Birthdays:
1963 ~ George Michael (né Georgio Kyraicos Panayiotou; d. Dec. 25, 2016), British singer-songwriter. He died at age 53.
1961 ~ Ricky Gervais (né Ricky Dene Gervais), English comedian, actor, and writer.
1956 ~ Anthony Bourdain (né Anthony Michael Bourdain; d. June 8, 2018), American revel chef who explored the world through food. He wrote several books about the restaurant industry. He was born in Manhattan, New York. He died in France of an apparent suicide 17 days before his 62nd birthday.
1954 ~ Sonia Sotomayor (née Sonia Maria Sotomayor), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She replaced David Souter on the Court. She was appointed to the High Court by President Barak Obama. She assumed office in August 2009. She was born in The Bronx, New York.
1951 ~ Eva Bayer-Fluckiger, Swiss mathematician. She was born in Budapest, Hungary.
1949 ~ Phyllis George (née Phyllis Anne George; d. May 14, 2020), American beauty queen who broke the sportscast ceiling. In 1971, she was crown Miss America. In 1975, she was hired as a reporter and co-host of the CBS Sports pre-show The NFL Today. She was born in Denton, Texas. She died at age 70 in Lexington, Kentucky of complications from polycythemia vera, a form of blood cancer.
1945 ~ Carly Simon (née Carly Elizabeth Simon), American singer and songwriter. She was born in The Bronx, New York.
1943 ~ Bill Moggridge (né William Grant Moggridge, d. Sept. 8, 2012), British-born visionary who designed the first laptop computer. He was born in London, England. He died in San Francisco of cancer at age 69.
1935 ~ Charles Sheffield (d. Nov. 2, 2002), British mathematician, physicist, and writer. He died of a brain tumor in Silver Spring, Maryland at age 67.
1935 ~ Larry Kramer (né Laurence David Kramer; d. May 27, 2020), American author, playwright and gay rights activist. He was the AIDS activist who drew power from fury. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He died in Manhattan, New York about a month before his 85th birthday.
1933 ~ James Meredith (né James Howard Meredith), American civil rights activist and writer. He was the first African-American to enroll in the segregated University of Mississippi. He was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi.
1929 ~ Eric Carle (d. May 23, 2021), American author and illustrator who hatched a hungry caterpillar. He delighted millions of young children with The Very Hungary Caterpillar and other story time staples. He was born in Syracuse, New York. He died about a month before his 92nd birthday in Northampton, Massachusetts.
1928 ~ Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov (d. Mar. 29, 2017), Russian physicist and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics. He was born in Moscow, Russia. He died at age 88 in Palo Alto, California.
1925 ~ Clifton Chenier (d. Dec. 12, 1987), African-American musician and songwriter from Opelousas, Louisiana. He was known as the King of Zyceco. He died of complications from diabetes at age 62 in Lafayette, Louisiana.
1925 ~ June Lockhart, American actress. She is best known for playing Timmy’s mother on Lassie. She was born in New York, New York.
1924 ~ Sidney Lumet (né Sidney Arthur Lumet; d. Apr. 9, 2011), American film director. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He died at age 86 in New York, New York.
1923 ~ Dorothy Gilman (née Dorothy Edith Gilman; d. Feb. 2, 2012), American mystery writer, best known for her Mrs. Pollifax mysteries. She was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She died at age 88 in Rye Brook, New York.
1912 ~ William T. Cahill (né William Thomas Cahill; d. July 1, 1996), 46th Governor of New Jersey. He was Governor from January 1970 until January 1974. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He died 6 days after his 84th birthday in Haddonfield, New Jersey.
1911 ~ William Howard Stein (d. Feb. 2, 1980), American biochemist and recipient of the 1972 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was born and died in New York, New York. He died at age 68.
1907 ~ J. Hans D. Jensen (né Johannes Hans Daniel Jensen; d. Feb. 11, 1973), German physicist and recipient of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics. He died at age 65.
