Birthdays in History on January 6

  • 1367 Richard II, King of England (1377-99), born in Bordeaux, France (d. 1400)
  • 1488 Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (Silvae)
  • 1525 Caspar Peucer, German reformer (d. 1602)
  • 1561 Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician (d. 1656)

Person of interestJohn Smith

1580 John Smith, English explorer (Chesapeake Bay, New England) and leader of the Virginia Colony (Jamestown), born in Lincolnshire, England (d. 1861)

Explorer John Smith
Explorer
John Smith
  • 1585 Claude Favre baron de Perouges seigneur de Vaugelas, French grammarian
  • 1587 Gaspar de Guzman, Count of Olivares, Premier of Spain (1621-43)
  • 1595 Claude Favre de Vaugelas, French man of letters (d. 1650)
  • 1602 Karl Rabenhaupt, German/Dutch baron of Sucha/army leader
  • 1617 Kristoffer Gabel, Danish statesman (d. 1673)
  • 1655 Eleonore-Magdalena of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empire Empress (d. 1720)
  • 1655 Jakob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1705)
  • 1673 1st Duke of Chandos, English aristocrat, eponym of Handel's Chandos Anthems (d. 1744)
  • 1714 Percivall Pott, English physician (d. 1788)
  • 1728 Domingos dos Reis Quita, Portuguese playwright/poet
  • 1732 Matija A Reljkovic, Croatia, writer (Satir iliti divji covic)

  • 1745 Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, Annonay, Ardèche, French inventors and 1st pioneer balloonist (Montgolfière-style hot air balloon)
  • 1776 Ferdinand von Schill, Prussian officer/rebel
  • 1793 James Madison Porter, American politician (d. 1862)
  • 1795 Anselme Payen, French chemist (d. 1871)
  • 1799 Jedediah Strong Smith, US fur trader/explorer
  • 1800 Willem A. Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, Dutch politician
  • 1802 Ion Heliade-Radulescu, Romania, author/novelist/writer (Gramatica)
  • 1807 Joseph Holt, American lawyer, politician and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Breckinridge County, Kentucky (d. 1894)
  • 1807 Jozef Maximilián Petzval, Slovak inventor (d. 1891)
  • 1808 Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American naval officer (d. 1864)
  • 1811 Charles Sumner, American leading Reconstruction senator, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1874)
  • 1812 Melchora Aquino, Filipino revolutionary hero (d. 1919)
  • 1819 Baldassare Verazzi, Italian painter (d. 1886)

Person of interestHeinrich Schliemann

1822 Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist who rediscovered Troy, born in Neubukow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, German Confederation (d. 1890

Archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann
Archaeologist
Heinrich Schliemann
  • 1826 Herman Grimm, German writer, novelist (Ralph Waldo Emerson), born in Kassel, Hesse (d. 1901)
  • 1827 John Calvin Brown, Major General (Confederate Army), (d. 1889)
  • 1827 John Wesley Frazer, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), die in 1906
  • 1832 Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)
  • 1842 Clarence King, mining engineer (geologist)
  • 1850 Eduard "Ede" Bernstein, German marxist (New Era)
  • 1854 Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft, fictional detective (via Arthur Conan Doyle)
  • 1857 Hugh Mahon, Irish-born Australian politician (d. 1931)
  • 1857 William E. Russell, 37th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
  • 1859 Samuel Alexander, English philosopher (Moral order & progress)
  • 1861 George Exton Lloyd, Anglican bishop and theologian (d. 1940)

