Born on Monday, 25th August – Famous Birthdays

25/08/2006

Kimi Antonelli, Italian racing driver

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is an Italian racing driver who competes in Formula One for Mercedes. Antonelli has won two Formula One Grands Prix across two seasons.

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25/08/2004

Evann Girault, French-Nigerien sabre fencer

Evann Jean Abba Girault is a French-Nigerien sabre fencer. He qualified to represent Niger at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

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25/08/2003

Rebeka Jančová, Slovak alpine ski racer

Rebeka Jančová is a Slovak alpine ski racer. She competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

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25/08/2000

Nicki Nicole, Argentine rapper and singer-songwriter

Nicole Denise Cucco, known professionally as Nicki Nicole, is an Argentine rapper and singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Rosario, Santa Fe, she gained popularity with her singles "Wapo Traketero", "Colocao", "Mamichula", "Mala Vida", and "Marisola" (remix). At the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, she received her first Grammy nomination for Best Música Urbana Album for her 2024 album Naiki.

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25/08/1998

China Anne McClain, American actress and singer

China Anne McClain is an American actress and singer. McClain's career began when she was seven years old, portraying Alexis in the film The Gospel (2005), and then China James in Daddy's Little Girls (2007). She then received recognition for starring as Jazmine Payne in the television sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne and as Charlotte McKenzie in the comedy film Grown Ups (2010) and its sequel Grown Ups 2 (2013); and became globally known for starring as Chyna Parks in the Disney Channel television series A.N.T. Farm (2011–2014), and as Uma in the Disney Channel films Descendants 2 (2017), Descendants 3 (2019), and Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024). She also voiced Freddie in Descendants: Wicked World. In 2018, McClain began starring in The CW superhero series Black Lightning (2018–2021) as Jennifer Pierce / Lightning. She also reprised her character Jazmine Payne on OWN's revival of The Paynes (2018).

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25/08/1995

Ong Seong-wu, South Korean singer and actor

Ong Seong-wu is a South Korean singer and actor. He is known for his participation in the survival reality show Produce 101 Season 2, where he finished in fifth place, and is a former member of the show's derivative boy group Wanna One. Following Wanna One's disbandment, Ong made his acting debut with the drama At Eighteen (2019) directed by Shim Na-yeon. He also established his career as a solo artist with the release of his first extended play, Layers, on March 25, 2020.

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Dowoon, South Korean musician

Yoon Do-woon, known mononymously as Dowoon, is a South Korean musician, best known as the drummer and vocalist of the pop rock band Day6.

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25/08/1994

Edmunds Augstkalns, Latvian ice hockey player

Edmunds Augstkalns is a Latvian ice hockey player currently playing for the HK Rīga of the MHL.

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Caris LeVert, American basketball player

Caris Coleman LeVert is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. LeVert was originally drafted by the Indiana Pacers but was traded to the Brooklyn Nets on draft night. He later played for the Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. In February 2025, LeVert was traded to the Atlanta Hawks and in the off-season signed with the Detroit Pistons.

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25/08/1992

Miyabi Natsuyaki, Japanese singer and actress

Miyabi Natsuyaki is a Japanese singer. Her career began in 2002 when she passed the audition for Hello! Project Kids, an all-female child pop group under Hello! Project. She continued to sing in that group and became a part of four smaller groups composed of Hello! Project Kids members—Aa!, Sexy Otonajan, Buono! and Berryz Kobo. She was the sub-captain of Berryz Kobo until their indefinite hiatus in 2015. She became a member of female pop band PINK CRES..

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Ricardo Rodriguez, Swiss footballer

Ricardo Iván Rodriguez Araya is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Real Betis and Switzerland national team.

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25/08/1990

Max Muncy, American baseball player

Maxwell Steven Muncy is an American professional baseball infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Baylor Bears. He was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the fifth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft. He played in MLB for the Athletics in 2015 and 2016 and later joined the Dodgers in 2018, winning the World Series with the team in 2020, 2024, and 2025.

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25/08/1989

Hiram Mier, Mexican footballer

Hiram Ricardo Mier Alanís is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is an Olympic gold medalist.

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Jaakko Ohtonen, Finnish actor

Jaakko Ohtonen is a Finnish actor and voiceover artist. He has been cast in the role of Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson's The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One and Part Two.

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25/08/1988

Angela Park, Brazilian-American golfer

Angela Park is a Brazilian-American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. She holds dual citizenship in Brazil and the United States.

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Giga Chikadze, Georgian mixed martial artist and kickboxer

Giga Chikadze is a Georgian professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. He currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Chikadze formerly competed in the Featherweight division for GLORY.

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25/08/1987

Stacey Farber, Canadian actress

Stacey Farber is a Canadian actress.

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Velimir Jovanović, Serbian footballer

Velimir Jovanović is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

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Blake Lively, American model and actress

Blake Ellender Brown, known professionally as Blake Lively, is an American actress. A daughter of actor Ernie Lively, she made her professional debut in his directorial project Sandman (1998). She had her breakthrough role in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) and its 2008 sequel. Lively achieved stardom with her portrayal of Serena van der Woodsen in the CW teen drama television series Gossip Girl (2007–2012). During this period, she also took on supporting roles in the romantic comedies New York, I Love You (2008) and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009), as well as in the thrillers The Town (2010) and Savages (2012).

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Amy Macdonald, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist

Amy Elizabeth Macdonald is a Scottish singer-songwriter. In 2007, she released her debut studio album, This Is the Life, which produced the singles "Mr. Rock & Roll" and "This Is the Life"; the latter charting at number one in six countries, while reaching the top 10 in another 11 countries. The album reached number one in four European countries – the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland – and sold three million copies worldwide. Moderate success in the American music market followed in 2008. Macdonald has sold over 12 million records worldwide.

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Justin Upton, American baseball player

Justin Irvin Upton is an American former professional baseball outfielder. Nicknamed "J-Up", he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, and Seattle Mariners. He was a teammate of his brother B. J. Upton with both the Braves and the Padres. While primarily a right fielder throughout his career, Upton later transitioned to left field with the Braves, Padres and Tigers.

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Adam Warren, American baseball player

Adam Parrish Warren is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres. Before beginning his professional career, Warren pitched in college baseball for the North Carolina Tar Heels.

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James Wesolowski, Australian footballer

James Peter Wesolowski is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder.

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25/08/1986

Rodney Ferguson, American footballer

Rodney Laurence Ferguson II is an American former football running back. He was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at New Mexico.

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25/08/1984

Florian Mohr, German footballer

Florian Mohr is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender.

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Anya Monzikova, Russian-American model and actress

Anya Monzikova is a Russian-American model and actress, best known for being a suitcase model on the American game show, Deal or No Deal (2006–2009).

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25/08/1983

James Rossiter, English race car driver

James Stuart Rossiter is a British former professional racing driver, British motorsport executive and former team principal of Maserati MSG Racing in Formula E.

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25/08/1982

Jung Jung-suk, South Korean footballer (died 2011)

Jung Jung-suk was a South Korean women's football player who played WK-League side Daekyo Kangaroos in South Korea.

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Nick Schultz, Canadian ice hockey player

Nicholas Andrew Schultz is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Minnesota Wild, Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Philadelphia Flyers. The Minnesota Wild drafted him in the second round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. He played junior ice hockey for the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Schultz represented Canada in international competition at the junior and senior level.

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25/08/1981

Rachel Bilson, American actress

Rachel Sarah Bilson is an American actress. Born to a California show-business family, Bilson made her television debut in 2003, and then landed the role of Summer Roberts on the prime-time drama series The O.C. Bilson then made her film debut in The Last Kiss (2006) and later starred in the science-fiction-action film Jumper (2008). From 2011 to 2015, she starred as Dr. Zoe Hart on The CW series Hart of Dixie. After stepping back from acting in 2019, she and Melinda Clarke co-hosted the podcast Welcome to the OC, Bitches! from April 2021 to August 2023, and since 2022 she has co-hosted the weekly podcast Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson and Olivia Allen.

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Jan-Berrie Burger, Namibian cricketer

Andries Johannes Burger, known as Jan-Berry Burger, is a Namibian former cricketer, who played for Namibia's national cricket team. He made his international debut in February 2003. He was part of Namibia's first ever ODI team and Namibia's first ever World Cup team.

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Camille Pin, French tennis player

Camille Pin is a French former professional tennis player.

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25/08/1979

Marlon Harewood, English footballer

Marlon Anderson Harewood is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.

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Philipp Mißfelder, German historian and politician (died 2015)

Philipp Mißfelder was a German politician and a member of the German Bundestag. From January through March 2014, he served in the German government as the Coordinator for Transatlantic Cooperation in the Field of Intersocietal Relations, Cultural and Information Policy.

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Deanna Nolan, American basketball player

Deanna Nicole "Tweety" Nolan is a retired American-Russian professional basketball player for UMMC Ekaterinburg of the Russian Premier League as well as the Russia women's national basketball team. Her primary position is shooting guard, but occasionally plays the point guard position. Her original name was Deana, but was legally changed to Deanna in 2000. She went to Flint Northern High School where she graduated and took that school to the state championship, which they won. Nolan was inducted in October 2024 into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in Detroit.

