Born on Friday, 30th January – Famous Birthdays

30/01/2005

Prince Hashem, second son of King Abdullah II of Jordan

Prince Hashem bin Abdullah is the youngest child and second son of King Abdullah II of Jordan and Queen Rania. He is a member of the Hashemite dynasty, who have been the reigning royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is considered a 42nd-generation direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

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30/01/2003

Amen Thompson, American basketball player

Ameiz XLNC "Amen" Thompson is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played basketball for Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was rated a five-star recruit by ESPN and won a state title. Thompson bypassed his senior year of high school to sign with OTE, where he played for two seasons and helped his team win the league title while earning All-OTE First Team honors in 2023. He was selected 4th overall in the 2023 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets. In 2024, he made the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and in 2025 he was named to the NBA All-Defensive first team. He is the twin brother of basketball player Ausar Thompson.

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Ausar Thompson, American basketball player

Ausar XLNC Thompson is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played basketball for Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was rated a five-star recruit and won a state title. Thompson bypassed his senior year of high school to sign with development league Overtime Elite (OTE), where he played for two seasons. He won two straight OTE titles, earning Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) twice, and was named league MVP in 2023. He is the twin brother of basketball player Amen Thompson. He was selected fifth overall by the Pistons in 2023 NBA draft.

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30/01/2002

Tyla, South African singer and songwriter.

Tyla Laura Seethal, mononymously known as Tyla, is a South African singer and songwriter. Her musical style is characterised by a fusion of pop and amapiano, with many publications dubbing her "Queen of Popiano". She gained international recognition after the release of her 2023 single "Water", which entered the top ten in multiple countries including her native South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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Bijan Robinson, American football player

Bijan Robinson is an American professional football running back for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, where he won the Doak Walker Award and was a unanimous All-American in 2022 before being selected by the Falcons eighth overall in the 2023 NFL draft.

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30/01/2001

Curtis Jones, English footballer

Curtis Julian Jones is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool and the England national team.

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30/01/2000

Markella Kavenagh, Australian actress

Markella Kavenagh is an Australian actress. Her credits include Picnic at Hanging Rock (2018), Romper Stomper (2018), The Cry (2018), True History of the Kelly Gang (2019), My First Summer, The Gloaming (2020). However, her most notable work to date, is for her starring role as the harfoot Nori Brandyfoot in two seasons of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022–present).

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Bryan Woo, American baseball player

Bryan Joseph Woo is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023. In 2025, he was named to the All-Star Game and All-MLB second team.

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30/01/1997

Thomas Chabot, Canadian ice hockey player

Thomas Chabot is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman and alternate captain for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Chabot was drafted in the first round by the Senators in the 2015 NHL entry draft.

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Colin White, American ice hockey player

Colin Andrew White is an American professional ice hockey center for the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the first round, 21st overall, by the Ottawa Senators in the 2015 NHL entry draft. White has also previously played for the Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Montreal Canadiens.

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30/01/1996

Dafne Navarro, Mexican trampoline gymnast

Dafne Carolina Navarro Loza is a Mexican trampoline gymnast. She is the 2018 and 2022 World synchro bronze medalist and was Mexico's first World medalist in trampoline. As an individual, she became Mexico's first Pan American Games medalist in trampoline when she won the silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games, and she won the bronze medal at the 2019 Pan American Games. She competed at the 2020 Olympic Games, becoming the first trampoline gymnast to represent Mexico at the Olympics.

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30/01/1995

Danielle Campbell, American actress

Danielle Marie Campbell is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Jessica Olson in the 2010 Disney Channel Original Movie Starstruck, Simone Daniels in the 2011 Disney film Prom, Davina Claire in the 2013 CW television drama series The Originals and Kayla Powell and Olivia Moon in the 2018 CBS All Access television psychological thriller series Tell Me a Story.

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Jack Laugher, English diver

Jack David Laugher is a British diver competing for Great Britain and England. A specialist on springboard, he competes in individual springboard events, and in synchronised events with Chris Mears, Daniel Goodfellow and Anthony Harding. Laugher and Mears became Britain's first diving Olympic champions by winning a gold medal in the men's synchronised 3m springboard event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, an achievement many had expected double world 10m champion Tom Daley would achieve first. A week later, Laugher won a silver in the men's individual 3m springboard at the same Games, becoming the first British diver to win multiple Olympic diving medals at the same Games. As of 2024, this silver remans the highest placing by an individual British diver at the Olympic Games.

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Marcos Llorente, Spanish footballer

Marcos Llorente Moreno is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or right-back for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Spain national team.

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30/01/1994

Amelia Dimoldenberg, English comedian, writer and presenter

Amelia Dimoldenberg is an English comedian, writer and presenter. She is the creator and host of the web series Chicken Shop Date, in which she interviews celebrities in fried chicken restaurants while subjecting them to her sarcastic, deadpan, and awkward sense of humour.

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30/01/1993

Katy Marchant, English track cyclist

Katy Louise Marchant is a British track cyclist who specialises in the keirin, sprint, team sprint and track time trial disciplines. She is an Olympic and world champion in the team sprint, and a European champion in the 500 m time trial.

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Kodai Senga, Japanese baseball player

Kodai Senga is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023 and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) debut in 2012 for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. He is a three-time NPB All-Star and a one-time MLB All-Star. Internationally, Senga represents the Japanese national team.

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Thitipoom Techaapaikhun, Thai actor

Thitipoom Techaapaikhun, nicknamed New, is a Thai actor and television host. He is best known for Kiss: The Series (2016), Kiss Me Again (2018), and Dark Blue Kiss (2019). He went on to star in Cherry Magic (2023), the Thai adaptation of the Japanese manga of the same name.

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30/01/1991

Stefan Elliott, Canadian ice hockey player

Stefan Elliott is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL).

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Jason Gastrow, American YouTuber

Jason Gastrow, known online as videogamedunkey or simply dunkey, is an American YouTuber known for his YouTube skits and video essays that blend humor with video game criticism. As of January 2026, his YouTube channel has over seven million subscribers and he has accumulated over four billion views.

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30/01/1990

Melissa Duncan, Australian track and field athlete

Melissa Duncan is an Australian middle-distance runner who competes primarily in the 1500 metres and 5000 metres.

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Eiza González, Mexican actress and singer

Eiza González Reyna is a Mexican actress and singer. She gained popularity for starring in the Nickelodeon teen sitcom Sueña conmigo (2010–2011). As a singer, she released the albums Contracorriente (2009) and Te Acordarás de Mí (2012).

