Born on Wednesday, 21st May – Famous Birthdays

21/05/2002

Elena Huelva, Spanish cancer activist and influencer (died 2023)

Elena Huelva Palomo was a Spanish cancer activist, influencer, and writer. Through her regular use of social media, she divulged information about Ewing sarcoma, the type of cancer she was suffering from, to a wider audience, and demanded more investment for cancer research. She was credited with increasing the visibility of childhood bone cancer while dispelling misconceptions and myths about the disease.

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21/05/1997

Ivan De Santis, Italian footballer

Ivan Francesco De Santis is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a defender. A centre-back, he made his professional debut on 2 November 2016, for Catania.

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Sisca Folkertsma, Dutch footballer

Sippie Catharine "Sisca" Folkertsma is a Dutch footballer who plays as a forward for Dutch Vrouwen Eredivisie club PSV and the Netherlands national team.

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Viktoria Petryk, Ukrainian singer-songwriter

Viktoria Ihorivna "Vika" Petryk is a Ukrainian singer and songwriter who represented Ukraine at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008, held in Limassol, Cyprus, with the song "Matrosy" ("Sailors"). She finished in second place.

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Kevin Quinn, American actor and singer

Kevin Gerard Quinn is an American actor and musician. He is known for his starring role as Xander in the Disney Channel original series Bunk'd and for his roles in the 2016 Disney Channel Original Movie Adventures in Babysitting and the 2021 Netflix film A Week Away.

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21/05/1996

Josh Allen, American football player

Joshua Patrick Allen is an American professional football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). A lightly regarded high school prospect, Allen began his college football career with the Reedley Tigers before transferring to the Wyoming Cowboys. He was selected seventh overall by the Bills in the 2018 NFL draft.

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Indy de Vroome, Dutch tennis player

Indy de Vroome is a Dutch tennis player.

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Karen Khachanov, Russian tennis player

Karen Abgarovich Khachanov is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 8 in singles, which he achieved on 15 July 2019, and No. 53 in doubles, attained on 29 January 2024. Khachanov has won seven ATP Tour singles titles, the most significant at the 2018 Paris Masters, an ATP 1000-level event. In doubles, he has won one title at the 2023 Madrid Open, with compatriot Andrey Rublev.

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21/05/1995

Diego Loyzaga, Filipino actor

Carlos Diego Loyzaga Manhilot is a Filipino model, actor and video jockey. He is known as one of the members of the male group Kapamilya Cuties.

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21/05/1994

Tom Daley, English diver

Thomas Robert Daley is an English retired diver, YouTuber and television personality. He is an Olympic champion in the men's synchronised 10-metre platform event at the 2020 Olympics and double world champion in the FINA 10-metre platform event, winning in 2009 at the age of fifteen, and again in 2017. He is an Olympic bronze medallist in the 2012 platform event, the 2016 synchronised event, and the 2020 platform event. He won the silver medal in the men's synchronised 10-metre at the 2024 Olympics, making him the first British diver to win 5 Olympic medals. Daley also competed in team events, winning the inaugural mixed team World title in 2015, and repeating the win in 2024, his fourth World title in all. He is an Olympic champion, four-time World Champion, a two-time junior World Champion, a five-time European champion and four-time Commonwealth champion.

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21/05/1993

Grete Gaim, Estonian biathlete

Grete Gaim is an Estonian biathlete. She competed at the Biathlon World Championships 2013, and at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, in sprint and individual.

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Luke Garbutt, English footballer

Luke Samuel Garbutt is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL League Two club Salford City. Usually a left back, he is also capable of playing as a winger. He has previously played for Everton, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United, Fulham, Wigan Athletic, Oxford United, Ipswich Town and Blackpool.

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Matías Kranevitter, Argentine footballer

Claudio Matías Kranevitter is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük.

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Lynn Williams, American soccer player

Lynn Biyendolo is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Seattle Reign FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team. The NWSL's all-time leading scorer, she was drafted out of Pepperdine University by the Western New York Flash in 2015.

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21/05/1992

Hutch Dano, American actor

Hutchings Royal Dano is an American actor and painter. He is known for playing co-lead character Zeke Falcone in the Disney XD comedy series Zeke and Luther.

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Lisa Evans, Scottish footballer

Lisa Catherine Evans is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Scottish Women's Premier League club Glasgow City and the Scotland national team. Operating as a winger or full-back, she began her senior career at Glasgow City, then played for Turbine Potsdam and FC Bayern Munich in Germany's Frauen-Bundesliga, and for Arsenal, West Ham United and Bristol City in the English FA WSL, winning the domestic league title in all three nations.

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Philipp Grüneberg, German footballer

Philipp Grüneberg is a German footballer who plays as a forward for SV Lichtenberg 47.

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Olivia Olson, American singer and actress

Olivia Olson is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and screenwriter, largely known for her voice roles as Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in Phineas and Ferb and Marceline the Vampire Queen in Adventure Time. She also played the character of Joanna in the 2003 film Love Actually and its 2017 short sequel Red Nose Day Actually.

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21/05/1991

Guilherme, Brazilian footballer

Guilherme Costa Marques, known simply as Guilherme, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Campeonato Brasileiro Série B club Atlético Goianiense.

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21/05/1990

Kierre Beckles, Barbadian athlete

Kierre Kamille Beckles is a Barbadian athlete specializing in the 100 metres hurdles. She competed at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships failing to advance to the semi-finals on both occasions.

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Rene Krhin, Slovenian footballer

Rene Krhin is a Slovenian retired footballer who played as a central midfielder. He earned a total of 48 caps for the Slovenia national team.

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21/05/1989

Emily Robins, New Zealand actress and singer

Emily Iris Robins is a British-born New Zealand actress and singer. She was born to Danny Robins and Susan Robins. She is known for her role in the popular TV2 soap opera Shortland Street as Claire Simone Solomon (2004–2007), and for her role in the popular FOX 8 teen drama, SLiDE, where she portrayed Scarlett Carlyle. She was born in London, but raised in New Zealand. She grew up in Orewa. She was involved with Centre Stage Theatre.

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Hal Robson-Kanu, Welsh footballer

Thomas Henry Alex "Hal" Robson-Kanu is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born in England, he played for the Wales national team. Although he initially played primarily on the wing, he was used as a forward during Wales' run to the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2016.

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21/05/1988

Claire Cashmore, English Paralympic swimmer

Claire Cashmore is a Paralympic Swimming Champion and PTS5 classified British paratriathlete. She has been to four Paralympic Games with swimming and has won 4 bronze, 3 silver, and 1 gold medal. Cashmore also broke the world record in the SM9 100m Individual Medley in 2009. She decided to switch to competing in paratriathlon after winning gold and silver at the Paralympic Games in 2016, and became ITU World Champion in the PTS5 classification in 2019. Claire Cashmore is based in Loughborough, England. She was born in Redditch, England, without a left forearm.

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Park Gyu-ri, South Korean singer

Park Gyu-ri, better known by the mononym Gyuri, is a South Korean singer, actress, and radio personality. She is a member of South Korean girl group Kara.

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Jonny Howson, English footballer

Jonathan Mark Howson is an English professional football coach and player who plays as a defensive midfielder. He is currently the manager-player for Leeds United's Under-21 team.

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Kaire Leibak, Estonian triple jumper

Kaire Leibak is an Estonian retired triple jumper. Her personal best jump of 14.43 metres is the Estonian record.

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21/05/1987

Beau Falloon, Australian rugby league player

Beau Falloon is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played for Leeds in the Super League. He played as a hooker and previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League.

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21/05/1986

Mario Mandžukić, Croatian footballer

Mario Mandžukić is a Croatian football coach and a former player who was most recently an assistant coach for the Croatia national team. As a player, he played as a forward and became known for his aggressiveness, defensive contribution, and aerial prowess.

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Myra, American singer and actress

Mayra Ambriz, known mononymously as Myra, is an American pop singer of Mexican descent. She is the first Latina artist to sign with Hollywood Records and Walt Disney Records. She is best known for her 2001 singles "Dancing in the Street" for Recess: School's Out and "Miracles Happen " for the film The Princess Diaries, as well as her role in Max Keeble's Big Move.

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Eder Sánchez, Mexican race walker

Heraclio Eder Sánchez Terán is a Mexican race walker. He has competed at the World Championships in Athletics five times and represented his country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics. He is currently serving the Mexican Army, and has won the Mexican 'Premio Nacional del Deporte'. He holds the Mexican record for walking over 5 km and 10 km. His best for the 20 km distance is 1:18:34 hours.

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Park Sojin, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer

Park So-jin, better known mononymously as Sojin, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is best known as the leader of South Korean girl group Girl's Day.

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Greg Stewart, Canadian ice hockey player

Gregory John Stewart is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played 26 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens over three seasons from 2008 to 2009. The rest of his career, which lasted from 2006 to 2016, was mainly spent in the minor leagues. Stewart was born in Kitchener, Ontario.

