September 30

Birthdays:

 

1980 ~ Virgil Abloh (d. Nov. 28, 2021), African-American fashion designer who won acclaim for his fusion and haute couture, and who in 2018 became the first Black artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton.  He was born in Rockford, Illinois.  He died of cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare cancer, at age 41 in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1975 ~ Ta-Nehisi Coates (né Ta-Nehisi Paul Coats), African-American journalist, author and comic book writer.  He was born in Baltimore, Maryland.

 

1971 ~ Jenna Elfman (née Jennifer Mary Butala), American actress.  She was born in Los Angeles, California.

 

1970 ~ Tony Hale (né Anthony Russell Hale), American actor, best known for his role as Buster Bluth on the television sit-com Arrested Development.  He was born in West Point, New York.

 

1961 ~ Eric Stoltz (né Eric Cameron Stoltz), American actor.  He was born in Whittier, California.

 

1957 ~ Fran Drescher (née Francine Joy Drescher), American actress and comedian.  She is best known for her nasal voice.  She was born in New York, New York.

 

1951 ~ Barry Marshall (né Barry James Marshall), Austrian physician and recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for showing that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori is the cause of most peptic ulcers.  This reversed the common medical theory that most ulcers were caused by stress, spicy foods and too much acid.  He was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Australia.

 

1950 ~ Laura Esquivel, Mexican author, best known for her novel, Like Water for Chocolate.  She was born in Mexico City, Mexico.

 

1945 ~ Ehud Olmert, 12^th Israeli Prime Minister.  He served as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2009.  He would later be convicted for accepting bribes and obstruction of justice during his terms in political offices.

 

1943 ~ Jody Powell (né Joseph Lester Powell, Jr.; d. Sept. 14, 2009), American White House Press Secretary to President Jimmy Carter.  He was born in Cordele, Georgia.  He died in Cambridge, Maryland of a heart attack 16 days before his 66^th birthday.

 

1943 ~ Johann Deisenhofer, German chemist, and recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his determination of the first crystal structure of an integral membrane protein, a membrane-bound complex of proteins and co-factors that is essential to photosynthesis.  He was born in Zusamaltheim, Germany.

 

1943 ~ Marilyn McCoo, American singer and member of The 5^th Dimension.  She was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.

 

1939 ~ Jean-Marie Lehn, French chemist, and recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his synthesis of cryptands.  He was born in Rosheim, France.

 

1936 ~ Bobby Zarem (né Robert Myron Zarem; d. Sept. 26, 2021), American publicist who boosted big stars and the Big Apple.  In 1974, he started his own publicity agency and had many big named stars.  He was born and died in Savannah, Georgia.  He died 4 days before his 85^th birthday.

 

1931 ~ Angie Dickinson (née Angeline Brown), American actress.  She was born in Kulm, North Dakota.

 

1930 ~ T.J. Moran (né Thomas J. Moran; d. May 18, 2015), American businessman and restauranteur.  He bought the first franchise of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.  He owned and ran TJ Ribs, where LSU sports memorabilia was on display.  He was born in Evanston, Illinois.  He died in Baton Rouge at age 84.

 

1928 ~ Elie Wiesel (né Eliezer Wiesel; d. July 2, 2016), Romanian-born Jewish-American writer and Holocaust survivor who refused to let the world forget.  His book, Night, was based on his experience in the Auschwitz, Buna, and Buchenwald concentration camps during the Holocaust.  He was the recipient of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize.  He was born in Sighet, Kingdom of Romania.  He died at age 87 in New York, New York.

 

1927 ~ W.S. Merwin (né William Stanley Merwin; d. Mar. 15, 2019), American poet.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 91 in Haiku, Hawaii.

 

1924 ~ Truman Capote (né Truman Streckfus Persons; d. Aug. 25, 1984), American author best known for his true crime novel, In Cold Blood, which recounted the 1959 murder of a Kansas family by two drifters.  Capote was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and much of his work is set in the South.  He died of liver disease at age 59 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1921 ~ Deborah Kerr (née Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer; d. Oct. 16, 2007), Scottish actress who was a proper leading lady.  She is best remembered for the kiss scene with Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity.  She was born in Glasgow, Scotland.  She died 17 days after her 86^th birthday.

 

1917 ~ Buddy Rich (né Bernard Rich; d. Apr. 2, 1987), American jazz drummer and bandleader.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died of a brain tumor at age 69 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1915 ~ Lester Maddox, Sr. (né Lester Garfield Maddox; d. June 25, 2003), American politician and 75^th 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.

 

1911 ~ Ruth Gruber (d. Nov. 17, 2016), American courageous photo-journalist who fought injustice.  In 1944, she escorted nearly 1000 refugees from Nazi-occupied Italy across the Atlantic to the United States and recorded their stories.  She also witnessed and recorded when Jews on the Exodus 1947 were refused entry into British-controlled Palestine and sent back to Nazi Germany.  She was born in New York, New York to Russian Jewish immigrants.  She died in Manhattan, New York at age 105.

