Who was born on August 26?
August 26 is packed with notable birthdays. Explore 120 famous birthdays, sorted by recent English Wikipedia pageviews. Top ranked names include Montgolfier brothers, Acharya Chatursen Shastri, Adrian Young, Alex Collins, Alex Kellner. Filter by actor, musician, athlete, and more — or open any other calendar day.
August 26
120 people
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Montgolfier brothers
The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (French: [ʒozɛf miʃɛl mɔ̃ɡɔlfje]; 26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier ([ʒak etjɛn mɔ̃ɡɔlfje]; 6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799) – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the commune Annonay in Ardèche, France. They invented the Montgolfière-style hot air balloon, globe aérostatique, which launched the first confirmed piloted ascent by humans in 1783, carrying Jacques-Étienne. Joseph-Michel also invented the self-acting hydraulic ram (1796) and Jacques-Étienne founded the first paper-making vocational school. Together, the brothers invented a process to manufacture transparent paper.
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Acharya Chatursen Shastri
Acharya Chatursen Shastri (26 August 1891 – 2 February 1960) was an Indian writer of Hindi literature. He wrote many historical fictions, including Vaishali ki Nagarvadhu adapted into a feature film (1948), Vayam Rakshamah (1951), Somnath (1954), and Dharamputra which was adapted into the 1961 feature film of the same name.
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Adrian Young
Adrian Samuel Young (born August 26, 1969) is an American musician, best known as the drummer of the rock bands No Doubt and Dreamcar. He also serves as a producer in his free time.
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Alex Collins
Alex Collins (August 26, 1994 – August 13, 2023), was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks and was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL draft with the 171st overall pick. He spent two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens in 2017 and 2018 before re-signing by Seattle in 2020. He played one season with the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League (USFL).
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Alex Kellner
Alexander Raymond Kellner (August 26, 1924 – May 3, 1996) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia / Kansas City Athletics (1948–1958), Cincinnati Reds (1958) and St. Louis Cardinals (1959). Kellner batted right-handed and threw left-handed. He was born in Tucson, Arizona. His younger brother, Walt, also was a major league pitcher. In a 12-season career, Kellner posted a 101–112 record with 816 strikeouts and a 4.17 ERA in 1,849+1⁄3 innings pitched. He won 20 games for the Athletics in 1949. He had his best season in 1949, with 20 wins, 37 games started, 19 complete games, 245 innings pitched (all career-highs) en route to being a 1949 American League All-Star. Kellner died in Tucson, Arizona, at the age of 71.
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Allahshukur Pashazadeh
Allahshukur Hummat Pashazade (born 26 August 1949) is the Shaykh al-Islam of the Caucasus which includes the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Georgia, and Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Karachay–Cherkessia, and Adygea in the Russian Federation. He is also the chairman of the Religious Council of the Caucasus.
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Allegra Huston
Allegra Huston (born 26 August 1964) is a British-American author, editor, and writer based in Taos, New Mexico. She is the author of Write What You Don't Know (with James Navé), the book of the Imaginative Storm creative writing method; Love Child: A Memoir of Family Lost and Found, and the novel A Stolen Summer (Say My Name in hardback); as well as How to Edit and Be Edited and How to Read for an Audience (with James Navé). She is also the screenwriter and producer of the short film Good Luck, Mr. Gorski, and producer of the short film Why Am I?
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Anahit Tsitsikian
Anahit Tsitsikian (Armenian: Անահիտ Ցիցիկյան; born Leningrad, August 26, 1926; death Yerevan, May 2, 1999) was an Armenian female violinist. She toured around the world through more than 100 cities during the Soviet times; she taught at the State Conservatory for approximately 40 years and wrote more than 300 articles and scenarios for television and radio programs. She was also a scholar who established a new branch of Armenian musicology, history of performing art, and dedicated the last twenty years of her life to research in the field of ancient music history, becoming the founder of a new branch of Armenian musical archaeology. Tsitsikian was Merited Artist of Armenia or People's Artist of the Armenian SSR (1967), PhD of Musical Science (1970) and Professor of Music (1982).
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Angelo Iorio
Angelo Iorio (born 26 August 1982) is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie B club Grosseto.
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Anthony Duclair
Anthony Duclair (born August 26, 1995) is a Haitian-Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a forward for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Duclair was selected by the New York Rangers in the third round, 80th overall, of the 2013 NHL entry draft, the organization with which he began his NHL career. Duclair has also played in the NHL for the Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers, San Jose Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning.
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Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( lə-VWAH-zee-ay; French: [ɑ̃twan lɔʁɑ̃ də lavwazje]; 26 August 1743 – 8 May 1794), also Antoine Lavoisier after the French Revolution, was a French nobleman and chemist who was central to the 18th-century chemical revolution and who had a large influence on both the history of chemistry and the history of biology. It is generally accepted that Lavoisier's great accomplishments in chemistry stem largely from his changing the science from a qualitative to a quantitative one. Lavoisier is noted for his discovery of the role oxygen plays in combustion, opposing the prior phlogiston theory of combustion. He named oxygen (1778), recognizing it as an element, and also recognized hydrogen as an element (1783). By using more precise measurements than previous experimenters, he confirmed the developing theory that, although matter in a closed system may change its form or shape, its mass always remains the same (now known as the law of conservation of mass), which led to the development of the balanced physical and chemical reaction equations that we still use today. Lavoisier helped construct the metric system, wrote the first extensive list of elements, in which he predicted the existence of silicon, and helped to reform chemical nomenclature. (1787) His wife and laboratory assistant, Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier, became a renowned chemist in her own right, and worked with him to develop the metric system of measurements. Lavoisier was a powerful member of a number of aristocratic councils, and an administrator of the Ferme générale. The Ferme générale was one of the most hated components of the Ancien Régime because of the profits it took at the expense of the state, the secrecy of the terms of its contracts, and the violence of its armed agents. All of these political and economic activities enabled him to fund his scientific research. At the height of the French Revolution, he was charged with tax fraud and selling adulterated tobacco, and was guillotined despite appeals to spare his life in recognition of his contributions to science. A year and a half later, he was exonerated by the French government.
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Arnold Fothergill
Arnold James Fothergill (26 August 1854 – 1 August 1932) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club and the MCC in a career which spanned from 1870 until 1892. A left-arm fast-medium pace bowler, he appeared for England in two Test matches in 1889. Fothergill began his career as a club professional in the north east of England. He joined Somerset as one of their first professionals in 1880, but was forced to miss most of 1881 while he qualified for the county. He was the most productive bowler for the county in their first two years of first-class cricket, but the emergence of E. W. Bastard, and later Ted Tyler and Sammy Woods, limited his opportunities with the club. He joined the ground staff at Lord's Cricket Ground in 1882, and played for the MCC until 1892, also appearing at Lord's for representative teams. In the English winter of 1888–89, he was chosen to tour South Africa with the MCC, and played in two matches which were later designated as Test matches, though Wisden Cricketers' Almanack described them as being "arguably not even first-class." He took 119 first-class wickets during his career, of which eight came in his two Tests.
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Arthur James Arnot
Arthur James Arnot (26 August 1865 – 15 October 1946) was a Scottish electrical engineer and inventor, best known for patenting the world's first electric drill. He later designed the Spencer Street Power Station.
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Benedict Anderson
Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson (August 26, 1936 – December 13, 2015) was an Anglo-Irish political scientist and historian who lived and taught in the United States. Anderson is best known for his 1983 book Imagined Communities, which explored the origins of nationalism. A polyglot with an interest in Southeast Asia, he was the Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor of International Studies, Government & Asian Studies at Cornell University. His work on the "Cornell Paper" disputed the official story of Indonesia's 30 September Movement and the subsequent anti-Communist purges of 1965–1966 which led to his expulsion from that country. He was the elder brother of historian Perry Anderson.
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Bernardino Poccetti
Bernardino Poccetti (26 August 1548 – 10 October 1612), also known as Barbatelli, was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker of etchings.
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Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque. From 1992 to 1995 he led The Tonight Show Band.
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Brant Parker
Brant Julian Parker (August 26, 1920 – April 15, 2007) was an American cartoonist. He co-created and drew The Wizard of Id comic strip until passing the job on to his son, Jeff Parker, in 1997. Cartoonist Johnny Hart, his co-creator, continued writing the strip until his death on April 7, 2007. Parker himself died eight days later, on April 15.
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Bryon Baltimore
Bryon Donald Baltimore (born August 26, 1952) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, who played in the NHL and WHA. Baltimore started his hockey career playing two seasons for the University of Alberta. He then joined the AHL's Springfield Kings. He was called up by the Los Angeles Kings for the 1974 playoffs but he did not see any ice time. In 1974, he signed with the Chicago Cougars of the WHA, and he played in the WHA until it folded. In the ensuing dispersal draft, he was picked up by the Edmonton Oilers, with whom he played two games in the 1979–80 season. Baltimore is one of only three Yukon-raised players to participate in an NHL game, the others being Jarrett Deuling and Dylan Cozens. After his hockey career ended, Baltimore became a litigation lawyer in Edmonton, Alberta, practicing at McCuaig Desrochers LLP where he served as managing partner. Baltimore coached the now defunct Montana Magic in 1983–84 in the CHL. The team had a 20–52–4 record. The league folded after this season.
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Bunny Austin
Henry Wilfred "Bunny" Austin (26 August 1906 – 26 August 2000) was an English tennis player. For 74 years he was the last Briton to reach the final of the men's singles at the Wimbledon Championships, until Andy Murray did so in 2012. He was also a finalist at the 1937 French Championships and a championship winner at Queen's Club. Along with Fred Perry, he was a vital part of the British team that won the Davis Cup in three consecutive years (1933–1935). He is also remembered as the first tennis player to wear shorts.
