Monday, 20th April 2026 in Paris

On this day, 161 notable people were born on 20th April — spanning from 1494 to 2005. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

20/04/2005

Tallyn Da Silva, Australian rugby league player

Tallyn Da Silva is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League.

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20/04/1997

Alexander Zverev, German tennis player

Alexander "Sascha" Zverev is a German professional tennis player and the current world No. 3. He has been ranked as high as world No. 2 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in June 2022. Zverev has won 24 ATP Tour–level titles in singles and three in doubles, and has been runner-up at three majors. His most notable achievements include a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and titles at the 2018 and the 2021 ATP Finals.

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20/04/1991

Luke Kuechly, American football player

Luke August Kuechly is an American former professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons with the Carolina Panthers. Kuechly played college football for the Boston College Eagles, twice earning consensus All-American honors. He was selected by the Panthers ninth overall in the 2012 NFL draft.

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20/04/1990

Kyle Higashioka, American baseball player

Kyle Harris "Higgy" Higashioka is an American professional baseball catcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres. He also played for the United States national baseball team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

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Jason Behrendorff, Australian cricketer

Jason Paul Behrendorff is an Australian cricketer who played One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals for Australia and first-class and List A cricket for Western Australia, but has now retired from those formats of cricket. He currently plays Twenty20 cricket in the Big Bash League for the Melbourne Renegades.

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20/04/1989

Vannesa Rosales, Venezuelan activist and teacher

Vannesa Rosales-Gautier is a Venezuelan activist and teacher from Mérida state.

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20/04/1988

Brandon Belt, American baseball player

Brandon Kyle Belt, nicknamed "Baby Giraffe", "Sparky", and "Captain", is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays. He was a member of the 2012 World Series and 2014 World Series championship teams with the Giants and an All Star in 2016.

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20/04/1987

Jorge Pinto, Portuguese politician

Eduardo Jorge Costa Pinto is a Portuguese environmental engineer, politician and member of the Assembly of the Republic, the national legislature of Portugal. A member of the LIVRE party, he has represented Porto since March 2024.

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20/04/1984

Harris Wittels, American comedian (died 2015)

Harris Lee Wittels was an American comedian. He was a writer for The Sarah Silverman Program, a writer and executive producer for Parks and Recreation, and a recurring guest on Comedy Bang! Bang! He coined the word humblebrag in 2010.

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20/04/1983

Miranda Kerr, Australian model

Miranda May Kerr is an Australian model. She rose to prominence in 2007 as one of the Victoria's Secret Angels. Kerr was the first Australian Victoria's Secret model and also represented the Australian department store chain David Jones. She has launched her own brand of organic skincare products, KORA Organics, and has written a self-help book.

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20/04/1980

Emma Husar, Australian politician

Emma Husar is a former Australian Labor Party (ALP) member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Lindsay, which she represented from 2016 to 2019. During an internal investigation and media reports regarding staff complaints, Husar decided not to recontest her seat and was disendorsed by the ALP in due course.

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20/04/1978

Carl Greenidge, English cricketer

Carl Gary Greenidge is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, the son of Gordon Greenidge.

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20/04/1975

Killer Mike, American rapper

Michael Santiago Render, known professionally as Killer Mike, is an American rapper, singer, actor, and activist. He made his recording debut on Outkast's fourth album Stankonia (2000), and guest appeared on the duo's Grammy Award-winning single "The Whole World" from their greatest hits album Big Boi and Dre Present... Outkast (2001). He signed with Big Boi's Purple Ribbon Records and Columbia Records to release his debut studio album Monster (2003), which was met with critical acclaim and peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200. He parted ways with the label and released two albums—I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind (2006) and I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II (2008)—before signing with T.I.'s Grand Hustle to release his fourth album, Pledge (2011), and later Williams Street to release his fifth album, R.A.P. Music (2012). His sixth album, Michael (2023), was met with continued acclaim and won three awards at 66th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album.

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20/04/1974

Randy Fine, American politician and former gambling industry executive

Randall Adam Fine is an American politician and former gambling industry executive serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 6th congressional district since April 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the Florida Senate from 2024 to 2025 and in the Florida House of Representatives from 2016 to 2024. His congressional district covers a six-county area that includes Daytona Beach.

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20/04/1973

Julie Powell, American food writer and memoirist (died 2022)

Julie Anne Powell was an American author known for her 2005 book Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen which was based on her blog, the Julie/Julia Project. A film adaptation based on her book called Julie & Julia was released in 2009.

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20/04/1972

Carmen Electra, American model and actress

Carmen Electra is an American actress, model, media personality, singer, and rapper. Often spotlighted for her looks, she has been considered a sex symbol and pop culture icon since the late 1990s.

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Stephen Marley, Jamaican-American musician

Stephen Robert Nesta Marley is a Jamaican-American musician. The son of Bob Marley, Marley is an eight-time Grammy Award winner, three times as a solo artist, twice as a producer of his younger paternal half-brother Damian Marley's Halfway Tree and Welcome to Jamrock albums, and a further three times as a member of his older brother Ziggy Marley's group Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers.

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20/04/1971

Allan Houston, American basketball player

Allan Wade Houston Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1993 to 2005. A shooting guard, Houston played nine seasons for the New York Knicks; he was a member of the Knicks' 1999 NBA Finals team. Houston made the NBA All-Star Team twice and also won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. men's basketball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

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Mikey Welsh, American bassist and painter (died 2011)

Michael Edward Welsh was an American artist and musician who played bass for several bands, including the rock band Weezer. During Weezer's hiatus, he played with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo in the band Homie, during Cuomo's time in Boston. Following original bassist Matt Sharp's departure from Weezer, Welsh joined as bassist and played with them from the time that they unofficially regrouped in 1998 until August 2001, when he experienced mental health problems. Shortly afterwards, he retired from music to focus on his painting career. Welsh died from a drug overdose on October 8, 2011.

