February 28

Birthdays:

1965~ Colum McCann, Irish writer, best known for his novel, Let the World Spin.

1961~ Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian actress.  She is the daughter of actor Tommy Chong.

1960~ Dorothy Stratten (née Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten; d. Aug. 14, 1980), Canadian actress and model.  She was murdered by her estranged husband at age 20.  Her life and murder was depicted in the movie Star 80.

1957~ John Turturro (né John Michael Turturro), American actor.

1953~ Paul Krugman (né Paul Robin Krugman), American economist and recipient of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

1949~ Zoia Ceauşescu (d. Nov. 20, 2006), Romanian mathematician.  She was the daughter of Communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife, Elena.  She died of lung cancer at age 57.

1948~ Steven Chu, American physicist and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was also the 12^th Secretary of Energy and served under President Barack Obama from January 2009 until April 2013.

1948~ Mike Figgis (né Michael Figgis), British film director.

1948~ Bernadette Peters (née Bernadette Lazzara), American actress.

1948~ Mercedes Reuhl, American actress.

1941~ Suzanne Mubarak (née Saleh Thabet), First Lady of Egypt and wife of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

1939~ Daniel C. Tsui (né Daniel Chee Tsui), Chinese-born American physicist and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1939~ Tommy Tune (né Thomas James Tune), American actor and dancer.

1938~ Lord Michael Onslow, 7^th Earl of Onslow (né Michael William Coplestone Dillon Onslow; d. May 14, 2011), British lord and eccentric who enlivened the House of Lords.  He died of cancer at age 73.

1931~ Dean Smith (né Dean Edwards Smith; d. Feb. 7, 2015), American legendary college basketball coach who put his players first.  He was the head men’s basketball coach for 36 years at the University of North Carolina.  He prompted desegregation in the sport at his school.  He died three weeks before his 84^th birthday.

1931~ Gavin MacLeod (né Allan George See), American actor best known for his role as Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat.

1930~ Leon Cooper (né Leon Neil Cooper), American physicist and recipient of the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1929~ Frank Gehry (né Frank Owen Goldberg), Canadian-born American architect.

1926~ Lana Peters (née Svetlana Iosifovna Stalina; d. Nov. 22, 2011), Russian who was Stalin’s peripatetic daughter.  She moved to the United States and changed her name.  She died at age 85.

1923~ Charles Durning (né Charles Edward Durning; d. Dec. 24, 2012), American actor.  He died at age 89.

1921~ Saul Zaentz (d. Jan. 3, 2014), American film producer who put literature on the screen.  He died at age 92.

1915~ Zero Mostel (né Samuel Joel Mostel; b. Sept. 8, 1977), American actor.  He is best known for his portrayal of Tevye in the stage version of Fiddler on the Roof.  He died of an aortic aneurysm at age 62.

1915~ Sir Peter Medawar (né Peter Brian Medawar; d. Oct. 2, 1987), Brazilian-born British biologist and recipient for the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on organ transplants and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance.  He died following a stroke at age 72.

1912~ Clara Petacci (d. Apr. 28, 1945), Italian mistress of Benito Mussolini.  She was executed by firing squad along with Mussolini.  She was 33 years old.

1906~ Bugsy Siegel (né Benjamin Siegel; d. June 20, 1947), American gangster.  He was murdered at age 41.

1903~ Vincente Minnelli (né Lester Anthony Minnelli; d. July 25, 1986), American film director, husband of Judy Garland and father of Liza Minnelli.  He died of emphysema and pneumonia at age 83.

1901~ Linus Pauling (né Linus Carl Pauling; d. Aug. 19, 1994), 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.

1896~ Philip Showalter Hench (d. Mar. 30, 1965), American physician and recipient of the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died of pneumonia about a month after his 69^th birthday.

1894~ Ben Hecht (d. Apr. 18, 1964), American playwright.  He died at age 70.

1884~ Ants Piip (d. Oct. 1, 1942), Prime Minister of Estonia.  He served as Prime Minister from October 1920 until December 1920, at which time he became the 1^st State Elder of Estonia.  He served in that position for only a month until January 1921.  He died in a Soviet prison camp at age 58.

1878~ Pierre Fatou (néPierre Joseph Louis Fatou; d. Aug. 9, 1929), French mathematician.  He died at age 51.

1851~ Samuel W. McCall (né Samuel Walker McCall; d. Nov. 4, 1923), 47^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1916 until January 1919. He had previously served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts.  He died at age 72.

1838~ Maurice Lévy (d. Sept. 30, 1910), French mathematician.  He died at age 72.

1824~ Charles Blondin (né Jean François Gravelet; d. Feb. 22, 1897), French acrobat and tightrope walker.  He is best known for crossing Niagara Falls on a tightrope.  He died of diabetes 6 days before his 73^rd birthday.

1797~ Mary Lyon (née Mary Mason Lyon; d. Mar. 5, 1849), American pioneer in women’s education.  She founded the Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts and was its first president.  She was born and died in Massachusetts.  She died of an acute skin infection at just a week after her 52^nd birthday.

1792~ Karl Ernst von Baer (d. Nov. 28, 1876), German biologist.  He died at age 84.

1735~ Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde (d. Jan. 1, 1796), French chemist and mathematician.  He died at age 60.

1552~ Jost Bürgi (d. Jan. 31, 1632), Swiss clockmaker and mathematician.  He died 28 days before his 80^th birthday.

1533~ Michel de Montaigne (d. Sept. 13, 1592), French philosopher and author.  He died at age 59.

1261~ Margaret of Scotland (d. Apr. 9, 1283), Queen consort of Norway and wife of King Eric II of Norway.  She died at age 22 in childbirth.

1155~ Henry the Young King (d. June 11, 1183).  He was crowned during the reign of his father, Henry II, King of England.  He died of dysentery at age 28, six years before his father, thus never ruled alone.

1119~ Emperor Xizong of Jin (d. Jan. 9, 1119), Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty.  He ruled from February 1135 until his assassination at age 30.

Events that Changed the World:

2017~ Mardi Gras.

2013~ Pope Benedict XVI (b. 1927) resigned as Pope of the Catholic Church.  He was the first pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII (1320s ~ Oct. 18, 1417) resigned in 1415.

1997~ An earthquake in northern Iran killed about 3,000 people.

1993~ The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raided the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas, to arrest David Koresh (1959 ~ 1993), the group’s leader.  Four agents and 5 Davidians were killed in the initial raid.  The ATF and Davidians began a 51-day standoff.

1983~ The final episode of M*A*S*H aired.

1958~ In one of the country’s worst school bus accident, a school bus in Floyd County, Kentucky hit a wrecker truck and plunged into the Levisa Fork River.  The driver and 26 students were killed in the accident.

1954~ The first color televisions using the National Television System Committee (NTSC) standard became available for sale to the general public.

1940~ The basketball game between Fordham University and the University of Pittsburgh, which was played in Madison Square Garden, was the first televised basketball game.  Pittsburgh beat Fordham in a score of 57-37.

1935~ Wallace Carothers (1896 ~ 1937), a scientist at DuPont, invented nylon.

1922~ The United Kingdom ended its protectorate over Egypt.

1885~ The American Telephone and Telegraph Company became incorporated in New York State.  It was a subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company.

1827~ The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad became incorporated.  It was the first railroad in the United States to provide commercial transportation to people and freight.

1784~ John Wesley (1703 ~ 1791) chartered the Methodist Church.

1525~ Hernán Cortés (1485 ~ 1547) and his men executed the Aztec King Cuauhtémoc.

202 BCE~ Lui Bang (d. 195 BCE) became the Emperor of China, thus beginning the rule of the Han Dynasty.

Good-Byes:

2016~ George Kennedy (né George Harris Kennedy, Jr.; b. Feb. 18, 1925), American actor best known for his role in Cool Hand Luke.  He died of heart disease 10 days after his 91^st birthday.

2014~ Lee Lorch (né Lee Alexander Lorch; b. Sept. 20, 1915), American mathematician and civil rights activist.  He died at age 98.

2013~ Donald Glaser (né Donald Arthur Glaser; b. Sept. 21, 1926), American physicist and recipient of the 1960 Nobel Prize for Physics.  He died at age 86.

2011~ Peter J. Gomes (né Peter John Gomes; b. May 22, 1942), African-American gifted preacher who spoke out for tolerance.  He was from Massachusetts.  He died at age 68.

2011~ Jane Russell (née Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell; b. June 21, 1921), American actress.  She died at age 89 of respiratory failure.

2009~ Paul Harvey (né Paul Harvey Aurandt, b. Sept. 4, 1918), American radio broadcaster.  He died at age 90.

2007~ Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (né Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; b. Oct. 15, 1917), American historian.  He died at age 89.

2006~ Owen Chamberlain (b. July 10, 1920), American physicist and recipient of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 85.

