Born on Sunday, 26th October – Famous Birthdays

26/10/2002

Lee Eunsang, South Korean singer

Lee Eun-sang, also known by the mononym Eunsang, is a South Korean singer and actor. He is currently a member of Younite. He is also a former member of X1 which debuted in 2019. He debuted as a solo artist on August 31, 2020, with his single album Beautiful Scar.

---

26/10/1997

Rhenzy Feliz, American actor and singer

Rhenzy Feliz is an American actor, who is best known for playing Alex Wilder in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series Runaways, voicing Camilo Madrigal in Disney's 2021 animated feature film Encanto, and playing Victor Aguilar in the HBO series The Penguin.

---

26/10/1996

Rebecca Tunney, English gymnast

Rebecca Tunney is a retired British artistic gymnast who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

---

26/10/1995

Yuta, Japanese singer

Yuta Nakamoto , known professionally as Yuta, is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, dancer and radio host based in South Korea. He is a member of the South Korean boy group NCT, debuting in the group's second fixed sub-unit NCT 127 in 2016 and in the group's first rotational sub-unit NCT U in 2020. Yuta made his solo debut on October 3, 2024, with the extended play (EP) Depth.

---

26/10/1994

Waqa Blake, Fijian rugby league player

Waqa Blake is a Fijian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre and wing for the Bradford Bulls in the Super League and Fiji at international level.

---

Allie DeBerry, American model and actress

Alexandria Danielle DeBerry is an American actress and model. She is best known for her roles in A.N.T. Farm as Paisley Houndstooth, Shake It Up as Destiny, Lazer Team as Mindy and True Jackson, VP as Cammy.

---

26/10/1993

Sergey Karasev, Russian basketball player

Sergey Vasiliyevich Karasev is a Russian professional basketball player and the team captain for Zenit Saint Petersburg of the VTB United League. He was drafted with the 19th pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

---

26/10/1992

Joseph Cramarossa, Canadian hockey player

Joseph Cramarossa is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for Augsburger Panther in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

---

26/10/1991

Riho Iida, Japanese model and actress

Riho Iida is a Japanese ex-child model-turned-actress, voice actress and singer. Her nickname is Rippi. She voiced Amari Katasumi in Idol Land PriPara.

---

26/10/1990

Mark Swanepoel, South African rugby player

Mark Swanepoel is a retired rugby union player.

---

26/10/1989

Dre Kirkpatrick, American football player

D'Andre Lawan "Dre" Kirkpatrick is an American former professional football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide and was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft. He also played for the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.

---

Emil Sayfutdinov, Russian motorcycle racer

Emil Damirovich Sayfutdinov is a motorcycle speedway rider from Russia. He is a member of the Russia national speedway team. He is a three times World team champion, twice World Junior champion and a two-time winner of the European Championships in 2014 and 2015.

---

26/10/1988

Nosliw Rodríguez, Venezuelan politician

Nosliw Rodríguez Franco is a Venezuelan politician. Nosliw was deputy of the National Assembly for Cojedes. She is currently a member of the 2017 Constituent National Assembly.

---

Greg Zuerlein, American figure skater

Greg Zuerlein is an American former ice dancer. With Madison Chock, he was the 2009 World Junior champion, 2008 JGP Final champion, and 2011 U.S. national bronze medalist. They competed together from 2006 to 2011.

---

26/10/1987

Abudramae Bamba, Ivorian footballer

Abudramae Bamba is an Ivorian footballer. He plays in the centre forward position.

---

Shawn Lauvao, American football player

Shawn Sisifo Lauvao is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2010 NFL draft. He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils.

---

26/10/1986

Ibor Bakar, French footballer

Ibor Bakar is a footballer who plays as a midfielder for French fourth division side US Marignane. Born in France, he represented Comoros at international level.

---

Jakub Rzeźniczak, Polish footballer

Jakub Rzeźniczak is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for regional league club Mazur Radzymin. Besides Poland, he has played in Azerbaijan.

---

Marco Ruben, Argentinian footballer

Marco Gastón Ruben Rodríguez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for Rosario Central as a striker.

---

Schoolboy Q, German-American rapper

Quincy Matthew Hanley, better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q, is an American rapper who began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ScHoolboy Turned Hustla (2008) and Gangsta & Soul (2009) to local success. After signing with the Carson-based record label Top Dawg Entertainment, Hanley's debut studio album, Setbacks (2011) and its follow-up, Habits & Contradictions (2012) were both released to positive critical response; both also performed moderately on the US Billboard 200 chart as digital exclusives.

---

26/10/1985

Andrea Bargnani, Italian basketball player

Andrea Bargnani is an Italian former professional basketball player. The 7-foot (2.13 m) power forward-center played for Benetton Treviso in the Italian LBA and the EuroLeague before being selected first overall in the 2006 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors. He spent 10 seasons in the NBA, including with the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, before ending his career with a stint in Spain during the 2016–17 season.

---

Kafoumba Coulibaly, Ivorian footballer

Kafoumba Coulibaly is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

---

Monta Ellis, American basketball player

Monta Jerome Ellis is an American former professional basketball player. Ellis attended Lanier High School in Jackson, Mississippi, where he was a McDonald's All-American and first-team Parade All-American. He entered the NBA directly out of high school, being drafted with the 40th overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2005 NBA draft. In 2007, he was named the NBA Most Improved Player. During his career Ellis was one of the best scorers in the league, averaging close to 25 points per game on two occasions.

---

Kieran Read, New Zealand rugby player

Kieran James Read is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played as a number 8 and is a former captain of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks.

---

26/10/1984

Sasha Cohen, American figure skater

Alexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen is a retired American figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World Championship medalist, the 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and the 2006 U.S. Champion. She is known for her artistry, flexibility and body lines, and musical interpretation.

---

Adriano Correia, Brazilian footballer

Adriano Correia Claro, known simply as Adriano, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. One of few players in professional football who are genuinely ambidextrous, he was capable of playing as a full-back or midfielder on both sides of the pitch.

---

Mathieu Crépel, French snowboarder

Mathieu Crépel is a French professional snowboarder and World Champion based in Anglet, Northern Basque Country. Crépel rides regular stance. He has also surfed competitively in the multi-discipline Quik Cup.

---

Jefferson Farfán, Peruvian footballer

Jefferson Agustín Farfán Guadalupe is a Peruvian former professional footballer who mainly played as a winger. Commonly known as Farfán or the nickname Foquita, he is known for his speed and technical ability and was one of the best providers of assists during his time in the Bundesliga.

---

Amanda Overmyer, American singer-songwriter

Amanda Lindsay Overmyer is an American rock singer-songwriter who was the eleventh place finalist on the seventh season of American Idol.

---

26/10/1983

Francisco Liriano, Dominican baseball player

Francisco Liriano Casillas is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, and Detroit Tigers. Liriano was an MLB All-Star in 2006, and is a two-time winner of the MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award; he is the only player to win the award in both leagues.

---

Dmitri Sychev, Russian footballer

Dmitri Yevgenyevich Sychev is a Russian professional football official and a former player who played as a forward or as a midfielder. He is the president of Irtysh Omsk. He was hailed by the international press as "The Russian Michael Owen", because of his pace, and was dubbed "the most sensational young Russian forward since Vladimir Beschastnykh". He was well known for his blinding pace and agility.

---

Luke Watson, South African rugby player

Luke Asher Watson is a South African former rugby union footballer who can play at flank or eighthman. He has represented and captained the South African Schools rugby team (2001), South Africa's under-19 (2002) and under-21 (2004) teams, as well as the Springbok Sevens team (2001). Watson has also captained both the Western Province and the Super Rugby Stormers. He most recently played for the Eastern Province Kings.

---

26/10/1982

Nicola Adams, English boxer

Nicola Virginia Adams OBE is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2007 to 2019. She retired with an undefeated record and held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) female flyweight title in 2019. As an amateur, she became the first female boxer to become an Olympic champion after winning gold at London 2012, and the first double Olympic champion following a second gold medal at Rio 2016, both in the flyweight division. As of 27 May 2016 she was the reigning Olympic, World and European Games champion at flyweight, and won the entire set of amateur championships available to her – Olympic, Commonwealth and European Games' titles, and the World, European and European Union championships.

---

Adam Carroll, Irish race car driver

Adam Norman Carroll is a British professional racing driver. He last raced in the 2016–17 Formula E season for Jaguar Racing. He has also raced for Team Ireland in A1 Grand Prix, winning the series in 2009.

---

26/10/1981

Sam Brown, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

The Whitest Kids U' Know (WKUK) is an American sketch comedy television series starring the comedy troupe of the same name. The group consists of Trevor Moore, Zach Cregger, Sam Brown, Timmy Williams, and Darren Trumeter. The series ran from 2007 to 2011, originally airing on Fuse before moving to then-sister network IFC.