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Luca Sbisa, Italian-Swiss ice hockey player and coach

Luca Sbisa is an Italian-born Swiss professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the development coach for the San Jose Sharks. He played as a defenceman for the Philadelphia Flyers, Anaheim Ducks, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights, New York Islanders, Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators. Sbisa played major junior hockey in Canada with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League (WHL) before being selected by the Flyers in the first round of the 2008 NHL entry draft. He made his NHL debut that year before returning to Lethbridge.

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Mitchell Starc, Australian cricketer

Mitchell Aaron Starc is an Australian international cricketer who plays for the Australian national team and New South Wales in domestic cricket. A left-arm fast bowler and a lower order left-handed batsman, he is Australia's fourth highest wicket-taker in both Test and One Day International (ODI) cricket.

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Jake Thomas, American actor

Jake Thomas is an American actor and director. From 2001 to 2004, he starred as Matt McGuire on the Disney Channel show Lizzie McGuire. In 2002, Thomas won a Young Artist Award for supporting actor for his performance as Martin Swinton in A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). He also appeared in Cory in the House (2007–2008), playing the role of Jason Stickler.

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30/01/1989

Jahvid Best, American football player and athlete

Jahvid Andre Best is an American track and field Olympian athlete, and former professional football running back. He was selected by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft. He played college football for the California Golden Bears, setting several school records, including most all-purpose yards in a single season and most rushing yards in a single game. Best also led the Pac-10 in total rushing yards in 2008. Best competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics, representing Saint Lucia in track and field. He later became head football coach of the Saint Mary's College High School Panthers in Berkeley, California, for one season.

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Kylie Bunbury, Canadian-American actress

Kylie Bunbury is a Canadian actress.

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Misha Zilberman, Israeli Olympic badminton player

Misha Zilberman is an Israeli badminton player. He competed for Israel at the 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Olympics, coming in 33rd, 14th, 15th and 27th respectively. He is the first Israeli player to win a medal at the European Badminton Championships. He won a bronze medal at the 2022 European Badminton Championships, and bronze medals at the 2019 and 2023 European Games.

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30/01/1987

Becky Lynch, Irish wrestler

Rebecca Quin, better known by the ring name Becky Lynch, is an Irish professional wrestler. She has been signed to WWE since April 2013, where she performs on the Raw brand. Lynch is often regarded as one of the greatest women's professional wrestlers of all time.

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Phil Lester, English Youtuber

Philip Michael Lester is an English YouTuber and presenter. He is best known for his YouTube channels AmazingPhil and Dan and Phil , which, as of March 2026, have 3.85 million and 3.09 million subscribers, respectively. Active since 2006, AmazingPhil is considered among the first notable British YouTubers. Lester appeared on a Sunday Times 2019 list of the top influencers in the UK.

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Renato Santos, Brazilian footballer

Renato dos Santos is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Itabaiana.

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Arda Turan, Turkish footballer

Arda Turan is a Turkish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk.

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30/01/1985

Gisela Dulko, Argentinian tennis player

Gisela Dulko is an Argentine former tennis player. Although she enjoyed modest success in singles, reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 26 and winning four WTA titles, her speciality was doubles, where she achieved the world No. 1 ranking and won 17 WTA titles. Partnering with Flavia Pennetta, Dulko won the 2010 WTA Tour Championships and the 2011 Australian Open. She also reached the mixed-doubles final at the 2011 US Open, with Eduardo Schwank. During her career, Dulko upset a number of top players on the tour, including Maria Sharapova in the second round of Wimbledon in 2009, Samantha Stosur in the third round of Roland Garros in 2011, and Martina Navratilova in the second round of Wimbledon in 2004 and in Navratilova's final Grand Slam singles match.

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30/01/1984

Kid Cudi, American entertainer

Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, also known by his stage name Kid Cudi, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Cudi moved to New York City in pursuit of a musical career, where he first gained recognition for his song "Day 'n' Nite". Initially self-published on his MySpace page, the song became a hit online and served as a catalyst for Cudi to team up with record producers Plain Pat and Emile Haynie to record his first full-length project, a mixtape titled A Kid Named Cudi (2008). Its release helped Cudi rise to prominence and establish a fanbase, catching the attention of rapper Kanye West—who signed Cudi to his GOOD Music label by late 2008.

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Junior dos Santos, Brazilian mixed martial artist

Junior dos Santos is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former professional wrestler who competes in the Heavyweight division. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and current Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA Heavyweight Champion. As a professional wrestler, dos Santos made appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a member of the American Top Team stable.

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Kotoshōgiku Kazuhiro, Japanese sumo wrestler

Kotoshōgiku Kazuhiro is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler. Wrestling for Sadogatake stable, he made his professional debut in 2002, and reached the top division in 2005. In 2011 he achieved the standard for promotion to the second highest rank of ōzeki by winning 33 bouts over three tournaments, and was formally promoted by the Japan Sumo Association on 28 September.

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30/01/1983

Drake Maverick, English wrestler

James Michael Curtin is an English retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a writer for the Raw brand. During his time as an on-screen performer in the company, he worked under the ring name Drake Maverick. He has also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, under the ring name Rockstar Spud.

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Slavko Vraneš, Montenegrin basketball player

Slavko Vraneš is a Montenegrin former professional basketball player. Standing at 2.29 m, he was one of the tallest players in the world. While he only played one game in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in his career, a 2004 regular season game for the Portland Trail Blazers, he went on to have a successful career in Europe, winning the 2011 EuroCup with UNICS Kazan. Internationally, Vraneš represented the Montenegrin national team.

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30/01/1982

Jorge Cantú, American-Mexican baseball player

Jorge Luís Cantú Guzmán is an American-born Mexican former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Cincinnati Reds, Florida Marlins, Texas Rangers, and San Diego Padres, and in the KBO League for the Doosan Bears.

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DeSagana Diop, Senegalese basketball player and coach

DeSagana N'gagne Diop is a Senegalese former professional basketball player who is head coach for the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League, as well as the Senegal national team.

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Cameron Wake, American football player

Derek Cameron Wake is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end and linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for Penn State Nittany Lions, and was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2005.

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30/01/1981

Jonathan Bender, American basketball player

Jonathan Rene Bender is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A highly touted 6'11" prospect who mostly played shooting guard in high school, Bender's unusual height for his position and potential garnered much attention leading up to the 1999 NBA draft. After playing 78 games for the Pacers in 2001, knee injuries limited him to a combined 76 games over the next four seasons. He played 25 games for the Knicks in 2009 before his retirement.

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Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer

Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Known for his technique and ball control, Berbatov is regarded as one of the greatest Bulgarian players of all time. He captained the Bulgarian national team from 2006 to 2010 and is the nation’s top goalscorer with 48 goals, a record shared with Hristo Bonev.

