On This Day

Birthdays in History on October 10

  • 1344 Mary Plantagenet, English princess, daughter of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, born in Waltham, Hampshire (d. 1362)
  • 1486 Charles III, Duke of Savoy (1504-53), born in Chazey-sur-Ain, France (d. 1553)
  • 1567 Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain [Catalina Micaela de Austria], Duchess consort of Savoy (1585-97), born in Madrid, Spain (d. 1597)
  • 1599 Jacob Aertsz Colom, Dutch publisher (Consolation of the Sea), born in Dordrecht, Netherlands (d. 1673)
  • 1678 John Campbell, 2nd duke of Argyll and field marshal (Union of 1707), born in Ham House, Petersham, Surrey (d. 1743)
  • 1684 Jean-Antoine Watteau, French Rococo painter (fêtes galantes), born in Valenciennes, France (d. 1721)
  • 1700 Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, French sculptor, born in Nancy, Kingdom of France (d. 1759)
  • 1731 Henry Cavendish, England, physicist and chemist (discovered hydrogen), born in Nice (d. 1810)
  • 1738 Benjamin West, Anglo-American painter (Death of General Wolfe), born in Springfield, Province of Pennsylvania (d. 1820)
  • 1757 Erik Acharius, Swedish botanist (lichens), born in Gävle, Sweden (d. 1819)
  • 1779 Antoine Philippe Vischer, comte de Celles, Belgian-French politician, born in Brussels (d. 1841)
  • 1780 John Abercrombie, Scottish physician, born in Aberdeen (d. 1844)
  • 1794 William Whiting Boardman, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut), born in New Milford, Connecticut (d. 1871)
  • 1817 C. H. D. Buys Ballot, Dutch meteorologist (Buys Ballot's law), born in Kloetinge, Netherlands (d. 1890)
  • 1819 Zebulon York, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Avon, Maine (d. 1900)

Paul KrugerPaul Kruger (1825-1904)

3rd President of South African Republic (1883-1900) and face of Boer resistance during the Second Boer War, born in Steynsburg, Cape Colony

Paul Kruger
  • 1828 Samuel J. Randall, American politician (Speaker of the United States House of Representatives), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1890)
  • 1829 Dandridge McRae, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Baldwin County, Alabama (d. 1899)
  • 1830 Isabella II, Queen of Spain (1833-68), born in Madrid, Spain (d. 1904)
  • 1832 Theodore Shelton Bowers, Bvt Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Hummelstown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (d. 1866)
  • 1834 Aleksis Kivi, Finnish writer and poet (Nummisuutarit), born in Nurmijärvi, Grand Duchy of Finland (d. 1872)

Fridtjof NansenFridtjof Nansen (1861-1930)

Norwegian Arctic explorer and advocate for refugees (Nobel Peace Prize 1922), born in Store Frøen, Christiania

Fridtjof Nansen
  • 1863 Louis Cyr, French Canadian strongman (lifting 500 pounds (227 kg) with one finger and backlifting 4,337 pounds (1,967 kg)), born in Quebec, Canada (d. 1912)
  • 1864 T. Frank Appleby, American Republican Party politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey), born in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey (d. 1924)
  • 1865 Rafael Merry del Val, British-born Spanish Roman Catholic cardinal, born in London, England (d. 1930)
  • 1870 Louise Mack, Australian poet and novelist, born in Hobart, Tasmania (d. 1935)
  • 1884 Ferdinand Bordewijk, Dutch lawyer and writer (Bint), born in Amsterdam (d. 1965)
  • 1885 Walter Anderson, German folklorist, born in Minsk, Russian Empire (d. 1962)
  • 1887 Rie Cramer, Dutch writer and illustrator, born in Sukabumi, Dutch East Indies (d. 1977)
  • 1889 Han [Henricus Antonius] van Meegeren, Dutch painter and art forger (Vermeer), born in Deventer, Netherlands (d. 1947)
  • 1892 Earle Dickson, American inventor (Band-Aid), born in Grandview, Tennessee (d. 1961)
  • 1893 August Balthazar, Belgian politician, born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1952)
  • 1893 Lester Lonergan Jr, American stage and screen actor (Guilty Bystander; The Growing Paynes), born in Peterson, New Jersey (d. 1959
  • 1895 Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, German field marshal (German Air Force-WW II), born in Barzdorf, German Empire (d. 1945)
  • 1898 Lilly Daché, French-American milliner and fashion designer, born in Bègles, France (d. 1989)
  • 1901 Alberto Giacometti, Swiss-French painter and sculptor, born in Borgonovo, Stampa, Graubünden, Switzerland (d. 1966)
  • 1902 Dick Ket, Dutch painter and cartoonist, born in Den Helder, Netherlands (d. 1940)
  • 1903 Charles Théodore Henri Antoine Meinrad de Belgique, Count of Flanders, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1983)

R.K. NarayanR.K. Narayan (1906-2001)

Indian novelist (Malguidi Days), born in Madras

R.K. Narayan
  • 1908 Mercè Rodoreda, Catalan novelist (La plaça del diamant), born in Barcelona (d. 1983)
  • 1909 Luc van Brabant, Flemish writer and erotic poet, born in Lokoren, Belgium (d. 1977)
  • 1910 Price Daniel, American politician (38th Governor of Texas), born in Dayton, Texas (d. 1988)

Clare HollingworthClare Hollingworth (1911-2017)

British war correspondent who was the first to report on the outbreak of WWII, born in Knighton, England

Clare Hollingworth
  • 1912 Charles Henry Madge, English poet and founder of Mass-Observation, born in Johannesburg, South Africa (d. 1996)
  • 1913 Claude Simon, Malagasy-French writer (Nobel Prize Literature 1985), born in Tananarive, Madagascar (d. 2005)
  • 1918 Jean Gimpel, French author and medievalist, born in Paris (d. 1996)
  • 1918 Yigal Allon, Israeli politician, born in Kfar Tavor, Palestine (d. 1980)
  • 1921 Boy Trip, Dutch minister, born in Amersfoort, Netherlands (d. 1990)
  • 1922 Boeli van Leeuwen, Antillian writer (Vreemdeling Op Aarde), born in Curaçao (d. 2007)
  • 1924 James Clavell, British-American author (The Asian Saga), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1994)
  • 1925 Great Antonio [Antonio Barichievich], Croatian-Canadian strongman and eccentric, born in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (d. 2003)
  • 1925 Ivan Sviták, Czech philosopher and poet, born in Hranice na Moravě, Czechoslovakia (d. 1994)
  • 1927 John Eric Tieman, production manager (The Guardian) (d. 1995)
  • 1930 Adlai Stevenson III, American politician (U.S. Senator from Illinois), born in Chicago, Illinois
  • 1930 Mustafa Zaidi, Pakistani Urdu poet, born in Allahabad, India (d. 1970)
  • 1933 Gerald Masters, South African-British author (Pan Book of Dates)
  • 1933 Jay Sebring, American hair stylist and Manson murder victim, born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 1969)
  • 1935 André Bureau, French Canadian lawyer and communications executive, born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada
  • 1935 Khalil al-Wazir [Abu Jihad], Founder of Palestinian group Fatah and PLO leader, born in Ramla, Mandatory Palestine (d. 1988)
  • 1935 Ousmane Sow, Senegalese sculptor, born in Dhakar (d. 2016)
  • 1936 Gerhard Ertl, German surface chemist (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2007), born in Stuttgart, Germany
  • 1938 Daidō Moriyama, Japanese photographer, born in Ikeda, Osaka
  • 1938 Marcus Jan Adriani, biologist and director (Weevers' Duin) (d. 1995)
  • 1938 Toby Roth, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin), born in Strasburg, North Dakota
  • 1939 Joe Pitts, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania), born in Lexington, Kentucky
  • 1941 Ken Saro-Wiwa, Nigerian writer and environmentalist, born in Bori, Nigeria (d. 1995)
  • 1941 Laurence Henry Tribe, Harvard Law professor, born in Shanghai, China
  • 1942 James Marshall, American illustrator and author (George and Martha, The Stupids), born in San Antonio, Texas (d. 1992)
  • 1942 Radu Vasile, Prime Minister of Romania (1998-99), born in Sibiu, Romania (d. 2013)
  • 1943 Alexander MacMillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton, English publisher and politician
  • 1943 Frederick Barthelme, American author (There Must be Some Mistake), born in Houston, Texas
  • 1944 Christopher Ndodebandla Dlamini, South African trade unionist and SACP-leader, born in Benoni, Transvaal, South Africa
  • 1944 Renier Schoeman, South African journalist and politician
  • 1946 Franco Malerba, Italian astronaut (STS 46), born in Genoa, Italy
  • 1946 Mildred Grieveson, Britlish writer (Leopard in the Snow), born in England
  • 1946 Naoto Kan, Japanese politician (61st Prime Minister of Japan), born in Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan
  • 1950 Nora Roberts, American novelist (Angels Fall), born in Silver Spring, Maryland
  • 1951 Epeli Ganilau, Fijian soldier and politician (National Alliance Party of Fiji)
  • 1957 Rumiko Takahashi, Japanese artist, born in Niigata, Japan
  • 1958 John M. Grunsfeld, American physicist and astronaut (STS 67, 81), born in Chicago, Illinois
  • 1962 Rex J. Walheim, U.S. Air Force officer and NASA astronaut, born in Redwood City, California
  • 1963 Daniel Pearl, American journalist (kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan), born in Princeton, New Jersey (d. 2002)
  • 1965 Steve Scalise, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
  • 1966 Carolyn Bertozzi, American chemist (2022 Nobel Prize for click chemistry), born in Boston, Massachusetts

Gavin NewsomGavin Newsom (55 years old)

1967 American politician (Governor of California 2019-), born in San Francisco, California

Gavin Newsom
  • 1967 Jonathan Littell, French-American writer (The Kindly Ones), born in NYC, New York

Chris OfiliChris Ofili (54 years old)

1968 English painter (Turner prize - elephant dung), born in Manchester, England

Chris Ofili
  • 1969 Ben Crump, American civil rights attorney (Breonna Taylor, George Floyd), born in Lumberton, North Carolina
  • 1982 Amon Buchanan, Australian rules footballer
  • 1985 Dominique Cornu, Belgian professional cyclist, born in Beveren, Belgium


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