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

Famous People Born in 1909

Birthdays 1 - 200 of 501

  • Jan 1 Barry Goldwater, American politician (Senator-R-Arizona, 1953-65, 69-87) and 1964 presidential candidate (R), born in Phoenix, Arizona (d. 1998)
  • Jan 1 Dana Andrews, American actor (Battle of the Bulge, Laura), born in Covington County, Mississippi (d. 1992)
  • Jan 1 Dattaram Hindlekar, Indian cricket wicketkeeper (4 Tests, 3 dismissals; Bombay), born in Bombay, India (d. 1949)

Stepan Bandera (1909-1959)

Jan 1 Ukrainian nationalist, leader of the terrorist Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B), anti-communist fighter who both courted and was persecuted by Nazi Germany, born in Staryi Uhryniv, Galicia, Austria-Hungary

  • Jan 2 René Étiemble, French scholar, novelist and translator (work on Rimbaud), born in Mayenne, France (d. 2002)

Victor Borge (1909-2000)

Jan 3 Danish-American comedian and pianist, born in Copenhagen, Denmark

  • Jan 4 Cilly Aussem, German tennis player (French C'ships, Wimbledon 1931), born in Cologne, Germany (d. 1963)
  • Jan 5 Simon Harcourt Nowell-Smith, British bibliophile (d. 1996)
  • Jan 5 Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician (Regular Expressions), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1994)
  • Jan 6 Joop Moesman, Dutch surrealist painter (Rumor), born in Utrecht, Netherlands (d. 1988)
  • Jan 7 Thalassa Cruso, English-American gardening expert (The Mike Douglas Show; The Tonight Show), born in London (d. 1997)
  • Jan 8 Bruce Mitchell, South African cricket opening batsman (42 Tests), born in Johannesburg, South Africa (d. 1995)
  • Jan 8 Evelyn Wood, American educator (d. 1995)
  • Jan 8 Willy Millowitsch, German actor (National Lampoon's European Vacation), born in Cologne, Germany (d. 1999)
  • Jan 9 Herva Nelli, Italian-born American soprano, born in Florence, Italy (d. 1994)
  • Jan 10 Rudolf Kubin, Czech cellist, born in Ostrava, Czech Republic (d. 1973)
  • Jan 11 Gunnar Johnsen Berg, Swiss-Danish composer (Cosmogonie), born in Switzerland (d. 1989)
  • Jan 11 Marguerite Kelsey, English model for artists (Haunting), born in London, England (d. 1995)
  • Jan 12 Mauritz Hugo, Swedish actor (Atomic Blonde, Death Valley Gunfighter), born in Ostergotland, Sweden (d. 1974)
  • Jan 13 Danny Barker, American jazz musician (wrote Bourbon Street Black), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1994)

Marinus van der Lubbe (1909-1934)

Jan 13 Dutch communist (executed by the Nazis after setting fire to the German Reichstag), born in Leiden, Netherlands

  • Jan 14 Joseph Losey, American theatre and film director (The Damned: The Servant; Accident; The Go-Between), born in La Crosse, Wisconsin (d. 1984)
  • Jan 15 Elie Siegmeister, American composer (The Plough and the Stars), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1991)
  • Jan 15 Gene Krupa, American jazz and big band drummer (Benny Goodman - "Sing, Sing, Sing"), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1973)
  • Jan 15 Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer, born in Cologne, Germany (d. 1939)
  • Jan 17 Karen Jønsson (née Pedersen), Danish jazz singer, pianist, songwriter, composer, and actress, born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1942)
  • Jan 19 Hans Hotter, German operatic bass-baritone, born in Offenbach, Germany (d. 2003)
  • Jan 21 Todor Skalovski, Macedonian choral director and composer (Baltepe), born in Tetovo, Ottoman Empire (d. 2004)
  • Jan 22 Ann Sothern [Harriette Arlene Lake], American actress (Lady in a Cage), born in Valley City, North Dakota (d. 2001)
  • Jan 22 Irving "Mouse" Randolph, American swing jazz trumpeter (Cab Calloway Orchestra), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1997)
  • Jan 22 Porfirio Rubirosa, Dominican diplomat, race car driver, polo player, and international playboy, born in San Francisco de Macorís, Dominican Republic (d. 1965)

