August 23 :: Historical Births Today

Famous Births

• 686 - Charles Martel, grandfather of Charlemagne (d. 741)


• 1486 - Sigismund von Herberstein, Austrian diplomat and historian (d. 1566)


• 1524 - François Hotman, French lawyer and writer (d. 1590)


• 1623 - Stanisław Lubieniecki, Polish astronomer (d. 1675)


• 1724 - Abraham Yates, American Continental Congressman (d. 1796)


• 1741 - Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse, French explorer (d. 1788)


• 1754 - King Louis XVI of France (d. 1793)


• 1769 - Georges Cuvier, French biologist and statesman (d. 1832)


• 1783 - William Tierney Clark, English civil engineer (d. 1852)


• 1785 - Oliver Hazard Perry, U.S. naval officer (d. 1819)


• 1805 - Anton von Schmerling, Austrian statesman (d. 1893)


• 1814 - James Roosevelt Bayley, first Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, and the eighth Archbishop of Baltimore (d. 1877)


• 1829 - Moritz Cantor, German mathematician (d. 1920)


• 1836 - Marie Henriette of Austria, Queen of the Belgians (d. 1902)


• 1843 - William Southam, Canadian newspaper publisher (d. 1932)


• 1846 - Alexander Milne Calder, American sculptor (d. 1923)


• 1847 - Sarah Frances Whiting, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1927)


• 1849 - William Ernest Henley, British poet, critic, and editor (d. 1903)


• 1852 - Arnold Toynbee, English economist and social reformer (d. 1883)


• 1852 - Clímaco Calderón, President of Colombia. (d. 1913)


• 1854 - Moritz Moszkowski, Polish/German composer (d. 1925)


• 1864 - Eleftherios Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece (d.1936)


• 1868 - Edgar Lee Masters, American author (d. 1950)


• 1875 - William Eccles, English radio pioneer (d. 1966)


• 1875 - Eugene Lanceray, Russian artist (d. 1946)


• 1880 - Alexander Grin, Russian writer (d. 1932)


• 1883 - Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV, U.S. general (d. 1953)


• 1884 - Will Cuppy, American humorist (d. 1949)


• 1884 - Ogden L. Mills, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, 1927-1932 (d. 1937)


• 1900 - Ernst Krenek, Austrian-born composer (d. 1991)


• 1900 - Malvina Reynolds, American folk singer/songwriter (d. 1978)


• 1901 - John Sherman Cooper, U.S. Senator from Kentucky (d. 1991)


• 1903 - William Primrose, Scottish violist (d. 1982)


• 1905 - Constant Lambert, British composer (d. 1951)


• 1908 - Hannah Frank, Scottish Artist and Sculptor


• 1910 - Giuseppe Meazza, Italian footballer (d. 1979)


• 1911 - Birger Ruud, Norwegian athlete (d. 1998)


• 1912 - Gene Kelly, American dancer and actor (d. 1996)


• 1917 - Tex Williams, American singer (d. 1985)


• 1919 - Vladimir Abramovich Rokhlin, Russian mathematician (d. 1984)


• 1921 - Kenneth Arrow, American economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner


• 1922 - George Kell, baseball player


• 1922 - Jean Darling, American child actress


• 1922 - Pierre Gauvreau, Quebec painter, television writer and producer


• 1923 - Edgar F. Codd, English computer scientist (d. 2003)


• 1924 - Ephraim Kishon, Israeli writer (d. 2005)


• 1924 - Robert Solow, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate


• 1925 - Robert Mulligan, American movie and television director


• 1926 - Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist, (d. 2006)


• 1927 - Dick Bruna, Dutch illustrator


• 1928 - Marian Seldes, American actress


• 1929 - Vera Miles, American actress


• 1930 - Michel Rocard, Prime Minister of France


• 1931 - Hamilton O. Smith, American microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine


• 1932 - Houari Boumedienne, President of Algeria (d. 1978)


• 1932 - Mark Russell, American comedian, musician, and political commentator


• 1933 - Robert Curl, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate


• 1933 - Pete Wilson, Governor of California


• 1934 - Barbara Eden, American actress and singer


• 1934 - Sonny Jurgensen, American football player


• 1936 - Henry Lee Lucas, American serial killer (d. 2001)


