Famous Birthdays on January 5

Paramahansa Yogananda was an Indian and American Hindu monk, yogi, and guru who founded the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF)/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS), a religious meditation and Kriya Yoga organization, to disseminate his teachings. A chief disciple of the yoga guru Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, he was sent by his lineage to spread yogic teachings to the West. He immigrated to the US at the age of 27, intending to demonstrate a unity between Eastern and Western religions and advocate for a balance between Western material growth and Indian spirituality. His longstanding influence on the American yoga movement, and especially the yoga culture of Los Angeles, led yoga experts to consider him the "Father of Yoga in the West". He lived his final 32 years in the US.

Murli Manohar Joshi is an Indian politician and physicist. He is one of the founding members and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and served as its president from 1991 to 1993. In addition to his role in the BJP, he is a lifelong member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindutva paramilitary organisation. Joshi is a former Member of Parliament from Kanpur Lok Sabha constituency. He is a former professor of physics in University of Allahabad. Joshi later became the Union Human Resources & Development Minister in the National Democratic Alliance government. Joshi was awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award, in 2017 by the Government of India.

Jason Mitchell is an American actor. Mitchell started his career acting in minor roles in films such as the action-thriller Contraband (2012), and the neo‑noir Broken City (2013). He is best known for portraying rapper Eazy-E in the 2015 biopic Straight Outta Compton. The film is considered his career breakthrough, for which he received numerous award nominations including the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture. Mitchell has also appeared in the Key and Peele comedy film Keanu (2016), the Netflix film Barry (2016), James Franco's The Disaster Artist (2017), and the blockbuster Kong: Skull Island (2017). He has also appeared in critically acclaimed films such as Kathryn Bigelow's crime drama Detroit (2017), Dee Rees' historical drama Mudbound (2017) and Janicza Bravo's black comedy Zola (2021).

Hosea Lorenzo Williams was an American civil rights leader, activist, ordained minister, businessman, philanthropist, scientist, and politician. He was considered a member of famed civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King Jr.'s inner circle. Under the banner of their flagship organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King depended on Williams to organize and stir masses of people into nonviolent direct action in myriad protest campaigns they waged against racial, political, economic, and social injustice. King alternately referred to Williams, his chief field lieutenant, as his "bull in a china shop" and his "Castro." Vowing to continue King's work for the poor, Williams is well known in his own right as the founding president of one of the largest social services organizations in North America, Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless. His famous motto was "Unbought and Unbossed."

Maurizio Pollini was an Italian pianist and conductor. He was known for performances of Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, and the Second Viennese School, among others. He championed works by contemporary composers, including Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, George Benjamin, Roberto Carnevale, Gianluca Cascioli and Bruno Maderna. Several compositions were written for him, including Luigi Nono's ... sofferte onde serene ..., Giacomo Manzoni's Masse: omaggio a Edgard Varèse, and Salvatore Sciarrino's Fifth Sonata. As a conductor, he was instrumental in the Rossini revival at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, conducting La donna del lago from a new critical edition in 1981. He also conducted from the keyboard.

Stephen Cole Kleene was an American mathematician and logician. One of the students of Alonzo Church, Kleene, along with Rózsa Péter, Alan Turing, Emil Post, and others, is best known as a founder of the branch of mathematical logic known as recursion theory, which subsequently helped to provide the foundations of theoretical computer science. Kleene's work grounds the study of computable functions. A number of mathematical concepts are named after him: Kleene hierarchy, Kleene algebra, the Kleene star, Kleene's recursion theorem and the Kleene fixed-point theorem. He also invented regular expressions in 1951 to describe McCulloch-Pitts neural networks, and made significant contributions to the foundations of mathematical intuitionism.

Carolyn McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing New York's 4th congressional district from 1997 to 2015. A native of the suburban Long Island community of Mineola, New York, she worked as a nurse and was a registered Republican. However, she was motivated to enter politics after her husband was killed and her son was wounded in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting. She became an advocate for gun control legislation, and in 1996, she was elected to the House as a Democrat, defeating a Republican incumbent. She served a total of nine terms.

Anthony Stewart is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, having played in the NHL, AHL, and KHL. He was born in Quebec, and his family moved to Toronto while he was a child. Stewart played minor hockey in Toronto, winning three all-Ontario championships. After his minor hockey career, he was selected by the Kingston Frontenacs in the first round of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) draft. After two seasons with Kingston, he was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the first round of the 2003 NHL entry draft, at 25th overall. He spent four years in the Panthers' system, dividing his time between the NHL and the American Hockey League (AHL), after which he joined the Atlanta Thrashers for two years. When the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg to become the new Winnipeg Jets, they did not offer him a new contract, and he signed with the Carolina Hurricanes as a free agent. After one season in Carolina he was traded to the Kings, but spent most of the season in the minor leagues. He signed a professional tryout contract with the San Jose Sharks to begin the 2013–14 NHL season, but was not offered a contract. He subsequently signed with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg in the KHL. His younger brother Chris also played in the NHL, and retired after the 2019–2020 season playing for Philadelphia Flyers.

Robert Lee Caruthers, nicknamed "Parisian Bob", was an American right-handed pitcher and right fielder in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the St. Louis Browns and Brooklyn Bridegrooms. The star pitcher on five league champions in a ten-year career, he was the top pitcher in the American Association, leading that league in wins and shutouts twice each, winning percentage three times, and earned run average once. His 175 wins in the Association were the second most of any pitcher, and his league ERA of 2.62 was the lowest of any pitcher with at least 2,000 innings in the league; he was also the only pitcher to have 40-win seasons for two different Association teams. His career winning percentage was the highest of any pitcher prior to 1950 with at least 250 decisions.

Dexter John Bean is an American professional stock car racing driver and crew chief. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro SS for DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports, and also crew chiefs for the team on occasion. He also last competed part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 02 Chevrolet Silverado for Young's Motorsports. He has also previously competed part-time in both the NASCAR Cup Series in 2009. Prior to competing in those series, he ran full-time for three years in what is now the ARCA Menards Series, where he finished third in the standings in 2007.

Glenn Peter Strömberg is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in 1979 with IFK Göteborg, he helped the club win the 1981–82 UEFA Cup before signing with Benfica in 1983. In 1984, he joined the Serie A club Atalanta for which he served as the team captain for four seasons until his retirement in 1992. A full international between 1982 and 1990, he won 52 caps and scored 7 goals for the Sweden national team, and represented his country at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He was awarded Guldbollen in 1985 as Sweden's best footballer of the year.

Major-General Claude Martin was a French army officer who served in the French and later British East India companies in colonial India. Martin rose to the rank of major-general in the British East India Company's Bengal Army. Martin was born in Lyon, France, into a humble background, and was a self-made man who left a substantial lasting legacy in the form of his writings, buildings and the educational institutions he founded posthumously. There are now ten schools named after him, two in Lucknow, two in Calcutta and six in Lyon. The small village of Martin Purwa in India was also named after him.

Matthew Ballin is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League (NRL) and also the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. Ballin is currently an assistant coach for the Brisbane Broncos with whom he won the 2025 NRL Grand Final, under head coach Michael Maguire he works with the back 5. Ballin is also the assistant coach for the Queensland Maroons. He has played one game for Queensland in State of Origin. He played at hooker and previously played for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, with whom he won the 2008 and 2011 Premierships.

Mandip Gill is an English actress and narrator. Her first television role came in 2012 when she was cast as Phoebe McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. After departing the series in 2015, Gill went on to have guest roles in Cuckoo, Doctors, The Good Karma Hospital and Casualty. In October 2017, the BBC announced that Gill had been cast as companion Yasmin Khan in the 2018 series of Doctor Who. She appeared in every episode of Jodie Whittaker's tenure as the Thirteenth Doctor, in series 11, 12 and 13 as well as a series of specials in 2022.

Alice Suki Waterhouse is an English actress, singer, and model. Waterhouse began a career in modelling at the age of 16, and she went on to model for several major fashion labels such as Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Laura Mercier, and Ferragamo. Her first feature film as an actress was a minor role in Pusher (2012), and she has since appeared in films such as Love, Rosie (2014), The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015), The Bad Batch (2016), Assassination Nation (2018), and Detective Pikachu (2019). Waterhouse portrayed Karen Sirko in the musical drama miniseries Daisy Jones & the Six (2023).

Kristin Elizabeth Cavallari is an American television personality, fashion designer and businesswoman. She first rose to fame in 2004 as a cast member on the popular MTV reality television series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County (2004–2005), then on the spin-off MTV reality television series The Hills (2006–2010), and was later given her own E! reality series in which to star, Very Cavallari (2018–2020). She also starred as an actress on television shows and in films, including National Lampoon's Van Wilder: Freshman Year. In 2017, Cavallari founded the company Uncommon James, which sells jewelry, homeware, and beauty products.

Xu Xiake, born Xu Hongzu (徐弘祖), courtesy name Zhenzhi (振之), was a Chinese explorer, geographer, and travel writer of the Ming dynasty, known best for his famous geographical treatise, and noted for his bravery and humility. He traveled throughout China for more than 30 years, documenting his travels extensively. The records of his travels were compiled posthumously in The Travel Diaries of Xu Xiake, and his work translated by Ding Wenjiang. Xu's writing falls under the old Chinese literary category of 'travel record literature', which used narrative and prose styles of writing to portray one's travel experiences.

Jean-Baptiste Say was a liberal French economist and businessman who argued in favor of competition, free trade, and lifting restraints on business. He is best known for Say's law—also known as the law of markets—which he popularized, although scholars disagree as to whether it was Say who first articulated the theory. Moreover, he was one of the first economists to study entrepreneurship and conceptualized entrepreneurs as organizers and leaders of the economy. He was also closely involved in the development of the École spéciale de commerce et d'industrie (ESCP), historically the first business school to be established.

Tyler Ulis is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas. He played college basketball at the University of Kentucky. In 2015, he led his team in assists, made the 2015 SEC All-Freshman Team, and led the 2014–15 Kentucky team that won its first 38 games before losing to Wisconsin in the final four of the 2015 NCAA tournament. As a sophomore, Ulis was a Consensus first-team All-American and earned the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year recognition.