Moe Howard was the leader of the vaudeville and film comedy team, The Three Stooges.
1897-1975
Howlin’ Wolf was a singer and musician famous for his Mississippi Delta style blues singing, guitar and harmonica playing, which he performed in Chicago clubs.
1910-1976
Helen Hunt in an Emmy and Academy Award-winning actress best known for her roles in the sitcom Mad About You and the film As Good As It Gets.
1963-
Robert Hunter is a writer and lyricist chiefly known for the songs he has written for the Grateful Dead.
1941-
Roy Innis is an American Civil Rights Activist best known as the former National Chairman of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
1934-
1956-
1975-
1909-1995
1928-
Rachel Jackson was the wife of President Andrew Jackson and is best known for the smears about her honor during her husband's election campaign.
1767-1828
Record producer and musician Randy Jackson is notable mostly as a judge on the talent-search TV show American Idol
.
1956-
1920-
Musical rebel Waylon Jennings is best remembered for helping to popularize a grittier and more rock-influenced style of ÂťoutlawÂť country music.
1937-2002
Derek Jeter is a Major League Baseball Player with the New York Yankees and was a key factor in their 1990s World Series wins.
1974-
A rising star in the Republican Party, Bobby Jindal became the first Indian American to be elected governor in the United States in 2007.
1971-
Actor Aaron Johnson has appeared in such films as Kick-Ass, Nowhere Boy, Savages and Anna Karenina.
1990-
James Weldon Johnson was an African-American writer, politician, educator and lawyer. He was also an early civil rights activist and leader of the NAACP.
1871-1938
Angelina Jolie is one of Hollywood's leading actresses, known for movies like Changeling and Salt as much as she is for her relationship with actor Brad Pitt.
1975-
English musician Mick Jones was a guitarist and singer for the punk rock band The Clash.
1955-
Tom Jones is a Welsh rock, pop, blues and soul singing legend best known as a hit maker over the last five decades in the U.S. and U.K.
1940-
1572-1637
Lech Kaczynski was a politician who served as president of Poland until his sudden death in a plane crash in 2010.
1949-2010
Reality television personality Khloé Kardashian has starred on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Khloé and Lamar, Celebrity Apprentice and The X Factor.
1984-
Linda Kasabian was a member of Charles Manson's "Family," and became the prosecution's star witness at their 1970 trial.
1949-
1899-1972
American educator Helen Keller overcame the adversity of being blind and deaf to become one of the 20th century's leading humanitarians, as well as co-founder of the ACLU.
1880-1968
Minka Kelly is an American actress best known for her cheerleading role on the acclaimed TV series Friday Night Lights.
1980-
1855-1880
1883-1946
1944-
Academy Award–winning actress Nicole Kidman starred in Dead Calm, Moulin Rouge and The Hours, and was married to Tom Cruise for ten years.
1967-
1819-1875
1963-
Biologist Alfred Kinsey wrote Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, which was based on research he and his colleagues conducted at the Institute for Sex Research.
1894-1956
Former supermodel Heidi Klum has produced and served as host and judge of Project Runway, a competitive reality television series about fashion designers.
1973-
Jerzy Kosinksi was a Polish-American novelist. He wrote Being There in 1971, which was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film in 1979.
1933-1991
Anna Kournikova is a Russian professional tennis player, well known for her beauty. At her peak, she was one of the best known players worldwide.
1981-
Julia Kristeva is a psychoanalyst, critic and novelist, known for her writings in structuralist linguistics, psychoanalysis and philosophical feminism.
1941-
1936-
DaSusan La Flesche Picotte was the first Native American female to become a physician in the United States. A member of the Omaha Reservation, she worked there as a physician until 1894.
1865-1915
1855-1925
1986-
1928-
Immunologist and pathologist Karl Landsteiner received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the major blood types.
1868-1943
Cyndi Lauper is a singer who rose to fame in the 1980s with a string of pop hits such as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."
1953-
Hugh Laurie's portrayal of Dr. Gregory on the TV show House made him famous in the U.S. For years prior, the comedian was making sitcoms in the U.K.
1959-
Henry Lawson was a revered Australian writer of short stories and poetry.
1867-1922
Jean-Marie Le Pen is best known for being the founder of the Front National, a far-right wing political party in France, and for his polarizing xenophobic and anti-Semitic comments.
1928-
Leopold I was Holy Roman emperor during whose lengthy reign Austria emerged from a series of struggles to become a great European power.
1640-1705
James Levine is a renowned pianist, violinist and conductor who has served as music director of the Metropolitan Opera since 1971.
1943-
Angst-ridden and neurotic, Richard Lewis turned his private pain into a comic persona that served him as a standup comedian and versatile actor, adding author to his credits when he penned a memoir of struggling with sobriety.
1947-
Writer and aviation pioneer Anne Morrow Lindbergh was married to aviator Charles Lindbergh. The couple’s child was kidnapped for ransom and murdered in 1932.
