Born on December 28

Archbishop of Canterbury in the 12th century, he clashed fiercely with King Henry II of England over the rights and freedoms of the Church. Murdered in his cathedral in 1170, he was canonized as early as 1173.

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) was the 28th President of the United States, in office from 1913 to 1921. An academic turned statesman, he led his country into the First World War and championed a vision of international order founded on cooperation between nations.

German film director (1888–1931), a central figure of Expressionist cinema. He made Nosferatu (1922) and The Last Laugh (1924), two foundational works in the art of filmmaking.

Spanish coloratura soprano, one of the great bel canto voices of the early 20th century. Having become a teacher, she was Maria Callas's singing instructor in Athens, passing on to her the art of bel canto.

Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist (1903–1957), pioneer of modern computing and game theory. He is the founding architect of the programmable digital computer and contributed to the development of nuclear energy.

Michel Petrucciani (1962-1999) was a French jazz pianist and composer, one of the greatest European virtuosos of his instrument. Affected by a rare bone disease, he led a dazzling international career before dying at the age of 36.

Finnish computer engineer born in 1969, Linus Torvalds is the creator of the Linux kernel in 1991, which became the most widely used open source operating system in the world. He also developed Git, a version control tool used by millions of developers.