Sunday, May 23, 2021

May 23

Birthdays:

 

1974 ~ Ken Jennings (né Kenneth Wayne Jennings, III), game show contestant and author.  He is best known for having the longest winning streak on Jeopardy!, with 74 wins.  He was born in Edmonds, Washington.

 

1970 ~ Yigal Amir, Israeli assassin of Yitzhak Rabin.  He is serving a life sentence in prison.

 

1963 ~ Viviane Baladi, Swiss mathematician.  She is best known for her work in dynamical systems.

 

1958 ~ Drew Carey (né Drew Allison Carey), American actor and game show host.  He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.

 

1954 ~ Marvin Hagler (né Marvin Nathaniel Hagler; d. Mar. 13, 2021), American “marvelous” boxer who dominated the ring.  He was known as Marvelous Marvin Hagler.  He was born in Newark, New Jersey.  He died in Bartlett, New Hampshire at age 66 of Covid-19.

 

1949 ~ Alan García (d. Apr. 17, 2019), 93rd President of Peru.  He served in office from 2006 to 2011.  He was born and died in Lima, Peru.  He died by suicide at age 69.

 

1940 ~ Cora Sadosky (d. Dec. 3, 2010), Argentinian mathematician.  She died at age 70.

 

1936 ~ Charles Kimbrough, American actor best known for his role as Jim Dial on the television sit-com Murphy Brown.  He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota.

 

1934 ~ Robert Moog (né Robert Arthur Moog; d. Aug. 21, 2005), American inventor of the Moog synthesizer.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 81 in Asheville, North Carolina.

 

1933 ~ Aharon Lichtenstein (d. April 20, 2015), French-American Orthodox rabbi.  He was born in Paris, France.  He died about a month before his 82nd birthday in Alon Shvut, Israel.

 

1931 ~ Barbara Barrie (née Barbara Ann Berman), American actress.  She is best known for her role as Evelyn Stoller in the 1979 movie Breaking Away.  She was born in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1928 ~ Rosemary Clooney (d. June 29, 2002), American singer and actress.  She was born in Maysville, Kentucky.  She died of lung cancer a little over a month after her 74th birthday in Beverly Hills, California.

 

1925 ~ Joshua Lederberg (d. Feb. 2, 2008), American molecular biologist and recipient of the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He was awarded the Prize for discovering that bacteria can mate and exchange genes.  He was born in Montclair, New Jersey.  He died at age 82 of pneumonia in New York, New York.

 

1919 ~ Betty Garrett (née Elizabeth Garrett; d. Feb. 12, 2011), American musical-comedy star who was scarred by the Hollywood blacklist.  She was born in St. Joseph, Missouri.  She died at age 91 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1917 ~ Edward Norton Lorenz (d. Apr. 16, 2008), American mathematician and meteorologist who formulated chaos theory.  He is best known for coining the term “Butterfly Effect.”  He was born in West Hartford, Connecticut.  He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts at age 90.

 

1915 ~ S. Donald Stookey (né Stanley Donald Stookey, d. Nov. 4, 2014). American inventor and chemist who invented CorningWare, the supertough glass.  He held over 60 patents, mostly relating to glass and ceramics.  He was born in Hay Springs, Nebraska.  He died at age 99 in Rochester, New York.

 

1910 ~ Margaret Wise Brown (d. Nov. 13, 1952), American children’s author.  She is best known for her picture books, Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny.  She was born in Brooklyn, New York.  She died at age 42 of an embolism in Nice, France.

 

1910 ~ Scatman Crothers (né Benjamin Sherman Crothers; d. Nov. 22, 1986), African-American actor and comedian.  He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana.  He died of pneumonia and lung cancer at age 76 in Van Nuys, California.

 

1910 ~ Artie Shaw (né Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; d. Dec. 30, 2004), American clarinetist and bandleader.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 94 in Thousand Oaks, California.

 

1908 ~ Hélène Boucher (d. Nov. 30, 1934), French pilot.  She set several women’s world speed records for flying.  She was born in Paris, France.  She was killed at age 26 in a plane crash in 1934.

 

1908 ~ John Bardeen (d. Jan. 30, 1991), American physicist and recipient of the 1956 and 1972 Nobel Prizes in Physics.  To date, he is the only individual to have won two Nobel Prizes in Physics.  He was born in Madison, Wisconsin.  He died in Boston, Massachusetts at age 82.

 

1892 ~ Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer (né Albert Edward John Spencer; d. June 9, 1975), British peer and grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.  He died 17 days before his 84th birthday. 

 

1891 ~ Pär Lagerkvist (né Pär Fabian Lagerkvist; d. July 11, 1974), Swedish author and poet.  He was the recipient of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 83.

 

1887 ~ Thoralf A. Skolem (né Thoralf Albert Skolem; d. Mar. 23, 1963), Norwegian mathematician.  He died at age 75.

