Born on Monday, 23rd February – Famous Birthdays
On this day, 171 notable people were born on 23rd February — spanning from 1133 to 2002. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.
Monday, 23rd February 2026 marks a significant date in the calendar of notable births. The date has produced individuals across multiple disciplines, from entertainment and sports to politics and business. Among those born on this day, Emilia Jones, an English actress, arrived in 2002, whilst Femke Bol, a Dutch hurdler and sprinter, was born in 2000. Both have established themselves in their respective fields, contributing to the cultural landscape of their nations.
The historical record of 23rd February extends far beyond contemporary figures. Radosław Sikorski, the 11th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, was born on this date in 1963, bringing significant diplomatic experience to his role in European politics. The date has witnessed the births of numerous other influential individuals throughout history, including Erich Kästner, the celebrated German author and poet born in 1899, whose works have remained relevant across generations and cultures.
The breadth of talent born on 23rd February demonstrates the date’s recurring significance. Engineers, athletes, musicians, and academics have all entered the world on this day, each contributing their expertise to their chosen fields. From entertainment figures like Emily Blunt and Aziz Ansari to sportspeople and business leaders, the list reflects a diverse range of achievements and career paths. DayAtlas presents comprehensive information about this date, including weather patterns, historical events, notable births and deaths for any location and date throughout history.
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23/02/2002
Emilia Jones, English actress
Emilia Jones is a British actress. She is best known for her lead role as a child of deaf adults in the drama film CODA (2021), for which she received a British Academy Film Award nomination for Best Actress. Jones is also known for starring in the Netflix adventure series Locke & Key (2020–2022) and the HBO crime series Task (2025).
23/02/2000
Femke Bol, Dutch hurdler and sprinter
Femke Bol is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in sprinting, middle-distance running, and hurdling. Up to 2025, she specialized in the 400 metres hurdles, where she is the 2023 and 2025 World Champion, and in the 400 metres, where she is the 2024 World Indoor Champion and the short track world record holder. Since 2026, she specializes in the 800 metres. In the 4 × 400 metres relay, she is the 2023 World Champion and the 2024 World Indoor Champion with the Dutch women's team and the 2024 Olympic Champion with the Dutch mixed team.
23/02/1997
Jamal Murray, Canadian basketball player
Jamal Murray is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. Murray was selected by the Nuggets as the seventh overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft and was a key contributor to the team's first NBA championship run in 2023, becoming the ninth Canadian to win an NBA title. In 2026, Murray was named an NBA All-Star. He also represents Canada in international basketball competitions.
23/02/1996
D'Angelo Russell, American basketball player
D'Angelo Russell, nicknamed "DLo", is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected as a McDonald's All-American in 2014 and played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes before being selected second overall in the 2015 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.
23/02/1995
Andrew Wiggins, Canadian basketball player
Andrew Christian Wiggins is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected with the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers after one year of college basketball with the Kansas Jayhawks.
23/02/1994
Dakota Fanning, American actress
Hannah Dakota Fanning is an American actress. Fanning is known for her roles in blockbuster films and independent features, both as a child actor and as an adult. Her accolades include nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Triptii Dimri, Indian actress
Triptii Dimri is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She had her first lead role in the romantic drama Laila Majnu (2018) but gained critical recognition for her performances in Anvita Dutt's films Bulbbul (2020) and Qala (2022), with the former earning her a Filmfare OTT Award.
Neviana Vladinova, Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast
Neviana Stanimirova Vladinova is a retired Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2017 World bronze medalist with ball, and was seventh in the all-around at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
23/02/1992
Casemiro, Brazilian footballer
Carlos Henrique Casimiro, also known mononymously as Casemiro, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United and the Brazil national team.
Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Greek footballer
Kyriakos Papadopoulos is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for non-league club Svoronos Katerinis. He last played, at a professional level, for Greek Super League club Levadiakos.
Samara Weaving, Australian actress and model
Samara Weaving is an Australian actress and model. She received attention for her work in Australian television, appearing on the series Out of the Blue (2008) and receiving an AACTA Award nomination for playing Indi Walker on the soap opera Home and Away (2009–2013). She appeared in a recurring role in the first season of the series Ash vs Evil Dead (2015).
23/02/1990
Kevin Connauton, Canadian ice hockey player
Kevin Connauton is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 83rd overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2009 NHL entry draft. Connauton has also played for the Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets, Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, and Philadelphia Flyers.
Marco Scandella, Canadian ice hockey player
Marco Scandella is an Italian-Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Minnesota Wild, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, and St. Louis Blues. Scandella played major junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for the Val d'Or Foreurs prior to being selected by the Wild in the second-round, 55th overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
23/02/1989
Evan Bates, American ice dancer
Evan Bates is an American ice dancer. With his wife and skating partner, Madison Chock, he is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the team event, the 2026 Winter Olympics silver medalist, a three-time World champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion, a three-time Four Continents champion, a twenty-two-time ISU Grand Prix medalist, ten-time ISU Challenger Series medalist, and a seven-time U.S. national champion. The two represented the United States at the 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics. He served as flag bearer for the United States during the closing ceremony for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Jérémy Pied, French footballer
Jérémy Victor Pied is a French professional footballer who plays as a right-back.
Wilin Rosario, Dominican baseball player
Wilin Arismendy Rosario Hernández is a Dominican former professional baseball catcher and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, the KBO League for the Hanwha Eagles, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hanshin Tigers, and the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) for the Uni-President Lions.
23/02/1988
Nicolás Gaitán, Argentine footballer
Osvaldo Nicolás Fabián "Nico" Gaitán is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger.
23/02/1987
Ab-Soul, American rapper
Herbert Anthony Stevens IV, better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper. Raised in Carson, California, he signed with the indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where he formed the West Coast hip-hop group Black Hippy alongside fellow California-based rappers Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q. His third album, These Days... (2014), peaked at number 11 on the Billboard 200. He is Black Hippy's sole member to remain an independent artist.
Malik Hairston, American basketball player
Malik Samory Hairston is an American former professional basketball player. A shooting guard-small forward from the University of Oregon's Ducks, he was chosen in the 2008 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns, who then traded him to the San Antonio Spurs. Hairston has also played with the San Antonio Spurs, the Austin Toros, Montepaschi Siena and Olimpia Milano of the Italian League, and Galatasaray of the Turkish League. He was born in Detroit, Michigan.
