Who was born on January 8?
January 8 is packed with notable birthdays. Explore 121 famous birthdays, sorted by recent English Wikipedia pageviews. Top ranked names include Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Stephen Hawking, Noah Cyrus, Graham Chapman. Filter by actor, musician, athlete, and more — or open any other calendar day.
January 8
121 people
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Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is widely regarded as one of the most culturally significant figures of the 20th century. Presley's energetic and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a mixture of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, brought both great success and initial controversy. Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi; his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when he was 13. He began his music career in 1954 at Sun Records with the producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience. Presley, on guitar and accompanied by the guitarist Scotty Moore on lead and the bassist Bill Black, was a pioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. In 1955, the drummer D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who managed him for the rest of his career. Presley's first RCA Victor single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the US. Within a year, RCA Victor sold ten million Presley singles. With a series of successful television appearances and chart-topping records, Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular rock and roll, though his performing style and promotion of the then-marginalized sound of African Americans led to his being widely considered a threat to the moral well-being of white American youth. In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, he relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. Presley held few concerts, and, guided by Parker, devoted much of the 1960s to making Hollywood films and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. Some of Presley's most famous films included Jailhouse Rock (1957), Blue Hawaii (1961), and Viva Las Vegas (1964). In 1968, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed NBC television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and several highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley gave the first concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloha from Hawaii. Many years of substance abuse and unhealthy eating severely compromised his health, and Presley died in August 1977 at his Graceland estate at the age of 42. Presley is one of the best-selling music artists in history, having sold an estimated 500 million records worldwide. He was commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, rock and roll, rockabilly, rhythm and blues, adult contemporary, and gospel. Presley won three Grammy Awards, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been posthumously inducted into multiple music halls of fame. He holds several records, including the most Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified gold and platinum albums, the most albums charted on the Billboard 200, the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the UK Albums Chart, and the most number-one singles by any act on the UK Singles Chart. In 2018, Presley was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), known as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as among the most influential musicians of the 20th century, he was known for his frequent reinvention and visual presentation, and is often referred to as the "chameleon of rock". His music, stagecraft and fashion have had a significant impact on popular culture. Bowie studied art, music and design before embarking on a music career in 1962. He released a string of unsuccessful singles with local bands and a self-titled solo album before achieving his first success in 1969 with "Space Oddity", a UK number-five single from his second album. His major commercial breakthrough came in 1972, during the glam rock era, with the Ziggy Stardust character and its accompanying album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. In 1974, he changed direction and adopted a new persona, Halloween Jack, for the album Diamond Dogs. The soul-influenced Young Americans (1975) was followed by Station to Station (1976), which saw him adopt the Thin White Duke persona and begin taking his music towards art rock, electronica and ambient. Bowie would explore these styles most fully with the Berlin Trilogy: Low, "Heroes" (both 1977) and Lodger (1979). He achieved his greatest commercial success with Let's Dance in 1983. From 1988 to 1992, he fronted the hard rock band Tin Machine. Bowie resumed his solo career in 1993 and continued experimenting with musical styles, including industrial, jungle and drum and bass. Outside of music, Bowie received recognition for his acting roles, emphasising smaller parts and cameos rather than leading roles. His best-known films include The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), Absolute Beginners, Labyrinth (both 1986), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Basquiat (1996), and The Prestige (2006). He was also a painter and writer, created the first modern celebrity bond ("Bowie Bonds") and, via his website BowieNet, was one of the first artists to engage with fans directly through the Internet. He performed live regularly throughout his career, before retiring from touring in 2004; his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006. He returned from a decade-long recording hiatus in 2013 with The Next Day. His final studio album, Blackstar, released two days before his death in 2016, was analysed as a powerful farewell to his fans. During his lifetime, his record sales were estimated at over 100 million worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He achieved eleven UK number-one albums, including Aladdin Sane (1973) and Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980), and had UK or US number-one singles with "Space Oddity" (which reached number-one in the UK on reissue in 1975), "Fame", "Ashes to Ashes", "Under Pressure" (with Queen), "Let's Dance", and "Dancing in the Street" (with Mick Jagger). He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six Grammy Awards and four Brit Awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Rolling Stone ranked him among the greatest singers, songwriters and artists of all time. Although his sexuality is disputed, he is regarded as an influential figure in the LGBTQ community.
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Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking (8 January 1942 – 14 March 2018) was an English theoretical astrophysicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between 1979 and 2009, he was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, widely viewed as one of the most prestigious academic posts in the world. Hawking was born in Oxford into a family of physicians. In 1959, at the age of 17, he began his university education at University College, Oxford, where he received a first-class BA degree in physics. In 1962, he began his graduate work at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where, in 1966, he obtained his PhD in applied mathematics and theoretical physics, specialising in general relativity and cosmology. In 1963, at age 21, Hawking was diagnosed with an early-onset slow-progressing form of motor neurone disease that gradually, over decades, paralysed him. After the loss of his speech, he communicated through a speech-generating device, initially through use of a handheld switch, and eventually by using a single cheek muscle. Hawking's scientific works included a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity, and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. Initially, Hawking radiation was controversial. By the late 1970s, and following the publication of further research, the discovery was widely accepted as a major breakthrough in theoretical physics. Hawking was the first to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. He supported the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. He also introduced the notion of a micro black hole. Hawking achieved commercial success with several works of popular science in which he discussed his theories and cosmology in general. His book A Brief History of Time appeared on the Sunday Times bestseller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. Hawking was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2002, Hawking was ranked number 25 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. He died in 2018 at the age of 76, having lived more than 50 years following his diagnosis of motor neurone disease.
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Noah Cyrus
Noah Lindsey Cyrus (born January 8, 2000) is an American singer and actress. As a child actress, she voiced the titular character in the English dub of the film Ponyo (2008), and appeared in minor roles on shows including Hannah Montana and Doc. In 2016, she made her debut as a singer with the single "Make Me (Cry)" featuring Labrinth, which peaked at number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100. Cyrus has released three extended plays: Good Cry (2018), The End of Everything (2020), People Don't Change (2021). Her first full-length album, The Hardest Part, was released on September 16, 2022, to widespread critical acclaim. Her second studio album, I Want My Loved Ones to Go with Me, was released on July 11, 2025. She was nominated for Best New Artist at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Cyrus is the youngest child of Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus and the younger sister of Miley Cyrus.
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Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surrealist comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two Python films, Holy Grail (1975) and Life of Brian (1979). Chapman was born in Leicester and was raised in Melton Mowbray. He enjoyed science, acting, and comedy and after graduating from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, he turned down a career as a doctor to be a comedian. Chapman eventually established a writing partnership with John Cleese, which reached its critical peak with Monty Python during the 1970s. He subsequently left Britain for Los Angeles, where he attempted to be a success on American television, speaking on the college circuit and producing the pirate film Yellowbeard (1983), before returning to Britain in the early 1980s. Chapman was in a long-term partnership with David Sherlock and supportive of gay rights. He was an alcoholic from his time at Cambridge until he quit drinking shortly before working on Life of Brian. He became an enthusiast and patron of the Dangerous Sports Club in the later years of his life. In 1989, Chapman died of tonsil cancer which had spread to his spine. His life and legacy were commemorated at a memorial service in the Great Hall of St Bartholomew's Hospital two months after his death, which was a testament to Chapman's surreal sense of humour that the remaining five Pythons enacted.
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Gaby Hoffmann
Gabrielle Mary Antonia Hoffmann (born January 8, 1982) is an American actress. She made her film debut in Field of Dreams (1989) and found success as a child actress in Uncle Buck (1989), This Is My Life (1992), The Man Without a Face (1993), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), and then later as a teenager with Now and Then (1995), Everyone Says I Love You (1996), Volcano (1997), All I Wanna Do (1998), and 200 Cigarettes (1999). After a hiatus from the industry, Hoffmann returned in 2007, appearing in various independent projects that garnered critical acclaim. This has been described as a career "resurgence", due to her roles in Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (2013), Obvious Child (2014), Wild (2014), and C'mon C'mon (2021). On television, she played April in the FX series Louie (2012), Caroline Sackler in the HBO series Girls (2014–2017), and Ali Pfefferman in the Amazon Prime series Transparent (2014–2019), earning three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the latter two.
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Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer, known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films – the only artist to perform more than one officially. Bassey is one of the most popular vocalists in Britain. Born in Cardiff, Bassey began performing as a teenager in 1953. In 1959, she became the first Welsh singer to gain a no. 1 single on the UK Singles Chart. In the following decades, Bassey amassed 27 top 40 hits in the UK, including two no. 1s ("As I Love You" and the double A-side "Climb Ev'ry Mountain"/"Reach for the Stars") plus a no. 1 in the Dance Chart ("History Repeating"). She became well known for recording theme songs of the James Bond films Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Moonraker (1979). Bassey has had numerous BBC television specials and hosted her own variety series, Shirley Bassey. In 2011, BBC aired the television film Shirley, based on Bassey's life and career. Since making her first appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in 1971, she has performed at the venue 45 times. Bassey received the first award for Best British Female Solo Artist at the 1st Brit Awards in 1977. She was appointed a Dame in 1999 for services to the performing arts. In 2003, she was ranked among the "100 Great Black Britons". Her song "Goldfinger" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. She has influenced many other singers, including Aretha Franklin. In a career spanning more than 70 years, Bassey has sold more than 140 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling female artists of all time. She is the first woman in history to claim a Top 40 album in seven consecutive decades in the United Kingdom.
