28th February — Rare Disease Day

On this day, 147 notable people were born on 27th February — spanning from 1261 to 2005. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

28/02/2005

Vitor Roque, Brazilian footballer

Vitor Hugo Roque Ferreira, commonly known as Vitor Roque, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Palmeiras and the Brazil national team.

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28/02/2000

Moise Kean, Italian footballer

Bioty Moise Kean is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Fiorentina and the Italy national team.

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Josip Šutalo, Croatian footballer

Josip Šutalo is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Eredivisie club Ajax. Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he plays for the Croatia national team.

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28/02/1999

Luka Dončić, Slovenian basketball player

Luka Dončić is a Slovenian professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Since his rookie season, he has been selected to six NBA All-Star games and six All-NBA First Team selections. He also represents the Slovenian national team. Nicknamed “Luka Magic,” he is broadly regarded as one of the greatest European players of all time.

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28/02/1998

Teun Koopmeiners, Dutch footballer

Teun Koopmeiners is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Juventus and the Netherlands national team.

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28/02/1997

Chris Lindstrom, American football player

Christopher Paul Lindstrom is an American professional football guard for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Boston College Eagles.

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28/02/1996

Jakub Vrána, Czech ice hockey player

Jakub Vrána is a Czech professional ice hockey player who is a winger for Linköping HC of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Vrána was selected by the Washington Capitals in the first round, 13th overall, of the 2014 NHL entry draft, and has also played in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators. Vrána won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Capitals in 2018.

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Lucas Boyé, Argentinian footballer

Lucas Ariel Boyé is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Alavés.

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Axel Werner, Argentinian footballer

Axel Wilfredo Werner is an Argentine professional footballer as a goalkeeper for Aldosivi.

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28/02/1995

Randy Arozarena, Cuban-Mexican baseball player

Randy Lia Arozarena González is a Cuban-born Mexican professional baseball left fielder for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays. He has represented Mexico in senior international baseball competition, after previously playing for Cuban youth teams.

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28/02/1994

Alex Caruso, American basketball player

Alex Michael Caruso is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Texas A&M Aggies, earning second-team all-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honors as a senior in 2016. He is a two-time NBA champion, winning titles with the Lakers in 2020 and the Thunder in 2025. He earned two consecutive All-Defensive Team selections as a member of the Chicago Bulls in 2023 and 2024.

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Arkadiusz Milik, Polish footballer

Arkadiusz Krystian Milik is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Juventus and the Poland national team.

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28/02/1993

Marquis Teague, American basketball player

Marquis Devante Teague is an American professional basketball player who last played for Kolossos Rodou of the Greek Basket League. He was one of the top-rated high school basketball players in the class of 2011.

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Éder Álvarez Balanta, Colombian footballer

Éder Fabián Álvarez Balanta is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for the Colombia national team. River Plate former coach Ramón Díaz has compared Álvarez Balanta's talents to that of 1970s legend Daniel Passarella.

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28/02/1991

Ronalds Ķēniņš, Latvian ice hockey player

Ronalds Ķēniņš is a Latvian professional ice hockey player who is a winger for the Kyiv Capitals of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. He played 38 games for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 2015 and 2016.

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28/02/1990

Takayasu Akira, Japanese sumo wrestler

Takayasu Akira is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He made his professional debut in 2005 and reached the top makuuchi division in 2011, the first wrestler born in the Heisei era to do so. His highest rank has been ōzeki. He wrestles for Tagonoura stable. He has been runner-up in a tournament nine times and has earned thirteen special prizes: six for Fighting Spirit, four for Outstanding Performance and three for Technique. He has won six gold stars for defeating yokozuna. After achieving 34 wins in the three tournaments from January to May 2017, he was officially promoted to ōzeki on May 31, 2017. He maintained the rank for a total of 15 tournaments.

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Ryan Allen, American football player

Ryan Allen is an American football coach and former punter who is a special teams player development and specialist coach for the Clemson Tigers. He played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He is best known for being the starting punter for the New England Patriots for six seasons, during which he won three Super Bowls and was their longest serving starting punter of the Bill Belichick era. Allen played college football for the Oregon State Beavers and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. He won twice the Ray Guy Award in 2011 and 2012, and also was a unanimous All-American in 2012. Allen was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2013.

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Sebastian Rudy, German footballer

Sebastian Rudy is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or defender. He began his senior career at VfB Stuttgart in 2008 before moving to TSG Hoffenheim in 2010, where he spent a majority of his playing career. Rudy transferred to Bayern Munich in 2017 and won the Bundesliga during a one-year spell with the club. He moved to Schalke 04 in 2018, before returning to Hoffenheim on a loan in 2019 and a permanent transfer in 2021. Rudy retired from professional football in 2023. He currently plays for German amateur team SG Dilsberg.

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28/02/1989

Carlos Dunlap, American football player

Carlos Dunlap is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida Gators, who won the 2009 BCS National Championship Game. He was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft. During his last season, he won Super Bowl LVII as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Charles Jenkins, American basketball player

Charles T. Jenkins is an American former professional basketball player. He was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in the 2011 NBA draft after finishing his four-year college career with the Hofstra Pride. In addition to being a citizen of the United States, Jenkins also has Serbian citizenship.

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28/02/1988

Aroldis Chapman, Cuban baseball player

Albertín Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz is a Cuban-born American professional baseball relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, and Pittsburgh Pirates and in the Cuban National Series for Holguín. Chapman bats and throws left-handed, and is nicknamed "the Cuban Missile", due to his high fastball velocity. A member of the 300 save club, Chapman is the all-time leader in strikeouts for left-handed relievers.

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28/02/1987

Akito, Japanese professional wrestler

Akito Nishigaki is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Akito . He is working for the Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT).

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Antonio Candreva, Italian footballer

Antonio Candreva is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a right midfielder or right winger.

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Josh McRoberts, American basketball player

Joshua Scott McRoberts is an American former professional basketball player who played eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). McRoberts, a 6-foot-10-inch (2.08 m) power forward, played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils. He was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 37th overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft.

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28/02/1985

Tim Bresnan, English cricketer

Timothy Thomas Bresnan is an English former first-class cricketer, who last played for Warwickshire. He played as a fast-medium bowler who had ability with the bat. He was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.

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Diego, Brazilian footballer

Diego Ribas da Cunha, commonly known as just Diego or Diego Ribas, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A full international for Brazil since 2003, Diego earned 34 caps and scored four international goals. He was part of the Brazilian squads which finished as runners-up at the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup, won the Copa América in 2004 and 2007, and earned a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics.

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Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player

Jelena Janković is a Serbian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 18 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in 2008. Janković won 15 WTA Tour-level singles titles and two doubles titles, including the 2007 Wimbledon mixed-doubles title partnering Jamie Murray. Her career-best major performance in singles was a runner-up finish at the 2008 US Open.

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28/02/1984

Karolína Kurková, Czech model and actress

Karolína Kurková is a Czech model known for her work as a former Victoria's Secret Angel and Vogue cover star. Mario Testino praised the "proportions of her body and her face, as well as her energy level", which he said "ma[de] her a model who could fit almost into any moment". Vogue editor Anna Wintour called her the "next supermodel".

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Ali Marhyar, French actor, film director and screenwriter

Ali Marhyar is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He is known for his roles in films such as 18 Years Old and Rising (2011), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), and As Above, So Below (2014). On television, he co-created, wrote and starred in Casting(s) (2013–2015), and had recurring roles in Candice Renoir (2015–2022), and Family Business (2019–2020). In 2023, Marhyar released his feature directorial debut, Like a Prince.

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28/02/1982

Isabel Mendes Lopes, Portuguese politician

Isabel Rendeiro Marques Mendes Lopes is a Portuguese civil engineer, politician and member of the Assembly of the Republic, the national legislature of Portugal. A member of the LIVRE party, she has represented Lisbon since March 2024.

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Natalia Vodianova, Russian-French model and actress

Natalia Mikhailovna Vodianova is a Russian fashion model and United Nations goodwill ambassador.

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28/02/1981

Brian Bannister, American baseball player and scout

Brian Patrick Bannister is an American director of pitching for the Chicago White Sox. He is a former professional baseball starting pitcher who played for the New York Mets and Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2006 through 2010. He played college baseball as a walk-on for the University of Southern California. Bannister was selected by the Mets in the seventh round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft. He previously served as assistant pitching coach and vice president of pitching development for the Boston Red Sox.

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28/02/1980

Pascal Bosschaart, Dutch footballer

Pascal Bosschaart is a Dutch football coach and former player. As a player, he won the KNVB Cup twice with Utrecht, before playing for Feyenoord, ADO Den Haag and Sydney FC. After his playing career, he transitioned into coaching and became interim coach at Cambuur and Feyenoord.

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Christian Poulsen, Danish footballer

Christian Bjørnshøj Poulsen is a Danish former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. After starting his career with Holbæk, he played for a number of European clubs, winning the Danish Superliga championship with Copenhagen, the German DFB-Ligapokal trophy with Schalke 04, and the European UEFA Cup with Spanish team Sevilla, later also playing for Italian Serie A club Juventus, as well as Premier League side Liverpool, French side Evian, and Dutch side Ajax.

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Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player

Tayshaun Durell Prince is an American professional basketball executive and former player for the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 m) small forward graduated from Dominguez High School before playing college basketball for the University of Kentucky. He was drafted 23rd overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2002 NBA draft and went on to win a championship with the team in 2004.

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28/02/1979

Sébastien Bourdais, French race car driver

Sébastien Olivier Bourdais is a French professional racing driver who currently races in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Cadillac Hertz Team Jota in the Hypercar category. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, having won 37 races. He won four successive championships in the Champ Car World Series from 2004 to 2007. Later he competed at the IndyCar Series from 2011 to 2021. He also entered 27 races in Formula One for the Toro Rosso team during 2008 and the start of 2009.

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Ivo Karlović, Croatian tennis player

Ivo Karlović is a Croatian former professional tennis player. His height of 211 cm makes him the joint-tallest ranked tennis player in history. He won eight ATP Tour singles titles between 2007 and 2016. He was a serve-and-volleyer and officially held the record for the fastest serve recorded in professional tennis, measured at 251 km/h (156 mph), before being officially surpassed by John Isner in 2016. He was considered one of the best servers on tour, and held the record for career aces from 1991 onwards with 13,728 before the record was broken by Isner on July 1 2022. This makes him one of only five players since 1991 to surpass 10,000 aces. His height enabled him to serve with high speed and unique trajectory.

