Wednesday, September 13, 2023

September 13

Birthdays:

 

1982 ~ Misty Copeland (née Misty Danielle Copeland), African-American ballet dancer.  She became the first African-American woman to be prompted to principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre.  She was born in Kansas City, Missouri.

 

1971 ~ Stella McCartney (née Stella Nina McCartney), English fashion designer.  She is the daughter of Paul and Linda McCartney.  She was born in London, England.

 

1961 ~ Tom Holt (né Thomas Charles Louis Holt), British novelist.  He was born in London, England.

 

1951 ~ Jean Smart (née Jean Elizabeth Smart), American actress best known for her role as Charlene on Designing Women.  She was born in Seattle, Washington.

 

1944 ~ Jacqueline Bisset (née Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset), English actress.  She was born in Weybridge, England.

 

1940 ~ Óscar Arias (né Óscar Arias Sánchez), President of Costa Rica and recipient of the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the Central America crisis.  He was born in Heredia, Costa Rica.

 

1939 ~ William J. Janklow (né William John Janklow; d. Jan. 12, 2012), South Dakota governor who hurried too much.  He was the Republican Governor for 16 years over two terms, first from January 1979 to January 1987, and then from January 1995 until January 2003.  He went on to be a congressman in the United States House of Representative, but his career was cut short in 2004 after his conviction of second-degree manslaughter for killing a Minnesota farmer in an automobile accident.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He died of brain cancer at age 72 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

 

1939 ~ Richard Kiel (né Richard Dawson Kiel; d. Sept. 10, 2014), American gentle giant who became a Bond villain.  He was the seven-foot-two actor who was best known for his role as Jaws in the 1977 James Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me.  He was born in Detroit, Michigan.  He died of a heart attack three days before his 75th birthday in Fresno, California.

 

1939 ~ Larry Speakes (né Larry Melvin Speakes; d. Jan. 10, 2014), American journalist and 16th White House Press Secretary.  He served under President Ronald Reagan.  He was technically the acting press secretary because James Brady, who had been shot during the assassination attempt on President Reagan, retained his position and title even though he was unable to perform those duties.  He died of Alzheimer’s disease at age 74.  He was born and died in Cleveland, Mississippi.

 

1938 ~ Judith Martin (née Judith Perlman), American journalist etiquette writer.  She is best known as Miss Manners. She was born in Washington, D.C.

 

1937 ~ Fred Silverman (d. Jan. 30, 2020), American master showman who made hit TV.  He was a television executive who worked at CBS, ABC and NBC.  He brought such shows to American audiences as M*A*S*HThe Mary Tyler Moore Show and Hill Street Blues.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 82 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1936 ~ Chuck Allen (né Charles Lee Allen; d. Feb. 14, 2011), American surfing coach turned snowboard evangelist.  He was born in Enid, Oklahoma.  He died at age 74 of emphysema.

 

1931 ~ Barbara Bain (née Mildred Fogel), American actress.  She is best known for her role as Cinnamon Carter on the television series Mission: Impossible.  She was born in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1925 ~ Mel Tormé (né Melvin Howard Tormé; d. June 5, 1999), American singer, composer, and actor.  He was known as “The Velvet Fog”.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He died of a stroke at age 73 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1925 ~ Harley Flanders (d. July 26, 2013), American mathematician.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He died at age 87 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

 

1924 ~ Maurice Jarre (né Maurice-Alexis Jarre, b. Mar. 28, 2009), French composer.  Many of his compositions were in movies.  He was born in Lyon, France.  He died at age 84 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1922 ~ Yma Sumac (née Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo; d. Nov. 1, 2008), Peruvian chanteuse who trilled like a bird.  This is the accepted date of her birth, however, there is some controversy, and some records note her birthday as being September 10, 1923.  She was born in Cajamarca, Peru.  She was about 86 at the time of her death.  She died in Los Angeles, California.

 

1919 ~ George Weidenfeld, Baron Weidenfeld (d. Jan. 20, 2016), British Jewish refugee who became a publishing legend.  He was born in Vienna, Austria, but escaped to England during World War II.  He died at age 96 in London, England.

