Born on Friday, 25th April – Famous Birthdays
On this day, 217 notable people were born on 25th April — spanning from 1214 to 2000. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.
Friday, 25th April 2025 marks a date rich in historical significance and notable births spanning centuries. Among those born on this day was Raphaël Varane, the French footballer who emerged as one of Europe’s most accomplished defenders during his career at Real Madrid and Manchester United. Another significant figure born on this date in 1989 was Michael van Gerwen, the Dutch darts player who would go on to dominate professional darts for over a decade. The date also commemorates the birth of Jonathan Bailey in 1988, an English actor who later gained international recognition for his roles in period dramas and contemporary television productions.
Throughout history, 25th April has seen the arrival of figures who shaped their respective fields. Wolfgang Pauli, born in 1900, became an Austrian-Swiss-American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate whose contributions to quantum mechanics remain fundamental to modern physics. In earlier centuries, Louis IX of France, born in 1214, would become one of the most influential monarchs of the medieval period, known for his judicial reforms and religious devotion. The day has consistently produced individuals whose impact extended far beyond their immediate professions, influencing culture, science, sport and governance across generations.
The date falls during late April in the Northern Hemisphere, a period of transition toward summer months. DayAtlas provides comprehensive information about this date, displaying weather conditions, historical events, notable births and deaths for any location and calendar day users wish to explore.
Discover who was born today 7th April.
25/04/2000
Dejan Kulusevski, Swedish footballer
Dejan Kulusevski is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Sweden national team.
25/04/1998
Satou Sabally, German-American basketball player
Isatou "Satou" Sabally is a German-American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for the Phantom of Unrivaled. She started playing as an amateur in the German second division, and later in the 1. Damen-Basketball-Bundesliga. Retaining her NCAA eligibility, she moved to the US in 2017 and played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. During her three years with Oregon, Sabally contributed to the Ducks winning three regular-season and two tournament Pac-12 championships, and reaching their first-ever NCAA tournament Final Four in 2019. After her junior season, she entered the 2020 WNBA draft and was selected second overall by the Dallas Wings. Sabally spent five seasons with the Wings, winning the WNBA Most Improved Player Award and earning an All-WNBA First Team nomination in 2023, and becoming a two-time All-Star. In 2025, she was traded to the Phoenix Mercury.
25/04/1996
Mack Horton, Australian swimmer
Mackenzie James Horton is an Australian retired freestyle swimmer. He is an Olympic gold medallist, World Championships gold medallist, and 4-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he took the gold in the 400m freestyle, and became the first male swimmer from the state of Victoria to win an Olympic swimming gold in the Games' history.
25/04/1995
Lewis Baker, English footballer
Lewis Renard Baker is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Stoke City.
Packy Hanrahan, American bowler
Patrick "Packy" Hanrahan is an American professional ten-pin bowler who joined the Professional Bowlers Association in 2018 after a collegiate career at Wichita State University. Born in Greenwich, Connecticut, he currently resides in Wichita, Kansas. He also competes internationally as a multi-year and current member of Team USA.
25/04/1994
Omar McLeod, Jamaican hurdler
Omar McLeod is a Jamaican professional hurdler and sprinter competing in the 60 m hurdles and 110 m hurdles. In the latter event, he is the 2016 Olympic champion and 2017 World champion. He was NCAA indoor champion in the 60 m hurdles in 2014 and 2015 and outdoor champion in the 110 m hurdles in 2015; he turned professional after the 2015 collegiate season, forgoing his two remaining years of collegiate eligibility. His personal best in the 110 m hurdles ranks him equal 7th on the world all-time list.
Maggie Rogers, American musician
Margaret Debay Rogers is an American singer-songwriter and record producer from Easton, Maryland. She received widespread recognition after her song "Alaska" was played to artist-in-residence Pharrell Williams during a master class at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts in Manhattan in 2016. She has released two independent albums, The Echo (2012) and Blood Ballet (2014), and three studio albums, Heard It in a Past Life (2019), Surrender (2022), and Don't Forget Me (2024). She was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2020.
Sam Fender, English singer-songwriter and musician
Samuel Thomas Fender is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in North Shields, Fender released several singles independently beginning in 2017. His sound relies primarily on his traditional American musical upbringing combined with a British rock sensibility. He is known for his high tenor voice and Geordie accent. Recognised for his songwriting style, Fender is the recipient of five Brit Awards.
25/04/1993
Alex Bowman, American race car driver
Alexander Michael Warren Bowman is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro SS for JR Motorsports. He owns a Dirt Midget and Sprint car racing team, Alex Bowman Racing. He is known for a record six consecutive front-row starts in the Daytona 500, from 2018 to 2023, winning the pole in 2018, 2021, and 2023.
Daniel Norris, American baseball player
Daniel David Norris is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, and Cleveland Guardians.
Raphaël Varane, French footballer
Raphaël Xavier Varane is a French former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
25/04/1991
Jordan Poyer, American football player
Jordan Lynn-Baxter Poyer is an American professional football safety. He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers, where he was a consensus All-American. Poyer was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2013 NFL draft, but was waived only a few months into his rookie season. After becoming a backup safety for the Cleveland Browns, Poyer later became a starter for the Buffalo Bills, where he formed one of the league's top safety tandems alongside Micah Hyde. Poyer earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl accolades while on the Bills. He has also played for the Miami Dolphins.
Alex Shibutani, American ice dancer
Alex Hideo Shibutani is an American ice dancer. Partnered with his sister Maia Shibutani, he is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist (2018), a three-time World medalist, the 2016 Four Continents champion, and a two-time U.S. national champion. The Shibutanis have also won six titles on the Grand Prix series. At the junior level, they are 2009 World Junior silver and 2009–10 JGP Final bronze medalists. They are two-time members of the US Olympic team, competing at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. In 2018, they became the first ice dancers who are both of Asian descent to medal at the Olympics. They are the second sibling duo to ever share an ice dancing Olympic medal, and the first from the United States.
25/04/1990
Jean-Éric Vergne, French racing driver
Jean-Éric Serge Raymond Vergne, also known by his initials JEV, is a French racing driver, who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Peugeot and in Formula E for the Citroën Formula E Team. Vergne also competed in Formula One from 2012 to 2014, and has won a record two Formula E Championship titles with Techeetah.
Taylor Walker, Australian footballer
Taylor Walker is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted with pick 75 in the 2007 national draft and captained Adelaide from 2015 to 2019.
25/04/1989
Marie-Michèle Gagnon, Canadian skier
Marie-Michèle Gagnon is a Canadian former alpine ski racer.
Michael van Gerwen, Dutch darts player
Michael van Gerwen is a Dutch professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is ranked world number four; he was ranked world number one from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC world champion, having won the title in 2014, 2017 and 2019. He is the reigning World Series Finals champion.
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is the 11th Panchen Lama belonging to the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism, as recognized and announced by the 14th Dalai Lama on 14 May 1995. Three days later, on 17 May, the six-year-old Panchen Lama was kidnapped and forcibly disappeared by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), after the Chinese government failed in its efforts to install a substitute. A Chinese substitute is seen as a political tool to undermine the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, which traditionally is recognized by the Panchen Lama. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima remains forcibly detained by the CCP, along with his family, in an undisclosed location since 1995. His khenpo, Chadrel Rinpoche, and another Gelugpa monk, Jampa Chungla, were also arrested. The United Nations, with the support of numerous states, organizations, and private individuals continue to call for the 11th Panchen Lama's release.
25/04/1988
Jonathan Bailey, English actor
Jonathan Stuart Bailey is an English actor known for his dramatic, comedic, and musical roles on stage and screen. His accolades include a Laurence Olivier Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award as well as a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award and four Actor Awards. He was included by Time magazine in their Time 100 Next list of the world's most influential artists and was named as People's Sexiest Man Alive in 2025.
