Born on Thursday, 24th July – Famous Birthdays

24/07/2001

Ryan Johnson, American ice hockey player

Ryan Johnson is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the first round, 31st overall, by the Sabres in the 2019 NHL entry draft.

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Drake London, American football player

Drake London is an American professional football wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans and was selected eighth overall by the Falcons in the 2022 NFL draft.

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24/07/1998

Bindi Irwin, Australian conservationist, zookeeper, and actress

Bindi Sue Irwin is an Australian conservationist, zookeeper, television personality, and actress. The daughter of conservationists Steve and Terri Irwin, she serves as the chief executive officer of Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland.

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Sophie Wotschke, Austrian politician

Sophie Wotschke is an Austrian politician of NEOS. She was elected member of the National Council in the 2024 legislative election, and has served as leader of JUNOS since 2022.

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24/07/1996

Joe Mixon, American football player

Joseph Tyler Mixon is an American professional football running back. Mixon played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners, earning first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2016. He was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft.

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24/07/1995

Valentine Holmes, Australian rugby league player

Valentine Holmes is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre or winger for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League and Queensland Maroons in State of Origin.

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Kyle Kuzma, American basketball player

Kyle Alexander Kuzma is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Utah Utes and was named first-team all-conference in the Pac-12 as a junior in 2016–17. Kuzma was selected in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft with the 27th overall pick, and he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018. He won an NBA championship with the Lakers in 2020 before being traded to the Washington Wizards in 2021.

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Meisei Chikara, Japanese sumo wrestler

Meisei Chikara is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Setouchi, Kagoshima. He debuted in sumo wrestling in July 2011 and made his makuuchi debut in July 2018. His highest rank has been sekiwake. He wrestles for Tatsunami stable. Unusually for a top-class sumo wrestler, he uses his given name as his shikona.

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24/07/1994

Phillip Lindsay, American football player

Phillip Lindsay is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Denver, Colorado, grew up in Aurora, Colorado, and attended South High School in Denver where he became the school's all-time leading rusher with 4,587 yards. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes and set the school record in all-purpose yards (5,760) and yards from scrimmage (4,683). He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Denver Broncos in 2018. Lindsay became the first undrafted offensive rookie to make the Pro Bowl. He is the only NFL player since 1950 to record 700 or more career touches without a fumble.

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24/07/1992

Mikaël Kingsbury, Canadian skier

Mikaël Kingsbury is a Canadian freestyle skier He achieved eminence early in his career after earning the 2009–10 FIS World Cup Rookie of the Year award. He is a 13-time FIS Freestyle World Cup title-holder for overall moguls and nine-time title-holder for overall freestyle, owning the records for most men's Moguls World Cup titles and Overall Freestyle World Cup titles. He also holds the records for 100 career World Cup moguls wins and 13 consecutive Freestyle World Cup event wins. He is the first man to have won both the moguls and dual moguls World Championship events, and has won the most medals at the Freestyle World Championships of any male competitor in history, having won a medal in 15 of the 16 events he has competed in. Kingsbury also won the Olympic silver medal in 2014, 2022 and 2026, and the gold medal in men's moguls at the 2018 Winter Olympics and men's dual moguls at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

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24/07/1991

Emily Bett Rickards, Canadian actress

Emily Bett Rickards is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Felicity Smoak on The CW series Arrow, her first television credit. She reprised the role in the Arrowverse shows The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl and voiced the character on the animated web series Vixen.

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Elliot Rodger, English-American mass murderer (died 2014)

Elliot Oliver Robertson Rodger was a British-born American mass murderer who perpetrated the 2014 Isla Vista killings, where he murdered six people and injured fourteen others, before he fatally shot himself. The murders he committed, his suicide, and his manifesto have been cited as an early influence on the incel and manosphere subculture.

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24/07/1989

Maurkice Pouncey, American football player

LaShawn Maurkice Pouncey is an American former professional football player who was a center for 11 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida Gators, where he was a member of a BCS National Championship team, recognized as a consensus All-American, and won the 2009 Rimington Trophy, awarded annually to the best college football center. He was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft. Pouncey was a nine-time Pro Bowler and named to five All-Pro teams, and was also named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team. He is the twin brother of former NFL center Mike Pouncey.

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24/07/1988

Han Seung-yeon, South Korean singer and dancer

Han Seung-yeon, known mononymously as Seungyeon, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is best known as the vocalist of the South Korean girl group Kara, and for her role in Hello, My Twenties!.

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Nichkhun, Thai-American singer-songwriter and actor

Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul, better known mononymously as Nichkhun, is a Thai and American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, and model. Based in South Korea as a member of the South Korean boy band 2PM, Nichkhun is widely considered to be the first Southeast Asian individual to debut in a K-pop idol group and achieve success.

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Ricky Petterd, Australian footballer

Ricky Petterd is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

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24/07/1987

Nathan Gerbe, American ice hockey player

Nathan David Gerbe is an American former professional ice hockey player. Selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the fifth round of the 2005 NHL entry draft, Gerbe played for the Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets during his National Hockey League (NHL) career. At 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) tall, Gerbe is the shortest skater in NHL history, and the second shortest player in NHL history behind goaltender Roy Worters.

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Zack Sabre Jr., English wrestler

Luke James Uggles Eatwell, known by his ring name Zack Sabre Jr. and its abbreviated form ZSJ, is an English-born professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the second and current leader of The Mighty Don't Kneel (TMDK) stable. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time.

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Mara Wilson, American actress

Mara Elizabeth Wilson is an American actress. As a child, she played Natalie Hillard in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Susan Walker in Miracle on 34th Street (1994), the title character in Matilda (1996), and Annabel Greening in A Simple Wish (1997). Following her role as Lily in Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000), Wilson took a 12-year hiatus from acting to focus on writing. She returned to acting in 2012 and has predominantly worked in web series.

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24/07/1986

Natalie Tran, Australian actress and online producer

Natalie Tran, also known online as communitychannel, is an Australian comedian, actress, television presenter, and former YouTuber. She became known on YouTube for her comedy videos, in which she discusses everyday issues.

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24/07/1985

Patrice Bergeron, Canadian ice hockey player

Patrice Bergeron-Cleary is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League, all with the Boston Bruins. He served as team captain from 2021 until his retirement in 2023. Bergeron played junior hockey with the Acadie–Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for one full season before being selected 45th overall by the Bruins in the 2003 NHL entry draft. He made the immediate jump from junior to the NHL after his draft and joined the Bruins in the 2003–04 season. In international play, Bergeron competed for Canada and won gold medals at the 2004 World Championships, 2005 World Junior Championships, 2010 Winter Olympics, 2012 Spengler Cup, and 2014 Winter Olympics. Bergeron is a member of the Triple Gold Club after winning the Stanley Cup with Boston in 2011. He scored two goals, including the Stanley Cup-winning goal, in Game 7 against the Vancouver Canucks.

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Aries Merritt, American hurdler

Aries Merritt is an American track and field athlete who specialized in the 110 metre hurdles, and currently holds the world record in that event with a time of 12.80 s set on September 7, 2012. He won the gold medal in the 110 metre hurdles at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

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Lukáš Rosol, Czech tennis player

Lukáš Rosol is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 26, achieved on 22 September 2014.

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24/07/1983

Daniele De Rossi, Italian footballer and manager

Daniele De Rossi is an Italian football manager and former professional player, currently in charge as the head coach of Serie A club Genoa. He usually played in the center midfield, specifically a central defensive midfielder. As a football player, he is known for his long career with hometown club Roma, as well as winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup with Italy.

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Asami Mizukawa, Japanese actress

Asami Mizukawa is a Japanese actress.

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24/07/1982

Mewelde Moore, American football player

Mewelde Jaem Cadere Moore is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL draft. Moore also played with the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning Super Bowl XLIII. He played college football for the Tulane Green Wave, just down the road from his hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he was a standout performer at Belaire High School.

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Elisabeth Moss, American actress

Elisabeth Singleton Moss is a British-American actor, director, and producer. She has received several accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a nomination for a Tony Award.

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Anna Paquin, Canadian-New Zealand actress

Anna Helene Paquin is a New Zealand actress. Born in Winnipeg, Canada, and raised in Wellington, she made her acting debut in the romantic drama film The Piano (1993), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 11, becoming the second-youngest winner in Oscar history. As a child actress, she had roles in Fly Away Home (1996), Jane Eyre (1996), Amistad (1997), The Member of the Wedding (1997), and A Walk on the Moon (1999), as well as in Cameron Crowe's comedy drama film Almost Famous (2000).

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24/07/1981

Doug Bollinger, Australian cricketer

Douglas Erwin Bollinger is a former Australian cricketer. He has played first-class cricket for the New South Wales cricket team and international cricket for Australia. He is a left-handed batsman and a left-arm fast bowler. Bollinger has played for Worcestershire County Cricket Club and Kent County Cricket Club in England, for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League and for Hobart Hurricanes, Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers in domestic T20 competition. He announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 5 February 2018. Bollinger was a member of the Australian squad which won the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.

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Nayib Bukele, Salvadoran politician, 81st President of El Salvador

Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez is a Salvadoran politician and businessman who has served as the 81st president of El Salvador since 2019.

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Summer Glau, American actress

Summer Glau is an American actress best known for her roles in science fiction and fantasy television series: as River Tam in Firefly (2002) and its continuation film Serenity (2005), as Tess Doerner in The 4400 (2005–2007), as Cameron in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009), and as Isabel Rochev / Ravager in Arrow (2013–2014).

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24/07/1980

Joel Stroetzel, American guitarist

Joel Michael Stroetzel is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist from the Massachusetts metalcore band Killswitch Engage.

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24/07/1979

Rose Byrne, Australian actress

Mary Rose Byrne is an Australian actress. Renowned for her versatility across stage and screen, Byrne is particularly recognized for her leading roles in blockbuster comedies, independent dramas, and horror films. Her accolades include a Golden Globe Award, an Independent Spirit Award, three AACTA Awards, a Silver Bear and a Volpi Cup in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Actor Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards.

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Jerrod Niemann, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Jerrod Lee Niemann is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has released one single for Category 5 Records (2006); three albums for Sea Gayle Music/Arista Nashville: Judge Jerrod & the Hung Jury (2010), Free the Music (2012), and High Noon (2014); and one album, This Ride (2017), for Curb Records. These albums have produced a combined ten Top 40 entries on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, including the Platinum Number 1 singles "Lover, Lover" and "Drink to That All Night" and Gold Top 5 single "What Do You Want". He has also co-written three singles for Garth Brooks: the chart topping Chris LeDoux tribute "Good Ride Cowboy", as well as "That Girl Is a Cowboy" and "Midnight Sun". Jamey Johnson, Lee Brice, Blake Shelton, Colbie Caillat, Diamond Rio, The Cadillac Three, Mark Chesnutt, John Anderson, Neal McCoy, Christian Kane, and Julie Roberts have also recorded Niemann's songs.

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24/07/1978

Andy Irons, American surfer (died 2010)

Philip Andrew Irons was an American professional surfer. He began surfing with his brother Bruce on the shallow and dangerous waves of Kauai, Hawaii, before being spotted by a local surfboard brand and flown to North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii, to compete and develop his skill.

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24/07/1976

Rafer Alston, American basketball player

Rafer Jamel Alston, nicknamed "Skip 2 My Lou" after the American folk song and partner-stealing dance with the same name, is an American retired professional basketball player. Alston first gained basketball fame as a streetball player before joining the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Milwaukee Bucks. While in the NBA from 1999 to 2010, he played for six teams, including the 2008–09 Orlando Magic team that made the NBA Finals.

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Tiago Monteiro, Portuguese racing driver and manager

Tiago Vagaroso da Costa Monteiro is a Portuguese racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2005 to 2006, and World Touring Car from 2007 to 2022.

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Rashida Tlaib, American politician

Rashida Harbi Tlaib is an American lawyer and politician serving as a U.S. representative from Michigan since 2019, representing the state's 12th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.

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24/07/1975

Tracey Crouch, English politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics

Dame Tracey Elizabeth Anne Crouch is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chatham and Aylesford from 2010 to 2024. Crouch was appointed as Minister for Sport, Civil Society and Loneliness in 2017, but resigned in 2018 due to a delay over the introduction of reduced limits on the stakes of fixed odds betting terminals.

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Jamie Langenbrunner, American ice hockey player

Jamie Craig Langenbrunner is an American former professional ice hockey player. He is a member of the 1998–99 Dallas Stars and 2002–03 New Jersey Devils teams that won the Stanley Cup, and was the captain of the silver medal-winning United States national team in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

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Torrie Wilson, American model, fitness competitor, actress and professional wrestler

Torrie Anne Wilson is an American former model, fitness competitor and retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenures in WWE and WCW.

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24/07/1974

Andy Gomarsall, English rugby player

Andrew Charles Thomas Gomarsall MBE is an English former rugby union player who played at scrum-half for Leeds Carnegie and England.

