Which Mathematician Was Born on Your Birthday?

Looking for a fun extra credit math project? This website tells you which mathematician was born on your birthday! Makes a fun link between math and history and a fun way for students to gain some extra credit in math.

 When I first started teaching and was more willing to grant extra credit assignments to students who asked for them, one of my favorite go-to sites was Mathematician’s birthdays throughout the year from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. 


Students click on their birthday and up comes a mathematician who was born on the same day! There's often more than one. 

 The assignment I'd give students was to research and write a 1-page paper on a mathematician born on their birthday. Because not all mathematicians are as well known as Pythagoras, researching their birthday twin was a fun way to bring a little history into math.

free Katherine Johnson coloring activity for solving 2-step equations

If any of your students were born on August 26, they share a birthday with the great Katherine Johnson. There's a free Katherine Johnson equations coloring activity here that teaches students about Katherine Johnson's life and career as they solve 2-step equations.


>> Find a mathematician who was born on your birthday here. There’s also a searchable map to find mathematicians born near you.



More mathematician reading:

A few teachers have pointed out that there weren't many women included in the University of St. Andrews's database. Teacher Megan McLean wanted to do something about this, so she has been collecting stories on her Instagram account of mathematicians who are no less important that Euler, Newton, Pythagoras or Gauss. 

Mathematicians look like all of us project

In her guest post Mathematicians Look Like All of Us, Megan links us to where we can all learn more about mathematicians from all over the world.

12 comments:

  1. mathgirlJuly 10, 2019

    Do they reference women mathematicians?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ScaffoldedMathJuly 10, 2019

      That's a good question. I am not sure.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousJuly 10, 2021

      I found a few.

      Delete
  2. renewedteacher@gmail.comMay 11, 2020

    I also wonder if it references Black Mathematicians and other Mathematicians of color.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ScaffoldedMathMay 12, 2020

      Good question. I am not sure. I would hope so.

      Delete
  3. UnknownJuly 07, 2020

    If you go to the site, there is a special tab for female and black mathematicians.

    ReplyDelete
  4. OMFebruary 21, 2021

    Check out www.musicnotesonline.com to see a music video about Black Mathematicians! My 8th graders really enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ScaffoldedMathFebruary 21, 2021

      I love their stuff, especially their multiplication raps!

      Delete
  5. UnknownJune 30, 2021

    What about 2 / 2 ? Anyone know who ?

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousApril 17, 2022

    Based on a comment above, I checked other links on the mathematicians born on your birthday. Here’s a link with several female mathematicians.
    https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/category-women/

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMay 09, 2023

    my date of birth is 08th September...

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousApril 12, 2025

    July 18

    ReplyDelete

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