Born on Friday, 13th February – Famous Birthdays

13/02/2005

Sergio Mestre, Spanish footballer

Sergio Mestre Sánchez is a Spanish footballer currently playing as a goalkeeper for Real Madrid Castilla.

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13/02/2003

Raúl Asencio, Spanish footballer

Raúl Asencio del Rosario is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Real Madrid.

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13/02/2002

Jaden Ivey, American basketball player

Jaden Edward Dhananjay Ivey is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers.

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Sophia Lillis, American actress

Sophia Lillis is an American actress. She gained prominence for her roles as Beverly Marsh in the horror films It (2017) and It: Chapter Two (2019) and as a teenager with telekinesis in the Netflix drama series I Am Not Okay with This (2020).

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13/02/2001

Kaapo Kakko, Finnish ice hockey player

Kaapo Ville Olavi Kakko is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is a forward for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). Kakko was selected second overall by the New York Rangers in the 2019 NHL entry draft, and played the first five and a half years of his NHL career with them. Kakko plays right wing, but also has experience playing at centre. He made his professional debut playing with TPS of the Finnish Liiga.

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13/02/2000

Vitinha, Portuguese footballer

Vítor Machado Ferreira, known as Vitinha, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Portugal national team. Considered one of the best midfielders in the world, he is known for his ball control, work rate and playmaking abilities.

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13/02/1995

Kendall Fuller, American football player

Kendall Christopher Fuller is an American professional football cornerback. He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies and was selected by the Washington Redskins in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft. Fuller also played for the Kansas City Chiefs, recording a game-sealing interception in Super Bowl LIV.

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Georges-Kévin Nkoudou, French-Cameroonian footballer

Georges-Kévin Nkoudou Mbida is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Saudi First Division League club Al-Diriyah. Born in France, he plays for the Cameroon national team.

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13/02/1994

Memphis Depay, Dutch footballer

Memphis Depay, commonly known simply as Memphis, is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for Corinthians in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and the Netherlands national team. He is the all-time top scorer for the national team with 55 goals. In addition to his football career, Memphis is also a musician.

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13/02/1992

Keith Appling, American basketball player

Keith Damon Appling is an American former basketball player and convicted murderer. After going undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft, Appling appeared sporadically for the Orlando Magic before being waived in 2016. He played college basketball for Michigan State University.

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13/02/1991

Eliaquim Mangala, French footballer

Eliaquim Hans Mangala is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Oriente Petrolero.

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Vianney, French singer

Vianney Bureau, better known by the mononym Vianney, is a French singer-songwriter. At 24 years old he won the award for performing artist of the year at the "Victoires de la musique 2016" one year after having been named in the up and coming category of the "Victoires de la musique 2015". His debut album Idées blanches was certified platinum. His second album was released on 25 November 2016 and was certified double platinum.

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Luke Voit, American baseball player

Louis Linwood Voit III is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, and Milwaukee Brewers.

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13/02/1990

Nathan Eovaldi, American baseball player

Nathan Edward Eovaldi is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, and Boston Red Sox.

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Mamadou Sakho, French footballer

Mamadou Sakho is a French former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

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13/02/1989

Rodrigo Possebon, Brazilian footballer

Rodrigo Pereira Possebon is a professional football executive and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current director of football of Athletico Paranaense.

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13/02/1988

Ryan Goins, American baseball player

Ryan Matthew Goins is an American former professional baseball second baseman and shortstop who currently serves as an infield instructor for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, and Chicago White Sox.

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Dave Rudden, Irish author

Dave Rudden is an Irish writer of young adult fiction, juvenile fantasy and science fiction, best known for his Knights of the Borrowed Dark trilogy and stories from the Doctor Who universe. He is based in Dublin.

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13/02/1987

Eljero Elia, Dutch footballer

Eljero George Rinaldo Elia is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger.

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13/02/1986

Luke Moore, English footballer

Luke Isaac Moore is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He represented England at England U21 level. He is the younger brother of former professional footballer Stefan Moore and uncle to current Aston Villa youth team player Kobei Moore.

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Aqib Talib, American football player

Aqib Talib is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kansas Jayhawks, earning unanimous All-American honors. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the 2008 NFL draft. Talib also played for the New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, and Los Angeles Rams, winning Super Bowl 50 with Denver. In 2020, he made his debut as an analyst for the NFL on Fox.

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13/02/1985

Somdev Devvarman, Indian tennis player

Somdev Kishore Devvarman is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is known for being one of the few collegiate players to have made three consecutive finals at the NCAA, winning back-to-back finals in his junior and senior years at the University of Virginia. Only three other players have matched that record since 1950. His 44–1 win–loss record in 2008 at the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship was the best record since 1971.

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J. R. Giddens, American basketball player

Justin Ray "J. R." Giddens is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected to the 2003 McDonald's All-American team, then initially played for the University of Kansas but transferred to the University of New Mexico following his sophomore season. He was selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics, and played for various professional teams until 2019. Giddens is the former head coach of the women's basketball team at Northern New Mexico College.

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Kwak Ji-min, South Korean actress

Kwak Ji-min, birth name Kwak Sun-hee (곽선희), is a South Korean actress. She is best known overseas for her leading role in the Kim Ki-duk film Samaritan Girl, for which she won Best New Actress at the 2004 Busan Film Critics Awards.

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Al Montoya, American ice hockey player

Álvaro Silva Montoya is a Cuban-American former professional ice hockey goaltender who played a total of nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Arizona Coyotes, New York Islanders, Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, and Edmonton Oilers. He was selected in the first round, sixth overall, by the New York Rangers in the 2004 NHL entry draft after a three-year collegiate career with the University of Michigan. Montoya is the first Cuban-American to play in the NHL.

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13/02/1984

Hinkelien Schreuder, Dutch swimmer

Hinkelien Schreuder is a former butterfly, freestyle and backstroke swimmer from The Netherlands, who also competed in the medley events. Schreuder won the Olympic gold medal in the 4×100 freestyle relay at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and a silver in the same event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She is a former world record holder in the 100 m individual medley, and former European record holder in the 50 m butterfly short course.

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13/02/1983

Mike Nickeas, Canadian baseball player

Michael James Nickeas is a former professional baseball catcher. Nickeas played four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays. Nickeas also represented Great Britain internationally.

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Anna Watkins, English rower

Anna Rose Watkins is a British rower.

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13/02/1982

Even Helte Hermansen, Norwegian guitarist and composer

Even Helte Hermansen is a Norwegian guitarist, known from several orchestras playing experimental jazz.

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Michael Turner, American football player

Michael Turner is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Northern Illinois Huskies, earning second-team All-American honors in 2003. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL draft, and also played in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons. He was a two-time All-Pro and a two-time Pro Bowl selection with the Falcons.

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13/02/1981

Luisão, Brazilian footballer

Ânderson Luís da Silva, known as Luisão, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre back.

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Luke Ridnour, American basketball player

Lukas Robin Ridnour is an American former professional basketball player who played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks.

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13/02/1980

Carlos Cotto, Puerto Rican-American wrestler and boxer

Carlos Omar Cotto Cruz is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler and boxer. As a wrestler, he perform under the alias of El Chicano and has performed mostly for the International Wrestling Association and the World Wrestling Council. While performing for the first, Cotto became the only person to win all eligible championships, later becoming a Universal Heavyweight Champion in the second. Locally, he has held the main title of a promotion nine times. Abroad, Cotto has worked for AAA in 2010 and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in 2016.

