Birthdays:
1976 ~ Lukas Haas (né Lukas Daniel Haas), American actor. He is best known for his role as an Amish boy who witnessed a murder in the 1985 movie Witness. He was born in West Hollywood, California.
1965 ~ Jon Cryer (né Jonathan Niven Cryer), American actor. He was born in New York, New York.
1962 ~ Antony Blinken (né Antony John Blinken), American governmental official. He served as the 71st United States Secretary of State during the Biden administration. He assumed that office in January 2021. He was born in Yonkers, New York.
1956 ~ David Brown (né David McDowell Brown; d. Feb. 1, 2003), American astronaut and captain the ill-fated Space Shuttle Columbia. He was born in Arlington County, Virginia. He died at age 46.
1954 ~ Ellen Barkin (née Ellen Rona Barkin), American actress. She was born in The Bronx, New York.
1947 ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (né Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.), African-American professional basketball player. He was born in Harlem, New York.
1940 ~ Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark. She became Queen in January 1972. She abdicated the throne in January 2024 in favor of her son, Frederik X, King of Denmark. She married Henri de Laborde de Monpezat (1934 ~ 2018) in 1967. She is of the House of Glücksburg. She is the daughter of Frederick IX, King of Denmark and Ingrid of Sweden.
1939 ~ Dusty Springfield (née Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien; d. Mar. 2, 1999), English singer. She died of breast cancer at age 59.
1933 ~ Ike Pappas (né Icarus Nestor Pappas; d. Aug. 31, 2008), American journalist. He was born in Queens, New York. He died of congestive heart failure at age 75 in Arlington, Virginia.
1932 ~ Duane Clarridge (né Duane Ramsdell Clarridge; d. Apr. 9, 2016), American veteran spy who was linked to Iran-Contra. He was a top CIA agent in the 1970s and ‘80s. He was instrumental in Iran-Contra, the controversial operation in which the United States secretly sold arms to Iran to secure the release of hostages in Lebanon and to fund the right-wing contra in Nicaragua. He later pled guilty to seven counts of perjury and making false statements relating to the arms shipments to Iran. He was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. He died a week before his 84th birthday in Leesburg, Virginia of esophageal cancer.
1930 ~ Herbie Mann (né Herbert Jay Solomon; d. July 1, 2003), American flutist and composer. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He died of prostate cancer at age 73 in Pecos, New Mexico.
1927 ~ Edie Adams (née Elizabeth Edith Enke; d. Oct. 15, 2008), American sultry singer who pitched Muriel cigars. She was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania. She died at age 81 in Los Angeles, California.
1927 ~ Pope Benedict XVI (né Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger; d. Dec. 31, 2022), traditionalist pontiff who abdicated his papacy. He served as Pope from April 2005 until February 2013. He stepped down from the Papacy in 2013, becoming only the second Pope in history to do so. He was born in Marktl, Bavaria, Weinmar Republic. He died at age 95 in Vatican City.
1924 ~ Henry Mancini (né Enrico Nicola Mancini; d. June 14, 1994), American composer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He died of pancreatic cancer at age 70 in Los Angeles, California.
1921 ~ Sir Peter Ustinov (né Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov; d. Mar. 28, 2004), British actor. He was born in London, England. He died 19 days before his 83rd birthday in Genolier, Switzerland.
1919~ Merce Cunningham (né Mercier Philip Cunningham, d. July 26, 2009), the maverick American dancer who celebrated the body. He was born in Centralia, Washington. He died at age 90 in New York, New York.
1912 ~ Garth Williams (né Garth Montgomery Williams; d. May 8, 1996), American illustrator. He illustrated such children’s books as Charlotte’s Web and Laura Ingall’s Little House series. He was born in New York, New York. He died in Guanajuato, Mexico about 3 weeks after his 84th birthday.
1907 ~ Joseph-Armand Bombardier (d. Feb. 18, 1964), Canadian inventor of the snowmobile. He was born in Valcourt, Quebec, Canada. He died at age 56 in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
1900 ~ Polly Adler (née Pearl Adler; d. June 9, 1962), Russian-born American madam and author. She was born in Yanow, Belarus. She died of cancer at age 62 in Hollywood, California.
1889 ~ Sir Charlie Chaplin (né Charles Spencer Chaplin, d. Dec. 25, 1977), English film star. He was born in London, England. He died at age 88.
1886 ~ Margaret Woodrow Wilson (d. Feb. 12, 1944), American daughter of President Woodrow Wilson. She served as First Lady during her father’s presidency after her mother, Ellen Wilson, died and before he married Edith Wilson. She was born in Gainesville, Georgia. In 1938, she moved to India and joined an ashram, where she lived for the rest of her life. She died of uremia at age 57 in Puducherry, French India.