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24/07/1973

Amanda Stretton, English racing driver and journalist

Amanda Stretton is an English racing driver, broadcaster and motoring journalist.

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24/07/1972

Kaiō Hiroyuki, Japanese sumo wrestler

Kaiō Hiroyuki is a former professional sumo wrestler from Nōgata, Fukuoka, Japan.

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24/07/1971

Dino Baggio, Italian footballer

Dino Baggio is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

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Patty Jenkins, American film director and screenwriter

Patricia Lea Jenkins is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. She has directed the feature films Monster (2003), Wonder Woman (2017), and Wonder Woman 1984 (2020).

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24/07/1969

Rick Fox, Bahamian basketball player

Ulrich Alexander "Rick" Fox is a Bahamian-Canadian former basketball player, three-time NBA Champion, and actor. He played in the National Basketball Association for both the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, and played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. He was the owner of the eSports franchise Echo Fox until his departure from the franchise in October 2019.

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Jennifer Lopez, American actress, singer, and dancer

Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking barriers for Latino Americans in Hollywood and helping propel the Latin pop movement in music. She is also known for her cultural impact through fashion, branding, and shifting mainstream beauty standards.

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24/07/1968

Kristin Chenoweth, American actress and singer

Kristin Dawn Chenoweth is an American actress and singer, with credits in musical theatre, film, and television. In 1999, she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown on Broadway. In 2003, Chenoweth was nominated for a second Tony Award for originating the role of Glinda in the musical Wicked. Her television roles include Annabeth Schott in NBC's The West Wing and Olive Snook on the comedy drama Pushing Daisies, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2009.

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Malcolm Ingram, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter

Malcolm "Mo" Ingram is a Canadian independent film director and podcaster.

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24/07/1966

Aminatou Haidar, Sahrawi human rights activist

Aminatou Ali Ahmed Haidar, sometimes spelled as Aminetou, Aminatu or Aminetu, is a Sahrawi human rights activist and an advocate of the independence of Western Sahara. She is often called the "Sahrawi Gandhi" or "Sahrawi Pasionaria" for her nonviolent protests. She is the president of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA). She was imprisoned from 1987 to 1991 and from 2005 to 2006 on charges related to her independence advocacy. In 2009, she attracted international attention when she staged a hunger strike in Lanzarote Airport after being denied re-entry into Moroccan Western Sahara. Haidar has won several international human rights awards for her work, including the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, 2009 Civil Courage Prize and 2019 Right Livelihood Award.

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Martin Keown, English footballer and coach

Martin Raymond Keown is an English football pundit and former professional footballer. A defender, he played from 1984 to 2005, notably in the Premier League for Arsenal, where he made over 400 appearances for the club and won ten honours.

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24/07/1965

Andrew Gaze, Australian basketball player and sportscaster

Andrew Barry Casson Gaze is an Australian basketball coach and former player. He played 22 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the Melbourne Tigers from 1984 to 2005, winning the league's MVP award seven times and winning the scoring title 14 times. He also guided the Tigers to two NBL championships, in 1993 and 1997, and was named an All-NBL First Team member for a record 15 consecutive years. Gaze has been described as one of the greatest players Australia has ever produced.

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Kadeem Hardison, American actor, director, and screenwriter

Kadeem Hardison is an American actor. The son of fashion model Bethann Hardison, he rose to prominence after landing the role of Dwayne Wayne on the television series A Different World, a spin-off of the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. He is also known for playing Craig Cooper, the title character's father, in the Disney Channel series K.C. Undercover. Hardison has also appeared in the first season of the Showtime comedy Black Monday and starred as Bowser in the Netflix series Teenage Bounty Hunters. On February 14, 2025, Hardison was announced as a cast member in the 3rd season of the HBO series Euphoria.

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24/07/1964

Barry Bonds, American baseball player

Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants from 1993 to 2007. He is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

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Pedro Passos Coelho, Portuguese economist and politician, 118th Prime Minister of Portugal

Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho is a Portuguese politician and university guest lecturer who was the 117th prime minister of Portugal, in office from 2011 to 2015. He was the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) between 2010 and 2018.

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24/07/1963

Karl Malone, American basketball player and coach

Karl Anthony Malone, nicknamed "the Mailman", is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons with the Utah Jazz, and in his last season, the Los Angeles Lakers. During his tenure with the Jazz, he formed a formidable duo with his teammate John Stockton and together they led the team to two NBA Finals appearances in 1997 and 1998, losing both times to the Chicago Bulls. Malone's 36,928 career points scored rank third all-time in NBA history and he holds the records for most free throws made and attempted, in addition to being tied for the second-most first-team All-NBA selections with Kobe Bryant (11), both behind LeBron James (13).

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24/07/1961

Kerry Dixon, English footballer and manager

Kerry Michael Dixon is an English retired professional footballer who played as a forward.

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24/07/1960

Catherine Destivelle, French rock climber and mountaineer

Catherine Destivelle is a French rock climber and mountaineer who is considered one of the greatest and most important climbers in the history of the sport. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s for sport climbing by winning the first major female climbing competitions, and by being the first woman to redpoint a 7c+/8a sport climbing route with Fleur de Rocaille in 1985, and an 8a+ (5.13c) route with Choucas in 1988. During this period, she was considered the strongest female sport climber in the world along with Lynn Hill; however, in 1990 she retired to focus on alpine climbing.

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24/07/1958

Jim Leighton, Scottish footballer and coach

James Leighton is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Leighton started his career with Aberdeen, where he won seven domestic trophies and the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup under the management of Alex Ferguson. Ferguson then signed Leighton for Manchester United in 1988, but dropped him after he conceded three goals in the 1990 FA Cup Final. Leighton then had spells with Arsenal, Reading, Dundee and Sheffield United, and rebuilt his career after joining Hibernian in 1993. He returned to Aberdeen in 1997, leading to a career total of over 600 appearances in the league alone.

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24/07/1957

Pam Tillis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress

Pamela Yvonne Tillis is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is the eldest child of country singer Mel Tillis. After recording unsuccessful pop material for Elektra and Warner Records in the early 1980s, Tillis shifted to country music. In 1989, she signed with Arista Nashville, entering top-40 on Hot Country Songs for the first time with "Don't Tell Me What to Do" in 1990. This was the first of five singles from her breakthrough album Put Yourself in My Place.

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24/07/1956

Charlie Crist, American lawyer and politician, 44th Governor of Florida

Charles Joseph Crist Jr. is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the U.S. representative for Florida's 13th congressional district from 2017 to 2022. Crist has been a member of the Democratic Party since 2012; he was previously a Republican before becoming an independent in 2010.

