Athletes Born on February 16

  • 1852 Mary Ewing Outerbridge, American citizen credited with importing tennis to the US from Bermuda (1874), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1886)
  • 1866 Billy Hamilton, American Baseball HOF outfielder (NL batting champion 1891, 93; 5 × NL stolen base leader; KC Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1940)
  • 1886 Andrew Ducat, English cricketer and footballer international (Test for Eng 1921), born in London, England (d. 1942)
  • 1904 Ellis Achong, West Indian cricket spin bowler (6 Tests, 8 wickets; Trinidad; 1st of Chinese descent to play a Test match), born in Belmont, Trinidad and Tobago (d. 1986)
  • 1906 Vera Menchik, Russian-born British chess master, 1st official women's world chess champion (1927-39), born in Moscow, Russian Empire (d. 1944)
  • 1921 Jean Behra, French Formula One driver, born in Nice, France (d. 1959)
  • 1925 Paul Crawford, American Dixieland jazz musician, arranger, (Olympic Brass Band), and music historian (Tulane University), born in Atmore, Alabama (d. 1996)
  • 1927 Des White, New Zealand rugby league fullback (21 Tests, 132 points; Ponsonby RLFC), born in Auckland, New Zealand (d. 2023)
  • 1927 Roy Purdon, New Zealand harness-racing trainer (21 x NZ trainers premierships; 4 x NZ cup winners; 54 x Group One wins), born in Auckland, New Zealand (d. 2022)
  • 1929 Gerhard Hanappi, Austrian footballer (d. 1980)
  • 1931 Bobby Collins, Scottish soccer midfielder (31 caps; Celtic, Everton, Leeds), born in Govanhill, Scotland (d. 2014)
  • 1931 Gamini Goonesena, Sri Lankan cricket leg-spinner (all-rounder for Ceylon, Notts), born in Colombo, Ceylon (d. 2011)
  • 1933 Elbert Dubenion, American football wide receiver and running back (AFL All Star 1964; Buffalo Bills), born in Griffin, Georgia (d. 2019)
  • 1934 Marlene Bauer Hagge, American golfer, co-founder LPGA (Woman's PGA C'ship 1956), born in Eureka, South Dakota (d. 2023)
  • 1941 Vitali Kuznetsov, Russian judoka (Olympic silver 1972) (d. 2011)
  • 1942 Bob Hammond AM, Australian rules key defender (AFL Hall of Fame; North Adelaide; SA) and coach (Sydney Swans 1984), born in Perth, Australia (d. 2020)
  • 1944 Richard Ford, American author (Sportswriter), born in Jackson, Mississippi
  • 1945 Julio Morales, Uruguayan soccer striker (24 caps; Racing Montevideo, Nacional, Austria Wien), born in Montevideo, Uruguay (d. 2022)
  • 1946 Aleksandr Shaparenko, Soviet 1K kayaker (Olympic gold 1972)
  • 1951 Larry Finch, American college basketball coach (University of Memphis 1986-97), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 2011)
  • 1953 André St. Laurent, Canadian NHL hockey forward, 1973-90 (New York Islanders, Detroit Red Wings, and 2 other teams), born in Rouyn, Quebec
  • 1953 George Martin, NFL defensive end, 1975-88 (NY Giants), born in Greenville, South Carolina
  • 1954 Michael Holding, West Indian cricket fast bowler (60 Tests, 249 wickets, BB 8/92; Jamaica, Derbyshire CCC, Lancashire CCC) and broadcaster (Sky Sports), born in Kingston, Jamaica
  • 1958 Herb Williams, NBA center (Toronto Raptors, NY Knicks)
  • 1958 John Morse, American golfer (US Open 1996 4th), born in Marshall, Michigan
  • 1959 (Peter) Kelly Tripucka, American NBA forward, 1981-91, 2X All-Star (Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz, Cahrlotte Hornets), born in Glenn Ridge New Jersey

John McEnroe (65 years old)

