Wednesday, March 13, 2024

March 13

Birthdays:

 

1971 ~ Viet Thanh Nguyen, Vietnamese novelist.  He was born in Buôn Ma Thuột, Vietnam.

 

1965 ~ Kevin Samuels (d. May 5, 2022), African-American influencer and relationship guru who preached traditional gender roles.  He was an influential YouTuber.  He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  He died in Atlanta, Georgia at age 56.

 

1956 ~ Jamie Dimon, Chairman, CEO and President of JPMorgan Chase.  He was born in New York, New York.

 

1950 ~ Charles Krauthammer (né Irving Charles Krauthammer; d. June 21, 2018), American journalist and political commentator who became a conservative icon.  He became paralyzed from the neck down in a diving accident when he was in his 20s.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died of cancer at age 68 in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

1950 ~ William H. Macy (né William Hall Macy, Jr.), American actor.  He was born in Miami, Florida.

 

1946 ~ Yonatan Netanyahu (d. July 4, 1976), Israeli soldier and younger brother of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was the only soldier killed during the daring raid on Entebbe in 1976 to release hostages.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died in Entebbe, Uganda at age 30.

 

1945 ~ Anatoly Fomenko (né Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko), Ukrainian mathematician.  He is best known for his work in topology.  He was born in Donetsk, Ukraine when it was then under the USSR.

 

1944 ~ George Rodrigue (d. Dec. 14, 2013), American artist from New Iberia, Louisiana most famous for his Blue Dogseries.  He was born in New Iberia, Louisiana.  He died of lung cancer at age 69 in Houston, Texas.

 

1929 ~ Bunny Yaeger (née Linnea Eleanor Yeager; d. May 25, 2014), American photographer who perfected the pin-up.  In addition to photographing pin-up, she was also a pin-up model.  She was born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania and died in North Miami, Florida.  She died of congestive heart failure at age 85.

 

1929 ~ Bill Cunningham (né William John Cunningham; d. June 25, 2016), American fashion photographer who was also known for his candid and street photography.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died at age 87 in New York, New York.

 

1923 ~ William F. Bolger (d. Aug. 21, 1989), 65th United States Postmaster General.  He served in this position from March 1975 until January 1985.  He was born in Waterbury, Connecticut.  He died at age 66 in Arlington County, Virginia.

 

1921 ~ Gitta Sereny (d. June 14, 2012), Austrian-born British author who explored the roots of evil.  She wrote extensively about the Holocaust.  She was born in Vienna, Austria.  She died at age 91 in Cambridge, England.

 

1921 ~ Al Jaffee (né Abraham Jaffee; d. Apr. 10, 2023), American ingenious cartoonist who helped define Madmagazine.  He is best known for his work in the satirical magazine Mad.  He worked there for 65 years: from its founding in 1952 until its last issue in 2020.  He was born in Savannah, Georgia.  He died about a month after his 102nd birthday in New York, New York.

 

1920 ~ Ralph Roberts (né Ralph Joel Roberts; d. June 18, 2015), American businessman and co-founder of Comcast Communications.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 95 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

1917 ~ Sir Robert Mark (d. Sept. 30, 2010), British police officer and Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.  He was the first Metropolitan Commissioner to have risen through all the ranks from the lowest to highest.  He died at age 93.

 

1916 ~ Lindy Boggs (née Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne; d. July 27, 2013), American politician and first woman from Louisiana to be elected to Congress.  She served as a member of the House of Representatives who legislated with charm.  She was also the mother of journalist Cokie Roberts.  She was born in New Roads, Louisiana.  She died at age 97 in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

 

1914 ~ Butch O’Hare (né Edward Henry O’Hare; d. Nov. 26, 1943), American flying ace.  He was born in St. Louis, Missouri.  He was shot down during a mission over the Gilbert Islands in the Pacific Ocean during World War II.  He was 29 years old.  The O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named in his honor.

 

1913 ~ William J. Casey (né William Joseph Casey; d. May 6, 1987), 13th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He served in that office during the Ronald Reagan administration from January 1981 through January 1987.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died of a brain tumor at age 74 in Roslyn Harbor, New York.

