Portal:Biography

A page from the first edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs, published in 1563
Third Volume of a 1727 edition of Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans printed by Jacob Tonson
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Cover of the first English publication, J. Parson's, London, 1793

A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of their life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality. (Full article...)

Featured biographies

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Prince Romerson (c. 1840 – March 30, 1872) was a Union Army soldier of Native Hawaiian descent. One of the "Hawaiʻi Sons of the Civil War", he was among a group of more than 100 documented Native Hawaiian and Hawaii-born combatants who fought in the American Civil War while the Kingdom of Hawaii was still an independent nation.

Living in the American Northeast before the war, Romerson enlisted in the Union Navy in 1863 as part of the Blockading Squadrons responsible for maintaining the blockade of the ports of the Confederacy. After being discharged from naval service, he reenlisted in the Union Army under the 5th Regiment Massachusetts Colored Volunteer Cavalry, a United States Colored (USCT) regiment, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant on June 1, 1864. Romerson fought with the 5th USCC until the end of the war. Illness prevented him from continuing with his regiment's reassignment to Clarksville, Texas, and he was mustered out in 1865. After the war, like many former USCT veterans, he remained in the army on the frontier as one of the Buffalo Soldiers. He died in 1872. (Full article...)
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Olga Constantinovna of Russia (Greek: Όλγα; 3 September [O.S. 22 August] 1851 – 18 June 1926) was Queen of Greece as the wife of King George I. She was briefly the regent of Greece in 1920.

A member of the Romanov dynasty, Olga was the oldest daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. She spent her childhood in Saint Petersburg, Poland, and the Crimea, and married George in 1867 at the age of sixteen. At first, she felt ill at ease in the Kingdom of Greece, but she quickly became involved in social and charitable work. She founded hospitals and schools, but her attempt to promote a new, more accessible, Greek translation of the Gospels sparked riots by religious conservatives. (Full article...)
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Lenin in 1920

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (22 April [O.S. 10 April] 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist who was the founder and first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924, and of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death. As the founder and leader of the Bolsheviks, Lenin led the October Revolution which established the world's first socialist state. His government won the Russian Civil War and created a one-party state under the Communist Party. Ideologically a Marxist, his developments to the ideology are called Leninism.

Born into a middle-class family in Simbirsk, Lenin embraced revolutionary socialist politics following his brother's execution in 1887. He was expelled from Kazan Imperial University for participating in protests against the Tsarist government, and devoted the following years to a law degree before relocating to Saint Petersburg in 1893 and becoming a leading Marxist activist. In 1897, Lenin was arrested for sedition and exiled to Siberia for three years, after which he moved to Western Europe and became a key figure in the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. In the party's 1903 schism, he led his Bolshevik faction against the Mensheviks. Lenin briefly returned to Russia during the failed Revolution of 1905, and during the First World War campaigned for its transformation into a Europe-wide proletarian revolution, which, as a Marxist, he believed would cause the collapse of capitalism and the rise of socialism. After the February Revolution of 1917 ousted Tsar Nicholas II and established a Provisional Government, Lenin returned to Russia and played a leading role in the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks overthrew the regime. (Full article...)
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Double statue portraying Nyuserre as both a young man and an old man, Museum of Egyptian Art in Munich

Nyuserre Ini (also Niuserre Ini or Neuserre Ini; in Greek known as Rathurês, Ῥαθούρης; died c. 2422 BC) was an Ancient Egyptian king, the sixth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He is credited with a reign of 24 to 36 years depending on the scholar, and likely lived in the second half of the 25th century BCE. Nyuserre was the younger son of Neferirkare Kakai and queen Khentkaus II, and the brother of the short-lived king Neferefre. He may have succeeded his brother directly, as indicated by much later historical sources. Alternatively, Shepseskare may have reigned between the two as advocated by Miroslav Verner, albeit only for a few weeks or months at the most. The relation of Shepseskare with Neferefre and Nyuserre remains highly uncertain. Nyuserre was in turn succeeded by Menkauhor Kaiu, who could have been his nephew and a son of Neferefre.

