Born on Thursday, 15th May – Famous Birthdays
On this day, 251 notable people were born on 15th May — spanning from 1397 to 2006. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.
Thursday, 15 May 2025 marks the birthday of several notable figures across sports, entertainment and politics. Among those born on this date is Andy Murray, the Scottish tennis player who arrived in 1987 and went on to become one of Britain’s most successful athletes. Another significant figure born on this day was Cecilia Malmström, who was born in 1968 and later served as the 15th European Commissioner for Trade, bringing Swedish expertise to EU trade negotiations. The date also commemorates the birth of Dayana Yastremska, a Ukrainian tennis player born in 2000 who has competed at the highest levels of professional tennis.
Looking further back in history, 15 May is notable for the birth of Pierre Curie in 1859. The French physicist and academic went on to win the Nobel Prize and made groundbreaking contributions to the study of radioactivity alongside his wife Marie Curie. Across the centuries, the date has seen the arrival of numerous other accomplished individuals, from historical figures like Klemens von Metternich, the Austrian statesman born in 1773, to creative talents such as Brian Eno, the influential English musician and producer born in 1948.
The list of notable births on this date extends across all professions and nations. Musicians, athletes, politicians, scientists and artists have all entered the world on 15 May, each contributing to their respective fields. From contemporary figures in sport and entertainment to historical figures whose legacies have shaped European and global affairs, the date represents a diverse array of human achievement and talent across multiple generations.
DayAtlas provides comprehensive information about this date, displaying weather conditions, significant events, famous births and notable deaths for any location worldwide.
Discover who was born today 9th April.
15/05/2006
Haerin, Korean singer
Kang Hae-rin, known mononymously as Haerin, is a South Korean singer. She is best known as a member of the South Korean girl group NewJeans, which debuted on July 22, 2022, under the record label ADOR.
15/05/2002
Chase Hudson, American internet celebrity, singer, actor
Cole Chase Hudson, known professionally as Huddy, is an American social media personality, singer, and actor known for co-founding the TikTok collective the Hype House, and popularizing the e-boy fashion style and subculture. A 2020 article in Billboard Magazine rated him as one of the top 10 music influencers on TikTok that year, with over 30 million followers, and one of the most influential people on the platform.
15/05/2000
Dayana Yastremska, Ukrainian tennis player
Dayana Oleksandrivna Yastremska is a Ukrainian professional tennis player and musician. She has been ranked as high as world No. 21 in singles by the WTA, and No. 82 in doubles, both achieved in January 2020. Yastremska has won three WTA Tour titles. Her best major performance is reaching the semifinals at the 2024 Australian Open.
15/05/1999
Anastasia Gasanova, Russian tennis player
Anastasia Dmitriyevna Gasanova is a Russian tennis player. Gasanova has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of 121, achieved on 10 January 2022. She also has a career-high WTA ranking of 224 in doubles, reached on 19 June 2023.
15/05/1998
Lucrezia Stefanini, Italian tennis player
Lucrezia Stefanini is an Italian tennis player. Stefanini has career-high WTA rankings of 99 in singles and 393 in doubles. She has won ten singles titles and two doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. She was finalist for Italy in the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup.
15/05/1997
Ousmane Dembélé, French footballer
Masour Ousmane Dembélé is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward or right winger for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is one of ten players to have won the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, and Ballon d'Or in their career.
Scott Drinkwater, Australian rugby league player
Scott Drinkwater is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL).
15/05/1996
Birdy, English singer-songwriter
Jasmine Lucilla Elizabeth Jennifer van den Bogaerde, known professionally as Birdy, is a British singer. She won the music competition Open Mic UK in 2008, at the age of 12.
15/05/1993
Jeremy Hawkins, New Zealand rugby league player
Jeremy Hawkins is a retired New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Queensland Cup. He plays at centre and wing and previously played for the Canberra Raiders.
Tomáš Kalas, Czech international footballer
Tomáš Kalas is a Czech professional footballer who plays for Schalke 04 and the Czech Republic national team. He plays as a centre-back, but has also been played as a right-back.
15/05/1990
Jordan Eberle, Canadian ice hockey player
Jordan Leslie Christopher Eberle is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a right winger and captain of the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the first round in the 2008 NHL entry draft by the Edmonton Oilers and made his NHL debut with the Oilers in 2010.
Lee Jong-hyun, Korean guitarist
Lee Jong-hyun, also known by his mononym Jonghyun, is a South Korean musician, singer-songwriter and actor. He was the former lead guitarist and vocalist of South Korean rock band CNBLUE. He made his acting debut in an omnibus movie Acoustic in 2010, followed by his television debut in the Korean drama A Gentleman's Dignity in 2012. He appeared in television dramas Orange Marmalade (2015), Lingerie Girls' Generation (2017) and Evergreen (2018).
Stella Maxwell, New Zealand model
Stella Maynes Maxwell is a British-Irish model. She is a former Victoria's Secret Angel, and is also the face of the cosmetics brand Max Factor.
15/05/1989
Susan Soonkyu Lee, Korean-American singer and entertainer
Susan Soonkyu Lee, known professionally as Sunny (Korean: 써니), is a South Korean and American singer and entertainer based in South Korea. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one of South Korea's most widely known girl groups worldwide. Apart from her group's activities, Sunny has participated in numerous side projects including original soundtracks, television variety shows, musical acting and radio hosting.
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, French footballer
Mapou Nzapali Yanga-Mbiwa is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for FC Istres who are in Championnat National.
15/05/1988
Indrek Kajupank, Estonian basketball player
Indrek Kajupank is an Estonian professional basketball player for BC Tallinna Kalev of the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League. He is a 2.00 m tall small forward and power forward. He also represents the Estonian national basketball team internationally.
Scott Laird, English footballer
Scott Benjamin Laird is an English professional footballer and football manager who is player-manager of Western League Premier Division club Street. Primarily a left-back, he has also been deployed as a central midfielder later in his career.
15/05/1987
David Adams, American baseball player
David Lee Adams is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees in 2013.
Michael Brantley, American baseball player
Michael Charles Brantley Jr., is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians and the Houston Astros. The son of former MLB player and hitting coach Mickey Brantley, he is a left-handed batter and thrower.
Brian Dozier, American baseball player
James Brian Dozier is an American former professional baseball second baseman. The Minnesota Twins selected Dozier in the eighth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. He made his MLB debut in 2012 and he played in MLB for the Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals and New York Mets. Dozier was an All-Star in 2015, and won a Gold Glove Award in 2017.
Mark Fayne, American ice hockey player
Mark C. Fayne is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played with the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Devils in the 5th round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.
Ersan İlyasova, Turkish basketball player
Ersan İlyasova is a Turkish former professional basketball player. He played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), including 9 seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks. He also played in Turkey, Spain and the NBA Development League.
Leonardo Mayer, Argentinian tennis player
Leonardo Martín Mayer is a tennis coach and a former professional player from Argentina. Mayer achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 21 in June 2015 and world No. 48 in doubles in January 2019.
Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player
Sir Andrew Barron Murray is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray won 46 ATP Tour singles titles, including three majors at the 2012 US Open, 2013 Wimbledon Championships, and 2016 Wimbledon Championships. He also won two gold medals at the Summer Olympics, the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals, 14 Masters events, and contested a total of eleven major finals.
15/05/1986
Thomas Brown, American football player
Thomas Brown is an American professional football coach and former running back who currently serves as the passing game coordinator and tight ends coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Brown played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs and played professionally in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons and Cleveland Browns. He previously served as an assistant coach for several NFL and college football teams.
Matías Fernández, Chilean footballer
Matías Ariel Fernández Fernández is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He was known for his dribbling skills, also being a free kick specialist.
Adam Moffat, Scottish footballer
Adam John William Moffat is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and spent the majority of his career playing in the various professional leagues in the United States. He attended Gryffe High School in Houston, Scotland before beginning his career in Scottish football with Ross County and Elgin City, Moffat has played in the United States since 2007, initially with Cleveland City Stars. He then played for Major League Soccer (MLS) teams Columbus Crew, Portland Timbers, Houston Dynamo and Seattle Sounders FC and FC Dallas prior to joining the New York Cosmos in 2015 and finishing his career with Sacramento Republic. He won the MLS Cup with Columbus in 2008.
15/05/1985
Cristiane, Brazilian footballer
Cristiane Rozeira de Souza Silva, known as Cristiane, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Flamengo and the Brazilian women's national team. A prolific forward, she was part of Brazil's silver medal-winning teams at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic football tournaments. In total she has participated in five FIFA Women's World Cups and four Olympics.
Tania Cagnotto, Italian diver
Tania Cagnotto is an Italian diver. She is the first female Italian diver to win a medal in a World Championship. A five-time Olympian, she won medals in both individual and synchronized springboard diving in her final appearance at the Olympics in 2016. She is also a 20-time champion at the European level.
Laura Harvey, English football coach
Laura Kate Harvey is an English football manager and former player who currently manages Seattle Reign FC of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She holds USSF "A" and UEFA "A" coaching licenses.