1903 ~ George Orwell (né Eric Arthur Blair; d. Jan. 21, 1950), British writer, famous for his novels Animal Farm and 1984. He was born in British India. He died at age 46 after an artery burst in his lungs in London, England.
1900 ~ Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (d. Aug. 27, 1979), British admiral and statesman. He was an uncle of Prince Philip and a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. He was assassinated by a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army that was planted on his yacht. He was 79 years old.
1874 ~ Rose O’Neill (née Rose Cecil O’Neill; d. Apr. 6, 1944), American cartoonist and illustrator. She is best known for creating the iconic Kewpie. She was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She died of heart failure at age 69 in Springfield, Missouri.
1864 ~ Walther Nernst (né Walther Hermann Nernst; d. Nov. 18, 1941), German chemist and physicist. He was the recipient of the 1920 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He died at age 77.
1854 ~ Georges Courteline (né Georges Victor Marcel Moinaux; d. June 25, 1929), French dramatist and novelist. He was born in Tours, France. He died on his 75th birthday in Paris, France.
1852 ~ Antoni Gaudí (d. June 10, 1926), Spanish-Catalan architect. He died 15 days before his 74th birthday from injuries sustained from being struck by a tram in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
1755 ~ Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna of Russia (née Princess Wilhelmina Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt; d. Apr. 26, 1776), Tsarevan of Russia and first wife of Paul Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia. She was of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was the daughter of Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken. She died of complications of childbirth a month before her 21st birthday.
1568 ~ Gunilla Bielke (d. July 19, 1597), Queen consort of Sweden and second wife of John III, King of Sweden. She was the daughter of John Axelsson Bielke and Margareta Axelsdotter Posse. She died of a fever 24 days after her 29thbirthday.
1371 ~ Joan II, Queen of Naples (d. Feb. 2, 1435). She ruled Naples from August 1414 until her death 21 years later. She was married twice. Her first husband was William, Duke of Austria. Her second husband was James II, Count of La Marche. She was of the Capetian House of Anjou. She was the daughter of Charles III, King of Naples and Margaret of Durazzo. She died at age 63.
1242 ~ Princess Beatrice of England (d. Mar. 24, 1275). In 1260, she married John II, Duke of Brittany. She was of the House of Plantagenet. She was the daughter of Henry III, King of England and Eleanor of Provence. She died at age 32.
Events that Changed the World:
2021 ~ Former police officer Derek Chauvin (b. 1976) was sentenced to over 22 years in prison for the murder during an arrest of George Floyd (1973 ~ 2002).
2015 ~ The United States Supreme Court ruled in King v. Burwell that the Affordable Health Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was constitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts (b. 1955) drafted the decision.
2006 ~ Galid Shalit (b. 1986), an Israeli soldier, was kidnapped by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid. He was released 5 years later in October 2011 in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.
1998 ~ The United States Supreme Court held in the Clinton v. City of New York, that the Line-Item Veto Act of 1996 was unconstitutional. Justice John P. Stevens (1920 ~ 2019) drafted the majority decision.
1993 ~ Kim Campbell (née Avril Pædra Douglas Campbell; b. 1947) became the first female Prime Minister of Canada. She served for only 4 months.
1991 ~ Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence from Yugoslavia.
1978 ~ The Rainbow flag, representing gay pride, was first displayed during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
1950 ~ The Korean War began after North Korea invaded South Korea.
1948 ~ The Berlin Airlift began.
1947 ~ The Diary of Anne Frank was published, depicting her life in hiding during World War II.
1943 ~ The Jews of the Częstochowa Ghetto in Poland began an uprising against the Nazis. The Nazi’s overpowered the Jews after a few days of fighting. The Jews who were not killed in the uprising were sent to concentration camps.
1938 ~ President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 ~ 1945) signed the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Act became effective on October 24, 1938.
1910 ~ Igor Stravinsky’s ballet, The Firebird, premiered in Paris.
1910 ~ The United States Congress passed the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes.”
1906 ~ Millionaire Harry Thaw (1871 ~ 1847) shot and killed prominent architect Stanford White (1853 ~ 1906), who had been having an affair with Thaw’s wife, the actress Evelyn Nesbit (1884 ~ 1967).
