Friday, April 8, 2022

April 8

Birthdays:

 

1968 ~ Patricia Arquette (née Patricia Tiffany Arquette), American actress.  She was born in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1964 ~ Biz Markie (né Marcel Theo Hall; d. July 16, 2021), American Crown Prince of Hip-Hop who scored a mainstream smash in 1989 with the self-deprecating Just a Friend.  He was born in Harlem, New York.  He died of complications from type 2 diabetes at age 57 in Baltimore, Maryland.

 

1963 ~ Julian Lennon (né John Charles Julian Lennon), English singer and songwriter.  He is the son of Beatle, John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia.  He was born in Liverpool, England.

 

1955 ~ Barbara Kingsolver, American novelist.  She was born in Annapolis, Maryland.

 

1954 ~ Gary Carter (né Gary Edmund Carter; d. Feb. 16, 2012), baseball American Hall of Famer who never lost his joy of baseball.  His nickname was The Kid.  He was born in Culver City, California.  He died of cancer at age 57 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

 

1953 ~ Ron Wright (né Ronald Jack Wright; d. Feb. 7, 2021), Republican Representative in the United States House of Representatives from Texas.  He tested positive from Covid-19 shortly after the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.  He became the first sitting member of Congress to die of Covid-19.  He was born in Jacksonville, Texas.  He died at age 67 in Dallas, Texas.

 

1946 ~ Catfish Hunter (né James Augustus Hunter; d. Sept. 9, 1999), American baseball player.  He was born and died in Hertford, North Carolina.He died at age 53 from ALS.

 

1940 ~ John Havlicek (né John Joseph Havlicek; d. Apr. 25, 2019), American NBA ironman who anchored the Celtics.  He played basketball for the Boston Celtics for 16 seasons.  He was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio.  He died of Parkinson’s disease 16 days after his 79th birthday in Jupiter, Florida.

 

1938 ~ Kofi Annan (né Kofi Atta Annan; d. Aug. 18, 2018), Ghanaian United Nations leader who pushed for humanitarian intervention.  He was a diplomat and 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations.  He served as Secretary-General from January 1997 through December 2006.  He died at age 80 in Bern, Switzerland.

 

1938 ~ Mary W. Gray (née Mary Lee Wheat), American mathematician and attorney.  She was a founding member of the Association of Women in Mathematics.  She was born in Nebraska.

 

1932 ~ József Antall, Jr. (d. Dec. 12, 1993), Prime Minister of Hungary.  He was the first democratically elected Prime Minister after the fall of communism.  He served from May 1990 until his death in December 1993.  He was born and died in Budapest, Hungary.  He died of cancer at age 61.

 

1929 ~ Jacques Brel (né Jacques Romain Georges Brel; d. Oct. 9, 1978), Belgian singer-songwriter and actor.  He died from complications of lung cancer at age 49.

 

1928 ~ Leah Rabin (née Leah Schloßberg; d. Nov. 12, 2000), wife of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.  She died of lung cancer at age 72 in Petah Tikva, Israel.

 

1919 ~ Ian Smith (né Ian Douglas Smith; d. Nov. 20, 2007), Zimbabwean politician and Prime Minister of Rhodesia.  He died at age 88 in Cape Town, South Africa.

 

1918 ~ Betty Ford (née Elizabeth Ann Bloomer; d. July 8, 2011), First Lady of the United States and wife of President Gerald Ford.  She elevated candor to a public virtue.  She was born in Chicago, Illinois.  She died at age 93 in Rancho Mirage, California.

 

1917 ~ Winifred Asprey (né Winnifred Alice Asprey; d. Oct. 19, 2007), American mathematician and computer scientist.  She was one of a very small group of women to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics in the 1940s.  She was born in Sioux City, Iowa.  She died at age 90 in Poughkeepsie, New York.

 

1914 ~ María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña (d. Apr. 8, 2002), Mexican film actress and singer.  She was one of the most successful actresses during the 1940s and 1950s in Latin American cinema.  She died of cardiovascular disease on her 88th birthday in Mexico City, Mexico.

 

1912 ~ Sonja Henie (d. Oct. 12, 1969), Norwegian figure skater.  She died from complications from leukemia while in flight from Oslo to Paris.  She was born in Oslo, Norway.  She was 57 years old at the time of her death.

