| 143491 | December 21 | Birth | 1908 – Herbert Hutner, American banker and lawyer (d. 2008) |
| 143492 | December 21 | Birth | 1909 – Seichō Matsumoto, Japanese journalist and author (d. 1992) |
| 143493 | December 21 | Birth | 1911 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (d. 1947) |
| 143494 | December 21 | Birth | 1913 – Arnold Friberg, American illustrator and painter (d. 2010) |
| 143495 | December 21 | Birth | 1914 – Frank Fenner, Australian microbiologist and virologist (d. 2010) |
| 143496 | December 21 | Birth | 1914 – Ivan Generalić, Hungarian-Croatian painter (d. 1992) |
| 143497 | December 21 | Birth | 1915 – Joe Mantell, American actor (d. 2010) |
| 143498 | December 21 | Birth | 1915 – Werner von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 2007) |
| 143499 | December 21 | Birth | 1917 – Diana Athill, English author |
| 143500 | December 21 | Birth | 1917 – Heinrich Böll, German soldier and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985) |
| 143501 | December 21 | Birth | 1918 – Donald Regan, American colonel and politician, 11th White House Chief of Staff (d. 2003) |
| 143502 | December 21 | Birth | 1918 – Kurt Waldheim, Austrian colonel and politician, 9th President of Austria (d. 2007) |
| 143503 | December 21 | Birth | 1920 – Bob Bindig, American illustrator and historian (d. 2007) |
| 143504 | December 21 | Birth | 1920 – Jean Gascon, Canadian actor and director (d. 1988) |
| 143505 | December 21 | Birth | 1921 – Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina and choreographer, founded the Cuban National Ballet |
| 143506 | December 21 | Birth | 1921 – Robert Lipshutz, American lawyer and politician, 17th White House Counsel (d. 2010) |
| 143507 | December 21 | Birth | 1922 – Itubwa Amram, Nauruan pastor and politician (d. 1989) |
| 143508 | December 21 | Birth | 1922 – Paul Winchell, American ventriloquist and voice actor (d. 2005) |
| 143509 | December 21 | Birth | 1923 – Richard Hugo, American poet and educator (d. 1982) |
| 143510 | December 21 | Birth | 1924 – Rita Reys, Dutch singer (d. 2013) |
| 143511 | December 21 | Birth | 1925 – Olga Aroseva, Russian actress (d. 2013) |
| 143512 | December 21 | Birth | 1926 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech author and playwright (d. 2011) |
| 143513 | December 21 | Birth | 1926 – Joe Paterno, American football player and coach (d. 2012) |
| 143514 | December 21 | Birth | 1928 – Michalis Kounelis, Greek violinist (d. 1999) |
| 143515 | December 21 | Birth | 1928 – Ed Nelson, American actor (d. 2014) |
| 143516 | December 21 | Birth | 1931 – David Baker, American composer and educator |
| 143517 | December 21 | Birth | 1932 – U. R. Ananthamurthy, Indian author, poet, and critic (d. 2014) |
| 143518 | December 21 | Birth | 1932 – Edward Hoagland, American author and critic |
| 143519 | December 21 | Birth | 1933 – Denis E. Dillon, American jurist and politician (d. 2010) |
| 143520 | December 21 | Birth | 1933 – Robert Worcester, American businessman, founder of MORI |