Famous Birthdays for February 26th

Pre-1600[edit]

• 1361 – Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (d. 1419)
• 1416 – Christopher of Bavaria (d. 1448)
• 1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English playwright, poet and translator (d. 1593)
• 1584 – Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1666)
• 1587 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator (d. 1639)

1601–1900[edit]

• 1629 – Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, Scottish peer (d. 1685)
• 1651 – Quirinus Kuhlmann, German Baroque poet and mystic (d. 1689)^[27]
• 1671 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (d. 1713)
• 1672 – Antoine Augustin Calmet, French monk and theologian (d. 1757)
• 1677 – Nicola Fago, Italian composer and teacher (d. 1745)
• 1718 – Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop, botanist and zoologist (d. 1773)
• 1720 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (d. 1803)
• 1729 – Anders Chydenius, Finnish economist, philosopher and Lutheran priest (d. 1803)^[28][29]
• 1746 – Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma (d. 1804)^[30]
• 1770 – Anton Reicha, Bohemian composer and flautist (d. 1836)
• 1777 – Matija Nenadović, Serbian priest, historian, and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 1854)
• 1786 – François Arago, French mathematician and politician, 25th Prime Minister of France (d. 1853)
• 1802 – Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1885)
• 1808 – Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
• 1808 – Nathan Kelley, American architect, designed the Ohio Statehouse (d. 1871)
• 1829 – Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (d. 1902)
• 1842 – Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and author (d. 1925)
• 1846 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (d. 1917)
• 1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes (d. 1943)
• 1857 – Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist (d. 1926)
• 1861 – Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
• 1861 – Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian soldier and politician (d. 1939)
• 1866 – Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company (d. 1930)
• 1877 – Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (d. 1959)
• 1877 – Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (d. 1968)
• 1879 – Frank Bridge, English viola player and composer (d. 1941)
• 1880 – Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer (d. 1972)
• 1881 – Janus Djurhuus, Faroese poet (d. 1948)
• 1882 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
• 1885 – Aleksandras Stulginskis, Lithuanian farmer and politician, 2nd President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
• 1887 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player and coach (d. 1950)
• 1887 – William Frawley, American actor and vaudevillian (d. 1966)
• 1887 – Stefan Grabiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1936)
• 1893 – Wallace Fard Muhammad, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Islam (disappeared 1934)
• 1893 – Dorothy Whipple, English novelist (d. 1966)
• 1896 – Andrei Zhdanov, Ukrainian-Russian civil servant and politician (d. 1948)
• 1899 – Max Petitpierre, Swiss jurist and politician, 54th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1994)
• 1900 – Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower and poet (d. 1989)^[31]
• 1900 – Fritz Wiessner, German-American mountaineer (d. 1988)

1901–present[edit]

