Brooke Rollins — the American lawyer and government official who has served as the United States Secretary of Agriculture since January 2025 — was born on this day — February 24, 1972 — in Glen Rose, Texas.

She is a graduate of Texas A&M University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Development, and the University of Texas School of Law, where she earned a Juris Doctor.

Prior to her appointment to the Cabinet, Rollins served as the president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute. During the first Trump administration, she served as the acting director of the Domestic Policy Council. Earlier in her career, she was the president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation and served as a policy advisor to Governor Rick Perry.

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Kurt Donald Cobain — the American singer, songwriter, and visual artist — was born on this day — February 20, 1967 — in Aberdeen, Washington.

In 1985, Cobain formed the punk band Fecal Matter, and in 1987, he co-founded Nirvana with bassist Krist Novoselic. As the band’s primary songwriter and frontman, Cobain became a central figure of the Seattle grunge scene and was often characterized as a spokesperson for Generation X.

Nirvana’s breakthrough 1991 album, Nevermind, and its lead single “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” are credited with shifting the mainstream music landscape toward alternative rock. Throughout his career, Cobain was recognized for his distinctive vocal style and his work in various mediums, including painting and sculpture. He passed away in Seattle in April 1994.

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Mark Rutte — the Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO since October 2024 — was born on this day — February 14, 1967 — in The Hague, Netherlands.

He is a graduate of Leiden University, where he earned a Master of Arts in History.

Prior to his appointment at NATO, Rutte was the longest-serving Prime Minister in Dutch history, leading the Netherlands from 2010 to 2024. Before his political career, he worked in human resources for the multinational company Unilever.

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Christopher Julius Rock — the American comedian, actor, and filmmaker — was born on this day — February 7, 1965 — in Andrews, South Carolina.

He earned his General Educational Development (GED) diploma after attending James Madison High School in Brooklyn, New York.

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Andrew Breitbart — the American journalist, publisher, and media entrepreneur who founded Breitbart News and co-founded HuffPost — was born on this day — February 1, 1969 — in Los Angeles, California. He passed away in 2012 at the age of 43.

He was a graduate of Tulane University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies.

Breitbart is perhaps best remembered for the “Breitbart Doctrine” — his influential philosophy that “politics is downstream from culture.” A pioneer of the digital media age, he played a central role in the early development of The Drudge Report before launching his own network of “Big” sites, which aimed to challenge the traditional media landscape. His work as a media provocateur and his focus on cultural storytelling reshaped modern political discourse in the United States.

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Chris Wright — the American businessman and government official who has served as the United States Secretary of Energy since February 2025 — was born on this day — January 15, 1965 — in Colorado.

He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, and completed graduate studies in electrical engineering at both the University of California, Berkeley and MIT.

Prior to his appointment to the Cabinet, Wright was a prominent executive in the energy sector, serving as the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy. He is widely recognized for his work in the development of hydraulic fracturing technology and has been a vocal advocate for the role of fossil fuels and nuclear energy in global energy security.

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Zack de la Rocha — the American musician, lyricist, and activist — was born on this day — January 12, 1970 — in Long Beach, California.

He is best known as the vocalist and frontman for the rock band Rage Against the Machine. Throughout his career, de la Rocha has been recognized for his blend of hip-hop and punk vocal styles, as well as his commitment to social and political activism. Beyond his work with Rage Against the Machine, he has collaborated with artists like Run the Jewels and fronted the duo One Day as a Lion.

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Jeff Bezos — the American entrepreneur, media proprietor, and investor best known as the founder of Amazon — was born on this day — January 12, 1964 — in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

He is a graduate of Princeton University, where he earned degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, graduating summa cum laude.

Prior to starting Amazon, Bezos worked on Wall Street in various related fields, including the hedge fund D. E. Shaw & Co. In addition to his work with Amazon, he is the founder of the aerospace company Blue Origin and the owner of The Washington Post.

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Bradley Charles Cooper — the American actor and filmmaker — was born on this day — January 5, 1975 — in Abington Township, Pennsylvania.

He is a graduate of Georgetown University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in French, and the Actors Studio Drama School at The New School, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Acting.

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Douglas Coupland — the influential Canadian novelist, designer, and visual artist who popularized the term “Generation X” — was born on this day — December 30, 1961 — at the Royal Canadian Air Force station Baden-Soellingen in West Germany.

He is a graduate of the Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Coupland rose to international prominence following the March 15, 1991, publication of his debut novel, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. Beyond his literary success, which includes thirteen novels and several non-fiction books, he is a prolific visual artist whose work, such as the Digital Orca in Vancouver, explores the intersection of technology, 21st-century culture, and the human experience.

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