 

1905 ~ Sir Nevill Mott (né Nevill Francis Mottt; d. Aug. 8, 1996), English physicist and recipient of the 1977 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems, especially amorphous semiconductors.  He died at age 90.

 

1898 ~ Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois (d. Nov. 16, 1977).  She was the Hereditary Princess of Monaco.  In 1920, she married Count Pierre de Polignac (1895 ~ 1964).  They divorced 13 years later.  She was of the House of Grimaldi.  She was the illegitimate daughter of Louis II, Prince of Monaco and his mistress, Marie Juliette Louvet.  She was the mother of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco.  She renounced her right to the throne upon her son’s 21^st birthday.  She was born in Constantine, French Algeria.  She died at age 77 in Paris, France.

 

1883 ~ Nora Stanton Blatch Barney (née Nora Stanton Blatch; d. Jan. 18, 1971), American civil engineer, architect, and women’s rights activist.  She was the first woman to earn an engineering degree from Cornell University and one of the first American women to earn a degree in that field.  She was the granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.  She was born in England.  She died in Greenwich, Connecticut at age 87.

 

1882 ~ Hans Geiger (né Johannes Wilhelm Geiger; d. Sept. 24, 1945), German physicist best known as being the co-inventor of the Geiger Counter.  Unfortunately, the name of his co-inventor, Walther Muller, who was Geiger’s student, has been lost to history.  Geiger died 6 days before his 63^rd birthday in Potsdam, Germany.

 

1870 ~ Jean Perrin (né Jean Baptiste Perrin, d. Apr. 17, 1942), French physicist and recipient of the 1926 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Lille, France.  He died at age 71 in New York, New York.

 

1861 ~ William Wrigley, Jr. (né William Mills Wrigley, Jr.; d. Jan. 26, 1932), American chewing gum industrialist and founder of the Wrigley Company.  He was also the owner of the Chicago Cubs, hence the name of the Cubs home field, Wrigley’s field.  He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He died at age 70 in Phoenix, Arizona.

 

1836 ~ Remigio Morales Bermúdez (d. Apr. 1, 1894), President of Peru.  He served from August 1890 until his death at age 57 on April 1, 1894.  He died in Lima, Peru.

 

1832 ~ Ann Jarvis (née Ann Maria Reeves; d. May 9, 1905), American social activist and community organizer during the American Civil War.  She inspiration for the creation of Mother’s Day.  It was her daughter, Anna Marie Jarvis (1864 ~ 1948) who is recognized as the founder of Mother’s Day.  She was born in Culpeper, Virginia.  She died at age 72 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

1827 ~ Ellis H. Roberts (né Ellis Henry Roberts; d. Jan. 8, 1918), 20^th Treasurer of the United States.  He served under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt from July 1897 until June 1905.  He had previously served as a United States Representative from New York.  He was born and died in Utica, New York.  He died at age 90.

 

1814 ~ Lucinda Hinsdale Stone (née Lucinda Hinsdale; d. Mar. 14, 1900), American educator, women’s rights activist, and philanthropist.  She was born in Hinesburg, Vermont.  She died at age 85.

 

1811 ~ Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (d. Jan. 7, 1890), Queen consort of Prussia, and Empress of Germany through her marriage to Wilhelm I, German Emperor (1797 ~ 1888).  They married in 1829.  They were the parents of Frederick III, Emperor of Germany.  She was of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.  She was the daughter of Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovana of Russia.  She died at age 78.

 

1550 ~ Michael Maestlin (d. Oct 20, 1631), German mathematician and astronomer.  He died 3 weeks after his 81^stbirthday in Rome, Papal States.

 

1227 ~ Pope Nicholas IV (né Girolamo Masci; d. Apr. 4, 1292).  He was Pope from February 1288 until his death 4 years later.  He was 64 at the time of his death.

 

1207 ~ Rumi (d. Dec. 17, 1273), Turkish poet and Islamic Sufi mystic.  His poetry is some of the most widely read in the world today.  Rumi is also known as the founder of the sect of Whirling Dervishes.  He is buried in Konya, Turkey, which is a major pilgrimage site.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 65 or 66 at the time of his death.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2023 ~ First day of Sukkot.

 

2017 ~ Yom Kippur.

 

2016 ~ Hurricane Matthew, which formed in the Caribbean Sea, became a Category 5 hurricane.  The storm, which formed on September 28, 2016, dissipated on October 10, 2016.

 

2009 ~ A 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Sumatra, killing over 1100 people.

 

1993 ~ A 6.2 magnitude earthquake in India killed thousands of people.

 

1972 ~ Roberto Clemente (1934 ~ 1972), records his 3,000^th and final hit of his baseball career.  He would be killed in a plane crash 3 months later.

 

1962 ~ César Chávez (1927 ~ 1993) founded the National Farm Workers Association.  It later became known as the United Farm Workers.

 

1954 ~ The United States Navy submarine the USS Nautilus was commissioned.  It was the first nuclear reactor powered vessel.  It was decommissioned in March 1980.

