Born on Friday, 20th February – Famous Birthdays

20/02/2004

Jared McCain, American basketball player

Jared Dane McCain is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a consensus five-star recruit and ranked among the top players in the 2023 class. McCain played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils before being selected by the Philadelphia 76ers as the 16th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA draft.

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20/02/2003

Olivia Rodrigo, American actress and singer

Olivia Isabel Rodrigo is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She began her career as a child, appearing in commercials and the direct-to-video film An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success (2015). She rose to prominence for her leading roles in the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark (2016–2019) and the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019–2022).

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20/02/2002

Gavin Bazunu, Irish footballer

Gavin Okeroghene Bazunu is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Stoke City, on loan from EFL Championship club Southampton, and the Republic of Ireland national team.

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20/02/2000

Josh Sargent, American soccer player

Joshua Thomas Sargent is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC and the United States national team.

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20/02/1999

Jarrett Culver, American basketball player

Jarrett Ryan Culver is an American professional basketball player for the Sendai 89ers of the B.League. He played college basketball for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and was drafted by the Phoenix Suns with the sixth overall selection of the 2019 NBA draft.

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20/02/1998

Emam Ashour, Egyptian footballer

Emam Ashour Metwally Abdelghany is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Egyptian Premier League club Al Ahly and the Egypt national team.

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20/02/1996

Clarke Schmidt, American baseball player

Clarke Douglas Schmidt is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Schmidt played college baseball for the South Carolina Gamecocks, and was selected by the Yankees in the first round, 16th overall, of the 2017 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2020.

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20/02/1995

Elle Purrier St. Pierre, American track and field athlete

Elinor Purrier St. Pierre, better known as Elle Purrier St. Pierre, is an American track and field athlete who specializes in middle-distance and long-distance running. She won a gold medal in the 3000 meters at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow. Purrier is a two-time Olympian for the United States, making the final in the 1500m at both the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.

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20/02/1994

Kateryna Baindl, Ukrainian tennis player

Kateryna Baindl is a Ukrainian inactive tennis player. On 19 February 2018, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 62. On 22 October 2012, she peaked at No. 139 in the doubles rankings. She has won one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour as well as five singles and 13 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.

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Luis Severino, Dominican baseball player

Luis Severino, nicknamed "Sevy", is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees and New York Mets.

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20/02/1993

Jurickson Profar, Curaçaoan baseball player

Jurickson Barthelomeus Profar is a Curaçaoan professional baseball outfielder for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, and Colorado Rockies. He has played on the Netherlands national team in international competition.

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20/02/1991

Hidilyn Diaz, Filipino weightlifter

Hidilyn Francisco Diaz-Naranjo is a Filipino weightlifter, educator, and airwoman. The first Filipino to win an Olympic gold medal, she holds two Olympic records in weightlifting for her performance at the women's 55 kg category for weightlifting at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

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Angelique van der Meet, Dutch tennis player

Angelique van der Meet is a former professional Dutch tennis player.

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Sally Rooney, Irish novelist

Sally Rooney is an Irish writer. She is the author of the novels Conversations with Friends (2017), Normal People (2018), Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021), and Intermezzo (2024). The first two works were adapted into the television miniseries Normal People (2020) and Conversations with Friends (2022). Her bestselling novels have sold more than 6 million copies worldwide, have been translated into over 47 languages, and have garnered critical acclaim and commercial success. Literary commentators regard Rooney as one of the foremost millennial writers, and in 2022, Time named her among the 100 most influential people in the world.

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20/02/1990

Ciro Immobile, Italian footballer

Ciro Immobile is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for French Ligue 1 club Paris FC.

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20/02/1988

Ki Bo-bae, South Korean archer

Ki Bo-bae is a South Korean recurve archer and three-time Olympic gold medalist. She was the winner of the women's team and women's individual events at the 2012 Summer Olympics and of the women's team event again at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she also took bronze in the individual competition. Her tally of four Olympic medals places her among the most decorated archers in Olympic history.

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20/02/1987

Luke Burgess, English rugby league player

Luke Burgess is an English former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League. Luke Burgess is the brother of fellow rugby league players Sam, George and Tom Burgess. He previously played in the NRL for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

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Martin Hanzal, Czech ice hockey player

Martin Hanzal is a Czech former professional ice hockey centre. He was drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round, 17th overall, of the 2005 NHL entry draft.

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James Johnson, American basketball player

James Patrick Johnson is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the starting power forward for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons from 2007 to 2009. He was drafted 16th overall in the 2009 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls.

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20/02/1986

Julio Borbón, American baseball player

Julio Alberto Borbón is an American former professional baseball center fielder who most recently served as the first base coach for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, and Baltimore Orioles.

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20/02/1985

Killian Dain, Northern Irish wrestler

Damian Mackle is a Northern Irish professional wrestler who performs on the independent circuit under the ring name Big Damo. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Killian Dain.

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Ryan Sweeney, American baseball player

Ryan Joseph Sweeney is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs.

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Julia Volkova, Russian singer and actress

Yulia Olegovna Volkova, better known by the alternative spelling of Julia, is a Russian singer best known for being a member of the Russian girl group t.A.T.u., along with Lena Katina. Formed in Moscow, Russia by Ivan Shapovalov in 1999, the group signed a record deal with Universal Music Russia, and eventually Universal's sub-label Interscope Records in 2001.

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20/02/1984

Brian McCann, American baseball player

Brian Michael McCann is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, and Houston Astros. A seven-time All-Star and a six-time Silver Slugger Award winner, he won the 2017 World Series with the Astros. He is one of only four catchers to win the Silver Slugger Award six times and the only catcher to win the award in both the National League and American League.

