Famous birthdays
1473 - Richard, Duke of York (d. 1483?) 1578 - Francesco Albani, Italian painter (d. 1660) 1586 - Johann V Andreae, German vicar/writer (Christenburg) 1607 - Pierre de Fermat, mathematician who needed wider margins (Fermat's Last Theorem) [ or 1608] 1629 - King John III of Poland (d. 1696) 1686 - Nicola Antonio Porpora, composer 1720 - Charles D J Eisen, French engraver/painter (Contes de La Fontaine) 1753 - Josef Dobrovský, Czech linguist (d. 1828) 1768 - Louis Charles Antoine Desaix, French general (d. 1800) 1775 - Philippe Libon, composer 1779 - Franz de Paula Roser, composer 1786 - Davy Crockett, GreeneCounty, Tennessee, frontiersman/adventurer/politician (Alamo), (d. 1836) 1786 - Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, mother of Queen Victoria (d. 1861) 1794 - Prince Alexander of HohenloheWaldenburg-Schillingsfürst, German priest (d. 1849) 1811 - Johannes H Scholten, Dutch theologist (Free Will) 1817 - Joseph baron Kervyn de Lettenhove, Belgian Internal minister (1870-71) 1819 - James Henry Van Alen, Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1886 1828 - George William Warren, composer 1828 - Jules Bernard Luys, French neurologist (d. 1897) 1834 - Peter Benoit, Flemish composer/conductor (Leie/Rubens Cantata) 1839 - Hubert Platt Main, composer 1839 - Thijs [ Matthijs] Maris, Dutch painter/etcher 1840 - Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, England, writer (Irish Land League) 1841 - Luis NF Varela, Brazilian romantic poet 1844 - Menelik II, King of Ethiopia (1896-1913) 1851 - Henry Drummond, Scottish geologist/ evangelist 1866 - Julia Marlowe, English actress (d. 1950) 1870 - Frederick Russell, developed 1st successful typhoid fever vaccine 1873 - John A. Sampson, American gynecologist (d. 1946) 1876 - Eric Drummond, 1st Secretary-General of League of Nations (1919-33) 1876 - Henri G Winkelman, Dutch general/ supreme commander/navy 1940 1880 - Leo Ascher, composer 1882 - Samuel Goldwyn, [ Goldfish], movie producer (MGM) 1885 - Clara [ G Meijer-] Wichmann, German anarchists/feminist (Wife & society) 1885 - Kurt Hiller, writer 1887 - Charles I, last emperor of Austria-Hungary (1916-18) 1888 - Monty Wooley, NYC, actor (Pied Piper, Man Who Came to Dinner) 1890 - Harry L Hopkins, US politician (Loan & Lease law) 1903 - Abram Chasins, composer 1936 - Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Native American musician-actor (d. 2007) 1941 - Ibrahim Babangida, president of Nigeria (1985- ) 1943 - Robert De Niro, NYC, actor (Bang the Drum Slowly, Taxi Driver) 1944 - Lawrence Joseph Ellison, CEO of Oracle 1948 - Rod MacDonald, American musician 1949 - Norm Coleman, American politician 1951 - Robert Joy, Montreal Quebec, actor (Big Shots, Suicide Club) 1952 - Guillermo Vilas, Argentina, tennis champ (US Open-1977) 1952 - Kathryn C Thornton, Montgomery Ala, PhD/astronaut (STS 33, 49, 61, 73) 1952 - Thomas J Hennen, Albany GA, astronaut (STS 44) 1952 - Dr. Mario Theissen, German F1 team principal (BMW Sauber) 1953 - Kevin Rowlands, rock vocalist (Dexy's Midnight Runners-Come on Eileen) 1953 - Robert Brent Thirsk, BC Canada, astronaut (STS 78) 1953 - Judith Regan, American book publisher 1954 - Eric Johnson, American guitarist 1956 - Gail Berman, American film executive 1959 - Jonathan Franzen, American author 1960 - Sean Penn, Santa Monica California, actor (Fast Times at Ridgemont High) 1965 - Dottie Mochrie Pepper, Saratoga Springs NY, golfer (1992 Dinah Shore) 1965 - Fred Grim, soccer player (Cambuur L, Ajax)Corporation, Billionaire 1970 - Jim Courier, Sanford Florida, tennis champ (1990, 91 French) 1986 - Tyrus Thomas, American basketball player 1988 - Brady Corbet, American actor 1990 - Colin Bates, American actor 1990 - Rachel Hurd-Wood, British actress 1996 - Ella Cruz, Filipina actress