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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"Vine" sculpture by Bronwyn Oliver

Bronwyn Joy Oliver (née Gooda, 22 February 1959 – 10 July 2006) was an Australian sculptor whose work primarily consisted of metalwork. Her sculptures are admired for their tactile nature, aesthetics, and technical skills demonstrated in their production.

Oliver was raised in rural New South Wales. She trained at Sydney's Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education and London's Chelsea School of Art. She had early success, winning a New South Wales Travelling Art Scholarship in 1981 and the Moet & Chandon Australian Art Fellowship in 1984. Oliver settled in Sydney, where she practised and taught until her death in 2006. (Full article...)
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John Young Brown (June 28, 1835 – January 11, 1904) was an American politician from the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky who represented the state in the United States House of Representatives and served as its 31st governor. Brown was elected to the House of Representatives for three non-consecutive terms, each of which was marred by controversy. He was first elected in 1859, despite his own protests that he was not yet twenty-five years old, the minimum age set by the Constitution for serving in the legislature. The voters of his district elected him anyway, but he was not allowed to take his seat until the Congress' second session, after he was of legal age to serve. After moving to Henderson, Kentucky, Brown was elected from that district in 1866. On this occasion, he was denied his seat because of alleged disloyalty to the Union during the Civil War. Voters in his district refused to elect another representative, and the seat remained vacant throughout the term to which Brown was elected. After an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid in 1871, Brown was again elected to the House in 1872 and served three consecutive terms. During his final term, he was officially censured for delivering a speech excoriating Massachusetts Representative Benjamin F. Butler. The censure was later expunged from the congressional record.

After his service in the House, Brown took a break from politics but re-entered the political arena as a candidate for governor of Kentucky in 1891. He secured the Democratic nomination in a four-way primary election, then convincingly won the general election over his Republican challenger, Andrew T. Wood. Brown's administration, and the state Democratic Party, were split between gold standard supporters (including Brown) and supporters of the free coinage of silver. Brown's was also the first administration to operate under the Kentucky Constitution of 1891, and most of the legislature's time was spent adapting the state's code of laws to the new constitution. Consequently, little of significance was accomplished during Brown's term. (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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The Accord of Winchester, 1072. Thomas' signature is on the right, next to Lanfranc's.

Thomas of Bayeux (died 18 November 1100) was Archbishop of York from 1070 until 1100. He was educated at Liège and became a royal chaplain to Duke William of Normandy, who later became King William I of England. After the Norman Conquest, the king nominated Thomas to succeed Ealdred as Archbishop of York. After Thomas' election, Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, demanded an oath from Thomas to obey him and any future Archbishops of Canterbury; this was part of Lanfranc's claim that Canterbury was the primary bishopric, and its holder the head of the English Church. Thomas countered that York had never made such an oath. As a result, Lanfranc refused to consecrate him. The King eventually persuaded Thomas to submit, but Thomas and Lanfranc continued to clash over ecclesiastical issues, including the primacy of Canterbury, which dioceses belonged to the province of York, and the question of how York's obedience to Canterbury would be expressed.

After King William I's death Thomas served his successor, William II, and helped to put down a rebellion led by Thomas' old mentor Odo of Bayeux. Thomas also attended the trial for rebellion of the Bishop of Durham, William de St-Calais, Thomas' sole suffragan, or bishop subordinate to York. During William II's reign Thomas once more became involved in the dispute with Canterbury over the primacy when he refused to consecrate the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm, if Anselm was named the Primate of England in the consecration service. After William II's sudden death in 1100, Thomas arrived too late to crown King Henry I, and died soon after the coronation. (Full article...)
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Beattie in 2007

Thomas Kevin Beattie (18 December 1953 – 16 September 2018) was an English footballer. Born into poverty, he played at both professional and international levels, mostly as a centre-half. He spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich Town, the club with which he won both the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup. He was also named the inaugural Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year at the end of the 1972–73 season, and featured in the film Escape to Victory alongside many of his Ipswich teammates.

Beattie's playing career took him from rags to riches, but according to The Daily Telegraph he was "cursed by being both injury and accident prone". His playing career included some controversy, notably when he went missing after being selected for England's under-23 team. After retiring from playing he descended into unemployment and alcohol abuse, and contemplated suicide, before finding purpose once more and a new career in later life, as a football commentator on television and radio. (Full article...)
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Lord Ashfield by Hugh Cecil, c. 1920

Albert Henry Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield, (8 August 1874 – 4 November 1948), born Albert Henry Knattriess, was a British-American businessman who was managing director, then chairman of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) from 1910 to 1933 and chairman of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) from 1933 to 1947.

