• 1478 - Thomas More, lawyer/lord chancellor of England/saint (Utopia)
• 1556 - Maria van Nassau, Dutch countess of Buren
• 1589 - Jacob de Witt, Dutch mayor (Dordrecht)/mathematician
• 1612 - Thomas Killigrew, English humorist/playwright/leader (King's Men)
• 1655 - Jean-Fran‡ois Regnard, French comedy writer (Slave in Algeria)
• 1688 - Maria Louise van Hessen-Kassel, [Marijke Meu], princess of Orange
• 1693 - Anna Ivanova Romanova, empress of Russia (1730-40) [NS]
• 1700 - Philippe Buache, French geographer/cartographer (Contourlijnen)
• 1707 - Carl August Thielo, composer
• 1710 - William Boyce, English organist/composer of Cathedral music
• 1739 - Joseph Pouteau, composer
• 1740 - Adam-Philippe Custine, French earl/general/MP
• 1753 - Rhijnvis Feith, Dutch mayor/writer (Zwolle/Thirsa)
• 1758 - Benedikt Emanuel Schack, composer
• 1801 - John Rylands, England, merchant/philanthropist
• 1803 - Edgar Quinet, French writer/historian (Ahasv‚rus)
• 1804 - John Deere, pioneer manufacturer of agricultural implements
• 1809 - Frederik Paludan-Mller, Danish Romantic poet (Danserinden)
• 1812 - Charles Dickens, England, novelist (Oliver Twist, Tale of 2 Cities)
• 1817 - Leroy Pope Walker, US lawyer/Confederate minister of War (1861)
• 1822 - Joaquin y Garbayo Gaztambide, composer
• 1823 - Richard Genee, composer
• 1824 - William Higgins, discoverer (nature of spiral nebulae)
• 1825 - Crystobal Oudrid y Segura, composer
• 1833 - Ricardo Palma, Peru, writer/poet (Tradiciones Peruanas)
• 1834 - Dmitri I Mendelejev, Russian chemist (Periodic Table)
• 1837 - James Augustus Henry Murray, Scotland, created Oxford Dictionary
• 1839 - Nicolaas G Pierson, Dutch banker/Suriname premier (1897-1901)
• 1842 - Alexandre Ribit, premier (France)
• 1847 - Ernst Franck, German composer/conductor
• 1862 - Bernard Maybeck, US architect (Palace of Fine Arts, SF)
• 1863 - Mieczyslaw Soltys, composer
• 1864 - Arthur Collins, singer/comedian (Peerless Quartet)
• 1864 - Ricardo Castro Herrera, composer
• 1866 - Raf[ael] Verhulst, [Koen Ravestein], Flemish writer (Jesus of Nazarus)
• 1867 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, Wisc, kid book author (Little House on Prarie)
• 1869 - Jindrich S Baar, Czech pastor/writer (Jan Cimbura)
• 1870 - Alfred Adler, Austria, psychiatrist (Inferiority Complex)
• 1871 - Karl Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammer, composer
• 1872 - Nikolaos "Sokrates" Politis, Greek lawyer/diplomat/foreign minister
• 1875 - Erkki Gustav Melartin, composer
• 1875 - Walter Courvoisier, composer
• 1877 - Feliks Nowowiejski, composer
• 1877 - Godfrey H Hardy, England, number theorist
• 1877 - Julius Curtius, German minister of Foreign affairs (1929-..)
• 1878 - Ossip Gabrilovich, composer
• 1883 - Eubie Blake, ragtime composer/pianist (Memories of You)
• 1883 - Paul de Backer, Belgian radiologist
• 1885 - Sinclair Lewis, novelist/social critic (Main Street, Nobel 1930)
• 1891 - Joachim Stutschewsky, composer
• 1896 - Harold Hoffman, South Amboy NJ, (Gov-NJ)
• 1896 - Jacob Paludan, Danish pharmacist/writer (Jírgen Stein)
• 1897 - Quincy Porter, New Haven Ct, composer
• 1899 - Arvid Pelshe, Latvian Communist leader, CPSU Politburo member
• 1901 - Bob den Doolaard, [Cornelis Spoelstra], Dutch writer (Grape Pickers)
• 1902 - Ethelda Blebtrey, Waterford NY, 100m swimmer (Olympic-gold-1920)
• 1904 - Milton Krims, writer (Speed)
• 1905 - Olf S von Euler-Chelpin, Swedish physiologist
• 1905 - Paul Nizan, French journalist/writer (L'Humanit‚, La Conspiration)
• 1905 - Ulf Svante von Euler, Sweden, physiologist (Nobel 1970)
• 1906 - Henry P'u-i, last emperor of China, puppet emperor of Manchukuo
• 1907 - Arthur George Bottomley, politician
• 1909 - Joseph "Poeske" Scherens, Flem cyclist (champ sprinter 1932-37) [OS]
• 1910 - Buster Crabbe, 400m US swimmer (Olympics-gold-1932)
• 1912 - Derek Farr, London, actor (8 O'Clock Walk, Doctor at Large)
• 1912 - Jane Ross, Spokane Wash, actress (Audrey-Phyllis, Coed Fever)
• 1914 - David Ignatow, US poet (Tread the Dark, Rescue the Dead)
• 1914 - Jacques Mornard, [Ram¢n Mercader], murderer (Trotsky)
• 1914 - Ralph Whitlock, writer
• 1917 - Dick Emery, London England, actor (Yellow Submarine, Loot, Baby Love)
• 1919 - Dom H‚lder Cƒmara, Brazilian bishop
• 1919 - Ilse Pausin, Austria, figure skating pairs (Olympics-silver-1936)
• 1920 - Eddie Bracken, Astoria NYC, actor (Summer Stock, Young & Willing)
• 1920 - Oscar Brand, Winnipeg Canada, folk vocalist (Draw Me a Laugh)
• 1921 - Athol Rowan, cricketer (brother of Eric, South African off-spinner)
• 1921 - Bryan Woods, soldier/clerk
• 1923 - George H H Lascelles, English earl of Harewood/leader (Covent Garden)
• 1923 - Keefe Brasselle, Elyria Ohio, actor (Be Our Guest)
• 1924 - Cathy Long, (Rep-D-LA, 1985-86)
• 1924 - Dora Bryan, [Broadhurst], Southport England, actress (Taste of Honey)
• 1924 - Hattie Jacques, Kent England, actress (Carry on Doctor)
• 1924 - Johnny Jordaan, [Jan van Musscher], Amsterdam folk vocalist
• 1925 - Arthur Berry, artist
• 1925 - H Eisenreich, writer
• 1925 - Marius Constant, Rumania, Dutch composer/conductor (Paradise Lost)
• 1925 - Romolo Valli, actor (Bobby Deerfield, Fistful of Dynamite, La Viaccia)
• 1926 - Konstantin Petrovich Feokistov, USSR, cosmonaut (Voskhod I)
• 1927 - John Buller, composer
• 1928 - Al "Fuzzy" Smith, baseball player
• 1932 - Alfred M Worden, Jackson Michigan, Colonel USAF/astronaut (Apollo 15)
• 1932 - Gay Talese, author (Honor Thy Father)
• 1934 - Earl King, [Solomon Johnson], rocker
• 1934 - King Curtis, [Curtis Ousley], US vocalist (Memphis Soul Stew)
• 1934 - Piet Bukman, Dutch minister for Development Aid (CDA)
• 1935 - Herb Kohl, (Sen-D Wisconsin)
• 1938 - Juan Pizarro, baseball player
• 1938 - Robert Frank Baksa, composer
• 1940 - Gary Bond, England, actor (Outback, Zulu, Anne of Thousand Days)