---

Martina Schild, Swiss skier

Martina Schild is a Swiss alpine skier competing in downhill and super-G.

---

Guy Sebastian, Malaysian-Australian singer-songwriter

Guy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame after winning the first season of Australian Idol, in 2003. Born in Malaysia and raised in Adelaide, Australia, Sebastian has since released eleven top ten albums, including three number ones. Eight have gained either platinum or multi-platinum certification. He has also achieved twenty three top twenty singles, with fourteen of them, reaching the top ten, including six number ones. He is the only Australian male artist in Australian chart history to achieve six number one singles, and places third overall for all Australian acts. Twelve of his singles have been certified multi-platinum, including the 14× platinum "Battle Scars". His debut single "Angels Brought Me Here" was the highest selling song in Australia in the decade 2000 to 2009. With eighty-two platinum and seven gold certifications and combined album and single sales of over six million in Australia, he has the highest certifications and sales of any Australian Idol contestant.

---

Chou Ssu-Chi, Taiwanese baseball player

Chou Szu-chi is a Taiwanese former professional baseball outfielder. He played 20 seasons in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) for the Macoto Cobras/dmedia T-REX and Brother Elephants/Chinatrust Elephants/CTBC Brothers.

---

26/10/1980

Cristian Chivu, Romanian footballer

Cristian Eugen Chivu is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who is the current head coach of Serie A club Inter Milan.

---

Nick Collison, American basketball player

Nicholas John Collison is an American former professional basketball player who is a special assistant for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He spent his entire career with the organization originally known as the Seattle SuperSonics, which became the Thunder in 2008. Collison was drafted by the SuperSonics in the first round of the 2003 NBA draft and retired as a member of the Thunder in 2018. As a college player, he went to two Final Fours as a member of the Kansas Jayhawks. Collison won his first NBA Championship in 2025 as an executive for the Thunder.

---

Claire Cooper, English actress

Claire Elizabeth Cooper is a British actress and former gymnast from Wakefield, England, best known for portraying Jacqui McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, a character she played full time from 2006 to 2013 and returned to for one episode in 2023.

---

Koichi Watanabe, Japanese kick-boxer

Koichi Watanabe, better known as Koichi Pettas or simply KOICHI, was a Japanese heavyweight kickboxer competing in K-1, It's Showtime and GLORY.

---

26/10/1979

Movsar Barayev, Chechen terrorist (died 2002)

Movsar Buharovich Barayev (Suleimanov), earlier known as Suleimanov, was a Chechen Islamist militia leader during the Second Chechen War, who led the seizure of a Moscow theater that led to the deaths of over 170 people.

---

26/10/1978

Sari Abacha, Nigerian footballer (died 2013)

Sanni Sari Abacha was a Nigerian footballer who played as a sweeper. He died in 2013.

---

Jimmy Aggrey, English footballer and actor

James Emmanuel Aggrey is an English former professional footballer. He was born in Hammersmith, London.

---

Eva Kaili, Greek journalist and politician

Eva Kaili is a Greek former politician who was a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2014 to 2024. She served as one of fourteen vice presidents of the European Parliament from January 2022 until she was arrested in December 2022 and charged with corruption as part of the Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament.

---

Antonio Pierce, American football player and coach

Antonio Durran Pierce is an American professional football coach and former linebacker. He served as the head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) in 2023 and 2024.

---

CM Punk, American wrestler, mixed martial artist, and actor

Phillip Jack Brooks, better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler and actor. He has been signed to WWE since November 2023, where he performs on the Raw brand and is the World Heavyweight Champion in his record-tying second reign. Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Brooks is known for his outspoken and confrontational straight edge persona, which is based on his real-life experiences. His 434-day reign as WWE Champion is the 10th-longest world title reign in WWE history.

---

Dave Zastudil, American football player

David Michael Zastudil is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio Bobcats, and was selected in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens.

---

26/10/1977

Jon Heder, American actor and producer

Jonathan Joseph Heder is an American actor. He is best known for his breakout lead role as the title character of the comedy film Napoleon Dynamite (2004). He also voiced the character in the Fox animated series of the same name (2012).

---

Marisha Pessl, American author

Marisha Pessl is an American writer known for her novels Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Night Film, Neverworld Wake, and Darkly.

---

26/10/1976

Florence Kasumba, Ugandan-German actress

Florence Kasumba is a Ugandan-born German actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Ayo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the films Captain America: Civil War (2016), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). She is also known for her acting in German and Dutch films. She played Senator Acantha in Wonder Woman (2017), Shenzi in The Lion King (2019), and the Wicked Witch of the East in the NBC television series Emerald City (2017).

---

Miikka Kiprusoff, Finnish ice hockey player

Miikka Sakari Kiprusoff, nicknamed "Kipper", is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player who was a goaltender in the National Hockey League for the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames between 2000 and 2013. He was selected in the fifth round, 116th overall, by the Sharks in the 1995 NHL entry draft, and has also played professionally for TPS of the Finnish SM-liiga, as well as for both AIK IF and Timrå IK of the Swedish Elitserien.

---

26/10/1973

Austin Healey, English rugby player and sportscaster

Austin Sean Healey (born 26 October 1973 in Wallasey, is an English former rugby union player who played as a utility back for Leicester Tigers, and represented both England and the British & Irish Lions.

---

Seth MacFarlane, American voice actor, singer, director, producer, and screenwriter

Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series Family Guy and The Orville, and co-creator of the television series American Dad! and The Cleveland Show. He also co-wrote, co-produced, directed, and starred in the films Ted, its sequel Ted 2, and A Million Ways to Die in the West.

---

Taka Michinoku, Japanese wrestler and trainer

Takao Yoshida , better known by his ring name Taka Michinoku , is a Japanese professional wrestler, trainer, and former mixed martial artist. He primarily appears for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He was a member of Suzuki-gun from 2011 until its disbandment in 2022. He was then a member of Just 5 Guys from 2023 until its disbandment in 2025. He established the promotion JTO in 2019.

---

Róbert Petrovický, Slovak ice hockey player

Róbert Petrovický is a Slovak former professional ice hockey right winger. He played in the NHL for the Hartford Whalers, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Islanders. In 2009/2010 season he played for Dinamo Riga in the Kontinental Hockey League. He captained team Slovakia at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Petrovicky was the last Hartford Whaler and Springfield Indian to be active in professional hockey.

---

26/10/1972

Matsuko Deluxe, Japanese journalist and author

Matsuko Deluxe is a Japanese columnist, essayist, and TV personality. Matsuko is a female persona and stage name assumed by a cross-dressing gay man. He has been described as plus-sized and gravely-voiced with a sharp tongue.

---

Daniel Elena, Monegasque race car driver

Daniel Elena also known as "Danos" is a Monégasque rally co-driver working most notably with Sébastien Loeb. Between them the pair have won the World Rally Championship (WRC) nine times with Citroën, later competing with Hyundai. Their 79 wins together make him the co-driver with the most victories in the history of the WRC.

---

Raveena Tandon, Indian actress, producer, and former model

Raveena Tandon is an Indian actress primarily known for her work in Hindi films. Considered as one of the leading actresses of the 1990s, Tandon is a recipient of several awards, including a National Film Award, two Filmfare Awards and a Filmfare OTT Award. In 2023, she was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian honour.

---

26/10/1971

Jim Butcher, American author

Jim Butcher is an American author. He has written the contemporary fantasy The Dresden Files, Codex Alera, and Cinder Spires book series.

---

Rosemarie DeWitt, American actress

Rosemarie Braddock DeWitt is an American actress. DeWitt played Emily Lehman in the Fox television series Standoff (2006–07), co-starring with her future husband Ron Livingston. She appeared as Charmaine Craine on United States of Tara. She also was the title character in 2008's Rachel Getting Married, garnering several awards and nominations for best supporting actress. She starred as Ryan Gosling's character Sebastian's sister Laura Wilder in the Oscar-winning movie La La Land. She also starred in the horror/thriller Poltergeist (2015), a remake of the 1982 film of the same name.

---

Audley Harrison, English boxer

Audley Hugh Harrison, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2013. As an amateur, he represented Great Britain at the 2000 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division and becoming the first ever British boxer to win Olympic gold in that division. Harrison turned professional the following year after signing a contract with BBC Sport, and went on to have seventeen fights on the network before their cancellation of all boxing broadcasts.

---

Ronnie Irani, English cricketer

Ronald Charles Irani is an English former cricketer. He played three Tests for England in 1996 and 1999, but found a niche in One Day Internationals, where he gained much praise for his performances.

