August 31 - Births

Births

12 – Caligula, Roman emperor (d. 41)
161 – Commodus, Roman emperor (d. 192)
1569 – Jahangir Mughal emperor (d. 1627)
1602 – Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (d. 1675)
1652 – Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat (d. 1708)
1663 – Guillaume Amontons, French physicist and instrument maker (d. 1705)
1721 – George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English statesman (d. 1775)
1741 – Jean Paul Egide Martini, French composer (d. 1816)
1748 – Jean-Étienne Despréaux, French ballet dancer, choreographer, composer, singer, and playwright (d. 1820)
1767 – Henry Joy McCracken, Irish activist, founder of the Society of United Irishmen (d. 1798)
1802 – Husein Gradaščević, Bosnian general (d. 1834)
1821 – Hermann von Helmholtz, German scientist (d. 1894)
1822 – Galusha A. Grow, American politician (d. 1907)
1834 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer (d. 1886)
1842 – Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, American publisher, journalist, and activist (d. 1924)
1843 – Georg von Hertling, Bavarian politician, 7th Chancellor of the German Empire (d. 1919)
1860 – Alfred Grütter, Swiss target shooter (d. 1937)
1866 – Gilbert Bougnol, French fencer (d. 1947)
1870 – George Eyser, German-American gymnast
1870 – Maria Montessori, Italian physician and educator (d. 1952)
1871 – James E. Ferguson, American politician, 26th Governor of Texas (d. 1944)
1878 – Frank Jarvis, American sprinter (d. 1933)
1879 – Alma Mahler, Austrian-American socialite (d. 1964)
1879 – Emperor Taishō of Japan (d. 1926)
1880 – Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (d. 1962)
1883 – Leo O'Connell, American soccer player (d. 1934)
1885 – DuBose Heyward, American playwright (d. 1940)
1893 – Lily Laskine, French harpist (d. 1988)
1894 – Albert Facey, Australian soldier and author (d. 1982)
1896 – Félix-Antoine Savard, Canadian priest and novelist (d. 1982)
1897 – Fredric March, American actor (d. 1975)
1900 – Gino Lucetti, Italian anarchist, attempted assassin of Benito Mussolini (d. 1943)
1902 – Géza Révész, Hungarian military officer and politician (d. 1977)
1903 – Arthur Godfrey, American radio and television host (d. 1983)
1903 – Vladimir Jankélévitch, French philosopher (d. 1985)
1905 – Sanford Meisner, American actor (d. 1997)
1907 – Augustus F. Hawkins, American politician (d. 2007)
1907 – Ramon Magsaysay, Filipino politician, 7th President of the Philippines (d. 1957)
1907 – William Shawn, American writer and editor (d. 1992)
1907 – Altiero Spinelli, Italian theorist (d. 1986)
1908 – William Saroyan, American novelist (d. 1981)
1909 – Ferenc Fejtő, Hungarian-French journalist (d. 2008)
1911 – Edward Brongersma, Dutch politician, writer and activist (d. 1998)
1913 – Helen Levitt, American photographer (d. 2009)
1913 – Bernard Lovell, English astronomer (d. 2012)
1914 – Richard Basehart, American actor (d. 1984)
1916 – Danny Litwhiler, American baseball player and coach (d. 2011)
1916 – Daniel Schorr, American journalist (d. 2010)
1916 – John S. Wold, American politician
1918 – Alan Jay Lerner, American songwriter and composer (d. 1986)
1919 – Amrita Preetam, Indian poet and author (d. 2005)
1920 – Gustavo Adolfo Palma, Guatemalan tenor and actor (d. 2010)
1920 – G. D. Spradlin, American actor (d. 2011)
1921 – Raymond Williams, Welsh academic and author (d. 1988)
1924 – John Davidson, American politician (d. 2012)
1924 – Buddy Hackett, American actor and comedian (d. 2003)