 

1918 ~ Rosemary Kennedy (née Rose Marie Kennedy; d. Jan. 7, 2005), oldest daughter of the Kennedy clan.  She was the Kennedy who inspired the Special Olympics.  When she was 23 years old, her father arranged for her to have a frontal lobotomy, due to her behavioral issues.  The procedure failed and she was institutionalized for the rest of her life.  Her condition inspired her sister, Eunice, to form the Special Olympics in 1962.  She was born in Brookline, Massachusetts.  She died at age 86 in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.

 

1916 ~ Roald Dahl (d. Nov. 23, 1990), English author, best known for his children’s stories, James and the Giant Peachand Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  His first wife was actress Patricia Neal.  He was born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales.  He died of a rare blood cancer at age 74 in Oxford, England.

 

1903 ~ Claudette Colbert (née Émilie Claudette Chauchion; d. July 30, 1996), French actress.  She died at age 92.

 

1894 ~ J. B. Priestley (né John Boynton Priestley; d. Aug. 14, 1984), English playwright and novelist.  He died a month before his 90th birthday.

 

1887 ~ Leopold Ružička (d. Sept 26, 1976), Croatian chemist and recipient of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died two weeks after his 89th birthday.

 

1886 ~ Sir Robert Robinson (d. Feb. 8, 1975), English chemist and recipient of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 88.

 

1885 ~ Wilhelm Blaschke (né Wilhelm Johann Eugen Blaschke; d. Mar. 17, 1962), Austrian-German mathematician.  He was a member of the Nazi Party.  He died at age 76 in Hamburg, Germany.

 

1880 ~ Jesse L. Lasky (né Jesse Louis Lasky; d. Jan. 13, 1958), American movie producer and co-founder of Paramount Pictures.  He was born in San Francisco, California.  He died of a heart attack at age 77 in Beverly Hills, California.

 

1877 ~ Stanley Lord (né Stanley Phillip Lord; d. Jan. 24, 1962), captain of the SS Californian, a ship in the area, the night the Titanic hit an iceberg.  He died at age 84.

 

1876 ~ Sherwood Anderson (d. Mar. 8, 1941), American author.  He is best known for his novel Winesburg, Ohio.  He died at age 64 of peritonitis while on a cruise in Panama.

 

1873 ~ Constantin Carathéodory (d. Feb. 2, 1950), Greek mathematician.  He was born in Berlin, German Empire.  He died at age 76 in Munich, West Germany.

 

1863 ~ Arthur Henderson (d. Oct. 20, 1935), British politician and recipient of the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize.  He was born in Glasgow, Scotland.  He died at age 72 in London, England.

 

1860 ~ John J. Pershing (né John Joseph Pershing; d. July 15, 1948), American army general.  He was known as Black Jack.  He is best known for being the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front during World War I.  He was born in Laclede, Missouri.  He died of congestive heart failure at age 87 in Washington, D.C.

 

1857 ~ Milton S. Hershey (né Milton Snavely Hershey; d. Oct. 13, 1945), American confectioner and founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company.  He was born in Derry Township, Pennsylvania.  He died a month after his 88th birthday in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

 

1851 ~ Walter Reed (d. Nov. 22, 1902), American bacteriologist and Army surgeon who studied and discovered the cause of yellow fever.  He was born in Gloucester County, Virginia.  He died in Washington, D.C., at age 51 following an infection from a ruptured appendix.

 

1819 ~ Clara Schumann (née Clara Josephine Wieck; d. May 20, 1896), German pianist and composer.  She died at age 76 in Frankfurt, German Empire.

 

1660 ~ Daniel Defoe (né Daniel Foe; d. Apr. 24, 1731), English writer, best known for his novel, Robinson Crusoe.  He died at about age 71.  The exact date of his birth is unknown; but is believed to have been September 13, 1660.  He was born and died in London, England.

