Sunday, 2nd August 2026 in Amsterdam

On this day, 250 notable people were born on 2nd August — spanning from 1260 to 2006. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

02/08/2006

Héctor Fort, Spanish footballer

Héctor Fort García is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for La Liga club Barcelona.

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02/08/2000

Varvara Gracheva, Russian tennis player

Varvara Andreyevna Gracheva is a Russian-born French professional tennis player. Gracheva has a career-high WTA singles ranking of 39, achieved on 8 January 2024. She has won seven singles titles on the ITF Circuit.

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Mohammed Kudus, Ghanaian footballer

Mohammed Kudus is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Ghana national team.

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02/08/1999

Mark Lee, Korean-Canadian singer

Mark Lee is a Canadian rapper and singer based in South Korea. He is a former member of the South Korean boy band NCT and its fixed sub-units NCT 127 and NCT Dream, as well as the supergroup SuperM. Mark made his solo debut on April 7, 2025, with his first studio album The Firstfruit. On April 3, 2026, Mark departed from NCT and SM Entertainment following the expiration of his contract on April 8. On June 3, he announced his new label, Upper Room.

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02/08/1997

Austin Theory, American wrestler

Austin Tyler White is an American professional wrestler. As of August 2019, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Austin Theory. He is a member of The Vision stable and is one-half of the reigning World Tag Team Champions with stablemate Bron Breakker in their second reign.

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02/08/1996

Keston Hiura, American baseball player

Keston Wee Hing Natsuo Hiura is an American professional baseball first baseman and second baseman for the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, and Colorado Rockies.

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Simone Manuel, American swimmer

Simone Ashley Manuel is an American professional swimmer specializing in freestyle events. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won two gold and two silver medals: gold in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter medley, and silver in the 50-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. In winning the 100-meter freestyle, a tie with Penny Oleksiak of Canada, Manuel became the first Black American woman to win an individual Olympic gold in swimming and set an Olympic record and an American record. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she won a bronze medal as the anchor of the American 4×100-meter freestyle relay team.

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02/08/1995

Kristaps Porziņģis, Latvian basketball player

Kristaps Porziņģis is a Latvian professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Unicorn" for his ability to make plays and shoot three-pointers as a center, Porziņģis is listed at 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) and plays as a power forward and center.

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Vikkstar123, English internet personality

Vikram Singh Barn, better known as Vikkstar123 or simply Vikkstar, is an English YouTuber and DJ. He is a member of the YouTube group the Sidemen.

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02/08/1994

Cr1TiKaL, American YouTuber and streamer

Charles Christopher White Jr., better known as Cr1TiKaL, MoistCr1TiKaL, or penguinz0, is an American YouTuber, streamer and actor. He is best known for his commentary videos and live streams covering internet culture and video games. His content is mostly characterized by his monotonous voice, white shirt, deadpan comedic style, and long hair, which has earned him the nickname of "Internet Jesus". In addition, White was the co-founder and co-owner of the esports organization Moist Esports, is currently the co-owner of Shopify Rebellion and is also a co-founder and member of the musical duo the Gentle Men.

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Laura Pigossi, Brazilian tennis player

Laura Pigossi Herrmann de Andrade is a Brazilian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of No. 100 by the WTA, achieved on 29 August 2022, and a best doubles ranking of world No. 80, reached on 1 December 2025. Her most notable achievement was a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in doubles, with Luisa Stefani.

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Laremy Tunsil, American football player

Laremy Alexander Tunsil is an American professional football offensive tackle for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels and was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft. Tunsil was traded to the Houston Texans in 2019, making five Pro Bowls with them before being traded to the Commanders in 2025.

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02/08/1993

Gael Bussa, Congolese politician

Gael Bussa Obambule is a Congolese lawyer and politician. He was elected National Deputy in the constituency of Budjala, in the province of South-Ubangi, in the 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election.

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Joey Florez, American scholar and cultural critic

Jose Luis Florez Betancourt, also known as Joey Florez, is an American scholar and cultural critic.

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02/08/1992

Charli XCX, English singer-songwriter

Charlotte Emma Aitchison, known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer, songwriter, and actress. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Records in 2010, Charli XCX released a series of singles and mixtapes in the early 2010s. In 2012, she co-wrote and was featured on Icona Pop's "I Love It", which became her first number-one song in the UK and received global success, but her debut album, True Romance (2013), failed to meet commercial expectations.

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02/08/1991

Evander Kane, Canadian ice hockey player

Evander Frank Kane is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger who is an unrestricted free agent. He played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks. Kane was selected fourth overall by the Thrashers in the first round of the 2009 NHL entry draft.

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02/08/1990

Ima Bohush, Belarusian tennis player

Ima Anatolevna Bohush is a retired Belarusian tennis player.

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Vitalia Diatchenko, Russian tennis player

Vitalia Anatolyevna Diatchenko is a Russian tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 71, achieved on 17 November 2014. On 21 February 2011, she peaked at No. 60 in the WTA doubles rankings.

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Skylar Diggins, American basketball player

Skylar Kierra Diggins is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for the Lunar Owls of Unrivaled. Diggins was drafted third overall by the Tulsa Shock in the 2013 WNBA draft. In high school, she was the National Gatorade Player of the Year and the Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year. She played college basketball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and led the team to three consecutive Final Fours and two consecutive NCAA championship appearances. She finished her Notre Dame career ranked first in points and steals, second in assists, and as a two-time winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award as the top point guard in the nation.

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02/08/1989

Nacer Chadli, Belgian footballer

Nacer Chadli is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a winger.

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02/08/1988

Rob Kwiet, Canadian ice hockey player

Rob Kwiet is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player.

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Golden Tate, American football player

Golden Herman Tate III is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, earning unanimous All-American honors and winning the Fred Biletnikoff Award in 2009. Tate was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft. He later played for the Detroit Lions, with whom he made a Pro Bowl appearance. He also played a season for the Philadelphia Eagles and two seasons for the New York Giants.

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02/08/1986

Mathieu Razanakolona, Canadian skier

Mathieu Razanakolona is a Malagasy-Canadian alpine skier, born to a Quebecois mother and a father from Madagascar, currently residing in Canada.

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Lily Gladstone, American actress

Lily Catherine Gladstone is an American actress. Raised on the Blackfeet Reservation, Gladstone is of Piegan Blackfeet, Nez Perce, and European heritage. She earned critical acclaim for portraying Mollie Kyle, an Osage woman who survived the Osage Indian murders, in Martin Scorsese's crime drama film Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), receiving several accolades; she became the first Native American to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

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02/08/1985

Stephen Ferris, Irish rugby player

Stephen Ferris is a retired Irish rugby union player who played for Ulster and represented Ireland internationally. Ferris played club rugby with Dungannon. He is from Maghaberry and attended Friends' School Lisburn. He played for Ulster and Ireland in all three backrow positions. Ferris retired from rugby in June 2014 after a long-standing ankle injury ended his career.

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David Hart Smith, Canadian wrestler

Harry Francis Smith, better known by his ring name Davey Boy Smith Jr., is a Canadian professional wrestler and catch wrestler. He currently performs for Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is a two-time Opera Cup winner and a former two-time MLW World Tag Team Champion, and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a former Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a former three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion as part of the Killer Elite Squad with Lance Archer, as well as being a two-time GHC Tag Team Champion in Pro Wrestling Noah due to NJPW's working relationship with Pro Wrestling Noah.

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02/08/1984

Giampaolo Pazzini, Italian footballer

Giampaolo Pazzini, nicknamed Il Pazzo after his surname, is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a striker.

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JD Vance, American politician, 50th vice president of the United States

James David Vance is an American politician, author, and venture capitalist serving as the 50th vice president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he represented the state of Ohio in the United States Senate from 2023 to 2025.

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02/08/1983

Michel Bastos, Brazilian footballer

Michel Fernandes Bastos is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who mainly played as a left winger.

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Huston Street, American baseball player

Huston Lowell Street is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Angels.

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02/08/1982

Hélder Postiga, Portuguese footballer

Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a striker.

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Kerry Rhodes, American football player

Kerry Rhodes is an American actor and former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL draft, and most recently played for the Arizona Cardinals in 2012. Rhodes was named to All-Pro teams by three publications after the 2006 NFL season. He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals.

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Grady Sizemore, American baseball player

Grady Sizemore is an American former professional baseball center fielder, coach and manager who currently serves as the first base coach and the outfield and base running instructor for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians from 2004 through 2011, but did not play in the majors for the following two years after a series of injuries. He returned in 2014 with the Boston Red Sox and played for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2014 to 2015 before finishing 2015 with the Tampa Bay Rays. He was a three-time MLB All-Star and a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, and also won a Silver Slugger Award.

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02/08/1981

Alexander Emelianenko, Russian mixed martial artist and boxer

Alexander Vladimirovich Emelianenko is a Russian professional mixed martial artist. He is a three-time Russian national Combat Sambo champion and three-time world Combat Sambo champion in the absolute division. He is a younger brother of Fedor Emelianenko.

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Tim Murtagh, English-Irish cricketer

Timothy James Murtagh is a retired English-born Irish cricketer who played for Middlesex County Cricket Club.

