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

Image 1

Benjamin Ryan Tillman (August 11, 1847 – July 3, 1918) was a politician of the Democratic Party who served as governor of South Carolina from 1890 to 1894, and as a United States Senator from 1895 until his death in 1918. A white supremacist who opposed civil rights for black Americans, Tillman led a paramilitary group of Red Shirts during South Carolina's violent 1876 election. On the floor of the U.S. Senate, he defended lynching, and frequently ridiculed black Americans in his speeches, boasting of having helped kill them during that campaign.

In the 1880s, Tillman, a wealthy landowner, became dissatisfied with the Democratic leadership and led a movement of white farmers calling for reform. He was initially unsuccessful, though he was instrumental in the founding of Clemson University as an agricultural land-grant college. In 1890, Tillman took control of the state Democratic Party, and was elected governor. During his four years in office, 18 black Americans were lynched in South Carolina; in the 1890s, the state had its highest number of lynchings of any decade. Tillman tried to prevent lynchings as governor but also spoke in support of the lynch mobs, alleging his own willingness to lead one. In 1894, at the end of his second two-year term, he was elected to the U.S. Senate by vote of the state legislature, who elected senators at the time. (Full article...)
Image 2

Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink (1 December 1864 – 21 April 1934) was a Norwegian polar explorer and a pioneer of Antarctic travel. He inspired Sir Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, and others associated with the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

Borchgrevink was born and raised in Christiania (now Oslo) as the son of a Norwegian lawyer and an English-born immigrant mother. He began his exploring career in 1894 by joining a Norwegian whaling expedition, during which he became one of the first people to set foot on the Antarctic mainland. This achievement helped him to obtain backing for his Southern Cross expedition, which became the first to overwinter on the Antarctic mainland, and the first to visit the Great Ice Barrier since the expedition of Sir James Clark Ross nearly sixty years earlier. (Full article...)
Image 3

Aaliyah in 2000

Aaliyah Dana Haughton (/ɑːˈliːə/ ah-LEE-ə; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001), known as Aaliyah, was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. She has been credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop, and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop".

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Detroit, she first gained recognition at the age of 10, when she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside Gladys Knight. At the age of 12, Aaliyah signed with Jive Records and her uncle Barry Hankerson's Blackground Records. Hankerson introduced her to R. Kelly, who became her mentor, as well as lead songwriter and producer of her debut album, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number (1994). The album sold three million copies in the United States and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After allegations of an illegal marriage with Kelly, Aaliyah ended her contract with Jive and signed with Atlantic Records. (Full article...)
Image 4

Chollet at Canisius College, in 1948

Leroy Patrick Chollet (March 5, 1925 – June 10, 1998) was an American professional basketball player. Chollet and his brothers attended Holy Cross School in New Orleans and excelled in sports. After a year in the United States Navy, Chollet enrolled at Loyola University New Orleans and led the Loyola Wolf Pack to their first NAIA men's basketball championship in 1945. Louisiana schools were segregated at the time. Chollet had an African American great-grandparent, and when this was revealed he was pressured into leaving Loyola. He moved to New York and played three seasons for Canisius College. In New York, he passed as white; Canisius would later claim Chollet to be the school's first African American basketball player.

Chollet played for several professional teams, including the Syracuse Nationals. During the inaugural season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), he became a role player behind established veterans, and the team made it to the 1950 NBA Finals. An ankle injury limited Chollet's second year in the NBA. The Elmira Colonels, an American Basketball League team, signed Chollet for his third and final season. He married Barbara Knaus in June 1950. After retiring from professional basketball in 1952, he moved to her hometown, Lakewood, Ohio. They had three children: Lawrence, Melanie, and David. In Lakewood, Chollet worked on the construction of St. Edward High School and became a teacher and varsity head coach. He was inducted into the Halls of Fame of Holy Cross School, Loyola University, and Canisius College. He died in 1998. (Full article...)
Image 5

Portrait by Peter Lely, 1648–49

Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale (née Murray; 28 September 1626 – 5 June 1698) was a Scottish peeress. She was the eldest daughter of William Murray and his wife Catherine, the Earl and Countess of Dysart. She was raised in English court circles during the years leading up to the English Civil War and received a well-rounded education from her parents. Her first husband was Lionel Tollemache, with whom she had eleven children. In 1672, three years after Lionel's death, she married John Maitland and gained a prominent position in the restored court.

