Born on This Day

Japanese emperor whose reign formed part of the transition toward greater retired-imperial and warrior influence.

American explorer whose Arctic expertise was crucial to expeditions seeking the North Pole.

American writer whose fiction preserved the landscapes and communities of rural Florida.

American physicist who invented the cyclotron and transformed nuclear research and large-scale science.

British physicist whose equations united quantum mechanics and relativity and predicted antimatter.

American musician and arranger whose long career helped shape jazz composition and orchestration.

American swimmer and actor whose aquatic films created a distinctive form of Hollywood musical spectacle.

American actor whose naturalistic performances have influenced modern screen acting.

Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya is a Russian former aviator and Soviet cosmonaut. She became the first woman to perform a spacewalk and the second woman in space.