Jeff Bezos, January 12: Founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com; he was Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 1999.

Mariska Hargitay, January 23: The actress won an Emmy in 2006 for her role as Detective Olivia Benson in the hit show "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

Bret Easton Ellis, March 7: Author of the novels Less Than Zero (1985), The Rules of Attraction (1987), and the controversial American Psycho (1991)

Bonnie Blair, March 18: Speed skater and one of the most decorated female athletes in Olympic history, with five gold medals and one bronze medal

James Langevin, April 22: Democratic member of the House of Representatives from Rhode Island

Stephen Colbert, May 13: The comedian and actor was the longest-running correspondent on “The Daily Show” before he got his own satirical news program, “The Colbert Report.”

Wynonna Judd, May 30: Singer who, with her mother, made up country music’s legendary duo the Judds; her first solo album, “ Wynonna,” sold over five million copies.

Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, May 31, and Joseph Simmons, November 14: Pioneers of hip-hop culture and founding members of Run-D.M.C.

Dan Brown, June 22: Author best known for his immensely successful 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code

Barry Bonds, July 24: Controversial baseball player for the San Francisco Giants who holds the Major League Baseball record for the most home runs in a season (73) and has the second-highest number of all-time home runs.

Sandra Bullock, July 26: Actress in romantic-comedy films such as While You Were Sleeping and Miss Congeniality, as well as the drama Speed and the recent hit Crash

Melinda Gates, August 15: Philanthropist and wife of Bill Gates; named co-Person of the Year with her husband and Bono by Time magazine in 2006

John E. Sununu, September 10: New Hampshire Republican who in 2002 defeated an incumbent senator and governor to become the youngest member of the U.S. Senate

Tavis Smiley, September 13: Author and host of talk shows on PBS and PRI radio

Bobby Flay, October 9: Celebrity chef and restaurateur, with four restaurants and several Food Network television programs

Teri Hatcher, December 8: Star of the darkly comedic “ Desperate Housewives”