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20/02/1983

Jose Morales, Puerto Rican baseball player

José Guillermo Morales is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher. He played stints in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Minnesota Twins and Colorado Rockies between 2007 and 2011. He played for the Camden Riversharks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

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Justin Verlander, American baseball player

Justin Brooks Verlander is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has also played in MLB for the Houston Astros, New York Mets, and San Francisco Giants. A three-time Cy Young Award winner, an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award recipient, and a two-time World Series champion, Verlander is considered to be one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history.

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20/02/1981

Tony Hibbert, English footballer

Anthony James Hibbert is an English former professional footballer. A one-club man for his entire career, coupled with his down-to-earth demeanour, Hibbert earned a cult hero status among Everton fans.

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20/02/1980

Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby player

Imanol Harinordoquy is a French former rugby union player. He typically played as a number 8 for Stade Toulousain at club level in the Top 14 and for France internationally. Before signing with Biarritz ahead of the 2004–05 season, he played club rugby at Pau.

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Luis Gabriel Rey, Colombian footballer

Luis Gabriel Rey Villamizar is a Colombian former professional footballer who last played for Liga MX club Monarcas Morelia on loan from Club América.

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Artur Boruc, Polish footballer

Artur Boruc is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

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20/02/1977

Gail Kim, Canadian wrestler

Gail Kim-Irvine is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenures in TNA Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In TNA, she was the inaugural and record setting seven-time Knockouts Champion and she also was a one-time Knockouts Tag Team Champion with Madison Rayne. In WWE, she won the WWE Women's Championship in her first match.

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Stephon Marbury, American basketball player

Stephon Xavier Marbury is an American former professional basketball player and coach. A point guard, Marbury played college basketball for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets for one season. He was selected as the fourth overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks; shortly thereafter, he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. A two-time NBA All-Star and two-time member of the All-NBA Team, Marbury played for five teams in a 13-year NBA career that ended in 2009. He then played in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) until his retirement in 2018. During his time in the CBA, Marbury won three CBA championships, was named Finals MVP in 2015, and made three CBA All-Star Games. He also served as head coach of the Beijing Royal Fighters from 2019 to 2023.

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20/02/1975

Liván Hernández, Cuban-American baseball player

Eisler Liván Hernández Carrera is a Cuban-born former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball. Over a 17-year career, he played for nine different teams and was named to two All-Star Games. He was named the MVP of the 1997 World Series with the Florida Marlins. He is the half-brother of pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernández.

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Brian Littrell, American singer-songwriter and actor

Brian Thomas Littrell is an American singer and a member of the Backstreet Boys. He is also a contemporary Christian music artist and released the solo album Welcome Home in 2006. He is the father of country singer Baylee Littrell.

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20/02/1974

Karim Bagheri, Iranian footballer and manager

Karim Bagheri is an Iranian professional football coach and former midfielder who most notably played for the Iranian national team and Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis, where he also serves as assistant coach. He holds the record for most international goals scored as a midfielder.

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20/02/1971

Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer

Jari Olavi Litmanen is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. He was the first-choice captain of the Finland national team between 1996 and 2008 in an international career that ran from 1989 to 2010. Litmanen is widely considered to be Finland's greatest football player of all time. He was chosen as the best Finnish player of the last 50 years by the Football Association of Finland in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003. He also finished 42nd in the 100 Greatest Finns voting in 2004. The Association of Football Statisticians' compendium of 'Greatest Ever Footballers' listed Litmanen as the 53rd best footballer ever. Litmanen was inducted into the Finnish Football Hall of Fame in 2015.

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Joost van der Westhuizen, South African rugby player (died 2017)

Joost van der Westhuizen was a South African professional rugby union player who made 89 appearances in test matches for the national team, scoring 38 tries. He mostly played as a scrum-half and participated in three Rugby World Cups, most notably in the 1995 tournament, which was won by South Africa. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest scrumhalves in the history of this sport.

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20/02/1969

Kjell Ove Hauge, Norwegian school principal and track and field athlete

Kjell Ove Hauge is a Norwegian retired shot putter and discus thrower, turned educator, later Head teacher. As an athlete he represented Gloppen Athletics club. Since July 2013 Hauge is Principal at Kuben Upper Secondary School, the largest High School in Oslo.

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Siniša Mihajlović, Serbian footballer and manager (died 2022)

Siniša Mihajlović was a Serbian football manager and player. Though starting out as a defensive midfielder, he spent the majority of his illustrious playing career in defence.

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Danis Tanović, Bosnian director and screenwriter

Danis Tanović is a Bosnian film director and screenwriter. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for the Golden Bear and the Palme d'Or.

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20/02/1967

Paul Accola, Swiss alpine skier

Paul Accola is a Swiss former Alpine skier. He came in first in the overall World Cup in 1992, and won a total of four medals at the Winter Olympics and World Championships in the combined event.

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Kurt Cobain, American musician (died 1994)

Kurt Donald Cobain was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establishment persona, he widened the thematic conventions of mainstream rock music. He was heralded as a spokesman of Generation X, and is widely recognized as one of the most influential rock musicians.

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David Herman, American comedian and actor

David Herman is an American actor and comedian. He was an original cast member on MADtv from 1995 to 1997 and played Michael Bolton in Office Space.

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20/02/1964

Willie Garson, American actor and director (died 2021)

William Garson Paszamant was an American actor. He appeared in over 75 films and more than 300 TV episodes. He was known for playing Stanford Blatch on the series Sex and the City, in the related films Sex and the City and Sex and the City 2 and in the spin-off And Just Like That..., Mozzie in the series White Collar from 2009 to 2014, Ralph in the 2005 romantic comedy Little Manhattan, Gerard Hirsch in the reboot of Hawaii Five-0, and Martin Lloyd in the sci-fi series Stargate SG-1.

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Tom Harris, Scottish journalist and politician

Thomas Harris is a Scottish journalist and former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow South, formerly Glasgow Cathcart, from 2001 to 2015. A former member of Scottish Labour, he left the party in August 2018.

