Saturday, January 2, 2021

January 2

Birthdays: 

1986 ~ Trombone Shorty (né Troy Andrews), African-American musician from New Orleans.

 

1975 ~ Dax Shepard (né Dax Randall Shepard), American actor and movie director.  He was born in Highland Township, Michigan.

 

1969 ~ Christy Turlington (née Christy Nicole Turlington), American model.  She was born in Walnut Creek, California.

 

1968 ~ Cuba Gooding, Jr. (né Cuba Mark Gooding, Jr.), American actor.  He was born in the Bronx, New York.

 

1956 ~ Lynda Barry (née Linda Jean Barry), American cartoonist and writer.  She was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin.

 

1943 ~ Janet Akyüz Mattei (née Janet Akyüz; d. Mar. 22, 2004), Turkish-American astronomer.  She was the head of the American Association of Variable Star Observers.  She died of leukemia in Boston, Massachusetts at age 61.

 

1942 ~ Dennis Hastert (né John Dennis Hastert), Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.  He represented the 14th congressional district of Illinois.  In 2015, he was indicted on federal charges of structuring bank withdrawals to evade banking reporting requirements.  This led to an investigation of allegations of sexually abusing young boys when he was a teacher years earlier.  In 2015, he entered a plea deal and was sentenced to federal prison.  He was imprisoned in 2016, but was released 13 months later.  He was born in Aurora, Illinois.

 

1940 ~ Jim Bakker (né James Orsen Bakker), American televangelist.  He was convicted of fraud after he paid hush money to cover-up a sex scandal with his church secretary.  He served several years in Federal prison before returning to his televangelism.  He was born in Muskegon, Michigan.

 

1940 ~ S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan (né Sathamangalam Ranga Iyengar Srinivasa Varadhan), Indian mathematician.  He was born in Madras, British India, currently known as Chennai, India.

 

1936 ~ Roger Miller, Sr. (né Roger Dean Miller; d. Oct. 25, 1992), American singer-songwriter.  He is best known for King of the Road.  He died of lung cancer at age 56.

 

1933 ~ Richard Riley (né Richard Wilson Riley), 6th United States Secretary of Education.  He served under President Bill Clinton from January 1992 until January 2001.  He had previously served as the 111th Governor of South Carolina from January 1979 to January 1987.  He was born in Greenville, South Carolina.

 

1931 ~ James Murray (né James Dickson Murray), British mathematician.  He is best known for his work in Mathematical Biology.  He was born in Moffat, Scotland.

 

1926 ~ Harold Bradley (né Harold Ray Bradley; d. Jan. 31, 2019), American prolific guitarist who shaped the Nashville sound.  He was one of the most recorded guitarists in music history.  He was born and died in Nashville, Tennessee.  He died 29 days after his 93rd birthday.

 

1920 ~ Isaac Asimov (né Isaak Yudovich Ozimov; d. Apr. 6, 1992), Russian-born American science-fiction writer and biochemistry professor.  He taught at Boston University.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but January 2 is generally accepted as his birthdate.  He died at age 72 in Brooklyn, New York.

 

1919 ~ Beatrice Hicks (née Beatrice Alice Hicks; d. Oct. 21, 1979), American engineer.  She was the first woman hired by General Electric.  She was the co-founder of the Society of Women Engineers.  She died at age 60.

 

1916 ~ Joseph W. Schmitt (né Joseph William Schmitt; d. Sept. 25, 2017), American technician who suited up NASA’s first astronauts.  He helped design and develop the astronauts’ first space suits.  He was born in O’Fallon, Illinois.  He died at age 101 in Friendswood, Texas.

 

1915 ~ John Hope Franklin (d. Mar. 25, 2009), African-American historian.  He was born in Rentiesville, Oklahoma.  He died at age 94 in Durham, North Carolina.

 

1911 ~ Sunny Lowry (née Ethel Lowry; d. Feb. 21, 2008), first British woman to swim the English Channel.  In August 1933, she swam the English Channel in 15 hours, 41 minutes.  She died at age 97.