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28/02/1978

Benjamin Raich, Austrian skier

Benjamin Raich is an Austrian former World Cup champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. With 14 medals won at Winter Olympics and World Championships, 36 World Cup race victories, one first place and five second places in the World Cup overall ranking, three victories of the slalom World Cup, three victories of the combined World Cup, two victories of the giant slalom World Cup and the highest score of career World Cup points, he is considered among the best alpine racers in World Cup history.

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Jamaal Tinsley, American basketball player

Jamaal Lee Tinsley is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Tinsley played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones. Following his senior year, he was drafted by the Vancouver Grizzlies with the 27th pick of the 2001 NBA draft and was immediately dealt to the Atlanta Hawks, and then to the Indiana Pacers on draft night. Tinsley played 11 seasons in the NBA, primarily with the Pacers, as well as the Grizzlies and Jazz.

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Mariano Zabaleta, Argentinian tennis player

Mariano Zabaleta is a retired professional male tennis player from Argentina. He had an unusual but effective service motion. His best shot was his forehand and his favourite surface was clay. Zabaleta's career highlights include reaching the quarter-finals of the 2001 US Open and the final of the 1999 Hamburg Masters. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 21.

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28/02/1977

Jason Aldean, American singer-songwriter

Jason Aldine Williams, known professionally as Jason Aldean, is an American country music singer. Since 2005, he has been signed to BBR Music Group, a record label for which he has released eleven albums and 40 singles. His 2010 album, My Kinda Party, is certified quadruple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His 2012 album Night Train is certified double-platinum, while his 2005 self-titled debut, 2007 album Relentless, 2009 album Wide Open, and 2014 album Old Boots, New Dirt are all certified platinum. Aldean has received five Grammy Award nominations throughout his career, twice for Best Country Album.

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Lance Hoyt, American football player and wrestler

Lance Hoyt, better known by his ring name Lance Archer, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where is a member of The Don Callis Family. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former two-time IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion. He is also known for his time with WWE as Vance Archer, and Impact Wrestling (TNA) under his real name and as Lance Rock.

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28/02/1976

Francisco Elson, Dutch basketball player

Francisco Marinho Robby Elson is a Dutch former professional basketball player. Elson was the seventh Dutch player to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Elson served as the captain of the Netherlands national basketball team in international basketball, as he led the team in several EuroBasket qualifying rounds. He was the first Dutch player to become an NBA champion, doing so with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007.

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Ali Larter, American actress and model

Alison Elizabeth Larter, is an American actress and former model. She portrayed fictional model Allegra Coleman in a 1996 Esquire magazine hoax and took on guest roles on several television shows in the 1990s. Her film debut in Varsity Blues (1999) was followed by a role in the horror film House on Haunted Hill (1999). She portrayed Clear Rivers in the Final Destination franchise (2000–2003) establishing her as a scream queen.

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28/02/1975

Mike Rucker, American football player

Michael Dean Rucker is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for nine seasons with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and was selected by the Panthers in the second round of the 1999 NFL draft.

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28/02/1974

Lee Carsley, English-Irish footballer and manager

Lee Kevin Carsley is a professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of the England national under-21 football team.

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Alexander Zickler, German footballer and manager

Alexander Zickler is a German professional football coach and a former player who played as a striker.

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Gianluca Cherubini, Italian footballer (died 2026)

Gianluca Cherubini was an Italian professional footballer who played as a defender.

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28/02/1973

Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player

Eric Bryan Lindros is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Oshawa Generals prior to being chosen first overall in the 1991 NHL entry draft by the Quebec Nordiques. He refused to play for the Nordiques and was eventually traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in June 1992 for a package of players and draft picks including Peter Forsberg. During his OHL career, Lindros led the Generals to a Memorial Cup victory in 1990. Prior to being drafted in 1991, Lindros captured the Red Tilson Trophy as the Most Outstanding Player in the OHL, and also was named the CHL Player of the Year.

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Nicolas Minassian, French race car driver

Nicolas Minassian is a French professional racing driver of Armenian descent.

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Masato Tanaka, Japanese wrestler

Masato Tanaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, He is currently working for both promotions Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) and Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). He is best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in Japan where he was a one-time FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and a one-time WEW World Heavyweight Champion and in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in the United States where he was a one-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion. He is overall a ten-time world champion in major professional wrestling promotions.

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28/02/1972

Ville Haapasalo, Finnish actor and screenwriter

Ville Juhana Haapasalo is a Finnish stage and film actor who has worked in Finland and Russia. His acting career started in 1995, after he finished his studies in St. Petersburg. In 2003, he was honored with the State Prize of the Russian Federation for his role of Veikko in the film The Cuckoo directed by Aleksandr Rogozhkin.

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28/02/1971

Junya Nakano, Japanese pianist and composer

Junya Nakano is a Japanese video game composer. After working for Konami in the early 1990s, he was employed by Squaresoft and then Square Enix from 1995 to 2009. He is best known for scoring Threads of Fate and co-composing Final Fantasy X for Squaresoft, arranging for Dawn of Mana and the Nintendo DS version of Final Fantasy IV for Square Enix, and scoring arcade video games such as X-Men and Mystic Warriors for Konami. Nakano has collaborated with Masashi Hamauzu on a number of games.

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28/02/1970

Daniel Brochu, Canadian actor

Daniel Brochu is a Canadian actor.

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Noureddine Morceli, Algerian runner

Noureddine Morceli is a retired Algerian middle-distance runner. The winner of the 1500 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Morceli won three straight gold medals at that distance at the World Championships in Athletics. He set world records in the 1500 m, mile, 2000m, and 3000 metres. One time during his career, he held 6 world records at the same time.