Nyuserre was the most prolific builder of his dynasty, having built three pyramids for himself and his queens and completed a further three for his father, mother and brother, all in the necropolis of Abusir. He built the largest surviving temple to the sun god Ra constructed during the Old Kingdom, named Shesepibre or "Joy of the heart of Ra". He also completed the Nekhenre, the Sun temple of Userkaf in Abu Gorab, and the valley temple of Menkaure in Giza. In doing so, he was the first king since Shepseskaf, last ruler of the Fourth Dynasty, to pay attention to the Giza necropolis, a move which may have been an attempt to legitimise his rule following the troubled times surrounding the unexpected death of his brother Neferefre. (Full article...)
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Wing Commander Peter Jeffrey, c. 1942–43

Peter Jeffrey, (6 July 1913 – 6 April 1997) was a senior officer and fighter ace in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in Tenterfield, New South Wales, he joined the RAAF active reserve in 1934, and transferred to the Permanent Air Force (PAF) shortly before World War II. Posted to the Middle East in July 1940, Jeffrey saw action with No. 3 Squadron and took command of the unit the following year, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for his energy and fighting skills. He was appointed wing leader of No. 234 Wing RAF in November 1941, and became an ace the same month with his fifth solo victory. The next month he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his achievements, which included rescuing a fellow pilot who had crash landed in the desert.

In 1942, Jeffrey was posted to the South West Pacific, where he helped organise No. 75 Squadron for the defence of Port Moresby, and No. 76 Squadron before the Battle of Milne Bay. He served two stints in charge of No. 2 Operational Training Unit in southern Australia before the end of the war, broken by command of No. 1 (Fighter) Wing in the Northern Territory and Western Australia during 1943–44, at which time he was promoted to temporary group captain. Jeffrey was transferred to the RAAF reserve after the war but returned to the PAF in 1951, holding training posts in Victoria and command of RAAF Base Edinburgh in South Australia, before resigning in 1956. Outside the military, he was a grazier and stockbroker. He died in 1997 at the age of 83. (Full article...)
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Portrait by Nicola Marschall, 1883

Luke Pryor Blackburn (June 16, 1816 – September 14, 1887) was an American physician, philanthropist, and politician from Kentucky. He was elected the 28th governor of Kentucky, serving from 1879 to 1883. Until the election of Ernie Fletcher in 2003, Blackburn was the only physician to serve as governor of Kentucky.

After earning a medical degree at Transylvania University, Blackburn moved to Natchez, Mississippi, and gained national fame for implementing the first successful quarantine against yellow fever in the Mississippi River valley in 1848. He came to be regarded as an expert on yellow fever and often worked pro bono to combat outbreaks. Among his philanthropic ventures was the construction of a hospital for boatmen working on the Mississippi River using his personal funds. He later successfully lobbied Congress to construct a series of similar hospitals along the Mississippi. (Full article...)
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Ranavalona III (Malagasy pronunciation: [ranaˈvalːə̥]; 22 November 1861 – 23 May 1917) was the last sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar. She ruled from 30 July 1883 to 28 February 1897 in a reign marked by ultimately futile efforts to resist the colonial designs of the government of France. As a young woman, she was selected from among several Andriana qualified to succeed Queen Ranavalona II upon her death. Like both preceding queens, Ranavalona entered a political marriage with a member of the Hova elite named Rainilaiarivony, who largely oversaw the day-to-day governance of the kingdom and managed its foreign affairs in his role as prime minister. Ranavalona tried to stave off colonization by strengthening trade and diplomatic relations with foreign powers throughout her reign, but French attacks on coastal port towns and an assault on the capital city of Antananarivo led to the capture of the royal palace in 1895, ending the sovereignty and political autonomy of the centuries-old kingdom.

Ranavalona and her court were initially permitted to remain as symbolic figureheads, but the outbreak of a popular resistance movement called the menalamba rebellion, and the discovery of anti-French political intrigues at court led the French to exile her to the island of Réunion in 1897. Rainilaiarivony died that same year, and Ranavalona was relocated to a villa in Algiers, along with several members of her family. The queen, her family, and the servants accompanying her were provided an allowance and enjoyed a comfortable standard of living, including occasional trips to Paris for shopping and sightseeing. Ranavalona was never permitted to return home to Madagascar, however, despite her repeated requests. She died of an embolism at her villa in Algiers in 1917 at age 55. Her remains were buried in Algiers but were disinterred 21 years later and shipped to Madagascar, where they were placed within the tomb of Queen Rasoherina on the grounds of the Rova of Antananarivo. (Full article...)
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Bust of Shen at the Beijing Ancient Observatory

Shen Kuo (Chinese: 沈括; 1031–1095) or Shen Gua, courtesy name Cunzhong (存中) and pseudonym Mengqi (now usually given as Mengxi) Weng (夢溪翁), was a Chinese polymath, scientist, and statesman of the Song dynasty (960–1279). Shen was a master in many fields of study including mathematics, optics, and horology. In his career as a civil servant, he became a finance minister, governmental state inspector, head official for the Bureau of Astronomy in the Song court, Assistant Minister of Imperial Hospitality, and also served as an academic chancellor. At court his political allegiance was to the Reformist faction known as the New Policies Group, headed by Chancellor Wang Anshi (1021–1085).