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Peter Crouch, English footballer

Peter James Crouch is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was capped 42 times by the England national team between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals for his country during that time, appearing at two FIFA World Cups. He is one of 35 players to have scored 100 or more Premier League goals, and holds the record for the most headed goals in Premier League history. A tall forward, with a slender physique, Crouch was known for his aerial abilities, technical abilities and hold-up play.

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Mathias Lauda, Austrian racing driver

Mathias Lauda is an Austrian racing driver notable for winning the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship for Aston Martin Racing in the LMGTE Am category. He is the son of the late three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda and his first wife, Marlene Knaus. He has a brother, Lukas, who was his manager during his racing career.

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30/01/1980

Lena Hall, American actress and singer

Celina Consuela Gabriella Carvajal, known professionally as Lena Hall, is an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for her performance as Yitzhak in the 2014 revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which also earned her a Grammy nomination for the musical's official album. She made history by becoming the first person to play both Hedwig and Yitzhak in the same production during the national tour of the musical in 2016. She originated the role of Nicola in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots. Her other Broadway credits include Cats, 42nd Street, Dracula, the Musical and Tarzan, the Musical. Hall has also starred in Off-Broadway productions such as Radiant Baby, Bedbugs!!!, Rooms: A Rock Romance, The Toxic Avenger, Prometheus Bound, Chix6, Little Shop of Horrors, and the 2017 original play How to Transcend a Happy Marriage.

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Josh Kelley, American singer-songwriter and musician

Joshua Bishop Kelley is an American musician and singer-songwriter. Kelley has recorded for Hollywood Records, Threshold Records and DNK Records as a pop rock artist. His songs "Amazing" and "Only You" reached the top ten on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart.

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Georgios Vakouftsis, Greek footballer

Georgios Vakouftsis is a Greek footballer. He last played for PAEEK FC in Cyprus, previously he played as a forward for Anagennisi Karditsa in the Gamma Ethniki. A striker, he is 192 cm tall.

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Wilmer Valderrama, American actor and producer

Wilmer Eduardo Valderrama is an American actor. He is known for his role as Fez in the sitcom That '70s Show (1998–2006), his current role as Special Agent Nick Torres in NCIS (2016–present), and Agustín Madrigal in Encanto. He was also host of the MTV series Yo Momma (2006–07), the voice of Manny from the Playhouse Disney/Disney Junior animated series Handy Manny (2006–2013), and played Carlos Madrigal in From Dusk till Dawn: The Series (2014–2016). He has had recurring roles on Grey's Anatomy as well as The Ranch.

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Lee Zeldin, American politician and 17th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Lee Michael Zeldin is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 17th administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since January 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he represented New York's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2023. From 2011 to 2014, Zeldin served as a member of the New York State Senate from the 3rd Senate district.

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30/01/1979

Trevor Gillies, Canadian ice hockey player

Trevor Gillies is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He has played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with both the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and New York Islanders. Gillies was known for being an enforcer, as evidenced by his NHL career statistics of 57 games with only three points and 261 penalty minutes. Gillies was also known for his distinctive horseshoe moustache during his time with the Islanders.

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30/01/1978

Carmen Küng, Swiss curler

Carmen Küng is a curler from Solothurn, Switzerland.

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John Patterson, American baseball player

John Hollis Patterson is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2002 to 2007.

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30/01/1976

Andy Milonakis, American entertainer

Andrew Michael Milonakis is an American comedian, actor, rapper, and internet personality. He is best known for his work on The Andy Milonakis Show, a sketch comedy series that aired on MTV and MTV2 from 2005 to 2007. Other notable films and TV series in which Milonakis has appeared include Kroll Show, Waiting..., and Adventure Time.

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30/01/1975

Juninho Pernambucano, Brazilian footballer

Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Júnior, commonly known as Juninho Pernambucano or simply Juninho, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who was most recently the sporting director of Ligue 1 club Lyon. A dead-ball specialist noted for his bending free kicks, in particular the knuckleball technique which he developed, Juninho ranks fourth in number of goals scored through free kicks (72) and is considered by many to be the greatest free-kick taker of all time.

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30/01/1974

Christian Bale, British actor

Christian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. His accolades include an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to four British Academy Film Awards nominations. He was one of the highest-paid actors in 2014, and The Independent later named him one of the greatest actors of the 21st century.

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Olivia Colman, English actress

Sarah Caroline Sinclair, known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress noted for her versatility across both comedic and dramatic roles in film and television. She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards, two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup.

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30/01/1973

Jalen Rose, American basketball player and sportscaster

Jalen Anthony Rose is an American sports analyst and former professional basketball player. In college, he was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines' "Fab Five" that reached the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as both freshmen and sophomores.

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30/01/1972

Mike Johnson, American politician, 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

James Michael Johnson is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 56th speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he is in his fifth House term, having represented Louisiana's 4th congressional district since 2017.

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Chris Simon, Canadian ice hockey player

Christopher J. Simon was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Known for his physical style of play and enforcer role, Simon played over 15 seasons in the NHL with teams including the Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, New York Islanders, and Minnesota Wild. He was part of the 1996 Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche team. Simon was also known for his aggressive play, receiving eight suspensions throughout his NHL career, totaling 65 games. After leaving the NHL, he continued his career in the KHL before retiring from professional hockey in 2013.

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30/01/1970

Kimiya Yui, Japanese astronaut

Kimiya Yui is a Japanese astronaut with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and a retired fighter pilot with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. He was selected by JAXA in 2009.

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30/01/1969

Justin Skinner, English footballer and manager

Justin Skinner is an English former footballer who played for Fulham, Bristol Rovers, Walsall, Hibernian, Dunfermline Athletic and Brechin City.

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30/01/1968

Felipe VI of Spain

Felipe VI is King of Spain, having reigned since 19 June 2014.

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30/01/1966

Danielle Goyette, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Danielle Goyette is a Canadian former ice hockey player who played on the Canada women's national ice hockey team. She is an eight-time champion of the Abby Hoffman Cup, the national women's championship of Canada. In 2013, she was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame. In 2017, she was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Goyette was made a member of the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2018.

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30/01/1965

Julie McCullough, American actress

Julie Michelle McCullough is an American model, actress and stand-up comedian. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for February 1986, and played the role of Julie Costello on Growing Pains in 1989–90.

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Kevin Moore, Australian rugby league player and coach

Kevin Moore is an Australian former rugby league football coach and player.

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30/01/1964

Otis Smith, American basketball player, coach, and manager

Otis Fitzgerald Smith is an American former professional basketball player who played six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Jacksonville Dolphins.

