Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke was a Prussian field marshal. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field and one of the finest military minds of his generation. He commanded troops in Europe and the Middle East, in the Second Schleswig War, Austro-Prussian War and Franco-Prussian War. He is described as embodying "Prussian military organization and tactical genius". He was fascinated with railways and pioneered their military use. He is often referred to as Moltke the Elder to distinguish him from his nephew Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, who commanded the German army at the outbreak of the First World War. He is notably the earliest-born human to have been audio-recorded, being born in the last year of the 18th century (1800). He made 4 recordings, 2 of which are preserved to this day, that were recorded in October 1889.

26 October 1800

Born on the same birth day (26 October): Andrew P. O'Rourke • Ashraf Pahlavi • Charlotte de Sauve • Demetris Th. Gotsis • Douglas Alexander • Edward Garnier • François Mitterrand • Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi • György Pauk • Judy Johnson • Karl Leonhard Reinhold • Monta Ellis • Primo Carnera • Shelley Morrison • Sid Gillman • Steve Rogers (baseball) • Sverre Gjørvad • Zdenko Runjić

Born in the same month (October 1800): George Bancroft • Jacques Paul Migne • Julius von Mohl • Maria Jane Jewsbury • Nat Turner • Thomas Babington Macaulay