Birthdays in History on October 31

Jan Vermeer (1632-1675)

Dutch painter (Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Astronomer), born in Delft, Netherlands

1636 Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (1651-79), born in Schleissheim Palace, Bavaria (d. 1679)
1638 Meindert Hobbema, Dutch landscape painter, baptized in Amsterdam (d. 1709)
1692 Comte de Caylus, French archaeologist, born in Paris (d. 1765)
1705 Pope Clement XIV [Giovanni Ganganelli], Pope (1769-74), born in Rimini, Italy (d. 1774)
1711 Laura Bassi, Italian physicist and scholar, born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1778)
1724 Christopher Anstey, English poet (The New Bath Guide), born in Brinkley, England (d. 1805)
1737 James Lovell, American educator and statesman, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1789)
1740 William Paca, American judge and signer (Declaration of Independence), born in Abingdon, Maryland (d. 1799)
1750 Leonor de Almeida marquesa de Alorna, Portuguese poet, born in São Jorge de Arroios, Lisbon, Portugal (d. 1839)
1755 Jean Louis van Aelbroeck, Flemish agronomist, born in Zottergem, Belgium (d. 1846)
1761 Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck, Dutch politician (Grand Pensionary of Batavia), born in Deventer, Overijssel, United Provinces (d. 1825)
1785 George F Kersting, German painter, born in Güstrow, Germany (d. 1847)

John Keats (1795-1821)

English Romantic poet (Ode to a Grecian Urn), born in London

1815 Karl Weierstrass, German mathematician (theory of functions), born in Ostenfelde, Germany (d. 1897)
1825 Charles Lavigerie, French Catholic cardinal, born in Bayonne, France (d. 1892)
1826 Hugh Boyle Ewing, American diplomat, author, attorney, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Lancaster, Ohio (d. 1905)
1827 Richard Morris Hunt, American architect and educator, born in Brattleboro, Vermont (d. 1895)
1831 Daniel Butterfield, American Major General (Union Army), assistant US Treasurer, born in Utica, New York (d. 1901)
1831 Paolo Mantegazza, Italian neurologist and anthropologist, born in Monza, Italy (d. 1910)
1835 Adelbert Ames, American soldier and politician, Bvt Major General (Union Army), born in Rockland, Maine (d. 1933)
1835 Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist (Nobel 1905), born in Berlin (d. 1917)
1835 Krišjānis Barons, Latvian writer who published Latvian folk songs, born in Jaunpils Parish, Latvia (d. 1923)
1838 Luís I, King of Portugal (1861-89), born in Necessidades Palace, Lisbon, Portugal (d. 1889)
1840 Franz Müller, German tailor and first train murderer (killing Thomas Briggs) (d. 1864)
1847 Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist and electrical engineer, born in Livorno Ferraris, Italy (d. 1897)
1848 Boston Custer, brother of George Armstrong Custer, born in New Rumley, Ohio (d. 1876)
1851 Lovisa of Sweden, Queen of Denmark, born in Stockholm Palace, Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1926)
1852 Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, American writer (Revolt of Mother), born in Randolph, Massachusetts (d. 1930)
1854 Adolf Erman, German Egyptologist (Grammar of Ancient Egypt), born in Berlin (d. 1937)

Juliette Gordon Low (1860-1927)

American activist and founder of the Girl Scouts of America, born in Savannah, Georgia

1875 Seerp Anema, Dutch poet and writer (Dutch Coasts) (d. 1961)

Sardar Patel (1875-1950)

Indian freedom fighter and statesman, born in Gujarat, India

1876 Eduard van Oort, Dutch ornithologist (Ornithology of Netherlands), born in Barneveld, Netherlands (d. 1933)
1883 Marie Laurencin, French painter, born in Paris (d. 1956)

Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975)

Chinese political and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (1928-1975), born in Xikou, Zhejiang, China

