Athletes Born on December 19

  • 1879 Beals Wright, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1905; doubles 1904-06), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1961)
  • 1882 Ralph DePalma, Italian-American auto racer (Indianapolis 500 1915; American AAA Dirt Track C'ships 1908, 09, 10, 11; International Motorsports Hall of Fame), born in Biccari, Italy (d. 1956)
  • 1894 Ford C Frick, American Baseball HOF executive (NL President 1934-51; MLB Commissioner 1951-65), born in Wawaka, Indiana (d. 1978)
  • 1907 Jimmy McLarnin, Irish boxer (NYSAC, NBA, The Ring welterweight world champion 1933-35; International Boxing HOF), born in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland (d. 2004)
  • 1916 Merv Wallace, New Zealand cricket batsman and captain (13 Tests, 5 x 50; Auckland), born in Auckland, New Zealand (d. 2008)
  • 1917 Graham Sharp, British figure skater (World C'ship, European C'ship 1939), born in London, England (d. 1995)

Doug Harvey (1924-1989)

Canadian Hockey HOF defenseman (Stanley Cup 1953, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 Montreal Canadiens; James Norris Trophy x 7; 10 x NHL First All Star), born in Montreal, Quebec

  • 1926 Bobby Layne, American College and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback (3 x NFL champion; 6 x Pro Bowl; Detroit Lions), born in Santa Anna, Texas (d. 1986)
  • 1928 Andrés Prieto, Chilean soccer forward (16 caps; Universidad Católica, Español) and manager (Universidad Católica, Liverpool FC, Bolívar, Real Santa Cruz), born in Santiago, Chile (d. 2022)
  • 1928 Rubens Minelli, Brazilian soccer manager (SC Internacional, SE Palmeiras, SC Corinthians, Santos FC, Al-Hilal SFC, Saudi Arabia), born in São Paulo, Brazil (d. 2023)
  • 1933 Kevan Gosper, Australian sports executive (president Australian Olympic Committee 1985–1990; chairman Australian Institute of Sport 1980–85), born in Sidney, Australia

Al Kaline (1934-2020)

American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (18 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1968; 10 × Gold Glove Award; Detroit Tigers), born in Baltimore, Maryland

  • 1935 Tony Taylor, Cuban baseball second baseman (MLB All Star 1960; Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers), born in Central Álava, Cuba (d. 2020)
  • 1949 Christian Dalger, French soccer forward (6 caps; SC Toulon, AS Monaco FC) and manager (SC Toulon, Grenoble, Mali), born in Nîmes, France (d. 2023)
  • 1949 Claudia Kolb, American swimmer (Olympic gold 200/400m medley 1968; silver 200m breaststroke 1964), born in Hayward, California
  • 1955 Susil Fernando, Sri Lankan cricket batsman (5 Tests, HS 46; SL Air Force Sports Club), born in Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • 1957 Kevin McHale, American Basketball HOF forward (NBA C'ship 1981, 84, 86; 7 × NBA All-Star; Boston Celtics) and coach (Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets), born in Hibbing, Minnesota
  • 1959 Edward Metgod, Dutch soccer goalkeeper (1 cap; HFC Haarlem 329 games, Sparta Rotterdam 224 games), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 1960 Arthur Stone, New Zealand rugby union centre (9 Tests; Waikato RU, Bay of Plenty RU, Otago RFU), born in Auckland, New Zealand

Reggie White (1961-2004)

American College-Pro Football HOF defensive end (Super Bowl XXXI Green Bay Packers; 8 × First-team All-Pro; 13 x Pro Bowl; NFL Defensive Player of the Year 1987, 98), born in Chattanooga, Tennessee