In his Dream Pool Essays or Dream Torrent Essays (夢溪筆談; Mengxi Bitan) of 1088, Shen was the first to describe the magnetic needle compass, which would be used for navigation (first described in Europe by Alexander Neckam in 1187). Shen discovered the concept of true north in terms of magnetic declination towards the north pole, with experimentation of suspended magnetic needles and "the improved meridian determined by Shen's [astronomical] measurement of the distance between the pole star and true north". This was the decisive step in human history to make compasses more useful for navigation, and may have been a concept unknown in Europe for another four hundred years (evidence of German sundials made circa 1450 show markings similar to Chinese geomancers' compasses in regard to declination). (Full article...)
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Jordan in 2014

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. He played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) between 1984 and 2003, winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. He was integral in popularizing basketball and the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a global cultural icon. His profile on the NBA website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time."

Jordan played college basketball with the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels' national championship team in 1982. Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick and quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring while gaining a reputation as one of the best defensive players. His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free-throw line in Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness". Jordan won his first NBA title with the Bulls in 1991 and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a three-peat. Citing physical and mental exhaustion from basketball and superstardom, Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the 1993–94 NBA season to play Minor League Baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization. He returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three more championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. Jordan retired for the second time in January 1999, returning for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards. He was selected to play for the United States national team during his college and NBA careers, winning four gold medals—at the 1983 Pan American Games, 1984 Summer Olympics, 1992 Tournament of the Americas and 1992 Summer Olympics—while also being undefeated. (Full article...)
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Khrushchev in 1962

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (15 April [O.S. 3 April] 1894 – 11 September 1971) was First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers (premier) from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev stunned the communist world with his denunciation of his predecessor Joseph Stalin and embarked on a policy of de-Stalinization with his key ally Anastas Mikoyan. He sponsored the early Soviet space program and enacted reforms in domestic policy. After some false starts, and a narrowly avoided nuclear war over Cuba, he conducted successful negotiations with the United States to reduce Cold War tensions. In 1964, the Kremlin circle stripped him of power, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier.

Khrushchev was born in 1894 in a village in western Russia. He was employed as a metal worker during his youth, and he was a political commissar during the Russian Civil War. Under the sponsorship of Lazar Kaganovich, Khrushchev worked his way up the Soviet hierarchy. He originally supported Stalin's purges and approved thousands of arrests. In 1938, Stalin sent him to govern the Ukrainian SSR, and he continued the purges there. During what was known as the Great Patriotic War, Khrushchev was again a commissar, serving as an intermediary between Stalin and his generals. Khrushchev was present at the defense of Stalingrad, a fact he took great pride in. After the war, he returned to Ukraine before being recalled to Moscow as one of Stalin's close advisers. (Full article...)
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Ayres and child

Alice Ayres (12 September 1859 – 26 April 1885) was an English nursemaid honoured for her bravery in rescuing the children in her care from a house fire. Ayres was a household assistant and nursemaid to the family of her brother-in-law and sister, Henry and Mary Ann Chandler. The Chandlers owned an oil and paint shop in Union Street, Southwark, then just south of London, and Ayres lived with the family above the shop. In 1885, a fire broke out in the shop, and Ayres rescued three of her nieces from the burning building, before falling from a window and suffering fatal injury.

Britain, in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, experienced a period of great social change in which the rapidly growing news media paid increasing attention to the activities of the poorer classes. The manner of Ayres's death caused great public interest, with large numbers of people attending her funeral and contributing to the funding of a memorial. Shortly after her death, she underwent what has been described as a "secular canonisation", being widely depicted in popular culture and, although very little was known about her life, widely cited as a role model. Various social and political movements promoted Ayres as an example of the values held by their particular movement. The circumstances of her death were distorted to give the impression that she was an employee willing to die for the sake of her employer's family, rather than for children to whom she was closely related. In 1902, her name was added to the Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice and in 1936 a street near the scene of the fire was renamed Ayres Street in her honour. (Full article...)
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Joseph Anton Lopez (born José Antonio López; October 4, 1779 – October 5, 1841) was a Mexican Catholic priest and Jesuit. Born in Michoacán, he studied canon law at the Colegio de San Nicolás and the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico. He became acquainted with the future Empress consort Ana María Huarte and was made chaplain to the future imperial family. He was later put in charge of the education of all the princes in Mexico. Lopez was a close ally of Emperor Agustín de Iturbide, residing in Madrid for four years as his attorney and political informant, and accompanying him during his exile to Italy and England.