After her father's death, Maitland held the title of Countess of Dysart in her own right. After her remarriage in 1672, she was also the Duchess of Lauderdale. She was famous for the political influence she exercised and for her support for Charles II during his exile. As an associate of the secret Royalist organisation known as the Sealed Knot, she actively supported the return of the monarchy after the execution of Charles I. She was also a lifelong patron of artists, particularly Peter Lely. She died at the age of 71 at her family home, Ham House near Richmond by the Thames, and is buried in the nearby parish church. (Full article...)
Image 6

Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg (26 June 1760 – 25 March 1799) was an Austrian military commander. He achieved the rank of Field Marshal and died at the Battle of Stockach.

A younger member of a cadet branch of the House of Fürstenberg, at his birth his chances of inheriting the family title of Fürst zu Fürstenberg were slight; he was prepared instead for a military career, and a tutor was hired to teach him the military sciences. He entered the Habsburg military in 1777, at the age of seventeen years, and was a member of the field army in the short War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–79). His career progressed steadily during the Habsburg War with the Ottoman Empire. In particular he distinguished himself at Šabac in 1790, when he led his troops in storming the fortress on the Sava river. (Full article...)
Image 7
Jane Grigson (born Heather Mabel Jane McIntire; 13 March 1928 – 12 March 1990) was an English cookery writer. In the latter part of the 20th century she was the author of the food column for The Observer and wrote numerous books about European cuisines and traditional British dishes. Her work proved influential in promoting British food.

Born in Gloucestershire, Grigson was raised in Sunderland, North East England, before studying at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1953 she became an editorial assistant at the publishing company Rainbird, McLean, where she was the research assistant for the poet and writer Geoffrey Grigson. They soon began a relationship which lasted until his death in 1985; they had one daughter, Sophie. Jane worked as a translator of Italian works, and co-wrote books with her husband before writing Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery in 1967. The book was well received and, on its strength, Grigson gained her position at The Observer after a recommendation by the food writer Elizabeth David. (Full article...)
Image 8
Sir Michael Murray Hordern (3 October 1911 – 2 May 1995) was an English actor. He is best known for his Shakespearean roles, especially King Lear. He often appeared in film, rising from a bit part actor to leading roles; by the time of his death he had appeared in nearly 140 films. His later work was predominantly in television and radio.

Born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, into a family with no theatrical connections, Hordern was educated at Windlesham House School, then located in Portslade, East Sussex. He went on to Brighton College, where his interest in the theatre developed. After leaving the college he joined an amateur dramatics company, and came to the notice of several influential Shakespearean directors who cast him in minor roles in Othello and Macbeth. During the Second World War he served on HMS Illustrious, reaching the rank of lieutenant-commander. Upon demobilisation he resumed his acting career and made his television debut, becoming a bit-part actor in many films, particularly in the war film genre. (Full article...)
Image 9
Nguyễn Chánh Thi ([ŋwiəŋ˨˦ c̻an˦ˀ˥ tʰi˧˥]; 23 February 1923 – 23 June 2007) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). He is best known for being involved in frequent coups in the 1960s and wielding substantial influence as a key member of various juntas that ruled South Vietnam from 1964 until 1966, when he was overpowered by Republic of Vietnam Air Force chief and Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ in a power struggle and exiled to the United States. Known for his flamboyant style and hostility to US advice, Thi's ouster was supported by the American leadership, who backed Kỳ's pro-US regime.