  • 1962 Charith Senanayake, Sri Lankan cricket batsman (3 Tests, 1 x 50; Colombo CC, Mombasa Sports Club), born in Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • 1964 Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuanian Basketball HOF center (Olympic gold USSR 1988; bronze Lithuania 1992, 96; 6 × Euroscar Player of the Year; Mr. Europa Player of the Year 1985, 97; Portland Trailblazers), born in Kaunas, Lithuania
  • 1964 Lorie Kane, Canadian golfer (4 x LPGA Tour titles; Canadian Golf HOF), born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
  • 1964 Mike Fetters, American MLB pitcher, 1989-2004 (California Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, and 6 other teams), and pitching coach (Arizona Diamondback, 2012-present), born in Van Nuys, California
  • 1964 Randall McDaniel, American College-Pro Football HOF guard (Arizona State Uni; !2 x Pro-Bowl; 7 × First-team All-Pro; Minnesota Vikings, TB Buccaneers), born in Phoenix, Arizona
  • 1966 Alberto Tomba, Italian alpine skier (Olympic gold Slalom 1988, Giant slalom 1988, 1992; silver Slalom 1992, 94), born in San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna, Italy
  • 1966 Rajesh Chauhan, Indian cricket spin bowler (21 Tests; 47 wickets; 35 ODIs; Madhya Pradesh), born in Ranchi, India
  • 1969 Michael Bates, American football wide receiver (5 × First-team All-Pro; 5 × Pro Bowl; Carolina Panthers), born in Victoria, Texas
  • 1969 Nayan Mongia, Indian cricket batsman-wicketkeeper (44 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 152, 107 dismissals; Baroda), born in Baroda, India
  • 1969 Tom Gugliotta, American basketball forward (NBA All-Star 1997; NBA All-Rookie First Team 1993; Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns), born in Huntington Station, New York
  • 1970 Robert Lang, Czech ice hockey center (Olympic gold 1998; World C'ship gold 1996; NHL All-Star 2004; LA Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit RWs), born in Teplice, Czech Republic
  • 1971 Jennifer Dore, American rower (World C'ship gold W8+ 1995, silver 1993, 94, 98), born in Montclair, New Jersey
  • 1972 Warren Sapp, American Pro Football HOF defensive tackle (Super Bowl XXXVII; NFL Defensive Player of the Year 1999; 4 × First-team All-Pro; 7 × Pro Bowl; TB Buccaneers; Oakland Raiders), born in Orlando, Florida
  • 1973 Zulfiya Zabirova, Uzbek road cyclist Olympic gold time trial 1996; UCI World C'ship gold 2002), born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
  • 1974 Jake Plummer, American football quarterback (Arizona Cardinals; Pro Bowl 2005 Denver Broncos), born in Boise, Idaho
  • 1974 Ricky Ponting, Australian cricket batsman, captain, coach and broadcaster (168 Tests, 13,378 runs @ 51.85; 41 x 100s), born in Launceston, Tasmania
  • 1975 Olivier Tébily, Ivorian soccer defender (18 caps; Chamois Niortais FC, Celtic, Birmingham City), born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
  • 1977 Jorge Garbajosa, Spanish basketball forward (FIBA World C'ship gold 2006; Mr. Europa 2006 Unicaja; Toronto Raptors) and executive (president Spanish Basketball Federation 2016-23), born in Madrid, Spain
  • 1982 Mo Williams, American basketball point guard (NBA C'ship 2016, NBA All-Star 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers) and coach (Alabama State), born in Jackson, Mississippi
  • 1982 Tero Pitkämäki, Finnish athlete (World C'ship gold javelin 2007; Olympic bronze 2008), born in Ilmajoki, Finland
  • 1985 Gary Cahill, English soccer defender (61 caps; Chelsea, Bolton), born in Dronfield, Derbyshire
  • 1985 Neil Kilkenny, Australian soccer midfielder (15 caps; Leeds United, Bristol City, Preston North End, Perth Glory), born in London, England
  • 1986 Ryan Babel, Dutch soccer winger (69 caps; Ajax, Liverpool, Hoffenheim, Kasımpaşa, Beşiktaş, Galatasaray), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Karim Benzema (36 years old)

1987 French soccer striker (97 caps; FIFA Ballon d'Or 2022; Lyon, Real Madrid), born in Lyon, France

Alexis Sánchez (35 years old)

1988 Chilean soccer forward (Udinese, FC Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Chilean national team; Copa America 2015, 16), born in Tocopilla, Chile

  • 1990 Sally Fitzgibbons, Australian surfer (ISA World Games gold 2008, 18, 21; WSL World Tour 2010, 11, 12 runner-up), born in Gerroa, Australia
  • 1994 Manny Franco, Puerto Rican jockey (Belmont Stakes 2020 Tiz the Law; Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf 2019), born in Carolina, Puerto Rico