Famous January Birthdays a to z

Signed to a recording contract at the age of 12, Aaliyah became an overnight R&B sensation. At the height of her stardom, a fatal plane crash ended her life.

John Bodkin Adams is best known for standing trial in the suspicious deaths of 163 former patients in England.

Joy Adamson was a conservationist who pioneered the movement to preserve African wildlife. She won renown with her books about raising the lion cub Elsa.

Charles Addams was an American cartoonist whose work was frequently featured in The New Yorker. His most famous creation was the humorously macabre Addams Family.

Alvin Ailey was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York in 1958.

Actor and director Alan Alda has starred in several films, but is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce on the long-running television series M*A*S*H.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin was one of the first people to walk on the moon. He and flight commander Neil Armstrong made the Apollo 11 moonwalk in 1969.

Samuel Alexander was an Australian-born British philosopher. He was the first Jewish fellow of an Oxford or Cambridge college.

Muhammad Ali is considered one of the greatest athletes in boxing history, winning both the coveted Golden Gloves title and an Olympic gold medal, among several other honors.

Jazz trumpeter Henry Allen belonged to Fletcher Henderson’s big band, was in Mills Blue Rhythm band and accompanied Louis Armstrong in Luis Russell’s band.

Emmy Award-winning actress Kirstie Alley played Rebecca Howe on the TV series Cheers and has struggled with weight problems in the public eye. She's also competed on the dance-competition show Dancing with the Stars.

Marcus Antonius is best known as the Roman general who was a lover of Cleopatra. The two committed suicde after their defeat by Octavian.

Corazon Aquino was the 11th president (and first female president) of the Philippines. She restored democracy after the long dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.

Benedict Arnold was an American Revolutionary War general best known for his defection from the Continental Army to the British side of the conflict in 1780.

Dorothy Arzner was a pioneer in the film industry, becoming one of the first women directors of feature films and the first woman to join the Directors Guild of America.

Scholar Isaac Asimov was one of the 20th century's most prolific writers, writing in many genres. He was known for sci-fi works like Foundation and I, Robot.

Comic actor and writer Rowan Atkinson starred on the TV series Not the Nine O'clock News and Blackadder. He is best known for his infamous role as Mr. Bean in the television series and 1997 feature film of the same name.

Francis Bacon was an English Renaissance statesman and philosopher, best known for his promotion the scientific method.

Joan Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter and activist who is best known for her distinctive voice and for her role in popularizing the music of Bob Dylan.

Social activist and pacifist Emily Greene Balch won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for being a lifetime advocate of the persecuted and oppressed.

Roger Baldwin was an American civil rights activist who co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union.

Christian Bale is an award winning actor who as a child starred in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, and is also know for his roles in Batman movies.

Cristóbal Balenciaga was a Spanish-French fashion designer and the leading couturier of Spain in the 1920s-30s. He moved to Paris during the Spanish Civil War.

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was the fourth prime minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

Stage and screen actress Tallulah Bankhead starred in the plays They Knew What They Wanted and The Little Foxes. She was also in Hitchcock’s Lifeboat.

Jim Barksdale is an American entrepreneur and business executive who served as president and CEO of Netscape from 1995 to 1999.

The first U.S. commissioner of education, Henry Barnard founded the Connecticut Common School journal and the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction.

British playwright and screenplay writer Peter Barnes was well known for his unique, anti-naturalistic approach to theater and film.

Guitarist Syd Barrett helped found the psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd. After a mental break forced his departure, he spent 30 years as a painter and recluse.

Sydney Biddle Barrows is famous for running a high-class escort service in the 1980s.

Mikhail Baryshnikov is a Russian-American ballet dancer who choreographed several iconic pieces which have made him one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century.

A world-famous singer with a big voice and a glamorous reputation, Shirley Bassey has recorded numerous hits, including three James Bond theme songs.

Jason Bateman is an American actor known for playing Michael Bluth on the comedy series Arrested Development, and for starring in films like Juno and Hancock.

Sir Cecil Beaton was an English fashion photographer who is also known for his work as a diarist, interior designer, and Oscar-winning stage and costume designer.

Lead Belly was a folk-blues singer, songwriter and guitarist whose ability to perform a vast repertoire of songs and notoriously violent life made him a legend.