 

1601 ~ Jan Brueghel the Younger (d. Sept. 1, 1678), Flemish painter.  He was born in Brussels, Belgium.  He died 12 days before his 77th birthday in Antwerp, Belgium.

 

1475 ~ Cesare Borgia (d. Mar. 12, 1507), Italian politician and cardinal.  He was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI and his mistress Vannozza die Cattanei, and brother of Lucrezia Borgia.  He became the first cardinal to resign, after which he married Charlotte of Albfet.  He was assassinated at age 31.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2018 ~ Hurricane Florence struck the Carolinas.  The storm formed on August 31 and dissipated on September 18, 2018.

 

2018 ~ In the Merrimack Valley gas explosion, excessive pressure in a natural gas line exploded and totally destroyed at least 40 homes in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover, Massachusetts.  Numerous other homes were also damaged.  Twenty-five people were injured.  The ensuing explosion caused massive fires which blazed for over 2 hours.

 

2015 ~ Rosh HaShanah began at sunset.

 

2008 ~ Hurricane Ike made landfall along the Texas coast near Galveston Island.  The storm had formed on September 1 and dissipated on September 15, 2008.

 

2001 ~ Civilian airplane traffic resumed in the United States following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

 

1993 ~ Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1922 ~ 1995) and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat (1929 ~ 2004) signed the Oslo Accords, which granted limited Palestinian autonomy.

 

1990 ~ The first episode of Law & Order was aired.  It was a police drama set in New York City.

 

1988 ~ Hurricane Gilbert was the strongest recorded hurricane at the time in the Western Hemisphere.  It had winds of 185 miles per hour.  The storm had formed on September 8, 1988 and dissipated on September 19, 1988.  The storm wreaked havoc in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico for days.  In 2005, Hurricane Wilma surpassed Gilbert as the strongest recorded hurricane.

 

1971 ~ New York State police and National Guardsmen stormed Attica Prison in New York State to end prison riots.  The riots had raged for 4 days.

 

1963 ~ Mary Kay Ash (1918 ~ 2001) launched her cosmetics company.

 

1962 ~ The United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi ordered the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith (b. 1933), the first African-American admitted to the segregated University.

 

1953 ~ Nikita Khrushchev (1894 ~ 1971) was appointed as the Secretary-General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

 

1948 ~ Margaret Chase Smith (1897 ~ 1995) was elected Senator from Maine, becoming the first woman to serve in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

 

1899 ~ Henry Bliss (1830 ~ 1899) became the first person in the United States to be killed in an automobile accident.  He was a pedestrian and was struck by a taxi as he exited a streetcar.

 

1898 ~ Hannibal Goodwin (1822 ~ 1900), an American Episcopal priest and inventor, patented celluloid photographic film.

 

1848 ~ Phineas Gage (1823 ~ 1860), a railroad worker from Vermont, was injured when a 3-foot iron rod was driven through his head during rock blasting while working on the railway.  He survived the injury but suffered behavioral and personality changes as a result.  His injury and survival, however, allowed doctors to study the brain and its functions.

 

1759 ~ At the Battle of the Plains of Abraham near Quebec City, the British defeated the French in the French and Indian War.

 

1541 ~ John Calvin (1509 ~ 1564) returned to Geneva, Switzerland and to reform the Protestant church which became known as Calvinism.

 

335 ~ Emperor Constantine the Great was said to have consecrated the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on this date.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2022 ~ Ken Starr (né Kenneth Winston Starr; b. July 21, 1946), American lawyer and federal judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  He served as the Independent Counsel for the Whitewater real estate scandal during the Clinton administration.  His investigation and report included allegations of sexual harassment by President Clinton.  Starr later served as president of Baylor University but was removed from his post in 2016 after a mishandled alleged sexual assault by one of the school’s football players.  He also faced criticism for assisting alleged child abuser Jeffrey Epstein get immunity from federal prosecution.  He was born in Vernon, Texas.  He died of complications from surgery at age 76 in Houston, Texas.

