Birthdates which occurred on your SELECTED date of December 28:
1484 Joachim Vadianus [von Watt] Swiss physician/mayor of Sankt Gallen
1631 Ludolf Backhuysen Dutch seascape painter/cartoonist
1694 Ceslav Vanura composer
1731 Christian Cannabich German composer/royal chaplain master
1738 Thaddaus Ferdinand Lipowsky composer
1751 Josef Blazej Smrcek composer
1753 Johan Wikmanson composer
1763 John Molson founded Montréal brewery (Molson Canadian)
1783 Robert Gallenberg composer
1787 Hermanus J Abbring Dutch writer/engineer on Curaçao
1801 James Barnes Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1869
1805 Tomas Genoves y Lapetra composer
1812 Julius Reitz composer
1822 William Booth Taliaferro Brigadier-General (Confederate Army), died in 1898
1823 Thomas Alexander Scott Assistant Secretary War (Union), died in 1881
1826 Conrad Busken Huet Dutch vicar/literary (Country of Rubens)
1827 Robert Latimer McCook volunteers Brigadier-General (Union), died in 1862
1828 Karl L Kahlbaum German psychiatrist (katatonie)
1833 Charles Miller Shelley Brigadier-General (Confederate Army), died in 1907
1835 Archibald Geikie British geologist
1837 Benjamin Johnson Lang composer
1842 Calixa Lavallee composer
1845 Homer Newton Bartlett composer
1849 Herbert von Bismarck German politician/son of Otto of Bismarck
1855 Juan Zorrilla de San Martin Uruguay's diplomat/poet (Tabaré)
1856 [Thomas] Woodrow Wilson Staunton VA, (28 President-D-1913-21, Nobel 1919)
1859 Gerard Brucken Fock composer
1859 John W Fortescue military historian
1860 Alexander von Fielitz composer
1865 Félix E Vallotton Swiss/French painter/writer (Chaste Suzanna)
1868 Marie van Regteren Altena Dutch painter (Amsterdam's Joffers)
1872 Pio Baroja Y Nessa San Sebastian Spain, writer (Camino de Perfección)
1880 Christian DFL Leipoldt South african physician/writer/poet
1882 Arthur Eddington England, astrophysicist/cosmologist/mathematician
1883 A Wolfenstein writer
1884 Joseph Pholien Belgian premier (1950-52)/communist hunter
1887 Charles Dingle
1888 Gabriel von Wayditch composer
1889 Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
1890 Frank Butler Oxford England, actor/screenwriter (Road to Bali, China)
1894 Ed Healey NFL tackle (Rock Island Independents, Chicago Bears)
1894 André de Meulemeester Belgian WWI pilot (Eagle of Flanders)
1895 Auguste Lumiere twin brother of Louis who opened 1st commercial cinema
1895 Louis Lumiere twin brother of Auguste who opened 1st commercial cinema
1896 Roger Huntington Sessions Brooklyn NY, composer (Black Maskers)
19-- Bob Perlow Pawtucket RI, TV host (People Do the Craziest Things)
1902 Mortimer J Adler New York NY, author (Encyclopedia Brittanica)
1902 Shen Congwen writer
1903 John Von Neumann mathematician/astronomer (Bocher Award 1938)
1904 Clabon W Allen Australian/British astronomer
1904 Sergei Yutkevich St Petersburg Russia, director (Otello, Banya)
1905 Cliff Arquette Toledo OH, comedian (Charlie Weaver)
1905 Earl "Fatha" Hines Duquesne PA, jazz pianist (Deep Forest)
1907 Roman Palester Polish composer: The Weichsel
1908 Lew Ayres Minnesota, actor (All Quiet on the Western Front, Dr Kildare)
1909 Billy Williams Waco TX, singer (Your Show of Shows)
