1702) Faustina Kowalska

Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament (born Helena Kowalska; 1905 – 1938). Polish Catholic religious sister and mystic. Faustyna, popularly spelled Faustina in English, had apparitions of Jesus Christ which inspired the Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy, therefore she is sometimes called the "secretary" of Divine Mercy.

Throughout her life, Kowalska reported having visions of Jesus and conversations with him, which she noted in her diary, later published as The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul. 

At the age of 20 years, she joined a convent in Warsaw. She was later transferred to Płock and then to Vilnius. The Catholic Church canonized Kowalska as a saint on 30 April 2000. Her tomb is in the Divine Mercy Sanctuary, Kraków, where she spent the end of her life.

- "A red-haired, bouncing Polish baby girl named Helen certainly did when she was born 119 years ago today into the home of a poor, peasant family who had its priorities straight."   https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/happy-119th-birthday-st-faustina#:~:text=It%20helps%20to%20have%20a,who%20had%20its%20priorities%20straight.

- "I discovered a red-haired and freckled young woman who, before entering the convent, loved to dress fashionably!" https://www.radiantmagazine.com/2019/02/18/my-friend-st-faustina/ 

Helena Kowalska before entering the convent

Portrait painting of Faustina Kowalska

1701) Eugenio Monti

Eugenio Monti (1928 – 2003). Italian bobsledder and alpine skier. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the bobsleigh, with ten World championship medals (of which nine gold) and 6 Olympic medals including two golds. He is known also for his acts of sportsmanship during the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, which made him the first athlete ever to receive the Pierre de Coubertin World Trophy.

He was the first non-German to win a gold in both the two-man and four-man events in the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble. After his victory, he received Italy's highest civilian honor – the Commendatore of the Italian Republic and then retired to labor in his skiing facilities in Cortina.

Struck by numerous hardships (separation from his wife, the departure of his daughter for the United States, the death of his son from an overdose), suffering from Parkinson's disease, on 30 November 2003 he shot himself in the head; transported to the hospital in Belluno, he died the next day.

- "It was in skiing that he first competed at national level, where he earned the nickname “Rosso Volante”, originally coined by sports journalist Gianni Brera. A reference to the colour of his hair and his bold, aggressive style on the slopes..." https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/news/from-the-track-to-the-screen-the-life-of-eugenio-monti-in-the-new-television-series-rosso-volante

- "«Rosso» per il colore dei capelli, «volante» perché nessuno come lui sa sfrecciare sulla neve... [Redhead for the colour of his hair, "flying" because no one knows how to speed through the snow like him.]" https://vocidicortina.it/a5159-Rosso-Volante-La-leggenda-di-Eugenio-Monti-e-del-suo-incredibile-bob#:~:text=%C2%ABRosso%C2%BB%20per%20il%20colore%20dei%20capelli%2C%20%C2%ABvolante%C2%BB,la%20leggenda%20che%20ha%20dato%20il%20nome

- "Appena due anni dopo veniva notato dal giornalista Gianni Brera che gli affibbiò il soprannome "Rosso Volante" (allusione ai colori dei capelli e alla grinta con cui fu sempre conosciuto). [Just two years later he was noticed by the journalist Gianni Brera who gave him the nickname "Flying Redhead" (an allusion to the colour of his hair and the determination for which he was always known).]"   https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenio_Monti

1700) Pierre Puiseux

 Pierre Henri Puiseux (1855 – 1928). French astronomer.

He created a photographic atlas of the Moon based on 6000 photographs taken by him and Maurice Loewy. In 1892 he was awarded the Valz Prize, and in 1896 was he awarded the Lalande Prize, both from the French Academy of Sciences, which he would later become a member of in 1912.

In 1900, Puiseux received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France (the French astronomical society). He became the Society's president from 1911 to 1913.

The crater Puiseux on the Moon is named after him.

- "His physical appearance was strange: a brush of red hair, dishevelled around the large forehead of a thinker, blue eyes extraordinarily sharp and brilliant..." https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Puiseux/

1699) Joseph Patrick McDonnell

Joseph Patrick McDonnell (1846 – 1906). Irish-American labor leader and journalist. He edited the New York Labor Standard, and was one of the founders of the International Labor Union.

He was born in Dublin, Ireland, into a middle-class family, and after secondary school went to Trinity College Dublin. He moved to London in 1868, where he gave lectures calling for the release of Irish political prisoners and for Irish independence. 

In 1871 McDonnell met Karl Marx, who proposed him as a member of the general council of the International Workingmen's Association (IWMA - often called the First International). In August 1871 he was made IWMA secretary for Ireland. In 1872 McDonnell sailed to New York City with his new bride, Mary McEvatt, to represent the IWA in America. From 1873 to 1878 McDonnell was very active in the socialist movement in New York, speaking at many venues.

In 1879 McDonnell was among the founders of the New Jersey Labor Congress, later renamed the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the State of New Jersey. From 1883 until 1897 McDonnell chaired the legislative committee of the New Jersey Federation of Organized Trades, which remained a relatively small body that was further weakened by the dispute between the Knights of Labor and the craft unions. Despite its weakness, the legislative committee drafted laws and lobbied for their passage by the New Jersey legislature, and often achieved at least partial success. The thrust of the laws was to eliminate abuses of labor, improve working conditions and help labor organize unions, cooperatives and building and loan associations. The Federation obtained ballot reforms, protection against eviction, public libraries and a compulsory education law. It was mainly due to McDonnell's efforts that Labor Day was declared a holiday by New Jersey, to first state to do so.

- "He described McDonnell as having "clean-cut small features, wonderful eyes and an abundance of red curly hair."  https://nyirishhistory.us/article/courage-for-any-venture-j-d-mcdonnell-fenian-editor-and-labor-leader/

- "... he grew into a man of slight build with red curly hair and a somewhat oval face."   https://www.dib.ie/biography/mcdonnell-joseph-patrick-a5647

 

 

 

1698) Gregory Fiennes, 10th Baron Dacre

Gregory Fiennes, 10th Baron Dacre (1539 – 1594). English courtier.
He was the son of Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre (c. 1515–1541) and Mary Neville.
His father was convicted of the murder of a gamekeeper and hanged like a common criminal at Tyburn in 1541, and in the aftermath, the family was stripped of its lands and titles.
In the following years, his mother battled to have the properties restored on behalf of her children, and on her ascension in 1558, Queen Elizabeth restored the title of Baron Dacre to Gregory, his elder brother Thomas having died of the plague at age 15. 

Detail of a portrait by Hans Eworth, 1559

 

1697) Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre

Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre (c. 1516 – 1541). English nobleman. He was the son of Sir Thomas Fiennes (d. 1528) and Jane, daughter of Edward Sutton, 2nd Baron Dudley.
In 1536 he married Mary, daughter of George Neville, 5th Baron Bergavenny and his third wife, Mary, by whom he had three children.
On 30 April 1541 Dacre led a party of gentlemen to poach on the lands of Sir Nicholas Pelham of Laughton. During the escapade, they encountered John Busbrig (or Busbridge), James Busbrig, and Richard Summer who were servants of Pelham. The encounter turned into an affray during which John Busbrig was fatally wounded. Dacre and several others were charged with murder.
Dacre originally entered a plea of not guilty but was later persuaded to change it to guilty and throw himself upon the King's mercy in the hope of a reprieve. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he was not executed by beheading but was hanged at Tyburn on 29 June 1541.
Dacre's family were stripped of their lands and title, but the title was restored to his second son Gregory in 1558 (the elder son Thomas died before the restitution, aged 15).

 

1696) Mary Fiennes, Baroness Dacre

Mary Fiennes, Baroness Dacre (1524 – after 1565). Daughter of George Neville (also Nevill), 5th Baron Bergavenny by his third wife, Lady Mary Stafford, youngest daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham.
She married three times. First in 1536, with Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre (c. 1515–1541). Lord Dacre was convicted of the murder of a gamekeeper and hanged as a common criminal at Tyburn in 1541. The family was stripped of its lands and titles by Henry VIII.
In the following years, Mary battled to have the properties restored on behalf of her children, and on her ascension in 1558 Elizabeth restored the title of Baron Dacre to Mary's second son Gregory, her eldest son Thomas having died at age 15 on 25 August 1553.
In 1546 Lady Dacre married John Wooton or Wotton of St. Clere's manor in North Tuddenham, Norfolk. After his death, she married Francis Thursby of Congham in Norfolk.

Detail from a portrait by unknown artist, c1541–1558

Mary Neville and her son Gregory Fiennes by Hans Eworth, 1559

Detail from a portrait by Hans Eworth