Category: Famous Birthdays

1918 – Katherine Johnson, American NASA mathematician (portrayed in film Hidden Figures), born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia (d. 2020)
1925 – Sangharakshita [Dennis Lingwood], Buddhist Philosopher, Founder of the Western Buddhist Order, born in London, England (d. 2018)
1930 – Joe Solomon, West Indian cricket batsman (27 Tests, 1 x 100, 9 x 50, HS 100no; British Guiana, Berbice), born in Port Mourant, Guyana (d. 2023)
1931 – Guy Vander Jagt, American politician (Rep-R-MI, 1966-93), born in Cadillac, Michigan (d. 2007)
1957 – Rick Hansen, Canadian wheelchair athlete (Paralympic gold 1980, 2 x 1984), born in Port Alberni, British Columbia
1961 – Jimmy Olander, American country guitarist and banjo player (Diamond Rio – “Meet in Middle”), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
1978 – Amanda Schull, American actress (12 Monkeys), born in Honolulu, Hawaii
1980 – Macaulay Culkin, American actor (Home Alone, My Girl, Richie Rich), born in New York City
1985 – David Price, American baseball pitcher (2012 Cy Young Award TB Rays; 5 × All-Star; World Series 2018 Boston Red Sox), born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee
1988 – Evan Ross [Naess], American actor (96 Minutes), and singer, born in Greenwich, Connecticut

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1664 – Johan van de Bergh, Leids regent, born in Leiden, Netherlands (d. 1755)
1891 – Alberto Savinio [Andrea Francesco Alberto de Chirico], Italian composer (Capitano Ulisse), born in Athens, Greece (d. 1952)
1912 – Erich Honecker, German politician and Head of State of East Germany (1971-89), born in Neunkirchen, Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (d. 1994)
1916 – Frederick Robbins, American pediatrician and bacteriologist (Nobel 1954), born in Auburn, Alabama (d. 2003)
1918 – Leonard Bernstein, American Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning conductor (New York Philharmonic, 1958-69; Israel Philharmonic; London Symphony), and composer (West Side Story; Chichester Psalms), born in Lawrence, Massachusetts (d. 1990)
1947 – Mink Stole [Nancy Stoll], American actress (films of John Waters), born in Baltimore, Maryland
1954 – Elvis Costello [Declan Patrick McManus], English rock singer and songwriter (Allison; Watching The Detectives; The Other Side Of Summer), born in Paddington, London
1962 – Shahid Mahboob, Pakistani cricketer (batted in one Test for Pakistan 1989), born in Karachi, Pakistan
1966 – Albert Belle, American baseball outfielder (Cleveland Indians; 5-time MLB All-Star), born in Shreveport, Louisiana
1968 – Takeshi Ueda, Japanese rock bassist (The Mad Capsule Markets), born in Yokohama, Japan

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1579 – John Amner, English composer, born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England (d. 1641)
1936 – William J. Coyne, American politician (Rep-D-Pennsylvania, 1981-2003), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2013)
1945 – Vince McMahon, American professional wrestling promoter, born in Pinehurst, North Carolina
1945 – Marsha P. Johnson [born Malcolm Michaels Jr.], African-American gay liberation and AIDS activist, drag queen, and transgender pioneer (Gay Liberation Front, S.T.A.R.), born in Elizabeth, New Jersey (d. 1992)
1949 – Joe Regalbuto, American actor (Knots Landing; Murphy Brown – “Frank”), born in Brooklyn, New York
1952 – Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jamaican-British poet (Mi Revalueshanary Fren) and activist, born in Chapelton, Jamaica
1953 – Ron Holloway, American jazz, funk, and rock tenor saxophonist (Gil Scott-Heron; Tedeschi Trucks Band), born in Washington, D.C.
1960 – Franz Viehböck, Austrian 1st cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-13), born in Vienna, Austria
1974 – Órla Fallon, Irish traditional singer, Celtic harpist, and songwriter (Celtic Woman, 2004-2009; Anúna, 1996), born in Knockananna, County Wicklow, Ireland
1979 – Elva Hsiao, Taiwanese Mandopop and dance music singer, born in Zhongli, Taoyuan, Taiwan

