Wednesday, May 11, 2022

May 11

Birthdays:

 

1989 ~ Cam Newton (né Cameron Jerrell Newton), American professional football player.  He was born in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

1982 ~ Cory Monteith (né Cory Allan Michael Monteith, d. July 13, 2013), Canadian actor best known for his role as Finn Hudson on Glee.  He died of a drug overdose at age 31.

 

1963 ~ Natasha Richardson (née Natasha Jane Richardson, d. Mar. 18, 2009), American actress who suffered a severe head injury following a skiing accident.  She was 45 years old.  She was born in London, England.  She died in a hospital in New York, New York.  Liam Neeson was her second husband.

 

1958 ~ Christian Brando (né Christian Devi Brando; d. Jan. 26, 2008), 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.

 

1955 ~ John DeStefano, Jr., 49th Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut.  He served as Mayor from January 1994 until January 2014.  He was born in New Haven, Connecticut.

 

1946 ~ Robert Jarvik, (né Robert Koffler Jarvik) American scientist and developer of the artificial heart.  He was born in Midland, Michigan.

 

1941 ~ Eric Burdon (né Eric Victor Burdon), British singer-songwriter.  He is best known for being the frontman of The Animals.

 

1937 ~ Guinter Kahn (d. Sept. 17, 2014). German-born doctor who discovered a baldness remedy.  He was a dermatologist credited with developing Rogaine.  He was born in Trier, Germany.  His family emigrated to the United States in 1938 to escape from Nazi Germany.  He died at age 80 in Miami, Florida.

 

1935 ~ Dick Leitsch (né Richard Joseph Leitsch; d. June 22, 2018), American gay rights activist who led “Sip-in” protests in bars.  He was born in Louisville, Kentucky.  He died at age 83 in Manhattan, New York.

 

1933 ~ Anne Marguerite McCann (d. Feb. 12, 2017), American art historian and archeologist.  She was the first female American underwater archeologist.  She was born in Mmamaroneck, New York.  She died at age 83 in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

 

1933 ~ Louis Farrakhan (né Louis Eugene Walcott), American Nation of Islam leader.  He was born in The Bronx, New York.

 

1930 ~ Stanley Elkin (né Stanley Lawrence Elkin; d. May 31, 1995), American novelist and short-story writer.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He died of a heart attack 20 days after his 65th birthday in St. Louis, Missouri.

 

1927 ~ Mort Sahl (né Morton Lyon Sahl; d. Oct. 26, 2021), Canadian-born American comedian and actor.  He was the gadfly who revolutionized stan-up comedy.  He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  He died at age 94 in Mill Valley, California.

 

1925 ~ Edward King (né Edward Joseph King; d. Sept. 18, 2006), 66th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1969 to January 1983.  He died at age 81.

 

1924 ~ Ninfa Laurenzo (née Maria Ninfa Rodriguez; d. June 17, 2001), American restaurateur and founder of Ninfa’s restaurant.  She was born in Harlingen, Texas.  She died at age 77 of bone cancer in Houston, Texas.

 

1924 ~ Leonard Garment (d. July 13, 2013), White House Counsel.  He served under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford from April 1973 until August 1974.  He was born and died in New York, New York.  He died at age 89.

 

1924 ~ Eugene Dynkin (d. Nov. 14, 2014), Russian-born mathematician.  He was born in St. Petersburg, Russian.  He died at age 90 in Ithaca, New York.

 

1924 ~ Antony Hewish, British radio astronomer and recipient of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Fowey, Cornwall, England.

 

1918 ~ Richard Feynman (né Richard Phillips Feynman; d. Feb. 15, 1988), American physicist and recipient of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died of cancer at age 69 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1916 ~ Camilo José Cela (d. Jan. 17, 2002), Spanish writer and recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 85.

 

1911 ~ Phil Silvers (né Philip Silversmith; d. Nov. 1, 1985), American actor and comedian.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He died at age 74 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1906 ~ Jacqueline Cochran (née Bessie Lee Pittman; d. Aug. 9, 1980), American aviator and test pilot.  In 1953, she became the first woman to break the sound barrier.  She was born in Pensacola, Florida.  She died at age 74 in Indio, California.

