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Janet Yellen. Born August 13, 1946, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
American Economist
Janet Yellen, in full Janet Louise Yellen, (born August 13, 1946, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.), American economist, chair (2014–18) of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“the Fed”), the central bank of the United States, and secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (2021– ). She was the first woman to hold each of those posts. Yellen graduated summa cum laude in economics from Brown University (1967) and received a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University (1971). She then served as an assistant professor of economics at Harvard University until 1976. In 1977–78 she worked as …
Fidel Castro
Political Leader of Cuba
Fidel Castro, in full Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, (born August 13, 1926, near Birán, Cuba—died November 25, 2016, Cuba), political leader of Cuba (1959–2008) who transformed his country into the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere. Castro became a symbol of communist revolution in Latin America. He held the title of premier until 1976 and then began a long tenure as president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers. He handed over provisional power in July 2006 because of health problems and formally relinquished the presidency in February 2008. Castro was born in southeastern Cuba. His …
Ignaz Semmelweis. Died August 13, 1865, Vienna, Austria.
German-Hungarian Physician
Ignaz Semmelweis, in full Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis or Hungarian Ignác Fülöp Semmelweis, (born July 1, 1818, Buda, Hungary, Austrian Empire [now Budapest, Hungary]—died August 13, 1865, Vienna, Austria), Hungarian physician who discovered the cause of puerperal (childbed) fever and introduced antisepsis into medical practice. Educated at the universities of Pest and Vienna, Semmelweis received his doctor’s degree from Vienna in 1844 and was appointed assistant at the obstetric clinic in Vienna. He soon became involved in the problem of puerperal infection, the scourge of maternity hospitals throughout Europe. Although most women delivered at home, those who had to seek hospitalization …
John Logie Baird
British Inventor
John Logie Baird, (born Aug. 13, 1888, Helensburgh, Dunbarton, Scot.—died June 14, 1946, Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, Eng.), Scottish engineer, the first man to televise pictures of objects in motion. Educated at Larchfield Academy, the Royal Technical College, and the University of Glasgow, he produced televised objects in outline in 1924, transmitted recognizable human faces in 1925, and demonstrated the televising of moving objects in 1926 at the Royal Institution, London. The German post office gave him facilities to develop a television service in 1929. When the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television service began in 1936, his system was in competition with …
Frederick Sanger. Born August 13, 1918, Rendcombe, Gloucestershire, England.
British Biochemist
Frederick Sanger, (born August 13, 1918, Rendcombe, Gloucestershire, England—died November 19, 2013, Cambridge), English biochemist who was twice the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. He was awarded the prize in 1958 for his determination of the structure of the insulin molecule. He shared the prize (with Paul Berg and Walter Gilbert) in 1980 for his determination of base sequences in nucleic acids. Sanger was the fourth two-time recipient of the Nobel Prize. Sanger was the middle child of Frederick Sanger, a medical practitioner, and Cicely Crewsdon Sanger, the daughter of a wealthy cotton manufacturer. The family expected him …