Thi joined the French Army at the age of 17 and was captured by Japan after they invaded French Indochina during World War II. After several months he escaped. He later transferred to the Vietnamese National Army of the French-backed State of Vietnam, which, in October 1955, became the ARVN and Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), respectively. A paratrooper, he fought for then-Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm against the Bình Xuyên organized crime syndicate in the 1955 Battle for Saigon. Impressed by Thi's performance, Diệm referred to him as his own "son" and put him in command of the Airborne Brigade. (Full article...)
Image 10
Robert Howard Hodgkin (24 April 1877 – 28 June 1951), who went by Robin, was an English historian. He taught at the Queen's College, Oxford, from 1900 to 1937 and served as its provost from 1937 until 1946. He was particularly known for his 1935 work, A History of the Anglo-Saxons, and for his 1949 book, Six Centuries of an Oxford College.

Born at the family house Benwell Dene in Newcastle upon Tyne, Hodgkin was a son of the banker and historian Thomas Hodgkin, and was part of a so-called "Quaker dynasty" with many accomplished relatives. From 1896 to 1899, he attended Balliol College, Oxford, graduating with first-class honours in the Final School of Modern History. The following year, he volunteered to serve in the Northumberland Fusiliers, rejoining them during the First World War, which ultimately led to him being forced to leave the Society of Friends. (Full article...)
Image 11
Pasqua Rosée (fl. 1651–1658) was a 17th-century servant who opened the first coffee-house in London and possibly Britain. He was born into the ethnic Greek community of the Republic of Ragusa (now southernmost Croatia). In 1651 he became the servant of Daniel Edwards, an English merchant of the Levant Company who was living in Smyrna (modern İzmir, Turkey) in the Ottoman Empire; Rosée's duties included preparing and serving Edwards's daily coffee.

In late 1651 Edwards returned to London, taking Rosée with him. The number and frequency of friends visiting Edwards to drink coffee with him disrupted his social life, and so he set up Rosée as the proprietor of a coffee-house near the Royal Exchange. As Rosée was not a freeman of the City of London he was not able to trade; accordingly Edwards made his father-in-law's former apprentice, Christopher "Kitt" Bowman—a freeman of the City—join Rosée as a partner. The last known reference to Rosée was in 1658, after which Bowman ran the coffee-house with his wife until his death in 1662. There are stories that Rosée left London as a result of a misdemeanour and that he went to Holland or Germany to sell coffee, although there is no evidence this was the case. (Full article...)
Image 12

Meshuggah performing at Rock am Ring 2018

Meshuggah (/məˈʃʊɡə/) is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1987. Since 2004, the band's lineup consists of founding members Jens Kidman (lead vocals) and Fredrik Thordendal (lead guitar), alongside rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, drummer Tomas Haake and bassist Dick Lövgren. Since its formation, the band has released nine studio albums, six EPs and eight music videos. Their latest studio album, Immutable, was released in April 2022 via Atomic Fire Records.

Meshuggah has become known for their innovative musical style and their complex, polymetered song structures and polyrhythms. They rose to fame as a significant act in extreme underground music, became an influence for modern metal bands, and gained a cult following. The band was labelled as one of the ten most important hard rock and heavy metal bands by Rolling Stone and as the most important band in metal by Alternative Press. In the late 2000s, the band was an inspiration for the djent subgenre. (Full article...)
Image 13

Griffiths in 1991

Terence Martin Griffiths (16 October 1947 – 1 December 2024) was a Welsh professional snooker player, coach and pundit. After winning several amateur titles, including the Welsh Amateur Championship in 1975 and back-to-back English Amateur Championships in 1977 and 1978, Griffiths turned professional in June 1978 at the age of 30.

In his second professional tournament, he qualified for the 1979 World Snooker Championship. He reached the final of the event where he defeated Dennis Taylor by 24 frames to 16. This was only the second time a qualifier had won the World Snooker Championship, after Alex Higgins in 1972; only Shaun Murphy in 2005 has since emulated the achievement. In 1988, Griffiths again reached the final of the competition. He was tied with Steve Davis, 8–8, but lost the match 11–18. (Full article...)
Image 14

Willkie in 1940

Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 Republican nominee for president. Willkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican field's only interventionist: although the U.S. remained neutral prior to Pearl Harbor, he favored greater U.S. involvement in World War II to support Britain and other Allies. His Democratic opponent, incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt, won the 1940 election with about 55% of the popular vote and took the electoral college vote by a wide margin.

