August 23, 1978

1978Kobe Bryant, American basketball player and businessman (died 2020)^[†]

Kobe Bean Bryant was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential basketball players of all time, Bryant won five NBA championships and was an 18-time All-Star, four-time All-Star MVP, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), two-time NBA Finals MVP, and two-time scoring champion. He ranks fourth in league all-time regular season and postseason scoring. Bryant was posthumously named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021 and was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame twice, first in 2020 as an NBA player, and again in 2025 as a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.

1978Julian Casablancas, American singer-songwriter and producer^[†]

Julian Fernando Casablancas is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band the Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since their founding in 1998. Casablancas released a solo studio album, Phrazes for the Young, in 2009, and has released three albums with the experimental rock band the Voidz.

1978Randal Tye Thomas, American journalist and politician (died 2014)^[†]

Randal Tye Thomas served as Mayor of Gun Barrel City, Texas. He was also a member of the Electoral College in the 2000 Presidential Election.

1978Andrew Rannells, American actor and singer^[†]

Andrew Scott Rannells is an American actor. He is best known for originating the role of Elder Kevin Price in the 2011 Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical and won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. He received his second Tony nomination in 2017 for his performance as Whizzer in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos. Other Broadway credits include Hairspray (2005), Jersey Boys (2009), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2014), Hamilton (2015), The Boys in the Band (2018), and Gutenberg! The Musical! (2023). For his performance in the Off West End production of Tammy Faye, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award.