1876 ~ Native American forces and Sitting Bull (1831 ~ 1890) and Crazy Horse (d. 1877) defeated the United States Army troops led by Lieutenant Colonel George Custer (1839 ~ 1876) and his 7th Calvary at the Battle of Little Big Horn.
1788 ~ Virginia became the 10th State to ratify the United States Constitution.
1741 ~ Maria Therese of Austria (1717 ~ 1780) was crowned Queen of Hungary.
1678 ~ Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646 ~ 1684) became the first woman to be awarded a doctorate of philosophy upon her graduation from the University of Padua in Italy. Her degree was in theology.
Good-Byes:
2015 ~ Patrick Macnee (né Daniel Patrick Macnee; b. Feb. 6, 1922), British born actor best known for his role as John Steed in the television series, The Avengers. He died at age 93 in Rancho Mirage, California.
2011 ~ Annie Easley (b. Apr. 23, 1933), African-American computer scientist and mathematician. She went to Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She worked for NASA. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She died at age 78 in Cleveland, Ohio.
2011 ~ George Ballas, Sr. (né George Charles Ballas; b. June 28, 1925), American inventor who made millions whacking 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 just 3 days before his 83rd birthday.
2009 ~ Michael Jackson (né Michael Joseph Jackson; b. Aug. 29, 1958), American singer. He was born in Gary, Indiana. He died at age 50 of a drug overdose in Los Angeles, California.
2009 ~ Farrah Fawcett (née Ferrah Leni Fawcett; b. Feb. 2, 1947), American actress. She was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. She died of cancer at age 62 in Santa Monica, California.
2006 ~ Irving Kaplansky (b. Mar. 22, 1917), Canadian-born mathematician. He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He died at age 89 in Los Angeles, California.
2003 ~ Lester Maddox, Sr. (né Lester Garfield Maddox; b. Sept. 30, 1915), American politician and 75th Governor of Georgia. He served as Governor of Georgia from January 1967 until January 1971. He was a staunch segregationist. He was born and died in Atlanta, Georgia. He died at age 87.
1999 ~ Fred Trump (né Frederick Christ Trump; b. Oct. 11, 1905), American businessman and father of President Donald Trump. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He died at age 93 in New York, New York.
1997 ~ Jacques-Yves Cousteau (b. June 11, 1910), French oceanographer. He was also the co-developer of the aqua-lung. He died 14 days after his 87th birthday in Paris, France.
1995 ~ Warren E. Burger (né Warren Earl Burger; b. Sept. 17, 1907), 15th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was nominated to the High Court by President Richard Nixon. He replaced Earl Warren on the Court. He served as Chief Justice from June 1969 until his retirement in September 1986. William Rehnquist replaced Burger as Chief Justice. He was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He died at age 87 in Washington, D.C.
1995 ~ Ernest Walton (né Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton; b. Oct. 6, 1903), Irish Physicist and recipient of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in “atom-smashing.” He died at age 91 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1977 ~ Lady Olave Baden-Powell (née Olave Soames; b. Feb. 22, 1889), English founder of the Girl Guides, forerunner of the Girl Scouts. She was the wife of Lord Robert Baden-Powell and was born on his 32nd birthday. She died at age 88.
1974 ~ Cornelius Lanczos (né Kornél Lőwy; b. Feb. 2, 1893), Hungarian mathematician and physicist. His family fled Hungary when the Nazi’s purged Hungary of its Jews in 1944. He died at age 81.
1974 ~ Mary Ross Calvert (b. June 20, 1884), American astronomer and astrophotographer. She was born and died in Nashville, Tennessee. She died 5 days after her 90th birthday.
1971 ~ John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr (b. Sept. 23, 1880), Scottish physician and recipient of the 1949 Nobel Peace Prize for his research into nutrition and malnutrition. He died at age 90.
