In the year 1897, the word “computer” is first used in the journal Engineering (Jan 22), William McKinley becomes the 25th President of the United States (Mar 4), the first Boston Marathon is held (Apr 19), Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria is celebrated in the United Kingdom (Jun 22), the Klondike Gold Rush begins (Jul 17), aspirin is successfully synthesized by Felix Hoffmann (Aug 10), Thomas Edison is granted a patent for Kinetoscope, a precursor of the movie projector (Aug 31) - and all these fine people were born:
1897-0xxx Jomo Kenyatta* anti colonial activist/ politician/1stP of Kenya - Gatundu, British East Africa (1978/c. 81) (birthdate unknown)
1897-0103 Marion Davies* (b Douras) actress/ screenwriter/philanthropist - Brooklyn, NY USA (1961/64)
1897-0103 Pola Negri* (b Apolonia Chalupec) Polish-American actress/ singer/to U.S. at age 25 - Lipno, Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire (1987/90)
1897-0108 Dennis Wheatley* writer - Brixton Hill, London, England (1977/80)
1897-0110 Arvo Matias Hakoniemi** war correspondent/married to Siiri Matilda Kivistö - Ilmajoki, GD of Finland (1993/96)
1897-0114 Hasso von Manteuffel* baron/ WW2 general/politician - Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (1978/71)
1897-0115 Anna Louhi* author/w penname Jyrki Vaassila - Teuva, GD of Finland (1977/80)
1897-0116 Väinö Penttala* wrestler/OS - Isokyrö, GD of Finland (1976/79)
1897-0117
1897-0119 Natacha Rambova* (b Winifred Shaughnessy) ballerina/costume designer/wife of Rudolf Valentino - Salt Lake City, UT USA (1966/69)
1897-0120
1907-0124 Erik Ekelund* civil servant/author - Loviisa, GD of Finland (1976/79)
1907-0124 Andrei Alexandrovich Romanov* prince/nephew of Nicholas II of Russia, the last Tsar/in exile since 1918 - Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire (1981/84)
1907-0131
1907-0201 Denise Robins* (b Klein) romance novelist - London, England (1985/88)
1907-0206 Millard Caldwell* lawyer/ politician/Governor of Florida - Beverly, TN USA (1984/87)
1897-0207 Quincy Porter* composer - New Haven, CT USA (1966/69)
1897-0208 Zakir Husain* economist/ politician/third president of India - Hyderabad, British India (1969/72)
1897-0210 Judith Anderson* actress/ voice actress - Adelaide, Colony of South Australia (1992/94)
1897-0210 John Franklin Enders* biomedical scientist/N - West Hartford, CT USA (1985/88)
1897-0221 Elizabeth Harrison Walker* lawyer/founder of Cues on the News/daughter of Benjamin Harrison - Indianapolis, IN USA (1955/58)
1897-0225 Peter Llewelyn Davies* World War I officer/founder of a publishing house/the inspiration for Peter Pan - London, England (1960/63)
1897-0227 Marian Anderson* classical singer/the first African-American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera - Philadelphia, PA USA (1993/96)
1897-0227 Edgar Henry Banger* cartoon illustrator - Norfolk, England (1968/c. 71)
1897-0227 Ferdinand Heim* World War II German general - Reutlingen, German Empire (1977/82)
1897-0301 Shoghi Effendi* Ottoman Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith - Acre, Ottoman Empire (1957/60)
1897-0305 Set Persson* Swedish communist leader - Sweden-Norway (1960/63)
1897-0316 Flora Eldershaw* novelist/ critic/historian - Sydney, Australia (1956/59)
