What happened on 19th February?

On this day, 199 notable people were born on 18th February — spanning from 1461 to 2004. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

19/02/2004

Millie Bobby Brown, English actress, model and producer

Millie Bonnie Bongiovi, known professionally as Millie Bobby Brown, is a British actress and film producer. She gained international recognition for playing Eleven in the Netflix science fiction series Stranger Things (2016–2025), for which she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2018, Brown was featured in the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people. She was the youngest person ever appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

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19/02/2001

Lee Kang-in, South Korean footballer

Lee Kang-in is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the South Korea national team.

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David Mazouz, American actor

David Albert Mazouz is an American actor, best known for his leading role as Bruce Wayne in Fox's Batman-prequel TV drama Gotham (2014–2019). Mazouz started his acting career with several guest roles before joining the Fox TV series Touch (2012–2013), for which he was nominated for a Young Artist Award. He has had leading roles in the films The Games Maker and The Darkness.

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19/02/1998

Katharina Gerlach, German tennis player

Katharina Gerlach is a German inactive tennis player.

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Chappell Roan, American singer and songwriter

Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, known professionally as Chappell Roan, is an American singer and songwriter. She is known for her camp and drag queen-influenced style.

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Jungwoo, South Korean singer

Kim Jung-woo, known mononymously as Jungwoo, is a South Korean singer. He is a member of the SM Entertainment South Korean boy group NCT and its sub-units NCT 127 and NCT DoJaeJung.

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19/02/1996

Mabel, British-Swedish singer

Mabel Alabama-Pearl McVey is a Swedish and British singer. She rose to prominence in 2017 with her single "Finders Keepers" which peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart.

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D. J. Wilson, American basketball player

DeVante Jaylen Wilson is an American professional basketball player for the Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines and completed his junior season for the 2016–17 season. He was drafted 17th overall in the 2017 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, where he spent four seasons before he was traded to the Houston Rockets in March 2021.

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19/02/1995

Nikola Jokić, Serbian basketball player

Nikola Jokić is a Serbian professional basketball player who is a center for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Joker", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players and centers of all time, and is often considered the greatest draft steal in NBA history. An eight-time NBA All-Star, Jokić has been named to the All-NBA Team on eight occasions, and won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for the 2020–21, 2021–22, and 2023–24 seasons. He represents the Serbian national team, with which he won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

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19/02/1994

Tiina Trutsi, Estonian footballer

Tiina Trutsi is an Estonian footballer, who plays as a midfielder for Cypriot team Barcelona FA and the Estonian national team.

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19/02/1993

Mauro Icardi, Argentine footballer

Mauro Emanuel Icardi Rivero is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains Süper Lig club Galatasaray.

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Victoria Justice, American actress and singer

Victoria Justice is an American actress and singer. She rose to fame on Nickelodeon, playing Lola Martinez on the comedy drama series Zoey 101 (2005–2008) and Tori Vega on the sitcom Victorious (2010–2013). For these roles, she won a Bravo Otto, a Kids' Choice Award, and two Young Artist Awards. She also starred in the musical Spectacular! (2009) and the comedy horror film The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (2010) for the network.

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19/02/1992

Camille Kostek, American model

Camille Veronica Kostek is an American model, host, and actress. She appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and was featured on the cover of the magazine's 2019 edition. Kostek is the on-field host of the game show Wipeout on TBS, and in 2022 hosted NBC's Dancing with Myself. She also appeared in the film Free Guy (2021).

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Cody Parkey, American football player

Cody Parkey is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers and was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2014. Parkey saw early success in his NFL career, being selected to the Pro Bowl that same year after being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. He was also a member of the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears, Tennessee Titans, and New Orleans Saints.

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19/02/1991

Trevor Bayne, American race car driver

Trevor Mitchell Bayne is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, dirt racing driver, team owner, and businessman. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, competing in the No. 24 Toyota GR Supra for Sam Hunt Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for Tricon Garage. He is also a pit reporter for NASCAR on Prime Video. He is the youngest person to ever win the Daytona 500, the largest event in NASCAR, doing so a day after his twentieth birthday in 2011. The win came in only his second race in NASCAR's top series, and was his only victory in 187 total Cup Series starts.

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Christoph Kramer, German footballer

Christoph Kramer is a German former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

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Adreian Payne, American basketball player (died 2022)

Adreian DeAngleo Payne was an American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Atlanta Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Orlando Magic as well as for several European and Asian teams. Payne played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans.

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19/02/1989

Sone Aluko, English-Nigerian footballer

Omatsone Folarin Aluko is a professional football coach and former player who played as a forward or winger. He is currently a first team coach at Ipswich Town.

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19/02/1988

Shawn Matthias, Canadian ice hockey player

Shawn Matthias is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. Matthias played in the NHL, making appearances with the Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche, and Winnipeg Jets. He was originally drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the second round, 47th overall, at the 2006 NHL entry draft. Matthias was a natural centre early in his career; however, he made the transition to being able to play the wings as well.

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Seth Morrison, American guitarist

Skillet is an American Christian rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1996. The band currently consists of husband and wife John Cooper and Korey Cooper along with Jen Ledger and Seth Morrison. The band has released twelve studio albums, two of which, Collide and Comatose, received Grammy nominations. Two of their albums, Comatose and Awake, are certified Platinum and Double Platinum respectively by the RIAA, while Rise and Unleashed are certified Gold as of June 29, 2020. Four of their songs, "Monster", "Hero", "Awake and Alive", and "Feel Invincible", are certified Multi-Platinum, while another three, "Whispers in the Dark", "Comatose", and "The Resistance" are certified Platinum, and another five, "Rebirthing", "Not Gonna Die", "The Last Night", "Legendary", and "Stars" are certified Gold.

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19/02/1987

Anna Cappellini, Italian ice dancer

Anna Cappellini is an Italian ice dancer. With partner Luca Lanotte, she is the 2014 World champion, the 2014 European champion, the 2015 Cup of China champion and a thirteen-time medalist on the Grand Prix series, and a seven-time Italian national champion (2012–18).

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Josh Reddick, American baseball player

William Joshua Reddick is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Red Sox selected Reddick in the 17th round of the 2006 MLB draft, and he made his MLB debut in 2009. He won an American League (AL) Gold Glove Award in 2012.

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19/02/1986

Kyle Chipchura, Canadian ice hockey player

Kyle Douglas Glen Chipchura is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He was selected in the first round, 18th overall, by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2004 NHL entry draft. Chipchura also played for the Anaheim Ducks and Arizona Coyotes.

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Linus Klasen, Swedish ice hockey player

Robert Linus Alexander Klasen is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).

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Marta, Brazilian footballer

Marta Vieira da Silva, known mononymously as Marta, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for National Women's Soccer League club Orlando Pride and captains the Brazil women's national team. Regarded by many as the greatest female footballer of all time, she has been named FIFA World Player of the Year six times, five of them being consecutive (2006—2010), with the latest award coming in 2018.

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Maria Mena, Norwegian singer-songwriter

Maria Viktoria Mena is a Norwegian pop singer, best known for her singles such as "You're the Only One", "Just Hold Me", and "All This Time" which charted in multiple countries.

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19/02/1985

Haylie Duff, American actress and singer

Haylie Katherine Duff is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Sandy Jameson in the television series 7th Heaven, Amy Sanders in Lizzie McGuire and Summer Wheatly in Napoleon Dynamite. An avid food blogger, Duff had her own cooking show, The Real Girl's Kitchen, in 2014. She is the older sister of Hilary Duff.

