1774
Meriwether Lewis, American explorer who led the Corps of Discovery with William Clark.
1792
Lord John Russell, Prime Minister of England from 1846 to 1852 and 1865 to 1866.
1807
Charles F. Adams, U.S. diplomat and public official whose father was John Quincy Adams.
1918
Elsa Morante, Italian writer (History: A Novel).
1922
Shelly Winters, actress who won an Academy Award for The Diary of Anne Frank.
1923
Jimmy Witherspoon, blues singer.
1932
Luc Montagnier, virologist who discovered the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
1933
Roman Polanski, Polish film director best known for Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown.
1934
Roberto Clemente, outfielder for Pittsburgh Pirates, first Latin American enshrined in National Baseball Hall of Fame; died in plane crash while delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua, Dec. 31, 1972.
1936
Robert Redford, actor (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Great Gatsby).
1937
William George Rushton, London, actor, author, cartoonist; co-founder of Private Eye satire magazine.
1940
Frankie Avalon, singer ("Venus," 5 weeks at No. 1), actor (Beach Blanket Bingo); teen heartthrob of late 1950s–early 1960s.
1952
Patrick Swayze, actor/dancer (Dirty Dancing, Ghost).
1961
Robert Warren "Bob" Woodruff, journalist, TV news anchor; critically wounded by roadside bomb while reporting on the war in Iraq, January 2006.
1962
Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico 2006–2012.
1969
Christian Slater, actor (Heathers, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Hard Rain).