U Thant (1909-1974)

Jan 22 Burmese politician and 3rd Secretary-General of the United Nations (1961-72), born in Pantanaw, Burma, British India

  • Jan 23 Tatiana Proskouriakoff, Russian-American Mayan archaeologist who helped decipher Maya hieroglyphs, born in Tomsk, Russia (d. 1985)
  • Jan 24 Ann Todd, English stage and screen actress (The Seventh Veil; The Paradine Case; The Passionate Friends), born in Hartford, England (d. 1993)
  • Jan 24 Jean R. Yawkey, American baseball executive (owner Boston Red Sox 1976-92), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1992)
  • Jan 24 Tiny Winters [Frederick Gittens], English jazz bassist and singer, born in London, England (d. 1996)
  • Jan 28 Lionel Crabb "Buster", British Royal Navy diver (WW II-George Medal), born in London, England (d. 1956)
  • Jan 29 Alan Marshal, Australian actor (White Cliffs of Dover, Lydia), born in Sydney, New South Wales (d. 1961)
  • Jan 29 George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy, British politician (Speaker of the House of Commons), born in Port Talbot, Wales (d. 1997)
  • Jan 30 Saul David Alinsky, American radical writer (John L Lewis), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1972)
  • Jan 31 Miron Grindea, Romanian-born literary editor (ADAM International Review), born in Târgu Ocna, Moldavia (d. 1995)
  • Feb 1 Douglas Hall, British colonial administrator (last British Governor of Somaliland Protectorate 1959-60) (d. 2004)
  • Feb 1 George Beverly Shea, Canadian-American Grammy Award-winning gospel singer (Billy Graham Crusades, 1947-2013), born in Winchester, Ontario (d. 2013)
  • Feb 2 Frank Albertson, American actor (Psycho, It's a Wonderful Life, Alice Adams), born in Fergus Falls, Minnesota (d. 1964)
  • Feb 3 Andre Cayatte, French filmmaker, born in Carcassonne (d. 1989)
  • Feb 3 Simone Weil, French philosopher, Resistance fighter (WWII) and social activist, born in Paris, France (d. 1943)
  • Feb 4 (Arthur) "Artie" Bernstein, American jazz and session double bassist (The Dorsey Brothers), born in Brooklyn, New York City (d. 1964)
  • Feb 4 Harold "Duke" Dejan, Creole-American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader (Olympia Brass Band), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2002)
  • Feb 4 Robert Coote, British actor (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir; Scaramouche), born in London, England (d. 1982)

Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)

Feb 5 Polish violinist and composer, born in Łódź, Russian Empire (now Poland) [1]

  • Feb 6 Israel Citkowitz, Polish-American composer (The Lambs), and pedagogue, born in Skierniewice, Poland (d. 1974)
  • Feb 7 Hélder Câmara, Roman catholic archbishop (d. 1999)
  • Feb 9 Carmen Miranda, Portuguese vocalist and actress (Copacabana; Date With Judy), born in Marco de Canavezes, Portugal (d. 1955)
  • Feb 9 Dean Rusk, US Secretary of State (1961-69), born in Cherokee County, Georgia (d. 1994)
  • Feb 9 Harald Genzmer, German composer, born in Blumenthal, Germany (d. 2007)
  • Feb 9 Heather Angel, British-American actress (Night in Montmartre; The Informer; The Last of the Mohicans; Lifeboat), born in Headington, Oxford, England (d. 1986)
  • Feb 9 John Eustace Theodore Brancker, Barbadian lawyer, civil rights activist and parliamentarian (d. 1996)
  • Feb 10 George Douglass Milne, British peer, soldier and artist, born at Lichfield (d. 2005)
  • Feb 11 Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American screenwriter and film director (Sleuth), born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (d. 1993)

