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• 
  

• 
  Battle of Alton
  The Battle of Alton (also Storm of Alton), of the First English Civil War, took place on 13 December 1643 in the town of Alton, Hampshire, England. There, Parliamentary forces serving under Sir William Waller led a successful surprise attack on a winter garrison of Royalist infantry and cavalry serving under the Earl of Crawford. In the context of the First English Civil War, the Battle of Alton was the first decisive defeat of Sir Ralph Hopton, leader of Royalist forces in the south, and the event had a significant psychological effect on him as commander. More important to Hopton was the loss of men, however, as he was already short-handed in much-needed infantry. The successful Parliamentarians were able, after their victory, to attack and successfully besiege Arundel, a larger and more formidable Royalist outpost in the south of England.
  At dawn on the 13th, as Lord Waller's army approached Alton, Lord Crawford fled with the cavalry to Winchester, leaving Colonel Richardus Boles to defend Alton with only the infantry. Outnumbered and overpowered, Boles's men were soon forced to seek refuge in the Church of St. Lawrence, where they made a desperate last stand. Boles was killed, along with most of his remaining men. The Parliamentarians won a clear victory, losing only a few men and taking many prisoners.
  
  wn.com/Battle_of_Alton
• 
  Brazil
  Brazil ⁱ/brəˈzɪl/ (Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil,  listen (help·info)), is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.
  Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas region of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.
  Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed. The colonial bond was in fact broken in 1808, when the capital of the Portuguese colonial empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, after Napoleon invaded Portugal.Independence was achieved in 1822 with the formation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The country became a presidential republic in 1889, when a military coup d'état proclaimed the Republic, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824. Its current Constitution, formulated in 1988, defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.
  
  wn.com/Brazil
• 
  Clerkenwell
  Coordinates: 51°31′34″N 0°06′13″W / 51.52604°N 0.103475°W / 51.52604; -0.103475
  Clerkenwell ( /ˈklɑrkənwɛl/) is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington. From 1900 to 1965 it was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance. Clerkenwell was once known as London's "Little Italy" because of the large number of Italians living in the area from the 1850s until the 1960s.
  Clerkenwell took its name from the Clerks' Well in Farringdon Lane (clerken was the Middle English genitive plural of clerk, a variant of clerc, meaning literate person or clergyman). In the Middle Ages, the London Parish clerks performed annual mystery plays there, based on biblical themes. Part of the well remains visible, incorporated into a 1980s building called Well Court. It is visible through a window of that building on Farringdon Lane. Access to the well is managed by Islington Local History Centre and visits can be arranged by appointment.
  
  wn.com/Clerkenwell
• 
  Cyprus
  Cyprus ⁱ/ˈsaɪprəs/ (Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros, IPA: [ˈcipɾos]; Turkish: Kıbrıs, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs]), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía, IPA: [cipɾiaˈci ðimokɾaˈtia]; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs dʒumhuɾijeˈti]), is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria, Lebanon, northwest of Israel and north of Egypt. Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and the Republic of Cyprus is a member state of the European Union.
  The earliest known human activity on the island dates back to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia, which has been declared a World Heritage Site with an "enhanced protection" status in the event of armed conflict by UNESCO, along with the archaeological sites of Paphos and the Painted Churches of the Troodos Region. Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world.
  
  wn.com/Cyprus
• 
  Czech Republic
  The Czech Republic (ⁱ/ˈtʃɛk/ CHEK;Czech: Česká republika, pronounced [ˈtʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka] ( listen), short form Česko Czech pronunciation: [ˈtʃɛskɔ]) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the north, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. Its capital and largest city, with 1.3 million inhabitants, is Prague.
  It is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary representative democracy, a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group.
  The Czech state, formerly known as Bohemia, was formed in the late 9th century as a small duchy around Prague, at that time under dominance of the powerful Great Moravian Empire (which reached its greatest territorial extent during the reign of Svatopluk I from the House of Mojmír). After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power was transferred from Moravia to Bohemia, under the Přemyslids. During the rule of Přemyslid dukes/kings and their successors, the Luxembourgs, the country reached its greatest territorial extent (13th–14th century). Life in the country was significantly affected by the Hussite wars, during which it faced economic embargo and crusades from all over Europe. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy as one of its three principal parts alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Bohemian Revolt (1618–20) led to the further centralization of the monarchy including forced recatholization and Germanization. During radical reforms in the 18th century the Bohemian Crown was even de facto abolished (1749). In the 19th century the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia which was formed in 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I.
  
  wn.com/Czech_Republic
• December 2005
  Template:Portal:Current events/Month Inclusion Template:Portal:Current events/Events by month
  See: Wikipedia:News collections and sources.
  Coordinates: 6°13′S 29°36′E / 6.217°S 29.6°E / -6.217; 29.6
  
  wn.com/December_2005
• 
  England
  England ⁱ/ˈɪŋɡlənd/ is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, while the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separate it from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
  The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law—the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world—developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's Royal Society laid the foundations of modern experimental science.
  
  wn.com/England
• 
  Esquiline Hill
  The Esquiline Hill is one of the celebrated Seven Hills of Rome. Its southern-most cusp is the Oppius (Oppian Hill).
  The origin of the name Esquilino is still under much debate. One view is that the Hill was named after the abundance of holm-oaks, exculi, that resided there. Another view is that, during Rome's infancy, the Capitolium, the Palatium, and the northern fringes of the Caelian were the most-populated areas of the city, whose inhabitants were considered inquilini, in-towners; those that inhabited the external regions - Aurelian, Oppius, Cispius, Fagutal - were considered exquilini, suburbanites.
  The Esquiline Hill includes three prominent spurs, which are sometimes called ‘hills’ as well:
  Rising above the valley in which was later built the Colosseum, the Esquiline was a fashionable residential district.
  According to Livy, the settlement on the Esquiline was expanded during the reign of Servius Tullius, Rome' sixth king, in the 6th century BC. The king also moved his residence to the Hill, in order to increase its respectability.
  
  wn.com/Esquiline_Hill
• 
  Ethiopia
  Ethiopia ( /ˌiːθiˈoʊpiə/) (Ge'ez: ኢትዮጵያ ʾĪtyōṗṗyā), officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km². Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. With its capital at Addis Ababa, it is also the most populous landlocked nation in the world.
  Ethiopia was a monarchy for most of its history, and the Ethiopian dynasty traces its roots to the 2nd century BC. Ethiopia is also one of the oldest sites of human existence known to scientists today, having yielded some of humanity's oldest traces. It may be the region from which Homo sapiens first set out for the Middle East and points beyond. Alongside Rome, Persia, China and India, the Ethiopian Aksum Empire was considered one of the great world powers of the 3rd century. During the Scramble for Africa, Ethiopia was the only African country beside Liberia that retained its sovereignty as a recognized independent country, and was one of only four African members of the League of Nations. After a brief period of Italian occupation, Ethiopia became a charter member of the United Nations. When other African nations received their independence following World War II, many of them adopted the colors of Ethiopia's flag, and Addis Ababa became the location of several international organizations focused on Africa.
  
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  Germany
  Germany (ⁱ/ˈdʒɜrməni/), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km² and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.
  A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Treaty of Versailles. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.
  
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  Greece
  Greece ⁱ/ˈɡriːs/ (Greek: Ελλάδα, Ellada, IPA: [eˈlaða] ( listen) historically in Katharevousa and Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάς, Hellas, IPA: [eˈlas] and [helːás] respectively), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Elliniki Dimokratia, IPA: [eliniˈci ðimokraˈtia]), is a country in Southern Europe, politically considered part of Western Europe.Athens is the capital and the largest city in the country (its urban area also including Piraeus). The population of the country is around 11 million.
  Greece has land borders with Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570 ft).
  
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  Hamburg
  Hamburg ( /ˈhæmbɜrɡ/; German pronunciation: [ˈhambʊɐ̯k], local pronunciation [ˈhambʊɪç]; Low German/Low Saxon: Hamborg [ˈhaˑmbɔːx]), officially Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, is the second-largest city in Germany, the thirteenth largest German state, and the sixth-largest city in the European Union. The city is home to over 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighbouring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 4.3 million inhabitants. Situated on the river Elbe, the port of Hamburg is the second largest port in Europe (after the Port of Rotterdam) and 11th-largest worldwide.
  Hamburg's official name, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (German: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg), reflects Hamburg's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, and that Hamburg is a city-state and one of the sixteen States of Germany.
  Hamburg is a major transport hub in Northern Germany and is one of the most affluent cities in Europe.  It has become a media and industrial centre, with plants and facilities belonging to Airbus, Blohm + Voss and Aurubis. The radio and television broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk and publishers such as Gruner + Jahr and Spiegel-Verlag are pillars of the important media industry in Hamburg. In total, there are more than 120,000 enterprises.
  
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  Hungary
  Hungary ⁱ/ˈhʌŋɡəri/ (Hungarian: Magyarország [ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ] ( listen)) is a country, which is located in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The country's capital, and largest city, is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and is a Schengen state. The official language is Hungarian, also known as Magyar, which is part of the Finno-Ugric group and is the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe.
  Following a Celt (after c. 450 BC) and a Roman (AD 9 - c. 430) period, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian prince Árpád, whose great-grandson Saint Stephen I was crowned with a crown sent by the pope from Rome in 1000 AD. The Kingdom of Hungary lasted for 946 years, and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centres of the Western world. After about 150 years of partial Ottoman occupation (1541–1699), Hungary was integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy, and later constituted half of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy (1867–1918).
  
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  Iraq
  Iraq (/ɪˈræk/ or ⁱ/ɪˈrɑːk/; Arabic: العراق‎ al-‘Irāq); officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic:  جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūriyyat al-‘Irāq), is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.
  Iraq borders Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Jordan to the southwest and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south. Iraq has a narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km (36 mi) on the northern Persian Gulf. The capital city, Baghdad is in the center-east of the country.
  Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run through the center of Iraq, flowing from northwest to southeast. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the steppe and desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia.
  Historically, Iraq was the center of the Abbasid Arabic Islamic Empire. Iraq has been known to the west by the Greek toponym 'Mesopotamia' (Land between the rivers) and has been home to continuous successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is often referred to as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing, law and the wheel. At different periods in its history, Iraq was the center of the indigenous Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Abbasid empires. It was also part of the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires, and under British control as a League of Nations mandate.
  
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  Israel
  Coordinates: 31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35
  Israel, officially the State of Israel ( /ˈɪzriːəl/ or  /ˈɪzreɪəl/; Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, Medīnat Yisrā'el, IPA: [me̞diˈnät jisʁäˈʔe̞l] ( listen); Arabic: دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل‎, Dawlat Isrāʼīl, IPA: [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egypt and the Gaza Strip on the southwest, and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel is defined as a Jewish and Democratic State in its Basic Laws and is the world's only Jewish-majority state.
  Following the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption and implementation of the United Nations plan to partition Palestine, on 14 May 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, a state independent from the British Mandate for Palestine. Neighboring Arab states invaded the next day in support of the Palestinian Arabs. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Portions of these territories, including east Jerusalem, have been annexed by Israel, but the border with the neighboring West Bank has not yet been permanently defined.^{[neutrality is disputed]} Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have so far not resulted in peace.
  
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  Italy
  Italy ⁱ/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km² (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
  Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
  
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  Jerusalem
  Jerusalem ( /dʒəˈruːsələm/; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם‎‎ Yerushaláyim   ; Arabic: القُدس‎ al-Quds    and/or أورشليم Ûrshalîm) is the capital of Israel, though not internationally recognized as such, and one of the oldest cities in the world. It is located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern edge of the Dead Sea. If the area and population of East Jerusalem is included, it is Israel's largest city in both population and area, with a population of 801,000 residents over an area of 125.1 km² (48.3 sq mi). Jerusalem is also a holy city to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
  During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent. Today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond its boundaries.
  
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  Kenedy, Texas
  Kenedy is a city in Karnes County, Texas, United States, named for Mifflin Kenedy, who bought 400,000 acres (1,600 km²) and wanted to develop a new town that would carry his name. The population was 3,487 at the 2000 census.
  In the early 1900s many of Kenedy's gunfighter's shooting caused the town to be nicknamed "Six Shooter Junction".
  During World War II, the Kenedy Alien Detention Camp was located near the outskirts of the town. This was a prisoner of war camp that started as an internment camp for Germans, Italians, Japanese, and South Americans.
  Kenedy is also the site of the John Connally Unit, a state prison. On December 13, 2000, a group called the Texas Seven escaped from that prison. They would go on a deadly crime spree before being caught.
  Kenedy is located at 28°49′N 97°51′W / 28.817°N 97.85°W / 28.817; -97.85 (28.8143, -97.8496).
  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.3 square miles (8.5 km²), all of it land.
  As of the census of 2000, there were 3,487 people, 1,266 households, and 907 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,049.2 people per square mile (405.5/km²). There were 1,550 housing units at an average density of 466.4/sq mi (180.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.44% White, 3.18% African American, 0.72% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, 20.68% from other races, and 2.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 64.90% of the population.
  
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  Knesset
  The Knesset (Hebrew: הַכְּנֶסֶת‎ [haˈkneset] ( listen); lit. the gathering or assembly; Arabic: الكنيست‎) is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.
  The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister (although the latter is ceremonially appointed by the President), approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government. In addition, it also recommends a candidate for the State Comptroller to the President, who appoints someone to the post. It also has the power to waive the immunity of its members, remove the President and the State Comptroller from office, remove a Prime Minister convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude, and to dissolve itself and call new elections. The Prime Minister may dissolve the Knesset. However, until an election is completed, the Knesset maintains authority in its current composition.
  Knesset members annually convene for plenary assemblies, or plenums, for two annual sittings of at least eight months' duration. The two sittings together form a session. The Knesset may be convened at any other time if thirty or more members demand this in writing or if the government requests. As well as approving or rejecting proposed legislation, the plenum also elects the Speaker and one or more Deputy Speakers.
  
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  Latvia
  Latvia ⁱ/ˈlætviə/ (Latvian: Latvija), officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republika), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia (border length 343 km), to the south by Lithuania (588 km), to the east by the Russian Federation (276 km), to the southeast by Belarus (141 km), and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden. With 2,067,887 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km² (24,938 sq mi) it is one of the least populous and least densely populated countries of the European Union. The capital of Latvia is Riga. The official language is Latvian and the currency is called Lats (Ls). The country has a temperate seasonal climate.
  The Latvians are a Baltic people, culturally related to the Lithuanians. Together with the Finno-Ugric Livs (or Livonians), the Latvians are the indigenous people of Latvia.Latvian is an Indo-European language and along with Lithuanian the only two surviving members of the Baltic branch. Indigenous minority languages are Latgalian and the nearly extinct Finno-Ugric Livonian language. In terms of geography, territory and population Latvia is the middle of three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Latvia and Estonia share a long common history: historical Livonia, times of German (Teutonic Order), Polish-Lithuanian, Swedish, Russian, Nazi German and Soviet rule, 13th century Christianization and 16th century Protestant Reformation. Both countries are home to a large number of ethnic Russians (26.9% in Latvia and 25.5% in Estonia) of whom some are non-citizens. Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant, except for the region of Latgalia in the southeast which is historically predominantly Roman Catholic.
  
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  Lithuania
  Lithuania (ⁱ/ˌlɪθuːˈeɪniə/ or /ˌlɪθjuːˈeɪniə/; Lithuanian: Lietuva), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika) is a country in Northern Europe, the largest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark. It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and a Russian exclave (Kaliningrad Oblast) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 3.2 million as of 2011, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. The Lithuanians are a Baltic people, and the official language, Lithuanian, is one of only two living languages (together with Latvian) in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family.
  For centuries, the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea was inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, who was crowned as King of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the first Lithuanian state, on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe: present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.
  
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  London
  London ⁱ/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
  London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe). London has been described as a world cultural capital. It was the world's most visited city during 2011 and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.
  
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  Malta
  Malta ⁱ/ˈmɒltə/, officially known as the Republic of Malta (Maltese: Repubblika ta' Malta), is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, 80 km (50 mi) south of Sicily, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya, with Gibraltar 1,755 km (1,091 mi) to the west and Alexandria 1,508 km (937 mi) to the east. Malta covers just over 316 km² (122 sq mi) in land area, making it one of the world's smallest states. It is also one of the most densely populated countries worldwide. The de facto capital city of Malta is Valletta; the largest town, Birkirkara. The main island comprises many towns, which together form one Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) with a population of 368,250 according to Eurostat. The country has two official languages, Maltese (constitutionally the national language) and English.
  Throughout history, Malta's location has given it great strategic importance, and a succession of powers including the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Habsburg Spain, Knights of St John, French and the British ruled the islands. Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964 and became a republic in 1974, whilst retaining membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004. Malta is also party to the Schengen Agreement and in 2008 it became part of the eurozone.
  
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  Nanjing
   Nanjing (Chinese: 南京; pinyin: Nánjīng; Wade–Giles: Nan-ching) is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions. Its present name means "Southern Capital" and was widely romanized as Nankin and Nanking until the Pinyin language reform, after which Nanjing was gradually adopted as the standard spelling of the city's name in most languages that use the Roman alphabet.
  Located in the lower Yangtze River drainage basin and Yangtze River Delta economic zone, Nanjing has long been one of China's most important cities. It is recognized as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. It was the capital of Sun Quan's Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period and the capital of the Republic of China prior to its flight to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War. Nanjing is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's administrative structure, enjoying jurisdictional and economic autonomy only slightly less than that of a province. Nanjing has long been a national center of education, research, transport networks, and tourism. The city will host the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.
  
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  NASA
  Coordinates: 38°52′59″N 77°0′59″W / 38.88306°N 77.01639°W / 38.88306; -77.01639
  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research. Since February 2006, NASA's mission statement has been to "pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research." On September 14, 2011, NASA announced that it had selected the design of a new Space Launch System that it said would take the agency's astronauts farther into space than ever before and provide the cornerstone for future human space exploration efforts by the U.S.
  NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The agency became operational on October 1, 1958. U.S. space exploration efforts have since been led by NASA, including the Apollo moon-landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and Commercial Crew vehicles. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program (LSP) which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches.
  
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  Nazi Germany
  The Third Reich, also Nazi Germany, is the common name for Germany when it was a totalitarian state ruled by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). On 30 January 1933 Hitler became chancellor of Germany, quickly eliminating all opposition to rule as sole leader. The state idolized Hitler as its Führer ("leader"), centralizing all power in his hands. Historians have emphasized the hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups. Kessel writes, "Overwhelmingly...Germans speak with mystification of Hitler's 'hypnotic' appeal..." Under the "leader principle", the Führer's word was above all other laws. Top officials reported to Hitler and followed his policies, but they had considerable autonomy. The government was not a coordinated, cooperating body, but rather a collection of factions struggling to amass power and curry favor with the Führer. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazi government restored prosperity and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending and a mixed economy of free-market and central-planning practices. Extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of the Autobahns. The return to prosperity gave the regime enormous popularity; the suppression of all opposition made Hitler's rule mostly unchallenged.
  
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  New York
  New York (/njuː ˈjɔrk/; locally IPA: [nɪu ˈjɔək] or [nuː ˈjɔɹk] ( listen)) is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. New York is the 27th most extensive, the 3rd most populous, and the 7th most densely populated of the 50 United States. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border with Rhode Island east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Ontario to the west and north, and Quebec to the north. The state of New York is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City.
  New York City, with a population of over 8.1 million, is the most populous city in the United States. Alone, it makes up over 40 percent of the population of New York state. It is known for its status as a center for finance and culture and for its status as the largest gateway for immigration to the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, New York City is also a destination of choice for many foreign visitors. Both the state and city were named for the 17th century Duke of York, James Stuart, future James II and VII of England and Scotland.
  
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  New Zealand
  New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses ‒ that of the North and South Islands ‒ as well as numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans.
  During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of both animal and plant life. Most notable are the large number of unique bird species, many of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and introduced mammals. With a mild maritime climate, the land was mostly covered in forest. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions caused by the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates clashing beneath the earth's surface.
  
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  Northern Ireland
  Northern Ireland (Irish: Tuaisceart Éireann pronounced [ˈt̪ˠuəʃcəɾˠt̪ˠ ˈeːɾʲən̪ˠ] ( listen), Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann or Norlin Airlan) is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west. As of 2001, its population was 1,685,000, constituting about 30% of the island's total population and about 3% of the population of the United Kingdom. Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland is largely self-governing. According to the agreement, Northern Ireland co-operates with the rest of Ireland – from which it was partitioned in 1921 — on some policy areas, while other areas are reserved for the Government of the United Kingdom, though the Republic of Ireland "may put forward views and proposals".
  Northern Ireland was for many years the site of a violent and bitter inter-communal conflict — the Troubles — which was caused by divisions between nationalists, who are predominantly Roman Catholic, and unionists, who are predominantly Protestant. Unionists want Northern Ireland to remain as a part of the United Kingdom, and generally see themselves as British, while nationalists wish for it to be politically reunited with the rest of Ireland, independent of British rule, and generally see themselves as Irish. Additionally, people from both sides of the community may describe themselves as Northern Irish. Since 1998, most of the paramilitary groups involved in the Troubles have ceased their armed campaigns.
  
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  Plymouth
  Plymouth ⁱ/ˈplɪməθ/ is a city and unitary authority area on the south coast of Devon, England, about 190 miles (310 km) south-west of London. It is situated between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound. Since 1967, the City of Plymouth has included the suburbs of Plympton and Plymstock, which are on the east side of the River Plym.
  Plymouth's history goes back to the Bronze Age, when its first settlement grew at Mount Batten. This settlement continued to grow as a trading post for the Roman Empire, until the more prosperous village of Sutton, the current Plymouth, surpassed it. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers left Plymouth for the New World and established Plymouth Colony – the second English settlement in what is now the United States of America. During the English Civil War the town was held by the Parliamentarians and was besieged between 1642 and 1646.
  Throughout the Industrial Revolution, Plymouth grew as a major commercial shipping port, handling imports and passengers from the Americas, while the neighbouring town of Devonport grew as an important Royal Naval shipbuilding and dockyard town. In 1914 the three neighbouring and independent towns, viz., the county borough of Plymouth, the county borough of Devonport, and the urban district of East Stonehouse were merged to form a single County Borough. The new, merged town took the name of Plymouth which, in 1928, achieved city status. The city's naval importance later led to its targeting and partial destruction during World War II, an act known as the Plymouth Blitz. After the war the city centre was completely rebuilt.
  
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  Poland
  Poland ⁱ/ˈpoʊlənd/ (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska; Kashubian: Pòlskô Repùblika; Silesian: Polsko Republika), is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union, being its most populous post-communist member. Poland is a unitary state made up of 16 voivodeships. Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Economic Area, International Energy Agency, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International Atomic Energy Agency, G6, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Visegrád Group, Weimar Triangle and Schengen Agreement.
  
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  Romania
  Romania (ⁱ/roʊˈmeɪniə/ roh-MAY-nee-ə; dated: Roumania; or Rumania;Romanian: România [romɨˈni.a] ( listen)) is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south.
  At 238,400 square kilometers (92,000 sq mi), Romania is the ninth largest country of the European Union by area, and has the seventh largest population of the European Union with over 19 million people. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, the tenth largest city in the EU with about two million people.
  The Kingdom of Romania emerged when the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia were united under Prince Alexander Ioan Cuza in 1859. Independence from the Ottoman Empire was declared on 9 May 1877, and was internationally recognized the following year. At the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the Kingdom of Romania. Greater Romania emerged into an era of progression and prosperity that would continue until World War II. By the end of the War, many north-eastern areas of Romania's territories were occupied by the Soviet Union, and Romania forcibly became a socialist republic and a member of the Warsaw Pact.
  
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  Rosslea
  Coordinates: 54°14′21″N 7°10′26″W / 54.2393°N 7.174°W / 54.2393; -7.174
  Rosslea or Roslea (from Irish: Ros Liath, meaning "grey wood") is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, near the border with County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. It stands on the River Finn and is beset by small natural lakes. Roslea Forest is nearby. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 554 people.
  Former US President Bill Clinton has claimed that his distant forebears came from Roslea, though these claims have been dismissed by the Directory of Irish Genealogy as "baseless".
  On 22 March 1921, during the Irish War of Independence, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) launched attacks on the homes of Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) officers in the Rosslea area. Three USC officers were killed. When news of these killings reached Belfast, gunfire broke out in the York Street area and a Catholic civilian was killed.
  For more information see The Troubles in Rosslea, which includes a list of incidents in Roslea during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities.
  
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  Saint Lucia
  Saint Lucia ⁱ/seɪnt ˈluːʃə/ (French: Sainte-Lucie) is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km² (238.23 sq mi) and has a population of 174,000 (2010). Its capital is Castries. Two Nobel laureates, Arthur Lewis, an economist, and Derek Walcott, a poet and playwright, have come from the island. It is the nation with the second most such honorees per capita after the Faroe Islands.
  One of the Windward Islands, it was named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse by the French, the first European colonizers. They signed a treaty with the native Carib people in 1660. England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667; in ensuing years, it was at war with France 14 times and rule of the island changed frequently (it was seven times each ruled by the French and British). In 1814, the British took definitive control of the island. Because it switched so often between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West Indies".
  
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  Slovakia
  The Slovak Republic (short form: Slovakia ⁱ/sloʊˈvɑːkiə/ or /sləˈvækiə/; Slovak:  Slovensko (help·info), long form  Slovenská republika (help·info)) is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi). Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is the capital, Bratislava, and the second largest is Košice. Slovakia is a member state of the European Union, NATO, United Nations, OECD and WTO among others. The official language is Slovak, a member of the Slavic language family.
  The Slavs arrived in the territory of present day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries during the migration period. In the course of history, various parts of today's Slovakia belonged to Samo's Empire (the first known political unit of Slavs), Principality of Nitra (as independent polity, as part of Great Moravia and as part of Hungarian Kingdom), Great Moravia, Kingdom of Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Habsburg Empire, and Czechoslovakia. A separate Slovak state briefly existed during World War II, during which Slovakia was a dependency of Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1944. From 1945 Slovakia once again became a part of Czechoslovakia. The present-day Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
  
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  Slovenia
  Slovenia (ⁱ/sloʊˈviːniə/ sloh-VEE-nee-ə, Slovene: Slovenija), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija,  [reˈpublika sloˈveːnija]) is a Slavic nation state, situated in South-Central Europe, at the crossroad of main European cultural and trade routes. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Croatia to the south and southeast, and Hungary to the northeast. It covers 20,273 square kilometres (7,827 sq mi) and has a population of 2.05 million. It is a parliamentary republic, member of the European Union and NATO. Relative to its geography, history, economy, culture, and language, it is a very diverse country distinguished by a transitional character. It is characterised by a high economic and social level. Its capital and largest city is Ljubljana.
  The territory of Slovenia is mainly hilly or mountainous and has an exceptionally high landscape and biological diversity and a mosaic structure, which are a result of natural attributes and the long-lasting presence of humans. Four major European geographic units interweave here: the Alps, the Dinaric Alps, the Mediterranean, with a small portion of coastline along the Adriatic Sea, and the Pannonian Plain. The climate is temperate and significantly influenced by the variety of territory, with a strong interaction of the continental climate, the sub-Mediterranean climate and Alpine climate across most of the country. The country is one of the water-richest in Europe, with a dense river network, a rich aquifer system, and significant karstic underground watercourses. Over half of the territory is covered by forest.
  
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  Switzerland
  Switzerland (German: die Schweiz[ˈʃvaɪts]; French: Suisse [sɥis(ə)]; Italian: Svizzera [ˈzvit͡sːɛra]; Romansh: Svizra [ˈʒviːtsrɐ] or [ˈʒviːtsʁːɐ]), in its full name the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica, hence its abbreviation CH), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western Europe, where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.
  Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km² (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found. Among them are the two global cities and economic centres of Zurich and Geneva.
  The Swiss Confederation has a long history of armed neutrality—it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815—and did not join the United Nations until 2002. It pursues, however, an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. Switzerland is also the birthplace of the Red Cross and home to a large number of international organizations, including the second largest UN office. On the European level, it is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association and is part of the Schengen Area – although it is notably not a member of the European Union, nor the European Economic Area.
  
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  Tikrit
  Tikrit (Arabic: تكريت‎, Tikrīt also transliterated as Takrit or Tekrit) is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river (at 34.61°N, 43.68°E). The town, with an estimated population in 2002 of about 260,000 is the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.
  As a fort along the Tigris (Akkadian: Idiqlat), the town is first mentioned in the Fall of Assyria Chronicle as being a refuge for the Babylonian king Nabopolassar during his attack on the city of Assur in 615 BC.
  Tikrit is usually identified with the Hellenistic settlement Birtha. As Tagrit, it was the seat of the Maphrian of the Monophysites.
  Over a thousand years ago, it possessed a fortress and a large Christian monastery. It was renowned as a centre for the production of woolen textiles. The Arab Uqaylid Dynasty took hold of Tikrit in 1036.
  Around 1138, the legendary leader Saladin was born there; his many achievements include defending Egypt against the Christian Crusaders and recapturing Jerusalem in 1187. The modern province of which Tikrit is the capital is named after him.
  
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  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
  The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.
  
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  United States
  The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
  At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
  
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  Abel Janszoon Tasman
  Abel Janszoon Tasman (Dutch: [ˈaːbəl ˈjɑnsoʊn ˈtɑsmɐn]; 1603–1659) was a Dutch seafarer, explorer and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC (United East India Company). His was the first known European expedition to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and New Zealand, and to sight the Fiji islands. His navigator François Visscher, and his merchant Isaack Gilsemans, mapped substantial portions of Australia, New Zealand and some Pacific Islands.
  Abel Tasman was born in 1603 in Lutjegast in what is now the province of Groningen, the Netherlands. In 1633, Tasman went to Batavia in service of the VOC; four years later he was back in Amsterdam. Tasman signed on for another ten years and took his wife along to Batavia. In 1639 Tasman was sent as second in command of an exploring expedition in the north Pacific under Matthijs Quast. His fleet included the ships Engel and Gracht and reached Fort Zeelandia (Dutch Formosa) and Deshima.
  In August 1642, the Council of the Indies, consisting of Antonie van Diemen, Cornelis van der Lijn, Joan Maetsuycker, Justus Schouten, Salomon Sweers, Cornelis Witsen, and Pieter Boreel in Batavia despatched Abel Tasman and Franchoijs Visscher on a voyage of which one of the objects was to obtain knowledge of "all the totally unknown provinces of Beach".
  
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  Abraham Wald
  Abraham Wald ((1902-10-31)October 31, 1902 – December 13, 1950(1950-12-13)) was a mathematician born in Cluj, in the then Austria–Hungary (present-day Romania) who contributed to decision theory, geometry, and econometrics, and founded the field of statistical sequential analysis. He spent his researching years at Columbia University.
  Being a religious Jew, he could not attend school on Saturdays, as was required at the time by the Hungarian school system, and was thus home-schooled by his parents until college. His parents were quite knowledgeable and competent as teachers.
  In 1927, he entered graduate school at the University of Vienna, from which he graduated in 1931 with a Ph.D. in mathematics. His advisor there was Karl Menger.
  Despite Wald's brilliance, he could not obtain a university position, because of Austrian discrimination against Jews. However, Oskar Morgenstern created a position for Wald in economics. When the Nazis invaded Austria in 1938, the discrimination against Jews intensified. In particular, Wald and his family were persecuted as Jews. Wald was able to emigrate to the United States, at the invitation of the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics, to work on econometrics research.
  
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  Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī
  Abū al-Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī (born 5 September 973 in Kath, Khwarezm, died in the year 13 December 1048 in Ghazni), known as Alberonius in Latin and Al-Biruni in English, was a Persian-ChorasmianMuslim scholar and polymath of the 11th century.
  Al-Biruni is regarded as one of the greatest scholars of the medieval Islamic era and was well versed in physics, mathematics, astronomy, and natural sciences, and also distinguished himself as a historian, chronologist and linguist. He was conversant in Chorasmian, Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit and Turkic, and also knew Greek, Hebrew and Syriac. He spent a large part of his life in Ghazni in modern-day Afghanistan, capital of the Ghaznavid dynasty which ruled eastern Iranian lands and the northwestern Indian subcontinent. In 1017 he traveled to the Indian subcontinent and became the most important interpreter of Indian science to the Islamic world. He is given the titles the "founder of Indology" and the "first anthropologist". He was an impartial writer on custom and creeds of various nations, and was given the title al-Ustdadh ("The Master") for his remarkable description of early 11th-century India. He also made contributions to Earth sciences, and is regarded as the "father of geodesy" for his important contributions to that field, along with his significant contributions to geography.
  
