Born On This Day: Richard Gere  turns 63 today An American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol. He went on to star in several hit films including An Officer and a Gentleman, Pretty Woman and Chicago, for which he won a Golden Globe Award as Best Actor.

In Memoriam: Diana, Princess of Wales  died 15 years ago today The first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and member of the British Royal Family. She was also well known for her fund-raising work for international charities, and an eminent celebrity of the late 20th century. Her wedding to Charles, heir to the British throne and those of the then 18 Commonwealth realms, was held at St Paul's Cathedral and seen by a global television audience of over 750 million.

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Born On This Day: Warren Buffett turns 82 today An American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century. He is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people. He was ranked as the world's wealthiest person in 2008.

In Memoriam: Larry Desmedt died 8 years ago today Better known as Indian Larry, was a noted motorcycle builder and artist, stunt rider, and biker. He first became known as Indian Larry in the 1980s when he was riding the streets of New York City on a chopped Indian motorcycle. Respected as an old school chopper builder, Larry sought greater acceptance of choppers being looked upon as an art form.

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Born On This Day: Richard Attenborough turns 89 today An English actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. He is the current President of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). As a film director and producer, he won two Academy Awards for Gandhi in 1982. He has also won four BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. As an actor he is perhaps best known for his roles in Brighton Rock, The Great Escape, 10 Rillington Place, Miracle on 34th Street and Jurassic Park.

In Memoriam: Ingrid Bergman died 30 years ago today A Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute. She is best remembered for her roles as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca, and as Alicia Huberman in Notorious, an Alfred Hitchcock thriller co-starring Cary Grant.

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Born On This Day: Jack Black turns 43 today An American comedian, actor and musician. Black makes up one half of the comedy and satirical rock duo Tenacious D. The group has three albums as well as a television series and a film. His acting career is extensive, starring primarily as bumbling, cocky, but internally self-conscious outsiders in comedy films. Black was a member of the Frat Pack, a group of comedians who have appeared together in several Hollywood films.

In Memoriam: Phil Hill died 4 years ago today A United States automobile racer and the only American-born driver to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship (Mario Andretti, an American driver, won the World Drivers' Championship in 1978, but was not born in the United States). Hill was described as a "thoughtful, gentle man" and once said, "I'm in the wrong business. I don't want to beat anybody, I don't want to be the big hero. I'm a peace-loving man, basically."

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Born On This Day: Paul Reubens turns 60 today An American actor, writer, film producer, and comedian, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor.

In Memoriam: Le Corbusier died 47 years ago today An architect, designer, urbanist,and writer, famous for being one of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture. His career spanned five decades, with his buildings constructed throughout Europe, India and America.

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Born On This Day: Macaulay Culkin turns 32 today An American actor. He became widely known for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He is also known for his roles in Richie Rich, Uncle Buck, My Girl, The Pagemaster, and Party Monster. At the height of his fame, he was regarded as the most successful child actor since Shirley Temple.

In Memoriam: Frederick Reines died 94 years ago today An American physicist. He was awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physics for his co-detection of the neutrino with Clyde Cowan in the neutrino experiment, and may be the only scientist in history "so intimately associated with the discovery of an elementary particle and the subsequent thorough investigation of its fundamental properties".

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R.I.P. Neil Armstrong

American former NASA astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon. Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong was in the United States Navy and served in the Korean War. After the war, he served as a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) High-Speed Flight Station, now known as the Dryden Flight Research Center, where he flew over 900 flights in a variety of aircraft.

Born On This Day: Sean Connery turns 82 today A Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes (including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and a Henrietta Award). Connery is best known for portraying the character James Bond, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983 (six Eon Productions films and the non-canonical Thunderball remake, Never Say Never Again).

In Memoriam: Friedrich Nietzsche died 112 years ago A German philosopher, poet, cultural critic and classical philologist. He wrote critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science, displaying a fondness for metaphor, irony and aphorism. Nietzsche's key ideas include the death of God, the Übermensch, the eternal recurrence, the Apollonian and Dionysian dichotomy, perspectivism and the will to power.

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Born On This Day: Vince McMahon turns 67 today An American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE. Upon acquiring World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), McMahon's WWE became the sole remaining major American professional wrestling promotion.

In Memoriam: Thomas Blood died 332 years ago today An Irish colonel best known for attempting to steal the Crown Jewels of England from the Tower of London in 1671. Described as a "noted bravo and desperado", he was implicated in the attempted kidnapping and, later, attempted murder of his enemy the Duke of Ormonde. He had switched allegiances from Royalist to Roundhead during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and later, despite his notorious reputation, found favour at the court of King Charles II.

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Born On This Day: Barbara Eden turns 78 today An American film and television actress and singer who is best known for starring as the title role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. Barbara's mother entertained the children by singing songs. This musical background left a lasting impression on the actress, who began taking acting classes because she felt it might help her improve her singing.

