Famous Birthdays on June 21

Q: Who was born on June 21?

Famous people born on June 21 include: Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Pope Leo IX (died 1054), Bolesław V the Chaste of Poland (died 1279), John II, Maria of Austria.

Q: What is Irene van Dyk known for?

Irene van Dyk, South African-New Zealand netball player

1972 — Irene van Dyk

South African-New Zealand netball player

June 21 has seen 320 notable people enter the world across recorded history — from 906 – 2011. Below are the most significant names born on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · June 21 — Wikipedia

Famous Birthdays 320 people 906 – 2011

Did you know

She was a member of the New Zealand teams that won the 2003 World Netball Championships and the 2006 and 2010 Commonwealth Games titles

Did you know

In 2005 and 2006, she was a member of the Magic team that won two successive National Bank Cup titles and in 2012, she was a member of the Magic team that won the ANZ Championship

Did you know

Between 2000 and 2014 she made 145 senior appearances for New Zealand

Did you know

Between 1994 and 1999 she made 72 senior appearances for South Africa

Did you know

She was member of the South Africa team that were silver medallists at the 1995 World Netball Championships

Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Muhammad

Saffarid emir (died 963)

Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Muhammad was the amir of Sistan from 923 until his death in 963. He is responsible for restoring Saffarid rule over Sistan, and was a great patron of the arts.

906

Pope Leo IX (died 1054)

Pope Leo IX was the Bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically significant popes of the Middle Ages; he was…

1002

Bolesław V the Chaste of Poland (died 1279)

Bolesław V the Chaste was Duke of Sandomierz in Lesser Poland from 1232 and High Duke of Poland from 1243 until his death, as the last male representative of the Lesser Polish branch of Piasts.

1226

John II

Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev (died 1580)

Hans the Elder was the only Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev. The predicate the Elder is used to distinguish him from his nephew, Hans the Younger, who held Sønderborg from 1564 as a partitioned-off duke. He ruled…

1521

Maria of Austria

Holy Roman Empress (died 1603)

Maria of Austria or Maria of Spain, also known as Isabel, was the empress consort and queen consort of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia and Hungary. She served as regent of Spain in the absence of her…

1528

Leonhard Rauwolf

German physician and botanist (died 1596)

Leonhard Rauwolf was a German physician, botanist, and traveller. His main notability arises from a trip he made through the Levant and Mesopotamia in 1573–75. The motive of the trip was to search for herbal medicine…

1535

Scipione Chiaramonti

Italian philosopher and astronomer (died 1652)

Scipione Chiaramonti was an Italian philosopher and noted opponent of Galileo.

1565

Samuel Oppenheimer

German Jewish banker and diplomat (died 1703)

Samuel Oppenheimer was an Ashkenazi Jewish banker, imperial court diplomat, factor, and military supplier for the Holy Roman Emperor. He enjoyed the special favor of Emperor Leopold I, to whom he advanced considerable…

1630

Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne

Duke of Bouillon, French noble (died 1721)

Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon was a French nobleman and member of the House of La Tour d'Auvergne, one of the most important families in France at the time. He married Marie Anne Mancini,…

1636

(O.S.) Increase Mather

American minister and author (died 1723)

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…

1639

(O.S.) Anthony Collins

English philosopher and author (died 1729)

1676

John Dollond

English optician and astronomer (died 1761)

John Dollond was an English optician, known for his successful optics business and his patenting and commercialization of achromatic doublets.

1706

James Short

Scottish-English mathematician and optician (died 1768)

James Short FRS was a Scottish mathematician and manufacturer of optical instruments, principally telescopes. During his 35-year career as a telescope-maker he produced approximately 1,360 scientific instruments.

1710

Luc Urbain de Bouëxic

comte de Guichen, French admiral (died 1790)

Luc Urbain du Bouëxic, comte de Guichen was a French Navy officer who commanded the fleets that fought the Royal Navy at the Battle of Ushant and Battle of Martinique during the American Revolutionary War.

1712

Motoori Norinaga

Japanese poet and scholar (died 1801)

Motoori Norinaga was a Japanese scholar of Kokugaku active during the Edo period. He is conventionally ranked as one of the Four Great Men of Kokugaku (nativist) studies.

1730

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach

German pianist and composer (died 1791)

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach was a German composer and harpsichordist, the fifth son of Johann Sebastian Bach, sometimes referred to as the "Bückeburg Bach".

1732

(O.S.) Enoch Poor

American general (died 1780)

1736

Prince Benedetto

Duke of Chablais (died 1808)

Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais was an Italian nobleman and military leader. He was the youngest child of King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia. He married his half-niece Maria Anna of Savoy; they had no children.…

1741

Pierre-Nicolas Beauvallet

French sculptor and illustrator (died 1818)

Pierre-Nicolas Beauvallet, was a French sculptor, draftsman and printmaker.

1750

Alexander J. Dallas

American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury (died 1817)

Alexander James Dallas was an American statesman who served as the 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1814 to 1816 under President James Madison. He was also a lawyer who worked as the United States…

1759

Pierre Paul Royer-Collard

French philosopher and academic (died 1845)

Pierre Paul Royer-Collard was a French statesman and philosopher, leader of the Doctrinaires group during the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830).

1763

Sidney Smith

English admiral and politician (died 1840)

Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith was a British naval officer and politician. Serving in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, he rose to the rank of admiral in the Royal Navy.…

1764

Daniel D. Tompkins

American lawyer and politician, 6th Vice President of the United States (died 1825)

Daniel D. Tompkins was an American politician who served as the sixth vice president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He previously served as the fourth governor of New York from 1807 to 1817.

1774

Siméon Denis Poisson

French mathematician and physicist (died 1840)

Baron Siméon Denis Poisson was a French mathematician and physicist who worked on statistics, complex analysis, partial differential equations, the calculus of variations, analytical mechanics, electricity and…

1781

Charles Edward Horn

English opera singer and composer (died 1849)

Charles Edward Horn was an English composer and singer.

1786

Ferdinand Christian Baur

German theologian and scholar (died 1860)

Ferdinand Christian Baur was a German Protestant theologian and founder and leader of the (new) Tübingen School of theology. Following Hegel's theory of dialectic, Baur argued that second century Christianity…

1792

Wilhelm Küchelbecker

Russian poet and author (died 1846)

Wilhelm Ludwig von Küchelbecker was a Russian Romantic poet and Decembrist revolutionary of German descent.

1797

Alexander Thomson of Banchory

Scottish jurist, agriculturalist and religious activist (died 1868)

Alexander Thomson of Banchory FRSE (1798–1868) was a 19th-century Scottish advocate, agriculturalist, antiquary, author, philanthropist and traveller. He owned an estate at Banchory-Devenick in Aberdeenshire. After…

1798

Karl Zittel

German theologian (died 1871)

Karl Zittel was a German theologian, who was a prominent figure in 19th century Liberal Protestantism. He was the father of paleontologist Karl Alfred von Zittel (1839–1904).

1802

Karl Friedrich Curschmann

German composer and singer (died 1841)

Karl Friedrich Curschmann was a German song composer and singer.

1805

Charles Thomas Jackson

American physician and geologist (died 1880)

Charles Thomas Jackson was an American physician and scientist who was active in medicine, chemistry, mineralogy, and geology.

1805

Matthew Simpson

American Methodist bishop and academic (died 1884)

Matthew Simpson was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1852 and based mainly in Philadelphia. During the Reconstruction Era after the Civil War, most evangelical denominations in the North,…

1811

Paweł Bryliński

Polish sculptor (died 1890)

Paweł Bryliński was a Polish folk-sculptor. He is perhaps best known for a series of works concerning Holy Week.

1814

Anton Nuhn

German anatomist and academic (died 1889)

Anton Nuhn was a German anatomist.

1814

Jean Chacornac

French astronomer (died 1873)

Jean Chacornac was a French astronomer and discoverer of a comet and several asteroids.