 

1949 ~ The Berlin Airlift ended.

 

1947 ~ The Baseball World Series was televised for the first time.  The series was between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers.  The New York Yankees beat the Dodgers.

 

1935 ~ The Hoover Dam was dedicated.  During its construction during the Roosevelt administration, the dam was known as the Boulder Dam.  The name Hoover Dam was restored by Congress in 1947.

 

1927 ~ Babe Ruth (1895 ~ 1948) became the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a season.

 

1901 ~ Hubert Cecil Booth (1871 ~ 1955) received a patent for the powered vacuum cleaner.

 

1889 ~ Ten months before becoming a State, lawmakers in Wyoming drafted its constitution that granted women the right to vote.

 

1882 ~ Thomas Edison’s first commercial hydroelectric power plant began operating on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin.  The plant later became known as the Appleton Edison Light Company.

 

1868 ~ The first volume of the serialized novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1832 ~ 1888) was published.

 

1813 ~ At the Battle of Bárbula, Simón Bolíva (1783 ~ 1827) defeated Santiago Bobadilla (1783 ~ 1830).

 

1791 ~ The Magic Flute, Mozart’s last opera, made its debut in Vienna, Austria.

 

1520 ~ Suleiman the Magnificent (1494 ~ 1566) was proclaimed the sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

 

1399 ~ Henry IV (1367 ~ 1413) was proclaimed as King of England.  He reigned as king from September 1399 until his death 14 years later.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2022 ~ Roger Welsch (né Roger Lee Welsch; b. Nov. 6, 1936), American humorist who spun tales of the heartland.  He was a senior correspondent on CBS News Sunday Morning in a segment called Postcards from Nebraska.  He was born in Lincoln, Nebraska.  He died of kidney failure at age 85 in Danneborg, Nebraska.

 

2017 ~ Monty Hall (né Monte Halparin; b. Aug. 25, 1921), Canadian game show host.  He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  He died at age 96 in Beverly Hills, California.

 

2016 ~ Trịnh Thị Ngọ (b. 1931), North Vietnamese propagandist who taunted American GIs.  She was known as Hanoi Hannah.  During the Vietnam War, she became famous for her propaganda broadcasts on Radio Hanoi.  The exact date of her birth is not known.  She was born in Hanoi.  She died at age 85 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

 

2014 ~ Martin Lewis Perl (b. June 24, 1927), American physicist and recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery of the Tau Lepton.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died of a heart attack at age 87 in Palo Alto, California.

 

2014 ~ Jerrie Mock (née Geraldine Fredritz; b. Nov. 22, 1925), American housewife who flew around the world.  In 1960, she became the first woman to fly solo around the world.  The journey took her 29 days, 11 hours and 59 minutes.  She was born in Newark, Ohio.  She died at age 88 in Quincy, Florida.

 

2012 ~ Barry Commoner (b. May 28, 1917), American cellular biologist and political activist.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He died at age 95 in Manhattan, New York.

 

2011 ~ Ralph Steinman (né Ralph Marvin Steinman; b. Jan. 14, 1943), Canadian biologist and recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity.  He died of pancreatic cancer 3 days before the Nobel Prize committee announced the 2011 recipients so was awarded the Nobel Prize posthumously.  He was born in Montréal, Québec, Canada.  He died of pancreatic cancer in Manhattan, New York.  He was 68 years old at the time of his death.

 

2011 ~ Roger G. Kennedy (né Roger George Kennedy; b. Aug. 3, 1926), American polymath and preservationist with a broad view of America’s past.  He served as the Director of the Smithsonian Institute’s Museum of American History from 1979 to 1992 before heading the National Park Service in 1993.  He was responsible for putting Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz in display.  He was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota.  He died at age 85 in Rockville, Maryland.

 

2010 ~ Stephen J. Cannell (né Stephen Joseph Cannell; b. Feb. 5, 1941), American scriptwriter and movie producer.  He was born in Los Angeles, California.  He died at age 69 of cancer in Pasadena, California.

 

2010 ~ Sir Robert Mark (b. Mar. 13, 1917), British police officer and Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.  He was the first Metropolitan Commissioner to have risen through all the ranks from the lowest to highest.  He died at age 93.

 

2003 ~ Robert Kardashian (né Robert George Kardashian; b. Feb. 22, 1944), Armenian-American lawyer, best known for being on the defense team during the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial.  He was born and died in Los Angeles, California.  He died at age 59 of esophageal cancer.

 

1996 ~ Frances Lear (née Evelyn Loeb; b. July 14, 1923), American social activist and wife of television producer Norman Lear.  She was born in Hudson, New York.  She died of breast cancer at age 73 in New York, New York.

 

1994 ~ André Michel Lwoff (b. May 8, 1902), French microbiologist and recipient of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the mechanism by which some viruses can infect bacteria.  He died at age 92 in Paris, France.

 

1994 ~ Roberto Eduardo Viola (b. Oct. 13, 1924), Argentine general, President of Argentina and military dictator.  He served in the Office of President from March 1981 until December 1981.  He was born and died in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  He died 14 days before his 70^th birthday.