 

1911 ~ L. Ron Hubbard (né Lafayette Ronald Hubbard; d. Jan. 24, 1986), American founder of the Church of Scientology.  He was born in Tilden, Nebraska.  He died of a stroke at age 74 in Creston, California.

 

1910 ~ Sammy Kaye (né Samuel Zarnocay, Jr.; d. June 2, 1987), American musician, bandleader, and saxophonist.  He was born in Lakewood, Ohio.  He died at age 77 in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

 

1908 ~ Myrtle Bachelder (d. May 22, 1997), American chemist.  She was also an officer in the Women Army Corps.  She is best known for her secret work on the Manhattan Project.  She was born in Orange, Massachusetts.  She died in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1901 ~ Paul Fix (né Peter Paul Fix; d. Oct. 14, 1983), American character actor, best known for his work in Westerns.  He was born in Dobbs Ferry, New York.  He died of kidney failure at age 82 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1900 ~ Giorgos Seferis (d. Sept. 20, 1971), Greek poet and recipient of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Literature.  His birthday is sometime listed as February 29, because of the calendar in use in Greece at the time of his birth.  He died at age 71 in Athens, Greece.

 

1899 ~ John Hasbrouck van Vleck (d. Oct. 27, 1980), American physicist and mathematician.  He was the recipient of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Middletown, Connecticut.  He died at age 81 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

1892 ~ Janet Flanner (d. Nov. 7, 1978), American journalist and author.  She was the Paris corresponded for The New Yorker.  She was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.  She died at age 86 in New York, New York.

 

1855 ~ Percival Lowell (né Percival Lawrence Lowell; d. Nov. 12, 1916), American astronomer and mathematician.  He founded the Lowell Observatory in Arizona.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died of a stroke at age 61 in Flagstaff, Arizona.

 

1798 ~ Abigail Fillmore (née Abigail Powers; d. Mar. 30, 1853), First Lady of the United States and wife of President Millard Fillmore.  She was born in Stillwater, New York.  She died of pneumonia just over 2 weeks after her 55th birthday in Washington, D.C.

 

1764 ~ Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (d. July 17, 1845), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister from November 1830 until July 1834, during the reign of William IV, King of the United Kingdom.  He is also associated with Earl Grey tea.  He died at age 81, eleven years almost to the date of his departure as Prime Minister.

 

1741 ~ Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. Feb. 20, 1790).  He ruled from August 18, 1765 until his death 25 years later.  He married twice.  His first wife was Princess Isabella of Parma (1741 ~ 1763).  They married in 1760.  After her death, he married Maria Josepha, Duchess of Bavaria (1739 ~ 1767) in 1765.  He was of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.  He was the son of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa.  He died 3 weeks before his 49th birthday.

 

1713 ~ Matthew Thornton (d. June 24, 1803), Irish-born early American founder.  He is best known for being a signed of the Declaration of Independence.  He was born in Ireland.  He ultimately settled in New Hampshire.  He died at age 90 in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

 

1615 ~ Pope Innocent XII (né Antonio Pignatelli; d. Sept. 27, 1700).  He was Pope from July 1691 until his death 9 years later.  He is best known for taking a hard stance against nepotism in the Catholic Church.  He died at age 85 in Rome.

 

1372 ~ Louis I, Duke of Orléans (d. Nov. 23, 1407), French prince and member of the French royal family, He was married to Valentina Visconti (1371 ~ 1408).  They married in1389.  He was of the House of Valois-Orléans.  He was the son of Charles V, King of France and Joanna of Bourbon.  He was assassinated at age 35.

 

1271 ~ Judith of Habsburg (d. June 18, 1297), Queen consort of Bohemia and first wife of Wenceslaus II of Bohemia (1271 ~ 1305).  They married in 1285.  She was of the House of Habsburg.  She was the youngest daughter of Rudolf I, King of Germany and Gertrude of Hohenberg.  She died at age 26, shortly after giving birth to her 10th child.

