Famous People Born On July 29th

Two-time FIA Hall of Fame inductee Fernando Alonso began go-carting at age 3 and won several trophies by 10. The youngest to win the F-1 World Championship, for Renault, he later led a Ferrari team. When he isn’t racing, he is busy managing his e-sports team and working for UNICEF.

Wil Wheaton is best known for his roles in Stand by Me and Star Trek: The Next Generation. He has voiced countless animation films, audiobooks, and video games. An avid blogger, he has also written several books. He loves poker and has hosted many web shows, such as TableTop.

Canadian-American journalist Peter Jennings is best remembered for his stint on ABC World News Tonight, as its sole anchor. A high-school drop-out, Jennings became one of the U.S.’s Big Three news anchors, along with Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather. He was known for his meticulous coverage of breaking news stories.

Ken Burns is an American filmmaker best known for making documentary series, such as The Civil War, The War, and Prohibition. One of the most respected documentary filmmakers, Burns specializes in giving life to still photographs by zooming in on photographs and panning from one photograph to another; this technique is called the Ken Burns effect in Apple's software applications.

Tony Sirico is an American actor whose on-screen characters—he mostly plays gangsters—is a reflection of his early life during which he was arrested 28 times for charges including assault, disorderly conduct, and robbery. In fact, he was inspired to give acting a try only after meeting an acting troupe composed of ex-convicts who visited him during his imprisonment.

Patti Scialfa is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. The wife of popular musician Bruce Springsteen, Scialfa has been an important member of Springsteen's primary backing band, E Street Band, since 1984. As a member of the band, Patti Scialfa became an inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

William Horatio Powell was an American actor who established himself as a prominent star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He is best remembered for appearing alongside Myrna Loy in The Thin Man film series. William Horatio Powell received three Academy Award nominations for Best Actor for his performances in The Thin Man, My Man Godfrey, and Life with Father.

Sanjay Dutt is an Indian film actor who appears in Hindi movies. One of the most popular actors in India, Dutt is also known for his off-screen controversies; he was arrested in 1993 for possessing illegal weapons. His life and career inspired the 2018 biographical film Sanju where he was played by Ranbir Kapoor.

Henri Fayol was a French mining engineer, author, mining executive, and director of mines. He is credited with developing a theory of business administration called Fayolism. Along with Frederick Winslow Taylor, Henri Fayol is credited with founding modern management methods.

Ashley McBryde is an American singer-songwriter who was adjudged New Artist of the Year at the 2019 Country Music Association Awards. The same year, she was also named New Female Vocalist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.

French diplomat and political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville is best remembered for his written works The Old Regime and the Revolution and Democracy in America. He was part of French politics, primarily during the July Monarchy and the Second Republic. He had been the minister of foreign affairs briefly.

The dictator of Italy from 1925 to 1945, Benito Mussolini founded the Fascist Party in 1919. It opposed class discrimination and supported nationalism. But when in power, Mussolini crushed rival political parties, trade unions, free press and free speech. He was overthrown by his former colleagues in the Fascist government in July 1943 and ultimately shot dead in April 1945.

As a budding model, Alexandra Paul decided to reject an offer from Stanford University to focus on a career in acting. She is best known to fans for her 5-year-long stint as Lt. Stephanie Holden in the internationally renowned series Baywatch. She is also a marathon runner and an avid swimmer.

Dag Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat and economist. In 1953, Hammarskjöld became the youngest person to be appointed as the Secretary-General of the United Nations. He died in airplane crash in 1961. Dag Hammarskjöld became the first person to be honored with a Nobel Peace Prize posthumously.

Black Dahlia was an American murder victim whose case gained national attention due to the gruesome nature of the crime. Her murder is often cited as one of Los Angeles County's oldest unsolved cases and the most popular unsolved murders in the history of the United States. Dahlia's life and death have inspired a number of books and films.

Diana Vreeland was a French-American editor and columnist who worked for popular fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. From 1963 to 1971, she served as the editor-in-chief of Vogue. In 1964, she was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. Diana Vreeland’s life and career inspired the 2011 documentary Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel.

Genesis Rodriguez, daughter of singer Jose Luis Rodriguez, started her career with telenovelas such as Prisionera and Dame Chocolate. She had significant roles in Days of Our Lives and The Umbrella Academy. She has voice-acted in Big Hero 6 and has appeared in films such as Man on a Ledge.

Mexican actor Paulina Goto soared to fame with the telenovela Niña de mi Corazón and later also performed as part of the pop group Eme 15. She was also in the news for her relationship with her Un camino hacia el destino co-star Horacio Pancheri, though they broke up later.

Greek composer Míkis Theodorakis was the famed composer of the Mauthausen Trilogy, one of the finest works centered on the Holocaust. He had also composed for movies such as Zorba the Greek and Z. An active communist and a Lenin Peace Prize winner, he was also jailed once for a military coup.  

Remembered for his awe-inspiring marine art, Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky was the son of an Armenian merchant. His 60-year career had seen him produce around 6,000 works, most of which were seascapes. He had been the Russian navy’s official painter and inspired Anton Chekhov’s phrase worthy of Aivazovsky’s brush.