31 August Births

August 31 is the 243rd day of the year (244th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 122 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday (58 in 400 years each) than on Saturday or Sunday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Tuesday or Thursday (56).

Births

AD 12 – Caligula, Roman emperor (d. 41)
161 – Commodus, Roman emperor (d. 192)
1018 – Jeongjong II of Goryeo, Korean ruler (d. 1046)
1168 – Emperor Zhangzong of Jin, (d. 1208)
1542 – Isabella de' Medici, Italian princess (d. 1576)
1569 – Jahangir, Mughal Emperor of India (d. 1627)
1652 – Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat (d. 1708)
1663 – Guillaume Amontons, French physicist and instrument maker (d. 1705)
1721 – George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1775)
1741 – Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, French composer and educator (d. 1816)
1748 – Jean-Étienne Despréaux, French ballet dancer, choreographer, composer, and playwright (d. 1820)
1767 – Henry Joy McCracken, Irish businessman and activist, founded the Society of United Irishmen (d. 1798)
1775 – Agnes Bulmer, English poet and author (d. 1836)
1802 – Husein Gradaščević, Ottoman general (d. 1834)
1821 – Hermann von Helmholtz, German physician and physicist (d. 1894)
1822 – Galusha A. Grow, American lawyer and politician, 28th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1907)
1834 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer and educator (d. 1886)
1842 – Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, American journalist, publisher, and activist (d. 1924)
1843 – Georg von Hertling, German academic and politician, 7th Chancellor of the German Empire (d. 1919)
1870 – Maria Montessori, Italian physician and educator (d. 1952)
1871 – James E. Ferguson, American banker and politician, 26th Governor of Texas (d. 1944)
1878 – Frank Jarvis, American sprinter and lawyer (d. 1933)
1879 – Alma Mahler, Austrian-American composer and author (d. 1964)
1879 – Emperor Taishō of Japan (d. 1926)
1880 – Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (d. 1962)
1885 – DuBose Heyward, American author and playwright (d. 1940)
1890 – August Alle, Estonian poet and author (d. 1952)
1893 – Lily Laskine, French harp player (d. 1988)
1894 – Albert Facey, Australian soldier and author (d. 1982)
1896 – Brian Edmund Baker, English Air Marshal (d. 1979)
1896 – Félix-Antoine Savard, Canadian priest and author (d. 1982)
1897 – Fredric March, American lieutenant, actor, and singer (d. 1975)
1900 – Gino Lucetti, Italian anarchist, attempted assassin of Benito Mussolini (d. 1943)
1902 – Géza Révész, Hungarian general and politician, Hungarian Minister of Defence (d. 1977)
1903 – Arthur Godfrey, American radio and television host (d. 1983)
1903 – Vladimir Jankélévitch, Jewish-French musicologist and philosopher (d. 1985)
1905 – Robert Bacher, American physicist and academic (d. 2004)
1905 – Sanford Meisner, American actor and educator (d. 1997)
1907 – Valter Biiber, Estonian footballer (d. 1977)
1907 – Augustus F. Hawkins, American lawyer and politician (d. 2007)
1907 – Ramon Magsaysay, Filipino captain, engineer, and politician, 7th President of the Philippines (d. 1957)
1907 – William Shawn, American journalist (d. 1992)
1907 – Altiero Spinelli, Italian theorist and politician (d. 1986)
1908 – William Saroyan, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (d. 1981)
1909 – Ferenc Fejtő, Hungarian-French journalist and political scientist (d. 2008)
1911 – Edward Brongersma, Dutch journalist and politician (d. 1998)
1911 – Arsenio Rodríguez, Cuban-American tres player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1970)
1913 – Helen Levitt, American photographer and cinematographer (d. 2009)
1913 – Bernard Lovell, English physicist and astronomer (d. 2012)
1914 – Richard Basehart, American actor (d. 1984)
1915 – Pete Newell, American basketball player and coach (d. 2008)
1916 – Danny Litwhiler, American baseball player and coach (d. 2011)
1916 – Daniel Schorr, American journalist and author (d. 2010)
1916 – John S. Wold, American geologist and politician (d. 2017)
1918 – Alan Jay Lerner, American songwriter and composer (d. 1986)
1919 – Amrita Preetam, Indian poet and author (d. 2005)
