Did you know about RZA
Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA or the RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, composer, actor, and filmmaker.
Famous Birthdays on July 5
July 5 has 242 recorded notable births across history, from 465 to 2005. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
1969 — RZA
American rapper, producer, actor, and director
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Famous Birthdays
242 source records
465 – 2005
Cancer
Today in history
Major events on July 5
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1977 The Pakistan Armed Forces under Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq seize power in Operation Fair Play and begin 11 years of martial law. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, is overthrown. Source
- 2024 Keir Starmer is appointed Prime Minister by Charles III, becoming the first Labour prime minister since Gordon Brown in 2010 and the first one to win a general election since Tony Blair at the 2005 general election. Source
Did you know about Megan Rapinoe
Winner of the Ballon d'Or Féminin and named The Best FIFA Women's Player in 2019, Rapinoe was a member of the national teams that won the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2015 and 2019, and the team that finished second in 2011.
Did you know about Veronica Guerin
Veronica Guerin became a reporter in 1990, writing for the Sunday Business Post and Sunday Tribune.
Did you know about K. Karunakaran
Kannoth Karunakaran was an Indian politician, political strategist, decision maker and statesman who served as the chief minister of Kerala in 1977, from 1981 to March 1982, from May 1982 to 1987 and from 1991 to 1995.
Did you know about Mustafa Al-Kadhimi
Mustafa Abdul Latif Mishatat al-Gharibawi, known as Mustafa al-Kadhimi is an independent Iraqi politician, lawyer, bureaucrat and former intelligence officer who served as the prime minister of Iraq from 7 May 2020 to 27 October 2022.
More major people born on July 5
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1985
Megan Rapinoe
American soccer player
Megan Anna Rapinoe is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder and winger. She spent most of her career playing for Seattle Reign FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team. Winner of the Ballon d'Or Féminin and named The Best FIFA Women's Player in 2019, Rapinoe was a member of the national teams that won the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2015 and 2019, and the team that finished second in 2011. She also won gold at the Olympics in 2012. Rapinoe co-captained the national team alongside Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan from 2018 to 2020. She previously played for the Chicago Red Stars, Philadelphia Independence, and magicJack in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), as well as Lyon Women in France's Division 1 Féminine.
1958
Veronica Guerin
Irish journalist (died 1996)
Veronica Guerin Turley was an Irish investigative journalist focusing on organised crime in Ireland, who was murdered in a contract killing believed to have been ordered by a South Dublin-based drug cartel. Born in Dublin, she was an athlete in school and later played on the Irish national teams for both Association football and basketball. After studying accountancy she ran a public-relations firm for seven years, before working for Fianna Fáil and as an election agent for Seán Haughey. She became a reporter in 1990, writing for the Sunday Business Post and Sunday Tribune. In 1994 she began writing articles about the Irish criminal underworld for the Sunday Independent. In 1996, after pressing charges for assault against major organised crime figure John Gilligan, Guerin was ambushed and fatally shot in her vehicle while waiting at a traffic light. The shooting caused national outrage in Ireland. Investigation into her death led to a number of arrests and convictions.
1918
K. Karunakaran
Indian lawyer and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Kerala (died 2010)
Kannoth Karunakaran was an Indian politician, political strategist, decision maker and statesman who served as the chief minister of Kerala in 1977, from 1981 to March 1982, from May 1982 to 1987 and from 1991 to 1995. He is the founder of the Indian National Congress (INC)-led United Democratic Front (UDF) coalition, which governed the state in the periods of 1982-87, 1991–96, 2001–06 and 2011–16; and currently is the ruling alliance in Kerala since 2026. He has also served as the Union Minister for Industry from 1995 to 1996 and served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly for four terms- 1967 to 1969, 1978 to 1979, 1980 to 1981 and 1987 to 1991. He also has the distinction of being one of the longest serving Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Leaders in the country, holding that post from 1967 to 1995.
1967
Mustafa Al-Kadhimi
Iraqi politician, 80th Prime Minister of Iraq
Mustafa Abdul Latif Mishatat al-Gharibawi, known as Mustafa al-Kadhimi is an independent Iraqi politician, lawyer, bureaucrat and former intelligence officer who served as the prime minister of Iraq from 7 May 2020 to 27 October 2022. He was nominated as prime minister in May 2020 following the 2019 Iraqi protests and the resignation of Adel Abdul Mahdi. He previously served as columnist for several news outlets and the Director of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, originally appointed in June 2016. He briefly served as Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs in an acting capacity in 2020. The latter part of his tenure closely followed the 2022 Iraqi political crisis. Following the conclusion of his term as prime minister in 2022, he spent over two years abroad, returning to Baghdad in February 2025. During his time away, he resided in London and the United Arab Emirates. His return was at the invitation of current Iraqi political leaders who sought his assistance in addressing the country's economic challenges.
