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| Lady Hamilton as Titania with Puck and Changeling, by George Romney 1793 |
For more April 26 anniversaries, including the first ever cocktail party in England. the premiere of Giacomo Puccini's final opera, Turandot, and the first voyage of the world's first commercially successful container ship, check out OnThatDay.
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector after the English Civil War, was born on April 25, 1599. He was the only son of a small but well to do landowner, Robert Cromwell, who died in 1617. He was related to Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII's ministers.
A talented soldier, Cromwell was largely responsible for the parliamentary successes over Charles I during the English Civil War. Although at first he sought a reconciliation with the king, he eventually signed Charles' death warrant. The unconstitutional uncertainty that followed finally compelled Cromwell to assume the office of Lord Protector.
Guglielmo Marconi, known for his work on long distance radio transmission, was born into the Italian nobility in Bologna on April 25, 1874. Due to his father's dislike of his immature hobby of Morse code, the 10-year-old Giuseppe set up a laboratory in the attic, among his mother's trays of silkworms. He fiddled around with his early electrical transmitters, making his signals travel further and further. He had no idea they would lead to broadcasting.
For more April 25 birthdays, including Louis IX of France, Edward II of England and the world’s longest-serving soap opera star William Roach, check out OnThatDay.
The novelist Anthony Trollope was born at 6 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London on April 24, 1815. Anthony was a large, dirty boy with a large voice. He was unpopular and had no friends as he was thought to be uncouth and clumsy. Anthony was despised at school by both pupils and teachers taking repeated floggings. Because of his miserable school experiences, he took to daydreaming. Walking a mile walk to and from school young Trollope would be lost in his elaborate inner worlds.
Barbra Streisand was born Barbara Joan Streisand to Jewish parents on April 24, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York. She changed her name to Barbra when she was 18-years-old as she wanted to be unique, but didn't want to change her name completely. At Erasmus Hall High School she sang in the school choir alongside Neil Diamond. The pair teamed up again in 1978 for the smash hit "You Don't Bring Me Flowers."
The artist Stephen Wiltshire was born April 24, 1974. An autistic savant, Wiltshire draws detailed landscapes from memory. A 250-foot (76 m) long panoramic memory drawing of New York is on display at JFK Airport. He was appointed an MBE in 2006 and in the same year, he opened a permanent gallery on the Royal Opera Arcade in London.
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector after the English Civil War, was born on April 25, 1599. He was the only son of a small but well to do landowner, Robert Cromwell, who died in 1617. He was related to Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII's ministers.
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| A 1656 Samuel Cooper portrait of Cromwell |
A talented soldier, Cromwell was largely responsible for the parliamentary successes over Charles I during the English Civil War. Although at first he sought a reconciliation with the king, he eventually signed Charles' death warrant. The unconstitutional uncertainty that followed finally compelled Cromwell to assume the office of Lord Protector.
Guglielmo Marconi, known for his work on long distance radio transmission, was born into the Italian nobility in Bologna on April 25, 1874. Due to his father's dislike of his immature hobby of Morse code, the 10-year-old Giuseppe set up a laboratory in the attic, among his mother's trays of silkworms. He fiddled around with his early electrical transmitters, making his signals travel further and further. He had no idea they would lead to broadcasting.
For more April 25 birthdays, including Louis IX of France, Edward II of England and the world’s longest-serving soap opera star William Roach, check out OnThatDay.
The novelist Anthony Trollope was born at 6 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London on April 24, 1815. Anthony was a large, dirty boy with a large voice. He was unpopular and had no friends as he was thought to be uncouth and clumsy. Anthony was despised at school by both pupils and teachers taking repeated floggings. Because of his miserable school experiences, he took to daydreaming. Walking a mile walk to and from school young Trollope would be lost in his elaborate inner worlds.
Barbra Streisand was born Barbara Joan Streisand to Jewish parents on April 24, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York. She changed her name to Barbra when she was 18-years-old as she wanted to be unique, but didn't want to change her name completely. At Erasmus Hall High School she sang in the school choir alongside Neil Diamond. The pair teamed up again in 1978 for the smash hit "You Don't Bring Me Flowers."
The artist Stephen Wiltshire was born April 24, 1974. An autistic savant, Wiltshire draws detailed landscapes from memory. A 250-foot (76 m) long panoramic memory drawing of New York is on display at JFK Airport. He was appointed an MBE in 2006 and in the same year, he opened a permanent gallery on the Royal Opera Arcade in London.
For more April 24 anniversaries, including the debut of the first regular newspaper in North America, the first man to sail single-handedly around the world, and the birth of the first cloned dog, check out OnThatDay.
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Henley Street, Stratford-Upon-Avon, to John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover (glove-maker) and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning family. His date of birth is unknown, but is traditionally observed on April 23, Saint George's Day. An actor and playwright, Shakespeare's own acting abilities were not great, and he was fortunate to have other actors of stature to create such roles as Hamlet and Lear. Shakespeare's plays are known and performed in every country of the world, and he is considered the greatest of playwrights.
The English romantic painter Joseph Mallord William Turner was born on April 23, 1775 in Maiden Lane, an alley, north of the Strand in London. Joseph's father William Turner was a wig-maker who later became a Covent Garden barber. He first expressed an interest in painting around the age of 10. Soon Joseph was creating many paintings, which his father exhibited in his barber shop window.
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Henley Street, Stratford-Upon-Avon, to John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover (glove-maker) and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning family. His date of birth is unknown, but is traditionally observed on April 23, Saint George's Day. An actor and playwright, Shakespeare's own acting abilities were not great, and he was fortunate to have other actors of stature to create such roles as Hamlet and Lear. Shakespeare's plays are known and performed in every country of the world, and he is considered the greatest of playwrights.
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| William Shakespeare |
The English romantic painter Joseph Mallord William Turner was born on April 23, 1775 in Maiden Lane, an alley, north of the Strand in London. Joseph's father William Turner was a wig-maker who later became a Covent Garden barber. He first expressed an interest in painting around the age of 10. Soon Joseph was creating many paintings, which his father exhibited in his barber shop window.
Shirley Temple was born on April 23, 1928, in Santa Monica, California, the third child of homemaker Gertrude Temple and bank worker George Temple. The 1934 comedy drama movie Bright Eyes was the first film to be written and developed specifically for Shirley Temple, and the first in which her name was raised above the title. The movie featured her singing her best known musical number, "On the Good Ship Lollipop."
For more April 23 anniversaries, including the founding of the first public school in the United States, the first confirmed men to set foot at the Geographic North Pole, and the marriage of C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham, check out OnThatDay.
Vladimir "Volodya" Ilych Ulyanov was born on April 22, 1870 in the Russian city of Simbirsk (renamed Ulyanovsk in 1924) on the Volga. He adopted the name of Lenin in December 1901 to hide his identity from the police, possibly taking the River Lena as a basis. The Premier of Russia and later the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924, under his administration his country became a one-party socialist state governed by the Soviet Communist Party.
For more April 22 anniversaries, including the first appearance of roller skates, the Oklahoma Land Run, and the first people to row across the Pacific Ocean, check out OnThatDay.
Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on April 21, 1816. She was bought up by her clergyman father, Patrick. Charlotte had four sisters including Emily who wrote Wuthering Heights and Anne who wrote Agnes Grey. She acted as "the motherly friend and guardian of her younger sisters." At school, Charlotte's English was considered indifferent. There was no indication that she would ever write a novel, let alone one as successful as Jane Eyre.
Queen Elizabeth II was born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary at 2.40 am (GMT) on April 21, 1926 at her maternal grandfather's London house: 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. She was the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth), the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon. She was named after her mother. The house in which she was born is now a fancy Cantonese restaurant called Hakkasan.
Queen Elizabeth II had two birthdays: one on her actual date of birth, April 21, and one on the second Saturday in June, because April weather is too cold for a parade in the UK.
For more April 21 anniversaries, including the founding of Bangkok, the Battle of San Jacinto, the founding of The New York Times and the release of Nintendo's Game Boy, check out OnThatDay.
Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn, a town in Austria-Hungary (in present day Austria), close to the border with the German Empire.
For more April 23 anniversaries, including the founding of the first public school in the United States, the first confirmed men to set foot at the Geographic North Pole, and the marriage of C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham, check out OnThatDay.
Vladimir "Volodya" Ilych Ulyanov was born on April 22, 1870 in the Russian city of Simbirsk (renamed Ulyanovsk in 1924) on the Volga. He adopted the name of Lenin in December 1901 to hide his identity from the police, possibly taking the River Lena as a basis. The Premier of Russia and later the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924, under his administration his country became a one-party socialist state governed by the Soviet Communist Party.
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| Vladimir aged 4 |
For more April 22 anniversaries, including the first appearance of roller skates, the Oklahoma Land Run, and the first people to row across the Pacific Ocean, check out OnThatDay.
Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on April 21, 1816. She was bought up by her clergyman father, Patrick. Charlotte had four sisters including Emily who wrote Wuthering Heights and Anne who wrote Agnes Grey. She acted as "the motherly friend and guardian of her younger sisters." At school, Charlotte's English was considered indifferent. There was no indication that she would ever write a novel, let alone one as successful as Jane Eyre.
Queen Elizabeth II was born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary at 2.40 am (GMT) on April 21, 1926 at her maternal grandfather's London house: 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. She was the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth), the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon. She was named after her mother. The house in which she was born is now a fancy Cantonese restaurant called Hakkasan.
Queen Elizabeth II had two birthdays: one on her actual date of birth, April 21, and one on the second Saturday in June, because April weather is too cold for a parade in the UK.
For more April 21 anniversaries, including the founding of Bangkok, the Battle of San Jacinto, the founding of The New York Times and the release of Nintendo's Game Boy, check out OnThatDay.
Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn, a town in Austria-Hungary (in present day Austria), close to the border with the German Empire.
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| Adolf Hitler as an infant (c. 1889–90) |
He was the fourth of six children of Alois Hitler (1837–1903), a petty clerk in the Austrian Customs Service, and Klara Pölzl, Alois' niece and third wife. Klara was a simple uneducated Bavarian girl. Their marriage was not a happy one.
A stone monument erected near the birthplace of Hitler in 1989 bears the lines "For Peace, Freedom & Democracy-Never Again Fascism-millions of dead are a warning."
For more April 20 anniversaries, including the creation of Wisconsin Territory, Chicago Cubs playing their first game at Wrigley Park, and orange juice becoming the official state beverage of Florida, check out OnThatDay.
A Japanese man, Jiroemon Kimura, was born on April 19, 1897. He died 116 years and 54 days later, having become the first man to indisputably reach 116 years of age.
Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, later known as Napoleon III, was born in Paris on the night of April 19-20, 1808. His father was Louis Bonaparte, the younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was Louis the King of Holland 1806 -1810. His mother was Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter by the first marriage of Napoleon's wife Joséphine de Beauharnais. Charles-Louis attended the gymnasium school at Augsburg, Bavaria. As a result, his French had a slight but noticeable German accent.
For more April 19 anniversaries, including the establishment of Belgium as a kingdom, the first bloodshed of the American Civil War, and the death of Pierre Curie in a street accident, check out OnThatDay.
James McCune Smith was born on April 18, 1813. The first African-American doctor, he was rejected from all American colleges and had to attend the University of Glasgow in Scotland, where he graduated at the top of his class in 1837. Smith returned to New York City in 1837 and established his practice in Lower Manhattan in general surgery and medicine, treating both black and white patients.
The writer George Henry Lewes was born in London on April 18, 1817. He was the illegitimate son of the minor poet John Lee Lewes and Elizabeth Ashweek. Lewes was unattractive with a straggly mustache, pitted complexion and a head too large for his small body. In 1851 Lewes met the writer Marian Evans, later to be famous as George Eliot. Within three years, with a scandalous disregard of the conventions of their time, had decided to live together.
For more April 18 anniversaries, including the first anti-slavery petition in the New World, Paul Revere's midnight ride to warn the colonial militia of the approach of British troops, and the debut of Superman, check out OnThatDay
Spanish ventriloquist Señor Wences was born on April 17, 1896. His popularity grew with his frequent appearances on CBS-TV's The Ed Sullivan Show in the 1950s and 1960s. He was still working in his 90s and in 1986, Wences made a guest appearance on The Garry Shandling Show.
For more April 17 anniversaries, including the formation of the English Football League, the first woman to fly solo around the world, and the Khmer Rouge taking over Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, check out OnThatDay.
Wilbur Wright was born near Millville, Indiana, on April 16, 1867. He was the older of the two flight pioneering Wright Brothers and had four other siblings. Wilbur first developed his interest in aviation during three years of reclusiveness after being badly injured in an ice hockey game, when another player's stick hit him in the face. He lost his two front teeth in the accident. The player who knocked his teeth out, Oliver Cook Haugh, grew up to become a notorious Midwest serial killer.
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin was born to Hannah Chaplin (née Hill) and Charles Chaplin, Sr on April 16, 1889. His parents were both music hall entertainers.
Klara Hitler lost three children in infancy before Adolf was born. She was seriously considering an abortion but was talked out of it by her doctor. Klara was constantly fearful of Adolf's death and constantly pinned all her hopes on him.
Young Adolf wanted to become an artist, but after being was rejected twice by the Academy of Arts in Vienna (1907 and 1908) for "lack of talent", which he resented deeply, he didn't try to find a different job or learn a profession.
Young Adolf wanted to become an artist, but after being was rejected twice by the Academy of Arts in Vienna (1907 and 1908) for "lack of talent", which he resented deeply, he didn't try to find a different job or learn a profession.
A stone monument erected near the birthplace of Hitler in 1989 bears the lines "For Peace, Freedom & Democracy-Never Again Fascism-millions of dead are a warning."
For more April 20 anniversaries, including the creation of Wisconsin Territory, Chicago Cubs playing their first game at Wrigley Park, and orange juice becoming the official state beverage of Florida, check out OnThatDay.
A Japanese man, Jiroemon Kimura, was born on April 19, 1897. He died 116 years and 54 days later, having become the first man to indisputably reach 116 years of age.
Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, later known as Napoleon III, was born in Paris on the night of April 19-20, 1808. His father was Louis Bonaparte, the younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was Louis the King of Holland 1806 -1810. His mother was Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter by the first marriage of Napoleon's wife Joséphine de Beauharnais. Charles-Louis attended the gymnasium school at Augsburg, Bavaria. As a result, his French had a slight but noticeable German accent.
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| Franz Xaver Winterhalter Napoleon III |
For more April 19 anniversaries, including the establishment of Belgium as a kingdom, the first bloodshed of the American Civil War, and the death of Pierre Curie in a street accident, check out OnThatDay.
James McCune Smith was born on April 18, 1813. The first African-American doctor, he was rejected from all American colleges and had to attend the University of Glasgow in Scotland, where he graduated at the top of his class in 1837. Smith returned to New York City in 1837 and established his practice in Lower Manhattan in general surgery and medicine, treating both black and white patients.
The writer George Henry Lewes was born in London on April 18, 1817. He was the illegitimate son of the minor poet John Lee Lewes and Elizabeth Ashweek. Lewes was unattractive with a straggly mustache, pitted complexion and a head too large for his small body. In 1851 Lewes met the writer Marian Evans, later to be famous as George Eliot. Within three years, with a scandalous disregard of the conventions of their time, had decided to live together.
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| George Henry Lewes |
For more April 18 anniversaries, including the first anti-slavery petition in the New World, Paul Revere's midnight ride to warn the colonial militia of the approach of British troops, and the debut of Superman, check out OnThatDay
Spanish ventriloquist Señor Wences was born on April 17, 1896. His popularity grew with his frequent appearances on CBS-TV's The Ed Sullivan Show in the 1950s and 1960s. He was still working in his 90s and in 1986, Wences made a guest appearance on The Garry Shandling Show.
For more April 17 anniversaries, including the formation of the English Football League, the first woman to fly solo around the world, and the Khmer Rouge taking over Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, check out OnThatDay.
Wilbur Wright was born near Millville, Indiana, on April 16, 1867. He was the older of the two flight pioneering Wright Brothers and had four other siblings. Wilbur first developed his interest in aviation during three years of reclusiveness after being badly injured in an ice hockey game, when another player's stick hit him in the face. He lost his two front teeth in the accident. The player who knocked his teeth out, Oliver Cook Haugh, grew up to become a notorious Midwest serial killer.
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin was born to Hannah Chaplin (née Hill) and Charles Chaplin, Sr on April 16, 1889. His parents were both music hall entertainers.
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| Charlie Chaplin |
When Chaplin turned eighteen, he was awarded the lead in a comedy play for Fred Karno and the Karno Troupe. Two years later whilst touring America with the Karno Troupe, Chaplin’s character of the English drunk caught the eye of Mack Sennett, the head of Keystone Studios. Chaplin took up the offer of a contract with the New York Motion Picture Co. at $150 per week to join the Keystone Studios in Los Angeles.
Charlie Chaplin became the highest-paid film star in the world when he signed a contract with Mutual Film Corporation for $675,000 a year on April 6, 1916. He made 82 movies over a career that spanned 50 years.
For more April 16 anniversaries, including the founding of the Franciscan Order, Lenin's return to Russia from exile in Switzerland, and the creation of the Bloody Mary cocktail, check out OnThatDay.
Poet and mystic Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism and a revered figure in Indian history, was born on April 15, 1469, in Talwandi, now known as Nankana Sahib, in present-day Pakistan. He is celebrated as the first of the ten Sikh gurus and is remembered for his teachings on equality, service, and devotion to God. His birthday is celebrated by Sikhs around the world as Guru Nanak Gurpurab, one of the most important festivals in the Sikh calendar.
Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Italian polymath, was born on April 15, 1452, in the town of Vinci, in the Tuscan region of Italy. He is widely considered to be one of the most brilliant and versatile minds in human history, and his achievements in fields such as painting, sculpture, architecture, engineering, and science continue to inspire people around the world today. Some of his most famous works include the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and Vitruvian Man.
Joe Davis, one of the greatest snooker players of all time, was born on April 15, 1901, in Whitwell, Derbyshire, England. He is credited with popularizing the game of snooker and played a major role in establishing it as a professional sport. Davis won the first 15 World Snooker Championships held between 1927 and 1946, and his record of winning 15 world titles remains unbeaten. He was also a talented billiards player and won the World Billiards Championship four times.
For more April 15 anniversaries, including The Watermelon War, Jackie Robinson's debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line, and the opening of the first McDonald's franchise, check out OnThatDay
Dutch physicist, mathematician, and astronomer Christiaan Huygens was born on April 14, 1629 in The Hague, into a rich and influential Dutch family, Huygens made groundbreaking contributions in optics developing a simple 2-lens ocular system that was achromatically corrected, and therefore a huge step forward in microscope development. He also propounded the wave theory of light, which he described in 1690 in his Traite de la Lumiere.
As an astronomer, Huygens is chiefly known for his studies of the rings of Saturn and the discovery of its moon Titan. As an inventor, his friend Galileo's work enabled him to construct the first pendulum clock in 1656 and he also he improved the design of telescopes.
Charlie Chaplin became the highest-paid film star in the world when he signed a contract with Mutual Film Corporation for $675,000 a year on April 6, 1916. He made 82 movies over a career that spanned 50 years.
For more April 16 anniversaries, including the founding of the Franciscan Order, Lenin's return to Russia from exile in Switzerland, and the creation of the Bloody Mary cocktail, check out OnThatDay.
Poet and mystic Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism and a revered figure in Indian history, was born on April 15, 1469, in Talwandi, now known as Nankana Sahib, in present-day Pakistan. He is celebrated as the first of the ten Sikh gurus and is remembered for his teachings on equality, service, and devotion to God. His birthday is celebrated by Sikhs around the world as Guru Nanak Gurpurab, one of the most important festivals in the Sikh calendar.
Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Italian polymath, was born on April 15, 1452, in the town of Vinci, in the Tuscan region of Italy. He is widely considered to be one of the most brilliant and versatile minds in human history, and his achievements in fields such as painting, sculpture, architecture, engineering, and science continue to inspire people around the world today. Some of his most famous works include the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and Vitruvian Man.
The portrait below attributed to Francesco Melzi, c. 1515–1518, is the only certain contemporary depiction of Leonardo.
Joe Davis, one of the greatest snooker players of all time, was born on April 15, 1901, in Whitwell, Derbyshire, England. He is credited with popularizing the game of snooker and played a major role in establishing it as a professional sport. Davis won the first 15 World Snooker Championships held between 1927 and 1946, and his record of winning 15 world titles remains unbeaten. He was also a talented billiards player and won the World Billiards Championship four times.
For more April 15 anniversaries, including The Watermelon War, Jackie Robinson's debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line, and the opening of the first McDonald's franchise, check out OnThatDay
Dutch physicist, mathematician, and astronomer Christiaan Huygens was born on April 14, 1629 in The Hague, into a rich and influential Dutch family, Huygens made groundbreaking contributions in optics developing a simple 2-lens ocular system that was achromatically corrected, and therefore a huge step forward in microscope development. He also propounded the wave theory of light, which he described in 1690 in his Traite de la Lumiere.
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| Christiaan Huygens by Caspar Netscher, |
As an astronomer, Huygens is chiefly known for his studies of the rings of Saturn and the discovery of its moon Titan. As an inventor, his friend Galileo's work enabled him to construct the first pendulum clock in 1656 and he also he improved the design of telescopes.
For more April 14 anniversaries, including the publication of John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath, the opening of the first ever commercial motion picture house, and the abduction of 276 schoolgirls by Islamists Boko Haram, check out OnThatDay.
The third of ten children, most of whom died early in life, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 at the family home, a one and a half story farmhouse in Shadwell, Albermarle County, Virginia. Jefferson's father, Colonel Peter Jefferson, was a land surveyor who was one of the surveyors who laid out the virginal North Carolina border. Young Thomas liked to hunt deer and turkeys along the Rivanna River with his father or go for long walks in the mountains.
A lawyer by training, Jefferson began his political career in the Virginian Houses of Burgesses, and went on to serve as governor of Virginia (1779-81), minister to France (1785-89), secretary of state (1789-93), and vice president (1797-1801) under John Adams. As the 3rd president of the United States (1801-09), Jefferson's greatest achievement was probably the Louisiana Purchase, by which the United States gained extensive territories ceded to France by Spain.
For more April 13 birthdays, including French queen Catherine de' Medici, The Gunpowder Plot's Guy Fawkes, the criminal Butch Cassidy, Irish writer Samuel Beckett and African politician Julius Nyerere, check out OnThatDay.
American author Tom Clancy was born on April 12, 1947, at Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland to Catherine Clancy and U.S. Postal Service worker, Thomas Clancy. Originally an insurance agent, his literary career began in 1984 when he sold his first military thriller book, The Hunt for Red October. Due to the limited technology of the 1980s, the novel had to be saved on ten floppy disks.
The third of ten children, most of whom died early in life, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 at the family home, a one and a half story farmhouse in Shadwell, Albermarle County, Virginia. Jefferson's father, Colonel Peter Jefferson, was a land surveyor who was one of the surveyors who laid out the virginal North Carolina border. Young Thomas liked to hunt deer and turkeys along the Rivanna River with his father or go for long walks in the mountains.
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| Portrait of Thomas Jefferson while in London in 1786 at 43 by Mather Brown |
A lawyer by training, Jefferson began his political career in the Virginian Houses of Burgesses, and went on to serve as governor of Virginia (1779-81), minister to France (1785-89), secretary of state (1789-93), and vice president (1797-1801) under John Adams. As the 3rd president of the United States (1801-09), Jefferson's greatest achievement was probably the Louisiana Purchase, by which the United States gained extensive territories ceded to France by Spain.
For more April 13 birthdays, including French queen Catherine de' Medici, The Gunpowder Plot's Guy Fawkes, the criminal Butch Cassidy, Irish writer Samuel Beckett and African politician Julius Nyerere, check out OnThatDay.
American author Tom Clancy was born on April 12, 1947, at Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland to Catherine Clancy and U.S. Postal Service worker, Thomas Clancy. Originally an insurance agent, his literary career began in 1984 when he sold his first military thriller book, The Hunt for Red October. Due to the limited technology of the 1980s, the novel had to be saved on ten floppy disks.
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| Tom Clancy 1989. By Gary Wayne Gilbert |
Clancy became one of America's best selling novelists renowned for his technically detailed espionage and military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. His best known works, including The Hunt for Red October (1984), Patriot Games (1987), Clear and Present Danger (1989), and The Sum of All Fears (1991), have been adapted into successful screenplays.
For more April 12 anniversaries, including the commencement of the American Civil War, the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the recording of Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock", check out OnThatDay.
James Parkinson was born April 11, 1755 in Shoreditch, London. He is best known for his 1817 essay An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, in which he was the first to describe the condition "paralysis agitans." His recommended treatment was applications of mustard plaster to the back of the neck. In 1876 French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot renamed it Parkinson’s disease.
James Parkinson was born April 11, 1755 in Shoreditch, London. He is best known for his 1817 essay An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, in which he was the first to describe the condition "paralysis agitans." His recommended treatment was applications of mustard plaster to the back of the neck. In 1876 French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot renamed it Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson was also a noted paleontologist with one of the largest fossil collections in the world. He was one of the first to suggest that fossils were the remains of ancient extinct creatures.
For more April 11 anniversaries, including the founding of Ten Aviv, the most boring day of the 20th century, and the marriage of Roger Federer to Mirka Vavrinec, check out OnThatDay
German doctor Samuel Hahnemann, was born on April 10, 1755. After testing various substances especially herbal remedies, Hahnemann concluded that a drug, which produces symptoms of a particular illness in a healthy person, would cure a sick person who is suffering from the said affliction. This would only work, however if that drug was dispensed in particularly small doses. Hahnemann began practicing his new method of medicine, called homeopathy, in 1796.
William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, was born on April 10, 1829. He was the only son of four surviving children born to Samuel Booth and Mary Moss in Sneinton, Nottingham, England. A "careless" lad up to the age of 15, after a bad illness, Booth's spirit became awakened and he joined a Wesleyan chapel. Inspired by a hellfire preacher from USA, he was converted to Methodism. Training himself in writing and in speech, he became a Methodist lay preacher.
The fifth child of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, Archibald Bulloch "Archie" Roosevelt born on April 10, 1894. Archie Roosevelt was a distinguished U.S. Army officer and commander of U.S. forces in both World War I and II. After World War II, he became a successful businessman and the founder of a New York City bond brokerage house, as well as a spokesman for conservative political causes.
German doctor Samuel Hahnemann, was born on April 10, 1755. After testing various substances especially herbal remedies, Hahnemann concluded that a drug, which produces symptoms of a particular illness in a healthy person, would cure a sick person who is suffering from the said affliction. This would only work, however if that drug was dispensed in particularly small doses. Hahnemann began practicing his new method of medicine, called homeopathy, in 1796.
William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, was born on April 10, 1829. He was the only son of four surviving children born to Samuel Booth and Mary Moss in Sneinton, Nottingham, England. A "careless" lad up to the age of 15, after a bad illness, Booth's spirit became awakened and he joined a Wesleyan chapel. Inspired by a hellfire preacher from USA, he was converted to Methodism. Training himself in writing and in speech, he became a Methodist lay preacher.
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| William Booth in 1862 |
The fifth child of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, Archibald Bulloch "Archie" Roosevelt born on April 10, 1894. Archie Roosevelt was a distinguished U.S. Army officer and commander of U.S. forces in both World War I and II. After World War II, he became a successful businessman and the founder of a New York City bond brokerage house, as well as a spokesman for conservative political causes.
For more April 10 anniversaries, including the Battle of Mollwitz, the invention of the safety pin and the publication of F Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, check out OnThatDay.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Britain's most influential 19th century engineer, was born on April 9, 1806 in Britan Street, Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, where his father was working on block-making machinery. He made major contributions in ship-building and bridge construction. Brunel customarily worked an 18-hour day, sleeping at the office, rising at 4am. Only five foot tall, because of his small size Brunel always wore a reinforced top hat to make himself look taller.
For more April 9 anniversaries, including the oldest known recording of an audible human voice, the birth of Pentecostalism in Los Angeles and the marriage of Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales to Camilla Parker Bowles check out OnThatDay.
Italian cavalry officer and equestrian Captain Federico Caprilli was born on April 8, 1868. He heavily influenced the world of show jumping with his ideas promoting a forward position with shorter stirrups. This style, now known as the forward seat, placed the rider in a position that did not interfere with the balance of the horse while negotiating obstacles. Riders came from countries around the world to study Caprilli's system.
For more April 8 anniversaries, including the discovery of the ancient Greek Venus de Milo statue. the introduction of the first purpose-made milk bottles and Hank Aaron hitting his record breaking 715th career home run, check out OnThatDay.
The Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier was born on April 7, 1506 in the royal castle of Xavier, near Sangüesa and Pamplona, in the Spanish kingdom of Navarre. In 1541 Francis Xavier was commissioned by King John III of Portugal to preach the Christian faith in the Portuguese colonies in the East, thus marking the beginning of the Jesuit missions. He was influential in evangelization work, most notably in India and Japan.
The poet William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in what is now named Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in NW England. A volatile child, on one occasion on suffering an indignity, William went up to the attic intending to kill himself with a fencing sword. In 1778, William's father sent him as a boarder to Hawkshead Grammar School in Cumbria. It as there that William fell in love with countryside and nature and began to write poetry.
Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia on April 7, 1915. At the time of her birth, her mother, Sadie Fagan was just 13. It is thought her father was Clarence Holiday, who abandoned Sadie when Billie was an infant to pursue a career as a jazz guitarist. She started singing in the early 1930s in Harlem, New York City, for tips in night clubs. Holiday took her professional pseudonym from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and her probable musician father.
For more April 7 anniversaries, including the establishment of the first permanent American settlement outside the original Thirteen Colonies. the introduction of the first friction matches and the debut of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, check out OnThatDay.
American molecular biologist and zoologist James Watson was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 6, 1928. Educated at the University of Chicago and Indiana University, Watson met British scientist Francis Crick at the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory in England. In mid-March 1953, Watson and Crick deduced the double helix structure of DNA. Their discovery was formally announced the next month in Nature magazine.
For more April 6 anniversaries, including the founding of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, the longest recorded gloved boxing match and Charlie Chaplin becoming the highest-paid film star in the world, check out OnThatDay.
Joseph Lister, the 'Father of Antiseptic Surgery' was born on April 5, 1827. He came from a prosperous Quaker home in West Ham, Essex, England. His father, Joseph Jackson Lister, was a very successful wine merchant and amateur scientist. Joseph Jackson Lister’s design of a microscope lens which did not distort colors opened the way for the microscope to be used as a serious scientific tool.
Bette Davis was born at 55 Cedar Street, Lowell, Massachusetts on April 5, 1908. She was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis, but was known from early childhood as "Betty," In 1926 Davis saw a production of The Wild Duck, with well known Broadway actress Peg Entwistle, which inspired her to seriously pursue acting. One of her classmates at John Murray Anderson's Dramatic School in New York was Lucille Ball.
Gregory Peck was born Eldred Gregory Peck on April 5, 1916, in La Jolla, San Diego, California, the son of Gregory Pearl Peck, a New York-born chemist and pharmacist, and his Missouri-born wife Bernice Mary "Bunny" (née Ayres). He strongly disliked his first name of Eldred, a name his mother insisted on giving him because she felt it was distinct and would distinguish him with its uniqueness. Peck dropped the Eldred after graduating from university.
For more April 5 anniversaries, including the marriage of the Native American princess Pocahontas to the settler John Rolfe, the first operation to remove a lung, and Kurt Cobain's suicide, check out OnThatDay.
English sculptor and wood carver Grinling Gibbons was born on April 4, 1648. Widely regarded as the finest-ever woodcarver working in England, most of his work was in lime wood, especially decorative Baroque garlands made up of still-life elements at about life size, made to frame mirrors and decorate the walls of churches and palaces. His exquisite cascades of leaves, flowers and fruit adorn Hampton Park Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and countless other stately homes and churches.
Mental health activist Dorothea Dix was born on April 4, 1802 in the town of Hampden, Maine and spent most of her childhood in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her alcoholic, itinerant worker father Joseph was frequently away from home, but he did foster Dorothea’s lifelong love of books and learning. The thoughtless confinement of mentally ill persons in cells with criminals disturbed her deeply, Through her vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, special hospitals for mental patients were built in more than 15 states and the movement spread to Canada and Europe.
James Blyth, inventor of the wind turbine, was born on April 4, 1839 in Marykirk, Scotland. In July 1887 he built a cloth-sailed wind turbine in the garden of his holiday home in Marykirk and used the electricity it produced to charge accumulators; the stored electricity was used to power the lights in his cottage, which thus became the first house in the world to be powered by wind-generated electricity.
For more April 4 anniversaries, including the first Russian reference to Moscow, the staging of the first modern circus and the founding of Microsoft, check out OnThatDay.
The actor Marlon Brando was born on April 3, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Marlon Brando, Sr., a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer, and Dorothy Julia (née Pennebaker). Marlon Brando was expelled from two different high schools—the first expulsion was for allegedly riding a motorcycle down the hallway.
For more April 3 anniversaries, including the coronation of the English king, Edward The Confessor, the beginning of the Pony Express mail service, and the first book sold on Amazon, check out OnThatDay.
The warrior chief Charlemagne, Charles 1st the Great, was born on April 2, 742 to Pepin the Short and Bertha of the Big Foot. He became King of the Franks in 768 after the death of his father and was crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor in 800. At his death Charlemagne's kingdom extended from South Italy and Pyrenees to Bohemia.
For more April 2 anniversaries, including The Battle of Copenhagen, the marriage of Charles Dickens to Catherine "Kate" Hogarth, and the opening of the first full-time movie theater in the United States check out OnThatDay.
William Harvey, the first to describe blood circulation, was born in the Kentish coastal town of Folkestone on April 1, 1578. He was the eldest of seven brothers and two sisters. Harvey enrolled in the University of Padua in 1599, where he studied under Fabrizio d’Acquapendente, who was the first person to clearly describe the valves in the veins. Galileo was a Professor during Harvey's time there.
Otto Von Bismarck, the first Chancellor of the German Empire, was born on his family estate at Schönhausen, a village on the Elbe, North West of Berlin, on April 1, 1815. His father, Ferdinand Von Bismarck, was a landowner and a former Prussian military officer; his mother, Wilhelmine Mencken, originally belonged to a prosperous bourgeois family. A very mischievous child, as a youth Otto was an indefatigable duellist. He was known as the mad Junker.
The dwarf George Nutt was born on April 1, 1848. Nutt was touring New England with a circus when P. T. Barnum hired him to appear at the American Museum in New York City. Barnum gave Nutt the stage name Commodore Nutt, a wardrobe that included naval uniforms, and a miniature carriage in the shape of an English walnut. Nutt became one of the Museum's major attractions.
For more April 1 anniversaries, including the patenting of the modern shoelace, the creation of Coca Cola and the marriage of Tony Blair to Cherie Booth, check out OnThatDay.
Influential French mathematician and 'father of modern philosophy' René Descartes was born at the farmhouse of his great grandma on March 31, 1596. It was located in La Haye en Touraine, a small town in the Indre-et-Loire, now named after him – Descartes. His father Joachim Descartes, was a prominent councillor in the parliament of Rennes. He belonged to a family that had produced a number of learned men.
The German composer Franz Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732, in Rohrau, Austria. His father was Mathias Haydn, a wheelwright who also served as "Marktrichter", an office akin to village mayor When he was 7 Joseph entered the choir school of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. He had no formal musical training until his late teens, when he worked with the Italian Niccolo Porpora.
For more March 31 anniversaries, including the opening of the Eiffel Tower, the marriage of Anne Hyde to the future James II of England, and the founding of the oldest independent air force in the world, check out OnThatDay.
Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in Groot-Zundert, a village close to Breda, in the predominantly Catholic province of North Brabant in the southern Netherlands. He was the oldest surviving child of Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Cornelia Carbentus. Vincent was given the name of a brother stillborn exactly a year before his birth. He felt unwanted as a child feeling he was a substitute for the other Vincent who his parents had tragically lost.
IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad was born on March 30, 1926. He first started selling matchboxes as a child, before selling fountain pens, cigarette lighters and nylon stockings. The then-17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 as a mostly mail-order sales business, selling replicas of his uncle's kitchen table. The company's name is an acronym that consists of the initials of Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd, the farm in south Sweden on which grew up and Agunnaryd, the nearby village.
Rock guitarist Eric Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey on March 30, 1945. He was the illegitimate son of a Canadian soldier Edward Walter Fryer, who returned to his wife in Canada before he was born and his 16-year-old mother Patricia Molly Clapton. Clapton was brought up by his maternal grandparents Rose and Jack Clapp believing that his mother was his sister.
For more March 30 anniversaries, including the first ever operation on a patient using ether anesthesia, the patenting of the all-in-one pencil eraser and United States purchase of Alaska, check out OnThatDay.
Santorio Santorii was born on March 29, 1561. The Venetian physiologist, physician, and professor was the first person to accurately measure the pulse rate and also invented the pulsilogium, a form of pendulum, based on the work by Galileo Galilei. The pulsilogium was probably the first machine of precision in medical history. Extensive experimentation with his new tool allowed Santorio to derive the circadian rhythm (24 hour cycle) of the cardiac frequency.
John Tyler, the tenth President of the United States, was born on March 29, 1790 at Greenway Plantation, Charles City County, Virginia, U.S. He was born the same day as his future running mate, William Henry Harrison. John was reared with his two brothers and five sisters, on Greenway Plantation, a 1,200-acre (5 km2) estate with a six-room manor house his father had built.
For more March 29 anniversaries, including the patenting of the modern shoelace, the creation of Coca Cola and the marriage of Tony Blair to Cherie Booth, check out OnThatDay.
The first English child born in Canada came into this world at London and Bristol Company's Cuper's Cove, colony in Newfoundland on March 27, 1613. The father, Nicholas Guy (fl. 1612 – 1631), was a member of the first group of settlers to journey to Newfoundland for colonization. In the winter of 1612 - 1613 there were sixty-two people were living in the colony.
French veterinary surgeon Claude de Bourgelat was born on March 27, 1712. When a disease called rinderpest decimated herds of European cattle, colleges of veterinary medicine began to arise in Europe and, later, elsewhere. The world's first veterinary school was founded in Lyon, France in 1762 by Claude Bourgelat
The architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born as Maria Ludwig Michael Mies on March 27, 1886, the son of a stonemason, in Aachen, Germany. After The First World War, as a young architect and designer in Berlin, Mies foreshadowed modern architecture with innovative designs for tubular-steel furniture (the cantilevered Barcelona chair (1929)) and steel and glass skyscrapers which demonstrated his interest in technological innovation and beautiful form.
For more March 27 anniversaries, including the inscription of the Ancient Egyptian Rosetta Stone, Juan Ponce de León reaching the northern end of The Bahamas, and the first international rugby football match, check out OnThatDay.
The actor Leonard Nimoy was born on March 26, 1931, in Boston, Massachusetts, to immigrants from Iziaslav, Ukraine. He is best known for playing Spock in the Star Trek franchise, a character he portrayed in television and film for almost fifty years. Spock's famous Vulcan salute, ‘Live long and prosper', was inspired by a priestly blessing Leonard Nimroy saw as a child, when he attended a synagogue service with his father.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Britain's most influential 19th century engineer, was born on April 9, 1806 in Britan Street, Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, where his father was working on block-making machinery. He made major contributions in ship-building and bridge construction. Brunel customarily worked an 18-hour day, sleeping at the office, rising at 4am. Only five foot tall, because of his small size Brunel always wore a reinforced top hat to make himself look taller.
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| Brunel by the launching chains of the SS Great Eastern |
For more April 9 anniversaries, including the oldest known recording of an audible human voice, the birth of Pentecostalism in Los Angeles and the marriage of Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales to Camilla Parker Bowles check out OnThatDay.
Italian cavalry officer and equestrian Captain Federico Caprilli was born on April 8, 1868. He heavily influenced the world of show jumping with his ideas promoting a forward position with shorter stirrups. This style, now known as the forward seat, placed the rider in a position that did not interfere with the balance of the horse while negotiating obstacles. Riders came from countries around the world to study Caprilli's system.
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| Captain Federico Caprilli |
For more April 8 anniversaries, including the discovery of the ancient Greek Venus de Milo statue. the introduction of the first purpose-made milk bottles and Hank Aaron hitting his record breaking 715th career home run, check out OnThatDay.
The Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier was born on April 7, 1506 in the royal castle of Xavier, near Sangüesa and Pamplona, in the Spanish kingdom of Navarre. In 1541 Francis Xavier was commissioned by King John III of Portugal to preach the Christian faith in the Portuguese colonies in the East, thus marking the beginning of the Jesuit missions. He was influential in evangelization work, most notably in India and Japan.
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| The castle of the Xavier family By Jsanchezes, |
The poet William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in what is now named Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in NW England. A volatile child, on one occasion on suffering an indignity, William went up to the attic intending to kill himself with a fencing sword. In 1778, William's father sent him as a boarder to Hawkshead Grammar School in Cumbria. It as there that William fell in love with countryside and nature and began to write poetry.
Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia on April 7, 1915. At the time of her birth, her mother, Sadie Fagan was just 13. It is thought her father was Clarence Holiday, who abandoned Sadie when Billie was an infant to pursue a career as a jazz guitarist. She started singing in the early 1930s in Harlem, New York City, for tips in night clubs. Holiday took her professional pseudonym from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and her probable musician father.
For more April 7 anniversaries, including the establishment of the first permanent American settlement outside the original Thirteen Colonies. the introduction of the first friction matches and the debut of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, check out OnThatDay.
American molecular biologist and zoologist James Watson was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 6, 1928. Educated at the University of Chicago and Indiana University, Watson met British scientist Francis Crick at the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory in England. In mid-March 1953, Watson and Crick deduced the double helix structure of DNA. Their discovery was formally announced the next month in Nature magazine.
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| Dr. James D. Watson |
For more April 6 anniversaries, including the founding of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, the longest recorded gloved boxing match and Charlie Chaplin becoming the highest-paid film star in the world, check out OnThatDay.
Joseph Lister, the 'Father of Antiseptic Surgery' was born on April 5, 1827. He came from a prosperous Quaker home in West Ham, Essex, England. His father, Joseph Jackson Lister, was a very successful wine merchant and amateur scientist. Joseph Jackson Lister’s design of a microscope lens which did not distort colors opened the way for the microscope to be used as a serious scientific tool.
Gregory Peck was born Eldred Gregory Peck on April 5, 1916, in La Jolla, San Diego, California, the son of Gregory Pearl Peck, a New York-born chemist and pharmacist, and his Missouri-born wife Bernice Mary "Bunny" (née Ayres). He strongly disliked his first name of Eldred, a name his mother insisted on giving him because she felt it was distinct and would distinguish him with its uniqueness. Peck dropped the Eldred after graduating from university.
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| Peck (right) with his father c. 1930 |
For more April 5 anniversaries, including the marriage of the Native American princess Pocahontas to the settler John Rolfe, the first operation to remove a lung, and Kurt Cobain's suicide, check out OnThatDay.
English sculptor and wood carver Grinling Gibbons was born on April 4, 1648. Widely regarded as the finest-ever woodcarver working in England, most of his work was in lime wood, especially decorative Baroque garlands made up of still-life elements at about life size, made to frame mirrors and decorate the walls of churches and palaces. His exquisite cascades of leaves, flowers and fruit adorn Hampton Park Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and countless other stately homes and churches.
Mental health activist Dorothea Dix was born on April 4, 1802 in the town of Hampden, Maine and spent most of her childhood in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her alcoholic, itinerant worker father Joseph was frequently away from home, but he did foster Dorothea’s lifelong love of books and learning. The thoughtless confinement of mentally ill persons in cells with criminals disturbed her deeply, Through her vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, special hospitals for mental patients were built in more than 15 states and the movement spread to Canada and Europe.
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| Dix circa 1850-55 |
James Blyth, inventor of the wind turbine, was born on April 4, 1839 in Marykirk, Scotland. In July 1887 he built a cloth-sailed wind turbine in the garden of his holiday home in Marykirk and used the electricity it produced to charge accumulators; the stored electricity was used to power the lights in his cottage, which thus became the first house in the world to be powered by wind-generated electricity.
For more April 4 anniversaries, including the first Russian reference to Moscow, the staging of the first modern circus and the founding of Microsoft, check out OnThatDay.
The actor Marlon Brando was born on April 3, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Marlon Brando, Sr., a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer, and Dorothy Julia (née Pennebaker). Marlon Brando was expelled from two different high schools—the first expulsion was for allegedly riding a motorcycle down the hallway.
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| Marlon Brando |
One of the greatest film actors in history, Brando initially gained acclaim for the role of Stanley Kowalski in the 1951 film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire. His other famous performances include playing dockworker Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, the rebellious motorcycle gang leader Johnny Strabler in The Wild One, the head of the Corleone Mafia family Vito Corleone in The Godfather and rogue military cult leader Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.
For more April 3 anniversaries, including the coronation of the English king, Edward The Confessor, the beginning of the Pony Express mail service, and the first book sold on Amazon, check out OnThatDay.
The warrior chief Charlemagne, Charles 1st the Great, was born on April 2, 742 to Pepin the Short and Bertha of the Big Foot. He became King of the Franks in 768 after the death of his father and was crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor in 800. At his death Charlemagne's kingdom extended from South Italy and Pyrenees to Bohemia.
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| Mask reliquary of Charlemagne, located at Cathedral Treasury in Aachen. By Beckstet |
Hans Christian Andersen was born in the town of Odense, Denmark, on April 2, 1805. He was the only child of a poor young shoemaker, and a washerwoman. As a child, his favorite toy was a little homemade toy-theatre and young Hans sat at home making clothes for his wooden puppets, and reading all the plays that he could borrow. He had a retentive memory and was known to memorize entire Shakespeare plays and recite them using his puppets as the characters.
For more April 2 anniversaries, including The Battle of Copenhagen, the marriage of Charles Dickens to Catherine "Kate" Hogarth, and the opening of the first full-time movie theater in the United States check out OnThatDay.
William Harvey, the first to describe blood circulation, was born in the Kentish coastal town of Folkestone on April 1, 1578. He was the eldest of seven brothers and two sisters. Harvey enrolled in the University of Padua in 1599, where he studied under Fabrizio d’Acquapendente, who was the first person to clearly describe the valves in the veins. Galileo was a Professor during Harvey's time there.
Otto Von Bismarck, the first Chancellor of the German Empire, was born on his family estate at Schönhausen, a village on the Elbe, North West of Berlin, on April 1, 1815. His father, Ferdinand Von Bismarck, was a landowner and a former Prussian military officer; his mother, Wilhelmine Mencken, originally belonged to a prosperous bourgeois family. A very mischievous child, as a youth Otto was an indefatigable duellist. He was known as the mad Junker.
The dwarf George Nutt was born on April 1, 1848. Nutt was touring New England with a circus when P. T. Barnum hired him to appear at the American Museum in New York City. Barnum gave Nutt the stage name Commodore Nutt, a wardrobe that included naval uniforms, and a miniature carriage in the shape of an English walnut. Nutt became one of the Museum's major attractions.
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| Commodore Nutt in uniform, ca. 1865 |
For more April 1 anniversaries, including the patenting of the modern shoelace, the creation of Coca Cola and the marriage of Tony Blair to Cherie Booth, check out OnThatDay.
Influential French mathematician and 'father of modern philosophy' René Descartes was born at the farmhouse of his great grandma on March 31, 1596. It was located in La Haye en Touraine, a small town in the Indre-et-Loire, now named after him – Descartes. His father Joachim Descartes, was a prominent councillor in the parliament of Rennes. He belonged to a family that had produced a number of learned men.
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| The house where Descartes was born in La Haye en Touraine |
The German composer Franz Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732, in Rohrau, Austria. His father was Mathias Haydn, a wheelwright who also served as "Marktrichter", an office akin to village mayor When he was 7 Joseph entered the choir school of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. He had no formal musical training until his late teens, when he worked with the Italian Niccolo Porpora.
For more March 31 anniversaries, including the opening of the Eiffel Tower, the marriage of Anne Hyde to the future James II of England, and the founding of the oldest independent air force in the world, check out OnThatDay.
Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in Groot-Zundert, a village close to Breda, in the predominantly Catholic province of North Brabant in the southern Netherlands. He was the oldest surviving child of Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Cornelia Carbentus. Vincent was given the name of a brother stillborn exactly a year before his birth. He felt unwanted as a child feeling he was a substitute for the other Vincent who his parents had tragically lost.
IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad was born on March 30, 1926. He first started selling matchboxes as a child, before selling fountain pens, cigarette lighters and nylon stockings. The then-17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 as a mostly mail-order sales business, selling replicas of his uncle's kitchen table. The company's name is an acronym that consists of the initials of Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd, the farm in south Sweden on which grew up and Agunnaryd, the nearby village.
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| The first Ikea store in Älmhult, Sweden. Photo by Christian Koehn |
Rock guitarist Eric Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey on March 30, 1945. He was the illegitimate son of a Canadian soldier Edward Walter Fryer, who returned to his wife in Canada before he was born and his 16-year-old mother Patricia Molly Clapton. Clapton was brought up by his maternal grandparents Rose and Jack Clapp believing that his mother was his sister.
For more March 30 anniversaries, including the first ever operation on a patient using ether anesthesia, the patenting of the all-in-one pencil eraser and United States purchase of Alaska, check out OnThatDay.
Santorio Santorii was born on March 29, 1561. The Venetian physiologist, physician, and professor was the first person to accurately measure the pulse rate and also invented the pulsilogium, a form of pendulum, based on the work by Galileo Galilei. The pulsilogium was probably the first machine of precision in medical history. Extensive experimentation with his new tool allowed Santorio to derive the circadian rhythm (24 hour cycle) of the cardiac frequency.
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| Sanctorio sitting in the balance that he made to calculate his net weight |
John Tyler, the tenth President of the United States, was born on March 29, 1790 at Greenway Plantation, Charles City County, Virginia, U.S. He was born the same day as his future running mate, William Henry Harrison. John was reared with his two brothers and five sisters, on Greenway Plantation, a 1,200-acre (5 km2) estate with a six-room manor house his father had built.
For more March 29 anniversaries, including the patenting of the modern shoelace, the creation of Coca Cola and the marriage of Tony Blair to Cherie Booth, check out OnThatDay.
Saint Teresa of Avila was born in Avila, Spain on March 28, 1515. A revered Spanish mystic, author, and Carmelite reformer during the 16th century Counter-Reformation, she played a pivotal role in the Catholic Church's renewal movement, emphasizing personal religious experience. Saint Teresa was renowned for her insightful writings on prayer and contemplation, including her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, and The Interior Castle. She was a significant figure in monastic reform, establishing the Discalced Carmelites, a stricter branch focused on a contemplative life.
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| Saint Teresa |
Lady Gaga was born Stefani Germanotta on March 28, 1986. A highly influential American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and entrepreneur., she is renowned for her innovative and often theatrical approach to music and performance, with global hits like "Poker Face," "Bad Romance," and "Shallow."
For more March 28 anniversaries, including the invention of the first washing machine, Felix Mendelssohn's marriage to Cécile Jeanrenaud, and the lowest score by a team in international test cricket, check out On That Day.
The first English child born in Canada came into this world at London and Bristol Company's Cuper's Cove, colony in Newfoundland on March 27, 1613. The father, Nicholas Guy (fl. 1612 – 1631), was a member of the first group of settlers to journey to Newfoundland for colonization. In the winter of 1612 - 1613 there were sixty-two people were living in the colony.
French veterinary surgeon Claude de Bourgelat was born on March 27, 1712. When a disease called rinderpest decimated herds of European cattle, colleges of veterinary medicine began to arise in Europe and, later, elsewhere. The world's first veterinary school was founded in Lyon, France in 1762 by Claude Bourgelat
The architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born as Maria Ludwig Michael Mies on March 27, 1886, the son of a stonemason, in Aachen, Germany. After The First World War, as a young architect and designer in Berlin, Mies foreshadowed modern architecture with innovative designs for tubular-steel furniture (the cantilevered Barcelona chair (1929)) and steel and glass skyscrapers which demonstrated his interest in technological innovation and beautiful form.
For more March 27 anniversaries, including the inscription of the Ancient Egyptian Rosetta Stone, Juan Ponce de León reaching the northern end of The Bahamas, and the first international rugby football match, check out OnThatDay.
The actor Leonard Nimoy was born on March 26, 1931, in Boston, Massachusetts, to immigrants from Iziaslav, Ukraine. He is best known for playing Spock in the Star Trek franchise, a character he portrayed in television and film for almost fifty years. Spock's famous Vulcan salute, ‘Live long and prosper', was inspired by a priestly blessing Leonard Nimroy saw as a child, when he attended a synagogue service with his father.
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| Spock, as played by Leonard Nimoy, as seen in the Star Trek pilot |
Leka II, the only child of the pretender to Albania's throne, Crown Prince Leka I, was born in South Africa on March 26, 1982. The South African government declared his maternity ward temporarily Albanian territory to ensure that Leka was born on Albanian soil.
For more March 26 anniversaries, including the first use of the word "gerrymandering," the publication of Ian Fleming's James Bond story, Diamonds are Forever, and the first royal email, check out OnThatDay.
American agronomist Norman Borlaug was born on March 25, 1914. In the 1970's, he developed a new strain of wheat that was heavily disease resistant and could grow in very arid conditions. Between 1965 and 1970, Pakistan, Mexico, and India more than doubled their food supplies. His initiatives worldwide are said to have saved a billion lives.
Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, the eldest child of Stanley Dwight, who served as a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force and only child of Sheila Eileen (Harris). Reginald started playing the piano at the age of 3, and within a year, his mother heard him picking out Winifred Atwell's "The Skater's Waltz" by ear. He started formal piano lessons at the age of 7.
For more March 25 anniversaries, including the crowning of Robert The Bruce, the discovery of Saturn's largest moon, Titan and the invention of the "Phonautograph", the world's first record player, check out OnThatDay.
English Separatist theologian, natural philosopher, and chemist Joseph Priestley was born on March 24, 1733, to an established English Dissenting family in Fieldhead, Birstall, Yorkshire. After his mother died when Joseph went to live with his aunt. Because Joseph was precocious—at the age of four he could flawlessly recite all 107 questions and answers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism—his Calvinist aunt sought the best education for the boy, intending him for the ministry.
The blind American hymn writer Fanny Crosby was born on March 24, 1820 in the village of Brewster, about 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. She was incredibly prolific, penning over 8,000 hymns, more than any other person. Fanny was once asked if she wished that she hadn't been born without sight. She replied the good thing about being born blind is she knew the first face she would see would be the face of Jesus.
English textile designer William Morris was born at Elm House in Walthamstow, Essex, on March 24, 1834. He was named after his father, a financier who worked as a partner in the Sanderson & Co. firm, bill brokers in the City of London. Educated at Marlborough College, William studied for holy orders at Oxford University, but renounced the Church, and changed to architecture.After his marriage in 1859, Morris began his career as a decorator.
Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary on March 24, 1874. His parents were Rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz, and Cecília Weisz (née Steiner;). Erik arrived in the United States in 1878, on the SS Fresia with his family. At the age of fifteen, Ehrich discovered the autobiography of the greatest conjurer of the nineteenth century, French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Ehrich was fascinated by the book and stayed up all night reading it. He later stated that the work sparked his enthusiasm for magic.
For more March 24 anniversaries, including Johann Sebastian Bach's dedication of The Brandenburg Concertos to the Count Brandenburg, the discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, and the assassination of Oscar Romero, the Bishop of El Salvador, check out OnThatDay.
