25th January — World Opposite Day

On this day, 194 notable people were born on 25th January — spanning from 750 to 2002. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

25/01/2002

Lil Mosey, American rapper

Lathan Moses Stanley Echols, better known by his stage name Lil Mosey, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. His 2017 single, "Pull Up", received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and led him to sign with Interscope Records. His 2018 single, "Noticed", became his first Billboard Hot 100 entry and preceded his debut studio album, Northsbest (2018). His second studio album, Certified Hitmaker (2019), peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the single "Stuck in a Dream". The album's 2020 re-issue spawned the single "Blueberry Faygo", which peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and yielded Mosey's furthest commercial success.

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25/01/2001

Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Italian tennis player

Elisabetta Cocciaretto is an Italian professional tennis player. She has been ranked by the WTA as high as No. 29 in singles, achieved on 21 August 2023, and No. 107 in doubles, which she attained on 27 January 2025. Cocciaretto has won two singles titles, at the 2023 Ladies Open Lausanne and at the 2026 Hobart International.

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25/01/1997

Noah Hanifin, American ice hockey player

Noah Hanifin is an American professional ice hockey player who is a defenseman for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Carolina Hurricanes, who drafted him fifth overall in the 2015 NHL entry draft, and the Calgary Flames.

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25/01/1996

Mohamed Hany, Egyptian footballer

Mohamed Hany Gamal El-Demerdash is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Egyptian Premier League club Al Ahly and the Egypt national team.

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Seunghee, South Korean singer and television personality

Hyun Seung-hee, known mononymously as Seunghee (Korean: 승희), is a South Korean singer and actress. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Oh My Girl.

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Adama Traoré, Spanish footballer

Adama Traoré Diarra is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right winger for EFL Championship club West Ham United. He has represented Spain internationally at both youth and senior levels, making his senior debut in 2020.

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25/01/1991

Ariana DeBose, American actress, singer, and dancer

Ariana DeBose is an American actress and singer who has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2022, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

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Ahmed Hegazi, Egyptian footballer

Ahmed Elsayed Ali Elsayed Hegazy, simply known as Ahmed Hegazi, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for the Egypt national team.

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25/01/1990

Apostolos Giannou, Greek-Australian footballer

Apostolos Giannou is a professional footballer who plays as a forward. Born in Greece, he represented various Greek and Australian youth national teams, including one friendly with the Greece national team, before appearing competitively for the Australia national team.

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Lee Jun-ho, South Korean singer and actor

Lee Jun-ho, known mononymously as Junho, is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actor. He rose to prominence as a member of the South Korean boy band 2PM. Lee made his acting debut in the film Cold Eyes (2013) and has since starred in Twenty (2015) as well as notable television series such as Good Manager (2017), Rain or Shine (2017–2018), Confession (2019), King the Land (2023), Typhoon Family (2025), and Cashero (2025). His performance in The Red Sleeve (2021) earned him the Baeksang Arts Award for Best Actor. As a solo artist, Lee has released two studio albums, one compilation album and eight extended plays, achieving significant success in Japan.

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25/01/1988

Tatiana Golovin, French tennis player

Tatiana Golovin is a French former professional tennis player. She won the 2004 French Open mixed-doubles event, partnering with Richard Gasquet, and reached the singles quarterfinals at the 2006 US Open, losing to the eventual champion Maria Sharapova. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 12. In 2008, she was diagnosed with lower back inflammation and was forced to stop playing competitive tennis.

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Ryota Ozawa, Japanese actor

Ryota Ozawa is a Japanese actor best known for his role as Captain Marvelous/Gokai Red in the 2011 Super Sentai series Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger.

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25/01/1987

Maria Kirilenko, Russian tennis player

Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko is a Russian former professional tennis player. A junior Grand Slam champion at the 2002 US Open at the age of 15, she went on to become a top-ten player in both singles and doubles. Kirilenko won six WTA Tour singles titles and 12 doubles titles. She was a three-time major singles quarterfinalist, a semifinalist at the 2012 London Olympics, and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 10, on 10 June 2013. In women's doubles, she became ranked as high as No. 5 in the world on 24 October 2011, and reached two major finals, at the 2011 Australian Open with Azarenka and the 2012 French Open with compatriot Nadia Petrova. Along with Petrova, Kirilenko won the 2012 WTA Tour Championships in doubles and was a bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympics.

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25/01/1986

Chris O'Grady, English footballer

Christopher James O'Grady is an English footballer who last played as a striker for Northern Premier League Division One Midlands club Mickleover.

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25/01/1985

Brent Celek, American football player

Brent Steven Celek is an American professional football executive and former tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Cincinnati Bearcats and was selected by the Eagles in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL draft. He played his entire 11 season career with the Eagles. Celek helped the Eagles win Super Bowl LII during the 2017 season; he subsequently retired that offseason.

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Hwang Jung-eum, South Korean actress

Hwang Jung-eum is a South Korean actress and singer. She first gained recognition for her role in the sitcom High Kick Through the Roof (2009). After starring in her first leading role in television series Listen to My Heart (2011), she became notable for Full House Take 2 (2012), Secret Love (2013), Kill Me, Heal Me (2015), She Was Pretty (2015), The Undateables (2018), Mystic Pop-up Bar (2020), and The Escape of the Seven (2023–2024).

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Tina Karol, Ukrainian singer and Eurovision Song Contest 2006 contestant

Tetiana Hryhorivna Liberman, better known by her stage name Tina Karol, is a Ukrainian singer and founder of the Tina Karol charitable foundation.

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Acie Law, American basketball player

Acie Law IV is an American former professional basketball player and the Chicago Bulls vice president of player personnel. In his four seasons at Texas A&M University, Law scored 1,653 points and was credited with 540 assists. Nicknamed "Captain Clutch" for his ability to take over the game late, Law is well known among Texas A&M Aggie basketball fans for "The Shot," his buzzer-beating 3-pointer to beat the arch-rival Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on March 1, 2006, as well as for his play in the Aggies' 69–66 upset win against Kansas on February 3, 2007. Due to his contributions to Texas A&M, the Texas A&M athletic department hung Law's No. 1 jersey on the rafters in Reed Arena. He became the first Aggie in any sport to have the honor.

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Hartley Sawyer, American actor

Hartley Sawyer is an American former actor known for his roles as Brian Sommers on Glory Daze (2010–2011), Kyle Abbott on The Young and the Restless (2013–2014), and Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man on The Flash (2017–2020).

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Michael Trevino, American actor

Michael Trevino is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tyler Lockwood on The CW's The Vampire Diaries; and as Kyle Valenti in Roswell, New Mexico.

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Patrick Willis, American football player

Patrick L. Willis is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for his entire eight-year career with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels, earning consensus All-American honors in 2006 and was selected by the 49ers in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft. Willis is regarded as one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history.

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25/01/1984

Jay Briscoe, American wrestler (died 2023)

Jamin Dale Pugh, known by his ring name Jay Briscoe, was an American professional wrestler. He was known for his time with his brother Mark Briscoe as the Briscoe Brothers in Ring of Honor, where he was a two-time ROH World Champion, ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion, and record 13-time ROH World Tag Team Champion. Other championships held by Briscoe over his career include the Impact World Tag Team Championship and IWGP Tag Team Championship. He was inducted into the ROH Hall of Fame in 2022.

