In the year 1631, the Reval Gymnasium is founded in Estonia by the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf (Feb 16), John Winthrop becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts (May 18), William Claiborne sails from England to establish the first English settlement in Maryland (May 28), the first French newspaper, La Gazette, is founded (May 30), the death in childbirth of Mumtaz Mahal causes her husband Shah Jahan to commission the Taj Mahal at Agra, as a mausoleum for her (Jun 17), for the first time in several centuries, Mount Vesuvius at Pompeii erupts (Dec 16) - and all these fine people were born:
1631-xxxx John Washington* soldier/planter/politician/great-grandfather of George Washington - Tring, Hertfordshire, England (1677/46)
1631-0102 Anthonie van Borssom* landscape painter - Amsterdam, Dutch Republic (1677/46)
1631-0110 Arvid Horn af Åminne* nobleman/owner of Karuna Manor - Kärkinen, Sauvo, Sweden-Finland (1692/61)
1631-0123 Vincent Houdry* Jesuit preacher/writer on ascetics - Tours, Kingdom of France (1729/98)
1631-0206 Edward Abney* politician - Newton, Leicestershire, England (1727/c. 96)
1631-0222 Peder Syv* philologist/folklorist/ priest - Syv, Roskilde, Denmark (1702/70)
1631-0303 Esaias Boursse* painter - Amsterdam, Dutch Republic (1672/41)
1631-0313 Lodewijck Huygens* Dutch diplomat - Den Haag, Dutch Republic (1699/68)
1631-0316 René Le Bossu* writer/literary critic - Paris, Kingdom of France (1680/48)
1631-0408 Cornelis de Heem (B) painter - Leiden, Dutch Republic (1695/64)
1631-0415 Piero de Bonzi* Italian-French Roman Catholic cardinal - Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany (1703/72)
1631-0415 Walter Vincent* politician/MP - England (1680/49)
1631-0428 Joseph Bridger* military leader/colonial governor of Virginia - Gloucester, England (1686/c.55) appr. dates
1631-0504 William Brereton* nobleman/ mathematician/politician - Brereton Hall, Cheshire, England (1680/48)
1631-0518 Stanislaus Papczyński* Catholic priest - Podegrodzie, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1701/70)
1631-0519 Christoffel Pierson* painter/poet - Den Haag, Dutch Republic (1714/83)
1631-0528 Louis André* Jesuit priest/missionary in Canada/translator - Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Kingdom of France (1715/83)
1631-0617 Gauhar Ara Begum* Mughal princess - Burhanpur, Mughal Empire (1706/c. 75)
1631-0622 Francis Rombouts* the 12th Mayor of New York City (New Amsterdam) - Hasselt, Prince-Bishopric of Liège (1691/c.60)
1631-0626 Vincenzo Albrici* Italian composer/active in Stockholm and Prague - Rome, Papal States (1687/56)
1631-0704 John Roettiers* English engraver/medallist/credited as one of the best engravers at the English mint - Spanish Netherlands ? (1703/73)
1631-0715 Richard Cumberland* philosopher/bishop - Aldersgate, London, England (1718/87) alt. year of birth 1632
1631-0715 Jens Juel* landowner/ diplomat/statesman - Nørtorp, Thy, Denmark (1700/68)
1631-0805 Adam Adamandy Kocháski* physicist/ clock-maker/pedagogue - Dobrzyń nad Wisłą, Poland (1700/68)
1631-0819 John Dryden* poet/critic/translator - Thrapston, Northamptonshire, England (1700/68)
1631-0824 Philip Henry* clergyman/ diarist - Whitehall, England (1696/64)
1631-0901 Anne Crawford-Lindsay* Scottish noblewoman - Scotland (1689/57)
1631-0906 Charles Porter* politician/ judge/Lord Chancellor of Ireland - Norwich, England (1696/65)
1631-0929 Richard Edlin* astrologer - England (1677/46)
1631-0929 Johann Heinrich Roos* German landscape painter/etcher - Otterberg, Rhineland (1685/54)
1631-1003 Sebastian Anton Scherer* German organist/composer - Ulm, Free Imperial City (1712/80)
1631-1018 Heinrich Müller* German theologian/devotional author/writer of hymns - Lübeck (1675/43)
1631-1022 Gilles Boileau* classicist/ translator - Paris, Kingdom of France (1669/37)
1631-1030 Pierre Beauchamp* dancer/ choreographer/composer - Versailles, Kingdom of France (1705/73)
1631-1108 Martin Miltopaeus* professor of eloquence/dean of Turku Academy - Turku, Sweden-Finland (1679/47)
1631-1121 Catharina Questiers* poet/dramatist - Amsterdam, Dutch Republic (1669/37)
1631-1128 Abraham Brueghel (B) Flemish painter - Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands (c. 1690/c. 59)
1631-1210 Jean Baptiste de Champaigne* painter/teacher - Brussels (1681/49)
1631-1214 Anne Conway* (b Finch) philosopher - London, England (1679/47)
1631-1220 Nils Grotenfelt* (b Groth) Finnish colonel - Livonia (1703/71)
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Updated 2025-0223 Helsinki
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