Sunday, December 15, 2019

December 15

Birthdays:

1959 ~ Donna Brazile (née Donna Lease Brazile), American political strategist, campaign manager and political analyist.  She was born in New Orleans and earned her undergraduate degree at Louisiana State University.

1949 ~ Don Johnson (né Donald Wayne Johnson), American actor.  He is best known for his role as Sonny Crockett in the 1980s television drama Miami Vice.  He was born in Flat Creek Township, Missouri.

1942 ~ Kathleen Blanco (née Kathleen Babineaux; d. Aug. 18, 2019), American politician and 54th Governor of Louisiana.  She was the first female Governor of Louisiana.  She served from January 2004 through January 2008, during which Hurricane Katrina swept through the State.  She was born in New Iberia, Louisiana.  She died of cancer at age 76.

1940 ~ Nick Buoniconti (né Nicholas Anthony Buoniconti; d. July 30, 2019), American football linebacker who fought to make the paralyzed walk again.  He was a professional football player who played for a number of teams, including the Boston Patriots and the Miami Dolphins.  While playing for the Patriots, he earned his law degree.  After his son was paralyzed in a college football game in 1985, he co-founded the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.  He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.  He died at age 78.

1933 ~ Tim Conway (né Toma Daniel Conway; d. May 14, 2019), American improve master who cracked up his co-stars.  He was best known for his role in sketches in the Carol Burnett Show.  He died of complications of dementia at age 85.

1929 ~ Yuri Vasilyevich Prokhorov (d. July 16, 2013), Russian mathematician who work in probability theory.  He died at age 83.

1924 ~ Frank W.J. Olver (né Frank William John Olver; b. Apr. 23, 2013), English mathematician.  He died at age 88.

1923 ~ Uziel Gal (né Gotthard Glas, d. Sept. 7, 2002), Israeli firearms designed and namesake of the Uzi submachine gun.  He died of cancer at age 78.

1919 ~ Max Yasgur (d. Feb. 9, 1973), American farmer and owner of the Woodstock festival site.  He died of a heart attack at age 53.

1916 ~ Maurice Wilkins (né Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins, d. Oct. 5, 2004), New Zealand-born physicist and recipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 87.

1913 ~ Muriel Rukeyser (d. Feb. 12, 1980), American poet.  She died of a stroke at age 66.

1912 ~ Ray Eames (née Bernice Alexandra Kaiser, d. Aug. 21, 1988), American designer, artist and architect.  She and her husband, Charles (1907 ~ 1978) made major contributions to modern architecture and furniture design.  She died exactly 10 years to the day after her husband’s death.  She was 75 years old at the time of her death.

1907 ~ Oscar Niemeyer (né Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Fiho; d. Dec. 5, 2012), Brazilian architect who designed Brazil’s space-age capital.  He died 10 days before his 105th birthday.

1902 ~ Robert F. Bradford (né Robert Fiske Bradford; d. Mar. 18, 1983), 57th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1947 until January 1949.  He died at age 80.

1897 ~ David McCord (né David Thompson Watson McCord; d. Apr. 13, 1997), American poet.  He died at age 99.

1896 ~ Betty Smith (née Elizabeth Lillian Wehner; d. Jan. 17, 1972), American author best known for her novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  She died of pneumonia about a month after her 75th birthday.

1894 ~ Vibert Douglas (née Alice Vibert Douglas; d. July 2, 1988), Canadian astrophysicist and astronomer.  She died at age 93.

1892 ~ J. Paul Getty (né Jean Paul Getty; d. June 6, 1976), American industrialist and founder of the Getty Oil Company.  His namesake grandson, who had been kidnapped 5 months earlier, was found alive on Getty’s 81stbirthday.  He died at age 83.

1888 ~ Maxwell Anderson (né James Maxwell Anderson; d. Feb. 28, 1959), American playwright.  He died at age 70.

1861 ~ Charles Duryea (né Charles Edgar Duryea, d. Sept. 28, 1938), American automobile pioneer.  He died at age 76.

1861 ~ Pehr Evind Svinhufvud (d. Feb. 29, 1944), 3rd President of Finland.  He served as President from March 1931 until March 1937.  He died at age 82.

1860 ~ Niels Ryberg Finsen (d. Sept. 24, 1904), Danish physician and recipient of the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 43.

1859 ~ L.L. Zamenhof (né Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof, d. Apr. 14, 1917), Polish Jewish physician, linguist and creator of Esperanto.  He died at age 57.

1852 ~ Henri Becquerel (né Antoine Henri Becquerel; d. Aug. 25, 1908), French physicist and recipient, along with Marie and Pierre Currie of the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work with radiation.  He died at age 55.

1832 ~ Gustave Eiffel (né Alexandre Gustave Bönickhausen dit Eiffel; d. Dec. 27, 1923), French engineer and architect and designer of the Eiffel Tower.  He died 12 days after his 91st birthday.

1802 ~ János Bolyai (d. Jan. 27, 1860), Hungarian mathematician.  He was one of the founders of non-Euclidian geometry.  He died at age 57.

37 ~ Nero (d. June 9, 68), Roman Emperor.  This is the traditional date ascribed to Nero’s birth.  He is said to have died at age 30.

Events that Changed the World:

2017 ~ A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck in Java.

2011 ~ The United States formally lowered the United States Flag over Iraq, thereby ending its participation in the Iraqi war and American armed forces withdrew from Iraq after 9 years.  Although this was the official end of the war, violence continued over subsequent years.

2001 ~ The Leaning Tower of Pisa opened after 11 years and a $27M restoration.  The Tower retained its lean.

1981 ~ A suicide car bombing in Beirut, Lebanon destroyed the Iraqi embassy, killing over 60 people.  This attack marked the first modern suicide bombing.