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  Acadians
  The Acadians (French: Acadiens, IPA: [akadjɛ̃]) are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia, a colony of New France. The colony was located in what is now Eastern Canadas Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island), as well as part of Quebec, and present-day Maine to the Kennebec River. Although today most of the Acadians and Québécois are French speaking (francophone) Canadians, Acadia was a distinct colony of New France, and was geographically and administratively separate from the French colony of Canada (modern day Quebec), which led to Acadians and Québécois developing two rather distinct histories and cultures. The settlers whose descendants became Acadians came from "all the regions of France but coming predominantly directly from the cities".
  Prior to the British Conquest of Acadia in 1710, the Acadians lived for almost 80 years in Acadia. After the Conquest, they lived under British rule for the next forty-five years. During the French and Indian War, British colonial officers and New England legislators and militia carried out the Great Expulsion of 1755–1763. They deported approximately 11,500 Acadians from the maritime region. Approximately one-third perished from disease and drowning. One historian compared this event to a contemporary ethnic cleansing, while other historians suggested that the event is comparable with other deportations in history.
  
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  Aga Khan IV
  Prince Karim, Aga Khan IV,NPk, NI, KBE, CC, GCC, GCIH, GCM (born December 13, 1936; Aga Khan is also transliterated Aqa Khan and Agha Khan) is an international businessman, racehorse owner and breeder, as well as the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailism — a minority denomination of Shia Islam with 5-15 million adherents (under 10% of the Shia population). He has held the position of Imam under the title of Aga Khan IV since July 11, 1957, when, at the age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather, Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan, also known as Aga Khan III. The Aga Khans indicate that they are direct descendants of Prophet Muhammad through his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, considered the first Imam in Shia Islam, and his wife Fatima az-Zahra, the Prophet’s daughter from his first marriage. As the Imam of Nizari Ismailism, the Aga Khan IV is considered by his followers to be the proof or hujjah of God on earth as well as infallible and immune from sin (just as an Imam is viewed in most other denominations of Shia Islam). He is further considered by his followers to be the carrier of the eternal Noor of Allah ("Light of God" - a concept unique to certain denominations of Shia Islam). In 1986, the Aga Khan ordained the current Ismailia Constitution - an ecclesiastical decree affirming to Nizari Ismailis his "sole right to interpret the Quran and provide authoritative guidance on [all] matters of faith" and formalizing his sole discretion, power and authority for the governance of Nizari Ismaili jamats (places of worship) and institutions.
  
  wn.com/Aga_Khan_IV
• Aimilios Veakis
  Aimilios Veakis (Greek: Αιμίλιος Βεάκης; December 13, 1884 – June 29, 1951) was one of the greatest Greek actors. He fought in the Balkan Wars and World War II.
  He was the son of the theatrical writer Ioannis Veakis as an orphan and of the two sons lived into his childhood and the years together with childless relatives. During the objection of his guardian which he wrote at 16 years old in 1900 and the Royal Dramatic School. After his cut off from the dramatic school of the Royal Theatre, he enrolled into the Great Arts School which he studied drawing. In 1901, he left his studied and he began his career as an actor in Volos with the company of Evangelia Nika. From that time, he circulated in portions which it had Greek elements until the his enrollment of the Balkan Wars (1912–13) in which he prepared his words due to the brave deed.
  He returned to the front, Veakis worked as one of the greatest companies of his time (Lepeniotis, Kalogerikou, Kotopouli, Kyveli, Ekonomou) and entered in all the theatricak acts. He distinguished as hear of the characterists and played in classic tragedies and dramas. His career station was acting in Oedipus in the same tragedy (Oedipus Rex), the director of Fotos Politis with the Greek Theatrical Company. From 1932, he culminated the Royal Theatre as the National Theatre. He entered as the same theatrical head, even as a hypocritic professor in the vocational school of the National Theatre.
  
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  Al Gore
  Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. (born March 31, 1948) served as the 45th Vice President of the United States (1993–2001), under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President and won the popular vote in the 2000 U.S. presidential election.
  Gore is currently an author and environmental activist. He has founded a number of non-profit organizations, including the Alliance for Climate Protection, and has received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in climate change activism.
  Gore was previously an elected official for 24 years, representing Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives (1977–85), and later in the U.S. Senate (1985–93), and finally becoming Vice President in 1993. In the 2000 presidential election, Gore won the popular vote by a margin of more than 500,000 votes. However, he ultimately lost the Electoral College to Republican George W. Bush when the U.S. Supreme Court settled the legal controversy over the Florida vote recount by ruling 5-4 in favor of Bush. It was the only time in history that the Supreme Court has determined the outcome of a presidential election.
  
  wn.com/Al_Gore
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  Alan Bullock
  Alan Louis Charles Bullock, Baron Bullock (13 December 1914 – 2 February 2004), was a British historian, who wrote an influential biography of Adolf Hitler and many other works.
  Bullock was born in Trowbridge in Wiltshire, England, where his father worked as a gardener and a Unitarian preacher. He was educated at Bradford Grammar School and Wadham College, Oxford, where he read classics and modern history. After graduating in 1938, he worked as a research assistant for Winston Churchill, who was writing his History of the English-Speaking Peoples. During World War II, Bullock worked for the European Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. After the war he returned to Oxford as a history fellow at New College.
  He was the founding master of St. Catherine's College, a college for undergraduates and graduates, divided between students of the sciences and the arts. He was credited with massive fundraising efforts to develop the college. Later he was the first full-time Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University.
  
  wn.com/Alan_Bullock
• Alby Mathewson
  Albert "Alby" Mathewson (born 13 December 1985) is a rugby union player for the Blues in Super Rugby. He plays as a scrum-half. He was born in Hastings, New Zealand. He has also played four test matches for the All Blacks.
  Alby undertook tertiary study at Victoria University of Wellington after finishing his schooling at Hastings Boys' High School. He made his Wellington debut in 2006 and Wellington Hurricanes debut in 2007, before shifting to the Blues in 2010. Mathewson made his international debut for New Zealand in 2010.
  
  
  
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  Alexander Schmemann
  Alexander Schmemann (13 September 1921, Tallinn - 13 December 1983, New York) was a prominent 20th century Orthodox Christian priest, teacher, and writer.
  Schmemann was born in Tallinn, Estonia to an aristocratic family of Russian White émigrés. His family moved to France, where he received his university education. He married Juliana Osorguine in 1943, before completing his theological studies at the Orthodox Theological Institute of St. Sergius in Paris (where he studied with the noted Russian theologian, Father Sergei Bulgakov, amongst others) and was ordained a priest in 1946.
  From 1946-51, Fr Schmemann taught church history at St. Sergius. He was invited to join the faculty of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, then in New York City, where he taught from 1951 onwards. When the seminary moved to its present campus in Crestwood, New York in 1962, Fr Schmemann assumed the post of dean, which he would hold until his death. He also served as adjunct professor at Columbia University, New York University, Union Theological Seminary and General Theological Seminary in New York. Much of his focus at St Vladimir's was on liturgical theology, which emphasizes the liturgical tradition of the Church as a major sign and expression of the Christian faith.
  
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  Alexander Selkirk
  Alexander Selkirk (1676 – 13 December 1721) was a Scottish sailor who spent four years as a castaway after being marooned on an uninhabited island.
  An unruly youth, Selkirk joined several buccaneering expeditions to the South Seas, including one commanded by William Dampier, which called in for provisions at the Juan Fernández Islands off Chile. Selkirk judged correctly that his craft, the Cinque Ports, was unseaworthy, and was given the choice of being left ashore on his own.
  He was eventually rescued by Dampier after four years, in which he had developed hunting and woodcraft skills to a high degree.
  Selkirk's story aroused great interest at home, and Daniel Defoe's fictional character Robinson Crusoe was almost certainly based in part on him.
  The son of a shoemaker and tanner in Lower Largo, Fife, Scotland, Selkirk was born in 1676. In his youth he displayed a quarrelsome and unruly disposition. Summoned on 27 August 1695 before the Kirk Session for his "undecent carriage" (indecent behaviour) in church, he "did not comper [appear], having gone away to be [the] seas: this business is continued till his return" [sic].
  
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  Alvin Curran
  Composer Alvin Curran (born December 13, 1938), is the co-founder, with Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum, of Musica Elettronica Viva, and a former student of Elliott Carter. Curran's music often makes use of electronics and environmental found sounds.
  Curran was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He was a professor of music at Mills College in California until 2006 and now teaches privately in Rome, Italy, and sporadically at various institutions. His works include solo performance pieces such as Endangered Species, TransDadaExpress, and Shofar; radio works such as Crystal Psalms, Un Altro Ferragosto, I Dreamt John Cage Yodeling at the Zurich Hauptbahnhof, and Living Room Music; large scale musical choreographic works such as Oh Brass on the Grass Alas, for 300 amateur brass-band musicians, and the Maritime Rites series of performances on and near water; sound installation works such as Magic Carpet, Floor Plan, The Twentieth Century, and Gardening with John; chamber music such as For Cornelius for piano, the trio Schtyx, the string quartet VSTO, the saxophone quartet Electric Rags II, the percussion quartet THEME PARK, a series of works for chorus SATB, and the work for chamber orchestra and video Circus Maximus; and many collaborative dance and theater works. Since 1996, Curran has worked on a growing series of solo piano pieces entitled Inner Cities, which together form one of the longest non-repetitive piano pieces ever written. Daniela Tortora has edited a book about his work, Alvin Curran Live in Roma (Die Schachtel 2010).
  
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  Alvin York
  Alvin Cullum York (December 13, 1887 – September 2, 1964) was one of the most decorated American soldiers in World War I. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking 32 machine guns, killing 28 German soldiers and capturing 132 others. This action occurred during the U.S.-led portion of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France, which was part of a broader Allied offensive masterminded by Marshal Ferdinand Foch to breach the Hindenburg line and make the opposing German forces surrender.
  Alvin Cullum York was born in a two-room log cabin near Pall Mall, Tennessee, on December 13, 1887, the third of eleven children born to Mary Elizabeth Brooks (8 August 1866 - 21 May 1943) and William Uriah York (15 May 1863 – 17 November 1911). William Uriah York was born in Jamestown, Tennessee, to Uriah York and Eliza Jane Livingston, both travelers from Buncombe County, North Carolina. Mary Elizabeth York was born in Pall Mall, Tennessee, to William Brooks and Nancy Pyle, and was the great-granddaughter of Coonrod Pyle, an English settler who settled Pall Mall in Tennessee. William York and Mary Brooks married on December 25, 1881, and had eleven children. The York siblings are, in order: Henry Singleton, Joseph Marion, Alvin Cullum, Samuel John, Albert, Hattie, George Alexander, James Preston, Lillian Mae, Robert Daniel, and Lucy Erma. The York family is of English, and Ulster Scots ancestry. The York family resided in the Indian Creek area of Fentress County. The family was impoverished, with William York working as a blacksmith to supplement the family income. The father and sons of the York family harvested their own food, while the mother knitted all family clothing. The York sons attended school for only nine months and withdrew from education because William York wanted his sons to help him work the family farm and hunt small game to feed the family.
  
  wn.com/Alvin_York
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  Amy Lee
  Amy Lynn Hartzler (née Lee; born December 13, 1981), known professionally as Amy Lee, is an American singer-songwriter and classically trained pianist. She is co-founder and lead vocalist of the rock band Evanescence. She cites influences ranging from classical musicians such as Mozart to modern artists Björk, Tori Amos, Danny Elfman and Plumb. Along with her contributions to Evanescence, Lee has also participated on numerous other musical projects including Walt Disney Records' 2008 release of The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. Lee has performed collaborations with artists such as Korn, Seether, and David Hodges. Lee is also the American chairperson for the international epilepsy awareness foundation, Out of the Shadows.Revolver Magazine named Lee the #1 Hottest Chick in Hard Rock for their 2011 annual issue and she appeared on the front cover.
  Amy Lee was born to parents John Lee, a disc jockey and TV personality, and Sara Cargill. She has a brother named Robby and two sisters, Carrie and Lori. Lee had a younger sister who died in 1987 at the age of three from an unidentified illness. The song "Hello" from Fallen has been reported to have been written for her late sister, as well as the song "Like You" from The Open Door. Lee took classical piano lessons for nine years. Her family moved to many places, including Florida and Illinois, and eventually settled in Little Rock, Arkansas, where Evanescence started. She briefly attended Middle Tennessee State University to study music theory and composition and later dropped out to focus on Evanescence.
  
  wn.com/Amy_Lee
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  Ana Néri
  Ana Justina Ferreira Néri (December 13, 1814 – May 20, 1880) was a Brazilian nurse, considered the first in her country. She is best known for her volunteer work with the Triple Alliance during the Paraguayan War.
  Ana Néri was born in the Bahian village of Cachoeira de Paraguaçu to José Ferreira de Jesus and his wife, Luísa Maria das Virgens. At age 23, Ana got married to Navy Commander Isidoro Antônio Néri. With her husband always on duty, Ana accustomed to have their house under her responsibility. She became a widow at age 29, having to take care of their children Justiniano, Isidoro, and Pedro Antônio all by herself. Justiniano, and Isidoro became doctors, while Pedro Antônio joined the Army, becoming a cadet.
  In 1865, Brazil joined the Triple Alliance in the Paraguayan War, and Ana's sons were all called upon duty, in addition to both her brothers, Manuel Jerônimo, and Joaquim Maurício. Unhappy with the fact that she would stay away from all the men in her family, she wrote a letter to Manuel Pinho de Sousa Dantas, governor of Bahia, offering to take care of injured soldiers of the Triple Alliance for the duration of the conflict.
  
  wn.com/Ana_Néri
• Andre Rodgers
  Kenneth Andre Ian Rodgers (December 2, 1934 – December 13, 2004) was a Major League Baseball shortstop who played for the New York and San Francisco Giants (1957–60), Chicago Cubs (1961–64) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1965–67). He also played one season in Japan for the Taiyo Whales (1969). He batted and threw right-handed.
  A native of Nassau, Bahamas, Rodgers was the first Bahamian to play in the major leagues. He was a talented cricket player who paid his own way for a tryout with the Giants in 1954. Rodgers failed to make the team that year. He had to learn the rules of baseball, not to jump away from curveballs, and consequently, he adjusted and made his debut in 1957. Rodgers was a part of the Giants roster until October 1960 when he was traded to the Milwaukee Braves for Alvin Dark, who ultimately became the San Francisco manager at the time.
  Before the 1961 season started, the Braves traded Rodgers to the Cubs. In 1962, he became the regular Cubs shortstop when Ernie Banks moved to first base. In that season, Rodgers, second baseman Ken Hubbs and Banks set a league record for double plays. After four productive seasons for the Cubs, Rodgers was traded to the Pirates.
  
  wn.com/Andre_Rodgers
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  Anna Eshoo
  Anna Georges Eshoo (born December 13, 1942) is the U.S. Representative for California's 14th congressional district, serving since 1993. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, which includes part of Silicon Valley, includes the cities of Redwood City, Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto. She is the only Member of Congress of Assyrian descent.
  Anna Eshoo was born in New Britain, Connecticut, of Assyrian and Armenian heritage. Her father, Fred Georges, was a jeweler and watchmaker. She is a Chaldean Catholic and is the oldest of three children. She has a brother, Frederick Kenneth Georges, and a sister, Veronica May Georges.
  She got an Associate of Arts degree in English from Cañada College in 1975. She worked for the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) between 1963 and 1966. She worked for Arcata National Corporation between 1966 and 1970.
  She was Chair of the San Mateo Democratic Party between 1978 and 1982. She was also a member of the Democratic National Committee in the 1980s. She was Chief-of-Staff to Speaker pro tempore Leo McCarthy of the California State Assembly between 1981 and 1982. She was elected to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors in 1982 and served until 1992. She was president of the board in 1986.
  
  wn.com/Anna_Eshoo
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  Anthony Callea
  Anthony Cosmo Callea (born 13 December 1982) is an Australian singer-songwriter who rose to prominence after being the runner-up in the 2004 season of Australian Idol. He was signed to Sony Music Australia until 2009 and is now an independent artist. Callea's debut single "The Prayer" is the fastest-selling single by an Australian artist, held the No.1 spot on the ARIA Singles Chart for five weeks, a record for the debut single of an Australian Idol contestant, and was the second-highest selling Australian single of the last decade.
  Callea has accumulated a string of awards including an ARIA Music Award, Channel V Artist of the Year, Pop Republic Artist of the Year, MTV Viewers' Choice Award, Variety's Young Entertainer of the Year, MO Award and a Gospel Music Award and is known for his powerful trained voice and his versatility in a range of genres in releases and live performances. All but one of the tracks on his second album A New Chapter were co-written by him. October 2011 saw Callea release his first new music in four years, a single titled "Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh", self-funded, released and distributed as a fully independent venture through his own production company, Vox Enterprises. The dance-pop track was co-written in LA with two-time Grammy-nominated and official DJ for the Black Eyed Peas, Poet Name Life. It signals a departure from the ballads for which he is known and was released in digital format only.
  
  wn.com/Anthony_Callea
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  Anthony Collins
  Anthony Collins (21 June 1676, Old Style – 13 December 1729, Old Style), was an English philosopher, and a proponent of deism.
  Collins was born in Heston, near Hounslow in Middlesex, England. He was educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, and studied law at the Middle Temple. The most interesting episode of his life was his intimacy with John Locke, who in his letters speaks of him with affection and admiration. In 1715 he settled in Essex, where he held the offices of justice of the peace and deputy-lieutenant. which he had previously held in Middlesex. He died at his house in Harley Street, London.
  His writings gather together the results of previous English freethinkers. The imperturbable courtesy of his style is in striking contrast to the violence of his opponents; and, in spite of his unorthodoxy, he was not an atheist or even an agnostic. In his own words, "Ignorance is the foundation of atheism, and freethinking the cure of it" (Discourse of Freethinking, 105).
  His first notable work was his Essay concerning the Use of Reason in Propositions the Evidence whereof depends on Human Testimony (1707), in. which he rejected the distinction between "above reason" and "contrary to reason", and demanded that revelation should conform to man's natural ideas of God. Like all his works, it was published anonymously, although the identity of the author was never long concealed.
  
  wn.com/Anthony_Collins
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  August Senoa
  August (Ivan Nepomuk Eduard) Šenoa (originally Schönoa, November 14, 1838 – December 13, 1881) was a Croatian novelist, critic, editor, poet, and dramatist.
  He was a transitional figure, who helped bring Croatian literature from Romanticism to Realism and introduced the historical novel to Croatia. He wrote more than ten novels, among which the most notable are:
  Šenoa was one of the greatest Croatian novelists and the author of the popular patriotic song "Živila Hrvatska".
  He was born in Zagreb, then part of the Habsburg Empire, into a family of Czech-German origin. His surname was originally spelled Schönoa. His father was Alois Schönoa, and mother was Terezija Rabacs, a Slovak woman from Budapest. He studied law in Prague. He also lived in Vienna for a while, but returned to Zagreb in 1866. He died in Zagreb at the age of 43.
  From 1874 to 1881, he edited the literary journal Vijenac ("Wreath").
  He died from disease picked up after the 1880 Zagreb earthquake.
  In his novels, he fused national romanticism characterized by buoyant and inventive language with realistic depictions of the growth of the petite bourgeois class.
  
  wn.com/August_Senoa
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  B. J. Vorster
  Balthazar Johannes Vorster (Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈbɐltɐzɐr joˈhɐnəs ˈfostər]; 13 December 1915 – 10 September 1983), better known as John Vorster, served as the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and as the fourth State President of South Africa from 1978 to 1979. While known for his staunch adherence to apartheid, overseeing as Minister of Justice the Rivonia Trial in which Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment, and as Prime Minister the Terrorism Act, the complete abolishment of non-white political representation, the Soweto Riots and the Steve Biko crisis, he nevertheless concluded a more pragmatic foreign policy than his predecessors in an effort to improve relations between the white minority government and South Africa's neighbours, particularly after the breakup of the Portuguese colonial empire. Shortly after the Internal Settlement in Rhodesia, in which he was instrumental, he was implicated in the Muldergate Scandal and resigned the premiership in favor of the ceremonial presidency, which he was forced to give up as well eight months later.
  
  wn.com/B._J._Vorster
• Bates Battaglia
  Jonathan "Bates" Battaglia (born December 13, 1975) is an American professional ice hockey left winger with Karlskrona HK of the Swedish HockeyAllsvenskan.
  Battaglia was drafted by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the sixth round (132nd overall selection) of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. Growing up, Bates played hockey in Park Ridge, Illinois, under Coach Tom Godwin. He played on the three-time NCAA National Championship Lake Superior State University Lakers from 1994–1997.
  On March 18, 1997, Battaglia was traded by the Mighty Ducks to the Hartford Whalers for Mark Janssens. He made his professional debut in the 1997–98 season with the Beast of New Haven of the AHL before making his NHL debut with the Carolina Hurricanes in their inaugural season. Battaglia established himself as a NHL regular with the Hurricanes, enjoying his most successful period as a third of the BBC line (Brind'Amour, Battaglia, Cole) during their 2001–2002 Stanley Cup run.
  On March 11, 2003, Battaglia was traded by the Hurricanes to the Colorado Avalanche for Radim Vrbata. His tenure was short as he was traded at the start of the 2003–04 season by the Avalanche, along with Jonas Johansson to the Washington Capitals for Steve Konowalchuk.
  
  wn.com/Bates_Battaglia
• Bessel Kok
  Bessel Kok (born Hilversum, 13 December 1941) is a Dutch businessman and chess organiser living in Prague. He has served in top management positions in telecommunications companies in Belgium (Belgacom) and in the Czech Republic. He was also President of the Belgian-based Banking communications company SWIFT and responsible for SWIFT's sponsorship of several major International chess events.
  Kok was the Chairman of World Chess Grandmaster Association from 1985 until 1991, and helped to establish the 2002 Prague Agreement concerning the World Chess Championship.
  Kok is also active in the arts; he was the producer of the film Nicholas Winton, the power of Good about British businessman Nicholas Winton who rescued children from the Nazis. The film won an Emmy Award in 2002.
  Kok ran a campaign for presidency of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) against the incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in 2006. The election was held in June, 2006 in Torino, Italy during the World Chess Olympiad and Kok lost 54-96 to Ilyumzhinov.
  
  wn.com/Bessel_Kok
• Bill Castro
  William Radhames Castro Checo (born December 13, 1953, in Santiago, Dominican Republic) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and former pitching coach for the Milwaukee Brewers of the National League.
  Castro was drafted by the Brewers – then in the American League – and pitched for them from 1974 to 1980. He played three more years with the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals before retiring.
  The longest-serving member of the Brewers' coaching staff, Castro was named bullpen coach in 1992 by rookie manager Phil Garner. Late in the 2002 season, Castro also briefly served as pitching coach after the resignation of Dave Stewart. He then returned to his bullpen role until he was named pitching coach by new Milwaukee manager Ken Macha on November 7, 2008. The 2009 season marked Castro's 18th consecutive season as a Brewer coach. Castro was subsequently fired as pitching coach on August 12, 2009 and replaced with former Brewer Chris Bosio.
  Castro was the pitching coach for the Dominican Republic's entry in the inaugural World Baseball Classic.
  
  wn.com/Bill_Castro
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  BJ Penn
  Jay Dee "B.J." Penn (born December 13, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Penn was the first non-Brazilian winner of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the black-belt category. BJ Penn is regarded as one of the most gifted martial arts fighters in the world. He is known for his incredible flexibility and his willingness to fight anyone regardless of their weight class, fighting as high as Light Heavyweight (weighed in at 191 lb) when he competed against Lyoto Machida (who weighed in at 225 lb) in 2005. His jab and his boxing are considered the best in MMA. He is the most decorated Jiu-Jitsu athlete in America.
  A former UFC Lightweight Champion and UFC Welterweight Champion, he is only the second fighter in UFC history to win titles in two different weight classes, with the first being UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture. Penn served as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show. As of February 2012, Penn is ranked as the #10 welterweight fighter in the world by Sherdog. Penn holds the distinction of being one of only a very few fighters who have never been submitted and never been knocked down. He is on hiatus after losing to Nick Diaz at UFC 137 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
  
  wn.com/BJ_Penn
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  Bo Pelini
  Mark "Bo" Pelini (born December 13, 1967) is the head football coach at the University of Nebraska. He had previously been defensive coordinator for the LSU Tigers, Oklahoma Sooners, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. On December 2, 2007, one day after coaching in the 2007 SEC Championship Game, Pelini was named as head coach at Nebraska by athletic director Tom Osborne.
  Pelini was raised in Youngstown, Ohio, a former center of steel production with a strong athletic tradition. He was nicknamed "Bo" after former Cleveland Browns running back Bo Scott. After graduating from Youngstown Cardinal Mooney High School (the same high school as Oklahoma Sooners Head Coach Bob Stoops), he went on to play free safety for Ohio State University Buckeyes under Earle Bruce and later John Cooper from 1987 to 1990, as a starter in his last two years. Pelini served as a team co-captain in his senior year, along with Vinnie Clark, Jeff Graham and Greg Frey. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business marketing from Ohio State University in 1990 while playing for the Buckeyes.
  
  wn.com/Bo_Pelini
• Bob Gainey
  Robert Michael "Le Capitaine" Gainey (born December 13, 1953 in Peterborough, Ontario) is the former executive vice president and general manager of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently a team consultant for the Dallas Stars. He is also a former professional ice hockey player who played for the Canadiens from 1973 until 1989. After retiring from active play, he became a hockey coach and later an executive with the NHL Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars] organization before returning to Montreal as general manager from 2003 to 2010. Gainey was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.
  Bob Gainey began his hockey career in 1972 with his hometown team the Peterborough Petes in the Ontario Hockey League. His lack of scoring was made up by his impressive ability to shut down opposing players. This impressed many scouts in the NHL and in 1973, he was drafted 8th overall by the Montreal Canadiens. He was also drafted 7th overall by the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA although he would never play a game in the WHA.
  
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  Bosco Wong
  
  Bosco Wong Chung-chak (Chinese: 黃宗澤, born 13 December 1980) is a Hong Kong actor under TVB management and singer under East Asia Music.
  Bosco's entertainment career began in 1998. He was spotted on the street by a talent-recruiter and soon appear for the first time in a lemon tea commercial and several minor modelling jobs. Recruiters offered him further opportunities but Bosco insisted on finishing his high school first. Right after high school graduation(Form 7) Bosco auditioned at TVB in 1999 at age 19. During his first few years in TVB, Bosco started off by hosting several TVB programmes and played cameo roles(celafare) in various TVB series.
  His debut came in 2003, when he was offered supporting roles in modern drama Triumph in the Skies, ancient series Find The Light, and youth drama Aqua Heroes. He then starred in Wong Fei Hung - Master of Kung Fu in 2004. In 2005 he stepped forward as a dramatic and comedic actor in Wars of In-Laws opposite Myolie Wu and Hong Kong acting legend Liza Wang - and obtained TVB's Most Improved Actor Award of the year. Afterwards, his performance in Dicey Business earned him even more exposure and recognition as a rising actor. In October 2008, Bosco developed further by signing a singer contract with East Asia Music and released his debut EP in December of the same year. He continue to grow his acting to another level in 2011 by taking charge of a villainous character "Bai Co" in Lives of Omission.
  
  wn.com/Bosco_Wong
• Brian McGuire
  Brian McGuire (13 December 1945 in East Melbourne – 29 August 1977 at Brands Hatch, UK) was a racing driver and constructor from Australia.
  McGuire travelled over to the UK from Australia with another hopeful young driver, Alan Jones, but did not enjoy his countryman's success. McGuire entered two Formula One British Grands Prix. With his privately-run Williams FW04 at the 1976 British Grand Prix, he found himself as a reserve entry and was denied a chance to compete.
  For the 1977 race, he modified his Williams FW04 and renamed it the McGuire BM1, but failed to pre-qualify. McGuire was killed practicing this car during a Shellsport G8 Championship race at Brands Hatch later that year.
  
  
  (key)
  (key) (note: results shown in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
  
  
  
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  Carlo Gozzi
  Carlo, Count Gozzi (13 December 1720, Venice – 4 April 1806, Venice) was an Italian playwright.
  Born in Venice, he came from an old Venetian family from the Republic of Ragusa. His father's debts forced him to look for a means of supporting himself, and at the age of sixteen, he joined the army in Dalmatia; three years later he returned to Venice, where he soon made a reputation for himself as the wittiest member of the Granelleschi society, to which the publication of several satirical pieces had gained him admission. This society, nominally devoted to conviviality and wit, had serious literary aims, and was especially zealous to preserve Tuscan literature from foreign influence.
  The displacement of the old Italian comedy by the dramas of Pietro Chiari and Carlo Goldoni's works, modelled on French examples, threatened to defeat the society's efforts; in 1757 Gozzi came to the rescue by publishing a satirical poem, La tartana degli influssi per l'anno 1756, and in 1761 by his comedy, The Love for Three Oranges or Analisi riflessiva della fiaba L'amore delle tre melarance, a parody of the manner of the other two poets, founded on a fairy tale. To perform it, he obtained the services of the Sacchi company of players, who, thanks to the popularity of the comedies of Chiari and Goldoni—which offered no scope for the display of their peculiar talents—had been left without employment. Their satirical powers thus sharpened by personal enmity, the play was an extraordinary success.
  
  wn.com/Carlo_Gozzi
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  Carlos Montoya
  Carlos Montoya (13 December 1903 – 3 March 1993) was a prominent Flamenco guitarist and a founder of the modern-day popular Flamenco style of music.
  His unique style and successful career, despite all odds, have left a great legacy for modern day Flamenco. It is because of his pioneering work in popular Flamenco music that have allowed other great modern groups such as the Gipsy Kings to take hold in all parts of the world. A few of his video recordings can still be found on YouTube.
  Carlos Montoya was born in Madrid, Spain, on December 13, 1903. As the nephew of renowned flamenco guitarist Ramón Montoya he seemed to have been born to play Flamenco, but it was his uncle who would be his biggest obstacle, as he refused to teach Carlos the tricks of the trade. He began studying the guitar with his mother and a neighboring barber, Pepe el Barbero, a.k.a. Pepe the Barber. By the time he was 14 years old he was accompanying dancers and singers in the cafes of Madrid, Spain.
  In the 1920s and 1930s he performed extensively in Europe, North America, and Asia with the likes of La Teresina. The outbreak of World War II brought him to the United States where he began his most successful days as a musician, and frequently toured with the dancer La Argentina. Settling in New York City during World War II (circa 1941), he began touring on his own, bringing his fiery style to concert halls, universities, and orchestras. During this period he made a few recordings for several major and independent labels including RCA Victor, Everest and Folkways.
  
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  Charles de La Fosse
  Charles de La Fosse (or Lafosse) (June 16, 1636 – December 13, 1716), French painter, was born in Paris.
  
  He was one of the most noted and least servile pupils of Le Brun, under whose direction he shared in the chief of the great decorative works undertaken in the reign of Louis XIV. Leaving France in 1662, he spent two years in Rome and three in Venice. The influence of his prolonged studies of Veronese is evident in his "Finding of Moses" (Louvre), an in his "Rape of Proserpine" (Louvre), which he presented to the Royal Academy as his diploma picture in 1673. He was at once named assistant professor, and in 1674 the full responsibilities of the office devolved on him, but his engagements did not prevent his accepting in 1689 the invitation of Lord Montagu to decorate Montagu House.
  He visited London twice, remaining on the second occasion—together with Rousseau and Monnoyer more than two years. William III vainly strove to detain him in England by the proposal that he should decorate Hampton Court, for Le Brun was dead, and Mansart pressed La Fosse to return to Paris to take in hand the cupola of Les Invalides. The decorations of Montagu House are destroyed, those of Versailles are restored, and the dome of the Invalides (engraved, Picart and Cochin) is now the only work existing which gives a full measure of his talent. During his latter years La Fosse executed many other important decorations in public buildings and private houses, notably in that of Crozat, under whose roof he died on 13 December 1716.
  
  wn.com/Charles_de_La_Fosse
• Chris Grant
  Christopher Lee "Chris" Grant (born 13 December 1972) is a former Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League, and a legend of the Western Bulldogs Football Club. He was born in Daylesford, Victoria, Australia.
  Grant was recruited by the Footscray Football Club (now Western Bulldogs) in the 1988 VFL Draft at pick number 105, and played his first AFL game in 1990 at the age of 17. Grant kicked 51 goals that season, the youngest player in VFL-AFL history to achieve this feat, to be the leading goalkicker for the club.
  Over the following years, Grant established himself as a respected player in the half-forward position. He earned All-Australian honours in 1994 and 1996. He polled 27 votes in the 1997 Brownlow Medal, one more than winner Robert Harvey; however, he was ineligible to win the award due to a one-match suspension for striking Hawthorn's Nick Holland.
  In 2001 he was named team captain, and was selected as a member of the Footscray & Western Bulldogs 'Team of the Century' in 2002. He missed the 2003 season to an ACL injury sustained in Round 1. He relinquished the captaincy at the end of the 2004 season.
  
  wn.com/Chris_Grant
• Christie Clark
  Christie Mary Clark (born December 13, 1973 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress, best known for her role as Carrie Brady on Days of our Lives (1986–1990, 1992–1999, 2005–2006, 2010, 2011-).
  Clark exited Days of Our Lives in 1999 to attend university studies in London, England. While in Europe she met Thomas Barnes in Ibiza, Spain, and on August 31, 2002 they married. They later returned to the United States. Clark gave birth to her first child, a daughter, named Hannah Bella Barnes (born March 2008). Her second daughter with Barnes, Emma Rose was born in September 2010.
  Clark succeeded Andrea Barber in 1986 and Tracy Middendorf in 1992. For her portrayal of Carrie Brady, Clark has been nominated for four Young Artist Awards and two Outstanding Younger Actress Daytime Emmy Awards.
  Clark has also appeared in several feature films, including A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) and Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1993). Clark returned to Days shortly following the show's 40th anniversary and was with the show for less than a year before the show was restructured, seeing the departure of several cast members from late 2006 to early 2007. Many of the cast members' departures were the result of budget cuts and the employment of Hogan Sheffer to replace James E. Reilly as head writer in July of that year. Clark exited in August 2006 and last aired on October 26, 2006. In June 2010, Clark temporarily reprised her role as Carrie on DAYS.
  
