Saturday, December 30, 2023

December 30

Birthdays:

 

1984 ~ LeBron James (né LeBron Raymone James), African-American professional basketball player.  He was born in Akron, Ohio.

 

1975 ~ Tiger Woods (né Eldrick Tont Woods), African-American golfer.  He was born in Cypress, California.

 

1965 ~ Heidi Fleiss (née Heidi Lynne Fleiss), American madam.  She was known as the Hollywood Madam for her prostitution ring.  She was born in Los Angeles, California.

 

1963 ~ Mike Pompeo (né Michael Richard Pompeo), 70th United States Secretary of State.  He served as Secretary of State during the Trump administration.  He assumed the Office in April 2018 and remained in that position until January 20, 2021, the end of the Trump administration.  Prior to becoming Secretary of State, he served as the 6th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from January 2017 until April 2018, also during the Trump Administration.  He had previously served as a United States Representative from Kansas.  He was born in Orange, California.

 

1959 ~ Tracey Ullman, English actress and comedian.  She was born in Slough, England.

 

1957 ~ Matt Lauer (né Matthew Todd Lauer), American morning news anchor.  He hosted the Today show for 20 years before he was dismissed in 2017 for allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior towards subordinates in the workplace.  He was born in New York, New York.

 

1953 ~ Meredith Vieira (née Meredith Louise Vieira), American journalist and game show host.  She was born in Providence, Rhode Island.

 

1946 ~ Patti Smith (née Patricia Lee Smith), American musician, singer and songwriter.  She was born in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1945 ~ Davy Jones (né David Thomas Jones; d. Feb. 29, 2012), English musician and lead singer for The Monkees.  He was The Monkees’ romantic heartthrob.  He died of a heart attack at age 66 in Stuart, Florida.

 

1944 ~ Joseph Hilbe (né Joseph Michael Hilbe; d. Mar. 12, 2017), American mathematician.  He was born in Los Angeles, California.  He died at age 72.

 

1942 ~ Vladimir Bukovsky (né Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky; d. Oct. 27, 2019), Russian lifelong dissident who exposed Soviet abuse.  He was a Russian-born British human rights activist and writer.  He spent 12 years in psychiatric prison hospitals, labor camps and prisons in the Soviet Union.  He was expelled from the Soviet Union in the mid-1970 and began his campaign to stop human rights abuse in his native country.  He died of a heart-attack at age 76 in Cambridge, England.

 

1942 ~ Michael Nesmith (né Robert Michael Nesmith; d. Dec. 10, 2021), American musician in The Monkees.  He was The Monkee who achieved creative control.  He was born in Houston, Texas.  He died of heart failure just 20 days before his 79th birthday in Carmel Valley, California.

 

1940 ~ James Burrows (né James Edward Burrows), American television director and producer.  He is best known for producing such shows as CheersNight CourtWings, and Will & Grace.  He was born in Los Angeles, California.

 

1937 ~ Paul Stookey (né Noel Paul Stookey), American singer-songwriter and member of the folk trio of Peter, Paul and Mary.  He was born in Baltimore, Maryland.

 

1935 ~ Sandy Koufax (né Sanford Braun), American professional baseball player.  He is known for refusing to play during Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because the game fell on Yom Kippur.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.

 

1930 ~ Tu Youyou, Chinese pharmaceutical chemist and recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology.  Her research focused on tropical medicine.  She discovered artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin, which are used to treat malaria.  She was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.

 

1929 ~ Professor Dame Rosalinde Hurley (aka Mrs. Gortval; d. June 30, 2004), British physician, microbiologist public health administrator and barrister.  She died at age 74.

 

1928 ~ Bo Diddley (né Ellas Ortha Bates; d. June 2, 2008), African-American musician, singer and songwriter.  He was born in McComb, Mississippi.  He died at age 79 in Archer, Florida.

