October 31

Halloween

Birthdays:

1966 ~ Mike O’Malley (né Michael Edward O’Malley), American actor.  He is best known for his role as Burt Hummel on the television drama Glee.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

1963 ~ Dermot Mulroney, American actor.

1963 ~ Rob Schneider (né Robert Michael Schneider), American comedian and actor.

1954 ~ Ken Wahl (né Kenneth M. Wahl), American actor and animal rights activist.

1953 ~ Don Winslow, American novelist best known for his crime and mystery novels.

1951 ~ Nick Saban (né Nicholas Lou Saban, Jr.), American college football coach who coached for Louisiana State University, before moving on to the University of Alabama.

1950 ~ John Candy (né John Franklin Candy; d. Mar. 4, 1994), Canadian actor and comedian.  He died of a heart attack at age 43.

1950 ~ Jane Pauley (née Margaret Jane Pauley), American journalist and news anchor.

1946 ~ Stephen Rea, Irish actor.  He is best known for his role as Fergus in the 1992 film The Crying Game.

1945 ~ Brian Doyle-Murray (né Brian Murray), American actor and comedian.  He is the older brother of comedian Bill Murray.

1943 ~ Brian Piccolo (né Louis Brian Piccolo, d. June 16, 1970), American football player.  He died of cancer at age 26.  His life story was depicted in the movie, Brian’s Song.

1942 ~ David Ogden Stiers (né David Allen Ogden Stiers; d. Mar. 3, 2018), American actor best known for his role as Major Charles Emerson Winchester, III on the television sit-com M*A*S*H.  He died of cancer at age 75.

1939 ~ Ron Rifkin (né Saul M. Rifkin), American actor.

1936 ~ Michael Landon (né Eugene Maurice Orowitz; d. July 1, 1991), American actor.  He died at age 54 of pancreatic cancer.

1935 ~ Dale Brown (né Dale Duward Brown), American basketball coach who coached the LSU Tigers for 25 years.

1935 ~ Ronald Graham (né Ronald Lewis Graham), American mathematician.

1931 ~ Dan Rather (né Dan Irvin Rather, Jr.), American journalist and news anchor.

1930 ~ Michael Collins, American astronaut.  He was the command module pilot for Apollo 11.

1925 ~ Sir John Pople (né John Anthony Pople; d. Mar. 15, 2004), English chemist and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 78.

1925 ~ Robin Moore (né Robert Lowell Moore, Jr.; d. Feb. 21, 2008), American popular author who wrote The French Connection.  He also wrote The Green Berets.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died at age 82.

1922 ~ Barbara Bel Geddes (d. Aug. 8, 2005), American actress best known for her role as Miss Ellie on the television series, Dallas.  She died of lung cancer at age 82 in Northeast Harbor, Maine.

1922 ~ Norodom Sihanouk (d. Oct 15, 2012), Cambodian king and 1^st Prime Minister of Cambodia who reigned over independence and bloodshed.  He died 2 weeks before his 90^th birthday.

1920 ~ Helmut Newton (né Helmut Neustädter; d. Jan. 23, 2004), German photographer.  He was killed in a car accident at age 83.

1920 ~ Dick Francis (né Richard Stanley Francis; d. Feb. 14, 2010), British jockey who was a best-selling novelist.  He died at age 89.

1919 ~ Father Magnus Wenninger (né Magnus Joseph Wenninger; d. Feb. 17, 2017), American mathematician and Catholic priest.  He died at age 97.

1918 ~ Griffin Bell (né Griffin Boyette Bell; d. Jan. 5, 2009), 72^nd United States Attorney General.  He served under President Jimmy Carter.  He served as Attorney General from January 1977 until August 1979.  He was also a Judge of the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit from February 1962 until March 1976.  He died at age 90.

1912 ~ Dale Evans (née Lucille Wood Smith; d. Feb. 7, 2001), American singer-songwriter and actress.  She was the 3^rd wife of Roy Rogers and he was her 4^th husband.  She died of congestive heart failure at age 88.

1912 ~ Oscar Dystel (d. May 28, 2014), American publisher who saved the paperback.  His made Bantam Books a pioneer and main publisher of paperback books.  He died at age 101.

1902 ~ Abraham Wald (d. Dec. 13, 1950), Hungarian mathematician.  He was killed in a plane crash at age 48.

1896 ~ Ethel Waters (d. Sept. 1, 1977), African-American actress and singer.  She died of uterine cancer at age 80.

1887 ~ Chiang Kai-shek (d. Apr. 5, 1975), 1^st President of the Republic of China.  He died at age 87.

1860 ~ Juliette Gordon Low (née Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon; d. Jan. 17, 1927), American founder of the Girl Scouts.  She died of breast cancer at age 66.

1860 ~ Andrew Volstead (né Andrew John Volstead; d. Jan. 20, 1947), American Republican member of the United States House of Representatives.  He is best known as being the author of the National Prohibition Act of 1919, commonly referred to as the Volstead Act, which authorized prohibition of the sale of alcohol.  He died at age 86.

1848 ~ Boston Custer (d. June 25, 1876), youngest brother of George Armstrong Custer (b. Dec. 5, 1839) and Thomas Ward Custer (b. Mar. 15, 1845).  All were killed in the Battle of Little Big Horn.  Boston was 27 years old; George Custer was 36 years old, and Thomas was 31.

1835 ~ Adolf von Baeyer (né Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf Baeyer; d. Aug. 20, 1917), German chemist and recipient of the 1905 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 81.

1827 ~ Richard Morris Hunt (d. July 31, 1897), American architect and designer of the New York Tribune Building.  He was born in Brattleboro, Vermont.  He died in Newport, Rhode Island at age 67.