1978 ~ President Jimmy Carter (b. 1924) announced that the United States would recognize the People’s Republic of China and sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

1976 ~ The Liberian-flagged oil tanker MV Argo Merchant ran aground near Nantucket, Massachusetts, causing a massive oil spill.  The tanker had been involved in several other shipping incidents before this event.

1973 ~ John Paul Getty, III (1956 ~ 2011), the grandson of billionaire J. Paul Getty (1892 ~ 1976), was found alive in Naples, Italy.  He had been kidnapped by on July 10, 1973.

1961 ~ Adolph Eichmann (1906 ~ 1962) was sentenced to death after being found guilty on 15 criminal charges, including charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people and being a member of an outlawed organization.  The trial was held in Jerusalem.  Eichmann’s capture was depicted in the 2018 movie, Operation Finale.

1941 ~ German troops murdered over 15,000 Jews at Drobytsky Yar in the Ukraine.

1939 ~ Gone with the Wind made its world premiere at the Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

1933 ~ The 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution officially became effective, repealing prohibition, which was law under the 18th Amendment.

1914 ~ During World War I, the Serbian Army recaptured Belgrade from the invading Austro-Hungarian Army.

1905 ~ The Pushkin House was established in St. Petersburg, Russia to preserve the cultural heritage of Alexander Pushkin.

1890 ~ Hunkpapa Lakota leader, Sitting Bull (1831 ~ 1890) was killed by an American army officer.  This event lead to the Wounded Knee Massacre, that occurred 2 weeks later.

1791 ~ The first 10 Amendments to the United States Constitution, better known as the Bill of Rights, became law after they were ratified by the Virginia General Assembly.

687 ~ Pope Sergius I (650 ~ 701) was elected to serve as Pope.  He ruled as Pope until his death 14 years later.

Good-Byes:

2013 ~ Joan Fontaine (née Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland; b. Oct. 22, 1917), English American actress who stayed clear of her sister, Olivia de Havilland.  She died at age 96.

2011 ~ Christopher Hitchens (né Christopher Eric Hitchens; b. Apr. 13, 1949) British journalist and atheist.  He died in Houston, Texas of cancer at age 62.

2010 ~ Blake Edwards (né William Blake Crump; b. July 26, 1922), American movie director and husband of Julie Andrews.  He is known for the Pink Panther movies.  He died of pneumonia at age 88.

2009 ~ Oral Roberts (né Granville Oral Roberts; b. Jan. 24, 1918), American televangelist and founder of Oral Roberts University.  He died of pneumonia at age 91.

2005 ~ William Proxmire (né Edward William Proxmire; b. Nov. 11, 1915), American politician.  He was a senator from Wisconsin from August 1957 until January 1989.  He died about a month after his 90th birthday.

1984 ~ Jan Peerce (né Jacob Pincus Perlemuth, b. June 3, 1904), American tenor.  He died at age 80.

1971 ~ Paul Lévy (né Paul Pierre Lévy, b. Sept. 15, 1886), French mathematician.  He died at age 85.

1966 ~ Walt Disney (né Walter Elias Disney; b. Dec. 5, 1901), American movie producer and pioneer in movie animation.  He changed the way the world viewed movies.  He died of circulatory collapse caused by lung cancer 10 days after his 65th birthday.

1962 ~ Charles Laughton (b. July 1, 1899), English actor.  He died of renal cancer at age 63.

1958 ~ Wolfgang Pauli (né Wolfgang Ernst Pauli; b. Apr. 25, 1900), Austrian physicist and recipient of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died of pancreatic cancer at age 58.

1944 ~ Glenn Miller (né Alton Glenn Miller; b. Mar. 1, 1904), American bandleader, who died in a mysterious plane crash.  He was in a plane flying over the English Channel when his plane went missing.  He died at age 40.

1943 ~ Fats Waller (né Thomas Wright Waller; b. May 21, 1904), African-American jazz pianist and singer.  He died of pneumonia at age 39.

1890 ~ Sitting Bull (b. 1831), American Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux tribal chief.  He was killed by federal police officers who were called to arrest him after he organized the Ghost Dance, a Native American religious rite.  The United States government feared he was organizing a protest against the government.  Both he and his son were killed in the altercation.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 58 or 59 at the time of his death.

1878 ~ Alfred Bird (b. 1811), English chemist and food manufacturer.  He is credited with inventing baking powder.  The exact date if his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been 67 at the time of his death.

1872 ~ Mary Anne Disraeli, 1st Viscountess Beaconsfield (née Mary Anne Evans; b. Nov. 11, 1792), Welsh wife of Benjamin Disraeli.  She died about month after her 80th birthday.

1855 ~ Jacques Charles François Sturm (b. Sept. 29, 1803), French mathematician.  His name is one of 72 engraved at the Eiffel Tower.  He died at age 52 after a long illness.

1819 ~ Daniel Rutherford (b. Nov. 3, 1749), Scottish physician and chemist.  He is best known for isolating nitrogen.  He died at age 70.

1812 ~ Shneur Zalman (b. Sept. 4, 1745), Lithuanian rabbi and founder of the Chabad movement.  He died at age 67.

1796 ~ Anthony Wayne (b. Jan. 1, 1745), American Revolutionary War general known as Mad Wayne Anthony.  He died 17 days before his 52nd birthday of complications of gout.

1675 ~ Johannes Vermeer (b. Oct. 31, 1632), 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.

1161 ~ Wanyan Liang (b. Feb. 24, 1122), 4th Emperor of the Jin Dynasty.  He ruled from January 1150 until his assassination 11 years later.  He died at age 39.

933 ~ Li Siyaun (b. Oct. 10, 867), 2nd Chinese Emperor of the Later Tang dynasty.  He ruled from June 926 until his death in 933.  He died at age 66.

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