Birthdays:
1984~ Olivia Wilde (née Olivia Jane Cockburn), American actress.
1971~ Jon Hamm (né Jonathan Daniel Hamm), American actor, best known for his role as Don Drapper in Mad Men.
1966~ Edie Brickell (née Edie Arlisa Brickell), American singer-songwriter.
1964~ Prince Edward (né Edward Antony Richard Louis), Earl of Wessex, youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
1961~ Laurel Clark (née Laurel Blair Salton; d. Feb. 1, 2003), American astronaut who was killed during the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. She died at age 41.
1958~ Sharon Stone (née Sharon Vonne Stone), American actress.
1957~ Osama bin Laden (d. May 2, 2011), Saudi Islamist and al-Quada terrorist who was killed in Pakistan by United States operatives. President Barack Obama announced his death on May 1 in the United States, however, due to the time difference between the United States and Abbottabad, Pakistan, he was actually killed on May 2 local time. He was 54 years old.
1953~ Paul Haggis (né Paul Edward Haggis), Canadian film and television director.
1947~ Kim Campbell (née Avril Phaedra Douglas Campbell), 19th Prime Minister of Canada. She served as Prime Minister for 4 months from June 1993 until November 1993.
1940~ Chuck Norris (né Carlos Ray Norris), American actor.
1929~ Sam Steiger (né Samuel Steiger; d. Sept. 26, 2012), American conservative politician from Arizona who courted trouble. He is known for shooting two burros, allegedly in self-defense, much to the outrage of his constituents. He was in the United States House of Representatives from Arizona. He died at age 83.
1927~ Robert Kearns (né Robert William Kearns; d. Feb. 9, 2005), American engineer who invented the intermittent windshield wiper. He died of brain cancer a month before his 78thbirthday.
1927~ Bernard Lansky (d. Nov. 15, 2012), American tailor who lived in Memphis, Tennessee and who clothed Rock ‘n Roll royalty, starting with Elvis Presley. He died at age 85.
1926~ Marques Haynes (d. May 22, 2015), American professional basketball player and Harlem Globetrotter who dazzled with his dribbling. He was 89 years old.
1925~ Bob Lanier (né Robert Clayton Lanier; d. Dec. 20, 2014), American politician and 58th Mayor of Houston, Texas. He was Mayor from January 1992 until January 1998. He died at age 89.
1924~ Judith Jones (d. Aug. 2, 2017), American editor who discovered Julia Child. She is also known for rescuing The Diary of Anne Frank from a discard pile. She was born in Walden, Vermont. She died at age 93.
1923~ Val Logsdon Fitch (d. Feb. 5, 2015), American nuclear physicist and recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physics. He died at age 91.
1920~ Alfred H. Peet (d. Aug. 29, 2007), Dutch-born businessman and founder of Peet’s Coffee & Tea. He died at age 87.
1903~ Clare Boothe Luce (née Ann Clare Boothe; d. Oct. 9, 1987), American journalist and diplomat. She died at age 84.
1892~ Arthur Honegger (néOscar-Arthur Honegger, d. Nov. 27, 1955), Swiss-French composer. He died at age 73.
1876~ Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington (née Anna Vaughn Hyatt; d. Oct. 4, 1973), American sculptor. She was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She died at age 97 in Redding, Connecticut.
1867~ Lillian D. Wald (d. Sept. 1, 1940), American nurse and early advocate for nursing schools. She was an activist in many social causes, including health care and women’s rights. She was involved in the formation of the NAACP. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 73 in Westport, Connecticut.
1845~ Tsar Alexander III of Russia (d. Nov. 1, 1894). He ruled from March 1881 until his death 13 years later. He died at age 49 of kidney disease.
1844~ Marie Euphrosyne Spartali (d. Mar. 6, 1927), English pre-Raphaelite painter and artist. She was one of the best known artist of her time. She died 4 days before her 83rd birthday.
1796~ James “Jim” Bowie (d. Mar. 6, 1836), American pioneer and soldier. Although born in Kentucky, he spent much of his life in Louisiana. He is credited with inventing the Bowie knife. He was killed at the Alamo. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but is generally considered to be March 10, 1796. He is believed to have died 4 days before his 40thbirthday.
1719~ Thomas Gage (d. Apr. 2, 1787), British general and American Revolutionary War figure. He had also served as Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The exact year of his birth is not known. He is believed to have been born in either 1719 or 1720. He died at age 67 or 68.
1628~ Marcello Malpighi (d. Nov. 29, 1694), Italian astronomer, physician and botanist. He died at age 66.
1503~ Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. July 25, 1564). He reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from February 1558 until his death 6 years later. He was married to Anne of Bohemia and Hungary. He died at age 61.
1452~ King Ferdinand V of Castille, and Ferdinand II of Aragon (d. Jan. 23, 1516), the Spanish king who supported the travels of Christopher Columbus. He was also the architect behind the Spanish Inquisition. He was known as Ferdinand the Catholic. He was married to Queen Isabella I. He died at age 63.
