Born on Sunday, 22nd February – Famous Birthdays
On this day, 200 notable people were born on 22nd February — spanning from 1040 to 1999. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.
Sunday 22nd February 2026 marks the birth date of numerous notable individuals across sports, entertainment and public life. Among those born on this date, Belgian sprinter Jonathan Borlée emerged as a prominent figure in European athletics, competing at the highest international level and establishing himself as a key member of his nation’s relay teams. Similarly, Serbian footballer Branislav Ivanović became one of Europe’s most accomplished defenders, earning recognition through his performances in top European leagues and international competitions. The list of births from this day spans centuries, ranging from historical figures such as Arthur Schopenhauer, the German philosopher born in 1788, to contemporary athletes and entertainers.
The 22nd of February has produced numerous individuals who have made significant contributions to their respective fields. Harry Brook, born in 1999, represents the modern generation of English cricketers, whilst established names such as Drew Barrymore, born in 1975, and James Blunt, the English singer-songwriter born in 1974, have maintained prominent careers in entertainment. The breadth of professions represented includes academics, athletes, musicians and political figures, demonstrating the diversity of achievement associated with this date.
On Sunday 22nd February 2026, the Pisces zodiac sign influences those born on this day, whilst the waning crescent moon phase will be visible. Weather conditions in different locations will vary significantly, though the date occurs during late winter in the Northern Hemisphere, typically bringing cooler temperatures and variable conditions depending on geographic location. DayAtlas shows weather on this day, events, famous births and deaths for any date and location, providing comprehensive information for users researching specific dates and their historical significance.
Discover who was born today 5th April.
22/02/1999
Harry Brook, English cricketer
Harry Cherrington Brook is an English international cricketer who plays for England in all three formats of the game and is the Test vice-captain, ODI and T20I captain. Brook plays domestic cricket for Yorkshire. Primarily a right-handed batsman, he also bowls right-arm medium pace. He made his international debut for England in January 2022.
22/02/1997
Jerome Robinson, American basketball player
Jerome Robinson is an American professional basketball player for Galatasaray of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and the Champions League (BCL). He played college basketball with the Boston College Eagles. He was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2018 NBA draft with the 13th overall pick.
Ilya Samsonov, Russian ice hockey player
Ilya Alexeyevich Samsonov is a Russian professional ice hockey player who is a goaltender for HC Sochi of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has previously played for the Washington Capitals, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as KHL's Metallurg Magnitogorsk.
22/02/1996
Kia Nurse, Canadian basketball player
Kia Augustine Nurse is a Canadian profesional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball. She is also a basketball analyst featured on TSN.
22/02/1995
Devonte' Graham, American basketball player
Devonte' Terrell Graham is an American professional basketball player who last played for Crvena zvezda Meridianbet of the Basketball League of Serbia (KLS), the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks and high school basketball for Needham Broughton High School.
22/02/1994
Nam Joo-hyuk, South Korean model and actor
Nam Joo-hyuk is a South Korean model and actor. He began his career as a model and appeared in several music videos before making his screen debut in 2014 with the television series The Idle Mermaid. He gained wide recognition with his role in the dramas Who Are You: School 2015 (2015) and Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo (2016). In 2018, he had his film debut with The Great Battle, and achieved further prominence with dramas Start Up (2020) and Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022). In 2021, Nam was included in Forbes 30 Under 30.
Elfrid Payton, American basketball player
Elfrid Payton Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, winning the Lefty Driesell Award as the national college defensive player of the year in 2014. Payton was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 10th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft before being traded to the Orlando Magic.
22/02/1992
Dixon Machado, Venezuelan baseball player
Dixon Javier Machado Moreno is a Venezuelan former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants, and in the KBO League for the Lotte Giants.
22/02/1991
Khalil Mack, American football player
Khalil Mack is an American professional football linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Buffalo Bulls and was selected by the Oakland Raiders with the fifth overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft.
22/02/1989
Franco Vázquez, Argentine footballer
Franco Damián Vázquez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Belgrano.
22/02/1988
Jonathan Borlée, Belgian sprinter
Jonathan Borlée is a former Belgian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family.
22/02/1987
Han Hyo-joo, South Korean actress and model
Han Hyo-joo is a South Korean actress. She gained wide recognition with the back-to-back successes of Brilliant Legacy (2009) and Dong Yi (2010), both of which were massive hits with high viewership ratings, solidifying her status as a household name. She is also known for the romantic fantasy drama W (2016) set in a parallel universe, and the apocalyptic zombie thriller Happiness (2021). In 2023, she starred in the high-profile Moving (2023), a supernatural action sci-fi series exploring super powered characters who lead ordinary lives. It became the most watched Korean original series on Disney+ globally and Hulu in the United States, and a second season is currently in production.
Sergio Romero, Argentine footballer
Sergio Germán "Chiquito" Romero is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
22/02/1986
Rajon Rondo, American basketball player
Rajon Pierre Rondo Sr. is an American former professional basketball player. Rondo won two NBA championships, was selected four times as an NBA All-Star, earned four NBA All-Defensive Team honors including two First Team honors, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team in 2012.
22/02/1985
Hamer Bouazza, Algerian footballer
Hamer Bouazza is a former professional footballer who played as a left winger.
Georgios Printezis, Greek basketball player
Georgios Printezis Greek: Γεώργιος Πρίντεζης; born 22 February 1985,, is a Greek former professional basketball player, who spent the majority of his pro club career with Olympiacos Piraeus of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague. Printezis won back-to-back EuroLeague titles with Olympiacos in 2012 and 2013. His game-winning shot against the Russian club CSKA Moscow, at the end of the 2012 EuroLeague Final, off an assist from Vassilis Spanoulis, is one of the all-time highlights in the history of the EuroLeague.
Zach Roerig, American actor
Zachary George Roerig is an American actor. He is known for playing Casey Hughes on As the World Turns (2005-2007), Hunter Atwood on One Life to Live (2007), Cash on Friday Night Lights (2008-2009), Matt Donovan on The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017), and Sergeant Will Mosley on Dare Me (2019-2020).
22/02/1984
Tommy Bowe, Irish rugby player
Thomas John Bowe is an Irish television presenter and former rugby union player from County Monaghan, Ireland. He played on the wing for Ulster, Ospreys, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions.
Branislav Ivanović, Serbian footballer
Branislav Ivanović is a Serbian former professional footballer. A versatile defender, he operated mainly as a right-back.
22/02/1983
Brian Duensing, American baseball player
Brian Matthew Duensing is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, and Chicago Cubs.
Clint McKay, Australian cricketer
Clinton James McKay is an Australian former international cricketer. He was a member of the Victoria side and has represented Australia at One Day International (ODI) and Test level. A right-arm fast-medium bowler who stands at 194 cm, he made his first class debut for Victoria in November 2006. He later took 6/34 for Victoria's 2nd XI and forced his way into the one-day team, debuting against Tasmania at the MCG.
Iliza Shlesinger, American stand-up comedian, actress and television host
Iliza Vie Shlesinger is an American stand-up comedian, actress and television host. She has released six comedy specials on Netflix. She was the 2008 winner of NBC's Last Comic Standing and went on to host the syndicated dating show Excused from 2011 to 2013. She has hosted the TBS game show Separation Anxiety.
Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer
Shaun Tait is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. He played as a right arm fast bowler and represented Australia in all three forms of cricket, but had most success in One Day Internationals, in which he was a member of Australia's undefeated team at the 2007 Cricket World Cup, and Twenty20 cricket. Tait won four different awards throughout his career including the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year in 2004. He is considered one of the fastest bowlers of all time. He was appointed as the bowling coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team in February 2022. He also served as the bowling coach of Pakistan national cricket team between 2022 and 2023.
