Born on Friday, 18th July – Famous Birthdays
On this day, 209 notable people were born on 18th July — spanning from 1013 to 2001. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.
Friday, 18 July 2025 marks a date rich with notable births across entertainment, sport and industry. Among those celebrating birthdays today is Yung Lean, the Swedish rapper and singer-songwriter born in 1996, who has influenced modern hip-hop production through his distinctive sound and aesthetic. The day also sees recognition of Priyanka Chopra, born in 1982, the Indian actress, singer and film producer who has achieved significant success in both Bollywood and international cinema. Additionally, Richard Branson, the English businessman who founded Virgin Group and turned 75 today, continues to shape global business through his entrepreneurial ventures and high-profile initiatives.
Historical context enriches the significance of this date. On 18 July 1918, Nelson Mandela was born, the South African lawyer and politician who would become the nation’s first president and a pivotal figure in the anti-apartheid movement, earning him the Nobel Prize. Similarly, 18 July 1821 saw the birth of Pauline Viardot, a French soprano and composer whose remarkable career spanned several decades and influenced European musical traditions during the nineteenth century.
The weather forecast for Friday, 18 July 2025 indicates sunny conditions with temperatures reaching approximately 23 degrees Celsius. The moon will be in its waning gibbous phase, and those born today fall under the Cancer zodiac sign, characterised by traits of emotional depth and intuition. DayAtlas provides comprehensive information on weather conditions, historical events and notable births and deaths for any chosen date and location, making it a valuable resource for exploring significant moments in history.
Discover who was born today 15th April.
18/07/2001
Agustina Roth, Argentine BMX rider
Agustina Roth is an Argentine BMX rider.
18/07/2000
Sarah Kinsley, American singer-songwriter
Sarah Kinsley is an American singer-songwriter. Throughout her childhood, she performed classical music in youth orchestras and eventually studied music at Columbia University, where she began to produce her own alt pop music. She has continually expressed the importance of her producing every aspect of her music due to the underrepresentation of female producers in the music industry. After her song "The King" had success on TikTok in 2021, she released an extended play (EP) of the same name, which was listed on NME's top debut projects of 2021. Kinsley followed up the project with subsequent EPs, Cypress (2022) and Ascension (2023). In 2024, she released her debut album Escaper.
18/07/1997
Bam Adebayo, American basketball player
Edrice Femi "Bam" Adebayo is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats before being selected by the Heat with the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft. He is a three-time NBA All-Star, a five-time NBA All-Defensive Team honoree, and he helped the Heat reach the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2023. He also won a gold medal with the 2020 and 2024 U.S. Olympic teams. He holds the record for the second-highest scoring game by a player in NBA history with 83 points, achieved in a 150–129 win on March 10, 2026, against the Washington Wizards.
Noah Lyles, American sprinter
Noah Lyles is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 60 meters, 100 meters and 200 meters events. His personal best of 19.31 seconds in the 200 m is the American record, and makes him the third fastest of all-time. He is an Olympic champion and eight-time World champion.
18/07/1996
Yung Lean, Swedish rapper and singer-songwriter
Jonatan Aron Leandoer Håstad, known professionally as Yung Lean, is a Swedish rapper. Widely cited as one of the most influential figures in the early cloud rap era, Yung Lean rose to prominence in 2013 with his song "Ginseng Strip 2002", which went viral on YouTube. Later that same year, he released his debut mixtape, Unknown Death 2002, and the following year, he released his debut studio album, Unknown Memory.
Smriti Mandhana, Indian cricketer
Smriti Mandhana is an Indian international cricketer and the vice-captain of the Indian women's national team. She was part of the Indian team that won the 2025 Women's Cricket World Cup, the Women's Asia Cup in 2016 and 2022. She also won a gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games, and a silver medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games representing India.
Shudufhadzo Musida, Miss South Africa 2020
Shudufhadzo Musida is a South African model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss South Africa 2020. She is the second title holder from the province of Limpopo - the first being Bokang Montjane. She is the first title holder whose first language is Tshivenḓa, and was selected to represent South Africa in Miss World 2022. Musida is the first bald woman to win Miss South Africa. She is a dedicated advocate and spokeswoman for mental health awareness and empowering women and children.
18/07/1994
Nilo Soares, East Timorese footballer
Nilo Soares is an East Timorese footballer who plays as midfielder for Karketu Dili and the Timor-Leste national team.
18/07/1993
Lee Tae-min, South Korean singer and actor
Lee Tae-min, known mononymously as Taemin, is a South Korean singer, dancer, and actor. He debuted as a member of the South Korean boy band Shinee in May 2008 and the supergroup SuperM in 2019, both under SM Entertainment, and has subsequently been labeled by media outlets as the "Idol's Idol" due to the large number of idols citing him as an inspiration. As an actor, Taemin's first role was as Junsu in the 2009 MBC comedy Hilarious Housewives.
Michael Lichaa, Australian rugby league player
Michael Lichaa is a Lebanon international rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker.
18/07/1991
Mandy Rose, American wrestler and television personality
Amanda Rose Saccomanno is an American professional wrestler, television personality, and fitness and figure competitor. She is best known for her tenure in WWE from 2015 to 2022, where she performed under the ring name Mandy Rose, and was a former NXT Women's Champion and was the leader of the Toxic Attraction stable alongside Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin. Rose was also previously a member of the Fire and Desire tag team duo alongside Sonya Deville.
Eugenio Suárez, Venezuelan baseball player
Eugenio Alejandro Suárez is a Venezuelan professional baseball third baseman for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, and Arizona Diamondbacks. He is a two-time All-Star. He hit 49 home runs, most for a Venezuelan-born player, in both 2019 and 2025.
18/07/1990
Canelo Álvarez, Mexican boxer
Santos Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez Barragán is a Mexican professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, from light middleweight to light heavyweight, including unified titles in three of those weight classes. In 2021, Álvarez became the first boxer in history to become the undisputed super middleweight champion, before becoming a two-time undisputed super middleweight champion in 2025. He also held the Ring magazine super middleweight title from 2020 to 2025.
18/07/1989
Jamie Benn, Canadian ice hockey player
Jamie Randolph Benn is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a forward and captain for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Sebastian Mielitz, German footballer
Sebastian Mielitz is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Werder Bremen II.
Yohan Mollo, French footballer
Yohan Mollo is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger or right-back for Régional 1 club Berre SpC.
18/07/1988
Änis Ben-Hatira, German-Tunisian footballer
Änis Ben-Hatira is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for German Regionalliga club Hertha BSC II. Between 2012 and 2016 he made 12 appearances for the Tunisia national team scoring one goal.
César Villaluz, Mexican footballer
César Osvaldo Villaluz Martínez is a former Mexican professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Cancún.
18/07/1987
Tontowi Ahmad, Indonesian badminton player
Tontowi Ahmad is a retired Indonesian badminton player. He plays for PB. Djarum, a badminton club in Kudus, Central Java and joined the club in 2005. Tontowi Ahmad rose to prominence in the world badminton in 2010 when he paired with the established mixed doubles star Liliyana Natsir. With Natsir he won the 2016 Olympic gold medal in the mixed doubles category.
18/07/1986
Natalia Mikhailova, Russian ice dancer
Natalia Yurievna Mikhailova is a Russian former competitive ice dancer. With Arkadi Sergeev, she is the 2006 World Junior silver medalist.
18/07/1985
Chace Crawford, American actor
Christopher Chace Crawford is an American actor. He is known for his television portrayals of Nate Archibald on the series Gossip Girl (2007–2012) and of Kevin Moskowitz / The Deep in the television series The Boys (2019–present) and the resulting franchise. He is also known for starring in the films The Covenant (2006), The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008), Twelve (2011), and What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012).
Panagiotis Lagos, Greek footballer
Panagiotis Lagos is a Greek former professional footballer. Lagos had the ability to play in various positions as much as on the wings as on the center, due to the combination of the speed and technique of his play.