1823

Thomas Edward Cliffe Leslie

Irish economist and jurist (died 1882)

Thomas Edward Cliffe Leslie was an Irish jurist and economist. He was professor of jurisprudence and political economy in Queen's College, Belfast, noted for challenging the Wages-Fund doctrine and for addressing…

1825

William Stubbs

English bishop and historian (died 1901)

William Stubbs was an English historian and Anglican bishop. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford between 1866 and 1884. He was Bishop of Chester from 1884 to 1889 and Bishop of Oxford…

1825

Ferdinand André Fouqué

French geologist and academic (died 1904)

Ferdinand André Fouqué was a French geologist and petrologist.

1828

Nikolaus Nilles

German Catholic writer and teacher (died 1907)

Nikolaus Nilles was a Roman Catholic writer and teacher.

1828

Frans de Cort

Flemish poet and author (died 1878)

Frans Jozef de Cort, was a Flemish writer.

1834

Luigi Tripepi

Italian theologian (died 1906)

Luigi Tripepi was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and poet. He was one of the most important Roman Catholic apologists of the 19th century.

1836

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis

Brazilian author, poet, and playwright (died 1908)

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, sometimes called Bruxo do Cosme Velho, was a pioneer Brazilian novelist, poet, playwright and short story writer, widely regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature. In 1897,…

1839

Samuel Griffith

Welsh-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Queensland (died 1920)

Sir Samuel Walker Griffith was an Australian judge and politician who served as the inaugural Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1903 to 1919. He also served a term as Chief Justice of Queensland and two terms…

1845

Arthur Cowper Ranyard

English astrophysicist and astronomer (died 1894)

Arthur Cowper Ranyard was an English astrophysicist.

1845

Marion Adams-Acton

Scottish-English author and playwright (died 1928)

Marion Jean Catherine Adams-Acton was a Scottish novelist who wrote under the pseudonym "Jeanie Hering".

1846

Enrico Coleman

Italian painter (died 1911)

Enrico Coleman was an Italian painter of British nationality. He was the son of the English painter Charles Coleman and brother of the less well-known Italian painter Francesco Coleman. He painted, in oils and in…

1846

Daniel Carter Beard

American author and illustrator, co-founded the Boy Scouts of America (died 1941)

Daniel Carter "Uncle Dan" Beard was an American illustrator, author, youth leader, Georgist and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).

1850

Charles Alderton

American pharmacist, founded Dr. Pepper (died 1941)

Charles Courtice Alderton was an American pharmacist and the inventor of the carbonated soft drink Dr Pepper.

1857

Giuseppe De Sanctis

Italian painter (died 1924)

Giuseppe De Sanctis was an Italian painter, primarily of portraits and cityscapes.

1858

Medardo Rosso

Italian sculptor and educator (died 1928)

Medardo Rosso was an Italian sculptor. He is considered, like his contemporary and admirer Auguste Rodin, to have been an artist working in a post-Impressionist style.

1858

Henry Ossawa Tanner

American-French painter and illustrator (died 1937)

Henry Ossawa Tanner was an American artist who spent much of his career in France. He became the first African-American painter to gain international acclaim. Tanner moved to Paris, France, in 1891 to study at the…

1859

William Dobinson Halliburton

British physiologist and biochemist (died 1931)

William Dobinson Halliburton FRS was a British physiologist, noted for being one of the founders of the science of biochemistry.

1860

Damrong Rajanubhab

Thai historian and author (died 1943)

Prince Tisavarakumara, the Prince Damrong Rajanubhab was the founder of the modern Thai educational system as well as the modern provincial administration. He was an autodidact, a (self-taught) historian, and one of the…

1862

Ludwig Lange

German physicist (died 1936)

Ludwig Lange was a German physicist.

1863

Max Wolf

German astronomer and academic (died 1932)

Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf was a German astronomer and a pioneer in the field of astrophotography. He was the chairman of astronomy at the University of Heidelberg and director of the Heidelberg-Königstuhl…

1863

Heinrich Wölfflin

Swiss historian and critic (died 1945)

Heinrich Wölfflin was a Swiss art historian, esthetician and educator, whose objective classifying principles were influential in the development of formal analysis in art history in the early 20th century. He taught at…

1864

Matt Kilroy

American baseball player (died 1940)

Matthew Aloysius "Matches" Kilroy was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. During his rookie season in 1886, he had 513 strikeouts, which remains the MLB single-season record.

1866

Oscar Florianus Bluemner

German-American painter and illustrator (died 1938)

Oscar Bluemner, born Friedrich Julius Oskar Blümner and after 1933 known as Oscar Florianus Bluemner, was a Prussian-born American Modernist painter.

1867

William Brede Kristensen

Norwegian historian of religion (died 1953)

William Brede Kristensen was a Norwegian born, Dutch theologian, professor and historian of religion.

1867

Edwin Stephen Goodrich

English zoologist and anatomist (died 1946)

Edwin Stephen Goodrich FRS, was an English zoologist, specialising in comparative anatomy, embryology, palaeontology, and evolution. He held the Linacre Chair of Zoology in the University of Oxford from 1921 to 1946.…

1868

Clara Immerwahr

Jewish-German chemist and academic (died 1915)

Clara Helene Immerwahr was a German chemist. She was the first German woman to be awarded a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Breslau, and is credited with being a pacifist as well as a "heroine of the…

1870

Anthony Michell

English-Australian engineer (died 1959)

Anthony George Maldon Michell FRS was an Australian mechanical engineer of the early 20th century.

1870

Julio Ruelas

Mexican painter (died 1907)

Julio Ruelas was a Mexican graphic artist, painter, draughtsman and printmaker. Ruelas was the principal illustrator of the Revista Moderna magazine and is most associated with Mexican symbolism. A number of his works…

1870

Jacob Linzbach

Estonian linguist (died 1953)

Jakob Linzbach was an Estonian linguist.

1874

Willem Hendrik Keesom

Dutch physicist and academic (died 1956)

Willem Hendrik Keesom was a Dutch physicist who, in 1926, invented a method to freeze liquid helium. He also developed the first mathematical description of dipole–dipole interactions in 1921. Thus, dipole–dipole…

1876

Arnold Gesell

American psychologist and pediatrician (died 1961)

Arnold Lucius Gesell was an American psychologist, pediatrician and professor at Yale University known for his research and contributions to the fields of child hygiene and child development.

1880

Josiah Stamp

1st Baron Stamp, English economist and civil servant (died 1941)

Josiah Charles Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp was an English industrialist, economist, civil servant, statistician, writer, and banker. He was a director of the Bank of England and chairman of the London, Midland and Scottish…

1880

(O.S.) Natalia Goncharova

Russian painter, costume designer, and illustrator (died 1962)

1881

Ya'acov Ben-Dov

Israeli photographer and cinematographer (died 1968)

Yaacov Ben-Dov was an Israeli photographer and a pioneer of Jewish cinematography in Palestine.

1882

Lluís Companys

Spanish lawyer and politician, 123rd President of Catalonia (died 1940)

Lluís Companys i Jover was a Catalan politician from Spain who served as president of Catalonia from 1934 and during the Spanish Civil War.

1882

Adrianus de Jong

Dutch fencer and soldier (died 1966)

Adrianus Egbert Willem "Adriaan" "Arie" de Jong was a fencer who competed at five Olympic Games.

1882

Rockwell Kent

American painter and illustrator (died 1971)

Rockwell Kent was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager.

1882

Feodor Gladkov

Russian author and educator (died 1958)

Fyodor Vasilyevich Gladkov was a Soviet and Russian socialist realist writer, best known for his 1925 novel Cement. Gladkov joined a Marxist group in 1904, and in 1905 went to Tiflis and was arrested there for…

1883

Claude Auchinleck

English field marshal (died 1981)

Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck was a British Indian Army commander who saw active service during the world wars. A career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, he rose to become…

1884

Norman L. Bowen

Canadian geologist and petrologist (died 1956)

Norman Levi Bowen FRS was a Canadian geologist. Bowen "revolutionized experimental petrology and our understanding of mineral crystallization". Beginning geology students are familiar with Bowen's reaction series…

1887

Ralph Craig

American sprinter and sailor (died 1972)

Ralph Cook Craig was an American track and field athlete. He was the winner of the sprint double at the 1912 Summer Olympics.