1909 Nikola J Vaptsarov Bulgaria poet (Subrani Sutsjinenija)
1910 John Kerr New Zealand, cricketer (opening batsman in 1930's)
1911 Sam Levenson New York NY, humorist (Sam Levenson Show, Masquerade Party)
1911 Phani Majumdar film maker
1913 Lou Jacobi Toronto Ontario, comedian (Dean Martin Show, Melba)
1914 Lee Bowman Cincinnati OH, actor (Ellery Queen, Miami Undercover)
1914 Bernard Youens British actor (Coronation Street)
1915 Roebuck "Pops" Staples US gospel/singer (Staple Singers)
1916 Noel Johnson British actor (Frenzy, Frightmare, Royal Flash)
1917 Ellis Clarke President of Trinidad & Tobago (1976-87)
1919 Inocenti Carreno composer
1920 Steve Van Buren NFL halfback (Philadelphia Eagles)
1921 Eddy Doorenbos Dutch vocalist/pianist/guitarist
1921 Johnny Otis R&B singer
1922 Nyron Sultan Asgarali cricketer (West Indian opening bat 1957)
1922 Stan Lee comics artist/creator (Spiderman, Incredible Hulk)
1923 Andrew Duggan actor (Secret War of Harry Frigg, Winds of War)
1924 Johnny Otis [Veliotes] composer (Every Beat of My Heart)
1925 Hildegarde Neff Ulm Germany, actress (Touch of Class, Mozambique)
1925 Bill [William] Westwood British bishop of Peterborough
1926 Donald Carr cricketer (England player in 50's, later MCC honcho)
1927 Martin Milner Detroit MI, actor (Route 66, Adam 12, Life of Riley)
1927 Anne Legendre Armstrong ambassador (to UK)
1927 Simon Raven English playwright/critic (Alms for Oblivion)
1928 Kamillo Lendvay composer
1929 Owen Bieber United Auto Workers president
1929 Terry Sawchuk NHL goaltender (Red Wings, Bruins, Maple Leafs, Rangers)
1929 Maarten Schmidt Netherlands/US astronomer (quasars)
1931 Georg "Org" Marais South African economist/underminister of Finance
1931 Guy Debord situationist
1931 John de Mol Dutch vocalist/composer/producer
1932 Dorsey Burnette Memphis, rocker (Tall Oak Tree, Hey Little One)
1932 Manuel Puig Argentina, writer (La Traicion de Rita Hayworth, Blood of Requited Love)
1932 Clem Schouwenaars Flemish poet/writer
1932 Nichelle Nichols Robbins IL, actress (Uhura-Star Trek)
1932 Roy Hattersley British journalist/Labour-parliament leader
1933 Jack Perkins Cleveland OH, newscaster (Prime Time Sunday, NBC Magazine)
1934 Maggie Smith Ilford England, actress (Death on Nile, Clash of Titans)
1934 David Warrilow actor (Simon, Radio Days, Dakota Road, Barton Fink)
1934 John Akers business executive
1934 Peggy Wilson golfer
1935 Fernando Lopes Portugal, director (Encoberto, Matar Saudades)
1938 Bruce Yarnell Los Angeles CA, actor (Outlaws)
1938 Charles Neville US rock vocalist/saxophonist (Neville Brothers)
1938 Janet Hough Bryant author/performing artist/educator
1938 Richard Sudhalter British(?) writer/jazz musician
1940 Alvin Elliot Singleton composer
1940 Lonnie Liston Smith US jazz performer (Cosmic Echoes, Magic Lady)
1941 Don Francisco Spanish variety show host (Sabado Gigante)
1941 Intikhab Alam Pakistan cricket leg-spinner (1959-77)
1942 Paul Horowitz New York NY, physicist, META project (Sloan Award 1971-3)
1943 David Peterson Toronto Ontario, premier of Ontario Canada (L) (1982- )
1943 Bobby Comstock rocker
1943 Oscar D Dhlomo South African Secretary-General of Inkatha (1978-90)
