Famous People Born On February 16th

Elizabeth Olsen gained worldwide recognition for her performance as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch in films, such as Avengers: Endgame. Starting out as a child actress, she received singing and ballet lessons when she was a child. A New York University Tisch School of the Arts alumna, Elizabeth Olsen went on to establish herself as a successful actress.

One of the most successful Canadian recording artists, singer-songwriter, the Weeknd, holds several chart records and has won numerous awards, including three Grammy Awards. Despite a difficult childhood marred by drug abuse and violence, he persevered and worked hard to emerge as a beloved music star. He is actively involved in philanthropy.

Rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, and actor, Ice-T is known for his fusion music that combines elements of rock and hip hop. Beginning his career as an underground rapper in the 1980s, he went on to release many albums that were commercially and critically successful. He is also an actor and voice actor.

Valentino Rossi is an Italian motorcycle road racer. Having won nine Grand Prix World Championships, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle racers ever. Apart from being a famous racer, Valentino Rossi also owns the Sky Racing Team VR46, which competes in the Moto3 and Moto2 classes.

Mahershala Ali is an American rapper and actor. One of the finest and most decorated actors of his generation, Ali has won many prestigious awards such as Screen Actors Guild Awards, Academy Awards, Primetime Emmy Award, and Golden Globe Award. In 2019, Mahershala Ali was included in Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world list.

Amanda Holden is an English actress, TV personality, author, and musician. Her autobiography book No Holding Back was ranked first on the Sunday Times bestseller list. Apart from being a media personality, Amanda Holden is also known for her charity work; in 2018, she posed as a mermaid underwater as part of a PETA awareness campaign against the SeaWorld.

Best known for his performances as Kunta Kinte in Roots and Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, LeVar Burton is also known for his 23-year stint as the award-winning host of Reading Rainbow. Though he initially aspired to be a Catholic priest, he doesn’t believe in any religion anymore.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest American tennis players of all time, John McEnroe helped the US team win five Davis Cup titles. McEnroe is also known for his confrontational on-court behavior. His infamous bad temper on court was parodied in satirical TV programs, such as Spitting Image and Not the Nine O'Clock News.

From being a shy kid who found it difficult to speak in front of strangers to becoming one of the brightest stars in South Korean films and television, Kim Soo-hyun has come a long way. The internationally recognised and multiple award winning actor has given numerous hit performances like Dream High, Moon Embracing the Sun, The Thieves and Secretly, Greatly.

Rapper Denzel Curry initially gained fame as part of the hip-hop collective Raider Klan. He then released Billboard-charting projects such as Ta13oo. He was also featured on Lil Ugly Mane's Twistin and Dillon Cooper's Eyes of the World. He has also worked with artists such as Ghostemane and ZillaKami.

Girl in Red is an indie-pop music project by Norwegian singer-songwriter Marie Ulven Ringheim. She became interested in music and songwriting as a teenager. With her family’s encouragement, she began releasing Norwegian music and soon earned a decent following. She has also appeared in a TV program. She is openly queer and is considered a queer icon. 

Cathy Freeman is a former sprinter known for her achievements in the 400 meters events. Her personal best of 48.63, set at the 1996 Olympics, makes her the eighth-fastest woman of all time. She gave Australia an Olympic gold at the 2000 Olympics. Also a humanitarian, Freeman is credited with founding the Cathy Freeman Foundation.

English actor Christopher Eccleston has been acting for over three decades. Inspired to pursue acting as a teenager, he trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama before making his professional debut. He has since appeared in many films, TV shows, and stage plays and is the recipient of an Emmy Award. 

Richard McDonald was an entrepreneur who co-founded the fast-food company McDonald's with his brother, Maurice. Their father ran a food stall. As young men, Richard and Maurice took over their father’s business and redesigned the restaurant. The restaurant was highly successful, and the brothers began franchising their system. The first McDonald's restaurant has now been converted into a museum. 

Janice Dickinson was touted as the world’s first supermodel in the 1970s and the 1980s. She also appeared as a judge on America's Next Top Model. She later launched a modeling agency, which was featured on the reality show The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. She has also authored three memoirs.

Ernst Haeckel had initially practiced medicine before he gained an interest in Charles Darwin’s theory and began exploring zoology and related fields. He not only coined terms such as ecology, but also named numerous species and created a genealogical tree. He drew numerous figures of animals and sea creatures, too.

Nineteenth-century polymath Francis Galton revolutionized science with his pathbreaking research on human intelligence and psychometrics. His books dealt with diverse topics such as correlational calculus, fingerprint analysis, and meteorology, and he also explored Africa. He left Cambridge without an honors degree, and yet ended up being knighted for his achievements.

Lee Min-jung is a South Korean actress best known for her performance in the 2010 romantic comedy film Cyrano Agency, for which she received several awards, including the prestigious Grand Bell Award. She has also won awards for her work in TV series like Smile, You and Once Again.

Kim Jong-il was the second Supreme Leader of North Korea. He assumed this position from his father Kim Il-sung in 1994 and served in this position until his own death in 2011. His reign was repressive and totalitarian and was marked by food scarcity.

Rapper Rayshawn Lamar Bennett, better known as YFN Lucci, soared to fame with his Billboard-charting singles such as Everyday We Lit. In January 2021, he was arrested for street crime, including murder and assault. He has been in a publicized relationship with Lil Wayne’s daughter Reginae Carter.

Koffee is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, deejay, rapper, and guitarist. She is best known for her 2019 extended play Rapture, which earned her the prestigious Grammy Award, making her the only woman and youngest person to receive the award under the Best Reggae Album category.

Historian Henry Adams was part of the famous Adams political family of the U.S and a typical Boston Brahmin elite. His best-known work remains his posthumously published autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams, which won a Pulitzer Prize. He also taught medieval history at Harvard.