1959 American tennis player (US Open 1979, 80, 81, 84; Wimbledon 1981, 83, 84; 10 x Grand Slam doubles titles; Tour Finals 1978, 83, 84; Davis Cup x 5), born in Wiesbaden, Germany

  • 1960 Chris Schultz, Canadian football offensive tackle (NFL Dallas Cowboys; CFL All Star 1987, 88; Toronto Argonauts) and sportscaster (The Sports Network), born in Burlington, Ontario (d. 2021)
  • 1961 Brett Brown, American basketball head coach (Philadelphia 76ers 2013-19; Australian men's national team), born in South Portland, Maine
  • 1964 Bebeto [José Roberto Gama de Oliveira], Brazilian footballer, born in Salvador, Brazil
  • 1964 Mark Price, American basketball guard (NBA All-Star x 4; All-NBA First Team 1993; Cleveland Caveliers), born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma
  • 1967 John Valentin, infielder (Boston Red Sox), born in Mineola, New York
  • 1967 Keith Gretzky, former hockey player; brother of Wayne Gretzky
  • 1968 Cecil Gray, NFL tackle, 1990-95 (Philadelphia Eagles, Indianoplois Colts, and 3 other teams), born in Harlem, New York City
  • 1968 Erik Regtop, Dutch soccer player (SC Heerenveen), born in Schoonebeek, Netherlands
  • 1969 Fermín Cacho, Spanish middle distance athlete (Olympic gold 1,500m 92, silver 96), born in Barcelona, Spain
  • 1969 Tim Costo, American baseball infielder (Cincinnati Reds)
  • 1970 Angelo Peruzzi, Italian footballer
  • 1971 Anthony Abrams, NFL defensive tackle (KC Chiefs)
  • 1971 Larry Jones, NFL running back (Washington Redskins)
  • 1971 Mike Hubbard, MBA catcher (Chicago Cubs), born in Lynchburg, Virginia
  • 1972 Jerome Bettis, American Pro Football HOF running back (Super Bowl XL Pittsburgh Steelers; First-team All-Pro 1993, 96; 6 × Pro Bowl), born in Detroit, Michigan
  • 1973 Cathy Freeman, Australian athlete (Olympic gold 400m 2000; silver 1996; World C'ship gold 400m 1997, 99), born in Mackay, Australia
  • 1973 Christian Bassedas, Argentine former footballer
  • 1973 Nikos Kostakis, Greek footballer
  • 1974 Fanis Katergiannakis, Greek footballer
  • 1974 Jevon Langford, defensive end (Cincinnati Bengals)
  • 1974 Kathy McCormack, ice hockey forward (Canada, Olympic silver 1998)
  • 1975 Vanina Ickx, Belgian racing driver
  • 1976 Eric Byrnes, American baseball outfielder and broadcaster (Oakland A's, Arizona Diamondbacks), born in Redwood City, California
  • 1977 Ahman Green, American football player
  • 1977 Alexei Morozov, NHL forward (Team Russia Olympic silver 1998, Pittsburgh)
  • 1977 Trina Jackson, 4X200m freestyle swimmer (Olympic gold 1996)
  • 1978 Tia Hellebaut, Belgian athlete
  • 1978 Wasim Jaffer, Indian Cricketer

Valentino Rossi (45 years old)

1979 Italian motorcycle road racer (MotoGP World C'ship 2001, 02, 03, 04, 05, 08, 09; 250cc World C'ship 1999; 125cc World C'ship 1997), born in Urbino, Italy

  • 1980 Ashley Lelie, American football player
  • 1981 Jay Howard, British racing driver
  • 1985 Stacy Lewis, American golfer (ANA Inspiration 2011, Women's British Open 2013), born in Toledo, Ohio
  • 1985 Zoi Dimoschaki, Greek swimmer
  • 1987 Theresa Goh, Singaporean Paralympic swimmer (bronze, 2016; world records for 50m and 200m), born in Singapore
  • 1988 Denílson Pereira Neves, Brazilian footballer