Charles Henry Turner (zoologist)

Charles Henry Turner was an American zoologist, entomologist, educator, and comparative psychologist, known for his studies on the behavior of insects, particularly bees and ants. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Turner was the first African American to receive a graduate degree at the University of Cincinnati and most likely the first African American to earn a PhD from the University of Chicago. He spent most of his career as a high school teacher in Sumner High School in St. Louis. Turner was one of the first scientists to systematically examine the question of whether animals display complex cognition, studying arthropods such as spiders and bees. He also examined differences in behavior between individuals within a species, a precursor to the study of animal personality.

3 February 1867

Born on the same birth day (3 February): Alvar Aalto • Amal Clooney • Horace Greeley • Jia (singer) • Joan Capdevila • Johnny "Guitar" Watson • Mabel Mercer • Michael Cimino • Tony Gaze • Tre Mann

Born in the same month (February 1867): Harold Mahony • Hedwig Courths-Mahler • Irving Fisher • Laura Ingalls Wilder • Louise, Princess Royal • Natsume Sōseki • Otto Hermann Kahn • Robert Garran • Wilhelm Peterson-Berger