Honorable Mention: January 9, 1915: Fernando Lamas. Dashing Argentine actor who relished being cast in "Latin lover" roles. Inspired comedian Billy Crystal's Fernando character when he appeared on Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and told Carson, "You look marvelous!" and, "It is better to look good than to feel good."
Honorable Mention: January 9, 1928: Domenico Modugno. This singer, songwriter, and eventually member of the Italian Parliament wrote only one song that Americans remember. But it was a big one: "Volare."
Honorable Mention: January 9, 1948: Jan Tomaszewski. Polish soccer's greatest goalkeeper. Hey, I know he's not in the Top 10, but it's my list, and I can make him an Honorable Mention if I want to.
Honorable Mention: January 9, 1955: J.K. Simmons. You might not know his name, but you know his face and his voice, from the Farmers Insurance commercials. Plus, he has managed to excel in superhero movies for both DC Comics (he's played Batman's ally, Commissioner Jim Gordon) and Marvel Comics (he's played Spider-Man's boss and enemy, newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson).
Honorable Mention: January 9, 1967: Dave Matthews. A big music star of the 1990s whose activism was shaped by growing up as a white kid seeing how black people were treated in his native South Africa.
Honorable Mention: January 9, 1982: Kate Middleton, a.k.a. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. If the current rumors about her husband, Prince William, 2nd in line for the British throne, are true, the marriage might not be as happy as we've been led to believe. Unfortunately, throughout history, British royals have this nasty habit of pursuing women less attractive than their wives.
Dishonorable Mention: January 9, 1913: Richard Nixon. He had a point, but not the one he wanted to make. He was not a crook. He was, however, the 1st President to be a legitimate supervillain.
Dishonorable Mention: January 9, 1944: Jimmy Page. No question, he was one of the greatest guitarists in rock and roll history, playing for the Yardbirds and many other big British sessions in the 1960s before starring with Led Zeppelin in the 1970s.
But you know all that stuff that evangelicals tried to tell us about rock and roll? That it was the Devil's music and led to violence and perversion? Zep lead singer Robert Plant didn't exactly believe in that. Page not only did, he lived it.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: January 9, 1959: Rigoberta Menchú. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, for her advocacy for the indigenous people of her native Guatemala. But much of what she has written, especially about her own life's experience, has been called into question, and some has turned out to be flat-out false.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: January 9, 1973: Sean Paul. Yes, the half-Portuguese, half-Jewish, Jamaican-born "dancehall singer" is successful. But he became successful by singing the most monotonous songs of his generation. Sometimes, I'm glad that I can't understand what he says. "Uh-oh!"
Somewhat Honorable Mention: January 9, 1978: Gennaro Gattuso. This guy is a piece of work. Playing for AC Milan in the 2000s, and helping Italy win the 2006 World Cup, he was one of the best defensive soccer players of his generation. But he was frequently, with some justification, called a dirty player.
He has gone into management, and led SSC Napoli to the 2020 Coppa Italia, but job security in Italian soccer management being what it is, has since been fired. His legacy? As the man himself might say, "Sometimes, maybe good. Sometimes, maybe shit!" (Yes, he speaks English.)
10. January 9, 1989: Nina Dobrev. This Bulgarian-born Canadian actress made her mark in horror, and became the Internet version of the old "pinup girls." She has since tried to make it with a sitcom.
9. January 9, 1928: Judith Krantz. Like Stephen King, this romance novelist proved that you don't have to write great literature to reach people and selling millions of copies.
8. January 9, 1890: Karel Čapek. This Czech writer was a pioneer of science fiction, and created the word "robot."
7. January 9, 1935: Bob Denver. He was Maynard G. Krebs on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Willy Gilligan on Gilligan's Island, and Junior on Far Out Space Nuts.
6. January 9, 1951: Crystal Gayle. She's not the biggest country singer in her family -- she's the younger sister of Loretta Lynn -- but she's got talent longer than her hair.
5. January 9, 1908: Simone de Beauvoir. Perhaps the leading feminist writer of the 1st half of the 20th Century.
4. January 9, 1859: Carrie Chapman Catt. She founded the League of Women Voters and helped get the 19th Amendment ratified.
3. January 9, 1941: Joan Baez. The leading female voice of the early 1960s folk music movement, she was the only person to speak (let alone sing) from the stages of both the March On Washington and Woodstock.
2. January 9, 1935: Dick Enberg. He served as the play-by-play voice of the California Angels and the Los Angeles Rams, and later of the San Diego Padres. But he's best known as the top NFL announcer for NBC: "Touchdown! Oh, my!"
1. January 9, 1934: Bart Starr. The Green Bay Packer remains the only quarterback to win 5 NFL Championships without cheating. He was named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowls I and II.
Still alive as of this writing: Tomaszewski, Simmons, Matthews, Middleton, Page, Menchú, Sean Paul, Gattuso, Dobrev, Gayle, Baez.