 

963 ~ Anna Porphyrogenita (d. 1011), Grand Princess consort of Kiev and fifth wife of Vladimir I, Grand Prince of Kiev (958 ~ 1015).  She was of the House of Macedon.  She was the daughter of Romanos II, King of Byzantium and Theophano.  The date of her death is not known.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2020 ~ Friday the 13th.

 

2020 ~ Donald Trump (b. 1946) declared the COVID-19 pandemic to be a national emergency.

 

2013 ~ Pope Francis (né Jorge Mario Bergoglio; b. 1936) was elected to succeed Pope Benedict XVI (1927 ~ 2022), thereby making him the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.

 

2012 ~ A bus full of Belgium tourists and skiers crashed into a wall of the Sierra Tunnel in the Swiss Alps killing 28 people, including 22 children.  Twenty-four children were severely injured.  All the adults on the bus were killed.  This was one of the worst auto accidents in the country’s history.

 

1993 ~ Known as the 1993 Storm of the Century, a massive blizzard swept across the eastern United States dropping nearly 5 feet of snow in some areas.  Birmingham, Alabama recorded over a foot of snow.

 

1992 ~ A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Erzincan in Eastern Turkey, killing over 500 people.

 

1991 ~ Exxon agreed to pay $1 Billion for the clean-up of the 1989 Exxon-Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska.

 

1969 ~ The Apollo 9 Spacecraft returned safely to earth after testing the Lunar Module.

 

1964 ~ Catherine Susan “Kitty” Genovese (1935 ~ 1964) was murdered in New York City while her neighbors allegedly did nothing to help her.  This became known as the By-Stander or Genovese Effect.

 

1963 ~ Ernesto Miranda (1941 ~ 1976) was arrested by police in Phoenix, Arizona and charged with kidnap and rape. His conviction ultimate was set aside by the United States Supreme Court in the 1966 case of Miranda v. Arizona because he was not advised of his rights.  He was retried and his confession was not introduced into evidence.  In his second trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to 20-30 years in prison.  He was released on parole in 1972.  In 1976, he was stabbed to death in a bar fight.

 

1954 ~ The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ began.  The battle would continue through May 7, 1954.  It began with an artillery barrage by Viet Minh forces.  The Viet Minh’s victory ended the First Indochina War and French withdrawal from Vietnam.

 

1943 ~ German forces liquidated the Jewish ghetto in Kraków, Poland.

 

1940 ~ The Russo-Finnish Winter War ended.

 

1933 ~ Following President Franklin Roosevelt’s mandate for a “Bank Holiday,” banks began to re-open.

 

1930 ~ The Lowell Observatory announced the discovery of Pluto.  Amateur astronomer Clyde Tombaugh (1906 ~ 1997) had first observed the (dwarf) planet nearly a month earlier.

 

1925 ~ The state of Tennessee passed a law, known as the Butler Act, that prohibited the teaching of evolution in the schools.  This eventually led to the Scopes Trial.

 

1881 ~ Alexander II, Tsar of Russia (1818 ~ 1881) was assassinated in St. Petersburg by a bomb that had been thrown by a member of the revolutionary group.

 

1865 ~ The Confederate States of America began using African American troops in its cause against the Union during the American Civil War.

 

1862 ~ The United States Federal government forbad all Union army officers to return fugitive slaves, thus annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which required run-away slaves to their former owners.

 

1809 ~ Gustav IV Adolf, King of Sweden (1778 ~ 1837) was deposed in a coup d’état.

 

1781 ~ William Herschel (1738 ~ 1822) discovered the planet Uranus.  It would be nearly 200 years before other astronomers discovered that there were rings around the planet.

 

1639 ~ Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass., was named for clergyman John Harvard (1607 ~ 1638).  The school had been established three years earlier.

 

Good-Bye

 

2023 ~ Pat Schroeder (née Patricia Nell Scott; b. July 31, 1940), American politician and lawmaker who defied sexism in Congress.  She served in the United States House of Representatives from Colorado.  She served in the House from January 1973 until January 1997.  She was the first female Representative elected from Colorado.  She was born in Portland, Oregon.  She died at age 82 in Celebration, Florida.

