Thursday, March 12, 2020

March 12

Birthdays:

1968 ~ Aaron Eckhart (né Aaron Edward Eckhart), American actor.  He was born in Cupertino, California.

1962 ~ Darryl Strawberry, Sr. (né Darryl Eugene Strawberry) American baseball player.  He was born in Los Angeles, California.

1960 ~ Courtney B. Vance (né Courtney Bernard Vance), African-American actor.  He is best known for his role as the Assistant District Attorney on the television drama Law and Order.  He was born in Detroit, Michigan.

1948 ~ James Taylor (né James Vernon Taylor), American singer-songwriter.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

1947 ~ Mitt Romney (né Willard Mitt Romney), Mormon-politician and presidential candidate in the 2012 election year.  He also served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts. He became a United States Senator from Utah.  In February 2020, he was the only Republican Senator to vote against an acquittal in the impeachment process of President Donald Trump.  He was born in Detroit, Michigan.

1946 ~ Liza Minnelli (née Liza May Minnelli), American actress and singer and daughter of Judy Garland.  She was born in Hollywood, California.

1940 ~ Al Jarreau (né Alwin Lopez Jarreau; d. Feb. 12, 2017), African-American vocal virtuoso who crossed genres.  He died a month before his 77th birthday.

1933 ~ Barbara Feldon (née Barbara Anne Hall), American actress best known for her portrayal of Agent 99 on the television sit-com Get Smart.  She was born in Butler, Pennsylvania.

1932 ~ Andrew Young (né Andrew Jackson Young, Jr.), American politician and 14th United States Ambassador to the United Nations.  He served as the 55th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia from January 1982 until January 1990.  He also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia.  He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1931 ~ Robert B. Oakley (né Robert Bigger Oakley; d. Dec. 10, 2014), American diplomat who thrived in danger zones.  He served as the 19th United States Ambassador to Pakistan.  He was born in Dallas, Texas.  He died at age 83 in McLean, Virginia.

1931 ~ Herb Kelleher (né Herbert David Kehheler; d. Jan. 3, 2019), American fun-loving CEO who shook up air travel.  He was the founder and later CEO and chairman of Southwest Airlines.  He was born in Camden, New Jersey.  He died at age 87 in Dallas, Texas.

1930 ~ Wardell Quezergue (né Wardell Joseph Quezergue; d. Sept. 6, 2011), American “Creole Beethoven” of New Orleans, Louisiana.  He was born and died in New Orleans.  He died at age 81.

1928 ~ Edward Albee (né Edward Franklin Albee, III; d. Sept. 16, 2016), American playwright.  He died at age 88.

1927 ~ Raúl Ricardo Alfonsin (d. Mar. 31, 2009), 46th Argentine president who championed democracy after years of brutal authoritarian rule.  He died 19 days 83rd birthday.

1925 ~ Leo Esaki (né Reona Esaki), Japanese physicist and recipient of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Osaka Prefecture, Japan.

1924 ~ Mary Lee Woods (d. Nov. 29, 2017), British mathematician and computer programmer.  She was born in Birmingham, England.  She died at age 93 in London, England.

1923 ~ Wally Schirra (né Walter Marty Schirra, Jr.; d. May 3, 2007), American astronaut.  He was one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts.  He died at age 84.

1923 ~ Mae Young (née Johnnie Mae Young; d. Jan. 14, 2014), American professional “lady wrestler” who relished playing the heel.  She was born in Sand Springs, Oklahoma.  She died at age 90 in Columbia, South Carolina.

1922 ~ Jack Kerouac (né Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac; d. Oct. 21, 1969), American writer.  He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts.  He is best known for his book, On the Road.  He died of abdominal hemorrhages at age 47.

1920 ~ Roland Fraïssé (d. Mar. 30, 2008), French mathematical logician.  He was born in Bressuire, France.  He died in Marseille, France 18 days after his 88th birthday.

1918 ~ Elaine de Kooning (née Elaine Marie Fried; d. Feb. 1, 1989), American artist.  She was also the wife of artist Willem de Kooning.  She died at age 68.

1917 ~ Millard Kaufman (d. Mar. 14, 2009), American screenwriter and co-creator of Mr. Magoo.  He died 2 days after his 92nd birthday.

