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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Giovanni Antonio Grassi (anglicized as John Anthony Grassi; 10 September 1775 – 12 December 1849) was an Italian Catholic priest and Jesuit who led many academic and religious institutions in Europe and the United States, including Georgetown College in Washington, D.C., and the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide in Rome.

Born in the Republic of Venice, Grassi was a promising student of mathematics and the natural sciences, especially astronomy. He completed his studies at the Jesuit College in Polotsk, in the Russian Empire, in 1804 and was appointed rector of the Institute for Nobles. The following year, he was ordered to replace the last remaining Jesuit missionary in China; this began a five-year journey across Europe in which he was ultimately unable to secure passage to the distant country. He instead began teaching at Stonyhurst College in England. (Full article...)
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Rossini as a young man, c. 1810–1815

Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces and some sacred music. He set new standards for both comic and serious opera before retiring from large-scale composition while still in his thirties, at the height of his popularity.

Born in Pesaro to parents who were both musicians (his father a trumpeter, his mother a singer), Rossini began to compose by the age of twelve and was educated at music school in Bologna. His first opera was performed in Venice in 1810 when he was 18 years old. In 1815 he was engaged to write operas and manage theatres in Naples. In the period 1810–1823, he wrote 34 operas for the Italian stage that were performed in Venice, Milan, Ferrara, Naples and elsewhere; this productivity necessitated an almost formulaic approach for some components (such as overtures) and a certain amount of self-borrowing. During this period he produced his most popular works, including the comic operas L'italiana in Algeri, Il barbiere di Siviglia (known in English as The Barber of Seville) and La Cenerentola, which brought to a peak the opera buffa tradition he inherited from masters such as Domenico Cimarosa and Giovanni Paisiello. He also composed opera seria works such as Tancredi, Otello and Semiramide. All of these attracted admiration for their innovation in melody, harmonic and instrumental colour, and dramatic form. In 1824 he was contracted by the Opéra in Paris, for which he produced an opera to celebrate the coronation of Charles X, Il viaggio a Reims (later cannibalised for his first opera in French, Le comte Ory), revisions of two of his Italian operas, Le siège de Corinthe and Moïse, and in 1829 his last opera, Guillaume Tell. (Full article...)
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Depiction of Wulfhere on the right at Lichfield Cathedral.

Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere extended his influence over much of that region. His campaigns against the West Saxons led to Mercian control of much of the Thames valley. He conquered the Isle of Wight and the Meon valley and gave them to King Æthelwealh of the South Saxons. He also had influence in Surrey, Essex, and Kent. He married Eormenhild, the daughter of King Eorcenberht of Kent.

Wulfhere's father, Penda, was killed in 655 at the Battle of Winwaed, fighting against Oswiu of Northumbria. Penda's son Peada became king under Oswiu's overlordship but was murdered six months later. Wulfhere came to the throne when Mercian nobles organized a revolt against Northumbrian rule in 658 and drove out Oswiu's governors. (Full article...)
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Lenglen in 1922

Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen (French pronunciation: [syzan lɑ̃ɡlɛn]; 24 May 1899 – 4 July 1938) was a French tennis player. She was the inaugural world No. 1 from 1921 to 1926, winning eight Grand Slam titles in singles and twenty-one in total. She was also a four-time World Hard Court Champion in singles, and ten times in total. Lenglen won six Wimbledon singles titles, including five in a row from 1919 to 1923, and was the champion in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at the first two open French Championships in 1925 and 1926. In doubles, she was undefeated with her usual partner Elizabeth Ryan, highlighted by another six titles at Wimbledon. Lenglen was the first leading amateur to turn professional. She ranked as the greatest women's tennis player from the amateur era in the 100 Greatest of All Time series on the Tennis Channel in 2012.

