Famous Birthdays for May 20th

Pre-1600[edit]

• 1315 – Bonne of Luxembourg, first wife of John II of France (d. 1349)
• 1470 – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal, poet, and scholar (d. 1547)
• 1505 – Levinus Lemnius, Dutch writer (d. 1568)
• 1531 – Thado Minsaw of Ava, Viceroy of Ava (d. 1584)
• 1537 – Hieronymus Fabricius, Italian anatomist (d. 1619)
• 1575 – Robert Heath, English judge and politician (d. 1649)

1601–1900[edit]

• 1664 – Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor and architect (d. 1714)
• 1726 – Francis Cotes, English painter and academic (d. 1770)
• 1759 – William Thornton, Virgin Islander-American architect, designed the United States Capitol (d. 1828)
• 1769 – Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (d. 1835)
• 1772 – Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet, English inventor and politician, developed Congreve rockets (d. 1828)
• 1776 – Simon Fraser, American-Canadian fur trader and explorer (d. 1862)
• 1795 – Pedro María de Anaya, Mexican soldier. President (1847–1848) (d. 1854)^[18]
• 1799 – Honoré de Balzac, French novelist and playwright (d. 1850)
• 1806 – John Stuart Mill, English economist, civil servant, and philosopher (d. 1873)
• 1811 – Alfred Domett, English-New Zealand poet and politician, 4th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1887)
• 1818 – William Fargo, American businessman and politician, co-founded Wells Fargo and American Express (d. 1881)
• 1822 – Frédéric Passy, French economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1912)
• 1824 – Cadmus M. Wilcox, Confederate States Army general (d. 1890)
• 1825 – Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first woman to be ordained as a mainstream Protestant minister in the U.S. (d. 1921)
• 1830 – Hector Malot, French author (d. 1907)
• 1838 – Jules Méline, French lawyer and politician, 65th Prime Minister of France (d. 1925)
• 1851 – Emile Berliner, German-American inventor, invented the Gramophone record (d. 1929)
• 1854 – George Prendergast, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Victoria (d. 1937)
• 1856 – Henri-Edmond Cross, French Neo-Impressionist painter (d. 1910)
• 1860 – Eduard Buchner, German chemist, zymologist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
• 1875 – Hendrik Offerhaus, Dutch rower (d. 1953)
• 1877 – Pat Leahy, Irish-American jumper (d. 1927)
• 1879 – Hans Meerwein, German chemist (d. 1965)
• 1882 – Sigrid Undset, Danish-Norwegian novelist, essayist, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
• 1883 – Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
• 1886 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish footballer and manager, founded the Galatasaray Sports Club (d. 1951)
• 1894 – Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian guru and scholar (d. 1994)
• 1895 – R. J. Mitchell, English engineer, designed the Supermarine Spitfire and Supermarine S.6B (d. 1937)
• 1897 – Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish economist and author (d. 1983)
• 1897 – Malcolm Nokes, English hammer and discus thrower (d. 1986)
• 1898 – Eduard Ole, Estonian painter (d. 1995)
• 1899 – Aleksandr Deyneka, Russian painter and sculptor (d. 1969)
• 1899 – John Marshall Harlan II, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1971)
• 1900 – Sumitranandan Pant, Indian poet and author (d. 1977)

1901–present[edit]

