September 24

Birthdays:

1950 ~ Alan Samuel Colmes (d. Feb. 23, 2017), American radio host who became Fox News’ liberal voice.  He died of lymphoma at age 66.

1948 ~ Phil Hartman (d. May 28, 1998), Canadian actor and comedian.  He was on the cast of Saturday Night Live for several seasons.  He was killed by his wife in a murder-suicide.  He was 49 years old.

1948 ~ Gordon Clapp, American actor from North Conway, New Hampshire.

1941 ~ Linda McCartney (d. Apr. 17, 1998), American designer and photographer and wife of Beatle, Paul McCartney.  She died of breast cancer at age 56.

1936 ~ Jim Henson (d. May 16, 1990), American puppeteer and creator of the Muppets.  He died of toxic shock syndrome and pneumonia at age 53.

1923 ~ Raoul Bott (d. Dec. 20, 2005), Hungarian-born American mathematician.  He died at age 82.

1921 ~ Jim McKay (né James Kenneth McManus, d. June 7, 2008), American sportscaster.  He died at age 86.

1905 ~ Severo Ochao (d. Nov. 1, 1993), Spanish-American physician and chemist.  He was the recipient of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 88.

1902 ~ Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (d. June 3, 1989), Iranian Shi’ite leader during the Iranian revolution.  He was the 1^st Supreme Leader of Iran.  He died at age 86.

1898 ~ Howard Florey, Baron Florey (d. Feb. 21, 1968), Australian pharmacologist and recipient of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his role in the development of penicillin.  He died at age 69.

1898 ~ Charlotte Moore Sitterly (d. Mar. 3, 1990), American astronomer.  She died at age 91.

1896 ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald (d. Dec. 21, 1940), American novelist, best known for his novel, The Great Gatsby.  He died at age 44.

1895 ~ André Frédéric Cournand (d. Feb. 19, 1988), French physician and recipient of the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the development of cardiac catherization.  He died at age 92.

1883 ~ Franklin C. Mars (d. Apr. 8, 1934), American businessman and founder of Mars, Inc., the chocolate company.  He died of heart disease at age 51.

1870 ~ Georges Claude (d. May 23, 1960), French engineer and inventor.  He created Neon lighting.  He died at age 89.

1858 ~ Eugene Foss (d. Sept. 13, 1939), 45^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1911 until January 1914.  He died 11 days before his 81^st birthday.

1801 ~ Mikhail Orstrogradsky (d. Jan. 1, 1862), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 60.

1755 ~ John Marshall (d. July 6, 1835), 4^th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President John Adams.  He served in that office from January 1801 until his death in July 1835.  He had previously served as the 4^th Secretary of State, during the John Adams administration, a position he held from June 1800 until March 1801.  He died at age 79.

1717 ~ Horace Walpole, 4^th Earl of Oxford (d. Mar. 2, 1787), English politician and writer.  He died at age 79.

1625 ~ Johan de Witt (d. Aug. 20, 1672), Dutch mathematician.  He was also a politician and at age 46 he was lynched by an angry crowd.  He died about a month before his 47^th birthday.

1501 ~ Gerolamo Cardano (d. Sept. 21, 1576), Italian mathematician.  He died 3 days before his 75^th birthday.

Events that Changed the World:

2014 ~ Erev Rosh HaShannah.

2013 ~ A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck in southern Pakistan, killing over 300 people.

2005 ~ Hurricane Rita made landfall devastating western Louisiana and the Texas Gulf coast.

1968 ~ CBS first began airing 60 Minutes.

1962 ~ The United States 5^th Circuit Court of Appeal ordered the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith (b. 1933), its first African-American student.

1957 ~ Troops from the 101^st Airborne Division were sent to Little Rock, Arkansas under orders of President Dwight David Eisenhower (1890 ~ 1969) in an effort to enforce desegregation.

1948 ~ The Honda Motor Company was founded.

1906 ~ President Theodore Roosevelt (1858 ~ 1919) dedicated Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first National Monument.

1890 ~ The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints officially renounced polygamy.

1789 ~ The Office of the US Attorney General was established with the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789.

1780 ~ Benedict Arnold (1741 ~ 1801) fled to the British Army when the arrest of British Major John André (1750 ~ 1780) exposed Arnold’s plot to surrender West Point.

1664 ~ The Dutch Republic surrendered New Amsterdam to England.

787 ~ The Second Council of Nicaea met at the Hagia Sophia in what is present day Istanbul.

Good-Byes:

2016 ~ Buckwheat Zydeco (né Stanley Dural, Jr., b. Nov. 14, 1947), American accordion player, born in Lafayette, Louisiana.  He died at age 68.

2013 ~ Paul Dietzel (b. Sept. 5, 1924), American football player and coach who lived his final years in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  He was the head football coach at Louisiana State University from 1955 until 1961.  He died 3 weeks after his 89^th birthday.