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James Longstreet
James Longstreet (January 8, 1821 – January 2, 1904) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War and was the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse". He served under Lee as a corps commander for most of the battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Eastern Theater, and briefly with Braxton Bragg in the Army of Tennessee in the Western Theater. After graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point, Longstreet served in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War. He was wounded at the Battle of Chapultepec, and during recovery married his first wife, Louise Garland. Throughout the 1850s, he served on frontier duty in the American Southwest. In June 1861, Longstreet resigned his U.S. Army commission and joined the Confederate Army. He commanded Confederate troops during an early victory at Blackburn's Ford in July and played a minor role at the First Battle of Bull Run. Longstreet made significant contributions to most major Confederate victories, primarily in the Eastern Theater as one of Robert E. Lee's chief subordinates in the Army of Northern Virginia. He performed poorly at Seven Pines by accidentally marching his men down the wrong road, causing them to arrive late, but played an important role in the Confederate success of the Seven Days Battles in the summer of 1862, where he helped supervise repeated attacks that drove the Union army away from the Confederate capital of Richmond. Longstreet led a devastating counterattack that routed the Union army at Second Bull Run in August. His men held their ground in defensive roles at Antietam and Fredericksburg. He did not participate in the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville, as he and most of his soldiers had been detached on the comparatively minor Siege of Suffolk. Longstreet's most controversial service was at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, where he openly disagreed with Lee on the tactics to be employed and reluctantly supervised several unsuccessful attacks on Union forces. Afterward, Longstreet was, at his own request, sent to the Western Theater to fight under Braxton Bragg, where his troops launched a ferocious assault on the Union lines at Chickamauga that carried the day. Afterward, his performance in semi-autonomous command during the Knoxville campaign resulted in a Confederate defeat. Longstreet's tenure in the Western Theater was marred by his central role in numerous conflicts amongst Confederate generals. Unhappy serving under Bragg, Longstreet and his men were sent back to Lee. He ably commanded troops during the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864, where he was seriously wounded by friendly fire. He later returned to the field, serving under Lee in the Siege of Petersburg and the Appomattox campaign. Longstreet enjoyed a successful post-war career working for the U.S. government as a diplomat, civil servant, and administrator. His support for the Republican Party and his cooperation with his pre-war friend President Ulysses S. Grant, as well as critical comments he wrote about Lee's wartime performance, made him anathema to many of his former Confederate colleagues. His reputation in the South further suffered when he led African-American militia against the anti-Reconstruction White League at the Battle of Liberty Place in 1874. Authors of the Lost Cause movement focused on Longstreet's actions at Gettysburg as a principal reason for why the South lost the Civil War. As an elderly man, he married Helen Dortch Longstreet, who worked to restore her husband's image after his death. Since the late 20th century, Longstreet's reputation has undergone a slow reassessment. Many Civil War historians now consider him among the war's most gifted tactical commanders.
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Harriet Sansom Harris
Harriet Sansom Harris (born January 8, 1955) is an American actress known for her theater performances and for her portrayals of Bebe Glazer on Frasier and Felicia Tilman on Desperate Housewives. Harris won a Tony Award in 2002 as a Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie. In addition to television and theater, she has made various film appearances, including Memento, Addams Family Values, Nurse Betty, and Phantom Thread.
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José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic American actors during his lifetime and after, with a career spanning nearly 60 years between 1935 and 1992. He achieved prominence for his portrayal of Cyrano de Bergerac in the play of the same name, which earned him the inaugural Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1947. He reprised the role in a 1950 film version and won an Academy Award for Best Actor, making him both the first Hispanic and the first Puerto Rican–born actor to win an Academy Award. His other notable film roles include Charles VII in Joan of Arc (1948), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in Moulin Rouge (1952), defense attorney Barney Greenwald in The Caine Mutiny (1954), Alfred Dreyfus in I Accuse! (1958), which he also directed; the Turkish Bey in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Siegfried Rieber in Ship of Fools (1965), and Emperor Shaddam IV in Dune (1984). Ferrer also maintained a prolific acting and directing career on Broadway, winning a second Best Actor Tony for The Shrike, and Best Director for The Shrike, The Fourposter, and Stalag 17. Additionally, Ferrer appeared numerous times in the works of Shakespeare, notably as Iago in Othello. Ferrer was the father of actor Miguel Ferrer, the brother of Rafael Ferrer, the grandfather of actress Tessa Ferrer, and the uncle of actor George Clooney. His contributions to American theatre were recognized in 1981 when he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 1985, he received the National Medal of Arts from President Reagan, becoming the first actor so honored.
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Michelle Forbes
Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo (born January 8, 1965) is an American actress who has appeared on television and in independent films. She is a Saturn Award winner with three nominations. Forbes first garnered attention for her dual role in the daytime soap opera Guiding Light, for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination. She is known for her recurring appearances on genre and drama shows, including Ensign Ro Laren in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard, and her regular role as medical examiner Julianna Cox on Homicide: Life on the Street during the 1990s. She played recurring roles throughout the 2000s in Battlestar Galactica, 24, In Treatment, Durham County, Prison Break and her series regular role as Maryann Forrester on True Blood. She has appeared in significant roles in films such as Escape from L.A., Kalifornia, Swimming with Sharks and Columbus. She starred in the 2011–2012 AMC television series The Killing, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. On June 18, 2019 it was announced that Forbes would join USA Network's action drama series Treadstone, a prequel/sequel to the Bourne franchise.
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Gypsy Rose Lee
Gypsy Rose Lee (born Rose Louise Hovick, January 8, 1911 – April 26, 1970) was an American burlesque entertainer, stripper, actress, author, playwright and vedette, famous for her striptease act. Her 1957 memoir, Gypsy: A Memoir, was adapted into the 1959 stage musical Gypsy.
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Jenny Lewis
Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, as well as a solo artist. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child actress, appearing in the films Troop Beverly Hills (1989) and The Wizard (1989) and the television series Brooklyn Bridge (1991–1993). In the mid-1990s, Lewis semi-retired from acting to focus on her musical career, and formed Rilo Kiley in 1998 with fellow former child actor Blake Sennett. Rilo Kiley released four albums before they disbanded in 2014. Lewis has released five solo albums: Rabbit Fur Coat (2006), Acid Tongue (2008), The Voyager (2014), On the Line (2019), and Joy'All (2023). In addition to Rilo Kiley and her solo career, Lewis has been a member of The Postal Service, Jenny & Johnny, and Nice as Fuck.
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Sam Riley
Samuel Peter W. Riley (born 8 January 1980) is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his performance in the 2007 biographical film Control about the life of Ian Curtis, as protagonist Sal Paradise in the 2012 adaptation of the Jack Kerouac novel On the Road, and as Diaval in the 2014 film Maleficent. Riley received renown for his portrayal of Fitzwilliam Darcy in the 2016 film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
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Saeed Jaffrey
Saeed Jaffrey (Hindustani pronunciation: [sɐiːd̪ d͡ʒɑːfɾiː]; 8 January 1929 – 15 November 2015) was a British-Indian actor. His career covered film, radio, stage and television roles over six decades and more than 150 British, American, and Indian movies. During the 1980s and 1990s, he was considered to be Britain's highest-profile Asian actor, thanks to his leading roles in the film My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and television series The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Tandoori Nights (1985–1987) and Little Napoleons (1994). He played an instrumental part in bringing together filmmakers James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, and acted in several of their Merchant Ivory Productions films such as The Guru (1969), Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (1978), The Courtesans of Bombay (1983) and The Deceivers (1988). Jaffrey broke into Indian films with Satyajit Ray's Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) for which he won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award in 1978. His cameo role as the paanwala Lallan Miyan in Chashme Buddoor (1981) won him popularity with Indian audiences. He became a household name in India with his roles in Raj Kapoor's Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) and Henna (1991), both of which won him nominations for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. Jaffrey was the first Asian to receive British and Canadian film award nominations. In 1995 he was appointed an OBE in recognition of his services to drama, the first Asian to receive this honour. His memoirs, Saeed: An Actor's Journey, were published in 1998. He died at a hospital in London on 15 November 2015, after collapsing from a brain haemorrhage at his home. He was posthumously given the Padma Shri award in January 2016.
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Robby Krieger
Robert Alan Krieger (born January 8, 1946) is an American guitarist and founding member of the rock band the Doors. Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of the Doors' songs, including the hits "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", "Touch Me", and "Love Her Madly". When the Doors disbanded shortly after the death of lead singer Jim Morrison, Krieger continued to perform and record with other musicians including former Doors bandmates John Densmore and Ray Manzarek. In the 2023 edition of Rolling Stone's 250 greatest guitarists of all time, he was positioned at number 248.
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Jason Giambi
Jason Gilbert Giambi (; born January 8, 1971) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter. In his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, which began in 1995, Giambi played for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Colorado Rockies, and Cleveland Indians. He is the older brother of the late MLB player Jeremy Giambi. Giambi was the American League (AL) MVP in 2000 while with the Athletics, and is a five-time All-Star, who led the AL in walks four times; in on-base percentage three times; and in doubles and slugging percentage once each; he also won the Silver Slugger Award twice. Giambi has publicly apologized for using performance-enhancing drugs during his career.
