Portrait of Paul Langevin

Birthday profile

Paul Langevin

French physicist, philosopher of science and pedagogue (1872-1946)

Born
January 23, 1872
Died
December 19, 1946
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
Birth year
1872

About Paul Langevin

Paul Langevin (23 January 1872 – 19 December 1946) was a French physicist who developed Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation. He was one of the founders of the Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes, an anti-fascist organization created after the 6 February 1934 far right riots. Being a public opponent of fascism in the 1930s resulted in his arrest and being held under house arrest by the Vichy government for most of World War II. Langevin was also president of the Human Rights League (LDH) from 1944 to 1946, having recently joined the French Communist Party. He was a doctoral student of Pierre Curie and later a lover of widowed Marie Curie. He is also known for his two US patents with Constantin Chilowsky in 1916 and 1917 involving ultrasonic submarine detection. He is entombed at the Panthéon.

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

Paul Langevin timeline

  1. He was one of the founders of the Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes, an anti-fascist organization created after the 6 February 1934 far right riots.
  2. Langevin was also president of the Human Rights League (LDH) from 1944 to 1946, having recently joined the French Communist Party.

The world when Paul Langevin was born

Paul Langevin was born in 1872. 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.

Culture in 1872

  • Best-selling bookAround the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineYellowstone established as first national park
  • Technology milestoneCelluloid (first plastic) manufacturing begins
  • World population~1.52B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderUlysses S. Grant
  • U.S. population40.2M

1872 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Paul Langevin's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18722026
Population40.2M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

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

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