June 23

Birthdays:

1957 ~ Frances McDormand, American actress.

1948 ~ Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President George H.W. Bush.  He assumed office in October 1991.

1946 ~ Ted Shackelford, American actor.

1940 ~ Stuart Sutcliffe (d. Apr. 10, 1962), Scottish bass player who was briefly with the Beatles.  He died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 21.

1940 ~ Wilma Rudolph (d. Nov. 12, 1994), American runner.  She died at age 54 of cancer.

1937 ~ Martti Ahtisaari, Finnish politician and recipient of the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.

1929 ~ June Carter Cash (née Valerie June Carter, d. May 15, 2003), American country singer and wife of Johnny Cash.  She died at age 73.

1927 ~ Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse (d. Sept. 23, 1987), American choreographer.  He died of a heart attack at age 60.

1925 ~ Arthur “Art” Modell (d. Sept. 6, 2012), American NFL owner of the Cleveland Browns that the people of Cleveland loved to hate.  He died at age 87.

1913 ~ William P. Rogers (d. Jan. 2, 2001), 63^rd US Attorney General.  He served under President Dwight David Eisenhower from October 1957 until January 1961.  He also served as the 55^th Secretary of State from January 1969 until September 1973 during the President Richard Nixon administration.  He died at age 87.

1912 ~ Alan Turing (d. June 7, 1954), British mathematician and computer scientist.  He was the subject of the 2014 movie The Imitation Game.  He died committed suicide by cyanide poisoning 16 days before his 42^nd birthday.

1907 ~ James Meade (d. Dec. 22, 1995), British economist and recipient of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.  He died at age 88.

1894 ~ Alfred Kinsey (d. Aug. 25, 1956), American sexologist.  He died at age 62.

1894 ~ Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (d. May 28, 1972).  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.

1763 ~ Joséphine de Beauharnais (d. May 29, 1814), first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte.  She died 24 days before her 51^st birthday.

1703 ~ Marie Leszczyńska (d. June 24, 1768), Polish wife of King Louis XV of France.  She died 1 day after her 65^th birthday.

1612 ~ André Tacquet (d. Dec. 22, 1660), Flemish mathematician.  He died at age 48.

Events that Changed the World:

2016 ~ The United Kingdom held a referendum on whether or not to maintain membership in the European Union.  The vote was in favor to leave the EU.

2013 ~ Nikolas Wallenda (b. 1979) became the first man to successfully walk across the Grand Canyon on a high wire.  Why?

2001 ~ An 8.4 magnitude earthquake struck southern Peru.  The tsunami that followed killed at least 74 people and injured over 2,500 others.

1972 ~Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 was amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funding.

1969 ~ Warren E. Burger (1907 ~ 1995) was sworn in as the 15^th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He replaced Chief Justice Earl Warren (1891 ~ 1974), who retired.  Burger had been appointed to the High Court by President Richard Nixon.  He served in that Office until September 1986.

1960 ~ The United States Food and Drug Administration authorized Envoid to be the first officially approved combined oral contraceptive pill.

1958 ~ The Dutch Reformed Church admitted women ministers.

1956 ~ Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918 ~ 1970) was elected the president of the Republic of Egypt.

1942 ~ The first selections for the gas chamber at Auschwitz took place on a train full of Jews from Paris, France.

1926 ~ The College Board administered the first SAT examination.

1917 ~ In a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Senators, Red Sox pitcher Ernie Shore (1891 ~ 1980) retired 26 batters in a row after replacing Babe Ruth (1895 ~ 1948).  Ruth had been ejected from the game for punching an umpire.

1868 ~ Christopher Sholes (1819 ~ 1890) received a patent for the Typewriter.

1860 ~ The United States Congress established the Government Printing Office.

1810 ~ John Jacob Astor (1763 ~ 1848) formed the Pacific Fur Company.

1794 ~ Empress Catherine II of Russia (1729 ~ 1796) granted Jews permission to settle in Kiev.

1713 ~ The French residents of Acadia in Nova Scotia, Canada were given one year to give their allegiance to Britain or to leave the territory.  Ultimately, many decided to leave and relocated in what is now Southern Louisiana.  The descendants are known as Cajuns.

1611 ~ The mutinous crew of Henry Hudson, sent Henry, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in an open boat in what is now the Hudson Bay.  They were never heard from again.

