Born on Saturday, 26th July – Famous Birthdays

26/07/2000

Thomasin McKenzie, New Zealand actress

Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie is a New Zealand actress. After a minor role in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), she rose to critical prominence for playing a young girl living in isolation in Debra Granik's drama film Leave No Trace (2018), winning the National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance.

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26/07/1998

Achraf El Yakhloufi, Belgian politician

Achraf El Yakhloufi is a Belgian politician and member of the Chamber of Representatives. A member of Vooruit, he has represented Antwerp since December 2024.

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26/07/1996

Olivia Breen, British Paralympic athlete

Olivia Breen is a Welsh Paralympian athlete, who competes for Wales and Great Britain mainly in T38 sprint and F38 long jump events. She qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics and was selected for the T38 100m and 200m sprint and was also part of the T35-38 women's relay team. She has also represented Wales at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games winning gold in the F38 Long Jump in 2018 and gold in the T37/38 100m in 2022.

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26/07/1994

Ella Leivo, Finnish tennis player

Ella Leivo is a Finnish tennis player.

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26/07/1993

Raymond Faitala-Mariner, New Zealand rugby league player

Raymond Faitala-Mariner is a professional rugby league footballer who last played as a second-row forward for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League (NRL). He has played for both Samoa and New Zealand at international level.

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Taylor Momsen, American singer-songwriter, model, and actress

Taylor Michel Momsen is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, model, and former actress. Prior to her retirement from acting, she portrayed the character of Cindy Lou Who in the film How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Alexandra Anami in Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002), Molly in Underdog (2007), and Jenny Humphrey on The CW's teen drama series Gossip Girl. Momsen has been the frontwoman of the American rock band The Pretty Reckless since their inception in 2009.

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26/07/1992

Marika Koroibete, Fijian rugby player

Marika Koroibete is a dual-code international rugby league and rugby union footballer. He plays for the Australia national rugby union team, and plays as a winger for Japanese rugby union club the Saitama Wild Knights.

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26/07/1991

Tyson Barrie, Canadian ice hockey player

Tyson Barrie is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and current Vancouver Canucks analyst for Sportsnet. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators, and Calgary Flames. He was drafted by the Avalanche in the third round, 64th overall, of the 2009 NHL entry draft.

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Chinami Yoshida, Japanese curler

Chinami Yoshida is a Japanese curler. She was the longtime third for Team Loco Solare, led by Satsuki Fujisawa. The team won the bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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26/07/1989

Jeon Yeo-been, South Korean actress

Jeon Yeo-been is a South Korean actress. She rose to prominence with her performance in the independent film After My Death (2018), for which she received the Actress of the Year Award at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival and the Independent Star Award at the 2017 Seoul Independent Film Festival. Her subsequent work includes the television series Vincenzo (2021), A Time Called You (2023), Our Movie (2025), and Ms. Incognito (2025), the film Night in Paradise (2021), and the movie Dark Nuns(2025).

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26/07/1988

Yurie Omi, Japanese announcer and news anchor

Yurie Omi is a Japanese former announcer and news anchor for NHK. She left NHK in March 2021. She was famous for being the co-host of NHK's morning talk show Asaichi as well as its geographical television series Bura Tamori.

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Sayaka Akimoto, Filipino–Japanese actress and singer

Sayaka Akimoto is a Japanese actress and singer. She was a member of Japanese idol girl group AKB48 and its spin-off unit Diva.

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Anthony Smith, American Mixed Martial Artist

Anthony J. Smith is an American former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was a challenger for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in March 2019. As a professional from 2008 to 2025, Smith also competed for Strikeforce and Bellator.

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26/07/1987

Panagiotis Kone, Greek footballer

Panagiotis Kone is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

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Jordie Benn, Canadian ice hockey player

Phillip Jordan Ellis Benn is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. An undrafted defenceman, Benn played for the Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs and Brynäs IF. He is the older brother of Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn.

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Fredy Montero, Colombian footballer

Fredy Henkyer Montero Muñoz, known as Fredy Montero (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈfɾeði monˈteɾo], is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Real Cartagena. He was the all-time top scorer for the Seattle Sounders until being surpassed by Raúl Ruidíaz in 2024. He scored 79 goals with the club across two stints: from 2009 to 2012, and from 2021 to 2023. Montero has been called up to the Colombia national team five times, scoring once in an unofficial match against Catalonia.

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26/07/1986

Monica Raymund, American actress

Monica Raymund is an American actress and director, known for her roles as Maria "Ria" Torres in the Fox crime drama Lie to Me (2009–2011), Dana Lodge in the CBS legal drama The Good Wife (2011–2012), Gabriela Dawson in the NBC drama Chicago Fire (2012–2019) and Jackie Quiñones in the Starz crime drama Hightown (2020–2024).

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Leonardo Ulloa, Argentinian footballer

José Leonardo Ulloa Fernández is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker.

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John White, English footballer

John Alan White is an English former footballer who played as a defender and was most recently assistant manager at Chelmsford City. He previously played in the Football League for Colchester United and Southend United, where he made over 200 league appearances for both sides.

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26/07/1985

Marcus Benard, American football player

Marcus Benard is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Jackson State Tigers.

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Gaël Clichy, French footballer

Gaël Dimitri Clichy is a French former professional footballer, who played as a left-back, and current manager. He is currently the head coach of Championnat National club Caen.

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Audrey De Montigny, Canadian singer-songwriter

Audrey De Montigny is a Canadian former singer. She placed fourth on the debut season of Canadian Idol. De Montigny was nominated for a 2005 Juno Award for her eponymous debut album.

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Mat Gamel, American baseball player

Mathew Lawrence Gamel is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers across the 2008 through 2012 seasons. Once considered among the best prospects in baseball, Gamel's career was limited by injuries.

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26/07/1984

Kyriakos Ioannou, Cypriot high jumper

Kyriakos Ioannou is a retired Cypriot high jumper. He has twice won medals at the World Athletics Championships and was the bronze medallist at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He is the only medalist for Cyprus at the World Athletics Championships since its creation in 1983. He's also the Cypriot record holder in the high jump, both outdoors and indoors. Ioannou is a two-time medallist at the Commonwealth Games and took back-to-back gold medals at the Mediterranean Games in 2005 and 2009.

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Benjamin Kayser, French rugby player

Benjamin Kayser is a French former rugby union player.

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Sabri Sarıoğlu, Turkish footballer

Sabri Sarıoğlu is a Turkish former professional footballer who most notably played for Galatasaray and the Turkey national team.

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26/07/1983

Kelly Clark, American snowboarder

Kelly Clark is an American snowboarder who won halfpipe gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Clark was born in Newport, Rhode Island. She started snowboarding when she was 7 years old, began competing in 1999, and became a member of the US Snowboard team in 2000. On January 25, 2019, at the Winter X Games in Aspen, she announced her retirement from the sport.

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Stephen Makinwa, Nigerian footballer

Stephen Ayodele Makinwa is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Makinwa also played for the Nigeria national team. His name, Ayodele, means "Joy has come home".

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Roderick Strong, American wrestler

Christopher Lindsey, better known by his ring name Roderick Strong, is an American professional wrestler. As of April 2023, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Conglomeration and The Paragon stables. He is one-third of the AEW World Trios Champions in his first reign with Conglomerate stablemates Orange Cassidy and Kyle O'Reilly.

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Naomi van As, Dutch field hockey player

Naomi van As is a Dutch field hockey player who plays as a forward/midfielder for the Dutch club MHC Laren.

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Ken Wallace, Australian kayaker

Kenneth Maxwell Wallace is an Australian sprint canoeist who has competed since the mid-2000s, winning gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics and at several World Championships.

