April Fool’s Day
Birthdays:
1973 ~ Rachel Maddow (née Rachel Anne Maddow), American television host and political analyst. She was born in Castro Valley, California.
1970 ~ Brad Meltzer, American writer. He is best known for his political thrillers. He also writes non-fiction and wrote the 2019 book The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington. He was born in Brooklyn, New York.
1961 ~ Susan Boyle (née Susan Magdalane Boyle), Scottish singer, who won a talent competition in 2009 on Britain’s Got Talent. She was born in Blackburn, Scotland.
1950 ~ Samuel Alito (né Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr.), Associate Justice of the United State Supreme Court. He was nominated to the High Court by President George W. Bush. He replaced Sandra Day O’Connor on the Court. He assumed office in January 2006. He is one of the most conservative Justices on the Court. He was born in Trenton, New Jersey.
1949 ~ Gil Scott-Heron (né Gilbert Scott-Heron, d. May 27, 2011), African-American musician and reluctant founder of rap. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He died at age 62 in New York, New York.
1949 ~ Paul Manafort (né Paul John Manafort, Jr.), American lobbyist and political consultant. He chaired the Trump presidential campaign for 2 months in 2016. He was indicted on numerous federal and state charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. He was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to prison. In December 2020, then-President Donald Trump issued him a full pardon. He was born in New Britain, Connecticut.
1947 ~ Alain Connes, French mathematician. He is best known for his contributions to the study of operator algebras and noncommutative geometry. He was born in Draguignan, France.
1947 ~ Francine Prose, American novelist. She was born in Brooklyn, New York.
1944 ~ Rusty Staub (né Daniel Joseph Staub; d. Mar. 29, 2018), American towering slugger who became “Le Grand Orange” due to his red hair. He was a professional baseball player and played for several teams, including the Montreal Expos. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He died in West Palm Beach, Florida 3 days before his 74th birthday.
1941 ~ Gideon Gadot (d. Sept. 21, 2012), Israeli journalist and politician. He died at age 71.
1940 ~ Wangarĩ Maathai (d. Sept. 25, 2011), Kenyan environmentalist who fought for Africa’s forests. She was the recipient of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. She was the first African woman to win this prize for her work in sustainable development. She died of ovarian cancer at age 71.
1939 ~ Ali MacGraw (née Elizabeth Alice MacGraw), American actress best known for her role as the dying wife in Love Story. She was born in Pound Ridge, New York.
1933 ~ Stanley Weston (d. May 1, 2017), American licensing agent who put G.I. Joe in America’s toy chest. He sold the concept to Hasbro, but never made much money over the toy. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He died a month after his 84th birthday in Los Angeles, California.
1933 ~ Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, French physicist and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research in methods of laser cooling and trapping atoms. He was born in Constantine, French Algeria.
1932 ~ Gordon Jump (né Alexander Gordon Jump; d. Sept. 22, 2003), American actor. He is best known for his role as Arthur Carlson in WKRP in Cincinnati and as the Maytag Repairman in the advertisements. He was born in Dayton, Ohio. He died of respiratory failure at age 71 in Los Angeles, California.
1932 ~ Bob Beaumont (né Robert Gerald Beaumont; d. Oct. 24, 2011), American car dealership owner and creator of the electric car in the 1970s. He was born in Teaneck, New Jersey. He died at age 79 in Columbia, Maryland.
1932 ~ Debbie Reynolds (née Mary Frances Reynolds; d. Dec. 28, 2016), American bubbly actress and singer who danced to fame in Singin’ in the Rain. She was born in El Paso, Texas. She died in Los Angeles, California of a broken heart one day after her daughter, Carrie Fischer. She was 84 years old.
1929 ~ Jane Powell (née Suzanne Lorraine Burce; d. Sept. 16, 2021), American sunny actress who lit up golden-age movie musicals. She is best known for role in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. She was born in Portland, Oregon. She died in Wilton, Connecticut at age 92.
1929 ~ Milan Kundera (d. July 11, 2023), Czech novelist who satarized Communist rule. He is best known for his novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being. He was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia. He died at age 94 in Paris, France.