 

1924 ~ Yvonne Brill (née Yvonne Madelaine Claeys; d. Mar. 27, 2013), Canadian-born woman who blazed a trail in rocketry.  She was a propulsion engineer best known for her development of rocket and jet propulsion technologies.  She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  She died at age 88 in Princeton, New Jersey.

 

1922 ~ Rosalind Cartwright (née Rosalind Falk; d. Jan. 15, 2021), American neuroscientist and sleep researcher.  She was known as the Queen of Dreams.  She was born in New York, New York.  She died in Chicago, Illinois 2 weeks after her 98th birthday.

 

1920 ~ Jack Lord (né John Joseph Patrick Ryan; d. Jan. 21, 1998), American actor.  He is best known for his role as Steve McGarrett in the television drama Hawaii Five-O.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He died of heart failure 22 days after his 77th birthday in Honolulu, Hawaii.

 

1919 ~ Theodor Lumpkin, Jr. (d. Dec. 26, 2020), African-American pilot.  He was one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airman in the American segregated United States military.  He served as an intelligence military officer during World War II.  He was born and died in Los Angeles, California.  He died just 4 days before his 101st birthday of complications of Covid-19.

 

1914 ~ Bert Parks (né Bertram Jacobson; d. Feb. 2, 1992), American television host, best known as being the emcee for the Miss America beauty contests.  He was born in Atlanta, Georgia.  He died of lung cancer at age 77 in La Jolla, California.

 

1910 ~ Paul Bowles (né Paul Frederic Bowles; d. Nov. 18, 1999), American expatriate author and composer.  He is closely associated with Tangier, Morocco where he lived from 1947 until the end of his life.  He is best known for his 1949 novel The Sheltering Sky.  He was born in Queens, New York and died Tangier, Morocco.  He was 88 years old at the time of his death.

 

1910 ~ Bill Haast (d. June 15, 2011), American snake handler who charmed tourists and saved lives.  He learned how to extract venom from poisonous snakes for medical and research use.  He was the director of the Miami Serpentarium Laboratories in Florida.  He was born in Paterson, New Jersey.  He died in Punta Gorda, Florida at age 100old.

 

1910 ~ Howard W. Jones, Jr. (né Howard Wilbur Jones, Jr., d. July 31, 2015), American medical doctor who pioneered in vitro fertilization in the United States.  When he turned 65, he refused to stop working, despite having reached the mandatory retirement age at Johns Hopkins University.  Instead, in 1975, he began a gynecological practice with his wife, Georgeanna Jones (1912 ~ 2005), a reproductive endocrinologist, and set up the first in vitro fertilization clinic in the United States.  Elizabeth Carr, born on December 28, 1981, was first “test tube” baby born in the United States.  He was born in Baltimore, Maryland.  He died at age 104 in Norfolk, Virginia.

 

1895 ~ L.P. Hartley (né Leslie Poles Hartley; d. Dec. 13, 1972), British novelist.  He died 17 days before his 77th birthday in London, England.

 

1890 ~ Adolfo Ruiz Cortines (d. Dec. 3, 1973), 47th President of Mexico.  He was President from December 1952 through November 1958.  He was born and died in Veracruz, Mexico.  He died 27 days before his 83rd birthday.

 

1873 ~ Al Smith (né Alfred Emanuel Smith; d. Oct. 4, 1944), 42nd Governor of New York.  He served as Governor from January 1923 through December 1928.  He was also a Democratic candidate for president in the 1928 election.  He was born and died in New York, New York.  He died at age 70.

 

1865 ~ Rudyard Kipling (né Joseph Rudyard Kipling; d. Jan. 18, 1936), British writer.  In 1907, he became the first English writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.  He was born in Bombay, British India.  He died 19 days after his 70th birthday in London, England.

