When I was a school librarian, I’d post the birthdays of our students, faculty and staff in the window between the library and the school hallway. I also try to include the birthdays of authors, illustrators and famous people the kiddos might have been familiar with or should be.
Some of you are back in person with your kiddos and others of you are still interacting virtually. I’d love to hear how you are using this list with your faculty and students.
Here are some famous birthdays for September 2020:
September 1 – Jim Arnosky, author
September 2 – Chris Grabenstein, author
September 2 – Bernard Most, author
September 2, 1948 – Christa McAuliffe, teacher, astronaut killed in Challenger space shuttle explosion
September 3, 1856 – Louis H. Sullivan, architect, developed skyscrapers
September 3, 1923 – Mort Walker, cartoonist, created “Beetle Bailey”
September 3 – Aliki, author
September 4 – Syd Hoff, author
September 4, 1918 – Paul Harvey, radio personality, quote: “And now, the rest of the story”
September 5, 1847 – Jesse James, Outlaw, bank and train robber
September 5, 1897 – Arthur C. Neilsen, founder of A. C. Neilsen Co., market research firm
September 5 – Paul Fleischman, author
September 6 – Toni DiTerlizzi, illustrator
September 6, 1757 – Marquis de Lafayette, French general assisted America during the Revolutionary War
September 6, 1766 – John Dalton, chemist, physicist, formulated atomic theory
September 6, 1800 – Catharine Beecher, educator
September 7 – Elmer Hader, author
September 7, 1860 – Grandma Moses (Anna Mary Moses), painter
September 7, 1908 – Michael DeBakey, pioneer heart surgeon
September 7, 1936 – Buddy Holly, singer, musician
September 8, 1157 – Richard I, King of England – “Richard the Lion-Hearted”
September 8, 1841 – Antonin Dvorak, composer
September 8, 1932 – Patsy Cline, country singer
September 8, 1941 – Bernie Sanders, American politician
September 8 – Jack Prelutsky, poet
September 8 – Jon Scieszka, author
September 9, 1890 – Harland Sanders, “Colonel Sanders”, founded Kentucky Fried Chicken
September 10, 1898 – Waldo Semon, chemist, invented vinyl
September 10, 1929 – Arnold Palmer, golfer
September 10, 1934 – Charles Kuralt, TV journalist, newscaster
September 10 – Misty Copeland, author
September 11, 1862 – O. Henry (William S. Porter), short-story writer
September 11, 1924 – Tom Landry, NFL Dallas Cowboys coach
September 12, 1913 – Jesse Owens, champion Olympic track and field star
September 12 – Valerie Tripp, author
September 13 – Roald Dahl, author
September 13 – Else Holmelund Minarik, author
September 13 – Mildred Taylor, author
September 13, 1851 – Walter Reed, army physician, bacteriologist, Walter Reed Hospital in D.C. named in his honor
September 13, 1860 – John J. Pershing, World War I General
September 14 – William H. Armstrong, author
September 14 – Edith Thacher Hurd, author
September 14 – John Steptoe, author/illustrator
September 15, 1857 – Willaim Howard Taft, 27th U.S. President(1909-1913), chief justice of the Supreme Court
September 15, 1890 – Agatha Christie, mystery writer
September 15, 1984 – Prince Harry, Prince of England
September 15 – James Fenimore Cooper, author
September 15 – Tomie dePaola, author/illustrator
September 15 – Robert McCloskey, author/illustrator
September 16 – H.A. Rey, author/illustrator
September 16, 1722 – Samuel Adams, 4th President of the United States
September 16, 1924 – B. B. King, blues singer
September 16, 1926 – John Knowles, novelist
September 17, 1907 – Warren Burger, chief justice of the Supreme Court
September 17, 1944 – James Brady, gun control advocate, presidential press secretary during Reagan administration
September 17 – Gail Carson Levine, author
September 17 – Elizabeth Enright, author
September 18, 1971 – Lance Armstrong, six time Tour de France cycling champion
September 19 – Rachel Field, author
September 20, 1878 – Upton Sinclair, novelist
September 21, 1866 – H. G. Wells, novelist
September 21 – Taro Yashima, author
September 22 – Esphyr Slobodkina, author/illustrator
September 23, 63 B.C. – Agustus, Roman Emperor
September 23, 1906 – Dr. Harriet Hardy, first woman professor at Harvard Medical School
September 24, 1755 – John Marshall, chief justice of the Supreme Court
September 24, 1896 – F. Scott Fitzgerald, novelist
September 24, 1936 – Jim Henson, puppeteer, created the “Muppets”
September 24 – Wilson Rawls, author
September 25 – Andrea Davis Pinkney, author
September 25 – Shel Silverstein, poet
September 25 – William Faulkner, author
September 25 – Jim Murphy, author
September 26, 1774 – Johnny Chapman, better known as “Johnny Appleseed”
September 26, 1888 – T. S. Eliot, poet
September 26, 1898 – George Gershwin, composer
September 27, 1722 – Samuel Adams, Revolutionary War leader, politician
September 27 – Paul Goble, author/illustrator
September 27 – Bernard Waber, author
September 28 – Kate Wiggin, author
September 28, 1573 – Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio, painter
September 28, 1901 – Ed Sullivan, TV personality, “The Ed Sullivan show”
September 28, 1909 – Al Capp, cartoonist, created “Li’l Abner”
September 29, 106 B.C. – Pompey, Roman General and politician
September 29, 1901 – Enrico Fermi, nuclear physicist
September 29, 1907 – Gene Autry, actor, singer, the “Singing Cowboy”
September 29 – Stan Berenstain, author/illustrator
September 30, 1924 – Truman Capote, novelist
September 30, 1981 – Dominique Moceanu, at 14 became the youngest U.S gymnast to win a gold medal
September 30 – Edgar D’Aulaire, author/illustrator
September 30 – Alvin Tresselt, author
Birthdays are taken from http://holidayinsights.com/bday/ and a calendar from Perma Bound. Since some of these “famous” people may be lesser known to your students, the display could be tied to a trivia contest.