2009 ~ Susan Atkins (b. May 7, 1948), American convicted murderer who was a member of the “Manson” family who killed Sharon Tate.  She was sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to life.  She died of brain cancer at age 61.

1991 ~ Dr. Seuss (né Thedor Seuss Geisel, b. Mar. 2, 1904), author of children’s books, such as The Cat in the Hat.  He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.  He died at age 87.

1975 ~ Earle Cabell (b. Oct. 27, 1906), Mayor of Dallas.  He was Mayor of Dallas when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  He died about a month before his 69^th birthday.

1945 ~ Hans Geiger (né Johannes Wilhelm Geiger, b. Sept. 30, 1945), German physicist best known as being the co-inventor of the Geiger Counter.  Unfortunately, the name of his co-inventor, Walther Muller, who was Geiger’s student, has been lost to history.  Geiger died 6 days before his 63^rd birthday.

1939 ~ Carl Laemmle (né Karl Lämmle, b. Jan. 17, 1896). German-born American film producer and founder of Universal Studios.  He died at age 72.

1938 ~ Lev Schnirelmann (b. Jan. 2, 1905), Russian mathematician.  His death at age 33 may have been a suicide.

1920 ~ Peter Carl Fabergé (b. May 30, 1846), Russian goldsmith and jeweler.  He died at age 74.

1904 ~ Niels Ryberg Finsen (b. Dec. 15, 1860), Danish physician and recipient of the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 43.

1896 ~ Louis Gerhard De Geer (b. July 18, 1818), 1^st Prime Minister of Sweden.  He served as Prime Minister from March 1876 until April 1880.  He died at age 78.

1742 ~ Johann Matthias Hase (b. Jan. 14, 1684), German mathematician.  He died at age 47.

1143 ~ Pope Innocent II (né Gregorio Papareschi, date of birth unknown).  He was Pope from February 1130 until his death 14 and a half years later.

1054 ~ Hermann of Reichenau (b. July 18, 1013), German composer, astronomer and mathematician.  He died at age 41.

768 ~ Pippin the Short (b. 714), Frankish king.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  He died at age 54.

366 ~ Pope Liberius.  He was Pope from May 352 until his death on this date 14 years later.  The date of his birth is unknown.

September 23

Birthdays:

1970 ~ Ani DiFranco, American singer-songwriter.

1961 ~ William C. McCool (d. Feb. 1, 2003), American astronaut.  He was the commander of the Space Shuttle Columbia.  He died at age 41 when the Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry to the Earth.

1959 ~ Elizabeth Peña (d. Oct. 14, 2014), American actress.  She died 3 weeks after her 55^th birthday.

1959 ~ Jason Alexander, American actor best known for his role as George Costanza on Seinfeld.

1949 ~ Bruce Springsteen, American musician, known as The Boss.

1947 ~ Mary Kay Place, American actress.

1930 ~ Ray Charles (né Ray Charles Robinson, d. June 10, 2004), American musician.  He was 73 years old.

1927 ~ Dale Velzy (d. May 26, 2005), American surfboard maker who defined the “surfer dude lifestyle.”  He died at age 77.

1926 ~ John Coltrane (d. July 17, 1967), American musician.  He died at age 40 of liver cancer.

1926 ~ André Cassagnes (d. Jan. 16, 2013), French toymaker and creator of the Etch-A-Sketch.  He died at age 86.

1920 ~ Mickey Rooney (né Joseph Yule, Jr., d. Apr. 6, 2014), American child actor.  He died at age 93.

1917 ~ Knut Magne Haugland (d. Dec. 25, 2009), Norwegian commando and resistance fighter during World War II who sailed on Kon-Tiki.  He died at age 92.

1915 ~ Clifford Shull (d. Mar. 31, 2001), American physicist and recipient of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 85.

1902 ~ Su Buqing (d. Mar. 17, 2003), Chinese mathematician.  He died at age 100.

1901 ~ Jaroslav Seifert (d. Jan. 10, 1986), Czech poet and journalist.  He was the 1984 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 84.

1899 ~ Tom Campbell Clark (d. June 13, 1977), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President Harry S Truman.  He served on the Supreme Court from August 1949 until June 1967.  Prior to joining the Supreme Court, he served as the 59^th US Attorney General under President Harry S Truman.  He died at age 77.

1899 ~ Louise Nevelson (d. Apr. 17, 1988), Russian-born American sculptor.  She died at age 88.

1889 ~ Walter Lippmann (d. Dec. 14, 1974), American journalist.  He died at age 85.

1880 ~ John Boyd Orr, 1^st Baron Boyd-Orr (d. June 25, 1971), Scottish physician and recipient of the 1949 Nobel Peace Prize for his research in to nutrition and malnutrition.  He died at age 90.