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  Christopher Plummer
  Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer, CC (born December 13, 1929) is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1958's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include The Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther, and The Man Who Would Be King.
  In a career that spans seven decades and includes substantial roles in each of the dramatic arts, Plummer is probably best known to audiences as the autocratic widower Captain Georg Ludwig von Trapp in the hit 1965 musical film The Sound of Music alongside Julie Andrews. Plummer has also ventured into various television projects, including the legendary miniseries The Thorn Birds.
  His most recent film roles include the The Insider as Mike Wallace, the Disney-Pixar 2009 film Up as Charles Muntz, the Shane Acker production 9 as 1, The Last Station as Leo Tolstoy, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus as Doctor Parnassus, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as Henrik Vanger, and Beginners as Hal.
  Plummer has won numerous awards and accolades for his work, including an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a SAG Award, and a BAFTA Award. With his win at the age of 82 in 2012 for Beginners, Plummer is the oldest actor ever to win an Academy Award.
  
  wn.com/Christopher_Plummer
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  Chuck Schuldiner
  Charles Michael "Chuck" Schuldiner (May 13, 1967 – December 13, 2001) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
  Schuldiner was the singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the band Death, which he founded in 1983, under the name Mantas. He also recorded as guitarist and songwriter with his other band, Control Denied. Schuldiner is often referred to as "The Father of Death Metal", and his obituary in the January 5, 2002 issue of UK's Kerrang! magazine stated that "Chuck Schuldiner was one of the most significant figures in the history of metal." Schuldiner himself was modest about his part in the history of death metal, noting "I don’t think I should take the credits for this death metal stuff. I'm just a guy from a band, and I think Death is a metal band." Schuldiner was ranked No. 10 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists in 2009 and No. 20 in March 2004 Guitar World's "The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists". Schuldiner founded the publishing company Mutilation Music in 1987, affiliated with performance rights organization BMI.
  
  wn.com/Chuck_Schuldiner
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  Curd Jürgens
  Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (1915–1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens.
  Jürgens was born on 13 December 1915 in the Munich borough of Solln, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire. His father was a trader from Hamburg and his mother a French teacher. He began his working career as a journalist before becoming an actor at the urging of his actress wife, Louise Basler. He spent much of his early acting career on the stage in Vienna.
  Jürgens was critical of the Nazis in his native Germany. In 1944 he was sent to a concentration camp in Hungary as a "political unreliable".
  Jürgens became an Austrian citizen after the war.
  Like many multilingual German-speaking actors, Jürgens went on to play soldiers in innumerable war movies. Notable performances in this vein include a meditative officer in the epic The Longest Day. His breakthrough screen role came in Des Teufels General (1955, The Devil's General) and he came to Hollywood following his appearance in the sensational 1956 Roger Vadim directed French film Et Dieu... créa la femme (And God Created Woman) starring Brigitte Bardot. In 1957, Jürgens made his first Hollywood film, The Enemy Below, where he portrayed a German U-boat commander. Jürgens became an international film star. He eventually gained the role of the villain in Roger Moore's favourite James Bond film in The Spy Who Loved Me as Karl Stromberg, a sociopathic industrialist seeking to transform the world into an ocean paradise. His last film appearance was as Maître Legraine, beside Alain Delon and Claude Jade in the spy-thriller Teheran 43 in 1981. He played Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in several episodes of the 1974 BBC TV series Fall of Eagles. He appeared as General Vladimir in the BBC TV series Smiley's People in 1982.
  
  wn.com/Curd_Jürgens
• Dale Berra
  Dale Anthony Berra (born December 13, 1956 in Ridgewood, New Jersey), is a former Major League Baseball player who primarily played as an infielder from 1977 to 1987. He is the son of Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra.
  Berra was a highly sought prospect upon his graduation from Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey.^{[citation needed]} He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the twentieth overall pick in the 1975 Major League Baseball Draft, and made his major league debut on August 22, 1977 at only twenty years old.
  Berra was a member of the 1979 World Series champion Pirates, though he did not receive an at-bat in the post season. A third baseman in the minor leagues, Berra earned playing time at third, second and shortstop his first five seasons in the majors before being handed the starting shortstop job in 1982. That season, he enjoyed career highs in batting average (.263), hits (139), runs scored (64) and runs batted in (61).
  Yogi Berra was named manager of the Yankees prior to the start of the 1984 season. Following the season, the Yankees acquired the younger Berra, along with Jay Buhner and Alfonso Pulido for Steve Kemp and Tim Foli, whom Berra had replaced as the Pirates starting shortstop. Dale became the first son to play for his father in the major leagues since Earle Mack appeared in a total of 125 games for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1937 and 1939 under Connie Mack.^{[citation needed]} Dale was batting .343 until his father was fired sixteen games into the 1985 season and replaced by Billy Martin. Under Martin, Dale was returned to a back-up infielder role, and his batting average fell to .229 for the season.
  
  wn.com/Dale_Berra
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  Dan Hamhuis
  Daniel Hamhuis (born December 13, 1982) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who currently plays for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL).
  Hamhuis played major junior hockey with the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League (WHL) and was selected 12th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. The following year, he was awarded the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy and Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the league's best defenceman and player of the year, respectively; he would also be named the top defenceman in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), the governing body of major junior hockey in Canada. After a final season in the WHL, Hamhuis made his professional debut with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL), a minor league affiliate of the Predators. He made his NHL debut the next year for Nashville. After five seasons with the club, Hamhuis became an unrestricted free agent and signed a six-year contract with the Canucks. In his first year with the club, he helped Vancouver to the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Boston Bruins.
  
  wn.com/Dan_Hamhuis
• Darlene Cates
  Darlene Cates (born December 13, 1947) is an American actress.
  Rita Darlene Guthrie was born in Borger, Texas to Dorothy Ann (née Pfrimmer) and Truman Madison Guthrie. She made her feature film debut in Lasse Hallström's What's Eating Gilbert Grape, alongside Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio, in which she played the title character's housebound mother. Cates was chosen for the part of Bonnie Grape after a casting director saw her on an episode of the Sally Jessy Raphael show in which she discussed her weight. She described her weight as around 550 pounds.
  Television roles followed on the hit shows Picket Fences and Touched by an Angel, and a cameo in Wolf Girl, a Halloween Special for USA Network. Producer J. Miles Dale flew a small crew and the film's two young stars Dov Tiefenbach and Victoria Sanchez from Romania to Texas to shoot their scenes with Cates.
  
  wn.com/Darlene_Cates
• 
  Death (metal band)
  Death was an American metal band founded in 1983. The band's founder, Chuck Schuldiner, is considered "a pioneering force in death metal and grindcore". The band ceased to exist after Schuldiner died of brain cancer in 2001, though remains an enduring metal brand.
  Death is considered one of the most influential bands in metal. The band's debut, Scream Bloody Gore, has been described as "death metal's first archetypal document" and "the first true death metal record". One music biographer has referred to Schuldiner as the "Father of Death Metal" while another has claimed that Schuldiner is "readily acknowledged as the true founder of the U.S. death metal scene".
  As of 2008, Death had sold over 2 million albums worldwide, with over 500,000 copies sold by December 2009 in the U.S. alone (excluding the numerous sales before the SoundScan era) making them the top-selling death metal band worldwide, and only topped in the U.S. by Cannibal Corpse.
  Founded in 1983 by Chuck Schuldiner under the original name of Mantas in Orlando, Death was among the more widely known, early pioneers of the death metal sound along with California's Possessed. In the late 80s, the band was both a part of and integral in defining the death metal scene which gained international recognition with the release of albums by a number of area acts.
  
  wn.com/Death_(metal_band)
• Dennis Bermudez
  Dennis Bermudez (born December 13, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the featherweight division and formerly in the lightweight division. Bermudez has been a professional MMA competitor since 2009. He has made a name for himself mainly fighting on the east coast. He was a competitor on Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller.
  Bermudez began wrestling in 2000 and held a high school record of 112 wins and 23 losses. From high school he went on to wrestle at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania where in 2007 he was ranked 22nd in the nation at the Division 1 level. Bermudez then became a college free-style All-American in Akron, Ohio.
  Bermudez first started training mixed martial arts in Saugerties, New York, his home town, in 2009. He later went on to train at Blackman MMA in Harrisburg PA. He trained at Blackman MMA for nearly two years as he competed as a amateur and professional. Bermudez competed in four amateur bouts before earning his professional license, finishing his amateur career with four wins and no losses. He began his pro career in 2009, opening his career with a record of 4-0, all four won via stoppage. The wins earned him a fight for Russian promotion, M-1 Global. The fight was held at the event M-1 Selection 2010 in New Jersey against Kevin Roddy. Bermudez controlled the entirety of the fight and won via unanimous decision. He was not selected to compete in the M-1 Global tournament, and never returned to fight for the promotion.
  
  wn.com/Dennis_Bermudez
• Dick Dees
  Dirk Jan Dignus (Dick) Dees (born 13 December 1944, Oostburg) is a former Dutch politician.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Dick_Dees
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  Dick Van Dyke
  Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke and father of Barry Van Dyke. Van Dyke starred in the films Bye Bye Birdie, Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and in the TV series The Dick Van Dyke Show and Diagnosis: Murder. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
  Van Dyke was born in West Plains, Missouri, to Loren (nickname "Cookie") and Hazel (born McCord) Van Dyke, but he grew up in Danville, Illinois. He is the older brother of actor Jerry Van Dyke, who is best known for his role on the TV series Coach. His grandson, Shane Van Dyke, is also an actor, and directed Titanic II. He is of Dutch descent on his father's side, and his mother was a descendant of Mayflower passenger Peter Browne from England.
  
  wn.com/Dick_Van_Dyke
• Dominik Werling
  Dominik Patrick Werling (born 13 December 1982 in Ludwigshafen, Germany) is a German footballer who is without a club after leaving Hereford United. He plays as a left back. His father is American and his mother is German.^{[citation needed]}
  Werling played for several clubs in Germany before moving to Turkey. In July 2007, he joined Barnsley from Turkish side Sakaryaspor. On 3 September, it was announced his contract had been terminated by FC Erzgebirge Aue and that he could leave the team.
  Following a trial spell, in which he scored a goal in a friendly match against Blackburn Rovers, he joined Football League One side Huddersfield Town on 20 January 2009. He made his debut as a substitute for Lionel Ainsworth in the 1–0 win over Peterborough United on 31 January 2009. At the end of the season, he was not offered a new contract and was released.
  On 28 April 2010, it was confirmed that Werling would be rejoining former manager Simon Davey at Darlington for the 2010–11 season. After Davey left, Werling initially stated he was committed to Darlington, but then asked for a transfer. Eventually, without having appeared for the club, he bought himself out of his contract and again rejoined Davey, now at League Two club Hereford United, where he signed a two-year deal but left in February 2011 after falling out of favour at the club.
  
  wn.com/Dominik_Werling
• Don Roff
  Don Roff (born December 13, 1966, in Walla Walla, Washington) is a writer and filmmaker.
  Roff grew up in Milton-Freewater, Oregon. He worked at the local drive-in theater and made Super 8 mm and VHS movies with his neighborhood friends. He graduated from McLoughlin Union High School in 1985. Roff joined the United States Army in 1989 and became a US Army Ranger. He was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia in the 3d Ranger Battalion (United States), and was a part of Operation Just Cause in Panama. He graduated from Walla Walla Community College in 1995 and The Evergreen State College in 1997. After living in Seattle, Washington and New York City, Roff returned to Walla Walla, Washington in 2011.
  In June 2006, Roff received the Zola Award for screenwriting from the Pacific Northwest Writers Association.
  
  wn.com/Don_Roff
• 
  Donatello
  Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (circa 1386 – December 13, 1466), also known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence. He is, in part, known for his work in bas-relief, a form of shallow relief sculpture that, in Donatello's case, incorporated significant 15th century developments in perspectival illusionism.
  Donatello was the son of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, who was a member of the Florentine Wool Combers Guild, and was born in Florence, most likely in the year 1386. Donatello was educated in the house of the Martelli family. He apparently received his early artistic training in a goldsmith's workshop, and then worked briefly in the studio of Lorenzo Ghiberti.
  While undertaking study and excavations with Filippo Brunelleschi in Rome (1404–1407), work that gained the two men the reputation of treasure seekers, Donatello made a living by working at goldsmiths' shops. Their Roman sojourn was decisive for the entire development of Italian art in the 15th century, for it was during this period that Brunelleschi undertook his measurements of the Pantheon dome and of other Roman buildings. Brunelleschi's buildings and Donatello's sculptures are both considered supreme expressions of the spirit of this era in architecture and sculpture, and they exercised a potent influence upon the artists of the age.
  
  wn.com/Donatello
• Dora Marsden
  Dora Marsden (5 March 1882 – 13 December 1960) was an English feminist editor of avant-garde literary journals, and an author of philosophical writings.
  Dora Marsden was born 5 March 1882 in Marsden, near Huddersfield, Yorkshire. Her parents were Fred and Hannah (née Gartside) Marsden. In 1890 Fred Marsden left his family after economic failures at his textile plant and emigrated to Philadelphia, US with his eldest son. Hannah worked as a seamstress to support her children. Dora Marsden began working as a tutor at the age of thirteen. At the age of eighteen she attended Owens College in Manchester (later the Victoria University of Manchester) for three years, then worked full-time as a teacher for five years. Marsden became involved with women's suffrage during her studies. In 1909 she was arrested for her political activity and subsequently accepted a full-time position with the Women's Social and Political Union, only to leave it in 1911 due to conflicts with its leadership.
  Her most important cultural contribution was the editing of three publications, the latter more or less continuations of the previous series, beginning in late 1911:
  
  wn.com/Dora_Marsden
• Edward Blishen
  Edward Blishen (29 April 1920 – 13 December 1996) was an English author and broadcaster. He is perhaps best known for his children's novel based on Greek mythology, The God Beneath the Sea (1970, illustrated by Charles Keeping), a collaboration with Leon Garfield that won the Carnegie Medal, and for his series of autobiographical books, including A Cack-Handed War (1972), an story describing his experiences as a conscientious objector, set against the backdrop of the Second World War and Roaring Boys (1955), an honest account of teaching in a London secondary modern school in the 1950s, a book still valuable to understand teaching in a "rough" part of a city. Its sequel, This Right Soft Lot, was published in 1969. He finished the concluding volume of his autobiographical sequence, Mind How You Go, in 1996, just before his death; it was published posthumously by Constable in 1997.
  Nicholas Tucker Edward Blishen was born in Hertfordshire, England. He atttended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Barnet, and after failing his exams at the age of 17 he left school to work on a local newspaper.
  
  wn.com/Edward_Blishen
• Edward LeSaint
  Edward LeSaint (13 December 1870 - 10 September 1940) was an American silent film actor and director who acted in over 300 films and directed over 90.
  LeSaint started his stage career while still a child in Philadelphia.
  He married Stella LeSaint on December 25, 1913 and remained with her until his death on September 10, 1940.
  His grave is located in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
  
  
  
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• 
  Egas Moniz
  António Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz (29 November 1874 – 13 December 1955), known as Egas Moniz (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɛɣɐʒ muˈniʃ]), was a Portuguese neurologist and the developer of cerebral angiography. He is sometimes regarded as the founder of modern psychosurgery, and developing the surgical procedure termed leucotomy (also known as lobotomy), for which he became the first Portuguese national to receive a Nobel Prize in 1949 (shared with Walter Rudolf Hess).
  He held academic positions, wrote many medical articles and also served in several legislative and diplomatic posts in the Portuguese government. In 1911 he became professor of neurology in Lisbon until his retirement in 1944. At the same time, he pursued a demanding political career.
  Moniz was born in Avanca, Estarreja, Portugal as António Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz. He attended Escola do Padre José Ramos and Colégio de S. Fiel dos Jesuítas, studied medicine at the University of Coimbra, then trained in neurology in Bordeaux and Paris. In 1902, he became a professor in the Department of Neurology, but soon left that post on entering politics in 1903. He established the Partido Republicano Centrista and represented it in the Portuguese parliament from 1903 to 1917. Later he was Portugal's ambassador to Madrid (1917) and minister of foreign affairs (1918). Meanwhile he continued to practice medicine and teach physiology and anatomy, and in 1911 he became a professor of neurology at the newly-established University of Lisbon.
  
  wn.com/Egas_Moniz
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  Eleazar Wheelock
  Eleazar Wheelock (April 22, 1711 – April 24, 1779) was an American Congregational minister, orator, educator, and founder of Dartmouth College.
  He was born in Windham, Connecticut to Ralph Wheelock and Ruth Huntington. He is the great-grandson of the first teacher of the first free school in the United States (see Dedham, Massachusetts), The Rev. Ralph Wheelock. In 1733, he graduated from Yale College having won the first award of the Dean Berkeley Donation for the distinction in classics. He continued his theological studies at Yale until he was licensed to preach in May 1734, and installed as pastor of the Second Congregational Church of Lebanon, Connecticut. in February 1735. He served as their minister for 35 years. On April 29, 1735, he married Sarah Davenport. He participated fully and enthusiastically in the Great Awakening, which had begun to sweep the Connecticut River Valley around the time of his graduation from Yale. He was one of its greatest proponents in Connecticut, serving as the "chief intelligencer of revival news".
  
  wn.com/Eleazar_Wheelock
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  Elisabeth Volkenrath
  Elisabeth Volkenrath (born 5 September 1919, Schönau an der Katzbach, Silesia – died 13 December 1945, Hamelin) was German supervisor at several Nazi concentration camps during World War II.
  Volkenrath trained under Johanna Langefeld at Ravensbrück concentration camp during 1941, and in October 1942 went to Auschwitz Birkenau as an Aufseherin along with her sister Gertrud Weininger-Mühland. Promoted from simple Aufseherin to Rapportführerin (Report Leader) along with her sister. In November 1944, she was promoted to Oberaufseherin and oversaw three hangings.
  Command of the women's camp, which was separated from the men's area by the incoming railway line, was held in turn by Johanna Langefeld, Maria Mandel, and Elisabeth Volkenrath. She worked at Bergen-Belsen as supervising wardress.
  In April 1945, she was arrested by the British Army, and stood trial with Irma Grese at the Belsen Trial. She was sentenced to death, and executed at Hamelin Prison by Albert Pierrepoint later that year.
  
  wn.com/Elisabeth_Volkenrath
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  Ella Baker
  Ella Josephine Baker (December 13, 1903 – December 13, 1986) was an African-American civil rights and human rights activist beginning in the 1930s. She was a behind-the-scenes activist, whose career spanned over five decades. She worked alongside some of the most famous civil rights leaders of the 20th century, including W. E. B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, A. Philip Randolph, and Martin Luther King Jr. She also mentored such then-young civil rights stalwarts as Diane Nash, Stokely Carmichael, Rosa Parks and Bob Moses.
  Ella Baker was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and raised by Georgiana and Blake Baker. When she was nine, her family moved to her mother's hometown of Littleton in rural North Carolina. As a girl, Baker listened to her grandmother tell stories about slave revolts. Baker's grandmother had been enslaved and was whipped for refusing to marry a man chosen for her by the slave master.^{[citation needed]}
  Baker attended Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, graduating as class valedictorian in 1927 at the age of 24. As a student she challenged school policies that she thought were unfair. After graduating, she moved to New York City. During 1929-1930 she was an editorial staff member of the American West Indian News, going on to take the position of editorial assistant at the Negro National News. In 1930 George Schuyler, then a black journalist and anarchist (and later an arch-conservative), founded the Young Negroes' Cooperative League (YNCL), which sought to develop black economic power through collective planning. Having befriended Schuyler, Baker joined in 1931 and soon became the group's national director.
  
  wn.com/Ella_Baker
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  Emil Seidel
  Emil Seidel (1864–1947) was a patternmaker who served as the mayor of Milwaukee from 1910 to 1912. He was the first Socialist mayor of a major city in the United States, and ran as the Vice Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America in the 1912 presidential election.
  Seidel was born December 13, 1864 in the town of Ashland in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania of ethnic German immigrants to America. His family moved to Wisconsin when he was a small child.
  At the age of 22, Seidel went abroad to refine his skills as a woodcarver. He lived for six years in Berlin working at his trade during the day and attending school at night. It was in this period that Seidel became an active socialist. Upon his return to Milwaukee, Seidel joined the Pattern Makers Union.
  In 1895, Seidel married the former Lucy Greissel.
  When Seidel returned to the United States he joined the Socialist Labor Party of America. Seidel was a charter member of the first SLP branch in Milwaukee.
  Seidel later joined the Social Democracy of America (established 1897), the Social Democratic Party of America (established 1898), and the Socialist Party of America (established 1901) in turn.
  
  wn.com/Emil_Seidel
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  Emily Carr
  Emily Carr (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist and writer heavily inspired by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the first painters in Canada to adopt a modernist and post-impressionist painting style, Carr did not receive widespread recognition for her work until later in her life. As she matured, the subject matter of her painting shifted from aboriginal themes to landscapes, and in particular, forest scenes. As a writer, Carr was one of the earliest chroniclers of life in British Columbia. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes her as a "Canadian icon".
  Born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1871, the year British Columbia joined Canada, Emily Carr was the second-youngest of six children born to English parents Richard and Emily Saunders Carr. The Carr home was on Birdcage Walk, (now Government Street) in the James Bay district of Victoria, a short distance from the legislative buildings (nicknamed the 'Birdcages') and the town itself.
  The Carr children were raised on English tradition. Richard Carr, born in England, believed it was sensible to live in Vancouver Island, a colony of Great Britain, where he could practice English customs and continue his British citizenship. The family home was made up in lavish English fashion, with high ceilings, ornate mouldings, and a parlour. Carr was taught in the Presbyterian tradition, with Sunday morning prayers and evening Bible readings. Richard Carr called on one child per week to recite the sermon, and Emily consistently had trouble reciting it.
  
  wn.com/Emily_Carr
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  Enrique Morente
  Enrique Morente Cotelo (25 December 1942 – 13 December 2010), known as Enrique Morente, was a flamenco singer and a controversial figure within the world of contemporary flamenco. After his orthodox beginnings, he plunged into experimentalism, writing new melodies for cante (flamenco singing) and jamming with musicians of all styles, without renouncing his roots in traditional flamenco singing, which he kept on cultivating. In spite of severe criticism from the most "purist" amongst the critics and public, he was perhaps the most influential contemporary flamenco singer, who not only innovated, but it could also can be said that he created tradition: some of his cantes have been performed by other singers such as Camarón de la Isla, Mayte Martín, Carmen Linares, Miguel Poveda, Segundo Falcón and Arcángel.
  Enrique Morente, born in the traditional quarter of Albaicín in Granada, started to sing as a seise (a member of a group of children who sing, dance and play castanets on certain religious festivals) He started to feel attracted to flamenco singing as a child, and had the opportunity to learn at family gatherings and to listen to established figures from Granada like Cobitos, the family of the "Habichuelas", or Aurelio Sellés (Aurelio de Cádiz):
  
  wn.com/Enrique_Morente
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  Ephraim McDowell
  Ephraim McDowell (November 11, 1771 – June 25, 1830) was an American physician. He was the first to successfully remove an ovarian tumor.
  Ephraim McDowell was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, the ninth child of Samuel and Mary McDowell. His father was a veteran of the French and Indian War and a colonel during the American Revolution. In 1784 Samuel McDowell was appointed land commissioner and moved his family to Danville, Kentucky. There, he presided over ten conventions that resulted in the drafting of the Kentucky Constitution.
  Ephraim McDowell received his early education at the classical seminary of Worley and James, then spent three years as a medical student under Dr. Alexander Humphreys in Staunton, Virginia. He attended lectures in medicine at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, from 1793 to 1794 and studied privately with John Bell. He never received a diploma, but in 1825, the University of Maryland conferred on him an honorary M.D. degree.
  In 1795, he returned from Scotland, settled in Danville, Kentucky and began his practice as a surgeon. In 1802, he married Sarah Shelby, daughter of Isaac Shelby, war hero and twice governor of Kentucky. They had two sons and four daughters.
  
  wn.com/Ephraim_McDowell
• Eric Flynn
  Eric William Flynn (13 December 1939 — 4 March 2002) was a Chinese born British film and stage actor and singer.
  Flynn was born on December 13 1939 on Hainan, where his father was a Customs officer for the Hong Kong government. After the outbreak of war and the Japanese invasion of China, his family spent several years interned in a Japanese prisoner of war camp (50 years later he would play a British prisoner in Stephen Spielberg's film Empire of The Sun, set in a Japanese prison of war camp in China). He returned to Britain at the age of 13, and was educated at Chatham House School, Ramsgate. He then gained a scholarship to Rada, where he met his first wife Fern.
  Flynn had many television roles. He appeared as Alan-A-Dale in A Challenge for Robin Hood in 1967, as Leo Ryan in the Doctor Who story The Wheel in Space in 1968, as Ivanhoe in a 1970 TV mini series, and as Major Tom Graham in series five of Freewheelers in 1971.
  He was also an established musical theatre actor appearing in shows such as Evita, Annie Get Your Gun,The Sound Of Music, My Fair Lady, A Little Night Music, and Copacabana, starring alongside the likes of Lauren Becall, Maria Freidman, and Suzi Quatro. He originated the role of Bobby in Stephen Sondheim's Company.
  
  wn.com/Eric_Flynn
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  Eric Marienthal
  Eric Marienthal (born December 13, 1957 in Sacramento, CA) is a Los Angeles-based contemporary saxophonist best known for his work in the jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, and pop genres.
  After graduating from high school in Southern California in 1976, he studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where he studied with the saxophone professor, Joe Viola. By the time he left Berklee, Eric had achieved the highest proficiency rating given by the school. In 1995 Eric was awarded the Berklee Distinguished Alumnus Award for outstanding achievements in contemporary music. He has since gone on to perform in over 65 different countries, recorded 13 solo CDs and has played on hundreds of records, films, television shows and commercial jingles.
  Marienthal started his professional career in 1980 with famed New Orleans trumpeter Al Hirt. After returning to Los Angeles, Eric became a member of the Chick Corea Elektric Band. He recorded 6 CDs with that band and 2 of those CDs were Grammy award winners.
  
  wn.com/Eric_Marienthal
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  Eric XIV of Sweden
  Eric XIV, Swedish: Erik XIV (13 December 1533 – 26 February 1577) was King of Sweden from 1560 until he was deposed in 1568. Eric XIV was the son of Gustav I (1496–1560) and Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513–35). He was also ruler of Estonia, after its conquest by Sweden in 1561.
  While he has been regarded as intelligent and artistically skilled, as well as politically ambitious, early in his reign he showed signs of mental instability, a condition that eventually led to insanity. Eric suffered from schizophrenia. Some scholars claim that his illness began early during his reign, while others believe that he became sick after the Sture Murders.
  Eric, having been deposed and imprisoned, was most likely murdered. An examination of his remains in 1958 confirmed that he probably died of arsenic poisoning.
  Eric XIV was born at Tre Kronor castle, at 9 o'clock on the morning of 13 December 1533. Before the age of two, he lost his mother. In 1536, his father, Gustav Vasa, married Margaret Leijonhufvud (1516–55), a Swedish noblewoman.
  
  wn.com/Eric_XIV_of_Sweden
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  Eugene Cernan
  Eugene Andrew Cernan (born March 14, 1934) is a retired United States Navy officer and a former NASA astronaut and engineer. He has been into space three times: as pilot of Gemini 9A in June 1966; as lunar module pilot of Apollo 10 in May 1969; and as commander of Apollo 17 in December 1972, the final Apollo lunar landing.
  On Apollo 17, Cernan became "the last man on the Moon" since he was the last to re-enter the lunar module Challenger during the mission's third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA). (Crewmate Harrison Schmitt was "the last man to arrive on the Moon", as Cernan left the module first.) Cernan was also a backup crew member for the Gemini 12, Apollo 7 and Apollo 14 space missions.
  A native of Chicago, Illinois, son of a Slovak father and a Czech mother, Cernan received his father's name, originally spelled Ondrej Čerňan (IPA: [ˈondrɛj ˈtʃɛrɲan]). He grew up in the towns of Bellwood and Maywood. He graduated from Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois. He attended Purdue University, where he became a member of Phi Gamma Delta, and graduated with a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1956. He was commissioned into the U.S. Navy through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps at Purdue, and became a Naval Aviator flying jets. He also received a M.S. in aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1963.
  
  wn.com/Eugene_Cernan
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  Fenian
  The Fenians (English pronunciation: /ˈfiːnɪənz/), both the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), were fraternal organisations dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th century. The name "Fenians" was first applied by John O'Mahony to the members of the Irish republican group which he founded in the United States in 1858. O'Mahony, who was a Celtic scholar, named the American wing of the movement after the Fianna. In Gaelic Ireland these were warrior bands of young men who lived apart from society and could be called upon in times of war.
  The term Fenian is still used today, especially in Northern Ireland and Scotland, where its original meaning has expanded to include all supporters of Irish nationalism. Irish nationalists, while honouring the 19th century Fenians, more often describe themselves as "nationalist" or "republican". It is used as a demeaning term towards Catholics.
  Fenianism, according to O'Mahony, is symbolised by two principles: firstly, that Ireland has a natural right to independence, and secondly, that that right could be won only by an armed revolution.
  
  wn.com/Fenian
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  Ferguson Jenkins
  Ferguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins, CM, (born December 13, 1942) is a Canadian former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He was a three-time All-Star and the 1971 NL Cy Young Award winner. In 1991, Jenkins was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. During a 19-year career, he pitched for four different teams, spending the majority of his career with the Chicago Cubs. Jenkins also played basketball as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters.
  In 1962, he was signed by Philadelphia Phillies scout Tony Lucadello. Jenkins made his major-league debut as a 22-year-old in 1965 as a relief pitcher. He was traded the following year to the Chicago Cubs, along with Adolfo Phillips and John Herrnstein, for pitchers Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl. Jenkins would become one of the best pitchers in the majors. In his first full year as a starter for the Cubs (1967), Jenkins recorded twenty wins while posting a 2.80 ERA and 236 strikeouts. He finished tied for second in the Cy Young Award voting, following Mike McCormick of the San Francisco Giants. He was also selected for the All-Star Game for the first time that season. The following year his numbers improved; once again he won twenty games, his ERA dropped to 2.63 and his strikeout total increased to 260. Jenkins established a reputation for achieving his pitching feats and his statistics while spending most of his career pitching in a "hitter's ballpark"—Wrigley Field in Chicago. Further, in 1968 Jenkins lost five of his starts in 1–0 ballgames.
  
  wn.com/Ferguson_Jenkins
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  Francesco Bianchini
  Francesco Bianchini (December 13, 1662 – March 2, 1729) was an Italian philosopher and scientist. He worked for the curia of three popes, including being camiere d`honore of Clement XI, and secretary of the commission for the reform of the calendar, working on the method to calculate the astronomically correct date for Easter in a given year.
  Bianchini was born of a noble family at Verona, the Son of Giuseppe Bianchini and his wife, Cornelia Vailetti. In 1684 he went to Rome, and became librarian to Cardinal Ottoboni, who, as Pope Alexander VIII (1689), raised him to the offices of papal chamberlain and canon of Santa Maria Maggiore. Clement XI sent him on a mission to Paris in 1712, and employed him to form a museum of Christian antiquities. A paper by him on Giovanni Domenico Cassini's new method of parallaxes was inserted in the Ada Eruditorum of Leipzig in 1685.
  He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in January, 1713 after being proposed by Sir Isaac Newton.
  His deduction of the rotational period of Venus was based on the observation of its surface using a 2.6" (66mm) 100 foot focal length aerial telescope. Today, we know that this is impossible, because of the thick cloud cover on this planet. He also worked on the parallax of Venus, and he measured the precession of the Earth's rotational axis.
  
  wn.com/Francesco_Bianchini
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  Francis Drake
  Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral (1540 – 27 January 1596) was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the second circumnavigation of the world, from 1577 to 1580. He died of dysentery in January 1596 after unsuccessfully attacking San Juan, Puerto Rico.
  His exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English but a pirate to the Spaniards to whom he was known as El Draque, 'Draque' being the Spanish pronunciation of 'Drake'. His name in Latinised form was Franciscus Draco ('Francis the Dragon'). King Philip II was claimed to have offered a reward of 20,000 ducats, about £4,000,000 (US$6.5M) by modern standards, for his life.
  Francis Drake was born in Tavistock, Devon, in February or March 1544 at the earliest, when his namesake godfather Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford was but age 17. Although Drake's birth is not formally recorded, it is known that he was born while the Six Articles were in force. "Drake was two and twenty when he obtained the command of the Judith" (1566). This would date his birth to 1544. As with many of Drake's contemporaries, the exact date of his birth is unknown and could be as early as 1535, the 1540 date being extrapolated from two portraits: one a miniature painted by Nicholas Hilliard in 1581 when he was allegedly 42, the other painted in 1594 when he was said to be 53.
  