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Stefan Kießling, German footballer

Stefan Kießling is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker for Bayer Leverkusen and 1. FC Nürnberg. Born in Lichtenfels, West Germany, Kießling began playing football at a young age in the youth setup at 1. FC Eintracht Bamberg before moving to the 1. FC Nürnberg academy in 2001. He made his professional debut for Nürnberg as a 19-year-old in 2003 before being sold to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2006. He stayed at Leverkusen for 12 seasons.

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Robinho, Brazilian footballer

Robson de Souza, known as Robinho, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

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Fara Williams, English footballer

Fara Tanya Franki Merrett, known professionally as Fara Williams, is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder. A consistent goalscorer and set-piece specialist, Williams was considered one of England's leading players.

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25/01/1983

Josh Powell, American basketball player

Joshua Dominique Powell is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Powell won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and 2010, and has also spent time with the Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. In 2013, Powell was a member of the Olympiacos side that won the EuroLeague championship. He has also played in Russia, Italy, Argentina, Puerto Rico, China, the Philippines, Australia and Venezuela.

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25/01/1981

Francis Jeffers, English footballer

Francis Jeffers is an English football coach and former player, who is currently assistant manager of Macclesfield FC.

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Alicia Keys, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress

Alicia Augello Cook, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After disputes with the label, she signed with J Records to release her debut studio album, Songs in A Minor (2001). Met with critical acclaim and commercial success, the album sold over 12 million copies worldwide and won five awards at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. It contained the Billboard Hot 100-number one single "Fallin'". Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), was met with continued success, selling eight million units worldwide and spawning the US top-five singles "You Don't Know My Name" and "If I Ain't Got You". Its release earned an additional four Grammy Awards.

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Toše Proeski, Macedonian singer (died 2007)

Todor "Toše" Proeski was a Macedonian singer and songwriter. Considered a top act of the local Macedonian and Balkan music scene, Proeski's music was popular across multiple countries in Southeast Europe. Proeski has been dubbed as the "Balkan Elvis". He was also acclaimed for his commitment to humanitarian causes, including serving as UNICEF ambassador and holding charity concerts. He died in a highway car crash in Croatia in 2007 at the age of 26, and received substantial posthumous recognition.

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25/01/1980

Alayna Burns, Australian track cyclist

Alayna Burns is an Australian track cyclist.

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Michelle McCool, American wrestler

Michelle Leigh Calaway is an American retired professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, as an ambassador.

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Xavi, Spanish footballer

Xavier Hernández Creus, commonly known as Xavi Hernández or simply Xavi, is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed La Liga club Barcelona. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Xavi was renowned for his exceptional passing and vision. He is the all-time Spanish top assist provider in the UEFA Champions League with 30 assists. He spent most of his playing career at Barcelona and is one of the few players to make over 1,000 professional career appearances.

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25/01/1979

Christine Lakin, American actress and director

Christine Lakin is an American actress and director. She is best known for her role as Alicia "Al" Lambert on the 1990s ABC/CBS sitcom Step by Step. She also played Joan of Arc on Showtime's Reefer Madness, was the sidekick on Craig Kilborn's 2010 Fox talk show The Kilborn File, and provides the voice of Joyce Kinney in Family Guy.

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David Mutendera, Zimbabwean cricketer

David Travolta Mutendera is a former Zimbabwean international cricketer who played one Test match and nine One Day Internationals. He now teaches cricket and football at St John’s College in Harare. He is currently the Convener of Selectors for the Zimbabwe national cricket team.

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Rodrigo Ribeiro, Brazilian racing driver

Rodrigo Ribeiro is a Brazilian racing driver.

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25/01/1978

Charlene, Princess of Monaco

Charlene is Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Albert II. Before her marriage, Charlene was an Olympic swimmer representing South Africa.

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Ahmet Dursun, Turkish footballer

Ahmet Dursun is a Turkish former professional footballer.

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Denis Menchov, Russian cyclist

Denis Nikolayevich Menshov is a former professional Russian road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 2000 and 2013. He was best known as a general classification rider, a climber and an accomplished time trialist. In 2005 he finished second in the Vuelta a España and in 2007 he finished as the champion. He also won the centenary Giro d'Italia in 2009 and finished second in the Tour de France in 2010 becoming the first Russian to do so. He was later disqualified from that Tour de France, as well as the 2009 and 2012 editions, owing to adverse biological passport findings.

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Derrick Turnbow, American baseball player

Thomas Derrick Turnbow is an American former professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Anaheim Angels and Milwaukee Brewers.

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian actor, comedian, and politician, 6th President of Ukraine

Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who, since 2019, has served as the sixth president of Ukraine. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war with Russia's annexation of Crimea and invasion of the Donbas, and has continued to serve during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing since February 2022. As well as visiting Ukrainian troops on the frontlines, Zelenskyy has repeatedly met with other world leaders, calling on the international community to support Ukraine's resistance and its efforts to end Russia's war. Zelenskyy has called for an unconditional ceasefire and negotiations based on a 20-point peace plan.

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25/01/1977

Michael Brown, English footballer, manager and pundit

Michael Robert Brown is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a pundit.

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25/01/1976

Stephanie Bellars, American wrestler and manager

Stephanie Bellars is an American former professional wrestling valet. She is mostly known for her tenure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Gorgeous George, the kayfabe manager of "Macho Man" Randy Savage. After WCW, she worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and other promotions under various ring names.

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Mário Haberfeld, Brazilian racing driver

Mario Haberfeld is a Brazilian former racing driver.

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Dimitris Nalitzis, Greek footballer

Dimitris Nalitzis is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. He is the current team manager of AEK Athens.

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25/01/1975

Duncan Jupp, Anglo-Scottish footballer

Duncan Alan Jupp is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in England, he earned nine caps with the Scotland U21 national team.

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Mia Kirshner, Canadian actress

Mia Kirshner is a Canadian actress, writer, and social activist. She is known for television roles as Mandy in 24 (2001–2005), as Jenny Schecter in The L Word (2004–2009), as Amanda Grayson in Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2019) and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2023), and as Isobel Flemming in The Vampire Diaries (2010–2011). Her film credits include Love and Human Remains (1993), Exotica (1994), The Crow: City of Angels (1996), Mad City (1997), Not Another Teen Movie (2001), and The Black Dahlia (2006).

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25/01/1974

Robert Budreau, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter

Robert Budreau is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut with That Beautiful Somewhere (2006) and is best known for writing and directing Born to Be Blue (2015) and Stockholm (2018). Budreau received the Canadian Screen Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Directors Guild of Canada Award for Best Direction in a Feature Film for Stockholm. Through his production company, Lumanity Productions, he has also produced films including Delia’s Gone (2022) and Queen of Bones (2023).

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Emily Haines, Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player

Emily Savitri Haines is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is the lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter of the rock band Metric and a member of the musical collective Broken Social Scene. As a solo artist, she has performed under her own name and as Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton. Haines possesses the vocal range of a mezzo-soprano.

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Attilio Nicodemo, Italian footballer

Attilio Nicodemo is a former Italian footballer who played as a midfielder.

