tate, English actress, comedian, and writer
 * 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
 * 1971  – Kali Rocha, American actress
 * 1972 – Cliff Floyd, American baseball player and sportscaster
 * 1972  – Duane Ross, American hurdler and coach
 * 1973 – Argo Arbeiter, Estonian footballer
 * 1973  – Arik Benado, Israeli footballer
 * 1973  – Mikelangelo Loconte, Italian singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
 * 1973  – Luboš Motl, Czech physicist and academic
 * 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  – Norishige Kanai, Japanese doctor and astronaut
 * 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
 * 1980 – Ibrahim Maalouf, Lebanese-French trumpet player and composer
 * 1980  – Jessica Paré, Canadian actress
 * 1981 – Adan Canto, Mexican actor (d. 2024)
 * 1982 – Eddy Curry, American basketball player
 * 1982  – Keri Hilson, American singer-songwriter and actress
 * 1982  – Gabriel Luna, American actor
 * 1983 – Joakim Lindström, Swedish ice hockey player
 * 1984 – Lauren London, American actress
 * 1985 – Shikhar Dhawan, Indian cricketer
 * 1985  – Frankie Muniz, American actor, drummer, and race car driver
 * 1985  – Josh Smith, American basketball player
 * 1985  – Danny Wicks, Australian rugby league player
 * 1986 – LeGarrette Blount, American football player
 * 1986  – James Hinchcliffe, Canadian Indycar racing driver
 * 1986  – Justin Smoak, American baseball player
 * 1987 – A. J. Pollock, American baseball player
 * 1988 – Ross Bagley, American actor
 * 1988  – Tina Charles, American basketball player
 * 1988  – Kyle Long, American football player
 * 1988  – Joanna Rowsell, English cyclist
 * 1989 – Jurrell Casey, American football player
 * 1989  – Kwon Yu-ri, South Korean singer-songwriter and actress
 * 1990 – Montee Ball, American football player
 * 1991 – Cam Fowler, Canadian-American ice hockey player
 * 1991  – Jacopo Sala, Italian footballer
 * 1991  – Christian Yelich, American baseball player
 * 1992 – Ilja Antonov, Estonian footballer
 * 1992  – Natalie Sourisseau, Canadian field hockey player
 * 1993 – Ross Barkley, English footballer
 * 1994 – Ondrej Duda, Slovak footballer
 * 1994  – Semi Ojeleye, American basketball player
 * 1995 – Danny Levi, New Zealand rugby league player
 * 1995  – Anthony Martial, French footballer
 * 1995  – Kaetlyn Osmond, Canadian figure skater
 * 1995  – Levy Rozman, American chess International Master, streamer and youtuber
 * 1997 – Maddie Poppe, American singer-songwriter and musician
 * 1997  – Quinnen Williams, American football player
 * 1998  – Conan Gray, American singer-songwriter
 * 1998  – Conan Gray, American singer-songwriter

Pre-1600

 * 63 BC – Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, Roman politician (b. 114 BC)
 * 334 – Li Ban, emperor of Cheng Han (b. 288)
 * 902 – Ealhswith, queen consort and wife of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex
 * 1082 – Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona (b. 1053)
 * 1212 – Dirk van Are, bishop and lord of Utrecht
 * 1244 – Joan, Countess of Flanders and Hainault (b. 1199 or 1200)
 * 1355 – John III, Duke of Brabant (b. 1300)
 * 1560 – Francis II of France (b. 1544)
 * 1570 – Johan Friis, Danish politician (b. 1494)

1601–1900

 * 1624 – Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist and physician (b. 1560)
 * 1654 – Jean François Sarrazin, French author and poet (b. 1611)
 * 1663 – Severo Bonini, Italian organist and composer (b. 1582)
 * 1749 – Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, Canadian commander and explorer (b. 1685)
 * 1758 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (b. 1688)
 * 1770 – James Stirling, Scottish mathematician and surveyor (b. 1692)
 * 1784 – Phillis Wheatley, Senegal-born slave, later American poet (b. 1753)
 * 1791 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer and musician (b. 1756)
 * 1819 – Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg, German poet and lawyer (b. 1750)
 * 1870 – Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright (b. 1802)
 * 1887 – Eliza R. Snow, American poet and songwriter (b. 1804)
 * 1891 – Pedro II of Brazil (b. 1825)