1815 ~ Karl Weierstraβ (né Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstraβ; d. Feb. 19, 1897), German mathematician.  He died at age 81.

1795 ~ John Keats (d. Feb. 23, 1821), English poet.  He died of tuberculosis at age 25.

1711 ~ Laura Bassi (née Laura Maria Catrina Bassi; d. Feb. 20, 1778), Italian physician and scholar.  She is believed to have been the first female university professor in Europe.  The exact date of her birth is not known, but she is believed to have been born sometime between October 20 and 31 in 1711.  She died at age 66.

1705 ~ Pope Clement XIV (né Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli; d. Sept. 22, 1774).  He was Pope from May 19, 1769 until his death on this date 5 years later.  He was 68 at the time of his death.

1632 ~ Jan Vermeer (d. Dec. 15, 1675), Dutch/Flemish painter.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he was baptized on this date.   The date of his death is unknown, but he was buried on December 15, 1675.  He died at age 43.

1607 ~ Pierre de Fermat (d. Jan. 12, 1665), French mathematician.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, although it is generally attributed to have been 1601 it may have been as late as 1607.  Also, he may have been born as late as December 7, 1607.  He was, thus, either 57 or 63 at the time of his death.  He did pioneering work in analytic geometry.

1424 ~ King Władysław III of Poland (d. Nov. 10, 1444).  He was killed in the Battle of Varna just 10 days after his 20^th birthday.

Events that Changed the World:

2017 ~ In an act of terrorism, a truck drove into a crowd of people in Manhattan, killing 8 people.

2015 ~ A Russian plane traveling from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to St. Petersburg, Russia was bombed and crashed in the Sinai.  All 224 passengers and crew perished.  The crash was the result of a terrorist attack.

2011 ~ The global population of humans reached the 7 Billion mark.  The United Nations designated this as Seven Billion Day.

2002 ~ Former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow (b. 1961) was indicted by a federal grand jury in Houston, Texas on 78 counts of money laundering, conspiracy, wire fraud and obstruction of justice in the collapse of Enron.  Fastow was sentenced to a 6-year prison term for his actions.  He was released from prison in December 2011.

1999 ~ EgyptAir flight 990, traveling from New York to Cairo, crashed off the coast of Massachusetts.  All 217 passengers and crew aboard were killed.  The cause of the crash is in dispute.  Two investigations came up with different conclusions: The crash was either due to the deliberate action of the relief first officer or was caused by mechanical failure.

1956 ~ During the Suez Crisis, the United Kingdom and France began bombing Egypt in an attempt for force the reopening of the Suez Canal.

1941 ~ The sculpture at Mount Rushmore was completed 14 years after work had begun.

1922 ~ Benito Mussolini (1883 ~ 1945) was made Prime Minister of Italy.

1913 ~ The Lincoln Highway was dedicated.  This was the first automobile road across the United States.

1864 ~ Nevada became the 36^th State of the Union.

1861 ~ Union General Winfield Scott (1786 ~ 1866) resigned as Commander of the United States Army, citing failing health.

1517 ~ The traditional date that Martin Luther (1483 ~ 1546) nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, hence marking the start of the Protestant Reformation.

Good-Byes:

2013 ~ Gérard de Villiers (b. Dec. 8, 1929), French spy novelist who spun tales from real sources.  He died at age 83.

2012 ~ John H. Reed (né John Hathaway Reed; b. Jan. 5, 1921), 67^th Governor of Maine.  He served as Governor from December 1959 until January 1967.  Before turning to politics, he was a potato farmer in Aroostook County.  He died at age 91.

2012 ~ John Fitch (né John Cooper Fitch, b. Aug. 4, 1917), American racing legend who loved speed and safety.  He invented the safety barriers found on interstate exit ramps.  He died at age 95.

2010 ~ Ted Sorensen (né Theodore Chaikin Sorensen; b. May 8, 1928), 8^th White House Counsel.  He served under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from January 1961 until February 1964.  He died at age 82 of complications from a stroke.

2009 ~ Qian Xuesen (b. Dec. 11, 1911), Chinese aerodynamicist who put China in space.  He died at age 97.

2008 ~ Studs Terkel (né Louis Terkel; b. May 16, 1912), American writer and oral historian who tapped into the heart of America.  He died at age 96.

2006 ~ P.W. Botha (né Pieter Willem Botha, b. Jan. 12, 1916), South African politician.  He was President of South Africa from 1978 to 1989.  He had a reputation as being a tough and ruthless leader.  He died of a heart attack at age 90.

1993 ~ River Phoenix (né River Jude Bottom; b. Aug. 23. 1970), American actor.  He died at age 23 of a drug overdose.

1993 ~ Frederico Fellini (b. Jan. 20, 1920), Italian movie director.  He died of a stroke at age 73.

1991 ~ Joseph Papp (b. June 22, 1921), American stage director and producer.  He died of prostate cancer at age 70.

1988 ~ John Houseman (né Jacques Haussmann, b. Sept. 22, 1902), Rumanian-born actor.  He died of spinal cancer at age 86.

1986 ~ Robert S. Mulliken (né Robert Sanderson Mulliken, b. June 7, 1896), American chemist and recipient of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts.  He died at age 90.

1984 ~ Indira Gandhi (né Indira Priyadarshini Nehru; b. Nov. 19, 1917), Prime Minister of India and first woman to hold that Office.  She served as Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination on October 21, 1984.  She was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards.  Her assassination caused riots throughout India in which nearly 10,000 Sikhs were killed.  She was killed 19 days before her 67^th birthday.

