Born on February 16

An English humanist and statesman, Thomas More served as Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII before opposing the Anglican schism. Author of Utopia (1516), he was executed for refusing to acknowledge the king as Supreme Head of the Church of England.

Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1702 to 1707, then first Queen of Great Britain following the Acts of Union of 1707. Her reign saw the rise of parliamentary government and the War of the Spanish Succession.

Wife of the great chemist Marcellin Berthelot, Sophie Berthelot (1837-1907) was a cultured woman who accompanied her husband throughout his entire career. Having died on the same day as him, she became the first woman interred in the Panthéon in 1907, a symbol of the grateful Republic.

Dutch botanist (1848–1935), Hugo de Vries was one of the rediscoverers of Mendel's laws in 1900. He is best known for his mutation theory, which he developed from his work on evening primrose.

Vera Menchik was a Russian-British chess player of Czech origin, the first women's world chess champion. She dominated women's competition from 1927 until her death in 1944.

An Australian athlete of Aboriginal descent, Cathy Freeman became Olympic champion in the 400 metres at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. She is an iconic figure of reconciliation between Australians and Aboriginal peoples.