 

2022 ~ Brent Renaud (b. Oct. 13, 1971), American journalist and documentarian who strode into war zones.  He was born in Memphis, Tennessee.  He was killed by Russian forces while covering the war in Irpin, Ukraine.  He was 50 years old.

 

2022 ~ William Hurt (né William McChord Hurt; b. Mar. 20, 1950), American actor who was the reluctant movie star who ruled the 1980s.  He starred in such films as Body HeatThe Big Chill, and Kiss of the Spider Woman.  He was born in Washington, D.C.  He died of prostate cancer 1 week before his 72nd birthday in Portland, Oregon.

 

2021 ~ Marvin Hagler (né Marvin Nathaniel Hagler; b. May 23, 1954), American “marvelous” boxer who dominated the ring.  He was known as Marvelous Marvin Hagler.  He was born in Newark, New Jersey.  He died in Bartlett, New Hampshire at age 66 of Covid-19.

 

2016 ~ Hilary Putnam (né Hilary Whitehall Putnam; b. July 31, 1926), American mathematician and computer scientist.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He died at age 89 in Arlington, Massachusetts.

 

2014 ~ Sean Leary (b. Aug. 23, 1975), American extreme athlete who found escape in flight.  He was killed at age 38 in a BASE jumping accident in Utah’s Zion National Park.

 

2006 ~ Maureen Stapleton (née Lois Maureen Stapleton; b. June 21, 1925), American actress.  She was born in Troy, New York.  She died in Lenox, Massachusetts at age 80.

 

2000 ~ Lois Jones (b. Sept. 6, 1934), American geochemist.  She led the first all-female expedition to Antarctica in 1969.  Prior to her expedition, the continent was closed to female scientists.  She was born in Berea, Ohio.  She died at age 65.

 

1990 ~ Bruno Bettelheim (b. Aug. 28, 1903), Austrian-born American psychiatrist.  He was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary.  He died at age 86 in Silver Spring, Maryland.

 

1985 ~ Mabel Alvarez (b. Nov. 28, 1891), American artist.  She was born Oahu, Hawaii.  She died in Los Angeles, California at age 93.

 

1975 ~ Ivo Andrić (né Ivan Andrić; b. Oct. 9, 1892), Serbo-Croatian writer and recipient of the 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 82.

 

1971 ~ Rockwell Kent (b. June 21, 1882), American painter and illustrator.  He was born in Terrytown, New York.  He died of a heart attack at age 88 in Plattsburgh, New York.

 

1964 ~ Kitty Genovese (née Catherine Susan Genovese, b. July 7, 1935) American murder victim.  She was murdered in New York City while her neighbors allegedly did nothing to help her.  This became known as the By-stander or Genovese Effect.  She was 28 years old at the time of her murder.

 

1943 ~ Stephen Vincent Benét (b. July 22, 1898), American writer.  He was born in Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania.  He died at age 44 of a heart attack in New York, New York.

 

1938 ~ Clarence Darrow (né Clarence Seward Darrow; b. Apr. 18, 1857), American attorney.  He is best known for defending John Scopes in the famous Monkey Trial, which was about teaching evolution in the Tennessee schools.  He was a leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union.  He was born in Farmdale, Ohio.  He died about a month before his 81st birthday of pulmonary heart disease in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1906 ~ Susan B. Anthony (née Susan Brownell Anthony, b. Feb. 15, 1820), American woman’s suffrage activist.  She was born in Adams, Massachusetts.  She died about a month after her 86th birthday in Rochester, New York.

 

1905 ~ Rachel Brooks Gleason (née Rachel Ingall Brooks; b. Nov. 27, 1820), American physician.  She was the 4thwoman to earn a medical degree in the United States.  She was born in Winhall, Vermont.  She died at age 84.

