Thursday, April 9, 2020

April 9

Birthdays:

1966 ~ Cynthia Nixon (née Cynthia Ellen Nixon), American actress best known for her role in Sex and the City.

1965 ~ Paulina Porizkova, Czech-American model.  She is married to Ric Ocasek, frontman for the Cars.

1963 ~ Marc Jacobs, American fashion designer.

1963 ~ Joe Scarborough (né Charles Joseph Scarborough), American journalist and news anchor on Morning Joe.  He was a former United States House of Representative from Florida.  In 2018, he married co-anchor Mika Brzezinksi, who became his 3rd wife.

1957 ~ Seve Ballesteros (né Severiano Ballesteros Sota; d. May 7, 2011), Spanish golfer.  He died of a brain tumor a month after his 54th birthday.

1954 ~ Dennis Quaid (né Dennis William Quaid), American actor.  He was born in Houston, Texas.

1932 ~ Carl Perkins (né Carl Lee Perkins; d. Jan. 19, 1998), American singer and guitarist.  He died at age 65.

1930 ~ Nathaniel Branden (né Nathan Blumenthal; d. Dec. 3, 2014), Canadian-American psychologist who became Ayn Rand’s lover.  He died at age 84.

1930 ~ Jim Fowler (né James Mark Fowler; d. May 8, 2019), American daredevil naturalist who hosted Wild Kingdom.  He died a month after his 89th birthday.

1928 ~ Tom Lehrer (né Thomas Andrew Lehrer), American satirist and mathematician.

1926 ~ Hugh Hefner (né Hugh Marston Hefner; d. Sept. 27, 2017), American founder of Playboy magazine who brought sex to the mainstream.  He died at age 91.

1921 ~ Mary Jackson (née Mary Winston; d. Feb. 11, 2005), African-American mathematician and aerospace engineer at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the predecessor of NASA.  Her story was portrayed in the 2016 movie, Hidden Figures.  She died at age 83.

1921 ~ Yitzhak Navon (né Yitzhak Rachamim Navon; d. Nov. 6, 2015), 5th President of Israel.  He was President from May 1978 until May 1983.  He died at age 94.

1919 ~ J. Presper Eckert (né John Adams Presper Eckert, Jr.; d. June 3, 1995), American electrical engineer and inventor of the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer).  He died of leukemia at age 76.

1918 ~ Jørn Oberg Utzon (d. Nov. 29, 1908), Danish architect who designed the Sydney Opera House in Australia. He died at age 90.

1917 ~ Louis Fabian Bachrach, Jr. (d. Feb. 26, 2010), American photographer who put the powerful at ease.  He is best known for his photographs of celebrities, politicians and presidents.  He was born and died in Newton, Massachusetts.  He died at age 92.

1910 ~ Abraham Ribicoff (né Abraham Alexander Ribicoff; d. Feb. 22, 1998), 4th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.  He served during the Kennedy administration from January 1961 until July 1962.  He had previously served as the 80th Governor of Connecticut, from January 1955 until January 1961.  He died at age 87.

1905 ~ J. William Fulbright (né James William Fulbright; d. Feb. 9, 1995), United States Senator from Arkansas who worked to establish an international exchange program, which eventually lead to the creation of the Fulbright fellowship program.  He died at age 89.

1903 ~ Gregory Goodwin Pincus (d. Aug. 22, 1967), American biologist and co-creator of the birth control pill.  He died of a blood disease in Boston, Massachusetts at age 64.

1899 ~ James McDonnell (né James Smith McDonnell; d. Aug. 22, 1980), American pilot and founder of McDonnell Aircraft.  He died at age 81.

1898 ~ Paul Robeson (né Paul Leroy Robeson; d. Jan. 23, 1976), African-American actor, singer and civil rights activist.  He died at age 77.

1872 ~ Léon Blum (né André Léon Blum, d. Mar. 30, 1950), Jewish-French lawyer and Prime Minister of France.  He served in that office for three terms, first for a month from March to April 1938; second from June 1936 until July 1937; and then for a month from December 1946 until January 1047.  He was influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 1800s.  Post-World War II, he was a transitional leader in French politics.  He died 10 days before his 78th birthday.

1869 ~ Élie Cartan (né Élie Joseph Cartan; d. May. 6, 1951), French mathematician.  He died a month after his 82ndbirthday.

1865 ~ Charles Proteus Steinmetz (né Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz; d. Oct. 26, 1923), Polish born mathematician.  He died at age 58.

1835 ~ Leopold II of Belgium (d. Dec. 17, 1909).  He reigned over Belgium from December 1865 until his death exactly 44 years later.  He was the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State.  He is known for exploiting the people living in the Congo.  He died at age 74.

1830 ~ Eadweard Muybridge (né Edward James Muggeridge; d. May 8, 1904), English-born photographer.  In 1874, he shot and killed his wife’s lover, but was acquitted by a jury on the grounds of justified homicide.  He died a month after his 74th birthday.

1821 ~ Charles Baudelaire (né Charles Pierre Baudelaire; d. Aug. 31, 1867), French post, essayist and art critic.  He was a pioneering translator of Edgar Allen Poe.  He died at age 46.

1597 ~ John Davenport (d. May 30, 1670), English-American clergyman and co-founder of the New Haven Connecticut colony.  He died of apoplexy  at age 73.

1285 ~ Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan (d. Mar. 1, 1320), Chinese Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty.  He was also the 8thGreat Khan of the Mongol Empire.  He died at age 34.

Events that Changed the World:

2017 ~ Palm Sunday.

2017 ~ ISIS bombed two Coptic churches in Egypt during the Eastern Palm Sunday services.

2013 ~ A 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit in Iran killing over 30 people and injuring nearly 900 others.

2005 ~ England’s Prince Charles (b. 1948) married Camilla Parker Bowles (b. 1947) in a civil ceremony.  Upon her marriage, she became known as the Duchess of Cornwall.

2003 ~ Baghdad, Iraq fell to American forces.  Jubilant citizens tore down the statue of Saddam Hussein.

1992 ~ Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega (1934 ~ 2017) was found guilty of drug trafficking and money laundering by a United States Federal Court.  He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.  He was released from a US prison and extradited to France for convictions in absentia for murder and money laundering.  He was found guilty in a French court.  He was later extradited to Panama to serve 20 years for human rights violations.

1991 ~ Georgia declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

1965 ~ The Astrodome in Houston, Texas opened and the first indoor baseball game was played.

1959 ~ NASA announced the selection of the United States first seven Astronauts, who were known as the MercurySeven.  The original seven astronauts were: Scott Carpenter (1925 ~ 2013), Gordon Cooper (1927 ~ 2004), John Glenn (1921 ~ 2016), Gus Grissom (1926 ~ 1967), Wally Shirra (1923 ~ 2007), Alan Shepard (1923 ~ 1998), and Deke Slayton (1924 ~ 1993).

1957 ~ The Suez Canal in Egypt was cleared and opened for shipping vessels after being closed for three months.

1948 ~ Fighters from the Irgun and Lehi Zionist paramilitary groups attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem.  Over 100 people were killed.

1939 ~ Marian Anderson (1897 ~ 1993) sang at the Lincoln Memorial, after being denied the right to sing at the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Constitution Hall.

1867 ~ The United States Senate ratified a treaty with Russia for the purchase of the Alaskan territory.

1865 ~ Confederate General Robert E. Lee (1807 ~ 1870) surrendered to United States General Ulysses S. Grant (1822 ~ 1885) at Appomattox, effectively ending the American Civil War.

1682 ~ Robert Cavelier de La Salle (1643 ~ 1687) discovered the mouth of the Mississippi River and claimed it for France, naming the territory Louisiana in honor of the French King Louis XIV (1638 ~ 1715).

1609 ~ Philip III of Spain (1578 ~ 1621) issued the decree of the Expulsion of the Moriscos, forcing the Muslim population to flea Spain.

1413 ~ Henry V (1386 ~ 1422) was crowned King of England.

Good-Byes:

2019 ~ Marilynn Smith (née Marilynn Louise Smith; d. Apr. 13, 1929), American golfer who put women on an even par.  She was one of the co-funders of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) in the 1950s.  She died 4 days before her 90th birthday.

2019 ~ Charles Van Doren (né Charles Lincoln Van Doren; b. Feb. 12, 1926), American quiz show fraud who fooled America.  He is best known for having been given answers on the game show quiz Twenty-One in the 1950s.  He died at age 93.

2019 ~ Richard E. Cole (né Richard Eugene Cole; b. Sept. 7, 1915), American career Air Force officer and aviator who raided Tokyo with Lt. Col. James Dooley.  He died at age 103.

2016 ~ Arthur Anderson (né Arthur John Miles Anderson; b. Aug. 29, 1922), American versatile actor who voiced the Luck Charms leprechaun.  He was 93 years old.

2011 ~ Sidney Lumet (né Sidney Arthur Lumet; b. June 25, 1924), American film director.  He died at age 86.

2005 ~ Andrea Dworkin (née Andrea Rita Dworkin, b. Sept. 26, 1946), American feminist activist and writer.  She died of myocarditis at age 58.

2002 ~ Leopold Vietoris (b. June 4, 1891), Austrian mathematician.  He is best known for his contributions to topoloty.  He died at age 110.

2001 ~ Willie Stargell (né Wilver Dornell Stargell; b. Mar. 6, 1940), African-American baseball player.  He died of complications following surgery about a month after his 61st birthday.

