Honorable Mention: January 27, 1931: Mordecai Richler. His writing has examined the question of what it means to be Jewish in a country that wasn't made for him; and what it means to live in Canada, Quebec and Montreal at at time when many people want to separate and form their own country.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: January 27, 1832: Lewis Carroll. The author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and similar works has had his reputation tainted by presumptions about his private life. Apparently, his own family suppressed the evidence that he was interested in women after they grew up, in order to save him from the judgment of history. But they didn't consider how his interest in the women before they grew up might be judged by later audiences. What was considered "okay" in Victorian times is not necessarily considered "okay" today.
Dishonorable Mention: January 27, 1859: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Let's not kid ourselves: If Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria had not been assassinated, toppling the dominoes that it did, the Kaiser would have found some other excuse to start World War I and the horrors it brought.
10. January 27, 1955: John G. Roberts. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1955, he has become "the swing vote" on the Court. Yes, his vote in Citizens United v. FEC certified the lie that corporations are "people" and entitled to the rights thereof. And his vote in Shelby County v. Holder helped gut the Voting Rights Act of 1965. And his vote in Obergfell v. Hodges nearly derailed same-sex marriage.
On the other hand, his vote in Hollingsworth v. Perry overturned California's anti-gay Proposition 8. And his vote in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius saved the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare.
9. January 27, 1957: Frank Miller. His work helped spark the American comic book industry, especially his version of the Batman origin story, Year One; and his vision of the last Batman story, The Dark Knight Returns. But it also gave rise to the myth that "Batman always wins," and that he would have a chance in hell of beating Superman. Maybe in Hell, but not on Earth.
8. January 27, 1921: Donna Reed. It's gotten to the point where her role as Mary Hatch Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life has surpassed in popularity her role as Donna Stone on The Donna Reed Show.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: January 27, 1956: Mimi Rogers. One of the top actresses of her generation, we should also point out that she brought her then-husband, Tom Cruise, to Scientology, and that this has led to a lot of issues.
Honorable Mention: January 27, 1940: James Cromwell. At 6-foot-7, he is taller than any real-life President of the United States has been. Nevertheless, he has played 4 Presidents, including the real life Lyndon Johnson and George H.W. Bush. He's also played Pope Pius XII and Prince Philip.
Honorable Mention: January 27, 1964: Bridget Fonda. Granddaughter of Henry, daughter of Peter and niece of Jane, she has more than held her own.
7. January 27, 1959: Keith Olbermann. No other person has ever made more people say, "Stick to sports, leave politics out of it." Through his work on ESPN and MSNBC, he has proven, beyond any doubt, that no one ever says that when they agree with your politics.
6. January 27, 1901: Art Rooney. The founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, his money also, at various times, helped keep alive the NFL in its entirety, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Negro Leagues and the American horse racing industry. But he is not the highest-ranking sports team owner on this list.
5. January 27, 1933: Jerry Buss. A chemist, he wanted to fund his teaching of science, so he invested in real estate. He made enough money at that to buy the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. He turned them from an underachieving franchise into an iconic one.
4. January 27, 1885: Jerome Kern. Working mostly with Oscar Hammerstein II, he wrote "Ol' Man River,""A Fine Romance,""All the Things You Are,""The Way You Look Tonight,""I've Told Every Little Star" and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes."
In 1958, the Platters recorded the last of these. Kern's widow Eva sued to stop it. She dropped the suit when it hit Number 1, and she realized she was making more money in royalties than she would in winning the case, and that they were helping to keep her husband's memory alive.
Honorable Mention: January 27, 1918: Elmore James. "The King of the Slide Guitar" was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an "Early Influence."
Honorable Mention: January 27, 1919: Ross Bagdasarian. He created the Chipmunks franchise, playing the role of David Seville.
3. January 27, 1948: Mikhail Baryshnikov. Like Rudolf Nureyev before him, became the greatest living male ballet dancer, and a cause célèbre upon defecting from the Soviet Union to the West. Unlike Nureyev, he was not only straight, but was willing to become something Cold War-era America didn't think was possible: A Russian sex symbol.
2. January 27, 1850: Samuel Gompers. He founded the American Federation of Labor (forerunner of the AFL-CIO) in 1886, and ran it continuously (except briefly in 1894 and '95) until his death in 1924. The leading figure in American labor history, the one mark against his record is his opposition to Chinese immigration (which was hardly uncommon at the time).
1. January 27, 1756: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. There is a fine line between genius and madness. He didn't come as close to crossing it as the play and film Amadeus suggested he did. In fact, most of what we think we know about him comes from that story, and is not true. He was a bit of a weirdo. But who has ever made music better?
Still alive as of this writing: Roberts, Miller, Rogers, Cromwell, Fonda, Olbermann, Baryshnikov.