Monday, October 31, 2022

October 31

Halloween

 

Birthdays:

 

2005 ~ Leonor, Princess of Asturias.  She is the heir presumptive of Spain.  She is of the House of Borbón.  She is the daughter of Felipe VI, King of Spain and Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano.  She was born in Madrid, Spain.

 

1990 ~ Patti Harrison, American actress and comedian.  She was born in Orient, Ohio.

 

1967 ~ Adam Schlesinger (né Adam Lyons Schlesinger; d. Apr. 1, 2020), American singer-songwriter.  He was in the band Fountains of Wayne.  He also composed music for movies and television shows, including Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died in Poughkeepsie, New York of complications from Covid-19.  He was 52 years old.

 

1966 ~ Mike O’Malley (né Michael Edward O’Malley), American actor.  He is best known for his role as Burt Hummel on the television drama Glee.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

1963 ~ Dermot Mulroney, American actor.  He was born in Alexandria, Virginia.

 

1963 ~ Rob Schneider (né Robert Michael Schneider), American comedian and actor.  He was born in San Francisco, California.

 

1955 ~ Susan Orlean, American author and journalist.  She was born in Cleveland, Ohio.

 

1954 ~ Ken Wahl (né Kenneth M. Wahl), American actor and animal rights activist.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1953 ~ Don Winslow, American novelist best known for his crime and mystery novels.  He was born in New York, New York.

 

1951 ~ Nick Saban (né Nicholas Lou Saban, Jr.), American college football coach who coached for Louisiana State University, before moving on to the University of Alabama.  He was born in Fairmont, West Virginia.

 

1950 ~ John Candy (né John Franklin Candy; d. Mar. 4, 1994), Canadian actor and comedian.  He was born in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada.  He died of a heart attack at age 43 in Durango, Mexico.

 

1950 ~ Dame Zaha Hadid (née Zaha Mohammad Hadid; d. Mar. 31, 2016), Iraqi-British visionary who broke architecture’s glass ceiling.  She was one of the most influential architects of her generation.  She was the first woman to win the Ptitzker Prize.  She was born in Baghdad, Kingdom of Iraq.  She died of a heart attack at age 65 in Miami, Florida.

 

1950 ~ Jane Pauley (née Margaret Jane Pauley), American journalist and news anchor.  She was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.

 

1946 ~ Stephen Rea, Irish actor.  He is best known for his role as Fergus in the 1992 film The Crying Game.  He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

 

1945 ~ Brian Doyle-Murray (né Brian Murray), American actor and comedian.  He is the older brother of comedian Bill Murray.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1943 ~ Brian Piccolo (né Louis Brian Piccolo, d. June 16, 1970), American football player.  He was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  He died of cancer at age 26 in New York, New, New York.  His life story was depicted in the movie, Brian’s Song.

 

1942 ~ David Ogden Stiers (né David Allen Ogden Stiers; d. Mar. 3, 2018), American actor best known for his role as Major Charles Emerson Winchester, III on the television sit-com M*A*S*H.  He was born in Peoria, Illinois.  He died of cancer at age 75 in Newport, Oregon.

 

1939 ~ Ron Rifkin (né Saul M. Rifkin), American actor.  He was born in New York, New York.

 

1936 ~ Michael Landon (né Eugene Maurice Orowitz; d. July 1, 1991), American actor.  He was born in Queens, New York.  He died at age 54 of pancreatic cancer in Malibu, California.

 

1935 ~ Ronald Graham (né Ronald Lewis Graham; d. July 6, 2020), American mathematician.  He was born in Taft, California.  He died at age 84 in San Diego, California.

 

1935 ~ Dale Brown (né Dale Duward Brown), American basketball coach who coached the LSU Tigers for 25 years.  He was born in Minot, North Dakota.

 

1931 ~ Dan Rather (né Dan Irvin Rather, Jr.), American journalist and news anchor.  He was born in Wharton, Texas.

 

1930 ~ Michael Collins (d. Apr. 28, 2021), American astronaut.  He was the command module pilot for Apollo 11.  While his crewmates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren made the first crewed landing on the Moon, Collins was all alone in space.  He was born in Rome, Italy.  He died of cancer at age 90 in Naples, Florida.