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20/04/1970

Shemar Moore, American actor

Shemar Franklin Moore is an American actor. His notable roles include Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless, Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds (2005–17), and the lead role of Sergeant Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson on S.W.A.T. (2017–25)—all on CBS. In film, he is known for playing G.U.N. Agent Randall Handel in the second and third films of the Sonic the Hedgehog film series. Moore was also the third permanent host of Soul Train from 1999 to 2003.

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20/04/1969

Felix Baumgartner, Austrian daredevil (died 2025)

Felix Baumgartner was an Austrian skydiver, extreme sportsman, and BASE jumper. He was widely known for jumping to Earth from a helium balloon in the stratosphere on 14 October 2012 and landing in New Mexico, United States, as part of the Red Bull Stratos project. By doing so, he set world records for skydiving an estimated 39 km (24 mi), reaching an estimated top speed of 1,357.64 km/h (843.6 mph), or Mach 1.25. He became the first person to break the sound barrier relative to the surface without vehicular power on his descent. He broke skydiving records for exit altitude, vertical freefall distance without a drogue parachute, and vertical speed without a drogue. Although his name is still attached to the last two records, his exit altitude record was broken two years later, when on 24 October 2014, Alan Eustace jumped from 135,890 feet with a drogue.

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Will Hodgman, Australian politician, 45th Premier of Tasmania

William Edward Felix Hodgman is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He was the premier of Tasmania from 2014 to 2020 and state leader of the Liberal Party from 2006 to 2020. He later served as High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore from 2021 to 2023.

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20/04/1968

Julia Morris, Australian entertainer

Julia Carolyn Margaret Morris is an Australian comedian, television presenter, and actress. She has worked extensively in Australian television and radio, touring the country with her solo comedy shows. She relocated to the United Kingdom in 2000, appearing on British television, then returned to Australia in 2007. She co-hosted Network 10's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Australia from 2015 to 2026 with Chris Brown between 2015 to 2023 and Robert Irwin from 2024 to 2026. Julia currently narrates Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly Australia.

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20/04/1967

Lara Jill Miller, American actress

Lara Jill Miller is an American actress. She played Samantha "Sam" Kanisky in the 1980s sitcom Gimme a Break! and Kathy on The Amanda Show.

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Mike Portnoy, American drummer and songwriter

Michael Stephen Portnoy is an American musician best known as the drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater.

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20/04/1966

David Chalmers, Australian philosopher and academic

David John Chalmers is an Australian philosopher and cognitive scientist, specializing in philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. He is a professor of philosophy and neural science at New York University (NYU), as well as co-director of NYU's Center for Mind, Brain and Consciousness. In 2006, he was elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. In 2013, he was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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David Filo, American businessman, co-founded Yahoo!

David Robert Filo is an American billionaire businessman and the co-founder of Yahoo! with classmate Jerry Yang. His Filo Server Program, written in the C programming language, was the server-side software used to dynamically serve variable web pages, called Filo Server Pages, on visits to early versions of the Yahoo! website.

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20/04/1965

Kostis Chatzidakis, Greek politician, Ministry of Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping and Tourism

Konstantinos (Kostis) Hatzidakis is a Greek politician who currently serves as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State in the Second Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He also serves as Vice President of New Democracy, alongside Adonis Georgiadis.

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Léa Fazer, Swiss film director, screenwriter and actress

Léa Fazer is a Swiss film director, screenwriter and actress. She studied film at the University Paris Diderot. Her film Bienvenue en Suisse was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

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Mark Mallia, Maltese painter and sculptor (died 2024)

Mark Mallia was a Maltese self-taught outsider artist who worked with abstract and portrait paintings on a variety of mixed media and ceramic sculptures, who worked in Malta, Monaco, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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20/04/1964

John Carney, American football player

John Michael Carney is an American former professional football player who was a kicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 1987.

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Crispin Glover, American actor and filmmaker

Crispin Hellion Glover is an American actor, filmmaker, author, and artist. He is known for portraying eccentric character roles on screen. His breakout role was as George McFly in Back to the Future (1985), which he followed by playing one of the leading roles in River's Edge (1986). Through the 1990s, Glover garnered attention for portraying smaller roles in films such as Wild at Heart (1990), The Doors (1991), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), and Dead Man (1995).

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Andy Serkis, English actor and director

Andrew Clement Serkis is an English actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his motion capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), King Kong in the eponymous 2005 film, Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboot series (2011–2017), Captain Haddock / Sir Francis Haddock in Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin (2011), Baloo in his self-directed film Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018) and Supreme Leader Snoke in the Star Wars sequel trilogy films The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017).

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Rosalynn Sumners, American figure skater

Rosalynn Diane Sumners is an American former competitive figure skater. She was the World Junior champion in 1980, the U.S. National champion in 1982, 1983 and 1984, World champion in 1983, and won a silver medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics.

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20/04/1963

Rachel Whiteread, English sculptor

Dame Rachel Whiteread is an English artist who primarily produces sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She was the first woman to win the annual Turner Prize in 1993.

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20/04/1962

Sanjaasürengiin Zorig, Mongolian Politician, (died 1998)

Sanjaasürengiin Zorig was a Mongolian politician who played a prominent role in leading the country's 1990 Democratic Revolution. His supporters called him the "Golden Swallow of Democracy". He served as the chairman of the Mongolian Democratic Union, a pro-democracy non-governmental organization established in December 1989.

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20/04/1961

Don Mattingly, American baseball player, coach, and manager

Donald Arthur Mattingly, nicknamed "Donnie Baseball" and "the Hit Man", is an American former first baseman, manager and coach who currently serves as the interim manager for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent his entire playing career in MLB with the New York Yankees from 1982 to 1995. A six-time All-Star, he led the American League (AL) in doubles three consecutive years, and in hits and total bases twice each. After winning the AL batting title with a .343 mark in his first full season in 1984, he was named the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1985 after hitting .324 with 145 runs batted in (RBI), the highest total in the league in over 30 years. The following year, he was runner-up for the MVP award after batting .352, leading the AL in hits, doubles, slugging percentage and total bases; his 53 doubles and 388 total bases were the highest totals by any major league player in the 1980s, and his totals of doubles and 238 hits remain Yankees franchise records. In 1987 he tied a major league record by hitting home runs in eight consecutive games, and later that year set another record by hitting six grand slams in one season.