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Genevieve Padalecki
Genevieve Nicole Padalecki (née Cortese; born January 8, 1981) is an American actress. She starred in the television series Wildfire as Kris Furillo and had a recurring role in Supernatural as the demon Ruby. Her film and television appearances were inconsistently credited as either Genevieve Cortese or Jennifer Cortese through to 2010, and has been consistently credited as Genevieve Padalecki since a February 2011 episode of Supernatural.
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Paul Clement
Paul Clement (born 8 January 1972) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the assistant coach of the Brazil national team. Clement has previously been assistant manager to Carlo Ancelotti several times – at Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich. In his first season as assistant manager, he won the Premier League title with Ancelotti at Chelsea. They also won the UEFA Champions League title and Copa del Rey in their first season at Real Madrid. Clement obtained his UEFA Pro Licence in 2009, and made his managerial debut with Derby County in 2015. He has managed Derby, Swansea City, Reading, and Cercle Brugge and has previously held coaching roles at Fulham, Blackburn Rovers, Everton, and the England under-21 and Republic of Ireland under-21 teams.
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William Hartnell
William Henry Hartnell (; 8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor, who is best known for portraying the first incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1963 to 1966; he reprised the role in the serial The Three Doctors (1972–1973). In film, Hartnell notably appeared in Brighton Rock (1949), The Mouse That Roared (1959) and This Sporting Life (1963). He was associated with military roles, playing Company Sergeant Major Percy Bullimore in the ITV sitcom The Army Game (1957, 1961) and Sergeant Grimshaw, the title character in the first Carry On film Carry On Sergeant (1958).
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Ryan Destiny
Ryan Destiny Irons (born January 8, 1995) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. Destiny is best known for her roles in the Fox TV musical drama Star, the Freeform sitcom Grown-ish, and as the two-time Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Claressa Shields in the Claressa Shields biopic, The Fire Inside (2024) directed by Rachel Morrison.
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Betsy DeVos
Elisabeth Dee DeVos ( də-VOSS; née Prince; born January 8, 1958) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021. DeVos is known for her conservative political activism, and particularly her support for school choice, school voucher programs, and charter schools. She was Republican national committeewoman for Michigan from 1992 to 1997 and served as chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 1996 to 2000, and again from 2003 to 2005. She has advocated for the Detroit charter school system and she is a former member of the board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education. She has served as chair of the board of the Alliance for School Choice and the Acton Institute and headed the All Children Matter PAC. DeVos is married to former Amway CEO Dick DeVos. Her brother, Erik Prince, a former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, is the founder of Blackwater USA. Their father is billionaire industrialist Edgar Prince, founder of the Prince Corporation. In 2016, the family was listed by Forbes as the 88th-richest in America, with an estimated net worth of $5.4 billion. On November 23, 2016, then-president-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate DeVos to serve as Secretary of Education in his administration. On January 31, following strong opposition to the nomination from Democrats, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions approved her nomination on a party-line vote, sending her nomination to the Senate floor. On February 7, 2017, she was confirmed by the Senate by a 51–50 margin, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie in favor of her nomination. This was the first time in U.S. history that a Cabinet nominee's confirmation was decided by the vice president's tiebreaking vote. On January 7, 2021, DeVos tendered her resignation as education secretary as a result of the January 6 United States Capitol attack, saying to President Trump in her resignation letter, "There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation." Her resignation took effect on January 8, 2021, twelve days before the end of Trump's term.
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Amber Benson
Amber Benson (born January 8, 1977) is an American actress, writer, director, and producer. She is best known for her role as Tara Maclay on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1999–2002), and has directed, produced and starred in her own films Chance (2002) and Lovers, Liars & Lunatics (2006). She also starred in the movie Kiss the Bride (2007). She co-directed the film Drones (2010) with fellow Buffy cast member Adam Busch, and starred as a waitress in the crime thriller The Killing Jar (2010).
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Bob Eubanks
Robert Leland Eubanks (born January 8, 1938) is an American disc jockey, television personality and game show host, widely known for hosting the game show The Newlywed Game on and off since 1966. He also hosted the successful revamp version of Card Sharks from 1986 to 1989. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his radio DJ work in 2000. It is in front of Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, where he worked during the first years of his broadcasting career. In 2005, he received a lifetime achievement Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
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Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was an English naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection; his 1858 paper on the subject was published that year alongside extracts from Charles Darwin's writings on the topic. It spurred Darwin to set aside the "big species book" he was drafting and to quickly write an abstract of it, which was published in 1859 as On the Origin of Species. Wallace did extensive fieldwork, starting in the Amazon River basin. He then did fieldwork in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the faunal divide now termed the Wallace Line, which separates the Indonesian archipelago into two distinct parts: a western portion in which the animals are largely of Asian origin, and an eastern portion where the fauna reflect Australasia. He was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species, and is sometimes called the "father of biogeography", or more specifically of zoogeography. Wallace was one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century, working on warning coloration in animals and reinforcement (sometimes known as the Wallace effect), a way that natural selection could contribute to speciation by encouraging the development of barriers against hybridisation. In 1864 he was the first to propose that during the later stages of human evolution natural selection would have primarily acted on mental faculties rather than on the physical form. Wallace's 1904 book Man's Place in the Universe was the first serious attempt by a biologist to evaluate the likelihood of life on other planets. He also had a scientific interest in the possibility of life on Mars. Aside from scientific work, he was a social activist, critical of what he considered to be the unjust social and economic systems of 19th-century Britain and later in life became an active socialist. His advocacy of spiritualism and mind–body dualism strained his relationship with other scientists. He was one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmental impact of human activity. He wrote prolifically on both scientific and social issues; his account of his adventures and observations during his explorations in Southeast Asia, The Malay Archipelago, was first published in 1869. It continues to be both popular and highly regarded.
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Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for The Woman in White (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for The Moonstone (1868), which established many of the ground rules of the modern detective novel and is also perhaps the earliest clear example of the police procedural genre. Born to the London painter William Collins and his wife, Harriet Geddes, he moved with them to Italy when he was twelve, living there and in France for two years, learning both Italian and French. He worked initially as a tea merchant. After Antonina, his first novel, was published in 1850, Collins met Charles Dickens, who became his friend and mentor. Some of Collins' work appeared in Dickens' journals Household Words and All the Year Round. They also collaborated on drama and fiction. Collins gained financial stability and an international following by the 1860s. In the 1870s and 1880s, after becoming addicted to the opium which he took for his gout, the quality of his health declined and, in turn, the reception of his artistic output. Collins criticised the institution of marriage. He had relationships with two women: widow Caroline Graves – living with her for most of his life, treating her daughter as his – and the younger Martha Rudd, with whom he had three children.
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Larry Storch
Lawrence Samuel Storch (January 8, 1923 – July 8, 2022) was an American actor and comedian known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for cartoon shows such as Mr. Whoopee on Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales. For his potrayal of the bumbling Corporal Randolph Agarn on F Troop he was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1967.
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Josh Hazlewood
Josh Reginald Hazlewood (born 8 January 1991) is an Australian international cricketer. He is a pace bowler known for his accuracy and has been compared to former Australian paceman Glenn McGrath. He has captained Australia in an ODI and served as a Test vice-captain after the 2018 Australian ball-tampering scandal, following which Australia's then captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner had stood down. Hazlewood currently ranks no. 6 in Test, no. 8 in ODI and no. 10 in T20I in the ICC Men's Player Rankings. He won multiple ICC tournaments with the Australian team: the 2015 Cricket World Cup, the 2021 T20 World Cup and the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
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William Karlsson
Lars William Karlsson (born 8 January 1993), nicknamed "Wild Bill", is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a forward and alternate captain for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the second round, 53rd overall, by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2011 NHL entry draft. In addition to playing for Vegas, Karlsson has also played in the NHL for Anaheim and the Columbus Blue Jackets. After being selected by the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL expansion draft, Karlsson has been one of the key points of the team offense, and helped Vegas reach the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season. During his first season in Vegas, Karlsson scored a career-high 43 goals and became the franchise all-time leader in goals. In 2023, Karlsson won the Stanley Cup with Vegas, one of six original members of the Golden Knights to still be with the team for their first Stanley Cup win six years later.
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Carl Rogers
Carl Ransom Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an American psychologist who was one of the founders of humanistic psychology and was known especially for his person-centered psychotherapy. Rogers is widely considered one of the founding fathers of psychotherapy research and was honored for his research with the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions by the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1956. The person-centered approach, Rogers's approach to understanding personality and human relationships, found wide application in various domains, such as psychotherapy and counseling (client-centered therapy), education (student-centered learning), organizations, and other group settings. For his professional work he received the Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Psychology from the APA in 1972. In a study by Steven J. Haggbloom and colleagues using six criteria such as citations and recognition, Rogers was found to be the sixth most eminent psychologist of the 20th century and second, among clinical psychologists, only to Sigmund Freud. Based on a 1982 survey of 422 respondents of U.S. and Canadian psychologists, he was considered the most influential psychotherapist in history (Freud ranked third).
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Bill Graham
Bill Graham (born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca; January 8, 1931 – October 25, 1991) was an American concert promoter. In the early 1960s, he moved to San Francisco and in 1965, began to manage the San Francisco Mime Troupe. He had teamed up with local Haight Ashbury promoter Chet Helms to organize a benefit concert, then promoted several free concerts. Eventually it turned into a profitable full-time career and he assembled a talented staff. Graham had a profound influence around the world, sponsoring the musical renaissance of the 1960s from its epicenter in San Francisco. Chet Helms and then Graham made the Fillmore and Winterland Ballroom famous; they proved to be a venue for rock bands and acts of the Bay Area including the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, who were first managed and in some cases developed by Helms.
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Carolina Herrera
Carolina Herrera (born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño, 8 January 1939) is a Venezuelan American fashion designer. Known for her personal style, she founded her namesake brand in 1980. Herrera has designed for various First Ladies of the United States, including Jacqueline Onassis, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, and Melania Trump.
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John Curtin
John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician, trade unionist and journalist who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and is notable for leading the country through the majority of World War II, including all but the last few weeks of the Pacific War. Curtin left school at the age of 13 and became involved in the labour movement in Melbourne. He joined the Labor Party at a young age and was also involved with the Victorian Socialist Party. He became state secretary of the Timberworkers' Union in 1911 and federal president in 1914. Curtin was a leader of the "No" campaign during the 1916 referendum on overseas conscription, and was briefly jailed for refusing to attend a compulsory medical examination. He moved to Perth the following year to become the editor of the Westralian Worker, and later was state president of the Australian Journalists' Association. After three unsuccessful attempts, Curtin was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1928 federal election, winning the Division of Fremantle. He is the only prime minister to have represented a constituency in Western Australia. He remained loyal to the Labor government during the party split of 1931. He lost his seat in Labor's landslide defeat at the 1931 election, but won it back in 1934. The following year, Curtin was elected party leader in place of James Scullin, defeating Frank Forde by a single vote. The party gained seats at the 1937 and 1940 elections, with the latter resulting in a hung parliament. The ALP eventually formed a minority government in October 1941, when the Fadden government lost a confidence motion. The Japanese attacks on British Malaya and Pearl Harbor occurred two months after Curtin became prime minister, and Australia entered the war against Japan. The failure of the British army and navy against Japan and bombing raids on northern Australia created the fear of an imminent Japanese invasion. Curtin realized that only a dependence upon the United States could protect Australia. Curtin led the nation's war effort and made significant decisions about how the war was conducted. He placed Australian forces under the command of the American general Douglas MacArthur, with whom he formed a close relationship. On the home front he successfully negotiated the issue of overseas conscription that had split his party during World War I. The ALP won almost two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives at the 1943 election, which remains a party record. Curtin died in office in July 1945, after months of ill health attributed to the stresses of the war. Many of his post-war reconstruction plans were implemented by his successor Ben Chifley, who in 1946 led the ALP to consecutive victories for the first time. Curtin's leadership skills and personal character were acclaimed by his political contemporaries, and he is frequently ranked as one of Australia's greatest prime ministers and political leaders.
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Paul Hester
Paul Newell Hester (8 January 1959 – 26 March 2005) was an Australian musician and television personality. He was the drummer for the band Split Enz from November 1983 until their break-up in December 1984. Hester was also a co-founding member of the band Crowded House, for which he served as drummer.
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Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil (pronounced [ʒak ɑ̃k.til]; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the yellow jersey on day one and wear it all through the tour, a tall order with two previous winners in the field—Charly Gaul and Federico Bahamontes—but he did it. His victories in stage races such as the Tour were built on an exceptional ability to ride alone against the clock in individual time trial stages, which lent him the name "Monsieur Chrono". He won eight Grand Tours in his career, which was a record when he retired and was surpassed only by Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault.
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Stefanie Dolson
Stefanie Marie Dolson (born January 8, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted sixth overall in the 2014 WNBA draft. Dolson played center for the UConn women's basketball team and won back-to-back national championships in 2013 and 2014. She won a gold medal in 3x3 basketball at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
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Maria Pitillo
Maria Pitillo (born January 8, 1966) is an American retired actress. She has starred in films and on television, most notably as Audrey Timmonds in Godzilla (1998). She also had a recurring role on the television series Providence.
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Miguel Primo de Rivera
Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, GE (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a Spanish dictator and military officer who ruled as prime minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during the last years of the Bourbon Restoration. He was born into a landowning family of Andalusian aristocrats. He met his baptism by fire in October 1893 in Cabrerizas Altas during the so-called Margallo War. He moved up the military ladder, promoted to brigadier general (1911), division general (1914), and lieutenant general (1919). He went on to serve as administrator of the Valencia, Madrid, and Barcelona military regions, distinguishing himself as a voice in favour of military withdrawal from Africa. During the crisis of the Restoration regime, specifically upon political turmoil in the wake of setbacks in the Rif War and the ensuing spillover of the enquiries of the Picasso file, Primo de Rivera staged a military coup d'état on 13 September 1923 with help from a clique of Africanist generals close to King Alfonso XIII. The coup enjoyed the acquiescence of the monarch, and Primo de Rivera was ensuingly tasked to form a government. He thereby proceeded to suspend the 1876 constitution and establish martial law. His dictatorial rule was marked by authoritarian nationalism and populism. Primo de Rivera initially said he would rule for only 90 days; however, he chose to remain in power, heading a military directorate. In December 1925, after the Alhucemas landing ended Rifian anti-colonial resistance, he installed the Civil Directory. From 1927 a policy of public spending on infrastructures was pursued and state monopolies such as oil company Campsa were created. Once economic tailwinds diminished, he lost the support of most of his generals, and he was forced to resign in January 1930 amid increasing inflation and civic unrest, dying abroad two months later. Some of his children, such as José Antonio and Pilar, went on to become Falangist political leaders.
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Dwight Clark
Dwight Edward Clark (January 8, 1957 – June 4, 2018) was an American professional football wide receiver who played for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1979 to 1987. He was a member of San Francisco's first two Super Bowl championship teams. He caught the winning touchdown pass thrown by quarterback Joe Montana in the NFC Championship Game on January 10, 1982, against the Dallas Cowboys. The play, immortalized as "the Catch", propelled the 49ers to their first Super Bowl championship. Clark played college football for the Clemson Tigers and was selected by the 49ers in the tenth round of the 1979 NFL draft. He served as the general manager of the 49ers from 1995 to 1998 and in the same capacity with the Cleveland Browns from 1999 to 2001.
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Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema ( AL-mə TAD-ay-mə; born Lourens Alma Tadema, Dutch: [ˈlʌurəns ˈɑlmaː ˈtaːdəmaː]; 8 January 1836 – 25 June 1912) was a Dutch painter who later settled in the United Kingdom, becoming the last officially recognised denizen in 1873. Born in Dronryp, the Netherlands, and trained at the Royal Academy of Antwerp, Belgium, he settled in London, England in 1870 and spent the rest of his life there. A painter of mostly classical subjects, he became famous for his depictions of the luxury and decadence of the Roman Empire, with languorous figures set in fabulous marbled interiors or against a backdrop of dazzling blue Mediterranean sea and sky. One of the most popular Victorian painters, Alma-Tadema was admired during his lifetime for his draftsmanship and accurate depictions of Classical antiquity, but his work fell out of fashion after his death, and only since the 1960s has it been appreciated for its importance within Victorian painting.
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Karl Brandt
Karl Brandt (8 January 1904 – 2 June 1948) was a German physician and Schutzstaffel (SS) officer in Nazi Germany. Trained in surgery, Brandt joined the Nazi Party in 1932 and became Adolf Hitler's "escort doctor" (Begleitarzt) in August 1934. A member of Hitler's inner circle at the Berghof, he was selected by Philipp Bouhler, the head of Hitler's Chancellery, to administer the Aktion T4 euthanasia program. Brandt was later appointed the Reich Commissioner of Health and Emergency Services (Bevollmächtigter für das Sanitäts- und Gesundheitswesen). Accused of involvement in human experimentation and other war crimes, Brandt was indicted in late 1946 and faced trial before a U.S. military tribunal along with 22 others in the Doctors' Trial. He was found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed on 2 June 1948.
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Jeff Francoeur
Jeffrey Braden Francoeur (; born January 8, 1984), nicknamed "Frenchy", is an American former professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, and Miami Marlins. When his playing days ended, he became a broadcaster; Francoeur is currently one of the lead television analysts for Atlanta Braves games, as well as doing various work for TBS. He also hosts The Pure Athlete Podcast, a podcast that serves as a resource for coaches, parents, and kids going through the process of youth athletics. A mid-season call-up for the Braves in 2005, he played in slightly fewer than half of his team's games that year and finished the season with impressive enough statistics to finish third in Rookie of the Year voting and a Sports Illustrated cover story declaring him "The Natural". While he never again had similarly strong statistics, he continued to have a productive career, playing for 11 more seasons as a journeyman outfielder for seven more teams before retiring after a short stint with the Marlins in 2016. Throughout his career, Francoeur was noted for his strong throwing arm in the outfield and his free-swinging tendencies in the batter's box. He won a Gold Glove Award in 2007.
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Terry Brooks
Terence Dean Brooks (born January 8, 1944) is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two film novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times bestsellers during his writing career, and has sold over 25 million copies of his books in print. He is one of the most successful living fantasy writers. In March 2025, he announced his semi-retirement from writing.
