Born on Friday, 9th May – Famous Birthdays

09/05/2000

Trey Lance, American football player

Trey Aubrey Lance is an American professional football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Dakota State Bison, winning the Walter Payton and Jerry Rice Awards as a freshman en route to a victory in the 2020 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game. Lance was selected third overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 NFL draft, but limited play and injuries led to him being traded after two seasons to the Dallas Cowboys. Lance spent two seasons as a backup with the Cowboys before signing with the Chargers in 2025.

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09/05/1996

Noah Centineo, American actor

Noah Gregory Centineo is an American actor. He began his career performing on television, first in roles on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, most notably on Austin & Ally (2011–2012), and later had a breakout role as Jesus Adams Foster in the Freeform drama series The Fosters (2015–2018). He achieved wider recognition by starring in the Netflix romantic comedy films To All the Boys franchise (2018–2021), Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018), and The Perfect Date (2019).

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09/05/1995

Tommy Edman, American baseball player

Thomas Hyunsu Edman, is an American professional baseball utility player for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals. Edman also represents the South Korean national team in international competition.

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Beth Mead, English footballer

Bethany Jane Mead is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Women's Super League (WSL) club Arsenal and the England national team. Prior to her move to Arsenal, she played for Sunderland. A creative and prolific forward, she has all-time most assists and all-time second-most goal contributions in the WSL. At UEFA Women's Euro 2022, she became the Golden Boot winner, Player of the Tournament, and top assist provider, leading England to win a major tournament for the first time. Later that year, she was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, becoming the first women's footballer to win the prestigious award; and finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or and UEFA Player of the Year. She was part of the England squad which won UEFA Euro 2025, having her penalty saved in the shootout of the tournament's final.

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Shaboozey, American rapper and singer-songwriter

Collins Obinna Chibueze, known professionally as Shaboozey, is an American singer. His music combines country, Americana and hip-hop. After releasing two albums, he gained wider recognition through his appearances on the soundtrack to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter (2024).

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09/05/1992

Dan Burn, English footballer

Daniel Johnson Burn is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Newcastle United and the England national team.

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09/05/1991

Majlinda Kelmendi, Kosovar judoka

Majlinda Kelmendi is a Kosovan-Albanian former judoka and judo coach.

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09/05/1989

Ellen White, English footballer

Ellen Toni Convery is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. She is the record goalscorer for the England women's national team.

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Daniel Rosenfeld, German musician

Daniel Rosenfeld, known professionally as C418, is a German musician, composer, and producer, and sound designer. Known for his minimalistic ambient work, he rose to fame as the original composer and sound designer for the 2011 sandbox video game Minecraft. Acclaimed for its nostalgic value and relaxing quality, his music for the game is considered one of the greatest video game soundtracks ever composed.

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09/05/1988

J. R. Fitzpatrick, Canadian racing driver

John Ryan Fitzpatrick is a Canadian professional stock car racing driver. Fitzpatrick was the youngest driver to ever win the now defunct CASCAR Super Series championship, winning in the series' final season of 2006 at the age of 18.

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09/05/1987

Kevin Gameiro, French footballer

Kevin Dominique Gameiro is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was a strong striker known for his clinical finishing, which compensated for his relatively light frame.

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09/05/1985

Jake Long, American football player

Jake Edward Long is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, twice earning consensus All-American honors. Long was selected with the first overall pick by the Miami Dolphins in the 2008 NFL draft. He also played for the St. Louis Rams, Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings.

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09/05/1984

Prince Fielder, American baseball player

Prince Semien Fielder is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers. He was selected in the first round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft by the Brewers out of Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne, Florida, and spent the first seven years of his MLB career with the Brewers before signing with the Tigers, in January 2012. In November 2013, Fielder was traded to the Rangers, where he played the remainder of his career.

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09/05/1983

Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player

Gilles Müller is a Luxembourgish former professional tennis player. He is a two-time major singles quarterfinalist, making him by far the most successful male tennis player in Luxembourgish history. Müller won two titles on the ATP Tour and achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 21 on 31 July 2017. He was known for his powerful left-handed serve and net skills. Following his retirement, Müller was appointed as Luxembourg's Davis Cup team captain.

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09/05/1980

Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer

Grant George Hackett OAM is an Australian swimmer, most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This achievement has led him to be regarded as one of the greatest distance swimmers in history. He also collected a gold medal in Sydney for swimming in the heats of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. He was well regarded for his versatility, and has held the long course world records in the 200 m, 800 m, and 1500 m freestyle events. He dominated the 1500 m event for a decade, being undefeated in the event in finals from 1996 until the 2007 World Aquatics Championships. In total, he won 10 long-course world championship gold medals.

