Curated playlist

1948 births

Tom MoldvayYavdlom is a fictional city in Mystara, a setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Read the name in reverse and it spells Moldvay. The city is an homage to Tom Moldvay, an American game designer and author who was born on the…
Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera closed on Broadway in 2023 after 13,981 performances.
Susan AtkinsOn the 24th of September 2009, Susan Atkins died at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla. Her husband, James Whitehouse, told reporters that her last whispered word was "Amen." At that moment she was California's…
Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. Jackson learned to cope with a childhood stutter by pretending to be other people.
Al GoreAl Gore won the 2000 popular vote but lost the presidency by 537 Florida votes.
Charles IIICharles III was crowned at Westminster Abbey on the 6th of May 2023, in a ceremony planned for many years under the code name Operation Golden Orb. Reports before the day promised a coronation shorter, smaller and less expensive than his…
Richard SwedbergRichard Swedberg moved from a law degree to a sociology PhD. He then studied markets and money as social life.
Ian MacDonaldIan MacDonald, the English music critic, was born Ian MacCormick and wrote under a name that was not quite his own. Behind the pseudonym stood a man who studied at Cambridge, edited for a music weekly, wrote song lyrics, and even played…
Cat StevensCat Stevens sold more than 100 million records before he walked away from pop music. A 25-year break followed.
Ozzy OsbourneOn the 5th of July 2025, Ozzy Osbourne sat on a black throne at Villa Park in Birmingham, because Parkinson's disease had left him unable to stand. More than 40,000 people filled the ground. At its peak, the livestream drew 5.8 million…
Toshio SuzukiToshio Suzuki never directed a film, yet Miyazaki said Studio Ghibli wouldn't exist without him.
Stephen Holmes (political scientist)Stephen Holmes argues that liberty depends on taxes. Rights need government enforcement to mean anything.
Steven TylerSteven Tyler, the singer born Steven Victor Tallarico, saw his touring career end in August 2024. That month, his band Aerosmith announced that it was retiring from the road. The reason was Tyler's voice. He had fractured his larynx and…
Stevie NicksStevie Nicks, born Stephanie Lynn Nicks on the 26th of May 1948, could not pronounce her own name as a toddler. The best she could manage was "tee-dee", and that slip turned into the nickname Stevie. Decades later, Rolling Stone placed her…
Dave CowensDave Cowens won 1973 NBA MVP at six feet nine, short for a center. He beat out Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the award.
James TaylorJames Taylor, the American singer-songwriter and guitarist, was the last act on the bill at the Newport Folk Festival on the 20th of July 1969. Thousands of fans had stayed through the rain just to hear him. He got through only 15 minutes.…
Grace JonesGrace Jones once slapped the chat-show host Russell Harty on live television. She was promoting a record, and she felt ignored when he turned away to interview other guests. The moment suits a performer who has never been easy to look…
Robert PlantRobert Plant, the English singer born on the 20th of August 1948, first rehearsed stardom behind the curtains of his family home at Christmas. He was ten years old, and he was trying to be Elvis. Decades later, on the Denton talk show in…
George R. R. MartinA chess craze helped save George R. R. Martin's writing career. Bobby Fischer's 1972 win got him a tournament job.
Svetlana SavitskayaSvetlana Savitskaya hid a parachute knife in her school bag at sixteen. Her father found it and encouraged her jumping.
Oliver Hart (economist)Economist Oliver Hart was called as a government expert witness in two tax cases.
Dan IsselDan Issel did not start on his high school basketball team until junior year.
Alice CooperAlice Cooper summed up his early band with one boast: "We were into fun, sex, death and money when everybody was into peace and love." Alice Cooper is both the name of a rock band that began in Phoenix, Arizona, and the legal name of its…
Edmund KemperEdmund Kemper stood in a phone booth in Pueblo, Colorado, in the spring of 1973 and confessed to murder. The police officer who answered did not believe him. Kemper was told to call back later. He had just driven more than 1,000 miles,…
Ray KurzweilRay Kurzweil's team built a machine that read printed pages aloud for blind people. It was unveiled in January 1976.
Hans MoravecHans Moravec argued consciousness could move into a computer seven years before David Chalmers.
Olivier BlanchardOlivier Blanchard became the IMF's chief economist two weeks before Lehman Brothers collapsed.
Bruce VilanchWhen Jack Palance did one-armed push-ups at the 1992 Oscars, Bruce Vilanch wrote new jokes on the spot.
Alexis SandersonAlexis Sanderson left Oxford for Kashmir and studied with a Shaiva guru for six years. He later held an Oxford chair.
Olivia Newton-JohnDame Olivia Newton-John sold more than 100 million records, a total that makes her the highest-selling female Australian recording artist of all time. She was born in Cambridge, England, in 1948 and raised in Melbourne. Her career…
Christa McAuliffeChrista McAuliffe had a short, blunt answer when a talk-show host asked her about her coming mission. Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, she said: "If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat. Just get…
Ben BurttDarth Vader's heavy breathing was sound designer Ben Burtt's own breath, recorded through an old scuba regulator.
Olivia HarrisonOlivia Harrison fought off an armed intruder with a fireplace poker and a heavy table lamp. It happened in 1999.