 

1927 ~ Roger Kahn (d. Feb. 6, 2020), American Dodgers fan who elevated baseball writing.  He is best known for his 1972 baseball book The Boys of Summer.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He died at age 92 in Mamaroneck, New York.

 

1925 ~ Sir John Pople (né John Anthony Pople; d. Mar. 15, 2004), English chemist and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 78 in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1925 ~ Robin Moore (né Robert Lowell Moore, Jr.; d. Feb. 21, 2008), American popular author who wrote The French Connection.  He also wrote The Green Berets.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died at age 82 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

 

1922 ~ Barbara Bel Geddes (d. Aug. 8, 2005), American actress best known for her role as Miss Ellie on the television series, Dallas.  She was born in New York, New York.  She died of lung cancer at age 82 in Northeast Harbor, Maine.

 

1922 ~ Norodom Sihanouk (d. Oct 15, 2012), Cambodian king and 1st Prime Minister of Cambodia who reigned over independence and bloodshed.  He was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, French Indochina.  He died 2 weeks before his 90th birthday in Beijing, China.

 

1920 ~ Helmut Newton (né Helmut Neustädter; d. Jan. 23, 2004), German photographer.  He was born in Berlin, Germany.  He was killed in a car accident at age 83 in West Hollywood, California.

 

1920 ~ Dick Francis (né Richard Stanley Francis; d. Feb. 14, 2010), British jockey who became a best-selling novelist.  He was born in Lawrenny, Penbrokeshire, Wales.  He died at age 89 in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.

 

1919 ~ Father Magnus Wenninger (né Magnus Joseph Wenninger; d. Feb. 17, 2017), American mathematician and Catholic priest.  He is best known for his work in constructing polyhedron models and wrote the first book on their construction.  He was born in Park Falls, Wisconsin.  He died at age 97 in Minnesota.

 

1918 ~ Griffin Bell (né Griffin Boyette Bell; d. Jan. 5, 2009), 72nd United States Attorney General.  He served under President Jimmy Carter.  He served as Attorney General from January 1977 until August 1979.  He was also a Judge of the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit from February 1962 until March 1976.  He was born in Americus, Georgia.  He died at age 90 in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

1912 ~ Dale Evans (née Lucille Wood Smith; d. Feb. 7, 2001), American singer-songwriter and actress.  She was the 3rdwife of Roy Rogers and he was her 4th husband.  She was born in Uvalde, Texas.  She died of congestive heart failure at age 88 in Apple Valley, California.

 

1912 ~ Oscar Dystel (d. May 28, 2014), American publisher who saved the paperback.  His made Bantam Books a pioneer and main publisher of paperback books.  His publishing house published Catcher in the Rye.  He was born in The Bronx, New York.  He died at age 101 in Rye, New York.

 

1902 ~ Abraham Wald (d. Dec. 13, 1950), Hungarian mathematician.  He was killed in a plane crash at age 48 in India.

 

1896 ~ Ethel Waters (d. Sept. 1, 1977), African-American actress and singer.  She was born in Chester, Pennsylvania.  She died of uterine cancer at age 80 in Chatsworth, California.

 

1887 ~ Chiang Kai-shek (d. Apr. 5, 1975), 1st President of the Republic of China.  He died at age 87.

 

1860 ~ Juliette Gordon Low (née Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon; d. Jan. 17, 1927), American founder of the Girl Scouts.  She died of breast cancer at age 66.  She was born and died in Savannah, Georgia.

 

1860 ~ Andrew Volstead (né Andrew John Volstead; d. Jan. 20, 1947), American Republican member of the United States House of Representatives.  He is best known as being the author of the National Prohibition Act of 1919, commonly referred to as the Volstead Act, which authorized prohibition of the sale of alcohol.  He was born in Kenyon, Minnesota.  He died at age 86 in Grand Falls, Minnesota.