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09/05/1979

Rosario Dawson, American actress

Rosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress and activist. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama Kids. Her subsequent film roles include He Got Game (1998), Josie and the Pussycats (2001), 25th Hour (2001), Men in Black II (2002), The Rundown (2003), Rent (2005), Sin City (2005), Clerks II (2006), Death Proof (2007), Seven Pounds (2008), Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), Unstoppable (2010), Zookeeper (2011), Trance (2013), Top Five (2014), Zombieland: Double Tap (2019), Clerks 3 (2022), and Haunted Mansion (2023). Dawson has provided voice-over work for Disney/Marvel, Warner Bros./DC Comics, and Paramount Skydance's Nickelodeon unit. She is also recognized for her portrayal of the live-action Ahsoka Tano in the Star Wars franchise.

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Brandon Webb, American baseball player

Brandon Tyler Webb is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Webb pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2003 through 2009, and, after multiple shoulder surgeries, signed with but did not play for the Texas Rangers in 2011. Webb attended the University of Kentucky, where he played college baseball for the Wildcats baseball team.

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09/05/1977

Averno, Mexican wrestler

Renato Ruíz Cortes, better known by his ring name Averno (Hell), is a Mexican professional wrestler, signed to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Ruíz initially worked for (CMLL) as Rencor Latino in 1995, but did not achieve any significant success until he adopted the ring name Averno in June 2001. Under his new ring name, Ruíz went on to become a one–time CMLL World Middleweight, CMLL World Trios Champion, NWA World Middleweight Champion and NWA World Historic Middleweight Champion and a three–time CMLL World Tag Team Champion, and CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion. His ring name is most commonly translated as "Hell" in English.

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Marek Jankulovski, Czech footballer

Marek Jankulovski is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a defender. His most notable achievements include winning the UEFA Champions League with AC Milan and being voted the 2007 Czech Footballer of the Year. He earned 77 caps for the Czech Republic, and represented them at three UEFA European Championships, the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

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Svein Tuft, Canadian cyclist

Svein Tuft is a Canadian former road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2019 for the Symmetrics, Garmin–Transitions, SpiderTech–C10, Mitchelton–Scott and Rally UHC Cycling teams. Tuft was the winner of the 2006–07 UCI America Tour, and was a thirteen-time champion at the Canadian road cycling championships: twice in the road race, and eleven times in the time trial.

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09/05/1975

Tamia, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

Tamia Marilyn Washington Hill is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Tamia performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. In 1994, after signing a development deal with Warner Bros. Records, she was asked by veteran producer Quincy Jones to appear on his album Q's Jook Joint (1995), earning her Grammy Award nominations for their collaboration on "You Put a Move on My Heart" and "Slow Jams". Her self-titled debut album was released in 1998 and followed by a series of successful albums with Elektra Records, including A Nu Day (2000) and More (2004). Several songs from these albums became hit singles on the pop and R&B record charts, including "So Into You", "Stranger in My House", and "Imagination", as well as her collaborations "Into You", "Missing You", and "Spend My Life with You".

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Brian Deegan, American motocross rider

Brian Deegan (born May 9, 1974) is an American professional freestyle motocross rider and racing driver.

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09/05/1973

Tegla Loroupe, Kenyan runner

Tegla Chepkite Loroupe is a former Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is also a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 25 and 30 kilometers and previously held the world marathon record. She was the first African woman to hold the marathon World Record, which she held from 19 April 1998 until 30 September 2001. She is the three-time World Half-Marathon champion. Loroupe was also the first woman from Africa to win the New York City Marathon, which she has won twice. She has won marathons in London, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Berlin and Rome.

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09/05/1970

Doug Christie, American basketball player and coach

Douglas Dale Christie is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

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Hao Haidong, Chinese footballer

Hao Haidong is a Chinese former international footballer. He holds the record for being China's top goalscorer.

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Ghostface Killah, American rapper and actor

Dennis David Coles, better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang , the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success. Ghostface Killah debuted his solo career with Ironman, which was well received by music critics, in 1996. He has enjoyed continued success in the years that have followed, releasing critically acclaimed albums such as Supreme Clientele (2000) and Fishscale (2006). His stage name was taken from one of the characters in the 1979 kung fu film The Mystery of Chess Boxing. He is the founder of his own record label, Starks Enterprises.

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09/05/1968

Graham Harman, American philosopher and academic

Graham Harman is an American philosopher. He is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. His work on the metaphysics of objects led to the development of object-oriented ontology. He is a central figure in the speculative realism trend in contemporary philosophy.

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Ruth Kelly, British economist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport

Ruth Maria Kelly is the chair of Water UK, the trade association representing all of the water and wastewater companies of the United Kingdom.

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Marie-José Pérec, French sprinter

Marie-José Pérec is a retired French track and field sprinter who specialised in the 200 and 400 metres and is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. She was born in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe and moved to Paris when she was 16 years old.

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09/05/1965

Steve Yzerman, Canadian ice hockey player and manager

Stephen Gregory Yzerman is a Canadian former professional hockey player who is currently the executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, where he spent all 22 seasons of his NHL playing career. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he is a Detroit sports icon and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. After his retirement as a player, he served in the front office of the Red Wings, and then as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, while also being executive director for Team Canada in two Olympics.

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09/05/1962

Dave Gahan, English singer-songwriter

David Gahan is an English singer best known as the co-founder and lead singer of electronic music band Depeche Mode since their formation in 1980. Noted for his commanding stage presence and unique baritone voice, Gahan was ranked at No. 73 on Q magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Singers" and No. 27 on its list of the "100 Greatest Frontmen". As a member of Depeche Mode, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

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Paul Heaton, English singer-songwriter

Paul David Heaton is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer and main lyricist of the Housemartins, who had commercial success in the UK and other European countries between 1985 and 1988, releasing several singles including "Happy Hour" and the UK number-one single "Caravan of Love" in 1986, before the band disbanded. Heaton then formed the Beautiful South with the Housemartins' drummer, Dave Hemingway, and the band's debut single, "Song for Whoever", and debut album, Welcome to the Beautiful South, were released in 1989 to commercial success. They had a series of hits throughout the 1990s, including the number-one single "A Little Time". They disbanded in 2007.

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09/05/1961

John Corbett, American actor

John Joseph Corbett Jr. is an American actor and country music singer. On television, he is best known for his roles as Chris Stevens on Northern Exposure (1990–1995), Aidan Shaw on Sex and the City (2000–2003) and sequel series And Just Like That... (2023–2025), Max Gregson on United States of Tara (2009–2011), and Seth Holt on Parenthood (2011–2015). In film, he is known for roles in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise, Raising Helen (2004), The Messengers (2007), Sex and the City 2 (2010), Ramona & Beezus (2010), and the To All the Boys film trilogy (2018–2021).

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09/05/1960

Tony Gwynn, American baseball player and coach (died 2014)

Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr., nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hitting Gwynn won eight batting titles in his career, which is tied for the most in National League (NL) history. He was a 15-time All-Star and won seven Silver Slugger Awards and five Gold Glove Awards. Gwynn stayed with the Padres his entire career and played in the only two World Series appearances in San Diego franchise history. Having hit over .300 for 19 straight seasons, Gwynn retired with a .338 career batting average, the highest mark since Ted Williams retired in 1960; Gwynn also holds the highest adjusted batting average of all time at .342. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 in his first year of eligibility, and is widely considered the best pure hitter of his generation.

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09/05/1956

Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress and producer

Wendy Jane Crewson is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in the 1991 dramatic film The Doctor.

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09/05/1955

Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia (died 2012)

Meles Zenawi Asres, born Legesse Zenawi Asres was an Ethiopian politician and former rebel militant commander who served as president of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and as prime minister from 1995 until his death in 2012.

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Anne Sofie von Otter, Swedish soprano and actress

Anne Sofie von Otter is a Swedish mezzo-soprano. Her repertoire encompasses lieder, operas, oratorios and also rock and pop songs.

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09/05/1951

Alley Mills, American actress

Allison Mills, also known as Alley Bean, is an American actress, known for her roles on television. She starred as Norma Arnold, in the coming-of-age ABC comedy series, The Wonder Years (1988–1993). In 2006 she began playing the role of Pamela Douglas, the sister of the late Forrester matriarch Stephanie Forrester, on the CBS soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. From 2022 to 2024, Mills also portrayed antagonistic Heather Webber on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital, for which she received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series twice.

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Joy Harjo, American poet, musician, playwright and author, 23rd United States Poet Laureate

Joy Harjo is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022, the first Native American to hold that honor. She was also only the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to have served three terms. Harjo is a seventh-generation Monahwee daughter. Additionally, Harjo is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and belongs to Oce Vpofv. She is an important figure in the second wave of the literary Native American Renaissance of the late 20th century. She studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts, completed her undergraduate degree at University of New Mexico in 1976, and earned an MFA degree at the University of Iowa in its creative writing program.

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09/05/1949

Billy Joel, American singer-songwriter and pianist

William Martin Joel is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his signature 1973 song of the same name, Joel has had a successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s. From 1971 to 1993, he released 12 studio albums spanning the genres of pop and rock, and in 2001 released a one-off studio album of classical compositions. With over 160 million records sold worldwide, Joel is one of the world's best-selling music artists and is the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States. His 1985 compilation album, Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II, is one of the best-selling albums in the U.S.

