Birthdays in History on August 2

  • August
  • 1455 Johan Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1486-99), born in Ansbach (d. 1499)
  • 1533 Theodor Zwinger, Swiss physician and scholar, born in Basel, Switzerland (d. 1588)
  • 1627 Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten, Dutch painter, born in Dordrecht, Netherlands
  • 1632 Kaspar von Stieler, German poet (Teutsche Wolredner), born in Erfurt, Germany (d. 1707)
  • 1672 Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, Swiss scholar, born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 1733)
  • 1674 Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and Regent of France (1715-23), born in Château de Saint Cloud, France (d. 1723)
  • 1696 Mahmud I, Sultan of Ottoman Empire (1730-54) who fought Austria & Russia, born in Edirne Palace, Edirne, Ottoman Empire (d. 1754)
  • 1703 Lorenzo Ricci, Italian Jesuit leader (18th & last Superior General of the Society of Jesus), born in Florence (d. 1775)
  • 1723 Nicolas de Pigage, French classical architect, born in Lunéville, France (d. 1796)
  • 1746 Joan Lucaz, Dutch journalist and patriot (d. 1807)

Person of interestPierre Charles L'Enfant

1754 Pierre Charles L'Enfant, French-born American architect who laid out Washington, D.C., born in Paris, France (d. 1825)

Washington D.C. Architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant
Washington D.C. Architect
Pierre Charles L'Enfant
  • 1788 Leopold Gmelin, German chemist (Gmelin's test), born in Göttingen, Germany (d. 1853)
  • 1802 Nicholas Wiseman, 1st archbishop of Westminster (1860-65), born in Sevilla, Spain (d. 1865)
  • 1815 Adolf Friedrich von Schack, German poet, born in Brüsewitz, Germany (d. 1894)
  • 1818 Prince Alexander of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, born in Soestdijk, Netherlands (d. 1848)
  • 1820 John Tyndall, Irish physicist who demonstrated why the sky is blue and proved that the Earth's atmosphere has a greenhouse effect, born in Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, Ireland (d. 1893)

  • 1826 William Denison Whipple, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Madison County, New York (d. 1902)
  • 1828 Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque, Spanish general, born in Cadiz, Spain (d. 1895)
  • 1832 Henry Steel Olcott, American military officer and co-founder of the Theosophical Society, born in Orange, New Jersey (d. 1907)

Person of interestFrédéric-Auguste Bartholdi

1834 Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, French sculptor (designed the Statue of Liberty), born in Colmar, France (d. 1904)

Sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi
Sculptor
Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi
  • 1834 Isaac Capadose, clergyman in the Catholic Apostolic Church, born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1920)
  • 1835 Elisha Grey, American electrical engineer and inventor (Telephone), born in Barnesville, Ohio
  • 1854 F. Marion Crawford, American author (Mr. Isaacs), born in Bagni de Lucca, Italy (d. 1909)
  • 1858 Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Queen consort of William and Regent of the Netherlands, born in Arolsen Castle, Arolsen, Waldeck and Pyrmont, German Confederation (d. 1934)
  • 1858 William Watson, British poet (Prince's Quest, Father of Forest), born in Burley-in-Wharfedale, Yorkshire (d. 1935)
  • 1861 Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray, Bengali chemist (founder of Bengal Chemicals And Pharmaceuticals), born in Khulna, British India (d. 1944)
  • 1865 Irving Babbitt, American writer (Rousseau & Romanticism), born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 1933)
  • 1865 John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist, born in Łódź, Poland (d. 1955)
  • 1867 Ernest Dowson, British poet (Decorations in Verse and Prose), born in Lee, London
  • 1867 Frank Alvord Perret, American volcanologist renowned for his research at Vesuvius, Etna, Stromboli and Kilauea, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1943)
  • 1868 Constantine I, King of Greece (1913-17, 20-22), born in Athens, Greece (d. 1923)
  • 1871 John French Sloan, American painter and etcher, born in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania (d. 1951)
  • 1872 George E. Stewart, American army officer and Medal of Honor recipient, born in New South Wales, Australia (d. 1946)
  • 1875 Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian-Lithuanian artist, born in Veliky Novgorod, Russia (d. 1957)
  • 1878 Aino Kallas, Finnish writer (White Ship, Estonian Tales), born in Kiiskilä, Viipuri Province, Grand Duchy of Finland (d. 1956)
  • 1878 Princess Ingeborg of Sweden, wife of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland, born in Charlottenlund Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1958)
  • 1881 Ethel M. Dell, English author (Storm Drift), born in London (d. 1881)
  • 1882 Johannes Tralow, German writer (Ottoman tetralogy), born in Lübeck, Germany (d. 1968)
  • 1882 Rik Wouters, Belgian painter and sculptor (Virgin Doll), born in Mechelen, Belgium (d. 1916)
  • 1884 Rómulo Gallegos, 48th President of Venezuela (1948), born in Caracas, Venezuela (d. 1969)
  • 1886 John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, Canadian aviator, born in Baddeck, Nova Scotia (d. 1961)

