June 30

Birthdays:

 

1966 ~ Mike Tyson (né Michael Gerard Tyson), African-American professional boxer.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.

 

1959 ~ Vincent D’Onofrio (né Vincent Philip D’Onofrio), American actor best known for his role as Detective Robert Goren on CSI: Criminal Intent.  He was born in New York, New York.

 

1956 ~ David Alan Grier, African-American actor and comedian.  He was born in Detroit, Michigan.

 

1952 ~ Athanassios Fokas (né Athanassios Spyridon Fokas), Greek mathematician.  He was born in Cefalonia, Greece.

 

1950 ~ Leonard Whiting, English actor best known for his role as Romeo in the 1968 movie, Romeo and Juliette.  He was born in London, England.

 

1947 ~ Barry Bremen (d. June 30, 2011), American known as The Great Imposter who made it into the big leagues.  He was a businessman who bluffed his way into being an umpire at major league baseball games.  He was born in Detroit, Michigan.  He died in Phoenix, Arizona of esophageal cancer on his 64^th birthday.

 

1943 ~ Florence Ballard (née Florence Glenda Ballard; d. Feb. 22, 1976), African-American singer and member of The Supremes.  She was born and died in Detroit, Michigan.  She died of a heart attack at age 32.

 

1930 ~ Thomas Sowell, African-American economist and social theorist.  He was born in Gastonia, North Carolina.

 

1928 ~ Hassan Hassanzadeh Amoli (d. Sept. 25, 2021), Islamic philosopher, religious leader and mathematician.  He died at age 92.

 

1927 ~ Shirley Fry Irvin (née Shirley June Fry; d. July 13, 2021), American tennis ace who ruled the game in the 1950s.  She was born in Akron, Ohio.  She died 2 weeks after her 94^th birthday in Naples, Florida.

 

1926 ~ Paul Berg, American biochemist and recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in nucleic acids.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.

 

1917 ~ Susan Hayward (née Edythe Marrenner; d. Mar. 14, 1975), American actress.  She was born in Brooklyn, New York.  She died at age 57 of brain cancer in Beverly Hills, California.

 

1917 ~ Lena Horne (née Lena Mary Calhoun Horne; d. May 9, 2010), African-American singer and actress.  She was born and died in New York, New York.  She died of heart failure at age 92.

 

1911 ~ Czesław Miłosz (d. Aug. 14, 2004), Polish author and recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He became an American citizen in 1970.  He died at age 93.

 

1891 ~ Sir Stanley Spencer (d. Dec. 14, 1959), British painter.  He died of cancer at age 68.

 

1819 ~ William A. Wheeler (né William Almon Wheeler; d. June 4, 1887), 19^th Vice President of the United States.  He served under President Rutherford B. Hayes from March 1877 until March 1881.  He was a graduate of the University of Vermont.  He was born in Malone, New York.  He died in New York, New York 26 days before his 68^th birthday.

 

1817 ~ Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (d. Dec. 10, 1911), English botanist.  He died at age 94.

 

1769 ~ Pierre Derbigny (né Pierre Augustin Charles Bourguignon Derbigny; d. Oct. 6, 1829), 6^th Governor of Louisiana. He served as Governor for only 10 months, the shortest term of any elected governor of Louisiana.  He was born in Laon, France.  He was killed after being thrown from a horse-drawn carriage while visiting in Gretna, Louisiana.  He is buried in the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1.  He was 60 years old at the time of his death.  He also has the distinction of having been only one of four governors to have died while in office, three of whom also died during the month of October.

 

1768 ~ Elizabeth Monroe (née Elizabeth Jane Kortright; d. Sept 23, 1830), First Lady and wife of President James Monroe.  Due to health issues, however, many of the hosting duties fell to her daughter, Eliza Monroe Hay.  She was born in New York, New York.  She died at age 62 in Richmond, Virginia.

 

1478 ~ John, Prince of Asturias (d. Oct. 4, 1497).  Member of the Spanish Royal family.  He was married to Margaret of Austria.  He was of the House of Trastámara.  He was the only son and heir of Ferdinand I, King of Aragon and Isabela of Castile.  He died at age 19, possibly of tuberculosis.

 

1470 ~ Charles VIII, King of France (d. Apr. 7, 1498).  He became king at age 13.  He was ruled from August 1483 until his death in April 1498.  He was married to Anne, Duchess of Britany.  He was of the House of Valois.  He was the son of Louis XI, King of France and Charlotte of Savoy.  He died at age 27 when he struck his head on the lintel of a door.  He is believed to have suffered from a subdural hematoma.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2021 ~ The Trump Organization and its Chief Financial Officer were indicted by a grand jury for tax crimes.

 

2021 ~ Bill Cosby (b. 1937), was released from prison after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his sexual assault conviction.  He had spent two years of his prison term after having been found guilty of sexually assaulting numerous women.

 

2019 ~ Donald Trump (b. 1946) became the first American sitting President to visit North Korea.

 

2013 ~ While controlling a wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona, 19 firefighters were killed.

 

1997 ~ The United Kingdom transferred sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China.

 

1992 ~ British former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1925 ~ 2013) joined the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher.  She had been named a peer of the realm earlier this month.

 

1990 ~ East and West Germany merged their economies.

 

1986 ~ The United States Supreme Court ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick decriminalizing homosexual acts between consenting adults.  Justice Byron White (1917 ~ 2002) drafted the majority opinion.