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25/01/1973

Geoff Johns, American author, screenwriter, and producer

Geoffrey Johns is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, The Flash, and Superman has drawn critical acclaim. His critically acclaimed work includes Sinestro Corps War, Blackest Night, Infinite Crisis, Throne of Atlantis, Flashpoint, Doomsday Clock, Superman: Last Son, and Superman: Brainiac. He co-created the DC character Courtney Whitmore based on his deceased sister. He also expanded the Green Lantern mythology, adding in new concepts and co-creating numerous characters. Among the DC characters and concepts he co-created are the Sinestro Corps, the Indigo Tribe, the Red Lantern Corps, the Black Lantern Corps, Larfleeze, Atrocitus, Bleez, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz, Hunter Zolomon, Tar Pit, Miss Martian, Kate Kane, and Christopher Kent.

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25/01/1972

Shinji Takehara, Japanese boxer

Shinji Takehara is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 1996. He was the first Japanese boxer to capture a middleweight title having held the WBA title from 1995 to 1996.

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25/01/1971

Luca Badoer, Italian racing driver

Luca Badoer is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2009.

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Philip Coppens, Belgian journalist and author (died 2012)

Philip Coppens was a Belgian author, radio host, and commentator whose writings, speeches and television appearances focused on areas of fringe science and alternative history.

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Ana Ortiz, American actress

Ana Ortiz is an American actress. In the early 2000s, she starred in the short-lived NBC sitcoms Kristin (2001) and A.U.S.A. (2003), and had recurring roles on the action series Over There (2005) and the legal series Boston Legal (2006). She garnered widespread attention for her role as Hilda Suarez in the ABC comedy-drama series Ugly Betty (2006–2010).

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25/01/1970

Stephen Chbosky, American author, screenwriter, and director

Stephen Chbosky is an American film director, screenwriter, and author. He is best known for writing the bestselling coming-of-age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999), and writing and directing its 2012 film adaptation. He also directed the drama Wonder (2017) and the 2021 film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen. His first psychological horror novel, Imaginary Friend, was published in October 2019.

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Chris Mills, American basketball player

Christopher Lemonte Mills is an American former professional basketball player who played ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

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Milt Stegall, American football player and sportscaster

Milton Eugene Stegall is an American former professional football player who played 14 years in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and three years in the National Football League (NFL). He is currently an analyst on the CFL on TSN studio panel.

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25/01/1969

Sergei Ovchinnikov, Russian volleyball player and coach (died 2012)

Sergei Anatolyevich Ovchinnikov was the head coach of the Russia's National Women Volleyball Team. He committed suicide three weeks after the team lost to Brazil at the 2012 Summer Olympics quarterfinals.

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25/01/1968

Eric Orie, Dutch footballer and manager

Eric Alexander Orie is a Dutch football manager.

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25/01/1967

Nelson Asaytono, Filipino basketball player

Nelson Asaytono is a Filipino retired professional basketball player who played for Purefoods, Swift/Sunkist/Pop Cola, San Miguel Beer, and Red Bull in the PBA during his 17-year career.

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David Ginola, French footballer

David Ginola-Ceze is a French former professional footballer. A television personality, he has also worked as an actor, model and football pundit.

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Randy McKay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Hugh Randall McKay is a Canadian former professional hockey player. Playing the right wing position, he played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1988 to 2003 with the Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils, Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens. He was commonly referred to as Randy "The Rocket" Mckay" for not only his physical playstyle and consistent double digit goal seasons, but also most notably for his "head high screamers" or hard slapshots into the upper corner of the net.

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Nicole Uphoff, German equestrian

Nicole Uphoff is a German equestrian who competes in the sport of dressage. She won four gold medals in individual and team competition at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics. Riding her star horse, Rembrandt, Uphoff also won numerous other international competitions, including the World Equestrian Games and the European Dressage Championships.

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25/01/1966

Chet Culver, American educator and politician, 41st Governor of Iowa

Chester John Culver is an American politician who served from 2007 through 2011 as the 41st governor of Iowa. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 29th Secretary of State of Iowa from 1999 to 2007. He was elected governor in the 2006 Iowa gubernatorial election and ran unsuccessfully for re-election in 2010, losing to Terry Branstad.

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Yiannos Ioannou, Cypriot footballer and manager

Yiannos Ioannou is a former Cypriot football player of APOEL FC and the Cyprus national team. He is widely considered one of the best strikers in the history of Cypriot football.

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Mark Schlereth, American football player and sportscaster

Mark Fremont Schlereth is an American former professional football player who is a television and radio sportscaster. Schlereth played guard in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons (1989–2000) with the Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos. He is currently a football analyst for Fox Sports, appearing on FS1, and other programs. He also co-hosted Sedano & Stink with Jorge Sedano from 7–10 p.m. ET on ESPN Radio until late March 2015 when he left the program to pursue other broadcast opportunities. He also appeared on the soap opera Guiding Light, and 2012's Red Dawn remake.

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25/01/1965

Esa Tikkanen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach

Esa Tikkanen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, and the Washington Capitals, and won the Stanley Cup five times in his career, including in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 with the Oilers, and 1994 with the Rangers. He recorded 72 goals as a left wing in the playoffs, which was the most for the position until he was passed by Alex Ovechkin.

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25/01/1964

Stephen Pate, Australian cyclist

Stephen Pate is an internationally competitive cyclist and former Olympian. After turning pro in 1986, Pate won three world pro medals and set as many world pro records for 200m, 500m, and 1 km. In 1991, he won a bronze medal at the World Professional Championship at Stuttgart. However, he and his fellow Australian Carey Hall later tested positive for steroids and were stripped of their medals.

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25/01/1963

Fernando Haddad, Brazilian academic and politician, 61st Mayor of São Paulo

Fernando Haddad is a Brazilian academic, lawyer and politician who served as the Brazilian Minister of Finance from 2023 to 2026. He was previously the mayor of São Paulo from 2013 to 2017 and the Brazilian minister of education from 2005 to 2012 in the cabinets of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff.

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Molly Holzschlag, American computer scientist and author (died 2023)

Molly Miriam Esther Holzschlag was an American author, lecturer and advocate of the Open Web. She wrote or co-authored 35 books on web design and open standards, including The Zen of CSS Design: Visual Enlightenment for the Web. She was nicknamed the "Fairy Godmother of the Web".

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25/01/1962

Chris Chelios, American ice hockey player and manager

Christos Konstantinos Chelios is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He was a three-time Stanley Cup champion: one with the Montreal Canadiens and two with the Detroit Red Wings.

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25/01/1961

Vivian Balakrishnan, Singaporean ophthalmologist and politician, Singaporean Ministry of National Development

Vivian Balakrishnan is a Singaporean politician, diplomat and former ophthalmologist who has been serving as Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2015. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Cashew division of Holland–Bukit Timah GRC since 2006, and previously the Ulu Pandan division of Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC between 2001 and 2006.

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Tim Dorsey, American novelist (died 2023)

Timothy Alan Dorsey was an American novelist. He is known for a series starring Serge A. Storms, a mentally disturbed vigilante antihero who rampages across Florida enforcing his own moral code against a variety of low-life criminals.

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25/01/1958

Franco Pancheri, Italian footballer and manager

Franco Pancheri is an Italian professional football coach and former player.

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Peter Watts, Canadian science fiction author

Peter Watts is a Canadian science fiction author. He specializes in hard science fiction. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1991 from the Department of Zoology and Resource Ecology. He went on to hold several academic research and teaching positions, and worked as a marine-mammal biologist. He began publishing fiction around the time he finished graduate school.

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25/01/1957

Eskil Erlandsson, Swedish technologist and politician, Swedish Minister for Rural Affairs

Lars Eskil Anders Erlandsson is a Swedish politician who served as Minister for Rural Affairs from 2010 to 2014, having previously served as Minister for Agriculture from 2006 to 2010. A member of the Centre Party, he was MP of the Swedish Riksdag from 1994 to 2019.