Tathagata Mukherjee, Indian actor
Tathagata Mukherjee is a Kolkata-based Indian writer, Director and actor. He is best known for his experimentation in Bengali Cinema and his acting performances as lead in various television shows.
Denis Onyango, Ugandan football goalkeeper
Denis Masinde Onyango is a Ugandan professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for South African Premier Soccer League club Mamelodi Sundowns and the Uganda national team.
Justine Robbeson, South African javelin thrower
Justine Gail Robbeson is a South African athlete who specialised in the javelin throw. She previously competed in the heptathlon, achieving a personal best of 5868 in 2004. Justine attended Springs Girls' High School. She completed her BSc degree in Nutrition and Human Movement Sciences, BSc Honours degree in Nutrition, and MSc degree in Sports Nutrition at North-West University, Potchefstroom, where she was a member of the athletics club coached by Terseus Liebenberg.
15/05/1984
Jeff Deslauriers, Canadian ice hockey player
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks. Deslauriers was selected by the Oilers in the second round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft with the 31st overall pick.
Sérgio Jimenez, Brazilian race car driver
Sérgio Jimenez is a Brazilian racing driver currently competing with Scuderia Chiarelli in the Stock Car Pro Series. He is the 2002 Formula Renault 2.0 Brazil champion, and the 2018-19 Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy champion.
Samantha Noble, Australian actress
Samantha C. Noble is a retired Australian actress who has worked on television series and films. She is best known for her role as Jade/Amitiel in Gabriel, and has appeared in several films including See No Evil and Court of Lonely Royals.
Beau Scott, Australian rugby league player
Beau Scott is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s in the National Rugby League (NRL). An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative second-row, he could also play centre and lock. He played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, St. George Illawarra Dragons, the Newcastle Knights and the Parramatta Eels.
Mr Probz, Dutch singer, songwriter, rapper, actor and record producer
Dennis Princewell Stehr, known professionally as Mr. Probz, is a Dutch record producer, singer and rapper.
15/05/1982
Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaican sprinter
Veronica Campbell Brown is a Jamaican retired track and field sprinter, who specialized in the 100 and 200 meters. An eight-time Olympic medalist, she is the second of three women in history to win two consecutive Olympic 200 m gold medals, after Bärbel Wöckel of Germany and compatriot Elaine Thompson-Herah. Campbell-Brown is one of only eleven athletes to win World Championship titles at the youth, junior, and senior levels of an athletic event.
Segundo Castillo, Ecuadorian footballer
Segundo Alejandro Castillo Nazareno is an Ecuadorian football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He was recently the manager of Barcelona SC.
Rafael Pérez, Dominican baseball player
Rafael Jerome Pérez is a Dominican former left-handed professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians from 2006 to 2012, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chunichi Dragons in 2015. He was signed by the Indians as an undrafted free agent in 2002 and played with them through 2012. He lives in Freeport, New York, on Long Island.
Layal Abboud, Lebanese singer
Layal Mounir Abboud is a Lebanese pop singer, folk music entertainer, sound-lyric poet, concert dancer, fit model and Muslim humanitarian.
15/05/1981
Patrice Evra, French footballer
Patrice Latyr Evra is a former professional footballer. Originally a forward, he primarily played as a left-back. Evra served as captain for both Manchester United and the France national team. He was named in the PFA Team of the Year on three occasions, as well as the FIFPro World XI and the UEFA Team of the Year. He is often regarded as one of the greatest full-backs of all time, despite being the only man to start and lose 4 UEFA Champions League finals.
Paul Konchesky, English international footballer
Paul Martyn Konchesky is an English football coach and former professional player who most recently was manager of West Ham United Women of the FA WSL.
Justin Morneau, Canadian baseball player
Justin Ernest George Morneau is a Canadian former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and Chicago White Sox. At 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and 220 pounds (100 kg), Morneau was drafted as a catcher by the Twins in 1999. He converted to first base in the minor leagues and made his MLB debut in 2003. Morneau held that position throughout his career and in 2007 became the first Twin since Gary Gaetti in 1987–1988 to hit 30 home runs in consecutive seasons.
Zara Phillips, English equestrian
Zara Anne Elizabeth Tindall is a British equestrian, Olympian, and member of the British royal family. She is the daughter of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips, and the eldest niece of King Charles III. At birth she was sixth in the line of succession to the British throne during the reign of her maternal grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and as of 2026 is 22nd.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress and singer
Jamie-Lynn Sigler is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Meadow Soprano on the HBO television series The Sopranos from 1999 to 2007.
15/05/1980
Josh Beckett, American baseball player
Joshua Patrick Beckett is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). A three-time MLB All-Star, he played for the Florida Marlins, the Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
15/05/1979
Adolfo Bautista, Mexican footballer
Adolfo Bautista Marrufo, also known as "Bofo", is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and centre-forward.
Daniel Caines, English sprinter
Daniel Stephen Caines is an English former athlete who mainly competed in the 400 metres and competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics.
Chris Masoe, New Zealand rugby player
Chris Masoe is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer, who last played for Racing Metro 92 in the Top 14, and a current professional boxer. He is the brother of boxer Maselino Masoe. He was born on the island of Savai'i.
Ryan Max Riley, American skier
Ryan Max Riley is an athlete who competed on the World Cup for seven years and was a two-time US National Champion as an athlete on the U.S. Ski Team in the freestyle skiing events of moguls and dual moguls.
Robert Royal, American football player
Robert Shelton Royal is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers and was selected by the Washington Redskins in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL draft. He also played in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns.
Dominic Scott, Irish guitarist
Dominic Scott is an Irish-born British guitarist, and the founder of the English rock band Roundstone and a founding member of the alternative rock band Keane.
15/05/1978
Amy Chow, American gymnast and pediatrician
Amy Yuen Yee Chow is an American former artistic gymnast who competed at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. She is best known for being a member of the Magnificent Seven, which won the United States' first team gold medal in Olympic gymnastics. She is also the first Asian-American woman to win an Olympic medal in gymnastics.
Dwayne De Rosario, Canadian soccer player
Dwayne Anthony De Rosario OOnt is a Canadian former professional soccer player who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. A versatile attacker, he played for the Toronto Lynx, FSV Zwickau and Richmond Kickers early in his career. He came to prominence in the 2000s playing in Major League Soccer for the San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo, Toronto FC, New York Red Bulls and D.C. United. A four-time MLS Cup champion, he also won the 2011 MLS Most Valuable Player award. He is the tenth-leading scorer in MLS history with 104 goals. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most decorated Canadian players of all time.
Edu, Brazilian footballer
Eduardo César Daud Gaspar, known as Edu or Edu Gaspar, is a Brazilian former professional footballer and currently the Global Head of Football at Premier League club Nottingham Forest. As a player, he was an attacking and central midfielder, and played for Corinthians in Brazil, Arsenal in England, and Valencia in Spain across a twelve-year career.
David Krumholtz, American actor
David Krumholtz is an American actor. Krumholtz is best known for portraying Bernard in The Santa Clause franchise (1994–present), Michael Eckman in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Goldstein in the Harold & Kumar film trilogy (2004–2011), Charlie Eppes in the CBS drama series Numb3rs (2005–2010), and Isidor Isaac Rabi in Oppenheimer (2023).
15/05/1976
Torraye Braggs, American basketball player
Torraye L. Braggs is an American professional basketball player. During his pro club career, Braggs played in the NBA, and also in seventeen other countries' national domestic leagues, including: Spain, Venezuela, Greece, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Israel, Russia, South Korea, China, Latvia, Mexico, Jordan, Iran, Uruguay, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia.
Mark Kennedy, Irish footballer
Mark John Kennedy is an Irish football coach and former professional footballer who was most recently the U21 professional phase coach of Birmingham City.
Jacek Krzynówek, Polish footballer
Jacek Kamil Krzynówek is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or striker.
Ryan Leaf, American football player and coach
Ryan David Leaf is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for four seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the San Diego Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys between 1998 and 2001.
Anže Logar, Slovenian politician
Anže Logar is a Slovenian politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs in the third Janša cabinet from March 2020 to June 2022.
Tyler Walker, American baseball player
Tyler Lanier Walker is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He is an alumnus of San Francisco University High School, where he was closely mentored by Duncan Lyon, and University of California, Berkeley. Walker pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets (2002), San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2006), Philadelphia Phillies (2009), and Washington Nationals (2010).
15/05/1975
Ray Lewis, American football player and sportscaster
Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 17-year career as a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning All-America honors. He is considered one of the greatest linebackers of all time.
Ales Michalevic, Belarusian lawyer and politician
Ales (Alaksiej) Anatoljevich Michalevic is a Belarusian public figure and politician, candidate in the 2010 Belarusian presidential election.
Janne Seurujärvi, Finnish Sami politician, first Sami ever to be elected to the Finnish Parliament
Janne Antero Seurujärvi is a Finnish Sami politician. He was the first Sami ever to be elected to the Finnish Parliament. Seurujärvi represents the Finnish Centre Party (Keskusta). Seurujärvi was a member of the Finnish Parliament from 2007 to 2011. Seurujärvi is the CEO of Saariselkä ltd., one of the biggest holiday resorts in Finnish Lapland.