1901–present

 * 1918 – Schalk Willem Burger, South African commander, lawyer, and politician, 6th President of the South African Republic (b. 1852)
 * 1925 – Władysław Reymont, Polish novelist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
 * 1926 – Claude Monet, French painter (b. 1840)
 * 1931 – Vachel Lindsay, American poet (b. 1879)
 * 1933 – Alexander Atabekian, Armenian physician and anarchist publisher (b. 1869)
 * 1940 – Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist and composer (b. 1880)
 * 1941 – Amrita Sher-Gil, Hungarian-Pakistani painter (b. 1913)
 * 1942 – Jock Delves Broughton, English captain (b. 1883)
 * 1946 – Louis Dewis, Belgian-French painter and educator (b. 1872)
 * 1951 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player and manager (b. 1887)
 * 1951  – Abanindranath Tagore, Indian painter, author, and academic (b. 1871)
 * 1953 – William Sterling Parsons, American admiral (b. 1901)
 * 1955 – Glenn L. Martin, American pilot and businessman, founded the Glenn L. Martin Company (b. 1886)
 * 1961 – Emil Fuchs, German-American lawyer and businessman (b. 1878)
 * 1963 – Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer and educator (b. 1905)
 * 1963  – Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Indian-Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1892)
 * 1964 – V. Veerasingam, Sri Lankan educator and politician (b. 1892)
 * 1965 – Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist, neuroscientist, and academic Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
 * 1968 – Fred Clark, American actor (b. 1914)
 * 1969 – Claude Dornier, German engineer and businessman, founded Dornier Flugzeugwerke (b. 1884)
 * 1969  – Princess Alice of Battenberg (b. 1885)
 * 1973 – Robert Watson-Watt, Scottish engineer, invented the radar (b. 1892)
 * 1975 – Constance McLaughlin Green, American historian and author (b. 1897)
 * 1977 – Katherine Milhous, American author and illustrator (b. 1894)
 * 1977  – Aleksandr Vasilevsky, Russian marshal and politician, Minister of Defence for the Soviet Union (b. 1895)
 * 1979 – Jesse Pearson, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
 * 1983 – Robert Aldrich, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1918)
 * 1984 – Cecil M. Harden, American politician (b. 1894)
 * 1986 – Edward Youde, Welsh-Chinese sinologist and diplomat, 26th Governor of Hong Kong (b. 1924)
 * 1989 – John Pritchard, English conductor and director (b. 1921)
 * 1990 – Alfonso A. Ossorio, Filipino-American painter and sculptor (b. 1916)
 * 1991 – Richard Speck, American mass murderer (b. 1941)
 * 1994 – Harry Horner, Czech-American director, producer, and production designer (b. 1910)
 * 1995 – L. B. Cole, American illustrator and publisher (b. 1918)
 * 1995  – Charles Evans, English mountaineer, surgeon, and educator (b. 1918)
 * 1995  – Gwen Harwood, Australian poet and playwright (b. 1920)
 * 1995  – Clair Cameron Patterson, American scientist (b. 1922)
 * 1997 – Eugen Cicero, Romanian-German jazz pianist (b. 1940)
 * 1998 – Albert Gore, Sr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1907)
 * 2001 – Franco Rasetti, Italian-American physicist and academic (b. 1901)
 * 2002 – Roone Arledge, American sportscaster and producer (b. 1931)
 * 2002  – Ne Win, Burmese general and politician, 4th President of Burma (b. 1911)
 * 2005 – Edward L. Masry, American lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
 * 2006 – David Bronstein, Ukrainian-Belarusian chess player and theoretician (b. 1924)
 * 2007 – Andrew Imbrie, American composer and academic (b. 1921)
 * 2007  – George Paraskevaides, Greek-Cypriot businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Joannou & Paraskevaides (b. 1916)
 * 2007  – Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer and academic (b. 1928)
 * 2008 – Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow (b. 1929)
 * 2008  – George Brecht, American chemist and composer (b. 1926)
 * 2008  – Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (b. 1924)
 * 2008  – Beverly Garland, American actress and businesswoman (b. 1926)
 * 2008  – Anca Parghel, Romanian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1957)
 * 2009 – William Lederer, American soldier and author (b. 1912)
 * 2010 – Alan Armer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
 * 2010  – Don Meredith, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (b. 1938)
 * 2011 – Peter Gethin, English racing driver (b. 1940)
 * 2011  – Gennady Logofet, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1942)
 * 2012 – Dave Brubeck, American pianist and composer (b. 1920)
 * 2012  – Elisabeth Murdoch, Australian philanthropist (b. 1909)
 * 2012  – Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, designed the United Nations Headquarters and Cathedral of Brasília (b. 1907)
 * 2012  – Ignatius IV of Antioch, Syrian patriarch (b. 1920)
 * 2013 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (b. 1917)
 * 2013  – William B. Edmondson, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to South Africa (b. 1927)
 * 2013  – Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
 * 2014 – Ernest C. Brace, American captain and pilot (b. 1931)
 * 2014  – Fabiola, Queen of Belgium (b. 1928)
 * 2014  – Talât Sait Halman, Turkish poet, translator, and historian (b. 1931)
 * 2014  – Jackie Healy-Rae, Irish hurdler and politician (b. 1931)
 * 2014  – Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian and author (b. 1909)
 * 2015 – Vic Eliason, American clergyman and radio host, founded VCY America (b. 1936)
 * 2015  – Tibor Rubin, Hungarian-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1929)
 * 2015  – Chuck Williams, American businessman and author, founded Williams Sonoma (b. 1915)
 * 2016 – Tyruss Himes ("Big Syke"), American rapper (b. 1968)
 * 2017 – Michael I of Romania, fifth and last king of Romania (b. 1921)
 * 2017  – August Ames, Canadian American pornographic actress (b. 1994)
 * 2019 – Robert Walker, American actor (b. 1940)
 * 2020 – Peter Alliss, English professional golfer (b. 1931)
 * 2021 – Bob Dole, American politician (b. 1923)
 * 2022 – Kirstie Alley, American actress and producer (b. 1951)
 * 2023 – Norman Lear, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Abercius
 * Clement of Alexandria (Episcopal Church)
 * Crispina
 * Dalmatius of Pavia
 * Gerbold
 * Justinian of Ramsey Island
 * Nicetius (Nizier)
 * Pelinus of Brindisi
 * Sabbas the Sanctified
 * December 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Children's Day (Suriname)
 * Day of Military Honour - Battle of Moscow (Russia)
 * Discovery Day (Haiti and Dominican Republic)
 * International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development
 * Klozum (Schiermonnikoog, Netherlands)
 * Saint Nicholas' Eve (Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Hungary, Romania, Germany, Poland and the UK)
 * Krampusnacht (Austria)
 * The King Bhumibol Adulyadej Memorial Birthday (Thailand)
 * World Soil Day

title: December 5