CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

DAVID BAUTISTA

David Michael Bautista Jr. was born in 1969. He is an American actor and is most known for his time as a professional wrestler.

He began his wrestling career in 1999, and in 2000 signed with the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) later renamed WWE in 2002.

From 2002 to 2010, he gained fame under the ring name Batista and became a six-time world champion by winning the World Heavyweight Championship four times and the WWE Championship twice.

Bautista began acting in 2006 and has starred in The Man with the Iron Fists, Riddick, the James Bond film Spectre, Blade Runner 2049, and most recently Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

He is also widely known for his portrayal of Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Guardians of the Galaxy.

PEP GUARDIOLA

Josep “Pep” Guardiola Sala was born in 1971. He is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Premier League club Manchester City.

He is often considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the records for the most consecutive league games won in La Liga, the Bundesliga and the Premier League.

He was a defensive midfielder in his playing days and spent the majority of his career with Barcelona, forming a part of Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team.

Guardiola then had stints with Brescia and Roma in Italy, Al-Ahli in Qatar, and Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico. He was capped 47 times for the Spanish national team and appeared at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, as well as at UEFA Euro 2000.

After retiring as a player, Guardiola briefly coached Barcelona B, with whom he won a Tercera División title. He took charge of the first team in 2008. In his first season, he led Barcelona to the treble of La Liga, the UEFA Champions League, and the Copa del Rey, becoming the youngest manager to win the aforementioned European competition.

After a sabbatical period, Bayern Munich announced Guardiola would join the club as manager in 2013. Guardiola won the Bundesliga in each of his three seasons as Bayern manager, including two domestic doubles.

He later left the Bavarians for Manchester City in 2016, and guided them to a Premier League title in his second campaign in charge, breaking numerous domestic records as the team became the first to attain 100 league points.

LISANDRO MARTINEZ

Lisandro Martínez was born in 1998 and he is an Argentine professional footballer who plays primarily as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester United and the Argentina national team.

Martínez began his career at Newell’s Old Boys before joining Defensa y Justicia in 2017, initially on loan. He signed for Ajax in 2019, where he made 120 appearances over three seasons and won two Eredivisie titles and one KNVB Cup. He won the Ajax Player of the Year award in the 2021–22 season.

He represented Argentina at the under-20 and under-23 levels, before making his senior international debut in March 2019.

He was a member of the Argentina squad that won the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 Finalissima, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Martínez is nicknamed “the Butcher” due to his aggressive style of play.

On 16 July 2022, it was announced that Manchester United had agreed on a deal with Ajax for the signing of Martínez for a reported transfer fee between £47 million to £49 million, plus £8.5 million in add-ons.

ESTELLE

Estelle Fanta Swaray was born in 1980. She is a British rapper, singer, songwriter, actress, and radio presenter from West London.

She is mostly known for her eclectic mix of various musical genres including R&B, soul, reggae, grime, hip-hop, and dance.

She has collaborated with artists including John Legend, Robin Thicke, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, will.i.am Kanye West, Pete Rock, David Guetta and Tyler, The Creator.

Estelle has provided both the speaking and singing voice for the fictional character Garnet in the animated series Steven Universe, a role she reprised in Steven Universe: The Movie and Steven Universe Future.

She hosts and presents her own show called The Estelle Show on Apple Music and has done over 500 episodes.

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