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Matt Wieters, American baseball player

Matthew Richard Wieters is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, and St. Louis Cardinals.

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21/05/1985

Mark Cavendish, Manx cyclist

Sir Mark Simon Cavendish is a Manx retired professional cyclist. As a track cyclist he specialised in the madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he was a sprinter. He is widely considered the greatest road sprinter of all time, and in 2021 was called "the greatest sprinter in the history of the Tour and of cycling" by Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France.

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Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer (died 2012)

Alexander Dale Oen was a Norwegian competitive swimmer. He was an Olympic silver medallist, World Championships gold medallist, World Championships (25m) bronze medallist, two-time European Championships gold medallist and European Short Course Championships gold medallist in the 100 metre breaststroke.

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Isa Guha, English cricketer and sportscaster

Isa Tara Guha is an English former England cricketer and now a sports television commentator and radio broadcaster. She played in the 2005 South Africa World Cup and the 2009 Australia World Cup.

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Lucie Hradecká, Czech tennis player

Lucie Hradecká is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time Grand Slam doubles champion and 26-time WTA Tour doubles titlist, she reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in October 2012. She was also an integral member of the Czech Republic's national team and helped her country to win five titles at the Fed Cup between 2011 and 2016, in addition to winning two Olympic medals in both women's doubles with Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková in 2012 and in mixed doubles with Radek Štěpánek in 2016. Hradecká also reached the top 45 in singles and was a finalist in seven tour-level singles tournaments. She announced her retirement from the sport at the end of the 2022 season.

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Kano, English rapper, producer, and actor

Kane Brett Robinson, known by the stage name Kano, is a British rapper, songwriter and actor from East Ham, London. His fifth album, Made in the Manor was shortlisted for the 2016 Mercury Prize and won Best Album at the 2016 MOBO Awards. On screen, he played the role of Sully in Top Boy (2011–2023).

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Dušan Kuciak, Slovak footballer

Dušan Kuciak is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Polish club Stoczniowiec Gdańsk. He is the younger brother of Martin Kuciak, who also played as a goalkeeper.

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Heath L'Estrange, Australian rugby league player

Heath L'Estrange, also known by the nickname of "Stranger", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. He played for the Sydney Roosters, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League, and the Bradford Bulls in the Super League. In his rugby league career, he won the 2008 NRL Grand Final with the Sea Eagles. He played as hooker.

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Andrew Miller, American baseball player

Andrew Mark Miller is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, and St. Louis Cardinals. Primarily a starting pitcher who struggled early in his MLB career, Miller found sustained success as a reliever utilizing a multi-faceted fastball and slider approach that proved deceptive for batters to hit. A left-handed batter and thrower, Miller stands 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) tall and weighs 205 pounds (93 kg). Internationally, Miller represented the United States. In the 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC), he helped win Team USA's first gold medal in a WBC tournament.

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21/05/1984

Brandon Fields, American football player

Brandon David Fields is an American former professional football player who was a punter for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans, earning consensus All-American honors. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL draft. He also played for the New Orleans Saints.

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Sara Goller, German volleyball player

Sara Goller is a former professional German beach volleyball player.

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21/05/1983

Līga Dekmeijere, Latvian tennis player

Līga Dekmeijere is an inactive Latvian tennis player.

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Deidson Araújo Maia, Brazilian footballer

Deidson Araújo Maia, better known as Veloso, is a Brazilian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

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21/05/1981

Craig Anderson, American ice hockey player

Craig Peter Anderson is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, Ottawa Senators, Washington Capitals, and Buffalo Sabres, with the Senators being his longest-tenured team. Internationally, Anderson represented the United States on multiple occasions. He is one of 40 NHL goaltenders to have won over 300 games in their career.

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Edson Buddle, American soccer player

Edson Michael Buddle is an American former professional soccer player who is currently the head coach of USL League Two side Westchester Flames. He is one of only 13 players to have scored 100 goals in Major League Soccer history.

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Josh Hamilton, American baseball player

Joshua Holt Hamilton is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 2007 to 2015, most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers teams that won consecutive American League pennants in 2010 and 2011. A five-time All-Star, Hamilton won three Silver Slugger Awards and was named the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2010. He also won an AL batting championship along with an AL RBI title. During his major league tenure, he also played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

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Maximilian Mutzke, German singer-songwriter

Maximilian Nepomuk Mutzke is a German singer, songwriter and television personality. He gained public interest in early 2004 when he won SSDSGPS, a talent contest hosted in Stefan Raab's late-night show TV total. Mutzke subsequently qualified for and won the national pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, Germany 12 Points!, and thus represented Germany with his debut single "Can't Wait Until Tonight" that year, eventually finishing eighth in a field of 24 participants. Meanwhile, "Can't Wait Until Tonight" debuted atop the German singles chart and became a top five hit in Austria and Switzerland. His eponymous debut album, a mixture of soul and pop songs in German and English language, was released in January 2005 and also reached number one in Germany, where it was certified gold by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI).

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Anna Rogowska, Polish pole vaulter

Anna Rogowska is a retired Polish athlete who specialised in the pole vault. She became the World Champion in 2009 in Berlin.

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21/05/1980

Gotye, Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter

Wouter André "Wally" De Backer is a Belgian-born Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His 2011 single "Somebody That I Used to Know" topped the Billboard Hot 100, as well as several international charts, and became the best-selling song of 2012. He has won five ARIA Awards and received a nomination for an MTV EMA for Best Asia and Pacific Act. At the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, the song won Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, while its parent album — Making Mirrors (2012) — won Best Alternative Music Album.

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21/05/1979

Damián Ariel Álvarez, Argentinian-Mexican footballer

Damián Ariel Álvarez, also known as "La Chilindrina", is a former professional footballer who played as a winger. Born in Argentina, he played for the Mexico national team.

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Jamie Hepburn, Scottish politician, Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health

James Douglas Hepburn is a Scottish politician. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he has been Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth since 2011, having previously represented the Central Scotland region from 2007 to 2011.

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James Clancy Phelan, Australian author and academic

James Clancy Phelan (born 21 May 1979, known professionally as James Phelan, is an Australian writer of thrillers and young adult novels, including Fox Hunt, The Last 13 series for teens, and the Jed Walker and Lachlan Fox thrillers. He has also written short stories and the non-fiction book Literati.

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Scott Smith, American mixed martial artist

Scott Smith is an American retired mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001 to 2016, Smith was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: The Comeback, and has competed for the UFC, Strikeforce, EliteXC and PFC. He is the former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion.

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21/05/1978

Max B, American rapper and songwriter

Charley Wingate, better known by his stage name Max B, is an American rapper, singer, and convicted criminal. He is best known for his solo Public Domain and Million Dollar Baby series of mixtapes. He introduced the term "wavy" as a slang in popular lexicon.

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Briana Banks, German-American porn actress and model

Briana Banks is a German pornographic actress and model. She was the Penthouse Pet of the Month for June 2001. She is a member of the AVN Hall of Fame and XRCO Hall of Fame.

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Jamaal Magloire, Canadian basketball player and coach

Jamaal Dane Magloire is a Canadian former professional basketball player who currently serves as basketball development consultant and community ambassador for the Toronto Raptors. He played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trail Blazers, New Jersey Nets, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, and Toronto Raptors. The 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), 265 lb center was selected out of the University of Kentucky by the Charlotte Hornets, with the 19th overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft, after withdrawing his name from the previous draft. He was voted into the NBA All-Star Game in 2004, becoming the second Canadian All-Star in NBA history.

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21/05/1977

Quinton Fortune, South African international footballer and coach

Quinton Fortune is a South African professional soccer coach and former player, who played as a midfielder or left-back. After stints with Mallorca and Atlético Madrid, he settled with Manchester United in 1999 and spent seven years there, winning a Premier League title, FA Community Shield and Intercontinental Cup.

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Michael Fuß, German footballer

Michael Fuß is a German footballer.

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Ricky Williams, American football player

Errick Miron, known professionally as Ricky Williams, is an American former professional football player who was a running back for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the Canadian Football League (CFL).

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21/05/1976

Stuart Bingham, English snooker player

Stuart Bingham is an English professional snooker player who is a former World Champion and Masters winner. He won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his professional career. His form improved in his mid-thirties: at age 35, he won his first ranking title at the 2011 Australian Goldfields Open, which helped him enter the top 16 in the rankings for the first time.

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Abderrahim Goumri, Moroccan runner (died 2013)

Abderrahim Goumri was a Moroccan long-distance runner. He had competed in cross country, track, road running and marathon races.

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Deron Miller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Deron John Miller is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band CKY, which he co-founded in 1998. Other bands Miller fronts include the progressive metal band Foreign Objects, the melodic death metal band World Under Blood, and the alternative metal band 96 Bitter Beings.