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Delonte West, American basketball player

Delonte Maurice West is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Boston Celtics, Seattle SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Dallas Mavericks. He also played professionally for the Fujian Xunxing and Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association and the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League. Prior to playing professionally, West played college basketball for the Saint Joseph's Hawks.

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26/07/1982

Gilad Hochman, Israeli composer

Gilad Hochman is a Berlin-based Israeli composer of contemporary classical music.

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Christopher Kane, Scottish fashion designer

Christopher John Kane is a Scottish fashion designer based in London.

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26/07/1981

Abe Forsythe, Australian actor, director, and screenwriter

Abraham Forsythe is an Australian film and television actor, director, writer and producer. He is the son of actor and comedian Drew Forsythe.

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Maicon Sisenando, Brazilian footballer

Maicon Douglas Sisenando, also known as Maicon Douglas or simply Maicon, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a right-back.

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26/07/1980

Jacinda Ardern, 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand

Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was a member of Parliament (MP) as a list MP from 2008 to 2017 and for Mount Albert from 2017 to 2023.

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Dave Baksh, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Dave Baksh also known by his stage name Dave Brownsound, is a Canadian musician best known as the lead guitarist of rock band Sum 41. Baksh quit Sum 41 in 2006 to pursue his own career in his heavy metal/reggae project Brown Brigade. He rejoined Sum 41 in 2015 and has released three subsequent studio albums with the band. He also played guitar for Organ Thieves, with two of his fellow Brown Brigade members and currently plays with the Canadian deathpunk four-piece Black Cat Attack. In 2019, Baksh co-founded the merchandise company Loud & Immortal.

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Robert Gallery, American football player

Robert J. Gallery is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Iowa and received unanimous All-American recognition. He was selected with the second overall pick by the Oakland Raiders in the 2004 NFL draft. He also played for the Seattle Seahawks. Since retiring from professional football, Gallery has become a mental health advocate and is the co-founder and president of Athletes for Care, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on athlete mental health, traumatic brain injury research, and psychedelic-assisted therapy advocacy.. He played college football for the University of Iowa and received unanimous All-American recognition. He was selected with the second overall pick by the Oakland Raiders in the 2004 NFL draft. He also played for the Seattle Seahawks.

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26/07/1979

Friedrich Michau, German rugby player

Friedrich Michau is a German international rugby union player, playing for the FC St. Pauli Rugby in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga and the German national rugby union team.

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Derek Paravicini, English pianist

Derek Paravicini is an English savant pianist. He resides in London.

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Peter Sarno, Canadian ice hockey player

Peter Sarno is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre, who last played for Alleghe Hockey in the Italian Serie A. He was selected in the sixth round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, 141st overall, by the Edmonton Oilers.

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Erik Westrum, American ice hockey player

Erik Clinton Westrum is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Phoenix Coyotes, Minnesota Wild, and Toronto Maple Leafs.

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Juliet Rylance, English actress

Juliet van Kampen Rylance is an English actress, known for her roles in The Knick, McMafia and Perry Mason.

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26/07/1977

Joaquín Benoit, Dominican baseball player

Joaquín Antonio Benoit Peña is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Washington Nationals.

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Martin Laursen, Danish footballer and manager

Martin Laursen is a Danish former professional footballer who played in the centre-back position. He played three seasons for Italian club A.C. Milan, with whom he won the 2003 UEFA Champions League and the 2004 Serie A championship. He also played for Italian clubs Hellas Verona and Parma, and was the team captain of English club Aston Villa. He was most recently the manager of Søllerød-Vedbæk.

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Tanja Szewczenko, German figure skater

Tanja Szewczenko is a German former figure skater. She is the 1994 World bronze medalist, 1997 Champions Series Final silver medalist, 1998 European bronze medalist, and 1993 World Junior bronze medalist.

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26/07/1976

Elena Kustarova, Russian ice dancer and coach

Elena Vladimirovna Kustarova is a Russian ice dancing coach and former competitor. She is a two-time World Junior medalist with Sergei Romashkin, a two-time Russian national medalist with Oleg Ovsyannikov, and the 1995 Russian silver medalist with Vazgen Azroyan.

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26/07/1975

Ingo Schultz, German sprinter

Ingo Schultz is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the 400 metres.

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Joe Smith, American basketball player

Joseph Leynard Smith is an American former professional basketball player. A power forward, he played for 12 teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) during his 16-year career.

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Liz Truss, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Mary Elizabeth Truss is a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down amid a government crisis, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. The member of Parliament (MP) for South West Norfolk from 2010 to 2024, Truss held various Cabinet positions under three prime ministers – David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson – lastly as foreign secretary from 2021 to 2022.

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26/07/1974

Iron & Wine, American singer-songwriter

Samuel Ervin Beam, better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a live album. He occasionally tours with a full band.

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Kees Meeuws, New Zealand rugby player and coach

Kees Junior Meeuws is a New Zealand former rugby union prop and former assistant coach of the Highlanders in the Super Rugby competition, and also a real estate agent by trade and a painter by education. Meeuws played 42 tests for the All Blacks between 1998 and 2004, scoring 10 test tries. He played provincial rugby for Otago and Auckland, and played for the Blues in the Super 12. In 2004, Meeuws left New Zealand to take up a contract with French club Castres Olympique, and in 2006 he left Castres for Agen after a falling-out with Castres coach Laurent Seigne. Following Agen's relegation after the 2006–07 season, Meeuws left Agen and returned to Castres, signing a two-year contract with the club. In May 2008, it was announced that Meeuws would be joining the Scarlets on a two-year deal. However, shortly into his Scarlets career, he suffered a long-term injury. In July 2009, having made just 12 appearances and scored 1 try, his contract with the Scarlets was cancelled by mutual consent. He returned to Otago in 2010 to play in the ITM Cup.

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Dean Sturridge, English footballer and sportscaster

Dean Constantine Sturridge is an English former professional footballer and football commentator for beIN Sports.

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26/07/1973

Kate Beckinsale, English actress

Kathrin Romany Beckinsale is an English actress. The only child of the actors Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe, she debuted in the series premiere of the 1975 daytime drama Couples.

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Mariano Raffo, Argentinian director and producer

Mariano Raffo is an Argentine film director. He has made short films, music videos and documentaries.

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26/07/1972

Nathan Buckley, Australian footballer and coach

Nathan Charles Buckley is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator.

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26/07/1971

Khaled Mahmud, Bangladeshi cricketer and coach

Khaled Mahmud Sujon is a former Bangladeshi cricketer and current head coach of Noakhali Express. He is also a former Test and One Day International captain. A medium-pace bowler and middle-order batsman, he played international cricket for Bangladesh from 1998 to 2006, captaining the team from 2003 to 2004.

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Chris Harrison, American television personality

Christopher Bryan Harrison is an American television and game show host, best known for his role as the host of the ABC reality television dating show The Bachelor from 2002–2021. He also hosted its spin-offs The Bachelorette from 2003–2021, Bachelor Pad from 2010–2012, Bachelor in Paradise from 2014-21, the first season of Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise in 2015, Bachelor Live in 2016, and The Bachelor Winter Games in 2018. He also served as the host of the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire from 2015–2019.

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26/07/1969

Greg Colbrunn, American baseball player and coach

Gregory Joseph Colbrunn is an American former Major League baseball player and hitting coach. Primarily a first baseman during his active career, the Fontana, California, native played in the Major Leagues for 13 seasons (1992–2004) and seven different teams. He threw and batted right-handed and was listed at 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 190 pounds (86 kg). He served as the Boston Red Sox hitting coach during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

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Tanni Grey-Thompson, Welsh baroness and wheelchair racer

Carys Davina "Tanni" Grey-Thompson, Baroness Grey-Thompson, is a British life peer, television presenter and former wheelchair racer.

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26/07/1968

Frédéric Diefenthal, French actor and director

Frédéric Diefenthal is a French actor and director.

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Jim Naismith, Scottish biologist and academic

James Henderson Naismith is a Scot, Professor of Structural Biology and since autumn of 2023 the Head of the Mathematical, Physical, and Life Science Division (MPLS) Division at the University of Oxford. He is also currently Vice-President (non-clinical) of The Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of Jesus College. He was the acting and inaugural Director (2017-2023) of the Rosalind Franklin Institute and Director of the Research Complex at Harwell. He served as Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Chemical Biology at the University of St Andrews. He was a member of Council of the Royal Society (2021-2022) and the Vice-Chair of Council (2022-2024) of the European X-ray Free Electron Laser.

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Olivia Williams, English actress

Olivia Haigh Williams is an English actress who appears in British and American films and television. Williams studied drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for two years followed by three years at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her first significant screen role was as Jane Fairfax in the British television film Emma (1996), based on Jane Austen's novel.

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26/07/1967

Martin Baker, English organist and conductor

Martin Baker is a British organist and choir director. He was the president of the Royal College of Organists, and from 2000 until 2019 the Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral.

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Tim Schafer, American video game designer, founded Double Fine Productions

Timothy John Schafer is an American video game designer. He founded Double Fine Productions in July 2000, after having spent over a decade at LucasArts. Schafer is best known as the designer of critically acclaimed games Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, Psychonauts, Brütal Legend and Broken Age, co-designer of Day of the Tentacle, and assistant designer on The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. He is well known in the video game industry for his storytelling and comedic writing style, and has been given both a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Game Developers Choice Awards, and a BAFTA Fellowship for his contributions to the industry.

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Jason Statham, English actor

Jason Statham is an English actor. He is known for being typecast as tough, gritty, or violent characters in action thriller films, and has been credited for leading the resurgence of action films during the 2000s and 2010s. By 2017, his films had grossed over £1.1 billion, making him one of the industry's most bankable stars. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $8.5 billion worldwide.

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26/07/1966

Angelo di Livio, Italian footballer

Angelo Di Livio is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and wing-back. He represented several Italian clubs in Serie A throughout his career, coming to prominence with Juventus, where he won several domestic and international titles. At international level he also played for the Italy national side in two FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships, reaching the final of UEFA Euro 2000.

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26/07/1965

Jeremy Piven, American actor and producer

Jeremy Samuel Piven is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Ari Gold in the comedy series Entourage (2004-2011), for which he won a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Emmy Awards. He also played the title role in the British period drama Mr Selfridge (2013-2016) and portrayed Spence Kovak on Ellen DeGeneres's sitcom Ellen (1996-1998).

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Jim Lindberg, American singer and guitarist

James William Lindberg is an American singer and guitarist. Active since the 1980s, when he played in local bands in his early career, he is best known as the songwriter and lead singer of the punk rock band Pennywise, which he fronted from 1988 to 2009, and has again since 2012. He also founded The Black Pacific, who released a debut album in 2010.

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26/07/1964

Sandra Bullock, American actress and producer

Sandra Annette Bullock is an American actress and film producer. The world's highest-paid actress of 2010 and 2014, Bullock's filmography spans both comedy and drama, and her accolades include an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. She was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world in 2010.

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Ralf Metzenmacher, German painter and designer (died 2020)

Ralf Metzenmacher was a German painter and designer. He was an exponent and pioneer of Retro-Art, a synthesis between art and product design. Metzenmacher saw his Retro-Art technique as a revitalization of 17th century still life painting and as a further development of pop art.

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Anne Provoost, Belgian author

Anne Provoost is a Flemish author.

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26/07/1963

Stuart Long, American boxer and Catholic priest (died 2014)

Stuart Ignatius Long was an American boxer and Catholic priest who developed a rare progressive muscle disorder. He was portrayed by Mark Wahlberg in the 2022 biopic Father Stu.

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Jeff Stoughton, Canadian curler

Jeffrey R. Stoughton is a Canadian retired curler. He is a three-time Brier champion and two-time World champion as skip. Curling throughout his career out of the Charleswood Curling Club, Stoughton retired from competitive curling in 2015. Following his career, he served the National Men's Coach and Program Manager for Curling Canada, as well as being the head coach of the Canadian Mixed Doubles National Team.

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26/07/1961

Gary Cherone, American singer-songwriter

Gary Francis Cherone is an American rock singer and songwriter. Cherone is known for his work as the lead vocalist of the Boston rock group Extreme and Van Halen.

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Andy Connell, English keyboard player and songwriter

Andrew John Connell is an English keyboardist and composer. Along with Corinne Drewery, he is part of the duo that makes up Swing Out Sister.

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Felix Dexter, Caribbean-English comedian and actor (died 2013)

Felix Dexter was a Saint Kitts-born British actor, comedian and writer.

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26/07/1959

Rick Bragg, American author and journalist

Rick Bragg is an American journalist and writer known for non-fiction books, especially those about his family in Alabama. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1996 recognizing his work at The New York Times.

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Kevin Spacey, American actor and director

Kevin Spacey Fowler is an American actor. Known for his work on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two Laurence Olivier Awards as well as nominations for twelve Emmy Awards.

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26/07/1958

Monti Davis, American basketball player (died 2013)

DaMon William "Monti" Davis was an American professional basketball player. He was a 6-foot-7-inch (201 cm) 205 pounds (93 kg) forward and played collegiately at Tennessee State University.

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Angela Hewitt, Canadian-English pianist

Angela Hewitt is a Canadian classical pianist. She is best known for her Bach interpretations.

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26/07/1957

Norman Baker, Scottish politician

Norman John Baker is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewes in East Sussex from the 1997 general election until his defeat in 2015.

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Nana Visitor, American actress

Nana Visitor is an American actress, best known for playing Major, later Colonel, Kira Nerys in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Jean Ritter in the television series Wildfire.

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26/07/1956

Peter Fincham, English screenwriter and producer

Peter Arthur Fincham is a British television producer and executive. From 2008 until 2016, he was the director of television for the ITV network. He was also formerly the controller of BBC One, the primary television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation, until his resignation on 5 October 2007, following criticism over the handling of the Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work debacle.

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Dorothy Hamill, American figure skater

Dorothy Stuart Hamill is a retired American figure skater. She is the 1976 Olympic champion and 1976 World champion in ladies' singles.

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Tommy Rich, American wrestler

Thomas Richardson is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tommy "Wildfire" Rich. He is a one time former National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion and Smoky Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. He primarily appeared in Georgia Championship Wrestling and Memphis throughout the 1980s, as well as World Championship Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling throughout the 1990s. He is a 1974 graduate of Hendersonville High School.

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Tim Tremlett, English cricketer and coach

Timothy Maurice Tremlett is a former English cricketer and current director of cricket of Hampshire County Cricket Club. He is the father of England Test cricketer Chris Tremlett who also played for Hampshire and later, Surrey. Tremlett was an all-rounder, a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler, who had a first-class bowling average of 23.99 and a one-day average of 24.69. He played from 1976 until 1991, and helped Hampshire win the Sunday League title in 1978 and 1986.

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26/07/1955

Aleksandrs Starkovs, Latvian footballer and coach

Aleksandrs Starkovs is a Latvian football coach and a former footballer who played as a forward. Most recently he coached FK Liepāja.

