1) Actually, this does not *really* answer the question, but it is still an interesting story, I think. "Ward V. Streeter, Red Kill farmer, has first claim to fame when it comes to picking a time to be born. The old clock on the kitchen mantle was ticking the time away and showed just two minutes to 12, midnight, when Ward was ushered into the world. The remarkable part of it was the date, which read "Dec. 31, 1900", on the kitchen wall calendar. Since any new century does not begin until the first year ending in the figure "1", this made Streeter the last man to be born in the 19th century. At least that's the way Dr. Henry Keator, Fleischmanns, reported it on the certificate when he got down to the office in his horse and buggy. After he'd left, however, the Streeter family noticed a horrible error. The old kitchen clock, already an ancient relic, was actually two minites slow. This automatically made Ward the first an to be born in the 20th century instead of the last man to be born in the 19th century. Word was rushed down to Dr. Keator, but transportation being what it was in those days, this meant two or three days later. By that time it was too late. The papers had already been sent in." "Ward's ambition is to live to see the year 2001 roll in." Source and further information: "Walton Reporter, Walton, N.Y. Friday, March 7, 1952" (so he was still living at that time) http://www.skenelib.org/dpq/clipping_one.php?id=15 2) This probably count December 31, 1899 as the last day of the 19th century: "Kapaun was born June 4, 1899, and is the last person born in the 19th century alive in South Dakota." http://almostfamoustori.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=31 (From Google cached in result list) http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="+last+person+born+in+the+19th+century"&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq= 3) According to Wikipedia, among famous people: "December 20 - Marinus van der Goes van Naters, Dutch politician (d. 2005)" Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900#December The German Wikipedia gives: "28. Dezember: Kurt Lück, deutscher Volkskundler und Minderheitenaktivist in Polen († 1942)" http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900#Dezember_2 The Italian Wikipedia gives: "31 dicembre - Juan Tizol, trombonista portoricano († 1984)" http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900#Nati