Born on Monday, 4th August – Famous Birthdays

04/08/1998

Lil Skies, American rapper

Kimetrius Christopher Foose, known by his stage name Lil Skies, is an American rapper and singer from Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. He signed with Atlantic Records in 2017 to release the singles "I", "Nowadays", and "Red Roses." The songs peaked at numbers 39, 55, and 69 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. His eighth mixtape and major label debut, Life of a Dark Rose (2018), peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200 and received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His debut studio album, Shelby (2019), and its follow-up Unbothered (2021), peaked at numbers five and 50 on the chart, respectively. He has since released the mixtape “Out Ur Body Music” in March 2024, and the album “Evolution of the Rose” in June 2025, and his new album “LS4*” will be released in 2026.

---

04/08/1995

Bruna Marquezine, Brazilian actress

Bruna Reis Maia, known professionally as Bruna Marquezine, is a Brazilian actress, filmmaker, and model. She debuted on television in 2000 as one of the children interviewers for the children's program Gente Inocente. She has been part of the cast of several telenovelas. Throughout her career, she has been awarded the Troféu Imprensa, Contigo Award! 2004, and Young Brazilian Award, among others. She plays Jenny Kord, a love interest for Jaime Reyes in the DC Universe film Blue Beetle (2023).

---

04/08/1994

Bobby Shmurda, American rapper

Ackquille Jean Pollard, known professionally as Bobby Shmurda, is an American rapper and songwriter. Along with Rowdy Rebel, Shmurda is considered a pioneer of Brooklyn drill music. He rose to international fame in 2014 when his single "Hot Nigga" peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. Its success led him to sign with Epic Records to release his debut extended play (EP), Shmurda She Wrote (2014).

---

04/08/1992

Daniele Garozzo, Italian fencer

Daniele Garozzo is an Italian right-handed foil fencer.

---

Domingo Germán, Dominican baseball player

Domingo Germán Polanco is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates.

---

Cole Sprouse, American actor

Cole Mitchell Sprouse is an American actor. He is known for his role as Cody Martin on the Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005–2008), and its spin-off series The Suite Life on Deck (2008–2011), and his role as Jughead Jones on The CW television series Riverdale (2017–2023). In his early career, Sprouse appeared in various projects with his twin brother Dylan Sprouse, including The Suite Life and Big Daddy (1999).

---

Dylan Sprouse, American actor

Dylan Thomas Sprouse is an American actor. He is known for his role as Zack Martin on the Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and its spin-off, The Suite Life on Deck, where he starred alongside his twin brother Cole Sprouse. He is an owner of the All-Wise Meadery in Brooklyn, New York.

---

04/08/1989

Jessica Mauboy, Australian singer-songwriter and actress

Jessica Hilda Mauboy is an Australian singer and actress. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the fourth season of Australian Idol, where she was runner-up and subsequently signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia. After releasing a live album of her Idol performances and briefly being a member of the girl group Young Divas in 2007, Mauboy released her debut studio album, Been Waiting, the following year. It included her first number-one single, "Burn", and became the second highest-selling Australian album of 2009, certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

---

Wang Hao, Chinese chess grandmaster

Wang Hao is a Chinese chess grandmaster. In November 2009, Wang became the fourth Chinese player to break through the 2700 Elo rating mark.

---

04/08/1988

Kelley O'Hara, American soccer player

Kelley Maureen O'Hara is an American former professional soccer player. She represented the United States national team on 160 occasions, winning two FIFA Women's World Cups and an Olympic gold medal. She spent most of her club career with National Women's Soccer League club NJ/NY Gotham FC. Known for her intensity, she played primarily as a wingback but played as a forward in college and occasionally played an attacking role in her professional career.

---

04/08/1987

Marreese Speights American basketball player

Marreese Akeem "Mo" Speights is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Florida Gators, where he was a freshman member of their NCAA national championship team in 2007. The Philadelphia 76ers selected Speights in the first round of the 2008 NBA draft with the 16th overall pick. With the Golden State Warriors, he won an NBA championship in 2015.

---

04/08/1986

Nick Augusto, American drummer

Nick Augusto is an American musician, best known as the former drummer of heavy metal band Trivium, in which he played from 2009 until 2014. He was the former touring drummer for Devil You Know/Light the Torch from 2016 to 2017.

---

Leon Camier, English motorcycle racer

Leon Stuart Camier is an English former solo motorcycle racer.

---

Cicinho, Brazilian footballer

Alex Sandro Mendonça dos Santos, commonly known as Cicinho, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a right back.

---

Iosia Soliola, New Zealand-Samoan rugby league player

Iosia Soliola is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League (NRL). He played for New Zealand and Samoa at international level.

---

David Williams, Australian rugby league player

David Williams is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played on the wing in the 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australia international representative, he played his entire professional career with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the NRL, winning the 2008 NRL Premiership with them.

---

04/08/1985

Crystal Bowersox, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Crystal Lynn Bowersox is an American singer, songwriter and actress who was the runner-up on the ninth season of American Idol. She was the first female finalist in three years.

---

Robbie Findley, American soccer player

Robert Findley is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He was capped 11 times by the United States national team, having made his international debut in 2007.

---

Mark Milligan, Australian footballer

Mark Daniel Milligan is an Australian former professional footballer and the current head coach of Newcastle Jets.

---

Ha Seung-jin, South Korean basketball player

Ha Seung-jin is a South Korean former professional basketball player who has played in the NBA and the NBA D-League. He was a second round draft pick of the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2004 NBA draft. At 7 ft 3 in, 305 lb, he was among the tallest players in the NBA. He is also the first and only South Korean to have played in the NBA.

---

Antonio Valencia, Ecuadorean footballer

Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera, known as Antonio Valencia, is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played primarily as a right-sided player throughout his career, initially as a right winger, before developing into a right-back. He is regarded as one of the best Ecuadorian footballers of all time.

---

04/08/1984

Terry Campese, Australian rugby league player

Terry Campese is a former professional rugby league footballer. A former Australia, Italy and New South Wales State of Origin representative five-eighth, he is also the nephew of rugby union player David Campese. He previously played for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League and Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League.

---

Mardy Collins, American basketball player

Maurice Rodney "Mardy" Collins is an American former professional basketball player. He completed his college basketball career at Temple University, and was drafted by the New York Knicks with the 29th pick of the first round of the 2006 NBA draft. Collins played for the Knicks for two seasons and then played for the Los Angeles Clippers from 2008 to 2010. Since 2011, Collins has played in various international leagues.

---

04/08/1983

Greta Gerwig, American actress, producer, and screenwriter

Greta Celeste Gerwig is an American actress, screenwriter, and film director. She was initially known for working on various mumblecore films, such as Baghead (2008) and Yeast (2008), in which she became an important figure in the movement. Since then she has expanded from acting in and co-writing independent films to directing major studio films. Gerwig was included in the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world in 2018.

---

04/08/1981

Marques Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

Marques Barrett Houston is an American R&B singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. Houston began his singing career in 1990, performing with IMx, and found popularity as an actor for his portrayal of Roger Evans in the teen sitcom Sister, Sister from 1994 to 1999.

---

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, American member of British royal family, media personality and actress

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is an American member of the British royal family, media personality, entrepreneur, and actress. She is married to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of King Charles III.

