Sunday, February 28, 2021

February 28

Birthdays:

 

1965 ~ Colum McCann, Irish writer, best known for his novel, Let the World Spin.  He was born in Dublin, Ireland.

 

1961 ~ Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian actress.  She is the daughter of actor Tommy Chong.  She was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

 

1960 ~ Dorothy Stratten (née Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten; d. Aug. 14, 1980), Canadian actress and model.  She was murdered by her estranged husband at age 20.  Her life and murder was depicted in the movie Star 80.

 

1957 ~ John Turturro (né John Michael Turturro), American actor.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.

 

1953 ~ Paul Krugman (né Paul Robin Krugman), American economist and recipient of the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.  He was born in Albany, New York.

 

1949 ~ Zoia Ceauşescu (d. Nov. 20, 2006), Romanian mathematician.  She was the daughter of Communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife, Elena.  She died of lung cancer at age 57.

 

1948 ~ Steven Chu, American physicist and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was also the 12thSecretary of Energy and served under President Barack Obama from January 2009 until April 2013.  He was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

 

1948 ~ Mike Figgis (né Michael Figgis), British film director.  He was born in Carlisle, England.

 

1948 ~ Bernadette Peters (née Bernadette Lazzara), American actress.  She was born in New York, New York.

 

1948 ~ Mercedes Reuhl, American actress.  She was born in Queens, New York.

 

1941 ~ Suzanne Mubarak (née Suzanne Saleh Thabet), First Lady of Egypt and wife of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

 

1940 ~ Mario Andretti (né Mario Gabriele Andretti), Italian-born American race driver.  He was born in Montona, which at the time was part of the Kingdom of Italy, and is currently in Croatia.

 

1939 ~ Daniel C. Tsui (né Daniel Chee Tsui), Chinese-born American physicist and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Henan, China.

 

1939 ~ Tommy Tune (né Thomas James Tune), American actor and dancer.  He was born in Wichita Falls, Texas.

 

1938 ~ Lord Michael Onslow, 7th Earl of Onslow (né Michael William Coplestone Dillon Onslow; d. May 14, 2011), British lord and eccentric who enlivened the House of Lords.  He died of cancer at age 73.

 

1931 ~ Dean Smith (né Dean Edwards Smith; d. Feb. 7, 2015), American legendary college basketball coach who put his players first.  He was the head men’s basketball coach for 36 years at the University of North Carolina.  He promoted desegregation in the sport at his school.  He died three weeks before his 84thbirthday.

 

1931 ~ Gavin MacLeod (né Allan George See), American actor best known for his role as Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat.  He was born in Mount Kisco, New York.

 

1930 ~ Leon Cooper (né Leon Neil Cooper), American physicist and recipient of the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in The Bronx, New York.

 

1929 ~ Frank Gehry (né Frank Owen Goldberg), Canadian-born American architect.  He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

 

1926 ~ Lana Peters (née Svetlana Iosifovna Stalina; d. Nov. 22, 2011), Russian who was Stalin’s peripatetic daughter.  She moved to the United States and changed her name.  She died at age 85.

 

1924 ~ Chris Kraft (né Christopher Columbus Kraft, Jr.; d. July 22, 2019), American NASA visionary who led Mission Control.  He was born in Phoebus, Virginia.  He died in Houston, Texas at age 95.

 

1923 ~ Charles Durning (né Charles Edward Durning; d. Dec. 24, 2012), American actor.  He died at age 89.

 

1921 ~ Saul Zaentz (d. Jan. 3, 2014), American film producer who put literature on the screen.  He is best known for such films as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s NestThe English Patient, and The Lord of the Rings.  He was born in Passaic, New Jersey.  He died of complications of Alzheimer’s disease in San Francisco at age 92.

 

1915 ~ Zero Mostel (né Samuel Joel Mostel; b. Sept. 8, 1977), American actor.  He is best known for his portrayal of Tevye in the stage version of Fiddler on the Roof.  He died of an aortic aneurysm at age 62.

 

1915 ~ Sir Peter Medawar (né Peter Brian Medawar; d. Oct. 2, 1987), Brazilian-born British biologist and recipient for the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on organ transplants and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance.  He died following a stroke at age 72.

 

1912 ~ Clara Petacci (d. Apr. 28, 1945), Italian mistress of Benito Mussolini.  She was executed by firing squad along with Mussolini.  She was 33 years old.

 

1906 ~ Bugsy Siegel (né Benjamin Siegel; d. June 20, 1947), American gangster.  He was murdered at age 41.

 

1903 ~ Vincente Minnelli (né Lester Anthony Minnelli; d. July 25, 1986), American film director, husband of Judy Garland and father of Liza Minnelli.  He died of emphysema and pneumonia at age 83.

