| 141991 | December 17 | Birth | 1785 – Dorothea Lieven, Russian wife of Christopher Lieven (d. 1857) |
| 141992 | December 17 | Birth | 1796 – Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Canadian judge and politician (d. 1865) |
| 141993 | December 17 | Birth | 1797 – Joseph Henry, American physicist and engineer (d. 1878) |
| 141994 | December 17 | Birth | 1807 – John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet and activist (d. 1892) |
| 141995 | December 17 | Birth | 1812 – Vilhelm Petersen, Danish painter (d. 1880) |
| 141996 | December 17 | Birth | 1827 – Alexander Wassilko von Serecki, Austrian lawyer and politician (d. 1893) |
| 141997 | December 17 | Birth | 1830 – Jules de Goncourt, French author and critic (d. 1870) |
| 141998 | December 17 | Birth | 1835 – Alexander Emanuel Agassiz, Swiss-American ichthyologist and engineer (d. 1910) |
| 141999 | December 17 | Birth | 1840 – Nozu Michitsura, Japanese field marshal and leading figure in the Imperial Japanese Army (d. 1908) |
| 142000 | December 17 | Birth | 1842 – Sophus Lie, Norwegian mathematician and academic (d. 1899) |
| 142001 | December 17 | Birth | 1847 – Émile Faguet, French author and critic (d. 1916) |
| 142002 | December 17 | Birth | 1853 – Pierre Paul Émile Roux, French physician, co-founded the Pasteur Institute (d. 1933) |
| 142003 | December 17 | Birth | 1859 – Paul César Helleu, French painter and illustrator (d. 1927) |
| 142004 | December 17 | Birth | 1866 – Kazys Grinius, Lithuanian politician, 3rd President of Lithuania (d. 1950) |
| 142005 | December 17 | Birth | 1866 – Konrad Stäheli, Swiss target shooter (d. 1931) |
| 142006 | December 17 | Birth | 1873 – Ford Madox Ford, English-French author, poet, and critic (d. 1939) |
| 142007 | December 17 | Birth | 1874 – William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canadian economist and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1950) |
| 142008 | December 17 | Birth | 1881 – Aubrey Faulkner, South African-English cricketer and coach (d. 1930) |
| 142009 | December 17 | Birth | 1887 – Josef Lada, Czech painter and illustrator (d. 1957) |
| 142010 | December 17 | Birth | 1887 – Hermine Reuss of Greiz (d. 1947) |
| 142011 | December 17 | Birth | 1890 – Prince Joachim of Prussia (d. 1920) |
| 142012 | December 17 | Birth | 1892 – Sam Barry, American basketball player and coach (d. 1950) |
| 142013 | December 17 | Birth | 1893 – Charles C. Banks, English fighting pilot (d. 1971) |
| 142014 | December 17 | Birth | 1893 – Erwin Piscator, German director and producer (d. 1966) |
| 142015 | December 17 | Birth | 1894 – Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (d. 1979) |
| 142016 | December 17 | Birth | 1894 – Patrick Flynn, Irish-American runner (d. 1969) |
| 142017 | December 17 | Birth | 1894 – Wim Schermerhorn, Dutch cartographer, engineer, and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977) |
| 142018 | December 17 | Birth | 1898 – Loren Murchison, American sprinter (d. 1979) |
| 142019 | December 17 | Birth | 1900 – Mary Cartwright, English mathematician and academic (d. 1998) |
| 142020 | December 17 | Birth | 1900 – Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (d. 1973) |