Sunday, March 10, 2024

March 10

Birthdays:

 

1984 ~ Olivia Wilde (née Olivia Jane Cockburn), American actress.  She was born in New York, New York.

 

1971 ~ Jon Hamm (né Jonathan Daniel Hamm), American actor, best known for his role as Don Drapper in Mad Men.  He was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

 

1966 ~ Edie Brickell (née Edie Arlisa Brickell), American singer-songwriter.  She was born in Oak Cliff, Texas.

 

1964 ~ Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Wessex (né Edward Antony Richard Louis), member of the British royal family.  In 1999, he married Sophie Rhys-Jones (b. 1965).  He is of the House of Windsor.  He is the youngest child of Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

 

1961 ~ Laurel Clark (née Laurel Blair Salton; d. Feb. 1, 2003), American astronaut who was killed during the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.  She was born in Ames, Iowa.  She died at age 41 over Texas.

 

1958 ~ Sharon Stone (née Sharon Vonne Stone), American actress.  She was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

 

1957 ~ Osama bin Laden (d. May 2, 2011), Saudi Islamist and al-Quada terrorist who was killed in Pakistan by United States operatives.  President Barack Obama announced his death on May 1 in the United States, however, due to the time difference between the United States and Abbottabad, Pakistan, he was actually killed on May 2 local time.  He was 54 years old.

 

1953 ~ Paul Haggis (né Paul Edward Haggis), Canadian film and television director.  He was born in London, Ontario, Canada

 

1949 ~ Barbara Corcoran (née Barbara Ann Corcoran), American businesswoman and real estate mogul.  She was born in Edgewater, New Jersey.

 

1947 ~ Kim Campbell (née Avril Phaedra Douglas Campbell), 19th Prime Minister of Canada.  She served as Prime Minister for 4 months from June 1993 until November 1993.  She was born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada.

 

1940 ~ Chuck Norris (né Carlos Ray Norris), American actor.  He was born in Ryan, Oklahoma.

 

1929 ~ Sam Steiger (né Samuel Steiger; d. Sept. 26, 2012), American conservative politician from Arizona who courted trouble.  He served as a United States Representative from Arizona from 1967 to 1977.  He is known for shooting two burros, allegedly in self-defense, much to the outrage of his constituents.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 83 in Prescott, Arizona.

 

1927 ~ Robert Kearns (né Robert William Kearns; d. Feb. 9, 2005), American engineer who invented the intermittent windshield wiper.  He was born in Gary, Indiana.  He died of brain cancer a month before his 78th birthday in Baltimore, Maryland.

 

1927 ~ Bernard Lansky (d. Nov. 15, 2012), American tailor who lived in Memphis, Tennessee and who clothed Rock ‘n Roll royalty, starting with Elvis Presley.  He was born and died in Memphis, Tennessee.  He died at age 85 of Alzheimer’s disease.

 

1926 ~ Marques Haynes (d. May 22, 2015), American professional basketball player and Harlem Globetrotter who dazzled with his dribbling.  He was born in Sand Springs, Oklahoma.  He died at age 89 in Plano, Texas.

 

1925 ~ Bob Lanier (né Robert Clayton Lanier; d. Dec. 20, 2014), American politician and 58th Mayor of Houston, Texas.  He was Mayor from January 1992 until January 1998.  He died at age 89.

 

1924 ~ Judith Jones (d. Aug. 2, 2017), American editor who discovered Julia Child.  She is also known for rescuing The Diary of Anne Frank from a discard pile.  She was born in New York, New York.  She died at age 93 in Walden, Vermont.

 

1923 ~ Val Logsdon Fitch (d. Feb. 5, 2015), American nuclear physicist and recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Merriman, Nebraska.  He died in Princeton, New Jersey about a month before his 92nd birthday.

 

1920 ~ Alfred H. Peet (d. Aug. 29, 2007), Dutch-born businessman and founder of Peet’s Coffee & Tea.  He was born in Alkmaar, Netherlands.  He died at age 87 in Ashland, Oregon.

 

1920 ~ Ben Ferencz (né Benjamin Berell Ferencz; d. Apr. 7, 2023), Hungarian-born American lawyer.  He was an investigator of Nazi war crimes after World War II.  He was the chief prosecutor for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, one of the 12 subsequent Nuremberg trials held by the United States.  He was the last living prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials, who tried Nazis for genocidal war crimes.  He was born in Hungary.  When he was an infant, his family immigrated to the United States.  He died in Boynton Beach, Florida about a month after his 103rdbirthday.

 

1903 ~ Clare Boothe Luce (née Ann Clare Boothe; d. Oct. 9, 1987), American journalist and diplomat.  She was born in New York, New York.  She died at age 84 in Washington, D.C.

 

1892 ~ Arthur Honegger (né Oscar-Arthur Honegger; d. Nov. 27, 1955), Swiss-French composer.  He died at age 73.

 

1876 ~ Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington (née Anna Vaughn Hyatt; d. Oct. 4, 1973), American sculptor.  She was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  She died at age 97 in Redding, Connecticut.

 

1867 ~ Lillian D. Wald (d. Sept. 1, 1940), American nurse and early advocate for nursing schools.  She was an activist in many social causes, including health care and women’s rights.  She was involved in the formation of the NAACP.  She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.  She died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 73 in Westport, Connecticut.

 

1845 ~ Alexander III, Tsar of Russia (d. Nov. 1, 1894).  He ruled from March 1881 until his death 13 years later.  He was married to Maria Feodorovna (née Princess Dagmar of Denmark).  He was of the House of Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp.  He was the son of Alexander II, Tsar of Russia and Maria Alexandrovona.  He died at age 49 of kidney disease.

 

1844 ~ Marie Euphrosyne Spartali (d. Mar. 6, 1927), English pre-Raphaelite painter and artist.  She was one of the best-known artists of her time.  She was born and died in London, England.  She died 4 days before her 83rd birthday.

 

1796 ~ James “Jim” Bowie (d. Mar. 6, 1836), American pioneer and soldier.  Although born in Kentucky, he spent much of his life in Louisiana.  He is credited with inventing the Bowie knife.  He was killed at the Alamo.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but is generally considered to be March 10, 1796.  He is believed to have died 4 days before his 40thbirthday.

 

1776 ~ Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. July 19, 1810), Queen consort of Prussia and first wife of Frederick William III, King of Prussia (1766 ~ 1840).  They married in 1793 and were the parents of Frederick William IV, King of Prussia and William I, Emperor of Germany.  She was of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.  She was the daughter of Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt.  She was Lutheran.  She died of an unidentified illness at age 34.

 

1719 ~ Thomas Gage (d. Apr. 2, 1787), British general and American Revolutionary War figure.  He had also served as Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.  The exact year of his birth is not known.  He is believed to have been born in either 1719 or 1720.  He was born in Firle, England.  He died at age 67 or 68 in London, England.

 

1628 ~ Marcello Malpighi (d. Nov. 29, 1694), Italian astronomer, physician and botanist.  He died at age 66.

 

1503 ~ Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. July 25, 1564).  He reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from February 1558 until his death 6 years later.  He was married to Anne of Bohemia and Hungary.  He was of the House of Habsburg.  He was the son of Philip I, King of Castile and Joanna, Queen of Castile.  He died at age 61.

 

1452 ~ Ferdinand V, King of Castille, and Ferdinand II, King of Aragon (d. Jan. 23, 1516), He was the Spanish king who supported the travels of Christopher Columbus.  He was also the architect behind the Spanish Inquisition.  He was known as Ferdinand the Catholic.  He was married twice.  His first wife was Isabella I, Queen of Castile.  After she died, he married Germaine of Foix.  He was of the House of Trastámara.  He was the son of John II, King of Aragon and Juana Enríquez.  He died at age 63.

 

1415 ~ Vasily II, Grand Prince of Moscow (d. Mar. 27, 1462).  He was known as Vasily II the Blind.  He ruled over Moscow from February 1425 until his death in 1462.  He was married to Maria Yaroslavna (1418 ~ 1484).  He was of the House of Rurik.  He was the son of Vasily I, Grand Prince of Moscow and Sophia of Lithuania.  He was born and died in Moscow.  He died 17 days after his 47th birthday.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2019 ~ Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX, crashed.  It was the second crash of a Boeing 737 MAX in 5 months, the first being a Lion Air Flight 610 off the Java Sea in October 2018.  Flight 302 began the grounding of all MAX planes worldwide.  An investigation subsequently led to Boeing suspending the production of subsequent planes of this design.

 

2008 ~ The New York Times first reported on New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer's, escapades with high-end prostitutes.

 

1985 ~ Mikhail Gorbachev (1931 ~ 2022) became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.  He formally took Office on the following day.

 

1980 ~ Jean Harris (1923 ~ 2012), the headmistress of the exclusive Madeira School in New York, shot and killed her ex-lover, the diet doctor Herman Tarnover (1810 ~ 1980), author of The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet.  She was later found guilty and spent several years in prison.

 

1977 ~ Astronomers discovered that Uranus had rings.

 

1952 ~ Fulgencio Batista (1901 ~ 1973) lead a successful coup in Cuba and appointed himself as provisional president.

 

1933 ~ An earthquake struck Long Beach, California, killing over 115 people.

 

1891 ~ Almon Strowger (1839 ~ 1902) patented the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.

 

1876 ~ The first communication by telephone, when Alexander Graham Bell (1847 ~ 1922) called his Assistant, saying: Mr. Watson, Come here, I want you!

 

1864 ~ The Red River Campaign during the American Civil War began as Union Troops reached Alexandria, Louisiana.  The Red River Campaign was a series of battles fought along Louisiana’s Red River from March 10 through May 22, 1964.  The Red River Campaign was ultimately a Union failure and did not have a major impact on the outcome of the Civil War.

 

1831 ~ The French Foreign Legion was established by Louis-Philippe, King of France (1773 ~ 1850) to support his war in Algeria.

 

1804 ~ A formal ceremony was held in St. Louis, Missouri to commemorate the transfer of ownership of the Louisiana Territory from France to the United States.