Theophilus London, Trinidadian-American singer-songwriter and producer
Theophilus Musa London is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. He is best known for his guest appearance alongside Allan Kingdom and Paul McCartney on Kanye West's 2015 single "All Day", which peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received two Grammy Award nominations. London has also worked on West's demo album Donda 2 (2022), as well as several of his unreleased projects.
23/02/1986
Emerson Conceição, Brazilian footballer
Emerson da Conceição, known as Emerson, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a left back.
Skylar Grey, American singer-songwriter
Holly Brook Hafermann, known professionally as Skylar Grey, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. In 2004, Grey signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group and a recording contract with Linkin Park's Machine Shop Recordings under the name Holly Brook. Her debut studio album, Like Blood Like Honey (2006), served as her only release with the label.
Kazuya Kamenashi, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor
Kazuya Kamenashi is a Japanese singer, actor, host, producer and magazine model. Born and raised in Edogawa, Tokyo. He joined the Japanese talent agency, Johnny & Associates at the age of 12. Former member of KAT-TUN under Starto Entertainment.
Jerod Mayo, American football player and coach
Jerod Andrew Mayo Sr. is an American former professional football coach and former linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons with the New England Patriots. He served as the head coach of the Patriots in 2024. Mayo played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers, receiving first-team All-SEC honors in 2007, and was selected by the Patriots 10th overall in the 2008 NFL draft.
Ola Svensson, Swedish singer-songwriter
Ola Nils Håkan Svensson is a Swedish artist and songwriter, known professionally by the mononym Ola until 2014, and as Brother Leo from 2018 to present. Born in Lund, Skåne, his career began in 2005, when he finished eighth on season two of Swedish Idol. Since then, Ola has released four studio albums. Eleven of his singles have reached the top five on the Swedish singles chart, with six achieving number one, and nine attaining gold and platinum certifications. After being signed to Universal Music for many years, Ola founded his own record label Oliniho Records for the Swedish market, keeping distribution arrangements with Sony Music in Europe and internationally. Following a four-year break, he returned in 2018, recording under the stage name Brother Leo for Columbia Records.
23/02/1983
Aziz Ansari, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
Aziz Ismail Ansari is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He played Tom Haverford on the NBC series Parks and Recreation (2009–2015) and created and starred in the Netflix series Master of None (2015–2021) for which he won several acting and writing awards, including two Emmys and a Golden Globe, which was the first award received by an Asian American actor for acting on television.
Emily Blunt, English actress
Emily Olivia Laura Blunt is a British actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and two Actor Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and four British Academy Film Awards. Forbes ranked her as one of the highest-paid actresses in the world in 2020.
Mido, Egyptian footballer, manager and sportscaster
Ahmed Hossam Hussein Abdel Hamid Wasfi, publicly known as Mido, is an Egyptian football manager and former player who played as a striker.
Dijon Thompson, American basketball player
Dijon Lynn Thompson is an American former professional basketball player who played briefly in the National Basketball Association (NBA). While he played mainly at the shooting guard position in his early career, he also played as a small forward during his European years. He is now a high school basketball coach at Valley Christian Athletics.
23/02/1982
Jia Perkins, American basketball player and coach
Jia Dorene Perkins is an American retired professional basketball player currently working as an assistant coach for the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League. She announced her retirement after the 2017 season when the Lynx won the WNBA championship. She was born in Newburgh, New York. She moved to Granbury, Texas, where she attended Granbury High School.
Karan Singh Grover, Indian actor
Karan Singh Grover is an Indian model and actor known for his work in television series such as Dill Mill Gayye and Qubool Hai. He has also starred in Hindi films like Alone and Hate Story 3.
23/02/1981
Gareth Barry, English footballer
Gareth Barry is an English former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He made a total of 653 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton, and West Bromwich Albion, the second most appearances in Premier League history. He also represented England at international level.
Josh Gad, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
Joshua Ilan Gad is an American actor. He is known for voicing Olaf in the Frozen franchise and originating the role of Elder Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon.
Charles Tillman, American football player
Charles Anthony Tillman, nicknamed "Peanut", is an American former professional football player and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns, and was selected by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2003 NFL draft.
23/02/1978
Residente, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter
René Pérez Joglar, known professionally as Residente, is a Puerto Rican rapper. He is best known as one of the founders of the alternative rap band Calle 13. Residente released five albums with Calle 13 before announcing his solo career in 2015. Residente released his debut solo album in 2017. He has won four Grammy Awards and 29 Latin Grammy Awards—more than any other Latin artist. Residente has also delved into producing documentaries including Sin Mapa (2009) and Residente (2017) and has directed some of his own music videos.
Dan Snyder, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2003)
Daniel Joseph Snyder was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played as a centre in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta Thrashers. Following a single-vehicle accident in which he was a passenger, Snyder was injured and fell into a coma as a result. He died six days later of septic shock.
23/02/1977
Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, Estonian skier
Kristina Šmigun-Vähi is a former Estonian female cross-country skier and politician. She is the most successful Estonian female cross-country skier with two Olympic gold medals. Since 2019, Šmigun-Vähi, a member of the Reform Party, has served as a member of the Estonian Parliament.
23/02/1976
Kelly Macdonald, Scottish actress
Kelly Macdonald is a Scottish actress. Known for her performances on film and television, she has received various accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.
23/02/1975
Michael Cornacchia, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
Michael Cornacchia is an American actor.
Robert Lopez, American songwriter and playwright
Robert Lopez is an American songwriter for musicals and playwright, best known for co-creating The Book of Mormon and Avenue Q, and for co-writing the songs featured in the Disney animated films Frozen, its sequel Frozen 2, and Coco, with his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez. He is signed to Disney Music Publishing.
23/02/1974
Herschelle Gibbs, South African cricketer
Herschelle Herman Gibbs is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer, who played all formats of the game for fourteen years. A right-handed batsman, who mostly opened the batting, Gibbs became the first player to hit six consecutive sixes in one over in One Day International (ODI) cricket, doing so against the Netherlands in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
Robbi Kempson, South African rugby player
Robert Bruce Kempson is a South African former rugby union footballer, and the Director of High Performance and interim head coach of the Southern Kings in Pro14.
23/02/1973
Jeff Nordgaard, American-Polish basketball player
Jeff Wallace Nordgaard is an American-born naturalized Polish former professional basketball player who played briefly in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well several top-level European leagues, during his 13-year career. He played college basketball for the Green Bay Phoenix.