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Konstantin Lavronenko, Russian actor

Konstantin Nikolaevich Lavronenko is a Soviet and Russian actor known for his role as the mysterious father of two boys in 2003 film Vozvrashcheniye. Lavronenko won the Best Actor prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival for The Banishment.

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20/04/1960

Debbie Flintoff-King, Australian hurdler and coach

Debra ("Debbie") Lee Flintoff-King, (OAM), née Flintoff, is a retired Australian athlete, and winner of the women's 400 m hurdles event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

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20/04/1959

Perry Haddock, Australian rugby league player

Perry Haddock is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s.

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20/04/1958

Viacheslav Fetisov, Russian ice hockey player and coach

Viacheslav Alexandrovich "Slava" Fetisov MP is a Russian former professional ice hockey defenceman, coach, politician and sports official. He played for HC CSKA Moscow for 13 seasons before joining the National Hockey League (NHL), where he played with the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings. With the Wings, he won back-to-back Stanley Cups and was part of the team's Russian Five unit. After retiring from his playing career, he became the assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils. Having a very successful four years, he helped get the team to two Stanley Cup finals and one Stanley Cup victory. In addition to that, he won two Olympic gold medals and seven world championships. His Stanley Cup wins, Olympic gold medals, and World Championship wins make him a member of the sport's prestigious Triple Gold Club.

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20/04/1956

Beatrice Ask, Swedish politician, Swedish Minister for Justice

Eva Carin Beatrice Ask is a Swedish politician and a member of the Moderate Party. She served as Governor of Södermanland County from 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2025.

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Peter Chelsom, English film director, writer, and actor

Peter Chelsom is a British film director, writer, and actor. He has directed such films as Hector and the Search for Happiness, Serendipity, and Shall We Dance? Peter Chelsom is a member of the British Academy, the American Academy, The Directors Guild of America, and The Writers Guild of America.

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Kakha Bendukidze, Georgian economist and politician (died 2014)

Kakha Bendukidze was a Georgian statesman, businessman and philanthropist, founder of the Knowledge Foundation and head of the supervisory board of Agricultural and Free Universities.

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20/04/1955

Olivia Dahl (died 1962), daughter of Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal

Olivia Twenty Dahl was the oldest child of British author Roald Dahl and American actress Patricia Neal. She died at the age of seven from encephalitis caused by measles, before a vaccine against the disease had been developed. Roald Dahl's books James and the Giant Peach (1961) and The BFG (1982) were dedicated to Olivia. As a result of her death, her father Roald became an advocate for vaccination and wrote the pamphlet "Measles: A Dangerous Illness" in 1988.

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Donald Pettit, American engineer and astronaut

Donald Roy Pettit is an American astronaut and chemical engineer best known for his orbital astrophotography and in-space inventions such as the Space Cup, which received the first ever patent for an object invented in space. He is a veteran of three long-duration missions aboard the International Space Station, one Space Shuttle mission, and a six-week expedition to find meteorites in Antarctica. As of 2026, at age 71, he is NASA's oldest active astronaut and the third oldest person to reach orbit, behind John Glenn and Larry Connor. He has accumulated 590 days in space.

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Svante Pääbo, Swedish geneticist and Nobel Laureate

Svante Pääbo is a Swedish geneticist and Nobel Laureate who specialises in the field of evolutionary genetics. As one of the founders of paleogenetics, he has worked extensively on the Neanderthal genome. In 1997, he became founding director of the Department of Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. Since 1999, he has been an honorary professor at Leipzig University; he currently teaches molecular evolutionary biology at the university. He is also an adjunct professor at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan.

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20/04/1953

Sebastian Faulks, English journalist and author

Sebastian Charles Faulks is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is most notable for his historical novels set in France – The Girl at the Lion d'Or, Birdsong and Charlotte Gray.

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James Chance, American musician (died 2024)

James Chance, also known as James White, was an American saxophonist, keyboard player, and singer.

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20/04/1952

Louka Katseli, Greek economist and politician

Louka Katseli is a Greek politician and economist. She is Professor Emerita at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She served as chair of the National Bank of Greece from 2015 to 2016, as Minister for Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping from 2009 to 2010 and as Minister of Labour and Social Security from 2010 to 2011. In January 2025 she was proposed as a candidate for the Greek Presidency in the 2025 Greek presidential election with the support of Syriza.

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20/04/1951

Luther Vandross, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2005)

Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. was an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA-certified platinum albums and sold over 25 million records worldwide. Vandross was recognized by Rolling Stone as one of the 200 greatest singers of all time (2023) and was named one of the greatest R&B artists by Billboard. NPR also included him among its 50 Great Voices. He won eight Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year in 2004 for "Dance with My Father". He has been inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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20/04/1950

Alexander Lebed, Russian general and politician (died 2002)

Lieutenant General Alexander Ivanovich Lebed was a Soviet and Russian military officer and politician who held senior positions in the Airborne Forces before running for president in the 1996 Russian presidential election. He did not win, but placed third behind incumbent Boris Yeltsin and the Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, with roughly 14% of the vote nation-wide. Lebed later served as the Secretary of the Security Council in the Yeltsin administration, and eventually became the governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai, the second largest Russian region. He served four years in the latter position, until his death following an Mi-8 helicopter crash.

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N. Chandrababu Naidu, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

Nara Chandrababu Naidu, commonly known as CBN, is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh since 2024. He holds the record of longest-serving Chief Minister in the political history of Telugu states. He is the national president of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

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20/04/1949

Veronica Cartwright, English-American actress

Veronica Cartwright is an English actress based in Los Angeles, California. She appeared in science fiction and horror films, and has three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Her younger sister is actress Angela Cartwright.