German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun was born on March 23, 1912. Among his designs were the V-2 ballistic missile used by Germany during World War II. Following World War II, Von Brann was secretly moved from Germany to the United States, where he helped develop the rockets that launched the United States' first space satellite Explorer 1, and the Apollo program manned lunar landings.
Princess Eugenie of York, the second child of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah Ferguson was born on March 23 1990. She is tenth in line to the UK throne.
For more March 23 anniversaries, including the installation of the first passenger elevator, the publication of John Lennon's book, In His Own Write, and the outbreak of The Sierra Leone Civil War, check out OnThatDay.
French mime artist Marcel Marceau was born on March 22, 1923. He was most famous for his stage persona as "Bip the Clown," which he first played at the Théâtre de Poche in Paris in 1947. Marceau referred to mime as the "art of silence," and he performed professionally worldwide for over 60 years. He was said to be single-handedly responsible for reviving the art of mime after World War II.
For more March 22 anniversaries, including the marriage of Gioachino Rossini to Spanish soprano Isabella Colbra, the first patent for a laser and Barbra Streisand's Broadway debut, check out OnThatDay.
Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach, Germany on March 21, 1685, the youngest of eight children. Johann was orphaned aged 10 and was raised by his eldest brother Johann Christoph Bach, the organist at the Michaeliskirche in nearby Ohrdruf. He attended the Gymnasium in Eisenach the same school that Martin Luther attended 200 years earlier.
Bach was acknowledged in Germany as the greatest organist of his time and esteemed as a specialist in the mechanics of organ building. However his contrapuntal (music that consists of two or more melodies played at the same time) style of writing sounded old fashioned to his contemporaries. Indeed his sons Carl Philip and Johann Christian Bach were more famous in their lifetime than their father.
For more March 21 anniversaries, including the Napoleonic Code coming into force, the first-ever Earth Day proclamation and the creation of Twitter, check out OnThatDay.
The Roman poetical writer Ovid was born in Sulmo (modern Sulmona), in an Apennine valley 90 miles east of Rome, to a wealthy family, on March 20, 43 BC. Ovid's full name was Publius Ovidius Naso. The cognomen Naso means "the one with the nose" (i.e. "Big nose") in Latin. Ovid habitually referred to himself by his nickname.
The Puritan poetess Anne Bradstreet was born on March 20, 1612. The first American female writer, her first volume of poetry The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America was published in 1650. It was widely read in America and England.
For more March 20 anniversaries, including the founding of the Republican Party, the patenting of the modern zip and the marriage of John Lennon to Yoko Ono, check out OnThatDay.
David Livingstone was born on March 19, 1813 in a Glasgow worker's tenement in the mill town of Blantyre, Strathclyde, Scotland. Livingstone's father ran his own business as a door-to-door tea salesman, so the room was constantly fragrant with the smell of tea. At the age of 21, Livingstone was inspired to take up Theology and Medical studies after hearing an appeal by British and American Churches for medical missionaries to go to China. A pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, as an explorer in Africa, he was the first European to discover the waterfall that was later named Victoria Falls.
For more March 26 anniversaries, including the first use of the word "gerrymandering," the publication of Ian Fleming's James Bond story, Diamonds are Forever, and the first royal email, check out OnThatDay.
American agronomist Norman Borlaug was born on March 25, 1914. In the 1970's, he developed a new strain of wheat that was heavily disease resistant and could grow in very arid conditions. Between 1965 and 1970, Pakistan, Mexico, and India more than doubled their food supplies. His initiatives worldwide are said to have saved a billion lives.
Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, the eldest child of Stanley Dwight, who served as a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force and only child of Sheila Eileen (Harris). Reginald started playing the piano at the age of 3, and within a year, his mother heard him picking out Winifred Atwell's "The Skater's Waltz" by ear. He started formal piano lessons at the age of 7.
For more March 25 anniversaries, including the crowning of Robert The Bruce, the discovery of Saturn's largest moon, Titan and the invention of the "Phonautograph", the world's first record player, check out OnThatDay.
English Separatist theologian, natural philosopher, and chemist Joseph Priestley was born on March 24, 1733, to an established English Dissenting family in Fieldhead, Birstall, Yorkshire. After his mother died when Joseph went to live with his aunt. Because Joseph was precocious—at the age of four he could flawlessly recite all 107 questions and answers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism—his Calvinist aunt sought the best education for the boy, intending him for the ministry.
The blind American hymn writer Fanny Crosby was born on March 24, 1820 in the village of Brewster, about 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. She was incredibly prolific, penning over 8,000 hymns, more than any other person. Fanny was once asked if she wished that she hadn't been born without sight. She replied the good thing about being born blind is she knew the first face she would see would be the face of Jesus.
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| Birthplace of Fanny Crosby Wikipedia |
English textile designer William Morris was born at Elm House in Walthamstow, Essex, on March 24, 1834. He was named after his father, a financier who worked as a partner in the Sanderson & Co. firm, bill brokers in the City of London. Educated at Marlborough College, William studied for holy orders at Oxford University, but renounced the Church, and changed to architecture.After his marriage in 1859, Morris began his career as a decorator.
Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary on March 24, 1874. His parents were Rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz, and Cecília Weisz (née Steiner;). Erik arrived in the United States in 1878, on the SS Fresia with his family. At the age of fifteen, Ehrich discovered the autobiography of the greatest conjurer of the nineteenth century, French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Ehrich was fascinated by the book and stayed up all night reading it. He later stated that the work sparked his enthusiasm for magic.
For more March 24 anniversaries, including Johann Sebastian Bach's dedication of The Brandenburg Concertos to the Count Brandenburg, the discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, and the assassination of Oscar Romero, the Bishop of El Salvador, check out OnThatDay.
German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun was born on March 23, 1912. Among his designs were the V-2 ballistic missile used by Germany during World War II. Following World War II, Von Brann was secretly moved from Germany to the United States, where he helped develop the rockets that launched the United States' first space satellite Explorer 1, and the Apollo program manned lunar landings.
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| Von Braun in 1960 |
Princess Eugenie of York, the second child of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah Ferguson was born on March 23 1990. She is tenth in line to the UK throne.
For more March 23 anniversaries, including the installation of the first passenger elevator, the publication of John Lennon's book, In His Own Write, and the outbreak of The Sierra Leone Civil War, check out OnThatDay.
French mime artist Marcel Marceau was born on March 22, 1923. He was most famous for his stage persona as "Bip the Clown," which he first played at the Théâtre de Poche in Paris in 1947. Marceau referred to mime as the "art of silence," and he performed professionally worldwide for over 60 years. He was said to be single-handedly responsible for reviving the art of mime after World War II.
For more March 22 anniversaries, including the marriage of Gioachino Rossini to Spanish soprano Isabella Colbra, the first patent for a laser and Barbra Streisand's Broadway debut, check out OnThatDay.
Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach, Germany on March 21, 1685, the youngest of eight children. Johann was orphaned aged 10 and was raised by his eldest brother Johann Christoph Bach, the organist at the Michaeliskirche in nearby Ohrdruf. He attended the Gymnasium in Eisenach the same school that Martin Luther attended 200 years earlier.
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| Eisenach in 1647 |
Bach was acknowledged in Germany as the greatest organist of his time and esteemed as a specialist in the mechanics of organ building. However his contrapuntal (music that consists of two or more melodies played at the same time) style of writing sounded old fashioned to his contemporaries. Indeed his sons Carl Philip and Johann Christian Bach were more famous in their lifetime than their father.
The Roman poetical writer Ovid was born in Sulmo (modern Sulmona), in an Apennine valley 90 miles east of Rome, to a wealthy family, on March 20, 43 BC. Ovid's full name was Publius Ovidius Naso. The cognomen Naso means "the one with the nose" (i.e. "Big nose") in Latin. Ovid habitually referred to himself by his nickname.
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| Bust of Ovid by anonymous sculptor. By Lucasaw Wikipedia |
The Puritan poetess Anne Bradstreet was born on March 20, 1612. The first American female writer, her first volume of poetry The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America was published in 1650. It was widely read in America and England.
David Livingstone was born on March 19, 1813 in a Glasgow worker's tenement in the mill town of Blantyre, Strathclyde, Scotland. Livingstone's father ran his own business as a door-to-door tea salesman, so the room was constantly fragrant with the smell of tea. At the age of 21, Livingstone was inspired to take up Theology and Medical studies after hearing an appeal by British and American Churches for medical missionaries to go to China. A pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, as an explorer in Africa, he was the first European to discover the waterfall that was later named Victoria Falls.
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| Posthumous portrait of David Livingstone by Frederick Havill |
Chairman Mao's fourth and final wife, failed actress Jiang Qing, was born on March 19, 1914. Mao Zedong first met the neurotic, imperious, Jiang Qing at the the Chinese Communist headquarters in Yan'an in 1937. They married in a small private ceremony following approval by the Party's Central Committee the following year. Jiang became active in politics in the mid 1960s and was the driving force behind the Cultural Revolution.
The actor Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in the town of Idar-Oberstein, West Germany. Bruce's father, David Willis, was an American soldier. His mother, Marlene, was German. He had severe stuttering problems as a child. Bruce discovered the stutter disappeared while performing in a school play through the memorization of lines. While studying acting in college it was the combination of acting and speech therapy which helped him overcome his condition.
For more March 19 anniversaries, including the first bank robbery in United States history, the first U.S. air combat mission and the opening of The Sydney Harbor Bridge check out OnThatDay.
Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States, was born on March 18, 1837.
For more March 18 anniversaries, including Caligula becoming the Roman emperor, the last woman in England to be officially burned at the stake and the founding of American Express check out OnThatDay.
Legendary Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev was born on March 17, 1938. Rudolf Nureyev was a star of the Kirov Ballet in the Soviet Union before defecting to the West while on tour in Paris in 1961. He then became the most prominent ballet dancer in the world before dying of Aids, aged 54.
For more March 17 anniversaries, including the end of the Siege of Boston, the opening of Washington DC's National Gallery of Art and the end of apartheid in South Africa, check out OnThatDay.
Caroline Herschel, the first woman to be paid for her scientific work, was born on March 16, 1750. Caroline Herschel was a German astronomer who worked with her brother William Herschel throughout his career. Her most significant contributions to astronomy were the discoveries of several comets, including the periodic comet 35P/Herschel-Rigollet, which bears her name.
The 4th President of the United States, James Madison, was born at Belle Grove Plantation near Port Conway, Virginia on March 16, 1751, where his mother had returned to her parents' home to give birth. His father James Madison Sr. was a tobacco planter who became the largest landowner and a leading citizen of Orange County, in the Piedmont. James Jr.'s mother, Nelly Conway Madison was the daughter of a prominent planter and tobacco merchant and his wife.
English navigator and cartographer Captain Matthew Flinders was born on March 16, 1774. He was the leader of the first circumnavigation of Australia. In 1804 Flinders recommended the new continent be named 'Australia', as an umbrella term for New Holland and New South Wales. (The name is from the Latin ‘australis’, meaning ‘of the south’.) It took 20 years before the UK government agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia.
For more March 16 anniversaries, including the first Native American to make contact with the Pilgrim Fathers, the first FA Cup Final, and the marriage of Guglielmo Marconi to Beatrice O'Brien, check out OnThatDay.
Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States, was born on March 15, 1767 in the Waxhaws region of North and South Carolina, to Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ireland two years earlier. He was the first U.S. President who was not born into a rich family. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army defeating the Creek Indians at the 1814 Battle of Horseshoe Bend and becoming a national hero after and routing the British a year later at the Battle of New Orleans.
English physician and epidemiologist John Snow was born on March 15, 1813 in York, England. A pioneer of medical hygiene, Snow traced the source of a cholera outbreak to a public water pump in Broad Street, Soho, London. After the local council disabled the well pump it ended the outbreak. The adoption of Snow's recommended sanitary precautions such as boiling all drinking water eliminated cholera from entire communities in England.
For more March 15 anniversaries, including the founding of Liverpool FC, the invention of the escalator, and the first marriage of Elizabeth Taylor to Richard Burton, check out OnThatDay.
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, a city in the kingdom of Württemberg in the German empire. Albert was unable to speak until the age of three when at supper one night he broke his silence to say "The soup is too hot." His parents asked why he hadn't talked before. "Because up to now everything was in order," he replied. Young Albert was known as "Beider Meier" (Honest John) because of his prodigiously accurate way of speaking.
The actor Michael Caine was born on March 14, 1933 in St Olave's Hospital, Rotherhithe, London, the son of Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, a fish market porter, and Ellen Frances Marie (née Burchell), a cook and charwoman. Born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, he took his stage name from the film The Caine Mutiny (1954). While he uses "Michael Caine" professionally, he uses his given name in his personal life.
For more March 14 anniversaries, including the largest accidental oil spill in history, the trademarking of Oreo, and the marriage of Ernest Hemingway to Mary Welsh, check out OnThatDay.
The distinguished astronomer Percival Lowell was born on March 13, 1855 in Boston, Massachusetts. Lowell has been described by other planetary scientists as "the most influential popularizer of planetary science in America before Carl Sagan." In the late 19th century, telescopic observation of apparent Martian canals increased speculation about life on Mars. In 1895, Percival Lowell published his book Mars, followed by Mars and its Canals in 1906, proposing that the canals were the work of a long-gone civilization. The canals however, turned out to be optical illusions.
Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States, was born on March 18, 1837.
His father Richard Falley Cleveland was a Presbyterian minister and his mother the daughter of a bookseller. Cleveland was the winner of the popular vote for president three times—in 1884, 1888, and 1892—and was one of the two Democrats (alongside Woodrow Wilson) elected to the presidOnThatDay. in the era of Republican political domination dating from 1861 to 1933.
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| Grover Cleveland |
Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister (1937-40), was born in Birmingham on March 18, 1869. He was the son of Joseph Chamberlain, a Member of Parliament from 1876 to 1914, and Colonial Secretary from 1895 to 1903. At 21 Chamberlain's father sent him to manage a sisal plantation in the Bahamas to try to recoup diminished family fortunes. He didn’t become an MP until the age of 49. As Prime Minister, Chamberlain is best known for his foreign policy of appeasement towards Germany, and after that failed leading the United Kingdom through the first eight months of the World War II.
Legendary Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev was born on March 17, 1938. Rudolf Nureyev was a star of the Kirov Ballet in the Soviet Union before defecting to the West while on tour in Paris in 1961. He then became the most prominent ballet dancer in the world before dying of Aids, aged 54.
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| Nureyev in his dressing room c. 1974, By Allan Aarren |
For more March 17 anniversaries, including the end of the Siege of Boston, the opening of Washington DC's National Gallery of Art and the end of apartheid in South Africa, check out OnThatDay.
Caroline Herschel, the first woman to be paid for her scientific work, was born on March 16, 1750. Caroline Herschel was a German astronomer who worked with her brother William Herschel throughout his career. Her most significant contributions to astronomy were the discoveries of several comets, including the periodic comet 35P/Herschel-Rigollet, which bears her name.
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| William and Caroline Herschel polishing a telescope mirror By http://wellcomeimages.org |
The 4th President of the United States, James Madison, was born at Belle Grove Plantation near Port Conway, Virginia on March 16, 1751, where his mother had returned to her parents' home to give birth. His father James Madison Sr. was a tobacco planter who became the largest landowner and a leading citizen of Orange County, in the Piedmont. James Jr.'s mother, Nelly Conway Madison was the daughter of a prominent planter and tobacco merchant and his wife.
English navigator and cartographer Captain Matthew Flinders was born on March 16, 1774. He was the leader of the first circumnavigation of Australia. In 1804 Flinders recommended the new continent be named 'Australia', as an umbrella term for New Holland and New South Wales. (The name is from the Latin ‘australis’, meaning ‘of the south’.) It took 20 years before the UK government agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia.
For more March 16 anniversaries, including the first Native American to make contact with the Pilgrim Fathers, the first FA Cup Final, and the marriage of Guglielmo Marconi to Beatrice O'Brien, check out OnThatDay.
Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States, was born on March 15, 1767 in the Waxhaws region of North and South Carolina, to Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ireland two years earlier. He was the first U.S. President who was not born into a rich family. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army defeating the Creek Indians at the 1814 Battle of Horseshoe Bend and becoming a national hero after and routing the British a year later at the Battle of New Orleans.
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| Andrew Jackson Official White House Portrait |
English physician and epidemiologist John Snow was born on March 15, 1813 in York, England. A pioneer of medical hygiene, Snow traced the source of a cholera outbreak to a public water pump in Broad Street, Soho, London. After the local council disabled the well pump it ended the outbreak. The adoption of Snow's recommended sanitary precautions such as boiling all drinking water eliminated cholera from entire communities in England.
For more March 15 anniversaries, including the founding of Liverpool FC, the invention of the escalator, and the first marriage of Elizabeth Taylor to Richard Burton, check out OnThatDay.
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, a city in the kingdom of Württemberg in the German empire. Albert was unable to speak until the age of three when at supper one night he broke his silence to say "The soup is too hot." His parents asked why he hadn't talked before. "Because up to now everything was in order," he replied. Young Albert was known as "Beider Meier" (Honest John) because of his prodigiously accurate way of speaking.
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| Einstein at the age of 3 in 1882 |
The actor Michael Caine was born on March 14, 1933 in St Olave's Hospital, Rotherhithe, London, the son of Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, a fish market porter, and Ellen Frances Marie (née Burchell), a cook and charwoman. Born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, he took his stage name from the film The Caine Mutiny (1954). While he uses "Michael Caine" professionally, he uses his given name in his personal life.
For more March 14 anniversaries, including the largest accidental oil spill in history, the trademarking of Oreo, and the marriage of Ernest Hemingway to Mary Welsh, check out OnThatDay.
The distinguished astronomer Percival Lowell was born on March 13, 1855 in Boston, Massachusetts. Lowell has been described by other planetary scientists as "the most influential popularizer of planetary science in America before Carl Sagan." In the late 19th century, telescopic observation of apparent Martian canals increased speculation about life on Mars. In 1895, Percival Lowell published his book Mars, followed by Mars and its Canals in 1906, proposing that the canals were the work of a long-gone civilization. The canals however, turned out to be optical illusions.
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| Percival Lowell during the early-20th century |
Lowell was convinced that a celestial body lay beyond Uranus and Neptune, as he believed that the two planets were displaced from their predicted positions by the gravity of an unseen Planet X. Lowell started a search program in 1906, forming the beginning of the effort that led to the discovery of Pluto 14 years after his death. The naming of Pluto was influenced by his initials
For more March 13 anniversaries, including the naming of Harvard College, the discovery of Uranus, Canberra and the forming of the KGB check out OnThatDay.
English theologian, geologist and palaeontologist William Buckland was born on March 12, 1784. Buckland claimed to have eaten his way through the animal kingdom. He opined that mole meat tastes vile and was the most distasteful he consumed along with bluebottle.
Charles Boycott was born on March 12, 1832. He was a former soldier who worked as a land agent for Lord Erne (John Crichton, 3rd Earl Erne), a landowner in the Lough Mask area of County May, Ireland. The Norfolk-born soldier’s surname gave the world the word ‘boycott’ when he refused to cut tenants’ rents and they stopped serving him in their shops and pubs.
Vaslav Nijinsky, a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, was born on March 12, 1889. Nijinsky was regarded as the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He could dance en pointe, a rare skill among male dancers at the time and was admired for his seemingly gravity-defying leaps. Nijinsky's last public performance was in 1917 and he spent the final three decades of his life in and out of psychiatric hospitals before dying in London.
For more March 12 anniversaries, including the debut of the world's first black international football player, the naming of Australia's capital city, Canberra and the marriage of Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman, check out OnThatDay.
Harold Wilson was born at 4 Warneford Road, Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, on March 11, 1916. Harold's father James Herbert Wilson was a works chemist who had been active in the Liberal Party. Wilson became one of the youngest Oxford dons of the century at the age of 21. He was a lecturer in Economic History at New College from 1937, and a research fellow at University College. A member of the Labour Party, Wilson served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976.
For more March 11 anniversaries, including the last time a British monarch vetoed legislation. the patenting of the world’s first self-raising flour and the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto, check out OnThatDay.
The father of microscopical anatomy, histology, physiology and embryology Marcello Malpighi was born on March 10, 1628 at Crevalcore near Bologna, Italy. The son of well-to-do parents, Malpighi was educated in his native city, entering the University of Bologna at the age of 17. He made many discoveries in his microscope including the link between arteries and veins and was one of the earliest people to observe red blood cells.
Fanny Trollope, the mother of the English novelist Anthony Trollope was born on March 10, 1779. An entrepreneur, traveler and novelist, who was in her time the famous Trollope. Fanny Trollope built and designed a bazaar in the frontier town of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1828, with the intention of selling imported luxury goods. The project failed and on her return to England, Trollope began writing. The publication of her 1832 Domestic Manners of the Americans made her famous.
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was born on March 10, 1957 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a son of Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a billionaire construction magnate with close ties to the Saudi royal family and Mohammed bin Laden's tenth wife, Hamida al-Attas (then called Alia Ghanem). He was the 17th of 52 children in total of Muhammad Awad bin Laden. A founder of the pan-Islamic militant organization al-Qaeda, Bin Laden declared a war against the United States and masterminded the September 11 attacks.
For more March 10 anniversaries, including the issue of the first US paper money, the marriage of Princess Alexandra of Denmark to the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) and the first telephone call check out OnThatDay.
American composer Samuel Barber was born on March 9, 1910 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the son of pianist Marguerite McLeod (née Beatty) and physician Samuel Le Roy Barber. A child prodigy, at the age of 10 Samuel Barber wrote a short opera entitled The Rose. Two years later, he was holding down a part-time $100-a-month organist’s post at Westminster Church in West Chester. One of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century, Barber's Adagio for Strings (1936) has earned him a permanent place in the concert repertory of orchestras.
For more March 9 anniversaries, including the publication of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, the first documented discovery of gold in California, and the founding of Inter Milan check out OnThatDay.
Mrs. Josephine Cochrane, the inventor of the first dishwasher, was born on March 8, 1839.
For more March 8 anniversaries, including the publication of Johannes Kepler's third law of planetary motion, the first person to be legally declared a slave in North America, and the first song to be performed in outer space, check out OnThatDay
British astronomer William Herschel's only son, John was born on March 7, 1792. Highly intelligent, he placed first in mathematics exams and at 21, he became the youngest person admitted to the Royal Society. John Herschel built a reflecting telescope and invented the actinometer to measure the direct heating power of the sun's rays. He also made many contributions to the science of photography, and investigated color blindness and the chemical power of ultraviolet rays.
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was born to a music-loving family on March 7, 1875, in Ciboure, France, to a Basque mother and a Swiss engineer father. He moved to Paris with his family as an infant. It soon became clear that Maurice was musically gifted, so his father arranged for him to have piano lessons with a well-known teacher. In 1889, aged just 14, Maurice entered France's most important musical college the Paris Conservatoire.
Ranulph Fiennes, who is regarded as the world’s greatest living explorer, was born on March 7, 1944. Fiennes was the first person to visit both the North and South Poles by surface means and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot. After getting severe frostbite during an expedition in 2000, back home he sawed off his fingertips to avoid a £6,000 operation.
For more March 7 anniversaries, including the patenting of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, the launch of the first dreadnought battleship, and The Beatles' first appearance on the BBC check out OnThatDay.
Italian painter and sculptor Michelangelo was born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni on March 6, 1475 in Caprese a tiny Florentine village in Tuscany. Against his father's wishes, Michelangelo chose to be the apprentice of the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio for three years starting in 1488. Impressed, Domenico recommended him to the ruler of Florence. Lorenzo de' Medici. Ghirlandaio said, “This boy knows more than I do”.
A perfectionist, Michelangelo was forever altering his work, the prime example being the tomb of Pope Julius II on which he worked periodically for 40 years and never finished.
For more March 6 anniversaries, including the incorporation of Toronto, the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata, and the founding of Real Madrid check out OnThatDay.
King Henry II of England was born in France at Le Mans on March 5, 1133 as the eldest child of Geoffrey the Fair, Count of Anjou, and the Empress Matilda, the eldest daughter of Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy. Henry grew up in Anjou in northern France, where he was educated by Peter of Saintes, a noted grammarian of the day. As King of England from 1154 to 1189 his legal changes laid the basis for the English Common Law. By His marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, he acquired large tracts of land in France.
For more March 5, anniversaries, including 62-year-old Annie Oakley breaking all records for women's trap shooting, Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party receiving 43.9% at the Reichstag elections, and Taylor Swift's primetime television acting debut, check out OnThatDay.
The composer Antonio Vivaldi was born on March 4, 1678, in Venice, Italy. When he was born he looked so frail that the midwife baptized him immediately. Antonio grew to love the violin and played along with his father at St. Mark's Basilica. One of the greatest Baroque composers, his best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as the Four Seasons. While Vivaldi is most famous as a composer, he was regarded as an exceptional technical violinist as well.
For more March 13 anniversaries, including the naming of Harvard College, the discovery of Uranus, Canberra and the forming of the KGB check out OnThatDay.
English theologian, geologist and palaeontologist William Buckland was born on March 12, 1784. Buckland claimed to have eaten his way through the animal kingdom. He opined that mole meat tastes vile and was the most distasteful he consumed along with bluebottle.
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| Painting by Richard Ansdell |
Charles Boycott was born on March 12, 1832. He was a former soldier who worked as a land agent for Lord Erne (John Crichton, 3rd Earl Erne), a landowner in the Lough Mask area of County May, Ireland. The Norfolk-born soldier’s surname gave the world the word ‘boycott’ when he refused to cut tenants’ rents and they stopped serving him in their shops and pubs.
Vaslav Nijinsky, a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, was born on March 12, 1889. Nijinsky was regarded as the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He could dance en pointe, a rare skill among male dancers at the time and was admired for his seemingly gravity-defying leaps. Nijinsky's last public performance was in 1917 and he spent the final three decades of his life in and out of psychiatric hospitals before dying in London.
For more March 12 anniversaries, including the debut of the world's first black international football player, the naming of Australia's capital city, Canberra and the marriage of Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman, check out OnThatDay.
Harold Wilson was born at 4 Warneford Road, Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, on March 11, 1916. Harold's father James Herbert Wilson was a works chemist who had been active in the Liberal Party. Wilson became one of the youngest Oxford dons of the century at the age of 21. He was a lecturer in Economic History at New College from 1937, and a research fellow at University College. A member of the Labour Party, Wilson served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976.
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| Harold Wilson 1963 |
Duke Ellington's only son, Mercer Kennedy Ellington, was born on March 11, 1919. Mercer Ellington became a jazz trumpeter and composer. He led his own bands, many of whose members went on to play with his father, or to achieve independent fame (notably Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, and Carmen McRae).
For more March 11 anniversaries, including the last time a British monarch vetoed legislation. the patenting of the world’s first self-raising flour and the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto, check out OnThatDay.
The father of microscopical anatomy, histology, physiology and embryology Marcello Malpighi was born on March 10, 1628 at Crevalcore near Bologna, Italy. The son of well-to-do parents, Malpighi was educated in his native city, entering the University of Bologna at the age of 17. He made many discoveries in his microscope including the link between arteries and veins and was one of the earliest people to observe red blood cells.
Fanny Trollope, the mother of the English novelist Anthony Trollope was born on March 10, 1779. An entrepreneur, traveler and novelist, who was in her time the famous Trollope. Fanny Trollope built and designed a bazaar in the frontier town of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1828, with the intention of selling imported luxury goods. The project failed and on her return to England, Trollope began writing. The publication of her 1832 Domestic Manners of the Americans made her famous.
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| Oil on canvas of Frances Trollope by Auguste Hervieu, circa 1832 |
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was born on March 10, 1957 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a son of Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a billionaire construction magnate with close ties to the Saudi royal family and Mohammed bin Laden's tenth wife, Hamida al-Attas (then called Alia Ghanem). He was the 17th of 52 children in total of Muhammad Awad bin Laden. A founder of the pan-Islamic militant organization al-Qaeda, Bin Laden declared a war against the United States and masterminded the September 11 attacks.
