Famous Birthdays on January 28

January 28 has 215 recorded notable births across history, from 598 to 2007. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.

Gregg Popovich

1949 — Gregg Popovich

American basketball player and coach

By · — Wikipedia

Famous Birthdays 215 source records 598 – 2007 Aquarius

Major events on January 28

See what else happened on this day in history.

  1. 1977 The Shining, the horror novel and the first hardcover bestseller by Stephen King, is published. Source
  2. 1813 Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom. Source

Did you know about Gregg Popovich

Gregg Popovich was the head coach of the Spurs for 29 seasons from 1996 to 2025, during which he won five NBA championships, and was the longest-tenured active coach in the NBA as well as all other major sports leagues in the United States.

Did you know about Maluma

Maluma's single "Hawái" reached number three on the Billboard Global 200, and became the first number one single on the Billboard Global Excl.

Did you know about Charles George Gordon

Major-General Charles George Gordon CB, also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, Gordon of Khartoum and General Gordon, was a British Army officer and administrator.

Did you know about Frank Skinner

At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality.

Did you know about José Martí

Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol of Cuba's bid for independence from the Spanish Empire in the 19th century and is referred to as the "Apostle of Cuban Independence".

More major people born on January 28

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

1994 Maluma

Maluma

Colombian singer-songwriter, rapper, and actor
Juan Luis Londoño Arias, known professionally as Maluma, is a Colombian rapper, singer, songwriter and actor. Born and raised in Medellín, he developed an interest in music at a young age, recording songs since age sixteen. Arias released his debut album, Magia, a year later in 2012. But, his breakthrough album was 2015's Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy, which led to successful collaborations with many artists. He released F.A.M.E. in 2018, another commercial success. He followed it with 11:11 in 2019, and Papi Juancho, surprise-released in 2020. His single "Hawái" reached number three on the Billboard Global 200, and became the first number one single on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. Selling more than 18 million records, Maluma is one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Musically, Maluma's songs have been described as reggaeton, Latin trap, and pop.
Wikipedia source
1833 Charles George Gordon

Charles George Gordon

English general and politician (died 1885)
Major-General Charles George Gordon CB, also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, Gordon of Khartoum and General Gordon, was a British Army officer and administrator. He saw action in the Crimean War as an officer in the British Army. He made his military reputation in China, where he was placed in command of the "Ever Victorious Army", a force of Chinese soldiers led by European officers that was instrumental in putting down the Taiping Rebellion, regularly defeating much larger forces. For these accomplishments, he was given the nickname "Chinese Gordon" and honours from both the Emperor of China and the British.
Wikipedia source
1957 Frank Skinner

Frank Skinner

English comedian, actor, and author
Christopher Graham Collins, known professionally as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His television work includes Fantasy Football League from 1994 to 2004, The Frank Skinner Show from 1995 to 2005, Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned from 2000 to 2005, and Room 101 from 2012 to 2018. From 2009 to 2024 he hosted The Frank Skinner Show on Absolute Radio, broadcast live on Saturday mornings and released as a podcast. In October 2024 Skinner launched the Frank Off The Radio podcast, with the same crew as the radio show.
Wikipedia source
1853 José Martí

José Martí

Cuban journalist, poet, and theorist (died 1895)
José Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the liberation of his country from Spain. He was also an important figure in Latin American literature. He was a political activist and is considered an important philosopher and political theorist. Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol of Cuba's bid for independence from the Spanish Empire in the 19th century and is referred to as the "Apostle of Cuban Independence". From adolescence on, he dedicated his life to the promotion of liberty, political independence for Cuba, and intellectual independence for all Spanish Americans; his death was used as a cry for Cuban independence from Spain by both the Cuban revolutionaries and those Cubans previously reluctant to start a revolt.
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1991 Calum Worthy

Calum Worthy

Canadian actor
Calum Worthy is a Canadian actor. He is known for his roles as Dez Wade on the Disney Channel series Austin & Ally, Alex Trimboli in the Netflix series American Vandal, Nicholas Godejohn in the Hulu series The Act, and himself in The Coppertop Flop Show. He has won two Young Artist Awards in the Leading Young Actor category for his performances in the comedy film National Lampoon's Thanksgiving Family Reunion (2003) and the science fiction television series Stormworld (2009). He also won the Leading Actor award at the 2010 Leo Awards for his performance in Stormworld.
Wikipedia source
1969 Mo Rocca

Mo Rocca

American comedian and television journalist
Maurice Alberto "Mo" Rocca is an American humorist, journalist, and actor. He is a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning, the host and creator of My Grandmother's Ravioli on the Cooking Channel, and also the host of The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation on CBS. He was the moderator of the National Geographic Society's National Geographic Bee from 2016 until its final competition in 2019, as the 2020 and 2021 competitions were cancelled and the competition was ended in 2021. He is also the host of the podcast Mobituaries with Mo Rocca from CBS News. He is a regular panelist on the radio quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Wikipedia source
1784 George Hamilton-Gordon

George Hamilton-Gordon

4th Earl of Aberdeen, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1860)
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in foreign affairs. He served as Prime Minister from 1852 until 1855 in a coalition between the Whigs and Peelites, with Radical and Irish support. The Aberdeen ministry was filled with powerful and talented politicians, whom Aberdeen was largely unable to control and direct. Despite his efforts to avoid this happening, his ministry took Britain into the Crimean War, and fell when the war's conduct became unpopular. Subsequently, Aberdeen retired from politics.
Wikipedia source
1927 Hiroshi Teshigahara

Hiroshi Teshigahara

Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2001)
Hiroshi Teshigahara was a Japanese avant-garde filmmaker and artist from the Japanese New Wave era. He is best known for the 1964 film Woman in the Dunes. He is also known for directing other titles such as The Face of Another (1966), Natsu no Heitai, and Pitfall (1962), which was Teshigahara's directorial debut. He has been called "one of the most acclaimed Japanese directors of all time". Teshigahara is the first person of Asian descent to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, accomplishing this in 1964 for his work on Woman in the Dunes. Apart from being a filmmaker, Teshigahara also practiced other arts, such as calligraphy, pottery, painting, opera and ikebana.
Wikipedia source
1985 Daniel Carcillo

Daniel Carcillo

Canadian ice hockey player
Daniel Carcillo is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He most recently played under contract to the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). His on-ice reputation as an enforcer has led to him being nicknamed "Car Bomb". Carcillo won a Stanley Cup as a member of the 2013 and 2015 Blackhawks. After retiring from the NHL in 2015, Carcillo created a non-profit organization that assists former NHL-players who are suffering from post-concussion syndrome and mental health issues. Carcillo is the founder and CEO of Wesana Health, a life sciences company that leverages psilocybin-based medicine to treat traumatic brain injuries.
Wikipedia source
1608 Giovanni Alfonso Borelli

Giovanni Alfonso Borelli

Italian physiologist and physicist (died 1679)
Giovanni Alfonso Borelli was an Italian physiologist, physicist, and mathematician who is often described as the father of biomechanics. He contributed to the modern principle of scientific investigation by continuing Galileo's practice of testing hypotheses against observation. Trained in mathematics, Borelli also made extensive studies of Jupiter's moons, the mechanics of animal locomotion and, in microscopy, of the constituents of blood. He also used microscopy to investigate the stomatal movement of plants, and undertook studies in medicine and geology. During his career, he enjoyed the patronage of Queen Christina of Sweden. He was the first scientist to explain that animal and human bodily movements are caused by muscular contractions.
Wikipedia source
1903 Kathleen Lonsdale

Kathleen Lonsdale

Irish crystallographer and 1st female FRS (died 1971)
Dame Kathleen Lonsdale was an Irish crystallographer, pacifist, and prison reform activist. She proved, in 1929, that the benzene ring is flat by using X-ray diffraction methods to elucidate the structure of hexamethylbenzene. She was the first to use Fourier spectral methods while solving the structure of hexachlorobenzene in 1931. During her career she attained several firsts for female scientists, including being one of the first two women elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1945, first female professor at University College London, first woman president of the International Union of Crystallography, and first woman president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
Wikipedia source
1912 Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock

American painter (died 1956)
Paul Jackson Pollock was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, he was widely noticed for his "drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a horizontal surface, enabling him to view and paint his canvases from all angles. It was called all-over painting and action painting, because Pollock covered the entire canvas and used the force of his whole body to paint, often in a frenetic dancing style. This extreme form of abstraction divided critics: some praised the immediacy of the creation, while others derided the random effects.
Wikipedia source
1998 Payton Pritchard

Payton Pritchard

American basketball player
Payton Michael Pritchard is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks, where he earned second-team all-conference honors in the Pac-12 as a sophomore. Pritchard was a finalist for the Naismith College Player of the Year in his senior year. Selected 26th overall in the 2020 NBA draft by the Celtics, Pritchard reached the NBA Finals with the team in both 2022 and 2024, securing a championship in 2024. In 2025, he was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
Wikipedia source
1717 Mustafa III

Mustafa III

Ottoman sultan (died 1774)
Mustafa III was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III (1703–30), and his consort Mihrişah Kadın. He was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I (1774–89). After years of confinement following his father's deposition, he became sultan in 1757. He promoted justice, economic reform, and modernized infrastructure. Admiring Frederick the Great, he aligned diplomatically with Prussia. However, his push for war with Russia in 1768 led to disaster, exposing Ottoman military weakness despite reform efforts. The war ended with major territorial losses.
Wikipedia source
2007 That Girl Lay Lay

That Girl Lay Lay

American rapper
Alaya High, known professionally as That Girl Lay Lay, is an American rapper, singer, social media personality, and actress who began her career at the age of 6 on YouTube and is best known for starring in the Nickelodeon sitcom That Girl Lay Lay (2021–2024). At the age of 11, she became the youngest female African American rapper to have a record deal with Empire Distribution, with her debut single "Go, Lay Lay, Go" and debut album Tha Cheat Code (2018). She has also worked on a series of books with Scholastic publishing.
Wikipedia source
1966 Michal Pivoňka

Michal Pivoňka

Czech ice hockey player
Michal Pivoňka is a Czech former professional ice hockey player. He played his entire National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Washington Capitals. Selected by the Capitals in the 1984 NHL entry draft, Pivoňka defected to the United States during the summer of 1986. Over his 13 seasons with the Capitals, Pivoňka tallied 181 goals and 418 assists for a total of 599 points. At his retirement, he held the title for most assists in franchise history. As of 2025, he ranks fourth behind John Carlson, Nicklas Backstrom, and Alexander Ovechkin.
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1976 Mark Madsen

Mark Madsen

American basketball player and coach
Mark Ellsworth Madsen is an American basketball coach and former NBA player who is the head coach of the California Golden Bears of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Due to his hustle and physical style of play, he received the nickname "Mad Dog" while playing for the San Ramon Valley High School Wolves, and the moniker continued during his time with the Stanford Cardinal and beyond. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning two NBA championships. He also played for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Wikipedia source
1943 Paul Henderson

Paul Henderson

Canadian ice hockey player and author
Paul Garnet Henderson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flames and five in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the Toronto Toros and Birmingham Bulls. He played over 1,000 games between the two major leagues, scoring 376 goals and 758 points. Henderson played in two NHL All-Star Games and was a member of the 1962 Memorial Cup-winning Hamilton Red Wings team as a junior.
Wikipedia source
1886 Marthe Bibesco

Marthe Bibesco

Romanian-French author and poet (died 1973)
Princess Martha Bibescu, also known outside of Romania as Marthe Bibesco, was a Romanian-French writer, socialite, known for her literary work and social involvement in political circles. She spent her childhood at the noble Lahovary's estates in Balotești and Biarritz, where she received an education in literature. Throughout her life, she travelled extensively across Europe, meeting notable political figures of her time. After World War I, she rebuilt her family's estates, but later lived in exile following the establishment of communist rule in Romania after World War II.
Wikipedia source

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