Tuesday, October 15, 2019

October 15

Birthdays:

1969 ~ Dominic West (né Dominic Gerald Francis Eagleton West), English actor.  He is best known for his role as Jimmy McNulty on the HBO series The Wire.

1959 ~ Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York (née Sarah Margaret Ferguson), former wife of Prince Andrew of Great Britian.  They married in 1986 anda divorced 10 years later.

1959 ~ Emeril Lagassé (né Emeril John Lagassé, III), American chef.  He was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, but is best known for his mastery of creole and Cajun cuisine.

1955 ~ Cathy Ladman, American stand-up comedian and television writer.

1949 ~ Thomas Bopp (né Thomas Joel Bopp; d. Jan. 5, 2018), American amateur astronomer best known for being a co-discoverer of the Hale-Bopp comet.  He died of liver failure at age 68.

1946 ~ Richard Carpenter (né Richard Lynn Carpenter), American musician and, along with sister, Karen (1950 ~ 1983), made up the duo, The Carpenters.  He was born in New Haven, Connecticut.

1944 ~ David Trimble, Baron Trimble (né William David Trimble) Irish politician and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize.

1943 ~ Penny Marshall (née Carole Penny Marshall; d. Dec. 17, 2018), American sit-com star who became a big-time director.  She directed Tom Hanks in the movie Big.  Her brother was actor Garry Marshall.  She died at age 75 of heart failure caused by diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

1940 ~ Peter C. Doherty (né Peter Charles Doherty), Australian surgeon and immunologist.  He was the recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1937 ~ Linda Lavin, American actress.  She was born in Portland, Maine.

1933 ~ Poppa Neutrino (né William David Pearlman, d. Jan. 23, 2011), American free spirit who rafted across the Atlantic Ocean.  He died of heart failure in New Orleans, Louisiana at age 77.

1925 ~ Mickey Baker (né MacHouston Baker; d. Nov. 27, 2012), African-American guitar virtuoso who inspired a rock ‘n’ roll generation.  He died at age 87.

1924 ~ Lee Iacocca (né Lido Anthony Iacocca; d. July 2, 2019), American businessman and master salesman who saved Chrysler.  He died at age 94.

1923 ~ Eugene Patterson (né Eugene Corbett Patterson; d. Jan. 12, 2013), American Southern editor who fostered racial equality.  He was the editor of The Atlanta Constitution from 1960 until 1968.  He died of cancer at age 89.

1920 ~ Mario Puzo (né Mario Gianluigi Puzo; d. July 2, 1999), American author best known for his novel The Godfather.  He died at age 78.

1917 ~ Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (né Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; d. Feb. 28, 2007), American historian.  He died at age 89.

1908 ~ John Kenneth Galbraith (b. Apr. 29, 2006), Canadian-American economist. He died at age 97 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1894 ~ Moshe Sharett (né Moshe Shertok; d. July 7, 1965), 2nd Prime Minister of Israel.  He served as Prime Minister from January 1954 until November 1955.  He died at age 70.

1893 ~ Carol II, King of Romania (d. Apr. 4, 1953).  He was King from June 1930 until his abduction in September 1940.  He died at age 59.

1881 ~ Sir P.G. Wodehouse (né Pelham Grenville Wodehouse; d. Feb. 14, 1975), English author.  He died of a heart attack at age 93.

1878 ~ Paul Raynaud (né Jean Paul Raynaud; d. Sept. 21, 1966), Prime Minister of France.  He served as Prime Minister from March 1940 until June 1940.  He died 24 days before his 88th birthday.

1872 ~ Edith Bolling Wilson (née Edith Bolling; d. Dec. 28, 1961), First Lady of the United States and second wife of President Woodrow Wilson.  They married while Wilson was President.  She was First Lady from December 1915 until March 1921.  She died on what would have been her husband’s 105th birthday.  She was 89 at the time of her death.

1858 ~ John L. Sullivan (né John Lawrence Sullivan; d. Feb. 2, 1918), American boxer.  He was born and died in Massachusetts.  He died at age 59.

