Friday, April 30, 2021

April 30

Birthdays:

 

1986~ Dianna Agron (née Dianna Elsie Agron), American actress and singer best known for her role as Quinn Fabray on Glee.  She was born in Savannah, Georgia.

 

1985~ Gal Gadot, Israel-born actress.

 

1982 ~ Kirsten Dunst (née Kirsten Caroline Dunst), American actress.  She was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey.

 

1961~ Isiah Thomas (né Isiah Lord Thomas, III), American baseball player.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1959~ Paul Gross (né Paull Michael Gross), Canadian actor best known for his role as the upright Canadian Mounted Police Officer working in with the Chicago Police Department in the TV series, Due South.  He was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

 

1946~ Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden.  He became King of Sweden in September 1973.

 

1945~ Michael Smith (né Michael John Smith; d. Jan. 28, 1986), American astronaut who was killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.  He was born in Beaufort, North Carolina.  He was 40 years old.

 

1945~ Annie Dillard (née Meta Ann Doak), American author.  She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

 

1944 ~ Jill Clayburg (d. Nov. 5, 2010), American actress.  She was born in New York, New York.  She died of leukemia at age 66 in Lakeville, Connecticut.

 

1930 ~ José Narosky, Argentine writer best known for his aphorisms.

 

1926 ~ Cloris Leachman (d. Jan. 27, 2021), American prolific actress who shined in dramas and comedies.  She was born in Des Moines, Iowa.  She died in Encinitas, California at age 94.

 

1925 ~ Johnny Horton (né John LaGale Horton; d. Nov. 5, 1960), American musician and singer, best known for his song, The Battle of New Orleans.  He was born in Los Angeles, California.  He was killed in a car accident in Milano, Texas at age 35.

 

1925 ~ David Toren (né Klaus-Günther Tarnowski; d. Apr. 19, 2020), German-born Holocaust survivor and New York patent attorney who waged a years-long legal battle to recover artworks stolen from his German family in 1938.  He was born in Breslau, Germany (in current-day Poland).  He was smuggled out of Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport.  He died in New York City of Covid-19 just 11 days before his 95th birthday.

 

1921 ~ Roger L. Easton, Sr. (né Roger Lee Easton; d. May 8, 2014), American scientist and co-inventor of the Global Positioning System (GPS).  He was born in Craftsbury, Vermont and died in Hanover, New Hampshire.  He died 8 days after his 93rd birthday.

 

1916 ~ Claude Shannon (né Claude Elwood Shannon; d. Feb. 24, 2001), American engineer and mathematician.  He was born in Petoskey, Michigan.  He died in Medford, Massachusetts at age 84.

 

1909 ~ Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (née Juliana Louise Emma Marie Whlhelmina; d. Mar. 20, 2004).  She reigned as Queen from September 1948 until April 1980, her 61st birthday, when she abdicated the throne in favor or her daughter, Wilhelmina.  She died at age 94.

 

1908 ~ Eve Arden (née Eunice Mary Quedens; d. Nov. 12, 1990), American actress.  She was born in Mill Valley, California.  She died at age 82 of heart disease in Los Angeles, California.

 

1905 ~ Sergey Nikolsky (d. Nov. 9, 1912), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 107.

 

1902 ~ Theodore Schultz (né Theodore William Schultz; d. Feb. 26, 1998), American economist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.  He was born in Arlington, South Dakota.  He died at age 95 in Evanston, Illinois.

 

1901 ~ Simon Kuznets (né Simon Smith Kuznets; d. July 8, 1985), Ukrainian economist and recipient of the 1971 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.  He died at age 84 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

1877 ~ Alice B. Toklas (né Alice Babette Toklas; d. Mar. 7, 1967), American writer and companion of Gertrude Stein.  She was born in San Francisco, California.  She died at age 89 in Paris, France.

 

1866 ~ Mary Haviland Stilwell Kuesel (née Mary Haviland Stilwell; b. Apr. 30, 1866), American pioneer dentist.  She was the founder of the Women’s Dental Association of the United States.  She was born and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She died of coronary thrombosis at age 70.

 

1777 ~ Carl Friedrich Gauss (né Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss, d. Feb. 23, 1855), German mathematician.  He died at age 77.

