1st December 1916
Charles de Foucauld, French Catholic religious and priest living among the Tuareg in the Sahara in Algeria, dies. 100 years.
2nd December 1946
Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer and founder of Gianni Versace S.p.A., an international fashion house, is born. 70 years.
2nd December 1891
Otto Dix, German painter, noted for his harshly realistic depictions of Weimar society and the brutality of war, is born. 125 years.
3rd December 1956
Alexander Rodchenko, Russian artist, one of the founders of constructivism, dies. 60 years.
5th December 1926
Claude Monet, French painter and one of the founders of the Impressionism movement, dies. 90 years.
9th December 1916
Kirk Douglas, American actor, producer, director, and author, was born. 100 years.
10th December 1936
Luigi Pirandello, Italian author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate, died. 80 years.
12th December 1791
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, second wife of Napoleon I and mother of his only heir, was born. 225 years.
13th December 1716
Charles de La Fosse, French painter, one of the most noted pupils of Le Brun, dies. 300 years.
14th December 1866
Roger Fry, English artist and art critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group is born. 150 years.
15th December 1966
Walt Disney, American animator, director, screenwriter, producer and actor, co-founded The Walt Disney Company, dies. 50 years.
16th December 1866
Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-French painter and art theorist, credited with painting the first purely abstract works, is born. 150 years.
18th December 1916
Betty Grable, American musical film actress and pin-up girl from the 1930's and 40's, is born. 100 years.
19th December 1996
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni, Knight Grand Cross, Italian film actor, died in Paris. 20 years.