 

1851 ~ Princess Louise of Sweden (d. Mar. 20, 1926), Queen consort of Denmark and wife of Frederick VIII, King of Denmark.  She was of the House of Bernadotte.  She was the daughter of Charles XV, King of Sweden and Louise of the Netherlands.  She was Lutheran.  She was born in Stockholm, Sweden and died at age 74 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

 

1848 ~ Boston Custer (d. June 25, 1876), youngest brother of George Armstrong Custer (b. Dec. 5, 1839) and Thomas Ward Custer (b. Mar. 15, 1845).  All were killed in the Battle of Little Big Horn, Montana Territory.  Boston was 27 years old; George Custer was 36 years old, and Thomas was 31.  He was born in New Rumley, Ohio.

 

1838 ~ Luís I, King of Portugal (d. Oct. 19, 1889).  He ascended to the throne upon the death of his elder brother.  He reigned as King from November 1861 until his death in 1889.  He was known as Luís the Popular.  In 1862 he married Maria Pia of Savoy.  He was of the House of Braganza.  He was the son of Maria II, Queen of Portugal and Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died 12 days before his 51st birthday.

 

1835 ~ Adolf von Baeyer (né Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf Baeyer; d. Aug. 20, 1917), German chemist and recipient of the 1905 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 81.

 

1827 ~ Richard Morris Hunt (d. July 31, 1897), American architect and designer of the New York Tribune Building.  He was born in Brattleboro, Vermont.  He died in Newport, Rhode Island at age 67.

 

1815 ~ Karl Weierstraβ (né Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstraβ; d. Feb. 19, 1897), German mathematician.  He died at age 81 in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia.

 

1795 ~ John Keats (d. Feb. 23, 1821), English poet.  He was born in London, England.  He died of tuberculosis at age 25 in Rome.

 

1705 ~ Pope Clement XIV (né Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli; d. Sept. 22, 1774).  He was Pope from May 19, 1769 until his death on this date 5 years later.  He was 68 at the time of his death.

 

1632 ~ Jan Vermeer (d. Dec. 15, 1675), Dutch/Flemish painter.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he was baptized on this date.  He is best known for his painting Girl with Pearl Earring, which is on display at the Mauritshius Museum in The Hague, Netherlands.  The date of his death is unknown, but he was buried on December 15, 1675.  He was born and died in Delft, Holland, Dutch Republic.  He died at age 43.

 

1607 ~ Pierre de Fermat (d. Jan. 12, 1665), French mathematician.  He did pioneering work in analytic geometry.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, although it is generally attributed to have been as early as 1601 or as late as 1607.  Also, he may have been born as late as December 7, 1607.  He died in Castres, France.

 

1424 ~ Władysław III, King of Poland (d. Nov. 10, 1444).  He reigned as King from 1434 until his death in 1444.  He never married and had no known children.  He was of the House of Jagiellon.  He was the son of Władysław Jagełło and Sophia of Halshany.  He was Roman Catholic.  He was killed in the Battle of Varna just 10 days after his 20th birthday.

 

1391 ~ Edward, King of Portugal (d. Sept. 9, 1438).  He reigned as King from August 1433 until his death of the plague at age 46.  In 1428, he married Eleanor of Aragon.  He was of the House of Aviz.  He was the son of John I, King of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died at age 46.

 

1345 ~ Ferdinand I, King of Portugal (d. Oct. 22, 1383).  He reigned as King from January 1367 until his death, probably from poisoning, at age 37 in 1383.  He was known as Ferdinand the Handsome and Ferdinand the Inconsistent.  He married Leonor Teles in 1372.  He was of the House of Burgundy.  He was the son of Peter I, King of Portugal and Constanza Manuel.  He died 9 days before his 38th birthday.  His death led to the 1383-1385 crisis, known as the Portuguese interregnum.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2017 ~ In an act of terrorism, a truck drove into a crowd of people in Manhattan, killing 8 people.

 

2015 ~ A Russian plane, Metrojet Flight 9268, traveling from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to St. Petersburg, Russia was bombed and crashed in the Sinai.  All 224 passengers and crew perished.  The crash was the result of a terrorist attack.

 

2011 ~ The global population of humans reached the 7 Billion mark.  The United Nations designated this as Seven Billion Day.

