Famous Birthdays on May 22

Q: Who was born on May 22?

Famous people born on May 22 include: Itzam K'an Ahk I, Su Xun, Annamacharya, Edward Seymour, Louis de Buade de Frontenac.

Q: What is Novak Djokovic known for?

Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player

206 people 626 – 2004

May 22 has seen 206 notable people enter the world across recorded history — from 626 – 2004. Below are the most significant names born on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · May 22 — Wikipedia

1987 — Novak Djokovic

Serbian tennis player

Did you know

1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for a record 428 weeks, finished as the year-end No

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He has won 101 ATP Tour–level singles titles, including a record 24 majors, a record 40 Masters, a record seven year-end championships, and an Olympic gold medal

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1 at least once in a year for a record 13 different years

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In singles, he is the only man to achieve a triple Career Grand Slam, and the only player to complete a Career Golden Masters, a feat he has accomplished twice

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Djokovic is the only player in singles to have won all of the Big Titles over the course of his career.

Itzam K'an Ahk I

Mayan king (died 686)

Itzam Kʼan Ahk I, also known as Ruler 2, was an ajaw of Piedras Negras, an ancient Maya settlement in Guatemala. He ruled during the Late Classic Period, from AD 639–686. The son of Kʼinich Yoʼnal Ahk I, Itzam Kʼan Ahk…

626

Su Xun

Chinese writer (died 1066)

Su Xun was a scholar, essayist and philosopher during the Song dynasty, listed as one of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song, along with his sons Su Shi and Su Zhe.

1009

Annamacharya

Hindu saint (died 1503)

Tallapaka Annamacharya, also known as Annamayya, was a Telugu composer and Hindu saint. Born in Thallapaka, he composed devotional songs known as saṁkīrtanas in praise of Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu. He is the…

1408

Edward Seymour

1st Earl of Hertford (died 1621)

Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Baron Beauchamp, KG, of Wulfhall and Totnam Lodge in Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, of Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset, of Netley Abbey, Hampshire, and of Hertford House, Cannon Row in…

1539

Louis de Buade de Frontenac

French soldier and governor (died 1698)

Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France in North America from 1672 to 1682, and again from 1689 to his death in 1698. He established a number…

1622

Gabriël Grupello

Flemish Baroque sculptor (died 1730)

Gabriël Grupello was a Flemish Baroque sculptor who produced religious and mythological sculptures, portraits and public sculptures. He worked in Flanders, France and Germany. He was a virtuoso sculptor who enjoyed the…

1644

Richard Brakenburgh

Dutch Golden Age painter (died 1702)

Richard Brakenburgh or Brakenburg, was a Dutch Golden Age painter.

1650

Magnus Stenbock

Swedish field marshal and Royal Councillor (died 1717)

Count Magnus Stenbock was a Swedish field marshal (Fältmarskalk) and Royal Councillor. A commander of the Carolean Army during the Great Northern War, he was a prominent member of the Stenbock family. He studied at…

1665

Daniel Gran

Austrian painter (died 1757)

Daniel Gran was an Austrian painter. His pictures ornament several public buildings in his native city. He was of some consideration in his time and after a century of Italian dominance one of the first important…

1694

François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis

French cardinal and diplomat (died 1794)

François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, comte de Lyonnais was a French cardinal and diplomat. He was the sixth member elected to occupy Seat 3 of the Académie française in 1744. Bernis was a prominent figure in the…

1715

Hubert Robert

French painter (died 1808)

Hubert Robert was a French painter in the school of Romanticism, noted especially for his landscape paintings and capricci, or semi-fictitious picturesque depictions of ruins in Italy and of France.

1733

Louis Legendre

French butcher and politician (died 1797)

Louis Legendre was a French politician of the Revolution period.

1752

Henry Bathurst

3rd Earl Bathurst, English politician (died 1834)

Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, was a High Tory, High Church Pittite. He was an MP for thirty years before ennoblement. A personal friend of William Pitt the Younger, he became a broker of deals across cabinet…

1762

Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (died 1840)

Princess Elizabeth, called Eliza, was the seventh child and third daughter of King George III and Queen Charlotte. After marrying the Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, Frederick VI, she took permanent residence in Germany as…

1770

Ram Mohan Roy

Indian philosopher and reformer (died 1833)

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was an Indian social reformer and writer who was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a socio-religious reform movement in the Indian subcontinent. He…

1772

Johann Nepomuk Schödlberger

Austrian painter (died 1853)

Johann Nepomuk Schödlberger was an Austrian painter who specialized in landscapes; often with figures. He was largely self-taught.

1779

Hirose Tansō

Japanese neo-Confucian scholar, teacher, writer (died 1856)

Hirose Tanso was a neo-Confucian scholar, teacher and writer in late Edo Period Japan.

1782

William Sturgeon

English physicist and inventor, invented the electromagnet and electric motor (died 1850)

William Sturgeon was an English electrical engineer and inventor who made the first electromagnet and the first practical electric motor.

1783

Gérard de Nerval

French poet and translator (died 1855)

Gérard de Nerval, was the pen name of Gérard Labrunie, a French travel writer, essayist, poet, and translator. He was a major figure during the era of French romanticism, and best known for his novellas and poems,…

1808

Giulia Grisi

Italian soprano (died 1869)

Giulia Grisi was an Italian opera singer. She performed widely in Europe, the United States and South America and was among the leading sopranos of the 19th century.