1983 ~ Lu Jaixi (b. June 10, 1935), Chinese self-taught mathematician.  He made important contributions in the field of combinatorial design theory.  He died suddenly at age 48 from exhaustion from overworking.

1977 ~ C.B. Colby (né Carroll Burleigh Colby; b. Sept. 7, 1904), American children’s author.  He was born in Claremont, New Hampshire.  He died at age 73.

1976 ~ Eileen Gray (née Kathleen Eileen Moray Smith; b. Aug. 9, 1878), Irish architect and furniture designer.  She died at age 98.

1926 ~ Harry Houdini (né Erik Weiss, b. Mar. 24, 1874), Hungarian-born American magician.  He died of gangrene following a rupture of his appendix after he had been punched in the gut two weeks earlier.  He died at age 52.

1879 ~ Joseph Hooker (b. Nov. 13, 1814), American general.  He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.  He was born in Hadley, Massachusetts.  He died 2 weeks before his 65^th birthday.

1834 ~ Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (b. June 24, 1771), French businessman who founded a gunpowder company in 1802.  His company was the forerunner of today’s DuPont chemical company.  He died at age 63.

1723 ~ Cosimo III de’Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. Aug. 14, 1642).  He died at age 81.

1517 ~ Fra Bartolomeo (b. Mar. 28, 1472), Italian artist.  He died at age 45.

1214 ~ Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile (b. Oct. 13, 1163).  She was the daughter of King Henry II of England.  She died 13 days after her 53^rd birthday.

October 30

Birthdays:

1981 ~ Ivanka Trump (née Ivanka Marie Trump), daughter of President Donald Trump and adviser to her father during his presidency.

1978 ~ Matthew Morrison (né Matthew James Morrison), American singer and actor.  He is best known for his role as Will Schuester on the television drama Glee.

1963 ~ Andrew Solomon, American journalist and author.

1961 ~ Larry Wilmore (né Elister L. Wilmore), African-American comedian and television host.

1951 ~ Harry Hamlin (né Harry Robinson Hamlin), American actor.

1946 ~ William Thurston (né William Paul Thurston, d. Aug. 21, 2012), American mathematician.  He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1982.  He died at age 65 of cancer.

1946 ~ Andrea Mitchell, American journalist.  She married Alan Greenspan, her 2^nd husband, in 1997.

1945 ~ Henry Winkler (né Henry Franklin Winkler), American actor, best known for his role as The Fonz on Happy Days.

1941 ~ Theodor W. Hänsch (né Theodor Wolfgang Hänsch), German physicist and recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1939 ~ Leland H. Hartwell (né Leland Harrison Hartwell), American biologist and recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of protein molecules that control cell division.

1939 ~ Grace Slick (née Grace Barnett Wing), American singer in the bands Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.

1932 ~ Louis Malle (né Louis Marie Malle; d. Nov. 23, 1995), French film director.  He was married to actress Candice Bergen.  He died of lymphoma 24 days after his 63^rd birthday.

1928 ~ Daniel Nathans (d. Nov. 16, 1999), American microbiologist and recipient of the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of restriction enzymes.  He died 17 days after his 71^st birthday.

1900 ~ Ragnar Granit (né Ragnar Arthur Granit; d. Mar. 12, 1991), Finnish neuroscientist and recipient of the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 90.

1896 ~ Harry R. Truman (né Harry Randall Truman; d. May 18, 1980), American soldier.  He was best known for being a resident of Washington State.  He lived on Mount St. Helens and refused to leave his home despite evacuation orders when the volcano began to erupt in 1980.  He was killed as a result of the eruptions.  He was 83 at the time of his death.

1896 ~ Ruth Gordon (née Ruth Gordon Jones; d. Aug. 28, 1985), American actress, best known for her role as Maude in the 1971 cult film Harold and Maude.  She was born in Quincy, Massachusetts.  She died in Edgartown, Massachusetts at age 88.

1895 ~ Gerhard Domagk (né Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk; d. Apr. 24, 1964), German bacteriologist and recipient of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in antibiotics.  The Nazis forced him to refuse to accept the Nobel Prize.  In 1947, he was finally able to accept the medal, however, he due to the lapse in time, he was unable to receive the monetary award.  He died of a heart attack at age 68.

1895 ~ Dickinson W. Richards (né Dickinson Woodruff Richards, Jr.; d. Feb. 23, 1973), American physician and recipient of the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the development of the cardiac catheterization.  He died at age 77.

1892 ~ Charles Atlas (né Angelo Siciliano; d. Dec. 24, 1972), Italian-born bodybuilder.  He died at age 80.

1885 ~ Ezra Pound (né Ezra Weston Loomis Pound; d. Nov. 1, 1972), American poet.  He died 2 days after his 87^thbirthday.

1882 ~ William Halsey, Jr. (né William Frederick Halsey, Jr.; d. Aug. 16, 1959), American Navy Admiral during World War II.  He died at age 76.

1873 ~ Francisco I. Madero (né Francisco Ignacio Madero Gonzáles; d. Feb. 22, 1913), President of Mexico.  He was President from November 1911 until a coup in February 1913.  He was killed in a military coup at age 39.

1871 ~ Paul Valéry (né Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry; d. July 20, 1945), French poet.  He died at age 73.

1857 ~ Georges Gilles de la Tourette (d. May 26, 1904), French neurologist after whom Tourette’s syndrome is named.  He died at age 46.

