Friday, 27th February 2026 in Lisbon

On this day, 240 notable people were born on 26th February — spanning from 272 to 2002. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

27/02/2002

Johnny Davis, American basketball player

Jonathan Christian Davis is an American professional basketball player for the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Wisconsin Badgers.

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27/02/1998

Todd Cantwell, English footballer

Todd Owen Cantwell is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for and captains EFL Championship club Blackburn Rovers.

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27/02/1996

Chris Godwin, American football player

Rod Christopher Godwin Jr. is an American professional football wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions and was selected by the Buccaneers in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft. He won a Super Bowl championship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.

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Ten, Thai singer and dancer

Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul, known professionally as Ten, is a Thai singer, dancer, and rapper based in South Korea and China. He debuted with the South Korean boy band under SM Entertainment, NCT, in 2016 as part of its first sub-unit, NCT U. Since 2019, he has been active mainly as a member of NCT's China-based unit WayV and the South Korean supergroup SuperM. Ten has also released several solo singles through the SM Station project: "Dream in a Dream" (2017), "New Heroes" (2018), "Paint Me Naked" (2021), and "Birthday" (2022). He made his solo debut in February 2024 with his eponymous extended play.

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27/02/1995

Laura Gulbe, Latvian tennis player

Laura Gulbe is a Latvian tennis player.

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Sergej Milinković-Savić, Serbian footballer

Sergej Milinković-Savić, also known mononymously as Sergej, is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal and the Serbia national team.

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Tomáš Souček, Czech footballer

Tomáš Souček is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club West Ham United and the Czech Republic national team.

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27/02/1994

Mike Matheson, Canadian ice hockey player

Michael Matheson is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman and alternate captain for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the first round, 23rd overall, by the Florida Panthers in the 2012 NHL entry draft. Matheson has also previously played for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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27/02/1993

Alphonse Areola, French footballer

Alphonse Francis Areola is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club West Ham United and the France national team.

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27/02/1992

Meyers Leonard, American basketball player

Meyers Patrick Leonard is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 11th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. After spending his first seven seasons with the Trail Blazers, he was traded to the Miami Heat in the 2019 off-season. He reached the NBA Finals with the Heat in 2020. No NBA player who is at least 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) has a career three point shot field goal percentage of 40%, but Leonard is one of the few that has one over 39%.

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Ioannis Potouridis, Greek footballer

Ioannis Potouridis is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for the Greek club Aris Petroupolis.

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Jonjo Shelvey, English footballer

Jonjo Shelvey is an English football coach and former player who played as a central midfielder. He is head coach of UAE Second Division League side Arabian Falcons.

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Callum Wilson, English footballer

Callum Eddie Graham Wilson is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club West Ham United.

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27/02/1991

Azeem Rafiq, Pakistani cricketer

Azeem Rafiq is an English cricketer who played professionally in England for Yorkshire County Cricket Club. A right-arm off-spin bowler, Rafiq played for the county between 2008 and 2014 and 2016 and 2018, making his senior debut at the age of 17. He captained the England under-15 and under-19 teams, and in 2012 became the youngest man to captain a Yorkshire team as well as the first person of Asian origin to do so.

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27/02/1990

Chandler Jones, American football player

Chandler James Jones is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He played college football for the Syracuse Orange and was selected by the New England Patriots in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft. He also played for the Arizona Cardinals and the Las Vegas Raiders.

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Adam Morgan, American baseball player

Adam Christopher Morgan is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs.

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Lindsey Morgan, American actress

Lindsey Marie Morgan is an American actress. She is known for playing Raven Reyes in the CW science fiction drama series The 100 (2014–2020) and Micki Ramirez in the action crime drama series Walker (2021–2022).

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27/02/1989

David Button, English footballer

David Robert Edmund Button is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Ipswich Town.

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Lloyd Rigby, English footballer

Lloyd Joseph Rigby is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper.

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27/02/1988

Dustin Jeffrey, Canadian ice hockey player

Dustin Jeffrey is a Canadian former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Jeffrey was drafted as the 171st overall selection in the sixth round of the 2007 NHL entry draft by the Penguins.

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Iain Ramsay, Australian footballer

Iain Irinco Ramsay is a former professional footballer who played as a left winger or a left back. Born in Australia, he played for the Philippines national team. He previously made competitive appearances for Sydney FC, Melbourne City, Sydney Olympic, Adelaide United, Tractor Sazi, Ceres–Negros and Felda United.

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27/02/1987

Valeriy Andriytsev, Ukrainian wrestler

Valerii Oleksandrovych Andriitsev is a male freestyle wrestler from Ukraine. He won the silver medal in the Men's freestyle 96 kg at 2012 Summer Olympics. He won the silver in the 2012 European Wrestling Championships. At the 2014 World Wrestling Championships he took the bronze medal after winning a rematch against American Jake Varner, who beat him in the gold medal match at the 2012 Olympics. In June 2015, he earned bronze at the inaugural European Games for Ukraine in wrestling, more specifically, in the men's freestyle in the - 97 kg division.

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Florence Kiplagat, Kenyan runner

Florence Jebet Kiplagat is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. She is a two-time world champion, having won at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. She was the world record holder for the women's half marathon with a time of 1:05:09 hours until it was broken by Peres Jepchirchir on 10 February 2017 at the RAK Half Marathon.

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27/02/1986

Yovani Gallardo, Mexican baseball player

Yovani Gallardo is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft out of Trimble Technical High School in Fort Worth, Texas. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and Cincinnati Reds. Gallardo was an All-Star in 2010, and won the Silver Slugger Award for pitchers that year.

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Daniel Gibson, American basketball player and coach

Daniel Hiram "Boobie" Gibson is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the 2006 NBA draft and played seven seasons for them.

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Jonathan Moreira, Brazilian footballer

Jonathan Cícero Moreira, sometimes known as just Jonathan, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a right-back.

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Sandeep Singh, Indian field hockey player

Sandeep Singh is an Indian professional field hockey player from Haryana and an ex-captain of the Indian national hockey team. He generally features as a full back and is a penalty corner specialist for the team. He has been dubbed "Flicker Singh" in the media for his specialization of the drag-flick, one of the fastest in the world.

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27/02/1985

Asami Abe, Japanese singer and actress

Asami Abe is a former Japanese singer and actress, also known as the younger sister of Japanese singer and actress Natsumi Abe. She started her career doing commercials for Nintendo Puzzle Collection, and she has also appeared in a few TV dramas.

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Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Russian footballer

Diniyar Rinatovich Bilyaletdinov is a Russian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

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Vladislav Kulik, Ukrainian-Russian footballer

Vladislav Mikhailovich Kulik is a Russian former footballer who played as a central midfielder. Born and raised in Poltava, Ukraine, he decided to represent Russia on international level.

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Thiago Neves, Brazilian footballer

Thiago Neves Augusto is a Brazilian coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is the current head coach of the U-20 team of Bangu AC.

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27/02/1984

James Augustine, American basketball player

James Augustine is a retired American professional basketball player who played as a forward. During the career he played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted 41st overall in the 2006 NBA draft by the Orlando Magic. Later he relocated in Europe and concluded his playing career for Malaga. Augustine has played over 400 official games in different clubs.

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Jumbo Díaz, Dominican baseball player

Jose Rafael "Jumbo" Diaz is a Dominican former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds and Tampa Bay Rays. He made his MLB debut in 2014. Diaz is nicknamed "Jumbo" for his large size; MLB.com lists him at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and 315 pounds (143 kg).

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Akseli Kokkonen, Norwegian ski jumper

Akseli Ensio "Axu" Kokkonen is a Norwegian former ski jumper who competed from 2001 to 2010. He originally had Finnish nationality, but from the 2009/10 World Cup season onwards he represented Norway.

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Aníbal Sánchez, Venezuelan baseball player

Aníbal Alejandro Sánchez Jr. is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2006 with the Florida Marlins and also played for the Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, and Washington Nationals. On September 6, 2006, in his 13th career Major League start, Sánchez pitched a no-hitter against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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Lotta Schelin, Swedish footballer

Charlotta Eva Schelin is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward.

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Denard Span, American baseball player

Keiunta Denard Span is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Washington Nationals, San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners.

