Charlie Chaplin was born on 16 April 1889 in Walworth. An English actor, director and composer, Chaplin became one of the greatest stars of the silent film era through his character the Tramp, with a bowler hat, cane and toothbrush moustache. He directed and starred in films such as The Kid, The Gold Rush, City Lights and Modern Times, which mixed slapstick comedy with sentiment and social comment, and he co-founded the studio United Artists. The Great Dictator of 1940 satirised Hitler. During the McCarthy period his political views were attacked, and in 1952 he was denied re-entry to the United States and settled in Switzerland. He was knighted in 1975.
Before and after
- 30 January 1889Mayerling Incident
- 31 March 1889Construction of Eiffel Tower
- 1 April 1889Origins of Osaka
- 7 April 1889Birth of Gabriela Mistral
- 16 April 1889Birth of Charlie Chaplin
- 20 April 1889Birth of Adolf Hitler
- 26 April 1889Birth of Ludwig Wittgenstein
- 28 April 1889Birth of António de Oliveira Salazar
- 11 June 1889Birth of Anna Akhmatova
More in Art, literature & culture
- from 18th century to 19th centuryRomanticism
- 1 November 1800Construction of White House
- 1886Statue of Liberty
- c. 1900sRise of modernism
- 1907Rise of cubism
- c. 1910sRise of Dada
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.