May 28

Birthdays:

1971 ~ Marco Rubio, American politician.

1961 ~ Roland Gift, English singer and frontman for Fine Young Cannibals.

1960 ~ Mark Sanford, American politician and 115^th Governor of South Carolina.

1944 ~ Rudy Giuliani, American politician and 107^th Mayor of New York City.

1942 ~ Stanley B. Prusiner, American neurologist and recipient of the1997 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1940 ~ Shlomo Riskin, American rabbi.

1939 ~ Maeve Binchy (née Anne Maeve Binchy, d. July 30, 2012), Irish novelist.  She died at age 73.

1934 ~ Betty Shabazz (née Betty Dean Sanders, d. June 23, 1997), wife of Malcolm X.  She died a month after her 63^rd birthday from burns caused when her grandson set fire to her apartment.

1934 ~ The Canadian-borne Dionne quintuplets, Annette, Cécile, Émilie (d. Aug. 6, 1954), Marie (d. Feb. 27, 1970), and Yvonne (d. June 23, 2001).  These were the first known quintuplets to survive infancy.  Émilie became a nun, but died at age 29; Marie died at age 35 and Yvonne died at age 67.

1922 ~ Louis “Lou” Duva (d. Mar. 8, 2017), American scrappy boxing manager who trained champs.  He managed such boxing champions as Evander Holyfield and Darren van Horn over a 7-decade career.  He died at age 94.

1917 ~ Barry Commoner (d. Sept. 30, 2012), American biologist and political activist.  He died at age 95.

1916 ~ Walker Percy (d. May 10, 1990), American author who wrote about Louisiana.  Although born in Birmingham, Alabama, he died in Covington, Louisiana.  He died 18 days before his 74^th birthday.

1912 ~ Patrick White (d. Sept. 30, 1990), Australian writer and recipient of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 78.

1908 ~ Ian Fleming (d. Aug. 12, 1964), English author and creator of James Bond.  He died of heart disease at age 56.

1887 ~ Jim Thorpe (né James Francis Thorpe, d. Mar. 28, 1953), Native American athlete and Olympian Gold Medalist.  His birth date is sometimes recorded as May 22, 1887.  He died at age 65.

1879 ~ Milutin Milanković (d. Dec. 12, 1958), Serbian mathematician and astronomer.  He died at age 79.

1858 ~ Carl Richard Nyberg (d. 1939), Swedish inventor of the blow torch.

1818 ~ P.G.T. Beauregard (né Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, d. Feb. 20, 1893), Louisiana-born Confederate General during the American Civil War.  He died at age 74 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1807 ~ Louis Agassiz (d. Dec. 14, 1873), American paleontologist and geologist.  He died at age 66.

1764 ~ Edward Livingston (d. May 23, 1836), American politician from Louisiana.  He also served as the 11^th Secretary of State.  He served in President Martin Van Buren’s administration from May 1831 until May 1933.  He died 5 days before his 71^st birthday.

1759 ~ William Pitt the Younger (d. Jan. 23, 1806), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He died at age 46.

1738 ~ Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (d. Mar. 26, 1814), French physician and namesake of the guillotine.  He did not invent the guillotine and was, in fact, an opponent of the death penalty.  He died at age 75.

1676 ~ Jacopo Riccati (d. Apr. 15, 1754), Italian mathematician.  He died at age 77.

1660 ~ King George I of Great Britain (d. June 11, 1727).  He died at age 67.

Events that Changed the World:

1987 ~ Mathias Rust (b. 1968), a 19-year-old West German flew his private plane into Soviet Union air space and landed in Red Square in Moscow.  He was detained for over a year before being released on August 3, 1988.

1982 ~ British forces defeated the Argentines at the Battle of Goose Green during the Falklands War.

1964 ~ The Palestine Liberation Organization was formed.

1952 ~ Greece granted women the right to vote.

1942 ~ In retaliation for the assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich (1904 ~ 1942), the Nazis in Czechoslovakia killed over 1,800 people.

1937 ~ The Volkswagen automobile company was founded in Germany.

1937 ~ The Golden Gate Bridge officially opened for vehicular traffic.

1923 ~ The United States Attorney General determined that it is legal for women to wear trousers.

1892 ~ Naturalist John Muir (1838 ~ 1914) organizes the Sierra Club.

1830 ~ President Andrew Jackson (1767 ~ 1845) signed the Indian Removal Act which Congress had signed into law two days earlier.  The Indian Removal Act forced the relocation of many Native American tribes.

1533 ~ Thomas Cranmer (1489 ~ 1556), the Archbishop of Canterbury, declared the marriage of King Henry VII (1491 ~ 1547) of England to Anne Boleyn (d. 1536) to be valid.

Good-Byes:

2014 ~ Maya Angelou (née Margueritte Annie Johnson, b. Apr. 4, 1928), African-American inspirational writer who chronicled the black experience.  She died at age 86.

2003 ~ Ilya Prigogine (b. Jan. 25, 1917), Russian-Belgian chemist and recipient of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 86.

1998 ~ Phil Hartman (b. Sept. 24, 1948), Canadian actor and comedian.  He was killed by his wife in a murder-suicide.  He was 49 years old.

1980 ~ Rolf Nevanlinna (b. Oct. 22, 1895), Finnish mathematician.  He died at age 84.

1972 ~ Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (b. June 23, 1894).  He abdicated the throne to marry American divorcée, Wallis Simpson, and then became known as the Duke of Windsor.  He died less than a month before his 78^th birthday.

1971 ~ Audie Murphy (b. June 20, 1924), American actor and soldier.  He was a hero in World War II.  He was killed in a private plane crash.  He died less than a month before his 46^th birthday.

1946 ~ Carter Glass (b. Jan. 4, 1858), 47^th Secretary of the US Treasury.  He served during President Woodrow Wilson’s term.  He died at age 88.

1878 ~ John Russell, 1^st Earl Russell (b. Aug. 18, 1792), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He died at age 85.

1849 ~ Anne Brontë (b. Jan. 17, 1820), English novelist and poet.  She died at age 29.

1843 ~ Noah Webster (b. Oct. 16, 1758), American writer and lexicographer.  He died at age 84.