January 29

Birthdays:

1975 ~ Sara Gilbert, American actress and talk show host.

1970 ~ Heather Graham, American actress.

1970 ~ Paul David Ryan, Jr., American politician and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.  He assumed that Office in October 2015.

1954 ~ Oprah Winfrey, American talk show hostess.

1949 ~ Tommy Ramone (b. Erdélyi Tamás, d. July 11, 2014), Hungarian-American drummer who defied punk rock.  He was the last surviving original member of the Ramones.  He died of cancer at age 65.

1947 ~ Linda Brown Buck, American biologist and recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work in olfactory receptors.

1941 ~ Andrzej Trybulec (d. Sept. 11, 2013), Polish mathematician.  He was 72 years old.

1940 ~ Katharine Juliet Ross, American actress best known for her role as Elaine in The Graduate.

1939 ~ Germaine Greer, Australian writer and feminist.

1933 ~ Paul Joseph Sally, Jr. (d. Dec. 30, 2013), American mathematician.  He died a month before his 81^st birthday.

1929 ~ Joseph Kruskal (d. Sept. 19, 2010), American mathematician.  He died at age 82.

1926 ~ Abdus Salam (d. Nov. 21, 1996), Pakistani physicist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 70.

1921 ~ Geraldine Pittman Woods (d. Dec. 27, 1999), African-American embryologist.  She died at age 78.

1918 ~ John Forsythe (né Jacob Lincoln Freund, d. Apr. 1, 2010), American actor.  He is best remembered for his role as the conniving patriarch Blake Carrington on the television drama Dynasty.  He died at age 92.

1888 ~ Sydney Chapman (d. June 16, 1970), English mathematician.  He died at age 82.

1881 ~ Anne Catherine Evans (d. Sept. 5, 1975), American microbiologist.  She demonstrated that Bacillus abortus in cattle caused Brucellosis in cattle and humans.  She died at age 94.

1880 ~ W.C. Fields (né William Claude Dunkenfield, d. Dec. 25, 1946), American comedian, actor and writer, best known for his comic persona as a misanthropic egotist.  He died just over a month before his 67^th birthday.

1874 ~ John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. (d. May 11, 1960), American entrepreneur and philanthropist.  He died at age 86.

1866 ~ Romain Rolland (d. Dec. 30, 1944), French author and recipient of the 1915 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died a month before his 79^th birthday.

1860 ~ Anton Chekhov (d. July 15, 1904), Russian playwright.  He died at age 44 of tuberculosis.

1846 ~ Karon Olszewski (d. Mar. 24, 1915), Polish chemist, physicist and mathematician.  He died at age 69.

1843 ~ William McKinley (d. Sept. 14, 1901), 25^th President of the United States.  He died from injuries suffered in the assassination attempt on September 6, 1901.  He was just two months into his second term as President when he died.  Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him as President.  McKinley was 58 years old at the time of his death.

1817 ~ William Ferrel (d. Sept. 18, 1891), American mathematician and meteorologist.  He died at age 74.

1810 ~ Ernst Eduard Kummer (d. May 14, 1893), German mathematician.  He died at age 83.

1761 ~ Albert Gallatin (né Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin, d. Aug. 12, 1849), Swiss-born 4^th United States Secretary of the Treasury.  He served under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison from May 1801 until February 1814.  He died at age 88.

1754 ~ Moses Cleaveland (d. Nov. 16, 1806), American general and politician who founded Cleveland, Ohio.  He died at age 52.

1748 ~ King Christian VII of Denmark (d. Mar. 13, 1808).  He died at age 59.

1499 ~ Katharina von Bora (d. Dec. 20, 1552), former nun and wife of Martin Luther.  She died at age 53.

919 ~ Shi Zong (d. Oct. 7, 951), Chinese Emperor of the Liao dynasty.  He ruled from May947 until his death in October 951.  He died at age 32.

Events that Changed the World:

2009 ~ Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (b. 1956) was convicted on corruption charges, including the alleged solicitation of personal benefit in exchange for an appointment to fill the US Senate seat left vacant upon Barack Obama’s presidential win.

2002 ~ President George W. Bush (b. 1946) gave his State of the Union Address in which he called Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an Axis of Evil.

1944 ~ The Koniuchy massacre in Poland killed approximately 38 people during World War II.

1936 ~ The first inductees into the Baseball of Fame were announced.  Those in the first year included Ty Cobb (Detroit Tigers), Walter Johnson (Washington Senators), Christy Mathewson (New York Giants, Babe Ruth (New York Yankees), and Honus Wagner (Pittsburgh Pirates).

1916 ~ German zeppelins bombed Paris during World War I.