1415~ Vasily II of Moscow (d. Mar. 27, 1462), Grand Prince of Moscow. He was known as Vasily II the Blind. He ruled over Moscow from February 1425 until his death in 1462. He died 17 days after his 47th birthday.
Events that Changed the World:
2008~ The New York Times first reported on New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer's, escapades with high-end prostitutes.
1985~ Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931) became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He formally took Office on the following day.
1980~ Jean Harris (1923 ~ 2012), the headmistress of the exclusive Madeira School in New York, shot and killed her ex-lover, the diet doctor Herman Tarnover (1810 ~ 1980), author of The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet. She was later found guilty and spent several years in prison.
1977~ Astronomers discovered that Uranus had rings.
1952~ Fulgencio Batista (1901 ~ 1973) lead a successful coup in Cuba and appointed himself as provisional president.
1933~ An earthquake struck Long Beach, California, killing over 115 people.
1891~ Almon Strowger (1839 ~ 1902) patented the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
1876~ The first communication by telephone, when Alexander Graham Bell (1847 ~ 1922) called his Assistant, saying: Mr. Watson, Come here, I want you!
1864~ The Red River Campaign during the American Civil War began as Union Troops reached Alexandria, Louisiana. The Red River Campaign was a series of battles fought along Louisiana’s Red River from March 10 through May 22, 1964. The Red River Campaign was ultimately a Union failure and did not have a major impact on the outcome of the Civil War.
1831~ The French Foreign Legion was established by King Louis-Philippe (1773 ~ 1850) to support his war in Algeria.
1804~ A formal ceremony was held in St. Louis, Missouri to commemorate the transfer of ownership of the Louisiana Territory from France to the United States.
1629~ King Charles I (1600 ~ 1649) of England dissolved Parliament, thereby beginning the 11-year period known as the Personal Rule.
Good-Byes:
2018~ Count Hubert de Givenchy (né Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy; b. Feb. 21, 1927), French fashion designer and couturier who made Audrey Hepburn an icon. He is best known for creating the little black dress. He died 16 days after his 91st birthday.
2017~ Robert James Waller (b. Aug. 1, 1939), American author who made Madison County famous. He is best known for his novel The Bridges of Madison County. He died at age 77.
2014~ Joe McGinniss, Sr. (né Joseph Ralph McGinnis; b. Dec. 9, 1942), American author and journalist. He is best known for writing true crime books, such as Fatal Attraction. He died of prostate cancer at age 71 in Worcester, Massachusetts.
2013~ Princess Lilian of Sweden, Duchess of Halland (née Lillian May Davies; b. Aug. 30, 1915), Welsh coalminer’s daughter who became a princess. She died at age 97.
2012~ Frank Sherwood Rowland (b. June 28, 1927), American chemist and recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He is best known for ozone depletion research. He died at age 84.
2001~ C.J. Eliezer (né Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer, b. June 12, 1918), Sri Lankan-born mathematician. He died at age 82.
1998~ Lloyd Bridges (né Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr.; b. Jan. 15, 1913), American actor. He died at age 85.
1966~ Frank O’Connor (né Michael Francis O’Donovan; b. Sept. 17, 1903), Irish writer best known for his short stories. He died of a heart attack at age 62.
1966~ Frits Zernike (b. July 16, 1888), Dutch physicist and recipient of the 1953 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the phase-contrast microscope. He died of a long illness at age 77.
1948~ Zelda Fitzgerald (née Zelda Sayre; b. July 24, 1900), American writer and wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald. She was killed in a fire at age 47.
1942~ Wilbur Scoville (né Wilbur Lincoln Scoville; b. Jan. 22, 1865), American pharmacist and chemist. He is best known for the development of the Scoville Organoleptic Test, which is the standardized scale for measuring the pungency and heat of various chili peppers. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He died at age 77.
1940~ Makhail Bulgakov (b. May 15, 1891), Russian author best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, which was published posthumously. He died of kidney disease at age 48.
1913~ Harriet Tubman (née Araminta Ross; b. 1820), former slave and American abolitionist, known for being a conductor on the Underground Railroad. The exact date of her birth is unknown, but she is believed to have been born in 1820.
1792~ John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (b. May 25, 1713), Scottish politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was Prime Minister during the reign of King George III, from May 1762 until April 1763. He died at age 78.
1766~ Jane Colden (b. Mar. 27, 1724), American botanist. She died in childbirth less than 3 weeks before her 42nd birthday. She was the first known female biologist in the United States. Although she was not acknowledged in published papers, she regularly corresponded with leading botanists and her work contributed to considerable identification of American plants.
948~ Liu Zhiyuan (b. Mar. 4, 895), Chinese emperor and founder of the Later Han Dynasty. He died 6 days after his 53rd birthday.
483~ Pope Simplicius. He was Pope from 468 until his death on this date 15 years later. The date of his birth is unknown.
No comments:
Post a Comment