December 3, 1826 – George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War.
December 4, 1969 – Shawn Corey Carter, better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur and occasional actor.
December 5, 1782 – Martin Van Buren (Dutch: Maarten van Buren) was the eighth President of the United States (1837–1841).
December 6, 1824 – Emmanuel Frémiet was a French sculptor.
December 7, 1873 – Willa Sibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark.
December 8, 1943 – James Douglas “Jim” Morrison was an American singer-songwriter, composer and poet, best remembered as the lead singer and lyricist of the American rock band The Doors.
December 9, 1916 – Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author.