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Andrew Harris, American politician

Andrew Peter Harris is an American politician and physician serving as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 1st congressional district since 2011. The district includes the entire Eastern Shore, as well as several eastern exurbs of Baltimore County. He is a member of the Republican Party.

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Jenifer Lewis, American actress and singer

Jenifer Jeanette Lewis is an American actress and singer. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals and worked as a back-up singer for Bette Midler before appearing in films Beaches (1988) and Sister Act (1992). Lewis is known for playing roles of mothers in the films What's Love Got to Do With It (1993), Poetic Justice (1993), The Preacher's Wife (1996), The Brothers (2001), The Cookout (2004), Think Like a Man (2012) and in the sequel Think Like a Man Too (2014), Baggage Claim (2013) and The Wedding Ringer (2015), as well as in The Temptations miniseries (1998).

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25/01/1956

Andy Cox, English guitarist

Andrew Cox is a British guitarist, was one of the founding members of the ska band the Beat in 1978, and of the band Fine Young Cannibals in 1985.

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Dinah Manoff, American actress

Dinah Manoff is an American stage, film, and television actress and television director. She is best known for her roles as Carol Weston on Empty Nest, Elaine Lefkowitz on Soap, Marty Maraschino in the film Grease, and Libby Tucker in both the stage and film adaptations of I Ought to Be in Pictures, for which she won a Tony Award.

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25/01/1954

Ricardo Bochini, Argentinian footballer and manager

Ricardo Enrique Bochini is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is nicknamed El Bocha. He spent his nearly 20-year professional career at club Independiente, becoming one of the most emblematic players and the greatest idol in the history of the club. Bochini was a childhood idol of Argentine iconic footballer Diego Maradona.

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Kay Cottee, Australian sailor

Kay Cottee is an Australian sailor, who was the first woman to perform a single-handed, non-stop and unassisted circumnavigation of the world. She performed this feat in 1988 in her 37 feet (11 m) yacht Blackmores First Lady, taking 189 days.

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Renate Dorrestein, Dutch journalist and author (died 2018)

Renate Maria Dorrestein was a Dutch writer, journalist and feminist. She started working as a junior journalist for the Dutch magazines Libelle and Panorama. During the period 1977 - 1982 she published in Het Parool, Viva, Onkruid and Opzij. Dorrestein published her first novel (Buitenstaanders) in 1983. Her sister's suicide had a great influence on her books. Dorrestein won the Annie Romein prize in 1993 for her complete body of work. A lot of Dorrestein's books were translated, and they were sold in 14 countries.

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25/01/1953

The Honky Tonk Man, American wrestler

Roy Wayne Farris is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in the World Wrestling Federation from 1986 to 1991, where he performed under the ring name The Honky Tonk Man.

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25/01/1952

Peter Tatchell, Australian-English journalist and activist

Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British human rights campaigner, best known for his work with LGBTQ social movements.

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Timothy White, American journalist, author, and critic (died 2002)

Timothy White was an American rock music journalist and editor.

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25/01/1951

Steve Prefontaine, American runner (died 1975)

Steve Roland Prefontaine was an American long-distance runner who set American records at every distance from 2,000 to 10,000 meters from a period of 1973 to 1975. He competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and he was preparing for the 1976 Olympics with the Oregon Track Club at the time of his death in 1975.

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25/01/1950

Gloria Naylor, American novelist (died 2016)

Gloria Naylor was an American novelist, known for novels including The Women of Brewster Place (1982), Linden Hills (1985) and Mama Day (1988).

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25/01/1949

John Cooper Clarke, English poet and critic

John Cooper Clarke, also known as JCC and "The Bard of Salford", is an English performance poet and comedian who was often referred to as a "punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums and performed on stage with punk and post-punk bands and has continued to write and perform since. The title of his first poetry anthology, Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt, published in 1982, was also used for a documentary film about him in the same year.

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Paul Nurse, English geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate

Sir Paul Maxime Nurse is an English geneticist, President of the Royal Society and former Chief Executive and Director of the Francis Crick Institute. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with Leland Hartwell and Tim Hunt, for their discoveries of protein molecules that control the division of cells in the cell cycle.

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25/01/1948

Ros Kelly, Australian educator and politician, 1st Australian Minister for Defence Science and Personnel

Roslyn Joan Kelly AO is an Australian former politician. She was a member of the Australian House of Representatives, having represented the Division of Canberra from 18 October 1980 to 30 January 1995. She was a minister in the governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.

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Georgy Shishkin, Russian painter and illustrator

Georgy Shishkin is a Russian painter.

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25/01/1947

Ángel Nieto, Spanish motorcycle racer (died 2017)

Ángel Nieto Roldán was a Spanish professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He was one of the most accomplished motorcycle racers in the history of the sport, winning 13 World Championships and 90 Grand Prix victories in a racing career that spanned twenty-three years from 1964 to 1986, mainly competing in 50cc, 80cc and 125cc displacement classes respectively. His total of 90 Grand Prix victories ranks him fourth only to Giacomo Agostini (122), Valentino Rossi (115) and Marc Márquez (99). In 2011, Nieto was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.

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Tostão, Brazilian footballer, journalist, and physician

Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade, generally known as Tostão, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward or attacking midfielder and was a physician.

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25/01/1945

Byron Beck, American basketball player

Byron Beck is an American former professional basketball player.

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Leigh Taylor-Young, American actress

Leigh Taylor-Young is an American actress who has appeared on stage, screen, podcast, radio, and television. Her best-known films include I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968), The Horsemen (1971), The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971), Soylent Green (1973), and Jagged Edge (1985). She won an Emmy for her role on the hit television series Picket Fences.

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25/01/1943

Tobe Hooper, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2017)

Willard Tobe Hooper was an American filmmaker, best known for his work in the horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influential horror filmmakers of all time.

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25/01/1942

Carl Eller, American football player and sportscaster

Carl Lee Eller is an American former professional football player who played as a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 through 1979. He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004.

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Eusébio, Mozambican-Portuguese footballer (died 2014)

Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "o Rei", was a Mozambican Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time as well as Benfica's best player ever. He was known for his speed, technique, athleticism and right-footed shot, making him a prolific goalscorer, accumulating 733 goals in 745 matches. Eusébio was the first ever player to win European Golden Boot, World Cup Golden Boot and UCL Golden Boot. In the UEFA Champions League, he ranks second for the all-time Portuguese top goalscorers, scoring 47 goals.

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25/01/1941

Buddy Baker, American race car driver and sportscaster (died 2015)

Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker Jr. was an American professional stock car racing driver and commentator. Over the course of his 33-year racing career, he won 19 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 1980 Daytona 500. Known by the nickname "Gentle Giant", Baker was noted for his prowess at NASCAR's superspeedways, Daytona and Talladega, at which he won a combined six races. After his racing career, he worked as a broadcaster and co-hosted a number of radio shows on Sirius XM.

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25/01/1938

Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese author and illustrator (died 1998)

Shotaro Ishinomori , né Onodera , was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, writer and director. Known as the "King of Manga", he is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential manga artists of all time. Outside of manga he is also one of the most prolific creators in the history of anime, tokusatsu, and Japanese superhero fiction, creating several immensely popular long-running series such as Cyborg 009, the Super Sentai series, and the Kamen Rider series. He was twice awarded by the Shogakukan Manga Awards, in 1968 for Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae and in 1988 for Hotel and Manga Nihon Keizai Nyumon.

