Anniversaries 26 March

Birth

Lu Jiuyuan1

Chinese scholar 1139–1193

Michel Bréal10

French philologist 1832–1915

William Edward Hartpole Lecky10

British politician 1838–1903

John Churton Collins2

British literary critic 1848–1908

Edward Bellamy58

American author and socialist 1850–1898

Harry Furniss2

Irish artist and illustrator 1854–1925

A.E. Housman69

English classical scholar and poet 1859–1936

Syngman Rhee2

first president of South Korea (1875-1965) 1875–1965

Wilhelm Backhaus1

German pianist, Knight Commander of Merit 1884–1969

Joseph Campbell140

American mythologist, writer and lecturer 1904–1987

Viktor E. Frankl64

Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, and Holocaust surviv… 1905–1997

Betty MacDonald2

writer 1908–1958

Franz Stangl6

Austrian-born SS officer, commandant at first Sobibór exter… 1908–1971

J. L. Austin23

English philosopher 1911–1960

Tennessee Williams139

American playwright 1911–1983

Paul Erdős18

Hungarian mathematician and freelancer 1913–1996

William Westmoreland32

United States Army general 1914–2005

Sterling Hayden8

American actor 1916–1986

Bill Edrich1

Cricket player of England. 1916–1986

Fynn2

British writer 1919–1999

Baba Hari Dass72

master yogi, author, builder, commentator of Indian spiritu… 1923–2018

Elizabeth Jane Howard5

writer 1923–2014

Pierre Boulez3

French composer, conductor, writer, and pianist 1925–2016

Sandra Day O'Connor9

Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United… 1930

Gregory Corso2

American writer 1930–2001

Leonard Nimoy15

American actor, film director, poet, musician and photograp… 1931–2015

Vine Deloria Jr.11

American writer 1933–2005

Donald Kuspit1

American art critic 1935

Eder Jofre3

Brazilian boxer 1936

Anthony James Leggett3

British physicist 1938

Nancy Pelosi30

American politician, first female Speaker of the House of R… 1940

Richard Dawkins322

English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author 1941

Erica Jong95

Novelist, poet, memoirist, critic 1942

Bob Woodward8

American journalist 1943

Diana Ross2

American vocalist, music artist and actress 1944

Ravi Zacharias36

Indian philosopher 1946

Subhash Kak28

Indian computer scientist 1947

Steven Tyler1

American singer, songwriter, keyboardist 1948

Patrick Süskind18

German writer and screenwriter 1949

Martin Short5

Canadian stand-up comedian 1950

John Pomeroy1

animator 1951

Elaine Chao1

18th and current United States Secretary of Transporation a… 1953

Alar Karis1

President of Estonia 1958

Michael Elmore-Meegan50

British humanitarian 1959

William Hague14

British politician 1961

Hai Zi1

Chinese poet 1964–1989

Kerry McCarthy1

British politician 1965

Kris Kobach2

American politician 1966

Larry Page8

American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur 1973

Keira Knightley7

British actress 1985

Suvi Koponen2

Finnish model 1988

Death

Mansur Al-Hallaj11

Persian mystic, revolutionary writer and teacher of Sufism 858–922

John Winthrop2

Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, author of "C… 1588–1649

John Vanbrugh9

English architect and dramatist 1664–1726

James Hutton3

Scottish geologist and physician 1726–1797

Ludwig Van Beethoven43

German Romantic composer 1770–1827

François-Joseph Fétis1

Belgian composer 1784–1871

Walt Whitman181

American poet, essayist and journalist 1819–1892

African Spir98

Russian philosopher 1837–1890

Henry M. Leland7

American businessman 1843–1932

Sarah Bernhardt11

French actress 1844–1923

Cecil Rhodes9

British businessman, mining magnate and politician in South… 1853–1902

David Lloyd George172

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1863–1945

Raymond Chandler124

Novelist, screenwriter 1888–1959

Tadamichi Kuribayashi8

Japanese general 1891–1945

Augusta Savage2

American sculptor 1892–1962

Lin Yutang67

Chinese writer 1895–1976

Noel Coward49

English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer 1899–1973

Edward Condon3

physicist 1902–1974

Paul A. Baran24

American Marxist economist 1909–1964

David Packard6

American electrical engineer, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard… 1912–1996

James Callaghan37

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; 1976-1979 1912–2005

Roland Barthes39

French philosopher, critic and literary theorist 1915–1980

Andrew Marshall5

the director of the United States Department of Defense's O… 1921–2019

Friedrich Bauer2

German computer scientist 1924–2015

Daniel Patrick Moynihan11

American politician 1927–2003

Tomas Tranströmer6

Swedish poet, psychologist and translator 1931–2015

Diana Wynne Jones137

English children's fantasy writer 1934–2011

Jim Harrison20

American novelist, poet, essayist 1937–2016

John Kennedy Toole28

American novelist 1937–1969

Rolf Gindorf1

German sexologist 1939–2016

Eazy-E5

American rapper and producer 1963–1995

Hai Zi1

Chinese poet 1964–1989