1867 ~ Wilber Wright (d. May 30, 1912) American inventor, pioneer in aviation and airplane designer. He, along with his brother, Orville, invented the airplane and founded the Wright Company. He was born in Millville, Indiana. He died of typhoid fever at age 45 in Dayton, Ohio.
1864 ~ Rose Bullard (née Rose Talbot; d. Dec. 22, 1915), American medical doctor and medical school professor. She taught gynecology at the University of Southern California. She was born in Birmingham, Iowa. She died suddenly of complications following surgery from a dental infection. She was 51 years old.
1844 ~ Anatole France (né François-Anatole Thibault; d. Oct. 12, 1924), French writer and recipient of the 1921 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in Paris, France. He died at age 80.
1823 ~ Gotthold Eisenstein (d. Oct. 11, 1852), German mathematician. He was born and died in Berlin, Prussia (current day Germany). He died of tuberculosis at age 29.
1808 ~ Caleb Smith (né Caleb Blood Smith; d. Jan. 7, 1864), 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 Connersville, Indiana.
1755 ~ Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (d. Mar. 30, 1842), French portrait painter. She created over 660 landscapes and 200 portraits. She was born and died in Paris, France. She died 17 days before her 87th birthday.
1693 ~ Countess Anne Sophie Reventlow (d. Jan. 7, 1743), 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.
1682 ~ John Hadley (d. Feb. 14, 1744), English mathematician and inventor of the octant, an instrument used in navigation. He died at age 61.
1630 ~ Countess Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau (b. Aug. 18, 1579), member of the House of Orange. She was the daughter of Prince William of Orange, also known as William the Silent and his third wife, Charlotte of Bourbon. After her mother’s death, she was raised to become a Catholic by her maternal grandparents. She became a French abbess. She died at age 70.
1495 ~ Petrus Apianus (d. Apr. 21, 1552), German mathematician. He died a week after his 62nd birthday.
778 ~ Louis the Pious, King of the Franks (d. June 20, 840). He was also known as Louis the Fair. He was married twice. His first wife was Ermengarde of Hesbaye (778 ~ 818). His second wife was Judith of Bavaria (797 ~ 843). They were the parents of Charles the Bold. He was of the House of Carolingian. He was the son of Charlemagne and Hildegard. He was of the Chalcedonian Christianity religion. He died at age 62.
Events that Changed the World:
2017 ~ Easter Sunday.
2016 ~ A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck in Ecuador. Nearly 700 people were killed and thousands of others were injured.
2013 ~ A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck in Iran, killing at least 35 people and injuring over 100 people.
2007 ~ On the Virginia Tech campus, Seung-Hui Cho (1984 ~ 2007) opened fire in a shooting spree, killing 32 and injuring 23 others before committing suicide.
1990 ~ Dr. Jack Kevorkian (1928 ~ 2011) participated in his first assisted suicide. He became known as the Doctor of Death.
1962 ~ Walter Cronkite (1916 ~ 2009) took over as the lead anchor of the CBS Evening News.
1947 ~ Bernard Baruch (1870 ~ 1965), a political consultant, coined the term Cold War in a speech to the South Carolina House of Representatives to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
1947 ~ An explosion on a freighter containing fertilizer in the port of Texas City, Texas, cause a massive fire in the city that killed 600 people.
1944 ~ During World War II, allied forced began bombing Belgrade. Over 1,000 people were killed in the bombing, which fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.
1943 ~ Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman (1908 ~ 2008) accidently discovered the hallucinogenic effects of LSD.
1927 ~ The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 began. The flood was deemed the most destructive river flood in United States history. Fifteen inches of rain fell in New Orleans, Louisiana in 18 hours. The first levee broke in Illinois. The history of the flooding was recounted in John Berry’s 1997 book, Rising Tide.
1912 ~ Harriet Quimby (1875 ~ 1912) became the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel. Less than three months later she would be killed in a plane accident.
1910 ~ The Boston Arena first opened. The arena was renamed in 1982 as the Matthews Arena in honor of George Matthews who helped fund a major renovation. It is the oldest existing indoor ice hockey arena still in use in the 21stCentury.
1908 ~ Natural Bridges National Monument was established in Utah.
1863 ~ The Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi began during the American Civil War when Union ships, led by Admiral David Dixon Porter (1813 ~ 1891) moved through heavy Confederate fire as he made his way towards Vicksburg.
1818 ~ The United States Senate ratified the Rush-Bagot Treaty, thereby establishing the border between the United States and Canada along the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.
