October 23 birthdays
d63BC MARCUS AGRIPPA Roman general
A close friend of emperor Augustus, Agrippa was a general, statesman and architect. As an architect, he was responsible for the construction of some of the most notable buildings in history, including the original Pantheon.
1762 SAMUEL MOREY American inventor
Morey worked on early internal combustion engines and was a pioneer in steamships. He accumulated 20 patents in his career. In the early 1790s, he fitted a paddle wheel and steam engine to a boat and powered up and down the Connecticut River.
1813 LUDWIG LEICHHARDT German explorer
Leichhardt is most famous for his exploration of northern and Central Australia. He arrived in Sydney in 1844 with the aim of exploring inland Australia. His expedition arrived at Port Essington, north of Darwin, in December 1845.
1925 JOHNNY CARSON American TV host
Carson hosted The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years from 1962, receiving six Primetime Emmy Awards. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987.
1940 PELE Brazilian footballer
Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Pele was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee in 1999.
He was also in Time magazine’s list of the most important 100 people of the 20th Century.
1954 ANG LEE Taiwanese director
Lee was born an educated in Taiwan until moving to the US in 1979 to study at the university of Illinois. His list of successful films includes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi. He is the only director to twice win the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.
1986 EMILIA CLARKE English actor
Clarke’s breakthrough role was as Daenerys Targaryen in the epic HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones. She received four Emmy Award nominations for her portrayal of Daenerys.