Famous people born on 1 January

• J. D. SalingerAmerican author · 1919–2010
  91 yrs
• Pierre de CoubertinFounder of modern Olympic Games, pedagogue and historian · 1863–1937
  74 yrs
• Sándor PetőfiHungarian poet and liberal revolutionary · 1823–1849
  26 yrs
• E. M. ForsterEnglish novelist · 1879–1970
  91 yrs
• Satyendra Nath BoseIndian Bengali physicist and polymath · 1894–1974
  80 yrs
• Stepan BanderaUkrainian nationalist leader · 1909–1959
  50 yrs
• George Washington CarverAfrican American botanist and inventor · 1864–1943
  79 yrs
• James George Frazer ↗Scottish social anthropologist · 1854–1941
  87 yrs
• J. Edgar Hoover ↗American law enforcement administrator · 1895–1972
  77 yrs
• Muhammad Abduh ↗Egyptian Islamic jurist, religious scholar and liberal reformer · 1849–1905
  56 yrs
• Maurice Béjart ↗French-born Swiss ballet dancer and choreographer · 1927–2007
  80 yrs
• Verne Troyer ↗American actor · 1969–2018
  49 yrs
• Francisco Macías Nguema Biyoko ↗Equatoguinean politician, 1st and former President of Equatorial Guinea · 1924–1979
  55 yrs
• Vajiravudh ↗King of Siam from 1910 to 1925 · 1881–1925
  44 yrs
• Victoria Amelina ↗Ukrainian writer and activist · 1986–2023
  37 yrs
• Wilhelm Canaris ↗German admiral, head of military intelligence service · 1887–1945
  58 yrs
• Mohammed Amin al-Husseini ↗Palestinian Arab nationalist · 1895–1974
  79 yrs
• Chiune Sugihara ↗Japanese diplomat, Righteous Among the Nations · 1900–1986
  86 yrs
• Maria Edgeworth ↗Irish writer · 1768–1849
  81 yrs
• Ismail al-Faruqi ↗Palestinian-American Muslim philosopher and scholar · 1921–1986
  65 yrs
• Jacques Le Goff ↗French historian · 1924–2014
  90 yrs
• Ousmane Sembène ↗Senegalese film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author · 1923–2007
  84 yrs
• Alfred Stieglitz ↗American photographer · 1864–1946
  82 yrs
• Noor Inayat Khan ↗WW2 SOE British agent · 1914–1944
  30 yrs
• Ichirō Hatoyama ↗Prime Minister of Japan from 1954 to 1956 · 1883–1959
  76 yrs
• Kim Philby ↗KGB mole for the Soviet Union · 1912–1988
  76 yrs
• Manuel Roxas ↗President of the Philippines from 1946 to 1948 · 1892–1948
  56 yrs
• Charlie Munger ↗American businessman · 1924–2023
  99 yrs
• Dana Andrews ↗American actor · 1909–1992
  83 yrs
• Hong Xiuquan ↗Chinese revolutionary and leader of Taiping Rebellion · 1814–1864
  50 yrs
• Paul Revere ↗American silversmith and Patriot in the American Revolution · 1735–1818
  83 yrs
• Valentina Cortese ↗Italian actress · 1923–2019
  96 yrs
• Ana Aslan ↗Romanian biologist and physician · 1897–1988
  91 yrs
• Christian Thomasius ↗German philosopher · 1655–1728
  73 yrs
• Daniel Jarque ↗Spanish footballer · 1983–2009
  26 yrs
• Marek Edelman ↗(1919–2009) Jewish resistance member · 1919–2009
  90 yrs
• Gaafar Nimeiry ↗Sudanese President · 1930–2009
  79 yrs
• Étienne Cabet ↗French philosopher · 1788–1856
  68 yrs
• Khaled Asaad ↗Syrian archeologist · 1932–2015
  83 yrs
• André Marie Constant Duméril ↗French zoologist · 1774–1860
  86 yrs
• Kristijonas Donelaitis ↗Prussian Lithuanian poet and Lutheran pastor · 1714–1780
  66 yrs

Only people with a known day of birth are listed, and only people who have died. Dates are from Wikidata (CC0), last updated 22 October 2026.

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