Did you know
In recognition of this work, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953, the only Army general ever to receive the honor.
Famous Birthdays on December 31
1880 — George Marshall
American general and politician, 50th United States Secretary of State (died 1959)
December 31 has 225 recorded notable births across history, from 695 to 2002. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Famous Birthdays
225 source records
695 – 2002
Capricorn
Today in history
Major events on December 31
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 2011 NASA succeeds in putting the first of two Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory satellites in orbit around the Moon. Source
- 1961 RTÉ, Ireland's state broadcaster, launches its first national television service. Source
- 2020 The World Health Organization issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine. Source
- 1790 Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time. Source
Did you know
Whittle first came to prominence as a model for Reebok in the early 2000s.
Did you know
With the capture of the then-capital of Aror by Arab forces, Muhammad ibn al-Qasim became the first Muslim to have successfully captured Indian land, which marked the beginning of Muslim rule in South Asia.
Did you know
Dubbed the "Queen of Brazilian Rock", she became one of the most influential figures in the country's popular music.
Did you know
Matthew Capiccioni is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names M-Dogg 20, Matt Cross and Son of Havoc.
More major people born on December 31
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1979
Ricky Whittle
British actor
Richard George Whittle is a British actor. Whittle first came to prominence as a model for Reebok in the early 2000s. He is known in the United Kingdom for his role as Calvin Valentine in the soap opera Hollyoaks.
695
Muhammad ibn al-Qasim
Umayyad general (died 715)
Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqafī was an Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh, inaugurating the Umayyad campaigns in India.
1947
Rita Lee
Brazilian musician and author (died 2023)
Rita Lee Jones de Carvalho, known as Rita Lee, was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, author, actress and television host.
1980
Matt Cross
American wrestler
Matthew Capiccioni is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names M-Dogg 20, Matt Cross and Son of Havoc.
1946
Roy Greenslade
English journalist and academic
Roy Greenslade is a British author and freelance journalist, and a former professor of journalism. He worked in the UK newspaper industry from the 1960s onwards.
1961
Jeremy Heywood
English economist and civil servant (died 2018)
Jeremy John Heywood, Baron Heywood of Whitehall, was a British civil servant who served as Cabinet Secretary to David Cameron and Theresa May from 2012 to 2018 and Head of the Home Civil Service from 2014 to 2018.
1857
King Kelly
American baseball player and manager (died 1894)
Michael Joseph "King" Kelly, also commonly known as "$10,000 Kelly", was an American baseball outfielder, catcher, and player-manager in various professional American baseball leagues including the National League,…
1918
Ray Graves
American football player and coach (died 2015)
Samuel Ray Graves was an American professional football player and college football coach.
1946
Raphael Kaplinsky
South African international development academic
Raphael Malcolm Kaplinsky is an Honorary Professor at the Science Policy Research Unit and an Emeritus Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.
1985
Jonathan Horton
American gymnast
Jonathan Alan Horton is a former American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and is the 2008 Olympic silver medalist on horizontal bar, the 2010 World…
1952
Jean-Pierre Rives
French rugby player, painter, and sculptor
Jean-Pierre Rives is a French former rugby union player and visual artist. "A cult figure in France", according to the BBC, he came to epitomise the team's spirit and "ultra-committed, guts-and-glory style of play".
1959
Phill Kline
American lawyer and politician
Phillip D. Kline is a former American attorney who served as a Kansas state legislator, district attorney of Johnson County, and Kansas Attorney General.
1912
John Frost
Indian-English general (died 1993)
Major-General John Dutton Frost, was an airborne officer of the British Army, best known for being the leader of the small group of British airborne troops that actually arrived at Arnhem bridge during the Battle of…
1937
Tess Jaray
Austrian-English painter and educator
Tess Jaray was a British painter and printmaker. She taught at The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL from 1968 until 1999. For over 20 years Jaray completed a succession of major public art projects.
1738
Charles Cornwallis
1st Marquess Cornwallis, English general and politician, 3rd Governor-General of India (died 1805)
General Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis was a British Army officer, Whig politician and colonial administrator.
1927
Vishnudevananda Saraswati
Indian yoga guru (died 1993)
Vishnudevananda Saraswati was an Indian yoga guru known for his teaching of asanas, a disciple of Sivananda Saraswati, and founder of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres and Ashrams (ISYVC).
1980
Richie McCaw
New Zealand rugby player
Richard Hugh McCaw is a New Zealand retired professional rugby union player. He captained the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups.
1901
Karl-August Fagerholm
Finnish politician, 20th Prime Minister of Finland (died 1984)
Karl-August Fagerholm was a Finnish politician. Fagerholm served as Speaker of Parliament and three times as Prime Minister of Finland.
1941
Sir Alex Ferguson
Scottish footballer and manager
Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson, also known by the nickname Fergie, is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013.