• 1902 – Jean Bruller, French author and illustrator, co-founded Les Éditions de Minuit (d. 1991)
• 1903 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)^[32]
• 1903 – Orde Wingate, English general (d. 1944)
• 1906 – Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)
• 1908 – Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and voice actor (d. 1980)
• 1908 – Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist (d. 1971)^[33]
• 1908 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French racing driver (d. 1949)
• 1909 – Fanny Cradock, English chef, author, and critic (d. 1994)
• 1909 – Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
• 1910 – Vic Woodley, English footballer (d. 1978)
• 1911 – Tarō Okamoto, Japanese painter and sculptor (d. 1996)
• 1914 – Robert Alda, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1986)
• 1916 – Jackie Gleason, American actor and singer (d. 1987)
• 1918 – Otis Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (d. 2013)
• 1918 – Pyotr Masherov, Leader of Soviet Belarus (d. 1980)
• 1918 – Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic (d. 1985)
• 1919 – Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Danny Gardella, American baseball player and trainer (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Tony Randall, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2004)
• 1920 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 2006)
• 1921 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer and businessman (d. 2007)
• 1922 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (d. 1976)
• 1924 – Noboru Takeshita, Japanese soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2000)
• 1924 – Marc Bucci, American composer, lyricist, and dramatist (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Everton Weekes, Barbadian cricketer and referee (d. 2020)^[34][35]
• 1926 – Doris Belack, American actress (d. 2011)^[36]
• 1926 – Verne Gagne, American football player, wrestler, and trainer (d. 2015)^[37]
• 1927 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host and actor (d. 2020)^[38][39][40]
• 1928 – Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2017)^[41]
• 1928 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014)^[42]
• 1931 – Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)^[43]
• 1931 – Robert Novak, American journalist and author (d. 2009)
• 1931 – Josephine Tewson, English actress (d. 2022)
• 1932 – Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2003)
• 1933 – James Goldsmith, French-British businessman and politician (d. 1997)
• 1934 – Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1936 – José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (d. 2014)
• 1937 – Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (d. 2011)
• 1939 – Chuck Wepner, American professional boxer
• 1940 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (d. 2013)
• 1942 – Jozef Adamec, Slovak footballer and manager (d. 2018)
• 1943 – Paul Cotton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2021)
• 1943 – Bill Duke, American actor and director
• 1943 – Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer
• 1943 – Bob "The Bear" Hite, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1981)
• 1944 – Christopher Hope, South African author and poet
• 1944 – Ronald Lauder, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Austria
• 1945 – Peter Brock, Australian racing driver (d. 2006)
• 1945 – Marta Kristen, Norwegian-American actress
• 1946 – Colin Bell, English footballer (d. 2021)
• 1946 – Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
• 1947 – Sandie Shaw, English singer and psychotherapist
• 1948 – Sharyn McCrumb, American author
• 1949 – Simon Crean, Australian trade union leader and politician, 14th Australian Minister for the Arts
• 1949 – Elizabeth George, American author and educator
• 1949 – Emma Kirkby, English soprano^[44]
• 1950 – Jonathan Cain, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
• 1950 – Helen Clark, New Zealand academic and politician, 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand^[45]
• 1951 – Wayne Goss, Australian lawyer and politician, 34th Premier of Queensland (d. 2014)
• 1953 – Michael Bolton, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1953 – Barbara Niven, American actress and writer^[46]
• 1954 – Prince Ernst August of Hanover
• 1954 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish politician, 12th President of Turkey
• 1955 – Andreas Maislinger, Austrian historian and academic, founded the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
• 1956 – Michel Houellebecq, French author, poet, screenwriter, and director
• 1957 – David Beasley, American lawyer and politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina
• 1957 – Keena Rothhammer, American swimmer^[47]
• 1958 – Greg Germann, American actor and director
• 1958 – Susan Helms, American general, engineer, and astronaut
• 1958 – Tim Kaine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Virginia
• 1959 – Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkish political scientist, academic, and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Turkey
• 1960 – Jaz Coleman, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
• 1962 – Ahn Cheol-soo, South Korean physician, academic, and politician
• 1963 – Chase Masterson, American actress, singer, and activist
• 1965 – James Mitchell, American wrestler and manager
• 1966 – Garry Conille, Haitian physician and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Haiti
• 1966 – Marc Fortier, French-Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
• 1967 – Mark Carroll, Australian rugby league player
• 1967 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese footballer
• 1967 – Gene Principe, Canadian sports reporter and broadcaster^[48]
• 1968 – Tim Commerford, American bass player
• 1969 – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer and producer
• 1970 – Mark Harper, English accountant and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
• 1970 – Scott Mahon, Australian rugby league player
• 1971 – Erykah Badu, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1971 – Max Martin, Swedish-American record producer and songwriter
• 1971 – Hélène Segara, French singer-songwriter and actress
• 1973 – Marshall Faulk, American football player
• 1973 – Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer and manager
• 1973 – Jenny Thompson, American swimmer^[49]
• 1974 – Sébastien Loeb, French racing driver
• 1974 – Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Filipina television actress, host and equestrienne
• 1976 – Nalini Anantharaman, French mathematician
• 1976 – Chad Urmston, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1977 – Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1977 – Tim Thomas, American basketball player
• 1977 – Shane Williams, Welsh rugby union player^[50]
• 1978 – Abdoulaye Faye, Senegalese footballer
• 1979 – Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1979 – Steve Evans, Welsh footballer
• 1979 – Pedro Mendes, Portuguese international footballer^[51]
• 1980 – Steve Blake, American basketball player
• 1981 – Kertus Davis, American race car driver
• 1981 – Oh Seung-bum, South Korean footballer
• 1982 – Li Na, Chinese tennis player
• 1982 – Matt Prior, South African-English cricketer
• 1982 – Nate Ruess, American singer-songwriter
• 1983 – Jerome Harrison, American football player
• 1983 – Pepe, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
• 1984 – Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese international footballer^[52]
• 1984 – Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer-songwriter
• 1984 – Beren Saat, Turkish actress
• 1985 – Fernando Llorente, Spanish international footballer^[53]
• 1986 – Hannah Kearney, American skier^[54]
• 1989 – Gabriel Obertan, French footballer
• 1990 – Takanoiwa Yoshimori, Mongolian sumo wrestler
• 1991 – Lee Chae-rin, South Korean singer^[55]
• 1992 – Mikael Granlund, Finnish professional hockey player^[56]
• 1992 – Michael Chee Kam, New Zealand rugby league player^[57]
• 1993 – Morgan Gautrat, American soccer player^[58]
• 1997 – Reghan Tumilty, Scottish footballer^[59]