 

1851 ~ Asa Griggs Candler (d. Mar. 12, 1929), Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.  He served as Mayor from 1916 until 1919.  He was born in Villa Rica, Georgia.  He died at age 77 in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

1838 ~ Émile Loubet (né Émile François Loubet; d. Dec. 20, 1929), President of France.  He served as President from February 1899 until February 1906.  He died 10 days before his 91st birthday.

 

1819 ~ John W. Geary (né John White Geary; d. Feb. 8, 1879), 16th Governor of Pennsylvania and 1st Mayor of San Francisco, California.  He was also a Union General during the American Civil War.  He served as Pennsylvania’s governor from January 1867 until January 1873.  He served as Mayor of San Francisco from May 1850 until May 1851.  He was born and died in Pennsylvania.  He was 53 at the time of his death.

 

1578 ~ Ulrik, Prince of Denmark (d. Mar. 27, 1624), member of the Danish royal family and Prince-Bishop of Schwerin.  He never married.  He was of the House of Oldenburg.  He was the son of Frederick II, King of Denmark and Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow.  He was Lutheran.  He died at age 45.

 

1371 ~ Vasily I, Grand Prince of Moscow (d. Feb. 27, 1425).  He was the Grand Prince of Moscow from May 1389 until his death 36 years later.  He was married to Sophia of Lithuania (1371 ~ 1453).  He was of the Rurik Dynasty.  He was the son of Dmitry Donskoy and Eudoxia Dmitriyevna.  He died at age 53.

 

39 ~ Titus (d. Sept. 13, 81), the traditional date ascribed to the birth 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.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2006 ~ Saddam Hussein (1937 ~ 2006), former president of Iraq, was executed.

 

2005 ~ Tropical Storm Zeta formed in the Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone to form in the North Atlantic basin.

 

1993 ~ Israel and the Vatican City established diplomatic relations.

 

1965 ~ Ferdinand Marcos (1917 ~ 1989) became the President of the Philippines.  He retained that position until 1986 when he was removed from power to corruption.

 

1948 ~ Kiss Me, Kate, the Cole Porter (1891 ~ 1964) musical opened and became the first show to win the Best Musical Tony Award.

 

1947 ~ Michael, King of Romania (1921 ~ 2017) was forced to abdicate by the Soviet Union-backed communist government.

 

1936 ~ The United Auto Workers union staged its first sit-down strike.

 

1927 ~ The first subway in Asia opened with the Ginza Line in Tokyo, Japan.

 

1924 ~ Edwin Hubble (1889 ~ 1953) announced the existence of other galaxies.

 

1922 ~ Vladimir Lenin (1870 ~ 1924) proclaimed the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).  The USSR was dissolved in 1991.

 

1919 ~ At the Lincoln’s Inn in London, England the first female student was admitted to the bar.

 

1916 ~ Charles IV (1887 ~ 1922) and Zita (1892 ~ 1989) were crowned as King and Queen in Hungary.  This would be last Hungarian coronation before the monarchy was abolished.

 

1903 ~ A fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois killed over 600 people.  The theater had opened only a month earlier, on November 23, 1903.  Because the theater had only one entrance, when the fire broke out, theater-goers were unable to easily exit the building.

 

1853 ~ The United States purchased a strip of land that now includes a portion of Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico in what is known as the Gadsden Purchase.  The purpose was to facilitate the construction of the railroads in the Southwest, but also to provide a clear boundary between the two countries.

 

1825 ~ The Treaty of St. Louis of 1825, between the United States and the Shawnee Nation was proclaimed.  This treaty had been signed on November 7, 1825.

 

1816 ~ The Treaty of St. Louis of 1816, between the United States and the united Ottawa, Ojibwa and Potawatomi Indian tribes was made public.  The treaty had been signed on August 24, 1816.

 

1813 ~ During the War of 1812, British soldiers burned the town of Buffalo, New York.