1915 ~ László Fejes Tóth (d. Mar. 17, 2005), Hungarian mathematician.  He was born in Szeged, Hungary.  He died in Budapest, Hungary 5 days after his 90th birthday.

1913 ~ Agathe von Trapp (née Agathe Johanna Erwina Gobertina von Trapp; d. Dec. 28, 2010), eldest daughter of the von Trapp family.  She was portrayed as Lisel in the movie, The Sound of Music.  She died at age 97.

1911 ~ Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (d. July 15, 1979), President of Mexico.  He served as President from December 1964 through November 1970.  He died of cancer at age 68.

1904 ~ Lyudmila Kedysh (d. Feb. 16, 1976), Russian mathematician best known for her work in set theory and geometric topology.  She died less than a month before her 72nd birthday.

1890 ~ Vaslav Nijinsky (d. Apr. 8, 1950), Russian dancer and choreographer.  He was born in Kyiv, Ukraina.  He died in London, England of kidney failure less than a month after his 61st birthday.

1863 ~ Gabriele d’Annunzio (d. Mar. 1, 1938), Italian poet.  He died 11 days before his 75th birthday.

1859 ~ Ernesto Cesàro (d. Sept. 12, 1906), Italian mathematician who specialized in the field of differential geometry.  He died at age 47 while trying to save his son from drowning.

1858 ~ Adolph Ochs (né Adolph Simon Ochs; d. Apr. 8, 1935). American owner and publisher of The New York Times.  He died less than a month before his 78th birthday.

1838 ~ Sir William Henry Perkins (d. July 14, 1907), British chemist best known for his accidental discovery of the first aniline dye, which is a purple mauveine.  He was attempting to synthesize quinine as a treatment for malaria, when he discovered the dye.  He died of pneumonia at age 69 in London, England.

1835 ~ Simon Newcomb (d. July 11, 1909), Canadian-born American astronomer and mathematician.  He died of cancer at age 74.

1834 ~ Hilary A. Herbert (né Hilary Abner Herbert; d. Mar. 6, 1919), 33rd United States Secretary of the Navy.  He served in that Office from March 1893 until March 1897 during the second Grover Cleveland administration.  He had previously served in the United House of Representatives from Alabama.  He was born in Laurensville, South Carolina.  He died in Tampa, Florida just 6 days before his 85th birthday.

1832 ~ Charles Boycott (né Charles Cunningham Boycott; d. June 19, 1897), British land agent.  He was ostracized by his local community, hence the verb Boycott.  He died at age 65.

1831 ~ Clement Studebaker (d. Nov. 27, 1901), American businessman and co-founder of the Studebaker automotive company.  He died at age 70 in South Bend, Indiana.

1821 ~ Sir John Abbott (né John Joseph Caldwell Campbell; d. Oct. 30, 1893), 3rd Prime Minister of Canada.  He served from 1891 to 1892.  He died at age 72.

1806 ~ Jane Pierce, (née Jane Means Appleton; d. Dec. 2, 1863), First Lady of the United States and wife of President Franklin Pierce.  She was born in Hampton, New Hampshire and died in Andover, Massachusetts.  She was died of tuberculosis at age 57.

1781 ~ Frederica of Baden (d. Sept. 25, 1826), Queen consort of Sweden and wife of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden.  They married in 1797.  They divorced in 1812.  She was of the House of Zähringen.  She died of heart disease at age 45.

1774 ~ Johann Caspar Horner (d. Nov. 3, 1834), Swiss physicist and mathematician.  He died at age 60.

1710 ~ Thomas Arne (né Thomas Augustine Arne; d. Mar. 5, 1778), British composer.  He is best known for writing England’s national anthem, God Save the King.  He died 7 days before his 68th birthday.

1637 ~ Anne Hyde (d. Mar. 31, 1671), first wife of James II of England.  She converted to Catholicism shortly after her marriage to James II.  She died of breast cancer 19 days after her 34th birthday.  She died before he became king, thus was never the Queen consort.

1476 ~ Anna Jagiellon (d. Aug. 12, 1503), Duchess of Pomerania through her marriage to Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania.  She was the daughter of Casimir IV Jagiellon, King of Poland.  She died at age 27 either in childbirth or tuberculosis.

1270 ~ Charles, Count of Valois (d. Dec. 16, 1325), French prince and son of King Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon.  He died at age 55.

