September 22

Birthdays:

1959 ~ Saul Perlemutter, American astrophysicist and recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1958 ~ Joan Jett, American singer.

1932 ~ Ingemar Johansson (d. 2009), Swedish world heavyweight champion who beat Floyd Patterson.

1927 ~ Tommy Lasorda, American baseball player and manager.

1904 ~ Ellen Church (d. 1965), American nurse.  She is best known for being the first female flight attendant.

1902 ~ John Houseman (d. 1988), Rumanian-born actor.

1901 ~ Charles B. Huggins (d. 1997), Canadian-born physician and recipient of the 1966 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering that hormones could be used to control the spread of some cancers.  His specialty was prostate cancer.

1896 ~ Uri Zvi Grinberg (d. 1981), Israeli poet and journalist.

1880 ~ Dame Christabel Pankhurst (d. 1958), British leader of the women’s suffrage movement.

1876 ~ André Tardieu (d. 1945), 97^th Prime Minister of France.

1791 ~ Michael Faraday (d. 1867), British chemist and physicist who discovered the principle of electromagnetic induction.

1765 ~ Paolo Ruffini (d. 1822), Italian mathematician.

1515 ~ Anne of Cleves (d. 1557), English noblewoman and 4^th wife of King Henry VIII.  The marriage was annulled after a few months; therefore, she did not lose her head.

Events that Changed the World:

2015 ~ Yom Kippur began at sunset.

1993 ~ A barge struck a railroad bridge near Mobile, Alabama.  Forty-seven passengers were killed in the ensuing accident.

1991 ~ The Dead Seas Scrolls were made available for the first time to the public.

1980 ~ Iraq invaded Iran.  The War lasted nearly 8 years.

1975 ~ Sara Jane Moore tried to assassinated President Gerald Ford.

1957 ~ François Duvalier, known as Papa Doc, was elected President of Haiti.

1951 ~ The college football game between Duke and the University of Pittsburgh was the first live sporting event seen coast-to-coast.  The game was broadcast on NBC.

1941 ~ German SS troops murdered 6,000 Jews who had survived a massacre a few days earlier in Vinnytsya, Ukraine.  The murders occurred on Rosh HaShanah.

1869 ~ Das Rheingold, the opera by Richard Wagner, premiered in Munich.

1888 ~ The first issue of the National Geographic Magazine was published.

1789 ~ The Office of United States Postmaster General was established.

1761 ~ George II and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz were crown King and Queen of the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1598 ~ English playwright Ben Jonson (1572 ~ 1637), killed an actor in a duel and was indicted for manslaughter.

Good-Byes:

2014 ~ Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock (b. 1925), American housewife who flew around the world.  In 1960, she became the first woman to fly solo around the world.  The journey took her 29 days, 11 hours and 59 minutes.

2013 ~ David H. Hubel (b. 1926), Canadian neurophysiologist and recipient of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

2012 ~ Irving Adler (b. 1913), American mathematician.

2010 ~ Eddie Fisher (b. 1928), American singer who left his wife, Debbie Reynolds, for Elizabeth Taylor.

2007 ~ Marcel Marceau (b. 1923), French mime artist.

2003 ~ Gordon Jump (b. 1932), American

2002 ~ Jan de Hartog (b. 1914), Dutch-born writer.

2001 ~ Isaac Stern (b. 1920), Ukrainian violinist.

1999 ~ George C. Scott (b. 1927), American actor.

1989 ~ Irving Berlin (b. 1888), Russian-born American songwriter.

1956 ~ Frederick Soddy (b. 1877), English chemist and economist.  He was the recipient of the 1921 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

1952 ~ Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg (b. 1865), 1^st President of Finland.

1776 ~ Nathan Hale (b. 1755), American patriot during the American Revolutionary War.  He was a captain in the Continental Army.  He was hanged by the British as a spy.  Before he died, he stated: I only regret that I have but one life to give my country.

1774 ~ Pope Clement XIV (né Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, b. 1705).  He was Pope from May 19, 1769 until his death on this date 5 years later.

1703 ~ Vincenzo Viviani (b. 1622), Italian mathematician.

1554 ~ Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (b. 1494), Spanish explorer.

September 21

Birthdays:

1957 ~ Ethan Coen, American film director and screenwriter.

1950 ~ Bill Murray, American actor and comedian.

1947 ~ Stephen King, American suspense and horror author.  He is from Maine and graduated from the University of Maine.