Max Baer (1909-1959)

Feb 11 American heavyweight boxing champion (1934-35), born in Omaha, Nebraska

  • Feb 12 Barry Wood [Louis Rappaport], American pop vocalist (Your Hit Parade; "We Did It Before (And We Can Do It Again)"), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1970)
  • Feb 13 M. Vasalis [Margaretha Droogleever Fortuyn-Leenmans], Dutch poet (Phoenix), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1998)
  • Feb 14 A. M. Klein, Canadian modernist Jewish poet (Hath Not a Jew...), born in Ratno, Ukraine (d. 1972)
  • Feb 15 Harold Beeley, British diplomat to the Arab world, born in Manchester, England (d. 2001)
  • Feb 15 Miep Gies, Dutch discoverer of Anne Frank's diary and friend of the Frank family, born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 2010)
  • Feb 16 Hugh Beaumont, American actor (The Mole People, Leave it to Beaver), born in Lawrence, Kansas (d. 1982)
  • Feb 16 Jeffrey Lynn [Ragnar Godfrey Lind], American actor (Four Daughters; The Roaring Twenties; BUtterfield 8), born in Auburn, Massachusetts (d. 1995)
  • Feb 16 Richard McDonald, American fast food pioneer (McDonalds), born in Manchester, New Hampshire (d. 1998)
  • Feb 17 Jef Scherens, Belgian track cyclist (World C'ships gold sprint 1932-37, 47), born in Werchter, Belgium (d. 1986)
  • Feb 18 Matti Järvinen, Finnish javelin thrower (Olympic gold 1932), born in Tampere, Finland (d. 1985)
  • Feb 18 Wallace Stegner, American novelist and critic (Pulitzer-1972 for Angle of Repose), born in Lake Mills, Iowa (d. 1992)
  • Feb 20 Oscar Alemán, Argentine jazz and swing guitarist, and singer ("Rosa Madreselva"), born in Machagai, Chaco, Argentina (d. 1980)
  • Feb 21 George van Renesse, Dutch pianist and music director, born in Zaamslag, Netherlands (d. 1994)
  • Feb 21 Hans Erni, Swiss painter and sculptor, born in Lucerne, Switzerland (d. 2015)
  • Feb 21 Helen Octavia Dickens, American physician and gynaecologist (1st black women admitted to US College of Surgeons), born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 2001)
  • Feb 23 Anthony Ross [Rosenthal], American stage (Bus Stop), and screen character actor (The Telltale Clue), born in New York City (d. 1955)
  • Feb 24 August Derleth, American writer (Judge Peck Mysteries) and editor, born in Sauk City, Wisconsin (d. 1971)
  • Feb 24 Jean Marin, French broadcaster (one of the voices of free France WWII), born in Douarnenez, France (d. 1995)
  • Feb 24 Max Black, Azerbaijan-born British-American philosopher (analytical philosophy), born in Baku, Russian Empire (d. 1988)
  • Feb 24 Michael Lindsay, British-Australian scholar (aided communists against Japanese occupation in China), born in London, England (d. 1994)
  • Feb 24 Riccardo Freda, Italian film director and screenwriter (Theodora, Slave Empress), born in Alexandria, Egypt (d. 1999)
  • Feb 25 Edgar Pangborn, American sci-fi author (Judgment of Eve, Davy), born in New York City (d. 1976)
  • Feb 25 Geoffrey Dummer, British electronics engineer who built the first integrated circuit (microchip) and worked on radar systems, born in Hull, England (d. 2002)
  • Feb 25 John Evan "Jasper" Weston-Davies [pen name Berkley Mather], English writer, born in Gloucester (d. 1996)
  • Feb 26 Chauncey Haughton, American jazz clarinetist, and saxophonist (Blanche Calloway; Chick Webb; Cab Calloway), born in Chestertown, Maryland (d. 1989)
  • Feb 26 Fanny Cradock, English TV Chef and food critic, born in Leytonstone, England (d. 1994)
  • Feb 26 Talal bin Abdullah, King of Jordan (1951-52), established modern constitution, forced to abdicate due to mental illness, born in Mecca, Ottoman Empire (d. 1972)
  • Feb 27 Elisabeth Welch, American born British-based singer (Stormy Weather, Over the Moon), born in Englewood, New Jersey (d. 2003)
  • Feb 28 Olan Soule, American character radio and screen actor (The First Nighter Program; Captain Midnight; Dragnet; Arnie), born in La Harpe, Illinois (d. 1994)
  • Feb 28 Stephen Spender, English poet and critic (Vienna, Edge of Darkness), born in London (d. 1995)
  • Mar 1 Lois Moran, American actress (Waterfront), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1990)
  • Mar 1 Richard de Guide, Belgian composer, born in Basècles, Belgium (d. 1962)
  • Mar 2 Hanoch Jacoby, Israeli violist (Israel Philharmonic, 1958-74), educator, and composer, born in Königsberg, German Empire (d. 1990)

