December 21st, 1940

Born on December 21st, 1940

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 30,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 558 days, exactly on November 5th, 2025, people who were born on December 21st, 1940 will be 31,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on December 21st?

December 21st, 2018

Operatives of the British Special Boat Service boarded the container ship Grande Tema in the Thames Estuary to detain four stowaways who had threatened the crew.

December 21st, 2012

Countries that were part of the Maya civilization celebrated the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar.

December 21st, 1995

In accordance with the Oslo II Accord, Israeli troops withdrew from Bethlehem in preparation for the transfer of control to the Palestinian National Authority.

December 21st, 1994

Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano, dormant for 47 years, began erupting, and is now one of the nation's most active volcanoes.

December 21st, 1988

A bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103 detonated over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.

December 21st, 1970

The Grumman F-14 Tomcat, the primary fighter aircraft of the U.S. Navy for nearly 30 years, made its first flight.

December 21st, 1968

Apollo 8 launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a trajectory to the Moon; its crew (pictured) became the first humans to visit another celestial body.

December 21st, 1965

The United Nations adopted the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which 88 member states have since signed.

December 21st, 1937

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length cel-animated feature in film history, premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles.

December 21st, 1934

Lieutenant Kijé, one of Sergei Prokofiev's best-known works, premiered.

December 21st, 1923

Nepal and the United Kingdom signed the first treaty that defined the international status of Nepal as an independent and a sovereign nation.

December 21st, 1919

After serving two years in prison for encouraging people to resist military conscription, anarchist Emma Goldman was deported from the United States to Russia.

December 21st, 1872

HMS Challenger departed Portsmouth on a scientific expedition that laid the foundations of oceanography.

December 21st, 1826

Settlers from the United States in Mexican Texas made the first attempt to secede from Mexico, establishing the short-lived Republic of Fredonia.

December 21st, 1620

The Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower landed at present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, to establish the Plymouth Colony.

Birthdays
... of famous people, actors, celebrities and stars on December 21st

Born on December 21st, 1940

52

Frank Zappa

American musician (1940–1993)

*December 21st, 1940, Baltimore †December 4th, 1993, Los Angeles

76

Rolf Sagen

Norwegian writer (1940-2017)

*December 21st, 1940, Vadheim †April 6th, 2017

79

Gianni Dei

Italian actor

*December 21st, 1940, Bologna †October 19th, 2020, Rome

81

Kelly Cherry

American writer

*December 21st, 1940, Baton Rouge †March 18th, 2022

Same Day
Who's birthday is on December 21st?

75

Jared Martin

American actor (1941-2017)

*December 21st, 1941, Queens †May 24th, 2017, Philadelphia

86

Jane Fonda

American actress and activist

*December 21st, 1937, New York City

81

Hu Jintao

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 2002 to 2012

*December 21st, 1942, Jiangyan District

84

Ove Sprogøe

Danish actor (1919-2004)

*December 21st, 1919, Odense †September 14th, 2004, Tårnby

46

Emmanuel Macron

President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017

*December 21st, 1977, Amiens

54

Magnus Samuelsson

Swedish strongman

*December 21st, 1969, Kisa

83

Marta Linz

Hungarian violinist, composer, conductor

*December 21st, 1898, Budapest †January 11th, 1982, Berlin

57

Kiefer Sutherland

British-Canadian actor

*December 21st, 1966, St. Mary's Hospital

79

Michael Tilson Thomas

American conductor, pianist and composer

*December 21st, 1944, Los Angeles

81

John G. Avildsen

American film director

*December 21st, 1935, Oak Park †June 16th, 2017, Los Angeles

75

Samuel L. Jackson

American actor (born 1948)

*December 21st, 1948, Washington, D.C.

56

Mikheil Saakashvili

Georgian-Ukrainian politician, former President of Georgia and former Governor of Odesa

*December 21st, 1967, Tbilisi

71

Dennis Boutsikaris

American actor

*December 21st, 1952, Newark

74

Claire Préaux

Belgican classical scholar (1904-1979)

*December 21st, 1904, Liège †March 28th, 1979, Ixelles - Elsene

36

Khris Davis

Baseball player from the United States

*December 21st, 1987, Lakewood

77

Josh Mostel

American actor

*December 21st, 1946, New York City

81

Wolfgang Weng

German politician

*December 21st, 1942, Stuttgart

57

William Ruto

President of Kenya since 2022

*December 21st, 1966, Kamagut

81

Jidéhem

Belgian comics artist (1935-2017)

*December 21st, 1935, Belgium †April 30th, 2017, Brussels metropolitan area

66

Paco de Lucía

Spanish flamenco, classical, jazz guitarist & musician (1947-2014)

*December 21st, 1947, Algeciras †February 25th, 2014, Playa del Carmen

Same year
Born in 1940

83

Onur Öymen

Turkish politician and diplomat

*October 18th, 1940, Kadıköy

84

Lorns Skjemstad

Norwegian cross-country skier

*March 10th, 1940, Inderøy Municipality

40

John Lennon

British musician (1940–1980)

*October 9th, 1940, Liverpool †December 8th, 1980, New York City

83

Jeannie Seely

American singer

*July 6th, 1940, Titusville

76

Al Jarreau

American singer (1940–2017)

*March 12th, 1940, Milwaukee †February 12th, 2017, Los Angeles

82

Pelé

Brazilian footballer (1940–2022)

*October 23rd, 1940, Três Corações †December 29th, 2022, Morumbi District

84

Al Pacino

American actor (born 1940)

*April 25th, 1940, Manhattan

77

Michael Parks

American actor (1940–2017)

*April 24th, 1940, Corona †May 9th, 2017, Los Angeles

83

Annie Ernaux

French writer (born 1940)

*September 1st, 1940, Lillebonne

82

James Caan

American actor (1940–2022)

*March 26th, 1940, The Bronx †July 6th, 2022, Los Angeles

80

Wolfgang Clement

German politician

*July 7th, 1940, Bochum †September 27th, 2020, Bonn

84

Nancy Pelosi

American politician (born 1940)

*March 26th, 1940, Baltimore

32

Bruce Lee

Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor (1940–1973)

*November 27th, 1940, San Francisco Chinese Hospital †July 20th, 1973, Kowloon Tong

84

Jana Brejchová

Czech actress

*January 20th, 1940, Prague

55

Joseph Brodsky

Russian-American poet (1940-1996)

*May 24th, 1940, Saint Petersburg †January 28th, 1996, Brooklyn

76

Manfred Jung

German singer and operatic tenor

*July 9th, 1940, Oberhausen †April 14th, 2017, Essen

79

Tilo Prückner

German actor and author

*October 26th, 1940, Augsburg †July 2nd, 2020, Berlin

83

Ringo Starr

British musician, drummer for the Beatles

*July 7th, 1940, Liverpool

83

Patrick Stewart

British actor (born 1940)

*July 13th, 1940, Mirfield

77

John Hurt

British actor (1940–2017)

*January 22nd, 1940, Chesterfield †January 25th, 2017, Norfolk

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on December 21st

Fixed holidays (Christian feast day, Earliest usual date for the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, and its related observances) which are celebrated on December 21st.

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Born on December 21st, 1940
Future birthdays

Leap year

Yes: 1940 is a leap year, therefore has a 29th of February with an additional leap day and a total of 366 days (instead of the usual 365 days in a normal year).

Calendar
December 1940