22/02/1980
Jeanette Biedermann, German singer-songwriter and actress
Jeanette Biedermann is a German singer, actress, and television personality. Born and raised in the greater Berlin area, Biedermann began performing as a member of a troupe of acrobats in a children's circus at the age of six. She later attended beauty school before dropping out to pursue her music career following her participation and win of the Bild-Schlagerwettbewerb competition in 1998. The following year, Biedermann placed fourth in the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest and was propelled to stardom when she was cast in a main role in the soap opera Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten. In 2000, she made her musical breakthrough with her first two full English-language albums Enjoy! (2000) and Delicious (2001).
22/02/1979
Brett Emerton, Australian footballer
Brett Michael Emerton is an Australian former professional footballer who played for Sydney Olympic, Sydney FC, Feyenoord Rotterdam, Blackburn Rovers and the Australia national team. Able to play as a wide midfielder or defender, Emerton was known for his "speed, ball control and creativity."
Lee Na-young, South Korean actress
Lee Na-young is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading roles in television series such as Ruler of Your Own World (2002), Ireland (2004) and Romance Is a Bonus Book (2019), as well as the films Someone Special (2004) and Maundy Thursday (2006). Aside from acting, Lee is also known for appearing in numerous commercials.
22/02/1977
Hakan Yakin, Swiss footballer
Hakan Yakin is a Swiss professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Swiss Challenge League side FC Schaffhausen. He spent the majority of his playing career as a forward or attacking midfielder in the Swiss top flight with brief forays abroad. He represented Switzerland national team for eleven years, garnering 87 caps and scoring 20 goals.
22/02/1975
Drew Barrymore, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
Drew Blythe Barrymore is an American actress, producer, talk show host, and businesswoman. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she has received multiple awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy Award, and an Actor Award. She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time in 2023.
22/02/1974
James Blunt, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
James Blunt is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his songs "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover".
Chris Moyles, English radio and television host
Christopher David Moyles is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X.
22/02/1973
Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (died 2013)
Philippe Gaumont was a French professional road racing cyclist. He earned a bronze medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics, 100 km team time trial. In 1997, he won the Belgian classic Gent–Wevelgem and he was twice individual pursuit French national champion, in 2000 and 2002. In 2004, Gaumont quit professional cycling and later ran a café in Amiens.
Juninho Paulista, Brazilian footballer
Osvaldo Giroldo Júnior, known as Juninho or Juninho Paulista, is a Brazilian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and is now the national team co-ordinator of the Brazil national football team. During his professional career, he played for Brazilian clubs São Paulo, Vasco da Gama, Palmeiras, Flamengo, as well as English club Middlesbrough, Spanish club Atlético Madrid, Celtic in Scotland and Sydney FC in Australia.
Scott Phillips, American musician and songwriter
Thomas Scott "Flip" Phillips is an American musician. He is the drummer, percussionist, keyboardist and co-founder of the rock bands Creed, Alter Bridge, and Projected.
22/02/1972
Michael Chang, American tennis player and coach
Michael Te-pei Chang is an American former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked world No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1996. Chang is the youngest man in history to win a singles major, winning the 1989 French Open at 17 years and 109 days old. He won a total of 34 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including seven Masters titles, and was a three-time major runner-up.
Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater
Claudia Pechstein is a retired German speed skater. She has won five Olympic gold medals. With a total of nine Olympic medals, five gold, two silver, and two bronze, she was previously the most successful Olympic speed skater, male or female, of all time,. Pechstein is the most successful German Winter Olympian of all time. After the World Championships in Norway in February 2009, Pechstein was accused of blood doping and banned from all competitions for two years.
Haim Revivo, Israeli footballer
Haim Michael Revivo is an Israeli former professional footballer, who played as an attacking midfielder or winger, and a businessman.
Ben Sasse, American politician and college administrator
Benjamin Eric Sasse is an American politician and academic administrator. He represented Nebraska in the United States Senate from 2015 to 2023, resigning to become the president of the University of Florida. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is a critic of Donald Trump and was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump of incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial.
22/02/1971
Lea Salonga, Filipino actress and singer
Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga is a Filipino actress and singer. Known as the "Pride of the Philippines", she has headlined Broadway and West End productions, appeared on international television and film, and released albums of her work.
22/02/1969
Thomas Jane, American actor
Thomas Jane is an American actor. He is known for appearing in the films Boogie Nights (1997), Deep Blue Sea (1999), The Sweetest Thing (2002), The Punisher (2004), The Mist (2007), 1922 (2017), and The Predator (2018). Jane's television roles include Mickey Mantle in the television film 61* (2001), Ray Drecker in the HBO series Hung (2009–2011), for which he was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, and Josephus Miller in the Syfy/Amazon Video series The Expanse (2015–2019).
Brian Laudrup, Danish footballer and sportscaster
Brian Laudrup is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a forward, winger, or midfielder. He currently works for the various TV sports channels of Scandinavian media network Viaplay. He also manages a football academy for marginalised youth. Laudrup is the son of Danish former footballer Finn Laudrup and the younger brother of footballer Michael Laudrup.
Marc Wilmots, Belgian footballer and manager
Marc Robert Wilmots is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who is the sporting director of Standard Liège.
22/02/1968
Shawn Graham, Canadian politician, 31st Premier of New Brunswick
Shawn Michael Graham is a Canadian politician, who served as the 31st premier of New Brunswick from 2006 to 2010. He was elected leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Party in 2002 and became premier after his party captured a majority of seats in the 2006 election. After being elected, Graham initiated a number of changes to provincial policy especially in the areas of health care, education and energy. His party was defeated in the New Brunswick provincial election held September 27, 2010, and Graham resigned as Liberal leader on November 9, 2010.
Jeri Ryan, American model and actress
Jeri Lynn Ryan is an American actress best known for her role as the former Borg drone Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager (1997–2001) and Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023) for which she won two Saturn Awards in 2001 and 2024.
Kazuhiro Sasaki, Japanese baseball player
Kazuhiro Sasaki is a Japanese former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played his entire Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) career with the Yokohama Taiyō Whales / Yokohama BayStars, and played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Seattle Mariners (2000–2003). His nickname "Daimajin" was named after the tokusatsu character of the same name, and Sasaki has participated in advertisements and several collaborations with the franchise.
Jayson Williams, American basketball player and sportscaster
Jayson Williams is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eleven seasons, primarily with the New Jersey Nets. He played his first three seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, who acquired him in trade with the Phoenix Suns following the 1990 NBA draft. Williams spent the remainder of his career with the Nets and was an All-Star in 1998. He was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
22/02/1967
Paul Lieberstein, American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer
Paul Bevan Lieberstein is an American actor, screenwriter, television director and television producer. A Primetime Emmy Award winner, he is best known as a writer, executive producer, and supporting cast member on the NBC sitcom The Office, playing the role of Toby Flenderson. He served as the series' showrunner from seasons five to eight.
Psicosis II, Mexican wrestler
Juan Ebodio Gonzalez is a Mexican professional wrestler better known under the ring name Psicosis. Gonzalez was the second wrestler to work as Psicosis, given the ring character by Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) to replace the original Psicosis, and is often denoted Psicosis II. When Gonzalez left AAA in early 2009 he was briefly replaced by a third Psicosis. He was not referred to as "Psicosis II" on promotional material, instead the name is used by fans to distinguish him from the original Psicosis. In November 2013, Gonzalez was renamed Psyco Ripper and shortly thereafter Reapper.
