Nerva (30-98 AD)
Roman Emperor (96-98), born in Narni, Italy
- 1342 Julian of Norwich, English saint, born in Norfolk, England (d. 1416)
Vlad the Impaler (1431-1476)
Wallachian prince, born in Sighișoara, Transylvania, Romania
- 1491 Teofilo Folengo, Italian macaronic poet, born in Mantua, Italy (d. 1544)
- 1572 John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, Duke of Prussia (1618-19), born in Halle, Germany (d. 1619)
- 1622 Charles X Gustav, King of Sweden (1654-60), born in Nyköping Castle, Sweden (d. 1660)
- 1622 Galenus Abrahamsz de Haen, Dutch baptist pastor (Lambs' War), born in Zierikzee, Netherlands (d. 1706)
- 1647 Pierre Bayle, French philosopher and writer (Historical and Critical Dictionary), born in Carla-le-Comte, Kingdom of France (d. 1706)
Edmond Halley (1656-1742)
English mathematician and astronomer (Halley's comet), born in Haggerston, Middlesex
- 1706 Johann Ulrich von Cramer, German judge and philosopher, born in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (d. 1772)
- 1710 Sarah Fielding, English writer (The Adventures of David Simple), born in East Stour, England (d. 1768)
- 1715 Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, Queen of Prussia as wife of Frederik II the Great, born in Schloss Bevern, Germany (d. 1797)
- 1723 John Byron, British Royal Navy officer (d. 1786)
- 1760 Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau, Dutch general, born in Brussels, Austrian Netherlands (d. 1821)
- 1768 Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom, 6th child and second daughter of King George III and Queen Charlotte, born in London (d. 1840)
- 1777 Désirée Clary, Queen of Sweden and Norway (1818-44), born in Marseille, France (d. 1860)
- 1814 Girolamo de Rada, Albanian poet (Skanderbeku), born in Macchia Albanese, Kingdom of Sicily (d. 1903)
- 1817 Claudius W. Sears, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Peru, Massachusetts (d. 1891)
- 1817 Théodore-Joseph Canneel, Flemish painter, born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1892)
- 1829 Samuel Wylie Crawford, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania (d. 1892)
- 1830 Oliver Otis Howard, American Major General (Union Army), born in Leeds, Maine (d. 1909)
- 1831 Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, English statesman and Viceroy of India (1876-1880) (d. 1891)
- 1836 Milton Bradley, American business magnate and game manufacturer, born in Vienna, Maine (d. 1911)
Bram Stoker (1847-1912)
Irish theater manager and author (Dracula), born in Dublin, Ireland
- 1847 Jean Casimir-Périer, French politician (President of France 1894-95), born in Paris (d. 1907)
- 1848 Gottlob Frege, German mathematician and logician (Begriffsschrift), born in Wismar, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, German Confederation (d. 1925)
- 1854 Johannes Rydberg, Swedish physicist (Rydberg formula), born in Halmstad, Sweden (d. 1919)
- 1862 James Edward Sullivan, American sports official and founder (Amateur Athletic Union), born in NYC, New York (d. 1914)
- 1863 René Viviani, French historian and 61st Prime Minister of France (1914-15), born in Sidi Bel Abbès, French Algeria (d. 1925)
- 1866 Herbert Austin, English automobile designer and builder (founder of Austin Motor Company), born in Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England (d. 1941)
- 1868 Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician (Hausdorff space), born in Breslau, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1942)
- 1875 Qiu Jin, Chinese revolutionary, feminist, and writer considered a national heroine in China, born in Shanyin, Shaoxing, Qing Dynasty (d. 1907)
- 1876 Frank L. Gillespie, American founder of Supreme Life Insurance Company, born in Osceola, Arkansas (d. 1925)
- 1881 Frank Speck, American anthropologist (Algonquin Tribes and Eastern Woodland Native Americans), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1950)
- 1881 Robert Esnault-Pelterie, French engineer and aviation pioneer who contributed to early heavier-than-air flight in Europe, born in Paris (d. 1957)
- 1884 Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (inkblot test - Rorschach test), born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 1922)
- 1885 Emil Fahrenkamp, German architect (Shell-Haus in Berlin), born in Aachen, Germany (d. 1966)
- 1885 Hans Cloos, German geologist and pioneer in the study of granite tectonics (the deformation of crystalline rocks), born in Magdeburg, Germany (d. 1951)
- 1885 Tomoyuki Yamashita [Yamashita Tomobumi], Imperial Japanese general dubbed "Tiger of Malaya", born in Ōtoyo, Kōchi, Japan (d. 1946)
- 1893 Prajadhipok, Rama VII, last absolute king of Siam (1925–35), born in Bangkok, Thailand (d. 1941)
- 1895 Photis Kontoglou, Greek writer, painter and iconographer, born in Ayvalık, Turkey (d. 1965)
Dorothy Day (1897-1980)
American journalist, social activist and devout Catholic convert, born in Brooklyn, New York
- 1900 Albert F. Frey-Wyssling, Swiss botanist and pioneer of submicroscopic morphology and the discipline of molecular biology, born in Küsnacht, Switzerland (d. 1988)
Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949)
American author (Gone With The Wind), born in Atlanta, Georgia