 

1974 ~ Mikhail Baryshnikov (b. 1948) defected from the Soviet Union while on tour with the Bolshoi Ballet in Canada, where he received political asylum.

 

1971 ~ Ohio ratified the 26^th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which lowered the voting age to 18.  With Ohio’s ratification, the Amendment became the law of the land.

 

1966 ~ The National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded.  Betty Friedan (1921 ~ 2006) and Shirley Chisholm (1924 ~ 2005) were two of its founding members.

 

1960 ~ The Congo gained its independence from Belgium.

 

1953 ~ The first Corvettes were produced.

 

1940 ~ The United States Fish and Wildlife Services was created.

 

1937 ~ The first emergency telephone number (999) was introduced in London, England.

 

1936 ~ Margaret Mitchell’s novel, Gone with the Wind, was published.

 

1934 ~ In what is now known as the Night of the Long Knives, Hitler’s men became involved in a violent purging of his political rivals.

 

1921 ~ Former President William Taft (1857 ~ 1930) was nominated as Chief Justice of the United States by President Warren Harding (1865 ~ 1923).

 

1906 ~ The United States Congress passed the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act, which is now known as the Food and Drugs Act.

 

1905 ~ Albert Einstein’s article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, was published.  This introduced his theory of special relativity to the world.

 

1864 ~ President Abraham Lincoln (1809 ~ 1865) granted Yosemite Valley to California for “public use, resort and recreation.”

 

1859 ~ French acrobat and tightrope walker Charles Blondin (né Jean François Gravelet; 1824 ~ 1897) crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2019 ~ Mitchell Feigenbaum (né Mitchell Jay Feigenbaum; b. Dec. 19, 1944), American mathematical physicist.  His focus of study was in chaos theory.  He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He died in New York City at age 74.

 

2014 ~ Paul Mazursky (né Irwin Lawrence Mazursky; b. Apr. 25, 1930), American film director.  He died of cardiac arrest at age 84.

 

2012 ~ Yitzhak Shamir (né Yitzhak Yezernitsky; b. Oct. 22, 1915), Prime Minister of Israel.  He served as Prime Minister for two terms.  His first term ran from October 1983 until September 1984.  His second term ran from October 1986 until July 1992.  He was born in Russia.  He died at age 96 in Tel Aviv.

 

2011 ~ Barry Bremen (b. June 30, 1947), American known as The Great Imposter who made it into the big leagues.  He was a businessman who bluffed his way into being an umpire at major league baseball games.  He was born in Detroit, Michigan.  He died in Phoenix, Arizona of esophageal cancer on his 64^th birthday.

 

2009 ~ Joan Wiffen (née Joan Pederson; b. Feb. 4, 1922), New Zealand amateur paleontologist.  She discovered the first dinosaur fossils in New Zealand.  She died at age 87.

 

2004 ~ Professor Dame Rosalinde Hurley (aka Mrs. Gortval, b. Dec. 30, 1929), British physician, microbiologist public health administrator and barrister.  She died at age 74.

 

2003 ~ Robert McCloskey (né John Robert McCloskey; b. Sept. 14, 1915), American children’s author and illustrator.  He is best known for his book, Make Way for Ducklings.  He died at age 88 in Deer Isle, Maine.

 

1984 ~ Lillian Hellman (née Lillian Florence Hellman, b. June 20, 1905), American playwright.  She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.  She died in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts 10 days after her 79^th birthday.

 

1973 ~ Nancy Mitford (b. Nov. 28, 1904), British novelist.  She died at age 68.

 

1961 ~ Lee de Forest (d. Aug. 26, 1873), American inventor, best known for the invention Audion, a form of vacuum tube that amplifies weak electrical signals.  He died at age 87.

 

1919 ~ John Strutt, 3^rd Baron Rayleigh (né John William Strutt; b. Nov. 12, 1842), English physicist and recipient of the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of argon.  He died at age 76.

 

1816 ~ Paul Hamilton (b. Oct. 16, 1762), 3^rd United States Secretary of the Navy.  He was appointed to the position by President James Madison.  He served in that Office from May 1809 until January 1813.  He had previously served as the Governor of South Carolina from December 1804 until 1806.  He died at age 53 in Beaufort, South Carolina.

 

1785 ~ James Oglethorpe (b. Dec. 22, 1696), English general and founder of the colony of Georgia in what would later become the United States.  He died at age 88.

 

1670 ~ Henrietta of England (b. June 16, 1644), Duchess of Orléans and first wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans.  She was of the House of Stuart.  She was the youngest daughter of Charles I, King of England and Henrietta Maria of France. She died 2 weeks after her 26^th birthday.

 

1660 ~ William Oughtred (b. Mar. 5, 1575), English mathematician and Anglican priest.  He died at age 86.

June 29

Birthdays: 

1982 ~ Colin Jost (né Colin Kelly Jost), American comedian.  He was born in New York, New York.

 

1972 ~ Samantha Smith (née Samantha Reed Smith; d. Aug. 25, 1985), American peace activist from Houlton, Maine.  In 1982, she wrote a letter to Russian General Secretary Yuri Andropov and received a personal reply and an invitation to visit the Soviet Union.  She was born in Houlton, Maine.  She was killed in a small private plane crash at age 13 in Auburn, Maine.