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30/01/1962

Abdullah II of Jordan

Abdullah II is the King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of the Hashemites, who have been the reigning royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is traditionally regarded a 41st-generation direct descendant of the prophet Muhammad.

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Mary Kay Letourneau, American sex offender (died 2020)

Mary Katherine Fualaau was an American teacher who pleaded guilty in 1997 to two counts of felony second-degree rape of a child and subsequently married her former student. The case received national attention.

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30/01/1959

Jody Watley, American entertainer

Jody Vanessa Watley is an American singer, songwriter, and music producer. Watley began her career in show business as one of the dancers on the musical television show, Soul Train, from 1974 until 1977. Watley first found musical success in 1977 when she became a part of the original lineup of the R&B group Shalamar, which also featured Jeffrey Daniel and lead vocals by Howard Hewett. The group recorded the hits "The Second Time Around", "A Night to Remember" and "Dead Giveaway". After recording several albums with the group, Watley left the group in 1983.

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30/01/1958

Brett Butler, American actress

Brett Butler is an American actress, writer, and stand-up comedian. Butler gained recognition as a stand-up comedian, performing in clubs across the United States and making appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She is, however, best known for playing the title role in the ABC comedy series Grace Under Fire (1993–1998), for which she received two Golden Globe Awards nominations. She has also had guest appearances on various series, including My Name Is Earl and Anger Management.

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30/01/1957

Chris Jansing, American television reporter

Christine Ann Kapostasy-Jansing is an American television journalist. She anchors Chris Jansing Reports airing from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET weekdays on MS NOW, having replaced MTP Daily in May 2022.

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Payne Stewart, American golfer (died 1999)

William Payne Stewart was an American professional golfer who won 11 PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane accident at the age of 42.

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30/01/1956

Ann Dowd, American actress

Ann Dowd is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, including Green Card (1990), Lorenzo's Oil (1992), Philadelphia (1993), Garden State (2004), The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Marley & Me (2008), Compliance (2012), Side Effects (2013), St. Vincent (2014), Captain Fantastic (2016), Hereditary (2018), and Mass (2021). For Compliance, she won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress. For Mass, she earned nominations for a British Academy Film Award and a Critics' Choice Award.

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30/01/1955

John Baldacci, American politician, 73rd Governor of Maine

John Elias Baldacci is an American politician who served as the 73rd governor of Maine from 2003 to 2011. A Democrat, he also served in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and in the Maine Senate from 1982 to 1994.

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Curtis Strange, American golfer

Curtis Northrup Strange is an American professional golfer and TV color commentator. He is the winner of consecutive U.S. Open titles and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spent over 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between their debut in 1986 and 1990.

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Mychal Thompson, Bahamian-American basketball player and sportscaster

Mychal George Thompson is a Bahamian sports commentator and former professional basketball player. He was the first player born & raised in the Bahamas to make the NBA. The top overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft, Thompson played the center position for the University of Minnesota and center and power forward for the National Basketball Association's Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, and Los Angeles Lakers. Thompson won two NBA championships with the Lakers during their Showtime era in the 1980s. He is the father of basketball players Klay Thompson and Mychel Thompson and baseball player Trayce Thompson.

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30/01/1953

Fred Hembeck, American author and illustrator

Fred Hembeck is an American cartoonist best known for his parodies of characters from major American comic book publishers. His work has frequently been published by the firms whose characters he spoofs. His characters are always drawn with curlicues at the elbows and knees. He often portrays himself as a character in his own work, in the role of "interviewer" of various comic book characters. Interviewer Daniel Best has said of his work, "If you take your comic books seriously, and think that those characters are real, then you're probably not a fan of Hembeck."

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30/01/1952

Doug Falconer, Canadian football player and producer (died 2021)

Doug Falconer was a Canadian-American film producer, singer-songwriter, recording artist and professional Canadian football player, having played in the Canadian Football League (CFL).

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30/01/1951

Phil Collins, English drummer, singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

Philip David Charles Collins is an English singer, drummer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis and had a successful solo career, achieving three UK number-one singles and seven US number-one singles as a solo artist. In total, his work with Genesis, other artists and solo resulted in more US top-40 singles than any other artist throughout the 1980s. His most successful singles from the period include "In the Air Tonight", "You Can't Hurry Love", "Against All Odds ", "One More Night", "Sussudio", "Another Day in Paradise", "Two Hearts" and "I Wish It Would Rain Down".

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Charles S. Dutton, American actor and director

Charles Stanley Dutton is an American actor and director. He is best known for his roles in the television series Roc (1991–1994) and the television film The Piano Lesson (1995), the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. His other accolades include three Primetime Emmy Awards and three NAACP Image Awards.

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Bobby Stokes, English footballer (died 1995)

Robert William Thomas Stokes was an English footballer, best known for scoring the winning goal in the 83rd minute of the FA Cup Final for Southampton against Manchester United in 1976.

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30/01/1950

Jack Newton, Australian golfer (died 2022)

Jack Newton OAM was an Australian professional golfer. Newton had early success in Australia, winning the 1972 Amoco Forbes Classic. He soon moved on to the British PGA where he won three times in the mid-1970s and finished runner-up at the 1975 Open Championship. Shortly thereafter, Newton started playing on the PGA Tour where he won the 1978 Buick-Goodwrench Open. During this era, Newton also played significantly in Australia, culminating with a win at the 1979 Australian Open. Four years later, Newton had a near-fatal accident when he walked into the spinning propeller of an aeroplane, losing his right arm and right eye. However, he survived and managed to work a number of golf-related jobs for the remainder of his life.

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30/01/1949

Peter Agre, American physician and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate

Peter Agre is a Nobel Laureate American physician, molecular biologist, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute. In 2003, Agre and Roderick MacKinnon shared the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "discoveries concerning channels in cell membranes." Agre was recognized for his discovery of aquaporin water channels. Aquaporins are water-channel proteins that move water molecules through the cell membrane. In 2009, Agre was elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and became active in science diplomacy.

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30/01/1947

Les Barker, English poet and author (died 2023)

Les Barker was an English poet. He wrote comedic poetry, parodies of popular songs, and also serious works.

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Steve Marriott, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1991)

Stephen Peter Marriott was an English musician, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London and appeared in the West End, before taking a role in music. He co-founded and played in the rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie, in a career spanning over 20 years. Marriott was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Small Faces.

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30/01/1946

John Bird, Baron Bird, English publisher, founded The Big Issue

John Anthony Bird, Baron Bird, is a British social entrepreneur and life peer. He is best known as the co-founder of The Big Issue, a magazine edited by professional journalists and sold by street vendors who are largely homeless or vulnerably housed. Bird sits as an independent crossbench member of the House of Lords.