1924 ~ Brendan Byrne (né Brendan Thomas Bryne; d. Jan. 4, 2018), 47th Governor of New Jersey. He served as Governor from January 1974 through January 1982. He was born in West Orange, New Jersey. He died at age 93 in Livingston, New Jersey.
1923 ~ Dan Lurie (d. Nov. 6, 2013), American bodybuilder who arm-wrestled President Ronald Reagan. He was a founding father of bodybuilding. He was born in New York, New York. He died at age 90 in Roslyn, New York.
1923 ~ David Dushman (né David Aleksandrovich Dushman; d. June 4, 2021), Jewish-Soviet soldier during World War II. He was the last surviving Allied liberator of Auschwitz. He was a 21-year-old soldier with the Soviet army when he drove his tank through the electric fence surrounding Auschwitz. He was also only one of 69 men from the 12,000 in his division to survive the War. After the war, he became the Soviet Union’s top-ranked fencer and coached the award-winning women’s nation team at the 1972 Olympics. In 1996, he emigrated to Germany. He was born in the Free City of Danzig. He died at age 98.
1922 ~ William Manchester (né William Raymond Manchester; d. June 1, 2004), American historian. He was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts. He died at age 82 in Middletown, Connecticut.
1919 ~ Joseph Murray (né Joseph Edward Murray; d. Nov. 26, 2012), American physician and recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He and his team performed the first successful kidney transplant in 1954. He was born in Milford, Massachusetts. He died at age 93 in Boston, Massachusetts.
1917 ~ Sydney Newman (né Sydney Cecil Newman; d. Oct. 30, 1997), Canadian screenwriter and co-creator of Doctor Who. He was born and died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He died at age 80.
1916 ~ Sheila May Edmonds (d. Sept. 2, 2002), British mathematician. She died at age 86.
1908 ~ Abraham Maslow (né Abraham Harold Maslow; d. June 8, 1970), American psychologist. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He died of a heart attack while jogging at age 62 in Menlo Park, California.
1898 ~ William James Sidis (d. July 17, 1944), American mathematician. He was a child prodigy and entered Harvard University at age 11. He was born in Manhattan, New York. He died in Boston, Massachusetts of a brain hemorrhage at age 46.
1885 ~ Clementine Churchill, Baroness Spencer-Churchill (née Clementine Ogilvy Hozier; d. Dec. 12, 1977), wife of Winston Churchill. She was born and died in London, England. She died at age 92.
1883 ~ Lon Chaney (né Leonidas Frank Chaney, Sr.; d. Aug. 26, 1930), American actor of silent films and the father of Lon Chaney, Jr. He was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He died of a throat hemorrhage, complicated by lung cancer, at age 47 in Los Angeles, California.
1874 ~ Ernest Barnes (né Ernest William Barnes; d. Nov. 29, 1953), English mathematician. He was also a member of the clergy. He died at age 79.
1873 ~ Sergei Rachmaninoff (d. Mar. 28, 1943), Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He died 4 days before his 70thbirthday in Beverly Hills, California.
1868 ~ Edmond Rostand (né Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand; d. Dec. 2, 1918), French dramatist best known for his play, Cyrano de Bergerac. He was born in Marseille, France. He died at age 50 during the flu epidemic in Paris, France.
1865 ~ Richard Adolf Zsigmondy (d. Sept. 23, 1929), Austrian chemist and recipient of the 1925 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in colloids. He was born in Vienna, Austrian Empire. He died at age 64.
1834 ~ James Fisk, Jr. (d. Jan. 7, 1872), American businessman and stockbroker. He was known as Diamond Jim and was a Robber Baron. He was born in Vermont but moved to New York City to become a stockbroker. He was murdered at age 36 by a disgruntled business associate. He died in New York, New York.
1815 ~ Edward Clark (d. May 4, 1880), 8th Governor of Texas. His term coincided with the American Civil War and he was only governor for about 7 months, from May 1861 until early November 1861. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and died at age 65 in Marshall, Texas.
1815 ~ Otto von Bismarck (né Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismark; d. July 30, 1898), 1st Chancellor of the German Empire. He served in that Office from March 1871 until March 1890. He died at age 83.
1776 ~ Marie-Sophie Germain (d. June 27, 1831), French mathematician. She is best known for elasticity theory. She was born and died in Paris, France. She died of breast cancer at age 55.
