January 31

Birthdays:

1981 ~ Justin Timberlake, American singer and actor.

1970 ~ Minnie Driver, English actress.

1954 ~ Mark Slavin (d. Sept. 6, 1972), Russian-born Israeli wrestler.  He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  He died at age 18.

1949 ~ Norris Church Mailer (née Betty Jean Davis, d. Nov. 21, 2010), American model and widow of Norman Mailer.  She was born on Norman Mailor’s 26^th birthday.  She died of cancer at age 61.

1947 ~ Nolan Ryan (né Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr.), American baseball player.

1943 ~ Richard Walter Quick (d. June 10, 2009), American head swim coach at Stanford University.  He coached the US swim team in six Olympic competitions.  He died of a brain tumor at age 66.

1938 ~ James Gaius Watt, 43^rd United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President Ronald Reagan.

1938 ~ Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.  She was Queen from April 1980 until she abdicated in April 2013 in favor of her son, Willem-Alexander.

1937 ~ Suzanne Pleshette (d. Jan. 19, 2008), American actress.  She died of respiratory failure just 12 days before her 71^st birthday.

1937 ~ Philip Morris Glass, American avant garde composer.

1935 ~ Kenzaburō Ōe, Japanese writer and recipient of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Literature.

1933 ~ Ruedi Rymann (né Rudolf Rymann, d. Sept. 10, 2008), Swiss yodeler who was a national icon.  He died at age 75.

1933 ~ Nora Johnson (d. Oct. 5, 2017), American author who chronicled a Hollywood childhood.  She is best known for her novel, The World of Henry Orient.  She died at age 84.

1932 ~ Rick Hall (né Roe Erister Hall, d. Jan. 2, 2018), American record producer who crafted the Muscle Shoals sound.  He died of prostate cancer 29 days before his 86^th birthday.

1931 ~ Ernie Banks (d. Jan. 23, 2015), African-American baseball player.  He was the optimistic shortstop who played for the Chicago Cubs and was known as “Mr. Cub.”  He died 8 days before his 84^th birthday.

1929 ~ Jean Merilyn Simmons (d. Jan. 22, 2010), English actress who brought quiet strength to her roles.  She died 9 days before her 81^st birthday.

1929 ~ Rudolf Mössbauer (d. Sept. 14, 2011), German physicist and recipient of the 1961 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 82.

1925 ~ Benjamin Lawson Hooks (d. Apr. 15, 2010), African-American minister, civil rights activist and attorney.  He died at age 85.

1924 ~ A. Alfred Taubman (né Adolph Alfred Taubman, d. Apr. 17, 2015), the American developer who pioneered indoor malls.  He died at age 91.

1923 ~ Norman Mailer (d. Nov. 10, 2007), American author and journalist.  He died at age 84.

1921 ~ Carol Elaine Channing, American actress and singer.

1920 ~ Stewart Lee Udall (d. Mar. 20, 2010), 37^th United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from January 1961 until January 1969.  He died at age 90.

1919 ~ Jackie Robinson (d. Oct. 24, 1972), 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.

1915 ~ Garry Moore (né Thomas Garrison Morfit, III, d. Nov. 28, 1993), American game show host.  He died of throat cancer at age 78.

1905 ~ John O’Hara (d. Apr. 11, 1970), American author.  He died at age 65.

1902 ~ Tallulah Bankhead (d. Dec. 12, 1968), American actress.  She died at age 66 of pneumonia.

1902 ~ Alva Myrdal (d. Feb. 1, 1986), Swedish sociologist and politician and recipient of the 1982 Nobel Peace Prize.  She died 1 day after her 84^th birthday.

1896 ~ Sofya Yanovskaya (d. Oct. 24, 1966), Russian mathematician.  She died from complications of diabetes at age 70.

1892 ~ Eddie Cantor (né Edward Israel Iskowitz, d. Oct. 10, 1964), American actor and singer.  He died at age 72.

1881 ~ Irving Langmuir (d. Aug. 16, 1957), American chemist and recipient of the 1932 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 76.

1872 ~ Zane Grey (né Pearl Zane Grey, d. Oct. 23, 1939), American dentist and author of western novels.  He is best known for his novel Riders of the Purple Sage.  He died at age 67.

1868 ~ Theodore William Richards (d. Apr. 2, 1928), American chemist and recipient of the 1914 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was the first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 60.

1854 ~ David Emmanuel (d. Feb. 4, 1941), Romanian mathematician.  He died 4 days after his 87^th birthday.

1820 ~ William Barrett Washburn (d. Oct. 5, 1887), 28^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He was Governor from January 1872 until April 1874, when he became a United States Senator following the death of Charles Sumner.  He died at age 67.