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Toller Cranston, Canadian-Mexican figure skater and painter (died 2015)

Toller Shalitoe Montague Cranston was a Canadian figure skater and painter. He won the 1971–1976 Canadian national championships, the 1974 World bronze medal and the 1976 Olympic bronze medal. Despite never winning at the World Figure Skating Championships due to his poor compulsory figures, he won the small medal for free skating at the 1972 and 1974 championships. Cranston is credited by many with having brought a new level of artistry to men's figure skating.

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Massimo D'Alema, Italian journalist and politician, 76th Prime Minister of Italy

Massimo D'Alema is an Italian politician and journalist who was the 53rd prime minister of Italy from 1998 to 2000. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2008. D'Alema also served for a time as national secretary of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS). Earlier in his career, D'Alema was a member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and was the first former Communist party member to become prime minister of a NATO country and the only former PCI prime minister of Italy. Due to his first name and for his dominant position in the left-wing coalitions during the Second Republic, he is referred to as Leader Maximo. He is also the author of several books.

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Jessica Lange, American actress

Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress and photographer. With a career spanning over five decades, she is known for her roles on stage and screen. Her accolades include two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for a BAFTA Award and a Laurence Olivier Award. Lange is one of few performers to achieve Triple Crown of Acting status.

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20/04/1948

Matthias Kuhle, German geographer and academic (died 2015)

Matthias Kuhle was a German geographer and professor at the University of Göttingen. He edited the book series Geography International published by Shaker Verlag.

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20/04/1947

Rita Dionne-Marsolais, Canadian economist and politician

Rita Dionne-Marsolais is a former Quebec politician and economist. She was the Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Rosemont in the Montreal region and represented the Parti Québécois from 1994 to 2008.

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Viktor Suvorov, Russian intelligence officer, historian, and author

Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun, known by his pseudonym of Viktor Suvorov, is a former Soviet GRU officer who is the author of non-fiction books about World War II, the GRU and the Soviet Army, as well as fictional books about the same and related subjects.

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Niko Lekishvili, Georgian politician (died 2025)

Nikoloz "Niko" Lekishvili was a Georgian politician who was a state minister, Mayor of Tbilisi, and a member of the Parliament of Georgia.

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20/04/1946

Sandro Chia, Italian painter and sculptor

Sandro Chia is an Italian painter and sculptor. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he was, with Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Nicola De Maria, and Mimmo Paladino, a principal member of the Italian Neo-Expressionist movement which was baptised Transavanguardia by Achille Bonito Oliva.

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20/04/1945

Michael Brandon, American actor and director

Michael Brandon is an American actor. He is known for his role as James Dempsey on the British drama series Dempsey and Makepeace (1985–86) and narrating the American dub of the children's television series Thomas & Friends (2004–12). His theatre credits include the original Broadway production of Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (1969), and Jerry Springer in the West End production of Jerry Springer: The Opera (2003–2004).

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Olga Karlatos, Greek actress and Bermudian lawyer

Olga Karlatos is a retired Greek actress and Bermudian lawyer, known primarily for performing in Italian horror cinema.

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Thein Sein, Burmese general and politician, 8th President of Burma

Thein Sein is a Burmese politician and retired army general who served as the eighth president of Myanmar from 2011 to 2016. He previously served as 11th prime minister from 2007 to 2010, and was considered by many in and outside Myanmar as a reformist leader in the post-junta government.

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Naftali Temu, Kenyan runner (died 2003)

Nabiba Naftali Temu was a Kenyan long-distance runner. He became Kenya's first gold medalist when he won the 10,000 metres race at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

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Steve Spurrier, American football player and coach

Stephen Orr Spurrier is an American retired football coach and player, who is also commonly referred to by his nicknames, the Head Ball Coach or the ol' Ball Coach. Spurrier was a college football quarterback with the Florida Gators, where he won the 1966 Heisman Trophy. The San Francisco 49ers selected him in the first round of the 1967 NFL draft, and he spent a decade playing in the National Football League (NFL) mainly as a backup quarterback and punter. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1986.

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20/04/1944

Toivo Aare, Estonian journalist and author (died 1999)

Toivo Aare was an Estonian journalist.

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20/04/1943

Alan Beith, English academic and politician

Alan James Beith, Baron Beith, is a British Liberal Democrat politician who represented Berwick-upon-Tweed as its Member of Parliament (MP) from 1973 to 2015.

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John Eliot Gardiner, English conductor and director

Sir John Eliot Gardiner is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Bach's church cantatas in liturgical order in churches all over Europe, and New York City with the Monteverdi Choir, and recording them at the locations. He is the author of Music in the Castle of Heaven: A Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach and presenter of the documentary Bach: A Passionate Life.

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Edie Sedgwick, American model and actress (died 1971)

Edith Minturn Sedgwick Post was an American actress, model, and socialite. Best known as a Warhol superstar, she gained widespread recognition as a style icon; in 1965, Vogue magazine named her a "Youthquaker," recognizing her influence on youth culture.

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20/04/1941

Ryan O'Neal, American actor (died 2023)

Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal was an American actor. Born in Los Angeles, he trained as an amateur boxer before beginning a career in acting in 1960.

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20/04/1940

James Gammon, American actor (died 2010)

James Richard Gammon was an American actor, known for playing grizzled "good ol' boy" types in numerous films and television series. Gammon portrayed Lou Brown, the manager of fictionalized versions of the Cleveland Indians in the movies Major League and Major League II. He was also known for his role as the retired longshoreman Nick Bridges on the CBS television crime drama Nash Bridges.

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20/04/1939

Peter S. Beagle, American author and screenwriter

Peter Soyer Beagle is an American novelist and screenwriter, especially of fantasy fiction. His best-known work is The Last Unicorn (1968) which Locus subscribers voted the number five "All-Time Best Fantasy Novel" in 1987. During the last 25 years he has won several literary awards, including a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2011. He was named Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by SFWA in 2018.

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Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norwegian physician and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Norway–

Gro Harlem Brundtland is a Norwegian former physician and politician of the Labour Party, who served three terms as the prime minister of Norway, as the leader of her party from 1981 to 1992, and as the director-general of the World Health Organization from 1998 to 2003. She is also known for having chaired the Brundtland Commission which presented the Brundtland Report on sustainable development.