Mel Ott (1909-1958)

Mar 2 American Baseball HOF right fielder and manager (12 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1933; 6 × NL home run leader; NY Giants), born in Gretna, Louisiana

  • Mar 3 Jay Arena, American pediatrician (Duke Poison Center Director, inventor of the child-proof safety cap), (d. 1996)
  • Mar 3 Kenton Kilmer, American writer, born in Morristown, New Jersey (d. 1995)
  • Mar 4 Harry B. Helmsley, American billionaire real estate developer (purchased Empire State Building, 1961), born in New York City (d. 199)
  • Mar 5 Sutan Sjahrir, Indonesian politician and revolutionary leader (1st prime Minister of Indonesia 1945-47), born in Padang Panjang, Dutch East Indies (d. 1966)
  • Mar 6 Dave Clark, American blues music promoter, and songwriter ("Why I Sing The Blues"), born in Jacksonville, Florida (d. 1995)
  • Mar 6 Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian statesman and nationalist, born in Ikenne, British Nigeria (d. 1987)
  • Mar 7 Leo Malet, French crime novelist (Nestor Burma novels), born in Montpellier, France (d. 1996)
  • Mar 8 Anthony Donato, America violinist, composer (The Hidden Fortress), pedagogue, and music writer (Preparing Music Manuscript), born in Prague, Nebraska (d. 1990)
  • Mar 9 Derk Bodde, American sinologist and historian of China, born in Marshfield, Massachusetts (d. 2003)
  • Mar 10 Gerard Croiset, Dutch parapsychologist, born in Laren, Netherlands (d. 1980)
  • Mar 13 Gilbert Inglefield, British architect and Mayor of London (1967-68) (d. 1991)
  • Mar 14 Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues, French writer (La Marge), born in Paris, France (d. 1991)
  • Mar 17 Lovie Lee [Edward Lee Watson], American electric blues pianist, singer, and songwriter, born in Chattanooga, Tennessee (d. 1997)
  • Mar 17 Patrick Reilly, British diplomat (ambassador to Paris and Moscow, stopped Kim Philby becoming head of UK Secret Service), born in Ooty, British India (d. 1999) [1]
  • Mar 18 Ernest Gallo, American winemaker (d. 2007)
  • Mar 18 Ljubica Marić, Serbian composer (Songs Of Space; Octoïcha), pianist, and pedagogue, born in Kragujevac, Serbia (d. 2003)
  • Mar 19 Attilio Demaria, Argentinian footballer (d. 1990)
  • Mar 19 Louis Hayward, British-American actor (Lone Wolf, Survivors), born in Johannesburg, South Africa (d. 1985)
  • Mar 21 Uno "Miff" Görling, Swedish jazz trombonist, arranger, bandleader, and composer, born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1988)
  • Mar 22 Gabrielle Roy, French Canadian author (The Tin Flute, Street of Riches), born in St. Boniface, Manitoba (d. 1973)
  • Mar 22 Jack Popplewell, British composer and playwright (If I Should Fall In Love Again), born in Leeds, England (d. 1996)