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27/02/1983

Devin Harris, American basketball player

Devin Lamar Harris is an American sports analyst and former professional basketball player. He played for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey Nets.

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Kate Mara, American actress

Kate Rooney Mara is an American actress. She is known for her work in television, playing reporter Zoe Barnes in the Netflix political drama House of Cards, computer analyst Shari Rothenberg in the Fox thriller series 24 (2006), wronged mistress Hayden McClaine in the FX miniseries American Horror Story: Murder House (2011), Patty Bowes in the first season of the FX drama series Pose (2018), and a teacher involved with an underage student in the FX miniseries A Teacher (2020).

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27/02/1982

Ali Bastian, English actress

Alexandra Louise Bastian is an English actress, known for her roles as Becca Dean in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, Sally Armstrong in the ITV drama series The Bill and Becky Clarke in the BBC soap opera Doctors. She has also competed in the seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing.

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Pat Richards, Australian rugby league player

Pat Richards is a former professional rugby league footballer. An Ireland international winger, he played in the National Rugby League for Sydney clubs the Parramatta Eels and the Wests Tigers, with whom he won the 2005 NRL Premiership, and the Wigan Warriors and the Catalans Dragons in the Super League, winning the 2010 and 2013 Super League Grand Finals with the former. While in Super League, Richards won the Man of Steel award in 2010 and is the highest overseas points-scorer in the competition's history.

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Bruno Soares, Brazilian tennis player

Bruno Fraga Soares is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles.

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27/02/1981

Natalie Grandin, English-South African tennis player

Natalie Grandin is a retired tennis player from South Africa. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of 144 as of 12 September 2005. On 14 May 2012, she peaked at No. 22 in the doubles rankings.

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Josh Groban, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

Joshua Winslow Groban is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, with over 22.3 million records. As of 2022, he had sold over 25 million records worldwide.

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Élodie Ouédraogo, Belgian sprinter

Élodie Ouédraogo is a retired Belgian sprinter of Burkinabé descent, who specializes in the 200 metres and 400 m hurdles. An Olympic gold medalist, her personal best time in the 200 m is 23.11 seconds, achieved in July 2004 in Brussels, while her personal best in the 400 m hurdles is 55.20, achieved at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Ouédraogo is also the joint third-fastest Belgian woman after Kim Gevaert and Olivia Borlée and equalling Nancy Callaerts with her best 100 metres time of 11.40. Her 200 metres best ranks her fourth amongst Belgian women after Gevaert, Borlée and Hanna Mariën. Her 400 m hurdles best places her as the second-fastest Belgian woman over the distance, after Ann Mercken.

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27/02/1980

Brandon Beemer, American actor

Brandon Beemer is an American actor, best known for his role in the soap operas as Shawn-Douglas Brady in the NBC/Peacock soap opera Days of Our Lives and Owen Knight in the CBS daytime series The Bold and the Beautiful (2008–2012).

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Chelsea Clinton, American journalist and academic

Chelsea Victoria Clinton is an American writer. She is the only child of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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Bobby V, American singer-songwriter

Bobby Marcel Wilson, better known by his stage name Bobby V, is an American R&B singer. Born in Jackson, Mississippi and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he formed the R&B group Mista in 1994, prior to signing with Ludacris' record label, Disturbing tha Peace, in 2005.

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27/02/1978

James Beattie, English footballer and manager

James Scott Beattie is an English football coach and a former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently a first-team coach at Reading.

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Kakha Kaladze, Georgian footballer and politician

Kakhaber "Kakha" Kaladze is a Georgian politician and former footballer who has served as the Mayor of Tbilisi since November 2017. A versatile player, he was capable of playing as both a centre-back and left-back, or even as a wide midfielder. He played for the Georgia national team from 1996 to 2011. He was voted Georgian Footballer of the Year in 2001–2003, 2006 and 2011 and was considered one of Georgia's most important players.

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Emelie Öhrstig, Swedish skier and cyclist

Emelie Öhrstig, born 27 February 1978 in Borås, Sweden, is a Swedish cross-country skier and road racing cyclist. As a cross-country skier she who won a gold medal during the 2005 Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany. She also has eleven additional victories up to 15 km from 2002 to 2005, and her best individual finish in Turin at the 2006 Winter Olympics was 22nd in the individual sprint.

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Simone Di Pasquale, Italian ballet dancer

Simone Di Pasquale is an Italian dancer, television personality, and dance teacher.

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27/02/1976

Ludovic Capelle, Belgian cyclist

Ludovic Capelle is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist. He was professional from 1998 until 2009, riding for Ville de Charleroi–New Systems (1998–2000), AG2R Prévoyance (2001–2002), Landbouwkrediet–Colnago (2003–2005), Roubaix–Lille Métropole (2007), Rietumu Banka–Riga (2008) and Continental Team Differdange (2009). He rode the 2001 Tour de France and recorded victories at Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen (2003), Dwars door Vlaanderen (2004) and Grand Prix d'Isbergues (2004).

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Cornelia Ecker, Austrian politician

Cornelia Ecker is an Austrian politician and former member of the National Council. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she represented Salzburg from October 2013 to September 2023. She has been mayor of Bürmoos since June 2023.

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Tony Gonzalez, American football player

Anthony David Gonzalez is an American former professional football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Gonzalez spent his first 12 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, who selected him in the first round of the 1997 NFL draft. During his last five seasons, he was a member of the Atlanta Falcons. Since retiring in 2013, Gonzalez has served as a football analyst for NFL on Prime Video and was previously at CBS Sports and Fox Sports.

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Sergei Semak, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager

Sergei Bogdanovich Semak is a Russian football manager and a former international midfielder who manages Russian Premier League side Zenit Saint Petersburg.

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27/02/1975

Aitor González, Spanish racing driver

Aitor González Jiménez is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1998 and 2005, and was the winner of the 2002 Vuelta a España.

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Prodromos Korkizoglou, Greek decathlete

Prodromos Korkizoglou is a Greek decathlete. He is the current holder of the national decathlon record and his highest distinction was the gold medal at the 2001 Mediterranean Games. He also competed at two Olympic Games, two World Championships and one European Championships.

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27/02/1974

Carte Goodwin, former United States senator from West Virginia

Carte Patrick Goodwin is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia in 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed by Governor Joe Manchin on July 16, 2010 to fill the vacancy created by the death of Robert Byrd. He chose not to seek election to finish Byrd’s unexpired term. Goodwin left office on November 15, 2010 when Manchin was sworn in after being elected to the Senate.

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27/02/1973

Peter Andre, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor

Peter Andre is a British-Australian singer, songwriter, and media personality.

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27/02/1972

Richard Coyle, English actor

Richard Coyle is an English film, television, and stage actor. He has also narrated numerous audiobooks. Coyle got his big break on the television comedy Coupling, playing the role of Jeff Murdock. He played the lead role in the TV film Going Postal and in Renny Harlin's film 5 Days of War. In 2012, Coyle joined the cast of the show Covert Affairs as Simon Fischer, an FSB agent and love interest for Piper Perabo's Annie Walker. In 2018, Coyle was cast as Father Faustus Blackwood, a high priest of the Church of Night and Dean of the Academy of the Unseen Arts in the Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. He played the role of Aberforth Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

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27/02/1971

Sara Blakely, American businesswoman, founded Spanx

Sara Treleaven Blakely is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She founded Spanx, an intimate apparel company with pants and leggings, in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2024, Blakely created the footwear brand, Sneex.

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Derren Brown, English magician and painter

Derren Brown is an English mentalist, illusionist, and writer. He is a self-described "psychological illusionist" whose acts are often designed to expose the methods of those who claim to possess supernatural powers, such as faith healers and mediums. His live performances, which incorporate audience participation and comedy, often include statements describing how his effects are achieved through a combination of psychology, showmanship, magic, misdirection, and suggestion.

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Roman Giertych, Polish lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland

Roman Jacek Giertych is a Polish political figure and attorney, who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Poland and Minister of National Education from 2006 to 2007.

