| 142441 | December 18 | Birth | 1931 – Alison Plowden, English historian and author (d. 2007) |
| 142442 | December 18 | Birth | 1931 – Bill Thompson, American television host (d. 2014) |
| 142443 | December 18 | Birth | 1932 – Roger Smith, American actor, producer, and screenwriter |
| 142444 | December 18 | Birth | 1933 – Lonnie Brooks, American singer and guitarist |
| 142445 | December 18 | Birth | 1934 – Marc Rich, Belgian-American businessman, founded Glencore (d. 2013) |
| 142446 | December 18 | Birth | 1934 – Boris Volynov, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut |
| 142447 | December 18 | Birth | 1935 – Rosemary Leach, English actress |
| 142448 | December 18 | Birth | 1935 – Jacques Pépin, French-American chef and author |
| 142449 | December 18 | Birth | 1936 – Malcolm Kirk, English rugby player and wrestler (d. 1987) |
| 142450 | December 18 | Birth | 1938 – Chas Chandler, English bass player and producer (The Animals) (d. 1996) |
| 142451 | December 18 | Birth | 1938 – Joel Hirschhorn, American songwriter and composer (d. 2005) |
| 142452 | December 18 | Birth | 1938 – Roger E. Mosley, American actor |
| 142453 | December 18 | Birth | 1939 – Michael Moorcock, English author and songwriter |
| 142454 | December 18 | Birth | 1939 – Harold E. Varmus, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate |
| 142455 | December 18 | Birth | 1940 – John Cooper, English sprinter and hurdler (d. 1974) |
| 142456 | December 18 | Birth | 1941 – Sam Andrew, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company) |
| 142457 | December 18 | Birth | 1941 – Wadada Leo Smith, American trumpet player and composer (Creative Construction Company) |
| 142458 | December 18 | Birth | 1941 – Joan Wallach Scott, American historian, author, and academic |
| 142459 | December 18 | Birth | 1942 – Harvey Atkin, Canadian actor |
| 142460 | December 18 | Birth | 1943 – Bobby Keys, American saxophonist (d. 2014) |
| 142461 | December 18 | Birth | 1943 – Keith Richards, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (The Rolling Stones, The Dirty Mac, and The New Barbarians) |
| 142462 | December 18 | Birth | 1943 – Alan Rudolph, American director and screenwriter |
| 142463 | December 18 | Birth | 1944 – Crispian Steele-Perkins, English trumpet player and educator |
| 142464 | December 18 | Birth | 1945 – Jean Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player and coach |
| 142465 | December 18 | Birth | 1946 – Steve Biko, South African activist, founded the Black Consciousness Movement (d. 1977) |
| 142466 | December 18 | Birth | 1946 – Alex Ligertwood, Scottish singer (Average White Band and The Senate) |
| 142467 | December 18 | Birth | 1946 – Steven Spielberg, American director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded DreamWorks |
| 142468 | December 18 | Birth | 1947 – Leonid Yuzefovich, Russian author and screenwriter |
| 142469 | December 18 | Birth | 1948 – Edmund Kemper, American serial killer |
| 142470 | December 18 | Birth | 1948 – Bill Nelson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Be-Bop Deluxe and Bill Nelson's Red Noise) |