1797 ~ Franz Peter Schubert (d. Nov. 19, 1828), Austrian composer.  He died at age 31.

1512 ~ King Henry of Portugal (d. Jan. 31, 1580).  He was king from August 1578 until his death on this date in 1580.  He died on his 68^th birthday.

Events that Changed the World:

2001 ~ A Scottish court convicted Abdelbaset al-Megrahi (1952 ~ 2012) of Libya for his part in the bombing of the Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.  He was sentenced to life in prison, however, was released in August 2009 on “compassionate” grounds, alleging that he was dying of cancer.  He survived for another 2 and a half years before succumbing in May 2012.

1990 ~ The first McDonald’s restaurant in the Soviet Union opened in Moscow.

1968 ~ The Viet Cong attacked the United States embassy in Saigon.  That attack, as well as others, later became known as the Tet Offensive during the Viet Nam War.

1958 ~ James Van Allen (1914 ~ 2006) discovered the radiation belt that now bears his name.

1950 ~ President Harry Truman (1884 ~ 1972) announced a program to develop the hydrogen bomb.

1949 ~ The first daytime television soap opera, These Are My Children, began broadcasting by the NBC station in Chicago.

1942 ~ Allied forces were defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreated to Singapore during World War II.

1930 ~ The 3M company began marketing Scotch Tape.

1929 ~ Leon Trotsky (1879 ~ 1940) was exiled by the Soviet Union.

1915 ~ Germany began using wide-scale use of poison gas during the Battle of Bolimów against Russia during World War I.

1865 ~ The United States Congress passed the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery.  The Amendment was then sent to the States for ratification.

1801 ~ John Marshall (1755 ~ 1835) was appointed as the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

1747 ~ The first venereal disease clinic opened at London Lock Hospital.

314 ~ Pope Silvester I began his reign succeeding Pope Miltiades.

Good-Byes:

2015 ~ Lizabeth Scott (née Emma Matzo, b. Sept. 29, 1922), American actress known for her smoky-voice.  She played the femme fatale in many 1940s and 1950s film noir.  She was 92.

2007 ~ Molly Ivins (b. Aug. 30, 1944), American political humorist.  She died at age 62 of breast cancer.

1976 ~ Ernesto Miranda (b. Mar. 9, 1941), American riminal who was convicted of kidnap, rape and armed robbery based on his confession under police interrogation.  He was the Miranda in the US Supreme Court Case, Miranda v. Arizona, which ruled that criminal suspects must be informed of their Constitutional rights.  This case set the police standard of reading arrestees their Constitutional rights.  He was stabbed to death in a bar fight at age 34.

1974 ~ Samuel Goldwyn (né Szmuel Gelbfizs, b. Aug. 17, 1882), Polish-born film studio executive and co-founder of Goldwyn Pictures.  He died at age 94.

1973 ~ Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch (b. Mar. 3, 1895), Norwegian economist and recipient of the 1969 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.  He died at age 77.

1956 ~ A.A. Milne (né Alan Alexander Milne, b. Jan. 18, 1882), English author, best known for his Winnie the Pooh series of children’s books.  He died 2 weeks after his 74^th birthday.

1955 ~ John Mott (b. May 25, 1865), American evangelist and recipient of the 1946 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 89.

1954 ~ Edwin Armstrong (b. Dec. 18, 1890), American engineer and inventor of the FM radio.  He died at age 63.

1945 ~ Eddie Slovik (né Edward Donal Slovik, b. Feb. 18, 1920), American Army private who was executed for desertion.  He was the first such execution of an American soldier since the American Civil War.  He was executed 18 days before his 25^th birthday.

1933 ~ John Galsworthy (b. Aug. 14, 1867), British novelist and recipient of the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 65.

1856 ~ 11^th Dalai Lama (né Khedrup Gyasto, b. Nov. 1, 1838).  He died at age 17.

1788 ~ Charles Edward Stuart (b. Dec. 31, 1720), pretender to the British Throne.  He died a month after his 67^th birthday.

1632 ~ Jost Bürgi (b. Feb. 28, 1552), Swiss clockmaker and mathematician.  He died 28 days before his 80^th birthday.

1606 ~ Guy Fawkes (b. Apr. 13, 1570), English Catholic conspirator.  He was the mastermind behind the Gunpowder Plot, which was a plot against Parliament and King James.  He was captured on November 5, 1605, hence that day is known as Guy Fawkes Day.  He was hanged two months later at age 35.

1580 ~ King Henry of Portugal (b. Jan. 31, 1512).  He was King from August 1578 until his death on this date in 1580.  He died on his 68^th birthday.