1748 ~ Martha Skelton Jefferson (née Martha Wayles; d. Sept. 6, 1782), wife of Thomas Jefferson.  Jefferson was her second husband as her first husband had died young.  She died at age 33 shortly after having given birth to her 7^th child.  She is believed to have died due to complications of diabetes combined with childbirth.  Because she died nearly 19 years before Jefferson became President, she was never the American First Lady.

1735 ~ John Adams (d. July 4, 1826), 2^nd President of the United States.  He was President from March 1797 until March 1801.  Prior to that he had served as the 1^st Vice President of the United States under George Washington, from April 1789 until March 1797.  He died at age 90 in Quincy, Massachusetts.

1632 ~ Sir Christopher Wren (d. Mar. 8, 1723), English architect and mathematician.  Following the Great Fire of London in 1666, he re-designed many of the city’s churches.  He is best known as being the lead architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.  He died at age 90.

Events that Changed the World:

2014 ~ Sweden became the first member of the European Union to officially recognize the Palestine.

1983 ~ Argentina held the first democratic elections after being under military rule for the previous seven years.

1974 ~ The boxing match between Muhammad Ali (1942 ~ 2016) and George Foreman (b. 1949) dubbed the Rumble in the Jungle took place in Zaire.  Ali won the match.

1973 ~ The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey was completed.  The bridge connects Europe with Asia over the Bosphorus.

1960 ~ Dr. Michael Woodruff (1911 ~ 2001) performed the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom.

1945 ~ Jackie Robinson (1919 ~ 1972) signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, thereby becoming the first African-American to play baseball in the major leagues.

1944 ~ Anne Frank (1929 ~ 1945) and her sister, Margot (1925 ~ 1945), were deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

1941 ~ Over 1,500 Jews from Pidhaytsi in the western Ukraine were sent by the Nazis to the Bełżec extermination camp.

1938 ~ Orson Wells (1915 ~ 1985) broadcast The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells, which cause a stir with radio audiences who were not aware that this was a radio play and not real news.

1905 ~ Tsar Nicholas II (1868 ~ 1918) of Russia granted Russia’s first constitution, thereby creating a legislative assembly.  This event occurred on October 17 of the Julian calendar, which was in effect in Russia at the time.

1864 ~ Helena, Montana was founded after prospectors found gold at the “Last Chance Gulch.”

1534 ~ British Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, thereby making King Henry VIII the head of the English Church.  The Pope had previously been head of the Church.

1485 ~ Henry VII (1457 ~ 1509) was crowned King of England.

Good-Byes:

2014 ~ Thomas Menino (né Thomas Michael Menino; b. Dec. 27, 1942), 53^rd Mayor of Boston.  He served as Mayor from July 1993 until January 2014.  He died of cancer at age 71.

2009 ~ Michelle Triola Marvin (née Michelle Triola; b. Nov. 13, 1933), American actress who made the case for “palimony.”  She lived with actor Lee Marvin for years and when they split up, she sued for financial support.  She died of lung cancer 2 weeks before her 77^th birthday.

2009 ~ Claude Levi-Strauss (b. Nov. 28, 1908), French anthropologist and scholar who changed the study of humanity.  He died 29 days before his 101^st birthday.

2007 ~ Robert Goulet (né Robert Gérard Goulet; né b. Nov. 26, 1933), American actor and singer.  He died 27 days before his 74^th birthday.

2006 ~ Clifford Geertz (né Clifford James Geertz; b. Aug. 23, 1926), American anthropologist.  He died at age 80.

2000 ~ Steve Allen (né Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen, b. Dec. 26, 1921), American actor and television personality.  He died at age 78.

1997 ~ Sydney Newman (né Sydney Cecil Newman; b. Apr. 1, 1917), Canadian screenwriter and co-creator of Doctor Who.  He died at age 80.

1987 ~ Joseph Campbell (né Joseph John Campbell, b. Mar. 26, 1904), professor of comparative mythology and religion.  He died at age 83.

1975 ~ Gustav Ludwig Hertz (b. July 22, 1887), German physicist and recipient of the 1925 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 88.

1968 ~ Conrad Richter (né Conrad Michael Richter; b. Oct. 13, 1890), American writer and short-story author.  He died of a heart attack 16 days after his 78^th birthday.

1968 ~ Rose Wilder Lane (née Rose Wilder; b. Dec. 5, 1886), American journalist and author.  She was the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  She died at age 81.

1965 ~ Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. (né Arthur Meier Schlesinger; b. Feb. 27, 1888), American historian and author.  He died in Boston, Massachusetts at age 77.

1928 ~ Robert Lansing (b. Oct. 17, 1864), 42^nd United States Secretary of State.  He served under President Woodrow Wilson from June 1915 until February 1920.  He died 13 days after his 64^th birthday.

1923 ~ Bonar Law (né Andrew Bonar Law; b. Sept. 16, 1858), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister from October 1922 through May 1923.  He died at age 65.

1912 ~ James S. Sherman (né James Schoolcraft Sherman; b. Oct. 24, 1855), 27^th Vice President of the United States.  He served under President William Taft.  He died in office and was succeeded by Thomas Marshall (1854 ~ 1925).  He died 6 days after his 57^th birthday.

1910 ~ Henry Dunant (né Jean-Henri Dunant, b. May 8, 1828), Swiss businessman and social activist.  He was a co-founder of the Red Cross.  He was also the recipient of the 1901 Nobel Peace Prize, the first such prize awarded.  He died at age 82.

1893 ~ Sir John Abbott (né John Joseph Caldwell Campbell; b. Mar. 12, 1821), 3^rd Prime Minister of Canada.  He served from 1891 to 1892.  He died at age 72.

1867 ~ John Albion Andrew (b. May 31, 1818), 25^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1861 until January 1866.  He was born in Windham, Maine.  He died in Boston, Massachusetts of apoplexy at age 49.

1832 ~ Edmund Cartwright (b. Apr. 24, 1743), English clergyman and inventor of the power loom.  He died at age 80.

1809 ~ William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3^rd Duke of Portland (b. Apr. 14, 1738), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the reign of King George III, from March 1807 until October 1809, and he was the Prime Minister of Great Britain from April 1783 until December 1783.  He died at age 71.

1626 ~ Willebrord Snell (b. June 13, 1580), Dutch astronomer and mathematician.  He died at age 46.

1611 ~ King Charles IX of Sweden (b. Oct. 4, 1550).  He was King from March 1604 until his death in October 1611.  He died 26 days after his 61^st birthday.

October 29

National Cat Day

Birthdays:

1971 ~ Daniel J. Bernstein (né Daniel Julius Bernstein), American mathematician.

1971 ~ Winona Ryder (née Winona Laura Horowitz), American actress.

1967 ~ Rufus Sewell (né Rufus Frederik Sewell), English actor.

1957 ~ Dan Castellaneta (né Daniel Louis Castellaneta), American voice actor best known for being the voice of Homer Simpson on the cartoon The Simpsons.

1951 ~ Dirk Kempthorne (né Dirk Arthur Kempthorne), 49^th United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President George W. Bush from June 2006 until January 2009.

1950 ~ Abdullah Gül, President of Turkey from August 2007 until August 2014.  He had previously served as the Prime Minister of Turkey from November 2002 until March 2003.

1947 ~ Richard Dreyfuss (né Richard Stephen Dreyfus), American actor.

1946 ~ Rick Jolly (né Richard Tadeusz Jolly; d. Jan. 13, 2018), British military surgeon who treated both friend and foe.  He served in the 1982 Falklands War and was later decorated by both the British and Argentine governments for his conduct during the conflict.  He died at age 71.

1945 ~ Melba Moore (née Beatrice Melba Hill), African-American singer and actress.

1942 ~ Bob Ross (né Robert Norman Ross; d. July 4, 1995), American painter and art teacher.  He hosted the television show, The Joy of Painting.  He died of lymphoma at age 52.

1938 ~ Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (née Ellen Eugenia Johnson), 24^th President of Liberia and recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.  She was President from January 2006 through January 2018.

1928 ~ Ben Chapman (né Benjamin F. Chapman; d. Feb. 21, 2008), American minor actor who was a major movie monster.  He was best known for playing Gill-man in the 1954 horror film classic, Creature From the Black Lagoon.  He died at age 79.

1927 ~ George C. Nichopoulos (né George Constantine Nichopoulos; d. Feb. 24, 2016), American doctor who enabled Elvis Presley’s drug habit.  His medical license was revoked in 1993.  He died at age 88.

1926 ~ Necmettin Erbakan (d. Feb. 27, 2011), Prime Minister of Turkey.  He held that position from June 1996 through June 1997.  He died at age 84.

1925 ~ Dominick Dunne (né Dominick John Dunne; d. Aug. 26, 2009), American elegant writer who chronicled the famous and infamous.  He died of cancer at age 83.

1925 ~ Nathan Divinsky (né Nathan Joseph Harry Divinsky, d. June 17, 2012), Canadian mathematician.  He died at age 86.

1925 ~ Klaus Roth (né Klaus Friedrich Roth; d. Nov. 10, 2015), German mathematician.  He was raised in the United Kingdom after his family moved there in 1933.  He died 11 days after his 90^th birthday.

1923 ~ Carl Djerassi (d. Jan. 30, 2015), Austrian-born chemist who helped develop the birth control pill.  He was 91.

1920 ~ Baruj Benacerraf (d. Aug. 2, 2011), Venezuelan-born American immunologist and recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts at age 90.

1897 ~ Joseph Goebbels (né Paul Joseph Goebbels; d. May 1, 1945), Nazi Minister of Propaganda.  He and his wife Magda (b. Nov. 11, 1901) killed their children then both committed suicide to avoid trial for war crimes at the end of World War II.  He was 47; his wife was 41 at the time of their suicides.

1891 ~ Fanny Brice (née Fania Borach; d. May 29, 1951), American singer and actress.  She died at age 59 of a cerebral hemorrhage.

1875 ~ Marie of Romania (d. July 18, 1938), Queen Consort of Romania.  She was the wife of King Ferdinand I of Romania.  She was the last queen of Romania.  She was the granddaughter of England’s Queen Victoria.  She died at age 62.

1856 ~ Jacques Curie (d. Feb. 19, 1941), French physicist.  He was the older brother of Pierre Curie.  He died at age 84.

1828 ~ Thomas F. Bayard (né Thomas Francis Bayard; d. Sept. 28, 1898), 30^th United States Secretary of State.  He served from March 1885 until March 1889 during the administrations of Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison.  He died about a month before his 70^th birthday.

1808 ~ Caterina Scarpellini (d. Nov. 28, 1873), Italian astronomer and meteorologist.  One of the craters of Venus is named in her honor.  She died a month after her 65^th birthday.

1740 ~ James Boswell, 9^th Laird of Auchinleck (d. May 19, 1795), Scottish biographer of his contemporary and literary figure, Samuel Johnson.  He died at age 54.

1690 ~ Martin Folkes (d. June 28, 1754), British mathematician.  He died at age 63.

Events that Changed the World:

2015 ~ China announced the end of its One-Child policy, which had been in effect for 35 years.  The policy allowed for a number of exceptions, including ethnic minorities, thus the policy effectively impacted the Han majority.

