Born on Tuesday, 5th August – Famous Birthdays

05/08/2008

Hudson Meek, American actor (died 2024)

Hudson Joseph Meek was an American child actor, known for his role as young Baby in the 2017 film Baby Driver.

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05/08/2004

Gavi, Spanish footballer

Pablo Martín Páez Gavira, known as Gavi, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team.

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05/08/2003

Toni Shaw, British Paralympic swimmer

Toni Stephanie Shaw is a British Paralympic swimmer. In 2019 she set the world record time for the S9 200m butterfly, and was also part of the team that set a new world record for the 4 × 100 m medley relay. At the 2020 Summer Paralympics, she won a bronze medal in the women's 400 metre freestyle S9 event and later went on to win gold at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships, becoming the World Champion. She is a three-time World Champion and two-time European Champion.

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05/08/2001

Anthony Edwards, American basketball player

Anthony Edwards, nicknamed "Ant-Man" or simply "Ant", is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A shooting guard, Edwards played college basketball for the Georgia Bulldogs and was selected with the first overall pick by the Timberwolves in the 2020 NBA draft. He is a four-time NBA All-Star, a two-time All-NBA Second Team selection, and won a gold medal on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team.

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05/08/2000

Tom Gilbert, Australian rugby league player

Tom Gilbert is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a second-row, lock or prop forward for the Dolphins in the National Rugby League (NRL). He previously played for the North Qld Cowboys in the NRL and has also represented Queensland in the State of Origin series.

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05/08/1999

Kim Si-hyeon, South Korean singer

Kim Si-hyeon, known mononymously as Sihyeon, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is the leader and vocalist of girl group Everglow, formed by Yuehua Entertainment.

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05/08/1998

Adam Doueihi, Australian-Lebanese rugby league player

Adam Doueihi is a Lebanon international rugby league footballer who plays as a utility for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League.

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05/08/1997

Jack Cogger, Australian rugby league player

Jack Cogger is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a five-eighth or halfback for the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League.

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Olivia Holt, American actress and singer

Olivia Hastings Holt is an American actress, executive producer and singer-songwriter. She starred in the Disney XD series Kickin' It, Disney Channel Original Movie Girl vs. Monster, and the Disney Channel Original Series I Didn't Do It. From 2018 to 2020, she portrayed Tandy Bowen / Dagger in the Freeform series Cloak & Dagger, the Disney XD series Spider-Man, and the Hulu series Runaways. In 2021, she portrayed Kate Wallis in Cruel Summer.

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Wang Yibo, Chinese dancer, singer and actor

Wang Yibo is a Chinese actor, dancer, singer, professional road motorcycle racer and racing driver. He debuted as a member of South Korean-Chinese boyband Uniq in 2014. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in television series Love Actually (2017), Gank Your Heart (2019), The Untamed (2019), Legend of Fei (2020), Luoyang (2021), Being a Hero (2022) and War of Faith (2024). He made his big screen lead role debut in 2023, starring in Hidden Blade, Born to Fly and One and Only. His performances have earned him multiple acting nominations at various film awards, including the Golden Rooster Awards, Huabiao Awards and Asian Film Awards. Wang was ranked 9th on the Forbes China Celebrity 100 in 2020, and 2nd in 2021.

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Yungblud, English musician and actor

Dominic Richard Harrison, known professionally as Yungblud, is an English musician and actor. In 2018, he released his debut EP Yungblud, followed by his first full-length album 21st Century Liability. In 2019, he released his second EP, The Underrated Youth, and the following year, he released his second studio album, Weird!, which peaked at the top of the UK Albums Chart and reached number 75 on the US Billboard 200. His third album, titled Yungblud like his first EP, was released in 2022 and reached number 1 on the UK Album Charts, as well as number 45 on the Billboard 200 and number 7 on the U.S. Top Rock Albums chart.

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05/08/1996

Takakeishō Mitsunobu, Japanese sumo wrestler

Takakeishō Takanobu is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Ashiya, Hyōgo. He made his professional debut in September 2014, and reached the highest makuuchi division in January 2017 after 14 tournaments. He won his first championship in the top division in November 2018, four years after his debut. Takakeishō wrestled for Tokiwayama stable, and his highest rank was ōzeki, which he first reached in May 2019. He earned seven special prizes and three gold stars for defeating yokozuna. He won his second championship in November 2020, his third one in January 2023, and his fourth one in September 2023. Consecutive losing tournaments in 2024 resulted in his demotion to sekiwake. He withdrew from the September 2024 tournament after a series of losses, and subsequently announced his retirement. He is now a coach under the elder name Minatogawa.

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Cho Seung-youn, South Korean singer-songwriter and rapper

Cho Seung-youn, known professionally as Woodz, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. He rose to fame as the main rapper of the South Korean-Chinese boy band Uniq, formed by Yuehua Entertainment in 2014, before co-founding the musical collectives M.O.L.A in 2015 and Drinkcolor in 2016. He co-founded his personal production team, Team HOW, in 2018. He is a former member of the South Korean boy group X1.

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05/08/1995

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Danish footballer

Pierre-Emile Kordt Højbjerg is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for and captains both Ligue 1 club Marseille and the Denmark national team.

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05/08/1994

Natalia García, Spanish rhythmic gymnast

Natalia García Timofeeva is a retired Spanish rhythmic gymnast who was a member of Spain's national rhythmic gymnastics team from 2008 until her retirement in 2021. She has been 5 times nation champion counting all categories: 1 in alevín (2005), 2 in children, 1 in junior (2008) and 1 in junior honor (2009). She has also been 6 times national silver medalist as a senior and won bronze in 2019. She retired on 13 November 2021 at the 6th Ciutat International Trophy in Barcelona after more than 20 years in the world of gymnastics.

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05/08/1991

Esteban Gutiérrez, Mexican race car driver

Esteban Manuel Gutiérrez Gutiérrez is a Mexican former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from 2013 to 2016.

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Wi Ha-joon, South Korean actor

Wi Hyun-yi, known professionally as Wi Ha-joon (위하준), is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his role as Hwang Jun-ho in Squid Game (2021–2025). Wi has also starred in the films Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018), Shark: The Beginning (2021) and Midnight (2021), as well as the television series Something in the Rain (2018), Romance Is a Bonus Book (2019), 18 Again (2020), Bad and Crazy (2021), Little Women (2022), The Worst of Evil (2023), and The Midnight Romance in Hagwon (2024). In 2022, Wi was named one of GQ Korea's Men of the Year. Wi is managed by MSTeam Entertainment.

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Konrad Hurrell, Tongan rugby league player

Konileti "Konrad" Hurrell, born on August 5 1991, in Tongatapu (Tonga), is a Tongan international rugby league footballer. A powerful centre renowned for his destructive runs and ability to break the defensive line, he began his professional career in the National Rugby League with the New Zealand Warriors in 2012, where he quickly established himself as one of the most impactful three-quarters in the Australian competition. After a notable spell with the Gold Coast Titans, he moved to Super League in 2019 with the Leeds Rhinos, and later St Helens, with whom he won several major titles, including the Challenge Cup (2020), the Super League (2022) and the World Club Challenge (2023). His performances earned him two selections in the Super League Dream Team, in 2019 and 2020.

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Daniëlle van de Donk, Dutch footballer

Daniëlle van de Donk is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club London City Lionesses and the Netherlands national team. She helped her national team to win the UEFA Euro 2017 and finish second at the 2019 FIFA World Cup.

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Andreas Weimann, Austrian footballer

Andreas Weimann is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for Austrian Bundesliga club Rapid Wien, on loan from Derby County. He also plays for the Austria national team.

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05/08/1989

Ryan Bertrand, English footballer

Ryan Dominic Bertrand is an English former professional footballer who played as a left-back.

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Mathieu Manset, French footballer

Mathieu Manset is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for 18 clubs in 8 countries during his career.

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05/08/1988

Michael Jamieson, Scottish-English swimmer

Michael Jamieson is a Scottish former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain at the Olympics, FINA world championships and European championships, and Scotland in the Commonwealth Games. Jamieson won the silver medal in the men's 200-metre breaststroke at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He now is the Head Coach for the Swimming Club, Natare West London.

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Federica Pellegrini, Italian swimmer

Federica Pellegrini is an Italian retired swimmer. A native of Mirano, in the former province of Venice, she won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Pellegrini became the first woman ever to break the 4-minute barrier in the 400 m freestyle with a time of 3:59.15. She also held the women's 200 meters freestyle world record.

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05/08/1987

Orce Gjorgjievski, Macedonian politician

Orce Gjorgjievski is a Macedonian politician currently serving as mayor of Skopje. He previously served as mayor and councilor of the Kisela Voda Municipality.

