Bud Abbott was a comedian best known for playing the "straight man" of the Abbott and Costello comedy duo.
1895-1974
Gerry Adams is president of Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army.
1948-
American Revolutionary Samuel Adams organized the Boston Tea Party and signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
1722-1803
1783-1824
Syed Ahmed Khan was an Indian educator, politician and Islamic reformer whose work inspired a new generation of Muslims and pioneered the revival of Indian Islam in the late 19th century.
1817-1898
Akbar the Great, Muslim emperor of India, established a sprawling kingdom through military conquests, but is known for his policy of religious tolerance.
1542-1605
Hafez al-Assad served as president of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000. He is widely criticized for his brutal tactics but also praised for stabilizing the country.
1930-2000
Egyptian Hassan al-Banna was the founder the Muslim Brotherhood, with goals of expelling the British from Egypt and re-establishing the Caliphate.
1906-1949
Film, theater and television actor Jason Alexander played George Costanza opposite Jerry Seinfeld on the popular television sitcom Seinfeld.
1959-
1968-
Mob boss Albert Anastasia started out as a hitman and became one of the most powerful crime bosses of the 20th century. He helped run Murder Inc.
1902-1957
Julie Andrews is an Oscar and Tony Award-winning actress and singer famous for her roles in The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins.
1935-
1912-2007
1774-1845
Hannah Arendt gained much attention for her writings on totalitarianism and Jewish affairs after World War II.
1906-1975
Antonin Artaud was a French actor, costume designer and writer who revolutionized drama with his idea of a Theater of Cruelty.
1896-1948
Chester A. Arthur was 21st president of the United States. Arthur was vice president at the time President Garfield was assassinated, and acceded to the presidency thereafter.
1829-1886
Jean Arthur was an American actress best known for her roles in films such as Mr. Smith Goes To Washington and The More The Merrier.
1900-1991
Ashanti is best known for adding her R&B vocals to hit songs by popular rappers, including Fat Joe's "What's Luv" and Ja Rule's "Down 4 U."
1980-
Jeff Ashton is a Florida state attorney who was the head prosecutor in the 2011 Casey Anthony trial.
1957-
1906-2006
1903-1995
63-14
1907-1998
1877-1955
Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan is known for his roles in action movies like Zanjeer, and for hosting the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
1942-
1951-
George Bancroft was known as the "father of U.S. history." His work, History of the United States, was the first comprehensive study of U.S. History.
1800-1891
Imamu Amiri Baraka is an African-American poet and scholar. He has served as professor emeritus of Africana Studies at the State Unversity of New York at Stony Brook.
1934-
Brigitte Bardot is a French dancer, model and actress who became an international icon in the 1950s and '60s with films like And God Created Women and Contempt.
1934-
Writer and filmmaker Clive Barker is largely considered a master of the horror genre. His Books of Blood and Hellraiser films are among his best-known works.
1952-
Ma Barker is best known for supposedly leading the criminal behavior of her four sons.
1873-1935
Sometimes called Mr. Untouchable, Leroy 'Nicky' Barnes became one of the biggest drug dealers in New York City during the 1970s.
1933-
Edith Ewing Beale, also known as "Big Edie," was aunt to Jackie Kennedy, and resident of the decrepit mansion called Grey Gardens.
1895-1977
1942-
1886-1973
Silvio Berlusconi is best known as a controversial Italian politician who was elected as Prime Minister three times.
1936-
Perhaps the most famous actress of all time, Sarah Bernhardt is regarded as one of the finest actors of the 19th century, appearing on the stage and in some of the earliest films ever produced.
1844-1923
Chuck Berry was one of the most popular and influential performers of rhythm-and-blues and rock 'n' roll music during the 1950s, '60s and '70s. He's known for songs like "Johnny B. Goode" and "My Ding-a-Ling."
1926-
A two-time French prime minister, Georges Bidault was active in the French Resistance during World War II but later fled France after a dispute with de Gaulle.
1899-1983
1885-1965
Art Blakey was an influential jazz drummer associated with the modern bebop style. He played with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Thelonious monk and countless other jazz greats.
1919-1990
Niels Bohr was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and humanitarian whose revolutionary theories on atomic structures helped shape research worldwide.
1885-1962
1947-1977
Arna Bontemps was an African-American author best known for his novels, children’s books and poems written during the 1930s-1970s.
1902-1973
Tom Bosley was an award-winning American actor best known for playing Howard Cunningham in the 1970s hit TV sitcom Happy Days.
1927-2010
Danny Boyle is a British film director whose films include Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, and 127 Hours.
1956-
American actor Peter Boyle is best known as the grumpy dad on the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, a role he held for eleven years.
1935-2006
1954-
Self-described ‘street reporter’ Jimmy Breslin wrote columns for a sequence of New York papers. Also a novelist, he won a 1986 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.
