Sunday, December 18, 2022

December 18

Birthdays:

 

1980 ~ Christina Aguilera (née Christina María Aguilera), American musician.  She was born in Staten Island, New York.

 

1978 ~ Katie Holmes (née Kate Noelle Holmes), American actress.  She was born in Toledo, Ohio.

 

1970 ~ DMX (né Earl Simmons; d. Apr. 9, 2021), American chart-topping rapper who battled demons in his lyrics and life.  He was born in Mount Vernon, New York.  He died following complications of a drug overdose at age 50 in White Plains, New York.

 

1968 ~ Rachel Griffiths (née Rachel Anne Griffiths), Australian actress.  She was born in Melbourne, Australia.

 

1963 ~ Brad Pitt (né William Bradley Pitt), American actor.  He was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

 

1958 ~ Ron White (né Ronald Dee White), American stand-up comedian.  He was born in Fritch, Texas.

 

1954 ~ Ray Liotta (né Raymond Allen Liotta; d. May 26, 2022), American actor.  He was born in Newark, New Jersey.  He died at age 67 in Santo Domingo, Dominical Republic.

 

1946 ~ Steven Spielberg (né Steven Allen Spielberg), American movie director and co-founder of DreamWorks.  He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

 

1943 ~ Bobby Keys (né Robert Henry Keys; d. Dec. 2, 2014), American saxophone player who rolled with the Rolling Stones.  He was born in Slaton, Texas.  He died of liver cancer 2 weeks before his 71st birthday in Franklin, Tennessee.

 

1943 ~ Keith Richards, English musician and member of the Rolling Stones.  He was born in Dartford, United Kingdom.

 

1942 ~ Lenore Blum (née Lenore Carol Epstein), American mathematician.  She is known for the Blum Blum Shub pseudorandom number generator.  She was born in New York, New York.

 

1939 ~ David Margolis (d. July 12, 2016), American eccentric prosecutor who took on the mob.  He was the head of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of United States Department of Justice for 14 years.  He was born in Hartford, Connecticut.  He died of heart disease at age 76 in Church Falls, Virginia.

 

1939 ~ Harold Varmus (né Harold Eliot Varmus), cell biologist and recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes.  He also served as the 14th Director of the National Institutes of Health.  He held this position during the Clinton administration from 1993 until 1999.  He was born in Oceanside, New York.

 

1936 ~ Gary Dahl (né Gary Ross Dahl; d. Mar. 23, 2015), American ad man and copywriter who, in 1975, invented the Pet Rock.  He was born in Bottineau, North Dakota.  He died of pulmonary disease at age 78 in Jacksonville, Oregon.

 

1930 ~ Moose Skowron (né William Joseph Skowron; d. Apr. 27, 2012), American All-Star first baseman.  He played 13 seasons in the major league from 1954 to 1967, playing with such teams as the Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Washington Senators and the Chicago White Sox.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He died at age 81 in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

 

1927 ~ Ramsey Clark (né William Ramsey Clark; d. Apr. 9, 2021), 66th Attorney General of the United States.  He was the Attorney General who became a rebel.  He is likely the most liberal top prosecutor in modern history.  He fought employment discrimination and ordered a halt to federal executions.  He served under President Lyndon B. Johnson from November 1966 until January 1969.  He was born in Dallas, Texas.  He died at age 93 in New York, New York.

 

1922 ~ Esther Lederberg (née Esther Miriam Zimmer; d. Nov. 11, 2006), American microbiologist.  She is best known for her work in microbial genetics.  She was born in The Bronx, New York.  She died of pneumonia and congestive heart failure at age 83 in Stanford, California.

 

1919 ~ John L. Keenan (d. Sept. 19, 2019), American war hero who led the hunt for the Son of Sam.  He was the chief of detectives of the New York Police Department in 1977 when there was a search for serial killer, David Berkowitz.  He was born in County Durham, England.  He died of congestive heart failure at age 99 in Mineola, New York.

 

1917 ~ Ossie Davis (né Raiford Chatman Davis; d. Feb. 4, 2005), African-American stage and film actor for fought for racial justice.  He was married to Ruby Dee.  He was born in Cogdell, Georgia.  He died at age 87 in Miami Beach, Florida.

 

1916 ~ Betty Grable (née Elizabeth Ruth Grable; d. July 2, 1973), American actress and pin-up girl.  She was born in St. Louis, Missouri.  She died at age 56 of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California.

