February 29 / Leap Year

February 29, known as Leap Day of the Gregorian calendar, occurs every 4 years. Years that are divisible by 100, but not 400, do not have a leap day.  Leap days are found in years that are divisible by both 100 and 400.  Thus, the year 1900 did not have a leap day, but the year 2000 did have a leap day.  A person born in leap year are known as Leaplings.

Birthdays:

A person born on February 29 is called a leapling.  They would generally celebrate their birthdays on either February 28 or March 1 on the non-leap years.

1960 ~ Tony Robbins (né Anthony Jai Mahavoric), American motivational speaker.  He was born in North Hollywood, California.

1944 ~ Dennis Farina (d. July 22, 2013), American character actor.  He died of a pulmonary embolism at age 69.

1944 ~ Leiki Loone, Estonian mathematician.  She specializes in applications of functional analysis in theory of summability. 

1936 ~ Alex Rocco (né Alessandro Federico Petricone, Jr.; d. July 18, 2015), American character actor who found fame with The Godfather.  He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  He died of pancreatic cancer at age 79.

1932 ~ Gene H. Golub (né Gene Howard Golub; d. Nov. 16, 2007), American mathematician.  He died of leukemia at age 75.

1928 ~ Seymour Papert (né Seymour Aubrey Papert; d. July 31, 2016), South African mathematician and computer scientist.  He died in Blue Hill, Maine at age 88.

1916 ~ James Donovan (né James Britt Donovan; d. Jan. 19, 1970), American lawyer who was the General Counsel of the Office of Strategic Services.  He is best known for negotiating the 1960-1962 prisoner exchange for United States pilot Francis Powell for Soviet Spy Rudolf Abel, which was depicted in the 2015 movie, Bridge of Spies.  He died of a heart attack following complication of influenza at age 53.

1916 ~ Dinah Shore (née Frances Rose Shore; d. Feb. 24, 1994), American actress and singer.  She was a leapling and died of ovarian cancer 5 days before her 78^th birthday.

1916 ~ Leonard Shoen (né Leonard Samuel Schoen; d. Oct. 4, 1999), American businessman and founder of the U-Haul Company.  He died at age 83 in a car crash that was determined to be a suicide.

1908 ~ Dee Brown (né Dorris Alexander Brown; d. Dec. 12, 2002), American author and historian.  He is best known for his book, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.  He was born in Alberta, Louisiana.  He died at age 94.

1904 ~ Jimmy Dorsey (né James Dorsey; d. June 12, 1957), American musician and bandleader.  He died of cancer at age 53.

1828 ~ Emmeline B. Wells (née Emmeline Blanche Woodward; d. Apr. 25, 1921), American journalist and women’s rights activist.  She was active in the Church of the Latter Day Saints.  She was married several times.  Her first husband was James Harris.  After he left her, she entered into a plural marriage with Newel Whitney, a man significantly older.  After his death, she became the 7^th wife of Daniel Wells.   She was born in Petersham, Massachusetts.  She died of a stroke in Salt Lake City, Utah at age 93.

1812 ~ Sir James Milne Wilson (d. Feb. 29, 1880), 8^th Premier of Tasmania.  He is the only recorded person to have been born and died on February 29.  He died on his 68^th birthday.

1792 ~ Gioachino Rossini (né Gioachino Antonio Rossini; d. Nov. 13, 1868), Italian composer, whose works include The Barber of Seville and William Tell.  He died at age 76.

1736 ~ Ann Lee (née Ann Elizabeth Lees; d. Sept. 8, 1784), American religious leader and founder of the Shakers. She died at age 48.

1468 ~ Pope Paul III (né Alessandro Farnese; d. Nov. 10, 1549).  He was Pope from October 13, 1534 until his death on this date 15 years later.  He became Pope following the sack of Rome in 1527.  During his reign, he initiated the Counter-Reformation.  He was also a patron of the artists, including Michelangelo.  He died at age 81.

Events that Changed the World:

2012 ~ The Tokyo Skytree construction was completed, at 634 meters high, it became one of the tallest towers in the world.

2004 ~ Jean-Bertrand Aristide (b. 1953) was ousted as President of Haiti following a coup.

1996 ~ Faucett Flight 251 crashed in the Peruvian Andes, killing all 123 passengers and crew aboard.

1960 ~ The comic strip, Family Circus, made its debut.

1960 ~ An earthquake in Morocco killed over 3,000 people.