Although born in Britain, his early career was in the United States, where, at a young age, he held senior positions in the developing tramway systems of Detroit and New Jersey. In 1898, he served in the United States Navy during the short Spanish–American War. (Full article...)
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Bowie c. 1831–1834

Colonel James Bowie (/ˈbuːi/ BOO-ee) (April 10, 1796 – March 6, 1836) was an American military officer, landowner and slave trader who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of him as a fighter and frontiersman, both real and fictitious, have made him a legendary figure in Texas history and a folk hero of American culture.

Bowie was born on April 10, 1796, in Logan County, Kentucky. He spent most of his life in Louisiana, where he was raised and where he later worked as a land speculator. His rise to fame began in 1827 on reports of the Sandbar Fight near present-day Vidalia, Louisiana. What began as a duel between two other men deteriorated into a mêlée in which Bowie, having been shot and stabbed, killed the sheriff of Rapides Parish with a large knife. This, and other stories of Bowie's prowess with a knife, led to the widespread popularity of the Bowie knife. (Full article...)
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Ike Altgens, c. 1970

James William "Ike" Altgens (/ˈɑːlt.ɡənz/; April 28, 1919 – December 12, 1995) was an American photojournalist, photo editor, and field reporter for the Associated Press (AP) based in Dallas, Texas, who became known for his photographic work during the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy (JFK). Altgens was 19 when he began his AP career, which was interrupted by military service during World War II. When his service time ended, Altgens returned to Dallas and got married. He soon went back to work for the local AP bureau and eventually earned a position as a senior editor.

Altgens was on assignment for the AP when he captured two historic images on November 22, 1963. The second, showing First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy toward the rear of the presidential limousine and Secret Service agent Clint Hill on its bumper, was reproduced on the front pages of newspapers around the world. Within days, Altgens' preceding photograph became controversial after people began to question whether accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was visible in the main doorway of the Texas School Book Depository as the gunshots were fired at JFK. (Full article...)
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Minnie Pwerle (also Minnie Purla or Minnie Motorcar Apwerl; born between 1910 and 1922 – 18 March 2006) was an Australian Aboriginal artist. She came from Utopia, Northern Territory (Unupurna in local language), a cattle station in the Sandover area of Central Australia 300 kilometres (190 mi) northeast of Alice Springs.

Minnie began painting in 2000 at about the age of 80, and her pictures soon became popular and sought-after works of contemporary Indigenous Australian art. In the years after she took up painting on canvas until she died in 2006, Minnie's works were exhibited around Australia and collected by major galleries, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Queensland Art Gallery. With popularity came pressure from those keen to acquire her work. She was allegedly "kidnapped" by people who wanted her to paint for them, and there have been media reports of her work being forged. Minnie's work is often compared with that of her sister-in-law Emily Kame Kngwarreye, who also came from the Sandover and took up acrylic painting late in life. Minnie's daughter, Barbara Weir, is a respected artist in her own right. (Full article...)
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Brigadier General Kenneth N. Walker

Brigadier General Kenneth Newton Walker (17 July 1898 – 5 January 1943) was a United States Army aviator and a United States Army Air Forces general who exerted a significant influence on the development of airpower doctrine. He posthumously received the Medal of Honor in World War II.

Walker joined the United States Army in 1917, after the American entry into World War I. He trained as an aviator and became a flying instructor. In 1920, after the end of the war, he received a commission in the Regular Army. After service in various capacities, Walker graduated from the Air Corps Tactical School in 1929, and then served as an instructor there. He supported the creation of a separate air organization that is not subordinate to other military branches. He was a forceful advocate of the efficacy of strategic bombardment, publishing articles on the subject and becoming part of a clique known as the "Bomber Mafia" that argued for the primacy of bombardment over other forms of military aviation. He advanced the notion that fighters could not prevent a bombing attack. He participated in the Air Corps Tactical School's development of the doctrine of industrial web theory, which called for precision attacks against carefully selected critical industrial targets. Shortly before the United States entered World War II, Walker became one of four officers assigned to the Air War Plans Division, which was tasked with developing a production requirements plan for the war in the air. Together, these officers devised the AWPD-1 plan, a blueprint for the imminent air war against Germany that called for the creation of an enormous air force to win the war through strategic bombardment. (Full article...)
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Corinna of Tanagra, c. 1893, by Frederic Leighton

Corinna or Korinna (Ancient Greek: Κόριννα, romanized: Korinna) was an ancient Greek lyric poet from Tanagra in Boeotia. Although ancient sources portray her as a contemporary of Pindar (born c. 518 BC), not all modern scholars accept the accuracy of this tradition. When she lived has been the subject of much debate since the early twentieth century, proposed dates ranging from the beginning of the fifth century to the late third century BC.