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Caroline Pafford Miller
Caroline Pafford Miller (August 26, 1903 – July 12, 1992) was an American novelist. She gathered the folktales, stories, and archaic dialects of the rural communities she visited in her home state of Georgia in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and wove them into her first novel, Lamb in His Bosom, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1934, and the French literary award, the Prix Femina Americain in 1935. Her success as the first Georgian winner of the fiction prize inspired Macmillan Publishers to seek out more southern writers, resulting in the discovery of Margaret Mitchell, whose first novel, Gone with the Wind, also won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937. Miller's story about the struggles of nineteenth-century south Georgia pioneers found a new readership in 1993 when Lamb in His Bosom was reprinted, one year after her death. In 2007, Miller was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame.
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Charlie Gillespie
Charles Gillespie (born August 26, 1998) is a Canadian actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Luke Patterson in the Netflix series Julie and the Phantoms (2020).
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Chris Boardman
Christopher Miles Boardman, (born 26 August 1968) is an English former racing cyclist. A time trial and prologue specialist, Boardman won the inaugural men's World time trial championship in 1994, won the individual pursuit gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics, broke the world hour record three times, and won three prologue stages (and consequently wore the yellow jersey on three occasions) at the Tour de France. Boardman used the Lotus 108 time trial bicycle designed by Mike Burrows and built by the sports car manufacturer Lotus. Later he worked with the UK carbon fibre bike specialist Hotta, to produce other time-trial frame designs, which he raced in various events including world championships, and Olympic games. He is now involved in producing commercial and competition bikes with the Boardman Bikes and Boardman Elite ventures. Boardman has also worked to promote walking and cycling across the UK, becoming Greater Manchester's walking and cycling commissioner in 2017, Greater Manchester's Transport Commissioner in 2021 and most recently, Commissioner of Active Travel England. In 1992, he was awarded an MBE for services to cycling. Boardman was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2024 Birthday Honours for services to active travel.
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Chris Curtis
Chris Curtis (born Christopher Crummey; 26 August 1941 – 28 February 2005) was an English musician. He was best known for being a member the 1960s beat band The Searchers. He originated the concept behind Deep Purple and formed the band in its original incarnation of 'Roundabout'.
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Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood (born Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood; 26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an English and American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include Goodbye to Berlin (1939), a semi-autobiographical novel which was the basis for Cabaret (1966); A Single Man (1964), adapted into a film directed by Tom Ford in 2009; and Christopher and His Kind (1976), a memoir which "carried him into the heart of the Gay Liberation movement".
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Clara Schønfeld
Clara Schønfeld (born Clara Julie Christensen; 26 August 1856 – 5 May 1938) was a Danish stage and film actress whose career spanned from the late 19th century through the 1920s.
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Cordae
Cordae Amari West Brooks (né Dunston; born August 26, 1997), known mononymously as Cordae (formerly YBN Cordae and Entendre), is an American rapper. He began his career as a member of the hip hop collective YBN. His 2019 debut studio album, The Lost Boy, peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200 and was met with critical acclaim. At the 62nd Grammy Awards, it was nominated for Best Rap Album, while its single, "Bad Idea" (featuring Chance the Rapper), was nominated for Best Rap Song. After the group disbanded in 2020, he dropped the "YBN" from his stage name. His second studio album, From a Birds Eye View (2022), matched the chart position of his previous, and was met with similar critical reception. Cordae released his third studio album, The Crossroads, in November 2024. It was a commercial failure but received positive critical reception.
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Daniel Lévi
Daniel Lévi (26 August 1961 – 6 August 2022) was a French singer-songwriter, composer, and pianist.
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David Byas
David Byas (born 26 August 1963)) is an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire and latterly Lancashire, in a 17-year first-class career. Byas grew up on a farm in Yorkshire, having attended school at Scarborough College. He was a left-handed batsman who scored a century on the day his son was born, and very occasionally bowled right-arm medium pace. He was appointed Yorkshire's captain at the start of the 1996 season, following the resignation of Martyn Moxon. In 2001, he led the county to their first County Championship title win in 33 years, sealing the championship with a catch taken at North Marine Road. The following season he signed for Lancashire CCC, becoming one of the few players to play for both counties. In 1995, Byas was on the verge of an England call-up, having been the first player to reach 1,000 runs in that season, only the return to fitness of Michael Atherton and Graeme Hick, prevented him from doing so. In total he scored 1,913 runs in the whole campaign. His highest score of 213 was made at his home ground of North Marine Road. He was one of only five players to achieve a double-hundred in the first-class game at this stadium. Byas started his career in 1978, as a second-team player at Scarborough. However, he ultimately helped the club to the latter two of their five ECB National Club Cricket Championship titles (1981 and 1982) at Lord's. In 1984, he set a record in the now former Yorkshire League, by scoring 1,349 runs for the season, a record which stood for 19 years. Since retiring, Byas has been a manager and coach at Scarborough, in charge of cricket development at Pocklington School, a senior cricket advisor at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, and runs his own cricket school, the 'Byas Academy'. In November 2021, it came to light that Byas had been named in the witness statement of Azeem Rafiq for an employment tribunal regarding racism Rafiq had faced at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. It was alleged that Byas regularly used racist language and nicknames. Byas denied these allegations.
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David Hurley
General David John Hurley (born 26 August 1953) is an Australian viceregal officeholder and military officer. A senior officer in the Australian Army, he served as the 27th governor-general of Australia from 2019 to 2024. He was previously the 38th governor of New South Wales from 2014 to 2019. In a 42-year military career, Hurley deployed on Operation Solace in Somalia in 1993, commanded the 1st Brigade (1999–2000), was the inaugural Chief of Capability Development Group (2003–2007) and Chief of Joint Operations (2007–2008) and served as Vice Chief of the Defence Force (2008–2011). His career culminated with his appointment as Chief of the Defence Force on 4 July 2011, in succession to Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston. Hurley retired from the army in June 2014 and succeeded Marie Bashir as governor of New South Wales in October 2014 on the nomination of Premier Mike Baird. His term concluded in May 2019 and he was subsequently appointed by Queen Elizabeth II as governor-general on the nomination of Prime Minister Scott Morrison. His five-year term commenced in July 2019 and expired in July 2024, with Sam Mostyn succeeding him.
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Dennis Turner, Baron Bilston
Dennis Turner, Baron Bilston (26 August 1942 – 25 February 2014) was a British Labour Co-operative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South East from 1987 to 2005.
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Don Bowman
Rubel Don Bowman (August 26, 1937 – June 5, 2013) was an American country music singer, songwriter, comedian, and radio host. He recorded for RCA Victor between 1964 and 1970, charting in the Top 40 with the novelty hit single "Chit Akins, Make Me a Star". Bowman also worked at several radio stations, including KRZK in Branson, Missouri. At this time, he was also opening the show for Moe Bandy doing Seymore Miles. Bowman also worked at KDEO San Diego, KEWB Oakland, KDWB St. Paul, and KBBQ Burbank. He developed a fictional character for his radio shows named Gruesome Goodbody. In 1961 he had a country hit "Coward at the Alamo." Bowman was born in Lubbock, Texas, and was the original host of the radio show American Country Countdown. He hosted the show from its inception on October 6, 1973, through April 1978, after which Bob Kingsley (who had been ACC's producer since 1974) took over as host. Also, Bowman filled in for Casey Kasem on the June 16, 1973 episode of American Top 40. In 1966, Bowman won Favorite Country Comedy Recording of the Year award from Billboard. In 1967, he was named Comedian of the Year by the Country Music Association. Bowman's song "Wildwood Weed" later became a hit for Jim Stafford, peaking at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. Bowman died of liver and pancreatic cancer on June 5, 2013, at the age of 75. He had two children, Jackie and Casey Bowman.
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Dori Caymmi
Dorival "Dori" Tostes Caymmi (born 26 August 1943) is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, guitarist, arranger, and producer.
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Eleanor Dark
Eleanor Dark AO (26 August 1901 – 11 September 1985) was an Australian writer whose novels included Prelude to Christopher (1934) and Return to Coolami (1936), both winners of the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for literature, and her best known work The Timeless Land (1941).
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Elisha Williams
Elisha Williams (August 26, 1694 – July 24, 1755) was a Congregational minister, legislator, militia soldier, jurist, and rector of Yale College from 1726 to 1739.
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Elvis Andrus
Elvis Augusto Andrus Torres (born August 26, 1988) is a Venezuelan-American former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, and Chicago White Sox. He was a two-time All-Star. Andrus was born in the city of Maracay in Venezuela. As an international prospect, he signed a contract with the Atlanta Braves at the age of 16 in 2005. Entering 2007, he was rated by Baseball America as the No. 2 prospect in the Atlanta Braves organization. Midway through the 2007 season, Andrus was traded to Texas. Andrus debuted in the major leagues in 2009 as the Rangers' Opening Day starting shortstop at the age of 20. After the season, he finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting. Andrus earned the first All-Star selection of his career in 2010, later receiving a second selection in 2012. Andrus defended the left side of the Rangers' infield next to third baseman Adrián Beltré for eight years, forming a friendship that was noted for the former's practical jokes on the latter. After 12 seasons with the Rangers, Andrus was traded to Oakland in February 2021. Andrus was starting shortstop with the Athletics for one-and-a-half seasons before being released in 2022. He was then promptly signed by the White Sox, with whom he scored his 1,000th career run. In 2023, he recorded the 2,000th hit of his career and played in his 2,000th game.
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Eric Davies
Eric Quail Davies (26 August 1909 – 11 November 1976), was a South African cricketer, who played in five Test matches from 1936 to 1939. He was born in King William's Town and died in Port Alfred, both in Cape Province.
