Sunday, December 20, 2020

December 20

Birthdays:

1969 ~ Alain de Botton, Swiss-born British philosopher.  He was born in Zürich, Switzerland.

 

1954 ~ Fokko du Cloux (d. Nov. 10, 2006), Dutch mathematician.  He died at age 51 from ALS.

 

1952 ~ Jenny Agutter (née Jennifer Ann Agutter), English actress.  She is best known for her role in the 1971 film Walkabout.

 

1950 ~ Geoffrey Grimmett (né Geoffrey Richard Grimmett), British mathematician.  He is best known for his work in probability theory.  He was born in Birmingham, England.

 

1949 ~ Oscar Gamble (né Oscar Charles Gamble; d. Jan. 31, 2018), African-American professional baseball outfielder who had a big bat and big hair.  He was born in Ramer, Alabama.  He died in Birmingham, Alabama of cancer at age 68.

 

1946 ~ John Spencer (né John Speshock, Jr.; d. Dec. 16, 2005), American actor.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died of a heart attack 4 days before his 59th birthday in Los Angeles, California.

 

1946 ~ Uri Geller, Israeli mentalist and magician.  He was born in Tel Aviv, Israel.

 

1946 ~ Dick Wolf (né Richard Anthony Wolf), American television series creator.  He created such shows as the Law and Order franchise.  He was born in New York, New York.

 

1931 ~ Yossef Gutfreund (d. Sept. 6, 1972), Romanian-born Israeli wrestling judge.  He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  He was 40 years old at the time of his death.

 

1926 ~ David Levine (d. Dec. 29, 2009), American caricaturist who skewered his subjects.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He died 9 days after his 83rd birthday in Manhattan, New York.

 

1922 ~ Beverly Pepper (né Beverly Stoll; d. Feb. 5, 2020), American sculptor who found beauty in medal.  She is known for her monumental works and land art.  She was born in Brooklyn, New York.  She died at age 97 in Todi, Italy.

 

1917 ~ David Bohm (né David Joseph Bohm; d. Oct 27, 1992), American physicist who contributed greatly quantum theory.  Due to his communist affiliations, he was the subject of a federal investigation in the late 1940s, causing him to leave the United States and he ultimately settled in Great Britain.  He died of a heart attack at age 74.

 

1911 ~ Hortense Calisher (d. Jan. 13, 2009), American author best known for her book, Sunday Jews.  She was the second woman president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  She died 24 days after her 97th birthday.

 

1901 ~ Robert J. Van de Graaff (né Robert Jamison Van de Graaff; d. Jan. 16, 1967), American physicist and inventor of the Van de Graaff generator.  He died in Boston, Massachusetts 27 days after his 65th birthday.

 

1898 ~ Irene Dunne (née Irene Marie Dunn; d. Sept. 4, 1990), American actress.  She died at age 91.

 

1894 ~ Sir Robert Menzies (né Robert Gordon Menzies; d. May 15, 1978), Prime Minister of Australia.  He served for 2 for two terms from 1939 to 1941 and 1949 to 1966.  He died of a heart attack at age 83.

 

1890 ~ Jaroslav Heyrovský (d. Mar. 27, 1967), Czech chemist and recipient of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 76.

 

1888 ~ Yitzhak Baer (d. Jan. 22, 1980), German-Israeli historian.  He was an expert in medieval Spanish Jewish history.  He died a month after his 91st birthday.

 

1881 ~ Branch Rickey (né Wesley Branch Rickey; d. Dec. 9, 1965), American baseball executive.  He died 11 days before his 84th birthday.

 

1868 ~ Harvey Firestone (né Harvey Samuel Firestone; d. Feb. 7, 1938), American automobile pioneer and founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.  He died of coronary thrombosis at age 69.

 

1841 ~ Ferdinand Buisson (né Ferdinand Édouard Buisson; d. Feb. 16, 1932), French pacifist and recipient of the 1927 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 90.

 

1833 ~ Dr. Samuel Mudd (né Samuel Alexander Mudd; d. Jan. 10, 1883), American physician, who was convicted of conspiring with John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.  He was sentenced to life imprisonment.  President Andrew Johnson, however, pardoned him after he had spent only a few years in prison.  He was born in Charles County, Maryland.  He died of pneumonia 21 days after his 49th birthday in Waldorf, Maryland.

 

1813 ~ Samuel Kirkwood (né Samuel Jordan Kirkwood; d. Sept. 1, 1894), 14th United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under Presidents James Garfield and Chester Arthur from March 1881 until April 1882.  Prior to becoming the Secretary of the Interior, he served as a United States Senator from Iowa.  He had also served as the 5th and 9th Governor of Iowa.  He was born in Harford County, Maryland.  He died at age 80 in Iowa City, Iowa.

 

1648 ~ Tommaso Ceva (d. Feb. 3, 1737), Italian mathematician and Jesuit priest.  He was born and died in Milan, Italy.  He died at age 88.

 

1537 ~ King John III of Sweden (d. Nov. 17, 1592).  He was King of Sweden from September 1568 until his death 14 years later.  He died at age 54.

 

1494 ~ Oronce Finé (b. Aug. 8, 1555), French mathematician.  He died at age 60.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2019 ~ The United States Space Force became a new branch of the United States Armed Forces.

 

2007 ~ Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926) became the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria (1819 ~ 1901), who lived to be 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.

 

1999 ~ Portugal turned over governance of Macau to China.

 

1995 ~ NATO began peacekeeping in Bosnia.

 

1989 ~ The United States sent troops into Panama to overthrow the government of Manuel Noriega (1934 ~ 2017).  It also marked the first combat usage of the Stealth aircraft.

 

1987 ~ The MV Doña Paz, a Philippine-registered passenger ferry, collided with the oil tanker MT Vector.  The ferry was traveling from Letye Island to Manila.  The ferry was overcrowded and there were at least 2,000 passengers who were not listed on the manifest.  Over 4,000 people were killed when the ferry sank.  There were only 24 survivors.

 

1971 ~ Doctors Without Borders, an international aid organization, was founded in Paris, France.

 

1957 ~ The Boeing 707 made its maiden flight, becoming the first jet-powered aircraft.

 

1951 ~ The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho became the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity.  The electricity generated was enough to power four light bulbs.

 

1946 ~ It’s a Wonderful Life was first shown in New York City.

 

1915 ~ The last Australian troops were evacuated from Gallipoli during World War I.

 

1860 ~ South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union, setting the stage for the American Civil War.

 

1803 ~ The Louisiana Purchase was completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.

 

1606 ~ The Virginia Company loaded three ships with settlers and set sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia.  This was to be the first permanent English settlement in the “New World.”

 

1192 ~ King Richard I of England (1157 ~ 1199) was captured and imprisoned by Leopold V, Duke of Austria (1157 ~ 1194) on his way home from the Third Crusade.  King Richard was returning to England after signing a treaty with Saladin (1137 ~ 1193) ending the Third Crusade.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2014 ~ Bob Lanier (né Robert Clayton Lanier; b. Mar. 10, 1925), American politician and 58th Mayor of Houston, Texas.  He was Mayor from January 1992 until January 1998.  He was born in Baytown, Texas.  He died at age 89 in Houston, Texas.

 

2009 ~ Brittany Murphy (née Brittany Anne Bertolotti; b. Nov. 10, 1977), American actress.  She was born in Atlanta, Georgia.  She died of pneumonia at age 32 in Los Angeles, California.

 

2005 ~ Raoul Bott (b. Sept. 24, 1923), Hungarian-born American mathematician.  He died at age 82.

 

1998 ~ Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin (b. Feb. 5, 1914), British biophysicist and recipient of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 84.

 

1996 ~ Carl Sagan (né Carl Edward Sagan b. Nov. 9, 1934), American astronomer and writer.  He died at of cancer age 62.

 

1994 ~ Dean Rusk (né David Dean Rusk; b. Feb. 9, 1909), 54th United States Secretary of State.  He served under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from January 1961 until January 1969.  He died of heart failure at age 85.

 

1988 ~ Max Robinson (né Maxie Cleveland Robinson, Jr., b. May 1, 1939), African-American journalist.  He was born in Richmond, Virginia.  He died of AIDS at age 49 in Washington, D.C.

 

1983 ~ Mignon McLaughlin (b. June 6, 1913), American journalist and author.  She was born in Baltimore, Maryland.  She died at age 70 in Coral Gables, Florida.

 

1982 ~ Arthur Rubinstein (b. Jan. 28, 1887), Polish-born American pianist.  He died at age 95.

 

1976 ~ Richard J. Daley (né Richard Joseph Daley; b. May 15, 1902), 48th Mayor of Chicago and undisputed and Democratic boss of the city of Chicago.  He died of a heart attack at age 74.

 

1973 ~ Bobby Darin (né Walden Robert Cassotto; b. May 14, 1936), American singer-songwriter.  He died following heart surgery at age 37.

 

1971 ~ Roy O. Disney (né Roy Oliver Disney; b. June 24, 1893), American businessman.  Together with his brother, Walt Disney, they created the Walt Disney Company.  He died of a brain seizure at age 78.

 

1968 ~ John Steinbeck (né John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr.; b. Feb. 27, 1902), 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.

 

1968 ~ Max Brod (b. May 27, 1884), Czech writer, composer and journalist.  He was a friend of Franz Kafka and is largely responsible for preserving much of Kafka’s writings.  He was born in Prague, Czechia.  He died at age 84 in Tel Aviv.

 

1962 ~ Emil Artin (b. Mar. 3, 1898), German mathematician.  He was married to Natalya Naumovna Yasnaya, also a mathematician.  He was born in Vienna, Austria.  He died of a heart attack at age 64 in Hamburg, Germany.

 

1961 ~ Moss Hart (b. Oct. 24, 1904), American playwright.  He was married to Kitty Carlisle.  He died of a heart attack at age 57.

 

1954 ~ James Hilton (b. Sept. 9, 1900), English novelist best known for his novels, Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips.  He died of liver cancer at age 54.

 

1929 ~ Émile Loubet (né Émile François Loubet; b. Dec. 30, 1838), President of France.  He served as President from February 1899 until February 1906.  He died 10 days before his 91st birthday.

 

1921 ~ Julius Petri (né Julius Richard Petri; b. May 31, 1852), German microbiologist and inventor of the Petri dish.  He died at age 69.

 

1812 ~ Sacagawea (b. May 1788), Native American guide to the Lewis and Clark expedition across the American Northwest.  The exact date of her birth is not known.

 

1722 ~ Kangxi Emperor of China (b. May 4, 1654), Fourth Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.  He ruled from February 1661 until his death 61 years later.  He was born in Beijing.  He died at age 68.

 

1552 ~ Katharina von Bora (b. Jan. 29, 1499), former nun and wife of Martin Luther.  She died at age 53.

 

1295 ~ Margaret of Provence (b. Spring 1221), Queen consort and wife of King Louis IX of France.  The exact date of her birth is not known, however, she is believed to have been 74 at the time of her death.

 

860 ~ Æthelbald, King of Wessex.  He was King of Wessex for approximately 5 years ~ from 855 until his death on this date in 860.  The date of his birth is not known.

 

217 ~ Pope Zephyrinus.  He was Pope from 199 until his death on this date 18 years later.  The date of his birth is not known.

 

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