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13/02/1979

Anders Behring Breivik, Norwegian mass murderer

Anders Behring Breivik is a Norwegian neo-Nazi, mass murderer, and domestic terrorist who perpetrated the 2011 Norway Attacks. A believer in the Great Replacement, he sought to fight "Cultural Marxism" by detonating a car bomb in Oslo and committing a mass shooting on the island of Utøya.

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Rafael Márquez, Mexican footballer

Rafael Márquez Álvarez is a Mexican football coach and former player who played as a defender. He is currently the assistant coach of the Mexico national team. Nicknamed El Káiser, he is regarded as the best defender in Mexico's history and one of the best Mexican players of all time.

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Rachel Reeves, English economist and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Rachel Jane Reeves is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds West and Pudsey, formerly Leeds West, since 2010. She held various shadow ministerial and shadow cabinet portfolios between 2010 and 2015 and from 2020 to 2024.

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Mena Suvari, American actress and fashion designer

Mena Alexandra Suvari is an American actress, producer, fashion designer and model.

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13/02/1978

Niklas Bäckström, Finnish ice hockey player

Niklas Oskar Bäckström is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender and current goaltending coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played ten seasons for the Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames in the National Hockey League (NHL), during which he won both the William M. Jennings Trophy and Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award. He also has won both Urpo Ylönen trophy and Jari Kurri trophy twice. Bäckström is a Swedish-speaking Finn, but also speaks Finnish.

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Philippe Jaroussky, French singer

Philippe Jaroussky is a French countertenor. He began his musical career with the violin, winning an award at the Versailles conservatory, and then took up the piano before turning to singing.

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Cory Murphy, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Cory Murphy is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He is currently a player development coach for the Seattle Kraken.

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13/02/1977

Randy Moss, American football player and coach

Randy Gene Moss is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, and San Francisco 49ers. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time and one of the greatest players in NFL history, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record, as well as the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie.

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13/02/1976

Jörg Bergmeister, German race car driver

Jörg Bergmeister is a former racing driver from Germany and an ambassador of Porsche.

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Feist, Canadian singer-songwriter and musician

Leslie Feist, known mononymously as Feist, is a Canadian indie pop singer and songwriter, performing both as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock group Broken Social Scene.

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13/02/1975

Ben Collins, English race car driver

Benjamin Lievesley Immi Collins is a British racing driver from Bristol. He has competed in motor racing since 1994 in many categories, from Formula Three and Indy Lights to sportscars, GT racing and stock cars.

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Katie Hopkins, English media personality and columnist

Katie Olivia Hopkins is an English media personality, far-right political commentator, and former columnist and businesswoman. She was a contestant on the third series of the reality show The Apprentice in 2007; following further appearances in the media, she became a columnist for British national newspapers, including The Sun and MailOnline. In 2015, Hopkins appeared on the fifteenth series of the reality show Celebrity Big Brother, where she finished as runner-up, and hosted her own talk show, If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World. The following year she became a presenter for the talk radio station LBC.

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13/02/1974

Fonzworth Bentley, American rapper and actor

Derek Watkins, known professionally as Fonzworth Bentley, is an American rapper, actor, television presenter, and author. He is perhaps best known for being Sean Combs's former personal valet and assistant, as first seen in Making the Band 2, and was the host of MTV's From G's to Gents. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Robbie Williams, English singer-songwriter

Robert Peter Williams is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, Life thru a Lens, was released in 1997, and included his best-selling single "Angels". His second album, I've Been Expecting You, featured the songs "Millennium" and "She's the One", his first and second number one singles. His discography includes seven UK No. 1 singles, and all but one of his 14 studio albums have reached No. 1 in the UK. Six of his albums are among the top 100 biggest-selling albums in the UK, with two of them in the top 60, and he gained a Guinness World Record in 2006 for selling 1.6 million tickets in a single day during his Close Encounters Tour.

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13/02/1972

Virgilijus Alekna, Lithuanian discus thrower

Virgilijus Alekna is a Lithuanian former discus thrower and politician. He won medals at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, including two golds.

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Juha Ylönen, Finnish ice hockey player

Juha Petteri Ylönen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey centre. He was selected by the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the fifth round, 91st overall, of the 1991 NHL entry draft. He played for the Phoenix Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Ottawa Senators in the NHL. In international play, he won a bronze medal with Finland's national team at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. His son, Jesse, is also an NHL player.

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13/02/1971

Sonia Evans, English singer-songwriter

Sonia Evans, known mononymously as Sonia, is an English pop singer from Liverpool. She had a 1989 UK number one hit with "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You" and became the first female UK artist to achieve five top 20 hit singles from one album.. She represented the United Kingdom in the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest, where she finished second with the song "Better the Devil You Know".

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Mats Sundin, Swedish ice hockey player

Mats Johan Sundin is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL), retiring in 2009. Originally drafted first overall in 1989, Sundin played his first four seasons in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques. He was then traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1994, where he played the majority of his career, serving 11 seasons as team captain. At the end of the 2007–08 season, Sundin was the longest-serving non-North American-born captain in NHL history. Sundin last played for the Vancouver Canucks in the 2008–09 season before announcing his retirement on 30 September 2009. He appeared in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 10 of his 18 seasons.

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Todd Williams, American baseball player

Todd Michael Williams is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He attended East Syracuse-Minoa High School graduating in 1989. He then attended Onondaga Community College before signing a professional baseball contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers of the Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1991. Over the course of his professional career Williams played for 10 different organizations, including all or parts of eight seasons in the Major Leagues. He is a retired 18-year professional baseball player, with eight years of Major League Baseball experience. Williams was also a member of the USA Baseball team three separate years, with the highlight of winning a Gold Medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia.

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13/02/1970

Elmer Bennett, American basketball player

Elmer James Bennett is an American former professional basketball player. At a height of 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m), he played at the point guard position.

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Karoline Krüger, Norwegian singer-songwriter and pianist

Karoline Krüger is a Norwegian singer and composer. She represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 final in Dublin, where she finished fifth.

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13/02/1969

Joyce DiDonato, American soprano and actress

Joyce DiDonato is an American opera singer and recitalist. A coloratura mezzo-soprano, she has performed operas and concert works spanning from the 19th-century Romantic era to those by Handel and Mozart.

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Bryan Thomas Schmidt, American science fiction author and editor

Bryan Thomas Schmidt is an American science fiction author and editor. He has edited twenty-two anthologies, and written a space opera trilogy, and an ongoing, near-future police procedural series set in Kansas City, Missouri, and a near future thriller novel being developed as a motion picture. He wrote a non-fiction book on how to write a novel. He was a finalist, with Jennifer Brozek, for the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor for the anthology Shattered Shields. His anthology Infinite Stars was nominated for the 2018 Locus Award for Best Anthology.

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13/02/1968

Kelly Hu, American actress

Kelly Ann Hu is an American actress. She starred as Dr. Rae Chang on the American television soap opera Sunset Beach and as Michelle Chan on the American television police drama series Nash Bridges. She has starred in numerous films including The Scorpion King (2002) as Cassandra, Cradle 2 the Grave (2003) as Sona, X2 (2003) as Yuriko Oyama / Lady Deathstrike, The Tournament (2009) as Lai Lai Zhen, and White Frog (2012). She appeared as China White / Chen Na Wei in The CW series Arrow.