 

1913 ~ Willy Brandt (né Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; d. Oct. 8, 1992), 4th Chancellor of Germany and recipient of the 1971 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to strengthen cooperation in western Europe through the EEC to achieve reconciliation between West Germany and Eastern Europe.  He resigned as Chancellor in 1974 after one of his closest aides was exposed as an agent of the East German secret police.  He died of colon cancer at age 78.

 

1912 ~ Benjamin O. Davis (né Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr.; d. July 4, 2002), American United States Air Force General.  He was the first African-American general officer in the United States Air Force.  He was born and died in Washington, D.C.  He died at age 89.

 

1907 ~ Sherman Maxwell (né Sherman Leander Maxwell; d. July 16, 2008), African-American sportscaster who was a radio pioneer.  He is believed to be the first African-American sports broadcaster.  He was born in Newark, New Jersey.  He died at 100 years old in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

 

1890 ~ Edwin Armstrong (né Edwin Howard Armstrong; d. Jan. 31, 1954), American engineer and inventor of the FM radio.  He was born and died in Manhattan, New York.  He died by suicide at age 63.

 

1886 ~ Ty Cobb (né Tyrus Raymond Cobb; d. July 17, 1961), baseball pitcher.  He was born in Narrows, Georgia.  He died at age 74 in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

1884 ~ Emil Starkenstein (d. Nov. 6, 1942), Czech-Jewish co-founder of clinical pharmacology.  He was murdered at the Mauthausen-Gausen concentration camp during the Holocaust.  He was 57 years old.

 

1879 ~ Paul Klee (d. June 29, 1940), Swiss-German painter.  He died at age 60.

 

1878 ~ Joseph Stalin (d. Mar. 5, 1953), leader and dictator of the Soviet Union.  He died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 74 in Moscow, USSR.

 

1870 ~ Saki (né Hector Hugh Munro; d. Nov. 14, 1916), British short story writer.  He was killed by a German sniper during World War I.  He died just over a month before his 46th birthday.

 

1863 ~ Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (d. June 28, 1914), 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 Roman Catholic.  He was 50 years old at the time of his death.

 

1856 ~ Sir J. J. Thomson (né Joseph John Thomson; d. Aug. 30, 1940), English physicist and recipient of the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the electron and for his work on the conduction of electricity in gases.  He died at age 83 in Cambridge, England.

 

1845 ~ Nikola Pašić (d. Dec. 10, 1926), Prime Minister of Serbia and Yugoslavia.  He died 8 days before his 81st birthday in Belgrade, Serbia.

 

1724 ~ Princess Louise of Great Britain (d. Dec. 19, 1751), Queen consort of Denmark and Norway.  She was the first wife of Frederick V, King of Denmark.  She was of the House of Hanover.  She was the daughter of George II, King of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach.  She died of complications of childbirth 1 day after her 27th birthday.

 

1707 ~ Charles Wesley (d. Mar. 29, 1788), English pastor and leader of the Methodist church.  He is mostly known for writing over 6,000 hymns.  He died at age 80.

 

1642 ~ Johann Christoph Bach (d. Mar. 31, 1703), German composer.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he was baptized on December 18 (Dec. 8, 1642 under the calendar in effect at the time of his birth.)  He died at age 60.

 

1626 ~ Christina of Sweden, Queen (d. Apr. 19, 1689).  She reigned as Queen from November 1632 until June 1654 when she abdicated the throne in favor of her cousin, Charles Gustav, who became known as Charles X Gustav, King of Sweden.  She never married.  She was of the House of Vasa.  She was the daughter of Gustav II Adolph, King of Sweden and Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg.  She was born Lutheran.  In 1654, she converted to Catholicism.  She died at age 62 and is buried in the Vatican.

 

1552 ~ Ahmad Ibn al-Qadi (d. Dec. 6, 1616), Moroccan writer and mathematician.  He died 12 days before his 64thbirthday.

 

1418 ~ Albert VI, Archduke of Austria (d. Dec. 2, 1463).  He ruled over Austria from 1457 until his death in December 1463.  He is credited with founding the University of Frieburg.  He was married to Mechthild of the Palatinate.  They married in 1452.  There were no children of the marriage.  He was of the House of Habsburg.  He was the son of Ernst, Duke of Austria and Cumburgis of Masovia.  He was Roman Catholic.  He was born and died in Vienna, Austria.  He died 16 days before his 45th birthday.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2019 ~ President Donald Trump’s (b. 1946) first impeachment proceedings began  by the House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction Congress.  He was only the 3rd United States President to be impeached.  The United States Senate, however, refused to convict him.

 

2010 ~ Governmental protests began in Tunisia, beginning the 2010-2011 Arab Spring, which ran through the Middle East and North Africa, toppling several dictatorial regimes.

 

1971 ~ Capitol Reef National Park in central Utah was established.

 

1915 ~ President Woodrow Wilson (1856 ~ 1924) married Edith Bolling Galt Wilson (1872 ~ 1961) while in Office.

 

1912 ~ Charles Dawson (1864 ~ 1916) announced the discovery of the Piltdown Man, which he claimed was the “missing link.”  The Piltdown Man was later discovered to be a hoax.

 

1892 ~ The Nutcracker premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.

 

1865 ~ The 13th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted, thereby abolishing slavery in the United States.

 

1799 ~ The funeral of George Washington (1731 ~ 1799) was held.  Over 4,000 people attended the funeral.

 

1787 ~ New Jersey ratified the United States Constitution, becoming the third state to do so.

 

1777 ~ The United States celebrated its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent October victory by the Americans over the British in the Battle of Saratoga.

 

1655 ~ The Whitehall Conference, a gathering of prominent English merchants, clergymen, and lawyers, convened by Oliver Cromwell for the purpose of determining whether or not Jews could resettle in England.  The conference ended with the determination that there was no law preventing Jews from returning to England after the Edict of Expulsion of 1290.  Jews were ultimately allowed to return living in England in the 1660s.

 

as a gathering of prominent English merchants, clergymen, and lawyers convened by Oliver Cromwell for the purpose of debating whether Jews should be readmitted to England. The conference lasted from 4 to 18 December 1655.

 

1499 ~ A rebellion broke out in Alpujarras region of Spain over the forced conversions of Muslims in Spain.  The first rebellion occurred in Granada.  By the end of 1501, the Catholic monarchs had quashed the uprisings and Muslims were given the option to convert, be exiled, or be enslaved or murdered.

 

1271 ~ Kublai Khan (1215 ~ 1294) renamed his empire Yuan, thereby officially marking the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty in Mongolia and China.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2016 ~ Zsa Zsa Gabor (née Sári Gábor, b. Feb. 6, 1917), Hungarian-born actress and socialite.  She was married 9 times.  She died of cardiac arrest at age 99.

 

2015 ~ Chaney Joseph, Jr. (né Cheney Cleveland Joseph, Jr.; b. Nov. 22, 1942) Louisiana law professor.  He died less than a month after his 73rd birthday.

 

2014 ~ Mandy Rice-Davies (née Marilyn Rice-Davies; b. Oct. 21, 1944), British model and showgirl best known for her association with Christina Keeler and her role in the 1960s Profumo scandal.  She died of cancer at age 70.

 

2013 ~ Ronnie Briggs (né Ronald Arthur Briggs, b. Aug. 8, 1929), English criminal who was involved in the Great Train Robbery of 1963, which he committed on his 34th birthday.  He was most known for his 1965 escape from prison and lived on the lam for the next 36 years.  He was born and died in London, England.  He died at age 84.

 

2011 ~ Václav Havel (b. Oct. 5, 1936), Czech playwright who went on to lead the bloodless “Velvet Revolution” of Czechoslovakia.  He was the 10th and last president of Czechoslovakia (from 1989 ~ 1992) and the first president of the Czech Republic (1993 ~ 2003).  He died at age 75.

 

2008 ~ Mark Felt, Sr. (né William Mark Felt; b. Aug. 17, 1913), American FBI agent and the infamous “Deep Throat” of the Watergate Scandal, who leaked information to reporters, who then informed the citizens of the United States of the activities of the Richard Nixon presidency.  He died at age 95.

 

2008 ~ Hannah Frank (b. Aug. 23, 1908), Scottish sculptor.  She was born and died in Glasgow, Scotland.  She died at age 100.

 

2006 ~ Joseph Barbera (né Joseph Roland Barbera; b. Mar. 24, 1911), American animator and co-founder of Hanna-Barbera.  He died at age 95.

 

2003 ~ Charles Berlitz (b. Nov. 20, 1913), American linguist.  He is best known for his series of language-learning courses and books.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died about a month after his 90th birthday in Tamarac, Florida.