 

1883 ~ Douglas Fairbanks (né Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; d. Dec. 12, 1939), American actor during the silent film era.  He died of a heart attack at age 56.

 

1875 ~ Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. (né Alfred Prichard Sloan, Jr.; d. Feb. 17, 1966), American businessman and long time CEO of General Motors.  He was born in New Haven, Connecticut.  He died at age 90.

 

1830 ~ Henry M. Teller (né Henry Moore Teller; d. Feb. 23, 1914), 15th United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President Chester A. Arthur from April 1882 until March 1885.  He was born in Granger, New York.  He died at age 83 in Denver, Colorado.

 

1824 ~ Ambrose Burnside (né Ambrose Everett Burnside; d. Sept. 13, 1881), Union General during the American Civil War.  He was also served as the 30th Governor of Rhode Island from May 1866 until May 1869.  His distinctive style of facial hair became known as Sideburns, in his honor.  He died of a heart attack at age 57.

 

1820 ~ James Buchanan Eads (d. Mar. 8, 1887), American civil engineer.  He designed and built the Eads Bridge, the first bridge to cross the Mississippi River.  The bridge is in St. Louis, Missouri.  He died at age 66 while on vacation in the Bahamas.

 

1810 ~ Margaret Fuller (née Sarah Margaret Fuller; d. July 19, 1850), American journalist and women’s rights advocate.  She was born in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts.  She was the subject of the 2013 biography, Margaret Fuller: A New American Life, by Megan Marshall.  Fuller drowned at age 40 when the ship she was in ran aground outside of Fire Island, New York.

 

1707 ~ Carolus Linnæus (d. Jan. 10, 1778), Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist.  He is credited for setting the foundation for scientific nomenclature.  He died at age 70.

 

1606 ~ Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz (d. Sept. 8, 1682), Spanish mathematician and philosopher.  He died at age 76.

 

1100 ~ Emperor Qinzong of Song (d. June 14, 1161), 9th Chinese Emperor of the Song Dynasty.  He died 23 days after his 61st birthday.

 

1052 ~ King Philip I of France (d. July 29, 1108).  He died at age 56.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2013 ~ The Interstate-5 bridge over the Skagit River collapsed in Mount Vernon, Washington.

 

2011 ~ Strong tornadoes swept through the American Mid-west, killing many people and causing severe damage.

 

1967 ~ Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran and blockaded the port of Eilat to Israeli shipping.

 

1960 ~ A tsunami caused by the Validivia earthquake from the day before, struck Hilo, Hawaii and killed over 60 people.

 

1939 ~ The United States Navy submarine the USS Squalus sank of the coast of New Hampshire during a test dive.  Twenty-six of the crew members were drowned.  The remaining 33 passengers were saved the following day.  The submarine was later salvaged and decommissioned.  In 1940, however, the submarine was recommissioned and renamed the USS Sailfish.

 

1934 ~ Nylon was produced by a chemist at Du Pont.

 

1934 ~ Bank robbers Bonnie Parker (1910 ~ 1934) and Clyde Barrow (1909 ~ 1934) were killed in a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

 

1929 ~ The Karnival Kid, the first talking Mickey Mouse cartoon, was released.

 

1911 ~ The New York Public Library was dedicated.

 

1829 ~ Cyrill Demain (1772 ~ 1847) was granted a patent for the accordion.

 

1788 ~ South Carolina ratified the United States Constitution, thus becoming the 8th State in the Union.

 

1618 ~ The Second Defenestration of Prague precipitated the Thirty Years’ War.

 

1568 ~ Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau (1538 ~ 1574), the brother of William of Orange, defeated Jean de Ligne, Duke of Aremberg (1525 ~ 1568) in the Battle of Heiligerlee, thus beginning the 80 Years’ War.

 

1533 ~ The marriage of King Henry VIII (1491 ~ 1547) of England and Catherine of Aragon (1485 ~ 1536) was declared null and void.

 

1430 ~ Joan of Arc (1412 ~ 1431) was captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relive the Compiègn during the Siege of Compiènge.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2017 ~ Sir Roger Moore (né Roger George Moore; b. Oct. 14, 1927), British actor best know for his portrayal of James Bond.  He died of cancer at age 89.

 

2015 ~ Alicia Nash (née Alicia Esther Lardé Lopez-Harrison; b. Jan. 1, 1933), Salvadorian-American physicist and engineer.  She was the wife of John Forbes Nash (1923 ~ 2015).  She was killed in a car accident along with her husband.  She was 82 years old.

 

2015 ~ Anne Meara (b. Sept. 20, 1929), American actress and comedian.  She was married to Jerry Stiller (b. 1927) and together the two were a comedy team, Stiller and Meara.  She was the mother of comedian and actor Ben Stiller.  She died at age 85.

 

2015 ~ John Forbes Nash, Jr. (b. June 13 1928), American mathematician and recipient of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economic Science.  He was plagued by mental illness and became the subject of the movie, A Beautiful Mind.  He and his wife, Alicia Nash (1933 ~ 2015) were killed in a taxi crash in New Jersey on their way home from the airport after having been abroad.  He died three weeks before his 87th birthday.

 

2012 ~ Paul Fussell, Jr. (b. Mar. 22, 1924), American cultural and literary historian who saw irony in war.  He died at age 88.

 

2006 ~ Lloyd Bentsen (né Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr., b. Feb. 11, 1921). American politician and 69th Secretary of the United States Treasury.  He served under President Bill Clinton from January 1993 until December 1994.  He was also the 1988 Vice Presidential candidate as a running mate to Michael Dukakis.  He died at age 85.

 

2002 ~ Sam Snead (né Samuel Jackson Sneed; b. May 27, 1912), American golfer.  He died 4 days before his 90thbirthday.

 

1998 ~ Telford Taylor (b. Feb. 24, 1908), American attorney best known for his role in the Counsel for the Prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials and his opposition to Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare.  He died at age 90.

 

1960 ~ Dr. Ida Scudder (née Ida Sophia Scudder; b. Dec. 9, 1870), American missionary and physician in India.  She died at age 89.

 

1960 ~ Georges Claude (b. Sept. 24, 1870), French engineer and inventor.  He created Neon lighting.  He died at age 89.

 

1945 ~ Heinrich Himmler (né Heinrich Luitpold Himmler, b. Oct. 7, 1900), German Nazi commander and head of the SS.  He committed suicide while in Allied custody.  He was 44 years old.

 

1937 ~ John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (né John Davidson Rockefeller; b. July 8, 1839), American industrialist and philanthropist.  He founded the Standard Oil Company as well as Rockefeller University.  He died at age 97.

 

1934 ~ Bonnie Parker (née Bonnie Elizabeth Parker; b. Oct. 1, 1910), American criminal who, along with her partner, Clyde Barrow (1909 ~ 1934), robbed banks throughout the South and Midwest.  She and Clyde were killed in a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.  She was 23 years old.

 

1934 ~ Clyde Barrow (né Clyde Chestnut Barrow; b. Mar. 24, 1909), American criminal, who along with his partner, Bonnie Parker (1910 ~ 1934), robbed banks throughout the South and Midwest until they were killed in a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.  He died at age 25.

 

1906 ~ Henrik Ibsen (né Henrick Johan Ibsen, b. Mar. 20, 1828), Norwegian playwright and poet.  He died at age 78.

 

1905 ~ Mary Livermore (née Mary Ashton Rice; b. Dec. 19, 1820), American journalist, abolitionist and women’s right activist.  She was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  She died at age 84 in Melrose, Massachusetts.

 

1895 ~ Franz Ernst Neumann (b. Sept. 11, 1798), German mathematician, physicist and mineralogist.  He died at age 96.

 

1868 ~ Kit Carson (né Christopher Houston Carson; b. Dec. 24, 1809), American general, frontiersman, scout and Indian agent.  He died at age 58.

 

1857 ~ Baron Augustin-Louis Cauchy (b. Aug. 21, 1789), French mathematician.  He died at age 67.

 

1836 ~ Edward Livingston (b. May 28, 1764), American politician.  He served as the 11th United States Secretary of State in President Martin Van Buren’s administration from May 1831 until May 1933.  He was also influential in drafting the Louisiana Civil Code.  He served as a United States Senator from Louisiana.  He had also served as the 46th Mayor of New York City.  He was born in Clermont, New York when it was still under British control.  He died 5 days before his 71st birthday in Rhinebeck, New York.

 

1783 ~ James Otis, Jr. (b. Feb. 5, 1725), early American lawyer and patriot.  He died at age 58 after being struck by lightening.

 

1701 ~ Captain William Kidd (b. Jan. 22, 1645), Scottish pirate.  He was convicted of piracy and murder and was hanged in London.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but it is often ascribed to January 22, 1654.  He was 47 at the time of his death.

 

1670 ~ Ferdinando II de’Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. July 14, 1610).  He served as the Grand Duke of Tuscany from February 1621 until his death in May 1670.  He died at age 59.

 

1498 ~ Girolamo Savonarola (b. Sept. 21, 1452), Italian-Dominican priest, philosopher and ruler of Florence.  He tried to reform the Church and was subsequently excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI.  He was burned at the stake.  He was 45 years old at the time of his death.

 

1482 ~ Mary of York (b. Aug. 11, 1467).  She was the second daughter of King Edward IV.  She died at age 14.

 

1423 ~ Antipope Benedict XIII (né Pedro Martinez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor; b. Nov. 25, 1328).  He died at age 95.

 

1125 ~ Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. Aug. 11, 1081).  The exact year of his birth is unknown.  He is believed to have been born between 1081 and 1086.  He is believed to have been between 39 and 44 at the time of his death.

 

230 ~ Pope Urban I.  He was Pope from 222 until his death about a year later.  The date of his birth is unknown.

 

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