 

1905 ~ Catherine Bauer Wurster (née Catherine Krause Bauer; d. Nov. 21, 1964), American architect and public housing advocate.  She was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  She died from injuries in a fall on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California.  She was 59 years old at the time of her death.

 

1904 ~ Salvador Dalí (né Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech; d. Jan. 23, 1989), Spanish surrealist painter.  He was born and died in Figueres, Spain.  He died at age 84.

 

1902 ~ Edna Ernestine Lassar (née Edna Ernestine Kramer; d. July 9, 1984), American mathematician and author of math books.  She was born and died in Manhattan, New York.  She died of Parkinson’s disease at age 82.

 

1901 ~ Gladys Davis (née Gladys Rockmore; d. Feb. 16, 1967), American artist and impressionist painter.  She was born and died in New York, New York.  She died at age 65.

 

1895 ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti (d. Feb. 17, 1986), Indian philosopher.  He was born in India.  He died at age 90 in Ojai, California.

 

1894 ~ Martha Graham (b. Apr. 1, 1991), American dancer and choreographer.  She was born in Pennsylvania.  She died in New York, New York at age 96.

 

1891 ~ Angus MacFarlane-Grieve (né Alexander Angus MacFarlane-Grieve; d. Aug. 2, 1970), British mathematician.  He died at age 79.

 

1890 ~ Woodall Rodgers (né James Woodall Rodgers; d. July 6, 1961), Mayor of Dallas, Texas.  He served from 1939 until 1947.  He was born in Newmarket, Alabama.  He died at age 71 in Dallas, Texas.

 

1888 ~ Irving Berlin (né Israel Isidore Beilin; d. Sept. 22, 1989), Russian-born American songwriter and composer.  He died at age 101 in Manhattan, New York.

 

1881 ~ Theodore von Kármán (d. May 6, 1963), Hungarian mathematician, physicist, and engineer.  He died 5 days before his 82nd birthday.

 

1875 ~ Harriet Quimby (d. July 1, 1912), American pilot.  She was the first woman to fly across the English Channel.  She was killed in a plane crash at age 37.

 

1852 ~ Charles W. Fairbanks (né Charles Warren Fairbanks; d. June 4, 1918), 26th United States Vice-President.  He served under President Theodore Roosevelt from March 1905 until March 1909.  Prior to becoming the Vice President, he served as a Republican United States Senator from Indiana.  He was born in Unionville Center, Ohio.  He died of nephritis less than a month after his 66th birthday in Indianapolis, Indiana.

 

1811 ~ Chang and Eng Bunker (d. Jan. 17, 1874), Thai-American conjoined twins.  Because they were from Thailand, then called Siam, co-joined twins became known as Siamese Twins.  Each brother married and collectively they had a total of 21 children.  They were 62 at the time of their death.

 

1720 ~ Baron Münchhausen (d. 1797), fictional German military officer created by writer Erich Raspe.  He is said to have told a number of far-fetched stories about his travel adventures, hence the disease known as Münchhausen Syndrome is named after him.

 

1715 ~ Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach (d. May 27, 1739), German musician and organist.  He was the 4th child of Johann Sebastian Bach.  He died just 16 days after his 24th birthday.

 

1366 ~ Anne of Bohemia (d. June 7, 1394), Queen consort of England.  She was the first wife of Richard II King of England.  They were married for 12 years before she died of the plague less than a month after her 28th birthday.  The couple had no children.  She was also known as Anne of Luxembourg.  She was of the House of Luxembourg.  She was the daughter of Charles, IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Elizabeth of Pomerania.

 

482 ~ Justinian I (d. Nov. 14, 565), Byzantine Emperor.  He was known as Justinian the Great.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been 83 years old at the time of his death.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2014 ~ Mother’s Day in the United States.

 

2011 ~ A 5.1 magnitude struck in Lorca, Spain.

 

2010 ~ David Cameron (b. 1966) became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served until July 13, 2016 when he was succeeded by Theresa May (b. 1956).