Corinna's works survive only in fragments: three substantial sections of poems are preserved on second-century AD papyri from Egypt; several shorter pieces survive in quotations by ancient grammarians. They focus on local Boeotian legends, and are distinctive for their mythological innovations. Corinna's poetry often reworks well-known myths to include details not known from any other sources. Though respected in her hometown, Tanagra, and popular in ancient Rome, modern critics have often regarded her as parochial and dull; her poetry is nonetheless of interest as she is one of the few female poets from ancient Greece whose work survives. (Full article...)
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Sabri Khalil al-Banna (Arabic: صبري خليل البنا; May 1937 – 16 August 2002), known by his nom de guerre Abu Nidal ("father of struggle"), was a Palestinian militant. He was the founder of Fatah: The Revolutionary Council (Arabic: فتح المجلس الثوري), a militant Palestinian splinter group more commonly known as the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO). Abu Nidal formed the ANO in October 1974 after splitting from Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Abu Nidal is believed to have ordered attacks in 20 countries, killing over 300 and injuring over 650 while acting as a freelance contractor. The group's operations included the Rome and Vienna airport attacks on 27 December 1985, when gunmen opened fire on passengers in simultaneous shootings at El Al ticket counters, killing 20. At the height of its militancy in the 1970s and 1980s, the ANO was widely regarded as the most ruthless of the Palestinian groups. Palestinian leadership long suspected that Israeli Mossad had infiltrated the ANO, with Abu Nidal himself having been on the CIA payroll. (Full article...)
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Jardine in 1932

Douglas Robert Jardine (23 October 1900 – 18 June 1958) was an English cricketer who played 22 Test matches for England, captaining the side in 15 of those matches between 1931 and 1934. A right-handed batsman, he is best known for captaining the English team during their successful 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. During that series, England employed "Bodyline" tactics against the Australian batsmen, headed by Donald Bradman, wherein bowlers pitched the ball short on the line of leg stump to rise towards the bodies of the batsmen in a manner that some contemporary players and critics viewed as intimidatory and physically dangerous. As captain, Jardine was the person responsible for the implementation of Bodyline.

A controversial figure among cricketers, partially for what was perceived by some to be an arrogant and patrician manner, he was well known for his dislike of Australian players and crowds, and thus was unpopular in Australia, especially so after the Bodyline tour. However, many who played under his leadership regarded him as an excellent and dedicated captain. He was also famous in cricket circles for wearing a multi-coloured Harlequin cap. (Full article...)
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Wallace in 1895

Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was an English naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection; his 1858 paper on the subject was published that year alongside extracts from Charles Darwin's earlier writings on the topic. It spurred Darwin to set aside the "big species book" he was drafting and quickly write an abstract of it, which was published in 1859 as On the Origin of Species.

Wallace did extensive fieldwork, starting in the Amazon River basin. He then did fieldwork in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the faunal divide now termed the Wallace Line, which separates the Indonesian archipelago into two distinct parts: a western portion in which the animals are largely of Asian origin, and an eastern portion where the fauna reflect Australasia. He was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species, and is sometimes called the "father of biogeography", or more specifically of zoogeography. (Full article...)
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Meusel in 1921

Robert William Meusel (July 19, 1896 – November 28, 1977) was an American baseball left and right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eleven seasons from 1920 through 1930, all but the last for the New York Yankees. He was best known as a member of the Yankees' championship teams of the 1920s, nicknamed "Murderers' Row", during which time the team won its first six American League (AL) pennants and first three World Series titles.

Meusel, noted for his strong outfield throwing arm, batted fifth behind Baseball Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. In 1925, he became the second Yankee, after Ruth, to lead the AL in home runs (33), runs batted in (138) and extra base hits (79). Nicknamed "Long Bob" because of his 6-foot, 3 inch (1.91 m) stature, Meusel batted .313 or better in seven of his first eight seasons, finishing with a .309 career average; his 1,009 RBI during the 1920s were the fourth most by any major leaguer, and trailed only Harry Heilmann's total of 1,131 among AL right-handed hitters. Meusel ended his career in 1930 with the Cincinnati Reds. He hit for the cycle three times, and was the second of six major leaguers to accomplish this feat as many as three times during a career. (Full article...)