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30/01/1945

Meir Dagan, Israeli military officer and intelligence official, Director of Mossad (2002–11) (died 2016)

Aluf Meir Dagan was an Israel Defense Forces major general (reserve) and director of the Mossad.

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Michael Dorris, American author and scholar (died 1997)

Michael Anthony Dorris was an American novelist and scholar who was the first Chair of the Native American Studies program at Dartmouth College. His works include the novel A Yellow Raft in Blue Water (1987) and the memoir The Broken Cord (1989).

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30/01/1944

Lynn Harrell, American cellist and academic (died 2020)

Lynn Harrell was an American classical cellist. Known for the "penetrating richness" of his sound, Harrell performed internationally as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with major orchestras over a career spanning nearly six decades.

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Colin Rimer, English lawyer and judge

Sir Colin Percy Farquharson Rimer is a former judge of the English Court of Appeal; he retired in 2014.

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30/01/1943

Davey Johnson, American baseball player and manager (died 2025)

David Allen Johnson was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played as a second baseman from 1965 through 1978, most notably in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty which won four American League pennants and two World Series championships between 1966 and 1971. Johnson played in MLB from 1965 to 1975, then played for two seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) before returning to play in MLB with the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs from 1977 to 1978. A three-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner, he was selected to four All-Star Game teams during his playing career.

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30/01/1942

Marty Balin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2018)

Martyn Jerel Buchwald, known as Marty Balin, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.

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30/01/1941

Gregory Benford, American astrophysicist and author

Gregory Benford is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is professor emeritus at the department of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is a contributing editor of Reason magazine.

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Dick Cheney, American businessman and politician, 46th Vice President of the United States (died 2025)

Richard Bruce Cheney was an American politician and businessman who was the vice president of the United States under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009. Cheney was a leading advocate for the Iraq War, and has been called the most powerful vice president in the history of the United States.

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Tineke Lagerberg, Dutch swimmer

Catharina Bernadetta Jacoba ("Tineke") Lagerberg is a retired Dutch swimmer who won the bronze medal in the 400 m freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in a time of 4:56.9. She was also part of the Dutch team that broke the 4×100 m medley Olympic record in the preliminaries; however, they finished fourth in the final. Lagerberg broke the world record in the women's 200 m butterfly on 13 September 1958 in Naarden, Netherlands. She was also part of the Dutch relay team that set a new world record in the 4×100 m medley in the same year.

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30/01/1938

Islam Karimov, Uzbek politician, 1st President of Uzbekistan (died 2016)

Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov was an Uzbek politician who served as the first president of Uzbekistan, from the country's independence in 1991 until his death in 2016. He was the last First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan from 1989 to 1991, when the party was reconstituted as the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (O‘zXDP); he led the O‘zXDP until 1996. He was the President of the Uzbek SSR from 24 March 1990 until he declared the independence of Uzbekistan on 1 September 1991.

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30/01/1937

Vanessa Redgrave, English actress

Dame Vanessa Redgrave is an English actor. In a career spanning over six decades, her accolades include an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, Volpi Cup and an Olivier Award, making her one of the few performers to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting. She has also received various honorary awards, including the BAFTA Fellowship Award, the Golden Lion Honorary Award, and an induction into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

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Boris Spassky, Russian chess grandmaster (died 2025)

Boris Vasilyevich Spassky was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky played three world championship matches: he lost to Tigran Petrosian in 1966; defeated Petrosian in 1969 to become world champion; then lost to Bobby Fischer in a famous match in 1972.

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30/01/1936

Horst Jankowski, German pianist and composer (died 1998)

Horst Jankowski was a classically trained German pianist, most famous for his internationally successful easy listening music.

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30/01/1935

Richard Brautigan, American novelist, poet, and short story writer (died 1984)

Richard Gary Brautigan was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. He wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and ten books of poetry. Brautigan's work has been published both in the United States and internationally throughout Europe, Japan, and China. He is best known for his novels Trout Fishing in America (1967), In Watermelon Sugar (1968), and The Abortion: An Historical Romance 1966 (1971).

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Tubby Hayes, English saxophonist and composer (died 1973)

Edward Brian "Tubby" Hayes was a British jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known for his virtuosic musicianship on tenor saxophone and for performing in jazz groups with fellow sax player Ronnie Scott and trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar. He is widely considered to be one of the finest jazz saxophonists to have emerged from Britain.

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30/01/1934

Tammy Grimes, American actress and singer (died 2016)

Tammy Lee Grimes was an American film and stage actress and singer.

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30/01/1932

Knock Yokoyama, Japanese comedian and politician (died 2007)

Knock Yokoyama was a Japanese politician and comedian.

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30/01/1931

John Crosbie, Canadian lawyer and politician, 34th Canadian Minister of Justice (died 2020)

John Carnell Crosbie was a Canadian provincial and federal politician who served as the 12th lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Prior to being lieutenant governor, he served as a provincial cabinet minister under Premiers Joey Smallwood and Frank Moores as well as a federal cabinet minister during the Progressive Conservative (PC) governments of Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. Crosbie held several federal cabinet posts, including minister of finance, minister of justice, minister of transport, minister of international trade, and minister of fisheries and oceans.

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Shirley Hazzard, Australian-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (died 2016)

Shirley Hazzard was an Australian-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She was born in Australia and also held U.S. citizenship.

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30/01/1930

Gene Hackman, American actor and author (died 2025)

Eugene Allen Hackman was an American actor. Considered one of the greatest actors of his generation and a paragon of the New Hollywood movement, Hackman's mainstream acting career spanned over four decades. He received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, one Silver Bear and four Golden Globe Awards.

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Magnus Malan, South African general and politician, South African Minister of Defence (died 2011)

General Magnus André de Mérindol Malan was a South African military figure and politician during the last years of apartheid in South Africa. He served as Minister of Defence in the cabinet of President P. W. Botha, Chief of the South African Defence Force (SADF), and Chief of the South African Army. Rising quickly through the lower ranks, he was appointed to strategic command positions. His tenure as chief of the defence force saw it increase in size, efficiency and capabilities.

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30/01/1929

Lois Hole, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta (died 2005)

Lois Elsa Hole, CM, AOE DStJ was a Canadian politician, businesswoman, academician, professional gardener and best-selling author. She was the 15th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta from 10 February 2000 until her death on 6 January 2005. She was known as the "Queen of Hugs" for breaking with protocol and hugging almost everyone she met, including journalists, diplomats and other politicians.