 

2022 ~ Fred Franzia (né Fred Thomas Franzia; b. May 24, 1943), American wine maverick behind Two-Buck Chuck.  He was the co-founder and CEO of the Bronco Wine Company, which produced the Charles Shaw brand wines sold at Trader Joe’s.  He was born in Modesto, California.  He died at age 79 in Denair, California.

 

2022 ~ Jean-Luc Godard (b. Dec. 3, 1930), French auteur in the vanguard of New Wave film.  He invented a new way to tell stories on screen.  He shattered convention with his 1960 classic Breathless.  He was born in Paris, France.  He had a disabling illness and ended his life through assisted suicide at age 91 in Rolle, Switzerland.

 

2021 ~ George Wein (b. Oct. 3, 1925), American jazz lover who remade the music festival.  In 1954, he founded the Newport Jazz Festival, which is held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island.  He was born in Lynn, Massachusetts.  He died 20 days before his 96th birthday in New York, New York.

 

2021 ~ Antony Hewish (b. May 11, 1924), British radio astronomer and recipient of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Fowey, Cornwall, England.  He died at age 97.

 

2019 ~ Eddie Money (né Edward Joseph Mahoney; b. Mar. 21, 1949), American musician and singer-songwriter.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 70 of complications from cancer in Los Angeles, California.

 

2015 ~ Moses Malone (né Moses Eugene Malone; b. Mar. 23, 1955) African-American professional basketball player.  He was the NBA star who mastered the rebound.  He was born in Petersburg, Virginia.  He died of heart disease at age 60 in Norfolk, Virginia.

 

2015 ~ Stanley Hoffmann (b. Nov. 27, 1928), Austrian-born historian.  He was born in Vienna, Austria.  He died at age 86 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

2011 ~ Walter Bonatti (b. June 22, 1930), Italian mountain climber plagued by an untruth.  In a 1954 expedition to climb K2, two other older climbers alleged that Bonatti had emptied their oxygen tanks to prevent them from reaching the top. It was not until 2004 that the other climbers came clean and acknowledged that Bonatti had done nothing wrong on the climb.  He died at age 81 in Rome, Italy.

 

2006 ~ Ann Richards (né Dorothy Ann Willis; b. Sept. 1, 1933), 45th Governor of Texas.  She served as Governor from January 1991 through January 1995.  She was born in Lakeview, Texas.  She died of esophageal cancer 12 days after her 73rd birthday in Austin, Texas.

 

2004 ~ Luis E. Miramontes (né Luis Ernesto Miramontes Cárdenas; b. Mar. 16, 1925), Mexican inventor and best known for being the co-inventor of the chemical used in birth-control pills.  He died at age 79.

 

1998 ~ George Wallace (né George Corley Wallace, Jr.; b. Aug. 25, 1919), 45th Governor of Alabama and segregationist.  He also was the First Gentleman when his wife, Lureen Wallace, served as Governor from January 1967 to May 1968.  He later renounced his segregationist ideas.  After an assassination attempt in 1972, which left him paralyzed, he was wheelchair bound for the remainder of his life.  He was born in Clio, Alabama.  He died 19 days after his 79th birthday in Montgomery, Alabama.

 

1996 ~ Tupac Shakur (né Lesane Parish Crooks; b. June 16, 1971), American rapper and actor.  He was born in New York, New York.  He was killed in a drive-by shooting at age 25 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

1977 ~ Leopold Stokowski (né Leopold Anthony Stokowski; b. Apr. 18, 1882), British conductor.  He was born in London, England.  He died of a heart attack at age 95.

 

1967 ~ Varian Fry (b. Oct. 15, 1907), American journalist.  He ran a rescue network in Vichy France and helped numerous Jewish refugees to escape from Nazi Germany.  He was one of the first five Americans to be recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died of a cerebral hemorrhage a month before his 60th birthday in Redding, Connecticut.

 

1953 ~ Mary Brewster Hazelton (b. Nov. 23, 1868), American portrait painter.  She was also an instructor at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.  She was born in Milton, Massachusetts and died in Wellesley, Massachusetts.  She died at age 84.