1906-2001
Little Eva was a singer best known for the overnight stardom brought to her through her #1 smash "The Loco-Motion."
1943-2003
Richard Loeb, of Leopold and Loeb, is best known for murdering 14-year old Bobby Franks with Nathan Leopold in an attempt to carry out the 'perfect crime'.
1905-1936
1901-1988
Vince Lombardi was an NFL coach, notably for the Green Bay Packers, a team he led to five championships.
1913-1970
Jon Lord is best known for his membership in the hard-rock band Deep Purple in the late 1960s, performing songs like "Demon's Eye" and "Space Truckin'." He later joined the band Whitesnake, which gained wide fame in the 1980s.
1941-2012
1904-1964
Louis XII was king of France from 1498 and was noted for his disastrous Italian wars and his domestic popularity.
1462-1515
Director Sidney Lumet was best known for his films Twelve Angry Men and Serpico. He made more than 40 films during his career.
1924-2011
1926-1982
Tobey Maguire is an American actor and producer who is best known for his role as Peter Parker in the 2002-2007 Spiderman films.
1975-
Barry Manilow made the whole world sing with his 1970s hits "I Write the Songs," "Mandy" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)."
1943-
German novelist, short-story and essay writer Thomas Mann won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929. One of his best-known novels is Death in Venice.
1875-1955
1928-2000
1898-1970
French explorer Jacques Marquette is best known as the first European to see and map the northern portion of the Mississippi River.
1637-1675
Actor E.G. Marshall starred on Broadway in the original runs of The Crucible and Waiting for Godot before becoming a film and TV star.
1914-1998
Actor, singer Dean Martin starred in several films with Jerry Lewis and belonged to the "Rat Pack," which included Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.
1917-1995
Former child star Jerry Mathers is best known for playing the role of Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver from 1957-1963 on the series Leave It to Beaver.
1948-
Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell originated the idea of electromagnetic radiation. His ideas formed the basis for quantum mechanics.
1831-1879
Curtis Mayfield was a singer-songwiter known for his racially conscious soul and funk who had a number one album with his score for the film Superfly.
1942-1999
Robert C. Maynard was a journalist and publisher best known for being the first African American to own and publish a major daily newspaper (Tribune).
1937-1993
Thabo Mbeki succeeded Nelson Mandela as the president of South Africa, holding leadership for more than nine years.
1942-
British vocalist, songwriter, musician, and composer, Paul McCartney was a member of the Beatles as well as one of the most popular solo performers of all time.
1942-
1902-1992
1884-1945
Actress and radio performer Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar in 1940, for her supporting role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind.
1895-1952
Bob McDonnell, a prominent Republican politician, became governor of Virginia in 2010.
1954-
1957-
1948-
Ida McKinley was the wife of 25th U.S. President William McKinley. She served as first lady from 1897 until McKinley's assassination in 1901.
1847-1907
Writer Larry McMurtry is noted for his novels set on the frontier, in contemporary small towns, and in increasingly urbanized and industrial areas of Texas.
1936-
1916-2009
James Meredith is a civil rights activist who became the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi in 1962.
1933-
1917-2004
Argentina native Lionel Messi has established records for goals scored and won individual awards en route to worldwide recognition as the best player in soccer.
1987-
Grammy Award-winning pop singer George Michael was one of the leading performers in the 1980s. His 1987 album Faith won a Grammy for best album of the year.
1963-
American athlete Phil Mickelson began golfing as soon as he could walk, and is now one of the foremost successful golfers in the world.
1970-
Basketball player George Mikan won five NBA championships with Minneapolis. He was one of the tallest players and increased modern height expectations.
1924-2005
John Everett Millais was a 19th century English painter who co-founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
1829-1896
1918-2003
American character actor Al Molinaro was loved by television audiences for his recurring roles on The Odd Couple and Happy Days.
1919-
Elizabeth Monroe was popular in France as the wife of diplomat James Monroe. As first lady, her sophisticated style was often mistaken for aloofness.
1768-1830
Actress Marilyn Monroe overcame a difficult childhood to become of the world's biggest and most enduring sex symbols. She died of a drug overdose in 1962.
1926-1962
Professional football player Joe Montana lead the 49ers to victories in four Super Bowls during the 1980s, including consecutive wins in 1989 and 1990.
1956-
Canadian musician Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album Jagged Little Pill established her as one of alternative rock's foremost female vocalists of the 1990s.
1974-
Japanese-American actor Pat Morita became a beloved pop culture figure with his turn as Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid movies.
1932-2005
Nathan Morris founded the all-boy group Boyz II Men, whose members are known for their smooth-sounding harmonies as well as their slick dance performances.
1971-
Shirley Muldowney is recognized as one of the top professional car racers in the world, having earned the moniker "First Lady of Drag Racing."
1940-