Good-Byes:

2015 ~ Dick Van Patten (b. Dec. 9, 1928), American actor.  He died at age 86.

2013 ~ Frank Kelso (b. July 11, 1933), United States Secretary of the Navy.  He died 18 days before his 80^th birthday.

2013 ~ Kurt Leichtweiss (b. Mar. 2, 1927), German mathematician.  He died at age 86.

2011 ~ Peter Falk (b. Sept. 16, 1927), American actor, best known for his role as the title character in the TV series Columbo.  He died at age 83.

2009 ~ Ed McMahon (né Edward Peter McMahon, Jr., b. Mar. 6, 1923), American television personality who was the guffawing announcer who was Johnny Carson’s second banana.  He died at age 86.

2006 ~ Aaron Spelling (b. Apr. 22, 1923), American television producer.  He died at age 83.

2005 ~ Shana Alexander (b. Oct. 6, 1926), American journalist who became a fixture on 60 Minutes.  She died at age 79.

1998 ~ Maureen O’Sullivan (b. May 17, 1911), Irish-American actress.  She died at age 87.

1997 ~ Betty Shabazz (née Betty Dean Sanders, b. May 28, 1934), wife of Malcolm X.  She died a month after her 63^rd birthday from burns caused when her grandson set fire to her apartment.

1995 ~ Jonas Salk (b. Oct. 28, 1914), American biologist and physician.  He was best known for his discovery and development of a polio virus.  He died at age 80.

1980 ~ Sanjay Gandhi (b. Dec. 14, 1946), Indian politician and son of Indira Gandhi.  He was killed in a private airplane crash at age 33.

1976 ~ Chuck Taylor (né Charles Hollis Taylor, b. June 24, 1901), American basketball player and salesman.  He is best known for his association with the Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers.  He died one day before his 75^th birthday.

1976 ~ Imogen Cunningham (b. Apr. 12, 1883), American photographer.  She is best known for here botanical photographs and nudes.  She died at age 93.

1707 ~ John Mill (b. 1645), English theologian.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 61 or 62 at the time of his death.

79 ~ Vespasian (b. Nov. 17, 9), Roman emperor.  This is the traditional date ascribed to his death.  He was 69 at the time of his death.

June 16

Birthdays:

1971 ~ Tupac Shakur (né Lesane Parish Crooks, d. Sept. 13, 1996), American rapper and actor.  He was killed in a drive-by shooting at age 25.

1946 ~ Mary Jodi Rell, 87^th Governor of Connecticut.  She served as Governor from July 2004 until January 2011.

1943 ~ Joan Van Ark, American actress.

1938 ~ Joyce Carol Oats, American author.

1937 ~ Erich Segal (d. Jan. 17, 2010), American author, best known for his novel, Love Story.  He was 72 years old.

1937 ~ Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 48^th Prime Minister of Bulgaria.  He was also the Czar of Bulgaria from August 1943 until September 1946.

1935 ~ Jim Dine, American painter.

1934 ~ Jane Henson (d. Apr. 2, 2013), American puppeteer and wife of puppeteer Jim Hanson, creator of The Muppets.  She died at age 78.

1934 ~ William Forsyth Sharpe, American economist and recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

1917 ~ Katherine Graham (d. July 17, 2001), American publisher.  She died a month after her 84^th birthday.

1917 ~ Irving Penn (d. Oct. 7, 2009), American fashion photographer who created art.  He died at age 92.

1916 ~ Hank Luisetti (d. Dec. 17, 2002), American athlete who revolutionized basketball with his one-handed jump shots.  He died at age 86.

1915 ~ John Tukey (d. July 26, 2000), American mathematician.  He died at age 85.

1910 ~ Juan Velasco Alvarado (d. Dec. 24, 1977), Peruvian general and President of Peru.  He ruled Peru as the President of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces of Peru from October 1968 through August 30, 1975.  He died at age 67.

1902 ~ Barbara McClintock (d. Sept. 2, 1992), American geneticist and recipient of the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  She died at age 90.

1897 ~ Georg Wittig (d. Aug. 26, 1987), German chemist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 90.

1890 ~ Stan Laurel (né Arthur Stanley Jefferson, d. Feb. 23, 1965), British actor and comedian, who, along with Oliver Hardy formed a comedy team most famous for their “Who’s on First?” routine.  He died of a heart attack at age 74.

