Tuesday, January 26, 2021

January 26

Birthdays:

 

2008 ~ Paul the Octopus (d. Oct. 26, 2010), English octopus that had an uncanny ability to predict the winner for the Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup soccer games.  The octopus was 2 years old.

 

1961 ~ Wayne Gretzky (né Wayne Douglas Gretzky), Canadian ice hockey player.  He was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.

 

1958 ~ Ellen DeGeneres (née Ellen Lee DeGeneres), American actress, comedian and talk-show hostess.  She was born in Metairie, Louisiana.

 

1955 ~ Eddie Van Halen (Edward Lodewijk van Halen; d. Oct. 6, 2020), Dutch-American musician and virtuoso who changed the sound or rock guitar.  He was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  He was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  He died at age 65 of throat cancer in Santa Monica, California.

 

1950 ~ Jörg Haider (d. Oct. 11, 2008), Austrian ultraconservative politician who led the far right.  He opposed efforts to unify Europe and often praised Hitler.  He was killed in a car accident at age 58.

 

1949 ~ David Strathairn (né David Russell Strathairn), American actor.  He was born in San Francisco, California.

 

1946 ~ Gene Siskel (né Eugene Kal Siskel; d. Feb. 20, 1999), American film critic, who with Roger Ebert, had a long-running television show critiquing movies.  He died of a brain tumor 25 days after his 53rd birthday.

 

1946 ~ Susan Friedlander (née Susan Jean Poate), American mathematician.  She is known for her work in mathematical fluid dynamics.

 

1944 ~ Angela Davis (née Angela Yvonne Davis), African-American feminist and social activist.  She was born in Birmingham, Alabama.

 

1944 ~ Jerry Sandusky (né Gerald Arthur Sandusky), former Penn State football coach and convicted child-sex offender.  His actions caused the downfall of the Penn State football team.  He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.  He was born in Washington, Pennsylvania.

 

1939 ~ Brian Garfield (né Brian Francis Wynne Garfield; d. Dec. 29, 2018), American novelist who fantasized about a vigilante’s Death Wish.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died 28 days before his 80th birthday in Pasadena, California.

 

1929 ~ Jules Feiffer (né Jules Ralph Feiffer), American cartoonist and writer.  He was born in the Bronx, New York City.

 

1928 ~ Roger Vadim (né Roger Vadim Plemiannikov; d. Feb. 11, 2000), French actor and director.  He was married 5 times to several women including Brigitte Bardot and Jane Fonda.  He died of cancer 16 days after his 72ndbirthday.

 

1925 ~ Paul Newman (né Paul Leonard Newman; d. Sept. 26, 2008), American irresistible star who made rogues lovable.  He died of lung cancer at age 83.

 

1924 ~ Annette Strauss (née Annette Louise Greenfield; d. Dec. 14, 1998), American philanthropist and mayor of Dallas, Texas.  She was the second female mayor and the second Jewish mayor of the city.  She died of cancer at age 74.

 

1921 ~ Akio Morita (d. Oct. 3, 1999), Japanese businessman and co-founder of Sony.  He died of pneumonia at age 78.

 

1918 ~ Nicolae Ceauşescu (d. Dec. 25, 1989), 11th Romanian president and husband of Elena Ceauşescu (1916 ~1989).  He was executed for crimes against humanity after a brief summary trial.  He was executed a month before his 72nd birthday.

 

1917 ~ William Verity, Jr. (né Calvin William Verity, Jr.; d. Jan. 3, 2007), 27th United States Secretary of Commerce.  He served in the Ronald Reagan administration from October 1987 until January 1989.  He was born in Middletown, Ohio.  He died 23 days before his 90th birthday in Beaufort, South Carolina.

 

1917 ~ Louis Zamperini (né Louis Silvie Zamberini; d. July 2, 2014), American Olympian who survived Japan’s brutal POW camps during World War II.  He was a long-distance racer in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  He died at age 97.