---

04/08/1980

Richard Dawson, English cricketer and coach

Richard Kevin James Dawson is an English cricket coach and former player, who is currently the head coach of Glamorgan County Cricket Club. As a player, he was primarily a bowler who bowled off-spin. He earned seven caps for England between 2001 and 2003, taking a total of 11 wickets.

---

04/08/1979

Robin Peterson, South African cricketer

Robin John Peterson is a former South African cricketer who bowls left-arm spin and is a capable batsman. He has played 15 Tests and over 70 ODIs for South Africa. He announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 9 November 2016.

---

04/08/1978

Jeremy Adduono, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Jeremy Adduono is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. He was drafted in the seventh round, 184th overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft from the Ontario Hockey League's Sudbury Wolves.

---

Luke Allen, American baseball player (died 2022)

Lucas Gale Allen, was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies from 2002–2003.

---

Kurt Busch, American race car driver

Kurt Thomas Busch is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is best known for competing in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2000 to 2022, last driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. Busch is the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion and the 2017 Daytona 500 winner. He is the older brother of two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch.

---

Agnė Eggerth, Lithuanian sprinter

Agnė Visockaitė-Eggerth is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Lithuania.

---

Ricardo Serrano, Spanish cyclist

Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez is a Spanish retired racing cyclist.

---

Per-Åge Skrøder, Norwegian ice hockey player

Per-Åge Skrøder is a Norwegian former ice hockey player, who last played for Modo in the HockeyAllsvenskan (Allsv).

---

Satoshi Hino, Japanese voice actor

Satoshi Hino is a Japanese voice actor. He is known for his roles in various anime series, such as Shakugan no Shana, The Familiar of Zero, Gintama, Nabari no Ou, Naruto Shippuuden, Overlord, and Yowamushi Pedal.

---

04/08/1977

Frankie Kazarian, American wrestler

Frank Benedict Gerdelman is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he performs under the ring name Frankie Kazarian. He is a former one-time TNA World Champion. He is also known for his work in Ring of Honor (ROH) and All Elite Wrestling (AEW), as well as several independent promotions, most notably Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he has won multiple tag-team and singles championships.

---

Luís Boa Morte, Portuguese footballer and manager

Luís Boa Morte Pereira is a Portuguese football coach and a former professional football player who played as an attacking winger, forward and centre midfielder. He is currently assistant coach of Thomas Reis at Samsunspor.

---

04/08/1976

Paul Goldstein, American tennis player

Paul Herbert Goldstein is an American tennis coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal men's tennis team.

---

Andrew McLeod, Australian footballer

Andrew Luke McLeod is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the games record holder for Adelaide, having played 340 games.

---

Trevor Woodman, English rugby player and coach

Trevor James Woodman MBE is a former English rugby union footballer. He was born in Plymouth, but went to Liskeard School in Cornwall and won representative honours with Cornwall Under 16s.

---

04/08/1975

Andy Hallett, American actor and singer (died 2009)

Andrew Alcott Hallett was an American actor and singer who became best known for playing the part of Lorne in the television series Angel (2000–2004). He used his singing talents often on the show, and performed two songs on the series' 2005 soundtrack album, Angel: Live Fast, Die Never.

---

Nikos Liberopoulos, Greek footballer

Nikos Liberopoulos is a retired Greek former professional international footballer who played as a forward. He is famous for his aim-to-goal shot, his innate in-play instincts, and his technical attacking skills. Liberopoulos is a unique player in Greek domestic football, as he is equally adored by fans of both AEK Athens and Panathinaikos. He is the only player to be recorded in the top ten scorers of all time for both these teams. Indeed, after seven seasons at Panathinaikos Liberopoulos scored 103 goals. On 10 May 2012, he reached a milestone 100 goals for AEK Athens after a brace against Atromitos, making him the only player in history to score a hundred goals for both Athens clubs. On 8 September 2017, he became the Technical Director of AEK.

---

Jutta Urpilainen, Finnish politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Finland

Jutta Pauliina Urpilainen is a Finnish politician. She was the first female chair of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, which she led from 2008 to 2014. She was the Minister of Finance as well as the Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 2011 to 2014. Between 2019 and 2024, she served as the European Commissioner for International Partnerships in the first von der Leyen Commission. Urpilainen was a candidate in the 2024 election for President of Finland, receiving 4.3% of the vote.

---

Daniella van Graas, Dutch model and actress

Daniella van Graas is a Dutch fashion model, cover girl, and actress. She has appeared in movies, on television, and between 1997 and 2003, on the cover of several magazines. In 2012, she was featured in the Dutch television show The Prettiest Girl in Class.

---

04/08/1974

Kily González, Argentine footballer

Cristian Alberto 'Kily' González Peret is an Argentine football manager and former professional player who played mainly as a left winger.

---

04/08/1973

Eva Amaral, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist

Eva María Amaral Lallana is a Spanish singer-songwriter, and a member of the group Amaral with Juan Aguirre.

---

Xavier Marchand, French swimmer

Xavier Marchand is a former French medley swimmer, who competed in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. He won the silver medal in the men's 200 metres individual medley event at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships in Perth, Australia.

---

Marek Penksa, Slovak footballer

Marek Penksa is a Slovak former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played for the Slovak national team.

---

Marcos Roberto Silveira Reis, Brazilian footballer

Marcos Roberto Silveira dos Reis, known as Marcos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was the starting goalkeeper of the 2002 FIFA World Cup-winning Brazilian squad and is regarded by pundits as one of the greatest Brazilian goalkeepers of all time.

---

04/08/1972

Stefan Brogren, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

Stefan Brogren is a Canadian actor, director, and producer who is best known for his mainstay role as Archie "Snake" Simpson in the Degrassi television franchise. First appearing as a student in the second series Degrassi Junior High (1987–1989) and continuing into Degrassi High (1989–1991), Brogren played the role of Snake throughout every subsequent entry in the franchise, reprising his role in the revival Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001–2015) as a teacher and later principal, and again in Degrassi: Next Class (2016–17).

---

04/08/1971

Jeff Gordon, American race car driver and actor

Jeffery Michael Gordon is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series and Sprint Cup Series, and also served as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in select races during the 2016 season. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential drivers in NASCAR history, helping the sport reach mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s.

---

04/08/1970

John August, American director and screenwriter

John August is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is known for writing the films Go (1999), Charlie's Angels (2000), Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Big Fish (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Frankenweenie (2012), the Disney live-action adaptation of Aladdin (2019), the novels Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire (2018), Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon (2019) and Arlo Finch in the Kingdom of Shadows (2020).

---

Bret Baier, American journalist

William Bret Baier is an American journalist and the host of Special Report with Bret Baier on Fox News and the chief political anchor for Fox. He previously worked as the network's Chief White House Correspondent and Pentagon correspondent.

---

Kate Silverton, English journalist

Kate Silverton is an English child therapist. She formerly worked as a broadcaster and newsreader for the BBC. Silverton was a regular presenter of BBC News at One and BBC Weekend News, as well as making occasional appearances on the BBC News Channel and BBC World News. In 2018 she participated in series 16 of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, where she was paired with professional dancer Aljaž Škorjanec and finished in 8th place.

---

04/08/1969

Max Cavalera, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Massimiliano Antonio "Max" Cavalera is a Brazilian musician. He co-founded the heavy metal band Sepultura in 1984 with his brother Igor Cavalera, and was the band's lead singer and rhythm guitarist until his departure in 1997. He currently plays in the heavy metal bands Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, Nailbomb, Killer Be Killed and Go Ahead and Die.