 

1629 ~ Charles I, King of England (1600 ~ 1649) dissolved Parliament, thereby beginning the 11-year period known as the Personal Rule.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2022 ~ Emilio Delgado (né Emilio Ernest Delgado; b. May 8, 1940), American Sesame Street actor who sang in Spanish.  He portrayed the gentle Fix-It Shop owner, Luis, on the show, while singing and sharing lessons of Latino culture.  He was born in Calexico, California.  He died in New York, New York, at age 81 of multiple myeloma.

 

2018 ~ Count Hubert de Givenchy (né Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy; b. Feb. 21, 1927), French fashion designer and couturier who made Audrey Hepburn an icon.  He is best known for creating the little black dress.  He was born in Beauvais, France.  He died 16 days after his 91st birthday in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.

 

2017 ~ Robert James Waller (b. Aug. 1, 1939), American author who made Madison County, Iowa famous.  He is best known for his novel The Bridges of Madison County.  He was born in Rockford, Indiana.  He died at age 77 in Fredericksburg, Texas.

 

2016 ~ Sir Kenneth Adams (né Klaus Hugo George Fitz Adam; b. Feb. 5, 1921), German-British production designed who dreamed up Bond villain lairs.  He is best known for his set designs for James Bond films.  He was born in Berlin, Germany.  He died in London England about 6 weeks after his 95th birthday.

 

2014 ~ Joe McGinniss, Sr. (né Joseph Ralph McGinnis; b. Dec. 9, 1942), American author and journalist.  He is best known for writing true crime books, such as Fatal Attraction.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died of prostate cancer at age 71 in Worcester, Massachusetts.

 

2013 ~ Princess Lilian of Sweden, Duchess of Halland (née Lillian May Davies; b. Aug. 30, 1915), Welsh coalminer’s daughter who became a princess.  She was the wife of Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland.  He was her 2nd husband.  She had previously been married to Walter Ivan Craig.  She and Prince Bertil lived together for many years before they married in 1976.  Because she was a commoner, had they married earlier, he would have lost his right to the succession to the Swedish throne.  She died at age 97.

 

2012 ~ Frank Sherwood Rowland (b. June 28, 1927), American chemist and recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He is best known for ozone depletion research.  He was born in Delaware, Ohio.  He died at age 84 in Newport Beach, California.

 

2001 ~ C.J. Eliezer (né Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer, b. June 12, 1918), Sri Lankan-born mathematician.  He was born in Navatkuli, Ceylon.  He died at age 82 in Melbourne, Australia.

 

1998 ~ Lloyd Bridges (né Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr.; b. Jan. 15, 1913), American actor.  He was born in San Leandro, California.  He died at age 85 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1966 ~ Frank O’Connor (né Michael Francis O’Donovan; b. Sept. 17, 1903), Irish writer best known for his short stories.  He was born in Cork, Ireland.  He died of a heart attack at age 62 in Dublin, Ireland.

 

1966 ~ Frits Zernike (b. July 16, 1888), Dutch physicist and recipient of the 1953 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the phase-contrast microscope.  He was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  He died of a long illness at age 77 in Amersfoort, Netherlands.

 

1948 ~ Zelda Fitzgerald (née Zelda Sayre; b. July 24, 1900), American writer and wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald.  She was born in Montgomery, Alabama.  She was killed in a fire in a hospital where she was a patient in Asheville, North Carolina.  She was 47 years old at the time of her death.

 

1942 ~ Wilbur Scoville (né Wilbur Lincoln Scoville; b. Jan. 22, 1865), American pharmacist and chemist.  He is best known for the development of the Scoville Organoleptic Test, which is the standardized scale for measuring the pungency and heat of various chili peppers.  He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  He died at age 77 in Gainesville, Florida.

 

1940 ~ Makhail Bulgakov (b. May 15, 1891), Russian author best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, which was published posthumously.  He died of kidney disease at age 48.

 

1913 ~ Harriet Tubman (née Araminta Ross; b. 1820), former slave and American abolitionist, known for being a conductor on the Underground Railroad.  The exact date of her birth is unknown, but she is believed to have been born in 1820.  She died in Auburn, New York

 

1895 ~ Charles Frederick Worth (b. Oct. 13, 1825), British fashion designer and founder of the House of Worth.  He is considered to be the Father of Haute Couture.  He died at age 69 in Paris, France.

 

1792 ~ John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (b. May 25, 1713), Scottish politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He was Prime Minister during the reign of King George III, from May 1762 until April 1763.  He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.  He died at age 78 in Westminster, England.

 

1766 ~ Jane Colden (b. Mar. 27, 1724), American botanist.  She was born and died in New York, New York.  She died in childbirth less than 3 weeks before her 42nd birthday.  She was the first known female biologist in the United States.  Although she was not acknowledged in published papers, she regularly corresponded with leading botanists and her work contributed to considerable identification of American plants.

 

948 ~ Liu Zhiyuan (b. Mar. 4, 895), Chinese emperor and founder of the Later Han Dynasty.  He died 6 days after his 53rdbirthday.

 

483 ~ Pope Simplicius.  He was Pope from 468 until his death on this date 15 years later.  The date of his birth is unknown.


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