March 24

Birthdays:

1977 ~ Jessica Chastain, American actress.

1976 ~ Payton William Manning, American football player.  He graduated from high school in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1951 ~ Tommy Hilfiger (né Thomas Jacob Hilfiger), American fashion designer.

1941 ~ Michael Masser (d. July 9, 2015), American ex-stockbroker who wrote hit romantic ballads.  He died at age 74.

1940 ~ Bob Mackie (né Robert Gordon Mackie), American fashion designer.

1930 ~ Steve McQueen (né Terence Steven McQueen, d. Nov. 7, 1980), American actor.  He died of cancer at age 50.

1926 ~ Dario Fo (d. Oct. 13, 2016), Italian writer and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 90.

1924 ~ Norman Fell (né Norman Noah Fell, d. Dec. 14, 1998), American actor.  He died of bone marrow cancer at age 74.

1919 ~ Robert L. Heilbroner (d. Jan. 4, 2005), American economics and historian of economic thought.  He was the educator who made economics interesting.  He died at age 84.

1919 ~ Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti, American author and poet.  He was brought up in France.  He was a co-founder of the City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco.

1917 ~ Sir John Cowdery Kendrew (d. Aug. 23, 1997), British molecular biologist and recipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 80.

1915 ~ Paul Lorenzen (d. Oct. 1, 1994), German mathematician.  He died at age 79.

1911 ~ Joseph Barbera (d. Dec. 18, 2006), American animator and co-founder of Hanna-Barbera.  He died at age 95.

1909 ~ Clyde Barrow (d. May 23, 1934), American criminal, who along with his partner, Bonnie Parker (1910 ~ 1934), robbed banks throughout the South and Midwest until he was killed in a shoot-out in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.  He died at age 25.

1903 ~ Malcolm Muggridge (né Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge, d. Nov. 14, 1990), British journalist and satirist.  He was a British soldier and spy during World War II.  He helped to bring Mother Teresa to popular attention in the West.  He died at age 87.

1903 ~ Adolf Butenandt (d. Jan. 18, 1995), German chemist and recipient of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on sex hormones.  He was a member of the Nazi party and in accordance with government policy did not accept the award when it was granted.  Following World War II, however, he accepted the award.  He died at age 91.

1902 ~ Thomas E. Dewey (d. Mar. 16, 1971), American presidential candidate.  He ran against Harry S. Truman and papers erroneously concluded he had won the 1948 election.  He also served as the 47^th Governor of New York State from January 1943 through December 1954.  He died of a heart attack 8 days before his 69^th birthday.

1901 ~ Ub Iwerks (né Ubbe Eert Iwerks, d. July 7, 1971), American animator and co-creator of Mickey Mouse.  He died at age 70.

1892 ~ Marston Morse (né Harold Calvin Marston Morse, d. June 22, 1977), American mathematician.  He was born in Waterville, Maine.  He died at age 85.

1887 ~ Fatty Arbuckle (né Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle, d. June 29, 1933), American actor.  He was one of the most popular silent film stars of the 1910s.  He was accused of the rape and manslaughter of a young actress, but was ultimately acquitted after three trials.  He died of a heart attack at age 46.

1886 ~ Edward Henry Weston (d. Jan. 1, 1958), American photographer.  He died at age 71.

1884 ~ Peter Debye (né Peter Joseph William Debye, d. Nov. 2, 1966), Dutch chemist and recipient of 1936 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 82.

1874 ~ Harry Houdini (né Erik Weiss, d. Oct. 31, 1926), Hungarian-born American magician.  He died of gangrene following a rupture of his appendix after he had been punched in the gut two weeks earlier.  He died at age 52.

1862 ~ Frank Weston Benson (d. Nov. 15, 1951), American painter.  He was born and died in Salem, Massachusetts.  He died at age 89.

1855 ~ Andrew William Mellon (d. Aug. 26, 1937), American banker, industrialist and financier.  He was the 49^th US Secretary of the Treasury and served under Presidents Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.  He was in that Office from March 1921 until February 1932.  He died at age 82.

1835 ~ Jožef Stefan (d. Jan. 7, 1893), Slovenian physicist and mathematician.  He died at age 57.

1834 ~ William Morris (d. Oct. 3, 1896), English poet, artist, textile designer, and social reformer.  He died at age 62.

1828 ~ Horace Gray (d. Sept. 15, 1902), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President Chester Arthur.  He served from December 1881 until his death in September 1902.  He sided with the majority in the Plessy v. Ferguson case, which upheld segregation.  He was from Massachusetts.  He died at age 74.

1826 ~ Matilda Electa Joslyn Gage (d. Mar 18, 1898), American social activist who advocated for women’s rights, rights of Native Americans and the abolishment of slavery.  She died 6 days before her 72^nd birthday.

1809 ~ Joseph Liouville (d. Sept. 8, 1882), French mathematician.  The lunar crater, Liouville, is named in his honor.  He died at age 73.

1733 ~ Joseph Priestly (d. Feb. 6, 1804), 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.

1693 ~ John Harrison (d. Mar. 24, 1776), British carpenter and clockmaker.  He invented the Marine chronometer.  Under the Julian calendar, which was in effect when he was born, indicates he died on his 83^rd birthday, however under the Gregorian calendar, is birthday is April 3, 1776.

Events that Changed the World:

2015 ~ A GermanWings airplane carrying 150 passengers and crew crashed in the French Alps, after it reached its cruising altitude, killing all aboard. There was speculation that the co-pilot deliberately caused the plane to crash in a massive mass murder-suicide.

1989 ~ The Exxon Valdez spilled over 240,000 barrels of petroleum after running aground in the Prince William Sound in Alaska.

1976 ~ Armed forced overthrew the government of Argentinean President Isabel Perón (b. 1931), which began a 7-year dictatorial period called the National Reorganization Process.  Since 2006, this has become a public holiday known as Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice.

1958 ~ Elvis Presley (1935 ~ 1977) was drafted into the Army.

1944 ~ 76 American prisoners began to break out of Stalag Luft III.  Of the 76 escapees, 73 were ultimately captured.  Fifty of the men were executed.  This event was later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape.

1900 ~ Ground was broken in New York City for the underground Rapid Transit Railroad, linking Manhattan and Brooklyn.

1882 ~ Robert Koch (1843 ~ 1910) reported his discovery of mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis.

1854 ~ Venezuela abolished slavery.

1837 ~ Canada gave African-Canadian men the right to vote.

1829 ~ The Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Roman Catholic Relief Act, which allowed Catholics to serve in Parliament.

1765 ~ The British Parliament passed the Quartering Act which required the American colonies to provide food and housing to British troops.

1721 ~ Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 ~ 1750) dedicated six concertos to Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt.  These concertos are now referred to as the Brandenburg Concertos.

1707 ~ The Union with England Act of 1707 was signed, officially uniting the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, thereby creating the Kingdom of Great Britain.  The Act took effect on May 1, 1707.

1603 ~ James VI (1566 ~ 1625) of Scotland became King James I of England.

Good-Byes:

2017 ~ Jean Rouverol (b. July 8, 1916), American screenwriter who became a Hollywood exile.  She was blacklisted during the McCarthy era.  She died at age 100.

2016 ~ Garry Emmanuel Shandling (d. Nov. 29, 1949), American comedian and actor.  He died of a heart attack at age 66.

2010 ~ Robert Martin Culp (b. Aug. 16, 1930), American actor.  He died of a heart attack at age 79.

2002 ~ César Milstein (b. Oct. 8, 1927), Argentine biochemist and recipient of the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in antibody research.  He died of a heart condition at age 74.

1993 ~ John Richard Hersey (b. June 17, 1914), American author best known for his novels A Bell for Adono, Hiroshima, and The Wall.  He died at age 78.

1990 ~ An Wang (b. Feb. 7, 1920), Chinese-American engineer and founder of Wang Laboratories.  He died of cancer at age 70.

1955 ~ John William Davis (b. Apr. 13, 1873), 14^th United States Solicitor General.  He served in this Office from August 1913 until November 1918 during the Woodrow Wilson administration.  He died 20 days before his 82^nd birthday.

1953 ~ Mary of Teck (b. May 26, 1867), Queen Consort to King George V of the United Kingdom.  She was the grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II.  She died at age 85.

1950 ~ James Rudolph Garfield (b. Oct. 17, 1865), 23^rd United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President Theodore Roosevelt from March 1907 until March 1909.  He was also the son of slain President James Garfield.  He died at age 84.

1946 ~ Charles Francis Hurley (b. Nov. 24, 1893), 54^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1937 until January 1939.  He died at age 52.

1930 ~ Henry Faulds (b. June 1, 1843), Scottish physician best known for the development of fingerprinting.  He died at age 86.

1915 ~ Margaret Lindsay Huggins, Lady Huggins (b. Aug. 14, 1848), Irish astronomer and author.  She died at age 66.

1915 ~ Karol Stanisław Olszewski (b. Jan. 29, 1846), Polish chemist, mathematician and physicist.  He died at age 69.

1905 ~ Jules Gabriel Verne (b. Feb. 8, 1828), French science fiction writer.  He is best known for such novels as Journey to the Center of the Earth and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.  He died of diabetes at age 77.

1886 ~ Ward Hunt (b. June 14, 1810), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President Ulysses S. Grant.  He served from December 1872 until January 1882.  He died at age 75.

1885 ~ Jacob Thompson (b. May 15, 1810), 5^th United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President James Buchanan from March 1857 until Jan. 1861.  He resigned is position as Secretary of the Interior to become the Inspector General of the Confederacy.  He died at age 74.

1882 ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (b. Feb. 27, 1807), American poet.  He was born in Portland, Maine.  He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts less than a month after his 75^th birthday.

1776 ~ John Harrison (b. Apr. 3, 1693), British carpenter and clockmaker.  He invented the Marine chronometer.  Under the Julian calendar, which was in effect when he was born, indicates he died on his 83^rd birthday, however under the Gregorian calendar, is birthday is April 3, 1776.

1771 ~ William Shirley (b. Dec. 2, 1694), British lawyer and politician.  He served as the Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.  He died at age 76.

1603 ~ Queen Elizabeth I of England (b. Sept. 7, 1533).  She was the daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.  She was Queen from November 1558 until her death nearly 50 years later.  She died at age 69.

1575 ~ Joseph ben Ephraim Karo (b. 1488), Spanish-Portuguese rabbi.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

1455 ~ Pope Nicholas V (né Tommaso Parentucelli, b. Nov. 13, 1397).  He was Pope from March 1447 until his death on this date 8 years later.  He was 57 at the time of his death.

1275 ~ Beatrice of England (b. June 24, 1242).  She was the daughter of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence.  She died at age 32.