2004~ Daniel J. Boorstin (né Daniel Joseph Boorstin; b. Oct. 1, 1914), American historian and writer.  He was the 12^th Librarian of Congress, where he served from November 1975 until September 1987, during the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.  He died at age 89.

1993~ Ruby Keeler (née Ethel Ruby Keeler; b. Aug. 25, 1909), Canadian singer and actress.  She died of kidney cancer at age 83.

1986~ Olof Palme (né Sven Olaf Joachim Palme; b. Jan. 30, 1927), Prime Minister of Sweden.  He was assassinated a month after his 59^th birthday.

1986~ Laura Z. Hobson (née Laura Kean Zametkin; b. June 19, 1900), American author best known for her novel, Gentleman’s Agreement.  She died at age 85.

1967~ Henry Luce (né Henry Robinson Luce; d. Apr. 3, 1898), American publisher who launched Time and Life magazines.  He died at age 68.

1959~ Maxwell Anderson (né James Maxwell Anderson; b. Dec. 15, 1888), American playwright.  He died at age 70.

1956~ Frigyes Riesz (b. Jan. 22, 1880), Hungarian mathematician.  He is best known for his contributions to functional analysis.  He died at age 76.

1941~ Alfonso XIII, King of Spain (b. May 17, 1886).  He reigned from his birth until he was ousted on April 14, 1931.  He died in Rome at age 54.

1936~ Charles Nicolle (né Charles Jules Henry Nicolle; b. Sept. 21, 1866), French bacteriologist and recipient of the 1928 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work in the identification of lice as transmitters of typhus.  He died at age 69.

1916~ Henry James (b. Apr. 15, 1843), American novelist.  He died at age 72.

1901~ William M. Evarts (né William Maxwell Evarts; b. Feb. 6, 1818), 27^th United States Secretary of State.  He served under President Rutherford B. Hayes from March 1977 until March 1881.  He also served as the 29^th United States Attorney General under President Andrew Johnson from July 1868 to March 1868.  Following his positions in the Federal Executive Office, he became a United States Senator from the State of New York from March 1885 until March 1891.  He was born in Charleston, Massachusetts.  He died 22 days after his 83^rd birthday.

1844~ Abel P. Upshur (né Abel Parker Upshur; b. June 17, 1790), 15^th United States Secretary of State.  He served under President John Tyler from July 1843 until his death on February 28, 1844.  He had previously served as the 13^th United States Secretary of the Navy during the Tyler administration from October 1841 until July 1843.  He was killed at age 53 while viewing the new steamship USS Princeton and one of the ship’s guns exploded during a demonstration.

1648~ Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (b. Apr. 12, 1577).  He died at age 70.

1621~ Cosimo II de’Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. May 12, 1590).  He died of tuberculosis at age 30.

1525~ Cuauhtémoc (b. 1495), Aztec ruler.  He was killed by Hernán Cortés.

February 27

Birthdays:

1980~ Chelsea Clinton (née Chelsea Victoria Clinton), daughter of President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.

1958~ Nancy Spungen (née Nancy Laura Spungen; d. Oct. 12, 1978), American murder victim and girlfriend of Sid Vicious (né John Simon Ritchie, 1957 ~ 1979), of the Sex Pistols.  She was 20 years old at the time of her murder.

1958~ Maggie Hassan (née Margaret Wood), 81^st Governor of New Hampshire from January 2013 until January 2017.  In January 2017, she became a United States Senator from New Hampshire.

1951~ Lee Atwater (né Harvey LeRoy Atwater; d. Mar. 29, 1991), American politician and political consultant.  He served Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W.H. Bush.  He died about a month after his 40^th birthday of an aggressive form of brain tumor.

1950~ Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger (née Julia Babette Sarah Schwab), English rabbi and political figure.

1942~ Robert H. Grubbs (né Robert Howard Grubbs), American chemist and recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

1940~ Howard Hesseman, American actor.  He is best known for his role as Johnny Fever on WKPR in Cinncinati.

1934~ Ralph Nader, American activist and political figure.  He was born in Connecticut.

1933~ Malcolm Wallop (d. Sept. 14, 2011), American rancher and United States from Wyoming who pushed hard for missile defense.  He died at age 78.

1932~ Dame Elizabeth Taylor (née Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor; d. Mar. 23, 2011), English-American actress.  She died of congestive heart failure about a month after her 79^th birthday.

1930~ Joanne Woodward (née Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward), American actress and wife of Paul Newman.

1927~ Peter Whittle, New Zealander mathematician.