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David Rikl, Czech-English tennis player

David Rikl is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His success came mostly in doubles, winning 30 titles and finishing runner-up at the 2004 US Open and 2001 Wimbledon Championships Doubles events. He also achieved a singles ranking of world No. 41 in May 1994.

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Rozonda Thomas, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress

Rozonda Thomas, also known by her stage name Chilli, is an American singer, dancer and actress who is a member of the group TLC, one of the best-selling girl groups of the late 1990s.

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27/02/1970

Kent Desormeaux, American jockey

Kent Jason Desormeaux is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year with 598 wins in 1989. He has won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes three times each, and the Belmont Stakes once. Aboard Real Quiet, he lost the 1998 Triple Crown by a nose.

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Patricia Petibon, French soprano and actress

Patricia Josette Petibon is a French soprano.

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27/02/1969

Juan E. Gilbert, American computer scientist, inventor, and academic

Juan E. Gilbert is an American computer scientist, researcher, inventor, and educator. An advocate of diversity in the computing sciences, Gilbert's efforts to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in the computing disciplines have been recognized by professional engineering organizations and the United States government.

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27/02/1968

Matt Stairs, Canadian baseball player and sportscaster

Matthew Wade Stairs is a Canadian former professional baseball outfielder, first baseman, and designated hitter, who holds the record for most pinch-hit home runs in Major League Baseball (MLB) history with 23. His pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning of Game 4 in the 2008 National League Championship Series off the Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Jonathan Broxton was called "one of the most memorable home runs in Phillies history".

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27/02/1967

Jony Ive, English-American industrial designer, former chief design officer of Apple

Sir Jonathan Paul Ive is a British-American designer. He is best known for his work at Apple Inc., where he was senior vice-president of industrial design and chief design officer. Ive is the founder of LoveFrom, a creative collective that works with Ferrari, Airbnb, OpenAI and other global brands. He has been chancellor of the Royal College of Art in London since 2017 and a trustee of the British Museum since June 2025.

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Dănuț Lupu, Romanian footballer

Dănuț Lupu is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.

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27/02/1966

Baltasar Kormákur, Icelandic actor, director, and producer

Baltasar Kormákur Baltasarsson is an Icelandic actor, theatre and film director, and film producer. He directed the films 101 Reykjavík, The Sea, A Little Trip to Heaven, Contraband, 2 Guns, Everest, Touch, and the TV series Katla.

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Donal Logue, Canadian actor and director

Donal Francis Logue is a Canadian-American film and television actor. He played the starring role of Sean Finnerty on the sitcom Grounded for Life (2001–05), and Detective Harvey Bullock on the DC Comics adaptation Gotham (2014–19). He is also known for playing flight nurse Chuck Martin on ER (2003–05), Lee Toric on Sons of Anarchy (2012–13), Horik on Vikings (2013–14), and the recurring role of Lt. Declan Murphy on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

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27/02/1965

Pedro Chaves, Portuguese racing driver

Pedro António Matos Chaves is a Portuguese racing driver.

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Noah Emmerich, American actor

Noah Nicholas Emmerich is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in films such as Beautiful Girls (1996), The Truman Show (1998), Frequency (2000), Miracle (2004), Little Children (2006), and Super 8 (2011). From 2013 to 2018 he starred as FBI agent Stan Beeman on the FX series The Americans, for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2019.

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27/02/1964

Jeffrey Pasley, American educator and academic

Jeffrey Lingan Pasley is a professor of American history at the University of Missouri, specializing in the Early Republic.

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27/02/1963

Nasty Suicide, Finnish musician and pharmacist

Nasty Suicide, sometimes known as Nasty Homicide, is a Finnish guitarist. He is most famous for being one of the founding members of Hanoi Rocks and the group's rhythm guitarist between 1979 and 1985. Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band that combined elements of punk, glam rock, rock and roll, and blues.

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27/02/1962

Adam Baldwin, American actor

Adam Baldwin is an American actor. He made his film debut in My Bodyguard (1980) and later appeared in films including Full Metal Jacket (1987), Predator 2 (1990), Independence Day (1996), The Patriot (2000), and Serenity (2005). On television, he is known for playing Jayne Cobb in Firefly, John Casey in Chuck, and Mike Slattery in The Last Ship. He has also worked as a voice actor, including as Superman in Superman: Doomsday (2007) and Dutch in Halo 3: ODST (2009).

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Grant Show, American actor

Grant Show is an American actor. Show is widely known for his role on Melrose Place as Jake Hanson, which he played from 1992 to 1997. From 2017 to 2022, he portrayed Blake Carrington in the soap opera reboot Dynasty.

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27/02/1961

James Worthy, American basketball player and sportscaster

James Ager Worthy is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Game James", he played his entire professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Worthy was a seven-time NBA All-Star, a two-time All-NBA Team member who won three NBA championships and was voted the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1988. He was named to both the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams.

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27/02/1960

Andrés Gómez, Ecuadorian tennis player

Andrés Gómez Santos is an Ecuadorian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 4 in singles and world No. 1 in doubles. Gómez won 21 singles titles and 33 doubles titles during his career, including a singles major at the 1990 French Open, and two doubles majors at the 1986 US Open and the 1988 French Open.

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Johnny Van Zant, American singer-songwriter

John Roy Van Zant is an American singer and the current lead vocalist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He is the younger brother of Lynyrd Skynyrd co-founder and former lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, and of the 38 Special founder Donnie Van Zant.

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27/02/1958

Naas Botha, South African rugby player and sportscaster

Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha is a South African former rugby union player who played as a Fly-half for Northern Transvaal, Rugby Rovigo and South Africa.

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Maggie Hassan, American politician, 81st Governor of New Hampshire

Margaret Wood Hassan is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator for New Hampshire since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Hassan was the 81st governor of New Hampshire, from 2013 to 2017.

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27/02/1957

Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, producer, and screenwriter

Daniel Antonucci is a Canadian animator, cartoonist, director, producer, writer, and voice actor. He created the Cartoon Network animated comedy series Ed, Edd n Eddy as well as Lupo the Butcher and The Brothers Grunt for MTV. He has also provided additional voice roles

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Kevin Curran, American screenwriter and television producer (died 2016)

Kevin Patrick Curran was an American television comedy writer. He wrote for Late Night with David Letterman, Married... with Children, and The Simpsons. He was also the voice of Buck the Dog on Married... with Children.

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Robert de Castella, Australian runner

Francois Robert de Castella is an Australian former world champion marathon runner.

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Adrian Smith, English guitarist and songwriter

Adrian Frederick Smith is an English guitarist and singer best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals.

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Timothy Spall, English actor

Timothy Leonard Spall is an English actor. He gained recognition for his character actor roles on stage and screen. In 2000, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II.

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27/02/1956

Meena Keshwar Kamal, Afghan activist, founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (died 1987)

Meena Keshwar Kamal, commonly known as Meena, was an Afghan revolutionary political activist, women's rights activist, and founder of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). She was assassinated in 1987.

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27/02/1955

Belus Prajoux, Chilean tennis player

Belus Prajoux Nadjar is a retired professional tennis player from Chile.

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27/02/1954

Neal Schon, American rock guitarist and singer-songwriter

Neal Joseph Schon is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist for the rock band Journey. He is the last original member to remain throughout the group's history. He was a member of the rock band Santana before forming Journey. He was also a member of the group Bad English during Journey's hiatus from 1987 to 1995, as well as an original member of Hardline.

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27/02/1953

Gavin Esler, Scottish journalist and author

Gavin William James Esler is a Scottish journalist, television presenter and author. He was a main presenter on BBC Two's flagship political analysis programme, Newsnight, from January 2003 until January 2014, and presenter of BBC News at Five on the BBC News Channel. From 2014 to 2023 he served as the Chancellor of the University of Kent. On 11 March 2017, Esler confirmed via his Twitter profile that he would be leaving the BBC at the end of the month to concentrate on his writing activities. He returned to the BBC later that year as host of Talking Books.

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Ian Khama, English-Botswanan lieutenant and politician, 4th President of Botswana

Seretse Khama Ian Khama is a Motswana politician and former military officer who served as the fourth President of Botswana from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2018. After serving as Commander of the Botswana Defence Force, he entered politics and was Vice-President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008, then succeeded Festus Mogae as president on 1 April 2008. He won a full term in the 2009 election and was re-elected in October 2014.

