References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 June 28.

1850 January 5 Birth of Theodoor Verstraete Flemish painter/etcher. [1] January 6 Birth of Eduard "Ede" Bernstein German marxist (New Era). [1] Birth of Franz Xaver Scharwenka German pianist/composer (Mataswintha). [1] January 11 Birth of J C Arthur Lowville New York, botanist (studied rusts). [1] Birth of Philipp la Renotiere von Ferrary famous philatelist. [1] January 13 Birth of Leon Francis Victor Caron composer. [1] January 14 Birth of Jean de Reszke [Jan Mieczyslaw], Polish tenor. [1] Birth of Pierre Loti [Julien Viaud], French sea officer/writer (Pêcheur). [1] January 15 Birth of Mihail Eminesco [Eminovici], Romanian poet (Samanul Dionis). [1] Birth of Sonya Kurtovsky Kovalevsky Russia, mathemetician (Academy of Science). [1] January 17 Birth of Alexander Sergeyevich Taneyev Saint Petersburg Russia, composer. [1] January 27 Birth of Samuel Gompers Dutch/US, first president-American Federation of Labor. [1] January 29 Birth of Ebenezer Howard London, pioneer of garden cities. [1] Birth of Lawrence Hargrave inventor (box kite). [1] February 2 Birth of Carel V Gerritsen Dutch free thinker. [1] February 12 Birth of Amaat Vyncke Flemish missionary (Flemish Flag). [1] February 16 Birth of Octave Mirbeau France, writer (Journal of a Lady's Maid). [1] February 17 Birth of Anton Urspruch composer. [1] Birth of Ludwig Bonvin composer. [1] February 18 Birth of George Henschel composer. [1] February 22 Birth of Isaac L Rice Germany, (namesake of Columbia University's Rice stadium). [1] February 27 Birth of Henry Edwards Huntington US, railroad exec. [1] February 28 Birth of Hermann Schell German theologist/philosopher (Gott und Geist). [1] March 5 Birth of Daniel Brink Towner composer. [1] March 7 Birth of Tomás G Masaryk Czechoslovakia, Father/President of Czechoslovakia (1918-35). [1] March 9 Birth of Alexandre Luigini composer. [1] March 10 Birth of Mary Mills Patrick US, first president of Istanbul Women's College. [1] March 13 Birth of Emilio Serrano y Ruiz composer. [1] March 26 Birth of Edward Bellamy author (Looking Backward). [1] April 8 Birth of William Henry Welch US, pathologist, founded John Hopkins. [1] April 9 Birth of Herman Zumpe composer. [1] April 15 Birth of John Munroe Longyear US, capitalist/bank president. [1] April 16 Birth of Herbert Baxter Adams US, historian (American Historical Association). [1] April 19 Birth of Edward John Gregory painter/engraver. [1] Birth of Theo Mann-Bouwmeester Dutch actress (Pink Bernd, Hedda Gabler). [1] April 20 Birth of Daniel Chester French/American sculptor (The Minute Man). [1] May 10 Birth of Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton Glasgow Scotland, yachtsman/tea magnate (Lipton Tea). [1] May 16 Birth of Arthur Henry Mann organist/composer. [1] May 17 Birth of Antonio Scontrino composer. [1] May 18 Birth of Oliver Heaviside physicist predicted existence of ionosphere. [1] May 20 Birth of Eaton Faning composer. [1] May 21 In Milan, Italy, Giuseppe Mercalli is born; volcanologist and seismologist, Inventor of the Mercalli Intensity Scale (1902). [53] May 22 Birth of Johann Schrammel composer. [1] May 24 Birth of Ernest Albert Waterlow water-color painter. [1] May 26 Birth of Christine [Elizabeth C] Poolman Dutch actress (Stupid force). [1] June 6 Birth of Karl F Braun codeveloped wireless telegraphy (Nobel Prize 1909). [1] June 24 Birth of Horatio Herbert Kitchener England, original Order of Merit member. [1] June 27 Birth of Ivan Vazov Bulgaria, poet/novelist/playwright (Under the Yoke). [1] Birth of Lafcadio Hearn US, journalist/author (Chita). [1] July 15 Birth of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini [Mother Cabrini], first US saint. [1] August 5 Birth of Guy de Maupassant France, author (Boule de Suif). [1] August 26 Birth of Charles Richet French physiologist (anaphylaxis-Nobel Prize 1913). [1] September 