22/02/1966
Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedian
Rachel Susan Dratch is an American actress, comedian, and writer. After she graduated from Dartmouth College, she moved to Chicago to study improvisational theatre at The Second City and ImprovOlympic. Dratch's breakthrough role was her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006. During her time on SNL, she portrayed a variety of roles, including Debbie Downer. She has since occasionally returned to SNL as a guest portraying Senator Amy Klobuchar.
22/02/1965
Chris Dudley, American basketball player
Christen Guilford Dudley is an American former professional basketball player and politician. He played 886 games across 16 seasons in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks, and Phoenix Suns. A journeyman center, he was known primarily for his defensive skill as a rebounder and shot blocker. In his second season with the Knicks, he played in the 1999 NBA Finals.
Kieren Fallon, Irish jockey
Kieren Francis Fallon is a retired Irish professional flat racing jockey and was British Champion Jockey six times.
Pat LaFontaine, American ice hockey player
Patrick Michael LaFontaine is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played as a center in the National Hockey League (NHL) and spent his entire playing career with the league's New York State-based teams. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.
22/02/1964
Diane Charlemagne, English singer-songwriter (died 2015)
Diane Charlemagne was a British jazz, soul, funk and electronic dance music singer and songwriter.
Andy Gray, English footballer and manager
Andrew Arthur Gray is an English former footballer who played in the centre of midfield or as a striker during his career.
22/02/1963
Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, is a British Labour Party politician and journalist who served in the UK Government for five years in the Blair ministry and the Brown ministry.
Devon Malcolm, Jamaican-English cricketer
Devon Eugene Malcolm is a Jamaican-born English former cricketer. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Malcolm played in 40 Test matches and 10 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team.
Vijay Singh, Fijian-American golfer
Vijay Singh is a Fijian professional golfer. In 1982, Singh turned professional and played on the local Asia Golf Circuit. However, his early career met with controversy, as he was accused of numerous rules violations, and he was banned from the AGC. Singh turned to Africa and Europe where he had much success on the respective tours, the Safari Circuit and European Tour, winning several times on each. In 1993, he won the PGA Tour's Buick Classic, earning him tour membership and ultimately Rookie of the Years honors. In 1998, he won his first major championship, the PGA Championship, and two years later the Masters. In 2004, Singh had one of the best seasons in the history of golf, winning nine times including the PGA Championship, overtaking Tiger Woods as the #1 golfer in the world.
22/02/1962
Steve Irwin, Australian zoologist and television host (died 2006)
Stephen Robert Irwin was an Australian conservationist, environmentalist, zookeeper, television personality, and wildlife educator. Nicknamed the "Crocodile Hunter", he is regarded as an influential figure in Australian popular culture, and as one of the greatest conservationists of all time.
22/02/1961
Akira Takasaki, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer
Akira Takasaki is a Japanese musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist and sole constant member of the heavy metal band Loudness. He is also the guitarist of the band Lazy, with which he first rose to prominence in the 1970s. In 2018, readers and professional musicians voted Takasaki the best guitarist in the history of hard rock and heavy metal in We Rock magazine's "Metal General Election".
22/02/1960
Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, Scottish politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde,, known informally as Tom Strathclyde, is a British Conservative politician. Lord Strathclyde served in the political role of Leader of the House of Lords from the 2010 general election until January 2013 and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, having been Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords (1998–2010). As of 2025, he is the most recent hereditary peer to serve as Leader of the Lords.
22/02/1959
Jiří Čunek, Czech politician
Jiří Čunek is a Czech politician who was the leader of the Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party from December 2006 to May 2009. Čunek was also deputy prime minister and the minister for Regional Development in Mirek Topolánek's Second Cabinet until 23 January 2009. Since 2006, Čuněk has been senator from Vsetín and since 2 November 2016 he has been the governor of Zlín Region.
Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
Kyle MacLachlan is an American actor. He is best known for his collaborations with David Lynch, having portrayed his role as Dale Cooper thrice in Twin Peaks, which won him a Golden Globe and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards, and its film prequel Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), as well as playing Paul Atreides in Dune (1984) and Jeffrey Beaumont in Blue Velvet (1986). MacLachlan's other film roles include Lloyd Gallagher in The Hidden (1987), Ray Manzarek in The Doors (1991), Cliff Vandercave in The Flintstones (1994), Zack Carey in Showgirls (1995), and Riley's father in the two films of the Inside Out film series.
Bronwyn Oliver, Australian sculptor (died 2006)
Bronwyn Joy Oliver was an Australian sculptor whose work primarily consisted of metalwork. Her sculptures are admired for their tactile nature, aesthetics, and technical skills demonstrated in their production.
Harry Leary, American BMX racer (died 2024)
Harry Clarence Leary Jr. was an American professional bicycle motocross (BMX) racer.
22/02/1958
Dave Spitz, American bass player and songwriter
Black Sabbath were an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969, they distinguished themselves through occult themes with horror-inspired lyrics and down-tuned guitars. Their first three albums, Black Sabbath, Paranoid, and Master of Reality (1971), were commercially successful, and are cited as pioneering albums in the development of heavy metal. Subsequent albums Vol. 4 (1972), Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973), Sabotage (1975), Technical Ecstasy (1976), and Never Say Die! (1978) saw the band explore more experimental and progressive styles.
Richard Greenberg, American playwright and television writer (died 2025)
Richard Greenberg was an American playwright and television writer known for his subversively humorous depictions of middle-class American life. He had more than 25 plays premiere on Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway in New York City and eight at the South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa, California, including The Violet Hour, Everett Beekin, and Hurrah at Last. Greenberg is perhaps best known for his 2002 play Take Me Out.
22/02/1957
Willie Smits, Dutch microbiologist and engineer
Willie Smits is a trained forester, microbiologist, conservationist, animal welfare activist, wilderness engineer and social entrepreneur. He has lived in Indonesia since 1985 and is an Indonesian citizen. He is married to Adrienne C. Watson since March 2016.
22/02/1955
David Axelrod, American journalist and political adviser
David M. Axelrod is an American political consultant and analyst. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best known for being the chief strategist to Barack Obama during his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. In addition, during Obama's first term, Axelrod worked in the White House as the senior advisor to the president.
Tim Young, Canadian ice hockey player
Timothy Michael Young is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Minnesota North Stars, Winnipeg Jets and Philadelphia Flyers.
22/02/1953
Nigel Planer, English actor and screenwriter
Nigel George Planer is a British actor, writer and musician. His television credits include playing Neil in the sitcom The Young Ones and Ralph Filthy in the sitcom Filthy, Rich and Catflap and narrating the children's animated series Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including original casts of Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He has also appeared in Hairspray. He won a BRIT award in 1984 and has been nominated for Olivier, TMA, WhatsOnStage, and BAFTA awards.
22/02/1952
Bill Frist, American physician and politician
William Harrison Frist is an American physician, businessman, and policymaker who served as a United States senator for Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as Senate majority leader from 2003 to 2007. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Frist studied government and health care policy at Princeton University and earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School. He trained as a cardiothoracic transplant surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine, and later founded the Vanderbilt Transplant Center. In the 1994 United States Senate election in Tennessee, he defeated incumbent Democratic senator Jim Sasser.
Joaquim Pina Moura, Portuguese Minister of Economy and Treasury and MP (died 2020)
Joaquim Pina Moura was a Portuguese politician and economist. He was a member of the Socialist Party.
Saufatu Sopoanga, Tuvaluan politician, 8th Prime Minister of Tuvalu (died 2020)
Saufatu Sopoanga was a Tuvaluan politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Tuvalu from 2 August 2002 to 27 August 2004. He drew international attention for his speeches warning about the effects of the rising sea level on Tuvalu and other low-lying island countries.