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Federigo Zuccari
Federigo, Vincenzo Antonio, Ludovico Zuccari (Isola di Sora, 26 August 1783 – Barra (Naples), 15 December 1817) was an Italian astronomer, professor of Astronomy at the Naples University, professor of Mathematical Geography at the Military Academy of Naples and director of the Astronomical Observatory of Naples. He studied in Naples and Rome, also becoming passionate about literature and fine arts. In 1807 he was appointed professor of spherical trigonometry and mathematical geography at the Real Scuola della Nunziatella. After the death of Ferdinando Messia de Prado, Zuccari was sent, in 1809, by King Joachim Murat to Milan at the Brera Observatory to specialize in Astronomy with Barnaba Oriani. On 17 August 1811 Murat sent him back to Naples, appointing him director of the Observatory located at the ancient monastery of San Gaudioso. In 1812 the government agreed to the request by Zuccari to erect a new building for the Observatory on Miradois hill near the Royal Palace of Capodimonte. Together with the architect Stefano Gasse he designed a majestic building in neoclassical style whose first stone was laid on 4 November 1812. After the death of Zuccari, the original project was partially modified by Giuseppe Piazzi to make the spaces more functional. With the few instruments available, at the observatory of San Gaudioso he made observations of the Sun, lunar and solar eclipses and made a long series of measurements of stellar positions. This star catalog was never published for the astronomer's untimely death. In 1815 he took his nephew Ernesto Capocci as a pupil with whom he also made meteorological observations. He was a member of the Imperiale e Reale Ateneo Italiano (1810), of the Academy of Sciences of Naples (1811), of the Pontaniana Academy (1812), of the Royal Institute of Encouragement (1812) and knight of the Royal Order of the Two-Sicilies (c. 1814).
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Frederick V, Elector Palatine
Frederick V (German: Friedrich V.; 26 August 1596 – 29 November 1632) was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both roles, and the brevity of his reign in Bohemia earned him the derisive sobriquet "the Winter King" (Czech: Zimní král; German: Winterkönig). Frederick was born in Deinschwang, Palatinate at the hunting lodge (Jagdschloss), Germany. He was the son of Frederick IV and of Louise Juliana of Orange-Nassau, the daughter of William the Silent and Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier. An intellectual, a mystic, and a Calvinist, he succeeded his father as Prince-Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate in 1610, and at the age of 17 was married to the Protestant princess Elizabeth Stuart. In 1618, the largely Protestant Czech nobility of Bohemia rebelled against their Catholic king, Ferdinand II, beginning a conflict that would become the Thirty Years' War. Frederick was asked to assume the crown of Bohemia. He accepted the offer and was crowned on 4 November 1619, as Frederick I (Czech: Fridrich Falcký, lit. 'Frederick the Palatine'). The estates chose Frederick because he was the leader of the Protestant Union, a military alliance founded by his father, and hoped for the support of Frederick's father-in-law, James VI of Scotland and I of England. However, James opposed his son-in-law's takeover of Bohemia from the Habsburgs and Frederick's allies in the Protestant Union failed to support him militarily by signing the Treaty of Ulm. His brief reign as king of Bohemia ended with his defeat at the Battle of White Mountain on 8 November 1620 – a year and four days after his coronation. After the battle, the Imperial forces invaded Frederick's Palatine lands, forcing him to flee to his uncle Prince Maurice, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic in 1622. An Imperial edict formally deprived him of the Palatinate in 1623. He lived the rest of his life in exile with his wife and family, mostly at The Hague, and died in Mainz in 1632 after an unsuccessful attempt to convince Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden to restore him as ruler of the Palatinate. His eldest surviving son, Charles I Louis, was restored to the electorate in 1648 under the Peace of Westphalia. Another son was Prince Rupert of the Rhine, one of the most colourful figures of his time. Frederick's daughter Princess Sophia was eventually named heiress presumptive to the British throne, and is the founder of the Hanoverian line of kings.
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Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Anne Ferraro (August 26, 1935 – March 26, 2011) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, representing New York's 9th congressional district. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's vice presidential nominee in the 1984 presidential election, running alongside presidential nominee and former Vice President Walter Mondale; this made her the first female vice-presidential nominee representing a major American political party. Ferraro was also a journalist, author, and businesswoman. Born in Newburgh, New York, Ferraro grew up in New York City. She attended Marymount Manhattan College, where she met her future husband John Zaccaro, whom she married in 1960. After earning a Juris Doctor from the Fordham University, Ferraro worked as a public school teacher before training as a lawyer. She joined the Queens County District Attorney's Office in 1974, heading the new Special Victims Bureau that dealt with sex crimes, child abuse, and domestic violence. In 1978, she was elected to the House of Representatives, and held this seat until 1985. During her tenure in the House, Ferraro rose rapidly in the Democratic Party hierarchy while focusing on legislation to bring equity for women in the areas of wages, pensions, and retirement plans. In 1984, former Vice President and presidential nominee Mondale, seen as an underdog, selected Ferraro as his running mate for the upcoming presidential election. In doing so, Ferraro also became the first widely recognized Italian American to be a major-party national nominee. The positive polling the Mondale–Ferraro ticket received when she joined soon faded, as damaging questions arose about her and her businessman husband Zaccaro's finances and wealth and her congressional disclosure statements. In the general election, Mondale and Ferraro were defeated in a landslide by Republican President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush. After the 1984 election, Ferraro ran campaigns for a seat in the United States Senate from New York in 1992 and in 1998, both times starting as the front-runner for her party's nomination before losing in the primary election. During that time, she served as the Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights from 1993 to 1996 under President Bill Clinton. She also continued her career as a journalist, author, and businesswoman, and served in the 2008 presidential campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton. Ferraro died at the age of 75 in March 2011 from multiple myeloma, 12 years after being diagnosed.
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Gerard Campbell
Gerard John Campbell (August 26, 1919 – August 9, 2012) was an American Catholic priest, Jesuit, and historian who became the president of Georgetown University. Born in Pennsylvania, he entered the Society of Jesus at the age of 20 and studied at West Baden College and Fordham University, before earning his doctorate at Princeton University. A promising historian, he then taught at Loyola University Maryland, before becoming the executive vice president of Georgetown University in 1963, where he effectively worked as acting president. The following year, Campbell was appointed the president of Georgetown University. He continued the work of his predecessor to modernize the institution. Extensively reorganizing the university's governance, he amended its congressional charter, legally separated Georgetown from the Society of Jesus, and transformed the composition of its board of directors from senior Jesuit administrators to laypeople and Jesuits unaffiliated with the university. He also recruited prominent faculty in the humanities and social sciences, and gave faculty a direct role in administration by creating a faculty senate. At the end of his term, ground was broken on Lauinger Library, which greatly expanded the university's library capacity. Campbell's tenure as president was brief, as he preferred scholarship over academic administration. Combined with a mounting budgetary deficit, he resigned the office in 1968. Campbell then worked for the Jesuits' Maryland Province before becoming rector of the Jesuit novitiate in Wernersville, Pennsylvania. He returned to Georgetown as the director of the Woodstock Theological Center in 1979, and then founded the Center for Jesuit Spirituality at Holy Trinity Church.
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Gerd Bonk
Gerd Bonk (26 August 1951 – 20 October 2014) was an East German weightlifter who was active from 1969 to 1980 who won silver at the 1976 Summer Olympics, bronze at the 1972 Summer Olympics, and set three world records. He was the first man in history to clean and jerk 250 kg (551 lb). He also achieved numerous other top-three placements at World Championships and European Weightlifting Championships. He was also a master mechanic.
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Guillaume Apollinaire
Guillaume Apollinaire ( ə-POL-in-AIR, French: [ɡijom apɔlinɛːʁ]; born Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Aleksander Apolinary Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a Polish-French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Polish, Swiss and Italian descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the early 20th century, as well as one of the most impassioned defenders of Cubism and a forefather of Surrealism. He is credited with coining the term "Cubism" in 1911 to describe the emerging art movement, the term Orphism in 1912, and the term "Surrealism" in 1917 to describe the works of Erik Satie. He wrote poems without punctuation, in his attempt to be resolutely modern in both form and subject. Apollinaire wrote one of the earliest Surrealist literary works, the play The Breasts of Tiresias (1917), which became the basis for Francis Poulenc's 1947 opera Les mamelles de Tirésias. Influenced by Symbolist poetry in his youth, he was admired during his lifetime by the young poets who later formed the nucleus of the Surrealist group (Breton, Aragon, Soupault). He revealed very early on an originality that freed him from any school of influence and made him one of the precursors of the literary revolution of the first half of the 20th century. His art is not based on any theory, but on a simple principle: the act of creating must come from the imagination, from intuition, because it must be as close as possible to life, to nature, to the environment, and to the human being. Apollinaire was also active as a journalist and art critic for Le Matin, L'Intransigeant, L'Esprit nouveau, Mercure de France, and Paris Journal. In 1912 Apollinaire cofounded Les Soirées de Paris, an artistic and literary magazine. Two years after being wounded in World War I, Apollinaire died during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and was recognized as "Fallen for France" (Mort pour la France) because of his commitment during the war.
