Famous Birthdays on November 15

Earl Tywone Stevens, better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. Stevens is a founding member of the rap group the Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 27 studio albums to date, appeared on numerous movie soundtracks, and has also done guest appearances on a host of other rap albums. Initially an underground artist, his 1995 solo album In a Major Way opened him up to a wider audience. Beginning in 1998, he began collaborating with mainstream rappers outside the San Francisco Bay Area. He rose to higher mainstream popularity in 2006 with his single "Tell Me When to Go", which was produced by Lil Jon.

Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for spearheading the creation of the British National Health Service during his tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government. He is also known for his wider contribution to the founding of the British welfare state. He was first elected as MP for Ebbw Vale in 1929, and used his Parliamentary platform to make a number of influential criticisms of Winston Churchill and his government during the Second World War. Before entering Parliament, Bevan was involved in miners' union politics and was a leading figure in the 1926 general strike. Bevan is widely regarded as one of the most influential left-wing politicians in British history.

Eleanor of Austria, also called Eleanor of Castile, was Queen of Portugal from 1518 to 1521 as the wife of King Manuel I and Queen of France from 1530 to 1547 as the wife of King Francis I. She also held the Duchy of Touraine (1547–1558) in dower. She is called "Leonor" in Spanish and Portuguese and "Éléonore" or "Aliénor" in French. She was the eldest child of Duke Philip of Burgundy and Queen Joanna of Castile, and the elder sister of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and her life was dominated by her role in the international dynastic politics of the period.

Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013. He served in various leadership positions in Kenya's government including being the longest serving Member of Parliament (MP) in Kenya from 1963 to 2013. He was the fourth Vice-President of Kenya for ten years from 1978 to 1988 under President Daniel arap Moi. He also held cabinet ministerial positions in the Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi governments, including as minister for Finance (1969–1981) under Kenyatta, and Minister for Home Affairs (1982–1988) and Minister for Health (1988–1991) under Moi.

Joseph Albert Wapner was an American judge and television personality. He is best known as the first presiding judge of the reality court show The People's Court. The show's first run in syndication, with Judge Wapner presiding as judge, ran from 1981 to 1993, for 12 seasons and 2,340 episodes. Although the show's second run was presided over by multiple judges, Wapner was the sole judge to preside during the show's first incarnation. His tenure on the program made him the first jurist of arbitration-based reality court shows, which evolved into the most popular trend in the judicial genre and continues to be to the present.

Cornelia Sorabji was an Indian lawyer, social reformer and writer. She was the first female graduate from Bombay University, and the first woman to study law at Oxford University. Returning to India after her studies at Oxford, Sorabji became involved in social and advisory work on behalf of the purdahnashins, women who were forbidden to communicate with the outside male world, but she was unable to defend them in court since, as a woman, she did not hold professional standing in the Indian legal system. Hoping to remedy this, Sorabji presented herself for the LLB examination of Bombay University in 1897 and the pleader's examination of Allahabad High Court in 1899. She became the first female advocate in India but would not be recognised as a barrister until the law which barred women from practising was changed in 1923.

Jack Owen Ingram is an American country music artist formerly signed to Big Machine Records, an independent record label. He has released eleven studio albums, one extended play, six live albums, and 19 singles. Although active since 1992, Ingram did not reach the U.S. Country Top 40 until the release of his single "Wherever You Are" late-2005. A number one hit on the Billboard country charts, that song was also his first release for Big Machine and that label's first Number One hit. Ingram has sent six other songs into the country Top 40 with "Love You", "Lips of an Angel", "Measure of a Man", "Maybe She'll Get Lonely", "That's a Man", and "Barefoot and Crazy".

José Joaquín Eugenio Fernández de Lizardi Gutiérrez, commonly known as José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, was a Mexican writer, journalist, and political thinker known for his pioneering role in Latin American literature and early journalism in the 19th century. He is widely recognized as one of the first novelists in the Americas, particularly for his novel El Periquillo Sarniento, which began publication in 1816 and is considered the first novel written and published in Latin America. The work blends satire, moral commentary, and social criticism in a narrative influenced by the Enlightenment ideals of reason and reform. Lizardi lived through the final years of New Spain and the early stages of Mexican independence. A proponent of liberalism and freedom of the press, he used literature and journalism as vehicles for advocating educational reform, denouncing corruption, and challenging authoritarianism and social inequality. In 1812, taking advantage of press freedoms briefly granted under the Constitution of Cádiz. Through this outlet, he published critiques of colonial administration and clericalism, which led to repeated episodes of censorship and even imprisonment. Despite political pressures, Fernández de Lizardi remained committed to intellectual freedom, using his writing as a tool for public engagement and reform. His legacy endures in Mexican literature and political thought as a forerunner of critical journalism and liberal values in early 19th-century Mexico.