1811

Henry Pelham-Clinton

5th Duke of Newcastle, English politician (died 1864)

Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne,, styled Earl of Lincoln before 1851, was a British politician and aristocrat. He sat in Parliament for South Nottinghamshire (1832–46) and for…

1811

Richard Wagner

German composer (died 1883)

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor, best known for his operas, although his mature works are often referred to as music dramas. Unlike most composers, Wagner wrote…

1813

Amalia Lindegren

Swedish painter (died 1891)

Amalia Euphrosyne Lindegren was a Swedish artist and painter. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts (1856).

1814

Worthington Whittredge

American painter (died 1910)

Thomas Worthington Whittredge was an American artist of the Hudson River School. Whittredge was a highly regarded artist of his time, and was friends with several leading Hudson River School artists including Albert…

1820

Albrecht von Graefe

German ophthalmologist and academic (died 1870)

Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Albrecht von Gräfe, often Anglicized to Graefe, was a Prussian pioneer of German ophthalmology. Graefe was born in Finkenheerd, Brandenburg, the son of Karl Ferdinand von Graefe (1787–1840). He…

1828

Henry Vandyke Carter

English anatomist and surgeon (died 1897)

Henry Vandyke Carter was an English anatomist, surgeon, and anatomical artist most notable for his illustrations of the book Gray's Anatomy.

1831

Félix Bracquemond

French painter and etcher (died 1914)

Félix Henri Bracquemond was a French painter, etcher, and printmaker. He played a key role in the revival of printmaking, encouraging artists such as Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro to use this technique.

1833

Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla

Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (died 1895)

Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla was a Spanish politician. He served as Prime Minister of Spain for a little over ten weeks, in the summer of 1871, and again for eight months, between June 1872 and February 1873.

1833

Catulle Mendès

French poet, author, and playwright (died 1909)

Abraham Catulle Mendès was a French poet and man of letters. He was associated with the Parnassianist school.

1841

Mary Cassatt

American painter and educator (died 1926)

Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, but lived most of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar Degas and exhibited with the Impressionists.…

1844

Rita Cetina Gutiérrez

Mexican poet, educator, and activist (died 1908)

Rita Cetina Gutiérrez was a 19th-century Mexican educator, writer, and feminist who promoted women's education in Mérida, Yucatán. She helped found a literary society, a periodical, and a school with Gertrudis Tenorio…

1846

Fritz von Uhde

German painter and educator (died 1911)

Fritz von Uhde was a German painter of genre and religious subjects. His style lay in-between Realism and Impressionism, he was once known as "Germany's outstanding impressionist" and he became one of the first painters…

1848

Aston Webb

English architect and academic (died 1930)

Sir Aston Webb, was a British architect who designed the principal facade of Buckingham Palace and the main building of the Victoria and Albert Museum, among other major works around England, many of them in partnership…

1849

Belmiro de Almeida

Brazilian painter, illustrator, sculptor (died 1935)

Belmiro Barbosa de Almeida was a Brazilian painter, illustrator, sculptor and caricaturist.

1858

Arthur Conan Doyle

British writer (died 1930)

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He is best known for his four novels and fifty-six short stories about the fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson,…

1859

Tsubouchi Shōyō

Japanese author, playwright, and educator (died 1935)

Tsubouchi Shōyō was a Japanese author, critic, playwright, translator, editor, educator, and professor at Waseda University. He has been referred to as a seminal figure in Japanese drama.

1859

Willy Stöwer

German author and illustrator (died 1931)

Willy Stöwer was a German artist, illustrator, and author during the Imperial Period. He is best known for nautical paintings and lithographs. Many of his works depict historical maritime events such as the sinking of…

1864

Augusto Pestana

Brazilian engineer and politician (died 1934)

Augusto Pestana was a Brazilian engineer and politician. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Pestana moved in the late 1880s to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state, where he would become a specialist in railroad…

1868

Daniel François Malan

South African clergyman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (died 1959)

Daniël François Malan was a South African politician who served as the fourth prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. The National Party implemented the system of apartheid, which enforced racial segregation…

1874

Julius Klinger

Austrian painter and illustrator (died 1942)

Julius Klinger was an Austrian painter, draftsman, illustrator, commercial graphic artist, typographer and writer. Klinger studied at the Technologisches Gewerbemuseum HTL in Vienna.

1876

Warwick Armstrong

Australian cricketer and journalist (died 1947)

Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921, and was undefeated, winning…

1879

Jean Cras

French admiral and composer (died 1932)

Jean Émile Paul Cras was a 20th-century French composer and career naval officer. His musical compositions were inspired by his native Brittany, his travels to Africa, and most of all, by his sea voyages. As a naval…

1879

Symon Petliura

Ukrainian statesman and independence leader (died 1926)

Symon Vasyliovych Petliura was a Ukrainian revolutionary, politician and journalist. He was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian People's Army (UNA) and led the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian War of…

1879

Francis de Miomandre

French author and translator (died 1959)

Francis de Miomandre was a French novelist and well-known translator from Spanish into French.

1880

Wilhelmina Hay Abbott

Scottish suffragist and feminist (died 1957)

Wilhelmina Hay Abbott, also known by the name "Elizabeth Abbott," was a Scottish suffragist, editor, and feminist lecturer, and wife of author George Frederick Abbott.