For more March 10 anniversaries, including the issue of the first US paper money, the marriage of Princess Alexandra of Denmark to the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) and the first telephone call check out OnThatDay.
American composer Samuel Barber was born on March 9, 1910 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the son of pianist Marguerite McLeod (née Beatty) and physician Samuel Le Roy Barber. A child prodigy, at the age of 10 Samuel Barber wrote a short opera entitled The Rose. Two years later, he was holding down a part-time $100-a-month organist’s post at Westminster Church in West Chester. One of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century, Barber's Adagio for Strings (1936) has earned him a permanent place in the concert repertory of orchestras.
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| Samuel Barber 1944 |
Bobby Fischer was born on March 9, 1943. Many consider him the greatest chess player of all time. Leading American chess master Donald Byrne and and 13-year-old Bobby Fischer played a famous chess game called The Game of the Century in 1956. Fischer beat Byrne and won a Brilliancy prize. Fischer won the World Chess Championship in a Cold War battle against the Soviet Union’s Boris Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972.
For more March 9 anniversaries, including the publication of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, the first documented discovery of gold in California, and the founding of Inter Milan check out OnThatDay.
Mrs. Josephine Cochrane, the inventor of the first dishwasher, was born on March 8, 1839.
Exasperated with her staff’s ability to chip her fine china, Mrs. Josephine Cochrane of Shelbyville, Illinois invented the first dishwasher with her mechanic employee, George Butters in 1886. Josephine Cochrane's dishwasher was manually operated and used a copper boiler outfitted with wire racks.
British aeronautical engineer Beatrice (Tilly) Shilling OBE PhD MSc CEng was born on March 8, 1909. Shilling received the thanks of thousands of RAF pilots during World War II when she invented a diaphragm which allowed fuel to get to an aircraft’s Rolls-Royce Merlin engine regardless of the plane’s violent movements, ensuring the engine wouldn’t stall.
For more March 8 anniversaries, including the publication of Johannes Kepler's third law of planetary motion, the first person to be legally declared a slave in North America, and the first song to be performed in outer space, check out OnThatDay
British astronomer William Herschel's only son, John was born on March 7, 1792. Highly intelligent, he placed first in mathematics exams and at 21, he became the youngest person admitted to the Royal Society. John Herschel built a reflecting telescope and invented the actinometer to measure the direct heating power of the sun's rays. He also made many contributions to the science of photography, and investigated color blindness and the chemical power of ultraviolet rays.
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was born to a music-loving family on March 7, 1875, in Ciboure, France, to a Basque mother and a Swiss engineer father. He moved to Paris with his family as an infant. It soon became clear that Maurice was musically gifted, so his father arranged for him to have piano lessons with a well-known teacher. In 1889, aged just 14, Maurice entered France's most important musical college the Paris Conservatoire.
Ranulph Fiennes, who is regarded as the world’s greatest living explorer, was born on March 7, 1944. Fiennes was the first person to visit both the North and South Poles by surface means and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot. After getting severe frostbite during an expedition in 2000, back home he sawed off his fingertips to avoid a £6,000 operation.
For more March 7 anniversaries, including the patenting of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, the launch of the first dreadnought battleship, and The Beatles' first appearance on the BBC check out OnThatDay.
Italian painter and sculptor Michelangelo was born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni on March 6, 1475 in Caprese a tiny Florentine village in Tuscany. Against his father's wishes, Michelangelo chose to be the apprentice of the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio for three years starting in 1488. Impressed, Domenico recommended him to the ruler of Florence. Lorenzo de' Medici. Ghirlandaio said, “This boy knows more than I do”.
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| Portrait of Michelangelo by Daniele da Volterra |
A perfectionist, Michelangelo was forever altering his work, the prime example being the tomb of Pope Julius II on which he worked periodically for 40 years and never finished.
The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born on March 6, 1806, in Coxhoe Hall, between the villages of Coxhoe and Kelloe in County Durham, England. Elizabeth was educated at home and attended lessons with her brother's tutor. This gave her a good education for a girl of that time. She was an intensely studious, precocious child and had read passages from Paradise Lost and Shakespearean plays, and the histories of England, Greece and Rome before the age of ten.
For more March 6 anniversaries, including the incorporation of Toronto, the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata, and the founding of Real Madrid check out OnThatDay.
King Henry II of England was born in France at Le Mans on March 5, 1133 as the eldest child of Geoffrey the Fair, Count of Anjou, and the Empress Matilda, the eldest daughter of Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy. Henry grew up in Anjou in northern France, where he was educated by Peter of Saintes, a noted grammarian of the day. As King of England from 1154 to 1189 his legal changes laid the basis for the English Common Law. By His marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, he acquired large tracts of land in France.
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| 12th-century depiction of Henry and Eleanor holding court |
Robert the Bruce's son David II of Scotland was born on March 5, 1324. He was one of the worst rulers in the history of the British Isles. David ruined his country with his extravagant spending and futile raids into England before offering the succession of Scotland to Edward III. The arrangement was repudiated by the Scottish Parliament.
For more March 5, anniversaries, including 62-year-old Annie Oakley breaking all records for women's trap shooting, Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party receiving 43.9% at the Reichstag elections, and Taylor Swift's primetime television acting debut, check out OnThatDay.
The composer Antonio Vivaldi was born on March 4, 1678, in Venice, Italy. When he was born he looked so frail that the midwife baptized him immediately. Antonio grew to love the violin and played along with his father at St. Mark's Basilica. One of the greatest Baroque composers, his best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as the Four Seasons. While Vivaldi is most famous as a composer, he was regarded as an exceptional technical violinist as well.
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| Probable portrait of Vivaldi, c. 1723 |
Jack Sheppard, the notorious English burglar, robber and thief of early 18th-century London was born on March 4, 1702. Sheppard was as renowned for his attempts to escape imprisonment as he was for his crimes. Ultimately, he was caught, convicted, and hanged at Tyburn, ending his brief criminal career after less than two years.
For more March 4, anniversaries, including the incorporation of Chicago, the first known case of the 1918 influenza pandemic, and the marriage of Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis. check out OnThatDay.
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was born at 16 South Charlotte Street in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847. To close relatives and friends he remained "Aleck" which his father continued to call him into later life.
The inspiration for the telephone came when Bell was working to improve the telegram in Boston, Massachusetts. Not adept with his hands, the Scot was aided by a young repair mechanic and model maker, Thomas Watson. On June 2, 1875 Watson made a mistake, the incorrect contact of a clamping screw which was too tight changed what should have been an intermittent transmission into a continuous current. Bell at the other end of the wire heard the line vibrate and emit the same timbre of a plucked reed.
For more March 4, anniversaries, including the incorporation of Chicago, the first known case of the 1918 influenza pandemic, and the marriage of Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis. check out OnThatDay.
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was born at 16 South Charlotte Street in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847. To close relatives and friends he remained "Aleck" which his father continued to call him into later life.
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| Bell at the opening of the long-distance line from New York to Chicago in 1892 |
Sarah Rector was born on March 3, 1902. An impoverished African American member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, at the age of 11 she became a millionaire oil baron when oil was discovered on the land allotted to her by the government. Sarah avoided hundreds of attempts to scam her out of her fortune and became known as the “Richest colored girl in the world.” She lost the majority of her wealth in the Great Depression, as did many wealthy Americans.
For more March 3, anniversaries, including the first African American to be granted a patent, the premiere of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, and The Kentucky meat shower check out OnThatDay.
Saint Benedict of Nursia was born in Nursia (now Norcia, Italy) on March 2, 480AD. Tradition holds that he was born into a noble family, but he chose a life of spiritual dedication. Benedict is best known for his establishment of the Rule of Saint Benedict, a set of guidelines for monastic living. His rule emphasized a balanced life of prayer, work, and study, focusing on moderation, obedience, and humility. The Rule has been widely influential and is still followed by Benedictine communities around the world.
American catcher and coach Morris "Moe" Berg was born on March 2, 1902. Although he played 15 seasons in the major leagues, almost entirely for four American League teams, Berg was never more than an average player. He was better known for being "the brainiest guy in baseball." Berg spoke several languages and found a post-baseball career as a US spy during World War II; he was ordered to kill Werner Heisenberg if the Nazis came close to building a nuclear bomb.
For more March 2, anniversaries, including the first ballet performed in Britain, the installation of the first automatic street light and the premiere of The Sound of Music movie, check out OnThatDay.
Frédéric Chopin was born on March 1, 1810 as Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin in a manor house in a village Zelazowa Wola, 36 miles from Warsaw, Poland. He was born to Mikołaj (Nicolas) Chopin, a Polonized French teacher and Tekla Justyna Krzyżanowska. A precocious child, Chopin began piano lessons at the age of six. At the age of 7, he was already the author of two polonaises (in G minor and B-flat major), the first being published in the engraving workshop of Father Cybulski.
American lawyer and politician Luther Johnson Strange III was born March 1, 1953. He served as a United States Senator from Alabama from 2017 to 2018. At 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m) tall, Luther Strange was the tallest United States senator in American history.
Pop singer Justin Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario, at St Joseph's Hospital. Justin is the son of Jeremy Jack Bieber and Patricia "Pattie" Mallette. They never got married and Pattie raised her son with the help of her mother Diane, and stepfather, Bruce. Justin paid tribute to his mom with his song "Turn to You (Mother's Day Dedication," which he explained is about, "the struggles she went through and how brave she was and I think the world needs to know that."
For more March 1 anniversaries, including the admission of Nebraska as the 37th U.S. state, the creation of the Samsung company and the largest nuclear bomb ever tested by the United States, check out OnThatDay.
The Italian composer Gioachino Rossini was born on February 29, 1792, in Pesaro, in the Papal States, which is now part of Italy. He is widely recognized as one of the most prominent composers of the 19th century, particularly known for his contributions to the opera genre. They include The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia) and William Tell (Guillaume Tell).Rossini's works continue to be widely performed and appreciated. He is remembered for his mastery of melody, comedic flair, and the enduring popularity of many of his compositions.
For more March 3, anniversaries, including the first African American to be granted a patent, the premiere of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, and The Kentucky meat shower check out OnThatDay.
Saint Benedict of Nursia was born in Nursia (now Norcia, Italy) on March 2, 480AD. Tradition holds that he was born into a noble family, but he chose a life of spiritual dedication. Benedict is best known for his establishment of the Rule of Saint Benedict, a set of guidelines for monastic living. His rule emphasized a balanced life of prayer, work, and study, focusing on moderation, obedience, and humility. The Rule has been widely influential and is still followed by Benedictine communities around the world.
The German-American author and illustrator Theodor Seuss "Ted" Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 2, 1904. He is best known for authoring more than 60 children's books under the pen name Dr. Seuss. Geisel was not a doctor. He later added the “Dr.” to his "Seuss" pen name because his father had wanted him to become a professor. Dr Seuss’ should be pronounced ‘Dr Zoice’ (rhymes 'voice').
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| Ted Geisel holding the Cat in the Hat at Desk in 1957 |
Mikhail Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931 to a peasant family in Privolnoye, southwest Russia. As a child, Mikhail experienced the Soviet famine of 1932–1933. Nearly half the population of his native village starved to death, including two sisters and an uncle. Gorbachev was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and the first (and last) president of the Soviet Union from 1990 until it was dissolved in 1991.
For more March 2, anniversaries, including the first ballet performed in Britain, the installation of the first automatic street light and the premiere of The Sound of Music movie, check out OnThatDay.
Frédéric Chopin was born on March 1, 1810 as Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin in a manor house in a village Zelazowa Wola, 36 miles from Warsaw, Poland. He was born to Mikołaj (Nicolas) Chopin, a Polonized French teacher and Tekla Justyna Krzyżanowska. A precocious child, Chopin began piano lessons at the age of six. At the age of 7, he was already the author of two polonaises (in G minor and B-flat major), the first being published in the engraving workshop of Father Cybulski.
American lawyer and politician Luther Johnson Strange III was born March 1, 1953. He served as a United States Senator from Alabama from 2017 to 2018. At 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m) tall, Luther Strange was the tallest United States senator in American history.
Pop singer Justin Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario, at St Joseph's Hospital. Justin is the son of Jeremy Jack Bieber and Patricia "Pattie" Mallette. They never got married and Pattie raised her son with the help of her mother Diane, and stepfather, Bruce. Justin paid tribute to his mom with his song "Turn to You (Mother's Day Dedication," which he explained is about, "the struggles she went through and how brave she was and I think the world needs to know that."
For more March 1 anniversaries, including the admission of Nebraska as the 37th U.S. state, the creation of the Samsung company and the largest nuclear bomb ever tested by the United States, check out OnThatDay.
The Italian composer Gioachino Rossini was born on February 29, 1792, in Pesaro, in the Papal States, which is now part of Italy. He is widely recognized as one of the most prominent composers of the 19th century, particularly known for his contributions to the opera genre. They include The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia) and William Tell (Guillaume Tell).Rossini's works continue to be widely performed and appreciated. He is remembered for his mastery of melody, comedic flair, and the enduring popularity of many of his compositions.
For more February 29 birthdays, including the only Pope ever to be born on a leap year day and the American inventor of a tabulating machine that was a precursor of the computer, check out OnThatDay
French mineralogist and priest René Just Haüy was born at Saint-Just-en-Chaussée on February 28, 1743, Haüy founded the science of crystallography after he accidentally broke a piece of calcite and discovered that they cleaved along straight planes that met at constant angles. He broke more pieces to confirm his discovery and developed the theory of crystal structure.
Seven Nobel Prize winners had birthdays on February 28. No other date has as many apart from May 21 (also seven). They are: American physician and endocrinologist, Philip Showalter Hench (b 1896), American chemist and activist, Linus Pauling (b 1901), Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Peter Medawar (b 1915), American physicist and academic, Leon Cooper (b 1930), Chinese-American physicist and academic, Daniel C. Tsui, (b 1939), American physicist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Energy, Stephen Chu (b 1948), American economist and academic, Paul Krugman (b 1953).
French mineralogist and priest René Just Haüy was born at Saint-Just-en-Chaussée on February 28, 1743, Haüy founded the science of crystallography after he accidentally broke a piece of calcite and discovered that they cleaved along straight planes that met at constant angles. He broke more pieces to confirm his discovery and developed the theory of crystal structure.
Seven Nobel Prize winners had birthdays on February 28. No other date has as many apart from May 21 (also seven). They are: American physician and endocrinologist, Philip Showalter Hench (b 1896), American chemist and activist, Linus Pauling (b 1901), Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Peter Medawar (b 1915), American physicist and academic, Leon Cooper (b 1930), Chinese-American physicist and academic, Daniel C. Tsui, (b 1939), American physicist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Energy, Stephen Chu (b 1948), American economist and academic, Paul Krugman (b 1953).
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| Linus Pauling with an inset of his Nobel Prize in 1955 |
For more February 28 anniversaries, including the start of China's Han dynasty, the first Christians to be killed for their faith in America, and the airing of M*A*S*H's final episode, check out OnThatDay.
English publisher Edward Cave was born on February 27, 1691.The first periodical called a magazine was the Gentleman's Magazine launched by Edward Cave in January 1731. In an age of lousy yellow journalism, the punchy periodical featured stories about fire-eating as well as essays by a young upstart named Samuel Johnson.
English publisher Edward Cave was born on February 27, 1691.The first periodical called a magazine was the Gentleman's Magazine launched by Edward Cave in January 1731. In an age of lousy yellow journalism, the punchy periodical featured stories about fire-eating as well as essays by a young upstart named Samuel Johnson.
The actress Elizabeth Taylor was born in London on February 27, 1932. Her parents, Francis Lenn Taylor and Sara Sothern, were originally from Arkansas City, Kansas and were living in England. They returned to the United States on the onset of World War II. Elizabeth Taylor began her movie career as a child actress in the early 1940s, making her screen debut in a minor role in There's One Born Every Minute (1942). Her breakthrough role came two years later in National Velvet.
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| Colorized Film still of Elizabeth Taylor, late 1950s. |
For more February 27 anniversaries, including the oldest surviving English opera, the marriage of Wilhelm II, German Emperor to Princess Augusta Victoria, the founding of the FC Bayern Munich football club and Pokémon first hitting the shelves in Japan, check out OnThatDay.
French poet, novelist and dramatist Victor Hugo was born on February 26, 1802 in Besançon, near Dijon in eastern France to an army officer father Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet. Hugo was the most popular writer of his time and on his 80th birthday there were nationwide celebrations in France. Outside France, his most famous works are the novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame 1831 and Les Misérables, 1862, In France, Hugo is also renowned for his poetry collections.
French poet, novelist and dramatist Victor Hugo was born on February 26, 1802 in Besançon, near Dijon in eastern France to an army officer father Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet. Hugo was the most popular writer of his time and on his 80th birthday there were nationwide celebrations in France. Outside France, his most famous works are the novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame 1831 and Les Misérables, 1862, In France, Hugo is also renowned for his poetry collections.
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| Woodburytype of Victor Hugo by Étienne Carjat, 1876. |
Country, rock and roll and gospel star Johnny Cash was born on February 26, 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas to Ray Cash and Carrie Cloveree (née Rivers). He was originally born J.R. Cash. The J.R. didn’t stand for anything as his parents couldn't think of a name. He took on the first name John when he joined the Air Force because the military wouldn't accept a name with just initials. Known as The Man in Black, Cash is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 90 million records worldwide.
For more February 26 anniversaries, including Napoleon's escape from Elba, the first jazz single ever issued. and the first pilot to eject from a plane during a flight at supersonic speed, check out OnThatDay.
The tenor singer Enrico Caruso was born in Naples, Italy on February 25, 1873. He was the 18th of 21 children, only three of whom lived beyond infancy. Determined to be a singer, he sang in churches and on street corners to earn money for lessons. When he was called into the army, a high officer was so impressed by Caruso's powerful yet melodic voice that he released him to continue studying. The operatic tenor was one of the first major singing talents to be commercially recorded, his 1904 recording of "Vesti la giubba" from Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci was the first sound recording to sell a million copies.
The tenor singer Enrico Caruso was born in Naples, Italy on February 25, 1873. He was the 18th of 21 children, only three of whom lived beyond infancy. Determined to be a singer, he sang in churches and on street corners to earn money for lessons. When he was called into the army, a high officer was so impressed by Caruso's powerful yet melodic voice that he released him to continue studying. The operatic tenor was one of the first major singing talents to be commercially recorded, his 1904 recording of "Vesti la giubba" from Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci was the first sound recording to sell a million copies.
George Harrison of The Beatles was born on February 25, 1943 at 12 Arnold Grove, a house near Picton Clock Tower in the Liverpool suburb of Wavertree. George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney first played together as schoolboys with the Quarrymen. They had been performing in small clubs in Liverpool and in Hamburg, West Germany, when the original drummer was replaced in 1962 by Ringo Starr.
For more February 25 anniversaries, including the patenting of the first production-model revolver, the first public performance of Camille Saint-Saëns' humorous musical suite The Carnival of the Animals and the release of Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, check out OnThatDay.
Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, in Los Altos, California. Jobs was half Arab by his biological father, Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, who grew up in Homs, Syria. Jobs was adopted at birth by Paul and Clara Jobs,. In 1976, his friend Steve Wozniak invented the Apple I computer. Wozniak showed it to Steve Jobs, who suggested that they sell it, after which they and Ronald Wayne formed Apple Computer in the garage of Jobs's Los Altos home on Crist Drive. During Job's time as CEO of Apple, the company released such revolutionary devices as the iMac, iTunes iPhone and iPad.
For more February 24 anniversaries, including the marriages of Thomas Edison to Mina Miller and Kurt Cobain to Courtney Love, the election of Colonel Juan Perón as President of Argentina and the incorporation of WhatsApp check out OnThatDay.
Diarist Samuel Pepys was born on February 23, 1633 in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London to John Pepys (1601–1680), a tailor, and Margaret Pepys (née Kite; died 1667), daughter of a Whitechapel butcher. Pepys rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under King Charles II, and later under James II. He is celebrated today for his detailed private diary, which Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 and was first published in 1825.
George Frideric Handel was born on February 23, 1685 in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, in modern day Germany His eminent barber-surgeon father originally intended George Frideric for the study of the Civil Law and strictly forbade him to meddle with any musical instrument. However, he practiced music clandestinely, by means of a little clavichord privately conveyed to a room at the top of the house. By seven, George Frideric was a skillful performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ.
The Polish chemist Casimir Funk was born on February 23, 1884. While working at the Lister Institute in London he discovered that the anti-beriberi substance in unpolished rice was an amine (an organic compound containing nitrogen). Funk suggested the amine be named "vitamine" ("vita" being Latin for life) to indicate a group of compounds considered vital for life. It was later discovered that many vitamins do not contain amines at all, but Funk's term continued to be applied.
For more February 23 anniversaries, including the death of John Keats, the beginning of the Alamo siege, and the first production of the first samples of man-made aluminium, check out OnThatDay.
America’s first president, George Washington, was born on February 22, 1732 at Popes Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, on the south bank of the Potamac River. George came from a wealthy land and slave owning Virginian family of English descent. The George Washington Birthplace National Monument (a typical plantation home) is built on the site of burnt down house where George was born (it was destroyed by fire in 1779). It is now a tourist attraction.
For more February 22 anniversaries, including the last invasion of Britain, the first female jockey to win a horse race in the US and Britain's biggest peacetime robbery, check out OnThatDay.
Jeanne Calment was born on February 21, 1875. She had the longest confirmed age span in history, living to the age of 122 years, 164 days. Calment lived in Arles, France for her entire life, and outlived both her daughter and grandson.
English pilot Douglas Bader was born on February 21, 1910 in St John's Wood, London, to Frederick Roberts Bader, a civil engineer, and his wife Jessie. Douglas attended St Edward's School where he received his secondary education. Fellow RAF night fighter and bomber pilot Guy Gibson also attended the same school. In 1928, Bader joined the RAF as an officer cadet at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in rural Lincolnshire. He came 19th out of 21 in his class examinations.
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was born February 21, 1924. He became the President of Zimbabwe in 1987. When Shimon Peres stepped down as Israel’s president in July 2014, Mugabe assumed the mantle of the world’s oldest head of state. On November 15, 2017, President Robert Mugabe was placed under house arrest as Zimbabwe's military took control in a coup. He resigned the Presidency a week later.
For more February 21 anniversaries, including the publication of The Communist Manifesto, the first recorded aircraft hijack and the design of the peace symbol, check out OnThatDay.
The photographer Ansel Adams was born in San Francisco, California on February 20, 1902, and raised in a house that overlooked the Golden Gate Bridge. An American landscape photographer particularly of the mountainous Far West, Adams was considered a technical innovator in his field. He was also honored as a conservationist.
Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, in Los Altos, California. Jobs was half Arab by his biological father, Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, who grew up in Homs, Syria. Jobs was adopted at birth by Paul and Clara Jobs,. In 1976, his friend Steve Wozniak invented the Apple I computer. Wozniak showed it to Steve Jobs, who suggested that they sell it, after which they and Ronald Wayne formed Apple Computer in the garage of Jobs's Los Altos home on Crist Drive. During Job's time as CEO of Apple, the company released such revolutionary devices as the iMac, iTunes iPhone and iPad.
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| Jobs holding an iPhone 4 in 2010. By Matthew Yohe, Wikipedia |
Diarist Samuel Pepys was born on February 23, 1633 in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London to John Pepys (1601–1680), a tailor, and Margaret Pepys (née Kite; died 1667), daughter of a Whitechapel butcher. Pepys rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under King Charles II, and later under James II. He is celebrated today for his detailed private diary, which Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 and was first published in 1825.
George Frideric Handel was born on February 23, 1685 in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, in modern day Germany His eminent barber-surgeon father originally intended George Frideric for the study of the Civil Law and strictly forbade him to meddle with any musical instrument. However, he practiced music clandestinely, by means of a little clavichord privately conveyed to a room at the top of the house. By seven, George Frideric was a skillful performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ.
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| George Frideric Handel by Balthasar Denner |
The Polish chemist Casimir Funk was born on February 23, 1884. While working at the Lister Institute in London he discovered that the anti-beriberi substance in unpolished rice was an amine (an organic compound containing nitrogen). Funk suggested the amine be named "vitamine" ("vita" being Latin for life) to indicate a group of compounds considered vital for life. It was later discovered that many vitamins do not contain amines at all, but Funk's term continued to be applied.
America’s first president, George Washington, was born on February 22, 1732 at Popes Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, on the south bank of the Potamac River. George came from a wealthy land and slave owning Virginian family of English descent. The George Washington Birthplace National Monument (a typical plantation home) is built on the site of burnt down house where George was born (it was destroyed by fire in 1779). It is now a tourist attraction.
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| George Washington |
Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell was born on February 22, 1857, in London, England. Baden-Powell gained prominence during the Siege of Mafeking in the Second Boer War, where his successful defense of the town brought him national attention and made him a hero in Britain. He founded The Boy Scouts in 1908, and the Girl Guides (later Girl Scouts) followed in 1910. Baden-Powell's vision was to provide a program that would help young people develop character, leadership, and outdoor skills. The Scout Movement quickly spread worldwide and became one of the largest and most influential youth movements.
Jeanne Calment was born on February 21, 1875. She had the longest confirmed age span in history, living to the age of 122 years, 164 days. Calment lived in Arles, France for her entire life, and outlived both her daughter and grandson.
English pilot Douglas Bader was born on February 21, 1910 in St John's Wood, London, to Frederick Roberts Bader, a civil engineer, and his wife Jessie. Douglas attended St Edward's School where he received his secondary education. Fellow RAF night fighter and bomber pilot Guy Gibson also attended the same school. In 1928, Bader joined the RAF as an officer cadet at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in rural Lincolnshire. He came 19th out of 21 in his class examinations.
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was born February 21, 1924. He became the President of Zimbabwe in 1987. When Shimon Peres stepped down as Israel’s president in July 2014, Mugabe assumed the mantle of the world’s oldest head of state. On November 15, 2017, President Robert Mugabe was placed under house arrest as Zimbabwe's military took control in a coup. He resigned the Presidency a week later.
For more February 21 anniversaries, including the publication of The Communist Manifesto, the first recorded aircraft hijack and the design of the peace symbol, check out OnThatDay.
The photographer Ansel Adams was born in San Francisco, California on February 20, 1902, and raised in a house that overlooked the Golden Gate Bridge. An American landscape photographer particularly of the mountainous Far West, Adams was considered a technical innovator in his field. He was also honored as a conservationist.
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| Ansel Adams Photo by J. Malcolm Greany, c. 1950 |
Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was born at Grays Harbor Hospital in Aberdeen, Washington on February 20, 1967, to a waitress, Wendy Elizabeth, and an automotive mechanic, Donald Leland Cobain. He had a happy childhood until his parents divorced when he was 7-years-old. The divorce left Kurt's outlook on the world forever scarred. 1981 On his 14th birthday, Kurt Cobain's uncle offered him either a bike or a used guitar. He chose the guitar. Soon, Cobain began working on his own songs.
For more February 20 anniversaries, including the premiere of Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville, the first woman to set foot on Antarctica and the first African-American umpire in organized baseball, check out OnThatDay.
Mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in the Polish city of Toruń, His father Nikolas, was a wealthy businessman and copper trader. Copernicus encountered astronomy for the first time at the University of Kraków, thanks to his teacher Albert Brudzewski. He is best known for formulating a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at the center of the universe. This theory was controversial at the time but was a pioneering contribution to the Scientific Revolution.
Mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in the Polish city of Toruń, His father Nikolas, was a wealthy businessman and copper trader. Copernicus encountered astronomy for the first time at the University of Kraków, thanks to his teacher Albert Brudzewski. He is best known for formulating a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at the center of the universe. This theory was controversial at the time but was a pioneering contribution to the Scientific Revolution.
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| Nicolaus Copernicus portrait from Town Hall in Toruń - 1580) |
Prince Andrew, Duke of York, was born on February 19, 1960, at Buckingham Palace in London, England. He is the second son and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Andrew served in the British Royal Navy. He underwent naval training and became a helicopter pilot. He actively served in the Royal Navy from 1979 to 2001, reaching the rank of Commander.