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24/07/1954

Jorge Jesus, Portuguese footballer and manager

Jorge Fernando Pinheiro de Jesus is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr.

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24/07/1953

Jon Faddis, American trumpet player, composer, and conductor

Jon Faddis is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator, renowned for both his playing and for his expertise in the field of music education. Upon his first appearance on the scene, he became known for his ability to closely mirror the sound of trumpet icon Dizzy Gillespie, who was his mentor along with pianist Stan Kenton and trumpeter Bill Catalano.

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Tadashi Kawamata, Japanese contemporary artist

Tadashi Kawamata is a Japanese installation artist. After first studying painting at Tokyo University of the Arts, Kawamata discovered his interest in the practice of installation. Using recuperated construction materials, like wood planks, he began building rudimentary partitions in gallery spaces and apartments to explore the perception of space.

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Claire McCaskill, American lawyer and politician

Claire Conner McCaskill is an American politician and attorney who served as a United States senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as state auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007. As of 2025, McCaskill is the last Democrat to have represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate.

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James Newcome, English bishop

James William Scobie Newcome is a retired English Anglican bishop and former Lord Spiritual. From 2009 until retirement, he was the Bishop of Carlisle, the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Carlisle; he was also a member of the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual from October 2013. From 2002 to 2009, he was the Bishop of Penrith, the suffragan bishop in the same diocese.

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24/07/1952

Gus Van Sant, American director, producer, and screenwriter

Gus Green Van Sant Jr. is an American filmmaker, photographer, painter, and musician. He has earned acclaim as an independent filmmaker, and is considered to be one of the most prominent auteurs of the new queer cinema movement. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures, especially within gay culture.

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24/07/1951

Lynda Carter, American actress

Lynda Jean Carter is an American actress, singer, and beauty pageant contestant, best known for her portrayal of Wonder Woman in the television series Wonder Woman (1975–1979). Before her acting career, she was crowned Miss World USA in 1972, and she finished in the top 15 at the Miss World 1972 pageant.

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Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury, English politician, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

Christopher Robert Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury, is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington South and Finsbury from 1983 to 2005 and was appointed to the House of Lords as a life peer in 2005 and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 2025.

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24/07/1950

Jadranka Stojaković, Yugoslav singer-songwriter (died 2016)

Jadranka Stojaković was a Bosnian singer-songwriter popular in the former Yugoslavia, known for her unique voice. Her best known hits are "Sve smo mogli mi", "Što te nema", and "Bistre vode Bosnom teku".

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24/07/1949

Michael Richards, American actor and comedian

Michael Anthony Richards is an American actor and comedian. He achieved global recognition for starring as Cosmo Kramer on the NBC television sitcom Seinfeld from 1989 to 1998. He began his career as a stand-up comedian, first entering the national spotlight when he was featured on Billy Crystal's first cable TV special, and went on to become a series regular on ABC's Fridays.

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24/07/1948

Marc Racicot, American politician, 21st Governor of Montana

Marc Racicot is an American attorney, lobbyist, and former Republican politician who served as the 21st governor of Montana from 1993 until 2001. After leaving office, Racicot worked as a lobbyist for the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani. His notable clients included Enron, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, and the Recording Industry Association of America.

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24/07/1947

Zaheer Abbas, Pakistani cricketer and manager

Syed Zaheer Abbas Kirmani PP,, popularly known as Zaheer Abbas, is a Pakistani former cricketer. He is among the few professional cricketers who used to wear spectacles in the cricket ground. In 1982/1983, he became the first batsman to score three consecutive centuries in one-day internationals. Sometimes known as 'the Asian Bradman', Zaheer Abbas is regarded as one of the finest batsmen in the history of cricket. In August 2020, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

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24/07/1946

Gallagher, American comedian and actor (died 2022)

Leo Anthony Gallagher Jr., known simply as Gallagher, was an American comedian who became one of the most recognizable comedic performers of the 1980s for his prop-based and observational style. His signature routine involved the "Sledge-O-Matic", a large mallet-like tool which he used to smash various items, most notably watermelons. For more than 30 years, he played between 100 and 200 shows a year, destroying tens of thousands of melons.

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Hervé Vilard, French singer-songwriter

Hervé Vilard is a French pop singer, who first became famous in the 1960s. His first single "Capri c'est fini" became an international hit in 1965 and rendered him instantaneously famous. The song sold 3.3 million copies. "Nous" (1979), "Reviens" (1981) and "Méditerranéenne" (1983) are among his other big hits. He is famous in Latin America, as he settled there between 1969 and 1978, singing in Spanish.

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24/07/1945

Frank Close, English physicist and academic

Francis Edwin Close is a particle physicist who is Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.

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Azim Premji, Indian businessman and philanthropist

Azim Hashim Premji is an Indian billionaire businessman and philanthropist, who was the chairman of Wipro. Premji remains a non-executive member of the board and founder chairman. In 2010, he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world by Asiaweek. He was listed among the 100 most influential people by Time magazine, in 2004 and 2011. For years, he has been regularly listed one among The 500 Most Influential Muslims. He also serves as the Chancellor of Azim Premji University, Bangalore. Premji was awarded Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, by the Government of India.

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Hugh Ross, Canadian-American astrophysicist and astronomer

Hugh Norman Ross is a Canadian astrophysicist, Christian apologist, and old-Earth creationist.

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Anthony Watts, English geologist, geophysicist, and academic

Anthony Brian Watts is a British marine geologist and geophysicist and Professor of Marine Geology and Geophysics in the Department of Earth Sciences, at the University of Oxford.

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24/07/1942

Heinz, German-English singer-songwriter and bass player (died 2000)

Heinz Burt was a German-born British rock and roll bassist and singer of the 1960s, who performed under the stage name Heinz. He was also known as a member of the instrumental group the Tornados.

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David Miner, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

David Miner, sometimes credited as David Minor, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, perhaps best known as a member of The Great Society in the 1960s. He co-founded The Great Society along with Jerry, Darby, and Grace Slick as well as Bard Du Pont, in the sense that he was there from the start. Miner sang most of the lead vocals in the early days of the band and wrote a number of songs, including "That's How It Is", "You Can't Cry", and "Daydream Nightmare Love".

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Chris Sarandon, American actor

Christopher Sarandon is an American actor. He is well known for playing Jerry Dandrige in Fright Night (1985), Prince Humperdinck in The Princess Bride (1987), Detective Mike Norris in Child's Play (1988), and Jack Skellington's speaking voice in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Leon Shermer in Dog Day Afternoon (1975).