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Stelios Kouloglou, Greek journalist, author, director and politician

Stelios Kouloglou is a Greek journalist, writer, and documentary director. He is the creator of the news web channel "TVXS". Political analyst and major Greek publications columnist in international press including Le Monde Diplomatique.

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27/02/1952

Dwight Jones, American basketball player (died 2016)

Dwight Elmo Jones was an American professional basketball player. A 6'10" forward/center, he was the leading scorer and rebounder on the 1972 Olympic team that lost the controversial gold medal game to the Soviet Union. Jones was ejected from the gold medal game after an altercation with a Soviet player. Later it was revealed that the Soviets intentionally provoked him as they saw him as the leader of the U.S. team and wanted to get him out.

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27/02/1951

Carl A. Anderson, 13th Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus

Carl Albert Anderson is an American lawyer who served as the thirteenth Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus from October 2000 until his retirement in February 2021.

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Lee Atwater, American journalist, activist and political strategist (died 1991)

Harvey LeRoy "Lee" Atwater was an American political consultant and strategist for the Republican Party. He was an adviser to Republican U.S. presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and chairman of the Republican National Committee. Atwater aroused controversy through his aggressive campaign tactics, especially the Southern strategy.

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Walter de Silva, Italian car designer

Walter Maria de Silva is an Italian car designer and former head of Volkswagen Group Design, until 2015. Since beginning his car design career in 1972 as trainee car designer for Fiat's Style Centre, De Silva has also worked as a designer at I.DE.A Institute, and as head of design for Alfa Romeo, SEAT and the 'Audi brand group'. He is presently President of the Design Studio Walter De Silva Automotive.

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Steve Harley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2024)

Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice, known by his stage name Steve Harley, was an English singer-songwriter and frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel. The band achieved five UK hit albums, including The Psychomodo (1974) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1975), and six UK hit singles in the mid-1970s, including "Judy Teen", "Mr. Soft", and the number one "Make Me Smile ". Harley later scored a further three UK hit singles as a solo artist, most notably with "The Phantom of the Opera", a duet with Sarah Brightman, in 1986.

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27/02/1950

Annabel Goldie, Scottish lawyer and politician

Annabel MacNicoll Goldie, Baroness Goldie is a Scottish politician and life peer who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011 and Minister of State for Defence from 2019 to 2023. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), as one of the additional members for the West Scotland region, from 1999 to 2016.

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Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger, English rabbi and politician

Julia Babette Sarah Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger, is a British rabbi and politician. She was the second woman to be ordained as a rabbi in the UK and the first to lead a synagogue.

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27/02/1949

Mary Gibby, British botanist and professor (died 2024)

Professor Mary Gibby was a British botanist, pteridologist and cytologist. She was an expert on ferns, becoming president of the British Pteridological Society and long-time editor of its journal, the Fern Gazette. Gibby particularly studied the cytology of the genera Dryopteris and Pelargonium.

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Debra Monk, American actress, singer, and writer

Debra Monk is an American actress, singer, and writer, best known for her performances on the Broadway stage. She is the recipient of a Tony Award (1993), two Drama Desk Awards, the Helen Hayes Award (1994), the Obie Award (2000) and an Emmy Award (1999) for her work.

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27/02/1947

Alan Guth, American physicist and cosmologist

Alan Harvey Guth is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who is the Victor Weisskopf Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Along with Alexei Starobinsky and Andrei Linde, he won the 2014 Kavli Prize "for pioneering the theory of cosmic inflation." Guth's research focuses on elementary particle theory and how particle theory is applicable to the early universe.

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Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist and conductor

Gidon Markusovich Kremer is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica.

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Sonia Manzano Vela, Ecuadorian writer

Sonia Manzano Vela is an Ecuadorian writer and poet.

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27/02/1944

Ken Grimwood, American author (died 2003)

Kenneth Milton Grimwood was an American author, who also published work under the name of Alan Cochran. In his fantasy fiction, Grimwood combined themes of life-affirmation and hope with metaphysical concepts, themes found in his best-known novel, Replay (1986). It won the 1988 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.

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Graeme Pollock, South African cricketer and coach

Robert Graeme Pollock is a South African former cricketer who played for Transvaal and Eastern Province. A member of a famous cricketing family, Pollock is widely regarded as one of South Africa's greatest ever cricketers, and as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. Despite Pollock's international career being cut short at the age of 26 by the sporting boycott of South Africa, and all but one of his 23 Test matches being against England and Australia, the leading cricket nations of the day, he broke a number of records. His completed career Test match batting average of 60.97 remains the third best behind Sir Don Bradman and Adam Voges.

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Roger Scruton, English philosopher and writer (died 2020)

Sir Roger Vernon Scruton was an English philosopher, writer, and social critic who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of conservative views. The founding-editor of The Salisbury Review, a conservative political journal, Scruton wrote over 50 books on architecture, art, philosophy, politics, religion, among other topics. Scruton was also Chairman of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission for the United Kingdom's government, from 2019 to 2020. His views on classical architecture and beauty are still promoted via his foundation, while his political stances remain influential.

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27/02/1943

Mary Frann, American actress (died 1998)

Mary Frann was an American stage, film, and television actress.

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Morten Lauridsen, American composer and conductor

Morten Johannes Lauridsen III is an American composer and teacher. A National Medal of Arts recipient (2007), he was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1994 to 2001, and is professor emeritus of composition at the USC Thornton School of Music, where he taught for fifty-two years until his retirement in 2019.

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Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazilian footballer and manager

Carlos Alberto Gomes Parreira is a Brazilian former football manager who holds the record for attending the most FIFA World Cup final tournaments as manager with six appearances. He also managed five different national teams in five editions of the FIFA World Cup. He managed Brazil to victory at the 1994 World Cup, the 2004 Copa América, and the 2005 Confederations Cup. He is also the only manager to have led two different Asian teams to conquer the AFC Asian Cup.

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27/02/1942

Jimmy Burns, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Jimmy Burns is an American soul blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although he was born in the Mississippi Delta, Burns has spent nearly all his life in Chicago. His elder brother, Eddie "Guitar" Burns, was a Detroit blues musician.

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Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2021)

Robert Howard Grubbs ForMemRS was an American chemist and the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. He was a co-recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on olefin metathesis.

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Charlayne Hunter-Gault, American journalist

Alberta Charlayne Hunter-Gault is an American civil rights activist, journalist and former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, CNN, and the Public Broadcasting Service. Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were the first African-American students to attend the University of Georgia.

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Klaus-Dieter Sieloff, German footballer (died 2011)

Klaus-Dieter Sieloff was a German footballer who played as a defender. He spent 11 seasons in the Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Mönchengladbach. He played in two World Cup Qualifying matches in 1966.

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27/02/1941

Paddy Ashdown, British soldier and politician (died 2018)

Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, better known as Paddy Ashdown, was a British politician and diplomat who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999. Internationally, he is recognised for his role as High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 to 2006, following his vigorous lobbying for military action against Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

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27/02/1940

Pierre Duchesne, Canadian lawyer and politician, 28th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec

Pierre Duchesne is a Canadian public servant who was the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec and former secretary general of the National Assembly of Quebec. As lieutenant governor he was the viceregal representative of Queen Elizabeth II of Canada in the Province of Quebec. His appointment was made by Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean, on the Constitutional advice of Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper, and announced on May 18, 2007.

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Howard Hesseman, American actor (died 2022)

Howard Hesseman was an American actor known for his television roles as burned-out disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati and the lead role of history teacher Charlie Moore on Head of the Class. He appeared regularly on television and in film from the 1970s to 2010s, with his other noteworthy roles including Sam Royer in the last two seasons of One Day at a Time and a supporting role as Captain Pete Lassard in the film Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985).

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Bill Hunter, Australian actor (died 2011)

William John Hunter was an Australian actor of film, stage and television, who was also prominent as a voice-over artist. He appeared in more than 60 films and won two AFI Awards. He was also a recipient of the Centenary Medal.

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27/02/1939

Don McKinnon, English-New Zealand farmer and politician, 12th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand

Sir Donald Charles McKinnon is a New Zealand politician who served as the 12th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and the minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand. He was the fourth secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations from 2000 until 2008.