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09/05/1948

Calvin Murphy, American basketball player and radio host

Calvin Jerome Murphy is an American former professional basketball player who after a prolific collegiate career at Niagara University, where he averaged 33.1 points per game over his three years, played in the National Basketball Association as a guard for the San Diego/Houston Rockets from 1970 to 1983. He is currently a member of the Houston Rockets' Space City Home Network broadcast team. Standing at a height of 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m), Murphy has the distinction of being the shortest NBA player inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and to play in an NBA All-Star Game.

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09/05/1947

Yukiya Amano, Japanese diplomat (died 2019)

Yukiya Amano was a Japanese diplomat, who served as the Director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1 December 2009 until his death on 18 July 2019. Previously, Amano served as an international civil servant for the United Nations and its subdivisions.

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09/05/1946

Candice Bergen, American actress and producer

Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards as the title character on Murphy Brown. She is also known for her role as Shirley Schmidt on the ABC drama Boston Legal (2005–2008). In films, Bergen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Starting Over (1979) and for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Gandhi (1982).

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09/05/1945

Jupp Heynckes, German footballer and manager

Josef "Jupp" Heynckes is a German retired professional footballer and manager. For the majority of his playing career he was as a striker for Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and '70s, when they won many national championships and the DFB-Pokal, as well as the UEFA Cup. During this period the team played in its only European Cup final in 1977, losing to Liverpool. He is the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of the Bundesliga, with 220 goals. He was a member of the West Germany national team that won the UEFA Euro 1972 and the 1974 FIFA World Cup titles.

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09/05/1943

Vince Cable, English economist and politician, former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

Sir John Vincent Cable is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade from 2010 to 2015.

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Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic (died 2014)

Colin Trevor Pillinger, was an English planetary scientist. He was a founding member of the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute at The Open University in Milton Keynes; he was also the principal investigator for the British Beagle 2 Mars lander project, and worked on a group of Martian meteorites.

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09/05/1942

John Ashcroft, American lawyer and politician, 79th United States Attorney General

John David Ashcroft is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and former politician who served as the 79th United States attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. A Republican from Missouri, Ashcroft represented the state in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2001, and held statewide office as the 29th auditor (1973–1975), 38th attorney general (1976–1985), and 50th governor of Missouri (1985–1993). He later founded The Ashcroft Group, a Washington D.C. lobbying firm.

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David Gergen, American political consultant (died 2025)

David Richmond Gergen was an American political commentator and longtime presidential adviser who served during the administrations of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. He was later a senior political analyst for CNN and a professor of public service and the founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. Gergen was also the former editor at large of U.S. News & World Report and a contributor to CNN and Parade Magazine. He was twice a member of election coverage teams that won Peabody awards: in 1988 with MacNeil–Lehrer, and in 2008 with CNN.

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09/05/1941

Dorothy Hyman, English sprinter

Dorothy Hyman is an English retired sprinter. She competed at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics in the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m events, winning three medals. She also won individual 100 m gold and 200 m silver at the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade and, representing England, completed the 100 yd/220 yd sprint double at the 1962 Commonwealth Games.

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09/05/1940

James L. Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter

James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter, and the founder of Gracie Films. He co-created the sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and The Simpsons and directed the films Terms of Endearment (1983), Broadcast News (1987), and As Good as It Gets (1997). He received numerous accolades including three Academy Awards, 22 Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.

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09/05/1939

Ion Țiriac, Romanian tennis player and manager

Ion Țiriac (Romanian pronunciation: [iˈon t͡siriˈak]; born 9 May 1939), also known as the "Brașov Bulldozer", is a Romanian businessman, former professional tennis and ice hockey player and current president of the Romanian Tennis Federation.

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09/05/1938

Carroll Cole, American serial killer (died 1985)

Carroll Edward "Eddie" Cole was an American serial killer who was executed in Nevada in 1985 for killing two women by strangulation. He was also convicted of murdering three other women in Texas and is believed to have murdered dozens between 1947 and 1980.

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Charles Simić, Serbian-American poet and editor (died 2023)

Dušan Simić, known as Charles Simic, was a Serbian American poet and poetry co-editor of The Paris Review. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for The World Doesn't End and was a finalist of the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for Selected Poems, 1963–1983 and in 1987 for Unending Blues. He was appointed the fifteenth United States Poet Laureate in 2007.

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09/05/1937

Dave Prater, American singer (died 1988)

David Prater Jr. was an American Southern soul and rhythm & blues singer and musician, who was the deeper baritone/tenor vocalist of the soul vocal duo Sam & Dave from 1961 until his death in 1988. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992), the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame (1997), and he was a Grammy Award–winning (1967) and multiple Gold Record award-winning recording artist.

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09/05/1936

Albert Finney, English actor (died 2019)

Albert Finney was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining fame for film acting during the early 1960s, debuting with The Entertainer (1960), directed by Tony Richardson, who had previously directed him in theatre. He maintained a successful career on stage and screen.