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Arielle Kebbel, American actress and model

Arielle Kebbel is an American actress and model. She has starred on several television series, including Gilmore Girls (2003–2004), The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017), Life Unexpected (2010), 90210 (2011–2013), Ballers, Midnight Texas (2017–2018), Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (2019–2020), Rescue: HI-Surf (2024–2025), and Marshals (2026).

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Kosta Perović, Serbian basketball player

Kosta Perović is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He represented the Serbian national basketball team internationally. In the 2006 NBA draft he was a second-round selection of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, with whom he signed on August 3, 2007. A 2.17 m center, Perović was the tallest player taken in the 2006 NBA Draft. His game has been compared to that of Slovenian center Radoslav Nesterović.

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19/02/1984

Chris Richardson, American singer-songwriter

Christopher Michael Richardson is an American singer-songwriter who was the fifth-place finalist on the sixth season of American Idol.

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19/02/1983

Kotoōshū Katsunori, Bulgarian sumo wrestler

Karoyan Andō, known professionally as Kotoōshū Katsunori and in his coaching career as Naruto Katsunori, is a Bulgarian-Japanese former sumo wrestler. He made his debut in 2002, reaching the top division just two years later. In 2005, he was the first European sumo wrestler to reach the rank of ōzeki or 'champion', the second-highest level in the sumo ranking system behind only yokozuna. On May 24, 2008, Kotoōshū made history by becoming the first European sumo wrestler to win an Emperor's Cup. He was one of the longest serving ōzeki in sumo history, holding the rank for 47 consecutive tournaments until November 2013.

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Mika Nakashima, Japanese singer and actress

Mika Nakashima is a Japanese singer and actress. Five of her studio albums, one of her mini-albums and one of her compilation albums have reached number one in Japan's Oricon album chart. She also embarked on an acting career, most notably as Nana Osaki in the live action film adaptations of Nana. She has sold over 10 million records in Japan.

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Reynhard Sinaga, Indonesian sex offender

Reynhard "Rey" Tambos Maruli Tua Sinaga is an Indonesian serial rapist who was convicted of 159 sex offences, including 136 rapes of young men, committed in Manchester, England, between 2015 and 2017, where he was living as a student. Sinaga was found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting 48 men during this period, 44 of whom he raped, some repeatedly, although police believe he was offending for years beforehand. Sinaga was prosecuted in four trials between 2018 and 2020 and was given concurrent life sentences with a minimum term of 30 years, raised to 40 years in December 2020 by the Court of Appeal. The Crown Prosecution Service described Sinaga as being the most prolific rapist in British legal history.

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Ryan Whitney, American ice hockey player

Ryan Whitney is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He is currently the co-host of two Barstool Sports podcasts, Spittin' Chiclets with former NHL enforcer Paul Bissonnette and The Unnamed Show with Kirk Minihane & Dave Portnoy. In 2019, New Amsterdam collaborated with Whitney to create a pink lemonade-flavored vodka called Pink Whitney.

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Jawad Williams, American basketball player

Jawad Hason Williams is an American former professional basketball player who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays as a small forward-power forward. He played high school basketball at St. Edward High School of Lakewood, Ohio and college basketball for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.

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19/02/1981

Beth Ditto, American singer

Mary Beth Patterson, known by her stage name Beth Ditto, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and radio presenter most notable for her work with the indie rock band Gossip. Her voice has been compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin, and Tina Turner. She disbanded Gossip to pursue a career in fashion, and has since started a solo career. In 2022, she portrayed country singer Gigi Roman on the Fox drama series Monarch, and two years later, Gossip reformed.

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Shawn Spears, Canadian wrestler

Ronnie William Arneill, better known by his ring name Shawn Spears, is a Canadian professional wrestler and trainer. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand and is the leader of The Culling. He is a former NXT North American Champion. He previously performed in WWE from 2013 to 2019 under the name Tye Dillinger. He is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) from its inaugural event, Double or Nothing, in 2019 to 2023.

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19/02/1980

Dwight Freeney, American football player

Dwight Jason Freeney is an American former professional football player who currently serves as the Director of player development for Syracuse University. Freeney played as a defensive end and linebacker for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), most notably as a member of the Indianapolis Colts. He played college football for the Syracuse Orange, earning unanimous All-American honors. He was selected by the Colts in the first round of the 2002 NFL draft. With the Colts, Freeney won Super Bowl XLI over the Chicago Bears, and made seven Pro Bowls. He also played for the San Diego Chargers, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions.

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Ma Lin, Chinese table tennis player

Ma Lin is a retired Chinese table tennis player, Olympic champion, and the current Chinese Women's Team Head Coach.

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Mike Miller, American basketball player

Michael Lloyd Miller is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after being selected by the Orlando Magic in the first round of the 2000 NBA draft with the fifth overall pick. Miller was named the NBA Rookie of the Year with the Magic in 2001 and was voted NBA Sixth Man of the Year with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2006. He won two consecutive NBA championships with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013.

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19/02/1979

Steve Cherundolo, American soccer player and manager

Steven Emil Cherundolo is an American soccer coach and former player who recently was the head coach of Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC. A right-back, he was the captain of Hannover 96 of the German Bundesliga, where he spent his entire club career. He represented the United States at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups.

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19/02/1978

Ben Gummer, English scholar and politician

Benedict Michael Gummer is a British businessman and former politician. He is a partner of Gummer Leathes, a property developer. He is a senior adviser to McKinsey & Company, the management consultancy, and a visiting fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.

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Immortal Technique, Peruvian-American rapper

Felipe Andres Coronel, better known by his stage name Immortal Technique, is a Peruvian-American rapper, songwriter, and activist. His lyrics largely feature commentary on issues such as politics, religion, institutional racism, and government conspiracies.

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19/02/1977

Ola Salo, Swedish singer-songwriter and keyboard player

Ola Salo is a Swedish rock musician, lead vocalist of Swedish glam rock band The Ark.

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Andrew Ross Sorkin, American journalist and author

Andrew Ross Sorkin is an American journalist and author. He is a financial columnist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk Box. He is also the founder and editor of DealBook, a financial news service published by The New York Times. He wrote the bestselling book Too Big to Fail and co-produced a movie adaptation of the book for HBO Films. He is also a co-creator of the Showtime series Billions.

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Gianluca Zambrotta, Italian footballer and manager

Gianluca Zambrotta is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a full-back or as a wide midfielder, on both the left and right wings.

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19/02/1975

Daniel Adair, Canadian drummer and producer

Daniel Patrick Adair is a Canadian drummer. He has been a member of the rock band Nickelback since 2005 and was with 3 Doors Down from 2002 until 2005. On the side, he works with the band Suspect and the instrumental fusion band Martone.

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Daewon Song, South Korean-American skateboarder, co-founded Almost Skateboards

David Daewon Song is a Korean-American professional skateboarder. He is the co-founder and co-owner of Almost Skateboards and Thank You Skateboards, and continues to skate for the latter company. Song was named the 2006 "Skater of the Year" by Thrasher magazine, an award that is widely considered to be one of the most significant honors in skateboarding.

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19/02/1973

Eric Lange, American actor

Eric Lange is an American character actor. He is known for his extensive work on television, where he has appeared in a wide variety of both supporting and leading roles.

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19/02/1972

Francine Fournier, American wrestler and manager

Francine Meeks, known by the mononym Francine, is an American professional wrestling valet and professional wrestler. She is best known for her appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1995 to 2001 and with World Wrestling Entertainment in 2005 and 2006. During her tenure with ECW, Francine managed several of the promotion's top wrestlers.

