Birthday twins
January 16 is the birthday of 40 notable people we've found so far, including authors, musicians, actors and entrepreneurs, and 1 of them is a billionaire.
What the data says
Entrepreneur · Amblin Partners · entertainment
1965 · Canada
$5.4Bolder estimate, as of 2025 · Forbes
Jeffrey Stuart Skoll is a Canadian engineer, billionaire internet entrepreneur and film producer.
Reported estimate as of 2025: $5.4B. Wealth changes; this is not a live figure.
Against the other 365
Ranks compare all 366 dates in the dataset; ties share a rank. See every January birthday · battle January 16 against another date · all rankings
Who shares January 16
Share of the 40 people we list, by documented field. People can belong to more than one.
Countries
Citizenship as recorded on Wikidata, one country per person.
Life timeline
Dated milestones from Wikidata (company foundings, awards, top jobs, notable works), placed at the age each person reached them. Add your birth year above to see the ones you have passed.
The standouts
Ordered by sourced wealth, then documented achievement and coverage.
Top tier
Actor
1979–2001 · United States
Aaliyah Dana Haughton was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the "Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop, and hip hop.
mika-photography.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Top tier
Musician
1959
Helen Folasade Adu, known professionally as Sade or Sade Adu, is a Nigerian-British singer-songwriter. She is the principal songwriter and lead vocalist of the band Sade.
Thilo Parg, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Top tier
Musician
1996 · South Korea
Jennie Kim, known mononymously as Jennie, is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and actress. Born in South Korea, she moved to New Zealand in 2004 and returned to South Korea to successfully audition for YG Entertainment in 2010.
티비텐 TV10, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Top tier
Actor
1980 · United States
Lin-Manuel Miranda is an American songwriter, actor, filmmaker, librettist, and producer. He created the Broadway musicals In the Heights and Hamilton, and the soundtracks for the animated films Moana, Vivo, and Encanto.
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Top tier
Scientist
1963 · United States
Simon H. Johnson is a British-American economist who has served as the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management since 2004. He also served as a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics from 2008 to 2019.
John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Top tier
Scientist
1954 · Kingdom of Denmark
Morten Peter Meldal is a Danish chemist and Nobel laureate. He is a professor of chemistry at the University of Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is best known for developing the CuAAC-click reaction, concurrently with but independent of Valery V. Fokin and K.
Archivo Fotográfico Universidad de Navarra, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Builders
Entrepreneur
1974 · United Kingdom
Katherine Ann Moss is an English model. Arriving towards the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fashion icon status.
Crooked House Films, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Entrepreneur
1942–2016 · Canada
René Angélil was a Canadian musical producer, talent manager, and singer. He was the husband and longtime manager of singer Celine Dion.
Nicolas Laffont, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Entrepreneur · Michelin · automotive
1853–1931 · France
André Jules Michelin was a French industrialist who, with his brother Édouard (1859–1940), founded the Michelin Tyre Company in 1888 in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand.
Agence de presse Meurisse, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Entrepreneur
1947 · Thailand
Apasra Hongsakula is a Thai businesswoman and beauty queen who won the title of Miss Universe 1965. She is a daughter of Group Captain Perm and Kayoon Hongsakula. She was the first woman from Thailand and the first Southeast Asian to win the Miss Universe title.
Associated Press (AP), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Entrepreneur
1901–1988 · United States
Frank Joseph Zamboni Jr. was an American businessman and inventor whose most famous invention is the modern ice resurfacer, with his surname being registered as a trademark for these devices.
Entrepreneur
1928 · United States
Sidney J. Kimmel is an American businessman, philanthropist, and film producer. He is ranked 2141st in the Forbes list of the richest people alive in 2021.
January 16 in history
Events from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
More birthday twins
Actor
1948 · United States
John Howard Carpenter is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is generally recognized as a master of the horror genre.
Kyle Cassidy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Author
1932–1985 · United States
Dian Fossey was an American primatologist and conservationist known for undertaking an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups from 1966 until her murder in 1985.
Tribune Publishing, no photographer credited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Actor
1986 · India
Sidharth Malhotra is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several accolades, has received nominations for two Filmfare Awards, and appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list from 2016 to 2018.
Bollywood Hungama, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Creator
1933–2004 · United States
Susan Lee Sontag was an American writer and critic. She primarily wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on 'Camp' ", in 1964.
Lynn Gilbert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Actor
1969 · United States
Roy Levesta Jones Jr. is an American former professional boxer that competed from 1989 to 2018, and again in 2023. He held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight.