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24/07/1941

John Bond, English banker and businessman

Sir John Reginald Hartnell Bond is the chairman of Swiss mining company Xstrata. He previously served as chairman of HSBC Holdings plc, spending a total of 45 years with the bank.

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24/07/1940

Dan Hedaya, American actor

Daniel G. "Dan" Hedaya is an American actor best-known for his supporting roles in films such as Blood Simple, The Addams Family, Clueless, The Usual Suspects, A Night at the Roxbury, and Mulholland Drive.

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24/07/1939

Walt Bellamy, American basketball player and coach (died 2013)

Walter Jones Bellamy was an American professional basketball player. He played 14 seasons as a center in the National Basketball Association, playing for four different teams. As a star for Indiana University in basketball, he was invited to join the 1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team. In the Games that year, the team won every game by an average of over 40 points and is considered among the best amateur level basketball teams of all time. Bellamy was the first overall pick of the 1961 draft, where he was selected by the expansion team Chicago Packers. In his rookie season, he averaged 31.6 points per game and 19 rebounds on his way to winning Rookie of the Year in what has been called one of the best rookie seasons in NBA history.

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24/07/1938

Eugene J. Martin, American painter (died 2005)

Eugene James Martin was an African-American visual artist.

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24/07/1937

Manoj Kumar, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2025)

Harikrishan Giri Goswami, professionally known as Manoj Kumar, was an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most accomplished actors of Indian cinema. He is noted for his acting in patriotism-themed films. In a career spanning over four decades, he worked in 55 films.

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Quinlan Terry, English architect, designed the Brentwood Cathedral

John Quinlan Terry CBE is a British architect. He was educated at Bryanston School and the Architectural Association School of Architecture. He was a pupil of architect Raymond Erith, with whom he formed the partnership Erith & Terry.

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24/07/1936

Ruth Buzzi, American actress and comedian (died 2025)

Ruth Ann Buzzi was an American actress, singer and comedian. She appeared on stage, in films, and on television. She was best known for her performances on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1968 to 1973, for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received five Emmy nominations.

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Mark Goddard, American actor (died 2023)

Mark Goddard was an American actor who starred in a number of television programs. He is probably best known for portraying Major Don West in the CBS series Lost in Space (1965–1968). He also played Detective Sgt. Chris Ballard, in The Detectives, starring Robert Taylor.

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24/07/1935

Aaron Elkins, American author and academic

Aaron Elkins is an American mystery writer. He is best known for his series of novels featuring forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver—the 'skeleton detective'.

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Pat Oliphant, Australian cartoonist

Patrick Bruce "Pat" Oliphant is an Australian-born American artist whose career spanned more than sixty years. His body of work primarily focuses on American and global politics, culture, and corruption; he is particularly known for his caricatures of American presidents and other powerful leaders. Over the course of his long career, Oliphant produced thousands of daily editorial cartoons, dozens of bronze sculptures, and a large oeuvre of drawings and paintings. He retired in 2015.

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Mel Ramos, American painter, illustrator, and academic (died 2018)

Melvin John Ramos was an American figurative painter, specializing most often in paintings of female nudes, whose work incorporates elements of realist and abstract art.

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Les Reed, English pianist, composer, and conductor (died 2019)

Leslie David Reed was an English songwriter, arranger, musician and light-orchestra leader. His major songwriting partners were Gordon Mills, Barry Mason, and Geoff Stephens, although he wrote songs with many others such as Roger Greenaway, Roger Cook, Peter Callander, and Johnny Worth.

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Derek Varnals, South African cricketer (died 2019)

George Derek Varnals was a South African cricketer who played in three Test matches in the 1964–65 season.

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24/07/1934

Willie Davis, American football player (died 2020)

Willie Delford Davis was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). Davis played college football for the Grambling Tigers before being drafted 181st in the 1956 NFL draft. He spent 12 seasons in the NFL, playing for the Cleveland Browns and the Green Bay Packers.

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P. S. Soosaithasan, Sri Lankan accountant and politician (died 2017)

Pilesiyan Sosai Soosaithasan was a Sri Lankan Tamil accountant, politician and Member of Parliament.

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24/07/1933

Doug Sanders, American golfer (died 2020)

George Douglas Sanders was an American professional golfer who won 20 events on the PGA Tour and had four runner-up finishes at major championships.

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24/07/1932

Gustav Andreas Tammann, German astronomer and academic (died 2019)

Gustav Andreas Tammann was a Swiss astronomer and academic. He served as director of the Astronomical Institute of the University of Basel; as a member of the European Space Agency Space Telescope Advisory Team, and as Member of Council of the European Southern Observatory. His research interests included supernovae and the extragalactic distance scale. Tammann was a former President of the International Astronomical Union Commission on Galaxies.

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24/07/1931

Ermanno Olmi, Italian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer (died 2018)

Ermanno Olmi was an Italian film director and screenwriter best known for directing Il Posto (1961) and The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1977), which won the Palme d'Or. Throughout his career Olmi blended Italian neorealism with Christian humanism, with many of his films following humble characters through the spiritual trials of harsh conditions.

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Éric Tabarly, French commander (died 1998)

Éric Marcel Guy Tabarly was a French naval officer and yachtsman, a naval architect and boat designer too. He developed a passion for offshore racing very early on and won several ocean races such as the Ostar in 1964 and 1976, ending English domination in this specialty. Several of his wins broke long standing records. He owed his successes to his exceptional mastery of sailing and of each one of his boats, to both physical and mental stamina and, in some cases, to technological improvements built into his boats. Through his victories, Tabarly inspired an entire generation of ocean racers and contributed to the development of nautical activities in France.

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24/07/1930

Alfred Balk, American journalist and author (died 2010)

Alfred Balk was an American reporter, nonfiction author and magazine editor who wrote groundbreaking articles about housing segregation, the Nation of Islam, the environment and Illinois politics. His refusal to identify a confidential source led to a landmark court case. During a career-long emphasis on media improvement, he served on the Twentieth Century Fund's task force that established a National News Council, consulted for several foundations, served as secretary of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller's Committee on the Employment of Minority Groups in the News Media, and produced a film, That the People Shall Know: The Challenge of Journalism, narrated by Walter Cronkite. He wrote and co-authored books on a variety of topics, ranging from the tax exempt status of religious organizations to globalization to the history of radio.

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24/07/1928

Keshubhai Patel, Indian politician, tenth Chief Minister of Gujarat (died 2020)

Keshubhai Patel was an Indian politician who was the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 1995 and again from 1998 to 2001. He was a six-time member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly. He was a member of RSS since 1940s, of Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1960s, Janata Party in 1970s, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 1980. He left the BJP in 2012 and formed the Gujarat Parivartan Party. He was elected from Visavadar in the 2012 state assembly election but resigned in 2014 due to ill health and merged his party with BJP.