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02/08/1980

Ivica Banović, Croatian footballer

Ivica Banović is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. An NK Zagreb youth product, he spent most of his career in Germany. At international level, he earned two caps with the Croatia national team.

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02/08/1979

Marco Bonura, Italian footballer

Marco Bonura is an Italian retired footballer and manager, currently in charge of Italian Serie D club Sansepolcro

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Reuben Kosgei, Kenyan runner

Reuben Seroney Kosgei, is a middle and long distance athlete most famous for 3000 m steeplechase in which he became the youngest ever winner of an Olympic gold medal in the event, when, at the age of 21, he ran to victory in Sydney 2000 with a winning time of 8 minutes 21.43 seconds.

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02/08/1978

Goran Gavrančić, Serbian footballer

Goran Gavrančić is a Serbian retired footballer who played as a defender.

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Matt Guerrier, American baseball player

Matthew Olson Guerrier is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs.

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Deividas Šemberas, Lithuanian footballer

Deividas Šemberas is a Lithuanian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. Between 1996 and 2013, he earned 82 international caps for Lithuania.

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Dragan Vukmir, Serbian footballer

Dragan Vukmir is a Serbian professional football manager and a former defender. He is the manager of Hungarian club BVSC-Zugló. He was capped once for Serbia and Montenegro.

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02/08/1977

Edward Furlong, American actor

Edward Walter Furlong is an American actor. He won a Saturn and an MTV Movie Award for his breakthrough performance at age 13 as John Connor in James Cameron's 1991 science fiction action film Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

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02/08/1976

Reyes Estévez, Spanish runner

Reyes Estévez López is a Spanish 1500 metres runner. He won the European Championships' final 1998 in Budapest. In addition, he won bronze medals at the 1997 World Championships, 1999 World Championships and 2005 European Indoor Championships and silver medals at the 2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 2002 European Championships.

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Jay Heaps, American soccer player and coach

John Franklin "Jay" Heaps is an American former soccer player who currently serves as general manager and head coach of Birmingham Legion FC. He is a former head coach for the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer.

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Michael Weiss, American figure skater

Michael Weiss is an American former competitive and currently professional figure skater. He is in the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame and is a three-time national champion a two-time World bronze medalist, and a two-time Olympic team member.

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Pritam Singh, Singaporean lawyer and politician

Pritam Singh is a Singaporean politician, author and lawyer who was the leader of the opposition from 2020 to 2026. He has been the secretary-general of the Workers' Party (WP) since 2018 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Eunos division of Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) since 2011. Singh was the first de jure leader of the opposition in post-independence Singapore.

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Sam Worthington, English-Australian actor and producer

Samuel Henry John Worthington is an Australian actor who has worked in both independent Australian cinema and Hollywood. He rose to prominence in Australia with performances in the films Bootmen (2000) and Somersault (2004), receiving Australia Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role nominations for both films and winning the latter, and gained further recognition through his role in the TV series Love My Way. Worthington achieved international fame as protagonist Jake Sully in James Cameron’s Avatar (2009), the highest-grossing film of all time, and received a second AFI award for the film; he reprised his role in its sequels.

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Mohammad Zahid, Pakistani cricketer

Mohammad Zahid is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler.

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02/08/1975

Mineiro, Brazilian footballer

Carlos Luciano da Silva, nicknamed Mineiro, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

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Xu Huaiwen, Chinese-German badminton player and coach

Huaiwen Xu is a German badminton player. Born in Guiyang, Guizhou, China, she decided to play for Germany because the Chinese thought that she was too short to play professional world badminton.

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Tamás Molnár, Hungarian water polo player

Tamás Molnár is a Hungarian former water polo player, who played on the gold medal squads at the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics. He is one of ten male athletes who won three Olympic gold medals in water polo. He made his debut for the national team in 1997, and was named Hungarian Water Polo Player of the Year in 1998.

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02/08/1974

Phil Williams, English journalist and radio host

Phil Williams is a British radio news reporter and presenter who worked for 18 years on BBC Radio 5 Live until 2019.

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02/08/1973

Danie Keulder, Namibian cricketer

Danie Keulder is a former Namibian cricketer, who has played for Namibia's national cricket team from 1994 until 2005. He first appeared for Namibia in the 1994 ICC Trophy, against Canada in a match that his team lost by eight wickets, having put a mere 51 runs on the board.

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Miguel Mendonça, Zimbabwean journalist and author

Miguel Mendonça is an Anglo-Azorean writer and musician based in Bristol, England.

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Susie O'Neill, Australian swimmer

Susan O'Neill, is an Australian former competitive swimmer from Brisbane, Queensland, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly". She achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career.

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02/08/1972

Mohamed Al-Deayea, Saudi Arabian footballer

Mohamed Abdullaziz Al-Deayea Al-Shammari, also known as Mohammed Deayea al-Shammari, is a Saudi Arabian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He participated in four FIFA World Cups for the Saudi Arabia national team and earned a total of 173 officially recognised caps. Al-Deayea played for al-Tai FC and al-Hilal SFC and was represented in all Saudi national teams. He is considered one of the prominent goalkeepers in the history of Saudi sports.

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Muriel Bowser, American politician, Mayor of Washington, D.C.

Muriel Elizabeth Bowser is an American politician who has served as the mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2015. She is the second female mayor of the District of Columbia after Sharon Pratt. Since taking office in 2015, she has secured three consecutive mayoral victories—the first African‑American woman to do so.

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02/08/1971

Jason Bell, Australian rugby league player

Jason Bell is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s in the National Rugby League. His position of preference was at five-eighth.

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Michael Hughes, Irish footballer and manager

Michael Eamon Hughes is a Northern Irish football manager and former footballer who is a majority shareholder and co-owner of NIFL Premiership side Carrick Rangers.

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02/08/1970

Tony Amonte, American ice hockey player and coach

Anthony Lewis Amonte is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played right wing over 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers and the Calgary Flames. He previously served as the head coach of the Thayer Academy men's varsity hockey team. He is currently a scout with the Florida Panthers.

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Kevin Smith, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

Kevin Patrick Smith is an American filmmaker. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy film Clerks (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, co-edited, and acted in as the character Silent Bob of stoner duo Jay and Silent Bob. These characters also appeared in Smith's later films Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Clerks II (2006), Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), and Clerks III (2022), which are set primarily in his home state of New Jersey. While not strictly sequential, the films have crossover plot elements, character references, and a shared canon known as the "View Askewniverse", named after Smith's production company View Askew Productions, which he co-founded with Scott Mosier.

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Philo Wallace, Barbadian cricketer

Philo Alphonso Wallace is a Barbadian cricketer who played for the West Indies.

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02/08/1969

Cedric Ceballos, American basketball player

Cedric Zelos Ceballos is an American former professional basketball player. As a small forward, he played mostly for the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers, later finishing his National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, and Miami Heat.

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Fernando Couto, Portuguese footballer and manager

Fernando Manuel Silva Couto is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a centre back.

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02/08/1968

Stefan Effenberg, German footballer and sportscaster

Stefan Effenberg is a German football pundit and former professional player. Nicknamed Der Tiger, he was known for his leadership skills, passing range, long-range shooting and physical strength as an iconic midfielder of his time, but was also a temperamental and controversial character.

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Chrystia Freeland, Canadian politician and journalist

Christina Alexandra Freeland is a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the tenth deputy prime minister of Canada from 2019 to 2024. A member of the Liberal Party, she was first elected as the member of Parliament (MP) for Toronto Centre in 2013 and represented University—Rosedale from 2015 to 2026. Freeland served as a Cabinet minister from 2015 to 2025 during the premierships of Justin Trudeau and Mark Carney.

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02/08/1967

Aaron Krickstein, American tennis player

Aaron Krickstein, nicknamed "Marathon Man", is an American former professional tennis player who competed on the ATP Tour from 1983 to 1996. He currently competes on the Outback Champions Series Over-30 tour.

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Aline Brosh McKenna, American screenwriter and producer

Aline Brosh McKenna is an American filmmaker. Her credits include writing The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and its 2026 sequel, 27 Dresses (2008), Morning Glory (2010), We Bought a Zoo (2011) and co-creating The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

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02/08/1966

Takashi Iizuka, Japanese wrestler

Takayuki Iizuka , better known by his ring name Takashi Iizuka , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his 33-year career in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a three-time IWGP Tag Team Champion. He has also worked for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was a one-time GHC Tag Team Champion.

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Grainne Leahy, Irish cricketer

Grainne Maire Leahy née O'Brien is an Irish international cricketer who debuted for the Ireland national side in 1997. A top order batter, she played 11 One Day International matches.

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Tim Wakefield, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2023)

Timothy Stephen Wakefield was an American professional baseball knuckleball pitcher. Wakefield began his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but is most remembered for his 17-year tenure with the Boston Red Sox, where he was a part of two World Series championships in 2004 and 2007. When he retired at age 45 after 19 seasons in MLB, Wakefield was the oldest active player in the major leagues.