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Jeff Maggert, American golfer

Jeffrey Allan Maggert is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions.

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20/02/1963

Joakim Nystrom, Swedish tennis player

Joakim "Jocke" Nyström is a tennis coach and a former top ten ranked professional player from Sweden who won 13 singles titles during his career. The right-hander reached his highest singles ranking on the ATP Tour on 31 March 1986, when he was ranked world No. 7. He was also ranked world No. 4 in doubles that same year.

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Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Health

Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou is a Greek politician and lawyer. She was Minister for Health and Social Solidarity (2009–2010), Alternate Minister for Foreign Affairs, responsible for European Affairs (2010–2012), Member of the Greek Parliament (2007–2012) and again from July 2019 for Syriza, and of the European Parliament (2004–2007). She served as secretary of the National Committee of PASOK -Panhellenic Socialist Movement, member of the Party of European Socialists (2005–2006).

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Cui Yongyuan, Chinese former anchor

Cui Yongyuan is a former Chinese TV host and professor at Communication University of China.

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20/02/1962

Dwayne McDuffie, American author, screenwriter, and producer, co-founded Milestone Media (died 2011)

Dwayne Glenn McDuffie was an American writer of comic books and television. He co-founded the pioneering minority-owned-and-operated comic book company Milestone Media, which focused on underrepresented minorities in American comics, creating and co-creating characters such as Icon, Rocket, Static, and Hardware. McDuffie was also a writer and producer for animated series such as Static Shock, Justice League Unlimited and the Ben 10 sequels, Alien Force and Ultimate Alien.

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20/02/1961

Steve Lundquist, American swimmer

Stephen K. Lundquist is an American former competition swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist and former world record-holder. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he won gold medals in the 100-meter breaststroke and the 400-meter medley relay.

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20/02/1960

Cándido Muatetema Rivas, Equatoguinean politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea (died 2014)

Cándido Muatetema Rivas was a political figure in Equatorial Guinea who was Prime Minister from 2001 to 2004.

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20/02/1959

Scott Brayton, American race car driver (died 1996)

Scott Everts Brayton was an American race car driver on the American open-wheel circuit. He competed in 14 Indianapolis 500s, beginning with the 1981 event. Brayton was killed in practice after qualifying in pole position for the 1996 race.

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David Corn, American journalist and author

David Corn is an American political journalist and author. He is the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for Mother Jones and is best known as a cable television commentator. Corn worked at The Nation from 1987 to 2007, where he served as Washington editor.

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Bill Gullickson, American baseball player

William Lee Gullickson is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher who played professionally in Canada, the U.S. and Japan, during an 18-year professional career, of which 14 seasons were spent in MLB.

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20/02/1957

Glen Hanlon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Glen A. Hanlon is a Canadian ice hockey coach, executive and former goaltender.

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20/02/1954

Jon Brant, American bass player

Jonathan Edward "Jon" Brant is an American musician and business owner, best known as the bass player for the band Cheap Trick from 1982 to 1987. Brant was a founding member of the Chicago band D'Thumbs with Tommy Aldridge and Pete Comita and has also played with Chris Spedding, Robert Gordon, Lou Reed, Diana Ross, Lesley Gore, Jason & the Scorchers, Micki Free, and others. Brant has appeared on over 30 albums as composer and bassist.

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20/02/1953

Poison Ivy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Kristy Marlana Wallace, known as Poison Ivy or Poison Ivy Rorschach, is an American guitarist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and occasional vocalist who co-founded the rock band The Cramps.

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20/02/1951

Edward Albert, American actor (died 2006)

Edward Laurence Albert was an American actor. The son of actor Eddie Albert and Mexican actress Margo, he starred opposite Goldie Hawn in Butterflies Are Free (1972), a role for which he won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year. He was nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Albert starred in more than 130 films and television series, including Midway, The Greek Tycoon, Galaxy of Terror, The House Where Evil Dwells, The Yellow Rose, Falcon Crest and Power Rangers Time Force.

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Gordon Brown, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

James Gordon Brown is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007 under Tony Blair. Brown was Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline East from 1983 to 2005 and for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath from 2005 to 2015. He has served as United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education since 2012, and he was appointed as World Health Organization Ambassador for Global Health Financing in 2021.

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Randy California, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1997)

Randy Craig Wolfe, known as Randy California, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, and one of the original members of the rock group Spirit, formed in 1967.

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Phil Neal, English footballer and manager

Philip George Neal is an English retired footballer who played for Northampton Town, Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers as a full-back. He is regarded as one of the most successful English players of all time, having won eight First Division titles, four League Cups, five FA Charity Shields, four European Cups, one UEFA Cup and one UEFA Super Cup during his eleven years at Liverpool. He later returned to Bolton Wanderers as manager, leading them to victory in the Football League Trophy before spells managing Coventry City, Cardiff City and Manchester City.

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20/02/1950

Walter Becker, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2017)

Walter Carl Becker was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.

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Peter Marinello, Scottish footballer

Peter Marinello is a Scottish former footballer.

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Tony Wilson, English journalist and businessman (died 2007)

Anthony Howard Wilson was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager and impresario, and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4.

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20/02/1949

Eddie Hemmings, English cricketer

Edward Ernest Hemmings is a former English cricketer, who played in 16 Test matches and 33 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team between 1982 and 1991. He made his England debut relatively late in his career, at the age of 33, having predominantly represented Nottinghamshire in the County Championship. His chance came when several England players announced their intention to go on a rebel cricket tour to South Africa. He was a part of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1987 Cricket World Cup.

