Featured biographies

Today anniversaries

• 1461 – Domenico Grimani, Italian cardinal (d. 1523)
• 1473 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Prussian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1543)
• 1497 – Matthäus Schwarz, German fashion writer (d. 1574)
• 1519 – Froben Christoph of Zimmern, German author of the Zimmern Chronicle (d. 1566)
• 1526 – Carolus Clusius, Flemish botanist and academic (d. 1609)
• 1532 – Jean-Antoine de Baïf, French poet (d. 1589)
• 1552 – Melchior Klesl, Austrian cardinal (d. 1630)
• 1594 – Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (d. 1612)

• 1611 – Andries de Graeff, Dutch politician (d. 1678)
• 1630 – Shivaji, Indian warrior-king and the founder of Maratha Empire (d. 1680)
• 1660 – Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist (d. 1742)
• 1717 – David Garrick, English actor, playwright, and producer (d. 1779)
• 1743 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1805)
• 1798 – Allan MacNab, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, Premier of Canada West (d. 1862)
• 1800 – Émilie Gamelin, Canadian nun and social worker, founded the Sisters of Providence (d. 1851)
• 1804 – Carl von Rokitansky, German physician, pathologist, and philosopher (d. 1878)
• 1821 – August Schleicher, German linguist and academic (d. 1868)
• 1833 – Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)
• 1838 – Lydia Thompson, British burlesque performer (d. 1908)
• 1841 – Elfrida Andrée, Swedish organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1929)
• 1855 – Nishinoumi Kajirō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 16th Yokozuna (d. 1908)
• 1859 – Svante Arrhenius, Swedish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)
• 1865 – Sven Hedin, Swedish geographer and explorer (d. 1952)
• 1869 – Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian-Russian poet and author (d. 1923)
• 1872 – Johan Pitka, Estonian admiral (d. 1944)
• 1876 – Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian-French sculptor, painter, and photographer (d. 1957)
• 1877 – Gabriele Münter, German painter (d. 1962)
• 1878 – Harriet Bosse, Swedish–Norwegian actress (d. 1961)
• 1880 – Álvaro Obregón, Mexican general and politician, 39th President of Mexico (d. 1928)
• 1886 – José Abad Santos, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (d. 1942)
• 1888 – José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian lawyer and poet (d. 1928)
• 1893 – Cedric Hardwicke, English actor and director (d. 1964)
• 1895 – Louis Calhern, American actor (d. 1956)
• 1896 – André Breton, French poet and author (d. 1966)
• 1897 – Alma Rubens, American actress (d. 1931)
• 1899 – Lucio Fontana, Argentinian-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1968)

• 1902 – Kay Boyle, American novelist, short story writer, and educator (d. 1992)
• 1904 – Havank, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1964)
• 1911 – Merle Oberon, Indian-American actress (d. 1979)
• 1912 – Saul Chaplin, American composer (d. 1997)
• 1912 – Dorothy Janis, American actress (d. 2010)
• 1913 – Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (d. 2007)
• 1913 – Frank Tashlin, American animator and screenwriter (d. 1972)
• 1914 – Thelma Kench, New Zealand Olympic sprinter (d. 1985)
• 1915 – Dick Emery, English actor and comedian (d. 1983)
• 1915 – John Freeman, English lawyer, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States (d. 2014)
• 1916 – Eddie Arcaro, American jockey and sportscaster (d. 1997)
• 1917 – Carson McCullers, American novelist, short story writer, playwright, and essayist (d. 1967)
• 1918 – Fay McKenzie, American actress (d. 2019)
• 1920 – C. Z. Guest, American actress, fashion designer, and author (d. 2003)
• 1920 – Jaan Kross, Estonian author and poet (d. 2007)
• 1920 – George Rose, English actor and singer (d. 1988)
• 1922 – Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish journalist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2015)
• 1924 – David Bronstein, Ukrainian chess player and theoretician (d. 2006)
• 1924 – Lee Marvin, American actor (d. 1987)
• 1926 – György Kurtág, Hungarian composer and academic
• 1927 – Philippe Boiry, French journalist (d. 2014)