 

1961 ~ Sharon Lawrence (née Sharon Elizabeth Lawrence), American actress.  She was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.

 

1949 ~ Ann Veneman (née Ann Margaret Veneman), 27^th United States Secretary of Agriculture.  She served under President George W. Bush from January 2001 through January 2005.  She was born in Modesto, California.

 

1948 ~ Fred Grandy (né Frederick Lawrence Grandy), American actor and politician.  He is best known for his portrayal of Gopher on the Love Boat.  He later went on to become a United States Representative from Iowa.  He was born in Sioux City, Iowa.

 

1947 ~ Richard Lewis (né Richard Philip Lewis), American comedian.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.

 

1944 ~ Gary Busey (né William Gary Busey), American actor.  He was born in Baytown, Texas.

 

1941 ~ Stokely Carmichael (né Stokley Standiford Churchill Carmichael; d. Nov. 15, 1998), Trinidadian-American civil rights activist.  He died of prostate cancer at age 57.

 

1936 ~ Harmon Killebrew (né Harmon Clayton Killebrew, Jr.; d. May 17, 2011), American baseball player.  He was the gentle slugger who was beloved by his team.  He was born in Payette, Idaho.  He died at age 74 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

 

1930 ~ Robert Evans (né Robert J. Shapera; d. Oct. 26, 2019), American actor and movie producer who lived a Hollywood fairy tale.  He is best known his work on Love Story and The Godfather.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 89 in Beverly Hills, California.

 

1929 ~ Orina Fallaci (d. Sept. 15, 2006), Italian journalist and writer.  She was born and died in Florence, Italy.  She died of lung cancer at age 77.

 

1926 ~ Sir Rex Hunt (né Rex Masterman Hunt, d. Nov. 11, 2012), British governor who defied Argentina during the Falkland Islands War in 1982.  He died at age 86.

 

1925 ~ Francis S. Curry (né Francis Sherman Curry; d. Oct. 8, 2019), American Army Private and Medal of Honor recipient who fought off a Nazi attack during the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.  In December 1944, age 19, Curry was guarding a bridge crossing when German tanks suddenly rolled out in front of him and his company.  During intense fighting, Curry rushed out to grab ammunition and fired a bazooka, disabling the German tanks.  He was born in Loch Sheldrake, New York.  He died at age 94 in South Bethlehem, New York.

 

1920 ~ Ray Harryhausen (né Raymond Frederick Harryhausen; d. May 7, 2013), American animator who made onscreen magic.  He is best known for stop motion model animation, known as Dynamation.  He was born in Los Angeles, California.  He died at age 92 in London, England.

 

1919 ~ Slim Pickens (né Louis Burton Lindley, Jr.; d. Dec. 8, 1983), American actor.   He is best remembered for his role in Dr. Strangelove.  He was born in Kingsburg, California.  He died following complications of surgery to remove a brain tumor in Modesto, California.  He was 64 years old.

 

1916 ~ Ruth Warrick (née Ruth Elizabeth Warrick; d. Jan. 15, 2005), American singer and actress who made her screen debut in Citizen Kane.  She played Emily Norton Kane, the aloof, icy first wife of the fictional publisher Charles Foster Kane in the film.  She was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri.  She died of pneumonia at age 88 in Manhattan, New York.

 

1914 ~ Christos Papakyriakopoulos (d. June 29, 1976), Greek mathematician.  He was born in Athens, Greece.  He died on his 62^nd birthday of stomach cancer in Princeton, New Jersey.

 

1911 ~ Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (d. Dec. 1, 2004), Prince consort of the Netherlands.  He was the husband of Juliana, Queen of the Netherlands.  He was of the House of Lippe.  He was the son of Prince Bernhard of Lippe and Armgard von Cramm.  He died at age 93.

 

1904 ~ Witold Hurewics (d. Sept. 6, 1956), Polish mathematician.  He was born in Łódź, Poland.  He died at age 52 from a fall from a Mayan step pyramid in Mexico City.

 

1901 ~ Nelson Eddy (né Nelson Ackerman Eddy; d. Mar. 6, 1967), American singer and actor.  He was born in Providence, Rhode Island.  He died at age 65 of a cerebral hemorrhage in Palm Beach, Florida.

 

1900 ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (disappeared July 31, 1944), French pilot and writer, best known for The Little Prince.  During World War II, while on a reconnaissance mission in July 1944, he disappeared and was presumed killed.  He was born in Lyon, France.  He was 44 years old.

 

1880 ~ Harry Frazee (né Harry Herbert Frazee; d. June 4, 1929), American theatrical agent and former owner of the Boston Red Sox from 1916 to 1923.  He is best known for being responsible for selling Babe Ruth to the rival team, the New York Yankees.  He was born in Peoria, Illinois.  He died of kidney failure three weeks before his 49^th birthday in New York, New York.

 

1868 ~ George Ellery Hale (d. Feb. 21, 1938), American astronomer.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He died at age 69 in Pasadena, California.

 

1861 ~ William James Mayo (d. July 28, 1939), American physician and one of the seven founders of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  He was born in Le Sueur, Minnesota.  He died a month after his 78^th birthday in Rochester, Minnesota.

 

1858 ~ Julia Lathrop (née Julia Clifford Lathrop; d. Apr. 15, 1932), American social activist.  She served as the 1^stDirector of the United States Children’s Bureau.  She was the first woman to head a federal bureau.  She was born and died in Rockford, Illinois.  She died at age 73.

