Birthday Celebrations — October 31

Born on this day. These are the birthdays we celebrate on October 31 — the people whose lives added to the story of Black history.

Ethel Waters

Born October 31, 1896 — died September 1, 1977

Singer and actress.

Waters moved from blues and popular-song performance into major stage and screen roles, including Cabin in the Sky. Her expressive singing and dramatic ability helped establish opportunities for Black women in American entertainment despite severe racial barriers. Her career is a substantial subject connecting early recording history, musical theater, film, and the struggle for recognition beyond stereotyped roles.

Illinois Jacquet

Full name: Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet

Born October 31, 1922 (some records give October 30) — died July 22, 2004

Jazz saxophonist and bandleader.

Jacquet’s celebrated solo on Lionel Hampton’s Flying Home helped establish a forceful tenor-saxophone sound that influenced rhythm and blues as well as jazz. He worked with major bandleaders and later led his own ensembles. His career connects swing-era performance with later popular styles and shows how an individual instrumental voice can reshape a musical tradition.

Bernard Edwards

Born October 31, 1952 — died April 18, 1996

Bassist, songwriter, and producer.

Edwards cofounded Chic with Nile Rodgers and helped create a precise, highly influential rhythm-section sound. His bass playing on recordings such as Good Times became central to the group’s identity and to the musical vocabulary of disco and funk. His songwriting and production work extended that influence beyond Chic to other major recording projects.

John Lucas II

Full name: John Harding Lucas II

Born October 31, 1953

Basketball player and coach.

Lucas was a distinguished college athlete at Maryland before becoming the first selection in the 1976 NBA draft. He built a professional playing career and later worked as a coach. His experience offers a sports-history subject that includes the transition from individual athletic achievement to teaching and supporting the development of other basketball players.

Brian Stokes Mitchell

Born October 31, 1957

Broadway actor and singer.

Mitchell became one of Broadway’s leading baritones through roles in Ragtime, Kiss Me, Kate, and Man of La Mancha. His performance in Kiss Me, Kate earned a Tony Award.

Alonzo Babers

Full name: Alonzo Carl Babers

Born October 31, 1961

Olympic sprinter and aviator.

Babers won gold medals in the 400 meters and the 4-by-400-meter relay at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. A United States Air Force Academy graduate, he also pursued aviation rather than making elite track his only career. His story links international athletic achievement with military education, technical training, and the choices athletes make beyond competition.

Fred McGriff

Full name: Frederick Stanley McGriff

Born October 31, 1963

Major League Baseball first baseman.

McGriff built a long major-league career marked by consistent power hitting, finishing with 493 home runs. He contributed to Atlanta’s 1995 World Series championship and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023. His career offers a baseball subject centered on sustained production, team achievement, and recognition that continued after his playing years.

Smokie Norful

Born October 31, 1975

Gospel singer, pianist, and pastor.

Norful reached a broad gospel audience with I Need You Now and continued recording music built around expressive vocals and piano. Nothing Without You earned a Grammy Award in 2005.

Letitia Wright

Full name: Letitia Michelle Wright

Born October 31, 1993

Guyanese British actress.

Wright achieved international recognition as Shuri in Black Panther after earlier work in British film and television. Her performances also include Urban Hymn and the Small Axe film Mangrove.

Marcus Rashford

Born October 31, 1997

English footballer and child-food campaigner.

Rashford developed through Manchester United’s youth system and became an England international. Beyond football, he used his public platform to campaign against child food poverty in Britain.