Sunday, January 7, 2024

January 7

Birthdays:

 

1990 ~ Michael Sam (né Michael Alan Sam, Jr.), American professional football player.  In 2014, he became the first openly gay player to be drafted by the NFL.  He was born in Galveston, Texas.

 

1971 ~ Jeremy Renner (né Jeremy Lee Renner), American actor.  He was born in Modesto, California.

 

1966 ~ Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy (née Carolyn Jeanne Bessette; d. July 16, 1999), wife of John F. Kennedy, Jr.  She was killed when the small plane husband was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while they were on their way to Martha’s Vineyard to attend a family wedding.  She was born in White Plains, New York.  She was 33 years old.

 

1964 ~ Nicolas Cage (né Nicholas Kim Coppola), American actor.  He was born in Long Beach, California.

 

1963 ~ Rand Paul (né Randal Howard Paul), American ophthalmologist and presidential candidate in the 2016 United States Presidential campaign.  He is a United States Senator from Kentucky.  He assumed the Office in January 2011.  He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

 

1957 ~ Katie Couric (née Katherine Anne Couric), American journalist and news reporter.  She was born in Arlington, Virginia.

 

1956 ~ David Caruso (né David Stephen Caruso), American actor best known for his roles as Detective John Kelly on NYPD Blue, and as Lieutenant Horatio Caine on CSI:Miami.  He was born in Queens, New York.

 

1941 ~ Sir John E. Walker (né John Ernest Walker), English chemist and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England.

 

1933 ~ Diane Leather Charles (d. Sept. 5, 2018), British runner who set a milestone for women.  In 1954, she became the first woman to run a mile in under 5 minutes.  She died at age 85.

 

1932 ~ Jhoon Goo Rhee (d. Apr. 30, 2018), Korean-born martial artist who popularized Tae Kwon Do in the United States.  He was born in Asan-si, South Korea.  He died at age 86 in Arlington, Virginia.

 

1928 ~ Clyde Snow (d. May 16, 2014), American forensic detective who read bones.  He was a well-known anthropologist.  His work identified such skeletal remains of John F. Kennedy, John Wayne Gacy and Joseph Mengele.  He was born in Ralls, Texas.  He died at age 86 in Norman, Oklahoma.

 

1928 ~ William Peter Blatty (d. Jan. 12, 2017), American comedy writer who spooked readers with The Exorcist.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died of multiple myeloma 5 days after his 89th birthday in Bethesda, Maryland.

 

1925 ~ Gerald Durrell (né Gerald Malcolm Durrell; d. Jan. 30, 1995), British naturalist and author.  He wrote The Whispering Lands, which is about Patagonia.  He was born in British India.  He died 23 days after his 70th birthday in Saint Helier, Jersey.

 

1922 ~ Jean-Pierre Rampal (né Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal; d. May 20, 2000), French flutist.  He was born in Marseille, France.  He died at age 78 in Paris, France.

 

1919 ~ Robert Duncan (né Robert Edward Duncan; d. Feb. 3, 1988), America poet.  He was born in Oakland, California.  He died about a month after his 69th birthday in San Francisco, California.

 

1916 ~ Elena Ceauşescu (née Lenuţa Petrescu; d. Dec. 25, 1989), Romanian politician and wife of former Romanian president, Nicolae Ceauşescu, who was executed for her crimes against humanity.  She was executed 13 days before her 74th birthday

 

1912 ~ Charles Addams (né Charles Samuel Addams; d. Sept. 29, 1988), 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 of a heart attack at age 76 in Manhattan, New York.

 

1911 ~ Butterfly McQueen (née Thelma McQueen; d. Dec. 22, 1995), American actress, best known for her role as Prissy, Scarlett O’Hara’s maid in Gone with the Wind.  She was born in Tampa, Florida.  She died 16 days before her 85thbirthday in Augusta, Georgia.