1940 ~ Ernest Lawrence (1901 ~ 1958) received the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics at a ceremony held in Berkeley, California.  Due to World War II, Lawrence was unable to travel to Sweden to accept the award in 1939.

1940 ~ Hattie McDaniel (1895 ~ 1952) won an Academy Award for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, becoming the first African-American to win an Oscar.

1916 ~ In South Carolina, the minimum age for working in factories, mills and mines was raised from 12 years to 14 years old.

1892 ~ St. Petersburg, Florida became incorporated.  The city was named after the Russian city of the same name.  There were only about 300 people living in the city at the time.

1796 ~ The Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain took effect, thereby facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the two countries.  John Jay (1745 ~ 1829) helped to negotiate the treaty.

1720 ~ Swedish Queen Ulrika Eleanora (1688 ~ 1741) abdicated in favor of her husband.  She chose to abdicate because the law forbade her to co-reign with her husband.  As a condition of her abdication, however, she would succeed to the throne in the event of his death.  She died before her husband, thus, never regained the throne.  He officially took the throne as King Frederick I (1676 ~ 1751) on March 23, 1720.

1704 ~ During the Queen Anne’s War, French forces, working together with Native Americans, staged a raid on the settlers of Deerfield, Massachusetts.  Fifty-six villagers were killed and over 100 were taken captive.

1644 ~ Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman (1603 ~ 1659) began his second Pacific voyage.

Good-Byes:

2012 ~ Davy Jones (né David Thomas Jones; b. Dec. 30, 1945), English musician and lead singer for The Monkees.  He was The Monkees’ romantic heartthrob.  He died of a heart attack at age 66.

1980 ~ Yigal Allon (b. Oct. 10, 1918), Israeli general and acting Prime Minister of Israel.  He was the commander of the Palmach.  He served as Acting Prime Minister from February 1969 until March 1969.  He died of heart failure at age 61.

1960 ~ Melvin Purvis (né Melvin Horace Pervis, II; b. Oct. 24, 1903), American FBI agent best known for heading the manhunts for tracking down such criminals as Pretty Boy Floyd and John Dillinger, although many errors occurred during these events.  He died at age 56 of suicide, although later investigation indicates that his death may have been accidental.

1944 ~ Pehr Evind Svinhufvud (b. Dec. 15, 1861), 3^rd President of Finland.  He served as President from March 1931 until March 1937.  He died at age 82.

1908 ~ Pat Garrett (né Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett; b. June 5, 1850), American West lawman best known for killing Billy the Kid.  He was shot and killed under mysterious circumstances at age 57.

1880 ~ Sir James Milne Wilson (b. Feb. 29, 1812), 8^th Premier of Tasmania.  He is the only recorded person to have been born and died on February 29.  He died on his 68^th birthday.

468 ~ Pope Hilarius.  He was Pope from November 461 until his death in 468.  The date of his birth is not known.

February 28

Birthdays:

1965 ~ Colum McCann, Irish writer, best known for his novel, Let the World Spin.  He was born in Dublin, Ireland.

1961 ~ Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian actress.  She is the daughter of actor Tommy Chong.  She was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

1960 ~ Dorothy Stratten (née Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten; d. Aug. 14, 1980), Canadian actress and model.  She was murdered by her estranged husband at age 20.  Her life and murder was depicted in the movie Star 80.

1957 ~ John Turturro (né John Michael Turturro), American actor.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.

1953 ~ Paul Krugman (né Paul Robin Krugman), American economist and recipient of the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.  He was born in Albany, New York.

1949 ~ Zoia Ceauşescu (d. Nov. 20, 2006), Romanian mathematician.  She was the daughter of Communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife, Elena.  She died of lung cancer at age 57.

1948 ~ Steven Chu, American physicist and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was also the 12^thSecretary of Energy and served under President Barack Obama from January 2009 until April 2013.  He was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

1948 ~ Mike Figgis (né Michael Figgis), British film director.  He was born in Carlisle, England.

1948 ~ Bernadette Peters (née Bernadette Lazzara), American actress.  She was born in New York, New York.

1948 ~ Mercedes Reuhl, American actress.  She was born in Queens, New York.

1941 ~ Suzanne Mubarak (née Saleh Thabet), First Lady of Egypt and wife of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

1940 ~ Mario Andretti (né Mario Gabriele Andretti), Italian-born American race driver.  He was born in Montona, which at the time was part of the Kingdom of Italy, and is currently in Croatia.