Today anniversaries

Pre-1600

244 – Diocletian, Roman emperor (d. 311)
948 – Kang Kam-ch'an, Korean official and general (d. 1031)
1095 – Roger II of Sicily (d. 1154)
1178 – Emperor Antoku of Japan (d. 1185)
1183 – Chagatai Khan, Mongol ruler (d. 1242)
1300 – Khutughtu Khan Kusala, Mongolian emperor (d. 1329)
1459 – Sultan Cem, Ottoman politician (d. 1495)
1546 – Kuroda Yoshitaka, Japanese daimyō (d. 1604)
1550 – Cesare Cremonini, Italian philosopher and author (d. 1631)
1569 – Étienne Martellange, French architect (d. 1641)
1591 – Tommaso Dingli, Maltese architect and sculptor (d. 1666)

1601–1900

1639 – Jean Racine, French poet and playwright (d. 1699)
1666 – Guru Gobind Singh, Indian guru and poet (d. 1708)
1694 – Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher and academic (d. 1768)
1696 – James Oglethorpe, English general and politician, 1st Colonial Governor of Georgia (d. 1785)
1723 – Carl Friedrich Abel, German viol player and composer (d. 1787)
1765 – Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathematician and academic (d. 1825)
1799 – Nicholas Callan, Irish priest and physicist (d. 1864)
1805 – John Obadiah Westwood, English entomologist and archaeologist (d. 1893)
1807 – Johan Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian author, poet, and critic (d. 1873)
1819 – Franz Abt, German composer and conductor (d. 1870)
1819 – Pierre Ossian Bonnet, French mathematician and academic (d. 1892)
1839 – John Nevil Maskelyne, English magician (d. 1917)
1850 – Victoriano Huerta, Mexican general and politician, 35th President of Mexico (d. 1916)
1853 – Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan-American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1917)
1853 – Evgraf Fedorov, Russian mathematician, crystallographer, and mineralogist (d. 1919)
1853 – Sarada Devi, Indian mystic and philosopher (d. 1920)
1856 – Frank B. Kellogg, American lawyer and politician, 45th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
1858 – Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer and educator (d. 1924)
1862 – Connie Mack, American baseball player and manager (d. 1956)
1865 – Charles Sands, American golfer and tennis player (d. 1945)
1868 – Jaan Tõnisson, Estonian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1941?)
1869 – Dmitri Egorov, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1931)
1869 – Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet and playwright (d. 1935)
1872 – Camille Guérin, French veterinarian and bacteriologist (d. 1961)
1874 – Franz Schmidt, Austrian cellist, pianist, and composer (d. 1939)
1876 – Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Egyptian-Italian poet and composer (d. 1944)
1878 – Myer Prinstein, Polish-American jumper (d. 1925)
1880 – Fred Woolley, Australian rugby league player (d. 1955)
1883 – Marcus Hurley, American cyclist (d. 1941)
1883 – Edgard Varèse, French-American composer (d. 1965)
1884 – St. Elmo Brady, African American chemist and educator (d. 1966)
1885 – Deems Taylor, American conductor and critic (d. 1966)
1887 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and theorist (d. 1920)
1888 – J. Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank, English businessman, founded Rank Organisation (d. 1972)
1889 – George Hutson, English runner and soldier (d. 1914)
1892 – Herman Potočnik, Slovenian-Austrian engineer (d. 1929)
1894 – Edwin Linkomies, Finnish academic, professor and the Prime Minister of Finland (d. 1963)
1898 – Vladimir Fock, Russian physicist and mathematician (d. 1974)
1899 – Gustaf Gründgens, German actor and director (d. 1963)
1900 – Marc Allégret, French director and screenwriter (d. 1973)

