Birthdays:
1947 ~ Norman Lebrecht, British author and music critic, best known for his novel, The Song of Names. He was born in London, England.
1934 ~ Giorgio Armani, Italian fashion designer and founder of the Armani Company.
1933 ~ Frank Kelso (né Frank Benton Kelso, III; d. June 23, 2013), United States Secretary of the Navy. He died 18 days before his 80th birthday.
1931 ~ Dave Toschi (né David Ramon Toschi; d. Jan. 6, 2018), American dogged detective who hunted the Zodiac serial killer. He was an inspector with the San Francisco Police Department from 1952 to 1987. For many years he had been assigned to the homicide detail. He was born and died in San Francisco, California. He died at age 86.
1931 ~ Tab Hunter (né Arthur Andrew Kelm; d. July 8, 2018), American Hollywood heartthrob who became a gay icon. He died of cardiac arrest 3 days before his 87th birthday.
1930 ~ Harold Bloom (d. Oct. 14, 2019), American literary critic who revered the Western canon. He died at age 89.
1927 ~ Theodore Maiman (né Theodore Harold Maiman; d. May 5, 2007), American physicist credited with inventing the laser. He died at age 79.
1926 ~ Frederick Buechner (né Carl Frederick Buechner), American writer and Presbyterian minister. He was born in New York, New York.
1920 ~ Yul Brynner (né Yuliy Borisovich Briner; d. Oct. 10, 1985), Russian-born actor, best known for his role as Mongkut, the king of Siam in the musical, The King and I. He died at age 65 of lung cancer.
1916 ~ Alexander Prokhorov (d. Jan. 8, 2002), Russian physicist and recipient of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research on lasers. He died at age 85.
1916 ~ Mortimer Caplin (né Mortimer Maxwell Caplin; d. July 15, 2019), American tax attorney and Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from February 1961 until July 1964. He was born in New York, New York. He died in Chevy Chase, Maryland 4 days after his 103rd birthday.
1903 ~ Rudolf Abel (né William August Fisher, d. Nov. 15, 1971), British-born Russian spy. He was captured in the United States and was later exchanged for Gary Powers in a prisoner exchange. This was recounted in the book and the movie Bridge of Spies. Abel died at age 68.
1899 ~ Wilfrid Israel (né Wilfrid Berthold Jacob Israel; d. June 1, 1943), Anglo-German businessman and philanthropist. He was born into a wealthy Jewish family and was also active in rescuing many Jews from Nazi Germany. He was killed at age 42 when the civilian plane he was traveling in from Lisbon to Bristol was shot down by a German fighter plane.
1899 ~ E.B. White (né Elwyn Brooks White; d. Oct. 1, 1985), American author, best known for his children’s novels, Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little. He was born in Mount Vernon, New York. He died in North Brooklin, Maine at age 86.
1882 ~ Jim White (né James Larkin White; d. Apr. 26, 1946), American miner, explorer and park ranger. He discovered the Carlsbad Caverns. He died at age 63.
1881 ~ Isabel Martin Lewis (née Isabel Martin; d. July 31, 1955), American astronomer. She was the first woman hired by the United States Naval Observatory. She was born in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. She died 20 days after her 74th birthday.
1881 ~ Clarence B. Kelland (né Clarence Budington Kelland; d. Feb. 18, 1964), American writer who described himself as the “best second-rated writer in America.” He was born in Portland, Michigan. He died at age 82 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
1834 ~ James Abbott McNeill Whistler (d. July 17, 1903), American painter, best known for his painting officially entitled Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, but more commonly known as Whistler’s Mother. He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He died in London 7 days after his 69th birthday
1767 ~ John Quincy Adams (d. Feb. 23, 1848), 6th President of the United States. He was President from March 1825 until March 1829. He had previously served as the 8th United States Secretary of State during the James Monroe administration from September 1817 until March 1825. He died at age 80.
1760 ~ Peggy Shippen (née Margaret Shippen; d. Aug. 24, 1804), American wife of Benedict Arnold. She was also an American Revolutionary War spy. She died of cancer at age 44.
1657 ~ Frederick I, King of Prussia (d. Feb. 25, 1713), King of Prussia from January 1701 until his death 12 years later. He was married three times, first to Elizabeth Henrietta of Hesse-Kassel, then to Sophia Charlotte of Hanover and then to Sophia Louise of Mencklenburg-Schwerin. He was of the House of Hohenzollern. He died at age 55.
1274 ~ Robert the Bruce (d. June 7, 1329), King of the Scots. He reigned from March 1306 until his death in 1329. He died at age 54.
Events that Changed the World:
1973 ~ Varig Flight 820 crashed near Paris, France on its an emergency landing at Orly Airport. A fire had been started in the lavatory, hence the need for the emergency. Of the 134 passengers and crew on the plane, all but 11 were killed. In response to the accident, the FAA banned smoking in airplane bathrooms. It would be several years later before smoking in the cabin would be prohibited.
1972 ~ The first game of the World Chess Championship of 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer (1943 ~ 2008) and defending champion Boris Spassky (b. 1937) began. The last game of the series began on August 31, 1972. Bobby Fischer won the match becoming the 11th World Chess Champion.
