Nat King Cole became the first African-American performer to host a variety TV series in 1956. He's best known for his soft baritone voice and for singles like "The Christmas Song," "Mona Lisa" and "Nature Boy."
1919-1965
Billy Corgan is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist in the alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins.
1967-
German inventor Gottlieb Daimler patented one of the first successful internal-combustion engines and later founded the Daimler company, which produced the first Mercedes car in 1899.
1834-1900
Patrick Duffy is best known for his portrayal of Bobby Ewing on the long-running television series Dallas. He also starred in the 1976 TV show Man from Atlantis and the 1990s sitcom Step by Step, among other roles.
1949-
Author and activist Myrlie Evers-Williams was the wife of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers, and served as chair of the NAACP 1995–1998.
1933-
John Wayne Gacy is credited as one of the most vicious serial killers in U.S. history, with 33 victims.
1942-1994
1948-
Mia Hamm is a former American soccer player who has scored more international goals than any other player, male or female.
1972-
1964-
1955-
Alexander McQueen was a London-based, English fashion designer who was head designer of the Louis Vuitton Givenchy fashion line, before starting his own line.
1969-2010
Barry Minkow is a convicted felon who used his carpet-cleaning business as a front for a massive Ponzi scheme and investor fraud.
1967-
Famed Russian-born male dancer Rudolf Nureyev was a soloist for the Kirov Ballet and a choreographer for the Paris Opera Ballet.
1938-1993
Homer Plessy is best known as the plaintiff in Plessy v. Ferguson, a landmark court case challenging southern-based segregation.
1862-1925
Dana Reeve was an actress and the wife of actor Christopher Reeve. She established and chaired the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center.
1961-2006
Actor Kurt Russell has appeared in a number of film roles and is know as long-time romantic companion to actress Goldie Hawn, mother of actress Kate Hudson.
1951-
Bayard Rustin was a civil rights organizer and activist, best known for his work as adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1950s and '60s.
1912-1987
Claressa Shields is an American boxer who made her Olympic debut at the Summer Games in London in 2012, and took home an Olympic middleweight gold medal.
1995-
1955-
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney made the pro-slavery ruling in the 1857 Dred Scot Case that deemed blacks weren't citizens of the United States.
1777-1864