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24/07/1927

Alex Katz, American painter and sculptor

Alex Katz is an American figurative artist known for his paintings, sculptures, and prints. Since 1951, Katz's work has been the subject of more than 200 solo exhibitions and nearly 500 group exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally. He is well known for his large paintings, whose bold simplicity and heightened colors are considered as precursors to Pop Art.

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Zara Mints, Russian-Estonian philologist and academic (died 1990)

Zara Grigoryevna Mints was a Slavic literary scientist active in the University of Tartu. She was the wife of Juri Lotman.

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24/07/1926

Grace Glueck, American arts journalist (died 2022)

Grace Glueck was an American arts journalist. She worked for The New York Times from 1951 until the early 2010s.

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24/07/1924

Wilfred Josephs, English composer (died 1997)

Wilfred Josephs was an English composer.

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Aris Poulianos, Greek anthropologist and archaeologist (died 2021)

Aris Poulianos was a Greek anthropologist and archaeologist.

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24/07/1922

Madeleine Ferron, Canadian radio host and author (died 2010)

Madeleine Ferron was a Canadian writer.

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24/07/1921

Giuseppe Di Stefano, Italian tenor and actor (died 2008)

Giuseppe Di Stefano was an Italian operatic tenor who sang professionally from the mid-1940s until the early 1990s. Called "Pippo" by both fans and friends, he was known as the "Golden Voice" or "The Most Beautiful Voice", as the true successor of Beniamino Gigli. Luciano Pavarotti said he modeled himself after Di Stefano. In an interview Pavarotti said "Di Stefano is my idol. There is a solar voice...It was the most incredible, open voice you could hear. The musicality of Di Stefano is as natural and beautiful as the voice is phenomenal". Di Stefano was also the tenor who most inspired José Carreras. He died on 3 March 2008 as a result of injuries from an attack by unknown assailants.

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Billy Taylor, American pianist and composer (died 2010)

Billy Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

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24/07/1920

Bella Abzug, American lawyer and politician (died 1998)

Bella Abzug, nicknamed "Battling Bella", was an American lawyer, politician, social activist, and a leader in the women's movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, and Betty Friedan to found the National Women's Political Caucus. She was a leading figure in what came to be known as ecofeminism.

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Constance Dowling, American model and actress (died 1969)

Constance Dowling was an American model turned actress of the 1940s and 1950s.

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24/07/1919

Robert Marsden Hope, Australian lawyer and judge (died 1999)

Robert Marsden Hope, was a Justice of the New South Wales Court of Appeal and Royal Commissioner on three separate occasions, most notably the Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security. As a judge Hope was known for his legal positivism and as a royal commissioner he "instilled a sense of impartiality".

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Kenneth S. Kleinknecht, NASA manager (died 2007)

Kenneth Samuel Kleinknecht worked for the United States National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics as an engineer and continued at NASA to become a manager of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo CSM, Skylab, Shuttle, and Spacelab. After retiring from NASA, he worked for Lockheed Martin for 9 years.

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John Winkin, American baseball player, coach, and journalist (died 2014)

John W. Winkin Jr. was an American baseball coach, scout, broadcaster, journalist and collegiate athletics administrator. Winkin led the University of Maine Black Bears baseball team to six College World Series berths in an 11-year span. In 2007, at age 87, he was the oldest active head coach in any collegiate sport at any NCAA level. In all, 92 of his former players wound up signing professional baseball contracts. Elected to 11 different halls of fame, including the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013, he finished his college baseball coaching career in 2008 with 1,043 total wins, which ranks 52nd all-time among NCAA head coaches. He died in 2014.

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24/07/1918

Ruggiero Ricci, American violinist and educator (died 2012)

Ruggiero Ricci was an American violinist known for performances and recordings of the works of Paganini.

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24/07/1917

Robert Farnon, Canadian trumpet player, composer, and conductor (died 2005)

Robert Joseph Farnon was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. As well as being a composer of original works, he was commissioned by film and television producers for theme and incidental music. In later life he composed a number of more serious orchestral works, including three symphonies, and was recognised with four Ivor Novello awards and the Order of Canada.

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Jack Moroney, Australian cricketer (died 1999)

John Moroney was an Australian cricketer who played in seven Test matches from 1949 to 1951.

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24/07/1916

John D. MacDonald, American colonel and author (died 1986)

John Dann MacDonald was an American writer of novels and short stories. He is known for his thrillers. A prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many set in his adopted home of Florida, he was one of the most successful American novelists of his time. MacDonald sold an estimated 70 million books. His best-known works include the popular and critically acclaimed Travis McGee series and his 1957 novel The Executioners, which was filmed twice as Cape Fear, once in 1962 and again in 1991.

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24/07/1915

Enrique Fernando, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 13th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (died 2004)

Enrique Fausto Medina Fernando Sr. was the 13th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. A noted constitutionalist and law professor, he served in the Supreme Court for 18 years, including 6 years as Chief Justice.

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24/07/1914

Frances Oldham Kelsey, Canadian pharmacologist and physician (died 2015)

Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey was a Canadian-American pharmacologist and physician who had a 45-year career with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a reviewer, she refused to authorize thalidomide for market because she had concerns about the lack of evidence regarding the drug's safety. Her concerns proved to be justified when it was shown that thalidomide caused serious birth defects. Kelsey's career intersected with the passage of laws strengthening FDA oversight of pharmaceuticals. Kelsey was the first woman to receive a PhD in pharmacology and the second woman to receive the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, awarded to her by John F. Kennedy in 1962.

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Ed Mirvish, American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist (died 2007)

Yehuda Edwin "Honest Ed" Mirvish, was an American-Canadian businessman, philanthropist and theatrical impresario who lived in Toronto, Ontario. He is known for his flagship business, Honest Ed's, a landmark discount store in downtown Toronto, and as a patron of the arts, instrumental in promoting live theatre in Toronto.

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Alan Waddell, Australian walker (died 2008)

Alan Mossman Waddell was an Australian walker who received national and international media attention for walking every street in over 280 suburbs in Sydney.

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24/07/1913

Britton Chance, American biologist and sailor (died 2010)

Britton Chance was an American biochemist, biophysicist, scholar, and inventor whose work helped develop spectroscopy as a way to diagnose medical problems. He was "a world leader in transforming theoretical science into useful biomedical and clinical applications" and is considered "the founder of the biomedical photonics." He received the National Medal of Science in 1974.