1971 ~ The copper mines of Chile were nationalized.
1960 ~ To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee (1926 ~ 2016), was first published.
1947 ~ The Exodus 1947 left France on its voyage to what is now Israel. The British Royal Navy subsequently seized the ship and deported all passengers to Europe.
1940 ~ The Vichy France regime was formally established. Philippe Pétain (1856 ~ 1951). After World War II, he would be tried and convicted of treason.
1921 ~ Former United States President William Howard Taft (1857 ~ 1930) was sworn in as the 10th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. To date, he is the only person to hold both offices.
1914 ~ Babe Ruth (1895 ~ 1948) made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox.
1906 ~ Grace Brown (1886 ~ 1906) was murdered by her lover, Chester Gillette (1883 ~ 1908), in what became a sensational murder and formed the inspiration for Theodore Dreiser’s novel, An American Tragedy. Gillette would be found guilty of the murder and was executed 2 years later.
1893 ~ Kokichi Mikimoto (1858 ~ 1954) successfully began to culture pearls.
1848 ~ The Waterloo rail station in London opened.
1804 ~ United States Vice President Aaron Burr (1756 ~ 1836) mortally wounded Alexander Hamilton (1757 ~ 1804) in a duel. Hamilton would die the following day.
1798 ~ The United States Marine Corps was re-established. It had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War.
1750 ~ A devastating fire destroyed much of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
1740 ~ The Jews were expelled from Little Russia, which is part of modern Ukraine.
1533 ~ King Henry VIII of England was excommunicated by Pope Clement VII.
1346 ~ Charles IV (1316 ~ 1378) of Luxembourg was elected Holy Roman Emperor.
Good-Byes:
2016 ~ William Powell (b. Dec. 6, 1949), American radical who wrote The Anarchist Cookbook when he was 19 years old. The book was a comprehensive “how-to” guide for insurrectionists. He later tried to atone for his actions in creating the book by co-founding a non-profit organization for handicapped and disabled children. He died of a heart attack while on vacation with his family. He was 66 years old.
2014 ~ Tommy Ramone (né Erdélyi Tamás; b. Jan. 29, 1949), Hungarian-American drummer who defied punk rock. He was the last surviving original member of the Ramones. He died of cancer at age 65.
2013 ~ Egbert Brieskorn (b. July 7, 1936), German mathematician. He died 4 days after his 77th birthday.
2009 ~ Arturo Gatti (b. Apr. 15, 1972), Italian champion boxer who was known as “The Thunder.” He was most likely murdered by his wife although the circumstances of his death remain unclear. He was 37 years old.
2009 ~ Paul Hempill (né Paul James Hempill; b. Feb. 18, 1936), the American writer who chronicled the blue-collar South. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He died of throat cancer at age 73.
2008 ~ Chuck Stobbs (né Charles Klein Stobbs; b. July 2, 1929), American baseball pitcher who gave up baseball’s longest home run. On April 17, 1953, he pitched to Mickey Mantle, who blasted a 565-foot hit that is regarded as the longest home run ever. He was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. He died in Sarasota, Florida of throat cancer 9 days after his 79th birthday.
2008 ~ Michael DeBakey (né Michael Ellis DeBakey; b. Sept. 7, 1908), Lebanese-American cardiologist, surgeon and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in heart transplants. He made heart transplants seem routine. He was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He died at age 99.
2007 ~ Lady Bird Johnson (née Claudia Alta Taylor; b. Dec. 22, 1912), First Lady of the United States and wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She died at age 94.
1989 ~ Sir Laurence Olivier, Baron Olivier (né Laurence Kerr Olivier; b. May 22, 1907), English actor. He died at age 82.
1987 ~ Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman (b. 1900), American rabbi and scholar. He died at age 87.
1983 ~ Ross Macdonald (né Kenneth Millar; b. Dec. 13, 1915), American-Canadian author of detective novels. He died of Alzheimer’s disease at age 67.
1976 ~ Eric Baker (b. Sept. 22, 1920), British activist and co-founder of Amnesty International. He died at age 55.
1974 ~ Pär Lagerkvist (né Pär Fabian Lagerkvist, b. May 23, 1891), Swedish author and poet. He was the recipient of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature. He died at age 83.
1962 ~Edward Francis Hutton (b. Sept. 7, 1875), American businessman and financier. He was a co-founder of E.F. Hutton & Company. He was born in New York, New York. He died at age 86 in Westbury, New York.
1937 ~ George Gershwin (né Jacob Bruskin Gershowitz, b. Sept. 26, 1898), American composer. He died at age 38 of a brain tumor.
1920 ~ Eugénie de Montijo (b. May 5, 1826), wife of Napoleon III. She was born in Granada, Spain. She died at age 94 in Madrid, Spain.
1909 ~ Simon Newcomb (b. Mar. 12, 1835), Canadian-born American astronomer and mathematician. He died of cancer at age 74.
1906 ~ Grace Brown (née Grace Mae Brown; b. Mar. 20, 1886), American factory worker and murder victim who inspired Theodore Dreiser’s novel, An American Tragedy. She died at age 20.
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