Bernhard Schmidt

Bernhard Woldemar Schmidt was an Estonian optician. In 1930 he invented the Schmidt telescope, which corrected for the optical errors of spherical aberration, coma, and astigmatism, making possible for the first time the construction of very large, wide-angled reflective cameras of short exposure time for astronomical research.

11 April 1879

Born on the same birth day (11 April): Bernd Eichinger • Brian Noble (bishop) • Charles Hallé • Dale Messick • James Parkinson • Jennifer Esposito • John Douglas (English architect) • Leland Irving • Luis Flores (basketball) • Manuel Ugarte (footballer) • Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours • Mark Teixeira • Peter Riegert • Peter Windsor • Trevor Linden

Born in the same month (April 1879): Arthur Robertson (athlete) • Coenraad Hiebendaal • Eric Campbell (actor) • Gustav Goßler • Melville Henry Cane • Owen Willans Richardson • Paul Poiret • Stanislaus Zbyszko • Susanna Bokoyni