Thursday, February 27, 2020

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), 81st 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 40th 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 79th 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), 61st Secretary of the Treasury.  He served under President Richard Nixon from February 1971 until June 1972.  He was also the 55th United States Secretary of the Navy under President John F. Kennedy from January 1961 until December 1961.  He has also served as the 39th 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 WrathOf Mice and MenEast 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 79th 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), 50th 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), 50th 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 75th 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 22nd 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 19thAmendment 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 84th 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 110th 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 75th 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 86thbirthday.

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 3rd 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), 2nd 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 84th 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 66thbirthday.

1906 ~ Samuel Langley (né Samuel Pierpont Langley; b. Aug. 22, 1834), American physicist and astronomer.  He served as the 3rd 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), 28th 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 20th 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 87th 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.

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