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05/08/1986

Paula Creamer, American golfer

Paula Creamer is an American professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. As a professional, she has won 12 tournaments, including 10 LPGA Tour events. Creamer has been as high as number 2 in the Women's World Golf Rankings. She was the 2010 U.S. Women's Open champion. As of the end of the 2023 season, Creamer was 19th on the all-time LPGA career money list with earnings of $12,161,187.

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Kathrin Zettel, Austrian skier

Kathrin Zettel is an Austrian retired World Cup alpine ski racer. She won many races and took a bronze medal in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. In 2021 she was a partner in a company creating domestic size wind turbines in lower Austria.

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05/08/1985

Laurent Ciman, Belgian footballer

Laurent Franco Ciman is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a defender, who currently serves as an assistant coach with Canadian Premier League club FC Supra du Québec.

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Salomon Kalou, Ivorian footballer

Salomon Armand Magloire Kalou is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a forward or winger.

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Gil Vermouth, Israeli footballer

Gil Vermouth is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger.

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Erkan Zengin, Swedish footballer

Erkan Zengin is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a winger. Born in Turkey, he played for the Sweden national team.

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05/08/1984

Steve Matai, New Zealand rugby league player

Stephen Matai is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the National Rugby League from 2005 to 2016. A New Zealand national representative centre, he played for Australian club the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. Matai helped the Sea Eagles win the 2008 and 2011 Premierships. He was also part of the New Zealand national squad that won the nation's maiden title at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Known particularly for his uncompromising defence, in 2020, Matai was voted the National Rugby League's hardest hitter over the past 30 years.

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05/08/1982

Jamie Houston, English-German rugby player

Jamie Ben Houston is a retired German international rugby union player, having played for the SC 1880 Frankfurt in the Rugby-Bundesliga and the German national rugby union team. He most recently was coach of RG Heidelberg in the Rugby-Bundesliga.

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Lolo Jones, American hurdler

Lori Susan "Lolo" Jones is an American hurdler and bobsledder who specializes in the 60-meter and 100-meter hurdles. She won three NCAA titles and garnered 11 All-American honors while at Louisiana State University. She won indoor national titles in 2007, 2008, and 2009 in the 60-meter hurdles, with gold medals at the World Indoor Championship in 2008 and 2010, and won outdoor national titles in 2008 and 2010 in the 100-meter hurdles.

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Michele Pazienza, Italian footballer

Michele Pazienza is an Italian football coach and a former player who played as a defensive midfielder.

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Jeff Robson, Australian rugby league player

Jeff Robson is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Parramatta Eels. He played primarily as a halfback.

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Pete Sell, American mixed martial artist

Peter 'Drago' Sell, is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2002, he has formerly competed for the UFC, and was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: The Comeback.

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05/08/1981

David Clarke, English ice hockey player

David Clarke is a retired British ice hockey player and a former member of the British national ice hockey team squad.

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Carl Crawford, American baseball player

Carl Demonte Crawford, nicknamed "the Perfect Storm", is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. He batted and threw left-handed.

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Maik Franz, German footballer

Maik Franz is a German former footballer.

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Erik Guay, Canadian skier

Erik Guay is a Canadian former World Cup alpine ski racer. Racing out of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Guay won the World Cup season title in super-G in 2010 and was the world champion in downhill in 2011, as well as in the super-G in 2017. With 25 World Cup podiums, he is the career leader for Canada.

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Travie McCoy, American rapper, singer, and songwriter

Travis Lazarus "Travie" McCoy is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the rap rock band Gym Class Heroes, which he formed in 1997 with his classmate Matt McGinley, after the two became acquainted with the East Coast punk rock scene.

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Anna Rawson, Australian golfer

Anna Rawson is an Australian model and former professional golfer. She played on the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour.

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Rachel Scott, American murder victim, inspired the Rachel's Challenge (died 1999)

Rachel Joy Scott was an American student who was the first victim of the Columbine High School massacre, in which twelve other students and a teacher were killed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who then committed suicide.

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05/08/1980

Wayne Bridge, English footballer

Wayne Michael Bridge is an English former professional footballer who played as a left back.

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Salvador Cabañas, Paraguayan footballer

Salvador Cabañas Ortega is a Paraguayan former professional footballer who played as a striker internationally for the senior Paraguay national team, and earlier for the national U17 and U20 teams.

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Jason Culina, Australian footballer

Jason Culina is a former Australian soccer player and coach. He played in two FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup tournaments for the Australia national football team. At club level, Culina had a nine-year spell in the Netherlands, winning four Eredivisie titles.

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Jesse Williams, American actor, director, producer, and political activist

Jesse Wesley Williams is an American actor, director, producer, and activist best known as Dr. Jackson Avery on Grey's Anatomy. He has also appeared in films such as The Cabin in the Woods (2012) and The Butler (2013). He provided voice acting and motion capture for Markus in the video game Detroit: Become Human (2018).

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05/08/1979

David Healy, Irish footballer

David Jonathan Healy is a Northern Irish football manager and former professional footballer who is in charge at NIFL Premiership club Linfield. A striker during his playing career, he is the men's all-time leading scorer for Northern Ireland with 36 goals.

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05/08/1978

Cosmin Bărcăuan, Romanian footballer and manager

Cosmin Bărcăuan is a Romanian former football player and current coach.

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Kim Gevaert, Belgian sprinter

Kim Gevaert is a former sprinter and Olympic champion from Belgium.

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Harel Levy, Israeli tennis player

Harel Levy is a retired Israeli professional tennis player, and the current captain of Israel's Davis Cup team. He reached the final of the 2000 Toronto Masters and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 30, with his best doubles ranking being World No. 71 in May 2008. Levy was a key factor in Israel's semifinal run in the 2009 Davis Cup.

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05/08/1977

Eric Hinske, American baseball player and coach

Eric Scott Hinske is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder and first baseman. Hinske played in the major leagues from 2002 to 2013 with the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks at third base, first base, left field, and right field. He won the 2002 AL Rookie of the Year Award with the Blue Jays. He has also been a coach for the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels.

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Mark Mulder, American baseball player and sportscaster

Mark Alan Mulder is an American former professional baseball player. A left-handed starting pitcher, Mulder pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals. He is a two-time All-Star.

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Michael Walsh, English footballer

Michael Shane Walsh is an English former footballer who spent twelve years as a professional in the Football League. A defender, he made a total of 319 appearances in league and cup competitions.

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05/08/1976

Jeff Friesen, Canadian ice hockey player

Jeffrey Daryl Friesen is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played over 800 games in the National Hockey League, spending roughly half his career with the San Jose Sharks, who drafted him in the 1994 NHL entry draft. The rest of his career was spent with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals, and Calgary Flames. He won the Stanley Cup with the Devils in 2003.

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Marians Pahars, Latvian footballer and manager

Marians Pahars is a Latvian professional football manager and a former player.

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Remi Sølvberg, Norwegian politician

Remi Alexander Sølvberg is a Norwegian politician and member of the Storting. A member of the Red Party, he was elected to represent Østfold at the 2025 parliamentary election.

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Eugen Trică, Romanian footballer and manager

Eugen Trică is a Romanian professional manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder.

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05/08/1975

Dan Hipgrave, English guitarist and journalist

Daniel Hipgrave is an English musician and writer, best known as the guitarist of the post-Britpop/alternative rock band Toploader.

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Josep Jufré, Spanish cyclist

Josep Jufré Pou is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1999 and 2011. He turned professional with Recer–Boavista in 1999, and finished his career with Astana in 2011.

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Eicca Toppinen, Finnish cellist and composer

Eino Matti "Eicca" Toppinen is a Finnish cellist, songwriter, producer, and arranger. In 1993 he formed the quartet Apocalyptica.

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05/08/1974

Alvin Ceccoli, Australian footballer

Alvin Ceccoli is an Australian footballer who played for three A-League clubs and was capped internationally for Australia.

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Kajol, Indian film actress

Kajol Devgan, known mononymously as Kajol, is an Indian actress, who appears in Hindi films. Described in the media as one of the most successful actresses of Hindi cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including seven Filmfare Awards. In 2011, Kajol received Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award by the government of India.

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Olle Kullinger, Swedish footballer

Olle Kullinger is a Swedish retired footballer.

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Antoine Sibierski, French footballer

Antoine Sibierski is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He started his career at hometown club Lille OSC, going on to play for AJ Auxerre, Nantes, with whom he won the Coupe de France twice, and RC Lens. He then moved to England and played for Manchester City, Newcastle United, with whom he won the UEFA Intertoto Cup, Wigan Athletic, and Norwich City. At international level, he made three appearances for France at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He is currently Sporting Director of ES Troyes.

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05/08/1973

Paul Carige, Australian rugby league player

Paul Carige is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. He played for the Illawarra Steelers, Parramatta Eels, and the Salford City Reds. He mostly played at centre, but occasionally he played the odd game at fullback or wing.