 

1990 ~ Patrick White (né Patrick Victor Martindale White; b. May 28, 1912), Australian writer and recipient of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 78 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

 

1990 ~ Ruth Cheney Streeter (née Ruth Cheney; b. Oct. 2, 1895), first director of the United States Marine Corps Women’s Reserve.  In 1943, she became the first woman to reach the rank of Major in the United States Marine Corps.  She was born in Brookline, Massachusetts.  She died in Morristown, New Jersey 2 days before her 95^th birthday.  She is buried in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

 

1985 ~ Charles Francis Richter (b. Apr. 26, 1900), American geophysicist and creator of the Richter magnitude scale that measures the strength of earthquakes.  He was born in Overpeck, Ohio.  He died at age 85 in Pasadena, California.

 

1978 ~ Edgar Bergen (né Edgar John Berggren; b. Feb. 16, 1903), American actor and ventriloquist.  He was the father of actress Candice Bergen.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He died at age 75 in Paradise, Nevada.

 

1955 ~ James Dean (né James Bryon Dean; b. Feb. 8, 1931), American actor, best known for his role in Rebel Without a Cause.  He was born in Marion, Indiana.  He was killed in an automobile accident in Cholame, California.  He died was 24 years old.

 

1948 ~ Edith Roosevelt (née Edith Kermit Carow; b. Aug. 6, 1861), First Lady of the United States and second wife of President Theodore Roosevelt.  She was born in Norwich, Connecticut.  She died at age 87 in Cove Neck, New York.

 

1931 ~ Jane Meade Welch (b. Mar. 11, 1854), American journalist and historian.  She was born in Buffalo, New York.  She died at age 77.

 

1910 ~ Maurice Lévy (b. Feb. 28, 1838), French mathematician.  He died at age 72 in Paris, France.

 

1837 ~ 10^th Dalai Lama (né Tsultrum Gyatso; b. Mar. 29, 1816).  He died at age 21.

 

1632 ~ Thomas Allen (b. Dec. 21, 1542), English mathematician and astrologer.  He died at age 89.

 

1627 ~ Tianqi Emperor (d. Dec. 23, 1605), 16^th Chinese Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.  He ruled from October 1620 until his death 7 years later.  He died at age 21.

 

1626 ~ Nurhaci (b. Apr. 8, 1559), Chinese Emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty.  He died at age 67.

 

420 ~ St. Jerome (b. Mar. 347), Roman Catholic priest and theologian.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  He died at about age 73.

September 29

Birthdays:

 

1989 ~ Ben Luderer (d. Mar. 30, 2020), American special education teacher and high school baseball coach.  He died of Covid-19 at age 30.

 

1956 ~ Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe (né Sebastian Newbold Coe), British athlete.  He was the model for the runner in the movie, Chariots of Fire.  He was born in London, England.

 

1955 ~ Gwen Ifill (née Gwendolyn Ifill, d. Nov. 14, 2016), African-American news anchor and journalist who broke down racial barriers.  She was born in New York, New York.  She died of endometrial cancer at age 61 in Washington, D.C.

 

1951 ~ Michelle Bachelet, Chilean politician and President of Chile.  She served two terms as President.  The first term ran from March 2006 until March 2010.  Her second term ran from March 2014 to March 2018.  She was born in Santiago, Chile.

 

1943 ~ Lech Wałęsa, Polish politician, trade-union organizer and human-rights activist.  He served as the 2^nd President of Poland and was the recipient of the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize.

 

1942 ~ Madeline Kahn (née Madeline Gail Wolfson; d. Dec. 3, 1999), American actress.  She was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  She died at age 57 of ovarian cancer in New York, New York.

 

1936 ~ Silvio Berlusconi (d. June 12, 2023), Italian politician, and former Prime Minister of Italy.  He was born and died in Milan, Italy.  He died at age 86.

 

1935 ~ Jerry Lee Lewis (d. Oct. 28, 2022), American rock ‘n’ roll original who was wild on stage and off.  He is known as Killer.  He was born in Ferriday, Louisiana.  He died at age 87 a month after his 87^th birthday.

 

1934 ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (né Mihaly Robert Csikszentmihalyi; d. Oct. 20, 2021), Italian psychologist who studied the art of “flow”, a highly focused mental state conductive to productivity.  He was born in Flume, Kingdom of Italy.  He died less than a month after his 87^th birthday in Claremont, California.

 

1932 ~ Rai Weiss (né Rainer Weiss), German-born, American physicist.  He was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in designing and developing the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), a pair of detectors in Louisiana and Washington State.  In 2015, LIGO for the first time observed gravitational waves produced by the collision of two black holes a billion light-years away.  He is a professor emeritus at MIT and an adjunct professor at LSU.  He was born in Berlin, Germany.

 

1931 ~ Anita Ekberg (née Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg; d. Jan. 11, 2015), Swedish bombshell who lit up La Dolce Vita.  She was a former Miss Sweden.  She died at age 83 in Rocca di Papa, Italy.

