August 08 :: Historical Births Today

Famous Births

• 1079 - Emperor Horikawa of Japan (d. 1107)


• 1518 - Conrad Lycosthenes, French-born German humanist and encyclopedist (d. 1561)


• 1605 - Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, British colonial Governor of Maryland (d. 1675)


• 1646 - Godfrey Kneller, German-born painter (d. 1723)


• 1673 - John Ker, Scottish spy (d. 1726)


• 1693 - Laurent Belissen, French composer (d. 1762)


• 1694 - Francis Hutcheson, Irish philosopher (d. 1746)


• 1720 - Carl Fredrik Pechlin, Swedish politician (d. 1796)


• 1807 - Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish novelist (d. 1892)


• 1814 - Esther Morris, American jurist (d. 1902)


• 1824 - Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse), Tsarina of Russia (d. 1880)


• 1839 - Nelson Miles, American general (d. 1925)


• 1857 - Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and composer (d. 1944)


• 1866 - Matthew Henson, Arctic explorer (d. 1955)


• 1875 - Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (d. 1955)


• 1879 - Bob Smith, American founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (d. 1950)


• 1879 - Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1919)


• 1880 - Earle Page, Australian politician (d. 1961)


• 1881 - Albert Kesselring, German field marshal (d. 1960)


• 1881 - Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, German field marshal (d. 1954)


• 1882 - Ladislas Starevich, Polish animator (d. 1965)


• 1884 - Sara Teasdale, American poet (d. 1933)


• 1889 - Jack Ryder, Australain cricketer (d. 1977)


• 1891 - Adolf Busch, German violinist (d. 1952)


• 1892 - Rafael Moreno Aranzadi, Spanish footballer (d. 1922)


• 1896 - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American author (d. 1953)


• 1898 - Alexis Minotis, Greek actor (d. 1990)


• 1901 - Ernest O. Lawrence, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)


• 1902 - Paul Dirac, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)


• 1904 - Achille Varzi, Italian race car driver (d. 1948)


• 1905 - André Jolivet, French composer (d. 1974)


• 1907 - Benny Carter, American musician (d. 2003)


• 1908 - Arthur Goldberg, U.S. Supreme Court justice (d. 1980)


• 1909 - Bill Voce, England cricketer (d. 1984)


• 1910 - Sylvia Sidney, American actress (d. 1999)


• 1911 - Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (d. 2002)


• 1915 - Jumbo Elliott, American track coach (d. 1981)


• 1919 - Dino De Laurentiis, Italian film producer


• 1920 - Leo Chiosso, Italian lyricist (d. 2006)


• 1920 - Carol Lambrino, son of Carol II of Romania and Zizi Lambrino (d. 2006)


• 1920 - Jimmy Witherspoon, American singer (d. 1997)


• 1921 - William Asher, American film producer


• 1921 - John Herbert Chapman, British physicist (d. 1979)


• 1921 - Webb Pierce, American singer (d. 1991)


• 1921 - Vulimiri Ramalingaswami, Indian medical scientist (d. 2001)


• 1921 - Esther Williams, American actress and swimmer


• 1922 - Rory Calhoun, American actor (d. 1999)


• 1922 - Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-born fashion designer (d. 1985)


• 1922 - Gertrude Himmelfarb, American historian


• 1925 - Alija Izetbegović, Bosniak politician (d. 2003)


• 1926 - Richard Anderson, American actor


• 1927 - Johnny Temple, American baseball player (d. 1994)


• 1928 - Don Burrows, Australian musician


• 1929 - Ronald Biggs, British criminal


• 1929 - Larisa Bogoraz, Soviet dissident (d. 2004)


• 1931 - Sir Roger Penrose, British physicist


• 1932 - Luis García Meza Tejada, Bolivian dictator


• 1932 - Mel Tillis, American singer


• 1933 - Joe Tex, American singer (d. 1982)


• 1933 - Serena Wilson, American belly dancer (d. 2007)


• 1935 - Donald P. Bellisario, American television producer


• 1935 - John Laws, Australia radio personality


• 1936 - Keith Barron, English actor


• 1936 - Frank Howard, American baseball player


• 1937 - Dustin Hoffman, American actor


• 1938 - Jacques Hétu, French Canadian composer


• 1938 - Connie Stevens, American singer and actress


• 1939 - Alexander Watson, American ambassador and diplomat


• 1940 - Dennis Tito, American businessman and space tourist


• 1940 - Dilip Sardesai, Indian cricketer (d. 2007)