23/02/1972
Alessandro Sturba, Italian footballer
Alessandro Sturba is a former Italian footballer.
Rondell White, American baseball player
Rondell Bernard White is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and designated hitter. In addition to being a solid defensive player, White also had a batting average of .300 or higher for four consecutive seasons from 1998 to 2001.
23/02/1971
Carin Koch, Swedish golfer
Anna Carin Pernilla Hjalmarsson Koch is a Swedish professional golfer who previously played on the Ladies European Tour and on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She was captain of the 2015 European Solheim Cup team.
Melinda Messenger, English model and television host
Melinda Jane Messenger is an English television presenter and former glamour model and Page Three girl. She presented the magazine programme Live from Studio Five and was formerly the co-presenter of the reality show Cowboy Builders.
Joe-Max Moore, American soccer player
Joe-Max Moore is a former American professional soccer player who played as a forward for various clubs in Germany and England in addition to two separate tenures at Major League Soccer side New England Revolution, where he retired.
23/02/1970
Niecy Nash, American actress and producer
Carol Denise Betts, known professionally as Niecy Nash-Betts, is an American actress. Her career began in the late 1990s, with appearances in the films Boys on the Side (1995) and Cookie's Fortune (1999). She garnered recognition for her portrayal of Deputy Raineesha Williams in the comedy series Reno 911!, along with hosting the Style Network show Clean House (2003–2010), for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award.
23/02/1969
Michael Campbell, New Zealand golfer
Michael Shane Campbell is a New Zealand professional golfer who is best known for having won the 2005 U.S. Open and, at the time, the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the same year. He played on the European Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Martine Croxall, English journalist and television news presenter
Martine Sarah Croxall is a British television journalist. She is one of the main news presenters on BBC News. She began her career working for the BBC in 1991 and joined the BBC News team in 2001. Croxall has presented various news programmes, including World News Today, BBC Weekend News, Dateline London and BBC News at One.
Daymond John, American fashion designer and businessman, founded FUBU
Daymond Garfield John is an American businessman, investor, and television personality. He is an investor on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank. He is the founder, president, and chief executive officer of FUBU, and is the founder of The Shark Group.
Bhagyashree, Indian actress
Bhagyashree Patwardhan Dassani, known mononymously as Bhagyashree, is an Indian actress. She is known for her roles in Hindi language film and television. She is a recipient of a Filmfare Award, in addition to receiving nomination for Indian Television Academy Award.
23/02/1967
Steve Stricker, American golfer
Steven Charles Stricker is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has twelve victories on the PGA Tour, including the WGC-Match Play title in 2001 and two FedEx Cup playoff events. His most successful season on tour came at age 42 in 2009, with three victories and a runner-up finish on the money list. Stricker spent over 250 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking, reaching a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in September 2009. Stricker served as U.S. Ryder Cup captain for the 2021 matches, winning at Whistling Straits in his home state of Wisconsin.
Chris Vrenna, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
Chris Vrenna is an American musician, producer, engineer, remixer, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna played drums for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from 1988 until 1996, and was the keyboardist and drummer of the American rock band Marilyn Manson from 2004 until late 2011.
23/02/1965
Kristin Davis, American actress and producer
Kristin Landen Davis is an American actress and producer. She is known for playing Charlotte York in the HBO romantic comedy series Sex and the City (1998–2004). She received nominations at the Emmys and the Golden Globes in 2004 for her role as Charlotte, and reprised the role in the films Sex and the City (2008) and Sex and the City 2 (2010), as well as the revival of the show And Just Like That... (2021–2025) on HBO Max.
Michael Dell, American businessman
Michael Saul Dell is an American billionaire businessman and investor. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies, one of the world's largest technology infrastructure companies.
Helena Suková, Czech-Monacan tennis player
Helena Suková is a Czech former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and No. 4 in singles. Suková won 14 major titles: nine in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. She is also a two-time Olympic silver medalist in doubles, a four-time major singles runner-up, and won a total of ten singles titles and 69 doubles titles.
23/02/1964
John Norum, Norwegian guitarist and songwriter
John Terry Norum is a Norwegian-born Swedish guitarist and one of the founders of the rock band Europe. Concurrent to his role with Europe, he also maintains a career as a solo artist.
23/02/1963
Bobby Bonilla, American baseball player
Roberto Martin Antonio Bonilla is an American former professional baseball third baseman and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001.
Radosław Sikorski, Polish journalist and politician, 11th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland
Radosław Tomasz "Radek" Sikorski is a Polish politician, journalist and statesman who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2023, previously holding the office between 2007 and 2014, since 2025 also serving as Deputy Prime Minister. He was a Member of the European Parliament between 2019 and 2023. Earlier he was Marshal of the Sejm from 2014 to 2015. He previously served as Deputy Minister of National Defence in 1992 in Jan Olszewski's cabinet, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1998 and 2001 in Jerzy Buzek's cabinet and Minister of National Defence between 2005 and 2007 in the cabinets of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz and Jarosław Kaczyński.
23/02/1962
Michael Wilton, American guitarist
Michael F. Wilton also known as The Whip, for how fast his fingers "whip" around the guitar fretboard, is an American musician, best known for being a guitarist and songwriter in the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, which he co-founded in 1982.
23/02/1960
Naruhito, Emperor of Japan
Naruhito is Emperor of Japan since 1 May 2019. He is the 126th monarch, according to the traditional order of succession.
23/02/1959
Clayton Anderson, American engineer and astronaut
Clayton Conrad Anderson is a retired NASA astronaut. Launched on STS-117, he replaced Sunita Williams on June 10, 2007 as a member of the ISS Expedition 15 crew. He is currently an author, a motivational speaker, and a Professor of Practice at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. In 2022, he became the president and CEO of the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum.
Nick de Bois, English politician
Geoffrey Nicholas de Bois is a British broadcaster and former Conservative Party politician, who served as special adviser and chief of staff to Dominic Raab during his brief tenure as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. He was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Enfield North, defeating the Labour incumbent MP Joan Ryan. de Bois then went on to lose the seat to Ryan at the next general election, in May 2015.
Ian Liddell-Grainger, Scottish soldier and politician
Ian Richard Peregrine Liddell-Grainger is a British former Conservative Party politician and former property developer. He was MP for Bridgwater from 2001 until 2010, and until 2024, MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset. Through his mother, he is a great-great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria, third cousin of Charles III and second cousin once removed of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Linda Nolan, Irish singer and actress (died 2025)
Linda Mary Hudson was an Irish singer, actress, and television personality.
