Edith Cavell

Edith Louisa Cavell was a British nurse. She is celebrated for treating wounded soldiers from both sides without discrimination during the First World War and for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium. Cavell was arrested, court-martialled under German military law and sentenced to death by firing squad. Despite international pressure for mercy, the German Government refused to commute her sentence and she was shot. The execution received worldwide condemnation and extensive press coverage.

4 December 1865

Born on the same birth day (4 December): Andre Marrou • Bob Mosley • Franz Xavier Wernz • Gabriel Lundberg • Gary Gilmore • Jassen Cullimore • John Krish • Lee Smith (baseball) • Nick Vujicic • Peta Hiku • Stephen Dawson • The Gathering (band) • Tyra Banks

Born in the same month (December 1865): Elsie de Wolfe • Félix Vallotton • Jacques Hadamard • James M. Canty • Jean Sibelius • Minnie Maddern Fiske • Olavo Bilac