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02/08/1965

Joe Hockey, Australian lawyer and politician, 38th Treasurer of Australia

Joseph Benedict Hockey is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for North Sydney from 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer of Australia in the Abbott government from 18 September 2013 until September 2015 when he resigned from Cabinet, having refused an alternative offer from the incoming prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. He previously served as the Minister for Human Services and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations in the Howard government. He also served as Ambassador of Australia to the United States from January 2016 until January 2020.

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Hisanobu Watanabe, Japanese baseball player and coach

Hisanobu Watanabe nicknamed "Nabe-Q", is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Seibu Lions and Yakult Swallows, and in the Taiwan Major League (TML) for the Chiayi-Tainan Luka.

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02/08/1964

Frank Biela, German race car driver

Frank Stanley Biela is a German auto racing driver, mainly competing in touring cars and sportscar racing. He has raced exclusively in cars manufactured by the Audi marque since 1990. Biela notably won the 1991 Deutsche Tourenwagen Miesterschaft and the 1996 British Touring Car Championship, as well as the 24 Hours of Le mans five times and the 12 Hours of Sebring four times between 2000 and 2007. Biela also won the 1996 Macau Guia Race in the Super Touring class.

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Mary-Louise Parker, American actress

Mary-Louise Parker is an American actress. After making her Broadway debut as Rita in Craig Lucas's Prelude to a Kiss in 1990, Parker came to prominence for film roles in Grand Canyon (1991), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), The Client (1994), Bullets Over Broadway (1994), A Place for Annie (1994), Boys on the Side (1995), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), and The Maker (1997).

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02/08/1963

Laura Bennett, American architect and fashion designer

Laura Eugenia Bennett is an American architect and fashion designer. She was one of the four finalists for the third season of a competitive reality television series Project Runway, which originally aired on Bravo network.

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Uğur Tütüneker, Turkish footballer and manager

Uğur Tütüneker is a Turkish former footballer and manager who most recently served as the manager of Adana Demirspor. After migrating to Germany with his family, he started playing football at Bayern Munich youth academy.

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02/08/1962

Lee Mavers, English singer, songwriter and guitarist

Lee Antony Mavers is an English musician, best known for being the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist in the La's.

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Cynthia Stevenson, American actress

Cynthia Stevenson is an American actress. She first played a leading role in the single season of the syndicated parody comedy series My Talk Show (1990–91), before starring in a number of sitcoms, including Bob, Hope & Gloria, and Oh Baby.

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02/08/1961

Pete de Freitas, Trinidadian-British drummer and producer (died 1989)

Peter Louis Vincent de Freitas was an English musician and producer. He was the drummer in Echo & the Bunnymen, and performed on their first five albums.

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Cui Jian, Chinese singer-songwriter

Cui Jian is a Chinese singer-songwriter and musician. Known for his countercultural impact, he has launched a ground-breaking musical trend of Chinese rock and pop, dubbed the "Godfather of Chinese Rock". With poetic, socially conscious lyrics, his experimental approach features multiple traditional instruments, eclectic musical elements and cultural references from different eras. Cui is widely deemed the most influential rock musician in China as well as one of the greatest and most prominent figures in Chinese music.

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02/08/1960

Linda Fratianne, American figure skater

Linda Sue Fratianne is an American former figure skater known for winning two world-championship titles, four consecutive U.S. championships (1977–1980) and a silver medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

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Neal Morse, American singer and keyboard player

Neal Morse is an American singer, musician and composer based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1992, he formed the progressive rock band Spock's Beard with his brother Alan and released an album which was moderately successful. In 1999, he joined Dream Theater's co-founder and drummer Mike Portnoy, the Flower Kings' Roine Stolt, and Marillion's Pete Trewavas to form the supergroup Transatlantic. In 2002, Neal Morse became a born again Christian, left Spock's Beard and began a Christian rock solo career, releasing many progressive rock concept albums about his new religious faith. In the meantime, he continued to play with Transatlantic and formed three new bands with Portnoy, Yellow Matter Custard, Flying Colors, and the Neal Morse Band.

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David Yow, American singer-songwriter

David Lambeth Yow is an American musician and actor born in Las Vegas, Nevada and best known as the vocalist for the noise rock bands Scratch Acid and the Jesus Lizard. Yow's debut solo album, Tonight You Look Like a Spider, was released in June 2013 on Joyful Noise Records.

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02/08/1959

Jim Doughan, American actor

James Francis Doughan is an American actor, teacher and writer. He is best known for his roles as Detective Doyle in The Mask (1994) and Detective Allen as well as the voice of Lucky the Cat in Stuart Little (1999) and the head coach for the soccer team Stuart and his human brother, George Little, play for in Stuart Little 2 (2002). He is currently a performing arts teacher at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California.

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Victoria Jackson, American actress and singer

Victoria Jackson is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the series Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1992.

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Johnny Kemp, Bahamian singer-songwriter and producer (died 2015)

Jonathan "Johnny" Kemp was a Bahamian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a songwriter in late 1979 and is perhaps best known for his solo work, including his single "Just Got Paid" (1988), which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 1989.

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Apollonia Kotero, American singer and actress

Patricia Apollonia Kotero is an American actress, singer, and former model. She is known for co-starring in Prince's 1984 film Purple Rain and for having been the lead singer of the girl group Apollonia 6.

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02/08/1957

Jacky Rosen, United States senator

Jacklyn Sheryl Rosen is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Nevada since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the U.S. representative for Nevada's 3rd congressional district from 2017 to 2019.

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02/08/1956

Fulvio Melia, Italian-American physicist, astrophysicist, and author

Fulvio Melia is an Italian-American astrophysicist, cosmologist and author. He is a professor of physics, astronomy and the applied math program at the University of Arizona and was a scientific editor of The Astrophysical Journal and an associate editor of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. A former Presidential Young Investigator and Sloan Research Fellow, he is the author of six English books and 230 refereed articles on theoretical astrophysics and cosmology.

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02/08/1955

Caleb Carr, American historian and author (died 2024)

Caleb Carr was an American military historian and author. Carr was the second of three sons born to Lucien Carr and Francesca Von Hartz.

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Tony Godden, English footballer and manager

Anthony Leonard Godden was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for West Bromwich Albion, Luton Town, Walsall, Chelsea, Birmingham City, Bury and Peterborough United.

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Butch Vig, American drummer, songwriter, and record producer

Bryan David "Butch" Vig is an American musician, record producer, and songwriter who is the drummer and co-producer of the rock band Garbage. Vig produced for several alternative rock acts of the 1990s, including Nirvana, the Smashing Pumpkins, L7, and Sonic Youth. Notable albums he produced include Nirvana's diamond-selling album Nevermind (1991), L7's Bricks Are Heavy (1992), the Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream (1993), and Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown (2009).

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02/08/1954

Sammy McIlroy, Northern Irish footballer and manager

Samuel Baxter McIlroy is a Northern Irish retired footballer who played for Manchester United, Stoke City, Manchester City, Örgryte (Sweden), Bury, VfB Mödling (Austria), Preston North End and the Northern Ireland national team.

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02/08/1953

Donnie Munro, Scottish singer and guitarist

Donnie Munro is a Scottish musician and politician, best known as the former lead singer of the band Runrig. Munro served as the bands lead vocalist during their most commercially successful period, 1987–1995, particularly with the release of their album The Cutter and the Clan and the 1995 single "An Ubhal as Àirde " which made chart history by becoming the first song to be performed in Scottish Gaelic to chart in the United Kingdom. Mara (1995) served as the last album released by Runrig to feature Munro on lead vocals, leaving the band in 1997 to pursue a career in politics.

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Butch Patrick, American actor

Butch Patrick is an American actor and musician. Beginning his professional acting career at the age of seven, Patrick is perhaps best known for his role as child werewolf Eddie Munster on the CBS comedy television series The Munsters from 1964 to 1966 and in the 1966 feature film Munster, Go Home!, and as Mark on the ABC Saturday morning series Lidsville from 1971 to 1973.

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Anthony Seldon, English historian and author

Sir Anthony Francis Seldon is a British contemporary historian and educator. As an author, he is known for his political biographies of consecutive British Prime Ministers, John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss, and as an educator, the Master of Wellington College, in Berkshire. Seldon is the author or editor of more than 50 books on contemporary history, politics, and education.

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02/08/1952

Alain Giresse, French footballer and manager

Alain Jean Giresse is a French football coach and former player who last managed Kosovo.

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02/08/1951

Andrew Gold, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2011)

Andrew Maurice Gold was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who influenced much of the Los Angeles-dominated pop/soft rock sound in the 1970s. Gold performed on scores of records by other artists, especially Linda Ronstadt, and had his own success with the U.S. top 40 hits "Lonely Boy" (1977) and "Thank You for Being a Friend" (1978), as well as the UK top five hit "Never Let Her Slip Away" (1978). In the 1980s, he had further international chart success as one half of the British-American superduo Wax alongside 10cc's Graham Gouldman.

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Steve Hillage, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Stephen Simpson Hillage is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo recordings he has been a member of Uriel, Khan, Gong and System 7.

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Burgess Owens, American football player and politician

Clarence Burgess Owens is an American politician and former professional football player. Since 2021, he has served as the U.S. representative for Utah's 4th congressional district.