Fedyanin Nikita, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Actor
1950 · United States
Deborah Kaye Allen is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer, director, producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She has been nominated for 22 Emmy Awards, and two Tony Awards.
PhilipRomanoPhoto, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Actor
1946 · India
Kabir Bedi is an Indian actor. His career has spanned three continents covering India, the United States and especially Italy among other Western countries in three media: film, television and theatre.
Graphikamaal, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Actor
1908–1984 · United States
Ethel Merman was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theater, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage."
ABC Television Uploaded by We hope at en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Athlete
1995 · Japan
Takumi Minamino is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Ligue 1 club Monaco and the Japan national team.
Paté kroute, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Musician
1968 · United Kingdom
Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross is an English musician, composer, record producer, and audio engineer. He is best known for his work with American musician Trent Reznor, with whom he first worked on the musical project Tapeworm in 2002.
Aaron Tait from Oshawa, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Actor
1924–2002 · Mexico
María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García, known professionally as Katy Jurado, was a Mexican actress. She followed in the footsteps of earlier Mexican actresses in Hollywood, including Dolores Del Rio, Lupe Velez, and María Félix.
None visible/possibly Paramount, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Athlete
1988 · Kingdom of Denmark
Nicklas Bendtner is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a striker. A large, tall, and physically strong player, he was known for his ability in the air and possessed a powerful header.
Кирилл Венедиктов, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Athlete
1985 · Argentina
Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a right back. Zabaleta could operate on both sides of the pitch as a full-back and was known for his tenacious style of play, and has captained his club on numerous occasions.
--Steindy (talk) 16:00, 29 August 2019 (UTC), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Athlete
1984 · Switzerland
Stephan Lichtsteiner is a Swiss football manager and former professional footballer. He is currently the head coach of Swiss Super League club FC Basel.
Original: Steindy / Derivative work: Danyele, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Athlete
1980 · France
Seydou Keïta is a Malian former professional footballer. A versatile midfielder, he operated as both a central or defensive midfielder. He is both the record appearance holder and scorer of the Mali national football team.
Shay, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Inventor
1905–1980 · Poland
Marian Adam Rejewski was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who in late 1932 reconstructed the sight-unseen German military Enigma cipher machine.
Politician
1844–1919 · Albania
Ismail Qemali, or Ismail Kemal Bey Vlora, was an Albanian politician and statesman who is regarded as the founder of modern Albania. He served as the first prime minister of Albania from December 1912 until his resignation in January 1914.
Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Author
1838–1917 · Kingdom of Prussia
Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Josef Brentano was a German philosopher and psychologist.
user:svencb, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Politician
1931–2006 · Germany
Johannes Rau was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1978 to 1998.
Creator
1890–1969 · United States
Karl W. Freund, A.S.C. was a German Bohemian and American cinematographer and film director. He is best known for photographing Metropolis (1927), Dracula (1931), and television's I Love Lucy (1951–1957), and for directing The Mummy (1932).
Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Actor
1749–1803 · Kingdom of Sardinia
Count Vittorio Amedeo Alfieri was an Italian dramatist and poet, considered the "founder of Italian tragedy." He wrote nineteen tragedies, sonnets, satires, a notable autobiography, and translated Virgil and other works from Latin and Greek.
François-Xavier Fabre, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Athlete
1983 · Japan
Daisuke Sakata is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team.
yoppy, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Investor
1873–1910 · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Lieutenant Boyd Alexander was an English officer in the British Army, as well as an explorer and ornithologist.
Photographer unknown - obituary by W R Ogilvie-Grant, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Athlete
1986 · Japan
Daiki Niwa is a Japanese footballer who plays for Spanish Tercera Federación club Deusto.
TAKA@P.P.R.S, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Entrepreneur
1957 · Israel
Ilan Ben-Dov is an Israeli businessman and investor.
Entrepreneur
1967 · Czech Republic
Czech businessman
Entrepreneur
1958 · Czech Republic
Czech businessman
This page lists 40 people born on January 16, every one traced to a Wikidata record and, where shown, a Wikipedia summary (CC BY-SA) and a licensed Wikimedia Commons photo. 1 of them carry a dated net-worth estimate citing Forbes or Bloomberg; combined wealth is the sum of the low end of those estimates, the newest as of 2025. Rankings compare all 366 dates in the dataset built on 2026-09-28. Milestone ages come from dated Wikidata statements; a tilde marks year-only dates. Nothing on this page is a prediction about anyone born on January 16. Read the full methodology.
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