22/02/1951
Ellen Greene, American singer and actress
Ellen Greene is an American actress and singer. She has had a long and varied career as a singer, particularly in cabaret, as an actress and singer in numerous stage productions, particularly musical theatre, as well as having performed in many films and television series. Her best-known roles are as Audrey in the original stage musical and film adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors, and as Vivian Charles in the ABC television series Pushing Daisies.
22/02/1950
Julius Erving, American basketball player and sportscaster
Julius Winfield "Dr. J" Erving II is an American former professional basketball player. He helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and was the best-known player in the league when it merged into the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the 1975–1976 season.
Lenny Kuhr, Dutch singer-songwriter
Helena Hubertina Johanna "Lenny" Kuhr is a Dutch singer-songwriter.
Miou-Miou, French actress
Sylvette Herry, known professionally as Miou-Miou, is a French actress. A ten-time César Award nominee, she won the César Award for Best Actress for the 1979 film Memoirs of a French Whore. Her other films include This Sweet Sickness (1977), Entre Nous (1983), May Fools (1990), Germinal (1993), Dry Cleaning (1997) and Arrêtez-moi (2013). In her career she has worked with a number of international directors, including Michel Gondry, Bertrand Blier, Claude Berri, Jacques Deray, Patrice Leconte, Joseph Losey and Louis Malle.
Genesis P-Orridge, English singer-songwriter (died 2020)
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge was an English singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmissions artistic collective and lead vocalist of seminal industrial band Throbbing Gristle. They were also a founding member of TOPY - Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth - occult group, and fronted the experimental pop rock band Psychic TV.
Julie Walters, English actress and author
Dame Julia Mary Walters, known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress and comedian. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Olivier Award. Walters has been nominated for two Academy Awards across acting categories—once for Best Actress and once for Best Supporting Actress. She was honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 2014. She was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 for services to drama.
22/02/1949
John Duncan, Scottish footballer and manager (died 2022)
John Pearson Duncan was a Scottish football player and manager. He guided Chesterfield to the FA Cup semi-finals in 1997.
Niki Lauda, Austrian racing driver (died 2019)
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive, and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from 1971 to 1979 and from 1982 to 1985. Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and—at the time of his retirement—held the record for most podium finishes (54); he won 25 Grands Prix across 13 seasons, and remains the only driver to have won a World Drivers' Championship with both Ferrari and McLaren.
Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player and coach
Olga Vasilyevna Morozova is a Russian former professional tennis player. Competing for the Soviet Union, she was the runner-up in women's singles at the 1974 French Open and 1974 Wimbledon Championships, and the first Soviet player to win a major, in women's doubles at the 1974 French Open. Her ground-breaking playing career, combined with her distinguished coaching career, has led to Morozova being labelled the "Godmother of Russian tennis".
22/02/1948
John Ashton, American actor (died 2024)
John David Ashton was an American actor, known for his roles in the Beverly Hills Cop films, Some Kind of Wonderful, and Midnight Run.
Dennis Awtrey, American basketball player
Dennis Wade Awtrey is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'10" center from Santa Clara University, Awtrey was drafted by the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers in 1970. He played in the league for twelve seasons, spending time with the 76ers, Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, Seattle SuperSonics, and Portland Trail Blazers. Awtrey had his finest season in 1974–1975, when he averaged 9.9 points and 8.6 rebounds as a member of the Suns. Awtrey was also known for once having punched Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the jaw. In 2012, Awtrey moved to Manzanita, Oregon, where he now operates a bed-and-breakfast.
22/02/1947
Pirjo Honkasalo, Finnish director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
Pirjo Irene Honkasalo is a Finnish film director who has also worked as a cinematographer, film editor, producer, screenwriter and actress. In 1980 she co-directed Flame Top with Pekka Lehto, with whom she worked earlier and later as well. The film was chosen for the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. In the 1990s she focused on feature documentaries such as "The Trilogy of the Sacred and the Satanic". Honkasalo returned to fiction with Fire-Eater (1998) and Concrete Night (2013), both of which were written by Pirkko Saisio. Concrete Night won six Jussi Awards in 2014, among them the Jussi for the Best Direction and the Jussi for the Best Film. Its world premiere was at the Toronto International Film Festival in Masters series.
Harvey Mason, American drummer
Harvey William Mason is an American jazz drummer, record producer, and member of the band Fourplay. He was the original drummer for Herbie Hancock's band The Headhunters.
John Radford, English footballer and manager
John Radford is an English former footballer who played for Arsenal, West Ham United and Blackburn Rovers throughout his career. Radford, who played as a forward, is Arsenal's fourth highest goal scorer of all time.
Frank Van Dun, Belgian philosopher and theorist
Frank Van Dun is a Belgian philosopher of law and classical liberal natural law theorist. He is associated with the law faculty of the University of Ghent. In 2013 he was awarded the Prize for Liberty by the Flemish classical-liberal think tank Libera!.
22/02/1946
Kresten Bjerre, Danish footballer and manager (died 2014)
Kresten Bjerre was a Danish footballer, who played professionally for Houston Stars in the United States, and European clubs PSV Eindhoven and R.W.D. Molenbeek.
22/02/1945
Oliver, American pop singer (died 2000)
William Oliver Swofford, known professionally as Oliver, was an American pop singer, best known for his 1969 song "Good Morning Starshine" from the musical Hair as well as "Jean".
22/02/1944
Jonathan Demme, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2017)
Robert Jonathan Demme was an American filmmaker. His career of directing, producing, and screenwriting spanned more than 30 years and 70 feature films, documentaries, and television productions. In addition to being an Academy Award and a Directors Guild of America Award winner, he received nominations for a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three Independent Spirit Awards.
Mick Green, English guitarist (died 2010)
Michael Robert Green was an English rock and roll guitarist who played with The Pirates, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers.
Robert Kardashian, American lawyer and businessman (died 2003)
Robert George Kardashian was an American attorney and businessman. He gained national recognition as O. J. Simpson's friend and defense attorney during Simpson's 1995 murder trial.
Christopher Meyer, English diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States (died 2022)
Sir Christopher John Rome Meyer was a British diplomat who served as Ambassador to the United States (1997–2003), Ambassador to Germany (1997), and chairman of the Press Complaints Commission (2003–2009).
Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player and painter
Thomas Samuel Okker, nicknamed "the Flying Dutchman", is a Dutch former tennis player who was active from the mid-1960s until 1980. He won the 1973 French Open Doubles, the 1976 US Open Doubles, and two gold medals at the 1965 Maccabiah Games in Israel. He was ranked among the world's top-ten singles players for seven consecutive years, 1968–74, reaching a career high of world No. 3 in 1974. He also was ranked world No. 1 in doubles in 1979.
22/02/1943
Terry Eagleton, English philosopher and critic
Terence Francis Eagleton is an English literary theorist, critic, and public intellectual. He is currently Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) of English Literature at Lancaster University.
Horst Köhler, Polish-German economist and politician, 9th President of Germany (died 2025)
Horst Köhler was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties and also candidate of the liberal FDP, Köhler was elected to his first five-year term by the Federal Convention on 23 May 2004 and was subsequently inaugurated on 1 July 2004. He was reelected to a second term on 23 May 2009. Just a year later, on 31 May 2010, he resigned from his office in a controversy over a comment on the role of the German Armed Forces in light of a visit to the troops in Afghanistan. During his tenure as president, whose office is mostly concerned with ceremonial matters, Köhler was a highly popular politician, with approval rates above those of both Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and later Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Dick Van Arsdale, American basketball player (died 2024)
Richard Albert Van Arsdale was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time NBA All-Star selection, his No. 5 was retired by the Phoenix Suns.
Tom Van Arsdale, American basketball player
Thomas Arthur Van Arsdale is an American former professional basketball player. A graduate of Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, the 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) guard played collegiately at Indiana University under longtime head coach Branch McCracken.
Otoya Yamaguchi, Japanese assassin of Inejiro Asanuma (died 1960)
Otoya Yamaguchi was a Japanese right-wing ultranationalist youth who assassinated Inejirō Asanuma, chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, on 12 October 1960.
22/02/1942
Christine Keeler, English model and dancer (died 2017)
Christine Margaret Keeler was an English model and showgirl. Her meeting at a dance club with society osteopath Stephen Ward drew her into fashionable circles. At the height of the Cold War, she became sexually involved with a married British government minister, John Profumo, as well as with a Soviet naval attaché, Yevgeny Ivanov. A shooting incident involving a third lover caused the press to investigate her, revealing that her affairs could be threatening national security. In the House of Commons, Profumo denied any improper conduct but later admitted to having lied.
22/02/1941
Hipólito Mejía, Dominican politician, 52nd President of the Dominican Republic
Rafael Hipólito Mejía Domínguez is a Dominican politician who served as President of the Dominican Republic from 2000 to 2004.
22/02/1940
Judy Cornwell, English actress
Judy Valerie Cornwell is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Daisy in the British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances (1990–1995). She also played Anya Claus in Santa Claus: The Movie (1985). In her later years she became known for playing Miss Marple in many stage productions, including A Murder is Announced between 2015 and 2016.
Chet Walker, American basketball player (died 2024)
Chester Walker was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and was selected in 2012 to become a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star. He played 13 seasons in the NBA, seven with the Philadelphia 76ers, and he helped lead the 76ers to an NBA championship in 1967. He played his last six seasons for the Chicago Bulls from 1969 to 1975. He played college basketball for the Bradley Braves, twice earning first-team consensus All-American honors, and was famously "hijacked" to Bradley to keep him from attending the University of Nebraska instead. He also won an Emmy award as a television producer.
22/02/1938
Steve Barber, American baseball player (died 2007)
Stephen David Barber was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) left-handed pitcher. He pitched for the Baltimore Orioles and six other teams from 1960 to 1974. Barber spent his first eight years with the Orioles, where he compiled an outstanding 95–75 record as a member of the 1960's Baltimore Orioles Kiddie Korps of pitchers, all 22 years old or younger. He was the modern Orioles first 20 game winner.
Tony Macedo, Gibraltarian born English footballer
Elliot "Tony" Macedo was a professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, spending nearly his whole career at Fulham. He made 346 league appearances and played a total of 391 matches in all competitions. He ended his career in 1968 after suffering a string of injuries. Born in Gibraltar, he represented the England U23s.
Ishmael Reed, American poet, novelist, essayist
Ishmael Scott Reed is an American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, composer, playwright, editor and publisher known for his satirical works challenging American political culture. Perhaps his best-known work is Mumbo Jumbo (1972), a sprawling and unorthodox novel set in 1920s New York. Reed's work represents neglected African and African-American perspectives.
22/02/1937
Tommy Aaron, American golfer
Thomas Dean Aaron is an American former professional golfer. He was a member of the PGA Tour during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Aaron is best known for winning the 1973 Masters Tournament. He is also known for an error in the 1968 Masters Tournament, when he entered a 4 instead of a 3 on Roberto De Vicenzo's scorecard, which prevented De Vicenzo from competing in a playoff.
Joanna Russ, American author and activist (died 2011)
Joanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny. She is best known for The Female Man, a novel combining utopian fiction and satire, and the story "When It Changed".
22/02/1936
J. Michael Bishop, American microbiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate
John Michael Bishop was an American immunologist and microbiologist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Harold E. Varmus. He was a faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he also served as chancellor from 1998 to 2009.
22/02/1934
Sparky Anderson, American baseball player and manager (died 2010)
George Lee "Sparky" Anderson was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player, coach, and manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1970 to 1978 and the American League's Detroit Tigers from 1979 to 1995. Anderson managed the Reds to two World Series championships in 1975 and 1976, then added a third title in 1984 with the Tigers. Anderson was the first manager to win the World Series in both leagues. His 2,194 career wins are the sixth-most for a manager in Major League history. In his 26-year career, Anderson had only five losing seasons as manager. His 1,331 wins with the Tigers are the most for any manager in team history. Anderson was named American League Manager of the Year in 1984 and 1987. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
22/02/1933
Sheila Hancock, English actress and author
Dame Sheila Cameron Hancock is an English actress, singer, and author. She has performed on stage in both plays and musicals in London theatres, and is also known for her roles in films and on television.
Katharine, Duchess of Kent (died 2025)
Katharine, Duchess of Kent, was a member of the British royal family. She was the wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, a grandson of King George V.
Ernie K-Doe, American R&B singer (died 2001)
Ernest Kador Jr., known by the stage name Ernie K-Doe, was an American R&B singer best known for his 1961 hit single "Mother-in-Law", which went to number 1 on the Billboard pop chart in the U.S.
Bobby Smith, English footballer (died 2010)
Robert Alfred Smith was an English footballer who played as a centre-forward for Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton and Hove Albion and England. He finished as the First Division's top scorer in the 1957–58 season and he is Tottenham Hotspur's third-highest goal scorer with 208 goals.
22/02/1932
Ted Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (died 2009)
Edward Moore Kennedy was an American lawyer and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-most-senior member of the Senate when he died. He is ranked fifth in U.S. history for length of continuous service as a senator. Kennedy was the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and U.S. attorney general and U.S. senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the father of U.S. representative Patrick J. Kennedy.
22/02/1930
Marni Nixon, American soprano and actress (died 2016)
Margaret Nixon McEathron, known professionally as Marni Nixon, was an American soprano and ghost singer for featured actresses in musical films. She was the singing voice of leading actresses on the soundtracks of several musicals, including Deborah Kerr in The King and I and An Affair to Remember, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, although her roles were concealed from audiences when the films were released. Several of the songs she dubbed appeared on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list.
22/02/1929
James Hong, American actor and director
James Hong is an American actor, producer, and director. Known as one of the most prolific character actors of all time, he has worked in over 600 productions in American media since the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1950s. In 2022, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the American film and television industries.
Rebecca Schull, American stage, film, and television actress
Rebecca Schull is an American stage, film and television actress, best known for her role as Fay Cochran in the NBC sitcom Wings (1990–1997).
22/02/1928
Clarence 13X, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Gods and Earths (died 1969)
Clarence 13X, also known as Allah the Father, was an American leader and the founder of the Five-Percent Nation, sometimes referred to as the Nation of Gods and Earths (NGE/NOGE). He was born in Virginia and moved to New York City as a young man, before serving in the United States Army during the Korean War. After returning to New York, he learned that his wife had joined the Nation of Islam (NOI). He followed her, taking the name Clarence 13X. He served in the group as a security officer, martial arts instructor, and student minister before leaving for an unclear reason in 1963. He enjoyed gambling, which was condemned by the NOI, and disagreed with their teachings that Wallace Fard Muhammad was a divine messenger.
Texas Johnny Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2013)
Texas Johnny Brown, born John Riley Brown was an American blues guitarist, songwriter and singer, best known for his composition "Two Steps from the Blues". In a lengthy career, he worked with Joe Hinton, Amos Milburn, Ruth Brown, Bobby Bland, Lavelle White, Buddy Ace and Junior Parker. He was born in Mississippi, but his long association with Houston, Texas, gave him his stage name.
Paul Dooley, American actor
Paul Dooley is an American character actor. He is known for his roles in Breaking Away, Popeye, Strange Brew, Sixteen Candles and various Christopher Guest mockumentaries. He co-created the PBS children's show The Electric Company.