1435 ~ Xuande (b. Mar. 16, 1399), 5^th Emperor of the Ming dynasty.  His personal name was Zhu Zhanji.  He ruled f rom June 1425 until his death in January 1435.  He died of an illness at age 35.

January 30

Birthdays:

1974 ~ Christian Bale, English actor.

1962 ~ King Abdullah II of Jordan.

1955 ~ John Elias Baldacci, 73^rd Governor of Maine.  He served as Governor from January 2003 until January 2011.

1949 ~ Peter Agre, American physician and biologist.  He was the recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

1948 ~ Miles Anthony Reid, English mathematician.

1945 ~ Meir Dagan (d. Mar. 17, 2016), Israeli military officer and Director of Mossad from 2002 until 2011.  He died at age 71.

1941 ~ Richard “Dick” Bruce Chaney, 46^th Vice President of the United States.  He served under President George W. Bush from January 2001 until January 2009.

1937 ~ Vanessa Redgrave, English actress.

1937 ~ Boris Spassky, Russian chess master.

1931 ~ Shirley Hazzard (d. Dec. 12, 2016), Australian writer best known for her book The Transit of Venus.  She died at age 85.

1930 ~ Gene Hackman (né Eugene Allen Hackman), American actor.

1928 ~ Harold Smith Prince, American stage producer and director.

1927 ~ Olof Palme (né Sven Olaf Joachim Palme, d. Feb. 28, 1986), Prime Minister of Sweden.  He was assassinated about a month after his 59^th birthday.

1925 ~ Douglas Engelbart (d. July 2, 2013), American computer scientist and inventor of the computer mouse.  He was also responsible for laying out the principles of computer networking.  He died at age 88.

1924 ~ Margaret Yorke (née Margaret Larminie, d. Nov. 17, 2012), British crime fiction author.  She died at age 88.

1922 ~ Dick Martin (né Thomas Richard Martin, d. May 24, 2008), American comedian and goofy co-host of Laugh-In.  He died at age 86.

1915 ~ John Profumo (d. Mar. 9, 2006), English politician who was caught in a sex scandal.  He died at age 91.

1914 ~ David Wayne (d. Feb. 9, 1995), American actor.  He died of lung cancer 10 days after his 81^st birthday.

1912 ~ Barbara Wertheim Tuchman (d. Feb. 6, 1989), American historian.  She is best known for her book The Guns of August, which is about the first month of World War I.  She died 7 days after her 77^th birthday.

1899 ~ Max Theiler (d. Aug. 11, 1972), South African virologist and recipient of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in developing a vaccine against yellow fever.  He died at age 73 in New Haven, Connecticut.

1894 ~ Boris III of Bulgaria (d. Aug. 28, 1943), Tsar of Bulgaria from October 1918 until his death on this date 25 years later.  He is best known for taking steps to protect the Jews of Bulgaria during World War II. He died of a heart attack at age 49.

1882 ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt (d. Apr. 12, 1945), 32^nd United States President.  He served in Office from March 1933 until his death on this date in 1945.  He is the only President to have been elected for 3 terms.  He died at age 63.

1841 ~ Félix Faure (d. Feb. 16, 1899), President of France.  He served as President from January 1895 until his death in February 1899.  He died in Office of apoplexy just 17 days after his 58^th birthday.

1816 ~ Nathaniel Prentiss Banks (d. Sept. 1, 1894), 24^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1858 until January 1861.  He was born and died in Waltham, Massachusetts.  He was 78 at the time of his death.

1736 ~ James Watt (d. Aug. 25, 1819), Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer best know for the creation of the modern steam engine.  He died at age 83.

1615 ~ Thomas Rolfe (d. 1675), American son of Pocahontas.  The exact date of his death is not known.

Events that Changed the World:

2003 ~ The Kingdom of Belgium officially recognized same-sex marriages.

1972 ~ British Paratroopers killed 14 unarmed civil rights marchers in Northern Ireland in this date, which became known as Bloody Sunday.

1971 ~ Carol King’s Tapestry album was released.

1969 ~ The Beatles’ last public performance occurred on the roof of Apple Records in London.  The police later broke up this impromptu concert.

1948 ~ Mahatma Gandhi (1869 ~ 1948) was assassinated by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse.

1933 ~ Adolf Hitler (1889 ~ 1945) was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.

1862 ~ The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor, was launched.

1847 ~ Yerba Buena, California was renamed San Francisco.

1835 ~ Richard Lawrence (1800 ~ 1861) attempted an assassination attempt on President Andrew Jackson (1767 ~ 1845) in the first known assassination attempt against an American president.  Lawrence spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum.

1826 ~ The first modern suspension bridge, the Menai Suspension Bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north west coast of Wales, opened.