 

1931 ~ James Cronin (né James Watson Cronin; d. Aug. 25, 2016), American particle physicist and recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He died about a month before his 85^th birthday in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

 

1927 ~ Pete McCloskey (né Peter Norton McCloskey, Jr.), American politician.  He served as a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives from California from December 1967 until January 1983.  He was born in Loma Linda, California.

 

1923 ~ Stanley Berenstain (né Stanley Melvin Berenstain; d. Nov. 26, 2005), American author and illustration.  He, along with his wife, Janice (1922 ~ 2012), created the Berenstain Bears.  He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He died at age 82 in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania.

 

1923 ~ Bum Phillips (né Oail Andrew Phillips; d. Oct. 18, 2013), American cowboy who coached the Houston Oilers.  He was born in Orange, Texas.  He died 19 days after his 90^th birthday in Goliad, Texas.

 

1922 ~ Lizabeth Scott (née Emma Matzo; d. Jan. 31, 2015), American actress known for her smoky voice.  She played the femme fatale in many 1940s and 1950s film noir.  She was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  She died at age 92 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1920 ~ Peter Mitchell (né Peter Dennis Mitchell; d. Apr. 10, 1992), English biochemist and recipient of the 1878 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his discovery of the chemiosmotic mechanism of the ATP synthesis.  He died at age 71.

 

1907 ~ George Jenkins (né George Washington Jenkins, Jr.; d. Apr. 8, 1996), American businessman and founder of the Publix grocery store chain.  He was born in Warm Springs, Georgia.  He died at age 88 in Lakeland, Florida.

 

1907 ~ Gene Autry (né Orvon Grover Autry; d. Oct. 2, 1998), American actor and cowboy singer.  He was known as the Singing Cowboy.  He was born in Tioga, Texas.  He died 3 days after his 91^st birthday in Los Angeles, California.

 

1904 ~ Greer Garson (née Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson; d. Apr. 6, 1996), British actress.  She died in Dallas, Texas at age 91.

 

1903 ~ Diana Vreeland (née Diana Dalziel; d. Aug. 22, 1989), French-American journalist and columnist.  She was best known for working in the fashion magazine industry.  She was the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue for many years.  She was born in Paris, France.  She died about a month before her 86^th birthday in New York, New York.

 

1901 ~ Enrico Fermi (d. Nov. 28, 1954), Italian American nuclear physicist and recipient of the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on nuclear processes.  He is best known for the development of the first nuclear reactor.  Fermium, a synthetic element created in 1952, was named after Fermi.  He was born in Rome, Italy.  He died at age 53 of stomach cancer in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1900 ~ Miguel Alemán Valdés (d. May 14, 1983), President of Mexico.  He served as President from December 1946 until November 1952.  He died at age 82 in Mexico City, Mexico.

 

1899 ~ László Bíró (né László József Schweiger; d. Oct. 24, 1985), Hungarian inventor who invented the ballpoint pen.  He was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary.  He died 25 days after his 86^th birthday in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

 

1881 ~ Ludwig von Mises (d. Oct. 10, 1973), Austrian economist.  He was born in Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now Lviv, Ukraine).  He died 11 days after his 92^nd birthday in New York, New York.

 

1864 ~ Miguel de Unanumo y Jugo (d. Dec. 31, 1936), Spanish Basque essayist, novelist and philosopher.  He died at age 72.

 

1838 ~ Henry Hobson Richardson (d. Apr. 27, 1886), American architect.  He designed Trinity Church in Copley Square in Boston.  He was born in St. James Parish, Louisiana.  He died in Brookline, Massachusetts at age 47 of Bright’s disease.

 

1831 ~ John McAllister Schofield (d. Mar. 4, 1906), 28^th United States Secretary of War.  He served under Presidents Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant from June 1868 until March 1869.  He was born in Gerry, New York.  He died at age 74 in St. Augustine, Florida.

 

1803 ~ Jacques Charles François Sturm (d. Dec. 15, 1855), French mathematician.  His name is one of 72 engraved at the Eiffel Tower.  He was born in Geneva, Switzerland.  He died in Paris, France at age 52 after a long illness.

 

1786 ~ Guadalupe Victoria (né José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, d. Mar. 21, 1843), 1^st President of the United Mexican States.  He was President from October 1824 through March 1829.  He died of epilepsy at age 56.

 

1758 ~ Horatio Nelson, 1^st Viscount Nelson (d. Oct. 21, 1805), British admiral.  He defeated the French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar in Britain’s greatest naval victory in 1805.  He died in battle at less than a month after his 47^th birthday.

 

1703 ~ François Boucher (d. May 30, 1770), French painter.  He is best known for his pastoral scenes.  He was born and died in Paris, France.  He died at age 66.

 

1680 ~ Princess Luise Dorothea of Prussia (d. Dec. 23, 1705), Hereditary Princess of Hesse-Kassel.  In 1700, she married Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Kassel (1676 ~ 1751), who later became Frederick I, King of Sweden.  She was his first wife.  She died before her husband became King, thus was never the queen consort.  She was the daughter of Frederick I, King of Prussia and Elisabeth Henrietta of Hesse-Kassel.  She died in childbirth at age 25.

