October 8 birthdays

1847 ROSE SCOTT Australian activist

Scott was a women’s rights activist who founded the Women’s Political Education League in 1902. The league established branches throughout NSW and successfully campaigned to raise the age of consent to 16.

1977 HANS HEYSEN Australian artist

Heysen was born in Hamburg, Germany, before migrating to Adelaide with his family in 1884. He became a household name with his watercolours of monumental Australian gum trees. He won the Wynne Prize for landscape painting a record nine times.

1895 JUAN PERON Argentine President

Peron was an Agentine Army general who entered politics and became the president in 1946. Although still controversial figures, Peron and his wife Eva are considered icons by many. They are praised for their efforts to eliminate poverty.

1928 NEIL HARVEY Australian cricketer

Harvey played for Australia from 1948 until 1963 for a total of 79 Test matches. On his retirement, Harvey was Australia’s second-highest Test runs scorer with a total of 6149. His highest score was 205.

1938 FRED STOLLE Australian tennis player

Stolle is the only male tennis player to have lost his first five Grand Slam singles finals. He did however, go on to claim two Grand Slam singles titles, the 1965 French Championships and the 1966 US Championships.

1949 SIGOURNEY WEAVER American actor

Weaver is considered as something of a pioneer in the genre of female heroines in science fiction films. She is best remembered for her portrayal of Ellen Ripley in the Alien franchise. She earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the second instalment.

Juan Peron.

1952 EDWARD ZWICK American director

Zwick’s film credits include Glory, Legends of the Fall, The Siege and The Last Samurai. Zwick’s film production company also produced notable films, Traffic and Shakespeare in Love.