Famous December Birthdays a to z

Nathan Adrian is an American swimmer and three-time Olympic gold medalist. At the London Games in 2012, he won two gold medals and one silver.

American singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera is best known for the single "Genie In A Bottle" and the controversial, sexually charged album Stripped.

Akihito has been emperor of Japan since 1989 and is, according to tradition, the 125th direct descendant of Jimmu, Japan's legendary first emperor.

King Alexander I of Yugoslavia ruled the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1921–29) and of Yugoslavia (1929–34).

American athlete Laila Ali, daughter of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, has established her own reputation as a boxing champion and television personality.

American television personality Steve Allen is best known as the first host of The Tonight Show. He also starred on The Benny Goodman Show, and was an accomplished musician, composer, author and actor.

Woody Allen is an American comedian, filmmaker and writer who directed and starred in two of his most famous films, Annie Hall and Manhattan.

Gregg Allman is one of the co-founders of the popular 1970s rock group the Allman Brothers Band.

Benny Andersson is a musician who played keyboard for 1970s pop super-group ABBA.

Judd Apatow is an Emmy-winning screenwriter, producer and director known for films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and This Is 40.

Beauty pioneer Elizabeth Arden opened the red doors of her first spa in 1910.

James Armistead was an enslaved African American, best known for his work as a spy during the American Revolution.

Henry Armstrong was a U.S. pro boxer who held three championship titles simultaneously. He later became a minister and champion for at-risk youth.

Jane Austen was a Georgian era author, best known for her social commentary in novels including Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma.

Steve Austin, also known as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, is best known as a Championship-winning professional wrestler in the WWF. After retirement, Austin pursued acting with roles on TV and film.

Charles Babbage was known for his contributions to the first mechanical computers, which laid the groundwork for more complex future designs.

Civil rights activist Ella Baker worked with the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Vernon Baker was a highly decorated soldier and the only living black WWII veteran to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor.

A former supermodel, Tyra Banks turned her runway success into a multimedia brand and worked at the helm of two successful television series simultaneously.

Bob Barker was the host of the TV game show

Clara Barton was an educator, nurse and founder of the American Red Cross.

Film actress Kim Basinger won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in L.A. Confidential. She married actor Alec Baldwin in 1993.

Jean-Michel Basquiat was a Neo-Expressionist painter in the 1980s. He is best known for his primitive style and his collaboration with pop artist Andy Warhol.

Frédéric Bazille was a French painter who helped found the Impressionist movement of the late 19th century, before dying in combat in the Franco-Prussian War.

Jennifer Beals is an American actress who launched to stardom with the lead role in the 1983 hit Flashdance. She also starred on Showtime's The L Word.

St. Thomas Becket, England’s Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to give King Henry II power over the church. He was murdered in 1170 and became a saint in 1173.

Henri Becquerel was a French physicist who discovered radioactivity, an achievement for which he won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903.

Sir Herbert Beerbohm was a stage actor and well-known figure in English theater. He both managed and produced several plays in London including Charles Dickens and Shakespearean classics.

Lawrence Beesley was a teacher, journalist and Titanic survivor. After the collision, he boarded lifeboat 13, which was eventually rescued by the Carpathia.

Ludwig van Beethoven was a deaf German composer and the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras.

Economist Ben Bernanke replaced Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve System in 2006. Luckily, he was an expert on the Great Depression.

Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by Marxist guerillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) while campaigning for the presidency.

American actress Mayim Bialik is best known for her roles in the film Beaches and on the hit television shows Blossom and The Big Bang Theory.

Steve Biko spearheaded the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. He died in 1977, from injuries sustained while in police custody.

From 1957 to 1963, actress Barbara Billingsley played the perfect apron-wearing, cookie-baking housewife June Cleaver on TV's Leave it to Beaver.

Larry Bird is a retired professional basketball player known for his years with the Boston Celtics and his deceptively nimble skills on the court.

Naturalist, inventor and businessman Clarence Birdseye pioneered the process of flash freezing in the United States. His company was bought by General Foods.

Rod Blagojevich is an Illinois-based politician whose career has been marred by as many scandals as it has been highlighted by successes.

Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake holds the world record for the 4-by-100-meter relay. In 2012, he won a silver medal in both the 100-meter and 200-meter races, losing to rival and fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt in both events.

American poet and activist Robert Bly is best known for writing Iron John: A Book About Men which is credited for starting the Mythopoetic men's movement.

Steven Bochco is a US television producer and writer. He is famous for creating Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and NYPD Blue.

Actor Humphrey Bogart became a legend for his roles in 1940s-era films like Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and To Have and Have Not.

James Booker was an African-American musician known for his unique fusion of jazz and rhythm-and-blues, and for songs like "The Sunny Side of the Street," "A Taste of Honey" and "Papa Was a Rascal."

Tom Bradley was a lawyer and police officer who became the first African-American mayor of Los Angeles, serving from 1973 to 1993.

Kenneth Branagh is an Irish-born English stage and motion-picture actor, director and writer who is best known for his film adaptations of Shakespearean plays.

Jeff Bridges is an American actor best known for his film roles in The Last Picture Show, TRON, The Big Lebowski and Crazy Heart.

American clergyman Phillips Brooks, ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1860, is best known for authoring the Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

African American actor Richard Brooks is best known for his role as Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette in the first three seasons of NBC's Law & Order.

Dave Brubeck was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his unconventional meters, as well as songs like "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke."

Heiress, model, singer, and actress Carla Bruni is best known for her romances and marriage to French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Mary Brunner, a member of Charles Manson's "Family," was in jail at the time of the infamous Tate/LaBianca murders, thereby precluding her participation.

Jimmy Buffet is a well known folk country singer and songwriter. He wrote the popular songs "Margaritaville" and "Cheeseburger in Paradise."

British historian Alan Bullock is the author of several works on 20th century Europe, including studies of Hitler, Bevin and Stalin.

Steve Buscemi is a popular character actor, director and screenwriter. He's known for his role on the critically acclaimed series Boardwalk Empire.

Susan Butcher was a champion American dog musher and four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

A former fast-food chain executive, Herman Cain emerged as a Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential nomination.

Maria Callas was best known for her dramatic operatic performances around the world.

Jazz singer and dancer Cab Calloway performed in Harlem’s Cotton Club in the 1930s. He also appeared on stage and in films, such as 1979’s The Blues Brothers.

Annie Jump Cannon was a pioneering astronomer responsible for the classification of hundreds of thousands of stars.

Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish essayist, historian and satirical writer. His best know works include Life of Schiller, Sartor Resartus and The French Revolution.

Venustiano Carranza was a revolutionary during Mexico's civil war and became the Mexican Republic's first president in 1917.

Opera singer José Carreras is a leading tenor who has performed around the world. He helped popularize opera by performing as part of The Three Tenors.

Kit Carson was an American frontiersman, trapper, soldier and Indian agent who made an important contribution to the westward expansion of the United States.

A.P. Carter is best known for forming the Carter Family band, which combined traditional Appalachian sounds with a unique guitar style and African American gospel influences.

French explorer Jacques Cartier is known chiefly for exploring the St. Lawrence River and giving Canada its name.