1820 ~ Irish sailor Edward Bransfield (1785 ~ 1852) claimed the discovery of Antarctica with the sighting of its Trinity Peninsula.

1815 ~ The United States Congress authorized the purchase of Thomas Jefferson's library, which became the nucleus of the Library of Congress.

1661 ~ Oliver Cromwell (1599 ~ 1658), Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England was ritually executed 2 years after his death, on the anniversary of the execution of King Charles I of England (1600 ~ 1649), the monarch he had deposed in 1649.

516 BCE ~ The traditional date ascribed to the completion of the Second Temple of Jerusalem.

Good-byes:

2017 ~ Harold Rosen (b. Mar. 20, 1926), American satellite pioneer who got the world talking.  He was known as the Father of the Communication Satellite.  He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.  He died at age 90 of complications of a stroke.

2015 ~ Zhelyu Mitev Zhelev (b. Mar. 3, 1935), President of Bulgaria from January 1992 until January 1997.  He died at age 79.

2015 ~ Carl Djerassi (b. Oct. 29, 1923), Austrian-born chemist who helped develop the birth control pill.  He was 91.

2013 ~ Patty Andrews (b. Feb. 16, 1918), last surviving member of the Andrews Sisters vocal trio.  She died 17 days before her 95^th birthday.

2009 ~ Ingemar Johansson (b. Sept. 22, 1932), Swedish world heavyweight champion who beat Floyd Patterson.  He died at age 76.

2009 ~ Milton Parker (b. Jan. 10, 1919), American businessman, restaurateur and co-founder of the Carnegie Deli.  He made the Carnegie Deli famous.  He died 20 days after his 90^th birthday,

2007 ~ Sidney Sheldon (b. Feb. 11, 1917), American author.  He died 12 days before his 90^th birthday.

2006 ~ Wendy Wasserstein (b. Oct. 18, 1950), American playwright.  She died of lymphoma at age 55.

2006 ~ Coretta Scott King (b. Apr. 27, 1927), American civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.  She died of ovarian cancer at age 78 years old.

1995 ~ Gerald Durrell (b. Jan. 7, 1925), British naturalist and author.  He wrote The Whispering Lands, which is about Patagonia.  He died 23 days after his 70^th birthday.

1991 ~ John Bardeen (b. May 23, 1908), American physicist and recipient of the 1956 and 1972 Nobel Prizes in Physics.  To date, he is the only individual to have won two Nobel Prizes in Physics.  He died at age 82.

1980 ~ Professor Longhair (né Henry Roeland Byrd, b. Dec. 19, 1918), 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.

1969 ~ Dominique Pire (né George Charles Clement Ghislain Pire, b. Feb. 10, 1910), Belgian monk and recipient of the 1958 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in assisting refugees following World War II.  He died of complications following surgery 11 days before his 59^th birthday.

1958 ~ Ernst Hienkel (b. Jan. 24, 1888), German aviation engineer.  He died 6 days after his 70^th birthday.

1951 ~ Ferdinand Porsche (b. Sept. 3, 1875), Austrian-German engineer and businessman.  He founded the Porsche automobile company.  He was a member of the Nazi party.  He died of a stroke at age 75.

1948 ~ Orville Wright (b. Aug. 19, 1871), American aviation pioneer, who along with his brother, Wilber (1867 ~ 1912), invented the airplane.  Orville died at age 76.

1948 ~ Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (b. Oct. 2, 1869), Indian pacifist and leader.  He was assassinated by a Hindu extremist.  He was 78 at the time of his death.

1934 ~ Frank Nelson Doubleday (b. Jan. 8, 1862), American publisher and founder of the Doubleday Publishing Company.  He died 22 days after his 72^nd birthday.

1928 ~ Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger (b. Apr. 23, 1867), Danish physician and recipient of the 1926 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died of colon cancer at age 60.

1888 ~ Asa Gray (b. Nov. 18, 1810), American botanist.  He died at age 77.

1836 ~ Betsy Ross (née Elizabeth Griscom Ross, b. Jan. 1, 1752), American seamstress who is credited with making the first American Flag, although there is no evidence to support this legend.  She died 29 days after her 84^th birthday.

1730 ~ Tzar Peter II of Russia (b. Oct. 23, 1715).  He was Emperor from May 1727 until his death in January 3 years later.  He died of smallpox at age 14.

1649 ~ King Charles I of England (b. Nov. 19, 1600).  He was king from March 1625 until his execution in January 1649.  He was tried and convicted of high treason and was beheaded at age 48.

970 ~ Peter I of Bulgaria.  He was Tsar from 927 until 969.  He then became a monk and died of a stroke in January 970.  The date of his birth is not known.