Famous Birthdays for April 15th

Pre-1600[edit]

• 68 BC – Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician (d. 8 BC)
• 1282 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1329)
• 1442 – John Paston, English noble (d. 1479)
• 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519)
• 1469 – Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru (d. 1539)
• 1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1626)
• 1563 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (d. 1606)
• 1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French author and scholar (d. 1653)
• 1592 – Francesco Maria Brancaccio, Catholic cardinal (d. 1675)

1601–1900[edit]

• 1641 – Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and geographer (d. 1722)
• 1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1691)
• 1646 – Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
• 1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
• 1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (d. 1758)
• 1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1783)
• 1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790)^[19]
• 1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (d. 1827)
• 1771 – Nicolas Chopin, French-Polish educator (d. 1844)
• 1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (d. 1844)
• 1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (d. 1864)
• 1795 – Maria Schicklgruber, mother of Alois Hitler and the paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler (d.1847)
• 1800 – James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (d. 1862)
• 1808 – William Champ, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1892)
• 1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (d. 1877)
• 1817 – William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1885)
• 1828 – Jean Danjou, French captain (d. 1863)^[20]
• 1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (d. 1908)
• 1841 – Mary Grant Roberts, Australian zoo owner (d. 1921)^[21]
• 1841 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram Company Ltd (d. 1919)
• 1843 – Henry James, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1916)
• 1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (d. 1910)
• 1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (d. 1917)
• 1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-British poet and playwright (d. 1929)
• 1863 – Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (d. 1914)^[22]
• 1874 – George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (d. 1954)
• 1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
• 1875 – James J. Jeffries, American boxer and promoter (d. 1953)
• 1877 – Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (d. 1947)
• 1877 – William David Ross, Scottish philosopher (d. 1971)^[23]
• 1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1956)
• 1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980)
• 1883 – Stanley Bruce, Australian captain and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
• 1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
• 1886 – Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1921)
• 1887 – Felix Pipes, Austrian tennis player^[24] (d. 1983)
• 1887 – William Forgan Smith, Scottish-Australian politician, 24th Premier of Queensland (d. 1953)
• 1888 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (d. 1904)
• 1889 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (d. 1975)
• 1889 – A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)
• 1890 – Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the cat's eye (d. 1976)
• 1892 – Theo Osterkamp, German general and pilot (d. 1975)
• 1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American clocksmith, Nazi resister, and author (d. 1983)
• 1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)
• 1894 – Bessie Smith, African-American singer and actress (d. 1937)
• 1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (d. 1980)
• 1895 – Abigail Mejia, Dominican feminist activist, nationalist, literary critic and educator (d. 1941)^[25]
• 1896 – Nikolay Semyonov, Russian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
• 1898 – Harry Edward, Guyanese-English sprinter (d. 1973)

1901–present[edit]