23/02/1958
David Sylvian, English singer-songwriter
David Sylvian is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan.
23/02/1957
Charlie Brandt, American serial killer (died 2004)
Carl Eric "Charlie" Brandt was an American serial killer who murdered at least four women: his mother in Indiana and a homeless woman, his wife, and his niece in Florida. Growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Brandt shot his parents in their family home on the night of January 3, 1971, when he was 13, killing his pregnant mother and wounding his father. He spent one year at a psychiatric hospital before being released and was never criminally charged. On September 13, 2004, Brandt stabbed his wife and niece to death and then hanged himself in his niece's garage in Maitland, Florida.
23/02/1956
Sandra Osborne, Scottish politician
Sandra Currie Osborne is a Scottish Labour politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock from the 2005 to 2015 general elections. She was first elected as MP for the Ayr constituency in 1997, and resigned from a government job in 2003 over the Iraq War. She was a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2013. She was a member of the Defence Select Committee 2010-13 and was a member of the Council of Europe.
23/02/1955
Howard Jones, English singer-songwriter
John Howard Jones is an English singer, musician and songwriter. He had ten top 40 hit singles on the UK singles chart between 1983 and 1986, six of which reached the top ten, including "Like to Get to Know You Well", "What Is Love?", "New Song", and "Things Can Only Get Better". His debut studio album Human's Lib (1984) reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. Around the world, Jones had 15 top 40 hit singles between 1983 and 1992. The 1986 hit single "No One Is to Blame" reached No. 4 on the US charts. Four others placed in the US top 20.
Flip Saunders, American basketball player and coach (died 2015)
Philip Daniel "Flip" Saunders was an American basketball player and coach. During his career, he coached the La Crosse Catbirds, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Washington Wizards.
Francesca Simon, American-British author
Francesca Isabella Simon is an American-born British author. She is most famous for writing the Horrid Henry series of children's books.
23/02/1954
Rajini Thiranagama, Sri Lankan physician and academic (died 1989)
Rajani Thiranagama was a Sri Lankan Tamil human rights activist and feminist who was assassinated by the LTTE cadres after she had criticised them for their atrocities. At the time of her assassination, she was the head of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Jaffna and an active member and one of the founders of University Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna.
Viktor Yushchenko, Ukrainian captain and politician, 3rd President of Ukraine
Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards the West, European Union, the G7, and NATO.
23/02/1953
Kenny Bee, Hong Kong singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
Chung Chun-to, also known as Kenny Bee, is a Hong Kong singer and actor. He rose to fame as the frontman of the Wynners, with whom he won the Golden Needle Award, the highest honor in Hong Kong music, in 1989. He received the award again in 2016 as a solo artist.
Satoru Nakajima, Japanese racing driver
Satoru Nakajima is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1987 to 1991.
23/02/1952
Brad Whitford, American guitarist and songwriter
Bradley Ernest Whitford is an American musician who is best known as a guitarist for the hard rock band Aerosmith for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. He has also worked as a songwriter for the group, co-composing well-received tracks such as 1976's "Last Child".
23/02/1951
Eddie Dibbs, American tennis player
Eddie Dibbs is a retired American tennis player also nicknamed "Fast Eddie". He attained a career-high singles ranking of world No. 5 in July 1978, winning 22 titles and being a runner-up another 20 times.
Debbie Friedman, American singer-songwriter of Jewish melodies (died 2011)
Deborah Lynn Friedman was an American singer-songwriter of religious Jewish music. She was an early pioneer of gender-sensitive language: using the feminine forms of the Divine or altering masculine-only text references in the Jewish Liturgy to include feminine language.
Ed "Too Tall" Jones, American football player and boxer
Edward Lee Jones, commonly known as Ed "Too Tall" Jones due to his height, is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for 15 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL). In 1979, he briefly left football to attempt a career in professional boxing.
Patricia Richardson, American actress
Patricia Richardson is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Jill Taylor on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement, for which she was nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and twice for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical. She also received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her performance in Ulee's Gold (1997).
23/02/1950
Rebecca Goldstein, American philosopher and author
Rebecca Goldstein is an American philosopher and novelist. She has written ten books, both fiction and nonfiction. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy of science from Princeton University, and is sometimes grouped with novelists such as Richard Powers and Alan Lightman, who create fiction that is knowledgeable of, and sympathetic toward, science.
John Greaves, Welsh bass guitarist and composer
John Greaves is a Welsh bass guitarist, pianist and composer who was a member of Henry Cow and has collaborated with Peter Blegvad. He was also a member of progressive rock band National Health and jazz-rock supergroup Soft Heap, and has recorded several solo albums, including Accident (1982), Parrot Fashions (1984), The Caretaker (2001) and Greaves Verlaine (2008).
23/02/1949
César Aira, Argentine author and translator
César Aira is an Argentine writer and translator, and an exponent of contemporary Argentine literature. He has published over a hundred short books of stories, novels and essays. He has lectured at the University of Buenos Aires, on Copi and Arthur Rimbaud, and at the University of Rosario on Constructivism and Stéphane Mallarmé, and has translated and edited books from France, England, Italy, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, and Venezuela.
Marc Garneau, Canadian engineer, astronaut, and politician (died 2025)
Joseph Jean-Pierre Marc Garneau was a Canadian Armed Forces officer, astronaut and politician. Garneau served as a naval officer before being selected as an astronaut as part of the 1983 NRC Group. He became the first Canadian in space on October 5, 1984, and flew on three Space Shuttle missions. From 2001 to 2005, Garneau was president of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Garneau entered politics and was elected to the House of Commons in 2008, serving as a Montreal-area member of Parliament (MP) until 2023. A member of the Liberal Party, Garneau served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from January to October in 2021 and as Minister of Transport from 2015 to 2021.
23/02/1948
Bill Alexander, English director and producer
William Alexander Paterson known professionally as Bill Alexander is a British theatre director who is best known for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and as artistic director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He currently works as a freelance, internationally as a theatre director and most recently as a director of BBC Radio 4 drama.
Trevor Cherry, English footballer (died 2020)
Trevor John Cherry was an English footballer who notably captained both England and Leeds United. A defender, Cherry also played for Huddersfield Town and Bradford City, and managed the latter club.
Steve Priest, English singer-songwriter and bass player (died 2020)
Stephen Norman Priest was an English musician who was the bassist of the glam rock band The Sweet.
