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)
Ty Cobb
10
Listed In: Baseball Players
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 )
Diego Rivera
51
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.
 3 
David Ben-Gurion
(Former Prime Minister of Israel)
David Ben-Gurion
12
Listed In: Leaders
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.
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 4 
Ma Rainey
(Street artist, Musician)
Ma Rainey
26
Listed In: Blues Musicians
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')
Al Jolson
8
Listed In: Singers
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)
Siegfried Sassoon
4
Listed In: Writers
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.

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 7 
Ed Wynn
(Actor)
Ed Wynn
5
Birthdate: 9th November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Died: June 19, 1966
 8 
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
5
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)
Peter Freuchen
1
Listed In: Explorers
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. 
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 10 
Raymond A. Spruance
(Navy admiral during World War II)
Raymond A. Spruance
4
Listed In: Miscellaneous
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)
Victor McLaglen
2
Listed In: Sportspersons
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.

 12 
Henry H. Arnold
(Military Leader)
Henry H. Arnold
14
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 25th June
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: January 15, 1950
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 13 
Hugo Black
(Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States)
Hugo Black
2
Listed In: Leaders
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)
Gerda Wegener
6
Listed In: Illustrators
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)
Paul Tillich
0
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.

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 16 
Sophie Tucker
(American Comedian, Actress, Singer, and Radio Personality)
Sophie Tucker
9
Birthdate: 13th January
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Tul'chyn, Ukraine
Died: February 9, 1966
 17 
Spring Byington
(Actress)
Spring Byington
6
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')
Leo G. Carroll
1
Listed In: Actors
Birthdate: 25th October
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire, England
Died: October 16, 1972
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 19 
Ernst Thälmann
(Politician, Worker, Revolutionary, Trade unionist)
Ernst Thälmann
2
Birthdate: 16th April
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Hamburg
Died: August 18, 1944
 20 
Edward Weston
(Photographer)
Edward Weston
1
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)
Clarence Birdseye
0
Listed In: Inventors
Birthdate: 9th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: October 7, 1956
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 22 
Hugo Ball
(German Author, Poet, and the Founder of the Dada Movement in European Art in Zürich)
Hugo Ball
1
Listed In: Poets
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)
Rose Wilder Lane
6
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 5th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: De Smet, South Dakota, USA
Died: October 30, 1968
 24 
Michael Curtiz
(Film Director)
Michael Curtiz
5
Listed In: Directors
Birthdate: 24th December
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Budapest, Hungary
Died: April 10, 1962
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 25 
John Cromwell
(Film Director)
John Cromwell
2
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)
Jean Arp
1
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))
Edward Rydz-Śmigły
0
Listed In: Leaders
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.

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 28 
René Guénon
(Former Philosopher who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics)
René Guénon
0
Listed In: Philosophers
Birthdate: 15th November
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Blois, France
Died: January 7, 1951
 29 
Karl Polanyi
(Austro-Hungarian Economic Anthropologist, Economic Sociologist and Politician)
Karl Polanyi
0
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)
Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
0
Listed In: Writers
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.

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 31 
Karl von Frisch
(German-Austrian Ethologist and 1973 Winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology / Medicine)
Karl von Frisch
2
Listed In: Zoologists
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)
Oskar Kokoschka
0
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)
Rex Stout
0
Listed In: Poets
Birthdate: 1st December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Noblesville, Indiana, United States
Died: October 27, 1975
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 34 
Vyvyan Holland
(Writer)
Vyvyan Holland
1
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)
John Jacob Astor V
3
Listed In: Sportspersons
Birthdate: 20th May
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Manhattan, New York, United States
Died: July 19, 1971
 36 
Joyce Kilmer
(Writer)
Joyce Kilmer
3
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 6th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
Died: July 30, 1918
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 37 
Alain LeRoy Locke
(American Writer and Philosophe)
Alain LeRoy Locke
0
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 13th September
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: June 9, 1954
 38 
Tarsila do Amaral
4
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)
Roman von Ungern-Sternberg
4
Listed In: Military Leaders
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.

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 40 
Hilda Doolittle
(Poet)
Hilda Doolittle
2
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 10th September
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: September 27, 1961
 41 
Edward C. Tolman
(Psychologist)
Edward C. Tolman
0
Listed In: Psychologists
Birthdate: 14th April
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Newton
Died: November 19, 1959
 42 
Gladys Vanderbilt Szechenyi
(Heiress)
Gladys Vanderbilt Szechenyi
2
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 27th August
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Newport, Rhode Island, United States
Died: January 29, 1965
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 43 
Mary Wigman
(German Dancer Who Is Considered One of the Most Important Figures in the History of Modern Dance)
Mary Wigman
0
Listed In: Choreographers
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)
Kid Ory
1
Listed In: Jazz Musicians
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)
George Mallory
24
Listed In: Mountaineers
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. 
 46 
Glenn L. Martin
(Aviator)
Glenn L. Martin
1
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 17th January
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Macksburg, Iowa, United States
Died: December 5, 1955
 47 
James Van Der Zee
(Photographer)
James Van Der Zee
0
Birthdate: 29th June
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Lenox, Massachusetts, United States
Died: May 15, 1983
 48 
Ōkawa Shūmei
(Writer)
Ōkawa Shūmei
1
Listed In: Writers
Birthdate: 6th December
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Yamagata, Japan
Died: December 24, 1957
 49 
Kurt Koffka
(German Psychologist and Professor)
Kurt Koffka
3
Listed In: Miscellaneous
Birthdate: 18th March
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
Died: November 22, 1941
 50 
Jean Hersholt
(Danish-American Actor)
Jean Hersholt
2
Listed In: Actors
Birthdate: 12th July
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Copenhagen, Denmark
Died: June 2, 1956