Thursday, June 20, 2019

June 20

Birthdays:

1969~ Misha Verbitsky, Russian mathematician.

1967~ Nicole Kidman (née Nicole Mary Kidman), Australian actress.

1955~ E. Lynn Harris (né Everette Lynn Harris; d. July 23, 2009), the African-American author who wrote about gay Black men.  He died of heart disease at age 54.

1954~ Ilan Ramon (né Ilan Wolferman, d. Feb. 1, 2003), Israeli combat pilot and astronaut, who was killed, along with 6 other crew members, when the Columbia crashed upon re-entry.  He was 48 years old.

1952~ John Goodman (né John Stephen Goodman), American actor.  He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1949~ Lionel Richie (né Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr.), American musician.

1946~ David Kazhdan, Russian-Israeli mathematician.

1942~ Neil Trudinger (né Neil Sidney Trudinger), Australian mathematician.

1940~ John Mahoney (né Charles John Mahoney; d. Feb. 4, 2018), British-born American actor best known for his role as Martin Crain in the television sit-com Frasier.  He found fame late in life.  He died of throat cancer at age 77.

1933~ Danny Aiello (né Daniel Louis Aiello, Jr.), American actor.

1931~ Olympia Dukakis, American actress.  She was born in Lowell, Massachusetts.

1930~ Catherine Aird (née Kinn Hamilton McIntosh), author of “cozy” crime fiction novels.

1928~ Martin Landau (né Martin James Landau; d. July 15, 2017), American versatile actor who fought against typecasting.  He died of an abdominal hemorrhage 25 days after his 89th birthday.

1926~ Rehavam Ze’evi (d. Oct. 17, 2001), Israeli general and politician.  He was an Israeli tourist minister.  He was the first Israeli minister to be assassinated in a terrorist attack.  He died at age 75.

1925~ Audie Murphy (né Audie Leon Murphy; d. May 28, 1971), American actor and soldier.  He was a hero in World War II.  He was killed in a private plane crash.  He died less than a month before his 46th birthday.

1925~ Doris Hart (d. May 29, 2015), American tennis champion who beat the odds.  She was a World Number 1 tennis player who was active in the 1940s and ‘50s.  She was one of just three players to have a “boxes set” of Grand Slam titles by winning the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles from all four Grand Slam events.  She died 22 days before her 90th birthday.

1917~ Helena Rasiowa (d. Aug. 9, 1994), Polish mathematician.  She died at age 77.

1909~ Errol Flynn (né Errol Leslie Flynn; d. Oct. 14, 1959), Australian actor known for his romantic swashbuckling roles.  He died of a heart attack at age 50.

1905~ Lillian Hellman (née Lillian Florence Hellman; d. June 30, 1984), American playwright.  She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.  She died in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts 10 days after her 79th birthday.

1884~ Mary Ross Calvert (d. June 25, 1974), American astronomer and astrophotographer.  She died in Nashville, Tennessee 5 days after her 90th birthday.

1861~ Sir Frederick Hopkins (né Frederick Gowland Hopkins; d. May 16, 1947), English biochemist and recipient of the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died just over a month before his 86th birthday.

1837~ David Josiah Brewer (d. Mar. 28, 1910), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was nominated to the High Court by President Benjamin Harrison.  He served on the Court from December 1889 until his death on this date 21 years later.  He replaced Stanley Matthews on the Court.  He was born in Izmir, Turkey.  He died at age 72.

1819~ Jacques Offenbach (d. Oct. 5, 1880), German-born French composer.  He died at age 61.

1808~ Samson Raphael Hirsch (d. Dec. 31, 1888), German rabbi.  He opposed the Reform and Conservative movements.  He died at age 80.

Events that Changed the World:

2009~ During the Iranian elections protests, Neda Agha-Soltan (1983 ~ 2009) shot to death and her death was caught on video and immediately released on the internet.

1975~ The movie, Jaws, was released.

1959~ A rare hurricane struck in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  Thirty-five people were killed in the storm.