 

1911 ~ Jean Carroll (née Celine Zeigman; d. Jan. 1, 2010), American female comic who blazed new trails in stand-up.  She was born in Paris, France.  She died 6 days before her 99th birthday in White Plains, New York.

 

1910 ~ Orval Faubus (né Orval Eugene Fabus; d. Dec. 14, 1994), 36th Governor of Arkansas from January 1955 until January 1967.  He is best known for his 1957 stand against desegregation of the public schools in Little Rock.  He was born in Madison County, Arkansas.  He died of prostate cancer 3 weeks before his 85th birthday in Conway, Arkansas.

 

1906 ~ Bobbi Trout (née Evelyn Trout; d. Jan. 24, 2003), American pioneering aviator.  She was the first woman to set the record for the first non-stop refueling endurance.  She was born in Greenup, Illinois.  She died 17 days after her 97thbirthday in San Diego, California.

 

1891 ~ Zora Neale Hurston (d. Jan. 28, 1960), African-American author.  She was a part of the Harlem Renaissance.  She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on hoodoo.  She is best known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937.  She was born in Notasulga, Alabama.  She died of heart disease 2 weeks after her 69th birthday in Port Pierce, Florida.

 

1873 ~ Adolph Zukor (d. June 10, 1976), Hungarian-American film producer and co-founder of Paramount Pictures.  He was born in Ricse, Austria-Hungary.  He died at age 103 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1871 ~ Émile Borel (né Félix Édouard Justin Émile Borel; d. Feb. 3, 1956,), French mathematician, known for his work in areas of measure theory and probability.  He died less than a month after his 85th birthday in Paris, France.

 

1863 ~ Anna Murray Vail (d. Dec. 18, 1955), American botanist and first librarian of the New York Botanical Garden.  She was born in New York, New York.  She died at age 92 in Vieux Logis, France.

 

1858 ~ Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (né Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman; d. Dec. 16, 1922), a Jewish lexicographer who was the driving spirit behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era.  He died 3 weeks before his 65th birthday in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine (now Israel).

 

1845 ~ Ludwig III, King of Bavaria (d. Oct. 18, 1921).  He was the last king of Bavaria.  He ruled over Bavaria from November 1913 until November 1918 when the empire was dissolved.  He was married to Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria-Este (1849 ~ 1919).  He was of the House of Wittelsbach.  He was the son of Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria and Archduchess Augusta of Austria.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died at age 76.

 

1837 ~ Thomas Henry Ismay (d. Nov. 23, 1899), British shipping company owner and founder of the White Star Line, which later was the owner of The Titanic.  He died of a heart attack at age 62.

 

1827 ~ Sir Sanford Fleming (d. July 22, 1915), Scottish-born Canadian engineer who introduced the Universal Standard Time to the world.  He was born in Kirkaldy, Scotland.  He died at age 88 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

 

1815 ~ Elizabeth Louisa Mather (née Elizabeth Louisa Foster; d. Feb. 5, 1882), American writer and social activist.  She was born in East Haddam, Connecticut.  She died about a month after her 67th birthday.

 

1800 ~ Millard Fillmore (d. Mar. 8, 1874), 13th President of the United States.  He was President from July 1850 until March 1853.  He had previously served as the 12th Vice President.  He assumed the Presidency upon the death of Zachary Taylor.  He was born in Moravia, New York.  He died at age 74 in Buffalo, New York.

 

1786 ~ John Catron (d. May 30, 1865), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Andrew Jackson.  He served on the Court from March 8, 1937 until his death at age 79.  The seat was established for him, and after he left the Court, the seat was abolished to prevent President Andrew Johnson from appointing any further members on the Court.  He died in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

1718 ~ Israel Putnam (d. May 29, 1790), American Revolutionary War general, best known for his role in leading the Battle of Bunker Hill.  He was born in Danvers, Massachusetts.  He died at age 72 in Brooklyn, Connecticut.