15/05/1974
Vasilis Kikilias, Greek basketball player and politician
Vasilis Kikilias is a Greek politician, currently Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy in the second cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Matthew Sadler, English chess player and author
Matthew David Sadler is an English chess grandmaster, chess writer and two-time British Chess Champion.
Marko Tredup, German footballer and manager
Marko Tredup is a German former professional footballer who played as a right-back.
Ahmet Zappa, American musician and writer
Ahmet Emuukha Rodan Zappa is an American musician, writer, actor and trustee of the Zappa Family Trust.
15/05/1972
Danny Alexander, Scottish politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
Sir Daniel Grian Alexander is a British banker, lobbyist and former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency from 2005 until the general election in May 2015. In his first parliamentary term (2005–2010), Alexander was the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Work and Pensions (2007–2008), the Chief of Staff to party leader Nick Clegg, and Chair of the Liberal Democrat Manifesto Group (2007–2010).
David Charvet, French actor and singer
David Franck Charvet is a French-American singer, actor, model, and television personality.
15/05/1971
Karin Lušnic, Slovenian tennis player
Karin Lušnic is a former tennis player from Slovenia.
15/05/1970
Frank de Boer, Dutch footballer and manager
Franciscus de Boer is a Dutch former professional footballer and current manager. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, three Super Cups, one UEFA Super Cup, one UEFA Cup, one UEFA Champions League, and one Intercontinental Cup. He later spent five years at Barcelona, where he won the 1998–99 La Liga title, followed by short spells at Galatasaray, Rangers, Al-Rayyan and Al-Shamal before retiring.
Ronald de Boer, Dutch footballer and manager
Ronaldus de Boer is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right or attacking midfielder or right winger. He played for the Netherlands national team as well as a host of professional clubs in Europe. He is the twin brother of Frank de Boer. The majority of his success as a football player was with Ajax. He works as the Ajax A1 assistant manager.
Desmond Howard, American football player and sportscaster
Desmond Kevin Howard is an American sportscaster and former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1991, and was selected fourth overall in the 1992 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins. Howard spent most of his career on special teams as a return specialist and holds the NFL single-season record for punt return yardage. With the Green Bay Packers, Howard was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXXI after returning a kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown, the longest return in Super Bowl history at the time. He is the only special teams player to receive the award. Howard was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010. Since 2005, he has served as an analyst on ESPN College Gameday.
Alison Jackson, English photographer, director, and screenwriter
Alison Jackson is an English artist, photographer and filmmaker. Her work explores the theme of celebrity culture. She makes realistic work of celebrities doing things in private using lookalikes.
Rod Smith, American football player
Roderick Duane Smith is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, all with the Denver Broncos. He played college football for the Missouri Southern Lions and was signed by the Broncos as an undrafted free agent and played his entire career with the team. Following his final game in the NFL at the conclusion of the 2006 season, Smith's 849 career receptions and 11,389 receiving yards ranked him 11th and 17th all-time respectively. As of 2025's offseason, Smith ranks 35th and 40th all-time in receptions and receiving yards respectively.
Ben Wallace, English captain and politician
Sir Robert Ben Lobban Wallace is a British politician and former British Army Officer who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wyre and Preston North, formerly Lancaster and Wyre, from 2005 to 2024.
15/05/1969
Hideki Irabu, Japanese-American baseball player (died 2011)
Hideki Irabu was a Japanese professional baseball player. He played professionally in both Japan and North America. Irabu played for the Lotte Orions / Chiba Lotte Marines and Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and for the New York Yankees, Montreal Expos, and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Kari Baadstrand Sandnes, Norwegian politician
Kari Marie Baadstrand Sandnes is a Norwegian politician and deputy member of the Storting. A member of the Labour Party, she has represented Nordland since October 2025.
Emmitt Smith, American football player and sportscaster
Emmitt James Smith III is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. He is the league's all-time leading rusher, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs of all time.
15/05/1968
Cecilia Malmström, Swedish academic and politician, 15th European Commissioner for Trade
Anna Cecilia Malmström is a Swedish politician who served as European Commissioner for Trade from 2014 to 2019. She previously served as European Commissioner for Home Affairs from 2010 to 2014 and Minister for European Union Affairs from 2006 to 2010. She was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Sweden from 1999 to 2006.
Sophie Raworth, English journalist and broadcaster
Sophie Jane Raworth is an English journalist, newsreader and broadcaster working for the BBC. She is a senior newsreader and is one of the main presenters of BBC News. She has been a television presenter for state occasions and has also presented the BBC's Election Night coverage, alongside other presenters.
15/05/1967
Simen Agdestein, Norwegian chess grandmaster and football player
Simen Agdestein is a Norwegian chess grandmaster, chess coach, author, and former professional footballer as a striker for the Norway national football team.
Laura Hillenbrand, American journalist and author
Laura Hillenbrand is an American author. Her two bestselling nonfiction books, Seabiscuit: An American Legend (2001) and Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (2010), have sold over 13 million copies, and each was adapted for film. Her writing style is distinct from New Journalism, dropping "verbal pyrotechnics" in favor of a stronger focus on the story itself.
John Smoltz, American baseball player and sportscaster
John Andrew Smoltz, nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time All-Star, Smoltz was part of a celebrated trio of starting pitchers, along with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, who propelled Atlanta to perennial pennant contention in the 1990s, highlighted by a championship in the 1995 World Series. He won the National League (NL) Cy Young Award in 1996 after posting a record of 24–8, equaling the most victories by an NL pitcher since 1972. He also played for the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals.
Madhuri Dixit, Indian actress
Madhuri Dixit Nene is an Indian actress and television personality. She has appeared in over 70 Hindi films, attaining nationwide stardom that influenced Indian popular culture. Noted by critics for her performances and dancing abilities, Dixit was credited for singularly paralleling her male contemporaries by leading star vehicles in a male-dominated industry. Her accolades include six Filmfare Awards from a record 17 nominations. In 2008, the Government of India awarded her with Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour of the country.
15/05/1966
Jiří Němec, Czech footballer
Jiří Němec is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He started his professional career playing football in Czechoslovakia, winning two titles with Sparta Prague. He then moved to Germany, where he played until 2002, when he moved back to the Czech Republic and finished his active career.
15/05/1965
André Abujamra, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist
André Cibelli Abujamra is a Brazilian score composer, musician, singer, guitarist, actor, and comedian of Lebanese and Italian origin. Both his father, Antônio Abujamra, and cousin, Clarisse Abujamra, are actors.
Scott Tronc, Australian rugby league player
Scott Tronc is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he played club football in Brisbane with Souths, winning a premiership with them in 1985, and later the Broncos, and in Sydney with Wests, Canterbury-Bankstown and Souths.
15/05/1964
Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Danish lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Denmark
Lars Løkke Rasmussen is a Danish politician serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs and as Leader of the Moderates since 2022. He previously served two non-consecutive terms as Prime Minister of Denmark and as Leader of Venstre between 2009 and 2019.
15/05/1963
Gavin Nebbeling, South African footballer
Gavin Mark Nebbeling is a South African former professional footballer who was active exclusively in England between 1981 and 1998. Nebbeling, who played as a central defender, made over 250 appearances in the Football League and over 300 senior professional appearances throughout his entire career.
15/05/1962
Lisa Curry, Australian swimmer
Lisa Gaye Curry, also known by her married name Lisa Curry-Kenny, is an Australian former competition swimmer.
15/05/1961
Giselle Fernández, Mexican-American television journalist.
Giselle Fernández is an American television journalist and anchor for Spectrum News 1. Her appearances on network television include reporting and guest anchoring for CBS Early Show, CBS Evening News, Today, and NBC Nightly News, regular host for Access Hollywood, and contestant on Dancing with the Stars.
15/05/1960
Rhonda Burchmore, Australian actress, singer, and dancer
Rhonda Suzanne Burchmore is an Australian entertainer, most notable as an actress, recording artist and singer in musical theatre, she has appeared in numerous television shows and briefly in film.
Rob Bowman, American director and producer
Rob Stanton Bowman is an American director. He grew up around film and television production, and developed an interest in the field because of the work of his father, director Chuck Bowman. Bowman is a prolific director for television, and has contributed to series such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, and The X-Files, for which he received four consecutive Emmy nominations as a producer. He was an executive producer and director for the comedy drama Castle.
R. Kuhaneswaran, Sri Lankan politician
Raja Kuhaneswaran is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former Member of Parliament.
Rimas Kurtinaitis, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
Rimas Kurtinaitis is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for Lithuania men's national team and Sabah of the Azerbaijan Basketball League (ABL). As a player, he was a member of the senior Soviet Union and Lithuania national teams, and won a gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics. During his playing career, at a height of 1.96 m tall, he played at the shooting guard position. He is the only non-NBA player to ever participate at the NBA All-Star Weekend's Three-Point Contest, doing so in 1989, where he scored 9 points.