Bruce Forsyth, English singer and television host (died 2017)
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, also known as Brucie, was a British entertainer and television personality whose career spanned over 75 years. His appeal stemmed from his showmanship, quick wit, and ability to connect with audiences, a talent honed during years on the post-war variety circuit. His legacy is marked by a transition from traditional music hall performance to the evolving world of television.
Thomas E. Kurtz, American computer scientist and educator (died 2024)
Thomas Eugene Kurtz was an American computer scientist and educator. A Dartmouth professor of mathematics, he and colleague John G. Kemeny are best known for co-developing the BASIC programming language and the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System in 1963 and 1964. These innovations made computing more accessible by simplifying programming for non-experts and allowing multiple users to share a single computer, transforming how computers were used in education and research.
22/02/1927
Florencio Campomanes, Filipino political scientist and chess player (died 2010)
Florencio Campomanes was a Filipino chess organizer and player.
Guy Mitchell, American singer (died 1999)
Guy Mitchell was an American singer and actor, who was successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. His hits included "My Heart Cries for You", "Heartaches by the Number" and "Singing the Blues".
22/02/1926
Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (died 1988)
Kenneth Charles Williams was a British actor and comedian. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main cast in 26 of the 31 Carry On films and appeared in many British television programmes and radio comedies, including series with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne, as well as being a frequent panellist on BBC Radio 4's comedy panel show Just a Minute from its second series in 1968 until his death 20 years later.
22/02/1925
Edward Gorey, American illustrator and poet (died 2000)
Edward St. John Gorey was an American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other writers. His characteristic pen-and-ink drawings often depict vaguely unsettling narrative scenes in Victorian and Edwardian settings.
Gerald Stern, American poet and academic (died 2022)
Gerald Daniel Stern was an American poet, essayist, and educator. The author of twenty collections of poetry and four books of essays, he taught literature and creative writing at Temple University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Raritan Valley Community College and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. From 2009 until his death, he was a distinguished poet-in-residence and faculty member of Drew University's graduate program for a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in poetry.
22/02/1923
François Cavanna, French author and editor (died 2014)
François Cavanna was a French author and satirical newspaper editor.
Bleddyn Williams, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster (died 2009)
Bleddyn Llewellyn Williams MBE, was a Welsh rugby union centre. He played in 22 internationals for Wales, captaining them five times, winning each time, and captained the British Lions in 1950 for some of their tour of Australia and New Zealand. Considered to be the nonpareil of Welsh centres; he was robust in the tackle and known for his strong leadership and surging runs; he was often referred to as 'The Prince Of Centres'.
22/02/1922
Zenaida Manfugás, Cuban pianist (died 2012)
Zenaida Elvira González Manfugás was a Cuban-born American-naturalized pianist, considered to be one of the best Cuban pianists in history.
Joe Wilder, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (died 2014)
Joseph Benjamin Wilder was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.
22/02/1921
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Central African general and politician, 2nd President of the Central African Republic (died 1996)
Jean-Bédel Bokassa was a Central African politician and military officer who served as the second president of the Central African Republic (CAR), after seizing power in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état on 1 January 1966. He later established the Central African Empire (CAE) with himself as emperor, reigning as Bokassa I until his overthrow in a 1979 coup.
Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (died 1994)
Giulia Anna "Giulietta" Masina was an Italian film actress best known for her performances as Gelsomina in La Strada (1954) and Cabiria in Nights of Cabiria (1957), for which she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival.
Marshall Teague, American race car driver (died 1959)
Marshall Pleasant Teague was an American race car driver nicknamed by NASCAR fans as the "King of the Beach" for his performances at the Daytona Beach Road Course.
22/02/1918
Sid Abel, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (died 2000)
Sidney Gerald Abel was a Canadian Hall of Fame hockey player, coach and general manager in the National Hockey League, most notably for the Detroit Red Wings, and was a member of Stanley Cup-winning teams in 1943, 1950, and 1952. In 2017, Abel was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.
Don Pardo, American radio and television announcer (died 2014)
Dominick George "Don" Pardo Jr. was an American radio and television announcer whose career spanned more than seven decades.
Robert Wadlow, American man, the tallest person in recorded history (died 1940)
Robert Pershing Wadlow, also known as the Alton Giant and the Giant of Illinois, was an American man known for being the tallest person in recorded history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. Wadlow was born and raised in Alton, Illinois, a small city near St. Louis, Missouri.
22/02/1915
Gus Lesnevich, American boxer (died 1964)
Gustav George Lesnevich was an American professional boxer who held the world light-heavyweight championship from 1941 to 1948.
22/02/1914
Renato Dulbecco, Italian-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2012)
Renato Dulbecco was an Italian–American virologist who won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on oncoviruses, which are viruses that can cause cancer when they infect animal cells. He studied at the University of Turin under Giuseppe Levi, along with fellow students Salvador Luria and Rita Levi-Montalcini, who also moved to the U.S. with him and won Nobel prizes. He was drafted into the Italian army in World War II, but later joined the resistance.
22/02/1910
George Hunt, English footballer (died 1996)
George Samuel Hunt was an English footballer who scored 169 goals from 294 appearances in the Football League playing for Chesterfield, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday. An inside forward or centre forward, Hunt was capped three times for England in 1933. After he finished playing, he went into coaching with Bolton Wanderers.
22/02/1908
Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan politician, 56th President of Venezuela (died 1981)
Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello, known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was a Venezuelan politician who served as the president of Venezuela, from 1945 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1964, as well as leader of the Democratic Action, Venezuela's dominant political party in the 20th century.
John Mills, English actor (died 2005)
Sir John Mills was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portrayed guileless, wounded war heroes. In 1971, he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Ryan's Daughter.
22/02/1907
Sheldon Leonard, American actor, director, and producer (died 1997)
Sheldon Leonard Bershad was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and screenwriter.
Robert Young, American actor (died 1998)
Robert George Young was an American film, television, and radio actor best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father character, in Father Knows Best and the physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC).
22/02/1906
Constance Stokes, Australian painter (died 1991)
Constance Stokes was an Australian modernist painter who worked in Victoria. She trained at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School until 1929, winning a scholarship to continue her study at London's Royal Academy of Arts. Although Stokes painted few works in the 1930s, her paintings and drawings were exhibited from the 1940s onwards. She was one of only two women, and two Victorians, included in a major exhibition of twelve Australian artists that travelled to Canada, the United Kingdom and Italy in the early 1950s.
22/02/1903
Morley Callaghan, Canadian author and playwright (died 1990)
Edward Morley Callaghan was a Canadian novelist, short story writer, playwright, and TV and radio personality.
Frank P. Ramsey, English economist, mathematician, and philosopher (died 1930)
Frank Plumpton Ramsey was a British philosopher, mathematician, and economist who made major contributions to all three fields before his death at the age of 26. He was a close friend of Ludwig Wittgenstein and, as an undergraduate, translated Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus into English. He was also influential in persuading Wittgenstein to return to philosophy and Cambridge. Like Wittgenstein, he was a member of the Cambridge Apostles, the secret intellectual society, from 1921.
22/02/1900
Luis Buñuel, Spanish-Mexican director and producer (died 1983)
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish and Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time. Buñuel's works are known for their avant-garde surrealism which was also infused with political commentary.
22/02/1899
George O'Hara, American actor and screenwriter (died 1966)
George O'Hara was an American motion picture actor and screenwriter of the silent film era.
22/02/1897
Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (died 1947)
Karol Wacław Świerczewski was a Polish and Soviet Red Army general and statesman. He was a Bolshevik Party member and served in the Soviet Red Army during the Russian Civil War and participated in the wars against the Polish and Ukrainian Republics. He also participated alongside the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. At the start of World War II In 1939, he participated in the Soviet invasion of Poland. At the end of the war he was installed as one of leaders of the Soviet-sponsored Polish Provisional Government of National Unity. Soon later, Świerczewski died in a country-road ambush shot by the militants from OUN-UPA. He was an icon of communist propaganda for the following several decades.