1884

Giacomo Matteotti

Italian lawyer and politician (died 1924)

Giacomo Matteotti was an Italian socialist, anti-fascist politician and an opposition leader, who was the secretary of the Unitary Socialist Party (PSU) from 1922 to 1924. Born in the province of Rovigo in Fratta…

1885

Soemu Toyoda

Japanese admiral (died 1957)

Soemu Toyoda was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II.

1885

A. W. Sandberg

Danish film director and screenwriter (died 1938)

Anders Wilhelm Sandberg was a Danish film director and screenwriter.

1887

Johannes R. Becher

German politician, novelist, and poet (died 1958)

Johannes Robert Becher was a German politician, novelist, and poet. He was affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) before World War II. He was part of the literary avant-garde, writing in an expressionist…

1891

Friedrich Pollock

German sociologist and philosopher (died 1970)

Friedrich Pollock was a German social scientist and philosopher. He was one of the founders of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt am Main, and a member of the Frankfurt School of Marxist theory.

1894

Robert Neumann

German and English-speaking author (died 1975)

Robert Neumann was a German and English-speaking writer. He published numerous novels, autobiographical texts, plays and radio plays as well a few scripts. Through his parody collections, Mit fremden Federn (1927) and…

1897

Juan Arvizu

Mexican lyric opera tenor and bolero vocalist (died 1985)

Juan Nepomuceno Arvizu Santelices, was an acclaimed lyric tenor in Mexico and a noted interpreter of the Latin American bolero and tango on the international concert stage, on the radio and in film. He was widely noted…

1900

Maurice J. Tobin

American politician, 6th United States Secretary of Labor (died 1953)

Maurice Joseph Tobin was an American politician serving as 46th Mayor of Boston, the 56th Governor of Massachusetts and 6th United States Secretary of Labor. He was a member of the Democratic Party and a liberal that…

1901

Jack Lambert

English footballer and manager (died 1940)

John Lambert was an English footballer who played as a centre forward or inside forward. He scored 116 goals from 223 appearances in the Football League playing for Rotherham County, Leeds United, Doncaster Rovers,…

1902

Al Simmons

American baseball player and coach (died 1956)

Aloysius Harry Simmons was an American professional baseball outfielder who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Bucketfoot Al", he had his best years with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics…

1902

Uno Lamm

Swedish electrical engineer and inventor (died 1989)

August Uno Lamm was a Swedish electrical engineer and inventor. He was sometimes called "The Father of High Voltage Direct Current" power transmission. During his career, Lamm obtained 150 patents. In 1980 the Institute…

1904

Bodo von Borries

German physicist and academic, co-invented the electron microscope (died 1956)

Bodo von Borries in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia) was a German physicist. He was the co-inventor of the electron microscope.

1905

Tom Driberg

British politician (died 1976)

Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell was a British journalist, politician, High Anglican churchman and possible Soviet spy, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1942 to 1955, and again from 1959 to 1974.…

1905

Hergé

Belgian author and illustrator (died 1983)

Georges Prosper Remi, known by the pen name Hergé, from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials RG, was a Belgian comic strip artist. He is best known for creating The Adventures of Tintin, the series of comic…

1907

Laurence Olivier

English actor, director, and producer (died 1989)

Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave and Ralph Richardson made up a quartet of male actors who dominated the British stage of…

1907

Horton Smith

American golfer and captain (died 1963)

Horton Smith was an American professional golfer, best known as the winner of the first and third Masters Tournaments.

1908

Bob Dyer

American-Australian radio and television host (died 1984)

Robert Neal Dyer OBE was a Gold Logie-award-winning American-born vaudeville entertainer and singer, radio and television personality, and radio and television quiz show host who made his name in Australia. Dyer is best…

1909

Margaret Mee

English illustrator and educator (died 1988)

Margaret Ursula Mee, MBE was a British botanical artist who specialised in plants from the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. She was also one of the first environmentalists to draw attention to the impact of large-scale…

1909

Herbert C. Brown

English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2004)

Herbert Charles Brown was an American chemist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with organoboranes.

1912

Rafael Gil

Spanish director and screenwriter (died 1986)

Rafael Gil was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. His film I Was a Parish Priest (1953) won the Bronze Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1953 and also won best film and best director at the San Sebastián…

1913

Dominique Rolin

Belgian author (died 2012)

Dominique Rolin was a Belgian novelist.

1913

Max Kohnstamm

Dutch historian and diplomat (died 2010)

Max Kohnstamm was a Dutch historian and diplomat.

1914

Sun Ra

American pianist, composer, bandleader, poet (died 1993)

Le Sony'r Ra, better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific output, and theatrical…

1914

George Aratani

American businessman and philanthropist (died 2013)

George Tetsuo Aratani was a Japanese American entrepreneur, philanthropist and the founder of Mikasa china and owner of the Kenwood Electronics corporation.

1917

Jean-Louis Curtis

French author (died 1995)

Jean-Louis Curtis, pseudonym of Albert Laffitte, was a French novelist best known for his second novel The Forests of the Night, which won France's highest literary award the Prix Goncourt in 1947. He is the author of…

1917

Paul Vanden Boeynants

Belgian businessman and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Belgium (died 2001)

Paul Emile François Henri Vanden Boeynants was a Belgian politician. He served as the prime minister of Belgium for two brief periods.

