Did you know
Crais has won numerous awards for his crime novels
Famous Birthdays on June 20
217 people
1005 – 2003
June 20 has seen 217 notable people enter the world across recorded history — from 1005 – 2003. Below are the most significant names born on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
1953 — Robert Crais
American author and screenwriter
Did you know
The novels of Robert Crais have been published in 62 countries and are bestsellers around the world
Did you know
Robert Crais received the Ross Macdonald Literary Award in 2006 and was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 2014.
Did you know
Robert Crais is an American author of detective fiction and former screenwriter
Did you know
Crais began his career writing scripts for television shows such as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Quincy, Miami Vice and L.A
Fatimid caliph of Egypt (died 1036)
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥākim, better known with his regnal name al-Ẓāhir li-Iʿzāz Dīn Allāh, was the seventh caliph of the Fatimid dynasty (1021–1036). Al-Zahir assumed the caliphate after the disappearance of his…
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1005
1st Duke of Bedford, English statesman (died 1435)
John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford was a medieval English prince, general, and statesman who commanded England's armies in France during a critical phase of the Hundred Years' War. Bedford was the third son of King…
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1389
duke of Milan (died 1494)
Gian Galeazzo Sforza, also known as Giovan Galeazzo Sforza, was the sixth Duke of Milan. He was the father of Bona Maria Sforza, who later became Queen of Poland. He died in 1494 aged 25 and was succeeded by his uncle,…
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1469
Polish and Swedish king (died 1632)
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Religiously zealous, he…
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1566
Swedish soldier and politician, Lord High Constable of Sweden (died 1652)
Field Marshal and Count Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie was a statesman and a soldier of the Swedish Empire, and a Marshal from 1620 onward.
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1583
duke of Savoy (died 1675)
Charles Emmanuel II ; 20 June 1634 – 12 June 1675) was Duke of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 4 October 1638 until his death in 1675 and under regency of his mother Christine of France until 1648. He was…
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1634
English minister and scholar (died 1715)
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various…
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1642
Elector of Saxony (died 1691)
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various…
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1647
French sculptor and painter (died 1776)
Jacques François Joseph Saly, also known as Jacques Saly, French-born sculptor who worked in France, Italy and Malta. He is commonly associated with his time in Denmark he served as Director of the Royal Danish Academy…
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1717
Scottish philosopher and historian (died 1816)
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various…
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1723
Japanese shōgun (died 1786)
Tokugawa Ieharu was the tenth shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, and held office from 1760 to 1786.
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1737
princess of Baden (died 1832)
Princess Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt was a Hereditary Princess of Baden by marriage to Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden. She was the daughter of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Henriette Karoline of…
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1754
German-Swedish composer and educator (died 1792)
Joseph Martin Kraus, was a German-Swedish composer in the Classical era who was born in Miltenberg am Main, Holy Roman Empire. He moved to Sweden at age 21, and died at the age of 36 in Stockholm. He has been referred…
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1756
German entomologist and author (died 1826)
Jacob Hübner was a German entomologist. He was the author of Sammlung Europäischer Schmetterlinge (1796–1805), a founding work of entomology.
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1761
Irish rebel leader (died 1798)
Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone, was a revolutionary exponent of Irish independence and is an iconic figure for Irish republicanism. Convinced that if his fellow Protestants feared to make common…
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1763
American minister and academic (died 1840)
Moses Waddel
was an American educator and minister in antebellum Georgia and South Carolina. Famous as a teacher during his life, Moses Waddel was author of the bestselling book Memoirs of the Life of Miss Caroline…
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1770
5th Earl of Selkirk, Scottish philanthropist and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Kirkcudbright (died 1820)
Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk FRS FRSE was a Scottish landowner and philanthropist best known for sponsoring immigrant settlements in Canada at the Red River Colony.
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1771
Prussian general and politician, Prussian Minister of War (died 1848)
Leopold Hermann Ludwig von Boyen was a Prussian army officer who helped to reform the Prussian Army in the early 19th century. He also served as minister of war of Prussia in the period 1810–1813 and again from 1 March…
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1771
Canadian bishop (died 1840)
Jean-Jacques Lartigue, S.S., was a Canadian Sulpician, who served as the first Catholic Bishop of Montreal.
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1777
vicomte de Martignac, French politician, 7th Prime Minister of France (died 1832)
Jean-Baptiste Sylvère Gay, 1st Viscount of Martignac was a moderate royalist French statesman during the Bourbon Restoration 1814–30 under King Charles X.
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1778
French poet and author (died 1859)
Marceline Desbordes-Valmore was a French Romantic poet and novelist.
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1786
Italian cardinal (died 1878)
Luigi Amat di San Filippo e Sorso was the dean of the College of Cardinals during the last part of the record long reign of Pope Pius IX.
