1697 – Francesco Antonio Vallotti, Italian organist, composer and theorist, born in Vercelli, Piedmont, Italy (d. 1780)
1723 – Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer, 1st saw Halley’s comet on return, born in Prohlis, Dresden, Germany (d. 1788)
1740 – Luigi Gatti, Italian tenor, kapellmeister, priest, and composer, born in Lazise, Verona (d. 1817)
1776 – John Constable, English landscape painter (Hay Wain), born in East Bergholt, Suffolk, England (d. 1837)
1874 – Richard Stöhr, Austrian composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1967)
1880 – Jeannette Rankin, American politician, 1st woman elected to US Congress (R-Montana), women’s rights advocate and pacifist, born in Missoula, Montana (d. 1973)
1907 – Paul Mellon, American philanthropist (Washington National Gallery of Art), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1999)
1956 – Jamaaladeen Tacuma [Rudy McDaniel], American jazz bassist (Ornette Coleman), born in Hempstead, New York
1959 – Hugh Laurie, English actor (Strapless, Dr Gregory House-House), born in Oxford, England
1964 – Jean Alesi, French auto racer (201 x F1 GP starts, 1 win [Canadian GP 1995]; International Formula 3000 C’ship 1989), born in Avignon, France