1029
Al-Mustansir Billah
Fatimid caliph (died 1094)
Abū Tamīm Maʿad al-Mustanṣir bi'llāh was the eighth Fatimid Caliph from 1036 until 1094. He was one of the longest reigning Muslim rulers. His reign was the twilight of the Fatimid state. The start of his reign saw the continuation of competent administrators running the Fatimid state, overseeing the state's prosperity in the first two decades of al-Mustansir's reign. However, the break out of court infighting between the Turkish and Berber/Sudanese court factions following al-Yazuri's assassination, coinciding with natural disasters in Egypt and the gradual loss of administrative control over Fatimid possessions outside of Egypt, almost resulted in the total collapse of the Fatimid state in the 1060s, before the appointment of the Armenian general Badr al-Jamali, who assumed power as vizier in 1073, and became the de facto dictator of the country under the nominal rule of al-Mustansir.
1872
Édouard Herriot
French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (died 1957)
Édouard Marie Herriot was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister and twice as President of the Chamber of Deputies. He led the first Cartel des Gauches. Under the Fourth Republic, he served as President of the National Assembly until 1954. A historian by occupation, Herriot was elected to the Académie Française's eighth seat in 1946. He served as Mayor of Lyon for more than 45 years, from 1905 until his death, except for a brief period from 1940 to 1945, when he saw his movements variously restricted for opposing the Vichy regime.
1941
Epeli Nailatikau
Fijian chief, President of Fiji (died 2026)
Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Nailatikau,, often referred to as Na Turaga Mai Naisogolaca, was a Fijian chief who was President of Fiji from 2009 to 2015. He had a long career in the Military, diplomatic service, and government. From 2001 to 2006 he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives – the lower and more powerful chamber of the Fijian Parliament. He was also the chairman of the Parliamentary Appropriations Committee and of the House Committee. On 8 January 2007, he was appointed the interim Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade; he was moved to the post of interim Minister for Provincial Development and Multi-Ethnic Affairs in September 2008. In October 2008, he became Indigenous Affairs Minister "and effectively Great Council of Chiefs chairman". On 17 April 2009, he was appointed Vice-President by the military government.
1896
Thomas Playford IV
Australian politician, 33rd Premier of South Australia (died 1981)
Sir Thomas Playford was an Australian politician from the state of South Australia. He served as Premier of South Australia and leader of the Liberal and Country League (LCL) from 5 November 1938 to 10 March 1965. Though controversial, it was the longest term of any elected government leader in Australian history. His tenure as premier was marked by a period of population and economic growth unmatched by any other Australian state. He was known for his parochial style in pushing South Australia's interests, and was known for his ability to secure a disproportionate share of federal funding for the state as well as his shameless haranguing of federal leaders. His string of election wins was supported by a system of malapportionment later dubbed the "Playmander".
1653
Thomas Pitt
English businessman and politician (died 1726)
Thomas Pitt was a British merchant, colonial administrator and politician who served as the president of Fort St. George from 1698 to 1709. Born in Blandford Forum, Dorset, he eventually went to the Indian subcontinent in the service of the English East India Company (EIC) and rose to a senior position in the Presidency of Fort St. George, administering the EIC's affairs within the region. After a lucrative career in India, Pitt returned to England and entered into a political career, being elected six times to the Parliament of Great Britain. His descendants would go on to found a political dynasty, with Pitt's grandson and great-grandson both serving as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
1982
Kate Gynther
Australian water polo player
Kate Maree Gynther is an Australian former water polo player. She played for the Brisbane Barracudas in the National Water Polo League. She represented Australia as a member of the women's senior national team at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal at the 2008 and 2012 Games. She is a leading goalscorer in Olympic water polo history, with 30 goals. She was the joint top sprinter at the 2012 Olympics with 21 sprints won; and a leading sprinter in Olympic water polo history, with 39 sprints won. She has also won a bronze medal at the 2005 Super League Finals.
