Famous February Birthdays a to z

Considered one of the best baseball players of all time, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record when he hit his 715th home run in 1974, before setting a new Major League Record with 755 home runs in the same year.

Tunku Abdul Rahman was chief minister of the Federation of Malaya (1955–1957), the first prime minister of an independent Malaya (1957–1963), and the prime minister of Malaysia (1963–1970).

Ansel Adams was an American photographer best known for his iconic images of the American West, including Yosemite National Park.

Mel Allen was a sportscaster and lead announcer for the New York Yankees baseball team from 1940 to 1964. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978.

Born into slavery in 1760, Richard Allen bought his freedom at age 17 and went on to found the first national black church in the United States, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1816.

Robert Alomar is an American baseball player best known as one of the best second basemen in Major League Baseball.

Filmmaker Robert Altman is best known for his highly individualistic films and use of simultaneous layers of dialogue.

Marian Anderson was an African American singer, one of the finest contraltos of her time, and recipient of the Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Sparky Anderson was the manager of baseball’s Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers, winning three World Series championships.

Mario Andretti is best known as one of car racing's most successful drivers.

Singer and entertainer Patty Andrews was the youngest member of the trio the Andrews Sisters, one of America's most popular musical groups of the 1930s and '40s.

Thomas Andrews was the principle architect for the infamous RMS Titanic. He died in the sinking, on April 15, 1912.

Horace Andy is a Jamaican singer-songwriter known for his breakthrough single, "Skylarking," and for his long association with British trip-hop band Massive Attack.

Jennifer Aniston won the hearts of TV viewers as Rachel on the NBC sitcom Friends. The show ran for 10 seasons.

Susan B. Anthony was a prominent American civil rights activist and leader during the women's suffrage movement of the 1800s.

Svante Arrhenius was a Nobel Prize winning scientist known for his revolutionary theories in various fields, including physics, chemistry and astronomy.

W.H. Auden was a literary chameleon known for his poetry but who also wrote librettos, essays and verse dramas.

Tex Avery was an American cartoonist best known for creating characters such as Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, Droopy and Chilly Willy.

David Axelrod is a political consultant and strategist recognized for creating a winning campaign strategy for U.S. President Barack Obama.

Jim Backus was a film and TV actor known for his roles in Rebel Without a Cause and Gilligan’s Island, as well as being the voice of Mr. Magoo.

Conrad Bain was a Canadian-American actor best known for his role as Philip Drummond on the hit show Diff'rent Strokes.

Billy Baldwin is one of the four Baldwin brothers, all actors. He starred as a firefighter in the hit film Backdraft and is a recurring character on television's Gossip Girl.

Tammy Baldwin is the first openly gay politician elected to the U.S. Senate. She is also Wisconsin's first congresswoman.

Elizabeth Banks is an Emmy Award-nominated film and television actress known for her work in Spider-Man, 30 Rock, W., Pitch Perfect and The Hunger Games.

Joseph Banks was a late-18th to early-19th century British explorer and botanist who pushed for the advancement of science.

Retired NBA player Charles Barkley was part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic "Dream Team" and was named one of the league's 50 greatest players in 1996.

Actress Drew Barrymore gained early fame as a child star. She later struggled with substance abuse and notoriety, before re-emerging as a talented actress and producer.

Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck rose to nationally syndicated television and radio host with his knack for creating controversy.

John Bell was elected Tennessee senator in 1847, serving in the Senate until 1859. He was also a U.S. presidential nominee on the eve of the American Civil War.

For more than 50 years, comedian Jack Benny was a star of radio, the stage and screen. His radio show, The Jack Benny Program, was a forerunner of the sitcom genre.

Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen took his comedy act from vaudeville to radio with his dummy Charlie McCarthy. He was also the father of actress Candice Bergen.

Charles H. Best was a physiologist and medical researcher who co-discovered the use of insulin as a treatment for diabetes.

Entertainer Joey Bishop starred in his own TV sitcom, and hosted his own late-night talk show. He was a member of the Rat Pack, along with Frank Sinatra.

J. Michael Bishop is a Nobel Prize winning physician and scholar who made groundbreaking discoveries in cancer research.

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to graduate from medical school in the United States. She became a leading public health activist during her lifetime.

Ragtime pianist Eubie Blake was one of the most famous composers of 20th century musicals, known for hits like "I'm Just Wild About Harry."

Infamous drug trafficker Griselda Blanco is suspected of committing more than 200 murders while transporting cocaine from Colombia to the U.S. She was murdered in Colombia in 2012.