In Memoriam: Ninjalicious died 7 years ago today Jeff Chapman, better known by the pseudonym Ninjalicious, was a Toronto-based urban explorer, fountaineer, writer and founder of the urban exploration zine Infiltration: the zine about going places you're not supposed to go. He was also a prominent author and editor for YIP magazine , as well as its website, Yip.org.

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Born On This Day: Tori Amos turns 49 today An American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She is a classically trained musician and possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range.  Some of her charting singles include "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "God", "Cornflake Girl", "Caught a Lite Sneeze", "Professional Widow", "Spark", "1000 Oceans", and "A Sorta Fairytale", her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to date.

In Memoriam: Jack Layton died 1 year ago today A Canadian social democratic politician and Leader of the Official Opposition. He was leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, occasionally holding the title of "Acting Mayor" or "Deputy Mayor" of Toronto during his tenure as city councillor. He was the Member of Parliament for Toronto—Danforth from 2004 until his death.

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Born On This Day: Kenny Rogers turns 74 today An American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. Though he has been most successful with country audiences, he has charted more than 120 hit singles across various music genres and topping the country and pop album charts for more than 200 individual weeks in the United States alone.

In Memoriam: Leon Trotsky died 72 years ago today A Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army. Trotsky was initially a supporter of the Menshevik Internationalists faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He joined the Bolsheviks immediately prior to the 1917 October Revolution, and became a leader within the Party.

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R.I.P. Phyllis Diller

An American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes self-deprecating jokes about her age and appearance, her terrible cooking, and a husband named "Fang", while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder. Diller's signature is her unusual laugh.

R.I.P Tony Scott

An English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123 and Unstoppable. He is the younger brother of fellow film director Ridley Scott.

Born On This Day: Robert Plant turns 64 today An English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin. With a career spanning more than 40 years, Plant is regarded as one of the most significant singers in the history of rock music, and has influenced contemporaries and later singers such as Freddie Mercury and Axl Rose.

In Memoriam: Fred Hoyle died 11 years ago today An English astronomer and mathematician noted primarily for his contribution to the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and his often controversial stance on other cosmological and scientific matters—in particular his rejection of the "Big Bang" theory, a term originally coined by him out of ridicule for the main rival of his own theory.

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Born On This Day: Bill Clinton turns 66 today An American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation.

In Memoriam: Augustus Caesar died 1998 years ago The founder of the Roman Empire and its first Emperor, ruling from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD. Born into an old, wealthy equestrian branch of the Plebeian Octavii family, Augustus was adopted posthumously by his maternal great-uncle Gaius Julius Caesar in 44 BC following Caesar's assassination.

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Born On This Day: Edward Norton turns 43 today An American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Two years later, his lead role as a reformed white power skinhead in American History X earned a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actor. Other films include Kingdom of Heaven (2005), The Illusionist (2006), Rounders (1998), Fight Club (1999), 25th Hour (2002), Red Dragon (2002), and The Incredible Hulk (2008).

In Memoriam: Genghis Khan died 785 years ago today The founder and Great Khan (emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his demise. He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia. After founding the Mongol Empire and being proclaimed "Genghis Khan", he started the Mongol invasions that resulted in the conquest of most of Eurasia. These included raids or invasions of the Kara-Khitan Khanate, Caucasus, Khwarezmid Empire, Western Xia and Jin dynasties.

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Born On This Day: Robert De Niro turns 69 today An American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973. In 1974, he played the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II, a role that won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His critically acclaimed, longtime collaborations with Martin Scorsese began with 1973's Mean Streets, and earned De Niro an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake LaMotta in the 1980 film Raging Bull.

In Memoriam: Paul Williams died 39 years ago today An American baritone singer and choreographer. Williams is noted for being one of the founding members and original lead singer of the Motown group The Temptations. Along with David Ruffin, Otis Williams (no relation), and fellow Alabamians Eddie Kendricks and Melvin Franklin, Williams was a member of The Temptations during the "Classic Five" period. Personal problems and failing health forced Williams to retire in 1971. He committed suicide two years later.

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Born On This Day: Madonna turns 54 today An American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and entrepreneur. She has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the world's top-selling female recording artist of all time by Guinness World Records. Considered to be one of the "25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century" by Time for being an influential figure in contemporary music.

In Memoriam: Elvis Presley died 35 years ago today One of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is commonly known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King". He began his career there in 1954, working with Sun Records owner Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African American music to a wider audience.

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Born On This Day: Jennifer Lawrence turns 22 today An American film and television actress. She had lead roles in The Bill Engvall Show and in the independent films The Burning Plain and Winter's Bone, for which she received nominations for the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Satellite Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Award. At age 20, she was the second youngest actress ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2012, Lawrence achieved wider recognition starring as the heroine Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, an adaptation of Suzanne Collins' best-selling novel.