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Etta James, American singer (died 2012)

Jamesetta Hawkins, known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s as the Chitlin' Circuit. She sang in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll and soul and gained fame with hits such as "The Wallflower" (1955), "At Last" (1960), "Something's Got a Hold on Me" (1962), "Tell Mama" and "I'd Rather Go Blind". She faced a number of personal problems, including heroin addiction, severe physical abuse and incarceration, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album Seven Year Itch (1988).

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Leiji Matsumoto, Japanese author, illustrator, and animator (died 2023)

Leiji Matsumoto was a Japanese manga artist, and creator of several anime and manga series. His widow Miyako Maki is also a manga artist.

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Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet (died 1980)

Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky was a Soviet singer, songwriter, poet and actor who had an immense and enduring effect on Soviet culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often-humorous street jargon. He was also a prominent stage- and screen-actor. Though the official Soviet cultural establishment largely ignored his work, he was remarkably popular during his lifetime and has exerted significant influence on many of Russia's musicians and actors.

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25/01/1937

Ange-Félix Patassé, Central African engineer and politician, 5th President of the Central African Republic (died 2011)

Ange-Félix Patassé was a Central African politician who was president of the Central African Republic from 1993 until 2003, when he was deposed by the rebel leader François Bozizé in the 2003 coup d'état. Patassé was the first president in the CAR's history to be chosen in what was generally regarded as a fairly democratic election (1993) in that it was brought about by donor pressure on President André Kolingba and assisted by the United Nations Electoral Assistance Unit.

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25/01/1936

Diana Hyland, American actress (died 1977)

Diana Hyland was an American stage, film, and television actress.

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Onat Kutlar, Turkish author and poet (died 1995)

Onat Kutlar was a prominent Turkish writer and poet, founder of the Turkish Sinematek and cofounder of the Istanbul International Film Festival.

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25/01/1935

Conrad Burns, American journalist, and politician (died 2016)

Conrad Ray Burns was an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from Montana from 1989 to 2007. He was only the second Republican popularly elected to represent Montana in the Senate and was the longest-serving Republican senator in Montana history.

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António Ramalho Eanes, Portuguese general and politician, 16th President of Portugal

António dos Santos Ramalho Eanes is a Portuguese general and politician who was the president of Portugal from 1976 to 1986.

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Don Maynard, American football player (died 2022)

Donald Rogers Maynard was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver known for playing for the New York Jets in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). He also played with the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals; and the Shreveport Steamer of the World Football League (WFL).

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25/01/1933

Corazon Aquino, Filipino politician, 11th President of the Philippines (died 2009)

María Corazón Sumulong "Cory" Cojuangco-Aquino was a Philippine politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines, serving from 1986 to 1992. The first female president in Philippine history, Aquino was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People Power Revolution, which ended the two-decade rule of President Ferdinand Marcos and led to the establishment of the current democratic Fifth Philippine Republic. She has been regarded by media outlets as the "Mother of Democracy".

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Anne Innis Dagg, Canadian zoologist and author (died 2024)

Anne Christine Innis Dagg was a Canadian zoologist, feminist, and author of numerous books. A pioneer in the study of animal behaviour in the wild, Dagg is credited with being the first person to study wild giraffes. Her impact on current understandings of giraffe biology and behaviour were the focus of the 2011 CBC radio documentary Wild Journey: The Anne Innis Story, the 2018 documentary film The Woman Who Loves Giraffes, and the 2021 children's book The Girl Who Loved Giraffes and Became the World's First Giraffologist.

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25/01/1931

Dean Jones, American actor and singer (died 2015)

Dean Carroll Jones was an American actor. He was best known as the Walt Disney Company's main leading man in the 1970s with his roles as Agent Zeke Kelso in That Darn Cat! (1965), Jim Douglas in the Herbie franchise (1969–1997), and with other film companies such as Dr. Herman Varnick in Beethoven (1992). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his performance as Albert Dooley in The Million Dollar Duck (1971). In 1995, he was inducted as a Disney Legend for his film work.

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25/01/1929

Elizabeth Allen, American actress and singer (died 2006)

Elizabeth Allen was an American theatre, television, and film actress and singer whose 40-year career lasted from the mid-1950s through the mid-1990s, and included scores of TV episodes and six theatrical features, two of which were directed by John Ford.

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Robert Faurisson, English-French author and academic (died 2018)

Robert Faurisson was a British-born French academic who became best known for Holocaust denial. Faurisson generated much controversy with several articles published in the Journal of Historical Review and elsewhere, and by letters to French newspapers, especially Le Monde, which contradicted the history of the Holocaust by denying the existence of gas chambers in Nazi death camps, the systematic killing of European Jews using gas during the Second World War, and the authenticity of The Diary of Anne Frank. After the passing of the Gayssot Act against Holocaust denial in 1990, Faurisson was prosecuted and fined, and in 1991 he was dismissed from his academic post.

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Benny Golson, American saxophonist and composer (died 2024)

Benny Golson was an American bebop and hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a performer, before launching his solo career. Golson was known for co-founding and co-leading The Jazztet with trumpeter Art Farmer in 1959. From the late 1960s through the 1970s Golson was in demand as an arranger for film and television and thus was less active as a performer, but he and Farmer re-formed the Jazztet in 1982.

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25/01/1928

Jérôme Choquette, Canadian lawyer and politician (died 2017)

Jérôme Choquette was a lawyer and politician in Quebec, Canada. Choquette ran a private law practice, representing various claimants in a wide range of cases from his office on Avenue du Parc, downtown Montreal.

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Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgian general and politician, 2nd President of Georgia (died 2014)

Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia for several non-consecutive periods from 1972 until his resignation in 2003 and also served as the final Soviet minister of foreign affairs from 1985 to 1991.

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Cor van der Hart, Dutch footballer and manager (died 2006)

Cor van der Hart was a Dutch footballer. He is known as one of the best defenders of the Netherlands national team in history, who was physically strong, who read the game very well and who had a quality kicking technique.

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25/01/1927

Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian singer-songwriter and pianist (died 1994)

Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim, also known as Tom Jobim, was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger and singer. Jobim is considered a great exponent of Brazilian music and one of the fathers of bossa nova for having merged samba with cool jazz in the 1960s as a pioneer of the genre. He is also regarded as one of the most celebrated songwriters of the 20th century, and his compositions have been played and recorded by many singers and instrumentalists internationally since the early 1960s.

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25/01/1926

Dick McGuire, American basketball player and coach (died 2010)

Richard Joseph McGuire was an American professional basketball player and coach. McGuire was one of the premier guards of the 1950s, playing 11 seasons in the NBA (1949–60), eight with the New York Knicks and three with the Detroit Pistons. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993. His number 15 jersey was retired by the Knicks in 1992.

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25/01/1925

Gordy Soltau, American football player and sportscaster (died 2014)

Gordon Leroy Soltau was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for nine seasons with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

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Giorgos Zampetas, Greek bouzouki player and songwriter (died 1992)

Giorgos Zampetas was a Greek bouzouki musician. He was born in Athens, where he also died, but his origins were from the island of Kythnos.