1889

Pier Luigi Nervi

Italian architect and engineer, co-designed the Pirelli Tower and Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption (died 1979)

Pier Luigi Nervi was an Italian engineer and architect. He studied at the University of Bologna graduating in 1913. Nervi taught as a professor of engineering at Rome University from 1946 to 1961 and was known as a…

1891

Hermann Scherchen

German-Swiss viola player and conductor (died 1966)

Hermann Scherchen was a German conductor, who was principal conductor of the city orchestra of Winterthur from 1922 to 1950. He promoted contemporary music, beginning with Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, followed by works…

1891

Reinhold Niebuhr

American theologian and academic (died 1971)

Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of America's…

1892

Alois Hába

Czech composer and educator (died 1973)

Alois Hába was a Czech composer, music theorist and teacher. He belongs to the important discoverers in modern classical music, and to the major composers of microtonal music, especially using the quarter-tone scale,…

1893

Milward Kennedy

English journalist and civil servant (died 1968)

Milward Rodon Kennedy Burge was an English civil servant, journalist, crime writer and literary critic. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford. He served with British Military Intelligence in…

1894

Harry Schmidt

German mathematician and physicist (died 1951)

Harry Schmidt was a German mathematician. Core areas of his research were experimental physics, as well as the theory of boundary layers and wings in aerodynamics.

1894

Charles Momsen

American admiral, invented the Momsen lung (died 1967)

Charles Bowers Momsen, nicknamed "Swede", was born in Flushing, New York. He was an American pioneer in submarine rescue for the United States Navy, and he invented the underwater escape device later called the "Momsen…

1896

Pavel Haas

Czech composer (died 1944)

Pavel Haas was a Czech composer who was murdered during the Holocaust. He was an exponent of Leoš Janáček's school of composition, and also utilized elements of folk music and jazz. Although his output was not large, he…

1899

Georges-Henri Bousquet

French economist and Islamologist (died 1978)

Georges-Henri Bousquet was a 20th-century French jurist, economist and Islamologist. He was a professor of law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Algiers where he was a specialist in the sociology of North…

1900

Hermann Engelhard

German runner and coach (died 1984)

Hermann Engelhard was a German middle-distance runner who won two medals at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

1903

Al Hirschfeld

American caricaturist, painter and illustrator (died 2003)

Albert Hirschfeld was an American caricaturist best known for his black-and-white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars.

1903

Jacques Goddet

French journalist (died 2000)

Jacques Goddet was a French sports journalist and director of the Tour de France road cycling race from 1936 to 1986.

1905

Jean-Paul Sartre

French philosopher and author (died 1980)

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French philosophy and…

1905

Grete Sultan

German-American pianist (died 2005)

Grete Sultan was a German-American pianist.

1906

William Frankena

American philosopher and academic (died 1994)

William Klaas Frankena was an American moral philosopher. He was a member of the University of Michigan's department of philosophy for 41 years (1937–1978), and chair of the department for 14 years (1947–1961).

1908

Helmut Ulm

German mathematician (died 1975)

Helmut Ulm was a German mathematician who established the classification of countable periodic abelian groups by means of their Ulm invariants.

1908

Aleksandr Tvardovsky

Russian poet and author (died 1971)

Aleksandr Trifonovich Tvardovsky was a Soviet poet and writer and chief editor of Novy Mir literary magazine from 1950 to 1954 and 1958 to 1970. During his editorship, the magazine published One Day in the Life of Ivan…

1910

Irving Fein

American producer and manager (died 2012)

Irving Fein was an American television and film producer, and the manager of entertainers Jack Benny and George Burns.

1911

Kazimierz Leski

Polish pilot and engineer (died 2000)

Kazimierz Leski, nom de guerre Bradl, was a Polish engineer, co-designer of the Polish submarines ORP Sęp (1938) and ORP Orzeł, a fighter pilot, and an officer in World War II Home Army's intelligence and…

1912

Mary McCarthy

American novelist and critic (died 1989)

Mary Therese McCarthy was an American novelist, critic and political activist, best known for her novel The Group, her marriage to critic Edmund Wilson, her intimate friendship with her colleague Hannah Arendt and her…

1912

Vishnu Prabhakar

Indian author and playwright (died 2009)

Vishnu Prabhakar was a Hindi writer. He had several short stories, novels, plays and travelogues to his credit. Prabhakar's works have elements of patriotism, nationalism and messages of social upliftment. He was the…

1912

Madihe Pannaseeha Thero

Sri Lankan monk and scholar (died 2003)

Most Venerable Madihe Pannaseeha Mahathera was an eminent Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, who was the Mahanayaka of Amarapura sect from July 13, 1969, until his death on September 9, 2003.

1913

Luis Taruc

Filipino political activist (died 2005)

Luis Mangalus Taruc was a Filipino political figure and rebel during the agrarian unrest of the 1930s until the end of the Cold War. He was the leader of the Hukbalahap group between 1942 and 1950. His involvement with…

1913

William Vickrey

Canadian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1996)

William Spencer Vickrey was a Canadian-American economist. He was a lifelong faculty member at Columbia University. A theorist who worked on public economics and mechanism design, Vickrey primarily discussed public…

1914

Wilhelm Gliese

German soldier and astronomer (died 1993)

Wilhelm Gliese was a German astronomer who specialized in the study and cataloging of nearby stars.

1915

Joseph Cyril Bamford

English businessman, founded J. C. Bamford (died 2001)

Joseph Cyril Bamford, CBE was a British businessman. He was the founder of J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB), a manufacturer of heavy equipment.

1916

Tchan Fou-li

Chinese photographer (died 2018)

Tchan Fou-li was a Hong Kong photographer who worked to develop distinctive Chinese forms of photography and to establish photography as a serious art form in Hong Kong. He is known for his photographs, described as…

1916

Herbert Friedman

American physicist and astronomer (died 2000)

Herbert Friedman was an American physicist and astronomer who did research in X-ray astronomy. During his career Friedman published hundreds of scientific papers. One such example is "Ultraviolet and X Rays from the…

1916

Buddy O'Connor

Canadian ice hockey player (died 1977)

Herbert William "Buddy" O'Connor was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played for the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League between 1941 and 1951. He won the Hart Trophy and…

1916

Robert A. Boyd

Canadian engineer (died 2006)

Robert A. Boyd was a Canadian electric engineer and utility executive. He successfully led the construction of the first phase of the James Bay hydroelectric project, a large dam complex built in northern Quebec by…

1918

James Joll

English historian, author, and academic (died 1994)

James Bysse Joll FBA was a British historian and university lecturer whose works included The Origins of the First World War and Europe Since 1870. He also wrote on the history of anarchism and socialism.

1918

Eddie Lopat

American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 1992)

Edmund Walter Lopat was an American Major League Baseball pitcher, coach, manager, front office executive, and scout. He was sometimes known as "the Junk Man", but better known as "Steady Eddie", a nickname later given…

1918

J. Clyde Mitchell

British sociologist and anthropologist (died 1995)

James Clyde Mitchell was a British sociologist and anthropologist.

1918

Dee Molenaar

American mountaineer (died 2020)

Dee Molenaar was an American mountaineer, author and artist. He is best known as the author of The Challenge of Rainier, first published in 1971 and considered the definitive work on the climbing history of Mount…

1918

Robert V. Roosa

American economist and banker (died 1993)

Robert Vincent Roosa was an American economist and banker. He served as Treasury Undersecretary for Monetary Affairs during the Kennedy administration from 1961 to 1964. He believed the U.S. dollar should be the world's…

1918

Tibor Szele

Hungarian mathematician and academic (died 1955)

Tibor Szele was a Hungarian mathematician, working in combinatorics and abstract algebra.

