December 19

Birthdays:

1961 ~ Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist and recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1957 ~ Kevin McHale, American basketball player with a long career with the Boston Celtics.

1946 ~ Robert Urich (d. Apr. 16, 2002), American actor.  He died of cancer at age 55.

1944 ~ Alvin Lee (né Graham Anthony Barnes, d. Mar. 6, 2013), English reluctant rocker and guitarist who wowed Woodstock.  He was the lead singer and guitarist with Ten Years After.  He died from complications of surgery at age 68.

1944 ~ Mitchell Feigenbaum, American mathematician.

1944 ~ Tim Reid, American actor.

1943 ~ James Long James, Jr., American general and 22^nd National Security Advisor.  He served under President Barack Obama from January 20, 2009 through October 8, 2010.

1942 ~ Cornell Dupree (d. May 8, 2011), African-American jazz guitarist who enhanced hundreds of hits.  He died at age 68.

1941 ~ Maurice White (d. Feb. 4, 2016), American musician and vibrant frontman and founder of the 1970s megagroup Earth, Wind and Fire.  He died at age 74.

1940 ~ Phil Ochs (d. Apr. 9, 1979), American singer and songwriter.  He committed suicide at age 35.

1918 ~ Professor Longhair (né Henry Roeland Byrd, d. Jan. 30, 1980), American New Orleans Blues singer-songwriter and pianist.  He was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana and died in New Orleans.  He died of a heart attack at age 61.

1915 ~ Édith Piaf (d. Oct. 10, 1963), French singer and actress.  She died at age 47.

1906 ~ Leonid Brezhnev (d. Nov. 10, 1982), General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.  He served in that Office from October 1964 until his death in November 1981.  He died at age 75.

1903 ~ George Davis Snell (d. June 6, 1996), American geneticist and recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 92 in Bar Harbor, Maine.

1875 ~ Grace Marie Bareis (d. June 15, 1962), American mathematician.  She died at age 86.

1852 ~ Albert Abraham Michelson (d. May 9, 1931), Prussian-born American physicist and recipient of the 1907 Nobel Prize in Physics for his design of precise optical instruments.  He was the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize.  He died at age 78.

1820 ~ Mary Livermore (née Mary Ashton Rice, d. May 23, 1905), American journalist, abolitionist and women’s right activist.  She was from Massachusetts.  She died at age 84.

1814 ~ Edwin Stanton (d. Dec. 24, 1869), 25^th US Attorney General.  He served in this position under President James Buchanan.  He also served as the 27^th Secretary of the Navy under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.  He died 5 days after his 55^th birthday.

1778 ~ Marie Thérèse of France (d. Oct. 19, 1851).  She died at age 72.

1714 ~ John Winthrop (d. May 3, 1779), American mathematician and astronomer.  He served as the acting President of Harvard College from 1769 until 1773.  He died at age 64.

1554 ~ Philip William, Prince of Orange (d. Feb. 20, 1618).  He died at age 63.

Events that Changed the World:

2016 ~ A terrorist attack in Berlin, Germany killed and injured numerous people when a truck was driven into an open-air Christmas market.

2012 ~ Park Geun-hye (b. 1952) became the first female elected as President of South Korea.  In 2016, due to the ratification of impeachment proceedings against her, her presidential duties were suspended effective December 9, 2016.

1998 ~ Impeachment proceeding relating to the Monica Lewinsky (b. 1973) scandal, against President Bill Clinton (b. 1946) began.

1986 ~ Andrei Sakharov (1921 ~ 1989) and his wife, Yelena Bonner (1923 ~ 2011), were released from exile in Gorky by Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931), the leader of the Soviet Union.

1975 ~ John Paul Stevens (b. 1920) was appointed as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He had been nominated to the High Court by President Gerald Ford.  He served until his retirement in June 2010.

1974 ~ Nelson Rockefeller (1908 ~ 1979) was sworn in as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford (1913 ~ 2006).  He was the 41^st Vice President of the United States.

1963 ~ Zanzibar gained its independence from the United Kingdom.

1941 ~ Adolf Hitler became the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the German Army.

1924 ~ The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was sold in London, England.

1907 ~ A mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania kills 239 coal miners.

1843 ~ Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was first published.

1606 ~ Three ships, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery, left England for the New World.  The ships carried settlers who would found Jamestown, Virginia, the first European colony to be settled in what would become the United States.

1490 ~ Anne, Duchess of Brittany (1477 ~ 1514), was married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459 ~ 1519) by proxy.

1154 ~ Henry II of England (1133 ~ 1189) was crowned at Westminster Abby.

Good-Byes:

2012 ~ Robert Bork (b. Mar. 1, 1927), American legal scholar and rejected Supreme Court nominee.  He was the United States Attorney General during the Richard Nixon administration from October 1973 until December 1973.  He died at age 85.

2004 ~ Herbert C. Brown (b. May 22, 1912), English chemist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 92.

2000 ~ John V. Lindsay (b. Nov. 24, 1921), American politician and 103^rd mayor of New York City.  He served as Mayor from January 1966 through December 1973.  He died 25 days after his 79^th birthday.

1997 ~ Masaru Ibuka (b. Apr. 11, 1908), Japanese businessman and co-founder of Sony.  He died at age 89.

1996 ~ Marcello Mastroianni (né Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni, b. Sept. 28, 1924), Italian actor.  He died at age 72.

1983 ~ Käte Fenchel (b. Dec. 21, 1905), German mathematician.  She died 2 days before her 78^th birthday.

1977 ~ Nellie Tayloe Ross (b. Nov. 29, 1976), American politician and 14^th Governor of Wyoming.  She was the first woman to be elected to a State office.  She served as Governor from January 1925 until January 1927.  She later served as the 28^th Director of the United States Mint from May 1933 until April 1953.  She died 3 weeks after her 101^st birthday.

1953 ~ Robert Millikan (b. Mar. 22, 1868), American physicist and recipient of the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the photoelectric effect.  He died at age 85.

1915 ~ Aloysius “Alois” Alzheimer (b. June 14, 1864), German physician and neuroscientist who first described the signs of dementia, which ultimately was determined to be the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.  He died of heart failure at age 51.

1851 ~ J.M.W. Turner (né Joseph Mallord William Turner, b. May 14, 1775), English landscape painter.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he was baptized on May 14, 1775.  He is believed to have been 76 at the time of his death.

1848 ~ Emily Brontë (b. July 30, 1818), English novelist.  She is best known for her novels Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.  She died at age 30.

1840 ~ Felix Grundy (b. Sept. 11, 1777), 13^th United States Attorney General.  He served under Martin Van Buren from July 1838 until January 1840.  He died at age 63.

1813 ~ James McGill (b. Oct. 6, 1744), Scottish-Canadian businessman.  He founded McGill University.  He died at age 69.

1751 ~ Louise of Great Britain (b. Dec. 18, 1724), Queen of Denmark and Norway.  She died of complications of childbirth 1 day after her 27^th birthday.

1370 ~ Pope Urban V (né William de Grimoard, b. 1310).  He was Pope from September 1362 until his death on this date.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  He died at age 60.

401 ~ Pope Anastasius I.  He was Pope from 399 until his death on December 19, 401.  The date of his birth is not known.