1939 ~ Daniel C. Tsui (né Daniel Chee Tsui), Chinese-born American physicist and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Henan, China.

1939 ~ Tommy Tune (né Thomas James Tune), American actor and dancer.  He was born in Wichita Falls, Texas.

1938 ~ Lord Michael Onslow, 7^th Earl of Onslow (né Michael William Coplestone Dillon Onslow; d. May 14, 2011), British lord and eccentric who enlivened the House of Lords.  He died of cancer at age 73.

1931 ~ Dean Smith (né Dean Edwards Smith; d. Feb. 7, 2015), American legendary college basketball coach who put his players first.  He was the head men’s basketball coach for 36 years at the University of North Carolina.  He promoted desegregation in the sport at his school.  He died three weeks before his 84^thbirthday.

1931 ~ Gavin MacLeod (né Allan George See), American actor best known for his role as Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat.  He was born in Mount Kisco, New York.

1930 ~ Leon Cooper (né Leon Neil Cooper), American physicist and recipient of the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in The Bronx, New York.

1929 ~ Frank Gehry (né Frank Owen Goldberg), Canadian-born American architect.  He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1926 ~ Lana Peters (née Svetlana Iosifovna Stalina; d. Nov. 22, 2011), Russian who was Stalin’s peripatetic daughter.  She moved to the United States and changed her name.  She died at age 85.

1924 ~ Chris Kraft (né Christopher Columbus Kraft, Jr.; d. July 22, 2019), American NASA visionary who led Mission Control.  He was born in Phoebus, Virginia.  He died in Houston, Texas at age 95.

1923 ~ Charles Durning (né Charles Edward Durning; d. Dec. 24, 2012), American actor.  He died at age 89.

1921 ~ Saul Zaentz (d. Jan. 3, 2014), American film producer who put literature on the screen.  He is best known for such films as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The English Patient, and The Lord of the Rings.  He was born in Passaic, New Jersey.  He died of complications of Alzheimer’s disease in San Francisco at age 92.

1915 ~ Zero Mostel (né Samuel Joel Mostel; b. Sept. 8, 1977), American actor.  He is best known for his portrayal of Tevye in the stage version of Fiddler on the Roof.  He died of an aortic aneurysm at age 62.

1915 ~ Sir Peter Medawar (né Peter Brian Medawar; d. Oct. 2, 1987), Brazilian-born British biologist and recipient for the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on organ transplants and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance.  He died following a stroke at age 72.

1912 ~ Clara Petacci (d. Apr. 28, 1945), Italian mistress of Benito Mussolini.  She was executed by firing squad along with Mussolini.  She was 33 years old.

1906 ~ Bugsy Siegel (né Benjamin Siegel; d. June 20, 1947), American gangster.  He was murdered at age 41.

1903 ~ Vincente Minnelli (né Lester Anthony Minnelli; d. July 25, 1986), American film director, husband of Judy Garland and father of Liza Minnelli.  He died of emphysema and pneumonia at age 83.

1901 ~ Linus Pauling (né Linus Carl Pauling; d. Aug. 19, 1994), American chemist political activist.  He was the recipient of two Nobel Prizes: the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 93.

1896 ~ Philip Showalter Hench (d. Mar. 30, 1965), American physician and recipient of the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died of pneumonia about a month after his 69^th birthday.

1894 ~ Ben Hecht (d. Apr. 18, 1964), American playwright.  He died at age 70.

1884 ~ Ants Piip (d. Oct. 1, 1942), Prime Minister of Estonia.  He served as Prime Minister from October 1920 until December 1920, at which time he became the 1^st State Elder of Estonia.  He served in that position for only a month until January 1921.  He died in a Soviet prison camp at age 58.

1878 ~ Pierre Fatou (né Pierre Joseph Louis Fatou; d. Aug. 9, 1929), French mathematician.  He died at age 51.

1851 ~ Samuel W. McCall (né Samuel Walker McCall; d. Nov. 4, 1923), 47^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1916 until January 1919.  He had previously served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts.  He died at age 72.

1838 ~ Maurice Lévy (d. Sept. 30, 1910), French mathematician and engineer.  He died at age 72.

1824 ~ Charles Blondin (né Jean François Gravelet; d. Feb. 22, 1897), French acrobat and tightrope walker.  He is best known for crossing Niagara Falls on a tightrope.  He died of diabetes 6 days before his 73^rd birthday.