 

2002 ~ Former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow (b. 1961) was indicted by a federal grand jury in Houston, Texas on 78 counts of money laundering, conspiracy, wire fraud and obstruction of justice in the collapse of Enron.  Fastow was sentenced to a 6-year prison term for his actions.  He was released from prison in December 2011.

 

1999 ~ EgyptAir flight 990, traveling from New York to Cairo, crashed off the coast of Massachusetts.  All 217 passengers and crew aboard were killed.  The cause of the crash is in dispute.  Two investigations came up with different conclusions: The crash was either due to the deliberate action of the relief first officer or was caused by mechanical failure.

 

1984 ~ Indira Gandhi (1917 ~ 1984), Prime Minister of India, was assassinated by two Sikh security guards.  Riots erupted throughout the country and nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed.

 

1956 ~ During the Suez Crisis, the United Kingdom and France began bombing Egypt in an attempt for force the reopening of the Suez Canal.

 

1941 ~ The sculpture at Mount Rushmore was completed 14 years after work had begun.

 

1922 ~ Benito Mussolini (1883 ~ 1945) became made Prime Minister of Italy.

 

1913 ~ The Lincoln Highway was dedicated.  This was the first automobile road across the United States.

 

1864 ~ Nevada became the 36th State of the Union.

 

1861 ~ Union General Winfield Scott (1786 ~ 1866) resigned as Commander of the United States Army, citing failing health.

 

1517 ~ The traditional date that Martin Luther (1483 ~ 1546) nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, hence marking the start of the Protestant Reformation.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2020 ~ Sir Sean Connery (né Thomas Sean Connery; b. Aug. 25, 1930), suave Scottish actor who made James Bond a screen icon.  He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.  He died at age 90 in Nassau, The Bahamas

 

2015 ~ Thomas Blatt (né Tomasz Blatt; b. Apr. 15, 1927), Jewish-American Holocaust survivor.  He was a Nazi death camp inmate who survived a daring escape.  At age 16, he escaped during an uprising from the Sobibór concentration camp.  He ultimately immigrated to the United States where he wrote about his experiences.  He was born in Izbica, Poland.  He died at age 88 in Santa Barbara, California.

 

2013 ~ Gérard de Villiers (b. Dec. 8, 1929), French spy novelist who spun tales from real sources.  He was born and died in Paris, France.  He died at age 83.

 

2012 ~ John H. Reed (né John Hathaway Reed; b. Jan. 5, 1921), 67th Governor of Maine.  He served as Governor from December 1959 until January 1967.  Before turning to politics, he was a potato farmer in Aroostook County.  He was born in Fort Fairfield, Maine.  He died at age 91 in Washington, D.C.

 

2012 ~ John Fitch (né John Cooper Fitch, b. Aug. 4, 1917), American racing legend who loved speed and safety.  He invented the safety barriers found on interstate exit ramps.  He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.  He died at age 95 in Lime Rock, Connecticut.

 

2010 ~ Ted Sorensen (né Theodore Chaikin Sorensen; b. May 8, 1928), 8th White House Counsel.  He served under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from January 1961 until February 1964.  He was born in Lincoln, Nebraska.  He died at age 82 of complications from a stroke in New York, New York.

 

2009 ~ Qian Xuesen (b. Dec. 11, 1911), Chinese aerodynamicist who put China in space.  He was born in Shanghai, China.  He died at age 97 in Beijing, China.

 

2008 ~ Studs Terkel (né Louis Terkel; b. May 16, 1912), American writer and oral historian who tapped into the heart of America.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 96 in Chicago, Illinois.

 

2006 ~ P.W. Botha (né Pieter Willem Botha, b. Jan. 12, 1916), South African politician.  He was President of South Africa from 1978 to 1989.  He had a reputation as being a tough and ruthless leader.  He died of a heart attack at age 90.

 

1993 ~ River Phoenix (né River Jude Bottom; b. Aug. 23. 1970), American actor.  He was born in Madras, Oregon.  He died at age 23 of a drug overdose in West Hollywood, California.

 

1993 ~ Frederico Fellini (b. Jan. 20, 1920), Italian movie director.  He died of a stroke at age 73 in Rome, Italy.

 

1991 ~ Joseph Papp (b. June 22, 1921), American stage director and producer.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He died of prostate cancer at age 70 in New York, New York.