1901–present

1901 – Andre Kostelanetz, Russian-American conductor and composer (d. 1980)
1903 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
1905 – Pierre Brasseur, French-Italian actor and screenwriter (d. 1972)
1905 – Pierre Levegh, French ice hockey player and racing driver (d. 1955)
1905 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet, translator, and academic (d. 1982)
1907 – Peggy Ashcroft, English actress (d. 1991)
1908 – Giacomo Manzù, Italian sculptor and academic (d. 1991)
1909 – Patricia Hayes, English actress (d. 1998)
1911 – Danny O'Dea, English actor (d. 2003)
1912 – Elias Degiannis, Greek commander (d. 1943)
1912 – Lady Bird Johnson, American beautification activist; 38th First Lady of the United States (d. 2007)
1913 – Giorgio Oberweger, Italian discus thrower and hurdler (d. 1998)
1915 – Barbara Billingsley, American actress (d. 2010)
1915 – Phillip Glasier, English author and academic (d. 2000)
1917 – Gene Rayburn, American game show host and actor (d. 1999)
1921 – Dimitri Fampas, Greek guitarist and composer (d. 1996)
1921 – Hawkshaw Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1963)
1922 – Ruth Roman, American actress (d. 1999)
1922 – Jim Wright, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 2015)
1923 – Peregrine Worsthorne, English journalist and author (d. 2020)
1924 – Frank Corsaro, American actor and director (d. 2017)
1925 – Lewis Glucksman, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2006)
1925 – Lefter Küçükandonyadis, Turkish footballer and manager (d. 2012)
1926 – Alcides Ghiggia, Italian-Uruguayan footballer and manager (d. 2015)
1926 – Roberta Leigh, English writer, artist and TV producer (d. 2014)
1928 – Fredrik Barth, German-Norwegian anthropologist and academic (d. 2016)
1929 – Wazir Mohammad, Indian-Pakistani cricketer
1930 – Ardalion Ignatyev, Russian sprinter and educator (d. 1998)
1931 – Gisela Birkemeyer, German hurdler and coach (d. 2024)
1931 – Carlos Graça, São Toméan lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe (d. 2013)
1932 – Phil Woosnam, Welsh soccer player and manager (d. 2013)
1933 – John Hartle, English motorcycle racer (d. 1968)
1934 – David Pearson, American race car driver (d. 2018)
1935 – Paulo Rocha, Portuguese director and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1936 – James Burke, Irish historian and author
1936 – Héctor Elizondo, American actor and director
1937 – Charlotte Lamb, English author (d. 2000)
1937 – Eduard Uspensky, Russian author, poet, and playwright (d. 2018)
1937 – Ken Whitmore, English author and playwright
1938 – Matty Alou, Dominican-American baseball player and scout (d. 2011)
1938 – Lucien Bouchard, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Premier of Quebec
1938 – Red Steagall, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and poet
1940 – Luis Francisco Cuéllar, Colombian rancher and politician (d. 2009)
1940 – Mike Molloy, English journalist, author, and illustrator
1942 – Jerry Koosman, American baseball player
1942 – Dick Parry, English saxophonist
1943 – Stefan Janos, Slovak-Swiss physicist and academic
1943 – Paul Wolfowitz, American banker and politician, 25th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
1944 – Mary Archer, English chemist and academic
1944 – Steve Carlton, American baseball player
1944 – Barry Jenkins, English drummer
1945 – Frances Lannon, English historian and academic
1945 – Sam Newman, Australian footballer and sportscaster
1945 – Diane Sawyer, American journalist
1946 – Roger Carr, English businessman
1946 – C. Eugene Steuerle, American economist and author
1947 – Brian Daley, American author and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1947 – Dilip Doshi, Indian cricketer
1948 – Steve Garvey, American baseball player and sportscaster
1948 – Don Kardong, American runner, journalist, and author
1948 – Rick Nielsen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1948 – Chris Old, English cricketer and coach
1948 – Lynne Thigpen, American actress and singer (d. 2003)
1949 – Maurice Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2003)
1949 – Robin Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2012)
1949 – Ray Guy, American football player (d. 2022)
1950 – Manfred Moore, American football player and rugby league player (d. 2020)
1951 – Lasse Bengtsson, Swedish journalist
1951 – Charles de Lint, Dutch-Canadian author and critic
1951 – Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, British landowner, businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
1951 – Tony Isabella, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic
1951 – Jan Stephenson, Australian golfer
1952 – Sandra Kalniete, Latvian politician and diplomat, former Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1953 – Ian Turnbull, Canadian ice hockey player