23/02/1947
Pia Kjærsgaard, Danish politician, Speaker of the Danish Parliament
Pia Merete Kjærsgaard is a Danish politician who was Speaker of the Danish Parliament from 2015 to 2019, and former leader of the Danish People's Party.
Anton Mosimann, Swiss chef and author
Anton Mosimann is a Swiss chef and restaurateur who was Maitre Chef des Cuisines at the Dorchester Hotel for thirteen years, during which time its restaurant achieved a rating of two stars in the Michelin Guide. After leaving The Dorchester Mosimann took over a private dining club called The Belfrey and created Mosimann's, a cookery school, and other enterprises in the hospitality industry. He has also presented television programmes in the UK and Switzerland. In 2016 a museum dedicated to his life and culinary arts was opened in the campus of Culinary Arts Academy Switzerland, located on the shores of Lake Geneva, in the town of Le Bouveret.
23/02/1946
Rusty Young, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2021)
Norman Russell Young was an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, best known as one of the frontmen in the influential country rock and Americana band Poco.
23/02/1945
Allan Boesak, South African cleric and politician
Allan Aubrey Boesak is a South African Dutch Reformed Church cleric, politician and anti-apartheid activist. He was sentenced to prison for fraud in 1999 but was subsequently granted an official pardon and reinstated as a cleric in late 2004.
23/02/1944
Bernard Cornwell, English author and educator
Bernard Cornwell is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo campaign. He is best known for his long-running series of novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also written The Saxon Stories, a series of thirteen novels about the unification of England.
Florian Fricke, German keyboard player and composer (died 2001)
Florian Fricke was a German musician who started his professional career with electronic music, using the Moog synthesizer, and was a founding member of the Krautrock band Popol Vuh.
Johnny Winter, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2014)
John Dawson Winter III was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1960s into the early 2000s. He also produced three Grammy Award–winning albums for blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. After his time with Waters, Winter recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 63rd in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
23/02/1943
Fred Biletnikoff, American football player and coach
Frederick Biletnikoff is an American former professional football player and coach. He played as a wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons and later was an assistant coach with the team. He retired as an NFL player after the 1978 season then played one more season in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Montreal Alouettes in 1980. While he lacked the breakaway speed to be a deep-play threat, Biletnikoff was one of the most sure-handed and consistent receivers of his day with a propensity for making spectacular catches. He was also known for running smooth, precise pass routes. He is a member of both the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1988) and College Football Hall of Fame (1991).
Bobby Mitchell, American golfer (died 2018)
Bobby Wayne Mitchell was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.
23/02/1941
Ron Hunt, American baseball player
Ronald Kenneth (Ron) Hunt is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1963 to 1974 for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Montreal Expos and St. Louis Cardinals. He batted and threw right-handed.
23/02/1940
Peter Fonda, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2019)
Peter Henry Fonda was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He was twice an Academy Award nominee, both for acting and screenwriting, and a two-time Golden Globe Award winner for his acting. He was a member of the Fonda acting family, as the son of actor Henry Fonda, the brother of actress and activist Jane Fonda, and the father of actress Bridget Fonda.
Jackie Smith, American football player
Jackie Larue Smith is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Northwestern State Demons. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994.
23/02/1939
Lee Shaffer, American basketball player
Lee Philip Shaffer II is an American former professional basketball player.
23/02/1938
Sylvia Chase, American broadcast journalist (died 2019)
Sylvia Belle Chase was an American broadcast journalist. She was a correspondent for ABC's 20/20 from its inception until 1985, when she left to become a news anchor at KRON-TV in San Francisco; in 1990 she returned to ABC News in New York.
Paul Morrissey, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2024)
Paul Joseph Morrissey was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was best known for his long association with Andy Warhol and the Factory scene during the 1960s and early 1970s.
Diane Varsi, American actress (died 1992)
Diane Marie Antonia Varsi was an American film actress best known for her performances in Peyton Place – her film debut, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award – and the cult film Wild in the Streets. She left Hollywood to pursue personal and artistic aims, notably at Bennington College in Vermont, where she studied poetry with poet and translator Ben Belitt.
23/02/1937
Tom Osborne, American football player, coach, and politician
Thomas William Osborne is an American former football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and politician from Nebraska. He served as head football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1973 to 1997. After being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999, Osborne was elected to Congress in 2000 from Nebraska's third district as a Republican. He served three terms (2001–2007), returned to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln as athletic director in 2007, and retired in 2013.
23/02/1932
Majel Barrett, American actress and producer (died 2008)
Majel Barrett-Roddenberry was an American actress. She was best known for her roles as various characters in the Star Trek franchise: Nurse Christine Chapel, Number One, Lwaxana Troi, and the voice of most onboard computer interfaces throughout the series from 1966 to 2008.
23/02/1931
Tom Wesselmann, American painter and sculptor (died 2004)
Thomas K. Wesselmann was an American artist associated with the pop art movement who worked in painting, collage and sculpture.
23/02/1930
Paul West, English-American author, poet, and academic (died 2015)
Paul Noden West was a British-born American novelist, poet, and essayist. He was born in Eckington, Derbyshire in England to Alfred and Mildred (Noden) West. Before his death, he resided in Ithaca, New York, with his wife Diane Ackerman, a writer, poet, and naturalist. West is the author of more than 50 books.
23/02/1929
Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow (died 2008)
Patriarch Alexy II was the 15th Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Elston Howard, American baseball player and coach (died 1980)
Elston Gene Howard was an American professional baseball player who was a catcher and a left fielder. During a 14-year baseball career, he played in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1948 through 1968, primarily for the New York Yankees. A 12-time All-Star, he also played for the Kansas City Monarchs and the Boston Red Sox. Howard served on the Yankees' coaching staff from 1969 to 1979.
23/02/1928
Hans Herrmann, German racing driver (died 2026)
Hans Herrmann was a German Formula One and sports car racing driver from Stuttgart.
Vasily Lazarev, Russian colonel, physician, and astronaut (died 1990)
Vasily Grigoryevich Lazarev was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on the Soyuz 12 spaceflight as well as the abortive Soyuz 18a launch on 5 April 1975.