15/05/1959
Khaosai Galaxy, Thai boxer and politician
Khaosai Galaxy is a Thai former professional boxer and Muay Thai fighter who competed between 1980 and 1991. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) super-flyweight title from 1984 and 1991. He is listed #19 on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time and named him the 43rd greatest fighter of the past 80 years in 2002. As of 2022, BoxRec rates him as the best Thai boxer of all time, pound for pound.
Luis Pérez-Sala, Spanish race car driver
Luis Pérez-Sala Valls-Taberner is a Spanish retired racing driver who competed in Formula One, Formula 3, Formula 3000 and Touring Cars. He was also the team principal of HRT Formula 1 Team during the 2012 F1 season.
Beverly Jo Scott, American-Belgian singer-songwriter
Beverly Jo Scott, also known as B. J. Scott, is an American-born singer-songwriter living in Brussels, Belgium.
15/05/1958
Jason Graae, American musical theater actor
Jason Graae is an American musical theater actor, best known for his musical theater performances but with a varied career spanning Broadway, opera, television and film. He has won four Bistro Awards, two Ovation Awards, two New York Nightlife Awards, the Theatre Bay Area Award for Best Actor in a Musical and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Joel Hirschhorn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre.
Ruth Marcus, American journalist
Ruth Allyn Marcus is an American political commentator and journalist. She worked for The Washington Post from 1984 to 2025, where she wrote an op-ed column and served as the Deputy Editorial Page Editor for the newspaper. In March 2007, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.
Ron Simmons, American football player and wrestler
Ronald Kyle Simmons is an American former professional wrestler and football player. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he was the first ever African American WCW Champion. Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Simmons played football as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL), Canadian Football League (CFL) and United States Football League (USFL) for four seasons during the 1980s.
15/05/1957
Meg Gardiner, American-English author and academic
Meg Gardiner is an American thriller writer and author of fifteen published books. Her best-known books are the Evan Delaney novels, first published in 2002. In June 2008, she published the first novel in a new series, featuring forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett. More recently she has published three stand-alone novels—Ransom River, The Shadow Tracer, and Phantom Instinct —and four novels in a new series: UNSUB (2017), Into the Black Nowhere (2018), The Dark Corners of the Night (2020), and Shadow Heart (2024).
Juan José Ibarretxe, Spanish politician
Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu is a former president of the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain. Also a leading member of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) during the period, he held office from 2 January 1999 to 7 May 2009. Ibarretxe is an advocate of Basque independence by peaceful means.
Kevin Von Erich, American football player and wrestler
Kevin Ross Adkisson is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kevin Von Erich. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under a "Legends" deal and as a coach. A member of the Von Erich family, Adkisson is best known for his appearances with his father's World Class Championship Wrestling promotion. He is a former world champion in professional wrestling, having once held the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship.
15/05/1956
Andreas Loverdos, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Labour
Andreas Loverdos is a Greek politician who was Minister for Education and Religious Affairs from 2014 to 2015.
Dan Patrick, American television anchor and sportscaster
Daniel Patrick Pugh, known professionally as Dan Patrick, is an American sportscaster, radio personality, and actor. He hosts The Dan Patrick Show broadcast on radio on Premiere Networks and streaming on Peacock. He co-hosted NBC's Football Night in America and served as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated. He worked at ESPN for 18 years, where he often anchored the weeknight and Sunday 11 p.m. edition of SportsCenter. He is unrelated to Bill Patrick, who he often worked with on SportsCenter. He is also the host of the podcast "Dan Patrick Takes a Gamble", about sports wagering.
Kevin Greenaugh, American nuclear engineer (died 2023)
Kevin Charles Greenaugh was an American nuclear engineer who was a senior manager at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in Washington, DC, United States.
15/05/1955
Mohamed Brahmi, Tunisian politician (died 2013)
Mohamed Brahmi was a Tunisian politician. Brahmi was the founder and former leader of the People's Movement, which, under his leadership, won two seats in the constituent election in 2011.
Lia Vissi, Cypriot singer-songwriter and politician
Olympia "Lia" Vissi is a Greek Cypriot singer, songwriter and composer who is most notable for her two participations in the Eurovision Song Contest and for being the older sister of fellow singer Anna Vissi.
15/05/1954
Diana Liverman, English-American geographer and academic
Diana Liverman is a retired Regents Professor of Geography and Development and past Director of the University of Arizona School of Geography, Development and Environment in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences in Tucson, Arizona.
Caroline Thomson, English journalist and broadcaster
Caroline Agnes Morgan Thomson, Lady Liddle is a British business executive. Thomson was the chief operating officer at the BBC from 2006 to 2012 and chair of Oxfam until October 2020. Thomson has been a member of the BBC Board since April 2025.
15/05/1953
George Brett, American baseball player and coach
George Howard Brett is an American former professional baseball third baseman, designated hitter, and first baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals.
Athene Donald, English physicist and academic
Dame Athene Margaret Donald is a British physicist. She was Professor Emerita of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge, and former Master of Churchill College, Cambridge.
Mike Oldfield, English-Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Michael Gordon Oldfield is a retired English musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut album Tubular Bells (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a guitarist, Oldfield played a range of instruments, which included keyboards and percussion, as well as vocals. He had adopted a range of musical styles throughout his career, including progressive rock, world, folk, classical, electronic, ambient and new age music. His discography includes 25 studio albums, nine of which have reached the UK top ten.
15/05/1952
Chazz Palminteri, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, and playwright. He is best known for his film roles in A Bronx Tale (1993), based on his play of the same name, along with Bullets Over Broadway (1994) for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and The Usual Suspects (1995). His recent work includes his recurring role as Shorty in Modern Family (2010–2019).
15/05/1951
Dennis Frederiksen, American singer-songwriter (died 2014)
Dennis Hardy "Fergie" Frederiksen was an American rock singer best known as the former lead singer of Trillion, Angel, LeRoux and Toto, as well as providing backing vocals for Survivor. He contributed to hit singles in three consecutive years, all with different bands: Survivor's "American Heartbeat" in 1982, LeRoux's "Carrie's Gone" in 1983 and Toto's "Stranger in Town" in 1984.
Chris Ham, English political scientist and academic
Sir Chris Ham, is a health policy academic who started life as a political scientist. He was chief executive of the King's Fund from 2010 to 2018. He was professor of health policy and management at University of Birmingham's health services management centre from 1992 to 2010. He was seconded to the Department of Health where he was Director of the Strategy Unit working with Alan Milburn and John Reid until 2004.
Frank Wilczek, American mathematician and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
Frank Anthony Wilczek is an American theoretical physicist. He shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics with David Gross and H. David Politzer "for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction".
15/05/1950
Jim Bacon, Australian politician, 41st Premier of Tasmania (died 2004)
James Alexander Bacon, AC was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Tasmania from 1998 to 2004.
Jim Simons, American golfer (died 2005)
James Bradley Simons was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1970s and 1980s.
15/05/1949
Frank L. Culbertson Jr., American captain, pilot, and astronaut
Frank Lee Culbertson Jr. is an American former naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aerospace engineer, NASA astronaut, graduate of the US Naval Academy, and member of the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame. He served as the commander of the International Space Station for almost four months in 2001 and was the only U.S. citizen not on Earth when the September 11 attacks occurred.
Robert S.J. Sparks, English geologist and academic
Sir Robert Stephen John Sparks, is Chaning Wills Professor of Geology in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. He is one of the world's leading volcanologists and has been widely recognised his pioneering research into the physics of eruptions, volcanic geology, igneous petrology, volcanic hazards and risk assessment, and wider services to the science community.
15/05/1948
Yutaka Enatsu, Japanese baseball player
Yutaka Enatsu is a Japanese former pitcher regarded as one of the best Japanese strikeout pitchers of all-time. In 1968, he recorded 401 strikeouts, which is still the world record.
Brian Eno, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
Brian Peter George Eno is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, sound designer, author and political activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambient music and electronica, and for producing, recording, and writing works in rock and pop music. A self-described "non-musician", Eno has helped introduce unconventional concepts and approaches to contemporary music. He has been described as one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures. In 2019, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.
Kathleen Sebelius, American politician, 44th Governor of Kansas
Kathleen Sebelius is an American politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of health and human services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebelius was instrumental in overseeing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Before becoming secretary, she served as the 44th governor of Kansas from 2003 to 2009, the second woman to hold that office. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Sebelius was the Democratic respondent to the 2008 State of the Union address and is chair-emerita of the Democratic Governors Association. She is CEO of Sebelius Resources LLC.
15/05/1947
Graeham Goble, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
Graeham George Goble, is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as a founding member of Australian rock group Little River Band and Birtles Shorrock Goble.
15/05/1946
Thadeus Nguyễn Văn Lý, Vietnamese priest and activist
Thadeus Nguyễn Văn Lý is a Vietnamese Roman Catholic priest and dissident involved in many pro-democracy movements, for which he was imprisoned for a total of almost 15 years. For his ongoing imprisonment and continuous non-violent protest, Amnesty International adopted Lý in December 1983 as a prisoner of conscience. Most recently, his support for the Bloc 8406 manifesto has led to his sentence on 30 March 2007, for an additional eight years in prison, where he was released and then returned in 2011.