1926~ David H. Hubel (né David Hunter Hubel; d. Sept. 22, 2013), Canadian neurophysiologist and recipient of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 87.

1921~ Theodore Van Kirk (d. July 28, 2014), American navigator who guided the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the H-bomb on Hiroshima.  He died at age 93.

1919~ Johnny Pesky (né John Michael Paveskovich; d. Aug. 13, 2012), American baseball player, manager and coach who spent much of his career with the Boston Red Sox.  He was known as Mr. Red Sox.  He died at age 93.

1917~ John Connally, Jr. (né John Bowden Connally, Jr., d. June 15, 1993), 61^st Secretary of the Treasury.  He served under President Richard Nixon from February 1971 until June 1972.  He was also the 55^th United States Secretary of the Navy under President John F. Kennedy from January 1961 until December 1961.  He has also served as the 39^th Governor of Texas and was in the motorcade when President Kennedy was killed.  He died at age 76.

1913~ Irwin Shaw (né Irwin Gilbert Shamforoff; d. May 16, 1984), American author.  He is best known for his books Rich Man, Poor Man and Beggarman, Thief.  He died of prostate cancer at age 71.

1913~ Paul Riocœur (né Jean Paul Gustave Riocœur; d. May 20, 2005), French philosopher who taught in a POW camp during World War II.  He died at age 92.

1910~ Peter de Vries (d. Sept. 28, 1993), American novelist.  He died at age 83.

1903~ Joseph B. Soloveitchik (né Joseph Ber Soloveitchik; d. Apr. 9, 1993), American rabbi and philosopher.  He died at age 90.

1903~ Hans Rohrback (d. Dec. 19, 1993), German mathematician.  He was a member of the Nazi party.  He died at age 90.

1902~ John Steinbeck (né John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr.; b. Dec. 20, 1968), American novelist and recipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He is best known his novels including The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, and The Red Pony.  He died of heart disease at age 66.

1899~ Charles Herbert Best (d. Mar. 31, 1978), Canadian medical student who co-discovered insulin.  He was born in Maine.  He died about a month after his 79^th birthday.

1897~ Marian Anderson (d. Apr. 8, 1993), African-American contralto.  She died at age 96 of congestive heart failure and complications of a stroke.

1892~ William Demarest (né Carl William Demarest, d. Dec. 27, 1983), American character actor.  He is best known for playing Uncle Charlie on My Three Sons.  He died of prostate cancer at age 91.

1891~ David Sarnoff (d. Dec. 12, 1971), Russian-born American businessman and pioneer in radio and television.  He was the founder of RCA.  He also founded NBC.  He died at age 80.

1888~ Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. (né Arthur Meier Schlesinger; d. Oct. 30, 1965), American historian and author.  He died in Boston, Massachusetts at age 77.

1886~ Hugo Black (né Hugo Lafayette Black, d. Sept. 25, 1971), Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  He served on the Court from August 1837 until his retirement on September 17, 1971.  He served on the court for 34 years.  He suffered a stroke 2 days after he retired and died shortly thereafter at age 83.

1881~ L. E. J. Brouwer (né Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer; d. Dec. 2, 1966), Dutch mathematician. He died at age 85.

1878~ Alvan Fuller (né Alvan Tufts Fuller; d. Apr. 30, 1958), 50^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1925 until January 1929.  He died at age 80.

1869~ Alice Hamilton (d. Sept. 22, 1970), American academic and pioneer in toxicology research.  She was a leading expert in occupational health.  She was the first woman appointed to the faculty at Harvard University.  She died at age 101.

1852~ John McLane (d. Apr. 13, 1911), 50^th Governor of New Hampshire.  He was Governor from January 1905 until January 1907. He was a furniture maker from Milford, New Hampshire.  He was born in Scotland and died in North Carolina.  He died at age 59.

1807~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (d. Mar. 24, 1882), He was born in Portland, Maine.  He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts less than a month after his 75^th birthday.

272~ Constantine the Great (d. May 22, 337), Roman emperor.  He reigned the Roman Empire from July 306 until October 312. Tradition holds that he was born on February 27.  He is believed to have died at age 65

Events that Changed the World:

2010~ An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Chile, killing over 500 people and injuring thousand more.  The quake initiated a tsunami which reached Hawaiian Islands.

2004~ The initial version of the report detailing sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the United States, was released.

1991~ United States President George H.W. Bush (1924 ~ 2018) declared that Kuwait was liberated as a result of the Gulf War.

1973~ The occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota began by the American Indian Movement.

1951~ The 22^nd Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, thereby limiting future American Presidents to only two terms in office.

1940~ Martin Kamen (1913 ~ 2002) and Sam Ruben (1913 ~ 1943) discovered carbon-14.

1933~ The Reichstag, Germany’s parliamentary building in Berlin was set on fire and burned to the ground.  The Nazi party used the fire to solidify its power and eliminated the communists as political rivals.

1922~ In the case of Leser v. Garnett, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the 19^th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted women the right to vote.  The decision was authored by Justice Brandeis.

1900~ The British Labour Party, a political party, was founded.

1864~ The first Union Prisoners of War were sent to Andersonville, the Confederate prison in Andersonville, Georgia.

1844~ The Dominican Republic gained its independence from Haiti.

1801~ Washington, D.C. was placed under the jurisdiction of the United States Congress in accordance with District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801.

1594~ Henry IV (1553 ~ 1610) was crowned King of France.

425~ The University of Constantinople was founded by Emperor Theodosius II (401 ~ 450).

Good-Byes:

2017~ William Liebenow (b. Jan. 18, 1920), American Navy skipper who rescued a stranded John F. Kennedy in 1943 during World War II.  As a Lieutenant in the Navy, he used the cover of darkness to take his patrol boat into enemy waters to rescue the crew of PT-109.  He died at age 97.

2015~ Leonard Nimoy (né Leonard Simon Nimoy; b. Mar. 26, 1931), American actor best known for his role as Mr. Spock from the Star Trek Series.  Although he initially was not keen on the role of Mr. Spock, he learned to love the alien.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died about a month before his 84^th birthday.

2013~ Van Cliburn (né Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr.; b. July 12, 1934), American pianist who became a Cold War hero.  He entered into, and won, the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958.  He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana.  He died at age 78.

2012~ Tina Strobos (née Tineke Buchter; b. May 19, 1920), Dutch physician and psychologist who saved dozens of Jews during World War II.  A secret compartment had been built into her attic as a hiding place for Jews.  She worked with the resistance and was able to get passports and other documents so Jews could leave the country.  She and her mother are recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Vad Vashem in Jerusalem.  She died at age 91.

2011~ Necmettin Erbakan (b. Oct. 29, 1926), Prime Minister of Turkey.  He held that position from June 1996 through June 1997.  He died at age 84.

2011~ Frank Buckles (né Wood Buckles; b. Feb. 1, 1901), the last surviving American veteran of World War I.  He died 26 days after his 110^th birthday.

2008~ William F. Buckley, Jr. (néWilliam Francis Buckley, Jr.; b. Nov. 24, 1925), American writer and founder of the National Review.  He died at age 82.

2003~ Fred Rogers (né Fred McFeely Rogers; b. Mar. 20, 1928), American minister and host to a children’s educational TV show.  He died of stomach cancer less than a month before his 75^th birthday.

1998~ J.T. Walsh (né James Thomas Patrick Walsh; b. Sept. 28, 1943), American actor.  He died of a heart attack at age 54.

1998~ George H. Hitchings (né George Herbert Hitchings; b. Apr. 18, 1905), American physician and recipient of the1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 92.

1993~ Lillian Gish (née Lillian Diana Gish; b. Oct. 14, 1893), American silent film actress.  She is sometimes referred to as the First Lady of American Cinema.  She was 99 years old at the time of her death.

1990~ Nahum Norbet Glatzer (b. Mar. 25, 1906), Jewish-American scholar.  He died about a month after his 86^th birthday.

1989~ Konrad Lorenz (né Konrad Zacharias Lorenz; b. Nov. 7, 1903), Austrian zoologist and recipient of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He joined the Nazi party in 1938.  He died at age 85.

1985~ Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (b. July 5, 1902), American diplomat and 1960 Vice Presidential nominee as Richard Nixon’s running mate.  He was a United States Senator from Massachusetts from January 1947 until January 1953.  He served as the 3^rd United States Ambassador to the United Nations.  He died in Beverly, Massachusetts at age 82.

1936~ Joshua Alexander (né Joshua Willis Alexander; b. Jan. 22, 1852), 2^nd United States Secretary of Commerce.  He served in the Woodrow Wilson administration from December 1919 until March 1921.  He had previously served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri from March 1907 until December 1919.  He died about a month after his 84^th birthday.

1936~ Ivan Pavlov (b. Sept. 25, 1949), Russian physiologist and recipient of the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He is best known for his studies in classical conditioned responses.  He died at age 86.