James Norton, English actor
James Geoffrey Ian Norton is an English actor. He is known for roles in the television series Happy Valley (2014–2023), Grantchester (2014–2019), War & Peace (2016), and McMafia (2018). He played the title role in the 2019 film Mr. Jones and played King Harold Godwinson in the 2025 BBC historical mini-series King & Conqueror. He earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the British Academy Television Awards in 2015 for his performance as Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley. His most recent role is as Sean Rafferty in House of Guinness (2025).
18/07/1984
Ben Askren, American mixed martial artist and boxer
Benjamin Michael Askren is an American former professional mixed martial artist, professional boxer and Olympic wrestler. He formerly competed in the Welterweight divisions of Bellator Fighting Championships and ONE FC, where he was the longest reigning Bellator Welterweight Champion and longest reigning ONE Welterweight World Champion. He also competed in the welterweight division of the UFC.
18/07/1983
Mishaal Al-Saeed, Saudi Arabian footballer
Mishaal Al-Saeed is a Saudi Arabian football player who currently plays as a defender for Al-Wehda in the Saudi Professional League.
Carlos Diogo, Uruguayan footballer
Carlos Andrés Diogo Enseñat is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a right-sided wing-back or midfielder. An ex-international for Uruguay, he is best known for his unsuccessful tenure at Real Madrid.
Aaron Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and drummer
Aaron Roderick Gillespie is an American musician, best known for being the drummer and clean vocalist for the rock band Underoath, of which he is the only original member. He is also the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the alternative rock band The Almost. He has also worked with the band The Dangerous Summer. Gillespie also maintains his own solo project and released his debut full-length album, Anthem Song, in 2011. From 2013 to 2016, he was the touring drummer for Paramore.
Mikk Pahapill, Estonian decathlete
Mikk Pahapill is a retired Estonian decathlete. His personal best score is 8398 points, achieved at the 2011 Hypo-Meeting in Götzis. His coach is Remigija Nazarovienė. He won the 2009 European Indoor Championships in heptathlon with 6362 points, which is currently the 10th all-time result.
Jan Schlaudraff, German footballer
Jan Schlaudraff is a German professional football official and a former player who played as a midfielder and striker. He is the managing director of sports for the Austrian club SKN St. Pölten.
18/07/1982
Ryan Cabrera, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
Ryan Frank Cabrera is an American musician. He began his career as a lead singer for the Dallas band Rubix Groove before pursuing his solo career. Following the 2001 release of independent album Elm St., he released his first major-label album, Take It All Away, on August 17, 2004, which went on to sell over two million copies. Earlier in the year, Cabrera had become known for his up-tempo pop-rock single "On the Way Down". It was then followed by Cabrera's second single, "True"; and his third single "40 Kinds of Sadness".
Priyanka Chopra, Indian actress, singer, and film producer
Priyanka Chopra Jonas is an Indian actress and film producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, she is India's highest-paid actress and her accolades include two National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards. In 2016, the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri, and Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Forbes listed her among the World's 100 Most Powerful Women, and in 2022, she was named in the BBC 100 Women list.
Carlo Costly, Honduran footballer
Carlo Yaír Costly Molina is a Honduran professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga de Ascenso club Lone FC.
18/07/1981
Dennis Seidenberg, German ice hockey player
Dennis Marvin Seidenberg is a German former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, and Boston Bruins, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2011. His younger brother Yannic played for EHC Red Bull München in the DEL.
18/07/1980
Kristen Bell, American actress
Kristen Anne Bell is an American actress and singer. Her work includes both film and television, and her accolades include two Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for three Golden Globe Awards. In 2025, Time included her in their selection of the 100 most influential people in the world.
David Blu, American–Israeli basketball player
David Blu is an American–Israeli former professional basketball player, who spent 10 seasons playing in the EuroLeague. Standing at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he played at the small forward and power forward positions. He is considered to be one of the top three-point shooters in EuroLeague history. He was also the 2011 Israeli Basketball Premier League Finals MVP. He also represented the senior Israeli national team in 2010.
Ryōko Hirosue, Japanese actress
Ryōko Hirosue is a Japanese actress and singer, best known to international audiences for her roles in the Luc Besson-produced Wasabi (2001) and the Academy Award-winning Japanese film Departures (2008). She also starred in the 2008 comedy series Yasuko to Kenji.
18/07/1979
Deion Branch, American football player
Anthony Deion Branch Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He is currently the wide receivers coach at the University of Louisville. He was selected by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2002 NFL draft. He played college football at Louisville.
Joey Mercury, American wrestler and producer
Adam Birch, better known by the ring name Joey Mercury, is an American professional wrestler, producer, trainer, and wrestling agent. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Ring of Honor.
18/07/1978
Adabel Guerrero, Argentinian actress, singer, and dancer
Adabel Anahí Guerrero Melachenko, better known simply as Adabel Guerrero, is an Argentine professional theater and burlesque dancer, actress, and supervedette, who has also dabbled as a model and as a singer in several television, magazine and theater appearances. Guerrero has worked as a television co-hostess and panelist, and is currently a panelist on El Chimentero 3.0.
Shane Horgan, Irish rugby player and sportscaster
Shane Patrick Horgan is an Irish former rugby union player who played wing or centre for Leinster and Ireland.
Crystal Mangum, American murderer responsible for making false rape allegations in the Duke lacrosse case
Crystal Gail Mangum is an American former stripper from Durham, North Carolina, who has been incarcerated for murder since 2013. In 2006, she came to attention in national news reports for having made false allegations of rape against lacrosse players in the Duke lacrosse rape hoax. Mangum's work in the sex industry as a black woman, while the young men she accused were white, generated extensive media interest and academic debate about race, class, gender, and the politicization of the justice system. In December 2024, Mangum admitted to fabricating the assault.
Joo Sang-wook, South Korean actor
Joo Sang-wook is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in generational saga Giant, medical drama Good Doctor, romantic comedy Cunning Single Lady, Birth of a Beauty, and crime procedural Special Affairs Team TEN.
Ben Sheets, American baseball player and coach
Ben Michael Sheets is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. Sheets is a four-time MLB All-Star. He won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Mélissa Theuriau, French journalist
Mélissa Theuriau is a French journalist and news anchor for M6. She studied journalism and became a television news presenter. She is the former anchor and co-editor in chief of Zone interdite on French TV.
18/07/1977
Alexander Morozevich, Russian chess player and author
Alexander Sergeyevich Morozevich is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1994. Morozevich is a two-time World Championship candidate, two-time Russian champion and has represented Russia in seven Chess Olympiads, winning numerous team and board medals.
Kelly Reilly, English actress
Jessica Kelly Siobhán Reilly is an English actress. She first appeared on screen in 1995 on the series The Biz. Her other television work includes starring roles in the British crime drama Above Suspicion (2009–2012), the American psychological medical drama Black Box (2014), the American anthology crime drama True Detective (2015) and the historical fantasy drama Britannia (2018). From 2018–24, she played Beth Dutton on Yellowstone, opposite Kevin Costner.
18/07/1976
Elsa Pataky, Spanish actress
Elsa Lafuente Medianu, known professionally as Elsa Pataky, is a Spanish model and actress. Pataky is known for her leading role of Raquel Alonso in the Spanish teen drama Al salir de Clase (1997–2002), before garnering international recognition as Elena Neves in the Fast & Furious franchise. She has appeared in the films Snakes on a Plane (2006), Giallo (2009) and Give 'Em Hell, Malone (2009). She also starred in the Spanish film Di Di Hollywood (2010) and played Mr. Norton and the Vuvalini General in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) in a dual role.
Go Soo-hee, South Korean actress
Go Soo-hee is a South Korean actress.
18/07/1975
Torii Hunter, American baseball player
Torii Kedar Hunter is an American former professional baseball center fielder and right fielder. Hunter currently serves as Special Assistant to Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Detroit Tigers from 1997 through 2015. Hunter was a five-time All-Star, won nine consecutive Gold Glove Awards as a center fielder, and was a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner.
Daron Malakian, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Daron Malakian is an Armenian-American musician. He is the guitarist, songwriter, and second vocalist of the metal band System of a Down, and the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter of Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway.
M.I.A., English rapper and producer
Mathangi Arulpragasam, known as Maya and professionally as M.I.A., is a British singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, and activist. Her music combines elements of alternative, dance, electronic, hip hop and world music with electronic instruments and samples.
18/07/1974
Alan Morrison, British poet
Alan Duncan Morrison is a British poet.
18/07/1971
Penny Hardaway, American basketball player and coach
Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway played college basketball at Memphis and 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a four-time NBA All-Star and a three-time All-NBA Team member as a member of the Orlando Magic. He also played for the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and the Miami Heat.
Sukhwinder Singh, Indian singer-songwriter and actor
Sukhwinder Singh is an Indian playback singer who primarily sings Bollywood songs. He sang "Jai Ho" in the film Slumdog Millionaire, for which he won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. He has also received two Filmfare awards for his singing.
18/07/1969
Elizabeth Gilbert, American author
Elizabeth Gilbert is an American journalist and author. Her 2006 memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, has sold over 12 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. The book was also made into a film of the same name in 2010.
The Great Sasuke, Japanese wrestler and politician
Masanori Murakawa , best known under his ring name The Great Sasuke , is a Japanese professional wrestler, professional wrestling promoter and politician. He is the founder of Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW). Aside from professional wrestling, he is also a former Iwate Prefectural Assembly legislator. He has wrestled in Japan and in the United States in various professional wrestling promotions. He is said to have an incredible tolerance for pain, mainly in reference to the injuries he has had including a cracked skull on two occasions.
18/07/1968
Grant Bowler, New Zealand-Australian actor
Grant Bowler is a New Zealand-Australian actor and television presenter who has worked in American, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian film, television, and theatre.
Scott Gourley, Australian rugby player
Scott Robert Gourley is an Australian former rugby league and rugby union footballer who played from 1986 to 1998 and achieved the status of a dual-code international representing his country in both sports. He made five Test appearances for the Wallabies and switched to rugby league in 1990 playing for the St George Dragons, the Sydney Roosters and making one Test appearance for the Kangaroos.
18/07/1967
Vin Diesel, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
Mark Sinclair Vincent, known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor and filmmaker. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for portraying Dominic "Dom" Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise.
18/07/1966
Dan O'Brien, American decathlete and coach
Daniel Dion O'Brien is an American former decathlete and Olympic gold medalist. He won the Olympic title in 1996, three consecutive world championships, and set the world record in 1992.
18/07/1965
Vesselina Kasarova, Bulgarian soprano
Vesselina Kasarova is a Bulgarian operatic mezzo-soprano.
18/07/1964
Wendy Williams, American talk show host
Wendy Williams Hunter is an American former broadcaster, media personality and author. Williams began her career as a radio DJ and quickly became known as a shock jock in New York City. She gained notoriety for her confrontational interviews of celebrities. The VH1 reality series The Wendy Williams Experience broadcast events surrounding her radio show in 2006. From 2008 to 2021, she hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show The Wendy Williams Show.
18/07/1963
Marc Girardelli, Austrian-Luxembourgian skier
Marc Girardelli is an Austrian–Luxembourgish former alpine ski racer, a five-time World Cup overall champion who excelled in all five alpine disciplines.
Martín Torrijos, Panamanian economist and politician, 35th President of Panama
Martín Erasto Torrijos Espino is a Panamanian politician who was President of Panama from 2004 to 2009.
18/07/1962
Shaun Micallef, Australian comedian, producer, and screenwriter
Shaun Patrick Micallef is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, television presenter, and formerly a lawyer. He was the host of the satirical news comedy series Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell on the ABC. He also hosted the game show Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation.
18/07/1961
Elizabeth McGovern, American actress
Elizabeth Lee McGovern is an American actress. She has received three Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Satellite Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, among numerous other career plaudits and honors.
Alan Pardew, English footballer and manager
Alan Scott Pardew is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who most recently managed Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki.
Pasi Rautiainen, Finnish footballer, coach, and manager
Pasi Pentti Rautiainen is a Finnish football manager and former player. He made 29 appearances for Finland national football team, scoring one goal. Rautiainen was named in the Finnish Football Hall of Fame in 2021.
18/07/1960
Simon Heffer, English journalist and author
Simon James Heffer, Baron Blackwater is an English historian, journalist, author, political commentator and member of the House of Lords. He has published several biographies and a series of books on the social history of Great Britain from the mid-nineteenth century until the end of the First World War. He was appointed professorial research fellow at the University of Buckingham in 2017.
18/07/1957
Nick Faldo, English golfer and sportscaster
Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Faldo was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked number one on the Official World Golf Ranking for a total of 97 weeks. His 41 professional wins include 30 victories on the European Tour and six major championships: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998.
Keith Levene, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (died 2022)
Julian Keith Levene was an English musician who was a founding member of both the Clash and Public Image Ltd (PiL). While Levene was in PiL, their debut studio album Public Image: First Issue (1978) reached No. 22 on the UK album charts, and its lead track "Public Image" broke the top 10 UK singles chart.
18/07/1955
Bernd Fasching, Austrian painter and sculptor
Bernd Fasching was an Austrian painter and sculptor. He lived and worked in Vienna.
18/07/1954
Ricky Skaggs, American singer-songwriter, mandolin player, and producer
Rickie Lee Skaggs, known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin, but he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.
18/07/1951
Elio Di Rupo, Belgian chemist, academic, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Belgium
Elio Di Rupo is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2011 to 2014, heading the Di Rupo Government, and as minister-president of Wallonia for three non-consecutive terms between 1999 and 2024. He was the first francophone to hold the prime ministership since Paul Vanden Boeynants in 1979, and the country's first socialist prime minister since Edmond Leburton left office in 1974. Di Rupo was also Belgium's first prime minister of non-Belgian descent, and the world's second openly gay person and first openly gay man to be head of government in modern times.
Margo Martindale, American actress
Margo Martindale is an American character actress who has appeared on television, film, and stage. In 2011, she won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award for her recurring role as Mags Bennett on Justified. She was nominated for an Emmy Award four times for her recurring role as Claudia on The Americans, winning it in 2015 and 2016.
18/07/1950
Richard Branson, English businessman, founded Virgin Group
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and, as of 2016, controlled five companies.
Jack Dongarra, American computer scientist and academic
Jack Joseph Dongarra is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Computer Science in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at the University of Tennessee. He holds the position Turing Fellowship in the School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester, and is an adjunct professor and teacher in the Computer Science Department at Rice University. He served as a faculty fellow at the Texas A&M University Institute for Advanced Study (2014–2018). Dongarra is the founding director of the Innovative Computing Laboratory at the University of Tennessee. He was the recipient of the Turing Award in 2021.
Kostas Eleftherakis, Greek footballer
Kostas Eleftherakis is a Greek former international football player who played as a midfielder. His nickname was "the Deer" (Greek: "το Ελάφι").
Glenn Hughes, American disco singer and actor (died 2001)
Glenn Michael Hughes was an American singer who was the original "Leatherman" character in the disco group Village People from 1977 to 1996.
Shahid Khan, Pakistani-American businessman and sports executive
Shahid Rafiq Khan is a Pakistani and American businessman. He owns the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) and Fulham F.C. of the Premier League and is also a lead investor of the American wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), owned by his son, Tony. Khan is also the owner of Flex-N-Gate, an American supplier of motor vehicle components.