---

Anthony Rapp, American actor and singer

Anthony Deane Rapp is an American actor and singer who originated the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of Rent. Following his original performance of the role in 1996, he reprised it in the film version of the show and the show's United States tour in 2009. He also performed Charlie Brown in the 1999 Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and originated the role of Lucas in the musical If/Then in 2014. From 2017 to 2024, he played Commander Paul Stamets on the television series Star Trek: Discovery.

---

26/10/1970

Dian Bachar, American actor, director, and screenwriter

Dian Bachar is an American actor most notable for his roles in various films by or starring his friends Trey Parker and Matt Stone, such as Cannibal! The Musical, Orgazmo and his most famous role as Kenny "Squeak" Scolari in 1998's BASEketball, as well as making the occasional appearance on South Park.

---

Lisa Ryder, Canadian actress

Lisa Ryder is a Canadian actress, who portrayed the role of Beka Valentine on the science fiction television series Andromeda.

---

26/10/1968

Miyuki Imori, Japanese actress and singer

Miyuki Imori is a Japanese entertainer, idol, actress, and singer who is represented by the talent agency, Horipro.

---

26/10/1967

Douglas Alexander, Scottish lawyer and politician, former Minister of State for Europe

Douglas Garven Alexander is a Scottish Labour politician who has served as Secretary of State for Scotland since 5 September 2025, having previously held the role from 2006 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Lothian East since 2024. He was previously MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, formerly Paisley South, from 1997 to 2015 and served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Transport Secretary and International Development Secretary in the cabinets of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

---

Keith Urban, Australian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Keith Lionel Urban is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he has also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves International Award, 13 CMA Awards, and six ARIA Music Awards. Urban wrote and performed the song "For You" from the film Act of Valor, which earned him nominations at both the 70th Golden Globe Awards and at the 18th Critics' Choice Awards in the respective Best Original Song categories.

---

26/10/1966

Sverre Gjørvad, Norwegian drummer and composer

Sverre Gjørvad is a Norwegian jazz musician (drums) and composer. He is known for participating in establishing the SoddJazz festival and recording with various notable musicians including Live Maria Roggen, Ståle Storløkken, Mats Eilertsen and Nils-Olav Johansen.

---

Masaharu Iwata, Japanese keyboard player and composer

Masaharu Iwata is a Japanese video game composer. In high school his musical projects included composing on a synthesizer and playing in a cover band. After graduating from high school he joined Bothtec as a composer. He composed the soundtrack to several games there, beginning with 1987's Bakusou Buggy Ippatsu Yarou. After Bothtec was merged into Quest Corporation, he left to become a freelance composer.

---

Steve Valentine, Scottish actor and magician

Stephen John Valentine is a British actor and magician. He is known for his roles as Nigel Townsend on NBC's crime drama series Crossing Jordan, the voice of Harry Flynn in the video game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and the voice of Alistair in the Dragon Age video game franchise. He portrayed Dracula in Monster High: The Movie and its sequel Monster High 2.

---

Jeanne Zelasko, American journalist and sportscaster

Jeanne Zelasko is an American journalist and sportscaster who worked for "The Beast" AM980 KFWB and Fox Sports West in Los Angeles County, California. Prior to taking that position Zelasko had a relatively lengthy career working for Fox Sports as a reporter and analyst for various programs, as well as reporting for MLB Network, ESPN and as the court reporter on Judge Joe Brown.

---

26/10/1965

Kelly Rowan, Canadian actress and producer

Kelly Rowan is a retired Canadian film and television actress and former fashion model. A native of Ottawa, Rowan studied acting in London and New York City before she started working as a model. She was featured in the horror film The Gate (1987) before earning critical acclaim for her performance in the Canadian television film Adrift, for which she won a Gemini Award for Best Actress. After a lead role in Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995), Rowan starred as Mattie Shaw on the series Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years (1995–1996).

---

Ken Rutherford, New Zealand cricketer

Kenneth Robert Rutherford is a former New Zealand cricketer who enjoyed a ten-year career with the national team, and was captain for a period in the 1990s. He is the 50th ODI cap for New Zealand.

---

26/10/1964

Kikka Sirén, Finnish pop/schlager singer (died 2005)

Kirsi Hannele Sirén, better known by her stage name Kikka, was a Finnish pop/schlager singer. She was known for her sexpot image and suggestive, double entendre-filled songs. Kikka's best-known songs were "Mä haluun viihdyttää", "Sukkula Venukseen", "Tartu tiukasti hanuriin" and a cover of Ami Aspelund's "Apinamies".

---

26/10/1963

Tom Cavanagh, Canadian actor and producer

Thomas Cavanagh is a Canadian actor. He is known for a variety of roles on American television, including starring roles in Ed (2000–2004), Love Monkey (2006) and Trust Me (2009), and recurring roles on Providence and Scrubs. From 2014 to 2023, he portrayed Harrison Wells and Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash on The CW television series The Flash; Cavanagh also directed several episodes of The Flash. In 2023, he became the host of Hey Yahoo! on GSN.

---

Ted Demme, American actor, director, and producer (died 2002)

Edward Kern Demme was an American director, producer, and actor.

---

Natalie Merchant, American singer-songwriter and pianist

Natalie Anne Merchant is an American singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first seven albums before leaving to begin her solo career in 1993. She has since released nine studio albums as a solo artist.

---

Craig Shakespeare, English football player (Walsall, West Bromwich Albion) and manager (Leicester City) (died 2024)

Craig Robert Shakespeare was an English professional footballer and coach best known for managing at the time Premier League club Leicester City in 2017.

---

26/10/1962

Cary Elwes, English actor and producer

Ivan Simon Cary Elwes is an English actor. He starred as Westley in The Princess Bride (1987), and also had lead roles in films such as Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) and the Saw series. The accolades he has received include nominations for a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Satellite Awards. Elwes's other performances in films include Glory (1989); Days of Thunder (1990); Hot Shots! (1991); Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992); Twister (1996); Kiss the Girls (1997); Liar Liar (1997); Ella Enchanted (2004); No Strings Attached (2011); Hansel & Gretel Get Baked (2013); BlackBerry and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One ; and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025).

---

Jack Morelli, American comic book professional and author

John Morelli is an American comic book letterer and author. He has designed many comic book logos. His lettering is notable for being the basis for the computer font used by John Byrne when he letters his own work.

---

26/10/1961

Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenyan politician, 4th President of Kenya

Uhuru Mũigai Kenyatta is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. The son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, he had previously served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013 and as the leader of official opposition from 2003 to 2007.

---

Gerald Malloy, American lawyer and politician

Gerald Malloy is a former member of the South Carolina Senate, who represented the 29th District from 2002 to 2024. Malloy is a Democrat.

---

Dylan McDermott, American actor

Mark Anthony "Dylan" McDermott is an American actor. He is known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the legal drama series The Practice, which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama and a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

---

Joey Salceda, Filipino politician

Jose Ma. Clemente "Joey" Sarte Salceda is a Filipino politician and economist who previously served as Representative of Albay's 2nd District in the Philippine House of Representatives from 2016 to 2025. He previously served as governor of Albay province in the Philippines for three terms. Prior to that, he was a three-year term representative of the Third District of Albay and was appointed as Presidential Chief of Staff on February 10, 2007, after the resignation of Michael Defensor, before he himself resigned on March 29, 2007, to pursue his gubernatorial bid in his province. Salceda has also been chairman of the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means since 2019.

---

26/10/1960

Patrick Breen, American actor

Joseph Patrick Breen is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, and director.

---

26/10/1959

Paul Farmer, American anthropologist and physician (died 2022)

Paul Edward Farmer was an American medical anthropologist and physician. Farmer held an MD and PhD from Harvard University, where he was a University Professor and the chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He was the co-founder and chief strategist of Partners In Health (PIH), an international non-profit organization that since 1987 has provided direct health care services and undertaken research and advocacy activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in poverty to improve equitable access to health care. He was professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

---

Evo Morales, Bolivian soldier and politician, 80th President of Bolivia

Juan Evo Morales Ayma is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come from its indigenous population, his administration worked towards the implementation of left-wing policies, focusing on safeguarding the legal rights and improving the socioeconomic conditions of Bolivia's previously marginalized indigenous majority and combating the political influence of the United States and resource-extracting multinational corporations. Ideologically a socialist, he led the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party from 1998 to 2024.

---

26/10/1958

Shaun Woodward, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Shaun Anthony Woodward is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2007 to 2010.

---

26/10/1957

Bob Golic, American football player and radio host

Robert Perry Golic is an American former professional football player, television actor, radio personality, and sports commentator.

