Famous People Born Today

Regarded as the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, Alan Turing was a distinguished mathematician and logician. During WWII, he successfully broke the challenging German Enigma machine codes thereby reducing the duration of war by a couple of years. The scientist, who was convicted for being gay, has been an inspiration for numerous films, plays and novels.

Amongst the greatest footballers of all time, Zinedine Zidane led France to victories in the FIFA World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000. Later, the three-time FIFA World Player of the Year took up the position of Real Madrid manager and carved yet another success story by winning major titles like Champions League and UEFA Super Cups.

Melissa Rauch is an American actress whose portrayal of Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz in the popular TV sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, was instrumental in the success of the show. She is also credited with voicing Harley Quinn in the popular animated superhero movie Batman and Harley Quinn.

A woman of many talents, June Carter Cash was an American singer-songwriter, author, comedian, actress, and dancer. In 2003, she was named in Country Music Television's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music list. Her relationship with Johnny Cash inspired the 2005 film Walk the Line, where she was portrayed by Reese Witherspoon. June was also a well-known philanthropist.

Selma Blair is an American actress who gained international recognition after playing Liz Sherman in the Hellboy film series. Also regarded as a fashion icon, Selma Blair has been playing a key role in popularizing new fashion trends and hairstyles by appearing in popular magazines. She has also worked with fashion designers like Karen Zambos, Isaac Mizrahi, and Martin Margiela.

Frances McDormand has earned the "Triple Crown of Acting," with two Academy Awards, a Tony, and two Primetime Emmys. She is best known for her roles of headstrong women in Coen brothers’ films, such as Fargo. She has also been vocal about the Me Too and Time's Up movements.

Patrick Vieira is a football manager and former footballer. Vieira, who was an important member of the France national team, is currently serving as the manager of Crystal Palace Football Club which competes in the Premier League. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his time, Vieira helped his team win its first FIFA World Cup in 1998.

Sprinter Wilma Rudolph made history by becoming the first American female athlete to win three track and field gold medals in a single Olympic game. As a child, she needed orthopedic shoes to help her walk. The sports icon lost her life to cancer but was immortalized through books and movies.

Stuart Sutcliffe was a Scottish musician and painter. He is best remembered for his association with the popular rock band the Beatles, where he was the original bass guitarist. Before achieving popularity as a guitarist, Sutcliffe left the Beatles to pursue painting. Along with John Lennon, Stuart Sutcliffe is credited with coining the name Beetles, which later became the Beatles.

A versatile actress and avid animal activist, Emmanuelle Vaugier has been busy both on television and in films since her debut in 1995. Since then she has been appearing in scores of productions, winning awards for her roles in films like Susie's Hope and It's Christmas, Carol!, concurrently running The Fluffball Foundation,  a charitable organization that rescues animals across USA.

Indonesian actor and martial art expert Joe Taslim is best known for his appearances in the films The Raid: Redemption and Fast and Furious 6. He was previously part of the Indonesian national judo team and had won several championships. He has also played Li Yong in the series Warrior.

American model, dancer, and social media sensation Elliana Walmsley is best known for her association with the mini team of the Abby Lee Dance Company. She shot to fame with her appearance on the reality shows Dance Moms and Dancing with the Stars: Juniors. She was also part of the web series Chicken Girls.

Lim Ji-yeon is a South Korean actress best known for her portrayal of Jong Ga-heun in the 2014 erotic romance film Obsessed, for which she received awards, such as the Best New Actress award at the Buil Film Awards and Grand Bell Awards. Over the years, she has also won other awards like MBC Drama Awards and SBS Drama Award.

David Ogilvy dropped out of Oxford in spite of earning a scholarship, and took up odd jobs, working as an apprentice chef and a salesman, before plunging into advertising. Co-founder of Ogilvy & Mather, he later introduced the concept of branding and earned the tag of The Father of Advertising.

Revolutionary leader and president of Southern Sudan John Garang was the man behind the term "Sudanism," which promoted cohesiveness among the people of Sudan. Orphaned at 10, he completed his education on scholarships but later rejected an offer from UCB to go to Tanzania. He died in a helicopter crash.

Japanese voice actor Ayana Taketatsu is known for her work in anime/manga series such as Sword Art Online and Guilty Crown. She has also dubbed for movies such as The Angry Birds Movie 2 and is part of the band Hokago Tea Time. She is married to fellow voice actor Yûki Kaji.

Ranasinghe Premadasa was a Sri Lankan politician who served as the third president of Sri Lanka from 1989 to 1993. Before serving as the president, Premadasa served as the prime minister of Sri Lanka from 1978 to 1989. In 1986, he became the first Sri Lankan to receive the prestigious Sri Lankabhimanya, the country's highest civilian award.

One of the greatest Russian women poets, Anna Akhmatova had started writing poems at age 11. She was part of the Acmeists, who laid down their own style, Acmeism. Poema bez geroya and Requiem remain two of her finest works. She later wrote about the horrors of the Stalinist regime.

Christian Meier is a Peruvian singer and actor. Over the course of his acting career, Meier has achieved popularity in Latin America and in the Spanish speaking world. As a musician, Christian Meier achieved fame after forming an alternative-rock band named Arena Hash, where he performed as a keyboardist and occasional singer during the 1980s and 1990s.

USAF officer and NASA astronaut Donn F. Eisele piloted the Apollo 7 mission, which was the Apollo program’s first manned flight. Post-retirement, he headed the Peace Corps in Thailand and worked for various firms. He received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal posthumously, in addition to the several honors he gained during his lifetime.

Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico is regarded as a pioneer of what is now known as cultural anthropology, or ethnology. He brought together history and the social sciences in his work Scienza nuova. A poor bookseller’s son, he studied by candlelight but grew up to be a major Counter-Enlightenment figure.

Martti Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician who served as the tenth president of Finland; he was in office from 1994 to 2000. In 2008, he was honored with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for playing an important role in resolving long-lasting and serious conflicts, such as the ones in Namibia and Iraq. In 2008, he was also awarded the Delta Prize for Global Understanding.

Bridget Sloan is an American artistic gymnast who won the silver medal in the women's artistic team all-around competition at the Olympic Games in 2008. The following year, she won the gold medal in the all-around event at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. Bridget Sloan has also won gold medals at the Pan American Games and the Pacific Rim Championships. 

Born to educator parents, Martin Rees excelled in math since childhood. The cosmologist and astrophysicist later taught at Cambridge, Princeton, and Harvard. Known for his research on the big-bang theory, he also won awards such as the Templeton Prize and penned books such as Our Final Century.