- 1544 Torquato Tasso, Italian Renaissance poet (Aminta, Apologia), born in Sorrento, Kingdom of Naples (d. 1595)
- 1549 Henric/Hendrik Spieghel, Dutch Renaissance writer and poet (Hertspiegel)
- 1596 Isaac Elsevier, book publisher
- 1725 Henry Benedict Stuart, pretender to the throne of Great Britain (d. 1807)
- 1730 Otto Friedrich Müller, Copenhagen, Danish Naturalist who was a pioneer in the study of microorganisms including bacteria, diatoms, and infusoria
- 1731 Robert Treat Paine, judge, signer (Declaration of Independence)
- 1738 Benjamin Tupper, Continental Army officer, and pioneer to the Ohio Country (d. 1792)
- 1785 John McLean, American Supreme Court Justice (1829-61) and Postmaster General, born in Morris County, New Jersey (d. 1861)
- 1787 Ivan Nabokov, Russian general (d. 1852)
- 1793 Jan F Willems, Flemish writer/philologist
- 1811 Marsena Rudolph Patrick, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Hounsfield, New York (d. 1888)
- 1811 Urbain Jean Joseph le Verrier, co-discoverer (Neptune)
- 1812 James Speed, Atty Gen (Union), (d. 1887)
- 1818 John Wilkins Whitfield, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Franklin, Tennessee (d. 1879)
- 1819 Henry Tate, English sugar producer (Tate Gallery)
- 1822 Allison Nelson, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1862)
- 1832 Franz Melde, German phyicist (Melde test)
- 1832 William Ruffin Cox, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1919)
- 1838 Ōkuma Shigenobu, Japanese politician (Prime Minister of Japan 1898, 1914-1916), born in Saga, Japan (d. 1922)
- 1840 Edmund Kirby Jr, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Brownville, New York(d. 1863)
- 1846 Antonio C G Crespo, Brazilian/Portuguese poet
- 1860 Thomas Hastings, American architect (NY Public Library), born in NYC, New York
- 1863 Wobbe de Vries, Dutch linguist
- 1870 Louis Bachelier, French mathematician (d. 1946)
- 1872 Abraham van Stolk Jzn, lumber merchant/art collector
- 1876 David Wijnkoop, Dutch revolutionary socialist, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1941)
- 1879 Niels Bjerrum, Danish chemist (ph tests)
- 1880 Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenecist (d. 1943)
- 1884 Lewi Pethrus, Swedish politician (d. 1974)
- 1890 Vannevar Bush, developed 1st electronic analogue computer
- 1892 Wladyslaw Anders, Polish general (WW I, WW II)
- 1899 Frederick IX [Christian FFMKWG], King of Denmark (1947-72)
- 1902 Josef Martin Bauer, writer
- 1903 Dorothy Schiff, American owner and publisher (NY Post), born in NYC, New York (d. 1989)
James Franklin Hyde (1903-1999)
American inventor who created silica, born in Solvay, New York
- 1903 Ronald Syme, New Zealand classicist and historian, born in Eltham, New Zealand (d. 1989)
- 1904 Cornelis Jan Bakker, Dutch/US nuclear physicist
- 1904 Maurits Wertheim, Dutch writer (Isaac De Fuentes)
- 1905 Gilroy Roberts, American sculptor (Chief Engraver of the US Mint, 1948-64), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1992)
- 1906 Zino Davidoff, Ukrainian businessman, born in Novhorod-Siversky, Ukraine (d. 1994)
- 1907 Eleni Gatzoyiannis, heroine (saved her kids)
- 1907 Helmuth J von Moltke, German politician (July 20th plot)
- 1907 Margaret Herbison, British minister (Labour)
- 1910 Robert H G Havemann, German chemist
- 1912 Robert Clifford Latham, pepys Scholar
- 1913 Thomas Gray, English professor & anaesthetist
- 1915 J. C. R. Licklider, American computer scientist and Internet pioneer (d. 1990)
- 1915 Karl Krolow, German poet and translator, born in Hannover (d. 1999)
- 1916 Ezra Jack Keats, children's literature author (d. 1983)
Harold Wilson (1916-1995)
British Prime Minister (Labour: 1964-70, 1974-76), born in Huddersfield, England
- 1917 Robert L Carter, Caryville, Florida, American civil rights activist and judge (Brown v. Board of Education, NAACP v. Alabama) (d. 2012)