 

1502 ~ Pedro Nunes (d. Aug. 11, 1578), Portuguese mathematician.  He is best known for his contributions to nautical mathematics.  His family was Jewish, and he was a New Christian.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been born on January 7, 1502.  He died at age 76 in Coimbra, Portugal.

 

1502 ~ Pope Gregory XIII (né Ugo Boncompagni; d. Apr. 10, 1585).  He was Pope from May 1572 until his death 13 years later.  He is best known for commissioning, and being the namesake of, the Gregorian calendar.  He died at age 83.

 

889 ~ Li Bian (d. Mar. 30, 943), 1st Chinese Emperor of Southern Tang.  He was the founding emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Southern Tang.  He ruled from November 937 until his death 4 years later.  His second wife was Empress Song (d. 945).  He died at age 54.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2023 ~ After numerous elections, California Representative Kevin McCarthy (b. 1965) was elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives.  He served for less than 10 months, resigning in early October 2023.

 

2022 ~ A team of surgeons from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a 57-year-old man with a life-threatening heart disease.  This was the first such surgery performed.

 

2021 ~ The United States Senate gathered the previous day to certify the Electoral College votes, the final step in confirming Joe Biden (b. 1942) as President before the inauguration.  Several Senators objected to the Electoral Count, alleging voter fraud.  Due to the riots and storming of the Capitol on the previous day, the count was suspended and wasn’t finalized until nearly 4:00 a.m., on January 7, 2021.

 

2020 ~ A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck in Puerto Rico.

 

2015 ~ Islamic terrorists entered the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine office, in Paris, France, and opened fire killing 12 people, and injuring 11 others.

 

2010 ~ Muslim gunmen in Egypt fired on a crowd of Coptic Christians who were celebrating Christmas Mass.  Nine people were killed including eight of the Christians and one Muslim bystander.

 

1999 ~ The United States Senate trial in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton (b. 1946) began.

 

1990 ~ The Leaning Tower of Pisa was closed to the public for safety concerns.  After several years of corrective reconstruction and stabilization, the Tower reopened in December 2001.

 

1989 ~ Prince Akihito (b. 1933) was sworn in as Emperor of Japan following the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito (1901 ~ 1998).  He ruled until April 30, 2019 when he abdicated in favor of his son, Emperor Naruhito (b. 1960).

 

1980 ~ President Jimmy Carter (b. 1924) authorized legislation granting $1.5 Billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.

 

1979 ~ Pol Pot (1925 ~ 1998) and the Khmer Rouge were ousted from the Cambodian government.

 

1973 ~ Mark Essex’s (1949 ~ 1973) 8-day killing spree ended after he fatally shot 10 people and wounded 13 others at a Howard Johnson’s hotel in New Orleans.  He was then shot and killed.  The killing started when he began to target New Orleans police officers on New Year’s Eve.

 

1959 ~ The United States recognized the Cuban government of Fidel Castro (1926 ~ 2016).

 

1955 ~ Marian Anderson (1897 ~ 1993) performed in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera at the Metropolitan Opera.  She was the first African-American to perform at the Met.

 

1942 ~ The siege of the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines, began.  The Battle of Bataan, which lasted through April 9, 1942, was one the most intense phases of Japan’s invasion of the Philippines.

 

1940 ~ During the Winter War, the Finnish 9th Division stopped and completely destroyed, the Russian forces.

 

1928 ~ A flood along the River Thames in London killed at least 14 people and caused extensive damage to the city.

 

1927 ~ The first transatlantic telephone service was established from New York, New York to London, England.

 

1894 ~ William Kennedy Dickson (1860 ~ 1935), an employee of Thomas Edison (1847 ~ 1831), received a patent for motion picture film.

 

1785 ~ The first balloon flight crossed the English Channel from Dover, England to Calais, France, carrying Jean-Pierre Blanchard (1753 ~ 1809) and American John Jeffries (1745 ~ 1819).