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Justin Marshall, New Zealand rugby player and sportscaster

Justin Warren Marshall is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played 81 games for the New Zealand All Blacks between 1995 and 2005.

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05/08/1972

Ikuto Hidaka, Japanese wrestler

Ikuto Hidaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently performing for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Hidaka was the regular partner of Minoru Fujita, with whom he has held the Zero1-Max International Lightweight Tag Team and Intercontinental Tag Team Titles, making them the only team to do so. He has also worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).

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Aaqib Javed, Pakistani cricketer and coach

Aaqib Javed is a Pakistani former international cricketer and the current head coach of Pakistani cricket team in all formats. He is also a member of the Men's National Selection Committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board. He was a right-handed fast-medium pace bowler with the ability to swing the ball both ways. He played 22 Tests and 163 One Day Internationals for Pakistan between 1988 and 1998. He was a part of the Pakistan team which won the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

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Darren Shahlavi, English-American actor and martial artist (died 2015)

Darren Majian Shahlavi was an English actor, martial artist and stuntman.

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Jon Sleightholme, English rugby player

Jonathan Mark Sleightholme is a former rugby union player who played on the wing for Grimsby, Hull Ionians Wakefield, Bath, Northampton Saints, Yorkshire, England Sevens and England.

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Theodore Whitmore, Jamaican footballer and manager

Theodore Eccleston Whitmore, OD, is a Jamaican former professional footballer. He is the former head coach of Jamaica national team.

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Christian Olde Wolbers, Belgian-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer

Christian Francis Olde Wolbers is a Belgian musician, record producer, and songwriter. He is the current bassist and backing vocalist of the rap metal/nu metal band Powerflo. He is also a former bassist of the thrash metal band Vio-lence and hardcore punk/crossover thrash band Beowülf, and a former bassist, guitarist and backing vocalist of the industrial metal band Fear Factory.

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05/08/1971

Valdis Dombrovskis, Latvian academic and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Latvia

Valdis Dombrovskis is a Latvian politician serving as European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, and Commissioner for Implementation and Simplification. He previously served as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People (2019-2024), European Commissioner for Trade (2020-2024). European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (2016-2020) and Prime Minister of Latvia from 2009 to 2014.

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05/08/1969

Jackie Doyle-Price, English politician

Dame Jacqueline Doyle-Price is a British former Conservative Party politician and former civil servant who was member of parliament (MP) for Thurrock from 2010 to 2024. She was first elected as MP in the 2010 general election and was defeated in the 2024 general election.

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Vasbert Drakes, Barbadian cricketer

Vasbert Conniel Drakes is a former West Indian cricketer, who played Tests and ODIs. He was a right-arm medium-fast bowler and handy right-hand lower order batsman.

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Venkatesh Prasad, Indian cricketer and coach

Venkatesh Prasad, is an Indian Cricket Kannada Commentator, coach and former professional cricketer who played Tests and One Day Internationals. He made his debut in 1994. Primarily a right-arm medium-fast bowler, Prasad was noted for his bowling combination with Javagal Srinath. He was a part of the squad which finished as runners-up at the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy.

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Rob Scott, Australian rower

Robert Geoffrey Scott is an Australian businessman and former national champion and national representative rower. Since 2017 he has been Managing Director and Chief Executive of Wesfarmers, the Perth-headquartered publicly listed industrial and retail conglomerate, which in 2016 was Australia's largest company by revenue and Australia's largest employer. As a sweep-oared heavyweight rower Scott was a national champion, an eight-time crewman in West Australian King's Cup eights and a four-time Australian representative at World Rowing Championships. He is a dual Olympian oarsman who won a silver medal in a coxless pair at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

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05/08/1968

Terri Clark, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Terri Lynn Sauson, known professionally as Terri Clark, is a Canadian country music singer who has had success in both Canada and the United States. Signed to Mercury Records in 1995, she released her self-titled debut that year. Both it and its two follow-ups, 1996's Just the Same and 1998's How I Feel, were certified platinum in both countries, and produced several Top Ten country hits.

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Funkmaster Flex, American DJ, radio and television host, rapper, and record producer

Aston George Taylor Jr., professionally known as Funkmaster Flex, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer, and host on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. In 1992, he became host of the first hip hop radio show on Hot 97 in New York, which was a dance radio station at the time.

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Kendo Kashin, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist

Tokimitsu Ishizawa, better known by his ring name Kendo Kashin, is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a two time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, a one time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, and the winner of the 1999 Best of the Super Juniors. He is also known for his forays into mixed martial arts, most notably for Pride Fighting Championship (Pride), where he defeated Gracie Jiu Jitsu fighter Ryan Gracie at PRIDE 15. He currently wrestles for Pro Wrestling Noah.

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Marine Le Pen, French lawyer and politician

Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen is a French lawyer and politician. She served as the president of the far-right National Rally party (RN) from 2011 to 2021, and ran for the French presidency in the 2012, 2017 and 2022 elections. She has been the member of the National Assembly for the 11th constituency of Pas-de-Calais since 2017. She has been parliamentary party leader of the National Rally in the Assembly since June 2022.

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Oleh Luzhnyi, Ukrainian footballer and manager

Oleh Romanovych Luzhnyi is a Ukrainian former professional footballer who played as a right-back.

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Colin McRae, Scottish race car driver (died 2007)

Colin Steele McRae was a Scottish rally driver. He was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion, and in 1995 became the first British driver to win the World Rally Championship Drivers' title.

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John Olerud, American baseball player

John Garrett Olerud Jr. is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1989 through 2005, most prominently as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays team that won two consecutive World Series championships in 1992 and 1993. He also played for the New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox.

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05/08/1967

Matthew Caws, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Matthew Rorison Caws is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Nada Surf. Caws is also a member of the indie rock duo Minor Alps, alongside Juliana Hatfield.

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Vladyslav Gorai, Ukrainian tenor

Vladyslav Vikentiiovych Gorai or Horay was a Ukrainian operatic tenor. Based at the Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre, he appeared internationally. He portrayed the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto and Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème, but also performed contemporary opera such as the world premiere of Oleksandr Rodin's Kateryna in Odesa in September 2022.

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05/08/1966

James Gunn, American filmmaker

James Francis Gunn Jr. is an American filmmaker. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with Tromeo and Juliet (1996). He then began working as a director, starting with the horror-comedy film Slither (2006), and moving to the superhero genre with Super (2010), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), The Suicide Squad (2021), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).

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Jennifer Finch, American singer, bass player, and photographer

Jennifer Finch is an American musician, designer, and photographer most notable for being the primary bass player of the punk rock band L7. Active in L7 from 1986 to 1996, Finch also wrote music and performed with her bands OtherStarPeople and The Shocker in the interim before joining the reunited L7 in 2014.

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Jonathan Silverman, American actor and producer

Jonathan Elihu Silverman is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the comedy films Brighton Beach Memoirs, Weekend at Bernie's, and its sequel Weekend at Bernie's II as well as his starring role in the TV series The Single Guy.

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05/08/1965

Jeff Coffin, American saxophonist and composer

Jeff Stanley Coffin is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator. He is a three-time Grammy Award winner as a member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, with whom he performed from 1997 until 2010. In July 2008, Coffin began touring with Dave Matthews Band and joined the group in 2009 following the death of founding member LeRoi Moore. He also leads his group Jeff Coffin & the Mu'tet.

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Motoi Sakuraba, Japanese keyboard player and composer

Motoi Sakuraba is a Japanese composer and keyboardist. He is known for his numerous contributions in video games, including the Tales, Star Ocean, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Golden Sun, and Dark Souls series, as well as several other anime series, television dramas, and progressive rock albums.

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05/08/1964

Rory Morrison, English journalist (died 2013)

Rory David Morrison was a newsreader and continuity announcer for BBC Radio 4.

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Adam Yauch, American rapper and director (died 2012)

Adam Nathaniel Yauch, also known by the stage name MCA, was an American rapper, bassist, filmmaker, and a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. Besides his musical work, he also directed many of the band's music videos and did much of their promotional photography, often using the pseudonym Nathanial Hörnblowér for such work.

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05/08/1963

Steve Lee, Swiss singer-songwriter (died 2010)

Steve Lee was a Swiss musician, best known as the vocalist of the band Gotthard.

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Ingmar De Vos, Belgian sports administrator

Ingmar De Vos is a Belgian professional sports manager serving as the thirteenth and current President of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI). He is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and currently serves as President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). Educated in sports management, business administration and international law, he began his career in mainstream politics before working for the Belgian Equestrian Federation and supported that nation's equestrian teams at the Olympics and the FEI World Equestrian Games. He was one of the founders of the European Equestrian Federation and became secretary-general of the FEI in 2011 prior to being elected President of the organisation in 2014.

