Born on April 16

Joseph Black (1728-1799) was a Scottish chemist and physicist, a major figure of the Enlightenment. He discovered “fixed air” (carbon dioxide) and formulated the concepts of latent heat and specific heat, laying the foundations of thermodynamics.

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842) was one of the greatest portrait painters of the 18th century. Official painter to Marie Antoinette, she completed more than 660 portraits before fleeing the French Revolution. The first woman admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting, she embodied female excellence in an artistic world dominated by men.

A Norman industrialist, he became one of the greatest French cotton manufacturers under the First Empire, taking advantage of the Continental Blockade to eliminate British competition. The fall of Napoleon and the return of British cotton ruined his fortune, but he is remembered for his genuine concern for the well-being of his workers.

Born François-Anatole Thibault, Anatole France was a French writer, literary critic, and essayist, and a major figure of the Belle Époque. A committed Dreyfusard, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921.

British actor, director and composer (1889-1977), pioneer of silent cinema. Creator of the iconic Tramp character, he shaped film history through his comedic genius and social commentary, most notably in The Great Dictator (1940).

Merce Cunningham (1919-2009) was an American dancer and choreographer, a major figure in modern and contemporary dance. A pioneer of abstract dance, he revolutionized choreography by detaching it from music and narrative.

Marie Maynard Daly (1921-2003) was an American biochemist, the first African American woman to earn a doctorate in chemistry in the United States. Her work focused on cholesterol, proteins, and the structure of the cell nucleus.

Boby Lapointe (1922-1972) was a French singer and singer-songwriter famous for his virtuoso lyrics packed with wordplay, puns and spoonerisms. A native of **Pézenas**, he left his mark on French song through his humour and verbal inventiveness.

A German theologian, he was the 265th pope of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013. A major intellectual figure of contemporary Catholicism, he made history by becoming the first pope since the Middle Ages to voluntarily resign from his office.

An American-Senegalese singer, songwriter, and producer, Akon rose to global fame in the 2000s with worldwide hits blending R&B, pop, and African influences. He is also an entrepreneur, most notably through his project to bring electricity to Africa.