1797 ~ Mary Lyon (née Mary Mason Lyon; d. Mar. 5, 1849), American pioneer in women’s education.  She founded the Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts and was its first president.  She was born in Buckland, Massachusetts and died in South Hadley, Massachusetts.  She died of an acute skin infection at just a week after her 52^nd birthday.

1792 ~ Karl Ernst von Baer (d. Nov. 28, 1876), German biologist.  He died at age 84.

1735 ~ Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde (d. Jan. 1, 1796), French chemist and mathematician.  He died at age 60.

1552 ~ Jost Bürgi (d. Jan. 31, 1632), Swiss clockmaker and mathematician.  He died 28 days before his 80^thbirthday.

1533 ~ Michel de Montaigne (d. Sept. 13, 1592), French philosopher and author.  He died at age 59.

1261 ~ Margaret of Scotland (d. Apr. 9, 1283), Queen consort of Norway and wife of King Eric II of Norway.  She died at age 22 in childbirth.

1155 ~ Henry the Young King (d. June 11, 1183).  He was crowned during the reign of his father, Henry II, King of England.  He died of dysentery at age 28, six years before his father, thus never ruled alone.

1119 ~ Emperor Xizong of Jin (d. Jan. 9, 1119), Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty.  He ruled from February 1135 until his assassination at age 30.

Events that Changed the World:

2017 ~ Mardi Gras.

2013 ~ Pope Benedict XVI (b. 1927) resigned as Pope of the Catholic Church.  He was the first pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII (1320s ~ Oct. 18, 1417) resigned in 1415.

1997 ~ An earthquake in northern Iran killed about 3,000 people.

1993 ~ The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raided the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas, to arrest David Koresh (1959 ~ 1993), the group’s leader.  Four agents and 5 Davidians were killed in the initial raid.  The ATF and Davidians began a 51-day standoff.

1991 ~ The first Gulf War, which had begun in August 1990, was deemed to have ended.

1986 ~ Olof Palme (1927 ~ 1986), the Prime Minister of Sweden, was assassinated on the streets of Stockholm as he was walking home late at night.  The assassination remains unsolved.

1983 ~ The final episode of M*A*S*H aired.

1958 ~ In one of the country’s worst school bus accident, a school bus in Floyd County, Kentucky hit a wrecker truck and plunged into the Levisa Fork River.  The driver and 26 students were killed in the accident.

1954 ~ The first color televisions using the National Television System Committee (NTSC) standard became available for sale to the general public.

1940 ~ The basketball game between Fordham University and the University of Pittsburgh, which was played in Madison Square Garden, was the first televised basketball game.  Pittsburgh beat Fordham in a score of 57-37.

1935 ~ Wallace Carothers (1896 ~ 1937), a scientist at DuPont, invented nylon.

1922 ~ The United Kingdom ended its protectorate over Egypt.

1827 ~ The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad became incorporated.  It was the first railroad in the United States to provide commercial transportation to people and freight.

1784 ~ John Wesley (1703 ~ 1791) chartered the Methodist Church.

1525 ~ Hernán Cortés (1485 ~ 1547) and his men executed the Aztec King Cuauhtémoc.

202 BCE ~ Lui Bang (d. 195 BCE) became the Emperor of China, thus beginning the rule of the Han Dynasty.

Good-Byes:

2019 ~ André Previn (né Andreas Ludwig Priwin; b. Apr. 6, 1929), German-born musical polymath who spurned Hollywood.  composer and conductor.  His family left Nazi Germany in 1939 and moved to the United States.  He died at age 89.

2016 ~ George Kennedy (né George Harris Kennedy, Jr.; b. Feb. 18, 1925), American actor best known for his role in Cool Hand Luke.  He died of heart disease 10 days after his 91^st birthday.

2014 ~ Lee Lorch (né Lee Alexander Lorch; b. Sept. 20, 1915), American mathematician and civil rights activist.  He died at age 98.

2013 ~ Donald Glaser (né Donald Arthur Glaser; b. Sept. 21, 1926), American physicist and recipient of the 1960 Nobel Prize for Physics.  He died at age 86.

2011 ~ Peter J. Gomes (né Peter John Gomes; b. May 22, 1942), African-American gifted preacher who spoke out for tolerance.  He was from Massachusetts.  He died at age 68.

2011 ~ Jane Russell (née Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell; b. June 21, 1921), American actress.  She died at age 89 of respiratory failure.

2009 ~ Paul Harvey (né Paul Harvey Aurandt; b. Sept. 4, 1918), American radio broadcaster.  He died at age 90.

2007 ~ Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (né Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; b. Oct. 15, 1917), American historian.  He died at age 89.

2006 ~ Owen Chamberlain (b. July 10, 1920), American physicist and recipient of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 85.

2004 ~ Daniel J. Boorstin (né Daniel Joseph Boorstin; b. Oct. 1, 1914), American historian and writer.  He was the 12^th Librarian of Congress, where he served from November 1975 until September 1987, during the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.  He died at age 89.

1993 ~ Ruby Keeler (née Ethel Ruby Keeler; b. Aug. 25, 1909), Canadian singer and actress.  She died of kidney cancer at age 83.

1986 ~ Olof Palme (né Sven Olaf Joachim Palme; b. Jan. 30, 1927), Prime Minister of Sweden.  He was assassinated a month after his 59^th birthday.

1986 ~ Laura Z. Hobson (née Laura Kean Zametkin; b. June 19, 1900), American author best known for her novel, Gentleman’s Agreement.  She died at age 85.

1967 ~ Henry Luce (né Henry Robinson Luce; d. Apr. 3, 1898), American publisher who launched Time and Lifemagazines.  He died at age 68.

1959 ~ Maxwell Anderson (né James Maxwell Anderson; b. Dec. 15, 1888), American playwright.  He died at age 70.

1956 ~ Frigyes Riesz (b. Jan. 22, 1880), Hungarian mathematician.  He is best known for his contributions to functional analysis.  He died at age 76.

1941 ~ Alfonso XIII, King of Spain (b. May 17, 1886).  He reigned from his birth until he was ousted on April 14, 1931.  He died in Rome at age 54.

1936 ~ Charles Nicolle (né Charles Jules Henry Nicolle; b. Sept. 21, 1866), French bacteriologist and recipient of the 1928 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work in the identification of lice as transmitters of typhus.  He died at age 69.

1916 ~ Henry James (b. Apr. 15, 1843), American novelist.  He died at age 72.

1901 ~ William M. Evarts (né William Maxwell Evarts; b. Feb. 6, 1818), 27^th United States Secretary of State.  He served under President Rutherford B. Hayes from March 1977 until March 1881.  He also served as the 29^th United States Attorney General under President Andrew Johnson from July 1868 to March 1868.  Following his positions in the Federal Executive Office, he became a United States Senator from the State of New York from March 1885 until March 1891.  He was born in Charleston, Massachusetts.  He died 22 days after his 83^rd birthday.

1844 ~ Abel P. Upshur (né Abel Parker Upshur; b. June 17, 1790), 15^th United States Secretary of State.  He served under President John Tyler from July 1843 until his death on February 28, 1844.  He had previously served as the 13^th United States Secretary of the Navy during the Tyler administration from October 1841 until July 1843.  He was killed at age 53 while viewing the new steamship USS Princeton and one of the ship’s guns exploded during a demonstration.

1648 ~ Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (b. Apr. 12, 1577).  He died at age 70.

1621 ~ Cosimo II de’Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. May 12, 1590).  He died of tuberculosis at age 30.

1525 ~ Cuauhtémoc (b. 1495), Aztec ruler.  He was killed by Hernán Cortés.

February 27

Birthdays:

1980 ~ Chelsea Clinton (née Chelsea Victoria Clinton), daughter of President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.  She was born in Little Rock, Arkansas.

1958 ~ Nancy Spungen (née Nancy Laura Spungen; d. Oct. 12, 1978), American murder victim and girlfriend of Sid Vicious (né John Simon Ritchie, 1957 ~ 1979), of the Sex Pistols.  She was 20 years old at the time of her murder.

1958 ~ Maggie Hassan (née Margaret Coldwell Wood), 81^st Governor of New Hampshire from January 2013 until January 2017.  In January 2017, she became a United States Senator from New Hampshire.  She was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

1951 ~ Lee Atwater (né Harvey LeRoy Atwater; d. Mar. 29, 1991), American politician and political consultant.  He served Presidents Ronald Reagan and George WH Bush.  He died about a month after his 40^th birthday of an aggressive form of brain tumor.

1950 ~ Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger (née Julia Babette Sarah Schwab), English rabbi and political figure.  She was born in London, England.

1942 ~ Robert H. Grubbs (né Robert Howard Grubbs), American chemist and recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He was born in Marshall County, Kentucky.

1940 ~ Howard Hesseman, American actor.  He is best known for his role as Johnny Fever on WKPR in Cinncinati.  He was born in Lebanon, Oregon.