- 1901 Gheorge Gheorghiu-Dej, Romanian communist politician (President of the State Council 1961-65), born in Bârlad, Romania (d. 1965)
- 1904 Cedric Belfrage, English writer and journalist (co-founder of National Guardian), born in Marylebone, London (d. 1990)
- 1907 Otto Brenner, German trade union leader (Industrial Union of Metalworkers), born in Hanover, Germany (d. 1972)
- 1908 Martha Gellhorn, American novelist and journalist who was one of the first female war correspondents, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1998)
- 1912 Joseph Fattorini, English businessman, born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England (d. 1995)
- 1914 Peter Mondavi, American Napa Valley winemaker (Charles Krug), born in Virginia, Minnesota (d. 2016)
- 1916 Peter Weiss, German author and playwright (Marat/Sade), born in Nowawes, Brandenburg, Germany (d. 1982)
- 1917 Kamal Ranadive (née Samarth), Indian cancer researcher (Indian Women Scientists' Association; Indian Cancer Research Centre), born in Poona, Bombay presidency, British India (d. 2001)
- 1918 Hermann Zapf, German typeface designer (Palatino and Optima), born in Nuremberg (d. 2015)
- 1919 P. L. Deshpande, Indian Marathi writer, born in Mumbai, India (d. 2000)
- 1920 Eugênio de Araújo Sales, Brazilian Roman Catholic cardinal, born in Acari, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (d. 2012)
- 1921 Jerome Hines [Heinz], American basso (I am The Way), born in Hollywood, California
Christiaan Barnard (1922-2001)
South African cardiac surgeon who performed the 1st heart transplant, born in Beaufort West, Union of South Africa
- 1923 Dmitry Jazov, Russian Minister of Defense (1991 coup), born in Omsk Oblast, Soviet Union
Jack Kilby (1923-2005)
American electrical engineer (Nobel Prize in Physics, 2000 - handheld calculator, integrated circuit), born in Jefferson City, Missouri
- 1927 Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr., American magazine publisher (Parade, Vogue, Vanity Fair), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2017)
- 1929 António Castanheira Neves, Portuguese philosopher, born in Tábua, Portugal
- 1930 Edmund Happold, British structural engineer (founder of Buro Happold), born in Leeds, England (d. 1996)
- 1932 Ben Bova, American sci-fi author (Exiled from Earth), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2020) [1]
- 1932 Richard E. Lawyer, American astronaut, born in Los Angeles, California
- 1934 Roberta Hazard, American retired Rear Admiral (US Navy), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2017)
- 1935 Alfonso López Trujillo, Colombian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, born in Villahermosa, Colombia (d. 2008)
- 1936 Claudio Bravo Camus, Chilean born painter, born in Valparaiso, Chile (d. 2011)
- 1936 Edward George Gibson, American astronaut (Skylab 4), born in Buffalo, New York
- 1938 Dick Ritger, American ten-pin bowler (Tournament of Champions 1970, 79 runner-up; 20 career PBA Tour titles), born in River Falls, Wisconsin (d. 2020)
- 1938 Driss Basri, Moroccan politician (Interior Minister 1979-99), born in Settat, Morocco (d. 2007)
- 1938 John Asprey, British jeweller and multi-millionaire
- 1938 Murtala Mohammed, Nigerian military ruler, born in Bendel State, Colonial Nigeria (d. 1976)
- 1945 David Jessel, British radio and TV reporter, justice advocate, and author, born in Abingdon, Berkshire, England
- 1947 Margaret Rhea Seddon, American physician and NASA astronaut (STS 51D, 40, SK:58), born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee
- 1948 Dale A. Gardner, American naval commander and astronaut (STS 8, STS 51A), born in Fairmont, Minnesota (d. 2014)
- 1949 Wayne LaPierre, American Executive Vice President of the US National Rifle Association, born in Schenectady, New York
- 1951 Alfredo Astiz, Argentine general and intelligence officer
- 1952 Christie Ann Hefner, American businesswoman, CEO of Playboy Enterprises (1988-2009) and daughter of Hugh Hefner, born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1953 John Musker, American animation director (Moana), born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1954 Kazuo Ishiguro, British author (An Artist of the Floating World, The Remains of the Day, When We Were Orphans), born in Nagasaki, Japan
- 1954 Michael D. Brown, U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency director (2003-05), born in Guymon, Oklahoma
- 1970 Tom Anderson, American co-founder of MySpace, born in San Diego, California
- 1974 Masashi Kishimoto, Japanese manga author, born in Nagi, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
- 1974 Seishi Kishimoto, Japanese manga author, born in Nagi, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
- 1976 Colin Strause, American director and one half of the Brothers Strause, born in Waukegan, Illinois
- 1977 Bucky Covington, American entertainer, born in Rockingham, North Carolina
- 1982 Lynndie England, former U.S. Army reservist, associated with Abu Ghraib
- 1986 Aaron H. Swartz, computer programmer and internet activist (Demand Progress), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2013)
- 2003 Lady Louise Windsor, British royal, born in Surrey, England