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Gustavo R. Vincenti
Gustavo Romeo Vincenti (26 August 1888 – 25 April 1974) was a Maltese architect and developer. Born into a wealthy and business-oriented family in Valletta and Floriana, he was able to purchase land and design and build buildings which he would then sell to clients. He was interested in architecture from a young age, and he graduated as an architect from the University of Malta in 1911, at the age of 23. His early works show inspiration from Art Nouveau, Art Deco and eclecticism, interpreted in an economic but elegant way. His facades include horizontal and vertical elements which create a geometric and rigid feel to the buildings, while maintaining an element of flow. His early works include some terraced houses in Sliema, many of which still exist. Other buildings include the Italian embassy, an apartment block and some houses in the vicinity of the King George V Gardens in Floriana. His most significant project was the Vincenti Buildings in Valletta, a large block of apartments constructed in the 1930s occupying an entire city block on the site of the former Forni della Signoria. Some of his buildings are more Modernist, showing influences from Le Corbusier. These include a complex of four houses in Ta' Xbiex built in 1936, collectively also known as Vincenti Buildings, with each of the houses being named after one of the Four Evangelists. Modernism is also evident in his personal villa, Palazzina Vincenti, in St Julian's, which was inhabited by his son Hilaire Vincenti, who died in 2019 at 92. According to Edward Said, Vincenti was a great exponent of Art Nouveau and Art Deco architecture in Malta. In the 1920s and 30s he purchased lands and built houses. Some of his best creations are on Dingli Street in an Italian Liberty style with floral frieze designs, such as the Art Deco double-fronted two-storey townhouse ‘Assisi’ with columned and fanlight entrance together with wooden balcony flanked by simply designed balcony railings. No 10 next door, is of particular interest and architectural uniqueness. Acrooss [sic] the road stands a row of distinctly Art Deco design which is immediately recognizable as being Vincenti, who engaged a geometrically pure and abstract form of ornamentation. service offices. Other designs were houses in Melita Street, Amery Street with art nouveau designs, and Napoleon Flats on Prince of Wales Road.
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Helen Sharsmith
Helen Katherine Meyers Sharsmith (August 26, 1905 – November 10, 1982) was an American biologist and educator. She was one of the first women botanists at the University of California and is recognized for her contributions to botanical research there.
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Herbert Booth
Herbert Henry Howard Booth (26 August 1862 – 25 September 1926) was a Salvation Army officer, the third son of five children to William and Catherine Booth (Mumford), who later went on to serve as an independent evangelist. He oversaw the Limelight Department's development and he was the writer and director for Soldiers of the Cross.
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Howard Clark
Howard Keith Clark (born 26 August 1954) is an English professional golfer who played on the European Tour for many years and had his most successful period in the mid-1980s.
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Humilis of Bisignano
Humilis of Bisignano (Italian: Umile da Bisignano) (1582 – 26 November 1637) was a Franciscan friar who was widely known in his day as a mystic and wonderworker. He has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church.
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Humphrey Searle
Humphrey Searle (26 August 1915 – 12 May 1982) was an English composer and writer on music. His music combines aspects of late Romanticism and modernist serialism, particularly reminiscent of his primary influences, Franz Liszt, Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, who was briefly his teacher. As a writer on music, Searle published texts on numerous topics; he was an authority on the music of Franz Liszt, and created the initial cataloguing system for his works.
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Ian Dejardin
Ian A. C. Dejardin (born 26 August 1955) is an art historian who was director of the Dulwich Picture Gallery in Dulwich, England. In August 2016 Dulwich Picture Gallery announced that he would be leaving to become chief executive of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Ontario in April 2017. He is married to Eric Pearson, his partner since 1987, and lives in Toronto, Canada.
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Irving R. Levine
Irving Raskin Levine (August 26, 1922 – March 27, 2009) was an American journalist and longtime correspondent for NBC News. During his 45-year career, Levine reported from more than two dozen countries. He was the first American television correspondent to be accredited in the Soviet Union. He wrote three non-fiction books on life in the USSR, each of which became a bestseller.
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Ivan Mihailov
Ivan Mihaylov Gavrilov (Bulgarian: Иван Михайлов Гаврилов; Macedonian: Иван Михајлов Гаврилов; 26 August 1896 – 5 September 1990), also known as Vancho Mihaylov (Bulgarian: Ванчо Михайлов; Macedonian: Ванчо Михајлов), was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary in interwar Macedonia and the last leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). Under Mihaylov, IMRO became notoriously anti-communist and identified itself closely with Bulgarian nationalism, thus eliminating not only the enemies of the Bulgarian national idea in Macedonia but also its left-wing opponents within the Macedonian liberation movement. Mihaylov changed the organization's tactics from guerrilla campaigns to individual terrorist acts. Numerous attacks were carried out by IMRO against Yugoslav officials under his leadership, the most spectacular of which was the assassination of Alexander I of Yugoslavia, in collaboration with Croatian Ustaše. He actively cooperated with revanchist powers, such as Mussolini's Fascist Italy, Admiral Horthy's Hungary and Hitler's Nazi Germany. During the last stage of the war, he tried to realize IMRO's plan to create an Independent Macedonia but ultimately refused to move forward due to the lack of German military support and his reluctance to take a course that would lead to civil war. During the Cold War, Mihaylov lived in Italy while the emigrant Macedonian Patriotic Organization in the US and Canada worked under his guidance on the old IMRO's goal of an independent Macedonia. This was acknowledged by a CIA report from 1953, which dubbed the MPO as "the US branch of the IMRO" and asserted that it acted as a money-raising organ to support Mihaylov's activity. At the beginning of the fall of communism and the breakup of Yugoslavia, only a month before his death in 1990, he kept insisting: "I am a Bulgarian from Macedonia" and "I would recommend to the young people in Macedonia to hold on to the fact that we have been Bulgarians for a thousand years." Mihaylov was considered a Bulgarophile traitor and fascist in Communist Yugoslavia. He is still regarded as such in what is today North Macedonia, while the organization he led is seen as a controversial Bulgarian organization because its ideas clash with the Yugoslav Macedonian nation-building narrative. According to Bulgarian historian Chavdar Marinov, Mihaylov was regarded as a Nazi collaborator in Communist Bulgaria. He was later partially rehabilitated there, supporting the Bulgarian narrative that negates the existence of a widespread Macedonian national identity before the end of World War II and he has been fully rehabilitated today. Mihaylov is the author of four volumes of memoirs and a number of articles and pamphlets, such as "Macedonia: Switzerland of the Balkans", "Stalin and the Macedonian Question", as well as other materials describing the Macedonian struggle for freedom.
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Jack Hirshleifer
Jack Hirshleifer (August 26, 1925 – July 26, 2005) was an American economist and long-time professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He received a B.S. in 1945 and a Ph.D. in 1950 from Harvard University. He worked at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica from 1949 to 1955. He then taught at the University of Chicago from 1955 to 1960, and at UCLA until 2001. Hirshleifer was well known for his work on uncertainty and information in economics, the economic analysis of conflict, and bioeconomics. His undergraduate textbook, Price Theory and Applications, went into seven editions. A 1958 article by Hirshleifer began the triumphant comeback of Irving Fisher's theory of capital and interest, now deemed canonical. While at the RAND Corporation, Hirshleifer wrote a report which tore apart the Department of Water and Power's feasibility report for the Oroville Dam, noting among other things that the report failed to include the cost of building the dam. The dam ended up being built. (Cadillac Desert, Chapter 10).
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Jacques Brinkman
Jacques Brinkman (born 26 August 1966 in Utrecht) is a former Dutch field hockey player, who twice won the golden medal with the national squad: at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and four years later, at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. There he played his last international tournament for the Dutch, after a career spanning more than thirteen years. Brinkman made his debut on 1 May 1987 in a friendly match against West-Germany. As a midfielder, he played 337 international matches for Holland, in which he scored 84 goals, making him Holland's most capped player. Brinkman surpassed the previous record holder, Cees Jan Diepeveen, in 1998. He won the Hockey World Cup in 1990 and 1998, and also the annual Champions Trophy (1996, 1998 and 2000). In the Dutch League he played for Kampong, Amsterdam H&BC and Stichtse Cricket en Hockey Club. Since the summer of 2003 he has been head coach with his former club from SCHC from Bilthoven.
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Jamal Lewis
Jamal Lewis (born August 26, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers and was selected fifth overall by the Ravens in the 2000 NFL draft. After spending his first seven seasons with the Ravens, Lewis signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns before the 2007 season and retired after the 2009 season. Lewis is best known for his career as a Raven, where he contributed to the team winning Super Bowl XXXV as a rookie. He is the youngest player to both play in and win a Super Bowl. Lewis is also known for his outstanding 2003 season, where he rushed for 2,066 yards (third-most all-time, behind Eric Dickerson and Adrian Peterson) and was named AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year. That same year, Lewis also rushed for 295 yards in one game, which was the single-game record until Adrian Peterson rushed for 296 yards in 2007 against the San Diego Chargers. Lewis was inducted into the Ravens Ring of Honor in 2012.
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James Franck
James Franck (German: [ˈdʒɛɪ̯ms ˈfʁaŋk] ; 26 August 1882 – 21 May 1964) was a German–American physicist who shared the 1925 Nobel Prize in Physics with Gustav Hertz "for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom." Franck completed his doctorate in 1906 and his habilitation in 1911 at the Frederick William University in Berlin, where he lectured and taught until 1918, having reached the position of professor extraordinarius. He served as a volunteer in the German Army during World War I. He was seriously injured in 1917 in a gas attack and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class. Franck became the head of the physics division of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft for Physical Chemistry. In 1920, Franck became professor ordinarius of experimental physics and Director of the Second Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Göttingen. While there he worked on quantum physics with Max Born, who was Director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics. His work included the Franck–Hertz experiment, an important confirmation of the Bohr model of the atom. He promoted the careers of women in physics, notably Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer, and Hilde Levi. After the Nazi Party came to power in Germany in 1933, Franck resigned from his position at the University of Göttingen in protest against the dismissal of fellow colleagues. He assisted Frederick Lindemann in helping dismissed Jewish scientists find work overseas, before he left Germany in November. After a year at the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark, he moved to the United States, where he worked at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and then the University of Chicago. During this period he became interested in photosynthesis. Franck participated in the Manhattan Project during World War II as director of the chemistry division of the Metallurgical Laboratory. He was also the Chairman of the Committee on Political and Social Problems regarding the atomic bomb, which is best known for the compilation of the Franck Report, which recommended that the atomic bombs not be used on the Japanese cities without warning.