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25/08/1978

Kel Mitchell, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

Kel Johari Rice Mitchell is an American actor, comedian, rapper, singer, and TV host. He was an original cast member of the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That for its first five seasons (1994–1999), where he was often paired with Kenan Thompson. His role as Ed in the All That sketch was reprised for the 1997 teen comedy film loosely based on the series, Good Burger. He co-starred with Thompson on the Nickelodeon sitcom Kenan & Kel from 1996 to 2000. Mitchell received two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for his role as "T-Bone" in the children's animated series Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000–2003). From 2015 to 2019, he starred as Double G on the Nickelodeon sitcom Game Shakers.

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Robert Mohr, German rugby player

Robert Mohr is a retired German international rugby union player, having played professionally in France for Bourgoin, La Rochelle, Niort and for the German national rugby union team. He is one of the few players in the history of the German team who was a professional.

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25/08/1977

Masumi Asano, Japanese voice actress and producer

Masumi Asano is a Japanese voice actress, singer, narrator and writer who worked for Aoni Production, but now as of January, 2021, a Freelancer.

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Andy McDonald, Canadian ice hockey player

Andy McDonald is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Anaheim Ducks and the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL), winning the Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2007.

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Jonathan Togo, American actor

Jonathan Frederick Togo is an American actor, best known for his role in CSI: Miami as Ryan Wolfe.

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25/08/1976

Damon Jones, American basketball player and coach

Damon Darron Jones is an American former professional basketball player best known for playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2005 to 2008.

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Javed Qadeer, Pakistani cricketer and coach

Javed Qadeer is a former Pakistani cricketer who played one One Day International in 1995 as a wicket-keeper. He was born at Karachi.

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Alexander Skarsgård, Swedish actor

Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård is a Swedish actor. A son of actor Stellan Skarsgård, he began acting at the age of seven but quit at thirteen. After serving in the Swedish Navy, Skarsgård returned to acting and gained his first role in the American comedy film Zoolander (2001). He played Brad Colbert in the miniseries Generation Kill (2008) and had his international breakthrough portraying vampire Eric Northman in the television series True Blood (2008–2014).

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25/08/1975

Brad Drew, Australian rugby league player

Brad Drew is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A City New South Wales representative hooker, he played in Australia for Penrith, Parramatta and Canberra and in England for Huddersfield and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

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Petria Thomas, Australian swimmer and coach

Petria Ann Thomas, is an Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medallist and a winner of 15 national titles. She was born in Lismore, New South Wales, and grew up in the nearby town of Mullumbimby, where she has a community pool named in her honour.

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25/08/1974

Eric Millegan, American actor

Eric Millegan is an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Zack Addy on the Fox series Bones.

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Pablo Ozuna, Dominican baseball player

Pablo José Ozuna is a Dominican former professional baseball utility player. During his major league career, he played for the Florida Marlins, the Colorado Rockies (2003), the Chicago White Sox (2005–2008), and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2008). He is the cousin of current Pittsburgh Pirates designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.

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25/08/1973

Fatih Akın, German director, producer, and screenwriter

Fatih Akin is a German and Turkish film director, screenwriter and producer. His films have won numerous awards and accolades, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his film Head-On (2004), Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival for his film The Edge of Heaven (2007), and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film for his film In the Fade (2017).

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25/08/1972

Marvin Harrison, American football player

Marvin Darnell Harrison Sr. is an American former professional football wide receiver who played his entire 13-year career for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Syracuse Orange and was selected by the Colts in the first round of the 1996 NFL draft.

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25/08/1971

Jason Death, Australian rugby league player

Jason Death is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Primarily a hooker, he played for the Canberra Raiders, North Queensland Cowboys, New Zealand Warriors and South Sydney Rabbitohs throughout his 14-season career.

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Nathan Page, Australian actor

Nathan Page is an Australian actor. He is best known for his commercial voice-over work and his role as Detective Inspector Jack Robinson in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

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25/08/1970

Doug Glanville, American baseball player and sportscaster

Douglas Metunwa Glanville is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Texas Rangers. He is also a broadcast color analyst for baseball, currently working with Marquee Sports Network and ESPN, and a contributor to The Athletic.

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Debbie Graham, American tennis player

Debbie Graham or Debbie Graham Shaffer is a retired tennis player from the United States.

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Robert Horry, American basketball player and sportscaster

Robert Keith Horry is an American sports commentator and former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, and San Antonio Spurs. Horry was a member of seven NBA championship winning teams over his 16-year career and is regarded as one of the most clutch shooters in NBA history. He was given the nicknames "Big Shot Rob" for making big shots in multiple playoff games and "Cheap Shot Rob" for dirty play during his career.

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Adrian Lam, Papua New Guinean-Australian rugby league player and coach

Adrian Lam is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Leigh Leopards in the Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer.

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Sille Lundquist, Danish model and fashion model (died 2018)

Sille Kornum Lundquist was a Danish model and author. From the late 1980s until the late 1990s, she made appearances throughout the fashion world in both North America and Europe, and made appearances in both music videos, TV, and film.

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Jo Dee Messina, American singer-songwriter

Jo Dee Marie Messina is an American country music artist. She has charted six number-one singles on the Billboard country music charts. She has been honored by the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. She was the first female country artist to score three multiple-week number-one songs from the same album. To date, she has two platinum and three gold-certified albums by the RIAA.

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Claudia Schiffer, German model and fashion designer

Claudia Maria Schiffer, Lady Drummond is a German model and actress. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a supermodel.

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25/08/1969

Olga Konkova, Norwegian-Russian pianist and composer

Olga Konkova is a Norwegian–Russian jazz pianist known from several recordings and collaboration with jazz musicians such as Adam Nussbaum, Gary Husband and Karin Krog.

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Cameron Mathison, Canadian actor and television personality

Cameron Arthur Mathison is a Canadian-American actor and television host. From 1997 to 2011, he played Ryan Lavery in All My Children. Since 2021, he has portrayed the role of Drew Cain on General Hospital. He has also had numerous roles in various Hallmark movies.

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Catriona Matthew, Scottish golfer

Catriona Isobel Matthew is a Scottish professional golfer who plays mainly on the US-based LPGA Tour and is also a member of the Ladies European Tour.

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Vivek Razdan, Indian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster

Vivek Razdan is a former Indian cricketer who played in two Test matches and three One Day Internationals in 1989 and 1990. After his retirement, he became a Delhi-based cricket coach and commentator.

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25/08/1968

David Alan Basche, American actor

David Alan Basche is an American actor. He is best known for playing Todd Beamer in the film United 93. He has been a series regular on many TV comedies and dramas, and has also appeared in films directed by Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Paul Greengrass, Shawn Levy, Robert Zemeckis, and Michael Patrick King.

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Stuart Murdoch, Scottish singer-songwriter

Stuart Lee Murdoch is a Scottish musician, writer and filmmaker, and the lead singer and songwriter for the indie pop band Belle and Sebastian.

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Spider One, American singer-songwriter and producer

Michael David Cummings, better known as Spider One, is an American singer. He is the founder and only consistent member of the rock band Powerman 5000.

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Rachael Ray, American chef, author, and television host

Rachael Domenica Ray is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosted the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray. Other programs to her credit include 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels, $40 a Day, Rachael Ray's Week in a Day, and the reality format shows Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off and Rachael Ray's Kids Cook-Off. Ray has written several cookbooks based on the 30 Minute Meals concept, and launched a magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, in 2006. Ray's television shows have won three Daytime Emmy Awards.

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Takeshi Ueda, Japanese singer-songwriter and bass player

Takeshi Ueda is the bassist, programmer, additional vocalist and songwriter for The Mad Capsule Markets. He is often known for his unique way of bass guitar playing, and ever changing haircuts.

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25/08/1967

Tom Hollander, English actor

Thomas Anthony Hollander is an English actor. He trained with National Youth Theatre and won the Ian Charleson Award in 1992 for his performance as Witwoud in The Way of the World. He made his Broadway debut in the David Hare play The Judas Kiss in 1998. His performance as Henry Carr in a revival of the Tom Stoppard play Travesties earned nominations for both the Olivier Award and Tony Award.

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Jeff Tweedy, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer

Jeffrey Scot Tweedy is an American musician, author, and record producer, best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, began his music career in high school with his band The Plebes along with Jay Farrar, also in the band. The Plebes later became the alternative country band Uncle Tupelo.

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25/08/1966

Albert Belle, American baseball player

Albert Jojuan Belle, until 1990 known as Joey Belle, is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder who played from 1989 to 2000, most notably for the Cleveland Indians. Known for his taciturn personality and intimidating stature, Belle was one of the leading sluggers of his time, and in 1995 became the only player to ever hit 50 doubles and 50 home runs in a season, despite the season being only 144 games. He was also the first player to break the $10 million per year compensation contract in Major League Baseball (MLB).

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Robert Maschio, American actor

Robert Maschio is an American actor and real estate agent. He is known for playing Dr. Todd 'The Todd' Quinlan in the American comedy drama Scrubs.

