What happened on March 26 ?

1516 - Conrad Gessner, Swiss naturalist (d. 1565)

1554 - Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne, French military leader (d. 1611)

1753 - Benjamin Thompson, American physicist and inventor (d. 1814)

1859 - Alfred Edward Housman, English poet (d. 1936)

1868 - King Fuad I of Egypt (d. 1936)

1874 - Robert Frost, American poet (d. 1963)

1875 - Max Abraham, German physicist (d. 1922)

1875 - Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea (d. 1965)

1879 - Othmar Ammann, Swiss-born bridge engineer (d. 1965)

1882 - Hermann Obrecht, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1940)

1884 - Wilhelm Backhaus, German pianist (d. 1969)

1888 - Elsa Brändström, Swedish nurse (d. 1948)

1893 - Palmiro Togliatti, Italian communist leader (d. 1964)

1904 - Joseph Campbell, American author (d. 1987)

1904 - Xenophon Zolotas, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2004)

1905 - Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (d. 1997)

1911 - Bernard Katz, German-born biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2003)

1911 - Tennessee Williams, American dramatist (d. 1983)

1913 - Paul Erd?s, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1996)

1914 - Toru Kumon, Japanese educator (d. 1995)

1914 - William Westmoreland, U.S. general (d. 2005)

1916 - Christian B. Anfinsen, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)

1916 - Sterling Hayden, American actor (d. 1986)

1916 - Bill Edrich, English cricketer (d. 1986)

1917 - Rufus Thomas, American musician (d. 2001)

1919 - Strother Martin, American actor (d. 1980)

1922 - Oscar Sala, Italian-born physicist

1923 - Bob Elliott, American comedian

1925 - Pierre Boulez, French composer and conductor

1925 - James Moody, American jazz musician, composer, and actor

1930 - Gregory Corso, American poet (d. 2001)

1930 - Sandra Day O'Connor, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

1931 - Leonard Nimoy, American actor and director

1934 - Alan Arkin, American actor

1935 - Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestine National Authority

1938 - Anthony James Leggett, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1940 - James Caan, American actor

1940 - Nancy Pelosi, American politician

1942 - Erica Jong, American author

1943 - Bob Woodward, American journalist

1944 - Diana Ross, American singer (Supremes)

1945 - Mikhail Voronin, Soviet gymnast (d. 2004)

1946 - Johnny Crawford, American actor

1946 - Alain Madelin, French politician

1947 - Dar Robinson, American stunt man (d. 1986)

1948 - Steven Tyler, American musician (Aerosmith)

1949 - Vicki Lawrence, American actress and singer

1949 - Patrick Süskind, German writer

1950 - Teddy Pendergrass, American singer

1950 - Martin Short, Canadian comedian

1950 - Ernest Thomas, American actor

1951 - Carl Wieman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1952 - Didier Pironi, French Formula One driver (d. 1987)

1953 - Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Labor

1953 - Lincoln Chafee, American Senator from Rhode Island

1954 - Kazuhiko Inoue, Japanese seiyu (voice actor)

1954 - Curtis Sliwa, American founder of the Guardian Angels

1956 - Charly McClain, American singer

1957 - Leeza Gibbons, American television host

1960 - Marcus Allen, American football player

1960 - Jennifer Grey, American actress

1961 - William Hague, British politician

1962 - John Stockton, American basketball player

1962 - Paul de Leeuw, Dutch television host

1963 - Kyogoku Natsuhiko, Japanese writer

1963 - Roch Voisine, Canadian singer andsongwriter

1964 - Martin Donnelly, Irish racecar driver

1964 - Ulf Samuelsson, Swedish hockey player

1968 - Kenny Chesney, American singer

1968 - James Iha, American musician (Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle)

1970 - Mark Osher, Australian writer

1971 - Behzad Ghorbani, Iranian zoologist and sociobiologist

1973 - Lawrence E. Page, American search engine pioneer

1974 - Mike Peca, Canadian hockey player

1976 - Amy Smart, American actress

1977 - Kevin Davies, English footballer

1979 - Hiromi Uehara, Japanese jazz pianist

1982 - Mikel Arteta, Spanish footballer

1984 - Gregory Strydom, Zimbabwean cricketer

1985 - Keira Knightley, English actress

1985 - Prosper Utseya, Zimbabwean Off Spinner

1987 - YUI, Japanese musician

1991 - Brittney Wilson, Canadian actress