Famous People Born In 1886
Discover the most famous people born in 1886. The list includes people like Diego Rivera, Ty Cobb, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, David Ben-Gurion, Siegfried Sassoon and many more. This list of celebrities is loosely sorted by popularity. People featured on this list, include political leaders, soldiers, poets and philosophers born in 1886. This list includes people from United States, United Kingdom, Germany & Austria and many more countries.
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1
Ty Cobb(One of the Greatest Players in Baseball History)
Birthdate: 18th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Narrows, Georgia, United States
Died: July 17, 1961
During his 22-season career in Major League Baseball, Tyrus Cobb was known for setting numerous records with his aggressive approach on the field. The outfielder with a record career batting average featured in the list of all-time great players and the Baseball Hall of Fame. Associated with Detroit Tigers for more than two decades, he was also involved in philanthropy.
2
Diego Rivera(Mexican Painter Whose Large Frescoes Helped Establish the Mural Movement in Mexican and International Art )
Birthdate: 13th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Guanajuato, Mexico
Died: November 25, 1957
Mexican painter Diego Rivera is best remembered for his association with the mural movement and had created masterpieces such as The History of Mexico and the Detroit Industry Murals. He was inspired by cubism and post-impressionism. He had married, divorced, and remarried Frida Kahlo, the third of his four wives.
Birthdate: 16th October
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Płonsk, Poland
Died: December 1, 1973
David Ben-Gurion was the founder of the State of Israel and also served as Israel’s first prime minister. He was the leader of the Jews in British Mandate Palestine and had also been the country’s defense minister and the chairman of the Provisional State Council of Israel.
4
Ma Rainey
(Street artist, Musician)
Birthdate: 26th April
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Columbus, Georgia, United States
Died: December 22, 1939
5
Al Jolson(Singer and Comedian Known as 'The King of Blackface Performers')
Birthdate: 26th May
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Seredžius, Lithuania
Died: October 23, 1950
Singer, comedian, and actor Al Jolson was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer" at the peak of his career. Known for his brash and extroverted performances, he is credited to have played a major role in defining the modern musical. He was the first star to entertain troops overseas during World War II and was posthumously awarded the Medal for Merit.
6
Siegfried Sassoon(English War Poet and Soldier Who Became One of the Leading Poets of the First World War)
Birthdate: 8th September
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Matfield, Kent, England
Died: September 1, 1967
Siegfried Sassoon was an English writer, poet, and soldier. One of the most popular poets during the First World War, Sassoon's works satirized the patriotic pretensions of those accountable for the war as well as described the horrors of the war. Siegfried Sassoon's works and ideology greatly influenced another leading poet of the First World War, Wilfred Owen.
Birthdate: 9th November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Died: June 19, 1966
Birthdate: 27th March
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Aachen, Germany
Died: August 17, 1969
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German-American architect. He is widely considered one of the many pioneers of modernist architecture. After emigrating to the United States, Mies worked on structures like the Promontory Apartments. He is best remembered for serving as the director of a popular German art school named the Bauhaus before its closure in 1933.
9
Peter Freuchen(Danish Arctic Explorer, Author, Journalist and Anthropologist Who is Known for His Role in Arctic Exploration)
Birthdate: 20th February
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Nykøbing Falster, Denmark
Died: September 2, 1957
While one of his existing photos shows him dressed in the fur of a polar bear he killed himself, Peter Freuchen was a man of many skills. With a towering 6’ 7” frame, he rode across the Arctic and also fought against the Nazis after losing a leg to frostbite.
10
Raymond A. Spruance
(Navy admiral during World War II)
Birthdate: 3rd July
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Died: December 13, 1969
11
Victor McLaglen
(British Boxer-Turned-Hollywood Actor Who Rose to Fame as Character Actor)
Birthdate: 10th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Stepney, East London, England
Died: November 7, 1959
Known for his collaborations with director John Ford, actor Victor McLaglen was a favorite of audiences of Westerns and even bagged an Oscar for his performance as Gypo Nolan in The Informer. Earlier, he was a carnival boxer and would often use the nickname Sharkey for his bouts.