 

1782 ~ The first American commercial bank, the Bank of North America, opened.

 

1610 ~ Galileo (1564 ~ 1642) observed four moons of the planet Jupiter, known as the Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa (although technically, the latter two were undistinguishable until the following day).

 

1608 ~ A fire destroyed Jamestown, Virginia.

 

1566 ~ Pope Pius V (1504 ~ 1572) was elected.  He was Pope from January 7, 1566 until his death in May 1572.

 

1558 ~ France took Calais, the last continental possession of England.

 

1325 ~ Alfonso IV (1291 ~ 1357) became King of Portugal.  He would rule until his death in May 1357.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2023 ~ Russell Banks (né Russell Earl Banks; b. Mar. 28, 1940), American writer.  He was born in Newton, Massachusetts.  He died at age 82 in Sarasota Springs, New York.

 

2022 ~ Lani Guinier (née Carol Lani Guinier; b. Apr. 19, 1950), African-American attorney, educator and civil rights advocate.  She was born in New York, New York.  She died of complications of Alzheimer’s disease at age 71 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

2021 ~ Brian Sicknick (né Brian David Sicknick; b. July 30, 1978), American police officer who was beaten during the storming and attack of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.  He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey.  He died at age 42 in Washington, D.C., of what was determined to be “natural causes” despite the beating.

 

2021 ~ Michael Apted (né Michael David Apted; b. Feb. 10, 1941), British movie director.  He was born in Aylesbury, England.  He died about a month before his 80th birthday in Los Angeles, California.

 

2021 ~ Tommy Lasorda (né Thomas Charles Lasorda; b. Sept. 22, 1927), American professional baseball player and manager who bled Dodger blue.  He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers for over 20 years.  He was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania.  He died in Fullerton, California at age 93.

 

2020 ~ Elizabeth Wurtzel (née Elizabeth Lee Wurtzel; b. July 31, 1967), American memoirist who chronicled her depression in the 1994 book Prozac Nation.  She was born and died in New York, New York.  She died of breast cancer at age 52 of breast cancer.

 

2020 ~ Neil Peart (né Neil Ellwood Peart; b. Sept. 12, 1952), 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.

 

2018 ~ Anna Mae Hays (née Anna Mae Violet McCabe; b. Feb. 16, 1920), American army nurse who broke the military’s brass ceiling.  She was the first woman to be promoted to the rank of General.  She was born in Buffalo, New York.  She died of a heart attack at age 97 in Washington, D.C.

 

2017 ~ Nat Hentoff (né Nathan Irving Hentoff; b. June 10, 1925), American jazz journalist who championed civil liberties.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died at age 91 in Manhattan, New York.

 

2015 ~ Rod Taylor (né Rodney Sturt Taylor; b. Jan. 11, 1930), Australian actor who battled The Birds in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 movie.  He died 4 days before his 85th birthday in Beverly Hills, California.

 

2013 ~ Richard Ben Cramer (b. June 12, 1950), American political journalist and author.  He was born in Rochester, New York.  He died of lung cancer at age 62 in Baltimore, Maryland.

 

2012 ~ Tony Blankley (né Anthony David Blankley; b. Jan. 21, 1948), the ex-Briton who became the speaker’s speaker.  He was the press secretary to Newt Gingrich.  He was born in London, England.  He died of stomach cancer just 2 weeks before his 64th birthday in Washington, D.C.

 

2012 ~ Herbert Wilf (né Herbert Saul Wilf; b. June 13, 1931), American mathematician.  He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He died of progressive neuromuscular disease at age 80 in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.

 

2005 ~ Rosemary Kennedy (née Rose Marie Kennedy; b. Sept. 13, 1918), 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.

 

1998 ~ Richard Hamming (né Richard Wesley Hamming; b. Feb. 11, 1915), American mathematician.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He died about a month before his 83rd birthday in Monterey, California.

 

1998 ~ Vladimir Prelog (b. July 23, 1906), Croatian chemist and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He was born in Sarajevo, which at the time was under Austria-Hungary.  He died at age 91 in Zurich, Switzerland.

 

1996 ~ Károly Grósz (b. Aug. 1, 1930), Communist leader of Hungary.  He died of kidney cancer at age 65.

 

1989 ~ Hirohito (b. Apr. 29, 1901), Emperor of Japan from 1929 until his death in 1989.  He was the Emperor during World War II.  He was born and died in Tokyo, Japan.  He died at age 87.

 

1984 ~ Alfred Kastler (b. May 3, 1902), French physicist and recipient of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 81.

 

1981 ~ William A. Feather (b. Aug. 25, 1889), American publisher.  He was born in Jamestown, New York.  He died at age 91.

 

1972 ~ John Berryman (né John Allyn Smith, Jr.; b. Oct. 25, 1914), American poet and scholar.  He was born in McAlester, Oklahoma.  He died by suicide at age 57 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 

1960 ~ Dorothea Lambert Chambers (née Dorothea Katherine Douglass; b. Sept. 3, 1878), British tennis player and coach.  She won 7 Wimbledon Women’s Singles titles and a gold medal in the 1908 Olympics.  She died at age 81.

 

1945 ~ Alexander Stirling Calder (b. Jan. 11, 1870), American sculptor.  He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and the father of a son, also named Alexander Calder.  He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He died 4 days before his 75th birthday in Manhattan, New York.

 

1944 ~ Lou Henry Hoover (née Lou Henry; b. Mar. 29, 1874), First Lady of the United States and wife of President Herbert Hoover.  She served as First Lady from March 1929 until March 1933.  She was born in Waterloo, Iowa.  She died of a heart attack at age 69 in New York, New York.

 

1943 ~ Nikola Tesla (b. July 10, 1856), Serbian-American physicist and inventor.  He is born in what is now considered modern Croatia, but at the time of his birth was under the Austrian empire.  He died of coronary thrombosis at age 86 in New York, New York.

 

1932 ~ André Maginot (b. Feb. 17, 1877), French politician and sergeant.  He is best known for advocating the string of forts known as the Maginot line in France.  He did not live to see the Maginot Line completed.  The line of fortification proved to be very ineffective during World War II.  He was born and died in Paris, France.  He died of typhoid fever at age 54.

 

1912 ~ Sophia Jex-Blake (née Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake; b. Jan. 21, 1840), British physician and feminist.  She was the first practicing physician in Scotland.  She died 14 days before her 72nd birthday.

 

1893 ~ Jožef Stefan (b. Mar. 24, 1835), Slovenian physicist and mathematician.  He died at age 57 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary.

 

1890 ~ Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (b. Sept. 30, 1811), 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.

 

1882 ~ Ignacy Łukasiewicz (né Jan Józef Ignacy Łukasiewicz, b. Mar. 8, 1822), Polish pharmacist and inventor.  He invented the Kerosene lamp.  He died of pneumonia at age 59.

 

1872 ~ James Fisk, Jr. (b. Apr. 1, 1834), American businessman and stockbroker.  He was known as Diamond Jim and was a Robber Baron.  He was born in Pownal, Vermont but moved to New York City to become a stockbroker.  He was murdered at age 36 by a disgruntled business associate in New York, New York.

 

1864 ~ Caleb Smith (né Caleb Blood Smith; b. Apr. 16, 1808), 6th United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President Abraham Lincoln from March 1861 through December 1862.  He then became a Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Indiana.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He suffered from ill health and died at age 55 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

 

1743 ~ Countess Anne Sophie Reventlow (b. Apr. 16, 1693), Queen consort of Denmark and Danish third wife of Frederick IV, Frederick of Denmark (1671 ~ 1730).  They were married morganatically.  His first wife was still alive at the time of their marriage.  After the death of Frederick’s first wife, whom he had divorced, he and Anne married in a formal ceremony.  She was of the House of Reventlow.  She was the daughter of Count Conrad von Reventlow and Sophie Amalie von Hahn.  She was Lutheran.  She died at age 49.