1937 ~ Barbara Babcock, American actress.  She is best known for her role as Grace Gardner on the television drama Hill Street Blues.  She was born in Fort Riley, Kansas.

1934 ~ Ralph Nader, American activist and political figure.  He was born in Winsted, Connecticut.

1933 ~ Malcolm Wallop (d. Sept. 14, 2011), American rancher and United States Senator from Wyoming who pushed hard for missile defense.  He was born in New York City, New York.  He died at age 78 in Big Horn, Wyoming.

1932 ~ Dame Elizabeth Taylor (née Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor; d. Mar. 23, 2011), English-American actress.  She died of congestive heart failure about a month after her 79^th birthday.

1930 ~ Joanne Woodward (née Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward), American actress and wife of Paul Newman.  She went to the Louisiana State University.  She was born in Thomasville, Georgia.

1927 ~ Peter Whittle, New Zealander mathematician.  He was born in Wellington, New Zealand.

1926 ~ David H. Hubel (né David Hunter Hubel; d. Sept. 22, 2013), Canadian neurophysiologist and recipient of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 87.

1921 ~ Theodore Van Kirk (d. July 28, 2014), American navigator who guided the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the H-bomb on Hiroshima.  He died at age 93.

1919 ~ Johnny Pesky (né John Michael Paveskovich; d. Aug. 13, 2012), American professional baseball player, manager and coach who spent much of his career with the Boston Red Sox.  He was known as Mr. Red Sox.  He died at age 93 in Danvers, Massachusetts.

1917 ~ John Connally, Jr. (né John Bowden Connally, Jr.; d. June 15, 1993), 61^st Secretary of the Treasury.  He served under President Richard Nixon from February 1971 until June 1972.  He was also the 55^th United States Secretary of the Navy under President John F. Kennedy from January 1961 until December 1961.  He has also served as the 39^th Governor of Texas and was in the motorcade when President Kennedy was killed.  He died at age 76.

1913 ~ Irwin Shaw (né Irwin Gilbert Shamforoff; d. May 16, 1984), American author.  He is best known for his books Rich Man, Poor Man and Beggarman, Thief.  He died of prostate cancer at age 71.

1913 ~ Paul Riocœur (né Jean Paul Gustave Riocœur; d. May 20, 2005), French philosopher who taught in a POW camp during World War II.  He died at age 92.

1910 ~ Peter de Vries (d. Sept. 28, 1993), American novelist.  He died at age 83.

1903 ~ Joseph B. Soloveitchik (né Joseph Ber Soloveitchik; d. Apr. 9, 1993), American rabbi and philosopher.  He died at age 90.

1903 ~ Hans Rohrback (d. Dec. 19, 1993), German mathematician.  He was a member of the Nazi party.  He died at age 90.

1902 ~ John Steinbeck (né John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr.; b. Dec. 20, 1968), American novelist and recipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He is best known his novels including The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, and The Red Pony.  He died of heart disease at age 66.

1899 ~ Charles Herbert Best (d. Mar. 31, 1978), Canadian medical student who co-discovered insulin.  He was born in West Pembroke, Maine.  He died about a month after his 79^th birthday.

1897 ~ Marian Anderson (d. Apr. 8, 1993), African-American contralto.  She died at age 96 of congestive heart failure and complications of a stroke.

1892 ~ William Demarest (né Carl William Demarest; d. Dec. 27, 1983), American character actor.  He is best known for playing Uncle Charlie on My Three Sons.  He died of prostate cancer at age 91.

1891 ~ David Sarnoff (d. Dec. 12, 1971), Russian-born American businessman and pioneer in radio and television.  He was the founder of RCA.  He also founded NBC.  He died at age 80.

1888 ~ Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. (né Arthur Meier Schlesinger; d. Oct. 30, 1965), American historian and author.  He died in Boston, Massachusetts at age 77.

1886 ~ Hugo Black (né Hugo Lafayette Black; d. Sept. 25, 1971), Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  He served on the Court from August 1837 until his retirement on September 17, 1971.  He served on the court for 34 years.  He replaced Willis Van Devanter on the Court and was succeeded by Lewis Powell.  In his early life, he had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan, but resigned in 1925.  He suffered a stroke 2 days after he retired and died shortly thereafter at age 83.

1881 ~ L. E. J. Brouwer (né Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer; d. Dec. 2, 1966), Dutch mathematician.  He died at age 85.

1878 ~ Alvan Fuller (né Alvan Tufts Fuller; d. Apr. 30, 1958), 50^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1925 until January 1929.  He died at age 80.

1869 ~ Alice Hamilton (d. Sept. 22, 1970), American academic and pioneer in toxicology research.  She was a leading expert in occupational health.  She was the first woman appointed to the faculty at Harvard University.  She died at age 101.

1852 ~ John McLane (d. Apr. 13, 1911), 50^th Governor of New Hampshire.  He was Governor from January 1905 until January 1907.  He was a furniture maker from Milford, New Hampshire.  He was born in Scotland and died in North Carolina.  He died at age 59.

1807 ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (d. Mar. 24, 1882), He was born in Portland, Maine.  He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts less than a month after his 75^th birthday.

272 ~ Constantine the Great (d. May 22, 337), Roman emperor.  He reigned the Roman Empire from July 306 until October 312.  Tradition holds that he was born on February 27.  He is believed to have died at age 65

Events that Changed the World:

2010 ~ An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Chile, killing over 500 people and injuring thousand more.  The quake initiated a tsunami, which reached Hawaiian Islands.

2004 ~ The initial version of the report detailing sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the United States, was released.

1991 ~ United States President George H.W. Bush (1924 ~ 2018) declared that Kuwait was liberated as a result of the Gulf War.

1973 ~ The occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota began by the American Indian Movement.

1951 ~ The 22^nd Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, thereby limiting future American Presidents to only two terms in office.

1940 ~ Chemists Martin Kamen (1913 ~ 2002) and Sam Ruben (1913 ~ 1943) discovered carbon-14.

1933 ~ The Reichstag, Germany’s parliamentary building in Berlin was set on fire and burned to the ground.  The Nazi party used the fire to solidify its power and eliminated the communists as political rivals.

1932 ~ In a letter published in Nature, James Chadwick (1891 ~ 1974) described his discovery of the neutron.  This discovery allowed scientist to split the atom.  Chadwick would be awarded the 1935 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery.  With the discovery of the neutron, the United States began atomic bomb research.

1922 ~ In the case of Leser v. Garnett, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the 19^thAmendment to the United States Constitution, which granted women the right to vote.  The decision was authored by Justice Brandeis.

1900 ~ The British Labour Party, a political party, was founded.

1864 ~ The first Union Prisoners of War were sent to Andersonville, the Confederate prison in Andersonville, Georgia.

1844 ~ The Dominican Republic gained its independence from Haiti.

1801 ~ Washington, D.C. was placed under the jurisdiction of the United States Congress in accordance with District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801.

1594 ~ Henry IV (1553 ~ 1610) was crowned King of France.

425 ~ The University of Constantinople was founded by Emperor Theodosius II (401 ~ 450).

Good-Byes:

2019 ~ Jerry Merryman (né Jerry Dale Merryman; b. June 17, 1932), American engineer who taught us how to count on a pocket-sized machine.  As a member of the Texas Instruments team, he was known for co-inventing the hand-held calculator.  He died in Dallas, Texas of heart and kidney failure at age 86.

2017 ~ William Liebenow (b. Jan. 18, 1920), American Navy skipper who rescued a stranded John F. Kennedy in 1943 during World War II.  As a Lieutenant in the Navy, he used the cover of darkness to take his patrol boat into enemy waters to rescue the crew of PT-109.  He died at age 97.

2015 ~ Leonard Nimoy (né Leonard Simon Nimoy; b. Mar. 26, 1931), American actor best known for his role as Mr. Spock from the Star Trek Series.  Although he initially was not keen on the role of Mr. Spock, he learned to love the alien.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died about a month before his 84^th birthday.

2013 ~ Van Cliburn (né Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr.; b. July 12, 1934), American pianist who became a Cold War hero.  He entered into, and won, the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958.  He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana.  He died at age 78.

2012 ~ Tina Strobos (née Tineke Buchter; b. May 19, 1920), Dutch physician and psychologist who saved dozens of Jews during World War II.  A secret compartment had been built into her attic as a hiding place for Jews.  She worked with the resistance and was able to get passports and other documents so Jews could leave the country.  She and her mother are recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Vad Vashem in Jerusalem.  She died at age 91.

2011 ~ Necmettin Erbakan (b. Oct. 29, 1926), Prime Minister of Turkey.  He held that position from June 1996 through June 1997.  He died at age 84.

2011 ~ Frank Buckles (né Wood Buckles; b. Feb. 1, 1901), the last surviving American veteran of World War I.  He died 26 days after his 110^th birthday.