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Su Shi
Su Shi (traditional Chinese: 蘇軾; simplified Chinese: 苏轼; pinyin: Sū Shì; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (子瞻), art name Dongpo (東坡), was a Chinese poet, literatus, painter, calligrapher, and scholar-official of the Song dynasty. Born into a prominent literary family in Meishan, Sichuan, he was the son of Su Xun and brother of Su Zhe. Despite ambitions for high office, he became a repeated target in factional struggles between reformers and conservatives at the court, and he spent much of his career in exile, periods during which his literary output flourished. A towering figure in Chinese literature and arts, Su left a prolific body of work that exerted enduring influence across the Sinosphere. His prose, ranging from philosophical to technical to culinary, earned him a place among the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song. His poetry is marked by vitality and boldness. In calligraphy he is counted among the Four Masters of Song Calligraphy. As a painter he was known for bamboo and weathered rocks, championing the capture of spirit over outward likeness.
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Chris Masters
Christopher Todd Mordetzky (born January 8, 1983), better known by the ring name Chris Masters, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, under the ring name Chris Masters. He is also known for his time in Impact Wrestling, under the ring name Chris Adonis. He is a former two-time NWA National Heavyweight Champion. After being trained in Ultimate Pro Wrestling, Mordetzky signed a development contract with WWE and was sent to WWE's farm territory Ohio Valley Wrestling. In 2005, he debuted in WWE as "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters, a wrestler in a great body shape, using "The Masterlock" as finisher, a full nelson hold. During his early career in WWE, Masters had a storyline around the Masterlock, a submission nobody could break. He would challenge several wrestlers to the Masterlock Challenge, where he rewarded the winner with a prize if they could break it. The Masterlock Challenge storyline ended after Bobby Lashley broke the hold on March 20, 2007. Masters was released in 2007 and worked on the independent circuit for two years, making his return to WWE in 2009. Masters would spend the next two years in WWE, until he was released again in 2011. Since then, he has worked on the independent circuit and had notable stints in Global Force Wrestling (GFW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
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Frederick Abberline
Frederick George Abberline (8 January 1843 – 10 December 1929) was a British chief inspector for the London Metropolitan Police. He is best known for being a prominent police figure in the investigation into the Jack the Ripper serial killer murders of 1888.
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Dennis Wheatley
Dennis Yates Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was an English writer whose prolific output of thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through to the 1960s.
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Zach Charbonnet
Zachariah Charbonnet ( SHAR-bə-nay; born January 8, 2001) is an American professional football running back for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines and UCLA Bruins. He was a two-time All-Pac-12 Conference selection with the Bruins, earning first-time All-American honors as a senior in 2022. Charbonnet was selected by the Seahawks in the second round of the 2023 NFL draft.
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Bull Nakano
Keiko Aoki (青木 恵子, Aoki Keiko; née Nakano (中野), born 8 January 1968) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and professional golfer better known as Bull Nakano (ブル中野, Burunakano). She began competing in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) as a teenager under the ring name Bull Nakano. As a wrestler she was a villain, who often teamed with her mentor Dump Matsumoto. In Japan, she held several of AJW's singles and tag team championships. After being phased out by the company in the early 1990s, she traveled to North America, where she first competed in Mexico's Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), becoming its first World Women's Champion. In 1994, she made her way to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where she had feuded with Alundra Blayze over the WWF Women's Championship. After holding the title once, she also competed in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1998, Nakano began competing as a professional golfer, and in 2006, she joined a tour with the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). She was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame on 2001 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2024.
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Tony Bradley
Tony Lee Bradley Jr. (born January 8, 1998) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of North Carolina (UNC). A 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) center, Bradley was a primary substitute for the Tar Heels' 2017 NCAA championship team. Bradley was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 28th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, but was traded to the Utah Jazz on draft night. After three seasons with the Jazz, Bradley was ultimately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2020 before being traded midseason to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He signed with the Chicago Bulls in the 2021 offseason and spent two seasons with the team. After a two-season stint in the NBA G League, Bradley signed with the Indiana Pacers, with whom he reached the 2025 NBA Finals.
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Baltasar Gracián
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (Spanish: [baltaˈsaɾ ɣɾaˈθjan]; 8 January 1601 – 6 December 1658), better known as Baltasar Gracián, was a Spanish Jesuit priest and Baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud (Aragón). His writings were lauded by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. He is best known for his book The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647), but his novel El Criticón (1651-57) is considered his greatest work.
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S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (8 January 1899 – 26 September 1959), also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia" (ආසියාවේ රිදී සීනුව), was a Ceylonese statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of the Dominion of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), from 1956 until his assassination in 1959. The founder of the left-wing and Sinhalese nationalist Sri Lanka Freedom Party, he was elected the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon after creating a powerful coalition called the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and contesting on the lines of Sinhalese nationalism and democratic socialism. He achieved a landslide victory over the ruling United National Party in the general elections in 1956. His tenure saw some of the first left wing reforms instituted by the Freedom Party in Sri Lanka such as the nationalizing bus services and introducing legislation to prohibit caste based discrimination. Bandaranaike further consolidated Sri Lanka's newly gained independence by formally abrogating the 1947 United Kingdom–Ceylon Defence Agreement and establishing diplomatic missions with a number of communist states. He implemented a new language policy, the Sinhala Only Act, making Sinhala the sole official language of the country, creating much controversy. On 25 September 1959, Bandaranaike was shot at his town house in Colombo and died of his wounds the day after. A Buddhist monk named Ven Talduwe Somarama was arrested, convicted and hanged for the murder of Bandaranaike. Minister of Education and the acting leader of the house, Wijeyananda Dahanayake was appointed caretaker prime minister by the Governor General and was confirmed by Parliament. Bandaranaike's widow Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike led the Freedom Party to gain a majority in parliament and was elected the first female prime minister in the world. She expanded on her husband's left-wing reforms in her two terms as prime minister from 1960 to 1964 and from 1970 to 1977. In 1994, Bandaranaike's daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga headed a coalition led by the Freedom Party to be elected prime minister and thereafter president serving from 1994 to 2005 and Bandaranaike's son Anura Bandaranaike served as Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2001.
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Dave Weckl
Dave Weckl (born January 8, 1960, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American jazz fusion drummer and the leader of the Dave Weckl Band. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2000.
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Ignas Brazdeikis
Ignas "Iggy" Brazdeikis (born January 8, 1999) is a Lithuanian-Canadian professional basketball player for Unicaja of the Liga ACB and Basketball Champions League (BCL). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. As a freshman, he was a 2019 second-team All-Big Ten selection, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a Big Ten All-Freshman honoree. Brazdeikis was selected with the 47th overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings, and was then traded to the New York Knicks. He has played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic as well as NBA G League Westchester Knicks and Lakeland Magic. He has played internationally for Canada's teams in under-16 and under-17 competitions. After beginning his professional career, he sought Lithuanian citizenship and played for Lithuania national team.
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John Carroll
John Carroll (January 8, 1735 – December 3, 1815) was an American Catholic prelate who served as the nation's first Catholic bishop, overseeing the Diocese of Baltimore, then the only diocese in the nascent United States, from 1789 to 1815. He became Archbishop of Baltimore in 1808, up to which point Carroll had also administered the entire U.S. Catholic Church. Born to an aristocratic family in the colonial-era Province of Maryland, Carroll spent most of his early years as a priest in Europe, teaching and serving as a chaplain. After returning to Maryland in 1773, he started organizing the Catholic Church in America with a small cadre of priests. The Vatican appointed him to several roles as leader of the American Catholic hierarchy, culminating in his appointment as archbishop. Carroll founded Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and St. John the Evangelist Parish in Silver Spring, Maryland, the first secular parish in the country.
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Ron Sexsmith
Ronald Eldon Sexsmith (born January 8, 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario. He was the songwriter of the year at the 2005 Juno Awards. He began releasing recordings of his own material in 1985 at age 21 and has since recorded eighteen albums. He was the subject of a 2010 documentary called Love Shines.
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Glenn Robinson III
Glenn Alann ‘Tre’ Robinson III (born January 8, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Sharjah SC of the UAE National Basketball League. He was drafted 40th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2014 NBA draft. He played nine seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings. Robinson won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 2017. He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines, where he was an All-Freshman team honoree in during the 2012–13 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season for the 2012–13 Michigan Wolverines team that finished as national runner-up in the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. He returned to play for the 2013–14 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season champion 2013–14 Wolverines before departing for the NBA. Robinson was an all-state high school basketball player for Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. He is the son of Glenn Robinson, the 1994 first overall NBA draft pick. Two of his siblings were multiple time state champions in high school in individual events.
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Mike Cameron
Michael Terrance Cameron (born January 8, 1973) is an American former professional Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, and Florida Marlins over a 17 year career and is currently the Special Assignment Coach for the Seattle Mariners. In 2002, Cameron became the 13th player to hit four home runs in one game. He was also an All-Star in 2001 and won Gold Gloves in 2001, 2003, and 2006. Mike Cameron has distinguished himself by being only one of 22 players in the history of baseball to have at least 250 home runs and 250 stolen bases and became the 20th member of this exclusive 250/250 club. Cameron is also the only MLB player to hit two home runs in the same game with eight separate teams.
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Charles Osgood
Charles Osgood Wood III (January 8, 1933 – January 23, 2024) was an American radio and television commentator, writer, and musician. Osgood was the host of CBS News Sunday Morning, a role he held for over 22 years from April 10, 1994, until September 25, 2016. He also hosted a series of daily radio commentaries: The Osgood File, from 1971 until December 29, 2017. Osgood narrated Horton Hears a Who!, an animated film released in 2008 based on the book of the same name by Dr. Seuss. He published a memoir of his boyhood in 2004.
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Seol Ki-hyeon
Seol Ki-hyeon (Korean: 설기현; Hanja: 薛琦鉉; born 8 January 1979) is a South Korean former professional footballer who played as a winger. He is also the first South Korean footballer to score in the history of the UEFA Champions League, during his time at Anderlecht.
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Hans von Bülow
Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (German: [ˌhans fɔn ˈbyːlo] ; 8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, especially Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms. Alongside Carl Tausig, Bülow was perhaps the most prominent of the early students of the Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor Franz Liszt; he gave the first public performance of Liszt's Sonata in B minor in 1857. He became acquainted with, fell in love with and eventually married Liszt's daughter Cosima, who later left him for Wagner. Noted for his interpretation of the works of Ludwig van Beethoven, he was one of the earliest European musicians to tour the United States.
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Douglas Wilmer
Douglas Norman Wilmer (8 January 1920 – 31 March 2016) was an English actor, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the eponymous 1965 TV series.
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Winnaretta Singer
Winnaretta Singer (8 January 1865 – 26 November 1943) was an American-born heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune. She used this to fund a wide range of causes, notably a musical salon where her protégés included Debussy and Ravel, and numerous public health projects in Paris, where she lived most of her life. Singer entered into two marriages that were unconsummated, and openly enjoyed many high-profile relationships with women. She was styled as Countess Louis de Scey-Montbéliard during her first marriage and as Princess Edmond de Polignac following her second marriage in 1893.
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Adrián López
Adrián López Álvarez (Spanish pronunciation: [aˈðɾjan ˈlopeθ]; born 8 January 1988), known simply as Adrián, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is currently assistant manager at La Liga club Rayo Vallecano. He amassed La Liga totals of 314 matches and 44 goals over 13 seasons, representing in the competition Deportivo, Málaga, Atlético Madrid, Villarreal and Osasuna and winning four major titles with the third club, including the 2013–14 league championship. In 2014 he signed with Porto from Portugal, being loaned several times during his contract. Adrián earned two caps for Spain in 2012.
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Dorothy Adams
Dorothy I. Adams (January 8, 1900 – March 16, 1988) was an American character actress of stage, film, and television.
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Slade Gorton
Thomas Slade Gorton III (January 8, 1928 – August 19, 2020) was an American lawyer and politician from Washington. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1981 to 1987, and again from 1989 to 2001. He held both of the state's U.S. Senate seats in his career and was narrowly defeated for reelection twice, first in 1986 by Brock Adams and again in 2000 by Maria Cantwell following a recount, becoming the last Republican senator to date for each seat.
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Galina Ulanova
Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova (Russian: Галина Сергеевна Уланова, pronounced [ɡɐˈlʲinə ʊˈlanəvə]; 8 January 1910 [O.S. 26 December 1909] – 21 March 1998) was a Russian ballet dancer. She is frequently cited as being one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. People’s Artist of the USSR (1951), twice Hero of Socialist Labour (1974, 1980). Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1957) and four Stalin Prizes (1941, 1946, 1947, 1950). Recipient of four Orders of Lenin (1953, 1970, 1974, 1980). The most decorated ballerina in the history of Soviet ballet.
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Edmond-Charles Genêt
Edmond-Charles Genêt (January 8, 1763 – July 14, 1834), also known as Citizen Genêt, was the French envoy to the United States appointed by the Girondins during the French Revolution. His actions on arriving in the United States led to a major political and international incident termed the "Citizen Genêt Affair." Because of his actions, President George Washington asked the French government to recall him. The Montagnards, having risen to power at the same time, replaced Genêt and issued a warrant for his arrest. Fearing for his life, Genêt asked for asylum in America, which was granted by Washington. Genêt stayed in the United States until his death. Historian Carol Berkin argues that the Genêt affair bolstered popular respect for the president and strengthened his role in dealing with foreign affairs.
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Richard Courant
Richard Courant (German: [ˈkuːʁant]; January 8, 1888 – January 27, 1972) was a German-American mathematician. He is best known by the general public for the book What is Mathematics?, co-written with Herbert Robbins. His research focused on the areas of real analysis, mathematical physics, the calculus of variations and partial differential equations. He wrote textbooks widely used by generations of students of physics and mathematics. He is also known for founding the institute now bearing his name at New York University.
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James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon
James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, PC, PC (NI), DL (8 January 1871 – 24 November 1940), was a leading Irish unionist and a key architect of Northern Ireland as a devolved region within the United Kingdom. During the Home Rule Crisis of 1912–14, he defied the British government in preparing an armed resistance in Ulster to an all-Ireland parliament. He accepted partition as a final settlement, securing the opt out of six Ulster counties from the dominion statehood accorded Ireland under the terms of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty. From then until his death in 1940, he led the Ulster Unionist Party and served Northern Ireland as its first Prime Minister. He publicly characterised his administration as a "Protestant" counterpart to the "Catholic state" nationalists had established in the south. Craig was created a baronet in 1918 and raised to the Peerage in 1927.
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François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg
François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Piney-Luxembourg, commonly known as Luxembourg (8 January 1628 – 4 January 1695), and nicknamed "The Upholsterer of Notre-Dame" (Le Tapissier de Notre-Dame), was a French general and Marshal of France. A comrade and successor of the Great Condé, he was one of the most accomplished military commanders of the early modern period and is particularly noted for his exploits in the Franco-Dutch War and War of the Grand Alliance. Not imposing physically, as he was a slight man and hunchbacked, Luxembourg was nonetheless one of France's greatest generals.
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Ashapurna Devi
Ashapurna Devi (Bengali pronunciation: [aʃapurna debi]; 8 January 1909 – 12 July 1995), also Ashapoorna Devi or Ashapurna Debi, was a prominent Indian novelist and poet in Bengali. In 1976, she was awarded the Jnanpith Award and Padma Shri by the Government of India, D.Litt. by the Universities of Jabalpur, Rabindra Bharati, Burdwan and Jadavpur. Vishwa Bharati University honoured her with Deshikottam in 1989. For her contribution as a novelist and short story writer, the Sahitya Akademi conferred its highest honour, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, in 1994.
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Nicholas Biddle
Nicholas Biddle (January 8, 1786 – February 27, 1844) was an American financier who served as the third and last president of the Second Bank of the United States (chartered 1816–1836). Throughout his life Biddle worked as an editor, diplomat, author, and politician who served in both houses of the Pennsylvania state legislature. He is best known as the chief opponent of Andrew Jackson in the Bank War. Born into the Biddle family of Philadelphia, young Nicholas worked for a number of prominent officials, including John Armstrong Jr. and James Monroe. In the Pennsylvania state legislature, he defended the utility of a national bank in the face of Jeffersonian criticisms. From 1823 to 1836, Biddle served as president of the Second Bank, during which time he exercised power over the nation's money supply and interest rates, seeking to prevent economic crises. With prodding from Henry Clay and the Bank's major stockholders, Biddle engineered a bill in Congress to renew the Bank's federal charter in 1832. The bill passed Congress and headed to President Andrew Jackson's desk. Jackson, who expressed deep hostility to most banks, vetoed the measure, ratcheting up tensions in a major political controversy known as the Bank War. When Jackson transferred the federal government's deposits from the Second Bank to several state banks, Biddle raised interest rates, causing a mild economic recession. The federal charter expired in 1836, before the Panic of 1837, but the bank continued to operate with a Pennsylvania state charter until its ultimate collapse in 1841.
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Elisabetta Sirani
Elisabetta Sirani (8 January 1638 – 28 August 1665) was an Italian Baroque painter and printmaker who died in unexplained circumstances at the age of 27. She was one of the first women artists in early modern Bologna. She became a successful painter, producing public altarpieces as well as privately commissioned pictures.
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Iuliu Maniu
Iuliu Maniu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈjulju maˈni.u] ; 8 January 1873 – 5 February 1953) was a Romanian lawyer and politician. He was a leader of the National Party of Transylvania and Banat before and after World War I, playing an important role in the Union of Transylvania with Romania. Maniu served as Prime Minister of Romania for three terms during 1928–1933, and, with Ion Mihalache, co-founded the National Peasants' Party. Arrested by the ascendant communist authorities in 1947 as a result of the Tămădău affair, he was convicted of treason in a show trial and sent to Sighet Prison, where he died six years later.
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Marco Fu
Marco Fu Ka-chun (Chinese: 傅家俊; born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open and the 2016 Scottish Open. He has been a runner-up at two Triple Crown events, at the 2008 UK Championship and the 2011 Masters. In addition, Fu has reached the semi-finals of the World Championship twice—in 2006 and in 2016. Fu reached a career-high ranking of fifth in the world in 2017. He turned professional in 1998 and has remained on the World Snooker Tour to-date. Despite not competing in events during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fu was given an invitational place to remain on the tour during the 2021–22 snooker season. As a prolific break-builder, Fu has compiled over 500 century breaks in professional competition, including five maximum breaks. A cultural icon in Hong Kong, Fu presented a 10-episode chat show called Marco Fu and Friends on ViuTV.