 

1715 ~ Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (née Mary Capell; b. Dec. 16, 1630), British noblewoman, botanist, and gardener.  She died 3 weeks after her 84th birthday.

 

1694 ~ Mary II, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland (b. May 10, 1662).  She was co-regent with her husband, William III, King of England (1650 ~ 1702).  They married in 1677.  She and her husband had no children.  She was of the House of Stuart.  She was the daughter of James II, King of England and Anne Hyde.  She was of the Anglican Church.  She died of smallpox at age 32.  The dates of her birth and death are sometimes recorded in accordance with the Julian calendar, thus would appear as April 30, 1662 to December 28, 1694.

 

1655 ~ Pope Innocent X (né Giovanni Battista Pamphilj; b. May 6, 1575).  He was Pope from September 1644 until his death in January 1655.  He was born and died in Rome, Italy.  He was 80 years old.

 

1536 ~ Infanta Catherine of Aragon (b. Dec. 16, 1485), Queen consort of England.  She was the first wife of Henry VIII, King of England.  They married in 1501.  She had previously been married to Henry’s older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales.  Arthur died within a year of their marriage, and the marriage was said to have been unconsummated.  Henry’s attempt to have their marriage annulled ultimately led to England’s split from the Catholic Church.  Henry defied the Pope and declared supremacy over religious matters, thereby allowing him to terminate his marriage to Catherine.  She was of the House of Trastámara.  She was the daughter of Ferdinand II, King of Aragon and Isabella I, Queen of Castile (the Catholic monarchs).  She was Roman Catholic.  She died 3 weeks after her 50th birthday.

 

1451 ~ Antipope Felix V (né Amadeus VIII, Count of Savoy; b. Sept. 4, 1383).  He was a claimant to the papacy from 1391 to 1416.  He is considered the last historical anitpope.  He was married to Mary of Burgundy (1386 ~ 1428) from 1386 until her death in 1428.  He died at age 67.

 

1355 ~ Inês de Castro (b. 1325), posthumously recognized as the Queen consort of Portugal and second wife of Peter I, King of Portugal.  She and Peter may have been secretly married following the death of his first wife, Constanza Manuel.  She was of the Family of Castro.  She was the daughter of Pedro Fernández de Castro and Aldonça Lourenço de Valadares.  The exact date of her birth is not known.  She was murdered at about age 30.

 

1325 ~ Denis, King of Portugal (b. Oct. 9, 1261).  He reigned Portugal from February 1279 until his death in January 1325.  He was known as the Farmer King.  He was married to Elizabeth of Aragon (1271 ~ July 4, 1336), later known as Saint Elizabeth of Aragon.  He was of the House of Burgundy.  He was the son of Afonso III, King of Portugal, and Beatrice of Castile.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died at age 63.

 

1285 ~ Charles I, King of Sicily (b. 1220s).  He reigned Sicily from 1266 until his death, although his tenure was contested by Peter I, King of Sicily, who later legitimately succeeded him.  He was also known as Charles of Anjou.  He married twice: First to Beatrice of Provence (1229 ~ 1267).  They married in 1246.  After her death, he married Margaret of Burgundy in 1268.  He was of the House of Anjou-Sicily.  He was the son of Louis VIII, King of France and Infanta Blanche of Castile.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  He died in his late 50s.

 

1131 ~ Canute Lavard (b. Mar. 12, 1096), Danish prince and martyr.  He was of the House of Estridsen.  He was the son of Eric I, King of Denmark and Boedil Thurgosdatter.  He was killed by his cousin, Magnus (later Magnus I, King of Sweden), who viewed him as a threat to the throne.  He was later canonized as a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church.  He died at age 35.


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