Category: Famous Birthdays

1561 – Hernando Arias de Saavedra, Spanish-American colonial governor, born in Asunción (d. 1634)
1839 – Charles Peirce, American scientist and philosopher known as “the father of pragmatism”, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1914)
1895 – Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Indian Telugu writer (Ramayana Kalpa Vrukshamu, Veyipadagalu), born in Nandamuru, Madras state, British India (d. 1976)
1906 – Lambertus “Bertus” van Lyre, Dutch composer (Hooglied -Song of Songs), conductor, and pedagogue, born in Utrecht, Netherlands (d. 1972)
1908 – Raymond Scott [Harry Warnow], American composer (‘The Toy Trumpet’), born in Brooklyn, New York City (d. 1994)
1923 – Alfredo Nobre da Costa, Portuguese politician (Prime Minister of Portugal, three months in 1978), and engineer, born in Lapa, Lisbon, Portugal (d. 1996)
1948 – Tony Gatlif, Algerian-born French film director (The Crazy Stranger, Vengo), born in Algiers, French Algeria
1966 – Robin Goodridge, British drummer (Bush, 1994-2019 -“Glycerine”), born in Crawley, England
1970 – Paula Kelley, American pop-rock musician and composer, born in Boston, Massachusetts
1988 – Coco Rocha, Canadian model who has appeared on the cover of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, born in Toronto, Ontario

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1664 – Johann Christoph Pez, German Baroque composer, born in Munich, Duchy of Bavaria (d. 1716)
1809 – William Radford, U.S. Navy rear admiral, born in Fincastle, Virginia (d. 1890)
1896 – Fritz Reutter, German composer and pedagogue, born in Löbtau, Saxony, German Empire (d. 1963)
1903 – Phyllis Whitney, American mystery writer, born in Yokohama, Japan (d. 2008)
1929 – Aleksei Maslennikov, Russian tenor (Bolshoi Theater, 1953-88), born in Novocherkassk, Russia (d. 2016)
1931 – Bill Persky, American Emmy Award-winning screenwriter (The Dick Van Dyke Show), producer (That Girl), and television director, born in New York City
1967 – Akshay Kumar, Indian actor, producer, stuntman and TV personality (Rustom, Baby, Hera Pheri), born in Amritsar, Punjab
1969 – Constance Marie, American actress (George Lopez, Switched at Birth), born in East Los Angeles, California
1972 – Natasha Kaplinsky, British newsreader, born in Brighton, United Kingdom
1990 – Melody Klaver, Dutch actress (Rafaël, Arcadia), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands

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1588 – Marin Mersenne, French mathematician (Number of Mersenne), born in Oizé, Maine, France (d. 1648)
1672 – Nicolas de Grigny, French organist and composer, baptized in Reims, France (d. 1703)
1779 – Johann Philipp Samuel Schmidt, German composer, born in Königsberg, East Prussia (d. 1853)
1896 – Elmer Schoebel, American jazz pianist, arranger (New Orleans Rhythm Kings; Isham Jones), and composer (“Farewell Blues”; “Prince Of Wails”), born in East St. Louis, Illinois (d. 1970)
1910 – Jean-Louis Barrault, French stage actor, director and producer (Les Enfants du Paradis), born in Le Vésinet, Seine-et-Oise, France (d. 1994)
1924 – Gracie Cole, British jazz trumpeter (Ivy Benson’s All-Girl Band), and bandleader, born in Rowlands Gill, Durham, England (d. 2006)
1927 – Harmonica Fats [Harvey Blackston], American blues session and touring harmonica player (“Tore Up”), born in McDade, Louisiana (d. 2000)
1962 – René Klijn, Dutch singer (Mr Blue), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1993)
1970 – Neko Case, American singer-songwriter (The New Pornographers), born in Alexandria, Virginia
2000 – Shane Dylan, American jazz-hip-hop pianist composer, and record producer, born in Boston, Massachusetts

