10. March 17, 1964: Rob Lowe. He was so loved as White House speechwriter Sam Seaborn on The West Wing that his previous activities -- both good, as a member of "The Brat Pack," and bad, which I won't get into here -- were pretty much forgotten. He was on nearly as many episodes of Brothers & Sisters, playing someone who actually won an election; on nearly as many episodes of Parks & Recreation; and has even since played a real President, John F. Kennedy. But for millions of people, he'll forever be Sam.
9. March 17, 1948: William Gibson. The Canadian-born author of Neuromancer and The Difference Engine coined the words "cyberspace,""cyberpunk" and "steampunk."
8. March 17, 1951: Kurt Russell. He's a legend, and not just because he's kept Goldie Hawn happy for nearly 40 years. He was a great athlete, who could have played professional baseball, but an injury steered him toward acting, which he'd already done a little of.
In 1962, he was in It Happened at the World's Fair, alongside its star, Elvis Presley. In 1979, he starred in the TV miniseries Elvis, with his wife at the time, Season Hubley, playing Priscilla Presley. In 1994, he played Elvis again, in Forrest Gump.
He starred in the Disney trilogy The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Now You See Him, Now You Don't, and The Strongest Man in the World. He played Snake Plissken in Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. He played R.J. MacCready in The Thing. He played Lieutenant Gabriel Cash in Tango & Cash. He played Wyatt Earp in Tombstone. He played coach Herb Brooks in Miracle. He narrated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and could have served as an expert witness. And he's played Santa alongside Goldie as Mrs. Claus in the Hallmark Channel's Christmas Chronicles films.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1908: Brigitte Helm. You might not know her name, you might not remember her true face, and since she was a silent film actress, you almost certainly don't know her voice. She played the robot, the Maschinenmensch, in the 1927 science fiction film Metropolis. She did last into the talking pictures era, but quit because the Nazis had taken over her native Germany, and she hated what they were doing, especially to the film industry there. She lived out her life in exile in Switzerland.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1992: John Boyega. He played Finn in the Star Wars sequel series.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1944: Pattie Boyd. The model and photographer is the inspiration for several songs by two men who loved her and married her. George Harrison of The Beatles wrote "I Need You,""If I Needed Someone,""Something" (which Frank Sinatra mistakenly credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but called "the greatest love song of the last 50 years") and "For You Blue."
Eric Clapton, once George's best friend, took Pattie away from him. For her, he wrote "Layla,""Bell Bottom Blues" and "Wonderful Tonight." But he's a rotten guy in real life, and she finally accepted this and left him. Her 3rd husband, English property developer Rod Weston, is not famous.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1949: Patrick Duffy. There had to be at least one Irish-American celebrity named Patrick who was born on a St. Patrick's Day.
He could have become a superstar as the titular superhero The Man From Atlantis. Had Warner Brothers handled it right, he could have been in a Justice League movie as Aquaman with Chris Reeve's Superman, Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman, and Adam West's Batman -- or maybe later with Reeve, Carter, Michael Keaton's Batman and John Wesley Shipp's Flash. But then, we wouldn't have seen him play Bobby Ewing on Dallas, or Frank Lambert on Step By Step.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1954: Lesley-Anne Down. Not to be confused with her contemporary Lesley Ann Warren. She played Georgina Worsley in Upstairs, Downstairs, a kind of precursor to Downton Abbey. She has since had several roles in American soap operas, most notably as Jackie Marone on The Bold and the Beautiful.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1955: Gary Sinise. He's been Harry Truman, George Wallace, astronauts Ken Mattingly (a co-birthdayer) and Gene Cernan, Detective Mac Taylor on CSI: NY, and is best remembered as Lieutenant Dan Taylor in Forrest Gump.
7. March 17, 1912: Bayard Rustin. A pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement, he helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and the March On Washington in 1963. But being gay forced him into a behind-the-scenes role at a time when his exposure could have damaged the movement. He did not get his just due within his own lifetime.
Dishonorable Mention: March 17, 1777: Roger Taney. He served President Andrew Jackson (who had a habit of "reshuffling" his Cabinets) in 3 Cabinet posts: Secretary of War, Attorney General and Secretary of the Treasury. If that had been the extent of his service, he would be well-regarded by historians today.