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James Harden
James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest shooting guards and scorers in NBA history. In 2021, Harden was honored as one of the league's top 75 players by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Harden is also a two-time member of the United States national team, winning gold medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2014 FIBA World Cup. Harden is nicknamed "the Beard" after his characteristic facial hair. Harden played college basketball for the Arizona State Sun Devils, where he was named a consensus All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2009. Harden was selected with the third overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 2012, he was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year and helped Oklahoma City reach the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Miami Heat in five games. After the Thunder refused to offer him a max contract extension, Harden was unwilling to take a pay cut and was subsequently traded to the Houston Rockets before the 2012–13 season. In his first season with the Rockets, Harden set or matched several team records and was named to his first All-NBA Team (a third-team selection), as well as his first NBA All-Star team. Over the next seven full seasons with Houston, Harden led the league in scoring three times and assists once, and was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2018 while leading the Rockets to the Western Conference Finals. He was also named to seven consecutive NBA All-Star teams and earned All-NBA First Team honors six times. After requesting a trade at the beginning of the 2020–21 season, Harden was traded to the Brooklyn Nets as part of a four-team trade. With Brooklyn, he was named to his ninth and tenth consecutive All-Star games before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers at the 2022 trade deadline. In 2023, Harden led the league in assists for the second time in his career. He was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers at the start of the 2023–24 season and was named to his 11th All-Star Game in 2025. In 2026, after two-and-half seasons with LA, he was traded to Cleveland at the trade deadline.
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Jan Nevens
Jan Nevens (born 26 August 1958) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer. Nevens won the 8th stage of the 1992 Tour de France. He also competed in the individual road race event at the 1980 Summer Olympics.
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Jason Little
Jason Little (born 26 August 1970) is an Australian former professional rugby union player. He won 75 caps with one as captain playing at centre for the Australian rugby union side between 1989 and 2000. He also won caps on the wing later in his career. He would later become one of only 43 players who have won the Rugby World Cup on multiple occasions, however as an Australian achieved this feat first.
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Jean-Baptiste L. Romé de l'Isle
Jean-Baptiste Louis Romé de l'Isle (26 August 1736 – 3 July 1790) was a French mineralogist, considered one of the creators of modern crystallography. Romé was born in Gray, Haute-Saône, in eastern France. As secretary of a company of artillery in the Carnatic Wars he visited the East Indies, was taken prisoner by the English in 1761, and held in captivity for several years. He was also an alumnus of the Collège Sainte-Barbe in Paris. Subsequently, he became distinguished for his researches on mineralogy and crystallography. He was the author of Essai de Cristallographie (1772), the second edition of which, regarded as his principal work, was published as Cristallographie (3 vols. and atlas, 1783). His formulation of the law of constancy of interfacial angles built on observations by the geologist Nicolaus Steno. In 1775, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He died in Paris, France on 3 July 1790.
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Jessie Diggins
Jessica Diggins (born August 26, 1991) is an American cross-country skier. She is the most accomplished cross-country skier from the United States in the sport's history having won four World Cup overall titles, four Olympic medals, seven World Championship medals, and numerous other event championships. The New Yorker described Diggins as "the greatest American ever to put on a pair of skinny skis, and arguably the greatest winter endurance athlete this country has ever produced". She announced that she would retire from competitive cross-country skiing after the 2025–26 season. Diggins and teammate Kikkan Randall won the United States' first-ever cross-country skiing gold medals with a team sprint victory at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Diggins won the silver medal in the 30 kilometer freestyle and the bronze medal in the individual sprint, making her the most decorated American cross-country skier of all time. At the 2026 Winter Olympics, she won a bronze medal in the 10 kilometer freestyle. Diggins has also won seven medals, including two golds, at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, from 2013 to 2025. She was the first American to win an individual event gold medal by winning the 10 kilometer freestyle in 2023. Diggins has competed in the FIS Cross-Country World Cup since 2011. In 2021, she won the women's overall title for the 2020–21 FIS Cross-Country World Cup, becoming the first American woman to win a season title and the first American to win one since Bill Koch in 1982. Diggins again won FIS Cross-Country World Cup overall titles in the 2023–24, 2024–25, and 2025–26 seasons. Diggins has used her status as a famous athlete to advance advocacy related to climate change and eating disorders.
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Jet Black
Brian John Duffy (26 August 1938 – 6 December 2022), known professionally as Jet Black, was an English drummer and founding member of punk rock/new wave band the Stranglers. He last performed with the band in 2015, and officially retired in 2018.
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Joe Solomon
Joseph Stanislaus Solomon, AA (26 August 1930 – 8 December 2023) was a Guyanese cricketer who played 27 Test matches for the West Indies from 1958 to 1965, scoring 1,326 runs, mainly from number six and seven in the batting line-up. He also bowled occasional leg-breaks but was best known as a brilliant fieldsman. He was best remembered for his role in the famous Tied Test match between the West Indies and Australia in 1960 at the Gabba, where he was involved in two direct hit runout dismissals.
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Johann Heinrich Lambert
Johann Heinrich Lambert (German: [ˈlambɛʁt]; French: Jean-Henri Lambert; 26 or 28 August 1728 – 25 September 1777) was a polymath from the Republic of Mulhouse, at that time allied to the Swiss Confederacy, who made important contributions to the subjects of mathematics, physics (particularly optics), philosophy, astronomy and map projections.
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John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, British Army officer, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. As a youth, Buchan began writing poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, publishing his first novel in 1895 and ultimately writing over a hundred books of which the best known is The Thirty-Nine Steps. After attending Glasgow and Oxford universities, he practised as a barrister. In 1901, he served as a private secretary to Lord Milner in southern Africa towards the end of the Boer War. He returned to England in 1903, continued as a barrister and journalist. He left the Bar when he joined Thomas Nelson and Sons publishers in 1907. During the First World War, he was, among other activities, Director of Information in 1917 and later Head of Intelligence at the newly formed Ministry of Information. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927. In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to succeed the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada and two months later raised him to the peerage as Baron Tweedsmuir. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan promoted Canadian unity and helped strengthen the sovereignty of Canada constitutionally and culturally. He received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.
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John Tinniswood
John Alfred Tinniswood (26 August 1912 – 25 November 2024) was a British supercentenarian who was the world's oldest verified living man from the death of 112-year-old Shi Ping of China on 29 June 2024 until his own death on 25 November 2024, at the age of 112 years and 91 days.
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Juan Joseph
Juan Joseph (August 26, 1987 – November 16, 2014) was an American football quarterback. He played college football for the Millsaps Majors. He was signed by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL) as an undrafted free agent in 2009. Joseph was also a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL and the Lafayette Wildcatters of the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL).
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Jules Romains
Jules Romains (born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule; 26 August 1885 – 14 August 1972) was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement. His works include the play Knock ou le Triomphe de la médecine, and a cycle of works called Les Hommes de bonne volonté (Men of Good Will). Sinclair Lewis called him one of the six best novelists in the world. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature sixteen times.
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Julio Cortázar
Julio Florencio Cortázar (Latin American Spanish: [ˈxuljo koɾˈtasaɾ] ; 26 August 1914 – 12 February 1984) was an Argentine and naturalised French novelist, short story writer, poet, essayist, and translator. Known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, Cortázar influenced an entire generation of Spanish-speaking readers and writers in America and Europe. Cortázar lived his childhood, adolescence, and incipient maturity in Argentina. In 1951, he settled in France for what would prove to be more than three decades. However, he also lived in Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.
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Katherine Johnson
Creola Katherine Johnson (née Coleman, previously Goble; August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020) was an American mathematician and human computer whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. During her 33-year career at NASA and its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform tasks previously requiring humans. The space agency noted her "historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist". Johnson's work included calculating trajectories, launch windows, and emergency return paths for Project Mercury spaceflights, including those for astronauts Alan Shepard (the first American in space) and John Glenn (the first American in orbit), and rendezvous paths for the Apollo Lunar Module and command module on flights to the Moon. Her calculations were also essential to the beginning of the Space Shuttle program, and she worked on plans for a human mission to Mars. In 2015 President Barack Obama awarded Johnson the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2016, she received the Silver Snoopy Award from NASA astronaut Leland D. Melvin and a NASA Group Achievement Award. She was portrayed by Taraji P. Henson in the 2016 film Hidden Figures. In 2019, the United States Congress awarded Johnson the Congressional Gold Medal and NASA announced the establishment of the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility in her home state of West Virginia. In 2021, she was posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
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Keke Palmer
Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer ( KEE-kee; born August 26, 1993) is an American actress, singer, and television host. She has received numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Time magazine included her on its list of most influential people in the world in 2019. Palmer made her film debut as a child with roles in the films Barbershop 2: Back in Business and The Wool Cap (both 2004), before achieving her breakthrough role as Akeelah Anderson in the drama film Akeelah and the Bee (2006). Her career progressed with roles in films such as Madea's Family Reunion (2006), Jump In! (2007), The Longshots (2008), and Shrink (2009), and the release of her debut studio album So Uncool (2007). She rose to prominence on Nickelodeon, playing the title character in the sitcom True Jackson, VP (2008–2011), providing the voice of Aisha in the revival of Winx Club (2011–2014), and headlining the television film Rags (2012). Palmer transitioned to mainstream roles with the VH1 biographical film CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story (2013), and afterwards made her Broadway debut as Ella in Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella (2014–2015). She has since starred in the Fox satirical horror series Scream Queens (2015–2016), the Epix drama series Berlin Station (2017–2019), and the slasher series Scream (2019). Her film roles include Animal (2014), Pimp (2018), Hustlers (2019), Nope (2022), and One of Them Days (2025), with the last two earning her critical attention. Also in the 2020s, she released two more studio albums. Outside of acting, Palmer has hosted the talk shows Just Keke (2014) and Strahan, Sara and Keke (2019–2020), as well as the game show Password since 2022. She launched KeyTV Network, an online entertainment content platform, in 2021, and released her second book, Master of Me, a hybrid memoir and self-help manual, in 2024.