• 1943 - Nelson DeMille, American novelist


• 1944 - Antonia Novello, former United States Surgeon General


• 1945 - Rayfield Wright, American football player


• 1946 - Keith Moon, English singer and drummer (The Who) (d. 1978)


• 1947 - Willy Russell, British playwright


• 1947 - David Robb, British actor


• 1948 - Andrei Pleşu, Romanian writer, essayist


• 1948 - Daniel Ruettiger "Rudy", University of Notre Dame football legend


• 1949 - Katiana Balanika, Greek actress and singer


• 1949 - Geoff Capes, English Strongman


• 1949 - Shelley Long, American actress


• 1949 - Rick Springfield, Australian singer and actor


• 1951 - Akhmad Kadyrov, President of Chechnya (d. 2004)


• 1951 - Queen Noor of Jordan


• 1951 - Jimi Jamison, American singer (Survivor)


• 1952 - Vicky Leandros, Greek singer and politician


• 1953 - Bobby G, British singer (Bucks Fizz)


• 1954 - Charles Busch, American director, writer, actor and drag queen


• 1956 - Andreas Floer, German mathematician (d. 1991)


• 1956 - Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, Norwegian politician


• 1956 - Skipp Sudduth, American actor


• 1957 - Tasos Mitropoulos, Greek footballer and politician


• 1958 - Julio Franco, Atlanta Braves, oldest regular position player in MLB history


• 1959 - George Kalovelonis, Greek tennis player


• 1960 - Rodney Alan Greenblat, American graphic artist


• 1960 - Chris Potter, Canadian actor


• 1961 - Dean DeLeo, American musician (Stone Temple Pilots)


• 1961 - Gary Mabbutt, English footballer


• 1962 - Martin Cauchon, Canadian politician


• 1963 - Hans-Henning Fastrich, German field hockey player


• 1963 - Kenny Wallace, American race car driver


• 1963 - Park Chan-wook, Korean director and screenwriter


• 1964 - Johan Bruyneel, Belgian cyclist


• 1964 - Kong Hee, Singaporean, Founder and Senior Pastor of the City Harvest movement in Asia


• 1965 - Roger Avary, Canadian-born screenwriter, director, and producer


• 1966 - Rik Smits, Dutch-American basketball player


• 1968 - Chris DiMarco, American golfer


• 1969 - Keith Tyson, English artist


• 1969 - Jeremy Schaap, American sportswriter


• 1969 - Geneviève Brouillette, Quebec television and film actress


• 1970 - Jay Mohr, American actor and comedian


• 1970 - River Phoenix, American actor (d. 1993)


• 1970 - Brad Mehldau, American pianist


• 1971 - Demetrio Albertini, Italian footballer


• 1971 - BoneCrusher, American rapper


• 1972 - Martin Grainger, English footballer


• 1972 - Raul Casanova, Puerto Rican baseball player


• 1973 - Casey Blake, American baseball player


• 1974 - Ray Park, Scottish actor


• 1974 - Shifty, American musician (Crazy Town)


• 1974 - Benjamin Limo, Kenyan runner


• 1974 - Christian Beranek, American graphic novelist and actor


• 1975 - Eliza Carthy, English singer and fiddler


• 1975 - Jarkko Ruutu, Finnish ice hockey player


• 1976 - Scott Caan, American actor


• 1977 - Douglas Sequeira, Costa Rican footballer


• 1978 - Kobe Bryant, American basketball player


• 1978 - Julian Casablancas, American musician


• 1979 - Edgar Sosa, Mexican boxer


• 1980 - Denny Bautista, Dominican baseball player


• 1980 - Rex Grossman, American football player


• 1981 - Ozzy Lusth, American Survivor contestant


• 1981 - Stephan Loboué, Ivorian footballer


• 1981 - Carmen Luvana, American pornographic actress.


• 1981 - Carlos Cuéllar, Spanish footballer


• 1982 - Natalie Coughlin, American swimmer


• 1982 - YTCracker, American musician


• 1982 - Scott Palguta, professional soccer player


• 1983 - Sun Ming Ming, Chinese basketball player


• 1984 - Glen Johnson, English footballer


• 1986 - Neil Cicierega, American cartoonist and musician


• 1987 - Nikki Gil, Filipina actress, host and singer


• 1988 - Daniel Schwaab, German footballer


• 1995 - Eliza Pineda, Filipina child actress