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Sunset Thomas, American pornographic actress

Diane Thomas, known professionally as Sunset Thomas, is an American artist and former pornographic film actress. She was runner-up for Penthouse Pet of the Year in 1998 and is a member of the AVN Hall of Fame, Porn Block of Fame, Legends of Erotica Hall of Fame, and XRCO Hall of Fame.

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19/02/1971

Miguel Batista, Dominican baseball player and poet

Miguel Descartes Batista Jerez is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for 12 teams, spending multiple seasons with the Montreal Expos, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, and New York Mets.

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Richard Green, Australian golfer

Richard George Green is an Australian professional golfer.

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Jeff Kinney, American author and illustrator

Jeffrey Patrick Kinney is an American author and illustrator. He is best known for creating, writing and illustrating the children's book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He also created the child-oriented website Poptropica.

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19/02/1970

Joacim Cans, Swedish singer-songwriter

Joacim Cans is a Swedish singer, best known as the lead vocalist of power metal band HammerFall. He is the only member aside from founder and guitarist Oscar Dronjak to appear on all of the band's albums.

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Verena Nussbaum, Austrian politician

Verena Nussbaum is an Austrian politician and member of the National Council. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she has represented Greater Graz since November 2017.

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Bellamy Young, American actress

Bellamy Young is an American actress, producer and singer best known as Melody "Mellie" Grant on Scandal (2012–18), for which she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2014. She also starred in Prodigal Son as Jessica Whitly (2019–21).

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19/02/1969

Burton C. Bell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Burton Christopher Bell is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder and former frontman of the industrial metal band Fear Factory. Until 2021 he was the only member to perform on all of the band's albums. His singing style mixes clean and shouted vocals with death growls.

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Helena Guergis, Canadian businesswoman and politician

Helena C. Guergis, is a Canadian politician. She represented the Ontario riding of Simcoe—Grey in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2011, and was appointed Minister of State on October 30, 2008, following the October 14, 2008 Canadian federal election. Soon after starting her parliamentary career, she became involved in several controversial situations, and these increased with time in both number and severity.

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19/02/1968

Prince Markie Dee, American rapper and actor (died 2021)

Mark Anthony Morales, better known by the stage name Prince Markie Dee, was an American rapper and music producer. He was a member of the Fat Boys, a pioneering hip hop group that gained fame during the 1980s. Morales was the vice-president of Uncle Louie Music Group.

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Frank Watkins, American bass player (died 2015)

Frank Watkins was an American heavy metal musician best known as a former, long-time bass player for the death metal band Obituary; he played with them from 1989 to 1997 and then from 2003 until 2010. He had been the bass player of the Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth at the time of his death, where he had been known as Bøddel.

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19/02/1967

Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican actor, director, and producer

Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican actor. His accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Goya Award, and the Best Actor awards at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $5.9 billion worldwide.

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19/02/1966

Justine Bateman, American actress and producer

Justine Bateman is an American filmmaker, author and actress. Her acting work has included Family Ties, Satisfaction, Men Behaving Badly, The TV Set, Desperate Housewives, and Californication. Her feature film directorial debut, Violet, starring Olivia Munn, Luke Bracey, and Justin Theroux, premiered at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival. Bateman also wrote, directed and produced the film short Five Minutes, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. She regularly makes guest appearances on USA television including Fox News and Today and is the author of the books Fame: The Hijacking of Reality (2018) and Face: One Square Foot of Skin (2021).

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Paul Haarhuis, Dutch tennis player and coach

Paul Vincent Nicholas Haarhuis is a Dutch tennis coach and a former professional player. He is a former world No. 1 doubles player, having reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in November 1995. He has won 54 doubles titles, including six Grand Slam titles, five with Jacco Eltingh, and one with Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

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Eduardo Xol, American designer and author (died 2024)

Eduardo Torres Xol was an American television personality, designer, entertainer, social activist and businessman. He was most known to U.S. television audiences for his work as a designer on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition which formerly aired on ABC.

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19/02/1965

Jon Fishman, American drummer

Jon Fishman is an American drummer and co-founder of the band Phish, which was, in part, named after him. He is credited with co-writing nineteen Phish songs, eight with a solo credit.

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Clark Hunt, American businessman

Clark Knobel Hunt is an American billionaire, businessman and scion of the Hunt family. He currently serves as chairman and CEO of the National Football League (NFL)'s Kansas City Chiefs, Major League Soccer (MLS)‘s FC Dallas and a founding investor-owner in MLS. He is also chairman of Hunt Sports Group, where he oversees the operations of the Chiefs, FC Dallas and, formerly, the Columbus Crew of MLS. The group is estimated to have a total net worth of $24.8 billion as of 2024. He is the son of Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt and his second wife Norma Hunt, and is the grandson of oil tycoon H. L. Hunt. As of 2025, he had an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion.

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Leroy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Kirk Leroy Miller professionally known as Leroy Miller is an American musician from Spokane, Washington.

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19/02/1964

Doug Aldrich, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Doug Aldrich is an American hard rock guitarist. He founded the band Burning Rain with Keith St. John in 1998 and has played with Whitesnake, Dio, Lion, Hurricane, House of Lords, Bad Moon Rising and Revolution Saints. He has also released several solo albums. Doug toured with former Deep Purple bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes' band in 2015. It was announced in early 2016 that he would be replacing Richard Fortus as guitarist of The Dead Daisies.

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Jennifer Doudna, American biochemist

Dr Jennifer Anne Doudna is an American biochemist who has pioneered work in CRISPR gene editing, and made other fundamental contributions in biochemistry and genetics. She received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with Emmanuelle Charpentier, "for the development of a method for genome editing." She is the Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Chair Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. She has been an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1997.

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Jonathan Lethem, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer

Jonathan Allen Lethem is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His first novel, Gun, with Occasional Music, a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was published in 1994. In 1999, Lethem published Motherless Brooklyn, a National Book Critics Circle Award-winning novel that achieved mainstream success. In 2003, he published The Fortress of Solitude, which became a New York Times Best Seller. In 2005, he received a MacArthur Fellowship. Since 2011, he has taught creative writing at Pomona College. In 2025, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction, a prestigious honor recognizing exceptional artists and scholars in the arts and humanities.

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19/02/1963

Seal, English singer-songwriter

Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel (; born 19 February 1963), better known by his stage name Seal, is a British singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the recipient of three Brit Awards, four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award, with more than 20 million albums or singles sold. He signed with record producer Trevor Horn's ZTT Records to release his eponymous debut studio album (1991). A critical and commercial success, it spawned the singles "Crazy" and "Killer", which peaked at numbers two and one on the UK singles chart, respectively, while both entered the US Billboard Hot 100. His 1994 single, "Kiss from a Rose", peaked atop the latter chart after its inclusion on the accompanying film soundtracks for The NeverEnding Story III and Batman Forever.

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Jessica Tuck, American actress

Jessica Tuck is an American actress, best known for her performances on television as Megan Gordon Harrison on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, Gillian Gray in the CBS drama series Judging Amy, and as Nan Flanagan on the HBO series True Blood.

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19/02/1962

Hana Mandlíková, Czech-Australian tennis player and coach

Hana Mandlíková is a Czech–Australian former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 3 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in the mid-1980s. Mandíková won 27 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including four majors: the 1980 Australian Open, 1981 French Open, 1985 US Open and 1987 Australian Open. She was the runner-up at a further four singles majors – twice at Wimbledon and twice at the US Open. She also won 19 career doubles titles, including a major in women's doubles at the 1989 US Open partnering Martina Navratilova. Competing for Czechoslovakia and later Australia, Mandlíková was one of the brightest stars of her generation and is considered one of the greatest female players of the Open Era. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994.