---

26/10/1956

Stephen Gumley, Australian engineer and businessman

Stephen John Gumley, AO was the first Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Defence Materiel Organisation, serving in the role from February 2004 to July 2011.

---

Rita Wilson, American actress and producer

Margarita Wilson Hanks is an American actress, singer, and producer. Her film appearances include Volunteers (1985), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Now and Then (1995), That Thing You Do! (1996), Jingle All the Way (1996), The Story of Us (1999), Runaway Bride (1999), It's Complicated (2009), and Larry Crowne (2011), and she appeared in the television series The Good Wife and Girls. Wilson has also performed on Broadway and produced several films, including My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). As a singer-songwriter, Wilson has released the albums AM/FM, Rita Wilson, Bigger Picture, and Halfway to Home. In March 2019, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

---

26/10/1954

Vasilis Hatzipanagis, Greek footballer

Vasilis Hatzipanagis is a Greek former professional footballer. He played as a midfielder for Iraklis in the Alpha Ethniki and Pakhtakor Tashkent in the Soviet Supreme League. He also played for Greece and the Soviet Union side.

---

Adam Mars-Jones, English author and critic

Adam Mars-Jones is a British novelist and literary and film critic.

---

D. W. Moffett, American actor and director

Donald Warren Moffett is an American actor. He began his career in stage productions in Chicago before starring in the original New York City production of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart in 1985. He subsequently starred in a Broadway production of The Boys of Winter the same year. He made his feature film debut in Bob Rafelson's thriller Black Widow (1987) before portraying a serial killer in the thriller Lisa (1990).

---

James Pickens Jr., American actor

James Pickens Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Webber on the ABC medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, and for his supporting roles as Deputy Director Alvin Kersh on later seasons of the Fox Network science fiction series The X-Files and Chuck Mitchell on Roseanne and The Conners (2018–22).

---

26/10/1953

Roger Allam, British actor

Roger William Allam is an English actor. Known for his work on stage and screen, he has received three Laurence Olivier Awards.

---

Tim Hely Hutchinson, English publisher

The Honourable Timothy Mark Hely Hutchinson is a British publisher, former group CEO of the second largest British publisher, Hachette UK, and the second son of the 8th Earl of Donoughmore.

---

Joe Meriweather, American basketball player and coach (died 2013)

Joe C. Meriweather was an American professional basketball player.

---

Keith Strickland, American guitarist and songwriter

Julian Keith Strickland is an American singer-songwriter, composer, musician, multi-instrumentalist, and one of the founding members of the B-52s. He was born in Athens, Georgia.

---

AAMS Arefin Siddique, Bangladeshi academic administrator (died 2025)

Abu Ahsan Mohammad Shamsul Arefin Siddique was a Bangladeshi academic who served as the 27th vice-chancellor of the University of Dhaka during 2009–2017. On 15 July 2020, he was appointed the chairman of the board of directors of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS). He was also president of the board of trustees of the Bangladesh National Museum.

---

26/10/1952

Bobby Bandiera, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Robert Bandiera is an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter from New Jersey. Bandiera played rhythm guitar for Bon Jovi in live performances from 2005 until 2015 and for over two decades was lead guitarist for Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Bandiera and his band have backed Bruce Springsteen at benefit concerts.

---

Edward Garnier, English lawyer and politician, Solicitor General for England and Wales

Edward Henry Garnier, Baron Garnier, is a British barrister and former Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. A former lawyer for The Guardian newspaper, Lord Garnier is on the socially liberal wing of his party and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harborough in Leicestershire from 1992 until 2017. He most recently served as Solicitor General for England and Wales from the election of 2010 until the 2012 ministerial reshuffle. He stood down from the House of Commons at the 2017 general election before entering the House of Lords in 2018.

---

Andrew Motion, English poet and author

Sir Andrew Motion is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and audio recordings of poets reading their own work. In 2012, he became President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, taking over from Bill Bryson.

---

David Was, American singer-songwriter and producer

David Jay Weiss, known as David Was, is an American musician, music producer and journalist. With his life-long friend and stage-brother Don Was, he was the founder of the 1980s pop group Was.

---

26/10/1951

Bootsy Collins, American singer-songwriter and bass player

William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s before joining the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Collins established himself as one of the leading names and innovators in funk music with his driving basslines and humorous vocals. He later formed his own P-Funk side project known as 'Bootsy's Rubber Band'. He has been a frequent collaborator with musicians from a variety of genres, including dance music, electronic big beat, and alternative metal (Praxis), among others. In 1997 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked Collins number four in its list of the 50 greatest bassists of all time.

---

Tommy Mars, American keyboard player

Tommy Mars is an American keyboard player known for his work with Frank Zappa.

---

Julian Schnabel, American painter, director, and screenwriter

Julian Schnabel is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings"—with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been a proponent of independent arthouse cinema. Schnabel directed Before Night Falls, which became Javier Bardem's breakthrough Academy Award-nominated role, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which was nominated for four Academy Awards. For the latter, he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, and also received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director and the César Award for Best Director.

---

26/10/1949

Antonio Carpio, Filipino lawyer and jurist, Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines

Antonio Tirol Carpio is a former associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He was sworn in as a member of the Supreme Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on October 26, 2001, and served until his retirement on October 26, 2019. He served as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines for a period of eighteen years. He also served as chief justice in an acting capacity several times during his tenure as Senior Associate Justice.

---

Steve Rogers, American baseball player

Stephen Douglas Rogers is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Montreal Expos from 1973 to 1985. Rogers led MLB in earned run average in 1982 and was a five-time MLB All-Star. Rogers is also notable for being the only player with at least a ten-year career to spend his entire career with the Expos.

---

Kevin Sullivan, American wrestler and booker (died 2024)

Kevin Francis Sullivan was an American professional wrestler and booker, best known for his roles in Championship Wrestling From Florida and World Championship Wrestling.

---

26/10/1948

Toby Harrah, American baseball player and coach

Colbert Dale "Toby" Harrah is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1986. Harrah played the majority of his career for the Texas Rangers franchise, including his rookie season during the team's final year as the Washington Senators in 1971. He also played for the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees. In 1992, he briefly served as manager of the Rangers. Harrah most recently served as the assistant hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers.

---

26/10/1947

Ricardo Asch, Argentinian gynecologist and endocrinologist

Ricardo Hector Asch is an Argentine-Mexican obstetrician, gynecologist, and endocrinologist. He worked with reproductive technology and pioneered gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), as well as working on research linking fertility and marijuana usage, and investigated the use of GnRH analogues with Andrew Schally. In the mid-1990s he was accused of transferring ova harvested from women into other patients without proper consent at the University of California, Irvine's fertility clinic. Asch left the United States one year before a federal indictment was filed. He was tried and acquitted of all charges in Argentina in 2008. In 2011, Mexico denied an extradition request by the United States as it would constitute double jeopardy and no new evidence was brought forth. As of 2020, he is living in Mexico City.

---

Ian Ashley, German-English race car driver

Ian Hugh Gordon Ashley is a British-German racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Token, Williams, BRM and Hesketh teams.

---

Hillary Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 67th United States Secretary of State and 44th First Lady of the United States

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and the first lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 as the wife of Bill Clinton. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's nominee in the 2016 presidential election, becoming the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party and the only woman to win the popular vote for U.S. president. Clinton lost the United States Electoral College vote to Republican Party nominee Donald Trump. She is the only first lady of the United States to have run for elected office.

---

Reg Empey, Northern Irish businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of Belfast

Reginald Norman Morgan Empey, Baron Empey,, best known as Reg Empey, is a Northern Irish politician who served as the acting First Minister of Northern Ireland in 2001. He was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2005 to 2010 and served as chairman of the party from 2012 to 2019. Empey was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Belfast from 1998 to 2011 and has been a life peer in the House of Lords since 2011.

---

Trevor Joyce, Irish poet and scholar

Trevor Joyce is an Irish poet, born in Dublin.

---

Kenzo Kitakata, Japanese author

Kenzo Kitakata is a Japanese novelist, especially known for his hardboiled novels. He studied law at Chuo University in the early 1970s. He served as the 10th President of the Mystery Writers of Japan from 1997 to 2001.

---

26/10/1946

Kevin Barron, English electrician and politician

Sir Kevin John Barron is a British Labour Party politician and former coal industry worker. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rother Valley from 1983 until 2019.

---

Keith Hopwood, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Keith Hopwood is an English pop musician who was the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the 1960s band, Herman's Hermits.