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1796
German rabbi and scholar (died 1888)
Samson Raphael Hirsch was a German Orthodox rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally termed neo-Orthodoxy, his philosophy, together…
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1808
German theologian and academic (died 1884)
Isaak August Dorner was a German Lutheran theologian. He served as a professor of theology at various institutions, including Tübingen, Kiel, Königsberg, Bonn, Göttingen, and Berlin. He was a meditating theologian and…
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1809
1813
German-French cellist and composer (died 1880)
Jacques Offenbach was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful…
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1819
1847
1855
American novelist and short story writer (died 1932)
Charles Waddell Chesnutt was an African-American author, essayist, political activist, and lawyer, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civil War…
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1858
Austrian philosopher (died 1932)
Christian von Ehrenfels was an Austrian philosopher, and is known as one of the founders and precursors of Gestalt psychology.
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1859
Scottish-American race car driver and engineer (died 1932)
Alexander Winton was a Scottish-American bicycle, automobile, and diesel engine designer and inventor, as well as a businessman and racecar driver. Winton founded the Winton Motor Carriage Company in 1897 in Cleveland,…
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1860
Australian cricketer, footballer, and coach (died 1937)
John Worrall was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club in the VFA, and a Test cricketer. He was also a prominent coach in both sports and a journalist.
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1860
English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1947)
Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins was an English biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1929, with Christiaan Eijkman, for the discovery of vitamins. He also discovered the amino acid…
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1861
English biologist and physician (died 1939)
George Redmayne Murray was an English physician who pioneered in the treatment of endocrine disorders. In 1891, he introduced the successful treatment of myxedema, with injections of sheep thyroid extract, the first…
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1865
English cricketer (died 1957)
James Burns was an English cricketer. He played for Essex between 1890 and 1896 as a right-handed middle order batter and as an occasional left-arm slow bowler, and for Marylebone Cricket Club in occasional matches up…
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1866
Polish scientist and medical examiner (died 1942)
Leon Jan Wachholz (Wacholz) (June 20, 1867 – December 1, 1942) was a Polish scientist and medical examiner. He researched and taught as a professor of forensic and social medicine at the Jagiellonian University between…
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1867
Indian businessman, founded the Kirloskar Group (died 1956)
Laxmanrao Kashinath Kirloskar was an Indian businessman. He was the founder of the Kirloskar Group.
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1869
French painter and academic (died 1943)
Georges Dufrénoy was a French post-Impressionist painter associated with Fauvism.
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1870
American 5th General of The Salvation Army (died 1948)
George Lyndon Carpenter was an Australian writer who was the fifth General of The Salvation Army from 1939 to 1946.
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1872
English geneticist, statistician, and academic (died 1967)
Reginald Crundall Punnett FRS was a British geneticist who co-founded, with William Bateson, the Journal of Genetics in 1910. Punnett is probably best remembered today as the creator of the Punnett square, a tool still…
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1875
American golfer (died 1937)
Daniel Edward "Ned" Sawyer was an American golfer who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics.
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1882
American astronomer and author (died 1974)
Mary Ross Calvert was an American astronomical computer and astrophotographer. She started as her uncle Edward Emerson Barnard's assistant and ended publishing his work that cataloged over 300 dark objects — primarily…
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1884
German psychiatrist and psychotherapist (died 1970)
Johannes Heinrich Schultz was a German psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Schultz is known for the development of autogenic training.
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1884
Polish linguist and academic (died 1927)
Andrzej Gawroński was a Polish Indologist, linguist and polyglot. Professor of Jagiellonian University and Lwów University,, the author of the first Polish handbook on Sanskrit, founder of Polish Oriental Society (1922)…
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1885
German painter and illustrator (died 1948)
Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters was a German artist. He was born in Hanover, Germany, but lived in exile from 1937.
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1887
Greek-South African astronomer and academic (died 1951)
John Stefanos Paraskevopoulos also known as John Paras, was a Greek and South African astronomer. He spent most of his career in the Boyden Observatory, for the establishment of which he played a crucial role.
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1889
Italian soprano (died 1951)
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi was a spinto soprano, particularly associated with the Italian operatic repertory.
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1891
Irish lawyer and politician, 3rd Taoiseach of Ireland (died 1976)
John Aloysius Costello was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957. He was leader of the opposition from 1951 to 1954 and from 1957 to 1959 and attorney general from…
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1891
German soldier and politician (died 1958)
Wilhelm Zaisser was a German communist politician and statesman who served as the founder and first Minister for State Security of the German Democratic Republic from 1950 to 1953.
