Born in 1949 – Mark Knopfler, Scottish-English singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Listen to Iron Hand by Dire Straits.

Born in 1921 – Alex Haley, American historian and author.

Above: Haley, right, with LeVar Burton, who starred in the TV adaptation of Haley’s book, Roots.

Born in 1920 – Red Holzman, American basketball player and coach.

Holzman coached the New York Knickerbockers to NBA Championships in 1970 and 1973

Born in 1899 – P. L. Travers, Australian-English author and actress.

“With the word creative we stand under a mystery. And from time to time that mystery, as if it were a sun, sends down upon one head or another, a sudden shaft of light – by grace, one feels, rather than deserving, for it always is something given, free, unsought, unexpected.”

Born in 1949 – Keith Carradine, American actor.

Above: Carradine in the 1975 film, Nashville.

Listen to him perform the song I’m Easy.

Born in 1953 – Anne Fadiman, American journalist and author.

Above: Lia Lee, the subject of Fadiman’s 1997 book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.

Born in 1969 – Elliott Smith, American singer-songwriter.

Listen to Tomorrow Tomorrow.

Born in 1934 – Wendell Berry, American writer and farmer. 

From Life is a Miracle: “We should value familiarity above innovation….Innovation is limited always by human ingenuity and human means; familiarity is limited only by the limits of life. The real infinitude of experience is in familiarity.”

Born in 1955 – Billy Bob Thornton, American actor, director, and screenwriter.

Above: Thornton in his 1996 film, Sling Blade.

Born in 1964 – Lucky Dube, South African singer and keyboard player.

Listen to Remember Me.