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Mohan Rakesh
Mohan Rakesh (8 January 1925 – 3 December 1972) was one of the pioneers of the Nai Kahani ("New Story") literary movement of the Hindi literature in India in the 1950s. He wrote the first modern Hindi play, Ashadh Ka Ek Din (One Day in Aashad) (1958), which won a competition organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He made significant contributions to the novel, the short story, travelogue, criticism, memoir and drama. Mohan Rakesh's Aadhe-adhure is one of the most significant plays about urbanmiddle class family and poignantly projects the transition of values in the changing urban scenario in India. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968.
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Walther Bothe
Walther Wilhelm Georg Bothe (German: [ˈvaltɐ ˈboːtə] ; 8 January 1891 – 8 February 1957) was a German experimental physicist who shared the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics with Max Born "for the coincidence method and his discoveries made therewith." Bothe served in the military during World War I from 1914, and he was a prisoner of war of the Russians, returning to Germany in 1920. Upon his return to the laboratory, he developed and applied coincidence circuits to the study of nuclear reactions, such as the Compton effect, cosmic rays, and the wave–particle duality of radiation. In 1930, Bothe became Full Professor and Director of the Physics Department at the University of Giessen. In 1932, he became Director of the Physical and Radiological Institute at Heidelberg University; he was driven out of this position by elements of the Deutsche Physik movement. To preclude his emigration from Germany, he was appointed Director of the Physics Institute of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research at Heidelberg University. There, he built the first operational cyclotron in Germany. Furthermore, he became a principal in the German nuclear energy project, also known as Uranverein, which was started in 1939 under the supervision of the Army Ordnance Office. In 1946, in addition to his directorship of the Physics Institute at the KWImf, Bothe was reinstated as a professor at Heidelberg University. From 1956 to 1957, he was a member of the Nuclear Physics Working Group in Germany. In the year after Bothe's death, his Physics Institute at the KWImF was elevated to the status of a new institute under the Max Planck Society and it then became the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics. Its main building was later named Bothe laboratory.
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Aaron Cruden
Aaron Wiremu Cruden (born 8 January 1989) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who plays for Waikato and formerly Montpellier, Manawatu and New Zealand internationally. Cruden's usual position is fly-half (first five-eighth).
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Archduke Rudolf of Austria
Rudolph Johann Joseph Rainier, Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Cardinal-Archbishop of Olomouc (8 January 1788 – 24 July 1831), was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and an Austrian clergyman and noble. He was consecrated as Archbishop of Olomouc (Olmütz) in 1819 and was created a cardinal that same year. Rudolph is known for his patronage of the arts, most notably as sponsor of Ludwig van Beethoven, who dedicated several of his works to him.
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Samuel von Pufendorf
Samuel von Pufendorf (; German: [ˈpuːfəndɔʁf]; 8 January 1632 – 26 October 1694) was a German jurist, political philosopher, economist and historian. He was born Samuel Pufendorf and ennobled in 1694; he was made a baron by Charles XI of Sweden a few months before his death at age 62. Among his achievements are his commentaries and revisions of the natural law theories of Thomas Hobbes and Hugo Grotius. His political concepts are part of the cultural background of the American Revolution. Pufendorf is seen as an important precursor of the German Enlightenment. He was involved in constant quarrels with clerical circles and frequently had to defend himself against accusations of heresy, despite holding largely traditional Christian views on matters of dogma and doctrine.
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Shadia Abu Ghazaleh
Shadia Abu Ghazaleh (Arabic: شادية أبو غزالة; 8 January 1949 – 28 November 1968) was a Palestinian militant. After completing her studies, she joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and was one of the first women to participate in the Palestinian fedayeen opposing the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. She was killed in an accident while preparing a bomb in her home in Nablus. She has been regarded as a martyr in Palestine and a terrorist in Israel.
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Willie Anderson
Willie Lloyd Anderson Jr. (born January 8, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. During his professional career, Anderson played nine seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and three seasons in the EuroLeague. He was named to the 1988–89 NBA season's All-Rookie First Team. While he was a member of the Greek Basket League club AEK Athens, he played in the 1998 EuroLeague Final. Anderson won an Olympic bronze medal as a member of the United States national team in 1988.
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Blair Walsh
Blair Richard Walsh (born January 8, 1990) is an American former professional football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. Walsh played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs and was selected by the Vikings in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL draft. In his first year, Walsh set the NFL records for the most single-season field goals of 50 or more yards and the highest field goal percentage by a rookie. He also earned Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors. After missing a short game-winning kick during the 2015 playoffs, Walsh struggled the following season and was released from Minnesota. Walsh spent his last season with the Seattle Seahawks.
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Carl Gustav Hempel
Carl Gustav "Peter" Hempel (; German: [ˈhɛmpl̩]; January 8, 1905 – November 9, 1997) was a German writer, philosopher, logician, and epistemologist. He was a major figure in logical empiricism, a 20th-century movement in the philosophy of science. Hempel articulated the deductive-nomological model of scientific explanation, which was considered the "standard model" of scientific explanation during the 1950s and 1960s. He is also known for the raven paradox ("Hempel's paradox") and Hempel's dilemma.
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Cristy Lane
Cristy Lane (born Eleanor Johnston; January 8, 1940) is an American Christian and country music singer. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she had a series of hits on the North American country charts with songs like "Let Me Down Easy", "I Just Can't Stay Married to You" and the number one hit "One Day at a Time". The latter recording inspired a book of the same name, which was sold on cable television and brought renewed interest to Lane's career. Lane was raised in Peoria, Illinois, and married Lee Stoller at age 19. She raised three children while Stoller worked a sales job in the Peoria area. One day, Stoller overheard his wife singing at home and got the idea that she could become a successful country music vocalist. Stoller soon became her full-time manager and by 1966 she released her first single on a small independent record label. Lane recorded for a series of small labels during the decade with no success. In 1969, Lane and Stoller traveled the far east where she performed over 100 shows for American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. Traumatized by the experience, Lane considered ending her career but ultimately decided to continue. The family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in the early 1970s to restart Lane's country singing career. Facing rejection from every major record company, Stoller decided to form his own label, which he named LS Records. The company began releasing Cristy Lane singles in the mid 1970s. In 1977, she had her first major hit with "Let Me Down Easy". It was followed by a series of top ten hits over the next several years. In 1979, Lane signed with United Artists Records, where she would record "One Day at a Time". The single would become her biggest hit in her career and prompted Lane to record a series of albums tailored to the Christian market in the 1980s. This included LPs such as One Day at a Time (1981) and Footprints in the Sand (1983). In 1982, Stoller went to prison on federal bribery charges. The criminal conviction halted Lane's career, but when he was released, he published her biography also titled One Day at a Time (1983). Marketing the book on cable television in combination with her record albums, One Day at a Time sold over a million copies. Over the next several decades, Lane's biography and recordings were sold over television commercials, the worldwide web and through other major distributors. In the 1990s, the couple opened a theater in Branson, Missouri, which ran shows for several years.
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Chris Douglas-Roberts
Chris Douglas Roberts (born January 8, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Memphis.
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Lowell Mason
Lowell Mason (January 8, 1792 – August 11, 1872) was an American music director and banker who was a leading figure in 19th-century American church music. Lowell composed over 1,600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His best-known work includes an arrangement of "Joy to the World" and the tune Bethany, which sets the hymn text Nearer, My God, to Thee. Mason also set music to Mary Had A Little Lamb. He is largely credited with introducing music into American public schools, and is considered the first important U.S. music educator. He has also been criticized for helping to…
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Jean Talon
Jean Talon, Count d'Orsainville (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ talɔ̃]; January 8, 1626 – November 23, 1694) was a French colonial administrator who served as the first Intendant of New France. Talon was appointed by King Louis XIV and his minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to serve as the Intendant of Justice, Public Order and Finances in Canada, Acadia and Newfoundland for two terms: 1665 to 1668 and 1670 to 1672. Talon attempted to change the economic base of the colony from fur trading to agriculture, but found this could not be accomplished without a larger population. Talon arranged for…
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Calvin Smith
Calvin Smith (born January 8, 1961) is a former sprint track and field athlete from the United States. He is a former world record holder in the 100-meter sprint with 9.93 seconds in 1983 and was twice world champion over 200 metres, in 1983 and 1987. He became Olympic champion in the 4 × 100-meter relay in 1984. He was born in Bolton, Mississippi.
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Robert May, Baron May of Oxford
Robert McCredie May, Baron May of Oxford (8 January 1936 – 28 April 2020) was an Australian scientist who was Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, President of the Royal Society, and a professor at the University of Sydney and Princeton University. He held joint professorships at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London. He was also a crossbench member of the House of Lords from 2001 until his retirement in 2017. May was a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, and an appointed member of the council of the British Science Association. He was also a member of the advisory…
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Sigismond Thalberg
Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was an Austrian composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century.
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John Frederick II, Duke of Saxony
John Frederick II of Saxony (German: Johann Friedrich II. von Sachsen; 8 January 1529 – 19 May 1595), was a prince of the Ernestine line of the House of Wettin. Although he nominally bore the title of Duke of Saxony, he in fact ruled the Saxon duchies of Coburg and Eisenach.