Jack Layton, Canadian political scientist, academic, and politician (died 2011)
John Gilbert Layton was a Canadian politician and academic who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on Toronto City Council, occasionally holding the title of acting mayor or deputy mayor of Toronto during his tenure as city councillor. Layton was the member of Parliament (MP) for Toronto—Danforth from 2004 until his death.
Mark Udall, American educator and politician
Mark Emery Udall is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Colorado from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Colorado's 2nd congressional district. Before being elected to Congress, he represented parts of Boulder, Colorado, in the Colorado House of Representatives.
18/07/1949
Dennis Lillee, Australian cricketer and coach
Dennis Keith Lillee, is a retired Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation". Lillee formed a new ball partnership with Jeff Thomson, which is recognised as one of the greatest bowling pairs of all time.
18/07/1948
Carlos Colón Sr., Puerto Rican-American wrestler and promoter
Carlos Edwin Colón González Sr. is a Puerto Rican wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler, better known as Carlitos Colón or simply Carlos Colón. He is, along with Victor Jovica, an owner of the Puerto Rican wrestling promotion World Wrestling Council (WWC), where he has held the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship a record 26 times. He is the patriarch of the Colón wrestling family, composed of his sons Carlos and Eddie, daughter Stacy and nephew Orlando. In 2014, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and the following year into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.
Jeanne Córdova, American journalist and activist (died 2016)
Jeanne Córdova was an American writer and supporter of the lesbian and gay rights movement, founder of The Lesbian Tide, and a founder of the West Coast LGBT movement. A former Catholic nun, Córdova was a second-wave feminist lesbian activist and self-described butch.
Hartmut Michel, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
Hartmut Michel is a German biochemist, who received the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for determination of the first crystal structure of an integral membrane protein, a membrane-bound complex of proteins and co-factors that is essential to photosynthesis.
18/07/1947
Steve Forbes, American publisher and politician
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. is an American publisher, businessman, and politician who is the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes, the business magazine. The son of longtime Forbes publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandson of that publication's founder B.C. Forbes, he is an adviser at the Forbes School of Business & Technology.
18/07/1946
Kalpana Mohan, Indian actress (died 2012)
Kalpana was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi cinema in the 1960s. She featured alongside notable actors such as Shammi Kapoor in the film Professor (1962), Shashi Kapoor and Kishore Kumar in Pyar Kiye Jaa (1966), Dev Anand in Teen Devian, Pradeep Kumar in Saheli and Feroz Khan in Tasveer and Teesra Kaun.
18/07/1945
Pat Doherty, Irish Republican politician
Patrick Doherty is a retired Sinn Féin politician, who served as the abstentionist Member of Parliament (MP) for West Tyrone from 2001 to 2017. He was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for West Tyrone from 1998 to June 2012. Doherty served as Vice President of Sinn Féin from 1988 to 2009, when Mary Lou McDonald became the party's new vice president.
18/07/1944
David Hemery, English hurdler and author
David Peter Hemery is an English former track and field athlete. He was the winner of the 400 metres hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City in a new world record.
18/07/1943
Joseph J. Ellis, American historian and author
Joseph John-Michael Ellis III is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the Founding Fathers of the United States. His book American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson won a National Book Award in 1997 and Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for History. Both books were bestsellers.
18/07/1942
Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer (died 2006)
Giacinto Facchetti was an Italian footballer who played as a left-back for Inter Milan from 1960 to 1978. He later served as Inter chairman from January 2004 until his death in 2006. He played 634 official games for the club, scoring 75 goals, and was a member of "Grande Inter" team under manager Helenio Herrera which won four Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia, two European Cups, and two Intercontinental Cups. He placed second for the Ballon d'Or in 1965.
Adolf Ogi, Swiss politician, 84th President of the Swiss Confederation
Adolf Ogi is a Swiss politician who most recently served as Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on Sport for Development and Peace from 2001 to 2008. He previously served as member of the Federal Council (Switzerland) for the Swiss People's Party from 1987 to 2000. He held the Presidency of the Swiss Confederation twice in 1993 and 2000.
18/07/1941
Frank Farian, German songwriter and producer (died 2024)
Franz Reuther, known professionally as Frank Farian, was a German record producer and singer who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., and the pop bands No Mercy and Milli Vanilli. He frequently created vocal groups in which the publicised members merely lip-synced to songs sung by himself and/or session performers. Farian owned the record label MCI and several subsidiaries.
Lonnie Mack, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2016)
Lonnie McIntosh, known as Lonnie Mack, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was an early influence in the development of blues rock music, Southern rock music, and rock guitar soloing.
Martha Reeves, American singer and politician
Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and pop singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas, which scored several major Hot 100 hits such as "Nowhere to Run", "Heat Wave", "Jimmy Mack", and "Dancing in the Street" among others. From 2005 until 2009, Reeves served as an elected councilwoman in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Reeves at number 151 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
18/07/1940
James Brolin, American actor
James Brolin is an American actor, producer, and director. He has appeared in over 140 film and television productions since his debut in 1961 and is the recipient of two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Joe Torre, American baseball player, manager, and executive
Joseph Paul Torre Jr. is an American professional baseball executive and former player, manager, and television color commentator. He has served as a special assistant to the commissioner of Major League Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseball officer from 2011 to 2020. Torre ranks fifth all-time in MLB history with 2,326 wins as a manager. With 2,342 hits during his playing career, Torre is the only major leaguer to achieve both 2,000 hits as a player and 2,000 wins as a manager. From 1996 to 2007, he was the manager of the New York Yankees, and guided the team to six American League (AL) pennants and four World Series championships.
18/07/1939
Brian Auger, English rock and jazz keyboard player
Brian Albert Gordon Auger is an English jazz rock and rock keyboardist who specialises in the Hammond organ.
Dion DiMucci, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
Dion Francis DiMucci, better known mononymously as Dion, is an American singer and songwriter. His music incorporates elements of doo-wop, pop, rock, R&B, folk and blues. Initially the lead singer of the vocal group Dion and the Belmonts, Dion embarked on a solo career, and was one of the most prominent rock and roll performers of the pre-British Invasion era. He had 39 Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a solo performer, or with the Belmonts and the Del-Satins. He is best remembered for his signature hit songs "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer", "Ruby Baby" and "Lovers Who Wander", among others.
Jerry Moore, American football player and coach
Gerald Hundley Moore is an American former college football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at North Texas State University—now the University of North Texas—from 1979 to 1980, at Texas Tech University from 1981 to 1985, and at Appalachian State University from 1989 to 2012, compiling a career college football coaching record of 242–134–2. In his 24 years at Appalachian State, Moore posted a losing season only once. He led his 2005 Mountaineers team to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship. This was the first national championship for any college football team in the state of North Carolina. Moore and the Mountaineers repeated as champions in 2006 and 2007, achieving the first "three-peat" in NCAA Division I FCS/I-AA history. Moore was forced out as head coach at the conclusion of the 2012 season. He was selected for inclusion into the Southern Conference Hall of Fame, and College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
18/07/1938
John Connelly, English footballer (died 2012)
John Michael Connelly was an English footballer. He played as an outside forward and was capped 20 times for his country.
Ian Stewart, Scottish keyboard player and manager (died 1985)
Ian Andrew Robert Stewart was a Scottish keyboardist and co-founder of the Rolling Stones. He was removed from the lineup in May 1963 at the request of manager Andrew Loog Oldham who felt he did not fit the band's image. He remained as road manager and pianist for over two decades until his death, and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the rest of the band in 1989.
Paul Verhoeven, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter
Paul Verhoeven is a Dutch filmmaker, who has worked variously in the Netherlands, the United States, and in France. He is known for directing genre films with strong satirical elements, often featuring graphic violence and sexual content. Many of his films are considered provocative, and were controversial when released.
18/07/1937
Roald Hoffmann, Polish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
Roald Hoffmann is a Polish-American theoretical chemist who shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Kenichi Fukui “for their theories, developed independently, concerning the course of chemical reactions”. He has also published plays, poetry and popular science. He is the Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters Emeritus at Cornell University.
Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (died 2005)
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author, regarded as a pioneer of New Journalism along with Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe. He rose to prominence with the book Hell's Angels (1967), for which he lived a year among the Hells Angels motorcycle club to write a first-hand account of their lives and experiences. In 1970, he wrote an unconventional article titled "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" for Scanlan's Monthly, which further raised his profile as a countercultural figure. It also set him on the path to establish the subgenre of New Journalism that he called "Gonzo", a style in which the writer becomes central to, and participant in the narrative.
18/07/1935
Tenley Albright, American former figure skater and physician
Tenley Emma Albright is an American former figure skater and surgeon. She is the 1956 Olympic champion, the 1952 Olympic silver medalist, the 1953 and 1955 World Champion, the 1953 and 1955 North American champion, and the 1952–1956 U.S. national champion. Albright is also a graduate of Harvard Medical School. In 2015, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
Jayendra Saraswathi, Indian guru, 69th Shankaracharya (died 2018)
Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya Swamigal was the 69th Shankaracharya Guru and head or pithadhipati of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. Subramanyam Iyer was nominated by his predecessor, Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, as his successor and was given the pontifical title Sri Jayendra Saraswathi on 22 March 1954.
18/07/1934
Edward Bond, English director, playwright, and screenwriter (died 2024)
Thomas Edward Bond was an English playwright, theatre director, poet, dramatic theorist and screenwriter. He was the author of some 50 plays, among them Saved (1965), the production of which was instrumental in the abolition of theatre censorship in the UK. His other well-received works include Narrow Road to the Deep North (1968), Lear (1971), The Sea (1973), The Fool (1975), Restoration (1981), and the War Plays (1985). Bond was broadly considered among the major living dramatists but he has always been and remains highly controversial because of the violence shown in his plays, the radicalism of his statements about modern theatre and society, and his theories on drama.
Darlene Conley, American actress (died 2007)
Darlene Conley was an American actress. Conley's career spanned fifty years, but she was best known for her performances in daytime television, and in particular, for her portrayal of larger-than-life fashion industrialist Sally Spectra on The Bold and the Beautiful. Conley played the role from 1989 until her death eighteen years later. Darlene's character Sally is the only American soap opera character to be displayed at Madame Tussaud's wax figures galleries in Amsterdam and Las Vegas.
18/07/1933
Jean Yanne, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2003)
Jean Yanne was a French actor, screenwriter, producer, director and composer. In 1972, he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film We Won't Grow Old Together.
Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet and playwright (died 2017)
Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko was a Soviet and Russian poet, novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, publisher, actor, editor, university professor, and director of several films.
18/07/1932
Robert Ellis Miller, American director and screenwriter (died 2017)
Robert Ellis Miller was an American film director.
18/07/1929
Dick Button, American figure skater and actor (died 2025)
Richard Totten Button was an American figure skater and skating analyst. He was a two-time Olympic champion and five-time consecutive world champion (1948–1952). He was also the only non-European man to have become European champion. Button is credited as having been the first skater to successfully land the double Axel jump in competition in 1948, as well as the first triple jump of any kind – a triple loop – in 1952. He also invented the flying camel spin, which was originally known as the "Button camel". He "brought increased athleticism" to figure skating in the years following World War II. According to figure skating historian James R. Hines, Button represented the "American School" of figure skating, which was a more athletic style than skaters from Europe.
Screamin' Jay Hawkins, American R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (died 2000)
Jalacy J. "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer. Famed chiefly for his powerful, shouting vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of songs such as "I Put a Spell on You", he sometimes used macabre props onstage, making him an early pioneer of shock rock. He received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in the 1989 indie film Mystery Train.
18/07/1928
Andrea Gallo, Italian priest and author (died 2013)
Don Andrea Gallo was an Italian presbyter. He was the founder and leader of the Community of San Benedetto al Porto. He often called himself a "priest of the sidewalk", referring to his activity of helping poor and needy people.
Baddiewinkle, American internet personality
Helen Elam Van Winkle, better known as Baddiewinkle or Baddie Winkle, was an American Internet personality. She became an Internet sensation at the age of eighty-five. Her popular social media tag line was, "Stealing Your Man Since 1928".
18/07/1927
Mehdi Hassan, Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer (died 2012)
Mehdi Hassan Khan, known as Mehdi Hassan, was a Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer of great renown. Known as Shahenshah-e-Ghazal, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of ghazal singing. Known for his "haunting" baritone voice, Hassan is credited with bringing ghazal singing to a worldwide audience. He is unique for his melodic patterns and maintaining integrity of the ragas in an innovative way.
Kurt Masur, German conductor and educator (died 2015)
Kurt Masur was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and also served as music director of the New York Philharmonic for about ten years. He made many recordings of classical music with major orchestras. Masur is also remembered for his actions to support peaceful demonstrations against the East German government in the 1989 demonstrations in Leipzig; those protests were part of the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin wall.
Antonio García-Trevijano, Spanish republican, political activist, and author (died 2018)
Antonio García-Trevijano Forte was a Spanish republican lawyer, notary public, jurist, philosopher, art critic, author and political activist. Born in Alhama de Granada, he was a prominent figure in the opposition to the Francoist dictatorship.
Keith MacDonald, Canadian politician (died 2021)
Keith Ostrander MacDonald was a politician in Ontario, Canada.
Anthony Mirra, American gangster, member of the Bonanno Crime Family (died 1982)
Anthony "Tony" Mirra was an American mobster, soldier and later caporegime for the Bonanno crime family. He is known for introducing FBI Special Agent Joseph "Donnie Brasco" Pistone into the Bonanno family.
18/07/1926
Margaret Laurence, Canadian author and academic (died 1987)
Jean Margaret Laurence was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada's writing community.
Nita Bieber, American actress (died 2019)
Nita Gale Bieber was an American actress and dancer.
Bernard Pons, French politician and medical doctor (died 2022)
Bernard Pons was a French politician and medical doctor who was a member of the Union of Democrats for the Republic from 1971 to 1976 and a member of the Rally for the Republic party thereafter. He served as Secretary General of Rally for the Republic, Minister for Transport, and continued as a special advisor to the Union for a Popular Movement until 2008 after his retirement from active politics in 2002.
Maunu Kurkvaara, Finnish film director and screenwriter (died 2023)
Maunu Kurkvaara was a Finnish film director and screenwriter. Kurkvaara has been widely regarded as the initiator of the "new wave" of Finnish cinema in the spirit of French New Wave cinema. He directed 22 films between 1955 and 1993. Many of his films share a nautical theme due to his love of the sea. His film Yksityisalue was entered into the 13th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1965, he co-produced the film 4x4 and it was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival.
Elizabeth Jennings, English poet (died 2001)
Elizabeth Joan Jennings was a British poet. She won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1955 for her second poetry collection, A Way of Looking.
18/07/1925
Shirley Strickland, Australian runner and hurdler (died 2004)
Shirley Barbara de la Hunty AO, MBE, known as Shirley Strickland during her early career, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports.
Friedrich Zimmermann, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior (died 2012)
Friedrich Zimmermann was a German politician and a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU). From 1982 to 1989, he was the federal minister of interior. From 1989 to 1991 he held the position of federal minister for transport.
Raymond Jones, Australian Modernist architect (died 2022)
Raymond Alfredo Daniel Jones was an Australian Modernist architect. His work includes many building types, including residential, ecclesiastical, educational, commercial, and prefabricated kit buildings.
