Also Born on January 4

• Sir Isaac Newton
  mathematician, scientist (1643 (N.S.))
• Benjamin Rush
  physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence (1746 (N.S.))
• Louis Braille
  inventor of Braille system (1809)
• Sir Isaac Pitman
  inventor of phonographic shorthand (1813)
• Tom Thumb
  entertainer (1838)
• Jane Wyman
  actress, producer (1914)
• Floyd Patterson
  boxer (1935)

Who Shares Your Birthday?

The Day You Were Born

The Year You Were Born

German philologist and folklorist, a founder of comparative philology. His interest in the relationship among Germanic languages led to his formulation of Grimm's law. His German grammar (1819–37) and his German Mythology (1835, tr. 1880–88) were works of first importance. He is best known, however, for his work on German folk tales, known as Grimm's Fairy Tales (1812–15), which he collected with his brother, Wilhelm Grimm, 1786–1859, and which did much to encourage the romantic revival of folklore. The brothers Grimm also planned and inaugurated the great German dictionary (16 vol., 1854–1954).

Bibliography:

See Lore Segal and Maurice Sendak, eds. The Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm (1973); Jack Zipes, The Brothers Grimm (1989).

• Help

• Site Map