1897-0317 Charles A. Levine* scrap metal millionaire/ the first passenger aboard a transatlantic flight - North Adams, MA USA (1991/94)
1897-0319 Betty Compson* actress/ film producer - Beaver, UT USA (1974/77)
1897-0323 Agustín Espinosa* poet/storyteller - Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain (1939/41)
1897-0324 Theodora Kroeber* anthropologist/writer (Native Californian cultures) - Denver, CO USA (1979/82)
1897-0328 Frank Hawks* WWI pilot/after the war a record breaking aviator - Marshalltown, IA USA (1938/41)
1897-0331 Harold Houser* rear admiral/governor of American Samoa - Fort Valley, GA USA(1981/84)
1897-0413 Werner Voss* WW1 flying ace - Krefeld, German Empire (1917/20)
1897-0418 Per-Erik Hedlund* cross-country skier/OG (Vasaloppet) - Särnaheden, Dalarna, Sweden (1975/77)
1897-0419 Kimura* 木村 次郎右衛門 supercentenarian - Kamiukawa, Japan (2013/116)
1897-0426 Eddie Eagan* boxer/OG - Denver, CO USA (1967/70)
1897-0429 Charles Seel* actor - The Bronx, NY USA (1980/82)
1897-0501
1897-0508 Roscoe Hillenkoetter* military/CIA director/MJ-12 - St. Louis, MO USA (1982/85)
1897-0510
1897-0514 Ed Ricketts* marine biologist - Chicago, IL USA (1948/50)
1897-0518 Frank Capra* American film director - Bisacquino, Sicily, Italy (1991/94)
1897-0520
1897-0524 Sven Relander* actor - Helsinki, GD of Finland (1956/59)
1897-0525 Gene Tunney* boxer - New York, NY USA (197/81)
1897-0527 John Cockcroft* nuclear physicist/N - Todmorden, West Riding of Yorkshire, England (1967/70)
1897-0529 Jenny Gusyk* Jewish student in Cologne/ Auschwitz victim - Wyłkowyszki, Congress Poland (1944/46)
1897-0529 Erich Wolfgang Korngold* composer/ conductor/ influential in Hollywood - Brünn, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (1957/60)
1897-0530 Santa Tuomi* (b Roth) actress - Porvoo, GD of Finland (1975/77)
1897-0601
1897-0606 Jane Haining* Church of Scotland missionary active in Hungary - Dunscore, Scotland (1944/47)
1897-0606 Joel Rinne* actor - Asikkala, Grand Duchy of Finland (1981/84)
1897-0610 Tatiana Nikolaevna* Grand Duchess/daughter of Tsar Nicholas II - Peterhof Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire (1918/21)
1897-0611 Ram Prasad Bismil* poet/ revolutionary/Indian freedom fighter - Shahjahanpur, British India (1927/30)
1897-0612 Anthony Eden* politician/PM - Rushyford, County Durham, England (1977/79)
1897-0613 Paavo Nurmi* athlete (running/OGs)/businessman - Turku, Finland (1973/76)
1897-0616 Georg Wittig* chemist/N - Berlin, German Empire (1987/90)
1897-0619 Cyril Norman Hinshelwood* chemist/N - London, England (1967/70)
1897-0620 Donald Keyhoe* naval aviator/ufologist - Ottumwa, IA USA (1988/91)
1897-0624 Daniel K. Ludwig* billionaire businessman/philanthropist - South Haven, MI USA (1992/95)
1897-0626 Viola Dana* (b Virginia Flugrath) actress - Brooklyn, NY USA (1987/90)
1897-0629 Fulgence Charpentier* journalist/ editor/publisher - Sainte-Anne-de-Prescott, ON Canada (2001/103)
1897-0701 Bert Schneider* Canadian boxer/OG - Cleveland, OH USA (1986/88)
1897-0712 Maurice Tabard* photographer - Lyon, France (1984/87)
1897-0720 Tadeusz Reichstein* Polish-Swiss chemist/N - Włocławek, Congress Poland, Russian Empire (1996/99)
1897-0724 Amelia Earhart* aviation pioneer/author - Atchison, KS USA (disappeared 1937/39)
1897-0725 Helen Shaw* writer/ writing coach/actress - Birmingham, MI USA (1997/100)