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1893
American chemist and academic (died 1971)
Lloyd Augustus Hall was an American chemist, who contributed to the science of food preservation. By the end of his career, Hall had amassed 59 United States patents, and a number of his inventions were also patented in…
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1894
Canadian pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1982)
Joseph Louis Wilfrid Pelletier, was a Canadian conductor, pianist, composer, and arts administrator. He was instrumental in establishing the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, serving as the orchestra's first artistic…
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1896
German author and playwright (died 1973)
Elisabeth Hauptmann was a German writer who worked with fellow German playwright and director Bertolt Brecht.
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1897
French soldier and engineer (died 1943)
Jean Pierre Moulin was a French civil servant and hero of the French Resistance who succeeded in unifying the main networks of the Resistance in World War II. He served as the first President of the National Council of…
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1899
1903
American playwright and screenwriter (died 1984)
Lillian Florence Hellman was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway as well as her communist views and political activism. She was blacklisted after her…
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1905
1906
Scottish mining engineer (died 1985)
Sir William Reid FRSE FIME DSc DCL was a 20th-century Scottish businessman and mining engineer. He served as President of the Mining Institute of Scotland 1951/2 and as President of the Institute of Mining Engineers…
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1906
American singer-songwriter and banjo player (died 1998)
James Corbitt Morris, known professionally as Jimmy Driftwood or Jimmie Driftwood, was an American folk-style songwriter and musician, most famous for his songs "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Tennessee Stud".…
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1907
American baseball player (died 2009)
William Murray Werber was an American professional baseball third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox (1933–1936), Philadelphia Athletics (1937–1938), Cincinnati Reds…
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1908
American actor (died 1957)
August "Gus" Schilling was an American film actor who started in burlesque comedy and usually played nervous comic roles, often unbilled. A friend of Orson Welles, he appeared in five of the director's films — Citizen…
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1908
Australian-American actor (died 1959)
Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was an Australian and American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia de…
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1909
American author and poet (died 1990)
Josephine Winslow Johnson was an American novelist, poet, and essayist. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1935 at age 24 for her first novel, Now in November. She is the youngest person to win the Pulitzer for…
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1910
American actress (died 1980)
Gail Patrick was an American film actress and television producer. Often cast as the bad girl or the other woman, she appeared in more than 60 feature films between 1932 and 1948, notably My Man Godfrey (1936), Stage…
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1911
English Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the British Army (died 1980)
Field Marshal Sir Geoffrey Harding Baker, was Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, from 1968 to 1971. He served in the Second World War and became Director of Operations and Chief of…
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1912
English author (died 2004)
Anthony Malcolm Buckeridge was an English author, best known for his Jennings and Rex Milligan series of children's books. He also wrote the 1953 children's book A Funny Thing Happened which was serialised more than…
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1912
American shot putter and football player (died 1969)
John Torrance was an American shot putter and American football player. Torrance broke the shot put world record several times in 1934, his eventual best mark of 17.40 m remaining unbeaten until 1948. At the 1936 Summer…
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1912
Canadian ice hockey player (died 1994)
Gordon Wainwright Juckes was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He served as the president and later the executive director of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), and as a council member of the…
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1914
Turkish archaeologist and academic (died 2024)
Muazzez İlmiye Çığ was a Turkish archeologist, librarian, writer, and supercentenarian who specialised in the study of Hittites and Sumerian civilization.
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1914
Australian footballer and coach (died 2002)
Richard Sylvannus Reynolds was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
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1915
Chinese-English director and screenwriter (died 1994)
Stewart Terence Herbert Young was a British film director and screenwriter who worked in the United Kingdom, Europe and Hollywood. He is best known for directing three James Bond films: the first two films in the…
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1915
Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Premier of Quebec (died 1973)
Jean-Jacques Bertrand was a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as the 21st premier of Quebec, from October 2, 1968, to May 12, 1970. He led the Union Nationale party.
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1916
American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1972)
David Luke Myrick, known professionally as T. Texas Tyler, was an American country music singer and songwriter primarily known for his 1948 hit, "The Deck of Cards".
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1916
Austrian-Polish mathematician and academic (died 1994)
Helena Rasiowa was a Polish mathematician. She worked in the foundations of mathematics and algebraic logic.
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1917
1918
Hungarian-American author (died 2011)
Zoltán Sztáray was one of the better known contemporary writers of the Hungarian emigration. He was imprisoned in the Recsk forced labor camp for many months until he escaped and moved to the United States. He was born…
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1918
American guitarist and bandleader (died 1954)
Donato Joseph "Danny" Cedrone was an American guitarist and bandleader, best known for his work with Bill Haley & His Comets on their epochal "Rock Around the Clock" in 1954.
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1920
American trumpet player (died 1986)
Thomas Jefferson was an American Dixieland jazz trumpeter, strongly influenced by Louis Armstrong.