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Derek Sherinian, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer

Derek Sherinian is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and also one of the founding members of Black Country Communion, Sons of Apollo, and Whom Gods Destroy. He has released nine solo albums that have featured a variety of prominent guest musicians, including guitarists Slash, Yngwie Malmsteen, Allan Holdsworth, Steve Lukather, Joe Bonamassa, Michael Schenker, Steve Vai and Al Di Meola, and drummer Simon Phillips.

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Terminator X, American hip-hop DJ

Norman Rogers, known professionally as Terminator X, is an American DJ best known for his work with hip hop group Public Enemy, which he left in 1998. He also produced two solo albums, Terminator X & The Valley of the Jeep Beets (1991) and Super Bad (1994), featuring Chuck D, Sister Souljah, DJ Kool Herc, the Cold Crush Brothers, and a bass music track by the Punk Barbarians.

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25/08/1965

Cornelius Bennett, American football player

Cornelius O'Landa Bennett is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Buffalo Bills from 1987 to 1995, Atlanta Falcons from 1996 to 1998, and the Indianapolis Colts from 1999 to 2000. Bennett was a five-time Pro Bowler, being elected in 1988, and 1990–1993, and won the AFC Defensive Player of the Year award twice.

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Tim Cain, American video game designer

Timothy Cain is an American video game developer best known as the creator, producer, lead programmer and one of the main designers of the 1997 video game Fallout. In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time.

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Sanjeev Sharma, Indian cricketer and coach

Sanjeev Sharma is a former Indian cricketer, entrepreneur and cricket coach who played in two Test matches and 23 One Day Internationals from 1988 to 1997. As right arm medium pace bowler, he was one of several bowlers tried out as Kapil Dev's opening partners in the 80's. He made an impressive start by polishing off the tail on his Test debut against New Zealand in 1988–89 to finish with three for 37. He toured West Indies in 1989. After a career that spanned nearly 20 years, he announced his retirement from competitive cricket in November 2004. He was a part of the Indian squad which won the 1988 Asia Cup.

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Mia Zapata, American singer (died 1993)

Mia Katherine Zapata was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and lyricist for the punk rock band The Gits. After gaining praise in the emerging grunge scene, Zapata was raped and murdered in Seattle in 1993 while walking home from the Comet Tavern at the age of 27. The crime went unsolved for a decade before her killer, Jesus Mezquia, was arrested in 2003. The following year, Mezquia was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 36 years in prison.

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25/08/1964

Azmin Ali, Malaysian mathematician and politician

Mohamed Azmin bin Ali is a Malaysian politician who has served as the State Leader of the Opposition of Selangor and Member of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Hulu Kelang since August 2023. Formerly a member of the Malaysian Parliament for Gombak from 2008 to 2022, Azmin served in the cabinets of Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob as Senior Minister of the Economic Cluster and Minister of International Trade and Industry from 2020 to 2022. A member of Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), which is a component party of Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition. He also served as MLA for Bukit Antarabangsa from 2008 to 2023 and for Hulu Kelang from 1999 to 2004. He has also served as the 4th Secretary-General of BERSATU since November 2024. He served as the 2nd Secretary-General of PN from December 2024 to his resignation in January 2026, Information Chief of PN and Member of the Supreme Council of BERSATU. He is also widely regarded as a key figure in the 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis, playing an important role in the fall of the PH federal government in February 2020.

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Maxim Kontsevich, Russian-American mathematician and academic

Maxim Lvovich Kontsevich is a Russian and French mathematician and mathematical physicist. He is a professor at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques and a distinguished professor at the University of Miami. He received the Henri Poincaré Prize in 1997, the Fields Medal in 1998, the Crafoord Prize in 2008, the Shaw Prize and Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2012, and the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics in 2015.

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Blair Underwood, American actor

Blair Erwin Underwood is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film Krush Groove and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series L.A. Law.

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25/08/1963

Miro Cerar, Slovenian lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Slovenia

Miroslav Cerar Jr. is a Slovenian law professor and politician. He was Prime Minister of Slovenia, leading the 12th Government. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 13th Government. He is a full professor at the Chair of Theory and Sociology of Law at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Law.

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Shock G, American rapper and producer (died 2021)

Gregory Edward Jacobs, known professionally as Shock G and by his alter ego Humpty Hump, was an American rapper and musician who was best known as the lead vocalist of the hip-hop group Digital Underground. He was responsible for Digital Underground's "The Humpty Dance", 2Pac's breakthrough single "I Get Around", and co-producer of 2Pac's debut solo album 2Pacalypse Now (1991).

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Tiina Intelmann, Estonian lawyer and diplomat

Tiina Intelmann is an Estonian diplomat; she was the Permanent Representative of Estonia to the United Nations in New York from 2005 to 2011 and was the President of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court from December 2011 until December 2014. She then served as the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Liberia.

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25/08/1962

Taslima Nasrin, Bangladeshi author

Taslima Nasrin is a Bangladeshi-Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist. She is known for her writings on feminism and her criticism of Islam; some of her books are banned in Bangladesh. She has also been blacklisted and banished from the Bengal region, including both Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.

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Theresa Andrews, American competition swimmer and Olympic champion

Theresa Andrews is an American former competitive swimmer and Olympic champion. Raised in Maryland, Andrews gained prominence as a national collegiate champion when competing for the University of Florida. In international competition, she was a backstroke specialist who won two gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

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Vivian Campbell, Northern Irish rock guitarist and songwriter

Vivian Patrick Campbell is a Northern Irish musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the guitarist of Dio. He has also been the guitarist of Def Leppard since 1992. Campbell has also worked with Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Sweet Savage, Trinity, Riverdogs, Lou Gramm and Shadow King.

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Michael Zorc, German footballer

Michael Zorc is a German former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.

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25/08/1961

Billy Ray Cyrus, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor

William Ray Cyrus is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Having released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, he is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and became the first single ever to achieve triple platinum status in Australia. It was also the best-selling single in the same country in 1992. Due to the song's music video, the line dance rose in popularity.

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Dave Tippett, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

David G. Tippett is a Canadian former professional ice hockey coach and player.

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Ally Walker, American actress

Ally Walker is an American actress. She made her television debut in the NBC daytime soap opera Santa Barbara (1988) before landing the leading roles on the short-lived dramas True Blue (1989–1990), and Moon Over Miami (1993).

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Joanne Whalley, English actress

Joanne Whalley is an English film and television actress. She was credited as Joanne Whalley-Kilmer from 1988 to 1996 during her marriage to Val Kilmer.

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25/08/1960

Ashley Crow, American actress

Ashley Crow is an American actress. She is best known for her role of Sandra Bennet on the television show Heroes.

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David Mabuza, South African politician, 8th Deputy President of South Africa (died 2025)

David Dabede Mabuza, also known as DD Mabuza, was a South African politician who served as deputy president of South Africa from February 2018 to February 2023. He was the deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC) from December 2017 to December 2022 and was previously the premier of Mpumalanga from 2009 to 2018, throughout the presidency of his onetime political ally Jacob Zuma. Mabuza served as a Member of Parliament from 2018 until his resignation in 2023.

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Georg Zellhofer, Austrian footballer and manager

Georg Zellhofer is a football manager and a former player from Austria.

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25/08/1959

Ian Falconer, American author and illustrator (died 2023)

Ian Woodward Falconer was an American author, illustrator, set designer, and costume designer. Falconer was a muse to pop artist David Hockney, with whom he collaborated on designing costumes for theatrical productions. Falconer created several magazine covers for The New Yorker and other publications. In 2001, he received a Caldecott Honor for writing and illustrating the Olivia children's book series.

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Steve Levy, American lawyer and politician

Steven A. Levy is an American politician and lawyer who served as the seventh County Executive of Suffolk County, New York, elected on November 4, 2003. Originally a fiscally conservative Democrat, Levy joined the Republican Party in an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for governor.

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Bernardo Rezende, Brazilian volleyball coach and player

Bernardo Rocha de Rezende, known as Bernardo Rezende and nicknamed Bernardinho, is a Brazilian volleyball coach and former player. He is the current coach of the female volleyball team Rio de Janeiro Vôlei Clube. Rezende is one of the most successful coaches in the history of volleyball, accumulating more than 30 major titles in a twenty-year career directing the Brazilian male and female national teams.

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Lane Smith, American author and illustrator

Lane Smith is an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He is the Kate Greenaway medalist (2017) known for his eclectic visuals and subject matter, both humorous and earnest, such as the contemplative Grandpa Green, which received a Caldecott Honor in 2012, and the outlandish Stinky Cheese Man, which received a Caldecott Honor in 1992.

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Ruth Ann Swenson, American soprano and actress

Ruth Ann Swenson is an American soprano who is renowned for her coloratura roles.

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25/08/1958

Tim Burton, American director, producer, and screenwriter

Timothy Walter Burton is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for pioneering goth subculture in Hollywood, with his films employing a distinctive style that blends gothic horror and dark fantasy aesthetics with whimsical and surreal elements. He has received numerous accolades, including one Emmy Award and nominations for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three BAFTA Awards. He was honored with the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2007 and France's Order of Arts and Letters in 2010.

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Christian LeBlanc, American actor

Christian Jules LeBlanc is an American television actor. He is best known for playing the role of Michael Baldwin on The Young and the Restless. He has received nine Daytime Emmy Award nominations and three wins for his work on The Young and the Restless.

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25/08/1957

Sikander Bakht, Pakistani cricketer and sportscaster

Sikander Bakht is a Pakistani former international cricketer who played in 26 Test matches and 27 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for Pakistan from 1976 to 1989. He was included in the team in place of Ehteshamuddin and took 11 wickets in that Test and 24 wickets in the series.

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Simon McBurney, English actor and director

Simon Montagu McBurney, OBE, is an English actor, playwright, and theatre and opera director. He is the founder and artistic director of the Théâtre de Complicité, London. He has had roles in the films The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Friends with Money, The Last King of Scotland, The Golden Compass (2007), The Duchess (2008), Robin Hood, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Magic in the Moonlight, The Theory of Everything, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), and Nosferatu (2024). He played Cecil the choirmaster in BBC's The Vicar of Dibley (1994–2004).

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Frank Serratore, American ice hockey player and coach

Frank Serratore is an American ice hockey coach, currently with the Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey team. He formerly coached professional hockey in the International Hockey League with the Minnesota Moose from 1994 to 1996.

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25/08/1956

Matt Aitken, English songwriter and record producer

Matthew James Aitken is an English songwriter and record producer, brought up in Astley, Greater Manchester, best known as part of the 1980s/early-1990s songwriting/production trio Stock Aitken Waterman.

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Takeshi Okada, Japanese footballer, coach, and manager

Takeshi Okada is a Japanese football manager and former player who played as a defender. He is currently the owner of FC Imabari

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Henri Toivonen, Finnish race car driver (died 1986)

Henri Pauli Toivonen was a Finnish rally driver born in Jyväskylä, the home of Rally Finland. His father, Pauli, was the 1968 European Rally Champion for Porsche and his younger brother, Harri, became a professional circuit racer.

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25/08/1955

John McGeoch, Scottish guitarist (died 2004)

John Alexander McGeoch was a Scottish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Magazine (1977–1980) and Siouxsie and the Banshees (1980–1982).

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Gerd Müller, German businessman and politician

Gerhard "Gerd" Müller is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, who is currently serving as Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization since 2021.

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25/08/1954

Elvis Costello, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Declan Patrick MacManus, known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to Rolling Stone, Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical traditions of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison with the raw energy and sass that were principal ethics of punk", noting the "construction of his songs, which set densely layered wordplay in an ever-expanding repertoire of styles". He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Grammy Awards and two Ivor Novello Awards, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016.

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Jim Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, Scottish lawyer and politician, First Minister of Scotland

James Robert Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, was a Scottish politician who served as a Liberal Democrat life peer in the House of Lords from 2007 until his death in 2026. He had previously served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 1999 to 2005, and during that time was twice acting First Minister, in 2000, in the aftermath of Donald Dewar's death, and in 2001, following Henry McLeish's resignation.

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25/08/1952

Kurban Berdyev, Turkmen footballer and manager

Kurban Bekiyevich Berdyev is a Turkmen-Russian football manager, and a former Soviet footballer who is in charge of the Azerbaijani club Turan Tovuz. In 2017 he was included among top 50 managers in the world by fourfourtwo.com, at the 36th place, ahead of Brendan Rodgers.

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Geoff Downes, English keyboard player, songwriter, and producer

Geoffrey Downes is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group the Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia.

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Duleep Mendis, Sri Lankan cricketer and coach

Deshamanya Louis Rohan Duleep Mendis, known as Duleep Mendis, is a Sri Lankan former cricketer and former captain of the team. Mendis captained Sri Lanka to their first Test series victory in 1985. He was primarily a specialist batsman, whose best performances came from 1982 to 1985.

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25/08/1951

Rob Halford, English heavy metal singer-songwriter

Robert John Arthur Halford is an English heavy metal singer. He is the lead vocalist of Judas Priest, which he joined in 1973, and has received accolades such as the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. He is noted for his powerful and wide-ranging operatic style and trademark leather-and-studs image, both of which have become iconic in heavy metal. His side projects include Fight, Two and Halford.

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Bill Handel, Brazilian-American lawyer and radio host

William Wolf Handel is a Brazilian-born American radio host and attorney.

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25/08/1950

Willy DeVille, American singer and songwriter (died 2009)

Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary music, including Jack Nitzsche, Doc Pomus, Dr. John, Mark Knopfler, Allen Toussaint, and Eddie Bo. Latin rhythms, blues riffs, doo-wop, Cajun music, strains of French cabaret, and echoes of early-1960s uptown soul can be heard in DeVille's work.

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Charles Fambrough, American bassist, composer, and producer (died 2011)

Charles Fambrough was an American jazz bassist, composer and record producer from Philadelphia.

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25/08/1949

Martin Amis, British novelist (died 2023)

Sir Martin Louis Amis was an English novelist, essayist, memoirist, screenwriter and critic. He is best known for his novels Money (1984) and London Fields (1989). He received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his memoir Experience and was twice listed for the Booker Prize. Amis was a professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester's Centre for New Writing from 2007 until 2011. In 2008, The Times named him one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.

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Rijkman Groenink, Dutch banker and academic

Rijkman Willem Johan Groenink is a Dutch banker. He is best known as the CEO of the Dutch bank ABN AMRO at the time that the bank was sold to a consortium of banks. The consortium was led by the Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Banco Santander in 2007.

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John Savage, American actor and producer

John Smeallie Youngs, known professionally as John Savage, is an American actor. He first rose to prominence in the late 1970s for his portrayals of troubled-but-sensitive characters in films like The Deer Hunter (1978), The Onion Field (1979) and Hair (1979). His television roles include Donald Lydecker on Dark Angel (2000–2002) and Hack Scudder on Carnivàle (2003–2005).

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Gene Simmons, Israeli-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

Gene Simmons, also known by his stage persona "the Demon", is an Israeli-American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss, which he co-founded with Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss in 1973. Simmons, alongside Stanley, remained a constant member of the band until their dissolution in 2023. Simmons is also known for his long tongue and for his reality television show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, which aired from 2006 to 2012. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a member of Kiss.

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25/08/1948

Ledward Kaapana, American singer and guitarist

Ledward Kaapana is a Hawaiian musician, best known for playing in the slack key guitar style. He also plays steel guitar, ukulele, autoharp, and bass guitar, and is a baritone and falsetto vocalist.

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Nicholas A. Peppas, Greek chemist and biologist

Nicholas (Nikolaos) A. Peppas is a chemical and biomedical engineer whose leadership in biomaterials science and engineering, drug delivery, bionanotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences, chemical and polymer engineering has provided seminal foundations based on the physics and mathematical theories of nanoscale, macromolecular processes and drug/protein transport and has led to numerous biomedical products or devices.

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25/08/1947

Michael Kaluta, American author and illustrator

Michael William Kaluta, sometimes credited as Mike Kaluta or Michael Wm. Kaluta, is an American comics artist and writer best known for his acclaimed 1970s adaptation of the pulp magazine hero The Shadow with writer Dennis O'Neil. He is the godfather of comedian and gamemaster Brennan Lee Mulligan.

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Keith Tippett, British jazz pianist and composer (died 2020)

Keith Graham Tippetts, known professionally as Keith Tippett, was a British jazz pianist and composer. According to AllMusic, Tippett's career "...spanned jazz-rock, progressive rock, improvised and contemporary music, as well as modern jazz for more than half-a-century". He held "an unparallelled place in British contemporary music," and was known for "his unique approach to improvisation". Tippett appeared and recorded in many settings, including a duet with Stan Tracey, duets with his wife Julie Tippetts, solo performances, and as a bandleader.

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25/08/1946

Rollie Fingers, American baseball player

Roland Glen Fingers is an American former right handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams between 1968 and 1985. His effectiveness helped to redefine the value of relievers within baseball and to usher in the modern closer role. A seven-time All-Star, he led the major leagues in saves three times, and was named Rolaids Relief Man of the Year four times. He first gained prominence as a member of the Oakland Athletics championship teams of the early 1970s, when his flamboyant handlebar mustache made him perhaps the most identifiable member of The Mustache Gang, which led Oakland to become the only non-New York Yankees team ever to win three consecutive World Series titles. Fingers was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1974 World Series after earning a win in the opener and saves in the last three games to secure the title.

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Charles Ghigna, American poet and author

Charles Ghigna (/'gɪnˈjə/), known also as Father Goose, is an American poet and author of children's and adults' books. He has written more than 5,000 poems and 100 books.

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Charlie Sanders, American football player and sportscaster (died 2015)

Charles Alvin Sanders was an American professional football player who was a tight end for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1968 to 1977. Sanders was chosen for the NFL's 1970s All-Decade Team and voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2007.

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25/08/1945

Daniel Hulet, Belgian cartoonist (died 2011)

Daniel Hulet was a Belgian cartoonist.

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Hannah Louise Shearer, American screenwriter and producer

Hannah Louise Shearer, also known as Hannah Shearer or Hannah L. Shearer, is a writer who was credited with writing five episodes whilst on the staff of Star Trek: The Next Generation and an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She was also a writer and producer for Emergency! and Knight Rider.

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25/08/1944

Conrad Black, Canadian historian and author

Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, is a Canadian-British writer and former politician, newspaper publisher, financier, and convicted felon.

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Jacques Demers, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and politician

Jacques Demers is a former Canadian Senator, former broadcaster and former professional ice hockey head coach. Demers had started out as a chief scout for the Chicago Cougars of the World Hockey Association before rising to director of player personnel. When the team folded in 1975, he joined the Indianapolis Racers. Five games into the 1975-76 season, he was named interim coach of the team and led them to a division championship. After a second season saw him reach the postseason again, he left the team to coach the Cincinnati Stingers for 1977, but he did not elect to stay with the team after just one season. He was soon hired to coach the Quebec Nordiques in 1978 and coached them to a 2nd place finish in the final season of the WHA. He coached the first season of the Nordiques in the National Hockey League before he was fired in 1980. Three years later, he returned to the NHL with the St. Louis Blues, where he led them to the postseason in each of his three seasons that included a trip to the Conference Finals in 1986 before he left to coach the Detroit Red Wings in 1986. He led the Red Wings to the Conference Finals twice and won two division titles but was let go after the team missed the playoffs in 1990. He was hired to coach the Montreal Canadiens in 1992 and in his first season, he led the team to the Stanley Cup Final, which they won in five games for what is currently the last victory by a Canadian team. The Canadiens sputtered in 1994 and Demers was fired five games into the 1995 season. He closed his career out with the Tampa Bay Lightning, coaching from 1997 to 1999. In total, he went to the postseason eleven times in eighteen seasons as a coach.

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Anthony Heald, American actor

Anthony Heald is an American character actor known for portraying Hannibal Lecter's jailer, Dr. Frederick Chilton, in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Red Dragon (2002), and for playing vice principal Scott Guber in David E. Kelley's Boston Public (2000–2004). Heald also had a recurring role as Judge Cooper on Kelley's The Practice and Boston Legal. He had a prominent role as a troubled psychic in The X-Files episode "Closure".

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Andrew Longmore, British lawyer and judge

Sir Andrew Centlivres Longmore is a British lawyer and retired judge.

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25/08/1942

Nathan Deal, American lawyer, and politician, 82nd Governor of Georgia

John Nathan Deal is an American politician and former lawyer who served as the 82nd governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, he previously served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

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Pat Ingoldsby, Irish poet and television presenter (died 2025)

Patrick Ingoldsby was an Irish poet and television presenter. He hosted children's television shows, wrote plays for the stage and for radio, published books of short stories and was a newspaper columnist. From the mid-1990s, he withdrew from the mass media and was most widely known for his collections of poetry, and his selling of them on the streets of Dublin.

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Ivan Koloff, Canadian wrestler (died 2017)

Oreal Donald Perras was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff, under which name he was billed as being from Russia and, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine. He was the third wrestler to hold the WWWF Championship. In April 2025, Koloff was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

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25/08/1941

Mario Corso, Italian footballer and coach (died 2020)

Mario Corso was an Italian football player and coach. A famed and dynamic left winger, he was regarded as one of the greatest Italian players in his position, earning the nicknames "Mandrake" and "God's Left Foot", due to his skills, free kick technique and crossing ability.

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Ludwig Müller, German footballer (died 2021)

Ludwig 'Luggi' Müller was a German professional footballer who played as a defender.

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25/08/1940

Wilhelm von Homburg, German boxer and actor (died 2004)

Norbert Grupe, better known outside Germany by his stage name Wilhelm von Homburg, was a German boxer, actor, and professional wrestler known for his villainous supporting roles in various high-profile films of the 1980s and 1990s, including Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters II (1989), the henchman James in Die Hard (1988), and Souteneur in Werner Herzog's Stroszek (1977).

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25/08/1939

John Badham, English-American actor, director, and producer

John MacDonald Badham is an American film and television director, best known for directing the films Saturday Night Fever (1977), Dracula (1979), Blue Thunder (1983), WarGames (1983), Short Circuit (1986), Stakeout (1987), Bird on a Wire (1990), The Hard Way (1991), Point of No Return (1993), Drop Zone (1994), and Nick of Time (1995). He is a two-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee, a two-time Hugo Award nominee, and a Saturn Award winner. He is also a Professor at Chapman University.

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Marshall Brickman, Brazilian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2024)

Marshall Jacob Brickman was an American screenwriter and director, best known for his collaborations with Woody Allen, with whom he shared the 1977 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Annie Hall. He was previously the head writer for Johnny Carson, writing scripts for recurring characters such as Carnac the Magnificent. He is also known for playing the mandolin and banjo with Eric Weissberg in the 1960s, and for a series of comical parodies published in The New Yorker.

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25/08/1938

David Canary, American actor (died 2015)

David Hoyt Canary was an American actor. Canary is best known for his roles as ranch foreman Candy Canaday in the NBC Western drama Bonanza, and as Adam Chandler in the television soap opera All My Children, for which he received 16 Daytime Emmy Award nominations and won five times.

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Frederick Forsyth, English journalist and author (died 2025)

Frederick McCarthy Forsyth was an English novelist and journalist. He was best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan, The Cobra and The Kill List.

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25/08/1937

Jimmy Hannan, Australian television host and singer (died 2019)

Jimmy Hannan was an Australian radio and television personality, variety show host, singer, entertainer and game show host of the 1960s and 1970s. One of the pioneers of television, he appeared regularly on variety show In Melbourne Tonight, and later hosted his own musical variety show Jimmy, later called Tonight with Jimmy Hannan. Hannan hosted music show Saturday Date from 1963 until 1967, which featured such performers as Billy Thorpe and Olivia Newton-John. He won the 1965 Gold Logie award for most popular personality on Australian television.

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Virginia Euwer Wolff, American author

Virginia Euwer Wolff is an American author of children's literature. Her award-winning series Make Lemonade features a 14-year-old girl named LaVaughn, who babysits for the children of a 17-year-old single mother. There are three books. The second, True Believer, won the 2001 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. The second and third, This Full House (2009), garnered Kirkus Reviews starred reviews. She was the recipient of the 2011 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature, honoring her entire body of work.

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25/08/1936

Giridharilal Kedia, Indian businessman, founded the Image Institute of Technology & Management (died 2009)

Giridharilal Kedia was an Indian well known social entrepreneur. He served the Kala Vikash Kendra, Cuttack for 12 years as the Working President and Trustee. Kedia was also the founder and chairman of Image Institute of Technology & Management. He was awarded the Samaj Gaurav award for his service. He was also awarded the Theater Movement Award by Global Peace Organization. Kedia was a District Governor of Lions Club International for the years 1981-1982 for the undivided district 322C.

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25/08/1935

Charles Wright, American poet

Charles Wright is an American poet. He shared the National Book Award in 1983 for Country Music: Selected Early Poems and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998 for Black Zodiac. From 2014 to 2015, he served as the 20th Poet Laureate of the United States.

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25/08/1934

Lise Bacon, Canadian judge and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec (died 2025)

Lise Bacon was a Canadian politician who served as Deputy Premier of Quebec from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Quebec Liberal Party, she served as a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the riding of Bourassa from 1973 to 1976 and again for the riding of Chomedey from 1981 to 1994. She was the second woman elected to the National Assembly after Marie-Claire Kirkland. She served as president of the Quebec Liberal Party from 1970 to 1973, making her the first woman elected president of a political party in Canada.

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Eddie Ilarde, Filipino journalist and politician (died 2020)

Edgar "Eddie" Ubalde Ilarde was a Filipino politician, public servant, and radio and television host. On radio and television, he hosted programs such as Kahapon Lamang, Student Canteen and Darigold Jamboree.

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25/08/1933

Patrick F. McManus, American journalist and author (died 2018)

Patrick Francis McManus was an American educator and humor writer, who primarily wrote about the outdoors. A humor columnist and editor for Outdoor Life from 1983 to 2009, and Field & Stream from 1977 to 1982, as well as other magazines, his columns and stories have been collected in several books, beginning with A Fine and Pleasant Misery (1978) up through The Good Samaritan Strikes Again (1992) and The Horse in My Garage and Other Stories (2012).

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Wayne Shorter, American saxophonist and composer (died 2023)

Wayne Shorter was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader, widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures in the history of modern jazz. Over a career spanning more than six decades, he received 12 Grammy Awards and the Polar Music Prize, and was acclaimed worldwide for his originality, compositional depth, and transformative approach to musical improvisation.

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Tom Skerritt, American actor

Thomas Roy Skerritt is an American actor and director, who has appeared in over 170 film and television productions since 1962. The beginning of his film career coincided with the New Hollywood movement, with a breakthrough role as Duke Forrest in Robert Altman's M*A*S*H (1970). He then starred in notable films like The Turning Point (1977), Up in Smoke, Ice Castles, Alien (1979), The Dead Zone (1983), Top Gun (1986), and A River Runs Through It (1992).