1844 ~ Friedrich Nietzsche (né Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, d. Aug. 25, 1900), German philosopher.  He died at age 55.

1831 ~ Isabella Lucy Bird (d. Oct. 7, 1904), English explorer, writer and natural historian.  She died a week before her 73rd birthday.

1830 ~ Helen Hunt Jackson (née Helen Marie Fiske; d. Aug. 12, 1885), American writer and poet.  She was a social activist for Native Americans.  She is best known for her novel Ramona, which depicted the Federal government’s mistreatment of Native Americans in the American Southwest.  She was born in Amherst, Massachusetts.  She died of stomach cancer at age 54.

1763 ~ Johann Georg Tralles (d. Nov. 19, 1822), German mathematician and physicist.  The crater Tralles on the moon is named in his honor.  He died a month after his 59th birthday.

1608 ~ Evangelista Torricelli (d. Oct. 25, 1647), Italian mathematician and physicist.  He is best known for his invention of the barometer.  He died of what is believed to be typhoid 10 days after his 39th birthday.

1265 ~ Temür Öljeytü Khan (d. Feb. 10, 1307), Mongolian Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty.  He ruled from May 10, 1294 until his death on Feb. 10, 1307.  He died at age 41.

70 BCE ~ Virgil (d. Sept. 21, 19 BCE), Roman poet.  The traditional dates ascribed to Virgil’s birth and death.  He is believed to have been 50 when he died.

Events that Changed the World:

2013 ~ A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the Philippines, killing over 200 people.

2009 ~ President Barack Obama (b. 1961) visited New Orleans.  It was his first visit as President.  He visited the Martin Luther King Charter School, located in the 9th Ward, and he held a “town meeting” at the University of New Orleans.

2006 ~ A 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck Hawaii, causing considerable damage, including the closure of the Honolulu International Airport.

2001 ~ The Galileo spacecraft passed within 112 miles of Io, one of the moons of Jupiter.

1990 ~ Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen the Cold War tensions and open up the Soviet Union to the West.

1966 ~ Huey P. Newton (1942 ~ 1989) and Bobby Seale (b. 1936) founded the Black Panther Party.

1956 ~ Fortran, the first modern computer language, was shared with the coding community.

1954 ~ Hurricane Hazel struck the eastern seaboard, killing 95 people.  It was deemed a Category 4 storm when it made landfall in North Carolina.  Massive flooding as a result of the storm reached as far north as Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1951 ~ I Love Lucy began its broadcast.  The show ran for 6 seasons.

1939 ~ The New York Municipal Airport, later renamed LaGuardia Airport, was dedicated.

1928 ~ The airship, Graf Zeppelin completed its first trans-Atlantic flight and landed in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

1894 ~ In what became known as the Dreyfus Affair, Alfred Dreyfus (1859 ~ 1835) was arrested on trumped-up charges of spying.  His arrest was due to the fact that he was Jewish.

1878 ~ The Edison Electric Light Company began operation.

1863 ~ The Confederate submarine, the H.L. Hunley, sank during a test, killing 21 crew members, including its inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley (1823 ~ 1963).

1815 ~ Napoleon I (1769 ~ 1821) of France began his exile on Saint Helena.

1811 ~ The first steamboat to sail the Mississippi River arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The steamer, named the New Orleans, was built in Pittsburgh.  Service on the Mississippi was from New Orleans, Louisiana to Natchez, Mississippi.

1793 ~ Queen Marie-Antoinette (1755 ~ 1793) of France was tried and convicted and condemned to death.  She would be executed the following day, on October 16, 1793.

1764 ~ After observing a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, Edward Gibbon (1737 ~ 1794) was inspired to begin writing The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

1582 ~ Pope Gregory XIII (1502 ~ 1585) implemented the Gregorian calendar.  In Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain, this date immediately followed October 4 for this year only.  Implementation of the Gregorian calendar in other countries followed in later years.