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Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician (died 2023)

Glenda May Jackson was an English actress and politician. Over the course of her distinguished career she received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, three Emmy Awards and a Tony Award, making her one of the few performers to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting." Her other accolades include two BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe Award. A member of the Labour Party, she served continuously as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 23 years, first for Hampstead and Highgate from 1992 to 2010, and then, following boundary changes, for Hampstead and Kilburn from 2010 to 2015.

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09/05/1935

Nokie Edwards, American guitarist (died 2018)

Nole Floyd "Nokie" Edwards was an American musician and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was primarily a guitarist, best known for his work with The Ventures, and was known in Japan as the 'King of Guitars'. Edwards was also an actor, who appeared briefly on Deadwood, an American Western drama television series.

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09/05/1934

Alan Bennett, English screenwriter, playwright, and novelist

Alan Bennett is an English playwright, author, actor and screenwriter. He has received numerous awards and honours including four BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2005 he received the Society of London Theatre Special Award.

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09/05/1932

Geraldine McEwan, English actress (died 2015)

Geraldine McEwan was an English actress, who had a long career in film, theatre and television. Michael Coveney described her, in a tribute article, as "a great comic stylist, with a syrupy, seductive voice and a forthright, sparkling manner".

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09/05/1931

Vance D. Brand, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut

Vance DeVoe Brand is a retired American naval officer, aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. He served as command module pilot during the first U.S.-Soviet joint spaceflight in 1975, and as commander of three Space Shuttle missions.

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09/05/1930

Joan Sims, English actress (died 2001)

Irene Joan Marion Sims was an English actress and comedienne, best remembered for her roles in the Carry On franchise, appearing in 24 of the films.

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09/05/1928

Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player (died 1995)

Ricardo Alonso "Pancho" González, known sometimes as Richard Gonzales, was an American tennis player. He won 15 major singles titles, including two U.S. National Championships in 1948 and 1949, and 13 Professional majors. He also won three Tournament of Champions professional events in 1957, 1958, and 1959. Gonzales was ranked as the amateur world No. 1 in 1948 by Ned Potter and in 1949 by Potter and John Olliff.

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Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian figure skater (died 2012)

Barbara Ann Scott was a Canadian figure skater. She was the 1948 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (1947–1948), and a four-time Canadian national champion in ladies' singles. Known as "Canada's Sweetheart", she is the only Canadian to have won the Olympic ladies' singles gold medal, the first North American to have won three major titles in one year and the only Canadian to have won the European Championship (1947–48). During her forties she was rated among the top equestrians in North America. She received many honours and accolades, including being made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991 and a member of the Order of Ontario in 2008.

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09/05/1927

Manfred Eigen, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2019)

Manfred Eigen was a German biophysical chemist who won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on measuring fast chemical reactions.

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09/05/1924

Bulat Okudzhava, Russian singer, poet, and author (died 1997)

Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava was a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, musician, novelist, and singer-songwriter of Georgian-Armenian ancestry. He was one of the founders of the Soviet genre called "author song", or "guitar song", and the author of about 200 songs, set to his own poetry. His songs are a mixture of Russian poetic and folk song traditions and the French chansonnier style represented by such contemporaries of Okudzhava as Georges Brassens. Though his songs were never overtly political, the freshness and independence of Okudzhava's artistic voice presented a subtle challenge to Soviet cultural authorities, who were thus hesitant for many years to give him official recognition.

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09/05/1921

Daniel Berrigan, American priest, poet, and activist (died 2016)

Daniel Joseph Berrigan was an American Jesuit priest, anti-war activist, Christian pacifist, playwright, poet, and author.

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Sophie Scholl, German activist (died 1943)

Sophia Magdalena Scholl was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active in the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany.

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09/05/1918

Mike Wallace, American journalist (died 2012)

Myron Leon Wallace was an American broadcast journalist, and television personality. Known for his investigative journalism, he interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspondents featured on CBS news program 60 Minutes, which debuted in 1968. Wallace retired as a regular full-time correspondent in 2006, but still appeared occasionally on the series until 2008. He is the father of Chris Wallace.

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09/05/1914

Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian conductor and director (died 2005)

Carlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor. From the age of five, when he began to play the violin, Giulini's musical education was expanded when he began to study at Italy's foremost conservatory, the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome at the age of 16. Initially, he studied the viola and conducting; then, following an audition, he won a place in the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

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J. Merrill Knapp, American musicologist (died 1993)

John Merrill Knapp was an American musicologist and academic. He was considered an authority on the life and works of George Frideric Handel. Born in New York City, Knapp graduated from the Hotchkiss School before entering Yale University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1936 and was a member of Skull and Bones. He then taught briefly at The Thacher School in Ojai, California before returning to Yale to assume the post of assistant director of the Yale Glee Club. He left there to pursue graduate studies at Columbia University where he earned a Master of Music degree. He served as an operations officer in the Third Fleet of United States Navy during World War II (1942-1946); earning two service stars and a commendation ribbon.

