Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Famous People Born in October 1885

  • Oct 1 Louis Untermeyer, American poet and critic (Immortal Poems, Story Poems), born in New York City (d. 1977)
  • Oct 2 Ruth Bryan Owen, American politician (first woman appointed as a U.S. ambassador, Denmark 1933-36), born in Jacksonville, Illinois (d. 1954)
  • Oct 3 Langley Collyer, American hoarder, born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1947)
  • Oct 3 Sophie Treadwell, American playwright and journalist, born in Stockton, California (d. 1970)

Niels Bohr (1885-1962)

Oct 7 Danish physicist who expanded quantum physics (Nobel Prize 1922), born in Copenhagen, Denmark

  • Oct 8 Johnny Lush, American MLB baseball pitcher, 1904-10 (Philadelphia Phillies, St . Louis Cardinals 2 no-hitters - 1 official, 1 rain-shortened), born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania (d. 1946)
  • Oct 8 Will Vodery, African-American theater and film arranger, orchestrator (Showboat; Ziegfeld's Follies; Blackbirds), and composer (From Dixie to Broadway), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1951) [1]
  • Oct 10 Walter Anderson, German folklorist, born in Minsk, Russian Empire (d. 1962)
  • Oct 11 Alfred Haar, Hungarian mathematician, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1933)
  • Oct 11 Francois Mauriac, French novelist, poet and playwright (Nobel 1952), born in Bordeaux, France (d. 1970)
  • Oct 15 Dirk Filarski, Dutch painter and lithographer (Bergense School), born in Amsterdam (d. 1964)
  • Oct 15 Frank Hurley, Australian photographer (Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-16; Australian Army WWI & WWII), born in Glebe, New South Wales, Australia (d. 1962)
  • Oct 16 Dorando Pietri, Italian athlete (Olympic-famous DQ gold marathon 1908), born in Correggio, Italy (d. 1942)
  • Oct 17 Aaf Bouber [Aaf ten Hoope], Dutch actress (Bleeke Bet, Jantjes) and wife of Herman Bouber, born in Hoorn, Noord-Holland, Netherlands (d. 1974)
  • Oct 19 Charles E. Merrill, American investment banker (Merrill Lynch), born in Green Cove Springs, Florida (d. 1956)
  • Oct 21 Egon Wellesz, Austrian-British composer (Alkestis; The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo), teacher, and musicologist (Byzantine), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1974)
  • Oct 21 Jan Altink, Dutch Expressionist painter (co-founder of Ploeg), born in Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1971)
  • Oct 22 Giovanni Martinelli, Italian operatic spinto tenor singer (New York Metropolitan Opera, 1913-45), born in Montagnana, Italy (d. 1969)
  • Oct 22 Lothar Windsperger, German composer and music publisher, born in Ampfing, Bavaria, Germany (d. 1935)
  • Oct 23 Lawren Harris, Canadian landscape painter, born in Brantford, Ontario (d. 1970)
  • Oct 24 Ernest Claes, Belgian author (De Witte - Whitey), born in Zichem, Belgium (d. 1968)
  • Oct 25 Sam M. Lewis [Levine] American singer and lyricist ("Street of Dreams"; "Just Friends"; "Dinah"), born in New York City (d. 1959)
  • Oct 27 Sigrid Hjertén, Swedish modernist painter, born in Sundsvall, Sweden (d. 1948)

Ezra Pound (1885-1972)

Oct 30 American poet (The Cantos), critic and fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II, born in Hailey, Idaho