Following Iturbide's execution in 1824, Lopez moved to the United States with the exiled Empress Ana María and her children and settled in Washington, D.C. He became the chaplain to the Georgetown Visitation Monastery and entered the Society of Jesus in 1833, working also as a novice and minister at Georgetown College. When the president of Georgetown College, William McSherry, died, Lopez became acting president in 1840, making him the first Latin American president of a university in the United States. As an educator, he garnered a reputation as a strict disciplinarian. Just several months into his presidency, he fell ill and was sent to recuperate in St. Inigoes, Maryland; he died there in 1841. (Full article...)
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Portrait by Ernest Walter Histed, c. 1906
Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 1869 – 19 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundreds of new works to British audiences. After his death, the concerts were officially renamed in his honour as the "Henry Wood Promenade Concerts", although they continued to be generally referred to as "the Proms".

Born in modest circumstances to parents who encouraged his musical talent, Wood started his career as an organist. During his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, he came under the influence of the voice teacher Manuel García and became his accompanist. After similar work for Richard D'Oyly Carte's opera companies on the works of Arthur Sullivan and others, Wood became the conductor of a small operatic touring company. He was soon engaged by the larger Carl Rosa Opera Company. One notable event in his operatic career was conducting the British premiere of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in 1892. (Full article...)
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Iwata at Game Developers Conference in 2011
Satoru Iwata (Japanese: 岩田聡, Hepburn: Iwata Satoru, December 6, 1959 – July 11, 2015) was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. Iwata was a major contributor in broadening the appeal of video games by focusing on novel and entertaining games rather than top-of-the-line hardware.

Born in Sapporo, Iwata expressed interest in video games from an early age and created his first simple game while in high school. He majored in computer science at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. In 1980, he joined the game developer HAL Laboratory while attending the university. At HAL, he worked as a programmer and closely collaborated with Nintendo, producing his first commercial game in 1983. Games to which he contributed include EarthBound and many games in the Kirby series. Following a downturn and near-bankruptcy, Iwata became the president of HAL in 1993 at the insistence of Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi and brought financial stability. In the following years, he worked in the development of the Pokémon and Super Smash Bros. series. Iwata joined Nintendo as the head of its corporate planning division in 2000. (Full article...)
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John C. Breckinridge by Mathew Brady

The political career of John C. Breckinridge included service in the state government of Kentucky, the Federal government of the United States, as well as the government of the Confederate States of America. In 1857, 36 years old, he was inaugurated as Vice President of the United States under James Buchanan. He remains the youngest person to ever hold the office. Four years later, he ran as the presidential candidate of a dissident group of Southern Democrats, but lost the election to the Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln.

A member of the Breckinridge political family, John C. Breckinridge became the first Democrat to represent Fayette County in the Kentucky House of Representatives, and in 1851, he was the first Democrat to represent Kentucky's 8th congressional district in over 20 years. A champion of strict constructionism, states' rights, and popular sovereignty, he supported Stephen A. Douglas's Kansas–Nebraska Act as a means of addressing slavery in the territories acquired by the U.S. in the Mexican–American War. Considering his re-election to the House of Representatives unlikely in 1854, he returned to private life and his legal practice. He was nominated for vice president at the 1856 Democratic National Convention, and although he and Buchanan won the election, he enjoyed little influence in Buchanan's administration. (Full article...)

Today anniversaries

Pre-1600

450 – Justin I, Byzantine emperor (d. 527)
1208 – James I of Aragon (d. 1276)
1425 (or 1426) – Eleanor of Navarre, Queen regnant of Navarre (d. 1479)
1443 – Elisabeth of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (d. 1486)
1455 – John, King of Denmark (d. 1513)
1457 – Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, Italian-Spanish historian and author (d. 1526)
1467 – Columba of Rieti, Italian Dominican sister (d. 1501)
1494 – Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (d. 1557)
1502 – Damião de Góis, Portuguese philosopher and historian (d. 1574)
1506 – René de Birague, Italian-French cardinal and politician (d. 1583)
1509 – John of Leiden, Dutch Anabaptist leader (d. 1536)
1517 – Gotthard Kettler, the last Master of the Livonian Order and the first Duke of Courland and Semigallia (d. 1587)
1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1565)
1536 – Piotr Skarga, Polish writer (d. 1612)
1551 – Nicolaus Reimers, German astronomer (d. 1600)
1576 – Alix Le Clerc, French Canoness Regular and foundress (d. 1622)
1585 – Judith Quiney, William Shakespeare's youngest daughter (d. 1662)
1585 – Hamnet Shakespeare, William Shakespeare's only son (baptised; d. 1596)
1588 – Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl, German nobleman (d. 1644)
1600 – Gabriel Naudé, French librarian and scholar (d. 1653)