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20/04/1938

Betty Cuthbert, Australian sprinter (died 2017)

Elizabeth Alyse Cuthbert, was an Australian athlete and a four-time Olympic champion. She was nicknamed Australia's "Golden Girl". During her career, she set world records for 60 metres, 100 yards, 200 metres, 220 yards and 440 yards. Cuthbert also contributed to Australian relay teams completing a win in the 4 × 100 metres, 4 × 110 yards, 4 × 200 metres and 4 × 220 yards. Cuthbert had a distinctive running style, with a high knee lift and mouth wide open. She was named in 1998 an Australian National Treasure and was inducted as a Legend in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Athletics Australia Hall of Fame in 2000.

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Manfred Kinder, German runner

Manfred Kinder is a West German former sprinter. He won a silver and a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 1960 and 1968 Summer Olympics, respectively, and finished in fifth place in 1964. Individually, he competed in the 400 m and 800 m, with the best result of fifth place in the 400 m in 1960.

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Eszter Tamási, Hungarian actress (died 1991)

Eszter Tamási was a Hungarian actress and TV announcer.

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Johnny Tillotson, American singer-songwriter (died 2025)

Johnny Tillotson was an American singer-songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored nine top-ten hits on the pop, country, and adult contemporary Billboard charts, including "Poetry in Motion", the self-penned "It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin'", "Talk Back Trembling Lips" and "Without You".

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20/04/1937

Jiří Dienstbier, Czech journalist and politician, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 2011)

Jiří Dienstbier was a Czech politician and journalist.

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Harvey Quaytman, American painter and educator (died 2002)

Harvey Quaytman was a geometric abstraction painter best known for large modernist canvases with powerful monochromatic tones, in layered compositions, often with hard edges - inspired by Malevich and Mondrian. He had more than 60 solo exhibitions in his career, and his works are held in the collections of many top public museums.

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George Takei, American actor

George Takei is an American actor, author, and activist. He is known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the Star Trek franchise.

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20/04/1936

Pauli Ellefsen, Faroese technician, surveyor, and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (died 2012)

Joen Pauli Højgaard Ellefsen was a Faroese politician and member of the Union Party. He was Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands from 1981 to 1985.

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Pat Roberts, American captain, journalist, and politician

Charles Patrick Roberts is a retired American politician and journalist who served as a United States senator from Kansas from 1997 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Roberts served 8 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1981 to 1997, before his election to the Senate.

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20/04/1932

Myriam Bru, French actress

Myriam Bru is a French retired actress and the wife of German actor Horst Buchholz, to whom she was married from 1958 until his death in 2003. She appeared in 16 films between 1952 and her marriage in 1958, when she retired from acting to raise her two children, one of whom is German actor Christopher Buchholz.

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20/04/1931

Michael Allenby, 3rd Viscount Allenby, English lieutenant and politician (died 2014)

Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Jaffray Hynman Allenby, 3rd Viscount Allenby was a British politician, hereditary peer, and horse welfare advocate.

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John Eccles, 2nd Viscount Eccles, English businessman and politician

John Dawson Eccles, 2nd Viscount Eccles,, is a British hereditary peer and businessman. He was one of the ninety-two hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999 and sat as Conservative.

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20/04/1930

Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (died 2014)

Dwight Leonard Gustafson was an American composer, conductor, and dean of the School of Fine Arts at Bob Jones University.

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Antony Jay, English director and screenwriter (died 2016)

Sir Antony Rupert Jay was an English writer and broadcaster. With Jonathan Lynn, he co-wrote the British political-satirical comedies Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister (1980–88). He also wrote The Householder's Guide to Community Defence Against Bureaucratic Aggression (1972).

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20/04/1928

Robert Byrne, American chess player and author (died 2013)

Robert Eugene Byrne was an American chess player and chess author who held the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). He won the U.S. Championship in 1972, and was a World Chess Championship Candidate in 1974. Byrne represented the United States nine times in Chess Olympiads from 1952 to 1976 and won seven medals. He was the chess columnist from 1972 to 2006 for The New York Times, which ran his final column on November 12, 2006. Byrne worked as a university professor for many years, before becoming a chess professional in the early 1970s.

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Johnny Gavin, Irish international footballer (died 2007)

John Thomas Gavin was an Irish footballer who spent most of his career in England. He played for Janesboro United, Limerick, Ireland, Norwich City, Watford, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace, Cambridge City, Newmarket Town and Fulbourn.

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20/04/1927

Bud Cullen, Canadian judge and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Employment and Immigration (died 2005)

Jack Sydney George "Bud" Cullen, was a Canadian Federal Court judge and politician.

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Phil Hill, American race car driver (died 2008)

Philip Toll Hill Jr. was an American racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1958 to 1966. Hill won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1961 with Ferrari, and won three Grands Prix across eight seasons. In endurance racing, Hill was a three-time winner of both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring, all with Ferrari. Upon winning the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1964 with NART, Hill became the first driver to complete the Triple Crown of endurance racing.

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K. Alex Müller, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2023)

Karl Alexander Müller was a Swiss physicist and Nobel laureate. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1987 with Georg Bednorz for their work in superconductivity in ceramic materials.

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20/04/1925

Ernie Stautner, German-American football player and coach (died 2006)

Ernest Alfred Stautner was a German-American professional football player and coach. He played as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also served as a coach for the Steelers, Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Boston College Eagles. Stautner was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969.

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Elena Verdugo, American actress (died 2017)

Elena Angela Verdugo was an American actress, who began in films at the age of five in Cavalier of the West (1931). Her career in radio, television, and film spanned six decades.

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20/04/1924

Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (died 2008)

Nina Foch was an American actress who later became a drama instructor. Her career spanned 6 decades, consisting of over 50 feature films and over 100 television credits. She was the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress. Foch established herself as a dramatic actress in the late 1940s, often playing cool, aloof sophisticates.