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Hugh Tayfield, South African cricketer (died 1994)

Hugh Joseph Tayfield was a South African international cricketer. He played 37 Test matches for South Africa between 1949 and 1960 and was one of the best off spinners the game has seen. He was the fastest South African to take 100 wickets in Tests until Dale Steyn claimed the record in March 2008. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1956. He was known as 'Toey' due to his habit of stubbing his toes into the ground before every delivery. He would also kiss the badge on his cap before handing it to the umpire at the start of every over.

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Lucille Teasdale-Corti, Canadian-Italian physician and humanitarian (died 1996)

Lucille Teasdale-Corti was a Canadian physician and pediatric surgeon, who worked in Uganda from 1961 until her death in 1996. With her husband she co-founded a university hospital in the north of Uganda.

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30/01/1928

Harold Prince, American director and producer (died 2019)

Harold Smith Prince, commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theater director and producer known for his work in musical theater.

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Paul Seymour, American basketball player and coach (died 1998)

Paul Norman Seymour was an American professional basketball player and coach. Seymour played college basketball for the Toledo Rockets before playing professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the NBA, he played for the Baltimore Bullets and Syracuse Nationals. While with the Nationals, Seymour was named to the NBA All-Star game in three consecutive years, from 1953 to 1955. He also coached in the NBA for the Nationals, St. Louis Hawks, Baltimore Bullets, and Detroit Pistons.

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30/01/1927

Olof Palme, Swedish statesman, 26th Prime Minister of Sweden (died 1986)

Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until his assassination in 1986.

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30/01/1925

Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist, invented the computer mouse (died 2013)

Douglas Carl Engelbart was an American engineer, inventor, and a pioneer in many aspects of computer science. He is best known for his work on founding the field of human–computer interaction, particularly while at his Augmentation Research Center Lab in SRI International, which resulted in creation of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to graphical user interfaces. These were demonstrated at The Mother of All Demos in 1968. Engelbart's law, the observation that the intrinsic rate of human performance is exponential, is named after him.

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30/01/1924

Ernie Calverley, American basketball player and coach (died 2003)

Ernest Albert Calverley was an American professional basketball player. He was an All-American while playing for the University of Rhode Island. He played professionally with the Providence Steamrollers of the Basketball Association of America for three seasons from 1946 to 1949. Calverley led the league in assists and was an All-BAA Second Team selection in his first season in the league.

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S. N. Goenka, Burmese-Indian author and educator (died 2013)

Satya Narayana Goenka was an Indian teacher of vipassanā meditation. Born in Burma to an Indian family, he learnt Vipassana from Sayagyi U Ba Khin, retired from business in 1962 during business nationalization by military government in Burma, and moved to India in 1969 to start teaching Vipassana meditation. His teachings stay away from rites and rituals and emphasize that Buddha's path to liberation was non-sectarian, universal, and scientific in character, leading to Vipassana meditation appealing to people of all religions as well as no religion, from all parts of the world. He became an influential teacher and played an important role in establishing non-commercial Vipassana meditation centers globally where Vipassana Meditation is taught as a 10 Day residential program with no charges for food, stay as well as for teaching meditation, with centers funded by willful donations from past meditators. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2012, an award given for distinguished service of high order.

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30/01/1923

Marianne Ferber, Czech-American economist and author (died 2013)

Marianne A. Ferber was an American feminist economist and the author of many books and articles on the subject of women's work, the family, and the construction of gender. She held a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

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30/01/1922

Dick Martin, American comedian, actor, and director (died 2008)

Thomas Richard Martin was an American comedian and director. He was known for his role as the co-host of the sketch comedy program Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1968 to 1973.

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30/01/1920

Michael Anderson, English director and producer (died 2018)

Michael Joseph Anderson Sr was an English film and television director. His career spanned nearly 50 years across three countries, working at various times in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. His most critically and commercially successful works include the World War II film The Dam Busters (1955), the dystopian sci-fi film Logan's Run (1976), and the comedy adventure epic Around the World in 80 Days (1956), which won the 1957 Academy Award for Best Picture.

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Patrick Heron, British painter (died 1999)

Patrick Heron was a British abstract and figurative artist, critic, writer, and polemicist, who lived in Zennor, Cornwall.

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Delbert Mann, American director and producer (died 2007)

Delbert Martin Mann Jr. was an American television and film director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Marty (1955), adapted from a 1953 teleplay which he had also directed. From 1967 to 1971, he was president of the Directors Guild of America. In 2002, he received the DGA's honorary life member award. Mann was credited to have "helped bring TV techniques to the film world."

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30/01/1919

Fred Korematsu, American activist (died 2005)

Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu was an American civil rights activist who resisted the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Shortly after the Imperial Japanese Navy launched its attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which authorized the removal of individuals of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast from their homes and their mandatory imprisonment in incarceration camps. Korematsu challenged the order and became a fugitive.

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30/01/1918

David Opatoshu, American actor and screenwriter (died 1996)

David Opatoshu was an American actor. He is best known for his role in the film Exodus (1960).

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30/01/1917

Paul Frère, Belgian racing driver and journalist (died 2008)

Paul Frère was a racing driver and journalist from Belgium. He participated in eleven World Championship Formula One Grands Prix debuting on 22 June 1952 and achieving one podium finish with a total of eleven championship points. He drove in several non-Championship Formula One races, winning the 1952 Grand Prix des Frontières and 1960 VI South African Grand Prix.

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30/01/1915

Joachim Peiper, German SS officer (died 1976)

Joachim Peiper was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) colonel. During the Second World War in Europe, Peiper served as personal adjutant to Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS, and as a tank commander in the Waffen-SS. German historian Jens Westemeier writes that Peiper personified Nazi ideology, as a purportedly ruthless glory-hound commander who was indifferent to the combat casualties of Battle Group Peiper, and who tolerated, expected, and indeed encouraged war crimes by his Waffen-SS soldiers.

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John Profumo, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for War (died 2006)

John Dennis Profumo was a British politician whose career ended in 1963 after a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old model Christine Keeler in 1961. The scandal, which became known as the Profumo affair, led to his resignation from the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan.

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30/01/1914

Luc-Marie Bayle, French commander and painter (died 2000)

Luc-Marie Bayle was a French naval officer, painter, and artist.

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John Ireland, Canadian-American actor and director (died 1992)

John Benjamin Ireland was a Canadian-American actor and film director. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in New York City, he came to prominence with film audiences for his supporting roles in several high-profile Western films, including My Darling Clementine (1946), Red River (1948), Vengeance Valley (1951), and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jack Burden in All the King's Men (1949), making him the first British Columbia-born actor to receive an Oscar nomination.

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David Wayne, American actor (died 1995)

David Wayne was an American actor and singer, with a stage and screen career spanning over 50 years. He was a recipient of two Tony Awards, Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Finian's Rainbow and Best Actor in a Play for The Teahouse of the August Moon, with a third nomination for The Happy Time.

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30/01/1913

Amrita Sher-Gil, Hungarian-Indian painter (died 1941)

Amrita Sher-Gil was a Hungarian–Indian painter. She has been called "one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century" and a pioneer in modern Indian art. Drawn to painting from an early age, Sher-Gil started formal lessons at the age of eight. She first gained recognition at the age of 19, for her 1932 oil painting Young Girls. Sher-Gil depicted everyday life of the people in her paintings.

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30/01/1912

Werner Hartmann, German physicist and academic (died 1988)

Werner Hartmann was a German physicist who introduced microelectronics into East Germany. He studied physics at the Technische Hochschule Berlin and worked at Siemens before joining Fernseh GmbH. At the end of World War II, he and his research staff were flown to the Soviet Union to work on their atomic bomb project; he was assigned to Institute G. In 1955, he arrived in the German Democratic Republic (GDR); in the same year, he founded and became the director of the VEB Vakutronik Dresden, later VEB RFT Meßelektronik Dresden. In 1956, he completed his Habilitation at the Technische Hochschule Dresden and also became a professor for Kernphysikalische Elektronik there. In 1961, he founded the Arbeitsstelle für Molekularelektronik Dresden (AME). He was awarded the National Prize of GDR in 1958. In 1974, he was removed from his positions, significantly demoted, and sent to work as a staff scientist at the VEB Spurenmetalle Freiberg. Hartmann had been the object of security investigations by the Stasi for some time; while he was investigated at length and repeatedly interrogated, the alleged charges were politically motivated and no trial ever took place. The Werner-Hartmann-Preis für Chipdesign is an industrial award given in Hartmann's honor for achievement in the field of semiconductors.

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Francis Schaeffer, American pastor and theologian (died 1984)

Francis August Schaeffer was an American evangelical theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He co-founded the L'Abri community in Switzerland with his wife Edith Schaeffer, a prolific author in her own right. Opposed to theological modernism, Schaeffer promoted what he claimed was a more historic Protestant faith and a presuppositional approach to Christian apologetics, which he believed would answer the questions of the age.

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Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian and author (died 1989)

Barbara Wertheim Tuchman was an American historian, journalist and author. She won the Pulitzer Prize twice, for The Guns of August (1962), a best-selling history of the prelude to and the first month of World War I, and Stilwell and the American Experience in China (1971), a biography of General Joseph Stilwell.

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30/01/1911

Roy Eldridge, American jazz trumpet player (died 1989)

David Roy Eldridge, nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from the dominant style of jazz trumpet innovator Louis Armstrong, and his strong impact on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most influential musicians of the swing era and a precursor of bebop.

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30/01/1910

Chidambaram Subramaniam, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Defence (died 2000)

Chidambaram Subramaniam was an Indian politician and independence activist. He served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Defence in the union cabinet. He later served as the Governor of Maharashtra. As the Minister for Food and Agriculture, he ushered the Indian Green Revolution, an era of self-sufficiency in food production along with M. S. Swaminathan, B. Sivaraman and Norman E. Borlaug. He was awarded Bharat Ratna, Indian's highest civilian award, in 1998, for his role in ushering Green Revolution.

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30/01/1902

Nikolaus Pevsner, German-English historian and scholar (died 1983)

Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner was a German-British historian who specialised in the art and architecture genres. He is best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, The Buildings of England (1951–1974).

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30/01/1901

Rudolf Caracciola, German racing driver (died 1959)

Otto Wilhelm Rudolf Caracciola was a German racing driver. He won the European Drivers' Championship, the pre-1950 equivalent of the modern Formula One World Championship, an unsurpassed three times. He also won the European Hillclimbing Championship three times – twice in sports cars, and once in Grand Prix cars. Caracciola raced for Mercedes-Benz during their original dominating Silver Arrows period, named after the silver colour of the cars, and set speed records for the firm. He was affectionately dubbed Caratsch by the German public, and was known by the title of Regenmeister, or "Rainmaster", for his prowess in wet conditions.

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30/01/1900

Martita Hunt, Argentine-born British actress (died 1969)

Martita Edith Hunt was a British theatre and film actress. She had a dominant stage presence and played a wide range of powerful characters. She is best remembered for her performance as Miss Havisham in David Lean's Great Expectations (1946).

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30/01/1899

Max Theiler, South African-American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1972)

Max Theiler was a South African-American virologist and physician. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951 for developing a vaccine against yellow fever in 1937, becoming the first African-born Nobel laureate.

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30/01/1889

Jaishankar Prasad, Indian poet and playwright (died 1937)

Jaishankar Prasad was a prominent figure in modern Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre. Prasad was his pen name. He was also known as Chhayavadi kavi.

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30/01/1882

Franklin D. Roosevelt, American lawyer and statesman, 32nd President of the United States (died 1945)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president and the only one to have served more than two terms. His first two terms were centered on combating the Great Depression, while his third and fourth focused on US involvement in World War II. A member of the Democratic Party, Roosevelt served in the New York State Senate from 1911 to 1913 and as the 44th governor of New York from 1929 to 1932.

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30/01/1878

A. H. Tammsaare, Estonian author (died 1940)

Anton Hansen, better known by his pseudonym A. H. Tammsaare and its variants, was an Estonian writer whose pentalogy Truth and Justice is considered one of the major works of Estonian literature and "The Estonian Novel".

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30/01/1866

Gelett Burgess, American author, poet, and critic (died 1951)

Frank Gelett Burgess was an American artist, art critic, poet, author and humorist. He was an important figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary renaissance of the 1890s, particularly through his iconoclastic little magazine, The Lark, and association with The Crowd literary group. He is best known as a writer of nonsense verse, such as "The Purple Cow", and for introducing French modern art to the United States in an essay titled "The Wild Men of Paris." He was the illustrator of the Goops murals, in Coppa's restaurant, in the Montgomery Block and author of the popular Goops books. Burgess coined the term "blurb."

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30/01/1862

Walter Damrosch, German-American conductor and composer (died 1950)

Walter Johannes Damrosch was a Prussian and American conductor and composer. He was the director of the New York Symphony Orchestra and conducted the world premiere performances of various works, including Aaron Copland's Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F and An American in Paris, and Jean Sibelius' Tapiola. Damrosch was also instrumental in the founding of Carnegie Hall. He also conducted the first performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the composer himself as soloist.

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30/01/1861

Charles Martin Loeffler, German-American violinist and composer (died 1935)

Charles Martin Tornov Loeffler was a German-born American violinist and composer.

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30/01/1846

Angela of the Cross, Spanish nun and saint (died 1932)

Angela of the Cross Guerrero y González, HCC was a Spanish religious sister and the foundress of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross, a Catholic religious institute dedicated to helping the abandoned poor and the ill with no one to care for them. She was canonized in 2003 by Pope John Paul II.

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30/01/1844

Richard Theodore Greener, American lawyer, academic, and diplomat (died 1922)

Richard Theodore Greener was a pioneering African-American scholar, excelling in elocution, philosophy, law and classics in the Reconstruction era. In 1870, he became the first black undergraduate at Harvard University to receive a bachelor's degree. The previous year, Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine awarded degrees to their first black graduates in 1869.

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30/01/1841

Félix Faure, French politician, 7th President of France (died 1899)

Félix François Faure was President of France from 1895 until his death in 1899. A native of Paris, he worked as a tanner in his younger years. Faure became a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Seine-Inférieure in 1881. He rose to prominence in national politics up until unexpectedly assuming the presidency, during which time France's relations with Russia improved.

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30/01/1822

Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist and curator (died 1899)

Franz Ritter von Hauer, or Franz von Hauer was an Austrian geologist.

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30/01/1816

Nathaniel P. Banks, American general and politician, 24th Governor of Massachusetts (died 1894)

Nathaniel Prentice Banks was an American politician from Massachusetts and a Union general during the Civil War. A millworker, Banks became prominent in local debating societies and entered politics as a young adult. Initially a member of the Democratic Party, Banks's abolitionist views drew him to the nascent Republican Party, through which he won election to the United States House of Representatives and as Governor of Massachusetts in the 1850s. At the start of the 34th Congress, he was elected Speaker of the House in an election that spanned a record 133 ballots taken over the course of two months.

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30/01/1781

Adelbert von Chamisso, German botanist and poet (died 1838)

Adelbert von Chamisso was a German poet, writer and botanist. He was commonly known in French as Adelbert de Chamisso de Boncourt, a name referring to the family estate at Boncourt.

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30/01/1775

Walter Savage Landor, English poet and author (died 1864)

Walter Savage Landor was an English writer, poet, and activist. His best known works were the prose Imaginary Conversations, and the poem "Rose Aylmer," but the critical acclaim he received from contemporary poets and reviewers was not matched by public popularity. As remarkable as his work was, it was equalled by his rumbustious character and lively temperament. Both his writing and political activism, such as his support for Lajos Kossuth and Giuseppe Garibaldi, were imbued with his passion for liberal and republican causes. He befriended and influenced the next generation of literary reformers such as Charles Dickens and Robert Browning.

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30/01/1754

John Lansing Jr., American lawyer and politician (died 1829)

John Ten Eyck Lansing Jr., a Founding Father of the United States, was an attorney, jurist, and politician.

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30/01/1720

Charles De Geer, Swedish entomologist and archaeologist (died 1778)

Charles De Geer was an entomologist, industrialist, civil servant and book collector. He is sometimes referred to as Charles the Entomologist, to distinguish him from other relatives with the same name. Charles De Geer came from a prominent Swedish-Dutch family. Born in Sweden, he spent most of his childhood and youth in the Dutch Republic. At the age of 18 he moved back to Sweden and would spend the rest of his life there. Upon his return to Sweden, he took over the management of the ironworks of Lövstabruk. He was a successful businessman and with time became one of the richest men in Sweden, head of an early industry employing around 3,000 people. He had a successful civic career, became Marshal of the Court and was elevated to the rank of friherre (baron) in 1773.

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30/01/1703

François Bigot, French politician (died 1778)

François Bigot was a French government official. He served as the Financial Commissary on Île Royale, commissary general of the ill-fated Duc d'Anville expedition and finally as the Intendant of New France, the last before its conquest by Britain. Subsequently, he was accused of corruption, trialed and convicted in France, and imprisoned in the Bastille for eleven months. Before he could be banished, his sentence upon release, he escaped to Switzerland, where he would live until his death.

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30/01/1697

Johann Joachim Quantz, German flute player and composer (died 1773)

Johann Joachim Quantz was a German composer, flautist and flute maker of the late Baroque period. Much of his professional career was spent in the court of Frederick the Great, where he served as the king's flute teacher. Quantz composed hundreds of flute sonatas and concertos, and wrote On Playing the Flute, an influential treatise on flute performance. His works were known and appreciated by Bach, Haydn and Mozart.

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30/01/1661

Charles Rollin, French historian and educator (died 1741)

Charles Rollin was a French historian and educator.

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30/01/1628

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (died 1687)

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 19th Baron de Ros was an English statesman and poet who exerted considerable political power during the reign of Charles II of England.

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30/01/1590

Lady Anne Clifford, 14th Baroness de Clifford (died 1676)

Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery, suo jure 14th Baroness de Clifford was an English peeress. In 1605 she inherited her father's ancient barony by writ and became suo jure 14th Baroness de Clifford. She was a patron of literature and as evidenced by her diary and many letters was a literary personage in her own right. She held the hereditary office of High Sheriff of Westmorland which role she exercised from 1653 to 1676.

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30/01/1580

Gundakar, Prince of Liechtenstein, court official in Vienna (died 1658)

Gundakar of Liechtenstein was a member of the House of Liechtenstein and as such the owner of a large estate. He also served the Habsburg dynasty.

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30/01/1573

Georg Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach (died 1638)

George Frederick of Baden-Durlach was Margrave of Baden-Durlach from 1604 until his abdication in 1622. He also ruled Baden-Baden.

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30/01/1563

Franciscus Gomarus, Dutch theologian and academic (died 1641)

Franciscus Gomarus was a Dutch theologian, a strict Calvinist and an opponent of the teaching of Jacobus Arminius, whose theological disputes were addressed at the Synod of Dort (1618–19).

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30/01/1520

William More, English courtier (died 1600)

Sir William More, of Loseley, Surrey, was the son of Sir Christopher More. The great house at Loseley Park was built for him, which is still the residence of the More Molyneux family. Of Protestant sympathies, as Sheriff and Vice-Admiral of Surrey he was actively involved in local administration of the county of Surrey and in the enforcement of the Elizabethan religious settlement, and was a member of every Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was the owner of property in the Blackfriars in which the first and second Blackfriars theatres were erected. He has been described as "the perfect Elizabethan country gentleman" on account of his impeccable character and his assiduity and efficiency of service.

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30/01/1410

William Calthorpe, English knight (died 1494)

Sir William Calthorpe was an English knight and Lord of the Manors of Burnham Thorpe and Ludham in Norfolk. He is on record as High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1442, 1458 and 1464 and 1476.

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01/01/1970

Livia, Roman wife of Augustus (died 29)

Livia Drusilla was Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julia gens in AD 14.

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