Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal

D. Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal and 1st Count of Oeiras, known as the Marquis of Pombal, was a Portuguese despotic statesman and diplomat who effectively ruled the Portuguese Empire from 1750 to 1777 as chief minister to King Joseph I. A strong promoter of the absolute power and influenced by the Age of Enlightenment, Pombal led Portugal's recovery from the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and reformed the kingdom's administrative, economic, and ecclesiastical institutions. During his lengthy ministerial career, Pombal accumulated and exercised autocratic power. His cruel persecution of the Portuguese lower classes led him to be known as Nero of Trafaria, a village he ordered to be burned with all its inhabitants inside, after refusing to follow his orders.

13 May 1699

Born on the same birth day (13 May): Alexander Nevsky • Barry Zito • Bea Arthur • Bruce Chatwin • Buckethead • Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed • Francis Coquelin • Johnnie Wright • Marv Wolfman • Mary Walsh (actress) • Morgan Wallen • P. K. Subban • Scott Morrison • Sunny Leone

Born in the same month (May 1699): Hans Joachim von Zieten