 

1996 ~ Eight people died while trying to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.  This event was depicted in Jon Krakauer’s book, Into Thin Air.

 

1996 ~ Shortly after take-off from Miami, Florida, ValuJet Flight 592 caught fire caused by improperly handled chemical oxygen generators in the cargo hold.  The crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 passengers and crew aboard.  Candalyn Chamberlain Kubeck (1961 ~ 1996) was the captain of the flight.  She died one day after her 35th birthday.  She was the first female commercial pilot to die in a plane crash.

 

1987 ~ Klaus Barbie (1913 ~ 1991) went to trial Lyon, France for Nazi war crimes he committed during World War II. He was known as the Butcher of Lyon.  He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.  He died four years later in 1991.

 

1970 ~ A massive tornado struck Lubbock, Texas, killing 26 people.

 

1960 ~ In Buenos Aries, Argentina, four Israeli Mossad agents captured Nazi Adolf Eichmann (1906 ~ 1962), who had been living in a modest home with his family under the alias of Ricardo Klement.  This capture was depicted in the 2018 movie, Operation Finale.

 

1953 ~ During the 1953 Waco tornado outbreak, a massive tornado hit downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114 people.

 

1949 ~ Israel joined the United Nations.

 

1934 ~ A massive dust storm from the Great Plains swept across the Eastern states sending millions of tons of topsoil as far east as New York City, Boston, Massachusetts and Atlanta, Georgia.

 

1927 ~ The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded.

 

1910 ~ The Glacier National Park in Montana became official through an Act of Congress.

 

1894 ~ Over 4,000 Pullman Palace Car Company workers went on a wildcat strike against the Pullman Company.

 

1867 ~ Luxembourg gained its independence from Belgium.

 

1858 ~ Minnesota became the 32nd State of the Union.

 

1846 ~ President James Polk (1795 ~ 1849) requested a Declaration of War against Mexico from Congress.  Congress approved the request two days later, initiating the Mexican-American War.

 

1647 ~ Peter Stuyvesant (1612 ~ 1672) arrived in New Amsterdam, now known as New York City, to replace Willem Kieft (1597 ~ 1647) as the Director-General of the Dutch colonial settlement.

 

1502 ~ Christopher Columbus (1451 ~ 1506) left on his fourth and final voyage to the West Indies.

 

912 ~ Alexander III (870 ~ 913) became the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire in this date.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2020 ~ Jerry Stiller (né Gerald Isaac Stiller; b. June 8, 1927), American comedian and actor who got laughs across the generations.  He spent many years as half of the comedy team Stiller and Meara, with his wife, Anne Meara.  He is best known for his portrayal as Frank Costanza on Seinfeld.  His son is actor Ben Stiller.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He died about a month before his 93rd birthday.

 

2019 ~ Peggy Lipton (née Margaret Ann Lipton; b. Aug. 30, 1946), American model and actress best known for her role on The Mod Squad.  She is the mother of Rashida Jones.  She was born in New York, New York.  She died of cancer at age 72 in Los Angeles, California.

 

2014 ~ Jeb Stuart Magruder (b. Nov. 5, 1934), American politician turned Presbyterian minister.  He was involved in the Watergate scandal and spent several years in prison.  After getting out of jail, he became a religious leader.  He was born in Staten Island, New York.  He died of complications of a stroke at age 79 in Danbury, Connecticut.

 

2013 ~ Joseph Farman (né Joseph Charles Farman; b. Aug. 7, 1930), British scientist who discovered the ozone hole over the Antarctic.  He died at age 82.

 

2006 ~ Floyd Patterson (b. Jan. 4, 1935), American heavyweight boxing champion.  He died at age 71.

 

2001 ~ Douglas Adams (né Douglas Noel Adams; b. Mar. 11, 1952), English author best known for his novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  He died of a heart attack at age 49.

 

1996 ~ Candalyn Chamberlain Kubeck (b. May 10, 1961), American commercial airline pilot.  She was the captain of ValuJet Flight 592 when it crashed into the Florida Everglades shortly after take-off.  She was the first female commercial pilot to die in a plane crash.  She died 1 day after her 35th birthday. 