The prince has faced controversies related to his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied. The controversy led to Prince Andrew announcing in November 2019 that he would step back from his public duties.
For more February 19 anniversaries, including the most violent volcanic eruption in the recorded history of South America, the founding of the Kellogg Toasted Corn Flake Company and the largest ever attack mounted by a foreign power against Australia, check out OnThatDay.
Mary I of England was born on February 18, 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London. She was the only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to survive infancy. A precocious child, at the age of four-and-a-half, Mary entertained a visiting French delegation with a performance on the virginals (a type of harpsichord). By the age of nine, Mary could read and write Latin. Known as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, she was the queen of England from 1553 to 1558.
Mary I of England was born on February 18, 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London. She was the only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to survive infancy. A precocious child, at the age of four-and-a-half, Mary entertained a visiting French delegation with a performance on the virginals (a type of harpsichord). By the age of nine, Mary could read and write Latin. Known as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, she was the queen of England from 1553 to 1558.
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| Portrait by Antonis Mor, 1554 |
For more February 18 anniversaries, including the deaths of Kublai Khan, Martin Luther and Michelangelo, the publication of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the first official air mail flight, check out OnThatDay.
President Harry S Truman's only child, Margaret, was born on February 17, 1924. Margaret embarked on a career as a coloratura soprano and appeared in concerts with orchestras throughout the United States in the decade following World War II. She later pursued a career as a journalist and radio personality as the co-host with Mike Wallace of the radio program Weekday. Margaret was also the successful author of 32 books, including biographies of both her parents and 23 mystery novels.
Pop star Ed Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England on February 17, 1991. His father John is an art curator and lecturer, his mother Imogen designs jewellery and his brother Matthew is a classical music composer, who helped him on the orchestrated remix of "Perfect." Ed's first guitar was given to him as a gift by his uncle. Ed initially taught himself, before going on to have proper music lessons.
President Harry S Truman's only child, Margaret, was born on February 17, 1924. Margaret embarked on a career as a coloratura soprano and appeared in concerts with orchestras throughout the United States in the decade following World War II. She later pursued a career as a journalist and radio personality as the co-host with Mike Wallace of the radio program Weekday. Margaret was also the successful author of 32 books, including biographies of both her parents and 23 mystery novels.
Basketball great Michael Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Deloris (née Peoples), who worked in banking, and James R. Jordan, Sr., an equipment supervisor. In 1981, Jordan went to the University of North Carolina to play basketball. North Carolina won the national championship in 1982, his freshman year. Jordan made the winning shot with 18 seconds left in the championship game.
David Goggins was born February 17, 1975. He is the only member in the U.S. Armed Forces to complete SEAL training, Ranger School and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training. Goggins retired from active duty as a Chief Petty Officer in 2016. He's also an ultra-athlete and held the world record for most pull-ups in 24hrs.
David Goggins was born February 17, 1975. He is the only member in the U.S. Armed Forces to complete SEAL training, Ranger School and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training. Goggins retired from active duty as a Chief Petty Officer in 2016. He's also an ultra-athlete and held the world record for most pull-ups in 24hrs.
Pop star Ed Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England on February 17, 1991. His father John is an art curator and lecturer, his mother Imogen designs jewellery and his brother Matthew is a classical music composer, who helped him on the orchestrated remix of "Perfect." Ed's first guitar was given to him as a gift by his uncle. Ed initially taught himself, before going on to have proper music lessons.
For more February 17 anniversaries, including the first submarine to sink an enemy warship, the premiere of Giacomo Puccini's Madame Butterfly, and the first issue of Newsweek magazine, check out OnThatDay.
Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il was born in Japanese-occupied Korea on February 16, 1942. Official biographers say Kim Jong-il's birth in a cabin on the slopes of Paektu Mountain in Japanese-occupied Korea was foretold by a swallow and heralded by a double rainbow. When he was born, a new star appeared in the night sky. North Korean biographies state that Kim Jong-il learned to walk at just three-weeks-old and he was talking at eight weeks.
Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il was born in Japanese-occupied Korea on February 16, 1942. Official biographers say Kim Jong-il's birth in a cabin on the slopes of Paektu Mountain in Japanese-occupied Korea was foretold by a swallow and heralded by a double rainbow. When he was born, a new star appeared in the night sky. North Korean biographies state that Kim Jong-il learned to walk at just three-weeks-old and he was talking at eight weeks.
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| Pyongyang 100th Year Kim Il Sung Birthday Celebrations 03.jpg: Photographed by Joseph Ferris III |
For more February 16 anniversaries, including the first usage of the phrase God bless "you ", the opening of Tutankhamen's burial chamber and the patenting of nylon, check out OnThatDay.
Italian astronomer, physicist, and mathematician Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa (then part of the Duchy of Florence), Italy, on February 15, 1564 to Vincenzo Galilei and Giulia Ammannati. Vincenzio Galilei was a professional singer and lutenist who also dabbled in cloth to make ends meet. The "Father of Observational Astronomy," Galileo used the telescope for scientific observations of celestial objects. He is also known as "The Father of Science." His contributions included dropping different weights from the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa, thereby showing that the rate of a fall of a body is independent of its mass.
Italian astronomer, physicist, and mathematician Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa (then part of the Duchy of Florence), Italy, on February 15, 1564 to Vincenzo Galilei and Giulia Ammannati. Vincenzio Galilei was a professional singer and lutenist who also dabbled in cloth to make ends meet. The "Father of Observational Astronomy," Galileo used the telescope for scientific observations of celestial objects. He is also known as "The Father of Science." His contributions included dropping different weights from the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa, thereby showing that the rate of a fall of a body is independent of its mass.
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| Galileo Galilei. Portrait by Leoni |
US social reformer and women's rights activist Susan Anthony was born on February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts. A precocious child, she learned to read and write at the age of three. Anthony took part in absolutist and temperance movements from an early age. At the age of 16, Susan collected two boxes of petitions opposing slavery, in response to the gag rule prohibiting such petitions in the House of Representatives.
For more February 15 birthdays, including English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham, German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin, and Irena Sendler, the ‘female Schindler,’ check out OnThatDay.
Civil engineer George Washington Gale Ferris Jr was born on February 14, 1859, in Galesburg, Illinois. Ferris Jr designed the first Ferris wheel for the 1893 World’s Fair, which was held in Chicago. It was intended to rival the height of the Eiffel Tower, a marvel of the 1889 fair in Paris. Over 1.4 million people paid 50 cents for a 20-minute ride over the first 19 weeks it was open to the public. After the fair closed, Ferris claimed that the exhibition management had robbed him and his investors of their rightful portion of the nearly $750,000 profit that his wheel brought in. He spent the next two years in litigation and died in 1896 of typhoid fever.
Civil engineer George Washington Gale Ferris Jr was born on February 14, 1859, in Galesburg, Illinois. Ferris Jr designed the first Ferris wheel for the 1893 World’s Fair, which was held in Chicago. It was intended to rival the height of the Eiffel Tower, a marvel of the 1889 fair in Paris. Over 1.4 million people paid 50 cents for a 20-minute ride over the first 19 weeks it was open to the public. After the fair closed, Ferris claimed that the exhibition management had robbed him and his investors of their rightful portion of the nearly $750,000 profit that his wheel brought in. He spent the next two years in litigation and died in 1896 of typhoid fever.
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| George Washington Gale Ferris Jr |
American tap dancer, singer, actor, and choreographer Gregory Hines was born on February 14, 1946. He won a Tony Award and an Emmy Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Hines is considered one of the greatest tap dancers of all time.
For more February 14 anniversaries, including the Battle of Cape St Vincent, the admission of Oregon as the 33rd U.S. state, and the marriage of Albert Einstein to Serbian physicist Mileva Marić check out OnThatDay.
Charles "Chuck" Yeager was born February 13, 1923 to farming parents Susie Mae (née Sizemore) and Albert Hal Yeager in Myra, West Virginia. After beginning his career as a private in the United States Army Air Forces, Yeager worked his way up to the rank of P-51 Mustang fighter pilot during the World War II years. In 1947, Captain Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier when he piloted a Bell X-1 rocket research aircraft to a level-flight speed of 670 mph (1,080 kms per hr). Yeager reprised the feat in 2012 for the 65th anniversary of the flight aged 89.
Charles "Chuck" Yeager was born February 13, 1923 to farming parents Susie Mae (née Sizemore) and Albert Hal Yeager in Myra, West Virginia. After beginning his career as a private in the United States Army Air Forces, Yeager worked his way up to the rank of P-51 Mustang fighter pilot during the World War II years. In 1947, Captain Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier when he piloted a Bell X-1 rocket research aircraft to a level-flight speed of 670 mph (1,080 kms per hr). Yeager reprised the feat in 2012 for the 65th anniversary of the flight aged 89.
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| Yeager in front of the Bell X-1, |
For more February 13 anniversaries, including the premiere of Johann Strauss' "The Blue Danube," the opening ceremony for India's Parliament House in New Delhi and the discovery of the universe's largest known diamond, check out OnThatDay.
Charles Darwin entered the world on February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury. His father, Robert Darwin, a prosperous local doctor, was a stern and critical figure in his life. Darwin's mother, Susannah Wedgwood, hailed from the renowned Wedgwood pottery family, with her father being Josiah Wedgwood. Additionally, Darwin's grandfather was Erasmus Darwin, a multifaceted figure known for his roles as a naturalist, poet, and philosopher, who had proposed his own theory of evolution. During his youth, Darwin's fascination with chemistry earned him the playful nickname "Gas" among his friends.
Coincidentally, on the same day and year, February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born in a humble one-room log cabin on Sinking Spring farm in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Lincoln, the first president born outside of the original 13 colonies, grew up in a frontier family with his father, Thomas, working as a farmer. Despite a lifelong belief that he was illegitimate, it was only discovered after his death that Lincoln was indeed legitimate.
Alice Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt's only child from his first marriage, was born on February 12, 1884. Known as Alice Lee Roosevelt, she became a prominent figure in Washington, D.C., often described as the toast of the town. When questioned about controlling his spirited daughter, Roosevelt remarked that he could either be President of the United States or control Alice, but not both. At the age of 16, Alice inspired the creation of the song "Alice-Blue Gown," leading to the term "Alice Blue" representing a light bluish-green color.
For more February 12 anniversaries, including the founding of the US state of Georgia, the premiere of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" and Christian Dior's "New Look" fashion collection, check out OnThatDay.
Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847 and grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. His father Samuel, a shingle maker, was involved in a plot to overthrow the Canadian government but he managed to flee back to the USA. (Thomas was named after the barge captain Alva Bradley who helped smuggle his family to Milan, Ohio). With 1,093 U.S. patents in his name, he is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history. His inventions included the light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera.
Charles Darwin entered the world on February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury. His father, Robert Darwin, a prosperous local doctor, was a stern and critical figure in his life. Darwin's mother, Susannah Wedgwood, hailed from the renowned Wedgwood pottery family, with her father being Josiah Wedgwood. Additionally, Darwin's grandfather was Erasmus Darwin, a multifaceted figure known for his roles as a naturalist, poet, and philosopher, who had proposed his own theory of evolution. During his youth, Darwin's fascination with chemistry earned him the playful nickname "Gas" among his friends.
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| Painting of seven-year-old Charles Darwin in 1816. |
Coincidentally, on the same day and year, February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born in a humble one-room log cabin on Sinking Spring farm in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Lincoln, the first president born outside of the original 13 colonies, grew up in a frontier family with his father, Thomas, working as a farmer. Despite a lifelong belief that he was illegitimate, it was only discovered after his death that Lincoln was indeed legitimate.
Alice Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt's only child from his first marriage, was born on February 12, 1884. Known as Alice Lee Roosevelt, she became a prominent figure in Washington, D.C., often described as the toast of the town. When questioned about controlling his spirited daughter, Roosevelt remarked that he could either be President of the United States or control Alice, but not both. At the age of 16, Alice inspired the creation of the song "Alice-Blue Gown," leading to the term "Alice Blue" representing a light bluish-green color.
For more February 12 anniversaries, including the founding of the US state of Georgia, the premiere of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" and Christian Dior's "New Look" fashion collection, check out OnThatDay.
Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847 and grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. His father Samuel, a shingle maker, was involved in a plot to overthrow the Canadian government but he managed to flee back to the USA. (Thomas was named after the barge captain Alva Bradley who helped smuggle his family to Milan, Ohio). With 1,093 U.S. patents in his name, he is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history. His inventions included the light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera.
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| Edison as a boy |
American physicist Lawrence Harding "Larry" Johnston was born on February 11, 1918. He was the only man to witness all three atomic explosions in 1945: the Trinity nuclear test and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
For more February 11 anniversaries, including the first use of Anthracite coal as a residential heating fuel, the initial first-class cricket match in Australia and the release of Nelson Mandela from prison, check out OnThatDay
William Bradley known more commonly as Giant Bradley or the Yorkshire Giant, was born on February 10, 1787. By 18, he had shot up to 7ft 8in (233 cms). His teachers punished naughty boys by making Bradley lift them up and put them on high ceiling beams in the classroom until they learned their lesson.
William Bradley known more commonly as Giant Bradley or the Yorkshire Giant, was born on February 10, 1787. By 18, he had shot up to 7ft 8in (233 cms). His teachers punished naughty boys by making Bradley lift them up and put them on high ceiling beams in the classroom until they learned their lesson.
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| William Bradley aged 18 and half years. Wikipedia Commoms |
French magician Alexander Herrmann, also known as Herrmann the Great, was born on February 10, 1844. The model for the look of a 'typical' magician—a man with wavy hair, a top hat, a goatee, and a tailcoat—came from him.
Doctor Zhivago author Boris Pasternak was born into a wealthy assimilated Ukrainian Jewish family in Moscow, Russia on February 10, 1890. His father was the Post-Impressionist artist, Leonid Pasternak, professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. Leonid Pasternak was a friend of Leo Tolstoy, and for months he lived in Yasnaya Polyana, and painted many portraits of the great writer, also illustrating his novels War and Peace and Resurrection.
For more February 10 anniversaries, including the murder of Mary Queen of Scot's second husband The Earl of Darnley, the launch of the first dreadnought and the marriage of Bob Marley to Rita Anderson, check out OnThatDay.
English-American philosopher, author, and activist Thomas Paine was born on February 9, 1737 in a cottage in Thetford, a town in Norfolk, England to Quaker corset maker Joseph and Frances Pain. After emigrating to The American colonies in 1774, he authored Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776–1783), which helped inspire the patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain. Paine's Rights of Man (1791), was in part a defense of the French Revolution against its critics.
William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the US, was born on February 9, 1773, the youngest of Benjamin Harrison V and Elizabeth Bassett's seven children. William's father was a planter and a delegate to the Continental Congress (1774–1777) who signed the Declaration of Independence. He was Governor of Virginia between 1781 and 1784. Harrison caught pneumonia after giving the longest inauguration speech on record, in cold snowy weather. He died after only 32 days in office.
English-American philosopher, author, and activist Thomas Paine was born on February 9, 1737 in a cottage in Thetford, a town in Norfolk, England to Quaker corset maker Joseph and Frances Pain. After emigrating to The American colonies in 1774, he authored Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776–1783), which helped inspire the patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain. Paine's Rights of Man (1791), was in part a defense of the French Revolution against its critics.
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| Oil painting by Laurent Dabos, circa 1791 |
William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the US, was born on February 9, 1773, the youngest of Benjamin Harrison V and Elizabeth Bassett's seven children. William's father was a planter and a delegate to the Continental Congress (1774–1777) who signed the Declaration of Independence. He was Governor of Virginia between 1781 and 1784. Harrison caught pneumonia after giving the longest inauguration speech on record, in cold snowy weather. He died after only 32 days in office.
Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley was born on February 9, 1865. One of the first known photographers of snowflakes, he perfected a process of catching flakes on black velvet in such a way that their images could be captured before they either melted or sublimated. Wilson Bentley took the first ever photograph of a snowflake in 1885.
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| Snowflake photos by Bentley, circa 1902 |
For more February 9 anniversaries, including the completion of Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper painting, the marriage of Peter The Great to his second wife, Catherine Skavronskaya and the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's last opera, Falstaff, check out OnThatDay.
James Dean was born in Marion, Indiana, United States on February 8, 1931. When Dean was six his family moved to California, but his mother died of cancer when he was nine, and he went to live with his aunt and uncle in Fairmount, Indiana. In high school, he became interested in drama and car racing. After graduating, he moved back to California to live with his father and stepmother and became an actor. He became an icon of the disillusioned teenager in such movies as Rebel Without a Cause before dying in a 1955 car crash.
James Dean was born in Marion, Indiana, United States on February 8, 1931. When Dean was six his family moved to California, but his mother died of cancer when he was nine, and he went to live with his aunt and uncle in Fairmount, Indiana. In high school, he became interested in drama and car racing. After graduating, he moved back to California to live with his father and stepmother and became an actor. He became an icon of the disillusioned teenager in such movies as Rebel Without a Cause before dying in a 1955 car crash.
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| Dean in Rebel Without a Cause |
The composer John Williams was born on February 8, 1932, in Flushing, Queens, New York, Williams
has composed the scores to more than 100 films, including Jaws, the Star Wars movies and Schindler’s List. He is the world’s most successful film soundtrack composer and, with 52 Academy Award nominations, second to Walt Disney as the most-nominated person. (He has won five.)
For more February 8 anniversaries, including the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, the formation of the world's first independent payment card company and the longest surgery ever, check out OnThatDay.
English lawyer and politician Thomas More was born in Milk Street in London, on February 7, 1478. He was the eldest son of Sir John More, a successful lawyer who served as a judge in the King's Bench court. In his early teens Thomas entered the household of Cardinal Morton as a page who predicted young Thomas would be a "marvelous man." A lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, More served Henry VIII as Lord Chancellor for three years. He was beheaded for treason after he openly opposed the King's separation from the Catholic Church.
English lawyer and politician Thomas More was born in Milk Street in London, on February 7, 1478. He was the eldest son of Sir John More, a successful lawyer who served as a judge in the King's Bench court. In his early teens Thomas entered the household of Cardinal Morton as a page who predicted young Thomas would be a "marvelous man." A lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, More served Henry VIII as Lord Chancellor for three years. He was beheaded for treason after he openly opposed the King's separation from the Catholic Church.
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| Hans Holbein, the Younger - Sir Thomas More |
Charles Dickens was born at 393 Commercial Road, Portsea, near Portsmouth on February 7, 1812. His father John Dickens was a naval pay clerk at Chatham, Kent when Charles was young. A friendly man, he had an inability to keep out of debt and debtors prison. His mother, Elizabeth, spent time in debtor's prison as well. Charles was fonder of his easy going father than his unsympathetic practical mother. He based Mr Micawber on his father and Mrs Nickleby on his mother.
Country star Garth Brooks was born on February 7, 1962. His actual first name is Troyal (Garth is his middle name), the same first name as his father's. Brooks went to Oklahoma State University on a javelin throwing scholarship and earned a bachelor's degree in advertising in 1985, He signed with Capitol Records on June 17, 1988 launching one of the most successful music careers of all time.
For more February 7 anniversaries, including the first American city with gas streetlights, the marriage of Amelia Earhart to publisher George P. Putnam, and the world record for flight endurance, check out OnThatDay.
George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. was born on February 6, 1895 at 216 Emory Street in the Pigtown section of Baltimore, Maryland. At age seven, Ruth was sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory where he learned baseball skills from Brother Matthias Boutlier of the Christian Brothers, a capable baseball player. Revered by many as the greatest baseball player of all time, he set career records for career home runs (714), runs batted in (RBIs) (2,213), bases on balls (2,062), and slugging percentage (.690). The last one still stands.
For more February 7 anniversaries, including the first American city with gas streetlights, the marriage of Amelia Earhart to publisher George P. Putnam, and the world record for flight endurance, check out OnThatDay.
George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. was born on February 6, 1895 at 216 Emory Street in the Pigtown section of Baltimore, Maryland. At age seven, Ruth was sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory where he learned baseball skills from Brother Matthias Boutlier of the Christian Brothers, a capable baseball player. Revered by many as the greatest baseball player of all time, he set career records for career home runs (714), runs batted in (RBIs) (2,213), bases on balls (2,062), and slugging percentage (.690). The last one still stands.
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| Ruth in his first year with the New York Yankees, 1920 |
Ronald Reagan, the 40th US President, was born to Jack and Nelle Reagan on February 6, 1911 in a small apartment building in Tampico, Illinois. A film star during the Golden Age of Hollywood, Reagan was very active in politics near the end of his acting career, During the 1964 presidential election, he made a famous speech called "A Time For Choosing" in support of Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, which is credited with jumpstarting his political career.
For more February 6 birthdays including Anne, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Adolf Hitler's longtime companion Eva Braun, and reggae star Bob Marley, check out OnThatDay.
The Scottish surgeon William Smellie was born on February 5, 1697. Smellie published his book, Theory and Practice or Treatise on Midwifery in 1752, in which he established safe rules for the use of forceps (of which he introduced several types). The work was the first scientific approach to midwifery.
The Scottish surgeon William Smellie was born on February 5, 1697. Smellie published his book, Theory and Practice or Treatise on Midwifery in 1752, in which he established safe rules for the use of forceps (of which he introduced several types). The work was the first scientific approach to midwifery.
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| William Smellie |
Robert Peel, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846), was born at Chamber Hall, Bury, Lancashire on February 5, 1788. On hearing the news of the birth of his son, the cotton industrialist, Sir Robert Peel fell on his knees and, returning thanks to God, vowed that he would give his son to his country. The younger Robert Peel grew up to be one of Britain's leading politicians of the nineteenth century.
For more February 5 birthdays including inventor Hiram Maxim who invented the world's first portable fully automatic machine gun, John Boyd Dunlop, the founder of the Dunlop Rubber Co, and the footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, check out OnThatDay.
The German chemist Johann Friedrich Böttger was born on February 4, 1682. He was the first European to discover the ancient Chinese secret of the creation of hard-paste porcelain in 1708. Production began the following year and the first pieces went on sale at the Leipzig Easter Fair in 1710.
The German chemist Johann Friedrich Böttger was born on February 4, 1682. He was the first European to discover the ancient Chinese secret of the creation of hard-paste porcelain in 1708. Production began the following year and the first pieces went on sale at the Leipzig Easter Fair in 1710.
Charles Lindbergh was born on February 4, 1902 in his grandfather’s home in Detroit, Michigan. He was the only child of Charles August Lindbergh, a lawyer and later an U.S. congressman and Evangeline Lodgehand, a pretty chemistry teacher. Charles grew up on the family farm in Little Falls, Minnesota on the banks of the Mississippi. Friendless and self absorbed, he hunted, fished and had a special interest in machinery. He grew up to become a famous aviator who made the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic in 1927.
For more February 4 anniversaries, including the election of George Washington as the US's first president, the break out of The Philippine–American War, and the first radioactive element to be made synthetically, check out OnThatDay.
German pianist and composer Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany, on February 3, 1809, a grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Young Felix studied piano and composition in Berlin, making his first public appearance at the age of nine. During his boyhood young Mendelssohn wrote many compositions. Among his early successes was the Midsummer Night's Dream Overture (1826). when he was just seventeen.
German pianist and composer Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany, on February 3, 1809, a grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Young Felix studied piano and composition in Berlin, making his first public appearance at the age of nine. During his boyhood young Mendelssohn wrote many compositions. Among his early successes was the Midsummer Night's Dream Overture (1826). when he was just seventeen.
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| Portrait of Mendelssohn by James Warren Childe 1839 |
For more February 3 anniversaries, including the marriage of Ivan the Terrible to Anastasia Romanovna, the first paper money in the Americas, and the The Day the Music Died, check out OnThatDay.
Nell Gwyn was said to have born at Hereford on February 2, 1650 at Gwynne Street. (London and Oxford also claim her as their own). Described by Samuel Pepys as "pretty, witty Nell", in 1665 Nell Gwyn soon achieved prominent recognition as a comic actress, appearing as Flydana in Dryden's Indian Emperor. While walking in St James’ Park, King Charles II spotted Nell and was immediately captivated. By now a single mother, her relationship with the English king provoked juicy gossip.
Nell Gwyn was said to have born at Hereford on February 2, 1650 at Gwynne Street. (London and Oxford also claim her as their own). Described by Samuel Pepys as "pretty, witty Nell", in 1665 Nell Gwyn soon achieved prominent recognition as a comic actress, appearing as Flydana in Dryden's Indian Emperor. While walking in St James’ Park, King Charles II spotted Nell and was immediately captivated. By now a single mother, her relationship with the English king provoked juicy gossip.
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| Nell Gwyn by Peter Lely c 1675 |
The Irish author James Joyce was born on February 2, 1882 to John Stanislaus Joyce and Mary Jane "May" Murray, at 41 Brighton Square, in the Dublin suburb of Rathgar. Joyce's ineffectual father was the model for the character of Simon Dedalus in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses, as well as several characters in Dubliners.
For more February 2 anniversaries, including the founding of Buenos Aires, the marriage of Mark Twain to Olivia "Livy" Langdon and the founding of Baseball's National League, check out OnThatDay.
Hollywood actor Clark Gable was born William Clark Gable on February 1, 1901 in Cadiz to William Henry "Will" Gable an oil-well driller and Adeline (née Hershelman). He was named William after his father, but even in childhood he was almost always called Clark. At seventeen, Gable was inspired to be an actor after seeing the play The Bird of Paradise. He had roles in more than 60 movies in multiple genres, three decades of which was as a leading man, most famously as Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.
Hollywood actor Clark Gable was born William Clark Gable on February 1, 1901 in Cadiz to William Henry "Will" Gable an oil-well driller and Adeline (née Hershelman). He was named William after his father, but even in childhood he was almost always called Clark. At seventeen, Gable was inspired to be an actor after seeing the play The Bird of Paradise. He had roles in more than 60 movies in multiple genres, three decades of which was as a leading man, most famously as Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.
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| Clark Gable |
President of Russia Boris Yeltsin was born in Butka, a small village near the Ural Mountains on February 1, 1931. The priest at young his christening was so drunk that he dropped baby Boris into the font then forgot he was there. The first President of Russia from 1990 to 1999, Yeltsin took control after the fall of the Soviet Union.
For more February 1 anniversaries, including the marriage of French novelist Alexandre Dumas to actress Ida Ferrier, completion of the construction of the first film production studio and the most-watched American television program of all time, check out OnThatDay.
Austrian pianist and composer Franz Schubert was born in Himmelpfortgrund (now a part of Alsergrund), Vienna, Archduchy of Austria on January 31, 1797. He was born in a one room apartment of a house called The Red Crayfish, now a museum at Nussdorf Erstrasse 54 Vienna. Young Franz showed an extraordinary childhood aptitude for music and learnt to play the piano, violin and viola, the latter he played in the family string quartet.
Austrian pianist and composer Franz Schubert was born in Himmelpfortgrund (now a part of Alsergrund), Vienna, Archduchy of Austria on January 31, 1797. He was born in a one room apartment of a house called The Red Crayfish, now a museum at Nussdorf Erstrasse 54 Vienna. Young Franz showed an extraordinary childhood aptitude for music and learnt to play the piano, violin and viola, the latter he played in the family string quartet.
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| Schubert by Wilhelm August Rieder (1875) |
For more January 31 anniversaries, including the first American soldier to be executed for desertion since the Civil War, the launch of the first American satellite, and the world’s longest ever reigning female ruler, check out OnThatDay.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, was born on January 30, 1882, in the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park, Duchess County, New York. His father, James Roosevelt (1828–1900), was a wealthy landowner and vice-president of the Delaware & Hudson Railway. Franklin grew up in an atmosphere of privilege. He went ice boating and tobogganing in the winter and during the summer, Franklin fished and sailed in his father’s boat and bird watched.
For more January 30 anniversaries, including the beheading of King Charles I of England, the opening of the world's first modern suspension bridge and the last public performance of The Beatles, check out OnThatDay.