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21/05/1975

Anthony Mundine, Australian rugby league player and boxer

Anthony Steven Mundine is an Australian former professional boxer and rugby league footballer. In boxing he competed from 2000 to 2021, and held the World Boxing Association (WBA) super-middleweight title twice between 2003 and 2008. He also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) middleweight title from 2009 to 2010, and the WBA interim super-welterweight title from 2011 to 2012. Mundine is well known for his heated rivalries with fellow Australians Danny Green and Daniel Geale.

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21/05/1974

Brad Arthur, Australian rugby league coach

Bradley Arthur is a professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League.

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Fairuza Balk, American actress

Fairuza Balk is an American actress, musician, and visual artist. Known for her portrayals of distinctive characters—often with a dark edge and "goth-girl" persona—she has appeared in numerous independent films and blockbuster features.

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Havoc, American rapper and producer

Kejuan Waliek Muchita, known professionally as Havoc, is an American rapper and record producer. He was one half of the hip-hop duo Mobb Deep with Prodigy.

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21/05/1973

Stewart Cink, American golfer

Stewart Ernest Cink is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2009 Open Championship, defeating Tom Watson in a four-hole aggregate playoff. He spent over 40 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking from 2004 to 2009, reaching a career best ranking of 5th in 2008.

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Noel Fielding, English comedian, musician and television presenter

Noel Fielding is an English comedian, actor, writer, television personality, and artist. He gained prominence in the late 1990s as a member of the comedy troupe The Mighty Boosh, which he formed with Julian Barratt. Fielding has also had a successful solo career as a stand-up comedian and is known for his dark and surreal comedic style.

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21/05/1972

The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (died 1997)

Christopher George Latore Wallace, better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, was an American rapper and songwriter. Rooted in the East Coast hip-hop and gangsta rap traditions, he is widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time. Wallace became known for his distinctive, laidback lyrical delivery, offsetting his lyrics' often grim content. His music was semi-autobiographical, telling of hardship and criminality but also of debauchery and celebration.

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21/05/1971

Shane Cloete, Zimbabwean-British ex-cricketer and teacher

Shane Cloete is a teacher and ex-Zimbabwean cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper. He was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia.

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21/05/1970

Brigita Bukovec, Slovenian hurdler

Brigita Bukovec is a retired Slovenian hurdler who won an Olympic silver medal in 1996. During the Olympics she set a personal best time with 12.59 seconds.

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Dorsey Levens, American football player and sportscaster

Herbert Dorsey Levens is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Green Bay Packers. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and later the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Levens was selected by Green Bay in the fifth round of the 1994 NFL draft. He helped the Packers win the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XXXI against the New England Patriots.

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Pauline Menczer, Australian surfer

Pauline Menczer is an Australian surfer. She was Women's World Champion for Professional Surfing in 1993.

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Carl Veart, Australian footballer and coach

Thomas Carl Veart is an Australian former footballer who is currently the head coach for Australia Under-17.

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21/05/1969

Pierluigi Brivio, Italian footballer

Pierluigi Brivio is an Italian professional football coach and a former goalkeeper. He is a goalkeeping coach with Serbia club Red Star Belgrade.

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Georgiy Gongadze, Georgian-Ukrainian journalist and director (died 2000)

Georgiy Ruslanovych Gongadze was a Ukrainian journalist. He founded the online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda along with Olena Prytula in 2000. The same year, he was kidnapped and murdered near Kyiv. Gongadze was born to a Ukrainian mother and a Georgian father in Tbilisi, Georgia, then part of the Soviet Union.

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Masayo Kurata, Japanese voice actress and singer

Masayo Kurata is a Japanese voice actress. Some of her major roles are Koyomi from Girls Bravo, Shinobu Maehara in Love Hina, Tomoe Kashiwaba in Rozen Maiden, Karinka from Steel Angel Kurumi, and Subaru Mikage in Comic Party. In video games she voices Kurara in Purikura Daisakusen, Ai Senou in Hourglass of Summer, Chizuru Sakaki in the Rumbling Hearts / Muv-Luv visual novels, and Souffle Rossetti in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time.

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George LeMieux, American lawyer and politician

George Stephen LeMieux is an American former politician who was a United States Senator from Florida from 2009 to 2011. He is chairman of the Florida-based law firm of Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart and was chief of staff to Governor Charlie Crist. He was the Deputy Florida Attorney General and is credited with spearheading Crist's successful campaign for governor. In 2009, Crist appointed LeMieux as U.S. Senator to replace Mel Martínez, who resigned.

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Brian Statham, Rhodesian born English footballer and manager

Brian Statham is an English retired professional footballer who made over 160 appearances in the Football League for Brentford as a right back. He also played League football for Tottenham Hotspur, Gillingham, Reading, Bournemouth and was capped by England at U21 level. Statham later managed Heybridge Swifts, Billericay Town and Welling United in non-League football. He currently serves as director of football at Welling United.

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21/05/1968

Ilmar Raag, Estonian director, producer, and screenwriter

Ilmar Raag is an Estonian media executive, actor, screenwriter and film director, best known for his socio-critical film The Class. He was CEO of Estonian Television from 2002 to 2005. He is a well known columnist in many prestigious Estonian newspapers. He has written many scripts and directed critically acclaimed films, notably August 1991 and The Class.

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Matthias Ungemach, German-Australian rower

Matthias Ungemach is a German rower, double World Champion and Olympian.

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Julie Vega, Filipino actress and singer (died 1985)

Julie Pearl Apostol Postigo, better known by her stage name Julie Vega, was a Filipino actress, singer and commercial model. She remains very popular in her native Philippines, years after her death at the peak of her career at age 16. She won two FAMAS Awards for Best Child Actress during her brief showbiz career.

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21/05/1967

Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler (died 2007)

Christopher Michael Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler who worked for various promotions during his 22-year career. Despite his accomplishments, he is more generally known for murdering his wife and youngest son before committing suicide.

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Alain Yzermans, Belgian politician

Alain L. J. Yzermans is a Belgian politician and member of the Chamber of Representatives. A member of Vooruit, he has represented Limburg since June 2024.

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21/05/1966

Lisa Edelstein, American actress and playwright

Lisa Edelstein is an American actress and artist. She is known for playing Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the Fox medical drama series House (2004–2011). Between 2014 and 2018, Edelstein starred as Abby McCarthy in the Bravo series Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce.

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Tatyana Ledovskaya, Belarusian hurdler

Tatyana Mikhailovna Ledovskaya is a retired athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres hurdles. She represented the Soviet Union and later Belarus, training in Minsk.

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21/05/1964

Danny Bailey, English footballer and coach

Danny Stephen Bailey is an English retired professional footballer.

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Pete Sandoval, Salvadoran-American drummer

Pedro Rigoberto "Pete" Sandoval is a Salvadoran-born American drummer, best known for his work with extreme metal bands Morbid Angel, Terrorizer and I Am Morbid.

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21/05/1963

Richard Appel, American screenwriter and producer

Richard James Appel is an American writer, producer and former attorney. Since 2012, he has served as an executive producer and co-showrunner of Family Guy on Fox. He attended Harvard University and Harvard Law School. As an undergraduate, he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon.

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Patrick Grant, American musician and producer

Patrick Grant is a Detroit-born American composer living and working in New York City. His works are a synthesis of classical, popular, and world musical styles that have found place in concert halls, film, theater, dance, and visual media over three continents. Over the last three decades, his music has moved from post-punk and classically bent post-minimal styles, through Balinese-inspired gamelan and microtonality, to ambient, electronic soundscapes involving many layers of acoustic and electronically amplified instruments. Throughout its evolution, his music has consistently contained a "...a driving and rather harsh energy redolent of rock, as well as a clean sense of melodicism...intricate cross-rhythms rarely let up..." Known as a producer and co-producer of live musical events, he has presented many concerts of his own and other composers, including a 2013 Guinness World Record-breaking performance of 175 electronic keyboards in NYC. He is the creator of International Strange Music Day and the pioneer of the electric guitar procession Tilted Axes.

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David Lonsdale, English actor

David Lonsdale is an English actor. He is best known for playing David Stockwell in the ITV period police drama series Heartbeat.

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Dave Specter, American guitarist

Dave Specter is an American Chicago blues and jazz guitarist.

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Laurie Spina, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster

Laurie Joseph Spina is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and rugby league commentator. In 1995, Spina was the inaugural captain of the North Queensland Cowboys.

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21/05/1962

David Crumb, American composer and educator

David Crumb is an American contemporary composer born into a musical family. His father was composer George Crumb, and his sister was singer Ann Crumb. His music is not as avant-garde or experimental as his father's; it has been called "attractive, accessible, imaginative, well-crafted" by the Chicago-Sun Times, and "expressive and beautiful" by the American Record Guide: reviews listed on the Presser bio.

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21/05/1960

Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (died 1994)

Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was an American serial killer and sex offender who killed and dismembered seventeen men and boys between 1978 and 1991.