Coached by her father Charles throughout her career, Lenglen began playing tennis at age 11, becoming the youngest major champion in history with her 1914 World Hard Court Championship title at age 15. This success, along with her balletic playing style and brash personality, helped make Lenglen a national heroine in a country coping with the aftermath of World War I. After the war had delayed her career four years, Lenglen was largely unchallenged. She won her Wimbledon debut in 1919 in the second-longest final in history, the only one of her major singles finals she did not win by a lopsided scoreline. Her only post-war loss came in a retirement against Molla Mallory, her only amateur match in the United States. Afterwards, she began a 179-match win streak, during which she defeated Helen Wills in the high-profile Match of the Century in 1926. Following a misunderstanding at Wimbledon later that year, Lenglen abruptly retired from amateur tennis, signing to headline a professional tour in the United States beginning that same year. (Full article...)
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Achebe in Lagos, 1966

Chinua Achebe (/ˈtʃɪnwɑː əˈtʃɛbeɪ/ ; born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel and magnum opus, Things Fall Apart (1958), occupies a pivotal place in African literature and remains the most widely studied, translated, and read African novel. Along with Things Fall Apart, his No Longer at Ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964) complete the "African Trilogy". Later novels include A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). In the West, Achebe is often referred (or recognized as) to as the "father of African literature", although he vigorously rejected the characterization.

Born in Ogidi, Colonial Nigeria, Achebe's childhood was influenced by both Igbo traditional culture and colonial Christianity. He excelled in school and attended what is now the University of Ibadan, where he became fiercely critical of how Western literature depicted Africa. Moving to Lagos after graduation, he worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) and garnered international attention for his 1958 novel Things Fall Apart. In less than 10 years he would publish four further novels through the publisher Heinemann, with whom he began the Heinemann African Writers Series and galvanized the careers of African writers, such as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and Flora Nwapa. (Full article...)
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Constance Stokes (née Parkin, 22 February 1906 – 14 July 1991) was an Australian modernist painter who worked in Victoria. She trained at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School until 1929, winning a scholarship to continue her study at London's Royal Academy of Arts. Although Stokes painted few works in the 1930s, her paintings and drawings were exhibited from the 1940s onwards. She was one of only two women, and two Victorians, included in a major exhibition of twelve Australian artists that travelled to Canada, the United Kingdom and Italy in the early 1950s.

Influenced by George Bell, Stokes was part of the Melbourne Contemporary Artists, a group Bell established in 1940. Her works continued to be well-regarded for many years after the group's formation, in contrast to those by many of her Victorian modernist colleagues, with favourable reviews from critics such as Sir Philip Hendy in the United Kingdom and Bernard William Smith in Australia. (Full article...)
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A stamp of Zhang Heng issued by China Post in 1955

Zhang Heng (Chinese: 張衡; AD 78–139), formerly romanized Chang Heng, was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty. Educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, he achieved success as an astronomer, mathematician, seismologist, hydraulic engineer, inventor, geographer, cartographer, ethnographer, artist, poet, philosopher, politician, and literary scholar.

Zhang Heng began his career as a minor civil servant in Nanyang. Eventually, he became Chief Astronomer, Prefect of the Majors for Official Carriages, and then Palace Attendant at the imperial court. His uncompromising stance on historical and calendrical issues led to his becoming a controversial figure, preventing him from rising to the status of Grand Historian. His political rivalry with the palace eunuchs during the reign of Emperor Shun (r. 125–144) led to his decision to retire from the central court to serve as an administrator of Hejian Kingdom in present-day Hebei. Zhang returned home to Nanyang for a short time, before being recalled to serve in the capital once more in 138. He died there a year later, in 139. (Full article...)
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Richard Cantillon (French: [kɑ̃tijɔ̃]; 1680s – May 1734) was an Irish-French economist and author of Essai Sur La Nature Du Commerce En Général (Essay on the Nature of Trade in General), a book considered by William Stanley Jevons to be the "cradle of political economy". Although little information exists on Cantillon's life, it is known that he became a successful banker and merchant at an early age. His success was largely derived from the political and business connections he made through his family and through an early employer, James Brydges. During the late 1710s and early 1720s, Cantillon speculated in, and later helped fund, John Law's Mississippi Company, from which he acquired great wealth. However, his success came at a cost to his debtors, who pursued him with lawsuits, criminal charges, and even murder plots until his death in 1734.