1640 ~ Georg Mohr (d. Jan. 26, 1697), Danish mathematician. He died at age 56.
1578 ~ William Harvey (d. June 3, 1657), English physician. He is best known for his study of blood and the circulatory system. He died at age 79 in London, England.
1328 ~ Princess Blanche of France (d. Feb. 8, 1382), Duchess of Orléans through her marriage to Philip, Duke of Orléans (1336 ~ 1375). They married in 1345. She was of the House of Capet. She was the posthumous daughter of Charles IV, King of France and his third wife, Jeanne d’Évreux. She was Roman Catholic. She died at age 53.
1282 ~ Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. Oct. 11, 1347). He reigned as the Holy Roman Emperor from 1326 until his death in October 1347. He was known as Louis the Bavarian. He was married twice. His first wife was Princess Beatrix of Świdnica (1290 ~ 1322). His second wife was Margaret II, Countess of Holland (1311 ~ 1356). He was of the House of Wittelsbach. He was the son of Louis II, Duke of Bavaria and Matilda of Habsburg. He died at age 65.
Events that Changed the World:
2018 ~ Easter Sunday was celebrated in the Western Christian countries.
2004 ~ Google launched its Gmail service.
2001 ~ Same-sex marriage became legal in the Netherlands. This was the first country to allow such marriages.
1997 ~ The Comet Hale-Bopp passed the earth at the perihelion.
1979 ~ Iran became an Islamic Republic, officially overthrowing the Shah.
1976 ~ Steve Jobs (1955 ~ 2011), Steve Wozniak (b. 1950) and Ronald Wayne (b. 1934) incorporated Apple, Inc.
1970 ~ President Richard Nixon (1913 ~ 1994) signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law. This Act required the Surgeon General to post a warning on all tobacco products of the health hazards. The Act also banned cigarette advertisements from television and radio effective January 1, 1971.
1967 ~ The United States Department of Transportation, which had been authorized by Congress in 1966, began operations.
1957 ~ During the current affairs program, the BBC broadcast the “Spaghetti Tree Hoax”, which was a three-minute April Fool’s Day story about a Swiss family harvesting spaghetti from spaghetti trees. Numerous listeners believed the story was an actual news story and called the radio station for advice on growing spaghetti.
1954 ~ President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 ~ 1969) authorized the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
1948 ~ Faroe Islands gained autonomy from Denmark.
1946 ~ An 8.6 magnitude earthquake near the Aleutian Islands caused a massive tsunami that hit the Hawaiian Islands. Over 150 people, mostly in Hilo, Hawaii, were killed.
1945 ~ United States troops landed on Okinawa during Operation Iceberg, the last campaign of World War II.
1939 ~ Generalísimo Francisco Franco (1892 ~ 1975) announced the end of the Spanish Civil War. The last of the Republican forces surrendered.
1933 ~ The Nazis organized a boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses in Germany. This led to widespread acts of antisemitism in Germany.
1924 ~ The Royal Canadian Air Force was formed.
1919 ~ Walter Gropius (1883 ~ 1969) founded the Staatliches Bauhaus school in Weimar.
1891 ~ The Wrigley Company was founded in Chicago, Illinois.
1867 ~ Singapore became a British crown colony.
1854 ~ The first episodes of Hard Times by Charles Dickens (1812 ~ 1870) were published in Household Wordsmagazine.
1826 ~ Samuel Morey (1762 ~ 1843) patented the internal combustion engine.
1789 ~ The United States House of Representative met in New York City. Frederick Muhlenberg (1750 ~ 1801) of Pennsylvania was elected the first Speaker of the House.
Good-Byes:
2022 ~ C.W. McCall (né William Dale Fries, Jr.; b. Nov. 15, 1928), American adman who became the bard of long-haul truckers. He had worked as an ad campaigner for a Midwestern breadmaker, when he recorded the 1975 trucker anthem Convoy. He was born in Audubon, Iowa. He died at age 93 in Ouray, Colorado.
2020 ~ Leilani Jordon (b. Oct. 22, 1992), African-American grocery store clerk from Largo, Maryland who suffered from cerebral Palsy. She kept working through the Coronavirus because she wanted to help people. She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She died at age 27 from complications of Covid-19.