1996 ~ Richard Condon (né Richard Thomas Condon; b. Mar. 18, 1915), American political novelist.  He is best known for his novel The Manchurian Candidate.  He died 22 days after his 81st birthday.

1993 ~ Joseph B. Soloveitchik (né Joseph Ber Soloveitchik; b. Feb. 27, 1903), American rabbi and philosopher.  He died at age 90.

1979 ~ Phil Ochs (né Philip David Ochs; b. Dec. 19, 1940), American singer and songwriter.  He died by suicide at age 35.

1972 ~ James Byrnes (né James Francis Byrnes; b. May 2, 1882), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  He replaced James McReynolds on the Court.  He was succeeded by Wiley Rutledge.  He served on the Court from July 1941 until October 1942.  He resigned after serving 15 months to head the Office of Economic Stabilization.  His tenure on the Court is one of the shortest in Court history.  He went on to become the 49th United States Secretary of State under President Harry Truman.  He served in that capacity from July 1945 until January 1947.  He then became the 104th Governor of South Carolina.  He listed his birthday as May 2, 1879 so that he could apply for work after his father died.  His actual birthdate, however, was May 2, 1882.  He was born in Charleston, South Carolina.  He died a month before his 90th birthday in Columbia, South Carolina.

1965 ~ Sherman Minton (b. Oct. 20, 1890), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Harry Truman.  He replaced Wiley Blount Rudledge on the Court.  He was replaced by William J. Brennan, Jr.  He served on the Court from October 1949 until October 1956.  Prior to serving on the Court, he had been a United States Senator from Indiana from January 1935 until January 1941.  He died at age 74.

1964 ~ Hesketh Pearson (né Edward Hesketh Gibbons Pearson; b. Feb. 20, 1887), British theater actor and writer, best known for his biographies.  He died at age 77.

1959 ~ Frank Lloyd Wright (né Frank Lincoln Wright; b. June 8, 1867), American architect.  He died at age 91.

1945 ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer (b. Feb. 4, 1906), German theologian.  He was known for his staunch resistance to the Nazi dictatorship and the persecution of the Jews.  He was arrested in April 1943 and sent to Fossenbürg concentration camp, where he was executed at age 39.

1917 ~ Edward Thomas (né Philip Edward Thomas; b. Mar. 3, 1878), British poet.  He was killed in action during World War I about a month after his 39th birthday.

1915 ~ Friedrich Loeffler (b. June 24, 1852), German bacteriologist.  He died at age 62.

1914 ~ Eben Sumner Draper (b. June 17, 1858), 44th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1909 through January 1911.  He died at age 55.

1904 ~ Queen Isabella II of Spain (b. Oct. 10, 1830).  She reigned from September 1833 until September 30, 1868.  She died at age 73.

1899 ~ Stephen Field (né Stephen Johnson Field; b. Nov. 4, 1816), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Abraham Lincoln.  He served on the Court from March 1863 until December 1897.  This seat on the Court was established by the President.  He was succeeded by Joseph McKenna on the Court.  He had previously served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California from September 1859 to March 1863.  He died at age 82.

1882 ~ Dante Gabriel Rossetti (b. May 12, 1828), English poet and illustrator.  He died of kidney disease at age 53.

1806 ~ William V, Prince of Orange (b. Mar. 8, 1748).  He died a month after his 58th birthday.

1768 ~ Sarah Fielding (b. Nov. 8, 1710), British author and sister of writer Henry Fielding.  She died at age 58.

1626 ~ Sir Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St. Alban (b. Jan. 22, 1561), English statesman.  He died of pneumonia at age 65.

1553 ~ François Rabelais (b. between 1483 and 1494), French Renaissance writer, physician, monk and Greek scholar.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he was born sometime between 1483 and 1494.

1483 ~ Edward, King IV of England (b. Apr. 28, 1442).  He reigned from March 4, 1461 until Oct. 3, 1470 and again from April 11, 1471 until his death in April 1483.  He was the first Yorkist King of England.  He married Elizabeth Woodville in 1464.  They had 10 children together.  He also had several illegitimate children with his numerous mistresses.  He was of the House of York.  He was the son of Richard, Duke of York and Cecily Neville.  He died 19 days before his 41st birthday.

1283 ~ Margaret of Scotland (b. Feb. 28, 1261) Queen consort of Norway and wife of King Eric II of Norway.  She died at age 22 in childbirth.

1024 ~ Pope Benedict VIII (né Theophylactus; b. 980).  He was Pope from May 1012 until his death 12 years later.  The date of his birth is unknown.

715 ~ Pope Constantine (b. 664).  He was Pope from March 708 until his death 7 years later.  The date of his birth is unknown.

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