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Kent Hrbek, American baseball player and sportscaster

Kent Alan Hrbek, nicknamed "Herbie", is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 14-year baseball career with the Minnesota Twins (1981–1994). Hrbek batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He hit the first home run in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome on April 3, 1982, in an exhibition game against the Phillies. Fans knew Hrbek as an outstanding defensive player, perennial slugger, and charismatic hometown favorite. Former Twins pitcher Jim Kaat considered Hrbek to be the best defensive first baseman he had ever seen, despite him never winning a Gold Glove at the position.

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Mohanlal, Indian actor

Mohanlal Viswanathan, known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, producer and playback singer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema and has also occasionally appeared in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Mohanlal has a prolific career spanning over four decades, during which he has acted in more than 400 films. The Government of India honoured him with Padma Shri in 2001 and Padma Bhushan in 2019, India's fourth and third highest civilian honours, for his contributions to Indian cinema. In 2009, he became the first actor in India to be awarded the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel in the Territorial Army. Mohanlal was named as one of "the men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema" by CNN. In 2025, the Government of India honoured him with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award in the field of Indian cinema, for his "outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema."

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Mark Ridgway, Australian cricketer

Mark William Ridgway is an Australian former cricketer, who played for the Tasmanian Tigers from 1993 until 2000.

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Vladimir Salnikov, Russian swimmer

Vladimir Valeryevich Salnikov is a Russian former freestyle swimmer who set 12 world records in the 400, 800 and 1,500 metre events. Nicknamed the "Tsar of the Pool", "Monster of the Waves" and "Leningrad Express", he was the first person to swim under fifteen minutes in the 1500 m freestyle and also the first person to swim under eight minutes in the 800 m freestyle. He was named the Male World Swimmer of the Year in 1979 and 1982 by Swimming World.

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21/05/1959

Nick Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter

Nicholas David Rowland Cassavetes is an American actor, director, and writer. He has directed such films as She's So Lovely (1997), John Q. (2002), The Notebook (2004), Alpha Dog (2006), and My Sister's Keeper (2009). His acting credits include an uncredited role in Husbands (1970)—which was directed by his father, John Cassavetes—as well as roles in the films The Wraith (1986), Face/Off (1997), and Blow (2001).

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Abdulla Yameen, Maldivian politician, 6th President of the Maldives

Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom is a Maldivian politician who served as president of the Maldives from 2013 to 2018.

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21/05/1958

Christian Audigier, French fashion designer (died 2015)

Christian Audigier was a French fashion designer known for the Ed Hardy and Von Dutch clothing lines.

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Muffy Calder, Canadian-Scottish computer scientist and academic

Dame Muffy Calder is a Canadian-born British computer scientist, Vice-Principal and Head of College of Science and Engineering, and Professor of Formal Methods at the University of Glasgow. From 2012 to 2015 she was Chief Scientific Advisor to the Scottish Government.

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Michael Crick, English journalist and author

Michael Lawrence Crick is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He was a founding member of the Channel 4 News team in 1982 and remained there until joining the BBC in 1990. He started work on the BBC's Newsnight programme in 1992, serving as political editor from 2007 until his departure from the BBC in 2011. Crick then returned to Channel 4 News as political correspondent. In 2014 he was chosen as Specialist Journalist of the Year at the Royal Television Society television journalism awards.

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Naeem Khan, Indian-American fashion designer

Naeem Khan is an Indian-American fashion designer based in New York City known for his ornate and intricately detailed gowns, and for dressing First Lady Michelle Obama, Queen Noor of Jordan, and the Princess of Wales.

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Jefery Levy, American director, producer, and screenwriter

Jefery Levy was an American film and television director, producer and writer, based in Beverly Hills, California.

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21/05/1957

James Bailey, American basketball player

James L. Bailey is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 m) forward/center from Rutgers University, he was selected with the 6th pick of the 1979 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. Nicknamed "Jammin' James," he spent 9 seasons (1979–1988) in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for the Sonics as well as the New Jersey Nets, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, and Phoenix Suns. He ended his NBA career with 5,246 total points.

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Nadine Dorries, English politician

Nadine Vanessa Dorries is a British author and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2021 to 2022. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Bedfordshire from 2005 to 2023 for the Conservative Party. Since 2025, she has been a member of Reform UK.

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Judge Reinhold, American actor and producer

Edward Ernest "Judge" Reinhold Jr. is an American actor who is best known for his work in Hollywood films during the 1980s. He has starred in several popular films such as Stripes (1981), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), and Ruthless People (1986). He has co-starred in all of the films in the Beverly Hills Cop series and The Santa Clause franchises.

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Renée Soutendijk, Dutch actress

Renette Pauline Soutendijk, known professionally as Renée Soutendijk, is a Dutch actress. A gymnast in her youth, Soutendijk began her acting career in the late 1970s. She was a favorite star of director Paul Verhoeven's films, and is perhaps best known for her work in his 1980 release Spetters and 1983's The Fourth Man. Her good looks and striking blond hair secured her status as a Dutch sex symbol in the 1980s.

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21/05/1955

Paul Barber, English field hockey player

Paul Jason Barber is an English former field hockey player, who won a gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

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Stan Lynch, American drummer, songwriter, and producer

Stanley Joseph Lynch is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the original drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for 18 years until his departure in 1994.

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21/05/1954

Marc Ribot, American guitarist and composer

Marc Ribot is an American guitarist and composer.

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21/05/1953

Nora Aunor, Filipino actress and recording artist (died 2025)

Nora Cabaltera Villamayor, known professionally as Nora Aunor, was a Filipino actress, producer, and singer. Known for her leading roles with patriotic, feminist and socio-political themes, she appeared in more than 170 motion pictures during a career that spanned over five decades. Regarded as the most awarded Filipino actress in history, she was known as the Philippines' "Superstar" and was conferred as a National Artist of the Philippines for Film and Broadcast Arts in 2022.

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Jim Devine, British politician

James Devine is a former Labour Party politician in Scotland. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Livingston from 2005 until 2010 and chairman of the Scottish Labour Party between 1994 and 1995.

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21/05/1952

Mr. T, American actor and wrestler

Laurence T is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team and as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film Rocky III. He is also known for his distinctive hairstyle inspired by Mandinka warriors in West Africa, his copious gold jewelry, his tough-guy persona and his catchphrase "I pity the fool!", first uttered as Clubber Lang in Rocky III, then turned into a trademark used in slogans or titles, like the reality show I Pity the Fool in 2006.

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21/05/1951

Al Franken, American actor, screenwriter, and politician

Alan Stuart Franken is an American politician, comedian, screenwriter, and actor who served from 2009 until his resignation in 2018 as a United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Democratic Party, he worked as an entertainer, appearing on television and in films, before entering politics.

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Adrian Hardiman, Irish lawyer and judge (died 2016)

Adrian Hardiman was an Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court from 2000 to 2016.

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21/05/1950

Will Hutton, English economist and journalist

William Nicolas Hutton is an English journalist. As of 2022, he writes a regular column for The Observer, co-chairs the Purposeful Company, and is the president-designate of the Academy of Social Sciences. He is the chair of the advisory board of the UK National Youth Corps. He was principal of Hertford College, University of Oxford from 2011 to 2020, and co-founder of the Big Innovation Centre, an initiative from the Work Foundation, having been chief executive of the Work Foundation from 2000 to 2008. He was formerly editor-in-chief of The Observer.

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21/05/1949

Andrew Neil, Scottish journalist and academic

Andrew Ferguson Neil is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster. He has presented various political programmes on the BBC and on Channel 4. Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Neil attended Paisley Grammar School, before studying at the University of Glasgow. He entered journalism in 1973 as a correspondent for The Economist.

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Denis O'Connor, British police officer

Sir Denis Francis O'Connor is the former Chief Inspector of Constabulary. He was appointed on 11 May 2009 and retired on 31 July 2012.

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Rosalind Plowright, English soprano

Rosalind Anne Plowright is an English opera singer who spent much of her career as a soprano but in 1999 changed to the mezzo-soprano range.

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21/05/1948

Elizabeth Buchan, English author and critic

Elizabeth Buchan, née Oakleigh-Walker is a British writer of non-fiction and fiction books since 1985. In 1994, her novel Consider the Lily won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association, and she was elected its eighteenth Chairman (1995–1997). Her novel, Revenge of the Middle Aged Woman (2001), has been made into a television film for CBS.

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Joe Camilleri, Maltese-Australian singer-songwriter and saxophonist

Joseph Vincent Camilleri, aka Jo Jo Zep, is a Maltese Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Camilleri has recorded as a solo artist and as a member of Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons and The Black Sorrows. Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons' highest-charting single was "Hit & Run" from June 1979, which peaked at #12; Jo Jo Zep's "Taxi Mary" peaked at No. 11 in September 1982; and The Black Sorrows top single, "Chained to the Wheel", peaked at No. 9 in March 1989.