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Hank Snow, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1999)

Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian country music guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on the Billboard country charts between 1950 and 1980. Snow had success on country music record charts with his songs including: "I'm Moving On", "The Golden Rocket", "The Rhumba Boogie", "I Don't Hurt Anymore", "Let Me Go, Lover!", "I've Been Everywhere", and "Hello Love".

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09/05/1912

Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican-American actor (died 1963)

Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings was a Mexican and American actor. With the actresses Dolores del Río and María Félix, he was one of the best-known Latin American movie stars of the 1940s and 1950s. He won the Ariel Award for Best Actor twice, for The Pearl (1948) and Soledad's Shawl (1952).

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09/05/1909

Gordon Bunshaft, American architect, designed the Solow Building (died 1990)

Gordon Bunshaft was an American architect, a leading proponent of modern design in the mid-twentieth century. A partner in Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Bunshaft joined the firm in 1937 and remained with it for more than 40 years. His notable buildings include Lever House in New York, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the National Commercial Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 140 Broadway, and Manufacturers Hanover Trust Branch Bank in New York, the first post-war "transparent" bank on the East Coast.

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09/05/1908

Billy Jurges, American baseball player and manager (died 1997)

William Frederick Jurges was an American shortstop, third baseman, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. He was born in the Bronx, New York. During the 1930s, he was central to three National League champion Chicago Cubs teams. In July 1932, Jurges recovered from gunshot wounds—suffered when a distraught former girlfriend tried to kill him—to help lead the Cubs to the pennant.

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09/05/1907

Jackie Grant, Trinidadian cricketer (died 1978)

George Copeland "Jackie" Grant was a West Indian cricketer who captained the West Indies in Test cricket between 1930 and 1935. He was later a missionary in South Africa and Rhodesia.

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Baldur von Schirach, German politician (died 1974)

Baldur Benedikt von Schirach was a German politician who was the leader (Reichsjugendführer) of the Hitler Youth from 1931 to 1940. From 1940 to 1945, he was the Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter of Vienna.

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09/05/1900

Maria Malicka, Polish stage and film actress (died 1992)

Maria Malicka was a Polish stage and film actress. She appeared in ten films between 1927 and 1966.

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09/05/1896

Richard Day, Canadian-American art director and set decorator (died 1972)

Richard Day was a Canadian art director in the film industry. He won seven Academy Awards and was nominated for a further 13 in the category of Best Art Direction. He worked on 265 films between 1923 and 1970. He was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and died in Hollywood, California.

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09/05/1895

Richard Barthelmess, American actor (died 1963)

Richard Semler Barthelmess was an American film actor, principally of the Hollywood silent era. He starred opposite Lillian Gish in D. W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms (1919) and Way Down East (1920) and was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927. The following year, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two films: The Patent Leather Kid and The Noose.

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Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (died 1961)

Lucian Blaga was a Romanian philosopher, poet, playwright, poetry translator and novelist. He is one of the most important philosophers and poets of Romania, and a prominent philosopher of the interwar period in Eastern Europe who, due to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding his career, is barely known to the outside world.

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Frank Foss, American pole vaulter (died 1989)

Frank Kent Foss was an American pole vaulter. He won a gold medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics, while breaking his own unofficial world record.

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09/05/1894

Benjamin Graham, British-American economist, professor, and investor (died 1976)

Benjamin Graham was an English-American financial analyst, economist, accountant, investor and professor. He is widely known as the "father of value investing", and wrote two of the discipline's founding texts: Security Analysis (1934) with David Dodd, and The Intelligent Investor (1949). His investment philosophy stressed independent thinking, emotional detachment, and careful security analysis, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing the price of a stock from the value of its underlying business.

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09/05/1893

William Moulton Marston, American psychologist and author (died 1947)

William Moulton Marston, also known by the pen name Charles Moulton, was an American psychologist who, with his wife Elizabeth Holloway, invented an early prototype of the polygraph. He was also known as a self-help author and comic book writer who created the character Wonder Woman.

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09/05/1892

Zita of Bourbon-Parma, last Empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (died 1989)

Zita of Bourbon-Parma was the last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, in addition to other titles. She ascended to these titles when her husband, Charles I, became the last monarch of Austria-Hungary. She was declared Servant of God by Pope Benedict XVI.

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09/05/1888

Francesco Baracca, Italian fighter pilot (died 1918)

Francesco Baracca was Italy's top fighter ace of World War I. He was credited with 34 aerial victories. The emblem he wore side by side on his plane of a black horse prancing on its two rear hooves inspired Enzo Ferrari to use it on his racing car and later in his automotive company.

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Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector (died 1964)

Rolf de Maré, sometimes called Rolf de Mare, was a Swedish art collector and leader of the Ballets Suédois in Paris in 1920–25. In 1931 he founded the world's first research center and museum for dance in Paris.

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09/05/1885

Gianni Vella, Maltese artist (died 1977)

Gianni Vella was a Maltese artist. After studying in Rome, he produced many religious works which can be found in many churches in the Maltese Islands, but he also produced some secular works, including landscape paintings, cartoons and a stamp design.

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09/05/1884

Valdemar Psilander, Danish actor (died 1917)

Valdemar Einar Psilander was a Danish silent film actor, who was the highest-paid performer of his period and received critical acclaim as the greatest male lead during the golden era of Danish cinema.

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09/05/1883

José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher, author, and critic (died 1955)

José Ortega y Gasset was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism and dictatorship. His philosophy has been characterized as a "philosophy of life" that "comprised a long-hidden beginning in a pragmatist metaphysics inspired by William James and with a general method from a realist phenomenology imitating Edmund Husserl, which served both his proto-existentialism and his realist historicism, which has been compared to both Wilhelm Dilthey and Benedetto Croce."

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09/05/1882

George Barker, American painter (died 1965)

George Barker was a portrait and landscape painter from the United States. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, much of his work was done in Southern California. While teaching at Long Beach Polytechnic High School in the late 1920s, he mentored several art students that later went on to being accomplished artist themselves. Among them were John Williams, Sueyo Serisawa and Alan Woods.

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Henry J. Kaiser, American shipbuilder and businessman, founded Kaiser Shipyards (died 1967)

Henry John Kaiser was an American industrialist who became known for his shipbuilding and construction projects, then later for his involvement in fostering modern American health care. Prior to World War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of those that built the Hoover Dam. He established the Kaiser Shipyards, which built Liberty ships during World War II, after which he formed Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel. Kaiser organized Kaiser Permanente health care for his workers and their families. He led Kaiser-Frazer followed by Kaiser Motors, automobile companies known for the safety of their designs. Kaiser was involved in large construction projects such as civic centers and dams, and invested in real estate, later moving into television broadcasting with Kaiser Broadcasting.

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09/05/1874

Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian (died 1939)

Howard Carter was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who became known for discovering the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings.

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09/05/1873

Anton Cermak, Czech-American captain and politician, 44th Mayor of Chicago (died 1933)

Anton Joseph Cermak was an American politician who served as the 44th Mayor of Chicago from 1931 until he was fatally wounded in 1933 by Giuseppe Zangara, who was trying to assassinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt.

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09/05/1870

Harry Vardon, British golfer (died 1937)

Henry William Vardon was a professional golfer from Jersey. He was a member of the Great Triumvirate with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. Vardon won The Open Championship a record six times, and also won the 1900 U.S. Open. Known as "the Stylist," Vardon's success, as well as his contributions to technique and the sport's fashion, made him golf's first international star and significantly elevated the prestige of the professional golfer. With his total of seven, Vardon holds the most major championships of any golfer from the British Isles.

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09/05/1866

Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian economist and politician (died 1915)

Gopal Krishna Gokhale was an Indian political leader and a social reformer during the Indian independence movement, and political mentor of Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi. Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and the founder of the Servants of India Society. Through the Society as well as the Congress and other legislative bodies he served in, Gokhale campaigned for Indian self-rule and social reforms. He was the leader of the moderate faction of the Congress that advocated reforms by working with existing government institutions, and a major member of the Poona Association or the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha.

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09/05/1860

J. M. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright (died 1937)

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several successful novels and plays. There he met the Llewelyn Davies boys, who inspired him to write about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens, then to write Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, a 1904 West End "fairy play" about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland.

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09/05/1855

Julius Röntgen, German-Dutch composer (died 1932)

Julius Engelbert Röntgen was a German-Dutch composer of classical music. He was a friend of Liszt, Brahms and Grieg.

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09/05/1850

Edward Weston, English-American chemist (died 1936)

Edward Weston was an English-born American chemist and engineer noted for his achievements in electroplating and his development of the electrochemical cell, named the Weston cell, for the voltage standard. Weston was a competitor of Thomas Edison in the early days of electricity generation and distribution.

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09/05/1845

Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer and businessman (died 1913)

Karl Gustaf Patrik de Laval was a Swedish engineer and inventor who made important contributions to the design of steam turbines and centrifugal separation machinery for dairy.

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09/05/1837

Adam Opel, German engineer, founded the Opel Company (died 1895)

Adam Opel was a German entrepreneur who founded the company Adam Opel AG, then a manufacturer of bicycles and sewing machines.

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09/05/1836

Ferdinand Monoyer, French ophthalmologist, invented the Monoyer chart (died 1912)

Ferdinand Monoyer was a French ophthalmologist, known for introducing the dioptre in 1872.