---

04/08/1968

Daniel Dae Kim, South Korean-American actor

Daniel Dae Kim is an American actor. He is known for his many roles in network television and theater. In 2025, Time magazine listed him as one of the world's 100 most influential people.

---

Lee Mack, English comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter

Lee Gordon McKillop, known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian and actor. Mack created, co-writes and stars in the sitcom Not Going Out, and is a regular team captain on the panel show Would I Lie to You?. In 2022 he began hosting the game show The 1% Club.

---

04/08/1967

Michael Marsh, American sprinter

Michael Lawrence Marsh is a retired American sprinter, the 1992 Olympic champion in the 200 m.

---

04/08/1965

Vishal Bhardwaj, Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer

Vishal Bhardwaj is an Indian filmmaker, music composer, and playback singer. He is known for his work in Hindi cinema, and is the recipient of nine National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award.

---

Adam Afriyie, English businessman and politician

Adam Mensah Osei Afriyie is a British politician who served as the member of parliament (MP) for Windsor from 2005 to 2024. He is a member of the Conservative Party.

---

Dennis Lehane, American author, screenwriter, and producer

Dennis Lehane is an American author and screenwriter. He has published more than a dozen novels; the first several were a series of mysteries featuring recurring characters, including A Drink Before the War (1994). Four of his novels have been adapted into films of the same names: Clint Eastwood's Mystic River (2003), Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island (2010), and Gone Baby Gone (2007) and Live by Night (2016), both directed by Ben Affleck. His short story "Animal Rescue" was also adapted into the 2014 film The Drop, noted for being the final film role for actor James Gandolfini.

---

Fredrik Reinfeldt, Swedish soldier and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Sweden

John Fredrik Reinfeldt is a Swedish economist and former politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014 and as Leader of the Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015. He was the last rotating President of the European Council in 2009. He was also chairman of the Swedish Football Association from 2023 to 2025.

---

Michael Skibbe, German footballer and manager

Michael Heinz Skibbe is a German former football player and current manager of J1 League club Vissel Kobe.

---

04/08/1964

Andrew Bartlett, Australian social worker and politician

Andrew John Julian Bartlett is an Australian politician, social worker, academic, and social campaigner who served as a Senator for Queensland from 1997 to 2008 and from 2017 to 2018. He represented the Australian Democrats in his first stint in the Senate, including as party leader from 2002 to 2004 and deputy leader from 2004 to 2008. In November 2017, he returned to the Senate as a member of the Australian Greens, replacing Larissa Waters after her disqualification during the parliamentary eligibility crisis. He resigned from the Senate in August 2018 in an unsuccessful attempt to win the House of Representatives seat of Brisbane, allowing Waters to fill his seat in advance of the 2019 election.

---

04/08/1963

Keith Maurice Ellison, 30th Attorney General of Minnesota

Keith Maurice Ellison is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota since 2019. From 2007 to 2019, Ellison was the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district, representing the Minneapolis region. He also served as Deputy Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2017 to 2018 and was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007. He is a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL).

---

04/08/1962

Roger Clemens, American baseball player and actor

William Roger Clemens, nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees and also played for the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros. He was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time MLB All-Star and two-time World Series champion, Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.

---

Paul Reynolds, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Paul Reynolds is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained fame as the lead guitarist of the new wave band A Flock of Seagulls. AllMusic writer Tom Demalon praised Reynolds for his unique guitar style, which set his band apart from other synth-heavy acts of the time.

---

04/08/1961

Barack Obama, American lawyer and politician, 44th President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.

---

04/08/1960

Chuck C. Lopez, American jockey

Charles C. Lopez is an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. Recorded as "Charles," he is the son of jockey Carlos Lopez, Sr. His own sons, Erick and David Lopez, are also jockeys.

---

Dean Malenko, American wrestler

Dean Shelly Simon, better known by the ring name Dean Malenko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a senior producer. He is best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling as a wrestler and World Wrestling Federation as a wrestler and a road agent and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

---

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spanish academic and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Spain

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he would not stand for re-election in the 2011 general election and left office on 21 December 2011.

---

Bernard Rose, English director, screenwriter, and cinematographer

Bernard Rose is an English filmmaker, considered a pioneer of digital filmmaking. He is best known for directing the horror films Paperhouse (1988) and Candyman (1992), the historical romances Immortal Beloved (1994) and Anna Karenina (1997), and the independent drama Ivans xtc (2000), for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director and the John Cassavetes Award. He has also been nominated for the Grand Prix des Amériques and the Venice Horizons Prize. He has frequently cast actors Danny Huston and Tony Todd in his films. In the 1980s, he directed music videos for UB40, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Bronski Beat.

---

Tim Winton, Australian author and playwright

Timothy John Winton is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the Miles Franklin Award four times.

---

04/08/1959

Robbin Crosby, American guitarist and songwriter (died 2002)

Robbinson Lantz Crosby was an American guitarist who was a member of glam metal band Ratt, earning several platinum albums in the US in the 1980s. Crosby died in 2002 from a heroin overdose.

---

John Gormley, Irish politician, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

John Gormley is an Irish former Green Party politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from June 2007 to January 2011, Leader of the Green Party from June 2007 to May 2011 and Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1994 to 1995. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin South-East from 1997 to 2011.

---

04/08/1958

Allison Hedge Coke, American-Canadian poet and academic

Allison Adelle Hedge Coke is an American poet and editor. Her debut book, Dog Road Woman, won the American Book Award and was the first finalist of the Paterson Poetry Prize and Diane DeCora Award. Since then, she has written five more books and edited eight anthologies. She is known for addressing issues of culture, prejudice, rights, the environment, peace, violence, abuse, and labor in her poetry and other creative works.

---

Mary Decker, American runner

Mary Teresa Decker, is an American retired middle-distance and long-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships and was the world-record holder in the mile, 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. In total, she set 17 official and unofficial world records, and she was the first woman to break 4:20 for the mile. She also set 36 U.S. national records at distances ranging from 800 meters to 10,000 meters, and has held the U.S. record in the 2000 meters and 3000 meters since the early 1980s, while her 1500 meters record stood for 32 years and her mile record stood for 38 years. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. She was retroactively banned for two years from June 1996 for a doping violation for a high testosterone to epitestosterone ratio.

---

Silvan Shalom, Tunisian-Israeli sergeant and politician, 30th Deputy Prime Minister of Israel

Zion Silvan Shalom is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1992 and 2015. He held several prominent ministerial positions, including Vice Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. He resigned on 24 December 2015 following allegations of sexual harassment. Later on, the Attorney-General closed this investigation and said these claims were unsubstantiated.

---

Brian Voss, American bowler

Brian Voss in Cornelius, North Carolina, is a professional ten-pin bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association since 1982 at aged 24. The right-hander owns 25 PBA Tour titles, including one major championship, plus two titles on the PBA50 Tour and one PBA60 event title. He was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1994 and the USBC Hall of Fame in 2007.

---

04/08/1957

Rupert Farley, British actor and voice actor

Rupert Charles Farley is an English actor and voice over artist. He has had various roles in movies such as From Hell, The Young Poisoner's Handbook, Shakespeare in Love and Mrs Brown. He is probably best known for his voice acting work, which includes voice over work for television advertisements and animation. He is well known through voice work of Tube Mice, some of Bernard Cornwall's Sharpe Novels, The Animals of Farthing Wood television series; he voiced several characters, including Fox, Plucky, Trey, Brat and Mr. Pheasant.

---

Brooks D. Simpson, American historian and author

Brooks Donohue Simpson is an American historian and an ASU Foundation Professor of History at Arizona State University, specializing in American political and military history, especially the American Civil War and Reconstruction eras and the American presidency.

---

Valdis Valters, Latvian basketball player and coach

Valdis Valters is a retired Latvian professional basketball player. He played at the point guard position for the senior USSR national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest players to have played the game in Europe in the 1980s. Considering his lengthy work and deep connection to the sport, Valters has been one of the most influential people in Latvian basketball history. He became a FIBA Hall of Fame player in 2017.

---

John Wark, Scottish footballer and sportscaster

John Wark is a Scottish former footballer who spent most of his playing time with Ipswich Town. He won a record four Player of the Year awards before becoming one of the four inaugural members of the club's Hall of Fame. Wark had long spells at the club, which bookended his career, and a third, brief interlude dividing his briefer periods at Liverpool and Middlesbrough. A versatile player, Wark played most of his professional games as a midfielder, although he sometimes played as a central defender and on occasion as a striker.

---

04/08/1955

Alberto Gonzales, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 80th United States Attorney General

Alberto Reynaldo Gonzales is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States attorney general from 2005 to 2007. He was the highest-ranking Hispanic American in the executive government in American history until the appointment of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State in 2025. He previously served as Secretary of State of Texas, as a Texas Supreme Court Justice, and as White House Counsel, becoming the first Hispanic to hold that office.

---

Billy Bob Thornton, American actor, director, and screenwriter

Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter. He received international attention after writing, directing and starring in the independent drama film Sling Blade (1996), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. For his role in A Simple Plan (1998), he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

---

04/08/1954

Anatoliy Kinakh, Ukrainian engineer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Ukraine

Anatoliy Kyrylovych Kinakh is a Ukrainian politician and honorary professor at the Mykolaiv Government Humanitarian University. Kinakh is a former People's Deputy of Ukraine. Kinakh currently serves as the leader of Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Ukraine.

---

Steve Phillips, English footballer

Steven Edward Phillips is an English former professional footballer who had a long career as a forward for a number of teams in the Football League in the 1970s and 1980s. He scored 200 goals from 562 league appearances.

---

François Valéry, Algerian-French singer-songwriter

François Valéry is a French singer-songwriter and composer. He is married to Nicole Calfan and Michael Calfan is his son.

---

04/08/1953

Hiroyuki Usui, Japanese footballer and manager

Hiroyuki Usui is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. His son Kempei Usui is also a footballer.

---

04/08/1952

James Arbuthnot, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

James Norwich Arbuthnot, Baron Arbuthnot of Edrom,, is a British Conservative Party politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Wanstead and Woodford from 1987 to 1997, and then MP for North East Hampshire from 1997 to 2015.

---

Moya Brennan, Irish singer-songwriter and harp player (died 2026)

Moya Brennan, also known as Máire Brennan, was an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist and philanthropist. She began performing professionally in 1970 when her family formed the band Clannad. Brennan released her first solo album in 1992 called Máire, a successful venture. In 1999, she collaborated with Chicane on the single "Saltwater" which reached the top ten in various countries including the United Kingdom, Belgium and Scotland, and was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

---

Gábor Demszky, Hungarian sociologist, lawyer, and politician

Gábor Demszky is a Hungarian politician, lawyer and sociologist by qualification. Demszky was the Mayor of Budapest from 1990 to 2010. He was a founding member of the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) between 1988 and 2010.

---

04/08/1951

Peter Goodfellow, English geneticist and academic

Peter Neville Goodfellow is a British geneticist best known for his work on sex determination and the SRY gene that encodes testis determining factor. He was Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics at the University of Cambridge from 1992 to 1996.

---

04/08/1950

Caldwell Jones, American basketball player and coach (died 2014)

Caldwell "Pops" Jones Jr. was an American professional basketball player.

---

N. Rangaswamy, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Chief Minister of Puducherry

Natesan Krishnasamy Gounder Rangaswamy is an Indian politician who is serving as the Chief Minister of Puducherry since May 2021. He has previously served as the chief minister from 2001 to 2008 and from 2011 to 2016. He is the founding president of the political party All India N.R. Congress (AINRC), which was formed after a breakaway from the Indian National Congress in 2011.

---

04/08/1949

John Riggins, American football player, sportscaster, and actor

Robert John Riggins, nicknamed "Riggo" and "Diesel", is an American former professional football fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. He played college football for the Kansas Jayhawks. Riggins was known for his "bell cow" running style and productivity well into the later years of his career. In the 1983 season, at age 34, he rushed for a then-NFL record of 24 touchdowns, a record which stood for almost 20 seasons. Riggins again led the league in rushing touchdowns during the 1984 season at age 35. Although he earned only one Pro Bowl appearance in his career, Riggins had his greatest success in the postseason and was named MVP of Super Bowl XVII where he scored one touchdown and rushed for 166 yards in a 27–17 win for the Redskins over the Miami Dolphins. Riggins was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992.

---

04/08/1948

Johnny Grubb, American baseball player and coach

John Maywood Grubb, Jr. is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder and designated hitter, who also occasionally played at first base. He played with the San Diego Padres (1972–1976), Cleveland Indians (1977–1978), Texas Rangers (1978–1982), and the Detroit Tigers (1983–1987).

---

04/08/1947

Klaus Schulze, German keyboard player and songwriter (died 2022)

Klaus Schulze was a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried and was a member of the Krautrock bands Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and the Cosmic Jokers before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across six decades.

---

04/08/1946

Aleksei Turovski, Estonian zoologist and ethologist

Aleksei Turovski is an Estonian zoologist and ethologist, specialising in parasitology and zoosemiotics. In 1973, he graduated from Tartu University with a degree in zoology; since 1972 he's been working in the Tallinn Zoo. In 1976–2001, Turovski worked in the Estonian Marine Institute.

---

04/08/1945

Paul McCarthy, American painter and sculptor

Paul McCarthy is an American artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

---

Alan Mulally, American engineer and businessman

Alan Roger Mulally is an American aerospace engineer and manufacturing executive. He was passed over as CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and left to become the president and chief executive officer of the Ford Motor Company from 2006 to 2014.

---

04/08/1944

Richard Belzer, American actor (died 2023)

Richard Jay Belzer was an American actor, comedian, and author. He was best known for his role as BPD Detective, NYPD Detective/sergeant and investigator John Munch, whom he portrayed for 23 years in the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and in several guest appearances on other series.

---

Doudou Ndoye, Senegalese lawyer and politician

Doudou Ndoye is a Senegalese lawyer and politician who served in the government of Senegal as Minister of Justice from 1983 to 1986. He is the Secretary-General of the Union for the Republic (UPR), a political party he founded in 2000, and was a candidate in the 2007 presidential election.

---

04/08/1943

Vicente Álvarez Areces, Spanish politician, 6th President of the Principality of Asturias (died 2019)

Vicente Alberto Álvarez Areces, also known as Tini Areces, was a Spanish politician. He served as the sixth President of the Principality of Asturias in Spain, and he was a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party political party. He was also a member of the Committee of the Regions, working as a vice-president of the Party of European Socialists Group.

