Erich Hartmann

Erich Alfred Hartmann was a German fighter pilot during World War II and the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He flew 1,404 combat missions and participated in aerial combat on 825 separate occasions. He was credited with shooting down a total of 352 Allied aircraft: 345 Soviet and 7 American while serving with the Luftwaffe. During his career, Hartmann was forced to crash-land his fighter 16 times after either mechanical failure or damage received from parts of enemy aircraft he had shot down; he was never shot down by direct enemy action.

19 April 1922

Born on the same birth day (19 April): Arthur Robertson (athlete) • Ashley Judd • Constance Talmadge • Elinor Donahue • Jackie Bradley Jr. • Jacques Lelong • Joe Hart • José Echegaray • Louis Amédée Achard • Ole Evinrude • Roberto Tucci • Samuel C. Morrison Jr. • Simu Liu • Stanley Fish • Willem Drost

Born in the same month (April 1922): Anton Murray • Arved Viirlaid • Audrey Long • Doris Day • Jack Klugman • Marc-Adélard Tremblay • Mongo Santamaría • Parren Mitchell • Richard Diebenkorn