Birthdays in History on April 8

  • 563 Gautama Buddha's birthday, the founder of Buddhism, is commonly celebrated on this day (or May)
  • 1320 Pedro I, King of Portugal (also called "the Just" or "the Cruel"), King of Portugal and of the Algarves (1357-67), born in Coimbra, Portugal (d. 1367)
  • 1320 King Peter I of Portugal (d. 1367)

Person of interestJuan Ponce de León

1460 Juan Ponce de León, Spanish explorer and conquistador who searched for the fountain of youth and the first European to discover Florida, born in Santervás de Campos, Castile, Spain (d. 1521)

Explorer and Conquistador Juan Ponce de León
Explorer and Conquistador
Juan Ponce de León
  • 1541 Michele Mercati, Italian physician (d. 1593)
  • 1582 Phineas Fletcher, English poet, born in Cranbrook (d. 1650)
  • 1605 Louis de Vadder, Flemish painter
  • 1605 Philip IV, King of Spain & Portugal (1621-65)
  • 1631 Cornelis de Heem, painter
  • 1641 Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English statesman (d. 1704)
  • 1642 Gerard Callenbach, Dutch admiral
  • 1655 Louis Willem I, Margrave (Baden-Baden)
  • 1695 Johann Christian Gunther, German poet, born in Striegau, Silesia (d. 1723)
  • 1726 Lewis Morris, US farmer (signed Declaration of Independence)
  • 1731 William Williams, US merchant (signed Declaration of Independence)
  • 1732 David Rittenhouse, American astronomer, inventor, and mathematician (d. 1796)

  • 1741 Jose B da Gama, Portuguese poet (O Uraguai)
  • 1775 Adam A earl von Neipperg, Austrian general/Napoleon's wife Marie lover
  • 1783 John Claudius, horticulturist, born in London, England
  • 1798 Dionysios Solomos, poet
  • 1816 Frederick William Burton, painter
  • 1818 Christaan IX, king of Denmark (1863-1906)
  • 1826 Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican war heroine (d. 1890)
  • 1827 Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican politician, medical doctor and diplomat (d. 1898)
  • 1828 George Baird Hodge, Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
  • 1831 Allard Pierson, Dutch theologiost/philosopher/art historian/poet
  • 1832 Alfred von Waldersee, Prussian fieldmarshal
  • 1842 Elizabeth Bacon Custer, wife of George Armstrong Custer (d. 1933)
  • 1850 William H. Welch, American pathologist who founded John Hopkins Hospital, born in Norfolk, Connecticut (d. 1934)
  • 1859 Edmund Husserl, German philosopher (founded Phenomenology)
  • 1865 Charles W. Woodworth, American entomologist (d. 1940)
  • 1869 Harvey Cushing, American neurosurgeon (blood pressure studies)
  • 1871 Clarence Hudson White American photographer (d. 1925)
  • 1874 Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (d. 1960)
  • 1875 Albert I LCMM von Saksen-Coburg, king of Belgium (1909-34)
  • 1883 R. P. Keigwin, English academic (d. 1972)
  • 1886 Margaret A Barnes, writer
  • 1888 Dennis Chavez, American politician (d. 1964)
  • 1892 Richard Neutra, American architect (d. 1970)
  • 1893 Henri Puvrez, Belgian sculptor (Sereniteit)
  • 1898 Achiel H Acker, Belgian premier (1945-46, 1954-58)

  • 1898 Cecil [Maurice] Bowra, British classics expert (Greek experience)
  • 1904 John R Hicks, British economist (Nobel 1972)
  • 1905 Hans Scherfig, Danish marxist/writer (Idealister, Frydenholm)
  • 1905 Helen B M Fennell Joseph, anti-apartheid writer (Side by Side)
  • 1905 Pierre Wigny, Belgian minister of Foreign affairs (1958-61) [or 4/18]
  • 1906 Charles J B Jonckheere, Flemish poet/writer (Mirror of the Sea)
  • 1907 Maurice Stacey, chemist
  • 1908 Neil Lawson, British high court judge
  • 1909 George Dixon, trumpet/sax
  • 1909 William James Millar Mackenzie, political scientist
  • 1911 Douglas Hyde, socialist/Christian
  • 1911 Emil Mihai Cioran, writer/aphorist
  • 1911 Melvin Calvin, US chemist (photosynthesis, Nobel 1961)
  • 1913 H Ernst, bishop (Breda Neth)