---

Barbara Saß-Viehweger, German politician, lawyer and civil law notary

Barbara Saß-Viehweger is a German civil law notary, lawyer, and politician. She is member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.

---

Bjørn Wirkola, Norwegian ski jumper and footballer

Bjørn Tore Wirkola is a Norwegian former ski jumper.

---

04/08/1942

Don S. Davis, American actor (died 2008)

Donald Sinclair Davis was an American actor best known for playing General George Hammond in the television series Stargate SG-1 (1997–2007), and earlier for playing Major Garland Briggs on the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991) and Captain William Scully in The X-Files. In animation, he was also known as Wild Bill in the 2003 direct-to-video animated movie G.I. Joe: Spy Troops and its 2004 sequel, G.I. Joe: Valor vs. Venom. He was also a theater professor, painter, and United States Army captain.

---

Cleon Jones, American baseball player

Cleon Joseph Jones is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left fielder. Jones played most of his career for the New York Mets and in 1969 caught the final out of the "Miracle Mets" World Series Championship over the Baltimore Orioles.

---

David Lange, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 2005)

David Russell Lange was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Lange was also the minister of Education and the minister of Foreign Affairs alongside his term as prime minister. He was also the attorney-general of New Zealand from 1989 to 1990.

---

04/08/1941

Martin Jarvis, English actor

Martin Jarvis OBE is an English actor. Described by the BBC as "one of Britain's most distinguished and versatile actors", he has had a varied career in theatre, film and television, and is particularly noted for radio acting and voicing audiobooks.

---

Andy Smillie, English footballer

Andrew Thomas Smillie is an English former professional footballer who played as an inside forward.

---

Cliff Nobles, American musician (died 2008)

Clifford James Nobles was an American soul singer, who is best known for his instrumental hit, "The Horse".

---

Ted Strickland, American psychologist and politician, 68th Governor of Ohio

Theodore Strickland is an American politician who served as the 68th governor of Ohio from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 6th congressional district. As of 2026, he is the most recent Democrat to serve as governor of Ohio.

---

04/08/1940

Coriún Aharonián, Uruguayan composer and musicologist (died 2017)

Coriún Aharonián was an Uruguayan composer and musicologist of Armenian ethnicity.

---

Robin Harper, Scottish academic and politician

Robin Charles Moreton Harper, is a Scottish politician, who was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothians region (1999–2011).

---

Larry Knechtel, American bass player and pianist (died 2009)

Lawrence William Knechtel was an American keyboard player and bassist who was a member of the Wrecking Crew, a collection of Los Angeles–based session musicians who worked with such renowned artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, the Beach Boys, the Mamas & the Papas, the Monkees, the Partridge Family, Billy Joel, the Doors, the Byrds, the Grass Roots, Jerry Garcia, and Elvis Presley. He also was a member of the 1970s band Bread.

---

Frances Stewart, English economist and academic

Frances Julia Stewart is professor emeritus of development economics and director of the Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity (CRISE), University of Oxford. A pre-eminent development economist, she was named one of fifty outstanding technological leaders for 2003 by Scientific American. She was president of the Human Development and Capability Association from 2008 to 2010.

---

Timi Yuro, American singer-songwriter (died 2004)

Rosemary Victoria Yuro, known professionally as Timi Yuro, was an American singer. Sometimes called "the little girl with the big voice", she is considered to be one of the first blue-eyed soul stylists of the rock era. Yuro possessed a contralto vocal range. According to one critic, "her deep, strident, almost masculine voice, staggered delivery and the occasional sob created a compelling musical presence".

---

04/08/1939

Jack Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling, English politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office

John Anderson Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling, is a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament for over 30 years, serving for Whitehaven from 1970 to 1983 and then Copeland until the 2005 general election, and had served in the Cabinet of Tony Blair.

---

Frankie Ford, American R&B/rock and roll singer (died 2015)

Frankie Ford was an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer, best known for his 1959 hit "Sea Cruise".

---

04/08/1938

Ellen Schrecker, American historian and academic

Ellen Wolf Schrecker is an American professor emerita of American history at Yeshiva University. She has received the Frederick Ewen Academic Freedom Fellowship at the Tamiment Library at New York University. She is known primarily for her work in the history of McCarthyism. Historian Ronald Radosh has described her as "the dean of the anti-anti-Communist historians."

---

04/08/1937

David Bedford, English keyboard player, composer, and conductor (died 2011)

David Vickerman Bedford was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter and author Herbert Bedford and the composer Liza Lehmann, and the son of Leslie Bedford, an inventor, and Lesley Duff, a soprano opera singer.

---

04/08/1936

Giorgos Zographos, Greek singer and actor (died 2005)

Giorgos Zographos was a Greek musician and actor.

---

04/08/1935

Carol Arthur, American actress and producer (died 2020)

Carol Arthur DeLuise, known professionally as Carol Arthur, was an American actress, mainly recognizable in supporting roles in films directed by Mel Brooks.

---

Hans-Walter Eigenbrodt, German footballer and coach (died 1997)

Hans-Walter Eigenbrodt was a German football player. The defender won with Eintracht Frankfurt the German championship in 1959 and reached with the club the legendary 1960 European Cup Final against Real Madrid.

---

Michael J. Noonan, Irish farmer and politician, 25th Minister of Defence for Ireland (died 2013)

Michael Joseph Noonan was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He served as Minister for Defence from 1987 until 1989.

---

04/08/1934

Dallas Green, American baseball player and manager (died 2017)

George Dallas Green was an American professional baseball pitcher, manager, scout and executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played big league baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Senators and New York Mets, from 1960 through 1967. A man of towering stature, at 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) tall and 210 pounds (95 kg), Green achieved notoriety for his blunt manner. He possessed a booming voice and achieved many successes over a baseball career that lasted over 60 years.

---

04/08/1932

Frances E. Allen, American computer scientist and academic (died 2020)

Frances Elizabeth Allen was an American computer scientist and pioneer in the field of optimizing compilers. Allen was the first woman to become an IBM Fellow, and in 2006 became the first woman to win the Turing Award. Her achievements include seminal work in compilers, program optimization, and parallelization. She worked for IBM from 1957 to 2002 and subsequently was a Fellow Emerita.

---

Liang Congjie, Chinese environmentalist, founded Friends of Nature (died 2010)

Liang Congjie was a Chinese historian best known for his work as an environmental activist who established the Friends of Nature in 1994 as the first environmental non-governmental organization to be officially recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China.

---

04/08/1931

Naren Tamhane, Indian cricketer (died 2002)

Narendra Shankar Tamhane was an Indian cricketer who played in 21 Test matches from 1955 to 1960. He was a wicket-keeper-batsman.

---

04/08/1930

Ali al-Sistani, Iranian-Iraqi cleric and scholar

Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani is an Islamic scholar and the dean of the Hawza in Najaf, Iraq. A Grand Ayatollah, Sistani is considered one of the leading religious leaders of Twelver Shia Muslims. After the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent overthrow of the authoritarian Baathist regime, Sistani advocated for democratization instead of the system of Wilayat al-Faqih. He has likewise endorsed rule of law, Iraqi nationalism, non-sectarianism and popular sovereignty. He has been a vocal critic of foreign interference in Iraqi affairs and has warned foreign actors against imposing their will on the Iraqi people.

---

04/08/1929

Kishore Kumar, Indian singer-songwriter and actor (died 1987)

Kishore Kumar was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. Kumar was one of the most popular singers in the Indian subcontinent, notable for his yodelling and ability to sing songs in different voices. He used to sing in different genres but some of his rare compositions, considered classics, were lost in time. In 2013, Kumar was voted "The Most Popular Male Playback Singer" in a poll conducted by the Filmfare magazine.

---

Vellore G. Ramabhadran, Mridangam artiste from Tamil Nadu, India (died 2012)

Vellore G. Ramabhadran was a Mridangam artiste from Tamil Nadu, India. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2004.

---

04/08/1928

Gerard Damiano, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2008)

Gerardo Rocco "Gerard" Damiano was an American director of adult films.

---

Nadežka Mosusova, Serbian composer

Nadežda Mosusova (Nadezda) is a Serbian composer and musicologist. She was born in Subotica, Serbia, and studied composition with Predrag Milosevic at the Belgrade Academy of Music. She continued her studies at the Salzburg Seminar on Contemporary American Music and received her doctorate in musicology in Ljubljana. After completing her studies, she took a position as professor at the Stanković Musical School in Belgrade.

---

Clarke Reed, American businessman and politician (died 2024)

Clarke Thomas Reed Sr. was an American businessman and politician. He served as Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party from 1966 to 1976. Prior to his political career, Reed was an agricultural businessman and a graduate in economics.

---

04/08/1926

George Irving Bell, American physicist, biologist, and mountaineer (died 2000)

George Irving Bell was an American physicist, biologist, and mountaineer, and a grandson of John Joseph Seerley. He died in 2000 from complications of leukemia after surgery.

---

Perry Moss, American football player and coach (died 2014)

Perry Lee Moss was an American professional football player, coach, and executive. Moss played tailback at the University of Tulsa and quarterback at Illinois during the 1940s. As a Tulsa tailback, he was on the Orange Bowl team that beat Georgia Tech, 26–12, in the 1945 Orange Bowl and later as an Illinois T-quarterback, he directed a Rose Bowl team which routed UCLA, 45–14, in 1947. Moss served two years in the United States Air Force between his playing time at Tulsa and Illinois. At Illinois, he was named to All-Big Ten Conference and All-American teams. He was drafted in 1948 by the Green Bay Packers in the 13th round and played at the professional level for one year before returning to Illinois as an assistant. He started one game at quarterback for the Packers.

---

04/08/1922

Mayme Agnew Clayton, American librarian (died 2006)

Mayme Agnew Clayton was a librarian, and the founder, president, and leader of the Western States Black Research and Education Center (WSBREC), the largest privately held collection of African-American historical materials in the world. The collection represents the core holdings of the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum (MCLM), formerly located in Culver City, California. This collection was curated and managed by her son, Avery Clayton. The museum is the largest and most academically substantial independently held collection of objects, documents, and memorabilia on African American history and culture. On July 31, 2019, the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum closed permanently. The bulk of its collections went to the West Los Angeles College in unincorporated Los Angeles County on a temporary basis.

---

Luis Aponte Martínez, Puerto Rican cardinal (died 2012)

Luis Aponte Martínez was a Puerto Rican Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of San Juan from 1965 to 1999. He is the only Puerto Rican to have been named a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He participated as an elector in the two conclaves of 1978, which elected Popes John Paul I and John Paul II.

---

04/08/1921

Herb Ellis, American guitarist (died 2010)

Mitchell Herbert Ellis was an American jazz guitarist. During the 1950s, he was in a trio with pianist Oscar Peterson.

---

Maurice Richard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2000)

Joseph Henri Maurice "Rocket" Richard was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season, accomplishing the feat in 50 games in 1944–45, and the first to reach 500 career goals.

---

04/08/1920

Helen Thomas, American journalist and author (died 2013)

Helen Amelia Thomas was an American reporter and author, and a long-serving member of the White House press corps. She covered the White House during the administrations of ten U.S. presidents—from the beginning of the Kennedy administration to the second year of the Obama administration.

---

04/08/1919

Michel Déon, French novelist, playwright, and critic (died 2016)

Michel Déon was a French novelist and literary columnist. He published over 50 works and was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Prix Interallié for his 1970 novel, Les Poneys sauvages. Déon's 1973 novel Un taxi mauve received the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française. His novels have been translated into numerous languages.

---

04/08/1918

Brian Crozier, Australian-English historian and journalist (died 2012)

Brian Rossiter Crozier was a British historian, propagandist and journalist. He was also one of the central staff members of a secret propaganda department belonging to the UK Foreign Office, known as the Information Research Department (IRD) which republished and supported much of his work.

---

04/08/1917

John Fitch, American race car driver and engineer (died 2012)

John Cooper Fitch was an American racing driver and inventor. He was the first American to race automobiles successfully in Europe in the post-war era.

---

04/08/1915

Warren Avis, American businessman, founded Avis Rent a Car System (died 2007)

Warren Edward Avis was an American entrepreneur who founded Avis Car Rentals in 1946.

---

04/08/1913

Wesley Addy, American actor (died 1996)

Robert Wesley Addy was an American actor of stage, television, and film.

---

Robert Hayden, American poet and educator (died 1980)

Robert Hayden was an American poet, essayist, and educator. He served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1976 to 1978, a role today known as US Poet Laureate. He was the first African-American writer to hold the office.

---

04/08/1912

Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov, Russian mathematician, physicist, and mountaineer (died 1999)

Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov was a Soviet and Russian mathematician, physicist, philosopher and mountaineer.

---

David Raksin, American composer and educator (died 2004)

David Raksin was an American composer noted for his work in film and television. Raksin had more than 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit. Some sources called him the "Grandfather of Film Music".

---

Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish architect and diplomat, savior of thousands of Jews from The Holocaust (died ~1947)

Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish architect, businessman, diplomat, and humanitarian. He saved thousands of Jews in German-occupied Hungary during the Holocaust from German Nazis and Hungarian fascists during the later stages of World War II. While serving as Sweden's special envoy in Budapest between July and December 1944, Wallenberg issued protective passports and sheltered Jews in buildings which he declared as Swedish territory.

---

04/08/1910

Anita Page, American actress (died 2008)

Anita Page was an American film actress who reached stardom in the final years of the silent film era.

---

William Schuman, American composer and educator (died 1992)

William Howard Schuman was an American composer and arts administrator.

---

Hedda Sterne, Romanian-American painter and photographer (died 2011)

Hedda Sterne was a Romanian-born American artist who was an active member of the New York School of painters. Her work is often associated with Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism. She was also the only woman to appear in the famous photograph of abstract expressionist artists dubbed "The Irascibles", although the group included other women.

---

04/08/1909

Glenn Cunningham, American runner and academic (died 1988)

Glenn Vernice Cunningham was an American middle-distance runner, and was considered the greatest American miler of all time. He received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States in 1933.

---

04/08/1908

Kurt Eichhorn, German conductor (died 1994)

Kurt Peter Eichhorn, was a German conductor.

---

04/08/1906

Eugen Schuhmacher, German zoologist, director, and producer (died 1973)

Eugen Schuhmacher was a German zoologist and pioneer of animal documentaries. Besides Bernhard Grzimek and Heinz Sielmann he belongs to the German wildlife documentary filmmakers with an international reputation.