2013 ~ Turkey opened a sea tunnel in Istanbul connecting Europe and Asia by rail across the Bosporus Strait.

2012 ~ Hurricane Sandy hit the northeast coast of the United States.  The storm killed nearly 300 people, either directly or indirectly, and caused over $70 billion in damages.  This storm became known as Super-Storm Sandy.

2008 ~ Northwest Airlines merged with Delta Airlines, thereby creating the world’s largest airline.

1998 ~ Hurricane Mitch made landfall in Honduras.  The storm is believed to have killed over 11,000 people in Central America.

1967 ~ Expo ’67, Montreal’s World Fair, closed.  Over 50 Million visitors had attended the Fair.

1964 ~ Thieves broke into the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and made off with a collection of gems, including the Star of India, which is one of the largest star sapphires in the world.  The thieves were captured within 2 days of the robbery, however, the stones were not recovered until January 1965.

1957 ~ David Ben-Gurion (1886 ~ 1973), Israel’s Prime Minister and five others were injured when a hand grenade was thrown into the Knesset.

1956 ~ The Suez Crisis began when Israeli forces invaded the Sinai Peninsula.

1941 ~ In the Kaunas Ghetto, over 10,000 Jews were shot and killed by the Germans in what was known as the Great Action Massacre.

1929 ~ The New York Stock Exchange crashed in what would later become known as Black Tuesday.  This event marked the beginning of the Great Depression.

1923 ~ Turkey became a republic following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.

1922 ~ King Victor Emmanuel III (1869 ~ 1947) of Italy appointed Benito Mussolini (1883 ~ 1945) as Prime Minister.

1888 ~ The Convention of Constantinople was signed, which guaranteed free maritime passage through the Suez Canal.

1863 ~ The International Red Cross was formed in Geneva, Switzerland.

1792 ~ Mount Hood in what is now the State of Oregon was named after the British naval officer Samuel Hood, 1^stViscount Hood (1724 ~ 1816).

1787 ~ The first performance of Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni, was in Prague.

1591 ~ Pope Innocent IX (né Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti, 1519 ~ 1591) was elected Pope.  He took the Office at the end of October 1591.  He was Pope, however, for only 2 months before his death in December 1591.

539 BCE ~ Tradition holds that on this date, Cyrus the Great (600 BCE ~ 530 BCE) entered the City of Babylon and ended the Babylonian captivity of the Jews.  He gave the Jews permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.  Many Jews, however, chose to remain in Babylon, now in present day Iraq.

Good-Byes:

2017 ~ Dennis Banks (b. Apr. 12, 1937), Anishinaabe Native American civil rights leader who fought for native rights.  In 1968, he co-founded the American Indian Movement.  He died of complications of pneumonia following heart surgery.  He was 80 years old.

2012 ~ Letitia Baldridge (b. Feb. 9, 1926), American manners guru who served the Kennedys in the White House.  She was the 11^th White House Social Secretary from 1961 until 1963.  She died at age 86.

2009 ~ David Treen, Sr. (né David Connor Treen; b. July 16, 1928), 51^st Governor of Louisiana.  He was Governor from March 1980 until March 1984.  He was born in Baton Rouge and died in Metairie, Louisiana.  He died at age 81.

2004 ~ Peter Twinn (né Peter Frank George Twinn; b. Jan. 9, 1916), English mathematician.  He died at age 88.

2004 ~ Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (née Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott; b. Dec. 25, 1901), British wife of Prince Henry, third son of King George V and Queen Mary.  She was an aunt by marriage to Queen Elizabeth II.  She died at age 102.

1994 ~ Shlomo Goren (b. Feb. 3, 1917), Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israeli.  He died at age 77.

1993 ~ Lipman Bers (b. May 22, 1914), Latvian-born mathematician.  He died at age 79.

1987 ~ Woody Herman (né Woodrow Charles Herman; b. May 16, 1913), American bandleader and musician during the Swing Era.  He died at age 74.

1971 ~ Duane Allman (né Howard Duane Allman; b. Nov. 20, 1946), American musician and member of The Allman Brothers Band.  He was killed less than a month before his 25^th birthday in a motorcycle accident.

1971 ~ Arne Tiselius (né Arne Wilhelm Kaurin Tiselius; b. Aug. 10, 1902), Swedish chemist and recipient of the 1948 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 69.

1959 ~ Edith Clarke (b. Feb. 10, 1883), American electrical engineer.  She was the first female electrical engineer and first female electrical engineer to teach at the University of Texas, Austin.  She died at age 76.

1957 ~ Louis B. Mayer (né Lazar Meir, b. July 12, 1884), Russian-born American movie producer.  He was a cofounder of MGM studios.  He died of leukemia at age 73.

1950 ~ King Gustaf V of Sweden (b. June 16, 1858).  He died at age 92.  He was King of Sweden from December 1907 until his death in October 1950.

1947 ~ Frances Folsom Cleveland (née Frances Clara Folsom, b. July 21, 1864), First Lady of the United States and wife of President Grover Cleveland.  They married when he was in Office.  She was 21 years old at the time of her marriage in 1886, making her the youngest First Lady.  President Cleveland was 49 at the time of their marriage.  After Grover Cleveland died, Frances married Thomas Preston, Jr., in February 1913.  She was the first presidential widow to remarry.  She died at age 83.

1933 ~ Paul Painlevé (b. Dec. 5, 1853), French mathematician and politician.  He served as the Prime Minister of France twice, first from September 1917 until November 1917, and second from April 1925 until November 1925.  He died at age 69.