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09/05/1825

James Collinson, Victorian painter (died 1881)

James Collinson was a Victorian painter who was a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood from 1848 to 1850. Collinson was known for the paintings,The Renunciation of St Elizabeth of Hungary, To Let and For Sale. Engaged at one time to the poet Christina Rossetti, their broken engagement also influenced many of her poems.

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09/05/1824

Jacob ben Moses Bachrach, Polish apologist and author (died 1896)

Jacob ben Moses Bachrach was a noted apologist of Rabbinic Judaism. He was descended from Rabbi Yair Chayim Bacharach, and in turn from the Maharal of Prague.

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09/05/1823

Frederick Weld, English-New Zealand politician, 6th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1891)

Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld, was an English-born New Zealand politician and colonial administrator of various British colonies and territories located in Oceania and Southeast Asia. He was the sixth Prime Minister of New Zealand, and later served as Governor of Western Australia, Governor of Tasmania, and Governor of the Straits Settlements.

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09/05/1814

John Brougham, Irish-American actor and playwright (died 1880)

John Brougham was an Irish and American actor, dramatist, poet, theatre manager, and author. As an actor and dramatist he had most of his career in the United States, where he was celebrated for his portrayals of comic Irish characters.

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09/05/1801

Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded the town of Fleetwood (died 1866)

Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, 1st Baronet, was an English landowner, developer and Member of Parliament who founded the town of Fleetwood, in Lancashire, England. Born Peter Hesketh, he changed his name by Royal assent to Hesketh-Fleetwood, incorporating the name of his ancestors, and was later created Baronet Fleetwood. Predeceased by an older brother, he inherited estates in west Lancashire in 1824. Inspired by the transport developments of the early 19th century, he decided to bring the railway to the Lancashire coast and develop a holiday resort and port. He hired architect Decimus Burton to design his new town, which he named Fleetwood; construction began in 1836. Hesketh-Fleetwood was instrumental in the formation of the Preston and Wyre Railway Company and with his financial support, a railway line was built between Preston and Fleetwood which opened in 1840.

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09/05/1800

John Brown, American abolitionist (died 1859)

John Brown was an American abolitionist in the decades preceding the Civil War. First reaching national prominence in the 1850s for his radical abolitionism and fighting in Bleeding Kansas, Brown was captured, tried, and executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for a raid and incitement of a slave rebellion at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859.

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09/05/1763

János Batsányi, Hungarian-Austrian poet and author (died 1845)

János Batsányi was a Hungarian poet.

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09/05/1746

Gaspard Monge, French mathematician and engineer (died 1818)

Gaspard Monge, Comte de Péluse was a French mathematician, commonly presented as the inventor of descriptive geometry, technical drawing, and the father of differential geometry.

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09/05/1740

Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer and educator (probable; (died 1816)

Giovanni Paisiello was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini.

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09/05/1617

Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Eschwege (died 1655)

Landgrave Frederick of Hesse-Eschwege was from 1632 until his death Landgrave of the apanage of Hesse-Eschwege, which stood under the suzerainty of Hesse-Kassel.

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09/05/1594

Louis Henry, Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg, military leader in the Thirty Years' War (died 1662)

Louis Henry of Nassau-Dillenburg, was Count, and from 1654 Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg. During the Thirty Years' War, he was a senior officer. He climbed to the rank of Major General. Before 1635, he served on the Protestant side; after 1635, he served in the imperial army.

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09/05/1555

Jerónima de la Asunción, Spanish Catholic nun and founder of the first monastery in Manila (died 1630)

Jerónima de la Asunción, O.S.C. was a Spanish Catholic nun and abbess who founded the Real Monasterio de Santa Clara in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines.

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09/05/1540

Maharana Pratap, Indian ruler (died 1597)

Pratap Singh I, popularly known as Maharana Pratap, was king of the Kingdom of Mewar, in north-western India in the present-day state of Rajasthan, from 1572 until his death in 1597. He is notable for leading the Rajput resistance against the expansionist policy of the Mughal Emperor Akbar including the battle of Haldighati.

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09/05/1151

al-Adid, last Fatimid caliph (died 1171)

Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ, better known by his regnal name al-ʿĀḍid li-Dīn Allāh, was the fourteenth and last caliph of the Fatimid dynasty, and the twenty-fourth imam of the Hafizi Isma'ili branch of Shi'a Islam, reigning from 1160 to 1171.

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09/05/1147

Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shōgun (died 1199)

Minamoto no Yoritomo was a Japanese samurai, daimyo and the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first shogun in the history of Japan to hold de-facto power over Japan. He was married to Hōjō Masako, who acted as regent (shikken) after his death. The early 11th-century text Mutsu Waki 陸奥話記 says Yoritomo is an incarnation of the god of the north Bishamonten.

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