1915~ Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin (b. Feb. 22, 1849), Russian mathematician.  He died 5 days after his 66^th birthday.

1906~ Samuel Langley (né Samuel Pierpont Langley; b. Aug. 22, 1834), American physicist and astronomer.  He served as the 3^rd Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, from 1887 until 1906.  He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts.  The Langley Air Force Base in Virginia is named in his honor.  He died at age 71.

1905~ George Boutwell (né George Sewell Boutwell; b. Jan. 28, 1818), 28^th Secretary of the Treasury.  He served under President Ulysses S. Grant from March 1869 to March 1873.  Prior to his service in the Federal Government, he had served as the 20^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He also served as a United States Senator from the State of Massachusetts from March 1873 until March 1877.  He died a month after 87^th birthday.

1902~ Breaker Morant (né Edwin Henry Morant; b. Dec. 9, 1864), Anglo-Australian soldier who allegedly participated in the summary execution of several Boer prisoners during the Second Boer War, as well as a witness to the executions.  His actions lead to a court-martial and he was executed for murder.  He was 37 years old.

1892~ Louis Vuitton (b. Aug. 4, 1821), French designer of leather goods, especially trunks and bags.  He is the founder of the House of Louis Vuitton.  He died at age 70.

1844~ Nicholas Biddle (b. Jan. 8, 1786), American banker and financier.  He died at age 58.

1659~ Henry Dunster (b. Nov. 26, 1609), English-American clergyman and academic. He became the first President of Harvard College.  The date of his birth is not known, but he was baptized on November 26, 1609.  He died at age 49.

1425~ Vasily I of Moscow (b. Dec. 30, 1371).  He was the Grand Prince of Moscow from May 1389 until his death 36 years later.  He was married to Sophia of Lithuania (1371 ~ 1453).  He died at age 53.

1416~ Eleanor of Castile (b. 1363), Queen consort of Navarre.  She was the wife of Charles III of Navarre.  Her father was Henry II of Castile.  The exact date of her birth is not known, but she is believed to have been about 52 or 53 at the time of her death.

640~ Pepin the Elder (b. 580), Frankish politician.  The exact date of his birth is not known.

February 26

Birthdays:

1958~ Tim Kaine (né Timothy Michael Kaine), American politician and United States Senator from Virginia.  He is best known for being the Democratic Vice President nominee in the 2016 Presidential election.  He was the running mate of Hillary Clinton.

1954~ Recep Tayyio Erdoğan, 12^th President of Turkey.  He assumed office in August 2014.

1949~ Elizabeth George (née Susan Elizabeth George), American writer of mystery stories set in Great Britain.

1948~ Sharyn McCrumb, American author whose books focus on the folklore of Appalachia.

1946~ Ahmed Zewail (d. Aug. 2, 2016), Egyptian-born American chemist.  He was the recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He is known as the Father of Femtochemistry, the study of chemical reactions on extremely short durations.  He died at age 70.

1932~ Johnny Cash (néJohn Ray Cash; d. Sept. 12, 2003), American singer.  He died at age 71.

1931~ Robert Novak (né Robert David Sanders Novak; d. Aug. 18, 2009), American journalist.  He died at age 78 of complications from a brain tumor.

1928~ Ariel Sharon (né Ariel Scheinermann; d. Jan. 11, 2014), 11^th Prime Minister of Israel.  He was a retired General.  He had been a commander in the Israeli Army from its inception in 1948, thus he lead Israel in war and peace.  He suffered a massive stroke in January 2006 and remained in a coma for the rest of his life.  He died at age 85.

1928~ Fats Domino (né Antoine Dominique Domino, Jr.; d. Oct. 24, 2017), African-American New Orleans pianist who shaped rock ‘n’ roll.  He died in Harvey, Louisiana at age 89.

1926~ Sandy Green (né James Alexander Green; d. Apr. 7, 2014), Scottish mathematician.  He died at age 88.

1921~ Betty Hutton (née Elizabeth June Thornburg; d. Mar. 12, 2007), American stage and film actress.  She died of colon cancer 2 weeks after her 86^th birthday.

1920~ Tony Randall (né Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; d. May 17, 2004), American actor.  He was married twice.  His first wife, Florence Gibbs, died in 1992.  At age 75, he remarried Heather Harlan, who was 25 years old.  They had two children.  He died at age 84.

1916~ Jackie Gleason (né John Herbert Gleason; d. June 24, 1987), American actor and musician.  He died of cancer at age 71.

