February 28

Born in 1261 as the only daughter of King Alexander III of Scotland, Margaret was betrothed to King Eric II of Norway to secure peace between their kingdoms. She married Eric in 1281 and served as Queen consort, acting as a cultural and diplomatic bridge between Scotland and Norway. Her presence at the Norwegian court introduced new Scottish influences to art and ceremony. Tragically, she died in 1283 at just 22 years old, cutting short her promising role. Her marriage remains a notable example of medieval dynastic strategy.

Born in 1518 as the second son of King Francis I of France and Duchess Claude of Brittany, Francis III inherited the title Duke of Brittany at birth. His duchy was governed by regents throughout his childhood while he grew up at the French court. Despite his high rank, he played a largely ceremonial role in a period marked by dynastic ambition and rivalry. In 1536, he contracted plague and died at the age of 18, leading to the duchy’s integration into the French crown. His brief life highlights the fragility and significance of noble titles in Renaissance Europe.

Born in 1533 in the Château de Montaigne, Michel de Montaigne was the son of a wealthy wine merchant and later served as a magistrate in Bordeaux. He retired to his family estate in 1571 to devote himself to writing his landmark work, Essais, which blended personal reflection with classical knowledge. Montaigne’s essays introduced a new form of inquiry, questioning established norms and exploring subjectivity. His skeptical approach influenced thinkers such as Descartes and Shakespeare. He returned to public office as mayor of Bordeaux before his death in 1592. Montaigne’s legacy endures in modern philosophy and literature.

Born in 1535 in Leuven to the renowned mathematician Gemma Frisius, Cornelius Gemma pursued studies in medicine and astronomy at the University of Leuven. He became a respected academic, conducting celestial observations and publishing treatises on comets in 1577 that combined scientific data with astrological commentary. Gemma’s work reflected the era’s blend of disciplines and captured the fascination with the heavens. His publications influenced subsequent astronomers and contributed to early modern celestial cartography. He died during a plague outbreak in 1578, leaving a modest but notable scientific legacy.

Born in 1552 in Lichtensteig, Switzerland, Jost Bürgi earned renown for both his mathematical innovations and his craftsmanship in clockmaking. He entered the service of the Landgrave of Hesse in Kassel, constructing intricate astronomical instruments and clocks for the court. Around the same time as John Napier, Bürgi devised methods resembling logarithms, significantly simplifying calculations for astronomers. His precision gearwork advanced the accuracy of pendulum clocks and time measurement. Bürgi’s work influenced horology and computational mathematics until his death in 1632.

Born in 1675 in Paris, Guillaume Delisle studied under the Cassini family before joining the French Academy of Sciences as a royal cartographer. He rejected imaginative mapping in favor of empirical measurements, compiling data from explorers and astronomers. Delisle’s maps of Africa, North America, and Asia were unmatched in precision, correcting numerous errors in longitude and latitude that plagued earlier works. His 1700 world map set a new standard, earning him royal patronage and lasting acclaim. Delisle’s dedication to accuracy profoundly influenced the development of modern cartography until his death in 1726.

Born in 1683 in La Rochelle, René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur became a professor at the Collège de France, specializing in natural history and metallurgy. He published the multi-volume Memoires pour servir à l’histoire des insectes between 1734 and 1742, laying the foundations for systematic entomology. In 1730, he introduced the Réaumur temperature scale, which was widely used in Europe before being supplanted by Celsius. His experiments in metallurgy and contributions to natural history reflected his diverse scientific interests. Réaumur’s meticulous studies earned him membership in the French Academy of Sciences, and he died in 1757.

Born in 1704, Louis Godin joined the French Academy of Sciences and set off in 1735 to Peru with fellow astronomers to determine the length of a degree of latitude near the equator. Their measurements between 1735 and 1744 formed a key part of the Geodesic Mission, confirming that the Earth bulges at the equator. Godin later produced detailed star catalogs and taught mathematics at the Royal Military School in Paris. His work advanced the accuracy of celestial navigation and geodesy. He passed away in 1760, remembered for bridging science and exploration.

Born in 1848 in Lyon, Arthur Giry became a leading figure in medieval studies and one of the founders of modern diplomatics. He taught at the École des Chartes and collated thousands of medieval charters, publishing authoritative editions that remain reference works today. Giry’s rigorous methodologies influenced archival practices and the study of medieval institutions. His collaborative works, such as the 'Cartulaire de Notre-Dame de Paris', exemplify his scholarly precision. He was elected to the French Academy in 1894 and continued his research until his death in 1899.

Born in 1858 in Kristdala, Sweden, Tore Svennberg rose from provincial theater to become a leading actor at Stockholm’s Royal Dramatic Theatre in the 1890s. He excelled in naturalistic drama, especially Henrik Ibsen’s works, and was praised for his depth in roles like Helmer in 'A Doll’s House'. Svennberg served as director of the Royal Dramatic Theatre from 1908 to 1922, shaping Swedish theater’s repertoire and training a new generation of actors. He continued acting in silent films during the 1920s and inspired Scandinavian performing arts until his death in 1941.

Vyacheslav Ivanov was a central figure in the Russian Symbolist movement born in 1866. He gained acclaim for his innovative poetry that delved into themes of spirituality, myth, and philosophy. As a dramatist, he wrote works such as The Death of a King that blended rich symbolism with theatrical innovation. His literary salons in St. Petersburg were gathering points for leading artists and thinkers. After the Russian Revolution, he emigrated to Italy and continued his literary and critical pursuits. Ivanov's fusion of mysticism and art influenced generations of writers and theatre practitioners.

Pierre Fatou was a pioneering French mathematician born in 1878. He made fundamental contributions to the field of complex analysis, especially through his study of iterations of analytic functions. Fatou introduced concepts now known as Fatou sets and Julia sets, which later became central in fractal geometry. His meticulous research on dynamical systems opened new perspectives in mathematical analysis. During his career, he held professorships and published influential papers that inspired future generations of mathematicians. Fatou's legacy endures in the ongoing study of complex dynamics and fractal theory.