  • 1891 Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky, Russian literary historian and linguist, born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1971)
  • 1892 Jack L Warner [Jacob Warner], Canadian-American film executive and president of the Warner Bros. Studios, born in London, Ontario, Canada (d. 1978)
  • 1892 John Kieran, American columnist and author (Natural History of NYC), born in NYC, New York (d. 1981)
  • 1897 Karl Otto Koch, German SS-officer, born in Darmstadt, Germany (d. 1945)
  • 1897 Max Weber, Swiss Federal Councilor, born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 1974)
  • 1899 George Malcolm Thomson, British journalist, born in Leith, Scotland (d. 1996)
  • 1906 Albert Goodwin, English historian, born in Sheffield, England (d. 1995)
  • 1907 Mary Hamman, American writer and editor (Pictorial Review, Good Housekeeping), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1984)
  • 1909 Lord Benson [Henry Alexander], British accountant (Coopers & Lybrand), born in Johannesburg, South Africa (d. 1995)
  • 1910 Lawrence Josset, British engraver, born in Cambridgeshire, England (d. 1995)
  • 1910 Lou Zara, American writer (Stump the Authors), born in NYC, New York (d. 2001)
  • 1912 Bela Szigeti, Hungarian theoretical physicist, born in Budapest (d. 1996)
  • 1912 Vladimir Žerjavić, Croatian economist and UN statistician, born in Križ, Moslavania, Croatia (d. 2001)
  • 1915 Johan Limpers, Dutch sculptor and resistance fighter, born in Heemstede, Netherlands (d. 1944)
  • 1916 Reginald Murley, British surgeon (President of the Royal College of Surgeons) (d. 1997)
  • 1919 John Pinkerton, English computer scientist who designed the first business computer in England, the LEO computer, born in London (d. 1997)
  • 1920 Louis Pauwels, French writer and editor, born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1997)
  • 1922 Lord Murray of Epping Forest [Lionel], British labour politician and union leader (General Secretary TUC), born in Hadley, Telford (d. 1984)
  • 1922 Paul Laxalt, American politician (22nd Governor of Nevada), born in Reno, Nevada

Person of interestShimon Peres

1923 Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister (Labor), President (2007-14) and Nobel Peace Prize (1994), born in Wiszniewo, Poland (d. 2016)

Israeli Statesman Shimon Peres
Israeli Statesman
Shimon Peres
  • 1924 Ismond Rosen, psychoanalyst and artist, born in Johannesburg, South Africa (d. 1996)

Person of interestJames Baldwin

1924 James Baldwin, American novelist (Go Tell it on Mountain, Another Country) and playwright (The Amen Corner), born in Harlem, New York (d. 1987)