Essai remains Cantillon's only surviving contribution to economics. It was written around 1730 and circulated widely in manuscript form, but was not published until 1755. His work was translated into Spanish by Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, probably in the late 1770s, and considered essential reading for political economy. Despite having much influence on the early development of the physiocrat and classical schools of thought, Essai was largely forgotten until its rediscovery by Jevons in the late 19th century. Cantillon was influenced by his experiences as a banker, and especially by the speculative bubble of John Law's Mississippi Company. He was also heavily influenced by prior economists, especially William Petty. (Full article...)
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Francis Tresham (c. 1567 – 23 December 1605) was a member of the group of English provincial Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to assassinate King James I of England.

Tresham joined the Earl of Essex's failed rebellion against the government in 1601, for which he was imprisoned. Only his family's intervention and his father's money saved him from attainder. Despite this, he became involved in two missions to Catholic Spain to seek support for English Catholics (then heavily persecuted), and finally with the Gunpowder Plotters. (Full article...)
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Patton in 1945

George Smith Patton III (11 November 1885 – 21 December 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, then the Third Army in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.

Born in 1885, Patton attended the Virginia Military Institute and the United States Military Academy at West Point. He studied fencing and designed the M1913 Cavalry Saber, more commonly known as the "Patton Saber." He competed in the modern pentathlon in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. Patton entered combat during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916, the United States' first military action using motor vehicles. He fought in World War I as part of the new United States Tank Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces: he commanded the U.S. tank school in France, then led tanks into combat and was wounded near the end of the war. In the interwar period, Patton became a central figure in the development of the army's armored warfare doctrine, serving in numerous staff positions throughout the country. At the United States' entry into World War II, he commanded the 2nd Armored Division. (Full article...)
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Jessie Margaret Murray (9 February 1867 – 25 September 1920) was a British psychoanalyst and suffragette. Born in India, she moved to the UK when she was 13. She undertook studies in medicine with the College of Preceptors and Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and at the University of Durham and University College London. She also attended lectures by the French psychologist Pierre Janet at the Collège de France, Paris.

Murray was a member of the Women's Freedom League and Women's Tax Resistance League, two organisations that took direct action in their campaigns for women's suffrage. In 1910 she and the journalist Henry Brailsford took statements from the suffragettes who had been mistreated during the Black Friday demonstrations in November that year. Their published memorandum was presented to the Home Office, along with a formal request for a public inquiry. The Home Secretary, Winston Churchill, refused to establish one. (Full article...)
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Rejewski, c. 1932

Marian Adam Rejewski (Polish: [ˈmarjan rɛˈjɛfskʲi] ; 16 August 1905 – 13 February 1980) was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who in late 1932 reconstructed the sight-unseen German military Enigma cipher machine, aided by limited documents obtained by French military intelligence.

Over the next nearly seven years, Rejewski and fellow mathematician-cryptologists Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski, working at the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau, developed techniques and equipment for decrypting the Enigma ciphers, even as the Germans introduced modifications to their Enigma machines and encryption procedures. Rejewski's contributions included the cryptologic card catalog and the cryptologic bomb. (Full article...)
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Portrait by George Beldam, c. 1905

Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet (13 October 1877 – 12 October 1936) was an English cricketer best known for inventing the googly, a delivery designed to deceive the batsman. When bowled, it appears to be a leg break, but after pitching the ball turns in the opposite direction to that which is expected, behaving as an off break instead. Bosanquet, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex between 1898 and 1919, appeared in seven Test matches for England as an all-rounder. He was chosen as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1905.

