10. February 8, 1931: James Dean. He could have been one of the greatest actors of that generation, but he decided that driving 140 miles an hour was a good idea.
9. February 8, 1955: John Grisham. The lawyer-turned-novelist has written A Time to Kill, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, and many others, some of which have been made into movies.
8. February 8, 1966: Hristo Stoichkov. The greatest soccer player that Bulgaria has ever produced, the forward led CSKA Sofia to 3 league titles. "The Dagger" led FC Barcelona to 5 titles in Spain's La Liga and the 1992 European Cup. (The tournament's name was changed to the UEFA Champions League the next season.)
In 1994, he led Bulgaria to the Semifinal of the World Cup, and Barcelona to the La Liga title. He was awarded the Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) as world player of the year. In 2000, he came to America, and led the Chicago Fire to the U.S. Open Cup (our version of the FA Cup).
Honorable Mention: February 8, 1956: Marques Johnson. The forward led UCLA to the last National Championship of the John Wooden era, in 1975, before becoming a 5-time NBA All-Star, mostly with the Milwaukee Bucks. He's in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Honorable Mention: February 8, 1960: Dino Ciccarelli. A 4-time NHL All-Star, the right wing scored 608 goals. But he never won a Stanley Cup, reaching the Finals as a rookie with the 1981 Minnesota North Stars, and again with the 1995 Detroit Red Wings.
Honorable Mention: February 8, 1966: Kirk Muller. The center was one of the earliest stars for the New Jersey Devils, serving as their Captain from 1987 to 1991, and, yes, we Devils fans called him Captain Kirk. He still holds Devils team records for points in a game with 6, and with assists in a game with 5 -- not in the same game. He won a Stanley Cup with the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, played in 6 All-Star Games, and scored 357 career goals.
Honorable Mention: February 8, 1970: Alonzo Mourning. A 7-time All-Star, the center was the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000. In 2006, he won an NBA Championship with the Miami Heat. He is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Honorable Mention: February 8, 1990: Klay Thompson. A 5-time All-Star (so far), the guard has helped the Golden State Warriors win the 2015, 2017 and 2018 NBA Championships. He missed the entire 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons with injuries, but has come back strong.
7. February 8, 1940: Ted Koppel. From 1980 to 2005, he anchored ABC News'Nightline. Since his retirement, he has continually stood up for journalistic ethics, and called out those who violate them. The far right hates him.
6. February 8, 1925: Jack Lemmon. One of the greatest actors of his generation.
5. Honorable Mention: February 8, 1921: Lana Turner. The foxiest actress of the 1940s.
Honorable Mention: February 8, 1922: Audrey Meadows. It would be a shame to associate her with only one role, but she was Alice Kramden on The Honeymooners. Lucille Ball was the first feminist of television behind the scenes, but Audrey as Alice was the first wife to stand up for herself to her husband on the soundstage. Nobody ever sent her to the Moon.
Honorable Mention: February 8, 1941: Nick Nolte. One of the greatest actors of the next generation.
Honorable Mention: February 8, 1942: Robert Klein. One of the funniest comedians of any generation.
Honorable Mention: February 8, 1953: Mary Steenburgen. An actress that has never gotten the credit she deserves. She may be better known for her husbands: First Malcolm McDowell, now Ted Danson.
Honorable Mention: February 8, 1968: Gary Coleman. It would be a shame to associate him with only one role, but being Arnold Jackson on Diff'rent Strokes was both a blessing and a curse.
Honorable Mention: February 8, 1969: Mary McCormack. She played Kate Harper on The West Wing, and U.S. Marshal Mary Shannon on In Plain Sight. She now has a recurring role in the wrestling-themed Starz drama Heels.
4. February 8, 1834: Dmitri Mendeleev. He created the Periodic Table of Elements.
3. February 8, 1828: Jules Verne. Along with H.G. Wells, he was the father of science fiction. PBS is currently running a limited series out of his novel Around the World In Eighty Days on Sunday nights.
2. February 8, 1932: John Williams. By composing the music for Jaws, the Star Wars films, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, the Indiana Jones movies, and E.T., he became the greatest classical composer of the 20th Century.
Honorable Mention: February 8, 1937: Joe Raposo. He wrote a lot of the music for Sesame Street: The theme song, "Bein' Green," and "C is for Cookie." He also wrote the theme songs for The Electric Company and, not for kids, for Three's Company.
Dishonorable Mention: February 8, 1961: Vince Neil. The lead singer of Motley Crue, and he's as rotten as his music.
1. February 8, 1820: William Tecumseh Sherman. A West Point graduate, he served in the Second Seminole War and the Mexican-American War, and surveyed the land on which the California capital of Sacramento would be built. He was named president of a military academy that would eventually become Louisiana State University (LSU), but when the American Civil War broke out, he returned to the U.S. Army.
He was promoted to Major General after helping save the Union cause at the Battle of Shiloh. He won the Battle of Chattanooga, then swooped down into Georgia, burning Atlanta, then undertaking "Sherman's March to the Sea," taking the State in full upon conquering Savannah. He moved north to take North Carolina before the Confederacy surrendered.
From 1869 to 1883, he was what we would now call the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Although his brother, John Sherman, had served in the U.S. Senate and as Secretary of the Treasury, and ran for President in 1880, "Billy" Sherman refused to run in 1884: "I will not accept if nominated, and will not serve if elected." (What became known as a "Shermaneseque Declaration" is sometimes incorrectly written as, "If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve.")
He died in 1891. To the South, he is the great war criminal. To the North, he, along with his good friend Ulysses S. Grant, is the man who won the war and made the freedom of the slaves possible.
Still alive as of this writing: Grisham, Stoichkov, Johnson, Ciccarelli, Muller, Mourning, Thompson, Koppel, Nolte, Klein, Steenburgen, McCormack, Williams, Neil.