Famous people born on November 24th
November 24 is a notably wide-ranging birthday on the calendar, spanning influential thinkers, bestselling self-help pioneers, sharp political voices, and major performers across stage, page, and screen. The date brings together people who shaped public debate, expanded literature and philosophy, and left enduring marks on music and comedy. From early modern rationalism to 20th-century media and modern film and television, the mix is unusually diverse.
Notable highlights
- Dale Carnegie (1888) - Popularized modern self-improvement and communication training with ideas that still anchor workplace and sales culture.
- Billy Connolly (1942) - The "Big Yin" helped redefine stand-up with storytelling that blends sharp social observation and warmth.
- William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925) - Built a formidable platform for American conservatism through his writing and long-running TV debate format.
- Baruch Spinoza (1632) - A foundational rationalist whose work on ethics and substance shaped modern philosophy and Enlightenment thought.
- Arundhati Roy (1961) - Won global acclaim for her debut novel while also becoming a prominent voice in contemporary political essay writing.
- Scott Joplin (1868) - Known as the "King of Ragtime", he brought a distinctive compositional sophistication to popular American music.
- Zachary Taylor (1784) - A Mexican-American War hero whose presidency was brief but pivotal amid intensifying sectional tensions in the U.S.
- Katherine Heigl (1978) - Rose to mainstream fame through a long-running medical drama and became a consistent presence in 2000s romantic comedies.
- Carlo Collodi (1826) - Created Pinocchio, a character whose moral fable has been retold and reimagined worldwide for generations.
On this day
- 1859 - Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, transforming biology by proposing evolution through natural selection.
- 1963 - Lee Harvey Oswald is shot and killed by Jack Ruby in Dallas, two days after President John F. Kennedy's assassination.
- 1971 - D. B. Cooper hijacks a Boeing 727, parachutes with ransom money, and disappears in one of the most famous unsolved U.S. cases.
- 1974 - Paleoanthropologists discover the hominin fossil "Lucy" in Ethiopia, a landmark find in human evolutionary studies.