Bosanquet played cricket for Eton College from 1891 to 1896, before gaining his Blue at Oriel College, Oxford. He was a moderately successful batsman who bowled at fast-medium pace for Oxford University between 1898 and 1900. As a student, he made several appearances for Middlesex and achieved a regular place in the county side as an amateur. While playing a tabletop game, Bosanquet devised a new technique for delivering a ball, later named the "googly", which he practised during his time at Oxford. He first used it in cricket matches around 1900, abandoning his faster style of bowling, but it was not until 1903, when he had a successful season with the ball, that his new delivery began to attract attention. Having gone on several minor overseas tours, Bosanquet was selected in 1903–04 for the fully representative Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) tour of Australia. During that tour, he made his Test debut for England and although he largely failed as a batsman, he performed well as a bowler and troubled all the opposing batsmen with his googly. (Full article...)
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Yao in 2014

Yao Ming (Chinese: 姚明; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. During his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m).

Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the CBA, winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He reached the NBA playoffs four times, and the Rockets won the first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from professional basketball because of a series of foot and ankle injuries which forced him to miss 250 games in his last six seasons. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in total points and total rebounds, and second in total blocks. (Full article...)
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Hobart Amory Hare "Hobey" Baker (January 15, 1892 – December 21, 1918) was an American amateur athlete of the early twentieth century. Considered the first American star in ice hockey by the Hockey Hall of Fame, he was also an accomplished American football player. Born into a prominent family from the Philadelphia area, he enrolled at Princeton University in 1910. Baker excelled on the university's hockey and football teams, and became a noted amateur hockey player for the St. Nicholas Hockey Club in New York City. He was a member of three national championship teams, for football in 1911 and hockey in 1912 and 1914, and helped the St. Nicholas Club win a national amateur championship in 1915. Baker graduated from Princeton in 1914 and worked for J.P. Morgan Bank until he enlisted in the United States Army Air Service. During World War I he served with the 103rd and the 13th Aero Squadrons before being promoted to captain and named commander of the 141st Aero Squadron. Baker died in December 1918 after a plane he was test-piloting crashed, hours before he was due to leave France and return to America.

Baker was widely regarded by his contemporaries as one of the best athletes of his time and is considered one of the best early American hockey players. When the Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1945, Baker was named one of the first nine inductees, the only American among them. In 1973, he became one of the initial inductees in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975, and is the only person to be in both the hockey and college football halls of fame. (Full article...)

Today anniversaries

Pre-1600

3 BC – Galba, Roman emperor (d. 69)
1166 – John, King of England (d. 1216)
1389 – John V, Duke of Brittany (d. 1442)
1474 – Bartolomeo degli Organi, Italian musician (d. 1539)
1475 – Thomas Murner, German poet and translator (d. 1537)
1508 – Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian scholar (d. 1567)
1520 – Martha Leijonhufvud, Swedish noble (d. 1584)
1537 – Willem IV van den Bergh, Stadtholder of Guelders and Zutphen (d. 1586)
1549 – Kaspar Ulenberg, German theologian (d. 1617)
1588 – Constance of Austria (d. 1631)
1596 – Leonaert Bramer, Dutch painter (d. 1674)
1597 – Honoré II, Prince of Monaco (d. 1662)