1930-
1926-2002
Jackson Browne is a folk singer-songwriter who released numerous hit records in the 1970s and '80s, including Late for the Sky. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
1948-
Lenny Bruce was an American stand-up comic and satirist who became a target for prosecutors and a poster boy for freedom of speech.
1925-1966
1887-1975
James M. Buchanan is an American economist best known for his work on public choice theory, for which he receive the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1986.
1919-
Art Buchwald is known for writing humor columns for Paris newspaper The Herald Tribune, and for winning a Pulitzer Prize for Outstanding Commentary in 1982.
1925-2007
Angelo Buono was a serial killer known as the “Hillside Strangler,” who was convicted of murdering nine women in the late 1970s.
1934-2002
1865-1912
Puerto Rican politician and businesswoman Sila María Calderón is best known for becoming the first female governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 2001, serving until 2005.
1942-
1912-1999
1877-1945
David Cameron is best known for being a revolutionary leader of Britain's Conservative Party, a quality that eventually won him the election as prime minister in 2010.
1966-
1973-
1697-1768
Helen Churchill Candee was a writer and a survivor of the RMS Titanic disaster.
1859-1949
1871-1945
1913-1954
1937-
Truman Capote was a trailblazing writer of Southern descent known for the works Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood, among others.
1924-1984
Rod Carew is a former Major League Baseball first baseman, second baseman and coach who played for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
1945-
Scientist George Carruthers created inventions, such as the ultraviolet camera, or spectograph, which was used by NASA in the 1972 Apollo 16 flight, revealing the mysteries of space and the Earth's atmosphere.
1939-
Jimmy Carter was the 39th president of the United States (1977-81) and later was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
1924-
Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an active abolitionist and the first female African-American newspaper editor in North America.
1823-1893
Shaun Cassidy became a pop music sensation in the 1970s, much like his older half-brother David Cassidy. His first two albums sold more than 5 million copies.
1958-
French jurist and lawyer René Cassin is best known for his involvement in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
1887-1976
Cassie Chadwick was best known for posing as the illegitimate daughter of industrialist Andrew Carnegie, subsequently convincing banks to loan her millions of dollars.
1857-1907
Ray Charles was a pioneer of soul music, integrating R&B, gospel, pop and country to creat hits like "Unchain My Heart," "Hit the Road Jack" and "Georgia on My Mind." A blind genius, he is considered one of the greatest artists of all time.
1930-2004
1896-1954
Bobby Charlton is best known for being one of England's most accomplished soccer player of all time.
1937-
Chevy Chase is a comedic actor who is best know for his appearances on Saturday Night Live and his starring roles in the films Caddyshack and Fletch.
1943-
Chubby Checker was an early rock 'n' roller who had a hit with the song and dance sensation, "The Twist."
1941-
Andrei Chikatilo was a former school teacher who murdered more than 50 young people in the Soviet Union.
1936-1994
Alice Childress is an African-American playwright associated with the Harlem Renaissance. She is also the author of several young adult novels.
1916-1994
1764-1790
Appointed Attorney General by President Harry Truman, Tom C. Clark went on to become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
1899-1977
1810-1903
Actor Montgomery Clift starred in films like Red River (1948), A Place in the Sun (1951), and From Here To Eternity (1953).
1920-1966
1938-1960
1937-2005
Sacha Baron Cohen is a British comedian and actor who is widely known for his portrayal of three unorthodox fictional characters: Ali G, Borat and Brüno.
1971-
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet of the Romantic Movement, best known for his allegorical sea-faring poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."
1772-1834
Michael Collins was a hero of the Irish struggle for independence, who directed guerrilla warfare during the intensification of the Anglo-Irish War.
1890-1922
John Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer, and is an iconic figure of 20th century jazz.
1926-1967
Confucius was an influential Chinese philosopher, teacher and political figure known for his popular aphorisms and for his models of social interaction.
551-479
As head principal of the Institute for Colored Youth, Fanny Coppin innovated a practice-teaching system and an elaborate industrial-training department.
1837-1913
Le Corbusier was a Swiss-born French architect who belonged to the first generation of the so-called International school of architecture.
1887-1965
American television icon Don Cornelius created and hosted Soul Train, which spent more than 30 years on the air.
1936-2012
French actress Marion Cotillard won an Academy Award for her performance as Edith Piaf in the film La Vie En Rose. She also starred in the acclaimed films Inception and The Dark Knight Rises.
1975-
Simon Cowell is a record producer and television personality known for his scathing critical remarks as a judge on the television show, "American Idol."
1959-
Celia Cruz was a Cuban-American singer, best known as one of the most popular salsa performers of all time, recording 23 gold albums.
1925-2003