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28/02/1969

Sean Farrel, English footballer

Sean Paul Farrell is an English former professional footballer.

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Butch Leitzinger, American race car driver

Robert Franklin "Butch" Leitzinger is an American professional racing driver. He is best known as an ALMS driver with Dyson Racing, but he has also driven for a variety of other teams and race series. He won the IMSA Pro WSC Championship driver's titles in both 1997 and 1998 while driving for Dyson Racing. Leitzinger is also a three time winner of the Daytona 24 Hours race, having won in 1994, 1997 and 1999.

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Robert Sean Leonard, American actor

Robert Lawrence Leonard, known as Robert Sean Leonard, is an American actor. He has received a Tony Award and a Obie Award over the course of a career on both stage and screen started in the 1980s. He is best known for his portrayal of Neil Perry in the drama film Dead Poets Society (1989) and Dr. James Wilson in the medical drama series House (2004–2012).

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28/02/1967

Colin Cooper, English footballer and manager

Colin Terence Cooper is an English football manager and former professional footballer.

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Seth Rudetsky, American musician, actor, writer, and radio host

Seth Dennis Rudetsky is an American musician, actor, writer, and radio host. He is the host of Seth's Big Fat Broadway and Seth Speaks on Sirius/XM satellite radio's On Broadway. The show is about Broadway theater history and trivia. In March 2020, Rudetsky and his husband created a daily live-streamed web series, Stars in the House, to benefit The Actors Fund in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

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28/02/1966

Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer

Paulo Jorge dos Santos Futre is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a left winger.

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Archbishop Jovan VI of Ohrid

Jovan Vraniškovski, is a Macedonian Orthodox cleric. His current title is Metropolitan Jovan of Kruševo and Demir Hisar of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. He was formerly known as Jovan VI, Metropolitan of Skopje and the Archbishop of Ohrid, as the former head of the Orthodox Ohrid Archbishopric (2005–2023).

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28/02/1965

Mikko Mäkelä, Finnish ice hockey player and coach

Mikko Matti Mäkelä is a Finnish former professional ice hockey left wing. Known as the "Flying Finn", he was drafted in the fourth round, 65th overall, by the New York Islanders in the 1983 NHL entry draft.

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28/02/1963

Claudio Chiappucci, Italian cyclist

Claudio Chiappucci is a retired Italian professional cyclist. He was on the podium three times in the Tour de France general classification: second in 1990, third in 1991 and second again in 1992.

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28/02/1961

Barry McGuigan, Irish-British boxer

Finbar Patrick "Barry" McGuigan is an Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer. Born in Clones, County Monaghan, McGuigan represented both Northern Ireland and Ireland as an amateur. Nicknamed The Clones Cyclone, he held the WBA and lineal featherweight titles from 1985 to 1986. At regional level, he also held the British and European featherweight titles between 1983 and 1985. In 1985, McGuigan became BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In 2005, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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28/02/1958

Manuel Torres Félix, Mexican criminal and narcotics trafficker (died 2012)

José Manuel Torres Félix, also known as El M1, EL 14, and/or El Ondeado, was a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.

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Mark Pavelich, American ice hockey player (died 2021)

Mark Thomas Pavelich was an American professional ice hockey forward who played 355 regular season games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars, and San Jose Sharks between 1981 and 1991. Pavelich was a member of the "Miracle on Ice" 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal.

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David R. Ross, Scottish historian and author (died 2010)

David Robertson Ross was a Scottish author and historian. He published eight books, most of them mixing elements of Scottish history and travel literature.

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28/02/1957

Ian Smith, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster

Ian David Stockley Smith is a New Zealand cricket and rugby commentator and former cricketer. He played as a wicket-keeper for New Zealand throughout the 1980s and part of the 1990s.

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John Turturro, American actor and director

John Michael Turturro is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his varied roles in independent films, as well as his frequent collaborations with the Coen brothers and Spike Lee. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award and nominations for three Golden Globe Awards.

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Cindy Wilson, American singer-songwriter

Cynthia Leigh Wilson is an American musician and one of the vocalists, songwriters, and founding members of new wave rock band the B-52s. She is noted for her distinctive contralto voice and also plays percussion during live shows. She is the younger sister of the late guitarist Ricky Wilson (1953–1985), who was also a founding member of the band.

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28/02/1956

Francis Hughes, Irish Republican, hunger striker (died 1981)

Francis Joseph Sean Hughes was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) from Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Hughes was the most wanted man in Northern Ireland until his arrest following a shoot-out with the British Army in which a British soldier was killed. At his trial, he was sentenced to a total of 83 years' imprisonment; he died during the 1981 Irish hunger strike in HM Prison Maze. Hughes was one of 22 Irish republicans who died on hunger-strike between 1917 and 1981.

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Terry Leahy, English businessman

Sir Terence Patrick Leahy is a British businessman, previously the CEO of Tesco, the largest British retailer and the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues. In 2011, he became a senior advisor at private equity company Clayton Dubilier & Rice.