2020 ~ Adam Schlesinger (né Adam Lyons Schlesinger; b. Oct. 31, 1967), American singer-songwriter. He was in the band Fountains of Wayne. He also composed music for movies and television shows, including Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. He was born in New York, New York. He died in Poughkeepsie, New York of complications from Covid-19. He was 52 years old.
2020 ~ Antonio Checo (b. May 6, 1952), rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Queens, New York. He also served as a member and chair of the Hispanic commission of the Diocese of Long Island. He had also served as a mental health clinician at Mount Sinai Queens hospital where he died of complication of COVID-19. He was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic. He died about a month before his 68th birthday.
2020 ~ Ellis Marsalis, Jr. (né Ellis Louis Marsalis, Jr.; b. Nov. 14, 1934), American jazz pianist and musician from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the father of Branford and Wynton Marsalis. He died in New Orleans, Louisiana of complications from Covid-19 at age 85.
2020 ~ Kevin Duffy (né Kevin Thomas Duffy; b. Jan. 10, 1933), American United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. He presided over decades of high-profile trials in Manhattan, including those of mob bosses and the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. He was born in New York, New York. He died of complications of Covid-19 in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was 87 years old.
2019 ~ Dan Robbins (né John Daniel Robbins; b. May 26, 1925), American artist who brought painting to the masses. He developed the idea of the paint-by-numbers kits so children could “create” paintings. He died at age 93 in Sylvania, Ohio.
2018 ~ Steven Bochco (né Steven Ronald Bochco; b. Dec. 16, 1943), American cop show pioneer who shook up television drama. He produces such television shows as Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and NYPD Blue. He was born in New York, New York. He died of leukemia at age 74 in Los Angeles, California.
2017 ~ Yevgeny Yevtushenko (b. July 18, 1933), Russian poet and author. He was born in Zima, Russia. He died at age 83 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
2017 ~ Doug Larson (b. Feb. 10, 1926), American columnist. He was born in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He died at age 91.
2012 ~ Miguel de la Madrid (b. Dec. 12, 1934), President of Mexico. He served as president from December 1982 until November 30, 1988. He led Mexico in hard times. He died at age 77.
2012 ~ Lilia Denmark (née Lelia Alice Daughtry; b. Feb. 1, 1898), American pediatrician and health-care advocate. She was the oldest practicing pediatrician when she retired in May 2001 at age 103. She is credited with co-creating the vaccine for whooping cough. She was born in Portal, Georgia. She died at age 114 in Athens, Georgia.
2010 ~ John Forsythe (né Jacob Lincoln Freund; b. Jan. 29, 1918), American actor. He is best remembered for his role as the conniving patriarch Blake Carrington on the television drama Dynasty. He was born in Penns Grove, New Jersey. He died at age 92 years old in Santa Ynez, California.
1991 ~ Martha Graham (b. May 11, 1894), American dancer and choreographer. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. She died at age 96 years in New York, New York.
1984 ~ Marvin Gaye (né Marvin Pentz, Gay, Jr.; b. Apr. 2, 1939), American singer. He was born in Washington, D.C. He was shot and killed by his father 1 day before his 45th birthday in Los Angeles, California.
1976 ~ Max Ernst (b. Apr. 2, 1891), German artist. He died 1 day before his 85th birthday in Paris, France.
1971 ~ Dame Kathleen Lonsdale (née Kathleen Yardley; b. Jan. 28, 1903), Irish chemist and political activist. In 1929, she, using x-ray diffraction, she proved that the benzene ring is flat. She became a Quaker and became involved in political pacifism. She was born in Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. She died of cancer at age 68 in London, England.
1968 ~ Lev Landau (né Lev Davidovich Landau; b. Jan. 22, 1908), Russian physicist and recipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physics. He died in Moscow, Soviet Union at age 60 from complications of injuries sustained in a serious car accident that had occurred 6 year earlier.
1955 ~ Flann O’Brien (né Brian O’Nolan; b. Oct. 5, 1911), Irish novelist. He died of a heart attack at age 54 in Dublin, Ireland.
1965 ~ Helena Rubinstein (née Chaja Rubinstein; b. Dec. 25, 1870), Polish-American businesswoman and cosmetics manufacturer. She founded the Helena Rubinstein Cosmetics, Inc. She was born in Krakow, Poland. She died at age 94 in Manhattan, New York.
