Born on January 7

Queen of Navarre from 1555 to 1572, Jeanne d'Albret was one of the leading figures of the Protestant Reformation in France. Mother of Henry IV, she imposed Calvinism in her territories and played a decisive political role in the Wars of Religion.

French general (1740–1792), commander of Verdun during the Prussian invasion of 1792. Refusing to surrender, he died on September 2, 1792, rather than sign the capitulation of the fortress. His sacrifice became a symbol of revolutionary patriotism.

Bernadette Soubirous was a young French miller's daughter who claimed to have experienced eighteen apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the grotto of Massabielle, in Lourdes, in 1858. She became a nun with the Sisters of Charity of Nevers and was canonized in 1933.

South African athlete specializing in the 800 metres, two-time Olympic champion (2012, 2016) and three-time world champion. Her career was marked by controversy over the eligibility rules tied to testosterone levels in intersex women in sport.