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19/02/1961

Justin Fashanu, English footballer (died 1998)

Justinus Soni "Justin" Fashanu was an English footballer who played for a variety of clubs between 1978 and 1997. He was known by his early clubs to be gay, and came out publicly later in his career, becoming the first professional footballer to be openly gay. He was also one of the first footballers to command a £1 million transfer fee, with his transfer from Norwich City to Nottingham Forest in 1981, and had varying levels of success as a player afterwards, until he retired in 1997.

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Ernie Gonzalez, American golfer (died 2020)

Ernie Gonzalez was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1980s. He won the only title of his career in 1986. By doing so, he became only the third left-handed golfer to win a Tour event.

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19/02/1960

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, second son of Elizabeth II

Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, Duke of York, is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a younger brother of King Charles III. Andrew was born second in the line of succession to the British throne and is eighth as of 2026.

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John Paul Jr., American race car driver (died 2020)

John Lee Paul Jr. was an American racing driver. He competed in CART and the Indy Racing League competitions, but primarily in IMSA GT Championship, winning the title in 1982.

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19/02/1959

Roger Goodell, American businessman, 6th National Football League Commissioner

Roger Stokoe Goodell is an American businessman who has been the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) since 2006.

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19/02/1958

Leslie David Baker, American actor

Leslie David Baker is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Stanley Hudson on the NBC sitcom The Office (2005–2013), which earned him two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

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Helen Fielding, English author and screenwriter

Helen Fielding is a British journalist, novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of the fictional character Bridget Jones. Fielding’s first novel was set in a refugee camp in East Africa and she started writing Bridget Jones in an anonymous column in London’s Independent newspaper. This turned into an unexpected hit, leading to four Bridget Jones novels and four movies.

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Steve Nieve, English keyboard player and composer

Steve Nieve is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions and the Imposters, as well as Madness. He has also experienced success as a prolific session musician, featured on a wide array of other artists' recordings.

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19/02/1957

Falco, Austrian singer-songwriter, rapper, and musician (died 1998)

Johann "Hans" Hölzel, better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian musician. He had several international hits, including "Der Kommissar" (1981), "Rock Me Amadeus", which reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Vienna Calling", "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home ", and posthumously released "Out of the Dark".

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Dave Stewart, American baseball player, coach, and executive

David Keith Stewart, nicknamed "Smoke", is an American professional baseball executive, pitching coach, sports agent, and former starting pitcher. The Los Angeles Dodgers' 16th-round selection in the 1975 MLB draft, Stewart's MLB playing career spanned from 1978 through 1995, winning three World Series championships all with different clubs while compiling a career 3.95 earned run average (ERA) and a 168–129 won–lost record, including winning 20 games in four consecutive seasons. He pitched for the Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, Oakland Athletics, and Toronto Blue Jays.

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Ray Winstone, English actor

Raymond Andrew Winstone is an English actor. With a career spanning five decades, he is known for his "hard man" roles, usually delivered in his distinctive London accent.

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19/02/1956

Peter Holsapple, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Peter Livingston Holsapple is an American musician who, along with Chris Stamey, formed the dB's, a jangle-pop band from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He became the band's principal songwriter and singer after Stamey's departure. The band, with Stamey back in the fold, reformed with new material in 2005–2006.

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Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Roderick MacKinnon is an American biophysicist, neuroscientist, and businessman. He is a professor of molecular neurobiology and biophysics at Rockefeller University who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with Peter Agre in 2003 for his work on the structure and operation of ion channels.

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Dave Wakeling, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

David Wakeling is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known for his work with the band the Beat and General Public. After he split with Ranking Roger, he formed the English Beat, and continued touring.

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19/02/1955

Jeff Daniels, American actor and playwright

Jeffrey Warren Daniels is an American actor. He is known for his work on stage and screen playing diverse characters switching between comedy and drama. He is the recipient of several accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for five Golden Globe Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Tony Awards.

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19/02/1954

Francis Buchholz, German bass player (died 2026)

Francis Buchholz was a German musician best known as the bass guitarist of the German rock band Scorpions from 1973 until 1992, a group that was successful internationally; his bass riffs for hits such as "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "Wind of Change" were regarded as iconic. After leaving Scorpions, he was a member of Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock, among others.

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Michael Gira, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Michael Rolfe Gira is an American singer-songwriter, composer, author and artist. Now based in New Mexico, he founded the band Swans, in which he sings and plays guitar, in New York City in the 1980s at the height of the no wave movement. He is also the founder of Young God Records and previously fronted Angels of Light.

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Sócrates, Brazilian footballer and manager (died 2011)

Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, simply known as Sócrates, was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with style and quality of his play, earned him the nickname "Doctor Socrates". Famous for his beard and the headband he wore during the 1986 World Cup in solidarity with victims of the Mexico City earthquake, Sócrates became the "symbol of cool for a whole generation of football supporters". In 1983, he was named South American Footballer of the Year. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time.

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19/02/1953

Corrado Barazzutti, Italian tennis player

Corrado Barazzutti is a former tennis player from Italy. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 7, achieved in August 1978.

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Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentine lawyer and politician, President of Argentina and Vice President of Argentina

Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner is an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the 55th President of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and later as the 37th Vice President of Argentina under President Alberto Fernández from 2019 to 2023. The widow of Néstor Kirchner, she was also First Lady during his presidency from 2003 to 2007. She was the second female president of Argentina and the first to be directly elected to office. Ideologically self-identified as a Peronist and a progressive, her political approach is called Kirchnerism. Since 2024, she has been the president of the Justicialist Party.

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Massimo Troisi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1994)

Massimo Troisi was an Italian actor, cabaret performer, comedian, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his works in the films I'm Starting back from Three (1981) and Il Postino: The Postman (1994), for which he was posthumously nominated for two Oscars. He won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in the film What Time Is It? (1989). Nicknamed "the comedian of feelings", he is considered one of the most important actors of Italian theater and cinema.

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19/02/1952

Ryū Murakami, Japanese novelist and filmmaker

Ryū Murakami is a Japanese novelist, essayist and filmmaker. His novels explore human nature through themes of disillusion, drug use, surrealism, murder and war, set against the dark backdrop of Japan. His best known novels are Almost Transparent Blue, Audition, Coin Locker Babies, and In the Miso Soup.

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Rodolfo Neri Vela, Mexican engineer and astronaut

Rodolfo Neri Vela is a Mexican scientist and astronaut who flew aboard a NASA Space Shuttle mission in the year 1985. He is the second Latin American to have traveled to space after Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez and the first Mexican astronaut.

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Amy Tan, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer

Amy Ruth Tan is an American author best known for her novel The Joy Luck Club (1989), which was adapted into a 1993 film. She is also known for other novels, short story collections, children's books, and a memoir.

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Danilo Türk, Slovene academic and politician, 3rd President of Slovenia

Danilo Türk is a Slovenian diplomat, professor of international law, human rights expert, and political figure who served as President of Slovenia from 2007 to 2012. He was the first Slovene ambassador to the United Nations, from 1992 to 2000, and was the UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs from 2000 to 2005.

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19/02/1951

Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Pakistani scholar and politician, founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran

Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri is a Pakistani–Canadian Islamic scholar and former politician. He is the founder and chief patron of Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) since 1980. He also founded the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and served as its leader from 1989 to 2019.

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19/02/1950

Juice Leskinen, Finnish singer-songwriter (died 2006)

Juhani Juice Leskinen, better known as Juice Leskinen was one of the most important and successful Finnish singer-songwriters of the late 20th century. From the early 1970s onward he released nearly 30 full-length albums and wrote song lyrics for dozens of other Finnish artists. Several of Leskinen's songs have reached classic status in Finnish popular music, e.g., "Viidestoista yö", "Kaksoiselämää" and "Syksyn sävel". His early records are considered staples of the so-called Manserock movement of the mid-'70s. He also wrote poetry and plays and published nine collections of verse and seven plays.

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Andy Powell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Andrew Powell is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is a founding member of the British band Wishbone Ash, whose use of twin lead guitars was influential. He was voted in the top 100 greatest guitarists by Rolling Stone magazine. Powell's trademark guitar is a 1967 Gibson Flying V.

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19/02/1949

Danielle Bunten Berry, American game designer and programmer (died 1998)

Danielle Bunten Berry, was an American game designer and programmer, known for the 1983 game M.U.L.E., one of the first influential multiplayer video games, and 1984's The Seven Cities of Gold.

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Eddie Hardin, English singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2015)

Eddie Hardin was an English rock pianist and singer-songwriter. Born Edward Harding, he was best known for his associations with the Spencer Davis Group, Axis Point, and Hardin & York. Hardin, along with the drummer, Pete York, left the Spencer Davis Group on 26 October 1968, due to 'differences over musical policy'.

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Barry Lloyd, English footballer and manager (died 2024)

Barry David Lloyd was an English professional footballer and manager. As a player, he most notably played as a midfielder in the Football League for Fulham, for whom he was captain and made over 280 appearances for the club. He also played League football for Brentford, Hereford United and Chelsea. After his retirement as a player, Lloyd managed Brighton & Hove Albion and non-League clubs Worthing and Yeovil Town.

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William Messner-Loebs, American author and illustrator

William Francis Messner-Loebs is an American comics artist and writer from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs. His hyphenated surname is a combination of his and his wife Nadine's unmarried surnames.

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19/02/1948

Mark Andes, American singer-songwriter and bass player

Mark Andes is an American musician, known for his work as a bassist with Canned Heat, Spirit, Jo Jo Gunne, Firefall, Heart, and Robert Mirabal.

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Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (died 2002)

Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist, and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List in 2002.

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Raúl Grijalva, United States representative from Arizona (died 2025)

Raúl Manuel Grijalva was an American politician and activist who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona from 2003 until his death in 2025. As member of the Democratic Party, Grijalva represented Arizona's 7th congressional district from 2003 to 2013, Arizona's 3rd congressional district from 2013 to 2023, and the 7th district again from 2023 to 2025. The two districts included the western third of Tucson, part of Yuma and Nogales, and some peripheral parts of metropolitan Phoenix.

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Tony Iommi, English guitarist and songwriter

Anthony Frank Iommi Jr. is an English musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath in 1968, and was the guitarist, leader, main composer, and only constant member during the band's existence for over fifty years, playing guitar on all of their releases. He is considered one of the creators of heavy metal music and has been referred to as the "Godfather of Heavy Metal".

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19/02/1947

Jackie Curtis, American actress and playwright (died 1985)

Jackie Curtis was an American underground actor, singer, and playwright best known as a Warhol superstar. Primarily a stage actor in New York City, Curtis performed as a man and also performed in drag.

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Tim Shadbolt, New Zealand businessman and politician, 42nd Mayor of Invercargill

Sir Timothy Richard Shadbolt was a New Zealand politician. Having been an activist in his youth, he went on to serve as mayor of Waitemata City from 1983 to 1989 and then to serve as mayor of Invercargill from 1993 to 1995 and 1998 to 2022; during his term as the latter he became a national icon and a major figure of the city. His term as mayor of both cities extending over 32 years made him one of the longest-serving mayors in New Zealand history.

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19/02/1946

Paul Dean, Canadian guitarist

Paul Warren Dean is a Canadian musician and the lead guitarist of the Canadian rock band Loverboy which reached huge fame in the early 1980s.

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Peter Hudson, Australian footballer and coach

Peter John Hudson AM is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the New Norfolk Football Club and Glenorchy Football Club in the Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL).

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Karen Silkwood, American technician and activist (died 1974)

Karen Gay Silkwood was an American laboratory technician and labor union activist known for reporting concerns about corporate practices related to health and safety in a nuclear facility.

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19/02/1945

Yuri Antonov, Uzbek-Russian singer-songwriter

Yuri Mikhailovich Antonov is a Soviet and Russian composer, singer and musician, People's Artist of Russia (1997).

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19/02/1944

Les Hinton, English-American journalist and businessman

Leslie Frank Hinton is a British-American journalist, writer and business executive whose career with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation spanned more than fifty years. Hinton worked in newspapers, magazines and television as a reporter, editor and executive in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States and became an American citizen in 1986. He was appointed CEO of Dow Jones & Company in December 2007, after its acquisition by News Corp. Hinton has variously been described as Murdoch's "hitman"; one of his "most trusted lieutenants"; and an "astute political operator". He left the company in 2011. His memoir, The Bootle Boy, was published in the UK in May 2018, and in the US under the title An Untidy Life in October of the same year. His first fiction book, Dying Days, a thriller set against the backdrop of the transAtlanic newspaper industry, was published by Whitefox in November 2025.

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19/02/1943

Lou Christie, American singer-songwriter (died 2025)

Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco, known professionally by his stage name Lou Christie, was an American pop and soft rock singer-songwriter widely known for hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 U.S. chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 UK number two hit "I'm Gonna Make You Mine".

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Homer Hickam, American author and engineer

Homer Hadley Hickam Jr. is an American author, Vietnam War veteran, and a former NASA engineer who trained the first Japanese astronauts. His 1998 memoir Rocket Boys was a New York Times Best Seller and was the basis for the 1999 film October Sky. Hickam's body of written work also includes several additional best-selling memoirs and novels, including the "Josh Thurlow" historical fiction novels, his 2015 best-selling Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of a Man, his Wife, and her Alligator and in 2021 the sequel to Rocket Boys titled Don't Blow Yourself Up: The Further Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky. His books have been translated into many languages.

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Tim Hunt, English biochemist and academic, Nobel laureate

Sir Richard Timothy Hunt is a British biochemist and molecular physiologist. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Paul Nurse and Leland H. Hartwell for their discoveries of protein molecules that control the division of cells. While studying fertilized sea urchin eggs in the early 1980s, Hunt discovered cyclin, a protein that cyclically aggregates and is depleted during cell division cycles.

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19/02/1942

Cyrus Chothia, English biochemist and emeritus scientist at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (died 2019)

Cyrus Homi Chothia was an English biochemist who was an emeritus scientist at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) at the University of Cambridge and emeritus fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge.

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Paul Krause, American football player and politician

Paul James Krause is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings and the Washington Redskins. Krause established himself as a proficient defensive force against opposing wide receivers. He led the league with 12 interceptions as a rookie before going on to set the NFL career interceptions record with 81 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998. Krause was selected eight times to the Pro Bowl during his 16 seasons in the NFL and is considered to be among the greatest safeties in NFL history.

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Will Provine, American biologist, historian, and academic (died 2015)

William Ball Provine was an American historian of science and of evolutionary biology and population genetics. He was the Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor at Cornell University and was a professor in the Departments of History, Science and Technology Studies, and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

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Howard Stringer, Welsh businessman

Sir Howard Stringer is a Welsh-American businessman. He had a 30-year career at CBS, culminating in him serving as the president of CBS News from 1986 to 1988, then president of CBS from 1988 to 1995. He served as chairman of the board, chairman, president and CEO of Sony Corporation from 2005 to 2012. He is also the head of the board of trustees of the American Film Institute and now serves as a non-executive director of the BBC. He was knighted in 1999.