1950 ~ Charles Drew (né Charles Richard Drew; b. June 3, 1904), African-American physician and surgeon. He was active in blood research and blood transfusions. He was born in Washington, D.C. He was at age 45 killed in a car accident in Burlington, North Carolina. A school in New Orleans was named after him.
1922 ~ Charles I, Emperor of Austria (b. Aug. 17, 1887). He ruled from November 1916 until November 1918. He was the heir presumptive following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. He reigned until the abolishment of the monarchy. He was married to Zita of Bourbon-Parma (1892 ~ 1989). They married in 1911. He was of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. He was the son of Archduke Otto Franz of Austria and Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony. He was Roman Catholic. He died of respiratory failure at age 34.
1917 ~ Scott Joplin (b. Nov. 24, 1868), African-American ragtime musician and composer. He was known as the King of Ragtime. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 49 at the time of his death. He died in Manhattan, New York.
1894 ~ Remigio Morales Bermúdez (b. Sept. 30, 1836), President of Peru. He served from August 1890 until his death at age 57 on April 1, 1894. He died in Lima, Peru.
1882 ~ Charles Wadsworth (b. May 8, 1814), American clergyman. After graduation at Union college in 1837 he became a Presbyterian pastor. Dr. Wadsworth was among the most eloquent divines of his day. The University of the City of New York gave him the degree of D. D. in 1857. He was born in Litchfield, Connecticut. He died at age 67in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1843 ~ John Armstrong, Jr. (b. Nov. 25, 1758), 7th United States Secretary of War. He served under President James Madison. He served in that office from January 13, 1813 through September 27, 1814. He was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, British America. He died at age 84 in Red Hook, New Jersey.
1839 ~ Benjamin Pierce (b. Dec. 25, 1757), 11th Governor of New Hampshire. He was Governor for 1 year, from June 1827 through June 1828. He was the father of President Franklin Pierce. He was born in Chelmsford, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America. He died at age 81 in Hillsborough, New Hampshire.
1683 ~ Roger Williams (b. December 1603), English theologian and colonist who settled in what is now Rhode Island. The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown, but his death is sometime listed as April 1, 1683.
1548 ~ Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland (b. Jan. 1, 1467). He reigned Poland from December 1506 until his death 42 years later. He married twice: first to Princess Barbara Zápolya (1495 ~ 1515). They married in 1512. After her death in 1515, he married Bona Sforza d’Aragona (1494 ~ 1557). They married in 1517. He was of the House of Jagiellon. He was the son of Casimir IV, King of Poland and Elisabeth of Austria. He was Roman Catholic. He died at age 81.
1441 ~ Blanche I, Queen of Navarre and Sicily (b. July 6, 1387). She ruled over Navarre from September 1425 until her death in April 1441. She was also the Queen consort of Sicily through her first marriage to Martin I, King of Sicily (1370s ~ 1409). She was his second wife. They married in 1402. After his death, she married John II, Duke of Montblanc (1398 ~ 1479), who later ruled as King of Navarre along with Blanche. She was his first wife. She was of the House of Évreux. She was the daughter of Charles III, King of Navarre and Infanta Eleanor of Castile. She died at age 53.
1204 ~ Eleanor of Aquitaine (b. 1122), Duchess of Aquitaine. She was the duchess in her own right and reigned from April 1137 until her death. She was also the Queen consort of England through her marriage to Henry II, King of England (1133 ~ 1189). They married in 1152. He was her second husband. She had previously been married to Louis VII, King of France (1120 ~ 1152), making her the Queen consort of France. They had married in 1137, but the marriage was annulled in 1152 in grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree. She was of the House of Ramnulfids. She was the daughter of William X, Duke of Aquitaine and Aénor de Châtellerault. The exact date of her birth is unknown, but she is believed to have been about 81 at the time of her death.
1085 ~ Emperor Shenzong of Song (b. May 25, 1048), 6th Chinese emperor of the Song Dynasty. He reigned from January 1067 until his death in April 1085. He died at age 36.
996 ~ Pope John XV. He was Pope from August 985 until his death 11 years later. The date of his birth is not known.
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