15/05/1945
Michael Dexter, English hematologist and academic
(Thomas) Michael Dexter FRS is a British haematologist and director of the Wellcome Trust, from 1998 to 2003.
Jerry Quarry, American boxer (died 1999)
Jerry Quarry, nicknamed "Irish" or "the Bellflower Bomber" or the "Great White Hope", was an American professional boxer and multiple heavyweight boxing title contender. During the peak of his career from 1968 to 1971, Quarry was a popular figure in boxing, featured on the cover of The Ring and other boxing magazines, as well as on hit TV shows. His most famous bouts were against Muhammad Ali. He is regarded as being one of the best heavyweight boxers never to win a title. He beat former world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson and top contenders Ron Lyle, Earnie Shavers, Brian London, Thad Spencer, Buster Mathis, Randy Neumann, Jack Bodell, Mac Foster and Eduardo Corletti. The damage he accumulated from lack of attention to defense against larger men at the top level, no head guard sparring, and attempted comebacks in 1977, 1983, and 1992 resulted in Quarry developing an unusually severe case of dementia pugilistica.
15/05/1944
Bill Alter, American police officer and politician
Bill Alter was a former Missouri Republican politician who served in the Missouri Senate. He lived in High Ridge, Missouri, with his wife Merijo.
Ulrich Beck, German sociologist and academic (died 2015)
Ulrich Beck was a German sociologist, and one of the most cited social scientists in the world during his lifetime. His work focused on questions of uncontrollability, ignorance and uncertainty in the modern age, and he coined the terms "risk society" and "second modernity" or "reflexive modernization". He also tried to overturn national perspectives that predominated in sociological investigations with a cosmopolitanism that acknowledges the interconnectedness of the modern world. He was a professor at the University of Munich and also held appointments at the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH) in Paris, and at the London School of Economics.
15/05/1943
Paul Bégin, Canadian lawyer and politician
Paul Bégin is a former Quebec politician and Cabinet Minister. Member of the Parti Québecois, he served as the province's Justice Minister from 1994 to 1997 and from 2001 to 2002.
Freddie Perren, American songwriter, producer, and conductor (died 2004)
Frederick James Perren was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor. He co-wrote and co-produced songs including "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, and "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches & Herb.
15/05/1942
Lois Johnson, American singer-songwriter (died 2014)
Lois Johnson Scoggins was an American country music singer. She was from Maynardville, Tennessee. She recorded for different labels between 1969 and 1978, charted twenty singles on the Hot Country Songs charts. Her highest chart peak was "Loving You Will Never Grow Old", which reached No. 6 in 1975. Johnson toured with Hank Williams Jr. between 1970 and 1973.
Jusuf Kalla, Indonesian businessman and politician, 10th Vice President of Indonesia
Muhammad Jusuf Kalla, commonly referred to by his initials JK, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who served as the 10th and 12th Vice President of Indonesia from 2004 to 2009 and 2014 to 2019, the only Vice President to serve two non-consecutive terms in office. He was the Golkar Party's presidential nominee in the 2009 presidential election. Before Kalla declared himself as the running mate for Joko Widodo in the 2014 presidential election, a 2012 poll placed his popularity among likely voters in the top three contenders for the presidency and ahead of his own party's nominee Aburizal Bakrie.
Charles Horman, American journalist and documentary filmmaker (died 1973)
Charles Edmund Lazar Horman was an American journalist and documentary filmmaker. He was executed in Chile in the days following the 1973 Chilean coup d'état led by General Augusto Pinochet, which overthrew the socialist president Salvador Allende. Horman's death was the subject of the 1982 Costa-Gavras film Missing, in which he was portrayed by actor John Shea.
Doug Lowe, Australian politician, 35th Premier of Tasmania
Douglas Ackley Lowe AM was the 35th Premier of Tasmania, from 1 December 1977 to 11 November 1981. His time as Premier coincided with controversy over a proposal to build a dam on Tasmania's Gordon River, which would have flooded parts of the Franklin River. The ensuing crisis saw Lowe overthrown as Premier and resign from the Labor Party, acting as an independent for the remainder of his political career.
K. T. Oslin, American singer-songwriter and actress (died 2020)
Kay Toinette Oslin was an American country music singer-songwriter. She had several years of major commercial success in the late 1980s after signing a record deal at age 45. Oslin had four number one hits and placed additional singles on the Billboard country chart during that timespan; in addition, she won three Grammy Awards and is an inductee of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
15/05/1941
Jaxon, American illustrator and publisher, co-founded the Rip Off Press (died 2006)
Jack Edward Jackson, also known by his pen name Jaxon, was an American cartoonist, illustrator, historian, and writer. He co-founded Rip Off Press, and some consider him to be the first underground comix artist, due to his most well-known satirical comic strip God Nose.
15/05/1940
Roger Ailes, American businessman (died 2017)
Roger Eugene Ailes was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television. Ailes was a media consultant for Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, and for Rudy Giuliani's 1989 New York City mayoral election. In July 2016, he left Fox News after allegations of sexually harassing female Fox employees, including on-air hosts Gretchen Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Andrea Tantaros.
Lainie Kazan, American actress and singer
Lainie Kazan is an American actress, singer and classical composer. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for St. Elsewhere and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for My Favorite Year. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role in My Favorite Year (1982). Kazan played Maria Portokalos in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise. She also played Aunt Freida on The Nanny.
Don Nelson, American basketball player and coach
Donald Arvid Nelson is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. Nelson is second all-time in regular season wins of any coach in NBA history, with 1,335. He coached the Milwaukee Bucks, the New York Knicks, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Golden State Warriors. After an All-American career at the University of Iowa, Nelson won five NBA championships playing with the Boston Celtics, with his number 19 retired by the franchise in 1978.
15/05/1939
Dorothy Shirley, English high jumper and educator
Dorothy Ada Emerson is a former British athlete, who mainly competed in the women's high jump event.
15/05/1938
Mireille Darc, French actress, director, and screenwriter (died 2017)
Mireille Darc was a French actress, director, photographer, singer and model. She appeared as a lead character in Jean-Luc Godard's 1967 film Weekend. Darc was a Knight of the Legion of Honour and Commander of the National Order of Merit. Alain Delon was her longtime co-star and companion.
Nancy Garden, American author (died 2014)
Nancy Garden was an American writer of fiction for children and young adults, best known for the lesbian novel Annie on My Mind. She received the 2003 Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association recognizing her lifetime contribution in writing for teens.
Diane Nash, American civil rights movement activist
Diane Judith Nash is an American civil rights activist and strategist of the student wing of the Civil Rights Movement. Nash's campaigns were among the most successful of the era. Her efforts included becoming the chairman of the Nashville Student Movement; organizing the Nashville sit-ins, the first successful civil rights campaign to integrate lunch counters; continuing the Freedom Rides, which desegregated interstate travel; co-founding the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); and co-initiated the Alabama Voting Rights Project and working on the Selma Voting Rights Movement with her husband, James Bevel.
15/05/1937
Madeleine Albright, Czech-American politician and diplomat, 64th United States Secretary of State (died 2022)
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman to hold the position.
Karin Krog, Norwegian singer
Karin Krog is a Norwegian jazz singer.
Trini Lopez, American singer, guitarist, and actor (died 2020)
Trinidad López III, known as Trini Lopez, was an American singer and guitarist. His first album included a cover version of Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer", which earned a gold disc for him. His other hits included "Lemon Tree", "I'm Comin' Home, Cindy" and "Sally Was a Good Old Girl". He designed two guitars for the Gibson Guitar Corporation, which are now collector's items. A documentary on his life and career, My Name Is Lopez, was released in April 2022.
15/05/1936
Anna Maria Alberghetti, Italian-American actress and singer
Anna Maria Alberghetti is an American actress and soprano. Alberghetti sang in concert from the time she was a child and performed at Carnegie Hall at age 13.
Mart Laga, Estonian basketball player (died 1977)
Mart Laga was an Estonian basketball player who competed for the Soviet Union in the EuroBasket 1955 and EuroBasket 1957 events.
Ralph Steadman, English painter and illustrator
Ralph Idris Steadman is a Welsh illustrator and collaborator with the American writer Hunter S. Thompson. Steadman draws satirical political cartoons, social caricatures, and picture books.
Paul Zindel, American playwright and novelist (died 2003)
Paul Zindel Jr. was an American playwright, young adult novelist, and educator.
15/05/1935
Don Bragg, American pole vaulter (died 2019)
Donald George Bragg was an American athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault and won a gold medal in that event at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Ted Dexter, Italian-English cricketer (died 2021)
Edward Ralph Dexter, was an England international cricketer.
Utah Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2008)
Bruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips was an American labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller and poet. He described the struggles of labor unions and the power of direct action, self-identifying as an anarchist. He often promoted the Industrial Workers of the World in his music, actions, and words.
Akihiro Miwa, Japanese singer, actor, director, composer, author and drag queen
Akihiro Maruyama , better known by his stage name Akihiro Miwa , is a Japanese singer, actor, director, composer, author and drag queen.