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Joe Lynn Turner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Joe Lynn Turner is an American singer best known for his work with Rainbow, Deep Purple, and Yngwie Malmsteen.

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Per Westerberg, Swedish businessman and politician, Speaker of the Parliament of Sweden

Per Erik Gunnar Westerberg is a Swedish politician who was Speaker of the Riksdag from 2006 to 2014. He was a Member of the Riksdag from 1979 to 2014, its most senior member from 2006 to his resignation. He was Sweden's Minister for Industry and Trade from 1991 to 1994.

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02/08/1950

Jussi Adler-Olsen, Danish author and publisher

Carl Valdemar Jussi Henry Adler-Olsen is a Danish crime fiction writer, a publisher, editor, and entrepreneur, best known for his Department Q series. He made his debut as a nonfiction writer in 1984, and as a fiction writer in 1997.

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Sue Rodriguez, Canadian assisted suicide advocate, diagnosed with ALS (died 1994)

Sue Rodriguez was a Canadian right-to-die activist. In August 1991, she was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and was given two to five years to live. She ultimately made the decision to end her life and she sought the assistance of a doctor to that end, leading to a legal battle. She lost her case in front of the Supreme Court of Canada, but took her own life with the help of an anonymous doctor on February 12, 1994. She is cited as an important figure in the eventual legalization of medical assistance in dying in Canada.

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Ted Turner, British guitarist

David Alan "Ted" Turner is an English guitarist and vocalist, best known for his work with the rock band Wishbone Ash, in which he was famed for his twin lead guitar instrumental arrangements with Andy Powell. Turner also contributed lap steel guitar to a variety of Wishbone Ash recordings.

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02/08/1949

James Fallows, American journalist and author

James Mackenzie Fallows is an American writer and journalist. He is a former national correspondent for The Atlantic. His work has also appeared in Slate, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker and The American Prospect, among others. He is a former editor of U.S. News & World Report, and as President Jimmy Carter's chief speechwriter for two years was the youngest person ever to hold that job.

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Bertalan Farkas, Hungarian general and cosmonaut

Bertalan Farkas is the first Hungarian cosmonaut, space explorer and fighter pilot. With his flight, Hungary became the seventh nation to be represented in space. Farkas is also the first Esperantist cosmonaut. He is currently the president of Airlines Service and Trade.

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02/08/1948

Andy Fairweather Low, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Andrew Fairweather-Low is a Welsh guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.

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Dennis Prager, American radio host and author

Dennis Mark Prager is an American conservative radio talk show host, political commentator, and writer. He is the host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show The Dennis Prager Show. In 2009, he co-founded PragerU, which creates content advocating capitalism and promoting conservative viewpoints on various political, economic, and cultural topics.

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Tapan Kumar Sarkar, Indian-American electrical engineer and academic (died 2021)

Tapan Kumar Sarkar was an Indian-American electrical engineer and professor emeritus at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University. He was best known for his contributions to computational electromagnetics and antenna theory.

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James Street, American football and baseball player (died 2013)

James Lowell Street was a two-sport star athlete at the University of Texas. As quarterback, he led the team to the 1969 National Championship in football and posted a perfect 20–0 record, the most wins without a loss in Longhorns history. As a pitcher he was a two time All-American who threw the only perfect game in Texas Longhorns history.

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Snoo Wilson, English playwright and screenwriter (died 2013)

Andrew James Wilson, better known as Snoo Wilson, was an English playwright, screenwriter and director. His early plays such as Blow-Job (1971) were overtly political, often combining harsh social comment with comedy. In his later works he moved away from purely political themes, embracing a range of surrealist, magical, philosophical and madcap, darkly comic subjects.

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02/08/1947

Ruth Bakke, Norwegian organist and composer

Ruth Bakke is a Norwegian organist and composer. She was born in Bergen, Norway, and studied at the Bergen Music Conservatory and the University of Oslo. She continued her studies on a Fulbright grant at Converse College in South Carolina, Texas Lutheran College, University of Redlands in California, and Washington State University.

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Lawrence Wright, American journalist, author, and screenwriter

Lawrence Wright is an American writer and journalist, a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law.

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02/08/1946

James Howe, American journalist and author

James Howe is an American children's writer who has written more than 79 juvenile and young adult fiction books. He is best known for the Bunnicula series about a vampire rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables.

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02/08/1945

Joanna Cassidy, American actress

Joanna Cassidy is an American actress and former model. She began working as a model in the 1960s and made her professional acting debut in 1973, appearing in the thriller films The Laughing Policeman and The Outfit. She later starred in the films Bank Shot (1974) and The Late Show (1977), the short-lived television series The Roller Girls (1978), and 240-Robert (1979). In 1982, she played replicant Zhora Salome in the science-fiction film Blade Runner.

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Alex Jesaulenko, Austrian-Australian footballer and coach

Oleksandr Vasiliovych "Alex" Jesaulenko is a former Australian rules footballer and who played for the Carlton Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He also served as a coach at both clubs.

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Bunker Roy, Indian educator and activist

Sanjit "Bunker" Roy is an Indian social activist and educator who founded the Barefoot College. He was selected as one of Time 100's 100 most influential personalities in 2010 for his work in educating illiterate and semi-literate rural Indians. Roy was awarded the Padma Shri by Giani Zail Singh in 1986.

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Eric Simms, Australian rugby league player and coach

Eric Simms is an Indigenous Australian former professional and national representative rugby league footballer who has been named among the nation's finest of the 20th century. His primary position was at fullback although he could also play as a centre. Simms played his entire first grade career for South Sydney with whom he won four premierships and was top point-scorer for four consecutive seasons.

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02/08/1944

Jim Capaldi, English drummer and singer-songwriter (died 2005)

Nicola James Capaldi was an English singer-songwriter and drummer. His musical career spanned more than four decades. He co-founded the progressive rock band Traffic in 1967 with Steve Winwood, and the two of them co-wrote the majority of the band's material. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of Traffic's original lineup.

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Naná Vasconcelos, Brazilian singer and berimbau player (died 2016)

Juvenal de Holanda Vasconcelos, known as Naná Vasconcelos, was a Brazilian percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, notable for his work as a solo artist on over two dozen albums, and as a backing musician with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Jan Garbarek, Egberto Gismonti, Gato Barbieri, and Milton Nascimento.

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02/08/1943

Herbert M. Allison, American lieutenant and businessman (died 2013)

Herbert Monroe Allison Jr. was an American businessman who oversaw the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability from 2009 to 2010. His previous positions included president and CEO of Fannie Mae, a post to which he was appointed in September 2008, after Fannie was placed into conservatorship. Prior to that, Allison was chairman, president and chief executive officer of TIAA from 2002 until his retirement in 2008.

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Tom Burgmeier, American baseball player and coach

Thomas Henry Burgmeier is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for the California Angels, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox and Oakland A's from 1968 to 1984. He has also served as the pitching coach of the Omaha Royals.

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Jon R. Cavaiani, English-American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (died 2014)

Jonathan Robert Cavaiani was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Vietnam War.

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Rose Tremain, English novelist and short story writer

Dame Rosemary Jane Tremain is an English novelist, short story writer, and former Chancellor of the University of East Anglia. She has been the recipient of many prizes for her writing, including the Giles Cooper Award (1984), the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1992), the Whitbread Award (1999) and the Orange Prize (2008).

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02/08/1942

Isabel Allende, Chilean-American novelist, essayist, essayist

Isabel Angélica Allende Llona is a Chilean-American writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the magical realism genre, is known for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts, which have been commercially successful. Allende has been called "the world's most widely read Spanish-language author." In 2004, Allende was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2010, she received Chile's National Literature Prize. President Barack Obama awarded her the 2014 Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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Leo Beenhakker, Dutch football manager (died 2025)

Leo Beenhakker was a Dutch football player and coach. Nicknamed "Don Leo" for his role in Spanish football, he had an extensive and successful career both at club and international level.

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Juan Formell, Cuban singer-songwriter and bass player (died 2014)

Juan Climaco Formell Cortina was a Cuban bassist, composer, and arranger, best known as the director of Los Van Van. He was a creator of popular danceable music and credited with bringing electronic instrumentation into the Cuban musical form.

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Nell Irvin Painter, American author and historian

Nell Irvin Painter is an American historian notable for her works on United States Southern history of the nineteenth century. She is retired from Princeton University as the Edwards Professor of American History Emerita. She has served as president of the Organization of American Historians and as president of the Southern Historical Association. She was appointed as chair of the MacDowell board of directors in 2020.

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02/08/1941

Doris Coley, American singer (died 2000)

Doris Coley was an American musician, who was best known as a member of the Shirelles. Doris was the lead singer on their biggest hit, "Dedicated to the One I Love". She initially left the group in 1968, but returned in 1975 after original lead singer, Shirley Owens, left. Through marriages, she became Doris Coley Kenner and later Doris Kenner Jackson.