2 Birth of Albert Spaulding baseball player/founded Spaulding sports company. [1] Birth of Eugene Field author/journalist (Little Boy Blue). [1] September 9 Birth of Harishchandra India, poet/dramatist/father of modern Hindi. [1] September 17 Birth of Abílio Manuel Guerra Junqueiro Portuguese poet (The Simple Ones). [1] October 4 Birth of John W McGraw (Governor-Republican-Wash) (1893-97). [1] November 9 Birth of Lewis Lewin Germany, toxicologist/father of psychopharmacology. [1] November 13 Birth of Robert Louis Stevenson in Scotland; author (Treasure Island). [1] [5] December 1 Birth of Peter Erasmus Lange-Muller composer. [1] December 13 Birth of G F Grace cricketer (brother of W G). [1] Birth of Iver Paul Fredrik Holter composer. [1] December 16 Birth of Fred Morley cricketer (legendary Notts and England bowler 1880-83). [1] December 21 Birth of Zdenek Fibich composer. [1] December 29 Birth of Tomas Breton y Hernandez composer. [1] December 30 In Liverpool, England, John Milne born; organized a seismic survey of Japan, recognized the importance of improving the seismogram. hypothesized that it should be possible to detect seismic waves from a large earthquake occurring anywhere on Earth, designed several types of seismometers. [53] 1851 January 8 Birth of Gérard Leman Belgian count/General. [1] January 9 Birth of Giuseppi Gallignani composer. [1] Birth of Luis Coloma Spanish jesuit/writer/theologian (Pequeñeces, Boy). [1] January 14 Birth of Théophile de Bock Dutch painter/etcher/drawer. [1] January 18 Birth of Heinrich Friedung in Roschtin, Austrian Empire; historian. [37] January 19 Birth of David Starr Jordan New York, biologist/university president (Leland Stanford). [1] Birth of Johannes C Kapteyn Dutch astronomer. [1] January 25 Birth of Arne Garborg Norwegian playwright (Bondestudentar). [1] Birth of Jan Blockx Belgium, opera composer (Sea Bride princess of Herberg). [1] January 27 Birth of Rafael Obligado Argentina, writer (Santos Vega). [1] February 3 Birth of Johannes B van Heutsz Lieutenant-General/Governor-General Dutch East Indies. [1] Birth of Lord Harris cricketer (4 Tests for England MCC big-wig). [1] February 8 Birth of Kate O'Flaherty Chopin novelist. [1] March 15 Birth of Jozef Surzynski composer. [1] March 19 Birth of Roque Sáenz Peña President of Argentina (1910-14). [1] March 27 Birth of Paul-Marie-Theodore-Vincent d'Indy Paris France, composer (Symphonie Cévenole). [1] Birth of Ruperto Chapi y Lorente composer. [1] Birth of Vincent d'Indy Paris France, dandy composer (Symphonie Cévenole). [1] April 7 Birth of Otto Adolf Klauwell composer. [1] April 9 Birth of C E Arthur Wichmann German/Dutch geologist (Netherlands Indies). [1] April 12 Birth of Emil Liebling composer. [1] April 16 Birth of Ernst Josephson Sweden, artist. [1] April 24 Birth of Eduardo Acevedo Díaz Uruguaian writer (Ismael, Grito de Gloria). [1] April 30 Birth of Indrið Einarsson Iceland playwright (Nyjársnóttin). [1] May 1 Birth of Eberhard Nestle German oriëntalist/biblical scholar. [1] May 20 Birth of Emile Berliner in Germany; inventor (flat phonograph record). [1] [5] Birth of Rose Hawthorne Lathrop US, nun/daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne. [1] May 21 Birth of Léon Bourgeois France, politician, internationalist (Nobel Prize 1920). [1] May 23 Birth of Antoni Stolpe composer. [1] May 28 Birth of Dick Barlow cricketer (immortal England all-rounder of 1880s). [1] May 29 Birth of Léon Bourgeois French premier (1895-96, Nobel Prize 1920). [1] June 12 Birth of Oliver Joseph Lodge England, early radio pioneer. [1] June 21 Birth of Daniel Carter Beard US, organized first boy scout troop. [1] July 7 Birth of Lillien Jane Martin psychologist. found gerontology clinic. [1] July 11 Birth of Millieand Christine North Carolina, siamese twins. [1] August 3 Birth of Lady Isabella Caroline Somerset temperance leader. [1] August 14 Doc Holliday is