15/05/1931
Ken Venturi, American golfer and sportscaster (died 2013)
Kenneth Paul Venturi was an American professional golfer and golf broadcaster. In a career shortened by injuries, he won 14 events on the PGA Tour including a major, the U.S. Open in 1964. Shortly before his death in 2013, Venturi was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
James Fitz-Allen Mitchell, Vincentian politician and agronomist, 2nd Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (died 2021)
Sir James Fitz-Allen Mitchell was a Vincentian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from 1984 to 2000 and as the second Premier of Saint Vincent from 1972 to 1974. He founded the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1975, and served as its president until 2000.
15/05/1930
Jasper Johns, American painter and sculptor
Jasper Johns is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and pop art movements.
15/05/1926
Clermont Pépin, Canadian pianist, composer, and educator (died 2006)
Clermont Pépin was a Canadian pianist, composer and teacher who lived in Quebec.
Anthony Shaffer, English author, playwright, and screenwriter (died 2001)
Anthony Joshua Shaffer was an English playwright, screenwriter, novelist, barrister, and advertising executive. He is best remembered for his Tony Award winning play Sleuth, and its acclaimed 1972 film adaptation. His screenplays included Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy and folk horror The Wicker Man.
Peter Shaffer, English playwright and screenwriter (died 2016)
Sir Peter Levin Shaffer was an English playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. His best-known works are the plays Equus and Amadeus, both of which earned him the Tony Award for Best Play. They were later adapted for the screen by Shaffer himself in 1977 and 1984, respectively. He was nominated for an Academy Award for both screenplays, winning for Amadeus, which also earned him a Golden Globe Award. Shaffer also earned nominations for two BAFTA Awards and a Laurence Olivier Award.
15/05/1925
Andrei Eshpai, Russian pianist and composer (died 2015)
Andrei Yakovlevich Eshpai was a Soviet composer. He was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1981.
Mary F. Lyon, English geneticist and biologist (died 2014)
Mary Frances Lyon was an English geneticist best known for her discovery of X-chromosome inactivation, an important biological phenomenon.
Carl Sanders, American soldier, pilot, and politician, 74th Governor of Georgia (died 2014)
Carl Edward Sanders Sr. was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 74th governor of Georgia from 1963 to 1967.
Roy Stewart, Jamaican-English actor and stuntman (died 2008)
Roy Stewart was a Jamaican-born British actor. He began his career as a stuntman and went on to work in film and television.
15/05/1924
Maria Koepcke, German-Peruvian ornithologist and zoologist (died 1971)
Maria Koepcke was a German ornithologist known for her work with Neotropical bird species. Koepcke was a well-respected authority in South American ornithology and her work is still referenced today. For her efforts, she is commemorated in the scientific names of four Peruvian bird species and, along with her husband, a Peruvian lizard species.
15/05/1923
Richard Avedon, American sailor and photographer (died 2004)
Richard Avedon was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Elle specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and dance. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century".
John Lanchbery, English-Australian composer and conductor (died 2003)
John Arthur Lanchbery OBE was an English-Australian composer and conductor, famous for his ballet arrangements. He served as the Principal Conductor of the Royal Ballet from 1959 to 1972, Principal Conductor of the Australian Ballet from 1972 to 1977, and Musical Director of the American Ballet Theatre from 1978 to 1980. He continued to conduct regularly for the Royal Ballet until 2001.
15/05/1922
Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (died 2013)
Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt was a Russian historian, ethnographer and teacher.
Jakucho Setouchi, Japanese nun and author (died 2021)
Jakucho Setouchi, formerly known as Harumi Setouchi, was a Japanese Buddhist nun, writer, and activist. Setouchi wrote a best-selling translation of The Tale of Genji and over 400 fictional biographical and historical novels. In 1997, she was honoured as a Person of Cultural Merit, and in 2006, she was awarded the Order of Culture of Japan.
15/05/1921
Federico Krutwig, Basque writer, member of ETA and translator (died 1998)
Federico Krutwig Sagredo was a Spanish Basque writer, philosopher, politician, and author of several books, with Vasconia standing out in the political domain for its influence in the early stages of ETA, and as an advocate of classic Labourdin for the standardization of Basque. He distanced himself from Sabino Arana's brand of Basque nationalism, emphasizing language instead of race as pivotal for the Basque nation.
15/05/1920
Michel Audiard, French director and screenwriter (died 1985)
Paul Michel Audiard was a French screenwriter and film director, known for his witty, irreverent and slang-laden dialogues which made him a prominent figure on the French cultural scene of the 1960s and 1970s. He was the father of French film director Jacques Audiard.
15/05/1918
Eddy Arnold, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (died 2008)
Richard Edward Arnold was an American country music singer. He was a Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more than 85 million records. A member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame, Arnold ranked 22nd on Country Music Television's 2003 list of "The 40 Greatest Men of Country Music."
Arthur Jackson, American lieutenant and target shooter (died 2015)
Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Charles Jackson was an American competitive sport shooter. In his international career, he won numerous medals across three Summer Olympic Games, three ISSF World Shooting Championships, and two editions of the Pan American Games. He began shooting in the seventh grade and joined the rifle team at Brooklyn Technical High School in 1934. He competed in local and regional tournaments prior to World War II, during which he worked at the Sperry Corporation and later served as a bombardier in the Pacific Theater of Operations. His first international tournament was the 1948 Summer Olympics and his last was the 1956 edition, at which point he began a career in public service with the Central Intelligence Agency in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He stopped competing at the international level in 1957 and retired from the CIA at the end of 1974. After several years as an instructor and coach, he continued participating in smaller tournaments through the 1990s.
Joseph Wiseman, Canadian-American actor (died 2009)
Joseph Wiseman was a Canadian-American theatre, film and television actor. He starred as the villain Julius No in the first James Bond film, Dr. No, in 1962. He was also known for his role as crime boss Manny Weisbord on the television series Crime Story and his lengthy career on Broadway, where he was once called "the spookiest actor in the American theatre".
15/05/1916
Vera Gebuhr, Danish actress (died 2014)
Vera Margrethe Gebuhr was a Danish film, television and stage actress. Gebuhr was most noted for her portrayal of the snobbish neurotic head saleswoman Miss Jørgensen in the popular television series Matador. She trained at the Royal Danish Theatre school from 1937 to 1939 and debuted at the Folketeatret, working there until 1964. She played her first lead film role as the scheming maid in the 1943 melodrama Møllen. Gebuhr appeared in 65 films between 1937 and 2005, as well as made numerous appearances on Danish television series.
15/05/1915
Hilda Bernstein, English-South African author and activist (died 2006)
Hilda Bernstein OLG was a British-born author, artist, and an activist against apartheid and for women's rights.
Paul Samuelson, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2009)
Paul Anthony Samuelson was an American economist who was the first American to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. When awarding the prize in 1970, the Swedish Royal Academies stated that he "has done more than any other contemporary economist to raise the level of scientific analysis in economic theory".
Henrik Sandberg, Danish production manager and producer (died 1993)
Henrik Sandberg was a Danish film producer. He produced 39 films between 1955 and 1979. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. His father was the Danish film director A. W. Sandberg.
15/05/1914
Turk Broda, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 1972)
Walter Edward "Turk" Broda was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. A goaltender, Broda played his entire career for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1936 and 1951, taking a brief hiatus from 1943 to 1946 to fight in the Second World War. The 1940-41 season saw him win his first Vezina Trophy with a GAA of 2.00 to go along with being named to the NHL First All-Star Team. The following season saw him backstop the team to the Stanley Cup championship, recording a shutout and a record of 8-5.
Angus MacLean, Canadian farmer and politician, 25th Premier of Prince Edward Island (died 2000)
John Angus MacLean was a politician and farmer in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
Norrie Paramor, English composer, producer, and conductor (died 1979)
Norman William "Norrie" Paramor was a British record producer, composer, arranger, pianist, bandleader, and orchestral conductor. He is best known for his work with Cliff Richard and the Shadows, both together and separately, steering their early careers and producing and arranging most of their material from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Paramor was an orchestra conductor and composer of music for studio albums, theatrical productions, and film scores.
15/05/1912
Arthur Berger, American composer and educator (died 2003)
Arthur Victor Berger was an American composer and music critic who has been described as a New Mannerist.
15/05/1911
Max Frisch, Swiss playwright and novelist (died 1991)
Max Rudolf Frisch was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity, individuality, responsibility, morality, and political commitment. The use of irony is a significant feature of his post-war output. Frisch was one of the founders of Gruppe Olten. He was awarded the 1965 Jerusalem Prize, the 1973 Grand Schiller Prize, and the 1986 Neustadt International Prize for Literature.
Herta Oberheuser, German physician (died 1978)
Herta Oberheuser was a German Nazi physician and convicted war criminal who performed medical atrocities on prisoners at the Ravensbrück women's concentration camp. For her role in the Holocaust, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the Doctors' Trial, but served only five years of her sentence. A survivor of Ravensbrück called Oberheuser "a beast masquerading as a human".
15/05/1910
Constance Cummings, British-based American actress (died 2005)
Constance Cummings CBE was an American-British actress with a career spanning over 50 years. She starred in films such as Movie Crazy (1932) and American Madness (1932).