1601–1900

1611 – Ulrik of Denmark, Danish prince-bishop (d. 1633)
1613 – Noël Chabanel, French missionary and saint (d. 1649)
1621 – Johannes Schefferus, Swedish author and hymn-writer (d. 1679)
1650 – Pope Benedict XIII (d. 1730)
1650 – Nell Gwyn, English actress, mistress of King Charles II of England (d. 1687)
1651 – William Phips, Royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1695)
1669 – Louis Marchand, French organist and composer (d. 1732)
1677 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French composer (d. 1745)
1695 – William Borlase, English geologist and archaeologist (d. 1772)
1695 – François de Chevert, French general (d. 1769)
1700 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German author and critic (d. 1766)
1711 – Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (d. 1794)
1714 – Gottfried August Homilius, German organist and composer (d. 1785)
1717 – Ernst Gideon von Laudon, Austrian field marshal (d. 1790)
1754 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1838)
1782 – Henri de Rigny, French admiral and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1835)
1786 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1856)
1802 – Jean-Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist and academic (d. 1887)
1803 – Albert Sidney Johnston, American general (d. 1862)
1829 – Alfred Brehm, German zoologist and illustrator (d. 1884)
1829 – William Stanley, English engineer and philanthropist (d. 1909)
1841 – François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss limnologist and hydrologist (d. 1912)
1842 – Julian Sochocki, Polish-Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1927)
1849 – Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Slovak poet and playwright (d. 1921)
1851 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican illustrator and engraver (d. 1913)
1856 – Frederick William Vanderbilt, American railway magnate (d. 1938)
1856 – Makar Yekmalyan, Armenian composer (d. 1905)
1857 – Jan Drozdowski, Polish pianist and music teacher (d. 1918)
1860 – Curtis Guild, Jr., American journalist and politician, 43rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1915)
1861 – Solomon R. Guggenheim, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (d. 1949)
1862 – Émile Coste, French fencer (d. 1927)
1862 – Cornelius McKane, American physician, educator, and hospital founder (d. 1912)
1866 – Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter and academic (d. 1927)
1869 – Alexander Atabekian, Armenian physician and anarchist publisher (d. 1933)
1873 – Leo Fall, Austrian composer (d. 1925)
1873 – Konstantin von Neurath, German politician and diplomat, 13th German Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1956)
1875 – Fritz Kreisler, Austrian-American violinist and composer (d. 1962)
1877 – Frank L. Packard, Canadian author (d. 1942)
1878 – Joe Lydon, American boxer (d. 1937)
1880 – Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (d. 1969)
1881 – Orval Overall, American baseball player and manager (d. 1947)
1882 – Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark (d. 1944)
1882 – James Joyce, Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1941)
1883 – Johnston McCulley, American author and screenwriter, created Zorro (d. 1958)
1883 – Julia Nava de Ruisánchez, Mexican activist and writer (d. 1964)
1885 – Mikhail Frunze, Soviet revolutionary, politician, army officer and military theorist (d. 1925)
1886 – William Rose Benét, American poet and author (d. 1950)
1887 – Ernst Hanfstaengl, German businessman (d. 1975)
1889 – Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, French general (d. 1952)
1890 – Charles Correll, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1972)
1892 – Tochigiyama Moriya, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 27th Yokozuna (d. 1959)
1893 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (d. 1974)
1893 – Raoul Riganti, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1970)
1893 – Damdin Sükhbaatar, Mongolian soldier and politician (d. 1924)
1895 – George Halas, American football player and coach (d. 1983)
1895 – Robert Philipp, American painter (d. 1981)
1895 – George Sutcliffe, Australian public servant (d. 1964)
1896 – Kazimierz Kuratowski, Polish mathematician and logician (d. 1980)
1897 – Howard Deering Johnson, American businessman, founded Howard Johnson's (d. 1972)
1897 – Gertrude Blanch, Russian-American mathematician (d. 1996)
1900 – Willie Kamm, American baseball player and manager (d. 1988)