Sara Paxton, American actress
Sara Paxton is an American actress and singer. She began acting at an early age, appearing in minor roles in both films and television shows before rising to fame in early October 2002. She played Sarah Tobin from Greetings from Tucson (2002–2003), the titular role in the television series Darcy's Wild Life (2004–2006) and Sarah Borden in Summerland (2004). Her other films include Aquamarine (2006), Return to Halloweentown (2006), Sydney White (2007), Superhero Movie (2008), The Last House on the Left (2009), The Innkeepers (2011), and The Front Runner (2018).
James Sheppard, Canadian ice hockey player
James Sheppard is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for Vienna Capitals of the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, and New York Rangers.
25/04/1987
Razak Boukari, Togolese footballer
Abdoul-Razak "Razak" Boukari is a Togolese professional footballer who plays as a winger.
Jay Park, American-South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
Jay Park, Korean name Park Jae-beom (박재범), is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and dancer based in South Korea. He is a member of the Seattle-based b-boy crew Art of Movement (AOM), and founder and former CEO of the independent hip hop record labels AOMG and H1ghr Music, as well as the founder of the record label More Vision. Park returned to South Korea in June 2010 for the filming of Hype Nation, and in July, Park signed a contract with SidusHQ, one of the largest entertainment agencies in South Korea. Rebranding and re-debuting as both a solo singer and a rapper, Park has participated in the underground hip hop culture scene in South Korea, a rarity for both active and former K-Pop idols.
25/04/1986
Alexei Emelin, Russian ice hockey player
Alexei Vyacheslavovich Emelin is a Russian professional ice hockey defenceman who plays for the Dubai Red Stars of the Emirates Ice Hockey League. He was selected in the third round, 84th overall, by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2004 NHL entry draft. Emelin has also previously played for the Nashville Predators.
Gwen Jorgensen, American triathlete
Gwen Rosemary Jorgensen is an American distance runner and professional triathlete. She was the champion of the 2014 and 2015 ITU World Triathlon Series. She was named USA Triathlon's 2013 and 2014 Olympic/ITU Female Athlete of the Year. She was a member of the 2012 Olympic Team and again represented the United States in triathlon at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she won the USA's first ever triathlon gold medal with a time of 1 hour, 56 minutes, and 16 seconds.
Claudia Rath, German heptathlete
Claudia Salman-Rath is a German athlete who specialises in the heptathlon.
25/04/1985
Giedo van der Garde, Dutch racing driver
Giedo Gijsbertus Gerrit van der Garde is a Dutch former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One in 2013, and the FIA World Endurance Championship between 2016 and 2023. In sportscar racing, Van der Garde won the European Le Mans Series in 2016 with G-Drive.
25/04/1983
Johnathan Thurston, Australian rugby league player
Johnathan Dean Thurston is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the National Rugby League (NRL). Thurston was an Australian international, Queensland State of Origin and Indigenous All Stars representative, playing at halfback or five-eighth, and was a noted goal-kicker. Thurston has been an assistant coach of the Queensland rugby league team since 2021.
DeAngelo Williams, American football player
DeAngelo Chondon Williams is an American professional wrestler and former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Memphis Tigers, earning first-team All-American honors in 2005. He was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft. He starred in a dual role in Carolina alongside Jonathan Stewart, until Williams' release in the 2014 offseason. He then played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2015 to 2016.
25/04/1982
Monty Panesar, English cricketer
Mudhsuden Singh "Monty" Panesar is a former English international cricketer. A left-arm spinner, Panesar made his Test cricket debut in 2006 against India in Nagpur and One Day International debut for England in 2007. In English county cricket, he last played for Northamptonshire in 2016, and has previously played for Northamptonshire until 2009, Sussex from 2010 to 2013 and Essex from 2013 to 2015. He has also played for the Lions in South Africa.
25/04/1981
Felipe Massa, Brazilian racing driver
Felipe Massa is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for TMG and in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Riley. Massa competed in Formula One from 2002 to 2017, and was runner-up in the World Drivers' Championship in 2008 with Ferrari; he won 11 Grands Prix across 15 seasons.
John McFall, English sprinter
John McFall is a British Paralympic sprinter, a surgeon, and the first disabled astronaut.
Anja Pärson, Swedish skier
Anja Sofia Tess Pärson is a Swedish former alpine skier. She is an Olympic gold medalist, seven-time gold medalist at the World Championships, and two-time overall Alpine Skiing World Cup champion. This included winning three gold medals in the 2007 World Championship in her native Sweden. She has won a total of 42 World Cup races.
25/04/1980
Daniel MacPherson, Australian actor and television host
Daniel MacPherson is an Australian actor and television presenter, known for his roles as Joel Samuels in Neighbours, PC Cameron Tait in The Bill, Sergeant Samuel Wyatt in Sky and Cinemax's Strike Back, Whit Carmichael in the Shane Abbess sci-fi film Infini, Arion Elessedil in The Shannara Chronicles and Hugo Crast in the first filmed adaptation of Isaac Asimov's long running Foundation novel series, loosely adapted as Foundation. He also co-hosted Dancing with the Stars for six years while simultaneously starring in a number of Australian dramas such as Wild Boys.
Alejandro Valverde, Spanish cyclist
Alejandro Valverde Belmonte is a Spanish cyclist, who competed as a professional in road bicycle racing from 2002 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2022, and now competes in gravel cycling for the Movistar Team Gravel Squad. Since March 2025, he has been the coach of the men's Spanish national team.
25/04/1978
Matt Walker, English swimmer
Matthew "Matt" Benedict Walker MBE is a British swimmer who has participated in four Paralympic Games, winning eleven medals. He competes in the S7, SM7 (medley) and SB7 (breaststroke) classifications.
25/04/1977
Constantinos Christoforou, Cypriot singer-songwriter
Constantinos Christophorou is a Cypriot singer. He represented Cyprus in Eurovision Song Contest as a solo singer with "Mono Yia Mas" (1996) and "Ela Ela " (2005) and as part of the boy band formation One with "Gimme" (2002).
Marguerite Moreau, American actress and producer
Marguerite Moreau is an American actress. She is known for her role as Jesse Reeves in the fantasy horror film Queen of the Damned, Katie in the comedy Wet Hot American Summer, and her role as Connie in The Mighty Ducks series of films. She has also made appearances on the television series Smallville, Lost, Cupid and The O.C.
Matthew West, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
Matthew Joseph West is an American contemporary Christian singer-songwriter. He has released five studio albums and is known for his songs "More", "You Are Everything", and "The Motions". He was nominated for five Dove Awards in 2005, two of which were for his major-label debut album, Happy. West won the 2013 American Music Award for Best Contemporary Inspirational Artist.
25/04/1976
Gilberto da Silva Melo, Brazilian footballer
Gilberto da Silva Melo, more commonly known as Gilberto, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. He played at left-back for the majority of his career. Gilberto's brothers Nenei and Nélio are also former footballers.
Tim Duncan, American basketball player
Timothy Theodore Duncan is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He spent his entire 19-year career with the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Big Fundamental", he is widely considered to be the greatest power forward of all time and one of the greatest players in NBA history, and was a central contributor to the franchise's success during the 2000s and 2010s. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 and named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
Breyton Paulse, South African rugby player
Breyton Paulse is a South African former rugby union player who played on the wing for the national team, the Springboks, from 1999 to 2007. He played 64 test matches for South Africa, scoring 26 tries.
Rainer Schüttler, German tennis player and coach
Rainer Schüttler is a German former professional tennis player. Schüttler was the runner-up at the 2003 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. He won an Olympic silver medal in doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 5 in April 2004.
25/04/1975
Jacque Jones, American baseball player and coach
Jacque Dewayne Jones is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and Florida Marlins. He also coached for the Washington Nationals.
25/04/1973
Carlota Castrejana, Spanish triple jumper
María Carlota Castrejana Fernández is a female triple jumper from Spain. Her personal best jump is 14.60 metres, achieved at the 2005 Mediterranean Games in Almería. This is the current national record.
Barbara Rittner, German tennis player
Barbara Rittner is a German former professional tennis player. She currently is the captain of the German Fed Cup team. Her career-high singles ranking was No. 24 in the world, achieved on 1 February 1993.
25/04/1971
Sara Baras, Spanish dancer
Sara Pereyra Baras is a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer born in San Fernando (Cádiz) who has established her own dance company.
