February 6

Birthdays:

1978 ~ Yael Naim, Israeli musician.

1955 ~ Michael Pollan, American journalist.

1950 ~ Natalie Cole (d. Dec. 31, 2015), American singer who carried on her father’s legacy.  She was the daughter of Nat King Cole.  She died of congested heart failure at age 65.

1945 ~ Bob Marley (né Robert Nasta Marley, d. May 11, 1981), Jamaican singer and musician.  He died of cancer at age 36.

1944 ~ Michael Tucker, American actor.

1942 ~ Sarah Brady (d. Apr. 3, 2015), prominent campaigner for gun control after her husband former White House Press Secretary, James Brady, was shot along with when President Ronald Reagan was shot.  She was a tireless campaigner who pushed for gun control.  She was 73 years old.

1940 ~ Petr Hájek (d. Dec. 26, 2016), Czech mathematician.  He died at age 76.

1940 ~ Tom Brokaw (né Thomas John Brokaw), American news journalist.

1939 ~ Mike Farrell (né Michael Joseph Farrell, Jr.), American actor.

1934 ~ Marty Sklar (né Martin A. Sklar, d. July 27, 2017), American Disney imaginer who dreamed up theme parks.  He died at age 83.

1932 ~ François Truffaut (d. Oct. 21, 1984), French film director.  He died of a brain tumor at age 52.

1931 ~ Rip Torn (né Elmore Rual Torn, Jr.), American actor.

1929 ~ Keith Waterhouse (d. Sept. 4, 2009), British comic author who wrote Billy Liar.  He died at age 80.

1922 ~ Patrick Macnee (né Daniel Patrick Macnee, d. June 25, 2015), British born actor best known for his role as John Steed in the television series, The Avengers.  He was 93 years old.

1917 ~ Zsa Zsa Gabor (née Sári Gábor, d. Dec. 18, 2016), Hungarian-born actress and socialite.  She was married 9 times.  She died of cardiac arrest at age 99.

1916 ~ John Crank (d. Oct. 3, 2006), British mathematician.  He died at age 90.

1913 ~ Mary Leakey (d. Dec. 9, 1996), English archeologist and anthropologist.  She died at age 83.

1912 ~ Eva Braun (née Eva Anna Paula Braun, d. Apr. 30, 1945), German mistress and wife of Adolf Hitler.  She committed suicide at age 33.

1911 ~ Ronald Reagan (d. June 5, 2004), American actor 40^th President of the United States.  He was president from January 1981 until January 1989.  He died at age 93 years old.

1895 ~ Babe Ruth (né George Herman Ruth, Jr., d. Aug. 16, 1948), American baseball player.  He played for the Boston Red Sox before being traded to the New York Yankees.  He died of cancer at age 53.

1892 ~ William Parry Murphy (d. Oct. 9, 1987), American physician and recipient of the 1934 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in treating pernicious anemia.  He died at age 95.

1849 ~ Ida Straus (née Rosalie Ida Blun Straus, d. Apr. 15, 1912), wife of Isidor Straus.  She died on the RMS Titanic.  She and her husband, Isidor Straus, shared a birth and death date.  She was 63 years old.

1845 ~ Isidor Straus (d. Apr. 15, 1812), co-owner of Macy’s department store in New York.  He and his wife, Ida Straus, shared a birth and death date.  He died on the RMS Titanic.  He was 67 years old.

1842 ~ Mary Rudge (d. Nov. 22, 1919), English chess master.  She died at age 77.

1838 ~ Yisrael Meir Kagan (d. Sept. 15, 1933), Lithuanian rabbi.  He died at age 94.

1833 ~ James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart (d. May 12, 1864), Confederate Army General.  He was killed in battle at age 31.

1818 ~ William Maxwell Evarts (d. Feb. 28, 1901), 27^th Secretary of State.  He served under President Rutherford B. Hayes from March 1977 until March 1881.  He also served as the 29^th Attorney General under President Andrew Johnson from July 1868 to March 1868.  He was born in Charleston, Massachusetts.  He died 22 days after his 83^rd birthday.

1756 ~ Aaron Burr (d. Sept. 14, 1836), 3^rd Vice President of the United States.  He served during the President Thomas Jefferson administration from March 1801 until March 1805.  He is best known for killing political rival, Alexander Hamilton, in a duel.  He died at age 80.

1695 ~ Nicolaus II Bernoulli (d. July 31, 1726), Swiss mathematician.  He died of a fever at age 31.

1665 ~ Queen Anne of Great Britain (d. Aug. 1, 1714).  She was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland.  She was the first Queen of Britain, which was formed when the Kingdom of Scotland united with the Kingdom of England and Wales.  She was also the Queen of Ireland.  She was the last monarch of the royal House of Stuart.  None of her children survived her.  She was succeeded by a distant cousin, George, Elector of Hanover.  She was 49 at the time of her death.

1612 ~ Antoine Arnauld (d. Aug. 8, 1694), French philosopher and mathematician.  He died at age 82.

1585 ~ Mario Bettinus (d. Nov. 7, 1657), Italian mathematician and astronomer.  He died at age 72.

1577 ~ Beatrice Cenci (d. Sept. 11, 1599), Italian noblewoman and legendary murderess.  She was abused by her father.  She reported his crimes, but was ignored, hence, she and other members of her family murdered her abusive father.  She and her family were subsequently executed.  She has become a symbol for resistance against the aristocracy.  She was 22 at the time of her execution.

1465 ~ Scipione del Ferro (d. Nov. 5, 1526), Italian mathematician.  He died at age 61.

Events that Changed the World:

2013 ~ An 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Solomon Islands.  Ten people were killed.

2012 ~ A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck central Philippines.  At least 51 people were killed and many others injured.

2010 ~ Mitch Landrieu was elected Mayor of New Orleans in the first round of voting.

1998 ~ The Washington National Airport was renamed the Ronald Reagan National Airport.

1978 ~ The Blizzard of 1978 was one of the worst storms in New England’s recorded history.  The storm had sustained winds of 65 miles per hour and snowfall of 4 inches per hour.

1959 ~ Jack Kilby (1923 ~ 2005) of Texas Instruments filed the first patent for an integrated circuit.

1952 ~ Elizabeth II (b. 1926) became Queen of the United Kingdom upon the death of her father, King George VI (1895 ~ 1952).  She was on vacation in Kenya when her father died.

1919 ~ The American Legion was formed.

1918 ~ British women over the age of 30 are granted the right to vote.

1900 ~ The international arbitration court at The Hague was created.

1899 ~ The Spanish-American War comes to an end with the Treaty of Paris, when the United States Senate ratified the peace treaty that had been signed between the United States and Spain.

1815 ~ John Stevens (1749 ~ 1838) was granted the first American railroad charter; it is granted from the State of New Jersey.

1788 ~ Massachusetts became the 6^th State to ratify the United States Constitution.

1685 ~ James II (1633 ~ 1701) became King of England and VII of Scotland following the death of his brother, King Charles II (1630 ~ 1685).

1649 ~ The Parliament of Scotland proclaimed King Charles II (1630 ~ 1685) of England and Scotland to be the King of Great Britain.  Neither the Parliament of England nor the Parliament of Ireland ratified this action.

Good-Byes:

2017 ~ Irwin Corey (d. July 29, 1914), American madcap comedian who mocked expertise.  He was the world’s foremost authority on intellectual doublespeak.  He died at age 102.

2014 ~ Maxine Kumin (b. June 6, 1925), American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who wrote about her farm.  She died in Warner, New Hampshire.  She was 88 years old.

2014 ~ Ralph Kiner (b. Oct. 27, 1922), American major league baseball player and slugger who became a broadcaster and voice of the Mets.  He died at age 91.

2009 ~ James Whitmore (b. Oct. 1, 1921), American gruff character actor who specialized in ordinary guys.  He died at age 87.

2002 ~ Max Perutz (b. May. 19, 1914), Austrian-born English biologist and recipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 87.

1998 ~ Falco (né Johann Hölzel, b. Feb. 19, 1957), Austrian musician.  He was killed in an automobile accident 2 weeks before his 41^st birthday.

1995 ~ James Ingram Merrill (b. Mar. 3, 1926), American poet.  He was the son of Charles Merrill, the founder of Merrill Lynch.  He died of a heart attack less than a month before his 68^th birthday.

1993 ~ Arthur Ashe (b. July 10, 1943), American tennis player.  He died at age 49.

1991 ~ Salvador Luria (b. Aug. 13, 1912), Italian-born American microbiologist and recipient of the 1969 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for his work with bacterial viruses.  He died at age 78 in Lexington, Massachusetts.

1991 ~ Danny Thomas (né Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz, b. Jan. 6, 1912), American actor.  He was the father of Marlo Thomas.  He died a month after his 79^th birthday.

1989 ~ Barbara Wertheim Tuchman (b. Jan. 30, 1912), 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.

1986 ~ Minoru Yamasaki (b. Dec. 1, 1912), American architect.  He designed the World Trade Center.  He died at age 73.

1952 ~ King George VI of the United Kingdom (b. Dec. 14, 1895).  He was the father of Queen Elizabeth II.  He died at age 56.

1918 ~ Gustav Klimt (b. July 14, 1862), Austrian painter and graphic artist.  He died at age 55 during the flu epidemic.

1825 ~ William Eustis (b. June 10, 1753), 6^th United States Secretary of War.  He served under President James Madison from March 1809 until January 1813.  He later served as the 12^th Governor of Massachusetts from May 1823 until February 1825.  He died at age 71.

1804 ~ Joseph Priestly (b. Mar. 24, 1733), English clergyman and chemist who shares credit for the discovery of oxygen with Carl Scheele.  His birthday is sometimes listed as March 13 because of the calendar in use at the time of his birth.  He died shortly before his 71^st birthday.

1740 ~ Pope Clement XII (né Lorenzo Corsini, d. Apr. 7, 1652).  He was Pope from July 1730 until his death 10 years later.  He died at age 87.

1685 ~ King Charles II of England (b. May 29, 1630), monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland.  He died at age 54.

1612 ~ Christopher Clavius (b. Mar. 25, 1538), German mathematician.  He died at age 73.