• 1901 – Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
• 1901 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1986)
• 1901 – René Pleven, French businessman and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)
• 1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
• 1903 – John Williams, English-American actor (d. 1983)
• 1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1948)
• 1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
• 1908 – eden ahbez, Scottish-American songwriter and recording artist (d. 1995)
• 1908 – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)
• 1910 – Sulo Bärlund, Finnish shot putter (d. 1986)
• 1910 – Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player and theoretician (d. 1997)
• 1912 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1998)
• 1912 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 1994)
• 1915 – Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2012)
• 1916 – Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)
• 1916 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
• 1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
• 1917 – Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and bomber pilot (d. 1944)^[26]
• 1917 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
• 1918 – Hans Billian, German film director, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2007)
• 1919 – Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (d. 1993)
• 1920 – Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist and academic (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German soldier and politician, 6th President of Germany (d. 2015)
• 1921 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1995)
• 1921 – Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (d. 2009)
• 1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (d. 2013)
• 1922 – Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1999)
• 1922 – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)
• 1922 – Graham Whitehead, English racing driver (d. 1981)
• 1923 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet and author (d. 1966)
• 1923 – Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen (an anti-Communist organization) (d. 2009)
• 1924 – M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1980)
• 1924 – Rikki Fulton, Scottish comedian (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor (d. 2016)
• 1926 – Jurriaan Schrofer, Dutch sculptor, designer, and educator (d. 1990)^[27]
• 1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
• 1929 – Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (d. 2015)
• 1930 – Georges Descrières, French actor (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland
• 1931 – Kenneth Bloomfield, Northern Irish civil servant
• 1931 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
• 1933 – Roy Clark, American musician and television personality (d. 2018)
• 1933 – David Hamilton, English-French photographer and director (d. 2016)
• 1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress and producer (d. 1995)
• 1935 – Stavros Paravas, Greek actor and producer (d. 2008)
• 1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist (d. 2019)
• 1937 – Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
• 1937 – Robert W. Gore, American engineer and businessman, co-inventor of Gore-Tex (d. 2020)^[28][29]
• 1938 – Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress
• 1938 – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician (d. 2016)
• 1939 – Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor
• 1939 – Desiré Ecaré, Ivorian filmmaker (d. 2009)
• 1940 – Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician
• 1940 – Penelope Coelen, South African actress, model, beauty queen and 1958 Miss World
• 1940 – Willie Davis, American baseball player and actor (d. 2010)
• 1940 – Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic
• 1940 – Robert Walker, American actor (d. 2019)^[30]
• 1941 – Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician
• 1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop (d. 2017)
• 1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
• 1942 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman and criminal(d. 2006)
• 1942 – Tim Lankester, English economist and academic
• 1943 – Pınar Kür, Turkish author, playwright, and academic
• 1943 – Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1943 – Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician
• 1943 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (d. 2006)
• 1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1946 – John Lloyd, Scottish journalist and author
• 1946 – Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff
• 1947 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter and producer
• 1947 – Martin Broughton, English businessman
• 1947 – Lois Chiles, American model and actress
• 1947 – David Omand, English civil servant and academic
• 1947 – Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish nurse and politician, Swedish Minister for Social Security
• 1948 – Christopher Brown, English historian, curator, and academic
• 1948 – Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)
• 1948 – Phil Mogg, English singer-songwriter and musician
• 1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1949 – Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
• 1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Amy Wright, American actress
• 1950 – Karel Kroupa, Czech football player
• 1951 – Heloise, American journalist and author
• 1951 – John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut
• 1951 – Stuart Prebble, English journalist and producer
• 1951 – Marsha Ivins, American engineer and astronaut
• 1952 – Kym Gyngell, Australian actor, comedian, and screenwriter
• 1952 – Brian Muir, English sculptor and set designer
• 1952 – Avital Ronell, Czech-American philosopher and academic
• 1955 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d. 1997)
• 1955 – Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwean politician ^[31]
• 1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach
• 1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American runner and coach
• 1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1958 – John Bracewell, New Zealand cricketer
• 1958 – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach
• 1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright
• 1959 – Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1959 – Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
• 1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter
• 1960 – Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1960 – Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter
• 1960 – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist and sportscaster
• 1960 – Tony Jones, English snooker player
• 1961 – Neil Carmichael, English academic and politician
• 1961 – Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist
• 1961 – Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer
• 1962 – Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan athlete and politician
• 1962 – Tom Kane, American voice actor
• 1963 – Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist
• 1963 – Manzoor Elahi, Pakistani cricketer
• 1963 – Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
• 1964 – Andre Joubert, South African rugby player
• 1964 – Lee Kernaghan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1965 – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer^[32]
• 1965 – Kevin Stevens, American ice hockey player
• 1966 – Samantha Fox, English singer-songwriter and actress
• 1966 – Mott Green, American businessman (d. 2013)
• 1967 – Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter
• 1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer and journalist
• 1968 – Ben Clarke, English rugby player and coach
• 1968 – Brahim Lahlafi, Moroccan-French runner
• 1968 – Ed O'Brien, English guitarist
• 1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player
• 1969 – Kaisa Roose, Estonian pianist and conductor
• 1969 – Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player and coach
• 1970 – Chris Huffins, American decathlete and coach
• 1971 – Philippe Carbonneau, French rugby player
• 1971 – Finidi George, Nigerian footballer
• 1971 – Jason Sehorn, American football player
• 1971 – Josia Thugwane, South African runner
• 1971 – Karl Turner, English lawyer and politician
• 1972 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
• 1972 – Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor
• 1974 – Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director
• 1974 – Danny Pino, American actor and screenwriter
• 1974 – Mike Quinn, American football player
• 1974 – Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer
• 1974 – Tim Thomas, American ice hockey player
• 1975 – Sarah Teichmann, German-American biophysicist and immunologist
• 1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1976 – Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer
• 1976 – Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1976 – Steve Williams, English rower
• 1977 – Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor
• 1977 – Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player
• 1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player
• 1978 – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player
• 1978 – Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and dancer
• 1978 – Chris Stapleton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1980 – Patrick Carney, American drummer, musician, and producer
• 1980 – James Foster, English cricketer
• 1980 – Raül López, Spanish basketball player
• 1980 – Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player
• 1980 – Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and author
• 1980 – Billy Yates, American football player
• 1981 – Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentinian footballer
• 1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player
• 1982 – Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter
• 1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
• 1983 – Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1983 – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer
• 1983 – Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (d. 2014)
• 1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
• 1983 – Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist
• 1984 – Antonio Cromartie, American football player
• 1984 – Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1985 – Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer
• 1986 – Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer
• 1988 – Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player
• 1988 – Steven Defour, Belgian footballer
• 1988 – Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher
• 1989 – Darren Nicholls, Australian rugby league player
• 1990 – Emma Watson, English actress^[33]
• 1991 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol, singer, and actor
• 1991 – Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater
• 1992 – Jeremy McGovern, Australian rules football player
• 1994 – Brodie Grundy, Australian rules football player
• 1994 – Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian sprinter^[34]
• 1995 – Leander Dendoncker, Belgian footballer
• 1997 – Ashleigh Gardner, Australian cricketer^[35]
• 1999 – Denis Shapovalov, Canadian tennis player
• 2001 – Shanti Dope, Filipino rapper^[36]