Willkie was born in Elwood, Indiana, in 1892; both his parents were lawyers, and he also became one. He served in World War I but was not sent to France until the final days of the war, and saw no action. Willkie settled in Akron, Ohio, where he was initially employed by Firestone, but left for a law firm, becoming one of the leaders of the Akron Bar Association. Much of his work was representing electric utilities, and in 1929 Willkie accepted a job in New York City as counsel for Commonwealth & Southern Corporation (C&S), a utility holding company. He was rapidly promoted, and became corporate president in 1933. Roosevelt was sworn in as U.S. president soon after Willkie became head of C&S, and announced plans for a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that would supply power in competition with C&S. Between 1933 and 1939, Willkie fought against the TVA before Congress, in the courts, and before the public. He was ultimately unsuccessful, but sold C&S's property for a good price, and gained public esteem. (Full article...)
Image 15

Groves in 1948

Leslie Richard Groves Jr. (17 August 1896 – 13 July 1970) was a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project, a top secret research project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II.

The son of a U.S. Army chaplain, Groves lived at various Army posts during his childhood. In 1918, he graduated fourth in his class at the United States Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned into the United States Army Corps of Engineers. In 1929, he went to Nicaragua as part of an expedition to conduct a survey for the Inter-Oceanic Nicaragua Canal. Following the 1931 Nicaraguan earthquake, Groves took over Managua's water supply system, for which he was awarded the Nicaraguan Presidential Medal of Merit. He attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1935 and 1936, and the Army War College in 1938 and 1939, after which he was posted to the War Department General Staff. Groves developed "a reputation as a doer, a driver, and a stickler for duty". In 1940 he became special assistant for construction to the Quartermaster General, tasked with inspecting construction sites and checking on their progress. In August 1941, he was appointed to create the gigantic office complex for the War Department's 40,000 staff that would ultimately become the Pentagon. (Full article...)

Today anniversaries

Pre-1600

1343 – William I, Margrave of Meissen (d. 1407)
1498 – Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian (d. 1552)
1554 – Philip William, Prince of Orange (d. 1618)
1587 – Dorothea Sophia, Abbess of Quedlinburg (d. 1645)

1601–1900

1683 – Philip V of Spain (d. 1746)
1699 – William Bowyer, English printer (d. 1777)
1714 – John Winthrop, American astronomer and educator (d. 1779)
1778 – Marie Thérèse of France (d. 1851)
1796 – Manuel Bretón de los Herreros, Spanish poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1873)
1797 – Antoine Louis Dugès, French obstetrician and naturalist (d. 1838)
1817 – James J. Archer, American lawyer and general (d. 1864)
1820 – Mary Livermore, American journalist and activist (d. 1905)
1825 – George Frederick Bristow, American violinist and composer (d. 1898)
1831 – Bernice Pauahi Bishop, American philanthropist (d. 1884)
1849 – Henry Clay Frick, American businessman and financier (d. 1919)
1852 – Albert Abraham Michelson, Prussian-American physicist, chemist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)
1853 – Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec (d. 1942)
1861 – Italo Svevo, Italian author and playwright (d. 1928)
1863 – Wallace Bryant, American archer (d. 1953)
1865 – Minnie Maddern Fiske, American actress and playwright (d. 1932)
1873 – Alphonse Kirchhoffer, French fencer (d. 1913)
1875 – Mileva Marić, Serbian physicist (d. 1948)
1875 – Carter G. Woodson, American historian and author, founded Black History Month (d. 1950)
1875 – Grace Marie Bareis, American mathematician (d. 1962)
1876 – Bernard Friedberg, Austrian-Israeli scholar and author (d. 1961)
1884 – Antonín Zápotocký, Czech politician, President of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (d. 1957)
1888 – Fritz Reiner, Hungarian-American conductor (d. 1963)
1891 – Edward Bernard Raczyński, Polish politician and diplomat, 4th President-in-exile of Poland (d. 1993)
1894 – Ford C. Frick, American journalist and businessman (d. 1978)
1895 – Ingeborg Refling Hagen, Norwegian author and educator (d. 1989)
1899 – Martin Luther King Sr., American pastor, missionary, and activist (d. 1984)

1901–present

1901 – Rudolf Hell, German engineer, invented the Hellschreiber (d. 2002)
1901 – Oliver La Farge, American anthropologist and author (d. 1963)
1901 – Fritz Mauruschat, German footballer and manager (d. 1974)
1902 – Ralph Richardson, English actor (d. 1983)
1903 – George Davis Snell, American geneticist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
1905 – Irving Kahn, American businessman (d. 2015)
1905 – Giovanni Lurani, Italian race car driver, engineer, and journalist (d. 1995)
1906 – Leonid Brezhnev, Ukrainian-Russian marshal, engineer, and politician, 4th Head of State of the Soviet Union (d. 1982)
1907 – Jimmy McLarnin, Irish-American boxer, actor, and golfer (d. 2004)
1909 – W. A. Criswell, American pastor and author (d. 2002)
1910 – Jean Genet, French novelist, playwright, and poet (d. 1986)
1914 – Mel Shaw, American animator and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1915 – Édith Piaf, French singer-songwriter and actress (d. 1963)
1915 – Claudia Testoni, Italian hurdler, sprinter, and long jumper (d. 1998)
1916 – Roy Ward Baker, English director and producer (d. 2010)
1916 – Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, German political scientist, journalist, and academic (d. 2010)
1918 – Professor Longhair, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1980)
1918 – Lee Rich, American producer and production manager (d. 2012)
1920 – Little Jimmy Dickens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2015)
1920 – David Susskind, American talk show host and producer (d. 1987)
1922 – Eamonn Andrews, Irish radio and television host (d. 1987)
1923 – Robert V. Bruce, American historian and author (d. 2008)
1923 – Gordon Jackson, Scottish-English actor and singer (d. 1990)
1924 – Carlo Chiti, Italian engineer (d. 1994)
1924 – Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1989)
1924 – Gary Morton, American comedian and producer (d. 1999)
1924 – Edmund Purdom, British-Italian actor (d. 2009)
1924 – Michel Tournier, French journalist and author (d. 2016)
1924 – Cicely Tyson, American actress (d. 2021)
1925 – Tankred Dorst, German author and playwright (d. 2017)
1925 – William Schutz, American psychologist and academic (d. 2002)
1925 – Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1926 – Bobby Layne, American football player and coach (d. 1986)
1926 – Fikret Otyam, Turkish painter and journalist (d. 2015)
1927 – James Booth, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2005)
1928 – Eve Bunting, Irish-American author and academic (d. 2023)
1928 – Nathan Oliveira, American painter and sculptor (d. 2010)
1929 – Bob Brookmeyer, American trombonist, pianist, and composer (d. 2011)
1929 – Gregory Carroll, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2013)
1929 – David Douglas, 12th Marquess of Queensberry, Scottish potter
1929 – Howard Sackler, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 1982)
1930 – Knut Helle, Norwegian historian and professor (d. 2015)
1930 – Wally Olins, English businessman and academic (d. 2014)
1931 – Ginger Stanley, American model, actress and stunt woman (d. 2023)
1932 – Salvador Elizondo, Mexican author, poet, playwright, and critic (d. 2006)
1932 – Lola Hendricks, African American civil rights activist (d. 2013)
1932 – Wayne Tippit, American actor (d. 2009)
1933 – Kevan Gosper, Australian runner and politician (d. 2024)
1933 – Christopher Smout, Scottish historian and academic
1934 – Al Kaline, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2020)
1934 – Pratibha Patil, Indian lawyer and politician, 12th President of India
1934 – Casper R. Taylor, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 2023)
1935 – Tony Taylor, Cuban baseball player and coach (d. 2020)
1935 – Bobby Timmons, American pianist and composer (d. 1974)
1935 – Joanne Weaver, American baseball player (d. 2000)
1938 – Jay Arnette, American basketball player
1940 – Phil Ochs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1976)