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Jonathan Hyde, Australian-English actor

Jonathan Stephen Geoffrey King, known professionally as Jonathan Hyde, is an Australian-British actor. He portrayed Herbert Arthur Runcible Cadbury in the comedy film Richie Rich (1994), Samuel Parrish and Van Pelt in the fantasy adventure film Jumanji (1995), J. Bruce Ismay in the epic romantic film Titanic (1997), Culverton Smith in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Warren Westridge in creature feature film Anaconda (1997), Dr. Allen Chamberlain in the adventure horror film The Mummy (1999), and Eldritch Palmer in the FX TV series The Strain. Although an Australian citizen, he has mostly lived in the United Kingdom since 1969, after his family left Australia.

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Denis MacShane, Scottish journalist and politician, UK Minister of State for Europe

Denis MacShane is a British former politician, author, commentator and convicted criminal who served as Minister of State for Europe from 2002 to 2005. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Rotherham from 1994 to his forced resignation in 2012.

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Leo Sayer, English-Australian singer-songwriter and musician

Gerard Hugh Sayer, known by his stage name Leo Sayer, is an English singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He is best known for his 1978 Grammy Award-winning song "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing". He has been an Australian citizen since 2009, and lives in New South Wales.

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21/05/1947

Bill Champlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

William Bradford Champlin is an American singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the rock band Chicago from 1981 to 2009. He performed lead vocals on three of Chicago's biggest hits of the 1980s, 1984's "Hard Habit to Break" and 1988's "Look Away" and "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love". During live shows, he sang the songs originally performed by founding guitarist Terry Kath, who had died in 1978. He has won multiple Grammy Awards for songwriting.

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Linda Laubenstein, American physician and academic (died 1992)

Linda Jane Laubenstein was an American physician and early HIV/AIDS researcher. She was among the first doctors in the United States to recognize the AIDS epidemic of the early 1980s; she co-authored the first article linking AIDS with Kaposi's sarcoma.

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İlber Ortaylı, Turkish historian and academic (died 2026)

İlber Ortaylı was a Turkish historian and professor of history of Crimean Tatar origin at the Galatasaray University in Istanbul and at Ankara University and Bilkent University in Ankara. In 2005, he was appointed the director of the Topkapı Museum in Istanbul, until he retired in 2012.

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21/05/1946

Allan McKeown, English-American screenwriter and producer (died 2013)

Allan McKeown was a British television, film, and stage producer.

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Wayne Roycroft, Australian equestrian rider and coach

Wayne William Roycroft, is an Australian equestrian and coach who won two bronze medals at three Olympics. He was the national eventing coach from 1988 to 2010; Australia won four team and two individual medals in the sport during his reign.

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21/05/1945

Ernst Messerschmid, German physicist and astronaut

Ernst Willi Messerschmid is a German physicist and former astronaut.

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Richard Hatch, American actor, writer, and producer (died 2017)

Richard Lawrence Hatch was an American actor and writer. He began his career as a stage actor before moving on to television work in the 1970s. Hatch is best known for his roles as Captain Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica television series and Tom Zarek in the reimagined series.

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21/05/1944

Haleh Afshar, Baroness Afshar, Iranian-English academic and politician (died 2022)

Haleh Afshar, Baroness Afshar, was a British life peer in the House of Lords. She had a life-long interest in women's rights and Islamic law. She was a professor at the University of York and she wrote over a dozen scholarly books.

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Marcie Blane, American singer

Marcia Blank, known as Marcie Blane, is an American former pop singer known for her 1962 hit song, "Bobby's Girl".

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Janet Dailey, American author and entrepreneur (died 2013)

Janet Anne Haradon Dailey was an American author of numerous romance novels as Janet Dailey. Her novels have been translated into nineteen languages and have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide.

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Mary Robinson, Irish lawyer and politician, President of Ireland

Mary Therese Winifred Robinson is an Irish politician who served as the president of Ireland from December 1990 to September 1997. She was the country's first female president. Robinson had previously served as a senator in Seanad Éireann from 1969 to 1989, and as a councillor on Dublin Corporation from 1979 to 1983. Although she had been briefly affiliated with the Labour Party during her time as a senator, she became the first independent candidate to win the presidency and the first not to have had the support of Fianna Fáil. Following her time as president, Robinson became the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002.

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21/05/1943

Vincent Crane, English pianist and composer (died 1989)

Vincent Rodney Cheesman, known professionally as Vincent Crane, was an English keyboardist, best known as the organist for the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and subsequently for Atomic Rooster.

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John Dalton, English bass player

John Dalton is a British bass guitar player, most notable as a member of the Kinks in 1966 and between 1969 and 1976, replacing original member Pete Quaife.

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Hilton Valentine, English guitarist and songwriter (died 2021)

Hilton Stewart Paterson Valentine was an English skiffle and rock and roll musician who was the original guitarist in the Animals. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and into Hollywood’s Rock Walk of Fame in 2001 with the other members of the Animals.

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21/05/1942

David Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral, English politician, Secretary of State for Wales

David James Fletcher Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral, is a British Conservative politician who served as a member of the Cabinet during the Thatcher and Major ministries, and was appointed to the Privy Council in 1990.

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John Konrads, Australian swimmer (died 2021)

John Konrads was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won the 1500 m freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. In his career, he set 26 individual world records, and after his swimming career ended, was the Australasian director of L'Oréal, as well as campaigning for the Sydney Olympics bid. Along with his sister Ilsa, who also set multiple world records, they were known as the Konrads Kids.

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Danny Ongais, American race car driver (died 2022)

Ezekiel "Danny" Ongais was an American racing driver.

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21/05/1941

Martin Carthy, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Martin Dominic Forbes Carthy MBE is an English singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in English folk music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, as well as later artists such as Richard Thompson, since he emerged as a young musician in the early days of the folk revival in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s.

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Bobby Cox, American baseball player and manager

Robert Joe Cox is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Cox played for the New York Yankees and managed the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays. He is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He recorded a 100-win season six times, a record matched only by Joe McCarthy.

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Ambrose Greenway, 4th Baron Greenway, English photographer and politician

Ambrose Charles Drexel Greenway, 4th Baron Greenway, is a British marine photographer and shipping consultant. He is one of the ninety hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, sitting as a crossbencher.

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Ronald Isley, American singer-songwriter and producer

Ronald Isley is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Isley is the lead singer, a founding member, and last surviving original member of the family music group The Isley Brothers.

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21/05/1940

Tony Sheridan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2013)

Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity, known professionally as Tony Sheridan, was an English rock and roll guitarist who spent much of his adult life in Germany. He was best known as an early collaborator of the Beatles, one of two non-Beatles to receive label performance credit on a record with the group, and the only non-Beatle to appear as lead singer on a Beatles recording which charted as a single.

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21/05/1939

Heinz Holliger, Swiss oboist, composer, and conductor

Heinz Robert Holliger is a Swiss composer, virtuoso oboist, and conductor. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation. His repertoire includes Baroque and Classical pieces, but he has regularly engaged in lesser known pieces of Romantic music, as well as his own compositions. He often performed contemporary works with his wife, the harpist Ursula Holliger. Many composers have written works for him, including Messiaen, Berio, Carter, Henze, Krenek, Lutosławski, Martin, Penderecki, Stockhausen and Yun. A noted composer himself, Holliger has written works such as the opera Schneewittchen (1998).

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21/05/1938

Lee "Shot" Williams, American singer (died 2011)

Henry Lee "Shot" Williams was an American blues singer. He got the nickname "Shot" from his mother at a young age, owing to his fondness for wearing suits and dressing up as a "big shot."

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21/05/1936

Günter Blobel, Polish-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2018)

Günter Blobel was a Silesian German and American biologist and 1999 Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology for the discovery that proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in the cell.

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21/05/1935

Terry Lightfoot, English clarinet player and bandleader (died 2013)

Terence John Lightfoot was a British jazz clarinettist and bandleader, and together with Chris Barber, Acker Bilk and Kenny Ball was one of the leading members of the trad jazz generation of British jazzmen.

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21/05/1934

Jocasta Innes, Chinese-English journalist and author (died 2013)

Jocasta Claire Traill Innes was a British writer, journalist and businesswoman. She mainly wrote about cooking, crafts and homemaking, including in her books The Pauper's Homemaking Book (1976) and The Country Kitchen (1987), and worked for publications such as Cosmopolitan. She founded and was CEO of the paint company Paint Magic in the 1980s, inspired by her 1981 book Paint Magic. Two of her children, Daisy and Jason Goodwin, are also writers.

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Bob Northern, American horn player and bandleader (died 2020)

Robert Northern, known professionally as Brother Ah, was an American jazz French hornist.

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Bengt I. Samuelsson, Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2024)

Bengt Ingemar Samuelsson was a Swedish biochemist. He shared with Sune K. Bergström and John R. Vane the 1982 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related substances.

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21/05/1933

Maurice André, French trumpet player (died 2012)

Maurice André was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field.