1888 ~ Alexander Friedmann (d. Dec. 12, 1925), Russian mathematician and physicist.  The moon crater Fridman is named in his honor.  He died of typhoid fever at age 37.

1888 ~ Peter Stoner (d. Mar. 21, 1980), American mathematician.  He died at age 91.

1858 ~ King Gustaf V of Sweden (d. Oct. 29, 1950).  He died at age 92.  He was King of Sweden from December 1907 until his death in October 1950.

1829 ~ Geronimo, (d. Feb. 17, 1909), Apache leader.  He died at age 79.

1806 ~ Edward Davy (d. Jan. 26, 1885), English physician and inventor.   He died at age 78.

1801 ~ Julius Plücker (d. May 22, 1868), German mathematician and physicist.  He died 24 days before his 67^th birthday.

1738 ~ Mary Katherine Goddard (d. Aug. 12, 1816), American publisher and postmaster of Baltimore.  She was the first to publish the Declaration of Independence with the names of all the signatories.  She died at age 78.

1723 ~ Adam Smith (d. July 17, 1790), Scottish philosopher and economist.  He is best known for his book The Wealth of Nations.  He died a month after his 67^th birthday.

1713 ~ Meshech Weare (d. Jan. 14, 1786), American farmer and politician.  He was the first governor of New Hampshire.  He served in office from June 1776 until June 1785.  He died at age 72.  The town of Weare, New Hampshire was named in his honor.

1640 ~ Jacques Ozanam (d. Apr. 3, 1717), French mathematician.  He died at age 77.

1591 ~ Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (d. Oct. 16, 1655), Greek-Italian physician, rabbi and mathematician.  He died at age 64.

Events that Changed the World:

2010 ~ Bhutan became the world’s first country to institute a total ban on tobacco products.

1989 ~ Imre Nagy (1898 ~ 1958), the former Hungarian Prime Minister, was reburied in Budapest on the 33^rdanniversary of his execution following the Hungarian Uprising.

1981 ~ President Ronald Reagan (1911 ~ 2004) awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to Canadian Ken Taylor (1934 ~ 2015), Canada’s former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the 1979-1981 hostage crisis.  He was the first foreign citizen to be awarded this honor.  The events surrounding the Iran hostage crisis was depicted in the film Argo.

1963 ~ Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (b. 1937) became the first woman in space.  It would be twenty years before the United States sent its first woman astronaut in space.  In 1983, Sally Ride (1951 ~ 2012) became the first American woman astronaut in space.

1961 ~ Rudolf Nureyev (1938 - 1993) defected from the Soviet Union.  He was granted asylum in France.

1940 ~ Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain (1856 ~ 1951) became the Chief of State of Vichy France.

1933 ~ President Franklin Roosevelt opened his New Deal Recovery Program.

1911 ~ IBM was founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York.

1904 ~ James Joyce (1882 ~ 1941) began a relationship with Nora Barnacle (1884 ~ 1951) and subsequently used this date for the events in his novel Ulysses.  This date, therefore, has become known as Bloomsday.

1903 ~ The Ford Motor Company was incorporated.

1858 ~ Abraham Lincoln (1809 ~ 1865) delivered his House Divided speech.

1846 ~ The Papal conclave of 1846 elected Pope Pius IX (1792 ~ 1878), who reigned as Pope for 32 years, from June 16, 1846 until his death on February 7, 1878, the longest in the history of the papacy.

1755 ~ During the French and Indian War, the French surrendered Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians.

1586 ~ Mary, Queen of Scots (1542 ~ 1587) recognized Philip II of Spain (1527 ~ 1598) as her heir and successor.

Good-Byes:

2014 ~ Tony Gwynn (né Anthony Keith Gwynn, Sr., b. May 9, 1960), the American baseball player known as the happy hitter who made pitchers weep.  He played 20 seasons for the San Diego Padres.  He died of cancer at age 54.

1977 ~ Wernher von Braum (b. Mar. 23, 1912), German-born physicist, rocket-scientist and engineer.  He was credited with inventing the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany.  He was a former member of the Nazi party and decorated Nazi war hero before being brought to the United States where he was allowed to work on nuclear rockets and was involved in the development of rockets that led to the first United States satellites.  He died at age 65.

1970 ~ Brian Piccolo (b. Oct. 31, 1943), American football player.  He died of cancer at age 26.  His life story was depicted in the movie, Brian’s Song.