1919

Thomas Gold

Austrian-American astrophysicist and academic (died 2004)

Thomas Gold was an Austrian-born astrophysicist, who also held British and American citizenship. He was a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of…

1920

George S. Hammond

American scientist (died 2005)

George Simms Hammond was an American scientist and theoretical chemist who developed "Hammond's postulate", and fathered organic photochemistry,–the general theory of the geometric structure of the transition state in…

1921

Quinn Martin

American screenwriter and producer (died 1987)

Quinn Martin was an American television producer. He had at least one television series running in prime time every year for 21 straight years. Martin is a member of the Television Hall of Fame, having been inducted…

1922

Charles Aznavour

French-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor (died 2018)

Charles Aznavour was a French and Armenian singer-songwriter, actor, and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringing in its upper reaches, with gravelly and profound low…

1924

Jean Tinguely

Swiss painter and sculptor (died 1991)

Jean Tinguely was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century. Tinguely's art satirized automation and the technological…

1925

Michael Constantine

American actor (died 2021)

Michael Constantine was a Greek-American actor. He is most widely recognized for his portrayal of Kostas "Gus" Portokalos, the stubborn Greek father of Toula Portokalos, in the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). For…

1927

Peter Matthiessen

American novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founded The Paris Review (died 2014)

Peter Matthiessen was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, zen teacher, and onetime CIA agent. A co-founder of the literary magazine The Paris Review, he is the only writer to have won the National Book…

1927

George Andrew Olah

Hungarian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2017)

George Andrew Olah was a Hungarian-American chemist. His research involved the generation and reactivity of carbocations via superacids. For this research, Olah was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1994 "for his…

1927

Serge Doubrovsky

French theorist and author (died 2017)

Julien Serge Doubrovsky was a French writer and 1989 Prix Médicis winner for Le Livre brisé. He is also a critical theorist, and coined the term "autofiction" in the drafts for his novel Fils (1977).

1928

John Mackenzie

Scottish director and producer (died 2011)

John Leonard Duncan Mackenzie was a Scottish film and television director. He worked in British film from the late 1960s, first as an assistant director and later as an independent director himself.

1928

T. Boone Pickens

American businessman (died 2019)

Thomas Boone Pickens Jr. was an American business magnate and financier. Pickens chaired the hedge fund BP Capital Management. He was a well-known takeover operator and corporate raider during the 1980s. Later in life,…

1928

Hiroshi Sano

Japanese novelist (died 2013)

Ichiro Maruyama, who wrote under the pen name You Sano, was a Japanese mystery writer and critic.

1928

Ahmed Fouad Negm

Egyptian poet (died 2013)

Ahmad Fo'ad Negm, popularly known as El-Fagumi الفاجومي, was an Egyptian vernacular poet. Negm is well known for his work with Egyptian composer Sheikh Imam, as well as his patriotic and revolutionary Egyptian Arabic…

1929

Kenny Ball

English jazz trumpet player, vocalist, and bandleader (died 2013)

Kenneth Daniel Ball was an English jazz musician, best known as the bandleader, lead trumpet player and vocalist in Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen.

1930

Marisol Escobar

French-American sculptor (died 2016)

Marisol Escobar, otherwise known simply as Marisol, was a Venezuelan-American sculptor born in Paris, who lived and worked in New York City. She became world-famous in the mid-1960s, but lapsed into relative obscurity…

1930

Harvey Milk

American lieutenant and politician (died 1978)

Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

1930

Robert Spitzer

American psychiatrist and academic (died 2015)

Robert Leopold Spitzer was a psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City. He was a major force in the development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

1932

Fred Anderson

Australian-South African rugby league player (died 2012)

Fred Anderson was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s.

1933

Chen Jingrun

Chinese mathematician and academic (died 1996)

Chen Jingrun, also known as Jing-Run Chen, was a Chinese mathematician who made significant contributions to number theory, including Chen's theorem and the Chen prime.

1933

Peter Nero

American pianist and conductor (died 2023)

Peter Nero was an American pianist and pops conductor. He directed the Philly Pops from 1979 to 2013, and earned two Grammy Awards, including the award for Best New Artist in 1962, as well as a total of 8 nominations.

1934

Billy Rayner

Australian rugby league player (died 2006)

Billy Rayner was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s.

1935

George H. Heilmeier

American engineer (died 2014)

George Harry Heilmeier was an American engineer, manager, and a pioneering contributor to liquid crystal displays (LCDs), for which he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Heilmeier's work is an IEEE…

1936

Facundo Cabral

Argentinian singer-songwriter (died 2011)

Facundo Cabral was an Argentine singer-songwriter.

1937

Tomáš Janovic

Slovak writer (died 2023)

Tomáš Janovic was a Slovak writer, songwriter, journalist and poet. He was best known as an aphorist.

1937

Richard Benjamin

American actor and director

Richard Samuel Benjamin is an American actor and director. He has starred in a number of well-known films, including Goodbye, Columbus (1969), Catch-22 (1970), Portnoy's Complaint (1972), Westworld, The Last of Sheila…

1938

Susan Strasberg

American actress (died 1999)

Susan Elizabeth Strasberg was an American stage, film, and television actress. Thought to be the next Hepburn-type ingenue, she was nominated for a Tony Award at age 18, playing the title role in The Diary of Anne…

1938

Paul Winfield

American actor (died 2004)

Paul Edward Winfield was an American actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landmark film Sounder (1972), which earned…

1939

Kieth Merrill

American filmmaker

Kieth W. Merrill is an American filmmaker who has worked as a writer, director, and producer in the film industry since 1967. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Directors Guild of…

1940

E. A. S. Prasanna

Indian cricketer

Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas Prasanna is a former Indian cricket player. He was a spin bowler, specialising in off spin and a member of the Indian spin quartet. He is an alumnus of the National Institute of Engineering,…

1940

Michael Sarrazin

Canadian actor (died 2011)

Michael Sarrazin was a French Canadian actor. His most notable film was They Shoot Horses, Don't They?.

1940

Bernard Shaw

American journalist (died 2022)

Bernard Shaw was an American journalist and lead news anchor for CNN from its launch in 1980 until his retirement on March 2, 2001. Prior to his time at CNN, he was a reporter and anchor for WNUS, Westinghouse…

1940

Mick Tingelhoff

American football player (died 2021)

Henry Michael Tingelhoff was an American professional football player who was a center for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) from 1962 to 1978. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame…

1940

Menzies Campbell

Scottish sprinter and politician (died 2025)

Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, was a Scottish politician, advocate and athlete. A senior figure in the Liberal Democrats, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife…

1941

Roger Brown

American basketball player (died 1997)

Roger William Brown was an American professional basketball player and councilman.

1942

Ted Kaczynski

American academic and mathematician turned anarchist and serial murderer (Unabomber) (died 2023)

Theodore John Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, was an American mathematician and domestic terrorist. A mathematics prodigy, he abandoned his academic career in 1969 to pursue a reclusive primitive lifestyle and…

1942

Barbara Parkins

Canadian actress

Barbara Parkins is a Canadian-American former actress, singer, dancer and photographer.

1942

Richard Oakes

Native American civil rights activist (died 1972)

Richard Oakes was a Mohawk American Indian activist and academic. He spurred American Indian studies in university curricula and is credited for helping to change US federal government termination policies of American…

1942

Betty Williams

Northern Irish peace activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2020)

Elizabeth Williams was a peace activist from Northern Ireland. She was a co-recipient with Mairead Corrigan of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work as a cofounder of Community of Peace People, an organisation…

1943

Tommy John

American baseball player

Thomas Edward John Jr., nicknamed "the Bionic Man," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland…

1943

John Flanagan

Australian fantasy author (died 2026)

John Anthony Flanagan was an Australian fantasy author best known for his medieval fantasy series, the Ranger's Apprentice, and its sister series, the Brotherband Chronicles. Some of his other works include his Storm…

1944

Bob Katter

Australian politician

Robert Bellarmine Carl Katter is an Australian politician who has served as the member of parliament (MP) for the Queensland division of Kennedy since 1993 and father of the House since 2022. He was previously active in…

1945

George Best

Northern Irish footballer and manager (died 2005)

George Best was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a right winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A skillful dribbler, he is considered one of the greatest players of all…

1946

Michael Green

English physicist and academic

Michael Boris Green is a British physicist and a pioneer of string theory. He is a professor of theoretical physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at Queen Mary University of London, emeritus professor in the…

1946

Howard Kendall

English footballer and manager (died 2015)

Howard Kendall was an English footballer and manager.

1946

Andrei Marga

Romanian philosopher, political scientist, politician

Andrei Marga is a Romanian philosopher, political scientist, and politician. Rector – for the second time – of the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, he was a member of the Christian Democratic National Peasants'…

1946

Lyudmila Zhuravleva

Russian-Ukrainian astronomer

Lyudmila Vasilyevna Zhuravleva is a Soviet, Russian, and Ukrainian astronomer, who worked at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyi, where she discovered 213 minor planets. She also serves as president of the…

1946

Tomás Sánchez

Cuban painter and engraver

Tomás Sánchez is a Cuban painter and engraver, known for his landscapes. Sánchez is the most expensive living Cuban painter.

1948

Nedumudi Venu

Indian actor and screenwriter (died 2021)

Kesavan Venugopal, better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in Malayalam…

1948

Cheryl Campbell

English actress

Cheryl Campbell is an English actress. She starred opposite Bob Hoskins in the 1978 BBC drama Pennies From Heaven, before going on to win the 1980 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for Testament of Youth and Malice…

1949

Valentin Inzko

Austrian diplomat

Valentin Inzko is an Austrian diplomat who served as the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2009 to 2021. He also served as the European Union Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2009…

1949

Bernie Taupin

English singer-songwriter and poet

Bernard John Taupin is an English lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin…

1950

Kenneth Bianchi

American serial killer and rapist

Kenneth Alessio Bianchi is an American serial killer, kidnapper, and rapist. He is known for the Hillside Strangler murders which he committed with his cousin Angelo Buono Jr. in Los Angeles, as well as for two more…

1951

François Bon

French writer

François Bon is a French writer and translator.

1953

Cha Bum-kun

South Korean footballer and manager

Cha Bum-kun is a South Korean former football manager and player. A forward, he was nicknamed Tscha Bum or "Cha Boom" in Germany because of his name and thunderous ball striking ability. Known for his explosive pace and…

1953

Paul Mariner

English footballer, coach, and manager (died 2021)

Paul Mariner was an English football player and coach.