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Ivana Trump, Czech-American socialite and model (died 2022)

Ivana Marie Trump was a Czech and American businesswoman, socialite, and model. She lived in Canada in the 1970s, before relocating to the United States and marrying Donald Trump in 1977. She held key managerial positions in the Trump Organization, as vice president of interior design, CEO and president of Trump's Castle casino resort, and manager of the Plaza Hotel.

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20/02/1948

Pierre Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster

Pierre Émile Bouchard is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals. He was selected by the Canadiens in the first round of the 1965 NHL Amateur Draft.

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20/02/1947

Peter Osgood, English footballer (died 2006)

Peter Leslie Osgood was an English footballer who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. He is best remembered for representing Chelsea and Southampton as a forward at club level, winning the FA Cup with each, and was also capped four times by England in the early 1970s.

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20/02/1946

J. Geils, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2017)

John Warren Geils Jr., was an American guitarist. He was known as the leader of the J. Geils Band.

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20/02/1945

Alan Hull, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1995)

James Alan Hull was an English singer-songwriter and founding member of the Tyneside folk rock band Lindisfarne.

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George Smoot, American astrophysicist and cosmologist, shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics (died 2025)

George Fitzgerald Smoot III was an American astrophysicist and cosmologist. He shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics with John C. Mather for the "for their discovery of the black body form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation".

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20/02/1944

Robert de Cotret, Canadian economist and politician, 56th Secretary of State for Canada (died 1999)

Jean Robert René de Cotret was a Canadian economist and politician.

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Lew Soloff, American trumpet player, composer, and actor (died 2015)

Lewis Michael Soloff was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and actor. He was a founding member of the band Blood, Sweat & Tears.

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Willem van Hanegem, Dutch footballer and coach

Willem "Wim" van Hanegem is a Dutch former football player and coach who played as a midfielder. In a playing career spanning over 20 years, he won several domestic honours in the Netherlands, as well as both the European Cup and UEFA Cup with Feyenoord. He was also part of the Dutch national team that were runners-up in the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

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20/02/1943

Antonio Inoki, Japanese wrestler, mixed martial artist, and politician (died 2022)

Antonio Inoki was a Japanese professional wrestler, professional wrestling trainer, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA). He is best known as the founder and 33-year owner of New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is considered to be one of the most influential professional wrestlers of all time, and one of the biggest key influences on MMA in Japan and internationally.

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20/02/1941

Lim Kit Siang, Malaysian lawyer and politician

Lim Kit Siang is a retired Malaysian politician. Having held the position for a total of 29 years on three separate occasions, he is the longest-serving leader of the opposition, as well the second longest-serving member of parliament in Malaysia. He was also the former secretary-general and national chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan coalition, leading it through eight general elections.

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Buffy Sainte-Marie, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer

Buffy Sainte-Marie is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and social activist.

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20/02/1940

Jimmy Greaves, English footballer and TV pundit (died 2021)

James Peter Greaves was an English professional footballer who played as a forward and is regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of England's best ever players. He is England's fifth-highest international goalscorer with 44 goals, which includes an English record of six hat-tricks, and is Tottenham Hotspur's second-highest all-time top goalscorer. Greaves is the highest goalscorer in the history of English top-flight football with 357 goals. He finished as the First Division's top scorer in six seasons, more times than any other player and came third in the 1963 Ballon d'Or rankings. He is also a member of the English Football Hall of Fame.

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20/02/1939

Herbert Kohler Jr., American businessman (died 2022)

Herbert Vollrath Kohler Jr. was an American billionaire businessman, a member of the Kohler family of Wisconsin, and the executive chairman of the Kohler Company, a manufacturing and hospitality company in Kohler, Wisconsin, best known for its plumbing products, golf courses, and resorts, with the latter two fields of business directly entered into under his chairmanship. Before his death, Forbes estimated the net worth of him and his family at US$8.8 billion.

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20/02/1937

Robert Huber, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Robert Huber is a German biochemist and Nobel laureate. known for his work crystallizing an intramembrane protein important in photosynthesis and subsequently applying X-ray crystallography to elucidate the protein's structure.

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20/02/1936

Marj Dusay, American actress (died 2020)

Marjorie Ellen Mahoney Dusay was an American actress known for her roles on American soap operas. She was especially known for her role as Alexandra Spaulding on Guiding Light, a role she played on and off from 1993 through the show's 2009 cancellation, as well as Jean Faircloth, the wife of Douglas MacArthur, in the 1977 movie MacArthur.

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Larry Hovis, American actor and singer (died 2003)

Larry Hovis was an American singer and actor best known for the 1960s television sitcom Hogan's Heroes.

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Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and manager (died 2025)

Shigeo Nagashima was a Japanese professional baseball player and manager. Nagashima first began playing baseball in elementary school, before playing at his high school in Chiba Prefecture, part of Kanto Region, just before he played as a third baseman for Rikkyo University. After winning the batting title for two straight years in Tokyo Big6 Baseball League, Nagashima made his professional debut in 1958 with the Yomiuri Giants. In his rookie season, he led the Central League in home runs and runs batted in, with 29 and 92 respectively and ultimately received Rookie of the Year honors. With the arrival of Sadaharu Oh in 1959, the two would both become a dual force in being the best hitters in the game that earned the nickname "O-N Cannon" for one of the most dominant dynasties in NPB history, and Nagashima won league MVP five times while being named to the Best Nine Award in every season he played; his four Japan Series MVP award wins is still the most in NPB history. After retiring in 1974, he became as a manager of the Giants from 1975 to 1980, and again from 1993 to 2001; during this time, he won the Japan Series twice.

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20/02/1935

Ellen Gilchrist, American novelist, short story writer, and poet (died 2024)

Ellen Louise Gilchrist was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet. She won a National Book Award for her 1984 collection of short stories, Victory Over Japan.