15/05/1909
James Mason, English actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 1984)
James Neville Mason was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes and two BAFTA Awards in his career.
Clara Solovera, Chilean singer-songwriter (died 1992)
Clara Solovera was a famous Chilean folk musician and composer. She was Chile's most popular folk music composer in the early 1960s.
15/05/1907
Sukhdev Thapar, Indian activist (died 1931)
Sukhdev Thapar was an Indian freedom fighter who fought against the British government for Indian independence. He was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), and was executed along with Shivaram Rajguru and Bhagat Singh on 23 March 1931.
15/05/1905
Joseph Cotten, American actor (died 1994)
Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of The Philadelphia Story (1939) and Sabrina Fair (1953). He gained worldwide fame for his collaborations with Orson Welles on films Citizen Kane (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), and Journey into Fear (1943). Cotten starred in the latter and was also credited with the screenplay.
Albert Dubout, French cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and sculptor (died 1976)
Albert Dubout was a French cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and sculptor.
Abraham Zapruder, American businessman and amateur photographer, filmed the Zapruder film (died 1970)
Abraham Zapruder was a Ukrainian-born American clothing manufacturer based in Dallas, Texas, who became known for his film work during the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Of Russian-Jewish extraction, Zapruder resided in Dallas and founded a fashion company. On the day of the assassination, he unexpectedly captured the shooting in a home movie while filming Kennedy's presidential limousine as it traveled through Dealey Plaza. The Zapruder film is regarded as the most complete footage of the assassination. Zapruder died in 1970.
15/05/1904
Clifton Fadiman, American game show host and author (died 1999)
Clifton Paul "Kip" Fadiman was an American intellectual, author, editor, and radio and television personality. He began his work in radio, and switched to television later in his career.
15/05/1903
Maria Reiche, German mathematician and archaeologist (died 1998)
Maria Reiche Grosse-Neumann was a German-born Peruvian mathematician, archaeologist, and technical translator. She is known for her research into the Nazca Lines, which she first saw in 1941 together with American historian Paul Kosok. Known as the "Lady of the Lines", Reiche made the documentation, preservation and public dissemination of the Nazca Lines her life's work.
15/05/1902
Richard J. Daley, American lawyer and politician, 48th Mayor of Chicago (died 1976)
Richard Joseph Daley was an American politician who served as the mayor of Chicago from 1955, and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party from 1953, until his death. He has been called "the last of the big city bosses" who controlled and mobilized American cities. He was the patriarch of a powerful Chicago political family. His son Richard M. Daley went on to serve as mayor of Chicago, and another son, William M. Daley, served as United States Secretary of Commerce and White House Chief of Staff.
Sigizmund Levanevsky, Soviet aircraft pilot of Polish origin (died 1937)
Sigizmund Aleksandrovich Levanevsky was a Soviet pioneer of long-range flight who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1934 for his role in the SS Chelyuskin rescue.
15/05/1901
Xavier Herbert, Australian author (died 1984)
Xavier Herbert was an Australian writer best known for his Miles Franklin Award-winning novel Poor Fellow My Country (1975). He was considered one of the elder statesmen of Australian literature. He is also known for short story collections and his autobiography Disturbing Element.
Luis Monti, Argentinian-Italian footballer and manager (died 1983)
Luis Felipe Monti was an Italian Argentine footballer who played as a midfielder and an Olympian. Monti has the distinction of having played in two FIFA World Cup final matches with two different national teams. He played the first of these finals with his native Argentina in 1930, which was lost to Uruguay; and the second with Italy as one of their Oriundi in 1934, thanks to his Romagnol descent. This second time Monti was on the winning side in a 2–1 victory over Czechoslovakia.
15/05/1900
Ida Rhodes, American mathematician, pioneer in computer programming (died 1986)
Ida Rhodes was an American mathematician who became a member of the clique of influential women at the heart of early computer development in the United States.
15/05/1899
Jean Étienne Valluy, French general (died 1970)
Jean Étienne Valluy was a French general.
15/05/1898
Arletty, French model, actress, and singer (died 1992)
Léonie Marie Julie Bathiat, known professionally as Arletty, was a French actress, singer, and fashion model. As an actress she is particularly known for classics directed by Marcel Carné, including Hotel du Nord (1938), Le jour se lève (1939) and Children of Paradise (1945). She was found guilty of treason for an affair with a German officer during World War II.
15/05/1895
Prescott Bush, American captain, banker, and politician (died 1972)
Prescott Sheldon Bush was an American banker and Republican Party politician. After working as a Wall Street executive investment banker, he represented Connecticut in the United States Senate from 1952 to 1963. A member of the Bush family, he was the father of President George H. W. Bush, and the paternal grandfather of President George W. Bush and Florida governor Jeb Bush.
William D. Byron, American lieutenant and politician (died 1941)
William Devereux Byron II, a Democrat, was a U.S. congressman who represented the 6th congressional district of Maryland from January 3, 1939, to February 27, 1941. After his death in an airplane crash in Georgia on February 27, 1941, his widow, Katharine Byron, a granddaughter of U.S. Senator Louis E. McComas, was elected in a special election to complete his term of office.
15/05/1894
Feg Murray, American hurdler and cartoonist (died 1973)
Frederic Seymour Murray, known as Fred Murray or Feg Murray, was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 110 meter hurdles. He won a bronze medal in the 1920 Summer Olympics.
15/05/1893
José Nepomuceno, Filipino filmmaker, founder of Philippine cinema (died 1959)
José Nepomuceno y Zialcita was a Filipino filmmaker. A founding father of Philippine cinema, he is widely known for pioneering film directing and producing locally until the World War II begins. He had his own production company Jose Nepomuceno Productions, which produced the first Filipino silent film entitled Dalagang Bukid in 1919. The film starred Atang de la Rama, a future National Artist of the Philippines. He also directed Un (El) Capullo Marchito in 1920. It starred Luisa Acuña, who then became a famous leading lady in Filipino silent films.
15/05/1892
Charles E. Rosendahl, American admiral (died 1977)
Charles Emery Rosendahl was a highly decorated vice admiral in the United States Navy, and an advocate of lighter-than-air flight.
Jimmy Wilde, Welsh boxer (died 1969)
William James Wilde was a Welsh professional boxer who competed from 1911 to 1923. He simultaneously held the National Sporting Clubs British flyweight title and the World Flyweight championship from 1916 to 1923.
15/05/1891
Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian novelist and playwright (died 1940)
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel The Master and Margarita, published posthumously, has been called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century. He also wrote the novel The White Guard and the plays Ivan Vasilievich, Flight, and The Days of the Turbins.
Hjalmar Dahl, Finnish journalist, translator and writer (died 1960)
Hjalmar Karl Emil Dahl was a Swedish-speaking Finnish journalist, translator and author.
Fritz Feigl, Austrian-Brazilian chemist and academic (died 1971)
Fritz Feigl was a Jewish Austrian-born chemist. He taught at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
15/05/1890
Katherine Anne Porter, American short story writer, novelist, and essayist (died 1980)
Katherine Anne Porter was an American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, poet, and political activist. Her 1962 novel Ship of Fools was the best-selling novel in the United States that year, but her short stories received much more critical acclaim. In 1966, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the U.S. National Book Award for The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter.
15/05/1882
Walter White, Scottish international footballer (died 1950)
Walter White was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside forward in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, Fulham and Everton. He won two caps for Scotland at international level.
15/05/1873
Oskari Tokoi, Finnish socialist and the Chairman of the Senate of Finland (died 1963)
Antti Oskari Tokoi was a Finnish socialist politician who served as a leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. Tokoi became Chairman of the Senate of Finland in 1917, and thus, he was the world's first social democratic leader of the government. During the short-lived Revolution of 1918, Tokoi participated as a leading figure in the revolutionary government. Tokoi later emigrated to the United States, where he served as the long-time editor of Raivaaja, the newspaper of the Finnish Socialist Federation.
15/05/1869
Paul Probst, Swiss target shooter (died 1945)
Paul Probst was a Swiss sport shooter who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He participated in Shooting at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and won a gold medal with the Military pistol team for Switzerland.
John Storey, Australian politician, 20th Premier of New South Wales (died 1921)
John Storey was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales from 12 April 1920 until his sudden death in Sydney. His leadership enabled the New South Wales Labor Party to recover after the split over conscription and to allow it to continue to be a left-wing pragmatist rather than a socialist party.
15/05/1863
Frank Hornby, English businessman and politician, invented Meccano (died 1936)
Frank Hornby was an English inventor, businessman and politician. He was a visionary in toy development and manufacture, and although he had no formal engineering training, he was responsible for the invention and production of three of the most popular lines of toys based on engineering principles in the 20th century: Meccano, Hornby Model Railways and Dinky Toys. He also founded the British toy company Meccano Ltd in 1908, and launched a monthly publication, Meccano Magazine in 1916.
15/05/1862
Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian author and playwright (died 1931)
Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler's works, which include psychological dramas and narratives, dissected turn-of-the-century Viennese bourgeois life, making him a sharp and stylistically conscious chronicler of Viennese society around 1900. Schnitzler's Jewish upbringing and the sexual content of his works made them controversial or banned in his time and beyond.