Person of interestBetty Ford

1918 Betty [Bloomer] Ford, US 1st lady (1974-77) and founder of the Betty Ford Center clinic, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2011)

US First Lady Betty Ford
US First Lady
Betty Ford
  • 1918 Glendon Swarthout, American author (d. 1992)
  • 1919 [Douglas] Ian Smith, premier of Rhodesia (1964-..)
  • 1923 George Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 2003)
  • 1924 Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English soldier and historian (d. 2006)
  • 1926 Henry N. Cobb, American architect
  • 1926 Jürgen Moltmann, German theologian
  • 1928 Mary Zeldenrust-Noordanus, CEO (NVSH)
  • 1928 Leah Rabin, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (d. 2000)
  • 1929 Renzo de Felice, historian
  • 1930 Julien Van Remoortere, [Piet Mortelman], Flemish writer (Fist)
  • 1930 Mary Moore, principal (St Hilda's College, Oxford)
  • 1930 Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma
  • 1934 Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect (d. 2007)
  • 1935 Albert G Bustamante, (Rep-D-TX, 1985- )
  • 1935 Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, epidemiologist (Living legacy award-1984)
  • 1937 Ronald Anthony "Tony" Clegg, property trader
  • 1937 Seymour Hersh, award winning investigative reporter (NY Times)

Person of interestKofi Annan

1938 Kofi Annan, Ghanaian diplomat and 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997-2006), born in Comassie, Gold Coast

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan
  • 1941 Dame Vivienne Westwood, Tintwistle England, English fashion designer
  • 1942 Douglas Trumbull, director (Silent Running, Brainstorm)
  • 1942 Eduard Visser, Dutch writer (Fyffes are now called Chiquita)
  • 1943 Michael Bennett, aids victim/choreographer (Chorus Line)
  • 1943 Tony Banks, English politician (Labour)
  • 1943 William Garth Morrison, Chief scout
  • 1943 James Herbert, horror writer (The Rats), born in London, England (d. 2013)
  • 1944 Anthony Farrar Hockley, military historian
  • 1944 Christoph Hein, writer
  • 1944 Santiago Jimenez Jr, US accordionist (El Mero Mero, Viva Seguin)
  • 1944 Odd Nerdrum, Norwegian painter
  • 1945 Derrick Walker, British racing team owner
  • 1947 Hsiao-hsien Hou, dir (Cheerful Wind, City of Sadness, Puppetmaster)
  • 1947 Tom DeLay, Laredo, Texas, American politician (Rep-R-Texas, 1985-2006)
  • 1947 Robert Kiyosaki, American investor

Person of interestRobert Allen Litchfield

1948 Robert A. Litchfield, American bank robber who was on the FBI most wanted list in the 1980s

Bank Robber Robert Allen Litchfield
Bank Robber
Robert Allen Litchfield
  • 1948 Michael Leshner, Canadian lawyer and gay rights advocate
  • 1954 G.V. Loganathan, American professor (d. 2007)
  • 1955 John Campbell, harness racer (3-time winner of Hambletonian)
  • 1955 Barbara Kingsolver, American novelist
  • 1955 David Wu, Taiwanese-born American politician
  • 1963 Erica Terwillegar, Nelsonville NJ, lugist
  • 1963 Seth Tobias, American financial commentator (d. 2007)
  • 1974 Holger Hott Johansen, Norwegian orienteerist
  • 1974 Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu, Nigerian American writer
  • 1974 Chris Kyle, Odessa, Texas, Navy SEAL sniper (160 kills), (d. 2013)
  • 1977 Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist (d. 2008)
  • 1977 Mark Spencer, American computer programmer
  • 1979 David Petruschin, American drag queen (Raven) and make-up artist, born in Victorville, California