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19/02/1941

David Gross, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

David Jonathan Gross is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics with Frank Wilczek and Hugh David Politzer "for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction".

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Jenny Tonge, Baroness Tonge, English politician

Jennifer Louise Tonge, Baroness Tonge is a British politician. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park from 1997 to 2005. In June 2005 she was made a life peer as Baroness Tonge, of Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, which entitled her to a seat in the House of Lords.

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19/02/1940

Saparmyrat Nyýazow, Turkmen engineer and politician, 1st President of Turkmenistan (died 2006)

Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov was a Turkmen politician and dictator who led Turkmenistan from 1985 until his death in 2006. He was the first secretary of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan from 1985 until 1991 and supported the 1991 Soviet coup attempt. He continued to rule Turkmenistan as the first president for 15 years after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

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Smokey Robinson, American singer-songwriter and producer

William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief songwriter and producer. He led the group from its 1955 origins, when they were called the Five Chimes, until 1972, when he retired from the group to focus on his role as Motown Records vice president. Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the following year. He left Motown in 1999.

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Bobby Rogers, American singer-songwriter (died 2013)

Robert Edward Rogers was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a founding member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Miracles to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to singing, he also contributed to writing some of the Miracles' songs. Rogers is the grandfather of R&B singer Brandi Williams from the R&B girl group Blaque and is a cousin of fellow Miracles member Claudette Rogers Robinson.

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19/02/1939

Erin Pizzey, English activist and author, founded Refuge

Erin Patria Margaret Pizzey is a British men's rights activist and novelist known for her advocacy on behalf of both men's and women's rights and for her work against domestic violence. She is recognized for founding the world's first and largest domestic violence shelter, Refuge, then known as Chiswick Women's Aid, in 1971.

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19/02/1938

Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (died 1989)

Lobsang Trinley Lhündrub Chöekyi Gyaltsen was the tenth Panchen Lama, officially the 10th Panchen Erdeni, of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. According to Tibetan Buddhism, Panchen Lamas are living emanations of Buddha Amitabha. He was often referred to simply as Choekyi Gyaltsen.

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19/02/1937

Terry Carr, American author and educator (died 1987)

Terry Gene Carr was an American science fiction fan, author, editor, and writing instructor.

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Norm O'Neill, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (died 2008)

Norman Clifford Louis O'Neill was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressing to Test selection aged 21 in late 1958. Early in his career, O'Neill was one of the foremost batsmen in the Australian team, scoring three Test centuries and topping the run-scoring aggregates on a 1959–60 tour of the Indian subcontinent which helped Australia win its last Test and series on Pakistani soil for 39 years, as well as another series in India. His career peaked in 1960–61 when he scored 181 in the tied Test against the West Indies, and at the end of the series, had a career average of 58.25.

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19/02/1936

Sam Myers, American singer-songwriter (died 2006)

Samuel Joseph Myers was an American blues musician and songwriter. He was an accompanist on dozens of recordings by blues artists over five decades. He began his career as a drummer for Elmore James but was most famous as a blues vocalist and blues harp player. For nearly two decades he was the featured vocalist for Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets.

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Frederick Seidel, American poet

Frederick Seidel is an American poet.

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19/02/1935

Chung-Yun Hse, Taiwanese-American wood scientist (died 2021)

Chung-Yun Hse was a Taiwanese American research scientist in wood utilization, who was an elected fellow (FIAWS) of the International Academy of Wood Science. He served at the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station in Pineville, Louisiana from 1967 through 2019.

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Dave Niehaus, American sportscaster (died 2010)

David Arnold Niehaus was an American sportscaster. He was the lead play-by-play announcer for the American League's Seattle Mariners from their inaugural season in 1977 until his death after the 2010 season. In 2008, the National Baseball Hall of Fame awarded Niehaus the Ford C. Frick Award, the highest honor for American baseball broadcasters. Among fans nationwide and his peers, Niehaus was considered to be one of the greatest sportscasters in history.

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Russ Nixon, American MLB catcher and coach (died 2016)

Russell Eugene Nixon was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1957 to 1968. A veteran of 55 years in professional baseball, Nixon managed at virtually every level of the sport, from the lowest minor league to MLB assignments with the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed, and stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds (86 kg) in his playing days.

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19/02/1932

Joseph P. Kerwin, American captain, physician, and astronaut

Joseph Peter Kerwin is an American physician and former NASA astronaut. He served as the science pilot for the Skylab 2 mission from May 25, 1973, to June 22, 1973. He was the first physician to be selected for astronaut training and the first doctor from the United States to enter space.

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19/02/1930

John Frankenheimer, American director and producer (died 2002)

John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director, known both for his social dramas and his action/suspense pictures. Among his best-known theatrical film credits are Birdman of Alcatraz, The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, The Train, Seconds, Grand Prix, The Fixer (1968), The Iceman Cometh (1973), French Connection II (1975), Black Sunday (1977), 52 Pick-Up (1986), and Ronin (1998).

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K. Viswanath, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2023)

Kasinadhuni Viswanath was an Indian film director, screenwriter, lyricist and actor who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. One of the greatest auteurs of Indian cinema, he received international recognition for his works, and is known for blending parallel cinema with mainstream cinema. He was honoured with the "Prize of the Public" at the "Besançon Film Festival of France" in 1981. In 1992, he received the Andhra Pradesh state Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, and the civilian honour Padma Shri for his contribution to the field of arts. In 2016, he was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award in Indian cinema. He is popularly known as "Kalatapasvi."

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19/02/1929

Jacques Deray, French director and screenwriter (died 2003)

Jacques Deray was a French film director and screenwriter. Deray is prominently known for directing many crime and thriller films.

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19/02/1927

Philippe Boiry, French journalist (died 2014)

Philippe Paul Alexandre Henri Boiry was a journalist and a pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia from October 26, 1952, to January 5, 2014.

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19/02/1926

György Kurtág, Hungarian composer and academic

György Kurtág is a Hungarian composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. According to Grove Music Online, his style draws on "Bartók, Webern and, to a lesser extent, Stravinsky", and "his work is characterized by compression in scale and forces, and by a particular immediacy of expression". In 2023 he was described as "one of the last living links to the defining postwar composers of the European avant-garde".

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19/02/1924

David Bronstein, Ukrainian chess player and theoretician (died 2006)

David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet and Russian chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was one of the world's strongest players from the mid-1940s into the mid-1970s, and was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics. He was also a renowned chess writer; his book Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 is widely considered one of the greatest chess books ever written.

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Lee Marvin, American actor (died 1987)

Lamont Warren Marvin Jr., known as Lee Marvin, was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and prematurely white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. He received various accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two BAFTA Awards. He was also a decorated United States Marine during the Second World War. He was also a descendant of the Lee family of Virginia.

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19/02/1922

Władysław Bartoszewski, Polish journalist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 2015)

Władysław Bartoszewski was a Polish professor of History, politician, social activist, journalist, writer, historian and insurgent. A former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, he was a World War II resistance fighter as part of the Polish underground and participated in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war he was persecuted and imprisoned by the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) of the Polish People's Republic regime due to his membership in the Home Army and opposition activity.

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19/02/1920

C. Z. Guest, American actress, fashion designer, and author (died 2003)

Lucy Douglas "C.Z." Guest was an American actress, author, columnist, horsewoman, fashion designer, and socialite who achieved a degree of fame as a fashion icon. She was frequently seen wearing elegant designs by designers like Mainbocher. Her unfussy, clean-cut style was seen as typically American, and she was named to the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List in 1959.