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Mark Strong, English actor

Mark Strong is an English actor. He is an Olivier Award and a BAFTA TV Award winner, and has received nominations for a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

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05/08/1962

Patrick Ewing, Jamaican-American basketball player and coach

Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is a basketball ambassador for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he spent most of his 17-year playing career as the starting center before ending his playing career with brief stints with the Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic. Ewing is regarded as one of the greatest centers of all time, playing a dominant role in the New York Knicks' 1990s success.

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Otis Thorpe, American basketball player

Otis Henry Thorpe is an American former professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an NBA All-Star in 1992 and won an NBA championship with the Houston Rockets in 1994.

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05/08/1961

Janet McTeer, English actress

Janet McTeer is an English actress. She began her career training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before earning acclaim for playing diverse roles on stage and screen in both period pieces and modern dramas. She has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2008 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to drama.

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Athula Samarasekera, Sri Lankan cricketer and coach

Maitipage Athula Rohitha Samarasekera is a Sri Lankan Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who is currently working as a cricket coach in Australia. He was a hard hitting opening batsman and a medium fast bowler, who played four Tests and 39 One Day Internationals between 1983 and 1994.

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Mark O'Connor, American violinist/fiddler and composer

Mark O'Connor is an American fiddle player, composer, guitarist, and mandolinist whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year awards and was a member of three influential musical ensembles: the David Grisman Quintet, The Dregs, and Strength in Numbers.

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Tim Wilson, American comedian, singer-songwriter, and guitarist (died 2014)

Timothy Collins Wilson was an American comedian and country music artist, whose act combined stand-up comedy and original songs.

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05/08/1960

David Baldacci, American lawyer and author

David Baldacci is an American novelist. An attorney by education, Baldacci writes mainly suspense novels and legal thrillers. His novels are published in over 45 languages and published in over 80 countries, having sold over 130 million copies worldwide.

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05/08/1959

Pete Burns, English singer-songwriter (died 2016)

Peter Jozzeppi Burns was an English singer, songwriter and television personality.

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Pat Smear, American guitarist and songwriter

Georg Albert Ruthenberg, better known by his stage name Pat Smear, is an American musician and since 2010 has been a guitarist for Foo Fighters. He was the lead guitarist and co-founder of Los Angeles–based punk band The Germs and a rhythm guitarist for Nirvana. After Nirvana disbanded following the death of frontman Kurt Cobain, drummer Dave Grohl went on to form Foo Fighters, with Smear joining on guitar. Smear left the band in 1997 before rejoining as a touring guitarist in 2005 and being promoted back to a full-time member in 2010.

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05/08/1958

Ulla Salzgeber, German equestrian

Ulla Salzgeber is a German equestrian and Olympic champion who competes in the sport of dressage. Competing in the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics, she won two team gold medals, one individual silver and one individual bronze. She also won numerous medals at the World Equestrian Games, Dressage World Cup and European Dressage Championships. After the retirement of her Olympic horse, Rusty, after the 2004 Games, and unexpected death of her second international-level mount in 2005, Salzgeber struggled to find a new Grand Prix-level horse.

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05/08/1957

Larry Corowa, Australian rugby league player

Larry John Corowa MBE is an Indigenous Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. An Australian international and New South Wales representative winger, he played club football at the Balmain Tigers for six seasons between 1978 and 1983, with two games for the Gold Coast Seagulls in the 1991 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership. Playing on the wing, Corowa became one of Rugby League's most prolific try scorers of his era. He is one of a select few players to have scored more than a try a game in a season of football in Australia.

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David Gill, English businessman

David Alan Gill is a British football executive, formerly chief executive of Manchester United and a vice-chairman of The Football Association. He served as vice-chairman of the G-14 management committee until the G-14 was disbanded. He sat on the UEFA Executive Committee as of 2013. Gill was elected as a FIFA vice-president sitting on the FIFA Council in 2015; rejecting this position in protest at Sepp Blatter until Blatter announced his resignation as FIFA president, following the 2015 FIFA corruption case.

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05/08/1956

Christopher Chessun, English Anglican bishop

Christopher Thomas James Chessun is a British Anglican bishop. He became Bishop of Southwark in the Church of England in 2011.

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Jerry Ciccoritti, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

Jerry Ciccoritti is a Canadian director.

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Maureen McCormick, American actress

Maureen Denise McCormick is an American actress, best known for her role as Marcia Brady on the ABC television sitcom The Brady Bunch (1969–1974). She reprised the role in several of its various spin-offs and films, including The Brady Kids, The Brady Bunch Hour, The Brady Brides and A Very Brady Christmas (1988).

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05/08/1955

Eddie Ojeda, American guitarist and songwriter

Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda is an American musician best known as a guitarist of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. He was a member of the band's classic lineup.

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05/08/1953

Rick Mahler, American baseball player and coach (died 2005)

Richard Keith Mahler was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds (1989–1990) and Montreal Expos (1991). His brother Mickey was a major league pitcher as well; the two were Braves teammates in 1979. The brothers had also played together for the Triple-A Richmond Braves.

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05/08/1952

Tamás Faragó, Hungarian water polo player

Tamás Faragó is a former Hungarian water polo player. He competed in all major international tournaments between 1970 and 1980 and won three medals at the Summer Olympics and five at the world and European championships. He was the top goalscorer at the 1976 Olympics, with 22 goals. After retiring from competitions he became a water polo coach, guiding Hungary's junior and women's national teams. In 1993 he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, and in 2005 he was voted the Hungarian coach of the year.

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John Jarratt, Australian actor and producer

John Jarratt is an Australian television film actor, producer and director and TV presenter who rose to fame through his work in the Australian New Wave. He has appeared in a number of film roles including Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Summer City (1977), The Odd Angry Shot (1979), We of the Never Never (1982), Next of Kin (1982), and Dark Age (1987). He portrayed the antagonist Mick Taylor in the Wolf Creek franchise. He voiced the protagonist's father, Jack Hunter, in an audio drama adaptation of The Phoenix Files. He is also known for his recurring role in the drama series McLeod's Daughters.

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Louis Walsh, Irish talent manager

Michael Louis Vincent Walsh is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s. He has also served as a judge on television talent competition shows, including Popstars (2001–2002), You're a Star (2003–2004), The X Factor, and Ireland's Got Talent (2018–2019). In 2024, Walsh was a contestant on the twenty-third series of the reality show Celebrity Big Brother.

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05/08/1951

Samantha Sang, Australian pop singer

Cheryl Lau Sang, known professionally as Samantha Sang, is an Australian singer. She had an earlier career as a teenage singer under the stage name Cheryl Gray, before adopting the stage name she is more widely known as in 1969. She first received nationwide recognition in Australia in 1967, after releasing the top ten single "You Made Me What I Am".

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05/08/1950

Luiz Gushiken, Brazilian trade union leader and politician (died 2013)

Luiz Gushiken was a Brazilian union leader and politician. He was formerly the head of the social communication office of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration, a position which carried a ministerial rank. He was a second-generation Ryukyuan-Brazilian, with Ryukyuan parents from Okinawa.

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Mahendra Karma, Indian lawyer and politician (died 2013)

Mahendra Karma was an Indian political leader belonging to Indian National Congress from Chhattisgarh. He was the leader of the opposition in the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha from 2004 to 2008. In 2005, he played a top role in organising the Salwa Judum movement against Naxalites, a Maoist group in Chhattisgarh. He was a Minister of Industry and Commerce in the Ajit Jogi cabinet since the state formation in 2000 to 2004. He was assassinated by Naxalites on 25 May 2013 in the 2013 Naxal attack in Darbha valley while returning from a Parivartan Rally meeting organised by his party in Sukma.

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05/08/1948

Ray Clemence, English footballer and manager (died 2020)

Raymond Neal Clemence was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is one of the few players to have made over 1,000 career appearances.

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Barbara Flynn, English actress

Barbara Joy Flynn is an English actress. She first came to prominence playing Freda Ashton in the ITV drama series A Family at War (1970–1972). She went on to play the milk woman in the BBC comedy Open All Hours (1976–1985), Jill Swinburne in The Beiderbecke Trilogy (1985–1988), Dr. Rose Marie in the BBC series A Very Peculiar Practice (1986–1988), Judith Fitzgerald in the ITV drama Cracker (1993–1995), and Mrs. Jamieson in Cranford (2007–2009). In 2021, she appeared in Doctor Who: Flux as Tecteun, a founder of Time Lord society and The Doctor's adoptive mother. Starting in 2023, she acted in Beyond Paradise, playing the mother of the detective's girlfriend. This included some episodes in 2024 where she was reunited with Peter Davison, her A Very Peculiar Practice co-star.

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David Hungate, American bass guitarist, producer, and arranger

David Hungate is an American retired bassist noted as a member of the Los Angeles pop-rock band Toto from 1976 to 1982 and again from 2014 to 2015, and the son of judge William L. Hungate. Along with most of his Toto bandmates, Hungate did sessions on a number of hit albums of the 1970s, including Boz Scaggs's Silk Degrees album and Alice Cooper's From the Inside album.

