Born on Tuesday, 12th August – Famous Birthdays

12/08/2001

Dixie D'Amelio, American social media personality and singer

Dixie Jane D'Amelio is an American social media personality, singer, and model.

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12/08/2000

Tristan Charpentier, French racing driver

Tristan Charpentier is a French race car driver from Béthune.

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12/08/1999

Matthijs de Ligt, Dutch footballer

Matthijs de Ligt is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester United and the Netherlands national team. He is known for his aggressive tackling, aerial ability, leadership and strength.

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Dream, American YouTuber

Clay, known online as Dream, is an American YouTuber, Twitch streamer, speedrunner, and musician primarily known for creating Minecraft content.

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Jule Niemeier, German tennis player

Jule Niemeier is a German professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 61, achieved on 7 November 2022.

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GK Barry, social media star and presenter

Grace Eleanor Keeling, known professionally as GK Barry, is an English internet personality, social media influencer and presenter. Keeling began posting on video-sharing platform TikTok in 2020 whilst completing a film studies degree at Nottingham Trent University, during which she worked on the BBC soap opera Doctors. After one year of posting lifestyle videos on the app, she surpassed 1 million followers and later began presenting a podcast, Saving Grace, in which she interviews celebrities. She has since gone on to tour the Saving Grace podcast around the UK.

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12/08/1998

Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greek tennis player

Stefanos Tsitsipas is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), first achieved in August 2021 – making him the highest-ranked Greek men's tennis player. Tsitsipas has won twelve ATP Tour singles titles, including the 2019 ATP Finals and three Masters 1000 events. He has contested two major finals, at the 2021 French Open and 2023 Australian Open, making him the first Greek tennis player to reach a Grand Slam final. He has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 64, achieved on 29 August 2022.

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12/08/1996

Choi Yu-jin, South Korean singer and actress

Choi Yu-jin, known mononymously as Yujin, is a South Korean singer and actress. Originally debuting in 2015 as a member of the South Korean girl group CLC, she is a member and leader of Kep1er after finishing in third place in the final episode of the survival show Girls Planet 999. She began her acting career in 2016 in a supporting role in the Naver TV web drama, Nightmare High.

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Julio Urías, Mexican baseball player

Julio César Urías Acosta, nicknamed "El Culichi", is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him in 2012, and he made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2016. Urías led the National League in wins in 2021 and earned run average in 2022. He was named to the All-MLB Second Team in 2021 and 2022. In September 2023, following his second arrest for domestic violence, Urías was placed on administrative leave by MLB. His contract with the Dodgers expired at the end of the season and he has not pitched professionally since then.

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Arthur Melo, Brazilian footballer

Arthur Henrique Ramos de Oliveira Melo, known as Arthur or Arthur Melo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Grêmio, on loan from Serie A club Juventus.

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Samuel Moutoussamy, Congolese footballer

Samuel Albert Alain Arcade Moutoussamy is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Greek Super League club Atromitos. Born in France, he plays for the DR Congo national team.

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12/08/1994

Ian Happ, American baseball player

Ian Edward Happ is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at the University of Cincinnati for the Cincinnati Bearcats baseball team. The Cubs selected Happ in the first round of the 2015 MLB draft, and he made his MLB debut in 2017. Happ was an All-Star in 2022 and won a Gold Glove Award in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

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12/08/1993

Ewa Farna, Czech singer-songwriter

Ewa Chobot is a Polish-Czech pop-rock singer. She released five Polish-language and four Czech-language studio albums, and received platinum and gold certifications for them, both in Poland and the Czech Republic. She was a judge on Česko Slovenská SuperStar in 2013, the Polish X Factor in 2014, and the Polish Idol in 2017.

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Luna, South Korean singer, actress and presenter

Park Sun-young, known professionally as Luna (루나), is a South Korean singer, dancer, musical actress and television host. She debuted as a member of the girl group f(x) in September 2009. In May 2016, Luna released her solo EP Free Somebody. In November 2019, the single "Free Somebody" was listed in Billboard's greatest K-pop songs of the 2010s. In September 2019, Luna left SM Entertainment and joined Humap Contents. In February 2021, Luna established her entertainment agency, Grida Entertainment.

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12/08/1992

Cara Delevingne, English model and actress

Cara Jocelyn Delevingne is an English model and actress. Delevingne won Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2012 and 2014, and has also received three Teen Choice Awards and nominations for a British Independent Film Award and an MTV Movie & TV Award.

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Jacob Loko, Australian rugby player

Jacob Loko is an Australian rugby league footballer who most recently played for the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles in the Intrust Super Premiership NSW.

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Teo Gheorghiu, Swiss pianist and actor

Teo Gheorghiu is a Swiss-Canadian pianist.

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12/08/1991

Jesinta Campbell, Australian model

Jesinta Franklin is an Australian model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Australia 2010 and represented Australia at Miss Universe 2010, placing 2nd Runner-Up.

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Sam Hoare, Australian rugby league player

Samuel Hoare is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Townsville Blackhawks in the Queensland Cup. Primarily a prop, he previously played for the North Queensland Cowboys.

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Khris Middleton, American basketball player

James Khristian Middleton is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a three-time NBA All-Star and won an NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks and a gold medal with Team USA at the Summer Olympics in 2021.

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LaKeith Stanfield, American actor and musician

LaKeith Lee Stanfield is an American actor and musician. He made his feature film debut in Short Term 12 (2013), for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He received further recognition for his roles in the films Get Out (2017), Sorry to Bother You (2018), Uncut Gems (2019), Knives Out (2019), and Judas and the Black Messiah (2021), the lattermost of which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

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12/08/1990

Mario Balotelli, Italian footballer

Mario Balotelli Barwuah is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for UAE First Division club Al-Ittifaq.

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Marvin Zeegelaar, Dutch footballer

Marvin Romeo Kwasie Zeegelaar is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a left-back or a left midfielder.

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Martin Zurawsky, German footballer

Martin Zurawsky is a German footballer who plays for NOFV-Oberliga Süd club VfB Krieschow.

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12/08/1989

Tom Cleverley, English footballer

Thomas William Cleverley is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the head coach of EFL League One club Plymouth Argyle.

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Hong Jeong-ho, South Korean footballer

Hong Jeong-ho is a South Korean footballer who plays for K League 2 club Suwon Samsung Bluewings as a centre-back. He also played for the South Korea national team at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

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Sunye, South Korean singer

Min Sun-ye, known professionally as Sunye, is a South Korean singer known for her work as a former leader and main vocalist of girl group Wonder Girls. In early 2013, following her marriage, she became an inactive member of the Wonder Girls and officially departed from the group in July 2015.

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12/08/1988

Tyson Fury, English boxer

Tyson Luke Fury is a British professional boxer. He held multiple world heavyweight championships, including unified titles from 2015 to 2016, the Ring magazine title twice between 2015 and 2022, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) title from 2020 to 2024. He also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) title during his first reign as champion.

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Matt Gillett, Australian rugby league player

Matthew Gillett is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a second-row or lock forward in the 2010s.

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12/08/1987

Vanessa Watts, West Indian cricketer

Vanessa Nakeita Watts is a Jamaican cricketer who plays as a right-arm off break bowler. In early 2014 she made her international debut, appearing in one One Day International and four Twenty20 Internationals for the West Indies. She plays domestic cricket for Jamaica.

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12/08/1986

Andrei Agius, Maltese footballer

Andrei Agius is a Maltese footballer who is currently employed as head coach at Hibernians.

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Kyle Arrington, American football player

Kyle Chandler Arrington Sr. is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Hofstra Pride. Arrington was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He was also a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens. He played in two Super Bowls during his time with the Patriots, winning Super Bowl XLIX.

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12/08/1985

Danny Graham, English footballer

Daniel Anthony William Graham is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.

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Franck Moutsinga, German rugby player

Franck Moutsinga is a German international rugby union player, playing for the Berliner RC in the Rugby-Bundesliga and the German national rugby union team.

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12/08/1984

Bryan Pata, American football player (died 2006)

Bryan Sidney Pata was an American college football player who was a defensive lineman for the Miami Hurricanes. Pata was murdered after leaving a football practice during his fourth year at the school. While no resolution has been reached in the case, Pata's former Miami teammate, Rashaun Jones, was arrested for the murder in 2021.

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12/08/1983

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Dutch footballer

Dirk Jan Klaas Huntelaar, known professionally as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker.

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Kléber Giacomance de Souza Freitas, Brazilian footballer

Kléber Giacomazzi de Souza Freitas, known simply as Kléber, is a Brazilian former professional footballer.

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Manoa Vosawai, Italian rugby player

Manoa Vosawai is an Italian rugby union player. He currently plays for the Cardiff Blues in Wales. He made his debut with the Italian national side on August 18, 2007 in a match against Japan. Vosawai plays as a number eight. Vosawai was included in the Italian squad for the 2007 World Cup, and made a substitute appearance in the Azzurri's opening match against the All Blacks, replacing Alessandro Zanni.

