Historical Figures Born on April 1
Famous birthdays in history for the 1st of April. See which explorers, inventors and historical figures were born on April 1.
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On This Day
Go-Saga, 88th Emperor of Japan (1242-46), (d. 1272)

Ludwig IV, Duke of Bavaria (1301-47), King of the Romans (1314-47) and Holy Roman Emperor (1328-47), born in Munich (d. 1347)

François de Bonne, duc de Lesdiguières, Constable of France (d. 1626)

William Harvey, English physician (discovered blood circulation), born in Folkestone, Kent (d. 1657)

Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier who fled to exile in England, essayist and man of letters, born in Coutances, Normandy, France (d. 1703)

Guru Teg Bahadur Ji, Ninth of ten gurus who founded the Sikh religion and leader (1665-75), born in Amritsar, India (d. 1675)

Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician who proved the Mohr–Mascheroni theorem, born in Copenhagen. Denmark (d. 1697)

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, English poet (A Satyr Against Reason and Mankind) and courtier of King Charles II, born in Oxfordshire, England (d. 1680)

Abbé Prévost, French author and novelist (Manon Lescaut), born in Hesdin, Artois, France (d. 1763)

Joseph de Maistre, French diplomat and writer (d. 1821)

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French lawyer and gastronome (wrote 1st book of gastronomy - The Physiology of Taste), born in Belley, France (d. 1826) [1]

Luigi Schiavonetti, Italian engraver (d. 1810)

Sophie Germain

French mathematician, born in Paris, France

Ferdinand Olivier, German painter (Nazarene movement), born in Dessau (d. 1841)

Fredrik Cygnaeus, Finnish poet, literary critic and nationis, born in Hämeenlinna, Finland (d. 1881)

Willem Ruys, Dutch ship owner and founder of Rotterdam Lloyd (Nedlloyd), born in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, Netherlands (d. 1889)

Otto von Bismarck

German chancellor (1866-90) who helped unify Germany, born in Schönhausen, Prussia

Simon Bolivar Buckner, American soldier, Confederate lieutenant general and 30th governor of Kentucky (1887-91), born in Munfordville, Kentucky (d. 1914)

Jim Fisk, American financier and "robber baron" of the Gilded Age known as Big Jim, born in Pownal, Vermont (d. 1872)

Ludwig Enneccerus, German politician and legal scholar, born in Neustadt am Rübenberge (d. 1928)

Jules-Nicolas Crevaux, French naval doctor and explorer (French Guiana and the Amazon), born in Lorquin, France (d. 1882)

Edward Austin Abbey, American painter (Quest of the Holy Grail mural at Boston Public Library), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1911)

Bill Traylor, African-American artist of folk and modern art, born near Pleasant Hill, Alabama (d. 1949) [1]

Acacio Gabriel Viegas, Indian physician who identified the plague in Bombay, born in Apora, Portuguese India (d. 1933)

Arnold Aletrino, Dutch physician, criminologist, and author (From Life), born in Amsterdam (d. 1916)

1858 Gaetano Mosca, Italian sociologist (Circulation of Elite), born in Palermo, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (d. 1941)

1858 Truby King, New Zealand physician, pioneer in infant welfare (Karitāne hospitals, Plunket Society), born near New Plymouth, Zealand (d. 1938) [1]

Marie Jungius, Dutch fairy tale writer and feminist (d. 1908)

Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, Austrian-born chemist (1925 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for work colloids), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1929) [1]

Sophonisba Breckenridge, American professor, teacher and social activist (1st woman to graduate from Chicago Uni Law School), born in Lexington, Kentucky (d. 1948) [1]

Edmond Rostand, French poet and playwright (Cyrano de Bergerac), born in Marseille, France (d. 1918)

Peter Egge, Norwegian writer (De Droom), born in Trondheim, Norway (d. 1959)

Edgar Wallace

English novelist, playwright and journalist (The Terror, The Four Just Men) who created King Kong, born in Greenwich, England

Carl Sternheim, German playwright (Hyperion/Tabula Rasa), born in Leipzig, Germany (d. 1942)

Agha Petros, Assyrian general (d. 1932)

Clementine Churchill, British life peer and wife of Winston Churchill, born in London, England (d. 1977)

Leonard Bloomfield, American linguist (Structural Linguistics), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1949)

Pola Gojawiczynska, Polish writer (Stolica), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1963)

1898 Roger Bastide, French sociologist (study of Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Caribbean religions), born in Nimes, France (d. 1974)

1898 William James Sidis, American genius (d. 1944)

Gustavs Celmins, Latvian politician (d. 1968)

1899 Lida Durdikova, Czech children's author (Children with extinguished eyes) and publisher (Père Castor), born in Prague (d. 1955)

Robert McDowell, Mayor of Maryborough, Queensland (d. 1988)

Whittaker Chambers, American writer, editor, and defector (d. 1961)

Maria Polydouri, Greek poet (d. 1930)

Juan Gil-Albert, Spanish poet and writer, born in Alcoy (d. 1994)

Clara Hale 'Mother Hale', American social activist (Hale House Center for disadvantaged children), born in Elizabeth Town, North Carolina (d. 1992)

Gaston Eyskens

Prime Minister of Belgium (1949, 1958-61, 1968-72), born in Lier, Belgium

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist (Maslow's hierarchy of needs), born in Brooklyn, New York

Joseph Murray, American surgeon, Nobel laureate, (d. 2012)

William Manchester, American historian (Death of a President), born in Attleboro, Massachusetts (d. 2004)

Brendan Byrne, American politician (Governor of New Jersey 1974-82), born in West Orange, New Jersey (d. 2018)

Sala Burton, American politician (Rep-D-CA, 1983-87), born in Białystok, Poland (d. 1987)

Anne McCaffrey

American sci-fi author (Dragonflight, Dragondrums), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dimitri Frenkel Frank, Dutch writer and director (Hadimassa), born in Munich, Germany (d. 1988)

Milan Kundera, Czech-French poet and novelist (The Joke: The Unbearable Lightness of Being; Immortality), born in Brno, Czechoslovakia (d. 2023) [1]

Charles Price, American Businessman and diplomat, born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 2012)

1931 Rolf Hochhuth, German playwright (Der Stellvertreter), born in Eschwege, Germany (d. 2020)

Dan Flavin, American minimalist sculptor, born in New York City (d. 1996)

1933 Stan Weston, US toy licensing agent, had concept for G.I. Joe, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2017)

Vladimir Posner, Russian-French-American journalist who represented and explained the views of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, born in Paris

Larry McDonald, American politician (d. 1983)

Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, Swiss politician, president of the Confederation in 1989 and 1996 (d. 1998)

Wangari Maathai

Kenyan environmentalist and political activist, founder of the Green Belt Movement, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (2004) and Indira Gandhi Peace Prize (2006), born in Ihithe village, Kenya

Samuel R. Delany Jr, American sci-fi author (Towers of Toron; Neveryona), born in Harlem, New York

Ali Ahmed Aslam, Pakistani-Scottish restaurateur (credited with creation of Chicken Tikki Masala), born near Lahore, British Raj (now Pakistan) (d. 2022)

William Frederick Fisher, American physician and astronaut (STS 51-I), born in Dallas, Texas

Alain Connes, French mathematician

Gérard Mestrallet, French businessman (Engie), born in Paris, France

1949 Paul Manafort, American political consultant (Trump campaign chairman), born in New Britain, Connecticut

Ed[uardus] HTM Nijpels, Dutch minister of Environment (VVD)

1950 Leonard van Spirit, Dutch-British food magnate

1950 Samuel Alito, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (2006-), born in Trenton, New Jersey

John Philip Abizaid, U.S. Army General, former CENTCOM commander

Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi, Tripoli Libya, bomber (Pan Am 103), (d. 2012)

1952 Bernard Stiegler, French philosopher

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

Indian-born British-American physicist and molecular biologist who won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research into ribosomes, born in Chidambaram, Madras State, India

Barry Sonnenfeld, director (Get Shorty, Men in Black), born in New York City

Gregg Jarrett, American television anchor

Peter Deutsch, American politician (US Representative (D)-Florida, 1993-2005), born in The Bronx, New York

Dave Ulliott, English poker player (World Series of Poker bracelet 1997; World Poker Open 2003), born in Kingston upon Hull, England (d. 2015)

Aimee Chan, Miss Hong Kong 2006