 

1996 ~ Rob Hall (né Robert Edwin Hall; b. Jan. 14, 1961), New Zealander mountaineer who led many expeditions up Mt. Everest.  He died on one such expedition, which was recounted in Jon Krakauer’s book, Into Thin Air.  He was also the subject of the 2015 movie Everest.  He was born in Christchurch, New Zealand.  He died at age 35.

 

1996 ~ Scott Fischer (né Scott Eugene Fischer; b. Dec. 24, 1955), American mountaineer and guide.  He was best known for his ascents of the world’s highest mountains.  In 1996, he was leading a group of hikers up Mt. Everest when a sudden blizzard arose.  He did not survive the storm.  He was the subject of the book, Into Thin Air: Death on Everest.  He was born in Muskegon, Michigan.  He was 40 at the time of his death.

 

1988 ~ Kim Philby (né Harold Adrian Russell Philby; b. Jan. 1, 1912), British spy and Soviet double agent.  He defected to the Soviet Union in 1963.  He died in Moscow, Russia at age 76.

 

1985 ~ Chester Gould (b. Nov. 20, 1900), American cartoonist and creator of Dick Tracy.  He died at age 84.

 

1981 ~ Bob Marley (né Robert Nasta Marley; b. Feb. 6, 1945), Jamaican singer and musician.  He died of cancer at age 36.

 

1981 ~ Odd Hassel (b. May 17, 1897), Norwegian physical chemist and recipient of the 1969 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He died 6 days before his 84th birthday.

 

1963 ~ Herbert Spencer Gasser (b. July 5, 1888), American physiologist and recipient of the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work with action potentials in nerve fibers.  He died at age 74.

 

1960 ~ John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (né John Davison Rockefeller, Jr.; b. Jan. 29, 1874), American entrepreneur and philanthropist.  He was the son and namesake of the founder of Standard Oil.  He died at age 86.

 

1927 ~ Juan Gris (né José Victoriano González-Pérez, b. Mar. 23, 1887), Spanish painter and sculptor.  He died of renal failure at age 40.

 

1889 ~ John Cadbury (b. Aug. 12, 1801), English businessman and founder of the Cadbury Chocolate company.  He died at age 87.

 

1881 ~ Henri-Frédéric Amiel (b. Sept. 27, 1821), Swiss philosopher poet and critic.  He was born and died in Geneva, Switzerland.  He died at age 59.

 

1871 ~ Sir John Herschel, 1st Baronet (né John Frederick William Herschel; b. Mar. 7, 1792), English mathematician and astronomer.  He died at age 79.

 

1849 ~ Juliette Récamier (née Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélaïde Bernard; b. Dec. 4, 1777), French businesswoman.  The chaise lounge, or réclamier is named after her.  She died at age 71.

 

1812 ~ Spencer Perceval (b. Nov. 1, 1762), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister during the reign of King George III.  He was the first, and to date, the only, Prime Minister to have been assassinated while in office.  He was killed by a disgruntled citizen who was angry that the government had not compensated him for war debts incurred in Russia.  The assassin, although deemed insane, was executed a week later.  Perceval was 49 years old at the time of his death.

 

1778 ~ William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (b. Nov. 15, 1708), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He was known William Pitt, the Elder, as his son of the same name was later Prime Minister of Great Britain.  He served in office during the reign of King George III, from July 1766 until October 1768.  He died at age 69.

 

1696 ~ Jean de la Bruyère (b. Aug. 16, 1645), French philosopher and moralist.  He is best known for his satire.  He was born in Paris, France.  He died at age 50 in Versailles, France.

 

1610 ~ Matteo Ricci (b. Oct. 6, 1552), Italian priest and missionary.  He was one of the founding fathers of the Jesuit China missions and was the first European to enter the Forbidden City in Beijing.  He died at age 57.

 

1572 ~ Moses Isserles (b. Feb. 22, 1530), Polish rabbi and Talmudist.  He was born and died in Kraków, Poland.  He died at age 42.

 

912 ~ Leo VI the Wise (b. Sept. 19, 866), Byzantine Emperor.  He died at age 45.


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