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12/08/1982

Boban Grnčarov, Macedonian footballer

Boban Grnčarov is a Macedonian retired footballer who played as a central defender.

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Alexandros Tzorvas, Greek footballer

Alexandros Tzorvas is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

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12/08/1981

Tony Capaldi, Norwegian–Northern Irish footballer

Anthony Charles Capaldi is a former footballer who made nearly 250 appearances in the Football League and is a Northern Ireland former international.

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Djibril Cissé, French footballer

Djibril Cissé is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward.

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12/08/1980

Javier Chevantón, Uruguayan footballer

Ernesto Javier Chevantón Espinosa is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a forward. He has been described as a player who possesses explosiveness, pace and tenacity.

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Maggie Lawson, American actress

Maggie Lawson is an American actress who is best known for her role as Detective Juliet "Jules" O'Hara in the television series Psych, and its subsequent film series. From 2018 to 2019, she held the recurring role of Natalie Flynn in the third and final season of Fox's Lethal Weapon.

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Dominique Swain, American actress

Dominique Swain is an American actress. She first came to attention as the title character in Adrian Lyne's 1997 adaptation of Lolita, alongside a supporting role in John Woo's Face/Off also released in the same year. She worked predominantly in independent cinema throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s with credits including Girl (1998), The Intern (2000), Tart (2001), and Pumpkin (2002). Next she was in Alpha Dog (2006), Road to Nowhere (2010), and a succession of films in the action, thriller, and horror genres.

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Matt Thiessen, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Matthew Arnold Thiessen is a Canadian-born American musician known for being the lead vocalist, pianist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for the rock band Relient K. With Relient K, he has released eight full-length albums, including three that were certified Gold, and three that peaked in the top twenty on the Billboard 200. Outside of his work with Relient K, Thiessen leads a side project called Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes, which released its debut album Wind Up Bird in 2018. In 2009, he co-produced and collaborated on Owl City's album Ocean Eyes.

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12/08/1979

D. J. Houlton, American baseball player

Dennis Sean "D. J." Houlton Jr. is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Yomiuri Giants and in the KBO League for the Kia Tigers.

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Ian Hutchinson, English motorcycle racer

Ian Hutchinson is an English professional motorcycle road racer specialising in events held on closed public roads, such as the Isle of Man TT, the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix.

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Cindy Klassen, Canadian speed skater

Cindy Klassen, is a Canadian retired long track speed skater. She is a six-time medallist having achieved one gold, two silver, three bronze at the Winter Olympics.

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Austra Skujytė, Lithuanian pentathlete

Austra Skujytė is a retired Lithuanian athlete, competing in both the heptathlon and the decathlon. On 15 April 2005 in Columbia, Missouri, she broke the women's decathlon world record, with a score of 8358. She is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist in the heptathlon. The latter medal was allocated retrospectively following the disqualification in 2016 of original medalist Tatyana Chernova for historic doping offences.

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12/08/1978

Chris Chambers, American football player

Christopher J. Chambers is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft, and also played for the San Diego Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs.

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Hayley Wickenheiser, Canadian ice hockey player

Hayley Wickenheiser is a Canadian former ice hockey player, physician and assistant general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs. She was the first woman to play full-time professional men’s hockey in a position other than goalie. Wickenheiser was a member of Canada women's national ice hockey team for 23 years, from 1994 until announcing her retirement on January 13, 2017, and is the team's career points leader with 168 goals and 211 assists in 276 games. She represented Canada at the Winter Olympics five times, capturing four gold and one silver medal and twice being named tournament MVP, and one time at the Summer Olympics in softball, and is a seven-time winner of the world championships. She is tied with teammates Caroline Ouellette and Jayna Hefford for the record for the most gold medals of any Canadian Olympian, and is widely considered to be the greatest women's ice hockey player of all time. On February 20, 2014, Wickenheiser was elected to the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission. In 2019, she was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame, in her first year of eligibility. She was also inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2019, and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.

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12/08/1977

Plaxico Burress, American football player

Plaxico Antonio Burress is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans, and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the eighth overall pick in the 2000 NFL draft. He also played for the New York Giants and the New York Jets, and caught the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII as the Giants beat the then-undefeated New England Patriots.

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Jesper Grønkjær, Danish footballer

Jesper Grønkjær is a Danish former professional footballer, who most recently worked as a pundit for Scandinavian media network Viaplay.

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Park Yong-ha, South Korean actor (died 2010)

Park Yong-ha was a South Korean actor and singer.

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12/08/1976

Pedro Collins, Barbadian cricketer

Pedro Tyrone Collins is a Barbadoan cricketer and coach, who played as a fast bowler for the West Indies.

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Mikko Lindström, Finnish guitarist

Mikko Viljami "Linde" Lindström is a Finnish musician, best known as the guitarist for the gothic rock band HIM. Influenced by the likes of Black Sabbath and Steve Vai, Lindström began playing guitar at age ten, joining the band Aurora in his teenage years, where he met Ville Valo. In 1995, the two reformed Valo's previous band HIM, which would go on to release eight studio albums and become one of the most commercially successful Finnish bands of all time, and the first to receive a gold record in the United States. In 2017, the band announced their plans to retire following a farewell tour, and played their final show on New Year's Eve 2017.

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Henry Tuilagi, Samoan rugby player

Enele "Henry" Tuilagi is a Samoan former professional rugby union player who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He appeared ten times for the Samoa national team and played club rugby in Italy, France and England.

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Antoine Walker, American basketball player

Antoine Devon Walker is an American former professional basketball player. He was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft out of the University of Kentucky and played in the NBA from 1996 to 2008. Walker played for the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, the BSN's Mets de Guaynabo and the NBA D-League's Idaho Stampede before retiring from basketball in 2012. Walker, a three-time NBA All-Star, won an NCAA championship with Kentucky in 1996 and an NBA championship with the Heat in 2006.

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12/08/1975

Casey Affleck, American actor

Casey Affleck is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award. The younger brother of actor Ben Affleck, he began his career as a child actor, appearing in the PBS television film Lemon Sky (1988). He later appeared in three Gus Van Sant films: To Die For (1995), Good Will Hunting (1997), Gerry (2002), and in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's film series (2001–2007). His first leading role was in Steve Buscemi's independent comedy-drama Lonesome Jim (2006).

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12/08/1974

Matt Clement, American baseball player and coach

Matthew Paul Clement is an American former Major League Baseball starting pitcher. Clement played for the San Diego Padres (1998–2000), Florida Marlins (2001), Chicago Cubs (2002–2004) and Boston Red Sox (2005–2006). He batted and threw right-handed.

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Karl Stefanovic, Australian television host

Karl Stefanovic, also spelt Karl Stefanović, is an Australian television presenter and journalist for the Nine Network.

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12/08/1973

Jonathan Coachman, American sportscaster and wrestler

Jonathan William Coachman, also known as "The Coach", is an American sports analyst and former professional wrestling personality.

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Mark Iuliano, Italian footballer and manager

Mark Iuliano is an Italian football manager and a former professional footballer who played as a defender. Following his retirement he worked as a coach.

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Todd Marchant, American ice hockey player and coach

Todd Michael Marchant is an American former professional ice hockey player who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played nine seasons with the Edmonton Oilers and almost six seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, along with just over a season with the Columbus Blue Jackets and a game with the New York Rangers. He also played 49 games in the American Hockey League (AHL) between his time with the Binghamton Rangers and Cape Breton Oilers. He is now serving as the Director of Player Development for the San Jose Sharks.

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12/08/1972

Demir Demirkan, Turkish singer-songwriter and producer

Demir Demirkan is a Turkish musician, Eurovision Song Contest winning composer, guitarist for thrash metal band Mezarkabul and writer. Demir Demirkan started playing music when he was 13 and played guitar with various groups in college. Demir Demirkan also wrote television jingles and composed soundtracks for television and films.

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Mark Kinsella, Irish footballer and manager

Mark Anthony Kinsella is an Irish football manager and former player, currently a coach at Drogheda United after previously being both the manager and assistant manager. He played as a central midfielder for most of his career.

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Takanohana Kōji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 65th Yokozuna

Takanohana Kōji is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler and coach. He was the 65th man in history to reach sumo's highest rank of yokozuna, and he won 22 tournament championships between 1992 and 2001, the sixth highest total ever. The son of a popular ōzeki ranked wrestler from the 1970s, Takanohana's rise through the ranks alongside his elder brother Wakanohana and his rivalry with the foreign born yokozuna Akebono saw interest in sumo and attendance at tournaments soar during the early 1990s.

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Gyanendra Pandey, Indian cricketer

Gyanendrakumar Kedarnath Pandey is a former Indian cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm bowler.