23/02/1927
Régine Crespin, French soprano and actress (died 2007)
Régine Crespin was a French soprano who had a major international career in opera and on the concert stage between 1950 and 1989. She started her career singing roles in the dramatic soprano and spinto soprano repertoire, drawing particular acclaim singing Wagner and Strauss heroines. She went on to sing a wider repertoire that embraced Italian, French, German, and Russian opera from a variety of musical periods. In the early 1970s Crespin began experiencing vocal difficulties for the first time and ultimately began performing roles from the mezzo-soprano repertoire. Throughout her career she was widely admired for the elegance, warmth and subtlety of her singing, especially in the French and German operatic repertories.
Jessica Huntley, Guyanese activist and publisher (died 2013)
Jessica Elleisse Huntley was a Guyanese-British political reformer and prominent race equality campaigner. She was a publisher of black and Asian literature, and a women's and community rights activist. She is notable as the founder in 1969 of Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications in London.
Mirtha Legrand, Argentine actress and television presenter
Rosa María Juana Martínez Suárez, known by her stage name Mirtha Legrand, is an Argentine actress and television presenter. With an 80-year career, Legrand is one of the most recognized entertainment figures in Argentina. Legrand made her leading role debut in Los martes, orquídeas (1941) at only age 14, during the Golden Age of Argentine cinema, with starring roles in the 1940s and 1950s. Legrand appeared in the interview television programme Almorzando con las estrellas, which first aired in 1968 on Alejandro Romay's Channel 9. The show was later renamed Almorzando con Mirtha Legrand.
23/02/1925
Louis Stokes, American lawyer and politician (died 2015)
Louis Stokes was an American attorney, civil rights pioneer and politician. He served 15 terms in the United States House of Representatives – representing the east side of Cleveland – and was the first African American congressman elected in the state of Ohio. He was one of the Cold War era chairmen of the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, headed the Congressional Black Caucus, and was the first African American on the United States House Committee on Appropriations.
23/02/1924
Allan McLeod Cormack, South-African-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1998)
Allan MacLeod Cormack was a South African and American physicist, academic, and Nobel Laureate. He was Professor of Physics at Tufts University and won the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on X-ray computed tomography (CT), a significant and unusual achievement since Cormack did not hold a doctoral degree in any scientific field.
23/02/1923
Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan jurist and politician, President of Uruguay (died 2014)
Rafael Addiego Bruno was a Uruguayan jurist and political figure.
Harry Clarke, English footballer (died 2000)
Henry Alfred Clarke was a professional footballer who spent his entire senior career at Tottenham Hotspur. He also represented England on one occasion.
Ioannis Grivas, Greek judge and politician, 176th Prime Minister of Greece (died 2016)
Ioannis Grivas was a Greek judge, who served as President of the Court of Cassation and served as the Prime Minister of Greece at the head of a non-party caretaker government in 1989.
Dante Lavelli, American football player (died 2009)
Dante Bert Joseph Lavelli, nicknamed "Gluefingers", was an American professional football end who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1956. Starring alongside quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley, kicker Lou Groza and fellow receiver Mac Speedie, Lavelli was an integral part of a Browns team that won seven championships during his 11-season career. Lavelli was known for his sure hands and improvisations on the field. He was also renowned for making catches in critical situations, earning the nickname "Mr. Clutch". Browns head coach Paul Brown once said of him: "Lavelli had one of the strongest pairs of hands I've ever seen, when he went up for a pass with a defender, you could almost always count on him coming back down with the ball."
Clarence D. Lester, American fighter pilot (died 1986)
Clarence D. "Lucky" Lester was an American fighter pilot who served in the 332nd Fighter Group, commonly known as the Tuskegee Airmen, during World War II. He was one of the first African-American military aviators in the United States Army Air Corps, the United States Army Air Forces and later the United States Air Force.
Mary Francis Shura, American author (died 1991)
Mary Francis Shura Craig was an American writer of over 50 novels from 1960 to 1990. She wrote children's adventures and young adult romances as Mary Francis Shura, M. F. Craig, and Meredith Hill; gothic novels as Mary Craig; romance novels as Alexis Hill, Mary Shura Craig and Mary S. Craig; and suspense novels as M. S. Craig.
23/02/1922
Johnny Franz, English record producer (died 1977)
John Charles Franz was an English record producer and A&R man at the Philips label. He was one of Britain's most successful producers in the 1950s and 1960s. While his recordings encompassed several forms of mainstream popular music, his most enduring contributions were to British pop music of the mid-1960s on records by Dusty Springfield, the Walker Brothers, and the early solo recordings of Scott Walker. From 1973, he was responsible for the production of Peters & Lee recordings, which included their No. 1 chart hit "Welcome Home".
23/02/1920
Paul Gérin-Lajoie, Canadian lawyer and politician (died 2018)
Paul Gérin-Lajoie, was a Canadian lawyer, philanthropist, and a former member of the National Assembly of Quebec and Cabinet Minister.
23/02/1919
Johnny Carey, Irish footballer and manager (died 1995)
John Joseph Carey was an Irish professional footballer and manager. As a player, Carey spent most of his career at Manchester United, where he was team captain from 1946 until he retired as a player in 1953. He was also a dual internationalist, playing for and captaining both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. In 1947 he also captained a Europe XI which played a Great Britain XI at Hampden Park. In 1949 he was voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year and in the same year captained the FAI XI that defeated England 2–0 at Goodison Park, becoming the first non-UK team to beat England at home. Carey was also the first non-UK player and the first Irishman to captain a winning team in both an FA Cup Final and the First Division. Like his contemporary Con Martin, Carey was an extremely versatile footballer and played in nine different positions throughout his career. He even played in goal for United on one occasion.
23/02/1915
Jon Hall, American actor and director (died 1979)
Jon Hall was an American film actor known for playing a variety of adventurous roles, as in 1937's The Hurricane, and later when contracted to Universal Pictures, including Invisible Agent, The Invisible Man's Revenge, and six films with Maria Montez. He was also the creator and star of the Ramar of the Jungle television series that ran from 1952 to 1954. Hall directed and starred in two 1960s science fiction films in his later years, The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965) and The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966).
Paul Tibbets, American general and pilot (died 2007)
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the Enola Gay when it dropped a Little Boy, the first of two atomic bombs used in warfare, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
23/02/1908
William McMahon, Australian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1988)
Sir William McMahon was an Australian politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Australia from 1971 to 1972. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and previously held various ministerial positions from 1951 to 1971, the longest continuous service in Australian history.
23/02/1904
Terence Fisher, English director and screenwriter (died 1980)
Terence Fisher was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Films.