1066 ~ Edgar the Ætheling (1051 ~ 1126) was proclaimed King of England, but he was never crowned.  He was the last male member of the royal house of Cedric Wessex.  He reigned only until December 10, 1066.

Good-Byes:

2018 ~ Paul Allen (né Paul Gardner Allen; b. Jan. 21, 1953), American tech visionary who co-founded Microsoft.  He died of cancer at age 65.

2018 ~ Dorcas Reilly (b. July 22, 1926), American culinary inventor who created a Thanksgiving staple.  In 1955, while working for the Campbell’s Soup Company, she created the Green Bean Casserole.  She died at age 92.

2012 ~ Norodom Sihanouk (b. Oct 31, 1922), Cambodian king and 1st Prime Minister of Cambodia who reigned over independence and bloodshed.  He died 2 weeks before his 90th birthday.

2011 ~ Sue Mengers (née Susi Mengers; b. Sept. 2, 1932), German-born American Hollywood talent agent who mastered her part.  She died of pneumonia at age 79.

2010 ~ Mildred Fay Jefferson (b. Apr. 4, 1926), African-American physician and anti-abortion activist.  She died in Cambridge, Massachusetts at age 84.

2008 ~ Edie Adams (née Elizabeth Edith Enke; b. Apr. 16, 1927), American sultry singer who pitched Muriel cigars.  She died at age 81.

2000 ~ Vincent Canby (b. July 27, 1924), American journalist and critic.  He died of cancer at age 76.

2000 ~ Konrad Emil Bloch (b. Jan. 21, 1912), German-born American biochemist and recipient of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research in the mechanism and regulation of cholesterol metabolism.  He left Germany in 1934 to escape the Nazi persecutions.  He died of heart failure at age 88.

1980 ~ Mikhail Lavrentyev (b. Nov. 19, 1900), Russian physicist and mathematician.  He died about a month before his 80th birthday.

1965 ~ Abraham Fraenkel (b. Feb. 17, 1891), German-born Israeli mathematician.  He died at age 74.

1964 ~ Cole Porter (né Cole Albert Porter; b. June 9, 1891), American songwriter.  He died of kidney failure at age 73.

1959 ~ Lipót Fejér (b. Feb. 9, 1880), Hungarian mathematician.  He died at age 79.

1958 ~ Elizabeth Alexander (née Frances Elizabeth Somerville Caldwell; b. Dec. 13, 1908), British geologist and physicist.  Her wartime work with radar and radio led to early developments in radio astronomy.  She was one of the first women in this field of study.  She died of a stroke at age 49.

1945 ~ Pierre Laval (b. June 28, 1883), Prime Minister of France.  He served as Prime Ministers from January 1931 until February 1932.  After the liberation of France during World War II, he was found guilty of treason and executed by firing squad at age 62.

1934 ~ Raymond Poincaré (b. Aug. 20, 1860), President of France.  He died at age 74.

1930 ~ Herbert Henry Dow (b. Feb. 26, 1866), Canadian-American businessman and founder of the Dow Chemical Company.  He died at age 64.

1917 ~ Mata Hari (née Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, b. Aug. 7, 1876), Dutch dancer who was executed by firing squad for ostensibly spying for the German Empire during World War I.  She was executed as a spy at age 41.

1810 ~ Alfred Moore (b. May 21, 1755), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President John Adams.  He served on the Court from April 1800 until January 1804.  He replaced James Iredell on the Court.  He was succeeded by William Johnson.  He wrote only one opinion while on the Court.  At 4 feet, 5 inches, he remains the shortest Justice to serve on the Court.  He died at age 55.

1715 ~ Humphry Ditton (b. May 29, 1675), English mathematician.  He died at age 40.

1564 ~ Andreas Vesalius (b. Dec. 31, 1514), Flemish anatomist and physician who published a book entitled On the Structure of the Human Body, which was the first manual of human anatomy with clear and detailed illustrations.  He died at age 49.

1389 ~ Pope Urban VI (né Bartolomeo Prignano; b. 1318).  He served as Pope from April 1378 until his death on this date 11 years later.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

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