1838-1916
1876-1956
Nathan Adrian is an American swimmer and three-time Olympic gold medalist. At the London Games in 2012, he won two gold medals and one silver.
1988-
James Agee was a film critic for TIME magazine, penned the screenplay for The African Queen, and won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for his novel A Death in the Family.
1909-1955
American singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera is best known for the single "Genie In A Bottle" and the controversial, sexually charged album Stripped.
1980-
1978-
Amos Bronson Alcott, teacher, mystic, writer and the father of Louisa May Alcott, became an itinerant teacher before settling in Boston to found his own school.
1799-1888
Louisa May Alcott was an American author who wrote the classic novel Little Women, as well as various works under pseudonyms.
1832-1888
1891-1969
King Alexander I of Yugoslavia ruled the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1921–29) and of Yugoslavia (1929–34).
1888-1934
1221-1285
Woody Allen is an American comedian, filmmaker and writer who directed and starred in two of his most famous films, Annie Hall and Manhattan.
1935-
Gregg Allman is one of the co-founders of the popular 1970s rock group the Allman Brothers Band.
1947-
1921-
1960-
Benny Andersson is a musician who played keyboard for 1970s pop super-group ABBA.
1946-
1967-
Judd Apatow is an Emmy-winning screenwriter, producer and director known for films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and This Is 40.
1967-
Actress Christina Applegate played Kelly Bundy on the popular sitcom Married... With Children. She is a breast cancer survivor and publicly promotes awareness.
1971-
James Armistead was an enslaved African American, best known for his work as a spy during the American Revolution.
1748-1830
Henry Armstrong was a U.S. pro boxer who held three championship titles simultaneously. He later became a minister and champion for at-risk youth.
1912-1988
1890-1954
Jane Austen was a Georgian era author, best known for her social commentary in novels including Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma.
1775-1817
Steve Austin, also known as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, is best known as a Championship-winning professional wrestler in the WWF. After retirement, Austin pursued acting with roles on TV and film.
1964-
1866-1924
1892-1975
Civil rights activist Ella Baker worked with the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
1903-1986
Vernon Baker was a highly decorated soldier and the only living black WWII veteran to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor.
1919-2010
A former supermodel, Tyra Banks turned her runway success into a multimedia brand and worked at the helm of two successful television series simultaneously.
1973-
Bob Barker was the host of the TV game show
1923-
1877-1956
Film actress Kim Basinger won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in L.A. Confidential. She married actor Alec Baldwin in 1993.
1953-
Frédéric Bazille was a French painter who helped found the Impressionist movement of the late 19th century, before dying in combat in the Franco-Prussian War.
1841-1870
Jennifer Beals is an American actress who launched to stardom with the lead role in the 1983 hit Flashdance. She also starred on Showtime's The L Word.
1963-
1967-
1930-
St. Thomas Becket, England’s Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to give King Henry II power over the church. He was murdered in 1170 and became a saint in 1173.
1118-1170
Henri Becquerel was a French physicist who discovered radioactivity, an achievement for which he won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903.
1852-1908
Sir Herbert Beerbohm was a stage actor and well-known figure in English theater. He both managed and produced several plays in London including Charles Dickens and Shakespearean classics.
1852-1917
Ludwig van Beethoven was a deaf German composer and the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras.
1770-1827
1967-
1947-
1844-1929
1895-1976
Mexican actor and director Gael García Bernal starred as Che Guevera in The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) and as Stéphane Miroux in The Science of Sleep (2006).
1978-
Economist Ben Bernanke replaced Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve System in 2006. Luckily, he was an expert on the Great Depression.
1953-
1598-1680
1955-
American actress Mayim Bialik is best known for her roles in the film Beaches and on the hit television shows Blossom and The Big Bang Theory.
1975-
Filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow has directed films like Point Break and Zero Dark Thirty. In 2009, she became the first woman to win an Academy Award for best director for The Hurt Locker (2008).
1951-
Steve Biko spearheaded the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. He died in 1977, from injuries sustained while in police custody.
1946-1977
Larry Bird is a retired professional basketball player known for his years with the Boston Celtics and his deceptively nimble skills on the court.