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13/02/1967

Stanimir Stoilov, Bulgarian footballer and coach

Stanimir Kolev Stoilov is a Bulgarian former footballer and football manager who is head coach of Göztepe in the Süper Lig. He is best known for two successful spells at Levski Sofia, reaching the 2005–06 UEFA Cup quarter-finals and, in 2006, taking Levski to the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in Bulgarian club history; domestically he won league titles in 2005–06 and 2006–07, the Bulgarian Cup in 2004–05 and 2006–07, and the Bulgarian Supercup in 2005 and 2007.

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13/02/1966

Neal McDonough, American actor and producer

Neal McDonough is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (2001), Fletcher in Minority Report (2002), Tin Man in the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries Tin Man (2007), Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and Damien Darhk in The CW series Arrow (2015–2016) and various series in the DC Arrowverse (2015–2022).

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Jeff Waters, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, and producer

Jeff Waters is a Canadian guitarist and the founder, bandleader and producer of the metal band Annihilator. He was born in Ontario and resides in the UK. Waters has owned Watersound Studios since 1994 and from 2003 until 2018, in Ottawa, Ontario, and now in the UK.

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Freedom Williams, American rapper and singer

Frederick Brandon "Freedom" Williams is an American rapper, singer and songwriter, who gained fame as the lead rapper on C+C Music Factory's biggest hits.

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13/02/1965

Peter O'Neill, Papua New Guinean accountant and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea

Peter Charles Paire O'Neill is a Papua New Guinean politician who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 2011 to 2019. He has been a Member of Parliament for Ialibu-Pangia since 2002. He was a former cabinet minister and the leader of the People's National Congress between 2006 and 2022. He resigned his position as prime minister to avoid a vote of no confidence, and he was succeeded by James Marape.

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13/02/1964

Stephen Bowen, American engineer, captain, and astronaut

Stephen Gerard Bowen is a United States Navy submariner and a NASA astronaut; he was the second submariner to travel into space. Bowen has been on four spaceflights, the first three of which were Space Shuttle missions to the International Space Station. His first mission, STS-126, took place in November 2008, and his second was STS-132 in May 2010. His third was STS-133 in February 2011, and his fourth was SpaceX Crew-6 in March 2023.

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Ylva Johansson, Swedish educator and politician, Swedish Minister of Employment

Ylva Julia Margareta Johansson is a Swedish politician who served as European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Sweden's European Commissioner in the von der Leyen Commission from 1 December 2019 to 30 November 2024.

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13/02/1962

Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Puerto Rican lawyer and politician

Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2009.

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Baby Doll, American wrestler and manager

Nickla Ann Roberts-Byrd is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and valet, better known by her ring name, "The Perfect 10" Baby Doll. She is best known for her appearances with World Class Championship Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s.

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Michele Greene, American actress

Michele Dominguez Greene is an American actress, singer, and author. She is known for her role as attorney Abby Perkins on the TV series L.A. Law from 1986 to 1991, for which she was nominated for a 1989 Primetime Emmy Award. She reprised the role in the 2002 TV reunion film L.A. Law: The Movie.

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13/02/1961

Marc Crawford, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Marc Joseph John Crawford is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played as a forward for the Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League (NHL). Crawford won the Stanley Cup in 1996 as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL. He has also been the head coach of the Quebec Nordiques, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars, and interim head coach of the Ottawa Senators. He has also coached in Switzerland, having two tenures at the helm of the ZSC Lions, at the international level, as head coach of Team Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Crawford has won the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as coach of the year in the American Hockey League and the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in the NHL. His 556 wins as coach is 26th best among all NHL coaches.

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cEvin Key, Canadian singer-songwriter, drummer, keyboard player, and producer

Kevin William Crompton, known professionally as cEvin Key, is a Canadian musician, songwriter, producer, and composer. He is best known as a member of the industrial music group Skinny Puppy, which he co-founded in 1982 with singer Nivek Ogre. Initially a side project while he was with the new wave band Images in Vogue, Skinny Puppy quickly became his primary musical outlet after landing a record deal with Nettwerk Records in 1984.

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Henry Rollins, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

Henry Lawrence Garfield, known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, comedian, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the California hardcore band Black Flag from 1981 to 1986. Following the band's breakup, he established the record label and publishing company 2.13.61 to release his spoken word albums, and formed the Rollins Band, which toured with a number of lineups from 1987 to 2003 and in 2006.

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13/02/1960

Pierluigi Collina, Italian footballer and referee

Pierluigi Collina is an Italian former football referee. He was named "The World's Best Referee" by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics six consecutive times from 1998 to 2003.

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John Healey, English journalist and politician

John Healey is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Defence since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough, formerly Wentworth and Wentworth and Dearne, since 1997. He previously held various junior ministerial positions under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown from 2001 to 2010.

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Gary Patterson, American football player and coach

Gary Allen Patterson is an American college football coach and former player. He is currently the defensive coordinator at USC. He served as head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU) from 2000 to 2021, compiling a record of 181–79. Patterson led the TCU Horned Frogs to six conference championships and 11 bowl game victories, including victories in the 2011 Rose Bowl and 2014 Peach Bowl. His 2010 squad finished the season undefeated at 13–0 after a 21–19 Rose Bowl victory over the Wisconsin Badgers on New Year's Day 2011, and ranked second in the final tallying of both major polls.

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Matt Salinger, American actor

Matthew Douglas Salinger is an American actor and producer known for his appearances in the films Revenge of the Nerds and Captain America.

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Artur Yusupov, Russian-German chess player and author

Artur Mayakovich Yusupov is a chess grandmaster and a chess writer. Born in Soviet Russia, he has lived in Germany since the early 1990s.

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13/02/1959

Gaston Gingras, Canadian ice hockey player

Gaston Reginald Gingras is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played one season in the World Hockey Association (WHA) and ten seasons in the National Hockey League from 1978 to 1989. He won the 1986 Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens.

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13/02/1958

Pernilla August, Swedish actress

Pernilla August, also known as Pernilla Östergren, Pernilla Wallgren, and Pernilla Wallgren-Östergren, is a Swedish actress, director and screenwriter. She was a longtime collaborator with director Ingmar Bergman and won the Best Actress Award at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival for her role in his film The Best Intentions. She is best known internationally for portraying Shmi Skywalker in George Lucas's Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

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Øivind Elgenes, Norwegian singer, guitarist, and composer

Øivind Elgenes alias "Elg" is a Norwegian vocalist, guitarist and composer, known from a series of recordings and as front figure of the Norwegian band Dance with a Stranger.

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Marc Emery, Canadian publisher and activist

Marc Scott Emery is a Canadian cannabis rights activist, entrepreneur and politician. Often described as the "Prince of Pot", Emery has been a notable advocate of international cannabis policy reform, and has been active in multiple Canadian political parties at the provincial and federal levels. Emery has been jailed several times for his cannabis activism.

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Jean-François Lisée, Canadian journalist and politician

Jean-François Lisée is a Canadian politician who served as the leader of the Parti Québécois from October 2016 until October 2018. He was first elected a member of the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2012 Quebec election in the electoral district of Rosemont.