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1831 – Alexandre Falguière, French sculptor and painter, born in Toulouse, France (d. 1900)
1836 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman, British Prime Minister (Liberal: 1905-08), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1908)
1929 – T. P. McKenna [Thomas Patrick McKenna], Irish actor (Rivals, Holocaust), born in Mullagh, Ireland (d. 2011)
1937 – Cüneyt Arkın, Turkish film actor (The Adam Trilogy), born in Gökçeoğlu village, Alpu, Eskişehir Province, Turkey
1951 – Morris Albert [Maurício Alberto Kaisermann], Brazilian singer (“Feelings”), born in São Paulo, Brazil
1954 – Corbin Bernsen, American actor (Arnie Becker-LA Law), born in North Hollywood, California
1963 – Chris Coons, American politician (Senator-D-Delaware 2010-), born in Greenwich, Connecticut
1975 – Harold Wallace, Costa Rican footballer, born in Heredia, Costa Rica
1980 – Sara Carrigan, Australian cyclist (Olympic gold, road race 2004), born in Gunnedah, New South Wales
1983 – Annette Dytrt, German skater figure, born in Landshut, Germany

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1697 – Willem Gideon Deutz, Amsterdam regent, banker and merchant, born in Amsterdam (d. 1757)
1921 – Carmen Laforet, Spanish author, born in Barcelona, Spain (d. 2004)
1926 – Claus von Amsberg, husband of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, born in Hitzacker, Germany (d. 2002)
1932 – Gilles Tremblay, Canadian composer, ondes Martenot player, and educator, born in Saguenay, Quebec (d. 2017)
1934 – Jody McCrea, American actor (Ben Matheson-Wichita Town), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2009)
1935 – Bob Bouber [Boris Blom], Dutch singer (ZZ and Masks) and actor, born in Amsterdam (d. 2019)
1935 – Jock Wallace, Scottish soccer manager (Berwick Rangers, Rangers, Leicester City, Motherwell, Sevilla), born in Wallyford, Scotland (d. 1996)
1942 – Mel McDaniel, American country singer (“Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On”), born in Checotah, Oklahoma (d. 2011)
1944 – Linda Kaye Henning, American actress (Betty Joe-Petticoat Junction), born in Los Angeles, California
2000 – Breanna Lynn Bartlett-Stewart, first Kleihauer-Betke stillbirth, born in Paragould, Arkansas (d. 2000)

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1319 – Peter IV, King of Aragon (1336-87), born in Perpignan, France (d. 1387)
1638 – Louis XIV, King of France (1643-1715), known as “The Sun King”, had longest reign of any European monarch, born in Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France (d. 1715)
1792 – Alexis-Charles-Maximilien Thibault, French composer, born in Nantes, France (d. 1853)
1892 – Joseph Szigeti, Hungarian violinist (Violinist Notebook 1933), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1973)
1923 – Bob Cato, American photographer, graphic artist and Grammy Award-winning album cover designer (Columbia Records; United Artists), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1999)
1939 – John Stewart, American singer (Kingston Trio, 1961-67), and songwriter (“Daydream Believer”), born in San Diego, California (d. 2008)
1956 – Roine Stolt, Swedish guitarist (The Flower Kings), born in Uppsala, Sweden
1978 – Sylvester Joseph, West Indian cricketer, born in New Winthorpes, Antigua
1978 – Laura Bertram, Canadian actress (Trance Gemini-Andromeda), born in Toronto, Ontario
1978 – Chris Hipkins, New Zealand Labour politician and Prime Minister of New Zealand (2023), born in Hutt Valley, New Zealand

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973 – Al-Biruni, Iranian mathematician, astronomer and polymath, born in Kath, Khwarezm, Afrighid dynasty (d. 1048) [some sources cite 5th as birth date]
1557 – Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, Queen of Denmark and Norway, born in Wismar, Germany (d. 1631)
1886 – Albert Orsborn, 6th General of The Salvation Army, born in Clapton, England (d. 1967)
1937 – Gene Ludwig, American jazz and RandB Hammond B-3 organist (Sonny Stitt, Arthur Prysock), born in Twin Rocks, Pennsylvania (d. 2010)
1938 – Leonard Frey, American stage and screen actor (Fiddler on the Roof; The Magic Christian), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1988)
1942 – Alireza Shapour Shahbazi, Iranian archaeologist and a world expert on Achaemenid archaeology, born in Shiraz, Iran (d. 2006)
1951 – Martin Chambers, English rock drummer (The Pretenders, 1978–86, 1993–present – “Brass in Pocket”, “Don’t Get Me Wrong”), born in Hereford, England
1956 – Blackie Lawless [Steven Duren], American heavy metal singer and guitarist (W.A.S.P.), born in Staten Island, New York
1958 – James Houghton, American artistic director and founder of the Signature Theater Company, born in San Francisco, California (d. 2016)
1965 – Greg Fidelman, American sound engineer (Rick Rubin productions), record producer (Metallica), and guitarist, born in the USA

