Born 19 April 1943 (Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland)
Scottish politician, a Member of the Scottish Parliament and a former Member of the British House of Commons, who is battling on the issue of the right to die, as she has Parkinson's Disease.
Born 25 December 1957 (Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England)
Dentally challenged singer-songwriter who used to front the Pogues, and latterly the Popes (though recently he went back to the Pogues for a reunion tour). Constantly rumoured to be on the brink of death due to non-stop drinking, smoking and drug-taking. At one stage, for example, he was said to be taking fifty tabs of acid a day - smoke your heart out, Shaun Ryder!
Ex-footballer - member of the Spurs double-winning side of 1960-61 who later managed Derby County to two League Championships in the early/mid '70s. Eventually retired due to health problems, including, unusually, cancer of the lip.
Former head coach of the Oakland Raiders (overseeing their victory in Superbowl XI), who has been an NFL commentator on TV for over twenty years. He's also a best-selling sports author who, in a stroke of genius, gave his first book the title "Hey, Wait a Minute, I Wrote a Book!"
Leader of the African National Congress, which was outlawed in 1948, when apartheid was legalised in South Africa. He was imprisoned for allegedly being involved in a bomb plot, and spent 27 years inside, before being freed as part of then President F.W. de Klerk's reforms in 1990. Mandela himself became President from 1994-99.
Baron Mandelson, currently Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and First Secretary of State and President of the Board of Trade and Lord President of the Council. 'Mandy' first came to prominence in the mid-1980s attempting to revive the fortunes of the Labour Party then led by Neil Kinnock before becoming one of the key architects of New Labour. Twice served in Tony Blair's government before resigning under a cloud on both occasions. MP for Hartlepool from 1992-2004 before becoming a European Commissioner. Re-entered British politics in 2008, becoming enobled in the process.
Former beauty queen, lavish-living, obsessive shoe-collector and widow of former Filipino president Ferdinand Marcos. After his death, she was acquitted of embezzlement in the US, but convicted of the crime of 'graft', whatever that is, in the Philippines.
Born 8 November 1909 (Château de Beloeil, Hainaut, Belgium)
Belgian/German minor royal, who by marriage became part of the minor Italian nobility. Also known as Princess Margarete Marie Therese Elisabeth Louise von Thurn und Taxis.
Actress whose career has been in two distinct halves: firstly as a child in the 1920s, and then as an adult, beginning in the 1940s. Best known for playing the part of Sally Rogers on "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Her real name is Rose Marie Mazzetta, and she is of Italian/Polish extraction.
Born 13 March 1917 (Chorlton, Manchester, England)
Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner and advertiser of Aquajet Radial tyres. He was "convinced they make a genuine contribution to road safety", apparently.
Born 13 August 1945 (Kenfig Hill, Bridgend, Wales)
Former cannabis smuggler turned best-selling author. Also (if only in the opinion of Octopus of Odstock, for it is he who is writing this bio) one of the nicest people it is possible to meet - intelligent, caring, witty and friendly. Not a combination you get much these days, sadly.
Born in New York City, New York, USA (exact date unknown)
American anglophile and left-wing writer and activist. The Man In Black recommends his 'Defeat from the Jaws of Victory: Inside Kinnock’s Labour Party ' which effectively showed how Labour leader Neil Kinnock sowed the seeds of New Labour, written two years before Tony Blair became leader. Born 1953.
Allegedly the UK's oldest employee, but most of his claims are pretty unreliable as there is not a shred of proof of his marriage, his wife's death, any of his children's births & his own birth. May be 96, but he may also be in his 50's for all we know.
MP & former speaker of the House. Not the most popular person that has done this role, mainly due to his brusque manner, his bias towards Labour & spending taxpayer's money on trivial items.
Classic crooner and occasional actor. Was married, until her death, to Cyd Charisse, for what it's worth. Not to be confused with the butt-ugly, pikey-shooting farmer of the same name.
Born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England (exact date unknown)
Kidnapped her own daughter for the sake of a quick reward. Her reward was to become one of the most hated individuals in UK history, yes, even more than Kerry Katona.
Big-haired guitarist, both with Queen and as a solo artist. Virtually every song he's ever done has a guitar riff from him in. Sometimes it works, often it fails miserably, but credit for perseverance.
Born 8 October 1928 (Heath End, Farnham, Surrey, England)
Comic actor who played Selwyn in the sitcom "Oh No! It's Selwyn Froggit" and Claude Greengrass in the soporific TV drama "Heartbeat". After leaving the series due to a stroke suffered while filming, he returned to play the same character in the equally gentle spin-off "The Royal".
Born 16 August 1939 (Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies)
Recently-retired ITN newsreader. Once reckoned by Viz comic to be the news anchorman most able to take his beer, in complete contrast to the lightweight Nicholas Witchell.
Businessman who along with his brother, Henry, is accused of ripping off customers of a rather dubious Christmas Lapland theme Park in Dorset. Born 1943.
Born in Jandola, South Wazirstan, Pakistan (exact date unknown)
New leader of the Taliban in Northern Pakistan, following the death of Baitullah Mehsud in 2009. Born 1981. Has a $600,000 bounty on his head, so if you're short of cash..
Pianist, oboist, conductor and singer who was head of A&R at Columbia Records from 1950 until 1965, signing Frankie Laine, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney and many others, in addition to firing Frank Sinatra. At the same time he had a highly successful performing career in the form of Mitch Miller and His Gang, and fronted the TV series "Sing Along With Mitch". After leaving Columbia (he hated rock 'n' roll and refused to move with the times) he pretty much disappeared from public life entirely.
Daughter of Judy Garland, and moderately successful singer/stage actress in her own right. Has suffered from ill health in recent years as a result of drug abuse, and has been a regular visitor to rehab clinics. Married film producer David Gest in March 2002.
Actor who will forever be associated with the part he played as the bigoted Alf Garnett in the long-running British sitcoms "Till Death Us Do Part" (alongside Tony Booth) and its sequel "In Sickness and in Health".
Born 19 January 1960 (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA)
An American actress and television personality, she is best known for her work on the E! cable channel including hosting the shows Wild On... in 1997 and E! News Live. She is the only daughter of Walter Mondale.
Born 6 January 1920 (Kwangju Sangsa Ri, Korea (now North Korea))
Founder of the Unification Church, often referred to as "The Moonies". Has a finger in the pie of various conservative news organizations in America. Served a prison term for tax fraud in the 1980s.
Eminent astronomer and xylophone-player, who has presented every one of BBC television's "The Sky at Night" programmes (which makes him the world's longest-serving presenter). Big mates with Brian May out of Queen, due to their shared interest in space, he was knighted by theQueen in 2001.
The cheesiest of the actors to have played international man of mystery James Bond, he took over from Sean Connery in 1973, appearing in seven Bond films until 1985's "A View to a Kill". The ageing dinner-jacketed eyebrow-raiser now seemingly maintains the Bond persona for real, by living in Switzerland and Monte Carlo with his Swedish wife Christina "Kiki" Tholstrup, a former air stewardess.
Prolific film and television actor, probably best known for playing Colonel Sherman T. Potter in long-running TV series "M*A*S*H". Real name Harry Bratsburg.
Former president of the FIA, the governing body for Formula 1 motor racing. Also the son of Oswald Mosley. His son, Alexander, was found dead on May 2009 after overdosing on cocaine. In 2008 he won a high court battle with the News of the World over allegations that he was involved in Nazi role-play when with prostitutes. So he's been busy lately...
Motor-racing driver, said to be the greatest driver never to win the Formula 1 World Championship; in fact, he came second 4 times in a row, from 1955-58.
Bespectacled Greek crooner and European Parliament member, who has recorded over 1500 songs in 15 languages, selling 250 million records in the process, which makes her arguably the most successful female singer ever.
President of Egypt since Anwar Sadat's assassination in 1981. In November 2003 he collapsed in parliament during a televised address, but reappeared shortly afterwards, putting it down to flu.
Born 22 February 1924 (Kutama, Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe)
President of Zimbabwe, constantly immersed in allegations of vote-rigging and incitement to violence, whose primary gift to the world is the idea that "it's OK to be the president and wear a baseball cap". There has been at least one alleged plot to assassinate the Marxist-when-it-suits-him leader.
Named "Mother of the Nation of Islam" in 1986, marking her 40th anniversary of joining the movement. Not the widow of, or even related to, its late former leader, Elijah Muhammad, as is sometimes claimed - not least by us, in our previous write-up on her! Her age is in dispute, but she's at least over 100 years of age.
Born 4 November 1948 (Kananga, Zaire (now DR of Congo))
Ex-footballer for Zaire. Only player in the history of tournament football to score all the goals for the winning nation when he scored all nine for Zaire in the 1974 African Nations Cup.
Veteran radio DJ - one of Radio 1's original presenters when it started up in 1967. Had previously worked for Radio Luxembourg, as indeed they all seemed to do in those days.