"Just you wait, 'enry 'iggins, just you wait... "
Somewhat Honorable Mention: March 5, 1512: Gerardus Mercator. The Flemish cartographer designed the world map most of us are familiar with the Mercator Projection. Which is way off, since he put his homeland of Flanders in the center, and made the land masses of the Northern Hemisphere, which were better known, look much bigger than those of the Southern Hemisphere.
Dishonorable Mention: March 5, 1133: King Henry II of England. A military genius before he became King, he was ruthless as both ruler and diplomat, engaging in what would now be called a "cold war" with Kings Louis VII and Philip II of France, and even with his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who held more land in France than he did. His sons became Kings Richard I (the Lionhearted) and John, and both rebelled against him before he died, and succeeded.
Dishonorable Mention: March 5, 1898: Zhou Enlai. Mao Zedong's 2nd-in-command during his revolution in China, his name was usually spelled Chou En-lai, in the West during his lifetime.
Dishonorable Mention: March 5, 1963: Joel Osteen. A televangelist who preaches "prosperity gospel," he converted The Summit, the former arena of the Houston Rockets, into his base of operations, a "megachurch." During Hurricane Harvey in 2017, he had to be publicly shamed into opening it to refugees from flooding, once he was busted for saying it was flooded, too, and it was proven to be a lie.
10. March 5, 1946: Murray Head. Although he's had some hit songs, he is best known for writing songs for experimental musicals. He wrote "Superstar" for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar, and played Judas in the original London production. He wrote "One Night in Bangkok" for the musical Chess, written by the male half of ABBA, and had a big hit singing it.
9. March 5, 1958: Andy Gibb. The younger brother of Bee Gees Barry, Robin and Maurice, he had some big solo hits in the late 1970s, but drugs turned out to be his undoing.
8. March 5, 1957: Ray Suarez. One of the finest broadcast journalists of the last 30 years, he has worked for CNN, National Public Radio, the PBS NewsHour, Al Jazeera America, and currently for Euronews.
7. March 5, 1938: Paul Evans. His own recording career was mostly a novelty act, with the hit songs "Happy-Go-Lucky Me" and "Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Backseat." But he's better known as a writer, having written Bobby Vinton's Number 1 hit "Roses Are Red (My Love)," The Kalin Twins' hit "When," and Elvis Presley's hit "I Gotta Know."
6. March 5, 1956: Teena Marie. In 1979, Mary Christine Bockert had a hit with "I'm a Sucker for Your Love," a duet with Rick James, who gave her the nickname Lady T. Their pictures were not on the cover of the record jacket. When they appeared on Soul Train to sing it, viewers were shocked to see that this female soul singer was white. She was not only the 1st nonblack woman to appear on the show (Elton John was the 1st white man), but she appeared on it more than any other nonblack performer, 9 times.
In addition to her daughter, seeing Alia Rose, she was an official godmother to actress Maya Rudolph (daughter of Minnie Riperton) and singer Nona Gaye (daughter of Marvin), and an unofficial one to Rick James Jr., and singer Lenny Kravitz (son of actress Roxie Roker).
5. March 5, 1658: Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac. The founder of Detroit and a key figure in New France prior to its takeover by Britain. Perhaps presaging Detroit's status as a border city and thus a center of organized crime, he was, even in his own time, accused of selling alcohol to the Native tribes. A central square in Detroit, and a locally-produced car company that would later be absorbed into General Motors, bears his title.
4. March 5, 1955: Penn Jillette. Since 1975, he and Raymond Teller have performed as Penn & Teller, doing magic tricks, but also exposing all kinds of frauds, from other magicians to well-known conspiracy theories. While Teller never talks during the act, Penn has a notable quote that I'd like to mention: "Where were all the 'Nostradamus people' on 9/10?"
3. March 5, 1936: Dean Stockwell. One of the longest careers in Hollywood history began when he was just 9 years old, appearing in Anchors Aweigh. He grew out of child star status and starred in the 1960 film version of D.H. Lawrence's novel Sons and Lovers and the 1962 film version of Eugene O'Neill's play Long Day's Journey into Night.
As a middle-aged man, he was one of the few things anybody liked about the 1984 film version of Dune, and was acclaimed for his roles in Blue Velvet, Married to the Mob and Air Force One. But he will likely be best remembered for his role as Rear Admiral Albert Calavicci, who holographically aided the time-traveling Dr. Sam Beckett, in the 1989-93 NBC series Quantum Leap.
Honorable Mention: March 5, 1874: Henry Travers. He played angel Clarence Oddbody in It's a Wonderful Life.
Honorable Mention: March 5, 1922: James Noble. He played Governor Gene Gatling on Benson.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: March 5, 1927: Jack Cassidy. He was a very good actor, but bipolar disorder and alcoholism led to odd behavior and a messy personal life. He was married to Shirley Jones, and the father of David and Shaun Cassidy.
Honorable Mention: March 5, 1974: Eva Mendes. In the 2000s, she played on her sexy Latina image in several films. But she hasn't acted since 2014, instead raising her children with actor Ryan Gosling.
2. March 5, 1918: Milt Schmidt. The center led the Boston Bruins to the Stanley Cup in 1939 and 1941, and was scoring champion in 1940. As yet, there was no Art Ross Trophy for leading scorer: Ross himself was still the Bruins' head coach and general manager. He won the Hart Trophy as NHL Most Valuable Player in 1951. When the NHL played its 1st All-Star Game in 1947, he played in it, and in those of 1948, 1951 and 1952.
He centered a line with fellow Canadians of German descent Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer. They were known as the Kraut Line until World War II broke out, They were renamed for their Ontario hometown, the Kitchener Line. There was some irony in this: That city had originally been named Berlin, for all the German immigrants living there, but was changed in World War I, to not only strip it of its German origins, but to honor, Lord Kitchener, the highest-ranking British Empire military official killed by Imperial Germany. All 3 linemates interrupted their careers at their height in 1942, and enlisted together in the Royal Canadian Air Force. All 3 returned to resume play.
Schmidt was the Bruin's general manager when they won the 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cups. He received the Lester Patrick Trophy for contributions to hockey in America. In 1998, The Hockey News ranked him 27th on their list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. In 2017, shortly after his death, he was named to the NHL's 100th Anniversary 100 Greatest Players.
Honorable Mention: March 5, 1966: Michael Irvin. A member of the University of Miami's 1987 National Champions, he was a 5-time Pro Bowler and a 3-time Super Bowl winner with the Dallas Cowboys. He caught 750 passes for 11,904 yards and 65 touchdowns.
1. March 5, 1908: Rex Harrison. He played King Mongkut in the 1946 non-musical version of Anna and the King of Siam (better known by Yul Brynner in the 1956 film), David Gregg in the 1947 film version of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (better known by Edward Mulhare in the 1968-70 TV show), King Henry VIII in a 1948 production of Anne of the Thousand Days and on a 1952 episode of the early TV anthology series Omnibus, Saladin in the 1954 film King Richard and the Crusaders, Julius Caesar in the 1963 version of Cleopatra, Pope Julius II in The Agony and the Ecstasy, and the title role in the 1967 version of Dr. Doolittle.
As you can see, he specialized in playing imperious men. In real life, too: Some actors found him impossible to work with. He is best remembered for playing linguist and speech professor Henry Higgins in the musical My Fair Lady, winning a Tony Award for the 1956 original Broadway production, and an Oscar for the 1964 film. Although not especially high-ranking, 'enry 'iggins (as his Cockney pupil Eliza Doolittle called him) fit the pattern, as he described himself as "selfish and tyrannical." He was good enough of an actor to get away with it.
Still alive as of this writing: Osteen, Head, Suarez, Evans, Jilette, Mendes, Irvin.