10 famous people born on December 25
All you Christmas babies take heart. Sure, it's tough to share your birthday with Jesus, but you're not alone
It's not easy being a Christmas baby. Dec. 25 has evolved from a Christian feast into a twinkling, sugary, gift-littered, all-encompassing holiday. So it's no surprise that Dec. 25 birthday celebrations can get lost in all the tinseled fuss: A candle haphazardly thrown in the middle of the Christmas pudding; birthday gifts wrapped in green-and-red paper. Those lucky enough to be born on Christmas are almost never the focus of the day (good job, Jesus). Yep, Christmas birthdays can suck. But take solace, dear Capricorns, because these 10 people suffered the same birthday burden and still went on to achieve great things:
Sir Isaac Newton
Born: 1642
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Birthplace: Lincolnshire, England
One of the original science nerds, Newton explained all the things you learned in high school. His three laws of motion may sound obvious to us today (take, for example, law No. 2: acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass) but he didn't read about it in any books, he just figured it out. Oh, yes, and he also invented calculus, so, math wizards can thank him for that too. (Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Humphrey Bogart
Born: 1899
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Birthplace: New York, N.Y.
He embodied cool no matter the character, no matter the medium — radio, stage, or film. He's probably endeared to most classic movie watchers for reminding Ilsa Lund to seize the moment because "we will always have Paris." (Photo: Mitchell/Getty Images)
Cab Calloway
Born: 1907
Birthplace: Rochester, N.Y.
Calloway ushered in an era of the pencil-thin mustache and a frenetically melodious jazz called scat. We also have him to thank for such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham. (Photo: Fox Photos/Getty Images)
Anwar el-Sadat
Born: 1918
Birthplace: Mit Abu al-Kum, Egypt
He led Egypt before now-ousted President Hosni Mubarak's reign. Sadat, who was gunned down by Islamists at a military parade in 1981, helped direct the country into the modern era with the help of the first Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. (Photo: Kevin Fleming/CORBIS)
Jimmy Buffett
Born: 1946
Birthplace: Pascagoula, Miss.
Famous for turning aging hippies into so-called "parrotheads" and wasting away in a fantasy island called Margaritaville where salt is hard to come by but booze flows like water. (Photo: John Atashian/CORBIS)
Karl Rove
Born: 1950
Birthplace: Denver, Colo.
Rove engineered the presidency of George W. Bush, who consequently left the White House with the lowest approval rating ever — 22 percent. "Bush's Brain" is also behind one of the most well-funded Republican super PACs, American Crossroads — which is exactly where the GOP strategist found himself after Election Day, having spent more than $300 million on the presidential race only to emerge with ne'er a conservative president in sight. (Photo: Getty)
Sissy Spacek
Born: 1949
Birthplace: Quitman, Texas
Famous for playing Carrie, the shy, troubled student who uses her telekinetic powers to get the ultimate revenge on her high school bullies in the eponymous 1970s horror film. She really could have stopped there, but the talented Spacek continued to shine in less crazy roles in the decades to follow. (Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
Annie Lennox
Born: 1954
Birthplace: Aberdeen, Scotland
She epitomized the 1980s androgynous style, and was in a number of bands before going solo in the early 2000s. Her most popular collaboration, however, was The Eurythmics, the moody British music duo who taught us what sweet dreams are made of. (Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Helena Christensen
Born: 1968
Birthplace: Copenhagen, Denmark
The Dutch model threw a come-hither stare and romped around topless in Chris Isaak's uber sexy 1991 music video "Wicked Game." She has since hawked perfume, makeup, clothing, and Victoria's many Secrets. (Photo: Getty Images for Reebok)
Dido
Born: 1971
Birthplace: London, England
In the 1990s, Dido became the new Sarah McLachlan, making music for teenage girls to cry to. Though she upped her street cred with a collaboration with Eminem in 2000, her somber musical presence has since faded from the airwaves (though not from our broken hearts). (Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images )
Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.
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