Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was a Russian and Soviet rocket scientist who pioneered astronautics. Along with Hermann Oberth and Robert H. Goddard, he is one of the pioneers of space flight and the founding father of modern rocketry and astronautics. His works later inspired Wernher von Braun and leading Soviet rocket engineers Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko, who contributed to the success of the Soviet space program. Tsiolkovsky spent most of his life in a log house on the outskirts of Kaluga, about 200 km (120 mi) southwest of Moscow. A recluse by nature, his unusual habits made him seem bizarre to his fellow townsfolk.

17 September 1857

Born on the same birth day (17 September): Domenico Citro • Enrique Krauze • Jaimee Fourlis • Jonathan Alder • Nadezhda Durova • Pixie Geldof

Born in the same month (September 1857): Georg Michaelis • John Hessin Clarke • Julia Platt • Manuel Espinosa Batista • Michał Drzymała • Milton S. Hershey • September 15 • William Howard Taft • Zelia Nuttall