 

1988 ~ John Houseman (né Jacques Haussmann; b. Sept. 22, 1902), Romanian-born actor.  He was born in Bucharest, Romania.  He died of spinal cancer at age 86 in Malibu, California.

 

1986 ~ Robert S. Mulliken (né Robert Sanderson Mulliken, b. June 7, 1896), American chemist and recipient of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts.  He died at age 90 in Arlington, Virginia.

 

1984 ~ Indira Gandhi (né Indira Priyadarshini Nehru; b. Nov. 19, 1917), Prime Minister of India and first woman to hold that Office.  She served as Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination on October 21, 1984.  She was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards.  Her assassination caused riots throughout India in which nearly 10,000 Sikhs were killed.  She was killed in New Delhi, India just 19 days before her 67th birthday.

 

1983 ~ Lu Jaixi (b. June 10, 1935), Chinese self-taught mathematician.  He made important contributions in the field of combinatorial design theory.  He was born in Shanghai, China.  He ostensibly died suddenly at age 48 of a heart attack caused by exhaustion from overworking.

 

1977 ~ C.B. Colby (né Carroll Burleigh Colby; b. Sept. 7, 1904), American children’s author.  He was born in Claremont, New Hampshire.  He died at age 73.

 

1976 ~ Eileen Gray (née Kathleen Eileen Moray Smith; b. Aug. 9, 1878), Irish architect and furniture designer.  She died at age 98 in Paris, France.

 

1926 ~ Harry Houdini (né Erik Weiss, b. Mar. 24, 1874), Hungarian-born American magician.  He died of gangrene following a rupture of his appendix after he had been punched in the gut two weeks earlier.  He was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary.  He died at age 52 in Detroit, Michigan.

 

1884 ~ Marie Bashkirtseff (née Maria Konstantinovna Bashkirtseva; b. Nov. 12, 1858), Ukrainian-born artist and sculptor.  She died of tuberculosis in Paris, France just 12 days after her 25th birthday.  Much of her work was destroyed by the Nazis during World War II, although at least 60 pieces remain and are on display in Paris, France.

 

1879 ~ Joseph Hooker (b. Nov. 13, 1814), American general.  He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.  He was born in Hadley, Massachusetts.  He died in Garden City, New York 2 weeks before his 65th birthday.

 

1834 ~ Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (b. June 24, 1771), French businessman who founded a gunpowder company in 1802.  His company was the forerunner of today’s DuPont chemical company.  He was born in Paris, France.  He died at age 63 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

1732 ~ Victor Amadeus II, King of Sicily (b. May 14, 1666).  He ruled over Sicily from September 1713 until February 1720, when he became the King of Sardinia.  He was married twice.  In 1684, he married Anne Marie d’Orléans.  After her death, he married Anna Canalis di Cumiana.  He was of the House of Savoy.  He was the son of Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy and Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Nemours.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died at age 66.

 

1723 ~ Cosimo III de’Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. Aug. 14, 1642).  He ruled from May 1670 until his death in 1723.  He was married to Marguerite Louise d’Orléans.  He was of the House of Medici.  He was the son of Ferdinando II de’Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Vittoria Della Rovere.  He was Roman Catholic.  He was born and died in Florence, Tuscany.  He died at age 81.

 

1517 ~ Fra Bartolomeo (b. Mar. 28, 1472), Italian artist and Dominican friar.  He died at age 45 in Florence, Italy.

 

1214 ~ Eleanor of England (b. Oct. 13, 1163), Queen consort of Castile.  She was the wife of Alfonso VIII, King of Castile.  She was of the House of Plantagenet.  She was the daughter of Henry II, King of England and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine.  She died 13 days after her 53rd birthday.

 

1147 ~ Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (b. 1100), member of the British royal family.  He was the half-brother of Empress Matilda and was her chief military supporter during the civil war known as The Anarchy, in which she vied with Stephen of Blois for the English throne.  He was married to Mabel FitzRobert.  He was the son of Henry I, King of England and an unnamed mistress.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he was probably born sometime between 1090 and 1100, thus at the time of his death, he was between 47 and 57 years old. 

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