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Shin Takamatsu, Japanese architect and academic

Shin Takamatsu is a renowned Japanese architect. After obtaining his PhD from the Graduate School of Engineering at Kyoto University in 1980, he held various academic positions: lecturer at Osaka University of Arts in 1981, associate professor at Kyoto Seika University in 1987, professor at the Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University in 1997 and professor emeritus at Kyoto University in 2013. Takamatsu's futuristic designs often incorporate anthropomorphic or mechanical imagery.

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05/08/1947

Angry Anderson, Australian singer and actor

Gary Stephen "Angry" Anderson is an Australian rock singer, songwriter, television personality and actor, best known as the lead vocalist and the longest-tenured remaining member of Australian hard rock band Rose Tattoo since 1976. He is also a past member of rock bands Buster Brown and the Party Boys. As a solo artist, he is best known for his debut single "Suddenly" (1987), which achieved international success—peaking at number 2 on the Australian Music Report, number 31 on the Belgian Ultratop 50, number 11 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, number 3 on the Irish Singles Chart, number 69 on the Netherlands Singles Chart, and number 3 on the UK Singles Chart, respectively.

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Bernie Carbo, American baseball player

Bernardo Carbo is an American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He began his career with the Cincinnati Reds, and went on to play with five other teams, including two stints with the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox.

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France A. Córdova, American astrophysicist and academic

France Anne-Dominic Córdova is an American astrophysicist. She served as the 11th president of Purdue University from 2007 to 2012 and as the 14th director of the National Science Foundation from 2014 to 2020. She currently serves as the president of the Science Philanthropy Alliance.

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Rick Derringer, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2025)

Richard Dean Zehringer, known professionally as Rick Derringer, was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He gained success in the 1960s with his band, the McCoys. Their debut single, "Hang On Sloopy", became a number-one hit in 1965 and is regarded as a classic track from the garage rock era. The McCoys had seven songs chart in the top 100, including covers of "Fever" and "Come On, Let's Go". After releasing All American Boy, Derringer established a career as a solo artist.

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Greg Leskiw, Canadian guitarist and songwriter

Gregory Leskiw is a Canadian guitarist and vocalist best known for playing rhythm guitar and singing background vocals on recordings and in concert with the Guess Who from 1970 to 1972.

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05/08/1946

Bruce Coslet, American football player and coach

Bruce Noel Coslet is an American former professional football player and coach. A tight end, he played for the University of the Pacific and in 1969 debuted with the American Football League (AFL)'s Cincinnati Bengals. He played for the Bengals in the National Football League (NFL) through 1976.

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Shirley Ann Jackson, American physicist

Shirley Ann Jackson, is an African American physicist and the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is the first African American woman to earn a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics. She is also the second African American woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in physics.

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Rick van der Linden, Dutch keyboard player and songwriter (died 2006)

Rick van der Linden was a Dutch composer and keyboardist. Van der Linden first gained fame as a member of Ekseption, but he played in several other bands including most notably Trace, as well as solo. Van der Linden was best known for his reworkings of classical music in a pop music domain, often with jazz improvisations.

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Bob McCarthy, Australian rugby league player and coach

Robert John McCarthy MBE is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, New South Wales and for the Australian national side. He later coached in Brisbane, taking Souths Magpies to a premiership in 1981 and coaching the Gold Coast-Tweed Giants upon their entry to the Winfield Cup. Since 2001 he has been the chairman of both the Australian and NSW state selection panels.

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Erika Slezak, American actress

Erika Alma Slezak is an American actress, best known for her role as Victoria "Viki" Lord on the American daytime soap opera One Life to Live from 1971 through the television finale in 2012 and again in the online revival in 2013. She is one of the longest-serving serial actors in American media. For her portrayal of Viki, she won six Daytime Emmy Awards, the most of any daytime drama actress.

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Xavier Trias, Spanish pediatrician and politician, 118th Mayor of Barcelona

Xavier Trias i Vidal de Llobatera is a Catalan politician, member of Together for Catalonia and was Mayor of Barcelona from July 2011 to June 2015. Among other responsibilities to the Government of Catalonia, he was Minister of Health and of the Presidency for various Jordi Pujol Governments.

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05/08/1945

Loni Anderson, American actress (died 2025)

Loni Kaye Anderson was an American actress. She is best known for playing receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982), which earned her nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy Awards.

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05/08/1944

Christopher Gunning, English composer (died 2023)

Christopher Gunning was an English composer of concert works and music for films and television.

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05/08/1943

Nelson Briles, American baseball player (died 2005)

Nelson Kelley Briles was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. A hard thrower whose best pitch was a slider, he exhibited excellent control. Briles batted and threw right-handed. He was a starting pitcher on World Series champions with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1967 and Pittsburgh Pirates in 1971.

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Sammi Smith, American country music singer-songwriter (died 2005)

Jewel Fay "Sammi" Smith was an American country music singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 1971 crossover hit "Help Me Make It Through the Night", which was written by Kris Kristofferson. She became one of the few women in the outlaw country movement during the 1970s.

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05/08/1942

Joe Boyd, American record producer, founded Hannibal Records

Joe Boyd is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked with Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band, R.E.M., Vashti Bunyan, John and Beverley Martyn, Maria Muldaur, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Billy Bragg, James Booker, 10,000 Maniacs, and Muzsikás. He was also one of the founders of the highly influential nightclub venue UFO.

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05/08/1941

Bob Clark, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2007)

Benjamin Robert Clark was an American film director and screenwriter. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was responsible for some of the most successful films in Canadian film history such as Black Christmas (1974), Murder by Decree (1979), Tribute (1980), Porky's (1981) and A Christmas Story (1983). He won a trio of Genie Awards with two additional nominations.

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Leonid Kizim, Ukrainian general, pilot, and astronaut (died 2010)

Leonid Denisovich Kizim was a Soviet cosmonaut.

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Airto Moreira, Brazilian-American drummer and composer

Airto Guimorvan Moreira is a Brazilian jazz drummer, composer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the Brazilian ensemble Quarteto Novo, he moved to the United States and worked in jazz fusion with Miles Davis, Return to Forever, Weather Report and Santana.

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05/08/1940

Bobby Braddock, American country music songwriter, musician, and producer

Robert Valentine Braddock is an American country songwriter and record producer. A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Braddock has contributed numerous hit songs during more than 40 years in the industry, including 13 number-one hit singles.

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Roman Gabriel, American football player, coach, and actor (died 2024)

Roman Ildonzo Gabriel Jr. was an American professional football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the NC State Wolfpack, earning first-team All-American honors twice. Gabriel was the second overall pick in the 1962 NFL draft and played 11 seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, followed by five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was notable for being the first Filipino-American quarterback in the NFL and the first and only Asian American to win the NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, which he received in 1969.

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Rick Huxley, English bass player (died 2013)

The Dave Clark Five, also known as the DC5, were an English rock and roll band formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark was the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. In January 1964, they had their first UK top-ten single, "Glad All Over", which knocked the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" off the top of the UK Singles Chart. It peaked at No. 6 in the United States in April 1964. Although this was their only UK No. 1, they topped the US chart in December 1965, with their cover of Bobby Day's "Over and Over". Their other UK top-ten hits include "Bits and Pieces", "Can't You See That She's Mine", "Catch Us If You Can", "Everybody Knows", "The Red Balloon", "Good Old Rock 'n' Roll", and a version of Chet Powers' "Get Together".

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05/08/1939

Roger Clark, English race car driver (died 1998)

Roger Albert Clark, MBE was a British rally driver during the 1960s and '70s, and the first competitor from his country to win a World Rally Championship (WRC) event when he triumphed at the 1976 RAC Rally.

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Carmen Salinas, Mexican actress and politician (died 2021)

Carmen Salinas Lozano was a Mexican actress, impressionist, comedian, politician, and theatre entrepreneur. She was associated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) during her later career as a politician.

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05/08/1937

Herb Brooks, American ice hockey player and coach (died 2003)

Herbert Paul Brooks was an American ice hockey player and coach. His most notable achievement came in 1980 as head coach of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team at Lake Placid. At the Games, Brooks' American team upset the heavily favored Soviet team in a match that came to be known as the "Miracle on Ice".

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Brian G. Marsden, English-American astronomer and academic (died 2010)

Brian Geoffrey Marsden was a British astronomer and the longtime director of the Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

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05/08/1936

Nikolai Baturin, Estonian author and playwright (died 2019)

Nikolai Baturin was an Estonian award-winning novelist and playwright.

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John Saxon, American actor (died 2020)

John Saxon was an American actor and martial artist who worked on more than 200 film and television projects during a span of 60 years. He was known for his work in Westerns and horror films, often playing police officers and detectives.

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05/08/1935

Michael Ballhaus, German director and cinematographer (died 2017)

Michael Ballhaus, A.S.C. was a German cinematographer.

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Peter Inge, Baron Inge, English field marshal (died 2022)

Field Marshal Peter Anthony Inge, Baron Inge was a senior British Army officer. He was the Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, from 1992 to 1994 and then served as Chief of the Defence Staff before retiring in 1997. Early in his military career he saw action during the Malayan Emergency and Operation Banner in Northern Ireland, and later in his career he provided advice to the British Government during the Bosnian War.

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Roy Benavidez, American soldier, Medal of Honor Winner (died 1998)

Master Sergeant Raul Perez "Roy" Benavidez was a United States Army soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valorous actions in combat near Lộc Ninh, South Vietnam on May 2, 1968, while serving as a member of the United States Army Special Forces during the Vietnam War.

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05/08/1934

Karl Johan Åström, Swedish engineer and theorist

Karl Johan Åström is a Swedish control theorist, who has made contributions to the fields of control theory and control engineering, computer control and adaptive control. In 1965, he described a general framework of Markov decision processes with incomplete information, what ultimately led to the notion of a Partially observable Markov decision process.

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Wendell Berry, American novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist

Wendell Erdman Berry is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. Closely identified with rural Kentucky, Berry developed many of his agrarian themes in the early essays of The Gift of Good Land (1981) and The Unsettling of America (1977). His attention to the culture and economy of rural communities is also found in the novels and stories of Port William, such as A Place on Earth (1967), Jayber Crow (2000), and That Distant Land (2004).

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Gay Byrne, Irish radio and television host (died 2019)

Gabriel Mary Byrne was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was as the first host of The Late Late Show over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. The Late Late Show is the world's longest-running live chat show. He was affectionately known as "Uncle Gay", "Gaybo" or "Uncle Gaybo". His time working in Britain with Granada Television saw him become the first person to introduce the Beatles on-screen, and Byrne was later the first to introduce Boyzone on-screen in 1993. According to Byrne, Paul McCartney asked him to be the Beatles' agent during a sound check for his show but he declined the offer.

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05/08/1932

Tera de Marez Oyens, Dutch pianist and composer (died 1996)

Tera de Marez Oyens was a Dutch composer.

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Vladimir Fedoseyev, Russian conductor

Vladimir Ivanovich Fedoseyev is a Soviet and Russian conductor, bayanist, teacher. People's Artist of the USSR (1980). Laureate of the USSR State Prize (1989) and the Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR (1970). Full Commander of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland". Artistic director and chief conductor of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra since 1974.

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05/08/1931

Tom Hafey, Australian footballer and coach (died 2014)

Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most successful coaches, guiding Richmond to four VFL premierships before also having stints at Collingwood, Geelong and finally Sydney.Hafey was an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, named coach of Richmond's team of the century in 1998, and given the AFL Coaches Association "Coaching Legend Award" in 2011. He was renowned for his fitness and toughness even in his elderly years when he would still run rings around his juniors. He would do over 700 push-ups and crunches a day every day since he started playing in the VFL.

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05/08/1930

Neil Armstrong, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut, first man to walk on the Moon (died 2012)

Neil Alden Armstrong was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who, as the commander of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, became the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot and university professor.

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Damita Jo DeBlanc, American comedian, actress, and singer (died 1998)

Damita Jo DeBlanc, known professionally as Damita Jo, was an American singer and comedian. Her second marriage was to her manager James "Biddy" Wood in 1961.

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Richie Ginther, American race car driver (died 1989)

Paul Richard "Richie" Ginther was an American racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1960 to 1967. He recorded the first Formula One win for both Honda and Goodyear at the Mexican Grand Prix in 1965.

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Michal Kováč, Slovak lawyer and politician, 1st President of Slovakia (died 2016)

Michal Kováč was the first president of Slovakia, having served from 1993 through 1998.

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05/08/1929

Don Matheson, American soldier, police officer, and actor (died 2014)

Don Matheson was an American soldier and policeman who later became a television actor, perhaps best known for his continuing role in Irwin Allen's series Land of the Giants.

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John H. Moore II, American lawyer and judge (died 2013)

John Henry Moore II was an American lawyer and United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

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05/08/1926

Betsy Jolas, French composer

Elizabeth MacDonald Jolas is a French and American composer.

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Jeri Southern, American jazz singer and pianist (died 1991)

Jeri Southern was an American jazz singer and pianist.

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05/08/1923

Devan Nair, Malaysian-Singaporean union leader and politician, 3rd President of Singapore (died 2005)

Chengara Veetil Devan Nair was a Singaporean union leader and politician who served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resignation in 1985.

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05/08/1922

L. Tom Perry, American businessman and religious leader (died 2015)

Lowell Tom Perry was an American businessman and religious leader who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1974 until his death.

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Frank Stranahan, American golfer (died 2013)

Frank Richard Stranahan was an American sportsman. He had significant success in both amateur and professional golf. He was ranked number one in his weight class in powerlifting, from 1945 to 1954, and he became known on the golf course and off as the "Toledo strongman" long before the modern game of golf and fitness. After he retired from tournament golf in the early 1960s, he became a prolific long-distance runner, competing in 102 marathons.

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05/08/1921

Terry Becker, American actor, director, and producer (died 2014)

Terry Becker was an American film and television actor, director and producer.

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05/08/1920

George Tooker, American painter and academic (died 2011)

George Clair Tooker, Jr. was an American figurative painter. His works are associated with magic realism, social realism, photorealism, and surrealism. His subjects are depicted naturally as in a photograph, but the images use flat tones, an ambiguous perspective, and alarming juxtapositions to suggest an imagined or dreamed reality. He did not agree with the association of his work with Magic realism or Surrealism, as he said, "I am after painting reality impressed on the mind so hard that it returns as a dream, but I am not after painting dreams as such, or fantasy." In 1968, he was elected to the National Academy of Design and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Tooker was one of nine recipients of the National Medal of Arts in 2007.

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05/08/1919

Rosalind Hicks, British literary guardian and the only child of author, Agatha Christie (died 2004)

Rosalind Margaret Clarissa Hicks was the only child of author Agatha Christie.

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05/08/1918

Tom Drake, American actor and singer (died 1982)

Tom Drake was an American actor. Drake made films starting in 1940 and continuing until the mid-1970s, and also made TV acting appearances.

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Betty Oliphant, English-Canadian ballerina, co-founded Canada's National Ballet School (died 2004)

Nancy Elizabeth Oliphant was a co-founder of the National Ballet School of Canada.

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05/08/1916

Peter Viereck, American poet and academic (died 2006)

Peter Robert Edwin Viereck was an American writer, poet, and professor of history at Mount Holyoke College. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1949 for Terror and Decorum, a collection of poetry. In 1955 he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Florence.

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05/08/1914

Parley Baer, American actor (died 2002)

Parley Edward Baer was an American actor in radio and later in television and film. Despite dozens of appearances in television series and theatrical films, he remains best known as the original "Chester" in the radio version of Gunsmoke, and as the Mayor of Mayberry in The Andy Griffith Show, as well as Arthur J. Henson in The Addams Family as the Mayor, an insurance executive and as the city controller.

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05/08/1912

Abbé Pierre, French priest and humanitarian (died 2007)

Abbé Pierre was a French Catholic priest. He was a member of the Resistance during World War II and deputy of the Popular Republican Movement. In 1949, he founded the Emmaus movement, with the goal of helping poor and homeless people. For several decades, he was one of the most popular public figures in France. Allegations of sexual abuse of at least 57 women, as well as several underage girls, emerged in 2024 and 2025.

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05/08/1911

Robert Taylor, American actor and singer (died 1969)

Robert Taylor was an American film and television actor and singer who was one of the most popular leading men of his era.

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05/08/1910

Bruno Coquatrix, French songwriter and manager (died 1979)

Bruno Coquatrix was a French record producer, the owner and manager of Olympia in Paris from 1954 until his death in 1979.

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Herminio Masantonio, Argentinian footballer (died 1956)

Herminio Masantonio was an Argentine football centre-forward. He played most of his career for Huracán and represented Argentina at international level.

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05/08/1908

Harold Holt, Australian lawyer and politician, 17th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1967)

Harold Edward Holt was an Australian politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his disappearance and presumed death in 1967. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and held various ministerial positions from 1949 to 1966 in the governments of Robert Menzies and Arthur Fadden.

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Jose Garcia Villa, Filipino short story writer and poet (died 1997)

José García Villa was a Filipino poet, literary critic, short story writer, and painter. He was awarded the National Artist of the Philippines title for literature in 1973, as well as the Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by Conrad Aiken. He is known to have introduced the "reversed consonance rhyme scheme" in writing poetry, as well as the extensive use of punctuation marks—especially commas, which made him known as the Comma Poet. He used the pen name Doveglion, based on the characters he derived from his own works. These animals were also explored by another poet, E. E. Cummings, in "Doveglion, Adventures in Value", a poem dedicated to Villa.

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05/08/1906

Joan Hickson, English actress (died 1998)

Joan Bogle Butler, known professionally as Joan Hickson, was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series Miss Marple. She also narrated a number of Miss Marple stories on audiobooks.

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John Huston, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1987)

John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. He wrote the screenplays for many of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and the BAFTA Fellowship in 1980.

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05/08/1905

Wassily Leontief, German-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1999)

Wassily Wassilyevich Leontief was a Soviet-American economist known for his research on input–output analysis and how changes in one economic sector may affect other sectors.

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05/08/1904

Kenneth V. Thimann, English-American botanist and microbiologist (died 1997)

Kenneth Vivian Thimann was an English-American plant physiologist and microbiologist known for his studies of plant hormones, which were widely influential in agriculture and horticulture. He isolated and determined the structure of auxin, the first known plant hormone. He spent most of his early career (1935–1965) at Harvard University, and his later career (1965–1989) at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is credited with identifying indole-3-acetic acid as an auxin.

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05/08/1901

Claude Autant-Lara, French director, screenwriter, and politician (died 2000)

Claude Autant-Lara was a French film director, screenwriter, set designer and costume designer who worked in films for over 50 years. He made films characterised by bourgeois realism, anti-clericalism and sexual frankness, often from literary sources. His career was frequently marked by controversy. Even though he was considered left-wing during most of his life, in his late 80s he was elected to the European Parliament as a member for the far-right National Front: he stepped down two months later after making antisemitic statements.

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05/08/1900

Rudolf Schottlaender, German philosopher, classical philologist and translator (died 1988)

Rudolf Schottlaender was a German philosopher, classical philologist, translator and political publicist of Jewish descent.

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05/08/1897

Roberta Dodd Crawford, American soprano and educator (died 1954)

Roberta Dodd Crawford was an African-American lyric soprano and voice instructor who performed throughout the United States and Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Roberta was born in Bonham, Texas before studying singing in Nashville, Chicago, and Paris. While in Paris, she married Prince Kojo Tovalou Houénou of Dahomey. When Houénou died in a French prison, Roberta was left without access to their marriage funds and returned to Paris where she lived through the Nazi occupation from 1940 until 1944. After the war, she returned to Texas where she died in 1954 in Dallas.

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Aksel Larsen, Danish lawyer and politician (died 1972)

Aksel Larsen was a Danish politician who was chairman of the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP), and chairman and founder of the Socialist People's Party. He is remembered today for his long service in the Communist Party of Denmark, for his time as a concentration camp inmate at Sachsenhausen, and for being the founder of the Socialist People's Party.

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05/08/1890

Naum Gabo, Russian-American sculptor (died 1977)

Naum Gabo was an influential sculptor, theorist, and key figure in Russia's post-Revolution avant-garde and the subsequent development of twentieth-century sculpture. His work combined geometric abstraction with a dynamic organization of form in small reliefs and constructions, monumental public sculpture and pioneering kinetic works that assimilated new materials such as nylon, wire, lucite and semi-transparent materials, glass and metal. Responding to the scientific and political revolutions of his age, Gabo led an eventful and peripatetic life, moving to Berlin, Paris, Oslo, Moscow, London, and finally the United States, and within the circles of the major avant-garde movements of the day, including Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, the Bauhaus, de Stijl and the Abstraction-Création group. Two preoccupations, unique to Gabo, were his interest in representing negative space—"released from any closed volume" or mass—and time. He famously explored the former idea in his Linear Construction works (1942-1971)—used nylon filament to create voids or interior spaces as "concrete" as the elements of solid mass—and the latter in his pioneering work, Kinetic Sculpture (1920), often considered the first kinetic work of art.

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Erich Kleiber, Austrian conductor and director (died 1956)

Erich Kleiber was an Austrian, later Argentine, conductor, known for his interpretations of the Western classics and as an advocate of Neue Musik.

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05/08/1889

Conrad Aiken, American novelist, short story writer, critic, and poet (died 1973)

Conrad Potter Aiken was an American writer and poet, honored with a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award, and was United States Poet Laureate from 1950 to 1952. His published works include poetry, short stories, novels, literary criticism, a play, and an autobiography.

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05/08/1887

Reginald Owen, English-American actor and singer (died 1972)

John Reginald Owen was a British actor, known for his many roles in British and American films and television programmes.

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05/08/1882

Anne Acheson, Irish sculptor (died 1962)

Anne Crawford Acheson was a British-Irish sculptor. She and Elinor Hallé invented plaster casts for soldier's broken limbs. Acheson exhibited at the Royal Academy and internationally. She was awarded the CBE in 1919. During the First World War she worked for the Surgical Requisites Association at Mulberry Walk in Chelsea, London. Acheson received the Gleichen Memorial Award in 1938. She divided her time between London and Glenavy, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

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05/08/1880

Gertrude Rush, American lawyer and jurist (died 1962)

Gertrude Elzora Durden Rush was the first African-American female lawyer in Iowa, admitted to the Iowa bar in 1918. She helped found the National Bar Association in 1925.

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Ruth Sawyer, American author and educator (died 1970)

Ruth Sawyer was an American storyteller and a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. She is best known as the author of Roller Skates, which won the 1937 Newbery Medal. She received the Children's Literature Legacy Award in 1965 for her lifetime achievement in children's literature.

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05/08/1877

Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (died 1917)

Thomas John Thomson was a Canadian artist active in the early 20th century. During his short career, he produced roughly 400 oil sketches on small wood panels and approximately 50 larger works on canvas. His works consist almost entirely of landscapes, depicting trees, skies, lakes, and rivers. He used broad brush strokes and a liberal application of paint to capture the beauty and colour of the Ontario landscape. Thomson is considered by many Canadians as the archetypal painter, and his later work has heavily influenced Canadian art – paintings such as The Jack Pine and The West Wind have taken a prominent place in the culture of Canada and are some of the country's most iconic works. His accidental death by drowning at 39 shortly before the founding of the Group of Seven is seen as a tragedy for Canadian art.

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05/08/1876

Mary Ritter Beard, American historian and activist (died 1958)

Mary Ritter Beard was an American historian, author, women's suffrage activist, and women's history archivist who was also a lifelong advocate of social justice. As a Progressive Era reformer, Beard was active in both the labor and women's rights movements. She also authored several books on women's role in history including On Understanding Women (1931), America Through Women's Eyes, and Woman as Force in History: A Study in Traditions and Realities (1946), her major work. In addition, she collaborated with her husband, historian Charles Austin Beard, as coauthor of seven textbooks, most notably The Rise of American Civilization (1927), two volumes, and America in Midpassage: A Study of the Idea of Civilization (1939) and The American Spirit (1942), the third and fourth volume of The Rise of American Civilization series. A standalone book, Basic History of the United States, was their best-selling work.

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05/08/1874

Wesley Clair Mitchell, American economist and academic (died 1948)

Wesley Clair Mitchell was an American economist known for his empirical work on business cycles and for guiding the National Bureau of Economic Research in its first decades.

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Horace Rawlins, English golfer (died 1935)

Horace Thomas Rawlins was an English professional golfer who won the first U.S. Open Championship at Newport Country Club in October 1895.

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05/08/1872

Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician, bacteriologist, and epidemiologist, founded the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (died 1917)

Oswaldo Gonçalves Cruz, was a Brazilian physician, pioneer bacteriologist, epidemiologist and public health officer and the founder of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute.

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05/08/1868

Oskar Merikanto, Finnish pianist and composer (died 1924)

Oskar Merikanto was a Finnish composer, music critic, pianist, and organist.

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05/08/1866

Carl Harries, German chemist and academic (died 1923)

Carl Dietrich Harries was a German chemist born in Luckenwalde, Brandenburg, Prussia. He received his doctorate in 1892. In 1900, he married Hertha von Siemens, daughter of the electrical genius Werner von Siemens, and the inventor of one of the earliest ozone generators. In 1904, he moved as full professor to the University of Kiel, where he remained until 1916. During that time he published numerous papers on ozonolysis. His major publication detailing ozonolysis was published in Liebigs Ann. Chem. 1905, 343, 311. Dissatisfied with academic life and having failed to obtain either of two positions at universities, he left academia to become director of research at Siemens and Halske. He died on 3 November 1923 of complications following surgery for cancer. He was buried at Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery near Berlin.

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Harry Trott, Australian cricketer (died 1917)

George Henry Stevens Trott was an Australian cricketer who played 24 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Although Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and outstanding fielder, "it is as a captain that he is best remembered, an understanding judge of human nature". After a period of some instability and ill discipline in Australian cricket, he was the first in a succession of assertive Australian captains that included Joe Darling, Monty Noble and Clem Hill, who restored the prestige of the Test team. Respected by teammates and opponents alike for his cricketing judgement, Trott was quick to pick up a weakness in opponents. A right-handed batsman, he was known for his sound defence and vigorous hitting. His slow leg-spin bowling was often able to deceive batsmen through subtle variations of pace and flight, but allowed opposition batsmen to score quickly.