The 25th President of the United States, William McKinley, Jr. was born on January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio, the seventh child of William and Nancy (née Allison) McKinley. William McKinley was the last president to have served in the American Civil War, beginning as a private in the Union Army. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on February 7, 1863 and ended the war as a brevet major. After the war, McKinley settled in Canton, Ohio, where he practiced law and married Ida Saxton.
The composer Frederick Delius was born on January 29, 1862 in Bradford, West Yorkshire of German-Scandinavian descent. He was baptized as "Fritz Theodore Albert Delius," and used the forename Fritz until he was about 40. Delius followed a commercial career until he was 20, when he went to Florida as an orange planter, studying music in his spare time. He entered Leipzig Conservatory in 1886, and became a friend of the composer Edvard Grieg. After 1890 he composed prolifically.
Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi to a single teenage mother, Vernita Lee, a maid. Her father, Vernon Winfrey, had broken up with Oprah's mom long before she was born. She spent her first six years living in rural poverty and wore potato sacks for clothes. Her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history. Winfrey is also a best-selling author and the world's first female black billionaire.
For more January 29 anniversaries, including the ascension of George IV to the UK throne, the marriage of Charles Darwin and Emma Wedgwood and patenting of the first motor car, check out OnThatDay.
British Army officer and administrator Charles George Gordon was born on January 28, 1833 in Woolwich, London. He made his military reputation in China, where he and his men were instrumental in putting down the Taiping Rebellion, regularly defeating much larger forces. After becoming the Governor-General of the Sudan, Gordon did much to suppress revolts and the local slave trade, but was killed by supporters of Muhammed Ahmed, the Mahdi, a rebel against Egyptian rule in the country.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, was born on January 30, 1882, in the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park, Duchess County, New York. His father, James Roosevelt (1828–1900), was a wealthy landowner and vice-president of the Delaware & Hudson Railway. Franklin grew up in an atmosphere of privilege. He went ice boating and tobogganing in the winter and during the summer, Franklin fished and sailed in his father’s boat and bird watched.
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| FDR's birthplace By Anthony22 at English Wikipedia |
For more January 30 anniversaries, including the beheading of King Charles I of England, the opening of the world's first modern suspension bridge and the last public performance of The Beatles, check out OnThatDay.
The 25th President of the United States, William McKinley, Jr. was born on January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio, the seventh child of William and Nancy (née Allison) McKinley. William McKinley was the last president to have served in the American Civil War, beginning as a private in the Union Army. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on February 7, 1863 and ended the war as a brevet major. After the war, McKinley settled in Canton, Ohio, where he practiced law and married Ida Saxton.
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| Photograph of William McKinley, 25th President of the United States. |
The composer Frederick Delius was born on January 29, 1862 in Bradford, West Yorkshire of German-Scandinavian descent. He was baptized as "Fritz Theodore Albert Delius," and used the forename Fritz until he was about 40. Delius followed a commercial career until he was 20, when he went to Florida as an orange planter, studying music in his spare time. He entered Leipzig Conservatory in 1886, and became a friend of the composer Edvard Grieg. After 1890 he composed prolifically.
Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi to a single teenage mother, Vernita Lee, a maid. Her father, Vernon Winfrey, had broken up with Oprah's mom long before she was born. She spent her first six years living in rural poverty and wore potato sacks for clothes. Her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history. Winfrey is also a best-selling author and the world's first female black billionaire.
For more January 29 anniversaries, including the ascension of George IV to the UK throne, the marriage of Charles Darwin and Emma Wedgwood and patenting of the first motor car, check out OnThatDay.
British Army officer and administrator Charles George Gordon was born on January 28, 1833 in Woolwich, London. He made his military reputation in China, where he and his men were instrumental in putting down the Taiping Rebellion, regularly defeating much larger forces. After becoming the Governor-General of the Sudan, Gordon did much to suppress revolts and the local slave trade, but was killed by supporters of Muhammed Ahmed, the Mahdi, a rebel against Egyptian rule in the country.
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| General Charles George Gordon |
The journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley was born January 28, 1841 as John Rowlands in Denbigh, Denbighshire, Wales. At the age of was adopted
The American Abstract Expressionist artist Jackson Pollack was born on January 28, 1912. He was known for his "drip and splash" technique, in which he laid his canvas on the floor and poured paint from a can instead of using an easel. Critics, dubbed him "Jack the Dripper."
For more January 28 anniversaries, including the first street in the world to be lit by gaslight, the publication of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, and the first person to be fined for breaking the speed limit, check out OnThatDay.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 to Leopold Mozart, a musician of the Salzburg Royal Chamber, and Anna Maria, née Pertl, at 9 Getreidegasse in Salzburg. As a child Wolfgang Mozart created a sensation at European courts with his ability to sight read music and improvise. He began picking out chords from a harpsichord at the age of three. At four he was playing short pieces and Young Wolfgang wrote two minuets for the harpsichord at five.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 to Leopold Mozart, a musician of the Salzburg Royal Chamber, and Anna Maria, née Pertl, at 9 Getreidegasse in Salzburg. As a child Wolfgang Mozart created a sensation at European courts with his ability to sight read music and improvise. He began picking out chords from a harpsichord at the age of three. At four he was playing short pieces and Young Wolfgang wrote two minuets for the harpsichord at five.
Charles Dodgson was born on January 27, 1832 in the parsonage of Daresbury in Cheshire to a clergyman father Dr Charles Dodgson and an uneducated mother. Young Charles was a bright, articulate boy with a precocious intellect: at the age of seven the child was reading The Pilgrim's Progress. A mathematician, photographer, and Anglican deacon, Dodgson is best known for his children's fiction, notably Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, under his Lewis Carroll pseudonym.
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| Charles Dodgson in 1856 |
Kaiser Wilhelm II was born on January 27, 1859 at the Crown Prince's Palace, Berlin, to Victoria, Princess Royal, the wife of Prince Frederick William of Prussia (the future Frederick III). Victoria was the eldest daughter of Britain's Queen Victoria, and Wilhelm was the first grandchild of the English queen and Prince Albert. He reigned in Germany from 1888 until his abdication on November 9, 1918 shortly before his country's defeat in World War I.
For more January 27 anniversaries, including the marriage of Peter the Great to Eudoxia Lopuizhina, the patenting of Edison's incandescent light bulb and the ending of the Siege of Leningrad, check out OnThatDay.
Ice hockey star Wayne Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961, to Phyllis and Walter Gretzky. The family moved into a house on Varadi Avenue in Brantford, Ontario seven months after Wayne was born, chosen partly because its yard was flat enough to make an ice rink on every winter. He played 20 seasons in the NHL for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "The Great One", Gretzky has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself.
Ice hockey star Wayne Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961, to Phyllis and Walter Gretzky. The family moved into a house on Varadi Avenue in Brantford, Ontario seven months after Wayne was born, chosen partly because its yard was flat enough to make an ice rink on every winter. He played 20 seasons in the NHL for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "The Great One", Gretzky has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself.
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| Photo below by Håkan Dahlström |
For more January 26 anniversaries, including The Battle of Talikota, the first public display of television, and the world record for the highest fall without a parachute, check out OnThatDay.
Irish chemist Robert Boyle was born at Lismore Castle, in County Waterford, Ireland on January 25, 1627. He was the seventh son (and fourteenth child) of Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork and Catherine Fenton. Boyle's father was said to be the richest man in Great Britain. Robert Boyle was the first chemist to collect a gas, and with Boyles's law in 1662, enunciated the law of the compressibility of gasses.
Irish chemist Robert Boyle was born at Lismore Castle, in County Waterford, Ireland on January 25, 1627. He was the seventh son (and fourteenth child) of Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork and Catherine Fenton. Boyle's father was said to be the richest man in Great Britain. Robert Boyle was the first chemist to collect a gas, and with Boyles's law in 1662, enunciated the law of the compressibility of gasses.
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| The Shannon Portrait of Robert Boyle |
William Colgate, founder of Colgate-Palmolive, was born on January 25, 1783. William Colgate started a candle, starch and soap making company on Dutch Street in New York City under the name of "William Colgate & Company" in 1806. Colgate became in 1896 the first company to manufacture toothpaste in a collapsible tube, similar to the tubes that had just been introduced for artist's oil colors.
The poet Robert Burns was born, the eldest son of a poor peasant tenant farmer on January 25, 1796 in "Burns Cottage," Alloway, Scotland. His mother Agnes Brown Burnes earned extra cash making soft white cheese. She was a fine singer and knew many folk songs. Although poverty limited his formal education, Burns' father took pains that young Robert read widely, including Dryden, Milton and Shakespeare.
Blues musician Blind Willie Johnson was born on January 25, 1897. Johnson was blinded as a boy, abused by his father, and died penniless from disease after sleeping bundled in wet newspaper in a burnt down house. A revival of interest in Johnson's music began following his inclusion on Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music; Carl Sagan preserved his legacy by selecting one of his songs, "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground," for the Voyager Golden Record in 1977.
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| The Burns Cottage in Alloway, Ayrshire. Wikipedia |
Blues musician Blind Willie Johnson was born on January 25, 1897. Johnson was blinded as a boy, abused by his father, and died penniless from disease after sleeping bundled in wet newspaper in a burnt down house. A revival of interest in Johnson's music began following his inclusion on Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music; Carl Sagan preserved his legacy by selecting one of his songs, "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground," for the Voyager Golden Record in 1977.
For more January 25 anniversaries, including the founding of the Brazilian city of São Paulo. the marriage of William McKinley and Ida Saxton. and the inauguration of the U.S. transcontinental telephone service check out OnThatDay.
The Roman emperor Hadrian was born Publius Aelius Hadrianus on January 24, 76 AD. Although it was an accepted part of Hadrian's personal history that he was born in Italica, Spain, his biography in Augustan History states that he was born in Rome, of an ethnically Hispanic family with partial Italian origins. Hadrian was schooled in various subjects particular to young aristocrats of the day, and was so fond of learning Greek literature that he was nicknamed "Graeculus" ("Little Greek").
The famous castrati, Farinelli, was born on January 24, 1705. Christened Carlo Broschi, he took the surname of his benefactors, the brothers Farina, as his stage name. With a voice spanning three octaves and incredibly lungs Farinelli could hold a note for a minute without a break. Farielli used to sing for King Philip V of Spain to sleep at night.
Frederick the Great of Prussia was born in Berlin on January 24, 1712 to Frederick William I and Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, the daughter of Britain's King George I. Frederick had a strict upbringing to prepare him for the military life. A sensitive child, he preferred art, literature and music to military matters. His father often hit him in public once beating him with a cane in front of army troops.
The Roman emperor Hadrian was born Publius Aelius Hadrianus on January 24, 76 AD. Although it was an accepted part of Hadrian's personal history that he was born in Italica, Spain, his biography in Augustan History states that he was born in Rome, of an ethnically Hispanic family with partial Italian origins. Hadrian was schooled in various subjects particular to young aristocrats of the day, and was so fond of learning Greek literature that he was nicknamed "Graeculus" ("Little Greek").
The famous castrati, Farinelli, was born on January 24, 1705. Christened Carlo Broschi, he took the surname of his benefactors, the brothers Farina, as his stage name. With a voice spanning three octaves and incredibly lungs Farinelli could hold a note for a minute without a break. Farielli used to sing for King Philip V of Spain to sleep at night.
Frederick the Great of Prussia was born in Berlin on January 24, 1712 to Frederick William I and Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, the daughter of Britain's King George I. Frederick had a strict upbringing to prepare him for the military life. A sensitive child, he preferred art, literature and music to military matters. His father often hit him in public once beating him with a cane in front of army troops.
For more January 24 anniversaries, including the assassination of Caligula, the marriage of David Lloyd George and Margaret Owen, and the invention of the rubber heel check out OnThatDay.
The Italian pianist, composer and teacher Muzio Clementi was born on January 23, 1752. Clementi was the first to write for piano in a style distinguished from that of harpsichord. In 1766 he was brought to England, where toured as a virtuoso pianist, and went into the piano-manufacturing business. In 1826 Clementi completed his collection of keyboard studies the Gradus ad Parnassum, on which subsequent piano methods have been based.
The Italian pianist, composer and teacher Muzio Clementi was born on January 23, 1752. Clementi was the first to write for piano in a style distinguished from that of harpsichord. In 1766 he was brought to England, where toured as a virtuoso pianist, and went into the piano-manufacturing business. In 1826 Clementi completed his collection of keyboard studies the Gradus ad Parnassum, on which subsequent piano methods have been based.
Canadian/British fighter pilot, entrepreneur and spymaster Sir William Samuel Stephenson was born on January 23, 1897. The senior representative of British Security Coordination (BSC), a covert organization set up in New York City by the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) for the entire western hemisphere during World War II, many people believe Stephenson was the inspiration for James Bond.
The jazz musician Django Reinhardt was born on January 23, 1910, in a Gypsy caravan in Liberchies, Belgium. He was forced to give up the violin after a caravan fire in 1928 mutilated his left hand. Despite the accident, Reinhardt overcame the handicap and went on to create the 'hot' jazz guitar technique, which has since become a living musical tradition within French Gypsy culture.
For more January 23 anniversaries, including the deadliest earthquake in history, the first woman to qualify as a doctor of medicine in the US. and the longest United Nations speech in history, check out OnThatDay.
Little is known about Sir Walter Raleigh's birth. The date favored by the majority of historians is January 22, 1552. We do know he was born at a thatched house (now a farmhouse) near Budleigh Salterton in Devon to Walter Raleigh senior and Catherine Champernowne. Catherine Champernowne was a niece of Kat Ashley, Queen Elizabeth I's governess, who introduced the young men at court. A writer, soldier, politician, courtier, spy and explorer, Raleigh was one of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era.
English scientific philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon was born on January 22, 1561 at York House near the Strand in London to Sir Nicholas Bacon, who was Elizabeth I's Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. Bacon entered Trinity College, Cambridge aged 13 where his studies of science brought him to the conclusion that the methods (and thus the results) were erroneous. He later argued that science could be achieved by use of a skeptical and methodical approach Bacon also served as Attorney General and as Lord Chancellor of England.
Little is known about Sir Walter Raleigh's birth. The date favored by the majority of historians is January 22, 1552. We do know he was born at a thatched house (now a farmhouse) near Budleigh Salterton in Devon to Walter Raleigh senior and Catherine Champernowne. Catherine Champernowne was a niece of Kat Ashley, Queen Elizabeth I's governess, who introduced the young men at court. A writer, soldier, politician, courtier, spy and explorer, Raleigh was one of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era.
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| John Everett Millais, The Boyhood of Raleigh (1871) |
English scientific philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon was born on January 22, 1561 at York House near the Strand in London to Sir Nicholas Bacon, who was Elizabeth I's Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. Bacon entered Trinity College, Cambridge aged 13 where his studies of science brought him to the conclusion that the methods (and thus the results) were erroneous. He later argued that science could be achieved by use of a skeptical and methodical approach Bacon also served as Attorney General and as Lord Chancellor of England.
English poet and cleric John Donne was born on January 22,. 1572 in London, the third of six children. His father, also named John Donne, was a warden of the Ironmongers Company in the City of London. As a young man, Donne was the foremost English metaphysical poet noted for his beautiful and witty lyrics. He later became a cleric in the Church of England and is known for his sermons. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London
The English romantic poet Lord Byron (birth name George Gordon) was born on January 22, 1788 at 24 Holles Street, London. He was addressed as The Right Honorable Lord Byron by strangers and as Byron (the title, not the name) by friends. No one ever called him George after he became Byron, not even his mother. As an English Romantic poet, he developed the persona of the "Byronic Hero": courageous, noble, and irresistibly attracted to women, whose flaws lead to his downfall.
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| George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, by Richard Westall |
For more January 22 anniversaries, including the death of Queen Victoria, the world's first "jumbo jet," and the Supreme Court decision in Roe v Wade, check out OnThatDay.
Claudia Augusta the only daughter of the Roman emperor Nero by Poppaea Sabina was born on January 21, 63. At the birth of Claudia, Nero honored mother and child with the title of Augusta. However, the child died three months later, meaning Nero was still with no heir. Her father was devastated and many believe this was the event that unhinged the emperor.
Claudia Augusta the only daughter of the Roman emperor Nero by Poppaea Sabina was born on January 21, 63. At the birth of Claudia, Nero honored mother and child with the title of Augusta. However, the child died three months later, meaning Nero was still with no heir. Her father was devastated and many believe this was the event that unhinged the emperor.
Russian mystic Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin was born a peasant in a small Siberian village along the Tura River called Pokrovskoye on January 21, 1869. Grigory's father was a good for nothing peasant with no regular occupation. He was nicknamed “Rasputin” (a derivation of the adjective “rasputny” meaning “loose living”) in keeping with his reputation and the name stuck.
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| Grigori Rasputin (1864-1916) |
Christian Dior was born in Granville, on the coast of Normandy, France on January 21, 1905 to Maurice Dior, a wealthy fertilizer manufacturer, and his wife, the former Isabelle Cardamone. In 1946 Dior founded the self-titled iconic fashion house. His first fashion collection, the long-skirted "new look" brought Dior worldwide fame and helped Paris regain its position as the capital of the fashion world as out went fashion rations and in came masses of material, designed to suit a curvy hour-glass figure.
For more January 21 anniversaries, including the marriage of James VI of Scotland (and later I of England) to Anne of Denmark, the publication of the first American novel and the first shop to be lit by electric light check out OnThatDay.
Charlotte Payne Townshend, George Bernard Shaw's wife, was born on January 20, 1857. In 1897 Charlotte Payne Townshend, an Anglo-Irish woman of wealth and socialist ideals, proposed that she and Shaw should marry. He declined but the following year, as a result of overwork, Shaw's health broke down and Charlotte insisted on nursing him in a house in the country, Shaw, concerned that this might cause scandal, agreed to their marriage.
Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Eugene Aldrin, Jr. was born on January 20, 1930 in Montclair, New Jersey. His "Buzz” name originated from one of his sisters pronouncing brother as "buzzer," which was later shortened to "Buzz.".Aldrin made it his legal first name in 1988. "Buzz" Aldrin’s mother’s maiden name was “Moon”.
Charlotte Payne Townshend, George Bernard Shaw's wife, was born on January 20, 1857. In 1897 Charlotte Payne Townshend, an Anglo-Irish woman of wealth and socialist ideals, proposed that she and Shaw should marry. He declined but the following year, as a result of overwork, Shaw's health broke down and Charlotte insisted on nursing him in a house in the country, Shaw, concerned that this might cause scandal, agreed to their marriage.
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| Aldrin in April 1969 |
For more January 20 anniversaries, including the summoning of England's first Parliament, the release of the first talkie movie to be filmed outdoors, and the marriage of Ronald Reagan to Jane Wyman, check out OnThatDay.
Francis II of France was born January 19, 1544 at the Château de Fontainebleau eleven years after the wedding of his parents' Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. When the Dauphin Francis was three, his father agreed to unite France and Scotland by marrying him to the Scottish Queen, Mary Queen of Scots. They wed at Notre Dame in Paris when Francis was 14. He ascended the throne of France a year later after the accidental death of his father.
Scottish engineer James Watt was born on January 19, 1736 in Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland. James was educated at home by his mother, later going on to attend Greenock Grammar School. Labelled dull and inept by his teachers, he only began to develop intellectually when he got into geometry at the age of 13. It is said James originally got the idea for a steam engine while still a boy watching steam lift the lid off his mother’s tea kettle.
Francis II of France was born January 19, 1544 at the Château de Fontainebleau eleven years after the wedding of his parents' Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. When the Dauphin Francis was three, his father agreed to unite France and Scotland by marrying him to the Scottish Queen, Mary Queen of Scots. They wed at Notre Dame in Paris when Francis was 14. He ascended the throne of France a year later after the accidental death of his father.
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| Francis II of France |
Scottish engineer James Watt was born on January 19, 1736 in Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland. James was educated at home by his mother, later going on to attend Greenock Grammar School. Labelled dull and inept by his teachers, he only began to develop intellectually when he got into geometry at the age of 13. It is said James originally got the idea for a steam engine while still a boy watching steam lift the lid off his mother’s tea kettle.
The writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. His parents were two touring vaudeville actors, David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins. Edgar was left an orphan when he was two and the wealthy Scottish merchant John Allan took him into his home in Richmond, Virginia. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, and is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He was the first well-known American to earn a living through writing alone.
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| Daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe |
Paul Cézanne was born on January 19, 1839 in Aix-en-Provence, in Provence in the South of France. Paul's father, Louis-Auguste Cézanne was the co-founder of a banking firm. Going against the objections of his banker father, Cézanne committed himself to pursuing his artistic development and left Aix for Paris in 1861. Louis-Auguste Cézanne's firm prospered throughout the artist's life, affording him financial security that was unavailable to most of his contemporaries.
For more January 19 anniversaries, including the premiere of the first part of Goethe's poetic play, Faust, the first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, and the release of the first computer virus, check out OnThatDay.
Daniel Webster was born on January 18, 1782 in Salisbury, New Hampshire, now part of the city of Franklin. Webster represented Massachusetts in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. He sat in the House of Representatives from 1813, and in the Senate from 1827. Webster turned down two offers to be vice president by William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor because he thought the office was a dead-end position. Both these presidents went on to die in office.
Daniel Webster was born on January 18, 1782 in Salisbury, New Hampshire, now part of the city of Franklin. Webster represented Massachusetts in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. He sat in the House of Representatives from 1813, and in the Senate from 1827. Webster turned down two offers to be vice president by William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor because he thought the office was a dead-end position. Both these presidents went on to die in office.
Oliver Hardy was born Norvell Hardy on January 18, 1892 in Harlem, Georgia, USA. He chose his father's first name calling himself Oliver Norvell Hardy during his career as a stage singer. Oliver Hardy's first onscreen appearance was in the 1914 comedy film, Outwitting Dad. Hardy was an accomplished actor by the time he teamed up with Stan Laurel in 1927 having featured in over 250 productions. As a team, Laurel and Hardy became famous for their slapstick comedy, appearing in 107 films.
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| Oliver Hardy |
Hollywood star Cary Grant was born Archibald Alexander Leach on January 18, 1904 in Bristol, England. He was the only surviving child of Elsie Leach (née Kingdon) and Elias Leach, an alcoholic pants presser. At the age of 16, he went to the US with the Pender Troupe as a stilt walker. After a series of successful performances in New York City, he decided to stay there and became an actor starring in such films as The Philadelphia Story, His Girl Friday, Notorious and North By Northwest.
The actor Kevin Costner was born in Lynwood, California on January 18, 1955 to Bill and Sharon Costner. Before hitting it big in the acting business Kevin Costner worked as a skipper on the ride, the Jungle Cruise, at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. His first film role was in the 1981 low-budget softcore film Sizzle Beach. Costner's best known movies include Field of Dreams, The Untouchables, Bull Durham and Dances with Wolves, the latter which he also directed and produced.
For more January 18 anniversaries, including the first ships carrying convicts from England arriving in Australia, the formal unification of Germany, and the marriage of Rudyard Kipling to Caroline "Carrie" Balestier, check out OnThatDay.
Boxing great Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17, 1942. He changed his name when he later joined the Black Muslim religious sect. His father Cassius Clay Sr. was a muralist, but painted signs for a living. His mother Odessa Clay worked as a house cleaner and a cook. Cassius Clay took an interest in boxing when his bike was stolen by local hoods.
Boxing great Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17, 1942. He changed his name when he later joined the Black Muslim religious sect. His father Cassius Clay Sr. was a muralist, but painted signs for a living. His mother Odessa Clay worked as a house cleaner and a cook. Cassius Clay took an interest in boxing when his bike was stolen by local hoods.
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| Ali in 1967 |
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey was born on January 17, 1962, in Ontario, Canada to Percy (an accountant and aspiring jazz saxophonist) and Kathleen. He is of French-Canadian ancestry on his father's side, and has French, Irish, and Scottish ancestry on his mother's side. His family's surname was originally "Carré". As a child, Jim Carrey used to wear his tap shoes to bed just in case his parents needed cheering up in the middle of the night.
Michelle Robinson Obama was born on January 17, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois. She grew up in a one-bedroom flat, sleeping in the living room with her brother. Michelle Obama graduated from Princeton and has a law degree from Harvard. At 5ft 11in, Michelle Obama is the joint tallest First Lady — sharing the honor with Eleanor Roosevelt and Melania Trump.
For more January 17 birthdays, including Benjamin Franklin, UK Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and Al Capone check out OnThatDay.
Bayinnaung Kyawhtin Nawrahta king of the Toungoo Dynasty of Burma was born on January 16, 1516. During his 31-year reign, Bayinnaung assembled the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, which included much of modern-day Burma, Chinese Shan states, Lan Na, Lan Xang, Manipur and Siam.
Bayinnaung Kyawhtin Nawrahta king of the Toungoo Dynasty of Burma was born on January 16, 1516. During his 31-year reign, Bayinnaung assembled the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, which included much of modern-day Burma, Chinese Shan states, Lan Na, Lan Xang, Manipur and Siam.
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| Statue of Bayinnaung in front of the National Museum. Author Phyo WP Wikipedia Commons |
American primatologist and conservationist Dian Fossey was born on January 16, 1932. In 1966, she began studying gorillas in the dense mountain forests of Rwanda, establishing the Karisoke Research Center. Fossey spent 18 years observing and interacting with gorillas, gaining their trust and becoming one of the first researchers to document their complex social behavior and family dynamics. Fossey's book, Gorillas in the Mist, and the subsequent film adaptation brought the plight of gorillas to the world's attention and raised awareness for their conservation.
For more January 16 anniversaries, including the first grammar of a modern European language, the crowning of Ivan IV of Russia, aka. Ivan the Terrible, and the opening of the first real American discotheque, check out OnThatDay.
French playwright Molière, was born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin on January 15, 1622 in Paris, the son of Jean Poquelin, a carpet shop owner and Marie Cressé, the daughter of a prosperous bourgeois family. At the age of 21, he joined the actress Madeleine Béjart and founded the Illustre Théâtre with 630 livres. It was at this time that he began to use the pseudonym Molière, probably to spare his father the shame of having an actor in the family.
French playwright Molière, was born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin on January 15, 1622 in Paris, the son of Jean Poquelin, a carpet shop owner and Marie Cressé, the daughter of a prosperous bourgeois family. At the age of 21, he joined the actress Madeleine Béjart and founded the Illustre Théâtre with 630 livres. It was at this time that he began to use the pseudonym Molière, probably to spare his father the shame of having an actor in the family.
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| Portrait of Molière painted at Avignon c. 1658, |
Charles Dickens’s son Francis was born on January 15, 1844. Francis Dickens joined the North-West Mounted Police as a Sub Inspector in Canada in 1874 shortly after the March West which brought the original police force of 300 members to the modern provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. He served at Fort Walsh, Fort Macleod and Fort Pitt, getting promoted to Inspector in 1880.
Dr. Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. His Baptist pastor father , Michael King Sr., was an early civil rights activist. He was a great influence in showing his son the importance of faith and family in holding together the Black community. Between 1955 and his assassination in 1968, Martin Luther King was the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement. He used civil disobedience to combat institutionalized racism, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi.
For more January 15 anniversaries, including the opening of the British Museum in London, the completion of the first building to be totally covered in glass, and the launch of Wikipedia, check out OnThatDay.
Roman general and politician Marcus Antonius, commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was born on January 14, 83 BC to a well-respected family. After Julius Caesar's assassination, he formed a three-man dictatorship with Caesar's nephew Octavian and Marcus Aernillius Lepicius. Mark Antony was assigned Rome's eastern territories, including the client kingdom of Egypt, then ruled by Cleopatra, with whom he had a famous romance.
American Matthew Maury, the Father of Modern Oceanography and Naval Meteorology, was born on January 14, 1806. He used Psalm 8 as a guide when he discovered ocean currents. In 1847, Maury published the Wind and Current Chart of the North Atlantic, which showed sailors how to use the ocean's currents and winds to their advantage and drastically reduced the length of ocean voyages.
