Famous people born on May 26th
May 26 gathers an unusually wide-ranging set of birthdays, spanning classic Hollywood, boundary-pushing music, space exploration, and reform-minded public service. The date bridges centuries, from Enlightenment-era letters and salons to modern pop culture and elite sport. Together, these figures show how talent can surface in many forms: performance, invention, leadership, and fearless experimentation.
Notable highlights
- John Wayne (1907) - The definitive screen cowboy whose image shaped the American Western for decades.
- Miles Davis (1926) - A jazz innovator who helped drive major shifts from bebop to cool jazz and fusion.
- Sally Ride (1951) - Became the first American woman in space, flying aboard Space Shuttle Challenger.
- Stevie Nicks (1948) - The unmistakable voice and songwriter who helped define Fleetwood Mac's 1970s era.
- Helena Bonham Carter (1966) - Acclaimed for transforming eccentric, complex characters into modern screen icons.
- Lauryn Hill (1975) - A genre-blending artist whose songwriting and delivery reshaped late-1990s hip-hop and R&B.
- Lenny Kravitz (1964) - A rock multi-instrumentalist known for fusing vintage influences with a modern edge.
- Isadora Duncan (1877) - A pioneer of modern dance who rejected rigid formality in favor of expressive movement.
- Mary Wortley Montagu (1689) - A sharp-eyed letter writer who championed smallpox inoculation after observing it abroad.
- Pam Grier (1949) - A trailblazing action star whose roles expanded what leading women could be on screen.
On this day
- 1896 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average was first published, becoming a landmark gauge of U.S. stock performance.
- 1969 - Apollo 10 returned safely to Earth after a full dress rehearsal for the first Moon landing.
- 1972 - The United States and the Soviet Union signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, a major Cold War arms-control pact.
- 2011 - Ratko Mladic was arrested, a pivotal moment for international war-crimes prosecutions tied to the Bosnian War.