1096 ~ Canute Lavard (d. Jan. 7, 1131), Danish prince.  He was the son of Eric I of Denmark.  He was killed by his cousin, Magnus (later King Magnus I of Sweden), who viewed him as a threat to the throne.  He was later canonized as a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

Events that Changed the World:

2011 ~ A nuclear reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan melted, exploded and released radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after the devastating earthquake.

2009 ~ Bernard Madoff (b. 1938) plead guilty to scamming more than $18 Billion from investors.  He was ultimately sentenced to 150 years in prison.

1994 ~ The Church of England ordained its first female priests.

1993 ~ Janet Reno (1938 ~ 2016) was sworn in as the 78th US Attorney General.  She was the first female United States Attorney General.  She had been confirmed the previous day.  She served in the Bill Clinton administration.

1993 ~ The Blizzard of 1993 began in the eastern portion of the United States bringing snow, tornadoes, thunder snow storms and high winds.  The storm lasted for 30 hours.

1968 ~ Maruitius gained its independence from the United Kingdom.  It would become a republic on this date in 1992, but remain a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

1964 ~ New Hampshire became the first State of the Union to legally sell lottery tickets in the 20th century.

1947 ~ President Harry Truman (1884 ~ 1972) announced the Truman Doctrine to the United States Congress, which was the policy to prevent the spread of Communism

1933 ~ President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1883 ~ 1945) began the first of his “Fireside Chats.”

1930 ~ Mohandas Gandhi (1869 ~ 1948) and his followers began the Dandi March, also known as the Salt March.  They began the 24-day march through the Gujarat villages to Dandi, where Gandhi committed an act of civil disobedience by making salt, which was forbidden by British law.

1928 ~ The St. Francis Dam in California failed causing a severe flood that killed over 400 people.

1918 ~ Moscow became the capital of Russia.  St. Petersburg had been the capital for the previous 215 years.

1912 ~ Juliette Gordon Low (1860 ~ 1927) founded the American Girl Scout movement in the United States.

1894 ~ Coca-Cola was bottled and sold for the first time by a local soda fountain operator in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Good-Byes:

2017 ~ Joseph Hilbe (né Joseph Michael Hilbe; b. Dec. 30, 1944), American mathematician.  He was born in Los Angeles, California.  He died at age 72.

2016 ~ Lloyd Shapley (né Lloyd Stowell Shapley; b. June 2, 1923), American mathematician and economist.  He was the recipient of the 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science.  He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  He died at age 92.

2015 ~ Sir Terry Pratchett (né Terence David John Pratchett; b. Apr. 28, 1948), British author of the Discworldfantasy series.  He was known as the novelist who mixed fantasy and satire.  He died of early onset Alzheimer’s disease at 66 years old.

2015 ~ Michael Graves (b. July 9, 1934), American architect who pioneered postmodernism.  He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.  He died at age 80 in Princeton, New Jersey.

2012 ~ Samuel Glazer (né Samuel Lewis Glazer; b. Feb. 24, 1923), American businessman and founder of Mr. Coffee.  He was born and died in Cleveland, Ohio.  He died of leukemia 16 days after his 89th birthday.

2011 ~ Owsley Stanley (né Augustus Owsley Stanley, III; b. Jan. 19, 1935), American-born blue blood who mass produced LSD.  He was an audio engineer and a key figure in the counter-culture in San Francisco in the 1960s.  He was killed in a car accident in Australia.  He was 76 years old.

2011 ~ Joe Morello (né Joseph Albert Morello; b. July 17, 1928), American drummer who swung in 5/4 time.  He was the drummer for the Dave Brubeck band.  He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.  He died at age 82 in Irvington, New Jersey.

2009 ~ Leonore Annenberg (née Leonore Cohn; b. Feb. 20, 1918), American society hostess who was the Chief of Protocol of the United States during the Reagan administration, from March 1981 until January 1982.  She was born in New York, New York,  She died in Rancho Mirage, California 20 days after her 91st birthday.

2007 ~ Betty Hutton (née Elizabeth June Thornburg; b. Feb. 26, 1921), American stage and film actress.  She was born in Battle Creek, Michigan.  She died in Palm Springs, California of colon cancer 2 weeks after her 86th birthday.

2003 ~ Zoran Đinđić (b. Aug. 1, 1952), 6th Prime Minister of Serbia.  He served as Prime Minister from January 2001 until March 2003, when he was assassinated.  He had previously served as the 67th Mayor of Belgrade.  He was assassinated in Belgrade, Serbia at age 50.

2003 ~ Howard Fast (né Howard Melvin Fast; b. Nov. 11, 1914), American author.  He died at age 88.

2001 ~ Robert Ludlum (b. May 25, 1927), American suspense-thriller writer.  He created Jason Borne of the Borne Identity series of books.  He died at age 73 of burns caused by a mysterious fire in his home.

1999 ~ Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (b. Apr. 22, 1916), American-born violinist.  He died of bronchitis at age 82.

1998 ~ Beatrice Wood (d. Mar. 3, 1893), American illustrator and potter.  She died 9 days after her 105th birthday.

1991 ~ Ragnar Granit (né Ragnar Arthur Granit; b. Oct. 30, 1900), Finnish neuroscientist and recipient of the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 90.

1987 ~ Woody Hayes (né Wayne Woodrow Hayes; b. Feb. 14, 1913), American football player and college coach.  He had a long-term career coaching the football team at Ohio State University.  He was born in Clifton, Ohio.  He died in Upper Arlington, Ohio.  about a month before his 75th birthday.

1955 ~ Charlie Parker (né Charles Parker, Jr.; b. Aug. 29, 1920), American jazz saxophonist.  He was known as Bird.  He died of lobar pneumonia and a bleeding ulcer at age 34.

1943 ~ Gustav Vigeland (né Adolf Gustav Thorsen; b. Apr. 11, 1869), Norwegian sculptor who designed the Nobel Peace Prize medal.  He died a month before his 64th birthday.

1942 ~ Sir William Henry Bragg (b. July 2, 1862), English physicist and mathematician.  He was the recipient of the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He shared the Nobel Prize with his son, William Lawrence Bragg (1890 ~ 1971), who was 25 years old at the time.  He died at age 79.

1929 ~ Asa Griggs Candler (b. Dec. 20, 1851), Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.  He served as Mayor from 1916 until 1919.  He died at age 77.

1925 ~ Sun Yat-sen (b. Nov. 12, 1866), Chinese revolutionary and politician.  He was the 1st President of the Republic of China.  He died of liver cancer at age 58.

1914 ~ George Westinghouse, Jr. (b. Oct. 6, 1846), American inventor, engineer, manufacturer, and entrepreneur.  He earned his first patent, which was a railway air break, at age 22.  He was born in Central Bridge, New York.  He died at age 67 in New York, New York.

1898 ~ Johann Jakob Balmer (b. May 1, 1825), Swiss mathematician and mathematical physicist.  He was born in Lausen, Switzerland.  He died at age 72 in Basel, Switzerland.

1889 ~ John Campbell (né John Archibald Campbell; b. June 24, 1811), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Franklin Pierce.  He replaced John McKinley on the Court.  He was succeeded by David Davis.  He served on the Court from March 1853 until April 1861.  He was a Southerner and opposed Reconstruction following the American Civil War.  He was born in Washington, Georgia.  He died in Baltimore, Maryland.  He died at age 77.

1888 ~ Henry Bergh (b. Aug. 29, 1813), American activist and founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).  He was born and died in New York, New York.  He died at age 74.

1507 ~ Cesare Borgia (b. Sept. 13, 1475), Italian politician and cardinal.  He was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI and his mistress Vannozza die Cattanei, and brother of Lucrezia Borgia.  He became the first cardinal to resign, after which he married Charlotte of Albfet.  He was born in Rome, Italy.  He was assassinated at age 31 in Viana, Spain.

1316 ~ Stefan Dragutin (b. 1253), King of Serbia.  He ruled from 1276 until his death 30 years later.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  He died at age 63.

969 ~ Mu Zong (b. Sept. 19, 931), Chinese emperor of the Liao Dynasty.  He reigned from October 951 until his death in March 969.  He was 37 years old at the time of his death.

604 ~ Pope Gregory I (b. 540).  He served as Pope from September 590 until his death on this date 13 ½ years later.  He is known as Pope St. Gregory I.  The actual date of his birth is unknown.

417 ~ Pope Innocent I (b. Mar. 11, 378).  He was Pope from December 401 until his death.  He is known as Pope Saint Innocent I.  He is believed to have died 1 day after his 39th birthday.

No comments:

Post a Comment