 

1858 ~ George Washington Goethals (d. Jan. 21, 1928), American general and civil engineer.  He was the co-designer of the Panama Canal.  He served as the 1^st Governor of the Panama Canal Zone.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He died at age 69 in Manhattan, New York.

 

1849 ~ Pedro Montt (né Pedro Elias Pablo Montt Montt; d. Aug. 16, 1910), President of Chile.  He served as President from September 1906 until his death at age 61 of a stroke in August 1910.  He was born in Santiago, Chile and died in Bremen, Germany.  He was in Germany for medical treatment when he died.

 

1884 ~ Peter I, King of Serbia (d. Aug. 16, 1921).  He was the 1^st King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.  He was King from December 1918 until his death.  He was married to Princess Zorka of Montenegro.  He was of the House of Karađorđević.  He was the son of Alexander Karađorđević and Persida Nenadović.  He died at age 77.

 

1801 ~ Frédéric Bastiat (né Claude-Frédéric Bastiat; d. Dec. 24, 1850), French economist and diplomat.  He was born in Bayonne, France.  He died at age 49 in Rome, Italy.

 

1793 ~ Josef Ressel (né Josef Ludwig Franz Ressel; d. Oct. 9, 1857), Bohemian inventor who designed the ship propeller.  He died at age 64.

 

1482 ~ Maria of Aragon (d. Mar. 7, 1517), Queen consort of Portugal and the Algarves.  She was the 2^nd wife of Manuel I, King of Portugal.  She was of the House of Trastámara.  She was the daughter of Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and Isabella I, Queen of Castile.  She died of complications of pregnancy at age 34.

 

1398 ~ John II, King of Aragon (d. Jan. 23, 1479).  He ruled Aragonn from June 1458 until his death.  He was also the King of Sicily from June 1458 until 1468.  He was known as both John the Great and John the Faithless.  He was married twice.  His first wife was Blanche I, Queen of Navarre.  His second wife was Juana Enríquez.  He was of the House of Trastámara.  He was the son of Ferdinand I, King of Aragon and Eleanor of Albuquerque.  He died at age 80.

 

1136 ~ Petronilla, Queen of Aragon (d. Oct. 15, 1173).  She became Queen of Aragon after her father abdicated.  She reigned until her abdication in 1164.  She was married to Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona.  She was the last ruling member of the Jiménez dynasty.  She was the daughter of Ramon II, King of Aragon and Agnes of Aquitaine.  She died at age 37.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2014 ~ The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) self-declared its caliphate in Syria and northern Iraq.  This group is sometimes referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

 

2012 ~ A derecho hit the eastern United States leaving at least 22 people dead and millions without power.

 

2009 ~ Bernard Madoff (1938 ~ 2021) was sentenced to 150 years in prison for his Ponzi scheme.

 

2007 ~ The first iPhones were made available from Apple, Inc.

 

1995 ~ The United States Space Shuttle Program, the STS-71 Mission (Atlantis Mission) docked with the Russian space station, Mir, for the first time.

 

1976 ~ The Seychelles became independent from the United Kingdom.

 

1974 ~ Mikhail Baryshnikov (b. 1948) defected from the Soviet Union to Canada while on tour with the Bolshoi Ballet.

 

1974 ~ Isabel Perón (b. 1931) was sworn in as the first female president of Argentina.  Her husband, President Juan Perón (1895 ~ 1974) had delegated the responsibilities to her, citing ill health.  He died on July 1, 1974, two days after Isabel became president.

 

1972 ~ In the case of Furman v. Georgia, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 per curium opinion that the arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and therefore constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

 

1956 ~ The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 became law, officially creating the United States Interstate Highway System.

 

1889 ~ Hyde Park and several other townships in Illinois voted to be annexed by Chicago, thereby making the largest city in the United States in area and the second largest in population.

 

1613 ~ The Globe Theater in London, England burned to the ground.  Many Shakespeare plays were staged in this theater.  It would be over 300 years before a new Globe Theater would be rebuilt.

 

1534 ~ Jacques Cartier (1491 ~ 1557) became the first recorded European to reach what is now known as Prince Edward Island, Canada.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2021 ~ Donald Rumsfeld (né Donald Henry Rumsfeld; b. July 9, 1932), 13^th and 21^st United States Secretary of Defense.  He was the hawk who oversaw the United States invasion of Iraq.  He served under Presidents Gerald Ford from November 1975 until January 1977 and again from January 2001 until December 2006 during the George W. Bush administration.  Thus, he was both the youngest (under Ford) and oldest (under Reagan) Secretary of Defense.  He also served as the 6^th White House Chief of Staff from September 1974 until November 1975 during the Ford administration.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He died in Taos, New Mexico 10 days before his 89^th birthday.

 

2020 ~ Carl Reiner (b. Mar. 20, 1922), American comedy legend who happily played second fiddle.  American film director and comedian.  He was born in The Bronx, New York.  He died at age 98 in Beverly Hills, California.

 

2018 ~ Steve Ditko (né Stephen J. Ditko, b. Nov. 2, 1927), American enigmatic comic artist who helped create Spider-Man.  He was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.  He died at age 90 in New York, New York.

 

2018 ~ Arvid Carlsson (b. Jan. 25, 1923), Swedish biochemist and recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work with the neurotransmitter dopamine and its effects in Parkinson’s disease.  He died at age 95.

 

2003 ~ Katherine Hepburn (née Katherine Houghton Hepburn; b. May 12, 1907), American actress.  She was born in Hartford, Connecticut.  She died at age 96 in Fenwick, Connecticut.

 

2002 ~ Rosemary Clooney (b. May 23, 1928), American singer and actress.  She was born in Maysville, Kentucky.  She died of lung cancer a little over a month after her 74^th birthday in Beverly Hills, California.

 

1995 ~ Lana Turner (née Julia Jean Turner; b. Feb. 8, 1921), American actress.  She had 7 husbands.  She was born in Wallace, Idaho.  She died of esophageal cancer at age 74 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1990 ~ Irving Wallace (b. Mar. 19, 1916), American journalist and author.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He died of pancreatic cancer at age 74 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1987 ~ Elizabeth Cotton (b. Jan. 5, 1983), African-American blues and folk musician, singer and songwriter.  She was a self-taught musician who played left-handed in her own style.  She is known for playing a guitar strung for a right-handed player, but played it upside down.  She was born in Carroboro, North Carolina and died at age 94 in Syracuse, New York.

 

1978 ~ Bob Crain (né Robert Edward Crane; b. July 13, 1928), American actor best known for his role as Colonel Hogan on the TV show Hogan’s Heroes.  He was born in Waterbury, Connecticut.  He was murdered under mysterious circumstances two weeks before his 50^th birthday in Scottsdale, Arizona.  His murder has not been solved.

 

1977 ~ Magda Lupescu (née Elena Lupescu, b. Sept 15, 1895), Romanian mistress of King Carol II of Romania.  After his abdication, she became his wife.  She died at age 81.

 

1976 ~ Christos Papakyriakopoulos (b. June 29, 1914), He was born in Athens, Greece.  He died on his 62^nd birthday of stomach cancer in Princeton, New Jersey.

 

1967 ~ Jayne Mansfield (née Vera Jayne Palmer; b. Apr. 19, 1933), American actress.  She was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.  She was killed in a car accident in Slidell, Louisiana.  She was 34 years old at the time of her death.  One of her daughters is Mariska Hargitay (b. 1964), an actress known for her role as Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victim’s Unit.

 

1940 ~ Paul Klee (b. Dec. 18, 1879), Swiss-German painter.  He died at age 60.

 

1938 ~ Frederick William Vanderbilt (b. Feb. 2, 1856), American railway magnate.  He was the director of the New York Central Railroad for 61 years.  He was the son of William Henry Vanderbilt and Marie Louisa Kissam.  His grandfather was The Commodore, Cornelius Vanderbilt.  He was born in Staten Island, New York.  He died at age 82 in Hyde Park, New York.

 

1933 ~ Fatty Arbuckle (né Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle; b. Mar. 24, 1887), American actor.  He was one of the most popular silent film stars of the 1910s.  He was accused of the rape and manslaughter of a young actress but was ultimately acquitted after three trials.  He was born in Smith Center, Kansas.  He died of a heart attack at age 46 in Manhattan, New York.

 

1925 ~ Christian Michelsen (né Peter Christian Hersleb Kjerschow Michelsen; b. Mar. 15, 1857), 1^st Prime Minister of independent Norway.  He served as Prime Minister from March 1905 until October 1907 during the reign of King Haakon VII.  He is best known for his role in the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905.  He died at age 68.

 

1921 ~ Lady Randolph Churchill, Jeanette Jerome (née Jennie Jerome; b. Jan. 9, 1854), American socialite and mother of Winston Churchill.  When she married her first husband, Lord Randolph Churchill, she became Lady Randolph Churchill.  She died of a hemorrhage following the amputation of her left leg.  Her leg required the amputation as a result an injury from a fall in which she broke her ankle.  She was 67 years old.

 

1900 ~ Ivan Mekheevich Pervushin (b. Jan. 15, 1827), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 73.

 

1895 ~ Thomas Huxley (né Thomas Henry Huxley; b. May 4, 1825), English botanist.  He died at age 70.

 

1882 ~ Joseph Hansom (né Joseph Aloysius Hansom; b. Oct. 26, 1803), English architect and inventor of the Hansom cab.  He died at age 73 in London, England.

 

1861 ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Elizabeth Barrett Moulton-Barrett; b. Mar. 6, 1806), English poet.  She died of an illness at age 55 in Florence, Italy.

 

1852 ~ Henry Clay, Sr. (b. Apr. 12, 1777), 9^th United States Secretary of State.  He served under President John Quincy Adams from March 1825 until March 1929.  He had also served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.  He was born in Hanover County, Virginia.  He died at age 75 in Washington, D.C.

 

1252 ~ Abel, King of Denmark (b. 1218).  He became king following the death of his brother, Eric IV, of whom he is suspected of murdering.  He reigned as king from November 1250 until his death a year and a half later.  He was married to Matilda of Holstein.  He was of the House of Estridsen.  He was the son of Valdemar II, King of Denmark and Berengaria of Portugal.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 33 or 34 at the time of his death.

 

226 ~ Cao Pi (b. 187), Chinese emperor of the Cao Wei.  The exact date of his birth is not known.

June 28

Birthdays:

 

1994 ~ Hussein bin Abdullah, Crown Prince of Jordan.  He was born in Amman, Jordan.

