Famous Birthdays on July 12

Julio César Chávez González, also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. A multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions, Chávez was listed by The Ring magazine as the world's best boxer, pound for pound, from 1990 to 1993. During his career he held the WBC super featherweight title from 1984 to 1987, the WBA and WBC lightweight titles between 1987 and 1989, the WBC light welterweight title twice between 1989 and 1996, and the IBF light welterweight title from 1990 to 1991. He also held the Ring magazine and lineal lightweight titles from 1988 to 1989, and the lineal light welterweight title twice between 1990 and 1996. Chávez was named Fighter of the Year for 1987 and 1990 by the Boxing Writers Association of America and The Ring respectively.

LeSean Kamel McCoy, nicknamed "Shady", is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2009 NFL draft. McCoy attended Bishop McDevitt High School from 2002 to 2006. In his senior year of high school, McCoy suffered a major ankle injury, which threatened his career. In his first year at Pittsburgh in 2007, he rushed for over 1,300 yards and recorded 14 touchdowns. In 2008, McCoy was selected as a second-team All-American. His 21 rushing touchdowns were third in the nation, only one behind the two leaders.

Amedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterised by a surreal elongation of faces, necks, and figures — works that were not received well during his lifetime, but later became much sought after. Modigliani was born and spent his youth in Italy, where he studied the art of antiquity and the Renaissance. In 1906, he moved to Paris, where he came into contact with such artists as Pablo Picasso and Constantin Brâncuși. By 1912, Modigliani was exhibiting highly stylised sculptures with Cubists of the Section d'Or group at the Salon d'Automne.

Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first residency program for specialty training of physicians. He has frequently been described as the Father of Modern Medicine and one of the "greatest diagnosticians ever to wield a stethoscope". In addition to being a physician he was a bibliophile, historian, author, and renowned practical joker. He was passionate about medical libraries and medical history, having founded the History of Medicine Society, at the Royal Society of Medicine, London. He was also instrumental in founding the Medical Library Association of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Association of Medical Librarians along with three other people, including Margaret Charlton, the medical librarian of his alma mater, McGill University. He left his own large history of medicine library to McGill, where it became the Osler Library.

Kaylee Rochelle McKeown is an Australian swimmer and multiple Olympic gold medalist. She is widely considered the greatest backstroker of all time, holding a record 10 individual backstroke titles across the Olympic Games and World Aquatics Championships. She is the reigning Olympic champion in the 100 and 200 metres backstroke. She is the world record holder in the long course and short course 200 metre backstroke, and is the former world record holder in the long course 50 metre backstroke and both the long course and short course 100 metre backstroke. She won gold in both the 100 metre and 200 metre backstroke at both the 2020 and 2024 Olympics. In 2023, she was named as the "Best Female Swimmer of the Year" by World Aquatics, after sweeping gold in all three events of backstroke at all three World Cup legs, held in Berlin, Athens and Budapest in October, 2023.

Pablo Carreño Busta is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 10 by the ATP, achieved on 11 September 2017. He has won seven singles titles on the ATP Tour, including a Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open, and achieved his best major results at the US Open, reaching the semifinals of the 2017 and 2020 editions. Representing Spain, Carreño Busta has won an Olympic bronze medal in men's singles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, defeating world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the bronze match. He also was a member of the Spanish team that won the 2019 Davis Cup.

Howard Joseph Kendrick III is an American former professional baseball infielder and current special assistant to the general manager for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Anaheim Angels selected Kendrick in the tenth round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft. He made his MLB debut in 2006, and played in MLB for the Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Phillies, and Washington Nationals. With the Nationals, Kendrick was a key part of their 2019 World Series run, being named the MVP of the 2019 National League Championship Series and hitting the go-ahead two-run home run in game seven of the World Series. In 2011, he appeared in the MLB All-Star Game. While primarily a second baseman throughout his career, he has also played first base and left field.

John Raymond Scott is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played twelve seasons in professional basketball, ten in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Detroit Pistons and Baltimore Bullets, and two with the Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association (ABA). After he retired from playing basketball, he was selected an assistant coach of the Pistons by Earl Lloyd. Seven games into the 1972–73 season, Lloyd was fired, and Scott was chosen to replace him as the head coach. In his first full season in 1973–74, the Pistons won 52 games that saw them reach the postseason for the first time in six years. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year, the first African-American to win the honor and the only one until 1991. The Pistons made the postseason two times in Scott's coaching career before he was fired 42 games into the 1975–76 season. He later coached at Eastern Michigan University from 1976 to 1979 before becoming an insurance executive for three decades.

Imero (Immie) Fiorentino was an American lighting designer, considered one of the most respected pioneers and leaders in the American entertainment industry. Beginning his career as a lighting designer in the Golden Age of Television, he designed productions for such celebrated series as Omnibus, U.S. Steel Hour, Pulitzer Prize Playhouse and Kraft Television Theatre. Fiorentino's expertise was often called upon by industry professionals throughout the world to consult on the planning and development of major productions, exhibits, museums and architectural projects; from the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention and numerous United States presidential election debates, major concert tours and television specials to the environmental lighting for Epcot’s World Showcase at Walt Disney World. His consulting work on major corporate events with clients included: Anheuser-Busch, Michelin, Electrolux, American Express and Xerox.

Luigi Gorrini, MOVM, was an Italian World War II fighter pilot in the Regia Aeronautica and in the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana. During the conflict, he flew with the Corpo Aereo Italiano during the Battle of Britain, fought over Libya and Tunisia, and was involved in the defence of the Italian mainland. Gorrini is believed to have shot down 19 Allied planes, and damaged another 9, of several types: Bristol Beaufighter, Bristol Blenheim, Curtiss P-40, Spitfire, P-38 Lightning, P-47 Thunderbolt, B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator. He piloted the biplane Fiat C.R.42 and monoplanes Macchi C.202 and C.205 Veltro. With the Veltro he shot down 14 Allied planes and damaged six more. At the time of his death, he was the only surviving fighter pilot awarded the Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare.

James Edwin Gunn was an American science fiction writer, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work as an editor of anthologies includes the six-volume Road to Science Fiction series. He won the Hugo Award for "Best Related Work" in 1983 for a book about author Isaac Asimov, and he won or was nominated for several other awards for his non-fiction works in the field of science fiction studies. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America made him its 24th Grand Master in 2007, and he was inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2015. His novel The Immortals was adapted into a 1970–71 TV series starring Christopher George.

Harley Norman Hotchkiss was a Canadian business and community leader who was best known for his contributions to health and sports development in Canada. He was part of the consortium that brought the Atlanta Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL) to Calgary in 1980, and remained a part-owner of the Calgary Flames until shortly before his death. For much of that time, he was the team's governor, and hence the public face of the ownership group. He served as chairman of the board of the NHL between 1995 and 2007, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 2006.

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general, statesman, and author who was the dictator of the Roman Republic almost continuously from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. A member of the First Triumvirate, he led the Roman armies through the Gallic Wars and defeated his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil war. He consolidated power and was titled as dictator perpetuo in 44 BC, helping create the political conditions that led to the collapse of the Roman Republic and the emergence of the Roman Empire. For his role in these events, he is regarded as one of history's most influential figures.

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani female education activist, and producer of film and television. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, receiving the Peace Prize in 2014 at age 17, and is the second Pakistani and the only Pashtun to receive a Nobel Prize. Yousafzai is a human rights advocate for the education of women and children in her native district, Swat, where the Pakistani Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become Pakistan's "most prominent citizen".

Lionel Robert Jospin was a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was first secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for president in the 1995 and 2002 elections. In 1995, he was narrowly defeated in the second round by Jacques Chirac. In 2002, he was eliminated in the first round after finishing behind both Chirac and Jean-Marie Le Pen, prompting him to announce his retirement from politics. In 2015, he was appointed to the Constitutional Council by National Assembly President Claude Bartolone.

Joseph Louis Robert Edgar Fillion was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played seven seasons for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1943 and 1950. He was a member of two Stanley Cup-winning teams during his career with Montreal; in 1944 and 1946. He also spent time with the Buffalo Bisons of the AHL and the Sherbrooke Saints of the Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL). He died on August 13, 2015. At the time of his death, Fillion was the last surviving member of the Canadiens' 1944 Stanley Cup team.

Lee Byung-hun is a South Korean actor. He has received acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres, most notably Joint Security Area (2000); A Bittersweet Life (2005); The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008); I Saw the Devil (2010); Masquerade (2012); and the television series All In (2003), Iris (2009), Mr. Sunshine (2018), Our Blues (2022), and Squid Game. His other notable South Korean films include Inside Men (2015), Master (2016), Ashfall (2019), The Man Standing Next (2020), and No Other Choice (2025), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe.

Anna Louise Friel is an English actress. She first achieved fame as Beth Jordache in the British soap opera Brookside (1993–1995), later coming to wider prominence through her role as Charlotte "Chuck" Charles on Pushing Daisies (2007–2009), for which she received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2017, she won the International Emmy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of the title character in the detective drama series Marcella (2016–2021). Her other accolades include a Drama Desk Award, an honorary degree, and a BAFTA nomination.

Natalie Martinez is an American actress and model. She appeared in the 2008 film Death Race, several music videos between 2003 and 2011, and two short-lived telenovelas in 2006 and 2007. Martinez starred in the single season of the crime drama Detroit 1-8-7, had a recurring role for one season of CSI: NY, starred in one season of the drama series Kingdom, and appeared in the 2019 science fiction miniseries The I-Land. She has since appeared in the NBC drama series Ordinary Joe (2021-2022) and the Apple TV black comedy crime series Bad Monkey (2024-present).