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Jaan Kross, Estonian author and poet (died 2007)

Jaan Kross was an Estonian writer. He won the 1995 International Nonino Prize in Italy.

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George Rose, English actor and singer (died 1988)

George Walter Rose was an English actor and singer in theatre and film. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for roles in My Fair Lady and The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

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19/02/1918

Fay McKenzie, American actress (died 2019)

Eunice Fay McKenzie was an American actress and singer. She starred in silent films as a child, and then sound films as an adult, but perhaps she is best known for her leading roles opposite Gene Autry in the early 1940s in five horse opera features. She was also known for her collaborations with director Blake Edwards on five occasions.

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19/02/1917

Carson McCullers, American novelist, short story writer, playwright, and essayist (died 1967)

Carson McCullers was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts in a small town of the Southern United States. Her other novels have similar themes. Most are set in the Deep South.

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19/02/1916

Eddie Arcaro, American jockey and sportscaster (died 1997)

George Edward Arcaro was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Triple Crown twice. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest jockeys in the history of American Thoroughbred horse racing. Arcaro was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of an impoverished taxi driver. His parents, Pasquale and Josephine, were Italian immigrants and his father held a number of jobs, including taxi driver and operator of an illegal liquor enterprise during Prohibition. Arcaro was born prematurely, and weighed just three pounds at birth; because of this, he was smaller than his classmates and was rejected when he tried out for a spot on a baseball team. His full height would reach just five-foot, two inches. Eventually nicknamed "Banana Nose" by his confreres, Arcaro won his first race in 1932 at the Agua Caliente racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico; he was 16 years old. In 1934, the inaugural year of Narragansett Park, Arcaro was a comparative unknown who rode many of his early career races at 'Gansett.

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19/02/1915

Dick Emery, English actor and comedian (died 1983)

Richard Gilbert Emery was an English comedian and comic actor. Best known for this catchphrase, "Ooh You Are Awful... But I Like You!", his broadcasting career began on radio in the 1950s, and his self-titled television series ran from 1963 to 1981.

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John Freeman, English lawyer, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States (died 2014)

Major John Horace Freeman was a British politician, diplomat, broadcaster, and British Army officer. He was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Watford from 1945 to 1955.

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19/02/1914

Thelma Kench, New Zealand Olympic sprinter (died 1985)

Thelma Kench later Irion was a New Zealand sprinter who competed at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

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19/02/1913

Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (died 2007)

Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza was a Brazilian prince and dynastic claimant who served as head of the Petrópolis branch of the House of Orléans-Braganza. From 1940 until his death, he claimed the symbolic headship of the former Brazilian throne, in opposition to the rival claim of the Vassouras branch led by his cousins Pedro Henrique and later Luiz.

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Frank Tashlin, American animator and screenwriter (died 1972)

Frank Tashlin, also known as Tish Tash and Frank Tash, was an American animator and filmmaker. He was best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated shorts for Warner Bros., as well as his work as a director of live-action comedy films.

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19/02/1912

Saul Chaplin, American composer (died 1997)

Saul Chaplin was an American composer and musical director.

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Dorothy Janis, American actress (died 2010)

Dorothy Janis was an American actress.

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19/02/1911

Merle Oberon, Indian-American actress (died 1979)

Merle Oberon was a British actress of Sri Lankan Burgher origin. Her career spanned the 1920s to the 1970s, and she was a major leading lady during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

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19/02/1904

Havank, Dutch journalist and author (died 1964)

Havank, pseudonym of Hendrikus Frederikus (Hans) van der Kallen, was a Dutch writer, journalist and translator. He published over 30 crime novels and is considered one of the founding fathers of the Dutch detective genre.

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19/02/1902

Kay Boyle, American novelist, short story writer, and educator (died 1992)

Kay Boyle was an American novelist, short story writer, educator, and political activist. Boyle is best known for her fiction, which often explored the intersections of personal and political themes. Her work contributed significantly to modernist literature, and she was an active participant in the expatriate literary scene in Paris during the 1920s. She was a Guggenheim Fellow and O. Henry Award winner.

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19/02/1899

Lucio Fontana, Argentinian-Italian painter and sculptor (died 1968)

Lucio Fontana was an Argentine-Italian sculptor, painter, and theorist. He is known as the founder of Spatialism and exponent of abstraction. Some of these ideas can be seen in his slashed canvases and his use of neon as a media, like his Milan Triennale piece.

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19/02/1897

Alma Rubens, American actress (died 1931)

Alma Rubens was an American film actress and stage performer.

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19/02/1896

André Breton, French poet and author (died 1966)

André Robert Breton was a French writer and poet, known as a principal theorist and co-founder of surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism".

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19/02/1895

Louis Calhern, American actor (died 1956)

Carl Henry Vogt, known by his stage name Louis Calhern, was an American actor. Described as a “star leading man of the theater and a star character actor of the screen,” he appeared in over 100 roles on the Broadway stage and in films and television, between 1923 and 1956. He was nominated for the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for portraying U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in the 1950 film The Magnificent Yankee.

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19/02/1893

Cedric Hardwicke, English actor and director (died 1964)

Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned over 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and his film work included leading roles in several adapted literary classics.

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19/02/1888

José Eustasio Rivera, Colombian lawyer and poet (died 1928)

José Eustasio Rivera Salas was a Colombian lawyer and author primarily known for his national epic The Vortex.

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19/02/1886

José Abad Santos, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (died 1942)

José Abad Santos y Basco was the fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He briefly served as the acting president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and acting commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines during World War II, from March 1942 until his execution. Japanese forces killed him for refusing to cooperate during their occupation of the country.

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19/02/1880

Álvaro Obregón, Mexican general and politician, 39th President of Mexico (died 1928)

Álvaro Obregón Salido was a Mexican general, inventor and politician who served as the 46th President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. Obregón was re-elected to the presidency in 1928 but was assassinated before he could take office.

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19/02/1878

Harriet Bosse, Swedish–Norwegian actress (died 1961)

Harriet Sofie Bosse was a Swedish–Norwegian actress. A celebrity in her day, Bosse is now most commonly remembered as the third wife of the playwright August Strindberg. Bosse began her career in a minor company run by her forceful older sister Alma Fahlstrøm in Kristiania. Having secured an engagement at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, the main drama venue of Sweden's capital Stockholm, Bosse caught the attention of Strindberg with her intelligent acting and exotic "oriental" appearance.

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19/02/1877

Gabriele Münter, German painter (died 1962)

Gabriele Münter was a German expressionist painter who was at the forefront of the Munich avant-garde in the early 20th century. She studied and lived with the painter Wassily Kandinsky and was a founding member of the expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter.

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19/02/1876

Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian-French sculptor, painter, and photographer (died 1957)

Constantin Brâncuși was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism, Brâncuși is called the patriarch of modern sculpture. As a child, he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1905 to 1907. His art emphasizes clean geometrical lines that balance forms inherent in his materials with the symbolic allusions of representational art. Brâncuși sought inspiration in non-European cultures as a source of primitive exoticism, as did Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, André Derain, and others. However, other influences emerge from Romanian folk art traceable through Byzantine and Dionysian traditions.

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19/02/1872

Johan Pitka, Estonian admiral (died 1944)

Johan Pitka, VR I/1, was an Estonian entrepreneur and sea captain who served as the Commander of the Estonian Navy during the Estonian War of Independence.

