Tuesday, September 12, 2023

September 12

Birthdays:

 

1986 ~ Emmy Rossum (née Emmanuelle Grey Rossum), American actress.  She is best known for playing Christina in The Phantom of the Opera.  She was born in New York, New York.

 

1982 ~ Isabelle Caro (d. Nov. 17, 2010), French fashion model who warned that women can be too thin.  She died of anorexia at age 28 in Paris, France.

 

1981 ~ Jennifer Hudson (née Jennifer Kate Hudson), American singer and actress.  She was born in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1980 ~ Yao Ming, Chinese professional basketball player.  He was born in Shanghai, China.

 

1967 ~ Louis C.K. (né Louis Székely), American comedian and actor.  In 2017, he admitted to sexual misconduct after having been accused by many women.  He was born in Washington, D.C.

 

1966 ~ Ben Folds (né Benjamin Scott Folds), American musician.  He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

 

1955 ~ Peter Scolari (né Peter Thomas Scolari; d. Oct. 22, 2021), American actor.  He is best known for his role as Michael Harris on Newhart, and Tom Hanks pal Henry Desmond on Bosom Buddies.  He was born in New Rochelle, New York.  He died of leukemia at age 66 in Manhattan, New York.

 

1952 ~ Neil Peart (né Neil Ellwood Peart; d. Jan. 7, 2020), Canadian virtuoso Rush drummer who took progressive rock platinum.  He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.  He died in Santa Monica, California of brain cancer at age 67.

 

1944 ~ Barry White (né Barry Eugene Carter; d. July 4, 2003), American singer and songwriter.  He was born in Galveston, Texas.  He died of kidney disease at age 58 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1944 ~ Frederick Fay (d. Aug. 20, 2011), American quadriplegic who fought for the disabled.  A freak backyard trapeze accident left him a quadriplegic at age 16.  He spent the rest of his life advocating for disabled Americans.  He was born in Washington, D.C.  He died 3 weeks before his 67th birthday in Concord, Massachusetts.

 

1943 ~ Maria Muldaur (née Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D’Amato), American singer.  She is best known for her song Midnight at the Oasis.  She was born in New York, New York.

 

1943 ~ Michael Ondaatje (né Philip Michael Ondaatje), Sri Lankan-born Canadian author, best known for his novel, The English Patient.  He was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

 

1940 ~ Linda Gray (née Linda Ann Gray), American actress, best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing on Dallas.  She was born in Santa Monica, California.

 

1931 ~ George Jones (né George Glenn Jones; d. Apr. 26, 2013), American country singer who became the voice of heartbreak.  He had such hits as He Stopped Loving Her Today.  He was born in Saratoga, Texas.  He died of respiratory failure at age 81 in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

1928 ~ Muriel Siebert (née Muriel Faye Seibert; d. Aug. 24, 2013), financier who became the first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, thus shattering the glass ceiling.  She was born in Cleveland, Ohio.  She died at age 84, just 3 weeks before her 85th birthday in New York, New York.

 

1928 ~ Ernie Vandeweghe (né Ernest Maurice Vandeweghe, Jr.; d. Nov. 8, 2014), Canadian-American physician who played professional basketball for the New York Knicks.  He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  He died at age 86 in Newport Beach, California.

 

1925 ~ Dickie Moore (né John Richard Moore, Jr.; d. Sept. 7, 2015), American child superstar who survived the Hollywood limelight.  He was one of the last surviving actors to have appeared in silent films.  He appeared in such films as Our Gang and Sergeant York.  He was born in Los Angeles, California.  He died 5 days before his 90th birthday in Wilton, Connecticut.

 

1913 ~ Jesse Owens (né James Cleveland Owens; d. Mar. 31, 1980), American athlete.  He is best known for competing in track in the 1936 Olympics that were held in Berlin, Germany.  He was born in Oakville, Alabama.  He died of lung cancer at age 66 in Tucson, Arizona.

 

1913 ~ Eiji Toyoda (d. Sept. 17, 2013), Japanese industrialist and founder of the Toyota Motor Company.  He died 5 days following his 100th birthday.

 

1901 ~ Shmuel Horowitz (d. 1999), Russian-born Israeli agronomist.  He was born in Minsk.