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1524 – Francois Hotman/Hotomanus, French lawyer and diplomat (Anti-Tribonien), born in Paris (d. 1590)
1889 – Alfred Lichtenstein, German writer, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1914)
1911 – Albert Alberts, Dutch writer and journalist (French battle), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1996)
1911 – Carl Dolmetsch, French music director (Haslemere Festival), born in Fontenay-sous-Bois, France (d. 1997)
1922 – Pierre Gauvreau, Canadian painter, television writer and producer, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2011)
1928 – Gerd Natschinski, German composer, born in Chemnitz, Germany (d. 2015)
1933 – Robert Curl, American chemist (Nobel Prize, 1996), born in Alice, Texas (d. 2022)
1942 – Mimis Papaioannou, Greek soccer forward (61 caps; AEK Athens 480 games), born in Nea Nikomedeia, Greece (d. 2023)
1952 – Vicky Leandros [Vasiliki Papathanasiou], Greek pop singer (Eurovision, 1972 – “Après Toi”; “My Sweet Lord”), and politician, born in Palaiokastritsa, Corfu, Greece
1967 – Nancy Cox, American news anchor, Miss Kentucky (1991), born in Campbellsville, Kentucky

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1753 – Christian Friedrich Ruppe, German-Dutch composer, brother of Friedrich Christian Ruppe, born in Salzungen, Imperial County of Reuss, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1826)
1827 – Ezra Butler Eddy, Canadian businessman (E.B. Eddy Company) and politician, born in Vermont (d. 1906)
1827 – Joseph Anthony Mower, American Major General (Union Army), born in Woodstock, Vermont (d. 1870)
1845 – William Lewis Douglas, 42nd Governor of Massachusetts, born in Plymouth, Massachusetts (d. 1924)
1868 – Willis Rodney Whitney, American Chemist, founder of the General Electric research laboratory, and pioneer of industrial scientific research, born in Jamestown, NY (d. 1958)
1940 – John Banham, British businessman, director-general CBI, born in Cornwall (d. 2022)
1941 – Michael Aldrich, British inventor (online shopping), born in Brocket Hall, England (d. 2014)
1965 – Tom Gibis, American voice actor (Shikamaru Nara-Naruto), born in West St. Paul, Minnesota
1968 – Michael Curry, American basketball forward and coach (Detroit Pistons), born in Anniston, Alabama
1969 – Hipolito Pichardo, Dominican MLB pitcher. 1902-2002 (Kansas City Royals, and 2 other teams), born in Jicomé, Dominican Republic

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1780 – Jernej Kopitar, Slovene philologist and linguist (Slovenian Grammar), born in Repnje, Slovenia (d. 1844)
1909 – Ethel Caterham, oldest British person ever and current verified oldest living person in the world (115 years), born in Shipton Bellinger, England
1914 – Dallas Pratt, American collector (The American Museum in Britain), born in Islip, New York (d. 1994)
1928 – Zdeněk Lukáš, Czech composer, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (d. 2007)
1929 – Ahmed “Kathy” Kathrada, South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, born in Schweizer-Reneke (d. 2017)
1939 – Ernie Maresca, American singer and songwriter (“Runaround Sue”; “The Wanderer”), born in The Bronx, New York City (d. 2015)
1943 – Clydie Mae King, American session and touring vocalist (Ray Charles; Bob Dylan; Humble Pie; Lynyrd Skynrd), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 2019)
1944 – Perry Christie, 3rd Prime Minister of the Bahamas, born in Nassau, Bahamas
1947 – Carl Giammarese, American rock guitarist (The Buckinghams – “Kind Of A Drag”), born in Chicago, Illinois
1959 – Jim McMahon, American College Football HOF quarterback (Super Bowl XX Chicago Bears; Davey O’Brien Award 1981 BYU), born in Jersey City, New Jersey

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1764 – Charles Ferdinand Bentinck, Dutch military officer (Governor of Suriname 1809-11), born in The Hague, Dutch Republic (d. 1811)
1811 – Gilman Marston, American Brigadier General (Union Army) and politician (R-NH), born in Orford, New Hampshire (d. 1890)
1916 – Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonian-German chess player, born in Narva, Estonia (d. 1984)
1926 – Frank Rosolino, American jazz trombonist (The Frank Rosolino Sextet), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1978)
1941 – Rich Brooks, American football coach (University of Oregon 1977-94; St. Louis Rams 1995-96), born in Forest, California
1961 – Greg Egan, Australian science fiction and hard science author, born in Perth, Australia
1967 – Andy Benes, American baseball pitcher (St Louis Cardinals), born in Evansville, Indiana
1978 – Sanna Lankosaari, Finnish ice hockey right wing (Finland, Olympics 1998), born in Kemi, Finland
1980 – Corey Carrier, American actor (Young Indiana Jones), born in Middleborough, Massachusetts
1992 – Demi Lovato, American actress (Camp Rock) and singer-songwriter (“Unbroken”), born in Albuquerque, New Mexico

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1580 – Pierre Vernier, French mathematician, inventor of the vernier caliper used for taking accurate measurements, born in Ornans, France (d. 1637)
1689 – Samuel Richardson, English novelist (Pamela), born in Mackworth, Derbyshire, England (d. 1761)
1885 – Werner Elert, German Lutheran theologian, born in Heldrungen, Prussia (d. 1954)
1902 – Ogden Nash, American humorous poet (I’m a Stranger Here Myself, Masquerade Party), born in Rye, New York (d. 1971)
1921 – Philip Potter, Dominica Methodist church leader (Secretary-General World council of Churches), born in Roseau, Dominica, West Indies (d. 2015)
1938 – Diana Muldaur, American actress (McCloud, Star Trek Next Gen, LA Law), born in New York City
1951 – John Deacon, British rock bassist (Queen – “Another One Bites The Dust”), born in Leicester, England
1959 – Ivan Neville, American funk-rock and RandB keyboardist, singer, and songwriter (Dumpstaphunk), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
1960 – Ron Darling, American baseball pitcher (NY Mets), born in Honolulu, Hawaii
1967 – Tabitha Soren, American MTV reporter (This Week in Rock), born in San Antonio, Texas

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1579 – Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau, French countess, abbess and daughter of William I of Orange, born in Antwerp (d. 1640)
1887 – Nico J. Polak, Dutch economist, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1948)
1900 – Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Indian diplomat and politician who was the 1st woman to hold a cabinet post in India, born in Allahabad, India (d. 1990)
1902 – Julius Kalaš, Czech composer (Nepokořenĺ -The Proud Ones), born in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia (d. 1967)
1907 – Howard Swanson, American composer known for his settings of poems of Langston Hughes, born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 1978)
1915 – Max Lanier, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1943-44; World Series 1942, 44; St. Louis Cardinals), born in Denton, North Carolina (d. 2007)
1925 – Brian Aldiss, British sci-fi author (Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, Helliconia trilogy), born in East Dereham, Norfolk (d. 2017)
1940 – Joan Joyce, American softball Hall of Fame pitcher, 1954-75 (Raybestos Brakettes, Orange Lionettes), LPGA golfer, 1977-95, and softball coach, 1995-2022 (Florida Atlantic), born in Waterbury, Connecticut (d. 2022)
1975 – Katlin Olson, American actress known for “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, born in Portland, Oregon
1976 – Tom Malchow, American 200m swimmer (Olympic silver 1996), born in Saint Paul, Minnesota

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1473 – Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, son of King Edward IV, one of the princes in the tower who disappeared, born in Shrewsbury, England (d. 1483?)
1863 – Gene Stratton-Porter, American author “A Girl of the Limberlost,” and naturalist, born in Lagro, Indiana (d. 1924)
1924 – Helen Wallis, English cartographer and librarian (British Museum), born in Barnet, England (d. 1995)
1938 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek politician (Deputy Prime Minister), born in Eleusis, Greece (d. 2023)
1957 – Ron Strykert, Australian rock guitarist (Men At Work – “Who Can It Be Now?”), born in Korumburra, Victoria [several sources cite August 18]
1970 – Øyvind Leonhardsen, Norwegian footballer, born in Kristiansund, Norway
1973 – A. J. Wood, American soccer forward (Olympic gold 1996), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1977 – Thierry Henry, French soccer forward (123 caps; Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal 254 games, FC Barcelona, NY Red Bulls) and manager (Monaco, France U/21), born in Les Ulis, France
1980 – Shannon Lucio, American actress, born in Denver, Colorado
1998 – Genesis Owusu [Kofi Owusu-Ansah], Ghanaian-Australian singer and rapper (Smiling With No Teeth), born in Koforidua, Ghana

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