William L. Shirer, American journalist and historian (died 1993)
William Lawrence Shirer was an American journalist, war correspondent, and historian. His history of Nazi Germany The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich has been read and cited in scholarly works for more than 60 years; its 50th anniversary was marked by a new edition of the book.
23/02/1899
Erich Kästner, German author and poet (died 1974)
Emil Erich Kästner was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including Emil and the Detectives and Lisa and Lottie. He received the international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1960 for his autobiography When I Was a Little Boy. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in eight separate years.
Norman Taurog, American director and screenwriter (died 1981)
Norman Rae Taurog was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for Skippy (1931), becoming the youngest person to win the award for eight and a half decades. He was later nominated for Best Director for the film Boys Town (1938). He directed some of the best-known actors of the twentieth century, including his nephew Jackie Cooper, Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Deanna Durbin, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Deborah Kerr, Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Elvis Presley and Vincent Price. Taurog directed six Martin and Lewis films, and nine Elvis Presley films, more than any other director.
23/02/1894
Harold Horder, Australian rugby league player and coach (died 1978)
Harold Norman Horder was an Australian rugby league footballer. He was a national and state representative player whose club career was with South Sydney and North Sydney between 1912 and 1924. Regarded as one of the greatest wingers to play the game, from 1924 until 1969 his 152 career tries was the NSWRFL record.
23/02/1892
Kathleen Harrison, English actress (died 1995)
Kathleen Harrison was a prolific English character actress best remembered for her role as Mrs. Huggett in a trio of British post-war comedies about a working-class family's misadventures, The Huggetts. She later played the charwoman Mrs. Dilber opposite Alastair Sim in the 1951 film Scrooge and a Cockney charwoman who inherits a fortune in the television series Mrs Thursday (1966–67).
Agnes Smedley, American journalist and writer (died 1950)
Agnes Smedley was an American journalist, writer and activist who supported the Indian Independence Movement and the Chinese Communist Revolution. Raised in a poverty-stricken miner's family in Missouri and Colorado, she dramatized the formation of her feminist and socialist consciousness in the autobiographical novel Daughter of Earth (1929).
23/02/1889
Musidora, French actress and director (died 1957)
Jeanne Roques, known professionally as Musidora, was a French actress, film director, and writer. She is best known for her acting in silent films, and rose to public attention for roles in the Louis Feuillade serials Les Vampires as Irma Vep and in Judex as Marie Verdier.
Cyril Delevanti, English-American actor (died 1975)
Harry Cyril Delevanti was an English character actor, with a long career in American films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He appeared in some 170 productions, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his performance in John Huston's The Night of the Iguana (1964).
Victor Fleming, American director, cinematographer, and producer (died 1949)
Victor Lonzo Fleming was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were the historical drama Gone with the Wind, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director, and the fantasy film The Wizard of Oz. Fleming has those same two films listed in the top 10 of the American Film Institute's 2007 AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list.
John Gilbert Winant, American captain, pilot, and politician, 60th Governor of New Hampshire (died 1947)
John Gilbert Winant OM was an American diplomat and politician with the Republican party after a brief career as a teacher in Concord, New Hampshire. John Winant held positions in New Hampshire, national, and international politics. He was the 60th governor of New Hampshire from 1925 to 1927 and 1931 to 1935. Winant also served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom during most of World War II. Depressed by career disappointments, a failed marriage and heavy debt, he killed himself in 1947.
23/02/1884
Casimir Funk, Polish biochemist (died 1967)
Casimir Funk was a Polish biochemist generally credited with being among the first to formulate the concept of vitamins after publishing a landmark medical writing in 1912. He highlighted these "vital amines" as critical in fighting significant diseases such as pellagra and rickets, and his analysis influenced a major shift in scientific thinking. His scientific work involved research in Poland, France and the United Kingdom. In 1920, he became a citizen of the United States where he continued his work.
23/02/1883
Karl Jaspers, German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (died 1969)
Karl Theodor Jaspers was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. His 1913 work General Psychopathology influenced many later diagnostic criteria, and argued for a distinction between "primary" and "secondary" delusions.
Guy C. Wiggins, American painter (died 1962)
Guy Carleton Wiggins NA was an American impressionist painter. He was the president of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, and a member of the Old Lyme Art Colony. He did many paintings of New York City's snowy streets, landmarks and towering skyscrapers during winter.
23/02/1878
Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian painter and theorist (died 1935)
Kazimir Severinovich Malevich was a Russian avant-garde artist and art theorist, whose pioneering work and writing influenced the development of abstract art in the 20th century. His concept of Suprematism sought to develop a form of expression that moved as far as possible from the world of natural forms (objectivity) and subject matter in order to access "the supremacy of pure feeling" and spirituality. Born in Kiev, modern-day Ukraine, to an ethnic Polish family, Malevich was active primarily in Russia and became a leading artist of the Russian avant-garde. His work has been also associated with the Ukrainian avant-garde, and he is a central figure in the history of modern art in Central and Eastern Europe more broadly.
23/02/1874
Konstantin Päts, Estonian lawyer and politician, 1st President of Estonia (died 1956)
Konstantin Päts was an Estonian statesman and the country's president from 1938 to 1940. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, and during the two decades prior to World War II he also served five times as the country's State Elder. After the 16–17 June 1940 Soviet invasion and occupation of Estonia, Päts remained formally in office for over a month, until he was forced to resign, imprisoned by the new Stalinist regime, and deported to the USSR, where he died in 1956.
23/02/1873
Liang Qichao, Chinese journalist, philosopher, and scholar (died 1929)
Liang Qichao was a Chinese politician, social and political activist, journalist, and intellectual. His thought had a significant influence on the political reformation of modern China. He inspired Chinese scholars and activists with his writings and reform movements. His translations of Western and Japanese books into Chinese further introduced new theories and ideas and inspired young activists. Liang was of Taishanese descent.
23/02/1868
W. E. B. Du Bois, American sociologist, historian, and activist (died 1963)
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, writer, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relatively tolerant and integrated community. He completed graduate work at Harvard University, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate. He was a professor at Atlanta University and over the course of his life wrote a large number of books and articles. He spent the last years of his life in Ghana and died in Accra on August 27, 1963.
Anna Hofman-Uddgren, Swedish actress, singer, and director (died 1947)
Anna Maria Viktoria Hofman-Uddgren née Hammarström; also known as Hoffman and Hofmann, was a Swedish actress, cabaret singer, music hall and revue artist, theatre director, and film director. Until 2016, she was referred to as the first woman to become a film director in Sweden.