• 1929 – Jacques Deray, French director and screenwriter (d. 2003)
• 1930 – John Frankenheimer, American director and producer (d. 2002)
• 1930 – K. Viswanath, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2023)
• 1932 – Joseph P. Kerwin, American captain, physician, and astronaut
• 1935 – Chung-Yun Hse, Wood scientist (d. 2021)
• 1935 – Dave Niehaus, American sportscaster (d. 2010)
• 1935 – Russ Nixon, American MLB catcher and coach (d. 2016)
• 1936 – Sam Myers, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1936 – Frederick Seidel, American poet
• 1937 – Terry Carr, American author and educator (d. 1987)
• 1937 – Norm O'Neill, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2008)
• 1938 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (d. 1989)
• 1939 – Erin Pizzey, English activist and author, founded Refuge
• 1940 – Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (d. 2006)
• 1940 – Smokey Robinson, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1940 – Bobby Rogers, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
• 1941 – David Gross, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1941 – Jenny Tonge, Baroness Tonge, English politician
• 1942 – Cyrus Chothia, English biochemist and emeritus scientist at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (d. 2019)
• 1942 – Paul Krause, American football player and politician
• 1942 – Will Provine, American biologist, historian, and academic (d. 2015)
• 1942 – Howard Stringer, Welsh businessman
• 1943 – Lou Christie, American singer-songwriter
• 1943 – Homer Hickam, American author and engineer
• 1943 – Tim Hunt, English biochemist and academic, Nobel laureate
• 1944 – Les Hinton, English-American journalist and businessman
• 1945 – Yuri Antonov, Uzbek-Russian singer-songwriter
• 1946 – Paul Dean, Canadian guitarist
• 1946 – Peter Hudson, Australian footballer and coach
• 1946 – Karen Silkwood, American technician and activist (d. 1974)
• 1947 – Jackie Curtis, American actress and playwright (d. 1985)
• 1947 – Tim Shadbolt, New Zealand businessman and politician, 42nd Mayor of Invercargill
• 1948 – Mark Andes, American singer-songwriter and bass player
• 1948 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (d. 2002)
• 1948 – Tony Iommi, English guitarist and songwriter
• 1949 – Danielle Bunten Berry, American game designer and programmer (d. 1998)
• 1949 – Eddie Hardin, English singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2015)
• 1949 – Barry Lloyd, English footballer and manager
• 1949 – William Messner-Loebs, American author and illustrator
• 1950 – Juice Leskinen, Finnish singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1950 – Andy Powell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1951 – Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Pakistani scholar and politician, founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran
• 1952 – Ryū Murakami, Japanese novelist and filmmaker
• 1952 – Rodolfo Neri Vela, Mexican engineer and astronaut
• 1952 – Amy Tan, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer
• 1952 – Danilo Türk, Slovene academic and politician, 3rd President of Slovenia
• 1953 – Corrado Barazzutti, Italian tennis player
• 1953 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentine lawyer and politician, President of Argentina and Vice President of Argentina
• 1953 – Massimo Troisi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
• 1954 – Francis Buchholz, German bass player
• 1954 – Michael Gira, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1954 – Sócrates, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2011)
• 1955 – Jeff Daniels, American actor and playwright
• 1956 – Peter Holsapple, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1956 – Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1956 – Dave Wakeling, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1957 – Falco, Austrian singer-songwriter, rapper, and musician (d. 1998)
• 1957 – Dave Stewart, American baseball player, coach, and executive
• 1957 – Ray Winstone, English actor
• 1958 – Leslie David Baker, American actor
• 1958 – Helen Fielding, English author and screenwriter
• 1958 – Steve Nieve, English keyboard player and composer