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Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistani businessman and politician, 11th President of Pakistan

Asif Ali Zardari is a Pakistani politician who has served as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024. A member of the Pakistan People's Party, he served as the 11th executive president from 2008 to 2013. He is the first Pakistani head of state born after the country's independence and is also known for being the widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

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Joseph Christopher, American serial killer (died 1993)

Joseph Gerard Christopher, also known as the Midtown Slasher and the .22 Caliber Killer, was an American serial killer who committed a series of stabbings and shootings against African American men and boys, killing twelve and injuring seven, between 1980 and 1981 in various New York cities and towns.

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26/07/1954

Vitas Gerulaitis, American tennis player and coach (died 1994)

Vytautas "Vitas" Kevin Gerulaitis was an American professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1978. Gerulaitis won the men's singles title at the December 1977 Australian Open, and the men's doubles title at the 1975 Wimbledon Championships, partnering with Sandy Mayer. Gerulaitis also won two Italian Opens in 1977 and 1979, and the 1978 WCT Finals.

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26/07/1953

Felix Magath, German footballer and manager

Wolfgang Felix Magath is a German football manager and former player.

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Robert Phillips, American guitarist

Robert Phillips is an American classical guitarist.

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Henk Bleker, Dutch politician

Hinderk "Henk" Bleker is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation in the First Rutte cabinet from 14 October 2010 to 5 November 2012. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he previously was party chair from 20 June 2010 until 14 October 2010.

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Earl Tatum, American professional basketball player

William Earl Tatum is an American former professional basketball player from Mount Vernon, New York. He was a 6 ft 4+1⁄2 in (194 cm) 185 pounds (84 kg) guard who played high school basketball at Mount Vernon, where he was selected large-school player of the year by the New York State Sportswriters Association in 1972, and collegiately at Marquette University.

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26/07/1952

Glynis Breakwell, English psychologist and academic

Dame Glynis Marie Breakwell is a British social psychologist, researcher and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bath. In January 2014 she was listed in the Science Council's list of '100 leading UK practising scientists'. Her tenure as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bath was marred by controversy over her remuneration, culminating in her dismissal.

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26/07/1951

Rick Martin, Canadian-American ice hockey player (died 2011)

Richard Lionel Martin was a Canadian professional ice hockey winger who played in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings for 11 seasons between 1971 and 1982. He featured in the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals with the Sabres. He was most famous for playing on the Sabres' French Connection line with Gilbert Perreault and Rene Robert.

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26/07/1950

Nelinho, Brazilian footballer and manager

Manoel Rezende de Mattos Cabral, known as Nelinho, is a former Brazilian association footballer who played as right back. He played for several clubs in his home country and abroad, including Belo Horizonte rivals Cruzeiro and Atlético Mineiro. Nelinho also represented the Brazil national team in two FIFA World Cups.

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Nicholas Evans, English journalist, screenwriter, and producer (died 2022)

Nicholas Benbow Evans was a British journalist, screenwriter, television and film producer and novelist. He was best known for his 1995 debut novel, The Horse Whisperer. It has sold over fifteen million copies, and has been adapted into a film.

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Susan George, English actress and producer

Susan Melody George is an English film and television actress. She is best known for appearing in films such as Straw Dogs (1971) with Dustin Hoffman, Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974) with Peter Fonda and Mandingo (1975) with Ken Norton.

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Anne Rafferty, English lawyer and judge

Dame Anne Judith Rafferty is an English jurist, who served as a Lady Justice of Appeal of England and Wales from 2011 to 2020.

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Rich Vogler, American race car driver (died 1990)

Richard Frank Vogler was an American champion sprint car and midget car driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich". He competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times, and his best finish was eighth in 1989.

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26/07/1949

Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai businessman and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Thailand

Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai former politician, businessman, and police officer who served as the 23rd prime minister of Thailand from 2001 until his overthrow in 2006. Since 2009 he has also been a citizen of Montenegro.

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Roger Taylor, English singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer

Roger Meddows Taylor is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He achieved international fame as the drummer and backing vocalist for the rock band Queen. As a drummer, Taylor was recognised early in his career for his unique sound and was voted the eighth-greatest drummer in classic rock music history in a listener poll conducted by Planet Rock in 2005. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 as a member of Queen.

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26/07/1948

Luboš Andršt, Czech guitarist and songwriter (died 2021)

Luboš Andršt was a Czech jazz fusion, rock, and blues guitarist, composer, producer, and guitar teacher. Known primarily for his electric rock-influenced guitar playing, he frequently played acoustic guitar on jazz fusion recordings in the 1970s. Since the late 1990s, he was best known as a key figure in the Czech blues and blues rock scene with his Luboš Andršt Blues Band, and shared the stage with a number of American blues musicians, including B.B. King.

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Herbert Wiesinger, German figure skater

Herbert Wiesinger is a German former pair skater who competed for West Germany.

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26/07/1946

Emilio de Villota, Spanish race car driver

Emilio de Villota Ruíz is a Spanish former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between 1976 and 1982.

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26/07/1945

Helen Mirren, English actress

Dame Helen Mirren is an English actor. Regarded amongst Britain's greatest actors, Mirren is the recipient of several accolades including an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, four BAFTA Awards, five Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, two Cannes Film Festival Awards, a Volpi Cup and a Laurence Olivier Award. She is the only person to have achieved both the US and UK Triple Crowns of Acting, and has also received the BAFTA Fellowship, Honorary Golden Bear, Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, and the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Mirren was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003.

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26/07/1944

Betty Davis, American singer-songwriter (died 2022)

Betty Davis was an American singer, songwriter, and model. She was known for her controversial sexually oriented lyrics and performance style, and was the second wife of trumpeter Miles Davis. Her AllMusic profile describes her as "a wildly flamboyant funk diva with few equals ... [who] combined the gritty emotional realism of Tina Turner, the futurist fashion sense of David Bowie, and the trendsetting flair of Miles Davis".

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26/07/1943

Peter Hyams, American director, screenwriter, and cinematographer

Peter Hyams is an American film director, screenwriter and cinematographer known for directing the 1977 conspiracy thriller film Capricorn One, the 1981 science fiction-thriller Outland, the 1984 science fiction film 2010: The Year We Make Contact, the 1986 action/comedy Running Scared, the comic book adaptation Timecop, the action film Sudden Death, and the horror films The Relic and End of Days.

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Mick Jagger, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

Sir Michael Philip Jagger is an English musician, songwriter, and film producer. He is the lead singer and one of the founder members of the Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; their songwriting partnership is one of the most successful in rock music history. His career has spanned more than six decades, and he has been widely described as one of the most popular and influential front men in the history of rock music. His distinctive voice and energetic live performances, along with Richards's guitar style, have been the Rolling Stones' trademark throughout the band's career. Early in his career, Jagger gained notoriety for his romantic involvements and illicit drug use, and has often been portrayed as a countercultural figure.

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26/07/1942

Vladimír Mečiar, Slovak politician, 1st Prime Minister of Slovakia

Vladimír Mečiar is a Slovak former politician who served as the prime minister of Slovakia from June 1990 to May 1991, June 1992 to March 1994, and again from December 1994 to October 1998. He was the leader of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), a populist party in Slovakia.

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Teddy Pilette, Belgian race car driver

Theodore "Teddy" Pilette is a former racing driver from Belgium. He participated in 4 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, the first on 12 May 1974 with Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team.

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26/07/1941

Jean Baubérot, French historian and sociologist

Jean Baubérot, is a French historian and sociologist specializing in sociology of religions. He is the founder of the sociology of secularism.

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Darlene Love, American singer and actress

Darlene Wright, known professionally as Darlene Love, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the girl group the Blossoms and also a solo recording artist.

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Brenton Wood, American R&B singer-songwriter and keyboard player (died 2025)

Alfred Jesse Smith, known professionally as Brenton Wood, was an American singer and songwriter. Three 1967 singles of Wood's, "The Oogum Boogum Song", "Gimme Little Sign", and "Baby You Got It" were hits.