1945 Dwight Bement rocker (Gary Puckett & Union Gap-Young Girl)
1945 Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Deva King of Nepal (1972- )
1945 Max Hastings British editor-in-chief (Daily Telegraph)
1946 Edgar Winter Beaumont TX, rocker (They Only Come Out at Night)
1946 Hubie Green golfer (US Open-1977, PGA-1985)
1946 Jorge Velasquez sportsman
1947 Dick [Richard] Diamonde [Van Der Sluys] Hilversum Holland, rock bassist (Easybeats-Friday on My Mind)
1947 Andrew Olle broadcaster
1947 Aurelio Rodriguez baseball player
1947 Robert Gilliot father of Gerda Havertongs daughter Zulèma
1948 Jorge Velasquez jockey (Kentucky Derby-1981, Preakness-1981)
1950 Alex Chilton Memphis TN, rock guitarist/vocalist (Box Tops-Let Me Get Close to You, The Letter)
1951 Kenneth Pope NFLer
1952 Ray Knight 3rd baseman (New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles)
1953 Richard Clayderman pianist (Amour, Romantic America)
1953 Robert Pittman TV executive/developer (MTV)
1954 Denzel Washington Mount Vernon NY, actor (Dr Chandler-St Elsewhere)
1954 Rosie Vela British singer (Zazu, Fools Paradise)
1954 Tony Rosato Naples Italy, comedian (SCTV, Saturday Night Live, Amanda's)
1956 Kenneth Gant rocker (Midnight Star-Freak-A-Zoid, Operator, No Parking On The Dance Floor)
1956 Michael Gibbons rocker (Bo Donaldson & Heywoods-Billy Don't be a Hero)
1956 Nigel Kennedy English violinist
1958 Carl Marsden bodyguard
1958 Carlos Carson football player
1958 Joe Diffie Tulsa OK, country singer/guitarist (Home)
1958 Mike McGuire Haleyville AL, singer (Shenandoah-Sunday in the South)
1958 Terry Butcher British soccer player
1959 Everson Walls NFL cornerback (Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants)
1960 Chad McQueen actor (Nightforce)
1960 John Fitzgerald Australia, tennis star
1960 Marty Roe Lebanon OH, singer (Diamond Rio-Meet in the Middle)
1960 Raymond Bourque Montréal Canada, NHL defenseman (Team Canada, Boston)
1960 Terri Garber Miami FL, actress (Leslie Carrington-Dynasty)
1960 Zane Smith Madison WI, pitcher (Pittsburgh Pirates)
1961 Heather Hafner Santa Barbara CA, WPVA volleyballer (National-7th-90)
1962 Keith Lee basketball player (Memphis State)
1963 Mel Stottlemyre Jr pitcher (Toronto Blues Jays)
1963 Malcolm Gets actor (Richard Karinsky-Caroline In the City)
1963 Willow Bay TV host (Good Morning America)
1964 Charles Sinek dance skater (& Beata Handra-1997 Pac Coast Senior 3rd)
1965 Mary Waddell Gainey Hartsville SC, Miss South Carolina-America (1991-2nd)
1965 Martine Robine newspaper writer/Miss Junior Miss-France (1984)
1966 Joe Wolf NFL guard (Arizona Cardinals)
1967 Paul Lynch Sydney New South Wales Australia, canoeist (Olympics-96)
1968 Jennifer Palmquest Wilmot SD, Miss South Dakota-America (1991)
1968 Darrick Brownlow NFL linebacker (Washington Redskins)
1968 Jozef Dano Skalica Czechoslovakia, hockey forward (Team Slovakia 1998)
1968 Kurt Schulz NFL safety (Buffalo Bills)
1969 James Trapp NFL cornerback (Oakland Raiders)
1970 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy Haarlem Netherlands, tennis star (95, 96 Oklahoma City)
1970 Elizabeth McIntyre Dunbar WV, Miss America-West Virginia (1996)
1970 James Jett NFL wide receiver (Oakland Raiders)
