Today’s not just any day, it’s your day. But if you aren’t feeling too sprightly about growing old(er), don’t fret. You can check out a list of icons your share your birthday with, and who knows? You might find that you share much in common with at least one of these awe-inspiring people! If that doesn’t make you feel better, there’s always cake.
Lil Wayne
Born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr in New Orleans, American hip hop artiste Lil Wayne started his career at age of nine with Cash Money Records. In 2005, Wayne founded his own recording label ‘Young Money Entertainment’. While his solo debut album in 1999, ‘Tha Block Is Hot’ was given a platinum rating by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), it was his 2004 album Tha Carter which won him acclaim.
His 2008 album ‘Tha Carter III’ won him his first Grammy for Best Rap Album. The album includes the popular numbers “Lollipop” and “Got Money”.
Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, helped free the country from the hands of the British by scrawling his signature on the Declaration of Independence. Before becoming a statesman, Adams dabbled in business, tax collection and even journalism. He founded an anti-government weekly newspaper called The Independent Advertiser in 1748, with an aim to free the colonies from Great Britain.
Adams and another eminent revolutionary John Hancock, founded the Sons of Liberty, a secret society in 1765, to safeguard the rights of those colonists. A graduate of Harvard University, Samuel Adams is believed to have played a role in the Boston Tea Party of 1773.
Yash Chopra
Late filmmaker and producer Yash Chopra’s name is synonymous with Bollywood. If you’ve grown up on a diet of feel-good Bollywood dramas, then you must surely be familiar with the name which is associated with hits like Dil Toh Pagal Hai (1997), Veer-Zara (2004), Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995).
While Chopra made his directorial debut with the 1959 social drama Dhool Ka phool, he founded what is now a media empire, Yash Raj films, in 1971.
For his massive contribution to the Indian film industry, Chopra was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2001 and the Padma Bhushan in 2005. Moreover, he was also a lifetime member of the British Academy Film Awards until his death in 2012.
Lakshmipathy Balaji
Former Indian cricketer Lakshmipathy (or Lakshmi) Balaji is now better recognised as the Kolkata Knight Riders’ current bowling coach and mentor. The former pacer took up this position after retiring from first-class cricket last year and also remains associated with his old team Chennai Super Kings as their bowling coach.
He was an integral part of KKR's bowling line-up from 2011 to 2013, and contributed to the team's victorious campaign in 2012.
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