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20/02/1932

Adrian Cristobal, Filipino journalist and author (died 2007)

Adrian Empremiado Cristobal Sr. was a Filipino writer who frequently touched on political and historical themes. Perhaps best known to the public for his "Breakfast Table" newspaper column, he was also a Palanca Award–winning playwright, fictionist and essayist. He likewise held several positions in government during the administration of President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

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20/02/1931

John Milnor, American mathematician and academic

John Willard Milnor is an American mathematician known for his work in differential topology, algebraic K-theory and low-dimensional holomorphic dynamical systems. Milnor is a distinguished professor at Stony Brook University and the only mathematician to have won the Fields Medal, the Wolf Prize, the Abel Prize and all three Steele prizes.

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20/02/1929

Amanda Blake, American actress (died 1989)

Amanda Blake was an American actress best known for the role of the red-haired saloon proprietress "Miss Kitty Russell" on the Western television series Gunsmoke. Along with her fourth husband, Frank Gilbert, she ran one of the first successful programs for breeding cheetahs in captivity.

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20/02/1928

Jean Kennedy Smith, American diplomat, 25th United States Ambassador to Ireland (died 2020)

Jean Ann Kennedy Smith was an American diplomat, activist, humanitarian, and author who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998. A member of the Kennedy family, Kennedy was the eighth of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Kennedy. Her siblings included President of the United States John F. Kennedy, United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, United States Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Rosemary Kennedy, and Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

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20/02/1927

Roy Cohn, American lawyer and political activist (died 1986)

Roy Marcus Cohn was an American lawyer and prosecutor. He first gained fame as a prosecutor of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in their trials (1952–1953) and as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954. Cohn had been assisting McCarthy's investigations of suspected communists. In the 1970s and during the 1980s, he became a prominent legal and political fixer in New York City. He represented and mentored Donald Trump during Trump's early business career.

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Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban singer and musician (died 2005)

Ibrahim Ferrer was a Cuban singer who played with the group Los Bocucos for nearly forty years. He also performed with Conjunto Sorpresa, Chepín y su Orquesta Oriental, and Mario Patterson. After his retirement in 1991, he was brought back in the studio to record with the Afro-Cuban All Stars and Buena Vista Social Club, in March 1996. He then toured internationally with these revival groups and recorded several solo albums for World Circuit, before his death in 2005.

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Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, director, and diplomat (died 2022)

Sidney Poitier was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Among his other accolades are two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Grammy Award, in addition to nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. In 1999, he was ranked number 22 among the "American Film Institute's 100 Stars". Poitier was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

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20/02/1926

Matthew Bucksbaum, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded General Growth Properties (died 2013)

Matthew Bucksbaum was an American businessman and philanthropist. Matthew and his brothers Martin and Maurice co-founded General Growth Properties.

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Gillian Lynne, English ballerina, choreographer, and director (died 2018)

Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-running shows in Broadway history, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. At age 87, she was made a DBE in the 2014 New Year Honours List.

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Richard Matheson, American author and screenwriter (died 2013)

Richard Burton Matheson was an American author and screenwriter, who worked primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres.

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Bob Richards, American Olympic track and field athlete (died 2023)

Robert Eugene Richards was an American athlete, minister, and politician. He made three U.S. Olympic Teams in two events: the 1948, 1952, and 1956 Summer Olympics as a pole vaulter and as a decathlete in 1956. He won gold medals in pole vault in both 1952 and 1956, becoming the first male two-time champion in the event in Olympic history.

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María de la Purísima Salvat Romero, Spanish Roman Catholic nun; later canonized (died 1998)

María de la Purísima Salvat Romero, born María Isabel Salvat Romero, was a Spanish religious sister of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross. She assumed the religious name María de la Purísima of the Cross.

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20/02/1925

Robert Altman, American director and screenwriter (died 2006)

Robert Bernard Altman was an American filmmaker. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and satirical films with overlapping dialogue and ensemble casts. Over his career he received numerous accolades including an Academy Honorary Award, two BAFTAs, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe as well as nominations for seven competitive Academy Awards.

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Tochinishiki Kiyotaka, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 44th Yokozuna (died 1990)

Tochinishiki Kiyotaka was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tokyo. He was the sport's 44th yokozuna. He won ten top division yūshō or tournament championships and was a rival of fellow yokozuna Wakanohana I. He became the head coach of Kasugano stable in 1959 and was head of the Japan Sumo Association from 1974 until 1988.

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20/02/1923

Victor G. Atiyeh, American businessman and politician, 32nd Governor of Oregon (died 2014)

Victor George Atiyeh was an American politician who served as the 32nd governor of Oregon from 1979 to 1987. He was also the first elected governor of Middle Eastern descent and of Syrian and Lebanese descent in the United States.

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Forbes Burnham, Guyanese lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Guyana (died 1985)

Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham was a Guyanese politician and the leader of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 1964 until his death in 1985. He served as Premier of British Guiana from 1964 to 1966, Prime Minister of Guyana from 1964 to 1980 and then as the first executive president of Guyana from 1980 to 1985. He is often regarded as a strongman who embraced his own version of socialism.

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Rena Vlahopoulou, Greek actress (died 2004)

Irene "Rena" Vlahopoulou was a Greek Actor and singer. She starred in theatre, musical and Greek cinema productions, including The Gambler and The Countess of Corfu.

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20/02/1921

Buddy Rogers, American wrestler (died 1992)

Buddy Rogers, better known by the ring name "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, was an American professional wrestler who was one of the biggest professional wrestling stars in the beginning of the television era. His performances influenced future professional wrestlers, including "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, who used Rogers's nickname, as well as his look, attitude and finishing hold, the figure-four leglock. He was also known for his rivalry with Lou Thesz, both in and out of the ring.

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20/02/1920

Karl Albrecht, German businessman, co-founded Aldi (died 2014)

Karl Hans Albrecht was a German entrepreneur who founded the discount supermarket chain Aldi with his brother Theo. He was the richest person in Germany for many years. In February 2014, he was ranked the 21st-richest person in the world by Hurun Report.

