June 28

Birthdays:

1971~ Elon Musk (né Elon Reeve Musk), South-African born businessman.

1971~ Ngô Bào Châu, Vietnamese mathematician.

1966~ John Cusack (né John Paul Cusack), American actor.

1966~ Mary Stuart Masterson, American actress.

1957~ Georgi Parvanov, 3^rd President of Bulgaria.  He was president from January 2002 through January 2012.

1948~ Kathy Bates (née Kathleen Doyle Bates), American actress.

1948~ Deborah Moggach (née Deborah Hough), British novelist.  She is best known for her historical novel Tulip Fever.

1947~ Mark Helprin, American novelist.

1946~ Gilda Radner (née Gilda Susan Radner, d. May 20, 1989), American comedian and actress.  She died of uterine cancer about a month before her 43^rd birthday.

1943~ Klaus von Klitzing, German physicist and recipient of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1940~ Muhammad Yunus, Bangladeshi economist and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

1938~ Leon Panetta (né Leon Edward Panetta), 23^rd United States Secretary of Defense. He served under President Barack Obama from July 2011 through February 2013.  He had previously served as the 3^rd Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from February 2009 until June 2011.  During the Clinton administration, he served as the 18^th White House Chief of Staff.

1937~ Thomas Magliozzi (d. Nov. 3, 2014), American radio personality and host who got laughs out of auto repair.  He, along with his brother, Ray Magliozzi (b. 1949), were known as Click and Clack, the Tappit Brothers on NPR’s Car Talk.  He died at age 77.

1932~ Pat Morita (né Noriyuki Morita, d. Nov. 24, 2005), American actor best known for his role as Mr. Kesuke Miyagi in The Karate Kid movies.  He died of kidney failure at age 73.

1930~ William Campbell (né William Cecil Campbell), American biologist and parasitologist.  He was the recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1927~ Frank Sherwood Rowland (d. Mar. 10, 2012), American chemist and recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He is best known for ozone depletion research.  He died at age 84.

1926~ Betty Skelton Erde (d. Aug. 31, 2011), American aviatrix who raced into the record books.  She held a land speed record and aerobatics pilot who set 17 aviation and automobile records.  She helped create opportunities for women in aviation, auto racing, astronautics and advertising.  She died at age 85.

1926~ Mel Brooks (né Melvin Kaminsky), American actor and filmmaker.

1925~ George Ballas, Sr. (né George Charles Ballas, b. June 25, 2011), American inventor who made millions wacking weeds.  In 1971, he created what he called the Weed Eater.  He was born in Ruston, Louisiana.  He died of lung cancer in Houston, Texas 3 days before his 83^rdbirthday.

1915~ David “Honeyboy” Edwards (d. Aug. 29, 2011), African-American guitarist and last of the original Delta bluesmen.  He died of heart failure at age 96.

1909~ Eric Ambler (né Eric Clifford Ambler, d. Oct. 22, 1998), English writer. He is best known for his spy novels. He died at age 87.

1906~ Maria Goeppert-Mayer (née Maria Göppert, d. Feb. 20, 1972), German-born American theoretical physicist and recipient of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics for proposing the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus.  She was the second woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, the first being Marie Curie.  She died of a heart attack at age 65.

1905~ Ashley Montagu (né Israel Ehrenberg, d. Nov. 26, 1999), British anthropologist.  He died at age 94.

1902~ Richard Rodgers (né Richard Charles Rodgers, d. Dec. 30, 1979), American composer. He is best known for his corroboration with Oscar Hammerstein II.  They wrote many musicals together.  He died at age 77.

1891~ Esther Forbes (née Esther Louise Forbes, d. Aug. 12, 1968), American historian and writer.  She wrote children’s literature and is best known for her novel Johnny Tremain. She was from Massachusetts.  She died of rheumatic heard disease at age 76.

1883~ Pierre Laval (d. Oct. 15, 1945), Prime Minister of France.  He served as Prime Ministers from January 1931 until February 1932.  After the liberation of France during World War II, he was found guilty of treason and executed by firing squad at age 62.

1875~ Henri Lebesgue (né Henri Léon Lebesgue, d. July 26, 1941), French mathematician.  He died a month after his 66^th birthday.

1873~ Alexis Carrel (d. Nov. 5, 1944), French surgeon and biologist.  He was the recipient of the 1912 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his pioneering work in vascular suturing techniques.  He died at age 71.

1867~ Luigi Pirandello (d. Dec. 10, 1936), Italian writer and recipient of the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 69.

1825~ Emil Erlenmeyer (né Richard August Carl Emil Erlenmeyer, d. Jan. 22, 1909), German chemist best known for designing the Erlenmeyer flask.  He died at age 83.

1824~ Paul Broca (né Pierre Paul Broca, d. July 9, 1880), French physician.  He is best known for his research on the frontal lobe that now bears his name ~ the Broca area of the brain.  He died of a brain aneurysm 11 days after his 56^th birthday.

1717~ Matthew Stewart (d. Jan. 23, 1785) Scottish mathematician and cleric.  He died at age 68.

1712~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau (d. July 2, 1778), French philosopher and writer during the Enlightenment period.  His philosophy helped shape events that led to the French Revolution.  He died 4 days after his 66^th birthday.

1703~ John Wesley (d. Mar. 2, 1791), English founder of Methodism and the Methodist church. He died at age 87.

1577~ Sir Peter Paul Rubens (d. May 30, 1640), Flemish painter and diplomat.  He was knighted by both King Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England.  He died 29 days before his 63^rd birthday.

1491~ King Henry VIII of England (d. Jan. 28, 1547).  He was the second Tutor monarch.  He was King from April 1509 until his death at age 55 in January 1547.

1476~ Pope Paul IV (né Gian Pietro Carafa, d. Aug. 18, 1559).  He was Pope from May 1555 until his death 4 years later in August 1559.  He was 83 years old.

751~ Carloman I (d. Dec. 4, 771), King of the Franks.  He died at age 20.

Events that Changed the World:

2016~ A terrorist attack at the Atatürk Airport in Istanbul killed over 40 people and injured over 200 others.

2012~ The United States Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Health Care Act in the case entitled National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius.

1996~ The Constitution of the Ukraine was signed into law.

1992~ The Constitution of Estonia was ratified.  It became effective on July 3, 1992.

1987~ Iraqi warplanes bombed the Iranian town of Sardasht, thereby making it the first time in military history where a civilian population was targeted for chemical attack.

1978~ In the case of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the U. S. Supreme Court barred quota systems in college admissions.

1969~ The Stonewall Riots began in New York City.  This marks the beginning of the Gay Rights Movement.

1967~ Israel annexed East Jerusalem.

1926~ The Mercedes-Benz company was formed when Gottlieb Daimler (1834 ~ 1900) and Karl Benz (1844 ~ 1929) merged their two companies.

1919~ The Treaty of Versailles was signed in Paris, formally ending World War I.

1914~ World War I began when Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (b. 1863) and his wife, Countess Sofia Chotek (b. 1868), were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip.

1902~ The United States Congress passed the Spooner Act, authorizing President Theodore Roosevelt (1858 ~ 1919) to acquire rights from Columbia for the Panama Canal.

1894~ Labor Day became an official holiday in the United States.

1846~ The saxophone was patented by Adolphe Sax (1814 ~ 1894) in Paris, France.

1838~ Queen Victoria (1819 ~ 1901) of the United Kingdom was crowned in Westminster Abbey.  She was 18 years old at the time of her coronation.  She ruled England for 63 years.  She died at age 81.

1519~ Charles V (1500 ~ 1558) was elected as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.  He died at age 58.

1461~ Edward IV (1442 ~ 1483) was crowned King of England.  He died at age 40.

Good-Byes:

2016~ Pat Summitt (née Patricia Sue Head, b. June 14, 1952), American women’s basketball coach.  She died 14 days after her 64^th birthday.

2014~ Meshach Taylor (b. Apr. 11, 1947), American actor best known for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the television sit-com Designing Women.  He died at age 67 of colon cancer.

2001~ Mortimer J. Adler (né Mortimer Jerome Adler, b. Dec. 28, 1902), American philosopher and author.  He died at age 98.

1984~ Yigael Yadin (b. Mar. 20, 1917), Israeli archeologist, general and politician.  He died at age 67.

1975~ Rod Serling (néRodman Edward Serling, b. Dec. 25, 1924), American television producer and author.  He is best known for hosting The Twilight Zone.  He died at age 50 following heart surgery.

1921~ Charles Bonaparte (né Charles Joseph Bonaparte, b. June 9, 1851), 46^th United States Attorney General.  He served under President Theodore Roosevelt from December 1906 until March 1909.  He previously served as the 37^th Secretary of the Navy in President Roosevelt’s administration.  He died less than three weeks after his 70^th birthday.

1914~ Sophia, Duchess of Hohenberg (b. Mar. 1, 1868), wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.  She was assassinated along with her husband.  Their deaths sparked World War I.  She was 46 at the time of her death.

1914~ Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (b. Dec. 18, 1863).  heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne.  He was assassinated along with his wife, Sophia, Duchess of Hohenberg, and their assassination in 1914 sparked the beginning of World War I.  He was 50 years old at the time of his death.

1889~ Maria Mitchell (b. Aug. 1, 1818), American astronomer.  She was from Massachusetts.  She died of brain disease at age 70.

1858~ Marie-Louise Lachapelle (b. Jan. 1, 1769), French midwife and head of obstetrics at the Hôtel-Dieu in Parish.  She died of stomach cancer at age 52.

1836~ James Madison, Jr. (b. Mar. 16, 1836), 4^th President of the United States.  He was president from March 1809 until March 1817. He had previously served as the 5^th United States Secretary of State, which he served during the Thomas Jefferson administration from May 1801 until March 1809.  He died at age 85.

1754~ Martin Folkes (b. Oct. 29, 1690), British mathematician.  He died at age 63.

1194~ Emperor Xiaozong (b. Nov. 27, 1127), 11^th Chinese emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He died at age 66.

767~ Pope Paul I (b. 700).  He was Pope from May 757 until his death 10 years later.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

683~ Pope Saint Leo II (né Leo Maneius, b. 611).  He is also known as Saint Leo II.  He was Pope from August 682 until his death 10 months later.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.  He is believed to have been about 72 at the age of his death.

548~ Theodora I (b. 500), Byzantine Empress and wife of Justinian I.  The exact date of her birth is unknown.  She is believed to have been about 48 years old at the time of her death.