In Memoriam: Will Rogers died 77 years ago today An American cowboy, vaudeville performer, humorist, social commentator and motion picture actor. He was one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s. Known as Oklahoma's favorite son, Rogers was born to a prominent Cherokee Nation family in Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma). He traveled around the world three times, made 71 movies (50 silent films and 21 "talkies"), wrote more than 4,000 nationally-syndicated newspaper columns, and became a world-famous figure. By the mid-1930s, Rogers was adored by the American people.

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Born On This Day: Steve Martin turns 67 today An American actor, comedian, author, playwright, producer, musician and composer. Martin came to public notice as a writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and later became a frequent guest on The Tonight Show. In the 1970s, Martin performed his offbeat, absurdist comedy routines before packed houses on national tours. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Martin at sixth place in a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics.

In Memoriam: Roy Buchanan died 24 years ago today An American guitarist and blues musician. A pioneer of the Telecaster sound, Buchanan was a sideman and solo artist, with two gold albums early in his career, and two later solo albums that made it on to the Billboard chart. Despite never having achieved stardom, he is still considered a highly influential guitar player. Allthough not mentioned on the "100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time," Guitar Player praised him as one of the "50 Greatest Tones of all Time."

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Born On This Day: Fidel Castro turns 86 today A Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011. Politically a Marxist-Leninist, under his administration the Republic of Cuba was converted into a one-party socialist state, with industry and business being nationalized under state ownership and socialist reforms implemented in all areas of society.

In Memoriam: H. G. Wells died 66 years ago today A British author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games. Together with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback, Wells has been referred to as "The Father of Science Fiction". Wells's earliest specialized training was in biology, and his thinking on ethical matters took place in a specifically and fundamentally Darwinian context.

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Born On This Day: Peter Krause turns 47 today An American film and television actor, director and producer. He is perhaps best known for his lead roles as Nate Fisher on Six Feet Under, Adam Braverman on Parenthood, and Casey McCall on Sports Night. He is also known for being the series lead of the television series Dirty Sexy Money.

In Memoriam: Merv Griffin died 5 years ago today An American television host, musician, actor, and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer who went on to appear in movies and on Broadway. Griffin created the game shows Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Click, and Merv Griffin's Crosswords with his own "Merv Griffin Enterprises" television production company.

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Born On This Day: Hulk Hogan turns 59 today An American professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Hogan enjoyed mainstream popularity in the mid 1980s through the early 1990s as the all-American character Hulk Hogan in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF—now WWE), and was notable in the mid-to-late 1990s as Hollywood Hogan, the villainous nWo leader, in World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

In Memoriam: Peter Cushing died 18 years ago today An English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the distinguished-looking but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally Vincent Price. His most famous roles outside of "Hammer Horror" include his many appearances as Sherlock Holmes and as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars.

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Born On This Day: Antonio Banderas turns 52 today A Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer. He began his acting career at age 19 with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar and then appeared in high-profile Hollywood films, especially in the 1990s, including Assassins, Evita, Interview with the Vampire, Philadelphia, Desperado, The Mask of Zorro, Spy Kids, the Shrek sequels and Puss in Boots.

In Memoriam: Leno LaBianca died 43 years ago today Pasqualino Antonio "Leno" LaBianca and his wife Rosemary LaBianca were victims of the Manson Family murders.

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Born On This Day: Eric Bana turns 44 today An Australian film and television actor. He began his career as a comedian in the sketch comedy series Full Frontal before gaining critical recognition in the biopic Chopper (2000). After a decade of roles in Australian TV shows and films, Bana gained Hollywood's attention by playing the role of American Delta Force Sergeant Norm "Hoot" Hooten in Black Hawk Down (2001), the lead role as Bruce Banner in the Ang Lee directed film Hulk (2003), Hector in the movie Troy (2004), the lead in Steven Spielberg's Munich (2005), and the villain Nero in the science-fiction film Star Trek (2009).

In Memoriam: Sharon Tate died 43 years ago today An American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Valley of the Dolls (1967). She also appeared regularly in fashion magazines as a model and cover girl. Married to film director Roman Polanski in 1968, Sharon was eight-and-a-half months pregnant when she was murdered in her home, along with four others, by followers of Charles Manson.

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Born On This Day: Dustin Hoffman turns 75 today An American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters. He first drew critical praise for the play Eh?, for which he won a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award. This was soon followed by his breakthrough movie role in The Graduate (1967).

In Memoriam: Patricia Neal died 2 years ago today An American actress of stage and screen. She was best known for her film roles as World War II widow Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), middle-aged housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud (1963), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

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