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20/02/1919

James O'Meara, English soldier and pilot (died 1974)

James Joseph "Orange" O'Meara, was a Royal Air Force officer and fighter pilot of the Second World War. He became a flying ace during the Battle of Britain while flying the Supermarine Spitfire, and by war's end was credited with 11 kills, two shared victories, one unconfirmed destroyed, four probables, 11 damaged and one shared damaged.

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20/02/1918

Leonore Annenberg, American businesswoman and diplomat (died 2009)

Leonore Cohn Annenberg, also known as Lee Annenberg, was an American businesswoman, diplomat, and philanthropist. She was noted for serving as Chief of Protocol of the United States from 1981 to 1982. Annenberg was married to Walter Annenberg, who was an Ambassador to the United Kingdom and newspaper publisher. She also served as the chairman and president of the Annenberg Foundation from 2002 until 2009.

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20/02/1916

Jean Erdman, American dancer and choreographer (died 2020)

Jean Erdman was an American dancer and choreographer of modern dance as well as an avant-garde theater director, and the wife of Joseph Campbell.

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20/02/1914

John Charles Daly, South African–American journalist and game show host (died 1991)

John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly was an American journalist, host, CBS radio and television personality, ABC News executive, TV anchor, and game show host, best known for his work on the CBS panel game show What's My Line?

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20/02/1913

Tommy Henrich, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2009)

Thomas David Henrich, nicknamed "the Clutch" and "Old Reliable", was an American professional baseball player of German descent. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a right fielder and first baseman for the New York Yankees. Henrich led the American League in triples twice and in runs scored once, also hitting 20 or more home runs four times. He is best remembered for his numerous exploits in the World Series; he was involved in one of the most memorable plays in Series history in 1941, was the hitting star of the 1947 Series with a .323 batting average, and hit the first walk-off home run in Series history in the first game of the 1949 World Series.

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20/02/1912

Pierre Boulle, French soldier and author (died 1994)

Pierre François Marie Louis Boulle was a French author. He is best known for two works, The Bridge over the River Kwai (1952) and Planet of the Apes (1963), that were both made into award-winning films.

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Johnny Checketts, New Zealand flying ace of the Second World War (died 2006)

John Milne Checketts, was a New Zealand flying ace of the Second World War, who was credited with the destruction of 14+1⁄2 enemy aircraft, three probably destroyed and 11 damaged.

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20/02/1906

Gale Gordon, American actor (died 1995)

Gale Gordon was an American character actor who was Lucille Ball's longtime television foil, particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J. Mooney, on Ball's second television sitcom The Lucy Show. Gordon also appeared in I Love Lucy and had starring roles in Ball's successful third series Here's Lucy and her short-lived fourth and final series Life with Lucy.

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20/02/1901

René Dubos, French-American biologist and author (died 1982)

René Jules Dubos was a French-American microbiologist, experimental pathologist, environmentalist, humanist, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for his book So Human An Animal. He is credited for having made famous the environmental maxim: "Think globally, act locally." Aside from a period from 1942 to 1944 when he was George Fabyan Professor of Comparative Pathology and professor of tropical medicine at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, his scientific career was spent entirely at The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, later renamed The Rockefeller University.

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Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian general and politician, 1st President of Egypt (died 1984)

Major General Mohamed Bey Naguib Youssef Qutb El-Qashlan, known simply as Mohamed Naguib, was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who, along with Gamal Abdel Nasser, was one of the two principal leaders of the Free Officers movement of 1952 that toppled the monarchy of Egypt and the Sudan, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Egypt.

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Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili, Indian lawyer and politician, 6th Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (died 1978)

Raja Sri Ravu Svetachalapati Sir Ramakrishna Ranga Rao KCIE was an Indian politician and zamindar who served as the First Minister of Madras Presidency from 5 November 1932 to 4 April 1936 and 24 August 1936 to 1 April 1937.

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20/02/1899

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (died 1992)

Cornelius "Sonny" Vanderbilt Whitney was an American businessman, film producer, government official, writer and philanthropist. He was also a polo player who owned a stable of Thoroughbred racehorses.

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20/02/1898

Ante Ciliga, Croatian politician, writer and publisher (died 1992)

Ante Ciliga was a Croatian politician, writer and publisher. Ciliga was one of the earliest leaders of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ). Imprisoned in Stalin's Gulags in the 1930s as part of the Great Purge, he later became an ardent Croatian nationalist, anti-communist and ideologue of the fascist Ustaše movement.

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20/02/1897

Ivan Albright, American painter (died 1983)

Ivan Le Lorraine Albright was an American painter, sculptor and print-maker most renowned for his self-portraits, character studies, and still lifes. Due to his technique and dark subject matter, he is often categorized among the Magic Realists and is sometimes referred to as the "master of the macabre".

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20/02/1895

Louis Zborowski, English race car driver and engineer (died 1924)

Louis Vorow Zborowski was a British racing driver and automobile engineer, best known for creating a series of aero-engined racing cars known as the "Chitty-Bang-Bangs", which provided the inspiration for Ian Fleming's children's story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and culminated in the "Higham Special" which, much modified in the hands of John Godfrey Parry Thomas, broke the World Land Speed Record 18 months after the death of its creator.

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20/02/1893

Elizabeth Holloway Marston, American psychologist and author (died 1993)

Sarah Elizabeth Marston was an American attorney and psychologist. She is credited, with her husband William Moulton Marston, with the development of the systolic blood pressure measurement used to detect deception, the predecessor to the polygraph.

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20/02/1889

Hulusi Behçet, Turkish dermatologist and physician (died 1948)

Hulusi Behçet was a Turkish dermatologist and scientist. He described a disease of inflamed blood vessels in 1937, which is named after him as Behçet's disease. His portrait was depicted on a former Turkish postcard stamp.

