Born on Wednesday, 2nd July – Famous Birthdays
On this day, 163 notable people were born on 2nd July — spanning from 419 to 1996. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.
Wednesday, 2 July 2025 marks the birth dates of numerous notable figures across sport, entertainment and politics. Among those born on this date is Henrik Kristoffersen, the Norwegian alpine skier who has established himself as a formidable competitor in slalom and giant slalom disciplines. The European sports calendar frequently benefits from such talented athletes, with Kristoffersen representing the continent’s strength in winter sports. Julia Grabher, the Austrian tennis player born in 1996, also shares this birthday and has competed in professional tennis circuits across Europe and beyond.
Throughout history, 2 July has seen the birth of several individuals who shaped their respective fields. Medgar Evers, the American civil rights movement activist and soldier, was born on this date in 1925. His dedication to advancing civil rights during a turbulent period in American history established his legacy as a prominent figure in the struggle for equality. Similarly, Patrice Lumumba, the Congolese politician who served as the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was also born on 2 July in 1925, leaving a significant mark on African politics and post-colonial history.
The date has also produced figures from diverse professional backgrounds. Larry David, the American actor, comedian and screenwriter, was born in 1947 and went on to create widely acclaimed television programmes. Vicente Fox, who served as the 35th President of Mexico from 2000 to 2006, was born on this date in 1942. Kenneth Clarke, the English politician who held several senior cabinet positions, also shares this birthday, having been born in 1940. These individuals represent the broad spectrum of achievement across politics, entertainment and public service.
DayAtlas provides comprehensive information about weather conditions, historical events, famous births and notable deaths for any date and location, allowing users to explore the significance of any day throughout history.
Discover who was born today 13th April.
02/07/1996
Julia Grabher, Austrian tennis player
Julia Grabher is an Austrian professional tennis player. On 26 June 2023, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 54. On 29 August 2016, she peaked at No. 387 in the doubles rankings.
02/07/1995
Ryan Murphy, American swimmer
Ryan Fitzgerald Murphy is an American competitive swimmer specializing in backstroke. He is a five-time Olympic gold medalist and the former world-record holder in the men's 100-meter backstroke.
02/07/1994
Henrik Kristoffersen, Norwegian skier
Henrik Kristoffersen is a Norwegian World Cup alpine ski racer, World Champion, and Olympic medalist. He specializes in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom.
Derrick White, American basketball player
Derrick Richard White is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Buffalo" or "the Swiss Army Knife" by his Celtics teammate Neemias Queta, he played three years of college basketball in Division II for the Colorado–Colorado Springs Mountain Lions before transferring to Division I's Colorado Buffaloes for his final year.
02/07/1993
Vince Staples, American rapper and actor
Vincent Jamal Staples is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He first became known for his appearances on the projects from Odd Future members and affiliates, including Earl Sweatshirt's Earl (2010) and Doris (2013), Mike G.’s Ali (2010) and The Jet Age of Tomorrow's Journey to the 5th Echelon (2010). He signed with Talib Kweli's Blacksmith Records prior to the release of his collaborative mixtape with Mac Miller, Stolen Youth (2013). The following year, he signed with No I.D.'s ARTium Recordings, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings, to release his debut extended play, Hell Can Wait (2014), which received critical acclaim and marked his first entry on the Billboard 200.
Saweetie, American rapper
Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper, known professionally as Saweetie, is an American rapper, singer and actress. Her 2017 debut single, "Icy Grl", received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and led her to sign with Warner Records in a joint venture with her then-manager Max Gousse's record label, Artistry Worldwide.
02/07/1992
Madison Chock, American ice dancer
Madison Laʻakea Te-Lan Hall Chock is an American ice dancer. Together with her husband and skating partner, Evan Bates, she is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the team event, the 2026 Winter Olympics silver medalist, a three-time World champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion, three-time Four Continents champion ; twenty-two-time ISU Grand Prix medalist ; ten-time ISU Challenger Series medalist ; and seven-time U.S. national champion. She is also a four-time Olympian, having represented the United States at the 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026 Winter Olympics.
Jānis Timma, Latvian basketball player
Jānis Timma was a Latvian professional basketball player. Standing at 2.01 m, he mainly played at the small forward position. He also represented the senior Latvia national team.
02/07/1990
Kayla Harrison, American judoka
Kayla Jean Harrison is an American professional mixed martial artist and former judoka. She currently competes in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the current UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. She is the first female fighter to win an Olympic gold medal and a UFC championship. She is also a former two-time Professional Fighters League lightweight champion. As of November 18, 2025, she is #2 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.
Merritt Mathias, American soccer player
Merritt Elizabeth Mathias is an American former professional soccer player who most recently played as a right back for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She has won three NWSL Shields and three NWSL Championships during her twelve seasons in the NWSL: one Championship with FC Kansas City, one Shield with Seattle Reign FC, and two doubles with the North Carolina Courage. She played extensively with the youth national team and earned one cap with the United States senior team in 2018.
Morag McLellan, Scottish field hockey player
Morag McLellan is a Scottish female field hockey player who plays for the Scotland women's national field hockey team. She has represented Scotland in few international competitions including the 2013 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship, 2010 Commonwealth Games, and 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Margot Robbie, Australian actress and producer
Margot Elise Robbie is an Australian actress and producer. The world's highest-paid actress in 2023, she is known for her performances in both blockbuster and independent films. Robbie has been nominated for three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and six British Academy Film Awards.
Danny Rose, English footballer
Daniel Lee Rose is an English former professional footballer who played as a left-back.
Bill Tupou, New Zealand rugby league player
Bill Tupou is a former Tonga international rugby league footballer who last played as a centre or on the wing for Wakefield Trinity in the Super League.
02/07/1989
Nadezhda Grishaeva, Russian basketball player
Nadezhda Sergeyevna Grishayeva is a Russian professional basketball player. She plays for Russia women's national basketball team. She competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She is 1.95 m tall.
Alex Morgan, American soccer player
Alexandra Morgan Carrasco is an American former professional soccer player. She co-captained the United States national team with Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe from 2018 to 2020 and with Lindsey Horan in 2023.
02/07/1988
Lee Chung-yong, South Korean footballer
Lee Chung-yong is a South Korean footballer who plays as a winger for K League 1 club Incheon United and is a South Korean international. He is nicknamed Blue Dragon, which is a literal translation of his given name "Chung-yong".