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24/07/1912

Essie Summers, New Zealand author (died 1998)

Essie Summers was a New Zealand writer whose romance novels sold more than 19 million copies in 105 countries. She was known as New Zealand's "Queen of Romance."

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24/07/1910

Harry Horner, American director and production designer (died 1994)

Harry Horner was a Czech-born American art director who made a successful career in Hollywood as an Oscar-winning art director and as a feature film and television director. He was the father of Academy Award-winning film composer James Horner.

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24/07/1909

John William Finn, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (died 2010)

John William Finn was a sailor in the United States Navy who, as a chief petty officer and aviation ordnanceman, received the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II. Though ordnancemen are only responsible for performing maintenance on guns and handling of munitions, Finn – when the Japanese bombed Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay during the 7 December attack – earned the medal by firing a machine gun from an exposed position throughout the attack, despite being repeatedly wounded. He continued to serve in the Navy and in 1942 was commissioned an ensign. In 1947 he was reverted to chief petty officer, eventually rising to lieutenant before his 1956 retirement. In his later years he made many appearances at events celebrating veterans. At the time of his death, Finn was the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient, the last living recipient from the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the last living United States Navy recipient of World War II.

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24/07/1900

Zelda Fitzgerald, American author, visual artist and ballet dancer (died 1948)

Zelda Fitzgerald was an American novelist, painter, writer, and socialite. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, to a wealthy Southern family, she became locally famous for her beauty and high spirits. In 1920, she married writer F. Scott Fitzgerald after the popular success of his debut novel, This Side of Paradise. The novel catapulted the young couple into the public eye, and she became known in the national press as the first American flapper. Because of their wild antics and incessant partying, she and her husband became regarded in the newspapers as the enfants terribles of the Jazz Age. Alleged infidelity and bitter recriminations soon undermined their marriage. After Zelda traveled abroad to Europe, her mental health deteriorated, and she had suicidal and homicidal tendencies, which required psychiatric care. Her doctors diagnosed her with schizophrenia, although later posthumous diagnoses posit bipolar disorder.

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24/07/1899

Chief Dan George, Canadian actor (died 1981)

Chief Dan George was a chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, a Coast Salish band whose Indian reserve is located on Burrard Inlet in the southeast area of the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He also was an actor, musician, poet and author. The Chief's best-known written work is My Heart Soars. As an actor, he is best remembered for portraying Old Lodge Skins opposite Dustin Hoffman in Little Big Man (1970), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and for his role in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), as Lone Watie, opposite Clint Eastwood.

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24/07/1897

Amelia Earhart, American pilot and author (died 1937)

Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviator and aviation pioneer who became one of the most celebrated figures of early flight.

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24/07/1895

Robert Graves, English poet, novelist, critic (died 1985)

Robert Ranke Graves, whose second name is sometimes given as von Ranke, was an English poet, novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celticists and students of Irish mythology.

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24/07/1889

Agnes Meyer Driscoll, American cryptanalyst (died 1971)

Agnes Meyer Driscoll, known as "Miss Aggie" or "Madame X'", was an American cryptanalyst during both World War I and World War II and was known as "the first lady of naval cryptology."

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24/07/1888

Arthur Richardson, Australian cricketer and coach (died 1973)

Arthur John Richardson was an Australian Test cricketer who played nine Tests matches for Australia.

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24/07/1886

Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Japanese author (died 1965)

Jun'ichirō Tanizaki was a Japanese author who is considered to be one of the most prominent figures in modern Japanese literature. The tone and subject matter of his work range from shocking depictions of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions to subtle portrayals of the dynamics of family life within the context of the rapid changes in 20th-century Japanese society. Frequently, his stories are narrated in the context of a search for cultural identity in which the West and Japanese tradition are juxtaposed.

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24/07/1884

Maria Caserini, Italian actress (died 1969)

Maria Caserini was an Italian stage and film actress, as well as a pioneer of filmmaking during the early 20th century. She often starred in adaptations of stage and film productions for the works of William Shakespeare.

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24/07/1880

Ernest Bloch, Swiss-American composer and educator (died 1959)

Ernest Bloch was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the most significant Swiss composers in history. Several of his most notable compositions reflect his Jewish heritage. As well as producing musical scores, Bloch had an academic career that culminated in his recognition as Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley in 1952.

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24/07/1878

Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, Irish author, poet, and playwright (died 1957)

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany, commonly known as Lord Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. He published more than 90 books during his lifetime, and his output consisted of hundreds of short stories, plays, novels, and essays; further works were published posthumously. Having gained a name in the 1910s as a writer in the English-speaking world, he is best known today for the 1924 fantasy novel The King of Elfland's Daughter, and his first book, The Gods of Pegāna, which depicts a fictional pantheon. Many critics feel his early work laid grounds for the fantasy genre.

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24/07/1877

Calogero Vizzini, Italian mob boss (died 1954)

Calogero Vizzini, also commonly known as "Don Calò", was a Sicilian Mafia boss of Villalba in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily. He was considered to be one of the most influential and legendary Mafia bosses of Sicily after World War II until his death in 1954. In the media, Don Calò was often depicted as the "boss of bosses" – although such a position does not exist in the loose structure of Cosa Nostra.

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24/07/1874

Oswald Chambers, Scottish minister and author (died 1917)

Oswald Chambers was an early-20th-century Scottish Baptist evangelist and teacher who was aligned with the Holiness Movement. He is best known for the daily devotional My Utmost for His Highest.

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24/07/1867

Fred Tate, English cricketer and coach (died 1943)

Frederick William Tate was an English cricketer who played in one Test in 1902. This was the famous match at Old Trafford which England lost by 3 runs, and with it the series. Tate had the misfortune to drop a crucial swerving lofted pull off the left-handed Australian captain, Joe Darling, the bowler being the leg-spinner Len Braund from the now Brian Statham End: just forward of square leg, in front of the refreshment stall, slightly in from the boundary, rail/tram-line side of the ground. England lost their ninth wicket in their second innings with eight runs wanted for victory. Tate joined Wilfred Rhodes and edged his first ball for four, but the fourth ball he received from Saunders bowled him. The patch of turf on which Tate dropped the catch is now in the pavilion lawn at Whalley Range Cricket Club, after Old Trafford lifted its playing area in August 2008, as is that where Clem Hill took his famous running catch in front of the pavilion in the same game. The England captain, Archie MacLaren, was born in Whalley Range and grew up there.

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24/07/1864

Frank Wedekind, German actor and playwright (died 1918)

Benjamin Franklin Wedekind was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes, is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the development of epic theatre.

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24/07/1860

Princess Charlotte of Prussia (died 1919)

Princess Charlotte of Prussia was Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen from 1914 to 1918 as the wife of Bernhard III, the duchy's last ruler. Born at the Neues Palais in Potsdam, she was the second child and eldest daughter of Prince Frederick of Prussia, a member of the House of Hohenzollern who became Crown Prince of Prussia in 1861 and German Emperor in 1888. Through her mother Victoria, Princess Royal, Charlotte was the eldest granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

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Alphonse Mucha, Czech painter and illustrator (died 1939)

Alfons Maria Mucha, known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist. Living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, he was widely known for his distinctly stylised and decorative theatrical posters, particularly those of Sarah Bernhardt. He produced illustrations, advertisements, decorative panels, as well as designs, which became among the best-known images of the period.

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24/07/1857

Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1943)

Henrik Pontoppidan was a Danish realist writer who shared with Karl Gjellerup the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917 for "his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark." Pontoppidan's novels and short stories — informed with a desire for social progress but despairing, later in his life, of its realization — present an unusually comprehensive picture of his country and his epoch. As a writer he was an interesting figure, distancing himself both from the conservative environment in which he was brought up and from his socialist contemporaries and friends. He was the youngest and in many ways the most original and influential member of the Modern Break-Through.

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Juan Vicente Gómez, Venezuelan general and politician, 27th President of Venezuela (died 1935)

Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón was a Venezuelan military general, politician and de facto ruler of Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935. He only officially served as president on three occasions during this time, ruling as an unelected military strongman behind puppet governments in between.

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24/07/1856

Émile Picard, French mathematician and academic (died 1941)

Charles Émile Picard was a French mathematician. He was elected the fifteenth member to occupy seat 1 of the Académie française in 1924.

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24/07/1851

Friedrich Schottky, Polish-German mathematician and theorist (died 1935)

Friedrich Hermann Schottky was a German mathematician who worked on elliptic, abelian, and theta functions and introduced Schottky groups and Schottky's theorem.

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24/07/1826

Jan Gotlib Bloch, Polish theorist and activist (died 1902)

Jan Gotlib "Bogumił" Bloch was a Polish banker and railway financier who devoted his private life to the study of modern industrial warfare. Born Jewish and a convert to Calvinism, he went to considerable lengths to oppose the prevalent antisemitic policies of the Tsarist government in Congress Poland, and was sympathetic to the fledgling Zionist movement.

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24/07/1821

William Poole, American boxer and gangster (died 1855)

William Poole, also known as Bill the Butcher, was the leader of the Washington Street Gang, which later became known as the Bowery Boys gang. He was a local leader of the Know Nothing political movement in mid-19th-century New York City.

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24/07/1803

Adolphe Adam, French composer and critic (died 1856)

Adolphe Charles Adam was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle (1841) and Le corsaire (1856), his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau (1836) and Si j'étais roi (1852) and his Christmas carol "Minuit, chrétiens!".

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Alexander J. Davis, American architect (died 1892)

Alexander Jackson Davis was an American architect known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style.

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24/07/1802

Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright (died 1870)

Alexandre Dumas, also known as Alexandre Dumas père, was a French novelist and playwright.

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24/07/1794

Johan Georg Forchhammer, Danish mineralogist and geologist (died 1865)

Johan Georg Forchhammer was a Danish mineralogist and geologist.

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24/07/1786

Joseph Nicollet, French mathematician and explorer (died 1843)

Joseph Nicolas Nicollet, also known as Jean-Nicolas Nicollet, was a French geographer, astronomer, and mathematician known for mapping the Upper Mississippi River basin during the 1830s. Nicollet led three expeditions in the region between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, primarily in Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

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24/07/1783

Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan commander and politician, second President of Venezuela, and liberation leader for much of South America (died 1830)

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios Ponte y Blanco was a Venezuelan military officer and statesman who led what are currently the countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela to independence from the Spanish Empire. He is known colloquially as El Libertador, or the Liberator of America.

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24/07/1757

Vladimir Borovikovsky, Ukrainian-Russian painter (died 1825)

Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky was a Russian artist of Ukrainian Cossack origin. He served at the court of Catherine the Great and dominated portraiture in Russia at the turn of the 19th century.

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24/07/1725

John Newton, English sailor and priest (died 1807)

John Newton was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Navy and was himself enslaved for a time in West Africa. He is noted for being author of the hymns "Amazing Grace" and "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken".

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24/07/1689

Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, son of Queen Anne of Great Britain and Prince George of Denmark (died 1700)

Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, was the son of Princess Anne and her husband, Prince George of Denmark. He was their only child to survive infancy. Styled Duke of Gloucester, he was viewed by contemporaries as a Protestant champion because his birth seemed to cement the Protestant succession established in the "Glorious Revolution" that had deposed his Catholic grandfather James II & VII the previous year.

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24/07/1660

Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (died 1718)

Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury was a British Whig statesman who was part of the Immortal Seven group that invited William of Orange to depose King James II of England during the Glorious Revolution. Born to Roman Catholic parents, he remained in that faith until 1679 when—during the time of the Popish Plot and following the advice of the divine John Tillotson—he converted to the Church of England. He was appointed to several minor roles before the revolution, but came to prominence as a member of William's government, under whom he served as Secretary of State in the 1690s.

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24/07/1574

Thomas Platter the Younger, Swiss physician and author (died 1628)

Thomas Platter the Younger was a Swiss-born physician, traveller, and diarist, the son of the humanist Thomas Platter the Elder. He was a professor of anatomy, botany, and medicine at the University of Basel, as well as the city physician for Basel.

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24/07/1561

Maria of the Palatinate-Simmern (died 1589)

Maria of the Palatinate, also known as Anna Maria, was a Swedish princess and Duchess of Södermanland by marriage, the first wife of the future King Charles IX of Sweden. She died before he became king.

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24/07/1529

Charles II, Margrave of Baden-Durlach (died 1577)

Charles II, Margrave of Baden-Durlach, nicknamed Charles with the bag, governed the Margravate of Baden-Durlach from 1552 to 1577. On 1 June 1556 Charles issued a new Church Order, which made Lutheranism the official religion in Baden-Durlach.

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24/07/1468

Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria (died 1524)

Catherine of Saxony, a member of the House of Wettin, was the second wife of Sigismund, Archduke of Austria and Regent of Tyrol.

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24/07/1242

Christina von Stommeln, German Roman Catholic mystic, ecstatic, and stigmatic (died 1312)

Christina of Stommeln, also known as Christina Bruso and Christina Bruzo, was a Roman Catholic mystic, ecstatic, and stigmatic.

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