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Jules A. Hoffmann, Luxembourgish-French biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Jules Alphonse Nicolas Hoffmann is a Luxembourgish-French biologist. During his youth, growing up in Luxembourg, he developed a strong interest in insects under the influence of his father, Jos Hoffmann. This eventually resulted in the younger Hoffmann's dedication to the field of biology using insects as model organisms. He currently holds a faculty position at the University of Strasbourg. He is a research director and member of the board of administrators of the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Strasbourg, France. He was elected to the positions of Vice-President (2005–2006) and President (2007–2008) of the French Academy of Sciences. Hoffmann and Bruce Beutler were jointly awarded a half share of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for "their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity".

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François Weyergans, Belgian director and screenwriter (died 2022)

François Weyergans was a Belgian writer and director. His father, Franz Weyergans, was a Belgian and also a writer, while his mother was from Avignon in France. François Weyergans was elected to the Académie française on 26 March 2009, taking the 32nd seat which became vacant with the death of Alain Robbe-Grillet in 2008.

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02/08/1940

Angel Lagdameo, Filipino archbishop (died 2022)

Angel Nacorda Lagdameo was a Filipino bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Jaro from 9 May 2000 until 14 February 2018.

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Beko Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian physician and activist (died 2006)

Dr. Bekolari Ransome-Kuti was a Nigerian physician known for his work as a human rights activist.

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Will Tura, Belgian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Arthur Achiel Albert, Knight Blanckaert, known by his stage name Will Tura, is a Belgian artist considered as the most successful Flemish-speaking singer of the 20th century. Famous in Flanders and the Netherlands, Tura is a singer, musician, composer and songwriter. Nicknamed the Emperor of the Flemish Song, he released hundreds of singles and albums that cover a wide array of styles, and continued to tour into the 2010s.

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02/08/1939

Benjamin Barber, American theorist, author, and academic (died 2017)

Benjamin R. Barber was an American political theorist and author, perhaps best known for his 1995 bestseller, Jihad vs. McWorld, and for 2013's If Mayors Ruled the World. His 1984 book of political theory, Strong Democracy, was revised and reissued in 2004. He was an adviser to political leaders including Bill Clinton, Howard Dean, and Muammar Gaddafi. He was a board member of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation.

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Wes Craven, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2015)

Wesley Earl Craven was an American filmmaker. Amongst his prolific filmography, Craven worked primarily in the horror genre, particularly slasher films, where he mixed horror cliches with humor. Craven has been recognized as one of the masters of the horror genre.

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John W. Snow, American businessman and politician, 73rd United States Secretary of the Treasury

John William Snow is an American economist, attorney, and businessman who is the former CEO of CSX Corporation and served as the 73rd United States secretary of the treasury under U.S. President George W. Bush. He replaced Secretary Paul H. O'Neill on February 3, 2003, and was succeeded by Henry Paulson on July 3, 2006. Snow submitted a letter of resignation on May 30, 2006, effective "after an orderly transition period for my successor." Snow announced on June 29, 2006, that he had completed his last day on the job; Robert M. Kimmitt served as acting secretary until Paulson was sworn in. Snow has since worked as chairman of Cerberus Capital Management.

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02/08/1938

Dave Balon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2007)

David Alexander Balon was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Balon played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League between 1959 and 1973 along with nine games in the World Hockey Association (WHA) before multiple sclerosis led to his retirement.

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Pierre de Bané, Israeli-Canadian lawyer and politician (died 2019)

Pierre De Bané was a Canadian politician who served in both the House of Commons of Canada and the Senate. Elected as the Member of Parliament for Matane in 1968, he was the first Palestinian, the first person of Middle Eastern descent, and the first visible minority person not born in Canada to be elected to the House of Commons of Canada. He was a member of the Canadian Cabinet during the Trudeau Sr. Ministry.

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Terry Peck, Falkland Islander soldier (died 2006)

Terence John Peck was a member of the Falkland Islands Defence Force who during the 1982 Falklands War became a war hero by spying on the Argentine invaders, subsequently escaping to British lines, acting as a scout for 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, and taking part in the fighting for Mount Longdon. A fiercely patriotic Islander, he vehemently opposed Argentina's claim to the Islands. He later met and befriended an Argentine conscript who served during the war.

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02/08/1937

Ron Brierley, New Zealand businessman

Ronald Alfred Brierley is a New Zealand investor and corporate raider, chairman and director of a number of companies in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

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Billy Cannon, American football player and dentist (died 2018)

Billy Abb Cannon Sr. was an American professional football player who was a halfback and tight end in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He attended Louisiana State University (LSU), where he played college football as a halfback, return specialist, and safety for the LSU Tigers. At LSU, Cannon was twice named a unanimous All-American, helped the 1958 LSU team win a national championship, and received the Heisman Trophy as the nation's most outstanding college player in 1959. His punt return against Ole Miss on Halloween night in 1959 is considered by fans and sportswriters to be one of the most famous plays in LSU sports history.

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María Duval, Mexican actress and singer

María Dussauge Ortiz, known as María Duval, is a Mexican actress and singer, specialized in the musical genres of bolero and ranchera.

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Garth Hudson, Canadian keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (died 2025)

Eric Garth Hudson was a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for the Band. He was a principal architect of the group's sound and was described as "the most brilliant organist in the rock world" by Keyboard magazine. In 1994, Hudson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Band.

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Tim Bowden, Australian historian and television presenter (died 2024)

Timothy Gibson Bowden was an Australian author, radio and television broadcaster and producer, and oral historian. He was born in Hobart, Tasmania, and studied at the University of Tasmania, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

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02/08/1936

Anthony Payne, English composer and author (died 2021)

Anthony Edward Payne was an English composer, music critic and musicologist. He is best known for his acclaimed completion of Edward Elgar's third symphony, which gained wide acceptance into Elgar's oeuvre. Payne is particularly noted for his chamber music, much of which was written for his wife, the soprano Jane Manning, and the couple's new music ensemble Jane's Minstrels. Initially an unrelenting proponent of modernist music, by the 1980s his compositions had embraced aspects of the late English romanticism, described by his colleague Susan Bradshaw as "modernized nostalgia".

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02/08/1935

Hank Cochran, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2010)

Garland Perry "Hank" Cochran was an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting during the 1960s, Cochran was a prolific songwriter in the genre, including major hits by Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Eddy Arnold, and others. Cochran was also a recording artist between 1962 and 1980, scoring seven times on the Billboard country music charts, with his greatest solo success being the number-20 "Sally Was a Good Old Girl." In 2014, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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02/08/1934

Valery Bykovsky, Russian general and cosmonaut (died 2019)

Valery Fyodorovich Bykovsky was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on three space flights: Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, and Soyuz 31. He was also backup for Vostok 3 and Soyuz 37.

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02/08/1933

Ioannis Varvitsiotis, Greek politician, Greek Minister of Defence

Ioannis Varvitsiotis is a Greek politician and a former government minister of Greece. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for New Democracy from 2004 to 2009, part of the European People's Party. He was defense minister of Greece from 2 July 1989 till 7 October 1989 and from 11 April 1990 till 13 October 1993. He was member of the Hellenic Parliament from 1974 until 2004.

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02/08/1932

Lamar Hunt, American businessman, co-founded the American Football League and World Championship Tennis (died 2006)

Lamar Hunt Sr. was an American businessman and prominent member of the Hunt family. As a sports executive, he was involved in promoting football, soccer, and tennis in the United States. With his brothers, he also attempted to corner the silver market.

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Peter O'Toole, British-Irish actor and producer (died 2013)

Peter James O'Toole was an English and Irish actor. Known for his work on stage and screen, he received various accolades, including an Academy Honorary Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for a Grammy Award and a Laurence Olivier Award.

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02/08/1931

Pierre DuMaine, American bishop and academic (died 2019)

Roland Pierre DuMaine was an American Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of San José in California from 1981 to 1999. He also served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of San Francisco from 1978 to 1981.

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Eddie Fuller, South African cricketer (died 2008)

Edward Russell Henry Fuller was a South African cricketer who played in seven Test matches between 1953 and 1957. He was born in Worcester, Western Cape and died in Milnerton, Cape Town.

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Karl Miller, English journalist and critic (died 2014)

Karl Fergus Connor Miller FRSL was a Scottish literary editor, critic and writer.

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Viliam Schrojf, Czech footballer (died 2007)

Viliam Schrojf was a Slovak footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He received 39 caps for Czechoslovakia.

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02/08/1930

Vali Myers, Australian painter and dancer (died 2003)

Vali Myers was an Australian artist, dancer, bohemian and muse whose coverage by the media was mostly in the 1950s and 1960s in Europe and the United States.

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02/08/1929

Roy Crimmins, English trombonist and composer (died 2014)

Roy Crimmins, also known by the pseudonym Roy King, was an English jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.

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John Gale, English director and producer

John Gale was an English theatrical producer and artistic director.

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Vidya Charan Shukla, Indian politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs (died 2013)

Vidya Charan Shukla was an Indian politician whose political career spanned six decades. He was predominantly a member of the Indian National Congress, but also had spells in Jan Morcha, Janata Dal, Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya), Nationalist Congress Party and Bharatiya Janata Party. He was known as a close associate of Indira Gandhi.

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David Waddington, Baron Waddington, English lawyer and politician, Governor of Bermuda (died 2017)

David Charles Waddington, Baron Waddington, was a British politician and barrister.

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K. M. Peyton, British children's author (died 2023)

Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton, who wrote primarily as K. M. Peyton, was a British author of fiction for children and young adults in the 1960s and 1970s.

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02/08/1928

Malcolm Hilton, English cricketer (died 1990)

Malcolm Jameson Hilton was an English left-arm spin bowler, who played for Lancashire and in four Test matches for England.

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02/08/1927

Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, English mathematician and academic (died 2018)

Sir Henry Peter Francis Swinnerton-Dyer, 16th Baronet, was an English mathematician specialising in number theory at the University of Cambridge. As a mathematician he was best known for his part in the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture relating algebraic properties of elliptic curves to special values of L-functions, which was developed with Bryan Birch during the first half of the 1960s with the help of machine computation, and for his work on the Titan operating system.

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02/08/1925

K. Arulanandan, Ceylon-American engineer and academic (died 2004)

Professor Kandiah Arulanandan was a Ceylon Tamil engineer and academic. Known as Professor Arul, he was a lecturer at the University of California, Davis.

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John Dexter, English director and producer (died 1990)

John Dexter was an English theatre, opera and film director, described in a 100th anniversary tribute as "one of the towering directors in the English-speaking theatre in the second half of the 20th century". He was associate director of the Royal National Theatre from 1963 to 1966 and from 1971 to 1975, and director of production from 1974 to 1981 and the production adviser to 1984 at the Metropolitan Opera.

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John McCormack, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2017)

John Ronald McCormack was a Canadian ice hockey centre. He played in the National Hockey League with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and Chicago Black Hawks between 1948 and 1955. He was born in Edmonton, Alberta.

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Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentinian general and politician, 43rd President of Argentina (died 2013)

General Jorge Rafael Videla was an Argentine general, politician and dictator who served as the president of Argentina from 1976 to 1981 during the National Reorganization Process.

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02/08/1924

James Baldwin, American novelist, poet, and critic (died 1987)

James Arthur Baldwin was an American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain has been ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 100 English-language novels. His 1955 essay collection Notes of a Native Son helped establish his reputation as a voice for human equality. His 1965 debate with William Buckley is regarded as one of the most influential debates on race in the United States. Baldwin was an influential public figure and orator, especially during the civil rights movement in the United States.

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Joe Harnell, American pianist and composer (died 2005)

Joseph Harnell was an American composer, musician, and music arranger.

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Carroll O'Connor, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2001)

John Carroll O'Connor was an American actor whose television career spanned over four decades. He found widespread fame as Archie Bunker, the main character in the CBS television sitcoms All in the Family (1971–1979) and its continuation, Archie Bunker's Place (1979–1983). He later starred in the NBC/CBS television crime drama In the Heat of the Night (1988–1995), where he played the role of police chief William "Bill" Gillespie. In the late 1990s, he played Gus Stemple, the father of Jamie Buchman on Mad About You. In 1996, O'Connor was ranked number 38 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time. He won five Emmys and one Golden Globe Award.

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02/08/1923

Shimon Peres, Polish-Israeli lawyer and politician, 9th President of Israel (died 2016)

Shimon Peres was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 to 2014. He was a member of twelve cabinets and represented five political parties in a political career spanning 70 years. Peres was elected to the Knesset in November 1959 and except for three months out of office in early 2006, served as a member of the Knesset continuously until he was elected president in 2007. Serving in the Knesset for 48 years, Peres is the longest serving member in the Knesset's history. At the time of his retirement from politics in 2014, he was the world's oldest head of state and was considered the last link to Israel's founding generation, as well as the last Prime Minister to make aliyah rather than being born on territory that would become Israel.

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Ike Williams, American boxer (died 1994)

Isiah "Ike" Williams was an American professional boxer known as the Trenton Tornado. He was a lightweight world boxing champion. He took the World Lightweight Championship in April 1945 and made eight successful defenses of the title against six different fighters prior to losing the championship to Jimmy Carter in 1951. Williams was known for his great right hand, and was named to The Ring magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time as well as The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year for 1948. Williams was also the Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Year for 1948, was inducted into The Ring Boxing Hall of Fame, and was an inaugural 1990 inductee to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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02/08/1922

Betsy Bloomingdale, American philanthropist and socialite (died 2016)

Betty Lee Bloomingdale was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was considered a fashion icon, first appearing on the International Best Dressed List in 1962, and in 1970 was named in the list's Hall of Fame.

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Geoffrey Dutton, Australian historian and author (died 1998)

Geoffrey 'Geppie' Piers Henry Dutton AO was an Australian author and historian.

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Len Murray, British trade union leader (died 2004)

Lionel Murray, Baron Murray of Epping Forest, was a British Labour Party politician and trade union leader. He served as the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress from 1973 to 1984.

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02/08/1921

George Wilson, American comics artist (died 1998)

George Davis Wilson Jr. was an American painter best known for his work in the comics industry as a cover artist for Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics from the 1950s to the early 1980s.

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02/08/1920

Louis Pauwels, French journalist and author (died 1997)

Louis Pauwels was a French journalist and writer.

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Augustus Rowe, Canadian physician and politician (died 2013)

Augustus Taylor Rowe was a Canadian physician and politician. He served as a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly for Carbonear from 1971 to 1975. He also spent three years as the province's health minister within the cabinet of the former premier Frank Moores from January 1972 to 1975.

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02/08/1919

Nehemiah Persoff, Israeli-American actor (died 2022)

Nehemiah Persoff was an American actor and painter. He appeared in more than 200 television series, films, and theatre productions, and also performed as a voice artist in a career spanning 55 years.

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02/08/1917

Wah Chang, Chinese-American artist and designer (died 2003)

Wah Ming Chang was an American sculptor, animator and artist. Chang is known for his contributions to the development of stop motion animation, as well as sculptures and the props he designed for Star Trek: The Original Series, including the tricorder and communicator.

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02/08/1916

Alfonso A. Ossorio, Filipino-American painter and sculptor (died 1990)

Alfonso Angel Yangco Ossorio was a Filipino American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Manila in 1916 to wealthy Filipino parents from the province of Negros Occidental. His heritage was Hispanic, Filipino, and Chinese. Between the ages of eight and thirteen, he attended school in England. At age fourteen, he moved to the United States. Ossorio attended Portsmouth Priory in Rhode Island, graduating in 1934. From 1934 to 1938, he studied fine art at Harvard University and then continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design. He became an American citizen in 1933 and served as a medical illustrator in the United States Army during World War II.

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02/08/1915

Gary Merrill, American actor (died 1990)

Gary Fred Merrill was an American film and television actor whose credits included more than 50 feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances. He starred in All About Eve and married his costar Bette Davis.

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02/08/1914

Félix Leclerc, Canadian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet (died 1988)

Félix Leclerc was a Québécois singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968. Leclerc was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame for his songs "Moi, mes souliers", "Le P'tit Bonheur" and "Le Tour de l'île" in 2006.

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Big Walter Price, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2012)

Big Walter Price was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist.

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Beatrice Straight, American actress (died 2001)

Beatrice Whitney Straight was an American theatre, film, television and radio actress and a member of the prominent Whitney family. She was both an Academy Award and Tony Award winner, as well as a Primetime Emmy Award nominee.

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02/08/1913

Xavier Thaninayagam, Sri Lankan scholar and academic (died 1980)

Reverend Xavier S. Thani Nayagam was a Tamil scholar known for setting up the International Association for Tamil Research (IATR) and organising the first World Tamil Conference. He is praised as the "Roving Ambassador for Tamil".

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02/08/1912

Palle Huld, Danish actor (died 2010)

Palle Huld was a Danish Boy Scout, film actor and writer. He appeared in 40 films between 1933 and 2000. He was born in Hellerup in Denmark. His journey around the world at the age of 15 in 1928 reportedly inspired Hergé to create Tintin.

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Håkon Stenstadvold, Norwegian painter, illustrator, and critic (died 1977)

Håkon Stenstadvold was a Norwegian painter, illustrator, journalist, art critic and politician for the Conservative Party.

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Vladimir Žerjavić, Croatian economist and author (died 2001)

Vladimir Žerjavić was a Croatian economist and demographer who published a series of historical articles and books during the 1980s and 1990s on demographic losses in Yugoslavia during World War II and of Axis forces and civilians in the Bleiburg repatriations shortly after the capitulation of Germany. From 1964 to 1982, he worked as an adviser for industrial development in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

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02/08/1911

Ann Dvorak, American actress (died 1979)

Ann Dvorak was an American stage and film actress.

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02/08/1910

Roger MacDougall, Scottish director, playwright, and screenwriter (died 1993)

Roger MacDougall was a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and director.

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02/08/1907

Mary Hamman, American journalist and author (died 1984)

Mary Hamman was an American writer and editor. She was an editor for Pictorial Review, Good Housekeeping, Mademoiselle, as well as the modern living editor for LIFE and editor-in-chief for Bride & Home.