 

1245 ~ King Philip III of France (d. Oct. 5, 1285).  He was known as Philip the Bold.  He died of dysentery at age 40.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2013 ~ Queen Beatrix (b. 1938) of the Netherlands abdicated in favor of her son, Willem-Alexander (b. 1967), who became King of the Netherlands.

 

2009 ~ Chrysler automobile company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

 

2008 ~ Two skeletal remains found near Yekaterinburg, Russia were confirmed to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich (1904 ~ 1918), Tsarevich of Russia and the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna (1901 ~ 1918).

 

1993 ~ Tennis star Monica Seles (b. 1973) was stabbed in the back by an obsessed fan during the quarterfinal match of the 1993 Citizen Cup in Hamburg, Germany.

 

1993 ~ The World Wide Web (WWW) launched in the public domain.

 

1980 ~ Beatrix of the Netherlands (b. 1938) became Queen of the Netherlands.  She abdicated the throne on April 30, 2013 in favor of her eldest son, Willem-Alexander (b. 1967).

 

1975 ~ The Vietnam War formally ended with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Duong Văn Minh (1916 ~ 2001).  Communist forces gained control of Saigon.

 

1973 ~ Richard Nixon’s top White House aides, including H.R. Haldeman (1926 ~ 1993) and John Ehrlichman (1925 ~ 1999), resigned amid the Watergate Scandal.

 

1947 ~ The Boulder Dam in Nevada was renamed the Hoover Dam.  The Dam had been constructed between 1931 to 1936.

 

1945 ~ Soviet troops liberated Stalag Luft I, a German prisoner-of-war camp.  Over 9000 American and British airmen were freed.

 

1939 ~ The 1939-40 New York World’s Fair opened.

 

1939 ~ Television was first publicly broadcast from the Empire State Building in New York City.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 ~ 1945) presented the New York World’s Fair ceremonial address on NBC.

 

1927 ~ Douglas Fairbanks (1883 ~ 1939) and Mary Pickford (1892 ~ 1979) became the first Hollywood celebrities to leave their footprints in the concrete at Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

 

1927 ~ The first women’s federal prison in the United States opened in Alderson, West Virginia as the Federal Industrial Institute for Women.

 

1904 ~ The Louisiana Purchase Exposition World’s Fair opened in St. Louis, Missouri.

 

1900 ~ Hawaii became a territory of the United States.

 

1897 ~ British physicist J.J. Thompson (1856 ~ 1940) announced the discovery that atoms were comprised of electrons.

 

1885 ~ The Governor of New York State signed legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, the first state park in New York State.

 

1812 ~ Louisiana became the 18th State of the Union.

 

1803 ~ The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France under the Louisiana Purchase Agreement which, although was signed on May 2, was executed as of April 30.  The purchase price was $15 Million.

 

1789 ~ George Washington (1732 ~ 1799) was inaugurated as the first United States President.  The ceremony took place on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City.

 

1598 ~ Henry IV of France (1553 ~ 1610) issued the Edict of Nantes, which allowed the freedom of religion to the Huguenots.

 

1492 ~ Christopher Columbus (1451 ~ 1506) was granted his commission of exploration by Spain.

 

Good-byes:

 

2020 ~ Paul Cary (b. May 15, 1953), retired American paramedic from Colorado who traveled to New York City to volunteer in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.  He drove from Denver, Colorado to New York City on March 28, 2020.  He died of Covid-19 at age 66 within weeks of arriving in New York.

 

2018 ~ Jhoon Goo Rhee (b. Jan. 7, 1932), South Korean-born martial artist who popularized Tae Kwon Do in the United States.  He died at age 86 in Arlington County, Virginia.

 

2017 ~ Ueli Steck (b. Oct. 4, 1976), Swiss daredevil mountaineer who raced up peaks.  He died at age 40 from a fall while training in the Himalayas.

 

2016 ~ Sir Harry Kroto (né Harold Walter Krotoschiner; b. Oct. 7, 1939), British chemist and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 76.

 

2016 ~ Father Daniel Berrigan (né Daniel Joseph Berrigan; b. May 9, 1921), American Catholic priest, political and anti-war/peace activist.  He was born in Virginia, Minnesota.  He died 9 days before his 95th birthday in The Bronx, New York.

 

2015 ~ Ben E. King (né Benjamin Earl Nelson; b. Sept. 28, 1938), American soul legend who sang Stand by Me.  He was born in Henderson, North Carolina.  He died in Harlem, New York.  He was 76 years old.

 

2012 ~ Benzion Netanyahu (b. Mar. 25, 1910), Israeli historian whose field of expertise was the history of Jews in Spain during the Inquisition.  He was also the hawkish father of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  He died at age 102 in Jerusalem, Israle.

 

2007 ~ Tom Poston (né Thomas Gordon Poston; b. Oct. 17, 1921), American actor.  He is best known for his portrayal of George Utley on Newhart.  He was born in Columbus, Ohio.  He died of respiratory failure at age 85 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1994 ~ Richard Scarry (né Richard McClure Scarry; b. June 5, 1919), American author and illustrator of children’s books.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died of a heart attack at age 74 in Gstaas, Switzerland.

 

1983 ~ Muddy Waters (né McKinley Morganfield; b. Apr. 4, 1913), American musician, considered the “father of modern Chicago blues.”  He was born in Issaquena County, Mississippi.  He died of heart failure 26 days after his 70th birthday.

 

1983 ~ George Balanchine (b. Jan. 22, 1904), Russian-born dancer and choreographer.  He died at age 79.

 

1974 ~ Agnes Moorehead (née Agnes Robertson Moorehead; b. Dec. 6, 1900), American actress.  She is best known for her role as Endora on the sit-com Bewitched.  She was born in Clinton, Massachusetts.  She died of uterine cancer at age 73 in Rochester, Minnesota.

 

1958 ~ Alvan Fuller (né Alvan Tufts Fuller; d. Feb. 27, 1878), 50th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1925 until January 1929.  He was born and died in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died at age 80.

 

1956 ~ Alben Barkley (né Alben William Barkley; b. Nov. 24, 1877), 35th Vice President of the United States.  He served under President Harry S. Truman from January 1949 until January 1953.  He collapsed and died of a heart attack while giving a speech in Lexington, Virginia.  He was born in Lowes, Kentucky.  He died at age 78.

 

1945 ~ Adolf Hitler (b. Apr. 20, 1889) dictator of Nazi Germany.  He committed suicide along with Eva Braun (née Eva Anna Paula Braun; b. Feb. 6, 1912), his wife of one day, 10 days after his 57th birthday.

 

1943 ~ Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield (née Martha Beatrice Potter; d. Jan. 22, 1858), British sociologist and economist.  She was one of the founders of the London School of Economics.  She coined the phrase collective bargaining.  She died at age 85.

 

1936 ~ A.E. Housman (né Alfred Edward Housman; b. Mar. 26, 1859), English poet.  He died at age 77.

 

1926 ~ Bessie Coleman (née Elizabeth Coleman; b. Jan. 26, 1892), 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 born in Atlanta, Texas.  She was killed at age 34 in a plane crash in Jacksonville, Florida.

 

1900 ~ Casey Jones (né Jonathan Luther Jones; b. Mar. 14, 1863), American railroad engineer who died in a train wreck in Vaughn, Mississippi, when his train, the Cannonball Express, collided with a stalled freight train.  He gave his life to prevent a crash and to save the lives of his passengers.  He was the only fatality in the crash.  He was born in Cayce, Kentucky.  He was 37 years old at the time of his death.

 

1883 ~ Édouard Manet (b. Jan. 23, 1832), French painter.  He died of gangrene following an operation to amputate his foot.  He was born and died in Paris, France.  He was 51 years old.

 

1879 ~ Sarah Josepha Hale (née Sarah Josepha Buell; b. Oct. 24, 1788), American author and poet.  She was born in Newport, New Hampshire.  She is credited with the nursery rhyme, Mary had a Little Lamb.  She died at age 90 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

1513 ~ Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk (b. 1471), Yorkist pretender to the English throne.  Henry VIII had him executed.  He was the son of Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 41 or 42 at the time of his death

 

1063 ~ Emperor Renzong of Song (b. May 30, 1010), 4th Chinese emperor of the Song Dynasty.  He died a month before his 53rd birthday.

 

125 ~ Emperor An of Han (b. 94), Chinese emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty.  The exact date of his birth is not known but he is believed to have died at age 31.


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