Windy McCall, American baseball relief pitcher (died 2015)
John William McCall was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1948 through 1957 for the Boston Red Sox (1948–49), Pittsburgh Pirates (1950) and New York Giants (1954–57). Listed at 6 feet (1.83 m) tall and 180 pounds (82 kg), McCall batted and threw left-handed. He was born in San Francisco, California, and studied at the University of San Francisco. He was a United States Marine Corps veteran of World War II, serving in the Pacific Theater of Operations, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
18/07/1924
Inge Sørensen, Danish swimmer (died 2011)
Inge Sørensen, later Inge Tabur, sometimes known as "Lille henrivende Inge" was a Danish swimmer who at age 12 won a bronze medal in the 200 meter breaststroke at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. This makes her the youngest Olympic medal winner in an individual competition.
Tullio Altamura, Italian actor
Tullio Altamura is an Italian actor, best known for his roles in spaghetti Westerns and action films in the 1960s.
18/07/1923
Jerome H. Lemelson, American engineer and businessman (died 1997)
Jerome "Jerry" Hal Lemelson was an American engineer, inventor, and patent holder. Several of his inventions relate to warehouses, industrial robots, cordless telephones, fax machines, videocassette recorders, camcorders, and the magnetic tape drive. Lemelson's 605 patents made him one of the most prolific inventors in American history.
Michael Medwin, English actor (died 2020)
Michael Hugh Medwin was an English actor and film producer.
18/07/1922
Thomas Kuhn, American physicist, historian, and philosopher (died 1996)
Thomas Samuel Kuhn was an American historian and philosopher of science whose 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term paradigm shift, which has since become an English-language idiom.
18/07/1921
Peter Austin, English brewer, founded Ringwood Brewery (died 2014)
Peter Austin, was a British brewer. He founded Ringwood Brewery and was a co-founder and first chairman of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA). He built some 140 new breweries in the UK and 16 other countries.
Aaron Beck, American psychiatrist and academic (died 2021)
Aaron Temkin Beck was an American psychiatrist who was a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He is regarded as the father of cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). His pioneering methods are widely used in the treatment of clinical depression and various anxiety disorders. Beck also developed self-report measures for depression and anxiety, notably the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), which became one of the most widely used instruments for measuring the severity of depression. In 1994 he and his daughter, psychologist Judith S. Beck, founded the nonprofit Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy, which provides CBT treatment and training, as well as research. Beck served as President Emeritus of the organization up until his death.
John Glenn, American colonel, astronaut, and politician (died 2016)
John Herschel Glenn Jr. was an American Marine Corps aviator, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space and the first to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1962. Following his retirement from NASA, he served from 1974 to 1999 as a U.S. senator from Ohio. In 1998, he flew into space again at the age of 77.
Richard Leacock, English-French director and producer (died 2011)
Richard Leacock was a British-born documentary film director and one of the pioneers of direct cinema and cinéma vérité.
Heinz Bennent, German actor (died 2011)
Heinz Bennent was a German actor.
18/07/1920
Eric Brandon, English race car driver and businessman (died 1982)
Eric Brandon was a motor racing driver and businessman. He was closely associated with the Cooper Car Company, and was instrumental in the early development of the company.
18/07/1919
Lilia Dale, Italian actress (died 1991)
Lilia Dale was an Italian film actress.
18/07/1918
Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013)
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid activist and statesman who was the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first Black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His administration focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by fostering racial reconciliation, a national peace accord and eventual multiracial democracy. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.
18/07/1917
Henri Salvador, French singer and guitarist (died 2008)
Henri Salvador was a French Caribbean singer, comedian and cabaret artist.
Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (died 2019)
Paul Patrick Streeten was an Austrian-born British economics professor. He was a professor at Boston University, US until his retirement. He has been a distinguished academic working on development economics since the 1950s.
18/07/1916
Charles Kittel, American physicist (died 2019)
Charles Kittel was an American physicist. He was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley from 1951 and was professor emeritus from 1978 until his death. He is known for co-introducing the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida interaction models and for his famous undergraduate textbook Introduction to Solid State Physics.
18/07/1915
Carequinha, Brazilian clown and actor (died 2006)
George Savalla Gomes, better known as Carequinha or Baldy the Clown, was a Brazilian clown and actor, born in a circus to a circus family. He had a thick head of hair, but wore a bald wig, starting from five years old – he was a clown in Circus Ocidental until the age of twelve. He was the first Brazilian clown to have his own TV show – Circo Bombril, later called Circo Carequinha ran for 16 years. He was a Freemason.
Louis Le Bailly, British Royal Navy officer (died 2010)
Vice-Admiral Sir Louis Edward Stewart Holland Le Bailly was a Royal Navy officer who became director-general of intelligence and later a writer.
18/07/1914
Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (died 2000)
Gino Bartali,, nicknamed Gino the Pious and Ginettaccio, was a champion road cyclist. He was the most renowned Italian cyclist before the Second World War, having won the Giro d'Italia twice, in 1936 and 1937, and the Tour de France in 1938. After the war, he added one more victory in each event: the Giro d'Italia in 1946 and the Tour de France in 1948. His second and last Tour de France victory in 1948 gave him the largest gap between victories in the race.
Oscar Heisserer, French footballer (died 2004)
Oscar Heisserer was a French footballer. Born in Schirrhein, Alsace-Lorraine, he played as a midfielder for RC Strasbourg, and appeared for France in the 1938 World Cup, where he scored a goal. He died in Strasbourg.
18/07/1913
Red Skelton, American actor and comedian (died 1997)
Richard Bernard Skelton was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program The Red Skelton Show. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, and he also appeared in burlesque, vaudeville, films, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist.
18/07/1911
Hume Cronyn, Canadian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2003)
Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. was a Canadian-American actor, screenwriter and playwright. He appeared in many stage productions, television and film roles throughout his career, and received many honors, including three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards, as well as nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Cronyn was the husband of actress Jessica Tandy, with whom he was presented the Kennedy Center Honor in 1986 and National Medal of Arts in 1990. In 1999, he was awarded with a star on the Canada's Walk of Fame.
18/07/1910
Diptendu Pramanick, Indian businessman (died 1989)
Diptendu Pramanick was an Indian film personality from Calcutta. He was the founder secretary of the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association in Calcutta, India, a fraternity of film personnel which is an interface between the entertainment industry of eastern India and the Government. During his multifarious career he came in contact with eminent personalities and saw the evolution of this organisation from its initial days to being a regionwide entity.
Mamadou Dia, Senegalese politician; 1st Prime Minister of Senegal (died 2009)
Mamadou Dia was a Senegalese politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Senegal from 1957 until 1962, when he was forced to resign and was subsequently imprisoned amidst allegations that he was planning to stage a military coup to overthrow President Léopold Sédar Senghor.
18/07/1909
Bishnu Dey, Indian poet, critic, and academic (died 1982)
Bishnu Dey was a leading Bengali poet, writer, essayist, academician, art appreciator, and connoisseur in the era of modernism and post-modernism.
Andrei Gromyko, Belarusian-Russian economist and politician, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 1989)
Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko was a Soviet politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1957–1985) and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1985–1988). Gromyko was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he retired in 1988. In the 1940s, Western pundits called him Mr. Nyet, or Grim Grom, because of his frequent use of the Soviet veto in the United Nations Security Council.
Mohammed Daoud Khan, Afghan commander and politician, 1st President of Afghanistan (died 1978)
Mohammad Daoud Khan,, also romanized as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan, was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup d'état which overthrew the monarchy, served as the first president of Afghanistan from 1973 until his assassination in 1978.
Harriet Nelson, American singer and actress (died 1994)
Harriet Nelson was an American actress. Nelson is best known for her role on the sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
18/07/1908
Peace Pilgrim, American mystic and activist (died 1981)
Peace Pilgrim, born Mildred Lisette Norman, was an American spiritual teacher, mystic, pacifist, vegetarian activist and peace activist. In 1952, she became the first woman to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail in one season. Starting on January 1, 1953, in Pasadena, California, she adopted the name "Peace Pilgrim" and walked across the United States for 28 years, speaking with others about peace. She was on her seventh cross-country journey when she died.