1941 – Lee Myung-bak, South Korean businessman and politician, 10th President of South Korea
1941 – Maurice White, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
1942 – Cornell Dupree, American guitarist (d. 2011)
1942 – Gene Okerlund, American sports announcer (d. 2019)
1943 – James L. Jones, American general and politician, 22nd United States National Security Advisor
1943 – Elaine Joyce, American actress, singer, and dancer
1943 – Ross M. Lence, American political scientist and academic (d. 2006)
1944 – William Christie, American-French harpsichord player and conductor
1944 – Mitchell Feigenbaum, American physicist and mathematician (d. 2019)
1944 – Martin Hume Johnson, English physiologist and academic
1944 – Richard Leakey, Kenyan paleontologist and politician (d. 2022)
1944 – Alvin Lee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1944 – Tim Reid, American actor and director
1944 – Steve Tyrell, American singer-songwriter and producer
1944 – Zal Yanovsky, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
1945 – John McEuen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1946 – Rosemary Conley, English businesswoman, author, and broadcaster
1946 – Robert Urich, American actor and producer (d. 2002)
1947 – Jimmy Bain, Scottish bass player and songwriter (d. 2016)
1948 – Ken Brown, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (d. 2022)
1949 – Orna Berry, Israeli computer scientist and businesswoman
1949 – Claudia Kolb, American swimmer
1949 – Sebastian, Danish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1949 – Lenny White, American musician
1950 – Eleanor J. Hill, American lawyer and diplomat
1951 – Mohammad Reza Aref, Iranian engineer and politician, 2nd Vice President of Iran
1951 – Alan Rouse, English mountaineer and author (d. 1986)
1952 – Walter Murphy, American pianist and composer
1954 – Jeff Allam, English race car driver
1954 – Tim Parks, English author and translator
1955 – Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (d. 2012)
1955 – Rob Portman, American lawyer and politician
1956 – Phil Harris, American captain and fisherman (d. 2010)
1956 – Tom Lawless, American baseball player and manager
1956 – Shane McEntee, Irish farmer and politician, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (d. 2012)
1956 – Merzbow, Japanese noise musician
1957 – Cyril Collard, French actor, director, and composer (d. 1993)
1957 – Kevin McHale, American basketball player, coach, and manager
1958 – Steven Isserlis, English cellist and author
1958 – Limahl, English pop singer
1959 – Iván Vallejo, Ecuadorian mountaineer
1959 – Lisa Wilkinson, Australian television host and journalist
1960 – Derrick Jensen, American author and activist
1960 – Michelangelo Signorile, American journalist and author
1961 – Scott Cohen, American actor
1961 – Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1961 – Matthew Waterhouse, English actor and author
1961 – Reggie White, American football player and wrestler (d. 2004)
1962 – Gary Fleder, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1963 – Jennifer Beals, American model and actress
1963 – Til Schweiger, German actor, director, and producer
1964 – Béatrice Dalle, French actress
1964 – Lorie Kane, Canadian golfer
1964 – Randall McDaniel, American football player
1964 – Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuanian basketball player
1965 – Chito Martínez, Belizean-American baseball player
1966 – Chuckii Booker, American singer-songwriter and producer
1966 – Rajesh Chauhan, Indian cricketer
1966 – Robert MacNaughton, American actor
1966 – Alberto Tomba, Italian skier
1966 – Eric Weinrich, American ice hockey player and coach
1967 – Criss Angel, American magician
1967 – Charles Austin, American high jumper
1968 – Kristina Keneally, American-Australian politician, 42nd Premier of New South Wales
1968 – Ken Marino, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1969 – Michael Bates, American sprinter and football player
1969 – Tom Gugliotta, American basketball player
1969 – Richard Hammond, English journalist and producer