1953

Barbara May Cameron

Native American human rights activist (died 2002)

Barbara May Cameron was a Native American photographer, poet, writer, and human rights activist in the fields of lesbian/gay rights, women's rights, and Native American rights.

1954

Shuji Nakamura

Japanese-American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate

Shuji Nakamura is a Japanese–American electronics engineer and co-inventor of the blue LED, a major breakthrough in lighting technology. For this achievement, Nakamura, together with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano,…

1954

Iva Davies

Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Ivor Arthur Davies, AM, known professionally as Iva Davies, is an Australian singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer.

1955

Lucie Brock-Broido

American poet (died 2018)

Lucie Brock-Broido born "Lucy Brock" was an American poet, widely acclaimed as one of the most distinctive and influential voices of her generation. Noteworthy for her work as a teacher, Brock-Broido served as a…

1956

Lisa Murkowski

American lawyer and politician

Lisa Ann Murkowski is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator from the state of Alaska, having held the seat since 2002. She is the first woman to represent Alaska in the U.S.…

1957

David Blatt

Israeli-American basketball player and coach

David Michael Blatt is an Israeli-American professional basketball executive. He is also a former coach and player.

1959

Olin Browne

American golfer

Olin Douglas Browne is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and now plays on the PGA Tour Champions.

1959

Morrissey

English singer-songwriter and performer

Steven Patrick Morrissey is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of the rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then he has pursued a successful…

1959

Kwak Jae-yong

South Korean director and screenwriter

Kwak Jae-yong is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He studied physics at Kyung Hee University. He achieved success with his debut film Watercolor Painting in a Rainy Day in 1989, but the failure of his next…

1959

Mehbooba Mufti

Indian politician

Mehbooba Bur Mufti Sayed is an Indian politician and leader of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP), who served as the 9th chief minister of the erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir from 4 April 2016 to 19…

1959

Hideaki Anno

Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter

Hideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, actor, producer, and voice actor. His most celebrated creation, the Evangelion franchise, has had a significant influence on the anime television industry and Japanese…

1960

Andrew Magee

French-American golfer

Andrew Donald Magee is an American professional golfer who played for more than 20 years on the PGA Tour.

1962

Brian Pillman

American football player and wrestler (died 1997)

Brian William Pillman was an American professional wrestler and professional football player best known for his appearances in Stampede Wrestling in the 1980s and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship…

1962

Claude Closky

French contemporary artist

Claude Closky is a French artist who lives and works in Paris.

1963

Jay Carney

American journalist, 29th White House Press Secretary

Jay Carney is an American public relations officer and former journalist who served as the 28th White House press secretary from 2011 to 2014. He worked as Amazon's senior vice president of global corporate affairs from…

1965

Johnny Gill

American singer-songwriter and producer

Johnny Gill Jr. is an American singer and songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has…

1966

Wang Xiaoshuai

Chinese director and screenwriter

Wang Xiaoshuai is a Chinese film director, screenwriter, and occasional actor. He is commonly grouped under the loose association of filmmakers known as the "Sixth Generation" of the Cinema of China. Like others in this…

1966

Graham Linehan

Irish comedy writer and activist

Graham George Linehan is an Irish comedy writer and anti-transgender activist. He created or co-created the sitcoms Father Ted (1995–1998), Black Books (2000–2004), The IT Crowd (2006–2013), and Count Arthur Strong…

1968

Michael Kelly

American actor

Michael Kelly is an American actor, widely known for his role as Doug Stamper in the Netflix drama series House of Cards. He played a regular role as CIA Agent Mike November in the Prime Video thriller series Jack Ryan.…

1969

Cathy McMorris Rodgers

American lawyer and politician

Cathy Anne McMorris Rodgers is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2025 as the United States representative for Washington's 5th congressional district, which encompasses the eastern third of the state and…

1969

Naomi Campbell

English model

Naomi Elaine Campbell is a British model. Beginning her career at the age of eight, Campbell was one of six models of her generation declared supermodels by the fashion industry and the international press. She was the…

1970

Brody Stevens

American comedian and actor (died 2019)

Steven James Brody, known professionally as Brody Stevens, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in the Comedy Central reality series Brody Stevens: Enjoy It!, and was known for appearances on Chelsea…

1970

Max Brooks

American author and screenwriter

Maximilian Michael Brooks is an American writer and actor. He is the son of filmmaker Mel Brooks and actress Anne Bancroft. Much of Brooks' writing focuses on zombie stories. He was a senior fellow at the Modern War…

1972

Nikolaj Lie Kaas

Danish actor

Nikolaj Lie Kaas is a Danish actor whose career began in the 1990s. Kaas graduated from the National Theater School in Denmark in 1998. He first appeared on screen in Søren Kragh-Jacobsen's film The Boys from St. Petri…

1973

Sean Gunn

American actor

Sean Gunn is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Kirk Gleason on The WB series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007), and Kraglin Obfonteri in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this role, he has been in the films…

1974

Garba Lawal

Nigerian footballer

Garba Lawal is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a winger. From 2014 to 2015, he was general manager at Kaduna United. He is with the technical department of the Nigeria Football Federation.