• 1944 - Brooke Bundy, American actress


• 1944 - John Renbourn, English musician


• 1946 - James W. Lewis, American convicted extortionist


• 1947 - José Cruz, Puerto Rican baseball player


• 1947 - Ken Dryden, Canadian ice hockey player and parliamentarian


• 1947 - Larry Wilcox, American actor


• 1948 - Svetlana Savitskaya, Russian cosmonaut


• 1949 - Keith Carradine, American actor


• 1949 - Ricardo Londoño, Colombian racing driver


• 1951 - Mamoru Oshii, Japanese film director


• 1951 - Randy Shilts, American journalist and author (d. 1994)


• 1951 - Phil Carlson, Australian cricketer


• 1952 - Jostein Gaarder, Norwegian author


• 1952 - Robin Quivers, American radio personality


• 1952 - Sudhakar Rao, Indian cricketer


• 1953 - Nigel Mansell, English race car driver


• 1953 - Don Most, American actor


• 1955 - Diddú, Icelandic soprano and songwriter


• 1955 - Herbert Prohaska, Austrian footballer


• 1956 - David Grant, English singer and vocal coach


• 1956 - Branscombe Richmond, American actor


• 1956 - Chris Foreman, English guitarist (Madness)


• 1958 - Deborah Norville, American television host


• 1958 - Cecilia Roth, Argentine actress


• 1960 - Ulrich Maly, German politician


• 1961 - The Edge, English guitarist (U2)


• 1961 - Daniel House, American music executive


• 1961 - Bruce Matthews, American football player


• 1961 - Rikki Rockett, American drummer (Poison)


• 1962 - Mike Zanier, Canadian ice hockey player


• 1963 - Jon Turteltaub, American director


• 1963 - Stephen Walkom, Canadian ice hockey official and executive


• 1964 - Anastasia Ashman, American writer


• 1964 - Paul Taylor, England cricketer


• 1965 - Kate Langbroek, Australian media personality


• 1965 - Aaron Abeyta, American musician


• 1965 - Angus Fraser, England cricketer


• 1966 - Chris Eubank, English boxer


• 1966 - John Hudek, American baseball player


• 1967 - Eric Angle, American wrestler


• 1967 - Marcelo Balboa, American soccer player


• 1967 - Rena Mero, American wrestler


• 1967 - Jessica Moore, Italian actress


• 1967 - Lee Unkrich, American director and film editor


• 1968 - Abey Kuruvilla, Indian cricketer


• 1969 - Faye Wong, Hong Kong singer and actress


• 1970 - Trev Alberts, American football player


• 1970 - Pascal Duquenne, Belgian actor


• 1972 - Axel Merckx, Belgian bicycle racer


• 1972 - Lüpüs Thünder, American musician (The Bloodhound Gang)


• 1973 - Toby Allen, Australian singer (Human Nature)


• 1973 - Shane Lee, Australian cricketer


• 1973 - Senta Moses, American actress


• 1973 - Scott Stapp, American singer (Creed)


• 1974 - Scott D'Amore, Canadian professional wrestler and manager


• 1974 - Brian Harvey, English singer


• 1974 - Andy Priaulx, British race car driver


• 1976 - JC Chasez, American singer (*NSYNC)


• 1976 - Tawny Cypress, American actress


• 1976 - Drew Lachey, American singer


• 1976 - Seung-Yeop Lee, Korean baseball player


• 1976 - Jeff Simmons, American race car driver


• 1977 - Kurt Bernard, Costa Rican footballer


• 1977 - Szilard Nemeth, Slovak footballer


• 1977 - Lindsay Sloane, American actress


• 1977 - Rocky Thompson, Canadian ice hockey player


• 1977 - Mohammad Wasim, Pakistani cricketer


• 1978 - Alan Maybury, Irish footballer


• 1978 - Louis Saha, French footballer


• 1978 - Miho Shiraishi, Japanese actress


• 1978 - Countess Vaughn, American actress and singer


• 1979 - Richard Harwood, British cellist


• 1979 - Paris Latsis, Greek shipping heir


• 1979 - Rashard Lewis, American basketball player


• 1979 - Sam Totman, English musician (Dragonforce)


• 1980 - Mike Hindert, American musician


• 1980 - Sabine Klaschka, German tennis player


• 1980 - Pat Noonan, American footballer


• 1980 - Michael Urie, American actor and director


• 1981 - Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer and songwriter


• 1981 - Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player


• 1981 - Meagan Good, American actress


• 1981 - Kaori Iida, Japanese singer and actress


• 1981 - Bradley McIntosh, British pop singer


• 1983 - Guy Burnet, British actor


• 1984 - Martrez Milner, American football player


• 1984 - Devon McTavish, American footballer


• 1985 - Brayan Ruiz, Costa Rican soccer player


• 1986 - Peyton List, American actress


• 1987 - Katie Leung, Scottish actress


• 1988 - Princess Beatrice of York


• 1988 - Danilo Gallinari, Italian basketball player


• 1989 - Sesil Karatantcheva, Bulgarian tennis player


• 1995 - Malin Reitan, Norwegian singer