The birthday of a famous intellect
Claude Debussy was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a suburb of Paris, France. He displayed musical talent from a young age and began his formal musical education at the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 10. He began music studies with a focus on the piano, but soon discovered, to the dismay of his Conservatoire professors, that …
Leopold Infeld was born in Kraków, Poland, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The first 18 years of his life, were spent in a Jewish ghetto where he, his two sisters and his parents lived in relative poverty. During his early years, Leopold attended a Jewish religious school, but as he entered adolescence, he rejected …
William Jefferson Clinton, was born on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. He was raised in Hope and later in Hot Springs, Arkansas, emerging out of a modest background. His father died before he was born, and his mother was a nurse anesthetist. Clinton showed an early interest in politics and public speaking, eventually earning …
Meriwether Lewis was born on August 18, 1774, near Charlottesville, Virginia, to a prominent family. He was educated privately and developed an interest in natural history and the outdoors from a young age. His uncle, Nicholas Lewis, played a significant role in his upbringing and education. Lewis joined the Virginia militia at the age of …
Pierre de Fermat was born in Beaumont-de-Lomagne, France, in either 1601 or 1607 (the exact year is uncertain). He came from a family of wealthy merchants and received his education at the University of Toulouse, where he studied law. Fermat’s mathematical abilities quickly became apparent, and he gained a reputation as a skilled amateur mathematician. …
Arthur Cayley was born on August 16, 1821 in Richmond, England. He demonstrated a special aptitude for mathematics at an early age. attending King’s College School in London and at age 17 entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he excelled in mathematics. By age 20 he was already demonstrating the beginnings of a prodigious career in …
Louis-Victor-Pierre-Raymond, 7th Duc de Broglie, was born on August 15, 1892, in Dieppe, France. Born into a distinguished French aristocratic family Louis initially studied history, literature, and philosophy at the Sorbonne. However, his interest shifted towards physics, and he pursued a doctoral degree at the University of Paris, where he completed his thesis titled “Recherches …
Charles de la Vallée Poussin was born on August 14, 1866, in Leuven, Belgium. Born into a family of scholars, he was exposed to mathematics from an early age, and eventually enrolled at the Catholic University of Leuven. He obtained his doctorate in physics and mathematics in 1889 under the supervision of Belgian mathematician Eugène …
George Stokes was born on August 13, 1819, in Skreen, County Sligo, Ireland. His father was a clergyman and his mother was the daughter of a professor. Stokes’ home life was strongly influenced by his father’s evangelical Protestantism: three of his brothers entered the Church, of whom the most eminent was John Whitley Stokes, Archdeacon of …
Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger was born on August 12, 1887 in Vienna, Austria, and until age 10 was home schooled by a private tutor. Between 1898 and 1906, he attended the Akademisches Gymnasium where he demonstrated an early proclivity for the sciences. A fellow student later reported: Especially in physics and mathematics, Schrödinger had …