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25/08/1932

Anatoly Kartashov, Soviet aviator and cosmonaut (died 2005)

Anatoly Yakovlevich Kartashov was a cosmonaut in the Soviet Vostok program.

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25/08/1931

Regis Philbin, American actor and television host (died 2020)

Regis Francis Xavier Philbin was an American television presenter, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest-working man in show business", he held the Guinness World Record for the most hours spent on US television.

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25/08/1930

Sean Connery, Scottish actor and producer (died 2020)

Sir Thomas Sean Connery was a Scottish actor. Connery was the first actor to portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond in motion pictures, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. He originated the role in Dr. No (1962) and continued starring as Bond in the Eon Productions films From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971). His final appearance in the franchise was with Never Say Never Again (1983), a non-Eon-produced Bond film.

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György Enyedi, Hungarian economist and geographer (died 2012)

György Enyedi was an economist and geographer who has played a major role in the long-term development of regional science. Enyedi was a decisive figure in the rapid development of integrative spatial sciences, regional science in the second part of the 20th century.

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Graham Jarvis, Canadian actor (died 2003)

Graham Powley Jarvis was a Canadian character actor in American films and television from the 1960s to the early 2000s.

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Crispin Tickell, English academic and diplomat, British Permanent Representative to the United Nations (died 2022)

Sir Crispin Charles Cervantes Tickell was a British diplomat, environmentalist, and academic.

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25/08/1928

John "Kayo" Dottley, American football player (died 2018)

John Albert "Kayo" Dottley was an American professional football player who was a fullback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels.

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Darrell Johnson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 2004)

Darrell Dean Johnson was an American professional catcher, coach, manager and scout in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a manager, he led the 1975 Boston Red Sox to the American League pennant, and was named "Manager of the Year" by both The Sporting News and the Associated Press.

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Karl Korte, American composer and academic (died 2022)

Karl Richard Korte was an American composer of contemporary classical music.

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Herbert Kroemer, German-American physicist, engineer, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2024)

Herbert Kroemer was a German–American solid-state physicist who, along with Zhores Alferov, received the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics "for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics." He was Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research into transistors was a stepping stone to the later development of mobile phone technologies.

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25/08/1927

Althea Gibson, American tennis player and golfer (died 2003)

Althea Neale Gibson was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first Black player to win a Grand Slam event. The following year she won both Wimbledon and the US Nationals, then won both again in 1958 and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in both years. In all, she won 11 Grand Slam titles: five singles titles, five doubles titles, and one mixed doubles title. "She is one of the greatest players who ever lived," said Bob Ryland, a tennis contemporary and former coach of Venus and Serena Williams. "Martina [Navratilova] couldn't touch her. I think she'd beat the Williams sisters." Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971 and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. In the early 1960s, she also became the first Black player to compete in the Ladies Professional Golf Association.

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Des Renford, Australian swimmer (died 1999)

Desmond Robert Renford MBE was an Australian long-distance swimmer who swam the English Channel 19 times from 19 attempts. This was a record for successful crossings by an Australian until it was overtaken by Chloe McCardel in 2016. From 1975 to 1979 and for a period in 1980 he held the title of King of the Channel. At the time of his death, only two other people had swum the Channel more often, Alison Streeter and Michael Read.

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25/08/1925

Thea Astley, Australian journalist and author (died 2004)

Thea Beatrice May Astley was an Australian novelist and short story writer. She was a prolific writer who was published for over 40 years from 1958. At the time of her death, she had won more Miles Franklin Awards, Australia's major literary award, than any other writer. As well as being a writer, she taught at all levels of education – primary, secondary and tertiary.

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Hilmar Hoffmann, German film and culture academic (died 2018)

Hilmar Hoffmann was a German stage and film director, cultural politician and academic lecturer. He founded the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. He was for decades an influential city councillor in Frankfurt, where he initiated the Museumsufer of 15 museums, including the Jewish Museum Frankfurt. He was the president of the Goethe-Institut and taught at universities such as Bochum and Tel Aviv. He wrote the book Kultur für alle, which was a motto of his life and work.

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Stepas Butautas, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (died 2001)

Stepas Butautas was a Soviet and Lithuanian professional basketball player and coach. He trained at the VSS Žalgiris, in Kaunas. He played with the Soviet Union men's national basketball team at the 1952 Summer Olympic Games, where he won a silver medal. During the tournament, he played in all eight games.

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25/08/1924

Zsuzsa Körmöczy, Hungarian tennis player and coach (died 2006)

Zsuzsa Körmöczy was a Hungarian tennis player. She reached a career high of World No. 2 in women's tennis, and won the 1958 French Open at the age of 33.

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25/08/1923

Álvaro Mutis, Colombian-Mexican author and poet (died 2013)

Álvaro Mutis Jaramillo was a Colombian poet, novelist, and essayist. His best-known work is the novel sequence The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll, which revolves around the character of Maqroll el Gaviero. He won the 1991 International Nonino Prize in Italy. He was awarded the 2001 Miguel de Cervantes Prize and the 2002 Neustadt International Prize for Literature.

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Allyre Sirois, Canadian lawyer and judge (died 2012)

Allyre Louis Joseph Sirois was a Canadian fransaskois judge of the Court of the Queen's Bench in Saskatchewan, Canada.

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25/08/1921

Monty Hall, Canadian television personality and game show host (died 2017)

Monty Hall was a Canadian-American radio and television show host who moved to the United States in 1955 to pursue a career in broadcasting. After working as a radio newsreader and sportscaster, Hall returned to television in the U.S., where his focus was now on hosting game shows. Starting in 1963, he was best known as the host, co-creator, and co-producer of Let's Make a Deal. A conundrum involving game theory and psychology was named after him: the Monty Hall problem. Behind the scenes, Hall also carried on an active life of philanthropy.

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Bryce Mackasey, Canadian businessman and politician, 20th Canadian Minister of Labour (died 1999)

Bryce Stuart Mackasey was a Canadian politician and diplomat. He served as twice a Member of Parliament, as a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec, and as ambassador to Portugal.

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Brian Moore, Northern Irish-Canadian author and screenwriter (died 1999)

Brian Moore, was a novelist and screenwriter from Northern Ireland who emigrated to Canada and later lived in the United States. He was acclaimed for the descriptions in his novels of life in Northern Ireland during and after the Second World War, in particular his explorations of the inter-communal divisions of The Troubles, and has been described as "one of the few genuine masters of the contemporary novel". He was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1975 and the inaugural Sunday Express Book of the Year award in 1987, and he was shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times. Moore also wrote screenplays and several of his books were made into films.

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25/08/1919

William P. Foster, American bandleader and educator (died 2010)

William Patrick Foster, also known as The Law and The Maestro, was the director of the noted Florida A&M University Marching "100". He served as the band's director from 1946 to his retirement in 1998. His innovations revolutionized college marching band technique and the perceptions of the collegiate band. Foster was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, the National Association for Distinguished Band Conductors Hall of Fame, the Florida Music Educators Association Hall of Fame and the Afro-American Hall of Fame among others. He also served as the president of the American Bandmasters Association and was appointed to the National Council on the Arts by President Bill Clinton. Foster wrote the book titled The Man Behind the Baton.

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George Wallace, American lawyer, and politician, 45th Governor of Alabama (died 1998)

George Corley Wallace Jr. was an American politician and lawyer who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama, and the longest-serving governor from the Democratic Party. Wallace is remembered for his staunch segregationist and populist views, although in the late 1970s he moderated his views on race, renouncing his support for segregation. During Wallace's tenure as governor of Alabama, he promoted "industrial development, low taxes, and trade schools." Wallace unsuccessfully sought the United States presidency as a Democrat three times, and once with the American Independent Party, in which he carried five states in the 1968 presidential election. Wallace opposed desegregation and supported the policies of "Jim Crow" during the Civil Rights Movement, declaring in his 1963 inaugural address that he stood for "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever."

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Jaap Rijks, Dutch Olympic medalist (died 2017)

Jacob "Jaap" Rijks was a Dutch equestrian who competed for his home nation in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. He was born in Nijmegen.

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25/08/1918

Leonard Bernstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1990)

Leonard Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first American-born conductor to receive international acclaim. Bernstein was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history" according to music critic Donal Henahan. Bernstein's honors and accolades include seven Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and 16 Grammy Awards as well as an Academy Award nomination. He received the Kennedy Center Honor in 1981.

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Richard Greene, English actor (died 1985)

Richard Marius Joseph Greene was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood, which ran for 143 episodes from 1955 to 1959.

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25/08/1917

Mel Ferrer, American actor, director, and producer (died 2008)

Melchor Gastón Ferrer was an American actor, director, and producer, active in film, theatre, and television. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with Scaramouche (1952), Lili (1953), and Knights of the Round Table . He starred opposite his wife, actress Audrey Hepburn, in War and Peace (1956) and produced her film Wait Until Dark (1967).

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25/08/1916

Van Johnson, American actor (died 2008)

Charles Van Dell Johnson was an American actor and dancer. He had a prolific career in film, television, theatre and radio, which spanned over 50 years, from 1940 to 1992. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II, known for his upbeat and "all-American" screen persona, often playing young military servicemen, or in musicals.

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Frederick Chapman Robbins, American pediatrician and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2003)

Frederick Chapman Robbins was an American pediatrician and virologist. He was born in Auburn, Alabama, and grew up in Columbia, Missouri, attending David H. Hickman High School.

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Saburō Sakai, Japanese lieutenant and pilot (died 2000)

Saburō Sakai was a Japanese naval aviator and flying ace of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Sakai had 28 aerial victories, including shared ones, according to official Japanese records, though he and his ghostwriter Martin Caidin claimed much higher numbers.

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25/08/1913

Don DeFore, American actor (died 1993)

Donald John DeFore was an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from 1952 to 1957 and the sitcom Hazel from 1961 to 1965, the former of which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

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Walt Kelly, American illustrator and animator (died 1973)

Walter Crawford Kelly Jr. was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip Pogo. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Productions, contributing to Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Dumbo. In 1941, at the age of 28, Kelly transferred to work at Dell Comics, where he created Pogo, which eventually became his platform for political and philosophical commentary.

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25/08/1912

Erich Honecker, German politician (died 1994)

Erich Ernst Paul Honecker was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the posts of General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the National Defence Council; in 1976, he replaced Willi Stoph as Chairman of the State Council, the official head of state. As the leader of East Germany, Honecker was viewed as a dictator. During his leadership, the country had close ties to the Soviet Union, which maintained a large army in the country.

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25/08/1911

Võ Nguyên Giáp, Vietnamese general and politician, 3rd Minister of Defence for Vietnam (died 2013)

Võ Nguyên Giáp was a Vietnamese general, communist revolutionary and politician. Highly regarded as a military strategist, Giáp led Vietnamese communist military forces to victory in the decades long Indochina wars. Giáp was the military commander of the Việt Minh and the People's Army from 1941 to 1972, minister of defense of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1946–1947 and from 1948 to 1980, and deputy prime minister from 1955 to 1991. He was a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

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25/08/1910

George Cisar, American baseball player (died 2010)

George Cisar was a left fielder in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1937 season. He batted and threw right-handed.

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Dorothea Tanning, American painter, sculptor, and poet (died 2012)

Dorothea Margaret Tanning was an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, writer, and poet. Her early work was influenced by European Surrealism.

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25/08/1909

Ruby Keeler, Canadian-American actress, singer, and dancer (died 1993)

Ethel Ruby Keeler was a Canadian and American actress, dancer, and singer who was paired on-screen with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Bros., particularly 42nd Street (1933). From 1928 to 1940, she was married to actor and singer Al Jolson. She retired from show business in the 1940s, but made a widely publicized comeback on Broadway starring in the revival of the 1920s musical No, No, Nanette in 1971.

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Michael Rennie, English actor and producer (died 1971)

Michael Rennie was a British film, television and stage actor, who had leading roles in a number of Hollywood films, including his portrayal of the space visitor Klaatu in the science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). In a career spanning more than 30 years, Rennie appeared in more than 50 films and in several American television series.

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25/08/1906

Jim Smith, English cricketer (died 1979)

Cedric Ivan James Smith was an English cricketer who played in five Test matches for the England cricket team between 1935 and 1937.

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25/08/1905

Faustina Kowalska, Polish nun and saint (died 1938)

Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament, OLM was a Polish Catholic religious sister and mystic. Faustyna, popularly spelled Faustina in English, had apparitions of Jesus Christ which inspired the Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy, therefore she is sometimes called the "secretary" of Divine Mercy.

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25/08/1903

Arpad Elo, Hungarian-American chess player, created the Elo rating system (died 1992)

Arpad Emmerich Elo was a Hungarian-American physics professor who created the Elo rating system for two-player games such as chess.

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25/08/1902

Stefan Wolpe, German-American composer and educator (died 1972)

Stefan Wolpe was a German-born American composer. He was associated with interdisciplinary modernism, with affiliations ranging from the Bauhaus, Berlin agitprop theater and the kibbutz movement to the Eighth Street Artists' Club, Black Mountain College, and the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. He lived and worked in Berlin (1902–1933) until the Nazi seizure of power forced him to move first to Vienna (1933–34) and Jerusalem (1934–38) before settling in New York City (1938–72). In works such as Battle Piece (1942/1947) and "In a State of Flight" in Enactments for Three Pianos (1953), he responded self-consciously to the circumstances of his uprooted life, a theme he also explored extensively in voluminous diaries, correspondence, and lectures. His densely eclectic music absorbed ideas and idioms from diverse artistic milieus, including post-tonality, bebop, and Arab classical musics.

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25/08/1900

Isobel Hogg Kerr Beattie, Scottish architect (died 1970)

Isobel Hogg Kerr Beattie was possibly the first woman in Scotland to practice architecture on a regular basis.

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Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1981)

Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, FRS was a German-British biologist, physician and biochemist. He was a pioneer scientist in the study of cellular respiration, a biochemical process in living cells that extracts energy from food and oxygen and makes it available to drive the processes of life. He is best known for his discoveries of two important sequences of chemical reactions that take place in the cells of nearly all organisms, including humans, other than anaerobic microorganisms, namely the citric acid cycle and the urea cycle. The former, often eponymously known as the "Krebs cycle", is the sequence of metabolic reactions that allows cells of oxygen-respiring organisms to obtain far more ATP from the food they consume than anaerobic processes such as glycolysis can supply; and its discovery earned Krebs a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1953. With Hans Kornberg, he also discovered the glyoxylate cycle, a slight variation of the citric acid cycle found in plants, bacteria, protists, and fungi.

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25/08/1899

Paul Herman Buck, American historian and author (died 1978)

Paul Herman Buck was an American historian. He won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1938 and became the first Provost of Harvard University in 1945.

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25/08/1898

Helmut Hasse, German mathematician and academic (died 1975)

Helmut Hasse was a German mathematician working in algebraic number theory, known for fundamental contributions to class field theory, the application of p-adic numbers to local class field theory and diophantine geometry, and to local zeta functions.

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Arthur Wood, English cricketer (died 1973)

Arthur Wood was a Yorkshire and England cricketer, who played as the wicket-keeper in four Tests from 1938 to 1939.

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25/08/1893

Henry Trendley Dean, American dentist (died 1962)

Henry Trendley Dean was the first director of the United States National Institute of Dental Research and a pioneer investigator of water fluoridation in the prevention of tooth decay.

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25/08/1891

David Shimoni, Belarusian-Israeli poet and translator (died 1956)

David Shimoni was an Israeli poet, writer and translator.

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25/08/1889

Alexander Mair, Australian politician, 26th Premier of New South Wales (died 1969)

Alexander Mair was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 5 August 1939 to 16 May 1941. Born in Melbourne, Mair worked in various businesses there before moving to Albury, New South Wales where he went on to be a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for fourteen years. In 1932, Mair was elected to the seat of Albury and was re-elected a further four times. He rose quickly through the cabinet of Bertram Stevens' United Australia Party government, becoming an Assistant Minister in April 1938, Minister for Labour and Industry in June and Colonial Treasurer in October.

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25/08/1882

Seán T. O'Kelly, Irish journalist and politician, 2nd President of Ireland (died 1966)

Seán Thomas O'Kelly, originally John T. O'Kelly, was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the president of Ireland from June 1945 to June 1959. He also served as deputy prime minister of Ireland from 1932 to 1945, Minister for Local Government and Public Health from 1932 to 1939, Minister for Finance from 1939 to 1945 and Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1919 to 1921. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1918 to 1945.

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25/08/1878

Ted Birnie, English footballer and manager (died 1935)

Edward Lawson Birnie was an English professional football player and manager. He played for Sunderland Seaburn, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur In his managerial career, he took on the reins at Southend United, staying in charge of the seaside club until his retirement in 1934.

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25/08/1877

Joshua Lionel Cowen, American businessman, co-founded the Lionel Corporation (died 1965)

Joshua Lionel Cowen was an American inventor and cofounder of the Lionel Corporation, a manufacturer of model railroads and toy trains who gained prominence in the market before and after World War II.

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25/08/1875

Agnes Mowinckel, Norwegian actress (died 1963)

Agnes Mowinckel was a Norwegian actress and theatre director. Born in Bergen into a distinguished family, she became Norway's first professional stage director. A pioneer in bringing painters to the theatre, she used light as an artistic element, and engaged contemporary composers. She took part in theatrical experiments, worked at small stages in Oslo, and founded her own theatre.

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25/08/1869

Tom Kiely, British-Irish decathlete (died 1951)

Thomas Francis Kiely was an Irish athlete. Kiely won gold in the all-round at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri representing Great Britain and Ireland, making him the first multi-event track and field champion of the Modern Olympic Games

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25/08/1867

James W. Gerard, American lawyer and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Germany (died 1951)

James Watson Gerard III was an American lawyer, diplomat, and justice of the New York Supreme Court.