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19/02/1869

Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian-Russian poet and author (died 1923)

Hovhannes Tumanyan was an Armenian poet, writer, translator, and literary and public activist. He is the national poet of Armenia.

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19/02/1865

Sven Hedin, Swedish geographer and explorer (died 1952)

Sven Anders Hedin, KNO1kl RVO, was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator of his own works. During four expeditions to Central Asia, he made the Transhimalaya known in the West and located sources of the Brahmaputra, Indus and Sutlej Rivers. He also mapped lake Lop Nur, and the remains of cities, grave sites and the Great Wall of China in the deserts of the Tarim Basin. In his book Från pol till pol, Hedin describes a journey through Asia and Europe between the late 1880s and the early 1900s. While traveling, Hedin visited Turkey, the Caucasus, Tehran, Iraq, lands of the Kyrgyz people and the Russian Far East, India, China and Japan. The posthumous publication of his Central Asia Atlas marked the conclusion of his life's work.

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19/02/1859

Svante Arrhenius, Swedish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1927)

Svante August Arrhenius was a Swedish scientist. Originally a physicist, but often referred to as a chemist, Arrhenius was one of the founders of the science of physical chemistry. In 1903, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, becoming the first Swedish Nobel laureate. In 1905, he became the director of the Nobel Institute, where he remained until his death.

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19/02/1855

Nishinoumi Kajirō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 16th Yokozuna (died 1908)

Nishinoumi Kajirō I was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Sendai, Satsuma Province. He was the sport's 16th yokozuna, and the first to be officially listed as such on the banzuke ranking sheets, an act which strengthened the prestige of yokozuna as the highest level of achievement in professional sumo.

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19/02/1841

Elfrida Andrée, Swedish organist, composer, and conductor (died 1929)

Elfrida Andrée was a Swedish organist, composer, and conductor. Her sister was the singer Fredrika Stenhammar.

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19/02/1838

Lydia Thompson, British burlesque performer (died 1908)

Lydia Thompson, was an English dancer, comedian, actor and theatrical producer.

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19/02/1833

Élie Ducommun, Swiss journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1906)

Élie Ducommun was a Swiss peace activist. He was a Nobel laureate, awarded the 1902 Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with Charles Albert Gobat.

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19/02/1821

August Schleicher, German linguist and academic (died 1868)

August Schleicher was a German linguist. Schleicher studied the Proto-Indo-European language and devised theories concerning historical linguistics. His great work was A Compendium of the Comparative Grammar of the Indo-European Languages in which he attempted to reconstruct the Proto-Indo-European language. To show how Indo-European might have looked, he created a short tale, Schleicher's fable, to exemplify the reconstructed vocabulary and aspects of Indo-European society inferred from it.

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19/02/1804

Carl von Rokitansky, German physician, pathologist, and philosopher (died 1878)

Baron Carl von Rokitansky was a Czech-born Austrian physician, pathologist, humanist philosopher and liberal politician, founder of the Viennese School of Medicine of the 19th century. He was the founder of science-based diagnostics, connecting clinical with pathological results in a feedback loop that is standard practice today but was daring in Rokitansky's day.

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19/02/1800

Émilie Gamelin, Canadian nun and social worker, founded the Sisters of Providence (died 1851)

Émilie Tavernier Gamelin was a Canadian Catholic social worker and religious sister best known as the founder of the Sisters of Providence of Montreal. In 2001, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II.

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19/02/1798

Allan MacNab, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, Premier of Canada West (died 1862)

Sir Allan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet was a Canadian political leader, land speculator and property investor, lawyer, soldier, and militia commander who served in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada twice, the Legislative Assembly for the Province of Canada once, and served as joint Premier of the Province of Canada from 1854 to 1856. MacNab was "likely the largest land speculator in Upper Canada during his time" as mentioned both in his official biography in retrospect and in 1842 by Sir Charles Bagot.

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19/02/1743

Luigi Boccherini, Italian cellist and composer (died 1805)

Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and galante style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major classical musical centers. He is best known for the minuet from his String Quintet in E, Op. 11, No. 5, and the Cello Concerto in B flat major. The latter work was long known in the heavily altered version by German cellist and prolific arranger Friedrich Grützmacher, but has recently been restored to its original version. He is also particularly well known for his Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid.

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19/02/1717

David Garrick, English actor, playwright, and producer (died 1779)

David Garrick was an English actor who wrote, produced and influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Samuel Johnson. He appeared in several amateur theatricals, and with his appearance in the title role of Shakespeare's Richard III, audiences and managers began to take notice.

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19/02/1660

Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist (died 1742)

Friedrich Hoffmann or Hofmann was a German physician and chemist. He is also sometimes known in English as Frederick Hoffmann.

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19/02/1630

Shivaji, Indian warrior-king and the founder of Maratha Empire (died 1680)

Shivaji I was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji inherited a fiefdom from his father who served as a retainer for the Sultanate of Bijapur, which later formed the genesis of the Maratha Kingdom. In 1674, he was formally crowned the Chhatrapati of his realm at Raigad Fort.

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19/02/1611

Andries de Graeff, Dutch politician (died 1678)

Andries de Graeff was a regent and burgomaster (mayor) of Amsterdam and leading Dutch statesman during the Golden Age.

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19/02/1594

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (died 1612)

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales was the eldest son and heir apparent of King James VI and I and Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley; and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to the English, Irish, and Scottish thrones. However, at the age of 18, he predeceased his father, dying of typhoid fever. His younger brother, the future Charles I, succeeded him as heir apparent to the thrones.

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19/02/1552

Melchior Klesl, Austrian cardinal (died 1630)

Melchior Klesl was an Austrian statesman and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church during the time of the Counter-Reformation. He was minister-favourite of King and Emperor Matthias (1609-1618) and a leading advocate for peace between the empire's different confessional leagues before the Thirty Years' War.

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19/02/1532

Jean-Antoine de Baïf, French poet (died 1589)

Jean Antoine de Baïf was a French poet and member of the Pléiade.

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19/02/1526

Carolus Clusius, Flemish botanist and academic (died 1609)

Charles de l'Écluse, L'Escluse, or Carolus Clusius, seigneur de Watènes, was an Artois doctor and pioneering botanist, perhaps the most influential of all 16th-century scientific horticulturists.

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19/02/1519

Froben Christoph of Zimmern, German author of the Zimmern Chronicle (died 1566)

Count Froben Christoph of Zimmern was the author of the Zimmern Chronicle and a member of the von Zimmern family of Swabian nobility. This article is based primarily on Beat Rudolf Jenny's biography of him.

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19/02/1497

Matthäus Schwarz, German fashion writer (died 1574)

Matthäus Schwarz was a German accountant, best known for compiling his Klaidungsbüchlein or Trachtenbuch, a book cataloguing the clothing that he wore between 1520 and 1560. The book has been described as "the world's first fashion book".

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19/02/1473

Nicolaus Copernicus, Prussian mathematician and astronomer (died 1543)

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center. The publication of Copernicus's model in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, just before his death in 1543, was a major event in the history of science, triggering the Copernican Revolution and making a pioneering contribution to the Scientific Revolution. Though a similar heliocentric model had been developed eighteen centuries earlier by Aristarchus of Samos, an ancient Greek astronomer, Copernicus likely arrived at his model independently.

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19/02/1461

Domenico Grimani, Italian cardinal (died 1523)

Domenico Grimani was an Italian nobleman, theologian and cardinal. Like most noble churchmen of his era, Grimani was an ecclesiastical pluralist, holding numerous posts and benefices.

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