Born on June 8

A French poet and fabulist of the 17th century, Jean de La Fontaine is celebrated for his Fables, collections of short verse tales featuring animals to illustrate moral lessons. His works, imbued with humor and wisdom, remain major classics of French literature.

Robert Schumann was a German composer and pianist, a major figure of musical Romanticism. He is famous for his piano works, his lieder, and his chamber music, as well as for his activity as a music critic.

French writer (1903–1987), Marguerite Yourcenar is the author of Memoirs of Hadrian, a masterpiece of 20th-century literature. The first woman elected to the Académie française in 1980, she left a lasting mark on literature through her reflections on history and humanity.

British and American biologists who discovered the structure of DNA in 1953. Their work revolutionized the understanding of heredity and laid the foundations of modern molecular biology.

An Indonesian general and statesman, Suharto was the second president of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998. He came to power after a bloody anti-communist purge and established an authoritarian regime known as the “New Order” before being toppled by the Asian financial crisis.