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Ivan Gundulić
Dživo Franov Gundulić (Italian: Gianfrancesco Gondola; 8 January 1589 – 8 December 1638), better known today as Ivan Gundulić, was the most prominent Ragusan Baroque. He is regarded as the Croatian national poet. His work embodies central characteristics of Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation: religious fervor, insistence on "vanity of this world" and zeal in opposition to "infidels". Gundulić's major works—the epic poem Osman, the pastoral play Dubravka, and the religious poem Tears of the Prodigal Son (based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son)—are examples of Baroque stylistic richness and,…
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Kadi Burhan al-Din
Kadi Ahmad Burhan al-Din (8 January 1345, Kayseri – c. 1398, Sivas) was a Turcoman poet, scholar, and statesman. He was vizier to the Eretnid rulers of Anatolia. In 1381, he took over Eretnid lands and claimed the title of sultan for himself. He is most often referred to by the title Qadi, a title for Islamic judges, which was his first occupation. To maintain the independence of his principality, he fought against the Ottomans, Mamluks, Karamanids, and Aq Qoyunlu for 18 years. He composed poetry in a Turkic language close to modern Azerbaijani Turkic. In addition to his poems in Turkic, he…
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John Bigler
John Bigler (January 8, 1805 – November 29, 1871) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat. A Democrat, he served as the third governor of California from 1852 to 1856 and was the first California governor to complete an entire term in office, as well as the first to win re-election. His younger brother, William Bigler, was elected governor of Pennsylvania during the same period. Bigler was also appointed by President James Buchanan as the U.S. Minister to Chile from 1857 to 1861.
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Peter Taylor
Matthew Hillsman Taylor Jr. (January 8, 1917 – November 2, 1994), known professionally as Peter Taylor, was an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright. Born and raised in Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, he wrote frequently about the urban South in his stories and novels.
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Gillies MacKinnon
Gillies MacKinnon (born 8 January 1948) is a Scottish film director, writer and painter. He was born in Glasgow and attended the Glasgow School of Art where he studied mural painting. Following this he became an art teacher and cartoonist, and about this time he traveled with a nomadic tribe in the Sahara for six months. In the 1970s he studied at the Middlesex Polytechnic (now Middlesex University) and in the 1980s in the National Film and Television School. He made a short film called Passing Glory as his graduation piece, a recreation of Glasgow in the 1950s and 1960s. It was premiered at…
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Theophilus Shepstone
Sir Theophilus Shepstone (8 January 1817 – 23 June 1893) was a British South African statesman who was responsible for the annexation of the Transvaal to Britain in 1877.
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Fanny Bullock Workman
Fanny Bullock Workman (January 8, 1859 – January 22, 1925) was an American mountaineer, explorer, cartographer, and travel writer known for her expeditions in the Himalayas and the Karakoram. One of the first women to pursue mountaineering as a professional career, she combined exploration with scientific observation and published detailed accounts of her journeys. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries she set several women's altitude records and advocated for women's suffrage and women's participation in exploration and science. Workman was born in Worcester,…
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Phil Beal
Phil Beal (born 8 January 1945) is an English former footballer who played as a central defender.
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Henrik Shipstead
Henrik Shipstead (January 8, 1881 – June 26, 1960) was a Norwegian-American dentist and politician who served in the United States Senate from 1923 to 1947, representing the state of Minnesota. He served first as a member of the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party from 1923 to 1941 and then as a Republican from 1941 to 1947. Few members of Congress in American history were more consistent in opposing US foreign interventionism, despite not believing himself to be an isolationist and voting in favor of declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He is also noted for his antisemitism and…
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Emily Greene Balch
Emily Greene Balch (January 8, 1867 – January 9, 1961) was an American economist, sociologist and pacifist. Balch combined an academic career at Wellesley College with a long-standing interest in social issues such as poverty, child labor, and immigration, as well as settlement work to uplift poor immigrants and reduce juvenile delinquency. She moved into the peace movement at the start of World War I in 1914, and began collaborating with Jane Addams of Chicago. She became a central leader of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) based in Switzerland, for which she…
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Frank Nelson Doubleday
Frank Nelson Doubleday (January 8, 1862 – January 30, 1934), known to friends and family as "Effendi" (phonetic "F.N.D."), founded the Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897, which later operated under other names. Starting work at the age of 14 after his father's business failed, Doubleday began with Charles Scribner's Sons in New York. His son Nelson Doubleday, son-in-law John Turner Sargent, Sr. and grandson Nelson Doubleday, Jr. all worked in the company and led it through different periods. In 1986, after years of changes in the publishing business, his grandson Nelson Doubleday, Jr. as…
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Marián Šťastný
Marián Šťastný (born 8 January 1953) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey right winger. He played for five seasons in the National Hockey League from 1981 through 1986 for the Quebec Nordiques and Toronto Maple Leafs. Prior to moving to the NHL Šťastný had played in Czechoslovakia for Slovan ChZJD Bratislava with his brothers, Peter and Anton. They defected in 1980, joining the Nordiques, though Marián waited until 1981 to join them.
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Kenny Anthony
Kenny Davis Anthony (born 8 January 1951) is a Saint Lucian politician who was Prime Minister of Saint Lucia from 1997 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016. As leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party, he was Leader of the Opposition from 2006 to 2011 and returned to office as Prime Minister on 30 November 2011 following the 2011 election. He left office after the SLP's defeat in the 2016 election and announced his resignation as party leader.
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Walker Cooper
William Walker Cooper (January 8, 1915 – April 11, 1991) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1940 to 1957, most notably as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals with whom he won two World Series championships. An eight-time All-Star, Cooper was known as one of the top catchers in baseball during the 1940s and early 1950s. His elder brother Mort Cooper, also played in Major League Baseball as a pitcher.
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Pavel Filonov
Pavel Nikolayevich Filonov (Russian: Па́вел Никола́евич Фило́нов, IPA: [ˈpavʲɪl nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ fʲɪˈlonəf] ; January 8, 1883 – December 3, 1941) was a Russian avant-garde painter, art theorist, and poet.
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Vladimir Feltsman
Vladimir Oskarovich Feltsman (Russian: Владимир Оскарович Фельцман; born 8 January 1952) is a Russian-American classical pianist particularly noted for his devotion to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Frédéric Chopin.
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Jaromír Weinberger
Jaromír Weinberger (8 January 1896 – August 8, 1967) was a Bohemian-born Jewish subject of the Austrian Empire, who became a naturalized American composer.
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Dale D. Myers
Dale Dehaven Myers (January 8, 1922 – May 19, 2015) was an American aerospace engineer who was the deputy administrator of NASA, serving between October 6, 1986, and May 13, 1989. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1943.
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Evelyn Lear
Evelyn Shulman Lear (January 8, 1926 – July 1, 2012) was an American operatic soprano. Between 1959 and 1992, she appeared in more than forty operatic roles, appeared with every major opera company in the United States and won a Grammy Award in 1966. She was well known for her musical versatility, having sung all three main female roles in Der Rosenkavalier. Lear was also known for her work on 20th century pieces by Robert Ward, Alban Berg, Marvin David Levy, Rudolf Kelterborn and Giselher Klebe. She was married to the American bass-baritone Thomas Stewart until his death in 2006.
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Charles Tomlinson
Alfred Charles Tomlinson (8 January 1927 – 22 August 2015) was an English poet, translator, academic, and illustrator. He was born in Penkhull, and grew up in Basford, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
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James Milton Carroll
James Milton Carroll (January 8, 1852 – January 10, 1931) was an American Baptist pastor, leader, historian, author, and educator.
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Simon Episcopius
Simon Episcopius (8 January 1583 – 4 April 1643) was a Dutch theologian and Remonstrant who played a significant role at the Synod of Dort in 1618. His name is the Latinized form of his Dutch name Simon Bisschop.
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Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero
Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero y de Guzmán (8 January 1635, Palma del Río – 14 September 1709, Toledo, Spain) was a Spanish prelate, who was cardinal archbishop of Toledo. Uncle of Luis Antonio Tomás de Portocarrero y Moscoso, 5th Count, who became a Grandee of Spain, 2nd class, since 1707 by King Felipe V of Spain.
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Emma Booth-Tucker
Emma Moss Booth-Tucker (8 January 1860 – 28 October 1903), known as 'The Consul', was the fourth child and second daughter of William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army.
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Benjamin Lees
Benjamin Lees (January 8, 1924 – May 31, 2010) was an American composer of classical music.
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Johannes Fabricius
Johann Goldsmid, better known by his Latinized name Johann(es) Fabricius (8 January 1587 – 19 March 1616), eldest son of David Fabricius (1564–1617), was a Frisian astronomer and a modern era discoverer of sunspots in 1611, preceded by Thomas Harriot and followed by Galileo Galilei.
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William G. Conley
William Gustavus Conley (January 8, 1866 – October 21, 1940) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of West Virginia (1908–1913) and 18th governor of West Virginia as a Republican (1929 to 1933).
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Jeanne Adnet
Jeanne Adnet (8 January 1871 – 26 December 1942) was a French seamstress, illegalist anarchist and then socialist. Along with some of her close relatives, like her sister Clotilde Adnet, she became involved in the anarchist movement in France during the 1890s. While married to a socialist activist she found too moderate, Adnet embraced anarchism—influencing her sister to do the same—and was accused of criminal conspiracy with her group, the Rue des Abbesses group. A few years later, following her sister's arrest by Belgian authorities for counterfeiting, Adnet managed to help her escape from…
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