---

04/08/1905

Abeid Karume, 1st President of Zanzibar (died 1972)

Abeid Amani Karume was a Tanzanian politician and statesman who served as the first president of Zanzibar and vice-president of Tanzania from 1964 until his assassination in 1972.

---

04/08/1904

Witold Gombrowicz, Polish author and playwright (died 1969)

Witold Marian Gombrowicz was a Polish writer and playwright. His works are characterised by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and absurd, anti-nationalist flavor. In 1937, he published his first novel, Ferdydurke, which presented many of his usual themes: problems of immaturity and youth, creation of identity in interactions with others, and an ironic, critical examination of class roles in Polish society and culture.

---

04/08/1902

Bill Hallahan, American baseball player (died 1981)

William Anthony Hallahan was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the 1920s and 1930s. Nicknamed "Wild Bill" because of his lack of control on the mound—he twice led the National League in bases on balls—Hallahan nevertheless was one of the pitching stars of the 1931 World Series and pitched his finest in postseason competition.

---

04/08/1901

Louis Armstrong, American trumpet player and singer (died 1971)

Louis Daniel Armstrong, nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American jazz and blues trumpeter and vocalist. Among the most influential figures in jazz, his career spanned five decades and several eras in the history of the genre. Armstrong received numerous accolades including the Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance for Hello, Dolly! in 1965, as well as a posthumous win for the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972. His influence crossed musical genres, with inductions into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, among others.

---

04/08/1900

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother of the United Kingdom (died 2002)

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was also the last Empress of India from 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved on 15 August 1947. After her husband died, she was officially known as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother to avoid confusion with her daughter Queen Elizabeth II.

---

04/08/1899

Ezra Taft Benson, American religious leader, 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (died 1994)

Ezra Taft Benson was an American farmer, government official, and religious leader who served as the 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture during both presidential terms of Dwight D. Eisenhower and as the 13th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death in 1994.

---

04/08/1898

Ernesto Maserati, Italian race car driver and engineer (died 1975)

Ernesto Maserati was an Italian automotive engineer and racer, with Maserati of Modena since its inception in Bologna on 14 December 1914, together with his brothers Alfieri Maserati (leader), Ettore Maserati, Bindo Maserati and others.

---

04/08/1893

Fritz Gause, German historian and curator (died 1973)

Fritz Gause was a German historian, archivist, and curator described as the last great historian of his native city, Königsberg, East Prussia. Gause's most important work was his three-volume history of Königsberg, Die Geschichte der Stadt Königsberg in Preußen. He was connected to nationalist historic movement called Ostforschung

---

04/08/1890

Dolf Luque, Cuban baseball player and manager (died 1957)

Adolfo Domingo De Guzmán Luque was a Cuban starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1914 to 1935. He spent 12 seasons of his career (1918–1929) with the Cincinnati Reds. Luque was not only the first Latin American pitcher in MLB, but also the first to earn a World Series win, and the first to lead the majors in wins, shutouts and earned run average (ERA).

---

04/08/1888

Taher Saifuddin, Indian religious leader, 51st Da'i al-Mutlaq (died 1965)

Syedna Taher Saifuddin, also known as Taher Saifuddin, was the 51st and longest serving Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohras. Saifuddin adapted the modernisation in Western and European ideas, and established its benefits for the Bohras, whilst still steeped in the traditions and the culture of the community's Fatimid heritage. Saifuddin laid substantial groundwork in terms of philanthropy, education, entrepreneurship, social outreach, political outreach, and community upliftment upon which his successors continued to build, resulting in an unprecedented era of prosperity among the Dawoodi Bohras.

---

04/08/1887

Albert M. Greenfield, Ukrainian-American businessman and philanthropist (died 1967)

Albert Monroe Greenfield was a real estate broker and developer who built his company into a vast East Coast network of department stores, banks, finance companies, hotels, newspapers, transportation companies, and the Loft Candy Corporation. His high-rise office buildings and hotels were instrumental in changing the face of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, his base of operations. He formed business relationships across religious, ethnic and social lines and played a major role in reforming politics in Philadelphia as well as at the national level.

---

04/08/1884

Béla Balázs, Hungarian poet and critic (died 1949)

Béla Balázs, born Herbert Béla Bauer, was a Hungarian film critic, aesthetician, writer and poet of Jewish heritage. He was a proponent of formalist film theory.

---

Henri Cornet, French cyclist (died 1941)

Henri Cornet was a French cyclist who won the 1904 Tour de France. He is its youngest winner, just short of his 20th birthday.

---

04/08/1877

Dame Laura Knight, English artist (died 1970)

Dame Laura Knight was an English artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint. Knight was a painter in the figurative, realist tradition, who embraced English Impressionism. In her long career, Knight was among the most successful and popular painters in Britain. Her success in the male-dominated British art establishment paved the way for greater status and recognition for female artists.

---

04/08/1876

Giovanni Giuriati, Italian lawyer and politician (died 1970)

Giovanni Giuriati was an Italian fascist politician.

---

John Scaddan, Australian politician, 10th Premier of Western Australia (died 1934)

John Scaddan, CMG, popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.

---

04/08/1871

William Holman, English-Australian politician, 19th Premier of New South Wales (died 1934)

William Arthur Holman was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1913 to 1920. He came to office as the leader of the Labor Party, but was expelled from the party in the split of 1916. He subsequently became the inaugural leader of the NSW branch of the Nationalist Party.

---

04/08/1870

Harry Lauder, Scottish actor and singer (died 1950)

Sir Harry Lauder was a Scottish singer, comedian and actor. Popular in both music hall and vaudeville theatre traditions; he achieved international success.

---

04/08/1868

Master C. V. V., Indian philosopher, yogi and guru (died 1922)

Canchupati Venkatarao Venkaswami Rao(4 August 1868 – 12 May 1922), referred as Master C.V.V. in his own handwritten original writings, was an Indian philosopher, yogi, and guru. Master C.V.V. served as the Chairman of Kumbakonam Municipal Council for some time and later carried out successful spiritual experimentations on changes in human format design. He wrote of such experiments in Tamil and thousands of pages of such hand written notes provide the details of the complexities involved in this process.

---

04/08/1867

Jake Beckley, American baseball player and coach (died 1918)

Jacob Peter Beckley, nicknamed "Eagle Eye", was an American professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, Pittsburgh Burghers, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals from 1888 to 1907.

---

04/08/1861

Daniel Edward Howard, 16th president of Liberia (died 1935)

Daniel Edward Howard was the 16th president of Liberia, serving from 1912 to 1920.

---

04/08/1859

Knut Hamsun, Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1952)

Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective and environment. He published more than 23 novels, a collection of poetry, some short stories and plays, a travelogue, works of non-fiction and some essays.

---

04/08/1853

John Henry Twachtman, American painter, etcher, and academic (died 1902)

John Henry Twachtman was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes, though his painting style varied widely through his career. Art historians consider Twachtman's style of American Impressionism to be among the more personal and experimental of his generation. He was a member of "The Ten," a loosely-allied group of American artists dissatisfied with professional art organizations, who banded together in 1898 to exhibit their works as a stylistically unified group.

---

04/08/1844

Henri Berger, German composer and bandleader (died 1929)

Henry or Henri Berger was a Prussian Kapellmeister, composer and royal bandmaster of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi from 1872 to 1915.