• 1942 - Ton [ACHM] de Kok, Dutch MP (CDA)
• 1944 - Berend baron van Voorst tot Voorst, Dutch foreign state sect (CDA)
• 1944 - Berry [AH] Esselink, Dutch MP (CDA)
• 1944 - Michael A Andrews, (Rep-D-TX, 1983- )
• 1945 - Gerald Davies, British rugby player
• 1945 - Pete Postlethwaite, actor (The Boxer)
• 1946 - Hector Babenco, director (Ironweed, Kiss of the Spider Woman)
• 1946 - Lawrence Ascott, rocker (Isotope)
• 1946 - Sammy Johns, rocker (Politics, Religion & Her)
• 1948 - Jimmy Greenspoon, LA Cal, rock organist (3 Dog Night-Joy to the World)
• 1949 - Alan Lancaster, bassist (Status Quo-Down Down, On the Level)
• 1949 - Sunil Wettimuny, cricket (Sri Lanka open batsman 1975-79 World Cups)
• 1950 - Burt Hooton, baseball player
• 1950 - Dan Quisenberry, baseball pitcher (KC Royals)
• 1950 - Marilyn Cochran, Burlington Vt, skier (Olympics-1972)
• 1951 - Benny Ayala, baseball player
• 1951 - Manfred Schumann, German FR, bobsled (Olympic-silver/bronze-1976)
• 1953 - Robert Brazile, NFLer
• 1954 - Miguel Ferrer, Santa Monica CA, actor (Robocop)
• 1955 - Charlie Puleo, baseball player
• 1955 - Rolf Benirschke, Boston, NFL place kicker/TV host (Wheel of Fortune)
• 1956 - Garth Brooks, Tulsa Okla, country vocalist (No Fences)
• 1957 - Carney Lansford, baseball player
• 1957 - Damaso Garcia, baseball player
• 1958 - Manuel Mijares, Mexico, spanish vocalist (Maria Bonita)
• 1958 - Michele Drake, La Jolla CA, playmate (May, 1979)
• 1959 - Brian Travers, rock saxophonist (UB40-Red Wine)
• 1959 - Sammy Lee, British soccer player
• 1960 - James Spader, NYC, actor (Endless Love, Wall St, Mannequin)
• 1960 - Steve Bronski, rock synthesizer (Bronski Beat-Smalltown Boy)
• 1962 - Alan Sippy, cricketer (dashing Bombay lefty batsman of 1980's)
• 1962 - David Bryan, rock keyboardist (Bon Jovi-You Give Love a Bad Name)
• 1963 - Heidemarie M Stefanyshyn-Piper, St Paul Minn, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut
• 1963 - Roland Lefebvre, cricket pace bowler (Glamorgan & Holland)
• 1964 - Cynthia "Sippy" Woodhead, Riverside Calif, swimmer (Olympic-silver-84)
• 1964 - Dona L Speir, Norwalk Calif, playmate (March, 1984)
• 1964 - Gretchen Magers, Pittsburgh PA/San Antonio TX, tennis star
• 1965 - Jason Gedrick, Chicago IL, actor (Heavenly Kid, Class of '96)
• 1965 - Kristal Parker-Gregory, Columbus OH, LPGA golfer (1995 Hawaiian-20th)
• 1965 - Reginald Thal, soccer player (MVV)
• 1966 - Chris Rock, comedian (SNL, CB4, Boomerang)
• 1967 - Joseph Tilford Leigh Greene, Dayton Ohio, long jumper (Oly-br-92, 96)
• 1968 - Ashely Allen, San Antonio TX, playmate (Aug, 1992)
• 1968 - Martin Sinner, Koblenz Germany, tennis star (1990 Pretoria)
• 1968 - Michael Stich, Germany, tennis star
• 1968 - Peter Bondra, Lutsk Ukr, NHL right wing (Washington Capitals)
• 1969 - Bucky Richardson, US football quarterback (Houston Oilers)
• 1969 - Fiona Robinson, Collie Western Aust, basketball player (Oly-bronze-96)
• 1970 - Chris Gardocki, NFL punter (Indianapolis Colts)
• 1970 - Denis Chasse, Montreal, NHL right wing (Winnipeg Jets)
• 1970 - Stanley Roberts, NBA center (LA Clippers, Minn Timberwolves)