1876 ~ Moshe Zvi Segal (d. Jan. 11, 1968), Israeli rabbi and scholar.  He died at age 91.

1869 ~ Typhoid Mary Mallon (d. Nov. 11, 1938), Irish-American carrier of Typhoid fever.  She died at age 69.

1851 ~ Ellen Hayes (d. Oct. 27, 1930), American mathematician and social activist.  She died about a month after her 79^th birthday.

1838 ~ Victoria Woodhull (d. June 9, 1927), American suffragist.  She died in England at age 88.

1647 ~ Joseph Dudley (b. Apr. 2, 1720), Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.  He died at age 72.

1215 ~ Kublai Kahn (d. Feb. 18, 1294).  He died at age 78.

480 BCE ~ Euripides (d. 406 BCE), The date ascribed to the birth of this Greek writer.  How do historians know?

Events that Changed the World:

2015 ~ Pope Francis began his first visit to the United States.

2014 ~ Former Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals head, Bruce Greenstein, was indicted on 9 charges of felony perjury.  In 2016, the newly elected Attorney General dropped all perjury charges.

1973 ~ Juan Perón (1895 ~ 1974) returned to power in Argentina.

1972 ~ Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos announced the implementation of martial law.

1969 ~ The Chicago Eight trial began in Chicago.

1962 ~ The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts opened in New York City.

1952 ~ Richard Nixon made his famous “Checkers” speech.

1941 ~ The Nazis began their experiment in mass murder with the first gas chambers at Auschwitz.

1932 ~ The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd was renamed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

1911 ~ Earle Ovington (1879 ~ 1936), a pilot and assistant to Thomas Edison, piloted the first official air mail delivery.  He delivered a bag of mail from Garden City, New York to Mineola, New York.  The mail bag was dropped from the plane, but burst open upon landing on the ground, scattering all the mail!

1909 ~ The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux (1868 ~ 1927), was first published as a serialization in a French magazine.

1889 ~ The Nintendo company was founded in Japan.  The company originally made playing cards for a Japanese game.  A century later, the company was a leader in computer games.

1846 ~ Neptune was discovered by French astronomer Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier (1811 ~ 1877), British astronomer John Couch Adams (1819 ~ 1892), and German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle (1812 ~ 1910).

1806 ~ Lewis and Clark returned to St. Louis after their 3-year trek to the Pacific Northwest.

1779 ~ A squadron commanded by John Paul Jones (1747 ~ 1792) on the Bonhomme Richard, defeated the British in a naval battle during the American Revolutionary War.

1642 ~ Harvard College held its first commencement exercises.

1338 ~ The Battle of Arnemuiden during the Hundred Years’ War was the first naval battle to involve artillery.

Good-Byes:

2012 ~ Sam Steiger (b. Mar. 10, 1929), American conservative politician from Arizona who courted trouble.  He is known for shooting two burros, allegedly in self-defense, much to the outrage of his constitutents.  He was in the United States House of Representatives from Arizona.  He died at age 83.

2009 ~ Paul B. Fay (b. July 8, 1918), United States Secretary of the Navy.  He died at age 91.

1991 ~ Klaus Barbie (b. Oct. 25, 1913), Nazi war criminal.  He died in prison about a month before his 78^th birthday.

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

1973 ~ Pablo Neruda (né Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalta, b. July 12, 1904), Chilean poet and recipient of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died under mysterious circumstances at age 69.  In 2013, his body was exhumed to determine whether or not he had been murdered.

1971 ~ James Waddell Alexander, II (b. Sept. 19, 1888), American mathematician and topologist.  He died 4 days after his 84^th birthday.

1939 ~ Sigmund Freud (b. May 6, 1856), Austrian physician and founder of psychoanalysis.  He died at age 83.

1929 ~ Richard Adolf Zsigmondy (b. Apr. 1, 1865), Austrian chemist and recipient of the 1925 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research in colloids.  He died at age 64.

1900 ~ William Marsh Rice (b. Mar. 14, 1816), American businessman and founder of Rice University in Houston, Texas.  He was born in Massachusetts, but moved to Texas to seek his fortune, which he made in land investments.  He died at age 84.

1889 ~ Wilkie Collins (né William Wilkie Collins, b. Jan. 8, 1824), British author best known for his novels, The Woman in White and Moonstone.  He died of a stroke at age 65.

1877 ~ Urbain Jean Joseph LeVerrier (b. Mar. 11, 1811), French mathematician who is best known for his work with John Couch Adams and their discovery of Neptune.  They were credited with the planet’s discovery almost exactly 31 years to the day earlier!  He died at age 66.

1877 ~ Urbain Le Verrier (b. Mar. 11, 1811), French mathematician.  He died at age 66.

1830 ~ Elizabeth Monroe (b. June 30, 1768), First Lady and wife of President James Monroe.  She died at age 62.