 

1972 ~ Ngô Bào Châu, Vietnamese mathematician.  He was the recipient of the 2010 Fields Medal.  He was born in Hanoi, Vietnam.

 

1971 ~ Elon Musk (né Elon Reeve Musk), South-African born businessman.  He is the CEO of Space X.  He was born in Pretoria, South Africa.

 

1966 ~ John Cusack (né John Paul Cusack), American actor.  He was born in Evanston, Illinois.

 

1966 ~ Mary Stuart Masterson, American actress.  She was born in Manhattan, New York.

 

1957 ~ Georgi Parvanov, President of Bulgaria.  He was president from January 2002 through January 2012.  He was born in Sirishtnik, Bulgaria.

 

1948 ~ Kathy Bates (née Kathleen Doyle Bates), American actress.  She was born in Memphis, Tennessee.

 

1948 ~ Deborah Moggach (née Deborah Hough), British novelist.  She is best known for her historical novel Tulip Fever.  She was born in Middlesex, England.

 

1947 ~ Mark Helprin, American novelist.  He was born in Manhattan, New York.

 

1946 ~ Gilda Radner (née Gilda Susan Radner; d. May 20, 1989), American comedian and actress.  She was born in Detroit, Michigan.  She died in Los Angeles, California of uterine cancer about a month before her 43^rd birthday.

 

1943 ~ Klaus von Klitzing, German physicist and recipient of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Sroda Wielkopolska, Poland.

 

1940 ~ Muhammad Yunus, Bangladeshi economist and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.  He was born in Chattogram, Bangladesh.

 

1938 ~ Leon Panetta (né Leon Edward Panetta), 23^rd United States Secretary of Defense.  He served under President Barack Obama from July 2011 through February 2013.  He had previously served as the 3^rd Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from February 2009 until June 2011.  During the Clinton administration, he served as the 18^th White House Chief of Staff.  He was born in Monterey, California.

 

1937 ~ Thomas Magliozzi (d. Nov. 3, 2014), American radio personality and host who got laughs out of auto repair.  He, along with his brother, Ray Magliozzi (b. 1949), were known as Click and Clack, the Tappit Brothers on NPR’s Car Talk.  He was born in East Cambridge, Massachusetts.  He died at age 77 in Belmont, Massachusetts.

 

1934 ~ Carl Levin (né Carl Milton Levin; d. July 29, 2021), American long-serving senator who grilled CEOs.  He was a Democrat United States Senator from Michigan who served from January 1979 until January 2015.  He was known for grilling Goldman Sachs at the 2010 hearings into their financial crisis.  He was born and died in Detroit, Michigan.  He died of lung cancer a month after his 87^th birthday.

 

1932 ~ Pat Morita (né Noriyuki Morita; d. Nov. 24, 2005), American actor best known for his role as Mr. Kesuke Miyagi in The Karate Kid movies.  He was born in Isleton, California.  He died of kidney failure at age 73 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

1930 ~ William Campbell (né William Cecil Campbell), Irish-American biologist and parasitologist.  He was the recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He was born in Ramelton, Republic of Ireland.

 

1928 ~ Robert Ledley (d. July 24, 2012), American physiologist and physicist.  He is best known for inventing the CT scanner.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died about a month after his 86^th birthday in Kensington, Maryland.

 

1928 ~ Sir Harold Evans (né Harold Matthew Evans; d. Sept. 23, 2020), British-American journalist and editor who exposed scandals and spies.  During his time at the British Sunday Times, he outed British intelligence officer Kim Philby as a Russian spy.  His 2^nd wife was Tina Brown.  He was born in Eccles, United Kingdom.  He died at age 92 in New York, New York.

 

1927 ~ Frank Sherwood Rowland (d. Mar. 10, 2012), American chemist and recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He is best known for ozone depletion research.  He was born in Delaware, Ohio.  He died at age 84 in Newport Beach, California.

 

1926 ~ Betty Skelton Erde (né Betty Skelton; d. Aug. 31, 2011), American aviatrix who raced into the record books.  She held a land speed record and aerobatics pilot who set 17 aviation and automobile records.  She helped create opportunities for women in aviation, auto racing, astronautics and advertising.  She was born in Pensacola, Florida.  She died at age 85 in The Villages, Florida.

 

1926 ~ Mel Brooks (né Melvin Kaminsky), American actor and filmmaker.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.

 

1925 ~ George Ballas, Sr. (né George Charles Ballas; b. June 25, 2011), American inventor who made millions wacking weeds.  In 1971, he created what he called the Weed Eater.  He was born in Ruston, Louisiana.  He died of lung cancer in Houston, Texas 3 days before his 83^rd birthday.

 

1915 ~ David Edwards (d. Aug. 29, 2011), African-American guitarist and last of the original Delta bluesmen.  He was known as Honeyboy.  He was born in Shaw, Mississippi.  He died of heart failure at age 96 in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1909 ~ Eric Ambler (né Eric Clifford Ambler; d. Oct. 22, 1998), English writer.  He is best known for his spy novels.  He was born and died in London, England.  He died at age 87.

 

1906 ~ Maria Goeppert-Mayer (née Maria Göppert; d. Feb. 20, 1972), German-born American theoretical physicist and recipient of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics for proposing the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus.  She was the second woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, the first being Marie Curie.  She died of a heart attack at age 65 in San Diego, California.