1918

Josephine Webb

American engineer (died 2017)

Josephine Webb was an American electrical engineer who obtained two patents for oil circuit breaker contact design, known colloquially as "switchgear". She designed an eighteen-inch, full newspaper size fax machine with…

1918

Antonia Mesina

Italian martyr and saint (died 1935)

Antonia Mesina was a 15 year old Italian Roman Catholic and part of Catholic Action. Mesina was murdered in mid-1935 after she attempted to fend off a would-be rapist and suffered 74 strikes with a stone before she…

1919

Gérard Pelletier

Canadian journalist and politician (died 1997)

Gérard Pelletier was a Canadian politician, diplomat and journalist from Quebec best known for his association with Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau that started decades before their entries to the political…

1919

Vladimir Simagin

Russian chess player and coach (died 1968)

Vladimir Simagin was a Russian chess grandmaster. He was three times Moscow champion, helped to train Vasily Smyslov to the World Championship, and made many significant contributions to chess openings. He died of a…

1919

Paolo Soleri

Italian-American architect, designed the Cosanti (died 2013)

Paolo Soleri was an Italian architect and urban planner. He established the educational Cosanti Foundation and Arcosanti. Soleri was a lecturer in the College of Architecture at Arizona State University and a National…

1919

Hans Gerschwiler

Swiss figure skater (died 2017)

Hans Gerschwiler was a Swiss figure skater. He was the 1948 Olympic silver medalist

1920

Judy Holliday

American actress and singer (died 1965)

Judy Holliday was an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter.

1921

Jane Russell

American actress and singer (died 2011)

Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell was an American actress, model, and singer. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s and starred in more than 20 films.

1921

William Edwin Self

American actor, producer, and production manager (died 2010)

William Edwin Self was an American television and film producer who began his career as an actor.

1921

Joseph Ki-Zerbo

Burkinabé historian, politician and writer (died 2006)

Joseph Ki-Zerbo was a Burkinabé historian, politician and writer. He is recognized as one of Africa's foremost thinkers.

1922

Jacques Hébert

Canadian journalist and politician (died 2007)

Jacques Hébert, was a Canadian author, journalist, publisher, Senator and world traveller who visited more than 130 countries.

1923

Pontus Hultén

Swedish art collector and historian (died 2006)

Karl Gunnar Vougt Pontus Hultén was a Swedish art collector and museum director. Pontus Hultén is regarded as one of the most distinguished museum professionals of the twentieth century. He was the pioneering former…

1924

Ezzatolah Entezami

Iranian actor (died 2018)

Ezzatollah Entezami, or Ezzatolah Entezami was an Iranian actor.

1924

Wally Fawkes

British-Canadian jazz clarinetist and satirical cartoonist (died 2023)

Walter Ernest Fawkes, also known as Trog when signing cartoons, was a Canadian-British jazz clarinettist and satirical cartoonist.

1924

Jean Laplanche

French psychoanalyst and academic (died 2012)

Jean Laplanche was a French author, psychoanalyst and winemaker. Laplanche is best known for his work on psychosexual development and Sigmund Freud's seduction theory, and wrote more than a dozen books on psychoanalytic…

1924

Larisa Avdeyeva

Russian mezzo-soprano (died 2013)

Larisa Ivanovna Avdeyeva or Avdeeva was a Soviet and Russian mezzo-soprano, who starred with the Bolshoi Opera for thirty years. She was awarded the title of People’s Artist of the RSFSR in (1964).

1925

Stanley Moss

American poet, publisher, and art dealer (died 2024)

Stanley Moss was an American poet, publisher, and art dealer.

1925

Giovanni Spadolini

Italian journalist and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Italy (died 1994)

Giovanni Spadolini was an Italian politician and statesman, who served as the 44th prime minister of Italy. He had been a leading figure in the Republican Party and the first head of a government to not be a member of…

1925

Maureen Stapleton

American actress (died 2006)

Lois Maureen Stapleton was an American actress. She received numerous accolades, becoming one of the few actors to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Tony…

1925

Fred Cone

American football player (died 2021)

Fred Cone was an American professional football player who was a fullback and placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Clemson…

1926

Conrad Hall

French-American cinematographer (died 2003)

Conrad Lafcadio Hall, ASC was a French Polynesian-born American cinematographer. Named after writers Joseph Conrad and Lafcadio Hearn, he became widely prominent as a cinematographer earning numerous accolades including…

1926

Carl Stokes

American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Seychelles (died 1996)

Carl Burton Stokes was an American politician and diplomat of the Democratic Party who served as the 51st mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Elected on November 7, 1967, and taking office on January 1, 1968, he was one of the…

1927

Wolfgang Haken

German-American mathematician and academic (died 2022)

Wolfgang Haken was a German American mathematician who specialized in topology, in particular 3-manifolds.

1928

Fiorella Mari

Brazilian-Italian actress (died 1983)

Fiorella Colpi, known professionally as Fiorella Mari, was a Brazilian-born Italian actress.

1928

Margit Bara

Hungarian actress (died 2016)

Margit Bara was a Hungarian film actress. She appeared in 25 films between 1956 and 1975. She retired from acting in 1977 and later in 1992 received the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary and in 2002 she was…

1928

Gerald Kaufman

English journalist and politician, Shadow Foreign Secretary (died 2017)

Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman was a British politician and author who served as a minister throughout the Labour government of 1974 to 1979. Elected as a member of parliament (MP) at the 1970 general election, he became…

1930

Mike McCormack

American football player and coach (died 2013)

Michael Joseph McCormack Jr. was an American professional football player, coach, and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He played as an offensive tackle with the Cleveland Browns from 1954 through 1962…

1930

Zlatko Grgić

Croatian-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter (died 1988)

Zlatko Grgić was a Croatian animator who emigrated to Canada in the late 1960s.

1931

Margaret Heckler

American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 15th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (died 2018)

Margaret Mary Heckler was an American politician and diplomat who represented Massachusetts's 10th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1967 until 1983. A member of the Republican…

1931

David Kushnir

Israeli Olympic long-jumper (died 2020)

David Kushnir was an Israeli Olympic long-jumper and track and field coach.

1931

Bernard Ingham

English journalist and civil servant (died 2023)

Sir Bernard Ingham was a British journalist and civil servant. He was Margaret Thatcher's chief press secretary throughout her time as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.

1932

Lalo Schifrin

Argentinian pianist, composer, and conductor (died 2025)

Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin was an Argentine and American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. Initially prominent as a jazz composer, he was best known for his large body of film and television scores, which…

1932

O.C. Smith

American R&B/jazz singer (died 2001)

Ocie Lee Smith, known professionally as O. C. Smith, was an American singer. His recording of "Little Green Apples" went to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968 and sold over one million records.

1932

Bernie Kopell

American actor and comedian

Bernard Morton Kopell is an American character actor known for his roles as Siegfried in Get Smart from 1966 to 1969 and as Dr. Adam Bricker ("Doc") on The Love Boat from 1977 to 1986.

1933

Josef Stoer

German mathematician

Josef Stoer is a German mathematician specializing in numerical analysis and professor emeritus of the Institut für Mathematik of Universität Würzburg.

1934

Françoise Sagan

French author and playwright (died 2004)

Françoise Sagan was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Sagan was known for works with strong romantic themes involving wealthy and disillusioned bourgeois characters. Her best-known novel was her first,…

1935

John Edrich

English cricketer and coach (died 2020)

John Hugh Edrich, was an English first-class cricketer who, during a career that ran from 1956 to 1978, was considered one of the best batsmen of his generation. Born in Blofield, Norfolk, Edrich came from a cricketing…

1937

Don Black

English songwriter

Donald Blackstone, known professionally as Don Black, is an English lyricist. His works have included numerous musicals, movie, television themes and hit songs. He has provided lyrics for John Barry, Charles Strouse,…

1938

John W. Dower

American historian and author

John W. Dower is an American author and historian. His 1999 book Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II won the U.S. National Book Award for Nonfiction, the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, the…

1938

Michael M. Richter

German mathematician and computer scientist (died 2020)

Michael M. Richter was a German mathematician and computer scientist. Richter is well known for his career in mathematical logic, in particular non-standard analysis, and in artificial intelligence, in particular in…

1938

Mariette Hartley

American actress and television personality

Mary Loretta Hartley is an American film and television actress. She is possibly best known for her roles in film as Elsa Knudsen in Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962), Susan Clabon in Alfred Hitchcock's…

1940

Michael Ruse

Canadian philosopher and academic

Michael Escott Ruse was a British-born Canadian philosopher of science who specialised in the philosophy of biology and worked on the relationship between science and religion, the creation–evolution controversy, and…

1940

Aloysius Paul D'Souza

Indian Catholic bishop

Aloysius Paul D'Souza is the former Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore. He was consecrated on 8 November 1996, succeeding his predecessor Basil Salvadore D'Souza.

1941

Joe Flaherty

American-Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2024)

Joseph Flaherty was an American actor, writer, and comedian. In television, Flaherty starred on the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV from 1976 to 1984 and as Harold Weir on Freaks and Geeks (1999). His film roles include the…

1941

Lyman Ward

Canadian actor

Lyman Ward is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Creature (1984), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), and Milk and Honey (1988).

1941

Clive Brooke

Baron Brooke of Alverthorpe, English businessman and politician

Clive Brooke, Baron Brooke of Alverthorpe is a British trade unionist, and Labour Member of the House of Lords.

1942

Norbert Brunner

Swiss Catholic bishop

Norbert Brunner is a Swiss prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sion in Switzerland from 1995 to 2014. He was the elected President of the Swiss Bishops Conference…

1942

Paul Chernoff

American mathematician and poet (died 2017)

Paul Robert Chernoff was an American mathematician, specializing in functional analysis and the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics. He is known for Chernoff's Theorem, a mathematical result in the Feynman…

1942

Marjorie Margolies

American journalist and politician

Marjorie Margolies is a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute of Government and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a former journalist and a Democratic politician. From…

1942

Henry S. Taylor

American author and poet (died 2024)

Henry Splawn Taylor was an American poet, academic, and translator. The author of more than 15 books of poems, translation, and nonfiction, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1986.

1942

Flaviano Vicentini

Italian cyclist (died 2002)

Flaviano Vicentini was an Italian road race cyclist who was active between 1963 and 1971. After becoming the world champion in 1963 as amateur, he turned professional. He then won the Grand Prix de Cannes in 1966 and…

1942

Togo D. West Jr.

American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (died 2018)

Togo Dennis West Jr. was an American attorney and Army officer who served as the third secretary of veterans affairs in the administration of President Bill Clinton from 1998 until his resignation in 2000. A member of…

1942

Diane Marleau

Canadian accountant and politician, Canadian Minister of Health (died 2013)

Diane Marleau, was a Canadian politician. She represented the riding of Sudbury in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2008, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Jean Chrétien. Marleau was a member of…

1943

Brian Sternberg

American pole vaulter (died 2013)

Brian Sternberg was a world record holder in the men's pole vault who was paralyzed from the neck down after a trampoline accident in 1963.

1943

Ray Davies

English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Sir Raymond Douglas Davies is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led, with his younger brother Dave providing lead guitar and…

1944

Jon Hiseman

English drummer (died 2018)

Philip John Albert "Jon" Hiseman was an English drummer, recording engineer, record producer, and music publisher. He played with the Graham Bond Organisation, with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and later formed what…

1944

Tony Scott

English-American director and producer (died 2012)

Anthony David Leighton Scott was an English film director and producer. He made his theatrical film debut with The Hunger (1983) and went on to direct highly successful action and thriller films such as Top Gun (1986),…

1944

Robert Dewar

English-American computer scientist and academic (died 2015)

Robert Berriedale Keith Dewar was an American computer scientist and educator. He helped to develop programming languages and compilers and was an outspoken advocate of freely licensed open-source software. He was a…

1945

Adam Zagajewski

Polish author and poet (died 2021)

Adam Zagajewski was a Polish poet, novelist, translator, and essayist.

1945

Per Eklund

Swedish race car driver

Per Torsten Eklund is a Swedish Rally and Rallycross driver. His nickname is "Pekka". In rallying he never made it to the very top but he has been very successful in his later rallycross career.

1946

Kate Hoey

Northern Irish-British academic and politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics

Catharine Letitia Hoey, Baroness Hoey, better known as Kate Hoey, is a Northern Irish politician and life peer who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Home Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and Minister for Sport from…

1946

Brenda Holloway

American singer-songwriter

Brenda Holloway is an American soul singer who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the hits "Every Little Bit Hurts", "When I'm Gone", and "You've Made Me So Very…

1946

Trond Kirkvaag

Norwegian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2007)

Trond Georg Kirkvaag was a Norwegian comedian, actor, impressionist, screenwriter, author, director and television host. During his 39 years at the Norwegian TV network, NRK, he produced numerous comedy television…

1946

Malcolm Rifkind

Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland

Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament…

1946

Maurice Saatchi

Baron Saatchi, Iraqi-British businessman, founded M&C Saatchi and Saatchi & Saatchi

Maurice Nathan Saatchi, Baron Saatchi is a British businessman, and with his brother, Charles, co-founder of the advertising agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and M&C Saatchi.

1946

Meredith Baxter

American actress

Meredith Ann Baxter is an American actress and producer. She is known for her roles on the CBS sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie (1972–1973), ABC drama series Family (1976–1980) and the NBC sitcom Family Ties (1982–1989). A…

1947

Shirin Ebadi

Iranian lawyer, judge, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate

Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian Nobel laureate, lawyer, writer, teacher and a former judge and founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. In 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering…

1947

Michael Gross

American actor

Michael Edward Gross is an American television, film, and stage actor. He is notable for playing Steven Keaton on the sitcom Family Ties (1982–1989) and survivalist Burt Gummer in the Tremors film franchise, being the…

1947

Joey Molland

English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2025)

Joseph Charles Molland II was an English singer-songwriter and guitarist whose recording career spanned five decades. He was best known as a member of Badfinger, the most successful of the acts he performed with.…

1947

Wade Phillips

American football coach

Harold Wade Phillips is an American football coach. He has served as the head coach of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Roughnecks, and San Antonio Brahmas. He has also served as an interim…

1947

Fernando Savater

Spanish philosopher and author

Fernando Fernández-Savater Martín is a Spanish philosopher, essayist and author.

1947

Jovan Aćimović

Serbian footballer and manager

Jovan "Kule" Aćimović is a Serbian former footballer who played as a midfielder.

1948

Ian McEwan

British novelist and screenwriter

Ian Russell McEwan is a British novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, The Times featured him at number 35 on its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945", and The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 19 out of…

1948

Andrzej Sapkowski

Polish author and translator

Andrzej Sapkowski is a Polish fantasy writer. He is best known for his series of books The Witcher, which revolves around the eponymous monster hunter, or "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. The saga has been popularized…

1948

Philippe Sarde

French composer and conductor

Philippe Sarde is a French film composer. Considered among the most versatile and talented French film composers of his generation, Sarde has scored over two hundred films, film shorts, and television mini-series. He…

1948

John Agard

Guyanese-English author, poet, and playwright

John Agard FRSL is a Guyanese-born British playwright, poet and children's writer. In 2012, he was selected for the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. He was awarded BookTrust's Lifetime Achievement Award in November 2021.

1949

Derek Emslie

Lord Kingarth, Scottish lawyer and judge

Derek Robert Alexander Emslie, Lord Kingarth is a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, sitting in the High Court of Justiciary and the Inner House of the Court of Session. He is the son of former Lord President…

1949

Anne Carson

Canadian poet and academic

Anne Patricia Carson is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator, classicist, and professor.

1950

Joey Kramer

American rock drummer and songwriter

Joseph Michael Kramer is an American musician best known as the drummer of the hard rock band Aerosmith, which was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

1950

Enn Reitel

Scottish actor and screenwriter

Enn Reitel is a Scottish actor who specialises in voice work in films, television series, and video games.

1950

Trygve Thue

Norwegian guitarist and record producer (died 2022)

Trygve Thue was a Norwegian guitarist and music producer, and an original member of the Norwegian band Saft. He was the brother of the folk singer Ove Thue.

1950

John Paul Young

Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter

John Inglis Young, OAM, known professionally as John Paul Young, is an Australian pop singer who is best known for having a worldwide hit with "Love Is in the Air" in 1978. His career was boosted by regular appearances…

1950

Jim Douglas

American academic and politician, 80th Governor of Vermont

James Holley Douglas is an American politician from the state of Vermont. A Republican, he served as the 80th governor of Vermont from 2003 to 2011. On August 27, 2009, Douglas announced that he would not seek…

1951

Terence Etherton

English lawyer and judge

Terence Michael Elkan Barnet Etherton, Baron Etherton was a British judge and member of the House of Lords. He served as the Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice from 2016 to 2021 and Chancellor of the High…

1951

Alan Hudson

English footballer

Alan Anthony Hudson is an English former footballer who played for Arsenal, Chelsea, Stoke City and the Seattle Sounders as well as the England national football team.

1951

Nils Lofgren

American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Nils Hilmer Lofgren is an American rock musician, recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with his work as a solo artist, he has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984, a…

1951

Lenore Manderson

Australian anthropologist and academic

Lenore Hilda Manderson is an Australian medical anthropologist. She is professor of medical anthropology in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Faculty…

1951

Mona-Lisa Pursiainen

Finnish sprinter (died 2000)

Eivor Mona-Lisa Pursiainen, née Strandvall, was a Finnish female sprinter, who was especially successful in 1973–1974, being ranked #2 in the world over 100 metres and # 3, over 200 metres and 400 metres in 1973. In…

1951

Judith Bingham

English singer-songwriter

Judith Bingham is an English composer and mezzo-soprano singer. She was a member of the BBC Singers from 1983 to 1995. She is a Fellow of the Royal Northern College of Music. Bingham won the 1977 BBC Young Composer…

1952

Jeremy Coney

New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster

Jeremy Vernon Coney is a former New Zealand cricketer and current cricket commentator. An all-rounder, between 1974 and 1987 he played 52 Test matches and 88 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for New Zealand, of which he…

1952

Patrick Dunleavy

English political scientist and academic

Patrick John Dunleavy is Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Public Policy within the Government Department of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He was also Co-Director of the…

1952

Kōichi Mashimo

Japanese director and screenwriter

Kōichi Mashimo is a Japanese former anime director and the founder of the animation studio Bee Train. Since the creation of the studio, Mashimo directed or otherwise participated in a large number of the studio's…

1952

Ginny Ruffner

American artist

Ginny Carol Ruffner was an American glass artist based in Seattle, Washington. She is known for her use of the lampworking technique and for her use of borosilicate glass in her painted glass sculptures.

1952

Benazir Bhutto

Pakistani politician, Prime Minister of Pakistan (died 2007)

Benazir Bhutto was a Pakistani politician and stateswoman who served as the prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was the first woman elected to head a democratic government in a…

1953

Augustus Pablo

Jamaican producer and musician (died 1999)

Horace Michael Swaby, also known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub composer, performer, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He was active from the 1970s until his death. He was known for…

1953

Már Guðmundsson

Icelandic economist, former Governor of Central Bank of Iceland

Már Guðmundsson is an Icelandic economist and policy maker. He was the Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland from 2009 to 2019.

1954

Mark Kimmitt

American general and politician, 16th Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

Mark Traecey Patrick Kimmitt is a retired American general and former diplomat. He served as the 16th Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs under George W. Bush from August 2008 to January 2009.…

1954

Robert Menasse

Austrian author and academic

Robert Menasse is an Austrian writer.

1954

Tim Bray

Canadian software developer and businessman

Timothy William Bray is a Canadian software developer, environmentalist and political activist and one of the co-authors of the original XML specification. He worked for Amazon Web Services from December 2014 until May…

1955

Michel Platini

French footballer and manager

Michel François Platini is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and…

1955

Rick Sutcliffe

American baseball player and broadcaster

Richard Lee Sutcliffe, nicknamed "the Red Baron", is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals between…

1956

Berkeley Breathed

American author and illustrator

Guy Berkeley "Berke" Breathed is an American cartoonist, children's book author, director, and screenwriter, known for his comic strips Bloom County, Outland, and Opus. Bloom County earned Breathed the Pulitzer Prize…

1957

Luis Antonio Tagle

Filipino cardinal

Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle is a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church, and has been the pro-prefect for the Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization since December…

1957

Víctor Montoya

Bolivian journalist and author

Víctor Montoya is a Bolivian writer, cultural journalist, and pedagogue. Imprisoned by the dictatorship in his native Bolivia, he became an exile following a campaign by Amnesty International in 1977.

1958

Gennady Padalka

Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut

Gennady Ivanovich Padalka is a Russian Air Force officer and Roscosmos cosmonaut. Padalka is the only person to have served as commander of the International Space Station (ISS) four times. He previously held the record…

1958

John Baron

English captain and politician

John Charles Baron is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Basildon and Billericay, previously Billericay, from 2001 to 2024. He has frequently rebelled against his…

1959

Tom Chambers

American basketball player and sportscaster

Thomas Doane Chambers is an American former professional basketball player. He played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a four-time NBA All-Star. He was a two-time All-NBA Second Team…

1959

Marcella Detroit

American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Marcella Levy, known professionally as Marcy Levy and Marcella Detroit, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-wrote the 1977 Eric Clapton hit "Lay Down Sally" and released her debut studio album…

1959

Kathy Mattea

American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Kathleen Alice Mattea is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including four that…

1959

Kate Brown

American politician, 38th Governor of Oregon

Katherine Brown is an American politician and attorney who served as the 38th governor of Oregon from 2015 to 2023. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

1960

Karl Erjavec

Slovenian politician

Karl Viktor Erjavec is a Slovenian lawyer and politician who served in the government of Slovenia as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2018. He was the president of the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia,…

1960

Manu Chao

French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Manu Chao is a French-Spanish musician. He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Greek, and occasionally in other languages. Chao began his musical career in Paris, busking…

1961

Sascha Konietzko

German keyboard player and producer

Sascha Kegel Konietzko, also known as Sascha K and Käpt'n K, is a German musician and record producer. He is the founder and frontman of the industrial band KMFDM.

1961

Joko Widodo

Indonesian businessman and politician, 7th President of Indonesia

Joko Widodo, often known mononymously as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who served as the seventh president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. Previously a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of…

1961

Kip Winger

American rock singer-songwriter and musician

Charles Frederick "Kip" Winger is an American musician, songwriter and composer. He is best known as the frontman, lead singer and bass player of the rock band Winger, but also runs parallel careers as a solo rock…

1961

Iztok Mlakar

Slovenian actor and singer-songwriter

Iztok Mlakar is a Slovenian singer-songwriter and theatre actor. Styled as the "bard of the Slovenian Littoral", he is best known for his ironic chansons in the Littoral dialect of Slovene. Together with Adi Smolar,…

1961

Shōhei Takada

Japanese shogi player and theoretician

Shōhei Takada is a Japanese retired professional shogi player who achieved the rank of 7-dan.

1962

Viktor Tsoi

Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1990)

Viktor Robertovich Tsoi was a Soviet singer-songwriter and actor who co-founded Kino, one of the most popular and influential bands in the history of Russian music.

1962

Dario Marianelli

Italian pianist and composer

Dario Marianelli is an Italian composer.

1963

Mike Sherrard

American football player

Michael Watson Sherrard is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, and Denver Broncos.…

1963

David Morrissey

English actor and director

David Mark Joseph Morrissey is an English actor and filmmaker. He had numerous small roles in films and television series throughout the 1990s before achieving wider recognition for playing Gordon Brown in The Deal…

1964

Valeriy Neverov

Ukrainian chess player

Valeriy Neverov is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster (1991) and four-time Ukrainian Chess Champion.

1964

Dimitris Papaioannou

Greek director and choreographer

Dimitris Papaioannou is an Athenian born on 21 June 1964 who emerged from the Greek underground art scene as a defining figure. Starting as a comics creator, he became a director, choreographer, performer, and designer…

1964

Dean Saunders

Welsh footballer and manager

Dean Nicholas Saunders is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer.

1964

Doug Savant

American actor

Douglas Peter Savant is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Matt Fielding in the Fox prime time soap opera Melrose Place (1992–97), Tom Scavo in ABC comedy-drama Desperate Housewives (2004–12), and as Sgt.…

1964

David Beerling

English biologist and academic

David John Beerling FLSW is the Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Climate change mitigation and Sorby Professor of Natural Sciences in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences (APS) at the University of…

1965

Yang Liwei

Chinese general, pilot, and astronaut

Yang Liwei is a Chinese major general, former military pilot, and former taikonaut of the People's Liberation Army.

1965

Ewen McKenzie

Australian rugby player and coach

Ewen James Andrew McKenzie is an Australian professional rugby union coach and a former player. A prop, he played for Australia's World Cup winning team in 1991 and earned 51 caps for the Wallabies during his test…

1965

Lana Wachowski

American director, producer, and screenwriter

Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski are American film and television directors, writers and producers. Together known as the Wachowskis, the sisters are both trans women and have worked as a writing and directing team…

1965

Gretchen Carlson

American model and TV journalist, Miss America 1989

Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson is an American broadcast journalist, writer, and television personality.

1966

Jim Breuer

American comedian, actor, and producer

James Breuer is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 1998 and starred in the film Half Baked (1998).

1967

Derrick Coleman

American basketball player and sportscaster

Derrick Demetrius Coleman is an American former professional basketball player. Coleman attended Syracuse University and was selected first overall in the 1990 NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets.

1967

Pierre Omidyar

French-American businessman, founded eBay

Pierre Morad Omidyar is a French-born Iranian-American billionaire. A technology entrepreneur, software engineer, and philanthropist, he is the founder of eBay, where he served as chairman from 1998 to 2015. Omidyar is…

1967

Carrie Preston

American actress, director, and producer

Carrie Preston is an American actress, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles as Arlene Fowler in the HBO fantasy drama series True Blood (2008–2014) and as Elsbeth Tascioni in the CBS legal drama…

1967

Yingluck Shinawatra

Thai businesswoman and politician, 28th Prime Minister of Thailand

Yingluck Shinawatra is a Thai businesswoman, politician and a member of the Pheu Thai Party who was the 28th prime minister of Thailand from 2011 to 2014. Yingluck was Thailand's first female prime minister and its…

1967

Sonique

English singer-songwriter and DJ

Sonia Marina Clarke, better known by her stage name Sonique, is an English singer, musician and DJ. She came to public attention as a member of dance band S'Express during the early 1990s, but achieved greater success…

1968

Eric Reed

American pianist and composer

Eric Scott Reed is an American jazz pianist and composer. His group Black Note released several albums in the 1990s.

1970

Tyronne Drakeford

American football player

Tyronne James Drakeford is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Redskins.…

1971

Nobuharu Asahara

Japanese sprinter and long jumper

Nobuharu Asahara is a former Japanese athlete who specialized in the 100 meters and long jump. He won the 100 m at the Japanese national championship on five occasions in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2002, and he took…

1972

Neil Doak

Northern Irish cricketer and rugby player

Neil George Doak is a Northern Irish former cricketer and rugby union player. He is the former head coach of the Ireland U20 rugby union team.

1972

Tomáš Valášek

Slovak diplomat and politician

Tomáš Valášek is a Slovak diplomat and politician. From 2013 to 2017 he served as the ambassador of Slovakia to NATO. From 2020 he is a Member of the National Council.

1972

Juliette Lewis

American actress and singer-songwriter

Juliette Lake Lewis is an American actress, singer and musician. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in films with dark plots, themes, and settings. Lewis gained prominence in American cinema…

1973

John Mitchell

English guitarist, vocalist and songwriter

John Mitchell is an Irish musician and record producer. He primarily plays guitar and has been a member of the bands It Bites, Arena, Frost*, Kino, A, The Urbane, and Asia, as well as pursuing a solo career with the…

1973

Rob Kelly

American football player

Robert James Kelly III is an American former professional football player who was a safety for four seasons with the New Orleans Saints in the National Football League (NFL) and one on the injured reserve list for the…

1974

Craig Lowndes

Australian race car driver

Craig Andrew Lowndes is an Australian racing car driver in the Repco Supercars Championship racing for Team 18. He is also a TV commentator.

1974

Flavio Roma

Italian footballer

Flavio Roma is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

1974

Brian Simmons

American football player

Brian Eugene Simmons is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of North Carolina, and…

1975

Shelley Craft

Australian television host

Shelley Craft is an Australian television personality.

1976

Mike Einziger

American guitarist and songwriter

Michael Aaron Einziger is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He is best known for being co-founder and guitarist of the rock band Incubus, and has also co-written, produced and collaborated with a wide array…

1976

Nigel Lappin

Australian footballer and coach

Nigel Lappin is a former professional Australian rules footballer. Lappin is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Geelong Football Club.

1976

Michael Gomez

Irish boxer

Michael Gomez is a former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2009. He was born to an Irish Traveller family in Longford, Ireland, spending his early years in Dublin before moving to London and later…

1977

Al Wilson

American football player

Aldra Kauwa Wilson is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for eight seasons with the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tennessee…

1977

Thomas Blondeau

Flemish writer (died 2013)

Thomas Blondeau was a Flemish writer, poet and journalist. He studied literature at the University of Leuven and the University of Leiden. He wrote for newspapers including Mare, Deng, De Revisor, De Standaard and Dif.

1978

Matt Kuchar

American golfer

Matthew Gregory Kuchar is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and formerly the Nationwide Tour. He has won nine times on the PGA Tour. Kuchar briefly enjoyed success in the early 2000s before…

1978

Cristiano Lupatelli

Italian footballer

Cristiano Lupatelli is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is the goalkeeping coach of club Juventus U23. As a player, he was a goalkeeper; he is known for his trademark goatee and sideburns…

1978

Dejan Ognjanović

Montenegrin footballer

Dejan Ognjanović is a Montenegrin former professional footballer who played as a defender. On the international level, he represented FR Yugoslavia most notably at the 2001 Kirin Cup as well as Montenegro from 2008 to…

1978

Rim'K

French rapper

Abdelkrim Brahmi, known professionally as Rim'K is a French rapper of Algerian origins. Rim'k is a member of the group 113, alongside Mokobé and AP, and the supergroup Mafia K-1 Fry. He also has a group called Maghreb…

1978

Kostas Katsouranis

Greek footballer

Kostas Katsouranis is a Greek former professional footballer. A versatile midfielder, who won the Super League Greek Footballer of the Year Award in 2005 and 2013, as well as the Cosme Damião Award for Footballer of the…

1979

Chris Pratt

American actor

Christopher Michael Pratt is an American actor and producer. His films as a leading actor have grossed over $14.1 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing film stars of all time. Pratt was one of the…

1979

Michael Crocker

Australian rugby league player and sportscaster

Michael "Croc" Crocker is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he played his…

1980

Łukasz Cyborowski

Polish chess player

Łukasz Cyborowski is a Polish chess Grandmaster (2003).

1980

Richard Jefferson

American basketball player

Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who played small forward. He played for eight teams during his 17-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

1980

Sendy Rleal

Dominican baseball player

Sendy Rleal Aquino is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles in 2006, and in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) for the Sinon Bulls in…

1980

Yann Danis

Canadian ice hockey player

Yann Joseph Richard Danis is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, and New Jersey Devils. He…

1981

Garrett Jones

American baseball player

Garrett Thomas Jones is an American former professional baseball first baseman and right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Miami Marlins, and New York…

1981

Brandon Flowers

American singer-songwriter

Brandon Richard Flowers is an American musician. He serves as the co-founder, lead vocalist, primary songwriter, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas–based rock band the Killers, which he formed with…

1981

Brad Walker

American pole vaulter

Brad Walker is an American pole vaulter. He was the American recordholder and was the 2007 World Champion in the event.

1981

Lee Dae-ho

South Korean baseball player

Lee Dae-ho is a South Korean professional baseball player who played as a first baseman. During his career, he played for the Lotte Giants of the KBO League, Orix Buffaloes and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon…

1982

William

Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne

William, Prince of Wales, is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales.

1982

Jussie Smollett

American actor and singer

Jussie Smollett is an American actor, filmmaker and singer. He began his career as a child actor in 1991 debuting in The Mighty Ducks (1992). From 2015 to 2019, Smollett portrayed musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama…

1982

Edward Snowden

American activist and academic

Edward Joseph Snowden is a former United States National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs.

1983

Kris Allen

American musician, singer and songwriter

Kristopher Neil Allen is an American singer, songwriter, and the winner of the eighth season of American Idol.

1985

Lana Del Rey

American singer-songwriter

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its melancholic exploration of glamor and romance, with frequent references to pop culture and…

1985

Sentayehu Ejigu

Ethiopian runner

Sentayehu Ejigu Tamerat is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who specializes in the 3000 and 5000 metres. She represented Ethiopia at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

1985

Byron Schammer

Australian footballer

Byron Schammer is an Australian rules footballer currently playing with the Claremont Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). He previously played with the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian…

1985

Kathleen O'Kelly-Kennedy

Australian wheelchair basketball player

Kathleen O'Kelly-Kennedy is an Australian 4.0 point wheelchair basketball player who plays forward-centre. She was part of the bronze medal-winning Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team at the 2008…

1986

Hideaki Wakui

Japanese baseball player

Hideaki Wakui is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in NPB for the Seibu Lions / Saitama Seibu Lions, Chiba Lotte Marines,…

1986

Pablo Barrera

Mexican footballer

Pablo Edson Barrera Acosta is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a winger.

1987

Sebastian Prödl

Austrian footballer

Sebastian Prödl is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. A full international from 2007 to 2018, he represented the Austria national team at UEFA Euro 2008 and UEFA Euro 2016.

1987

Dale Thomas

Australian footballer

Dale Robert Jordan “Daisy” Thomas is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Thomas was a…

1987

Kim Ryeo-wook

South Korean singer

Kim Ryeo-wook, better known by the mononym Ryeowook, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and musical actor. He is best known as a member of boy group Super Junior and its subgroups, Super Junior-K.R.Y. and Super…

1987

Allyssa DeHaan

American basketball and volleyball player

Allyssa DeHaan is an American former collegiate basketball and volleyball player. She played for Michigan State University from 2006 to 2010.

1988

Alejandro Ramírez

American chess player

Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez is a Costa Rican-American chess Grandmaster and commentator. At the age of 15, he became the first Central American to achieve the title of Grandmaster and was the second youngest chess…

1988

Paolo Tornaghi

Italian footballer

Paolo Tornaghi is an Italian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper.

1988

Thaddeus Young

American basketball player

Thaddeus Charles Young Sr. is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, before being selected 12th overall in the 2007 NBA draft by the…

1988

Abubaker Kaki

Sudanese runner

Abubaker Kaki Khamis is a Sudanese runner who specialises in the 800 metres. He is a two-time World Indoor Champion over the distance and also won gold at the 2007 All-Africa Games. He represented Sudan at the 2008 and…

1989

Ričardas Berankis

Lithuanian tennis player

Ričardas Berankis is a Lithuanian former professional tennis player. He was the first and only Lithuanian to enter the ATP top 50 rankings, making him the highest ranked Lithuanian tennis player of all time. Berankis…

1990

Sergei Matsenko

Russian chess player

Sergei Vadimovich Matsenko is a Russian chess grandmaster.

1990

François Moubandje

Swiss footballer

Jacques François Moubandje is a former professional footballer who played as a left back. Born in Cameroon, he represented the Switzerland national team.

1990

Håvard Nordtveit

Norwegian footballer

Håvard Nordtveit is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a defender or defensive midfielder.

1990

Isabel Pires

Portuguese politician

Isabel Cristina Rua Pires is a Portuguese politician and former member of the Assembly of the Republic, the national legislature of Portugal. A member of the Left Bloc, she has represented Lisbon from October 2015 to…

1990

Gaël Kakuta

French footballer

Gaël Romeo Kakuta Mambenga is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Greek Super League club AEL. Born in France, he represents the DR Congo national team.

1991

Lee Min-young

South Korean singer-songwriter, actress, and entertainer

Lee Min-young, known professionally as Min, is a South Korean singer, television personality, songwriter, and actress. She is best known as a former member of the South Korean girl group Miss A.

1991

MAX

American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer and model

Maxwell George Schneider, also known by his mononym Max, is an American singer and actor. He is best known for his 2016 single "Lights Down Low", which peaked within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and received…

1992

Hussein El Shahat

Egyptian professional footballer

Hussein Ali El Shahat Ali Hassan is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays for Egyptian Premier League club Al Ahly as a winger.

1992

Hungrybox

Argentine-American esports player

Juan Manuel DeBiedma, better known by his alias Hungrybox, is an Argentine–American professional Super Smash Bros. player, streamer, tournament organizer and commentator. Recognized as one of the greatest and most…

1993

Başak Eraydın

Turkish tennis player

Başak Eraydın is a Turkish professional tennis player.

1994

Tyrone May

Australian rugby league player

Tyrone May is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League. Primarily a stand-off, May has played in a number of other positions during his career, including…

1996

Scottie Scheffler

American golfer

Scott Alexander Scheffler is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He is currently ranked world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, a position he has held for over 175 weeks during his…

1996

Rebecca Black

American singer-songwriter

Rebecca Renee Black is an American singer, songwriter, YouTuber, and DJ. She gained extensive media coverage when the music video for her 2011 debut single "Friday" went viral on YouTube and various social media sites.…

1997

Derrius Guice

American football player

Derrius Guice is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers, becoming the first player in Southeastern…

1997

Isabel Atkin

British-American freestyle skier

Isabel "Izzy" Atkin is a former British-American freestyle skier who competed internationally for Great Britain. She won bronze in women's slopestyle at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, the first British Olympic…

1998

Ky Rodwell

Australian rugby league player

Ky Rodwell is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop and loose forward for Wakefield Trinity in the Super League.

1999

Dylan Brown

New Zealand rugby league player

Dylan Brown is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a five-eighth for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and New Zealand at international level.

2000

Alexandra Obolentseva

Russian chess player

Alexandra Sergeevna Obolentseva is a Russian chess player. She was awarded the title Woman Grandmaster by FIDE in 2018. Obolentseva has won the World Youth Chess Championships, the World Schools Chess Championships and…

2001

Nanou Philips

Belgian ASMR social media personality

Nanou Philips is a Belgian social media personality. Under the online handle Nanou ASMR, she produces ASMR content, which she is mostly known for, on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, in addition to other platforms.…

2007

Lil Bub

American celebrity cat (died 2019)

Lil Bub, officially Lil BUB, was an American celebrity cat known for her unique physical appearance. Her photos were first posted to Tumblr in November 2011, before taking off after being featured on the social news…

2011

Famous birthdays

Who was born on June 21?

Irene van Dyk — New Zealand and South Africa netball international

FeaturedIrene van Dyk

Birth year1972

Known forBetween 2000 and 2014 she made 145 senior appearances for New Zealand

Birthdays on this date320 (906 – 2011)

Explore June 21

Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.

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Also on June 21 in History

2025

A hot air balloon catches fire mid-flight and crashes in Praia Grande, Santa Catarina, Brazil, killing 8 of the 21 on board. Wikipedia →

2012

A boat carrying more than 200 migrants capsizes in the Indian Ocean between the Indonesian island of Java and Christmas Island, killing 17 people and leaving 70 others missing. Wikipedia →

2012

An Indonesian Air Force Fokker F27 Friendship crashes near Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, killing 11. Wikipedia →

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Famous Birthdays on June 21

1972 — Irene van Dyk

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