December 28, 1944

1944Sandra Faber, American astronomer and academic^[†]

Sandra Moore Faber is an American astrophysicist known for her research on the evolution of galaxies. She is the University Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and works at the Lick Observatory. She has made discoveries linking the brightness of galaxies to the speed of stars within them and was the co-discoverer of the Faber–Jackson relation. Faber was also instrumental in designing the Keck telescopes in Hawaii.

1944Johnny Isakson, American sergeant and politician (died 2021)^[†]

John Hardy Isakson was an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from Georgia from 2005 until his resignation in 2019 following health concerns. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the Georgia legislature and the United States House of Representatives.

1944Kary Mullis, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2019)^[†]

Kary Banks Mullis was an American biochemist. In recognition of his role in the invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, he shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Michael Smith and was awarded the Japan Prize in the same year. PCR became a central technique in biochemistry and molecular biology, described by The New York Times as "highly original and significant, virtually dividing biology into the two epochs of before PCR and after PCR."

1944Gordon Taylor, English footballer^[†]

Gordon Alexander Taylor OBE is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. He was chief executive of the English footballers' trades union, the Professional Footballers' Association, for over 40 years, between 1981 and 2021. In March 2019 it was reported that he was to stand aside upon completion of a "full and open review" into the PFA's finances along with its entire management committee and chairman Ben Purkiss. He was reputed to be the highest paid union official in the world. The 2020 PFA AGM is scheduled for 26 November, and is expected to appoint four non-executive directors. In September 2020 the chair of the all party group on gambling, Carolyn Harris voiced her reservations on gambling related harm exampled by the Union's CEO. On the 1 June 2021, Taylor was formally replaced as CEO, retaining a temporary transitional advisory role to his successor.