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Kelvin Cato
Kelvin Tavares Cato (born August 26, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'11" center from the University of South Alabama and Iowa State University, Cato played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, and New York Knicks.
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Kyren Williams
Kyren Lawrence Williams (born August 26, 2000) is an American professional football running back for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and was selected by the Rams in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft.
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Kálmán Markovits
Kálmán Markovits (26 August 1931 – 5 December 2009) was a Hungarian water polo player who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics, 1956 Summer Olympics, and 1960 Summer Olympics. Markovits was part of the Hungarian team which won the gold medal in the 1952 tournament. He played six matches and scored three goals. Four years later he was a member of the Hungarian team which won again the gold medal in the 1956 Olympic tournament. He played six matches and scored at least three goals (not all scorers are known). At the 1960 Games he won the bronze medal with the Hungarian team. He played four matches and scored one goal.
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Lee de Forest
Lee de Forest (August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American inventor, electrical engineer, and early pioneer in electronics of fundamental importance. He invented the first practical electronic amplifier, the three-element "Audion" triode vacuum tube in 1908. This helped start the Electronic Age, and enabled the development of the electronic oscillator. These made radio broadcasting and long-distance telephone lines possible, and led to the development of talking motion pictures, among countless other applications. He had over 300 patents worldwide, but also a tumultuous career – he boasted that he made, then lost, four fortunes. He was also involved in several major patent lawsuits, spent a substantial part of his income on legal bills, and was even tried (and acquitted) for mail fraud. He was recognized for his pioneering work with the 1922 IEEE Medal of Honor, the 1923 Franklin Institute Elliott Cresson Medal, and the 1946 American Institute of Electrical Engineers Edison Medal.
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Lil Tecca
Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe (born August 26, 2002), known professionally as Lil Tecca, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Lil Tecca rose to mainstream prominence with the release of the 2019 single "Ransom", which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The song preceded the release of his debut mixtape We Love You Tecca (2019), which peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and contained the follow-up singles "Love Me" and "Did It Again". His debut studio album, Virgo World (2020), peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200, as did his second album, We Love You Tecca 2 (2021). His third album, Tec (2023), was followed by his fourth and fifth albums, Plan A (2024) and Dopamine (2025), both of which continued his series of top ten debuts on the chart. In addition to receiving an Icon Series Outfit, he was announced as the Fortnite Festival Season 15 headliner.
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Lorenzo Brown
Lorenzo D'Ontez Brown Banks (born 26 August 1990) is a professional basketball player for Olimpia Milano of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the NC State Wolfpack and spent several seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in the United States, he plays for the Spanish national team and helped lead them to a EuroBasket title in 2022.
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Luis Salvadores Salvi
Luis Salvadores Salvi (August 26, 1932 in Lanco – February 1, 2014 in Temuco) was a Chilean basketball player who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics. One of nine boys and two girls, he and his brothers established the Salvadores Salvi name as part of the basketball legend of Chile. One of his brothers, Alvaro Salvadores, was also well-known in professional basketball.
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Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; August 26, 1980 (1980-08-26)) is an American actor and musician. Considered one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, Culkin has received several accolades including a Golden Globe Award nomination. In 2005, he was ranked second on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid-Stars". In 2023, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Culkin earned recognition for playing Kevin McCallister in the Christmas comedy Home Alone (1990), and reprised the role in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). He furthered his success with the coming-of-age film My Girl (1991), the psychological thriller film The Good Son (1993), and the comedy films Getting Even with Dad and Richie Rich (both 1994). He took a hiatus starting in 1995, and returned to acting with the biographical drama film Party Monster (2003). Culkin appeared in the independent films Saved! (2004) and Sex and Breakfast (2007), and two projects by Adam Green: The Wrong Ferarri (2011) and Adam Green's Aladdin (2016). He starred in the comedy film Changeland (2019) and the tenth season of the anthology series American Horror Story (2021), followed by voice roles in Kid Cudi's television special Entergalactic (2022) and in Zootopia 2 (2025)—the second-highest-grossing animated film. Since 2025, he has had a recurring role in the television series Fallout. Culkin wrote the autobiography Junior (2006), which describes his experiences with stardom and relationship with his father. From 2013 to 2016, he was a member of the comedy rock band the Pizza Underground, serving as the lead vocalist. In 2018, Culkin became the publisher and CEO of Bunny Ears, a satirical popular culture website and podcast.
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Manuel Abad y Queipo
Manuel Abad y Queipo (26 August 1751 – 15 September 1825) was a Spanish Roman Catholic Bishop of Michoacán in the Viceroyalty of New Spain at the time of the Mexican War of Independence. He was "an acute social commentator of late colonial Mexico, ... an exemplification of the enlightened clergyman".
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Manuel Oribe
Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana (August 26, 1792 – November 12, 1857) was the 2nd Constitutional president of Uruguay and founder of Uruguay's National Party, the oldest Uruguayan political party and considered one of the two Uruguayan "traditional" parties, along with the Colorado Party, which was, until the 20th century, its only political adversary.
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Marcus du Sautoy
Marcus Peter Francis du Sautoy (; born 26 August 1965) is a British mathematician, Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford, Fellow of New College, Oxford, and author of popular mathematics and popular science books. He was previously a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and Wadham College, Oxford, and served as president of the Mathematical Association, an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) senior media fellow, and a Royal Society University Research Fellow. In 1996, he was awarded the title of distinction of Professor of Mathematics.
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Margaret Utinsky
Margaret Elizabeth Doolin "Peggy" Utinsky (August 26, 1900 – August 30, 1970) was an American nurse who worked with the Filipino resistance movement to provide medicine, food, and other items to aid Allied prisoners of war in the Philippines during World War II. She was recognized in 1946 with the Medal of Freedom for her actions. Most information about her World War II activities comes from her autobiography, Miss U.
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Marie-Anne-Catherine Quinault
Marie-Anne-Catherine Quinault (French pronunciation: [maʁi an katʁin kino]; 26 August 1695 – 1793) (known as Mademoiselle Quinault l'aînée, the elder) was a French singer and composer. Quinault was born in Strasbourg. Her father was the actor Jean Quinault (1656–1728), and one of her brothers was Jean-Baptiste-Maurice Quinault, a singer, composer, and actor. She made her debut at the Académie Royale de Musique in 1709 in Jean-Baptiste Lully's Bellérophon. She remained at the opera until 1713. In 1714 she began singing at the Comédie-Française, where she remained until 1722 Quinault composed motets for the Royal Chapel at the Palace of Versailles. For one of these motets, thanks to the benevolence of the Duke of Orléans, she was awarded the first and last grand cordon of the Order of Saint Michael ever given to a woman She was the mistress first of Louis, the Duke of Orléans, and later of Philippe Jules François Mancini, the Duke of Nevers, to whom she may have secretly been married. This brought her into higher social spheres and earned her a pension on the King's privy purse. From 1723 until 1793 she lived in an apartment in the Louvre, at the Pavilion de L'Infante. She died in Paris in 1793.
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Martha Darley Mutrie
Martha Darley Mutrie (26 August 1824 – 30 December 1885) was a British painter. Her paintings consisted mostly of fruit and flowers. She grew up in Manchester, England, and studied at the Manchester School of Design. Mutrie's works were shown at the Royal Academy of Arts, Royal Manchester Institution and other national and international exhibitions. Her works are among the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum.
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Mattia Cassani
Mattia Cassani (Italian pronunciation: [matˈtiːa kasˈsaːni]; born 26 August 1983) is an Italian former footballer who played as a defender.
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Michael Cockerell
Michael Roger Lewis Cockerell (born 26 August 1940) is a British broadcaster and journalist. He is the BBC's most established political documentary maker, with a long, Emmy award-winning career of political programmes spanning television and radio.
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Michael Gove
Michael Andrew Gove, Baron Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan; 26 August 1967) is a British politician and journalist. A member of the House of Lords since 2025, he previously held senior Cabinet positions in Conservative governments between 2010 and 2024. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Surrey Heath from 2005 to 2024, during which he twice returned to the backbenches. He was a prominent figure in the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union and stood for the Conservative leadership on two occasions. Gove was often described by the media as Boris Johnson's "de facto" Deputy Prime Minister. He has been editor of The Spectator since 2024. Born in Aberdeen, Gove was in care until being adopted aged four months old, after which he was raised in the Kittybrewster area of the city. He attended the independent Robert Gordon's College and studied English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. He then began a career as a journalist at The Press and Journal before having a long tenure as a leader writer at The Times. Elected for Surrey Heath at the 2005 general election, he was appointed Secretary of State for Education in the Cameron–Clegg coalition. He terminated the previous Labour government's Building Schools for the Future programme, reformed A-Level and GCSE qualifications in favour of final examinations, and responded to the Trojan Horse scandal. Four teachers' unions passed motions of no confidence in his policies at their 2013 conferences. In the 2014 cabinet reshuffle, he was moved to the post of Government Chief Whip. Following the 2015 general election and the formation of the majority Cameron government, Gove was promoted to Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. As the co-convenor of Vote Leave, Gove was seen, along with Boris Johnson, as one of the most prominent figures of the 2016 EU membership referendum. He was campaign manager for Johnson in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election but withdrew his support on the morning Johnson was due to declare and announced his own candidacy, finishing behind Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom. Upon the appointment of May as prime minister, Gove was dismissed from the Cabinet but joined the second May government as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs following the 2017 general election. In his second leadership bid, in 2019, Gove finished behind Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt. Following Johnson's victory, Gove was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster with responsibility for no-deal Brexit preparations. He took on the additional role of Minister for the Cabinet Office in the 2020 cabinet reshuffle and was responsible for coordinating the Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the 2021 cabinet reshuffle, he served as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations until telling Johnson to resign during the July 2022 government crisis and being dismissed by Johnson. Under Rishi Sunak, he was reinstated to his previous roles of Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations. He stood down as an MP at the 2024 general election and was created a life peer in 2025.