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25/01/1924

Lou Groza, American football player and coach (died 2000)

Louis Roy Groza, nicknamed "the Toe", was an American professional football offensive tackle and placekicker while playing his entire career for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Groza was professional football's career kicking and points leader when he retired after the 1967 season. He played in 21 seasons for the Browns, helping the team to win eight league championships in that span. Groza's accuracy and strength as a kicker influenced the development of place-kicking as a specialty; he could kick field goals from beyond 50 yards (46 m) at a time when attempts from that distance were a rarity. He set numerous records for distance and number of field goals kicked during his career.

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Husein Mehmedov, Bulgarian-Turkish wrestler and coach (died 2014)

Husein Mehmedov was a Bulgarian wrestler of Turkish descent who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics.

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Speedy West, American guitarist and producer (died 2003)

Wesley Webb West, better known as Speedy West, was an American pedal steel guitarist and record producer. He frequently played with Jimmy Bryant, both in their own duo and as part of the regular Capitol Records backing band for Tennessee Ernie Ford and many others. The duo also recorded with non-Capitol artists in Los Angeles. In 1960, Speedy played on and produced Loretta Lynn's first single. During his time at Capitol, he played on over 6000 recordings, including pop records by artists like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. West, who began playing Paul Bigsby's second ever pedal steel guitar in 1947, was the first country steel guitarist to use a pedal guitar. Nashville players like Bud Isaacs would adopt it in the early 1950s. After a stroke in 1981, West was unable to play pedal steel, but would continue to attend steel guitar conventions.

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25/01/1923

Arvid Carlsson, Swedish pharmacologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2018)

Arvid Carlsson was a Swedish neuropharmacologist who is best known for his work with the neurotransmitter dopamine and its effects in Parkinson's disease. For his work on dopamine, Carlsson was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000, together with Eric Kandel and Paul Greengard.

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Shirley Ardell Mason, American psychiatric patient (died 1998)

Shirley Ardell Mason was an American art teacher who was reported to have dissociative identity disorder. Her life was purportedly described, with adaptations to protect her anonymity, in 1973 in the book Sybil, subtitled The True Story of a Woman Possessed by 16 Separate Personalities. Two films of the same name were made, one released in 1976 and the other in 2007. Both the book and the films used the name Sybil Isabel Dorsett to protect Mason's identity, though the 2007 remake stated Mason's name at its conclusion.

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Sally Starr, American actress and television host (died 2013)

Alleen Mae Beller, also known as Sally Starr, was a prominent 1950s and 1960s celebrity television personality. Using a cowgirl persona, she appealed to local TV audiences of several generations of children through American radio, Broadway stage, movies and as a recording artist for more than sixty years. Fans remained loyal in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, and embraced her cowgirl personality as part of their own family identity, and sometimes referred to her as "Aunt Sally" or "Our Gal Sal."

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Jean Taittinger, French politician, French Minister of Justice (died 2012)

Jean Taittinger was a French politician and member of the champagne producing Taittinger family.

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25/01/1922

Raymond Baxter, English television host and pilot (died 2006)

Raymond Frederic Baxter OBE was an English television presenter, commentator and writer. He is best known for being the first presenter of the BBC Television science programme Tomorrow's World, continuing for 12 years, from 1965 to 1977. He also provided radio commentary at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the funerals of King George VI, Winston Churchill and Lord Mountbatten of Burma, and the first flight of Concorde.

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25/01/1921

Samuel T. Cohen, American physicist and academic (died 2010)

Samuel Theodore Cohen was an American physicist who is generally credited as the father of the neutron bomb.

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Josef Holeček, Czech canoeist (died 2005)

Josef Holeček was a Czech sprint canoeist who competed for Czechoslovakia in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he won gold medals in the C-1 1000 m event in both 1948 and 1952.

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25/01/1919

Norman Newell, English record producer and lyricist (died 2004)

Norman Newell was an English record producer and lyricist, who was mainly active in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also the co-writer of many notable songs. As an A&R manager for EMI, he worked with musicians such as Shirley Bassey, Dalida, Claude François, Vera Lynn, Russ Conway, Bette Midler, Judy Garland, Petula Clark, Jake Thackray, Malcolm Roberts, Bobby Crush and Peter and Gordon.

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Edwin Newman, American journalist and author (died 2010)

Edwin Harold Newman was an American newscaster, journalist, and author. After beginning his career with the wire services and serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Newman worked in radio for CBS News. He is known for a 23-year career with NBC News, from 1961 to 1984.

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25/01/1917

Ilya Prigogine, Russian-Belgian chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2003)

Viscount Ilya Romanovich Prigogine was a Belgian physical chemist, noted for his work on dissipative structures, complex systems, and irreversibility.

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Jânio Quadros, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 22nd President of Brazil (died 1992)

Jânio da Silva Quadros was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd president of Brazil from 31 January to 25 August 1961, when he resigned from office. He also served as the 24th and 36th mayor of São Paulo, and the 18th governor of the state of São Paulo. Quadros was known for his populist style of government and eccentric behavior.

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25/01/1916

Pop Ivy, American football player and coach (died 2003)

Lee Frank "Pop" Ivy was an American football player and coach who was the only person to serve as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL), the American Football League (AFL) and the Western Interprovincial Football Union. He led the Edmonton Eskimos to three consecutive Grey Cup championships in the 1950s.

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25/01/1915

Ewan MacColl, English singer-songwriter, actor and producer (died 1989)

James Henry Miller, better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a British folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he was one of the originators of the 1960s folk revival and wrote such songs as "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Dirty Old Town".

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25/01/1914

William Strickland, American conductor and organist (died 1991)

William Remsen Strickland was an American conductor and organist, noted for his lifelong promotion of American composers.

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25/01/1913

Huang Hua, Chinese translator and politician, 5th Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China (died 2010)

Huang Hua was a senior Chinese Communist revolutionary, politician, and diplomat.

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Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer and conductor (died 1994)

Witold Roman Lutosławski was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szymanowski, and possibly the greatest Polish composer since Chopin". His compositions—of which he was a notable conductor—include representatives of most traditional genres, aside from opera: symphonies, concertos, orchestral song cycles, other orchestral works, and chamber works. Among his best known works are his four symphonies, the Variations on a Theme by Paganini (1941), the Concerto for Orchestra (1954), and his cello concerto (1970).

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Luis Marden, American photographer and journalist (died 2003)

Luis Marden was an American photographer, explorer, writer, filmmaker, diver, navigator, and linguist who worked for National Geographic Magazine. He worked as a photographer and reporter before serving as chief of the National Geographic foreign editorial staff. He was a pioneer in the use of color photography, both on land and underwater, and also made many discoveries in the world of science.

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25/01/1910

Edgar V. Saks, Estonian historian, author, and politician, Estonian Minister of Education (died 1984)

Edgar Valter Saks was an Estonian amateur historian and author. He was the Estonian exile government's minister of education in exile from 1971 until his death.

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25/01/1908

Hsieh Tung-min, Taiwanese politician and Vice President of the Republic of China (died 2001)

Hsieh Tung-min was a Taiwanese politician who served as the ninth governor of Taiwan Province (1972–1978), the fourth and first local Taiwanese vice president of the Republic of China (1978–1984) under President Chiang Ching-kuo.