  • 1870 Gustav Bauer, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1944)
  • 1878 Carl Sandburg, American poet/biographer of Lincoln (The People, Yes)
  • 1882 Samuel Rayburn, Tenn, (Rep-D-Tx), speaker of the House (1940-57)
  • 1882 Aleksandra Ekster, Russian painter (d. 1949)
  • 1882 Fan S. Noli, Albanian bishop (d. 1965)
  • 1883 Khalil Gibran, Lebanon, mystic poet (The Prophet, Broken Wings)
  • 1889 Alan M Bateman, Canadian geologist (Yale professor)
  • 1896 Abram N Pritzker, US businessman (Hyatt Hotels, McCall's magazine)
  • 1896 Freerk Siemon Wolters, notary/resistance fighter
  • 1898 Jan Filip Boon, Flemish author/editor (De Standaard 1929-39)
  • 1898 Charles E. Pont, American artist (d. 1971)
  • 1902 Helmut Poppendick, Nazi physician (d. 1994)
  • 1905 Eric Frank Russell, UK, sci-fi author (Hugo, Deep Space, Dark Tides)
  • 1906 Benedict Vilakazi, South Africa, poet/educator (Zulu-English Dictionary)
  • 1906 Jaap Wagemaker, [Adrian B], Dutch sculptor
  • 1907 David Fleay, Australian naturalist (d. 1993)
  • 1909 Johannes H Moesman, Dutch surrealist painter (Rumor)
  • 1909 Keith Davis, voice tutor/author
  • 1910 Wright Morris, US writer
  • 1911 Eduardo Frei Montalva, president of Chile (1964-70)
  • 1912 Jacques Cesar Ellul, writer
  • 1913 Edward Gierek, party leader (Polish CP)
  • 1915 Alan Watts, writer (Book on the Taboo), born in Kent, England
  • 1915 Don Edwards, American politician and civil rights champion (Rep-D-CA, 1963-94), born in San Jose, California (d. 2015)
  • 1915 John C. Lilly, U.S. psychoanalyst, writer (d. 2001)
  • 1916 Vincent Serventy, Australian writer and conservationist (d. 2007)
  • 1917 Guillermo Rosario, Dutch Antilles, writer (E rais ku no ke muri)
  • 1917 Koo Chen-fu, Chinese negotiator (d. 2005)
  • 1920 Doris Stokes, British psychic medium (d. 1987)
  • 1920 John Maynard Smith, English biologist (d. 2004)
  • 1921 Lou Harris, pollster (Lou Harris Poll)
  • 1923 Leah Chase, American master chef, in the creole tradition, born in New Orleans, Louisiana
  • 1923 Jacobo Timerman, Argentine writer (d. 1999)
  • 1925 John Z DeLorean, former automaker (DeLorean)
  • 1926 Kim Dae-jung, President of South Korea and Nobel laureate
  • 1927 Jesse Leonard Steinfeld, 11th US Surgeon General (1969-73), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2014)
  • 1928 George H. Ross, American businessman
  • 1929 Babrak Karmal, Afghani politician (d. 1996)
  • 1930 Denis Pitts, journalist
  • 1931 E. L. Doctorow, American author (Ragtime, Billy Bathgate), born in The Bronx, New York (d.2015)
  • 1932 Stuart A. Rice, American chemist
  • 1933 Fred L. Turner, American businessman (CEO of McDonalds, 1977-2004), born in Des Moines, Iowa (d. 2013)
  • 1934 Harry M. Miller, Australian entrepreneur
  • 1934 Tassos Papadopoulos, president of the Republic of Cyprus
  • 1935 Margarita Gomez-Acebo y Cejuela, Tsaritsa of Bulgaria
  • 1936 Julio Maria Sanguinetti Cairolo, president of Uruguay (1985-90, 95- )
  • 1938 Prof Adrienne Clarke, Australian botanist, Lieutenant Governor of Victoria
  • 1938 Mario Rodríguez Cobos "Silo", Argentine writer and spiritual leader
  • 1940 Ed Zschau, (Rep-R-CA, 1983- )
  • 1940 Laudir de Oliveira, Brazilian percussionist (Chicago), born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • 1940 Penny Lernoux, American journalist (d. 1989)
  • 1943 Osvaldo Soriano, writer
  • 1943 Paul James Nunn, mountaineer
  • 1944 Henry Kravis, author (The Money Machine)
  • 1944 Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist, Nobel laureate
  • 1945 Barry Holstein Lopez, American author (Of Wolves & Men)
  • 1945 Allen Appel, American novelist
  • 1948 Guy Spencer Gardner, Alta Vista Va, Lt Col USAF/astro (STS 27, STS 35)
  • 1948 Robert E [Bob] Wise Jr, (Rep-D-WV, 1983- )
  • 1950 Louis Freeh, former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • 1954 Hans Robert Hiegel, German architect
  • 1954 Yuji Horii, Japanese video game designer
  • 1957 C Michael Foale, Louth England, astronaut (STS 45, 56, 63, 84/86)
  • 1959 John Singleton, director (Boyz n The Hood), born in Los Angeles, California
  • 1963 Philippe Perrin, Meknes Morocco, Lt Col FAF/astronaut
  • 1964 Anthony Scaramucci, American financier and White House Communications Director (2017-), born in Long Island, New York
  • 1965 Bjorn Lomborg, Danish mathematician
  • 1965 Muhammed al-Ahari, American Muslim writer
  • 1975 Yukana, Japanese seiyū
  • 1975 Jason King, English radio DJ (Radio 1)
  • 1989 Baby lion-tailed macaques, at Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle)