February 26 - Births

Births

• 1361 – Wenceslaus, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia (d. 1419)
• 1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist (d. 1593)
• 1587 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer (d. 1639)
• 1671 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician and philosopher (d. 1713)
• 1672 – Antoine Augustine Calmet, French theologian (d. 1757)
• 1714 – James Hervey, English clergyman and writer (d. 1758)
• 1715 – Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (d. 1771)
• 1720 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1803)
• 1732 – Francis Marion, American Revolutionary War officer (d. 1795)
• 1740 – Giambattista Bodoni, Italian publisher and engraver (d. 1813)
• 1746 – Archduchess Marie Amalie of Austria, duchess of Piacenza (d. 1806)
• 1786 – François Arago, French mathematician (d. 1853)
• 1799 – Émile Clapeyron, French engineer and physicist (d. 1864)
• 1802 – Victor Hugo, French writer (d. 1885)
• 1808 – Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
• 1808 – Nathan Kelley,American architect, active mainly in Ohio, (d. 1871)
• 1814 – Charles Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville, French geologist (d. 1876)
• 1829 – Levi Strauss, German-born clothing designer (d. 1902)
• 1846 – William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, American frontiersman (d. 1917)
• 1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, advocate of dietary reform (d. 1943)
• 1857 – Émile Coué, French psychologist (d. 1926)
• 1858 – Vladimir Serbsky, Russian psychiatrist (d. 1917)
• 1861 – King Ferdinand of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
• 1861 – Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, Russian revolutionary, Lenin's wife (d. 1939)
• 1866 – Herbert Henry Dow, American chemical industrialist (d. 1930)
• 1879 – Frank Bridge, English composer (d. 1941)
• 1882 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
• 1885 – Aleksandras Stulginskis, President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
• 1887 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player (d. 1950)
• 1887 – William Frawley, American actor (d. 1966)
• 1887 – Stefan Grabinski, Polish writer (d. 1936)
• 1893 – I. A. Richards, English literary critic (d. 1979)
• 1896 – Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov, Soviet politician and art ideologist (d. 1948)
• 1899 – Max Petitpierre, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1994)
• 1900 – Fritz Wiessner, American mountaineer of German descent (d. 1988)
• 1901 – Dwight Wilson, Canadian Soldier (d. 2007)
• 1902 – Jean Bruller, alias Vercors, French writer and illustrator (d. 1991)
• 1903 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1979)
• 1903 – Orde Charles Wingate, British Major-General, prominent Zionist, eccentric (d. 1944)
• 1906 – Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)
• 1907 – Dub Taylor, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1908 – Tex Avery, American cartoonist (d. 1980)
• 1908 – Leela Majumdar, Bengali writer (d. 2007)
• 1908 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
• 1909 – King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
• 1909 – Fanny Cradock, English food writer and broadcaster (d. 1994)
• 1911 – Tarō Okamoto, Japanese avant-garde artist (d. 1996)
• 1912 – Dane Clark, American actor (d. 1998)
• 1913 – George Barker, English poet (d. 1991)
• 1914 – Robert Alda, American actor (d. 1986)
• 1916 – Jackie Gleason, American actor, writer, composer, and comedian (d. 1987)
• 1918 – Otis Ray Bowen, American politician (Indiana Governor) and physician
• 1918 – Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (d. 1985)
• 1919 – Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1919 – Rie Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer (d. 2003)
• 1920 – Danny Gardella, American baseball player (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Tony Randall, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1920 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist, writer and traveller (d. 2006)
• 1921 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Margaret Leighton, British actress (d. 1976)
• 1922 – Karl Aage Præst, Danish football player
• 1924 – Noboru Takeshita, Japanese politician (d. 2000)
• 1926 – Verne Gagne, American wrestler
• 1926 – Miroslava Stern, Mexican actress (d. 1955)
• 1926 – H.M., Henry Gustav Molaison, the amnesiac patient (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host
• 1928 – Fats Domino, American musician
• 1928 – Anatoli Filipchenko, Soviet cosmonaut
• 1928 – Monique Leyrac, French Canadian singer and actress
• 1930 – Lazar Berman, Russian pianist (d. 2005)
• 1931 – Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