---

04/08/1839

Walter Pater, English author, critic, and academic (died 1894)

Walter Horatio Pater was an English essayist, art and literary critic, and fiction writer, regarded as one of the great stylists. His first and most often reprinted book, Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873), revised as The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry (1877), in which he outlined his approach to art and advocated an ideal of the intense inner life, was taken by many as a manifesto of Aestheticism.

---

04/08/1836

Jens Vilhelm Dahlerup, Danish architect (died 1907)

Jens Vilhelm Dahlerup was a Danish architect who specialized in the Historicist style. One of the most productive and noted Danish architects of the 19th century, he is behind many of the most known buildings and landmarks of his time and has more than any other single architect contributed to the way Copenhagen appears today.

---

04/08/1834

John Venn, English mathematician and philosopher (died 1923)

John Venn, FRS, FSA was an English mathematician, logician and philosopher noted for introducing Venn diagrams, which are used in logic, set theory, probability, statistics, and computer science. In 1866, Venn published The Logic of Chance, a groundbreaking book which espoused the frequency theory of probability, arguing that probability should be determined by how often something is forecast to occur as opposed to "educated" assumptions. Venn then further developed George Boole's theories in the 1881 work Symbolic Logic, where he highlighted what would become known as Venn diagrams.

---

04/08/1821

Louis Vuitton, French fashion designer, founded Louis Vuitton (died 1892)

Louis Vuitton was a French malletier and businessman. He was the founder of the Louis Vuitton brand of leather goods now owned by LVMH. Prior to this, he had been appointed as trunk-maker to Eugénie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III.

---

James Springer White, American religious leader, co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church (died 1881)

James Springer White, also known as Elder White, was a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the husband of Ellen G. White. In 1849, he started the first Sabbatarian Adventist periodical entitled The Present Truth, in 1855 he relocated the fledgling center of the movement to Battle Creek, Michigan, and in 1863 played a pivotal role in the formal organization of the denomination. He later played a major role in the development of the Adventist educational structure beginning in 1874 with the formation of Battle Creek College.

---

04/08/1805

William Rowan Hamilton, Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (died 1865)

Sir William Rowan Hamilton was an Irish mathematician, physicist, and astronomer who made numerous major contributions to algebra, classical mechanics, and optics. His theoretical works and mathematical equations are considered fundamental to modern theoretical physics, particularly his reformulation of Lagrangian mechanics. His research included the analysis of geometrical optics, Fourier analysis, and quaternions, the last of which made him one of the founders of modern linear algebra.

---

04/08/1792

Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet and playwright (died 1822)

Percy Bysshe Shelley was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achievements in poetry grew steadily following his death, and he became an important influence on subsequent generations of poets, including Robert Browning, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Thomas Hardy, and W. B. Yeats. American literary critic Harold Bloom describes him as "a superb craftsman, a lyric poet without rival, and surely one of the most advanced sceptical intellects ever to write a poem."

---

04/08/1755

Nicolas-Jacques Conté, French soldier, painter, balloonist, and inventor (died 1805)

Nicolas-Jacques Conté was a French inventor of the modern pencil.

---

04/08/1721

Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, English politician, Lord President of the Council (died 1803)

Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, KG PC, known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786, was a British Whig politician from the Leveson-Gower family. Sitting in the House of Lords, he spent a quarter of a century in the Cabinet.

---

04/08/1719

Johann Gottlob Lehmann, German mineralogist and geologist (died 1767)

Johann Gottlob Lehmann was a German mineralogist and geologist noted for his work and research contributions to the geologic record leading to the development of stratigraphy.

---

04/08/1704

Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans (died 1752)

Louis, Duke of Orléans was a member of the House of Orléans, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, and as such was a prince du sang. At his father's death, he became the First Prince of the Blood and Duke of Orléans. Known as Louis le Pieux and also as Louis le Génovéfain, Louis was a pious, charitable and cultured prince, who took very little part in the politics of the time.

---

04/08/1701

Thomas Blackwell, Scottish historian and scholar (died 1757)

Thomas Blackwell the younger was a classical scholar, historian and "one of the major figures in the Scottish Enlightenment."

---

04/08/1623

Friedrich Casimir, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1641–1680) and Hanau-Münzenberg (1642–1680) (died 1685)

Friedrich Casimir of Hanau was a member of the Hanau-Lichtenberg branch of the House of Hanau.

---

04/08/1604

François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac, French cleric and author (died 1676)

François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac was a French author and cleric. He was a grandson of the surgeon Ambroise Paré. D'Aubignac worked as a lawyer in his early life, but he then joined the clergy. He was appointed as a tutor to a nephew of Cardinal Richelieu and secured the patronage of Richelieu himself. After the early death of his student in 1646, he devoted most of his time to literature and the theatre. He wrote four tragedies between 1642 and 1650, but he is primarily known for his non-fiction works on dramatic theory. He also wrote a book which disputed the historicity of Homer.

---

04/08/1522

Udai Singh II, King of Mewar (died 1572)

Udai Singh II was the 12th Maharana of the Kingdom of Mewar from 1540 until his death in 1572. He was also the founder of the city of Udaipur in the present-day state of Rajasthan, India. He was the fourth son of Rana Sanga and Rani Karnavati, a princess of Bundi.

---

04/08/1521

Pope Urban VII (died 1590)

Pope Urban VII, born Giovanni Battista Castagna, was head of the Catholic Church, and ruler of the Papal States from 15 to 27 September 1590. His papacy was the shortest recognized in history.

---

04/08/1470

Bernardo Dovizi, Italian cardinal (died 1520)

Bernardo Dovizi of Bibbiena was an Italian cardinal and comedy writer, known best as Cardinal Bibbiena, for the town of Bibbiena, where he was born.

---

Lucrezia de' Medici, Italian noblewoman (died 1553)

Lucrezia Maria Romola de' Medici was an Italian noblewoman, the eldest daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici and Clarice Orsini and mother of Maria Salviati and Giovanni Salviati. Her portrait was considered as the baby Jesus in Our Lady of the Magnificat of Sandro Botticelli.

---

04/08/1469

Margaret of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (died 1528)

Margarete of Saxony was a Saxon princess of the Ernestine line of the house Wettin by birth and by marriage a Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

---

04/08/1463

Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Florentine patron of the arts (died 1503)

Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, nicknamed the Popolano, was an Italian banker and politician, the brother of Giovanni il Popolano. He belonged to the junior branch of the House of Medici of Florence.

---

04/08/1290

Leopold I, Duke of Austria (died 1326)

Leopold I, called The Glorious, was Duke of Austria and Styria – as co-ruler with his elder brother Frederick the Fair – from 1308 until his death. A member of the House of Habsburg, he was the third son of Albert I of Germany and Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol, a scion of the Meinhardiner dynasty.

---

04/08/1281

Külüg Khan, Emperor Wuzong of Yuan (died 1311)

Külüg Khan, born Khayishan, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Wuzong of Yuan, was an emperor of the Yuan dynasty of China. Apart from being the Emperor of China, he is regarded as the seventh Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, although it was only nominal due to the division of the empire. His regnal name "Külüg Khan" means "warrior Khan" or "fine horse Khan" in the Mongolian language.

---

04/08/1222

Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester, English soldier (died 1262)

Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester, 2nd Lord of Glamorgan, 8th Lord of Clare was the son of Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford, and Isabel Marshal. He was also a powerful Marcher Lord in Wales and inherited the Lordship of Glamorgan upon the death of his father. He played a prominent role in the constitutional crisis of 1258–1263.

---