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05/08/1862

Joseph Merrick, English man with severe deformities (died 1890)

Joseph Carey Merrick was an English man known for his severe physical deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "The Elephant Man", and then went to live at the London Hospital, in Whitechapel, after meeting the surgeon Sir Frederick Treves. Despite his challenges, Merrick created detailed artistic works, such as intricate models of buildings, and became well known in London society.

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05/08/1860

Louis Wain, English artist (died 1939)

Louis William Wain was an English artist best known for his drawings of anthropomorphised cats and kittens.

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05/08/1850

Guy de Maupassant, French short story writer, novelist, and poet (died 1893)

Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the naturalist school, depicting human lives, destinies and social forces in disillusioned and often pessimistic terms.

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05/08/1844

Ilya Repin, Russian painter and sculptor (died 1930)

Ilya Yefimovich Repin was a Ukrainian-born Russian painter. He became one of the most renowned artists in Russia in the 19th century. His major works include Barge Haulers on the Volga (1873), Religious Procession in Kursk Province (1880–1883), Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan (1885), and Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks (1880–1891). He is also known for the revealing portraits he made of the leading Russian literary and artistic figures of his time, including Mikhail Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, Pavel Tretyakov, and especially Leo Tolstoy, with whom he had a long friendship.

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05/08/1843

James Scott Skinner, Scottish violinist and composer (died 1927)

James Scott Skinner was a Scottish dancing master, violinist, fiddler and composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential fiddlers in Scottish traditional music, and was known as "the Strathspey King".

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05/08/1833

Carola of Vasa (died 1907)

Carola of Vasa, was by birth a titular princess of Sweden and styled Princess of Vasa as member of the House of Holstein-Gottorp, and by marriage the last Queen of Saxony.

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05/08/1828

Louise of the Netherlands (died 1871)

Louise of the Netherlands, also called Lovisa, was Queen of Sweden and Norway from 8 July 1859 until her death in 1871 as the wife of King Charles XV & IV.

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05/08/1827

Deodoro da Fonseca, Brazilian field marshal and politician, 1st President of Brazil (died 1892)

Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca was a Brazilian politician and military officer who served as the head of provisional government and the first president of Brazil. He was born in Alagoas in a military family, followed a military career, and became a national figure. Fonseca took office as provisional president after heading a military coup that deposed Emperor Pedro II and established the First Brazilian Republic in 1889, disestablishing the Empire. After his election in 1891, he stepped down the same year under great political pressure when he dissolved the National Congress. He died less than a year later.

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05/08/1815

Edward John Eyre, English explorer and politician, Governor of Jamaica (died 1901)

Edward John Eyre was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand's New Munster province, and Governor of Jamaica.

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05/08/1813

Ivar Aasen, Norwegian poet and linguist (died 1896)

Ivar Andreas Aasen was a Norwegian philologist, lexicographer, playwright, and poet. He is best known for having assembled one of the two official written versions of the Norwegian language, Nynorsk, from various dialects.

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05/08/1811

Ambroise Thomas, French composer (died 1896)

Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas Mignon (1866) and Hamlet (1868).

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05/08/1802

Niels Henrik Abel, Norwegian mathematician and theorist (died 1829)

Niels Henrik Abel was a Norwegian mathematician who made pioneering contributions in a variety of fields. His most famous single result is the first complete proof demonstrating the impossibility of solving the general quintic equation in radicals. This question was one of the outstanding open problems of his day, and had been unresolved for over 250 years. He was also an innovator in the field of elliptic functions and the discoverer of Abelian functions. He made his discoveries while living in poverty and died at the age of 26 from tuberculosis.

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05/08/1797

Friedrich August Kummer, German cellist and composer (died 1879)

Friedrich August Kummer, born in Meiningen, the Holy Roman Empire, was a cellist, pedagogue, and composer.

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05/08/1749

Thomas Lynch Jr., American commander and politician (died 1779)

Thomas Lynch Jr. was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of South Carolina and a Founding Father of the United States. His father Thomas Lynch was a member of the Continental Congress and had signed the 1774 Continental Association. When he had to step down because of illness, Thomas Lynch Jr. was selected to fill his post.

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05/08/1694

Leonardo Leo, Italian composer (died 1744)

Leonardo Leo, more correctly Leonardo Ortensio Salvatore de Leo, was a Baroque composer.

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05/08/1681

Vitus Bering, Danish-born Russian explorer (died 1741)

Vitus Jonassen Bering, also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering, was a Danish-born Russian cartographer, explorer, and officer in the Russian Navy. He is known as a leader of two Russian expeditions, the First Kamchatka Expedition and the Great Northern Expedition, exploring the northeastern coast of the Asian continent and from there the western coast of the North American continent. The Bering Strait, the Bering Sea, Bering Island, the Bering Glacier, and Vitus Lake were all named in his honor.

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05/08/1662

James Anderson, Scottish lawyer and historian (died 1728)

James Anderson, Scottish antiquary and historian, was born in Edinburgh. His father was Patrick Anderson of Walston, a church minister, who was for some time imprisoned on the Bass Rock on the Firth of Forth in Haddingtonshire.

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05/08/1626

Richard Ottley, English politician (died 1670)

Sir Richard Ottley was an English Royalist politician and soldier who served as a youth in the English Civil War in Shropshire. After the Restoration he played a prominent part in the repression of Parliamentarians and Nonconformists and was MP for Shropshire in the Cavalier Parliament.

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05/08/1623

Antonio Cesti, Italian organist and composer (died 1669)

Antonio Cesti, known today primarily as an Italian composer of the Baroque era, was also a singer (tenor) and organist. He was "the most celebrated Italian musician of his generation".

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05/08/1607

Antonio Barberini, Italian cardinal (died 1671)

Antonio Barberini was an Italian Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts and a prominent member of the House of Barberini. As one of the cardinal-nephews of Pope Urban VIII and a supporter of France, he played a significant role at a number of the papal conclaves of the 17th century. With his brothers Cardinal Francesco Barberini and Taddeo Barberini he helped to shape politics, religion, art and music of 17th century Italy. He is sometimes referred to as Antonio the Younger or Antonio Barberini iuniore to distinguish him from his uncle Antonio Marcello Barberini.

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05/08/1540

Joseph Justus Scaliger, French philologist and historian (died 1609)

Joseph Justus Scaliger was a Franco-Italian Calvinist religious leader and scholar, known for expanding the notion of classical history from Greek and Ancient Roman history to include Persian, Babylonian, Jewish and Ancient Egyptian history. He spent the last sixteen years of his life in the Netherlands.

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05/08/1461

Alexander Jagiellon, Polish king (died 1506)

Alexander Jagiellon was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1492 and King of Poland from 1501 until his death in 1506. He was the fourth son of Casimir IV and a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty. Alexander was elected grand duke of Lithuania upon the death of his father and became king of Poland upon the death of his elder brother John I Albert.

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05/08/1397

Guillaume Du Fay, Belgian-Italian composer and theorist (died 1474)

Guillaume Du Fay was a composer and music theorist of early Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered the leading European composer of his time, his music was widely performed and reproduced. Du Fay was well-associated with composers of the Burgundian School, particularly his colleague Gilles Binchois, but was never a regular member of the Burgundian chapel himself.

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05/08/1301

Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (died 1330)

Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, whose seat was Arundel Castle in Sussex, was the sixth and youngest son of King Edward I of England, and the second son of his second wife Margaret of France, and was a younger half-brother of King Edward II. Edward I had intended to make substantial grants of land to Edmund, but when the king died in 1307, Edward II refused to respect his father's intentions, mainly due to his favouritism towards Piers Gaveston. Edmund remained loyal to his brother, and in 1321 he was created Earl of Kent. He played an important part in Edward's administration as diplomat and military commander and in 1321–22 helped suppress a rebellion.

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05/08/1262

Ladislaus IV of Hungary (died 1290)

Ladislaus IV, also known as Ladislaus the Cuman, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1272 to 1290. His mother, Elizabeth, was the daughter of a chieftain from the pagan Cumans who had settled in Hungary. At the age of seven, he married Elisabeth, a daughter of King Charles I of Sicily. Ladislaus was only 9 when a rebellious lord, Joachim Gutkeled, kidnapped and imprisoned him.

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01/01/1970

Tullia, Roman daughter of Cicero (died 45 BC)

Tullia, sometimes referred to affectionately as Tulliola, was the first child and only daughter of Roman orator and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero, by his first marriage to Terentia. She was the sister of Marcus Tullius Cicero Minor, born in 65 BC, who became suffect consul in 30 BC.

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