1935-
Businessman Claus Von Bulow was twice accused of attempting to kill his socialite wife, a diabetic, with doses of insulin, and was defended by Alan Dershowitz.
1926-
Wernher von Braun was a German engineer who worked on rocket technology, first for Germany and then for the United States.
1912-1977
1929-
Film Actor Christopher Walken often plays the bad guy, but he has also proved himself in comic roles and has been a repeat guest on Saturday Night Live.
1943-
Sam Walton was an American businessman best known for founding the retail chain Wal-Mart, which grew to be the world’s largest corporation.
1918-1992
Educator Booker T. Washington was one of the foremost African-American leaders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founding the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, now known as Tuskegee University.
1856-1915
Harold Washington became the first African-American mayor of Chicago in 1983.
1922-1987
American singer and guitarist Muddy Waters may have been born in Mississippi, but he defined Chicago blues with songs like "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man."
1915-1983
Emma Watson is best known for playing the character of Hermione, the best friend of Harry Potter in the Harry Potter film franchise.
1990-
James D. Watson is a Nobel Prize-winning biophysicist and researcher credited with co-discovering the double-helix structure of DNA.
1928-
Hugo Weaving is best known for playing Agent Smith in the Matrix film trilogy and Elrond in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
1960-
Composer. Andrew Lloyd Webber is an English composer known for such musical theater hits as Cats, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Phantom of the Opera.
1948-
Jazz musician Ben Webster (1909–1973) played tenor saxophone with jazz greats like Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington and Art Tatum.
1909-1973
1909-2001
William Westmoreland was a U.S. Army general who made a name for himself as commander of American troops in Vietnam.
1914-2005
Edward Weston's photography captured organic forms and texture. Portraits of his family taken in the 1940s are some of his best work.
1886-1958
Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood helped set the style for modern punk and New Wave music.
1941-
1948-
Thornton Wilder is a multiple Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and playwright known for works like The Bridge of San Luis Rey, The Ides of March and Our Town.
1897-1975
William I is best known for ruling Prussia as regent, and king, and later as German emperor.
1797-1888
Tennessee Williams was an American writer, whose signature works include A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Glass Menagerie.
1911-1983
Sonny Boy Williamson, originally John Lee Curtis Williamson, was a blues singer and harmonica player. He was the first musician to use the nickname Sonny Boy.
1914-1948
1897-1972
Reese Witherspoon was introduced to the world of acting at a young age. She has since won numerous awards and worldwide recognition for her film performances.
1976-
James Woods is an award-winning actor of stage and screen, known for his versatility in fare like Salvador, My Name Is Bill W. and Ghosts of Mississippi.
1947-
Bob Woodward is an American journalist and author who reported on the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post. His coverage greatly contributed to the Post's 1973 Pulitzer Prize.
1943-
1770-1850
Robin Wright was born in Dallas, Texas on April 8, 1966 but grew up in San Diego, California. The daughter of a pharmaceutical executive and an independent executive sales director for Mary Kay cosmetics, Wright was a natural beauty and began modeling
1966-
Wilbur Wright is best known for developing the first successful airplane with his brother, Orville.
1867-1912
1506-1552
1867-1955
Ian Ziering is an actor known for his role on the teen soap opera Beverly Hills 90210, and for appearing on TV's Dancing with the Stars.
1964-
Émile Zola was the most prominent French novelist of the late 19th century. He was noted for his theories of naturalism as expressed in Les Rougon-Macquart.
1840-1902
Jacob Zuma was elected president of South Africa in 2009. In 2007, he won the presidency of the African National Congress, the country's leading political party.
1942-