1956-
Naturalist, inventor and businessman Clarence Birdseye pioneered the process of flash freezing in the United States. His company was bought by General Foods.
1886-1956
Rod Blagojevich is an Illinois-based politician whose career has been marred by as many scandals as it has been highlighted by successes.
1956-
William Blake was a 19th century writer and artist who is regarded as a seminal figure of the Romantic Age. His writings have influenced countless writers and artists through the ages, and he has been deemed both a major poet and an original thinker.
1757-1827
1924-2009
Bluford became the first African American to travel in space in 1983, as a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
1942-
Steven Bochco is a US television producer and writer. He is famous for creating Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and NYPD Blue.
1943-
James Booker was an African-American musician known for his unique fusion of jazz and rhythm-and-blues, and for songs like "The Sunny Side of the Street," "A Taste of Honey" and "Papa Was a Rascal."
1939-1983
1882-1970
1912-1988
1957-
1546-1601
Kenneth Branagh is an Irish-born English stage and motion-picture actor, director and writer who is best known for his film adaptations of Shakespearean plays.
1960-
1913-1992
1963-
1906-1982
Jeff Bridges is an American actor best known for his film roles in The Last Picture Show, TRON, The Big Lebowski and Crazy Heart.
1949-
1979-
American clergyman Phillips Brooks, ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1860, is best known for authoring the Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem."
1853-1893
African American actor Richard Brooks is best known for his role as Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette in the first three seasons of NBC's Law & Order.
1962-
Dave Brubeck was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his unconventional meters, as well as songs like "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke."
1920-2012
Mary Brunner, a member of Charles Manson's "Family," was in jail at the time of the infamous Tate/LaBianca murders, thereby precluding her participation.
1943-
Dennis Brutus was a poet whose works center on his sufferings and those of his fellow blacks in South Africa.
1924-2009
William F. Buckley was a writer and political TV personality who helped make conservative politics popular in the 1950s-1970s.
1925-2008
British historian Alan Bullock is the author of several works on 20th century Europe, including studies of Hitler, Bevin and Stalin.
1914-2004
American serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy was one of the most notorious criminals of the late 20th century.
1946-1989
1628-1688
1849-1924
1932-
Steve Buscemi is a popular character actor, director and screenwriter. He's known for his role on the critically acclaimed series Boardwalk Empire.
1957-
Jenna Bush Hager is the daughter of President George W. Bush. She’s worked as a teacher and journalist, including reporting for the Today Show.
1981-
1942-
A former fast-food chain executive, Herman Cain emerged as a Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential nomination.
1945-
Maria Callas was best known for her dramatic operatic performances around the world.
1923-1977
Annie Jump Cannon was a pioneering astronomer responsible for the classification of hundreds of thousands of stars.
1863-1941
1790-1843
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish essayist, historian and satirical writer. His best know works include Life of Schiller, Sartor Resartus and The French Revolution.
1795-1881
Hoagy Carmichael was an American songwriter who wrote the standards "Rockin' Chair," "Lazy River," "Stardust" and "Georgia on my Mind."
1899-1981
Andrew Carnegie, a self-made steel tycoon and one of the wealthiest 19th century U.S. businessmen, donated towards the expansion of the New York Public Library.
1835-1919
Dale Carnegie is the author of How To Win Friends and Influence People, one of the bestselling self-help books of all time.
1888-1955
1936-2009
Opera singer José Carreras is a leading tenor who has performed around the world. He helped popularize opera by performing as part of The Three Tenors.
1946-
1876-1950
A.P. Carter is best known for forming the Carter Family band, which combined traditional Appalachian sounds with a unique guitar style and African American gospel influences.
1891-1960
1929-1989
Willa Cather was a writer of poetry and novels known for such works as O Pioneers! and My Antonia.
1873-1947
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was a French explorer best known for leading an expedition down the Mississippi River, claiming the region for France.
1643-1687
1701-1744
Folk singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, famous in the 1970s for hits like "Cat's in the Cradle," was also a philanthropist dedicated to fighting world hunger.
1942-1981