 

1901 ~ Linus Pauling (né Linus Carl Pauling; d. Aug. 19, 1994), American chemist political activist.  He was the recipient of two Nobel Prizes: the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 93.

 

1896 ~ Philip Showalter Hench (d. Mar. 30, 1965), American physician and recipient of the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died of pneumonia about a month after his 69th birthday.

 

1894 ~ Ben Hecht (d. Apr. 18, 1964), American playwright.  He died at age 70.

 

1884 ~ Ants Piip (d. Oct. 1, 1942), Prime Minister of Estonia.  He served as Prime Minister from October 1920 until December 1920, at which time he became the 1st State Elder of Estonia.  He served in that position for only a month until January 1921.  He died in a Soviet prison camp at age 58.

 

1878 ~ Pierre Fatou (né Pierre Joseph Louis Fatou; d. Aug. 9, 1929), French mathematician.  He died at age 51.

 

1851 ~ Samuel W. McCall (né Samuel Walker McCall; d. Nov. 4, 1923), 47th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1916 until January 1919.  He had previously served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts.  He died at age 72.

 

1838 ~ Maurice Lévy (d. Sept. 30, 1910), French mathematician and engineer.  He died at age 72.

 

1824 ~ Charles Blondin (né Jean François Gravelet; d. Feb. 22, 1897), French acrobat and tightrope walker.  He is best known for crossing Niagara Falls on a tightrope.  He died of diabetes 6 days before his 73rd birthday.

 

1797 ~ Mary Lyon (née Mary Mason Lyon; d. Mar. 5, 1849), American pioneer in women’s education.  She founded the Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts and was its first president.  She was born in Buckland, Massachusetts and died in South Hadley, Massachusetts.  She died of an acute skin infection at just a week after her 52nd birthday.

 

1792 ~ Karl Ernst von Baer (d. Nov. 28, 1876), Estonian biologist.  He is considered the founding father of embryology.  He was born in Piibe, Estonia.  He died at age 84 in Tartu, Estonia.

 

1735 ~ Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde (d. Jan. 1, 1796), French chemist and mathematician.  He died at age 60.

 

1552 ~ Jost Bürgi (d. Jan. 31, 1632), Swiss clockmaker and mathematician.  He died 28 days before his 80thbirthday.

 

1533 ~ Michel de Montaigne (d. Sept. 13, 1592), French philosopher and author.  He died at age 59.

 

1261 ~ Margaret of Scotland (d. Apr. 9, 1283), Queen consort of Norway and wife of King Eric II of Norway.  She died at age 22 in childbirth.

 

1155 ~ Henry the Young King (d. June 11, 1183).  He was crowned during the reign of his father, Henry II, King of England.  He died of dysentery at age 28, six years before his father, thus never ruled alone.

 

1119 ~ Emperor Xizong of Jin (d. Jan. 9, 1119), Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty.  He ruled from February 1135 until his assassination at age 30.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2017 ~ Mardi Gras.

 

2013 ~ Pope Benedict XVI (b. 1927) resigned as Pope of the Catholic Church.  He was the first pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII (1320s ~ Oct. 18, 1417) resigned in 1415.

 

1997 ~ An earthquake in northern Iran killed about 3,000 people.

 

1993 ~ The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raided the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas, to arrest David Koresh (1959 ~ 1993), the group’s leader.  Four agents and 5 Davidians were killed in the initial raid.  The ATF and Davidians began a 51-day standoff.

 

1991 ~ The first Gulf War, which had begun in August 1990, was deemed to have ended.

 

1986 ~ Olof Palme (1927 ~ 1986), the Prime Minister of Sweden, was assassinated on the streets of Stockholm as he was walking home late at night.  The assassination remains unsolved.

 

1983 ~ The final episode of M*A*S*H aired.

 

1958 ~ In one of the country’s worst school bus accident, a school bus in Floyd County, Kentucky hit a wrecker truck and plunged into the Levisa Fork River.  The driver and 26 students were killed in the accident.

 

1954 ~ The first color televisions using the National Television System Committee (NTSC) standard became available for sale to the general public.

 

1940 ~ The basketball game between Fordham University and the University of Pittsburgh, which was played in Madison Square Garden, was the first televised basketball game.  Pittsburgh beat Fordham in a score of 57-37.

 

1935 ~ Wallace Carothers (1896 ~ 1937), a scientist at DuPont, invented nylon.

 

1922 ~ The United Kingdom ended its protectorate over Egypt.

 

1827 ~ The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad became incorporated.  It was the first railroad in the United States to provide commercial transportation to people and freight.

 

1784 ~ John Wesley (1703 ~ 1791) chartered the Methodist Church.

 

1525 ~ Hernán Cortés (1485 ~ 1547) and his men executed the Aztec King Cuauhtémoc.

 

202 BCE ~ Lui Bang (d. 195 BCE) became the Emperor of China, thus beginning the rule of the Han Dynasty.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2020 ~ Joe Coulombe (né Joseph Hardin Coulombe; b. June 3, 1930), American businessman and founder of Trader Joe’s.  he was born in San Diego, California.  He died at age 89 in Pasadena, California.

 

2019 ~ André Previn (né Andreas Ludwig Priwin; b. Apr. 6, 1929), German-born musical polymath who spurned Hollywood.  composer and conductor.  His family left Nazi Germany in 1939 and moved to the United States.  He died at age 89.

 

2016 ~ George Kennedy (né George Harris Kennedy, Jr.; b. Feb. 18, 1925), American actor best known for his role in Cool Hand Luke.  He died of heart disease 10 days after his 91st birthday.

 

2014 ~ Lee Lorch (né Lee Alexander Lorch; b. Sept. 20, 1915), American mathematician and civil rights activist.  He died at age 98.

 

2013 ~ Donald Glaser (né Donald Arthur Glaser; b. Sept. 21, 1926), American physicist and recipient of the 1960 Nobel Prize for Physics.  He died at age 86.

 

2011 ~ Peter J. Gomes (né Peter John Gomes; b. May 22, 1942), African-American gifted preacher who spoke out for tolerance.  He was from Massachusetts.  He died at age 68.

 

2011 ~ Jane Russell (née Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell; b. June 21, 1921), American actress.  She died at age 89 of respiratory failure.

 

2009 ~ Paul Harvey (né Paul Harvey Aurandt; b. Sept. 4, 1918), American radio broadcaster.  He died at age 90.

 

2007 ~ Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (né Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; b. Oct. 15, 1917), American historian.  He died at age 89.

 

2006 ~ Owen Chamberlain (b. July 10, 1920), American physicist and recipient of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 85.

 

2004 ~ Daniel J. Boorstin (né Daniel Joseph Boorstin; b. Oct. 1, 1914), American historian and writer.  He was the 12th Librarian of Congress, where he served from November 1975 until September 1987, during the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.  He died at age 89.

 

1993 ~ Ruby Keeler (née Ethel Ruby Keeler; b. Aug. 25, 1909), Canadian singer and actress.  She died of kidney cancer at age 83.

 

1986 ~ Olof Palme (né Sven Olaf Joachim Palme; b. Jan. 30, 1927), Prime Minister of Sweden.  He was assassinated a month after his 59th birthday.

 

1986 ~ Laura Z. Hobson (née Laura Kean Zametkin; b. June 19, 1900), American author best known for her novel, Gentleman’s Agreement.  She died at age 85.

 

1967 ~ Henry Luce (né Henry Robinson Luce; d. Apr. 3, 1898), American publisher who launched Time and Lifemagazines.  He died at age 68.

 

1959 ~ Maxwell Anderson (né James Maxwell Anderson; b. Dec. 15, 1888), American playwright.  He died at age 70.

 

1956 ~ Frigyes Riesz (b. Jan. 22, 1880), Hungarian mathematician.  He is best known for his contributions to functional analysis.  He died at age 76.

 

1941 ~ Alfonso XIII, King of Spain (b. May 17, 1886).  He reigned from his birth until he was ousted on April 14, 1931.  He died in Rome at age 54.

 

1936 ~ Charles Nicolle (né Charles Jules Henry Nicolle; b. Sept. 21, 1866), French bacteriologist and recipient of the 1928 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work in the identification of lice as transmitters of typhus.  He died at age 69.

 

1916 ~ Henry James (b. Apr. 15, 1843), American novelist.  He died at age 72.

 

1901 ~ William M. Evarts (né William Maxwell Evarts; b. Feb. 6, 1818), 27th United States Secretary of State.  He served under President Rutherford B. Hayes from March 1977 until March 1881.  He also served as the 29th United States Attorney General under President Andrew Johnson from July 1868 to March 1868.  Following his positions in the Federal Executive Office, he became a United States Senator from the State of New York from March 1885 until March 1891.  He was born in Charleston, Massachusetts.  He died 22 days after his 83rd birthday.

 

1844 ~ Abel P. Upshur (né Abel Parker Upshur; b. June 17, 1790), 15th United States Secretary of State.  He served under President John Tyler from July 1843 until his death on February 28, 1844.  He had previously served as the 13th United States Secretary of the Navy during the Tyler administration from October 1841 until July 1843.  He was killed at age 53 while viewing the new steamship USS Princeton and one of the ship’s guns exploded during a demonstration.

 

1648 ~ Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (b. Apr. 12, 1577).  He died at age 70.

 

1621 ~ Cosimo II de’Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. May 12, 1590).  He died of tuberculosis at age 30.

 

1525 ~ Cuauhtémoc (b. 1495), Aztec ruler.  He was killed by Hernán Cortés.


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