December 21st, 1940

Born on December 21st, 1940

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 31,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 737 days, exactly on August 1st, 2028, people who were born on December 21st, 1940 will be 32,000 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, 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, 1963

An attempt by Greek Cypriot police to search certain Turkish Cypriot women in Nicosia escalated into island-wide violence, leading to 538 deaths and the displacement of nearly 27,000 people.

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, the first film composition by Sergei Prokofiev (pictured), 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, 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.

December 21st, 1992

Martinair Flight 495 crashed on landing at Faro Airport due to a downburst, killing 56 out of the 340 people on board.

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

79

Gianni Dei

Italian actor

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

Same year
Born in 1940

85

Onur Öymen

Turkish politician and diplomat

*October 18th, 1940, Kadıköy

40

John Lennon

British musician (1940–1980)

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

83

Lorns Skjemstad

Norwegian cross-country skier

*March 10th, 1940, Inderøy Municipality †February 18th, 2024, Røros Municipality

82

Pelé

Brazilian footballer (1940–2022)

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

76

Al Jarreau

American singer and songwriter (1940–2017)

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

86

Al Pacino

American actor (born 1940)

*April 25th, 1940, Manhattan

86

Klaus Schlappner

German association football player and manager

*May 22nd, 1940, Lampertheim

85

Annie Ernaux

French writer (born 1940)

*September 1st, 1940, Lillebonne

77

Michael Parks

American actor (1940–2017)

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

80

Wolfgang Clement

German politician

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

86

Nancy Pelosi

American politician

*March 26th, 1940, Baltimore

32

Bruce Lee

Chinese-American martial artist and actor (1940–1973)

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

82

James Caan

American actor (1940–2022)

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

55

Joseph Brodsky

Russian-American poet (1940-1996)

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

86

Ringo Starr

British musician, drummer for the Beatles

*July 7th, 1940, Liverpool

86

Nūrsūltan Nazarbaev

President of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019

*July 6th, 1940, Ushqonyr

79

Tilo Prückner

German actor and author (1940–2020)

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

76

Manfred Jung

German singer and operatic tenor (1940–2017)

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

86

Patrick Stewart

British actor

*July 13th, 1940, Mirfield

79

Peter Fonda

American actor (1940–2019)

*February 23rd, 1940, New York City †August 16th, 2019, Los Angeles

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