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Del the Funky Homosapien, American rapper

Teren Delvon Jones, better known by his stage name Del the Funky Homosapien or Sir DZL, is an American rapper.

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12/08/1971

Michael Ian Black, American comedian, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

Michael Ian Black is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including The State, Viva Variety, Stella, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Michael & Michael Have Issues, and Another Period. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, he was the puppeteer and voice actor for the Pets.com sock puppet dog, and played a supporting character on the NBC drama series Ed. Since 2008 he has written a number of books, including several for children.

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Yvette Nicole Brown, American actress, comedian, and talk show host

Yvette Nicole Brown is an American actress, producer, writer, and host. She starred as Shirley Bennett on the NBC and Yahoo Screen sitcom Community, as Dani in the 2015 reboot of The Odd Couple on CBS, and as Dina Rose on the ABC sitcom The Mayor. Brown had a recurring role as Helen Dubois in Drake & Josh, and has had guest roles in television shows such as That '70s Show, The Office, Boston Legal, Chuck, The Soul Man, Mom, and Big Shot. In 2021, she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her role in A Black Lady Sketch Show.

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Rebecca Gayheart, American actress

Rebecca Gayheart is an American actress and model. Gayheart began her career as a teen model in the 1980s before becoming an advertising spokeswoman. She has been active as an actress since 1990.

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Pete Sampras, American tennis player

Pete Sampras is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 286 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 six consecutive times. Sampras won 64 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including 14 men's singles majors, which was an all-time record at the time of his retirement: seven Wimbledon Championships, two Australian Opens and an Open Era joint-record five US Opens. He also won five Tour Finals, two Grand Slam Cups, eleven Masters events, and was part of the winning United States Davis Cup teams in 1992 and 1995.

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12/08/1970

Aleksandar Đurić, Bosnian footballer

Aleksandar Đurić is a football coach and former player who is the principal for Sport Singapore and the ActiveSG Football Academy. A prolific striker, Ðurić was noted for his strong physical presence. His approach to fitness and a disciplined lifestyle contributed to extending a career spanning over three decades.

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Charles Mesure, English-Australian actor and screenwriter

Charles William David Mesure is a British-born Australian actor known for his work in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

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Toby Perkins, English businessman and politician

Matthew Toby Perkins is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chesterfield since 2010. He was elected as chair of the Environmental Audit Select Committee in September 2024.

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Jim Schlossnagle, American baseball player and coach

Jim Schlossnagle is an American college baseball coach and former pitcher, who is the current head baseball coach of the Texas Longhorns. He played college baseball at Elon from 1986 to 1989 for head coach Rick Jones. He then served as the head coach of the UNLV Rebels (2002–2003), the TCU Horned Frogs (2004–2021), and the Texas A&M Aggies (2022–2024).

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Anthony Swofford, American soldier and author

Anthony Swofford is an American writer and U.S. Marine veteran, best known for his 2003 book Jarhead, based heavily on his accounts of various situations encountered in the Persian Gulf War. This memoir was the basis of the 2005 film of the same name, directed by Sam Mendes.

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12/08/1969

Aga Muhlach, Filipino actor and politician

Ariel "Aga" Aquino Muhlach is a Filipino actor. Regarded as the "King of Romance-Drama" and the "Philippines' Original Heartthrob", he has received numerous local and international accolades throughout his career, including Star Awards, Maria Clara Awards, and a FAMAS Award.

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Stuart Williams, Nevisian cricketer

Stuart Clayton Williams is a former West Indian cricketer. One of the opening batsmen tried after the retirement of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, Williams was a batsman who may have not demonstrated his true potential as an opening batsman, may have been better suited to lower down the order.

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Tanita Tikaram, British pop/folk singer-songwriter

Tanita Tikaram is a British pop/folk singer-songwriter. She achieved chart success with the singles "Twist in My Sobriety" and "Good Tradition" from her 1988 debut album, Ancient Heart.

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12/08/1968

Thorsten Boer, German footballer and manager

Thorsten Boer is a German football manager and former player.

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12/08/1967

Andy Hui, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor

Andrew Hui Chi On is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Hui is considered one of the most successful Hong Kong singers, with an extensive list of Cantonese and Mandarin hits to his credit.

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Andrey Plotnikov, Russian race walker

Andrey Plotnikov is a Russian race walker, who won the bronze medal in the 50 km race at the 1998 European Championships. He represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Regilio Tuur, Dutch boxer

Regilio Benito Tuur is a Dutch former boxer who was World Boxing Organization's super featherweight champion.

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12/08/1966

Tobias Ellwood, American-English captain and politician

Tobias Martin Ellwood, PC is a former British-American Conservative Party politician and soldier who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bournemouth East from 2005 to 2024. He chaired the Defence Select Committee from 2020 to 2023, and was Minister for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel at the Ministry of Defence from 2017 to 2019. Prior to his political career, Ellwood served in the Royal Green Jackets and reached the rank of captain. He transferred to the Army Reserve and has gone on to reach the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 77th Brigade.

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12/08/1965

Peter Krause, American actor

Peter William Krause is an American actor, director, and producer. He has held leading roles across multiple acclaimed television series, portraying Casey McCall on Sports Night (1998–2000), Nate Fisher on Six Feet Under (2001–2005), Nick George on Dirty Sexy Money (2007–2009), Adam Braverman on Parenthood (2010–2015), Benjamin Jones on The Catch (2016–2017), and Bobby Nash on Fox/ABC's 9-1-1 (2018–2025).

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12/08/1964

Txiki Begiristain, Spanish footballer

Aitor "Txiki" Begiristain Mujika is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left winger or forward.

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Michael Hagan, Australian rugby league player and coach

Michael Hagan is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He currently works as an assistant coach under Mal Meninga for the Australian rugby league team. A Queensland State of Origin representative half, he played his club football in Australia with Canterbury-Bankstown and Newcastle, as well as in England with Halifax. He went on to have a successful coaching career with Newcastle and Parramatta, and was also selected to coach the Queensland Maroons for two State of Origin series before becoming Meninga's assistant coach. Hagan was inducted into the Newcastle Knights Hall of Fame in April 2012.

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12/08/1963

Kōji Kitao, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 60th Yokozuna (died 2019)

Kōji Kitao was a Japanese sumo wrestler (rikishi), professional wrestler, and mixed martial artist.

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Campbell Newman, Australian politician, 38th Premier of Queensland

Campbell Kevin Thomas Newman is an Australian former politician who served as the 38th Premier of Queensland from 26 March 2012 to 14 February 2015. He served as the member for Ashgrove in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland between 24 March 2012 and 31 January 2015. He was Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) Leader from 2 April 2011 to 7 February 2015; Newman previously served as the 15th Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 27 March 2004 to 3 April 2011.

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Sir Mix-a-Lot, American rapper, producer, and actor

Anthony L. Ray, better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot or his CB handle Prime Minista, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 1992 hit song "Baby Got Back", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

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12/08/1961

Roy Hay, English guitarist, keyboard player, and composer

Roy Ernest Hay is an English musician who is the guitarist and keyboardist of the band Culture Club.

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Mark Priest, New Zealand cricketer

Mark Wellings Priest is a former New Zealand international cricketer who played in three Test matches and 18 One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1990 and 1998. He was the leading wicket-taker for Canterbury, with 290 dismissals, until Todd Astle went past his total in February 2019.

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12/08/1960

Laurent Fignon, French cyclist and sportscaster (died 2010)

Laurent Patrick Fignon was a French professional road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984, as well as the Giro d'Italia in 1989. He held the title of FICP World No. 1 in 1989. Fignon came close to winning the Tour de France for a third time in 1989 but was defeated by Greg LeMond by eight seconds, the closest margin ever to decide the Tour. Fignon won many classic races, including consecutive victories in Milan–San Remo in 1988 and 1989. He died from cancer in 2010.

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Greg Thomas, Welsh-English cricketer

Greg Thomas is a Welsh former cricketer, who played in five Test matches and three One Day Internationals for England between 1986 and 1987.

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12/08/1959

Kerry Boustead, Australian rugby league player

Kerry Boustead is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the late 1970s, 1980s, & early 1990s. A talented representative wing for Queensland and Australia, at the time he was picked for the national team he was the youngest ever player so selected. A prolific try-scorer, he has been named amongst the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.

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12/08/1958

Jürgen Dehmel, German bass player and songwriter

Jürgen Dehmel is a German bass player and songwriter.

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12/08/1957

Friedhelm Schütte, German footballer

Friedhelm Schütte is a former professional German footballer.

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Amanda Redman, English actress

Amanda Jacqueline Redman is an English actress, known for her roles as Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman in the BBC One series New Tricks (2003–2013) and as Dr. Lydia Fonseca in The Good Karma Hospital (2017–2022). She gained BAFTA TV Award nominations for At Home with the Braithwaites (2000–2003) and Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This (2014). Her film roles include For Queen and Country (1988), Sexy Beast (2000) and Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001).