 

1911 ~ Polykarp Kusch (d. Mar. 20, 1993), German-born American physicist and recipient of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 82.

 

1905 ~ Maria von Trapp (d. Mar. 28, 1987), Austrian-born singer and subject of the movie, The Sound of Music.  She was the stepmother and matriarch of the Von Trapp Family.  She died at 82.

 

1904 ~ Seán MacBride (d. Jan. 15, 1988), Irish politician and recipient of the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died 11 days before his 84th birthday.

 

1892 ~ Bessie Coleman (née Elizabeth Coleman; d. Apr. 30, 1926), African-American civil aviator.  She was the first African-American woman pilot and the first African-American to hold an international pilot license.  She was killed at age 34 in a plane crash.

 

1891 ~ Wilder Penfield (né Wilder Graves Penfield; d. Apr. 5, 1976), Canadian-American neurosurgeon.  He is best known for treatment of epilepsy by surgery.  He died at age 85.

 

1880 ~ Douglas MacArthur (d. Apr. 5, 1964), American 5-Star General.  He served during World War II.  He died at age 84.

 

1857 ~ 12th Dalai Lama (né Trinley Gyatso; d. Apr. 25, 1875).  He died of a mysterious illness at age 18.

 

1855 ~ John Payne (né John Barton Payne; d. Jan. 24, 1935), 27th United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President Woodrow Wilson from March 1920 until March 1921.  He died 2 days before his 80th birthday in Washington, D.C.

 

1839 ~ Yisrael Meir Kagan (d. Sept. 15, 1933), Lithuanian rabbi.  He died at age 94.

 

1833 ~ Cornelius Bliss (né Cornelius Newton Bliss; d. Oct. 9, 1911), 21st United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President William McKinley from March 1897 until February 1899.  He was born in Fall River, Massachusetts.  He died at age 78 in New York, New York.

 

1832 ~ George Shiras, Jr. (d. Aug. 2, 1924), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Benjamin Harrison.  He replaced Joseph Bradley on the Court.  He was succeeded by William Day.  He served on the Court from July 1892 until February 1903.  He died at age 92.

 

1826 ~ Julia Dent Grant (née Julia Boggs Dent; d. Dec. 14, 1902), First Lady and wife of President Ulysses S. Grant.  She was born in St. Louis, Missouri.  She died at age 76 in Washington, D.C.

 

1763 ~ Charles XIV John of Sweden and Norway (né Jean Bernadotte; d. Mar. 8, 1844).  He reigned from February 1818 until his death 28 years later in March 1844.  He was married to Désirée Clary.  He died at age 81.

 

1205 ~ Lizong (d. Nov. 16, 1264), 14th Chinese Emperor of the Song Dynasty and 5th Emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty.  He reigned from September 1224 until his death 40 years later.  He died at age 59.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2001 ~ A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck in Western India, killing up to 20,000 people and injuring numerous others.

 

1998 ~ President Bill Clinton (b. 1946) publicly denied having relations with his former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky (b. 1973).

 

1980 ~ Egypt and Israel established diplomatic relations.

 

1978 ~ The Great Blizzard of 1978 swept through the American mid-west and Great Lakes region bring heavy snow and winds up to 100 miles per hour.  It formed on this date in the mid-west; but gathered strength and inundated New England from February 6 to February 7.  The storm killed about 100 people.

 

1965 ~ Hindi became the official language of India.

 

1961 ~ Dr. Janet G. Traveli (1901 ~ 1997), became the first physician to a United States President when John F. Kennedy (1917 ~ 1963) appointed her to be his personal physician.

 

1924 ~ Five days after Lenin’s death, St. Petersburg, Russia was renamed Leningrad.  It remained Leningrad until 1991, when the name was changed back to St. Petersburg.

 

1915 ~ United States Congress established the Rocky Mountain National Park.

 

1905 ~ The Cullinan diamond, the world’s largest diamond, was found near Pretoria, South Africa.  The diamond weighed 3,106.75 carats.  In 1907, the diamond was presented to Edward VII, King of England on his 66th birthday. 

 

1870 ~ Virginia rejoined the United States in post-Civil War America.

 

1863 ~ Union General Ambrose Burnside (1824 ~ 1881) was relieved of his command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign.  General Joseph Hooker (1814 ~ 1879) was his replacement.

 

1861 ~ Louisiana seceded from the Union during the American Civil War period.  It was the 6th State to secede.

 

1841 ~ The United Kingdom formally occupied Hong Kong.  China later formally ceded Hong Kong to the United Kingdom.

 

1838 ~ Tennessee enacted the first prohibition laws in the United States.

 

1837 ~ Michigan became the 26th State of the Union.

 

1788 ~ The British First Fleet, led by Captain Arthur Phillip (1738 ~ 1814), sailed into what is now known as Sydney Harbor and founded the settlement that became Sydney, Australia.  Sydney became the first permanent European settlement on the continent of Australia.

 

1736 ~ Stanislaus I of Poland (1677 ~ 1766) abdicated the throne for the second and final time.

 

1700 ~ The Cascadia earthquake in northwest coast of the North America occurred, and was documented by tsunamis that occurred in Japan.

 

1564 ~ The Council of Trent issued its conclusion marking the distinctions between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

 

1531 ~ Thousands of people were killed by a massive earthquake that hit Lisbon, Portugal.

 

1500 ~ Vincent Yáñez Pinzón (1462 ~ 1514) and his group became the first Europeans to reach the land that is now known at Brazil.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2020 ~ Kobe Bryant (né Kobe Bean Bryant; b. Aug. 23, 1978), American basketball player.  He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were killed in a helicopter crash in Casabasas, California.  He was 41 years old.

 

2020 ~ Bob Shane (né Robert Castle Schoen; b. Feb. 1, 1934), American clean-cut singer who sparked a 1950s folk music revival.  He was a founding member of The Kingston Trio.  He was born in Hilo in the Territory of Hawaii.  He died in Phoenix, Arizona 5 days before his 86th birthday.

 

2019 ~ Michel Legrand (né Michel Jean Legrand; b. Feb. 24, 1932), French prolific composer and jazz pianist who wrote hit soundtracks.  He composed scores of music for over 200 films and television shows.  He died a month before his 87th birthday.

 

2017 ~ Mike Connors (né Kreker Ohanian; b. Aug. 15, 1925), American actor best known for his role as Joe Mannix on the detective television show Mannix.  He died of leukemia at age 91.

 

2017 ~ Barbara Hale (b. Apr. 18, 1922), American actress best known for her role as Della Street on the TV show, Perry Mason.  She was born in DeKalb, Illinois.  She died in Los Angles, California age 94.

 

2016 ~ Abe Vigoda (né Abraham Charles Vigoda, b. Feb. 24, 1921), American actor.  He died about a month before his 95th birthday.

 

2011 ~ Gladys Horton (née Gladys Catherine Horton, b. May 30, 1945), African-American singer who was the Motown star who made the song Please, Mr. Postman famous.  She was born in Gainesville, Florida.  She died at age 65 in Los Angeles, California.

 

2010 ~ Louis Auschincloss (né Louis Stanton Auchincloss; b. Sept. 27, 1917), American novelist.  He died at age 92.

 

2008 ~ Christian Brando (né Christian Devi Brando; b. May 11, 1958), American actor and son of Marlon Brando.  He is known for fatally shooting the boyfriend of his half-sister.  He was born and died in Los Angeles, California.  He died of pneumonia at age 49.

 

1998 ~ Shinichi Suzuki (b. Oct. 17, 1898), Japanese violinist and creator of the Suzuki method for teaching violin to young children.  He died at age 99.