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20/02/1888

Georges Bernanos, French soldier and author (died 1948)

Louis Émile Clément Georges Bernanos was a French author, and a soldier in World War I. A Catholic with monarchist leanings, he was critical of elitist thought and was opposed to what he identified as defeatism. He believed this had led to France's defeat and eventual occupation by Germany in 1940 during World War II. His two best-known novels Sous le soleil de Satan (1926) and the Journal d'un curé de campagne (1936) both revolve around a parish priest who combats evil and despair in the world. Most of his novels have been translated into English and frequently published in both Great Britain and the United States.

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20/02/1887

Vincent Massey, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor General of Canada (died 1967)

Charles Vincent Massey was a Canadian diplomat and statesman who served as the 18th governor general of Canada from 1952 to 1959. Massey was the first governor general of Canada to be born in Canada.

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20/02/1882

Elie Nadelman, Polish-American sculptor (died 1946)

Elie Nadelman was a Polish-American sculptor, draughtsman of the School of Paris and a collector of folk art.

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20/02/1880

Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, French author and poet (died 1923)

Baron Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen was a French novelist and poet. His life forms the basis of a fictionalised 1959 novel by Roger Peyrefitte entitled The Exile of Capri.

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20/02/1879

Hod Stuart, Canadian ice hockey player (died 1907)

William Hodgson "Hod" Stuart was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. A cover-point, he played nine seasons for several teams in different leagues from 1899 to 1907. He also played briefly for the Ottawa Rough Riders team in Canadian football. With his brother Bruce, Stuart played in the first professional ice hockey league, the American-based International Professional Hockey League (IPHL), where he was regarded as one of the best players in the league.

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20/02/1874

Mary Garden, Scottish-American soprano and actress (died 1967)

Mary Garden was a Scottish-American operatic lyric soprano, then mezzo-soprano, with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century. She spent the latter part of her childhood and youth in the United States and eventually became an American citizen, although she lived in France for many years and eventually retired to Scotland, where she spent the last 30 years of her life and died.

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20/02/1870

Jay Johnson Morrow, American engineer and politician, 3rd Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (died 1937)

Jay Johnson Morrow was an American military engineer who was Chief Engineer of the United States First Army and Deputy Chief Engineer of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I and Governor of the Panama Canal Zone from 1921 to 1924.

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20/02/1867

Louise, Princess Royal of England (died 1931)

Louise, Princess Royal was the third child and eldest daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom. She was a younger sister of King George V. Louise was granted the title of Princess Royal in 1905. Known for her reserved and quiet nature, she remained a low-profile member of the royal family throughout her life.

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20/02/1866

Carl Westman, Swedish architect, designed the Stockholm Court House and Röhsska Museum (died 1936)

Ernst Carl Westman was a Swedish architect and interior designer. He was an early adopter of the National Romantic Style, but turned later to the neo-classical style of the 1920s.

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20/02/1857

A. P. Lucas, English cricketer (died 1923)

Alfred Perry "Bunny" Lucas was an English first-class cricketer from 1874 to 1907, playing for Cambridge University, Surrey, Middlesex and Essex. He also played five Test matches for the England cricket team.

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20/02/1848

E. H. Harriman, American businessman and philanthropist (died 1909)

Edward Henry Harriman was an American financier and railroad executive.

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20/02/1844

Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist and philosopher (died 1906)

Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann was an Austrian mathematician and theoretical physicist. His greatest achievements were the development of statistical mechanics and the statistical explanation of the second law of thermodynamics. In 1877, he provided the current definition of entropy, , where Ω is the number of microstates whose energy equals the system's energy, interpreted as a measure of the statistical disorder of a system. Max Planck named the constant kB the Boltzmann constant.

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Joshua Slocum, Canadian sailor and adventurer (died 1909)

Joshua Slocum was the first person to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Nova Scotian-born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, and a noted writer. In 1900 he wrote a book about his journey, Sailing Alone Around the World, which became an international best-seller. He disappeared in November 1909 while aboard his boat, the Spray.

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20/02/1839

Benjamin Waugh, English activist, founded the NSPCC (died 1908)

Benjamin Waugh was a Victorian era social reformer and campaigner who founded and directed the UK charity, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in the late 19th century. He was also a journalist, public speaker and organiser who helped secure Britain’s first legislation on children’s rights.

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20/02/1819

Alfred Escher, Swiss businessman and politician (died 1882)

Johann Heinrich Alfred Escher vom Glas, colloquially Alfred Escher, was a Swiss business magnate, banker, railway pioneer and politician who most notably served on the National Council from 1848 to 1882 for the Liberal Party.

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20/02/1802

Charles Auguste de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer (died 1870)

Charles Auguste de Bériot was a Belgian violinist, artist and composer.

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20/02/1794

William Carleton, Irish author (died 1869)

William Carleton was an Irish writer and novelist. He is best known for his Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, a collection of ethnic sketches of the stereotypical Irishman.

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20/02/1792

Eliza Courtney, French daughter of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (died 1859)

Elizabeth Courtney was the illegitimate daughter of the Whig politician and future Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, and socialite Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, while Georgiana was married to William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire.

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20/02/1784

Judith Montefiore, British linguist, travel writer, philanthropist (died 1862)

Judith, Lady Montefiore was a British linguist, musician, travel writer, and philanthropist. She was the wife of Sir Moses Montefiore. She wrote the first Jewish cook book written in English.

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20/02/1774

Vicente Sebastián Pintado, Spanish cartographer, engineer, military officer and land surveyor of Spanish Louisiana and Spanish West Florida (died 1829)

Vicente Sebastian Pintado y Brito was a Spanish cartographer, engineer, military officer and land surveyor of Spanish Louisiana and Spanish West Florida. He is known for conducting surveys of lands for settlers who had requested grants in Louisiana and Florida, as well as the so-called "Pintado plan", a street map of Pensacola drawn in 1812 which included the position and size of the solares designated for construction of the city's church and other public buildings.