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12/08/1956

Lee Freedman, Australian horse trainer

David Lee Freedman is an Australian thoroughbred racehorse trainer. and Hall of Fame inductee. In partnership with brothers Anthony, Michael, and Richard, he has been a prolific winner of Australia's major races in past 20 years, with four Golden Slippers, four Caulfield Cups, two Cox Plates, and five Melbourne Cups, including two of the three won by Makybe Diva. On 19 June 2007 he won the prestigious King's Stand Stakes at the United Kingdom's Royal Ascot racecourse with his champion mare, Miss Andretti.

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Bruce Greenwood, Canadian actor and producer

Stuart Bruce Greenwood is a Canadian actor and producer. He has starred in five films by Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan and has been nominated for three Canadian Screen Awards, once for Best Actor for Elephant Song (2014) and twice for Best Supporting Actor, for The Sweet Hereafter (1997) and Being Julia (2004).

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Sidath Wettimuny, Sri Lankan cricketer

Sidath Wettimuny is a Sri Lankan former cricketer, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals as an opening batsman from 1982 to 1987. Wettimuny was a typical 1980s opening batsman in that he often played very defensively, grafting for his runs, and his ODI strike rate of 48 shows this quite clearly. In 1985, he was named as one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year.

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12/08/1954

Rob Borbidge, Australian politician, 35th Premier of Queensland

Robert Edward Borbidge is an Australian former politician who served as the 35th Premier of Queensland from 1996 to 1998. He was the leader of the Queensland branch of the National Party from 1991 to 2001, and was the last member of that party to serve as premier, as it merged to become the Liberal National Party of Queensland in 2008.

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Leung Chun-ying, Hong Kong businessman and politician, 3rd Chief Executive of Hong Kong

Leung Chun-ying, also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since March 2017. He was previously the third Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 2012 and 2017.

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Ibolya Dávid, Hungarian lawyer and politician, Minister of Justice of Hungary

Ibolya Dávid is a Hungarian lawyer, politician, she was the president of the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) between 1999 and 2010. Dávid was the Hungarian Minister of Justice between 1998 and 2002.

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François Hollande, French lawyer and politician, 24th President of France

François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande is a French politician who served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from 2001 to 2008, as well as President of the General Council of Corrèze from 2008 to 2012. He has also held the 1st constituency of Corrèze seat in the National Assembly three times, first from 1988 to 1993, then from 1997 to 2012, and from 2024 onwards.

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Sam J. Jones, American actor

Samuel Gerald Jones, known professionally as Sam J. Jones, is an American actor and former football player. He is known for playing the title character in the 1980 film Flash Gordon and for starring in the short-lived TV series The Highwayman (1987–1988).

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Pat Metheny, American jazz guitarist and composer

Patrick Bruce Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.

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12/08/1952

Daniel Biles, American associate justice of the Kansas Supreme Court

William Daniel Biles is a justice of the Kansas Supreme Court. Biles was appointed on January 7, 2009, by Governor Kathleen Sebelius to replace retiring Chief Justice Kay McFarland.

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Sitaram Yechury, Indian politician and leader of CPI(M) (died 2024)

Sitaram Yechury was an Indian Marxist politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who was a member of the Politburo of the CPI(M) from 1992 until his death in September 2024. Previously, he was a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, West Bengal, from 2005 to 2017.

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12/08/1951

Klaus Toppmöller, German football manager and former player

Klaus Toppmöller is a German football manager and former professional player.

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12/08/1950

Jim Beaver, American actor, director, and screenwriter

James Norman Beaver Jr. is an American actor, writer, and film historian. He portrayed Bobby Singer in Supernatural. He also played Whitney Ellsworth on the HBO Western drama series Deadwood, which brought him acclaim and a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for Ensemble Acting, Sheriff Shelby Parlow on the FX series Justified, and Robert "Dakota Bob" Singer on the Amazon Prime Video series The Boys. He appeared in starring roles in two films directed by Guillermo del Toro, Crimson Peak and Nightmare Alley. His memoir Life's That Way was published in April 2009.

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August "Kid Creole" Darnell, American musician, bandleader, singer-songwriter, and record producer

Thomas August Darnell Browder, known professionally as August Darnell and under the stage name Kid Creole, is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He co-founded Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band and subsequently formed and led Kid Creole and the Coconuts.

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Jamie Dunn, Australian actor, radio and television host (died 2026)

James Edward Dunn was an Australian television, radio personality, puppeteer, comedian and voice artist. He began his entertainment career as a drummer and a singer-songwriter, before moving into television and finding success working the puppet Agro on the Seven Network shows Wombat and Agro's Cartoon Connection among others.

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George McGinnis, American basketball player (died 2023)

George F. McGinnis was an American professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers, earning third-team All-American honors in 1971, before starting his pro career in the ABA with the Indiana Pacers. A three-time ABA All-Star with the Pacers, McGinnis was named the ABA Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1975 and won two ABA championships with the team. He was a three-time NBA All-Star with the Philadelphia 76ers. He was named to the ABA All-Time Team and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

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12/08/1949

Panagiotis Chinofotis, Greek admiral and politician

Admiral Panagiotis Chinofotis is a retired Hellenic Navy officer, who served as the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff from 2005 to 2007. He was also a member of parliament with the New Democracy party and served as Vice-Minister of the Interior in the Second Cabinet of Kostas Karamanlis.

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Mark Knopfler, Scottish-English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Mark Freuder Knopfler is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is one of the two members who stayed throughout the band's existence, along with the bassist John Illsley. After Dire Straits dissolved, he pursued a solo career and is now an independent artist.

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Lou Martin, Northern Irish pianist, songwriter, and producer (died 2012)

Louis Michael Martin was a piano and organ player from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was an original member of the London-based band Killing Floor, and also worked with fellow Irish musician Rory Gallagher.

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Alex Naumik, Lithuanian-Norwegian singer-songwriter and producer (died 2013)

Alexandra Naumik, better known by her stage name Alex, was a Lithuanian-born, Polish-Norwegian rock and pop artist who rose to fame in the late 1970s.

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Rick Ridgeway, American mountaineer and photographer

Rick Ridgeway is an American mountaineer and adventurer, who during his career has also been an environmentalist, writer, filmmaker and businessman. Ridgeway has climbed new routes and explored little-known regions on six continents. He was part of the 1978 team that were the first Americans to summit K2, the world's second-highest mountain. From 2005 until he retired in 2020 he oversaw environmental affairs and public engagement at the outdoor clothing company Patagonia. He has authored seven books and dozens of magazine articles, and produced or directed many documentary films.

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12/08/1948

Siddaramaiah, Indian lawyer and politician, 22nd Chief Minister of Karnataka

Siddaramaiah, also referred to by his nickname Siddu or Siddu Mama, is an Indian politician and lawyer who has served as the chief minister of Karnataka since May 2023. He had previously held that position from 2013 to 2018 for the first term being only the second person to complete a full five year term. In January 2026 he became the longest-serving chief minister of Karnataka, surpassing D. Devaraj Urs's record.

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Graham J. Zellick, English academic and jurist

Graham John Zellick is a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, serving from 1997 to 2003. He was previously Principal of Queen Mary and Westfield College, London from 1991 to 1998.

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12/08/1947

John Nathan-Turner, English author and television director, producer, and writer (died 2002)

John Turner, known professionally as John Nathan-Turner, was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series Doctor Who and the final producer of the series' first run on television. He finished the role having become the longest-serving Doctor Who producer and cast Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy as the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors, respectively.

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12/08/1946

Terry Nutkins, English television host and author (died 2012)

Terence Paul Nutkins was an English naturalist. He appeared in the UK children's programmes Animal Magic, The Really Wild Show, Brilliant Creatures and Growing Up Wild.

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12/08/1945

Dorothy E. Denning, American computer scientist and academic

Dorothy Elizabeth Denning is a US-American information security researcher known for lattice-based access control (LBAC), intrusion detection systems (IDS), and other cyber security innovations. She published four books and over 200 articles. Inducted into the National Cyber Security Hall of Fame in 2012, she is now Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Defense Analysis, Naval Postgraduate School.

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Ron Mael, American keyboard player and songwriter

Ronald David Mael is an American musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is the keyboardist and principal songwriter in the pop and rock duo Sparks, which he founded with lead vocalist, occasional songwriter and younger brother Russell Mael in 1971. Mael is known for his quirky and idiosyncratic approach to songwriting, his intricate and rhythmic keyboard playing style and for his deadpan and low key, scowling demeanour onstage often remaining motionless over his keyboard in sharp contrast to Russell's animated and hyperactive frontman antics. Ron Mael is also noted for his conservative clothes and distinctive moustache. The Mael brothers are the founders of Lil' Beethoven Records.