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28/02/1955

Adrian Dantley, American basketball player and coach

Adrian Delano Dantley nicknamed A.D. is an American former professional basketball player and coach who played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Dantley is a six-time NBA All-Star, holds two-time All-NBA honours, and is a two-time NBA scoring champion. Dantley finished ninth on the all-time NBA scoring list at the time of his retirement and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. He served as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets of the NBA from 2003 to 2011. He played college basketball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

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Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian, actor, and singer (died 2022)

Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He was best known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York dialect, his squint, and his edgy, often controversial sense of humor. His numerous roles in film and television included voicing Iago in the Walt Disney Company's Aladdin franchise until his death in 2022, Mister Mxyzptlk in Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League Action, Digit LeBoid in PBS Kids' Cyberchase until his death, Kraang Subprime in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the Aflac duck mascot before he was replaced by Daniel McKeague in 2011. He also played Mr. Peabody in the Problem Child franchise, the only actor in the series to reprise his role in all three films as well as the animated television series.

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28/02/1954

Brian Billick, American football player, coach, and sportscaster

Brian Harold Billick is an American former football coach and commentator. He was the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings from 1994 to 1998; the team broke the NFL scoring record in the 1998 season. He then spent nine seasons as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens from January 19, 1999, to December 31, 2007.

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28/02/1953

Luther Burden, American basketball player (died 2015)

Luther Dean "Ticky" Burden was an American NBA and ABA basketball player.

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Paul Krugman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Paul Robin Krugman is an American economist who is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He was a columnist for The New York Times from 2000 to 2024. In 2008, Krugman was the sole winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to new trade theory and new economic geography. The Prize Committee cited Krugman's work explaining the patterns of international trade and the geographic distribution of economic activity, by examining the effects of economies of scale and of consumer preferences for diverse goods and services.

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Ricky Steamboat, American professional wrestler

Richard Henry Blood Sr., better known by his ring name Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation. Steamboat is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential professional wrestlers of all time.

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28/02/1952

William Finn, American composer and lyricist (died 2025)

William Alan Finn was an American composer and lyricist. He was best known for his musicals, which include Falsettos, for which he won the 1992 Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical, A New Brain (1998), and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005).

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28/02/1949

Zoia Ceaușescu, Romanian mathematician, daughter of Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena Ceaușescu (died 2006)

Zoia Ceaușescu was a Romanian mathematician, the daughter of Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena and sister of Nicu Ceaușescu and Valentin Ceaușescu. She was also known as Tovarășa Zoia.

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28/02/1948

Steven Chu, American physicist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Energy, Nobel Prize laureate

Steven Chu is an American physicist and former government official. He is a Nobel laureate and was the 12th U.S. secretary of energy. He is currently the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University. He is known for his research at the University of California, Berkeley, and his research at Bell Laboratories and Stanford University regarding the cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, for which he shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Phillips.

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Bernadette Peters, American actress, singer, and author

Bernadette Peters is an American actress and singer. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo concerts and released recordings. She is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received seven nominations for Tony Awards, winning two, and nine Drama Desk Award nominations, winning three. Four of the Broadway cast albums on which she has starred have won Grammy Awards.

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Mercedes Ruehl, American actress

Mercedes J. Ruehl is an American screen, stage, and television actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award.

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28/02/1947

Salvador Flamenco, Salvadoran footballer

Salvador Flamenco Cabezas is a retired footballer from El Salvador.

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28/02/1946

Robin Cook, Scottish educator and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (died 2005)

Robert Finlayson "Robin" Cook was a British Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 until his death in 2005 and served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 until 2001, when he was replaced by Jack Straw. He then served as Leader of the House of Commons from 2001 until 2003.

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Syreeta Wright, American singer-songwriter (died 2004)

Syreeta Wright, known as Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights were songs in collaboration with her ex-husband Stevie Wonder and musical artist Billy Preston.

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28/02/1945

Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (died 2011)

Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith was an American professional football defensive end and actor. Smith played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders, and Houston Oilers.

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28/02/1944

Kelly Bishop, American actress

Kelly Bishop is an American actress and dancer, best known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series Gilmore Girls and as Marjorie Houseman, the mother of Jennifer Grey's Frances "Baby" Houseman, in the film Dirty Dancing. Bishop originated the role of Sheila in A Chorus Line for which she won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. In 2023, she starred as Mrs. Ivey in The Watchful Eye (2023).

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Edward Greenspan, Canadian lawyer and author (died 2014)

Edward Leonard Greenspan, was one of Canada's most famous defence lawyers, and a prolific author of legal volumes. His fame was owed to numerous high-profile clients and to his national exposure on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio series Scales of Justice (1982–1994).

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Sepp Maier, German footballer and manager

Josef Dieter "Sepp" Maier is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Bayern Munich and the West Germany national team. Regarded as one of football's greatest goalkeepers, he was nicknamed "Die Katze von Anzing" for his fast reflexes, agility, flexibility, speed, and consistency. With 709 matches played across seventeen seasons, he was Bayern's all-time record appearance holder, until he was surpassed by Thomas Müller in 2024.

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Storm Thorgerson, English graphic designer (died 2013)

Storm Elvin Thorgerson was an English art director and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other art for 10cc, the Alan Parsons Project, Black Sabbath, Catherine Wheel, the Cranberries, Led Zeppelin, the Mars Volta, Muse, and Phish.

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28/02/1943

Barbara Acklin, American singer-songwriter (died 1998)

Barbara Jean Acklin was an American soul singer and songwriter, who was most successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her biggest hit as a singer was "Love Makes a Woman" (1968). As a songwriter, she is best known for co-writing the multi-million-selling "Have You Seen Her" (1971) with Eugene Record, lead singer of the Chi-Lites.

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28/02/1942

Frank Bonner, American actor and television director (died 2021)

Frank Woodrow Boers Jr. was an American actor and television director. He is best known for his role as sales manager Herb Tarlek on the television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.

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Brian Jones, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (died 1969)

Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones was an English musician and one of the founders of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to play electric guitar, sing backing vocals and play a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones recordings and in concerts.

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Oliviero Toscani, Italian photographer (died 2025)

Oliviero Toscani was an Italian photographer, best-known worldwide for designing controversial advertising campaigns for Italian brand Benetton from 1982 to 2000.

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Dino Zoff, Italian footballer

Dino Zoff is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, which he lifted as captain of the Italy national team in the 1982 tournament, at the age of 40 years, 4 months and 13 days. He also won the award for best goalkeeper of the tournament and was elected to the team of the tournament for his performances, keeping two clean-sheets, an honour he also received after winning the 1968 European Championship on home soil. Zoff is the only Italian player to have won both the World Cup and the European Championship. He also achieved great club success with Juventus, winning six Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia titles, and a UEFA Cup, also reaching two European Champions' Cup finals in the 1972–73 and 1982–83 seasons, as well as finishing second in the 1973 Intercontinental Cup final.

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28/02/1941

Alice Brock, American artist, author and restaurateur (died 2024)

Alice May Brock was an American artist, author and restauranteur. A resident of Massachusetts for her entire adult life, Brock owned and operated three restaurants in the Berkshires—The Back Room, Take-Out Alice, and Alice's at Avaloch—in succession between 1965 and 1979. The first of these was the subject of Arlo Guthrie's 1967 song "Alice's Restaurant", which in turn inspired the 1969 film.

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Arthur Ngirakelsong, 2nd Chief Justice of Palau (died 2022)

Arthur Ngirakelsong was a Palauan jurist who served as the chief justice of Palau from 1992 to 2020. Ngirakelsong was born on 28 December 1941. He obtained a masters degree from the University of Hawaiʻi in 1967. In 1974, he became one of the first Micronesians to earn a Juris Doctor when he graduated from Rutgers Law School. He worked as a staff attorney for the Micronesian Constitutional Convention, where he was one of the main drafters of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia, and as legal counsel for the Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia.

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28/02/1940

Mario Andretti, Italian-American racing driver

Mario Gabriele Andretti is an American former racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1968 to 1982, and IndyCar from 1964 to 1994. Andretti won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1978 with Lotus, and won 12 Grands Prix across 14 seasons. In American open-wheel racing, Andretti won four IndyCar National Championship titles and the Indianapolis 500 in 1969; in stock car racing, he won the Daytona 500 in 1967. In endurance racing, Andretti is a three-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring.

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28/02/1939

Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Daniel Chee Tsui is an American physicist. He is currently serving as the Professor of Electrical Engineering, emeritus, at Princeton University. Tsui's areas of research include electrical properties of thin films and microstructures of semiconductors and solid-state physics.

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Tommy Tune, American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer

Thomas James Tune is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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28/02/1937

Jeff Farrell, American swimmer

Felix Jeffrey Farrell is a Hall of Fame American former competition swimmer, and a 1960 two-time Olympic gold medalist, where he became a world record-holder in two relay events. After the Olympics, he worked as a swim coach abroad, and in the 1980s returned to America, living in Santa Barbara, where he worked in real estate. While training with Santa Barbara Masters, he would break numerous world and national age group records as a Masters competitor between 1981 and 2011.

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28/02/1933

Rein Taagepera, Estonian political scientist and politician

Rein Taagepera is an Estonian political scientist and former politician.

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28/02/1932

Don Francks, Canadian actor, singer, and jazz musician (died 2016)

Don Harvey Francks, also known by his stage name Iron Buffalo, was a Canadian actor, musician and singer.

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Ernst Hinterseer, Austria retired alpine skier

Ernst Hinterseer is a retired alpine skier from Austria. He participated in the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, placing sixth in the giant slalom. At the 1960 Winter Olympics he won a gold medal in the slalom, and bronze in the giant slalom. He was only a substitute for the slalom, and was trailing in fifth place after the first leg.

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28/02/1931

Peter Alliss, English golfer and sportscaster (died 2020)

Peter Alliss was an English professional golfer, television presenter, commentator, author and golf course designer. Following the death of Henry Longhurst in 1978, as lead golf analyst for the BBC and an analyst for ABC Sports, he was regarded by many as the "Voice of golf". In 2012 he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in the Lifetime Achievement category.

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Gavin MacLeod, American actor, Christian activist, and author (died 2021)

Gavin MacLeod was an American actor best known for his roles as news writer Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and ship's captain Merrill Stubing on ABC's The Love Boat. After growing up Catholic, MacLeod became an evangelical Christian in 1984. His career, which spanned six decades, included work as a Christian television host, author, and guest on several talk, variety, and religious programs.

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Len Newcombe, Welsh footballer and scout (died 1996)

Bernard John Newcombe was a Welsh professional footballer who played in the Football League for Brentford and Fulham as an outside forward. He later returned to Fulham as a scout.

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28/02/1930

Leon Cooper, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2024)

Leon N. Cooper was an American theoretical physicist and neuroscientist who shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on superconductivity. Cooper developed the concept of Cooper pairs and collaborated with John Bardeen and John Robert Schrieffer to develop the BCS theory of conventional superconductivity. In neuroscience, Cooper co-developed the BCM theory of synaptic plasticity.

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28/02/1929

Hayden Fry, American football player and coach (died 2019)

John Hayden Fry was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 1962 to 1972, North Texas State University—now known as the University of North Texas—from 1973 to 1978, and the University of Iowa from 1979 to 1998, compiling a career coaching record of 232–178–10. Fry played in college at Baylor University. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2003.

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Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect and designer (died 2025)

Frank Owen Gehry was a Canadian and American architect and designer known for his postmodern designs and use of unconventional forms and materials. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. His most famous works include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. These buildings are characterized by their sculptural, often undulating exteriors and innovative use of materials such as titanium and stainless steel.

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John Montague, American-Irish poet and academic (died 2016)

John Montague was an Irish poet. Born in the United States, he was raised in Ulster in the north of Ireland. He published a number of volumes of poetry, two collections of short stories and two volumes of memoir. He was one of the best-known Irish contemporary poets. In 1998 he became the first occupant of the Ireland Professor of Poetry. In 2010, he was made a Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur, France's highest civil award.

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28/02/1928

Tom Aldredge, American actor (died 2011)

Thomas Ernest Aldredge was an American actor. Known for his works on stage and screen, his accolades include a Daytime Emmy Award as well nominations for five Tony Awards.

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Stanley Baker, Welsh actor and producer (died 1976)

Sir William Stanley Baker was a Welsh actor and film producer. Known for his rugged appearance and intense, grounded screen persona, he was one of the top British male film stars of the late 1950s, and later a producer.

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28/02/1925

Harry H. Corbett, Burmese-English actor (died 1982)

Harry H. Corbett was an English actor. He is best remembered for playing rag-and-bone man Harold Steptoe alongside Wilfrid Brambell in the long-running BBC Television sitcom Steptoe and Son. His success on television led to appearances in comedy films including The Bargee (1964), Carry On Screaming! (1966) and Jabberwocky (1977).

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28/02/1924

Robert A. Roe, American soldier and politician (died 2014)

Robert Aloysius Roe was an American Democratic Party politician who represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from November 4, 1969 to January 3, 1993.

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28/02/1922

Radu Câmpeanu, Romanian politician (died 2016)

Radu-Anton Câmpeanu was a Romanian politician who was also jurist and economist by profession, after graduating from the University of Bucharest (UB) in November 1945, specializing in constitutional right. During the interwar period and up until 1945, he was the leader of the National Liberal students' association at nationwide level.

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28/02/1921

Marah Halim Harahap, Indonesian military officer, Governor of North Sumatra (died 2015)

Major General Marah Halim Harahap was an Indonesian general, politician, and governor. He was the Governor of North Sumatra from 1967 until 1978. Under his leadership, North Sumatra recovered from the 30 September Movement and organized an association football tournament with his name which was internationally recognized by FIFA.

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28/02/1920

Jadwiga Piłsudska, Polish soldier, pilot, and architect (died 2014)

Jadwiga Piłsudska-Jaraczewska was a Polish pilot who served in the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War. She was one of two daughters of Józef Piłsudski.

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28/02/1919

Alfred Marshall, American businessman, founded Marshalls (died 2013)

Alfred Marshall was an American businessman who founded Marshalls, a chain of department stores which specializes in overstocked, irregular and out-of-season name brand clothing sold at deeply discounted prices. He opened the original Marshalls in 1956 in Beverly, Massachusetts.

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28/02/1915

Ketti Frings, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (died 1981)

Ketti Frings was an American writer, playwright, and screenwriter who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1958.

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Peter Medawar, Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1987)

Sir Peter Brian Medawar was a Brazilian-born biologist and writer of Lebanese-British descent who, from a succession of research and teaching posts, and senior U.K. biomedical leadership positions, contributed seminal discoveries in immunology, including one honored by a Nobel Prize to him and Australian Mac Burnet in 1960. Medawar's works on the discovery of acquired immune tolerance, and on graft rejection, have been fundamental to the medical practice of tissue and organ transplants. For his scientific work, he has been termed the "father of transplantation". He is remembered, as well, for his wit, both in person and in his popular writings. Richard Dawkins referred to him as "the wittiest of all scientific writers"; Stephen Jay Gould as "the cleverest man I have ever known".

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28/02/1909

Stephen Spender, English author and poet (died 1995)

Sir Stephen Harold Spender was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1965.

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28/02/1908

Billie Bird, American actress (died 2002)

Billie Bird Sellen, better known professionally as Billie Bird, was an American character actress and comedian. She played Margie in Dear John (1988–1992).

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28/02/1907

Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (died 1988)

Milton Arthur Paul Caniff was an American cartoonist known for the Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon comic strips.

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28/02/1906

Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (died 1947)

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Along with his childhood friend and fellow gangster Meyer Lansky, Siegel was influential within the Jewish-American mob, the Italian-American Mafia, and the largely Italian-Jewish coalition known as the National Crime Syndicate. Described as "handsome" and "charismatic," Siegel became one of the first front-page celebrity gangsters.

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28/02/1901

Linus Pauling, American chemist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1994)

Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist and peace activist. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topics. Scientific American called him one of the 20 greatest scientists of all time. For his scientific work, Pauling was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954. For his peace activism, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962. He is one of five people to have won more than one Nobel Prize. Of these, he is the only person to have been awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes, and one of two people to be awarded Nobel Prizes in different fields, the other being Marie Curie.

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28/02/1898

Zeki Rıza Sporel, Turkish footballer (died 1969)

Zeki Rıza Sporel was a Turkish football player and a politician. He plied his trade at the striker position for Fenerbahçe and the Turkey national football team. His career started in the Fenerbahçe youth teams until he was promoted to the senior team. Zeki spent his entire career with the club, setting numerous records. He was also a forerunner for Turkey, becoming the first player to score for the team. He is often cited as one of the best strikers in Turkish football history. He was also active in politics as he became a member of the Democrat Party in 1946.

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28/02/1896

Philip Showalter Hench, American physician and endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1965)

Philip Showalter Hench was an American physician. Hench, along with his Mayo Clinic co-worker Edward Calvin Kendall and Swiss chemist Tadeus Reichstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1950 for the discovery of the hormone cortisone, and its application for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The Nobel Committee bestowed the award for the trio's "discoveries relating to the hormones of the adrenal cortex, their structure and biological effects."

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28/02/1894

Ben Hecht, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1964)

Ben Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplays and plays in America. He received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some seventy films, including six Academy Award nominations and two wins.

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28/02/1887

William Zorach, Lithuanian-American sculptor and painter (died 1966)

William Zorach was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and writer. He won the Logan Medal of the Arts in 1927. He was at the forefront of American artists embracing cubism.

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28/02/1884

Ants Piip, Estonian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (died 1942)

Ants Piip VR III/1 was an Estonian lawyer, diplomat and politician. Piip was the 1st Head of State of Estonia and the 5th Prime Minister of Estonia. Piip played a key role in internationalising the independence aspirations of Estonia during the Paris Peace Conference following World War I.

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28/02/1878

Pierre Fatou, French mathematician and astronomer (died 1929)

Pierre Joseph Louis Fatou was a French mathematician and astronomer. He is known for major contributions to several branches of analysis. The Fatou lemma and the Fatou set are named after him.

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28/02/1866

Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet and playwright (died 1949)

Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov was a Russian poet, playwright, Classicist, and senior literary and dramatic theorist of the Russian Symbolist movement. He was also a philosopher, translator, and literary critic.

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28/02/1858

Tore Svennberg, Swedish actor and director (died 1941)

Olof Teodor "Tore" Svennberg was a Swedish actor and theatre director whose career spanned more than five decades.

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28/02/1848

Arthur Giry, French historian and academic (died 1899)

Jean-Marie-Joseph-Arthur Giry was a French historian, noted for his studies of France in the Middle Ages.

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28/02/1833

Alfred von Schlieffen, German military strategist (died 1913)

Graf Alfred von Schlieffen was a German and Prussian officer and strategist, eventually reaching the rank of field marshal. He served as chief of the Imperial German General Staff from 1891 to 1906. His name is most known for the 1905–06 "Schlieffen Plan", then Aufmarsch I, a deployment plan and operational guide for a decisive initial offensive operation/campaign in a two-front war against the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire.

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28/02/1704

Louis Godin, French astronomer and academic (died 1760)

Louis Godin was a French astronomer and member of the French Academy of Sciences. He worked in Peru, Spain, Portugal and France.

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28/02/1690

Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, eldest son of Peter the Great (died 1718)

Alexei Petrovich Romanov, was the Tsarevich of Russia, the eldest son of Tsar Peter I and his first wife, Eudoxia Lopukhina.

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28/02/1683

René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French entomologist and academic (died 1757)

René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur was a French entomologist and writer who contributed to many different fields, especially the study of insects. He introduced the Réaumur temperature scale.

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28/02/1675

Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (died 1726)

Guillaume Delisle, also spelled Guillaume de l'Isle, or Guillelmo Delille was a French cartographer known for his popular and accurate maps of Europe and the newly explored Americas.

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28/02/1552

Jost Bürgi, Swiss mathematician and clockmaker (died 1632)

Jost Bürgi, active primarily at the courts in Kassel and Prague, was a Swiss clockmaker, mathematician, and writer. Burgi was the brother-in-law and adoptive father of Benjamin Bramer.

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28/02/1535

Cornelius Gemma, Dutch astronomer and astrologer (died 1578)

Cornelius Gemma was a Flemish physician, astronomer and astrologer, and the oldest son of cartographer and instrument-maker Gemma Frisius. He was a professor of medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven, and shared in his father's efforts to restore ancient Ptolemaic practice to astrology, drawing on the Tetrabiblos.

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28/02/1533

Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and author (died 1592)

Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne, commonly known as just Michel de Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the essay as a literary genre. His work is noted for its merging of casual anecdotes and autobiography with intellectual insight. Montaigne had a direct influence on numerous writers of Western literature; his Essais contain some of the most influential essays ever written.

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28/02/1518

Francis III, Duke of Brittany, Duke of Brittany (died 1536)

Francis III was Dauphin of France and, after 1524, Duke of Brittany. Francis and his brother, Henry, were exchanged as hostages for their father, Francis I, who had been captured at the Battle of Pavia. They would be hostages for three years. Made Duke of Brittany in 1532, this precipitated Brittany's integration with the Kingdom of France. Francis died 10 August 1536, possibly from tuberculosis.

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28/02/1261

Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Norway (died 1283)

Margaret of Scotland was Queen of Norway as the wife of King Eric II. She is sometimes known as the Maid of Scotland to distinguish her from her daughter, Margaret, Maid of Norway, who succeeded to the throne of Scotland.

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