1928 – James Coburn, American actor (d. 2002)
1928 – Jaime Sin, Filipino cardinal(d. 2005)
1930 – Big Tiny Little, American pianist (d. 2010)
1931 – Jean Béliveau, Canadian ice hockey player
1931 – Noble Willingham, American actor (d. 2004)
1932 – Roy Castle, English actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1994)
1934 – Nikos Xanthopoulos, Greek actor
1935 – Eldridge Cleaver, American writer and activist (d. 1998)
1935 – Frank Robinson, American baseball player and manager
1937 – Warren Berlinger, American actor
1937 – Bobby Parker, American guitarist
1938 – Martin Bell, English journalist and politician
1938 – Murray Gleeson, Australian judge, 11th Chief Justice of Australia
1939 – J.I. Allison, American drummer and songwriter (The Crickets)
1940 – Wilton Felder, American saxophonist (The Crusaders)
1940 – Roger Newman, English-American actor and writer (d. 2010)
1940 – Jack Thompson, Australian actor
1941 – William DeWitt, Jr., American businessman
1941 – Emmanuel Nunes, Portuguese composer (d. 2012)
1943 – Leonid Ivashov, Russian general
1944 – Roger Dean, English graphic designer and publisher
1944 – Clive Lloyd, Guyanese cricketer
1944 – Jos LeDuc, Canadian wrestler (d. 1999)
1945 – Van Morrison, Irish singer-songwriter (Them)
1945 – Itzhak Perlman, Israeli violinist and conductor
1945 – Bob Welch, American singer and guitarist (Fleetwood Mac and Paris) (d. 2012)
1946 – Jerome Corsi, American conspiracy theorist
1946 – Tom Coughlin, American football player and coach
1947 – Mona Marshall, American voice actress
1947 – Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Italian businessman
1947 – Yumiko Ōshima, Japanese illustrator and writer
1947 – Somchai Wongsawat, Thai politician, 26th Prime Minister of Thailand
1948 – Harald Ertl, Austrian race car driver (d. 1982)
1948 – Lowell Ganz, American screenwriter
1948 – Ken McMullen, English director
1948 – Holger Osieck, German footballer and coach
1948 – Rudolf Schenker, German guitarist and songwriter (Scorpions)
1949 – Richard Gere, American actor
1949 – H. David Politzer, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1952 – Herbert Reul, German politician
1953 – Miguel Ángel Guerra, Argentine race car driver
1953 – György Károly, Hungarian author
1953 – Pavel Vinogradov, Russian cosmonaut
1954 – Julie Brown, American actress, singer, writer, and director
1955 – Olek Krupa, Polish actor
1955 – Edwin Moses, American hurdler
1955 – Anthony Thistlethwaite, English saxophonist (The Waterboys and The Saw Doctors)
1955 – Gary Webb, American journalist (d. 2004)
1956 – Maria Balazova, Slovak painter
1956 – Masashi Tashiro, Japanese singer, actor, and director (Rats & Star)
1957 – Colm O'Rourke, Irish footballer and sportscaster
1957 – Gina Schock, American drummer, songwriter, and actress (The Go-Go's and Edie and the Eggs)
1957 – Glenn Tilbrook, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Squeeze and Difford & Tilbrook)
1958 – Serge Blanco, French rugby player
1959 – Ralph Krueger, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1960 – Vali Ionescu, Romanian long jumper
1960 – Chris Whitley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
1962 – Dee Bradley Baker, American voice actor and singer
1962 – Thomas Suozzi, American politician
1963 – Reb Beach, American guitarist (Winger and Whitesnake)
1963 – Todd Carty, Irish actor
1963 – Sonny Silooy, Dutch footballer
1963 – Rituparno Ghosh, Indian Filmmaker
1964 – Ramón Arellano Félix, Mexican drug trafficker (d. 2002)
