Ian Smith

Ian Douglas Smith was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979. He was the country's first leader to be born and raised in Rhodesia, and led the predominantly white government that unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom in November 1965 in opposition to the UK's demands for the implementation of majority rule as a condition for independence. His 15 years in power were defined by the country's international isolation and involvement in the Rhodesian Bush War, which pitted Rhodesia's armed forces against the Soviet- and Chinese-funded military wings of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU).

8 April 1919

Born on the same birth day (8 April): Andrew Irvine (mountaineer) • Dalton Grant • Elton John (footballer) • Emil Cioran • Frédéric Back • Félix Hernández • Gary Carter • Hirsch Jacobs • Jeff McNeil • John Madden (director) • Kim Woo-jin • Mark Spencer (computer engineer) • Michael Benton • Paul Gray (American musician) • Tom DeLay

Born in the same month (April 1919): Alberto Breccia • Carl Lindner Jr. • Chavela Vargas • Donald J. Cram • Edoardo Mangiarotti • Finn Helgesen • Gilles Lamontagne • Glafcos Clerides • István Anhalt • J. Presper Eckert • John Houbolt • Merce Cunningham • Nilla Pizzi • Sol Kaplan