Alva Belmont was a wealthy socialite who used her fortune to advance the women's rights movement of the early 1900s.

John Belushi was an actor and comedian, one of the first performers on "Saturday Night Live" and one half of the Blues Brothers.

Pat Benatar's strong vocals and rock sound, as well as hits like "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Love Is A Battlefield," made her an early MTV star in the 1980s.

American entrepreneur Jeff Bezos is the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com. An e-commerce pioneer, Bezos was instrumental in creating a model for buying and selling products online.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, president and prime minister of Pakistan in the 1970s and father to Benazir Bhutto, founded the Pakistan People’s Party and was executed.

Larry Birkhead, ex of the late Anna Nicole Smith, is raising their daughter, Dannielynn, after confirming in 2007 that he's the girl's biological dad.

Linda Blair is an Academy Award-nominated actress and animal activist known for her role as a demonically possessed girl in The Exorcist.

The daughter of famous suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriot Stanton Blatch continued her mother's work in the women's rights movement.

"Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" Mary J. Blige has influenced a generation of artists with hits like "Real Love" and "Be Without You." She has also had a successful acting career, including playing Betty Shabazz in the TV movie Betty & Coretta.

Joseph Bonaparte was the older brother of Napoleon I, who made him king of Spain. He served as Spain's king from 1808 to 1813.

Actor Ernest Borgnine’s role in the film Marty transformed him from a stereotyped character actor to a leading man, earning him an Academy Award as Best Actor.

Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose is known for working with Albert Einstein on the Bose-Einstein Condensate and as namesake of the boson, or “God particle.”

Subhas Chandra Bose was a 20th century organizational and military leader who fought for India’s freedom from British rule.

David Bowie is an English rock star known for dramatic musical transformations, including his character Ziggy Stardust. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Ian Brady was a Scottish serial killer who murdered multiple children with his girlfriend, Myra Hindley.

Louis Braille was a French educator who developed the Braille system of printing and writing for the blind.

NFL quarterback Drew Brees plays for the New Orleans Saints. In 2009 he led the franchise to victory in Super Bowl XLIV, earning the game's MVP honors.

Maeve Brennan was an Irish short story writer and journalist known for her wit, charm and tragic end.

Sydney Brenner is a Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist and a science writer.

Anne Brontë, sister of fellow writers Emily and Charlotte, penned the classic 19th century novels Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Rhythm and blues singer Ruth Brown signed with Atlantic Records at a young age and recorded a number of hit songs throughout the 1950s.

Jerome Brudos was a serial murderer and necrophile who murdered four women in Oregon during the 1960s. He was known as the "The Lust Killer" and "The Shoe Fetish Slayer."

American mezzo-soprano and soprano Grace Bumbry is considered one of the leading opera singers of her generation.

Emma Bunton was known as "Baby Spice" in the all-girl, British pop group the Spice Girls. She became engaged to R&B singer Jade Jones in 2011.

T Bone Burnett is a Grammy Award-winning musician and producer who has worked on several popular films, including The Big Lebowski and Crazy Heart.

George Burns was a comedian who worked in vaudeville, radio, film and television. His long-time performance partner and wife was comedienne Gracie Allen. Burns lived until age 100.

Poet Robert Burns is considered one of the most famous characters of Scotland's cultural history. He is best known as a pioneer of the Romantic movement.

Lord Byron is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and is best known for his amorous lifestyle and his brilliant use of the English language.

Dancer and choreographer Maurice Béjart founded Switzerland's Béjart Ballet Lausanne, known for his 2000 version of The Nutcracker.

Actor Nicolas Cage, star of such films as Moonstruck and The Rock, is known for his intense on- and off-screen personality, as well as his passion for method acting.

An advocate of children and families in Harlem, NY, Geoffrey Canada is president of the Harlem Children’s Zone. In 2009, President Barack Obama announced plans to replicate the educational center in 20 cities.

A child from an Italian immigrant family, Al Capone (a.k.a. 'Scarface') rose to infamy as the leader of the Chicago mafia during the Prohibition era.

A master of horror, John Carpenter created the 1978 thriller hit Halloween, which has inspired and influenced countless other filmmakers.

Tia Carrere is an American actress best known for her role as Cassandra in the film, Wayne's World.

Jim Carrey is a comedian and actor best known for comedic and dramatic film roles in movies including Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Truman Show.