 

1992 ~ José Ferrer (né José Vincente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón; b. Jan. 8, 1912), Puerto Rican actor and the first Hispanic actor to win an Oscar for his performance in the title role of the film Cyrano de Bergerac.  He died 18 days after his 80th birthday.

 

1985 ~ Sol Leschinsky (né Solomon Aaron Leschinsky; b. Mar. 27, 1908), Canadian-born mathematician and inventor.  He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  He died at age 76 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1983 ~ Bear Bryant (né Paul William Bryant, b. Sept. 11, 1913), American college football coach for the University of Alabama.  He died of a massive heart attack at age 69.

 

1979 ~ Nelson A. Rockefeller (né Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller; b. July 8, 1908), 41st Vice President of the United States.  He served under President Gerald Ford from December 1974 until January 1977.  He also served as the 49thGovernor of New York State from January 1959 until December 1973.  He was the grandson of John D. Rockefeller; whose birthday was also on July 8.  He was born in Bar Harbor, Maine.  He died of a heart attack at age 70.

 

1973 ~ Edward G. Robinson (né Emanuel Goldenberg; b. Dec. 12, 1893), American actor.  He was born in Bucharest, Romania.  He died at age 79.

 

1962 ~ Lucky Luciano (né Salvadore Lucania; b. Nov. 24, 1897), Italian-American mobster.  He was also known as Charles Luciano.  He died of a heart attack at age 64.

 

1942 ~ Felix Hausdorff (b. Nov. 8, 1868), German mathematician.  He was unable to emigrate to the United States, so instead of complying with the Nazi orders to move to a concentration camp, he and his wife committed suicide.  He was 73 years old at the time of his death.

 

1933 ~ Alva Belmont (née Alva Erskine Smith; b. Jan. 17, 1853), American suffragist and socialite.  She was born in Mobile, Alabama.  She died 9 days after her 80th birthday in Paris, France.

 

1932 ~ William Wrigley, Jr. (b. Sept. 30, 1861), American chewing gum industrialist and founder of the Wrigley Company.  He was also the owner of the Chicago Cubs, hence the name of the Cubs home field, Wrigley’s field.  He died at age 70.

 

1899 ~ Augustus Garland (né Augustus Hill Garland; b. June 11, 1832), 38th United States Attorney General.  He served in that office from March 1885 until March 1889 under President Grover Cleveland.  He was born in Covington, Tennessee.  He died of a stroke at age 66 in Washington, D.C.

 

1895 ~ Arthur Cayley (b. Aug. 16, 1821), British mathematician.  He died at age 73.

 

1893 ~ Abner Doubleday (b. June 26, 1819), American general.  He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter at the beginning of the American Civil War.  Although often credited with the invention of baseball, this is likely not true.  He died in Mendham, New Jersey at age 73.

 

1891 ~ Nikolaus Otto (né Nikolaus August Otto; b. June 10, 1832), German inventor and engineer.  He invented the Internal combustion engine.  He died at age 58.

 

1885 ~ Edward Davy (b. June 16, 1806), English physician and inventor.  He was a pioneer in the study of telegraphy.  He died at age 78.

 

1879 ~ Julia Margaret Cameron (née Julia Margaret Pattle; b. June 11, 1815), English photographer.  She was born in Calcutta, British India.  She died at age 63 in Kalutara, Sri Lanka.

 

1823 ~ Edward Jenner (b. May 17, 1749), British physician and pioneer of smallpox vaccinations.  He died at age 73.

 

1795 ~ Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (b. June 21, 1732), German pianist and composer.  He was the 5th son of Johann Sebastian Bach.  He died at age 62.

 

1697 ~ Georg Mohr (b. Apr. 1, 1640), Danish mathematician.  He died at age 56.

 

1630 ~ Henry Briggs (b. Feb. 1, 1561), British mathematician.  He is best known for his work in logarithms in base 10.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been born on February 1, 1561.  Thus, he died 5 days before his 69th birthday.

 

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