August 20 :: Historical Births Today

Famous Births

• 1517 - Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, French church leader (d. 1586)


• 1561 - Jacopo Peri, Italian composer (d. 1633)


• 1625 - Thomas Corneille, French dramatist (d. 1709)


• 1632 - Louis Bourdaloue, French Jesuit preacher (d. 1704)


• 1710 - Thomas Simpson, British mathematician (d. 1761)


• 1719 - Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer (d. 1783)


• 1719 - Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1791)


• 1776 - Bernardo O'Higgins, South American revolutionary (d. 1842)


• 1779 - Jöns Jakob Berzelius, Swedish chemist (d. 1848)


• 1833 - Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (d. 1901)


• 1845 - St. Albert Chmielowski, Polish Catholic Saint (d. 1916)


• 1847 - Bolesław Prus, Polish writer (d. 1912)


• 1856 - Jakub Bart-Ćišinski, Sorbian writer (d. 1909)


• 1860 - Raymond Poincaré, French statesman (d. 1934)


• 1868 - Ellen Roosevelt, American tennis player (d. 1954)


• 1873 - Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen, Finnish architect (d. 1950)


• 1881 - Edgar Guest, English poet (d. 1959)


• 1886 - Paul Tillich, German-American theologian (d. 1965)


• 1890 - H. P. Lovecraft, American writer (d. 1937)


• 1897 - Tarjei Vesaas, Norwegian writer (d. 1970)


• 1898 - Vilhelm Moberg, Swedish author and historian (d. 1973)


• 1901 - Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)


• 1905 - Jean Gebser, German-born author, linguist, and poet (d. 1973)


• 1905 - Jack Teagarden, American musician (d. 1964)


• 1907 - Alan Reed, original voice of Fred Flintstone. (d. 1977)


• 1908 - Al Lopez, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)


• 1910 - Eero Saarinen, Finnish architect (d. 1961)


• 1913 - Roger Wolcott Sperry, American neurobiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1994)


• 1916 - Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonian–German chess player (d. 1984)


• 1918 - Jacqueline Susann, American novelist (d. 1974)


• 1923 - Jim Reeves, American singer (d. 1964)


• 1926 - Nobby Wirkowski, American and Canadian football player and coach


• 1927 - Geriatric1927, English video blogger


• 1927 - Yootha Joyce, English actress (d. 1980)


• 1930 - Mario Bernardi, Canadian conductor


• 1931 - Don King, American Boxing Promoter


• 1932 - Anthony Ainley, British actor (d. 2004)


• 1932 - Vasily Aksyonov, Russian novelist


• 1933 - George J. Mitchell, former United States Senator


• 1934 - Armi Kuusela, Finnish beauty queen


• 1936 - Hideki Shirakawa, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate


• 1937 - Andrei Konchalovsky, Russian film director


• 1937 - El Fary, Spanish singer and actor (d. 2007)


• 1937 - Jim Bowen, English comedian


• 1938 - Alain Vivien, French politician


• 1939 - Fernando Poe Jr., Filipino actor and politician (d. 2004)


• 1940 - Rubén Hinojosa, American politician


• 1941 - Slobodan Milošević, President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia (d. 2006)


• 1941 - Rich Brooks, American football coach


• 1941 - Dave Brock, British musician and founder of Hawkwind


• 1941 - Robin Oakley, British journalist


• 1941 - Jo Ramirez, Mexican motor racing team manager and author


• 1942 - Isaac Hayes, American singer, songwriter, and actor (d. 2008)


• 1942 - Fred Norman, American baseball player


• 1943 - Sylvester McCoy, Scottish actor


• 1944 - Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (d. 1991)


• 1946 - Connie Chung, American journalist


• 1946 - Ralf Hütter, German musician (Kraftwerk)


• 1946 - N.R. Narayana Murthy, Indian businessman


• 1947 - Alan Lee, English conceptual artist


• 1948 - Robert Plant,British Musician (Led Zeppelin)


• 1948 - John Noble, Australian actor


• 1949 - Phil Lynott, Irish musician (d. 1986)


• 1949 - Nikolas Asimos, Greek composer and singer (d. 1988)


• 1949 - Norman Featherstone, South African cricketer


• 1949 - Alan Hardwick, English TV presenter


• 1951 - Greg Bear, American author


• 1952 - John Hiatt, American musician


• 1952 - Doug Fieger, American musician (The Knack)


• 1952 - John Emburey, English cricketer


• 1954 - Tawn Mastrey, American disc jockey (d. 2007)


• 1954 - Al Roker, American television personality


• 1954 - Don Stark, American actor


• 1955 - Agnes Chan, Hong Kong singer and writer


• 1956 - Joan Allen, American actress


• 1957 - Finlay Calder, Scottish rugby player


• 1961 - Greg Egan, Australian author


• 1961 - Joe Pasquale, English comedian


• 1962 - Sophie Aldred, English actress


• 1962 - James Marsters, American actor


• 1962 - Dong-Wook Song, South Korean tennis player


• 1965 - KRS-One, American rapper


• 1966 - Dimebag Darrell, American guitarist (Pantera and Damageplan) (d. 2004)


• 1967 - Andy Benes, American baseball player


• 1967 - Colin Cunningham, American actor


• 1967 - Terri Poch, American yogini and former professional wrestler


• 1968 - Klas Ingesson, Swedish footballer


• 1968 - Yuri Shiratori, Japanese voice actress and singer


• 1969 - Duke Droese, American professional wrestler


• 1970 - Els Callens, Belgian tennis player


• 1970 - John D. Carmack, American computer game programmer


• 1970 - Fred Durst, American singer (Limp Bizkit)


• 1971 - Brad Avery, American musician (guitarist for Third Day)


• 1971 - Jonathan Ke Quan, Vietnamese American actor


• 1971 - Steve Stone, English footballer


• 1971 - David Walliams, British comedian


• 1973 - Todd Helton, American baseball player


• 1974 - Amy Adams, American actress


• 1974 - Big Moe, American rapper (d. 2007)


• 1974 - Maxim Vengerov, Russian violinist


• 1974 - Szabolcs Sáfár, Hungarian footballer


• 1974 - Andy Strachan, Australian musician (The Living End)


• 1975 - Marcus Mastin, American author


• 1976 - Chris Drury, American hockey player


• 1977 - Felipe Contepomi, Argentine rugby player


• 1977 - Manuel Contepomi, Argentine rugby player


• 1977 - Ivar Ingimarsson, Icelandic footballer


• 1977 - Mayra Veronica, Cuban model and actress


• 1979 - Cory Sullivan, American baseball player


• 1980 - Rochelle Gadd, British actress


• 1980 - Corey Carrier, American actor


• 1981 - Bernard Mendy, French footballer


• 1981 - Benjamin Barnes, English actor (Prince Caspian)


• 1982 - Joshua Kennedy, Australian footballer


• 1982 - Youssouf Hersi, Ethiopian footballer


• 1982 - Cléber Luis Alberti, Brazilian footballer


• 1984 - Mirai Moriyama, Japanese actor


• 1986 - Robert Clark, Canadian actor


• 1987 - Cătălina Ponor, Romanian gymnast


• 1990 – Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Dutch swimmer


• 1991 - Marko Đoković, Serbian tennis player


• 1992 - Demi Lovato, American Actress


• 2003 - Prince Gabriel of Belgium