1953 – Tom Underwood, American baseball player (d. 2010)
1954 – Hideshi Matsuda, Japanese racing driver
1954 – Derick Parry, Nevisian cricketer
1955 – Galina Murašova, Lithuanian discus thrower
1955 – Lonnie Smith, American baseball player
1955 – Thomas C. Südhof, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1956 – Jane Lighting, English businesswoman
1957 – Stephen Conway, English bishop
1957 – Carole James, English-Canadian educator and politician
1957 – Peter Mortimer, Australian rugby league player
1958 – Frank Gambale, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1958 – David Heavener, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and director
1959 – Bernd Schuster, German footballer and manager
1960 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, American painter and poet (d. 1988)
1960 – Luther Campbell, American rapper and actor
1960 – Paul Kuniholm, Artist
1961 – Yuri Malenchenko, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1962 – Ralph Fiennes, English actor
1963 – Giuseppe Bergomi, Italian footballer and coach
1963 – Brian McMillan, South African cricketer and educator
1963 – Luna H. Mitani, Japanese-American painter and illustrator
1964 – Mike Jackson, American baseball player
1964 – Simon Kirby, English businessman and politician
1965 – David S. Goyer, American screenwriter
1965 – Urszula Włodarczyk, Polish heptathlete and triple jumper
1966 – Dmitry Bilozerchev, Russian gymnast and coach
1966 – Marcel Schirmer, German singer-songwriter and bass player
1966 – David Wright, English lawyer and politician
1967 – Richey Edwards, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1995)
1967 – Stéphane Gendron, Canadian lawyer and politician
1967 – Rebecca Harris, English businesswoman and politician
1967 – Dan Petrescu, Romanian footballer and manager
1968 – Emre Aracı, Turkish composer, conductor, and historian
1968 – Luis Hernández, Mexican footballer
1968 – Lori McKenna, American singer-songwriter
1968 – Dina Meyer, American actress
1969 – Myriam Bédard, Canadian biathlete
1969 – Mark Robins, English footballer and manager
1970 – Gary Anderson, Scottish darts player
1970 – Ted Cruz, Canadian-American lawyer and politician
1971 – Ajeenkya Patil, Indian economist and academic
1972 – Mark Hill, English musician, producer and songwriter
1972 – Kirk Maltby, Canadian ice hockey player and scout
1972 – Vanessa Paradis, French singer-songwriter and actress
1974 – Rei Hance, American actress
1975 – Sergei Aschwanden, Swiss martial artist
1975 – Dmitri Khokhlov, Russian footballer and manager
1975 – Marcin Mięciel, Polish footballer
1975 – Stanislav Neckář, Czech ice hockey player
1975 – Takuya Onishi, Japanese astronaut
1976 – Katleen De Caluwé, Belgian sprinter
1976 – Jason Lane, American baseball player and coach
1976 – Aya Takano, Japanese author and illustrator
1977 – Steve Kariya, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1978 – Danny Ahn, South Korean singer
1978 – Joy Ali, Fijian boxer (d. 2015)
1978 – Emmanuel Olisadebe, Nigerian-Polish footballer
1979 – Jamie Langfield, Scottish footballer and coach
1980 – Chris Carmack, American actor, singer, and model
1980 – Marcus Haislip, American basketball player
1981 – Marina Kuptsova, Russian high jumper
1982 – Britta Heidemann, German fencer
1982 – Alinne Moraes, Brazilian actress and model
1983 – José Fonte, Portuguese footballer
1983 – Doc Gallows, American wrestler
1983 – Viola Kibiwot, Kenyan runner
1984 – Basshunter, Swedish singer, record producer and DJ
1984 – Greg Finley, American actor
1986 – Dennis Armfield, Australian footballer
1986 – Fatih Öztürk, Turkish footballer
1987 – Zack Britton, American baseball player
1987 – Éder, Bissau-Portuguese footballer
1988 – Scott Darling, American ice hockey player
1988 – Mohamed El Shenawy, Egyptian footballer
1988 – Leigh Halfpenny, Welsh rugby player
1989 – Jordin Sparks, American singer-songwriter and actress
1989 – Jacob Stallings, American baseball player
1990 – Jean-Baptiste Maunier, French actor and singer
1991 – DaBaby, American rapper
1992 – Michaela Hončová, Slovak tennis player
1992 – Nick Johnson, American basketball player
1992 – Moonbyul, South Korean rapper, vocalist and songwriter
1993 – Raphaël Guerreiro, Portuguese footballer
1993 – Meghan Trainor, American singer-songwriter and producer
1994 – Rúben Lameiras, Portuguese footballer
1998 – G Hannelius, American actress and singer
1998 – Casper Ruud, Norwegian tennis player
2000 – Joshua Bassett, American actor and singer
2001 – Camila Osorio, Colombian tennis player
2006 – Callan McKenna, Scottish footballer; goalkeeper at AFC Bournemouth (Full article...)

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