 

1571 ~ Caravaggio (né Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, d. July 18, 1610), Italian artist.  He was born in Milan, Duchy of Milan, Spanish Empire.  He died under mysterious circumstances which may have been murder at age 38.

 

1561 ~ Adriaan van Roomen (d. May 4, 1615), Flemish mathematician.  He died at age 53.

 

1548 ~ William V, Duke of Bavaria (d. Feb. 7, 1626).  He ruled over Bavaria from October 1579 until his abdication in October 1597.  He was married to Renata of Lorraine.  He was of the House of Wittelsbach.  He was the son of Albert V, Duke of Bavaria and Anna of Austria.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died at age 77.

 

1547 ~ Miguel de Cervantes (d. Apr. 23, 1616), Spanish author best known for writing Don Quixote.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been born on September 29, 1547.  He is believed to have died at age 68.

 

1518 ~ Tintoretto (né Jacopo Robusti; d. May 31, 1594), Venetian Renaissance painter and artist.  He was born and died in Venice, Republic of Venice.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but it is generally ascribed to late September or early October.  He died at about age 75.

 

1402 ~ Infante Fernando of Portugal (d. June 5, 1443).  He was known as the Holy Prince.  He was involved in the Siege of Tangier and was captured by the rulers of Morocco.  He was imprisoned where he eventually died in captivity.  He never married.  He was of the House of Aviz.  He was the youngest son of John I, King of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster.  He was Catholic.  He died at age 40.

 

1373 ~ Margaret of Bohemia (d. June 4, 1410), Burgravine consort of Nuremberg.  She was married to John III, Burgrave of Nuremberg (1369 ~ 1420).  She was of the House of Luxembourg.  She was the daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and his 4^th wife, Elizabeth of Pomerania.  She died suddenly at age 36.

 

1276 ~ Christopher II, King of Denmark (d. Aug. 2, 1332).  He reigned Denmark from 1320 until 1326, and then again from 1329 until his death.  His rule is connected with a national disaster because his rule ended with the almost dissolution of Denmark.  He was married to Euphemia of Pomerania (1285 ~ 1330).  They married in 1300.  He was of the House of Estridsen.  He was the son of Eric V Klipping, King of Denmark and Agnes of Brandenburg.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died at age 55.

 

1240 ~ Princess Margaret of England (d. Feb. 26, 1275), Queen consort of Scots and first wife of Alexander III, King of Scotland (1241 ~ 1386).  They married in 1251.  She was of the House of Plantagenet.  She was the second child of Henry III, King of England and Eleanor of Provence.  She died at age 34.

 

926 ~ Qian Chu (d. Oct. 7, 988), last Chinese king of the Wuyue.  He surrendered his kingdom to the Song Dynasty.  He died 8 days after his 59^th birthday.

 

106 B.C.E. ~ Pompey (d. 48 B.C.E.), the date the Roman General was considered to have been born.  He is believed to have been assassinated 1 day before his 58^th birthday.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2019 ~ Rosh HaShanah began at sunset.

 

2017 ~ Yom Kippur began at sunset.

 

2009 ~ An 8.0 magnitude earthquake near the Samoan Islands caused a tsunami.  Over 1,115 people would be killed in this event.

 

2005 ~ John Roberts (b. 1955) was confirmed as the 17^th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

 

1990 ~ The construction of the Washington National Cathedral was completed.  Work had begun on this Episcopal Church on this date: September 29, 1907.

 

1982 ~ The Tylenol murders began when the first of 7 individuals died in Chicago after taking cyanide-laced Tylenol.  The first victim was a 12-year-old girl.  The individual or individuals who poisoned the Tylenol was never caught, however, this event led to the industry using a new, tamper-proof way of labeling over-the-counter medicines and other consumable products.

 

1954 ~ The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) was signed.

 

1951 ~ The college football game between Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh was televised on NBC.  It was the first live sporting event that was seen nationwide.  Duke defeated Pittsburgh in a score of 19-14.

 

1941 ~ The Babi Yar Massacre began in in Kyiv when Nazi German forces ordered the murder of Jews during World War II.  Nearly 34,000 Jews were murdered in massacre, which lasted 2 days.

 

1923 ~ The British Mandate for Palestine took effect, which created Mandatory Palestine.

 

1911 ~ Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire.

 

1907 ~ The cornerstone to the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., was laid.  Construction would not be complete until September 23, 1990!

 

1864 ~ The Treaty of Lisbon established the boundaries between Spain and Portugal.

 

1829 ~ The Metropolitan Police of London was founded.

 

1789 ~ The United States Department of War established a regular army.

 

1789 ~ The 1^st United States Congress adjourned.

 

1227 ~ Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (1194 ~ 1250), was excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX (d. 1241) for his failure to participate in the Crusades.

 

Goodbyes:

 

2023 ~ Dianne Feinstein (née Dianne Emiel Goldman; b. June 22, 1933), 38^th Mayor of San Francisco and United States Senator from California.  She served as Mayor from December 1978 until 1988.  In November 1992, she won a special election to fill a vacant United States Senate seat in California.  She has been a Senator ever since.  She was born in San Francisco.  She died at age 90.

 

2022 ~ Kathleen Booth (née Kathleen Hylda Valerie Britten; b. July 9, 1922), British computer scientist and mathematician.  She wrote the first assembly language and designed the assembler and autocode for the first computer systems at Birkbeck College, University of London.  She died at age 100.

 

2020 ~ Helen Reddy (née Helen Maxine Reddy; b. Oct. 25, 1941), Austrian musician.  She was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  She died at age 78 in Los Angeles, California.

 

2014 ~ Shotgun Shuba (né George Thomas Shuba; b. Dec. 13, 1924), American professional baseball player who shook hands with history.  He is remembered for his role in breaking down the color barrier when, while playing for a farm team in the 1940s, he offered a congratulatory handshake to teammate Jackie Robinson.  He was born and died in Youngstown, Ohio.  He died at age 89.

 

2013 ~ Marcella Hazan (né Marcella Polini; b. Apr. 15, 1924), Italian-born Sephardic cookbook author who redefined Italian cooking.  She was born in Cesenatico, Italy.  She died at age 89 in Longboat Key, Florida.

 

2012 ~ Michael Henry Heim (b. Jan. 21, 1943), American translator who gave his all to world literature.  He was a professor of Slavic languages and translated many works of literature in Czech, Russian, Dutch, French, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died of complications from melanoma at age 69 in Los Angeles, California.

 

2012 ~ Arthur Ochs Sulzberger (b. Feb. 5, 1926), American newspaper chief who published the Pentagon Papers the New York Times.  He was known as Punch.  He was born in New York City.  He died in Southampton, New York at age 86.

 

2011 ~ Sylvia Robinson (née Sylvia Vanterpool, b. Mar. 6, 1935), American singer known as the godmother of hip-hip.  She was born in Harlem, New York.  She died of congestive heart failure at age 76 in Englewood, New Jersey.

 

2010 ~ Tony Curtis (né Bernard Schwartz; b. June 3, 1925), American actor and singer.  He was the father of actress Jamie Lee Curtis.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 85 in Henderson, Nevada.

 

2010 ~ Georges Charpak (né Jerzy Charpak, b. Aug. 1, 1924), Ukrainian-born physicist and recipient of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Physics.  During World War II, he served in the resistance.  In 1944 he was deported to Dachau, where he remained until he was liberated in 1945.  He was born in Dąbrowica, Ukraine (at the time it was in Poland).  He died at age 86 in Paris, France.

 

2007 ~ Katsuko Saruhashi (b. Mar. 22, 1920), Japanese geochemist who turned radioactive fallout into a scientific legacy.  She made some of the first measurements of carbon dioxide levels in seawater and subsequently showed the evidence in seawater and the atmosphere of the dangers of radioactive fallout.  She was born and died in Toyko, Japan.  She died of pneumonia at age 87.

 

1998 ~ Tom Bradley (né Thomas J. Bradley; b. Dec. 29, 1917), African-American politician and 38^th Mayor of Los Angeles.  He served as Mayor from July 1973 until July 1993.  He was born in Calvert, Texas.  He died at age 80 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1997 ~ Roy Lichtenstein (né Roy Fox Lichtenstein; b. Oct. 27, 1923), American artist.  He was born and died in New York, New York.  He died of pneumonia at 28 days before his 74^th birthday.

 

1995 ~ Madalyn Murray O’Hair (née Madalyn Mays; b. Apr. 13, 1919), American atheist activist.  She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  In August 1995, she was kidnapped and likely murdered.  She was 76 at the time of her kidnapping.  The exact date of her death is not known, but September 29, 1995 is often given as the date of her death.  Her body has never been found.

 

1989 ~ Gussie Anheuser Busch (né August Anheuser Busch, b. Mar. 28, 1899), American brewer and grandson of the founder of the Anheuser-Busch brewing company.  He was born and died in St. Louis, Missouri.  He died at age 90.

 

1988 ~ Charles Addams (né Charles Samuel Addams; b. Jan. 7, 1912), American cartoonist who became famous for his dark humor.  His cartoons were published in The New Yorker.  His characters inspired The Addams family, which was a TV series in the 1960s, and later became a Broadway musical.  He was born in Westfield, New Jersey.  He died at age 76 in Manhattan, New York.

 

1983 ~ Sir Roy George Douglas Allen (b. June 3, 1906), British economist and mathematician.  He died at age 77.

 

1975 ~ Casey Stengel (né Charles Dillon Stengel; b. July 30, 1890), American professional baseball player and manager.  He was born in Kansas City, Missouri.  He died at age 85 in Glendale, California.

 

1973 ~ W.H. Auden (né Wystan Hugh Auden; b. Feb. 21, 1907), Anglo-American poet.  He was born in York, England.  He died at age 66 in Vienna, Austria shortly after giving a reading of his poems.

