Anniversaries 8 December

Birth

Horace92

Roman lyric poet -65–-8 BC

Wang Anshi1

Song Dynasty chancellor and poet 1021–1086

Mary, Queen of Scots4

Scottish monarch and queen consort of France 1542–1587

Baron d'Holbach9

French-German author, philosopher, encyclopedist 1723–1789

Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann1

Swiss philosophical writer, naturalist, and physician 1728–1795

Francesco Mario Pagano1

Italian jurist and author 1748–1799

Henry Timrod4

Poet from the American South 1828–1867

Herbert Giles7

British sinologist and diplomat 1845–1935

Aristide Maillol18

sculptor from France 1861–1944

Camille Claudel1

French sculptor and graphic artist 1864–1943

Jean Sibelius12

Finnish composer of the late Romantic period 1865–1957

Norman Douglas5

British writer 1868–1952

Albert Gleizes21

French painter 1881–1953

Diego Rivera4

Mexican painter, muralist, Communist 1886–1957

Florbela Espanca13

Portuguese poet 1894–1930

James Thurber90

American cartoonist, author, journalist, playwright 1894–1961

Джеймс Тербер1

1894–1961

Caryl Brahms4

English critic, novelist, and journalist 1901–1982

Wifredo Lam2

Cuban artist 1902–1982

Richard Llewellyn3

British novelist 1906–1983

Lesslie Newbigin9

Christian missionary 1909–1998

Delmore Schwartz11

American poet 1913–1966

Lucian Freud7

British painter and engraver 1922–2011

Niklas Luhmann12

German sociologist, administration expert, and social syste… 1927–1998

Ulric Neisser10

American psychologist 1928–2012

Sherwin B. Nuland7

American surgeon 1930–2014

Flip Wilson1

Comedian, actor 1933–1998

David Carradine1

American actor and martial artist 1936–2009

William Wulf1

American computer scientist 1939

Mary Catherine Bateson1

American anthropologist 1939

Mario Savio8

American activist 1942–1996

Jim Morrison129

lead singer of The Doors 1943–1971

John Banville97

Irish writer 1945

Jimmy Lai2

Hong Kong businessman 1948

Per Bak1

Danish physicist 1948–2002

Ulf Ekman3

Swedish chaplain 1950

Dan Hartman3

American singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, record… 1950–1994

Rick Baker3

American special makeup effects artist 1950

Bill Bryson112

American author 1951

Ben Mikaelsen1

writer 1952

Sam Kinison9

American comedian 1953–1992

Norman G. Finkelstein13

American political scientist and author 1953

Louis De Bernières14

English novelist 1954

John Woods1

Irish long-distance runner 1955

Phil Collen2

British musician 1957

Mark Steyn30

Canadian writer 1959

Jim Yong Kim11

Korean-American physician and anthropologist, 12th Presiden… 1959

Aaron Allston4

American writer 1960–2014

Bill McKibben16

American environmentalist and writer 1960

Lim Guan Eng5

Finance Minister of Malaysia 1960

Ann Coulter225

author, political commentator 1961

Mark Pesce10

American writer 1962

Teri Hatcher1

American actress, presenter, writer 1964

Richard David Precht2

German philosopher and author 1964

Bushwick Bill1

American rapper 1966–2019

Nicki Minaj3

Trinidadian-born American singer, rapper and actress 1982

Meagan Duhamel1

Canadian pair skater 1985

Amir Khan (boxer)6

British boxer 1986

AnnaSophia Robb11

American actress, singer, and model 1993

Death

John Peckham6

Archbishop of Canterbury 1227–1292

John Davies (poet)9

English poet, lawyer, and politician, born 1569 1569–1626

Richard Baxter14

English Puritan church leader, poet, and hymn-writer 1615–1691

Benjamin Constant2

Swiss-born French politician, writer on politics and religi… 1767–1830

Thomas De Quincey13

English author 1785–1859

George Boole39

English mathematician, philosopher and logician 1815–1864

John Lanahan5

1815–1903

Herbert Spencer81

English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent … 1820–1903

William Henry Vanderbilt2

American philanthropist 1821–1885

George Augustus Henry Sala1

British journalist 1828–1895

Henry Clay Trumbull15

Union Army chaplain 1830–1903

Sarah Doudney4

English novelist and poet 1841–1926

Gertrude Jekyll5

garden designer, artist 1843–1932

Madison Cawein6

poet from Louisville, Kentucky 1865–1914

Ernest Dimnet17

French writer 1866–1954

Charles Lightoller2

British sailor 1874–1952

John Snaith2

British cricketer (1876-) 1876–1936

Claude Scudamore Jarvis1

British journalist 1879–1953

Hermann Weyl28

German mathematician 1885–1955

Florbela Espanca13

Portuguese poet 1894–1930

Golda Meir38

former prime minister of Israel 1898–1978

Bawa Muhaiyaddeen39

Sri Lankan Sufi leader 1900–1986

Sydney J. Harris44

American journalist 1917–1986

John Glenn6

American astronaut and politician 1921–2016

Rolf Arnkil1

1923–1964

Paul Volcker5

American economist 1927–2019

John Lennon228

English singer and songwriter 1940–1980

James C. Nelson1

Montana Supreme Court Justice 1944–2006

John Trudell12

Native American rights activist, musician, poet 1946–2015

Agha Shahid Ali1

poet 1949–2001