23/02/1850
César Ritz, Swiss businessman, founded The Ritz Hotel, London and Hôtel Ritz Paris (died 1918)
César Ritz was a Swiss businessman, hotelier and pioneer of the travel industry. He most notably founded several hotels most famously the Hôtel Ritz in Paris and the Ritz and Carlton Hotels in London.
23/02/1842
Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher and author (died 1906)
Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann was a German philosopher, independent scholar and writer. He was the author of the influential Philosophy of the Unconscious (1869). von Hartmann's notable ideas include the theory of the Unconscious and a pessimistic interpretation of the "best of all possible worlds" concept in metaphysics.
23/02/1831
Hendrik Willem Mesdag, Dutch painter (died 1915)
Hendrik Willem Mesdag was a Dutch marine painter.
23/02/1830
Magdalene Osenbroch, Norwegian actress (died 1854)
Magdalene Henrikke Dedichen Osenbroch was a Norwegian actress who mainly performed at the Det norske Theater in Bergen.
23/02/1805
Johan Jakob Nervander, Finnish poet, physicist and meteorologist (died 1848)
Johan Jakob Nervander was a Finnish poet, physicist, and meteorologist.
23/02/1792
José Joaquín de Herrera, Mexican politician and general (died 1854)
José Joaquín Antonio Florencio de Herrera y Ricardos was a Mexican statesman who served as president of Mexico three times, and as a general in the Mexican Army during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848.
23/02/1744
Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German banker and businessman (died 1812)
Mayer Amschel Rothschild was a German Jewish banker and the founder of the Rothschild banking dynasty, which dominated international finance in Europe between the 1820s and the 1870s. Referred to as a "founding father of international finance", Rothschild was ranked seventh on the Forbes magazine list of "The Twenty Most Influential Businessmen of All Time" in 2005.
23/02/1723
Richard Price, Welsh-English minister and philosopher (died 1791)
Richard Price was a Welsh moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer and pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the French and American Revolutions. He was well-connected and fostered communication between many people, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington, Mirabeau and the Marquis de Condorcet. According to the historian John Davies, Price was "the greatest Welsh thinker of all time".
23/02/1685
George Frideric Handel, German-English organist and composer (died 1759)
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti.
23/02/1680
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, Canadian politician, 2nd Colonial Governor of Louisiana (died 1767)
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, also known as Sieur de Bienville, was a French-Canadian colonial administrator in New France. Born in Montreal, he was an early governor of French Louisiana, appointed four separate times during 1701–1743. He was the younger brother of explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville.
23/02/1646
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shōgun (died 1709)
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was a Japanese samurai, daimyo and the fifth shōgun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the younger brother of Tokugawa Ietsuna, the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
23/02/1633
Samuel Pepys, English diarist and politician (died 1703)
Samuel Pepys was an English writer and Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament, but is most remembered today for the diary he kept for almost a decade. Though he had no maritime experience, Pepys rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both Charles II and James II through patronage, diligence, and his talent for administration. His influence and reforms at the English Admiralty were important in the early professionalisation of the Royal Navy.
23/02/1606
George Frederick of Nassau-Siegen, officer in the Dutch Army (died 1674)
Prince George Frederick of Nassau-Siegen, German: Georg Friedrich Prinz von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: Prinz von Nassau, Graf zu Katzenelnbogen, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Beilstein, was a count from the House of Nassau-Siegen, a cadet branch of the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau. In 1664 he was elevated to the rank and title of prince. He served as an officer in the Dutch States Army, and was successively commander of Rheinberg and governor of Bergen op Zoom.
23/02/1592
Balthazar Gerbier, Dutch painter (died 1663)
Sir Balthazar Gerbier was an Anglo-Dutch courtier, diplomat, art advisor, miniaturist and architectural designer, in his own words fluent in "several languages" with "a good hand in writing, skill in sciences as mathematics, architecture, drawing, painting, contriving of scenes, masques, shows and entertainments for great Princes... as likewise for making of engines useful in war."
23/02/1583
Jean-Baptiste Morin, French mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer (died 1656)
Jean-Baptiste Morin, also known by the Latinized name as Morinus, was a French mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer.
23/02/1539
Henry XI of Legnica, thrice Duke of Legnica (died 1588)
Henry XI of Legnica, was thrice Duke of Legnica: 1551–1556, 1559–1576 and 1580–1581.
Salima Sultan Begum, Empress of the Mughal Empire (died 1612)
Salima Sultan Begum was the third wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Akbar, and a granddaughter of Babur.
23/02/1529
Onofrio Panvinio, Italian historian (died 1568)
Onofrio Panvinio was an Italian Augustinian friar, historian and antiquary who was the librarian to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese.
23/02/1443
Matthias Corvinus, Hungarian king (died 1490)
Matthias Corvinus was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and adopted the title Duke of Austria in 1487. He was the son of John Hunyadi, Regent of Hungary, who died in 1456. In 1457, Matthias was imprisoned along with his older brother, Ladislaus Hunyadi, on the orders of King Ladislaus the Posthumous. Ladislaus Hunyadi was executed, causing a rebellion that forced King Ladislaus to flee Hungary. After the King died unexpectedly, Matthias's uncle Michael Szilágyi persuaded the Estates to unanimously proclaim the 14-year-old Matthias as king on 24 January 1458. He began his rule under his uncle's guardianship, but he took effective control of government within two weeks.
23/02/1417
Pope Paul II (died 1471)
Pope Paul II, born Pietro Barbo, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 August 1464 to his death in 1471. When his maternal uncle became Pope Eugene IV, Barbo switched from training to be a merchant to religious studies. His rise in the Church was relatively rapid. Elected pope in 1464, Paul amassed a great collection of art and antiquities.
Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria (died 1479)
Louis IX was Duke of Bavaria-Landshut from 1450. He was a son of Henry XVI the Rich and Margaret of Austria. Louis was the founder of the University of Ingolstadt.
23/02/1133
Al-Zafir, Fatimid caliph (died 1154)
Abū Manṣūr Ismāʿīl ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ, better known by his regnal name al-Ẓāfir bi-Amr Allāh or al-Ẓāfir bi-Aʿdāʾ Allāh, was the twelfth Fatimid caliph, reigning in Egypt from 1149 to 1154, and the 22nd imam of the Hafizi Isma'ili branch of Shia Islam.