1601–1900

1625 – Johann Rudolph Ahle, German organist, composer, and theorist (d. 1673)
1635 – Mariana of Austria (d. 1696)
1679 – Domenico Sarro, Italian composer and educator (d. 1744)
1698 – William Warburton, English bishop (d. 1779)
1726 – Johann Hartmann, Danish composer (d. 1793)
1731 – Julie Bondeli, Swiss salonist and lady of letters (d. 1778)
1754 – George Crabbe, English priest, surgeon, and poet (d. 1832)
1761 – Selim III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1808)
1761 – Jean-Louis Pons, French astronomer (d. 1831)
1797 – Carl Georg von Wächter, German jurist (d. 1880)
1798 – Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet and playwright (d. 1855)
1809 – Kit Carson, American general (d. 1868)
1810 – Wilhelm Marstrand, Danish painter and illustrator (d. 1873)
1812 – Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal, German lawyer and jurist (d. 1894)
1818 – James Prescott Joule, English physicist and brewer (d. 1889)
1822 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (d. 1888)
1827 – Alexander von Oettingen, German theologian and statistician (d. 1905)
1837 – Empress Elisabeth of Austria (d. 1898)
1843 – Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet and playwright (d. 1886)
1845 – George I of Greece (d. 1913)
1865 – Szymon Askenazy, Polish historian, educator, and diplomat, founded the Askenazy school (d. 1935)
1867 – Tevfik Fikret, Turkish poet and educator (d. 1915)
1868 – Charles Harvey Bollman, American naturalist (d. 1889)
1868 – Emanuel Lasker, German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1941)
1869 – Henriette Roland Holst, Dutch poet, playwright, and politician (d. 1952)
1872 – Frederick Semple, American golfer and tennis player (d. 1927)
1875 – Émile Wegelin, French rower (d. 1962)
1877 – Sigrid Schauman, Finnish painter and critic (d. 1979)
1879 – Émile Nelligan, Canadian poet (d. 1941)
1879 – Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1952)
1880 – Johnny Gruelle, American author and illustrator (d. 1939)
1881 – Charles Wakefield Cadman, American composer and critic (d. 1946)
1882 – Hans Rebane, Estonian journalist and politician, 8th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1961)
1882 – Georges Legagneux, French aviator (d. 1914)
1883 – Stefan Jaracz, Polish actor and producer (d. 1945)
1885 – Paul Manship, American sculptor (d. 1966)
1886 – Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-American actor, director, and producer (d. 1962)
1887 – Louis Jouvet, French actor and producer (d. 1951)
1887 – Axel Revold, Norwegian painter (d. 1962)
1891 – Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky, Russian illustrator and painter (d. 1970)
1892 – Ruth Chatterton, American actress (d. 1961)
1893 – Harry Warren, American pianist and composer (d. 1981)
1894 – Georges Guynemer, French captain and pilot (d. 1917)
1894 – Jack Thayer, American businessman (d. 1945)
1895 – E. Roland Harriman, American financier and philanthropist (d. 1978)
1895 – Noel Streatfeild, English author (d. 1986)
1895 – Marguerite Williams, American geologist (d. 1991)
1897 – Ville Pörhölä, Finnish shot putter and discus thrower (d. 1964)
1897 – Väinö Sipilä, Finnish runner (d. 1987)
1898 – Baby Dodds, American drummer (d. 1959)
1900 – Joey Smallwood, Canadian journalist and politician, 1st Premier of Newfoundland (d. 1991)
1900 – Hawayo Takata, Japanese-American teacher and master practitioner of Reiki (d. 1980)