1907 ~ Charles Curtis (1860 ~ 1936) of Kansas became the first Native American elected to Congress.

1900 ~ The American League baseball team was organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The initial teams comprising the American League were the: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Americans, Chicago White Stockings, Cleveland Blues, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Athletics, and the Washington Senators.

1891 ~ Liliuokalani (1838 ~ 1917) became Queen of Hawaii.  She was the last monarch of the Hawaiian Islands.

1886 ~ Karl Benz (1844 ~ 1929) patented the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.

1861 ~ Kansas became the 34^th State of the Union.

1856 ~ Queen Victoria (1819 ~ 1901) instituted the Victoria Cross to recognize acts of valor by military personnel during the Crimean War.

1845 ~ Edgar Allen Poe (1809 ~ 1849) first publication, The Raven, appeared in the New York Evening Mirror.

1834 ~ President Andrew Jackson (1767 ~ 1845) ordered federal troops to suppress a labor dispute.

Good-Byes:

2015 ~ Colleen McCullough (b. June 1, 1937), Australian neuroscientist and novelist.  She was a prolific author best known for her novel The Thorn Birds.  She was 77 years old.

2015 ~ Rod McKuen (né Rodney Marvin McKuen, b. Apr. 29, 1933), American populist poet and songwriter who was loathed by critics.  He was 81.

2015 ~ Alexander Vraciu (b. Nov. 2, 1918), American US Navy flying ace who dominated the Pacific during World War II.  He died at age 96.

2009 ~ John Martyn (né Iain David McGeachy, b. Sept. 11, 1948), hard-living British musician who defied genres.  He died at age 60.

2008 ~ Margaret Truman (b. Feb. 17, 1924), American writer and daughter of President Harry S Truman.  She died 19 days before her 84^th birthday.

2006 ~ Nam June Paik (b. July 20, 1932), South Korean artist.  He died at age 73.

2005 ~ Ephraim Kishon (b. Aug. 23, 1924), Israeli writer.  He died at age 80.

2004 ~ M.M. Kaye (née Mary Margaret Kaye, b. Aug. 21, 1908), British writer, best known for her book The Far Pavilions.  She died at age 95.

1998 ~ Joseph Alioto (b. Feb. 12, 1916), 36^th Mayor of San Francisco.  He was mayor from January 1968 until January 1976.  He died 14 days before his 82^nd birthday.

1980 ~ Jimmy Durante (né James Francis Durante, b. Feb. 10, 1893), American actor and comedian.  He died 11 days before his 87^th birthday.

1977 ~ Freddie Prinze (né Frederick Karl Pruetzel, b. June 22, 1954), American actor and comedian.  He committed suicide at age 22.

1969 ~ Allen Welsh Dulles (b. Apr. 7, 1893), 5^th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.  He served under President Dwight David Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy from February 1953 until November 1961.  He resigned following the Bay of Pigs incident.  He died of influenza at age 75.

1964 ~ Alan Ladd (b. Sept. 3, 1913), American actor.  He died of a cerebral edema caused by an accidental overdose.  He was 50 years old.

1963 ~ Robert Frost (b. Mar. 26, 1874), American poet.  He died at age 88.

1956 ~ H.L. Mencken (né Henry Louis Mencken, b. Sept. 12, 1880), American journalist.  He died at age 75.

1946 ~ Harry Hopkins (b. Aug. 17, 1890), 8^th United States Secretary of Commerce.  He served during the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration from December 1938 until September 1940.  He died of stomach cancer at age 55.

1934 ~ Fritz Haber (b. Dec. 9, 1868), German chemist and recipient of the 1918 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He is considered the Father of Chemical Warfare.  He died at age 65.

1933 ~ Sara Teasdale (b. Aug. 8, 1884), American poet.  She committed suicide at age 48.

1906 ~ King Christian IX of Denmark (b. Apr. 8, 1818).  He died at age 87.

1888 ~ Edward Lear (b. May 12, 1812), English artist and poet, who is most famous for his limericks.  He died at age 75.

1860 ~ Henry Dilworth Gilpin (b. Apr. 14, 1801), 14^th United States Attorney General.  He served under President Martin Van Buren from January 1840 until March 1841.  He died at age 58.

1820 ~ King George III of the United Kingdom (b. June 4, 1738).  He died at age 81.

1715 ~ Bernard Lamy (b. June 15, 1640), French mathematician.  He died at age 74.

1676 ~ Tsar Alexis I of Russia (b. Mar. 19, 1629).  He was tsar from July 1645 until his death in January 1676.  He died at age 46.

1119 ~ Pope Gelasius II (né Giovanni Caetani, b. 1060).  He was Pope from 1118 until his death on this date in 1119.  The exact date of his birth is not known.