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02/08/1905

Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer (died 1963)

Karl Amadeus Hartmann was a German composer. A major figure of the musical life of post-war Germany, he has been described as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century.

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Myrna Loy, American actress (died 1993)

Myrna Loy was an American film, television, and stage actress. As a performer, she was known for her ability to adapt to her screen partner's acting style.

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Ruth Nelson, American actress (died 1992)

Ruth Gloria Nelson was an American stage and film actress. She is known for her roles in films such as Wilson, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Humoresque, 3 Women, The Late Show and Awakenings. She was the fourth wife of John Cromwell, with whom she acted on multiple occasions.

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02/08/1902

Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria (died 1971)

Pope Cyril VI was the 116th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark from 10 May 1959 until his death in 1971.

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Mina Rees, American mathematician (died 1997)

Mina Spiegel Rees was an American mathematician. She is known for her assistance to the US Government during WWII, as well as making several breakthroughs for women in science. Her most notable accomplishments include becoming the first female President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1971) and head of the mathematics department of the Office of Naval Research of the US. Rees was a pioneer in the history of computing and helped establish funding streams and institutional infrastructure for research. She also helped other women succeed in mathematics with her involvement in the Association for Women in Mathematics as well as her life-long career as a professor at Hunter College.

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02/08/1900

Holling C. Holling, American author and illustrator (died 1973)

Holling Clancy Holling was an American writer and illustrator, best known for the book Paddle-to-the-Sea, which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1942. Paddle to the Sea won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1962. In 1966, Bill Mason directed the Oscar-nominated short film Paddle to the Sea, based on Holling's book, for the National Film Board of Canada.

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Helen Morgan, American actress and singer (died 1941)

Helen Morgan was an American singer and actress who worked in films and on the stage. A quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s. She starred as Julie LaVerne in the original Broadway production of Hammerstein and Kern's musical Show Boat in 1927, as well as in the 1932 Broadway revival of the musical, and appeared in two film adaptations, a part-talkie made in 1929 and a full-sound version made in 1936, becoming firmly associated with the role. She suffered from bouts of alcoholism, and despite her notable success in the title role of another Hammerstein and Kern's Broadway musical, Sweet Adeline (1929), her stage career was relatively short. Helen Morgan died of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 41. She was portrayed by Polly Bergen in the Playhouse 90 drama The Helen Morgan Story and by Ann Blyth in the 1957 biopic based on the television drama.

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02/08/1899

Charles Bennett, English director and screenwriter (died 1995)

Charles Alfred Selwyn Bennett was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and director probably best known for his work with Alfred Hitchcock. He was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Foreign Correspondent.

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02/08/1898

Ernő Nagy, Hungarian fencer (died 1977)

Ernő Nagy was a Hungarian fencer. He won a gold medal in the team sabre event at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Other members of the team included Aladár Gerevich, Gyula Glykais, Endre Kabos, Attila Petschauer, and György Piller. He retired from competition in 1938, at which point he became head of the fencing section of the Hungarian Athletics Club.

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02/08/1897

Karl-Otto Koch, German SS officer (died 1945)

Karl-Otto Koch was a German military officer who was a mid-ranking commander in the Schutzstaffel (SS) of Nazi Germany, and the first commandant of the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. From September 1941 until August 1942, he served as the first commandant of the Majdanek concentration camp in German-occupied Poland, stealing vast amounts of valuables and money from murdered Jews. His wife, Ilse Koch, also participated in the crimes at Buchenwald.

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Max Weber, Swiss lawyer and politician (died 1974)

Max Weber was a Swiss politician.

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02/08/1895

Matt Henderson, New Zealand cricketer (died 1970)

Matthew Henderson was a New Zealand cricketer who played for Wellington from 1922 to 1932 and played in New Zealand's first-ever Test match in January 1930.

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02/08/1894

Bertha Lutz, Brazilian feminist and scientist (died 1976)

Bertha Maria Júlia Lutz was a Brazilian zoologist, politician, and diplomat. Lutz became a leading figure in both the Pan American feminist movement and human rights movement. She was instrumental in gaining women's suffrage in Brazil and represented her country at the United Nations Conference on International Organization, signing her name to the United Nations Charter and championing the inclusion of Article 8 in the Charter. In addition to her political work, she was a naturalist at the National Museum of Brazil, specializing in poison dart frogs. She has four frog species and two lizard species named after her.

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02/08/1892

Jack L. Warner, Canadian-born American production manager and producer, co-founded Warner Bros. (died 1978)

Jack Leonard Warner was a Canadian-born American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned over 55 years, surpassing that of any other of the pioneering Hollywood studio moguls.

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02/08/1891

Arthur Bliss, English composer and conductor (died 1975)

Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss was British composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he quickly became known as an unconventional and modernist composer, but within the decade he began to display a more traditional and romantic side in his music. In the 1920s and 1930s he composed extensively not only for the concert hall, but also for films and ballet.

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Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian linguist and historian (died 1971)

Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky was a Soviet and Russian literary historian and linguist.

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02/08/1889

Margaret Lawrence, American stage actress (died 1929)

Margaret Whittaker Lawrence was an American stage actress known for her performances on Broadway and other venues.

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02/08/1887

Oskar Anderson, Bulgarian-German mathematician and statistician (died 1960)

Oskar Johann Viktor Anderson was a Russian-German mathematician of Baltic German descent. He is best known for his work on mathematical statistics and econometrics.

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02/08/1886

John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, Canadian pilot and politician, 20th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (died 1961)

John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, was a Canadian aviation pioneer and the 20th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1947 to 1952.

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02/08/1884

Rómulo Gallegos, Venezuelan author and politician, 46th President of Venezuela (died 1969)

Rómulo Ángel del Monte Carmelo Gallegos Freire was a Venezuelan novelist and politician. In 1948, he became the first freely elected president in Venezuela's history. He was removed from power after only nine months by a military coup.

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02/08/1882

Red Ames, American baseball player and manager (died 1936)

Leon Kessling "Red" Ames was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1903 to 1919 for the New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies. Listed at 5 feet 10.5 inches (1.791 m) and 185 pounds (84 kg), he threw right-handed and was a switch hitter.

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Albert Bloch, American painter and academic (died 1961)

Albert Bloch was an American Modernist artist and the only American artist associated with Der Blaue Reiter, a group of early 20th-century European modernists.

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02/08/1880

Arthur Dove, American painter and educator (died 1946)

Arthur Garfield Dove was an American artist. An early American modernist, he is often considered the first American abstract painter. Dove used a wide range of media, sometimes in unconventional combinations, to produce his abstractions and his abstract landscapes. Me and the Moon from 1937 is a good example of an Arthur Dove abstract landscape and has been referred to as one of the culminating works of his career. Dove made a series of experimental collages in the 1920s. He also experimented with techniques, combining paints like hand mixed oil or tempera over a wax emulsion as exemplified in Dove's 1938 painting Tanks, in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

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02/08/1878

Aino Kallas, Finnish-Estonian author (died 1956)

Aino Julia Maria Kallas was a Finnish-Estonian author. Her novellas are considered to be prominent pieces of Finnish literature.

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02/08/1877

Ravishankar Shukla, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (died 1956)

Ravishankar Shukla was a leader of the Indian National Congress, Indian independence movement activist, the Premier of the Central Provinces and Berar from 27 April 1946 to 25 January 1950, first Chief Minister of the reorganised Madhya Pradesh state from 1 November 1956 until his death on 31 December 1956, He was elected from Saraipali in Madhya Pradesh. He also served as Member of Constituent Assembly of India from Central Provinces and Berar.

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02/08/1876

Pingali Venkayya, Indian geologist, designed the Flag of India (died 1963)

Pingali Venkayya was an Indian freedom fighter, known for designing the initial version of the Indian National Flag. Apart from his role in the independence movement, Venkayya was a lecturer, author, geologist, educationalist, agriculturist, and a polyglot.

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02/08/1872

George E. Stewart, Australian-American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1946)

George Evans Stewart was an officer in the United States Army and a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions in the Philippine–American War. He later commanded the 339th Infantry Regiment and the American Expeditionary Force in northern Russia.

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02/08/1871

John French Sloan, American painter and illustrator (died 1951)

John French Sloan was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known for his urban genre scenes and ability to capture the essence of neighborhood life in New York City, often observed through his Chelsea studio window. Sloan has been called the premier artist of the Ashcan School, and also a realist painter who embraced the principles of Socialism, though he himself disassociated his art from his politics.

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02/08/1870

Marianne Weber, German sociologist and suffragist (died 1954)

Marianne Weber was a German sociologist, women's rights activist, and the wife of Max Weber.

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02/08/1868

Constantine I of Greece (died 1923)

Constantine I was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and again from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 1922. The eldest son of George I of Greece, he succeeded to the throne following his father's assassination in 1913.

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02/08/1867

Ernest Dowson, English poet, novelist, and short story writer (died 1900)

Ernest Christopher Dowson was an English poet, novelist, and short-story writer. Despite his short lifespan, he made a lasting impression on the literature of the English fin-de-siècle through his Decadent poetry.

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02/08/1865

Irving Babbitt, American academic and critic (died 1933)

Irving Babbitt was an American academic and literary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as the New Humanism, a significant influence on literary discussion and conservative thought in the period between 1910 and 1930. He was a cultural critic in the tradition of Matthew Arnold and a consistent opponent of romanticism, as represented by the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Politically he can, without serious distortion, be called a follower of Aristotle and Edmund Burke. He was an advocate of classical humanism but also offered an ecumenical defense of religion. His humanism implied a broad knowledge of various moral and religious traditions. His book Democracy and Leadership (1924) is regarded as a classic text of political conservatism. Babbitt is regarded as a major influence over American cultural and political conservatism.

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John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist (died 1955)

John Radecki was a master stained glass artist working in Australia, considered to be the finest such artist of his time.

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02/08/1861

Prafulla Chandra Ray, Indian chemist and academic (died 1944)

Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray CIE FNI FRASB FIAS FCS was an Indian chemist, educationist, historian, industrialist and philanthropist from Bengal. He established the first modern Indian research school in chemistry and is regarded as the father of Indian chemistry.

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02/08/1835

Elisha Gray, American businessman, co-founded Western Electric (died 1901)

Elisha Gray was an American electrical engineer who co-founded the Western Electric Manufacturing Company. Gray is best known for his development of a telephone prototype in 1876 in Highland Park, Illinois. Some recent authors have argued that Gray should be considered the true inventor of the telephone because Alexander Graham Bell allegedly stole the idea of the liquid transmitter from him. Gray had been using liquid transmitters in his telephone experiments for more than two years previously; however, Bell's patent was upheld in court.

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02/08/1834

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, French sculptor, designed the Statue of Liberty (died 1904)

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was a French sculptor and painter. He is best known for designing Liberty Enlightening the World, commonly known as the Statue of Liberty, in New York City, United States. Its construction was begun by Viollet-le-Duc, famous for his restoration of the most prominent medieval landmarks in France, until his death and then completed by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was a gift from France to the United States and was erected in 1886 on Liberty Island, at the entrance to New York harbor.

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02/08/1828

Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque, Spanish general (died 1895)

Manuel Pavia y Rodriguez de Alburquerque was a Spanish general, who was an important part of Spanish political life during the second half of the 19th century. He participated in the Revolution of 1868, which removed Isabella II from power, and led the coup d'état which brought down the First Spanish Republic, giving way to the Restoration and the rule of Isabella's son Alfonso XII.

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02/08/1820

John Tyndall, Irish-English physicist and mountaineer (died 1893)

John Tyndall (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was an Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the physical properties of air, proving the connection between atmospheric CO2 and what is now known as the greenhouse effect in 1859.

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02/08/1815

Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German poet and historian (died 1894)

Adolf Friedrich, Graf von Schack was a German poet, historian of literature, and art collector.

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02/08/1788

Leopold Gmelin, German chemist and academic (died 1853)

Leopold Gmelin was a German chemist. Gmelin was a professor at the University of Heidelberg. He worked on the red prussiate and created Gmelin's test, and wrote his Handbook of Chemistry, which over successive editions became a standard reference work still in use.

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02/08/1754

Pierre Charles L'Enfant, French-American architect and engineer, designed Washington, D.C. (died 1825)

Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant was a French-American artist, professor, and military engineer. In 1791, L'Enfant designed the baroque-styled plan for the development of Washington, D.C., after it was designated to become the capital of the United States following its relocation from Philadelphia. His work, known as the L'Enfant Plan, inspired plans for other major world capitals, including Brasília, New Delhi, and Canberra. In the U.S., plans for the development of three major cities, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Sacramento, were inspired from L'Enfant's plan for Washington, D.C.

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02/08/1740

Jean Baptiste Camille Canclaux, French general (died 1817)

Jean Baptiste Camille de Canclaux was a French army commander during the French Revolution and a Peer of France. He joined a cavalry regiment the French Royal Army in 1756 and fought at Minden in the Seven Years' War. He attained the rank of maréchal de camp in 1788 and lieutenant general in 1792. He commanded the Army of the Coasts of Brest from May until October 1793 fighting several actions during the War in the Vendée. Replaced for political reasons, he led the Army of the West in 1794–1795. He held interior posts during the rest of the French Revolutionary Wars and under the First French Empire of Napoleon.

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02/08/1703

Lorenzo Ricci, Italian religious leader, 18th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (died 1775)

Lorenzo Ricci was an Italian Jesuit, elected the eighteenth Superior General of the Society of Jesus. He was also the last before the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773.

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02/08/1702

Dietrich of Anhalt-Dessau (died 1769)

Dietrich of Anhalt-Dessau, was a German prince of the House of Ascania and later regent of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau. He was also a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall.

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02/08/1696

Mahmud I, Ottoman sultan (died 1754)

Mahmud I, known as Mahmud the Hunchback, was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1730 to 1754. He took over the throne after the quelling of the Patrona Halil rebellion. His reign was marked by wars in Persia and conflicts in Europe. He delegated government affairs to his viziers and devoted time to writing poetry. Nader Shah's devastating campaign weakened the Mughal Empire and created the opportunity for Mahmud I to initiate war with cooperation from Muhammad Shah. The alliance ended with the latter's death, leading to tensions between the Afsharids and the Ottomans. In 1748, he outlawed Freemasonry within the Ottoman Empire.

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02/08/1674

Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (died 1723)

Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who was known as the Regent, was a French prince, soldier, and statesman who served as Regent of the Kingdom of France from 1715 to 1723. He is referred to in French as le Régent. He was the son of Philippe I, Duke of Orleans, and Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth by the title of Duke of Chartres.

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02/08/1672

Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, Swiss paleontologist and scholar (died 1733)

Johann Jakob Scheuchzer was a Swiss physician and natural scientist born in Zürich. His most famous work was the Physica sacra in four volumes, a commentary on the Bible that presented his view of the world as a convergence of science and religion. It was richly illustrated with copperplate etchings and came to be called the Kupfer-Bibel or "Copper Bible".

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02/08/1646

Jean-Baptiste du Casse, French admiral and buccaneer (died 1715)

Lieutenant général des armées navales Jean-Baptiste du Casse was a French Navy officer, privateer, slave trader and colonial administrator who served as the first governor of Saint-Domingue from 1691 to 1700. Born on 2 August 1646 in Saubusse, France to a Huguenot family, du Casse enlisted in the French merchant navy before joining the French East India Company and the Compagnie du Sénégal. He subsequently joined the French navy and took part in several victorious expeditions during the Nine Years' War in the West Indies and South America.

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02/08/1630

Estephan El Douaihy, Maronite patriarch (died 1704)

Estephan El Douaihy or Istifan al-Duwayhi was the 57th Patriarch of the Maronite Church, serving from 1670 until his death. He was born in Ehden, Lebanon.

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02/08/1627

Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten, Dutch painter (died 1678)

Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten was a Dutch Golden Age painter, who was also a poet and author on art theory.

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02/08/1612

Saskia van Uylenburgh, Dutch model and wife of Rembrandt van Rijn (died 1642)

Saskia van Uylenburgh was the wife of painter Rembrandt van Rijn. In the course of her life, she was his model for some of his paintings, drawings, and etchings. She was the daughter of Rombertus Uylenburg, the mayor as well as the justice of the Court of Friesland.

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02/08/1549

Mikołaj Krzysztof "the Orphan" Radziwiłł, Polish nobleman (died 1616)

Prince Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł, nicknamed "the Orphan", was a Polish–Lithuanian nobleman (szlachcic), ordynat of Nyasvizh from 1586, Court Marshal of Lithuania from 1569, Grand Marshal of Lithuania from 1579, castellan of Trakai from 1586, voivode of Trakai Voivodeship from 1590, voivode of Vilnius Voivodeship from 1604, and governor of Šiauliai. After the treaty at Vienna in 1515, all Radziwills were Imperial Princes and he held a position as Imperial Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.

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02/08/1533

Theodor Zwinger, Swiss physician and scholar (died 1588)

Theodor Zwinger the Elder was a Swiss physician and Renaissance humanist scholar. He made significant contributions to the emerging genres of reference and travel literature. He was the first distinguished representative of a prominent Basel academic family.

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02/08/1455

John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (died 1499)

John II was Elector of Brandenburg from 1486 until his death, the fourth of the House of Hohenzollern. After his death he received the cognomen Cicero, after the Roman orator of the same name, but the elector's eloquence and interest in the arts is debatable.

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02/08/1260

Kyawswa of Pagan, last ruler of the Pagan Kingdom (died 1299)

Kyawswa was king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1289 to 1297. Son of the last sovereign king of Pagan Narathihapate, Kyawswa was one of many "kings" that emerged after the collapse of the Pagan Empire in 1287. Though still styled as King of Pagan, Kyawswa's effective rule amounted to just the area around Pagan city. Felt threatened by the three brothers of Myinsaing, who were nominally his viceroys, Kyawswa decided to become a vassal of the Yuan dynasty, and received such recognition from the Yuan in March 1297. He was ousted by the brothers in December 1297 and killed, along with his son, Theingapati, on 10 May 1299.

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