1974

Henrietta Ónodi

Hungarian Olympic gymnast

Henrietta Ónodi is a Hungarian artistic gymnast. She competed at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics and won a gold and a silver medal in 1992. After retiring from gymnastics in 1997 she moved to the United States, married…

1974

Arseniy Yatsenyuk

Ukrainian politician

Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served two terms as Prime Minister of Ukraine – from 27 February 2014 to 27 November 2014 and from 27 November 2014 to 14 April 2016. He…

1974

Canek Sánchez Guevara

Cuban author and dissident (died 2015)

Canek Sánchez Guevara (1974–2015) was a Cuban author, photographer, musician and dissident. The grandson of Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara, he grew up in the upper crust of post-revolutionary Cuban society, but…

1974

Anne Beathe Tvinnereim

Norwegian politician

Anne Beathe Kristiansen Tvinnereim is a Norwegian politician and diplomat who servied as the Minister of International Development and Minister of Nordic Cooperation from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Centre Party, she…

1974

Salva Ballesta

Spanish footballer and manager

Salvador Ballesta Vialcho, commonly known as Salva, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager.

1975

Christian Vande Velde

American cyclist

Christian Vande Velde is a retired American professional road racing cyclist who rode professionally between 1998 and 2013. Vande Velde competed for the U.S. Postal Service, Liberty Seguros, Team CSC and Garmin–Sharp…

1976

Pat Smullen

Irish jockey (died 2020)

Patrick Joseph Smullen, was an Irish jockey who won the Irish flat racing Champion Jockey title nine times. In a career running from 1992 to 2018 he rode 1,845 winners in Ireland and 47 in Britain. Amongst his biggest…

1977

Ginnifer Goodwin

American actress

Ginnifer Goodwin is an American actress. She starred as Margene Heffman in the HBO drama series Big Love (2006–2011), Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard in the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time (2011–2018), Judy…

1978

Katie Price

English television personality and glamour model

Katie Price is an English media personality, model, and businesswoman. She gained recognition in the late 1990s for her glamour modelling work in British tabloid newspapers, including Page 3 in The Sun and Daily Star,…

1978

Nazanin Boniadi

Iranian-American actress

Nazanin Boniadi is a British actress and activist. Born in Tehran and raised in London, she attended university in the United States, where she landed her first major acting role as Leyla Mir in the soap opera General…

1979

Tihomir Dovramadjiev

Bulgarian Chess boxer

Tihomir Atanassov Dovramadjiev, also known as Tihomir Tishko and as TigerTAD on the Playchess server, is a Bulgarian chess FIDE master and chess boxer. He became the first European chess boxing champion from Berlin,…

1979

Maggie Q

American actress

Margaret Denise Quigley, known professionally as Maggie Q, is an American actress. She began her professional career in Hong Kong, with starring roles in the action films Gen-Y Cops (2000) and Naked Weapon (2002),…

1979

Tarin Bradford

Australian rugby league player

Tarin Bradford is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League. He primarily played on the wing.

1980

Sharice Davids

American politician

Sharice Lynnette Davids is an American politician, attorney, and former mixed martial artist serving as the U.S. representative from Kansas's 3rd congressional district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she…

1980

Lucy Gordon

British actress and model (died 2009)

Lucy Imogen Gordon was an English actress and model. She became a face of CoverGirl in 1997 before starting an acting career. Her first film was Perfume in 2001 before going on to have small roles in Spider-Man 3,…

1980

Bryan Danielson

American wrestler

Bryan Lloyd Danielson is an American sports commentator and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he serves as a color commentator for its flagship show Dynamite and is a…

1981

Bassel Khartabil

Syrian computer programmer and engineer (died 2015)

Bassel Khartabil, also known as Bassel Safadi, was a Palestinian-Syrian open-source software developer. He was detained without trial by the Syrian government in 2012 and was secretly executed in 2015. Human rights…

1981

Jürgen Melzer

Austrian tennis player

Jürgen Melzer is an Austrian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has…

1981

Mark O'Meley

Australian rugby league player

Mark O'Meley is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of Irish descent who played as a prop in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s he also played junior rugby league for the Northern Lakes Warriors and the…

1981

Erin McNaught

Australian model and actress

Erin McNaught is an Australian model, actress, presenter, television personality and beauty pageant titleholder. McNaught grew up in Australia alongside her older brothers and began playing in a band named "Short Straw"…

1982

Apolo Ohno

American speed skater

Apolo Anton Ohno is an American retired short-track speed skating competitor and an eight-time medalist in the Winter Olympics. Ohno was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and the U.S. Olympic…

1982

Hong Yong-jo

North Korean footballer

Hong Yong-jo is a North Korean former footballer who played as a midfielder. He captained North Korea at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

1982

Natasha Kai

American soccer player and Olympic medalist

Natasha Kanani Janine Kai is an American professional soccer forward and Olympic gold medalist who played professionally most recently in 2019. She previously played for Sky Blue FC and the Philadelphia Independence of…

1983

Clara Amfo

English television and radio presenter

Clara Amfo is a British radio broadcaster, television presenter, podcast host and voice-over artist. She is known for presenting her shows on BBC Radio 1.

1984

Karoline Herfurth

German actress

Karoline Herfurth is a German actress and filmmaker.

1984

Didier Ya Konan

Ivorian footballer

Didier Ya Konan is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

1984

Dustin Moskovitz

American entrepreneur, co-founder of Facebook

Dustin Aaron Moskovitz is an American internet entrepreneur who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms with Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum and Chris Hughes.…

1984

Tranquillo Barnetta

Swiss footballer

Tranquillo Barnetta is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

1985

Mauro Boselli

Argentine footballer me

Mauro Boselli is an Argentine former professional footballer who played in the position striker.

1985

Tao Okamoto

Japanese model and actress

Tao Okamoto , also known professionally by the mononym Tao, is a Japanese actress and model, who is considered one of the biggest models from Japan alongside Ai Tominaga and Hiroko Matsumoto. In 2009, she was one of the…

1985

Julian Edelman

American football player

Julian Francis Edelman is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the Kent…

1986

Matt Jarvis

English footballer

Matthew Thomas Jarvis is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger.

1986

Tatiana Volosozhar

Russian figure skater

Tatiana Andreyеvna Volosozhar is a Ukrainian-born Russian pair skater. With Maxim Trankov, she is the two-time 2014 Olympic champion in the pairs and in team events, the 2013 World champion, a four-time European…

1986

Arturo Vidal

Chilean footballer

Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chilean Primera División club Colo-Colo and captains the Chile national team. His displays during his time at Juventus led him…

1987

Heida Reed

Icelandic-British actress

Heiða Rún Sigurðardóttir, known professionally as Heida Reed, is an Icelandic actress and model. She is known for playing parts in One Day (2011), Jo (2013), Silent Witness (2014), the BBC drama Poldark (2015–2019) and…

1988

Corey Dickerson

American baseball player

McKenzie Corey Dickerson is an American professional baseball coach and former left fielder who currently serves as the first base coach for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the…

1989

Wyatt Roy

Australian politician

Wyatt Beau Roy is a former Australian parliamentarian. He served as the Assistant Minister for Innovation from September 2015 to the July 2016 federal election. He was a Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) member…

1990

Joel Obi

Nigerian footballer

Joel Chukwuma Obi, known as Joel Obi, is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder.

1991

Suho

South Korean singer and actor

Kim Jun-myeon, known professionally as Suho, is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actor. He is the leader of the South Korean-Chinese boy group Exo and its sub-unit Exo-K. He debuted as a soloist on March 30, 2020,…

1991

Anna Baryshnikov

American actress

Anna Katerina Baryshnikova is an American actress. Following her film debut in Wiener-Dog (2016), Baryshnikov had supporting roles in films such as Manchester by the Sea (2016), The Kindergarten Teacher (2018), and Love…

1992

Florian Luger

Austrian male model

Florian Luger is an Austrian male fashion model.

1994

Athena Manoukian

Greek-Armenian singer and songwriter

Athena Manoukian is a Greek singer and songwriter. She was set to represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Chains on You" prior to the contest's cancellation.

1994

Lauri Markkanen

Finnish basketball player

Lauri Elias Markkanen is a Finnish professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and for the Finland national team. Nicknamed "the Finnisher", he is the son of Finnish…

1997

Samile Bermannelli

Brazilian fashion model

Samile Bermannelli is a Brazilian fashion model.

1998

Samuel Chukwueze

Nigerian footballer

Samuel Chimerenka Chukwueze is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Fulham, on loan from Serie A club AC Milan. He also plays for the Nigeria national team.

1999

Femke Huijzer

Dutch model

Femke Huijzer is a Dutch female fashion model.

1999

Hōshōryū Tomokatsu

Mongolian sumo wrestler

Hōshōryū Tomokatsu is a Mongolian professional sumo wrestler and the 74th yokozuna. Wrestling for Tatsunami stable, he made his professional debut in January 2018. He is especially known for his throws; Mongolian sumo…

1999

Julián Carranza

Argentine footballer

Julián Simón Carranza is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club Necaxa.

2000

Enzo Barrenechea

Argentine footballer

Enzo Alan Tomás Barrenechea is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Primeira Liga club Benfica, on loan from Premier League club Aston Villa.

2001

Emma Chamberlain

American internet personality

Emma Frances Chamberlain is an American influencer, podcaster, businesswoman, and model. She won the 2018 Streamy Award for Breakout Creator. In 2019, Time magazine included her on its Time 100 Next list, and its list…

2001

Joshua Zirkzee

Dutch footballer

Joshua Orobosa Zirkzee is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Manchester United and the Netherlands national team.

2001

Anthony Richardson

American football player

Anthony Dashawn Richardson Sr. is an American professional football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida Gators and was selected by the…

2002

Peyton Elizabeth Lee

American actress

Peyton Elizabeth Lee is an American actress. She is known for starring in the title role of the Disney Channel comedy-drama series Andi Mack (2017–2019). She has continued to work with Disney in the films Secret Society…

2004

Famous birthdays

Who was born on May 22?

Novak Djokovic — Serbian tennis player (born 1987)

FeaturedNovak Djokovic

Birth year1987

Known forDjokovic has been ranked as the world No

Birthdays on this date206 (626 – 2004)

Explore May 22

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

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Also on May 22 in History

2021

Hypothermia kills 21 runners in the 100 km (60-mile) Gansu ultramarathon disaster in China. Wikipedia →

2020

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 crashes in Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 98 people. Wikipedia →

2017

Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. Wikipedia →

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1987 — Novak Djokovic

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