1924 ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett (née Frances Eliza Hodgson; b. Nov. 24, 1849), British author best known for her children’s classic, The Secret Garden.  She died less than a month before her 75^th birthday.

1911 ~ Joseph Pulitzer (né József Pulitzer; b. Apr. 10, 1847), Hungarian-American publisher.   He introduced the technique of yellow journalism, journalism with little well researched news.  He became and American citizen and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York State.  He died at age 64.

1901 ~ Leon Czolgosz (né Leon Frank Czolgosz; b. May 5, 1873), American assassin of President William McKinley.  He shot the President in September 1901.  He was electrocuted at age 28, just 7 weeks after the assassination.

1885 ~ George B. McCellan (né George Brinton McCellan; b. Dec. 3, 1826), American Union Civil War General.  Following the Civil War, he served as the 24^th Governor of New Jersey, from January 1878 until January 1881.  He died of a heart attack at age 58.

1877 ~ Nathan Bedford Forrest (b. July 13, 1826), General in the Confederate Army.  He was an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan.  He died of complications from diabetes at age 56.

1803 ~ Sarah Crosby (b. Oct. 6, 1729), British theologian and first female Methodist preacher.  She died 23 days after her 74^th birthday.

1783 ~ Jean le Rond d’Alembert (b. Nov. 16, 1717), French mathematician.  He died 18 days before his 66^th birthday.

1618 ~ Sir Walter Raleigh (b. Jan. 22, 1552), English explorer and adventurer.  Although he had been a favorite of Queen Elizabeth, he fell out of favor.  He was executed by beheading on October 29, 1618 for allegedly conspiring against King James I of England.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been born on January 22, 1552, thus making him 65 at the time of his death.

October 28

Birthdays:

1967 ~ Julia Roberts (née Julia Fiona Roberts), American actress.

1966 ~ Andy Richter (né Paul Andrew Richter), American actor and sidekick to Conan O’Brien.

1963 ~ Lauren Holly (née Lauren Michael Holly), American actress.

1960 ~ Landon Curt Noll, American mathematician.

1956 ~ Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 6^th President of Iran.

1955 ~ Bill Gates (né William Henry Gates, III), American computer executive and principle founder of Microsoft.

1952 ~Annie Potts (née Anne Hampton Potts), American actress.

1945 ~ Sandy Berger (né Samuel Richard Berger; d. Dec. 2, 2015), American 19^th United States National Security Advisor.  He served from March 1997 until January 2001 during the Bill Clinton administration.  He died of cancer at age 70.

1944 ~ Dennis Franz (né Dennis Franz Schlachta), American actor.  He is best known for his role as Lt. Norman Buntz on the television drama Hill Street Blues.

1938 ~ Anne Perry (née Juliet Marion Hulme), British author of historical detective novels.  As a teenager, she and her friend Pauline Parker, were convicted of the murder of Parker’s mother.

1933 ~ Anne Morrissy Merick (née Anne Louise Morrissy; d. May 2, 2017), American pioneering journalist who covered Vietnam.  She is best known for persuading the Pentagon to reverse an order, known as the Westmoreland Edict, which had prevented female reporters from accompanying troops on the front lines during the Vietnam War.  She died at age 83.

1932 ~ Suzy Parker (née Cecilia Ann Renee Parker, d. May 3, 2003), American actress and model.  She died of kidney failure at age 70.

1929 ~ Joan Plowright, Baroness Olivier (née Joan Ann Plowright), British actress.  Laurence Olivier was her second husband.  She is often referred to as Dame Joan Plowright.

1926 ~ Bowie Kuhn (né Bowie Kent Kuhn; d. Mar. 15, 2007), American lawyer and businessman.  He served as the 5^th Commissioner of Major League Baseball.  He was the Baseball Commissioner from February 1969 until September 1984.  He died of complications of pneumonia at age 80.

1919 ~ Gerhard Ringel (d. June 24, 2008), Austrian mathematician.  He died at age 88.

1914 ~ Richard Synge (né Richard Laurence Millington Synge; d. Aug. 18, 1994), British biochemist and recipient of the 1952 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 79.

1914 ~ Jonas Salk (né Jonas Edward Salk, b. June 23, 1995), American biologist and physician.  He was best known for his discovery and development of a polio vaccine.  He died at age 80.

1911 ~ Shiing-Shen Chern (d. Dec. 3, 2004), Chinese mathematician.  He died at age 93.

1908 ~ Arturo Frondizi (d. Apr. 18, 1995), President of Argentina.  He served as President from May 1958 until March 1962.  He died at age 86.

1905 ~ Tatyana Pavlovna Ehrenfest (d. Nov. 29, 1984), Dutch mathematician.  She about a month after her 79^thbirthday. 

1903 ~ Evelyn Waugh (né Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh, d. Apr. 10, 1966), English writer.  He died of heart failure at age 62.

1897 ~ Edith Head (né Edith Claire Posener; d. Oct. 24, 1981), American costume designer for Hollywood.  She died 4 days before her 84^th birthday.

1879 ~ Channing H. Cox (né Channing Harris Cox, d. Aug. 20, 1968), 49^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1921 until January 1925.  He was born in Manchester, New Hampshire.  He died at age 88.

1804 ~ Pierre François Verhulst (d. Feb. 15, 1849), Belgian mathematician.  He died at age 44.

1793 ~ Eliphalet Remington (d. Aug. 12, 1861), American inventor and designer of the Remington rifle.  He was the founder of the Remington Arms Company.  He was born in Suffield, Connecticut.  He died at age 67.

1718 ~ Ignacije Szentmartony (d. Apr. 15, 1793), Croatian mathematician, astronomer and Jesuit priest.  He died at age 74.