Lupe Vélez, Mexican-American actress and dancer (died 1944)
María Guadalupe "Lupe" Villalobos Vélez was a Mexican actress, singer, and dancer during the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
Beatrice Aitchison, American mathematician, statistician, and transportation economist (died 1997)
Beatrice Aitchison was an American mathematician, statistician, and transportation economist who directed the Transport Economics Division of the United States Department of Commerce, and later became the top woman in the United States Postal Service and the first policy-level appointee there.
18/07/1906
S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American academic and politician (died 1992)
Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa was a Canadian-born American academic and politician of Japanese ancestry. A professor of English, he served as president of San Francisco State University and then as U.S. Senator from California from 1977 to 1983.
Clifford Odets, American director, playwright, and screenwriter (died 1963)
Clifford Odets was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize–winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdraw from Broadway's commercial pressures and increasing critical backlash. From January 1935, Odets's socially relevant dramas were extremely influential, particularly for the remainder of the Great Depression. His works inspired the next several generations of playwrights, including Arthur Miller, Paddy Chayefsky, Neil Simon, and David Mamet. After the production of his play Clash by Night in the 1941–42 season, Odets focused his energies primarily on film projects, remaining in Hollywood until mid-1948. He returned to New York for five and a half years, during which time he produced three more Broadway plays, only one of which was a success. His prominence was eventually eclipsed by Miller, Tennessee Williams, and, in the early- to mid-1950s, William Inge.
18/07/1902
Jessamyn West, American author (died 1984)
Mary Jessamyn West was an American author of short stories and novels, notably The Friendly Persuasion (1945). A Quaker from Indiana, she graduated from Fullerton Union High School in 1919 and Whittier College in 1923. There she helped found the Palmer Society in 1921. She received an honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt.D) degree from Whittier College in 1946. She received the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize in 1975.
Chill Wills, American actor (died 1978)
Theodore Childress "Chill" Wills was an American actor and a singer in the Avalon Boys quartet.
18/07/1900
Nathalie Sarraute, French lawyer and author (died 1999)
Nathalie Sarraute was a French writer and lawyer. She was nominated in 1969 for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Nobel Committee member Lars Gyllensten.
18/07/1899
Ernst Scheller, German soldier and politician, 8th Mayor of Marburg (died 1942)
Ernst Scheller was a German Nazi Hauptmann and politician.
18/07/1898
John Stuart, Scottish-English actor (died 1979)
John Stuart was a Scottish actor, and was a very popular leading man in British silent films in the 1920s. He successfully made the transition to talking pictures in the 1930s and his film career went on to span almost six decades. He appeared in 172 films, 123 stage plays, and 103 television plays and series.
18/07/1897
Ernest Eldridge, English race car driver and engineer (died 1935)
Ernest Arthur Douglas Eldridge was a British racing driver who broke the world land speed record in 1924. His was the last land speed record set on an open road.
18/07/1895
Olga Spessivtseva, Russian-American ballerina (died 1991)
Olga Alexandrovna Spessivtseva was a Russian ballerina whose stage career spanned from 1913 to 1939.
Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster (died 1954)
George Kelly Barnes, better known by his nickname Machine Gun Kelly, was an American gangster from Memphis, Tennessee, active during the Prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. He is best known for the kidnapping of oil tycoon and businessman Charles F. Urschel in July 1933, from which he and his gang collected a $200,000 ransom. Urschel had collected and left considerable evidence that assisted the subsequent investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which eventually led to Kelly's arrest in Memphis on September 26, 1933. His crimes also included bootlegging and armed robbery.
18/07/1893
David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, Scottish peer, soldier and courtier (died 1968)
Colonel David Lyulph Gore Wolseley Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, was a Scottish peer, soldier and courtier. He was the father-in-law of Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy.
18/07/1892
Arthur Friedenreich, Brazilian footballer (died 1969)
Arthur Friedenreich was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward. He was nicknamed The Tiger or Golden Foot. He played for the Brazil national team and was a record nine times top scorer of the state championship of São Paulo. He is occasionally cited as one of the all-time top scorers in football history, although this is highly disputed.
18/07/1890
Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1983)
Francis Michael Forde was an Australian politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Australia from 6 to 13 July 1945, in a caretaker capacity following the death of John Curtin. He was deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1932 to 1946 and is the shortest-serving prime minister in Australia's history.
18/07/1889
Kōichi Kido, Japanese politician, 13th Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan (died 1977)
Marquess Kōichi Kido was a Japanese statesman who served as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan from 1940 to 1945, and was the closest advisor to emperor Hirohito throughout World War II. He was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment, of which he served 6 years before being released in 1953.
18/07/1887
Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian military officer and politician, Minister President of Norway (died 1945)
Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who headed the government of Norway during the country's occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II.
18/07/1886
Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., American general (died 1945)
Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. was a lieutenant general in the United States Army during World War II who served in the Pacific Theater. As commanding general of Alaska Defense Command, Buckner commanded American-Canadian forces in the Aleutian Islands campaign, including the Battle of Attu and the Kiska Expedition. Following that assignment, he was promoted to command the Tenth Army, which conducted the amphibious invasion of the Japanese island of Okinawa in 1945. He was killed during the closing days of the Battle of Okinawa by enemy artillery fire, making him the highest-ranking United States military officer lost to enemy fire during World War II.
18/07/1884
Alberto di Jorio, Italian cardinal (died 1979)
Alberto di Jorio was a cardinal of the Catholic Church and for many years along with the layman Bernardino Nogara the powerhouse behind the growing wealth of the Vatican and the Istituto per le Opere di Religione.
18/07/1881
Larry McLean, Canadian-American baseball player (died 1921)
John Bannerman McLean was a Canadian professional baseball catcher between 1901 until 1915. During his years in Major League Baseball, he played with five different teams. Beginning his career with the Boston Americans, his final professional game was played with the New York Giants on June 6, 1915.
18/07/1872
Julius Fučík, Czech composer and conductor of military bands (died 1916)
Julius Ernst Wilhelm Fučík was a Czech composer and conductor of military bands. He became a prolific composer, with over 400 marches, polkas and waltzes to his name. As most of his works were for military bands, Fučík is sometimes known as the "Bohemian Sousa".
18/07/1871
Giacomo Balla, Italian painter (died 1958)
Giacomo Balla was an Italian painter, art teacher and poet best known as a key proponent of Futurism. In his paintings, he depicted light, movement and speed. He was concerned with expressing movement in his works, but unlike other leading futurists he was not interested in machines or violence with his works tending towards the witty and whimsical.
Sada Yacco, Japanese actress and dancer (died 1946)
Sada Yacco or Sadayakko was a Japanese geisha, actress and dancer.
18/07/1867
Margaret Brown, American philanthropist and activist (died 1932)
Margaret Brown, posthumously known as the "Unsinkable Molly Brown", was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was a survivor of the RMS Titanic, which sank in 1912, and she unsuccessfully urged the crew in Lifeboat No. 6 to return to the debris field to look for survivors.
18/07/1864
Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (died 1937)
Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, PC was a British politician. A strong speaker, he became popular in trade union circles for his denunciation of capitalism as unethical and his promise of a socialist utopia. He was the first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, a position he held in 1924 and again between 1929 and 1931. He broke with Labour policy in 1931, and was expelled from the party and excoriated as a turncoat, as the party was overwhelmingly crushed that year by the National Government coalition that Snowden supported. He was succeeded as chancellor by Neville Chamberlain.
18/07/1861
Kadambini Ganguly, Indian physician, one of the first Indian women to obtain a degree (died 1923)
Kadambini Bose Ganguly was the first Indian female doctor of western medicine along with Anandibai Joshi. Both got their degree in Western medicine in 1886. However, she was India's first practicing lady doctor, as Anandibai died soon after receiving the degree. She was India's first practicing female doctor in modern medicine. Ganguly was the first woman to gain admission to Calcutta Medical College in 1884, subsequently trained in Scotland, and established a successful medical practice in India. She was the first woman speaker in the Indian National Congress.