1945~ The United States government approved the transfer of Wernher von Braun (1912 ~ 1977) and his team of Nazi scientist to America.

1943~ Kazimierz Piechowski (1919 ~ 2017) led an escape from the Auschwitz concentration camp by dressing up as an SS officer and stealing an SS staff car.

1893~ Lizzie Bordon (1860 ~ 1927) was acquitted of the murders of her father and step-mother.

1877~ Alexander Graham Bell (1847 ~ 1922) installed the world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

1863~ West Virginia was admitted as the 35th State in the Union.

1840~ Samuel Morse (1791 ~ 1772) received a patent for the telegraph.

1837~ Queen Victoria of England (1819 ~ 1901) ascended to the British throne.  Her coronation would take place in June 1838.  She reigned over England and the British Commonwealth until her death on January 22, 1901.

1819~ The SS Savannah became the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic.  It was a hybrid vessel that was part sailing ship and part steam ship.  The vessel set off from the United States in late May, and arrived in Liverpool in mid-June.

1782~ United States Congress adopted the design for the Great Seal of the United States.

1248~ The University of Oxford received its Royal charter.

Good-Byes:

2012~ LeRoy Neiman (né Leroy Leslie Runquist; b. June 8, 1921), American artist who immortalized sporting legends. He died 12 days after his 91st birthday.

2012~ Judy Agnew (née Elinor Isabel Judefind; b. Apr. 23, 1921), Second Lady of the United States and wife of United States Vice President, Spiro T. Agnew.  She was 91 years old.

2005~ Larry Collins (né John Lawrence Collins; b. Sept 14, 1929), American writer and journalist who wrote Is Paris Burning?, about the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, and O Jerusalem!, about the birth of Israel.  He died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 75.

2005~ Jack Kilby (né Jack St. Clair Kilby; b. Nov. 8, 1923), American physicist and recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 81.

1999~ Clifton Fadiman (né Clifton Paul Fadiman; b. May 15, 1904), American author and television personality.  He died of pancreatic cancer just a month after his 95th birthday.

1972~ Howard Johnson (né Howard Deering Johnson; b. Feb. 2, 1897), American businessman and founder of the Howard Johnson restaurant chain.  He was born and died in Massachusetts.  He died at age 75.

1965~ Bernard Baruch (néBernard Mannes Baruch; b. Aug. 19, 1870), American financier and statesman.  He died at age 94.

1963~ Raphaël Salem (b. Nov. 7, 1898), Greek mathematician.  He died at age 64.

1958~ Kurt Alder (b. July 10, 1902), German chemist and recipient of the 1950 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died under mysterious circumstances 20 days before his 56th birthday.

1947~ Bugsy Siegel (né Benjamin Siegel; b. Feb. 28, 1906), American gangster.  He was murdered at age 41.

1883~ John Colenso (né John William Colenso; b. Jan. 24, 1814), British mathematician, theologian and Biblical scholar.  He died at age 69.

1862~ Barbu Catargui (b. Oct. 26, 1807), 1st Prime Minister of Romania.  He served as Prime Minister from February 1862 until he was assassinated at age 54.  His assassin was never caught.

1843~ Hugh S. Legaré (né Hugh Swinton Legaré, b. Jan. 2, 1797), 16th United States Attorney General.  He served under President John Tyler from September 1841 until his death at age 46 in June 1843.  He died in office.  He also briefly served as Acting United States Secretary of State under President Tyler from May 1843 until June 1843.  He was born in Charleston, South Carolina and died in Boston, Massachusetts.

1837~ King William IV of the United Kingdom (b. Aug. 21, 1765).  He reigned as King from June 1830 until June 1937.  He was succeeded by Queen Victoria.  He died at age 71.

1800~ Abraham Gotthelf Kästner (b. Sept. 27, 1719), German mathematician.  He died at age 80.

1605~ Feodor II of Russia (b. 1589).  He was assassinated by strangulation 3 months after being installed as tsar.  He was murdered at age 16.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

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