Fun with Numbers: Famous Disrupters
Updated: Aug 24, 2019
By Maria Beale Fletcher:
If you read through this month's Numerology, Astrology, and Tarotscope forecast posts, you'll see that the Flapper Press "Spirit Team" is in agreement—August 2019 is a volatile month! This got my numerology brain thinking about all the famous "disrupters" over the centuries who were born in August and who have made a huge impact on their world and ours.
I thought that if I could distinguish one such individual for each of the 31 days of August then the reader could get an idea of the impact each disrupter has made. You'd think it would be simple enough, but of course . . . it was not. There were several days of the month, 13 days in fact, that I found it impossible to choose just one individual for that day. Therefore, I decided to list them all!
Yes, I live in a world of numbers, and if you're familiar at all with my work in Chaldean Numerology, you know I prefer to focus on the light side of the Numbers and not the dark side. The numbers within our individual birth charts are important for the implications of the energies they represent. However, our names and birth dates do not predict our lives. Our destinies are not set in stone. We are given free will to choose the light over the dark or the dark choice over the light. We have only ourselves and the choices we make, moment by moment, that create our lives.
With that thought in mind, let's take a look at some of famous disrupters over the centuries—their history written, their choices made! FYI, I was fortunate to have interviewed two from the following list: Ingrid Bergman and Alfred Hitchcock! They both delighted me with their personal stories, leaving me many treasured memories as I interviewed them on different days while I co-hosted my daily hour-long TV show, The Noon Hour over the NBC affiliate WSM in Nashville, TN, in the late 1960's.
August 1, 1818: MARIA MITCHELL
Maria Mitchel was the first female astronomer in the United States. Discovering a comet in 1847, she also uncovered the true nature of sunspots and became the first female member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was the first person ever to be appointed to the faculty at Vassar College and then named the Director of the Vassar College Observatory.
Maria Mitchell was also a pioneer in equal pay: when she discovered she wasn't making as much as her less-experienced counterparts, she demanded a raise and got it!
August 2, 1754: PIERRE CHARLES L'ENFANT
Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the French-born American architect who laid out Washington, D.C., was born in Paris, France.
August 3, 1811: ELISHA OTIS
Elisha Otis, American founder of the Otis Elevator Company and inventor of a safety device that prevents elevators from falling if the hoisting cable fails, was born in Halifax, Vermont.
August 4, 1901: LOUIS ARMSTRONG
Louis Daniel Armstrong—nicknamed Satchmo, Satch, and Pops—was an American trumpeter, composer, vocalist, and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in the history of jazz. In 2017, he was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
August 5, 1930: NEIL ARMSTRONG
Neil Alden Armstrong was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who was the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
August 6, 1911: LUCILLE BALL
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American actress, comedian, model, entertainment studio executive, and producer. She was the star of the self-produced sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, and Life with Lucy, as well as comedy television specials aired under the title The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. Her company, Desilu, was also responsible for producing the original Star Trek television series.
August 7, 1560: Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed
A countess from the renowned Báthory family of nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary. She has been labelled the most prolific female serial killer in history. Together with four collaborators, she was accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls between 1585 and 1610.
August 7, 1876: MATA HARI
Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan, and convicted German WWI spy, born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands (d. 1917).
August 7, 1929: RUTH CARTER-STAPLETON
President Jimmy Carter's sister was an American evangelist, born in Plains, Georgia.
August 7, 1932: ABEBE BIKILA
Ethiopian Olympic marathon champion (Olympic gold, marathon 1960, '64) and Africa's first world-record-breaking athlete in any sport, she won the 1960 Olympics marathon barefoot, born in Jato, Ethiopian Empire.
August 8, 1814: ESTHER MORRIS
Esther Hobart McQuigg, American suffragist, anti-slavery activist, and 1st female justice of the peace in the U.S., born in Tioga County, New York (d. 1902).
August 9, 1819: JONATHAN HOMER LANE
American astrophysicist who mathematically analyzed the Sun as a gaseous body, born in Geneseo, New York (d. 1880).
August 9, 1905: ELIZABETH LANE
First female British supreme court justice.
August 10, 1814: HENRI NESTLE
German-Swiss industrialist (founder of Nestlé), born in Frankfurt, Germany (d. 1890).
August 10, 1856: WILLIAM WILLETT
British inventor of Daylight Saving Time, born in Farnham, Surrey, England.
August 11, 1897: ENID BLYTON
English children's writer, fifth most popular author in the world (Famous Five, Secret Seven, The Adventure), born in London, England (d. 1968).
August 11, 1900: CHARLES WILLIAM PADDOCK
American athlete and 100m record breaker (Olympic-2 gold-1920) (d. 1943).
August 12, 1670: FREDERICK AUGUSTUS1/AUGUST11, THE STRONG
Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (reputed to have sired 355 children).
August 12, 1856: "DIAMOND JIM" BRADY
American financier.
August 12, 1859: KATHARINE LEE BATES
American author (America the Beautiful).