18/07/1853
Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1928)
Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was a Dutch theoretical physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for their discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect. He derived the Lorentz transformation of the special theory of relativity, as well as the Lorentz force, which describes the force acting on a charged particle in an electromagnetic field. He was also responsible for the Lorentz oscillator model, a classical model used to describe the anomalous dispersion observed in dielectric materials when the driving frequency of the electric field was near the resonant frequency of the material, resulting in abnormal refractive indices.
18/07/1848
W. G. Grace, English cricketer and physician (died 1915)
William Gilbert Grace was an English cricketer who is widely held to have been one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "W. G.", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 44 seasons from 1865 to 1908. Test cricket originated during his career, and he represented England in 22 matches from 1880 to 1899. In domestic cricket, he was mostly associated with Gloucestershire, the Gentlemen, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), and the United South of England Eleven (USEE).
18/07/1845
Tristan Corbière, French poet (died 1875)
Tristan Corbière, born Édouard-Joachim Corbière, was a French poet born in Coat-Congar, Ploujean in Brittany, where he lived most of his life before dying of tuberculosis at the age of 29. He was a French poet, close to Symbolism, and a figure of the "cursed poet".
18/07/1843
Virgil Earp, American marshal (died 1905)
Virgil Walter Earp was an American lawman. He was both deputy U.S. marshal and the city marshal of Tombstone, in the Arizona Territory when he led his younger brothers Wyatt and Morgan, and Doc Holliday, in a confrontation with outlaw Cowboys at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881. They killed brothers Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton. All three Earp brothers had been the target of repeated death threats made by the Cowboys who were upset by the Earps' interference in their illegal activities. All four lawmen were charged with murder by Ike Clanton, who had run from the gunfight. During a month-long preliminary hearing, Judge Wells Spicer exonerated the men, concluding their actions were legally justified.
18/07/1842
William D. Coleman, 13th President of Liberia (died 1908)
William David Coleman was an Americo-Liberian politician. A True Whig Party member, he served as the 13th president of Liberia from 1896 to 1900. Born in Fayette County, Kentucky, United States, he emigrated to Liberia in 1853. In 1877, he was elected to the House of Representatives and served as Speaker of the House of Representatives until 1879. Later he served in the Senate and then as vice president before assuming the presidency when Joseph James Cheeseman died in office.
18/07/1837
Vasil Levski, Bulgarian priest and activist (died 1873)
Vasil Levski, born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev, was a Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed the Apostle of Freedom, Levski ideologised and strategised a revolutionary movement to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. Levski founded the Internal Revolutionary Organisation, and sought to foment a nationwide uprising through a network of secret regional committees.
18/07/1821
Pauline Viardot, French soprano and composer (died 1910)
Pauline Viardot was a French dramatic mezzo-soprano, composer and pedagogue of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García, she came from a musical family and took up music at a young age. She began performing as a teenager and had a long and illustrious career as a star performer.
18/07/1818
Louis Gerhard De Geer, Swedish lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Sweden (died 1896)
Baron Louis Gerard De Geer af Finspång was a Swedish statesman, lawyer, and writer who served as the first Prime Minister of Sweden from 1876 to 1880. He previously served as Prime Minister for Justice from 1858 to 1870. De Geer was the principal architect of the 1865 representation reform, replacing the Riksdag of the Estates with a bicameral parliament and playing a pivotal role in modernizing Swedish politics.
18/07/1811
William Makepeace Thackeray, English author and poet (died 1863)
William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of British society, and the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon, which was adapted for a 1975 film by Stanley Kubrick.
18/07/1796
Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher and academic (died 1879)
Immanuel Hermann Fichte was a German philosopher and son of Johann Gottlieb Fichte. In his philosophy, he was a theist and strongly opposed to the Hegelian school.
18/07/1750
Frederick Adolf, duke of Östergötland (died 1803)
Prince Frederick Adolf, Duke of Östergötland was a Swedish Prince, youngest son of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, a sister of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. He was given the title Duke of Östergötland.
18/07/1724
Maria Antonia of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (died 1780)
Maria Antonia, Princess of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony was a German princess, composer, singer, harpsichordist and patron of the arts, known particularly for her operas: Il trionfo della fedeltà and Talestri, regina delle amazoni. She was Electress of Saxony as the wife of Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony. Following the latter's death in 1763, she became the Regent of Saxony for their son Frederick Augustus I of Saxony.
18/07/1720
Gilbert White, English ornithologist and ecologist (died 1793)
Gilbert White was a "parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne.
18/07/1718
Saverio Bettinelli, Italian poet, playwright, and critic (died 1808)
Saverio Bettinelli was an Italian Jesuit priest and writer. He became known as a polymath, dramatist, polemicist, poet, and literary critic. He was a friend of some of the leading authors of his times: Voltaire, Francesco Algarotti, Vincenzo Monti and Ippolito Pindemonte. Théodore Tronchin, Guillaume du Tillot, Melchiorre Cesarotti, Giacomo Filippo Durazzo, Pietro Verri, Giammaria Mazzucchelli and Francesco Maria Zanotti were among his correspondents.
18/07/1702
Maria Clementina Sobieska, Polish noble (died 1735)
Maria Clementina Sobieska was titular queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland by marriage to James Francis Edward Stuart, a Jacobite claimant to the thrones of the British Isles. A granddaughter of the Polish king John III Sobieski, she was the mother of Charles Edward Stuart and of Henry Benedict Cardinal Stuart.
18/07/1670
Giovanni Bononcini, Italian cellist and composer (died 1747)
Giovanni Bononcini was an Italian Baroque composer, cellist, singer and teacher, one of a family of string players and composers. He was a rival to George Frederic Handel.
18/07/1659
Hyacinthe Rigaud, French painter (died 1743)
Jacint Rigau-Ros i Serra, known in French as Hyacinthe Rigaud, was a Catalan-French baroque painter most famous for his portraits of Louis XIV and other members of the French nobility.
18/07/1634
Johannes Camphuys, Dutch politician, Governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (died 1695)
Johannes Camphuys was the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1684 to 1691. Camphuys was born in Haarlem, in the Republic of the United Netherlands.
18/07/1552
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1612)
Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the House of Habsburg.
18/07/1534
Zacharius Ursinus, German theologian (died 1583)
Zacharias Ursinus was a German Reformed theologian and Protestant reformer. He became the leading theologian of the Reformed Protestant movement of the Palatinate, serving both at the University of Heidelberg and the College of Wisdom. He is best known as the principal author and interpreter of the Heidelberg Catechism.
18/07/1504
Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss pastor and reformer (died 1575)
Heinrich Bullinger was a Swiss Reformer and theologian, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zürich and a pastor at the Grossmünster. One of the most important leaders of the Swiss Reformation, Bullinger co-authored the Helvetic Confessions and collaborated with John Calvin to work out a Reformed doctrine of the Lord's Supper.
18/07/1501
Isabella of Austria, queen of Denmark (died 1526)
Isabella of Austria, also known as Elizabeth, was born an Archduchess of Austria and Infanta of Castile from the House of Habsburg, and subsequently became Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, under the Kalmar Union, as the wife of King Christian II. She was the daughter of King Philip I and Queen Joanna of Castile and the sister of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. She ruled Denmark as regent in 1520.
18/07/1013
Hermann of Reichenau, German composer, mathematician, and astronomer (died 1054)
Blessed Hermann of Reichenau or Herman the Cripple, also known by other names, was an 11th-century Benedictine monk and scholar. He composed works on history, music theory, mathematics, and astronomy, as well as many hymns. He has traditionally been credited with the composition of "Salve Regina", "Veni Sancte Spiritus", and "Alma Redemptoris Mater", although these attributions are sometimes questioned. His cultus and beatification were confirmed by the Roman Catholic Church in 1863. His feast day is September 25.