August 15 - Births

Births

• 1171 – King Alfonso IX of Leon (d. 1230)
• 1195 – Anthony of Padua, Portuguese saint (d. 1231)
• 1432 – Luigi Pulci, Italian poet (d. 1484)
• 1575 – Bartol Kašić, Croatian writer and linguist (d. 1650)
• 1613 – Gilles Ménage, French scholar (d. 1692)
• 1717 – Blind Jack, English roadbuilder (d. 1810)
• 1740 – Matthias Claudius, German poet (d. 1815)
• 1769 – Napoleon Bonaparte, Corsican-born French military officer and dictator (d. 1821)
• 1771 – Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist and poet (d. 1832)
• 1785 – Thomas De Quincey, English author (d. 1859)
• 1813 – Jules Grévy, French statesman (d. 1891)
• 1844 – Thomas-Alfred Bernier, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1908)
• 1856 – Ivan Franko, Ukrainian writer (d. 1916)
• 1857 – Albert Ballin, German shipping tycoon (d. 1918)
• 1858 – E. Nesbit, English author (d. 1924)
• 1859 – Charles Comiskey, American baseball owner (d. 1931)
• 1860 – Henrietta Vinton Davis, American elocutionist (d. 1941)
• 1860 – Florence Harding, American First Lady (d. 1924)
• 1863 – Alexei Krylov, Russian engineer and mathematician (d. 1945)
• 1865 – Mikao Usui, Japanese spiritual figure (d. 1926)
• 1872 – Sri Aurobindo, Indian writer and philosopher (d. 1950)
• 1875 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, English composer (d. 1912)
• 1876 – Stylianos Gonatas, Greek military officer and politician (d. 1966)
• 1877 – Tachiyama Mineemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 22^nd Yokozuna (d. 1941)
• 1878 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian counter-revolutionary (d. 1928)
• 1879 – Ethel Barrymore, American actress (d. 1959)
• 1881 – Alfred Wagenknecht, German-born American activist (d. 1956)
• 1883 – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor (d. 1962)
• 1885 – Edna Ferber, American novelist (d. 1968)
• 1886 – Bill Whitty, Australian cricketer (d. 1974)
• 1890 – Elizabeth Bolden, American Supercentenarian (d. 2006)
• 1890 – Jacques Ibert, French composer (d. 1962)
• 1892 – Louis, 7th duc de Broglie, French physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1987)
• 1893 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and mechanical computation designer (d. 1950)
• 1896 – Gerty Cori, Austrian biochemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1957)
• 1896 – Catherine Doherty, Russian-born Canadian activist (d. 1985)
• 1896 – Paul Outerbridge, American photographer (d. 1958)
• 1896 – Leon Theremin, Russian inventor (d. 1993)
• 1898 – Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (d. 1966)
• 1900 – Estelle Brody, American actress (d. 1995)
• 1901 – Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician (d. 1975)
• 1904 – George Klein, Canadian inventor (d. 1992)
• 1905 – Emile St. Godard, Canadian dog sled racer (d. 1948)
• 1909 – Hugo Winterhalter, American composer and bandleader (d. 1973)
• 1910 – Signe Hasso, Swedish actress (d. 2002)
• 1912 – Julia Child, American cook and TV personality (d. 2004)
• 1912 – Dame Wendy Hiller, English actress (d. 2003)
• 1914 – Paul Rand, American graphic designer (d. 1996)
• 1916 – Aleks Çaçi, Albanian writer (d. 1989)
• 1917 – Jack Lynch, Irish politician (d. 1999)
• 1917 – Oscar Romero, El Salvadorian Roman Catholic priest (d. 1980)
• 1919 – Huntz Hall, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1919 – Benedict Kiely, Irish author (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Lukas Foss, German-born composer (d. 2009)
• 1922 – Leonard Baskin, American sculptor and graphic artist (d. 2000)
• 1922 – Giorgos Mouzakis, Greek songwriter and musician (d. 2005)
• 1923 – Rose Marie, American actress
• 1924 – Robert Bolt, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1924 – Werner Abrolat, German actor (d. 1997)
• 1925 – Mike Connors, American actor
• 1925 – Oscar Peterson, Canadian jazz pianist (d. 2007)
• 1925 – Bill Pinkney, American baritone singer (d. 2007)
• 1926 – Sami Michael, Iraqi-born Israeli author
• 1926 – Costis Stephanopoulos, Greek politician
• 1927 – Eddie Leadbeater, England cricketer
• 1928 – Nicolas Roeg, English film director
• 1930 – Ageeda Paavel, Estonian freedom fighter
• 1933 – Bobby Helms, American pop singer (d. 1997)
• 1933 – Jim Lange, American game show host
• 1934 – Bobby Byrd, American soul/funk singer (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Nino Ferrer, French-Italian singer (d. 1998)
• 1934 – Reginald Scarlett, West Indian cricketer
• 1935 – Jim Dale, English actor
• 1935 – Vernon Jordan Jr., American presidential advisor
• 1935 – Lionel Taylor, American football player
• 1938 – Maxine Waters, American politician
• 1938 – Janusz A. Zajdel, Polish writer
• 1940 – Gudrun Ensslin, German terrorist (d. 1977)
• 1940 – Rita Shane, American soprano
• 1941 – Manolis Mavrommatis, Greek politician
• 1942 – Larry Hartsell, American martial arts instructor (d. 2007)
• 1943 – María Rojo, Mexican actress and politician
• 1944 – Linda Ellerbee, American journalist
• 1944 – Tom Murphy, American politician
• 1944 – Dimitris Sioufas, Greek lawyer and politician
• 1944 – Sylvie Vartan, Bulgarian pop singer
• 1945 – Gene Upshaw, American football player (d. 2008)
• 1945 – Begum Khaleda Zia, Bangladeshi politician
• 1946 – Tony Robinson, English actor and television presenter
• 1946 – Jimmy Webb, American musician and composer
• 1947 – Raakhee Gulzar, Indian actress
• 1947 – Jenny Hanley, British TV presenter
• 1948 – Uschi Digard, American pornographic actress and model
• 1948 – Patsy Gallant, Canadian pop singer
• 1948 – George Ryton, British engineer
• 1949 – Beverly Lynn Burns, American pilot
• 1949 – Richard Deacon, Welsh sculptor
• 1949 – Garry Disher, Australian author
• 1949 – Mark B. Rosenberg, American educator
• 1950 – Tommy Aldridge, American musician
• 1950 – Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom
• 1950 – Tom Kelly, American baseball manager
• 1951 – Ann Biderman, American film and television writer
• 1951 – Bobby Caldwell, American singer and musician
• 1951 – John Childs, England cricketer
• 1951 – Daba Diawara, Malian politician
• 1951 – Ranjan Gunatilleke, Sri Lankan cricketer
• 1954 – Stieg Larsson, Swedish writer (d. 2004)
• 1954 – Mary Jo Salter, American poet
• 1956 – Lorraine Desmarais, French-Canadian jazz pianist and composer
• 1957 – Željko Ivanek, Slovenian-American actor
• 1958 – Simon Baron-Cohen, British psychiatrist and author
• 1958 – Craig MacTavish, Canadian ice hockey player/coach
• 1958 – Victor Shenderovich, Russian satirist
• 1958 – Rondell Sheridan, American actor and comedian
• 1958 – Laurie Bembenek, American convicted murderer and fugitive (d. 2010)
• 1961 – Ed Gillespie, American White House counsel to George W. Bush
• 1961 – Gary Kubiak, American football coach
• 1962 – Tom Colicchio, American chef
• 1963 – Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexican film director
• 1963 – Jack Russell, England cricketer
• 1963 – Valery Levaneuski, entrepreneur, politician, former political prisoner
• 1964 – Melinda French Gates, American wife of Bill Gates
• 1965 – Rob Thomas, American writer
• 1966 – Scott Brosius, American baseball player
• 1966 – Shirley Kwan, Hong Kong singer
• 1966 – Dimitris Papadopoulos, Greek basketball player
• 1967 – Peter Hermann American actor
• 1968 – Debra Messing, American actress
• 1969 – Kevin Cheng, Hong Kong actor and singer
• 1969 – Cris Judd, American actor/choreographer
• 1969 – Bernard Fanning, Australian singer/songwriter (Powderfinger)
• 1970 – Anthony Anderson, American comedian and actor
• 1970 – Maddie Corman, American actress
• 1970 – Ben Silverman, American TV executive
• 1972 – Ben Affleck, American actor
• 1972 – Chris Morrissey, American film director/actor
• 1972 – Matthew Wood, American actor and sound editor
• 1972 – Jennifer Alexander, Canadian ballet dancer (d. 2007)
• 1973 – Adnan Sami, British-born Pakastani music composer and singer
• 1973 – Adam Willard, American musician (The Offspring)
• 1974 – Natasha Henstridge, Canadian actress
• 1974 – Tomasz Suwary, Polish footballer
• 1975 – Bertrand Berry, American football player
• 1975 – Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer
• 1975 – Brendan Morrison, Canadian hockey player
• 1975 – Kara Wolters, American basketball player
• 1976 – Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch football player
• 1977 – Martin Biron, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
• 1977 – Igor Cassina, Italian gymnast
• 1977 – Nicole Paggi, American actress
• 1978 – Tim Foreman, American bassist (Switchfoot)
• 1978 – Lilia Podkopayeva, Ukrainian gymnast
• 1978 – Stavros Tziortziopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1978 – Kerri Walsh, American beach volleyball player
• 1979 – Carl Edwards, American NASCAR driver
• 1980 – Nathalie Press, English actress
• 1981 – Brendan Hansen, American swimmer
• 1981 – Song Ji-hyo, South Korean actress
• 1981 – Oliver Perez, American baseball player
• 1982 – Casey Burgener, American weightlifter
• 1988 – Tiffanie Anderson, American performer (Girlicious)
• 1989 – Belinda, Mexican singer
• 1989 – Carlos Pena Jr., American actor and singer
• 1989 – Joe Jonas, American actor and singer