Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became the genre's first and most influential hit, later being recognized as the quintessential rag. Joplin considered ragtime to be a form of classical music meant to be played in concert halls and largely disdained the performance of ragtime as honky tonk music most common in saloons.

24 November 1868

Born on the same birth day (24 November): Amy Hayes (announcer) • Andrew Stunell • Beth Phoenix • Bülent Korkmaz • Christian Laflamme • Christie brothers • Clem Burke • Edgar Meyer • Eileen Barton • Graham Price • Ivi Adamou • John Sheridan (rugby league) • Julieta Venegas • Lars Eckert • Lynn Chadwick • Miklós Kovács (poet) • Philip Massinger • Rachel Chagall • Scott Hoch • Tsung-Dao Lee • Vasil Gendov

Born in the same month (November 1868): Emil Racoviță • Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse • Felix Hausdorff • Gichin Funakoshi • John Nance Garner • Korbinian Brodmann • La Belle Otero • Mary Brewster Hazelton • Édouard Vuillard