1964 – Raymond P. Hammond, American poet and editor
1965 – Céline Bonnier, Canadian actress
1965 – Zsolt Borkai, Hungarian gymnast
1965 – Willie Watson, New Zealand cricketer
1966 – Jan Einar Thorsen, Norwegian skier
1967 – Nigel Avery, New Zealand weightlifter
1967 – Jonathan Cake, English actor
1967 – Gene Hoglan, American drummer (Tenet, Strapping Young Lad, Testament, Fear Factory, and Dethklok)
1967 – Anita Moen, Norwegian skier
1968 – Valdon Dowiyogo, Nauruan politician
1968 – Hideo Nomo, Japanese baseball player
1969 – Nathalie Bouvier, French skier
1969 – Andrew Cunanan, American spree killer (d. 1997)
1969 – Jonathan LaPaglia, Australian actor
1969 – Javagal Srinath, Indian cricketer
1970 – Debbie Gibson, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1970 – Nikola Gruevski, Macedonian politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia
1970 – Queen Rania of Jordan
1970 – Amy Stein, American photographer
1970 – Arie van Lent, Dutch-German footballer
1970 – Zack Ward, Canadian actor
1971 – Pádraig Harrington, Irish golfer
1972 – Chris Tucker, American actor and comedian
1973 – Scott Niedermayer, Canadian ice hockey player
1974 – Andriy Medvedev, Ukrainian tennis player
1975 – Craig Cumming, New Zealand cricketer
1975 – John Grahame, American ice hockey player
1975 – Daniel Harding, English conductor
1975 – Sara Ramirez, American actress
1975 – Takahiro Suwa, Japanese wrestler
1976 – Vincent Delerm, French singer-songwriter, pianist, and composer
1976 – Roque Júnior, Brazilian footballer
1976 – Radek Martínek, Czech ice hockey player
1977 – Jeff Hardy, American wrestler, singer, painter, and writer
1977 – Ian Harte, Irish footballer
1977 – Craig Nicholls, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Vines)
1978 – Philippe Christanval, French footballer
1979 – Clay Hensley, American baseball player
1979 – Mickie James, American wrestler and singer
1979 – Mark Johnston, Canadian swimmer
1979 – Simon Neil, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Biffy Clyro and Marmaduke Duke)
1979 – Yuvan Shankar Raja, Indian composer
1979 – Ramón Santiago, Dominican baseball player
1980 – Joe Budden, American rapper (Slaughterhouse)
1981 – Mawnia Al-Kuwaitia, Kuwaiti singer and actress
1981 – Dwayne Peel, Welsh rugby player
1981 – Steve Saviano, American ice hockey player
1982 – Ian Crocker, American swimmer
1982 – Chris Duhon, American basketball player
1982 – Lien Huyghebaert, Belgian sprinter
1982 – Christopher Katongo, Zambian footballer
1982 – Josh Kroeger, American baseball player
1982 – Alexei Mikhnov, Ukrainian-Russian ice hockey player
1982 – Pepe Reina, Spanish footballer
1982 – Michele Rugolo, Italian race car driver
1983 – Deniz Aydoğdu, Turkish footballer
1983 – Milan Biševac, Serbian footballer
1983 – Larry Fitzgerald, American football player
1984 – Matti Breschel, Danish cyclist
1984 – Ryan Kesler, American ice hockey player
1984 – Ted Ligety, American skier
1984 – Charl Schwartzel, South African golfer
1985 – Rolando, Portuguese footballer
1985 – Andrew Foster, Australian rules footballer
1986 – Ryan Kelley, American actor
1986 – Feng Tianwei, Singaporean table tennis player
1987 – Xavi Annunziata, Spanish footballer
1987 – Petros Kravaritis, Greek footballer
1987 – Ondřej Pavelec, Czech ice hockey player
1989 – Dezmon Briscoe, American football player
1990 – Oliver Adams, American actor
1991 – António Félix da Costa, Portuguese race car driver
1992 – Holly Earl, English actress
1995 – Ceallach Spellman, English actor