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1920
American historian and author (died 1999)
Byron Edgar Farwell was an American military historian, biographer, and politician. He was the mayor of Hillsboro, Virginia, for three terms. He also worked for Chrysler, and was the author of 14 books and published…
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1921
Ecuadorian tennis player (died 2017)
Francisco Olegario Segura Cano, better known as Pancho "Segoo" Segura, was a leading tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, both as an amateur and as a professional. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, but moved to the…
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1921
Iñupiat artist and dancer (died 1994)
Paul Tiulana was an Iñupiaq artist and dancer from Alaska. Originally from King Island, Tiulana was drafted in World War II and injured; his leg was broken and eventually amputated. He relocated to Nome during the 1950s…
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1921
1923
Polish actor and educator (died 2013)
Jerzy Nowak was a Polish film and theatre actor and teacher.
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1923
American guitarist and record producer (died 2001)
Chester Burton Atkins, nicknamed "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an fingerpicking guitar player, arranger and producer who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, created the Nashville sound, the…
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1924
German sculptor and academic, designed The Sphere (died 2017)
Fritz Koenig was a German sculptor, considered one of the most important international German sculptors of the 20th century.
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1924
American tennis player and educator (died 2015)
Doris Hart was an American tennis player who was active in the 1940s and first half of the 1950s. She was ranked world No. 1 in 1951. She was the fourth player, and second woman, to win a Career Grand Slam in singles.…
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1925
American lieutenant and actor, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1971)
Audie Leon Murphy was an American soldier, actor, and songwriter. He was widely celebrated as the most decorated American combat soldier of World War II, and has been described as the most highly decorated enlisted…
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1925
Israeli general and politician, 9th Israeli Minister of Tourism (died 2001)
Rehavam Ze'evi was an Israeli general and politician who founded the far-right nationalist Moledet party. He mainly advocated for complete cleansing of the Palestinian population through population transfer.
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1926
Iranian poet and activist (died 2014)
Simin Behbahani was an Iranian poet, lyricist, and activist. Renowned for her mastery of the ghazal, a traditional poetic form, she became an icon of modern Persian poetry. The Iranian intelligentsia and literati…
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1927
American saxophonist, flute player, and composer (died 1964)
Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. Primarily an alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and flautist, Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain…
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1928
American actor and producer (died 2017)
Martin James Landau was an American actor. His career began in the late 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959). His career breakthrough came with…
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1928
French intelligence officer and politician (died 2025)
Jean Louis Marie Le Pen was a French politician. He founded the far-right National Front party and served as the party's president from 1972 to 2011 and as its honorary president from 2011 to 2015.
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1928
Ethiopian surgeon and educator (died 1999)
Asrat Woldeyes was an Ethiopian surgeon, a professor of medicine at Addis Ababa University, and the founder and leader of the All-Amhara People's Organization (AAPO). He was jailed by the Derg and later by the Ethiopian…
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1928
Sr., Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist (died 2013)
Edgar Miles Bronfman was a Canadian-American businessman. He worked for his family's distilled beverage firm, Seagram, eventually becoming president, treasurer and CEO. As president of the World Jewish Congress,…
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1929
English journalist and author (died 2007)
Jay Blakeney was a British writer and newspaper reporter, well known as a romance novelist under the pen names Anne Weale and Andrea Blake. She wrote over 88 books for Mills & Boon from 1955 to 2002. She died on 24…
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1929
American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights activist (died 2017)
Edith Windsor was an American LGBT rights activist and a technology manager at IBM. She was the lead plaintiff in the 2013 Supreme Court of the United States case United States v. Windsor, which overturned Section 3 of…
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1929
Polish sculptor and academic (died 2017)
Magdalena Abakanowicz was a Polish sculptor and fiber artist. Known for her use of textiles as a sculptural medium and for outdoor installations, Abakanowicz has been considered among the most influential Polish artists…
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1930
English bishop (died 2020)
John Waine was Bishop of Chelmsford from 1986 to 1996; and previously Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich from 1978 to 1986, Bishop of Stafford, 1975–1978. He also served as Clerk of the Closet from 1989 to 1997, and…
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1930
American actress (died 2021)
Olympia Dukakis was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, in some 60 films, and in approximately 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater.…
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1931
American actor and director (died 2026)
James Stewart Tolkan was an American character actor. He was best known for portraying the strict high school vice‑principal Mr. Strickland in Back to the Future (1985) and Back to the Future Part II (1989), and the…
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1931
Russian poet and author (died 1994)
Robert Ivanovich Rozhdestvensky was a Soviet-Russian poet and songwriter who broke with socialist realism in the 1950s–1960s during the Khrushchev Thaw and, along with such poets as Andrei Voznesensky, Yevgeny…
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1932
American actor (died 2019)
Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. was an American actor. He appeared in numerous motion pictures, including The Godfather Part II (1974), The Front (1976), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Hide in Plain Sight (1984), The…
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1933
English journalist and author
Claire Tomalin is an English journalist and biographer known for her biographies of Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Samuel Pepys, Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft.
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1933
English actress
Wendy Craig CBE is an English actress who is best known for her appearances in the sitcoms Not in Front of the Children (1967–1970), ...And Mother Makes Three (1971–1973), ...And Mother Makes Five (1974–1976) and…
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1934
American politician (died 2005)
Jim L. Barker was an Oklahoma politician. During his tenure he was the only state representative to be elected four times as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
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1935
American football player (died 2022)
Leonard Ray Dawson was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise.…
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1935
Italian footballer and coach (died 1971)
Armando Picchi was an Italian football player and coach. Regularly positioned as a libero, he captained the Inter Milan side known as "La Grande Inter".
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1935
1936
Estonian author and screenwriter (died 2017)
Enn Vetemaa was an Estonian writer sometimes referred to as a "forgotten classic", as well as "the unofficial master of the Estonian Modernist short novel".
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1936
1937
American singer-songwriter
Jerry Paul Keller is an American pop singer and songwriter, best known for his 1959 hit song "Here Comes Summer".
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1937
Australian educator and politician, 42nd Premier of Victoria (died 2015)
Joan Elizabeth Kirner was an Australian politician who was the 42nd Premier of Victoria, serving from 1990 to 1992. A Labor Party member of the Parliament of Victoria from 1982 to 1994, she was a member of the…
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1938
English music producer (died 2003)
Mickie Most was an English record producer behind acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate, Arrows, Racey and the Jeff Beck Group, often issued on his…
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1938
Indian cricketer (died 1998)
Ramakant Bhikaji Desai was an Indian cricketer who represented India in Test cricket as a fast bowler from 1959 to 1968.
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1939
English rugby player and manager
Derek Prior "Budge" Rogers OBE, born in Bedford on 20 June 1939 and educated at Bedford School, is a former rugby union player who captained Bedford and played at international level for both England and the British…
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1939
German priest and theologian
Eugen Drewermann is a German church critic, theologian, peace activist and former Catholic priest. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages.
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1940
English-born American actor (died 2018)
Charles John Mahoney was an English-born American actor. He played retired police officer Martin Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier from 1993 to 2004, receiving nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime…
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1940
English actor, director, and producer
Sir Stephen Arthur Frears is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real-life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received…
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1941
German physicist and astronaut
Ulf Dietrich Merbold is a German physicist and astronaut who flew to space three times, becoming the first West German citizen in space and the first non-American to fly on a NASA spacecraft. Merbold flew on two Space…
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1941
Soviet footballer, captain of the Soviet Union national team and CSKA Moscow (died 1994)
Albert Alekseyevich Shesternyov was a football player for CSKA Moscow and the Soviet Union. He is generally regarded as the best football defender in Soviet football history.
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1941
Australian mathematician and theorist
Neil Sidney Trudinger is an Australian mathematician, known particularly for his work in the field of nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations.
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1942
American singer, songwriter and producer (died 2025)
Brian Douglas Wilson was an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys and received widespread recognition as one of the most innovative and significant musical figures of…
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1942
Canadian singer and guitarist
Morna Anne Murray is a Canadian retired country, pop and adult contemporary music singer who has sold over 55 million album copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray has won four Grammys including the…
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1945
1946
Timorese soldier and politician, 1st President of East Timor
José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão is an East Timorese politician. He has served as the tenth prime minister of Timor-Leste since 2023, previously serving as the sixth prime minister from 2007 to 2015. A former rebel, he…
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1946
Russian-Israeli mathematician and academic
David Kazhdan, born Dmitry Aleksandrovich Kazhdan, is a Soviet and Israeli mathematician known for work in representation theory. Kazhdan is a 1990 MacArthur Fellow. In 2012, he received the Israel Prize for Mathematics…
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1946
1946
American pianist and educator (died 2023)
André Watts was an American classical pianist. Over the six decades of his career, Watts performed as soloist with every major American orchestra and most of the world's finest orchestras, including the New York…
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1946
American pop singer
Dolores Brooks, also known as Sakinah Muhammad or La La Brooks, is an American singer and actress. She is best known as the third lead singer of the girl group The Crystals and the lead vocalist on the Crystals' hits…
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1947
American bishop (died 2014)
Cirilo B. Flores was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of San Diego in California from 2013 until his death in 2014. He previously served as coadjutor bishop of the…
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1948
Scottish bass player and songwriter (died 2018)
Alan Longmuir was a Scottish musician and a founding member of the pop group the Bay City Rollers. He played the bass guitar, whilst his younger brother Derek Longmuir was drummer.
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1948
Nauruan politician, 10th President of Nauru (died 2026)
Ludwig Derangadage Scotty was a Nauruan politician who twice served as President of Nauru and was Speaker of Parliament five times between 2000 and 2016. He served as president from 29 May 2003 to 8 August 2003 and…
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1948
8th president of Sri Lanka
Lieutenant colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan former politician and retired military officer who served as the eighth president of Sri Lanka from 18 November 2019 until his resignation on 14 July 2022.…
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1949
American singer, songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor
Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores;…
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1949
Iraqi politician, 76th Prime Minister of Iraq
Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki, also known as Jawad al-Maliki, is an Iraqi politician and leader of the Islamic Dawa Party since 2007. He served as the prime minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and as the vice…
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1950
American voice actress
Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille is an American voice actress. She is best known for voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series Animaniacs and its revival, Babs Bunny on Tiny Toon Adventures, Daisy Duck in…
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1951
Scottish scholar and academic
Sheila Ann Manson McLean is International Bar Association Professor of Law and Ethics in Medicine and director of the Institute of Law and Ethics in Medicine at the School of Law of the University of Glasgow. McLean was…
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1951
Irish poet and academic
Paul Muldoon is an Irish poet, born in 1951. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he has been both the Howard G. B. Clark…
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1951
American actor
John Stephen Goodman is an American actor. He rose to prominence in television before becoming an acclaimed and popular film actor. Goodman has received various accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe…
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1952
Indian author and poet
Vikram Seth is an Indian novelist and poet. The author of three novels and several collections of poetry, he is a recipient of the Padma Shri, a Sahitya Akademi Award, the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the WH Smith Literary…
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1952
Mexican tennis player
Raúl Ramírez is a Mexican former professional tennis player. Ramírez was the first player to finish first in both singles and doubles Grand Prix point standings, accomplishing the feat in 1976. He was ranked as high as…
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1953
German engineer
Willy Rampf is a German car engineer who is currently a technical consultant for Williams Racing and was the former technical director of the Sauber Formula One team.
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1953
American musician
Michael Anthony Sobolewski is an American musician who was the bassist and backing vocalist for the hard rock band Van Halen from 1974 to 2006. He performed on Van Halen's first 11 albums and was their longest-tenured…
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1954
South African-English cricketer and sportscaster
Allan Joseph Lamb is a South African-born former English cricketer, who played for the first-class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire. Making his Test debut in 1982, he was a fixture in the Test and One-Day…
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1954
Israeli colonel, pilot, and astronaut (died 2003)
Ilan Ramon was an Israeli fighter pilot and later the first Israeli astronaut. He served as a Space Shuttle payload specialist on STS-107, the fatal mission of Columbia, in which he and the six other crew members were…
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1954
American geneticist
Huda Yahya Zoghbi is a Lebanese-born American geneticist, and a professor at the Departments of Molecular and Human Genetics, Neuroscience and Neurology at the Baylor College of Medicine. She is the director of the Jan…
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1954
American author (died 2009)
E. Lynn Harris was an American author. Openly gay, he was best known for his depictions of African-American men who were on the down-low and closeted. He authored ten consecutive books that made The New York Times Best…
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1955
English footballer and manager
Peter Reid is an English football manager, pundit and former player.
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1956
South Korean newscaster
Sohn Suk-hee is a South Korean journalist who served as the general director and president of JTBC and JTBC Studios from November 2020 to September 2021. He is also a former professor at Sungshin Women's University,…
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1956
English hard rock guitarist and songwriter (died 2007)
Bernadette Jean "Kelly" Johnson was an English guitarist and singer, widely known in the UK in the early 1980s as the lead guitarist of the all-female rock band Girlschool.
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1958
American screenwriter, producer and director
Robert B. Weide is a former American screenwriter and television producer who served as director and executive producer of the television series Curb Your Enthusiasm from 1999 to 2004. He has also directed several…
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1959
American economist and author
Philip M. Parker is an American economist and academic, and currently the INSEAD Chaired Professor of Management Science at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. He has patented a method to automatically produce a set of…
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1960
English bass player and actor
Nigel John Taylor is a British musician who is best known as the bass guitarist for new wave band Duran Duran, of which he was a founding member. Duran Duran was one of the most popular bands in the world during the…
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1960
American sprinter
Kirk Baptiste was an American track and field athlete, who mainly competed in the 200 metres. He was born in Beaumont, Texas. He competed for the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United…
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1963
British author and broadcaster
Mark Ovenden F.R.G.S. is a broadcaster and author who specialises in the subjects of graphic design, cartography and architecture in public transport, with an emphasis on underground rapid transit.
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1963
Italian motorcycle racer
Pierfrancesco 'Frankie' Chili, is a former motorcycle racer who competed in the Superbike World Championship and the 250 cc and 500 cc classes in Grand Prix. In September 2020 he confirmed he was suffering from…
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1964
German runner
Silke Möller, née Silke Gladisch, is a German athlete, who in the 1980s competed for East Germany as one of the best female sprinters in the world. She was a member of the East German quartet that broke the world record…
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1964
American director, producer, and screenwriter
Boaz Yakin is an Israeli-American filmmaker based in New York City. He has written screenplays to films like The Rookie, Fresh, A Price Above Rubies, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and Now You See Me, and has…
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1966
American-Australian actress
Nicole Mary Kidman is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for her work in blockbusters and independent films across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid actresses…
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1967
American singer-songwriter
Daniel John Tyminski is an American bluegrass singer-songwriter and musician. He is a former member of Alison Krauss's band Union Station, and has released four solo albums, Carry Me Across the Mountain (2000), Wheels…
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1967
American stock car racing driver
Mike Basham is an American professional stock car racing driver who currently competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series East, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Track Racing. He is the son of long time ARCA Menards…
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1968
Polish banker, economist, and politician
Mateusz Jakub Morawiecki is a Polish economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Poland from 2017 to 2023. A member of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, he previously served in the cabinet of prime minister…
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1968
American director, producer, and screenwriter
Robert Anthony Rodriguez is an American filmmaker, composer, actor, chef and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez…
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1968
Portuguese footballer and manager
Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento is a Portuguese football manager and former player.
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1969
Russian mathematician and academic
Mikhail "Misha" Verbitsky is a Russian mathematician. He is primarily known to the general public as a controversial critic, political activist and independent music publisher.
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1969
American tennis player and sportscaster
MaliVai "Mal" Washington is an American former professional tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at Wimbledon in 1996, won four ATP titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in…
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1969
German politician, German Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
Andrea Maria Nahles is a former German politician who has been the director of the Federal Employment Agency (BA) since 2022.
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1970
American basketball player and coach (died 2025)
Rodney Ray Rogers Jr. was an American professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, earning…
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1971
Belgian politician
Annik M. F. Van den Bosch is a Belgian politician and member of the Chamber of Representatives. A member of the Workers' Party of Belgium, she has represented Brussels since June 2024.
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1971
Greek footballer
Alexis Alexoudis is a Greek former footballer.
Alexoudis played most of his career for OFI and Panathinaikos.
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1972
American singer, guitarist and lyricist
Camillo "Chino" Wong Moreno is an American musician who is best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the alternative metal band Deftones. He is also a member of the side-project groups Team Sleep, Crosses,…
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1973
Spanish tennis player
Joan Manel Balcells Fornaguera is a retired professional tennis player from Spain. He won one ATP Tour singles title in his career and reached the final in Scottsdale in 2002 and the semifinals in 2000 Heineken Open…
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1975
Czech footballer
Daniel Zítka is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played three matches for the Czech Republic. He worked as a goalkeeper coach for AC Sparta Prague.
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1975
Brazilian footballer
Juliano Haus Belletti is a Brazilian football coach and former player who mostly played as a right-back. He is currently the head coach at Barcelona Atlètic.
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1976
Panamanian baseball player
Carlos Noriel Lee, nicknamed "El Caballo", is a Panamanian former professional baseball left fielder and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1999 to 2012 with the Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee…
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1976
Croatian basketball player
Gordan Giriček is a Croatian former professional basketball player. Standing at 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he played the shooting guard and small forward positions. Over eighteen years of professional basketball, he played in…
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1977
American mixed martial artist and actor
Quinton Ramone Jackson, known by his ring name of Rampage Jackson, is an American former mixed martial artist, actor, kickboxer, professional wrestler, and online streamer. During the course of his mixed martial arts…
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1978
English footballer
Frank James Lampard is an English football manager and former midfielder who is the manager of EFL Championship club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Chelsea's and…
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1978
Dutch footballer
Jan-Paul Frederik Daniel Saeijs is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a defender.
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1978
American golfer
Charles Gordon Howell III is an American professional golfer who currently plays on LIV Golf and formerly on the PGA Tour. He has been featured in the top 15 of the Official World Golf Ranking and ranked 9th on the PGA…
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1979
Italian footballer
Franco Semioli is an Italian football coach and former player. A midfielder, he played as a right winger.
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1980
German cyclist
Fabian Wegmann is a German former professional road racing cyclist. Born in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Wegmann currently resides in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
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1980
Norwegian footballer
Brede Paulsen Hangeland is a former professional soccer player who played as a central defender. Born in the United States to an American mother and a Norwegian father, he represented the Norway internationally.
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1981
Russian footballer
Aleksei Vladimirovich Berezutski is a Russian football coach and a former player who played as a centre-back.