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25/01/1906

Toni Ulmen, German racing driver and motorcycle racer (died 1976)

Anton "Toni" Ulmen was a German motorcycle and racing driver from Düsseldorf, Germany. His racing career started in 1925 on a 250 cc Velocette. In 1927 he won the opening race of the Nürburgring on a 350 cc Velocette. In 1929 he won the 350 cc class on the Eilenriede, a non-permanent race course near Hannover. From 1949 to 1952, he was four times German sports car and Formula 2 champion.

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25/01/1905

Maurice Roy, Canadian cardinal (died 1985)

Maurice Roy was a Canadian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Quebec from 1947 to 1981. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965.

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Margery Sharp, English author and educator (died 1991)

Clara Margery Melita Sharp was an English writer of 25 novels for adults, 14 children's novels, four plays, two mysteries, and numerous short stories. Her best-known work is The Rescuers series about a heroic mouse named Miss Bianca and her partner Bernard, which was later adapted into the animated feature film The Rescuers (1977) – and a sequel, The Rescuers Down Under (1990) – by Walt Disney Productions.

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Sava Kovačević, Yugoslav Partisan divisional commander and People's Hero of Yugoslavia (died 1943)

Sava Kovačević was a Yugoslav Partisan divisional commander during World War II, and one of the heroes of the communist Partisan movement.

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25/01/1901

Mildred Dunnock, American actress (died 1991)

Mildred Dorothy Dunnock was an American stage and screen actress. She was nominated twice for an Academy Award for her work in Death of a Salesman (1951) and Baby Doll (1956).

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25/01/1900

István Fekete, Hungarian author (died 1970)

István Fekete was a Hungarian writer. He wrote several youth novels and animal stories.

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Yōjirō Ishizaka, Japanese author and educator (died 1986)

Yōjirō Ishizaka was a Japanese writer of short stories and novels.

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Theodosius Dobzhansky, Russian-American geneticist and pioneer of evolutionary biology (died 1975)

Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky was a Russian-born American geneticist and evolutionary biologist. He was a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the modern synthesis and also popular for his support and promotion of theistic evolution as a practicing Christian. Born in the Russian Empire, Dobzhansky immigrated to the United States in 1927 at the age of 27.

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25/01/1899

Sleepy John Estes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1977)

John Adam Estes, known as Sleepy John Estes, was an American blues guitarist, songwriter and vocalist. His music influenced such artists as The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin.

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Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian lawyer and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Belgium (died 1972)

Paul-Henri Charles Spaak was an influential Belgian Socialist politician, diplomat, and statesman who thrice served as the prime minister of Belgium and later as the second secretary general of NATO. Nicknamed "Mr. Europe", he was a leader in the formation of the institutions that evolved into the current European Union, along with Robert Schuman, Alcide De Gasperi and Konrad Adenauer.

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25/01/1895

Florence Mills, American singer, dancer, and actress (died 1927)

Florence Mills, billed as the "Queen of Happiness", was an American cabaret singer, dancer, and comedian.

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25/01/1894

Aino Aalto, Finnish architect and designer (died 1949)

Aino Maria Marsio-Aalto was a Finnish architect and a pioneer of Scandinavian design. She is known as the design partner of architect Alvar Aalto, with whom she worked for 25 years, and as a co-founder with him, Maire Gullichsen, and Nils-Gustav Hahl of the design company Artek, collaborating on many its most well-known designs. As Artek's first artistic director, her creative output spanned textiles, lamps, glassware, and buildings. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, and MoMA has included her work in nine exhibitions, the first of which was Aalto: Architecture and Furniture in 1938. Other major exhibitions were at the Barbican Art Gallery in London and Chelsea Space in London. Aino Aalto has been exhibited with Pablo Picasso.

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25/01/1886

Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor and composer (died 1954)

Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major influence for many later conductors, and his name is often mentioned when discussing their interpretative styles.

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Dean Ivan Lamb, American pioneer pilot and mercenary (died 1955)

Dean Ivan Lamb was an American pioneer aviator and mercenary.

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25/01/1885

Kitahara Hakushū, Japanese poet and author (died 1942)

Hakushū Kitahara is the pen-name of Kitahara Ryūkichi , a Japanese tanka poet active during the Taishō and Shōwa periods of Japan. He is regarded as one of the most popular and important poets in modern Japanese literature.

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25/01/1882

Virginia Woolf, English novelist, essayist, short story writer, and critic (died 1941)

Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device.

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25/01/1878

Ernst Alexanderson, Swedish-American engineer (died 1975)

Ernst Frederick Werner Alexanderson was a Swedish-American electrical engineer and inventor who was a pioneer in radio development. He invented the Alexanderson alternator, an early radio transmitter used between 1906 and the 1930s for longwave long distance radio transmission. Alexanderson also created the amplidyne, a direct current amplifier used during the Second World War for controlling anti-aircraft guns.

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25/01/1874

W. Somerset Maugham, British playwright, novelist, and short story writer (died 1965)

William Somerset Maugham was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories.

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25/01/1868

Juventino Rosas, Mexican violinist and composer (died 1894)

José Juventino Policarpo Rosas Cadenas was a Mexican composer and violinist, known worldwide for the waltz "Sobre las olas".

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25/01/1864

Julije Kempf, Croatian historian and author (died 1934)

Julije Kempf was a Croatian historian and writer. Kempf was born in Požega, Slavonia. After graduating from Požega gymnasium, he attended teachers school in Zagreb. Afterwards, he worked in Novi Vinodolski as a teacher, before returning to Požega in 1885 to teach in Elementary school for boys.

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25/01/1860

Charles Curtis, American lawyer and politician, 31st Vice President of the United States (died 1936)

Charles Curtis was the 31st vice president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 under President Herbert Hoover. He was the Senate Majority Leader from 1924 to 1929. An enrolled citizen of the Kaw Nation born in the Kansas Territory, Curtis was the first Native American to serve in the United States Congress, where he served in the United States House of Representatives and Senate before becoming Senate Majority Leader. Curtis also was the first and only Native American and first multiracial person to serve as vice president.

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25/01/1858

Mikimoto Kōkichi, Japanese businessman (died 1954)

Kokichi Mikimoto was a Japanese entrepreneur who is credited with creating the first cultured pearl and subsequently starting the cultured pearl industry with the establishment of his luxury pearl company Mikimoto.

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25/01/1841

John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, English admiral (died 1920)

Admiral of the Fleet John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher,, commonly known as Jacky or Jackie Fisher, was a Royal Navy officer. Fisher was chiefly recognised as an innovator, strategist, and architect of naval reform rather than as an operational admiral, although he held combat commands throughout his career. Appointed First Sea Lord in 1904, Fisher played a critical role in the Anglo-German naval arms race, helping to modernise the British navy ahead of the First World War.

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25/01/1824

Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Indian poet and playwright (died 1873)

Michael Madhusudan Dutt was a Bengali poet and playwright. He is considered one of the pioneers of Bengali literature. He is immortal in Bengali literature for his Kapotakka Nod poem, which is included in the SSC syllabus of Bangladesh.

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25/01/1823

José María Iglesias, Mexican politician and interim President (died 1891)

José María Juan Nepomuceno Crisóforo Iglesias Inzáurraga was a Mexican lawyer, professor, journalist and liberal politician. He is known as author of the Iglesias law, an anticlerical law regulating ecclesiastical fees and aimed at preventing the impoverishment of the Mexican peasantry.

