If it’s your birthday today, you already have enough reasons to celebrate. We bring you an extra reason to feel special today, with a list of the famous personalities you share your birthday with.
Bill Gates
Known for being the man behind Microsoft, Bill Gates wrote his first computer program as a young teenager. Having co-founded Microsoft in 1975, he has since held the posts of chairman, CEO and chief software architect.
A well-known philanthropist, he took to working at Microsoft on a part-time basis in 2006 to dedicate more time to his organisation Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He has donated large amounts of money to charities and scientific programs through the foundation.
He was named the richest man in the world in September 2017, with a net worth of USD 84.8 billion.
Julia Roberts
Once the ‘leading lady’ of Hollywood, Julia Roberts’s ticket to fame was her role as Shelby Eatenton in Steel Magnolias, closely followed by Pretty Woman. She has three Golden Globe Awards to her credit, and one Academy Award, which she won for ‘Erin Brockovich’, where she essayed the titular role.
As a child, Roberts never saw herself as an actress, but instead as a veterinarian. However, she dropped out of Georgia State University to move to New York, where she pursued her career as an actress.
She was the highest-paid actress throughout the 1990s and first half of 2000s. She has also been named People magazine's "World's Most Beautiful Woman" a record five times.
Indra Nooyi
Currently heading one of the largest food and beverages company PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi is among the top female executives in the United States of America. She has been consistently ranked among the World's 100 Most Powerful Women.
Armed with an MBA from IIM Calcutta, Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994, and quickly rose in ranks to become the CFO in 2001. She was named CEO in 2006, and headlined the corporation’s restructuring exercise. She is credited with facilitating PepsiCo’s move from spending on junk foods to healthier alternatives.
She has several awards to her credit and was ranked the 2nd most powerful woman on the Fortune list in 2016.
Sister Nivedita
Born Margaret Elizabeth Noble, Sister Nivedita was a Scots-Irish social worker, author, teacher and a disciple of Swami Vivekananda. Having learnt the early lessons on service to mankind from her father, she met Swami Vivekananda in London in 1895.
He rechristened her as Nivedita, and initiated her into the vow of Bhramacharya in 1898. She travelled with him to India and opened a school in Calcutta the same year, with the aim of educating girls who were deprived of basic education. Although closely associated with the Ramakrishna Mission, she later denounced any association with the mission due to her affiliation to the Indian Nationalist movement.
She died in 1911 in Darjeeling.
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