25/04/1970
Jason Lee, American skateboarder, actor, comedian and producer
Jason Michael Lee is an American actor, filmmaker, photographer, and former professional skateboarder. He is known for playing Earl Hickey in the television comedy series My Name Is Earl, for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 2005 and 2006. He is also known for his roles in Kevin Smith films such as Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Jersey Girl (2004), Clerks II (2006), Cop Out (2010), and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019). Lee won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in Chasing Amy.
25/04/1969
Joe Buck, American sportscaster
Joseph Francis Buck is an American sportscaster who serves as the lead play-by-play announcer for Monday Night Football on ESPN and ABC. Buck previously worked for Fox Sports from its 1994 inception through 2022, serving as the lead play-by-play announcer for Fox's National Football League and Major League Baseball coverage.
Martin Koolhoven, Dutch director and screenwriter
Martinus Wouter "Martin" Koolhoven is a Dutch film director and screenwriter. Internationally he is most known for Schnitzel Paradise (2005), Winter in Wartime (2008) and Brimstone (2016), which was his first film in English. It was released in 2017, after it premiered in the competition of the Venice Film Festival in 2016.
Jon Olsen, American swimmer
Jon C. Olsen is an American former competition swimmer, four-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Olsen was a successful relay swimmer for the U.S. national team in the late 1980s and 1990s. He has won a total of 27 medals in major international competition, 20 gold, 5 silver, and 2 bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, Pan Pacific, and the Pan American championships.
Darren Woodson, American football player and sportscaster
Darren Raye Woodson is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as a safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) from 1992 to 2003. He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils, and was selected by the Cowboys in the second round of the 1992 NFL draft with the 37th overall pick. He finished his career with six Pro Bowl selections, including three first-team All-Pro selections, and won three Super Bowls.
Renée Zellweger, American actress and producer
Renée Kathleen Zellweger is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.
25/04/1968
Thomas Strunz, German footballer
Thomas Strunz is a German former professional footballer who played mostly as a defensive midfielder.
25/04/1967
Angel Martino, American swimmer
Angelina Myers Martino, now known as Angel Sims, is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Over her career, she won three Olympic gold medals and three bronze medals.
25/04/1966
Diego Domínguez, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
Diego Dominguez is a former rugby union fly-half. After playing a couple of matches for Argentina, he spent the vast majority of his career with the Italy national rugby union team, winning 74 caps for the latter.
Femke Halsema, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician
Femke Halsema is a Dutch politician and filmmaker serving as Mayor of Amsterdam since 2018. She is the first woman to hold the position on a non-interim basis. She wad previously a member of the House of Representatives for the leftist green party, GroenLinks (1998-2011), and served as the party's parliamentary leader (2002-2010).
Darren Holmes, American baseball player and coach
Darren Lee Holmes is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Holmes played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1990 to 2003 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, and Atlanta Braves.
25/04/1965
Eric Avery, American bass player and songwriter
Eric Adam Avery is an American musician. He is best known as the founding bass guitarist and co-songwriter of the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, with whom he has recorded two studio albums. From 2005 to 2022, Avery was the bassist for Garbage, which he joined as sideman and with whom he recorded three studio albums.
Mark Bryant, American basketball player and coach
Mark Craig Bryant is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for the New York Knicks. As a player, he played collegiately at Seton Hall University from 1984 to 1988, and was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 1988 NBA draft. Bryant played for 10 NBA teams during his career, averaging 5.4 ppg and appeared in the 1990 and 1992 NBA Finals as a member of the Blazers.
John Henson, American puppeteer and voice actor (died 2014)
John Paul Henson was an American puppeteer. He was best known for his association with the Muppets.
25/04/1964
Hank Azaria, American actor, voice artist, comedian and producer
Henry Albert Azaria is an American actor and producer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom The Simpsons since 1989, including Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Superintendent Chalmers, Comic Book Guy, Snake, Professor Frink, Kirk Van Houten, Duffman, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Lou, and Carl Carlson, among others. Azaria joined the show with little voice acting experience, but became a regular in its second season. For his work on the show, he has won four Primetime Emmy Awards.
Andy Bell, English singer-songwriter
Andrew Ivan Bell is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the synth-pop duo Erasure. The band achieved mainstream success and are popular within the LGBTQ communities, for whom he has become an icon.
25/04/1963
Joy Covey, American businesswoman (died 2013)
Joy Covey was an American business executive, best known as Amazon's first chief financial officer.
David Moyes, Scottish footballer and manager
David William Moyes is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Premier League club Everton. He was the 2003, 2005 and 2009 League Managers Association Manager of the Year. He is on the committee for the League Managers Association in an executive capacity.
Paul Wassif, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
Paul Wassif is a British musician, guitarist, and singer songwriter.
25/04/1962
Foeke Booy, Dutch footballer and manager
Foeke Booy is a Dutch former professional footballer player and manager who is the head of scouting for Eerste Divisie club Almere City. A forward during a sixteen-year playing career in the Netherlands and Belgium, he is best known for his successful managerial spell at Utrecht, where he won back-to-back KNVB Cups and the Johan Cruyff Shield between 2003 and 2004.
25/04/1961
Dinesh D'Souza, Indian-American journalist and author
Dinesh Joseph D'Souza is an Indian-born American right-wing political commentator, conspiracy theorist, author, and filmmaker. He has made several films and written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers.
Miran Tepeš, Slovenian ski jumper
Miran Tepeš is a Slovenian former ski jumper and current ski jumping official who competed for Yugoslavia and Slovenia from 1979 to 1992. He won a silver medal in the team large hill competition at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. He finished fourth in the normal hill individual competition, and tenth in the large hill competition.
25/04/1960
Paul Baloff, American singer (died 2002)
Paul Nicholas Baloff was an American singer, best known as the original lead vocalist of the thrash metal band Exodus. He was fired from Exodus shortly after the release of the band's 1985 debut album Bonded by Blood, which is considered one of the most influential thrash metal albums of all time. He sang with various other bands before rejoining Exodus in 1997. Baloff died of a stroke in 2002.
Robert Peston, English journalist
Robert James Kenneth Peston is an English journalist, presenter, and author. He is the Political Editor of ITV News and host of the weekly political discussion show Peston alongside ITV News Deputy Political Editor Anushka Asthana. From 2006 until 2014, he was the Business Editor of BBC News and its Economics Editor from 2014 to 2015. He became known to the wider public with his reporting on the 2008 financial crisis, especially with his exclusive information on the Northern Rock crisis. He is the founder of the education charity Futures for All.
25/04/1959
Paul Madden, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to Australia
Paul Damian Madden is a retired British diplomat, who was High Commissioner to Singapore and to Australia, and Ambassador to Japan between 2017 and 2021.
Daniel Kash, Canadian actor and director
Daniel Joshua Kash is a Canadian actor and film director. He is known for his appearances in films such as Aliens, The Hunt for the BTK Killer, and The Path to 9/11, and in television series such as Law & Order, Orphan Black, and The Expanse.
Tony Phillips, American baseball player (died 2016)
Keith Anthony Phillips was an American professional baseball utility player who had an 18-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career from 1982 to 1999. He played regularly at second base, but also had significant time as a shortstop and third baseman. In addition, Phillips showed his versatility with over 100 game appearances in the outfield corners and as a designated hitter.
25/04/1958
Mike DeVault, American politician
Mike DeVault is an American politician who served as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 74th district. He owns two businesses. He resigned from the West Virginia House in January 2026.
Fish, Scottish singer-songwriter
Derek William Dick, better known by his stage name Fish, is a retired Scottish singer, songwriter and occasional actor. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the neo-prog band Marillion from 1981 until 1988. He released 11 UK Top 40 singles with the band, including the Top 10 singles "Kayleigh", "Lavender" and "Incommunicado", and five Top 10 albums, including a number one with Misplaced Childhood. In his solo career, Fish explored contemporary pop and traditional folk, and released a further five Top 40 singles and a Top 10 album.
Misha Glenny, British journalist
Michael V. E. "Misha" Glenny is an English journalist and broadcaster, specialising in southeast Europe, global organised crime, and cybersecurity. He has been Rector of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna since 2022.
