On This Day

Birthdays in History on January 11

  • 347 Emperor Theodosius I "The Great" of Rome, last emperor to rule the east and west empire, born in Hispania (d. 395)
  • 1322 Emperor Kōmyō of Japan, 2nd Northern Emperor (1336-48), born in Japan (d. 1380)
  • 1359 Emperor Go-En'yū of Japan, 5th Northern Emperor (1371-82), born in Japan (d. 1393)
  • 1395 Michelle of Valois, Duchess consort of Burgundy (1419-22), born in Paris (d. 1422)
  • 1503 Parmigianino [Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola,], Italian artist (Madonna with the Long Neck), born in Parma, Duchy of Milan (d. 1540)
  • 1591 Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, English Parliamentarian and Chief Commander of the Parliamentarian army during the English Civil War, born in England (d. 1646)
  • 1630 John Rogers, English Puritan minister and President of Harvard College (1682-84), born in Coggeshall, England (d. 1684)
  • 1638 Nicolas Steno, Danish scientist prominent in anatomy and geology, and later Catholic priest, bishop, and candidate for sainthood, born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1686)
  • 1671 François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French military leader (d. 1745)
  • 1723 Prithvi Narayan Shah, began the unification of modern Nepal (d. 1774)
  • 1746 William Curtis, English botanist and publisher (Botanical Magazine), born in Alton, England (d. 1799)

Alexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton (1755-1804)

US Founding Father and 1st Secretary of the Treasury (1789-95), born in Charlestown, Nevis, West Indies

Alexander Hamilton
  • 1757 Samuel Bentham, English mechanical engineer (d. 1831)
  • 1786 Joseph Jackson Lister, British optician who perfected the optical microscope by designing the achromatic objective lens, born in London (d. 1869)
  • 1788 William Thomas Brande, English chemist (d. 1866)
  • 1800 Ányos Jedlik, Hungarian physicist (d. 1895)
  • 1807 Alfred E. Jackson "Mudwall", American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Davidson County, Tennessee (d. 1889)
  • 1807 Ezra Cornell, American businessman and philanthropist (founder of Western Union Telegraph and Cornell University), born in Westchester Landing, New York (d. 1874)
  • 1808 Antoine Schayes, Belgian historian and archaeologist (d. 1808)
  • 1814 James Paget, English surgeon (disease of Paget), born in Great Yarmouth, England (d. 1899)
  • 1814 Richard Griffith, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1862)

John A. MacdonaldJohn A. Macdonald (1815-1891)

1st Prime Minister of Canada (1867-73 and 1878-91), born in Glasgow, Scotland

John A. Macdonald
  • 1816 Fitz Henry Warren, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Brimfield, Massachusetts (d. 1878)
  • 1818 John Reese Kenly, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1891)
  • 1825 Bayard Taylor, U.S. poet and writer (d. 1878
  • 1831 James Ronald Chalmers, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Halifax County, Virginia (d. 1898)
  • 1839 Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Puerto Rican educator and nationalist, born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico (d. 1903)

William JamesWilliam James (1842-1910)

American psychologist (The Principles of Psychology) and philosopher (Pragmatism), born in NYC, New York

William James
  • 1843 Charles Yelverton O'Connor, Irish-Australian engineer (d. 1902)
  • 1849 Oskar Lassar, German dermatologist (electrophysical therapy, advocated for public bath houses), born in Hamburg (d. 1907)
  • 1850 J. C. Arthur, American botanist (studied parasitic fungi rusts), born in Lowville, New York (d. 1842)
  • 1850 Philipp von Ferrary, French philatelist (compiled world's most complete stamp collection), born in Paris, France (d. 1917)
  • 1852 Konstantin Fehrenbach, German chancellor of Weimar Republic (1920-21), born in Wellendingen, Baden (d. 1926)
  • 1853 Georgios Jakobides, Greek painter (d. 1926)
  • 1853 Gustav Falke, German author and poet (Der Mann im Nebel), born in Lübeck (d. 1916)
  • 1858 Harry Gordon Selfridge, American retailer (d. 1947)
  • 1859 [Gerard] Jan Ligthart, Dutch educator (Nog bij mother, Ot & Sien) (d. 1916)
  • 1864 Thomas Dixon, American white supremacist, novelist, playwright (The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan), born in Shelby, North Carolina (d. 1946)
  • 1867 Edward B. Titchener, British psychologist. (d. 1927)
  • 1868 Cai Yuanpei, Chinese philosopher and educator (President of Peking University), born in Shaoxing, China (d. 1940)
  • 1870 Alexander Stirling Calder, American sculptor (d. 1945)
  • 1872 George Washington Pierce, American physicist (d. 1956)
  • 1873 John Callan O'Laughlin, American political and military figure and journalist (d. 1949)
  • 1878 Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and dictator (1926), born in Salamis, Greece (d. 1952)
  • 1879 Antonio Beltramelli, Italian writer (d. 1930)
  • 1880 Elisabeth Achelis, American heiress, writer, and proponent of the 13-month World Calendar, born in Brooklyn, NYC (d. 1973)

Alice PaulAlice Paul (1885-1977)

American suffragist (National Woman's Party), born in Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey

Alice Paul
  • 1887 Aldo Leopold, American conservationist, professor and co-founder of the Wilderness Society, born in Burlington, Iowa (d. 1949)
  • 1889 Calvin Bridges, American geneticist (d. 1938)
  • 1890 Oswald de Andrade, Brazilian author (one of the modernist Group of Five), born in São Paulo, Brazil (d. 1954)
  • 1897 August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (d. 1979)
  • 1898 Hans Kirk, Danish writer (The Fishermen), born in Hadsund, Denmark (d. 1962)
  • 1901 Andries Dirk Copier, Dutch glass designer (the Gilde glass) (d. 1991)
  • 1901 Kwon Ki-ok, Korean pilot (d. 1988)

Alan PatonAlan Paton (1903-1988)

South African author (Cry, the Beloved Country, Too Late the Phalarope) and anti-apartheid activist, born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Alan Paton
  • 1904 Frederick Boland, Irish diplomat (President of the UN General Assembly), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1985)
  • 1905 Clyde Kluckhohn, American anthropologist (d. 1960)
  • 1905 John Henry Jacques, English co-operative retailer and politician, born in Ashington, Northumberland (d. 1995)

Albert HofmannAlbert Hofmann (1906-2008)

Swiss chemist who first synthesized and ingested LSD, born in Baden, Switzerland

Albert Hofmann
  • 1906 Robert Nesbitt, English theatre impresario (Royal Variety Show), born in London, England (d. 1995)
  • 1907 Abraham Joshua Heschel, Jewish American rabbi and theologian (d. 1972), born in Warsaw, Poland
  • 1907 Pierre Mendès-France, French Premier (1954-55) (d. 1982)
  • 1910 Dorothy Stroud, English museum curator & biographer, born in London, United Kingdom (d. 1997)
  • 1910 Sir Shane Paltridge, Australian politician (d. 1966)
  • 1910 Trygve Bratteli, Norwegian Prime Minister (Labour: 1971-72, 1973-76), born in Nøtterøy, Norway (d. 1984)
  • 1911 Nora Heysen, Australian artist (d. 2003)
  • 1911 Zenko Suzuki, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2004)
  • 1912 Roger Lewis, American businessman (CEO of Amtrak, Pan Am), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1987)
  • 1914 Dorothy Jeakins, Americanfilm and theatre costume designer (Samson and Delilah), born in San Diego, California (d. 1995)
  • 1915 Robert Blair Mayne, British soldier, co-founder Special Air Service (d. 1955)
  • 1916 Jimmy Quillen, American politician (Rep-R-TN, 1963-97), born in Scott County, Virginia (d. 2003)
  • 1920 John Powell, campaigner
  • 1922 Ernle Bradford, English historian and writer (d. 1986)
  • 1922 Neville Duke, English test pilot
  • 1924 Sam B. Hall, American politician (d. 1994)
  • 1926 Lev Stepanovich Demin, Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz 15)
  • 1928 David L Wolper, producer (Devil's Brigade)
  • 1930 Ron Mulock, Australian politician
  • 1931 Betty Churcher, director of the National Gallery of Australia

Jean ChretienJean Chretien (89 years old)

1934 20th Prime Minister of Canada (Liberal: 1993-2003), born in Shawinigan, Quebec

Jean Chretien
  • 1934 Sir Charles Antony Richard Hoare, Computer scientist
  • 1936 Eve Hesse, German born Jewish-American sculptor., born in Hamburg, Germany
  • 1938 Arthur Scargill, British Marxist & trade unionist (National Union of Mineworkers), born in Barnsley, United Kingdom
  • 1938 Fischer S Black Jr, financial theorist
  • 1938 Michael Fenn, docker/socialist
  • 1944 Mohammed Abed Elhai, Sudanese writer and academic (d. 1989)
  • 1944 Shibu Soren, Indian politician
  • 1945 Samdech Preah Sanghareach Bour Kry, Supreme Patriarch of the Cambodian Dhammayutt Order
  • 1946 John Piper, American theologian
  • 1948 Terry Goodkind, American epic fantasy novelist (The Sword of Truth), born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 2020)
  • 1952 Michael Forshaw, Australian politician
  • 1953 Anna Marchesini, Italian voice actress and entertainer (Il Trio), born in Orvieto, Italy (d. 2016)
  • 1958 Diego León Montoya Sánchez, Colombian crime boss and leader of the Norte del Valle drug cartel, born in Trujillo, Colombia
  • 1961 Jasper Fforde, British author
  • 1968 Benjamin List, German chemist (2021 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for asymmetric organocatalysis), born in Frankfurt, Germany
  • 1972 Yang Wenyi, Chinese swim star (WR/OR 50m freestyle), born in Shanghai, China
  • 1975 Matteo Renzi, Italian politician and Prime Minister of Italy (2014-), born in Florence, Italy
  • 1979 Henry Shefflin, Irish hurler, born in Waterford, Ireland
  • 1980 Lovieanne Jung, American softball player, born in Honolulu, Hawaii
  • 1988 Alexandria L'Esperance, US quintuplet, born in Royal Oak, Michigan
  • 1988 Danielle L'Esperance, US quintuplet, born in Royal Oak, Michigan
  • 1988 Erica L'Esperance, US quintuplet, born in Royal Oak, Michigan
  • 1988 Raymond L'Esperance, US quintuplet, born in Royal Oak, Michigan
  • 1988 Veronica L'Esperance, US quintuplet, born in Royal Oak, Michigan


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