Belgian-German physician and politician, Defense Minister of Germany, President of the European Commission

Ursula von der Leyen

Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen is a German politician and physician who has served as President of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding positions in Angela Merkel's cabinet, most recently as Federal Minister for Defence. She is a member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its affiliated European political party, the European People's Party (EPP). On 7 March 2024, the EPP elected her as its Spitzenkandidat to lead the campaign for the 2024 European Parliament elections.

Born

1958

October 8

Died

Living

Era

1950s

Country

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About

Ursula, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1958 Born

Also on October 8

What else happened on this day, through history

316 Constantine I defeats Licinius, who loses his European territories.
451 The first session of the Council of Chalcedon begins.
876 Frankish forces led by Louis the Younger prevent a West Frankish invasion and defeat emperor Charles II ("the Bald").
1075 Dmitar Zvonimir is crowned King of Croatia.

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The world in 1958

When Ursula arrived

april 14 The Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 falls from orbit after a mission duration of 162 days. This was the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a female dog named Laika, who likely lived only a few hours.
april 21 United Air Lines Flight 736 collides with a United States Air Force fighter jet near Arden, Nevada in what is now Enterprise, Nevada.
april 26 Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
april 4 The CND peace symbol is displayed in public for the first time in London.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on October 8

Anne-Caroline Chausson 1977– French cyclist Bill Elliott 1955– American race car driver CeCe Winans 1964– American singer-songwriter Claude Jade 1948–2006 French actress (born 1948) Gus Hall 1910– American soldier and politician (died 2000) Heinrich Schütz 1585–1672 German organist and composer (born 1585) Juan Perón 1895–1974 Argentinian general and politician, President of Argentina (born 1895) Lynne Stewart 1939–2017 American attorney and activist (born 1939) Mike Morgan 1959– American baseball player and coach

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1958

Adrian Newey 1958– English aerodynamicist and engineer Andy Reid 1958– American football player and coach Anna Politkovskaya 1958–2006 Russian journalist and activist (died 2006) Betsy DeVos 1958– American businesswoman and politician, 11th Secretary of Education Caryl Phillips 1958– Caribbean-English author and playwright Charlie Kaufman 1958– American director, producer, and screenwriter Chris Columbus 1958– American director, producer, and screenwriter Hugo Sánchez 1958– Mexican footballer, coach, and manager Jennifer Saunders 1958– English actress, comedian and screenwriter

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Keep going

More to explore

Ursula's birthday October 8 Ursula's zodiac Libra When Ursula arrived 1958