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12/08/1943

Javeed Alam, Indian academician (died 2016)

Javeed Alam was an activist and thinker who served as Chairman of the Indian Council for Social Science Research from 2008 to 2011.

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12/08/1942

Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, German physician and author

Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, in Leerhafe, Wittmund, East Frisia is a German orthopedist and sports physician.

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12/08/1941

L. M. Kit Carson, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2014)

Lewis Minor Carson was an American actor, screenwriter, director and film producer.

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Réjean Ducharme, Canadian author and playwright (died 2017)

Réjean Ducharme was a Canadian writer, novelist and playwright who resided in Montreal. He was known for his reclusive personality and did not appear at any public functions since his first successful book was published in 1966. A common theme of his early work was the rejection of the adult world by children.

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Edwin Feulner, American political scientist (died 2025)

Edwin John Feulner Jr. was an American political scientist, think tank executive, congressional aide and foreign relations consultant who was co-founder of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in 1973. He served as the Heritage Foundation's president from 1977 to 2013 and again from 2017 to 2018.

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Dana Ivey, American actress

Dana Ivey is an American retired actress. She is known for her work on Broadway, earning the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her work in both Sex and Longing and The Last Night of Ballyhoo. She originated the title role in Driving Miss Daisy and was nominated for a Drama Desk award for Best Actress in a Play. She received five Tony Award nominations for her roles in Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Heartbreak House (1984), The Last Night of Ballyhoo (1997), The Rivals (2005), and Butley (2007).

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12/08/1940

Eddie Barlow, South African cricketer and coach (died 2005)

Edgar John Barlow was a South African cricketer. Barlow was born in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa, and played first-class cricket for Transvaal and Eastern Province from 1959–60 to 1967–68 before moving to Western Province for the seasons from 1968–69 to 1980–81. During this time he also played three seasons with Derbyshire in the English County Championship from 1976 – 1978. He completed his first-class career in Boland in 1982–83. Barlow was named as one of the six South African Cricket Annual players of the year in 1962.

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John Waller, English historical European martial arts (HEMA) revival pioneer and fight director (died 2018)

John Waller was an English pioneer of the historical European martial arts (HEMA) revival, a fight director for stage, screen and spectacle, and a teacher of martial arts.

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12/08/1939

George Hamilton, American actor

George Stevens Hamilton is an American actor. For his debut performance in Crime and Punishment U.S.A. (1959), Hamilton won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for a BAFTA Award. He has received one additional BAFTA nomination and two Golden Globe nominations.

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David Jacobs, American television writer and producer (died 2023)

David Arnold Jacobs was an American television writer, producer, and director. He is most well known as the creator of the CBS primetime series Dallas, Knots Landing, and Paradise.

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S. Jayakumar, Singaporean politician, 4th Senior Minister of Singapore

Shunmugam Jayakumar, often known as S. Jayakumar, is a Singaporean former politician, diplomat, jurist and author who served as the 5th Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 2004 and 2009. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bedok Constituency between 1980 and 1988, the Bedok division of Bedok Group Representation Constituency (GRC) between 1988 and 1997, and the Bedok division of East Coast GRC between 1997 and 2011.

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Pam Kilborn, Australian track and field athlete

Pamela Kilborn, née Pamela Ryan, AM, MBE is an Australian former athlete who set world records as a hurdler. For three years, she was ranked as the world's top woman hurdler.

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David King, South African chemist and academic

Sir David Anthony King is a South African-born British chemist, academic, and head of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group (CCAG).

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Sushil Koirala, Nepalese politician, 37th Prime Minister of Nepal (died 2016)

Sushil Prasad Koirala was a Nepalese politician and the Prime Minister of Nepal from 11 February 2014 to 10 October 2015. He was also President of the Nepali Congress from 2010 to 2016, having earlier served in various capacities in the party.

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Roy Romanow, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Premier of Saskatchewan

Roy John Romanow is a Canadian politician who served as the 12th premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001. He was the leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 1987 until his retirement in 2001. He was the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Saskatoon Riversdale from 1967 to 1982 and from 1986 to 2001.

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12/08/1938

Jean-Paul L'Allier, Canadian journalist and politician, 38th Mayor of Quebec City (died 2016)

Jean-Paul L'Allier was a Canadian politician, a two-term Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) and the 38th mayor of Quebec City from 1989 to 2005.

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12/08/1937

Walter Dean Myers, American author and poet (died 2014)

Walter Dean Myers was an American writer best known for young adult literature. He was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and raised in Harlem, New York City. A difficult childhood inspired him to write, and his teachers encouraged writing as a way to express himself. Myers wrote more than one hundred books, including picture books and nonfiction. He won the Coretta Scott King Award for African-American authors five times. His 1988 novel Fallen Angels is one of the books most frequently challenged in the U.S. due to its adult language and its realistic portrayal of the Vietnam War.

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12/08/1936

Kjell Grede, Swedish director and screenwriter (died 2017)

Kjell Birger Grede was a Swedish film director. He directed nine films between 1967 and 2003. He was married to actress Bibi Andersson from 1960 to 1973.

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12/08/1935

John Cazale, American actor (died 1978)

John Holland Cazale was an American actor. He appeared in five films over seven years, each of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture at their respective awards ceremonies. Cazale started as a theater actor in Boston, ranging from regional, to off-Broadway, to Broadway acting alongside Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, and Sam Waterston. Cazale soon became one of Hollywood's premier character actors, starting with his role as the doomed, weak-minded Fredo Corleone alongside longtime friend Pacino in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). He also appeared in Coppola's The Conversation (1974) and Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon (1975), the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. In 1977, Cazale was diagnosed with lung cancer, but chose to complete his role in The Deer Hunter (1978). Shortly after filming was completed, he died in New York City on March 13, 1978, aged 42. Archive footage of Cazale in the role of Fredo appears in The Godfather Part III (1990).

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12/08/1934

Robin Nicholson, English metallurgist and academic (died 2024)

Sir Robin Buchanan Nicholson was a British industrial metallurgist and academic, who served as Chief Scientific Adviser, Cabinet Office, from 1983 to 1985. He then joined the board of Rolls-Royce plc, where he served until 2005. He was also a non-executive board member of BP plc and Pilkington plc.

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12/08/1933

Parnelli Jones, American race car driver and businessman (died 2024)

Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones was an American professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race, and the Trans-Am Championship series. In 1962, he became the first driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 at over 150 mph (240 km/h). He won the race in 1963, then famously broke down while leading the 1967 race with three laps to go in a turbine car. During his career as an owner, he won the Indy 500 in 1970–1971 with driver Al Unser.

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Frederic Lindsay, Scottish author and educator (died 2013)

Frederic Lindsay was a Scottish crime writer, who was born in Glasgow and lived in Edinburgh. He was a full-time writer from 1979 and previously worked as a lecturer, teacher and library assistant. He was active in a number of literary organisations including the Society of Authors, International PEN and the Scottish Arts Council. In addition to novels he also wrote for TV, radio and the theatre. Two of his novels have been made into films.

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12/08/1932

Dallin H. Oaks, American lawyer, jurist, and religious leader

Dallin Harris Oaks is an American religious leader and former jurist who is the eighteenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as the first counselor in the church's First Presidency from 2018 to 2025. He was called as a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1984.

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Charlie O'Donnell, American radio and television announcer (died 2010)

Charles John O'Donnell was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on game shows, and for his distinctive baritone voice. Among them, he was best known for Wheel of Fortune, where he worked from 1975 to 1980, and again from 1989 until his death. O'Donnell was also known for announcing American Bandstand.

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Sirikit, Queen mother of Thailand (died 2025)

Sirikit was Queen of Thailand from 28 April 1950 to 13 October 2016 as the wife of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

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12/08/1931

William Goldman, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (died 2018)

William Goldman was an American novelist, screenwriter and playwright who wrote 16 novels and numerous screenplays in a career spanning seven decades. He received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Best Screenplay from the BAFTAs and Golden Globes for his first original screenplay, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), and he received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for All the President's Men (1976). Both of these films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, along with The Princess Bride (1987) which he adapted from his 1973 novel, and all three were included on the 2006 list by the Writers Guild of America of the 101 Greatest Screenplays. Among his other accolades were three Writers Guild of America Awards, including the 1985 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement, two Edgar Awards for Best Motion Picture Screenplay, and a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

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12/08/1930

Harry Babcock, American football player and first overall draft pick (died 1996)

Harry Lewis Babcock was an American professional football end in the National Football League (NFL). He was the first overall selection in the 1953 NFL draft.

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George Soros, Hungarian-American businessman and investor, founded the Soros Fund Management

George Soros is a Hungarian-American investor and philanthropist. As of May 2025, he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations, of which $15 billion has already been distributed, representing 64% of his original fortune. In 2020, Forbes called Soros the "most generous giver" in terms of percentage of net worth.