1888 George Hubert Wilkins, Australian polar explorer (Flying the Arctic), born in Hallett, Australia (d. 1958)
1888 Napoleon Lapathiotis, Greek poet, born in Athens, Greece (d. 1944)
1892 Ruth Fuller Sasaki, American Zen teacher (1st Zen Institute of America), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1967)
1895 B. H. Liddell Hart, English military historian and publicist (The Rommel Papers), born in Paris (d. 1970)
1898 Alfred Sauvy, French statistician (Affluence & Population), born in Villeneuve-de-la-Raho, France (d. 1990)
1902 Abraham Wald, Hungarian mathematician (field of statistical sequential analysis), born in Cluj-Napoca, Austria-Hungary (d. 1950)
1902 Charles Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet (Claro Enigma), born in Itabira, Minas Gerais, Brazil (d. 1987)
1906 Jo Vis, resistance fighter (Yad Vashem-distinction)
1907 Helen Lessore, English artist, born in London (d. 1994)
1914 Joe Carcione, American consumer advocate (The Green Grocer) (d. 1988)
1914 John Hugenholtz, Dutch race track designer, born in Westerveld, Netherlands (d. 1995)
1916 Carl Johan Bernadotte, formerly Prince of Sweden, born in Stockholm Palace, Stockholm, Sweden (d. 2012)
1917 William H. McNeill, Canadian-born historian (Rise of the West), born in Vancouver, British Columbia (d. 2016)
1918 Ian Stevenson, Canadian-American parapsychologist and reincarnation expert, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2007)
1919 Magnus Wenninger, American mathematician and author of Polyhedron models, born in Park Falls, Wisconsin (d. 2017)
1920 Dedan Kimathi, Kenyan freedom fighter, born in Nyeri District, Central Province, Kenya (d. 1957)
1920 Helmut Newton, German fashion photographer, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 2004)
1923 Hicks B. Waldron, Chairman and CEO of Avon Products, Inc., born in Amsterdam, New York (d. 2017)
1925 John Pople, English chemist (Nobel Prize 1998), born in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, England (d. 2004)
1926 Jimmy Savile, English entertainer and suspected sexual predator, born in Leeds (d. 2011)
1930 Bill Pearl, American bodybuilder (5 x Mr. Universe), born in Prineville, Oregon (d. 2022)

Michael Collins (1930-2021)

American Major General USAF and astronaut (Gemini 10, Apollo 11), born in Rome, Italy [1] [2]

1936 Sergei Nikolayevich Gaidukov, Russian cosmonaut, born in Zhuravka, Voronezh, Russia (d. 2008)
1941 Dan Alderson, American scientist (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and sci-fi fandom figure, (d. 1989)
1944 Otto Wiesheu, German politician, born in Zolling, Germany
1949 Dumisa Ntsebeza, South African attorney and anti-apartheid activist, born in Transkei, South Africa
1949 Michael Parker, American businessman and politician (Rep-D-Mississippi), born in Laurel, Mississippi
1949 Terrence W. Wilcutt, United States Marine Corps officer and a NASA astronaut, born in Russellville, Kentucky
1950 Antonio Taguba, US Army Major General, born in Manila, Philippines
1950 Jozef Stolorz, polish painter
1950 Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-British Pritzker Prize-winning architect (London Aquatic Centre), born in Baghdad, Iraq (d. 2016)
1956 Anders Lago, Swedish Social Democratic politician, born in Jönköping, Sweden
1956 Charles Moore, British editor-in-chief (Sunday Telegraph), born in Hastings, Sussex, England
1959 Neal Stephenson, American author, born in Fort Meade, Maryland
1960 Luis Fortuño, Puerto Rican delegate to Congress, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Reza Pahlavi (62 years old)

1960 Crown Prince of Iran, born in Tehran, Iran

1964 Colm Ó Cíosóig, Irish drummer (My Bloody Valentine; Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions), born in Dublin, Ireland
1966 Joseph Boyden, Canadian novelist (Three Day Road), born in Willowdale, North York, Ontario
1979 Saaphyri Windsor, American reality TV figure, born in Los Angeles, California
1981 Irina Denezhkina, Russian writer (Give Me [Songs for Lovers]), born in Yekaterinburg, Russia
1981 Selina (Jiaxuan) Ren, member of Taiwanese girl-group S.H.E, born in Shilin, Taipei, Taiwan
2005 Infanta Leonor of Spain, daughter of Felipe, King of Asturias and Letizia, Queen of Asturias, born in Madrid, Spain