Famous Birthdays on June 29

Raymond Frederick Harryhausen was an American-British animator and special effects creator who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of both fields. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he built upon the techniques of his mentor, Willis H. O'Brien, to develop a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation" and advance the field of cinematic special effects. Though not credited as a writer or director on any of the feature films he worked on, the role he played in shaping those he made during his peak years has led to him being regarded as "cinema's sole visual effects auteur," and the creatures and sequences he animated are considered some of the most iconic in the history of cinema.

Katherine Jenkins is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano who performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre and hymns. After winning singing competitions in her youth, Jenkins studied at the Royal Academy of Music, modelled, and taught voice lessons. She came to wide public attention in 2003 when she sang at Westminster Cathedral in honour of Pope John Paul II's silver jubilee. Since 2004, she has released numerous albums that have performed well on British and foreign charts. In both 2005 and 2006, her albums received Classic Brit Awards as Album of the Year. She has been seen widely in concert and has performed for British Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. She has sung at sporting events and in support of many charities.

Anne-Sophie Mutter is a German violinist. Born in Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg and raised in the nearby town Wehr, Mutter began playing the violin aged five and pursued further studies in Germany and Switzerland. She was supported early in her career by Herbert von Karajan, made her orchestral debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1977, and rose to international prominence in the early 1980s. She has since performed as a soloist with leading orchestras worldwide and has recorded more than 50 albums, mostly with the Deutsche Grammophon label, earning four Grammy Awards, two ECHO Klassik awards, two Opus Klassik awards, and a Grand Prix du Disque. Despite her success and fame in the 1980s, Mutter's interpretive style often divides critics.

Count Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi was an Italian poet, philosopher, essayist, and philologist. Considered the greatest Italian poet of the 19th century and one of the greatest authors of his time worldwide, as well as one of the principals of literary Romanticism, his constant reflection on existence and on the human condition—of sensuous and materialist inspiration—has also earned him a reputation as a deep philosopher. He is widely seen as one of the most radical and challenging thinkers of the 19th century, and one of the crowns of Italian Romanticism together with Alessandro Manzoni, even if he expressed different and sometimes opposing positions compared to the latter. Although he lived in a secluded town in the conservative Papal States, he came into contact with the main ideas of the Enlightenment, and, through his own literary evolution, created a remarkable and renowned poetic work, related to the Romantic era. The strongly lyrical quality of his poetry made him a central figure in the European and international literary and cultural landscape.

Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman was a Luxembourg-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian democratic political thinker and activist. Twice Prime Minister of France, a reformist Minister of Finance and a Foreign Minister, he was instrumental in building postwar European and trans-Atlantic institutions and was one of the founders of the European Communities, the Council of Europe and NATO. He was the one who proposed the Schuman Declaration, which established the European Coal and Steel Community, ultimately a predecessor of the European Union. The 1964–1965 academic year at the College of Europe was named in his honour. In 2021, Schuman was declared venerable by Pope Francis in recognition of his acting on Christian principles.

Robert Derwent Garth Forster is an Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist and music critic. In December 1977 he co-founded an indie rock group, the Go-Betweens, with fellow musician Grant McLennan. In 1980, Lindy Morrison joined the group on drums and backing vocals, and by 1981 Forster and Morrison were also lovers. In 1988, "Streets of Your Town", co-written by McLennan and Forster, became the band's highest-charting hit in both Australia and the United Kingdom. The follow-up single, "Was There Anything I Could Do?", was a number-16 hit on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the United States. In December 1989, after recording six albums, the Go-Betweens disbanded. Forster and Morrison had separated as a couple earlier, and Forster began his solo music career from 1990.

Kim Alison Little is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for and captains Arsenal of the English Women's Super League. Before her retirement from international duty in 2021, Little was vice-captain of the Scotland national team. She began her senior career at Hibernian, winning the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Women's Cup and Scottish Premier League Cup with the club in the 2006–2007 season. With Arsenal, she is a two time Premier League National Division winner, five time League Cup winner, three time Women's Super League and FA Cup winner, and a Champions League winner. During her time at Seattle Reign, Little won the Golden Boot and Most Valuable Player awards.

Robert Laurent was a French-American modernist figurative sculptor, printmaker and teacher. His work, the New York Times wrote,"figured in the development of an American sculptural art that balanced nature and abstraction." Widely exhibited, he took part in the Whitney's 1946 exhibition Pioneers of Modern Art. Credited as the first American sculptor to adopt a "direct carving" sculpting style that was bolder and more abstract than the then traditional fine arts practice, which relied on models, Laurent's approach was inspired by the African carving and European avant-garde art he admired, while also echoing folk styles found both in the U.S. and among medieval stone cutters of his native Brittany. Best known for his virtuoso mastery of the figure, Laurent sculpted in multiple media, including wood, alabaster, bronze, marble and aluminum. His expertise earned him major commissions for public sculpture, most famously for the Goose Girl for New York City's Radio City Music Hall, as well as for Spanning the Continent for Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. After the Depression, he was also the recipient of several Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Art Project commissions under the New Deal, including a bas-relief called Shipping for the exterior of Washington, D.C.'s Federal Trade Commission Building, commissioned by the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts in 1938.

Ann Margaret Veneman is an American attorney who served as the fifth executive director of UNICEF from 2005 to 2010. She previously served as the 27th United States secretary of agriculture from 2001 to 2005. Veneman served for the first term of President George W. Bush, and she left to take the UNICEF position. Appointed by the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on January 18, 2005, she took over the post on May 1, 2005, serving until 2010. Previously, she also served as secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, serving from 1995 to 1999, as well as United States deputy secretary of agriculture, serving from 1991 to 1993. Veneman was the first woman to serve as Secretary of Agriculture and the second woman to lead UNICEF, following her predecessor, Carol Bellamy.

Joan Clos i Matheu, GCIH is a Spanish politician who was mayor of Barcelona, Spain from September 1997 to September 2006. He took over from Pasqual Maragall in 1997. In 1999 he was elected to a four-year term, and was then re-elected in the municipal elections of 25 May 2003. In September 2006, he left Barcelona Town Hall, after nine years of office, as he was appointed Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. After a stint as the Spanish Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan, in 2010 he was appointed as executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, (UN-HABITAT), and Under Secretary General of the United Nations. Joan Clos is also president of the Spanish Chapter of The International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI).

Joseph Carl Breil was an American lyric tenor, stage director, composer and conductor. He was one of the earliest American composers to compose specific music for motion pictures. His first film was Les amours de la reine Élisabeth (1912) starring Sarah Bernhardt. He later composed and arranged scores for several other early motion pictures, including such epics as D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916), as well as scoring the preview version of The Phantom of the Opera (1925), a score that is now lost. His love theme for "Birth of a Nation", titled "The Perfect Song", was published by Chappell & Co. in an arrangement for voice and keyboard. It was later used as the theme for the radio show Amos 'n' Andy.

Quintin Lamon Demps is an American college football coach and former safety. He is the defensive pass game coordinator and safeties coach Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio, a position he has held since 2025. Demps played college football at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL draft. He played in the National Football League (NFL) with the Eagles, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants and Chicago Bears, and with the Hartford Colonials of United Football League (UFL). Demps served as head football coach at Judson University in Elgin, Illinois from 2023 to 2024.

Celia Thaxter was an American writer of poetry and stories. For most of her life, she lived with her father on the Isles of Shoals at his Appledore Hotel. How she grew up to become a writer is detailed in her early autobiography, and her book entitled Among the Isles of Shoals. Thaxter became one of America's favorite authors in the late 19th century. Among her best-known poems are "The Burgomaster Gull", "Landlocked", "Milking", "The Great White Owl", "The Kingfisher", and "The Sandpiper". Many of her romantic poems are addressed to women; as such, she has been identified by some scholars as a lesbian poet.

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis OBE, FNA, FASc, FRS was an Indian scientist and statistician. He is best remembered for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure, and for being one of the members of the first economic Planning Commission of independent India. He made pioneering studies in anthropometry in India. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute, and contributed to the design of large-scale sample surveys. For his contributions, Mahalanobis has been considered the father of statistics in India. Since 2007, 29 June is celebrated as National Statistics Day in India to commemorate the birth anniversary of P.C. Mahalanobis and his contributions to statistical science and planning.

Edward Koiki Mabo was a Torres Strait Islander man, known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights in Australia, in particular the landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that recognised that indigenous rights to land had continued after the British Crown acquired sovereignty and that the international law doctrine of terra nullius was not applicable to Australian domestic law. High court judges considering the case Mabo v Queensland found in favour of Mabo, which led to the Native Title Act 1993 and established native title in Australia, officially recognising the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.

Jeffrey Tyler Burton, nicknamed "the Mayor", is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is a member of the Burton racing family. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in 1999 and 2001 and the 1999 Southern 500. He currently serves as a color commentator for NBC Sports, having joined them upon their return to their coverage of NASCAR. His son and nephew, Harrison and Jeb, respectively, both currently compete in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, while his brother Ward Burton has also raced in the Cup Series.

Tajja Isen is a Canadian actress and writer. Her first book, the essay collection Some of My Best Friends: Essays on Lip Service, was published in April 2022. As an actress, she is best known for voicing the title character Atomic Betty. She has several other voice credits, including Samantha in Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure, Sister Bear in the 2002 revival of The Berenstain Bears, Pipsqueak in The ZhuZhus, Princess Pea/Presto in the PBS Kids show Super Why!, Jane in Jane and the Dragon, Jodie in Time Warp Trio, Franny's singing voice in Franny's Feet, and Jazzi in The Save-Ums!.

Petronilla, whose name is also spelled Petronila or Petronella, was Queen of Aragon (1137–1164) from the abdication of her father, Ramiro II, in 1137 until her own abdication in 1164. After her abdication she acted as regent during the minority of her son Alfonso II of Aragon (1164–1173). She was the last ruling member of the Jiménez dynasty in the Kingdom of Aragon, and by marriage to Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona brought the House of Barcelona to the throne of Aragon, uniting the Kingdom of Aragon with the County of Barcelona to create the Crown of Aragon.

Harmon Clayton Killebrew Jr., nicknamed "the Killer" and "Hammerin' Harmon", was an American professional baseball player as a first baseman, third baseman, and left fielder. He spent most of his 22-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Minnesota Twins. A prolific power hitter, Killebrew had the fifth-most home runs in major league history at the time of his retirement. He was second only to Babe Ruth in American League (AL) home runs, and was the AL career leader in home runs by a right-handed batter. Killebrew was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.