Nera D. White was an American basketball player. White played in the AAU national tournaments for the Nashville Business College team while completing her education at George Peabody College for Teachers, which did not field a team. Later, she led the United States national women's basketball team to their victory in the 1957 FIBA World Championship. Throughout her career, she was awarded numerous accolades, including her induction to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Playing at a time when there were no major professional women's basketball leagues in the U.S., White distinguished herself, receiving many accolades as one of the greatest female players in history. Talented in multiple sports, she also was distinguished as an All-World player by the Amateur Softball Association.

Cynthia Breazeal is an American AI and robotics scientist and entrepreneur. She is a pioneer of social robotics and human-robot interaction. She is the former chief scientist and chief experience officer of Jibo, a company she co-founded in 2012 that developed companion robots for the family at home. Currently, she is a professor of media arts and sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is the director of the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab, dean for digital learning at MIT Open Learning, and director of the MIT RAISE Initiative. Her work has explored the theme of living everyday life in the presence of AI and, in recent years, has been a leader in AI literacy for youth.

Christopher Andersen Hornsrud was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as leader of the Labour Party from 1903 to 1906 and became a member of the Storting in 1912. In 1928, he became the first Norwegian prime minister from the Labour Party and served as the 18th prime minister of Norway, but the cabinet had a weak parliamentary basis and was only in office for three weeks from January to February. He combined the post of prime minister with that of minister of Finance. After resigning he became vice-president of the Storting, a position he held until 1934.

Jonalyn Roxas Viray, known mononymously as Jona, is a Filipino singer and songwriter. She gained recognition after winning Pinoy Pop Superstar. She was previously the lead singer of trio girl-group La Diva. Following the group's disbandment, she released her single "Help Me Get Over" which was awarded the Song of the Year Award at the 6th PMPC Star Awards for Music. In February 2016 she changed her screen name to Jona. She has won several awards, both solo and as member of La Diva. She is known for her belting technique, melismatic singing style, and her ability to sing operatic arias.

Teodoro "Teddy Boy" Lopez Locsin Jr. is a Filipino politician, diplomat, lawyer, and former journalist who is currently serving as the Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom since August 30, 2022. He previously served as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Duterte administration from 2018 to 2022. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2010, representing the 1st district of Makati and later served as the Philippine ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2018. He was the host of the editorial segment titled "Teditorial" for ANC's nightly newscast The World Tonight.

John I, called the Posthumous, was the King of France and Navarre, as the posthumous son and successor of Louis X, for the four days he lived in 1316. He is the youngest person to be king of France, the only one to have been king from birth, and the only one to hold the title for his entire life. His reign is the shortest of any undisputed French king. Although considered as a king today, his status was not recognized until chroniclers and historians in later centuries began numbering John II, thereby acknowledging John I's brief reign.

Lorena Ochoa Reyes is a Mexican professional golfer. She played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010. She was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for 158 consecutive and total weeks, from 23 April 2007 to her retirement on 2 May 2010, at the age of 28 years old. As the first Mexican golfer of either gender to be ranked number one in the world, because of her record, she is considered the best Mexican female golfer of all time. Ochoa was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.

John Earle was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Tasmania from 1914 to 1916 and also for one week in October 1909. He later served as a Senator for Tasmania from 1917 to 1923. Prior to entering politics, he worked as a miner and prospector. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), helping to establish a local branch of the party, and was Tasmania's first ALP premier. However, he was expelled from the party during the 1916 split and joined the Nationalists, whom he represented in the Senate.

Sara Josephine Baker was an American physician notable for making contributions to public health, especially in the immigrant communities of New York City. Her fight against the damage that widespread urban poverty and ignorance caused to children, especially newborns, is perhaps her most lasting legacy. In 1917, she noted that babies born in the United States faced a higher mortality rate than soldiers fighting in World War I, drawing a great deal of attention to her cause. She also is known for (twice) tracking down Mary Mallon, better known as Typhoid Mary.

Mohamed Tewfik Pasha, also known as Tawfiq of Egypt, was khedive of Egypt and the Sudan between 1879 and 1892 and the sixth ruler from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty. He inherited a state suffering under the financial and political mismanagement of his predecessor Isma'il. Disaffection in the Egyptian army as well as Anglo-French control of the state in the 1880s culminated in the anti-foreign Urabi revolt. Tewfik also took interest in matters concerning irrigation, education and justice; as well as selling his father's female slaves and closing the court's harem quarters.

Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American modernist painter and draftswoman whose career spanned seven decades and whose work remained largely independent of major art movements. Called the "Mother of American modernism", O'Keeffe gained international recognition for her paintings of natural forms, particularly flowers, hills and desert-inspired landscapes, which were often drawn from and related to places and environments in which she lived. Although she was a figure associated with interpretations regarding feminism, she did not want to be seen as a "woman artist", she wanted to be seen as an artist.