• 1971 - Andrew Currey, Australian javelin thrower (Olympics-96)
• 1971 - Marvin Graves, CFL quarterback (Montreal Alouettes)
• 1972 - Aftab Habib, cricketer (Leicestershire righty batsman 1996)
• 1972 - John Slaney, St John's, NHL defenseman (LA Kings)
• 1973 - Billy Baumhoff, St Louis MO, soccer midfielder/forward (Oly-gold-96)
• 1973 - Juwan Howard, NBA forward/center (Washington Bullets/Wizards)
• 1973 - Kristin Godridge, Traralgon Aust, tennis star (1993 Futures-Singapore)
• 1973 - Leanne Schuster, Mesa Az, WPVA volleyballer (National-9th-1995)
• 1973 - Sonia Paquette, St-Janvier Quebec, hurdler (Olympics-96)
• 1973 - Tim Bowens, NFL defensive tackle (Miami Dolphins)
• 1974 - Ryan Phillips, linebacker (NY Giants)
• 1974 - Steve Nash, NBA guard (Phoenix Suns)
• 1975 - Alexandre Daigle, Montreal, NHL center (Ottawa Senators)
• 1975 - Marika Lehtimaki, ice hockey center (Finland, Oly-98)
• 1976 - Hrafnhildur Hafsteinsdottir, Miss Universe-Iceland (1996)
• 1976 - Terry Battle, running back (Detroit Lions)
• 1977 - Christine Scheels, New Berlin Wis, speed skater (Olympics-1994)
• 1977 - Hillary Wolf, Chicago, extra lightweight judoka (Olympics-96)
• 1979 - Cerina Vincent, Miss Nevada Teen USA (1996)
• 1985 - Tina Majorino, actress, (Waterworld, When a Man Loves a Woman)

Famous deaths for this day ..

• 0590 - Pelagius II, Gothic Pope (579-90), dies from plague
• 1593 - Jacques Amyot, French humanist/abbot of Bellozanne, dies at 79
• 1609 - Ferdinand I, cardinal/ruler of Toscane, dies
• 1743 - Lodovico Giustini, composer, dies at 57
• 1749 - Andre Cardinal Destouches, composer, dies at 76
• 1779 - William Boyce, composer, dies at 67
• 1820 - Samuel Adams Holyoke, composer, dies at 57
• 1823 - Ann Radcliffe (Ward), English poet/author of horror novels, dies at 58
• 1827 - Franz Anton Dimmler, composer, dies at 73
• 1830 - Marcus Antonio da Fonseca Portugal, Portuguese composer, dies at 67
• 1857 - F‚lix PBOG, Earl of Merode, Belgian minister of War, dies at 65
• 1862 - Frantisek Jan Skroup, composer, dies at 61
• 1865 - John Henry Winder, US Confederate brig-gen/provost marshal, dies at 64
• 1878 - Pius IX, "Pio Nono", [Giovanni Ferretti], Pope (1846-78), dies at 85
• 1881 - Fredrik Cygnaeus, Finnish poet/literature critic, dies at 73
• 1897 - Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist (Ferrari), dies at 49
• 1901 - Benjamin Edward Woolf, composer, dies at 64
• 1911 - Harry Graham, cricketer (6 Test for Australia 1893-96, 301 runs), dies
• 1915 - Wladyslaw Gorski, composer, dies at 68
• 1918 - Alexander Sergeyevich Taneyev, composer, dies at 68
• 1920 - Alexander Koltsjak, adm/leader Russian counter-revolutionary, executed
• 1921 - Peter Kropotkin, Russ Prince/geologist/revolut anarchist, dies at 78
• 1931 - Ion Vidu, composer, dies at 67
• 1933 - Albert Gy”rgy Earl Apponyi, Hung minister of Education, dies at 86
• 1937 - Elihu Root, US min of War/Foreign affairs (Nobel 1912), dies at 91
• 1940 - Francis Ford, cricketer (5 Tests for Engld v Australia 1894-95), dies
• 1942 - Dorando di Desiderio Pietri, marathoner (Oly-gold-1908), dies at 56