02/07/1987
Esteban Granero, Spanish footballer
Esteban Félix Granero Molina is a Spanish former professional footballer. Known as El Pirata, he could play as a central or an attacking midfielder.
02/07/1986
Brett Cecil, American baseball player
Brett Aarion Cecil is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals. Cecil was drafted as the 38th overall pick in the 2007 MLB draft by the Blue Jays. He pitched for DeMatha Catholic High School and the Maryland Terrapins of the University of Maryland, College Park. In the summer of 2005, he pitched for the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League and threw the first and only no-hitter by a single pitcher in league history.
Lindsay Lohan, American actress and singer
Lindsay Dee Lohan is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She was signed to Ford Models at the age of three, and gained early recognition as a child actress on the soap operas Guiding Light (1993) and Another World (1996–1997). Her breakthrough role came with the dual role of reunited identical twins in the Walt Disney comedy The Parent Trap (1998); its success led to subsequent roles in Life-Size (2000), Get a Clue (2002), Freaky Friday (2003) and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004). Her portrayal of Cady Heron in the teen comedy Mean Girls (2004) affirmed her status as a teen idol and established her as a prominent leading lady; The New Yorker later ranked it as the eleventh-best film performance of the 21st century.
02/07/1985
Chad Henne, American football player
Chad Steven Henne is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, where he is the all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns, with 9,715 yards and 87 touchdowns. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft, and started multiple seasons over his NFL career, for both the Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars. He also won two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs, serving as the backup quarterback.
Ashley Tisdale, American actress, singer, and producer
Ashley Michelle Tisdale-French is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles on-screen and in theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatrick in the Disney Channel teen sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005–2008). This success was heightened when she starred as Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series (2006–2011). The success of the films led to Tisdale's signing with Warner Bros. Records and subsequently releasing her debut studio album, Headstrong (2007), which was a commercial success, earning a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Tisdale also provides the voice of Candace Flynn in the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb.
02/07/1984
Thomas Kortegaard, Danish footballer
Thomas Kortegaard is a Danish former footballer who played as a midfielder.
Johnny Weir, American figure skater
John Garvin Weir is an American television commentator and retired figure skater. He is a two-time Olympian, the 2008 World bronze medalist, a two-time Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2001 World Junior Champion, and a three-time U.S. National champion (2004–2006). He was the youngest U.S. National champion since 1991, in 2006 the first skater to win U.S. Nationals three times in a row since Brian Boitano in the late 1980s, and the first American to win Cup of Russia in 2007.
02/07/1983
Michelle Branch, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
Michelle Jacquet Branch is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals with Santana for their 2002 single, "The Game of Love".
Kyle Hogg, English cricketer
Kyle William Hogg is an English former cricketer. He was a left-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler who played for Lancashire from 2001 to 2014. Between 2000–01 and 2002 Hogg represented the England under-19s in six youth Tests and 11 One Day Internationals (ODIs). In the 2006–07 season he travelled to New Zealand where he represented Otago as an overseas player. Hogg spent time on loan with Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire, both in 2007.
02/07/1981
Nathan Ellington, English footballer
Nathan Levi Fontaine Ellington is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker.
Carlos Rogers, American football player
Carlos Cornelius Rogers is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers, earning consensus All-American honors. Rogers was selected by the Washington Redskins with the ninth overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders.
02/07/1980
Nyjer Morgan, American baseball player
Nyjer Jamid Morgan is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cleveland Indians, in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, and in the KBO League for the Hanwha Eagles. Morgan mainly played center field during his MLB career.
02/07/1979
Walter Davis, American triple jumper
Walter L. Davis is an American athlete competing in the triple jump and occasionally in the long jump. He was born in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Ahmed al-Ghamdi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of United Airlines Flight 175 (died 2001)
Ahmed Salih Said al-Kurshi al-Ghamdi was a Saudi terrorist hijacker. He was one of five hijackers of United Airlines Flight 175 as part of the September 11 attacks.
Sam Hornish Jr., American race car driver
Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.
Joe Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
Joseph Eric Thornton is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played for the Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected first overall by the Bruins in the 1997 NHL entry draft and went on to play seven seasons with the club, three as its captain. During the 2005–06 season, he was traded to the Sharks. Splitting the campaign between the two teams, he received the Art Ross and Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's leading point-scorer and most valuable player, respectively, becoming the only player in NHL history to win either award in a season played for multiple teams. Thornton went on to play another 14 seasons with the Sharks, including four seasons as team captain and a run to the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals. Thornton was the last active NHL player and the last big 4 North American sports player to have played in the 1990s.
02/07/1978
Jüri Ratas, Estonian politician, 42nd Mayor of Tallinn
Jüri Ratas is an Estonian politician who served as the prime minister of Estonia from 2016 to 2021 and as the leader of the Centre Party from 2016 to 2023, and the mayor of Tallinn from 2005 to 2007. Ratas was a member of the Centre Party until switching to Isamaa in 2024.
02/07/1977
Deniz Barış, Turkish footballer
Deniz Barış is a Turkish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder or centre-back.
02/07/1976
Krisztián Lisztes, Hungarian footballer
Krisztián Lisztes is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He is most commonly known for his stints at VfB Stuttgart and Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, and for Ferencváros in his home country.
Tomáš Vokoun, Czech-American ice hockey player
Tomáš Vokoun is a Czech former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1997 to 2013, mainly with the Nashville Predators. He was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the ninth round, 226th overall, in the 1994 NHL entry draft, and played one game for the team, as well as playing with the Florida Panthers, Washington Capitals, and Pittsburgh Penguins. Internationally, Vokoun played for the Czech national team at several tournaments, including the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal in 2006, as well as gold medals at the 2005 and 2010 World Championships.
Ľudovít Ódor, Prime minister of Slovakia
Ľudovít Ódor is a Slovak economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Slovakia from May to October 2023, heading a technocratic cabinet. From July to October 2023, he also served as Minister of the Interior. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, Ódor served as Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia, from 2018 to 2023. He was the first Slovak prime-minister from the ethnic Hungarian minority in Slovakia.
02/07/1975
Éric Dazé, Canadian ice hockey player
Éric Dazé is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League for eleven seasons from 1995 to 2005.
Kristen Michal, Estonian lawyer and politician
Kristen Michal is the prime minister of Estonia, having taken office on 23 July 2024. He previously served as minister of justice from 2011 to 2012, minister of economic affairs and infrastructure from 2015 to 2016, and minister of climate from 2023 to 2024.
Elizabeth Reaser, American actress
Elizabeth Ann Reaser is an American film, television, and stage actress. Her work includes the films Stay, The Family Stone, Sweet Land, Against the Current, The Twilight Saga, Young Adult, and Ouija: Origin of Evil, and the TV series Saved, Grey's Anatomy, The Ex-List, The Good Wife, True Detective, Mad Men, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Haunting of Hill House.
Stefan Terblanche, South African rugby player
Carl Stefan Terblanche is a South African former rugby union player. He played wing, centre and fullback.
02/07/1974
Sean Casey, American baseball player and sportscaster
Sean Thomas Casey, nicknamed "the Mayor", is an American former professional baseball first baseman, coach and media personality. During his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Casey played for the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers, and Boston Red Sox. Casey was selected to the MLB All-Star Game three times during his career. He was the hitting coach for the New York Yankees in 2023. After retiring from professional baseball, Casey transitioned into broadcasting and has been a prominent broadcaster and commentator for MLB Network since 2009, a role he still holds today. In addition to his broadcasting work, Casey is the host of the popular “The Mayor’s Office with Sean Casey” podcast, where he shares engaging conversations with athletes, entertainers, and industry leaders.
02/07/1972
Darren Shan, Irish author
Darren O'Shaughnessy is an Irish writer and novelist. He is best known for his young adult fiction series The Saga of Darren Shan, The Demonata, and Zom-B, published under the pseudonym Darren Shan. The former was adapted into a manga series from 2006 to 2009 as well as a live-action film in 2009, with a prequel series, The Saga of Larten Crepsley, being released from 2010 to 2012.
02/07/1971
Troy Brown, American football player and actor
Troy Fitzgerald Brown is an American professional football coach and former player who serves as an offensive assistant for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played as a wide receiver and return specialist for 15 seasons in the NFL, spending his entire career with the Patriots. Brown played college football for the Marshall Thundering Herd and was selected by the Patriots in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL draft. During his New England tenure, he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2001 and was a member of the franchise's first three Super Bowl-winning teams. In 2020, Brown rejoined the Patriots as an offensive assistant. He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010. Brown also was inducted to the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2012.
Bryan Redpath, Scottish rugby player and coach
Bryan William Redpath is a Scottish former rugby union player and coach. He is the Director of Rugby at London Scottish.
02/07/1970
Derrick Adkins, American hurdler
Derrick Ralph Adkins is an American former track and field athlete who specialized in the 400-meter hurdles. He was an Olympic gold medalist in that event at the 1996 Summer Olympics and World Champion at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics. He was the fastest man in the world in the 1994 and 1996 seasons, and holds a personal record of 47.54 seconds. Adkins was a two-time national champion at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Steve Morrow, Northern Irish footballer and manager
Stephen Joseph Morrow is a Northern Irish former professional footballer and manager. He was The Football Association's head of player selection and talent strategy until 2023.
02/07/1969
Tim Rodber, English rugby player
Timothy Andrew Keith Rodber is an English former rugby union footballer who played at number eight, flanker or lock for Northampton Saints, England, and the British Lions.
02/07/1965
Norbert Röttgen, German lawyer and politician
Norbert Alois Röttgen is a German lawyer and politician who served as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2009 to 2012. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he placed third in the January 2021 CDU leadership election, then second in the December 2021 leadership election. From 2014 to 2021, he chaired the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee.
02/07/1964
Jose Canseco, Cuban-American baseball player and mixed martial artist
José Canseco Capas Jr. is a Cuban-American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his time with the Oakland Athletics, he established himself as one of the premier power hitters in the game. He won the Rookie of the Year (1986), and Most Valuable Player award (1988), and was a six-time All-Star. Canseco is a two-time World Series champion with the Oakland Athletics (1989) and the New York Yankees (2000).
Ozzie Canseco, Cuban-American baseball player, coach, and manager
Osvaldo "Ozzie" Canseco Capas is a Cuban-American former professional baseball player. He is the identical twin brother of former Major League Baseball player José Canseco.
Joe Magrane, American baseball player and sportscaster
Joseph David Magrane is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, California Angels, and Chicago White Sox between 1987 and 1996, and is currently a color commentary broadcaster for the MLB Network.
02/07/1962
Neil Williams, English cricketer (died 2006)
Neil Fitzgerald Williams was an England cricketer, who played first-class cricket for both Middlesex and Essex. In a first-class career spanning over seventeen years, he took 675 wickets and scored 4,457 runs.
02/07/1961
Clark Kellogg, American basketball player and sportscaster
Clark Clifton Kellogg Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who is the lead college basketball analyst for CBS Sports. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Indiana Pacers.
02/07/1959
Erwin Olaf, Dutch photographer (died 2023)
Erwin Olaf Springveld, professionally known as Erwin Olaf, was a Dutch photographer from Hilversum. Time magazine described his work as straddling "the worlds of commercial, art and fashion photography at once".
02/07/1958
Pavan Malhotra, Indian actor
Pavan Malhotra is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films and television alongside Punjabi and few Telugu films. He has received several awards including a Filmfare OTT Award and a Filmfare Award South.
02/07/1957
Bret Hart, Canadian wrestler
Bret Sergeant Hart is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling background at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College. A major international draw within professional wrestling, he is credited with changing the perception of mainstream North American professional wrestling in the early 1990s by bringing technical wrestling to the fore. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time; Sky Sports noted that his legacy is that of "one of, if not the greatest, to have ever graced the squared circle". For the majority of his career, he used the nickname "the Hitman".
Jüri Raidla, Estonian lawyer and politician, Estonian Minister of Justice
Jüri Raidla is an Estonian lawyer, founder and senior partner of law firm Ellex Raidla. He served as the first Estonian Minister of Justice from 1990 to 1992.
Purvis Short, American basketball player
Purvis Short is an American former professional basketball player who played with the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1978 to 1990. A 6'7" small forward, Short averaged 17.3 points per game over his twelve-season career in the NBA. He is currently the Warriors ninth all-time leading scorer.
02/07/1956
Jerry Hall, American model and actress
Jerry Faye Hall is an American model and actress. She began modeling in the 1970s and became one of the most sought-after models in the world. She transitioned into acting, appearing in the 1989 film Batman. Hall was the long-term partner of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, with whom she has four children. She was the fourth wife of Rupert Murdoch until they divorced in 2022.
