Curated playlist
1949 births
- François-Xavier DillmannFrançois-Xavier Dillmann's French translation of Snorri Sturluson's Edda came out in 1991.
- Kentarō HanedaKentarō Haneda taught at a Tokyo music college and also scored console games. He was best known for the Wizardry ports.
- Bruce SpringsteenBruce Springsteen threw the first acetate of his own album Born to Run into the swimming pool of his hotel in 1975. The record was being mastered while the band toured, and he was furious at what he heard. He briefly considered scrapping…
- Meryl StreepDino De Laurentiis insulted Meryl Streep in Italian, not knowing she spoke it. She answered him in Italian too.
- Tom WaitsTom Waits accepted his place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011 with a joke at his own expense. “They say that I have no hits and I'm difficult to work with. And they say that like it's a bad thing!” The man who inducted him, Neil…
- Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Warren began her bankruptcy research thinking most filers were gaming the system. She found abuse was rare.
- Tim DysonTim Dyson wrote a 2018 book on India's population from the earliest modern humans to today.
- Billy JoelWilliam Martin Joel, better known as Billy Joel, left Hicksville High School in 1967 without a diploma. He had missed a crucial English exam after playing a late-night gig at a piano bar, where he earned money to help support his mother…
- Nicholas CraftsNicholas Crafts, a British economist born in Nottingham on the 9th of March 1949, spent his career trying to put numbers on one of the most famous turning points in history. The Industrial Revolution is usually told through steam,…
- Marcus JunkelmannMarcus Junkelmann marched over the Alps in Roman armor to test ancient sources.
- Gene SimmonsGene Simmons was born Chaim Witz in Haifa, Israel, on the 25th of August 1949. He grew up to become the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss, where he plays a stage character called the Demon. Rock stardom has a reputation…
- Gil Scott-HeronGil Scott-Heron preferred the word "bluesologist" even as critics called him a rap progenitor.
- Gary RidgwayOn the 30th of November 2001, police arrived at the Kenworth truck factory in Renton, Washington, to arrest a spray painter as he was leaving work. The man was Gary Leon Ridgway, born on the 18th of February 1949. For years the press had…
- John Madden (director)Director John Madden's Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture.
- Artis GilmoreArtis Gilmore played 670 straight pro basketball games without missing one. He entered the Hall of Fame in 2011.
- Pablo EscobarPablo Escobar's funeral in Medellín drew more than 25,000 people. Many came from the city's poor neighborhoods, and some of them still pray to him as a saint. A priest known as Father Elkin described Escobar as a profoundly devout man who…
- John Guy (historian)Two of historian John Guy's books on Mary Queen of Scots became the source for a 2018 film.
- Lawrence KasdanLawrence Kasdan's script The Bodyguard was rejected 67 times. It later made more than $411 million worldwide.
- David W. BlightYale asked historian David W. Blight to investigate Yale's own ties to slavery. His 2024 book gave the answer.
- Simon CallowSimon Callow's acting career began with a fan letter to Laurence Olivier. Olivier wrote back with a box-office job.
- Arsène WengerArsène Wenger led Arsenal through a whole league season without a defeat in 2003-04.
- Teófilo CubillasAt 20, Peruvian midfielder Teófilo Cubillas was named Pelé's successor by Pelé himself.
- Gregg PopovichScientists named a columbine gene POPOVICH after Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. It regulates spur development.
- Alla PugachevaAlla Pugacheva sold more than 250 million records, yet few outside Eastern Europe know her.
- Moto HagioMoto Hagio's parents did not accept her career as a manga artist until 2010. She was 61 by then.
- Shigeru MatsuzakiShigeru Matsuzaki's 1987 almond ad song became a Thai hit but barely registered in Japan.
- Carlos the JackalCarlos the Jackal, whose real name is Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, owes half of his nickname to a novel on someone else's bookshelf. A correspondent for The Guardian reportedly spotted Frederick Forsyth's 1971 book The Day of the Jackal in a…
- Carlos LehderOn the 10th of July 1982, Carlos Lehder said goodbye to the Bahamas by bombarding Clifford Park in Nassau with pamphlets. Each one carried the same three words: DEA go home. Some had $100 bills attached. Lehder was a Colombian and German…