- 1263 Ibn Taymiya, Islamic scholar (d. 1328)
Ivan the Great (1440-1505)
Grand Prince of Moscow and Russia (1462-1505) who conquered Lithuania, born in Moscow, Russia
- 1553 Mori Terumoto, Japanese warrior (d. 1625)
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
English statesman, Lord Chancellor (1617-21) and philosopher (Novum Organum), born in London
William Kidd (1645-1701)
Scottish pirate legend, born in Greenock (or Dundee), Scotland
- 1654 Richard Blackmore, English physician and writer (d. 1729)
- 1655 Geleyn Evertsen, Dutch admiral (Commander of Zealand) (d. 1721)
- 1690 Nicolas Lancret, French painter (d. 1743)
- 1729 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German critic and dramatist (1st ever dramaturge), born in Kamenz, Saxony (d. 1781)
- 1733 Philip Carteret, British Naval Officer who twice circumnavigated the world for the navy (commanded 1st European ship to discover Pitcairn Island), born on Jersey (d. 1796)
Lord Byron (1788-1824)
English romantic poet (Don Juan), born in London
- 1796 Karl Claus, Russian chemist (d. 1864)
- 1797 Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress of Brazil (d. 1826)
- 1799 Ludger Duvernay, Canadian printer and publisher (d. 1852)
- 1802 Richard Upjohn, English-born American gothic architect (Trinity Chapel, NY), born in Shaftesbury, England (d. 1878)
- 1820 Hermann Lingg, German poet and playwright, born in Lindau (d. 1905)
- 1820 Johan Hendrik Koelman, Dutch portrait painter (Jahresringe) (d. 1887)
- 1820 Joseph Wolf, German artist (d. 1899)
- 1826 [Merriwether] Jeff Thompson, Partisan (Confederate Army), (d. 1876)
- 1840 Ernest Roland Wilberforce, English bishop (d. 1907)
- 1845 Paul Vidal de la Blanche, French geographer, born in Pézenas, France (d. 1918)
- 1848 Samuel Muller Fz, Dutch historian and archivist (Middle Ages) (d. 1922)
- 1849 August Strindberg 'Father of modern Swedish Literature', Swedish dramatist and novelist (Apologia), born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1912)
- 1854 Luke Short, American Old West gunslinger and saloon owner, born in Polk County, Arkansas (d. 1893)
- 1855 Albert Neisser, German physician who discovered the bacteria that cause gonorrhea and leprosy, born in Schweidnitz, Prussian Empire (d. 1916)
- 1858 Beatrice Potter Webb, English sociologist, economist (founded London School of Economics) and writer (My Apprenticeship), born in Standish (d. 1943)
- 1858 Frederick Lugard, British Colonial administrator, mercenary and explorer (Congo, Governor of Nigeria and Hong Kong), born in Madras, British India (d. 1945)
- 1865 Friedrich Paschen, German physicist (Paschen series), born in Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1947)
- 1874 Edward Harkness, American philanthropist (d. 1940)
- 1874 Wincenty Witoz, Polish politician (Prime Minister of Poland 1920-21, 1923, 1926), born in Wierczhoslawice, Austria-Hungary (d. 1945)
- 1875 Bonifacius Cornelius de Jonge, Dutch politician (Governor General of the Dutch East Indies 1931-6) (d. 1958)
- 1877 Hjalmar Schacht, German economist and banker (President of German Reichsbank, co-founded German Democratic Party), born in Tingleff, Prussia, German Empire (d. 1970)
- 1879 Francis Picabia, French avante-garde artist, writer and typographist (Amorous Parade), born in Paris, France (d. 1953)
- 1887 Helen Hoyt, American poet (d. 1972)
- 1890 Fred M. Vinson, American Democratic politician, US Treasury Secretary (1945-46) and the 13th Chief Justice of US Supreme Court (1946-53), born in Louisa, Kentucky (d. 1953)
- 1891 Franz Alexander, Hungarian-American psychoanalyst (pioneered psychosomatic medicine), born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary (d. 1964)
- 1891 Moïse Kisling, Polish-French painter (La Souris Boiteuse), born in Kraków, Grand Duchy of Cracow, Austria-Hungary (d. 1953)
- 1892 Marcel Dassault [Bloch], French airplane engineer and manufacturer, born in Paris, France (d. 1986)
- 1894 Charles Morgan, English writer (Fountain) (d. 1958)