Clyde Barrow (1909-1934)

Mar 24 American bank robber and outlaw (Bonnie & Clyde), born in Ellis County, Texas

  • Mar 24 Thomas "Tommy" Trinder, British radio comedian and actor (Save a Little Sunshine, Phoenix), born in Streatham, London, England (d. 1989)
  • Mar 25 Dutch Leonard, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1940, 43, 44, 45, 51; Brooklyn Dodgers, Washington Senators, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs), born in Auburn, Illinois (d. 1983)
  • Mar 25 Jay Blackton, American conductor and arranger (Guys & Dolls; Oklahoma!), born in New York City (d. 1994)
  • Mar 26 (Christiaan) "Chris" Reumer, Dutch operatic tenor, born in the Netherlands (d. 1982)
  • Mar 26 Abe Bolar, American double bass player (Oklahoma City Blue Devils; Hot Lips Page; Count Basie), born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (d. 2000)
  • Mar 26 Chips Rafferty [John William Pilbean Goffage], Australian actor (Wake in Fright, Desert Rats), born in Broken Hill, New South Wales (d. 1971)
  • Mar 27 Ben Webster, American jazz tenor saxophonist, born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 1973)
  • Mar 27 Golo Mann, German-American historian (Antisemitism), born in Munich (d. 1994)
  • Mar 28 Nelson Algren, American novelist (Man with the Golden Arm), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1981)
  • Mar 29 Aubrey "Moon" Mullican, American hillbilly pianist, songwriter, and singer ("Seven Nights To Rock"), born in Polk County, Texas (d. 1967)
  • Mar 29 Yvonne Waegemans, Flemish writer (Gnome Patjoepelke) (d. 1991)
  • Mar 30 Ernst Gombrich, Austrian-English art historian (The Story of Art), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 2001)
  • Mar 31 Pieter "Piet" Jongeling, Dutch politician (GPV) and author of children's books (Scout: The Secret of the Swamp), born in Broeksterwâld, Netherlands (d. 1985)
  • Mar 31 Robert Brasillach, French author and journalist (editor in chief of the fascist weekly Je Suis Partout), born in Perpignan, France (d. 1945)
  • Apr 1 (Edwin) "Eddy" Duchin, American jazz pianist and bandleader (Eddy Duchin Orchestra), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1951)
  • Apr 1 Abner Biberman, American director and actor (His Girl Friday, The Leopard Man), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 1977)
  • Apr 2 Jean Kurt Forest, German composer, born in Darmstadt, Germany (d. 1975)
  • Apr 5 Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer (James Bond films), sometimes known as "Cubby", born in New York City (d. 1996)
  • Apr 5 Gerald Bond, South African cricketer (one Test South Africa v England 1938, 0 & 0-16), born in Cape Town (d. 1965)
  • Apr 6 Hermann Lang, German race car driver (d. 1987)
  • Apr 6 William M. Branham, American evangelist (d. 1965)
  • Apr 7 Robert Charroux, French writer (d. 1978)
  • Apr 7 Robert Raglan, British character actor (Dad's Army - " Colonel Pritchard"), born in Reigate, Surrey, England (d. 1985)
  • Apr 8 George Dixon, American jazz trumpeter, born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1994)
  • Apr 8 John Fante, Italian-American author and screenwriter (Wait Until Spring, Bandini, Ask the Dust, Full of Life), born in Denver, Colorado (d. 1983)
  • Apr 8 Olavi Pesonen, Finnish composer, born in Helsinki, Finland (d. 1993)
  • Apr 8 William James Millar Mackenzie, Scottish political scientist, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1996)
  • Apr 9 Domenico Enrici, Roman Catholic Curia Archbishop, born in Cervasca, Italy (d. 1997)
  • Apr 9 Ivan Ivonovich Dzerzhinsky, Russian composer, born in Tambov, Dzerzhinsky, Russian Empire (d. 1978)
  • Apr 9 Robert Helpmann, Australian actor, choreographer and dancer (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Don Quixote), born in Mount Gambier, South Australia (d. 1986)
  • Apr 13 Eudora Welty, American novelist (Optimist's Daughter-Pulitzer 1973), born in Jackson, Mississippi (d. 2001)
  • Apr 13 Jan Veldkamp, Dutch geophysicist and director (KNMI) (d. 1994)
  • Apr 13 Mervyn Hugh Cowie, wildlife conservationist, born in Nairobi (d. 1996)