1969 – Nayan Mongia, Indian cricketer
1969 – Aziza Mustafa Zadeh, Azerbaijani composer, pianist, and singer
1969 – Kristy Swanson, American actress
1970 – Tyson Beckford, American model and actor
1970 – Robert Lang, Czech ice hockey player
1971 – Amy Locane, American actress
1971 – Karen Pickering, English swimmer
1972 – Rosa Blasi, American actress
1972 – Alyssa Milano, American actress, television personality, and activist
1972 – Warren Sapp, American football player and analyst
1973 – Michalis Grigoriou, Greek footballer and coach
1973 – Erick Wainaina, Kenyan runner
1973 – Zulfiya Zabirova, Russian cyclist
1974 – Eduard Ivakdalam, Indonesian footballer
1974 – Joe Jurevicius, American football player
1974 – Felipe Lopez, Dominican-American basketball player
1974 – Jake Plummer, American football player and sportscaster
1974 – Ricky Ponting, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
1975 – Makis Belevonis, Greek footballer
1975 – Brandon Sanderson, American author and academic
1975 – Jeremy Soule, American composer
1975 – Olivier Tébily, Ivorian-French footballer
1975 – Dean Treister, Australian rugby league player
1977 – Jorge Garbajosa, Spanish basketball player
1977 – LaTasha Jenkins, American sprinter
1977 – Irina Voronina, Russian model
1978 – Patrick Casey, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1979 – Kevin Devine, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1979 – Rafael Soriano, Dominican baseball player
1980 – Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor and producer
1980 – Marla Sokoloff, American actress and musician
1981 – Grégory Dufer, Belgian footballer
1982 – Mo Williams, American basketball player
1983 – Nektarios Alexandrou, Cypriot footballer
1983 – Casey Crescenzo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1983 – Bridget Phillipson, English politician
1983 – Laura Pomeroy, Canadian swimmer
1983 – Matt Stajan, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Ian Kennedy, American baseball player
1985 – Andrea Baldini, Italian fencer
1985 – Gary Cahill, English footballer
1985 – Neil Kilkenny, English-Australian footballer
1985 – Sally Kipyego, Kenyan runner
1985 – Dan Logan, English bass player
1985 – Lady Sovereign, English rapper
1986 – Calvin Andrew, English footballer
1986 – Ryan Babel, Dutch footballer
1986 – Ingrid Burley, American rapper and songwriter
1986 – Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, Greek footballer
1986 – Zuzana Hejnová, Czech hurdler
1986 – Miguel Lopes, Portuguese footballer
1986 – Annie Murphy, Canadian actress
1987 – Cédric Baseya, French-Congolese footballer
1987 – Karim Benzema, French footballer
1987 – Ronan Farrow, American activist, journalist, and lawyer
1988 – Alexis Sánchez, Chilean footballer
1988 – Peter Winn, English footballer
1989 – Yong Jun-hyung, South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper and producer
1989 – Michał Masłowski, Polish footballer
1989 – Kousei Miura, Japanese jockey
1989 – Hamza Riazuddin, English cricketer
1990 – Greg Bretz, American snowboarder
1990 – Torrey Craig, American basketball player
1991 – Steven Berghuis, Dutch footballer
1991 – Declan Galbraith, English singer-songwriter
1991 – Josh Huestis, American basketball player
1991 – Keiynan Lonsdale, Australian actor, singer-songwriter, and dancer
1991 – Sumire Uesaka, Japanese voice actress and singer
1992 – Iker Muniain, Spanish footballer
1992 – Raphael Spiegel, Swiss footballer
1993 – Young K, South Korean singer-songwriter
1993 – Isiah Koech, Kenyan runner
1994 – Maudy Ayunda, Indonesian actress and singer-songwriter
1994 – M'Baye Niang, French footballer
1996 – Franck Kessié, Ivorian footballer
1997 – Gabriel Magalhães, Brazilian footballer
1997 – Fikayo Tomori, English footballer
1998 – King Princess, American singer-songwriter and musician (Full article...)

Get involved

For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Biography-related articles, see WikiProject Biography.

Featured articles