10. March 20, 1904: B.F. Skinner. Perhaps the leading psychologist of the latter half of the 20th Century -- Sigmund Freud having wrapped up that title for the 1st half -- he was the leading proponent of behavioral theory.
9. March 20, 1934: Willie Brown. He served in the California Assembly from 1965 to 1995, from 1980 to 1995 as its Speaker. With the Republicans holding the Governorship from 1983 onward, this made him the State's most powerful Democrat. It has been argued that California's term limits law for State officials was nothing more than a cynical plow to force him out of the Speakership.
If so, then it was a dumb thing to do. In 1995 and 1999, he was elected Mayor of San Francisco, and he was popular enough that he might still hold the job today if he weren't term-limited there, too. And the Democrats have still held both houses of the California legislature since.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: March 20, 1906: Abe Beame. He was elected Comptroller (financial director) of New York City in 1961. In 1965, he was the Democratic nominee for Mayor, but lost. In 1969, he regained the Comptroller's job. In 1973, he was nominated for Mayor again, and won.
But all his financial wizardry failed him, as the City fell into its greatest financial crisis. The only thing he could do was lay off City employees, including police and firemen, at a time when crime seemed to be out of control. He was denied nomination for a 2nd term, and left office a tragic figure.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: March 20, 1920: Pamela Harriman. She married Winston Churchill's son Randolph, film producer Louis Hayward, and Governor Averell Harriman of New York. She overcome her checkered past to become a major Democratic Party fundraiser, and served as U.S. Ambassador to France.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: March 20, 1936: Vaughn Meader. He rose to fame by impersonating President John F. Kennedy, and releasing the best-selling comedy album of its time, The First Family. But when JFK died, so did his career, and he was never able to recover.
Dishonorable Mention: March 20, 1925: John Ehrlichman. Domestic Affairs Advisor to President Richard Nixon, he was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury in connection with the Watergate scandal, and served a year and a half in prison.
Dishonorable Mention: March 20, 1939: Brian Mulroney. He became Prime Minister of Canada in 1984, and won a 2nd term in 1988. But things fell apart, and he held off calling a new election for as long as he could. Finally, he resigned, and let his successor, Kim Campbell, take the fall for the Conservative Party. He might not have been the worst Prime Minister in his country's history, but he was easily the most cowardly.
8. March 20, 1828: Henrik Ibsen. Scandinavia's greatest writer, he wrote the plays Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler.
7. March 20, 1957: Spike Lee. When not attending New York Knicks games, Shelton Jackson Lee is directing films like Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, He Got Game, The 25th Hour and BlacKkKlansman.
6. March 20, 43 BC: Ovid.The publication in AD 2 of Ars Amatoria (The Way of Love) is a big reason why the Roman Empire is thought of as a sexually permissive society. In fact, while its elite (as any country's tend to be) were licentious, Roman society as a whole was rather puritanical, which is why Emperor Augustus had Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō banished. But he is still remembered as one of the greatest Roman writers.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1612: Anne Bradstreet. A Puritan, in 1650 she became the 1st English-language author published in America.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1971: Touré Neblett. Writing under only his first name, Touré has written books about race relations, hip-hop, and a cultural biography of singer Prince. He has also been a host and contributor on various MSNBC shows.
Dishonorable Mention: March 20, 1895: Fredric Wertham. In 1954, he published one of the greatest overreactions in the history of American popular culture. His book The Seduction of the Innocent crippled the comic book industry, ended the Golden Age of Comics, and established the Comics Code Authority.
5. March 20, 1922: Carl Reiner. He and Mel Brooks were among the many writers for Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows. When Carl created The Dick Van Dyke Show, including the show-within-the-show, The Alan Brady Show, he played Brady, the stand-in for Sid; Dick played Rob Petrie, the stand-in for Carl; Mary Tyler Moore played Laura Petrie, the stand-in for Carl's wife Estelle; and Larry Matthews played Richie Petrie, the stand-in for Carl's son Rob.
Carl and Mel also created "The 2,000-Year-Old Man," in which Carl played the interviewer of Mel as the title character. He also directed Oh, God! starring George Burns as God. Carl said, "I initially offered the part to Mel, but he didn't want the demotion." He was still making people laugh, and ripping Donald Trump on Twitter, at his death at age 98, which may have made him the oldest regular tweeter.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1908: Michael Redgrave. The founder of the Redgrave-Richardson acting dynasty.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1918: Jack Barry. As the host of Twenty-One, he got caught up in the TV quiz show scandal of the late 1950s. He did manage to start over, with game shows like The Joker's Wild.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1922: Ray Goulding. He and Bob Elliott formed the legendary radio comedy team of Bob & Ray.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1931: Hal Linden. He starred as the titular police captain on the sitcom Barney Miller.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1943: Paul Junger Witt. With his partner Tony Thomas (son of Danny and brother of Marlo) and his wife Susan Harris, he produced the TV-movie Brian's Song, and the sitcoms The Partridge Family, Soap and its spinoff Benson, The Golden Girls and its spinoff Empty Nest, and Blossom.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1948: John de Lancie. He recently reprised his role as the omnipotent, mischievous Q in the Star Trek franchise.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1957: Vanessa Bell Calloway. She's been a regular on the TV series All My Children, Days of Our Lives, Equal Justice, Rhythm & Blues, Under One Roof, Boston Public, 10-8: Officers On Duty, The District, Hawthorne, Shameless, Rizzoli & Isles, Grey's Anatomy and Saints & Sinners.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1958: Holly Hunter. She won an Oscar for The Piano, played Billie Jean King in the 1st film depicting her match with Bobby Riggs, and starred in Saving Grace.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1963: Kathy Ireland. She went from Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model to college football placekicker in the film Necessary Roughness, to billionaire furniture designer.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1970: Michael Rapaport. When not attending New York Knicks games, he has starred on the TV series The War at Home and Boston Public, and in films where he seems to stick to his real self, which involves a lot of yelling and cursing, especially at people like Donald Trump.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1986: Ruby Rose. The Australian model starred on Orange Is the New Black, then played the original version of the titular superheroine on The CW's Arrowverse series Batwoman.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: March 20, 1950: William Hurt. He starred in Altered States, Body Heat, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Children of a Lesser God and Broadcast News. But he lived up to this name, abusing his female co-stars and his domestic partners.
4. March 20, 1915: Sister Rosetta Tharpe. One of the earliest gospel singers to switch sides to secular music, she was an exceptional electric guitarist. Among the founding fathers of rock and roll, she was one of the few founding mothers. She was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its "Early Influences" division.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1906: Ozzie Nelson. A bandleader in the 1930s and '40s, he starred with his family in the 1950s and '60s sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, with wife Harriet and songs David and Ricky.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1917: Vera Lynn. Her versions of "We'll Meet Again" and "The White Cliffs of Dover" made her the symbol of the British home front during World War II. She lived to be 103, just long enough to have sung for celebrations of the 25th, 50th and 75th Anniversaries of V-E Day.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1937: Jerry Reed. One of country music's top guitarists in the 1960s, his songs "U.S. Male" and "Guitar Man" were recorded by Elvis Presley. He had hits under his own name with songs like "When You're Hot, You're Hot." He went on to play truck driver Cledus Snow, a.k.a. Snowman, in the Smokey & the Bandit films.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1950: Carl Palmer. The drummer for Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and for the band Asia.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1951: Jimmie Vaughan. Not as good a guitarist as his brother Stevie Ray -- few have been -- but, as leader of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, he had more hits.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1976: Chester Bennington. Lead singer of the hard rock band Linkin Park.
3. March 20, 1945: Pat Riley. He played for the all-white University of Kentucky in the 1966 NCAA Tournament Final that lost to the all-black Texas Western team (now Texas-El Paso). He grew out of that, and was a key reserve on the 1972 NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers.
He was an assistant coach on the Lakers' 1980 Champions, then was the head coach that led them to the title in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988. He took the New York Knicks to the 1994 NBA Finals, and the Miami Heat to the 2006 NBA title. He's been the general manager for the Heat since then, building their 2012 and 2013 NBA Championships.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1954: Paul Mirabella. He didn't pitch in the major leagues for long, but he was a member of the New York Yankees team that won the 1978 World Series.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1954: Mike Francesa. His longtime Mike & the Mad Dog show with Chris Russo on New York station WFAN made sports-talk radio explode nationally.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1958: Rickey Jackson. A 6-time Pro Bowler as a linebacker for the New Orleans Saints, he won Super Bowl XXIX with the San Francisco 49ers. He is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1968: Paul Merson. The midfielder helped North London soccer team Arsenal win the Football League title in 1989 and 1991, the first-ever domestic cup "Double" (the FA Cup and the League Cup) in 1993, and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1994. But substance abuse and a gambling addiction ruined his career, and he later wrote a memoir titled How Not to Be a Professional Footballer. He is now into recovery and a media career.
Honorable Mention: March 20, 1984: Fernando Torres. The forward starred for Liverpool FC, then was sold in a big deal to West London team Chelsea, and went into a terrible decline, but finally won the trophies that had eluded him in Liverpool, including the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League in 2012. He also helped Spain win the 2010 World Cup and the Euros in 2008 and 2012.
2. March 20, 1948: Bobby Orr. Injuries limited him to enough games to play only 8 full seasons, or else he might have become the greatest hockey player who ever lived. He was the 1st NHL defenseman to score 30, then the 1st to score 40, goals in a season. He was the 1st defenseman to have 100 points in a season. He was the 1st player of any position to have 100 assists in a season. He appeared in 8 All-Star Games.
Trophies: Calder Memorial as Rookie of the Year, 1967; James Norris as Defenseman of the Year, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975; Art Ross Trophy as leading scorer, the only defenseman ever to win it, 1970 and 1975; Hart Memorial as NHL Most Valuable Player, 1970, 1971, 1972; Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 1970 and 1972, winning the Cup with the Boston Bruins both times; Lou Marsh as Canadian Athlete of the Year, 1970; Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year, 1970; Lester Patrick for contribution to hockey in America, 1979. If you've paid attention, you've noticed that, for the 1969-70 season, he won the Stanley Cup, the Smythe, the Hart, the Ross and the Norris, all in the same season. No other player has ever done that.
Because he retired at age 31, the Hockey Hall of Fame waived the 3-year waiting period, and made him its youngest inductee ever. In 1998, he was ranked 2nd behind Wayne Gretzky on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
1. March 20, 1928: Fred Rogers. He hosted Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood on PBS 5 days a week from 1968 to 1976, and then made news episodes periodically until 2001. He did more for the mental well-being of children than any person since the abolition of child labor.
Still alive as of this writing: Brown, Mulroney, Lee, Touré, Linden, de Lancie, Calloway, Hunter, Ireland, Rapaport, Rose, Palmer, Vaughan, Riley, Mirabella, Francesa, Jackson, Merson, Torres, Orr.