 

1949 ~ August Krogh (né Schack August Steenberg Krogh; b. Nov. 15, 1874), Danish zoologist.  He was the recipient of the 1920 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in the discovery of the mechanism of the regulation of capillaries in skeletal muscles.  He died at age 74 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

 

1881 ~ Ambrose Burnside (né Ambrose Everett Burnside, b. May 23, 1824), Union General during the American Civil War.  He was also served as the 30th Governor of Rhode Island from May 1866 until May 1869.  His distinctive style of facial hair became known as Sideburns, in his honor.  He was born in Liberty, Indiana.  He died of a heart attack at age 57 in Bristol, Rhode Island.

 

1858 ~ Eugene Foss (né Eugene Noble Foss; b. Sept. 24, 1939), 45th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1911 until January 1914.  He was born in West Berkshire, Vermont.  He died 11 days before his 81stbirthday in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.

 

1848 ~ Infanta María Isabella of Spain (b. July 6, 1789), Queen consort of the Two Sicilies.  Her first husband was Francis I, King of the Two Sicilies (1777 ~ 1830).  She was his second wife.  After his death, she married Francesco, Count del Balzo dei Duchi di Presenzano (1805 ~ 1882).  He was 16 years her junior.  She was of the House of Bourbon.  She was the daughter of Charles IV, King of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma.  She was born on the 5th birthday of her sister, Infanta María Luisa of Spain.  She died at age 59.

 

1810 ~ William Cushing (d. Mar. 1, 1732), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President George Washington.  He was one of the original five associate justices on the Supreme Court.  He was succeeded by Joseph Story.  He served on the Court from September 1789 until his death at age 78.  He was born and died in Scituate, Massachusetts.

 

1803 ~ John Barry (b. Mar. 25, 1745), American officer in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War.  He and John Paul Jones are considered the Fathers of the American Navy.  After the War, he became the first American commissioned naval officer, receiving the rank of Commodore.  He was born in Ireland.  He died of asthma at age 58 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

1759 ~ Major General James Wolfe (b. Jan. 2, 1727), British general whose success at the Battle of Quebec in 1759, conquered Canada for the British Empire.  During the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Quebec, Canada, however, Wolfe was shot three times and succumbed to his wounds.  He was 32 years old.

 

1612 ~ Karin Månsdotter (b. Nov. 6, 1550), Queen consort of Sweden and wife of Eric XIV, King of Sweden.  She was his mistress before they married.  She died at age 61.

 

1598 ~ Philip II, King of Spain (b. May 21, 1527).  He ruled Spain from January 1556 until his death in September 1598.  He also reigned as Philip I, King of Portugal from September 1580 until his death in September 1598.  He married several times.  His first wife was Infanta Maria Manuela of Portugal (1527 ~ 1545).  They married in 1543.  She died 2 years later at age 17 of complications of childbirth.  His second wife was Mary I, Queen of England (1516 ~ 1558).  They married in 1554 and he became known as the King of England.  After her death, he married Elisabeth of Valois (1545 ~ 1568) in 1559.  She died in 1568.  His fourth and final wife was his niece, Archduchess Anna of Austria (1549 ~ 1580).  He was of the House of Habsburg.  He was the son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Infanta Isabella of Portugal.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died at age 71.

 

1592 ~ Michel de Montaigne (b. Feb. 28, 1533), French philosopher and author.  He died at age 59.

 

1409 ~ Isabella of Valois (b. Nov. 9, 1389), Queen consort of England.  She was the second wife of Richard II, King of England (1367 ~ 1400).  She was married to Richard II at age 7 and was widowed at age 10.  She later married Charles, Duke of Orléans and became the Duchess consort of Orléans.  She was of the House of Valois.  She was the daughter of Charles VI, King of France and Isabeau of Bavaria.  She died in childbirth at age 19.

 

81 ~ Titus (b. Dec. 30, 39), the traditional date ascribed to the death of this Roman Emperor.  He is best known for leading the siege on Jerusalem and destroying the Second Temple.  The actual dates of his birth and death are not known.  He is believed to have been 40 or 41 at the time of his death.


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