---

Pat Sajak, American journalist, actor, and game show host

Patrick Leonard Sajak, born October 26, 1946) is an American retired game show host, television personality, and creative consultant. He is best known as the host of the television game show Wheel of Fortune, a position which he held from 1981 to 2024. Sajak also served as a consultant for the show, and hosted Celebrity Wheel of Fortune until 2025. For his work on Wheel, Sajak has received 19 nominations for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host, winning thrice, and twice nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Game Show, winning in 2024. In 2019, he was recognized by Guinness World Records for having the longest-serving career as a game show host for the same show, surpassing previous record holder Bob Barker.

---

Holly Woodlawn, Puerto Rican actress and author (died 2015)

Holly Woodlawn, born Haroldo Santiago Franceschi Rodriguez Danhakl and for some years known as Harold Ajzenberg, was an American actress. Best known as a Warhol superstar, she appeared in the films Trash (1970) and Women in Revolt (1971). Her career extended to cabaret, and she was among those named in Lou Reed's 1972 hit song "Walk on the Wild Side". Woodlawn published the memoir A Low Life in High Heels in 1991.

---

26/10/1945

Pat Conroy, American author (died 2016)

Donald Patrick Conroy was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books The Water Is Wide, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini were made into films, the last two being nominated for Oscars. He is recognized as a leading figure of late-20th-century American Southern literature.

---

Demetris Th. Gotsis, Greek poet and author (died 2021)

Demetris Th. Gotsis was a Greek poet and author residing in Cyprus. He studied medicine at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and received musical education since his parents were trained opera singers.

---

Nancy Davis Griffeth, American computer scientist and academic

Nancy Davis Griffeth is an American computer scientist notable for approaches to the feature interaction problem. In 2014, she is a professor at Lehman College of The City University of New York and is modelling biological systems in computational biology.

---

Jaclyn Smith, American actress and producer

Jaclyn Smith is an American actress. She is most notable for her role as Kelly Garrett in the television series Charlie's Angels (1976–1981), and was the only original female lead to remain with the series for its complete run. She reprised the role with cameo appearances in the films Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) and Charlie's Angels (2019). Her other films include Nightkill (1980) and Déjà Vu (1985). Beginning in the 1980s, she began developing and marketing her own brands of clothing and perfume.

---

26/10/1944

Jim McCann, Irish singer and guitarist (died 2015)

James McCann was an Irish entertainer and folk musician. Although a solo artist for most of his career, McCann was a member of the folk group The Dubliners from 1974 until 1979, then later appearing with them in their 2002 reunion and their 50th anniversary tour in 2012.

---

26/10/1942

Bob Hoskins, English actor, singer, and director (died 2014)

Robert William Hoskins was an English actor and film director. Known for his intense but sensitive portrayals of "tough guy" characters, he began his career on stage before making his screen breakthrough playing Arthur Parker on the 1978 BBC Television serial Pennies from Heaven. He subsequently played acclaimed lead roles in the films The Long Good Friday (1980), Mona Lisa (1986), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Mermaids (1990), TwentyFourSeven (1997), Noriega: God's Favorite (2000), Last Orders (2001), The Good Pope: Pope John XXIII (2003) and Ruby Blue (2008).

---

Milton Nascimento, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Milton Silva Campos do Nascimento, also known as Bituca, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

---

Zdenko Runjić, Croatian songwriter and producer (died 2004)

Zdenko Runjić was a Croatian songwriter. His career spanned decades in the former Yugoslavia and Croatia.

---

Jonathan Williams, English race car driver and pilot (died 2014)

Jonathan James Williams was a British racing driver.

---

26/10/1941

Steven Kellogg, American author and illustrator

Steven Castle Kellogg is an American author and illustrator who has created more than 90 children's books.

---

Charlie Landsborough, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Charles Alexander Landsborough is a British country and folk musician and singer-songwriter. He started singing professionally in the 1970s, although his major success did not come until 1994 with his song "What Colour is the Wind". He is one of the UK's top country acts and is also popular in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

---

26/10/1940

Eddie Henderson, American trumpet player and educator

Eddie Henderson is an American jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of pianist Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band, going on to lead his own electric/fusion groups through the decade. Henderson earned his medical degree and worked a parallel career as a psychiatrist and musician, turning back to acoustic jazz by the 1990s.

---

John Horgan, Irish academic and politician

John S. Horgan is a former Labour Party politician, professor of journalism at Dublin City University and, from 2007 to 2014. the first Press Ombudsman in Ireland.

---

26/10/1938

Tom Meschery, Chinese-American basketball player

Thomas Nicholas Meschery is an American former professional basketball player. Born in China, Meschery was a power forward with a 10-year National Basketball Association career from 1961 to 1971. He played for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors and the Seattle SuperSonics. He played in the 1963 NBA All-Star Game, making him the first foreign-born NBA player to be selected as an NBA All-Star. The Warriors not only retired his number 14, but also gave him a unique honor by incorporating the number into the team's logo from 1967 to 1974.

---

26/10/1936

Al Casey, American guitarist (died 2006)

Alvin Wayne Casey was an American guitarist. He was mainly known for his work as a session musician, but also released his own records and scored three Billboard Hot 100 hits in the United States. His contribution to the rockabilly genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

---

Etelka Kenéz Heka, Hungarian writer, poet and singer (died 2024)

Etelka Kenéz Heka, sometimes Etelka Heka was a Hungarian writer, poet and singer.

---

Shelley Morrison, American actress (died 2019)

Shelley Morrison was an American actress. Morrison was known for her role as maid Rosario Salazar in the NBC comedy Will & Grace, which she played from 1999 to 2006. She was also a regular performer on the sitcom The Flying Nun, playing Sister Sixto, a nun known mostly for mangling the English language, and she had a recurring role in the soap opera General Hospital in 1982. She was also the voice of Mrs. Portillo in the animated Disney show Handy Manny.

---

György Pauk, Hungarian violinist and educator

György Pauk was a Hungarian violinist, chamber musician and music pedagogue.

---

26/10/1935

Mike Gray, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2013)

Harold Michael Gray was an American writer, screenwriter, cinematographer, film producer and director.

---

Gloria Conyers Hewitt, American mathematician and academic

Gloria Conyers Hewitt is an American mathematician. She was the fourth African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics. Her main research interests were in group theory and abstract algebra. She is the first African American woman to chair a math department in the United States.

---

26/10/1934

Hot Rod Hundley, American basketball player and sportscaster (died 2015)

Rodney Clark "Hot Rod" Hundley was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster. Hundley played college basketball for the West Virginia Mountaineers and was selected by the Cincinnati Royals with the first overall pick of the 1957 NBA draft. In 2003, Hundley received the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

---

Hans-Joachim Roedelius, German keyboard player and producer

Hans-Joachim Roedelius is a German electronic musician and composer, known as a co-founder of the influential 'kosmische' groups Cluster and Harmonia. He is notable for his prolific discography, either as a solo artist, as part of a band, or in collaboration with other artists. He has more than 100 releases to his name. He also performed in the ambient jazz trio Aquarello, and released several solo studio albums.

---

26/10/1933

Takis Kanellopoulos, Greek director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1990)

Takis Kanellopoulos was a Greek film director and screenwriter. He directed ten films between 1960 and 1980.

---

Andrew P. O'Rourke, American judge and politician (died 2013)

Andrew Patrick O'Rourke was an American judge and politician from New York State. A Republican, he served as the County Executive of Westchester County, New York from 1982 to 1997.

---

26/10/1931

Suhaila Noah, Spouse of the Prime Minister of Malaysia (died 2014)

Tun Dato' Suhailah binti Mohamed Noah was the widow of the 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia Hussein Onn and the Spouse of the Prime Minister of Malaysia from 15 January 1976, until 16 July 1981. Hishammuddin Hussein, a Malaysian former Minister of Defence, is one of her and Onn's six children.

---

26/10/1929

Neal Matthews Jr., American country/gospel singer (died 2000)

Neal Matthews Jr. was an American vocalist who achieved fame as part of The Jordanaires, one of country music's premier backup groups; most notably with Elvis Presley. Matthews played guitar, double bass, and bass guitar.

---

26/10/1928

Francisco Solano López, Argentinian illustrator (died 2011)

Francisco Solano López was an Argentine comics artist. He was the co-creator of El Eternauta.

---

26/10/1927

Warne Marsh, American saxophonist (died 1987)

Warne Marion Marsh was an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Los Angeles, his playing first came to prominence in the 1950s as a protégé of pianist Lennie Tristano and earned attention in the 1970s as a member of Supersax.

---

26/10/1926

Panos Gavalas, Greek singer (died 1988)

Panos Gavalas was a Greek singer. He was born and died in Athens.

---

26/10/1925

Jan Wolkers, Dutch sculptor, painter, and author (died 2007)

Jan Hendrik Wolkers was a Dutch author, sculptor and painter. Wolkers is considered by some to be one of the "Great Four" writers of post-World War II Dutch literature, alongside Willem Frederik Hermans, Harry Mulisch and Gerard Reve.

