List of Famous people born on January 1st

Abdul Jabbar Abdullah was an Iraqi wave theory physicist, dynamical meteorologist, and President Emeritus of Baghdad University. Abdullah earned his Sc.D. degree in meteorology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1946, before being appointed head of the Iraqi Teacher Association, and then chairman of the Department of Physics, College of Education, Baghdad. In 1952, he became a visiting research professor in meteorology at New York University, and in 1965 he joined the National Center for Atmospheric Research as a scientific visitor.

Maha Al-Ghunaim is a Kuwaiti businesswoman, who was the chair and managing director of the Kuwaiti investment firm GIH.

Keeree Kanjanapas was born in Bangkok, Thailand in 1950. His family roots are in Chaozhou. He is a Thai entrepreneur with extensive business interests in mass transit and real estate in Thailand. He is the founder and CEO of the Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL (BTSC) "BTS Skytrain".

Meriam bint Abdullah Al-Khalifa is a member of the Bahraini Royal House of Al-Khalifa. She is best known for fleeing her family and native Bahrain to the United States to elope with US Marine Lance Corporal Jason Johnson, who was, at the time, stationed in Bahrain as part of a counter-terrorism unit providing security for expatriate Americans. After she was smuggled into the United States with help from Lance Corporal Johnson and being threatened with deportation by United States Customs, she was permitted to stay and apply for asylum, claiming that she feared honor violence by her family in retaliation for fleeing her country and entertaining a romantic relationship with a non-Muslim. Her story was featured heavily in the American press, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, and was turned into a television movie.

Wang Xudong is the curator of the Palace Museum since 8 April 2019. Previously he served as director of Dunhuang Research Academy. He is an alternate member of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

İsmail Beşikçi is a Turkish sociologist, philosopher, revolutionary, and writer. He is a PEN Honorary Member. He has served 17 years in prison on propaganda charges stemming from his writings about the Kurdish population in Turkey.

Kenan Şimşek is a former Turkish Olympian wrestler competing in the 90 kg division of freestyle. He was a member of the club Ankara Büyükşehir Belediyesi SK.

Ngai Wah Sing Francis is a Hong Kong entrepreneur and venture philanthropist. He is the Founder and CEO of Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVhk), a venture philanthropic organisation, and co-founded several Hong Kong social enterprises, including Green Monday, RunOurCity and Playtao Foreverland. He currently serves as a Board Member of the Asia Venture Philanthropy Network.

Saïd Senhaji is a chaabi singer from Casablanca, Morocco. His roots go back to Taounate, Morocco. He is sometimes referred to as Sultan al-Ughnia ash-Sha'abia.

Chen Shiju was an important political aide for China's former leader Hu Jintao. Chen served as Hu's secretary beginning in Guizhou 1986. Chen was the director of Hu Jintao's Office in 2002–2012. Chen currently serves as deputy director of the General Office of the Communist Party of China. In 2015 he hold a concurrent post on Deputy Director of the CPC Central Guidance Committee on Ethical and Cultural Construction.