- 1920 D J Enright, England, poet/novelist (Some Men are Brothers)
- 1920 Henry Marking, CEO (British Airways)
- 1920 Kenneth Dover, chancellor (St Andrews University)
- 1921 F. M. Busby, American sci-fi author (Star Rebel)
- 1921 Frank Harary, American mathematician (d. 2005)
- 1922 Abdul Razak bin Hussain, premier of Malaysia (1970-77)
- 1922 Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek philosopher and economist, born in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (d. 1997)
- 1923 Ad[rianus C] de Besten, Dutch literary (River Basin)
- 1923 Alexander Xaver Gwerder, Swiss writer, born in Thalwil, Zurich (d. 1952)
- 1923 Morschi Mirando [Thomas Weiss], German/Dutch gypsy artist
- 1925 James Miskin, QC/recorder of London
- 1926 Adrienne Keith Cohen, travel editor
- 1926 Patricia Tindaole, England, architect
Ralph Abernathy (1926-1990)
American civil rights leader (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), born in Linden, Alabama
- 1926 Thomas Starzl, American surgeon, performed 1st successful liver transplant, born in Le Mars, Iowa (d. 2017)
- 1927 Alan Betts, emeritus professor (Royal Veterinary College)
- 1927 Raymond Jackson [Jaki], British cartoonist
- 1927 Robert Mosbacher, US politician(?)
- 1927 Ron Todd, British trade unionist
- 1928 Peter Roger Hunt, English director (Dr No), born in London, England
- 1929 Erskine Childers, Irish writer and United Nations civil servant official, born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1996)
- 1930 David Gentleman, designer/painter
- 1931 Colin Jillings, New Zealand thoroughbred horse trainer (W. S. Cox Plate 1993 The Phantom Chance; 4 x Auckland Cup winners; 5 x NZ Derby winners), born in Auckland, New Zealand (d. 2022)
- 1931 Peter Walters, CEO (Midland Bank)
- 1932 Nigel Lawson, British government official (The Power Game)
- 1933 Terry J Hatter Jr, American judge in California
- 1934 George Stamatoyannopoulos, Greece, medical genetics researcher
- 1936 Antonin Scalia, 105th Supreme Court Justice (1986-2016), born in Trenton, New Jersey (d. 2016)
- 1939 Lorraine Hunt, American businesswoman, and former Lieutenant Governor of Nevada, born in Niagara Falls, New York
- 1945 Timothy Mason, consultant (British Arts Council)
- 1947 Geoffrey Hunt, Australia, world-champion squash player
- 1948 Roy Barnes, 80th Governor of Georgia
- 1950 Jerry Zucker, American director (Airplane, Naked Gun), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Douglas Adams (1952-2001)
English author (Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy), born in Cambridge, England
- 1954 Gale Norton, 48th United States Secretary of the Interior
- 1956 Curtis L Brown Jr, NC, astronaut (STS 47, STS 66, 77, 85, sk:95)
- 1957 Qasem Soleimani, Iranian major general of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, born in Kerman, Iran (d. 2020)
- 1957 The Lady Chablis [Benjamin Knox], American transgender entertainer (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), born in Quincy, Florida (d. 2016)
- 1958 Flemming Rose, Danish journalist
- 1958 Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, interim President of Iraq
- 1958 Jim Pinkerton, American pundit
- 1962 Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, Somali diplomat and 9th President of Somalia (2017-present), born in Mogadishu, Somalia
- 1965 Jesse Jackson, Jr., American politician (US House of Representative from Illinois, 1995-2012), born in Greenville, South Carolina
- 1966 Joe Hachem, Australian poker player (first Australian to win World Series of Poker, 2005 record $7.5m), born in Lebanon
- 1966 Pavel Petrovich Mukhortov, Russian cosmonaut
- 1967 Brad Carson, American politician
- 1970 Delia Gallagher, American journalist
- 1978 Christopher Rice, American author (A Density of Souls, The Snow Garden), born in Berkeley, California
- 1984 Tom James, British rower
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists