Famous Birthdays on February 23

149 people 1133 – 2002

February 23 has seen 149 notable people enter the world across recorded history — from 1133 – 2002. Below are the most significant names born on this date.

By · Wikipedia

Marc Garneau

1949 — Marc Garneau

Canadian engineer, astronaut, and politician (died 2025)

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He became the first Canadian in space on October 5, 1984, and flew on three Space Shuttle missions

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Garneau served as a naval officer before being selected as an astronaut as part of the 1983 NRC Group

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From 2001 to 2005, Garneau was president of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)

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Garneau entered politics and was elected to the House of Commons in 2008, serving as a Montreal-area member of Parliament (MP) until 2023

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A member of the Liberal Party, Garneau served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from January to October in 2021 and as Minister of Transport from 2015 to 2021.


Al-Zafir
Al-Zafir
Fatimid caliph (died 1154)
Abū Manṣūr Ismāʿīl ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ, better known by his regnal name al-Ẓāfir bi-Amr Allāh or al-Ẓāfir bi-Aʿdāʾ Allāh, was the twelfth Fatimid caliph, reigning in Egypt from 1149 to 1154, and the 22nd imam of the Hafizi…
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1133
Pope Paul II (died 1471)
Pope Paul II (died 1471)
Pope Paul II, born Pietro Barbo, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 August 1464 to his death in 1471. When his maternal uncle became Pope Eugene IV, Barbo switched from training to be…
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1417
Louis IX
Louis IX
Duke of Bavaria (died 1479)
Louis IX was Duke of Bavaria-Landshut from 1450. He was a son of Henry XVI the Rich and Margaret of Austria. Louis was the founder of the University of Ingolstadt.
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1417
Matthias Corvinus
Matthias Corvinus
Hungarian king (died 1490)
Matthias Corvinus was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and…
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1443
Onofrio Panvinio
Onofrio Panvinio
Italian historian (died 1568)
Onofrio Panvinio was an Italian Augustinian friar, historian and antiquary who was the librarian to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese.
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1529
Henry XI of Legnica
Henry XI of Legnica
thrice Duke of Legnica (died 1588)
Henry XI of Legnica, was thrice Duke of Legnica: 1551–1556, 1559–1576 and 1580–1581.
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1539
Salima Sultan Begum
Salima Sultan Begum
Empress of the Mughal Empire (died 1612)
Salima Sultan Begum was the third wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Akbar, and a granddaughter of Babur.
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1539
Jean-Baptiste Morin
Jean-Baptiste Morin
French mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer (died 1656)
Jean-Baptiste Morin, also known by the Latinized name as Morinus, was a French mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer.
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1583
Balthazar Gerbier
Balthazar Gerbier
Dutch painter (died 1663)
Sir Balthazar Gerbier was an Anglo-Dutch courtier, diplomat, art advisor, miniaturist and architectural designer, in his own words fluent in "several languages" with "a good hand in writing, skill in sciences as…
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1592
George Frederick of Nassau-Siegen
George Frederick of Nassau-Siegen
officer in the Dutch Army (died 1674)
Prince George Frederick of Nassau-Siegen, German: Georg Friedrich Prinz von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: Prinz von Nassau, Graf zu Katzenelnbogen, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Beilstein, was a count from the House of…
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1606
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
English diarist and politician (died 1703)
Samuel Pepys was an English writer and Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament, but is most remembered today for the diary he kept for almost a decade. Though he had no…
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1633
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
Japanese shōgun (died 1709)
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was a Japanese samurai, daimyo and the fifth shōgun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the younger brother of Tokugawa Ietsuna, the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada,…
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1646
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne
Sieur de Bienville, Canadian politician, 2nd Colonial Governor of Louisiana (died 1767)
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, also known as Sieur de Bienville, was a French-Canadian colonial administrator in New France. Born in Montreal, he was an early governor of French Louisiana, appointed four separate…
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1680
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
German-English organist and composer (died 1759)
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti.
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1685
Richard Price
Richard Price
Welsh-English minister and philosopher (died 1791)
Richard Price was a Welsh moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer and pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the French and American…
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1723
Mayer Amschel Rothschild
Mayer Amschel Rothschild
German banker and businessman (died 1812)
Mayer Amschel Rothschild was a German Jewish banker and the founder of the Rothschild banking dynasty, which dominated international finance in Europe between the 1820s and the 1870s. Referred to as a "founding father…
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1744
José Joaquín de Herrera
José Joaquín de Herrera
Mexican politician and general (died 1854)
José Joaquín Antonio Florencio de Herrera y Ricardos was a Mexican statesman who served as president of Mexico three times, and as a general in the Mexican Army during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848.
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1792
Johan Jakob Nervander
Johan Jakob Nervander
Finnish poet, physicist and meteorologist (died 1848)
Johan Jakob Nervander was a Finnish poet, physicist, and meteorologist.
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1805
Magdalene Osenbroch
Norwegian actress (died 1854)
Magdalene Henrikke Dedichen Osenbroch was a Norwegian actress who mainly performed at the Det norske Theater in Bergen.
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1830
Hendrik Willem Mesdag
Hendrik Willem Mesdag
Dutch painter (died 1915)
Hendrik Willem Mesdag was a Dutch marine painter.
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1831
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February 23 in the Blog

Baltic Campaign - February 23, 1918

1918 Baltic Campaign: German forces seize Riga, Latvia, in a surprise attack

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Famous birthdays

Who was born on February 23?

Marc Garneau — Canadian astronaut and politician (1949–2025)

FeaturedMarc Garneau
Birth year1949
Known forGarneau served as a naval officer before being selected as an astronaut as part of the 1983 NRC Group
Birthdays on this date149 (1133 – 2002)

Explore February 23

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Also on February 23 in History

2025
A snap election is held in Germany. Wikipedia →
2021
Four simultaneous prison riots leave at least 62 people dead in Ecuador. Wikipedia →
2020
Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old African-American citizen, is shot and murdered by three white men after visiting a house under construction while jogging at a neighborhood in Satilla Shores near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia. Wikipedia →
See all events on February 23
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