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Derek Riggs, English painter and illustrator

Derek Riggs is a contemporary British artist best known for creating the band Iron Maiden's mascot, "Eddie".

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13/02/1957

Denise Austin, American fitness trainer and author

Denise Austin is an American fitness instructor, author, and columnist, and a former member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

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13/02/1956

Peter Hook, English singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer

Peter Hook is an English musician. He is the former bassist and co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division and its successor New Order. He often used the bass as a lead instrument, playing melodies on the high strings with a signature heavy chorus effect.

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13/02/1955

Joe Birkett, American lawyer, judge, and politician

Joseph E. Birkett is an appellate court judge on the Illinois Appellate Court – Second District. He was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court in December 2010, and was subsequently elected to a full term in November 2012. His current term runs through December 2032. Prior to being elevated to the bench, Justice Birkett was the State's Attorney of DuPage County, an office he had held since 1996.

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13/02/1954

Donnie Moore, American baseball player (died 1989)

Donnie Ray Moore was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals (1980), Milwaukee Brewers (1981), Atlanta Braves (1982–1984) and California Angels (1985–1988). Moore is best remembered for the home run he gave up to Dave Henderson while pitching for the California Angels in Game 5 of the 1986 American League Championship Series. With only one more strike needed to clinch the team's first-ever pennant, he allowed the Boston Red Sox to come back and eventually win the game. Boston then won Games 6 and 7 to take the series. Shortly after his professional career ended, he shot his wife three times in a dispute and then committed suicide.

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13/02/1953

Akio Sato, Japanese wrestler and manager

Akio Sato is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation as Sato, a member of the Orient Express.

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13/02/1952

Ed Gagliardi, American musician (died 2014)

Edward John Gagliardi was an American bass guitarist, best known as the original bass player for the 1970s rock band Foreigner. He was a member of Foreigner from the beginning in 1976. Gagliardi, most notably, played a Fireglo Rickenbacker bass guitar, left-handed even though he was naturally right-handed. It is widely known that he did so out of admiration, and devotion to Paul McCartney. Gagliardi was on the albums Foreigner and Double Vision.

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13/02/1951

David Naughton, American actor and singer

David Walsh Naughton is an American actor and singer. He is known for his starring roles in the horror film An American Werewolf in London (1981) and the Disney comedy Midnight Madness (1980), as well as for a long-running "Be a Pepper" ad campaign for beverage maker Dr Pepper. He also starred in the short-lived sitcom Makin' It and sang its hit theme song "Makin' It", giving him a Top 5 hit on the Billboard charts.

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13/02/1950

Vera Baird, English lawyer and politician

Dame Vera Baird is a British barrister and politician who has held roles as a government minister, police and crime commissioner, and Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales.

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Peter Gabriel, English singer-songwriter and musician

Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched his solo career with a hit debut single entitled "Solsbury Hill". After Gabriel released four successful studio albums, his fifth studio album, So (1986), became his best-selling release; it is certified triple platinum in the UK and five times platinum in the US. The album's most successful single, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards. A 2011 Time report said "Sledgehammer" was the most played music video of all time on MTV.

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13/02/1949

Peter Kern, Austrian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2015)

Peter Kern was an Austrian actor, film director, screenwriter, and producer. He appeared in more than 70 films and directed a further 25. He starred in the 1978 film Flaming Hearts, which was entered into the 28th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1980, he was a member of the jury at the 30th Berlin International Film Festival.

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13/02/1947

Stephen Hadley, American soldier and diplomat, 21st United States National Security Advisor

Stephen John Hadley is an American attorney and senior government official who served as the 20th United States National Security Advisor from 2005 to 2009. He served under President George W. Bush during the second term of his administration. Hadley was Deputy National Security Advisor during Bush's first term.

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Mike Krzyzewski, American basketball player and coach

Michael William Krzyzewski, nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five national titles, 13 Final Four appearances, 15 ACC tournament championships, and 13 ACC regular season titles. Among men's college basketball coaches, only UCLA's John Wooden has won more NCAA championships (10). Krzyzewski is widely regarded as one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time.

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Bogdan Tanjević, Montenegrin-Bosnian basketball coach

Bogdan Tanjević, nicknamed "Boša" is a Montenegrin professional basketball coach and former player.

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Kevin Bloody Wilson, Australian comedian, singer-songwriter, and guitarist

Kevin Bloody Wilson is an Australian musical comedian who performs comical songs with his heavy Australian accent and often including sexual themes. He has won one ARIA Music Award.

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13/02/1946

Richard Blumenthal, American sergeant and politician, 23rd Attorney General of Connecticut

Richard Blumenthal is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Connecticut. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been a member of the Senate since 2011. Blumenthal previously served as U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut, as a member of the Connecticut General Assembly, and as the 23rd Connecticut attorney general.

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Janet Finch, English sociologist and academic

Dame Janet Valerie Finch DBE, DL, FAcSS is a British sociologist and academic administrator. She was Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Social Relations at Keele University, and has held a number of other public appointments in the UK. She currently holds an honorary position at the Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life, based in the School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester. She is also part of Flooved advisory board.

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Colin Matthews, English composer and educator

Colin Matthews, OBE is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Noted for his large-scale orchestral compositions, Matthews is also a prolific arranger of other composer's music, including works by Berlioz, Britten, Dowland, Mahler, Purcell and Schubert. Other arrangements include orchestrations of all Debussy's 24 Préludes, both books of Debussy's Images, and two movements—Oiseaux tristes and La vallée des cloches—from Ravel's Miroirs. Having received a doctorate from University of Sussex on the works of Mahler, from 1964–1975 Matthews worked with his brother David Matthews and musicologist Deryck Cooke on completing a performance version of Mahler's Tenth Symphony.

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13/02/1945

Marian Dawkins, English biologist and academic

Marian Stamp Dawkins is a British biologist and professor of ethology at the University of Oxford. Her research interests include vision in birds, animal signalling, behavioural synchrony, animal consciousness and animal welfare.

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King Floyd, American singer-songwriter (died 2006)

King Floyd was a New Orleans soul singer, best known for his top 10 hit from 1970, "Groove Me".

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Simon Schama, English historian and author

Sir Simon Michael Schama is an English historian and television presenter. He specialises in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. As of January 2026 he is a professor of history and art history at Columbia University.

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William Sleator, American author and composer (died 2011)

William Warner Sleator III was an American science fiction author who wrote primarily young adult novels but also wrote for younger readers. His books typically deal with adolescents coming across a peculiar phenomenon related to an element of theoretical science, then trying to deal with the situation. The theme of family relationships, especially between siblings, is frequently intertwined with the science fiction plotline.

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13/02/1944

Stockard Channing, American actress

Stockard Channing is an American actress. Her accolades include three Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, a People's Choice Award, and nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Independent Spirit Award, two Satellite Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.

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Jerry Springer, English-American television host, actor, and politician, 56th Mayor of Cincinnati (died 2023)

Gerald Norman Springer was a British and American broadcaster, journalist, actor, lawyer, and politician. He was best known for hosting the controversial tabloid talk show Jerry Springer from 1991 to 2018. Springer was noted as a pioneer in the emergence of "trash TV"; his eponymous show was a "commercial smash and certifiable cultural phenomenon" in the 1990s.