22/02/1895
Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician (died 1979)
Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre was a Peruvian politician, philosopher, and author who founded the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) political movement, the oldest currently existing political party in Peru by the name of the Peruvian Aprista Party (PAP).
22/02/1892
Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poet and playwright (died 1950)
Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She also wrote prose under the pseudonym Nancy Boyd.
22/02/1891
Vlas Chubar, Russian economist and politician (died 1939)
Vlas Yakovlevich Chubar was a Ukrainian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician. Chubar was arrested during the Great Terror of 1937–1938 and executed early in 1939.
22/02/1889
Olave Baden-Powell, English scout leader, first World Chief Guide (died 1977)
Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell was the first Chief Guide for Britain and the wife of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell.
R. G. Collingwood, English historian and philosopher (died 1943)
Robin George Collingwood was an English philosopher, historian and archaeologist. He is best known for his philosophical works, including The Principles of Art (1938) and the posthumously published The Idea of History (1946).
22/02/1888
Owen Brewster, American captain and politician, 54th Governor of Maine (died 1961)
Ralph Owen Brewster was an American politician from Maine. Brewster, a Republican, served as the 54th governor of Maine from 1925 to 1929, in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1935 to 1941 and in the U.S. Senate from 1941 to 1952. Brewster was a close confidant of Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin and an antagonist of Howard Hughes. He was defeated by Frederick G. Payne, whose campaign was heavily funded by Hughes, in the 1952 Republican primary.
22/02/1887
Savielly Tartakower, Polish journalist, author, and chess player (died 1956)
Savielly Tartakower was a Austro-Hungarian by birth, then Polish, later naturalised French chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster in its inaugural year, 1950. Tartakower was also a leading chess journalist and author of the 1920s and 1930s and is noted for his many witticisms.
Pat Sullivan, Australian-American animator and producer (died 1933)
Patrick Peter Sullivan was an Australian cartoonist, pioneer animator and film producer, best known for producing the first Felix the Cat silent cartoons.
22/02/1886
Hugo Ball, German author and poet (died 1927)
Hugo Ball was a German author, poet, and essentially the founder of the Dada movement in European art in Zürich in 1916. Among other accomplishments, he was a pioneer in the development of sound poetry. His best known works include the "Dada Manifesto", the Dadaist nonsense poem "Karawane", the poetry collection 7 schizophrene Sonette, the edited diary Flight out of Time, the Christian anarchist polemic book Critique of the German Intelligentsia and the novels Flametti, or The Dandyism of the Poor and Tenderenda the Fantast.
22/02/1883
Marguerite Clark, American actress (died 1940)
Helen Marguerite Clark was an American stage and silent film actress. As a movie actress, at one time Clark was second only to Mary Pickford in popularity. With a few exceptions and some fragments, most of Clark's films are considered lost.
22/02/1882
Eric Gill, English sculptor and illustrator (died 1940)
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Gill as "the greatest artist-craftsman of the twentieth century: a letter-cutter and type designer of genius", he is also a figure of considerable controversy following the revelations of his sexual abuse of two of his daughters and of his pet dog.
22/02/1881
Joseph B. Ely, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of Massachusetts (died 1956)
Joseph Buell Ely was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Massachusetts. As a conservative Democrat, Ely was active in party politics from the late 1910s, helping to build, in conjunction with David I. Walsh, the Democratic coalition that would gain an enduring political ascendancy in the state. From 1931 to 1935, he served as the 52nd Governor of Massachusetts. He was opposed to the federal expansion of the New Deal, and was a prominent intra-party voice in opposition to the policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1944 he made a brief unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Albin Prepeluh, Slovenian journalist and politician (died 1937)
Albin Prepeluh was a Slovenian left wing politician, journalist, editor, political theorist and translator. Before World War I, he was the foremost Slovene Marxist revisionist theoretician. After the War, he became one of the most persistent advocates of Slovenian autonomy within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and, together with Dragotin Lončar, the ideologist of the democratic reformist faction of Slovenian Social Democrats. In the late 1920s, he evolved towards agrarianism. He was also known under the pseudonym Abditus.
22/02/1880
Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (died 1930)
Eric Otto Valdemar Lemming was a Swedish track and field athlete who competed at the 1900, 1906, 1908 and 1912 Olympics in a wide variety of events, which mostly involved throwing and jumping. He had his best results in the javelin throw, which he won at the 1906–1912 Games, and in which he set multiple world records between 1899 and 1912. His last record, measured at 62.32 m, was ratified by the International Association of Athletics Federations as the first official world record.
22/02/1879
Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted, Danish chemist and academic (died 1947)
Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted was a Danish physical chemist who is best known for developing the Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory; he developed the theory at the same time as Martin Lowry.
22/02/1876
Zitkala-Sa, American author and activist (died 1938)
Zitkala-Ša, also Zitkála-Šá, was a Yankton Dakota writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and political activist. She was also known by her anglicized and married name, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin. She wrote several works chronicling her struggles with cultural identity, and the pull between the majority culture in which she was educated, and the Dakota culture into which she was born and raised. Her later books were among the first works to bring traditional Native American stories to a widespread white English-speaking readership.
22/02/1874
Bill Klem, American baseball player and umpire (died 1951)
William Joseph Klem, known as "the Old Arbitrator", was an American baseball umpire who worked in Major League Baseball from 1905 to 1941, spending his entire career in the National League (NL). He worked 18 World Series, which is a major league record. Klem was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953 and was notably one of the first two umpires ever inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame alongside Tom Connolly. Bill Klem was 77 years old.
22/02/1864
Jules Renard, French author and playwright (died 1910)
Pierre-Jules Renard was a French author and member of the Académie Goncourt, most famous for the works Poil de carotte and Les Histoires Naturelles. Among his other works are Le Plaisir de rompre and the posthumously published Huit Jours à la campagne.
22/02/1863
Charles McLean Andrews, American historian, author, and academic (died 1943)
Charles McLean Andrews, Ph.D, L.H.D. was an American historian and professor at Yale University whose Colonial Period of American History, vol. 1 of 4, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1935. Among his other books are British committees, commissions, and councils of trade and plantations, 1622-1675, co-author of the 1910 publication titled A bibliography of history for schools and libraries: with description and critical annotations, and The Colonial Period (1912).
22/02/1861
Lewis Akeley, American academic (died 1961)
Lewis Ellsworth Akeley was an American academic. He served in various roles at the University of South Dakota (USD) between 1887 and his retirement in 1933, including as lecturer of various topics, including physics and chemistry; and Dean of Engineering for 25 years. He also served as a mentor to Ernest Lawrence, who would go on to earn the Nobel Prize in Physics.
22/02/1860
Mary W. Bacheler, American physician and Baptist medical missionary (died 1939)
Mary Washington Bacheler was an American physician and Baptist medical missionary in India.
22/02/1857
Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English general, co-founded The Scout Association (died 1941)
Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell,, was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with his sister Agnes, of The Girl Guides Association. Baden-Powell wrote Scouting for Boys, which with his previous books – such as his 1884 Reconnaissance and Scouting and his 1899 Aids to Scouting for N.-C.Os and Men, which was intended for the military, and The Scout magazine – helped the rapid growth of the Scout Movement.
Heinrich Hertz, German physicist, philosopher, and academic (died 1894)
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves proposed by James Clerk Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism.
22/02/1849
Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician and academic (died 1915)
Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin was a Russian mathematician.
