Portrait of Nicholas Murray Butler

Birthday profile

Nicholas Murray Butler

Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1947)

Born
April 2, 1862
Died
December 7, 1947
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1862

About Nicholas Murray Butler

Nicholas Murray Butler was an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator. Butler was president of Columbia University, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the late James S. Sherman's replacement as William Howard Taft’s running mate in the 1912 United States presidential election. The New York Times printed his Christmas greeting to the nation for many years during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1919, Butler amended the admissions process to Columbia in order to limit the number of Jewish students; it became the first American institution of higher learning to establish a quota on the number of Jews admitted. Butler became head of international education and communication, founded the European branch of the Endowment headquartered in Paris, and was President of the Endowment from 1925 to 1945. In 1901, Butler became acting president of Columbia University and, in 1902, formally became president.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Nicholas Murray Butler timeline

  1. In 1901, Butler became acting president of Columbia University and, in 1902, formally became president.
  2. Butler was president of Columbia University, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the late James S. Sherman's replacement as William Howard Taft’s running mate in the 1912 United States presidential election.
  3. In 1919, Butler amended the admissions process to Columbia in order to limit the number of Jewish students; it became the first American institution of higher learning to establish a quota on the number of Jews admitted.
  4. Butler became head of international education and communication, founded the European branch of the Endowment headquartered in Paris, and was President of the Endowment from 1925 to 1945.

The world when Nicholas Murray Butler was born

Nicholas Murray Butler was born in 1862. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineBattle of Antietam — bloodiest single day in US history
  • Technology milestoneGatling gun patented
  • World population~1.42B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderAbraham Lincoln
  • U.S. population32.2M

1862 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Nicholas Murray Butler's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18622026
Population32.2M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.