Stanislaw Ulam (1909-1984)

Apr 13 Polish-American mathematician and nuclear physicist (Manhattan Project, H-bomb), born in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary

  • Apr 16 Bep Bakhuys, Dutch soccer striker (23 caps, 28 goals; Metz), born in Pekalongan, Indonesia (d. 1982)
  • Apr 16 Herman Uyttersprot, Flemish literature historian, born in Denderbelle (d. 1967)
  • Apr 17 Alain Poher, French politician and President of the European Parliament (1966-69), born in Ablon-sur-Seine, France (d. 1996)
  • Apr 17 Humphrey Sims Moore, British pacifist and journalist (founder of Peace News), born in Samoa (d. 1995)
  • Apr 20 Guido Alberti, Italian film actor (Marco the Magnificent), born in Benevento, Italy (d. 1996)
  • Apr 21 Rollo May, American psychologist (Love & Will), born in Ada, Ohio (d. 1994)
  • Apr 22 Hymie Shertzer, American jazz and session saxophonist (Benny Goodman; NBC's Tonight Show), born in New York City (d. 1977)
  • Apr 22 Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (History of the Greeks), born in Fucecchio, Italy (d. 2001)
  • Apr 22 Ralph Byrd, American actor (Dick Tracy TV Show, SOS Coast Guard), born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 1952)
  • Apr 22 Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist (Nobel 1986), born in Turin, Italy (d. 2012)
  • Apr 23 (Frederick) "Erick" Hawkins, American modern ballet dancer, and choreographer (Martha Graham Dance Company, 1939-51; Erick Hawkins Dance Company, 1951-94), born in Trinidad, Colorado (d. 1994)
  • Apr 23 Thomas Padmore, British senior civil servant, born in Sheffield, England (d. 1996)
  • Apr 24 Bernhard Grzimek, German zoologist (West Germany), born in Neisse, Prussian Silesia, German Empire (d. 1987)
  • Apr 24 Irven Spence, American animator, born in Lincoln, Nebraska (d. 1995)
  • Apr 25 Jaroslav Doubrava, Czech composer, born in Chrudim, Czech Republic (d. 1960)
  • Apr 26 Dick Howorth, English cricket all-rounder (5 Tests, 19 wickets; Worcestershire CCC), born in Bacup, England (d. 1980)
  • Apr 27 Muriel C. Bradbrook, English writer (That Infidel Place), born in Birkenhead, England (d. 1993)
  • Apr 29 Daniel Mayer, French journalist and resistance fighter, born in Paris (d. 1996)
  • Apr 29 Tom Ewell [Sam Yewell Tompkins], American actor (Tom Ewell Show, The Seven Year Itch), born in Owensboro, Kentucky (d. 1994)
  • Apr 30 F. E. McWilliam [Frederick Edward], Northern-Irish surrealist sculptor (Four Seasons Group), born in Banbridge, County Down (d. 1992)

Queen Juliana (1909-2004)

Apr 30 Queen of the Netherlands (1948-80), born in Noordeinde Palace, The Hague, Netherlands

  • May 1 Ethel Jane Cain, British telephonist and original UK Speaking Clock voice, born in England (d. 1996)
  • May 1 George Melachrino, English composer, born in London (d. 1965)
  • May 1 Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet and political activist, born in Monemvasia, Laconia, Greece (d. 1990) [1]
  • May 4 Howard Da Silva [Silverblatt], American actor (1776, The Lost Weekend, The Blue Dahlia), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1986)
  • May 4 Jeroom Verten [Jozef Frans Vermetten], Flemish playwright, born in Berchem, Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1958)
  • May 5 Miklós Radnóti, Hungarian poet (Clouded Sky), born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary (d. 1944)
  • May 6 Loyd Sigmon, American radio broadcaster, sound engineer, and inventor ("Sig Alert" for traffic and emergency notices), born in Stigler, Oklahoma (d. 2004)

Edwin Land (1909-1991)

May 7 American inventor of instant photography and co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation, born in Bridgeport, Connecticut

  • May 9 Don Messer, Canadian folk fiddler, and television host (Jubilee, 1959-73), born in Tweedside, New Brunswick (d. 1973)
  • May 10 Harold Collison, British trade unionist (agriculture workers), born in London (d. 1995)

Maybelle Carter (1909-1978)

May 10 American country singer (Johnny Cash Show), born in Nickelsville, Virginia

  • May 11 Herbert Murrill, British organist, composer (The Song of the Birds; Carillon), and educator (Royal Academy of Music, 1933-52), born in London, England (d. 1952)
  • May 11 René Bousquet, French Vichy-police chief (deported Jews), born in Montauban, Tarn-et-Garonne (d. 1993)
  • May 12 Frank DeCaires, West Indian cricket batsman (3 Tests, 2 x 50; British Guiana), born in British Guiana (d. 1959)
  • May 15 James Mason, British actor (Lolita, North by Northwest, Bloodline, Boys From Brazil), born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire (d. 1984)
  • May 15 Rodolfo Cornejo, Filipino classical pianist, composer, and conductor, born in Manila, Philippines (d. 1991)
  • May 16 Margaret Sullavan, American actress (Three Comrades, The Shop Around the Corner), born in Norfolk, Virginia (d. 1960)
  • May 17 Edward Playfair, British senior civil servant, born in London (d. 1999)
  • May 17 Karl Schäfer, Austrian figure skater (Olympic gold 1932, 36), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1976)
  • May 17 Magda Schneider, German actress (Eva, Going Gay, Be Mine Tonight), born in Bavaria, German (d. 1996)

Fred Perry (1909-1995)

May 18 English tennis player (first to win "Career Grand Slam"; 8 x Grand Slam singles, 6 x Grand Slam doubles titles; Davis Cup 1933, 34, 35, 36) and broadcaster (BBC, ITV), born in Stockport, England

  • May 19 Schlomo Joffe, Polish-Israeli folk and classical musician and composer, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1995)
  • May 19 Sir Nicholas Winton, British humanitarian ('British Schindler' - saved 669 children from Nazis), born in London (d. 2015) [1] [2]
  • May 21 François-Albert Angers, Quebec economist (d. 2003)
  • May 21 Guy de Rothschild, French banker (Rothschild Frères), born in Paris, France (d. 2007)
  • May 24 Guillermo Díaz-Plaja, Spanish literary and poet (Lorca), born in Manresa, Barcelona (d. 1984)
  • May 24 Louis Fornberg, writer (d. 1957)
  • May 24 Wilbur Mills, American politician (US Representative from Arkansas, 1939-77), famous for his involvement in a sex scandal with Fanne Foxe, born in Kensett, Arkansas (d. 1992)
  • May 25 Alfred Kubel, German politician, born in Braunschweig, Germany (d. 1999)

About 1909

Chinese Zodiac: Monkey (Feb 2, 1908 - Jan 21, 1909),
Rooster (Jan 22, 1909 - Feb 9, 1910)