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26/07/1940

Dobie Gray, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2011)

Dobie Gray was an American singer and songwriter. Gray's music spanned multiple genres, including soul, country, pop, and musical theater. His hit songs included "The 'In' Crowd" in 1965 and "Drift Away". "Drift Away" was one of the biggest hits of 1973, has sold over one million copies, and remains a staple of radio airplay.

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Brian Mawhinney, Baron Mawhinney, Northern Irish-British academic and politician, Secretary of State for Transport (died 2019)

Brian Stanley Mawhinney, Baron Mawhinney, was a British Conservative Party politician. He was a member of the Cabinet from 1994 to 1997 and a member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2005.

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Bobby Rousseau, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2025)

Joseph Jean-Paul Robert Rousseau was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1960 to 1974, most notably for the Montreal Canadiens. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1962 as NHL Rookie of the Year and won the Stanley Cup four times, all with the Canadiens. Prior to turning professional Rousseau played at the 1960 Winter Olympics with the Canadian national team, winning a silver medal.

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26/07/1939

Jun Henmi, Japanese author and poet (died 2011)

Mayumi Shimizu , known by her pen name Jun Henmi , was a Japanese writer and poet. She was known for her works of fiction and nonfiction about people affected by World War II.

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John Howard, Australian lawyer and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Australia

John Winston Howard is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the second-longest in Australian history, after that of Robert Menzies.

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Bob Lilly, American football player and photographer

Robert Lewis Lilly, nicknamed "Mr. Cowboy", is an American former professional football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the TCU Horned Frogs. Lilly was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

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Richard Marlow, English organist and conductor (died 2013)

Richard Kenneth Marlow was an English choral conductor and organist.

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26/07/1938

Bobby Hebb, American singer-songwriter (died 2010)

Robert Alvin Von Hebb was an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter and musician, best known for his 1966 hit "Sunny".

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Keith Peters, Welsh physician and academic

Sir David Keith Peters is a retired Welsh physician and academic. He was Regius Professor of Physic at the University of Cambridge from 1987 to 2005, where he was also head of the School of Clinical Medicine.

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26/07/1937

Ercole Spada, Italian automotive designer (died 2025)

Ercole Spada was an Italian automobile designer. His most notable designs were produced in the 1960s, for the Zagato design studio house, where Spada was chief stylist. During this period some of the most notable sports cars by Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Maserati, as well as Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Fiat and Lancia were clothed by Spada's designs.

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26/07/1936

Tsutomu Koyama, Japanese volleyball player and coach (died 2012)

Tsutomu Koyama was a Japanese volleyball player. He was a member of the Men's National Volleyball Team that claimed the bronze medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He later served as the head coach of the Men's National Team.

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Lawrie McMenemy, English footballer and manager

Lawrence McMenemy MBE is an English retired football coach, best known for his spell as manager of Southampton. He is rated in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the twenty most successful managers in post-war English football.

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26/07/1934

Tommy McDonald, American football player (died 2018)

Thomas Franklin McDonald was an American professional football flanker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys, the Los Angeles Rams, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Cleveland Browns. He played college football as a halfback for the Oklahoma Sooners. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame.

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26/07/1931

Robert Colbert, American actor

Robert Louis Colbert is an American retired actor best known for his leading role as Dr. Doug Phillips on the ABC television series The Time Tunnel and his two appearances as Brent Maverick, a third Maverick brother in the ABC/Warner Brothers western Maverick.

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Telê Santana, Brazilian footballer and manager (died 2006)

Telê Santana da Silva, also known as Telê Santana was a Brazilian football manager and former player. He was born in Itabirito, Minas Gerais.

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26/07/1930

Plínio de Arruda Sampaio, Brazilian lawyer and politician (died 2014)

Plínio Soares de Arruda Sampaio was a Brazilian intellectual and political activist, who was affiliated with the Partido Socialismo e Liberdade (PSOL). He ran as a candidate for the presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil in 2010.

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Barbara Jefford, English actress (died 2020)

Barbara Mary Jefford, OBE was a British actress, best known for her theatrical performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Old Vic and the National Theatre and her role as Molly Bloom in the 1967 film of James Joyce's Ulysses. For Ulysses, Jefford was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress. She was also Olivier nominated in 1991 for playing Volumnia in Coriolanus at the Barbican.

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26/07/1929

Marc Lalonde, Canadian lawyer and politician, 34th Canadian Minister of Justice (died 2023)

Marc Lalonde was a Canadian politician who served as a cabinet minister, political staffer and lawyer. A lifelong member of the Liberal Party, he is best known for having served in various positions of government from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, including serving as the Minister of Finance.

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Alexis Weissenberg, Bulgarian-French pianist and educator (died 2012)

Alexis Sigismund Weissenberg was a Bulgarian-born French pianist.

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26/07/1928

Don Beauman, English race car driver (died 1955)

Donald Bentley Beauman was a British racing driver who took part in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix.

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Francesco Cossiga, Italian academic and politician, 8th President of Italy (died 2010)

Francesco Maurizio Cossiga was an Italian politician who served as the president of Italy from 1985 to 1992. A member of Christian Democracy, he was Prime Minister of Italy from 1979 to 1980. Cossiga is widely considered one of the most prominent and influential politicians of the First Italian Republic.

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Elliott Erwitt, French-American photographer and director (died 2023)

Elliott Erwitt was a French-born American advertising and documentary photographer known for his black and white candid photos of ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings. He was a member of Magnum Photos since 1953.

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Ibn-e-Safi, Indian-Pakistani author and poet (died 1980)

Ibn-e-Safi, also spelt Ibne Safi, was the pen name of Asrar Ahmad, a Pakistani fiction writer, novelist, and poet who wrote in Urdu. The name Ibn-e-Safi is a Persian expression meaning “Son of Safi,” with Safi translating to “chaste” or “righteous.”

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Joe Jackson, American talent manager, father of Michael Jackson (died 2018)

Joseph Walter Jackson was an American talent manager and patriarch of the Jackson family of entertainers. He was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2014.

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Stanley Kubrick, American director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer (died 1999)

Stanley Kubrick was an American filmmaker and photographer. A prominent figure of New Hollywood era, Kubrick is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. His films were nearly all adaptations of novels or short stories, spanning a number of genres and gaining recognition for their intense attention to detail, innovative cinematography, extensive set design, and dark humor.

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Peter Lougheed, Canadian lawyer and politician, 10th Premier of Alberta (died 2012)

Edgar Peter Lougheed was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding over a period of reform and economic growth.

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Sally Oppenheim-Barnes, Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes, Irish-born English politician (died 2025)

Sally Oppenheim-Barnes, Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes, PC was a British Conservative politician.

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26/07/1927

Gulabrai Ramchand, Indian cricketer (died 2003)

Gulabrai Sipahimalani "Ram" Ramchand was an Indian cricketer, cricket coach and administrator who played for the national team in 33 Test matches between 1952 and 1960. In his only series as captain, he led India to its first win against Australia. According to Wisden Asia, he was one of the first cricketers to have endorsed commercial brands.

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26/07/1926

James Best, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2015)

Jewel Franklin Guy, known professionally as James Best, was an American television, film, stage, and voice actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician. During a career that spanned more than 60 years, Best, who was known for his high-pitched, exasperated voice, performed not only in feature films, but also in scores of television series.

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26/07/1925

Jerzy Einhorn, Polish-Swedish physician and politician (died 2000)

Jerzy Einhorn was a Polish-born Swedish medical doctor, researcher and politician (Kristdemokrat). His Hebrew name was Chil Josef, after his paternal grandfather.