15/05/1859
Pierre Curie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1906)
Pierre Curie was a French physicist and chemist, and a pioneer in crystallography and magnetism. He shared one half of the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, Marie Curie, for their work on radioactivity. With their win, the Curies became the first married couple to win a Nobel Prize, launching the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes.
15/05/1857
Williamina Fleming, Scottish-American astronomer and academic (died 1911)
Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming was a Scottish astronomer. At the Harvard College Observatory, she contributed to the photographic classification of stellar spectra, helping to develop a common designation system for stars. Fleming cataloged more than ten thousand stars, 59 gaseous nebulae, over 310 variable stars, and 10 novae, among other astronomical phenomena. She is credited with the discovery of the Horsehead Nebula in 1888, and she was a vocal supporter of women's representation in her field.
15/05/1856
L. Frank Baum, American novelist (died 1919)
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, part of a series. In addition to the 14 Oz books, Baum penned 41 other novels, 83 short stories, over 200 poems, and at least 42 scripts. He made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen; the 1939 adaptation of the first Oz book became a landmark of 20th-century cinema.
Matthias Zurbriggen, Swiss mountaineer (died 1917)
Matthias Zurbriggen (15 May 1856 in Saas-Fee – 21 June 1917 in Geneva) was a Swiss mountaineer. He climbed throughout the Alps, the Andes, the Himalayas and New Zealand.
15/05/1854
Ioannis Psycharis, Ukrainian-French philologist and author (died 1929)
Ioannis (Yiannis) Psycharis was a Russian-born philologist who was much of his life a national of France. He was of Greek descent. He was also a writer and a promoter of Demotic Greek.
15/05/1848
Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter and illustrator (died 1926)
Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov was a Russian painter and draughtsman who specialised in mythological and historical subjects. He is considered a co-founder of Russian folklorist and romantic nationalistic painting, and a key figure in the Russian Revivalist movement.
Carl Wernicke, German neuropathologist. (died 1905)
Carl Wernicke was a German physician, anatomist, psychiatrist and neuropathologist. He is known for his influential research into the pathological effects of specific forms of encephalopathy and also the study of receptive aphasia, both of which are commonly associated with Wernicke's name and referred to as Wernicke encephalopathy and Wernicke's aphasia, respectively. His research, along with that of Paul Broca, led to groundbreaking realizations of the localization of brain function, specifically in speech. As such, Wernicke's area has been named after the scientist.
15/05/1845
Élie Metchnikoff, Russian zoologist (died 1916)
Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, gallicised and known in Western sources as Élie Metchnikoff, was a zoologist from the Russian Empire of Moldavian noble ancestry best known for his research in immunology and thanatology. He and Paul Ehrlich were jointly awarded the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of their work on immunity".
15/05/1841
Clarence Dutton, American commander and geologist (died 1912)
Clarence Edward Dutton was an American geologist and US Army officer.
15/05/1817
Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher and author (died 1905)
Debendranath Tagore was an Indian philosopher and religious reformer, active in the Brahmo Samaj. He joined Brahmo samaj in 1842. He was the founder in 1848 of the Brahmo religion, which today is synonymous with Brahmoism. Born in Shilaidaha, his father was the industrialist Dwarakanath Tagore; many of his 14 children, including Nobel Prize winning poet Rabindranath Tagore, made significant artistic or literary contributions to society.
15/05/1808
Michael William Balfe, Irish composer and conductor (died 1870)
Michael William Balfe was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially The Bohemian Girl.
15/05/1805
Samuel Carter, English railway solicitor and Member of Parliament (MP) (died 1878)
Samuel Carter was a member of parliament for his native city of Coventry, and solicitor to two major railway companies for nearly four decades during the development of Britain's rail network.
15/05/1803
Juan Almonte, son of José María Morelos, was a Mexican soldier and diplomat who served as a regent in the Second Mexican Empire (died 1869)
Juan Nepomuceno Almonte Ramírez was a Mexican soldier, commander, minister of war, congressman, diplomat, presidential candidate, and regent. The natural son of Catholic cleric José María Morelos, a leading commander during the Mexican War of Independence, Almonte played an important role as a conservative in the Mexican Republic. He served as Minister of War during multiple administrations as well as in various diplomatic posts in the United States and in Europe. In 1840 he led government forces in an attempt to rescue president Anastasio Bustamante after the president was taken hostage by rebels in the National Palace. Almonte was minister to the United States in the years leading up to the Mexican–American War and lobbied against its interference in Texas, which Mexico considered a rebellious province. Almonte was a leading figure in conservative efforts to re-establish monarchy in Mexico, supporting the French imperial forces during the Second French intervention in Mexico and the establishment of the Second Mexican Empire under Maximilian I of Mexico. Almonte was serving as a diplomat in France when France withdrew military support of the Empire, which fell in 1867. He died two years later in 1869.
15/05/1786
Dimitris Plapoutas, Greek general and politician (died 1864)
Dimitris 'Koliopoulos' Plapoutas was a Greek general who fought during the Greek War of Independence against the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
15/05/1773
Klemens von Metternich, German-Austrian politician, 1st State Chancellor of the Austrian Empire (died 1859)
Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein, known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternich, was a German statesman and diplomat in the service of the Austrian Empire. A conservative, Metternich was at the center of the European balance of power known as the Concert of Europe for three decades as Austrian foreign minister from 1809 and chancellor from 1821 until the liberal Revolutions of 1848 forced his resignation.
15/05/1770
Ezekiel Hart, Canadian businessman and politician (died 1843)
Ezekiel Hart was an entrepreneur and politician in British North America. He is often said to be the first Jew to be elected to public office in the British Empire.
15/05/1759
Maria Theresia von Paradis, Austrian pianist and composer (died 1824)
Maria Theresia Paradis was an Austrian musician and composer who lost her sight at an early age, and for whom her close friend Mozart may have written his Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat major. She was also in contact with Salieri, Haydn, and Gluck.
15/05/1749
Levi Lincoln Sr., American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Attorney General (died 1820)
Levi Lincoln Sr. was an American revolutionary, lawyer, and statesman from Massachusetts. A Democratic-Republican, he served as Thomas Jefferson's first attorney general, and played a significant role in the events that led to the celebrated Marbury v. Madison court case. He served two terms as the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, acting as governor for the remainder of Governor James Sullivan's term after his death in December 1808. Lincoln was unsuccessful in his bid to be elected governor in his own right in 1809.
15/05/1720
Maximilian Hell, Hungarian priest and astronomer (died 1792)
Maximilian Hell was an astronomer and ordained Jesuit priest from the Kingdom of Hungary. The lunar crater Hell is named after him.
15/05/1689
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (died 1762)
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was an English aristocrat, medical pioneer, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, who later served as the British ambassador to the Sublime Porte. Lady Mary joined her husband on the Ottoman excursion, where she was to spend the next two years of her life. During her time there, Lady Mary wrote extensively on her experience as a woman in Ottoman Constantinople. After her return to England, Lady Mary devoted her attention to the upbringing of her family before dying of cancer in 1762.
15/05/1645
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, British judge (died 1689)
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys was a Welsh judge and politician. He became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor. His conduct as a judge was to enforce royal policy, resulting in a historical reputation for severity and bias, earning Jeffreys the nickname of "the Hanging Judge".
15/05/1633
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, French noble (died 1707)
Sébastien Le Prestre, Marquis of Vauban was a French Royal Army officer who served under Louis XIV. One of the most important military engineers in European history, his defensive principles remained in use for nearly 100 years after his death, while aspects of his offensive tactics were employed into the 20th century.
15/05/1608
René Goupil, French-American missionary and saint (died 1642)
René Goupil,, was a French Jesuit lay missionary who became a lay brother of the Society of Jesus shortly before his death. He was the first of the eight North American Martyrs of the Roman Catholic Church to receive the crown of martyrdom and the first canonized Catholic martyr in North America.
15/05/1567
Claudio Monteverdi, Italian priest and composer (died 1643)
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered a crucial transitional figure between the Renaissance and Baroque periods of music history.
15/05/1565
Hendrick de Keyser, Dutch sculptor and architect (died 1621)
Hendrick de Keyser was a Dutch sculptor, merchant in Belgium bluestone, and architect who was instrumental in establishing a late Renaissance form of Mannerism changing into Baroque. Most of his works appeared in Amsterdam, some elsewhere in the Dutch Colonies. He was the father of Pieter, Thomas de Keyser and Willem, and the uncle of Huybert de Keyser, who became his apprentices and all involved in building, decoration and architecture.
15/05/1531
Maria of Austria, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (died 1581)[citation needed]
Archduchess Maria of Austria was the daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor from the House of Habsburg and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.
15/05/1397
Sejong the Great, Korean king of Joseon (died 1450)
Sejong, commonly known as Sejong the Great, was the fourth monarch of the Koreanic state Joseon. He ruled from 1418 to his death in 1450. He is widely regarded as the greatest king in Korean history, and is remembered for the creation of Hangul, the native alphabet of the Korean language.