- 1898 Ben van Eysselsteijn, Dutch writer and playwright (Arid Earth) (d. 1973)
- 1898 Hans van Werveke, Belgian historian (Diocese Terwaan) (d. 1974)
- 1898 Ross Barnett, American lawyer and politician (Gov-D-Mississippi 1960-64), born in Standing Pine, Mississippi (d. 1987)
- 1898 Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director (Battleship Potemkin), born in Riga, Latvia [NS] (d. 1948)
- 1899 Guido Kisch, Czech-American Jewish historian (Jews in medieval Germany), born in Prague, Austria-Hungary (d. 1985)
- 1903 Fritz Houtermans, Polish physicist (d. 1966)
- 1904 Arkady Gaidar, Russian children's writer (d. 1941)
- 1906 Robert E. Howard, American pulp fiction author (Conan the Barbarian), born in Peaster, Texas (d. 1936)
- 1906 Willa Brown, American air pioneer (NAAA) and civil rights activist (1st African American woman to hold a pilot's license), born in Glasgow, Kentucky (d. 1992)
- 1907 Douglas Corrigan, American pilot, born in Galveston, Texas (d. 1995)
- 1908 Lev Landau, Russian physicist (1962 Nobel Prize for Physics for superfluidity theory), born in Baku, Russian Empire (d. 1968)
- 1909 Porfirio Rubirosa, Dominican diplomat and international playboy (d. 1965)
U Thant (1909-1974)
Burmese politician and 3rd Secretary-General of the United Nations (1961-72), born in Pantanaw, Burma, British India
- 1911 Bruno Kreisky, Austrian politician (Chancellor, 1970-83; Foreign Minister, 1959-66), born in Margareten, Vienna, Austria (d. 1990)
- 1913 Carl F. H. Henry, American theologian and publisher (d. 2003)
- 1913 William Cardinal Conway, Northern Irish clergyman (d. 1977)
- 1916 Harilal Upadhyay, Gujarati Author, Poet, Astrologist (Gujarat is a State of India) (d. 1994)
- 1917 Herwig Hensen [Flor Mielants], Flemish poet and playwright, born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1989)
- 1920 Piet Van Lishout, Flemish writer (Eva & I)
- 1922 Howard Moss, poet/editor (New Yorker)
- 1925 Leslie Silver, English paint manufacturer/multi-millionaire
- 1926 Lord Erskine of Rerrick, peer
- 1926 Tom Blackburn, writer
- 1928 Birch Bayh, American politician, Senator (D) Indiana (1963-81), wrote 2 amendments to US constitution, born in Terre Haute, Indiana
- 1928 Yoshihiko Amino, Japanese historian (d. 2004)
- 1929 Rita Gillespie, British pioneering TV director, born in London, England (d. 1994)
- 1932 Berthold Grünfeld, Norwegian psychiatrist and former sexologist
- 1934 Graham Kerr, English-born chef (Galloping Gourmet), born in London, England
- 1935 Pierre S "Pete" Du Pont IV, American attorney and politician (Governor of Delaware, 1977-85), born in Wilmington, Delaware (d. 2021)
- 1936 Alan J. Heeger, American chemist, Nobel laureate
- 1936 Ong Teng Cheong, 5th President of Singapore (d. 2002)
- 1937 Edén Pastora, Nicaraguan rebel leader
- 1937 Joseph Wambaugh, American police writer ("The Onion Fields"), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 1938 Joe Esposito, American author and friend of Elvis, born in Chicago (d. 2016)
- 1939 Jeff Smith, American chef (d. 2004)
- 1943 Jim Saxton, American politician (Rep-R-NJ, 1984-2009), born in Nicholson, Pennsylvania
- 1953 Jim Jarmusch, American director (Only Lovers Left Alive), born in Akron, Ohio
- 1954 Peter Pilz, Austrian politician, born in Kapfenberg, Austria
- 1955 Thomas David Jones, United States astronaut (STS 59, 68, 80, sk: 98), born in Baltimore, Maryland
- 1955 Timothy R. Ferguson, American politician, born in Baltimore, Maryland
- 1957 Francis Wheen, English writer & journalist, born in England
- 1962 Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu, Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, born in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
- 1970 Alex Ross, American comic book painter (Marvels, Kingdom Come), born in Portland, Oregon
- 1980 Subhash Ram Prajapati, Nepalese writer, born in Bhaktapur, Nepal
- 1983 Robert Steinhäuser, German perpetrator of the Erfurt massacre (d. 2002)