But in 1836, his last year in office, Jackson appointed Taney (pronounced "TAW-nee") to be Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1857, he announced his decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford that Congress had no authority to restrict slavery, and that a black person, even if born free in the United States, had no rights as a U.S. citizen. Democrats and Republicans alike now regard this as the worst decision in the Court's history, and Taney as the Court's worst Justice, Chief or otherwise.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1933: Myrlie Evers-Williams. The wife of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, she later served as Chairwoman of the NAACP.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1940: Mark White. Elected Governor of Texas as a Democrat in 1982, he moved the State forward a great deal. But his loss for re-election in 1986 was ascribed to his signing of the "No pass, no play" law that forced students to actually pass their courses in order to be allowed to play high school football. Figures Texas would get rid of somebody good for a stupid reason.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1945: Michael Hayden. A 4-star General in the U.S. Air Force, he served as Director of the CIA from 2006 to 2009. He has since become a political consultant for CNN, and a fierce critic of Donald Trump.
6. March 17, 1938: Rudolf Nureyev. He and fellow Russian defector to the West Mikhail Baryshnikov are regarded as the greatest male ballet dancers of the 2nd half of the 20th Century. His work with British dancer Margot Fonteyn is considered one of the greatest pairings in ballet history.
5. March 17, 1930: James Irwin. He piloted the lunar module Falcon on Apollo 15, and walked on the Moon.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1936: Ken Mattingly. An illness scare got him bumped from the unlucky Apollo 13 mission, but he got to pilot the command module Casper on Apollo 16.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1962: Kalpana Chawla. She came to America and got a doctorate in aerospace engineering, and flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997, making her the 1st native of the Indian subcontinent to fly in space. Unfortunately, she flew on Columbia a 2nd time, in 2003, the mission where it was destroyed.
4. March 17, 1919: Nat King Cole. If you only know him as a singer of Christmas songs, or as Natalie Cole's father, you're missing out on some great stuff. The singer-pianist's hits included "Route 66,""I Love You For Sentimental Reasons,""Nature Boy,""When I Fall In Love,""Ramblin' Rose" and "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer." He had the Number 1 song for the entire year of 1950, "Mona Lisa"; and the Number 1 song for the entire year of 1951, "Too Young."
In 1956 and 1957, he hosted The Nat "King" Cole Show on NBC, making him the 1st black performer to host his own national network TV show. The show debuted a few months after the opening of the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles, which remains known as "The House That Nat Built."
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1935: Adam Wade. He had a few minor hit songs, which led to an acting career. In 1975, CBS hired him to host Musical Chairs. It only lasted 4 months, but it made him the 1st black TV game show host.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1938: Zola Taylor. The 1950s vocal group The Platters, members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was made up of four men and one woman, Ms. Taylor.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1941: Paul Kantner. The lead guitarist for the Jefferson Airplane.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1944: John Sebastian. The lead singer for The Lovin' Spoonful, and the writer and singer of the theme song from Welcome Back, Kotter.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: March 17, 1988: Grimes. Canadian singer and music producer Claire Elise Boucher is certainly distinctive, and she was very supportive of the contestants as a panelist on the recent Fox talent show Alter Ego. But she's also in a couple (or not, it seems to change from day to day) with Elon Musk, and they have a son and a daughter together.
3. March 17, 1972: Mia Hamm. Born in Selma, Alabama, she was destined to become a civil rights figure, but in gender rather than race. She grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas, and became perhaps the greatest female soccer player ever.
She won the National Championship of women's soccer all 4 years she was at the University of North Carolina. She led the U.S. national team to the 1st-ever Women's World Cup in 1991, another in 1999, and to Olympic Gold Medals in 1996 and 2004.
She is married to former baseball star Nomar Garciaparra, and they have twin girls about to turn 15 and a 10-year-old son. I don't know if they inherited their father's hitting ability, or their mother's feet, but at least they didn't inherit their father's nose.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: March 17, 1902: Bobby Jones. In 1930, he won the U.S. Open, the British Open, the U.S. Amateur, and the British Amateur. At the time, this was considered the "Grand Slam" of golf. No one has won the current version: The U.S. and British Opens, the PGA Championship, and the annual Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia, which Jones founded in 1935.
I say "Somewhat Honorable" because golf is not a sport, and he did a great deal to popularize it, which has done more harm than good.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1910: Sonny Werblin. The Brooklyn native started out developing television shows for all 3 major networks, and he took his star-centered philosophy with him into sports. As a part-owner of the New York Jets, he negotiated the American Football League's contract with NBC, convinced the other owners to sign Joe Namath, and built a Super Bowl winner.
He led the building of the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey. And he ran Madison Square Garden and its teams from 1978 to 1984. So he has had a direct effect on the Giants, the Jets, the Knicks, the Nets, the Rangers and the Devils.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1939: Giovanni Trapattoni. As a centreback, he helped AC Milan win the Italian league title in 1962 and 1968, and the European Cup, now known as the UEFA Champions League, in 1963 and 1969. And he was just getting warmed up.
As a manager, "Il Trap" led Turin's Juventus to 6 league titles in 10 years, and the 1985 European Cup, making him 1 of only 7 men to win it as both a player and as a manager; Internazionale Milano to the 1989 Italian league title; Bayern Munich to the 1997 German league title; Lisbon's Benfica to the 2005 Portuguese league title; and Red Bull Salzburg to the 2007 Austrian league title. That's 10 league titles in 4 countries.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1944: Cito Gaston. The outfielder was an original San Diego Padre in 1969, and an All-Star in 1970. In 1992, he became the 1st black manager to win a World Series, with the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1993, he made it back-to-back titles.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1949: Pat Rice. There had to be at least one man named Patrick born on St. Patrick's Day to make this list, and this one is from Ireland -- Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was the only man to start for North London soccer team Arsenal on both their 1971 Football League and FA Cup "Double" winning team and their 1979 FA Cup winners, as Captain of the latter. He was later an assistant coach on 5 League winners and 5 FA Cup winners for Arsenal.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1959: Danny Ainge. He is 1 of 13 men to play Major League Baseball and in the National Basketball Association. He was a mediocre-hitting infielder for the Toronto Blue Jays, but an All-Star guard who helped the Boston Celtics win the 1984 and 1986 NBA Championships. He later became the Celtics' general manager, and built their 2008 NBA Champions.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1964: Lee Dixon. It can be argued that the 2 greatest right backs in Arsenal history share a birthday: Rice and Dixon. Dixon assisted on the goal that won the 1989 Football League title, and was a member of the 1998 Double team. A 2008 fan poll chose him as Arsenal's all-time greatest right back. He is now known to NBC viewers as a color commentator on their Premier League broadcasts.
Honorable Mention: March 17, 1997: Katie Ledecky. She won 7 Olympic Gold Medals (1 in 2012 in London, 4 in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, 2 in 2021 in Tokyo) and 15 World Championships, in each case the most ever for a female swimmer.
2. March 17, 1834: Gottlieb Daimler. In 1887, he built one of the first automobiles. He joined with fellow pioneer Karl Benz to create Daimler-Benz, the ancestor company of Mercedes.
1. March 17, 1994: Sammy Baugh. He could be the greatest football player who ever lived. His 1943 season helps to make the case for him: In that one season, he led the NFL in passing yards, interceptions by a defensive player, and punting yardage. Think about that: He was, effectively, Patrick Mahomes, Tyrann Mathieu and Shane Lechler -- at the same time.
In the 1935 season, Slingin' Sammy led Texas Christian University to victory in the Sugar Bowl, and nearly to the National Championship. In 1937, the 1st season for the team then known as the Washington Redskins, he became the only rookie, to this day, ever to quarterback a team to win the NFL Championship. He did it again in 1942, also getting them into the NFL Championship Game but losing in 1940, '43 and '45.
He didn't invent the position of quarterback, but, from that 1935 collegiate season until his last pro season in 1952, he defined it for every one who came after him. He was the last surviving 1963 charter inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Still alive as of this writing: Lowe, Gibson, Russell, Boyega, Boyd, Duffy, Down, Sinise, Evers-Williams, Hayden, Mattingly, Wade, Sebastian, Grimes, Hamm, Trapattoni, Gaston, Rice, Ainge, Dixon, Ledecky.