1703 ~ Antoine Deparcieux (d. Sept. 2, 1768), French mathematician.  He died at age 64.

1466 ~ Desiderius Erasmus (né Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus; d. July 12, 1536), Dutch theologian and philosopher.  He was 69 years old.

1017 ~ Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. Oct. 5, 1056).  He served as Emperor from December 1046 until his death.  He died 23 days before his 39^th birthday.

Events that Changed the World:

2018 ~ The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to become the 2018 Baseball Champions.  It was their 4^th championship since 2004.

2007 ~ Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (b. 1953) became the first woman elected President of Argentina.  She became President upon the death of her husband.

1965 ~ Construction of the St. Louis Arch in Missouri was completed.  Construction on the Arch, which was designed by Eero Sarrinen (1910 ~ 1961), had begun on February 12, 1963.

1965 ~ The Second Vatican Council promulgated the Nostra aetate, or the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions, which absolved the Jews of the responsibility for the death of Jesus.

1962 ~ The Cuban Missile Crisis ended after Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev (1894 ~ 1971) ordered the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba.

1948 ~ Paul Müller (1899 ~ 1965) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT.  DDT was later banned due to its carcinogenic effect.

1942 ~ The Alaska Highway, which ran though Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska, was completed.

1929 ~ The Wall Street Crash of 1929, which saw a major stock market upheaval.  This date has been called Black Monday.

1919 ~ The United States Congress passed the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto, thus paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.

1886 ~ President Grover Cleveland (1837 ~ 1908) dedicated the Statute of Liberty.  It also marked the first ticker-tape parade.  Office workers spontaneously threw ticker tape into the streets during the dedication.

1775 ~ During the American Revolutionary War, a British proclamation was issued that forbade residents from leaving the City of Boston.

1726 ~ Jonathan Swift’s novel, Gulliver’s Travels, was first published.

1636 ~ Harvard University (initially known as Harvard College) was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  It was the first college in what would become the United States.

1628 ~ The Siege of La Rochelle, which had been going on for 14 months, ended when the Huguenots surrendered.

1449 ~ Christian I (1426 ~ 1481) was crowned King of Denmark.

1420 ~ Beijing was officially designated as the capital of the Ming dynasty.  The construction of the Forbidden City complex was also completed.

Good-Byes:

2013 ~ Tadeusz Mazowiecki (b. Apr. 18, 1927), Polish author and editor who became Poland’s first post-communist leader.  He was the 1^st Prime Minister from August 1989 until January 1991.  He died at age 86.

2012 ~ Kevin Reilly (né Kevin Patrick Reilly, Sr., b. July 22, 1928), American politician who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but served from Louisiana.  He died of Parkinson’s disease in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at age 84.

2010 ~ Ehud Netzer (b. May 13, 1934), Israeli archaeologist.  He is best known for his excavation of the Herodium, where he uncovered the tomb of Herod the Great.  He died at age 76 of injuries sustained when he fell from a railing that gave way at the dig at the Herodium.  He died at Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem.

2006 ~ Red Auerbach (né Arnold Jacob Auerbach, b. Sept. 20, 1917), American basketball coach of the Boston Celtics.  He died at age 89.

2005 ~ Richard Smalley (né Richard Errett Smalley; b. June 6, 1943), American chemist and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died of leukemia at age 62.

1998 ~ Ted Hughes (né Edward James Hughes, b. Aug. 17, 1930), English poet and husband of Sylvia Plath.  He died of a heart attack at age 68.

1983 ~ Otto Messmer (né Otto James Messmer, d. Aug. 16, 1892), American cartoonist and co-creator of Felix the Cat.  He was born and died in New Jersey.  He died at age 91.

1968 ~ Harold Burton (né Harold Hitz Burton; b. June 22, 1894), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Harry S Truman.  He replaced Owen Roberts on the Court.  He served on the Court from September 1945 until October 1958.  He had previously served as the 45^thMayor of Cleveland, Ohio.  He was born in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.  He died at age 76.

1944 ~ Helen Magill White (née Helen Magill; b. Nov. 28, 1853), first American woman to earn a Ph.D.  She earned her degree in Greek in 1877 from Boston University.  She died a month before her 91^st birthday in Kittery Point, Maine.

1930 ~ Mary Harrison McKee (née Mary Scott Harrison; b. Apr. 3, 1858), American daughter of President Benjamin Harrison.  She served as First Lady during her father’s presidency after her mother, Caroline died.  She assumed the role of First Lady at age 34 and served from October 1892 until March 1893.  She died at age 72.

1918 ~ Ulisse Dini (b. Nov. 14, 1845), Italian mathematician and politician.  He is best known for his contribution to real analysis.  He died 17 days before his 73^rd birthday.

1893 ~ Carter Harrison, Sr. (né Carter Henry Harrison; b. Feb. 15, 1825), Mayor of Chicago.  He served several terms as Mayor.  He was assassinated during his 5^th term.  He was 68 years old at the time of his death.

1818 ~ Abigail Adams (née Abigail Smith; b. Nov. 22, 1744), 2^nd First Lady and wife of President John Adams.  She died about a month before her 74^th birthday.

1740 ~ Empress Anna of Russia (b. Feb. 7, 1693).  She was the Empress from January 1730 until her death in October 1740.  She died at age 47.

1704 ~ John Locke (b. Aug. 29, 1632), English philosopher and physician.  He died at age 72.

1412 ~ Margaret I of Denmark (b. March 15, 1353), Queen of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden.  She was originally the Queen consort, but later became Queen in her own right.  She was married to King Haakon VI of Norway.  She died at age 59.