 

1909 ~ Barry Goldwater (né Barry Morris Goldwater; d. May 29, 1998), American politician and 1964 presidential candidate.  He was a United States Senator from Arizona from January 1969 until January 1087.  He died at age 89.

 

1905 ~ Lev Schnirelmann (d. Sept. 24, 1938), Russian mathematician.  He was born in Gomel, Belarus.  His death at age 33 may have been a suicide.  He died in Moscow, Russia.

 

1900 ~ Una Ledingham (né Una Christina Garvin; d. Nov. 19, 1965), British physician known for her studies of diabetes during pregnancy.  She died at age 65.

 

1898 ~ Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (née Sadie Tanner Mossell; d. Nov. 1, 1989), American economist and attorney.  She was the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. in economic in the United States.  She was also the first African-American woman to earn a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.  She was born and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She died at age 91.

 

1884 ~ Ben-Zion Dinur (d. July 8, 1973), Russian-born Israeli educator and historian.  He served as the 4th Israeli Minister of Education.  He served as Minister of Education from 1951 until 1955.  He died at age 89.

 

1836 ~ Queen Emma of Hawaii (d. Apr. 25, 1885), Queen consort and wife of King Kamehameha IV.  She died at age 49.

 

1836 ~ Mendele Movkher Sforim (d. Dec. 8, 1917), Russian-born Jewish writer.  He died 25 days before his 81stbirthday.

 

1822 ~ Rudolf Clausius (né Rudolf Julius Emanuel Clausius; d. Aug. 24, 1888), German physicist and mathematician.  He is considered one of the founders of the science of thermodynamics.  He died at age 66.

 

1797 ~ Hugh S. Legaré (né Hugh Swinton Legaré; d. June 20, 1843), 16th United States Attorney General.  He served under President John Tyler from September 1841 until his death at age 46 in June 1843.  He died in Office.  He also briefly served as Acting United States Secretary of State under President Tyler from May 1843 until June 1843.  He was born in Charleston, South Carolina and died in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

1727 ~ Major General James Wolfe (d. Sept. 13, 1759), British general whose success at the Battle of Quebec in 1759, conquered Canada for the British Empire.  During the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, however, Wolfe was shot three times and succumbed to his wounds.  He was 32 years old.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2006 ~ An explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia trapped thirteen miners for two days, all but one of the miners died due to carbon monoxide poisoning before rescue teams could reach them.

 

1991 ~ Sharon Pratt Kelly (b. 1944), became the first African-American woman mayor of a major United States city when she became the Mayor of the District of Columbia.  She served as Mayor from January 1991 until January 1995.

 

1975 ~ The United States Congress approved the Federal Rules of Evidence.

 

1974 ~ President Richard Nixon (1913 ~ 1994) signed a bill lowering the speed limit to 55 MPH to conserve gas during the OPEC embargo.

 

1967 ~ Ronald Reagan (1911 ~ 2004) was sworn in as Governor of California.

 

1942 ~ Japanese forces captured Manila, Philippines during World War II.

 

1900 ~ John Hay (1838 ~ 1905), United States Secretary of State during the William McKinley administration, announced the “Open Door Policy” to promote trade between the United States and China.

 

1833 ~ The United Kingdom re-established its sovereignity in the Falkland Islands.  The British claim to the Islands dates back to 1690, when they first landed on the islands.  They have held de facto sovereignty since 1833.

 

1788 ~ Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.

 

1777 ~ During the American Revolutionary War, American forces, under the command of General George Washington (1732 ~ 1799), repulsed an attack by the British at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek, near Trenton, New Jersey.

 

1492 ~ During the Spanish Reconquista, the Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold, surrendered to Spain.

 

533 ~ Mercurius became Pope John II (470 ~ 535).  He was the first Pope to adopt a new name upon becoming Pope.  His birth name, Mercurius, honored the Roman god, Mercury, was considered inappropriate for a Pope.  He reigned from this date in 533 until his death on May 8, 535.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2019 ~ Bob Einstein (née Stewart Robert Einstein; b. Nov. 20, 1942), American actor and comedy writer.  He is best known for creating the satirical stuntman character known as Super Dave Osborne.  He also played Marty Funkhouser on Curb Your Enthusiasm.  He was the brother of Albert Brooks.  He died of cancer at age 76.