1971 Melvin Nieves San Juan Puerto Rico, outfielder (Detroit Tigers)
1971 Michael Watkins NFL wide receiver (San Diego Chargers)
1971 Steve Morrison NFL linebacker (Indianapolis Colts)
1972 Adam Clawson Salt Lake City UT, slalom single canoe (Olympics-19th-96)
1972 Adam Vinatieri WLAF punter/kicker (Amsterdam Admirals, New England Patriots)
1972 Jean-Francois Jomphe Havre St-Pierre CA, NHL right wing (Anaheim)
1972 Jim Kitts WLAF running back (Frankfurt Galaxy, Miami Dolphins)
1972 Patrick Rafter Queensland Australia, tennis star (1993 USTA/Aptos California)
1973 Bobby Taylor NFL cornerback (Philadelphia Eagles)
1973 Garth John Da Silva Auckland New Zealand, heavyweight boxer (Olympics-96)
1973 Seth Meyers American comedian & TV host - began hosting NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in 2014
1974 Rob Niedermayer Cassiar, NHL center (Florida Panthers)
1975 Tannis Vallely New York NY, actress (Janice Lazorotto-Head of the Class)
1975 Kesley Perrin CFL defensive back (Winnipeg Blue Bombers)
1981 Elizabeth Jordan Carr 1st American test tube baby
Deaths which occurred on December 28:
1446 Clemens VIII [Aegyd Muñoz] Spanish anti-pope (1423-29), dies
1542 Albert Pigge [Pighius] Dutch theologist/astronomer, dies at about 52
1622 François de Sales French bishop of Genèva/writer/saint, dies at 55
1673 Joan Blaeu Dutch cartographer/publisher (Atlas Major), dies at 77
1694 Queen Mary II of England dies after 5 years of rule at 32
1706 Pierre Bayle French theologist (History of Criticism), dies at 59
1772 Ernst J Earl van/of Biron Russian duke of Courland, dies at 82
1775 Peter A van de Parra Governor-General of (Netherlands Indies), dies at 61
1779 Gennaro Manna composer, dies at 64
1793 Louis Earl of Bylandt Dutch admiral, dies at about 75
1830 Adrien-Joseph van Helmont composer, dies at 83
1859 Thomas Babington Macaulay English essayist/historian, dies
1860 Cornelius Broere Dutch Roman Catholic clergyman/poet, dies at 57
1862 Joaquim Casimiro Junior composer, dies at 54
1870 Alexey Fyodorovich L'vov composer, dies at 72
1870 Peter van Schendel Dutch painter, dies at 64
1876 Frederik Paludan-Müller Danish poet (Abels död), dies at 67
1878 Jose Bernardo Alcedo composer, dies at 90
1884 Gerben Colmjon Frisian linguist/publisher, dies at 56
1891 Alfred Cellier composer, dies at 47
1903 George [Robert] Gissing English novelist, dies at 46
1915 Gerrit Jan van Heek Dutch textile manufacturer/politician, dies at 78
1916 Eduard Strauss Austrian composer (318 dances), dies at 81
1918 George H White last post Reconstruction congressman (Pennsylvania), dies
1923 Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel engineer (Eiffel Tower), dies at 91
1932 John Blackham cricketer (35 Tests as Australia WK, caught 37), dies
1935 Clarence Day writer (Life with Father), dies
1937 Maurice J Ravel Swiss/French composer (Bolero), dies in Paris at 62
1938 Florence Lawrence silent screen actress (Confidence), dies at 48
1945 Theodore Dreiser novelist (An American Tragedy), dies at 74
1946 Carrie Jacobs Bond American composer (I Love You Truly), dies at 85
1947 Victor Emmanuel III king of Italy (1900-46)/Ethiopia, dies at 78