1901–present

1901 – Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian-American violinist and educator (d. 1987)
1902 – Newbold Morris, American lawyer and politician (d. 1966)
1902 – John Tonkin, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1995)
1904 – Bozorg Alavi, Iranian author and activist (d. 1997)
1905 – Ayn Rand, Russian-born American novelist and philosopher (d. 1982)
1908 – Wes Ferrell, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
1909 – Frank Albertson, American actor (d. 1964)
1911 – Jack Pizzey, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Queensland (d. 1968)
1912 – Millvina Dean, English civil servant and cartographer (d. 2009)
1912 – Burton Lane, American songwriter and composer (d. 1997)
1913 – Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor and singer (d. 1985)
1914 – Eric Kierans, Canadian economist and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Communications (d. 2004)
1915 – Abba Eban, South African-Israeli politician and diplomat, 1st Israel Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2002)
1915 – Stan Leonard, Canadian golfer (d. 2005)
1915 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (d. 2014)
1916 – Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet and author (d. 1985)
1917 – Mary Ellis, British World War II ferry pilot (d. 2018)
1917 – Đỗ Mười, Vietnamese politician, 5th Prime Minister of Vietnam (d. 2018)
1918 – Hella Haasse, Indonesian-Dutch author (d. 2011)
1919 – Lisa Della Casa, Swiss soprano and actress (d. 2012)
1919 – Georg Gawliczek, German footballer and manager (d. 1999)
1920 – George Hardwick, English footballer and coach (d. 2004)
1920 – John Russell, American Olympic equestrian (d. 2020)
1920 – Arthur Willis, English football player-manager (d. 1987)
1922 – Kunwar Digvijay Singh, Indian field hockey player (d. 1978)
1922 – Robert Chef d'Hôtel, French athlete (d. 2019)
1922 – Stoyanka Mutafova, Bulgarian actress (d. 2019)
1922 – James L. Usry, American politician, first African-American mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 2002)
1923 – Jean Babilée, French dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)
1923 – James Dickey, American poet and novelist (d. 1997)
1923 – Svetozar Gligorić, Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster (d. 2012)
1923 – Bonita Granville, American actress and producer (d. 1988)
1923 – Red Schoendienst, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2018)
1923 – Liz Smith, American journalist and author (d. 2017)
1923 – Clem Windsor, Australian rugby player and surgeon (d. 2007)
1924 – Sonny Stitt, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1982)
1924 – Elfi von Dassanowsky, Austrian-American singer, pianist, producer (d. 2007)
1925 – Elaine Stritch, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
1926 – Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French academic and politician, 20th President of France (d. 2020)
1927 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (d. 1991)
1927 – Doris Sams, American baseball player (d. 2012)
1928 – Ciriaco De Mita, 47th Prime minister of Italy (d. 2022)
1928 – Gamal Hamdan, Egyptian scholar and geographer (d. 1993)
1928 – Jay Handlan, American basketball player and engineer (d. 2013)
1928 – Tommy Harmer, English footballer and youth team coach (d. 2007)
1929 – Sheila Matthews Allen, American actress and producer (d. 2013)
1929 – George Band, English engineer and mountaineer (d. 2011)
1929 – Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1929 – John Henry Holland, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2015)
1929 – Waldemar Kmentt, Austrian operatic tenor (d. 2015)
1931 – Les Dawson, English comedian and author (d. 1993)
1931 – Glynn Edwards, Malaysian-English actor (d. 2018)
1931 – John Paul Harney, Canadian educator and politician (d. 2021)
1931 – Dries van Agt, Dutch politician, diplomat and jurist, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2024)
1931 – Judith Viorst, American journalist and author
1932 – Arthur Lyman, American jazz vibraphone and marimba player (d. 2002)
1932 – Robert Mandan, American actor (d. 2018)
1933 – M'el Dowd, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
1933 – Tony Jay, English-American actor (d. 2006)
1933 – Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Cuban bassist and composer (d. 2009)
1933 – Than Shwe, Burmese general and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Burma
1934 – Khalil Ullah Khan, Bangladeshi actor (d. 2014)
1935 – Pete Brown, American golfer (d. 2015)
1935 – Evgeny Velikhov, Russian physicist and academic (d. 2024)
1936 – Metin Oktay, Turkish footballer and manager (d. 1991)
1937 – Don Buford, American baseball player and coach
1937 – Eric Arturo Delvalle, Panamanian lawyer and politician, President of Panama (d. 2015)
1937 – Anthony Haden-Guest, British journalist, poet, and critic