born. [5] September 13 Birth of Walter Reed US Army Surgeon, proved mosquitoes transmit yellow fever. [1] October 2 Birth of Ferdinand Foch believed to be responsible for Allies winning WW I. [1] October 16 Birth of James Ten Eyck champion rower/coach (Ten Eyck Trophy namesake). [1] November 6 Birth of Charles H Dow co-founder of Dow Jones/first editor of Wall Steet Journal. [1] November 10 Birth of Waldemar Brígger Norway, geologist/mineralogist (Metamict State). [1] December 10 Birth of Melvil[le Louis K] Dewey created Dewey Decimal System for libraries. [1] December 16 Birth of Theodoor H de Meester Dutch premier (1905-08). [1] December 30 Birth of Asa Griggs Candler developed Coca-Cola. [1] 1852 January 11 Birth of Konstantin Fehrenbach in Wellendingen, Germany; member of the Catholic Center Party, president of the Reichstag in 1918, chancellor of the Weimar Republic 1920-21. [1] [37] January 12 Birth of Joseph J C Joffre French field marshal (Indo-China, Marne). [1] January 26 Birth of Frederick Corder composer. [1] Birth of Pierre Brazza explorer/colonial administrator (French Africa). [1] January 29 Birth of Frederick Hymen Cowen composer. [1] Birth of Ion Luca Caragiale Romanian actor/playwright (O Noapte Furtunoasa). [1] February 2 Birth of Hâmid Abdülhak Istanbul, Turkish romantic poet/playwright. [1] Birth of Teunis Stoel actor/director (Small Theater, Rotterdam). [1] February 8 Birth of Nikolai Garin [Michailovski] Russian author (Tjoma Kartashov). [1] February 12 Birth of Hendrik Blink geographer (Van de Eems tot de Schelde). [1] February 13 Birth of Johan L E Dreyer Danish astronomer (New generation catalogue of nebulae). [1] February 16 Birth of Charles Taze Russell founded Jehovah's Witnesses. [1] Birth of William Scarborough Macon Georgia, linguist/author (Birds of Aristophanes). [1] February 20 Birth of Nikolai Garin [Michailovski] Russian author (Tjoma Kartashov). [1] February 21 Birth of [James] Burner Matthews US playwright/critic (New York Times). [1] February 22 Birth of Pieter K Pel internist (Pel-Ebstein fever). [1] February 24 Birth of George A Moore Ireland, painter/novelist (Esther Waters). [1] February 26 Birth of John Harvey Kellogg surgeon, inspired flaked cereal industry. [1] February 29 Birth of Frederic Hymen Cowen composer. [1] March 1 Birth of Theophile Delcassé French statesman. [1] March 5 Birth of Lady Isabella Gregory Ireland, writer/playwright (Golden Apple). [1] March 6 Birth of Joseph Bayer composer. [1] March 15 Birth of Lady Augusta Gregory Ireland, playwright/poet/Yates mistress. [1] March 22 Birth of Theodor Birt [Beatus Rhenanus], German classical/writer. [1] April 1 Birth of Edward Austin Abbey US, painter (Quest of the Holy Grail). [1] April 12 Birth of [Carl L] Ferdinand von Lindemann German mathematician. [1] April 13 Birth of Frank W Woolworth 5- and 10-cent King (Woolworths). [1] April 14 Birth of Henrique Oswald composer. [1] April 18 Birth of George Clausen painter. [1] April 23 Birth of Edwin Markham US, poet (first winner of Ameican Academy of Poets Award 1937). [1] May 1 Birth of Calamity [Martha] Jane [Burke] frontier adventurer/Indian fighter. [1] May 11 Birth of Charles Warren Fairbanks (Republican) 26th US Vice President (1905-09). [1] May 22 Birth of Emile Sauret composer. [1] May 24 Birth of Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham author/politician. [1] May 25 Birth of Louis Franchet d'Espèrey [Desperate Frankey], Fren marshal (WWI). [1] May 27 Birth of Billy Barnes cricketer (England all-rounder 1880-90). [1] May 29 Birth of Jindrich z Albestu Kaan composer. [1] June 25 Birth of Antonio Gaudí Spanish architect (Sagrada Familia, Barcelona). [1] August 30 Birth of Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff Neth, physical chemist (Nobel Prize 1901). [1] September 12 Birth of HH Asquith (Liberal) British Prime Minister (1908-16). [1] September 23 Birth of William Stewart Halsted established first US surgical school. [1] September 28 Birth of Henri Moissan France, chemist; isolated fluorine (Nobel Prize 1906). [1] December 5 Birth of Thomas Linnemann Laub composer. [1] December 15 Birth of Antoine Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity (Nobel Prize 1903). [1] Birth of Tewfik Pasja khedive (viceroy) of Egypt. [1] December 18 Birth of Gaetano Coronaro composer. [1] December 19 Birth of A[lbert] A Michelson Strelno Prussia, US physicist (Nobel Prize 1907). [1] December 27 Birth of Dom Joâo G da Câmara Portuguese journalist/songwriter. [1] 1853 January 1 Birth of Hans Koessler composer. [1] January 3 Birth of Iwan Knorr composer. [1] January 7 Birth of Nikolai Arkas composer. [1] January 11 Birth of Gustav Falke in Luebeck, Germany; author/poet (Der Mann im Nebel). [1] [37] January 12 Birth of Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro Italian mathematician (tensor analysis). [1] January 16 Birth of André Michelin France, industrialist/tire manufacturer (Michelin). [1] Birth of Johnston Forbes-Robertson English actor/theater director (Kathleen). [1] January 17 Birth of Alva Vanderbilt Beaumont women's rights advocate and activist. [1] January 28 Birth of José Martí y Perez Cuba, poet/essayist/politician. [1] January 30 Birth of Leland Hone cricketer (England keeper 1879 without county experience). [1] February 9 Birth of Leander Starr Jameson Prime Minister of South African Cape colony. [1] February 12 Birth of Bertram Luard-Selby composer. [1] February 14 Birth of Jan van Rijswijck Flemish journalist/mayor (Antwerp). [1] February 17 Birth of Jaroslav Vrchlicky [Emil Frída], Czechoslovakian poet (One night on Karlstein). [1] February 18 Birth of August Belmont Jr breeder (Man 'O War)/founder (New York Jockey Club). [1] March 3 Birth of Vincent Van Gogh Dutch painter. [1] March 5 Birth of Arthur W Foote Salem Massachusetts, organist/composer (Suite for Strings in E). [1] Birth of Howard Pyle illustrator/painter/author (King Stork). [1] March 8 Birth of Edward Hubertus Joannes Keurvels Flemish composer (Parisina). [1] March 20 Birth of George Godfrey Chelsea Massachusetts, heavyweight boxer (Old Chocolate). [1] March 28 Birth of Rudolf Kittel German theologist (Psalms). [1] March 30 Birth of Vincent van Gogh Zundert Netherlands, artist who always lent an ear (Irises). [1] April 5 Birth of Alfonso Randano composer. [1] April 21 Birth of Charles-Theodore Malherbe composer. [1] April 22 Birth of Alphonse Bertillon France, anthropologist, devised crime ID system. [1] April 30 Birth of Alfred von Berger writer. [1] May 2 Birth of Marie Verstraete actress (Louise-Frou Frou). [1] May 8 Birth of Charles Lee Williams composer. [1] May 26 Birth of Monroe A Althouse composer. [1] May 30 Birth of Andries André Dutch actor/husband of Geertruida Meeuwissen. [1] Birth of Karl Fritjof Valentin composer. [1] July 5 Birth of Cecil John Rhodes South Africa, politician, diamond merchant. [1] July 18 Birth of Hendrik Antoon Lorentz Holland, physicist (Nobel Prize 1902). [1] July 23 Birth of William H Gillette actor, portrayed Sherlock Holmes on stage. [1] September 2 Birth of Wilhelm Ostwald Germany, physical chemist (Nobel Prize 1909). [1] September 9 Birth of Frederick R Spofforth Australia, cricketer (Demon). [1] October 13 Birth of Lillie Langtry [Jersey Lily], vaudevillian actress. [1] November 1 Birth of Jose Santos Zelaya (Liberal), ruler of Nicaragua (1893-1910). [1] December 9 Birth of Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn Rochester New York, pitcher (60-12 in 1884). [1] December 13 Birth of Joseph Sickman Corsen Curaçao, musician/composer/screenwriter. [1] December 14 Birth of Salvador Diaz Miron Mexican poet (Los Cien Mejores Poemas). [1] December 15 Birth of Jean B A Kessler director of oil on Dutch Indies. [1] December 17 Birth of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree England; actor/theater manager (Trilby). [1] December 21 Birth of Isolde Kurz German writer/poetess (Meine Mutter). [1] December 22 Birth of Maria Teresa Carreno composer. [1] December 23 Birth of Giacomo Puccini Italy, composer. [1] Birth of Maria Teresa Carreno composer. [1] December 30 Birth of Andre-Charles-Prosper Messager composer. [1] 1854 January 1 Birth of Sir James Frazer Britain, anthropologist/author (The Golden Bough). [1] January 6 Birth of Sherlock Holmes Mycroft, fictional detective (via Arthur Conan Doyle). [1] January 10 Birth of Peter Gast composer. [1] January 18 Birth of Thomas A Watson; inventor assistant (Telephone), dies 1934. [1] [5] January 29 Birth of Willem PC Knuttel Dutch bibliographer/librarian. [1] February 9 Birth of Aletta [Henriëtte] Jacobs first Dutch female physician. [1] Birth of Edward Carson first Baron Carson, lawyer/leader (Irish Unionist Party). [1] February 16 Birth of Oscar Fetras composer. [1] February 17 Birth of Friedrich A Krupp German arms manufacturer. [1] February 20 Birth of Louis F M van Westerhoven actor/singer/opera director (Youth). [1] February 24 Birth of Franz Courtens Flemish painter (Golden Rain). [1] February 28 Birth of Juliusz Zarebski composer. [1] March 8 Birth of Tom Felix Horan cricketer (Ireland Pioneering Australia all-rounder). [1] March 14 Birth of Paul Ehrlich Germany, bacteriologist (Nobel Prize-1908). [1] Birth of Thomas Riley Marshall (Democrat) 28th Vice President (1913-21). [1] March 21 Birth of Alick A C Bannerman cricketer (brother of Charles, Australia 1878-1893). [1] March 23 Birth of Alfred Milner Giessen Germany, British Governor (Cape colony). [1] March 26 Birth of Braulio Dueno Colon composer. [1] March 27 Birth of Edgar Tinel Flemish composer (Le Chant Grégorien). [1] March 31 Birth of Sir Dugald Clerk inventor (2-stroke motorcycle engine). [1] April 5 Birth of Vicente Goicoechea Errasti composer. [1] April 9 Birth of Seaborn M Denson composer. [1] April 10 Birth of Jozef M T Orelio baritone. [1] April 11 Birth of Hugh Massie cricketer (Australian batsman of the 1880s). [1] April 13 Birth of Richard T Ely US economist (Hard Times). [1] April 21 Birth of Eusapia Palladino Napolitanse with parergische phenomenons. [1] Birth of Wladyslaw Rzepko composer. [1] April 22 Birth of Henri-Marie Lafontaine Belgium, international lawyer (Nobel Prize 1913). [1] April 29 Birth of Henri Poincaré France, mathematician/astronomer/philosopher. [1] May 5 Birth of Antonio Smareglia composer. [1] May 11 Birth of John Blackham cricketer (Australia's first wicketkeeper). [1] Birth of Ottmar Mergenthaler Hachtel Germany, inventor (linotype). [1] May 13 Birth of Louis H Chrispijn Dutch director (Lost and Found, Silvia Silombra). [1] Birth of Paul Klengel composer. [1] May 18 Birth of Bernard Zweers Dutch composer (To My Fatherland). [1] May 24 Birth of Louis Mountbatten Admiral (WWI). [1] May 27 Birth of Georges Eekhoud Belgian writer (Jeune Belgium). [1] June 26 Birth of Sir Robert Laird Borden (Conservative), 8th Canadian Prime Minister (1911-20). [1] July 3 Birth of Leos Janácek Hukvaldy Moravia Czech, composer (Foster Suite). [1] July 12 Birth of George Eastman Waterville New York, invented Kodak camera. [1] September 1 Birth of Engelbert Humperdinck Germany, opera composer (Parsifal). [1] October 3 Birth of William Crawford Gorgas US, Surgeon-General, help cure yellow fever. [1] October 16 Birth of Oscar Wilde [Fingal O'Flahertie Wills], Dublin, (Pic of Dorian Gray). [1] October 20 Birth of Arthur Rimbaud France, poet/adventurer (Illuminations). [1] October 26 C. W. Post is born. [5] November 6 Birth of John Phillip Sousa Washington DC, march king (Stars and Stripes Forever). [1] November 13 Birth of George Whitefield Chadwick Lowell Massachusetts, composer (Judi Van Winke). [1] November 21 Birth of Benedict XV 258th Roman Catholic pope (1914-22). [1] December 9 Birth of Pekka Hannikainen composer. [1]