Anniversaries 23 December

Birth

John Holt (Lord Chief Justice)36

English lawyer and Lord Chief Justice of England 1642–1710

Robert Barclay2

Scottish Quaker apologist 1648–1690

Richard Arkwright8

textile entrepreneur; developer of the cotton mill 1732–1792

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve10

French literary critic 1804–1869

Joseph Smith, Jr.40

American religious leader and the founder of the Latter Day… 1805–1844

Samuel Smiles13

Scottish author 1812–1904

Charles Frederick Webber1

American soldier killed in action 1825–1863

Sina Mesdag-van Houten1

Dutch painter 1834–1909

Harriet Monroe4

American poet and editor 1860–1936

Harry Graham7

British writer 1874–1936

Nikolaj Velimirović2

Serbian bishop and saint 1880–1956

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa9

Sicilian writer and prince 1896–1957

Aldo Capitini47

Italian philosopher and political activist 1899–1968

Charan Singh16

prime minister of India 1902–1987

Norman Maclean17

American author and scholar 1902–1990

Helmut Schmidt22

Chancellor of West Germany 1974-1982 1918–2015

John H. Disher3

American aeronautical engineer and NASA manager 1921–1988

Monique Duval4

Canadian journalist 1924–2014

Albert Jacquard1

French biologist 1925–2013

Stanley Wolpert1

American indologist 1927–2019

Akihito3

Emperor of Japan 1933

Margaret MacMillan8

Canadian historian 1943

Wesley Clark36

American general and former Democratic Party presidential c… 1944

Robert J. Samuelson1

American journalist 1945

Raymond E. Feist16

Novelist 1945

Peter W. Schramm4

American academic 1946–2015

John Michael Kudrick1

Roman Catholic bishop 1947

Richard Overy14

British historian 1947

David Davis5

British Conservative Party politician and former businessman 1948

Ilchi Lee19

South Korean businessman 1950

William Kristol21

American writer 1952

Naiqama Lalabalavu6

Fijian politician 1953

Carol Ann Duffy15

British writer and professor of contemporary poetry 1955

David Sheff5

American writer 1955

Jesús Huerta de Soto1

professor of political economy and author 1956

Gerald Midgley3

New Zealand acaedmic 1960

Miyuki Miyabe1

a popular contemporary Japanese author active in a number o… 1960

Ken Paxton2

American politician 1962

Donna Tartt64

American writer 1963

Eddie Vedder14

musician, songwriter, member of Pearl Jam 1964

Manuel Rivera-Ortiz14

American photographer 1968

Louise Bours4

British politician 1968

Jeff Landry1

American politician, attorney and businessman 1970

Corey Haim2

Canadian actor 1971–2010

Jodie Marsh8

English glamour model and television personality 1978

Carson Cistulli10

American poet and writer 1979

Holly Madison1

American author, model, showgirl, and television personality 1979

Ishmael Beah6

Sierra Leone writer 1980

Death

Nicholas Udall7

English playwright 1505–1556

Michael Drayton10

English poet 1563–1631

Camillo Federici4

Italian actor and playwright (1749-1802) 1749–1802

Robert Woodhouse7

English mathematician 1773–1827

Sarah Grimké22

American abolitionist 1792–1873

Томас Джозеф Даннинг1

1799–1873

John Romilly, 1st Baron Romilly14

English Whig politician and judge 1802–1874

William Henry Channing1

American Unitarian clergyman, writer and philosopher 1810–1884

William Ellery Channing (poet)6

American writer 1818–1901

Ellen Clementine Howarth3

American writer 1827–1899

Swami Shraddhanand6

Indian monk and philosopher 1856–1926

Kōki Hirota7

Japanese politician executed 1878–1948

Iwane Matsui9

Japanese general 1878–1948

Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax17

British politician 1881–1959

Hideki Tōjō5

former Prime Minister of Japan and Minister of War executed… 1884–1948

Seishirō Itagaki8

Japanese general 1885–1948

Lavrentiy Beria6

Georgian Soviet NKVD police chief under fellow Georgian and… 1899–1953

David Manners2

Canadian-born American actor 1900–1998

Abraham Joshua Heschel130

Polish-American Conservative Judaism Rabbi 1907–1972

John Paton Davies, Jr.1

American diplomat 1908–1999

Victor Borge12

Danish and US-American comedian and musician 1909–2000

Eddie August Schneider5

American aviator 1911–1940

Edward Schillebeeckx1

Belgian theologian 1914–2009

Mikhail Kalashnikov9

Soviet and Russian small arms designer 1919–2013

P. V. Narasimha Rao14

Indian politician 1921–2004

Alan Harrington1

Welsh footballer 1933–2019

Vincent Fourcade2

French artist 1934–1992