1937 – Remak Ramsay, American actor
1937 – Tom Smothers, American comedian, actor, and activist (d. 2023)
1937 – Alexandra Strelchenko, Ukrainian actress and singer (d. 2019)
1938 – Norman Fowler, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
1938 – Bo Hopkins, American actor (d. 2022)
1938 – Gene MacLellan, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
1939 – Jackie Burroughs, English-born Canadian actress (d. 2010)
1939 – Mary-Dell Chilton, American chemist and inventor and one of the founders of modern plant biotechnology
1939 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014)
1940 – Alan Caddy, English guitarist and producer (d. 2000)
1940 – Thomas M. Disch, American author and poet (d. 2008)
1940 – Wayne Fontes, American football player and coach
1940 – David Jason, English actor, director, and producer
1941 – Terry Biddlecombe, English jockey (d. 2014)
1941 – Lee Redmond, American woman with the longest fingernails (d. 2023)
1942 – Graham Nash, English-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Andrew Davis, English organist and conductor (d. 2024)
1944 – Geoffrey Hughes, English actor (d. 2012)
1944 – Ursula Oppens, American pianist and educator
1945 – John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, English economist and academic
1946 – John Armitt, English engineer and businessman
1946 – Blake Clark, American comedian and actor
1946 – Alpha Oumar Konaré, Malian academic and politician, 3rd President of Mali
1946 – Constantine Papadakis, Greek-American businessman and academic (d. 2009)
1947 – Greg Antonacci, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
1947 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress and producer (d. 2009)
1948 – Ina Garten, American chef and author
1948 – Al McKay, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1948 – Roger Williamson, English race car driver (d. 1973)
1949 – Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
1949 – Jack McGee, American actor
1949 – Yasuko Namba, Japanese mountaineer (d. 1996)
1949 – Brent Spiner, American actor and singer
1949 – Ross Valory, American bass player and songwriter
1950 – Osamu Kido, Japanese wrestler (d. 2023)
1950 – Libby Purves, British journalist and author
1950 – Bárbara Rey, Spanish singer and actress
1950 – Barbara Sukowa, German actress
1950 – Genichiro Tenryu, Japanese wrestler
1951 – Vangelis Alexandris, Greek basketball player and coach
1951 – Ken Bruce, Scottish radio host
1952 – Dave Casper, American football player
1952 – John Cornyn, American lawyer and politician, 49th Attorney General of Texas
1952 – Park Geun-hye, South Korean politician, 11th President of South Korea
1952 – Ralph Merkle, American computer scientist and academic
1952 – Carol Ann Susi, American actress (d. 2014)
1953 – Duane Chapman, American bounty hunter
1953 – Jerry Sisk, Jr., American gemologist, co-founded Jewelry Television (d. 2013)
1954 – Christie Brinkley, American actress, model, and businesswoman
1954 – Hansi Hinterseer, Austrian skier and actor
1954 – Nelson Ne'e, Solomon Islander politician (d. 2013)
1954 – John Tudor, American baseball player
1955 – Leszek Engelking, Polish poet and author (d. 2022)
1955 – Bob Schreck, American author
1955 – Michael Talbott, American actor
1955 – Kim Zimmer, American actress
1955 – Jean-Michel Dupuis, French actor (d. 2024)
1956 – Adnan Oktar, Turkish cult leader
1957 – Phil Barney, Algerian-French singer-songwriter
1958 – Michel Marc Bouchard, Canadian playwright
1959 – Dexter Manley, American football player
1961 – Abraham Iyambo, Namibian politician (d. 2013)
1961 – Lauren Lane, American actress and academic
1962 – Philippe Claudel, French author, director, and screenwriter
1962 – Andy Fordham, English darts player (d. 2021)
1962 – Luke Johnson, English businessman
1962 – Paul Kilgus, American baseball player
1962 – Kate Raison, Australian actress
1962 – Michael T. Weiss, American actor
1963 – Ilya Byakin, Russian ice hockey player
1963 – Eva Cassidy, American singer and guitarist (d. 1996)
1963 – Kjell Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player
1963 – Andrej Kiska, Slovak entrepreneur and philanthropist, President of Slovakia
1963 – Philip Laats, Belgian martial artist
1963 – Stephen McGann, English actor
1963 – Vigleik Storaas, Norwegian pianist
1965 – Carl Airey, English footballer
1965 – Naoki Sano, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
1966 – Andrei Chesnokov, Russian tennis player and coach
1966 – Robert DeLeo, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
1966 – Adam Ferrara, American actor and comedian
1966 – Michael Misick, Caicos Islander politician, Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands
1967 – Artūrs Irbe, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
1967 – Laurent Nkunda, Congolese general
1968 – Kenny Albert, American sportscaster