1970 ~ Sydney Chapman (b. Jan. 29, 1888), British mathematician.  He died at age 82.

1959 ~ George Reeves, (b. Jan. 5, 1914), American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television show.  He died at age 45 under mysterious circumstances that may have been a suicide.

1958 ~ Imre Nagy (b. June 7, 1895), Prime Minister of Hungary.  He was executed for treason as a result of his participation in the 1956 Hungarian uprising.  He was killed 9 days after his 62^nd birthday.

1930 ~ Ezra Fitch (b. Sept. 27, 1865), American businessman and co-founder of Abercrombie and Fitch.  He died at age 64.

1902 ~ Ernest Schröder (b. Nov. 25, 1841), German mathematician.  He died at age 60.

June 11

Birthdays:

1959 ~ Hugh Laurie, English actor, best known for his role as Dr. House in the TV drama, House.

1943 ~ Henry Hill (d. June 12, 2012), American mobster turned State’s witness.  He died 1 day after his 69^th birthday.

1937 ~ Chad Everett (né Raymond Lee Cramton, d. July 24, 2012), American actor.  He died at age 75.

1937 ~ Robin Warren, Australian pathologist and recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1934 ~ Henrik, French-born Prince Consort of Denmark.  He is the husband of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

1933 ~ Gene Wilder (né Jerome Silberman, d. Aug. 29, 2016), American actor and husband of Gilda Radner.  He died at age 83.

1925 ~ William Styron (d. Nov. 1, 2006), American novelist best known for his books, Sophie’s Choice and The Confessions of Nat Turner.  He died at age 81.

1920 ~ Irving Howe (né Irving Horenstein, d. May 5, 1993), American literary and social critic.  He died at age 72.

1919 ~ Richard Todd (d. Dec. 3, 2009), British actor who played dashing roles.  He died at age 90.

1915 ~ Magda Gabor (d. June 6, 1997), Hungarian-American actress and sister to Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor.  She died 5 days before her 82^nd birthday

1915 ~ Nicholas Metropolis (d. Oct. 17, 1999), Greek-American mathematician and physicist.  He died at age 84.

1913 ~ Vince Lombardi (d. Sept. 3, 1970), American football coach.  He died of cancer at age 57.

1910 ~ Jacques-Yves Cousteau (d. June 25, 1997), French oceanographer.  He was also the co-developer of the aqua-lung.  He died 14 days after his 87^th birthday.

1909 ~ Natascha Artin Brunswick (d. Feb. 3, 2003), Russian-born American mathematician and photographer.  She died at age 93.

1899 ~ Yasunari Kawabata (d. Apr. 16, 1972), Japanese writer and recipient of the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 72.

1894 ~ Kiichiro Toyoda (d. Mar. 27, 1952), Japanese businessman and founder of the Toyota car company.  He died at age 57.

1880 ~ Jeannette Rankin (d. May 18, 1973), American politician and feminist.  She was the first woman to be elected into Congress, when in 1916, she was voted as a Representative from Montana.  She died 24 days before her 93^rd birthday.

1864 ~ Richard Strauss (d. Sept. 8, 1949), German composer.  He died at age 85.

1832 ~ Augustus Garland (d. Jan. 26, 1899), 38^th US Attorney General.  He served in that office from March 1885 until March 1889 under President Grover Cleveland.  He died at age 66.

1815 ~ Julia Margaret Cameron (d. Jan. 26, 1879), English photographer.  She was born in Calcutta, British India.  She died at age 63.

1776 ~ John Constable (d. Mar. 31, 1837), English Romantic painter.  He died at age 60.

1741 ~ Dr. Joseph Warren (d. June 17, 1775), American doctor and General in the American Revolutionary War.  He died 6 days after his 34^th birthday from injuries sustained in the Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill).

1572 ~ Benjamin Jonson (d. Aug. 6, 1637), English playwright.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but June 11 is generally ascribed to his birth date.  He died at age 65.

1456 ~ Anne Neville (d. Mar. 16, 1485), Queen of Richard III of England.  She died of tuberculosis at age 28.

Events that Changed the World:

2012 ~ Two massive earthquake hit northern Afghanistan.

1970 ~ Anna Mae Hays (b. 1920) and Elizabeth Hoisington (1918 ~ 2007) became the first American women to achieve and officially received the rank of US Army General.

1963 ~ Alabama Governor George Wallace (1919 ~ 1998) blocked the door of the auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two African-Americans from attending the university.  Later that day, National Guard troops accompanied the students, enabling them to register.

1963 ~ Buddhist monk, Thích Quảng Ðức (b. 1897), set himself afire in Saigon to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.

1962 ~ Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin allegedly became the only prisoners to escape from prison on Alcatraz Island.  They were never seen after they disappeared from their cells, and their bodies did not wash up ashore.

1919 ~ Sir Barton won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the Triple Crown.

1917 ~ King Alexander (1893 ~ 1920) of Greece ascended to the throne after his father, King Constantine I (1868 ~ 1923) abdicated under pressure by allied armies occupying Athens during World War I.

1903 ~ Alexander I, King of Serbia (1876 ~ 1903) and his wife, Queen Draga (1864 ~ 1903), were assassinated in Belgrade by the Black Hand organization during the May Coup.

1776 ~ The Continental Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston to draft a declaration of independence.

1775 ~ During the Battle of Machias (Maine), which was the American Revolutionary War’s first naval engagement, the Continental navy captured a small British naval vessel.

1770 ~ Captain James Cook (1728 ~ 1779) discovered the Great Barrier Reef of the Australian coast after running aground on it.

1509 ~ King Henry VIII (1491 ~ 1547) of England married Catherine of Aragon (1485 ~ 1536).

Good-Byes:

2015 ~ Ornette Coleman (b. Mar. 9, 1930), African-American alto saxophonist and composer.  He was a musical maverick who revolutionized Jazz.  He died at age 85.

2014 ~ Ruby Dee (b. Oct. 27, 1922), American activist actress who stood up for civil rights.  She was 91 years old.

2013 ~ Robert Fogel (b. July 1, 1926), American economist and recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economic Science.  He died 20 days before his 87^th birthday.

2003 ~ David Brinkley (b. July 10, 1920), American television journalist and reporter.  He co-anchored the Huntley-Brinkley Report with Chet Huntley from 1956 thorough 1970.  He died a month before his 83^rd birthday.

2001 ~ Timothy McVeigh (b. Apr. 23, 1968), American terrorist.  He was executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.  He was 33 years old.

1999 ~ DeForest Kelley (b. Jan. 20, 1920), American actor best known for his role as Bones on Star Trek.  He died of stomach cancer at age 79.

1998 ~ Dame Catherine Cookson (b. June 27, 1906), British novelist.  She died 16 days before her 92^nd birthday.

1985 ~ Karen Ann Quinlan (b. Mar. 29, 1954), American right-to-die cause célèbre.  At age 21, she went into a coma after a drug overdose.  For the next decade, she lived in a comatose state while the courts argued over the right to remove the artificial means keeping her alive.  She died at age 31.

1979 ~ John Wayne (né Marion Robert Morrison, b. May 26, 1907), American actor.  He died of stomach cancer 16 days after his 72^nd birthday.

1930 ~ Henry Clay Folger (b. June 18, 1857), American businessman and philanthropist and founder of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.  He died 7 days before his 73^rd birthday.

1903 ~ Alexander I of Serbia (b. Aug. 14, 1876), King of Serbia.  He, along with his wife, Draga Mašin (1864 ~ 1903), was assassinated.  He was 26 years old; his wife was 38.

1903 ~ Draga, Queen Consort of Alexander I of Serbia (b. Sept. 11, 1864).  She and her husband were assassinated.  She was 38 years old; her husband was 26.

1903 ~ Nikolai Bugaev (b. Sept. 14, 1837), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 65.

1879 ~ William, Prince of Orange (b. Sept. 4, 1840).  He died at age 38.

1825 ~ Daniel D. Tompkins (b. June 21, 1774), 6^th Vice President of the United States.  He served under President James Monroe.  He had previously served as the 4^th Governor of New York State.  He died 10 days before his 51^st birthday.

1727 ~ King George I of Great Britain (b. May 28, 1660).  He died at age 67.

1488 ~ King James III of Scotland (b. July 10, 1451).  He was king from August 1460 until his death in 1488.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but it is believed to have been July 10.  He is believed to have been killed in battle at about a month before his 37^th birthday.

1183 ~ Henry the Young King (b. Feb. 28, 1155).  He died at age 28.