Famous Americans

Aviator and inventor Orville Wright was born on August 19, 1871, in Dayton, Ohio. He and his brother would go on to become aviation pioneers.

Biochemist Gerty Theresa Radnitz Cori was born on August 15, 1896, in Prague, Austro-Hungarian Empire. She was the first woman to earn a Nobel Prize In Physiology or Medicine.

Noted author Edith Wharton died on August 11, 1937. Best known for her novel The Age of Innocence, she was the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was born on August 8, 1896, in Washington, DC. She’s best-known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Yearling, which was later made into a movie.

Revolutionary War commander Nathanael Greene was born on August 7, 1742, in Potowomut (Warwick), Rhode Island. One of the Continental Army’s most dependable officers, his leadership was instrumental to the Southern Theater of the American Revolution.

Lucille Ball was born on August 6, 1911, in Jamestown, New York. One of TV’s most beloved stars, she’s been called “The First Lady of Television” and “The Queen of Comedy.”

Journalist and war correspondent Ernest Taylor Pyle was born on August 3, 1900, in Dana, Indiana.  America’s most widely read war correspondent, he earned a Pulitzer Prize for Journalism and was one of a few civilians to be awarded the Purple Heart.

Artist John French Sloan was born on August 2, 1871, in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. He was a renowned painter who helped found the Ashcan School and participated in the famed 1913 Armory Show.

Industrialist and auto manufacturer Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863, in Greenfield Township, Michigan.  He was a pioneer in the automotive industry, starting a company that’s still in business today.