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13/02/1943

Elaine Pagels, American theologian and academic

Elaine Pagels, née Hiesey, is an American historian of religion. She is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion Emeritus at Princeton University. Pagels has conducted extensive research into early Christianity and Gnosticism.

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13/02/1942

Carol Lynley, American model and actress (died 2019)

Carol Lynley was an American actress known for her roles in the films Blue Denim (1959) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972).

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Peter Tork, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor (died 2019)

Peter Halsten Thorkelson, better known by his stage name Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor. He was best known as the bass guitarist and keyboardist of the Monkees and co-star of the NBC television series of the same name (1966–68).

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Donald E. Williams, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (died 2016)

Donald Edward Williams was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, mechanical engineer and NASA astronaut. He logged a total of 287 hours and 35 minutes in space.

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13/02/1941

Sigmar Polke, German painter and photographer (died 2010)

Sigmar Polke was a German painter and photographer. Polke experimented with a wide range of styles, subject matters and materials. In the 1970s, he concentrated on photography, returning to paint in the 1980s, when he produced abstract works created by chance through chemical reactions between paint and other products. In the last 20 years of his life, he produced paintings focused on his perception of historical events.

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Bo Svenson, Swedish-American actor, director, and producer

Bo Svenson is a Swedish-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his roles in American genre films of the 1970s and 1980s.

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13/02/1940

Bram Peper, Dutch sociologist and politician, Mayor of Rotterdam (died 2022)

Abraham "Bram" Peper was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA).

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13/02/1938

Oliver Reed, English actor (died 1999)

Robert Oliver Reed was an English actor, known for his upper-middle class, masculine image and his heavy-drinking, "hellraiser" lifestyle. His screen career spanned over 40 years, between 1955 and 1999. At the peak of his career, in 1971, British exhibitors voted Reed fifth-most-popular star at the box office.

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13/02/1937

Ali El-Maak, Sudanese author and academic (died 1992)

Ali El-Makk, full name Ali Muhammad Ali El-Mak, also spelled Ali El-Maak or Ali Makk, was a Sudanese writer, translator and literary scholar, known for his short stories, translations from English into Arabic and literary studies.

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Sigmund Jähn, German pilot and cosmonaut (died 2019)

Sigmund Werner Paul Jähn was a German pilot, cosmonaut, and Generalmajor in the National People's Army of the GDR. He was the first German to fly into space as part of the Soviet Union's Interkosmos program in 1978.

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Angelo Mosca, American-Canadian football player and wrestler (died 2021)

Angelo Valentino Mosca was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. He was a defensive lineman in the Canadian Football League (CFL). As a wrestler, Mosca was known by the nicknames King Kong Mosca and the Mighty Hercules. He had a son, Angelo Jr., who also wrestled. Mosca was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1987, the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame in 2012, and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

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13/02/1934

George Segal, American actor (died 2021)

George Segal Jr. was an American actor and musician. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as Ship of Fools (1965) and King Rat (1965), he co-starred in the drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).

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13/02/1933

Paul Biya, Cameroon politician, 2nd President of Cameroon

Paul Barthélemy Biya is a Cameroonian politician who has been serving as the second president of Cameroon since 1982. He was previously the fifth prime minister under President Ahmadou Ahidjo from 1975 to 1982. Widely considered to be a dictator, Biya is the second-longest-ruling president in Africa and the longest consecutively serving current non-royal national leader in the world; at the age of 93, he is also the oldest current head of state in the world.

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Kim Novak, American actress

Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Malloy is an American retired actress and painter. Her contributions to cinema have been honored with two Golden Globe Awards, an Honorary Golden Bear, a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Emanuel Ungaro, French fashion designer (died 2019)

Emanuel Ungaro was a French fashion designer who founded his eponymous fashion house in 1965.

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13/02/1932

Susan Oliver, American actress (died 1990)

Susan Oliver was an American actress, television director, aviator, and author.

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13/02/1930

Ernst Fuchs, Austrian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (died 2015)

Ernst Fuchs was an Austrian painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, architect, stage designer, composer, poet, and one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. In 1972, he acquired the derelict Otto Wagner Villa in Hütteldorf, which he restored and transformed. The villa was inaugurated as the Ernst Fuchs Museum in 1988.

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Israel Kirzner, English-American economist, author, and academic

Israel Meir Kirzner is a British-born American economist, historian, rabbi, and Talmudist closely identified with the Austrian School.

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13/02/1929

Omar Torrijos, Panamanian commander and politician, Military Leader of Panama (died 1981)

Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera was a Panamanian military officer, politician, and revolutionary who was the military leader of Panama, as well as the Commander of the Panamanian National Guard from 1968 to his death in 1981. Torrijos was never officially the president of Panama, but instead held self-imposed and all-encompassing titles including "Maximum Leader of the Panamanian Revolution". Torrijos took power in a coup d'état and instituted a number of social reforms.

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13/02/1928

Gerald Regan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 19th Premier of Nova Scotia (died 2019)

Gerald Augustine Paul Regan was a Canadian politician, who served as the 19th premier of Nova Scotia from 1970 to 1978.

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13/02/1926

Fay Ajzenberg-Selove, American nuclear physicist (died 2012)

Fay Ajzenberg-Selove was an American nuclear physicist. She was known for her experimental work in nuclear spectroscopy of light elements, and for her annual reviews of the energy levels of light atomic nuclei. She was a recipient of the 2007 National Medal of Science.

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13/02/1924

Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, French journalist and politician (died 2006)

Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, often referred to as JJSS, was a French journalist and politician. He co-founded L'Express in 1953 with Françoise Giroud, and then went on to become president of the Radical Party in 1971. He oversaw its transition to the center-right, the party being thereafter known as Parti radical valoisien. He tried to found in 1972 the Reforming Movement with Christian Democrat Jean Lecanuet, with whom he supported Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's conservative candidature to the 1974 presidential election.

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13/02/1923

Michael Anthony Bilandic, American soldier, judge, and politician, 49th Mayor of Chicago (died 2002)

Michael Anthony Bilandic was an American Democratic politician, judge, and attorney who served as the 49th mayor of Chicago from 1976 to 1979, after the death of his predecessor, Richard J. Daley. Bilandic practiced law in Chicago for several years, having graduated from the DePaul University College of Law. Bilandic served as an alderman in Chicago City Council, representing the eleventh ward on the south-west side from June 1969 until he began his tenure as mayor in December 1976. After his mayoralty, Bilandic served on the Illinois Appellate Court from 1984 until being elected to the Illinois Supreme Court in 1990. He served on the state supreme court until 2000, and was the court’s chief Justice from 1994 to 1997.

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Chuck Yeager, American general and pilot; first test pilot to break the sound barrier (died 2020)

Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight.

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13/02/1922

Francis Pym, Baron Pym, Welsh soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (died 2008)

Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym, was a British Conservative Party politician who served in various Cabinet positions in the 1970s and 1980s, including Foreign, Defence and Northern Ireland Secretary, and Leader of the House of Commons. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Cambridgeshire from 1961 to 1987. Pym was made a life peer in 1987.

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Gordon Tullock, American economist and academic (died 2014)

Gordon Tullock was an American professor of law and economics at the George Mason University School of Law. He is best known for his work on public choice theory, the application of economic thinking to political issues. He was one of the founding figures in his field.

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13/02/1921

Jeanne Demessieux, French pianist and composer (died 1968)

Jeanne Marie-Madeleine Demessieux was a French organist, pianist, composer, and teacher. She was the chief organist at Saint-Esprit for 29 years and at La Madeleine in Paris starting in 1962. She performed internationally as a concert organist and was the first female organist to sign a record contract. She went on to record many organ works, including her own compositions.

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Aung Khin, Burmese painter (died 1996)

Aung Khin was a Burmese painter who became prominent in the Mandalay art world. He is well known as one of the foremost and earliest of modernistic painters in Burma.

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13/02/1920

Boudleaux Bryant, American songwriter (died 1987)

Felice Bryant and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant were an American husband-and-wife country music and pop songwriting team. They are best known for songs such as "Rocky Top", "We Could", "Love Hurts", and numerous hits by the Everly Brothers, including "All I Have to Do Is Dream" and "Bird Dog", "Bye Bye Love", and "Wake Up Little Susie".

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Eileen Farrell, American soprano and educator (died 2002)

Eileen Farrell was an American soprano who had a nearly 60-year-long career performing both classical and popular music in concerts, theatres, on radio and television, and on disc. NPR noted, "She possessed one of the largest and most radiant operatic voices of the 20th century." While she was active as an opera singer, her concert engagements far outnumbered her theatrical appearances. Her career was mainly based in the United States, although she did perform internationally. The Daily Telegraph stated that she "was one of the finest American sopranos of the 20th century; she had a voice of magnificent proportions which she used with both acumen and artistry in a wide variety of roles", and described her as having a voice "like some unparalleled phenomenon of nature. She is to singers what Niagara is to waterfalls."

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13/02/1919

Tennessee Ernie Ford, American singer and actor (died 1991)

Ernest Jennings Ford, known professionally as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for his rich bass-baritone voice and down-home humor, he is remembered for his hit recordings of "The Shotgun Boogie" and "Sixteen Tons".

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Eddie Robinson, American football player and coach (died 2007)

Eddie Gay Robinson Sr. was an American college football and basketball coach. For 56 years, from 1941 to 1942 and again from 1945 to 1997, he was the head coach at Grambling State University, a historically black university (HBCU) in Grambling, Louisiana. During a period in college football history when black players were not allowed to play for southern college programs, Robinson built Grambling State into a "small" college football powerhouse. He retired in 1997 with a record of 408–165–15.

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13/02/1916

Dorothy Bliss, American invertebrate zoologist (died 1987)

Dorothy Elizabeth Bliss was an American carcinologist and curator of invertebrates at the American Museum of Natural History, with which she was associated for over 30 years. She was known as a pioneer in the field of hormonal control in crustaceans. She was editor-in-chief of the 10-volume series The Biology of Crustacea and author of the popular book Shrimps, Lobsters and Crabs. She served as president of the American Society of Zoologists and was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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13/02/1915

Lyle Bettger, American actor (died 2003)

Lyle Stathem Bettger was an American character actor who had roles in Hollywood films and television from the 1950s onward, often portraying villains. One such role was the wrathfully jealous elephant handler Klaus from the Oscar-winning film The Greatest Show on Earth (1952).

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Aung San, Burmese general and politician, 5th Premier of British Crown Colony of Burma (died 1947)

Aung San was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he was assassinated just six months before his goal was realized. Aung San is considered to be the founder of modern-day Myanmar and the Tatmadaw, and is commonly referred to by the titles "Father of the Nation", "Father of Independence", and "Father of the Tatmadaw".

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13/02/1913

Khalid of Saudi Arabia (died 1982)

Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 25 March 1975 until his death in 1982. Before his ascension, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Khalid is the fifth son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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13/02/1912

Harald Riipalu, Russian-Estonian commander (died 1961)

Harald Riipalu was an Estonian commander in the German Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.

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Margaretta Scott, English actress (died 2005)

Margaretta Mary Winifred Scott was an English stage, screen and television actress whose career spanned over seventy years. She is best remembered for playing the eccentric widow Mrs. Pumphrey in the BBC television series All Creatures Great and Small (1978–1990).

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13/02/1911

Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Indian-Pakistani poet and journalist (died 1984)

Chaudhry Faiz Ahmad Faiz was a Pakistani poet and author of Punjabi and Urdu literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated, popular, and influential Urdu writers of his time, and his works and ideas remain widely influential in Pakistan, India and beyond. Outside of literature, he has been described as "a man of wide experience", having worked as a teacher, military officer, journalist, trade unionist, and broadcaster.

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Jean Muir, American actress and educator (died 1996)

Jean Muir was an American stage and film actress. She was the first performer to be blacklisted after her name appeared in the anti-Communist pamphlet Red Channels, published in 1950. In her later years, she was a college drama teacher.

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13/02/1910

William Shockley, English-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1989)

William Bradford Shockley was an American solid-state physicist. He was the manager of a research group at Bell Labs that included John Bardeen and Walter Brattain. The three scientists were jointly awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics "for their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect."

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13/02/1907

Katy de la Cruz, Filipino-American singer and actress (died 2004)

Katy de la Cruz was a leading Filipina singer who specialized in jazz vocals and torch songs in a long career that lasted eight decades. Hailed as "The Queen of Filipino Jazz" and as "The Queen of Bodabil", she was, by the age of 18, the highest paid entertainer in the Philippines. De la Cruz also appeared in films and received a FAMAS Best Supporting Actress Award in 1953.

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13/02/1906

Agostinho da Silva, Portuguese philosopher and author (died 1994)

George Agostinho Baptista da Silva, GCSE was a Portuguese philosopher, essayist, and writer. His thought combines elements of pantheism and millenarism, an ethic of renunciation, and a belief in freedom as the most important feature of man. Anti-dogmatic, he asserts that truth is only found in the sum of all conflicting hypothesis. He may be considered a practical philosopher, living and working for a change in society, according to his beliefs.

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13/02/1903

Georgy Beriev, Georgian-Russian engineer, founded the Beriev Design Bureau (died 1979)

Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev (Beriashvili), was a Soviet Georgian major general, founder and chief designer of the Beriev Design Bureau in Taganrog, which concentrated on amphibious aircraft.

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Georges Simenon, Belgian-Swiss author (died 1989)

Georges Joseph Christian Simenon was a Belgian writer who created the fictional detective Jules Maigret. One of the most prolific and successful authors of the 20th century, he published around 400 novels, 21 volumes of memoirs and many short stories, selling over 500 million copies.

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13/02/1902

Harold Lasswell, American political scientist and theorist (died 1978)

Harold Dwight Lasswell was an American political scientist and communications theorist. He was a professor of law at Yale University. He served as president of the American Political Science Association, American Society of International Law, and World Academy of Art and Science.

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13/02/1901

Paul Lazarsfeld, Austrian-American sociologist and academic (died 1976)

Paul Felix Lazarsfeld was an Austrian-American sociologist and mathematician. The founder of Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research, he exerted influence over the techniques and the organization of social research. "It is not so much that he was an American sociologist," one colleague said of him after his death, "as it was that he determined what American sociology would be." Lazarsfeld said that his goal was "to produce Paul Lazarsfelds". He was a founding figure in 20th-century empirical sociology.

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13/02/1900

Barbara von Annenkoff, Russian-born German film and stage actress (died 1979)

Barbara von Annenkoff was a Russian-born German stage and film actress.

