When it comes to auspiciousness, being born under the Year of the Sheep may be the worst, at least according to some Chinese superstitions, which suggest people born under this sign will fail at love, be poor at business, will follow rather than lead — and that a mere one in 10 will ever find happiness.
“It’s an unfair and outdated superstition,” Dong Mengzhi, honorary president of Beijing’s Folk Literature and Art Society, told the Washington Post earlier in 2014 when some Chinese couples were racing to conceive children early enough so to not be born during the Year of the Sheep.
Yet the number of expectant mothers at maternity hospitals across China has plummeted since September 2014, with the drop most noticeable in traditional areas, China Daily reported.
“We used to consider it merely as superstition,” Zhu Zhiling, a marketing manager at a women and children’s hospital group, told the paper. “But we never thought that such thinking, mostly from the older generations, would have such an impact on child planning.”
But contrary to the myth — which Dong suggested could be “a convenient way for many to explain an unpredictable world” — there are quite a few compelling “Sheep-ple.” Here’s a list of some of our favorite and more memorable picks:
1. Bruce Willis
Photo: AP
Birthday: March 19, 1955
Will turn: 60 years old
American actor known for such films as “Die Hard,” “The Fifth Element,” “The Sixth Sense” and “Lucky Number Slevin.” His films have grossed upwards of $3 billion in the U.S.
2. Julia Roberts
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / David Shankbone
Birthday: October 28, 1967
Will turn: 48 years old
American actress known for films such as “Pretty Woman,” “Erin Brockovich,” and “Ocean’s Twelve.”
3. Tim Berners-Lee
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / Paul Clarke
Birthday: June 8, 1955
Will turn: 60 years old
English computer scientist credited with creating the Internet.
4. Heath Ledger
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / Howie Berlin
Birthday: April 4, 1979
Would have been: 36
Australian actor. His films include “10 Things I hate About You,” “Brokeback Mountain,” and “The Dark Knight.”
5. Maurice R. Hilleman
Photo: Public domain
Birthday: August 30, 1919
Would have been: 96 years old
American microbiologist who developed more than 36 vaccines for diseases such as pneumonia, chickenpox, measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and meningitis.
6. Yue Fei
Photo: Public domain
Birthday: March 24, 1103
Would have been: 912 years old
Chinese military general who is seen as a patriot and national folk hero who has evolved into the standard epitome of loyalty.
7. Jeff Daniels
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / iDominick
Birthday: February 19, 1955
Will turn: 60 years old
American actor best known for the films “Dumb and Dumber”and the TV series “The Newsroom.”
8. Joseph Stiglitz
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons
Birthday: February 9, 1943
Will turn: 72 years old
American economist who shared the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for information asymmetry. He was also a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
9. Willie Mays
Photo: Willie Mays’ incredible Game 1 over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series is one of the most iconic plays in baseball history. AP
Birthday: May 6, 1931
Will turn: 84 years old
American former professional baseball player who hit 660 home runs and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility.
10. Rachel Carson
Photo: Public domain
Birthday: May 27, 1907
Would have been: 108 years old
American marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement.
11. Nat King Cole
Photo: Public domain
Birthday: March 17, 1919
Would have been: 96 years old
Iconic American jazz singer and pianist.
12. Edmund Hillary
Photo: Public domain
Birthday: July 20, 1919
Would have been: 96 years old
New Zealand mountaineer who, with Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
13. Mikhail Gorbachev
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / SpreeTom
Birthday: March 2, 1931
Will turn: 84 years old
The eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union.
14. Zhang Ziyi
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / Wang Long Wei
Birthday: February 9, 1979
Will turn: 36 years old
Chinese actress and model. Her film roles include “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Memoirs of a Geisha.”
15. Bill Gates
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / UK Department for International Development
Birthday: October 28, 1955
Will turn: 60 years old
American inventor and co-founder of Microsoft.
16. Liberace
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / Allan warren
Birthday: May 16, 1919
Would have been: 96 years old
American pianist and highest-paid entertainer in the world between the 1950s-1970s.
17. Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / Georges Biard
Birthday: July 23, 1967
Would have been: 48 years old
American actor known for films such as “Capote” and “The Big Lebowski.”
18. Steve Jobs
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / Matthew Yohe
Birthday: February 24, 1955
Would have been: 60 years old
American inventor who cofounded Apple Inc.
19. Christopher Walken
Photo: Public domain
Birthday: March 31, 1943
Will turn: 72 years old
American actor from films such as “Catch Me If You Can” and “Pulp Fiction” whose movies have grossed more than $1 billion in the U.S.
20. Kurt Cobain
Photo: AP
Birthday: February 20, 1967
Would have been: 48 years old
American musician best known for his band Nirvana.
21. William Shatner
Photo: Public domain
Birthday: March 22, 1931
Will turn: 84 years old
American actor best known for his role as Captain Kirk in the TV show “Star Trek.”
22. Nicole Kidman
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / Georges Biard
Birthday: June 20, 1967
Will turn: 48 years old
Australian actress. Her films include “Batman Forever” and “Moulin Rouge.”
23. Whoopi Goldberg
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / Georges Biard
Birthday: November 13, 1955
Will turn: 60 years old
American actress and comedienne. Her films include “The Color Purple”, “Sister Act, and “Ghost.” For the latter, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the second black woman to ever win an Oscar.
24. Leonard Nimoy
Photo: Public domain
Birthday: March 26, 1931
Will turn: 84 years old
American actor best known for his role as Spock in the TV series “Star Trek.”
25. Robert De Niro
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / Angela George
Birthday: August 17, 1943
Will turn: 72 years old
American actor from films such as “The Godfather II” and “Meet the Parents.”
26. Bill Maher
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / Angela George
Birthday: January 20, 1956
Will turn: 59 years old
American satirist, host of “Real Time with Bill Maher” and “Politically Incorrect.”
27. Michelangelo
Photo: Portrait by Daniele da Volterra / Public domain
Birthday: March 6, 1475
Would have been: 540 years old
Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer during the Renaissance.
28. Thomas Edison
Photo: Public domain
Birthday: February 11, 1847
Would have been: 168 years old
American inventor.
29. Billie Jean King
Photo: AP
Birthday: November 22, 1943
Will be: 72 years old
American former No. 1 world-ranked professional tennis player.
30. George Harrison
Photo: Public domain
Birthday: February 25, 1943
Would have been: 72 years old
British musician and lead guitarist of The Beatles.
31. Jim Morrison
Photo: Public domain
Birthday: December 8, 1943
Would have been: 72 years old
American singer and lead vocalist of The Doors.
32. Chow Yun-fat
Photo: AP
Birthday: May 18, 1955
Will turn: 60 years old
Hong Kong actor. His films include “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”
33. Yo Yo Ma
Photo: Wikimedia Creative Commons / World Economic Forum
Birthday: October 7, 1955
Will turn: 60 years old
French-born Chinese American cellist who has won 15 Grammy Awards.
34. John Denver
Photo: Public domain
Birthday: December 31, 1943
Would have been: 72 years old
American singer-songwriter that was one of the best-selling artists of the 1970s.
35. Cuba Gooding Jr
Photo: AP
Birthday: January 2, 1968
Will turn: 47 yeras old
American actor. His films include “A Few Good Men,” “As Good as It Gets,” and “Jerry Maguire.” The latter won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.