 

1967 ~ Carson McCullers (née Lula Carson Smith; b. Feb. 19, 1917), American author, best known for her novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.  She was born in Columbus, Georgia.  She died at age 50 of a brain hemorrhage in Nyack, New York.

 

1937 ~ Marie Zdeňka Baborová-Čiháková (b. Jan. 17, 1877), Czech botanist and zoologist.  She was the first Czech woman to earn a Ph.D. in this field of science.  She was born in Prague.  At the time, the city was under the Austria-Hungary regime.  She died at age 60.

 

1927 ~ Willem Einthovern (b. May 21, 1860), Dutch physician and inventor.  He was the recipient of the 1924 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for inventing the first practical electrocardiogram (ECG).  He was born in Semarang, Dutch East Indies.  He died at age 67 in Leiden, Netherlands.

 

1925 ~ Léon Bourgeois (né Léon Victor August Bourgeois; b. May 21, 1851), French politician and recipient of the 1920 Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the United Nations.  He was the Prime Minister of France, serving from November 1895 until April 1896.  He was born in Paris, France.  He died at age 74.

 

1913 ~ Rudolf Diesel (né Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel; b. Mar. 18, 1858), French-born German mechanical engineer and inventor of the diesel engine.  He developed the first internal-combustion engine in which fuel was ignited without a spark, now known at the diesel.  He was born in Paris, France.  He died at age 55 under mysterious circumstances.  He had boarded a steamer ship in the North Sea.  After dinner retired to his cabin.  He was never seen again and his bed had not been slept in.  His clothing, however, was neatly folded beneath an after deck railing, leading to believe he had committed suicide.

 

1910 ~ Winslow Homer (b. Feb. 24, 1836), American illustrator and painter.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Prouts Neck, Maine.  He was 74 years old at the time of his death.

 

1902 ~ Émile Zola (né Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola; b. Apr. 2, 1840), French novelist and critic.  He is best known for his article, J’Accuse, which was instrumental in the exoneration of Alfred Dreyfus, an army officer who had been convicted of a crime simply because he was Jewish.  The article brought to light the false accusations against Dreyfus.  He was born and died in Paris, France.  Zola died at age 62 of carbon monoxide poisoning, which some believe was murder.

 

1898 ~ Louise of Hesse-Kassel (b. Sept. 7, 1898), Queen consort of Denmark and wife of Christian IX, King of Denmark.  They married in 1842.  She was of the House of Hesse-Kassel.  She was the daughter of Prince William of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Charlotte of Denmark.  She died 22 days after her 81^st birthday.

 

1833 ~ Ferdinand VII, King of Spain (b. Oct. 14, 1784).  He reigned in Spain from March 1808 until May 1808 when he was overthrown by Napoleon.  He regained power again in December 1813 and ruled as an absolute monarch until his death in September 1833.  He was married four times.  His first wife Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, was also his cousin.  They were married in 1802 until her death of tuberculosis in 1806.  There were no children of this marriage.  In 1816, he married his niece, Infanta Maria Isabel of Portugal.  She died of complications of childbirth in 1818.  A year later, he married Princess Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony.  She died 10 years later.  There were no children of the third marriage.  In 1829, he married his fourth wife, Princess Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, who was also his niece.  He was of the House of Bourbon.  He was the son of Charles IV, King of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died 15 days before his 49^th birthday.

 

1804 ~ Michael Hillegas (b. Apr. 22, 1728), American politician and 1^st Treasurer of the United States.  He served in that office from July 1775 until September 1789.  He was born and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He died at age 75.

 

1560 ~ Gustav I, King of Sweden (né Gustav Eriksson, b. May 12, 1496).  He ruled from June 1523 until his death in September 1560.  He was known as Gustav Vasa.  He was married 3 times.  His first wife was Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513 ~ 1535).  They married in 1531.  They were the parents of Eric XIV, King of Sweden.  After her death of complications of childbirth, he married Margaret Leijonhufvud (1516 ~ 1551).  They married in 1536.  They were the parents of John III, King of Sweden.  His third and final wife was Catherine Stenbock (1535 ~ 1621).  There were no children of his third marriage.  He was of the House of Vasa.  He was the son of Erik Johansson Vasa and Cecilia Månsdotter Eka.  He was born Catholic but converted to Lutheranism in 1523.  He was 64 years old at the time of his death.

 

1360 ~ Joan I, Countess of Auvergne (b. May 8, 1326), Queen consort of France through her second marriage.  She was married twice.  Her first husband was Philip of Burgundy (1323 ~ 1346).  He died during the Siege of Aiguillon.  Following his death, she married John, Duke of Normandy (1319 ~ 1364).  It was a second marriage for both.  A few months after their marriage, John ascended to the French throne and became John II, King of France.  Joan was a Countess in her own right.  She was of the House of Auvergne.  She was the daughter of William XII, Count of Auvergne and Margaret d’Évreux.  She was Roman Catholic.  She died at age 34.