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13/02/1899

Rolf Stenersen, Norwegian businessman (died 1978)

Rolf Kristian Eckersberg Stenersen was a Norwegian businessman, non-fiction writer, essayist, novelist, playwright and biographer. He was also a track and field athlete and art collector.

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13/02/1898

Hubert Ashton, English cricketer and politician (died 1979)

Sir Hubert Ashton was an English first-class cricketer, footballer and politician.

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13/02/1892

Robert H. Jackson, American politician, 57th United States Attorney General, Nuremberg prosecutor, and Supreme Court justice (died 1954)

Robert Houghwout Jackson was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1941 until his death in 1954. He had previously served as United States Solicitor General and United States Attorney General, and is the only person to have held all three of those offices. Jackson was also notable for his work at the Nuremberg trials prosecuting Nazi war criminals following World War II. Jackson developed a reputation as one of the best writers on the Supreme Court and one of the most committed to enforcing due process as protection from overreaching federal agencies.

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13/02/1891

Kate Roberts, Welsh author and activist (died 1985)

Kate Roberts was one of the foremost Welsh-language authors of the 20th century. Styled Brenhines ein llên, she is known mainly for her short stories, but also wrote novels. Roberts was a prominent Welsh nationalist. In 1963, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Welsh scholar Idris Foster.

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Grant Wood, American painter and academic (died 1942)

Grant DeVolson Wood was an American artist and representative of Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest. He is particularly well known for American Gothic (1930), which has become an iconic example of early 20th-century American art.

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13/02/1889

Leontine Sagan, Austrian actress and director (died 1974)

Leontine Sagan was a theatre director and actress of Jewish descent, whose life and career took her from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to South Africa, Britain and the United States. She is best known for directing a film, Mädchen in Uniform (1931), which has been celebrated for its scathing indictment of Prussian military-style schooling, as well as its sensitive portrayal of same-sex intimacy between a teacher and a student at a girls' school, in the waning years of Germany's Weimar Republic.

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13/02/1888

Georgios Papandreou, Greek lawyer, economist, and politician, 162nd Prime Minister of Greece (died 1968)

Georgios Papandreou was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as the prime minister of Greece. He was also deputy prime minister from 1950 to 1952, in the governments of Nikolaos Plastiras and Sofoklis Venizelos. He served numerous times as a cabinet minister, starting in 1923, in a political career that spanned more than five decades.

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13/02/1887

Géza Csáth, Hungarian playwright and critic (died 1919)

Géza Csáth was a Hungarian writer, playwright, musician, music critic, psychiatrist, and physician. He was the cousin of Dezső Kosztolányi.

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13/02/1885

Bess Truman, 35th First Lady of the United States (died 1982)

Elizabeth Virginia Truman was First Lady of the United States from 1945 to 1953 as the wife of President Harry S. Truman. She had previously served as Second Lady of the United States from January to April 1945. At 97 years, 247 days, she was the longest-lived first and second lady.

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13/02/1884

Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American pole vaulter and businessman, founded the A. C. Gilbert Company (died 1961)

Alfred Carlton Gilbert was an American inventor, athlete, magician, toy maker and businessman. As the founder of A. C. Gilbert Company, Gilbert was known for inventing the Erector Set and American Flyer Trains.

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13/02/1883

Hal Chase, American baseball player and manager (died 1947)

Harold Homer Chase, nicknamed "Prince Hal", was an American professional baseball first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball, widely viewed as the best fielder at his position. During his career, he played for the New York Highlanders (1905–1913), Chicago White Sox (1913–1914), Buffalo Blues (1914–1915), Cincinnati Reds (1916–1918), and New York Giants (1919).

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Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Russian-Armenian actor and director (died 1922)

Yevgeny Bagrationovich Vakhtangov was a Russian actor and theatre director who founded the Vakhtangov Theatre. He was a friend and mentor of Michael Chekhov. He is known for his distinctive style of theatre, his most notable production being Princess Turandot in 1922.

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13/02/1881

Eleanor Farjeon, English author, poet, and playwright (died 1965)

Eleanor Farjeon was an English author of children's stories and plays, poetry, biography, history and satire.

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13/02/1880

Dimitrie Gusti, Romanian sociologist, ethnologist, historian, and philosopher (died 1955)

Dimitrie Gusti was a Romanian sociologist, ethnologist, historian, and voluntarist philosopher; a professor at the University of Iași and the University of Bucharest, he served as Romania's Minister of Education in 1932–1933. Gusti was elected a member of the Romanian Academy in 1919, and was its president between 1944 and 1946. He was the main contributor to the creation of a new Romanian school of sociology.

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13/02/1879

Sarojini Naidu, Indian poet and activist (died 1949)

Sarojini Naidu was an Indian political activist and poet who served as the first Governor of United Provinces, after India's independence. She played an important role in the Indian independence movement against the British Raj. She was the first Indian woman to be president of the Indian National Congress and appointed governor of a state.

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13/02/1876

Fritz Buelow, German-American baseball player and umpire (died 1933)

Frederick William Alexander Buelow, sometimes referred to as Fritz Buelow, was a German-born baseball player. He played professional baseball as catcher for 15 years from 1895 to 1909, including nine years in Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Perfectos (1899), St. Louis Cardinals (1900), Detroit Tigers (1901–1904), Cleveland Naps (1904–1906), and St. Louis Browns (1907).

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13/02/1873

Feodor Chaliapin, Russian opera singer (died 1938)

Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass voice, he enjoyed an important international career at major opera houses and is often credited with establishing the tradition of naturalistic acting in his chosen art form.

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13/02/1871

Joseph Devlin, Northern Irish political leader (Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)) (died 1934)

Joseph Devlin was an Irish journalist and influential nationalist politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Irish Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Later Devlin was an MP and leader of the Nationalist Party in the Parliament of Northern Ireland. He was referred to as "the duodecimo Demosthenes" by the Irish politician Tim Healy which Devlin took as a compliment.

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13/02/1870

Leopold Godowsky, Polish-American pianist and composer (died 1938)

Leopold Mordkhelovich Godowsky Sr. was a virtuoso pianist, composer and teacher, born in what is now Lithuania to Jewish parents, who became an American citizen in 1891. He was one of the most highly regarded performers of his time, known for his theories concerning the application of relaxed weight and economy of motion within pianistic technique – principles later propagated by his pupils, such as Heinrich Neuhaus.

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13/02/1867

Harold Mahony, Scottish-Irish tennis player (died 1905)

Harold Segerson Mahony was a Scottish-born Irish tennis player who is best known for winning the singles title at the Wimbledon Championships in 1896. His career lasted from 1888 until his death in 1905. Mahony was born in Scotland but lived in Ireland for the majority of his life; his family were Irish including both of his parents, the family home was in County Kerry, Southwestern Ireland. He was the last Scottish born man to win Wimbledon until the victory of Andy Murray at the 2013 championships. He remains the most recent Irish singles champion at the All England Club.

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13/02/1863

Hugo Becker, German cellist and composer (died 1941)

Hugo Becker was a German cellist, cello teacher, and composer. He studied at a young age with Alfredo Piatti, and later Friedrich Grützmacher in Dresden.

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13/02/1855

Paul Deschanel, Belgian-French politician, 11th President of France (died 1922)

Paul Eugène Louis Deschanel was a French politician who served as President of France from 18 February to 21 September 1920.