25/04/1957
Theo de Rooij, Dutch cyclist and manager
Theo de Rooij is a retired Dutch former bicycle racer and former manager of the Rabobank cycling team - a position from which he resigned after the 2007 Tour de France. De Rooij was a professional rider from 1980 to 1990. He started his career in Belgian teams and the last eight years of his careers he served teams managed by Peter Post. He currently lives in Holten.
25/04/1956
Dominique Blanc, French actress, director, and screenwriter
Dominique Blanc is a French actress. She is known for her roles in the films May Fools (1990), Indochine (1992), La Reine Margot (1994), Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train (1998), and The Other One (2008). In a career spanning nearly four decades, Blanc has won four César Awards from nine nominations.
Abdalla Uba Adamu, Nigerian professor, media scholar
Abdalla Uba Adamu is a Nigerian academic, educator, publisher, filmmaker, ethnomusicologist, media scholar and former vice-chancellor of National Open University of Nigeria. He hold double professorships in Science Education (1997) and Media and Cultural Communication (2012).
25/04/1955
Américo Gallego, Argentinian footballer and coach
Américo Rubén "El Tolo" Gallego is an Argentine football coach and former player. As a midfielder, he played 73 times for the Argentina national team during his playing career.
Parviz Parastui, Iranian actor and singer
Parviz Parastui is an Iranian actor. He has received various accolades, including four Crystal Simorgh for Best Actor–making him the only actor to have four wins in that category–four Hafez Awards, two Iran Cinema Celebration Awards and an Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Awards.
Zev Siegl, American businessman, co-founded Starbucks
Zev Siegl is an American keynote speaker and presenter. He co-founded Starbucks, with Gordon Bowker and Jerry Baldwin, in 1971, and was a director of the company during its first decade.
25/04/1954
Melvin Burgess, English author
Melvin Burgess is a British writer of children's fiction. He became famous in 1996 with the publication of Junk, about heroin-addicted teenagers on the streets of Bristol. In Britain, Junk became one of the best-known young adult books of the decade. Burgess won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British author. For the 10th anniversary in 2007 it was named one of the top ten Medal-winning works, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite.
Randy Cross, American football player and sportscaster
Randall Laureat Cross is an American football analyst and former player. He played as a guard and center in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
Róisín Shortall, Irish educator and politician
Róisín Shortall is an Irish former Social Democrats politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-West constituency from 1992 to 2024. She was previously founding joint leader of the Social Democrats from 2015 to 2023 and served as Minister of State for Primary Care from 2011 to 2012.
25/04/1953
Ron Clements, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
Ronald Francis Clements is an American animator and filmmaker. He often collaborates with fellow director John Musker and is best known for writing and directing the Disney animated films The Great Mouse Detective (1986), The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), Hercules (1997), Treasure Planet (2002), The Princess and the Frog (2009), and Moana (2016).
Gary Cosier, Australian cricketer
Gary John Cosier is a former Australian international cricketer who played in 18 Test matches and nine One Day Internationals between 1975 and 1979. Cosier's star shone very briefly following a sensational debut, when he became only the ninth Australian to post a century in his first Test.
Anthony Venables, English economist, author, and academic
Anthony James Venables, CBE,, is a British economist and the BP Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics, University of Oxford.
25/04/1952
Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist and composer
Ketil Bjørnstad is a Norwegian pianist, composer and author. Initially trained as a classical pianist, Bjørnstad discovered jazz at an early age and has embraced the emergence of "European jazz".
Vladislav Tretiak, Russian ice hockey player and coach
Vladislav Aleksandrovich Tretiak MP is a Russian former goaltender for the Soviet Union national ice hockey team. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Hall of Fame in 1997. Considered to be one of the greatest goaltenders in the history of the sport, he was voted one of six players to the IIHF Centennial All-Star Team in a poll conducted by a group of 56 experts from 16 countries. Tretiak is the current president of the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia and was the general manager of the Russian 2010 Winter Olympic team.
Jacques Santini, French footballer and coach
Jacques Jean Claude Santini is a French former professional footballer and manager. He played for Saint-Étienne during the 1970s, and reached the European Cup final with them in 1976. He has coached the France national team - winning the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup and reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2004 - and clubs including Lyon.
25/04/1951
Ian McCartney, Scottish politician, Minister of State for Trade
Sir Ian McCartney is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Makerfield from 1987 to 2010. McCartney served in Tony Blair's Cabinet from 2003 until 2007, when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister. He was made a Knight Bachelor in the 2010 Dissolution Honours List.
25/04/1950
Donnell Deeny, Northern Irish lawyer and judge
Sir Donnell Justin Patrick Deeny, KC, SC, styled as the Rt Hon Sir Donnell Deeny, is a mediator and arbitrator (ACIArb) and a former member of the Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland. Sir Donnell is also member of the Court of Arbitration for Art at The Hague.
Steve Ferrone, English drummer
Stephen A. Ferrone is an English drummer. He was a member of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from 1994 to 2017, replacing original drummer Stan Lynch, and was part of the "classic lineup" of the Average White Band in the 1970s. Ferrone has recorded and performed with Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, George Harrison, Duran Duran, Stevie Nicks, Laura Pausini, Christine McVie, Rick James, Slash, Chaka Khan, Bee Gees, Scritti Politti, Howard Jones, Aerosmith, Al Jarreau, Mick Jagger, Johnny Cash, Todd Rundgren and Pat Metheny. Ferrone also hosts The New Guy radio show on Sirius XM's Tom Petty Radio.
Peter Hintze, German politician (died 2016)
Peter Hintze was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the German Bundestag from 1990 until his death in 2016.
Valentyna Kozyr, Ukrainian high jumper
Valentyna Kozyr is a former Soviet athlete who competed mainly in the high jump.
25/04/1949
Vicente Pernía, Argentinian footballer and race car driver
Vicente Alberto Pernía, known as El Tano, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a defender. He then went on to a second career as a car racing driver.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French economist, lawyer, and politician, French Minister of Finance
Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn, also known as DSK, is a French economist and politician who served as the tenth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and was a member of the French Socialist Party. He attained notoriety due to his involvement in several sex scandals. Strauss-Kahn was a professor of economics at Paris West University Nanterre La Défense and Sciences Po, and was Minister of Economy and Finance from 1997 to 1999, as part of Lionel Jospin's Plural Left government. He sought the nomination in the Socialist Party presidential primary of 2006, but was defeated by Ségolène Royal.
James Fenton, English poet, journalist and literary critic
James Martin Fenton is an English poet, journalist and literary critic. He is a former Oxford Professor of Poetry.
25/04/1948
Mike Selvey, English cricketer and sportscaster
Michael Walter William Selvey is an English former Test and county cricketer, and now a cricket writer and commentator.
Yu Shyi-kun, Taiwanese politician, 39th Premier of the Republic of China
You Si-kun, also romanized Yu Shyi-kun, is a Taiwanese politician. He was one of the founding members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and is known to be a strong advocate of Taiwan independence. He led the DPP as chairman from 2006 to 2007 and served as Premier from 2002 to 2005.
25/04/1947
Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager (died 2016)
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff, known as Johan Cruyff, was a Dutch professional football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest players in history and as the greatest Dutch footballer ever, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973, and 1974. Cruyff was a proponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football developed by Rinus Michels, which Cruyff also employed as a manager. Because of the far-reaching impact of his playing style and his coaching ideas, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern football, and he is also regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time.
Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor
Jeffrey P. DeMunn is an American actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Frank Darabont, having appeared in The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Green Mile (1999), The Majestic (2001), and The Mist (2007).
Cathy Smith, Canadian singer and drug dealer (died 2020)
Catherine Evelyn Smith, also known as Silverbag, was a Canadian backup singer, groupie, drug dealer, and legal secretary. Smith served 15 months in the California Institution for Women for injecting actor John Belushi with a fatal dose of heroin and cocaine in 1982.
