Birthdays in History on April 21

Catherine the Great (1729-1796)

German-born Empress of Russia (1762-96) who expanded the Russian empire, born in Stettin, Kingdom of Prussia

1774 Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist (Biot-Savart law), born in Paris (d. 1862)
1775 Alexander Anderson, American engraver and illustrator (Shakespeare), born in NYC, New York (d. 1870)
1795 Vincenzo Pallotti, Italian saint (founder of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate), born in Rome (d. 1850)
1803 Levin Minn Powell, American Commander (Union Navy), born in Winchester, Winchester City, Virginia (d. 1885)
1806 Peter van Schendel, Dutch-Belgian painter (Monsieur Chandelle), born in Terheijden, Netherlands (d. 1870)
1809 Robert M. T. Hunter, American lawyer and politician (2nd Confederate States Secretary of State), born in Loretto, Virginia (d. 1887)
1810 John Putnam Chapin, American politician (10th Mayor of Chicago (1846-47), born in Bradford, Vermont (d. 1864)
1811 Alson Sherman, American politician (8th Mayor of Chicago 1844-45), born in Barre, Vermont (d. 1903)
1814 Angela Burdett-Coutts, English philanthropist extrordinaire and "the richest heiress in England", born in London (d. 1906)

Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855)

English novelist (Jane Eyre), born in Thornton, West Yorkshire, England

1816 Louis Wigfall, American politician (Confederate States Senator from Texas 1862-85), born in Edgefield, South Carolina (d. 1874)
1828 Hippolyte Taine, French philosopher and historian (Voyage in Italy), born in Vouziers, Ardennes, France (d. 1893)
1834 William Rufus Terrill, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Covington City, Virginia (d. 1862)
1837 Fredrik Bajer, Danish politician, feminist and pacifist politician (Nobel 1908), born in Næstved, Denmark (d. 1922)

John Muir (1838-1914)

Scottish naturalist and discoverer (glaciers in High Seirras), born in Dunbar

1849 Oskar Hertwig, German embryologist (discovered fertilization), born in Friedberg, Germany (d. 1922)
1851 Charles Barrois, French geologist and palaeontologist, born in Lille, France (d. 1939)
1854 Eusapia Palladino, Italian spiritual medium, born in Minervino Murge, Apulia (d. 1918)
1854 William Stang, German Roman Catholic Bishop, born in Bad Schönborn, Germany (d. 1907)
1864 Max Weber, German sociologist, economist and historian (Ancient Judaism), born in Erfurt, Province of Saxony, Prussia (d. 1920)
1868 Robert Herrick, American novelist (Common lot), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1938)
1872 Billy Bitzer, American cinematography pioneer, born in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1944)
1878 Albert Weisgerber, German painter and graphic artist, born in Sankt Ingbert, Germany (d. 1915)
1879 Kartini, Indonesian national heroine, born in Jepara, Central Java, Dutch East Indies (d. 1904)
1881 Jules-Marie Canneel, Flemish painter and caricaturist (Rocks of Oran), born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1953)
1882 Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist (Nobel 1946 - physics of high pressure), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1961)
1889 Paul Karrer, Swiss organic chemist (Nobel 1937), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1971)
1896 Henry de Montherlant, French novelist and stage author (La Reine Morte), born in Paris (d. 1972)
1902 Ben Stroman, Dutch writer (Jomtof & Blue Beard), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1985)
1903 Hans Hedtoft, 14th Prime Minister of Denmark (1947-50, 53-55), born in Århus, Denmark (d. 1955)
1904 Gijs van Hall, Dutch politician and Mayor of Amsterdam (1957-67), born in Amsterdam (d. 1977)
1905 Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, American politician and Governor of California (D: 1959-67), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1996)
1906 Tom Burns, British-Chilean publisher and editor, born in Chile (d. 1995)
1909 Rollo May, American psychologist (Love & Will), born in Ada, Ohio (d. 1994)
1911 Ivan Combe, American inventor of personal care products (Clearasil), born in Fremont, Iowa (d. 2000)
1912 Eve Arnold, photojournalist (Marilyn Monroe) (d. 2012), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1913 Choh Hao Li, bio-chemist professor, isolated growth hormones)
1913 Kai-Uwe von Hassel, German politician
1913 Norman Parkinson, English fashion photographer (Harper's Bazaar), born in London (d. 1990)
1915 Frick [W Groebli], Swiss clown, Frick & Frack)
1917 Emanuel Vardi, Jerusalem Israel, violist, SD Symph 1978-82)
1919 Franc [Franklin E] Essed, Suriname agricultural eng, Oper Grasshopper)
1923 John Mortimer, English barrister and writer
1924 Daniel Melnick, American producer, Get Smart), born in NYC, New York

Elizabeth II (1926-2022)

Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland (country's longest reigning monarch 1952-2022), born in London

1927 Robert Brustein, American dean, Yale School of Drama), born in NYC, New York
1930 Don Tyson, American businessman, founder of Tyson Foods, born in Olathe, Kansas (d. 2011)
1935 Thomas Kean, American politician
1936 James Dobson, American evangelist
1937 Charles Lee Herron, Ky, FBI most wanted fugitive (Jan 1 1986)
1939 Helen Prejean, American writer
1940 Souleymane Cisse, director (Waati, Yeelen, Finye, Baara)
1941 David Lyle Boren, American politician, Governor and Senator from Oklahoma, born in Washington, D.C.
1947 Alan Warner, rocker (Foundations)
1948 Gary Condit, American politician (Rep-D-California 1989-2003, affair with Chandra Levy), born in Salina, Oklahoma
1948 Max Wyndham, 2nd Baron Egremont, English peer and author
1951 Aleksandr Ivanovich Laveykin, Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-2)
1951 Michael Hartley Freedman, American mathematician
1956 Phillip Longman, American demographer
1958 Michael Zarnock, American author and columnist
1958 Yoshito Usui, Japanese manga artist
1959 Tim Jacobus, American artist (Goosebumps)
1962 Sergei Viktorovich Zalyotin, Russian major/cosmonaut
1965 Fiona Kelleghan, American academic and critic
1969 Robin Meade, American reporter
1971 Alexander Kravchenko, Russian professional poker player
1971 Hasan Akbar, American convicted murderer
2007 Princess Isabella of Denmark, third in line of succession to the Danish throne, born in Copenhagen, Denmark