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13/02/1849

Lord Randolph Churchill, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (died 1895)

Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill was a British aristocrat and politician. He was a Tory radical who coined the term "Tory democracy" and participated in the creation of the "National Union of the Conservative Party".

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13/02/1835

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indian religious leader (died 1908)

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as initially the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, followed by the claim to be both the promised Messiah and Mahdi, in regard to Islamic prophecies regarding the end times, as well as being Krishna, an Avatar of Vishnu, for the Hindus.

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13/02/1834

Heinrich Caro, Sephardic Jewish Polish-German chemist and academic (died 1910)

Heinrich Caro was a German chemist.

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13/02/1831

John Aaron Rawlins, American general and politician, 29th United States Secretary of War (died 1869)

John Aaron Rawlins was a general officer in the Union army during the American Civil War and a cabinet officer in the Grant administration. A longtime confidant of Ulysses S. Grant, Rawlins served on Grant's staff throughout the war, rising to the rank of brevet major general, and was Grant's chief defender against allegations of insobriety. He was appointed Secretary of War when Grant was elected President of the United States.

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13/02/1819

Francis Smith, Haitian-Australian politician, 4th Premier of Tasmania (died 1909)

Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith was an Australian lawyer, judge and politician, who served as the fourth Premier of Tasmania from 12 May 1857 until 1 November 1860.

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13/02/1815

Rufus Wilmot Griswold, American anthologist, editor, poet and critic (died 1857)

Rufus Wilmot Griswold was an American anthologist, editor, poet, and critic. Born in Vermont, Griswold left home when he was 15 years old. He worked as a journalist, editor, and critic in Philadelphia, New York City, and elsewhere. He built a strong literary reputation, in part due to his 1842 collection The Poets and Poetry of America. This anthology, the most comprehensive of its time, included what he deemed the best examples of American poetry. He produced revised versions and similar anthologies for the remainder of his life, although many of the poets he promoted have since faded into obscurity. Many writers hoped to have their work included in one of these editions, although they commented harshly on Griswold's abrasive character. Griswold was married three times: his first wife died young, his second marriage ended in a public and controversial divorce, and his third wife left him after the previous divorce was almost repealed.

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13/02/1811

François Achille Bazaine, French general (died 1888)

François Achille Bazaine was an officer of the French army. Bazaine rose through the ranks over four decades of distinguished service under Louis Philippe and then Napoleon III, having held every rank in the army from fusilier to Marshal of France, the latter in 1863. Under the Second Empire, he was made a senator.

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13/02/1805

Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician and academic (died 1859)

Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet was a German mathematician. In number theory, he proved special cases of Fermat's Last Theorem and created analytic number theory. In analysis, he advanced the theory of Fourier series and was one of the first to give the modern formal definition of a function. In mathematical physics, he studied potential theory, boundary-value problems, heat diffusion, and hydrodynamics.

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13/02/1769

Ivan Krylov, Russian author, poet, and playwright (died 1844)

Ivan Andreyevich Krylov is Russia's best-known fabulist and probably the most epigrammatic of all Russian authors. Formerly a dramatist and journalist, he only discovered his true genre at the age of 40. While many of his earlier fables were loosely based on Aesop's and La Fontaine's, later fables were original work, often with a satirical bent.

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13/02/1768

Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, French general and politician, 15th Prime Minister of France (died 1835)

Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, Duke of Treviso, was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire under Napoleon I, who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He served as Minister of War and Prime Minister of France from 1834 to 1835. He was one of 18 people killed in 1835 during Giuseppe Marco Fieschi's assassination attempt on King Louis Philippe I.

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13/02/1766

Thomas Robert Malthus, English economist and scholar (died 1834)

Thomas Robert Malthus was an English economist, cleric, and scholar influential in the fields of political economy and demography.

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13/02/1728

John Hunter, Scottish surgeon and anatomist (died 1793)

John Hunter was a Scottish surgeon, one of the most distinguished scientists and surgeons of his day. He was an early advocate of careful observation and scientific methods in medicine. He was a teacher of, and collaborator with, Edward Jenner, pioneer of the smallpox vaccine. His wife, Anne Hunter (née Home), was a poet, some of whose poems were set to music by Joseph Haydn.

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13/02/1721

John Reid, Scottish general (died 1807)

John Reid was a British army general and founder of the chair of music at the University of Edinburgh.

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13/02/1719

George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, English admiral and politician (died 1792)

Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB was a Royal Navy officer, politician and colonial administrator. He is best known for his service in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782. It has often been claimed that Rodney pioneered the tactic of breaking the line, though this is disputed.

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13/02/1683

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Italian painter (died 1754)

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta was an Italian Rococo painter of religious subjects and genre scenes.

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13/02/1672

Étienne François Geoffroy, French physician and chemist (died 1731)

Étienne François Geoffroy was a French physician and chemist, best known for his 1718 affinity tables. He first contemplated a career as an apothecary, but then decided to practice medicine. He is sometimes known as Geoffroy the Elder.

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13/02/1602

William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (died 1637)

William V, a member of the House of Hesse, was Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1627 to 1637. Having come to rule in unfavorable circumstances and in the midst of the Thirty Years' War, he continued to suffer losses of territory and wealth.

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13/02/1599

Pope Alexander VII (died 1667)

Pope Alexander VII, born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death, in May 1667.

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13/02/1569

Johann Reinhard I, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (died 1625)

Count Johann Reinhard I of Hanau-Lichtenberg ruled the county of Hanau-Lichtenberg from 1599 to 1625.

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13/02/1539

Elisabeth of Hesse, Electress Palatine (died 1582)

Elisabeth of Hesse was a German noblewoman, by birth a member of the House of Hesse and by virtue of marriage Electress of Pfalz-Simmern.

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13/02/1523

Valentin Naboth, German astronomer and mathematician (died 1593)

Valentin Naboth, known by the Latinized name Valentinus Nabodus, was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer.

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13/02/1480

Girolamo Aleandro, Italian cardinal (died 1542)

Girolamo Aleandro was a Venetian humanist, linguist, and cardinal.

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13/02/1469

Elia Levita, Renaissance Hebrew grammarian (died 1549)

Elia Levita was a Renaissance Hebrew grammarian, Hebraist, and poet. He was the author of the Bovo-Bukh, the most popular Yiddish chivalric romance. He was one of the foremost teachers of Hebrew and Jewish mysticism to Christian clergy, nobility, and intellectuals during the Renaissance.

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13/02/1457

Mary of Burgundy, Sovereign Duchess regnant of Burgundy, married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1482)

Mary of Burgundy, nicknamed the Rich, was a member of the House of Valois-Burgundy, and ruler in her own right over much of the Valois-Burgundian lands, from 1477 to 1482. Her effective rule extended over major part of the Burgundian Netherlands, while she also claimed the rest of the Burgundian inheritance, including domains that were seized by her cousin, the French king Louis XI in 1477, such as the Duchy of Burgundy, the Free County of Burgundy and several other lands, both within the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire.

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13/02/1440

Hartmann Schedel, German physician (died 1514)

Hartmann Schedel was a German historian, physician, humanist, and one of the first cartographers to use the printing press. He was born and died in Nuremberg. Matheolus Perusinus served as his tutor.

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