25/04/1946
Talia Shire, American actress
Talia Rose Shire is an American actress and member of the Coppola family. She is best known for her roles as Connie Corleone in The Godfather trilogy and Adrian Pennino Balboa in the Rocky series. For her work in The Godfather Part II and Rocky, Shire was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress, respectively, and for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama for her role in Rocky.
Peter Sutherland, Irish lawyer and politician, Attorney General of Ireland (died 2018)
Peter Denis Sutherland was an Irish businessman, barrister and Fine Gael politician who served as UN Special Representative for International Migration from 2006 to 2017. He was known for serving in various international organisations, political and business roles.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian colonel, lawyer, and politician (died 2022)
Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky was a Russian right-wing populist politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) from its creation in 1992 until his death in 2022.
25/04/1945
Stu Cook, American bass player Creedence Clearwater Revival, songwriter, and producer
Stuart Alden Cook is an American retired bass guitarist, best known for being a member of the rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Richard C. Hoagland, American theorist and author
Richard Charles Hoagland is an American author, former science advisor for CBS News and a proponent of various conspiracy theories about NASA, lost alien civilizations on the Moon, and on Mars and other related topics. Hoagland has been documented to misappropriate others' professional achievements and has been described as a conspiracy theorist and pseudoscientist.
Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia! He co-produced the films Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again with fellow ABBA member and close friend Benny Andersson. He is the oldest member of the group.
25/04/1944
Len Goodman, English dancer (died 2023)
Leonard Gordon Goodman was an English professional ballroom dancer, dance teacher, and dance competition adjudicator. He appeared as head judge on the British television programme Strictly Come Dancing – in which various celebrities compete for the glitterball trophy – from its beginning in 2004 until 2016, and on the American television programme Dancing with the Stars from 2005 until 2022. He also ran a ballroom dance school in Dartford, Kent.
Mike Kogel, German singer-songwriter
Michael Volker Kogel, also known as Mike Kennedy and Mike Keller, is a German-born Spanish singer. He was the lead singer for Los Bravos.
Stephen Nickell, English economist and academic
Sir Stephen John Nickell, is a British economist and former warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, noted for his work in labour economics with Richard Layard and Richard Jackman. Nickell and Layard hypothesised that the tendency for reduced unemployment to lead to inflation resulted from its effect on competitive bargaining in the labour market He is currently a member of the Office for Budget Responsibility's Budget Responsibility Committee.
Bruce Ponder, English geneticist and cancer researcher
Sir Bruce Anthony John Ponder FMedSci FAACR FRS FRCP is an English geneticist and cancer researcher. He is Emeritus Professor of Oncology at the University of Cambridge and former director of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Cancer Centre.
25/04/1943
Tony Christie, English singer-songwriter and actor
Anthony Fitzgerald, known professionally as Tony Christie, is an English musician and singer. He found prominence in the early 1970s with successful singles including "Las Vegas", "I Did What I Did for Maria" and "Avenues and Alleyways". In 2005, he achieved a UK number 1 album and single after his 1971 hit "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" was reissued in aid of Comic Relief.
25/04/1942
Jon Kyl, American lawyer and politician
Jon Llewellyn Kyl is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senator for Arizona from 1995 to 2013. Following the death of John McCain in 2018, Kyl briefly returned to the Senate; his resignation led to the appointment of Martha McSally in 2019. A Republican, he held both of Arizona's Senate seats at different times, serving alongside McCain during his first stint. Kyl was Senate Minority Whip from 2007 until 2013. He first joined the lobbying firm Covington & Burling after retiring in 2013, then rejoined in 2019.
25/04/1941
Bertrand Tavernier, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2021)
Bertrand Tavernier was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer.
Dorothy Shea, Australian librarian (died 2024)
Dorothy Shea was an Australian librarian who was the Librarian of the Supreme Court of Tasmania from 1988 to 2016, president of the Australian Law Librarians' Association (ALLA) from 2004 to 2005, and the editor of the organisation's journal Australian Law Librarian from 2008 to 2012. She notably discovered and helped to preserve a large amount of original Tasmanian legislation.
25/04/1940
Al Pacino, American actor and director
Alfredo James Pacino is an American actor. Known for his intense performances on stage and screen, Pacino is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. His career spans more than five decades, during which he has earned many accolades, including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, achieving the Triple Crown of Acting. He has also received four Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA, two Actor Awards, and was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2001, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2007, the National Medal of Arts in 2011, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2016. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $3 billion worldwide.
25/04/1939
Tarcisio Burgnich, Italian footballer and manager (died 2021)
Tarcisio Burgnich was an Italian football manager and player, who played as a defender.
Michael Llewellyn-Smith, English academic and diplomat
Sir Michael John Llewellyn-Smith is a retired British diplomat and academic. He served as Ambassador to Poland from 1991 to 1996 and Ambassador to Greece from 1996 to 1999. He is visiting professor at the Centre for Hellenic Studies, King's College London.
Robert Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, English historian and academic
Robert Jacob Alexander Skidelsky, Baron Skidelsky, is a British economic historian, author, and crossbench life peer in the House of Lords. He is best known for his award-winning three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes, regarded as the definitive study of the economist's life and work. Educated at Jesus College, Oxford, he has held academic posts in history and political economy at several universities and is Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick. Beyond academia, Skidelsky has been influential in British public policy debates, serving as the founding chairman of the Social Market Foundation and writing extensively on economics, fiscal policy, and the political implications of technological change.
Veronica Sutherland, English academic and British diplomat
Dame Veronica Evelyn Sutherland, DBE, CMG is a former British career diplomat who served in the Diplomatic Service of the United Kingdom from 1965 until 1999, including a stint as Ambassador to Ireland. After retirement, she was appointed President of the Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge from 2001 until 2008.
25/04/1938
Roger Boisjoly, American aerodynamicist and engineer (died 2012)
Roger Mark Boisjoly was an American mechanical engineer, fluid dynamicist, and an aerodynamicist. He is best known for having raised strenuous objections to the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger months before the loss of the spacecraft and its crew in January 1986. Boisjoly correctly predicted, based on earlier flight data, that the O-rings on the rocket boosters would fail if the shuttle launched in cold weather. Morton Thiokol's managers decided to launch the shuttle despite his warnings, leading to the catastrophic failure. He was considered a high-profile whistleblower.
Ton Schulten, Dutch painter and graphic designer
Ton Schulten was a Dutch painter who mainly painted landscapes using bright blocks of colour.
25/04/1936
Henck Arron, Surinamese banker and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Suriname (died 2000)
Henck Alphonsus Eugène Arron was a Surinamese politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Suriname after it gained independence in 1975. A member of the National Party of Suriname, he served from 24 December 1973 with the transition government, to 25 February 1980. He was overthrown in a coup d'état by the military, led by Dési Bouterse. Released in 1981 after charges of corruption were dropped, he returned to banking, his previous career. In 1987, Arron was elected as Vice President of Suriname and served until another coup in 1990 overthrew the government.
25/04/1935
Bob Gutowski, American pole vaulter (died 1960)
Robert Allen Gutowski was an American athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault. He competed for the United States in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia in the Pole Vault where he won the silver medal behind Bob Richards' second consecutive gold medal, after finishing fourth in the US Olympic Trials and only getting to the games on the withdrawal of Jim Graham.
Reinier Kreijermaat, Dutch footballer (died 2018)
Reinier Kreijermaat was a Dutch footballer who was active as a midfielder in the 1960s.
25/04/1934
Peter McParland, Northern Irish footballer and manager
Peter James McParland was a Northern Irish footballer who played as an outside left. He was the last surviving member of the Aston Villa team which won the 1957 FA Cup, in which game he scored twice. McParland was the first player to score in and win both English major domestic cup finals.
25/04/1933
Jerry Leiber, American songwriter and producer (died 2011)
Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record-production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber and composer Michael Stoller. As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wrote numerous standards for Broadway.
Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player (died 1992)
Joyce Ricketts was a right fielder who played from 1953 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). She batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
25/04/1932
Nikolai Kardashev, Russian astrophysicist (died 2019)
Nikolai Semyonovich Kardashev was a Soviet and Russian astrophysicist best known for the Kardashev scale, which measures a civilization's status in technological evolution based on the amount of energy it is capable of harnessing and using. He was also the deputy director of the Astro Space Center of the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Meadowlark Lemon, African-American basketball player and minister (died 2015)
Meadowlark Lemon was an American basketball player, actor, and Christian minister. For 22 years, he was known as the "Clown Prince" of the touring Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. He was a 2003 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Ordained in 1986, in 1994 he started Meadowlark Lemon Ministries in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Lia Manoliu, Romanian discus thrower and politician (died 1998)
Lia Manoliu was a Romanian discus thrower who won one gold and two bronze Olympic medals. She was the first track and field athlete to compete at six Olympics (1952–1972).
25/04/1931
Felix Berezin, Russian mathematician and physicist (died 1980)
Felix Alexandrovich Berezin was a Soviet Russian mathematician and physicist known for his contributions to the theory of supersymmetry and supermanifolds as well as to the path integral formulation of quantum field theory.
David Shepherd, English painter and author (died 2017)
Richard David Shepherd CBE FRSA FGRA was a British artist and one of the world's most outspoken conservationists.
25/04/1930
Paul Mazursky, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2014)
Irwin Lawrence "Paul" Mazursky was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. Known for his dramatic comedies that often dealt with modern social issues, he was nominated for five Academy Awards for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), Harry and Tonto (1974), An Unmarried Woman (1978), and Enemies, A Love Story (1989). He is also known for directing the autobiographical Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Moon over Parador (1988), and Scenes from a Mall (1991).
Godfrey Milton-Thompson, English admiral and surgeon (died 2012)
Surgeon Vice Admiral Sir Godfrey James Milton-Thompson was a senior Royal Navy officer. From 1988 to 1990, he was Surgeon-General, senior medical officer of the British Armed Forces.
Peter Schulz, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Hamburg (died 2013)
Peter Schulz was a German politician, member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and First Mayor of Hamburg.
25/04/1929
Yvette Williams, New Zealand long jumper, shot putter, and discus thrower (died 2019)
Dame Yvette Winifred Corlett was a New Zealand track-and-field athlete who was the first woman from her country to win an Olympic gold medal and to hold the world record in the women's long jump. Williams was named "Athlete of the Century" on the 100th anniversary of Athletics New Zealand, in 1987.
25/04/1928
Cy Twombly, American-Italian painter and sculptor (died 2011)
Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. was an American painter, sculptor, and photographer.
25/04/1927
Corín Tellado, Spanish author (died 2009)
María del Socorro Tellado López, known as Corín Tellado, was a Spanish writer of romantic novels and photonovels that were best-sellers in several Spanish-language countries. She published more than 4,000 titles and sold more than 400 million books which have been translated into several languages. She was listed in the 1994 Guinness World Records as having sold the most books written in Spanish, and earlier in 1962 UNESCO declared her the most read Spanish writer after Miguel de Cervantes.
Albert Uderzo, French author and illustrator (died 2020)
Alberto Aleandro Uderzo, better known as Albert Uderzo, was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the Astérix series in collaboration with René Goscinny. He also drew other comics such as Oumpah-pah, again with Goscinny. Uderzo retired in September 2011.
25/04/1926
Johnny Craig, American author and illustrator (died 2001)
John Thomas Alexis Craig, was an American comic book artist notable for his work with the EC Comics line of the 1950s. He sometimes used the pseudonyms Jay Taycee and F. C. Aljohn.
Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner, Austrian politician (died 2008)
Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner was an Austrian politician for the SPÖ.
Patricia Castell, Argentine actress (died 2013)
Patricia Castell, born Ovidia Amanda Paramidani Padín, was an Argentine actress, appearing on radio, television and in films. Born in Avellaneda in 1926, her career began in the 1940s and lasted for more than fifty years.
25/04/1925
Tony Christopher, Baron Christopher, English trade union leader and businessman
Anthony Martin Grosvenor Christopher, Baron Christopher of Leckhampton, is a British businessman, trade unionist, tax official, and Labour life peer. As of 2025, he is the oldest serving British parliamentarian and the only current parliamentarian to have served in the Second World War.
Sammy Drechsel, German comedian and journalist (died 1986)
Sammy Drechsel, born Karl-Heinz Kamke, was a German political comedian, journalist and sports reporter. In 1956, together with Dieter Hildebrandt, he founded the Münchner Lach- und Schießgesellschaft, one of Germany's most successful and influential sites of political kabarett, for which he was producer and director up to his death. From 1950 to his death he also worked as a sports reporter for the Bavarian "Bayrischer Rundfunk". He also became well known for his 1955 book "Elf Freunde müsst ihr sein", which targeted an adolescent audience. One of Drechsel's last appearances was in the German TV series Kir Royal, directed by Helmut Dietl, which was completed shortly before his death.
Louis O'Neil, Canadian academic and politician (died 2018)
Louis O'Neill was a Canadian university professor, writer, priest and politician. O'Neill was a member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1976–1981 and held two cabinet posts.
25/04/1924
Ingemar Johansson, Swedish race walker (died 2009)
Bror Ingemar Ture Johansson was a Swedish race walker who won a silver medal in the 10 km at the 1948 Summer Olympics. He was also an accomplished speed skater.
Franco Mannino, Italian pianist, composer, director, and playwright (died 2005)
Franco Mannino was an Italian film composer, pianist, opera director, playwright and novelist.
Paulo Vanzolini, Brazilian singer-songwriter and zoologist (died 2013)
Paulo Emilio Vanzolini was a Brazilian scientist and music composer. He was best known for his samba compositions, including the famous "Ronda", "Volta por Cima", and "Boca da Noite", and for his scientific works in herpetology. He is considered one of the greatest samba composers from São Paulo. Until his death, he still conducted research at the University of São Paulo (USP).
25/04/1923
Francis Graham-Smith, English astronomer and academic (died 2025)
Sir Francis Graham-Smith was a British astronomer. He was the 13th Astronomer Royal from 1982 to 1990 and was knighted in 1986.
Melissa Hayden, Canadian ballerina (died 2006)
Melissa Hayden was a Canadian ballerina at the New York City Ballet.
Albert King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 1992)
Albert King was an American guitarist and singer, who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists ever. He is perhaps best known for his popular and influential album Born Under a Bad Sign (1967) and its title track. B. B. King, Freddie King, and he, all unrelated, were known as the "Three Kings of the Blues". The left-handed Albert King was known for his "deep, dramatic sound that was widely imitated by both blues and rock guitarists".
25/04/1921
Karel Appel, Dutch painter and sculptor (died 2006)
Christiaan Karel Appel was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s. He was one of the founders of the avant-garde movement CoBrA in 1948. He was also an avid sculptor and has had works featured in MoMA and other museums worldwide.
25/04/1919
Finn Helgesen, Norwegian speed skater (died 2011)
Finn Helgesen was a speed skater from Norway.
25/04/1918
Graham Payn, South African-born English actor and singer (died 2005)
Graham Payn was a South African-born actor and singer, also known for being the life partner of the playwright Noël Coward. Beginning as a boy soprano, Payn later made a career as a singer and actor in the works of Coward and others. After Coward's death, Payn ran the Coward estate for 22 years.
Gérard de Vaucouleurs, French-American astronomer and academic (died 1995)
Gérard Henri de Vaucouleurs was a French astronomer best known for his studies of galaxies.
Astrid Varnay, Swedish-American soprano and actress (died 2006)
Ibolyka Astrid Maria Varnay was a Swedish-born American dramatic soprano of Hungarian descent. She spent most of her career in the United States and Germany. She was one of the leading Wagnerian heroic sopranos of her generation.
25/04/1917
Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (died 1996)
Ella Jane Fitzgerald was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.
Jean Lucas, French racing driver (died 2003)
Jean Lucas was a French racing driver. He participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, on 11 September 1955. Lucas was then manager of the Gordini team, and when regular driver Robert Manzon was unable to race, he stepped in to take his place. His retired his car with engine failure and scored no championship points.
25/04/1916
Jerry Barber, American golfer (died 1994)
Carl Jerome Barber was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour. He had seven wins on tour, including a major title, the PGA Championship in 1961.