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20/02/1759

Johann Christian Reil, German physician, physiologist, and anatomist (died 1813)

Johann Christian Reil was a German physician, physiologist, anatomist, and psychiatrist. He coined the term psychiatry – Psychiatrie in German – in 1808.

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20/02/1756

Angelica Schuyler Church, American socialite, sister-in-law to Alexander Hamilton (died 1814)

Angelica Church was an American socialite. She was the eldest daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, and a sister of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton.

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20/02/1753

Louis-Alexandre Berthier, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (died 1815)

Louis-Alexandre Berthier, prince de Neuchâtel et Valangin, prince de Wagram was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was twice Minister of War of France and was made a Marshal of the Empire in 1804. Berthier served as chief of staff to Napoleon Bonaparte from his first Italian campaign in 1796 until his first abdication in 1814. The operational efficiency of the Grande Armée owed much to his considerable administrative and organizational skills.

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20/02/1751

Johann Heinrich Voss, German poet, translator, and academic (died 1826)

Johann Heinrich Voss was a German classicist and poet, known mostly for his translation of Homer's Odyssey (1781) and Iliad (1793) into German.

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20/02/1748

Luther Martin, American politician (died 1826)

Luther Martin was a Founding Father of the United States, framer of the U.S. Constitution, politician, lawyer, and slave owner. Martin was a delegate from Maryland to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, but did not sign the Constitution, having left the convention early because he felt the document as proposed violated states' rights. In the months following the convention, he was a leading Anti-Federalist, along with Patrick Henry and George Mason, whose collective efforts led to the passage of the Bill of Rights.

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20/02/1745

Henry James Pye, English poet and politician (died 1813)

Henry James Pye was an English poet, and Poet Laureate from 1790 until his death. His appointment as laureate owed nothing to poetic achievement and may have been awarded to him as compensation for the loss of his seat in Parliament. Pye was a competent prose writer who fancied himself as a poet, earning the derisive label of poetaster.

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20/02/1744

William Cornwallis, English admiral and politician (died 1819)

Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, was a Royal Navy officer and politician. Cornwallis took part in a number of decisive battles including the siege of Louisbourg in 1758, when he was 14, and the Battle of the Saintes but is best known as a friend of Lord Nelson and as the commander-in-chief of the Channel Fleet during the Napoleonic Wars. He is depicted in the Horatio Hornblower novel, Hornblower and the Hotspur. His affectionate contemporary nickname from "the ranks" was Billy Blue, and a sea shanty was written during his period of service, reflecting the admiration his men had for him.

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20/02/1726

William Prescott, American colonel (died 1795)

William Prescott was an American officer in the Revolutionary War best known for his service at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

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20/02/1705

Nicolas Chédeville, French musette player and composer (died 1782)

Nicolas Chédeville was a French composer, musette player and musette maker.

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20/02/1633

Jan de Baen, Dutch painter (died 1702)

Jan de Baen was a Dutch portrait painter who lived during the Dutch Golden Age. He was a pupil of the painter Jacob Adriaensz Backer in Amsterdam from 1645 to 1648. He worked for Charles II of England in his Dutch exile, and from 1660 until his death he lived and worked in The Hague. His portraits were popular in his day, and he painted the most distinguished people of his time.

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20/02/1631

Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English politician, Treasurer of the Navy (died 1712)

Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, was an English Tory statesman. During the reign of Charles II of England, he was the leading figure in the English government for roughly five years in the mid-1670s. Osborne fell out of favour due to corruption and other scandals. He was impeached and eventually imprisoned in the Tower of London for five years until James II of England acceded in 1685. In 1688, he was one of the Immortal Seven who invited William of Orange to depose James II during the Glorious Revolution. Osborne was again the leading figure in England's government for a few years in the early 1690s before dying in 1712.

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20/02/1608

Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (died 1649)

Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham, of Hadham Hall and Cassiobury House, Watford, both in Hertfordshire, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Capell. He supported the Royalist cause in the Civil War and was executed on the orders of parliament in 1649.

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20/02/1552

Sengoku Hidehisa, Daimyō (died 1614)

Sengoku Hidehisa , childhood name Gonbei (権兵衛) was a samurai warrior of the Sengoku period and the Edo period. He was the head of the Komoro Domain in Shinano Province. Hidehisa is also credited with being the man who captured the legendary outlaw hero "Ishikawa Goemon".

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20/02/1549

Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, last Duke of Urbino (died 1631)

Francesco Maria II della Rovere was the last Duke of Urbino.

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20/02/1523

Jan Blahoslav, Czech writer (died 1571)

Jan Blahoslav was a Czech humanistic writer, poet, translator, etymologist, hymnographer, grammarian, music theorist and composer. He was a Unity of the Brethren bishop, and translated the New Testament into Czech in 1564. This was incorporated into the Bible of Kralice.

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20/02/1469

Thomas Cajetan, Italian philosopher (died 1534)

Thomas Cajetan, also known as Gaetanus or Cajetanus, commonly Tommaso de Vio or Thomas de Vio, was an Italian philosopher, theologian, the Master of the Order of Preachers 1508 to 1518, and cardinal from 1517 until his death. He was a leading theologian of his day who is now best known as the spokesman for Catholic opposition to the teachings of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation while he was the Pope's legate in Augsburg, and among Catholics for his extensive commentary on the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas.

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20/02/1358

Eleanor of Aragon, queen of John I of Castile (died 1382)

Eleanor of Aragon was the daughter of King Peter IV of Aragon and Eleanor of Sicily. She was a member of the House of Barcelona and Queen of Castile by her marriage.

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