---

26/10/1924

Shaw Taylor, English actor and television host (died 2015)

Eric Stanley Taylor, known professionally as Shaw Taylor, was a British actor and television presenter, best known for presenting the long-running five-minute crime programme Police 5.

---

26/10/1923

Robert Hinde, English zoologist and academic (died 2016)

Robert Aubrey Hinde was a British zoologist, ethologist and psychologist. He served as the emeritus Royal Society research professor of zoology at the University of Cambridge. Hinde is best known for his ethological contributions to the fields of animal behaviour and developmental psychology.

---

26/10/1922

Madelyn Dunham, American grandmother of Barack Obama (died 2008)

Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham was an American banker and the maternal grandmother of Barack Obama, a former President of the United States. She and her husband Stanley Armour Dunham raised Obama from age ten in their Honolulu apartment. She died on November 2, 2008, two days before her grandson was elected president.

---

Fred Wood, English actor (died 2003)

Fred Wood, died January 2003) was an English actor.

---

26/10/1921

Joe Fulks, American basketball player (died 1976)

Joseph Franklin "Jumping Joe" Fulks was an American professional basketball player. The NBA's first scoring champion, he was sometimes called "the first of the high-scoring forwards". He was posthumously enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.

---

26/10/1920

Sarah Lee Lippincott, American astronomer and academic (died 2019)

Sarah Lee Lippincott, also known as Sarah Lee Lippincott Zimmerman, was an American astronomer. She was professor emerita of astronomy at Swarthmore College and director emerita of the college's Sproul Observatory. She was a pioneer in the use of astrometry to determine the character of binary stars and search for extrasolar planets.

---

26/10/1919

Princess Ashraf of Iran (died 2016)

Ashraf ol-Molouk Pahlavi was the twin sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the late Shah of Iran (Persia), and a member of the Pahlavi dynasty. She was considered the "power behind her brother" and was instrumental in the 1953 countercoup that overthrew Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in favour of strengthening the monarchical rule of the Shah. She served her brother as a palace adviser and was a strong advocate for women's rights. Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, she lived in exile in France, New York, Paris and Monte Carlo and remained outspoken against the Iranian Islamic Republic.

---

Frank Bourgholtzer, American journalist (died 2010)

Frank Bourgholtzer was an American journalist and television correspondent.

---

Edward Brooke, American captain and politician, 47th Massachusetts Attorney General (died 2015)

Edward William Brooke III was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1967 to 1979. He was the first African American elected to the United States Senate by popular vote. Prior to serving in the Senate, he served as the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1963 until 1967. Edward Brooke was the first African-American since Reconstruction in 1874 to have been elected to the United States Senate and he was the first African-American since 1881 to have held a United States Senate seat. Brooke was also the first African-American U.S. senator to ever be re-elected. He was the longest-serving African-American U.S. senator at twelve years until surpassed by Tim Scott in 2025.

---

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (died 1980)

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was the last Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown in the Islamic Revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini, which abolished the Iranian monarchy to establish the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 1967, he took the title Shahanshah, and held several others, including Aryamehr and Bozorg Arteshtaran. He was the second and last ruling monarch of the Pahlavi dynasty.

---

26/10/1916

François Mitterrand, French lawyer and politician, 21st President of France (died 1996)

François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was President of France from 1981 to 1995. He was the longest holder of that position in the history of France and the first left-wing politician to assume the presidency under the Fifth Republic.

---

Boyd Wagner, American colonel and pilot (died 1942)

Lieutenant Colonel Boyd David "Buzz" Wagner was an American aviator and the first United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighter ace of World War II.

---

26/10/1915

Ray Crawford, American race car driver, fighter ace, test pilot, and businessman (died 1996)

Ray Crawford was an American fighter ace, test pilot, race-car driver and businessman.

---

Joe Fry, English race car driver (died 1950)

Joseph Gibson Fry was a British racing driver. He became the primary driver for the Shelsley Special "Freikaiserwagen", created by his cousin David Fry and Hugh Dunsterville, with help from Dick Caesar. The original car was built in Bristol in 1936 and featured an Anzani engine which was replaced in 1937 by a Blackburne engine. Joe set a number of hill records during the late 1930s including an unofficial outright record at Prescott when he climbed in 47.62 seconds in the 1,100 c.c. Freikaiserwagen, on 27 August 1938. At the outbreak of World War Two he held both the blown and unblown 1,100 c.c. records at Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb in 41.52 and 42.58 seconds respectively.

---

26/10/1914

Jackie Coogan, American actor and director (died 1984)

John Leslie Coogan was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Coogan's title role in Charlie Chaplin's film The Kid (1921) made him one of the first child stars in the history of Hollywood.

---

26/10/1913

Charlie Barnet, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (died 1991)

Charles Daly Barnet was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.

---

26/10/1912

Don Siegel, American director and producer (died 1991)

Donald Siegel was an American film and television director, producer, and editor. He was described by The New York Times as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut plots centered on individualistic loners".

---

26/10/1911

Sid Gillman, American football player and coach (died 2003)

Sidney Gillman was an American football player, coach and executive. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wide receivers at the sides of the line of scrimmage, was instrumental in making football into the modern game that it is today. He was inducted as a coach into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

---

Mahalia Jackson, American singer (died 1972)

Mahalia Jackson was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to the development and spread of gospel blues in black churches throughout the U.S. During a time when racial segregation was pervasive in American society, she met considerable and unexpected success in a recording career, selling an estimated 22 million records and performing in front of integrated and secular audiences in concert halls around the world, making her one of the best-selling gospel music artists.

---

Sorley MacLean, Scottish poet and educator (died 1996)

Sorley MacLean was a Scottish Gaelic poet, described by the Scottish Poetry Library as "one of the major Scottish poets of the modern era" because of his "mastery of his chosen medium and his engagement with the European poetic tradition and European politics". Nobel Prize Laureate Seamus Heaney credited MacLean with saving Scottish Gaelic poetry.

---

26/10/1910

John Krol, American cardinal (died 1996)

John Joseph Krol was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1961 to 1988, having previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland (1953–1961), and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1967 by Pope Paul VI.

---

26/10/1909

Ignace Lepp, French psychologist and author (died 1966)

Ignace Lepp, was a French writer of Estonian origin.

---

Dante Quinterno, Argentinian author and illustrator (died 2003)

Dante Quinterno was an Argentine comics artist, agricultural producer, and prolific editorial businessman, famous for being the creator of the Patoruzú, Isidoro Cañones and Patoruzito characters.

---

26/10/1906

Primo Carnera, Italian boxer and actor (died 1967)

Primo Carnera was the first Italian Heavyweight Champion boxer, holding the title from 1933 to 1934. Nicknamed the Ambling Alp, he was best known for his immense size and status as one of the most physically imposing heavyweights in boxing history. At 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) tall and weighing more than 275 pounds (125 kg), Carnera became the World Heavyweight Champion after defeating Jack Sharkey by knockout.

---

26/10/1905

George Bernard Flahiff, Canadian cardinal (died 1989)

George Bernard Flahiff, CC, C.S.B. was a Canadian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Winnipeg from 1961 to 1982, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1969.

---

26/10/1903

Mahn Ba Khaing, Burmese politician (died 1947)

Mahn Ba Khaing was a Karen politician who served as the Minister of Industry and Labour in Burma's pre-independence government. He was assassinated on 19 July 1947, alongside Prime Minister Aung San, the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, and was recognized as one of the nine Burmese national martyrs.

---

26/10/1902

Beryl Markham, Kenyan horse trainer and author (died 1986)

Beryl Markham was an aviator born in England, adventurer, racehorse trainer and author. She was the first person to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic from Britain to North America. She wrote about her adventures in her memoir, West with the Night. She lived for many years in Kenya, where she died.

---

Jack Sharkey, American boxer and referee (died 1994)

Jack Sharkey was a Lithuanian-American boxer who held the NYSAC, NBA, and The Ring heavyweight titles from 1932 to 1933.

---

Henrietta Hill Swope, American astronomer and academic (died 1980)

Henrietta Hill Swope was an American astronomer who studied variable stars. In particular, she measured the period-luminosity relation for Cepheid stars, which are bright variable stars whose periods of variability relate directly to their intrinsic luminosities. Their measured periods can therefore be related to their distances and used to measure the size of the Milky Way and distances to other galaxies.

---

26/10/1900

Ibrahim Abboud, Sudanese politician and general, 1st President of Sudan (died 1983)

Ibrahim Abboud was a Sudanese military officer and political figure who served as the head of state of Sudan between 1958 and 1964 and as President of Sudan in 1964; however, he soon resigned, ending Sudan's first period of military rule. A career soldier, Abboud served in World War II in Egypt and Iraq. In 1949, Abboud became the deputy Commander in Chief of the Sudanese military. Upon independence, Abboud became the Commander in Chief of the Military of Sudan.

---

Karin Boye, Swedish poet and novelist (died 1941)

Karin Maria Boye was a Swedish poet and novelist. In Sweden, she is acclaimed as a poet, but internationally, she is best known for the dystopian science fiction novel Kallocain (1940).

---

26/10/1899

Judy Johnson, American baseball player and coach (died 1989)

William Julius "Judy" Johnson was an American professional baseball third baseman, shortstop, manager and scout whose career in Negro league baseball spanned 17 seasons, from 1921 to 1937. He also played in the Cuban League. Slight of build, Johnson never developed as a power threat but achieved his greatest success as a contact hitter and an intuitive defenseman. Johnson is regarded as one of the greatest third basemen of the Negro leagues. In 1975, he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame after being nominated by the Negro Leagues Committee.

---

26/10/1894

Florence Nagle, English trainer and breeder of racehorses (died 1988)

Florence Nagle was a British trainer and breeder of racehorses, a breeder of pedigree dogs, and an active feminist. Nagle purchased her first Irish Wolfhound in 1913, and went on to own or breed twenty-one United Kingdom Champions. Best in Show at Crufts in 1960 was awarded to Sulhamstead Merman, who was bred, owned and exhibited by Nagle. She also competed successfully in field trials with Irish Setters, from the 1920s until the mid-1960s resulting in eighteen Field Trial Champions. The male dog who was a linchpin in the 1970s revival of the Irish Red and White Setter breed was descended from one of Nagle's Irish Setters.

---

26/10/1893

Miloš Crnjanski, Serbian poet and author (died 1977)

Miloš Crnjanski was a Serbian writer and poet of the expressionist wing of Serbian modernism, author, journalist and a diplomat.

---

26/10/1890

Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Indian journalist and politician (died 1931)

Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi was an Indian journalist, a leader of the Indian National Congress and an independence movement activist. He was an important figure in the non-cooperation movement and the freedom movement of India, who once translated Victor Hugo's novel Ninety-Three, and is mostly known as the founder-editor of the Hindi language newspaper, Pratap.

---

26/10/1888

Runar Schildt, Finnish author (died 1925)

Ernst Runar Schildt was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author from Helsinki. His son was art historian and author Göran Schildt. Although Schildt wrote his books in Swedish, they have also been translated into Finnish, English, French and German.

---

26/10/1884

William Hogenson, American sprinter (died 1965)

William P. Hogenson was an American athlete and sprinter, who competed in the early twentieth century. He won a silver medal in Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics in the men's 60 m dash, but was beaten by Archie Hahn, who took gold. He also won two bronze medals, over 100 m and 200 m, both distances won by Archie Hahn of the United States.

---

26/10/1883

Napoleon Hill, American philosopher and author (died 1970)

Oliver Napoleon Hill was an American self-help author. He is best known for his book Think and Grow Rich (1937), which is among the best-selling self-help books of all time. Hill's works insisted that fervid expectations are essential to improving one's life. Most of his books are promoted as expounding principles to achieve "success".

---

Paul Pilgrim, American runner (died 1958)

Paul Henry Pilgrim was an American runner. He competed at the 1904, 1906 and 1908 Olympics and won three gold medals in 1904 and 1906.

---

26/10/1881

Louis Bastien, French cyclist and fencer (died 1963)

Eugène Louis Bastien was a French racing cyclist and fencer who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He participated in Cycling at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and won the gold medal in the men's 25 kilometre race. He also competed in the individual épée event at the same games.

---

26/10/1880

Andrei Bely, Russian novelist, poet, and critic (died 1934)

Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, better known by the pen name Andrei Bely or Biely, was a Russian and Soviet novelist, Symbolist poet, theorist and literary critic. He was a committed anthroposophist and follower of Rudolf Steiner. His novel Petersburg (1913/1922) was regarded by Vladimir Nabokov as the third-greatest masterpiece of modernist literature. The Andrei Bely Prize, one of the most important prizes in Russian literature, was named after him. His poems were set to music and performed by Russian singer-songwriters.

---

26/10/1878

William Kissam Vanderbilt II, American motor racing enthusiast and yachtsman (died 1944)

William Kissam Vanderbilt II was an American motor racing enthusiast and yachtsman, and a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family.

---

26/10/1876

H.B. Warner, English actor (died 1958)

Henry Byron Warner was an English film and theatre actor. He was popular during the silent era and played Jesus Christ in The King of Kings. In later years, he successfully moved into supporting roles and appeared in numerous films directed by Frank Capra.

---

26/10/1874

Martin Lowry, English chemist and academic (died 1936)

Thomas Martin Lowry was an English physical chemist who developed the Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory simultaneously with and independently of Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted and was a founder-member and president (1928–1930) of the Faraday Society.

---

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, American philanthropist, founded the Museum of Modern Art (died 1948)

Abigail Greene Aldrich Rockefeller was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was a prominent member of the Rockefeller family through her marriage to financier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr., the son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller Sr. Her father was Nelson W. Aldrich, who served as a senator from Rhode Island. Rockefeller was known for being the driving force behind the establishment of the Museum of Modern Art. She was the mother of Nelson Rockefeller, who served from 1974 to 1977 as the 41st vice president of the United States.

---

26/10/1873

A. K. Fazlul Huq, Bangladeshi-Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th Pakistani Minister of Interior (died 1962)

Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq, popularly known as Sher-e-Bangla, was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer and politician who served as the first and longest-serving prime minister of Bengal during the British Raj. He presented the Lahore Resolution, the foundational document of the Pakistan Movement, for which he is regarded as one of the Founding Fathers of Pakistan.

---

Thorvald Stauning, Danish union leader and politician, 24th Prime Minister of Denmark (died 1942)

Thorvald August Marinus Stauning was the first social democratic prime minister of Denmark. He served as prime minister from 1924 to 1926 and again from 1929 until his death in 1942.

---

26/10/1871

Guillermo Kahlo, German-Mexican photographer (died 1941)

Guillermo Kahlo was a German-born Mexican-naturalized photographer. He photographically documented important architectural works, churches, streets, landmarks, as well as industries and companies in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century; because of this, his work has not only artistic value but also historical and documental importance. He was the father of painter Frida Kahlo.

---

26/10/1869

Washington Luís, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 13th President of Brazil (died 1957)

Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa was a Brazilian politician who served as the 13th president of Brazil. Elected governor of São Paulo state in 1920 and president of Brazil in 1926, Washington Luís belonged to the Republican Party of São Paulo (PRP) and served as the last president of the First Brazilian Republic.

---

26/10/1865

Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (died 1912)

Benjamin Guggenheim was an American businessman, who was a wealthy member of the Guggenheim family. He was among the most prominent American passengers aboard the British ocean liner RMS Titanic and perished along with 1,495 others when the ship sank on her maiden voyage.

---

26/10/1860

Frank Eaton, American marshal and author (died 1958)

Frank Boardman "Pistol Pete" Eaton was an American scout, sheriff, cowboy, and author. He is the inspiration for the Oklahoma State University mascot, Pistol Pete.

---

26/10/1854

C. W. Post, American businessman, founded Post Foods (died 1914)

Charles William Post was an American businessman. He was the founder of what became Post Consumer Brands.

---

26/10/1850

Grigore Tocilescu, Romanian archaeologist and historian (died 1909)

Grigore George Tocilescu was a Romanian historian, archaeologist, epigrapher and folkorist, and member of the Romanian Academy.

---

26/10/1849

Ferdinand Georg Frobenius, German mathematician and academic (died 1917)

Ferdinand Georg Frobenius was a German mathematician, best known for his contributions to the theory of elliptic functions, differential equations, number theory, and to group theory. He is known for the famous determinantal identities, known as Frobenius–Stickelberger formulae, governing elliptic functions, and for developing the theory of biquadratic forms. He was also the first to introduce the notion of rational approximations of functions, and gave the first full proof for the Cayley–Hamilton theorem. He also lent his name to certain differential-geometric objects in modern mathematical physics, known as Frobenius manifolds.

---

26/10/1842

Vasily Vereshchagin, Russian soldier and painter (died 1904)

Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin was a Russian painter, war artist, and traveller. The graphic nature of his realist scenes led to many of them never being printed or exhibited to the public.

---

26/10/1803

Joseph Hansom, English architect and publisher, designed Birmingham Town Hall (died 1882)

Joseph Aloysius Hansom was an English architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal The Builder in 1843.

---

26/10/1802

Miguel I of Portugal (died 1866)

Dom Miguel I, known by several nicknames, was King of Portugal from 1828 to 1834. He was the son of King John VI and Queen Carlota Joaquina.

---

26/10/1800

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Prussian field marshal (died 1891)

Graf Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field and one of the finest military minds of his generation. He commanded troops in Europe and the Middle East, in the Second Schleswig War, Austro-Prussian War, and Franco-Prussian War. He is described as embodying "Prussian military organization and tactical genius". He was fascinated with railways and pioneered their military use. He is often referred to as Moltke the Elder to distinguish him from his nephew Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, who commanded the German army at the outbreak of the First World War. He is notably the earliest-born human whose recorded voice is preserved, being born in the year 1800. He made four recordings; two that were recorded in October 1889 are preserved to this day.

---

26/10/1799

Margaret Agnes Bunn, Scottish actress (died 1883)

Margaret Agnes Bunn was a British actress.

---

26/10/1797

Giuditta Pasta, Italian soprano (died 1865)

Giuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Pasta was an Italian opera singer. A soprano, she has been compared to the 20th-century soprano Maria Callas.

---

26/10/1795

Nikolaos Mantzaros, Greek composer and theorist (died 1872)

Nikolaos Chalikiopoulos Mantzaros was a Greek-Italian composer, born in Corfu. He was a major representative and founder of the so-called Ionian school of music.

---

26/10/1794

Konstantin Thon, Russian architect, designed the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (died 1881)

Konstantin Andreyevich Thon or Ton was a Russian architect who was one of the most notable architects during the reign Nicholas I. His major works include the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow.

---

26/10/1768

Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko, Polish general and politician (died 1844)

Prince Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko (1768–1844) was a Polish nobleman, general, military commander, diplomat and politician.

---

26/10/1759

Georges Danton, French lawyer and politician, French Minister of Justice (died 1794)

Georges Jacques Danton was a French politician and leading figure of the French Revolution. A modest and unknown lawyer on the eve of the Revolution, Danton became a famous orator of the Cordeliers Club and was raised to governmental responsibilities as the French Minister of Justice following the fall of the monarchy on the tenth of August 1792, and was allegedly responsible for inciting the September Massacres. He was tasked by the National Convention to intervene in the military conquest of Belgium led by General Dumouriez, and in the spring of 1793 supported the foundation of a Revolutionary Tribunal, becoming the first president of the Committee of Public Safety.

---

26/10/1757

Karl Leonhard Reinhold, Austrian philosopher and academic (died 1823)

Karl Leonhard Reinhold was an Austrian philosopher who helped to popularise the work of Immanuel Kant in the late 18th century. His "elementary philosophy" (Elementarphilosophie) also influenced German idealism, notably Johann Gottlieb Fichte, as a critical system grounded in a fundamental first principle.

---

26/10/1747

Ivan Mane Jarnović, Italian violinist and composer (died 1804)

Ivan Mane Jarnović was a violinist and composer during the 18th century, often said to have been Italian but whose family was of Ragusan origin. There is no evidence that he ever lived in the Croatian lands to which both his paternal and maternal lineages have been traced. He later appears to have held French citizenship, escaping to England during the revolution. His career spanned Europe as he performed and/or sojourned in almost all major centres including Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, St Petersburg, Vienna, Stockholm, Basel, London, Dublin, amongst others. It appears he was a pupil of Antonio Lolli and he was an acquaintance of Joseph Haydn, with whom he shared concert programmes in London.

---

26/10/1694

Johan Helmich Roman, Swedish composer and academic (died 1758)

Johan Helmich Roman was a Swedish Baroque composer. He has been called "the father of Swedish music" or "the Swedish Handel." He was the leader of the Swedish Royal Orchestra during the first decades of Sweden's Age of Liberty.

---

26/10/1685

Domenico Scarlatti, Italian harpsichord player and composer (died 1757)

Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style. Like his renowned father Alessandro Scarlatti, he composed in a variety of musical forms, although today he is known mainly for his 555 keyboard sonatas. He spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families.

---

26/10/1684

Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (died 1757)

Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall, one of the leading commanders under Frederick the Great.

---

26/10/1673

Dimitrie Cantemir, Moldavian geographer, historian, and philosopher (died 1723)

Dimitrie or Demetrius Cantemir, also known by other spellings, was a Moldavian prince, statesman, and man of letters. He twice served as voivode of Moldavia. During his second term, he allied his state with Russia in a war against Moldavia's Ottoman overlords; Russia's defeat forced Cantemir's family into exile and the replacement of the native voivodes by Greek phanariots. Cantemir was also a prolific writer, variously a: philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer and geographer. His son, Antioch, Russia's ambassador to Great Britain and France and a friend of Montesquieu and Voltaire, would become known as "the father of Russian poetry".

---

26/10/1612

Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester (died 1658)

Lieutenant-General Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, known as The Lord Wilmot between 1643 and 1644 and as The Viscount Wilmot between 1644 and 1652, was an English Cavalier who fought for the Royalist cause during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

---

26/10/1609

William Sprague, English-American settler, co-founded Charlestown, Massachusetts (died 1675)

William Sprague left England on the ship Lyon's Whelp for Plymouth/Salem Massachusetts. He was originally from Upwey, near Weymouth, Dorset, England.

---

26/10/1564

Hans Leo Hassler, German organist and composer (died 1612)

Hans Leo Hassler was a German composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, elder brother of lesser known composer Jakob Hassler. He was born in Nuremberg and died in Frankfurt.

---

26/10/1556

Ahmad Baba al Massufi, Malian academic (died 1627)

Aḥmad Bābā al-Timbuktī, was a Sanhaja Berber writer, scholar, and political provocateur in the area then known as the Western Sudan. He was a prolific author and wrote more than 40 books.

---

26/10/1551

Charlotte de Sauve, French courtesan (died 1617)

Charlotte de Beaune Semblançay, Viscountess of Tours, Baroness de Sauve, Marquise de Noirmoutier was a French noblewoman and a mistress of King Henry of Navarre, who later ruled as King Henry IV of France. She was a member of queen mother Catherine de' Medici's notorious "Flying Squadron", a group of beautiful female spies and informants recruited to seduce important men at court, and thereby extract information to pass on to the Queen Mother.

---

26/10/1529

Anna of Hesse, princess of Hesse (died 1591)

Anna of Hesse was a princess of Hesse by birth and marriage Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken.

---

26/10/1518

John Basset, Devonshire gentleman (died 1541)

John Basset was an English gentleman from Devon, a member of the old Basset family, and heir to a substantial inheritance. His short life is well documented in the Lisle Papers. He studied law at Lincoln's Inn and at the age of 20, at the start of a promising career, entered the household of Thomas Cromwell, Lord Privy Seal, but died suddenly aged only 23, albeit having married and produced a son and heir, born posthumously. His stepfather and father-in-law was Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, Lord Deputy of Calais (1533–1540), a bastard son of King Edward IV and thus uncle of King Henry VIII, whose arrest with that of his mother in 1540 at Calais for heresy and treason, was a major, potentially catastrophic, event in his life. He died a year after the arrests, from an unknown illness, but his siblings all went on to have successful careers, especially his younger brother James, mostly as royal courtiers, apparently unaffected by the crisis.

---

26/10/1491

Zhengde Emperor of China (died 1521)

The Zhengde Emperor, personal name Zhu Houzhao, was the 11th emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1505 to 1521. He succeeded his father, the Hongzhi Emperor.

---

26/10/1483

Hans Buchner, German Renaissance composer (died 1538)

Hans Buchner was a German organist and composer.

---

26/10/1473

Friedrich of Saxony, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (died 1510)

Duke Frederick of Saxony, also known as Friedrich von Sachsen or Friedrich von Wettin, was the 36th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, serving from 1498–1510. He was the third son of Albert III, Duke of Saxony, and Sidonie of Poděbrady, daughter of George of Podebrady.

---

26/10/1431

Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Italian politician (died 1505)

Ercole I d'Este was Duke of Ferrara, Modena, and Reggio from 1471 until his death in 1505. A member of the House of Este, he was known for his patronage of the arts and for strengthening the duchy's economy and political position.

---

26/10/1427

Sigismund, Archduke of Austria (died 1496)

Sigismund, a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria from 1439 until his death. As a scion of the Habsburg Leopoldian line, he ruled over Further Austria and the County of Tyrol from 1446 until his resignation in 1490.

---

26/10/1416

Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (died 1490)

Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent, KB, English administrator, nobleman and magnate, was the son of Sir John Grey, KG and Constance Holland. His main residence was at Wrest near Silsoe, Bedfordshire.

---