 

1900 ~ Haskell Curry (né Haskell Brooks Curry; d. Sept. 1, 1982), American mathematician.  He was born in Millis, Massachusetts.  He died 11 days before his 82nd birthday in State College, Pennsylvania.

 

1897 ~ Irène Joliot-Curie (d. Mar. 17, 1956), French physicist and recipient of the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  She was the daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie.  She was born and died in Paris, France.  She died at age 58 of leukemia.

 

1894 ~ Dorothy Maud Wrinch (d. Feb. 11, 1976), English mathematician and biochemical theorist.  She was born in Rosario, Argentina.  She died in Falmouth, Massachusetts at age 81.

 

1892 ~ Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. (né Alfred Abraham Knopf, d. Aug. 11, 1984), American publisher and founder of the Alfred A Knopf, Inc., publishing house.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died a month before his 92nd birthday in Purchase, New York.

 

1888 ~ Maurice Chevalier (né Maurice Auguste Chevalier; d. Jan. 1, 1972), French actor and singer.  He is best known for his signature song, Thank Heaven for Little Girls.  He was born and died in Paris, France.  He died at age 83.

 

1880 ~ H.L. Mencken (né Henry Louis Mencken; d. Jan. 29, 1956), American journalist.  He was born and died in Baltimore, Maryland.  He died at age 75.

 

1852 ~ H.H. Asquith, 1st Earle of Oxford and Asquith (né Herbert Henry Asquith; d. Feb. 15, 1928), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister from April 1908 through December 1916, during the reigns of King Edward VII and King George V.  He died at age 75.

 

1830 ~ William Sprague IV (d. Sept. 11, 1915), 27th Governor of Rhode Island.  He served in this office from May 1860 until March 1863.  He participated in the Battle of Bull Run while he was a sitting governor.  He subsequently became a United States Senator from Rhode Island.  He was born in Cranston, Rhode Island.  He died 1 day before his 85th birthday in Paris, France.

 

1829 ~ Charles Dudley Warner (d. Oct. 20, 1900), American writer, essayist and educator.  He was born in Plainfield, Massachusetts.  He died in Hartford, Connecticut at age 71.

 

1818 ~ Richard Jordan Gatling (d. Feb. 26, 1903), American inventor who invented the Gatling gun, the first successful machine gun.  He was born in Hertford County, North Carolina.  He died at age 84 in New York, New York.

 

1494 ~ Francis I, King of France (d. Mar. 31, 1547).  He ruled over France from January 1515 until his death in 1547.  He was married twice.  In 1514, he married Claude, Duchess of Brittany (1499 ~ 1524).  After her death, he married Eleanor, Archduchess of Austria (1498 ~ 1588).  They married in 1530.  He was Eleanor’s second husband.  He was of the House of Valois-Angoulême.  He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême and Louise of Savoy.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died at age 52.

 

1492 ~ Lorenzo di Piero de’Medici, Duke of Urbino (d. May 4, 1519).  He ruled Florence from March 1516 until his death 3 years later.  In 1518, he married Madeleine de la Tour.  He was of the House of Medici.  He was the son of Piero the Unfortunate and Alforsina Orsini.  He died of syphilis at age 26.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2014 ~ South African runner Oscar Pistorius (b. 1986) was found guilty of culpable homicide of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp (1983 ~ 2013).

 

2011 ~ The National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City opened to the public.

 

1992 ~ The leader of the Shining Path was captured by Peruvian special forces.  The leadership of this terrorist organization soon crumbled.

 

1988 ~ Hurricane Gilbert struck Jamaica.  It was a category 5 storm.  The storm had formed on September 8 and dissipated on September 19, 1988.

 

1980 ~ Military coup took place in Turkey.  The Turkish armed forces ruled the country until 1983, when democracy was once again established.

 

1974 ~ Emperor Haile Selassie I (1892 ~ 1975) of Ethiopia was overthrown by a military coup.  He had ruled for 58 years.

 

1970 ~ Palestinian terrorist blew up three hijacked planes in Amman, Jordan.  The passenger hostages were held in various undisclosed locations in Jordan.  Five planes had been hijacked beginning on September 6, 1970.

 

1964 ~ Canyonlands National Park in southeast Utah was designated as a National Park.

 

1959 ~ Bonanza premiered on television.  It was the first regularly scheduled TV program that was presented in color.  The show ran until January 16, 1973.

 

1953 ~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917 ~ 1963) and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier (1929 ~ 1994) were married.

 

1940 ~ The pre-historic cave paintings in Lascaux, France were discovered by 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat after his dog fell into a hole near the entrance.  When he went to rescue his dog, he discovered the paintings.

 

1857 ~ The SS Central America sank just 160 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.  The ship had been carrying about 15 tons of gold from the California Gold Rush.  Four hundred twenty-six passengers and crew drown when the ship sank.

 

1846 ~ Poets Elizabeth Barrett (1806 ~ 1861) and Robert Browning (1812 ~ 1889) eloped.

 

1609 ~ Henry Hudson (1565 ~ 1611) began his exploration of what is now known as the Hudson River.

 

490 BCE ~ This is the date generally ascribed for the Battle of Marathon, when the Athenians defeated the first Persian invasion force of Greece.

 

Good-byes:

 

2019 ~ Juanita Abernathy (née Juanita Odessa Jones; b. Dec. 1, 1931), American civil rights activist who helped plan the Montgomery bus boycott.  She was the wife of civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy.  She died at age 87.

 

2018 ~ Walter Mischel (b. Feb. 22, 1930), Austrian-born psychologist who tested our willpower.  He specialized in personality theory and social psychology.  His family fled to the United States in 1938 to escape Nazi occupation of Austria.  He was born in Vienna, Austria.  He died at age 88 in New York, New York.

 

2017 ~ Edith Windsor (née Edith Schlain; b. June 20, 1929), American activist who fought for same-sex marriage.  She was the lead plaintiff in the 2013 Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor.  In an opinion authored by Justice Kennedy, the Court overturned Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.  She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She died at age 88 in New York, New York.

 

2014 ~ Ian Paisley, Baron Paisley (né Ian Richard Kyle Paisley; b. Apr. 6, 1926), Irish Protestant firebrand who made peace.  He was the 2nd First Minister of Northern Ireland.  He died at age 88.

 

2013 ~ Ray Dolby (né Ray Milton Dolby; b. Jan. 18, 1933), American audio engineer who refined recordings and an innovator.  He was born in Portland, Oregon.  He died of leukemia at age 80 in San Francisco, California.

 

2010 ~ Claude Chabrol (né Claude Henri Jean Chabrol; b. June 24, 1930), French film director who mocked France’s bourgeoisie.  His 1958 film, Le Beau Serge, inaugurated the New Wave of French cinema.  He was born and died in Paris, France.  He died at age 80.

 

2009 ~ Norman Borlaug (né Norman Ernest Borlaug; b. Mar. 25, 1914), American agriculturalist and recipient of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize.  He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions of increasing the world’s food supplies as a pathway to peace.  He was born in Cresco, Iowa.  He died at age 95 in Dallas, Texas.

 

2008 ~ David Foster Wallace (b. Feb. 21, 1962), American author.  He was born in Ithaca, New York.  He died by suicide at age 46 in Claremont, California.

 

2005 ~ Serge Lang (b. May 19, 1927), French-born American mathematician.  At the time of his death he was a professor emeritus at Yale University.  He was born in Paris, France.  He died at age 78 in Berkeley, California.

 

2003 ~ Johnny Cash (né John Ray Cash; b. Feb. 26, 1932), American singer.  He was born in Kingsland, Arkansas.  He died at age 71 in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

1993 ~ Raymond Burr (né Raymond William Stacy Burr; b. May 21, 1917), American actor best known for his portrayal of Perry Mason and Ironsides.  He was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.  He died of cancer at age 76 in Healdsburg, California.

 

1992 ~ Anthony Perkins (b. Apr. 4, 1932), American actor best known for his portrayal of Norman Bates in Psycho.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 60 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1981 ~ Eugenio Montale (b. Oct. 12, 1896), Italian poet and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He was born in Genoa, Kingdom of Italy.  He died a month before his 85th birthday in Milan, Italy.

 

1977 ~ Robert Lowell (né Robert Traill Spence Lowell, IV; b. Mar. 1, 1917), American poet.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died of a heart attack at age 60 in New York, New York.