Richard Blanco is the fifth inaugural poet of the United States, the first Latino and openly gay-identified person to hold the position.

Quarterback Drew Bledsoe was a starter with the New England Patriots for nearly eight years, before moving on to lead the Buffalo Bills and the Dallas Cowboys.

Claire Bloom English is a dramatic actress noted for her moving portrayals of Shakespearean heroines. She also played on stage, television, and in films.

Michael Bloomberg is a billionaire buisnessman and a three-term mayor of New York City.

Author Judy Bloom is a writer and illustrator of books for children and young adults, including Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Blubber, and Tiger Eyes.

Jean-Bedel Bokassa was the president of the Central African Republic (1966-1976) and a self-proclaimed emperor of the Central African Empire (1976-1979).

Michael Bolton is a singer-songwriter known for his soft-rock ballads in the adult contemporary genre.

Humorist, writer, columnist and journalist Erma Bombeck found the humor in the everyday experiences of being a wife and mother and shared it with her readers.

Musician and politician Sonny Bono was once wed to singer Cher and in 1994 was elected to U.S. Congress as a representative from California.

R&B singer Brandy rose to fame as a 15-year-old with her No. 1 hit, "I Wanna Be Down."

Eva Braun was the mistress and later the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun and Hitler killed themselves on April 30, 1945, the day after their wedding—an decided alternative to falling into the hands of enemy troops.

Anders Behring Breivik is the admitted perpetrator of the July 2011 attacks in Norway that killed 77 people.

André Breton was a French writer, editor and critic who was a key figure in the Dada and Surrealist art movements.

Model Christie Brinkley embodies the all-American look that dominated the fashion industry in the 1980s, during which she appeared on over 200 magazine covers.

Television journalist Tom Brokaw was the anchor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 until 2004.

Josh Brolin made his film debut as the older brother in The Goonies in 1985. He is also played a corrupt detective in 2007’s American Gangster.

Singer Bobby Brown, known for hits including "Don't Be Cruel" and "Humpin' Around," is also famous for his troubled marriage to Whitney Houston.

Reggae artist Dennis Brown began his career at the age of 12, when he recorded the hit single "No Man is an Island."

Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair as prime minister of the United Kingdom in 2007, and served against the backdrop of a worldwide financial crisis.

Jim Brown is a record-holding, former NFL fullback who's been elected to his sport's Hall of Fame and who's also worked as a model and film actor.

Linda Brown was the child associated with the lead name in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, which led to the outlawing of U.S. school segregation in 1954.

American singer-songwriter Tim Buckley was known for combining folk, rock and other musical styles during his tragically short career.

Jim J. Bullock is an American actor best known for his starring role in the 1980's sitcom Too Close for Comfort. He struggled to come out as gay and HIV positive.

Anthony Burgess was an English novelist and composer best known for his novel A Clockwork Orange, which became a popular 1971 Stanley Kubrik film.

Aaron Burr was the third vice president of the United States, serving under President Thomas Jefferson. Burr fatally shot his rival, Alexander Hamilton, during a duel.

William S. Burroughs was a Beat Generation writer known for his startling, nontraditional accounts of drug culture, most famously in the book Naked Lunch.

LeVar Burton is an actor known chiefly for his work in the TV miniseries Roots and the series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Jeb Bush is an American politician best known for serving as Florida's governor from 1998 to 2007. He is the son of 41st U.S. President George Bush and brother of 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush.

Actor Red Buttons got his name from the flame-colored hair and uniform as a bellhop. He is best known as a comedian but he had a prolific film career as well.

Thomas Byles, a Catholic priest, was a victim of the RMS Titanic disaster.

In 1935, actor John Carradine began a non-stop film career. He appeared in 10 films by director John Ford, including The Prisoner of Shark Island.

Johnny Cash, the Man in Black, was a singer, guitarist, and songwriter whose music innovatively mixed country, rock, blues, and gospel influences.

Lon Chaney Jr. was known for being the only actor to play all of the "big four" monsters: the Mummy, the Wolf Man, Frankenstein and Dracula.

Stockard Channing is an award-winning American actress best known for her roles in Grease (1978), Six Degrees of Separation (1993) and The West Wing (2002).

Anna Chapman became famous in June 2010, when she was arrested in New York and accused of spying for the Russian government.

Dominic Chianese played aging gangster Corrado "Uncle Junior" Soprano on HBO's The Sopranos.

Short-story writer and novelist Kate Chopin wrote The Awakening, a novel about a young mother who abandons her family, initially condemned but later acclaimed.