1968 – Sean Elliott, American basketball player and sportscaster
1968 – Scott Erickson, American baseball player and coach
1969 – Dana International, Israeli singer-songwriter
1969 – Valeri Karpin, Estonian-Russian footballer and manager
1970 – Roar Strand, Norwegian footballer
1970 – Erik ten Hag, Dutch footballer and manager
1970 – Jennifer Westfeldt, American actress and singer
1971 – Michelle Gayle, English singer-songwriter and actress
1971 – Arly Jover, Spanish actress
1971 – Isaac Kungwane, South African footballer and sportscaster (d. 2014)
1971 – Rockwilder, American rapper and producer
1971 – Hwang Seok-jeong, South Korean actress
1971 – Jason Taylor, Australian rugby league player and coach
1972 – Hisashi, Japanese musician
1972 – Melvin Mora, Venezuelan baseball player
1972 – Aleksey Naumov, Russian footballer
1973 – Andrei Luzgin, Estonian tennis player and coach
1973 – Aleksander Tammert, Estonian discus thrower
1973 – Marissa Jaret Winokur, American actress and singer
1975 – Todd Bertuzzi, Canadian ice hockey player
1975 – Donald Driver, American football player
1975 – Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek footballer
1976 – Ryan Farquhar, Northern Irish motorcycle racer
1976 – James Hickman, English swimmer
1976 – Ana Roces, Filipino actress
1977 – Shakira, Colombian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1977 – Libor Sionko, Czech footballer
1978 – Adam Christopher, New Zealand writer
1978 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager
1978 – Dan Gadzuric, Dutch basketball player
1978 – Lee Ji-ah, South Korean actress
1978 – Rich Sommer, American actor
1978 – Faye White, English footballer
1979 – Urmo Aava, Estonian race car driver
1979 – Fani Chalkia, Greek hurdler and sprinter
1979 – Christine Lampard, Irish television host
1979 – Shamita Shetty, Indian actress
1979 – Irini Terzoglou, Greek shot putter
1980 – Teddy Hart, Canadian wrestler
1980 – Zhang Jingchu, Chinese actress
1980 – Oleguer Presas, Spanish footballer
1981 – Lance Allred, American basketball player and activist
1981 – Emre Aydın, Turkish singer-songwriter
1981 – Michelle Bass, English model and singer
1981 – Salem al-Hazmi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001)
1982 – Sergio Castaño Ortega, Spanish footballer
1982 – Kelly Mazzante, American basketball player
1982 – Kan Mi-youn, South Korean singer, model, and host
1983 – Ronny Cedeño, Venezuelan baseball player
1983 – Carolina Klüft, Swedish heptathlete and jumper
1983 – Jordin Tootoo, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Jason Vargas, American baseball player
1983 – Vladimir Voskoboinikov, Estonian footballer
1983 – Alex Westaway, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1984 – Brian Cage, American wrestler
1984 – Chin-Lung Hu, Taiwanese baseball player
1984 – Mao Miyaji, Japanese actress
1984 – Rudi Wulf, New Zealand rugby player
1985 – Morris Almond, American basketball player
1985 – Masoud Azizi, Afghan sprinter
1985 – Renn Kiriyama, Japanese actor
1985 – Kristo Saage, Estonian basketball player
1985 – Silvestre Varela, Portuguese footballer
1986 – Gemma Arterton, English actress and singer
1986 – Miwa Asao, Japanese volleyball player
1987 – Anthony Fainga'a, Australian rugby player
1987 – Saia Fainga'a, Australian rugby player
1987 – Faydee, Australian singer
1987 – Athena Imperial, Filipino journalist, Miss Earth-Water 2011
1987 – Mimi Page, American singer-songwriter and composer
1987 – Gerard Piqué, Spanish footballer
1987 – Javon Ringer, American football player
1987 – Jill Scott, English footballer
1987 – Martin Spanjers, American actor and producer
1988 – JuJu Chan, Hong Kong-American actress, martial artist, singer, and writer
1988 – Zosia Mamet, American actress
1988 – Brad Peacock, American baseball player
1989 – Harrison Smith, American football player
1989 – Southside, American record producer
1991 – Nathan Delfouneso, English footballer
1991 – Gregory Mertens, Belgian footballer (d. 2015)
1991 – Shohei Nanba, Japanese actor
1992 – Lammtarra, American race horse (d. 2014)
1992 – Joonas Tamm, Estonian footballer
1993 – Bobby Decordova-Reid, English footballer
1993 – Ravel Morrison, English footballer
1994 – Caterina Bosetti, Italian volleyball player
1995 – Paul Digby, English footballer
1995 – Aleksander Jagiełło, Polish footballer
1995 – Arfa Karim, Pakistani student and computer prodigy (d. 2012)
1995 – Curtis Lazar, Canadian ice hockey player
1996 – Christian Dvorak, American ice hockey player
1996 – Paul Mescal, Irish actor
1996 – Harry Winks, English footballer
1997 – Ellie Bamber, English actress
1998 – Shiho Katō, Japanese singer and model
1999 – Jeff Okudah, American football player
2000 – Munetaka Murakami, Japanese baseball player
2004 – Eleonore Caburet, French rhythmic gymnast (Full article...)

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