 

1901 ~ Benjamin Harrison (b. Aug. 20, 1833), 23rd President of the United States.  He was President from March 1889 until March 1893.  He was the grandson of President William Henry Harrison.  He was born in North Bend, Ohio.  He died of pneumonia at age 67 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

 

1885 ~ Titian Peale (né Titian Ramsay Peale; b. Nov. 17, 1799), American artist, naturalist and explorer.  He was born and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He died at age 85.

 

1884 ~ Leland Stanford, Jr. (né Leland Dewitt Stanford; b. May 14, 1868), only son of the American railroad magnate.  He was born in Sacramento, California.  He died of typhoid fever at age 15 in Florence, Italy.  His father named Stanford University in California in his memory.

 

1881 ~ Alexander II, Tsar of Russia (b. Apr. 29, 1818).  He ruled Russia from March 2, 1855 until his assassination in St. Petersburgh 26 years later.  He was known as Alexander the Liberator.  He is best known for being a reformer and for the emancipation of the serfs.  He was married twice.  His 1st wife, whom he married in 1841, was Maria Alexandrovna (née Marie of Hesse; 1824 ~ 1880).  She died in 1880 at age 55 of tuberculosis.  Alexander and his 1st wife had 8 children together.  His 2nd marriage was a morganatic marriage.  His 2nd wife, who had been his mistress, was Princess Catherine Mikhailnova Dolgorukova (1847 ~ 1922), with whom he already had 4 children.  He was killed near his palace when a bomb was thrown at him.  In the Julian calendar that was used by Russia at the time, this event was recorded on March 1.  He was of the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov.  He was the son of Nicholas I, Tsar of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna (née Princess Charlotte of Prussia).  He was Russian Orthodox.  He was 62 at the time of his death.

 

1879 ~ Adolf Anderssen (né Karl Ernst Aldolf Anderssen; b. July 6, 1818), German mathematician and chess player.  He died at age 60.

 

1842 ~ Henry Shrapnel (b. June 3, 1761), British general and inventor.  He invented the Shrapnel Shell.  He died at age 80.

 

1824 ~ Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain (b. July 6, 1782), member of the Spanish royal family and Queen consort of Etruria.  She was married to Louis I, King of Etruria (1773 ! 1803).  She was of the House of Bourbon.  She was the daughter of Charles IV, King of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma.  She died of cancer at age 41.

 

1808 ~ Christian VII, King of Denmark (b. Jan. 29, 1749).  He reigned as King of Denmark and Norway from January 14, 1766 until his death in March 1808.  Much of his reign was marked by his mental illness, and he was essentially monarch in name only.  He married Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (1751 ~ 1775) in 1766.  It was not a happy marriage, and they were divorced in 1772.  He was of the House of Oldenburg.  He was the son of Frederick V, King of Denmark and Louise of Great Britain.  He died of a stroke at age 59.

 

1516 ~ Vladislaus II of Hungary (b. Mar. 1, 1456).  He was King of Bohemia from 1471 until his death, and King of Hungary and Croatia from 1490 until his death.  He was married three times.  His first wife was Barbara of Brandenburg (1464 ~ 1515).  They married in 1476 and divorced in 1490, although their marriage wasn’t legally dissolved until 1500. While married to her, he secretly married Beatrice of Naples (1457 ~ 1508) in 1490.  His first wife had to fight for a divorce.  He had no children with his first two wives.  After Beatrice died, he married Anne of Foix-Candale (1484 ~ 1506), with whom he had two children.  They were the parents of Louis II, King of Hungary and Bohemia.  He was of the House of Jagiellon.  He was the son of Casimir IV, King of Poland and Archduchess Elizabeth of Austria.  He was Roman Catholic.  He died 12 days after his 60th birthday.

 

1202 ~ Mieszko II the Old, (b. 1120s), Duke of Poland from 1173 until 1177 until he was deposed.  He was married twice.  His first wife was Elisabeth of Hungary (1128 ~ 1154).  His second wife was Eudoxia of Kiev (1131 ~ 1187).  He was of the Piast dynasty.  He was the son of Bolesław III Wrymouth and Salomea of Berg.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been about 76 at the time of his death.


No comments:

Post a Comment