Born on February 4

An 18th-century French writer, playwright, and journalist, Marivaux is the author of brilliant comedies that explore the games of love and chance. He is known for his elegant style and psychological subtlety in the portrayal of feelings.

A German naturalist and physician, he was one of the first to use the term “biology” to describe the science of living things. His major work sought to unify the study of living beings into a coherent discipline.

Alberto Gentili (1873–1954) was an Italian composer and musicologist. He is best known for rediscovering and cataloguing a vast collection of Vivaldi manuscript scores, playing a key role in the revival of the Baroque composer's work.

French painter (1881–1955) and major figure of the avant-garde, he developed a unique style blending Cubism with mechanical imagery. His works celebrate the modern world, machinery, and working people.

Rosa Parks was an African American civil rights activist, born in 1913 in Alabama. She became famous in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery — an act of civil disobedience that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped accelerate the end of racial segregation in the United States.

American essayist and feminist activist (1921–2006), Betty Friedan transformed society with her book The Feminine Mystique (1963), which ignited the second wave of feminism in the United States. Co-founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW), she fought for equal rights for women.

Jutta Hipp (1925-2003) was a German jazz pianist, one of the few female instrumentalists in post-war European jazz. After emigrating to the United States in 1955, she recorded for the prestigious Blue Note label before abruptly abandoning music to become a seamstress and painter.