Mohamed Salah, Egyptian professional footballer, was born in Basyoun on June 15, 1992. It was when I was 14 that I first signed with Arab Contractors (El Mokawloon) and my career in the professional game began – but it was a tough time for me. Salah made the move to Europe in 2012 on the back of his hugely successful showing at the Olympics. FC Basel in Switzerland was his destination as he moved continents for the first time. Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly Biography and Profile.

Khalifa Haftar, a Field Marshal, born 7 November 1943 in Ajdabiya in eastern Libya. Haftar rose to the rank of colonel under Muammar Gaddafi after he helped the ambitious young army man launch a bloodless coup against King Idris in 1969. Haftar was taken prisoner by the Chadians and had to be rescued by the CIA after having worked from Chad to overthrow Gaddafi. Khalifa Belqasim Haftar Biography and Profile.

Fatou Bensouda, born 31 January 1961, a Gambian lawyer, and the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the distinguished International Court of Justice (ICJ) International Jurists Award (2009), presented by the then-President of India, P D Patil; the 2011 World Peace Through Law Award presented by the Whitney Harris World Law Institute, the American Society of International Law’s Honorary Membership Award (2014), the XXXV Peace Prize by the UN Association of Spain (2015), and the Praeses Elit Award (2015). Read Fatou Bom Bensouda Biography and Profile.

Gabriel García Márquez was born in March 6, 1927 in the small town of Aracataca, situated in a tropical region of northern Colombia, between the mountains and the Caribbean Sea. “My books couldn’t have been written if I wasn’t a journalist. Because all my material was taken from reality.” García Márquez was the fourth Latin American and the first Colombian to win the Nobel Prize (1982). García Márquez Biography and Profile.

Gayle King born on December 28, 1954, was to Scott and Peggy King. She spent several years as a child in Ankara, Turkey. The Connecticut newscaster has been close pals with Oprah Winfrey since their humble beginnings at a Baltimore television station. Gayle also Editor at Large of O, The Oprah Magazine. Gayle King a co-host of “CBS This Morning.” Gayle King Biography and Profile.

Who is Taylor Swift? Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Taylor Swift was born on December 13, 1989, Reading, Pennsylvania. Early hits like “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me”. Swift continued to top the charts with her 2014 studio effort 1989, which featured the No. 1 singles “Shake it Off” and “Blank Space” and won Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. Taylor Swift Biography and Profile.

Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, born 1 December 1896. He was conscripted into the Russian Imperial Army in 1915. From 1918 to 1920, he fought for the Red Army in the Russian Civil War. Stalin regarded Zhukov as a threat and demoted him to command the Odessa military district, far away from Moscow. After Stalin’s death, Zhukov returned to favour. Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov Biography and Profile.

Thanathorn Juangroongruangki born 25 November 1978, a Thai politician, political activist and former Vice President of the Thai Summit Group. Thanathorn received a joint-honours Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Thammasat University and the University of Nottingham. Read Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit Biography and Profile.

Emperor Akihito was born December 23, 1933, as the eldest son of the late Emperor Showa. In June 1953, His Majesty the Emperor, the then Crown Prince, representing Japan at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, made his first overseas trip. In April 1959, he married Michiko Shoda, the eldest daughter of former Nisshin Seifun President Hidesaburo Shoda, two years after she graduated from the University of the Sacred Heart in Tokyo. Read Emperor Akihito Biography and Profile.

Simon Cowell was born on October 7, 1959, in London, England. In 2011 Cowell helped import his hit British series The X Factor to America. Cowell has served as the executive producer of ‘AGT’ since its inception in 2006. He started judging The X Factor in 2011 and signed on to judge America’s Got Talent in 2015. Simon Phillip Cowell Biography and Profile.

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa between August and October 1451. His father was a weaver and small-time merchant. Columbus has a controversial legacy—he is remembered as a daring and path-breaking explorer who transformed the New World, yet his actions also unleashed changes that would eventually devastate the native populations he and his fellow explorers encountered. Christopher Columbus biography and profile.

Donald Tusk was born on 22 April 1957 in Gdansk, Poland. His father worked as a carpenter on the railway, his mother as a secretary at a hospital. When Tusk was 14 years old, his father died. Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council – a summit of leaders of all EU member states. Donald Tusk Biography and Profile.

Mohammad Shtayyeh born 17 January 1958. Shtayyeh has joined and led multiple other initiatives related to Palestinian development and also focused on regional projects. Shtayyeh maintains a close relationship to Abbas and frequently defends his policies. Read Mohammad Shtayyeh Biography and Profile.

Suha Arafat was born on 17 July 1963, Jerusalem. Suha’s father Daoud Tawil, an Oxford-educated banker, was born in Jaffa (now part of Tel Aviv). Daoud Tawil had business both in the West Bank and Jordan. Suha married Palestine leader Yasser Arafat. Read Suha Arafat Biography and Profile.

Born in Cairo in 1929, Yasser Arafat was named chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization 40 years later. Arafat signed a self-governing pact with Israel in 1991, at the Madrid Conference, and together with Israeli leaders made several attempts at lasting peace soon after, notably through the Oslo Accords (1993) and the Camp David Summit of 2000. Arafat and Israel’s Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres shared the Nobel Peace Prize, but the terms were never implemented. Arafat ceded his PLO chairman post in 2003, and died in Paris in 2004. Read Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat Biography and Profile.