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25/01/1822

Charles Reed Bishop, American businessman, philanthropist, and politician, founded the Bishop Museum (died 1915)

Charles Reed Bishop was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist in Hawaii. Born in Glens Falls, New York, he sailed to Hawaii in 1846 at the age of 24, and made his home there, marrying into the royal family of the kingdom. He served several monarchs in appointed positions in the kingdom, before its overthrow in 1893 by Americans from the United States and organization as the Territory of Hawaii.

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William McDougall, Canadian lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories (died 1905)

William McDougall was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and one of the Fathers of Confederation.

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25/01/1816

Anna Gardner, American abolitionist and teacher (died 1901)

Anna Gardner was an American abolitionist and teacher, as well as an ardent reformer, a staunch supporter of women's rights, and the author of several volumes in prose and verse. In 1841, she published the call for the first antislavery meeting in Nantucket, at which Frederick Douglass made his first public speech and electrified his audience. She delivered many lectures during the years immediately preceding the American Civil War, and after the war, she taught in freedmen's schools in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. In 1878, she returned to New York, where soon afterward, she was severely injured in a carriage accident. After many weeks of suffering and a partial recovery, she returned to her old home in Nantucket. She lectured several times before the Nantucket Athenaeum. Gardner was a fluent writer, and in 1881, she published her best work in a volume of prose and verse entitled Harvest Gleanings.

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25/01/1813

J. Marion Sims, American gynecologist and physician (died 1883)

James Marion Sims was an American physician in the field of surgery. His most famous work was the development of a surgical technique for the repair of vesicovaginal fistula, a severe complication of obstructed childbirth. He developed this technique via non-consensual and unanesthetized surgeries on enslaved black women Anarcha Westcott, Lucy and Betsey and impoverished Irish women. He is also remembered for inventing the Sims speculum, the Sims sigmoid catheter, and Sims' position. Against significant opposition, he established, in New York, the first hospital in the United States specifically for women. He was forced out of the hospital he founded because he insisted on treating cancer patients; he played a small role in the creation of the nation's first cancer hospital, which opened after his death.

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25/01/1796

William MacGillivray, Scottish ornithologist and biologist (died 1852)

William MacGillivray FRSE was a Scottish naturalist and ornithologist.

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25/01/1794

François-Vincent Raspail, French chemist, physician, physiologist, and lawyer (died 1878)

François-Vincent Raspail, L.L.D., M.D. was a French chemist, naturalist, physician, physiologist, attorney, and socialist politician.

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25/01/1783

William Colgate, English-American businessman and philanthropist, founded Colgate-Palmolive (died 1857)

William Colgate was an English-American industrialist who in 1806 founded what became the Colgate-Palmolive company.

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25/01/1759

Robert Burns, Scottish poet and songwriter (died 1796)

Robert Burns, also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in a "light Scots dialect" of English, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.

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25/01/1755

Paolo Mascagni, Italian physician and anatomist (probable; (died 1815)

Paolo Mascagni was an Italian physician and anatomist. He is most well known for publishing the first complete description of the lymphatic system.

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25/01/1750

Johann Gottfried Vierling, German organist and composer (died 1813)

Johann Gottfried Vierling was a German organist and composer.

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25/01/1743

Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, German philosopher and author (died 1819)

Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi was a German philosopher, writer and socialite. He is best known for popularizing the concept of nihilism, denigrating it as the necessary result of Enlightenment thought and the philosophical systems of Baruch Spinoza, Immanuel Kant, Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling.

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25/01/1739

Charles François Dumouriez, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (died 1823)

Divisional-General Charles-François du Périer Dumouriez was a French Army officer and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of War in the Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI. Born in Cambrai, Dumouriez joined the French Royal Army in 1757 and served with distinction in the Seven Years' War. Following a spell as a diplomat in Louis XV's Secret du Roi and brief imprisonment due to financial misconduct, he was named commandant of Cherbourg and oversaw the development of the port city.

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25/01/1736

Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian-French mathematician and astronomer (died 1813)

Joseph-Louis Lagrange, also reported as Giuseppe Luigi Lagrange or Lagrangia, was an Italian and naturalized French mathematician, physicist and astronomer. He made significant contributions to the fields of analysis, number theory, and both classical and celestial mechanics.

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25/01/1640

William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English soldier and politician, Lord Steward of the Household (died 1707)

William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons of England from 1661 until 1684 when he inherited his father's peerage as Earl of Devonshire and took his seat in the House of Lords. Cavendish was part of the "Immortal Seven" which invited William of Orange to depose James II of England as part of the Glorious Revolution, and was rewarded for his efforts by being elevated to the Duke of Devonshire in 1694.

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25/01/1635

Daniel Casper von Lohenstein, German writer, diplomat and lawyer (died 1683)

Daniel Casper, also spelled Daniel Caspar, and referred to from 1670 as Daniel Casper von Lohenstein, was a Baroque Silesian playwright, lawyer, diplomat, poet, and chief representative of the Second Silesian School.

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25/01/1634

Gaspar Fagel, Dutch politician and diplomat (died 1688)

Gaspar Fagel was a Dutch politician, jurist, and diplomat who authored correspondence from and on behalf of William III, Prince of Orange, during the English Revolution of 1688.

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25/01/1627

Robert Boyle, Anglo-Irish chemist and physicist (died 1691)

Robert Boyle was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of modern chemistry, and one of the pioneers of modern experimental scientific method.

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25/01/1615

Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (died 1660)

Govert Teuniszoon Flinck was a Dutch painter of the Dutch Golden Age.

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25/01/1526

Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (died 1586)

Adolf of Denmark or Adolf of Holstein-Gottorp was the first Duke of Holstein-Gottorp from the line of Holstein-Gottorp of the House of Oldenburg.

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25/01/1509

Giovanni Morone, Italian cardinal (died 1580)

Giovanni Morone was an Italian cardinal. He was named Bishop of Modena in 1529 and was created Cardinal in 1542 by Pope Paul III. As a cardinal, he resided in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace and was consulted by Saint Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits.

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25/01/1477

Anne of Brittany (probable; (died 1514)

Anne of Brittany was suo jure Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and Queen of France from 1491 to 1498 and again from 1499 to her death. She was the only woman to have been queen consort of France twice.

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25/01/1459

Paul Hofhaimer, Austrian organist and composer (died 1537)

Paul Hofhaimer was an Austrian organist and composer. He was particularly gifted at improvisation, and was regarded as the finest organist of his age by many writers, including Vadian and Paracelsus; in addition he was one of only two German-speaking composers of the time who had a reputation in Europe outside of German-speaking countries. He is grouped among the composers known as the Colorists.

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25/01/1408

Katharina of Hanau, German countess regent (died 1460)

Catherine of Hanau also known as Katharina was a German countess regent. She was the regent of the County of Rieneck during the minority of her son from 1431 until 1434. She was the eldest daughter of Reinhard II, who would become the first Count of Hanau in 1429, and Catherine of Nassau-Beilstein.

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25/01/0750

Leo IV the Khazar, Byzantine emperor (died 780)

Leo IV the Khazar was Byzantine emperor from 775 to 780 AD. He was born to Emperor Constantine V and Empress Tzitzak in 750. He was elevated to co-emperor in the next year, in 751, and married to Irene of Athens in 769. When Constantine V died in September 775, while campaigning against the Bulgars, Leo IV became senior emperor. In 778 Leo raided Abbasid Syria, decisively defeating the Abbasid army outside of Germanikeia. Leo died on 8 September 780, of tuberculosis. He was succeeded by his underage son Constantine VI, with Irene serving as regent.

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