4 January

Wat Tyler

Jacob Grimm

Louis Braille

Isaac Pitman

Augustus John

James Bond

Sterling Holloway

Lionel Newman

Rosalie Crutchley

Barbara Rush

Sorrell Booke

Iain Cuthbertson

Floyd Patterson

Dyan Cannon

Rick Stein

Matt Frewer

Julian Sands

Michael Stipe

April Winchell

Julia St. John

Harlan Coben

Kate Lonergan

Dave Foley

Craig Revel Horwood

Claudie Blakley

Labrinth

1341

 Wat Tyler
Wat Tyler (4 January 1341 – 15 June 1381) was a leader of the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt in England. Tyler was killed by officers loyal to King Richard II during negotiations at Smithfield, London. Born Walter Tyler in Kent. (d. 1381)

1785

 Jacob Grimm
Jacob Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863) was a German philologist, jurist, and mythologist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm’s law (linguistics), the co-author with his brother Wilhelm of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie and, more popularly, as the elder of the Brothers Grimm and the editor of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Born Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm in Hanau, Hesse-Kassel, HRE. (d. 1863)

1809

 Louis Braille
Louis Braille (4 January 1809 – 6 January 1852) was a French educator and inventor of a system of reading and writing for use by the blind or visually impaired. His system remains virtually unchanged to this day, and is known worldwide simply as braille. Born in Coupvray, France. (d. 1852)

1813

 Isaac Pitman
Sir Isaac Pitman (4 January 1813 – 22 January 1897), was an English teacher who developed the most widely used system of shorthand, known now as Pitman shorthand. He first proposed this in Stenographic Soundhand in 1837. He was also the vice president of the Vegetarian Society. Born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England. (d. 1897)

1878

 Augustus John
Augustus John OM RA (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a short time around 1910, he was an important exponent of Post-Impressionism in the United Kingdom. He was the brother of the painter Gwen John. Born Augustus Edwin John in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales. (d. 1961)

1900

 James Bond
James Bond (January 4, 1900 – February 14, 1989) was a leading American ornithologist, an expert on the birds of the Caribbean. His name was appropriated by writer Ian Fleming for his fictional British spy of the same name. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. (d. 1989)

1905

 Sterling Holloway
Sterling Holloway (January 4, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor and voice actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He was also a voice actor for The Walt Disney Company, well known for his distinctive tenor voice, and served as the original voice of the title character in Walt Disney’s Winnie the Pooh. Born Sterling Price Holloway Jr in Cedartown, Georgia. (d. 1992)

1916

 Lionel Newman
Lionel Newman (January 4, 1916 – February 3, 1989) was an American conductor, pianist, and film and television composer. He received eleven Academy Award nominations, and won an Oscar for Hello Dolly! Lionel Newman’s tenure with Twentieth Century Fox spanned 46 years with over 200 films to his credit. Born in New Haven, Connecticut. (d. 1989)

1920

 Rosalie Crutchley
Rosalie Crutchley (4 January 1920 – 28 July 1997) was an English actress. Trained at the Royal Academy of Music, Crutchley was known for her television performances, but had a long and successful career in theatre and films. She played Catherine Parr in the 1970 TV series, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, and played the same character in its sequel, Elizabeth R (1971). She also had a short, but memorable, appearance in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). Born in London, England. (d. 1997)

1927

 Barbara Rush
Barbara Rush (4 January 1927 – 31 March 2024) was an American Golden Globe Award-winning movie and television actress. In 1954, Rush won the Golden Globe Award as most promising female newcomer for her role in the 1953 American black-and-white science fiction film, It Came From Outer Space. Later in her career, Rush became a regular performer in the television series Peyton Place. Born in Denver, Colorado. (d. 2024)

1930

 Iain Cuthbertson
Iain Cuthbertson (4 January 1930 – 4 September 2009) was a Scottish character actor. At 6′ 4″, he was known for his tall imposing build and also his distinctive “gravelly” heavily accented voice. His most memorable television role was as the eponymous Procurator Fiscal in the long running “Sutherland’s Law “. A rather different achievement was his portrayal of the criminal and businessman Charlie Endell in both Budgie (London Weekend Television/ITV) with Adam Faith (1971-72). Born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. (d. 2009)

 Sorrell Booke
Sorrell Booke (January 4, 1930 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor who performed on stage, screen, and television. He is best known for his role as corrupt politician Jefferson Davis “Boss” Hogg in the television show The Dukes of Hazzard. Born in Buffalo, New York. (d. 1994)

1935

 Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson (January 4, 1935 – May 11, 2006) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1956 to 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in history to win the title, and was also the first heavyweight to regain the title after losing it. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Born in Waco, North Carolina. (d. 2006)

1937

 Dyan Cannon
Dyan Cannon (born January 4, 1937) is an American film and television actress, director, screenwriter, editor, and producer. She has been nominated for three Academy Awards. Cannon’s first major film role came in 1969’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, which earned her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. Born Samille Diane Friesen in Tacoma, Washington.

1947

 Rick Stein
Rick Stein OBE (born 4 January 1947) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and television presenter. He is head chef and co-owner of “Rick Stein at Bannisters” at Mollymook, New South Wales, Australia, and owns four restaurants in Padstow, a fish and chip shop in Falmouth, and fish and chip shops in Porthleven and Newquay, all in Cornwall, England. Born Christopher Richard Stein in Churchill, Oxfordshire, England.

1958

 Matt Frewer
Matt Frewer (born January 4, 1958) is an American Canadian actor, singer, voice artist and comedian. Acting since 1983, he is best known for portraying the 1980s icon Max Headroom. Born Matthew George Frewer in Washington, DC.

 Julian Sands
Julian Sands (4 January 1958 – 13 January 2023) was an English actor known for his roles in films such as The Killing Fields, A Room with a View, Warlock, Arachnophobia, and Vatel. On television, he is known for playing Vladimir Bierko in 24, and Jor-El in Smallville. Born Julian Richard Morley Sands in Otley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. (d. 2023)

1960

 Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe (born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, film producer, music video director, visual artist, and philanthropist. He is best known as the lead singer and main lyricist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. from their formation in 1980 until their dissolution in 2011. Born John Michael Stipe in Decatur, Georgia.

 April Winchell
April Winchell Foley (born January 4, 1960) is an American voice actress, actress, writer, talk radio host, commentator and comedian. As of 1996, she is the official voice of Clarabelle Cow in the Disney franchise. Born April Terri Winchell in New York City, New York.

 Julia St. John
Julia St. John (born 4 January 1960) is an English actress. Her television credits include A Touch of Frost, The Brittas Empire, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Lovejoy, Harry Enfield and Chums, Lewis, and Victoria Wood.

1962

 Harlan Coben
Harlan Coben (born January 4, 1962) is an American writer of mystery novels and thrillers. The plots of his novels often involve the resurfacing of unresolved or misinterpreted events in the past, murders, or fatal accidents and have multiple twists. Born in Newark, New Jersey.

 Kate Lonergan
Kate Lonergan (born 4 January 1962) is an English former actress, best known for playing the role of Marian in the 1989-94 BBC One children’s television series Maid Marian and her Merry Men. Born Helen Catherine Lonergan in Barton-upon-Irwell, Lancashire.

1965

 Craig Revel Horwood
Craig Revel Horwood (born 4 January 1965) is an Australian-British dancer, choreographer and theatre director in the United Kingdom. He is a patron of the National Osteoporosis Society. He is best known as a judge on the BBC dancing show Strictly Come Dancing. Born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.

1974

 Claudie Blakley
Claudie Blakley (born 4 January 1974) is an English actress. In 1998, she won the Ian Charleson Award for her performance in The Seagull at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. She is best known for her role as Emma Timmins in the BBC drama series Lark Rise to Candleford. Other notable roles include Mabel Nesbitt in Robert Altman’s Oscar-winning Gosford Park and Charlotte Lucas in Joe Wright’s 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice. Born in Easthampstead, Berkshire.

1989

 Labrinth
Labrinth (born 4 January 1989) is a British musician, singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer. Born Timothy Lee McKenzie in Hackney, London, England.