 

1911 ~ Melvin Calvin (né Melvin Ellis Calvin; d. Jan. 8, 1997), American chemist and recipient of the 1961 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the Calvin Cycle.  He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota.  He died at age 85 in Berkeley, California.

 

1905 ~ Ilka Chase (d. Feb. 15, 1978), American actress.  She was born in New York, New York.  She died at age 72 in Mexico City, Mexico.

 

1904 ~ Sir John Hicks (né John Richard Hicks; d. May 20, 1989), English economist and recipient of the 1972 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science for his contributions to general equilibrium theory.  He died at age 85.

 

1892 ~ Mary Pickford (née Gladys Marie Smith; d. May 29, 1979), Canadian silent film actress and co-founder of United Artists.  She was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She died at age of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 87 in Santa Monica, California.

 

1875 ~ Albert I, King of Belgium (d. Feb. 17, 1934).  He was the King of the Belgians from December 1909 until his death 15 years later.  In 1900, he married Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria.  He was of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha until 1920 when the name was changed to Belgium.  He was the son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.  He was the grandson of Leopold I, King of Belgium.  He died at age 58 in a mountaineering accident.

 

1859 ~ Edmund Husserl (né Edmund Gustav Albrecht Hesserl; d. Apr. 27, 1938), Austrian mathematician.  He died 19 days after his 79th birthday.

 

1842 ~ Elizabeth Bacon Custer (née Elizabeth Clift Bacon; d. Apr. 4, 1933), American author and educator.  She was the wife and widow of General George Custer.  She was born in Monroe, Michigan.  She died 4 days before her 91st birthday in New York, New York.

 

1832 ~ Howell Edmunds Jackson (d. Aug. 8, 1895), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Benjamin Harrison.  He replaced Lucius Lamar on the Court.  He was succeeded by Rufus Wheeler Packham.  He served in the Confederacy as a receiver of seized property during the Civil War.  He was born in Paris, Tennessee.  He served on the Court from February 1893 until his death at age 63 two years later in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

1818 ~ August Wilhelm von Hofmann (d. May 5, 1892), German organic chemist.  He died a month after his 74thbirthday.

 

1818 ~ Christian IX, King of Denmark (d. Jan. 29, 1906).  He ruled from November 15, 1863 until his death in 1906.  He was married to Louise of Hesse-Kassel.  He was of the House of Glücksburg.  He was the son of Frederich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Princess Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel.  He died at age 87.

 

1732 ~ David Rittenhouse (d. June 26, 1796), American astronomer and mathematician.  He was also the first director of the United States Mint.  He died at age 64 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

1605 ~ Mary Stuart (d. Sept. 16, 1607), English-Scottish princess.  She was of the House of Stuart.  She was the daughter of James VI and I, King of England and Scotland and Anne of Denmark.  She died at age 2.

 

1605 ~ Peter IV, King of Spain and King of Portugal (d. Sept. 17, 1665).  He ruled Spain from March 1621 until his death in 1665; he ruled Portugal from March 1621 until December 1665.  He was married twice.  His first wife was Elisabeth of France.  After her death, he married is 14-year-old niece, Archduchess Mariana of Austria.  He was of the House of Habsburg.  He was the son of Philip III, King of Spain and Margaret of Austria.  He died at age 60.

 

1559 ~ Nurhaci (d. Sept. 30, 1626), Chinese Emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty.  He died at age 67.

 

1320 ~ Peter I, King of Portugal (d. Jan. 18, 1367).  He was also known as both Peter the Just and Peter the Cruel.  He ruled Portugal from May 1357 until his death in 1367.  He was married to Constanza Manuel until her death following childbirth.  He then married his mistress, Inês de Castro.  He was of the House of Burgundy.  He was the son of Afonso IV, King of Portugal, and Beatrice of Castile.  He died at age 46.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2020 ~ Passover began as sunset.

 

2012 ~ Easter Sunday.

 

2005 ~ The funeral of Pope John Paul II (1920 ~ 2005) was held two days after his death in the Vatican.  Over 4 million people attended.

 

1974 ~ Hank Aaron (1934 ~ 2021), playing for the Atlanta Braves, broke Babe Ruth’s career major league home run record with his 715th home run.

 

1959 ~ Grace Hopper (1906 ~ 1992) lead a group of computer manufacturers, user and university staff met at the University of Pennsylvania to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would become known as COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language)

 

1952 ~ President Harry Truman (1884 ~ 1972) called for a seizure of all steel mills in the United States in an effort to prevent a nationwide strike.

 

1943 ~ Otto (1897 ~ 1943) and Elisie (1903 ~ 1943) Hempel were executed in Berlin, Germany for their anti-Nazi activities.  They had protested against Nazism by sending postcards from public places denouncing Hitler’s government. They were eventually caught and executed.  Their story inspired German novelist Hans Fallada to write his 1947 novel Every Man Dies Alone.

 

1935 ~ The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was formed when the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 became law.  This was a part of the “New Deal.”

 

1913 ~ The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution became law.  The Amendment required direct election of Senators.

 

1904 ~ Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan was renamed Times Square after The New York Times newspaper.

 

1864 ~ During the American Civil War, the Union forces were thwarted by the Confederate Army at Mansfield, Louisiana.

 

1820 ~ The Venus de Milo was discovered on the Aegean Island of Melos.

 

1730 ~ The Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, was dedicated.  The congregation was Sephardic and dates from 1654 when the first Jews settled in New Amsterdam.

 

1093 ~ Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire, England was dedicated.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2021 ~ Margaret Wander Bonanno (b. Feb. 7, 1950), American science-fiction author.  She was born in New York, New York.  She died in Los Angeles, California at age 71.

 

2015 ~ Joel Spira (né Joel Solon Spira; b. Mar. 1, 1927), American inventor who made mood light possible with the creation of the dimmer light.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died of a heart attack at age 88 in Springfield Township, Pennsylvania.

 

2013 ~ Annette Funicello (née Annette Joanne Funicello; b. Oct. 22, 1942), American actress.  She was one of the original Mickey Mouseketters.  She was born in Utica, New York.  She died at age 70 of complications from multiple sclerosis in Bakersfield, California.

 

2013 ~ Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (née Margaret Hilde Roberts; b. Oct. 13, 1925), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.  She was known as the Iron Lady who remade Britain.  She was Britain’s first female prime minister.  She died at age 87 in London, England.

 

2012 ~ Jack Tramiel (né Idek Trzmiel; b. Dec. 13, 1928), Polish-American businessman behind the Commodore 64.  He was born in Łodż, Poland.  He died of heart failure at age 83 in Stanford, California.

 

2002 ~ María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña (b. Apr. 8, 1914), Mexican film actress and singer.  She was one of the most successful actresses during the 1940s and 1950s in Latin American cinema.  She died of cardiovascular disease on her 88th birthday in Mexico City, Mexico.

 

1996 ~ George Jenkins (né George Washington Jenkins, Jr.; b. Sept. 29, 1907), American businessman and founder of Publix Super Markets.  He was born in Warm Springs, Georgia.  He died at age 88 in Lakeland, Florida.

 

1993 ~ Marian Anderson (b. Feb. 27, 1897), African-American contralto.  She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She died at age 96 of congestive heart failure and complications of a stroke in Portland, Oregon.

 

1992 ~ Daniel Bovet (b. Mar. 23, 1907), Swiss-born pharmacologist and recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery that certain drugs can block the action of specific neurotransmitters.  He died 16 days after his 85th birthday in Rome, Italy.

 

1990 ~ Ryan White (né Ryan Wayne White; b. Dec. 6, 1971), American AIDS activist.  He had hemophilia and contracted AIDS from his numerous blood transfusions.  He was born in Kokomo, Indiana.  He died at age 18 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

 

1984 ~ Pyokr Kapitsa (b. July 8, 1894), Russian physicist and recipient of the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics. He is best known for his work in low-temperatures physics.  He was born when Russia still used the Julian calendar, so his birth date is sometimes given as June 26.  He died at age 89 in Moscow, Russia.

 

1981 ~ Omar Bradley (né Omar Nelson Bradley; b. Feb. 12, 1893), American Five-Star General.  He was the 1stChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  He served in this position under Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower.  He was born in Clark, Missouri.  He died at age 88 in New York, New York.

 

1973 ~ Pablo Picasso (b. Oct. 25, 1881), Spanish artist and sculptor.  He died at age 91.