 

1997 ~ Chris Farley (né Christopher Crosby Farley; b. Feb. 15, 1964), American actor and comedian.  He died of a drug overdose at age 33.

 

1994 ~ Roger Apéry (b. Nov. 14, 1916), French mathematician.  He was born in Fouen, France.  He died of Parkinson’s disease about a month after his 78th birthday in Caen, France.

 

1993 ~ Sam Wanamaker (né Samuel Wattenmacker; b. June 14, 1919), American actor.  He died of prostate cancer at age 74.

 

1992 ~ Mark Goodson (né Mark Leo Goodson; b. Jan. 14, 1915), American game show producer and creator of game shows such as Family Feud and The Price is Right.  He was born in Sacramento, California.  He died less than a month before his 78th birthday in New York, New York.

 

1980 ~ Alexei Kosygin (b. Feb. 21, 1904), 8th Premier of the Soviet Union.  The date of his birth is sometimes noted as on February 8 because of the calendar in use in Russia at that time.  He died at age 76.

 

1968 ~ Dorothy Garrod (née Dorothy Annie Elizabeth Garrod; b. May 5, 1892), British archeologist.  She specialized in the Palaeolithic period.  She taught at the University of Cambridge and was the first woman to hold the Oxbridge chair.  She died of complications of a stroke at age 76.

 

1955 ~ Anna Murray Vail (b. Jan. 7, 1863), American botanist and first librarian of the New York Botanical Garden.  She was born in New York City.  She died at age 92 in Vieux Logis, France.

 

1909 ~ Grand Duke Michael Nikoleavich of Russia (b. Oct. 25, 1832), member of the Russian royal family.  He married Princess Cecile of Baden in 1857.  He was of the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov.  He was the son of Nicholas I, Tsar of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia.  He died at age 77.

 

1880 ~ Michel Chasles (né Michel Floréal Chasles; b. Nov. 15, 1793), French mathematician.  He died about a month after his 87th birthday.

 

1862 ~ Barbara Fritchie (née Barbara Hauer; b. Dec. 3, 1766), American Civil War Unionist.  John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem about her defending the Union Flag during the Civil War.  She was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  She died 15 days after her 96th birthday in Frederick, Maryland.

 

1848 ~ Bernard Bolzano (b. Oct. 5, 1781), Bohemian priest and mathematician.  He died at age 67.

 

1843 ~ Smith Thompson (b. Jan. 17, 1768), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President James Monroe.  He replaced Henry Brockholst Livingston on the Court.  He was succeeded by Samuel Nelson.  He had previously served as the 6th United States Secretary of the Navy.  He served in that Office during the Monroe Administration from January 1819 until August 1823.  He was born in Amenia, New York when it was under British rule.  He died in Poughkeepsie, New York a month before his 76th birthday.

 

1829 ~ Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (né Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck, b. Aug. 1, 1744), French soldier and naturalist.  He died at age 85.

 

1799 ~ Jean-Étienne Montucla (b. Sept. 5, 1725), French mathematician.  He died at age 74.

 

1737 ~ Antoino Stradivari (b. 1644), Italian violin maker.  The exact date of is birth is not known, but he is believed to have been about 93 at the time of his death.

 

1577 ~ Anna of Saxony (b. Dec. 23, 1544), Princess consort of Orange and 2nd wife of William I, Prince of Orange.  It was not a happy marriage.  She was accused of adultery and William took steps to divorce her and had her imprisoned. She was of the House of Wettin.  She was the daughter of Maurice, Elector or Saxony and Agnes of Hesse.  She died in prison 5 days before her 33rd birthday.

 

1495 ~ Alfonso II, King of Naples (b. Nov. 4, 1448).  He reigned from January 1494 until January 1495 when he was forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Ferdinand II, King of Naples.  He was married to Ippolita Maria Sforza.  They married in 1465.  He was of the House of Trastámara.  He was the son of Ferdinand I, King of Naples and Isabella of Clermont.  He died at age 47.

 

1290 ~ Magnus III (b. 1240), King of Sweden.  He was King from 1275 until his death 15 years later.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been about 49 at the time of his death.

 

1075 ~ Edith of Wessex (b. 1025), Queen consort of England and wife of Edward the Confessor.  There were no children of the marriage, possibly because Edward had taking a vow of celibacy.  The exact date of her birth is unknown, but she is believed to have been about 49 or 50 at the time of her death.


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