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Leslie Phillips, English actor and producer (died 2022)

Leslie Samuel Phillips was an English actor. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. He appeared in the Carry On and Doctor in the House film series as well as the long-running BBC radio comedy series The Navy Lark. On the stage, Phillips was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance in 1977. In his later career, Phillips took on dramatic parts including a BAFTA-nominated role alongside Peter O'Toole in Venus (2006). He provided the voice of the Sorting Hat in three of the Harry Potter films.

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Guy Rocher, Canadian sociologist and academic (died 2025)

Guy Arthur Auguste Rocher was a Canadian academic and sociologist.

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20/04/1923

Mother Angelica, American nun and broadcaster, founded Eternal Word Television Network (died 2016)

Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, commonly referred to as "Mother Angelica," was an American Catholic nun of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration.

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Irene Lieblich, Polish-American painter and illustrator (died 2008)

Irene Lieblich was a Polish-born artist and Holocaust survivor noted for illustrating the books of Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer and for her paintings highlighting Jewish life and culture. She is also a distant cousin of noted Yiddish language author and playwright Isaac Leib Peretz.

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Tito Puente, American drummer and producer (died 2000)

Ernest Anthony Puente Jr., commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, vibraphonist and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also known as “El Rey de los Timbales,” or “The King of the Timbales.”

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20/04/1921

Katarína Kolníková, Slovak actress (died 2006)

Katarína Kolníková was a Slovak stage actress.

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20/04/1920

Frances Ames, South African neurologist, psychiatrist, and human rights activist (died 2002)

Frances Rix Ames was a South African neurologist, psychiatrist, and human rights activist, best known for leading the medical ethics inquiry into the death of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, who died from medical neglect after being tortured in police custody. When the South African Medical and Dental Council (SAMDC) declined to discipline the chief district surgeon and his assistant who treated Biko, Ames and a group of five academics and physicians raised funds and fought an eight-year legal battle against the medical establishment. Ames risked her personal safety and academic career in her pursuit of justice, taking the dispute to the South African Supreme Court, where she eventually won the case in 1985.

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Clement Isong, Nigerian banker and politician, Governor of Cross River State (died 2000)

Clement Nyong Isong ; 20 April 1920 – 29 May 2000) was a Nigerian banker and politician who was governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from 1967 to 1975 during the military regime of General Yakubu Gowon. He was later elected governor of Cross River State (1979–1983) in the Nigerian Second Republic.

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John Paul Stevens, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 2019)

John Paul Stevens was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010. He was the second-oldest and fourth-longest-serving justice in U.S. Supreme Court history. At the time of his death in 2019 at age 99, he was the longest-lived Supreme Court justice ever. His long tenure saw him write for the Court on most issues of American law, including civil liberties, the death penalty, government action, and intellectual property. Despite being a registered Republican who throughout his life identified as a conservative, Stevens was considered to have been on the liberal side of the Court at the time of his retirement.

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20/04/1919

Richard Hillary, Australian lieutenant and pilot (died 1943)

Flight Lieutenant Richard Hope Hillary was an Anglo-Australian Royal Air Force fighter pilot during the Second World War. He wrote the book The Last Enemy about his experiences during the Battle of Britain.

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20/04/1918

Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2007)

Kai Manne Börje Siegbahn was a Swedish physicist who shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics.

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20/04/1916

Yoko Matsuoka, Japanese writer (died 1979)

Yoko Matsuoka was a Japanese writer, literary agent, translator, and anti-war and women's rights activist. She was born in Tokyo and was educated in Japan and Korea before being sent to study in the United States in 1931, as a protest to the Asian Exclusion Act. She graduated from Shaker Heights High School in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1935 and earned a degree in political science from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania in 1939. During her schooling, she became interested in international relations and was active in organizations which promoted peace and friendship. In the interwar era, she was active in the Pan-Pacific Women's Association and attended several youth conferences aimed at developing international cooperation. On her way home to Japan when World War II began, she began to examine the criticism leveled at Japan's militaristic policies.

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Nasiba Zeynalova, Azerbaijani actress (died 2004)

Nasiba Jahangir gizi Zeynalova was a Soviet and Azerbaijani actress. People's Artist of Azerbaijan SSR (1967).

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20/04/1915

Joseph Wolpe, South African psychotherapist and physician (died 1997)

Joseph Wolpe was a South African psychiatrist and one of the most influential figures in behavior therapy.

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20/04/1914

Betty Lou Gerson, American actress (died 1999)

Betty Lou Gerson was an American actress, predominantly active in radio but also in film and television and as a voice actress. She is best known as the voice of Cruella de Vil in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) for which she was named a Disney Legend in 1996.

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20/04/1913

Mimis Fotopoulos, Greek actor and poet (died 1986)

Dimitris "Mimis" Fotopoulos was a Greek actor, writer, poet, and artist.

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Willi Hennig, German biologist and entomologist (died 1976)

Emil Hans Willi Hennig was a German biologist and zoologist who is considered the founder of phylogenetic systematics, otherwise known as cladistics. In 1945 as a prisoner of war, Hennig began work on his theory of cladistics, which he published in German in 1950, with a substantially revised English translation published in 1966. With his works on evolution and systematics he revolutionised the view of the natural order of beings. As a taxonomist, he specialised in dipterans.

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20/04/1910

Fatin Rüştü Zorlu, Turkish diplomat and politician (died 1961)

Fatin Rüştü Zorlu was a Turkish diplomat and politician. He was executed by hanging after the coup d'état in 1960 along with two other politicians.

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20/04/1908

Lionel Hampton, American vibraphone player, pianist, bandleader, and actor (died 2002)

Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones. In 1992, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and he was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1996.

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20/04/1907

Miran Bakhsh, Pakistani cricketer (died 1991)

Malik Miran Bakhsh, also known as Miran Bux, was a Pakistani international cricketer who played in two Test matches in 1955.

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Augoustinos Kantiotes, Greek bishop (died 2010)

Metropolitan Augoustinos Kantiotes of Florina was a bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church. He was born in Paros in village of Piso Livadi.