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  Franciscus Vieta
  François Viète (Latin: Franciscus Vieta; 1540 – 23 February 1603), Seigneur de la Bigotière, was a French mathematician whose work on new algebra was an important step towards modern algebra, due to its innovative use of letters as parameters in equations. He was a lawyer by trade, and served as a privy councillor to both Henry III and Henry IV.
  Viete was born at Fontenay-le-Comte, Vendée. His grandfather was a merchant from La Rochelle. His father, Etienne Viète, was an attorney in Fontenay-le-Comte and a notary in Le Busseau. His mother was the aunt of Barnabé Brisson, a magistrate and the first president of parliament during the ascendancy of the Catholic League of France.
  Vieta went to a Franciscan school and in 1558 studied law at Poitiers, graduating as a Bachelor of Law in 1559. A year later, he began his career as an attorney in his native town. From the outset, he was entrusted with some major cases, including the settlement of rent in Poitou for the widow of King Francis I of France and looking after the interests of Mary, Queen of Scots.
  
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  Franz von Lenbach
  Franz von Lenbach (13 December 1836 – 6 May 1904) was a German painter of Realist style.
  Lenbach was born at Schrobenhausen, in Bavaria. His father was a mason, and the boy was intended to follow his father's trade or be a builder. With this view he was sent to school at Landsberg, and then to the polytechnic at Augsburg. But after seeing Hofner, the animal painter, executing some studies, he made various attempts at painting, which his father's orders interrupted. However, when he had seen the galleries of Augsburg and Munich, he finally obtained his father's permission to become an artist, and worked for a short time in the studio of Gräfle, the painter; after this he devoted much time to copying.
  Thus he was already accomplished in technique when he became the pupil of Piloty, with whom he set out for Italy in 1858. A few interesting works remain as the outcome of this first journey A Peasant seeking Shelter from Bad Weather (1855), The Goatherd (1860, in the Schack Gallery, Munich) and The Arch of Titus (in the Palfy collection, Budapest). On returning to Munich, he was at once called to Weimar to take the appointment of professor at the Academy. But he did not hold it long, having made the acquaintance of Count Schack, who commissioned a great number of copies for his collection.
  
  wn.com/Franz_von_Lenbach
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  Fritz Pregl
  Fritz Pregl (in Slovene also Friderik Pregl) (3 September 1869 – 13 December 1930), was an Austrian chemist and physician from a mixed Slovene-German-speaking background. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1923 for making important contributions to quantitative organic microanalysis, one of which was the improvement of the combustion train technique for elemental analysis.
  Pregl was born in Ljubljana within Austria-Hungary to a Slovene-speaking father and German-speaking mother. He died in Graz, Austria in 1930.
  Pregl started his career as physician after he studied medicine at the University of Graz. With his focus on physiology and especially chemical physiology, he suffered from the limitations of quantitative organic microanalysis. The small quantities of substances he obtained during the research of bile acid made it necessary to improve the process of elemental analysis by reducing the necessary components. At the end of his research, he had lowered the minimal amount of substance necessary for the analysis process by a factor of 50. He invited chemists to learn his method of elemental analysis, so that the method was soon widely accepted.
  
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  Georg August Rudolph
  Georg August Rudolph (25 September 1816 in Kassel – 13 December 1893 in Marburg) was a German politician and from 4 December 1856 until 2 August 1884 mayor of Marburg.
  
  
  
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  George III
  George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg ("Hanover") in the Holy Roman Empire until his promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, but unlike his two Hanoverian predecessors he was born in Britain, spoke English as his first language, and never visited Hanover.
  His life and reign, which were longer than those of any previous British monarch, were marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdoms, much of the rest of Europe, and places farther afield in Africa, the Americas and Asia. Early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of its American colonies were soon lost in the American War of Independence. Further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
  
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  George Polya
  George Pólya (December 13, 1888 – September 7, 1985, in Hungarian Pólya György) was a Hungarian Jewish mathematician. He was a professor of mathematics from 1914 to 1940 at ETH Zürich and from 1940 to 1953 at Stanford University. He made fundamental contributions to combinatorics, number theory, numerical analysis and probability theory. He is also noted for his work in heuristics and mathematics education.
  He was born as Pólya György in Budapest, Austria-Hungary to originally Ashkenazi Jewish parents Anna Deutsch and Jakab Pólya who converted to Roman Catholicism in 1886. He was a professor of mathematics from 1914 to 1940 at ETH Zürich in Switzerland and from 1940 to 1953 at Stanford University carrying on as Stanford Professor Emeritus the rest of his life and career. He worked on a great variety of mathematical topics, including series, number theory, mathematical analysis, geometry, algebra, combinatorics, and probability.
  In his later days, he spent considerable effort on trying to characterize the methods that people use to solve problems, and to describe how problem-solving should be taught and learned. He wrote four books on the subject: How to Solve It, Mathematical Discovery: On Understanding, Learning, and Teaching Problem Solving; Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning Volume I: Induction and Analogy in Mathematics, and Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning Volume II: Patterns of Plausible Reasoning.
  
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  George Regas
  George Regas (November 9, 1890 – December 13, 1940) was a Greek actor.
  Born in Sparta, Greece, he was the brother of actor Pedro Regas. He was a stage actor in Athens before coming to the U.S. In New York he played Romeo in a Grecian version of Romeo and Juliet.
  In 1921 Regas acted in his first motion picture: The Love Light with Mary Pickford. This film was produced by Pickford's production company. He would go on to create character roles in over one hundred films. His rugged looks and Mediterranean complexion allowed him to play a wide variety of nationalities in action and adventure films. He was married to actress Reine Davies, who was sister to Marion Davies.
  Regas died after an operation for a throat infection on December 13, 1940 in Hollywood, California, at age fifty. His last film role was Sergeant Gonzales in The Mark of Zorro. He is entombed at Hollywood Forever Cemetery alongside his brother.
  
  wn.com/George_Regas
• George Rhoden
  Vincent George Rhoden (born December 13, 1926 in Kingston) is a former Jamaican athlete, winner of two Olympic gold medals in 1952.
  Rhoden, who lived in San Francisco, was one of the successful long sprinters from Jamaica in the late 1940s and early 1950s, along with Arthur Wint and Herb McKenley. He competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics, but did not win a medal, being eliminated in the heats of the 100 m and the semi-final of the 400 m. He was also a member of the heavily favoured Jamaican 4 x 400 m relay team, but when Wint pulled a muscle in the final, their chances at a medal were gone. On August 22, 1950 at Eskilstuna, Sweden, Rhoden set a new world record in 400 m of 45.8 s. He also won the AAU championships in 400 m from 1949 to 1951 and as a Morgan State University student, won the NCAA championships in 220 yd (200 m) in 1951 and in 440 yd (400 m) from 1950 to 1952.
  At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, George Rhoden was more successful. He was one of the pre-race favourites in the 400 m as a world record holder. He won a close battle with his compatriot McKenley, who had also been second in the 1948 Olympic 400 m. As the anchor runner of the Jamaican relay team, Rhoden added a second Olympic gold, edging the United States by a tenth of a second, and setting a new world record (3:03.9).
  
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  George W. Bush
  George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. The eldest son of Barbara Bush and George H. W. Bush, he was born in New Haven, Connecticut. After graduating from Yale University in 1968 and Harvard Business School in 1975, Bush worked in oil businesses. He married Laura Welch in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives shortly thereafter. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richards in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. In a close and controversial election, Bush was elected President in 2000 as the Republican candidate, defeating Vice President Al Gore in the Electoral College. Bush is the second American president to have been the son of a former president. He is also the brother of Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida.
  Terrorist attacks occurred eight months into Bush's first term as president on September 11, 2001. In response, Bush announced the War on Terror, an international military campaign which included the war in Afghanistan launched in 2001 and the war in Iraq launched in 2003. In addition to national security issues, Bush promoted policies on the economy, health care, education, and social security reform. He signed into law broad tax cuts, the PATRIOT Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, and Medicare prescription drug benefits for seniors. His tenure saw national debates on immigration, Social Security, electronic surveillance, and enhanced interrogation techniques. His administration also withdrew the U.S. from a some international treaty processes, including the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.
  
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  Georgios Jakobides
  Georgios Jakobides (Γεώργιος Ιακωβίδης, Lesbos 11 January 1853 - Athens 13 December 1932) was a Greek painter and one of the main representatives of the Greek artistic movement of the Munich School. He founded and was the first curator of the National Gallery of Greece in Athens.
  His first education was in Izmir, Turkey. From 1870 to 1876 Jakobides studied sculpture and painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts, and in 1877 he went to the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich on a scholarship to continue his painting studies under Karl Theodor von Piloty. In Munich he lived for 17 years where he worked in his studio, painting mythological scenes, genre pictures, and portraits. His work is influenced by German academic Realism, his most famous paintings were of children. In the capital of Bavaria he was regarded as a successful German artist selling many of his works at high prices. The Greek government invited him in 1900 to return to Athens to organize the National Gallery of Athens, and in 1904 he was appointed Director of the Athens School of Fine Arts where he taught for 25 years. At this time, additional to his themes he produced formal portraits of eminent Greeks (e.g.Queen Sophia). He opposed all new artistic tendencies, including Impressionism and Expressionism, but supported younger artists to follow their own individual artistic tendencies.
  
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  Grandma Moses
  Anna Mary Robertson Moses (September 7, 1860 – December 13, 1961), better known as "Grandma Moses", was a renowned American folk artist. She is often cited as an example of an individual successfully beginning a career in the arts at an advanced age. Her family and friends called her either "Mother Moses" or "Grandma Moses", and although she first exhibited as "Mrs. Moses", the press eagerly dubbed her "Grandma Moses", which stuck.LIFE magazine celebrated her 100th birthday by featuring her on its September 19, 1960 cover.
  Grandma Moses' paintings were used to publicize numerous American holidays, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and Mother's Day. Exemplary of her status, a Mother's Day Feature in True Confessions (1947) noted how "Grandma Moses remains prouder of her preserves than of her paintings, and proudest of all of her four children, eleven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren."
  During the 1950s, Grandma Moses' exhibitions were so popular that they broke attendance records all over the world. "A cultural icon, the spry, productive nonagenarian was continually cited as an inspiration for housewives, widows and retirees. Her images of America's rural past were transferred to curtains, dresses, cookie jars, and dinner ware, and used to pitch cigarettes, cameras, lipstick and instant coffee."
  
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  Gustav I of Sweden
  
  Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (Rikshövitsman) from 1521, during the ongoing Swedish War of Liberation against King Christian II of Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Initially of low standing, Gustav rose to lead the rebel movement following the bloodbath in which his father was executed, and his election as King on June 6, 1523 (currently recognised as the National holiday of Sweden) and his triumphant entry into Stockholm eleven days later meant the end of Medieval Sweden's elective monarchy as well as the Kalmar Union, which had united the Nordic kingdoms since 1397, and the commencing of a hereditary monarchy under the House of Vasa which, currently under the House of Bernadotte, continues to date.
  An enigmatic person who has been hailed as a liberator against the Danes and denounced as a tyrannical ruler, brutally suppressing three uprisings in Dalarna - which had once been the first region to support his claim to the throne - one in Västra Götaland, and one in Småland, Gustav worked to raise taxes, end Feudalism and bring about a Swedish Reformation, replacing the pregoratives of local landowners, nobilemen and clergy with centrally appointed governors and bishops. His 37-year rule, the longest of a mature Swedish king so far (subsequently passed by Gustav V and current Carl XVI Gustav) saw a complete break with not only the Danish supremacy of the Union but also the Roman Catholic Church, whose assets were nationalised, with the Lutheran Church of Sweden established under his personal control. He became the first truly autocratic native Swedish sovereign and was a skilled propagandist and bureaucrat, with his main opponent, Christian's, infamous mark as the "tyrant king" and his alleged adventures during the liberation struggle still widespread to date.
  
  wn.com/Gustav_I_of_Sweden
• Gösta Winbergh
  Gösta Winbergh (December 30, 1943 – March 18, 2002) was a Swedish tenor and Mozart admirer.
  Winbergh was born in Stockholm. He is often mentioned as among Sweden's and, indeed, the world's finest tenors, included with Jussi Björling and Nicolai Gedda.
  There was no musical tradition in Winbergh's family. He himself was a building engineer when he watched his first opera performance in 1967; the experience so moved him that he decided on an operatic career. Accordingly he applied for the opera class at Sweden's prestigious Royal Academy of Music, and was admitted on his first attempt. He trained at the school between 1969-71. He began singing at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, and gradually began to receive international attention in the 1980s when he guest performed on stages abroad. Copenhagen, Aix-en-Provence, San Francisco and, in 1980, Glyndebourne, where he sang Belmonte, scoring a great success for his honeyed voice and elegant singing. He later worked several times at the opera house in Zürich and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. His leading performances in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Wagner's Lohengrin, Verdi's Rigoletto and Puccini's Turandot were particularly well received and celebrated.
  
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  Haile Selassie I
  Haile Selassie I (Ge'ez: ኃይለ፡ ሥላሴ, "Power of the Trinity") (23 July 1892 – 27 August 1975), born Tafari Makonnen, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He was the heir to a dynasty that traced its origins to the 13th century, and from there by tradition back to King Solomon and Queen Makeda, Empress of Axum, known in the Abrahamic tradition as the Queen of Sheba. Haile Selassie is a defining figure in both Ethiopian and African history.
  At the League of Nations in 1936, the emperor condemned the use of chemical weapons by Italy against his people. His internationalist views led to Ethiopia becoming a charter member of the United Nations, and his political thought and experience in promoting multilateralism and collective security have proved seminal and enduring. His suppression of rebellions among the nobles (mekwannint), as well as what some perceived to be Ethiopia's failure to modernize adequately, earned him criticism among some contemporaries and historians.
  
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  Hanna-Maria Seppälä
  Hanna-Maria Seppälä (born 13 December 1984 in Kerava) is a freestyle swimmer from Finland, who won the world title in the 100 m freestyle at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain.
  Hanna-Maria started swimming at age 5 and made the Finnish national junior team by age 10.^{[citation needed]} In 1999 she won the bronze medal in the European Junior Championships in the 50 m freestyle event. To date she has broken 100 Finnish national records. Hanna-Maria's manager is Finnish Sports Management Agency, SportElite.^{[citation needed]}
  
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  Hans Langsdorff
  Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff (20 March 1894 – 19 December 1939) was a German naval officer, most famous for his command of the Panzerschiff (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate. He held the rank of Kapitän zur See.
  
  
  Langsdorff was born on 20 March 1894 on the island of Rügen in Bergen. He was the eldest son in a family with legal and religious traditions rather than a naval tradition. In 1898, the family moved to Düsseldorf, where they were neighbours of the family of Count (Graf) Maximilian von Spee, who was to become a German naval hero (while losing his life and entire command) in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in 1914. Influenced by his honoured neighbours, Langsdorff entered the Kiel Naval Academy against his parent's wishes in 1912. During the First World War, the then-Lieutenant Langsdorff received the Iron Cross 2nd Class at the Battle of Jutland in 1916, and subsequently worked on minesweepers for the rest of the war. He received the Iron Cross 1st Class sometime during the remainder of the war, but the exact date is unknown.
  
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  Harrison Schmitt
  Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) is an American geologist, a retired NASA astronaut, university professor, and a former U.S. senator from New Mexico.
  He was the twelfth and last of the Apollo astronauts to arrive and set foot on the Moon, as Apollo 17 crewmate Eugene Cernan exited the Apollo Lunar Module first. However, as Schmitt re-entered the module first, Cernan became the last astronaut to walk on and depart the moon. Schmitt is also the only geologist as well as the only person to have walked on the Moon who was never a member of the United States Armed Forces, although he is not the first civilian, since Neil Armstrong left military service prior to his landing in 1969.
  Born in Santa Rita, New Mexico, Schmitt grew up in nearby Silver City. He received a B.S. degree in geology from the California Institute of Technology in 1957 and then spent a year for graduate studying geology at the University of Oslo in Norway. He received a Ph.D. in geology from Harvard University in 1964, based on his geological field studies in Norway. He is the most resent too!
  
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• Harry Barris
  Harry Barris (November 24, 1905 – December 13, 1962) was an American popular singer and songwriter.
  Born in New York City, he was a member of the Rhythm Boys, a late 1920s singing trio which included Al Rinker and Bing Crosby, and was Crosby's entry into show business. The group sang several songs in the Paul Whiteman Orchestra film King of Jazz (1930) and recorded both with Whiteman and on their own with Barris on piano.
  Barris appeared in 57 films between 1931 and 1950, usually as a band member, pianist and/or singer. In The Lost Weekend (1945), he is the nightclub pianist who humiliates Ray Milland by singing "Somebody Stole My Purse". An unusual change of pace for Barris was his comedy role in The Fleet's In (1942), as a runty sailor named Pee Wee who perpetrates malapropisms in a surprisingly deep voice.
  Offscreen, Barris successfully composed songs including "Mississippi Mud", "I Surrender, Dear", "It Must Be True" and "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams". Rinker and Crosby also carved out careers on their own as well.
  
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  Heino
  Heino (born 13 December 1938, Düsseldorf as Heinz Georg Kramm) is a German singer of popular music (Schlager) and traditional Volksmusik.
  Known for his bass voice, blond hair, and ever-present sunglasses (due to exophthalmos), Heino resides in the small town of Bad Münstereifel where he owns a cafe, and plays his own music in the background. His interest in music started when his mother gave him an accordion in 1948, although his family couldn't actually afford it.
  Heino was born 13 December 1938 in Düsseldorf-Oberbilk, Germany to Henry and Francisca Kramm. His father was a Catholic dentist, his mother a Protestant. His grandfather was the organist at the Cathedral of Cologne. He also had two cousins ​who ​were Catholic priests. Heino's father died 2 August 1941 during the invasion of the Soviet Union.
  Until 1945 Heino lived with his mother and his older sister Hannelore in Pomerania. His stage name comes from his sister Hannalore's difficulty pronouncing his given name "Heinz Georg". In 1945 he began school in Großenhain (Saxony). After 1952 he was in Düsseldorf where he initially trained as a baker and confectioner.
  
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  Heinrich Heine
  Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder (art songs) by composers such as Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert. Heine's later verse and prose is distinguished by its satirical wit and irony. His radical political views led to many of his works being banned by German authorities. Heine spent the last 25 years of his life as an expatriate in Paris.
  Heine was born in Düsseldorf, Rhineland, into a Jewish family. He was called "Harry" as a child, but became "Heinrich" after his conversion to Christianity in 1825. Heine's father, Samson Heine (1764–1828), was a textile merchant. His mother Peira (known as "Betty"), née van Geldern (1771–1859), was the daughter of a physician. Heinrich was the eldest of the four children; his siblings were Charlotte, Gustav - who later became Baron Heine-Geldern and publisher of the Viennese newspaper Das Fremdenblatt - and Maximilian, later a physician in Saint Petersburg.
  
  wn.com/Heinrich_Heine
• Henry Green
  Henry Green was the nom de plume of Henry Vincent Yorke (29 October 1905 – 13 December 1973), an English author best remembered for the novels, Nothing and Loving.
  Green was born near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, into an educated family with successful business interests. His father Vincent Wodehouse Yorke, the son of John Reginald Yorke and Sophia Matilda de Tuyll de Serooskerken, was a wealthy landowner and industrialist in Birmingham. His mother, Hon. Maud Evelyn Wyndham, was daughter of the second Baron Leconfield. Green grew up in Gloucestershire and attended Eton College, where he became friends with fellow pupil Anthony Powell and wrote most of his first novel, Blindness. He studied at Oxford University and there began a friendship and literary rivalry with Evelyn Waugh.
  Green left Oxford in 1926 without taking a degree and returned to Birmingham to engage in his family business. He started by working with the ordinary workers on the factory floor of his family's factory, which produced beer-bottling machines, and later became the managing director. During this time he gained the experience to write Living, his second novel, which he worked on during 1927 and 1928. In 1929, he married his second cousin, the Hon. Adelaide Biddulph, also known as 'Dig'. They were both great-grandchildren of the 1st Baron Leconfield. Their son Sebastian was born in 1934. In 1940, Green published Pack My Bag, which he regarded as a nearly-accurate autobiography. During World War II Green served as a fireman in the Auxiliary Fire Service and these wartime experiences are echoed in his novel Caught; they were also a strong influence on his subsequent novel, Back.
  
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  Henry IV of France
  Henry IV (13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), Henri-Quatre, was King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France.
  Baptised Catholic, he converted to Protestantism along with his mother Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre. He inherited the throne of Navarre, in 1572, on the death of his mother. As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the Wars of Religion, he barely escaped the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and later led protestant forces against the French Royal Army.
  As a prince de sang by his father, Antoine de Bourbon, he was also the natural heir to the throne of France. On the death of the childless Henry III, he ascended the throne of France in 1589, but had to abjure his Calvinist faith. However, his coronation was followed by a four-year war against the Catholic League to establish his legitimacy.
  One of the most popular French kings, both during and after his reign, Henry showed great care for the welfare of his subjects and, as a politique, displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the time. He notably enacted the Edict of Nantes, in 1598, which guaranteed religious liberties to the Protestants, thereby effectively ending the civil war. He was assassinated by François Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic.
  
  wn.com/Henry_IV_of_France
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  Herman Bavinck
  Herman Bavinck (13 December 1854, Hoogeveen, Drenthe - 29 July 1921, Amsterdam) was a Dutch Reformed theologian and churchman.
  Bavinck was born in the town of Hoogeveen in the Netherlands to a German father. He first went to theological school at Kampen, but then moved on to Leiden for further training. He graduated in 1880 from Leiden having completed a dissertation on Ulrich Zwingli.
  A year later, Bavinck was appointed Professor of Dogmatics at Kampen Theological Seminary. While serving there, he also assisted his denomination that had formed out of the withdrawal of orthodox Calvinists earlier from the state Hervormde Kerk, a withdrawal movement called the "Afscheiding" (the Off-breaking) in its merger with a second and subsequent larger breakaway movement that also left the Hervormde Kerk, this time under the leadership of Abraham Kuyper, a movement called "the Doleantie" (the Weeping).
  The now-united Church combined the "Afgescheidenen" and "Dolerenden" into the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (GKiN). As a result of the merger, GKiN inherited the denominational seminary of the Afscheiding churches and that seminary became the denominational seminary of the GKiN, where Bavinck stayed put, so as to ease the transition of his colleagues and people within the much larger new Church. Already, when the Afgescheidenen merged with the Dolerenden, there was a minority of the Off-breakers who stayed out of the union; they formed their new denomination as the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken (CGK), and they established their own theological seminary in the town of Apeldoorn.
  
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  Herman Cain
  Herman Cain (born December 13, 1945) is an American author, business executive, radio host, syndicated columnist, and Tea Party activist from Georgia. He was a candidate for the 2012 U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination.
  Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics. Cain pursued graduate studies at Purdue University, and graduated with a Master of Science in computer science in 1971, while also working full-time for the U.S. Department of the Navy. In 1977, he joined Pillsbury Company where he later became vice president. During the 1980s, his success as a business executive at Burger King prompted Pillsbury Company to appoint him as chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza, in which capacity he served from 1986 to 1996.
  Cain was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Omaha Branch from 1989 to 1991. He was deputy chairman, from 1992 to 1994, and chairman, from 1995 to 1996, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In 1995, Cain was appointed by Newt Gingrich to the Kemp Commission, and was a senior economic advisor to the Bob Dole presidential campaign. Cain became the CEO of the National Restaurant Association, in which he served as president and CEO from 1996 to 1999. During the Presidency of Bill Clinton, Cain publicly opposed the Clinton health care plan of 1993, about which he questioned the president at a town hall meeting. Cain has served as a member of the board of directors of several companies, including Aquila, Inc., Nabisco, Whirlpool, Reader's Digest, and AGCO.
  
  wn.com/Herman_Cain
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  Herman of Alaska
  Saint Herman of Alaska (born 1756 or 1760 in Serpukhov, Russia – died December 13 or November 15, 1837 on Spruce Island, Alaska) was one of the first Eastern Orthodox missionaries to the New World, and is considered by Orthodox Christians to be the patron saint of the Americas.
  Saint Herman was born in the town of Serpukhov in the Moscow Diocese around 1756. Herman is his name in monasticism; his birth name is unknown. At 16, he entered the Russian Orthodox monastic life at the Trinity-St. Sergius Hermitage near St. Petersburg.
  There, while still a novice, he developed a severe throat infection or abscess. After fervent prayer before an icon of the Theotokos, he collapsed into a deep sleep. During this sleep, he saw a vision in which he was greeted by the Virgin Mary and healed. Upon waking the next day, there was no trace of the past infirmity. Approximately five years later he transferred from Trinity-St. Sergius Hermitage to Valaam Monastery. Eventually he was tonsured a monk, though he was never ordained to the priesthood. While at Valaam, he was under the spiritual guidance of Abbot Nazarius who had played a significant role in the revitalization of spiritual life in Russia. During this time, the head of the Golikov-Shelikov Company, Gregory Shelikov, visited Valaam and made a request for several monks to begin a mission into the Alaskan territory. Herman was selected, along with seven other monks.
  
  wn.com/Herman_of_Alaska
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  Hide (musician)
  Hideto Matsumoto (松本 秀人, Matsumoto Hideto^?, December 13, 1964 – May 2, 1998), known exclusively by his stage name hide (written in all capital letters when he was with X Japan and in all lowercase letters when solo), was a popular Japanese visual kei rock musician. He was primarily known for his work as lead guitarist of the heavy metal band X Japan from 1987 to 1997. He was also a successful solo artist and co-founder of the United States based band Zilch.
  hide was born in St. Joseph's Hospital in Midorigaoka, Japan, on December 13, 1964 and went on to attend Yokosuka Tokiwa Junior High School. He was first exposed to rock music at the age of fifteen, through the album Alive II by Kiss. That same year his grandmother bought him his first electric guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe.
  On March 11, 1980, hide graduated from Tokiwa Junior High School. He then entered Zushi Kaisei Senior High School in Zushi, Kanagawa, where he entered the school's brass band as a club activity. He quit the band after a short time because he was assigned the clarinet while he wanted to play the trumpet. After this, he concentrated on guitar and in 1981 formed the band Saber Tiger. A year after their founding, they started playing shows at live houses in Yokosuka, such as Rock City.
  
  wn.com/Hide_(musician)
• Hwang Jang Lee
  Hwang Jang Lee (born 21 December 1944) is a Korean martial artist and actor. Hwang is perhaps best known as Sheng Kuan in 1978 film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Wong Chin in 1981 film Hitman in the Hand of Buddha. Variations of his name are often written as Wong Cheng Lee or Wong Cheng Li, in their Cantonese Chinese equivalents. He is also nicknamed Silver fox (the name of his most popular movie character), as well as "Thunderleg" or "Thunderfoot" (from his role in 1978 film Drunken Master). Contrary to popular belief, Hwang was not born in Osaka, nor was he born in Korea. He was born to Korean parents in Aomori, Honshu Island, Japan. His family moved back to Korea when he was a baby.
  Hwang began to take up taekwondo lessons at the age of 14. Subsequently, having tested for his 7th dan black belt, he became a martial arts instructor for the Korean and South-Vietnamese armies, specializing in taekwondo from 1965. After acting in Korean movies, he came to work in Hong Kong in 1976 at the invitation of Ng See-yuen, where he starred in a great number of martial art movies, being generally cast as the villain, such as The Secret Rivals, which was the first to feature him as "Silver Fox". His martial arts prowess has earned him a genuine fame among martial arts aficionados, especially due to the fact that he fought almost only with his legs, earning him nicknames such as "King of the Legfighters".
  
  wn.com/Hwang_Jang_Lee
• Irene Saez
  Irene Lailin Sáez Conde (born 13 December 1961 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan politician and a former Miss Universe. She has been a model, was the mayor of Chacao (a municipality of Caracas), Governor of the state of Nueva Esparta and a former presidential candidate.
  Sáez was crowned Miss Venezuela 1981 and later, crowned Miss Universe 1981 at the 30th annual pageant in New York City at the age of 19. She was also Queen of Club Campestre Los Cortijos for three years in a row. In 1997, she was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award at the Miss Universe Pageant, a recently created prize of the Miss Universe Organization. She made her acceptance speech in both English and Spanish. Sáez was received in the International Airport Simón Bolívar by former president of Venezuela, Luis Herrera Campins and he gave her a chain of gold for her victory in Miss Universe.
  After spending a year travelling the world as Miss Universe, Sáez had studied political science at the Central University of Venezuela, and then served a year as Venezuela's cultural representative to the United Nations. In the early 1990s Sáez turned to electoral politics, and a week after the November 1992 coup attempt was elected mayor of Chacao Municipality, the wealthiest of the five municipalities of Caracas.
  
  wn.com/Irene_Saez
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  Irma Grese
  Irma Ida Ilse Grese (born 7 October 1923, Wrechen, Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Germany – Executed 13 December 1945, Hamelin, Germany) was employed at the Nazi concentration camps of Ravensbrück and Auschwitz, and was a warden of the women's section of Bergen-Belsen.^{[broken citation]}
  Grese was convicted for crimes against humanity at the Belsen Trial and sentenced to death. Executed at &1000000000000002200000022 years, &1000000000000006700000067 days of age, Grese was the youngest woman to die judicially under English law in the 20th century. She was nicknamed "the Beast of Belsen", "The Beautiful Beast", and "Die Hyäne von Auschwitz" ("The Hyena of Auschwitz").
  Irma Grese was born to Alfred Grese, a dairy worker and a member of the Nazi Party from 1937, and Berta Grese. Irma Grese had four siblings. In 1936, her mother committed suicide.
  Grese left school in 1938 at the age of fourteen, owing to a combination of a poor scholastic aptitude, bullying by classmates, and a fanatical preoccupation with the League of German Girls (Bund Deutscher Mädel), a Nazi female youth organization, of which her father disapproved. Among other casual jobs, she worked as an assistant nurse in the sanatorium of the SS for two years and unsuccessfully tried to find an apprenticeship as a nurse, after which she worked as a dairy helper.
  
  wn.com/Irma_Grese
• J. C. Martin
  Joseph Clifton Martin (born December 13, 1936 in Axton, Virginia, United States) is a former Major League Baseball player. The left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing Martin played for the Chicago White Sox from 1959 to 1967, New York Mets in 1968 and 1969 and Chicago Cubs from 1970 to 1972.
  Martin was scouted by the White Sox as an amateur free agent in 1956. After five seasons in the ChiSox farm system, which included callups to the majors late in 1959 and 1960, Martin became a regular in 1961. Splitting time between first base and third base, Martin batted .230 with five home runs and 32 runs batted in.
  Martin converted into a catcher in 1962, after Al Lopez convinced him to go down to the minor leagues and learn to catch. Regular catcher Sherm Lollar was at the tail end of his career at the age of 37; moreover, the White Sox had traded Earl Battey and Johnny Romano and had no catchers in their farm system. As the team’s regular catcher, Martin batted only .205 in 1963 and .197 in 1964.
  