25/04/1915
Mort Weisinger, American journalist and author (died 1978)
Mortimer Weisinger was an American magazine and comic book editor best known for editing DC Comics' Superman during the mid-1950s to 1960s, in the Silver Age of comic books. He also co-created such features as Aquaman, Green Arrow, Johnny Quick, and the original Vigilante, served as story editor for the Adventures of Superman television series, and compiled the often-revised paperback 1001 Valuable Things You Can Get Free.
25/04/1914
Ross Lockridge Jr., American author and academic (died 1948)
Ross Franklin Lockridge Jr. was an American writer known for his novel Raintree County (1948). The novel became a bestseller and has been praised by readers and critics alike. Some have considered it a "Great American Novel". Lockridge died by suicide at the peak of his novel's success at age 33.
25/04/1913
Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (died 1944)
Nikolaos Roussen was a Greek naval officer who distinguished himself during World War II. He served in the two most successful Greek submarines of the war as executive officer and captain. He died during the suppression of the Navy mutiny in April 1944.
25/04/1912
Earl Bostic, American saxophonist (died 1965)
Eugene Earl Bostic was an American alto saxophonist. Bostic's recording career was diverse, his musical output encompassing jazz, swing, jump blues and the post-war American rhythm and blues style, which he pioneered. He had a number of popular hits such as "Flamingo", "Harlem Nocturne", "Temptation", "Sleep", "Special Delivery Stomp", and "Where or When", which all showed off his characteristic growl on the horn. He was a major influence on John Coltrane.
25/04/1911
Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (died 2014)
Conrado Eugenio Marrero Ramos, nicknamed "Connie", was a Cuban professional baseball pitcher. The right-handed Marrero pitched in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1954 for the Washington Senators.
George Roth, American gymnast (died 1997)
George Helm Roth was an American gymnast and Olympic champion who competed at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and won a gold medal in club swinging, or Indian Clubs as they were often known. He later became a petroleum geologist who in 1954 founded the petroleum consulting company George H. Roth and Associates in Hollywood, California. Managing the company for nearly thirty years, he and his associates helped discover many new California oil fields.
25/04/1910
Arapeta Awatere, New Zealand interpreter, military leader, politician, and murderer (died 1976)
Arapeta Marukitepua Pitapitanuiarangi Awatere was a scholar, decorated military leader, Māori welfare officer, writer, linguist, and local politician. He served in the Māori Battalion from 1940 to 1945, commanding C Company at the Battle of Tebaga Gap in 1943 and later leading the battalion in Italy. He was awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order for bravery and leadership.
25/04/1909
William Pereira, American architect, designed the Transamerica Pyramid (died 1985)
William Leonard Pereira was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. He worked out of Los Angeles and was known for his love of science fiction and expensive cars, but mostly for his style of architecture, which helped define the look of mid-20th century America.
25/04/1908
Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (died 1965)
Edward Roscoe Murrow was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent.
25/04/1906
Joel Brand, member of the Budapest Aid and Rescue Committee (died 1964)
Joel Brand was a member of the Budapest Aid and Rescue Committee, an underground Zionist group in Budapest, Hungary, that smuggled Jews out of German-occupied Europe to the relative safety of Hungary, during the Holocaust. When Germany invaded Hungary in March 1944, Brand became known for his efforts to save the Jewish community from deportation to the Auschwitz concentration camp in occupied Poland and the gas chambers there.
William J. Brennan Jr., American colonel and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (died 1997)
William Joseph Brennan Jr. was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990. He was the eighth-longest serving justice in Supreme Court history, and was known for being a leader of the Court's liberal wing.
25/04/1905
George Nēpia, New Zealand rugby player and referee (died 1986)
George Nēpia was a New Zealand Māori rugby union and rugby league player. He is remembered as an exceptional full-back and one of the most famous Māori rugby players. He was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2004 he was selected as number 65 by the panel of the New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers television show. Nēpia was featured in a set of postage stamps from the New Zealand post office in 1990. Historian Philippa Mein Smith described him as "New Zealand rugby's first superstar".
25/04/1903
Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician and academic (died 1987)
Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov was a Soviet mathematician who played a central role in the creation of modern probability theory. He also gave fundamental contributions to the mathematics of topology, intuitionistic logic, turbulence, classical mechanics, functional analysis, algorithmic information theory and computational complexity.
25/04/1902
Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist and academic (died 1964)
Werner Heyde was a German psychiatrist. He was one of the main organizers of Nazi Germany's T-4 Euthanasia Program.
Mary Miles Minter, American actress (died 1984)
Mary Miles Minter was an American actress, and one of the leading ladies who established the early Hollywood star system. She appeared in 53 silent films from 1912 to 1923.
25/04/1900
Gladwyn Jebb, English politician and diplomat, Secretary-General of the United Nations (died 1996)
Hubert Miles Gladwyn Jebb, 1st Baron Gladwyn, was a prominent British civil servant, diplomat and politician who served as the acting secretary-general of the United Nations between 1945 and 1946.
Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian-Swiss-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1958)
Wolfgang Ernst Pauli was an Austrian–Swiss theoretical physicist and a pioneer of quantum mechanics. In 1945, after having been nominated by Albert Einstein, Pauli received the Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the Exclusion Principle, also called the Pauli Principle". The discovery involved spin theory, which is the basis of a theory of the structure of matter.
25/04/1897
Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (died 1965)
Mary, Princess Royal, was a member of the British royal family. She was the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, the sister of kings Edward VIII and George VI, and the aunt of Queen Elizabeth II. During the First World War, she undertook extensive charity work in support of servicemen and their families. In 1922, she married Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles, and they had two sons, George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, and Gerald David Lascelles. Mary was granted the title Princess Royal in 1932. During the Second World War, she served as Controller Commandant of the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
25/04/1896
Fred Haney, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 1977)
Fred Girard Haney was an American third baseman, manager, coach and executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a manager, he won two pennants and a world championship with the Milwaukee Braves. He later served as the first general manager of the expansion Los Angeles Angels in the American League. For years, Haney was one of the most popular baseball figures in Los Angeles. In 1974 he was presented with the King of Baseball award given by Minor League Baseball.
25/04/1892
Maud Hart Lovelace, American author (died 1980)
Maud Hart Lovelace was an American writer best known for the Betsy-Tacy series.
25/04/1887
Kojo Tovalou Houénou, Beninese lawyer and critic (died 1936)
Kojo Tovalou Houénou was a prominent African critic of the French colonial empire in Africa. Born in Porto-Novo to a wealthy father and a mother who belonged to the royal family of the Kingdom of Dahomey, he was sent to France for education at the age of 13. There he received a law degree, medical training, and served in the French armed forces as an army doctor during World War I. Following the war, Houénou became a minor celebrity in Paris; dating actresses, writing books as a public intellectual, and making connections with many of the elite of French society.
25/04/1882
Fred McLeod, Scottish golfer (died 1976)
Frederick Robertson McLeod was a Scottish-born golfer who played primarily in the United States. He had a distinguished career in the United States, which included a victory in the 1908 U.S. Open.
25/04/1878
William Merz, American gymnast and triathlete (died 1946)
William G. Merz was an American gymnast and track and field athlete who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. He died in Overland, Missouri.
25/04/1876
Jacob Nicol, Canadian publisher, lawyer, and politician (died 1958)
Jacob Nicol, was a Canadian lawyer, newspaper publisher, and politician. He became Senator under Prime Minister of Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie King.
25/04/1874
Guglielmo Marconi, Italian businessman and inventor, developed Marconi's law, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1937)
Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquess, was an Italian radio-frequency engineer, inventor, and politician known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based wireless telegraph system. This led to his being largely credited as the inventor of radio and sharing the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Ferdinand Braun "in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy." His work laid the foundation for the development of radio, television, and all modern wireless communication systems.
Ernest Webb, English-Canadian race walker (died 1937)
Ernest James Webb was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 10-mile walk and competed for Great Britain in the 1908 Summer Olympics held in London and the 1912 Summer Olympics in Sweden.
25/04/1873
Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer, and novelist (died 1956)
Walter John de la Mare was an English poet, short story writer and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for his psychological horror short fiction, including "Seaton's Aunt", "The Green Room" and "All Hallows". In 1921, his novel Memoirs of a Midget won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, and his post-war Collected Stories for Children won the 1947 Carnegie Medal for British children's books.
Howard Garis, American author, creator of the Uncle Wiggily series of children's stories (died 1962)
Howard Roger Garis was an American author, best known for a series of books that featured the character of Uncle Wiggily Longears, an engaging elderly rabbit. Many of his books were illustrated by Lansing Campbell. Garis and his wife, Lilian Garis, were possibly the most prolific children's authors of the early 20th century.
25/04/1872
C. B. Fry, English cricketer, footballer, educator, and politician (died 1956)
Charles Burgess Fry was an English sportsman, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer. John Arlott described him with the words: "Charles Fry could be autocratic, angry and self-willed: he was also magnanimous, extravagant, generous, elegant, brilliant – and fun ... he was probably the most variously gifted Englishman of any age."
25/04/1871
Lorne Currie, French-English sailor (died 1926)
Lorne Campbell Currie was a British sailor who represented his country at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Meulan, France. With crew John Gretton, Linton Hope and Algernon Maudslay. Currie, as helmsman, took first place in race of the .5 to 1 ton. He was born and died in Le Havre, France. His father, John Martin Currie, was a younger brother of Donald Currie, the ship owner, and acted as agent for the firm in Le Havre.
25/04/1868
John Moisant, American pilot and engineer (died 1910)
John Bevins Moisant was an American aviator, aeronautical engineer, flight instructor, businessman, and revolutionary. He was the first pilot to conduct passenger flights over a city (Paris), as well as across the English Channel, from Paris to London. He co-founded an eponymous flying circus, the Moisant International Aviators.
25/04/1862
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, English ornithologist and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (died 1933)
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who was the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War.
25/04/1854
Charles Sumner Tainter, American engineer and inventor (died 1940)
Charles Sumner Tainter was an American scientific instrument maker, engineer and inventor, best known for his collaborations with Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester Bell, Alexander's father-in-law Gardiner Hubbard, and for his significant improvements to Thomas Edison's phonograph, resulting in the Graphophone, one version of which was the first Dictaphone.
25/04/1851
Leopoldo Alas, Spanish author, critic, and academic (died 1901)
Leopoldo Enrique García-Alas y Ureña, also known as Clarín, was a Spanish realist novelist and journalist born in Zamora. His inflammatory articles, known as paliques (“chitchat”), as well as his advocacy of liberalism and anti-clericalism, made him a formidable and controversial critical voice. He died in Oviedo.
25/04/1850
Luise Adolpha Le Beau, German composer and educator (died 1927)
Luise Adolpha Le Beau was a German composer of classical music. She studied with noted musicians Clara Schumann and Franz Lachner, but her primary instructor was Josef Gabriel Rheinberger. Like many other 19th century female composers, Le Beau began her career in music as a pianist, and later earned her living teaching, critiquing, and performing music.
25/04/1849
Felix Klein, German mathematician and academic (died 1925)
Felix Christian Klein was a German mathematician, mathematics educator and historian of mathematics, known for his work in group theory, complex analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, and the associations between geometry and group theory. His 1872 Erlangen program classified geometries by their basic symmetry groups and was an influential synthesis of much of the mathematics of the time.
25/04/1843
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (died 1878)
Princess Alice was Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from 13 June 1877 until her death in 1878 as the wife of Grand Duke Louis IV. She was the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Alice was the first of Queen Victoria's nine children to die and one of three to predecease their mother.
25/04/1776
Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (died 1857)
Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh was the eleventh child and fourth daughter of King George III and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
25/04/1770
Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist and academic (died 1850)
Georg Sverdrup was a Norwegian statesman, best known as one of the presidents of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll Manor in 1814. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament and was also responsible for the development of the first Norwegian university library.
25/04/1767
Nicolas Oudinot, French general (died 1847)
Nicolas Charles Oudinot, duc de Reggio, was a French general of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He is known to have been wounded 34 times in battle, being hit by artillery shells, sabres, and at least twelve bullets over the course of his military career. A Marshal of the Empire, he is best known for his contributions to the Napoleonic Wars with his famous grenadier division. Oudinot is one of the Names inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe, Eastern pillar Columns 13, 14.
25/04/1725
Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, English admiral and politician (died 1786)
Admiral Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, PC was a Royal Navy officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1755 to 1782. He saw action in command of various ships, including the fourth-rate Maidstone, during the War of the Austrian Succession. He went on to serve as Commodore on the North American Station and then Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station during the Seven Years' War. After that he served as Senior Naval Lord and then Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet.
25/04/1723
Giovanni Marco Rutini, Italian composer (died 1797)
Giovanni Marco Rutini was an Italian composer. He is most known for his sonatas which influenced Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn.
25/04/1710
James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer and author (died 1776)
James Ferguson was a Scottish astronomer. He is known as the inventor and improver of astronomical and other scientific apparatus, as a striking instance of self education and as an itinerant lecturer.
25/04/1694
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect and politician, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland (died 1753)
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington was a British architect and politician often called the "Apollo of the Arts" and the "Architect Earl". The son of the 2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Earl of Cork, Burlington never took more than a passing interest in politics despite his position as a Privy Counsellor and a member of both the British House of Lords and the Irish House of Lords.
25/04/1666
Johann Heinrich Buttstett, German organist and composer (died 1727)
Johann Heinrich Buttstett was a German Baroque organist and composer. Although he was Johann Pachelbel's most important pupil and one of the last major exponents of the south German organ tradition, Buttstett is best remembered for a dispute with Johann Mattheson.
25/04/1621
Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, English soldier and politician (died 1679)
Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, 25 April 1621 to 16 October 1679, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician. A younger son of the Earl of Cork, the largest landowner in Munster, like many Irish Protestants he supported the Dublin Castle administration during the Irish Confederate Wars, a related conflict of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
25/04/1599
Oliver Cromwell, English general and politician, Lord Protector of Great Britain (died 1658)
Oliver Cromwell was an English statesman, farmer and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially as a senior commander in the Parliamentarian army and later as a politician. A leading advocate of the execution of Charles I in January 1649, which led to the establishment of the Commonwealth of England, Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector from December 1653 until his death.
25/04/1529
Francesco Patrizi, Italian philosopher and scientist (died 1597)
Franciscus Patricius was a philosopher and scientist from the Republic of Venice. A native of Cres, he was a defender of Platonism and an opponent of Aristotelianism.
25/04/1502
Georg Major, German theologian and academic (died 1574)
Georg Major was a Lutheran theologian of the Protestant Reformation.
25/04/1287
Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (died 1330)
Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March, was an English nobleman and powerful marcher lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marriage to the wealthy heiress Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville. Her mother was of the royal House of Lusignan. In November 1316, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1322 for having led the marcher lords in a revolt against King Edward II in what became known as the Despenser War.
25/04/1284
Edward II of England (died 1327)
Edward II, also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne following the death of his older brother Alphonso. Beginning in 1300, Edward accompanied his father on campaigns in Scotland, and in 1306 he was knighted in a grand ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Edward succeeded to the throne the next year, following his father's death. In 1308, he married Isabella, daughter of the powerful King Philip IV of France, as part of a long-running effort to resolve the tensions between the English and French crowns.
25/04/1228
Conrad IV of Germany (died 1254)
Conrad, a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was the only son of Emperor Frederick II from his second marriage with Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem. He inherited the title of King of Jerusalem upon the death of his mother in childbirth. Appointed Duke of Swabia in 1235, his father had him elected King of Germany and crowned King of Italy in 1237. After the emperor was deposed and died in 1250, he ruled as King of Sicily until his death.
25/04/1214
Louis IX of France (died 1270)
Louis IX, also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VIII, he was crowned in Reims at the age of 12. His mother, Blanche of Castile, effectively ruled the kingdom as regent until he came of age, and continued to serve as his trusted adviser until her death. During his formative years, Blanche successfully confronted rebellious vassals and championed the Capetian cause in the Albigensian Crusade, which had been ongoing for the past two decades.