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Kanagaratnam Sriskandan, Sri Lankan engineer and civil servant (died 2010)

Kanagaratnam Sriskandan was a Sri Lankan born British engineer and civil servant. He was the former Chief Highway Engineer, of Under Secretary Grade at the British Department for Transport

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Jacques Tits, Belgian-French mathematician and academic (died 2021)

Jacques Tits was a Belgian-born French mathematician who worked on group theory and incidence geometry. He introduced Tits buildings, the Tits alternative, the Tits group, and the Tits metric.

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12/08/1929

Buck Owens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2006)

Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens Jr. was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the frontman for The Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music chart. He pioneered what came to be called the Bakersfield sound, named in honor of Bakersfield, California, Owens's adopted home and the city from which he drew inspiration for what he preferred to call "American music".

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12/08/1928

Charles Blackman, Australian painter and illustrator (died 2018)

Charles Raymond Blackman was an Australian painter, noted for the Schoolgirl, Avonsleigh and Alice in Wonderland series of the 1950s. He was a member of the Antipodeans, a group of Melbourne painters that also included Arthur Boyd, David Boyd, John Brack, Robert Dickerson, John Perceval, and Clifton Pugh. He was married for 27 years to author, essayist, poet, librettist and patron of the arts Barbara Blackman.

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Bob Buhl, American baseball player (died 2001)

Robert Ray Buhl was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with the Milwaukee Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies.

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Dan Curtis, American director and producer (died 2006)

Daniel Mayer Cherkoss, known by his pen name Dan Curtis, was an American television and film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was best known as the creator of the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows (1966–71), and for directing the epic World War II miniseries The Winds of War (1983) and War and Remembrance (1988).

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12/08/1927

Porter Wagoner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2007)

Porter Wayne Wagoner was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour.

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12/08/1926

Douglas Croft, American child actor (died 1963)

Douglas Croft was an American teen actor who is best remembered for being the first person to portray the DC Comics character Robin, the Boy Wonder, as well as his secret identity Dick Grayson, in the 1943 serial Batman when he was 16 years old.

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John Derek, American actor, director, and cinematographer (died 1998)

John Derek was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He appeared in such films as Knock on Any Door, All the King's Men, Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950), and The Ten Commandments (1956). He was also known for launching the career of his fourth wife, Bo Derek.

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Joe Jones, American R&B singer-songwriter and producer (died 2005)

Joseph Charles Jones was an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger, who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Jones is also generally credited with discovering the Dixie Cups. He also worked with B. B. King. As a singer, Jones had his biggest hit in the form of the Top Five 1960 R&B success, "You Talk Too Much", which also reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

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12/08/1925

Dale Bumpers, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 38th Governor of Arkansas (died 2016)

Dale Leon Bumpers was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 38th governor of Arkansas (1971–1975) and in the United States Senate (1975–1999). He was a member of the Democratic Party. He was counsel at the Washington office of law firm Arent Fox LLP, where his clients included Riceland Foods and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

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Guillermo Cano Isaza, Colombian journalist (died 1986)

Guillermo Cano Isaza was a Colombian journalist. The editor of El Espectador from 1952 until 1986, he was assassinated in Bogotá in what was widely seen as an attack related to his criticism of Colombia's drug barons.

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Donald Justice, American poet and writing teacher (died 2004)

Donald Rodney Justice was an American poet and teacher of creative writing who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1980.

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Norris McWhirter, Scottish publisher and activist co-founded the Guinness World Records (died 2004)

Norris Dewar McWhirter was a British writer, right-wing political activist, co-founder of The Freedom Association, and a television presenter. He and his twin brother Ross were known internationally for founding the reference book The Guinness Book of Records which they wrote and updated annually together between 1955 and 1975. After Ross's assassination by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), Norris carried on alone as editor.

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Ross McWhirter, Scottish publisher and activist, co-founded the Guinness World Records (died 1975)

Alan Ross McWhirter was, with his twin brother, Norris, the cofounder of the 1955 Guinness Book of Records and a contributor to the television programme Record Breakers. He was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1975.

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George Wetherill, American physicist and academic (died 2006)

George Wetherill was an American physicist and geologist. He was the director emeritus of the department of terrestrial magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

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12/08/1924

Derek Shackleton, English cricketer, coach, and umpire (died 2007)

Derek Shackleton was a Hampshire and England bowler. He took over 100 wickets in 20 consecutive seasons of first-class cricket, but only played in seven Tests for England. He has the seventh-highest tally of first-class wickets, and the most first-class wickets of any player who began his career after World War II. He holds the record for the most first-class wickets taken by any Hampshire player.

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Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistani general and politician, 6th President of Pakistan (died 1988)

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was a Pakistani military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also served as the second chief of the army staff of the Pakistan Army from 1976 until his death. The country's longest-serving de facto head of state and chief of the army staff, Zia's political ideology is known as Ziaism.

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12/08/1923

John Holt, Jamaican cricketer (died 1997)

John Kenneth Constantine Holt, known as J. K. Holt junior, OD was a West Indian international cricketer who played in 17 Test matches between 1954 and 1959.

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12/08/1922

Fulton Mackay, Scottish actor and playwright (died 1987)

William Fulton Beith Mackay was a Scottish actor and playwright, best known for his role as prison officer Mr Mackay in the 1970s television sitcom Porridge.

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Miloš Jakeš, Czech communist politician (died 2020)

Miloš Jakeš was a Czech communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1987 until 1989.

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12/08/1920

Charles Gibson, American ethnohistorian (died 1985)

Charles Gibson was an American ethnohistorian who wrote foundational works on the Nahua peoples of colonial Mexico and was elected President of the American Historical Association in 1977.

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Percy Mayfield, American R&B singer-songwriter (died 1984)

Percy Mayfield was an American rhythm and blues singer with a smooth vocal style. He was also a songwriter, known for the songs "Please Send Me Someone to Love" and "Hit the Road Jack", the latter being a song first recorded by Ray Charles.

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12/08/1919

Margaret Burbidge, English-American astrophysicist and academic (died 2020)

Eleanor Margaret Burbidge, (née Peachey; 12 August 1919 – 5 April 2020) was a British-American observational astronomer and astrophysicist. In the 1950s, she was one of the founders of stellar nucleosynthesis and was first author of the influential B2FH paper. During the 1960s and 1970s she worked on galaxy rotation curves and quasars, discovering the most distant astronomical object then known. In the 1980s and 1990s she helped develop and utilise the Faint Object Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. Burbidge was also well known for her work opposing discrimination against women in astronomy while also opposing positive discrimination.

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Vikram Sarabhai, Indian physicist and academic (died 1971)

Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was an Indian physicist and astronomer who initiated space research and helped to develop nuclear power in India. Often regarded as the "Father of Indian space program", Sarabhai was honored with Padma Bhushan in 1966 and the Padma Vibhushan (posthumously) in 1972.

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12/08/1918

Sid Bernstein, American record producer (died 2013)

Sidney Bernstein was an American music promoter, talent manager, and author. Bernstein changed the American music scene in the 1960s by bringing the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, the Moody Blues, and the Kinks to America. He was the first impresario to organize rock concerts at sports stadiums.

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Guy Gibson, Anglo-Indian commander and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (died 1944)

Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, was a distinguished bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was the first Commanding Officer of No. 617 Squadron, which he led in the "Dam Busters" raid in 1943, resulting in the breaching of two large dams in the Ruhr area of Germany. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, in the aftermath of the raid in May 1943 and became the most highly decorated British serviceman at that time. He completed over 170 war operations before being killed in action at the age of 26.

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12/08/1917

Oliver Crawford, American screenwriter and author (died 2008)

Oliver Crawford was an American screenwriter and author who overcame the Hollywood blacklist during the McCarthy Era of the 1950s to become one of the entertainment industry's most successful television writers, for shows including Star Trek, Bonanza, Quincy, M.E., Perry Mason, and the Kraft Television Theatre.

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Ebba Haslund, Norwegian writer (died 2009)

Ebba Margareta Haslund Halvorsen was an American-Norwegian novelist, writer of short stories, playwright, essayist, children's writer, literary critic, radio speaker and politician.

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12/08/1916

Ioan Dicezare, Romanian general and pilot (died 2012)

Ioan Dicezare was a leading Romanian fighter pilot and flying ace in World War II. He was born and died in Bucharest.

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Edward Pinkowski, American writer, journalist and Polonia historian (died 2020)

Edward G. Pinkowski was an American writer, journalist, and historian of Polish descent. He was presented with the Polish American Historical Society's Haiman Award in 1989, and the Cavalier's Cross of the Order of Merit by the President of Poland in 2001. He turned 100 in August 2016 and died in January 2020 at the age of 103 and 5 months.