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Mike Colter
Mike Colter (born August 26, 1976) is an American actor best known for his role as Luke Cage in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2015, including in the series Luke Cage (2016–2018). He has also appeared as David Acosta in the CBS/Paramount+ series Evil (2019–2024), Lemond Bishop in the television series The Good Wife (2010–2015) and The Good Fight (2018–2019), Malcolm Ward in Ringer (2011–2012), and Agent J's father in Men in Black 3 (2012), and Jameson Locke in the Halo franchise (2014–2015).
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Morgan Ensberg
Morgan Paul Ensberg (born August 26, 1975) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, and New York Yankees. Ensberg bats and throws right-handed. From 2011–12 he was the co-host of MLB Roundtrip on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio. As of 2025, Ensberg is the manager of the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.
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Mother Teresa
Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (Albanian: [aˈɲɛzə ˈɡɔndʒɛ bɔjaˈdʒi.u]; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of Charity and a Catholic saint. Born in Skopje, then part of the Ottoman Empire, she was raised in a devoutly Catholic family. At the age of 18, she moved to Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto and later to India, where she lived most of her life and carried out her missionary work. On 4 September 2016, she was canonised by the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. The anniversary of her death, 5 September, is now observed as her feast day. In 1950, Mother Teresa established the Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation that was initially dedicated to serving "the poorest of the poor" in the slums of Calcutta. Over the decades, the congregation grew to operate in over 133 countries, as of 2012, with more than 4,500 nuns managing homes for those dying from HIV/AIDS, leprosy, and tuberculosis, as well as running soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, orphanages, and schools. Members of the order take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience and also profess a fourth vow: to give "wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor." Mother Teresa received several honours, including the 1962 Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize and the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. However, she also drew criticism for the poor conditions and lack of medical care or pain relief in her houses for the dying. Her life and work have inspired books, documentaries, and films. Her authorized biography, written by Navin Chawla, was published in 1992, and on 6 September 2017, she was named a co-patron of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta alongside St Francis Xavier.
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Nicolae Dobrin
Nicolae Dobrin (Romanian pronunciation: [nikoˈla.e doˈbrin]; 26 August 1947 – 26 October 2007) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and a manager. Nicknamed Gâscanul ("The Gander") or Prințul din Trivale ("The Prince of Trivale"), he is considered one of Romania's greatest footballers. Renowned for his dribbling ability, Dobrin received the Romanian Footballer of the Year award on three occasions, in 1966, 1967, and 1971, and a stadium in his native Pitești is named after him.
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Nikky Finney
Nikky Finney (born Lynn Carol Finney on August 26, 1957, in Conway, South Carolina) is an American poet. She was the Guy Davenport Endowed Professor of English at the University of Kentucky for twenty years. In 2013, she accepted a position at the University of South Carolina as the John H. Bennett, Jr. Chair in Southern Letters and Literature. An alumna of Talladega College, and author of four books of poetry and a short-story cycle, Finney is an advocate for social justice and cultural preservation. Her honors include the 2011 National Book Award for her collection Head Off & Split. Finney is a member of The Wintergreen Women Writers Collective.
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Oleksiy Kasyanov
Oleksiy Kasyanov or Oleksii Serhiiovych Kasianov (Ukrainian: Олексій Сергійович Касьянов; born 26 August 1985 in Stakhanov (now Kadiivka, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian decathlete.
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Oliver Colvile
Oliver Newton Colvile (26 August 1959 – 20 October 2025) was a British politician. He was a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.
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Om Prakash Munjal
Om Prakash Munjal (26 August 1928 – 13 August 2015) was an Indian businessman, poet and philanthropist. He was the founder and chairman of Hero Cycles, the world's largest integrated bicycle manufacturing company by volume and Hero Motors, an Indian two-wheeler components manufacturer, and ventured into newer business fields including luxury hotels and four-wheeler components. He is also known for philanthropic activities of running various schools and hospitals. He died on 13 August 2015 at DMC Hero Heart Centre, Ludhiana.
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Otto Binder
Otto Oscar Binder (; August 26, 1911 – October 13, 1974) was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books. He is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for his many scripts for Captain Marvel Adventures and other stories involving the entire superhero Marvel Family. He was prolific in the comic book field and is credited with writing over 4,400 stories across a variety of publishers under his own name, as well as more than 160 stories under the pen-name Eando Binder.
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Patrick Williams
Patrick Lee Williams (born August 26, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles. He was the fourth pick in the 2020 NBA draft.
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Peggy Guggenheim
Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim ( GUUG-ən-hyme; August 26, 1898 – December 23, 1979) was an American art collector, bohemian, and socialite. Born to the wealthy New York City Guggenheim family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912, and the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who established the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Guggenheim collected art in Europe and America between 1938 and 1946. She exhibited this collection as she built it. In 1949, she settled in Venice, where she lived and exhibited her collection for the rest of her life. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is a modern art museum on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, and is one of the most visited attractions in the city.
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Pinchas Goldstein
Pinchas Goldstein (Hebrew: פנחס גולדשטיין; born 26 August 1939, died 14 August 2007) was an Israeli politician, who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud and the New Liberal Party between 1981 and 1992, and as Deputy Minister of Communications and Deputy Minister of Education and Culture during the early 1990s.
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Reuben Kamanga
Reuben Chitandika Kamanga (26 August 1929 – 20 September 1996) was a Zambian freedom fighter, politician and statesman. He was educated at Munali Secondary School.
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Richard Evatt
Richard Evatt (26 August 1973 – 17 July 2012), also called 'tiger', was a British amateur and professional boxer in the super featherweight division who was unsuccessful in his only opportunity to win a world title. He hailed from Coventry, West Midlands, United Kingdom.
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Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain, serving from 1721 to 1742. His formal titles included First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader of the House of Commons. He is the longest serving prime minister in UK history, with a tenure of over 20 years. Although the exact dates of Walpole's dominance, dubbed the "Robinocracy", are a matter of scholarly debate, the period 1721–1742 is often used. He dominated the Walpole–Townshend ministry, as well as the subsequent Walpole ministry, and holds the record as the longest-serving British prime minister. W. A. Speck wrote that Walpole's uninterrupted run of 20 years as prime minister "is rightly regarded as one of the major feats of British political history. Explanations are usually offered in terms of his expert handling of the political system after 1720, [and] his unique blending of the surviving powers of the crown with the increasing influence of the Commons". Walpole was a Whig from the gentry class who was first elected to Parliament in 1701 and held many senior positions. He was a country squire and looked to country gentlemen for his political base. Historian F. O'Gorman says his leadership in Parliament reflected his "reasonable and persuasive oratory, his ability to move both the emotions as well as the minds of men, and, above all, his extraordinary self-confidence". Julian Hoppit says Walpole's policies sought moderation, he worked for peace, lower taxes and growing exports, and allowed a little more tolerance for Protestant Dissenters. He mostly avoided controversy and high-intensity disputes as his middle way attracted moderates from both the Whig and Tory camps; his appointment to Chancellor of the Exchequer after the South Sea Bubble stock-market crisis drew attention to perceived protection of political allies by Walpole. Historian H. T. Dickinson sums up his historical role by saying that "Walpole was one of the greatest politicians in British history. He played a significant role in sustaining the Whig party, safeguarding the Hanoverian succession, and defending the principles of the Glorious Revolution (1688). He established stable political supremacy for the Whig party and taught succeeding ministers how best to establish an effective working relationship between Crown and Parliament." Some scholars rank him highly among British prime ministers.
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Roger Kingdom
Roger Kingdom (born August 26, 1962) is an American former sprint hurdler who was twice Olympic champion in the 110 meters. Kingdom set a world record of 12.92 in 1989. He is now an athletics coach and strength and conditioning coach who currently works as a speed and conditioning coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL.
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Rosa
Rosa (c. August 26, 1999 – June 5, 2024) was a sea otter at Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California, United States. She was taken in by the aquarium after being found stranded on a beach at four weeks old. She was released into the wild in April 2000 before being returned to the aquarium in 2002 after she continued to interact with humans, posing a risk to herself and others. She was a surrogate mother for 15 orphaned otter pups at the aquarium and was the aquarium's oldest resident otter. She was also the subject of many charity livestreams in celebration of her birthday, hosted by content creator Douglas Wreden, known online as DougDoug. Eventually, Rosa's old age caused her to contract a heart condition and poor eyesight. She was euthanized on June 5, 2024, because of these health conditions.
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Saint Innocent of Alaska
Innocent of Alaska (Russian: Иннокентий; August 26, 1797 – 12 April [O.S. March 31] 1879), also known as Innocent Metropolitan of Moscow, was a Russian Orthodox missionary priest, then the first Orthodox bishop and archbishop in the Americas, and finally the Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna. Remembered for his missionary work, scholarship, and leadership in Alaska and the Russian Far East during the 19th century, he is known for his abilities as a scholar, linguist, and administrator, as well as his great zeal for his work. As a missionary priest he took his wife and family with him. In these territories he learned several languages and dialects of the indigenous peoples. He wrote many of the earliest scholarly works about the native peoples of Alaska, including dictionaries and grammars for their languages for which he devised writing systems; also, he wrote religious works in, and translated parts of the Bible into, several of these languages. His books were published beginning in 1840.
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Sally Beamish
Sarah Frances Beamish (born 26 August 1956) is a British composer and violist. Her works include chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in theatre, film and television, as well as composing for children and for her local community.
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Shimshon Amitsur
Shimshon Avraham Amitsur (born Kaplan; Hebrew: שמשון אברהם עמיצור; August 26, 1921 – September 5, 1994) was an Israeli mathematician. A leading figure in twentieth-century noncommutative algebra, he is best known for his wide-ranging contributions to ring theory, including the theory of rings with polynomial identities (PI-rings), division algebras, the general theory of radicals, and the Amitsur complex in descent theory. His collected works, published in two volumes by the American Mathematical Society in 2001, are organized into four broad areas: general ring theory, structure theory of PI-rings, combinatorial PI-theory, and division algebras. After the death of his advisor Jacob Levitzki in 1956, Amitsur became the leading algebraist in Israel and remained a dominant figure in the field until his death in 1994.
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Sparky Adams
Earl John "Sparky" Adams (August 26, 1894 – February 24, 1989) was an American professional Major League Baseball player who played with the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, and Cincinnati Reds. At five feet four and a half inches (1.638 m), Adams was the smallest Major League player during his career.
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Thalía
Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (Spanish pronunciation: /aˈɾjaðna taˈli.a ˈsoði miˈɾanda/; born 26 August 1971) is a Mexican singer and actress. Recognized for her enduring influence on Spanish-language music and television, she has been dubbed the "Queen of Latin Pop" and the "Queen of Telenovelas". Considered a Latin pop icon, Billboard has ranked her among the greatest Latin music artists of all time. Thalía rose to fame in 1987 as a member of Timbiriche, one of the most influential Mexican pop groups of the era. That same year, she began her acting career by co-starring in the teen telenovela Quinceañera (1987). After leaving the group in 1989, she made her leading acting debut in Luz y Sombra, and launched her solo music career with Thalía (1990), Mundo de Cristal (1991), and Love (1992), all of which were commercially successful in Mexico. She later gained international recognition through the "María Trilogy"—María Mercedes (1992), Marimar (1994), and María la del Barrio (1995)—as well as Rosalinda (1999). She further established her international music career with En Éxtasis (1995), Amor a la Mexicana (1997), and Arrasando (2000), all among the best-selling Latin albums. In the following years, she continued her success with Thalía (2002), her English-language album Thalía (2003), El Sexto Sentido (2006), and the live album Primera Fila (2009), one of the best-selling albums in Mexico. According to UNICEF, her telenovelas have aired in 180 countries and reached an estimated audience of 2 billion people. She is also the highest-paid actress in Televisa's history, and Billboard named her the world's most recognized telenovela star. Thalía is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time, with more than 25 million records sold worldwide. Her accolades include six Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight Lo Nuestro Awards, the Latin Recording Academy's President's Merit Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Outside her entertainment career, she has also found success in fashion through a partnership with Macy's. In addition, she has hosted a nationally syndicated radio show and authored four books, including a memoir. She has also been involved in humanitarian work, serving as a UNICEF Mexico Goodwill Ambassador since 2016.
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Therese Alshammar
Malin Therese Alshammar (born 26 August 1977) is a Swedish swimmer who has won three Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals, and 43 European Championship medals. She is a specialist in short distances races in freestyle and butterfly. She is coached by former Swedish swimmer Johan Wallberg. She is the first female swimmer and the third overall (after Lars Frölander and Derya Büyükuncu) to participate in six Olympic Games.
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Tino Best
Tino la Bertram Best (born 26 August 1981) is a West Indian former cricketer. Since 2002, he has played domestic cricket for his native Barbados, with a season at English club Yorkshire in 2010. Best made his Test debut in May 2003 and played his first One Day International a year later. A back strain incurred in May 2004 prevented Best from playing cricket until March the following year. In 2008 Best signed to play in the Indian Cricket League because he had not played international cricket since 2006. He returned to the side when the West Indies fielded a side weakened by contract disputes between leading players and the West Indies Cricket Board but was dropped shortly after. On his return to the Test side on 10 June 2012, he broke the record for highest score by a number 11 batsman, making 95 against England at Edgbaston. The 143-run partnership with Denesh Ramdin during that innings was also the third-highest Test stand with one wicket remaining. In 2013, Best's record was surpassed by Ashton Agar, who scored 98, also against England.
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Tom Heinsohn
Thomas William Heinsohn (August 26, 1934 – November 9, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. He was associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a player, coach and broadcaster. He played for the Celtics from 1956 to 1965, and also coached the team from 1969 to 1978. He spent over 30 years as the color commentator for the Celtics' local broadcasts alongside play-by-play commentator Mike Gorman. He is regarded as one of the most iconic Celtics figures in the franchise's history, known during his lifetime for his charisma and loyalty to the team and its traditions. From this, he earned the nickname "Mr. Celtic". Heinsohn was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his contributions as a player. He was also inducted into the Hall of Fame for his success as a head coach. He also helped form the NBA Players Association. Heinsohn was the only person to have the distinction of being involved in an official team capacity in each of the Celtics' first 17 championships, as well as each of their first 21 NBA Finals appearances.
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Tom Ridge
Thomas Joseph Ridge (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician and author who served in the George W. Bush administration as the assistant to the president for homeland security from 2001 to 2003 and as the United States secretary of homeland security from 2003 to 2005. He was the first person to hold either office. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995 and as the 43rd governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001. Ridge was born in Munhall, Pennsylvania, and raised in veterans' public housing in Erie, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Harvard University with honors, he served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War where he was awarded the Bronze Star. He then returned to Pennsylvania and completed his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at the Dickinson School of Law, graduating in 1972, and entered private practice. As assistant district attorney in Erie, Ridge ran for Congress in his district, where he served six terms. He then ran for governor in 1994, despite being little-known outside of northwest Pennsylvania. He won the election, and was reelected in 1998 with the most votes for a Republican governor in Pennsylvania (where Democrats outnumbered Republicans by almost 500,000) in more than half a century. As Governor of Pennsylvania, he is credited for statewide advances in economic development, education, health care and the environment. As of 2026, he is the last Republican to win reelection as Pennsylvania's governor. Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, U.S. president George W. Bush named Ridge the first director of the newly created Office of Homeland Security. In January 2003, the Office of Homeland Security became an official Cabinet-level department, the Department of Homeland Security, and Ridge became the first Secretary of Homeland Security. He served in these roles for Bush's first term as president, then retired and returned to the private sector. Since reentering the private sector, Ridge has served on the boards of the Home Depot, the Hershey Company and Exelon Corporation and as a senior advisor to Deloitte & Touche and TechRadium. He is also the founder and chairman of Ridge Global, a Washington, D.C.–based security consulting firm. He spent time campaigning with Senator John McCain during his 2008 presidential bid and was believed by some to have been on the short list of potential running mates.
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Vladislav Gussev
Vladislav Gussev (born 26 August 1986) is an Estonian former footballer. Striker and is 1.97 m tall and weighs 86 kg. He has played two games for the Estonia national football team. In November 2008, he was handed a two-year ban by the Estonian Football Association for attempts of match fixing.
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Walter Bruno Henning
Walter Bruno Henning (August 26, 1908 – January 8, 1967) was a German scholar of Middle Iranian languages and literature, especially of the corpus discovered by the Turpan expeditions of the early 20th century.
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William Joseph Behr
William Joseph Behr (26 August 1775 – 1 August 1851), German publicist and writer.
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Wolfgang Sawallisch
Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist.
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Yun Posun
Yun Po-sun (Korean: 윤보선, pronounced [junbosʌn] or [jun] [posʌn]; August 26, 1897 – July 18, 1990) was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the second president of South Korea from 1960 to 1962. He was the only president of the short-lived Second Republic of Korea, and served as little more than a figurehead due to its nature as a parliamentary system. Having entered politics after World War II, Yun served as Secretary to Korea's Chief of Staff in 1947, and was Mayor of Seoul in 1948. He served as Commerce Minister for the newly liberated Korea from 1949 to 1950. In 1955, Yun helped establish the South Korean Democratic Party. He was forced to resign the presidency by Park Chung Hee as a result of the May 16 coup in 1961.
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Zhou Ji
Zhou Ji (Chinese: 周济; born August 26, 1946) is a Chinese mechanical engineer and politician. He served as China's Minister of Education from 2003 to 2009 and President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering from 2010 to 2018. Prior to that, served briefly as Mayor of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province.
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Zona Gale
Zona Gale (August 26, 1874 – December 27, 1938), also known by her married name, Zona Gale Breese, was an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright. She became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921. The close relationship she had with her parents influenced both her writing and personal life. Her books, based on her hometown, were noted for their charm and intimate realism, capturing the underlying emotions and motivations of her characters. All of her works were published under her maiden name, Zona Gale. She became a single parent after adopting a girl. Her parents died in 1923 and 1929, after which she became interested in mysticism, leading to a shift in her writing style, much to the dismay of critics who had enjoyed her earlier work. She remained unmarried until her fifties, when she married a childhood friend who was a widower. She supported various political and social causes, including women's rights, pacifism, and education.
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