1948 Mahmud Nokrashy Pasha PM of Egypt, assassinated
1949 Jack Lovelock New Zealand/US surgeon/athlete (Olympics-gold-1936), dies at 39
1949 W Hervey Allen US writer/poet (Anthony Adverse), dies at 60
1956 Roelof Kranenburg Dutch social democratic party-chairman, dies at 76
1961 Edith Bolling Galt Wilson 1st lady (1915-21), dies at 89
1963 Abbott Joseph Liebling American journalist/writer, dies
1963 Paul Hindemith German composer (Composer's World), dies at 68
1967 Béla Schick Hung/US children's physician (Scarlet Fever), dies at 90
1969 Henry Oscar actor (Saint in London), dies at 78
1970 Charles "Sonny" Liston heavyweight boxer champion (1962-64), dies
1970 L Mendel Rivers (Representative-D-SC), dies at 65
1971 Maximilian Raoul Walter Steiner composer, dies at 83
1976 Freddie King rocker, dies at 42
1978 Harry Winston US jeweler for the "rich & famous", dies at 82
1980 Amir Elahi cricketer, 1st Pakistani Test cricketer to die
1980 Jersey calf lived 222 days with an artificial heart
1982 Frederick Douglass Hall composer, dies at 84
1983 William Demarest actor ("Uncle Charlie" on My Three Sons), dies in Palm Springs at 92
1983 Dennis Wilson drummer/singer (Beach Boys), drowns at 39
1984 Sam Peckinpah director, dies of cardiac arrest at 59
1986 Andrei Tarkovsky dies
1986 Louis van Lint Belgian painter, dies at 77
1987 Charles Malik Lebanon's 1st delegate to the UN, dies at 81
1989 Robert Wickler dies
1990 Ed van der Elsken Dutch photographer (Sweet Life), dies at 65
1990 Kiel Martin actor (Detective LaRue-Hill Street Blues), dies of cancer at 46
1990 Lucas Polhaupessy Moluccan leader, dies
1991 Cassandra Harris actress (For Your Eyes Only), dies of cancer at 39
1991 Jacques Aubuchon actor (Hoax, Thunder Road), dies of heart failure
1992 Mort Greene US songwriter (My Grandfather's Clock), dies at 80
1993 Howard Caine dies
1993 Joop Vervoort Dutch soccer referee, dies at 61
1993 William L Shirer writer (Rise & Fall of 3rd Reich), dies at 89
1994 Julian Belfrage theatre agent, dies at 60
1995 Harold Francis Collison trade unionist, dies at 84
1997 George Fleming cyclist, dies at 80
1997 James Lees-Milne architecural historian, dies at 89
1997 Ronald Clive Williams actor/comedian, dies at 68
Reported: MISSING in ACTION
( Expanded with full Bios, history, & MIA report )
1965 GRELLA DONALD C. LAUREL NE ACFT OVERDUE ON 10-15 MIN FLIGHT
1965 PHELPS JESSE D. BOISE ID ACFT OVERDUE ON 10-15 MIN FLIGHT
1965 RICE THOMAS JR. SPARTANBURG SC ACFT OVERDUE ON 10-15 MIN FLIGHT
1965 STANCIL KENNETH L. CHATTANOOGA TN ACFT OVERDUE ON 10-15 MIN FLIGHT
1972 AGNEW ALFRED H. MULLINS SC 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 1998
1972 CONDON JAMES C. VERSAILLES OH 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 1998
1972 CUSIMANO SAMUEL B. BIRMINGHAM AL 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1972 FRYER BEN L. STOCKTON CA 09/30/77 REMAINS RETURNED BY SRV
1972 GOUGH JAMES W. FRESNO CA 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1972 HAIFLEY MICHAEL FIRESTONE LISBON OH REMAINS RETURNED 08/14/85
1972 JOHNSON ALLEN L. TUSCUMBIA AL DEAD REMAINS RETURNED 12/04/85
1972 LEWIS FRANK D. FORT WAYNE IN 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 1998