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Joseph Engelberger, American physicist and engineer (died 2015)

Joseph Frederick Engelberger was an American physicist, engineer and entrepreneur. Often regarded as the "Father of Robotics". Licensing the original patent awarded to inventor George Devol, Engelberger developed the first industrial robot in the United States, the Unimate, in the 1950s. Later, he worked as entrepreneur and vocal advocate of robotic technology beyond the manufacturing plant in a variety of fields, including service industries, health care, and space exploration.

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Gene Gutowski, Polish-American film producer (died 2016)

Witold Bardach, better known as Gene Gutowski, was a Polish-American film producer who produced many of Roman Polanski's films, including Repulsion (1965), Cul-de-Sac (1966), The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), and The Pianist (2002).

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Ana María Matute, Spanish author and academic (died 2014)

Ana María Matute Ausejo was a Spanish writer and member of the Real Academia Española. In 1959, she received the Premio Nadal for Primera memoria. The third woman to receive the Cervantes Prize for her literary oeuvre, she is considered one of the foremost novelists of the posguerra, the period immediately following the Spanish Civil War.

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26/07/1923

Jan Berenstain, American author and illustrator (died 2012)

Stanley Melvin Berenstain and Janice Marian Berenstain were American writers and illustrators best known for creating the children's book series The Berenstain Bears.

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Bernice Rubens, Welsh author (died 2004)

Bernice Rubens was a Welsh novelist. She became the first woman to win the Booker Prize in 1970, for The Elected Member.

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Hoyt Wilhelm, American baseball player and coach (died 2002)

James Hoyt Wilhelm, nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. Wilhelm was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.

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26/07/1922

Blake Edwards, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2010)

Blake Edwards was an American filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter. Often thought of as primarily a director of comedies, he also directed several drama, musical, and detective films. Late in his career, he took up writing, producing and directing for theater. He received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of his writing, directing and producing an extraordinary body of work for the screen.

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Jim Foglesong, American record producer (died 2013)

James Staton Foglesong was an American country music producer and executive from the 1950s until the 1990s, based in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Jason Robards, American actor (died 2000)

Jason Nelson Robards Jr. was an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he gained a reputation as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill. Robards received numerous accolades and is one of 24 performers to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting having earned competitive wins for two Academy Awards, a Tony Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In addition to these plaudits, Robards was nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Laurel Award and a Grammy Award. He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1979, earned the National Medal of Arts in 1997, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1999.

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26/07/1921

Tom Saffell, American baseball player and manager (died 2012)

Thomas Judson Saffell was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Athletics.

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Jean Shepherd, American radio host, actor, and screenwriter (died 1999)

Jean Parker Shepherd Jr. was an American storyteller, humorist, radio and TV personality, writer, and actor. With a career that spanned decades, Shepherd is known for the film A Christmas Story (1983), which he narrated and co-scripted on the basis of his own semi-autobiographical stories.

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26/07/1920

Bob Waterfield, American football player and coach (died 1983)

Robert Stanton Waterfield was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). A skilled player, he played in the NFL for eight seasons, primarily as a quarterback, but also as a safety, kicker, punter and sometimes return specialist with the Cleveland / Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. His No. 7 jersey was retired by the Rams in 1952. He was also a motion picture actor and producer.

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26/07/1919

Virginia Gilmore, American actress (died 1986)

Virginia Gilmore was an American film, stage, and television actress.

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James Lovelock, English biologist and chemist (died 2022)

James Ephraim Lovelock was an English independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the Earth functions as a self-regulating system.

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26/07/1918

Marjorie Lord, American actress (died 2015)

Marjorie Lord was an American television and film actress. She played Kathy "Clancy" O'Hara Williams, opposite Danny Thomas's character on The Danny Thomas Show.

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26/07/1916

Dean Brooks, American physician and actor (died 2013)

Dean Kent Brooks was an American physician and actor. Brooks was the superintendent of Oregon State Hospital for 27 years from 1955 to 1982. He was born in Colony, Kansas.

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Jaime Luiz Coelho, Brazilian archbishop (died 2013)

Jaime Luiz Coelho was a Brazilian archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church. At his death at the age of 97 he was one of the oldest bishops in the Church and one of the oldest Brazilian bishops.

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26/07/1914

C. Farris Bryant, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 34th Governor of Florida (died 2002)

Cecil Farris Bryant was an American politician serving as the 34th governor of Florida. He also served on the United States National Security Council as director of the Office of Emergency Planning during the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who also appointed Bryant chair of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.

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Erskine Hawkins, American trumpet player and bandleader (died 1993)

Erskine Ramsay Hawkins was an American trumpeter and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is best remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" (1939) with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson. The song became a hit during World War II, rising to No. 7 nationally and to No. 1 nationally. Vocalists who were featured with Erskine's orchestra include Ida James, Delores Brown, and Della Reese. Hawkins was named after Alabama industrialist Erskine Ramsay.

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Ellis Kinder, American baseball player (died 1968)

Ellis Raymond "Old Folks" Kinder was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago White Sox between 1946 and 1957. Kinder batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Atkins, Arkansas.

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26/07/1913

Kan Yuet-keung, Hong Kong banker, lawyer, and politician (died 2012)

Sir Yuet-keung Kan was a Hong Kong banker, politician and lawyer who was successively appointed Senior Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council and Executive Council in the 1960s and 1970s. He also served as chairman of the Bank of East Asia for 20 years.

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26/07/1909

Peter Thorneycroft, Baron Thorneycroft, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (died 1994)

George Edward Peter Thorneycroft, Baron Thorneycroft, was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1957 and 1958.

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Vivian Vance, American actress and singer (died 1979)

Vivian Vance was an American actress best known for playing landlady Ethel Mertz on the sitcom I Love Lucy (1951–1957), for which she won the 1953 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, among other accolades. She also starred alongside Lucille Ball in The Lucy Show from 1962 until she left the series at the end of its third season in 1965. In 1991, she posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is most commonly identified as Lucille Ball’s longtime comedic foil from 1951 until her death in 1979.

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26/07/1908

Lucien Wercollier, Luxembourger sculptor (died 2002)

Lucien Wercollier was a sculptor from Luxembourg. While he worked primarily in bronze and marble, some of his work is sculpted in wood, alabaster, stone and onyx. His public monuments in bronze and marble are of particular importance. Works by Wercollier can be found in public places and museums in Belgium, France, Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the United States.

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26/07/1906

Irena Iłłakowicz, German-Polish lieutenant (died 1943)

Irena Morzycka-Iłłakowicz was a Polish second lieutenant of the National Armed Forces and intelligence agent. The daughter of Bolesław Morzycki and Władysława Zakrzewska and the sister of Jerzy, she was also a polyglot who spoke seven languages: Polish, French, English, Persian, Finnish, German and Russian.

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26/07/1905

Jack Morrison, Australian rugby league player (died 1994)

Jack Morrison (1905−1994) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s for South Sydney and Canterbury-Bankstown. Morrison was a foundation player for Canterbury-Bankstown and the club's first captain.

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26/07/1904

Frank Scott Hogg, Canadian astronomer and academic (died 1951)

Frank Scott Hogg was a Canadian astronomer. Hogg was born in Preston, Ontario to Dr. James Scott Hogg and Ida Barberon. After earning an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto, Hogg received the second doctorate in astronomy awarded at Harvard University in 1929 where he pioneered in the study of spectrophotometry of stars and of spectra of comets. His supervisor there was Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin. During World War II, he developed a two-star sextant for air navigation. He was the head of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Toronto and director of the David Dunlap Observatory from 1946 until his death. During this time he pursued the observatory's major research program to study the motions of faint stars in the line of sight. He was married to fellow astronomer Helen Sawyer Hogg from 1930 until his death from a heart attack in 1951. The crater Hogg on the moon is co-named for him and Arthur Robert Hogg.

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Edwin Albert Link, American industrialist and entrepreneur, invented the flight simulator (died 1981)

Edwin Albert Link was an American inventor, entrepreneur and pioneer in aviation, underwater archaeology, and submersibles. He invented the flight simulator, which was called the "Blue Box" or "Link Trainer". It was commercialized in 1929, starting a now multibillion-dollar industry. In total, he obtained more than 27 patents for aeronautics, navigation and oceanographic equipment.

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26/07/1903

Estes Kefauver, American lawyer and politician (died 1963)

Carey Estes Kefauver was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1939 to 1949 and in the U.S. Senate from 1949 until his death in 1963. He was the winner of most of the 1952 Democratic Party presidential primaries, though he was not nominated at the convention.

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26/07/1900

Sarah Kafrit, Israeli politician and teacher (died 1983)

Sarah Kafrit was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Mapai between 1951 and 1959.

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26/07/1897

Harold D. Cooley, American lawyer and politician (died 1974)

Harold Dunbar Cooley was an American politician of the Democratic Party. He represented the Fourth Congressional district of North Carolina from 1934 to 1966.

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Paul Gallico, American journalist and author (died 1976)

Paul William Gallico was an American novelist and short story and sports writer. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictures. He is perhaps best remembered for The Snow Goose, his most critically successful book, for the novel The Poseidon Adventure, primarily through the 1972 film adaptation, and for four novels about the beloved character of Mrs. Harris.

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26/07/1896

Tim Birkin, English soldier and race car driver (died 1933)

Sir Henry Ralph Stanley Birkin, 3rd Baronet, known as Tim Birkin, was a British racing driver, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s.

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26/07/1895

Gracie Allen, American actress and comedian (died 1964)

Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, appearing with him on radio, television and film as the duo Burns and Allen.

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26/07/1894

Aldous Huxley, English novelist and philosopher (died 1963)

Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives and poems.

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26/07/1893

George Grosz, German painter and illustrator (died 1959)

George Grosz was a German artist known especially for his caricatural drawings and paintings of Berlin life in the 1920s. He was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada and New Objectivity groups during the Weimar Republic. He emigrated to the United States in 1933, and became a naturalized citizen in 1938. Abandoning the style and subject matter of his earlier work, he exhibited regularly and taught for many years at the Art Students League of New York. In 1959 he returned to Berlin, where he died shortly afterwards.

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26/07/1892

Sad Sam Jones, American baseball player and manager (died 1966)

Samuel Pond "Sad Sam" Jones was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox between 1914 and 1935. Jones batted and threw right-handed. His sharp breaking curveball also earned him the nickname "Horsewhips Sam".

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26/07/1890

Daniel J. Callaghan, American admiral, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1942)

Daniel Judson Callaghan was a United States Navy officer who served his country in two wars, in a three-decades-long career. Callaghan served on several ships during his first 20 years of service, including escort duties during World War I, and also filled some shore-based administrative roles. He later came to the attention of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who appointed Callaghan as his naval aide in 1938.

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26/07/1888

Reginald Hands, South African cricketer and rugby player (died 1918)

Reginald Harry Myburgh Hands was a South African cricketer who played in one Test match in February 1914. He died in France as a result of injuries sustained on the Western Front during the First World War. His death was an indirect cause of the tradition of the two-minute silence, instigated by his father Sir Harry Hands when Mayor of Cape Town.

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26/07/1886

Lars Hanson, Swedish actor (died 1965)

Lars Mauritz Hanson was a Swedish film and stage actor, internationally mostly remembered for his motion picture roles during the silent film era.

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26/07/1885

Roy Castleton, American baseball player (died 1967)

Royal Eugene Castleton was a relief pitcher for the New York Highlanders and Cincinnati Reds. The first native of the state of Utah and the first Mormon to play in the major leagues, Castleton made his debut with the Highlanders on April 16, 1907, and played his final game with the Reds on May 29, 1910.

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André Maurois, French soldier and author (died 1967)

André Maurois was a French author.

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26/07/1882

Albert Dunstan, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of Victoria (died 1950)

Sir Albert Arthur Dunstan, KCMG was an Australian politician who served as the 33rd premier of Victoria from 1935 to 1943 and from 1943 to 1945 and as the third deputy premier of Victoria for five days in March 1935. A member of the Country Party, now the National Party, his term as premier was the second-longest in the state's history and the longest of any third-party premier. He was the first person to hold the office of premier in its own right, and not an additional duty taken up by the Treasurer, Attorney-General or Chief Secretary.

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26/07/1880

Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Ukrainian playwright and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Ukrainian People's Republic (died 1951)

Volodymyr Kyrylovych Vynnychenko was a Ukrainian statesman, political activist, writer, playwright and artist who served as the first prime minister of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Prior to his entry onto the stage of Ukrainian politics, he was a long-time political activist, who lived abroad in Western Europe from 1906 to 1914 escaping persecution by Russian authorities.

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26/07/1879

Shunroku Hata, Japanese field marshal and politician, 48th Japanese Minister of War (died 1962)

Shunroku Hata was a field marshal (gensui) in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. He was the last surviving Japanese military officer with a marshal's rank. Hata was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1948, but was paroled in 1955.

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26/07/1878

Edward B. Greene, American banking, mining, and steel company executive (died 1957)

Edward Belden Greene was an American banking, mining, and steel company executive. He joined the Cleveland Trust Company in 1900, and by 1914 was a vice president. He later was a director and chairman of its executive committee, and served on state and federal emergency credit and banking organizations during the Great Depression. He left in 1933 to become chairman of the board of directors of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Mining Company. He oversaw the purchase of Corrigan, McKinney Steel, and later its sale.

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Ernst Hoppenberg, German swimmer and water polo player (died 1937)

Ernst Heinrich Hoppenberg was a German swimmer and water polo player who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century in the 200 metre events. He participated in Swimming at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and won two gold medals in the 200 metre backstroke and 200 m team race for Germany.

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26/07/1877

Jesse Lauriston Livermore, American investor and security analyst, "Great Bear of Wall Street" (died 1940)

Jesse Lauriston Livermore was an American stock trader. He is considered a pioneer of day trading and was the basis for the main character of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, a best-selling book by Edwin Lefèvre. At one time, Livermore was one of the richest people in the world; however, at the time of his suicide, he had liabilities greater than his assets.

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26/07/1875

Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist (died 1961)

Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. He was a prolific author of over twenty books, illustrator, and correspondent, and academic, best known for his concept of archetypes. Widely considered one of the most influential psychologists of all time, Jung's work has fostered not only scholarship, but also popular interest. His work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, psychology, and religious studies.

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Ernesta Di Capua, Italian botanist and explorer (died 1943)

Ernesta Di Capua was an Italian botanist, taxonomist, and explorer. She was executed at the Auschwitz concentration camp for her Jewish heritage. The species Caralluma dicapuae was named in her honor.

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Antonio Machado, Spanish poet and academic (died 1939)

Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz, known as Antonio Machado, was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation of '98. His work, initially modernist, evolved towards an intimate form of symbolism with romantic traits. He gradually developed a style characterised by both an engagement with humanity on one side and an almost Taoist contemplation of existence on the other, a synthesis that, according to Machado, echoed the most ancient popular wisdom. In Gerardo Diego's words, Machado "spoke in verse and lived in poetry."

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26/07/1874

Serge Koussevitzky, Russian-American bassist, composer, and conductor (died 1951)

Serge Koussevitzky was a Russian and American conductor, composer, and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.

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26/07/1865

Philipp Scheidemann, German journalist and politician, 10th Chancellor of Germany (died 1939)

Philipp Heinrich Scheidemann was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In the first quarter of the 20th century, he played a leading role in both his party and in the young Weimar Republic. During the German Revolution of 1918–1919 that broke out after Germany's defeat in World War I, Scheidemann proclaimed a German Republic from a balcony of the Reichstag building. In 1919, he was elected Reich Minister President by the National Assembly meeting in Weimar to write a constitution for the republic. He resigned the office the same year due to a lack of unanimity in the cabinet on whether or not to accept the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

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Rajanikanta Sen, Indian poet and composer (died 1910)

Rajanikanta Sen, also known as Kantakobi, was a Bengali poet and composer, known for his devotional (bhakti) compositions, as well as his patriotic songs.

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26/07/1863

Jāzeps Vītols, Latvian composer (died 1948)

Jāzeps Vītols was a Latvian composer, pedagogue and music critic. He is considered one of the fathers of Latvian classical music.

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26/07/1858

Tom Garrett, Australian cricketer and lawyer (died 1943)

Thomas William Garrett was an early Australian Test cricketer and, later, a distinguished public servant.

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26/07/1856

George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1950)

George Bernard Shaw, known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1913) and Saint Joan (1923). With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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26/07/1855

Ferdinand Tönnies, German sociologist and philosopher (died 1936)

Ferdinand Tönnies was a German sociologist, economist, and philosopher. He was a significant contributor to sociological theory and field studies, best known for distinguishing between two types of social groups, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. He co-founded the German Sociological Association together with Max Weber and Georg Simmel and many other founders. He was president of the society from 1909 to 1933, after which he was ousted for having criticized the Nazis. Tönnies was regarded as the first proper German sociologist and published over 900 works, contributing to many areas of sociology and philosophy. Tönnies, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel are considered the founding fathers of classical German sociology. Though there has been a resurgence of interest in Weber and Simmel, Tönnies has not drawn as much attention.

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26/07/1854

Philippe Gaucher, French dermatologist and academic (died 1918)

Philippe Charles Ernest Gaucher was a French dermatologist born in the department of Nièvre.

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26/07/1844

Stefan Drzewiecki, Ukrainian-Polish engineer and journalist (died 1938)

Stefan Drzewiecki was a Polish scientist, journalist, engineer, constructor and inventor, known for designing and constructing the world's first electric-powered submarine. He worked mainly in France and the Russian Empire.

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26/07/1842

Alfred Marshall, English economist and academic (died 1924)

Alfred Marshall was an English economist and one of the most influential economists of his time. His book Principles of Economics (1890) was the dominant economic textbook in England for many years, and brought the ideas of supply and demand, marginal utility, and costs of production into a coherent whole, popularizing the modern neoclassical approach which dominates microeconomics to this day. As a result, he is known as the father of scientific economics.

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26/07/1841

Carl Robert Jakobson, Estonian journalist and politician (died 1882)

Carl Robert Jakobson was an Estonian writer, politician and teacher active in the Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire. He was one of the most important persons of the Estonian national awakening in the second half of the 19th century.

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26/07/1838

Silas Soule, American soldier and whistleblower of the Sand Creek Massacre (died 1865)

Silas Stillman Soule was an American abolitionist, teenage conductor on the Underground Railroad, military officer, and early example of what would later be called a "whistleblower". He is honored as a hero for disobeying orders to participate in a massacre of Native Americans, and then giving evidence against his commander despite threats on his life.

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26/07/1829

Auguste Beernaert, Belgian politician, 14th Prime Minister of Belgium, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1912)

Auguste Marie François Beernaert was the prime minister of Belgium from October 1884 to March 1894, and the 1909 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

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26/07/1819

Justin Holland, American guitarist and educator (died 1887)

Justin Holland was an American classical guitarist, a music teacher, a community leader, an African American man who worked to help slaves on the Underground Railroad, and an activist for equal rights for African Americans.

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26/07/1802

Mariano Arista, Mexican general and politician, 42nd President of Mexico (died 1855)

José Mariano Martín Buenaventura Ignacio Nepomuceno García de Arista Nuez was a Mexican soldier and politician who served as the 19th president of Mexico from 1851 to 1853.

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26/07/1796

George Catlin, American painter, author, and traveler (died 1872)

George Catlin was an American lawyer, painter, author, and traveler, who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the American frontier. Traveling to the American West five times during the 1830s, Catlin wrote about and painted portraits that depicted the life of the Plains Indians. His early work included engravings, drawn from nature, of sites along the route of the Erie Canal in New York State. Several of his renderings were published in one of the first printed books to use lithography, Cadwallader D. Colden's Memoir, Prepared at the Request of a Committee of the Common Council of the City of New York, and Presented to the Mayor of the City, at the Celebration of the Completion of the New York Canals, published in 1825, with early images of the City of Buffalo.

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26/07/1791

Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, Austrian pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1844)

Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, also known as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Jr., was the youngest child of six born to composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his wife Constanze and the younger of his parents' two surviving children. He was a composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher of the late classical period whose musical style was of an early Romanticism, heavily influenced by his father's mature style. He knew Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann, both of whom held him in high esteem.

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26/07/1782

John Field, Irish pianist and composer (died 1837)

John Field was an Irish pianist, composer and teacher widely credited as the inventor of the nocturne. While many of his contemporaries wrote in a similar style, Field was the first to use the term to apply to a character piece featuring a cantabile melody over an arpeggiated accompaniment.

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26/07/1739

George Clinton, American general and politician, 4th Vice President of the United States (died 1812)

George Clinton was an American soldier, statesman, and a prominent Democratic-Republican in the formative years of the United States. Clinton served as the fourth vice president during the second term of Thomas Jefferson's presidency and the first term of James Madison's presidency from 1805 until his death in 1812. He also served as the first governor of New York from 1777 to 1795 and again from 1801 to 1804; his tenure makes him the second-longest-serving governor in U.S. history. Clinton was the first vice-president to die in office, and the first of two to hold office under two consecutive presidents.

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26/07/1711

Lorenz Christoph Mizler, German physician, mathematician, and historian (died 1778)

Lorenz Christoph Mizler von Kolof was a German physician, historian, printer, mathematician, Baroque music composer, and precursor of the Enlightenment in Poland.

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26/07/1678

Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1711)

Joseph I was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1705 until his death in 1711. He was the eldest son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor from his third wife, Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg. Joseph was crowned King of Hungary at the age of nine in 1687 and was elected King of the Romans at the age of eleven in 1690. He succeeded to the thrones of Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire when his father died.

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26/07/1502

Christian Egenolff, German printer (died 1555)

Christian Egenolff or Egenolph, also known as Christian Egenolff, the Elder, was the first important printer and publisher operating from Frankfurt-am-Main, and best known for his "Kräuterbuch", Herbarum, arborum, fruticum, frumentorum ac leguminem, and re-issue of books by Adam Ries, Erasmus von Rotterdam and Ulrich von Hutten.

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26/07/1400

Isabel le Despenser, Countess of Worcester, English noble (died 1439)

Isabel le Despenser, Countess of Worcester and Warwick, LG was the posthumous daughter and eventually the sole heiress of Thomas le Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester by his wife, Constance of York, daughter of Edmund of Langley. She was born six months after her father had been beheaded for plotting against King Henry IV of England (1399–1413).

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26/07/1030

Stanislaus of Szczepanów, Polish bishop and saint (died 1079)

Stanislaus of Szczepanów was a Polish Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Kraków and was martyred by the Polish King Bolesław II the Bold. He is the patron saint of Poland.

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