Famous Birthdays on January 12

January 12 has 250 recorded notable births across history, from 1483 to 2012. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.

Naya Rivera

1987 — Naya Rivera

American actress and singer (died 2020)

By · Wikipedia

Famous Birthdays 250 source records 1483 – 2012 Capricorn

Major events on January 12

See what else happened on this day in history.

  1. 1911 The University of the Philippines College of Law is established. Source
  2. 1932 Hattie Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate. Source

Did you know about Naya Rivera

Naya Rivera began her career as a child actress and model, first appearing in national television commercials.

Did you know about Dominique Wilkins

Wilkins is a nine-time NBA All-Star, a seven-time All-NBA Team member and is widely viewed as one of the most acrobatic slam dunkers in NBA history, earning the nickname "the Human Highlight Film".

Did you know about Per Gessle

(1988) and Joyride (1991), and topped the charts in the US four times, most notably with "It Must Have Been Love" which was featured in the film Pretty Woman.

Did you know about Farrah Forke

(1994), and theatrical movies like Disclosure (1994) and Heat (1995).

Did you know about Alasdair MacIntyre

MacIntyre's After Virtue (1981) is one of the most important works of Anglophone moral and political philosophy in the 20th century.


More major people born on January 12

Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.

1960 Dominique Wilkins

Dominique Wilkins

French-American basketball player
Jacques Dominique Wilkins is an American former professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Wilkins is a nine-time NBA All-Star, a seven-time All-NBA Team member and is widely viewed as one of the most acrobatic slam dunkers in NBA history, earning the nickname "the Human Highlight Film". In October 2021, he was honored as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Wilkins is the leader in most years with the Hawks, 12 seasons, the most games played in Hawks franchise history, with 882, the most minutes played with 32,545, the most career points with 23,292, and the most points per game, with 26.4 points per game.
1959 Per Gessle

Per Gessle

Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Per Håkan Gessle is a Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was disbanded after her death in 2019. The duo achieved international success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with their albums Look Sharp! (1988) and Joyride (1991), and topped the charts in the US four times, most notably with "It Must Have Been Love" which was featured in the film Pretty Woman. Prior to the formation of Roxette, he had a successful career in his native Sweden as the frontman for Gyllene Tider. The band released three number-one albums during the early 1980s but disbanded shortly after their fourth album, The Heartland Café (1984).
1968 Farrah Forke

Farrah Forke

American actress (died 2022)
Farrah Rachael Forke was an American actress best known for her roles as Alex Lambert on the NBC sitcom Wings and Mayson Drake on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. She also voiced the character Big Barda on the animated television series Batman Beyond and Justice League Unlimited, starred as Carey on the short-lived cult sitcom Dweebs, Nikki Harkin on Mr. Rhodes, Carol Ashby in the pilot episode of the 90's remake of Fantasy Island, and appeared in several made-for-TV movies such as Nurses on the Line (1993), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1993), Bionic Ever After? (1994), and theatrical movies like Disclosure (1994) and Heat (1995).
1929 Alasdair MacIntyre

Alasdair MacIntyre

Scottish-American philosopher and academic (died 2025)
Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre was a Scottish-American philosopher who contributed to moral and political philosophy as well as history of philosophy and theology. MacIntyre's After Virtue (1981) is one of the most important works of Anglophone moral and political philosophy in the 20th century. He was a senior research fellow at the Centre for Contemporary Aristotelian Studies in Ethics and Politics (CASEP) at London Metropolitan University, emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and permanent senior distinguished research fellow at the Notre Dame de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. During his lengthy academic career, he also taught at Brandeis University, Duke University, Vanderbilt University, and Boston University.
1936 Mufti Mohammad Sayeed

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed

Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Home Affairs (died 2016)
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir twice from November 2002 to November 2005 and from March 2015 until his death on January 7, 2016. He held various positions, including minister of Tourism in Rajiv Gandhi's cabinet and minister of Home Affairs in V. P. Singh's cabinet. Sayeed began his political career in the wing of the National Conference led by G. M. Sadiq, which later merged with the Indian National Congress. In 1987, he transitioned to the Janata Dal and subsequently founded the People's Democratic Party (PDP), a regional political party that remains influential in Jammu and Kashmir, currently led by his daughter, Mehbooba Mufti.
1591 Jusepe de Ribera

Jusepe de Ribera

Spanish painter (died 1652)
Jusepe de Ribera was a Spanish painter and printmaker. Ribera, Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artists of Spanish Baroque painting. Referring to a series of Ribera exhibitions held in the late 20th century, Philippe de Montebello wrote "If Ribera's status as the undisputed protagonist of Neapolitan painting had ever been in doubt, it was no longer. Indeed, to many it seemed that Ribera emerged from these exhibitions as not simply the greatest Neapolitan artist of his age but one of the outstanding European masters of the seventeenth century." Jusepe de Ribera has also been referred to as José de Ribera, and was called Lo Spagnoletto by his contemporaries and early historians.
1973 Hande Yener

Hande Yener

Turkish singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
Makbule Hande Özyener, known professionally as Hande Yener, is a Turkish singer and songwriter. She made her debut in the early 2000s, and since then has become a prominent figure of Turkish pop music with numerous songs that topped the music charts. Alongside her music career, she is also known for her choice of clothes and has renewed her image multiple times over the years. She has occasionally made changes in her music style as well; for a while, she started making electronic music, but this period was short-lived and she again returned to performing pop music. During her career, both her professional and personal life have been among the favorite subjects of columnists, and her rivalry and on and off feud with Demet Akalın were covered in the tabloids from time to time.
1963 Nando Reis

Nando Reis

Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Nando Reis is a Brazilian musician and producer, best known as the former bassist and one of the lead singers of Brazilian rock band Titãs and for his successful solo career, with his own band called Nando Reis & Os Infernais. He has also produced a few albums, including some related to Cássia Eller, who has made several significant partnerships with him, and Marisa Monte. In 2012, Nando Reis was listed among the top ten Brazilian artists at the ECAD list of artists who earned the most from copyright in the first semester of that year. In 2016, he was at the 15th position, besides being 6th in the ranking of earnings from live performances and topped the ranking of earnings from music played in public places.
1955 Arif Yunusov

Arif Yunusov

Azerbaijani author, historian, and human rights activist.
Arif Seyfulla oghlu Yunusov,, also known as Arif Yunus, is an Azerbaijani author, historian, and human rights activist. He is the head of the Department of Conflict and Migration of the Institute of Peace and Democracy, a human rights non-governmental organization (NGO). Arif Yunusov along with his wife Leyla are supporters of a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. On 28 April 2014, Arif Yunusov and his wife Leyla were jailed on charges of extortion and treason for allegedly spying for Armenia. After being detained, Arif Yunusov was sentenced to 7 years in jail; his wife, Leyla Yunus, was sentenced to 8.5 years in jail. Their sentences were suspended 15 months later, and the couple was allowed to leave for the Netherlands.
1981 Niklas Kronwall

Niklas Kronwall

Swedish ice hockey player
Hans Niklas Kronwall is a Swedish former professional ice hockey defenceman, who currently serves as an advisor to the general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. He previously played for the Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is one of the 30 members in the Triple Gold Club. Kronwall started his career in Järfälla HC in Sweden, and has played internationally for Sweden. In the NHL, Kronwall gained notoriety for being an open ice hitter, and the phrase "being Kronwalled" was coined to describe his signature back-pedaling hits. In 2008, he won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2026.
1950 Bob McEwen

Bob McEwen

American businessman and politician
Robert D. McEwen is an American lobbyist and former Republican Party politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from southern Ohio's Sixth District, from January 3, 1981, to January 3, 1993. Tom Deimer of Cleveland's Plain Dealer described him as a "textbook Republican" who is opposed to abortion, gun control and high taxes. In the House, he criticized government incompetence and charged corruption by the Democratic majority that ran the House in the 1980s. McEwen, who had easily won three terms in the Ohio House, was elected to Congress at the age of thirty to replace a retiring representative in 1980 and easily won re-election five times.
1729 Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke

Irish philosopher, academic, and politician (died 1797)
Edmund Burke was an Anglo-Irish writer, philosopher, and politician who is widely credited as the founder of the cultural and political philosophy of conservatism. Regarded as one of the most influential conservative thinkers and political writers of the 18th century, Burke spent the majority of his career in Great Britain and was elected as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1766 to 1794 in the House of Commons of Great Britain with the Whig Party. His writings played a significant role in influencing public views and opinions in both Great Britain and France following the French Revolution in 1789, and he remains a major figure in modern conservative circles.
1941 Long John Baldry

Long John Baldry

English-Canadian singer-songwriter and voice actor (died 2005)
John William "Long John" Baldry was a British and Canadian musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including the Rolling Stones, the Animals and the Beatles. Before achieving stardom, Rod Stewart and Elton John were members of bands led by Baldry. He enjoyed pop success in 1967 when "Let the Heartaches Begin" reached No. 1 in the UK, and in Australia where his duet with the American singer Kathi McDonald, a cover of the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", reached No. 2 in 1980.
1974 Melanie C

Melanie C

English singer-songwriter and actress
Melanie Jayne Chisholm, commonly known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sporty Spice. With over 100 million records sold worldwide, the Spice Girls are the best-selling female group of all time. The group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2000, before reuniting for a greatest hits album (2007) and two concert tours: the Return of the Spice Girls (2007–2008) and Spice World (2019). She is known for her unique and distinctive tone and her vocal ability.
1978 Jeremy Camp

Jeremy Camp

American singer-songwriter and musician
Jeremy Thomas Camp is an American contemporary Christian singer and songwriter from Lafayette, Indiana. He has released eleven albums, four of them RIAA-certified as Gold, and two live albums. Camp's original music is a mixture of ballads and up-tempo songs with rock influence. He has won five GMA Dove Awards, has been nominated for three American Music Awards, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album in 2010 for his album, Speaking Louder Than Before. I Still Believe, a film based on Camp's first marriage, was released in 2020, with Camp being played by New Zealand actor KJ Apa.
1979 Marián Hossa

Marián Hossa

Slovak ice hockey player
Marián Hossa is a Slovak former professional ice hockey right winger. Hossa was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the first round, 12th overall, of the 1997 NHL entry draft. After spending his first seven NHL seasons with the Senators, he played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, and Chicago Blackhawks. Over the course of his career, he made five NHL All-Star Game appearances and played in three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals with three different teams, finally winning the Stanley Cup in 2009–10 with Chicago. He won two additional Stanley Cup championships with Chicago during the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons.
1941 Chet Jastremski

Chet Jastremski

American swimmer and physician (died 2014)
Chester Andrew Jastremski was an American competition swimmer, who competed for Indiana University, and was both a 1964 Olympic bronze medalist in breaststroke and an American and world record-holder. Exceptional as a breaststroker, in his career, he set 21 national and 12 world records, and was considered by Sports Illustrated in 1961 as one of the greatest swimmers of his era. Jastremski was the first swimmer to go under one minute for the 100-yard breaststroke. He would later graduate medical school at the Indiana University in 1968 and practice medicine in Bloomington, Indiana, also serving as a swim coach for local teams.
1988 Claude Giroux

Claude Giroux

Canadian ice hockey player
Claude Giroux is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a forward and alternate captain for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Florida Panthers. Selected by the Flyers 22nd overall in the 2006 NHL entry draft, Giroux was named the Flyers' team captain in 2013, and became the longest-tenured captain in team history. Giroux played his 1,000th game with the Flyers on March 17, 2022. Giroux has been known to be a very flexible offensive player; capable of playing comfortably on both centre and wing throughout his career.
1996 Ella Henderson

Ella Henderson

English singer and songwriter
Gabriella Michelle Henderson, is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence after competing in the ninth series of The X Factor UK in 2012 finishing in sixth place. She signed with Syco Music shortly after, and released her debut studio album, Chapter One (2014), which reached number one in the UK. The album spawned the chart-topping single "Ghost", as well as the top 20 singles "Glow" and "Yours". She went on a four-year hiatus in 2015, and released her second studio album, Everything I Didn't Say, in 2022. It became her second top 10 album in the UK.

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