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Peter Revson, American race car driver (died 1974)

Peter Jeffrey Revlon Revson was an American racing driver, who competed in Formula One between 1964 and 1974. Revson won two Formula One Grands Prix across five seasons.

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27/02/1938

Jake Thackray, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and journalist (died 2002)

John Philip "Jake" Thackray was an English singer-songwriter, poet, humourist and journalist. Best known in the late 1960s and early 1970s for his topical comedy songs performed on British television, his work ranged from satirical to bawdy to sentimental to pastoral, with a strong emphasis on storytelling, making him difficult to categorise.

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27/02/1937

Barbara Babcock, American actress

Barbara Babcock is an American actress. She began her career on television in mid-1950s with guest-starring appearances in more than 60 television series through her career. She made several appearances on Star Trek: The Original Series, Mannix and Murder, She Wrote and had a recurring role in the CBS prime time soap opera, Dallas from 1978 to 1982.

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27/02/1936

Ron Barassi, Australian footballer and coach (died 2023)

Ronald Dale Barassi was an Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the greatest and most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into the Australian Football Hall of Fame as a "Legend", and he is one of four Australian rules footballers to be elevated to the same status in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

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Sonia Johnson, American feminist activist and author

Sonia Ann Johnson, is an American feminist activist and writer. She was an outspoken supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and in the late 1970s was publicly critical of the position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which she was a member, against the proposed amendment. She was eventually excommunicated from the church for her activities. She went on to publish several radical feminist books, ran for president in 1984, and become a popular feminist speaker.

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Roger Mahony, American cardinal

Roger Michael Mahony is an American Catholic retired prelate who served as archbishop of Los Angeles in California from 1985 to 2011. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Fresno in California from 1975 to 1980 and bishop of the Diocese of Stockton in California from 1980 to 1985.

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27/02/1935

Mirella Freni, Italian soprano and actress (died 2020)

Mirella Freni was an Italian operatic soprano who had a career of 50 years and appeared at major international opera houses. She received international attention at the Glyndebourne Festival, where she appeared as Mozart's Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, and as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore.

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Uri Shulevitz, American author and illustrator (died 2025)

Uri Shulevitz was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the 1969 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, an Eastern European fairy tale retold by Arthur Ransome in 1916.

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27/02/1934

Vincent Fourcade, French interior designer (died 1992)

Vincent Gabriel Fourcade was a French interior designer and the business and life partner of Robert Denning. "Outrageous luxury is what our clients want," he once said.

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N. Scott Momaday, American poet and writer (died 2024)

Navarre Scott Momaday was a Kiowa and American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His novel House Made of Dawn was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969, and is considered the first major work of the Native American Renaissance.

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Ralph Nader, American lawyer, politician, and activist

Ralph Nader is an American lawyer and political activist involved in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. He has been a presidential candidate. His 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed, which criticized the automotive industry for its safety record, helped lead to the passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966.

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27/02/1933

Raymond Berry, American football player and coach

Raymond Emmett Berry Jr. is an American former professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a split end for the Baltimore Colts from 1955 to 1967, and after several assistant coaching positions, was head coach of the New England Patriots from 1984 to 1989. With the Colts, Berry led the NFL in receptions and receiving yards three times and in receiving touchdowns twice, and was invited to six Pro Bowls. The Colts won consecutive NFL championships, including the 1958 NFL Championship Game—known as "The Greatest Game Ever Played"—in which Berry caught 12 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown. He retired as the all-time NFL leader in both receptions and receiving yardage.

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Malcolm Wallop, American politician (died 2011)

Malcolm Wallop was an American rancher and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Wyoming for three terms from 1977 to 1995, after three terms in the Wyoming Legislature.

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27/02/1932

Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress and humanitarian (died 2011)

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was a British and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She then became the world's highest-paid movie star in the 1960s, remaining a well-known public figure for the rest of her life. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her seventh on its list of the greatest female screen legends.

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David Young, Baron Young of Graffham, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (died 2022)

David Ivor Young, Baron Young of Graffham, was a British Conservative politician, businessman, and life peer. He served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Employment and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry under Margaret Thatcher, and later reported to government on health and safety, small business and government procurement.

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27/02/1930

Jovan Krkobabić, Serbian politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (died 2014)

Jovan Krkobabić was a Serbian politician. He was the leader of the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia in charge of social affairs, appointed on 7 July 2008 and Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Policies from 27 July 2012 until his death on 22 April 2014.

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Peter Stone, American screenwriter and producer (died 2003)

Peter Hess Stone was an American screenwriter and playwright. Stone is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the screenplays he wrote or co-wrote in the mid-1960s, Charade (1963), Father Goose (1964), and Mirage (1965).

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Paul von Ragué Schleyer, American chemist and academic (died 2014)

Paul von Ragué Schleyer was an American physical organic chemist whose research is cited with great frequency. A 1997 survey indicated that Dr. Schleyer was, at the time, the world's third most cited chemist, with over 1100 technical papers produced. He was Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University, professor and co-director of the Institute for Organic Chemistry at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg in Germany, and later Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. He published twelve books in the fields of lithium chemistry, ab initio molecular orbital theory and carbonium ions. He was past president of the World Association of Theoretically Oriented Chemists, a fellow of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science and editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Computational Chemistry.

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Joanne Woodward, American actress

Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American retired actress. She made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a characteristic nuance and depth of character. Her accolades include an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She is the oldest living winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress.

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27/02/1929

Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster (died 2008)

John Arthur Gibson OAM was an Australian rugby league coach, player, and commentator. He is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the sport's history, Nicknamed 'Supercoach', he was highly regarded not only for his coaching record but also for his thirst for innovation.

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Djalma Santos, Brazilian footballer (died 2013)

Djalma Pereira Dias dos Santos, known simply as Djalma Santos was a Brazilian footballer who starred for the Brazil national team in four World Cups and winning the 1958 and 1962 editions. Santos is considered to be one of the greatest right-backs of all time. While primarily known for his defensive skills, he often ventured upfield and displayed some impressive technical and attacking skills.

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Patricia Ward Hales, British tennis player (died 1985)

Patricia Ward Hales was a tennis player from the United Kingdom who reached the singles final of the 1955 U.S. Championships, losing to Doris Hart.

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27/02/1928

René Clemencic, Austrian composer, recorder player, harpsichordist, conductor and clavichord player (died 2022)

René Clemencic was an Austrian composer, conductor, harpsichordist, clavichordist and recorder player.

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27/02/1927

Aira Samulin, Finnish dancer and entrepreneur (died 2023)

Aira Laila Suvio-Samulin was a Finnish dance teacher and businesswoman.

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Peter Whittle, English-New Zealand mathematician and theorist (died 2021)

Peter Whittle was a mathematician and statistician from New Zealand, working in the fields of stochastic nets, optimal control, time series analysis, stochastic optimisation and stochastic dynamics. From 1967 to 1994, he was the Churchill Professor of Mathematics for Operational Research at the University of Cambridge.

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27/02/1926

David H. Hubel, Canadian-American neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013)

David Hunter Hubel was an American Canadian neurophysiologist noted for his studies of the structure and function of the visual cortex. He was co-recipient with Torsten Wiesel of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for their discoveries concerning information processing in the visual system. For much of his career, Hubel worked as the Professor of Neurobiology at Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Medical School. In 1978, Hubel and Wiesel were awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University. In 1983, Hubel received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

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27/02/1925

Kenneth Koch, American poet, playwright and professor (died 2002)

Kenneth Koch was an American poet, playwright, and professor, active from the 1950s until his death at age 77.) He was a prominent poet of the New York School of poetry. This was a loose group of poets including Frank O'Hara and John Ashbery that eschewed contemporary introspective poetry in favor of an exuberant, cosmopolitan style that drew major inspiration from travel, painting, and music. Comical, narrative, punning and exuberant are adjectives that have been associated with his work.

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Pia Sebastiani, Argentine pianist and composer (died 2015)

Olimpia Ana Pía Sebastiani was an Argentine pianist and composer.

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27/02/1923

Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist, composer, and actor (died 1990)

Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm), so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" and "Sophisticated Giant". His studio and performance career spanned more than 40 years.

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27/02/1922

Hans Rookmaaker, Dutch historian, author, and scholar (died 1977)

Henderik Roelof "Hans" Rookmaaker was a Dutch Christian scholar, professor, and author who wrote and lectured on art theory, art history, music, philosophy, and religion.

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27/02/1921

Theodore Van Kirk, American soldier, pilot, and navigator (died 2014)

Theodore Jerome "Dutch" Van Kirk was a navigator in the United States Army Air Forces, best known as the navigator of the Enola Gay when it dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Upon the death of fellow crewman Morris Jeppson on March 30, 2010, Van Kirk became the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew.

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27/02/1920

Reg Simpson, English cricketer (died 2013)

Reginald Thomas Simpson was an English cricketer, who played in 27 Test matches from 1948 to 1955.

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27/02/1919

Chick Halbert, American basketball player (died 2013)

Charles Pinkney "Chick" Halbert IV was an American professional basketball player.

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Johnny Pesky, American baseball player and manager (died 2012)

John Michael Pesky, nicknamed "the Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a shortstop and third baseman during a ten-year major league playing career, appearing in 1,270 games played in 1942 and from 1946 to 1954 for three teams. He missed the 1943–45 seasons while serving in World War II. Pesky was associated with the Boston Red Sox for 61 of his 73 years in baseball—from 1940 through June 3, 1952, 1961 through 1964, and from 1969 until his death. Pesky also managed the Red Sox from 1963 to 1964, and in September 1980.

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27/02/1917

John Connally, American lieutenant and politician, 39th Governor of Texas and 61st United States Secretary of Treasury (died 1993)

John Bowden Connally Jr. was an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Texas from 1963 to 1969 and as the 61st United States secretary of the treasury from 1971 to 1972. He began his career as a Democrat and became a Republican in 1973.

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27/02/1915

Denis Whitaker, Canadian general, football player, and businessman (died 2001)

Brigadier William Denis Whitaker, was a Canadian athlete, soldier, businessman, and author.

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27/02/1913

Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (died 2005)

Jean Paul Gustave Ricœur was a French philosopher best known for combining phenomenological description with hermeneutics. As such, his thought is within the same tradition as other major hermeneutic phenomenologists, such as Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Gabriel Marcel. In 2000, he was awarded the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy for having "revolutionized the methods of hermeneutic phenomenology, expanding the study of textual interpretation to include the broad yet concrete domains of mythology, biblical exegesis, psychoanalysis, theory of metaphor, and narrative theory."

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Kazimierz Sabbat, Polish soldier and politician, President of Poland (died 1989)

Kazimierz Aleksander Sabbat, was President of Poland-in-exile from 8 April 1986 until his death, 19 July 1989, after serving as Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile.

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Irwin Shaw, American author and screenwriter (died 1984)

Irwin Shaw was an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best known for two of his novels: The Young Lions (1948), about the fate of three soldiers during World War II, which was made into a film of the same name starring Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, and Rich Man, Poor Man (1970), about the fate of two brothers and a sister in the post-World War II decades, which in 1976 was made into a popular miniseries starring Peter Strauss, Nick Nolte, and Susan Blakely.

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27/02/1912

Lawrence Durrell, British author, poet, and playwright (died 1990)

Lawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer. He was the eldest brother of naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell.

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Kusumagraj, Indian author, poet, and playwright (died 1999)

Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar, popularly known by his pen name, Kusumāgraj, was a Marathi poet, playwright, novelist and short story writer, who wrote of freedom, justice and emancipation of the deprived.

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27/02/1911

Oscar Heidenstam, English bodybuilder (died 1991)

Oscar Frederick Heidenstam was a Cyprus-born British bodybuilding champion and physical culturist. He was president of the World Amateur Body Building Association (WABBA), the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association (NABBA), and NABBA International. He is 'The Father of British Bodybuilding'.

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27/02/1910

Joan Bennett, American actress (died 1990)

Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film, and television actress, one of three acting sisters from a show-business family. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 films from the era of silent films, well into the sound era. She is best remembered for her film noir femme fatale roles in director Fritz Lang's films—including Man Hunt (1941), The Woman in the Window (1944), and Scarlet Street (1945)—and for her television role as matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard in the gothic 1960s soap opera Dark Shadows, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Daytime Programming at the 20th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1968.

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Peter De Vries, American journalist and author (died 1993)

Peter De Vries was an American editor and novelist known for his satiric wit.

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Kelly Johnson, American engineer, co-founded Skunk Works (died 1990)

Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson was an American aeronautical and systems engineer. He is recognized for his contributions to a series of important aircraft designs, most notably the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird. Besides the first production aircraft to exceed Mach 3, he also produced the first fighter capable of Mach 2, the United States' first operational jet fighter, as well as the first fighter to exceed 400 mph, and many other contributions to various aircraft.

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Genrikh Kasparyan, Armenian chess player and composer (died 1995)

Genrikh Kasparyan was an Armenian chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest composers of chess endgame studies.

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27/02/1907

Mildred Bailey, American singer (died 1951)

Mildred Bailey was an American jazz singer during the 1930s and 1940s, known as "The Queen of Swing", "The Rockin' Chair Lady", and "Mrs. Swing".

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Momčilo Đujić, Serbian-American priest and commander (died 1999)

Momčilo Đujić was a Serbian Orthodox priest and Chetnik vojvoda. He led a significant proportion of the Chetniks within the northern Dalmatia and western Bosnia regions of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a fascist puppet state created from parts of the occupied Kingdom of Yugoslavia during World War II. In this role he collaborated extensively with the Italian and then the German occupying forces against the communist-led Partisan insurgency.

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27/02/1905

Tone Peruško, Croatian educator and social worker (died 1967)

Tone Peruško, was a Croatian educator, social worker and writer.

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Franchot Tone, American actor, singer, and producer (died 1968)

Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known for his gentlemanly sophisticate roles, with supporting roles by the 1950s. His acting crossed many genres including pre-Code romantic leads to noir layered roles and World War I films. He appeared as a guest star in episodes of several golden age television series, including The Twilight Zone and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour while continuing to act and produce in the theater and movies throughout the 1960s.

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27/02/1904

James T. Farrell, American author and poet (died 1979)

James Thomas Farrell was an American novelist, short story writer and poet.

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Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist and academic (died 1996)

Yulii Borisovich Khariton was a Russian physicist who was a leading scientist in the former Soviet program of nuclear weapons.

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André Leducq, French cyclist (died 1980)

André Leducq was a French cyclist who won the 1930 and 1932 Tours de France. He also won a gold medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics in the team road race event and the 1928 Paris–Roubaix.

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27/02/1903

Reginald Gardiner, English-American actor and singer (died 1980)

William Reginald Gardiner was an English actor on the stage, in films and on television.

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Hans Rohrbach, German mathematician (died 1993)

Hans Rohrbach was a German mathematician. He worked both as an algebraist and a number theorist and later worked as cryptanalyst at Pers Z S, the German Foreign Office cipher bureau, during World War II. He was latterly known as the person who broke the American diplomatic O-2 cypher, a variant of the M-138-A strip cipher during 1943. Rohrbach wrote a report on the breaking of the strip cypher when he was captured by TICOM, the allied effort to roundup and seize captured German intelligence people and material.

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Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Belarusian-American rabbi and philosopher (died 1993)

Joseph Ber Soloveitchik was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a scion of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic dynasty.

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27/02/1902

Lúcio Costa, French-Brazilian architect and engineer, designed Gustavo Capanema Palace (died 1998)

Lúcio Marçal Ferreira Ribeiro Lima Costa was a Brazilian architect and urban planner, best known for his plan for Brasília.

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Gene Sarazen, American golfer and sportscaster (died 1999)

Gene Sarazen was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s, and the winner of seven major championships. He was the first of six players to win each of the four majors at least once, known as the Career Grand Slam: U.S. Open , PGA Championship , Open Championship (1932), and Masters (1935).

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John Steinbeck, American journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968)

John Ernst Steinbeck was an American writer and novelist. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception". He has been called "a giant of American letters".

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27/02/1901

Marino Marini, Italian sculptor and academic (died 1980)

Marino Marini was an Italian sculptor and educator.

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Kotama Okada, Japanese religious leader (died 1974)

Kōtama Okada was the founder of the Mahikari new religious movement (shinshūkyō) in Japan. Today, both Sukyo Mahikari and World Divine Light recognize him as the founder of their religions.

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27/02/1899

Charles Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered insulin (died 1978)

Charles Herbert Best, was an American-Canadian medical scientist and one of the co-discoverers of insulin with Frederick Banting. He served as the chair of the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research at the University of Toronto and was further involved in research concerning choline and heparin.

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27/02/1897

Marian Anderson, American singer (died 1993)

Marian Anderson was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throughout the United States and Europe between 1925 and 1965.

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27/02/1895

Miyagiyama Fukumatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (died 1943)

Miyagiyama Fukumatsu was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture. He was the sport's 29th yokozuna, and the last yokozuna in Osaka sumo.

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27/02/1892

William Demarest, American actor (died 1983)

Carl William Demarest was an American actor, known especially for his supporting roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and as Uncle Charley in the sitcom My Three Sons from 1965 until 1972. Demarest, who frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles, was a prolific film and television actor, appearing in over 140 films, beginning in 1926 and ending in the late 1970s. Before his career in movies, he performed in vaudeville for two decades.

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27/02/1891

David Sarnoff, American businessman, founded RCA (died 1971)

David Sarnoff was an American businessman who played an important role in the American history of radio broadcasting and television. He led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for most of his career in various capacities from shortly after its founding in 1919 until his retirement in 1970.

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27/02/1890

Mabel Keaton Staupers, American nurse and advocate (died 1989)

Mabel Keaton Staupers was a Barbadian born American pioneer of the nursing profession. Being faced with racial discrimination after graduating nursing school, Staupers became an advocate for racial equality in nursing in the United States. She is best known for her leadership in the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) and for helping end the racial restrictions against black nurses in the United States military during World War II.

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27/02/1888

Roberto Assagioli, Italian psychiatrist and psychologist (died 1974)

Roberto Assagioli was an Italian psychiatrist and pioneer in the fields of humanistic and transpersonal psychology. Assagioli founded the psychological movement known as psychosynthesis, which is still being developed today by therapists and psychologists who practice the psychological methods and techniques he developed.

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Lotte Lehmann, German-American soprano and actress (died 1976)

Charlotte "Lotte" Pauline Sophie Lehmann was a German-American dramatic soprano noted for her successful performances with international opera houses, on the recital stage and in teaching. She gave memorable appearances in the operas of Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Ludwig van Beethoven, Puccini, Mozart, and Massenet. The Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Sieglinde in Die Walküre and the title-role in Fidelio are considered her greatest roles. During her long career, Lehmann also made almost five hundred recordings in both opera and art song.

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Stephen McKenna, English novelist (died 1967)

Stephen McKenna was an English novelist who wrote forty-seven novels, mostly focusing on English upper-class society, and six non-fiction titles. He published his first novel, The Reluctant Lover, in 1912. His best-known novel, Sonia: Between Two Worlds, was published in 1917. It was the tenth best-selling novel for 1918 in the United States, and also made into a British film of the same name in 1921.

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27/02/1887

Pyotr Nesterov, Russian captain, pilot, and engineer (died 1914)

Pyotr Nikolayevich Nesterov was a Russian pilot, aircraft designer and aerobatics pioneer.

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27/02/1886

Hugo Black, American captain, lawyer, politician, and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (died 1971)

Hugo Lafayette Black was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1937 to 1971. A member of the Democratic Party and a devoted New Dealer, Black endorsed Franklin D. Roosevelt in both the 1932 and 1936 presidential elections.

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27/02/1881

Sveinn Björnsson, Danish-Icelandic lawyer and politician, 1st President of Iceland (died 1952)

Sveinn Björnsson was the first president of Iceland, serving from 1944 to 1952.

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L. E. J. Brouwer, Dutch mathematician, philosopher, and academic (died 1966)

Luitzen Egbertus Jan "Bertus" Brouwer was a Dutch mathematician and philosopher who worked in topology, set theory, measure theory and complex analysis. Regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, he is known as one of the founders of modern topology, particularly for establishing his fixed-point theorem and the topological invariance of dimension.

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27/02/1880

Xenophon Kasdaglis, Greek-Egyptian tennis player (died 1943)

Xenophon Emmanuel Kasdaglis, or Xenophon Casdagli, was an Egyptiote Greek – later a British citizen – tennis player. He competed in the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens.

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27/02/1878

Alvan T. Fuller, American businessman and politician, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (died 1958)

Alvan Tufts Fuller was an American businessman, politician, art collector, and philanthropist from Massachusetts. He opened one of the first automobile dealerships in Massachusetts, which in 1920 was recognized as "the world's most successful auto dealership", and made him one of the state's wealthiest men. Politically a Progressive Republican, he was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1916, and served as a United States representative from 1917 to 1921.

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27/02/1877

Adela Verne, English pianist and composer (died 1952)

Adela Verne was a distinguished English pianist of German descent, born in Southampton. She was considered the greatest woman pianist of her era, ranked alongside the male keyboard giants of the time. She toured with great success in many parts of the world. She composed a Military March dedicated to Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother; her sister Mathilde's pupil.

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Joseph Grinnell, American zoologist and biologist (died 1939)

Joseph P. Grinnell was an American field biologist and zoologist. He made extensive studies of the fauna of California, and is credited with introducing a method of recording precise field observations known as the Grinnell System. He served as the first director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley from the museum's inception in 1908 until his death.

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27/02/1875

Vladimir Filatov, Russian-Ukrainian ophthalmologist and surgeon (died 1956)

Vladimir Petrovich Filatov was a Russian Empire and Soviet ophthalmologist and surgeon best known for his development of tissue therapy. He introduced the tube flap grafting method, corneal transplantation and preservation of grafts from cadaver eyes. He founded the Institute of Eye Diseases & Tissue Therapy in Odessa, Soviet Union. Filatov is also credited for restoring Vasily Zaytsev's sight when he suffered an injury to his eyes from a mortar attack during Battle of Stalingrad.

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27/02/1872

Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Romanian politician, Prime Minister of Romania (died 1950)

Alexandru Vaida-Voevod or Vaida-Voievod was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian politician who was a supporter and promoter of the union of Transylvania with the Romanian Old Kingdom. He later served as 28th Prime Minister of Romania.

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27/02/1869

Alice Hamilton, American physician and academic (died 1970)

Alice Hamilton was an American physician, research scientist, and author. She was a leading expert in the field of occupational health, laid the foundation for health and safety protections, and a pioneer in the field of industrial toxicology. She led efforts to reduce lead poisoning.

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27/02/1867

Irving Fisher, American economist and statistician (died 1947)

Irving Fisher was an American economist, statistician, inventor, eugenicist and progressive social campaigner. He was one of the earliest American neoclassical economists, though his later work on debt deflation has been embraced by the post-Keynesian school. Joseph Schumpeter described him as "the greatest economist the United States has ever produced", an assessment later repeated by James Tobin and Milton Friedman.

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Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Swedish composer and critic (died 1942)

Olof Wilhelm Peterson-Berger was a Swedish composer and music critic. As a composer, his main musical influences were Grieg, August Söderman and Wagner as well as Swedish folk idiom.

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27/02/1864

Eemil Nestor Setälä, Finnish linguist and politician, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs (died 1935)

Eemil Nestor Setälä was a Finnish politician who served as Chairman of the Senate of Finland from September 1917 to November 1917, when he was author of the Finnish Declaration of Independence.

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27/02/1863

Joaquín Sorolla, Spanish painter (died 1923)

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida was a Spanish painter. Sorolla excelled in the painting of portraits, landscapes, and monumental works of social and historical themes. His most typical works are characterized by a dexterous representation of the people and landscape under the bright sunlight of Spain and sunlit water.

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George Herbert Mead, American sociologist and philosopher (died 1930)

George Herbert Mead was an American philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist, primarily affiliated with the University of Chicago. He was one of the key figures in the development of pragmatism. He is regarded as one of the founders of symbolic interactionism, and was an important influence on what has come to be referred to as the Chicago School of Sociology.

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27/02/1859

Bertha Pappenheim, Austrian-German activist and author (died 1936)

Bertha Pappenheim was an Austrian-Jewish feminist, a social worker pioneer, and the founder of the Jewish Women's Association. Under the pseudonym Anna O., she was also one of Josef Breuer's best-documented patients because of Sigmund Freud's writings on Breuer's treatment of her.

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27/02/1848

Hubert Parry, English composer and historian (died 1918)

Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet, was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", his 1902 setting for the coronation anthem "I was glad", the choral and orchestral ode Blest Pair of Sirens, and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind". His orchestral works include five symphonies and a set of Symphonic Variations. He also composed the music for Ode to Newfoundland, the national anthem for the Dominion of Newfoundland.

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27/02/1847

Ellen Terry, English actress (died 1928)

Dame Alice Ellen Terry was an English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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27/02/1816

William Nicholson, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Victoria (died 1865)

William Nicholson was an Australian colonial politician who became the third Premier of Victoria. He is remembered for having been called the "father of the ballot" due to his responsibility in introducing the secret ballot in Victoria. Due to this significant legacy, Nicholson Street, a major north–south traffic artery in modern Melbourne, is named after him.

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27/02/1809

Jean-Charles Cornay, French missionary and saint (died 1837)

Jean-Charles Cornay was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society who was martyred in Vietnam. He was executed in Ha Tay, Tonkin, now Vietnam, during the persecutions of Emperor Minh Mạng.

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27/02/1807

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (died 1882)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was the first American to completely translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was one of the fireside poets from New England.

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27/02/1799

Edward Belcher, British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer (died 1877)

Sir Edward Belcher was a British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer.

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Frederick Catherwood, British artist, architect and explorer (died 1854)

Frederick Catherwood was an English artist, architect and explorer, best remembered for his meticulously detailed drawings of the ruins of the Maya civilization. He explored Mesoamerica in the mid 19th century with writer John Lloyd Stephens. Their books, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatán and Incidents of Travel in Yucatán, were best sellers and introduced to the Western world the civilization of the ancient Maya. In 1837, Catherwood was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary member.

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27/02/1795

José Antonio Navarro, American merchant and politician (died 1871)

José Antonio Navarro was a Texas statesman, revolutionary, rancher, and merchant. The son of Ángel Navarro and Josefa María Ruiz y Peña, he was born into a distinguished noble family at San Antonio de Béxar in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. His uncle was José Francisco Ruiz and his brother-in-law was Juan Martín de Veramendi.

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27/02/1789

Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and politician, Chilean Minister of National Defense (died 1818)

Manuel Xavier Rodríguez Erdoíza was a Chilean lawyer and guerrilla leader, considered one of the founders of independent Chile. Rodríguez was of Basque descent.

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27/02/1779

Thomas Hazlehurst, English businessman, founded Hazlehurst & Sons (died 1842)

Thomas Hazlehurst was an English businessman who founded the soap and alkali manufacturing company of Hazlehurst & Sons in Runcorn, Cheshire. He was also a devoted Methodist and he played a large part in the civic matters of the town.

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27/02/1767

Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure, French lawyer and politician, 24th Prime Minister of France (died 1855)

Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure was a French lawyer and statesman.

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27/02/1748

Anders Sparrman, Swedish physician and activist (died 1820)

Anders Sparrman was a Swedish naturalist, abolitionist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus.

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27/02/1746

Louis-Jérôme Gohier, French politician, French Minister of Justice (died 1830)

Louis-Jérôme Gohier was a French politician of the Revolutionary period.

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27/02/1732

Jean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de Boisgelin, French cardinal (died 1804)

Jean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de Boisgelin was a French prelate, statesman and cardinal. The Boisgelin of Cucé are the Cadet branch of the maison de Boisgelin). His cousin is the famous author Louis de Boisgelin.

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27/02/1724

Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (died 1767)

Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty. He was the son of Christian III of Palatinate-Zweibrücken and Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken and a member of the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. He was the father of the Bavarian King Maximilian I Joseph. Furthermore, he engaged Nicolas de Pigage to reconstruct his summer palace in Oggersheim.

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27/02/1711

Constantine Mavrocordatos, Ottoman ruler (died 1769)

Constantine Mavrocordatos was a Greek noble who served as Prince of Wallachia and Prince of Moldavia at several intervals between 1730 and 1769. As a ruler he issued reforms in the laws of each of the two Danubian Principalities, ensuring a more adequate taxation and a series of measures amounting to the emancipation of serfs and a more humane treatment of slaves.

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27/02/1703

Lord Sidney Beauclerk, English politician (died 1744)

Lord Sidney Beauclerk was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1733 to 1744. He acquired a reputation as a fortune hunter.

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27/02/1689

Pietro Gnocchi, Italian composer, director, historian, and geographer (died 1775)

Pietro Gnocchi was an Italian composer, choir director, historian, and geographer of the late Baroque era, active mainly in Brescia, where he was choir director of Brescia Cathedral. In addition to composing an abundance of eccentrically titled sacred music, all of which remains in manuscript, he wrote a 25-volume history of ancient Greek colonies.

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27/02/1667

Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł, Prussian-Lithuanian wife of Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (died 1695)

Princess Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł was a magnate Princess of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and an active reformer.

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27/02/1659

William Sherard, English botanist (died 1728)

William Sherard was an English botanist who, alongside John Ray, was considered to be a highly notable English botanist of his day, though recognition of his work was hampered by his lower class origins.

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27/02/1630

Roche Braziliano, Dutch pirate (died 1671)

Roche Braziliano was a Dutch pirate from the city of Groningen. His piratical career lasted from 1654 until his death in 1681. He was first made famous in Alexandre Exquemelin's 1678 book The Buccaneers of America; Exquemelin did not know Braziliano's real name, but historians have argued his probable real name was Gerrit Gerritszoon and that he and his parents had moved to Dutch Brazil. He is known as "Roche Braziliano", which in English translates to "Rock the Brazilian", due to his long exile in Brazil.

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27/02/1622

Carel Fabritius, Dutch painter (died 1654)

Carel Pieterszoon Fabritius was a Dutch painter. He was a pupil of Rembrandt and worked in his studio in Amsterdam. Fabritius, who was a member of the Delft School, developed his own artistic style and experimented with perspective and lighting. Among his works are A View of Delft, The Goldfinch (1654), and The Sentry (1654).

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27/02/1575

John Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (died 1616)

Johann Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp was a Duke of Holstein-Gottorp.

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27/02/1572

Francis II, Duke of Lorraine (died 1632)

Francis II was the son of Charles III, Duke of Lorraine and Claude of Valois. He was Duke of Lorraine briefly in 1625, quickly abdicating in favour of his son.

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27/02/1567

William Alabaster, English poet (died 1640)

William Alabaster was an English Neo-Latin poet, playwright, and religious writer.

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27/02/1535

Min Phalaung, Burmese monarch (died 1593)

Min Phalaung was king of Rakhine from 1572 to 1593.

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27/02/1500

João de Castro, Portuguese nobleman and fourth viceroy of Portuguese India (died 1548)

Dom João de Castro was a Portuguese nobleman, scientist, writer and colonial administrator, who served as the fourth Portuguese Viceroy of India from 1545 to 1548. He was called Strong Castro by the poet Luís de Camões. De Castro was the second son of Álvaro de Castro, the civil governor of Lisbon. His wife was Leonor Coutinho.

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27/02/1427

Ruprecht, Archbishop of Cologne (died 1480)

Ruprecht of the Palatinate was the Archbishop and Prince Elector of Cologne from 1463 to 1480.

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27/02/1343

Alberto d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara (died 1393)

Albert (V) d'Este was Lord of Ferrara and Modena from 1388 until his death.

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27/02/0272

Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (died 337)

Constantine I, also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christianity in the Roman Empire, the Edict of Milan decriminalising Christian practice and ceasing Christian persecution. This was a turning point in the Christianisation of the Roman Empire. He founded the city of Constantinople and made it the capital of the Empire, which it remained for over a millennium.

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