Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître was a Belgian Catholic priest, theoretical physicist, and mathematician who made major contributions to cosmology and astrophysics.
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Also born on July 17
Actor
1935–2024 · Canada
Donald McNichol Sutherland was a Canadian actor. With a career spanning six decades, he received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards as well as a BAFTA Award nomination.
Festival TV Monte-Carlo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Politician
1954 · Germany
Angela Dorothea Merkel is a German stateswoman and retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office and the only former East German.
EU2017EE Estonian Presidency, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Entrepreneur
1952 · United States
David Michael Hasselhoff, nicknamed "the Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He first gained recognition on the soap opera The Young and the Restless (1975–1982), playing the role of Dr. Snapper Foster.
Sebaso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Actor
1969 · Australia
Jason Clarke is an Australian actor. He has appeared in many TV series, and is known for playing Tommy Caffee on the television series Brotherhood. He has also appeared in many films, often as an antagonist.
Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Actor
1899–1986 · United States
James Francis Cagney Jr. was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances.
Warner Bros. Studio (work for hire), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Scientist
1975 · United States
Terence Chi-Shen Tao is an Australian and American mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 2006 for his contributions to partial differential equations, combinatorics, harmonic analysis, and additive number theory.
Institute for Pure & Applied Mathematics, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons