Sunday, August 19, 2018

August 19

Birthdays:

1983~ Reeva Steenkamp (née Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp, d. Feb. 14, 2013), South African model.  She was murdered by her boyfriend, Olympian Oscar Pistorius.  She was 29 years old.

1955~ Peter Gallagher (né Peter Killian Gallagher), American actor.

1953~ Mary Matalin (née Mary Joe Matalin), American conservative political consultant and wife of liberal James Carville.

1948~ Tipper Gore (née Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson), former wife of Vice President Al Gore and Second Lady of the United States under the Presidency of Bill Clinton.

1946~ Bill Clinton (né William Jefferson Blythe, III), 42nd President of the United States.  He served as President from January 1993 until January 2001.

1942~ Fred Thompson (né Freddie Dalton Thompson, d. Nov. 1, 2015), American actor best known for his role as the District Attorney on Law and Order.  He later became a United States Senator from Tennessee.  He died of cancer at age 73.

1939~ Ginger Baker (né Peter Edward Baker), British drummer and songwriter.  He was the founder of the band Cream.

1934~ Renée Richards (né Richard Raskind), American tennis player and ophthalmologist.  She is best known for having undergone sex reassignment surgery in 1975.

1932~ Thomas P. Salmon (né Thomas Paul Salmon), 75th Governor of Vermont.  He served as Governor from 1973 to 1977.

1931~ Willie Shoemaker (né William Lee Shoemaker, d. Oct. 12, 2003), American jockey. He died at age 72.

1930~ Frank McCourt (né Francis McCourt, d. July 19, 2009), Irish-American author, best known for his memoir, Angela’s Ashes.  He died of cancer a month before his 79th birthday.

1924~ Willard S. Boyle (né Willard Sterling Boyle, d. May 7, 2011), Canadian physicist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 86.

1921~ Gene Roddenberry (né Eugene Wesley Roddenberry, d. Oct. 24, 1991), American screenwriter and creator of Star Trek.  He died at age 70.

1919~ Malcolm Forbes (né Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, d. Feb. 24, 1990), American publisher and businessman.  He died of a heart attack at age 70.

1906~ Philo Taylor Farnsworth (d. Mar. 11, 1971), American inventor and television pioneer.  He died at age 64 of pneumonia.

1902~ Ogden Nash (né Frederic Ogden Nash, d. May 19, 1971), American poet. He is best known for writing humorous poems.  He died at age 68 of complications from Crohn’s disease.

1883~ Coco Chanel (née Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, d. Jan. 10, 1971), French clothing designer and founder of the House of Chanel.  She died at age 87.

1871~ Orville Wright (d. Jan. 30, 1948), American aviation pioneer, who along with his brother, Wilber (1867 ~ 1912), invented the airplane.  Orville died at age 76.

1870~ Bernard Baruch (né Bernard Mannes Baruch, d. June 20, 1965), American financier and statesman.  He died at age 94.

1805~ Alexander Loyd (d. May 7, 1872), 4th Mayor of Chicago.  He served in that office from 1840 until 1841.  He died at age 66.

1743~ Madame du Barry (née Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry, d. Dec. 8, 1793), French courtesan and mistress of King Louis XV of France.  She was guillotined during the Reign of Terror during the French revolution.  She died at age 50.

1596~ Elizabeth Stuart (d. Feb. 13, 1662), Queen of Bohemia.  She was the wife of Frederick V of Palatine.  She was the daughter of James VI and I of King of Scotland, England and Ireland, and Anne of Denmark.  She died at age 65.

Events that Changed the World:

2003~ A suicide attack, planned by Hamas, on a bus in Jerusalem killed seven children and 16 adults.

1991~ African-American groups targeted the Hasidic Jews of Crown Heights in New York city for three days after 2 young black children were hit by a car driven by a Hasidic man.

1960~ A tribunal in Moscow convicted American pilot Francis Gary Powers (1929 ~ 1977) of espionage and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.  He was subsequently released to the Americans in a prisoner exchange, which is depicted in the movie Bridge of Spies.

1955~ Hurricane Diane caused severe flooding in the Northeast United States, killing 200 people.

1934~ The German referendum of 1934 approved the appointment of Adolf Hitler (1889 ~ 1945) as head of State and granted him the title of Führer.

1934~ The first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton, Ohio.

1919~ Afghanistan gained its full independence from the United Kingdom.

1909~ The Indianapolis Motor Speedway held its first automobile race.

1848~ The New York Herald reported the discovery of gold in California, which ultimately lead to the Gold Rush.

1812~ During the War of 1812, the American frigate, the USS Constitutiondefeated the British frigate the HMS Guerrier.  The USS Constitutionthus became known by its nicknameOld Ironsides.  The ship now resides in Boston Harbor.

1692~ In Salem, Massachusetts, following the Salem Witch Trials, four men and one woman were executed after being found guilty of witchcraft.

Good-Byes:

2017~ Dick Gregory (né Richard Claxton Gregory, b. Oct. 12, 1932), American groundbreaking comedian who became a civil rights voice.  He died at age 84.

2017~ Brian Aldiss (né Brian Wilson Aldiss, b. Aug. 18, 1925), British author who wrote darkly imaginative science fiction.  He died 1 day after his 92nd birthday.

2015~ George Houser (né George Mills Houser, b. June 2, 1916), American minister and civil rights activist who led the First Freedom Ride.  He was 99 years old.

2014~ James Foley (b. Oct. 18, 1973), American freelance photographer and journalist who was murdered by beheading by ISIS.  He had been kidnapped while covering the Syrian Civil War.  He was from Rochester, New Hampshire.  He was 40 years old.

2009~ Don Hewitt (née Donald Shepard Hewitt, b. Dec. 14, 1922), American television producer and creator of 60 Minutes.  He died of pancreatic cancer at age 86.

1994~ Linus Pauling (né Linus Carl Pauling, b. Feb. 28, 1901), American chemist political activist.  He was the recipient of two Nobel Prizes: the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 93.

1980~ Otto Frank (né Otto Heinrich Frank, b. May 12, 1889), German-born Swiss father of Anne Frank and Holocaust survivor.  He died of lung cancer at age 91.

1977~ Groucho Marx (né Julius Henry Marx, b. Oct. 2, 1890), American comedian and actor.  He died at age 86.

1975~ Ima Hogg (b. July 10, 1882), American society woman and patron of the arts. She was known as the First Lady of Texas.  Her home in Houston, Texas is now a part of the Museum of Fine Arts and is known as Bayou Bend.  She died at age 93.

1895~ William Strong (b. May 6, 1808), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Ulysses Grant.  He served on the Court from February 1870 until December 1880.  He died at age 87.

1883~ Jeremiah S. Black (né Jeremiah Sullivan Black, b. Jan. 10, 1810), 24th United States Attorney General under the Buchanan administration.  He served in this position from March 1857 until December 1860.  He also served in the James Buchanan administration as the 23rd United States Secretary of State from December 1860 until March 1861.  He died at age 73.

1822~ Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre (b. Sept. 19, 1749), French mathematician.  He died a month before his 73rd birthday.

1662~ Blaise Pascal (b. June 19, 1623), French mathematician and philosopher.  He died at age 39.

1654~ Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller (b. 1579), Bohemian rabbi. The exact date of his birth is unknown.

1493~ Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. Sept. 21, 1415).  He died about a month before his 78th birthday.

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