Novelist and Playwright James Baldwin
Novelist and Playwright
James Baldwin
  • 1925 Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentinian dictator, born in Mercedes, Buenos Aires, Argentina (d. 2013)
  • 1926 Betsy Bloomingdale, American socialite and fashion leader, born in Beverly Hills, California (d. 2016)
  • 1927 Peter Swinnereton-Dyer, English mathematician, born in Ponteland, Northumberland
  • 1928 Hugh Francis Lamprey, British ecologist (d. 1996)
  • 1929 John Gale, British theatrical producer (Chichester Festival), born in Chigwell, Essex, England
  • 1929 John Hannam, British Conservative politician (MP for Exeter 1970-97)
  • 1929 Lord David Waddington, British politician (Home Secretary 1989-90), born in Burnley (d. 2017)
  • 1930 Ron de Lugo, American politician (Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the U.S. Virgin Islands' at-large district 1981-95), born in Englewood, New Jersey
  • 1930 Vali Myers, Australian painter, born in Canterbury, Sydney (d. 2003)
  • 1931 Pierre DuMaine, American Roman Catholic bishop, born in Paducah, Kentucky
  • 1933 Alan Tuffin, British trade union leader (d. 2017)
  • 1934 Valery Bykovsky, Soviet cosmonaut (Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, 31), born in Pavlovsky Posad, Russia
  • 1935 Brian Wolfson, British CEO (Wembley Stadium Ltd), born in Merseyside (d. 2007)
  • 1935 Derek Anthony Enright, British Labour politician, born in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Riding of Yorkshire (d. 1995)
  • 1936 Christopher Hogg, British industrialist and CEO (Courtaulds & Reuters)
  • 1937 Ronald Brierley, New Zealand investor and company director, born in Wellington, New Zealand
  • 1938 Pierre de Bané, French Canadian politician (Senator for De la Vallière, Quebec), born in Haifa, British Mandate for Palestine
  • 1939 Benjamin Barber, American political theorist (Jihad vs. McWorld), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2017)

Person of interestIsabel Allende

1942 Isabel Allende, Chilean-American author (The House of the Spirits, City of the Beasts), born in Lima, Peru

Writer Isabel Allende
Writer
Isabel Allende
  • 1943 Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven, Dutch politician (PvdA), born in Noordwolde, Netherlands
  • 1943 Rose Tremain, British novelist and playwright (Restoration), born in London, England
  • 1945 Jewell Jackson McCabe, American feminist and social and political activist who led the National Coalition of 100 Black Women movement in the 1970s, born in Washington, D.C.
  • 1945 John Bowis, British MP (C), born in Brighton, East Sussex
  • 1945 Alex Jesaulenko, Australian rules footballer, born in Salzburg, Austria
  • 1948 Robert Holdstock, English sci-fi author (Ghost Dance, Labyrinth), born in Hythe, England (d. 2009)
  • 1949 Bertalan Farkas, Hungarian cosmonaut (Soyuz 36/35), born in Gyulaháza, Hungary
  • 1949 James Fallows, American writer and journalist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 1950 Lance Ito, American judge (O.J. Simpson trial), born in Los Angeles, California
  • 1950 Sue Rodriguez, Canadian assisted suicide advocate, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (d. 1994)
  • 1951 Per Westerberg, Swedish politician (Speaker of the Riksdag), born in Nyköping, Sweden
  • 1952 Paul David Crews, SC, murderer (FBI Most Wanted List)
  • 1953 Anne Leuchars, British TV journalist
  • 1954 James Charles Kopp, American citizen who murdered Barnett Slepian
  • 1955 Caleb Carr, American novelist and military historian
  • 1956 Fulvio Melia, Italian-American physicist/astrophysicist and author
  • 1957 Anne Leuchars, TV journalist
  • 1963 Daniel Pelosi, American convicted murderer
  • 1970 Kevin Smith, director (Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Clerks)
  • 1983 Nick Diaz, American MMA fighter
  • 1986 Mathieu Razanakolona, Malagasy skier
  • 1991 Gabriel Anthony Cohen, son of journalists Meredith Viera & Richard Cohen
  • 1993 Cassidy Gifford, daughter of Frank & Kathy Lee

August in History