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Yevgeny Minayev, Russian weightlifter (died 1993)

Yevgeny Gavrilovich Minayev was a Russian weightlifter who competed for the Soviet Union. He won a silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics and a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

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21/05/1932

Inese Jaunzeme, Latvian javelin thrower and surgeon (died 2011)

Inese Jaunzeme was a Latvian javelin thrower who won a gold medal at the 1956 Olympics.

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Leonidas Vasilikopoulos, Greek admiral and intelligence chief (died 2014)

Leonidas Vasilikopoulos was a Greek Navy officer, who served as Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff in 1986–1989 and then as head of the Greek National Intelligence Service in 1993–1996. A distinguished officer, he is also notable for his participation in resistance groups against the Greek military junta of 1967–1974, being repeatedly imprisoned and exiled as a consequence.

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21/05/1930

Tommy Bryant, American bassist (died 1982)

Thomas Bryant was an American jazz double-bassist.

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Keith Davis, New Zealand rugby player (died 2019)

Keith Davis was a New Zealand rugby union player who played for both New Zealand and New Zealand Māori. He played for Auckland, and won the Ranfurly Shield in his first ever provincial game. After gaining All Blacks selection in 1952, Davis toured with the team to Europe and North America in 1953–54. He played extensively for New Zealand Māori between 1952 and his retirement in 1959; his time with the team included matches against both South Africa and the British Lions. Davis was awarded the Tom French Cup for Māori player of the year in 1952, 1953 and 1954.

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Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (died 2015)

John Malcolm Fraser was an Australian farmer and politician who was the 22nd prime minister of Australia, serving from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth longest-serving prime minister in Australian history.

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21/05/1929

Larance Marable, American drummer (died 2012)

Larance Norman Marable was a jazz drummer from Los Angeles, California.

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Robert Welch, English silversmith and industrial designer (died 2000)

Robert Radford Welch MBE, RDI, was an English designer and silversmith.

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21/05/1928

Tom Donahue, American radio host and producer (died 1975)

Tom "Big Daddy" Donahue, was an American rock and roll radio disc jockey, record producer and concert promoter.

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Alice Drummond, American actress (died 2016)

Alice Elizabeth Drummond was an American actress. A veteran Off-Broadway performer, she was nominated in 1970 for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Mrs. Lee in The Chinese by Murray Schisgal. She may be best known as Alice, the librarian, in the opening scenes of the 1984 horror-comedy Ghostbusters.

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21/05/1927

Kay Kendall, English actress and comedian (died 1959)

Justine Kay Kendall McCarthy was an English actress and singer. She began her film career in the musical film London Town (1946), a financial failure. Kendall worked regularly until her appearance in the comedy film Genevieve (1953) brought her widespread recognition. Prolific in British films, Kendall also achieved some popularity with American audiences, and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her role in the musical-comedy film Les Girls (1957).

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Péter Zwack, Hungarian businessman and diplomat (died 2012)

Péter János Zwack was a Hungarian businessman, investor, philanthropist, diplomat and the Hungarian Ambassador to the United States from 1990 until 1991. He was the CEO and owner of the company Zwack.

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21/05/1926

Robert Creeley, American novelist, essayist, and poet (died 2005)

Robert White Creeley was an American poet and author of more than 60 books. He is associated with the Black Mountain poets, although his verse aesthetic diverged from that school. Creeley was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn.

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21/05/1924

Peggy Cass, American actress, comedian, and game show panelist (died 1999)

Mary Margaret "Peggy" Cass was an American actress, comedian, game show panelist, and announcer.

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21/05/1923

Vernon Biever, American photographer (died 2010)

Vernon Joseph Biever was an American photographer, most notably with the Green Bay Packers.

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Armand Borel, Swiss-American mathematician and academic (died 2003)

Armand Borel was a Swiss mathematician, born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, and was a permanent professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, United States from 1957 to 1993. He worked in algebraic topology, in the theory of Lie groups, and was one of the creators of the contemporary theory of linear algebraic groups.

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Ara Parseghian, American football player and coach (died 2017)

Ara Raoul Parseghian was an American football coach and player who coached the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for bringing Notre Dame's Fighting Irish football program back from years of futility into national prominence in 1964 and is regarded alongside Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy as a part of the "Holy Trinity" of Notre Dame head coaches.

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Dorothy Hewett, Australian feminist poet, novelist and playwright (died 2002)

Dorothy Coade Hewett was an Australian playwright, poet and author. She wrote in a number of different literary styles: modernism, socialist realism, expressionism and avant garde. She was a member of the Australian Communist Party in the 1950s and 1960s, which informed her work during that period.

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Evelyn Ward, American actress (died 2012)

Evelyn Mae Ward was an American actress and dancer known for her stage musical performances and television appearances. Her son was the actor-singer David Cassidy.

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21/05/1921

Sandy Douglas, English computer scientist and academic, designed OXO (died 2010)

Alexander Shafto "Sandy" Douglas CBE was a British professor of computer science, credited with creating the first graphical computer game, OXO, a version of noughts and crosses, in 1952 on the EDSAC computer at University of Cambridge.

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Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1989)

Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet physicist and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, which he was awarded in 1975 for emphasizing human rights around the world.

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21/05/1920

Bill Barber, American tuba player and educator (died 2007)

John William Barber was an American jazz tubist. He is considered by many to be the first person to play tuba in modern jazz. He recorded with Miles Davis on the albums Birth of the Cool, Sketches of Spain, and Miles Ahead.

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Forrest White, American businessman, co-founded the Music Man Company (died 1994)

Forrest Fred White was an American musical instruments industry executive, best known for his association with Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and as co-founder of the Music Man company.

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21/05/1919

George P. Mitchell, American businessman and philanthropist (died 2013)

George Phydias Mitchell was an American businessman, real estate developer and philanthropist from Texas credited with pioneering the economic extraction of shale gas.

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21/05/1917

Raymond Burr, Canadian-American actor and director (died 1993)

Raymond William Stacy Burr was a Canadian actor who had a lengthy Hollywood film career and portrayed the title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.

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21/05/1916

Dennis Day, American singer and actor (died 1988)

Dennis Day was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He was of Irish descent.

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Tinus Osendarp, Dutch sprinter and police officer (died 2002)

Martinus Bernardus "Tinus" Osendarp was a Dutch sprint runner.

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Harold Robbins, American author and screenwriter (died 1997)

Harold Robbins was an American author. One of the best-selling writers of all time, he wrote over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages.

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21/05/1915

Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan, Indian Civil Service Officer and former Under Secretary-General of the UN (died 2003)

Chakravarthi Vijayaraghava Narasimhan MBE, ICS was an Indian Civil Service officer and a former Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving twenty-two years in the UN.

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21/05/1914

Romain Gary, French novelist, diplomat, film director, aviator (died 1980)

Romain Gary, also known by the pen name Émile Ajar, was a Lithuanian-born French novelist, diplomat, film director, and military aviator. He is the only author to have won the Prix Goncourt twice. He is considered a major writer of French literature of the second half of the 20th century.

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21/05/1913

Gina Bachauer, Greek pianist and composer (died 1976)

Gina Bachauer was a Greek classical pianist who toured extensively in the United States and Europe. Interested in piano at a young age, Bachauer graduated from the Athens Conservatory and studied under Alfred Cortot and Sergei Rachmaninoff. She is best known for playing Romantic piano concertos. She played hundreds of concerts for the Allied troops in the Middle East during World War II while she lived in Egypt. She spent a lot of time touring the United States and Europe, giving over 100 concerts each year. Bachauer also recorded extensively, both as a soloist and with orchestras. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Utah. During her career she was called the "queen of pianists". The Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation was named in honor of her contributions to the musical world. In her personal life, Bachauer married music conductor Alec Sherman, who became her manager. She died at the age of 63 at the Athens Festival.

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21/05/1912

Chen Dayu, Chinese painter and calligrapher (died 2001)

Chen Dayu, was a Chinese painter, calligrapher, seal carver and educator.

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John Curtis Gowan, American psychologist and academic (died 1986)

John Curtis Gowan was a psychologist who studied, along with E. Paul Torrance, the development of creative capabilities in children and gifted populations.

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Monty Stratton, American baseball player and coach (died 1982)

Monty Franklin Pierce Stratton was an American professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was born in Palacios, Texas and lived in Greenville, Texas, for part of his life. His major league career ended prematurely when a hunting accident in 1938 forced doctors to amputate his right leg. Wearing a prosthetic leg, Stratton played in the minor leagues from 1946 to 1953. His comeback was the subject of the 1949 film The Stratton Story, in which he was portrayed by Jimmy Stewart.

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21/05/1907

John C. Allen, American roller coaster designer (died 1979)

John C. Allen was a roller coaster designer who was responsible for the revival of wooden roller coasters which began in the 1960s. He attended Drexel University. He started working for the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1934 as a coaster operator and rose to become president of the company by 1954. He designed more than 25 coasters and made significant contributions to roller coaster technology. He once said, "You don't need a degree in engineering to design roller coasters, you need a degree in psychology."