• 1948 - "Red" McKenzie, blues-jazz singer (played comb-with-tissue-paper), dies
• 1954 - Jan Adam Maklakiewicz, composer, dies at 54
• 1957 - Rudolph Reti, composer, dies at 71
• 1958 - Walter Kingsford, actor (My Favorite Blonde, Fly by Night), dies at 76
• 1959 - Daniel F Malan, premier of South Africa (1948-54), dies at 84
• 1959 - Napoleon Lajorie, baseball player, dies at 83
• 1959 - Slim [Eddie Jones] Guitar, rocker, dies at 32
• 1960 - Igor V Kurtshatov, Russian nuclear physicist, dies at 57
• 1961 - Louis-Ferdinand C‚line, Fren physician/author/anti-semite, dies at 67
• 1962 - Arthur Carr, cricketer (11 Tests for Eng 22-29), dies shovelling snow
• 1964 - Hermann A J Kees, German egyptologist, dies at 77
• 1964 - Lillian Copeland, US discus thrower (Oly-gold-32), dies at 59
• 1965 - Nance O'Neil, actor (Cimarron, Royal Bed, Rogue Song), dies at 90
• 1967 - Henry Morgenthau, US minster of Finance (devaluate dollar), dies at 74
• 1968 - Nick Adams, actor (Interns, Pillow Talk, FBI Story), ODs at 36
• 1968 - Stuart Foster, singer (Galen Drake Show), dies at 49
• 1969 - Bainbridge Crist, composer, dies at 85
• 1974 - Arline Judge, actress (Age of Consent), dies at 61
• 1975 - Brendan Fay, actor (Hustler, Man on a Swing), dies at 54
• 1977 - Herman Dooyeweerd, Dutch philosopher/lawyer, dies at 82
• 1979 - Josef Mengele, concentration camp doctor, drowns
• 1980 - Ernst Kunz, composer, dies at 88
• 1980 - Katherine Emery, actress (Maze, Isle of the Dead), dies at 73
• 1984 - Brooks West, actor (Richard-My Friend Irma), dies at 67
• 1985 - Albert Dondeyne, Belgian philosopher/theologist, dies at 83
• 1985 - Uday Merchant, cricket (bro of Vijay, prolific scorer), dies
• 1986 - Armand Preud'homme, Flemish organist/lyricist, dies at 81
• 1987 - David Savoy Jr, rock manager (Hsker Du), commits suicide at 24
• 1988 - Lin[wood V] Carter, US, sci-fi writer (Lost World of Time), dies at 57
• 1990 - Dom Heider Camara, nonviolent/human rights Bishop of Brazil, dies
• 1990 - Jimmy Van Heusen, composer (Call Me Irresponsible), dies at 77
• 1990 - Nathan Wartels, publisher (Crown), dies at 88 of pneumonia
• 1991 - Dick Winslow, actor (Tom Sawyer, Mutiny on the Bounty), dies at 75
• 1991 - Gladys LaVerne, dies of heart problems at 87
• 1992 - Jeanne Gerson, dies of cancer & pneumonia at 87
• 1993 - Arthur Ashe, tennis star (Wimbledon 1975), dies of AIDS at 49
• 1993 - W Sybout A Colenbrander, Dutch historian/journalist, dies at 82
• 1994 - Maarten Vrolijk, Dutch soc-dem minister (CRM 1965-66), dies at 74
• 1994 - Richard Bissell, US under director of CIA (Pig's Bay), dies at 84
• 1995 - Helen Wallis, cartographer/Librarian, dies at 70
• 1995 - Massimo Pallottino, Ital archaeologist (Etruscologia), dies at 86
• 1996 - George Lowthian Trevelyan, designer/visionary, dies at 89
• 1996 - Isian Kehinde I K Dairo, musician/academic, dies at 65
• 1996 - Lillian Rambach, teacher violinist, dies at 84
• 1996 - Lydia Korneevna Chukovskaya, writer, dies at 88
• 1996 - Tiny Winters, musician, dies at 87
• 1997 - Danil Shafran, cellist, dies at 74
• 1998 - Carl Dean Wilson, musician, dies at 51