 

1066 ~ The Granada massacre occurred when a Muslim mob stormed the palace in Granada and massacred most of the city’s Jewish population, including Joseph ibn Naghrela (1035 ~ 1066), the Jewish vizier.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2022 ~ Barbara Walters (née Barbara Jill Walters; b. Sept. 25, 1929), American television journalist and anchor who transformed television interviewing.  She was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  She died at age 93 in New York, New York.

 

2016 ~ Tyrus Wong (b. Oct. 25, 1910), the Chinese-American artist who brought Bambi to life.  He was the lead artist on the 1942 Disney animated film, Bambi.  He was also known for creating greeting cards for Hallmark.  He died at age 106 in Los Angeles, California.

 

2013 ~ Paul Sally (né Paul Joseph Sally, Jr.; b. Jan. 29, 1933), American mathematician.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died of heart failure a month before his 81st birthday in Chicago, Illinois.

 

2012 ~ John Sheardown (né John Vernon Sheardown; b. Oct. 11, 1924), Canadian envoy who sheltered Americans in Tehran during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979.  He sheltered 6 Americans for 79 days in the Canadian embassy.  This event was depicted in the 2012 movie Argo.  He was born in Sandwich, Ontario, Canada.  He died at age 87 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

 

2012 ~ Beate Sirota Gordon (né Beate Siorta; b. Oct. 25, 1823), Austrian woman who shaped Japan’s constitution following World War II.  She was a performing artist and woman’s right’s activist.  Her family moved to Japan when she was 6 years old and became fluent in Japanese.  Following World War II, she was on the team that worked under General MacArthur to draft a new constitution for Japan.  She was born in Vienna, Austria.  She died at age 89 in Manhattan, New York.

 

2012 ~ Rita Levi-Montalcini (b. Apr. 22, 1909), Italian neurologist and recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work in neurobiology.  She was of Sephardic ancestry.  She was born in Turin, Italy.  She died at age 103 in Rome, Italy.

 

2010 ~ Roger Milliken (b. Oct. 24, 1915), American business tycoon who turned South Carolina a red (republican) state.  He was known as the political godfather to the American conservative movement.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 95 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

 

2009 ~ Bessie Blount Griffin (née Bessie Virginia Blount; b. Nov. 24, 1914), African-American physical therapist, inventor and forensic scientist.  While working as a physical therapist in a hospital in the Bronx, she developed an apparatus to help amputees to feed themselves.  She was born in Chesapeake, Virginia.  She died at age 95 in Newfield, New Jersey.

 

2006 ~ Saddam Hussein (b. Apr. 28, 1937), 5th President, and virtual dictator of, Iraq.  He was executed for war crimes and the mass execution of Iraqi Shi’ietes.  He was 69 years old.

 

2005 ~ Rona Jaffe (b. June 12, 1931), American writer.  She was born in Brooklyn, New York.  She died of cancer at age 74 in London, England.

 

2004 ~ Artie Shaw (né Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; b. May 23, 1910), American clarinetist and bandleader.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 94 in Thousand Oaks, California.

 

2003 ~ John Gregory Dunne (b. May 25, 1932), American author and critic.  He was married to author Joan Didion.  His younger brother was Dominick Dunne.  He was born in Hartford, Connecticut.  He died of a heart attack at age 71 in Manhattan, New York.

 

1993 ~ Swifty Lazar (né Samuel Lazar, also known as Irving Paul Lazar; b. Mar. 28, 1907), American talent agent.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.  He died at age 86 from complications of diabetes.

 

1986 ~ Era Bell Thompson (b. Aug. 10, 1905), African-American author and journalist.  As a child, her family moved to North Dakota.  She was a graduate of the University of North Dakota and a multicultural center at the university is named in her honor.  For several years, she was the editor of Ebony magazine.  She was born in Des Moines, Iowa.  She died at age 81 in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1983 ~ Violette Cordery (b. Jan. 10, 1900), British race car driver.  In the 1920s she competed in many car races.  She broke long distance records.  She died 11 days before her 84th birthday.