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12/08/1915

Michael Kidd, American dancer and choreographer (died 2007)

Michael Kidd was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and who staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Kidd, strongly influenced by Charlie Chaplin and Léonide Massine, was an innovator in what came to be known as the "integrated musical", in which dance movements are integral to the plot.

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12/08/1914

Gerd Buchdahl, German-English philosopher and author (died 2001)

Gerd Buchdahl was a German-English philosopher of science.

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Ruth Lowe, Canadian pianist and songwriter (died 1981)

Ruth Lowe was a Canadian pianist and songwriter. She composed the first Billboard top 80 song "I'll Never Smile Again".

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12/08/1913

Richard L. Bare, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2015)

Richard Leland Bare was an American director, producer, and screenwriter of Hollywood movies, television shows and short films.

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12/08/1912

Samuel Fuller, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1997)

Samuel Michael Fuller was an American film director, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, and actor. He was known for directing low-budget genre movies with controversial themes, often made outside the conventional studio system.

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12/08/1911

Cantinflas, Mexican actor, screenwriter, and producer (died 1993)

Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes, known by the stage name Cantinflas, was a Mexican comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He is considered to have been the most widely accomplished Mexican comedian and is well known throughout Latin America and Spain.

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12/08/1910

Yusof bin Ishak, Singaporean journalist and politician, 1st President of Singapore (died 1970)

Yusof bin Ishak Al-Haj was a Singaporean journalist, civil servant, and politician who served as the head of state of Singapore from 1959 to 1970, as the second Yang di-Pertuan Negara of Singapore between 1959 and 1965 and the first president of Singapore between 1965 and 1970.

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Jane Wyatt, American actress (died 2006)

Jane Waddington Wyatt was an American actress. She starred in a number of Hollywood films, such as Frank Capra's Lost Horizon, but is likely best known for her role as homemaker and mother Margaret Anderson on the CBS and NBC television comedy series Father Knows Best, and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science-fiction television series Star Trek. Wyatt was a three-time Emmy Award–winner.

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12/08/1909

Bruce Matthews, Canadian general and businessman (died 1991)

Major General Albert Bruce Matthews was a senior Canadian Army officer and businessman. Although not a professional soldier, he nevertheless rose to be the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division during the final months of the Second World War, after having served with distinction in campaigns in Sicily, Italy and Western Europe from 1943-1945. He became noted for his personal bravery and the accuracy and reliability of the artillery under his command. Post-war, his business career continued. In addition, he was active in the Canadian Liberal Party.

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12/08/1907

Gladys Bentley, American blues singer (died 1960)

Gladys Alberta Bentley was an American blues singer, pianist, and entertainer who became a prominent figure during the Harlem Renaissance. She was widely recognized for having a strong contralto voice, spirited stage presence, and a riveting performance style. She is remembered for breaking barriers in jazz, blues, and gender identity.

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Joe Besser, American actor (died 1988)

Joe Besser was an American actor and comedian known for his impish humor and wimpy characters. He is best known for his brief stint as a member of The Three Stooges in movie short subjects of 1957–1959. He is also remembered for his television roles: Stinky, the bratty man-child on The Abbott and Costello Show, and Jillson, the maintenance man on The Joey Bishop Show.

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Boy Charlton, Australian swimmer (died 1975)

Andrew Murray "Boy" Charlton was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1920s and 1930s who won a gold medal in the 1500 m freestyle at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. He set five world records and also won a further three silver and one bronze medal in his Olympic career.

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Benjamin Sheares, Singaporean physician and politician, 2nd President of Singapore (died 1981)

Benjamin Henry Sheares was a Singaporean obstetrician, gynaecologist, and academic who served as the second president of Singapore between 1971 until his death in 1981.

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12/08/1906

Harry Hopman, Australian tennis player and coach (died 1985)

Henry Christian Hopman CBE was an Australian tennis player and coach.

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Tedd Pierce, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (died 1972)

Edward Stacey "Tedd" Pierce III was an American screenwriter and voice actor of animated cartoons, principally from the mid-1930s to the late 1950s.

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12/08/1904

Idel Jakobson, Latvian-Estonian NKVD officer (died 1997)

Idel Jakobson was an NKVD officer. According to the materials of Kaitsepolitsei, Jakobson took part in sentencing around 1,200 people to death and persecuting and torturing at least 1,800 people.

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Tamás Lossonczy, Hungarian painter (died 2009)

Tamás Lossonczy was a Hungarian abstract painter. He is considered by many critics to be one of the leading figures of modern art in Hungary of the 20th century.

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Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia (died 1918)

Alexei Nikolaevich was the last Russian tsesarevich. He was the youngest child and only son of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. He was born with haemophilia, which his parents tried treating with the methods of peasant faith healer Grigori Rasputin.

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12/08/1902

Mohammad Hatta, Indonesian statesman, 1st Vice President of Indonesia (died 1980)

Mohammad Hatta was an Indonesian statesman, nationalist, and independence activist who served as the country's first vice president as well as the third prime minister. Known as "The Proclamator", he and a number of Indonesians, including the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, fought for the independence of Indonesia from the Netherlands. Hatta was an important figure during the Indonesian national awakening and during the national revolution. As a youth he was politically active in both the Netherlands and the Indies, which led him to be imprisoned in the Boven Digoel concentration camp for his activism. He also played a crucial role in the proclamation of Indonesian independence, being the second person to sign the declaration besides Sukarno, thus making him one of the founders of Indonesia.

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12/08/1899

Ben Sealey, Trinidadian cricketer (died 1963)

Benjamin James Sealey or Sealy was a West Indian cricketer whose career spanned the years 1924 to 1941. He was an attacking, middle-order batsman, a medium-pace, leg-break bowler and an athletic fielder anywhere in the field. Despite once turning out for a "Barbados-born" side against the Rest of West Indies, Sealey was a Trinidad player through and through.

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12/08/1897

Maurice Fernandes, Guyanese cricketer (died 1981)

Maurius Pacheco Fernandes, known as Maurice Fernandes, was a West Indian Test cricketer who played first-class cricket for British Guiana between 1922 and 1932. He made two Test appearances for the West Indies, in 1928 and 1930. Fernandes played as a right-handed top-order batsman and occasional wicket-keeper. He scored 2,087 first-class runs in 46 appearances at an average of 28.20.

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12/08/1892

Alfred Lunt, American actor and director (died 1977)

Alfred David Lunt was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway and West End productions. After their marriage, they nearly always appeared together. They became known as "the Lunts" and were celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic.

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12/08/1891

C. E. M. Joad, English philosopher and academic (died 1953)

Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad was an English philosopher, author, teacher and broadcasting personality. He appeared on The Brains Trust, a BBC Radio wartime discussion programme. He popularised philosophy and became a celebrity, before his downfall in a scandal over an unpaid train fare in 1948.

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John McDermott, American golfer (died 1971)

John J. McDermott Jr. was an American professional golfer. He was the first U.S.-born golfer to win the U.S. Open, triumphing at the 1911 U.S. Open and the 1912 U.S. Open. McDermott remains the youngest player to win the event, at age 19, as well as the second youngest to win any of golf's four major tournaments after Young Tom Morris. He was the first player to break par over 72 holes in a significant event, which he did at the 1912 U.S. Open. He was one of the world's top players between 1910 and 1914.

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12/08/1889

Zerna Sharp, American author and educator (died 1981)

Zerna Addas Sharp was an American educator and book editor who is best known as the creator of the Dick and Jane series of beginning readers for elementary school-aged children. Published by Scott, Foresman and Company of Chicago, Illinois, the readers, which described the activities of her fictional siblings, "Dick," "Jane," "Sally," and other characters, were widely used in schools in the United States and many other English-speaking countries for nearly forty years. The series, which included such titles as We Look and See, We Come and Go, We Work and Play, and Fun with Dick and Jane, among others, was marketed until 1973 and used the look-say method of teaching reading.

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12/08/1887

Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1961)

Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger was an Austrian–Irish theoretical physicist who developed fundamental results in quantum theory. In particular, he is recognized for devising the Schrödinger equation, an equation that provides a way to calculate the wave function of a system and how it changes dynamically in time. He coined the term "quantum entanglement" in 1935. Schrödinger shared the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics with Paul Dirac "for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory."

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12/08/1885

Jean Cabannes, French physicist and academic (died 1959)

Jean Cabannes was a French physicist specialising in optics.

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Keith Murdoch, Australian journalist (died 1952)

Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch was an Australian journalist and media proprietor who was the founder of the Murdoch media empire. He amassed significant media holdings in Australia which after his death were expanded globally by his son Rupert.

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Juhan Simm, Estonian composer and conductor (died 1959)

Juhan Simm was an Estonian composer, conductor, and choir director.

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12/08/1883

Martha Hedman, Swedish-American actress and playwright (died 1974)

Martha Hedman was a Swedish-American stage actress popular on the Broadway stage.