 

1969 ~ Zinaïda Aksentieve (b. July 25, 1900), Ukrainian astronomer.  She was born in Odessa, Russian Empire.  A crater on Venus is named in her honor.  She died at age 68.

 

1950 ~ Vaslav Nijinsky (b. Mar. 12, 1890), Ukrainian dancer and choreographer.  He was born in Kyiv, Ukraine.  He died in London, England of kidney failure less than a month after his 61st birthday.

 

1942 ~ Suzan Rose Benedict (b. Nov. 29, 1873), American mathematician.  She was the first woman awarded a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Michigan.  She had a long career at Smith University in Massachusetts.  She was born in Norwalk, Ohio.  She died of a heart attack at age 68 in Northampton, Massachusetts.

 

1936 ~ Róbert Bárány (b. Apr. 22, 1876), Austrian physician and recipient of the 1914 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary.  He died 14 days before his 60th birthday in Uppsala, Sweden.

 

1935 ~ Adolph Ochs (né Adolph Simon Ochs; b. Mar. 12, 1858), American owner and publisher of The New York Times. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He died less than a month before his 78th birthday in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

 

1934 ~ Franklin Clarence Mars (b. Sept. 24, 1883), American businessman and founder of Mars, Inc., the chocolate company.  He was born in Hancock, Minnesota.  He died of heart disease at age 51.

 

1931 ~ Erik Alex Karlfeldt (b. July 20, 1864), Swedish poet and recipient of the 1931 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He was awarded the Nobel Prize posthumously.  He was the first person to be awarded a Nobel Prize after his death.  He died at age 66.

 

1919 ~ F.W. Woolworth (né Frank Winfield Woolworth; b. Apr. 13, 1852), American merchant and founder of the Five-and-Dime store chain that bore his name: F.W. Woolworth’s.  He was the first to use self-service display cases in a store.  He was born in Rodman, New York.  He died 5 days before his 67th birthday in Glen Cove, New York.

 

1917 ~ Richard Olney (b. Sept. 15, 1835), 40th United States Attorney General.  He served under President Grover Cleveland from March 1893 until June 1895.  He also served as the 34th United States Secretary of State from June 1895 until March 1897 during the administrations of Grover Cleveland and William McKinley.  He was born in Oxford, Massachusetts.  He died in Boston, Massachusetts at age 81.

 

1906 ~ Auguste Deter (b. May 16, 1850), German woman and the first recorded Alzheimer’s victim.  She died at age 55.

 

1861 ~ Elisha Otis (né Elisha Graves Otis; b. Aug. 3, 1811), American industrialist, inventor of the modern elevator break.  He was the founder of the Otis Elevator Company.  He was born in Halifax, Vermont.  He died of diphtheria at age 49 in Yonkers, New York.

 

1612 ~ Anne Catherine of Brandenburg (b. June 26, 1575), Queen consort of Denmark and Norway.  She was the first wife of Christian IV, King of Denmark.  She was of the House of Hohenzollern.  She was the daughter of Joachim Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg and Catherine of Brandenburg-Küstrin.  She died at age 36.

 

1492 ~ Lorenzo de’Medici (né Lorenzo di Piero de’Medici; b. Jan. 1, 1449), Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic.  He was known as Lorenzo the Magnificant.  He was married to Clarice Orsini.  He was of the Noble family of Medici.  He was the son of Piero the Gouty and Lucrezia Tornabuoni.  He died at age 43.

 

1461 ~ Georg von Peuerbach (b. May 30, 1423), German-Austrian mathematician and astronomer.  He died at age 37.

 

1364 ~ John II, King of France (b. Apr. 26, 1319).  He reigned France from August 22, 1350 until his death in April 1364.  He was known as John the Good.  He was married twice.  His first wife, whom he married in 1332, was Bonne of Bohemia.  They had 9 children together.  After her death, he married Joan I, Countess of Auvergne.  They married in 1350.  John was her 2nd husband.  They had 3 children together.  He was of the House of Valais.  He was the son of Philip VI, King of France and Joan of Burgundy.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died 18 days before his 45th birthday.

 

944 ~ Wang Yanxi, Chinese emperor of Min, during the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.  The date of his birth is not known.


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