• 1959 – Roger Goodell, American businessman, 6th National Football League Commissioner
• 1960 – Prince Andrew, Duke of York
• 1960 – John Paul Jr., American race car driver (d. 2020)
• 1961 – Justin Fashanu, English footballer (d. 1998)
• 1961 – Ernie Gonzalez, American golfer (d. 2020)
• 1962 – Hana Mandlíková, Czech-Australian tennis player and coach
• 1963 – Seal, English singer-songwriter
• 1963 – Jessica Tuck, American actress
• 1964 – Doug Aldrich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1964 – Jennifer Doudna, American biochemist
• 1964 – Jonathan Lethem, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer
• 1965 – Jon Fishman, American drummer
• 1965 – Clark Hunt, American businessman
• 1965 – Leroy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1966 – Justine Bateman, American actress and producer
• 1966 – Paul Haarhuis, Dutch tennis player and coach
• 1966 – Eduardo Xol, American designer and author (d. 2024)
• 1967 – Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican actor, director, and producer
• 1968 – Prince Markie Dee, American rapper and actor (d. 2021)
• 1968 – Frank Watkins, American bass player (d. 2015)
• 1969 – Burton C. Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1969 – Helena Guergis, Canadian businesswoman and politician
• 1970 – Joacim Cans, Swedish singer-songwriter
• 1970 – Verena Nussbaum, Austrian politician
• 1970 – Bellamy Young, American actress
• 1971 – Miguel Batista, Dominican baseball player and poet
• 1971 – Richard Green, Australian golfer
• 1971 – Jeff Kinney, American author and illustrator
• 1972 – Francine Fournier, American wrestler and manager
• 1972 – Sunset Thomas, American pornographic actress
• 1973 – Eric Lange, American actor
• 1975 – Daniel Adair, Canadian drummer and producer
• 1975 – Daewon Song, South Korean-American skateboarder, co-founded Almost Skateboards
• 1977 – Ola Salo, Swedish singer-songwriter and keyboard player
• 1977 – Andrew Ross Sorkin, American journalist and author
• 1977 – Gianluca Zambrotta, Italian footballer and manager
• 1978 – Ben Gummer, English scholar and politician
• 1978 – Immortal Technique, Peruvian-American rapper
• 1979 – Steve Cherundolo, American soccer player and manager
• 1980 – Dwight Freeney, American football player
• 1980 – Ma Lin, Chinese table tennis player
• 1980 – Mike Miller, American basketball player
• 1981 – Beth Ditto, American singer
• 1981 – Shawn Spears, Canadian wrestler
• 1983 – Kotoōshū Katsunori, Bulgarian sumo wrestler
• 1983 – Mika Nakashima, Japanese singer and actress
• 1983 – Reynhard Sinaga, Indonesian sex offender
• 1983 – Ryan Whitney, American ice hockey player
• 1983 – Jawad Williams, American basketball player
• 1984 – Chris Richardson, American singer-songwriter
• 1985 – Haylie Duff, American actress and singer
• 1985 – Arielle Kebbel, American actress and model
• 1985 – Kosta Perović, Serbian basketball player
• 1986 – Kyle Chipchura, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Linus Klasen, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1986 – Marta, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Maria Mena, Norwegian singer-songwriter
• 1987 – Anna Cappellini, Italian ice dancer
• 1987 – Josh Reddick, American baseball player
• 1988 – Shawn Matthias, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1988 – Seth Morrison, American guitarist
• 1989 – Sone Aluko, English-Nigerian footballer
• 1991 – Trevor Bayne, American race car driver
• 1991 – Christoph Kramer, German footballer
• 1991 – Adreian Payne, American basketball player (d. 2022)
• 1992 – Camille Kostek, American model
• 1992 – Cody Parkey, American football player
• 1993 – Mauro Icardi, Argentine footballer
• 1993 – Victoria Justice, American actress and singer
• 1994 – Tiina Trutsi, Estonian footballer
• 1995 – Nikola Jokić, Serbian basketball player
• 1996 – Mabel, British-Swedish singer
• 1996 – D. J. Wilson, American basketball player
• 1998 – Katharina Gerlach, German tennis player
• 1998 – Chappell Roan, American singer and songwriter
• 2001 – Lee Kang-in, South Korean footballer
• 2001 – David Mazouz, American actor
• 2003 – Jakub Ojrzyński, Polish footballer
• 2004 – Millie Bobby Brown, English actress, model and producer (Full article...)