02/07/1955
Kim Carr, Australian educator and politician, 31st Australian Minister for Human Services
Kim John Carr is an Australian former politician who served as a Senator for Victoria between 1993 and 2022. Representing the Labor Party, he was a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments.
02/07/1954
Chris Huhne, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Christopher Murray Paul Huhne is a British energy and climate change consultant, and former journalist, business economist and politician who was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Eastleigh from 2005 to 2013 and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2010 to 2012. He is currently chair of the UK green gas association – the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association – and senior adviser to the World Biogas Association. He also advises companies on his particular interest in renewable technologies that can provide back up for intermittent energy sources like wind and solar.
Wendy Schaal, American actress
Wendy Schaal is an American actress known for her work in Joe Dante films, such as Innerspace, The 'Burbs, and Small Soldiers. Her other film credits include starring in Where the Boys Are '84, Creature, Going Under, and Munchies. She had many roles on television series in the 1980s, most notably as Vicki Allen on It's a Living and Marilyn Kelsy on Airwolf. Since 2005, she has primarily worked in voice acting, most notably voicing Francine Smith on the animated comedy television series American Dad!
02/07/1952
Sylvia Rivera, American transgender rights activist (died 2002)
Sylvia Rivera was an American gay liberation and transgender rights activist who was also a noted community worker in New York. Rivera, who identified as a drag queen for most of her life and later as a transgender person, participated in demonstrations with the Gay Liberation Front.
Anatoliy Solomin, Ukrainian race walker and coach
Anatoliy Vasilyevich Solomin is a former Soviet Ukrainian race walker. Solomin competed in men's 20 km walk at the 1980 Summer Olympics and contended for the gold medal, but was disqualified from the lead shortly before the finish. He was European indoor champion in men's 5000 m walk in 1983 and briefly held the 20 km world best. He was born in Komarovka in Penza Oblast.
02/07/1950
Lynne Brindley, English librarian and academic
Dame Lynne Janie Brindley is the former Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, a post she held until June 2020. Prior to this appointment she was a professional librarian, and served as the first female chief executive of the British Library, the United Kingdom's national library, from 2000 to 2012.
Jon Trickett, English politician
Jon Hedley Trickett is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Normanton and Hemsworth, previously Hemsworth, since 1996. He was Shadow Lord President of the Council from 2016 to 2020 and served as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2011 to 2013 and 2017 to 2020. He was the Labour Party National Campaign Coordinator under Jeremy Corbyn from 2015 to 2017.
02/07/1949
Greg Brown, American musician
Gregory Dane Brown is an American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Iowa.
Robert Paquette, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
Robert Paquette is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter.
02/07/1948
Mutula Kilonzo, Kenyan lawyer and politician (died 2013)
Mutula Kilonzo was a Kenyan politician and Senior Counsel, who served as Minister of Education after having previously served as Minister for Nairobi Metropolitan and justice and constitutional affairs He belonged to the Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya and was elected to represent Makueni County as Senator in the 2013 general elections.
02/07/1947
Larry David, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
Lawrence Gene David is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He is known for his dry wit, portrayals of awkward social situations, and brutally honest takes on everyday life. He has received two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and six Screen Actors Guild Awards. He received the Writers Guild of America's Laurel Award in 2010.
Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, English politician, Minister for International Security Strategy
Winifred Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, is a British politician and life peer who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West from 1974 to 1983, and Dewsbury from 1987 to 2005.
02/07/1946
Richard Axel, American neuroscientist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
Richard Axel is an American molecular biologist and university professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Columbia University and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His work on the olfactory system won him and Linda Buck, a former postdoctoral research scientist in his group, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004.
Ron Silver, American actor, director, and political activist (died 2009)
Ronald Arthur Silver was an American actor, director, producer, radio host, and activist. As an actor, he portrayed Henry Kissinger, Alan Dershowitz and Angelo Dundee. He was awarded the 1988 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for Speed-the-Plow, a satirical dissection of the American movie business, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his recurring role as political strategist Bruno Gianelli in The West Wing.
02/07/1943
Larry Lake, American-Canadian trumpet player and composer (died 2013)
Larry Ellsworth Lake was an American-born Canadian composer, trumpeter, freelance writer on music, radio broadcaster, and record producer. As a composer, he was primarily known for his electronic music. His musical compositions are characterized by their integration of acoustic instruments with electronic ones in live performance. From 1985 until his death he served as artistic director of the Canadian Electronic Ensemble, a group of which he was a founding member. For nearly 30 years he hosted and served as music consultant for the CBC Radio program Two New Hours. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre (CMC), he was the chair of the CMC's Ontario Region Council and was an executive member of the CMC's national board. He was a member of both the Canadian Electroacoustic Community and the Canadian League of Composers. His compositions received multiple awards from the CMC and from the Major Armstrong Foundation. He received three Juno Award nominations for his work as a record producer.
02/07/1942
John Eekelaar, South African-English lawyer and scholar
John Eekelaar FBA is a South African-born legal scholar who specialised in family law during his academic career at the University of Oxford. A Rhodes Scholar and recipient of the Vinerian Scholarship, he served as a Tutorial Fellow at Pembroke College from 1965 and as Reader in Law from 1991 until his retirement from teaching in 2005. Elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2001, he has served as editor of the International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family and the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. After his retirement, he served as the academic director of Pembroke College (2005–2009) and became co-director of the Oxford Centre for Family Law and Policy (OXFLAP).
Vicente Fox, Mexican businessman and politician, 35th President of Mexico
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. After campaigning as a right-wing populist, Fox was elected president on the National Action Party (PAN) ticket in the 2000 election. He became the first president not from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) since 1929, and the first elected from an opposition party since Francisco I. Madero in 1911. Fox won the election with 43 percent of the vote. Considered a social-welfare promoter, along with Julio Frenk Mora, he formulated, signed and implemented the Seguro Popular which helped circa 55 million independent workers.
02/07/1941
William Guest, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2015)
William Franklin Guest was an American R&B/soul singer best known as a member of Gladys Knight & the Pips along with his cousins Gladys Knight, Merald "Bubba" Knight and Edward Patten. Guest was a member of the group for its entire history, from 1952 to 1989. He is a multiple Grammy Award winner and was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1996.