1921 – Otis G. Pike, American judge and politician (d. 2014)
1921 – Raymond Williams, Welsh author and academic (d. 1988)
1924 – John Davidson, American physician and politician (d. 2012)
1924 – Buddy Hackett, American actor and singer (d. 2003)
1924 – Herbert Wise, Austrian-English director and producer (d. 2015)
1925 – Moran Campbell, English-Canadian physician and academic, invented the venturi mask (d. 2004)
1925 – Maurice Pialat, French actor and director (d. 2003)
1928 – James Coburn, American actor (d. 2002)
1928 – Jaime Sin, Filipino cardinal (d. 2005)
1930 – Big Tiny Little, American pianist (d. 2010)
1931 – Jean Béliveau, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
1931 – Noble Willingham, American actor (d. 2004)
1932 – Allan Fotheringham, Canadian journalist
1932 – Roy Castle, English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician (d. 1994)
1935 – Eldridge Cleaver, American activist and author (d. 1998)
1935 – Bryan Organ, English painter
1935 – Frank Robinson, American baseball player and manager
1936 – Vladimir Orlov, Russian journalist and author (d. 2014)
1937 – Warren Berlinger, American actor
1937 – Bobby Parker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1938 – Martin Bell, English journalist and politician
1939 – Jerry Allison, American drummer and songwriter
1940 – Robbie Basho, American guitarist, pianist, and composer (d. 1986)
1940 – Wilton Felder, American saxophonist and bass player (d. 2015)
1940 – Larry Hankin, American actor, director, and producer
1940 – Roger Newman, English-American actor and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1940 – Jack Thompson, Australian actor
1941 – William DeWitt, Jr., American businessman
1941 – Emmanuel Nunes, Portuguese-French composer and educator (d. 2012)
1942 – Isao Aoki, Japanese golfer
1943 – Leonid Ivashov, Russian general
1944 – Roger Dean, English illustrator and publisher
1944 – Liz Forgan, English journalist
1944 – Christine King, English historian and academic
1944 – Clive Lloyd, Guyanese cricketer
1945 – Van Morrison, Northern Irish singer-songwriter
1945 – Itzhak Perlman, Israeli-American violinist and conductor
1945 – Bob Welch, American singer and guitarist (d. 2012)
1946 – Ann Coffey, Scottish social worker and politician
1946 – Jerome Corsi, American theorist and author
1946 – Tom Coughlin, American football player and coach
1947 – Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Italian businessman
1947 – Yumiko Ōshima, Japanese author and illustrator
1947 – Somchai Wongsawat, Thai lawyer and politician, 26th Prime Minister of Thailand
1948 – Harald Ertl, Austrian race car driver and journalist (d. 1982)
1948 – Lowell Ganz, American screenwriter and producer
1948 – Ken McMullen, English director, producer, and screenwriter
1948 – Holger Osieck, German footballer and manager
1948 – Rudolf Schenker, German guitarist and songwriter
1949 – Richard Gere, American actor and producer
1949 – Hugh David Politzer, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1949 – Rick Roberts, American country-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Grant Batty, New Zealand rugby player
1951 – Sirje Tamul, Estonian historian, author, and academic
1952 – Kim Kashkashian, American viola player and educator
1952 – Herbert Reul, German politician
1953 – Miguel Ángel Guerra, Argentinian race car driver
1953 – György Károly, Hungarian poet and author
1953 – Pavel Vinogradov, Russian astronaut and engineer
1955 – Aleksander Krupa, Polish-American actor
1955 – Julie Maxton, Scottish lawyer and academic
1955 – Edwin Moses, American hurdler
1955 – Anthony Thistlethwaite, English saxophonist and bass player
1955 – Gary Webb, American journalist and author (d. 2004)
1956 – Mária Balážová, Slovak painter and illustrator
1956 – Masashi Tashiro, Japanese singer, actor, and director
1957 – Colm O'Rourke, Irish footballer and sportscaster
1957 – Gina Schock, American rock drummer (The Go-Go's)
1957 – Glenn Tilbrook, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1958 – Serge Blanco, Venezuelan-French rugby player and businessman
1958 – Stephen Cottrell, English bishop
1958 – Julie Brown, American actress and screenwriter
1959 – Ralph Krueger, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1959 – Jessica Upshaw, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
1960 – Vali Ionescu, Romanian long jumper
1960 – Chris Whitley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
1960 – Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanese politician, 3rd Secretary-General of Hezbollah
1961 – Kieran Crowley, New Zealand rugby player
1961 – Magnus Ilmjärv, Estonian historian and author
1962 – Dee Bradley Baker, American voice actor
1963 – Reb Beach, American guitarist
1963 – Rituparno Ghosh, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1963 – Naomi Robson, American-Australian journalist
1963 – Sonny Silooy, Dutch footballer and manager
1964 – Raymond P. Hammond, American poet and critic
1965 – Zsolt Borkai, Hungarian gymnast and politician
1965 – Susan Gritton, English soprano and actress
1967 – Gene Hoglan, American drummer
1967 – Anita Moen, Norwegian skier
1968 – Valdon Dowiyogo, Nauruan politician
1968 – Hideo Nomo, Japanese-American baseball player
1968 – Jolene Watanabe, American tennis player
1969 – Nathalie Bouvier, French skier
1969 – Jonathan LaPaglia, Australian actor and physician
1969 – Javagal Srinath, Indian cricketer and referee
1970 – Debbie Gibson, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1970 – Nikola Gruevski, Macedonian economist and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia
1970 – Greg Mulholland, English politician
1970 – Queen Rania of Jordan
1970 – Arie van Lent, Dutch-German footballer and manager
1970 – Zack Ward, Canadian actor and producer
1971 – Pádraig Harrington, Irish golfer
1971 – Vadim Repin, Belgian-Russian violinist
1971 – Chris Tucker, American comedian and actor
1973 – Scott Niedermayer, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1974 – Andriy Medvedev, Ukrainian-Monacan tennis player
1975 – Craig Cumming, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
1975 – John Grahame, American ice hockey player and coach
1976 – Vincent Delerm, French singer-songwriter and pianist
1976 – Roque Júnior, Brazilian footballer and manager
1976 – Radek Martínek, Czech ice hockey player
1977 – Jeff Hardy, American wrestler and singer
1977 – Ian Harte, Irish footballer
1977 – Craig Nicholls, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – Philippe Christanval, French footballer
1978 – Ido Pariente, Israeli mixed martial artist and trainer
1978 – Sandis Valters, Latvian basketball player
1978 – Morten Qvenild, Norwegian pianist and composer
1979 – Clay Hensley, American baseball player
1979 – Mark Johnston, Canadian swimmer
1979 – Simon Neil, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1979 – Yuvan Shankar Raja, Indian singer-songwriter and producer
1979 – Ramón Santiago, Dominican baseball player
1980 – Joe Budden, American rapper
1981 – Ahmad Al Harthy, Omani race car driver
1981 – Dwayne Peel, Welsh rugby player
1981 – Steve Saviano, American ice hockey player
1982 – Ian Crocker, American swimmer
1982 – Chris Duhon, American basketball player
1982 – Lien Huyghebaert, Belgian sprinter
1982 – Christopher Katongo, Zambian footballer
1982 – Josh Kroeger, American baseball player
1982 – Alexei Mikhnov, Ukrainian-Russian ice hockey player
1982 – Pepe Reina, Spanish footballer
1982 – Michele Rugolo, Italian race car driver
1982 – G. Willow Wilson, American journalist and author
1983 – Deniz Aydoğdu, German-Turkish footballer
1983 – Milan Biševac, Serbian footballer
1983 – Larry Fitzgerald, American football player
1984 – Matti Breschel, Danish cyclist
1984 – Ted Ligety, American skier
1984 – Charl Schwartzel, South African golfer
1985 – Rolando, Portuguese footballer
1985 – Andrew Foster, Australian footballer
1987 – Xavi Annunziata, Spanish footballer
1987 – Petros Kravaritis, Greek footballer
1987 – Ondřej Pavelec, Czech ice hockey player
1988 – Trent Hodkinson, Australian rugby league player
1988 – David Ospina, Colombian footballer
1989 – Dezmon Briscoe, American football player
1990 – Tadeja Majerič, Slovenian tennis player
1991 – António Félix da Costa, Portuguese race car driver
1991 – Cédric Soares, Portuguese footballer
1992 – Tyler Randell, Australian rugby league player
1993 – Pablo Marí, Spanish football player
1993 – Ilnur Alshin, Russian football player
1993 – Anna Karnaukh, Russian water polo player
1994 – Alex Harris, Scottish footballer

Source: wikipedia