Birthdate: 25th June
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: January 15, 1950
13
Hugo Black(Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States)
Birthdate: 27th February
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Ashland, Alabama, United States
Died: September 25, 1971
14
Gerda Wegener(Danish Illustrator, Painter and Partner of Transgender Woman Lili Elbe)
Birthdate: 15th March
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Hammelev, Denmark
Died: July 28, 1940
Gerda Wegener was a Danish painter and illustrator. She began painting as a young girl and received her training at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. As a painter, she often depicted confident and elegant women performing a variety of activities in her works. She also painted fashion illustrations and what was labeled “lesbian erotica.”
15
Paul Tillich(Christian Existentialist Philosopher and One of the Most Influential Theologians of the 20th Century)
Birthdate: 20th August
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Starosiedle, Poland
Died: October 22, 1965
German-American theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich is remembered for his work in the field of Christian existentialism and for concepts such as the method of correlation. His notable works, such as The Courage to Be and the three-volume Systematic Theology, has inspired intellectual thinkers and commoners alike.
16
Sophie Tucker
(American Comedian, Actress, Singer, and Radio Personality)
Birthdate: 13th January
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Tul'chyn, Ukraine
Died: February 9, 1966
Birthdate: 17th October
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
Died: September 7, 1971
18
Leo G. Carroll
(Actor Known for His Roles in the TV Series ‘Topper’ & ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E')
Birthdate: 25th October
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire, England
Died: October 16, 1972
19
Ernst Thälmann
(Politician, Worker, Revolutionary, Trade unionist)
Birthdate: 16th April
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Hamburg
Died: August 18, 1944
Birthdate: 24th March
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Highland Park, Illinois, United States
Died: January 1, 1958
Edward Weston was an American photographer and archer. Regarded as one of the most influential and innovative American photographers of all time, Weston became the first photographer to be honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1937. Some of his photographs, such as Nude, 1925 and Nautilus, are among the most expensive photographs ever sold.
21
Clarence Birdseye
(Inventor, Engineer)
Birthdate: 9th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: October 7, 1956
22
Hugo Ball
(German Author, Poet, and the Founder of the Dada Movement in European Art in Zürich)
Birthdate: 22nd February
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Pirmasens, Germany
Died: September 14, 1927
Author, poet and dramatist Hugo Ball was also a harsh social critic and a staunch pacifist. Known for his works like Critique of German Intelligence and The Flight from Time, he left Germany during WWI to settle down in neutral Switzerland, eventually becoming famous as the founder of the Dada movement and a pioneer in the development of sound poetry.
23
Rose Wilder Lane
(Journalists)
Birthdate: 5th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: De Smet, South Dakota, USA
Died: October 30, 1968
Birthdate: 24th December
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Budapest, Hungary
Died: April 10, 1962
25
John Cromwell
(Film Director)
Birthdate: 23rd December
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Toledo, Ohio, United States
Died: September 26, 1979
26
Jean Arp
(German-French-Sculptor Best Known for His Biomorphic Sculptures)
Birthdate: 16th September
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Strasbourg, France
Died: June 7, 1966
Jean Arp was born in Strasbourg, to a German father and a French mother. After studying art in Paris and Switzerland, he co-created The Modern Alliance and participated in the Dada and Abstraction-Création movements. An avant-garde painter and sculptor, he also experimented with media such as embroidery.
27
Edward Rydz-Śmigły
(Commander-In-Chief and Inspector General of the Polish Armed Forces (1935 - 1939))
Birthdate: 11th March
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Berezhany, Ukraine
Died: December 2, 1941
Edward Rydz-Śmigły was a Polish statesman, politician, poet, Marshal of Poland, painter, and supreme commander of Poland's armed forces. He was a much admired and respected public figure in Poland during the interwar period and was widely regarded as a national hero for his service as an army commander during World War I and the Polish–Soviet War.
28
René Guénon
(Former Philosopher who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics)
Birthdate: 15th November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Blois, France
Died: January 7, 1951
29
Karl Polanyi
(Austro-Hungarian Economic Anthropologist, Economic Sociologist and Politician)
Birthdate: 25th October
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
Died: April 23, 1964
Apart from being a political economist, Karl Polanyi was also a prominent Hungarian political leader. The Great Transformation remains his best-known work. He taught at institutes such as the Columbia University and is known for proposing the idea of a cultural version of economics known as substantivism.
30
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
(Japanese Novelists and One of the Most Prominent Figures in Modern Japanese Literature)
Birthdate: 24th July
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan
Died: July 30, 1965
Tanizaki Jun'ichirō was a Japanese author whose works made him a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964. Widely regarded as one of the most important personalities in modern Japanese literature, Tanizaki's work ranges from the depictions of erotic obsessions to the dynamics of family life in 20th-century Japan. Many of his works have been adapted into films.