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21/05/1904

Robert Montgomery, American actor and director (died 1981)

Robert Montgomery was an American actor, director, and producer. He began his acting career on the stage, but was soon hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Initially assigned roles in comedies, he soon proved he was able to handle dramatic ones, as well. He appeared in a wide variety of roles, such as the weak-willed prisoner Kent in The Big House (1930), the psychotic Danny in Night Must Fall (1937), and Joe, the boxer mistakenly sent to Heaven in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). The last two earned him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

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Fats Waller, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 1943)

Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star in the jazz and swing eras, he toured internationally, achieving critical and commercial success in the United States and Europe. His best-known compositions, "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999, respectively.

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21/05/1903

Manly Wade Wellman, American author (died 1986)

Manly Wade Wellman was an American writer. While his science fiction and fantasy stories appeared in such pulps as Astounding Stories, Startling Stories, Unknown and Strange Stories, Wellman is best remembered as one of the most popular contributors to the legendary Weird Tales and for his fantasy and horror stories set in the Appalachian Mountains, which draw on the native folklore of that region. Karl Edward Wagner referred to him as "the dean of fantasy writers." Wellman also wrote in a wide variety of other genres, including historical fiction, detective fiction, western fiction, juvenile fiction, and non-fiction.

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21/05/1902

Earl Averill, American baseball player (died 1983)

Howard Earl Averill was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1929 to 1941, including 11 seasons for the Cleveland Indians. He was a six-time All-Star (1933–1938) and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975.

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Marcel Breuer, Hungarian-American architect and academic, designed the Ameritrust Tower (died 1981)

Marcel Lajos Breuer was a Hungarian-American modernist architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United States in 1937 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944.

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Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1974)

Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak OBE, commonly known as Anatole Litvak, was a Russian-American filmmaker.

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21/05/1901

Regina M. Anderson, Multiracial playwright and librarian (died 1993)

Regina M. Anderson was an American playwright and librarian. Influenced by Ida B. Wells and the lack of Black history teachings in school, Anderson became a key member of the Harlem Renaissance.

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Horace Heidt, American pianist, bandleader, and radio host (died 1986)

Horace Heidt was an American pianist, big band leader, and radio and television personality. His band, Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights, toured vaudeville and performed on radio and television during the 1930s and 1940s.

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Sam Jaffe, American film producer and agent (died 2000)

Sam Jaffe was, at different points in his career in the motion picture industry, an agent, a producer, and a studio executive.

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Suzanne Lilar, Belgian author and playwright (died 1992)

Baroness Suzanne Lilar was a Flemish Belgian essayist, novelist, and playwright writing in French. She was the wife of the Belgian Minister of Justice Albert Lilar and mother of the writer Françoise Mallet-Joris and the art historian Marie Fredericq-Lilar.

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21/05/1898

Armand Hammer, American physician and businessman, founded Occidental Petroleum (died 1990)

Armand Hammer was an American oil tycoon, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

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Charles Léon Hammes, Luxembourgian lawyer and judge (died 1967)

Charles-Léon Hammes was a Luxembourgish lawyer, judge and the third president of the European Court of Justice.

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Carl Johnson, American long jumper (died 1932)

Carl Johnson was an American athlete who competed mainly in the long jump. He competed for the United States in the 1920 Summer Olympics held in Antwerp, Belgium in the long jump, where he won the silver medal.

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John McLaughlin, American painter and translator (died 1976)

John Dwyer McLaughlin was an American abstract painter. Based primarily in California, he was a pioneer in minimalism and hard-edge painting. Considered one of the most significant Californian postwar artists, McLaughlin painted a focused body of geometric works that are completely devoid of any connection to everyday experience and objects, inspired by the Japanese notion of the void. He aimed to create paintings devoid of any object hood including but not limited to a gestures, representations and figuration. This led him to the rectangle. Leveraging a technique of layering rectangular bars on adjacent planes, McLaughlin creates works that provoke introspection and, consequently, a greater understanding of one's relationship to nature.

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21/05/1895

Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexican general, president (1934–1940) and father of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas (died 1970)

Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was a Mexican revolutionary, army officer, and politician who served as the 51st president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revolution and as Governor of Michoacán and President of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. He later served as the Secretary of National Defence. During his presidency, which is considered the end of the Maximato, he implemented massive land reform programs, led the expropriation of the country's oil industry, and implemented many key social reforms.

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21/05/1893

Arthur Carr, English cricketer (died 1963)

Arthur William Carr was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and the English cricket team, captaining both sides.

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Giles Chippindall, Australian public servant (died 1969)

Sir Giles Tatlock Chippindall was a senior Australian public servant. He was Secretary of the Department of Supply and Shipping between 1945 and 1946 and Director-General of the Postmaster-General's Department between 1949 and 1958.

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21/05/1885

Princess Sophie of Albania, (Princess Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg) (died 1936)

Sophie was Princess of Albania from 7 March to 3 September 1914 as the wife of Prince Wilhelm. In 1906, she married Wilhelm, second son of the Prince of Wied. When her husband became prince of Albania, Sophie became princess consort. However, in Albania, she was referred to as Mbretëreshë, or Queen.

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21/05/1884

Manuel Pérez y Curis, Uruguayan poet and publisher (died 1920)

Manuel Pérez y Curis was a Uruguayan poet, born in Montevideo, Uruguay.

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21/05/1880

Tudor Arghezi, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (died 1967)

Tudor Arghezi was a Romanian writer and political figure, widely considered one of his country's greatest poets. An illegitimate, part-Hungarian child who was purposely vague about his roots, he had a troubled youth during which he held a variety of jobs—including a stint as a hierodeacon of the Romanian Orthodox Church, from which he gathered his extreme anti-clericalism. He debuted in the 1890s as an affiliate of the Symbolist movement, being welcomed as an outstanding poet. Arghezi renounced this career to study theology in Switzerland, but never graduated, training instead as a watchmaker and typographer. From 1910, his social poetry and leftist journalism became widely read, allowing him to return as a professional writer and art columnist. He soon became highly controversial for his apparent corruption and his mordant satire, as well as for his political positions during World War I—when, as editor of Seara and Cronica, he favored the Central Powers. Arghezi stayed behind in occupied Bucharest after the Romanian Debacle of 1916, collaborating with the German Empire in a manner that was judged as treasonous. In postwar Greater Romania, he was initially punished with imprisonment at Văcărești, but amnestied within months.

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21/05/1878

Glenn Curtiss, American cyclist and engineer (died 1930)

Glenn Hammond Curtiss was an American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early as 1904, he began to manufacture engines for airships, and with his V8 engine in the Curtiss V-8 motorcycle set an unofficial world speed record, for all kinds of vehicles, that was not broken until 1911.

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21/05/1873

Hans Berger, German neurologist and academic (died 1941)

Hans Berger was a German psychiatrist. He is best known as the inventor of electroencephalography (EEG) in 1924, which is a method used for recording the electrical activity of the brain, commonly described in terms of brainwaves, and as the discoverer of the alpha wave rhythm which is a type of brainwave. Alpha waves have been eponymously referred to as the "Berger wave".

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21/05/1867

Anne Walter Fearn, American physician (died 1939)

Anne Walter Fearn was an American physician who went to Shanghai, China, on a temporary posting in 1893, and remained there for 40 years.

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21/05/1864

Princess Stéphanie of Belgium (died 1945)

Princess Stéphanie Clotilde Louise Herminie Marie Charlotte of Belgium was a Belgian princess who became Crown Princess of Austria through marriage to Crown Prince Rudolf, heir-apparent to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

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21/05/1863

Archduke Eugen of Austria (died 1954)

Archduke Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard Felix Maria of Austria-Teschen was an Archduke of Austria and a Prince of Hungary and Bohemia. He was the last Grand Master of the Teutonic Order from the Habsburg dynasty.

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21/05/1861

Abel Ayerza, Argentinian physician and academic (died 1918)

Abel Ayerza was an Argentine doctor who gave his name to the cardiological condition Ayerza’s disease.

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21/05/1860

Willem Einthoven, Indonesian-Dutch physician, physiologist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1927)

Willem Einthoven was a Dutch medical doctor and physiologist. He invented the first practical electrocardiograph in 1895 and received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1924 for it.

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21/05/1858

Édouard Goursat, French mathematician (died 1936)

Édouard Jean-Baptiste Goursat was a French mathematician, now remembered principally as an expositor for his Cours d'analyse mathématique, which appeared in the first decade of the twentieth century. It set a standard for the high-level teaching of mathematical analysis, especially complex analysis. This text was reviewed by William Fogg Osgood for the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. This led to its translation into English by Earle Raymond Hedrick published by Ginn and Company. Goursat also published texts on partial differential equations and hypergeometric series.

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21/05/1856

José Batlle y Ordóñez, Uruguayan journalist and politician, President of Uruguay (died 1929)

José Pablo Torcuato Batlle y Ordóñez, nicknamed Don Pepe, was a prominent Uruguayan politician who served two terms as President of Uruguay for the Colorado Party. The son of a former president, he introduced his political system, Batllism, to South America and modernized Uruguay through his creation of extensive welfare state reforms.

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21/05/1855

Ella Stewart Udall, American telegraphist (died 1937)

Eliza Luella "Ella" Stewart Udall was an American telegraphist and entrepreneur. Recruited by Brigham Young in 1870 and stationed at the Deseret Telegraph Company office in Pipe Spring in 1871, Udall was the first telegraph operator in Arizona Territory.

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21/05/1853

Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac, French politician (died 1905)

Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac, known as Godefroy Cavaignac, was a French politician.

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21/05/1851

Léon Bourgeois, French police officer and politician, 64th Prime Minister of France, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1925)

Léon Victor Auguste Bourgeois was a French statesman. His ideas influenced the Radical Party regarding a wide range of issues.

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21/05/1850

Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian priest and volcanologist (died 1914)

Giuseppe Mercalli was an Italian volcanologist and Catholic priest. He is known best for the Mercalli intensity scale for measuring earthquake intensity.

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21/05/1849

Édouard-Henri Avril, French painter (died 1928)

Édouard-Henri Avril was a French painter and commercial artist. Under the pseudonym Paul Avril, he was an illustrator of erotic literature. Avril was a soldier before starting his career in art; he was awarded the Legion of Honour for his actions in the Franco-Prussian War.

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21/05/1844

Henri Rousseau, French painter (died 1910)

Henri Julien Félix Rousseau was a French post-Impressionist painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner. He was also known as Le Douanier, a humorous description of his occupation as a toll and tax collector. He started painting seriously in his early forties; by age 49, he retired from his job to work on his art full-time.

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21/05/1843

Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss lawyer and politician, and Nobel Prize laureate (died 1914)

Charles Albert Gobat was a Swiss lawyer, educational administrator, and politician who jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize with Élie Ducommun in 1902 for their leadership of the Permanent International Peace Bureau.

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Louis Renault, French jurist, educator, and Nobel Prize laureate (died 1918)

Louis Renault was a French jurist and educator, and the co-winner in 1907 of the Nobel Peace Prize.

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21/05/1837

Itagaki Taisuke, Japanese soldier and politician (died 1919)

Count Itagaki Taisuke was a Japanese samurai, politician, and leader of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, which evolved into Japan's first political party, the Liberal Party (Jiyūtō). His activism in favour of a parliamentary democracy was a pivotal influence on the political development of Meiji Japan.

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21/05/1835

František Chvostek, Czech-Austrian physician and academic (died 1884)

František Chvostek was a Czech-Austrian military physician and lecturer in internal medicine. He published articles on a wide variety of medical disorders but is most notable for having described Chvostek's sign which he described in 1876.

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21/05/1828

Rudolf Koller, Swiss painter (died 1905)

Rudolf Koller was a Swiss painter. He is associated with a realist and classicist style, and also with the essentially romantic Düsseldorf school of painting. Koller's style is similar to that of the realist painters Gustave Courbet and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Considered Switzerland's finest animal painter, Koller is rated alongside George Stubbs, Rosa Bonheur and Théodore Géricault. While his reputation was based on his paintings of animals, he was a sensitive and innovative artist whose well-composed works in the "plein air" tradition, including Swiss mountain landscapes, are just as finely executed.

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21/05/1827

William P. Sprague, American banker and politician (died 1899)

William Peter Sprague was a businessman, banker, politician, and a two-term U.S. Representative from Ohio, serving from 1871 to 1875.

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21/05/1808

David de Jahacob Lopez Cardozo, Dutch Talmudist (died 1890)

David de Jahacob Lopez Cardozo was a Dutch Talmudist and communal worker. He was sent at an early age to the bet ha-midrash 'Etz Chayyim, studied under Rabbi Berenstein at The Hague, and received his diploma of "Morenu" in 1839.

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21/05/1806

Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland, English duchess (died 1868)

Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland, styled The Honourable Harriet Howard before her marriage, was an English courtier and abolitionist from the Howard family.

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21/05/1801

Princess Sophie of Sweden, Swedish princess (died 1865)

Sophie of Sweden was, by marriage, Grand Duchess of Baden as the wife of sovereign Grand Duke of Baden, Leopold.

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21/05/1799

Mary Anning, English paleontologist (died 1847)

Mary Anning was an English fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist. She became known internationally for her discoveries in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel at Lyme Regis in the county of Dorset, Southwest England. Anning's findings contributed to changes in scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history of the Earth.

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21/05/1792

Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis, French mathematician and engineer (died 1843)

Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis was a French mathematician, mechanical engineer and scientist. He is best known for his work on the supplementary forces that are detected in a rotating frame of reference, leading to the Coriolis effect. He was the first to apply the term travail for the transfer of energy by a force acting through a distance, and he prefixed the factor +1⁄2 to Leibniz's concept of vis viva, thus specifying today's kinetic energy.

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21/05/1790

William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, English politician, Lord Chamberlain of the Household (died 1858)

William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, styled Marquess of Hartington until 1811, was an English peer, courtier and Whig politician. Known as the "Bachelor Duke", he served as Lord Chamberlain from 1827 to 1828 and again from 1830 to 1834. The Cavendish banana is named after him.

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21/05/1780

Elizabeth Fry, English prison reformer, philanthropist and Quaker (died 1845)

Elizabeth Fry, sometimes referred to as Betsy Fry, was an English prison reformer, social reformer, philanthropist and Quaker. Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to improve the treatment of prisoners, especially female inmates, and as such has been called the "Angel of Prisons". She was instrumental in the Gaols Act 1823 which mandated sex-segregation of prisons and female warders for female inmates to protect them from sexual exploitation. Fry kept extensive diaries, in which she wrote explicitly of the need to protect female prisoners from rape and sexual abuse.

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21/05/1775

Lucien Bonaparte, French soldier and politician (died 1840)

Lucien Bonaparte, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano, was a French politician and diplomat of the French Revolution and the Consulate. He served as Minister of the Interior from 1799 to 1800 and as the president of the Council of Five Hundred in 1799.

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21/05/1759

Joseph Fouché, French lawyer and politician (died 1820)

Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante, 1st Comte Fouché was a French statesman, revolutionary, and Minister of Police under First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte. Fouché later became a subordinate of Emperor Napoleon. He was particularly known for the ferocity with which he suppressed the Lyon insurrection during the Revolution in 1793 and for being a highly competent minister of police under the Directory, the Consulate, and the Empire. In 1815, he served as President of the Executive Commission, which was the provisional government of France installed after the abdication of Napoleon. In English texts, his title is often translated as Duke of Otranto.

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21/05/1756

William Babington, Irish-born, English physician and mineralogist (died 1833)

William Babington FRS FGS was an Anglo-Irish physician and mineralogist.

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21/05/1755

Alfred Moore, American lawyer and judge (died 1810)

Alfred Moore was an American judge, lawyer, planter and military officer who became an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Moore Square, a park located in the Moore Square Historic District in Raleigh, North Carolina, was named in his honor, as was Moore County, North Carolina. He was also a founder and trustee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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21/05/1688

(O.S.) Alexander Pope, English poet, essayist, and translator (died 1744)

Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 1582 and 1923. Before as well as after the legal change, writers used the dual dating convention to specify a given day by giving its date according to both styles of dating.

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21/05/1653

Eleonore of Austria, Queen of Poland (died 1697)

Eleonore Maria Josefa of Austria was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania by marriage to King Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, and subsequently Duchess of Lorraine by her second marriage to Charles V, Duke of Lorraine. She acted as nominal regent of the Duchy of Lorraine during the minority of her son between 1690 and 1697.

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21/05/1527

Philip II of Spain (died 1598)

Philip II, sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent, was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He was also jure uxoris King of England and Ireland from his marriage to Queen Mary I in 1554 until her death in 1558. Further, he was Duke of Milan from 1540. From 1555, he was Lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands.

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21/05/1497

Al-Hattab, Muslim jurist (died 1547)

Muhammad Abu 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad at-Tarabulsi al-Hattab al-Ru'yani, more commonly referred to in Islamic scholarship as al-Hattab or Imam al-Hattab, was a 16th-century CE Muslim jurist from Tripoli, the capital of modern-day Libya. Al-Hattab was a scholar of the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). His book Mawahib al-Jalil, which was one of the first major commentaries on Khalil's Mukhtassar, is considered one of the best and most thorough commentaries in the Maliki school of law.

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21/05/1471

Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, and mathematician (died 1528)

Albrecht Dürer, sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, printmaker, and theorist of the German Renaissance. Born in Nuremberg, Dürer established his reputation and influence across Europe in his twenties due to his high-quality woodcut prints. He was in contact with the major Italian artists of his time, including Raphael, Giovanni Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci, and from 1512 was patronized by Emperor Maximilian I.

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