1711 – Pierre-Joseph Le Blan, composer, born in Soignies, Belgium (d. 1765)
1895 – George Machine Gun Kelly [Georgio Barnes], American gangster, born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 1954)
1918 – Nelson Mandela, South African anti-apartheid activist, political prisoner (1962-90) and President of South Africa (1994-99), born in Mvezo, Umtatu, South Africa (d. 2013)
1920 – Eric Brandon, British racing driver, born in East Ham, Essex (d. 1982)
1927 – Carlo Franci, Italian composer and conductor, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina (d. 2019)
1946 – Tim Lynch, rocker (Flaming Groovies)
1948 – Hartmut Michel, German chemist (Nobel 1988 – determination of the structure of certain proteins that are essential for photosynthesis), born in Ludwigsburg, Germany
1955 – Vitali Viktorovich Savitsky, biologist/politician
1956 – Razor Shines, American baseball player (Montreal Expos), born in Durham, North Carolina
1983 – Carlos Diogo, Uruguayan footballer