1901–present

1903 – Joseph Cornell, American sculptor and director (d. 1972)
1903 – Ernst Krenkel, Polish-Russian geographer and explorer (d. 1971)
1903 – Ava Helen Pauling, American humanitarian and activist (d. 1981)
1904 – Joseph M. Juran, Romanian-American engineer and businessman (d. 2008)
1905 – Howard Hughes, American businessman, engineer, and pilot (d. 1976)
1906 – Franz Waxman, German-American composer and conductor (d. 1967)
1907 – I. F. Stone, American journalist and author (d. 1989)
1910 – Ellen Braumüller, German javelin thrower and triathlete (d. 1991)
1910 – Fritz Leiber, American author and poet (d. 1992)
1910 – Max Miedinger, Swiss typeface designer, created Helvetica (d. 1980)
1913 – Ad Reinhardt, American painter and academic (d. 1967)
1914 – Ralph Marterie, Italian-American trumpet player and bandleader (d. 1978)
1914 – Herbert Reinecker, German author and screenwriter (d. 2007)
1918 – Dave Bartholomew, American bandleader, composer and arranger (d. 2019)
1919 – Qateel Shifai, Pakistani poet and songwriter (d. 2001)
1919 – Pierre Soulages, French artist (d. 2022)
1920 – Franco Lucentini, Italian author and screenwriter (d. 2002)
1920 – Yevgeniya Rudneva, Ukrainian-Russian lieutenant and navigator (d. 1944)
1922 – Ava Gardner, American actress (d. 1990)
1923 – George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004)
1923 – William C. Schneider, American aerospace engineer (d. 1999)
1924 – Lee Dorsey, American singer-songwriter (d. 1986)
1924 – Abdirizak Haji Hussein, Somalian soldier and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (d. 2014)
1927 – Mary Higgins Clark, American author (d. 2020)
1928 – Adam Exner, Canadian Roman Catholic prelate (d. 2023)
1928 – Lev Vlassenko, Georgian-Australian pianist and educator (d. 1996)
1929 – Lennart Skoglund, Swedish footballer (d. 1975)
1929 – Red Sullivan, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2019)
1930 – Robert Joffrey, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1988)
1930 – John J. Kelley, American runner (d. 2011)
1931 – Ray Bryant, American pianist and composer (d. 2011)
1931 – Mauricio Kagel, Argentinian-German composer and scholar (d. 2008)
1932 – Colin Cowdrey, Indian-English cricketer (d. 2000)
1932 – On Kawara, Japanese-American painter (d. 2014)
1934 – Stjepan Mesić, Croatian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Croatia
1936 – Ivan Lawrence, English lawyer and politician
1937 – Félix, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
1938 – Valentim Loureiro, Portuguese soldier and politician
1940 – Janet Carroll, American actress and singer (d. 2012)
1940 – Anthony Fauci, American physician, Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
1941 – Mike Hazlewood, English singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
1942 – Indra Bania, Indian actor, director, and playwright (d. 2015)
1942 – Jonathan Borofsky, American sculptor and painter
1942 – Đoàn Viết Hoạt, Vietnamese journalist, educator, and activist
1943 – Tarja Halonen, Finnish lawyer and politician, 11th President of Finland
1944 – Mike Curb, American businessman and politician, 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California
1944 – Daniel Johnson, Jr., Canadian lawyer and politician, 25th Premier of Quebec
1944 – Erhard Keller, German speed skater
1944 – Bob Shaw, Australian golfer
1944 – Woody Shaw, American trumpeter (d. 1989)
1945 – Lemmy, English hard rock singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2015)
1945 – Nicholas Meyer, American screenwriter, film director, and author
1946 – Jan Akkerman, Dutch rock guitarist and songwriter
1946 – Jeff Sessions, American lawyer and politician, 44th Attorney General of Alabama and 84th Attorney General of the United States
1947 – Kevin Sheedy, Australian footballer and coach
1948 – Stan Bowles, English footballer and sportscaster (d. 2024)
1948 – Frank Oliver, New Zealand rugby player and coach (d. 2014)
1949 – Warwick Brown, Australian racing driver
1950 – Dana Gioia, American poet and critic
1950 – Hiroshi Ikushima, Japanese businessman and academic
1950 – Libby Larsen, American composer
1950 – Tommy Turtle, British soldier (d. 2020)
1951 – John D'Acquisto, American baseball player
1953 – Timothy Carhart, American actor
1954 – Yves Debay, Congolese-French commander and journalist (d. 2013)
1954 – José María Figueres, Costa Rican businessman and politician, President of Costa Rica (1994–1998)
1955 – Grand L. Bush, American actor
