Famous people born on November 28th
November 28 is a remarkably literary and idea-driven birthday, spanning visionary poets, social critics, novelists, and public figures whose work shaped modern conversations. The date also reaches into film, theater, music, and sports, showing how influence can travel through both art and public life. From Romantic-era imagination to contemporary satire and performance, this roster reflects a wide range of styles and ambitions.
Notable highlights
- William Blake (1757) - A revolutionary poet-artist who fused verse and illustration in illuminated books like Songs of Innocence and of Experience.
- Friedrich Engels (1820) - Co-author of foundational socialist theory, bridging political philosophy with firsthand observations of industrial labor.
- John Bunyan (1628) - Wrote The Pilgrim's Progress, one of the most influential allegories in English literature, much of it shaped by imprisonment.
- Claude Levi-Strauss (1908) - Helped define structural anthropology, arguing that deep patterns in myth and kinship reveal how cultures organize meaning.
- Stefan Zweig (1881) - A master of psychological storytelling whose novellas and essays capture the anxieties of a collapsing old Europe.
- Rita Mae Brown (1944) - A bestselling author and outspoken activist whose work broadened mainstream visibility for LGBTQ narratives.
- Ed Harris (1950) - An acclaimed actor and director known for intense, precise performances across film and stage.
- Jon Stewart (1962) - A defining voice in modern political comedy who helped reshape satirical news into a cultural force.
- Anna Nicole Smith (1967) - A pop-culture figure whose modeling and reality-TV fame became a lens on celebrity, media, and public scrutiny.
- Randy Newman (1943) - A songwriter and composer celebrated for sharp character-driven storytelling and iconic film scores.
On this day
- 1520 - Ferdinand Magellan became the first European navigator to sail from the Atlantic into the Pacific via the Strait of Magellan.
- 1885 - Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia unified, a major turning point in Balkan politics and state formation.
- 1943 - The Tehran Conference began, bringing Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin together to coordinate Allied strategy in World War II.
- 1964 - NASA launched Mariner 4 toward Mars, the mission that later returned the first close-up images of the planet.