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25/08/1850

Charles Richet, French physiologist and occultist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1935)

Charles Robert Richet was a French physiologist at the Collège de France and immunology pioneer. In 1913, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of his work on anaphylaxis". Richet devoted many years to the study of paranormal and spiritualist phenomena, coining the term "ectoplasm". He believed in the inferiority of black people, was a proponent of eugenics, and presided over the French Eugenics Society towards the end of his life. The Richet line of professorships of medical science continued through his son Charles and his grandson Gabriel. Gabriel Richet was also one of the pioneers of European nephrology.

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25/08/1845

Ludwig II of Bavaria, King of Bavaria (died 1886)

Ludwig II, also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King, was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia and Duke in Swabia. Outside Germany, he is at times called "the Mad King" or Mad King Ludwig.

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25/08/1841

Emil Theodor Kocher, Swiss physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1917)

Emil Theodor Kocher was a Swiss physician and medical researcher who received the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid. Among his many accomplishments are the introduction and promotion of aseptic surgery and scientific methods in surgery, specifically reducing the mortality of thyroidectomies below 1% in his operations.

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25/08/1840

George C. Magoun, American businessman (died 1893)

George C. Magoun was, in the late 1880s, the Chairman of the Board of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

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25/08/1836

Bret Harte, American short story writer and poet (died 1902)

Francis Brett Hart, known as Bret Harte, was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a career spanning more than four decades, he also wrote poetry, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches.

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25/08/1829

Carlo Acton, Italian pianist and composer (died 1909)

Carlo Eduardo Acton was an Italian composer and concert pianist. He is particularly remembered for his opera Una cena in convitto and for his sacred music compositions of which his Tantum ergo is the most well-known.

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25/08/1817

Marie-Eugénie de Jésus, French nun and saint, founded the Religious of the Assumption (died 1898)

Marie-Eugénie de Jésus was a French Catholic nun who founded the Religious of the Assumption and is a Catholic saint.

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25/08/1812

Nikolay Zinin, Russian organic chemist (died 1880)

Nikolay Nikolaevich Zinin was a Russian organic chemist.

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25/08/1803

Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias (died 1880)

Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias, nicknamed "the Peacemaker" and "the Iron Duke", was an army officer, politician and monarchist of the Empire of Brazil. Like his father and uncles, Caxias pursued a military career. In 1823 he fought as a young officer in the Brazilian War of Independence against Portugal, then spent three years in Brazil's southernmost province, Cisplatina, as the government unsuccessfully resisted that province's secession in the Cisplatine War. Though his own father and uncles renounced Emperor Dom Pedro I during the protests of 1831, Caxias remained loyal. Pedro I abdicated in favor of his young son Dom Pedro II, whom Caxias instructed in swordsmanship and horsemanship and eventually befriended.

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25/08/1802

Nikolaus Lenau, Romanian-Austrian poet and author (died 1850)

Nikolaus Lenau was the pen name of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau, a German-language Austrian poet.

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25/08/1796

James Lick, American carpenter and piano builder (died 1876)

James Lick was an American real estate investor, carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences. The wealthiest man in California at the time of his death, Lick left the majority of his estate to social and scientific causes.

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25/08/1793

John Neal, American writer, critic, editor, lecturer, and activist (died 1876)

John Neal was an American writer, critic, editor, lecturer, and activist. Considered both eccentric and influential, he delivered speeches and published essays, novels, poems, and short stories between the 1810s and 1870s in the United States and Great Britain, championing American literary nationalism and regionalism in their earliest stages. Neal advanced the development of American art, fought for women's rights, advocated the end of slavery and racial prejudice, and helped establish the American gymnastics movement.

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25/08/1786

Ludwig I of Bavaria, King of Bavaria (died 1868)

Ludwig I or Louis I was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states. When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars. As king, he encouraged Bavaria's industrialization, initiating the Ludwig Canal between the rivers Main and the Danube. In 1835, the first German railway was constructed in his domain, between Fürth and Nuremberg, with his Bavaria joining the Zollverein economic union in 1834. After the July Revolution of 1830 in France, Ludwig's previous liberal policy became increasingly repressive; in 1844, he was confronted during the Beer riots in Bavaria. During the revolutions of 1848, he faced increasing protests and demonstrations by students and the middle classes. On 20 March 1848, he abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Maximilian.

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25/08/1776

Thomas Bladen Capel, English admiral (died 1853)

Admiral Sir Thomas Bladen Capel was a Royal Navy officer whose distinguished service in the French Revolutionary War, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 earned him rapid promotion and great acclaim both in and out of the Navy. He was also a great friend of Admiral Nelson and can be considered a full member of Nelson's band of brothers.

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25/08/1767

Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, French soldier and politician (died 1794)

Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just, sometimes nicknamed the Archangel of Terror, was a French revolutionary, political philosopher, member and president of the French National Convention, a Jacobin club leader, and a major figure of the French Revolution. The youngest person elected to the National Convention, he was a member of the Mountain faction and a steadfast supporter and close friend of Robespierre. He was swept away in Robespierre's downfall on 9 Thermidor, Year II.

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25/08/1758

Franz Teyber, Austrian organist and composer (died 1810)

Franz Teyber was an Austrian Kapellmeister, organist and composer of orchestral and chamber music. Studying under Georg Christoph Wagenseil, from 1786 he was director of the Schikaneder theatre company and from 1801 a composer and musical director of the Theater an der Wien. His sisters Elisabeth and Therese were opera singers, and his brother Anton worked as a composer to the Dresden opera and Vienna court.

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25/08/1744

Johann Gottfried Herder, German poet, philosopher, and critic (died 1803)

Johann Gottfried von Herder was a German philosopher, theologian, pastor, poet, and literary critic. Herder is associated with the Age of Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, and Weimar Classicism. He was a Romantic philosopher and poet who argued that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people. He also stated that it was through folk songs, folk poetry, and folk dances that the true spirit of the nation was popularized. He is credited with establishing or advancing a number of important disciplines: hermeneutics, linguistics, anthropology, and "a secular philosophy of history."

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25/08/1741

Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and author (died 1792)

Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, also spelled Carl Friedrich Bahrdt, was an unorthodox German Protestant biblical scholar, theologian, and polemicist. Controversial during his day, he is sometimes considered an "enfant terrible" and one of the most immoral characters in German learning.

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25/08/1724

George Stubbs, English painter and academic (died 1806)

George Stubbs was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses. Self-trained, Stubbs learnt his skills independently from other great artists of the 18th century such as Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. Stubbs' output includes history paintings, but his greatest skill was in painting animals, perhaps influenced by his love and study of anatomy. His series of paintings on the theme of a lion attacking a horse are early and significant examples of the Romantic movement that emerged in the late 18th century. He enjoyed royal patronage. His painting Whistlejacket hangs in the National Gallery, London.

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25/08/1707

Louis I of Spain (died 1724)

Louis I was King of Spain from 15 January 1724 until his death in August the same year. His reign is one of the shortest in history, lasting for just over seven months.

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25/08/1662

John Leverett the Younger, American lawyer, academic, and politician (died 1724)

John Leverett was an early Anglo-American lawyer, politician, educator, and President of Harvard College.

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25/08/1624

François de la Chaise, French priest (died 1709)

François de la Chaise, also known as Père Lachaise, was a French Jesuit priest, the father confessor of King Louis XIV of France.

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25/08/1605

Philipp Moritz, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg, German noble (died 1638)

Philipp Moritz of Hanau-Münzenberg succeeded his father as Count of Hanau-Münzenberg in 1612.

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25/08/1561

Philippe van Lansberge, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (died 1632)

Johan Philip Lansberge was a Flemish Calvinist Minister, astronomer and Mathematician. His name is sometimes written Lansberg, and his first name is sometimes given as Philip or Johannes Philippus. He published under the Latin name Philippus Lansbergius.

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25/08/1540

Lady Catherine Grey, English noblewoman (died 1568)

Katherine Seymour, Countess of Hertford was a younger sister of Lady Jane Grey.

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25/08/1530

Ivan the Terrible, Russian ruler (died 1584)

Ivan IV Vasilyevich, commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, was Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia from 1547 until his death in 1584. Ivan's reign was characterised by Russia's transformation from a medieval state to a fledgling empire, but at an immense cost to its people and long-term economy.

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25/08/1509

Ippolito II d'Este, Italian cardinal and statesman (died 1572)

Ippolito (II) d'Este was an Italian cardinal and statesman. He was a member of the House of Este, and nephew of the other Ippolito d'Este, also a cardinal. He despoiled the then 1,400-year-old Hadrian's Villa, built by the Roman emperor Hadrian, removing marbles and statues from it to decorate his own villa, the Villa d'Este.

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25/08/1491

Innocenzo Cybo, Italian cardinal (died 1550)

Innocenzo Cybo was an Italian cardinal and archbishop.

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25/08/1467

Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 2nd Duke of Alburquerque, Spanish duke (died 1526)

Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 2nd Duke of Alburquerque was a Spanish nobleman.

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