Roman general and politician Marcus Antonius, commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was born on January 14, 83 BC to a well-respected family. After Julius Caesar's assassination, he formed a three-man dictatorship with Caesar's nephew Octavian and Marcus Aernillius Lepicius. Mark Antony was assigned Rome's eastern territories, including the client kingdom of Egypt, then ruled by Cleopatra, with whom he had a famous romance.
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| Flavian-era bust of Antony |
American Matthew Maury, the Father of Modern Oceanography and Naval Meteorology, was born on January 14, 1806. He used Psalm 8 as a guide when he discovered ocean currents. In 1847, Maury published the Wind and Current Chart of the North Atlantic, which showed sailors how to use the ocean's currents and winds to their advantage and drastically reduced the length of ocean voyages.
For more January 14 anniversaries, including the demonstration of the telephone to Queen Victoria, the premiere of Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca and the outlawing of the teaching of evolution in Tennessee, check out OnThatDay.
Actress and comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York City on January 13, 1961. Her French-born Jewish father, billionaire Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, chaired the Louis Dreyfus Company. She first gained recognition on Saturday Night Live, but Louis-Dreyfus' breakthrough came in 1989 with a nine-season run playing Elaine Benes on the NBC series Seinfeld. Other notable television roles include her role as the lead character Selina Meyer in Veep, which ran for seven seasons on HBO.
Actress and comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus was born in New York City on January 13, 1961. Her French-born Jewish father, billionaire Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, chaired the Louis Dreyfus Company. She first gained recognition on Saturday Night Live, but Louis-Dreyfus' breakthrough came in 1989 with a nine-season run playing Elaine Benes on the NBC series Seinfeld. Other notable television roles include her role as the lead character Selina Meyer in Veep, which ran for seven seasons on HBO.
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| Louis-Dreyfus in 2007 By Albert Domasin from Los Angeles |
For more January 13 anniversaries, including the ordination of Jonathan Swift, the manufacture of the first batch of dynamite and the first public radio broadcast, check out OnThatDay.
The Irish statesman, political theorist and philosopher Edmund Burke was born on January 12, 1729 in Dublin, Ireland, to a prosperous solicitor, Richard Burke. In 1744, Burke went to Trinity College, Dublin and, in 1747, set up a debating society, "Edmund Burke's Club", which, in 1770, merged with the college's Historical Club to form the College Historical Society, now the oldest undergraduate society in the world.
Nazi leader Hermann Göring was born on January 12, 1893 in Rosenheim, Bavaria. During World War I Goring became a renowned fighter pilot and in 1918, after he shot his nineteenth plane, he was awarded the coveted Pour le Mérite, the highest airforce award in Germany. He clocked up 22 kills in total during the war. Despite his bravery and numerous victories, Göring wasn’t popular with the other pilots, seemingly due to his arrogance.
The Irish statesman, political theorist and philosopher Edmund Burke was born on January 12, 1729 in Dublin, Ireland, to a prosperous solicitor, Richard Burke. In 1744, Burke went to Trinity College, Dublin and, in 1747, set up a debating society, "Edmund Burke's Club", which, in 1770, merged with the college's Historical Club to form the College Historical Society, now the oldest undergraduate society in the world.
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| Portrait by Joshua Reynolds, c. 1769 |
Nazi leader Hermann Göring was born on January 12, 1893 in Rosenheim, Bavaria. During World War I Goring became a renowned fighter pilot and in 1918, after he shot his nineteenth plane, he was awarded the coveted Pour le Mérite, the highest airforce award in Germany. He clocked up 22 kills in total during the war. Despite his bravery and numerous victories, Göring wasn’t popular with the other pilots, seemingly due to his arrogance.
The Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was born Mahesh Prasad Varma on January 12, 1918. After spending two years in silence in the Himalayan foothills, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi traveled to the USA in 1959 obeying the commission of his spiritual mentor, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, who was called "Guru Dev." There he started to teach a basic silent mantra meditation technique, called Transcendental Meditation, which was taken from the ancient Vedic tradition.
For more January 12 anniversaries, including the first public museum in America, the first ever sitcom and the marriage of Howard Hughes to Jean Peters, check out OnThatDay.
Theodosius I, also called Theodosius the Great, was born in Hispania (now Spain) on January 11, 347. The son of a military officer, Flavius Theodosius was raised in a Christian family and baptized in 380. A Roman Emperor from 379 to 395, he was the prime mover of imperial Christianity during its early period as a privileged religion and the last of the great Roman emperors.
Theodosius I, also called Theodosius the Great, was born in Hispania (now Spain) on January 11, 347. The son of a military officer, Flavius Theodosius was raised in a Christian family and baptized in 380. A Roman Emperor from 379 to 395, he was the prime mover of imperial Christianity during its early period as a privileged religion and the last of the great Roman emperors.
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| Nummus of Theodosius I Photographed by: York Museums Trust Staff |
Aerospace engineer Edward A. Murphy Jr. was born on January 11, 1918. Murphy's Law, an adage about accidents that is typically stated as, 'Anything that can go wrong will go wrong,' is named after him. It is a misinterpretation of his statement "If there's more than one way to do a job, and one of those ways will result in disaster, then he [his assistant] will do it that way."
Leonard Skinner, a high school gym teacher and basketball coach from Jacksonville, Florida, was born on January 11, 1933. The rock music group Lynyrd Skynyrd is named after Skinner because of his strict enforcement of a policy against students wearing long hair.
For more January 11 anniversaries, including the founding of America's first ever life insurance company, the marriage of George Stephenson to Ellen Gregory, and the first use of X-rays under clinical conditions check out OnThatDay.
Italian priest-biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani was born on January 10, 1729. The experiments of Lazzaro Spallanzani showed that semen is necessary for fertilization. Spallanzani discovered and described mammal reproduction, showing that it requires both semen and an ovum. He was the first to perform in vitro fertilization, with frogs, and an artificial insemination, using a dog.
Italian priest-biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani was born on January 10, 1729. The experiments of Lazzaro Spallanzani showed that semen is necessary for fertilization. Spallanzani discovered and described mammal reproduction, showing that it requires both semen and an ovum. He was the first to perform in vitro fertilization, with frogs, and an artificial insemination, using a dog.
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| Spallanzani |
For more January 10 anniversaries, including the publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense pamphlet, the strongest extra-tropical cyclone ever recorded in the North Atlantic and the death of David Bowie, check out OnThatDay.
Rebecca Bryan, the wife of pioneer Daniel Boone, was born on January 9, 1739. They married in Yadkin River, North Carolina on August 14, 1756. Rebecca was nearly as tall as her husband and was very attractive with black hair and dark eyes.
Rebecca Bryan, the wife of pioneer Daniel Boone, was born on January 9, 1739. They married in Yadkin River, North Carolina on August 14, 1756. Rebecca was nearly as tall as her husband and was very attractive with black hair and dark eyes.
The Spanish Roman Catholic priest Josemaría Escrivá, founder of The Opus Dei, was born on January 9, 1902. Following a prayerful retreat in which he saw a vision, Josemaría Escrivá founded The Opus Dei (Work of God) organization in 1928 in Madrid, Spain. Escrivá intended the group to be a collection of secular priests and lay people with each member dedicating their life to God but retaining the freedom and responsibility of their worldly lives.
Richard Nixon was born on January 9, 1913 in Yorba Linda, California to Francis "Frank" Anthony Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon. He was named after the medieval English king Richard the Lionheart. His mother was a devout Quaker and Richard's upbringing was marked by Quaker observances of the time, such as refraining from alcohol, dancing, and swearing. Herbert Hoover was the only other United States President to belong to the Quaker faith.
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| Nixon at Whittier High School in 1930. |
Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge was born Kate Middleton in Reading, Berkshire, England on January 9, 1982. Her parents became self-made millionaires after launching a successful party supply store. As a young child, Kate performed in a play in which she portrayed a young lady wooed by a young, handsome blond prince named William. It was at St Andrews where Kate Middleton first met Prince William when she tool part in a university fashion show in 2002. They married nine years later.
For more January 9 anniversaries, including the first modern circus, the first successful balloon flight in the United States and the launch of iTunes, check out OnThatDay.
Elvis Aron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in the Mississippi city of Tupelo. Elvis was actually one half of a set of twins. His twin brother, later named Jesse Garon Presley, died during birth, which was not terribly uncommon for a family in 1935 Mississippi. With no other siblings, Elvis was raised an only child. Known as "The King of Rock n' Roll," he rose to prominence in the late 1950s to become the best-selling solo music artist of all time.
Elvis Aron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in the Mississippi city of Tupelo. Elvis was actually one half of a set of twins. His twin brother, later named Jesse Garon Presley, died during birth, which was not terribly uncommon for a family in 1935 Mississippi. With no other siblings, Elvis was raised an only child. Known as "The King of Rock n' Roll," he rose to prominence in the late 1950s to become the best-selling solo music artist of all time.
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| Presley in a publicity photograph for the 1957 film Jailhouse Rock |
The physicist Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, which was 300 years to the day after Galileo died. Hawking suffered from a rare early-onset, slow-progressing form of motor neuron disease that gradually paralyzed him over the decades. For much of his life, he communicated using a single cheek muscle attached to a speech-generating device.
The influential rock musician David Bowie was born David Robert Jones in Brixton, London, on January 8, 1947 to Margaret Mary "Peggy" Jones, a cinema usherette, and Haywood Stenton "John" Jones, a publicity director for an orphanage. David Bowie's first TV appearance was in November 1964, when, aged 17, he gave an interview on BBC's Tonight show as spokesman for The Society For The Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Boys.
For more January 8 anniversaries, including the death of Galileo Galilei, the last person in UK to be executed for blasphemy, and the christening of the largest ocean liner ever built, check out OnThatDay.
Bernadeta Soubirous (Saint Bernadette) was born in Lourdes, France on January 7, 1844. Her parents were François Soubirous, a poor miller with no regular employment, and Louise (née Castérot) a laundress. Bernadette did farm work, notably sheep herding, for a family friend in nearby Bartres, and also waited tables in her Aunt Bernarde's tavern. Bernadette had the first of several visions of the Virgin Mary in a grotto when she was 14.
Bernadeta Soubirous (Saint Bernadette) was born in Lourdes, France on January 7, 1844. Her parents were François Soubirous, a poor miller with no regular employment, and Louise (née Castérot) a laundress. Bernadette did farm work, notably sheep herding, for a family friend in nearby Bartres, and also waited tables in her Aunt Bernarde's tavern. Bernadette had the first of several visions of the Virgin Mary in a grotto when she was 14.
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| Bernadette Soubirous when a child. |
The first person born in Antarctica was Emilio Marcos Palma of Argentina on January 7, 1978. He was born in Fortín Sargento Cabral at the Esperanza Base near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and weighed 3.4 kg (7 lb 8 oz). His father, Captain Jorge Emilio Palma, was head of the Argentine army detachment at the base.
For more January 7 anniversaries, including Galileo observations with his telescope of Jupiter's four largest moons. the opening of the first American commercial bank, and the invention of the first motion picture film, check out OnThatDay.
King Richard II of England was born on January 6, 1367 in Bordeaux, France, during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III. He was the son of Edward, the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan of Kent, "The Fair Maid of Kent." Richard became his father's successor when his elder brother died in infancy. His father died before him, so he became king in 1377, when he was just 10 years old. Richard was deposed in 1399 by Henry of Bolingbroke (Henry IV), taken prisoner and died in captivity later that year.
King Richard II of England was born on January 6, 1367 in Bordeaux, France, during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III. He was the son of Edward, the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan of Kent, "The Fair Maid of Kent." Richard became his father's successor when his elder brother died in infancy. His father died before him, so he became king in 1377, when he was just 10 years old. Richard was deposed in 1399 by Henry of Bolingbroke (Henry IV), taken prisoner and died in captivity later that year.
Joan of Arc was born on January 6, 1412 in the village of Domrémy, in East France. Joan's father was Jacques D'Arc a well to do but illiterate, peasant farmer. Joan worked in harvest fields and guarded the animals at pasture. After a divine vision, she disguised herself as a man and led the French army to several victories during the Hundred Years' War. After being captured by the Burgundians, the 19-year-old Joan was burned at the stake for heresy. She was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920.
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| Joan of Arc |
For more January 6 anniversaries, including the marriages of George Washington to Martha Dandridge Custis, and Albert Einstein to Mileva Marić, Samuel Morse's first demonstration of his telegraph system, and the death of Theodore Roosevelt, check out OnThatDay.
King Camp Gillette was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on January 5, 1855 and brought up in Chicago. After working for several years as a traveling salesman for a hardware company, Gillette decided he wanted to invent something disposable that would be in constant demand. After years of experimentation he developed a disposable steel blade and razor. He established the Gillette Safety Razor Company in 1901.
King Camp Gillette was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on January 5, 1855 and brought up in Chicago. After working for several years as a traveling salesman for a hardware company, Gillette decided he wanted to invent something disposable that would be in constant demand. After years of experimentation he developed a disposable steel blade and razor. He established the Gillette Safety Razor Company in 1901.
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| King Camp Gillette |
Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt, Britain’s first woman racing driver, was born on January 5, 1882. In 1909 Levittt advised female drivers to use a hand mirror to see the road behind them — thus inventing the rear-view mirror — and also carry a handgun if they were travelling alone. Dorothy Levitt taught Queen Alexandra and the Royal Princesses how to drive.
For more January 5 anniversaries, including the first British North American colony to declare its independence, the publication of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and the first one-day cricket international, check out OnThatDay.
Louis Braille was born near Paris on January 4, 1809. Despite having been warned not to play with his father's tools, young Louis picked up a sharp knife and tried to cut a piece of leather. The blade slipped, gouging one of his eyes. The wound became dangerously infected. which spread to his good eye leaving him blind aged 3. Louis received a scholarship to France's Royal Institute for Blind Youth and while still a student there, he developed a system of reading and writing for use by the blind or visually impaired.
Louis Braille was born near Paris on January 4, 1809. Despite having been warned not to play with his father's tools, young Louis picked up a sharp knife and tried to cut a piece of leather. The blade slipped, gouging one of his eyes. The wound became dangerously infected. which spread to his good eye leaving him blind aged 3. Louis received a scholarship to France's Royal Institute for Blind Youth and while still a student there, he developed a system of reading and writing for use by the blind or visually impaired.
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| By Son of Groucho from Scotland - Braille's memorial in the Panthéon |
For more January 4 anniversaries, including the admission of Utah as the 45th U.S. state, the publication of Billboard's first music chart, and Burma's independence from the United Kingdom check out OnThatDay.
Clement Attlee, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, was born in Putney, London on January 3, 1883 to Henry Attlee, a solicitor, and Ellen Bravery Watson. His Labour government carried out their manifesto commitment for nationalization of basic industries and public utilities. By 1951 about 20% of the British economy had been taken into public ownership. They also presided over the decolonization of a large part of the British Empire including India and Pakistan.
Clement Attlee, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, was born in Putney, London on January 3, 1883 to Henry Attlee, a solicitor, and Ellen Bravery Watson. His Labour government carried out their manifesto commitment for nationalization of basic industries and public utilities. By 1951 about 20% of the British economy had been taken into public ownership. They also presided over the decolonization of a large part of the British Empire including India and Pakistan.
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| Portrait by George Harcourt 1946 |
Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit author J. R. R. Tolkien was born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien on January 3, 1892. He was known to his family as Ronald. John came from his grandfather and great-grandfather, and Reuel was his father's middle name. By the age of 16, he'd lost both parents. A catholic priest, Father Francis Morgan, took over his upbringing.
The oldest conjoined twins ever (female) Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova were born January 3, 1950 in the Soviet Union and lived 53 years and 104 days. Masha and Dasha were a rare form of conjoined twins - two heads, four arms and two legs.
German race driver Michael Schumacher was born in Hürth, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on January 3, 1969 to Rolf Schumacher, and his wife Elisabeth. When Schumacher was four, his father attached a motorcycle engine to his pedal kart. The contraption didn’t work so well and Michael crashed it into a lamp post, however he started getting interest in motor sport from that time.
For more January 3 anniversaries, including the patenting of the first paraffin-covered paper drinking straw, the incorporation of Apple Inc and the creation of the bitcoin cryptocurrency network, check out OnThatDay.
British Army officer James Wolfe was born at the local vicarage on January 2, 1727 at Westerham, Kent to Colonel (later Lieutenant General) Edward Wolfe, and the former Henrietta Thompson. James Wolfe first entered military service at age thirteen, when he joined his father's Marine regiment. He fought in the War of Austrian Succession and the Jacobite uprising, and after being promoted to Brigadier General, he played an important part in securing Great Britain's victory in the Seven Years War.
British Army officer James Wolfe was born at the local vicarage on January 2, 1727 at Westerham, Kent to Colonel (later Lieutenant General) Edward Wolfe, and the former Henrietta Thompson. James Wolfe first entered military service at age thirteen, when he joined his father's Marine regiment. He fought in the War of Austrian Succession and the Jacobite uprising, and after being promoted to Brigadier General, he played an important part in securing Great Britain's victory in the Seven Years War.
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Joseph
Highmore: Portrait of Major-General James Wolfe |
Isaac Asimov was born in Russia to a Jewish family on January 2, 1920. He was taken to the United States when he was three, and learnt English and Yiddish as his native languages. Asimov wrote or edited more than 500 books during his lifetime. He is best known for his science fiction novels, which have influenced science-fiction on television and in the cinema
For more January 2 anniversaries, including the marriage of Lord Byron to Annabella Milbanke, the premiere of Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman opera and the first Christian service to be broadcast on radio, check out OnThatDay.
Paul Revere was born on January 1, 1734. Revere acquired a reputation as a designer and maker of elegant silverware; his finely wrought tankards, bowls, and pitchers were much prized, and his tea sets served the Boston aristocracy for a century. However, he is best known for his midnight ride to alert the colonial militia in April 1775 to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord.
Paul Revere was born on January 1, 1734. Revere acquired a reputation as a designer and maker of elegant silverware; his finely wrought tankards, bowls, and pitchers were much prized, and his tea sets served the Boston aristocracy for a century. However, he is best known for his midnight ride to alert the colonial militia in April 1775 to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord.
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| J S Copley - Paul Revere |
For more January 1 anniversaries, including the creation of The City of Greater New York, the beginning of the Pentecostal movement and the marriage of Bill Gates to Melinda French check out OnThatDay.
Charles Edward Stuart (‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’), the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England, Scotland, France and Ireland was born in the Palazzo Muti, Rome on December 31, 1720. His father, Prince James Stuart the old pretender, had been given the residence by Pope Clement XI. Charles' grandfather was James II of England. Bonnie Prince Charlie is best remembered for his role in the 1745 rising; his defeat at Culloden in April 1746 effectively ended the Stuart cause.
Charles Edward Stuart (‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’), the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England, Scotland, France and Ireland was born in the Palazzo Muti, Rome on December 31, 1720. His father, Prince James Stuart the old pretender, had been given the residence by Pope Clement XI. Charles' grandfather was James II of England. Bonnie Prince Charlie is best remembered for his role in the 1745 rising; his defeat at Culloden in April 1746 effectively ended the Stuart cause.
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| Prince Charles Edward Stuart by Louis Tocqué |
The author J. D. Salinger was born Jerome David Salinger in Manhattan, New York on January 1, 1919. While taking night classes at Columbia University, he met Whit Burnett, a professor who also edited magazine. Burnett told Salinger that his stories were skilful and accomplished, accepting The Young Folks, a vignette about several aimless youths, for publication in Story. His novel The Catcher in the Rye about a disaffected teenager named Holden Cauldfield was published in 1951 and became an immediate popular success.
Cosmetic pioneer Elizabeth Arden was born in Canada on December 31, 1881 where her parents had emigrated from Cornwall. Her real name was Florence Nightingale Graham. With her rival Helena Rubinstein, Arden made makeup acceptable to "respectable" American women, to whom Arden introduced eye shadow, mascara, and lipstick tinted to match their outfits.
For more December 31 anniversaries, including the first Time Square New Year's Eve Ball, the world’s first breath tests and the marriage of Gregory Peck to Greta Kukkonen, check out OnThatDay.
Author and poet Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865 in Bombay (now Mumbai), in British India. He was named after Rudyard Lake, a reservoir in Staffordshire in the English Midlands, which was the place where his parents first met. His most successful novel Kim (1901) has an Indian setting, as do his collection of short stories written for children, Jungle Book (1894). In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the first English-language writer to receive the prize.
Author and poet Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865 in Bombay (now Mumbai), in British India. He was named after Rudyard Lake, a reservoir in Staffordshire in the English Midlands, which was the place where his parents first met. His most successful novel Kim (1901) has an Indian setting, as do his collection of short stories written for children, Jungle Book (1894). In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the first English-language writer to receive the prize.
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| Kipling with his father circa 1890 |
Bill Haast, the director of the Miami Serpentarium Laboratories, was born on December 30, 1910. He founded the Miami Serpentarium in 1947, where he extracted venom from snakes in front of paying customers. Haast had been bitten 172 times by the time he reached the age of 97 and his blood was used to save 21 snakebite victims.
Chinese chemist and pharmacist Tu Youyou was born on December 30, 1930. Tu Youyou, a woman with no medical degree, anonymously found the cure for Plasmodium falciparum malaria in 1977—38 years later, she was given the Nobel Prize. Tu says she was influenced by a traditional Chinese herbal medicine source, The Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency Treatments, written in 340 by Ge Hong.
Tiger Woods was born Eldrick Tont Woods on December 30, 1975 in Cypress, California, to Earl and Kultida "Tida" Woods. He was nicknamed "Tiger" by his father after an old Vietnam War friend called "Tiger" Vuong Dang Phong. Woods started playing golf aged two under the tutelage of his father, who was one of Kansas State University's first African-American college baseball players. The youngest player to complete the PGA Career Grand Slam, Woods has won 15 majors, including 5 Masters Tournaments.
For more December 30 anniversaries, including the marriages of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Godwin, Rutherford B. Hayes and Lucy Webb, John Philip Sousa and Jane van Middlesworth Bellis, Al Capone and Mary ("Mae") Coughlin and Angela Merkel and Joachim Sauer, check out OnThatDay.
Scottish chemist Charles Macintosh was born on December 29, 1766. In 1823 he came up with a method of producing waterproof cloth by binding together two layers of fabric with india rubber dissolved in naphtha. He used the waterproof cloth to make the first ever raincoats.
Scottish chemist Charles Macintosh was born on December 29, 1766. In 1823 he came up with a method of producing waterproof cloth by binding together two layers of fabric with india rubber dissolved in naphtha. He used the waterproof cloth to make the first ever raincoats.
Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, was born in a log cabin in Raleigh, North Carolina, on December 29, 1808, to town constable Jacob Johnson and Mary ("Polly") McDonough. The only U.S. president never to have gone to school, Andrew Johnson was later taught to read by his wife, Eliza McCardle Johnson. A Democrat, as president he was continually conflicting with the Republican-dominated Congress, culminating in his impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1868.
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| President Andrew Johnson |
William Gladstone was born on December 29, 1809 at 62 Rodney Street, Liverpool. He served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four terms beginning in 1868 and ending in 1894. Although Gladstone was born and brought up in Liverpool, and always retained a touch of Lancashire accent, he was of Scottish descent on both of his parents' sides.
For more December 29 anniversaries, including the installation of gas lighting in the White House, the last major conflict between U.S. military forces and Native Americans and the publication of James Joyce's novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, check out OnThatDay.
The 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, was born in Staunton, Virginia, on December 28, 1856. "Woodrow" was his middle name. His first name was Thomas. In 1885, he obtained a Ph.D. in history and political science at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Wilson was the only US President to hold a doctorate degree, making him the highest educated head of state in American history.
Elizabeth Carr, the first American test-tube baby, was born at 7:46 am on December 28, 1981. She came into this world two and a half years after the world’s first test tube baby, Oldham, England-born Louise Brown. Elizabeth was delivered at Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, weighing 5 pounds 12 ounces. She is now a journalist.
The 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, was born in Staunton, Virginia, on December 28, 1856. "Woodrow" was his middle name. His first name was Thomas. In 1885, he obtained a Ph.D. in history and political science at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Wilson was the only US President to hold a doctorate degree, making him the highest educated head of state in American history.
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| Wilson c. mid-1870s |
Elizabeth Carr, the first American test-tube baby, was born at 7:46 am on December 28, 1981. She came into this world two and a half years after the world’s first test tube baby, Oldham, England-born Louise Brown. Elizabeth was delivered at Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, weighing 5 pounds 12 ounces. She is now a journalist.
For more December 28 anniversaries, including the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, Iowa becoming the 29th US state and the first ice hockey player to score 8 points in one NHL game, check out OnThatDay.
German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, at the Free Imperial City of Weil der Stadt (50 miles west of Stuttgart). Johannes was introduced to astronomy at an early age, and observed at the age of six the Great Comet of 1577. Today Kepler is best known for his laws of planetary motion, his fundamental work in the field of optics, and his improved version of the refracting telescope.
German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, at the Free Imperial City of Weil der Stadt (50 miles west of Stuttgart). Johannes was introduced to astronomy at an early age, and observed at the age of six the Great Comet of 1577. Today Kepler is best known for his laws of planetary motion, his fundamental work in the field of optics, and his improved version of the refracting telescope.
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| Johannes Kepler |
Oscar Wilde's mother, Lady Jane Wilde, was born on December 27, 1821. A revolutionary poet under the pen name "Speranza" and authority on Celtic folklore, Lady Wilde read the Young Irelanders' poetry to Oscar and his brother Willie, inculcating a love of these poets in her sons. Oscar adored his mother, who was heartbroken when her son was imprisoned. She refused to leave her house and died when he was in jail.
French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822, in Dole, Jura, in the French Jura mountains. Louis' childhood was spent among the vineyard covered slopes of the Jura mountains. His chief interest and talent lay in painting and he also enjoyed fishing. Pasteur is remembered today for his breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of diseases, including the creation of the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax and his discoveries of the principles of microbial fermentation and pasteurization.
Marlene Dietrich was born on December 27, 1901 in Leberstrasse 65 on the Rote Insel in Schöneberg, now a district of Berlin, Germany. She is considered to have been the first German actress to become successful in Hollywood. Her big break came in 1930, when she was cast in The Blue Angel as Lola-Lola, a cabaret singer.
For more December 27 anniversaries, including the departure of The Beagle with Charles Darwin on board, the premiere of J.M. Barrie's play Peter Pan and the brightest extrasolar event known to have been witnessed on Earth, check out OnThatDay.
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, was born in Iesi, near Ancona, Italy on December 26, 1194 to the emperor Henry VI and forty-year-old Constance of Sicily. King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220, he spoke six languages (Latin, Sicilian, Middle High German, Langues d'oïl, Greek and Arabic. Frederick was an avid patron of science and the arts and is often considered the most cultured man of his age. He was also the first king to formally outlaw trial by ordeal, which had come to be viewed as superstitious.
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, was born in Iesi, near Ancona, Italy on December 26, 1194 to the emperor Henry VI and forty-year-old Constance of Sicily. King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220, he spoke six languages (Latin, Sicilian, Middle High German, Langues d'oïl, Greek and Arabic. Frederick was an avid patron of science and the arts and is often considered the most cultured man of his age. He was also the first king to formally outlaw trial by ordeal, which had come to be viewed as superstitious.
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| The birth of Frederick II |
Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong was born on December 26, 1893 in the village of Shaoshan village, in Xiangtan county, Hunan province. in South China. The eldest son of four children, his father, Mao Yichang, was a a grasping money lender and middle class peasant farmer who through hard work and peasant shrewdness had grown comparatively prosperous. The chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949, Mao Zedong's rule is estimated to have caused the deaths of approximately 70 million people.
For more December 26 anniversaries, including the first performance of Shakespeare's King Lear, the first ever inter-club football match and the debut of the world's first full-length feature movie, check out OnThatDay.
When the Roman Emperor Augustus issued a decree that a census be taken of the entire Roman world in around 5BC, a carpenter called Joseph was forced to register in his hometown of Bethlehem. He was accompanied by his young pregnant fiancé, Mary, whose baby had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. The baby was named Jesus meaning "Yahweh is salvation". He was born inauspiciously in a cave in Bethlehem thus fulfilling a prophecy in the Jewish sacred book of Micah, and laid in an animal's feeding trough. Although the month and date of Jesus' birth are unknown, the church in the early fourth century fixed the date as December 25.
When the Roman Emperor Augustus issued a decree that a census be taken of the entire Roman world in around 5BC, a carpenter called Joseph was forced to register in his hometown of Bethlehem. He was accompanied by his young pregnant fiancé, Mary, whose baby had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. The baby was named Jesus meaning "Yahweh is salvation". He was born inauspiciously in a cave in Bethlehem thus fulfilling a prophecy in the Jewish sacred book of Micah, and laid in an animal's feeding trough. Although the month and date of Jesus' birth are unknown, the church in the early fourth century fixed the date as December 25.
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| "Adoration of the Shepherds" by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622 Wikipedia Commons |
Isaac Newton was born on Christmas Day, December 25. 1642. Isaac was born at Woolsthorpe House, near the hamlet of Colstenworth in Lincolnshire. He was born prematurely. Isaac wasn't expected to live beyond a few hours, but proved everyone wrong in style. One of the most influential scientists of all time, Newton formulated the three basic laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation. Newton also made seminal contributions to optics, and shares credit for developing the infinitesimal calculus.
American nurse and humanitarian Clara Barton was born on December 25, 1821. Clara Barton was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War. She later became involved with the International Red Cross while visiting Europe. In 1881 she founded the American Red Cross. She was noteworthy for doing humanitarian work at a time when relatively few women worked outside the home.
For more December 25 births, including William Wordsworth's sister Dorothy, cosmetics entrepreneur Helena Rubinstein and Hollywood actor Humphrey Bogart check out OnThatDay.
King John of England was born on December 24, 1167 at Beaumont Palace, which had been built outside the north gate of Oxford to serve as a royal palace conveniently close to the royal hunting-lodge at Woodstock. John was born to Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was his father's favorite son, though as the youngest, he could expect no inheritance (hence his nickname, "Lackland"). However, the deaths of his older brothers left John in a position to become King of England.
King John of England was born on December 24, 1167 at Beaumont Palace, which had been built outside the north gate of Oxford to serve as a royal palace conveniently close to the royal hunting-lodge at Woodstock. John was born to Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was his father's favorite son, though as the youngest, he could expect no inheritance (hence his nickname, "Lackland"). However, the deaths of his older brothers left John in a position to become King of England.
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| King John Wikipedia |
American filmmaker, businessman and pilot Howard Hughes was born in Humble, Texas on December 24, 1905 to a rich family, As a boy, Howard showed an ability to build things with wires and scraps of metal. He first became prominent as a film producer, and then as an influential figure in the aviation industry. Hughes spent the last ten years of his life as a recluse living in hotels in many cities, always taking up residence in the top floor penthouse.
For more December 24 anniversaries, including the founding of Nashville, the marriage of Sir Walter Scott to Charlotte Margaret Carpenter and the first performance of "Silent Night." check out OnThatDay.
Joseph Smith Jr, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was born on December 23, 1805. The son of a Vermont farmer, Joseph Smith, Jr claimed that at the age of 14, while praying in a wooded area near his home, he was confronted by two heavenly messengers. The angels told Smith not to join any existing churches because all taught incorrect doctrines. The true church, he was informed, is not yet present on earth.
Joseph Smith Jr, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was born on December 23, 1805. The son of a Vermont farmer, Joseph Smith, Jr claimed that at the age of 14, while praying in a wooded area near his home, he was confronted by two heavenly messengers. The angels told Smith not to join any existing churches because all taught incorrect doctrines. The true church, he was informed, is not yet present on earth.
American entrepreneur and philanthropist Sarah Breedlove, known as Madam C. J. Walker, was born on December 23, 1867. Madam C. J. Walker is regarded as the first female self-made millionaire in America. She made her fortune by developing and marketing a successful line of beauty and hair products for black women under the company she founded, Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company.
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| Madame CJ Walker |
For more December 23 anniversaries, including the UK’s first beauty contest, Bell Lab's secret demonstration of the transistor and the first successful kidney transplants between living patients check out OnThatDay.
Spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. Guru Gobind Singh was born on December 22, 1666. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was beheaded in 1675, Gobind Singh was formally installed as the leader of the Sikhs at the age of nine. Sikhism took on a distinct identity in 1699, when Guru Gobind Singh founded the Sikh warrior community called Khalsa. Guru Gobind Singh's other notable contributions to Sikhism also include introducing the Five Ks, the five articles of faith that Khalsa Sikhs wear at all times.
Spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. Guru Gobind Singh was born on December 22, 1666. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was beheaded in 1675, Gobind Singh was formally installed as the leader of the Sikhs at the age of nine. Sikhism took on a distinct identity in 1699, when Guru Gobind Singh founded the Sikh warrior community called Khalsa. Guru Gobind Singh's other notable contributions to Sikhism also include introducing the Five Ks, the five articles of faith that Khalsa Sikhs wear at all times.
Italian composer Giacomo Puccini was born on December 22, 1858, in Lucca, Tuscany, one of nine children. The heads of his family for four generations had been professional musicians and Giacomo was chosen to carry on the Puccini musical tradition. Considered second only to Giuseppe Verdi as an Italian opera composer in his day. Puccini's most renowned works are La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904) and Turandot (1924).
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| Giacomo Puccini |
A baby gorilla named Colo entered the world at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio on December 22, 1956 becoming the first-ever gorilla born in captivity. Her name was a combination of Columbus and Ohio. Weighing in at approximately 4 pounds, Colo, a western lowland gorilla, was the daughter of Millie and Mac, two gorillas captured in French Cameroon, who were brought to the Columbus Zoo in 1951.
For more December 22 anniversaries, including Fred Astaire's first big screen dance with Ginger Rogers, the opening of the Lincoln Tunnel and the marriage of Madonna to film director Guy Ritchie check out OnThatDay
Saint Thomas Becket was born in Cheapside, London on December 21, 1119 (or 1120 according to later tradition.) He came from relatively humble origins, his father, Gilbert Beckett, meaning "Little Beak", was part of a Norman family of knights, who originally came from Rouen in France. He was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170.
Saint Thomas Becket was born in Cheapside, London on December 21, 1119 (or 1120 according to later tradition.) He came from relatively humble origins, his father, Gilbert Beckett, meaning "Little Beak", was part of a Norman family of knights, who originally came from Rouen in France. He was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170.
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| 14th-century depiction of Becket with King Henry II Wikipedia Commons |
Benjamin Disraeli was born on December 21, 1804 at 22 Theobalds Road, London. His family was a prosperous Sephardic family connected in the London literary world. Before attaining political power, he wrote a number of novels, of which the best known are the romances, Sybil and Vivian Grey. Disraeli twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies and its broad outreach.
The actress Jane Fonda was born December 21, 1937. She is the daughter of Henry Fonda, the sister of Peter Fonda and aunt of Bridget Fonda - all of whom were/are actors. Fonda won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice in the 1970s; Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978). Her other memorable film roles include Cat Ballou, Barefoot in the Park, Julia, The China Syndrome and On Golden Pond. She is also known for vocalizing her opposition to the Vietnam war and her Jane Fonda's Workout video series.
Chinese opera singer and spy, Shi Pei Pu, was born on December 21, 1938. He masqueraded as a woman and used a 20 year long sexual affair with a French diplomat to steal intelligence. Pu even purchased a child and convinced the diplomat it was his.
For more December 21 anniversaries, including the invention of basketball, the discovery of radium and the first human voice to be transmitted by radio, check out OnThatDay.
The English music hall star Dan Leno was born on December 20, 1860. He was best known for his dame roles in the annual pantomimes that were popular at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, from 1888 to 1904. He was paid £200 for each of the pantomime seasons. Leno later became known as ‘the King’s Jester’ after entertaining Edward VII at Sandringham.
The English music hall star Dan Leno was born on December 20, 1860. He was best known for his dame roles in the annual pantomimes that were popular at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, from 1888 to 1904. He was paid £200 for each of the pantomime seasons. Leno later became known as ‘the King’s Jester’ after entertaining Edward VII at Sandringham.
Maria Skobtsova was born Elizaveta Pilenko on December 20, 1891 in Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire. A Russian noblewoman, poet and nun, Mother Maria devoted her life to the poor. As a member of the French Resistance during World War II, her convent became a haven for persecuted Jewish women and children. Money poured in to help them to flee from France and hundreds escaped. She died in the terrible Ravensbruck concentration camp and was canonized a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
For more December 20 anniversaries, including the death of Martin Luther's wife Katharina von Bora, the publication of Grimm's Fairy Tales and the release of It's a Wonderful Life, check out OnThatDay.
Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, the eldest child of Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette, was born at Versailles December 19, 1778. Marie-Antoinette was forced to endure the humiliation of a public birth in her Bedchamber, in front of hundreds of courtiers. The Queen actually passed out through a combination of embarrassment and pain. It was the last time such a ritual was permitted as Marie-Antoinette refused to give birth in public ever again. Marie Thérèse was allowed to leave France once the Terror was over, on the eve of her seventeenth birthday and she lived to the age of 72.
Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, the eldest child of Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette, was born at Versailles December 19, 1778. Marie-Antoinette was forced to endure the humiliation of a public birth in her Bedchamber, in front of hundreds of courtiers. The Queen actually passed out through a combination of embarrassment and pain. It was the last time such a ritual was permitted as Marie-Antoinette refused to give birth in public ever again. Marie Thérèse was allowed to leave France once the Terror was over, on the eve of her seventeenth birthday and she lived to the age of 72.
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| Marie-Thérèse in Vienna in 1796 |
Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was born on December 19, 1906 in Kamenskoe (now Dniprodzerzhynsk in Ukraine), to metalworker Ilya Yakovlevich Brezhnev and his wife, Natalia Denisovna. At different times during his life, Brezhnev specified his ethnic origin alternately as either Ukrainian or Russian, opting for the latter as he rose within the Communist Party. His eighteen-year term as as General Secretary of the governing Communist Party was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in duration.
For more December 19 anniversaries, including the first photograph of the Moon through a telescope, the launch of BBC's World Service and the release of James Cameron's Titanic movie, check out OnThatDay.
Charles Wesley was born on December 18, 1707 in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, where his father was rector. He was born several weeks before his time and appeared more dead than alive but was carefully wrapped in warm wool. Charles' father Samuel was a poet and he passed on his poetic gifts to his son. Charles Wesley wrote over 6000 hymns, more than any other male. (Fanny Crosby wrote 8000). It is said Methodism was born in song and Charles was the chief songwriter.
Charles Wesley was born on December 18, 1707 in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, where his father was rector. He was born several weeks before his time and appeared more dead than alive but was carefully wrapped in warm wool. Charles' father Samuel was a poet and he passed on his poetic gifts to his son. Charles Wesley wrote over 6000 hymns, more than any other male. (Fanny Crosby wrote 8000). It is said Methodism was born in song and Charles was the chief songwriter.
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| Portrait by John Russell |
Joseph Stalin was born Ioseb Jughashvili on December 18, 1879 at Gory near Tbilisi in Georgia. He later adopted the name "Stalin" meaning "Man of Steel" which Lenin had given him. Ioseb's father, Besarion "Beso" Jughashvili, was a drunkard Georgian shoemaker who beat his son. One of Stalin's friends from childhood wrote, "Those undeserved and fearful beatings made the boy as hard and heartless as his father."
For more December 18 birthdays, including the English clown Joseph Grimaldi, the movie director Steven Spielberg , and the actor Brad Pitt, check out OnThatDay.
The philosopher Émilie Du Châtelet was born on December 17, 1706. When she was twenty-seven, married, and the mother of three children she began a sixteen-year liaison with the Enlightenment writer Voltaire. "I found, in 1733, a young woman who thought as I did," Voltaire wrote in his memoirs of the Divine Emilie, "and who decided to spend several years in the country, cultivating her mind."
The philosopher Émilie Du Châtelet was born on December 17, 1706. When she was twenty-seven, married, and the mother of three children she began a sixteen-year liaison with the Enlightenment writer Voltaire. "I found, in 1733, a young woman who thought as I did," Voltaire wrote in his memoirs of the Divine Emilie, "and who decided to spend several years in the country, cultivating her mind."
William Floyd, one of the men of the First Continental Congress and signer of the Constitution of the United States of America, was born in Brookhaven, Long Island, on December 17, 1734. The William Floyd Parkway is named after him.
Chemist and inventor Sir Humphry Davy was born in Penzance, Cornwall on December 17, 1778 to a wood carver and small farmer father. A keen naturalist as a boy he was encouraged to take up science by Davies Goddy, a figure of local importance who gave the boy the run of his lab. He is best remembered today for isolating, a series of elements for the first time, including sodium potassium, calcium and magnesium. as well as discovering the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine. He also invented the Davy Lamp, which was used in coal mines because it was a safer alternative to previous mine lamps.
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| Sir Humphry Davy, Bt, by Thomas Phillips (died 1845). |
Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936 in Flores, a barrio of Buenos Aires in Argentina. He was born to Italian immigrant parents - railway worker Mario Bergoglio and his wife, Regina. He earned a master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires before deciding to follow his religious vocation, In March 1958 Bergoglio entered the Society of Jesus in Cordoba as a novice. Pope Francis took over as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church over Benedict XVI in March 2013.
For more December 17 anniversaries, including the excommunication of King Henry VIII of England, the sale of the first bowler hat and the debut of The Simpsons, check out OnThatDay
There is no actual record of Ludwig Van Beethoven's birth. He is traditionally assumed to have been born on December 16, 1770 because his baptism was recorded as taking place in a Roman Catholic service at the Parish of St. Regius on the following day, but the real natal date and hour are unknown.
For more December 16 anniversaries, including the completion by Felix Mendelsson of his The Hebrides Overture, the marriage of Benito Mussolini and Rachele Guidi and the first song to be sung in space, check out OnThatDay.
The Roman emperor Nero was born in December 15, 37 in Antium (modern Anzio and Nettuno), near Rome. He was the only son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina. When he was 11 his mother married the emperor Claudius. Following the death of his adoptive father, Claudius, Nero became Emperor aged 17. During his reign, he persecuted and killed Christians and was accused of setting fire to the city of Rome to provide space for his grand palace.
There is no actual record of Ludwig Van Beethoven's birth. He is traditionally assumed to have been born on December 16, 1770 because his baptism was recorded as taking place in a Roman Catholic service at the Parish of St. Regius on the following day, but the real natal date and hour are unknown.
Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 at Steventon rectory. Jane's father, Rev George Austen was an educated gentlemanly parson of moderate means, who was the vicar at Steventon for over 40 years. Jane was modest about her education, saying: “I think I may boast myself to be, with all possible vanity, the most unlearned and uninformed female who ever dared to be an authoress.” However her six published novels are popular today not only for their romantic storylines, but also for their biting irony, realism, humor, and social commentary.
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| Watercolour-and-pencil portrait of Jane Austen by Cassandra Austen (1773-1845) - Wikipedia |
For more December 16 anniversaries, including the completion by Felix Mendelsson of his The Hebrides Overture, the marriage of Benito Mussolini and Rachele Guidi and the first song to be sung in space, check out OnThatDay.
The Roman emperor Nero was born in December 15, 37 in Antium (modern Anzio and Nettuno), near Rome. He was the only son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina. When he was 11 his mother married the emperor Claudius. Following the death of his adoptive father, Claudius, Nero became Emperor aged 17. During his reign, he persecuted and killed Christians and was accused of setting fire to the city of Rome to provide space for his grand palace.
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| Nero and Agrippina. Agrippina crowns her young son Nero with a laurel wreath |
For more December 15 anniversaries, including the first organized speedway, the first soft landing on another planet by a spacecraft and the reopening of The Leaning Tower of Pisa check out OnThatDay.
Michel de Nostradame (Latinised as Nostradamus) was born on December 14, 1503 in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Provence, France. After the death of Nostradamus' wife and two children, he became interested in the occult. He started to produce an annual almanac, the first being published in 1550. They were published two or three times each year and taken together, these almanacs contain at least 6,338 predictions.
Michel de Nostradame (Latinised as Nostradamus) was born on December 14, 1503 in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Provence, France. After the death of Nostradamus' wife and two children, he became interested in the occult. He started to produce an annual almanac, the first being published in 1550. They were published two or three times each year and taken together, these almanacs contain at least 6,338 predictions.
The astronomer Tycho Brahe was born at his family's ancestral seat of Knutstorp Castle near Svalöv in then Danish Scania on December 14, 1546. His discovery and report of the 1572 supernova brought him recognition. Brahe was the last great naked eye astronomer, in the days before telescopes, making the most accurate measurements of the positions of stars and planets. His accurate observations of the planets enabled Johannes Kepler to prove that planets orbit the Sun in ellipses.
George VI of the UK was born Albert Windsor at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk on December 14, 1895. His father was Prince George, Duke of York (later King George V) and his mother the Duchess of York (later Queen Mary,) He took the throne after his older brother Edward defied royal protocol by marrying an American divorcee and ruled from 1936 until 1952. George's popularity soared during World War II when he was seen as sharing the hardships of the common people.
For more December 14 anniversaries, including Alabama becoming the 22nd U.S. state, the death of Prince Albert and Roald Amundsen's team becoming the first to reach the South Pole, check out OnThatDay.
Henry IV of France was born on December 13, 1553 in Pau, a city on the northern edge of the Pyrenees, in SW France. His parents were Queen Joan III of Navarre and her consort, Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, King of Navarre. He was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. "Good King Henry" (le bon roi Henri) was remembered for his geniality and his great concern about the welfare of his subjects.
Henry IV of France was born on December 13, 1553 in Pau, a city on the northern edge of the Pyrenees, in SW France. His parents were Queen Joan III of Navarre and her consort, Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, King of Navarre. He was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. "Good King Henry" (le bon roi Henri) was remembered for his geniality and his great concern about the welfare of his subjects.
German electrical engineer Werner von Siemens was born in Lenthe, in the Kingdom of Hanover in the German Confederation, on December 13, 1816. He founded Siemens & Halske with Johann Georg Halske in 1847. In 1848, the company built the first long-distance telegraph line in Europe; 500 km from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main. The company has been known as Siemens since 1966 and is today the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe.
The boxer Archie Moore was born on December 13, 1916. He was the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time at nine years, four months and 24 days (December 1952 – May 1962). Moore also had one of the longest professional careers in the history of the sport, fighting professionally for almost 30 years.
The singer Taylor Swift was born in West Reading, Pennsylvania on December 13, 1989 to Scott, a financial adviser, and Andrea, a former mutual fund marketing executive. She was named after musician James Taylor. Swift's mother believed that a gender-neutral name would help forge a business career. Taylor Swift's maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was a professional opera singer, and inspired Taylor to become a singer.
For more December 13 anniversaries, including the founding of Europe's first national bank, the highest scoring game in NBA history and the marriage of Margaret and Dennis Thatcher, check out OnThatDay.
Frank Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in an upstairs tenement at 415 Monroe Street in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was the only child of Italian immigrants. Francis weighed 13 pounds and 7oz when he was born in 1915 - almost double the average of a newborn. Francis was so big he suffered scars to his ear and the side of his face from the forceps used to help deliver him. began his career by singing swing music with Tommy Dorsey and became one of the 20th century's most popular and influential musical artists.
Frank Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in an upstairs tenement at 415 Monroe Street in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was the only child of Italian immigrants. Francis weighed 13 pounds and 7oz when he was born in 1915 - almost double the average of a newborn. Francis was so big he suffered scars to his ear and the side of his face from the forceps used to help deliver him. began his career by singing swing music with Tommy Dorsey and became one of the 20th century's most popular and influential musical artists.
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| Sinatra in Pal Joey (1957) |
The English playwright John Osborne was born on December 12, 1929. Osborne made his name with Look Back in Anger (1956), which proved a landmark in the history of the British theatre and a major contribution to the image of the Angry Young Man.
For more December 12 anniversaries, including the debut of the first cartoon with speech bubbles, production of Saab's first car and the marriage of Princess Anne to Timothy Laurence, check out OnThatDay.
Scottish physicist Sir David Brewster was born on December 11, 1781. In 1817 he invented the kaleidoscope, an optical toy where the user sees many beautiful, colorful patterns. The word "kaleidoscope" is derived from the Ancient Greek kalos, "beautiful, beauty", eidos, "that which is seen: form, shape" and skope, "to look to, to examine."
American astronomer Annie Jump Cannon was born December 11, 1863. She manually classified more stars in a lifetime than anyone else, around 350,000 stars. Cannon could classify a single star, fully, in approximately 20 seconds. and used a magnifying glass for the majority of the (faint) stars.
Scottish physicist Sir David Brewster was born on December 11, 1781. In 1817 he invented the kaleidoscope, an optical toy where the user sees many beautiful, colorful patterns. The word "kaleidoscope" is derived from the Ancient Greek kalos, "beautiful, beauty", eidos, "that which is seen: form, shape" and skope, "to look to, to examine."
French composer Hector Berlioz was born in La Cote-St-Andre, in the French Alps, on December 11, 1803. His father, a prosperous physician with a love for music, invited many music masters to settle in the town so the boy would be exposed to a rich musical environment. He learned the basics of composition as well as to play the flute and guitar. His best known works include Symphonie fantastique and the Requiem. Treatise on Instrumentation, Berlioz's 1843 book on modern instrumentation and orchestration became a standard reference work.
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| The young Berlioz |
For more December 11 anniversaries, including The Siege of Maarat, Indiana becoming the 19th U.S. state, and the opening for service of the world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunnel, check out OnThatDay.
Augusta Ada King-Noel, Countess of Lovelace was born on December 10, 1815. She was the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron and his wife Anne Isabella Milbanke. Lovelace is chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She is often described as the world's first computer programmer.
Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 at the family's homestead in Amherst, Massachusetts into a prominent, but not wealthy, family. Emily's Amherst Academy principal later recalled that Dickinson was "very bright" and "an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties.” A reclusive, she wrote close to eighteen hundred poems of which only ten were published during her relatively short lifetime. Many of them deal with the theme of mortality.
Augusta Ada King-Noel, Countess of Lovelace was born on December 10, 1815. She was the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron and his wife Anne Isabella Milbanke. Lovelace is chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She is often described as the world's first computer programmer.
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| Watercolor portrait of Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (Ada Lovelace) |
Scottish doctor Alexander Wood was born on December 10, 1817. He invented in 1853 a hypodermic syringe with a needle fine enough to pierce the skin. Wood's innovation allowed drugs to be administered intravenously without the patient's skin having to be cut first. It is said he found inspiration in the sting of a honeybee.
For more December 10 anniversaries, including the marriage of George Sand to François Casimir Dudevant, the installation of the world's first traffic light system and the first commercial hybrid car, check out OnThatDay.
English poet and philosopher John Milton was born in Bread Street, London, on December 9, 1608, the son of John Milton senior and his wife, Sarah Jeffrey. His father - who contributed a collection of madrigals in honor of Elizabeth I - encouraged his son's ambitions; John jnr was writing poetry by the age of ten. Milton published his blank verse masterpiece, , in 1667 after he'd lost his sight. His other works include Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes
English poet and philosopher John Milton was born in Bread Street, London, on December 9, 1608, the son of John Milton senior and his wife, Sarah Jeffrey. His father - who contributed a collection of madrigals in honor of Elizabeth I - encouraged his son's ambitions; John jnr was writing poetry by the age of ten. Milton published his blank verse masterpiece, , in 1667 after he'd lost his sight. His other works include Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes
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| John Milton at age 10 by Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen |
Joseph Pilates, the creator of the Pilates fitness system, was born on December 9, 1883. Pilates was a German working in England when World War 1 broke out. While interned in a prison camp (Knockaloe) on the Isle of Man, he developed a method of exercise prisoners could perform in confined space using just their own body weight. The fitness system now known as Pilates is practiced worldwide.
Clarence Birdseye was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 9, 1886. An American inventor, entrepreneur, and naturalist, he invented and perfecting a system of packing fresh food into waxed cardboard boxes and flash-freezing under high pressure. In 1924 Clarence Birdseye organized his own company, Birdseye Seafoods, Inc. This was the beginning of the frozen foods industry.
Lorraine Collett, Sun-Maid's famous mascot, was born on December 9, 1892. In 1915 a raisin company executive spotted a teenage girl called Lorraine Collett drying her curly brown hair and wearing her mother's red bonnet in the backyard of her family's home. They hired her for a stunt promotion that had her dropping raisins from an airplane. Soon Collett became the company's first mascot called, "Sun Maid."
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| Original painting of Collett as the Sun-Maid Girl, ca. 1915 |
For more December 9 anniversaries, including the establishment of New York City's first daily newspaper, the first mixed race US state governor and Coronation Street's debut episode. check out OnThatDay.
Mary Queen of Scots was born on December 8, 1542 at Linlithglow Palace near Falkirk, Scotland during a cold winter. She was born to James V, King of Scotland, and his French second wife, Mary of Guise. Mary was said to have been born prematurely and was the only legitimate child of James to survive him. The six-day-old Mary became the Queen of Scotland on the death of her father
Mary Queen of Scots was born on December 8, 1542 at Linlithglow Palace near Falkirk, Scotland during a cold winter. She was born to James V, King of Scotland, and his French second wife, Mary of Guise. Mary was said to have been born prematurely and was the only legitimate child of James to survive him. The six-day-old Mary became the Queen of Scotland on the death of her father
Mary spent most of her childhood in France while Scotland was ruled by regents. In 1558, she married the Dauphin of France, Francis(later Francis II). Following his death she married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and after his death she married James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. After the Scottish nobles rose in rebellion, Mary was forced to abdicate in favor of her son was James VI (later James I. of England). Mary fled to England where her cousin, Elizabeth I of England, had her tried and executed for treason.
For more December 8 anniversaries, including Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" speech, the adoption of the Flag of Europe and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, check out OnThatDay.
Saint Columba was born to Fedlimid and Eithne of the Cenel Conaill in Gartan, near Lough Gartan, in modern County Donegal, in Ireland on December 7, 521. The Apostle to the Picts left his homeland in 563 in his small rowing boat with twelve companions in order to evangelize the northern tribes in Britain. He is credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland.
Saint Columba was born to Fedlimid and Eithne of the Cenel Conaill in Gartan, near Lough Gartan, in modern County Donegal, in Ireland on December 7, 521. The Apostle to the Picts left his homeland in 563 in his small rowing boat with twelve companions in order to evangelize the northern tribes in Britain. He is credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland.
Richard W Sears, co-founder of Sears, was born on December 7, 1863. One of the oldest operating retail operations in America. began by accident in 1886 when railroad station agent Richard W. Sears received a box of watches by mistake. He began selling the timepieces to his colleagues in Redwood Falls, Minnesota before branching out into mail order catalogs.
English author Anne Fine was born on December 7, 1947. Fine started writing novels in 1971 when, at home with her first baby, a snowstorm stopped her going to the local library. She is best known for her 1987 satirical novel Madame Doubtfire, which Twentieth Century Fox filmed as Mrs. Doubtfire,
For more December 7 anniversaries, including The Great Storm of 1703 making landfall, the first television commercial and the first use of Instant Replay check out OnThatDay.
Henry VI of England was born on December 6, 1421 at Windsor Castle. He succeeded to the throne as King of England the day after his father's death, Henry V, on September 1, 1422 at the age of nine months. He was the youngest person ever to be the English monarch. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents.
Henry VI of England was born on December 6, 1421 at Windsor Castle. He succeeded to the throne as King of England the day after his father's death, Henry V, on September 1, 1422 at the age of nine months. He was the youngest person ever to be the English monarch. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents.