Katherine Johnson

Creola Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. During her 33-year career at NASA and its predecessor, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. The space agency noted her "historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist".

26 August 1918

Born on the same birth day (26 August): Bobby Jurasin • Bryon Baltimore • Chris Burke (actor) • Howard Clark (golfer) • Irving R. Levine • Jorge Paulo Lemann • Jules Romains • Meredith Eaton • Michael Cockerell • Oleksiy Kasyanov • Pinchas Goldstein • Richard Evatt • Saint Jhn • Shirley Manson • Thalía • Tino Best

Born in the same month (August 1918): Albert Seedman • Betty Oliphant • Billy Johnson (baseball) • C. Buddingh' • Cisco Houston • Giles Cooper (playwright) • Gordon Zahn • Guy Gibson • Ike Quebec • James MacGregor Burns • Jelle Zijlstra • Jimmy Rowles • Larry Haines • Michael John Wise • T. J. Jemison • Ted Williams • Tom Drake