1945 ~ Jerry Bruckheimer, American film and television producer.

1944 ~ Hamilton Jordan (né William Hamilton McWhorter Jordan, d. 2008), 8^th White House Chief of Staff.  He was the political advisor who had President Jimmy Carter’s ear.

1944 ~ Fanny Flagg (née Patricia Neal), American actress, comedian and writer.  She is best known for her novel, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café.

1941 ~ R. James Woolsey, Jr. (né Robert James Woolsey, Jr.), 16^th Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.  He served in the Bill Clinton administration.

1940 ~ Bill Kurtis, American journalist.

1936 ~ Diane Rehm, American radio host.

1934 ~ Leonard Cohen, Canadian songwriter.

1931 ~ Larry Hagman (d. 2012), American actor best known for his role as J.R. Ewing on the TV series, Dallas.

1930 ~ Romulus Linney (d. 2011), American playwright who drew on his Southern boyhood.

1926 ~ Donald Glaser (d. 2013), American physicist and recipient of the 1960 Nobel Prize for Physics.

1917 ~ Phyllis Nicholson (d, 1968), English mathematician.

1914 ~ John Kluge (d. 2010), German-born immigrant to the United States who built a media empire.

1902 ~ Allen Lane (d. 1970), British publisher and founder of Penguin Books.

1884 ~ Dénes Kőnig (d. 1944), Hungarian mathematician.

1874 ~ Gustav Holst (d. 1934), English composer.

1867 ~ Henry L. Stimson (d. 1950), 46^th United States Secretary of State.  He served under President William Taft.

1866 ~ H.G. Wells (né Herbert George Wells, d. 1946), English writer.

1866 ~ Charles Nicolle (d. 1936), French bacteriologist and recipient of the 1928 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work in the identification of lice as transmitters of typhus.

1853 ~ Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (d. 1926), Dutch physicist and recipient of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1849 ~ Maurice Barrymore (né Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe, d. 1905), he was patriarch of the Barrymore family.  Drew Barrymore can thank her lucky stars for him!

1788 ~ Margaret Taylor (d. 1853), 13^th First Lady of the United States and wife of President Zachary Taylor.

1758 ~ Christopher Gore (d. 1827), 5^th Governor of Massachusetts.

1756 ~ John McAdam (d. 1836).  Scottish engineer, road builder and inventor.  Without his invention would we still be driving on dirt roads?

1645 ~ Louis Joliet (d. 1700), Canadian explorer.

1452 ~ Girolamo Savonarola (d. 1498), Italian-Dominican priest and philosopher.

1415 ~ Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1493).

Events that Changed the World:

2005 ~ Hurricane Rita struck the Gulf Coast.

1999 ~ A massive earthquake in Taiwan kill approximately 2500 people.

1981 ~ Sandra Day O’Connor (b. 1930) was unanimously approved by the US Senate as the first female Supreme Court Justice.  She served on the Court from 1981 until her retirement in 2006.

1972 ~ Ferdinand Marcos (1917 ~ 1989) placed The Philippines under martial law.

1970 ~ The New York Times began the first modern op-ed page.  Who know that was so recent!

1942 ~ This date marked Yom Kippur.  Jews throughout Poland and the Ukraine were either sent to concentration camps or were executed.  While this was a common practice by the Nazis, it was particularly horrific as it occurred on the holiest day of the Jewish year.

1938 ~ The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 made landfall in New England.  Hurricanes rarely have a direct impact on the northern States.  This was the first recorded major hurricane to strike in New York and New England.  It was the costliest hurricane to hit the northeast until Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

1898 ~ The Empress Dowager Cixi (1935 ~ 1908) seized power in China, becoming the de facto ruler over the Manchu Qing Dynasty.  Her actions on this date ended the Hundred Days’ Reform in China.

1897 ~ The famous Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus editorial was published in The New York Sun newspaper.  Virginia O’Hanlon (1889 ~ 1971), began to question the existence of Santa Claus, so she wrote to her newspaper.  The paper responded in the affirmative, addressing the philosophical rational for believing in St. Nick.

1843 ~ John Williams Wilson took possession of the Strait of Magellan on behalf of the Chilean government.

1780 ~ Benedict Arnold gave the British the plans to West Point.

Good-Byes:

2012 ~ Sven Hassel (b. 1917), Danish novelist who humanized German soldiers from the World War II era.

1998 ~ Florence Griffith Joyner (b. 1959), American athlete.  She was known as Flo-Jo.

1974 ~ Jacqueline Susann (b. 1918), American novelist, best known for her book, The Valley of the Dolls.

1974 ~ Walter Brennan (b. 1894), American actor.  He is best known for his role on the TV show, The Real McCoys.

1971 ~ Bernardo Houssay (b. 1887), Argentine physiologist and recipient of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the role of the pituitary homes in regulating blood sugar levels.

1961 ~ Hilda Doolittle (b. 1886), American poet and novelist.  She died 11 days after her 75^th birthday.

1957 ~ King Haakon VII of Norway (b. 1872).

1904 ~ Chief Joseph (b. 1840), Nez Perce leader.

1880 ~ Manuel Montt (b. 1809), Chilean politician and 6^th President of Chile.  He died less than three weeks following his 71^st birthday.

1832 ~ Sir Walter Scott (b. 1771), Scottish writer and poet.

1576 ~ Gerolamo Cardano (b. 1501), Italian mathematician.

1558 ~ Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1500).

1327 ~ King Edward II of England (b. 1284).

1235 ~ King Andrew II of Hungary (b. 1175).

687 ~ Pope Conon (b. 630).  He was Pope from October 21, 686 until his death just under a year later.

19 BCE ~ Virgil (b. 70 BCE), Roman poet.

September 19

Birthdays:

1974 ~ Jimmy Fallon, American actor and talk show host.

1950 ~ Michael Proctor, British mathematician.

1949 ~ Twiggy (née Leslie Hornby), English model.

1948 ~ Jeremy Irons, English actor.

1941 ~ “Mama” Cass Elliot (d. 1974), American musician in the band, The Mamas and the Papas.

1939 ~ Moshe Weinberg (d. 1972), Israeli wrestling coach who was murdered in the massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

1933 ~ David McCallum, Scottish actor.

1932 ~ Mike Royko (d. 1997), American journalist and columnist.

1926 ~ Masatoshi Koshiba, Japanese physicist and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1911 ~ William Golding (d. 1993), British writer best known for his utopian novel, Lord of the Flies.  He was the recipient of the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature.

1909 ~ Ferdinand Anton Ernst Prosche (d. 1998), Austrian automobile designer.

1907 ~ Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. (d. 1998), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

1905 ~ Leon Jaworski (d. 1982), American attorney and Special Prosecutor during the Watergate Scandal.

1889 ~ Sarah Louise Delany (d. 1999), American physician and author.

1888 ~ James Waddell Alexander, II (d. 1971), American mathematician and topologist.  He died 4 days after his 84^th birthday.

1749 ~ Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre (d. 1822), French mathematician.

1551 ~ King Henry III of France (d. 1589).

Events that Changed the World:

2010 ~ The leaking oil well in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which began in April 2010, was finally sealed almost 5 months to the day when the environmental disaster occurred.

1985 ~ A strong earthquake near Mexico City killed thousands of individuals.

1972 ~ A parcel bomb sent to the Israeli Embassy in London, England exploded and killed a diplomat.

1959 ~ Due to security reasons, Nikita Khurshchev was not permitted to visit Disneyland on his trip to the United States.

1940 ~ Witold Pilecki (1901 ~ 1948), founder of the Secret Polish Army resistance group, was voluntarily captured and sent to Auschwitz.  While there he was able to smuggle out intelligence to the outside world and start a resistance to the actions of the Nazis.

1934 ~ Bruno Hauptmann was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr.

1893 ~ Women in New Zealand were granted the right to vote.

1881 ~ Chester A. Arthur became United States President upon the death of James A. Garfield, who had been shot on July 2. 1881.

1778 ~ The Continental Congress passed the first budget of the United States.

1356 ~ Edward, the Black Prince of England, won the Battle of Poitiers in the Hundred Years War.

Good-Byes:

1995 ~ Orville Redenbacher (b. 1907), American businessman and founder of the Orville Redenbacher’s Company that manufactured popcorn.

1942 ~ Condé Nast (b. 1873), American publisher.

1881 ~ James Garfield (b. 1831), 20^th President of the United States died from his wounds suffered from being shot by an assassin on July 2.  He was the last U.S. President to have been born in a log cabin.

1843 ~ Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis (b. 1792), French mathematician.  The Coriolis Effect was named after him.