1897-0728 James Fairbairn* Australian aviator/politician - Wadhurst, Sussex, England (1940/43)
1897-0730
1897-0731 Gottfried Bermann Fischer* German publisher - Gleiwitz, Silesia (1995/98)
1897-0802 Max Weber* politician - Zürich, Switzerland (1974/77)
1897-0805 Aksel Larsen* politician - Brændekilde, Denmark (1972/74)
1897-0811 Enid Blyton* children’s books writer - East Dulwich, London, England (1968/71)
1897-0812 Maurice Fernandes* cricketer - Georgetown, British Guiana (1981/83)
1897-0820 Douglas Chandor* British-American portrait painter - Warlingham, Surrey, England (1953/55)
1890-0831 Fredric March* (b Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel) actor - Racine, WI USA (1975/77)
1897-0901
1897-0905 Kitty Ponse* Swiss zoologist/endocrinologist/successfully inverted the sex of toads - Binjai, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies (1982/84)
1897-0910 Edith Jacobson* psychoanalyst/to U.S at age 41 - Haynau, German Empire (1978/81)
1897-0920
1897-0922 Charles Francis O’Connor* actor/ painter/husband of Ayn Rand - Lorain, OH USA (1979/82)
1897-0923 Walter Pidgeon* actor - Saint John, NB Canada (1984/87)
1897-0925 William Faulkner* writer/N - New Albany, MS USA (1962/64)
1897-0930
1897-1003 Louis Aragon* poet/ novelist/editor - Paris, France (1982/85)
1897-1007 Elijah Muhammad* (b Poole) religious leader/co-founder of the Nation of Islam - Sandersville, GA USA (1975/77)
1897-1008 Rouben Mamoulian* Armenian-American film and theater director/to U.S. at age 25 - Tiflis, Russian Empire (1987/90)
1897-1010
1897-1011 Nathan Twining* Air Force general/MJ-12? - Monroe, WI USA (1982/84)
1897-1015 Johannes Sikkar* the first head of the Estonian government in exile - Kõnnu, Estonia, Russian Empire (1960/62)
1897-1021 Lloyd Hughes* actor - Bisbee, Arizona Territory, USA (1958/60)
1897-1025 Luigi Pavese* actor/ voice actor - Asti, Kingdom of Italy (1969/72)
1897-1026 Bill Harris* swimmer/OB - Honolulu, Kingdom of Hawaii (1961/63)
1897-1029 Hope Emerson* actress/ vaudevillian/strongwoman - Hawarden, IA USA (1960/62)
1897-1029 Joseph Goebbels* politician/Nazi minister/propagandist - Rheydt, Prussia, German Empire (1945/47)
1897-1031
1897-1105 Hilda Vīka* Latvian artist/writer - Riga, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire (1963/65)
1897-1109 Ronald George Wreyford Norrish* chemist/N - Cambridge, England (1978/80)
1897-1118 Patrick Blackett* experimental physicist/N - London, England (1974/76)
1897-1124 Lucky Luciano* mobster/crime boss - Lercara Friddi, Sicily, Italy (1962/64)
1897-1201
1897-1210
1897-1212 Svend Olufsen* electrical engineer/co-founder of Bang & Olufsen – Quistrup at Struer, Denmark (1949/52)
1897-1220
1897-1224 Koto Okubo* supercentenarian - Tokyo, Japan (2013/115)
1897-1224 Lazare Ponticelli* supercentenarian - Bettola, Kingdom of Italy (2008/110)
1897-1225
1897-1226 Willy Corsari* (b Wilhelmina Schmidt) Dutch actress/author/composer - Jette, Belgium (1998/100)
1897-1228 Ivan Konev* Soviet general who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during WW2 - Lodeyno, Vologda Governorate, Russian Empire (1973/75)
1897-1231 Rhys Williams* actor - Clydach, Glamorgan, Wales (1969/71)
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Updated 2025-0208 Helsinki-Stockholm
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