2008 ~ William F. Buckley, Jr. (né William Francis Buckley, Jr.; b. Nov. 24, 1925), American writer and founder of the National Review.  He died at age 82.

2003 ~ Fred Rogers (né Fred McFeely Rogers; b. Mar. 20, 1928), American minister and host to a children’s educational TV show.  He died of stomach cancer less than a month before his 75^th birthday.

1998 ~ J.T. Walsh (né James Thomas Patrick Walsh; b. Sept. 28, 1943), American actor.  He died of a heart attack at age 54.

1998 ~ George H. Hitchings (né George Herbert Hitchings; b. Apr. 18, 1905), American physician and recipient of the1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 92.

1993 ~ Lillian Gish (née Lillian Diana Gish; b. Oct. 14, 1893), American silent film actress.  She is sometimes referred to as the First Lady of American Cinema.  She was 99 years old at the time of her death.

1990 ~ Nahum Norbet Glatzer (b. Mar. 25, 1906), Jewish-American scholar.  He died about a month after his 86^thbirthday.

1989 ~ Konrad Lorenz (né Konrad Zacharias Lorenz; b. Nov. 7, 1903), Austrian zoologist and recipient of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He joined the Nazi party in 1938.  He died at age 85.

1985 ~ Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (b. July 5, 1902), American diplomat and 1960 Vice Presidential nominee as Richard Nixon’s running mate.  He was a United States Senator from Massachusetts from January 1947 until January 1953.  He served as the 3^rd United States Ambassador to the United Nations.  He died in Beverly, Massachusetts at age 82.

1956 ~ Daniele Varè (b. Jan. 12, 1880), Italian diplomat and author.  He is best known for his novel The Maker of Heavenly Trousers.  He died at age 86.

1936 ~ Joshua Alexander (né Joshua Willis Alexander; b. Jan. 22, 1852), 2^nd United States Secretary of Commerce.  He served in the Woodrow Wilson administration from December 1919 until March 1921.  He had previously served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri from March 1907 until December 1919.  He died about a month after his 84^th birthday.

1936 ~ Ivan Pavlov (b. Sept. 25, 1849), Russian physiologist and recipient of the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He is best known for his studies in classical conditioned responses.  He died at age 86.

1915 ~ Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin (b. Feb. 22, 1849), Russian mathematician.  He died 5 days after his 66^thbirthday.

1906 ~ Samuel Langley (né Samuel Pierpont Langley; b. Aug. 22, 1834), American physicist and astronomer.  He served as the 3^rd Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, from 1887 until 1906.  He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts.  The Langley Air Force Base in Virginia is named in his honor.  He died at age 71.

1905 ~ George Boutwell (né George Sewell Boutwell; b. Jan. 28, 1818), 28^th Secretary of the Treasury.  He served under President Ulysses S. Grant from March 1869 to March 1873.  Prior to his service in the Federal Government, he had served as the 20^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He also served as a United States Senator from the State of Massachusetts from March 1873 until March 1877.  He died a month after 87^th birthday.

1902 ~ Breaker Morant (né Edwin Henry Morant; b. Dec. 9, 1864), Anglo-Australian soldier who allegedly participated in the summary execution of several Boer prisoners during the Second Boer War, as well as a witness to the executions.  His actions lead to a court-martial and he was executed for murder.  He was 37 years old.

1892 ~ Louis Vuitton (b. Aug. 4, 1821), French designer of leather goods, especially trunks and bags.  He is the founder of the House of Louis Vuitton.  He died at age 70.

1844 ~ Nicholas Biddle (b. Jan. 8, 1786), American banker and financier.  He died at age 58.

1659 ~ Henry Dunster (b. Nov. 26, 1609), English-American clergyman and academic.  He became the first President of Harvard College.  The date of his birth is not known, but he was baptized on November 26, 1609.  He died at age 49.

1425 ~ Vasily I of Moscow (b. Dec. 30, 1371).  He was the Grand Prince of Moscow from May 1389 until his death 36 years later.  He was married to Sophia of Lithuania (1371 ~ 1453).  He died at age 53.

1416 ~ Eleanor of Castile (b. 1363), Queen consort of Navarre.  She was the wife of Charles III of Navarre.  Her father was Henry II of Castile.  The exact date of her birth is not known, but she is believed to have been about 52 or 53 at the time of her death.

640 ~ Pepin the Elder (b. 580), Frankish politician.  The exact date of his birth is not known.