 

1973 ~ Marjorie Merriweather Post (b. Mar. 15, 1887), American socialite and owner of General Foods, Inc.  She built the mansion, Mar-a-Lago, which was subsequently purchased by Donald Trump.  She was born in Springfield, Illinois.  She died following a long illness at age 86 in Washington, D.C.

 

1927 ~ Sarah Frances Whiting (b. Aug. 23, 1847), American physicist and astronomer.  She died 20 days after her 80thbirthday in Wilbraham, Massachusetts.

 

1917 ~ Eleanore Reuss of Köstritz (b. Aug. 22, 1860), Tsarina of Bulgaria and second wife of Ferdinand I, Tsar of Bulgaria.  They married in 1908.  It was not a happy marriage and he neglected her.  She was of the House of Reuss- Köstritz.  She was the daughter of Prince Heinrich IV of Reuss of Köstritz and Princess Luise Caroline of Reuss of Greiz.  She was Lutheran but converted to Eastern Orthodox upon her marriage.  She died 3 weeks after her 57th birthday.

 

1906 ~ Ernesto Cesàro (b. Mar. 12, 1859), Italian mathematician who specialized in the field of differential geometry.  He was born in Naples, Italy.  He died at age 47 while trying to save his son from drowning in Torre Annunziata, Italy.

 

1869 ~ Peter Mark Roget (b. Jan. 18, 1779). British physician and lexicographer.  He is best known for publishing the Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases, generally known as Roget’s Thesaurus.  He was born in London, England.  He died at age 90.

 

1861 ~ George N. Briggs (né George Nixon Briggs; b. Apr. 12, 1796), 19th Governor of Massachusetts.  He was governor from January 1844 until January 1851.  He was born in Adams, Massachusetts.  He died at age 65 of an accidental self-inflicted gun injury in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

 

1813 ~ Edmund Randolph (né Edmund Jennings Randolph, b. Aug. 10, 1753), 1st United States Attorney General.  He served under President George Washington from September 1780 until January 1794.  He subsequently went on to serve as the 2nd United States Secretary of State in the Washington Administration from January 1794 until August 1795.  He had previously served as the Governor of Virginia from December 1786 until December 1788.  He was born in Williamsburg, Virginia.  He died just over a month after his 60th birthday in Millwood, Virginia.

 

1695 ~ Jacob Abendana (b. 1630), Spanish-born English rabbi and scholar.  He died in London, England.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about age 54 or 55 at the time of his death.

 

1683 ~ Afonso VI, King of Portugal (b. Aug. 21, 1643).  He reigned from November 1656 until his death in September 1683.  He was married to Maria Francisca of Savoy.  She regarded her husband to be weak and had her marriage annulled so she could marry his brother, Peter.  He was of the House of Braganza.  He was the son of John IV, King of Portugal and Luisa de Guzmán.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died about 3 weeks after his 40th birthday.

 

1612 ~ Vasili IV Shuisky, Tsar of Russia (b. Sept. 1552).  He was Tsar from May 1606 until July 1610.  He was married twice.  His first wife was Elena Makhailovna Repnina.  She died before Vasili became Tsar.  His second wife was Ekaterina Buynosova-Rostovskaia.  He was of the House of Shuysky.  He was the son of Ivan Andreyevich Shuysky and Marfa Feodorovna.  He was Eastern Orthodox.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been about 59 or 60 at the time of his death.

 

1368 ~ Blanche of Lancaster (b. Mar. 25, 1342), Duchess of Lancaster.  She was the first wife of John of Gaunt and mother of Henry IV, King of England.  She was of the House of Plantagenet.  She was the daughter of Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster and Isabel of Beaumont.  The exact date of her birth is not known, but she is believed to have been born in either 1345 or 1347.  She is believed to have died of the Black Death at age 26.

 

1362 ~ Pope Innocent VI (né Étienne Aubert; b. 1295).  He was Pope from December 1352 until September 1362.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

 

1213 ~ Peter II, King of Aragon (b. July 1178).  He ruled over Aragon from April 1196 until his death in 1213.  He was married to Marie of Montpellier.  He was of the House of Barcelona.  He was the son of Alfonso II, King of Aragon and Sancha of Castile.  He was Roman Catholic.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  He was killed in the Battle of Muret at about age 35.


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