1955 – Scott Fischer, American mountaineer and guide (d. 1996)
1955 – Clarence Gilyard, American actor and educator (d. 2022)
1956 – Shim Hwa-jin, South Korean academic and educator
1956 – Anil Kapoor, Indian actor and producer
1957 – Hamid Karzai, Afghan politician, 12th President of Afghanistan
1958 – Munetaka Higuchi, Japanese drummer and producer (d. 2008)
1958 – Diane Tell, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1959 – Chris Blackhurst, English journalist
1959 – Lee Daniels, American director and producer
1960 – Glenn McQueen, Canadian-American animator (d. 2002)
1960 – Carol Vorderman, Welsh television host
1961 – Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijani businessman and politician, 4th President of Azerbaijan
1961 – Mary Barra, American businesswoman, current CEO and chairwoman of General Motors
1961 – Eriko Kitagawa, Japanese director and screenwriter
1961 – Wade Williams, American actor
1961 – Jay Wright, American basketball player and coach
1962 – Kate Spade, American fashion designer (d. 2018)
1963 – Caroline Aherne, English actress, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1963 – Jay Bilas, American basketball player and sportscaster
1963 – Timo Jutila, Finnish ice hockey player and sportscaster
1963 – Mary Ramsey, American singer-songwriter and violinist
1964 – Mark Valley, American actor
1966 – Diedrich Bader, American actor
1967 – Mikhail Shchennikov, Russian race walker
1967 – Pernilla Wahlgren, Swedish singer and actress
1968 – Marleen Renders, Belgian runner
1969 – Milan Blagojevic, Australian footballer and manager
1969 – Pernille Fischer Christensen, Danish director and screenwriter
1969 – Ed Miliband, English academic and politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office
1969 – Luis Musrri, Chilean footballer and manager
1969 – Oleg Skripochka, Russian astronaut and engineer
1969 – Gintaras Staučė, Lithuanian footballer and manager
1970 – Adam Haslett,Amaury Nolasco, Puerto Rican actor
1971 – Geoff Allott, New Zealand cricketer
1971 – Sascha Fischer, German rugby player
1971 – Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter and actor
1972 – Álvaro Mesén, Costa Rican footballer
1973 – Liu Dong, Chinese-Spanish runner
1973 – Stephenie Meyer, American author and film producer
1973 – Ali Salem Tamek, Moroccan activist
1974 – Thure Lindhardt, Danish actor
1974 – Paal Nilssen-Love, Norwegian drummer and composer
1974 – Marcelo Salas, Chilean footballer
1974 – Ryan Seacrest, American radio host and television personality, and producer
1974 – J.D. Walsh, American actor, director, and producer
1976 – Linda Ferga, French hurdler
1977 – Michael Raymond-James, American actor
1978 – Yıldıray Baştürk, German-Turkish footballer
1978 – Heinrich Himmer, Austrian politician
1980 – Stephen Appiah, Ghanaian footballer
1980 – Tomas Kalnoky, Czech-American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1980 – Maarja-Liis Ilus, Estonian pop musician
1981 – Dima Bilan, Russian singer-songwriter and actor
1983 – Gregor Blanco, Venezuelan baseball player
1983 – Tim Jennings, American football player
1984 – Isaac De Gois, Australian rugby league player
1984 – Austin Stowell, American actor
1985 – Alexey Dmitriev, German ice hockey player
1986 – Tim Elliott, American mixed martial artist
1986 – Kyrylo Fesenko, Ukrainian basketball player
1987 – Jane Summersett, American ice dancer
1988 – Stefanos Athanasiadis, Greek footballer
1988 – Emre Özkan, Turkish footballer
1988 – Simon Zenke, Nigerian footballer
1989 – Matt Calvert, Canadian ice hockey player
1990 – Brigetta Barrett, American high jumper
1990 – Ryo Miyake, Japanese fencer
1991 – Sofia Black-D'Elia, American actress
1991 – Lara Michel, Swiss tennis player
1991 – Eric Moreland, American basketball player
1991 – Louis Tomlinson, English singer
1991 – Taylor Zakhar Perez, American actor
1992 – Davante Adams, American football player
1992 – Serge Aurier, Ivorian footballer
1992 – P. J. Hairston, American basketball player
1994 – Fa'amanu Brown, New Zealand rugby league player
1994 – Miguel Castro, Dominican baseball player
1994 – Matt Frawley, Australian rugby league player
1994 – Han Seung-woo, South Korean singer
1995 – Anett Kontaveit, Estonian tennis player
1997 – William Contreras, Venezuelan baseball player
1998 – Alexis Mac Allister, Argentine footballer
2002 – Joshua Primo, Canadian basketball player (Full article...)

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