31
Karl von Frisch(German-Austrian Ethologist and 1973 Winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology / Medicine)
Birthdate: 20th November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
Died: June 12, 1982
Nobel Prize-winning ethologist Karl von Frisch is best remembered for his research on communication among bees. He was the first to observe that bees communicate the location of food to other bees by a form of “dance.” He penned down his studies in books such as The Dancing Bees.
32
Oskar Kokoschka
(Austrian Artist, Poet and Playwright)
Birthdate: 1st March
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Pöchlarn, Austria
Died: February 22, 1980
Austrian artist, playwright, poet and teacher Oskar Kokoschka CBE is counted among the prominent exponents of Expressionism whose works influenced the Viennese Expressionist movement. Notable works of Kokoschka include paintings like The Bride of the Wind and Portrait of Lotte Franzos and writings like the short play Murderer, the Hope of Women and the play Orpheus und Eurydike.
33
Rex Stout
(American writer)
Birthdate: 1st December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Noblesville, Indiana, United States
Died: October 27, 1975
Birthdate: 3rd November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: London, England
Died: October 10, 1967
35
John Jacob Astor V
(English Newspaper Proprietor, Politician and Military Officer)
Birthdate: 20th May
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Manhattan, New York, United States
Died: July 19, 1971
Birthdate: 6th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
Died: July 30, 1918
37
Alain LeRoy Locke
(American Writer and Philosophe)
Birthdate: 13th September
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: June 9, 1954
Birthdate: 1st September
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Capivari, São Paulo, Brazil
Died: January 17, 1973
Born to affluent coffee farmers in Brazil, Tarsila do Amaral later traveled to Spain and Paris, to study painting. Best remembered for her masterpieces such as The Black Woman and Man Who Eats, Tarsila also painted surrealist and semi-Cubist landscapes. She was a pioneer of the Antropofagia movement.
39
Roman von Ungern-Sternberg
(Russian Military Personnel)
Birthdate: 10th January
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Graz, Austria
Died: September 15, 1921
Russian baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg gained fame as an anticommunist general during the Russian Civil War. Also known as the Mad Baron for his cruelty toward his enemies, he had converted to Buddhism but retained strains of Christianity in his faith. He was eventually executed by a firing squad.
Birthdate: 10th September
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: September 27, 1961
41
Edward C. Tolman
(Psychologist)
Birthdate: 14th April
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Newton
Died: November 19, 1959
42
Gladys Vanderbilt Szechenyi
(Heiress)
Birthdate: 27th August
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Newport, Rhode Island, United States
Died: January 29, 1965
43
Mary Wigman(German Dancer Who Is Considered One of the Most Important Figures in the History of Modern Dance)
Birthdate: 13th November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Hanover, Germany
Died: September 18, 1973
Mary Wigman was a German dancer best remembered for pioneering dance therapy and expressionist dance. Also a choreographer, Wigman is also credited with pioneering movement training sans pointe shoes. Widely regarded as one of the most prominent personalities in modern dance history, Mary Wigman is also considered an iconic figure of Weimar German culture.
44
Kid Ory
(Former trombonist, bandleader)
Birthdate: 25th December
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: LaPlace, Louisiana, United States
Died: January 23, 1973
45
George Mallory(British Mountaineer Who Took Part in the First Three British Expeditions to Mount Everest in the Early 1920s)
Birthdate: 18th June
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Mobberly, England, United Kingdom
Died: June 9, 1924
A leading member of early expeditions to Mount Everest, George Mallory disappeared on the mountain while trying to reach the summit, along with Sandy Irvine. Mallory succeeded or not, it still remains a subject of research and speculation, yet he left footprints on the sands of time.
Birthdate: 17th January
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Macksburg, Iowa, United States
Died: December 5, 1955
47
James Van Der Zee
(Photographer)
Birthdate: 29th June
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Lenox, Massachusetts, United States
Died: May 15, 1983
Birthdate: 6th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Yamagata, Japan
Died: December 24, 1957
49
Kurt Koffka
(German Psychologist and Professor)
Birthdate: 18th March
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
Died: November 22, 1941
50
Jean Hersholt
(Danish-American Actor)
Birthdate: 12th July
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Copenhagen, Denmark
Died: June 2, 1956