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1897 – Sally Benson, American writer (Meet Me In St. Louis), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1972)
1897 – Francisco Mignone, Brazilian composer, born in São Paulo, Brazil (d. 1986)
1915 – Abel Ehrlich, Israeli composer, born in Cranz, East Prussia (d. 2003)
1931 – Rudolf Kelterborn, Swiss composer, conductor (Swiss German RSO, 1974-80), and educator (Basel Music Academy, 1983-94), born in Basel, Switzerland (d. 2021)
1936 – Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, 2nd President of Tunisia (1987-2011), born in Hammam Sousse, French Tunisia (d. 2019)
1943 – Dave Eichelberger, American golfer (US Senior Open 1999), born in Waco, Texas
1947 – Gérard Houllier, French soccer manager (Paris Saint-Germain, Lens, Liverpool, Olympique Lyonnais, Aston Villa, France), born in Thérouanne, France (d. 2020)
1963 – Guido Imbens, Dutch American economist (2021 Nobel Prize for Economics), born in Geldrop, Netherlands
1984 – Garrett Hedlund, American actor (Mudbound, Tron: Legacy), born in Roseau, Minnesota
2001 – Kaia Gerber, American model and daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford, born in Los Angeles, California

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1916 – Dorothy May Bundy-Cheney, American tennis player (141 US tennis titles), born in LA, CA, (d. 2014)
1922 – Arthur Ashkin, American scientist (Nobel Prize for Physics 2018 Optical Tweezers), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2020)
1927 – Leonard Katzman, American TV screenwriter and producer (Dallas; Petrocelli; Route 66), born in New York City (d. 1996)
1944 – Claude Nicollier, Swiss astronaut (STS 61-K, 46, 61, 75), born in Vevey, Switzerland
1947 – Richard Coughlan, British progressive rock drummer and percussionist (Caravan – “In the Land of Grey and Pink”), born in Herne Bay, Kent, England (d. 2013)
1950 – Yuen Wah, Chinese stuntman and actor (Kung Fu Hustle, The Iceman Cometh), born in Hong Kong
1951 – Mark Harmon, American actor (St Elsewhere, NCIS), born in Burbank, California
1961 – Jeff Russell, American MLB pitcher (Texas Rangers), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
1965 – Lennox Lewis, British/Canadian boxer (Olympic gold super-heavyweight 1988, undisputed world heavyweight champion 1999), born in London, England
1990 – Marcus Ericsson, Swedish auto racer (Indianapolis 500 2022, runner-up 2023; Formula BMW UK 2007; All-Japan Formula 3 C’ship 2009), born in Kumla, Sweden

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1751 – Emmanuel Schikaneder, German performing arts impresario, dramatist, actor, singer, and librettist (Mozart’s “Magic Flute”), born in Straubing, Electorate of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1812)
1878 – Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, born in Saxe-Coburg (d. 1942)
1923 – Theo Joekes, Dutch journalist, writer, and politician (VVD), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1999)
1925 – Ruth S. White, American electronic music composer (Flowers Of Evil), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2013)
1931 – Cecil Parkinson, British politician (C), born in Carnforth, North Lancashire (d. 2016)
1935 – Seiji Ozawa, Japanese conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1973-2002, Vienna State Opera, 2002-10), born in Mukden, Manchuria (d. 2024)
1962 – Ruud Gullit, Dutch soccer midfielder (66 caps; Ballon d’Or 1987; Feyenoord, PSV, AC Milan, Chelsea), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
1970 – Barbara Paulus, Austrian tennis player (world #10 1996; 6 x WTA titles), born in Vienna, Austria
1977 – Aaron Schobel, American football defensive end (Pro Bowl 2006, 07; Buffalo Bills), born in Harris County, Texas
1995 – Nathan MacKinnon, Canadian ice hockey center (2013 NHL Draft: #1 pick by Colorado Avalanche; Stanley Cup 2022; 5 x NHL All Star; World C’ship gold 2015), born in Halifax, Nova Scotia

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