 

2019 ~ Daryl Dragon (né Daryl Frank Dragon; b. Aug. 27, 1942), American musician and half of the duo Captain and Tennille.  He died of kidney failure at age 76.

 

2018 ~ Rick Hall (né Roe Erister Hall; b. Jan. 31, 1932), American record producer who crafted the Muscle Shoals sound.  He was born in Mississippi.  He died of prostate cancer 29 days before his 86th birthday in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

 

2011 ~ Pete Postlehwaite (né Peter William Postlewaite; b. Feb. 7, 1946), English character actor.  He died of prostate cancer at age 64.

 

2007 ~ Teddy Kollek (né Tivadar Kollek; b. May 27, 1911), Hungarian-born Israeli politician and mayor of Jerusalem.  He was elected mayor 5 times beginning in 1968.  He served in that office for 28 years.  He died at age 95.

 

2001 ~ William P. Rogers (né William Pierce Rogers; b. June 23, 1913), 63rd United States Attorney General.  He served under President Dwight David Eisenhower from October 1957 until January 1961.  He also served as the 55th Secretary of State from January 1969 until September 1973 during the President Richard Nixon administration.  He died at age 87.

 

1994 ~ Dixy Lee Ray (née Marguerite Ray; b. Sept. 3, 1914), American politician.  She served as the 17th Governor of the State of Washington.  She was Washington’s first female governor.  She served as Governor from January 1977 through January 1981.  She died at age 79.

 

1990 ~ Alan Hale, Jr. (né Alan Hale MacKahan; b. Mar. 8, 1921), American actor best known for his role as the Skipper on Gilligan’s Island.  He died of thymus cancer at age 68.

 

1986 ~ Bill Veeck (né William Louis Veeck, Jr.; b. Feb. 9, 1914), American baseball executive.  He owned the Chicago Cubs.  He was born and died in Chicago, Illinois.  He died of lung cancer at age 71.

 

1974 ~ Tex Ritter (né Woodward Maurice Ritter; b. Jan. 12, 1905), American actor and country music singer.  He died of a heart attack 10 days before his 69th birthday.

 

1972 ~ Lillian Moller Gilbreth (née Lillian Evelyn Moller; b. May 24, 1878), American psychologist and industrial engineer.  She was one of the first American woman to earn a Ph.D. in engineering.  She and her husband had twelve children and they are the subject of the book, Cheaper by the Dozen.  She was born in Oakland, California.  She died at age 93 in Phoenix, Arizona.

 

1953 ~ Guccio Gucci (d. Mar. 26, 1881), Italian fashion designer and founder of Gucci.  He died at age 71.

 

1930 ~ George Woodberry (né George Edward Woodberry; b. May 12, 1855), American poet and literary critic.  He was born and died in Beverly, Massachusetts.  He died at age 79.

 

1916 ~ Joseph Rucker Lamar (b. Oct. 14, 1857), Associate Justice of the United States.  He was nominated by William Howard Taft.  He served on the Court from December 1910 until his death on January 2, 1916.  He was born in Ruckersville, Georgia.  In the fall of 1915, he suffered from a stroke.  He died of complications of the stroke at age 58 in Washington, D.C.

 

1904 ~ James Longstreet (b. Jan. 8, 1821), Confederate General during the American Civil War.  He died 6 days before his 83rd birthday.

 

1892 ~ Sir George Biddell Airy (b. July 27, 1801), English mathematician and astronomer.  He died at age 90.

 

1801 ~ Johann Casper Lavater (b. Nov. 15, 1741), Swiss poet and theologian.  He was born and died in Zurich, Switzerland.  He died at age 59.

 

951 ~ Liu Chengyou (b. Mar. 28, 931), Chinese Emperor of the Later Han dynasty.  He was the second and last emperor of the short-lived Later Han dynasty.  He reigned from March 948 until his death 3 years later.  He was killed at age 19.

 

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