 

1905 ~ Ashley Montagu (né Israel Ehrenberg, d. Nov. 26, 1999), British anthropologist.  He was born in London, England.  He died at age 94, in Princeton, New Jersey.

 

1902 ~ Richard Rodgers (né Richard Charles Rodgers; d. Dec. 30, 1979), American composer.  He is best known for his corroboration with Oscar Hammerstein II.  They wrote many musicals together.  He was born and died in New York, New York.  He died at age 77.

 

1891 ~ Esther Forbes (née Esther Louise Forbes, d. Aug. 12, 1968), American historian and writer.  She wrote children’s literature and is best known for her novel Johnny Tremain.  She was born in Westborough, Massachusetts.  She died of rheumatic heard disease at age 76 in Worcester, Massachusetts.

 

1883 ~ Pierre Laval (d. Oct. 15, 1945), Prime Minister of France.  He served as Prime Ministers from January 1931 until February 1932.  After the liberation of France during World War II, he was found guilty of treason and executed by firing squad at age 62.

 

1875 ~ Henri Lebesgue (né Henri Léon Lebesgue; d. July 26, 1941), French mathematician.  He died a month after his 66^th birthday in Paris, France.

 

1873 ~ Alexis Carrel (d. Nov. 5, 1944), French surgeon and biologist.  He was the recipient of the 1912 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his pioneering work in vascular suturing techniques.  He died at age 71 in Paris, France.

 

1867 ~ Luigi Pirandello (d. Dec. 10, 1936), Italian writer and recipient of the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 69 in Rome, Italy.

 

1825 ~ Emil Erlenmeyer (né Richard August Carl Emil Erlenmeyer; d. Jan. 22, 1909), German chemist best known for designing the Erlenmeyer flask.  He died at age 83.

 

1824 ~ Paul Broca (né Pierre Paul Broca; d. July 9, 1880), French physician.  He is best known for his research on the frontal lobe that now bears his name ~ the Broca area of the brain.  He died in Paris, France of a brain aneurysm 11 days after his 56^th birthday.

 

1712 ~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau (d. July 2, 1778), French philosopher and writer during the Enlightenment period.  His philosophy helped shape events that led to the French Revolution.  He died 4 days after his 66^th birthday.

 

1703 ~ John Wesley (d. Mar. 2, 1791), English founder of Methodism and the Methodist church.  He died at age 87.

 

1641 ~ Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d’Arquein (d. Jan. 30, 1716), Queen consort of Poland and wife of John III Sobieski, King of Poland.  He was her second husband.  She had previously been married to John Zamoyski.  She was the daughter of Henri de la Grange d’Arquein and Françoise de la Châtre.  She died at age 74.

 

1577 ~ Sir Peter Paul Rubens (d. May 30, 1640), Flemish painter and diplomat.  He was knighted by both Philip IV, King of Spain and Charles I, King of England.  He died 29 days before his 63^rd birthday.

 

1491 ~ Henry VIII, King of England (d. Jan. 28, 1547).  He ruled England from April 1509 until his death in January 1547.  He was known for initiating the English Reformation which separated the Church of England from the Catholic Church.  He was married six times.  His first wife was Catherine of Aragon, whom he divorced.  His second wife was Anne Boleyn, who was beheaded.  Jane Seymour, his third wife, died.  His fourth marriage was to Anne of Cleves.  This marriage was annulled.  He then married Catherine Howard, who was later beheaded.  His sixth and final marriage was to Catherine Parr.  She outlived the King.  Henry was of the House of Tudor.  He was the second Tutor monarch of England.  He was the son of Henry VII, King of England and Elizabeth of York.  He died at age 55 on the 90^th anniversary of his father’s birth.

 

1476 ~ Pope Paul IV (né Gian Pietro Carafa; d. Aug. 18, 1559).  He was Pope from May 1555 until his death 4 years later in August 1559.  He was 83 years old.

 

1170 ~ Valdemar II, King of Denmark (d. Mar. 28, 1241).  He was known as Valdemar the Conqueror.  He ruled Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241.  He was married twice.  His first wife was Dagmar of Bohemia.  His second wife was Berengária of Portugal.  He was of the House of Estridsen.  He was the son of Valdemar I, King of Denmark and Sophis of Minsk.  The exact date of his birth is unknown but is believed to have been in June 1170.  He died at age 70.

 

751 ~ Carloman I, King of the Franks (d. Dec. 4, 771).  He ruled from October 768 until his death 3 years later.  He was married to Gerberga.  He was of the Carolingian dynasty.  He was the son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon.  He died at age 20.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2016 ~ A terrorist attack at the Atatürk Airport in Istanbul killed over 40 people and injured over 200 others.

 

2012 ~ The United States Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Health Care Act in the case entitled National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius.  Chief Justice John Roberts (b. 1955) drafted the decision.

 

1996 ~ The Constitution of the Ukraine was signed into law.

 

1992 ~ The Constitution of Estonia was ratified.  It became effective on July 3, 1992.

 

1987 ~ Iraqi warplanes bombed the Iranian town of Sardasht, thereby making it the first time in military history where a civilian population was targeted for chemical attack.

 

1978 ~ In the case of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the United States Supreme Court barred quota systems in college admissions.  Justice Lewis Powell (1907 ~ 1998) drafted the opinion.