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20/04/1904

Bruce Cabot, American actor (died 1972)

Bruce Cabot was an American film actor, best remembered as Jack Driscoll in King Kong (1933) and for his roles in films such as The Last of the Mohicans (1936), Fritz Lang's Fury (1936), and the Western Dodge City (1939). He was also known as one of "Wayne's Regulars", appearing in a number of John Wayne films beginning with Angel and the Badman (1947), and concluding with Big Jake (1971).

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20/04/1899

Alan Arnett McLeod, Canadian lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient (died 1918)

Alan Arnett McLeod, VC was a Canadian soldier, aviator, and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. McLeod served as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force during the First World War.

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20/04/1895

Henry de Montherlant, French essayist, novelist, and dramatist (died 1972)

Henry Marie Joseph Frédéric Expedite Millon de Montherlant was a French essayist, novelist, and dramatist. He was elected to the Académie française in 1960.

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20/04/1893

Harold Lloyd, American actor, comedian, and producer (died 1971)

Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.

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Joan Miró, Spanish painter and sculptor (died 1983)

Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramist from Spain. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona in 1975, and another, the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró, was established in his adoptive city of Palma, Mallorca in 1981. Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism but with a personal style, sometimes also veering into Fauvism and Expressionism. He was notable for his interest in the unconscious or the subconscious mind, reflected in his re-creation of the childlike. His difficult-to-classify works also had a manifestation of Catalan pride. In numerous interviews dating from the 1930s onwards, Miró expressed contempt for conventional painting methods as a way of supporting bourgeois society, and declared an "assassination of painting" in favour of upsetting the visual elements of established painting.

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20/04/1891

Dave Bancroft, American baseball player and manager (died 1972)

David James Bancroft was an American professional baseball player and manager. A shortstop, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants, Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Robins between 1915 and 1930.

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20/04/1890

Maurice Duplessis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Premier of Quebec (died 1959)

Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, popularly known as "Le Chef", was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A conservative, nationalist, populist, anti-communist, anti-unionist and fervent Catholic, Duplessis and his party, the Union Nationale, dominated provincial politics from the 1920s to the 1950s. With a total of 18 years and 82 days in office, he remains the longest-serving premier in Quebec history.

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Adolf Schärf, Austrian soldier and politician, 6th President of Austria (died 1965)

Adolf Schärf was an Austrian politician of the Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ). He served as the vice-chancellor from 1945 to 1957 and as the president of Austria from 1957 until his death.

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20/04/1889

Albert Jean Amateau, Turkish rabbi, lawyer, and activist (died 1996)

Albert Jean Amateau was a Turkish rabbi, businessman, lawyer, social activist, and denier of the Armenian genocide.

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Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland (died 1918)

Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland was a Swedish and Norwegian prince. He was the third and youngest son of King Gustav V of Sweden and Victoria of Baden and was known to be disabled.

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Marie-Antoinette de Geuser, French mystic (died 1918)

Marie-Antoinette de Geuser was a French nun. Being in close contact with the Carmelites, her state of health and the events of World War I did not allow her to take her vows.

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Adolf Hitler, Austrian-born German politician, Führer of Nazi Germany (died 1945)

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany during the Nazi era from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 under his leadership marked the outbreak of the Second World War. Throughout the ensuing conflict, Hitler was closely involved in the direction of German military operations and was central to the perpetration of the genocide of about six million Jews in the Holocaust as well as the deaths of millions of other victims.

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Tonny Kessler, Dutch footballer (died 1960)

Hermann Anton Joseph "Tonny" Kessler was a Dutch footballer. Kessler, along with brother Dé and cousins Boeli and Dolf, played club football for amateur side HVV Den Haag. Kessler won three caps for the Netherlands national side between 1907 and 1913, scoring one goal. After playing alongside each other in a match against England in March 1913, the Kessler brothers became the first brothers to represent the Netherlands together in an international match.

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20/04/1884

Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (died 1966)

Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was a member of the British royal family, a male-line granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She later married into the Spanish royal family, and was the wife of Prince Alfonso de Orleans y Borbón, Infante of Spain, a first cousin of Alfonso XIII of Spain.

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Oliver Kirk, American boxer (died 1960)

Oliver Leonard Kirk was an American bantamweight and featherweight professional boxer who won two gold medals in Boxing at the 1904 Summer Olympics. He was born in Beatrice, Nebraska and died in St. Louis, Missouri.

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Daniel Varoujan, Armenian poet and educator (died 1915)

Daniel Varoujan was an Armenian poet of the early 20th century. At the age of 31, when he was reaching international stature, he was deported and murdered by the Young Turk government, as part of the officially planned and executed Armenian genocide.

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20/04/1882

Holland Smith, American general (died 1967)

Holland McTyeire "Howlin' Mad" Smith, KCB was a general in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He is sometimes called the "father" of modern U.S. amphibious warfare. His nickname, "Howlin' Mad" Smith, had been given to him by his troops in the Dominican Republic in 1916.

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20/04/1879

Paul Poiret, French fashion designer (died 1944)

Alexandre Paul Poiret was a French fashion designer and master couturier during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was the founder of his namesake haute couture house.

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20/04/1875

Vladimir Vidrić, Croatian poet and lawyer (died 1909)

Vladimir Vidrić was a Croatian poet, and is considered one of the major figures of Croatian secessionist poetry.

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20/04/1873

James Harcourt, English character actor (died 1951)

James Harcourt was an English character actor.

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20/04/1871

Sydney Chapman, English economist and civil servant (died 1951)

Sir Sydney John Chapman KCB CBE was an English economist and civil servant. He was Chief Economic Adviser to HM Government from 1927 to 1932.

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20/04/1860

Justinien de Clary, French target shooter (died 1933)

Count Clary was a French sport shooter who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century in trap shooting. He participated in Shooting at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and won the bronze medal in the trap competition. Fellow Frenchmen Roger de Barbarin and Rene Guyot won gold and silver respectively. He was born and died in Paris.