• 1901 – Max Euwe, Dutch chess player, mathematician, and author (d. 1981)
• 1901 – Doris Fleeson, American journalist (d. 1970)
• 1904 – Margery Allingham, English author of detective fiction (d. 1966)
• 1906 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (d. 1989)
• 1907 – Carl Mydans, American photographer and journalist (d. 2004)
• 1908 – Henry Bolte, Australian politician, 38th Premier of Victoria (d. 1990)
• 1908 – Louis Daquin, French actor and director (d. 1980)
• 1908 – Francis Raymond Fosberg, American botanist and author (d. 1993)
• 1908 – James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
• 1911 – Gardner Fox, American author (d. 1986)
• 1911 – Annie M. G. Schmidt, Dutch author and playwright (d. 1995)
• 1913 – Teodoro Fernández, Peruvian footballer (d. 1996)
• 1913 – William Redington Hewlett, American engineer, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (d. 2001)
• 1913 – Carlos J. Gradin, Argentine Archaeologist (d. 2002)^[19][20]
• 1915 – Peter Copley, English actor (d. 2008)
• 1915 – Moshe Dayan, Israeli general and politician, 5th Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1981)
• 1915 – Joff Ellen, Australian comedian and actor (d. 1999)
• 1916 – Owen Chadwick, English rugby player, historian, and academic (d. 2015)
• 1916 – Alexey Maresyev, Russian soldier and pilot (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Ondina Valla, Italian sprinter and hurdler (d. 2006)
• 1917 – Tony Cliff, Israeli-English author and activist (d. 2000)
• 1917 – Guy Favreau, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 28th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 1967)
• 1918 – Alexandra Boyko, Russian tank commander (d. 1996)
• 1918 – Edward B. Lewis, American biologist, geneticist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
• 1919 – George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
• 1920 – John Cruickshank, Scottish lieutenant and banker, Victoria Cross recipient
• 1921 – Wolfgang Borchert, German author and playwright (d. 1947)
• 1921 – Hal Newhouser, American baseball player and scout (d. 1998)
• 1921 – Pedro Trebbau, German-born Venezuelan zoologist (d. 2021)^[21]
• 1921 – Hao Wang, Chinese-American logician, philosopher, and mathematician (d. 1995)
• 1922 – Ted Hinton, Northern Irish international footballer (d. 1988)^[22]
• 1923 – Edith Fellows, American actress (d. 2011)
• 1923 – Sam Selvon, Trinidad-born writer (d. 1994)^[23]
• 1924 – David Chavchavadze, English-American CIA officer and author (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan journalist and politician (d. 1976)
• 1925 – Alexei Tupolev, Russian engineer, designed the Tupolev Tu-144 (d. 2001)
• 1926 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)
• 1927 – Bud Grant, American football player and coach
• 1927 – David Hedison, American actor (d. 2019)
• 1927 – Franciszek Macharski, Polish cardinal (d. 2016)
• 1929 – Gilles Loiselle, Canadian politician and diplomat, 33rd Canadian Minister of Finance
• 1930 – Sam Etcheverry, American football player and coach (d. 2009)
• 1931 – Ken Boyer, American baseball player and manager (d. 1982)
• 1931 – Louis Smith, American trumpeter (d. 2016)
• 1933 – Constance Towers, American actress and singer
• 1935 – José Mujica, Uruguayan guerrilla leader and politician, 40th President of Uruguay
• 1936 – Anthony Zerbe, American actor
• 1937 – Dave Hill, American golfer (d. 2011)
• 1937 – Derek Lampe, English footballer^[24]
• 1939 – Balu Mahendra, Sri Lankan-Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
• 1940 – Shorty Long, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1969)
• 1940 – Stan Mikita, Slovak-Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (d. 2018)
• 1940 – Sadaharu Oh, Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager
• 1941 – Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Singapore
• 1941 – John Strasberg, American actor and teacher
• 1942 – Raymond Chrétien, Canadian lawyer and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States
• 1942 – Lynn Davies, Welsh sprinter and long jumper
• 1942 – Carlos Hathcock, American sergeant and sniper (d. 1999)
• 1942 – Frew McMillan, South African tennis player
• 1943 – Albano Carrisi, Italian singer, actor, and winemaker
• 1943 – Deryck Murray, Trinidadian cricketer
• 1944 – Joe Cocker, English singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
• 1944 – Boudewijn de Groot, Indonesian-Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1944 – Keith Fletcher, English cricketer and manager
• 1944 – Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman, co-founder of Red Bull GmbH (d. 2022)^[25]
• 1945 – Vladimiro Montesinos, Peruvian intelligence officer
• 1946 – Cher, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1946 – Bobby Murcer, American baseball player, coach, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2008)
• 1947 – Steve Currie, English bass player (d. 1981)
• 1947 – Greg Dyke, English journalist and academic
• 1949 – Robert Morin, Canadian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
• 1949 – Michèle Roberts, English author and poet
• 1949 – Dave Thomas, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Andy Johns, English-American engineer and producer (d. 2013)
• 1950 – Reinaldo Merlo, Argentinian footballer and coach
• 1950 – Jane Parker-Smith, English organist (d. 2020)^[26]
• 1951 – Thomas Akers, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut
• 1951 – Christie Blatchford, Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster (d. 2020)^[27]
• 1951 – Mike Crapo, American lawyer and politician
• 1952 – Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer and manager
• 1952 – Michael Wills, English politician, British Minister of Justice
• 1953 – Robert Doyle, Australian educator and politician, 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne
• 1954 – David Paterson, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of New York
• 1954 – Colin Sutherland, Lord Carloway, Scottish lawyer and judge
• 1955 – Steve George, American keyboard player and songwriter
• 1955 – Zbigniew Preisner, Polish composer and producer
• 1956 – Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian-German author and critic
• 1956 – Gerry Peyton, English born Irish international footballer and coach^[28]
• 1956 – Douglas Preston, American journalist and author
• 1957 – Yoshihiko Noda, Japanese lawyer and politician, 62nd Prime Minister of Japan
• 1958 – Ron Reagan, American journalist and radio host
• 1958 – Jane Wiedlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
• 1959 – Susan Cowsill, American singer-songwriter
• 1960 – Tony Goldwyn, American actor and director
• 1961 – Clive Allen, English international footballer and manager^[29]
• 1961 – Nick Heyward, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1963 – David Wells, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1964 – Kōichirō Genba, Japanese politician, 80th Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs
• 1964 – Edin Osmanović, Slovenian footballer, coach, and manager
• 1964 – Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, English journalist and author
• 1965 – Ted Allen, American television host and author
• 1965 – Stu Grimson, Canadian ice hockey player, sportscaster, and lawyer
• 1966 – Dan Abrams, American journalist and author
• 1967 – Graham Brady, English politician
• 1967 – Gabriele Muccino, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1968 – Timothy Olyphant, American actor and producer
• 1969 – Road Dogg, American wrestler, producer, and soldier
• 1970 – Terrell Brandon, American basketball player
• 1970 – Louis Theroux, Singaporean-English journalist and producer
• 1971 – Šárka Kašpárková, Czech triple jumper and coach
• 1971 – Tony Stewart, American race car driver
• 1972 – Michael Diamond, Australian shooter
• 1972 – Christophe Dominici, French rugby player (d. 2020)
• 1972 – Busta Rhymes, American rapper, producer, and actor
• 1973 – Nathan Long, Australian rugby league player
• 1974 – Allison Amend, American novelist and short story writer
• 1974 – Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Indian film director, writer and actor
• 1975 – Juan Minujín, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1976 – Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player
• 1976 – Tomoya Satozaki, Japanese baseball player
• 1977 – Matt Czuchry, American actor
• 1977 – Leo Franco, Argentinian footballer
• 1977 – Angela Goethals, American actress
• 1977 – Stirling Mortlock, Australian rugby player
• 1977 – Vesa Toskala, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1978 – Hristos Banikas, Greek chess player
• 1978 – Pavla Hamáčková-Rybová, Czech pole vaulter
• 1978 – Nils Schumann, German runner
• 1979 – Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician, 28th Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
• 1979 – Jayson Werth, American baseball player
• 1980 – Austin Kearns, American baseball player
• 1980 – Kassim Osgood, American football player
• 1981 – Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
• 1981 – Rachel Platten, American singer and songwriter
• 1981 – Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
• 1981 – Mark Winterbottom, Australian race car driver
• 1982 – Petr Čech, Czech footballer
• 1982 – Imran Farhat, Pakistani cricketer
• 1982 – Jessica Raine, English actress
• 1982 – Daniel Ribeiro, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1983 – Óscar Cardozo, Paraguayan footballer
• 1983 – Matt Langridge, English rower
• 1984 – Mauro Rafael da Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1984 – Patrick Ewing Jr., American basketball player
• 1984 – Keith Grennan, American football player
• 1985 – Chris Froome, Kenyan-English cyclist
• 1985 – Brendon Goddard, Australian footballer^[30]
• 1986 – Dexter Blackstock, English footballer^[31]
• 1986 – Stéphane Mbia, Cameroonian footballer
• 1986 – Jiřina Svobodová, Czech pole vaulter
• 1987 – Mike Havenaar, Japanese footballer
• 1987 – Julian Wright, American basketball player
• 1988 – Joel Moon, Australian rugby league player^[32]
• 1989 – Siosia Vave, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
• 1991 – Bastian Baker, Swiss singer, songwriter, and performer
• 1991 – Emre Colak, Turkish footballer
• 1992 – Cate Campbell, Malawian-Australian swimmer
• 1992 – Jack Gleeson, Irish actor
• 1992 – Enes Kanter, Turkish basketball player
• 1993 – Caroline Zhang, American figure skater^[33]
• 1996 – Brian Kelly, Australian rugby league player
• 1998 – Jamie Chadwick, English race car driver
• 1998 – Nam Nguyen, Canadian figure skater