1959 ~ Charlie Starkweather (né Charles Raymond Starkweather; b. Nov. 24, 1928), teenaged murderer who, along with Caril Ann Fugate (b. 1943), want on a killing spree in which 11 people were killed. He was executed for his crimes. He was born and died in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was 20 years old at the time of his execution. His exploits were depicted in several movies, including Badlands and Natural Born Killers.
1958 ~ Alfred Noyes (b. Sept 16, 1880), English poet. He died at age 77 on the Isle of Wight.
1929 ~ Georges Courteline (né Georges Victor Marcel Moinaux; b. June 25, 1854), French dramatist and novelist. He was born in Tours, France. He died on his 75th birthday in Paris, France.
1916 ~ Thomas Eakins (né Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins; b. July 25, 1844), American artist. He was born and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He died a month before his 72nd birthday.
1906 ~ Stanford White (b. Nov. 9, 1853), American architect. He was murdered by Henry Thaw because of his affair with Evelyn Nesbit, Thaw’s wife. He was born and died in New York, New York. He was 52 years old at the time of his death.
1889 ~ Lucy Webb Hayes (née Lucy Ware Webb; b. Aug. 28, 1831), First Lady of the United States. She was the wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes. She was known as Lemonade Lucy due to the fact that alcohol was banned from the White House during the Hayes administration. She was the first First Lady to have a college degree. instituted the Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn. She was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. She died of a stroke at age 57 in Fremont, Ohio.
1887 ~ James Speed (b. Mar. 11, 1812), 27th United States Attorney General. He served from December 1864 until July 1866 under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. He was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky. He died at age 75 in Louisville, Kentucky.
1876 ~ George Armstrong Custer (b. Dec. 5, 1839), American Army general who led the fateful charge at the Battle of Little Big Horn. He had been demoted to Lieutenant by the time he led the charge of this battle. He died along with two of his brothers, Colonel Thomas Custer (né Thomas Ward Custer; b. Mar. 15, 1845) and Boston Custer (b. Oct. 31, 1848), who also died in the Battle of Little Big Horn. George Custer was 36 years old. His brother Thomas was 31 and Boston was 27.
1822 ~ E.T.A. Hofmann (né Ernst Theodor Wilhelm (Amadeus) Hoffmann; b. Jan. 24, 1776), German writer. He is best known as the author of the novella, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, which became the basis of The Nutcracker. He was also the subject of Jacques Offenbach’s opera, The Tales of Hoffmann. He died at age 46.
1533 ~ Mary Tudor (b. Mar. 18, 1496), English-born Queen consort of France and third wife of Louis XII of France. Following his death, she married Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. She was of the House of Tudor. She was the third daughter of Henry VII, King of England and Elizabeth of York. She died of an illness at age 37.
1337 ~ Frederick III, King of Sicily (b. Dec. 13, 1272). He reigned from December 1295 until his death 42 years later. He was married to Eleanor of Anjou. He was of the House of Barcelona. He was the third son of Peter III, King of Aragon and Constance of Sicily. He died at age 64.
1291 ~ Eleanor of Provence (b. 1223), Queen consort of England and wife of Henry III, King of England. She was of the House of Barcelona. She was the daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence and Beatrice of Savoy. She died at about age 67 or 68.
1134 ~ Niels, King of Denmark (b. 1064). He was King from 1104 until his death 30 years later. He was married twice. His first wife was Margaret Fredkulla. His second wife was Ulvhild Håkansdotter. He was of the House of Estridsen. He was the son of Swevyn II, King of Denmark and an unnamed mother. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been 69 or 70 at the time of his death.
1031 ~ Sheng Zong (b. Jan. 16, 972), 6th Chinese Emperor of the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty. He ruled from October 982 until his death 49 years later. He died at age 59.
635 ~ Gao Zu (b. Apr. 7, 566), Chinese emperor and founder of the Tang Dynasty. He ruled from June 618 until 626, when he retired in favor of his son, Emperor Taisong. He died at age 69.
253 ~ Pope Cornelius was executed. He is said to have been beheaded. The exact dates of his birth and death are actually unknown. He began his Papacy in March 251 and was killed sometime in June 253.
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