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20/04/1851

Alexander Dianin, Russian chemist (died 1918)

Aleksandr Pavlovich Dianin was a Russian chemist from Saint Petersburg. He carried out studies on phenols and discovered a phenol derivative now known as bisphenol A and the accordingly named Dianin's compound. He was married to the adopted daughter of fellow chemist Alexander Borodin. In 1887, Dianin succeeded his father-in-law as chair of the Chemistry Department at the Imperial Medical-Surgical Academy in St. Petersburg.

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Siegmund Lubin, Polish-American businessman, founded the Lubin Manufacturing Company (died 1923)

Siegmund Lubin was an American motion picture pioneer who founded the Lubin Manufacturing Company (1902–1917) of Philadelphia.

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20/04/1850

Daniel Chester French, American sculptor, designed the Lincoln statue (died 1931)

Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works include The Minute Man, an 1874 statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monumental statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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20/04/1840

Odilon Redon, French painter and illustrator (died 1916)

Odilon Redon was a French Symbolist draftsman, printmaker, and painter.

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20/04/1839

Carol I of Romania, King of Romania (died 1914)

Carol I or Charles I of Romania, nicknamed the King of Independence ; was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (Domnitor) from 1866 to 1881, and as King from 1881 to 1914. He was elected Prince of the Romanian United Principalities on 20 April 1866 after the overthrow of Alexandru Ioan Cuza by a palace coup d'état. In May 1877, Romania was proclaimed an independent and sovereign nation. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire (1878) in the Russo-Turkish War secured Romanian independence, and he was proclaimed King on 26 March [O.S. 14 March] 1881. He was the first ruler of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty, which ruled the country until the proclamation of a socialist republic in 1947.

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20/04/1826

Dinah Craik, English author and poet (died 1887)

Dinah Maria Craik was an English novelist and poet. She wrote the novel, John Halifax, Gentleman, which presents the mid-Victorian ideals of English middle-class life.

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20/04/1818

Heinrich Göbel, German-American mechanic and engineer (died 1893)

Heinrich Göbel was a German-born American precision mechanic and inventor also known by his anglicized name Henry Goebel. In 1848 he immigrated to New York City, where he resided until his death. He received American citizenship in 1865.

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20/04/1816

Bogoslav Šulek, Croatian philologist, historian, and lexicographer (died 1895)

Bogoslav Šulek was a Croatian philologist, historian and lexicographer. He was very influential in creating Croatian terminology in the areas of social and natural sciences, technology and civilization.

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20/04/1808

Napoleon III, French politician, 1st President of France, Emperor of French Second Empire (died 1873)

Napoleon III was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last monarch of France. He created the Second French Empire in 1852, and this period saw rapid industrialization in France, rapid expansion of infrastructure and rise of French influence in world politics after several decades of instability. He was the son of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland and the nephew of Napoleon, Emperor of the French. As head of state of France for 22 years, he was the longest-reigning French head of state since the end of the ancien régime.

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20/04/1748

Georg Michael Telemann, German composer and theologian (died 1831)

Georg Michael Telemann was a German composer and theologian.

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20/04/1745

Philippe Pinel, French physician and psychiatrist (died 1826)

Philippe Pinel was a French physician, precursor of psychiatry and incidentally a zoologist. He was instrumental in the development of a more humane psychological approach to the custody and care of psychiatric patients, referred to today as moral therapy. He worked for the abolition of the shackling of mental patients by chains and, more generally, for the humanisation of their treatment. He also made notable contributions to the classification of mental disorders and has been described by some as "the father of modern psychiatry".

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20/04/1727

Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau, Belgian-Austrian minister and diplomat (died 1794)

Florimond Claude, comte de Mercy-Argenteau was an Austrian diplomat, statesman of French noble ancestry, in the service of the Holy Roman Empire.

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20/04/1723

Cornelius Harnett, American merchant, farmer, and politician (died 1781)

Cornelius Harnett was an American Founding Father, politician, merchant, plantation owner, and slaveholder from Wilmington, North Carolina. He was a leading American Revolutionary statesman in the Cape Fear region, and a delegate for North Carolina in the Continental Congress from 1777 to 1779 where he signed the Articles of Confederation. Cornelius Harnett is the namesake of Harnett County, North Carolina.

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20/04/1718

David Brainerd, American missionary (died 1747)

David Brainerd was an American Presbyterian minister and missionary to the Native Americans among the Delaware Indians of New Jersey. Missionaries such as William Carey and Jim Elliot, and Brainerd's cousin, the Second Great Awakening evangelist James Brainerd Taylor (1801–1829) cite Brainerd as inspiration.

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20/04/1650

William Bedloe, English spy (died 1680)

William Bedloe was an English fraudster and Popish Plot informer.

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20/04/1646

Charles Plumier, French botanist and author (died 1704)

Charles Plumier was a French botanist after whom the frangipani genus Plumeria is named. Plumier is considered one of the most important of the botanical explorers of his time. He made three botanizing expeditions to the West Indies, which resulted in a massive work Nova Plantarum Americanarum Genera (1703–1704) and was appointed botanist to King Louis XIV.

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20/04/1633

Emperor Go-Kōmyō of Japan (died 1654)

Tsuguhito , posthumously honored as Emperor Go-Kōmyō , was the 110th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

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20/04/1619

Geoffrey Shakerley, English politician (died 1696)

Geoffrey Shakerley was an English politician who sat as MP for Wigan in 1661. He is the father of Peter Shakerley, who also sat as MP for Wigan.

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20/04/1586

Rose of Lima, Peruvian mystic and saint (died 1617)

Rose of Lima, was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic in Lima, Peru, Spanish Empire, who became known for both her life of severe penance and her care of the poverty stricken of the city through her own private efforts.

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20/04/1544

Renata of Lorraine, Duchess consort of Bavaria (died 1602)

Renata of Lorraine was a noblewoman of the House of Lorraine who became a Duchess of Bavaria by her marriage to Duke William V.

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20/04/1494

Johannes Agricola, German theologian and reformer (died 1566)

Johann or Johannes Agricola was a German Protestant Reformer during the Protestant Reformation. He was a follower and friend of Martin Luther, who became his antagonist in the matter of the binding obligation of the law on Christians.

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