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1982
Russian footballer
Vasili Vladimirovich Berezutski is a Russian football manager and former player who played as a defender. He is the manager of Russian First League club Ural Yekaterinburg. He began his professional career in 1999 at…
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1982
1982
American basketball player
Joshua Malik Childress is an American former professional basketball player. An All-EuroLeague Second Team member in 2010, he played with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and New Orleans Pelicans of the…
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1983
American football player
Darren Lee Sproles is an American professional football executive and former running back. He is now a personnel consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football…
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1983
American basketball player
Hassan Olawale Adams is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats. Adams was selected in the 2006 NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets and played in the…
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1984
Cameroonian footballer
Aurélien Bayard Chedjou Fongang is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a centre back for Lille, Galatasaray, Bursaspor, Adana Demirspor and the Cameroon national team.
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1985
American football player
Matthew Clayton Flynn is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers and was selected by the Green Bay…
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1985
American singer and songwriter
Caroline Elizabeth Polachek is an American singer, producer, and songwriter. Raised in Connecticut, Polachek cofounded the indie pop band Chairlift while studying at the University of Colorado Boulder. The duo emerged…
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1985
Czech ice hockey player
Jakub Štěpánek is a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for Brûleurs de Loups of the French Ligue Magnus.
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1986
American actress
Dreama Elyse Walker is an American actress. She is known for her supporting role in the series Gossip Girl, her lead role in the film Compliance (2012), and her lead roles in two short-lived television series, the…
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1986
1987
Australian tennis player
Carsten Thomas Ball is an American-Australian retired professional tennis player. Although born and based in the United States, Carsten has represented Australia on tour.
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1987
Bosnian footballer
Asmir Begović is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Leicester City.
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1987
Kenyan runner
Joseph Ebuya is a Kenyan professional runner who specialises in the 5000 metres and was the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships champion.
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1987
American actor
Christopher Charles Mintz-Plasse is an American actor and musician, primarily known for his debut role as Fogell / McLovin in the movie Superbad (2007) and for portraying Chris D'Amico/Red Mist in the Kick-Ass franchise.
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1989
Argentinian footballer
Javier Matías Pastore is an Argentine football agent and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
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1989
American football player
Terrelle Pryor Sr. is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver and quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). Considered the most recruited high school football-basketball athlete…
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1989
1990
American basketball player
DeQuan Jones is an American professional basketball player who last played for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played college basketball for the University of Miami.
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1990
Senegalese writer
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr is a Senegalese writer. Raised in Diourbel, Senegal and later studying in France, Sarr is the author of four novels as well as a number of award-winning short stories. He won the 2021 Prix Goncourt…
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1990
Senegalese footballer
Kalidou Koulibaly is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal. Born in France, he plays for the Senegal national team.
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1991
1991
Bosnian footballer
Sead Kolašinac is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Atalanta. Born in Germany, he plays for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.
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1993
American football player
Leonard Austin Williams is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the New York Jets with the sixth overall pick in the first…
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1994
Scottish footballer
Caroline Elspeth Lillias Weir is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or forward for Spanish Liga F club Real Madrid CF and captains the Scotland national team. She is often regarded…
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1995
Canadian tennis player
Carol Zhao is a Chinese-Canadian tennis player. She reached her highest WTA singles ranking of No. 131 in June 2018, and her career-high junior rank of No. 9 on January 1, 2013. She won the Australian Open junior…
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1995
Canadian ice hockey player
Samuel Hunter Bennett is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a forward for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bennett was rated by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau as the top North…
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1996
Hungarian sprint canoeist
Bálint Kopasz is a Hungarian sprint canoeist. He competed in the men's K-1 1000 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He won the same event in the 2020 Summer Olympics and later claimed bronze at the 2024 Summer…
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1997
Senegalese footballer
Nicolas Jackson is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a striker and winger for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich, on loan from Premier League club Chelsea. He also plays for the Senegal national team.
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2001
Portuguese footballer
Gonçalo Matias Ramos is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Portugal national team.
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2001
French footballer
Hugo Timothée Ekitike is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Liverpool and the France national team.
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2002
American chess player
Hans Moke Niemann is an American chess grandmaster and Twitch streamer. He first entered the top 100 junior players list on March 1, 2019, and became a FIDE grandmaster on January 22, 2021. In July 2021, he won the…
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2003
Spanish footballer
Marc Pubill Pagès is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right-back or centre-back for La Liga club Atlético Madrid.
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2003
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Famous birthdays
Who was born on June 20?
Robert Crais — American author of detective fiction
FeaturedRobert Crais
Birth year1953
Known forCrais began his career writing scripts for television shows such as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Quincy, Miami Vice and L.A
Birthdays on this date217 (1005 – 2003)
Explore June 20
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Also on June 20 in History
2025
The first EF5 tornado in 12 years occurs in Enderlin, North Dakota. Wikipedia →
2019
Iran's Air Defense Forces shoot down an American surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions between the two countries. Wikipedia →
2011
See all events on June 20
RusAir Flight 9605 crashes in Besovets during approach to Petrozavodsk Airport, killing 47. Wikipedia →
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