1903~ Guilio Natta (d. May 2, 1979), Italian chemist and recipient of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 76.

1887~ William Frawley (d. Mar. 3, 1966), American actor best known for his role as Fred Mertz on the I Love Lucy show.  He died of a heart attack 5 days after his 79^th birthday.

1882~ Husband E. Kimmel (né Husband Edward Kimmel, d. May 14, 1968), American admiral.  He died at age 86.

1866~ Herbert Henry Dow (d. Oct. 15, 1930), Canadian-American businessman and founder of the Dow Chemical Company.  He died at age 64.

1861~ Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (d. Sept. 10, 1948).  He was the Tsar of Bulgaria from October 1908 until October 1918.  He died at age 87.

1852~ John Harvey Kellogg (d. Dec. 14, 1943), American surgeon and vegetarian advocate.  He was from Battle Creek, Michigan and ran a sanitarium that focused on nutrition and exercise.  He, along with his brother Will (1860 ~ 1951), became known for creating the breakfast cereal, Kellogg’s Cornflakes.  He died at age 91.

1846~ Buffalo Bill Cody (né William Frederick Cody; d. Jan. 10, 1917), American frontiersman and showman.  He died of kidney failure at age 70.

1844~ Horace Lurton (né Horace Harmon Lurton; d. July 12, 1914), Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President William Taft.  He replaced Rufus Peckham on the Court.  He was nominated to the Court at age 65, making him the oldest Justice at the time to be appointed.  He served on the Court for 5 years.  He died in office at age 70.

1829~ Levi Strauss (né Löb Strauß; d. Sept. 26, 1902), German-born American clothing manufacturer. He founded Levi Strauss & Company, the first company to manufacture denim blue jeans, which were worn by gold miners during the California Gold Rush.  He died at age 73.

1808~ Honoré-Victorin Daumier (d. Feb. 10, 1879), French artist, painter, illustrator and sculptor.  He died 16 days before his 71^st birthday.

1802~ Victor Hugo (né Victor Marie Hugo, d. May 22, 1885), French novelist best known for his novels Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  He died at age 83.

1786~ François Arago (néDominique François Jean Arago; d. Oct. 2, 1853), French mathematician.  He died at age 67.

1777~ Mateja Nenadović(d. Dec. 11, 1854), Serbian priest, historian and politician.  He is considered the 1^st Prime Minister of Serbia.  He died at age 77.

1564~ Christopher Marlowe (d. May 30, 1593), English playwright.  He was stabbed to death at age 29.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he was baptized on February 26.

1416~ Christopher II, King of Denmark (d. Jan. 5, 1448).  He was also known as Christopher of Bavaria.  He was married to Dorothea of Brandenburg.  He died at age 31.

1361~ Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (d. Aug. 16, 1419), King of Bohemia.  He died at age 58.

Events that Changed the World:

2013~ A hot air balloon carrying tourist crashed near the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. Nineteen people were killed.

2008~The New York Philharmonic performed in Pyongyang, North Korea.  It was the first such an event to occur in North Korea.

1995~ The United Kingdom’s oldest investment banking institution, the Barings Bank, collapsed after a securities broker lost $1.4 Billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using future contracts.

1993~ A truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City exploded, killing 6 people in injuring over 1000.

1980~ Egypt and Israel established full diplomatic relations.

1972~ The Buffalo Creek Flood in West Virginia caused a dam to burst, killing 125 people.

1971~ U.N. Secretary-General U Thant (1909 ~ 1974) signed a United Nations Proclamation of the establishing the vernal equinox as Earth Day.

1935~ Adolf Hitler (1889 ~ 1945) ordered the Luftwaffe to be reformed in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.

1929~ President Calvin Coolidge (1872 ~ 1933) signed an Executive Order establishing Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

1919~ President Woodrow Wilson (1856 ~ 1924) signed an Act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.

1917~ The Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded the first Jazz record.  The band originally called itself the Original Dixieland Jass Band.

1909~ The first successful color motion picture process, the Kinemacolor, was first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London, England.

1815~ Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 ~ 1821) escaped from Elba.

1794~ The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark burned down.

1616~ Galileo Galileo (1564 ~ 1642) was banned by the Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.

Good-Byes:

2017~ Ludvig Faddeev (b. Mar. 23, 1934), Russian mathematician.  He died less than a month before his 83^rd birthday.

2017~ Joseph Wapner (né Joseph Albert Wapner; b. Nov. 15, 1919), American judge who presided over The People’s Court.  He was the first star of the reality television court.  His show ran from 1981 until 1992.  He died at age 97.

2015~ Earl Lloyd (né Earl Francis Lloyd; b. Apr. 3, 1928), American NBA player who broke the color barrier.  In 1950, he became the first African-American to play in the National Basketball Association.  He was drafted by the Washington Capitols.  He was 86 years old.

2013~ Thomas C. Griffin (b. July 10, 1916), American World War II navigator who helped steer the Doolittle Raid.  He died at age 96.

2011~ Eugene Fodor (né Eugene Nicholas Fodor, Jr.; b. Mar. 5, 1950), American violin virtuoso haunted by addiction.  He died of liver disease 7 days before his 61^st birthday.

2011~ Arnošt Lustig (b. Dec. 21, 1926), Czech novelist who recalled the horrors of the Holocaust.  He died at age 84.

2010~ Louis Fabian Bachrach, Jr. (b. Apr. 9, 1917), American photographer who put the powerful at ease.  He is best known for his photographs of celebrities, politicians and presidents.  He was born and died in Newton, Massachusetts.  He died at age 92.

2005~ Jef Raskin (né Jeff Raskin; b. Mar. 9, 1943), American tech genius who created the Macintosh for Apple.  He died of pancreatic cancer 11 days before his 62^nd birthday.

2005~ Henry A. Grunwald (né Heinz Anatole Grünwald; b. Dec. 3, 1922), Austrian-born American journalist and editor who reinvented Time magazine.  He died at age 82.

1998~ Theodore Schultz (né Theodore William Schultz; b. Apr. 30, 1902), American economist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.  He died at age 95.

1994~ Avery Fisher (né Albert Robert Fisher; b. Mar. 4, 1906), American audio specialist.  He is best known for the design of the auditorium in the Lincoln Center cultural complex in Manhattan.  He died 6 days before his 88^th birthday.

1985~ Albert Turner Bharucha-Reid (néAlbert Turner Reid; b. Nov. 13, 1927), American mathematician who worked on probability theory.  He died at age 57.

1985~ Tjalling Koopmans (né Tjalling Charles Koopmans; b. Aug. 28, 1910), Dutch-American mathematician and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Economic Science.  He died in New Haven, Connecticut at age 74.

1969~ Levi Eshkol (né Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik; b. Oct. 25, 1895), Prime Minister of Israel.  He served as Prime Minister from June 1963 until his death in February 1969.  He died in office at age 73.

1931~ Otto Wallach (b. Mar. 27, 1847), German chemist and recipient of the 1910 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on alicyclic compounds.  He died a month before his 84^th birthday.

1903~ Richard Jordan Gatling (b. Sept. 12, 1818), American inventor who invented the Gatling gun, the first successful machine gun.  He died at age 84.

1850~ Daoguang Emperor (b. Sept. 16, 1782), Chinese Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.  He reigned during the First Opium War.  He died at age 67.

1839~ Sybil Ludington (b. Apr. 5, 1761), heroine of the American Revolutionary War.  At age 16, she rode her horse 40 miles throughout the night of April 22, 1777 to warn the militiamen that British troops were planning to attack Danbury, Connecticut.  She died at age 77.

1834~ Alois Senefelder (né Johann Alois Senefelder; b. Nov. 6, 1771), Czech inventor of the lithography printing process.  He died at age 62.

1813~ Robert Livingston (b. Nov. 27, 1746), American politician and assisted in the negotiation of the Louisiana Purchase from France.  He was the 1^st United States Secretary for Foreign Affairs.  He served in this position during the George Washington administration from October 1781 until June 1783.  He died at age 66.

1638~ Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac (b. Oct. 9, 1581), French mathematician.  He died at age 56.

1603~ Archduchess Maria of Austria (b. June 21, 1528), Holy Roman Empress consort and wife of Maximilian II.  She died at age 74.

1577~ King Eric XIV of Sweden (b. Dec. 13, 1533).  He ruled from September 1580 until he was deposed 8 years later in September 1568.  After he was deposed, he was imprisoned and believed to have been murdered.  He died at age 43.

1548~ Lorenzino de’Medici (b. Mar. 23, 1514), Italian writer and politician.  He is best known for assassinating his cousin, Alessandro de’Medici.  He was subsequently murdered about a month before his 34^th birthday.

1275~ Margaret of England (b. Sept. 29, 1240).  She was the Queen consort of Scots and wife of King Alexander III of Scotland.  She was the second child of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence.  She died at age 34.