October 24

Birthdays:

1997 ~ Raúl Chávez Sarmiento, Peruvian mathematician.

1953 ~ Charles Colbourn, Canadian mathematician.

1947 ~ Kevin Kline, American actor.

1939 ~ F. Murray Abraham (né Murray Abraham), American actor.

1936 ~ Bill Wyman, English musician and member of the Rolling Stones.

1932 ~ Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (d. May 18, 2007), French physicist and recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 74.

1932 ~ Robert Mundell, Canadian economist and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Economic Science.

1930 ~ The Big Bopper (né Jiles Perry Richardson, d. Feb. 3, 1959), American singer-songwriter.  He was killed in a plane crash at age 28.

1920 ~ Marcel-Paul Schützenberger (d. July 29, 1996), French mathematician.  He died at age 75.

1915 ~ Bob Kane (né Robert Kahn, d. Nov. 3, 1998), American author and illustrator.  He was the co-creator of Batman.  He died 10 days after his 83^rd birthday.

1915 ~ Roger Milliken (d. Dec. 30, 2011), American business tycoon who turned South Carolina a red (republican) state.  He was known as the political godfather to the American conservative movement.  He died at age 95.

1906 ~ Alexander Gelfond (d. Nov. 7, 1968), Russian mathematician.  He died 2 weeks after his 62^nd birthday.

1904 ~ Moss Hart (d. Dec. 20, 1961), American playwright.  He died of a heart attack at age 57.

1903 ~ Melvin Purvis (d. Feb. 29, 1960), American FBI agent best known for heading the manhunts for tracking down such criminals as Pretty Boy Floyd and John Dillinger.  He died at age 56 of suicide.

1855 ~ James S. Sherman (d. Oct. 30, 1912), 27^th Vice President of the United States.  He served under President William Taft.  He died in office and was succeeded by Thomas Marshall (1854 ~ 1925).  He died 6 days after his 57^th birthday.

1838 ~ Annie Edson Taylor (d. Apr. 29, 1921), was the first person to go Niagara Falls and survive.  She performed this stunt on October 24, 1901, her 63^rd birthday!  She died at age 82.

1830 ~ Marianne North (d. Aug. 30, 1890), British biologist and botanical artist.  She died at age 59.

1788 ~ Sarah Josepha Hale (d. Apr. 30, 1879), American author and poet.  She was born in Newport, New Hampshire.  She died at age 90.

1632 ~ Anton van Leeuwenhoek (d. Aug. 26, 1723), Dutch microbiologist known as the Father of the Modern Microscope.  He essentially founded the science of microbiology.  He is best known for his work on the improvement of the microscope.  He first recorded seeing live cells under the microscope, which paved the way for the study of microbiology.  He died at age 90.

1503 ~ Isabella of Portugal (d. May 1, 1539), Holy Roman Empress.  She died at age 35.

Events that Changed the World:

2005 ~ Hurricane Wilma made landfall in Florida.

2003 ~ The Concorde SST made its last commercial flight.

2002 ~ John Allen Muhammad (né John Allen Williams, 1960 ~ 2009) and Lee Boyd Malvo (b. 1985), who had been involved in sniper activities in Louisiana and Washington, D.C., and were known as the Beltway Snipers, were arrested.  John Allen Muhammad was subsequently found guilty and executed by lethal injection at age 48.  Lee Boyd Malvo is serving multiple life sentences.

1992 ~ The Toronto Blue Jays won Baseball’s World Series.

1980 ~ Poland legalized Solidarity trade unions.

1973 ~ The Yom Kippur War, which began on October 6, ended.

1964 ~ Northern Rhodesia gained its independence from the United Kingdom and changed its name to Zambia.

1954 ~ Dwight David Eisenhower (1890 ~ 1969) pledged United States support to South Vietnam.

1947 ~ Walt Disney (1901 ~ 1966) testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee.  He named Disney employees he believed had communist tendencies.

1945 ~ The United Nations was formally established.

1931 ~ The George Washington Bridge, which crosses the Hudson River, connecting New York Coty to Fort Lee, New Jersey, officially opened to the public.

1929 ~ The stock market crashed on the New York Stock Exchange.  This date became known as Black Thursday.

1926 ~ Harry Houdini’s last performance.  He would die 1 week later of a ruptured appendix.

1917 ~ The Bolshevik Red Guards began to take over buildings in Russia, which marked some of the first actions associated with the Russian October Revolution.

1911 ~ Orville Wright (1871 ~ 1867) tested the airplane he and his brother, Wilber (1867 ~ 1912) designed.  He remained airborne for 9 minutes and 45 seconds.

1901 ~ Annie Edson Taylor (1838 ~ 1921) became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.  She did this on her 63^rd birthday.

1861 ~ The first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States was completed and the first telegram was sent.

1851 ~ William Lassell (1799 ~ 1880) discovered the moon Umbriel and Ariel, which orbit Uranus.

1260 ~ Chartres Cathedral in France was dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX (1214 ~ 1270).  The cathedral is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Good-Byes:

2016 ~ Jorge Batlle Ibáñez (b. Oct. 25, 1927), President of Uruguay.  He served as President from March 2000 until March 2005.  He died 1 day before his 89^th birthday.

2015 ~ Maureen O’Hara (née Maureen FitzSimons, b. Aug. 17, 1920), Irish actress who shone in Technicolor.  She died at age 95.

2012 ~ Margaret Osborne DuPont (b. Mar. 4, 1918), American tennis champion who played for the love of the game.  She was married to William DuPont, Jr., who did not allow his wife to travel to Australia to compete in the Australian Open.  She died at age 94

2011 ~ Bob Beaumont (né Robert Gerald Beaumont, b. Apr. 1, 1932), American car dealership owner and creator of the electric car in the 1970s.  He died at age 79.

2011 ~ Swami Bhaktipada (né Keith Gordon Ham, b. Sept. 6, 1937), American Hare Krishna errant swami of West Virginia.  He was 74 years old.

2011 ~ John McCarthy (b. Sept. 4, 1927), American mathematician and father of artificial intelligence.  He died at age 84.

2005 ~ Rosa Parks (b. Feb. 4, 1913), American civil rights activist.  She is best known for not giving up her seat on a bus during the days of segregation.  She died at age 92.

2002 ~ Winton M. Blount (b. Feb. 1, 1921), 59^th United States Postmaster General.  He served during the Nixon administration from January 1969 until January 1972.  He died at age 81.

1996 ~ Gladwyn Jebb (né Hubert Miles Gladwyn Jebb, 1^st Baron Gladwyn, b. Apr. 25, 1900), English politician and acting Secretary-General of the United Nations.  He took the job until the appointment of the first Secretary-General.  He was in that position from October 1945 until February 1946.  He died at age 96.

1994 ~ Raúl Juliá (b. Mar. 9, 1940), Puerto Rican actor.  He is best known for his role in Kiss of the Spider Woman.  He died at age 54 of a stroke.

1992 ~ Laurie Colwin (b. June 14, 1944), American author.  She died of a heart attack at age 48.

1991 ~ Gene Roddenberry (né Eugene Wesley Roddenberry, b. Aug. 19, 1921), American screenwriter and creator of Star Trek.  He died at age 70.

1987 ~ Andrey Nikolayevich Kolmogorov (b. Apr. 25, 1903), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 84.

1985 ~ László Bíró (b. Sept. 29, 1899), Hungarian inventor who invented the ballpoint pen.  He died 25 days after his 86^th birthday.

1981 ~ Edith Head (b. Oct. 28, 1897), American costume designer for Hollywood.  She died 4 days before her 84^th birthday.

1972 ~ Jackie Robinson (b. Jan. 31, 1919), American baseball player.  He was the first African-American to play in the Major League.  He was the subject of the 2013 movie 42, which was the number on his baseball uniform.  He died of a heart attack at age 53.

1966 ~ Sofya Yanovskaya (b. Jan. 31, 1896), Russian mathematician.  She died from complications of diabetes ate age 70.

1944 ~ Louis Renault (b. Feb. 12, 1877), French car manufacturer and co-founder of the Renault Company.  He died at age 67.

1935 ~ Dutch Schultz (né Arthur Flegenheimer, b. Aug. 6, 1902), Jewish-American crime figure.  He was shot at age 33.

1852 ~ Daniel Webster (b. Jan. 18, 1782), American politician and attorney.  He was the 14^th and 19^th United States Secretary of State.  He served under Presidents Millard Fillmore and William Henry Harrison, respectively.  He was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, and died in Marshfield, Massachusetts.  He died at age 70.

1842 ~ Bernardo O’Higgins (b. Aug. 20, 1778), Chilean independence leader and 2^nd Supreme Dictator of Chile.  He died at age 64.

1655 ~ Pierre Gassendi (b. Jan. 22, 1592), French philosopher and mathematician.  He died at age 63.

1635 ~ Wilhelm Schickard (b. Apr. 22, 1592), German mathematician and Hebrew professor.  He is considered the father of the computing age.  He died at age 42

1601 ~ Tycho Brahe (b. Dec. 14, 1546), Danish astronomer.  He lost a part of his nose in a duel and wore a brass prosthesis.  He died at age 54 of a mysterious illness.

1537 ~ Jane Seymour (b. 1508), Consort of Henry VIII of England.  She died at age 28 following complications giving birth to Edward VI.  The exact date of her birth, however, is not known.

1375 ~ Vlademar IV of Denmark (b. 1320).  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 54 or 55 at the time of his death.

996 ~ Hugh Capet (b. 941), French king.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 55 at the time of his death.