 

1969 ~ The Stonewall Riots began in New York City.  This marks the beginning of the Gay Rights Movement.

 

1967 ~ Israel annexed East Jerusalem.

 

1926 ~ The Mercedes-Benz company was formed when Gottlieb Daimler (1834 ~ 1900) and Karl Benz (1844 ~ 1929) merged their two companies.

 

1919 ~ The Treaty of Versailles was signed in Paris, formally ending World War I.

 

1914 ~ World War I began when Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863 ~ 1914) and his wife, Countess Sofia Chotek (1868 ~ 1914), were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip.

 

1902 ~ The United States Congress passed the Spooner Act, authorizing President Theodore Roosevelt (1858 ~ 1919) to acquire rights from Columbia for the Panama Canal.

 

1894 ~ Labor Day became an official holiday in the United States.

 

1846 ~ The saxophone was patented by Adolphe Sax (1814 ~ 1894) in Paris, France.

 

1838 ~ Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1819 ~ 1901) was crowned in Westminster Abbey.  She was 18 years old at the time of her coronation.  She ruled England for 63 years.  She died at age 81.

 

1519 ~ Charles V (1500 ~ 1558) was elected as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.  He died at age 58.

 

1461 ~ Edward IV (1442 ~ 1483) was crowned King of England.  He died at age 40.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2018 ~ Harlan Ellison (né Harlan Jay Ellison; b. May 27, 1934), American combative writer who became a sci-fi master.  He died 32 days after his 84^th birthday

 

2016 ~ Pat Summitt (née Patricia Sue Head; b. June 14, 1952), American women’s basketball coach.  She was born in Clarksville, Tennessee.  She died 14 days after her 64^th birthday in Knoxville, Tennessee of early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

 

2014 ~ Meshach Taylor (b. Apr. 11, 1947), American actor best known for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the television sit-com Designing Women.  He died at age 67 of colon cancer.

 

2001 ~ Mortimer J. Adler (né Mortimer Jerome Adler; b. Dec. 28, 1902), American philosopher and author.  He died at age 98.

 

1984 ~ Yigael Yadin (b. Mar. 20, 1917), Israeli archeologist, general and politician.  He died at age 67.

 

1975 ~ Rod Serling (né Rodman Edward Serling; b. Dec. 25, 1924), American television producer and author.  He is best known for hosting The Twilight Zone.  He died at age 50 following heart surgery.

 

1921 ~ Charles Bonaparte (né Charles Joseph Bonaparte; b. June 9, 1851), 46^th United States Attorney General.  He served under President Theodore Roosevelt from December 1906 until March 1909.  He previously served as the 37^th Secretary of the Navy in President Roosevelt’s administration.  He died less than three weeks after his 70^th birthday.

 

1914 ~ Sophia, Duchess of Hohenberg (b. Mar. 1, 1868), wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.  She was assassinated along with her husband.  Their deaths sparked World War I.  She was of the Chotek nobel family.  She was the daughter of Count Bohuslaw Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin and Countess Wilhelmine Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau.  She was 46 at the time of her death.

 

1914 ~ Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (b. Dec. 18, 1863), heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne.  He was assassinated along with his wife, Sophia, Duchess of Hohenberg, and their assassination in 1914 sparked the beginning of World War I.  He was of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.  He was the son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria and Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.  He was 50 years old at the time of his death.

 

1889 ~ Maria Mitchell (b. Aug. 1, 1818), American astronomer.  She was from Massachusetts.  She died of brain disease at age 70.

 

1881 ~ Jules Armand Dufaure (b. Dec. 4, 1798), French politician.  He served several terms as French Prime Minister.  He died at age 82.

 

1836 ~ James Madison, Jr. (b. Mar. 16, 1836), 4^th President of the United States.  He was president from March 1809 until March 1817.  He had previously served as the 5^th United States Secretary of State, which he served during the Thomas Jefferson administration from May 1801 until March 1809.  He died at age 85.

 

1776 ~ Thomas Hickey, Irish-born Continental Army private and bodyguard to General George Washington.  He was hanged for mutiny, sedation, and treason for his role in a plot to possibly assassinate George Washington during the American Revolutionary War.  The date of his birth is not known.

 

1757 ~ Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (b. Mar. 26, 1687), Queen consort of Prussia and Electress consort of Brandenburg.  She was the wife of Frederick William I, King of Prussia.  She was of the House of Hanover.  She was the daughter of George I, King of Great Britain, and Sophia Dorothea of Celle.  She died at age 70.

 

1754 ~ Martin Folkes (b. Oct. 29, 1690), British mathematician.  He was born and died in London, England.  He died at age 63.

 

1194 ~ Emperor Xiaozong (b. Nov. 27, 1127), 11^th Chinese emperor of the Southern Song dynasty.  He ruled from July 1162 until February 1189 when he abdicated in favor of his son, Emperor Guangzong.  He died at age 66.

 

767 ~ Pope Paul I (b. 700).  He was Pope from May 757 until his death 10 years later.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

 

683 ~ Pope Saint Leo II (né Leo Maneius; b. 611).  He is also known as Saint Leo II.  He was Pope from August 682 until his death 10 months later.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.  He is believed to have been about 72 at the age of his death.

 

548 ~ Theodora I (b. 500), Byzantine Empress and wife of Justinian I.  The exact date of her birth is unknown.  She is believed to have been about 48 years old at the time of her death.