Elijah Muhammad – 1897 – an African-American religious leader and a central figure in the Nation of Islam (NOI). Under his leadership, the Nation of Islam experienced substantial growth and gained attention for its advocacy of black nationalism, self-reliance and separatism.

Alfred Drake – 1914 – an American actor. Some of his notable roles include, “Oklahoma!”, “Kiss Me, Kate”, “Kismet”, “Camelot” and “Gigi”.

June Allyson – 1917 – an American actress known for her roles in films such as “Best Foot Forward”, “Two Girls and a Sailor”, “The Three Musketeers”, “Too Young to Kiss”, “Little Women”, “The Glenn Miller Story” and “Good News”.

Joy Behar – 1942 – an American talk show host and television personality. She is best known for her work as a co-host on the daytime talk show “The View”.

John Mellencamp – 1951 – an American singer. Some of his notable albums include “Scarecrow”, “Lonesome Jubilee”, “Big Daddy” and “The Rural Route 7609”. His most well-known songs are “Jack and Diane”, “Pink Houses”, “Small Town”, “Crumblin’ Down” and “Authority Song”.

Mary Badham – 1952 – an American child actress, best known for her role as Scout Finch in the film “To Kill a Mockingbird”.

Vladimir Putin – 1952 – a President of Russia.

James Van Patten – 1956 – an American actor. Some of his notable acting credits include appearances in TV shows like “The White Shadow,” “Young Doctors in Love” and “As the World Turns”.

Judy Landers – 1958 – an American actress best known for her role as Stacey in the TV series “BJ and the Bear”. Additionally, she made guest appearances on various popular TV shows such as “Happy Days”, “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island”.

Dylan Baker – 1959 – an American actor. Some of his notable film credits include roles in “Happiness”, “Planes, Trains & Automobiles”, “Kinsey” and “The Good Wife”.

Simon Cowell – 1959 – a British television producer and music executive, best known for his role as a judge on various talent competition shows, particularly “American Idol,” “Britain’s Got Talent” and “The X Factor”.

Toni Braxton – 1967 – an American singer, best known for her iconic song “Un-Break My Heart”. She released several successful albums throughout her career including “Secrets”, “The Heat”, “More Than a Woman” and “Pulse”.

Thom Yorke – 1968 – an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist and songwriter of the alternative rock band Radiohead. The band released several successful albums including is “Pablo Honey”, “The Bends,” “OK Computer,” “Kid A” and “In Rainbows”.

Alexander Polinsky – 1974 – an American actor best known for his role as Adam Powell in the sitcom “Charles in Charge”. He also appeared in other TV shows like “Punky Brewster” and “Teen Titans.”

Allison Munn – 1974 – an American actress best recognized for her role as Tina Haven on the television series “What I Like About You”. Additionally, she appeared in other television shows such as “That ’70s Show”, “One Tree Hill” and “Two and a Half Men”.

Aaron Ashmore – 1979 – a Canadian actor who is best known for his portrayal of Jimmy Olsen in the television series “Smallville”. He has also made guest appearances in numerous television shows, including “The West Wing”, “Killjoys”, “Veronica Mars” and “Warehouse 13”.

Shawn Ashmore – 1979 – a Canadian actor best known for his role as Bobby Drake / Iceman in the “X-Men” film series. In addition he starred in the horror film “The Ruins” and had roles in TV series like “The Following,” “Quantum Break” and “Conviction.”

1806 – Ralph Wedgwood, an English inventor, received a patent for carbon. His invention was a precursor to modern carbon paper and involved using a thin sheet of paper coated with a waxy substance, which allowed for the transfer of handwriting or drawings onto another sheet of paper placed beneath it.

1919 – KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, was established. It is one of the oldest operating airlines in the world and is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands.

1982 – The musical “Cats”, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway in New York City. It became one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history, running for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.

1996 – Rupert Murdoch launched the Fox News Channel. The network was quickly became known for its conservative-leaning news coverage and commentary.

2001 – The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, also known as Operation Enduring Freedom, began. This military action was in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. The invasion aimed to dismantle the Taliban regime that was harboring the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, responsible for the attacks.

10% of the world population is left-handed. Men are more likely to be left-handed than women. Some studies suggest that one’s heritage may play a role in determining if someone will be left or right-handed. 

Listening to foreign music or watching foreign language films is considered a crime in North Korea. Kim Jong Un issued a decree in 2015 ordering the destruction of all cassette tapes and CDs containing state-banned tunes. The sentence is determined by the country of origin of the film: someone viewing an American picture may be executed, whilst someone watching an Indian film may be imprisoned.

German chocolate cake was invented in Texas. The cake is named after Samuel German, an American baker, and was originally called “German’s Chocolate Cake”. In 1852, Samuel German developed a type of dark baking chocolate for the Baker’s Chocolate Company.