Wendell Mottley, Trinidadian sprinter, economist, and politician
Wendell Adrian Mottley ORTT is a Trinidad and Tobago economist, politician and athlete. Mottley served as Senator and member of the House of Representatives with the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament and was Minister of Finance from 1991 to 1995. He was an Ivy League sprinter, winning two Olympic medals in 1964.
02/07/1940
Kenneth Clarke, English politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Rushcliffe from 1970 to 2019, serving as Father of the House of Commons between 2017 and 2019. Clarke served in the Cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1987 to 1988, Health Secretary from 1988 to 1990, and Education Secretary from 1990 to 1992. He held two of the Great Offices of State as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Georgi Ivanov, Bulgarian military officer, cosmonaut and politician
Major general Georgi Ivanov Kakalov is a Bulgarian former military officer who was the first Bulgarian cosmonaut. He was a member of the National Assembly of Bulgaria in 1990.
02/07/1939
Mike Castle, American politician, 69th Governor of Delaware (died 2025)
Michael Newbold Castle was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for Delaware's at-large congressional district from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 69th Governor of Delaware from 1985 to 1992, Lieutenant Governor from 1981 to 1985, and as a member of the Delaware General Assembly from 1967 to 1977. As of 2025, Castle was the most recent Republican to represent Delaware in the U.S. Congress and the last Republican to have been elected governor of the state.
Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek poet and politician (died 1976)
Alexandros Panagoulis was a Greek politician and poet. He took an active role in the fight against the Regime of the Colonels (1967–1974) in Greece. He became famous for his attempt to assassinate dictator Georgios Papadopoulos on 13 August 1968, but also for the torture to which he was subjected during his detention. After the restoration of democracy, he was elected to the Greek parliament as a member of the Centre Union (E.K.).
John H. Sununu, American engineer and politician, 14th White House Chief of Staff
John Henry Sununu is a Cuban-born American politician who served as the 75th governor of New Hampshire from 1983 to 1989 and as the 14th White House chief of staff under President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1991.
Paul Williams, American singer and choreographer (died 1973)
Paul Williams was an American baritone singer. He was noted for being one of the founding members and the original lead singer of the Motown group the Temptations. Personal problems and failing health forced Williams to retire in 1971, and he was found dead two years later as the result of an apparent suicide at age 34.
02/07/1938
David Owen, English physician and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, is a British politician and physician who served as Foreign Secretary as a Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979, and later led the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He was a Member of Parliament for 26 years, from 1966 to 1992.
02/07/1937
Polly Holliday, American actress (died 2025)
Polly Dean Holliday was an American actress of stage and screen. Holliday was best known for her portrayal of sassy waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry on the 1970s sitcom Alice, winning two Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress on the series. Her character's catchphrase "Kiss my grits!" enjoyed widespread popularity, and she reprised the role on Flo, a short-lived spin-off. Holliday won the 1984 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress portraying Ruby Deagle in Gremlins.
Richard Petty, American race car driver and sportscaster
Richard Lee Petty, nicknamed "the King", is an American former stock car racing driver who competed from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series, most notably driving the No. 43 Plymouth/Pontiac for Petty Enterprises. He is one of the members of the Petty racing family. He was the first driver to win the Cup Series championship seven times, while also winning a record 200 races during his career. This included winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times and winning a record 27 races in one season (1967). Petty is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history.
02/07/1936
Omar Suleiman, Egyptian general and politician, 16th Vice President of Egypt (died 2012)
Omar Mahmoud Suleiman was an Egyptian army general, politician, diplomat, and intelligence officer. A leading figure in Egypt's intelligence system beginning in 1986, Suleiman was appointed to the long-vacant vice presidency by President Hosni Mubarak on 29 January 2011. On 11 February 2011, Suleiman announced Mubarak's resignation and ceased being vice president; governing power was transferred to the Armed Forces Supreme Council, of which Suleiman was not a member in 2011. A new head of intelligence services was appointed by the ruling Supreme Council. Suleiman withdrew from the political scene and did not appear in public after announcing Mubarak's resignation.
02/07/1935
Gilbert Kalish, American pianist and educator
Gilbert Kalish is an American pianist. He is best known for championing the music of Charles Ives and other modernist composers. He is also noted for his partnerships with other artists, particularly his thirty-year collaboration with mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani, but also including cellists Timothy Eddy and Joel Krosnick, and soprano Dawn Upshaw.
02/07/1934
Tom Springfield, English musician (died 2022)
Tom Springfield was a British musician, songwriter, and record producer who was prominent in the 1960s folk and pop music scene. He was the older brother of singer Dusty Springfield, with whom he performed in the Springfields. He wrote several hit songs for the Springfields and later for the Seekers, whose records he also produced.
02/07/1933
Peter Desbarats, Canadian journalist, author, and playwright (died 2014)
Peter Hullett Desbarats, OC was a Canadian author, playwright and journalist. He was also the dean of journalism at the University of Western Ontario (1981–1997), a former commissioner in the Somalia Inquiry and a former Maclean-Hunter chair of Communications Ethics at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario.
Kenny Wharram, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2017)
Kenneth Malcolm Wharram was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League, all with the Chicago Black Hawks, wearing number 17. He won a Stanley Cup in 1961.
02/07/1932
Dave Thomas, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Wendy's (died 2002)
Rex David Thomas was an American businessman, philanthropist, and fast-food tycoon who was the founder and chief executive officer of Wendy's, a fast-food restaurant chain specializing in hamburgers. In this role, Thomas appeared in more than 800 commercial advertisements for the chain from 1989 to 2002, more than any other company founder in television history.
02/07/1930
Ahmad Jamal, American jazz musician (died 2023)
Ahmad Jamal was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. For six decades, he was one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. He was a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master and won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his contributions to music history.
Carlos Menem, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 50th President of Argentina (died 2021)
Carlos Saúl Menem was an Argentine politician who served as the president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years, and his political approach became known as Menemism.
02/07/1929
Imelda Marcos, Filipino politician; 10th First Lady of the Philippines
Imelda Romualdez Marcos is a Filipino politician who was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power after her husband Ferdinand Marcos placed the country under martial law in September 1972. She is the mother of current president Bongbong Marcos.
02/07/1927
Lee Allen, American saxophone player (died 1994)
Lee Francis Allen was an American tenor saxophone player. Phil Alvin, Allen's bandmate in The Blasters, called him one of the most important instrumentalists in rock'n'roll. Allen's distinctive tone has been hailed as "one of the defining sounds of rock'n'roll" and "one of the DNA strands of rock."
James Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
James Peter Hymers Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern is a British lawyer. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Lord Advocate, and Lord Chancellor (1987–1997). He was formerly an active member of the House of Lords, where he sat as a Conservative; he retired from the House on 22 July 2022.
Brock Peters, American actor (died 2005)
Brock Peters was an American actor, best known for playing the villainous "Crown" in the 1959 film version of Porgy and Bess, and Tom Robinson in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird. He made his Broadway debut in the 1965 Norman Rosten play Mister Johnson. He was nominated for a Tony Award and won a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for his lead role as Rev. Stephen Kumalo in the 1972 Broadway revival of the musical Lost in the Stars. He received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1991 and a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992.
02/07/1926
Octavian Paler, Romanian journalist and politician (died 2007)
Octavian Paler was a Romanian writer, journalist, politician in Communist Romania, and civil society activist in post-1989 Romania.
02/07/1925
Medgar Evers, American soldier and civil rights movement activist (died 1963)
Medgar Wiley Evers was an American civil rights activist who was the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. A United States Army veteran who served in World War II, he was engaged in efforts to overturn racial segregation at the University of Mississippi, end the segregation of public facilities, and expand opportunities for African Americans, including the enforcement of voting rights prior to his assassination.
Patrice Lumumba, Congolese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (died 1961)
Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the First Congolese Republic from June until September 1960, following the May 1960 election. Lumumba was the leader of the Congolese National Movement (MNC) from 1958 until his assassination in 1961. Ideologically an African nationalist and pan-Africanist, he played a significant role in the transformation of the Congo from a colony of Belgium into an independent republic.
Marvin Rainwater, American singer-songwriter (died 2013)
Marvin Karlton Rainwater was an American country and rockabilly singer and songwriter who had several hits during the late 1950s, including the self-penned "Gonna Find Me a Bluebird" and "Whole Lotta Woman," which hit No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. He was known for wearing Native American fashion-themed outfits on stage and claimed to have quarter-blood Cherokee ancestry.
02/07/1924
Chia-ying Yeh, Chinese-born Canadian poet and sinologist (died 2024)
Florence Chia-ying Yeh, also known as Ye Jiaying, Jialing (迦陵), and by her married name Chia-ying Yeh Chao, was a Chinese-born Taiwanese-Canadian poet and sinologist. She was a scholar of classical Chinese poetry. Yeh taught for 20 years at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and was a professor emerita from her retirement in 1989. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. After retiring from UBC, she taught at Nankai University in Tianjin, where she was the founding Director of the Institute of Chinese Classical Culture.
02/07/1923
Cyril M. Kornbluth, American soldier and author (died 1958)
Cyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner, Jordan Park, Arthur Cooke, Paul Dennis Lavond, and Scott Mariner.
Wisława Szymborska, Polish poet and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2012)
Maria Wisława Anna Szymborska was a Polish poet, essayist, translator, and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Prowent, she resided in Kraków until the end of her life. In Poland, Szymborska's books have reached sales rivaling prominent prose authors, though she wrote in a poem, "Some Like Poetry", that "perhaps" two in a thousand people like poetry.
02/07/1922
Pierre Cardin, Italian-French fashion designer (died 2020)
Pietro Costante Cardin, known as Pierre Cardin, was an Italian-French fashion designer. He is known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs. He preferred geometric shapes and motifs, often ignoring the female form. He advanced into unisex fashions, sometimes experimental, and not always practical. He founded his fashion house in 1950 and introduced the "bubble dress" in 1954.
Paula Valenska, Czech actress (died 1994)
Paula Valenska was a Czech actress noted for her roles in 1940s films. After appearing in several films in her native Czechoslovakia she went to Britain to star in two films produced by Anatole de Grunwald.
02/07/1920
John Kneubuhl, Samoan-American historian, screenwriter, and playwright (died 1992)
John Alexander Kneubuhl was an American Samoan screenwriter, playwright and Polynesian historian. He wrote for American television series such as The Fugitive, Gunsmoke, The Wild Wild West, Star Trek, The Invaders and Hawaii Five-O. The son of a Samoan mother and an American father, Kneubuhl's multicultural heritage produced a distinctive artistic vision that formed the basis of his most powerful dramatic work.
02/07/1919
Jean Craighead George, American author (died 2012)
Jean Carolyn Craighead George was an American writer of more than one hundred books for children and young adults, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves and Newbery Honor My Side of the Mountain. Common themes in George's works are the environment and the natural world. Beside children's fiction, she wrote at least two guides to cooking with wild foods and one autobiography published 30 years before her death, Journey Inward.
02/07/1918
Athos Bulcão, Brazilian painter and sculptor (died 2008)
Athos Bulcão was a Brazilian painter and sculptor. He was born in Rio de Janeiro.
02/07/1917
Leonard J. Arrington, American author and academic, founded the Mormon History Association (died 1999)
Leonard James Arrington was an American author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association (MHA). He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his contributions to the field. From 1972 to 1982, he was Church Historian for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the first non-general authority to fill the assignment since it began in 1842. He was director of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History from 1982 until 1986.
02/07/1916
Ken Curtis, American actor and singer (died 1991)
Ken Curtis was an American actor and singer best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the Western television series Gunsmoke.
Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German colonel and pilot (died 1982)
Hans-Ulrich Rudel was a German ground-attack pilot during World War II and a post-war neo-Nazi activist.
Reino Kangasmäki, Finnish wrestler (died 2010)
Reino Kalervo Kangasmäki was a journalist and a Greco-Roman wrestler from Finland. He won a bronze medal in the flyweight class at the 1948 Summer Olympics, his only major international tournament. At national championships Kangasmäki placed third in 1943 and second in 1947.
Zélia Gattai, Brazilian author and photographer (died 2008)
Zélia Gattai Amado de Faria was a Brazilian photographer, memoirist, novelist and author of children's literature, as well as a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Gattai wrote 14 literary works, including children's books, and her own personal memoirs have been widely published.
02/07/1915
Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, British peer, politician and soldier (died 2014)
Brigadier Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, styled Marquess of Douro between 1943 and 1972, was a British peer and army officer. His main residence was Stratfield Saye House in Hampshire.
02/07/1914
Frederick Fennell, American conductor and educator (died 2004)
Frederick Fennell was an American conductor and one of the primary figures who promoted the Eastman Wind Ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the US and abroad. In Fennell's New York Times obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin was quoted as saying "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa."
Mário Schenberg, Brazilian physicist and engineer (died 1990)
Mário Schenberg was a Brazilian electrical engineer, physicist, art critic and writer.
Erich Topp, German admiral (died 2005)
Erich Topp was a German U-boat commander of World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. He sank 35 ships for a total of 197,460 gross register tons (GRT). After the war, he served with the Federal German Navy, in which he reached the rank of Konteradmiral. He later served in NATO.
02/07/1913
Max Beloff, Baron Beloff, English historian and academic (died 1999)
Max Beloff, Baron Beloff, was a British historian and Conservative peer. From 1974 to 1979 he was principal of the University College of Buckingham, now the University of Buckingham.
02/07/1911
Reg Parnell, English race car driver and manager (died 1964)
Reginald Parnell was a racing driver and team manager from Derby, England. He participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scoring a total of nine championship points.
02/07/1908
Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and civil rights activist, 32nd Solicitor General of the United States, and former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 1993)
Thoroughgood "Thurgood" Marshall was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-American justice. Before his judicial service, he was an attorney who fought for civil rights, leading the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Marshall was a prominent figure in the movement to end racial segregation in American public schools. He won 29 of the 32 civil rights cases he argued before the Supreme Court, culminating in the Court's landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which rejected the separate but equal doctrine and held segregation in public education to be unconstitutional. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court in 1967. A staunch liberal, he frequently dissented as the Court became increasingly conservative.
02/07/1906
Hans Bethe, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2005)
Hans Albrecht Eduard Bethe was a German-American physicist who made major contributions to nuclear physics, astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics and solid-state physics, and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967 for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. For most of his career, Bethe was a professor at Cornell University.
Károly Kárpáti, Hungarian Jewish wrestler (died 1996)
Károly Kárpáti was a Hungarian Olympic wrestling champion of Jewish heritage.
Séra Martin, French middle-distance runner (died 1993)
Séraphin "Séra" Martin was a French middle-distance runner who set world records in the 800 metres and 1000 metres. He competed at the 1928 and 1932 Olympics and placed sixth and eighth in the 800 metres, respectively.
02/07/1904
René Lacoste, French tennis player and businessman, created the polo shirt (died 1996)
Jean René Lacoste was a French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" because of how he dealt with his opponents; he is also known worldwide as the creator of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929, and eventually founded the brand and its logo in 1933.
02/07/1903
Alec Douglas-Home, English cricketer and politician, 66th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1995)
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, known as Lord Dunglass from 1918 to 1951 and the Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1964. He was the last prime minister to hold office while being a member of the House of Lords, before renouncing his peerage and taking up a seat in the House of Commons for the remainder of his premiership. His reputation, however, rests more on his seven years over two stints as Foreign Secretary than on his brief premiership.
Olav V, Norwegian king, 1957–1991 (died 1991)
Olav V was King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.
02/07/1902
K. Kanapathypillai, Sri Lankan author and academic (died 1968)
Professor Kandasamypillai Kanapathypillai was a leading Ceylon Tamil academic, author and head of the Department of Tamil at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya for 18 years.
02/07/1900
Tyrone Guthrie, English actor and director (died 1971)
Sir William Tyrone Guthrie was an English theatrical director instrumental in the founding of the Stratford Festival of Canada, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at his family's ancestral home, Annaghmakerrig, near Newbliss in County Monaghan, Ireland. He is famous for his original approach to Shakespearean and modern drama.
02/07/1893
Ralph Hancock, Welsh gardener and author (died 1950)
Ralph Hancock was a Welsh landscape gardener, architect and author. Hancock built gardens in the United Kingdom in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s and in the United States in the 1930s. He is known for the roof gardens at Derry and Toms in London and the Rockefeller Center in New York City, the garden at Twyn-yr-Hydd House in Margam, and the rock and water garden he built for Princess Victoria at Coppins, Iver, England.
02/07/1884
Alfons Maria Jakob, German neurologist and author (died 1931)
Alfons Maria Jakob was a German neurologist who worked in the field of neuropathology.
02/07/1881
Royal Hurlburt Weller, American lawyer and politician (died 1929)
Royal Hurlburt Weller was an American politician and attorney who was a United States representative from New York from 1923 to 1929. He was assistant district attorney of New York County from 1911 to 1917.
02/07/1877
Hermann Hesse, German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1962)
Hermann Karl Hesse was a German-Swiss poet and novelist, and winner of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature. His interest in Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophical traditions, combined with his involvement with Jungian analysis, helped to shape his literary work. His best-known novels include Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, Narcissus and Goldmund, and The Glass Bead Game, each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge, and spirituality.
Rinaldo Cuneo, American artist ("the painter of San Francisco") (died 1939)
Rinaldo Cuneo, was an American artist known for his landscape paintings and murals. He was dubbed "the Painter of San Francisco".
02/07/1876
Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist and academic (died 1933)
Harriet Brooks was a Canadian nuclear physicist. She is most famous for her research in radioactivity. She discovered atomic recoil, and transmutation of elements in radioactive decay. Ernest Rutherford, who guided her graduate work, regarded her as comparable to Marie Curie in the calibre of her aptitude. She was among the first persons to discover radon and to try to determine its atomic mass.
Wilhelm Cuno, German businessman and politician, Chancellor of Germany (died 1933)
Wilhelm Carl Josef Cuno was a German businessman and politician who was the chancellor of Germany from 1922 to 1923 for a total of 264 days. His tenure included the beginning of the occupation of the Ruhr by French and Belgian troops and the period in which inflation in Germany accelerated towards hyperinflation.
02/07/1869
Liane de Pougy, French-Swiss dancer and author (died 1950)
Liane de Pougy was a French dancer, courtesan and novelist. She was a Folies Bergère vedette, and was known as one of the most beautiful and notorious courtesans in Paris. Later in life, she became a Dominican tertiary.
02/07/1865
Lily Braun, German author and publicist (died 1916)
Lily Braun, born Amalie von Kretschmann, was a German feminist writer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She developed the idea of the single-kitchen home.
02/07/1862
William Henry Bragg, English physicist, chemist, and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1942)
Sir William Henry Bragg was a British X-ray crystallographer who uniquely shared a Nobel Prize with his son Lawrence Bragg – the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays," an important step in the development of X-ray crystallography.
02/07/1849
Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (died 1919)
Maria Theresa Henriette Dorothea of Austria-Este was the last Queen of Bavaria. She was the only child of Archduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor of Austria-Este and Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria.
02/07/1834
Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian (died 1917)
Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack was a Dutch legal scholar, economist and historian, who is best known for his work De socialisten: Personen en stelsels.
02/07/1825
Émile Ollivier, French statesman (died 1913)
Olivier Émile Ollivier was a French statesman. Starting as an avid republican opposed to Emperor Napoleon III, he pushed the Emperor toward liberal reforms and in turn came increasingly into Napoleon's grip. He entered the cabinet and was the prime minister when Napoleon fell.
02/07/1821
Charles Tupper, Canadian physician and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Canada (died 1915)
Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, was a Canadian Father of Confederation who served as the sixth prime minister of Canada from May 1 to July 8, 1896. As the premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia into Confederation. He briefly served as the Canadian prime minister, from seven days after parliament had been dissolved, until he was dismissed by the Governor General on July 8, 1896, following his party's loss in the 1896 Canadian federal election. He is the only medical doctor to have ever held the office of prime minister of Canada, and his 69-day tenure as prime minister is the shortest in Canadian history.
02/07/1820
George Law Curry, American publisher and politician, 5th Governor of the Oregon Territory (died 1878)
George Law Curry was a predominant American political figure and newspaper publisher in the region that eventually became the state of Oregon. A native of Pennsylvania, he published a newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri, before traveling the Oregon Trail to the unorganized Oregon Country. A Democrat, Curry served in the new Oregon Territory's government as a representative to the legislature and as Territorial Secretary before appointment as the last Governor of the Oregon Territory. Curry County in Southern Oregon is named in his honor.
Juan N. Méndez, Mexican general and interim president, 1876-1877 (died 1894)
Juan Nepomuceno Laureano Méndez Sánchez was a Mexican general, a Liberal politician and confidant of Porfirio Díaz, and interim president of the Republic for a few months during the Porfiriato. He served from 6 December 1876 until 17 February 1877.
02/07/1819
Charles-Louis Hanon, French pianist and composer (died 1900)
Charles-Louis Hanon was a French piano pedagogue and composer. He is best known for his work The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises, which is still used today for modern piano teaching, but over the years the method has also faced criticisms.
02/07/1797
Francisco Javier Echeverría, Mexican businessman and politician. President of Mexico (1841) (died 1852)
Francisco Javier Echeverría was a Mexican businessman and finance minister who served as interim president of Mexico for about two weeks in late September 1841, during the fall of Anastasio Bustamante's administration.
02/07/1724
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet and author (died 1803)
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was a German poet. His best known works are the epic poem Der Messias and the poem Die Auferstehung, with the latter set to music in the finale of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2. One of his major contributions to German literature was to open it up to exploration outside of French models.
02/07/1714
Christoph Willibald Gluck, German composer (died 1787)
Christoph Willibald Gluck was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time, he gained prominence at the Habsburg court in Vienna. There he brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices for which many intellectuals had been campaigning. With a series of radical new works in the 1760s, among them Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste, he broke the stranglehold that Metastasian opera seria had enjoyed for much of the century. Gluck introduced more drama by using orchestral recitative and cutting the usually long da capo aria. His later operas have half the length of a typical baroque opera.
02/07/1667
Pietro Ottoboni, Italian cardinal and art collector (died 1740)
Pietro Ottoboni was an Italian cardinal and grandnephew of Pope Alexander VIII, who was also born Pietro Ottoboni. He is remembered especially as a great patron of music and art. Ottoboni was the last person to hold the curial office of cardinal-nephew, which was abolished by Alexander's successor, Pope Innocent XII, in 1692. Ottoboni '"loved pomp, prodigality, and sensual pleasure, but was in the same time kind, ready to serve, and charitable."
02/07/1665
Samuel Penhallow, English-American soldier and historian (died 1726)
Samuel Penhallow was a Cornish colonist, historian, and militia leader in present-day Maine during Queen Anne's War and Dummer's War. He was the commander at Fort Menaskoux and was attacked during the Northeast Coast Campaign (1724).
02/07/1648
Arp Schnitger, German organ builder (died 1719)
Arp Schnitger was an influential Northern German organ builder. Considered the paramount manufacturer of his time, Schnitger built or rebuilt over 150 organs. He was primarily active in Northern Europe, especially the Netherlands and Germany, where a number of his instruments still survive.
02/07/1647
Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, English politician, Lord President of the Council (died 1730)
Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, 7th Earl of Winchilsea, was an English Tory politician and peer who supported the Hanoverian Succession in 1714. Known as Lord Nottingham until 1729, then as Lord Winchilsea.
02/07/1597
Theodoor Rombouts, Flemish painter (died 1637)
Theodoor Rombouts was a Flemish painter who is mainly known for his Caravaggesque genre scenes depicting lively dramatic gatherings as well as religiously themed works. He is considered to be the primary and most original representative of Flemish Caravaggism. These Caravaggisti were part of an international movement of European artists who interpreted the work of Caravaggio and the followers of Caravaggio in a personal manner.
02/07/1492
Elizabeth Tudor, English daughter of Henry VII of England (died 1495)
Elizabeth Tudor was the second daughter and fourth child of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York.
02/07/1489
Thomas Cranmer, English archbishop, theologian, and Protestant martyr (died 1556)
Thomas Cranmer was an English theologian who was a leader of the English Reformation and served as Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He is honoured as a martyr in the Church of England.
02/07/1486
Jacopo Sansovino, Italian sculptor and architect (died 1570)
Jacopo d'Antonio Sansovino was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect, best known for his works around the Piazza San Marco in Venice. These are crucial works in the history of Venetian Renaissance architecture. Andrea Palladio, in the Preface to his Quattro Libri was of the opinion that Sansovino's Biblioteca Marciana was the best building erected since Antiquity. Giorgio Vasari uniquely printed his Vita of Sansovino separately.
02/07/1478
Louis V, Elector Palatine (died 1544)
Louis V, Count Palatine of the Rhine, also Louis the Pacific, was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty. He was prince elector of the Palatinate. His parents were Philip, Elector Palatine, and Margaret, a daughter of Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria-Landshut.
02/07/0419
Valentinian III, Roman emperor (died 455)
Valentinian III was Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. Starting in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by civil wars among powerful generals and the barbarian invasions. He was the youngest sole emperor in the Western Roman Empire.