22/02/1840
August Bebel, German theorist and politician (died 1913)
Ferdinand August Bebel was a German social democratic politician. He is best known as one of the founders of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP) in 1869, which in 1875 merged with the General German Workers' Association to form what would become the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). As a leader of the German workers' movement for over four decades, Bebel served as a member of parliament in both the North German Confederation and the German Empire, becoming the movement's leading parliamentary voice.
22/02/1836
Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar and academic (died 1906)
Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, was an Indian Sanskrit scholar during the Bengal Renaissance. He served as the principal of the Sanskrit College from 1876 to 1895 and was a colleague of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
22/02/1825
Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, French-American archbishop (died 1898)
Jean-Baptiste Salpointe was a French-born prelate who serve as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in New Mexico in the United States from 1885 to 1894.
22/02/1824
Pierre Janssen, French astronomer and mathematician (died 1907)
Pierre Jules César Janssen, usually known as Jules Janssen, was a French astronomer who, along with English scientist Joseph Norman Lockyer, is credited with discovering the gaseous nature of the solar chromosphere, and with some justification the element helium.
22/02/1819
James Russell Lowell, American poet and critic (died 1891)
James Russell Lowell was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets to rival the popularity of British poets. These writers usually used conventional forms and meters in their poetry, making them suitable for families entertaining at their fireside.
22/02/1817
Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician and academic (died 1880)
Carl Wilhelm Borchardt was a German mathematician.
22/02/1806
Józef Kremer, Polish historian and philosopher (died 1875)
Józef Kremer was a Polish historian of art, philosopher, aesthetician and psychologist.
22/02/1805
Sarah Fuller Flower Adams, English poet and hymnwriter (died 1848)
Sarah Fuller Flower Adams was an English poet and hymnwriter. A selection of hymns she wrote, published by William Johnson Fox, included her best-known one, "Nearer, My God, to Thee", reportedly played by the band as the RMS Titanic sank in 1912.
22/02/1796
Alexis Bachelot, French priest and missionary (died 1837)
Alexis Bachelot, SS.CC., was a Catholic priest best known for his tenure as the first Prefect Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands. In that role, he led the first permanent Catholic mission to the Kingdom of Hawaii. Bachelot was raised in France, where he attended the Irish College in Paris, and was ordained a priest in 1820. He led the first Catholic mission to Hawaii, arriving in 1827. Although he had expected the approval of then Hawaiian King Kamehameha II, he learned upon arrival that Kamehameha II had died and a new government that was hostile towards Catholic missionaries had been installed. Bachelot, however, was able to convert a small group of Hawaiians and quietly minister to them for four years before being deported in 1831 on the orders of Kaʻahumanu, the Kuhina Nui of Hawaii.
Adolphe Quetelet, Belgian mathematician, astronomer, and sociologist (died 1874)
Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet was a Belgian astronomer, mathematician, statistician, and sociologist who founded and directed the Brussels Observatory and was influential in introducing statistical methods to the social sciences. His name is sometimes spelled with an accent as Quételet.
22/02/1788
Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher and author (died 1860)
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work The World as Will and Representation, which characterizes the phenomenal world as the manifestation of a blind and irrational noumenal will. Building on the transcendental idealism of Immanuel Kant, Schopenhauer developed an atheistic metaphysical and ethical system that rejected the contemporaneous ideas of German idealism.
22/02/1778
Rembrandt Peale, American painter and curator (died 1860)
Rembrandt Peale was an American artist and museum keeper. A prolific portrait painter, he was especially acclaimed for his likenesses of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Peale's style was influenced by French neoclassicism after a stay in Paris in his early thirties.
22/02/1749
Johann Nikolaus Forkel, German musicologist and theorist (died 1818)
Johann Nikolaus Forkel was a German musicologist and music theorist, generally regarded as among the founders of modern musicology. His publications include the two-volume Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik, among the first attempts at a history of Western music and the "ground-breaking music bibliography" Allgemeine Litteratur der Musik. He also authored Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work, the first substantial survey on the life and works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
22/02/1732
George Washington, American general and politician, 1st President of the United States (died 1799)
George Washington was a Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War against the British Empire. He is commonly known as the Father of the Nation for his role in bringing about American independence.
22/02/1715
Charles-Nicolas Cochin, French artist (died 1790)
Charles-Nicolas Cochin was a French engraver, designer, writer, and art critic. To distinguish him from his father of the same name, he is variously called Charles-Nicolas Cochin le Jeune, Charles-Nicolas Cochin le fils, or Charles-Nicolas Cochin II.
22/02/1649
Bon Boullogne, French painter (died 1717)
Bon Boullogne was a French painter.
22/02/1631
Peder Syv, Danish historian (died 1702)
Peder Pedersen Syv or in Latin Petrus Petri Septimius was a Danish philologist, folklorist, and Lutheran priest, best known for his collections of Danish proverbs and folk songs and his contributions to the development of Danish as a written language.
22/02/1592
Nicholas Ferrar, English scholar (died 1637)
Nicholas Ferrar was an English scholar, courtier and businessman, who was ordained a deacon in the Church of England. He lost much of his fortune in the Virginia Company and retreated with his extended family in 1626 to the manor of Little Gidding, Huntingdonshire, for his remaining years, in an informal spiritual community following High Anglican practice. His friend the poet and Anglican priest George Herbert (1593–1633), on his deathbed, sent Ferrar the manuscript of The Temple, telling him to publish the poetry if it might "turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul." "If not, let him burn it; for I and it are less than the least of God's mercies." Ferrar published the verses in 1633; they remain in print.
22/02/1550
Charles de Ligne, 2nd Prince of Arenberg (died 1616)
Charles of Arenberg, Duke of Aarschot, Baron of Zevenbergen, Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, was Princely Count of Arenberg and a leading nobleman of the Habsburg Netherlands. He served as a courtier, soldier, minister and diplomat.
22/02/1520
Moses Isserles, Polish rabbi (died 1572)
Moses Isserles, also known by the acronym Rema, was an eminent Polish Ashkenazi rabbi, talmudist, and posek.
22/02/1514
Tahmasp I, Iranian shah (died 1576)
Tahmasp I was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, the Mawsillu princess Tajlu Khanum.
22/02/1500
Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian cardinal (died 1564)
Rodolfo Pio di Savoia, often referred to as Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, was an Italian cardinal, humanist and patron of the arts. The nephew of a diplomat, he himself became a diplomat by the age of thirty, and came to know both Emperor Charles V and King Francis of France, and he negotiated with both on behalf of the pope. His uncle, Alberto III Pio, was Pico della Mirandola's maternal nephew, had been educated by Aldus Manutius and had become a noted humanist scholar. These associations formed Rodolfo's background and education. He formed a notable library and participated in the humanist studies of 16th-century Rome; he also served on the Roman Inquisition. He helped to establish the Inquisition at Milan.
22/02/1440
Ladislaus the Posthumous, Hungarian King (died 1457)
Ladislaus V, more commonly known as Ladislaus the Posthumous, was Duke of Austria and King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia. He was the posthumous son of Albert of Habsburg with Elizabeth of Luxembourg. Albert had bequeathed all his realms to his future son on his deathbed, but only the estates of Austria accepted his last will. Fearing an Ottoman invasion, the majority of the Hungarian lords and prelates offered the crown to Vladislaus III of Poland. The Hussite noblemen and towns of Bohemia did not acknowledge the hereditary right of Albert's descendants to the throne, but also did not elect a new king.
22/02/1403
Charles VII of France (died 1461)
Charles VII, called the Victorious or the Well-Served, was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years' War and a de facto end of the English claims to the French throne.
22/02/1040
Rashi, French rabbi and author (died 1105)
Shlomo Yitzchaki, commonly known by the Rabbinic acronym Rashi (רש"י), was a French rabbi and commentator who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible.