Curated playlist
1980 births
- Kazue KatoKazue Kato wanted to be an animator, but her father sent her to college instead.
- Emi NakamuraEmi Nakamura found that many recorded price changes were just temporary sales.
- Pau GasolPau Gasol first wanted to be a doctor and cure AIDS. Magic Johnson's 1991 announcement changed the boy's plans.
- Kristen BellKristen Bell's first audition came in 1992, for a suburban Detroit production of Raggedy Ann and Andy. She won two parts at once: a banana and a tree. Nobody could have guessed from that start where she would end up. Bell became an…
- Jake GyllenhaalJake Gyllenhaal, the American actor born on the 19th of December 1980, came close to playing two of the best-known superheroes in film. In 2003 he auditioned for Batman Begins and nearly won the part, which went to Christian Bale. A year…
- Kim KardashianIn November 2025, Kim Kardashian announced that she had failed her first attempt at the California Bar Exam. The news travelled quickly, because she is the eighth-most-followed individual on Instagram and the thirteenth-most-followed on…
- Macaulay CulkinIn December 2018, Macaulay Culkin asked the internet to help him pick a new legal name. He announced that he would become Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin, and he opened a vote on his own website to choose the new middle name. Five…
- Christina AguileraChristina Aguilera sang "A Sunday Kind of Love" on the television contest Star Search in 1990 and was eliminated in the semi-final round. That loss decided nothing. She would go on to sell more than 100 million records worldwide, and…
- Pete HegsethOn the 24th of January 2025, the United States Senate divided evenly on whether Pete Hegseth should lead the Department of Defense. Vice President JD Vance broke the tie, and the confirmation passed 51-50. Only one earlier Cabinet nominee,…
- Ryan GoslingRyan Gosling was suspended in grade one for throwing steak knives at classmates.
- Zooey DeschanelZooey Deschanel was named after a character in a book. That character is Zooey Glass, the protagonist of J. D. Salinger's 1961 novella Franny and Zooey. The real Zooey was born on the 17th of January 1980 and grew up to become an American…
- Nick CannonNick Cannon is an American comedian, actor and rapper who once hosted a stunt in which a human cannonball was fired into slime. It happened at Nickelodeon's 2005 Kids' Choice Awards, and the ceremony called it the slime stunt. The moment…
- Tetsuya YamagamiTetsuya Yamagami first hunted the Unification Church's leader, not Shinzo Abe. He switched targets in September 2021.
- Leslye HeadlandLeslye Headland once served as Harvey Weinstein's personal assistant. She later turned that job into a play, Assistance.
- Yao MingYao Ming scored the first basket of China's home Olympics in 2008, a three-pointer.
- Ryōgo NaritaRyōgo Narita won a Gold Prize for a story about Prohibition-era gangsters and alchemists.
- Olivia MunnOlivia Munn learned to perform as a way of protecting her siblings. When her stepfather was screaming in the living room, she hustled everyone into her bedroom and launched into imitations of teachers and scenes from movies. The act pulled…