 

1979 ~ Richard Rodgers (né Richard Charles Rodgers; b. June 28, 1902), American composer.  He is best known for his corroboration with Oscar Hammerstein II.  They wrote many musicals together.  He was born and died in New York, New York.  He died at age 77.

 

1970 ~ Sonny Liston (né Charles L. Liston; b. May 8, 1932), American boxer.  The actual date of his birth is unknown but is believed to have been sometime between May 8 and July 22, 1930.  He died in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

1968 ~ Trygve Lie (né Trygve Hlavdan Lie, b. July 16, 1896), Norwegian politician and 1st Secretary-General of the United Nations.  He served as the Secretary-General from February 1946 until November 1952.  He died of a heart attack at age 72.

 

1966 ~ Christian Herter (né Christian Archibald Herter; b. Mar. 28, 1895), 53rd United States Secretary of State.  He served under President Dwight David Eisenhower from April 1959 until January 1961.  He also was the 1st United States Trade Representative under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson from December 1962 through December 1966.  He had earlier served as the 59th Governor of Massachusetts from January 1953 to January 1957.  He was born in Paris, France.  He died in Washington, D.C.  He was 71 years old at the time of his death.

 

1947 ~ Alfred North Whitehead (b. Feb. 15, 1861), English mathematician and philosopher.  He was born in Ramsgate, England.  He died at age 86 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

1944 ~ Romain Rolland (b. Jan. 29, 1866), French author and recipient of the 1915 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He was also a supporter of Josef Stalin.  He died a month before his 79th birthday.

 

1916 ~ Grigori Rasputin (b. Jan. 21, 1869), Russian monk.  He was murdered by a group led by Prince Felix Yusupov just 22 days before his 48th birthday.  His frozen and trussed body was discovered in a Moscow river 3 days after his murder. He was best known for his influence over the family of Tsar Nicholas II.

 

1913 ~ Sophia of Nassau (b. July 9, 1836), Queen consort of Sweden and Norway.  She was the wife of Oscar II, King of Sweden (1829 ~ 1907).  They married in 1857.  They were the parents of Gustaf V, King of Sweden.  She was of the House of Nassau-Weilburg.  She was the daughter of Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau and Princess Pauline of Württemberg.  She was Lutheran.  She died at age 77.

 

1906 ~ Josephine Butler (née Josephine Elizabeth Grey; b. Apr. 13, 1828), British women’s rights activist and social reformer.  She fought against human trafficking and prostitution.  She died at age 78.

 

1894 ~ Amelia Bloomer (née Amelia Jenks; b. May 27, 1818), American women’s rights activist.  Women’s pants called Bloomers are named after her.  She was born in Homer, New York.  She died at age 76 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

 

1777 ~ Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria (b. Mar. 28, 1727).  He served as the Elector of Bavaria from 1745 until his death in 1777.  He was married to Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony (1728 ~ 1797) in 1747.  He was of the House of Wittelsbach.  He was the son of Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Amalia, Archduchess of Austria.  He was Catholic.  He died of smallpox at age 50.

 

1591 ~ Pope Innocent IX (né Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti; b. July 20, 1519).  He was Pope from October 1591 until his death 2 months later.  He died at age 72.

 

1525 ~ Jakob Fugger (b. Mar. 6, 1459), German banker.  He was considered one of the richest man in Europe.  He was born and died in Augsburg, Holy Roman Empire.  He died at age 66.

 

1460 ~ Richard of York (b. Sept. 21, 1411), 3rd Duke of York.  He was also known as Richard Plantagenet.  He was of the House of York.  He was the son of Richard, Earl of Cambridge and Anne Mortimer.  He was killed at age 49 in the Battle of Wakefield during the War of the Roses.

 

274 ~ Pope Felix I.  He served as Pope from January 269 until his death on this date in 274.  The date of his birth is not known.


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