January 7 birthdays
1502 GREGORY XIII
Italian Pope
Gregory was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from May, 1572 until his death in 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar
1895 HUDSON FYSH Australian aviator
Fysh was co-founder of Qantas in 1920 and became managing director and chairman. Earlier, he served in the Battle of Gallipoli and in the Palestine Campaign.
1928 WILLIAM PETER BLATTY
American author
Blatty is best is best known for his 1971 novel The Exorcist, for which he won the Academy Award for the screenplay of its film adaptation. His other novel’s include The Ninth Configuration, Elsewhere and Crazy.
1943 SADAKO SASAKI Japanese bombing survivor
Sasaki was a victim of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki when she was two-years-old. Although severely irradiated, she survived for another 10 years. Sasaki is remembered for the 1000 origami cranes she folded before her death.
1964 NICOLAS CAGE American actor
Cage won the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in the 1995 film Leaving Las Vegas. he was again nominated for his work in the 2002 film Adaptation. Cage’s other films include Con Air and The Wicker Man.
1985 LEWIS HAMILTON English auto racer
A Formula 1 driver, Hamilton now drives for the Mercedes team after previously racing for McLaren from 2007 until 2012. He has won a jointrecord seven World Drivers’ Championship titles and holds the record for the most wins.
1988 SCOTT PENDLEBURY Australian AFL player
Pendlebury has been the captain of Collingwood since 2014. He has played a club-record 334 matches for the Magpies. Pedndlebury won the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground in Collingwood’s 2010 Grand Final victory.