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Marion Lorne, American actress (died 1968)

Marion Lorne MacDougal or MacDougall, known professionally as Marion Lorne, was an American actress on stage, film, and television. After a career in theatre in New York and London, Lorne made her first film in 1951, and for the remainder of her life played small roles in films and television. Her recurring role as Aunt Clara in the comedy series Bewitched, between 1964 and her death in 1968, brought her widespread recognition, and she was posthumously awarded an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

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12/08/1881

Cecil B. DeMille, American director and producer (died 1959)

Cecil Blount DeMille, often known in popular culture as Mr. DeMille was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he created 70 features including silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history, with many films dominating the box office three or four at a time. His films were distinguished by their epic scale and by his cinematic showmanship. His silent films included social dramas, comedies, Westerns, farces, morality plays, and historical pageants.

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12/08/1880

Radclyffe Hall, English poet, author, and activist (died 1943)

Marguerite Antonia Radclyffe-Hall, also known by her pen name Radclyffe Hall, was an English poet and author best known for her novel The Well of Loneliness, a groundbreaking work in lesbian literature. In adulthood, she often called herself John, rather than Marguerite.

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Christy Mathewson, American baseball player and manager (died 1925)

Christopher Mathewson, nicknamed "Big Six," "the Christian Gentleman," "Matty," and "the Gentleman's Hurler," was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants. He stood 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) tall and weighed 195 pounds (88 kg). He was among the most dominant pitchers in baseball history, and ranks in the all-time top 10 in several key pitching categories, including wins, shutouts, and earned run average. In 1936, Mathewson was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its first five members.

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12/08/1877

Albert Bartha, Hungarian general and politician, Hungarian Minister of Defence (died 1960)

Albert Bartha de Nagyborosnyó was a Hungarian military officer and politician, who served as Minister of Defence twice: in 1918 and, almost thirty years later, between 1946 and 1947.

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12/08/1876

Mary Roberts Rinehart, American author and playwright (died 1958)

Mary Roberts Rinehart was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie. Rinehart published her first mystery novel, The Circular Staircase, in 1908, which introduced the "had I but known" narrative style. Rinehart is also considered the earliest known source of the phrase "the butler did it", in her novel The Door (1930), although the exact phrase does not appear in her work and the plot device had been used prior to that time. She also worked to tell the stories and experiences of front line soldiers during World War I, one of the first women to travel to the Belgian front lines.

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12/08/1871

Gustavs Zemgals, Latvian politician, 2nd President of Latvia (died 1939)

Gustavs Zemgals was a Latvian politician and the second President of Latvia. He also was twice the mayor of Riga.

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12/08/1870

Henry Reuterdahl, Swedish-American artist (died 1925)

Henry Reuterdahl was a Swedish-American painter highly acclaimed for his nautical artwork. He had a long relationship with the United States Navy.

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12/08/1867

Edith Hamilton, German-American author and educator (died 1963)

Edith Hamilton was an American educator and internationally known author who was one of the most renowned classicists of her era in the United States. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, she also studied in Germany at the University of Leipzig and the University of Munich. Hamilton began her career as an educator and head of the Bryn Mawr School, a private college preparatory school for girls in Baltimore, Maryland; however, Hamilton is best known for her essays and best-selling books on ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.

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12/08/1866

Jacinto Benavente, Spanish playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1954)

Jacinto Benavente y Martínez was one of the foremost Spanish dramatists of the 20th century. He was awarded the 1922 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the happy manner in which he has continued the illustrious traditions of the Spanish drama".

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Henrik Sillem, Dutch target shooter, mountaineer, and jurist (died 1907)

Hendrik "Henrik" Sillem was a Dutch jurist, mountaineer and sport shooter.

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12/08/1860

Klara Hitler, Austrian mother of Adolf Hitler (died 1907)

Klara Hitler was the mother of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. In 1934, Adolf Hitler honored his mother by naming a street in Passau after her.

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12/08/1859

Katharine Lee Bates, American poet and author (died 1929)

Katharine Lee Bates was an American author and poet, chiefly remembered for her anthem "America the Beautiful", but also for her many books and articles on social reform, on which she was a noted speaker.

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12/08/1857

Ernestine von Kirchsberg, Austrian painter and educator (died 1924)

Ernestine von Kirchsberg was an Austrian landscape painter.

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12/08/1856

Diamond Jim Brady, American businessman and philanthropist (died 1917)

James Buchanan Brady, also known as Diamond Jim Brady, was an American businessman, financier and philanthropist of the Gilded Age.

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12/08/1852

Michael J. McGivney, American priest and founder of the Knights of Columbus (died 1890)

Michael Joseph McGivney was an American Catholic priest based in New Haven, Connecticut. He founded the Knights of Columbus at a local parish to serve as a mutual aid and insurance organization, particularly for immigrants and their families. It developed through the 20th century as the world's largest Catholic fraternal organization.

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12/08/1833

William P. Sanders, American army officer (died 1863)

William Price Sanders was an officer in the Union Army in the American Civil War who died at the Siege of Knoxville.

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12/08/1831

Helena Blavatsky, Russian theosophist and scholar (died 1891)

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian and American mystic and writer who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She gained an international following as the primary founder of Theosophy as a belief system.

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12/08/1774

Robert Southey, English poet and author (died 1843)

Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a radical but became steadily more conservative as he gained respect for Britain and its institutions. Other romantics such as Byron accused him of siding with the establishment for money and status. He is remembered especially for the poem "After Blenheim" and the original version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears".

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12/08/1773

Karl Faber, Prussian historian and academic (died 1853)

Karl Peter Andreas Faber was a Prussian archivist and historian.

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12/08/1762

George IV of the United Kingdom (died 1830)

George IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III, having done so since 5 February 1811 during his father's final mental illness.

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12/08/1696

Maurice Greene, English organist and composer (died 1755)

Maurice Greene was an English composer and organist. He was an admirer and friend of George Frideric Handel.

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12/08/1686

John Balguy, English philosopher and author (died 1748)

John Balguy was an English divine and philosopher.

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12/08/1644

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Bohemian-Austrian violinist and composer (died 1704)

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber was a Czech-Austrian composer and violinist of the middle Baroque era. Biber worked in Graz and Kroměříž before he illegally left his employer, Prince-Bishop Karl Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn, and settled in Salzburg. He remained there for the rest of his life, publishing much of his music but apparently seldom, if ever, giving concert tours.

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12/08/1629

Archduchess Isabella Clara of Austria, Austrian archduchess (died 1685)

Isabella Clara of Austria was a Duchess consort of Mantua, Montferrat, Nevers, Mayenne and Rethel by marriage to Charles II, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat.

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12/08/1626

Giovanni Legrenzi, Italian composer (died 1690)

Giovanni Legrenzi was an Italian composer of opera, vocal and instrumental music, and organist, of the Baroque era. He was one of the most prominent composers in Venice in the late 17th century, and extremely influential in the development of late Baroque idioms across northern Italy.

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12/08/1604

Tokugawa Iemitsu, Japanese shōgun (died 1651)

Tokugawa Iemitsu was a Japanese samurai, daimyo and the third shōgun of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, who acted as his political adviser and was at the forefront of shogunate negotiations with the Imperial court. Iemitsu ruled from 1623 to 1651; during this period he crucified Christians, expelled all Europeans from Japan and closed the borders of the country, a foreign policy that continued for over 200 years after its institution.

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12/08/1599

Sir William Curtius FRS, German magistrate, English baronet (died 1678)

The Curtius Baronetcy of Sweden was a title in the Baronetage of England, created on 2 April 1652 for William Curtius, "Resident to the King of Sweden".

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12/08/1591

Louise de Marillac, co-founder of the Daughters of Charity (died 1660)

Louise de Marillac, also known as Louise Le Gras, was the co-founder, with Vincent de Paul, of the Daughters of Charity. She is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

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12/08/1506

Franciscus Sonnius, Dutch counter-Reformation theologian (died 1576)

Franciscus Sonnius was a theologian during the time of the Catholic Reformation, the first bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch and later the first bishop of Antwerp. His family name was Van de Velde, but in later years he called himself after his native place, Son in Brabant. He came from the same noble family as philosopher Heymeric de Campo. The family has three golden mill-irons in their coat-of-arms, a sign that is depicted on the chair of the first bishop in the cathedral of Antwerp.

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12/08/1503

Christian III of Denmark (died 1559)

Christian III reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established Lutheranism as the state religion within his realms as part of the Protestant Reformation, and was the first King of Denmark-Norway.

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12/08/1452

Abraham Zacuto, Jewish astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian (died 1515)

Abraham Zacuto was a Sephardic Jewish astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian. Born in Castile, he served as Royal Astronomer to King John II of Portugal before fleeing to Tunis.

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