1936
Tommy LiPuma
American Grammy Award-winning jazz record producer and record label executive(died 2017)
Tommy LiPuma was an American music producer. His productions received 33 Grammy nominations and sold over 75 million albums. His six individual nominations resulted in five Grammy wins. LiPuma worked with many musicians, including Barbra Streisand, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, George Benson, Phil Upchurch, Al Jarreau, Anita Baker, Natalie Cole, Gábor Szabó, Claudine Longet, Dave Mason, the Yellowjackets, the Sandpipers, Michael Franks, Diana Krall, Paul McCartney, Ben Sidran, The Crusaders, Joe Sample, Randy Crawford and Dr. John. In 2020, his biography, The Ballad of Tommy LiPuma, written by Ben Sidran and published by Nardis Books, was named "the music biography of the year" by The New York City Jazz Record.
1970
Mac Dre
American rapper and producer, founded Thizz Entertainment (died 2004)
Andre Louis Hicks, known professionally as Mac Dre, was an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Vallejo, California. He was an instrumental figure in the emergence of hyphy, a cultural movement in the Bay Area hip-hop scene that emerged in the early 2000s. Hicks is considered one of the movement's key pioneers that fueled its popularity into mainstream, releasing songs with fast-paced rhymes and basslines that inspired a new style of dance. As the founder of the independent record label Thizz Entertainment, Hicks recorded dozens of albums and gave aspiring rappers an outlet to release albums locally.
1915
Babe Paley
American socialite (died 1978)
Barbara Cushing Mortimer Paley was an American magazine editor and socialite. Affectionately known as Babe throughout her life, Paley made notable contributions to the field of magazine editing. In recognition of her distinctive fashion sense, she was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1958. Together with her two sisters, Minnie and Betsey, she was a popular debutante in her youth and the trio were dubbed "The Fabulous Cushing Sisters" in high society. She was married twice; first, to the sportsman Stanley G. Mortimer Jr. and second, to CBS founder William S. Paley.
1882
Inayat Khan
Indian mystic and educator (died 1927)
Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan, was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the sarasvati vina, poet, philosopher, writer, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to the West. At the urging of his students, and on the basis of his ancestral Sufi tradition and four-fold training and authorisation at the hands of Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani of Hyderabad, he established an order of Sufism in London in 1914. By the time of his death in 1927, centers had been established throughout Europe and North America, and multiple volumes of his teachings had been published.
1925
Jean Raspail
French author and explorer (died 2020)
Jean Paul Raspail was a French explorer, novelist and travel writer. He was a recipient of the prestigious French literary awards Grand Prix du Roman and Grand Prix de littérature by the Académie Française. The French government honoured him in 2003 by appointing him to the Legion of Honour, with the grade of Officer. Although the majority of his books are travelogues or novels about historical figures, exploration and indigenous peoples, internationally, he is best known for his controversial 1973 novel The Camp of the Saints, which is about mass third-world immigration to Europe.
1982
Philippe Gilbert
Belgian cyclist
Philippe Gilbert is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who is known for being a versatile rider who was able to win four of the five very different profile cycling monuments and also the World Road Race Championships in 2012, and for being one of two riders, along with Davide Rebellin, to have won the three Ardennes classics – the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège – in a single season, which he accomplished in 2011. Gilbert also finished the 2011 season as the overall winner of the UCI World Tour.
1914
John Thomas Dunlop
American administrator and labor scholar (died 2003)
John Thomas Dunlop was an American administrator, labor economist, and educator. Dunlop was the United States Secretary of Labor between 1975 and 1976 under President Gerald Ford. He was Director of the United States Cost of Living Council from 1973 to 1974, Chairman of the United States Commission on the Future of Worker-Management Relations from 1993 to 1995, which produced the Dunlop Report in 1994. He was also arbitrator and impartial chairman of various United States labor-management committees, and a member of numerous government boards on industrial relations disputes and economic stabilization.
1937
Nita Lowey
American politician (died 2025)
Nita Sue Lowey was an American politician who served as a U.S. representative from New York from 1989 until 2021. She was a member of the Democratic Party. Lowey also served as co-dean of the New York congressional delegation, along with former U.S. Representative Eliot Engel. Lowey's district was numbered as the 20th from 1989 to 1993, as the 18th from 1993 to 2013, and as the 17th beginning in 2013. The district included many of New York City's inner northern suburbs, such as White Plains, Purchase, Tarrytown, Mount Kisco, and Armonk.
1969
John LeClair
American ice hockey player
John Clark LeClair is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins from 1991 to 2006. LeClair was a member of the Montreal Canadiens' Stanley Cup winning team in 1993, scoring two overtime game-winning goals in consecutive games during the Final. With the Flyers, LeClair became the first American-born player to score 50 goals in three consecutive NHL seasons while playing on the Legion of Doom line with Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg.