Birthdays in History on September 17

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (1730-1794)

Prussian-American military officer (major general of the Continental Army), born in Magdeburg

1739 John Rutledge, American 2nd Chief Justice of the United States, born in Charleston, South Carolina, British America (d. 1800)

Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794)

Marquis de Condorcet, French enlightenment philosopher (Condorcet Method) and mathematician, born in Ribemont, Picardy, France

1764 John Goodricke, English deaf astronomer (first to notice that some variable stars were periodic), born in Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1786)
1771 Johann August Apel, German jurist and writer, born in Leipzig, Germany (d. 1816)
1774 Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti, Italian cardinal, linguist and hyperpolyglot (understood 70 languages), born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1849)
1783 Samuel Prout, British water color painter, born in Plymouth, England (d. 1852)
1798 Antonio Benedetto Antonucci, Italian cardinal and diplomat, born in Subiaco, Italy (d. 1879)
1800 Franklin Buchanan, American first superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1874)
1801 Edward William Lane, British lexicographer and translator (One Thousand & One Nights), born in Hereford, England (d. 1876)
1819 Leon Foucault, French physicist whose pendulum proved that the Earth rotates, born in Paris (d. 1868)
1819 Marthinus Wessels Pretorius, 1st president of the Republic South Africa, born in Graaff Reinet, Cape Colony (d. 1901)
1820 Earl Van Dorn, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Claiborne County, Mississippi (d. 1863)
1820 Émile Augier, French dramatist, born in Valence, Drôme, Kingdom of France (d. 1889)
1825 Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, American politician and U.S. Supreme Court Justice, born in Eatonton, Georgia (d. 1893)
1826 Berhard Riemann, German mathematician (zeta-function), born in Breselenz, Hanover (d. 1866)
1834 Edouard Pailleron, French attorney, poet and stage writer, born in Paris, France (d. 1899)
1839 Ira Erastus Davenport, American magician, claimed to be a spirit medium, born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1911)
1853 Clemens Baeumker, German historian (Patristischen Philosophie), born in Paderborn, Germany (d. 1924)
1854 David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-American automobile pioneer (Buick Motor Company), born in Arbroath, Angus, Scotland (d. 1929)
1857 Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian pioneer in rocket and space research, born in Izhevskoye, Ryazan Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1935)
1859 Frank Dawson Adams, Canadian geologist, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1942)
1861 Owen Seaman, British poet and editor (Punch), born in Shrewsbury, England (d. 1936)
1868 James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician, born in Oxford County, Ontario (d. 1956)
1869 Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian pacifist and internationalist (Nobel Peace Prize 1921), born in Stavanger, Norway (d. 1938)
1874 Ben Turpin, American comic (Uncle Tom Without the Cabin), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1940)
1879 Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, Indian Social social activist and reformer, born in Erode, Madras Presidency, British India (d. 1973)
1881 Alfred Carpenter, English Royal Navy soldier, born in Barnes, Surrey (d. 1955)
1882 Anton Hendrik Blaauw, Dutch botanist (Perception of Light), born in Elst, Overbetuwe, Netherlands (d. 1942)
1883 William Carlos Williams, American physician and poet, born in Rutherford, New Jersey (d. 1963)
1884 Bastiaan de Gaay Fortman, Dutch historian and Justice of Curacao, born in Amsterdam (d. 1961)
1888 Michiyo Tsujimura, Japanese agricultural scientist and biochemist (components of green tea), born in Saitama Prefecture, Japan (d. 1969)
1890 Gabriel Heatter, American radio commentator famous for his WWII sign-on "There's good news tonight", born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1972)
1893 Abel Herzberg, Russian-Dutch Jewish lawyer and writer (Persecution of Jews), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1989)
1900 J. Willard Marriott, American entrepreneur and hotelier (founder of Marriott Corporation), born in Marriott Settlement, Utah (d. 1985)
1901 Francis Chichester, English aviator and sailor (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire), born in Barnstaple, Devon, England (d. 1972)

Frederick Ashton (1904-1988)

British choreographer (Cinderella), born in Guayaquil, Ecuador

1906 Edgar Wayburn, American environmentalist awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom 1999, born in Macon, Georgia (d. 2010)
1906 J. R. [Junius Richard] Jayawardene, 2nd President of Sri Lanka (1978-89) and 7th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (1977-78), born in Colombo, British Ceylon (d. 1996)
1907 Desmond Heap, British lawyer and authority on British planning law, born in Burnley, Lancashire (d. 1998)
1907 Warren E. Burger, 15th Supreme Court chief justice (1969-86), born in Saint Paul, Minnesota (d. 1995)
1909 Elizabeth Wilkinson, English professor of German (University College London), born in Keighley (d. 2001)
1909 Kenneth Darling, British Army Commander-in-chief Allied Forces, born in Bengal Presidency, British India (d. 1998)
1914 Shin Kanemaru, Japanese politician (Deputy Prime Minister 1986-87), born in Suwa, Yamanashi Prefecture, Empire of Japan (d. 1996)
1916 Mary Stewart, British sci-fi author (Crystal Cave), born in Sunderland, England (d. 2014)
1916 Oswald Garrison Villard Jr., American Engineer (electronics) who invented the over-the-horizon radar that could detect objects thousands of miles away and peer around the Earth's curvature, born in Dobbs Ferry, New York
1916 Ove Abildgaard, Danish poet (Uglegylp), born in Lemvig, Denmark (d. 1990)
1916 Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal, Mongolian politician (Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Khural (President), 1974-84; Prime Minister, 1952-74; General Secretary of the Mongolian People's Party, 1940-54), born in Davst sum, Uvs aimag, Outer Mongolia (d. 1991)
1918 Chaim Herzog, 6th President of Israel (1983-93), born in Belfast, Ireland (d. 1997)
1920 Marjorie Holt, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland), born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 2018)
1921 Virgilio Barco Vargas, President of Colombia (1986-90), born in Cúcuta, Colombia
1922 Agostinho Neto, 1st President of Angola (1975-79), born in Ícolo e Bengo, Portuguese Angola (d. 1979)
1922 Naomi Datta, British geneticist and bacteriologist (pioneer in investigating the development of resistance to antibiotics by bacteria), born in London (d. 2008)
1923 John Rigby Hale, British linguist and historian, born in Ashford, Kent (d. 1999)
1926 Donald Acheson, Irish physician and Chief Medical Officer for England (1983-90), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland (d. 2010)
1927 Theodore S. Weiss, American politician (Rep-D-NY, 1977-92), born in Gáva, Hungary (d. 1992)
1928 Brian Matthew, British disc jockey (Saturday Club), born in Coventry (d. 2017)
1929 David Craig, Baron Craig of Radley, British marshal (RAF), born in Dublin, Ireland
1929 John Stewart-Clark, British businessman and Member of the European Parliament (MEP), born in Dalmeny, Scotland
1930 Edgar Mitchell, NASA astronaut (Apollo 14), born in Hereford Texas (d. 2016)
1930 Gwyn Jones Francis, Welsh UK Forestry commissioner (d. 2015)
1930 Jim Rohn, American business philosopher, born in Yakima, Washington (d. 2009)
1930 Thomas P. Stafford, American Air Force officer and astronaut (Gem 6 9, Ap 10 18), born in Weatherford, Oklahoma
1932 Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar (1972-95), born in Rayyan (d. 2016)
1933 Chuck Grassley, American politician (Senator-R-Iowa, 1981- ), born in New Hartford, Iowa
1933 Desmond Fennell, British high court judge, born in Sheffield, England (d. 2011)
1935 Ken Kesey, American author (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), born in La Junta Colorado (d. 2001)
1935 Timothy Bavin, British Anglican bishop (Bishop of Portsmouth 1985-95)
1936 Jennifer Dickson, South African-British artist and photographer, born in Piet Retief, South Africa
1936 Mischa de Vreede, Dutch poetess (Our Eternal Hunger), born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies
1936 Richard Gaskell, British solicitor (President of the Law Society) (d. 2015)
1937 Albertine Sarrazin, French author (L'astragale, La Cavale), born in Algiers, Algeria (d. 1967)
1938 Alec Broers, British electrical engineer and master (Churchill College Cambridge), born in Calcutta, India
1939 David Souter, American retired 107th Supreme Court Justice (1990-2009), born in Melrose, Massachusetts
1940 Jan Eliasson, Swedish diplomat (4th Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations), born in Gothenburg, Sweden
1941 Bob Matsui, American politician (Rep-D-California, 1979-2005), born in Sacramento, California (d. 2005)
1942 Robert Graysmith, American Zodiac killer researcher and author, born in Pensacola, Florida
1943 Samuel T. Durrance, American scientist and astronaut (STS 35, STS 67), born in Tallahassee, Florida
1944 Reinhold Messner, Italian mountain climber (Mount Everest), born in Brixen (Bressanone), Italy
1946 Michael Jack, British Conservative Party politician and minister of state-home office, born in Folkestone, Kent, England
1947 Jeff MacNelly, American Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist (Shoe), born in NYC, New York (d. 2000)
1947 Robert Kidd, British marine geoscientist (International Deep Sea Drilling Programme), born in Milford Haven, Wales (d. 1996)
1947 Tessa Jowell, British politician and Labour Member of Parliament (1997-2015), born in Marylebone, London (d. 2018)
1948 Patricia Kluge, British-Iraqi ex-wife of Billionaire John Kluge, born in Baghdad. Iraq
1950 Chris Heister [Gun Christina Heister], Swedish politician, born in Östhammar, Uppsala
1950 Lawrence Anthony, South Africa, conservationist and author, born in Johannesburg (d. 2012)

Narendra Modi (72 years old)

1950 Indian politician (15th Prime Minister of India), born in Vadnagar, Gujarat

1953 Altaf Hussain, Pakistani politician and founder of MQM
1953 Rita Rudner, American comedienne (Funny People), born in Miami, Florida
1955 Mike Parson, American politician (Governor of Missouri, 2018-), born in Wheatland, Missouri
1956 Brian Andreas, American writer, sculptor, painter and publisher
1957 David Bintley, British dancer choreographer and ballet director, born in Huddersfield, England
1961 Pamela Ann Melroy, American Major USAF and astronaut (STS 92), born in Palo Alto, California
1963 Amy Roloff, American reality star (Little People, Big World), born in Michigan
1963 Michael Adler, American businessman and diplomat
1963 Rami Saari, Israeli poet and translator, born in Petah Tikva, Israel
1963 Wendy Northcutt, American author of the Darwin Awards
1965 Bryan Singer, American film and television director (The Usual Suspects), born in New York City
1968 Marie-Chantal, British-born Crown Princess of Greece, wife of Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece (heir to abolished Greek throne), born in London
1974 Tormod Granheim, Norwegian adventurer (extreme skiing), born in Trondheim, Norway
1977 Latoya Warning, Suriname 4th Miss Teenager (1993)
1982 Hope Larson, American illustrator and cartoonist
1991 Jordan McCoy, American entertainer
1994 Taylor Ware, American yodeler