  wn.com/J._C._Martin
• Jackie Clune
  Jackie Clune (born 13 December 1965) is a British entertainer and writer. She became established through her Fringe cabaret shows and Karen Carpenter tribute act before graduating to mainstream acting. She can have a dry anecdotal approach to comedy material.
  Jackie Clune was the third of four children born in Harlow, Essex, to Irish Roman Catholic parents: her late father Don Clune (died August 2010) was a buyer for a computer firm, her mother a nurse. The writer Maggie Clune is her sister. Jackie Clune graduated with a degree in drama from the University of Kent.
  On graduation from university, Clune became a full-time drama lecturer at the Royal Holloway College for at least six years. She started singing in bands part-time, but between sets as a dj she developed a line of patter. This led a friend to suggest that she could create a performance based around a tribute act which promoted the liquid elegance of the late Karen Carpenter's vocals;this she worked on and took to the Edinburgh Festival in 1995, where she was spotted by a West End producer.
  
  wn.com/Jackie_Clune
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  Jamie Foxx
  Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, rapper, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host who began playing the piano when he was five years old. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a musical/comedy. He is also a Grammy Award winning musician, producing three albums which have charted highly on the Billboard 200: Unpredictable, which topped the chart, Best Night of My Life and Intuition.
  Born in Terrell, Texas, Foxx was raised by his mother's adoptive parents. He performed in high school and was awarded with a scholarship to United States International University. In his twenties, Foxx began performing stand-up at comedy clubs, and eventually joined the cast of In Living Color in 1991; this exposure helped him land film roles and star in his own sitcom, The Jamie Foxx Show. He released his debut album, Peep This, in 1994, but he did not gain significant musical success until 2004 when he was featured in Twista's song "Slow Jamz". Also in 2004, Foxx played critically acclaimed roles in the films Collateral and Ray. He released his second album, Unpredictable, in 2005, which was helped by his collaboration on Kanye West's number-one single "Gold Digger". His third album Intuition was released in 2008 and was anchored by the single "Blame It". Foxx released his fourth studio album, Best Night of My Life, in 2010.
  
  wn.com/Jamie_Foxx
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  Jamie Raskin
  Jamie Raskin (born Jamin B. Raskin, on December 13, 1962, in Washington, D.C.) is an American law professor and politician. He teaches at American University, Washington College of Law, in Washington, D.C. He serves as the Director of the college's LL.M. program on Law and Government. In November 2006, he was elected as a Maryland State Senator for District 20, representing parts of Silver Spring and Takoma Park.
  On March 1, 2006, during a Maryland State Senate hearing regarding same-sex marriage, Raskin, speaking as a constitutional law expert, told a lawmaker, "People place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution; they don't put their hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."
  As a lawyer, he has represented such clients as Greenpeace, the Service Employees International Union and a group of Montgomery Blair High School students fighting a ban on a television show they produced dealing with same-sex marriage.
  Raskin founded the Marshall-Brennan program at the Washington College of Law. The program allows law students to teach a Constitution course in public high schools in the D.C. area.
  
  wn.com/Jamie_Raskin
• Jean-Marie Messier
  Jean-Marie Messier (born 13 December 1956) is a French businessman who was Chairman and Chief Executive of the multinational media conglomerate Vivendi SA (formerly Vivendi Universal) until 2002. He is also frequently referred to by the nickname "J2M", based on his initials.
  After studying at the École Polytechnique from 1976 to 1980, and then at the École nationale d'administration between 1980 and 1982, Messier held several posts at the French Economy Ministry, including a post as technical counseler for privatization under Edouard Balladur, during the 1980s, before moving to investment bank Lazard Freres in 1989. After taking up the chairmanship of the utility company Compagnie Générale des Eaux in 1994, he oversaw its diversification into the media sector and its 2000 merger with Canal+ and Seagram (owners of Universal Studios) to form Vivendi Universal.
  Messier was forced to resign from his position with Vivendi in July 2002, after the company posted a non-cash loss of 13.6 billion euro ($US 11.8 billion) during 2001. During his time as CEO of Vivendi, Messier used corporate funds to buy a $17.5 million apartment for his personal use at 515 Park Avenue at 60th Street in New York City, the swank Arthur Zeckendorf development that was home to luminaries such as Senator Jon Corzine. After he was fired, Messier tried to claim the apartment as part of his severance package, but was rebuffed. Messier then relocated to New York City to work as a business consultant.
  
  wn.com/Jean-Marie_Messier
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  Jeff Baxter
  Jeffrey Allen "Jeff Skunk" Baxter (born December 13, 1948 in Washington, D.C.) is an American guitarist, known for his stints in the rock bands Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers during the 1970s. More recently, he has been working as a defense consultant and chairs a Congressional Advisory Board on missile defense.
  While working at Manny's Music Shop in Manhattan in 1966, Baxter met guitarist Jimi Hendrix, who was just beginning his career as a frontman. For a short period during that year, Baxter was a member of a Hendrix-led band called Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, along with fellow Manny's employee Randy California. Jeff also worked as a guitar tech and amplifier repairman at the long-defunct "Jack's" Drum shop on 252 Boylston Street in Boston across from the frog pond.
  Baxter graduated from the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut and enrolled at the School of Public Communication (now College of Communication) at Boston University in September 1967, where he studied journalism while continuing to perform with local bands.
  
  wn.com/Jeff_Baxter
• Jim Barrell
  James Kirk Harrell (born December 13, 1959) is an American professional wrestler best known as Boris Zhukov (sometimes spelled Boris Zukhov) in his time with the World Wrestling Federation.
  After four years wrestling in different territories, Harrell started wrestling in 1982 as "Pvt. Jim Nelson" in Sgt. Slaughter's "Cobra Corps" in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions. He frequently teamed with Don Kernodle and he feuded with Porkchop Cash. In 1984, he went to Alabama's Southeast Championship Wrestling and continued his feud with Cash.
  In 1985, he went to the American Wrestling Association as "Boris Zukhov" from the Soviet Union, taking on Chris Markoff as his manager and challenging AWA World Champion Rick Martel and AWA Americas Champion Sgt. Slaughter.
  In 1987, he formed a tag team with Soldat Ustinov under Sheik Adnan El Kassey's management. The pair won the AWA World tag team title that same year. Zhukov, however, left the AWA for the WWF while he was still one half of the tag team champions (the storyline being that Wahoo McDaniel chased him out after a brutal chain match). As a result, former tag team title holder Doug Somers was brought in to team with Ustinov, losing the titles to the team of Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee.
  
  wn.com/Jim_Barrell
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  Joe Clark
  Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, PC CC AOE (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician. He served as the 16th Prime Minister of Canada, from June 4, 1979, to March 3, 1980.
  Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal politics, entering the House of Commons in the 1972 election and winning the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1976. He came to power in the 1979 election, defeating the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau and ending sixteen continuous years of Liberal rule. Taking office the day before his 40th birthday, Clark is the youngest person to become Prime Minister. His tenure was brief as he only won a minority government, and it was defeated on a motion of non-confidence. Clark subsequently lost the 1980 election and the leadership of the party in 1983.
  He returned to prominence in 1984 as a senior cabinet minister in Brian Mulroney's cabinet, retiring from politics after not standing for re-election for the House of Commons in 1993. He made a political comeback in 1998 to lead the Progressive Conservatives before its dissolution, serving his final term in Parliament from 2000 to 2004. Clark today is recognized as a distinguished scholar and statesman, and serves as a university professor and as president of his own consulting firm.
  
  wn.com/Joe_Clark
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  Johannes Trithemius
  Johannes Trithemius (1 February 1462 – 13 December 1516), born Johann Heidenberg, was a German abbot, lexicographer, historian, cryptographer, polymath and occultist who had an influence on later occultism. The name by which he is more commonly known is derived from his native town of Trittenheim on the Mosel in Germany.
  When Johannes was still an infant his father Johann von Heidenburg died. His stepfather, whom his mother Elisabeth married seven years later, was hostile to education - thus Johannes could only learn in secrecy and with many difficulties. He learned Greek, Latin and Hebrew. When he was 17 years old he escaped from his home and wandered around looking for good teachers, travelling to Trier, Cologne, the Netherlands, Heidelberg.
  He studied at the University of Heidelberg. Travelling from university to his home town in 1482, he was surprised by a snowstorm and took refuge in the Benedictine abbey of Sponheim near Bad Kreuznach. He decided to stay and was elected abbot in 1483, at the age of twenty-one. He set out to transform the abbey from a neglected and undisciplined place into a centre of learning. In his time, the abbey library increased from around fifty items to more than two thousand. He often served as featured speaker and chapter secretary at the Bursfelde Congregation's annual chapter from 1492 to 1503, the annual meeting of reform-minded abbots. Trithemius also supervised the visitations of the congregation's abbeys.
  
  wn.com/Johannes_Trithemius
• John Hart (actor)
  John Hart (December 13, 1917 – September 20, 2009) was an American motion picture and television actor, born in Los Angeles, California. In his early career, he appeared mostly in Westerns. Although he played mostly minor roles in some fairly well known films, he was probably best known for replacing Clayton Moore in 1952 for one season of the television show The Lone Ranger when Moore ostensibly demanded a higher salary.
  Hart began his screen career in 1937 with a bit part in Daughter of Shanghai. He continued in a variety of B pictures such as Prison Farm and King of Alcatraz before appearing in two of Cecil B. DeMille's films The Buccaneer (1938) and North West Mounted Police (1940).
  His acting career was interrupted when he was drafted into the US Army in 1941. He rose to the rank of first sergeant in the Coast Artillery, eventually serving in the Philippines. Following military service, he worked frequently for Sam Katzman and was given the lead in the Jack Armstrong (1947)film serial. Hart did stunt work and acted in numerous Westerns and was eventually offered the opportunity to replace Clayton Moore on The Lone Ranger television series. Based on the assumption that the masked character, rather than the actor, was the true star of The Lone Ranger, the program's producers fired Moore (presumably over salary differences) and replaced him with Hart, who was of a similar build and had a comparable background in westerns. However, the public never truly accepted Hart as the Lone Ranger, and by 1954 the producers returned Moore to the role. (According to Clayton Moore's autobiography, I Was That Masked Man, Moore never knew why he was replaced with John Hart. He also stated that he had not sought a pay increase to continue portraying the Lone Ranger.)
  
  wn.com/John_Hart_(actor)
• John Raymond Hubbell
  John Raymond Hubbell (June 1, 1879 - December 13, 1954), also known as Raymond Hubbell, was an American writer, composer and lyricist. Today he is most remembered for the popular song, "Poor Butterfly".
  Hubbell was born in Urbana, Ohio. He attended schools in Urbana and studied music in Chicago, where he formed a dance band. He worked for Charles K. Harris Publishers as a staff arranger and pianist. His first composition for stage musicals was in 1902 for a show called Chow Chow, which opened in 1903 in New York as The Runaways. He began composing music for the Ziegfeld Follies in 1911 and eventually scored seven editions.
  In 1915 he was hired as musical director for the Hippodrome after the previous music director, Manuel Klein, left abruptly after a disagreement with Lee Shubert and Jacob J. Shubert. He continued composing for the theater until 1923. The song he is most remembered for, "Poor Butterfly", was written for one of the first shows he wrote for the Hippodrome, The Big Show. According to his obituary, he thought his best song was "The Ladder of Rose", written for the 1915 Hippodrome hit, Hip-Hip-Hooray.
  
  wn.com/John_Raymond_Hubbell
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  John Storm
  John Storm (February 3, 1760 – December 13, 1835) was a revolutionary war soldier who notably served as a dragoon under Colonel William Washington in the American Revolutionary War. Dragoons commanded huge power (at the expense of bad pathing) upon the battlefield at the time because of their ability to incite fear in opposing infantrymen. "The shock of a cavalry charge often proved decisive in gaining a victory," is a description offered by the United States National Park Service.
  John Storm was born in Latimore Township, Pennsylvania, and died in Greene County, Indiana. He served under Captains Ballard Smith and Thomas Boyer in the 1st Virginia Regiment, beginning in 1780. Later in 1781, John Storm served under Captain Robert Morrows in Colonel William Washington's regiment of Continental dragoons.
  
  
  
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  Johnny Whitaker
  Johnny Whitaker (born December 13, 1959) is an American actor and singer notable for several performances for film and television during his childhood. The naturally redheaded Whitaker is best known for his role as Brian Keith's 6-year-old nephew, Jody Davis, on Family Affair from 1966–1971, originated the role of Scotty Baldwin on General Hospital in 1965, played the lead in Hallmark's 1969 The Littlest Angel, and portrayed the title character in the 1973 musical version of Tom Sawyer. Two of his siblings, Billy and Dora, provided the voices of the rabbits Skippy and Tagalong for Disney's animated film Robin Hood in that same year.
  Whitaker was born as John Orson Whitaker, Jr. in Van Nuys, California, the fifth of eight children to Thelma and John O. Whitaker, Sr. and started his professional acting career at the age of three by appearing in a television commercial for a local used car dealer. In 1965, he originated the character of the young Scotty Baldwin in the soap opera General Hospital. In 1966 he acted in a major feature film, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming which also starred Brian Keith, the actor who would later play Whitaker's uncle in the television series, Family Affair.
  
  wn.com/Johnny_Whitaker
• Jon Hall
  Jon Hall (February 23, 1915 – December 13, 1979) was an American film actor.
  Born Charles Felix Locher in Fresno, California, and raised in Tahiti by his father, the Swiss-born actor Felix Locher, he was a nephew of James Norman Hall, one of the authors of Mutiny on the Bounty. Hall began acting in films in 1935 in minor roles, one of which was Charlie Chan in Shanghai. He achieved success in 1937 when cast opposite another relative newcomer, Dorothy Lamour, in The Hurricane, which was written by James Norman Hall. His double in The Hurricane was the stuntman and actor Paul Stader.
  He maintained his popularity until the end of the 1940s, usually playing leads in adventure films. In 1940, he portrayed Kit Carson in a biographical film of the frontiersman's life. He is notable for having made six popular Technicolor adventure films with Maria Montez: Arabian Nights (1942), White Savage (1943), Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944), Cobra Woman (1944), Gypsy Wildcat (1944), and Sudan (1945).
  
  wn.com/Jon_Hall
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  Jonel Perlea
  Jonel Perlea (13 December 1900 – 29 July 1970) was a Romanian conductor particularly associated with the Italian and German opera repertories.
  Born Ionel Perlea in Ograda, Romania, he studied in Munich, then in Leipzig. He made his debut at a concert in Bucharest in 1919, then worked as répétiteur in Leipzig (1922-23) and Rostock (1923-25). His operatic debut as conductor occurred in Cluj-Napoca in 1927, when he directed Aida. The following year he made his first appearance at the Bucharest Opera, and was music director of that theatre from 1934 until 1944. He conducted several Romanian premieres of notable foreign masterpieces, such as Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Der Rosenkavalier. Now and then he made guest appearances in Vienna, Stuttgart, Breslau, Berlin, and Paris.
  After the Second World War, he conducted mostly in Italy, notably at La Scala in Milan (1947-52; his first appearance there was in Samson et Dalila). In Italy, too, he conducted several local premieres such as Capriccio in Genoa, Mazeppa and The Maid of Orleans in Florence. He championed the new opera I due timidi by Nino Rota (better known as a composer of numerous film scores). For the 1949-50 season he was guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, giving performances of works such as Tristan und Isolde, Rigoletto, La traviata, and Carmen.
  
  wn.com/Jonel_Perlea
• Jonezetta
  Jonezetta was an indie band from Clinton, Mississippi, which has released an EP and two full-length albums since their formation in 2002.
  Jonezetta formed when its four members were still in high school. Growing up in a small town, the members did not expect to pursue a career in the music business. Despite their faith, their fan base continued to grow in the local music scene. Keeping the band together as a hobby while the four members focused on their college educations, Jonezetta played occasional gigs on the Southern college circuit, and were considering packing in the group in the fall of 2004.
  However, at a gig in Monroe, LA, with the Christian Post-hardcore rock act As Cities Burn, Jonezetta met that band's manager, Ryan Rado; impressed with the young band's set, he encouraged the band to step up and devote themselves more fully to their music. A demo recorded during the bandmembers' 2005 spring break incited a small-scale bidding war, with the band eventually choosing to sign with the Washington-based indie label Tooth & Nail Records with a distribution deal through EMI. They were offered the biggest deal ever given to a new artist to sign with Tooth and Nail. In 2005 Jonezetta released a four song EP, which was also available to download via AbsolutePunk
  
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  Josef Kramer
  Josef Kramer (November 10, 1906 – December 13, 1945) was the Commandant of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Dubbed "The Beast of Belsen" by camp inmates; he was a notorious Nazi war criminal, directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. He was convicted of war crimes and hanged in Hamelin prison by noted British executioner Albert Pierrepoint after World War II.
  Kramer was born in Munich and joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and the SS in 1932. His SS training led him into work as a prison guard and, after the outbreak of war, as a concentration camp guard.
  In 1934, he was assigned as a guard at Dachau. His promotion was rapid, obtaining senior posts at Sachsenhausen and Mauthausen concentration camps. He became assistant to Rudolf Höß, the Commandant at Auschwitz in 1940 and later the Commandant of Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in April 1941.
  In 1940, he accompanied Rudolf Höß to inspect Auschwitz as a possible site for a new synthetic coal oil and rubber plant, which was a vital industry in Germany given its shortage of oil.
  
  wn.com/Josef_Kramer
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  Josef Lhévinne
  Josef Lhévinne (13 December 1874 – 2 December 1944) was a Russian pianist and piano teacher. Lhévinne wrote a short book in 1924 that is considered a classic: Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing. Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest it was lay-VEEN.
  Joseph Arkadievich Levin (the name was altered in western Europe by a manager who thought "Lhévinne" more distinctive and less Jewish) was born into a family of musicians in Oryol and studied at the Imperial Conservatory in Moscow under Vasily Safonov. His public debut came at the age of 14 with Ludwig van Beethoven's Emperor Concerto in a performance conducted by his musical hero Anton Rubinstein. He graduated at the top of a class which included both Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin, winning the Gold Medal for piano in 1892.
  In 1898 he married fellow Moscow Conservatory student Rosina Bessie, also a pianist and winner of the Gold Medal for piano in her year, and the two began to give concerts together, a practice that lasted until his death. Faced with anti-semitism and the political turbulence of the period, they moved to Berlin in 1907 where Lhévinne gained a reputation as one of the leading virtuosi and teachers of his day. Trapped there as enemy aliens at the outbreak of World War I, having lost what money they had saved in Russian banks in the 1917 Revolution and unable to concertize due to the war, they endured years of considerable hardship surviving on the income from a handful of students.
  
  wn.com/Josef_Lhévinne
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  Joseph Howe
  Joseph Howe, PC (December 13, 1804 – June 1, 1873) was a Nova Scotian journalist, politician, and public servant. He is one of Nova Scotia's greatest and best-loved politicians. His considerable skills as a journalist and writer have made him a Nova Scotia legend.
  He was born the son of John Howe and Mary Edes at Halifax and inherited from his loyalist father an undying love for Great Britain and her Empire. At age 23, the self-taught but widely-read Howe purchased the Novascotian, soon making it into a popular and influential newspaper. He reported extensively on debates in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly and travelled to every part of the province writing about its geography and people. In 1835, Howe was charged with seditious libel, a serious criminal offence, after the Novascotian published a letter attacking Halifax politicians and police for pocketing public money. Howe addressed the jury for more than six hours, citing example after example of civic corruption. The judge called for Howe's conviction, but swayed by his passionate address, jurors acquitted him in what is considered a landmark case in the struggle for a free press in Canada.
  
  wn.com/Joseph_Howe
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  June
  
  
  June (ⁱ/dʒuːn/ joon) is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and one of the four months with a length of 30 days. Ovid provides two etymologies for June's name in his poem concerning the months entitled the Fasti. The first is that the month is named after the Roman goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter and equivalent to the Greek goddess Hera, the second is that the name comes from the Latin word iuniores, meaning "younger ones," as opposed to maiores ("elders") for which the preceding month May may be named (Fasti VI.1–88). See: Months in various calendars also called the season of the unicorn.
  In both common and leap years, no other month begins on the same day of the week as June. This month and May are the only two months that have this property. June ends on the same day of the week as March every year.
  June is the month with the longest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere.
  June in the Northern Hemisphere is the seasonal equivalent to December in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa.
  
  wn.com/June
• K.C. Irving
  Kenneth Colin Irving, OC (1899-03-14)March 14, 1899-December 13, 1992(1992-12-13) (aged 93) also known as K. C. Irving was one of Canada's foremost entrepreneurs of the 20th century and ranked as one of the world's leading industrialists. Ownership and operation of the Irving group of companies ultimately passed to his three sons, James, Arthur, and Jack, and their respective children.
  Born in Bouctouche, New Brunswick, as a youngster Irving was viewed as a tough kid from a rough sawmill town on the Northumberland Strait. There are many accounts of his rough and tumble attitude in schoolyard fights. He began his entrepreneurial streak early, but this was tempered by the dawn of the First World War. K.C., along with several friends attempted to enlist but his father put an end to it by enrolling him at Acadia University - an association continues between this institution and the family to this very day. Irving left Acadia before graduation and took a cross-country adventure to British Columbia before returning to Bouctouche. His father did not oppose his second attempt to enlist and Irving entered the Royal Flying Corps as a fighter pilot, although he never saw action as the war ended shortly thereafter. Following the war, he returned home to Bouctouche.
  
  wn.com/K.C._Irving
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  Kathy Garver
  Kathleen Marie "Kathy" Garver (born December 13, 1945) is an American film, television, voice-over and character actress of stage, most widely known for playing Uncle Bill Davis's (played by Brian Keith) teenaged niece, Catherine "Cissy" Davis, on the popular 1960s sitcom, Family Affair. Before that, she played a slave in The Ten Commandments. Garver authored The Family Affair Cookbook and has been a TV host (Backstage with Barry and Kathy).
  Garver was born in Long Beach, California, and is the daughter of Rosemary and Hayes Gilbert Garver. She was raised Roman Catholic and she attended Catholic primary school.^{[citation needed]} When she was 9, she tried her hand at acting and was cast in I'll Cry Tomorrow, but her most famous movie role was that of one of the young slaves in The Ten Commandments, and she has been acting ever since.
  Between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s, the young actress worked with such actors as Marvin Miller, Chuck Connors, Peter Graves, Scott Forbes, Dan O'Herlihy, Kurt Russell, Fess Parker, Vince Edwards, Richard Chamberlain, Patty Duke, Anne Lockhart, and James Franciscus. She also worked with another Hollywood legend, Brian Keith, who would star with Garver in Family Affair.
  
  wn.com/Kathy_Garver
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  Kathy Staff
  Kathy Staff (born Minnie Higginbottom; 12 July 1928 – 13 December 2008) was an English actress, well known for her work on British television. She is most famous for her portrayal of Nora Batty on the longest running sitcom in the world, Last of the Summer Wine.
  Born in Dukinfield, Cheshire, Staff was best known for her role as one of the main characters, Nora Batty, in the long-running BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine. She played Nora from the pilot episode in 1973, until 2008, the year she died.
  She began her acting career with touring repertory companies in 1946, changing her name to Katherine Brant. After she married John Staff in 1951, she adopted the surname as her stage name, hence Kathy Staff. She retired from the stage at this point to raise her family, but starting working as an extra for Granada Television in Manchester in the 1960s.
  Staff had a regular role as Doris Luke in the popular ITV soap opera, Crossroads from 1978 to 1985 and 2001 to 2002. Her other television roles included Coronation Street as Vera Hopkins,No Frills as Molly Bickerstaff, Open All Hours as Mrs Blewitt, Dawson's Weekly and The Benny Hill Show. She appeared in a television version of Separate Tables in 1983.
  
  wn.com/Kathy_Staff
• Kendra Slewenski
  Kendra Slawinski, OBE (née Lowe) (born 11 November 1962) is a former netball player for England. She had been part of the England national netball team between 1987 and 1997. She has represented her country on 128 occasions. She is one of the few netball players that is featured in the Guinness Book of Records for being the most capped player both in England and Internationally. Her brother is former footballer Kenny Lowe. In 1996, she was awarded an OBE for her services to Netball and inducted into the All England Netball Association Hall of Fame. She is now a coach for the Mavericks Superleague team.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Kendra_Slewenski
• Kenneth Patchen
  Kenneth Patchen (December 13, 1911 – January 8, 1972) was an American poet and novelist.
  Patchen was born in Niles, Ohio. His father Wayne made his living in the nearby steel mills of Youngstown, Ohio which Patchen would reference in his poems "The Orange Bears" and "May I Ask You A Question, Mr. Youngstown Sheet & Tube?" Patchen kept a diary from the age of twelve and read Dante, Homer, Burns, Shakespeare and Melville.
  <poem>I remember you would put daisies On the windowsill at night and in The morning they'd be so covered with soot You couldn't tell what they were anymore.</poem>
  His family included his mother Eva, his sisters Ruth, Magel, Eunice, and Kathleen, and his brother Hugh. In 1926, while Patchen was still a teenager, his younger sister Kathleen was struck and killed by an automobile. Her death deeply affected him and he would later pay tribute to her in his 1948 poem "In Memory of Kathleen."
  Patchen first began to develop his interest in literature and poetry while he was in high school, and the New York Times published his first poem while he was still in college. He attended Alexander Meiklejohn's Experimental College (which was part of the University of Wisconsin), in Madison, Wisconsin, for one year, starting in 1929. Patchen had a football scholarship there but had to drop out when he injured his back. After leaving school, Patchen travelled across the country, taking itinerant jobs in such places as Arkansas, Louisiana and Georgia.
  
  wn.com/Kenneth_Patchen
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  Kostas Kiassos
  Konstantinos (Kostas) Kiassos (born 13 December 1975 in Chania, Crete) is a Greek football player who last played for Enosis Neon Paralimni. He formerly played in Greece for OFI Crete, Panathinaikos, Iraklis, Panionios and Levadiakos, in Cyprus for Anorthosis and in Spain for CD Numancia.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Kristian Birkeland
  Kristian Olaf Birkeland (13 December 1867 – 15 June 1917) was a Norwegian scientist. He is best remembered as the person who first elucidated the nature of the Aurora borealis. In order to fund his research on the aurorae, he invented the electromagnetic cannon and the Birkeland-Eyde process of fixing nitrogen from the air. Birkeland was nominated for the Nobel Prize seven times.
  Birkeland was born in Christiania (Oslo today) and wrote his first scientific paper at the age of 18.
  Birkeland married Ida Charlotte Hammer in May 1905. They had no children and, due to Birkeland's preoccupation with his work, they divorced in 1911.
  Suffering from severe paranoia due to his use of Veronal as a sleeping aid, he died under mysterious circumstances in his room in the Hotel Seiyoken in Tokyo while visiting colleagues at the University of Tokyo. A post-mortem revealed that Birkeland had taken 10g of veronal the night he died, instead of the 0.5g recommended. The time of death was estimated at 7am on 15 June 1917. Some authors have claimed that he committed suicide.
  
  wn.com/Kristian_Birkeland
• Lamar Hunt
  Lamar Hunt (August 2, 1932 – December 13, 2006) was an American sportsman and promoter of American football, soccer, basketball, and ice hockey in the United States and an inductee into three sports' halls of fame. He was one of the founders of the American Football League (AFL) and Major League Soccer (MLS), as well as MLS predecessor the North American Soccer League (NASL). He was also the founder and owner of the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs, the Kansas City Wizards and at his death owned two MLS teams, Columbus Crew and FC Dallas. The oldest ongoing national soccer tournament in the U.S., the U.S. Open Cup (founded 1914) now bears his name in honor of his pioneering role in that sport stateside. In Kansas City, Hunt also helped establish the Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun theme parks. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972; into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1982; and into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1993. The National Soccer Hall of Fame bestowed upon Hunt their Medal of Honor in 1999, an award given to only 3 recipients in history thus far. He was married for 42 years to his second wife Norma, and had four children, Sharron, Lamar Jr., Daniel, and Clark Hunt.
  
  wn.com/Lamar_Hunt
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  Larry Doby
  Lawrence Eugene "Larry" Doby (December 13, 1923 – June 18, 2003) was an American professional baseball player in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball.
  A native of Camden, South Carolina, he was the second black player to play in the modern major leagues and the first to do so in the American League. A center fielder, Doby appeared in seven All-Star games and finished second in the 1954 American League MVP voting. Appointed manager of the Chicago White Sox in 1978, Doby was the second African-American to lead a Major League club. He was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998 by the Hall's Veterans Committee.
  A local star athlete from Paterson, New Jersey, Doby joined the Newark Eagles in the Negro National League at the age of 17, in 1942, starring as a second baseman. Doby tried out for the Newark Eagles at historic Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey. A Negro league umpire by the name of Henry Moore advised Eagles owner Abe Manley to give Doby a try out. Doby worked out with the Eagles prior to a game between the Newark Eagles and the New York Black Yankees (Hinchliffe Stadium was the Black Yankees home ballpark). At his Hall of Fame induction press conference in 1998, Doby said his most memorable moment at Hinchliffe Stadium was trying out for the Eagles, this after having a stellar career as a football and baseball player at Eastside High School. At that time he played under the name Larry Walker to protect his amateur status. His career in Newark was interrupted for two years for service in the Navy. He then rejoined the Eagles in 1946. Along with his partner, fellow Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, Doby led the team to the Negro League Championship.
  
  wn.com/Larry_Doby
• Laurence Leboeuf
  Laurence Leboeuf (born December 13, 1985 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a French Canadian actress. She is the daughter of Diane Lavallée and Marcel Leboeuf. She dated Max Walker, who also plays in 15/Love.
  She played the role of Louise Lavigueur in the Quebec TV series Les Lavigueur, la vraie histoire.
  
  wn.com/Laurence_Leboeuf
• Laurens van der Post
  Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, CBE (13 December 1906 – 16 December 1996) was a 20th century Afrikaner author of many books, farmer, war hero, political adviser to British heads of government, close friend of Prince Charles, godfather of Prince William, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer, and conservationist.
  Van der Post was born in the small town of Philippolis in the Orange River Colony, the post-Boer War British name for what had previously been the Afrikaner Orange Free State in what is today South Africa. His father, Christiaan Willem Hendrik van der Post (1856–1914), of Dutch origin, had arrived in South Africa at the age of three and had married van der Post's mother in 1889. Her name was Lammie and she was of German origin. The family had a total of 15 children, with van der Post being the 13th, the fifth son. Christiaan was a lawyer and politician, and fought in the Second Boer War against the British. After the Second Boer War he was exiled with his family to Stellenbosch, where Laurens was conceived. They returned to Philippolis in the Orange River Colony, where he was born in 1906.
  
  wn.com/Laurens_van_der_Post
• Lester Bangs
  Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs (December 13, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist, author, and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines and was known for his leading influence in rock music criticism.
  Bangs was born in Escondido, California, the son of Norma Belle (née Clifton) and Conway Leslie Bangs, a truck driver. His parents were both from Texas, his father from Enlow and his mother from Pecos County. His mother was a devout Jehovah's Witness; his father died in a fire when Bangs was young. In 1969, Bangs began writing freelance after reading an ad in Rolling Stone soliciting readers' reviews. His first piece was a negative review of the MC5 album, Kick Out The Jams, which he sent to Rolling Stone with a note requesting that if the magazine were to pass on publishing the review, that he receive a reason for their decision; however, no reply was forthcoming as the magazine did indeed publish the review.
  Bangs wrote about Janis Joplin's death by drug overdose, "It's not just that this kind of early death has become a fact of life that has become disturbing, but that it's been accepted as a given so quickly". In 1973, Jann Wenner fired Bangs from Rolling Stone, a negative review of Canned Heat being the final event. He moved to Detroit to edit and write for Creem. After leaving Creem, he wrote for The Village Voice, Penthouse, Playboy, New Musical Express, and many other publications.
  
  wn.com/Lester_Bangs
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  Liam Lawrence
  Liam Lawrence (born 13 December 1981) is an Irish professional footballer, who plays as a right winger for Football League One side Portsmouth and the Republic of Ireland.
  Lawrence started his career at his local club Mansfield Town, after impressing at the Field Mill. He joined Stoke City, on loan in 2006, and made his move permanent in January 2007. He became a key player for Stoke, and helped the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2008, earning himself Player of the Year award. In September 2010, he signed for Portsmouth on loan, and signed permanently in the January transfer window.
  He was renowned at Mansfield Town for the major role he played in helping reach the 2003–04 play-off final. He won player of the season for the Stags with some eye-catching performances, despite missing a penalty for Mansfield in the Division 3 play-off final. His most memorable performance for Mansfield fans was 18 January 2003, where he set up one goal and scored an injury time winner at Saltergate versus Chesterfield to secure a 2–1 victory for the Stags. Lawrence was just one penalty shy of equaling the all time record of penalty scoring in a Season during the 2003–04 season, where he converted 13 out of 14 penalties, the one he missed was versus Carlisle towards the end of that campaign.
  
  wn.com/Liam_Lawrence
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  Lillian Board
  Lillian Barbara Board, MBE (13 December 1948 – 26 December 1970) was an athlete from Great Britain. She won the silver medal in the 400 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and two gold medals at the 1969 European Championships in Athletics in Athens, Greece. Her career was cut short in 1970 when she developed the colorectal cancer that would claim her life within months.
  Board was born in Durban on 13 December 1948. Her parents, George and Frances Board, had emigrated from Manchester, England, to South Africa in April 1947, along with their son George Alfred. Growing homesick shortly after the birth of Lillian and her fraternal twin sister, Irene, the family moved back to Manchester in February 1950.
  In 1956, the family moved to Ealing, west London, where Lillian and Irene, then aged 7, started studying at Drayton Green School.
  In 1960, at the age of 11, Lillian and her sister moved to Grange Secondary Modern Girls' School, also in Ealing, and now part of The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls. It was here in 1961 that Physical Education teacher Sue Gibson (a Middlesex county discus champion) spotted that Lillian, now aged 12, had a special talent for running. She took her to join London Olympiades, the leading all-female athletics club, which had a training base at Alperton, north-west London. Here she competed in relays and 100 and 150 yard sprints.
  
  wn.com/Lillian_Board
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  Lindy McDaniel
  Lyndall Dale McDaniel, known as Lindy (born December 13, 1935, in Hollis, Oklahoma) is a right-handed former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who had a 21-year career from 1955 to 1975. During McDaniel's career he witnessed approximately 3,500 major league games (not including spring training), had more than 300 teammates, and played under eight different managers. An alumnus of the University of Oklahoma, he played with the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and San Francisco Giants, all of the National League, and the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals, both of the American League.
  McDaniel was named to the National League All-Star team in 1960. He led the league in saves in 1959 (15), 1960 (26), and 1963 (22). He was named as the The Sporting News Reliever of the Year for the National League in 1960 (the award's inaugural year) as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, and in 1963 as a member of the Chicago Cubs.
  With the New York Yankees in 1970, McDaniel amassed a career high 29 saves, tying the franchise record set by Luis Arroyo in 1961.
  
  wn.com/Lindy_McDaniel
• 
  Lucien Guitry
  Lucien Germain Guitry (13 December 1860 – 1 June 1925) was a French actor.
  In 1885, while living in Saint Petersburg, he appeared at the French (or Mikhaylovsky) Theatre. His son, the future actor, writer and director Sacha Guitry, was born in Saint Petersburg and named in honour of Tsar Alexander III. Lucien met the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his brother Modest, and became good friends with them. It was at Guitry's instigation that Tchaikovsky wrote both his Hamlet Overture-Fantasy (Op. 67a) in 1888, and the Incidental Music to the Shakespeare play (Op. 67b) in 1891, for which he reused the overture-fantasy in shortened form as the overture^{[citation needed]}.
  He became prominent on the French stage at the Renaissance theatre (Les Mauvais bergers, d'Octave Mirbeau), in 1897, then at Porte Saint-Martin theatre in 1900, and the Variétés in 1901. He was a member of the Comédie-Française, but resigned in order to become director of the Renaissance, where he was principally associated with the actress Marthe Brandès, who had also left the Comédie. Here, in a number of plays, he established his reputation as one of the greatest contemporary French actors in the drama of modern reality.
  
  wn.com/Lucien_Guitry
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  Lupe Vélez
  Lupe Vélez (July 18, 1908 – December 14, 1944) was a Mexican film actress. Vélez began her career in Mexico as a dancer, before moving to the U.S. where she worked in vaudeville. She was seen by Fanny Brice who promoted her, and Vélez soon entered films, making her first appearance in 1924. By the end of the decade she had progressed to leading roles. With the advent of talking pictures Vélez acted in comedies, but she became disappointed with her film career, and moved to New York where she worked in Broadway productions.
  Returning to Hollywood in 1939, she made a series of comedies. She also made some films in Mexico. Vélez's personal life was often difficult; a five year marriage to Johnny Weissmuller and a series of romances, were highly publicized. She is often associated with the nicknames "The Mexican Spitfire" and "The Hot Pepper".
  Vélez was one of the first Mexican actresses to succeed in Hollywood. The others are Dolores del Río, Katy Jurado and in more recent years, Salma Hayek.
  
  wn.com/Lupe_Vélez
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  Lynn-Holly Johnson
  Lynn-Holly Johnson (born December 13, 1958) is an American professional ice skater and actress. After achieving some success as a figure skater in the mid 1970s, she began an acting career, including a Golden Globe-nominated role in 1978's Ice Castles.
  Johnson was born Lynn Holly Johnson in Chicago, Illinois to Margaret, a housewife, and Alan Johnson, a general contractor. She has a brother, Gregg, and an older sister, Kimberle.^{[citation needed]} Johnson added the hyphen to her name after her roommate signed Johnson's name that way.
  Johnson, a professional figure skater, placed second at the novice level of the 1974 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She gave up amateur competitive skating in 1977 to join the Ice Capades, and subsequently began an acting career, making her film debut in Ice Castles, where she played a figure skater. The film, a romantic drama co-starring Robby Benson, was a minor success in December 1978, grossing $18 million domestically. Johnson, who was described as "an appealing young woman who actually happens to be a good skater who can act" by film critic Roger Ebert, was nominated for a Golden Globe as "New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture - Female" for her performance in the film.
  
  wn.com/Lynn-Holly_Johnson
• 
  Mahmud I
  Mahmud I (Ottoman Turkish: محمود اول), called the Hunchback (Kambur)(August 2, 1696 – December 13, 1754) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1730 to 1754.
  He was born at the Edirne Palace, the son of Mustafa II (1695–1703); his mother was Valide Sultan Saliha Sabkati. Mahmud I was the older brother of Osman III (1754–57).
  On 28 September 1730, Patrona Halil with a small group of fellow Janissaries aroused some of the citizens of Constantinople who opposed the reforms of Ahmet III. Sweeping up more soldiers Halil led the riot to the Topkapı Palace and demanded the death of the grand vizer, Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha and the abdication of Ahmet III. Ahmet III acceded to the demands, had İbrahim Pasha strangled, and agreed to his nephew, Mahmud, becoming sultan.
  Mahmud I was recognized as sultan by the mutineers as well as by court officials but for some weeks after his accession the empire was in the hands of the insurgents. Halil rode with the new sultan to the Mosque of Eyub where the ceremony of girding Mahmud I with the Sword of Osman was performed; many of the chief officers were deposed and successors to them appointed at the dictation of the bold rebel who had served in the ranks of the Janissaries and who appeared before the sultan bare-legged and in his old uniform of a common soldier. A Greek butcher, named Yanaki, had formerly given credit to Halil and had lent him money during the three days of the insurrection. Halil showed his gratitude by compelling the Divan to make Yanaki Hospodar of Moldavia. However, Yanaki never took charge of this office.
  
  wn.com/Mahmud_I
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  Maimonides
  Mosheh ben Maimon משה בן מימון‎, called Moses Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn (Arabic: موسى بن ميمون‎), or RaMBaM (רמב"ם – Hebrew acronym for "Rabbi Mosheh Ben Maimon"), was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the most prolific and followed Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages. He was born in Córdoba, Almoravid Empire (present-day Spain) on Passover Eve, 1135, and died in Egypt (or Tiberias) on 20th Tevet, December 12, 1204. He was a rabbi, physician and philosopher in Morocco and Egypt.
  Although his writings on Jewish law and ethics were met with acclaim and gratitude from most Jews even as far off as Spain, Iraq and Yemen, and he rose to be the revered head of the Jewish community in Egypt, there were also vociferous critics of some of his rulings and other writings particularly in Spain. Nevertheless, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history, his copious work a cornerstone of Jewish scholarship. His fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah still carries canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law. In the Yeshiva world he is known as "haNesher haGadol" (the great eagle) in recognition of his outstanding status as a bona fide exponent of the Oral Torah.
  
  wn.com/Maimonides
• Majida El Roumi
  Majida El-Roumi (Arabic: ماجدة الرومي‎, was born in Kfarshima, Lebanon, on December 13, 1956. She is a Lebanese singer and a soprano, who started her musical career in the early 1970s when she participated in the talent show, Studio El Fan on Télé Liban and won the gold medal for best female singer. Since her appearance on television at the age of 16, she has become one of the most successful singers of the Arab world as well as a UN Goodwill Ambassador.
  Majida El Roumi Baradhy (Arabic: ماجدة الرومي برادعي), born to musician Halim El Roumi (born Hanna El Roumi Baradhy) and wife Marie Loutfi who were a Melkite Greek Catholic couple from Tyre, a city in South Lebanon. They got married and lived in Kfarshima, they had three girls Maha, Mona, and Majida, and a boy Awad. Halim el Roumi became a musician worked with many great singers with mentioning his discovery to the lebanese singer Fairuz and introduced her to the great musicians the Rahbani brothers. He stayed in Kfarshima, which was home to many Lebanese singers, musicians, poets and writers, among them Philemon Wehbi, Melhem Barakat and Issam Rajji. The residence of Halim el Roumi in Kfarshima was a meeting place for many cultural figures. Growing up in an artistic environment, Majida listened to the works of Fairuz, Umm Kulthoum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Wadi AlSafi, and Asmahan. Her vocal abilities attracted the attention of her family and neighbors. One of the early songs she sang was when she was 5 years old with a recording dedicated to her brother which is "Your Birth" or Miladak in reference to the birth of Jesus Christ.
  
  wn.com/Majida_El_Roumi
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  Manuel I of Portugal
  Manuel I (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐnuˈɛɫ]; Archaic Portuguese: Manoel I, English: Emmanuel I), the Fortunate (Port. o Venturoso), King of Portugal and the Algarves (Alcochete, May 31, 1469 – December 13, 1521 in Lisbon) was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, (1433–1470), by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal. His name is associated with a period of Portuguese civilization distinguished by significant achievements both in political affairs and the arts. In spite of its small size and population in comparison to the great land powers of Europe, it was able to acquire an overseas empire of vast proportions during Manuel's reign.
  Manuel's mother was the granddaughter of King John I of Portugal; his father, Prince Fernando, was the second surviving son of King Edward of Portugal, thus the younger brother of King Afonso V of Portugal. Manuel succeeded his first cousin King John II of Portugal, who was also his brother-in-law, in 1495.
  Manuel grew up amidst conspiracies of the Portuguese upper nobility against King John II. He was aware of many people being killed and exiled. His older brother Diogo, Duke of Viseu, was stabbed to death in 1484 by the king himself.
  
  wn.com/Manuel_I_of_Portugal
• Mark Partridge
  Mark Henry Heathcote Partridge (23 November 1922 – 13 December 2007) was the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources of Rhodesia. He lived in Greendale, Harare and won 79.3% of the vote in Greendale in the 1977 general election.
  
  wn.com/Mark_Partridge
• Marko Mäetamm
  Marko Mäetamm (born December 13, 1965 in Viljandi, Estonia) is an Estonian multimedia artist, working within the mediums of video, drawing, interactive CDs, and the internet.
  Mäetamm began studying graphic art at the Estonian Academy of Arts in 1988 and received his M.A. from the academy in 1995. Mäetamm also studied practicing print technologies at the Swedish Royal Art High School.
  Marko Mäetamm has had solo and group art exhibitions throughout the world and has published two books, one under the pen name/moniker "John Smith" - a fictional conceptual persona occasionally used by Mäetamm as an alter-ego in his artistic projects often, in collaboration with fellow Estonian artist Kaido Ole.
  Mäetamm is currently a full time teacher in the drawing department at the Estonian Academy of Arts and currently resides in Tallinn, Estonia.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Marko_Mäetamm
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  Mary Todd Lincoln
  Mary Ann (née Todd) Lincoln (December 13, 1818 – July 16, 1882) was the wife of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and was First Lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865.
  A member of a large, wealthy Kentucky family, Mary was well educated. After living in the Todd House and a finishing school during her teens, she then moved to Springfield, Illinois and lived with her sister, Elizabeth. Mary was courted by Stephen Douglas, against whom her later husband notably debated. She and Abraham had four sons, only one of whom outlived her. Their home of about 15 years still stands in Springfield.
  Lincoln suffered from headaches and other illness through much of her adult life. She supported her husband throughout his presidency, and was witness to his assassination.
  Born in Lexington, Kentucky, the daughter of Robert Smith Todd, a banker, and Elizabeth Parker Todd, Mary was raised in comfort and refinement. When Mary was six, her mother died; her father married Elizabeth "Betsy" Humphreys Todd in 1826. Mary had a difficult relationship with her stepmother. From 1832, Mary lived in what is now known as the Mary Todd Lincoln House, an elegant 14-room residence in Lexington. From her father's two marriages, Mary had a total of 14 siblings.
  
  wn.com/Mary_Todd_Lincoln
• Matt Deis
  Matthew Christopher "Matt" Deis (born December 13, 1983) is an American musician and songwriter. Originally from Peterborough, New Hampshire, he is best known as the former bassist of CKY with whom he performed with between 2005 and 2010, and metalcore band All That Remains, with whom he performed between 2003 and 2005.
  Matt lived in New Hampshire until the age of four until his family moved to West Springfield, Massachusetts. He has been involved with music since he was very young. He has played the piano ever since he was five years old, and picked up the clarinet in elementary school. By the time he got to junior high school, he begged his parents for a guitar and started his first band, Nameless Fear. He played in Nameless Fear from the ages of thirteen to seventeen. He eventually left to play bass guitar for the band Lost Inside a Rubix Cube (who later changed their name to The Amber Fashion). This all came about after Matt took the lead singer Adam on a date to Wendys. Matt started taking guitar lessons from the lead guitar player of All That Remains, and eventually started playing bass for the band. During his time in All That Remains, Deis co-wrote and played bass on their album This Darkened Heart. World touring with such bands as Gwar, Slipknot, As I Lay Dying, and Killswitch Engage followed.
  
  wn.com/Matt_Deis
• Michael Bumpus
  Michael Leron Bumpus (born December 13, 1985 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Washington State.
  Bumpus attended Culver City Middle School. Bumpus played high school football at Culver City High School where he graduated in 2004. While playing for Culver City, he was named to the first-team "Best In The West" by the Long Beach Press Telegram.
  Michael is the only child of Renee Woodruff-Bumpus. Raised on the Westside of Los Angeles in a small suburban community (Culver City). Michaels' mom kept him in sports to give him something positive to do after school and to keep him busy while she worked. Michael grew to love sports, especially soccer. As a youngster he excelled in basketball and soccer. Ms. Woodruff-Bumpus did not allow her son (Michael) to play football until high school.
  Bumpus played his college ball for the Washington State Cougars, where he put up impressive statistics of 195 receptions (a school record), 2,022 yards, and 8 touchdowns. In his freshman year, Bumpus was named to The Sporting News PAC-10 All Freshman Team.
  
  wn.com/Michael_Bumpus
• Michalis Nikolinakos
  Michalis Nikolakos or Mihalis Nikolakkos (Greek: Μιχάλης Νικολινάκος, 1923 – 1994) was a Greek theatrical and cinematic actor. He was born in 1923 in Alyka, Laconia, in the southeastern Peloponnese. In his childhood years, he moved to Piraeus. After 1946, he studied both at the art school and the drama school of the Athens Odeum, where he had a student, the great Dimitris Rontiris. He was very famous and as cartoon artist with works in magazines. He died in Athens in 1994.
  
  wn.com/Michalis_Nikolinakos
• 
  Mike Tirico
  Michael Todd Tirico (pronounced /tɨˈriːkoʊ/; born December 13, 1966 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an announcer for ESPN's presentation of Monday Night Football, and second lead broadcaster for ESPN's presentation of the NBA. In addition, Tirico hosts a multitude of programming on ESPN/ABC. He was the host of ABC's golf coverage from 1996 to 2007, and continues in that capacity for ESPN's U.S. Open, Masters and British Open golf coverage. He also joined ESPN's broadcast team for the 2009 U.S. Open Tennis Championships, and is a studio host for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Tirico was formerly a play-by-play announcer for college football on both ESPN and ABC.
  Tirico joined ESPN in 1991 as a SportsCenter anchor, after 4 years as Sports Director at CBS affiliate WTVH-TV in Syracuse, New York, during his undergraduate years at Syracuse University. Tirico is noted for his versatile nature and the variety of assignments he has handled for SportsCenter, Tirico has handled the play-by-play for ESPN's Thursday night college football package (1997 to 2005), college basketball coverage (1997 to 2002), NBA coverage (2002 to present), and PGA golf coverage for ABC (1996 to 2006). Tirico has also hosted studio coverage of various ESPN and ABC covered events, including a stint on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown (previously known as NFL Prime Monday) from 1993–2001 and ABC's NBA studio shows. He also broadcasts NBA games on ESPN/ABC. He anchored the 2009 U.S. Open (tennis).
  
  wn.com/Mike_Tirico
• Morris Day
  Morris E. Day (born December 13, 1957) is an American musician, composer and actor. He is best known as the lead singer of The Time.
  In high school, Day was in a band with Prince and André Cymone and the trio formed an early band managed by Day's mother called "Grand Central," later renamed "Champagne." Later, Prince embarked on a solo career but retained Cymone for his backing band. The two began to plan a side-group that would focus more on R&B, while Prince would continue to explore various musical styles. The Time was composed of 4 members from an earlier funk group called "Flyte Tyme," but the lead singer had not been chosen. Charles Cobb was considered but he turned it down. Sue Ann Carwell was auditioned; and Alexander O'Neal nearly became The Time's lead singer, but dropped out due to payment negotiations. Day, who was now in a band called "Enterprise", allowed Prince to have a song called "Partyup" for his Dirty Mind album, and Prince would soon return the favor by giving Day the job of lead singer. Day would suggest guitarist Jesse Johnson, who completed the band's ensemble.
  
  wn.com/Morris_Day
• Murat Nasyrov
  Murat Ismailovich Nasyrov (Russian: Мурат Исмаилович Насыров; Uyghur: Murat Nasirow‎) (13 December 1969, Alma-Ata, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union – 19 January 2007, Moscow, Russia) was a Russian pop singer of Uyghur ethnicity.
  He committed suicide by jumping from a balcony. There were reports that it was the result of ingesting LSD, possibly dissolved in some alcohol he drank a few hours before his death. According to these allegations, it occurred in a VIP restaurant bar in Moscow, although the postmortem examination of his body did not reveal any traces of alcohol or drugs.
  Nasyrov's supposed suicide has been disputed. Recent reports in the Russian press have implied that he may have been the victim of foul play, as family members and friends insist that Nasyrov was not depressed and had never considered suicide before. Some suspect that he was given an LSD tablet in a glass of wine at a club, and after drinking it, experienced hallucinations and leapt off his balcony.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Murat_Nasyrov
• 
  Nanjing
   Nanjing (Chinese: 南京; pinyin: Nánjīng; Wade–Giles: Nan-ching) is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions. Its present name means "Southern Capital" and was widely romanized as Nankin and Nanking until the Pinyin language reform, after which Nanjing was gradually adopted as the standard spelling of the city's name in most languages that use the Roman alphabet.
  Located in the lower Yangtze River drainage basin and Yangtze River Delta economic zone, Nanjing has long been one of China's most important cities. It is recognized as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. It was the capital of Sun Quan's Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period and the capital of the Republic of China prior to its flight to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War. Nanjing is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's administrative structure, enjoying jurisdictional and economic autonomy only slightly less than that of a province. Nanjing has long been a national center of education, research, transport networks, and tourism. The city will host the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.
  
  wn.com/Nanjing
• NeNe Leakes
  NeNe Leakes (born Linnethia Monique Johnson, December 13, 1967) is a television personality and actress, best known as a cast member on The Real Housewives of Atlanta and for her recurring role as Coach Roz on Glee. She resides in Duluth, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, with her two sons, Bryson and Brentt. She is an advocate against domestic abuse and has written a memoir describing her own experiences with abuse. She was a contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice 4.
  NeNe Leakes is a cast member of the television reality show,The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Leakes earned her 3.5 million dollar net worth from her role in Housewives and associated appearances, as well as her time as a contestant on the eleventh season of Donald Trump's NBC series The Celebrity Apprentice and sales of her book. During the tenth episode of Apprentice, after arguments with fellow cast member Star Jones, Leakes walked off the show. Leakes failed to win any money for her selected charity, "My Sister's House". She joined the cast of Glee in the third season in a recurring role as synchronized swim coach and Olympic bronze-medalist Coach Roz Washington.
  
  wn.com/NeNe_Leakes
• 
  Nichita Stănescu
  Nichita Stănescu (Romanian pronunciation: [niˈkita stəˈnesku]; born Nichita Hristea Stănescu) (March 31, 1933, Ploieşti—December 13, 1983, Bucharest) was a Romanian poet and essayist. He is the most acclaimed contemporary Romanian language poet, loved by the public and generally held in esteem by literary critics.^{[citation needed]}
  Stănescu's father was Nicolae H. Stănescu (1908-1982). His mother, Tatiana Cereaciuchin, was Russian (originally from Voronezh, she had fled Russia and married in 1931). Stănescu commented on his mother's origins on several occasions ("[I was given life] by a Romanian peasant and a Russian woman"^{[citation needed]}). Nichita Stănescu finished high school in Ploieşti, then went on to study Romanian language and literature in Bucharest, graduating in 1957. He made his literary debut in the Tribuna literary magazine.
  Stănescu married Magdalena Petrescu in 1952, but the couple separated a year later. In 1962 he married Doina Ciurea. In 1982 he married Todoriţa "Dora" Tărîţa.
  
  wn.com/Nichita_Stănescu
• 
  Nicholas McCarthy
  Nick McCarthy (born Nicholas John McCarthy, 13 December 1974) is an English musician. He is the guitarist, backing/lead vocalist, and keyboardist of the Glasgow based band Franz Ferdinand as well as a member of the band Box Codax.
  Nick McCarthy was born in Blackpool, England and grew up in Vagen near Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
  He was trained classically as a pianist and double bassist at the Munich Conservatory.
  Whilst residing in Germany, McCarthy was a member of a band called Kamerakino. He also played double bass, cello and Arabic lute in a band called Embryo, whose music is described as a 'fusion of jazz, rock and ethnic world music.' After extensively touring internationally with Embryo, McCarthy decided it was time for somewhere new, returned to the UK and, on a friend's suggestion, moved to Glasgow.
  There, McCarthy broke into Glasgow's underground cultural scene as a member of the jazz band Scatter, shortly after he met Alex Kapranos, now of Franz Ferdinand fame.
  McCarthy met vocalist and co-guitarist Alex Kapranos at a party. McCarthy was classically trained on the piano and double bass but initially tried to play drums. The two met up with Paul Thomson who had played drums with Yummy Fur. Thomson was originally going to play guitar because he wanted to try something other than drums. With the addition of Robert Hardy, the band became Franz Ferdinand.
  
  wn.com/Nicholas_McCarthy
• 
  Nicholas Roerich
  Nicholas Roerich, also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (Russian: Никола́й Константи́нович Рéрих; October 9 [O.S. September 27] 1874 – December 13, 1947), was a Russian mystic, painter, philosopher, scientist, writer, traveler, and public figure. A prolific artist, he created thousands of paintings (many of them are exhibited in well-known museums of the world) and about 30 literary works. Roerich was an author and initiator of an international pact for the protection of artistic and academic institutions and historical sites (Roerich's Pact) and a founder of an international movement for the defence of culture. Roerich earned several nominations for the Nobel Prize.
  Roerich in translation from the ancient Scandinavian means "rich of fame" (Rö Rich). Members of Roerich's family occupied prominent military and administrative posts in Russia since the reign of Peter I. Nicholas Roerich's father Konstantin Fedorovich was a well-known notary who was born in Courland. N. Roerich's mother Maria Vasilyevna Kalashnikova descended from a long line of merchants and traders. Among friends of the Roerich's family were such famous personalities as D. Mendeleyev, N. Kostomarov, M. Mikeshin, L. Ivanovsky et al.
  
  wn.com/Nicholas_Roerich
• Niki Evans
  Niki Evans (born 13 December 1972) is an English actress and singer. She is best known for her appearance in the fourth UK series of the popular television talent show The X Factor in 2007. She is currently appearing as Paulette in the current UK national tour of Legally Blonde (musical).
  Niki Evans has sung with bands since the age of 12. At the age of 16 she was signed to Libido Records, an offshoot of Pete Waterman's PWL label. "Of R Timez", a single released with Ball Parc Playerz, did not achieve chart success.
  Evans was selected for the final phase of the competition as one of three contestants in the Over 25s category mentored by competition judge Louis Walsh. The others in this category were Beverley Trotman and Daniel DeBourg. Her performance of "Nothing Compares to You" in the first week of the live shows brought a standing ovation from the audience and acclaim from the four judges. Judge Sharon Osbourne told Evans that she was "in a class of her own". Each week Evans took on new challenges, both singing and performing, and was never placed in the bottom two, until she was eliminated at the semi-final stage.
  
  wn.com/Niki_Evans
• Norman Beaton
  Norman Lugard Beaton (31 October 1934 in Georgetown, Guyana – 13 December 1994) was a Guyanese actor long resident in the United Kingdom.
  Beaton attended Queen's College in Guyana until he was expelled for truancy and bad grades.^{[citation needed]} He was given a second chance at the Government Teachers' Training College and graduated with distinction.^{[citation needed]} Beaton taught and played with the calypso band The Four Bees before leaving Guyana for London in 1960.
  Beaton developed a parallel career as a calypso singer, scoring a no. 1 hit in Trinidad and Tobago with "Come Back Melvina" in 1959. He then obtained a post in the shipping department of a bookshop until his wife and children arrived in London in 1960.^{[citation needed]} He then became a teacher in Liverpool, becoming the first black teacher to be employed by the Liverpool Education Authority. While in the city, he played guitar for Adrian Henri, Brian Patten and Roger McGough - who became known as the Liverpool Poets - including appearances at the famous Cavern Club. Beaton became increasingly unhappy with his work as a teacher and began writing plays, his first play being the musical Jack of Spades, which was about the doomed relationship between a black man and a white woman, quite controversial at that time. The moderate success of this play gave Beaton enough confidence to give up teaching and to concentrate on the theatre. He moved first to Bristol and then to Sussex where he played the leading role in a musical he had written, Sit Down, Banna, at the Connaught Theatre. This was the beginning of his acting career.
  
  wn.com/Norman_Beaton
• 
  Odile of Alsace
  St Odile of Alsace (Obernai, Dept. Bas-Rhin, c. 662 - c. 720 at Mont Sainte-Odile) is a saint venerated in the Roman Catholic Church, although according to the current liturgical calendar her feastday (13 December) is not officially commemorated. She is a patroness of good eyesight.
  She was the daughter of Etichon (Athich), Duke of Alsace. She was born blind. Her father did not want her because she was a girl and blind, so her mother Bethswinda had her brought to Palma (perhaps present day Baume-les-Dames in Burgundy), where she was raised.
  When she was twelve, the itinerant bishop Saint Erhard of Regensburg was led, by an angel it was said, to Palma where he baptised her Odile (Sol Dei), whereupon she miraculously recovered her sight.
  Her younger brother Hughes had her brought home again, which enraged Etichon so much that he killed his son. Odile miraculously revived him, and left home again.
  She fled across the Rhine to a cave or cavern in one of two places (depending on the source: the Musbach valley near Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, or Arlesheim near Basel, Switzerland. In the cave, she hid from her father. When he tried to follow her, he was hurt by falling rocks and gave up.
  
  wn.com/Odile_of_Alsace
• Olav Bjortomt
  Stein Olav Bjortomt (born 13 December 1978 in Eastbourne) is an England international quiz player. He was the winner of the inaugural 2003 individual World Quizzing Championships, in the absence of Kevin Ashman when it was a fledgling event with then only 45 participants (now in the thousands). In 2009 he won three out of four possible European titles and was runner-up behind Ashman in the singles to become the most successful participant.
  Time Out described him in 2006 as a "former child quiz prodigy and a rising star of the quiz world".
  After his triumph at the very first World Quizzing Championship 2003 he has not medaled at the world stage ever since (but always was Top10). His absence at Ghent in 2004 (when England won the first European Championship) meant he was not selected for the national team until 2006. He should have played in 2007 but travel problems delayed his arrival at the event. Consequently he has only latterly become a regular in the star-studded English national team (comprising all 4 world champions to date (Ashman, Mark Bytheway and Pat Gibson). He is also part of the Broken Hearts ( with Ian Bayley, David Stainer and Mark Grant) quiz team which play in the QLL and have been European Club champions from 2007 to 2009. Bjortomt won the Pairs Championships with partner Stainer in 2009 and has won 11 international medals on aggregate (see medal table). He also holds the title "British Quizzing Grandmaster".
  
  wn.com/Olav_Bjortomt
• Otylia Jędrzejczak
  Otylia Jędrzejczak ( listen (help·info)) (born 13 December 1983) is a Polish swimmer. She is the Olympic champion from Athens 2004 in the 200 metre butterfly. She finished 4th in this event in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She also swam in a third Olympiad, at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. In Athens 2004 she also silvered in 400 m freestyle and 100 m butterfly. Three times she broke the world record in the women's 200 m butterfly (once in the 25-metre pool).
  Jędrzejczak was born in Ruda Śląska, Silesian Voivodship, Poland. She started swimming at the age of six as a measure to correct a slight curvature of the spine. At first she hated the sport. Her attitude towards it changed after she had won her first prize in a competition in Germany at the age of eight. Jędrzejczak took up swimming seriously in high school. Led by coach Maria Jakóbik, she won her first titles in the Junior European Championships in 1999. Medals in the Senior European Championships in 1999 and 2000 opened the way to her first Olympic appearance.
  
  wn.com/Otylia_Jędrzejczak
• 
  Patrik Antonius
  Patrik Antonius (born 13 December 1980 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish professional poker player, former tennis player and coach, and model from Vantaa, Finland. He currently resides in Monte Carlo. Antonius was mentored by poker pro Marcel Lüske as a member of Luske's "Circle of Outlaws" and later advised by Jennifer Harman. Antonius is married to Maya Geller and has two children.
  Antonius began making a name for himself on the poker tournament circuit with two finishes near the final table of a European Poker Tour (EPT) event and a World Poker Tour (WPT) event, 12th at the EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, then 15th at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars event two months later, in early 2005. He went on to finish in the money in three events of the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP). In September 2005 he made the European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event final table, finishing 3rd in Barcelona. The next month, Antonius won the EPT event in Baden bei Wien, taking home the €288,180 first prize when in the final hand his 8♠ 4♥ beat Gunnar Østebrød's Q♥ 9♣ on a board of 4♠ 7♠ 8♥ 3♣ 7♣. In December 2005 he finished the year 2nd in the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada, winning $1,046,470.
  
  wn.com/Patrik_Antonius
• Pequot
  Pequot people (pronounced /ˈpiːˌkwɒt/) are a tribe of Native Americans who, in the 17th century, inhabited much of what is now Connecticut. They were of the Algonquian language family. The Pequot War and Mystic massacre reduced the Pequot's sociopolitical influence in southern New England. Today the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut are a federally recognized tribe, and the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation are a state recognized tribe in Connecticut.
  Pequot is an Algonquian word, the meaning of which is in dispute among language specialists. Considerable scholarship pertaining to the Pequot claims that the name came from Paquatauoq, meaning, "the destroyers," or "the men of the swamp". This relies on speculations of an early twentieth century authority on Algonquian languages. However, Frank Speck, a leading early 20th century specialist of Pequot-Mohegan, had doubts. He believed that another term meaning "the shallowness of a body of water" seemed much more plausible, given their territory along the coast of Long Island Sound.
  
  wn.com/Pequot
• Phil Hubbard
  Philip "Phil" Gregory Hubbard (born December 13, 1956 in Canton, Ohio) is a former American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association from 1979 to 1989, and former Assistant Coach of the Washington Wizards under Eddie Jordan.
  Hubbard played high school basketball at athletic powerhouse Canton McKinley High School. He also played college basketball at the University of Michigan where he helped lead the team to the 1976 NCAA Championship Game against Indiana University. His 389 rebounds in the 1976-77 season remains the single season record at Michigan. Hubbard was selected by the Pistons with the 15th overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft.
  Hubbard's son, Maurice, is a basketball player at the University of South Carolina at Aiken and played high school basketball at Westfield High School in Chantilly, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Hubbard's daughter, Whitney, is a graduate of Hampton University and played high school volleyball also for Westfield High School.
  
  wn.com/Phil_Hubbard
• 
  Pigmeat Markham
  Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham (April 18, 1904 – December 13, 1981) was an African-American entertainer. Though best known as a comedian, Markham was also a singer, dancer, and actor. His nickname came from a stage routine, in which he declared himself to be "Sweet Poppa Pigmeat." He was sometimes credited in films as David "Pigmeat" Markham.
  He was born in the community of Hayti, Durham, North Carolina. His family was the most prominent on their street, which came to be called (and later officially named) Markham Street in the Hayti District. Markham began his career in traveling music and burlesque shows. For a time he was a member of Bessie Smith's Traveling Revue in the 1920s. Later, he claimed he originated the Truckin' dance which became nationally popular at the start of the 1930s. In the 1940s he started making film appearances. In 1964 he recorded "Open the Door, Richard".
  Markham was a familiar act at New York's famed Apollo Theater where he wore blackface makeup and huge painted white lips, despite complaints the vaudeville tradition was degrading. He probably played at the Apollo more frequently than any other performer. Starting in the 1950s Pigmeat Markham began appearing on television, making multiple appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.
  
  wn.com/Pigmeat_Markham
• 
  Pope Callixtus II
  Pope Blessed Calixtus II (or Calistus II) (died 13 December 1124), born Guy de Burgundy, the fourth son of William I, Count of Burgundy, was elected Pope on 1 February 1119 after the death of Pope Gelasius II. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy, which he was able to settle through the Concordat of Worms (in 1122).
  Guy was a member of the highest aristocracy in Europe. The fourth son of one of the wealthiest rulers in Europe, his family was part of a network of noble alliances. He was a cousin of Arduin of Ivrea, the King of Italy. One sister, Gisela, was married to Humbert II, Count of Savoy, and then to Renier I of Montferrat; another sister, Maud, was the wife of Eudes I of Burgundy. His brother Raymond was married to Urraca, the heiress of León; they became the parents of King Alfonso VII of León. His brother Hugh was an Archbishop of Besançon.
  
  wn.com/Pope_Callixtus_II
• 
  Pope Celestine V
  Pope Saint Celestine V (1215 – 19 May 1296), born Pietro Angelerio (according to some sources Angelario, Angelieri, Angelliero, or Angeleri), also known as Pietro da Morrone, was elected Pope in the year 1294 in the last non-conclave papal election in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. He is notable for having abdicated the papacy. No subsequent pope has taken the name Celestine.
  According to tradition, Pietro Angelerio was born to parents Angelo Angelerio and Maria Leone in a town called Sant'Angelo Limosano, in the Kingdom of Sicilia (Sicily). Sant'Angelo Limosano is now part of Provincia di Campobasso, in Molise, Italy.
  After his father's death he began working in the fields. His mother Maria was a key figure in Pietro's spiritual development: she imagined a different future for her deeply-beloved son than becoming just a farmer or a shepherd. From the time he was a child, he showed great intelligence and love for others. He became a Benedictine monk at Faifoli in the Diocese of Benevento when he was 17. He showed an extraordinary disposition toward asceticism and solitude, and in 1239 retired to a solitary cavern on the mountain Morrone, whence his name. Five years later he left this retreat, and went with two companions, to a similar cave on the Mountain of Maiella in the Abruzzi region of central Italy, where he lived as strictly as possible according to the example of St. John the Baptist. There are accounts of the severity of his penitential practices. While living like this he founded, in 1244, the order subsequently named after him, the Celestines.
  
  wn.com/Pope_Celestine_V
• 
  Pope Sixtus V
  Pope Sixtus V (13 December 1520 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590. OFM (Ordo Fratrum Minorum).
  Felice Peretti was born in December 1520 at Grottammare, in the Papal States, to Piergentile, nicknamed "Peretto", and Marianna da Frontillo. His father came from Montalto, a nearby village. Rumors about a Croatian origin of the Peretti family are late and false: the Peretti family came from Piceno, today Marche, in Italy Felice later adopted "Peretti" as his family name in 1551, but was more generally known as "di Montalto". He was reared in poverty. Born in a shanty allegedly so ill-thatched that the sun shone through the roof, he later jested that he was "nato di casa illustre" — born of an illustrious (i.e. "illuminated") house.
  At an early age he entered a Franciscan friary at Montalto and was known as Felice di Montalto. He soon gave evidence of rare ability as a preacher and a dialectician. A legend has it that while a friar he was approached by the ageing Nostradamus who knelt, kissed the friar's robe and then exclaimed he was kissing the robe of the future pope^{[citation needed]}.
  
  wn.com/Pope_Sixtus_V
• 
  Radosław Sobolewski
  Radosław Sobolewski (Polish pronunciation: [raˈdɔswaf sɔbɔˈlɛfskʲi]; born 13 December 1976 in Białystok) is a Polish footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Wisła Kraków.
  He started his career playing for Jagiellonia Białystok. In 1998 he was transferred to Wisła Płock, where he played for the next four years. He debuted in the top division on March 7, 1998 playing for Wisła Płock against Raków Częstochowa. On January 2003 he joined Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski, where he stayed until December 2004. Since then he has played for Wisła Kraków, helping the team to achieve the Ekstraklasa titles in 2004–05, 2007–08, 2008–09 and 2010–11 seasons.
  During the 2005/06 winter transfer period, he was approached by Southampton FC. However, the offer made by the English club was turned down by Wisła Kraków's board.
  Sobolewski was selected to the 23-men national squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany. At this tournament, he received a red card for two bookable offences in his team's second group-stage match against Germany. He was the fourth player to see red in the tournament and the first Polish player to be sent off in the World Cup.
  
  wn.com/Radosław_Sobolewski
• Randy Owen
  Randy Owen (born December 13, 1949 in Fort Payne, Alabama) is an American country music artist. He is known primarily for his role as the lead singer of Alabama, a country rock band which saw considerable mainstream success throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Although Alabama only records new albums on occasion, Owen himself has maintained a career in country music as a solo performer. He released his solo debut One on One in late 2008 and charted two singles from it.
  Owen grew up on a farm near Fort Payne, Alabama, and is of English and Native American descent. Owen dropped out of high school in the ninth grade. One of his former teachers convinced him that he had a chance to make a success of himself, so, even though he was older than the other students, he rejoined the ninth grade several years later and finished high school.^{[citation needed]}
  In the late 1960s, Owen and his cousin, Teddy Gentry, began playing music together. They recruited another cousin, Jeff Cook, to form a band, which they called Wildcountry. Their first public performance was at a high school talent show, which they won.
  
  wn.com/Randy_Owen
• 
  Raymond A. Spruance
  Raymond Ames Spruance (July 3, 1886 – December 13, 1969) was a United States Navy admiral in World War II.
  Spruance commanded US naval forces during two of the most significant naval battles that took place in the Pacific theater, the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The Battle of Midway was the first major victory for the United States over Japan and is seen by many as the turning point of the Pacific war. The Battle of the Philippine Sea was also a significant victory for the US. The Navy's official historian said of the Battle of Midway "...Spruance's performance was superb...(he) emerged from this battle one of the greatest admirals in American naval history". After the war, Spruance was appointed President of the Naval War College, and later served as American ambassador to the Philippines.
  Spruance was born in Baltimore, Maryland to Alexander and Annie Spruance. He was raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. Spruance attended Indianapolis public schools and graduated from Shortridge High School. From there, he went on to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1906, and received further, hands on education in electrical engineering a few years later. His first duty would be aboard the battleship USS Iowa, an 11,400 ton veteran of the Spanish-American War. His seagoing career included command of the USS Osborne, four other destroyers, and the battleship USS Mississippi (BB-41).
  
  wn.com/Raymond_A._Spruance
• Rex Hagon
  Rex Hagon (born 13 December 1947, Toronto) is a Canadian actor and television host. His career began in his youth, most notably with The Forest Rangers.
  He is a Sociology graduate of the University of Toronto, and currently operates a consulting business which specialises in corporate communications.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Rex_Hagon
• 
  Rex Ryan
  Rex Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American football head coach for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). After serving as an assistant coach for twenty-two years, Ryan attained his first head coaching job in the NFL with the Jets in 2009. He is the son of former Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals head coach Buddy Ryan and is the twin brother of Rob Ryan, defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys.
  Upon accepting the position with the Jets, Ryan became well-known throughout the league for his outspoken manner, boisterous attitude and success with the Jets which has included back-to-back AFC Championship appearances in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Players have expressed their interest in playing for Ryan because of his player-friendly attitude. Ryan is also known for his highly esteemed defenses which often feature "relentlessness [and] unpredictable mayhem founded on his premise that 'whatever you do best, we're going to take away from you.'"
  Rex Ryan, and his fraternal twin, Rob, were born in Ardmore, Oklahoma on December 13, 1962 to Doris and Buddy Ryan. When the boys were aged two, their parents divorced. Following the divorce, his mother attended the University of Chicago to earn her doctorate. Rex then moved with his mother to Toronto, Canada where she secured an administrative position at the University of Toronto. During the course of his upbringing, Rex wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, a defensive pioneer in the NFL known for developing the 46 defense, and by age six both boys knew they wanted to pursue coaching careers.
  
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  Richard D. Zanuck
  Richard Darryl Zanuck (born December 13, 1934) is an American film producer.
  He was born in Los Angeles, California, to actress Virginia Fox and Darryl F. Zanuck, the famed head of 20th Century Fox. While studying at Stanford University, Richard began his career in the film industry working for the 20th Century Fox story department. In 1959, Zanuck got his first shot at producing with the film Compulsion. In the 1960s Zanuck became the president of 20th Century Fox; one year of his tenure, 1967, is chronicled in the John Gregory Dunne book The Studio. After disastrous failures like 1967's Doctor Dolittle, Richard was later fired by his father and joined Warner Bros. as Executive Vice President and one year later formed The Zanuck/Brown Company. In 1968 he married model and actress Linda Harrison; they later divorced in 1978.
  In 1972, Zanuck joined up with David Brown to form an independent production company called The Zanuck/Brown Company at Universal Pictures. The pair produced two of Steven Spielberg's early films, The Sugarland Express (1974) and Jaws (1975). They went on to produce such box office hits as Cocoon (1985) and Driving Miss Daisy (1989) before dissolving their partnership in 1988. They were jointly awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1990. He has worked with Tim Burton six times, producing Planet of the Apes (2001), Big Fish (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Alice in Wonderland (2010), and Dark Shadows (2012). He and Burton connected immediately, and Zanuck remains his producer of choice.
  
  wn.com/Richard_D._Zanuck
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  Richard Holbrooke
  Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke (April 24, 1941 – December 13, 2010) was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker.
  He was the only person to have held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for two different regions of the world (Asia from 1977 to 1981 and Europe from 1994 to 1996).
  From 1993 to 1994, he was U.S. Ambassador to Germany. Long well known in diplomatic and journalistic circles, Holbrooke achieved great public prominence when he, together with former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, brokered a peace agreement among the warring factions in Bosnia that led to the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, in 1995. Holbrooke was a leading contender to succeed the retiring Warren Christopher as Secretary of State but was passed over as President Bill Clinton chose Madeleine Albright instead. From 1999 to 2001, Holbrooke served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
  He was an adviser to the Presidential campaign of Senator John Kerry in 2004. Holbrooke then joined the Presidential campaign of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and became a top foreign policy adviser. Holbrooke was considered a likely candidate for Secretary of State had Kerry or Hillary Clinton been elected President. In January 2009, Holbrooke was appointed as a special adviser on Pakistan and Afghanistan, working under President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a frustrating assignment which was said to have caused his health to deteriorate. He served until he died from complications of an aortic dissection on December 13, 2010.
  
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  Rickie Fowler
  Rick Yutaka Fowler (born December 13, 1988) is an American professional golfer. He was the number one ranked amateur golfer in the world for 36 weeks in 2007 and 2008.
  Fowler was born and raised in Murrieta, California, where he went to Murrieta Valley High School. For years he played only on a driving range and is almost entirely self-taught. During his freshman year in high school, he posted an all-time course record of 62 at his home course, SCGA, in Murrieta, California.^{[citation needed]} In his senior year in high school, Fowler won the SW League Final with a total score of 64–69=133, and led his team to the state final in 2007. After high school he attended Oklahoma State University. He posted his first collegiate victory at the Fighting Illini Invitational hosted by the University of Illinois on October 1, 2007, by shooting a 203 (70-63-70) to win the tournament by one stroke.
  In the summer of 2005 Fowler won the Western Junior and competed in the U.S. Amateur, where he was defeated by the eventual champion Richie Ramsay.
  
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  Ricky Nolasco
  Carlos Enrique "Ricky" Nolasco (born December 13, 1982 in Corona, California) is an American Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher for the Miami Marlins. He is listed as 6'2" and 220, and made his major league debut on April 5, 2006.
  Nolasco graduated in 2001 from Rialto High School, Rialto, California and was drafted out of high school, in the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft, in the 4th round by the Chicago Cubs. The Florida Marlins acquired him, Sergio Mitre, and Renyel Pinto from the Cubs for Juan Pierre on December 7, 2005.
  Nolasco started the 2008 season as a middle reliever, but quickly found his way to the top of the rotation as Florida's top starting pitcher. On August 19, 2008, he pitched a two-hitter against the San Francisco Giants. With one out in the 9th inning, he gave up a double; the only other hit given up by him was a ball deflected off the glove of first baseman Mike Jacobs. Nolasco also had a two-run double in the game. Nolasco won 15 games in 2008, putting him in the top 5 in wins in the National League.
  
  wn.com/Ricky_Nolasco
• Rob Houwer
  Robert Piet Houwer (born 13 December 1937) is a Dutch film producer.
  Date of Birth 13 December 1937, The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
  Birth Name Robert Piet Houwer
  Trivia Produced three movies considered among the worst in Dutch cinema: De gulle Minnaar (1990), De Zeemeerman (1996) and Het woeden der gehele wereld (2006).
  Frequently collaborated with Paul Verhoeven and produced most of his Dutch movies. However, they shared a very antagonistic relationship that came to a definitive end in 1983. Houwer never quite enjoyed the artistic and commercial successes he had during the Verhoeven years.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Rob_Houwer
• Rob Ryan
  Rob Ryan (born December 13, 1962 in Ardmore, Oklahoma) is the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He is the son of former defensive coordinator and head coach Buddy Ryan and the twin brother of current head coach of the New York Jets, Rex Ryan.
  When his parents, Doris and Buddy Ryan, divorced in 1966, Rob and his fraternal twin, Rex, moved with Doris to Toronto.
  In 1974, they moved back to the United States to live with their father.
  He attended Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois.
  Ryan played defensive end opposite his brother Rex at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
  Ryan was a graduate assistant at Western Kentucky in 1987 and at Ohio State in 1988. Ryan then spent 5 seasons at Tennessee State, where he coached running backs (1989–91), wide receivers(1992) and the defensive line (1993). He served as defensive coordinator at Hutchinson Community College in 1996, where they led the nation in total defense (228 yards per game) and in sacks (56). His defense also set a national record by forcing 49 turnovers. Ryan originally entered the NFL coaching ranks in 1994 as defensive backs coach on his father's staff at Arizona Cardinals. He also coached Cardinals cornerbacks and safeties in 1995. With Ryan as his position coach, cornerback Aeneas Williams earned two trips to the Pro Bowl in 1994 and 1995. In 1995, the Cardinals led the NFL with 32 interceptions and 42 total takeaways. The 1994 Cardinals ranked second in the NFL total defense, second in run defense and third in pass defense. From 1997–99, Ryan was the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, where the Cowboys defense continually ranked among the best in the nation, also he was named Coordinator of the Year by The Sporting News in 1997.
  
  wn.com/Rob_Ryan
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  Robert E. Lee
  Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War.
  The son of Revolutionary War officer Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III and a top graduate of the United States Military Academy, Robert E. Lee distinguished himself as an exceptional officer and combat engineer in the United States Army for 32 years. During this time, he served throughout the United States, distinguished himself during the Mexican-American War, served as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, and married Mary Custis.
  When Virginia declared its secession from the Union in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state, despite his personal desire for the Union to stay intact and despite the fact that President Abraham Lincoln had offered Lee command of the Union Army. During the Civil War, Lee originally served as a senior military adviser to President Jefferson Davis. He soon emerged as a shrewd tactician and battlefield commander, winning numerous battles against larger Union armies. His abilities as a tactician have been praised by many military historians. His strategic vision was more doubtful, and both of his invasions of the North ended in defeat. Union General Ulysses S. Grant's campaigns bore down on Lee in 1864 and 1865, and despite inflicting heavy casualties, Lee was unable to force back Grant. Lee would ultimately surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. By this time, Lee had been promoted to the commanding officer of all Confederate forces; the remaining armies soon capitulated after Lee's surrender. Lee rejected the starting of a guerrilla campaign against the North and called for reconciliation between the North and South.
  
  wn.com/Robert_E._Lee
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  Robert Plot
  Robert Plot (13 December 1640 – April 30, 1696) was an English naturalist, first Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum.
  Born in Borden, Kent, he was educated and subsequently taught at Magdalen Hall, Oxford before moving to University College in 1676. He was a mature commoner at University College and donated a statue of King Alfred to the College (erroneously believed to be the founder of the College).
  Plot is known for looking for natural curiosities in several English counties, and for writing The Natural History of Oxford-shire (1677) in which he described the fossilised femur of a giant (now known to be from the dinosaur Megalosaurus) and The Natural History of Staffordshire (1686), in which he describes a double sunset viewable from Leek and the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.
  In 1677, he became a fellow of the Royal Society as a result of his exhibition of minerals, and in 1682 became the society's Secretary, and joint editor of the Philosophical Transactions (144–178). In the field of chemistry he searched for a universal solvent that could be obtained from wine spirits, and believed that alchemy was necessary for medicine. After 1686, Plot focused more on archaeology, but misinterpreted Roman remains as Saxon. He stressed the unusual; he studied echoes in order to learn about air, mineral waters, and recognised types of earth in layers, but believed that fossil shellfish were coincidental mineral crystallisations, and that some spring water must originate from the sea flowing through underground channels.
  
  wn.com/Robert_Plot
• Robert Prosky
  Robert Prosky (December 13, 1930 — December 8, 2008) was an American actor.
  Prosky, a Polish American, was born Robert Joseph Porzuczek in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, to Helen and Joseph Porzuczek. His father was a grocer and butcher. He was raised in a working-class neighborhood and studied at the American Theatre Wing, later graduating from Temple University. He performed at Old Academy Players, a small theater in the East Falls section of Philadelphia, adjacent to Manayunk.
  He appeared in Thief, Christine, Hanky Panky, The Natural, Hoffa, Broadcast News, Things Change, Rudy, Mrs. Doubtfire, Green Card, and Dead Man Walking. In addition to appearing in movies, Prosky appeared as a regular on the television series Hill Street Blues, Danny and Veronica's Closet. He was considered for the role of Martin Crane in Frasier and later made a guest appearance in the show as a reclusive writer. He played Rebecca Howe's father on Cheers. He also played Coach Hayden Fox's mentor Jake "the Snake" Connolly on a two part 1991 episode of Coach.
  
  wn.com/Robert_Prosky
• Roger Ilegems
  Roger Ilegems (born 13 December 1962 in Niel) is a retired track cyclist and road bicycle racer from Belgium, who was a professional rider from 1984 to 1991. He represented his native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, where he won the gold medal in the men's points race.
  
  
  
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• Ross Burden
  Ross Burden (born 13 December 1966) is a celebrity chef from New Zealand.
  Ross Burden's early career was as a model but became a chef later in life. His inspiration for being a chef was his mother's extremely bad cooking skills, which meant that he spent a lot of time cooking with his grandmother.
  Ross was brought up in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand and is a self-taught cook. He has hosted and been a guest on programmes across the world and was recently voted one of the UK's most eligible bachelors.
  Ross’ television career began after reaching the final of BBC MasterChef 1993. He has been a regular on Ready Steady Cook for the past eight years, filmed a healthy-eating video with Joan Collins, and has made five series for Taste.
  He has published two books and continues to write columns for two magazines. In May 2006, Ross appeared on The X Factor: Battle of the Stars (UK) along with fellow chefs Jean-Christophe Novelli, Aldo Zilli and Paul Rankin.
  
  wn.com/Ross_Burden
• Ross Macdonald
  Not to be confused with John D. MacDonald
  Ross Macdonald is the pseudonym of the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar (December 13, 1915 – July 11, 1983). He is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in southern California and featuring private detective Lew Archer.
  Millar was born in Los Gatos, California, and raised in his parents' native Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, where he started college. When his father abandoned his family unexpectedly, Macdonald lived with his mother and various relatives, moving several times by his sixteenth year. The prominence of broken homes and domestic problems in his fiction has its roots in his youth.
  In Canada, he met and married Margaret Sturm in 1938. They had a daughter, Linda, who died in 1970. He began his career writing stories for pulp magazines. Millar attended the University of Michigan, where he earned a Phi Beta Kappa key and a Ph.D. in literature. While doing graduate study, he completed his first novel, The Dark Tunnel, in 1944. At this time, he wrote under the name John Macdonald, in order to avoid confusion with his wife, who was achieving her own success writing as Margaret Millar. He then changed briefly to John Ross Macdonald before settling on Ross Macdonald, in order to avoid mixups with contemporary John D. MacDonald. After serving at sea as a naval communications officer from 1944 to 1946, he returned to Michigan, where he obtained his Ph.D. degree.
  
  wn.com/Ross_Macdonald
• Ryan France
  Ryan France (born 13 December 1980 in Sheffield, England) is a former English professional footballer who last played for Sheffield United having spent the majority of his career at Alfreton Town and Hull City. His preferred position was as a right winger, but also played as a right wingback.
  Born in Sheffield, France started his career at Alfreton Town. He had been courted by a number of league clubs but chose to remain with Alfreton until he had completed his degree at Nottingham Trent University where he graduated in Sport & Exercise Science and Mathematics. After an impressive start to the season, scoring five goals in seven games, he was signed for Hull City by then manager Peter Taylor in September 2003 for a fee of £15,000. Previously he had spent time on trial at Ipswich Town without being offered a contract.
  The day after signing for Hull, he scored on his début (as a substitute) in a 6–1 victory over Kidderminster Harriers. France achieved the impressive feat of four consecutive promotions: 2001–02 and 2002–03 in non-league football with Alfreton and 2003–04 and 2004–05 with Hull City in the Football League.
  
  wn.com/Ryan_France
• Ryo Kawakita
  Ryo Kawakita (川北 亮, Kawakita Ryō^?, born December 13, 1978), also known as Maximum the Ryo (マキシマムザ亮君 Makishimamu Za Ryō-kun), is the guitarist, songwriter and singer of Japanese metal band Maximum the Hormone.
  Ryo had played guitar since his years in junior high school. He was recruited into the band Maximum the Hormone by his sister Nao Kawakita after the departure of Key. His guitar playing is heavy and influenced by metal, punk, and hard rock bands.
  Ryo made a guest appearance with Wagdug Futuristic Unity on "Systematic People", a track from Wagdug's Hakai album. "Systematic People" was also used as the opening theme for the anime series Kurozuka.
  
  wn.com/Ryo_Kawakita
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  Saddam Hussein
  Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (Arabic: صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي Ṣaddām Ḥusayn ʿAbd al-Maǧīd al-Tikrītī; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and later, the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party and its regional organisation Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, which espoused ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup, later referred to as the 17 July Revolution, that brought the party to long-term power of Iraq.
  As vice president under the ailing General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, and at a time when many groups were considered capable of overthrowing the government, Saddam created security forces through which he tightly controlled conflict between the government and the armed forces. In the early 1970s, Saddam nationalized oil and other industries. The state-owned banks were put under his control, leaving the system eventually insolvent mostly due to the Iran–Iraq War, the Gulf War, and UN sanctions. Through the 1970s, Saddam cemented his authority over the apparatuses of government as oil money helped Iraq's economy to grow at a rapid pace. Positions of power in the country were filled with Sunnis, a minority that made up only a fifth of the population.
  
  wn.com/Saddam_Hussein
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  Saint Lucy
  Saint Lucy (283–304), also known as Saint Lucia or Santa Lucia, was a wealthy young Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint by Roman Catholic Church, Anglican, Lutheran, and Orthodox Christians. Her feast day in the West is 13 December; with a name derived from Lux, Lucis meaning "Light", as she is the patron saint of those who are blind. Saint Lucy is one of the few saints celebrated by members of the Lutheran Church among the Scandinavian peoples, who take part in Saint Lucy's Day celebrations that retain many elements of Germanic paganism.
  Saint Lucy is one of seven women, aside from the Blessed Virgin Mary, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. Hagiography tells us that Lucy was a Christian martyr during the Diocletian persecution. She consecrated her virginity to God through pious works refused to marry a pagan betrothed, and had her wedding dowry distributed to the poor. Her betrothed pagan groom denounced her as a Christian to the governor of Syracuse, Sicily. Miraculously unable to move her or burn her, the guards took out her eyes with a fork. In another version, Lucy's betrothed admired her eyes, so she tore them out and gave them to him, saying, "Now let me live to God".
  
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  Samuel Gompers
  Samuel Gompers (January 27, 1850 – December 13, 1924) was an English-born American cigar maker who became a labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and served as that organization's president from 1886 to 1894 and from 1895 until his death in 1924. He promoted harmony among the different craft unions that comprised the AFL, trying to minimize jurisdictional battles. He promoted "thorough" organization and collective bargaining to secure shorter hours and higher wages, the first essential steps, he believed, to emancipating labor. He also encouraged the AFL to take political action to "elect their friends" and "defeat their enemies." During World War I, Gompers and the AFL openly supported the war effort, attempting to avoid strikes and boost morale while raising wage rates and expanding membership.
  Samuel Gompers was born on January 27, 1850, in London, into a Jewish family which originally hailed from Amsterdam. When he was six, Samuel was sent to the Jewish Free School where he received a basic education. His elementary school career was brief, however, as a mere three months after his 10th birthday, Gompers was removed from school and sent to work as an apprentice cigarmaker to help earn money for his impoverished family.
  
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  Samuel Johnson
  Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 [O.S. 7 September] – 13 December 1784), often referred to as Dr Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. Johnson was a devout Anglican and committed Tory, and has been described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". He is also the subject of "the most famous single work of biographical art in the whole of literature": James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson.
  Johnson was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, and attended Pembroke College, Oxford for just over a year, before his lack of funds forced him to leave. After working as a teacher he moved to London, where he began to write miscellaneous pieces for The Gentleman's Magazine. His early works include the biography The Life of Richard Savage, the poems "London" and "The Vanity of Human Wishes", and the play Irene.
  After nine years of work, Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755; it had a far-reaching effect on Modern English and has been described as "one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship." This work brought Johnson popularity and success. Until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary 150 years later, Johnson's was viewed as the pre-eminent British dictionary. His later works included essays, an influential annotated edition of William Shakespeare's plays, and the widely read tale Rasselas. In 1763, he befriended James Boswell, with whom he later travelled to Scotland; Johnson described their travels in A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland. Towards the end of his life, he produced the massive and influential Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, a collection of biographies and evaluations of 17th- and 18th-century poets.
  
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  Santi Cazorla
  Santiago "Santi" Cazorla González (Spanish pronunciation: [sanˈtjaɣo kaˈθoɾla ɣonˈθaleθ]; born 13 December 1984 in Llanera, Asturias) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Málaga CF in La Liga.
  A versatile winger, he can play on either flank, being ambidextrous. He is noted for his speed and capacity to change the rhythm of gameplay, and spent most of his professional career with Villarreal.
  Cazorla represented Spain at Euro 2008, helping the national team win the tournament.
  Having started playing football for local Asturian club Real Oviedo, Cazorla was snapped up by Villarreal CF several months before turning 18. He progressed through the reserve team, making his first team debut on 30 November 2003, playing one minute in a 1–0 win at Deportivo de La Coruña.
  Established in the main squad in 2004–05, Cazorla scored four goals in the season's UEFA Cup, also making two goalless appearances in the following season's UEFA Champions League .
  On 7 July 2006, Recreativo de Huelva signed Cazorla for €600.000 on a four-year contract, with a clause in his contract whereby he could return to Villarreal (for €1.2 million), going on to score in his official debut, a 1–1 home draw with RCD Mallorca, on 27 August. He became Spanish player of the year according to Don Balón, a member of European Sports Magazines after topping its rating list. On April 22, 2007, Cazorla dedicated a goal to his father, who had died recently, in a 4–2 home win against Racing de Santander. He helped the Andalusians, which had just returned from the second division, eventually finish eighth.
  
  wn.com/Santi_Cazorla
• Sascha Kindred
  Sascha Kindred OBE (born 13 December 1977 in Münster, Germany) is a British swimmer who competed in the Paralympic Games on four occasions, winning eleven medals.
  Born in Germany, Kindred moved to Britain at the age of 3. He began swimming for a club at the age of 11. He attended Mossley Hollins High School and Kaskenmoor secondary school for a short period of time before going into training at local swimming clubs such as Oldham.
  Kindred has cerebral palsy, which affects the right side of his body. He competes in the S6 (butterfly), SM6 (medley) and SB7 (breaststroke) classifications.
  Kindred first competed at the Paralympic Games in Atlanta 1996 and won a silver medal in the 100 m breaststroke SB7.
  At the 2000 games in Sydney, Kindred won two gold medals, a silver, and a bronze. He described the games as his biggest sporting achievement so far.
  In the 2004 Athens Paralympics, Kindred won two gold medals, successfully defending the 100 m breaststroke SB7 and 200 m individual medley SM6 titles he had won in Sydney. He also won a bronze medal in the 4×50 m freestyle 20 pts.
  
  wn.com/Sascha_Kindred
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  Satoshi Tsumabuki
  Satoshi Tsumabuki (妻夫木聡, Tsumabuki Satoshi^?, born December 13, 1980) is a Japanese actor. His breakthrough film was Waterboys for which he was nominated for the 'Best Actor' award at the Japanese Academy Awards, and won the 'Newcomer of the Year' prize. He is also the bassist and lead singer of the Japanese band Basking Lite.
  
  
  
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  Sergei Fedorov
  Sergei Viktorovich Fedorov (Russian: Сергей Викторович Фёдоров; born December 13, 1969) is a Russian professional ice hockey centre, and occasionally a winger or defenceman. He currently serves as the captain of the Metallurg Magnitogorsk squad in the Kontinental Hockey League.
  Fedorov gained fame in the NHL for his unique style of play with the Detroit Red Wings, where he won 3 Stanley Cups before tenures with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Columbus Blue Jackets, and lastly the Washington Capitals, playing in over 1,200 NHL contests. On October 25, 2008, Fedorov passed Alexander Mogilny to set a record for most goals by a Russian-born NHL player, scoring his 473rd goal. He was also the first European-trained player to win the Hart Memorial Trophy in 1993–94 NHL season, and is considered to be one of the best playoff performers in NHL history.
  Fedorov was considered one of the best players in the world in the 1990s leading into early 2000s (decade). He recently played for Team Russia in the 2010 Winter Olympics. He is currently playing for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was made captain of the team in early September 2011. He will also be an ambassador for Russia at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
  
  wn.com/Sergei_Fedorov
• Smita Patil
  Smita Patil (17 October 1955 – 13 December 1986) was an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Regarded among the finest stage and film actresses of her times, Patil appeared in over 75 Hindi and Marathi films in a career that spanned just over a decade. During her career, she received two National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. She was the recipient of the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour in 1985.
  Patil graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune and made her film debut with Shyam Benegal's Charandas Chor (1975). She became one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema, a New Wave movement in India cinema, though she also appeared in several mainstream movies throughout her career. Her performances were often acclaimed, and her most notable roles include Manthan (1977), Bhumika (1977), Aakrosh (1980), Chakra (1981), Chidambaram (1985) and Mirch Masala (1985).
  Apart from acting, Patil was an active feminist (in a distinctly Indian context) and a member of the Women's Centre in Mumbai. She was deeply committed to the advancement of women's issues, and gave her endorsement to films which sought to explore the role of women in traditional Indian society, their sexuality, and the changes facing the middle-class woman in an urban milieu.
  
  wn.com/Smita_Patil
• Sol Saks
  Sol Saks (December 13, 1910 – April 16, 2011) was an American screenwriter best known as the creator of television sitcom Bewitched.
  Saks attended Harrison High School in Chicago, Illinois.
  Saks was a radio actor as a child. He later wrote for radio and TV series such as My Favorite Husband, Mr. Adams and Eve, and I Married Joan.
  Saks wrote the screenplay for Cary Grant's last film, the comedy Walk, Don't Run. At the time of its release, Time said his dialogue on that film "bristles amiably from first to last."
  Saks wrote The Craft of Comedy Writing, published by Writer's Digest Books.
  Saks died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia on April 16, 2011, at the age of 100, in Los Angeles, California.
  
  
  
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  Stanley Williams
  Stanley Tookie Williams III (December 29, 1953 – December 13, 2005) was a leader of the Crips, a notorious American street gang which had its roots in South Central Los Angeles in 1969. In 1979 he was convicted of four murders committed in the course of robberies, sentenced to death, and eventually executed. Once incarcerated, he authored several books, including anti-gang and anti-violence literature and children's books.
  Williams refused to help police investigate his gang, and was implicated in attacks on guards and women, as well as multiple escape plots. In 1993, Williams began making changes in his behavior, and became an anti-gang activist while on Death Row in California. He renounced his gang affiliation and apologized for his role in founding the Crips, although still refused to help police investigate the gang. He also co-wrote children's books and participated in efforts intended to prevent youths from joining gangs. A biographical TV-movie entitled Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story was made in 2004, and featured Jamie Foxx as Williams.
  
  wn.com/Stanley_Williams
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  Steve Forbert
  Steve Forbert (born Samuel Stephen Forbert, December 13, 1954) is an American pop music singer-songwriter. He is best known for his song "Romeo's Tune", which reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980.
  Even though the sleeve of the album Jackrabbit Slim (1979) states that "Romeo's Tune" is "dedicated to the memory of Florence Ballard," the song is not really about the Supremes singer who died in 1976. The song was actually written about a girl from Forbert's home town of Meridian, Mississippi, but was dedicated to Ballard because, as Forbert explains, "That seemed like such bad news to me and such sad news. She wasn't really taken care of by the music business, which is not a new story."
  Critics hailed him at the time as the "new Bob Dylan", given a similar vocal timbre and thoughtful songwriting. The front cover of his second album, Jackrabbit Slim, encourages such comparisons with its simplicity: a black-and-white photo of Forbert playing a well-worn Martin acoustic guitar with a capo on it, his shirt tinted green. The record was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee and produced by John Simon, who had worked with The Band. On the comparison to Dylan, Forbert said, "You can't pay any attention to that. It was just a cliche back then, and it's nothing I take seriously. I'm off the hook — I don't have to be smarter than everybody else and know all the answers like Bob Dylan." Forbert has a cameo appearance in Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" video, playing her boyfriend. [He appears at 3:44 in the official Sony video]
  
  wn.com/Steve_Forbert
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  Svetozar Boroević
  Svetozar Boroević (or Borojević) von Bojna (13 December 1856 – 23 May 1920) was an Austro-Hungarian field marshal who was described as one of the finest defensive strategists of the First World War. He came from Croatia but spent his entire life in the imperial military, becoming a nobleman as Baron von Bojna, and later rising to the rank of Field Marshal before the end of the First World War in 1918.
  Boroević was born on 13 December 1856 in the village of Umetić, Military Frontier, Kingdom of Croatia, Austrian Empire (present-day Croatia). The accounts of his ethnic and national origin differ because even though he was baptized in the local Orthodox Church, and his family was described as a "Serbian Grenzer family", he did not express a Serb nationality, rather he consistently stated that he was a "Croat" and is sometimes described as such, while most foreign sources simply refer to him as "Croatian".
  Boroević joined cadet school at the age of ten. After finishing grade school he moved to Kamenica and later Graz where he studied in military academies. In 1889, he married Leontina von Rosner, a daughter of a late Austrian colonel, Friedrich Ritter von Rosner. The couple had one son, Friedrich Borojević von Bojna, named after his mother's father. The son died in 1918.
  
  wn.com/Svetozar_Boroević
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  Sylvester Ritter
  Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 2, 1998) was an American professional wrestler and professional football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as The Junkyard Dog (or JYD for short). Entering the ring with his trademark chain attached to a dog collar, to the music of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," JYD regularly headlined cards that sold out the Louisiana Superdome and other major venues. JYD was one of the most electrifying and charismatic wrestlers in the country, particularly during his peak in the early 1980s. JYD was most known for his head butt and upper-body strength, the latter of which saw him regularly body slam such large wrestlers as the One Man Gang, Kamala, and King Kong Bundy. The word "thump," which referred to JYD's power slam, was prominently displayed on his wrestling trunks.
  Ritter played football at Fayetteville State University, twice earning honorable mention All-American status, and is a member of The Sports Hall Of Fame. He graduated with a political science degree and was selected by the Green Bay Packers organization, but knee and back surgery ended his football career. Also a member of Groove Phi Groove and All CIAA member Chet Grimsley who authored a book on their travels The White Golden Bull.
  
  wn.com/Sylvester_Ritter
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  Talcott Parsons
  Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist who served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 to 1973.
  Parsons developed a general theory for the study of society called action theory, based on the methodological principle of voluntarism and the epistemological principle of analytical realism. The theory attempted to establish a balance between two major methodological traditions: the utilitarian-positivist and hermeneutic-idealistic traditions. For Parsons, voluntarism established a third alternative between these two. More than a theory of society, Parsons presented a theory of social evolution and a concrete interpretation of the "drives" and directions of world history.
  Parsons analyzed the work of Émile Durkheim and Vilfredo Pareto and evaluated their contributions through the paradigm of voluntaristic action. Parsons was also largely responsible for introducing and interpreting Max Weber's work to American audiences. Although he was generally considered a major structuralist functionalist scholar, in an article late in life, Parsons explicitly wrote that the term "functional" or "structural functionalist" were inappropriate ways to describe the character of his theory. For Parsons, "structural functionalism" was a particular stage in the methodological development of the social science, and "functionalism" was a universal method; neither term was a name for any specific school. In the same way, the concept "grand theory" is a derogatory term, which Parsons himself never used.
  
  wn.com/Talcott_Parsons
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  Tamora Pierce
  Tamora Pierce (born December 13, 1954) is an author of fantasy literature for young adults. She is an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania. Best known for writing stories involving young heroines, she made a name for herself with her first quartet The Song of the Lioness, which followed the main character Alanna through the trials and triumphs of training as a knight. Many of her books contain feminist themes.
  Pierce was born in South Connellsville, Pennsylvania in Fayette County, on December 13, 1954. Her mother wanted to name her "Tamara" but the nurse who filled out her birth certificate misspelled it as "Tamora". When she was five her sister Kimberly (whom she based Alanna on) was born and a year later her second sister, Melanie, was born. From the time she was five until she was eight, she lived in Dunbar. In June 1963 she and her family moved to California. They first lived in San Mateo on El Camino Real and then moved to the other side of the San Francisco Peninsula, in Miramar. They lived there for half a year, in El Granada a full year, and then three years in Burlingame.
  
  wn.com/Tamora_Pierce
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  Tang Shengzhi
  Tang Shengzhi (唐生智) (Wade-Giles: Tang Sheng-chih) (1889 – April 6, 1970) was a Chinese warlord during the Warlord Era, a military commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and a politician after World War II.
  After participating in the Xinhai Revolution, Tang graduated from the Baoding Military Academy in 1914. He participated in the National Protection War, and Constitutional Protection Movement. Tang Shengzhi was appointed commander of the Hunan Fourth Division and came into conflict with the governor Zhao Hengti. He was defeated and forced to withdraw from Changsha and decided to join the Northern Expeditionary Army and was given command of the Eighth Army of the National Revolutionary Army. By 2 June 1926 his troops had reoccupied Changsha. On 11 March 1926 Tang Shengzhi became the military and civil governor of Hunan. While his military office ended 14 July 1926 once his province had been secured, he remained as civil governor until April 1927.
  Tang sided with Chiang Kai-shek and helped him to secure the control of northern Beijing and Tianjin region by removing Bai Chongxi, a Guangxi warlord who was in actual control of the region but ostensively allied with Chiang Kai-shek. Later, Tang commanded armies to fight other warlords for Chiang Kai-shek with great success. However, after these potential rivals were defeated, Chiang Kai-shek enraged Tang when he attempted to remove Tang, and as a result, Tang defected to warlords in Guangxi and Guangdong to help them to fight Chiang Kai-shek.
  
  wn.com/Tang_Shengzhi
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  Taylor Swift
  Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee at the age of fourteen to pursue a career in country music. She signed to the independent label Big Machine Records and became the youngest songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house. The release of Swift's self-titled debut album in 2006 established her as a country music star. "Our Song", her third single, made her the youngest sole writer and singer of a number one song on the country chart. She received a Best New Artist nomination at the 50th Grammy Awards.
  Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in late 2008. Buoyed by the chart success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", Fearless attracted a crossover audience and became the top-selling album of 2009. The record won four Grammy Awards, with Swift becoming the youngest ever Album of the Year winner. Fearless also received Album of the Year plaudits at the American Music Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards and Country Music Association Awards, making it the most awarded album in country music history. In 2010, Swift released her third album, Speak Now, which sold over one million copies in its first week. She then embarked on the 111-date Speak Now World Tour, which was attended by over 1.6 million fans and has become one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. The album's third single, "Mean", won two Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance. Swift is currently recording her fourth studio album, due for release in the fall of 2012.
  
  wn.com/Taylor_Swift
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  Ted Nugent
  Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent ( /tɛd ˈnuːdʒɨnt/; born December 13, 1948) is an American musician. From Detroit, Michigan, he gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes before embarking on a solo career. He is noted for his conservative political views and his defense of hunting and gun ownership rights.
  Nugent was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Marion Dorothy (née Johnson) and Warren Henry Nugent. Nugent's father was an Army staff sergeant, and he was raised in a very strict household. He moved to Palatine, Illinois, as a teenager, and has two brothers: John and Jeffrey. Raised Catholic, Nugent has mentioned his ties with the Christian faith many times during interviews, and has stated that he regularly attends church. He attended St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, IL.
  Nugent has released more than 34 albums and has sold a career total of 30 million records. He was known throughout his early career in the 1970s for using Fender amps, a large part of his signature sound, and for playing the hollow-body Gibson Byrdland guitar.
  
  wn.com/Ted_Nugent
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  Texas 7
  The Texas Seven was a group of prisoners who escaped from the John Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas, on December 13, 2000. They were apprehended a little more than a month later, on January 21–23, 2001, as a direct result of the television show America's Most Wanted.
  The group was composed of the following Texas state prisoners:
  On December 13, 2000, the seven carried out an elaborate scheme and escaped from the John B. Connally Unit, a maximum-security state prison near the South Texas city of Kenedy.
  At the time of the breakout, the reported ringleader of the Texas Seven, 30-year-old George Rivas, was serving 18 consecutive 15-to-life sentences. Michael Anthony Rodriguez, 38, was serving a 99-to-life term, while Larry James Harper, 37, Joseph Garcia and Patrick Henry Murphy, Jr., 39, were all serving 50 year sentences. Donald Keith Newbury, the member with the longest rap sheet of the group, was serving a 99-year sentence, and the youngest member, Randy Halprin, 23, was serving a 30-year sentence for injury to a child.
  
  wn.com/Texas_7
• Thomas A. Watson
  Thomas Augustus Watson (January 18, 1854 – December 13, 1934) was an assistant to Alexander Graham Bell, notably in the invention of the telephone in 1876. He is best known because his name was one of the first words spoken over the telephone. "Mr. Watson - Come here - I want to see you." were the first words Bell said using the new invention, according to Bell's laboratory notebook. There is some dispute about the actual words used, as Thomas Watson, in his own voice, remembered it as "Mr. Watson - Come here - I want you," in a film made for Bell Labs in 1931 which is referenced below in "The Engines of our Ingenuity."
  Born in Boston,Massachusetts, United States Watson was a bookkeeper and a carpenter before he found a job more to his liking in the Charles Williams machine shop in Boston. He was then hired by Alexander Graham Bell, who was then a professor at Boston University.
  Watson resigned from the Bell Telephone Company in 1881 at the age of 27. Using money from his royalties from his participation in the invention of the telephone, Watson first tried his hand at farming and then set up his own machine shop. In 1883 Watson founded the Fore River Ship and Engine Building Company. He soon began taking bids for building naval destroyers and by 1901 the Fore River Ship and Engine Company was one of the largest shipyards in America. It would later become one of the major shipyards during World War II, after being purchased by Bethlehem Steel Corporation.
  
  wn.com/Thomas_A._Watson
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  Tim Moore (comedian)
  Tim Moore (December 9, 1887 – December 13, 1958) was a celebrated American vaudevillian and comic actor of the first half of the 20th century. He gained his greatest recognition in the starring role of George "Kingfish" Stevens in the CBS television series, Amos 'n' Andy. He proudly stated, "I've made it a point never to tell a joke on stage that I couldn't tell in front of my mother."
  Moore was born Harry Roscoe Moore in Rock Island, Illinois, one of 13 children of Harry and Cynthia Moore. His father was a night watchman at a brewery. Tim Moore dropped out of grammar school to work at odd jobs in town and even danced for pennies in the streets with his friend, Romeo Washburn.
  In 1898, Moore and Washburn went into vaudeville in an act called "Cora Miskel and Her Gold Dust Twins." It was booked by agents and travelled through the United States and even Great Britain. By 1904, the act had performed with the Barnum & Bailey Circus. As Moore and Washburn grew older, the act became less effective and Miss Miskel sent them back to their parents in Rock Island. Shortly after this, Moore joined the medicine show of "Doctor Mick", a charlatan who sold a quack remedy called "Puritia." Doctor Mick travelled through the Midwestern states, with songs and dances provided by Moore and four Kickapoo Indians. The young man also worked in a carnival sideshow and gave guided tours as a "native" tour guide in Hawaii.
  
  wn.com/Tim_Moore_(comedian)
• Timothy Jordan II
  Timothy (Tim) Anderson Jordan II (March 8, 1981–December 13, 2005) was an American keyboardist, guitarist, and songwriter. He was primarily known as a touring member of the platinum-selling band, The All-American Rejects.
  In 2001, Jordan began his musical career as a second guitarist for the independent Christian rock band Higgins Switch. After Higgins Switch disbanded in 2002, Tim offered his guitar and keyboard skills to other Christian bands, most notably Green Olive Tree. In 2003, he enlisted in Snapdragon Records' punk band Welton as the band's primary guitarist. Following a year of touring, Jordan parted ways with Welton and joined the band Number One Fan as a musical jack-of-all-trades. Jordan provided backing vocals, keyboards, and percussion to Number One Fan's live performances. After successfully touring with Number One Fan throughout 2004, he was recruited by The All-American Rejects. Jordan accepted their offer and toured with The All-American Rejects during the summer and fall of 2005.
  
  wn.com/Timothy_Jordan_II
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  Tom DeLonge
  Thomas Matthew "Tom" DeLonge, Jr. (born December 13, 1975) is an American rock musician. He is the guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists for the American pop punk band blink-182 as well as the guitarist and lead vocalist for the alternative band Angels & Airwaves. He was also the guitarist and lead vocalist for the alternative band Box Car Racer.
  Raised in Poway, California, DeLonge developed an interest in punk rock during his teens. Tom was voted Homecoming King at the Poway High School dance when he didn't attend the school anymore, after being expelled from Poway High School for drinking at a basketball game. He then attended Rancho Bernardo High School where he met Anne Hoppus. Anne Hoppus introduced him to her brother, Mark Hoppus, who also shared an interest in music. Tom also introduced Mark to Scott Raynor. The three formed blink-182 which became one of the most popular rock groups of the 1990s–2000s. Travis Barker replaced Scott in later years. The group underwent an indefinite hiatus in 2005, with DeLonge focusing more on his Angels & Airwaves project. blink-182 reformed in 2009, and released a new album in September 2011.
  
  wn.com/Tom_DeLonge
• Tom Verlaine
  Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949, in Morristown, New Jersey) is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.
  Tom Verlaine began his life as Thomas Miller. He began studying piano at an early age but switched to saxophone in middle school after hearing a record by Stan Getz. Verlaine was initially unimpressed with the role of the guitar in both rock and jazz, and was only inspired to take up the instrument after hearing the Rolling Stones' "19th Nervous Breakdown" during his adolescence, at which point he began a long period of experimentation to develop a personal style. Verlaine also had an interest in writing and poetry from an early age. As a teen he was friends with future bandmate and punk icon Richard Hell (Richard Meyers) at Sanford School, a boarding school which they both attended. They quickly discovered that they shared a passion for music and poetry.
  
  wn.com/Tom_Verlaine
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  Tom Vilsack
  Thomas James "Tom" Vilsack (/ˈvɪlsæk/; born December 13, 1950) is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and presently the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He served as the 40th Governor of the state of Iowa. He was first elected in 1998 and re-elected to a second four-year term in 2002. On November 30, 2006, he formally launched his candidacy for the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, but ended his bid on February 23, 2007.
  Barack Obama announced Vilsack's selection to be the United States Secretary of Agriculture under his administration on December 17, 2008. Vilsack's nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent on January 20, 2009.
  Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Tom Vilsack was abandoned at birth and placed in a Roman Catholic orphanage. He was adopted in 1951 by Bud and Dolly Vilsack, who raised him in the Roman Catholic faith. His adoptive father was a real-estate agent and insurance salesman, and his adoptive mother was a homemaker.
  
  wn.com/Tom_Vilsack
• Tony Curran
  Anthony "Tony" Curran (born 13 December 1969) is a Scottish actor.
  Curran was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He is an alumnus of Holyrood Secondary School and is a graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
  Tony rose to fame in the BBC television series This Life. Since then, the Scots star has appeared in a number of major film and television roles.
  Some of his roles have included Rodney Skinner, (The Invisible Man,) an original character in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. To portray the Invisible Man, he donned a special suit that turned him into a walking bluescreen (according to his commentary on the DVD, he looked like a "smurf on acid"). Curran also played vampire roles in Guillermo del Toro's Blade II and Underworld: Evolution.
  Curran is active in participating in marathons to raise money for charity. He is a keen fan of Celtic Football Club.
  He is a frequent and popular participant in the annual Dressed To Kilt event in New York City, run by the organization Friends of Scotland in celebration of Tartan Week.
  
  wn.com/Tony_Curran
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  Trygve Haavelmo
  Trygve Magnus Haavelmo (13 December 1911 – 28 July 1999), born in Skedsmo, Norway, was an influential economist with main research interests centered on the fields of econometrics and economics theory. During World War II he worked with Nortraship in the Statistical Department in New York City. He received his Ph.D. in 1946 for his work on The Probability Approach in Econometrics.
  He was a Professor of economics and statistics at the University of Oslo between 1948–79 and was the trade department head of division from 1947–48. Haavelmo acquires a prominent position in modern economics through his logical critique of a series of custom conceptions in mathematical analysis.
  In 1989, Haavelmo was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics "for his clarification of the probability theory foundations of econometrics and his analyses of simultaneous economic structures."
  
  wn.com/Trygve_Haavelmo
• Tuka Rocha
  Christiano "Tuka" Rocha (born December 13, 1982 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian race car driver.
  He won numerous karting championships in Brazil from 1996 to 2000. Then moved up to South American Formula 3 Lights. In 2002 he moved to Europe to compete in the World Series by Nissan where he was Ricardo Zonta's teammate. In 2004 he competed in Superfund Euro 3000. In 2005 he was a test driver for A1 Team Brazil in the A1 Grand Prix Series and was named one of the team's race drivers for the 2006-2007 season. In 2008 Tuka was chosen to drive the Flamengo's car in Formula Superleague.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Tuka_Rocha
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  Van Heflin
  Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin, Jr. (December 13, 1910 – July 23, 1971) was an American film and theater actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Johnny Eager (1942).
  Heflin was born in Walters, Oklahoma, the son of Fanny Bleecker (née Shippey) and Dr. Emmett Evan Heflin, a dentist. He was of Irish and French ancestry. Heflin's sister was Daytime Emmy-nominated actress Frances Heflin. Heflin attended Classen High School in Oklahoma City and the University of Oklahoma, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.
  Heflin began his acting career on Broadway in the early 1930s before being signed to a contract by RKO Radio Pictures. He made his film debut in A Woman Rebels (1936), opposite Katharine Hepburn. He was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and was initially cast in supporting roles in films such as Santa Fe Trail (1940), and Johnny Eager (1942), winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the latter performance.
  
  wn.com/Van_Heflin
• Vanessa Duriès
  Vanessa Duriès, also known as Katia Lamara (1972 - December 13, 1993) was a French novelist.
  She was the author of the French BDSM novel Le lien (translated into English as The Ties that Bind) based on her own experience as a slave. She created quite a stir in France at the time of the release of the novel, due to her youth and beauty, and appeared on national television, in particular in the show of Bernard Pivot. She also appeared in a pictorial and an interview of the May 1993 issue of the French edition of Penthouse magazine.
  Duriès died in a car crash on December 13, 1993 in the South of France at age 21. Because of her early death, she has achieved a cult status for some BDSM communities. In 2007, five chapters of her second novel L'Étudiante, left unfinished due to her death, were published in France.
  Three other people also died in the crash. The 2007 edition published in Paris by J'ai Lu -- "L'Étudiante suivi de Le Lien", Éditions Blanche, ISBN 978-2-290-00617-7 — which includes an avant-propos by Duriès' editor Franck Spengler and a preface by Florence Dugas, is dedicated: "À la mémoire de Vanessa Duriès, Nathalie Perreau, Jean-Pierre Imbrohoris et leur fils décédés tragiquement le 13 décembre 1993". Spengler avows he was editor to Nathalie Perreau, also, and a friend of Jean-Pierre Imbrohoris. Published in this edition is a short letter written by Duriès to Franck Spengler, inserted between chapters two and three of "L'Étudiante".
  
  wn.com/Vanessa_Duriès
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  Victor Grignard
  François Auguste Victor Grignard (May 6, 1871 in Cherbourg - December 13, 1935 in Lyon) was a Nobel Prize-winning French chemist.
  Grignard was the son of a sail maker. After studying mathematics at Lyon he transferred to chemistry and discovered the synthetic reaction bearing his name (the Grignard reaction) in 1900. He became a professor at the University of Nancy in 1910 and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1912. During World War I he studied chemical warfare agents, particularly the manufacture of phosgene and the detection of mustard gas. His counterpart on the German side was another Nobel Prize winning Chemist, Fritz Haber.
  Grignard is most noted for devising a new method for generating carbon-carbon bonds using magnesium to couple ketones and alkyl halides. This reaction is valuable in organic synthesis. It occurs in two steps:
  The Grignard reaction is an important means of preparing organic compounds from smaller precursor molecules. For this work, Grignard was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1912 jointly with fellow Frenchman Paul Sabatier.
  
  wn.com/Victor_Grignard
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  Wassily Kandinsky
  Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky /kænˈdɪnski/ (Russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Канди́нский, Vasilij Vasil'evič Kandinskij, Russian pronunciation: [vaˈsʲilʲɪj kɐnˈdʲinskʲɪj]; 16 December [O.S. 4 December] 1866 – 13 December 1944) was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics. Successful in his profession—he was offered a professorship (chair of Roman Law) at the University of Dorpat—he began painting studies (life-drawing, sketching and anatomy) at the age of 30.
  In 1896 Kandinsky settled in Munich, studying first at Anton Ažbe's private school and then at the Academy of Fine Arts. He returned to Moscow in 1914, after the outbreak of World War I. Kandinsky was unsympathetic to the official theories on art in Moscow, and returned to Germany in 1921. There, he taught at the Bauhaus school of art and architecture from 1922 until the Nazis closed it in 1933. He then moved to France where he lived the rest of his life, becoming a French citizen in 1939. He died at Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1944.
  
  wn.com/Wassily_Kandinsky
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  Wendie Malick
  Wendie Malick (born December 13, 1950) is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles as Judith Tupper Stone on the HBO series Dream On (1990–1996), Nina Van Horn on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! (1997–2003) and Ronee Lawrence on the NBC sitcom Frasier (2003-2004). Malick currently plays Victoria Chase on the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland.
  Malick was born Wendy Malick in Buffalo, New York, the daughter of Gigi, a former model, and Ken Malick, who worked in sales. She graduated from Williamsville South High School.
  In 1972, after graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, Malick began fashion modelling for the Wilhelmina modeling agency. She left to work for Republican Congressman Jack Kemp. She soon left Washington, D.C., to pursue a career in stage and screen. She began working as an actress in 1982 in the film A Little Sex.
  In 1982, Malick auditioned unsuccessfully for the role of Diane Chambers in the NBC sitcom Cheers.^{[citation needed]} She played a supporting role in the 1988 film Scrooged as Bill Murray's sister-in-law. Her first lead role on a TV series was on the HBO series Dream On in 1990. She remained on this show until 1996, winning four CableACE Awards for best actress in a comedy series. In 1995 she appeared in the sitcom Seinfeld as the character Wendy in "The Kiss Hello".
  
  wn.com/Wendie_Malick
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  William V. Roth, Jr.
  William Victor "Bill" Roth, Jr. (July 22, 1921 – December 13, 2003) was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a veteran of World War II and a member of the Republican Party, who served as U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Delaware.
  Roth was born in Great Falls, Montana, the son of Clara (née Nelson) and William Victor Roth, Sr., who ran a brewery. He attended public schools in Helena, Montana, graduating from Helena High School, which is also the alma mater of Senator Max Baucus, who succeeded Roth as Senate Finance Committee Chairman in 2001. Roth graduated from the University of Oregon in 1943, Harvard Business School in 1947, and Harvard Law School in 1949. During World War II he served in a United States Army intelligence unit from 1943 until 1946.
  After being admitted to the California Bar in 1950, he moved permanently to Delaware in 1954, and began his work as an attorney for the Hercules Corporation. He married Jane Richards in 1965 and they had two children, William V. III and Katharine. Jane Richards Roth is also a lawyer. She was U.S. District Court Judge, for the District of Delaware from 1985 until 1991 and since was a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. They were members of the Episcopal Church.
  
  wn.com/William_V._Roth,_Jr.
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  Wlodimir Ledochowski
  Very Reverend Wlodimir (or Włodzimierz) Ledóchowski, S.J. (7 October 1866 – 13 December 1942) was the 26th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus.
  He was born on the family estate, Sitzenthal, in Loosdorf, near St. Pölten (Lower Austria), the son of Count Antoni Halka Ledóchowski. His uncle was Mieczysław Halka Ledóchowski, and his sisters included Saint Ursula Ledóchowska, and Blessed Maria Teresia Ledóchowska. His brother, Ignacy Kazimierz Ledóchowski, was a General in the Polish Army.
  He studied at the Theresianum in Vienna and for a time was page to the Empress. He studied Law at the University of Kraków and then began studies for the secular priesthood. While attending the Gregorian University, he decided to become a Jesuit and entered the Society in 1889. Five years later he was ordained a Jesuit priest. At first he took to writing, but was soon made Superior of the Jesuit residence in Kraków, then, Rector of the College. He became the Polish Vice-Provincial in 1901 and Provincial of Galicia in 1902. From 1906 until February 1915 he was the German Assistant.
  
  wn.com/Wlodimir_Ledochowski
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  Wojciech Jaruzelski
  Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (pronounced [ˈvɔi̯t​͡ɕɛx jaruˈzɛlskʲi] ( listen); born 6 July 1923) is a retired Polish military officer and Communist politician. He was the last Communist leader of Poland from 1981 to 1989, Prime Minister from 1981 to 1985 and the country's head of state from 1985 to 1990. He was also the last commander-in-chief of the Polish People's Army (LWP). He resigned from power after the Polish Round Table Agreement in 1989 led to democratic elections in Poland.
  Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski was born on 6 July 1923 in Kurów, into a family of gentry. He was raised on the family estate near Wysokie (in the vicinity of Białystok). He was educated in a Catholic school during the 1930s.
  On 1 September 1939, the September Campaign started when Poland was invaded by Germany, with the latter country aided by another invasion begun sixteen days later by the Soviet Union. The invasions resulted in the defeat of Poland by the following month, and its partition between Soviet and German control. Jaruzelski and his family fled to Lithuania and stayed with some friends there. However, a few months later, after Lithuania and the other Baltic states were forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union, Jaruzelski and his family were captured by the army of the Soviet Union, and deported to Siberia. In 1940 at the age of sixteen, Jaruzelski was sent to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, where he performed forced labour in the Karaganda coal mines. During his labour work, having experienced snow blindness, developed permanent damage to his eyes and back. The damage to his eyes forced him to wear dark sunglasses most of the time, which became his trademark.
  
  wn.com/Wojciech_Jaruzelski
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  Woolly Wolstenholme
  Stuart John Wolstenholme (15 April 1947 – 13 December 2010), usually known as Woolly Wolstenholme, was vocalist and keyboard player with the British progressive rock band Barclay James Harvest.
  Wolstenholme was born in Chadderton, Lancashire on 15 April 1947, and went to school at North Chadderton Secondary Modern. His first instrument was a tenor banjo, which he took up at the age of twelve, and he also played tenor horn for the Delph band. He met John Lees at Oldham School of Art and Woolly played tambourine and sang with John in The Sorcerers, then The Keepers, where Woolly played whatever instrument was required, such as harmonica and twelve-string guitar.
  The pair then founded Barclay James Harvest, together with Les Holroyd and Mel Pritchard, in 1967. Woolly taught himself keyboards, first the Mellotron and then adapting to organ, piano and synthesisers. His musical influences range from Love and Vanilla Fudge through Mahler to UK and Radiohead. Woolly remained with Barclay James Harvest until 1979, when he became frustrated and unhappy at the direction their music was taking.
  
  wn.com/Woolly_Wolstenholme
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  Yasser Arafat
  Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini (Arabic: محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني‎‎; 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat (Arabic: ياسر عرفات‎) or by his kunya Abu Ammar (Arabic: أبو عمار‎, 'Abū `Ammār), was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), and leader of the Fatah political party, which he founded in 1959. Arafat spent much of his life fighting against Israel in the name of Palestinian self-determination. Originally opposed to Israel's existence, he modified his position in 1988 when he accepted UN Security Council Resolution 242. Arafat and his movement operated from several Arab countries. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Fatah faced off with Jordan in a brief civil war. Forced out of Jordan and into Lebanon, Arafat and Fatah were major targets of Israel's 1978 and 1982 invasions of that country.
  
  wn.com/Yasser_Arafat
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  Yongzheng Emperor
  The Yongzheng Emperor (Chinese: 雍正帝; pinyin: yōngzhèngdì; Wade–Giles: Yung Cheng Ti, Manchu: ᡥᡡᠸᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠰᡠᠨ ᡨᠣᠪ, Hūwaliyasun Tob hūwangdi, Mongolian: Nairalt Töv Khaan; 13 December 1678 – 8 October 1735), born Yinzhen (Chinese: 胤禛; pinyin: yìnzhēn ; Manchu language: ᡳᠨ ᠵᡝᠨ ; Möllendorff transliteration: in jen), was the fifth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty and the third Qing emperor from 1722 to 1735. A hard-working ruler, Yongzheng's main goal was to create an effective government at minimal expense. Like his father, the Kangxi Emperor, Yongzheng used military force to preserve the dynasty's position. Suspected by historians to have usurped the throne, his reign was known as despotic, efficient, and vigorous.
  Although Yongzheng's reign was much shorter than the reigns of both his father (the Kangxi Emperor) and his son (the Qianlong Emperor), his sudden death was probably brought about by a heavy workload. Yongzheng continued an era of peace and prosperity; he cracked down on corruption and waste, and reformed the financial administration. During his reign the formulation of the Grand Council began, an institution which have an enormous impact on the future of imperial China.
  
  wn.com/Yongzheng_Emperor
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  Ányos Jedlik
  Ányos István Jedlik (Hungarian: Jedlik Ányos István, Slovak: Štefan Anián Jedlík, in older texts and publications: Latin: Stephanus Anianus Jedlik, January 11, 1800 – December 13, 1895) was a Hungarian inventor, engineer, physicist, and Benedictine priest. He was also member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and author of several books. He is considered by Hungarians and Slovaks to be the unsung father of the dynamo and electric motor.
  He was born in Szimő, Kingdom of Hungary, (today Zemné, Slovakia). His mother was a member of a Hungarian noble family, while his father's family – based on the surname – was probably of Slovak origin moving in 1720 from Liptó county (now Liptov) to Szímő.
  Jedlik's education began at high schools in Nagyszombat (today Trnava) and Pozsony (today Bratislava). In 1817 he became a Benedictine and from that time continued his studies at the schools of that order, where he was known by his Latin name Stephanus Anianus. He lectured at Benedictine schools up to 1839, then for 40 years at the Budapest University of Sciences department of physics-mechanics. Few guessed at that time that his activities would play an important part in bringing up a new generation of physicists. He became the dean of the Faculty of Arts in 1848, and by 1863 he was rector of the University. From 1858 he was a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and from 1873 was an honorary member. After his retirement he continued working and spent his last years in complete seclusion at the priory in Győr, where he died.
  
  wn.com/Ányos_Jedlik