• 1931 – Robert Novak, American political columnist (d. 2009)
• 1932 – Johnny Cash, American singer (d. 2003)
• 1937 – Hagood Hardy, Canadian musician and composer (d. 1997)
• 1938 – Evagoras Pallikarides, Cypriot guerilla (d. 1957)
• 1939 – Josephine Tewson, English actress
• 1941 – Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (d. 1972)
• 1943 – Bill Duke, American actor and director
• 1943 – Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer
• 1944 – Ronald Lauder, American philanthropist and president of the World Jewish Congress
• 1945 – Peter Brock, Australian motorsports champion (d. 2006)
• 1945 – Bob Hite, American singer and harmonicist (Canned Heat) (d. 1981)
• 1945 – Giannis Ioannidis, Greek basketball coach and politician
• 1945 – Marta Kristen, Norwegian actress
• 1945 – Mitch Ryder, American musician (The Detroit Wheels)
• 1946 – Ahmed H. Zewail, Egyptian chemist, Nobel laureate
• 1947 – Sandie Shaw, English singer
• 1949 – Elizabeth George, American novelist
• 1949 – Emma Kirkby, British singer
• 1950 – Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand
• 1950 – Jonathan Cain, American musician (Journey, Bad English, The Babys)
• 1953 – Michael Bolton, American singer
• 1954 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of Turkey
• 1954 – Ernst August, Prince of Hanover, heir to the deposed Kingdom of Hanover and husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco
• 1955 – Andreas Maislinger, founder of Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
• 1956 – Keisuke Kuwata, Japanese singer
• 1957 – David Muldrow Beasley, American politician
• 1957 – Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player
• 1958 – Karen Berger, American comic book editor
• 1958 – Greg Germann, American actor
• 1958 – Susan J. Helms, astronaut
• 1958 – Michel Houellebecq, French novelist
• 1958 – Tim Kaine, American politician, 70th Governor of Virginia
• 1959 – Rolando Blackman, American basketball player
• 1960 – Jaz Coleman, British musician
• 1962 – Kelly Gruber, American baseball player
• 1964 – Mark Dacascos, American actor and martial artist
• 1966 – Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
• 1967 – James Allodi, Canadian actor, writer and director
• 1967 – Currie Graham, Canadian actor
• 1968 – Tim Commerford, American bass player (Rage Against the Machine)
• 1968 – Ed Quinn, American actor
• 1968 – J. T. Snow, American baseball player
• 1969 – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer
• 1971 – Erykah Badu, American singer
• 1971 – Max Martin, Swedish composer and producer
• 1971 – Hélène Ségara, French singer
• 1973 – Marshall Faulk, American football player
• 1973 – Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer
• 1973 – Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
• 1973 – Erinn Bartlett, American actress
• 1974 – Sébastien Loeb, French rally driver
• 1976 – Nikolaos Siranidis, Greek diver
• 1976 – Chad Urmston, American musician
• 1977 – Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player
• 1977 – Greg Rikaart, American actor
• 1977 – Tim Thomas, American basketball player
• 1977 – Josh Towers, American baseball player
• 1977 – Shane Williams, Welsh rugby player
• 1978 – Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, Senegalese footballer
• 1978 – Marc Hynes, British racing driver
• 1979 – Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer
• 1979 – Mariano Bainotti, Argentine racing driver
• 1979 – Pedro Mendes, Portuguese footballer
• 1979 – Shalim Ortiz, Puerto Rican singer and actor
• 1980 – Alex Fong, Hong Kong singer
• 1980 – Gary Majewski, baseball pitcher
• 1980 – Steve Blake, American basketball player
• 1981 – Kertus Davis, American NASCAR driver
• 1981 – Johnathan Wendel, American video gamer
• 1982 – Song Hye Kyo, South Korean model and actress
• 1983 – Jerome Harrison, American football player
• 1983 – Kara Monaco, American glamor model
• 1983 – Pepe, Brazilian born Portuguese football player
• 1984 – Alex de Angelis, San Marino motorcycle racer
• 1984 – Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese footballer
• 1984 – Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer
• 1985 – Miki Fujimoto, Japanese singer
• 1985 – Gee Atherton, British cyclist
• 1985 – Alexandria Hilfiger, American actress
• 1985 – Carolin Nytra, German athlete
• 1986 – Leandro dos Santos de Jesus, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Crystal Kay, Japanese singer
• 1986 – Hannah Kearney, American freestyle skier
• 1986 – Teresa Palmer, Australian model and actress
• 1986 – Juliet Simms, guitarist and singer (Automatic Loveletter)
• 1988 – Matteo Ciofani, Italian footballer
• 1992 – Mikael Granlund, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1993 – Taylor Dooley, American actress