73 ~ Masada, the Jewish fortress on the Dead Sea, fell to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Jewish Revolt. The Jews at Masada died by suicide rather than be taken by the Romans.
1457 BCE ~ The traditional date of the Battle of Megiddo, between Thutmous III and the Canaanite King Kadesh. This is the first battle that has been recorded and which historical evidence indicates actually occurred.
Good-Byes:
2019 ~ Vladimir Boltyansky (b. Apr. 26, 1925), Russian mathematician. He is best known for writing mathematical books on such topics as topology and combinatorial geometry. He was born in Moscow, Russia. He died 10 days before his 94th birthday in Guanajuato, Mexico.
2018 ~ Harry Anderson (né Harry Laverne Anderson; b. Oct. 14, 1952), American actor, comedian and magician. He is best known for his role as Judge Harry Stone on the television sit-com, Night Court. He was born in Newport, Rhode Island. He died of a stroke complicated by influenza at age 65 in Asheville, North Carolina.
2013 ~ Pat Summerall (né George Allen Summerall; b. May 10, 1930), American former football player who became the voice of the NFL. He was born in Lake City, Florida. He died 24 days before his 83rd birthday in Dallas, Texas.
2010 ~ Daryl Gates (né Darrel Francis Gates; b. Aug. 30, 1926), American police chief of the City of Los Angeles. He was the co-founder of the D.A.R.E. Program (Drugs Abuse Resistance Education). He is best known for having been the Chief of Police for the City of Los Angeles during the Rodney King beatings and subsequent riots. He was born in Glendale, California. He died of cancer at age 83 in Dana Point, California.
2008 ~ Edward Norton Lorenz (b. May 23, 1917), American mathematician and meteorologist who formulated chaos theory. He is best known for coining the term “Butterfly Effect.” He was born in West Hartford, Connecticut. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts at age 90.
2002 ~ Robert Urich (né Robert Michael Urich; b. Dec. 19, 1946), American actor. He was born in Toronto, Ohio. He died of cancer at age 55 in thousand Oaks, California.
2002 ~ Ruth Fertel (née Ruth Ann Udstad Fertel; b. Feb. 5, 1927), American founder of Ruth’s Chris Steak House. She was a Louisiana businesswoman, born and died in New Orleans. She died at age 75.
1998 ~ Alberto Calderón (né Alberto Pedro Calderón; b. Sept. 14, 1920), Argentine mathematician. He was born in Mendoza, Argentina. He died at age 77 in Chicago, Illinois.
1994 ~ Ralph Ellison (né Ralph Waldo Ellison; b. Mar. 1, 1913), African-American writer best known for his book, The Invisible Man. He began writing this book while recovering from a kidney infection. He was the grandson of slaves. He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He died at age 81 in New York, New York.
1991 ~ Sir David Lean (b. Mar. 25, 1908) English movie director. He is best known for his movies Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Doctor Zhivago. He died 22 days after his 83rd birthday in London, England.
1972 ~ Yasunari Kawabata (b. June 11, 1899), Japanese writer and recipient of the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature. He died at age 72. His death may have been a suicide.
1968 ~ Edna Ferber (b. Aug. 15, 1885), American author. She is best known for her novels, Showboat and Giant. She was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She died at age 82 in New York, New York.
1958 ~ Rosalind Franklin (née Rosalind Elsie Franklin; b. July 25, 1920), British chemist whose research made it possible for Watson and Crick to discover the molecular structure of DNA. She was born and died in London, England. She died of ovarian cancer at age 37.
1942 ~ Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (née Alexandra Louise Olga Victoria; b. Sept. 1, 1878), Princess consort of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. In 1896, she married Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1863 ~ 1950). She was of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was the daughter of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. She was granddaughter of both Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Alexander II, Tsar of Russia. She died at age 63.
1914 ~ George William Hill (b. Mar. 3, 1838), American mathematician and astronomer. He was born in New York, New York. He died at age 76 in West Nyack, New York.
1859 ~ Alexis de Toqueville (né Alex Charles Henri Clérel de Tocqueville; b. July 29, 1805), French historian and political scientist. He is best known for his work, Democracy in America. He was born in Paris, France. He died at age 53 of tuberculosis in Cannes, France.
1850 ~ Marie Tussaud (née Anna Marie Grosholtz; b. Dec. 1, 1761), French-born artist best known for her wax sculptures of famous people. She was the founder of the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in London, England. She was born in Strasbourg, France. She died at age 88 in London, England.
1828 ~ Francisco Goya (b. Mar. 30, 1746), Spanish painter. He died just over 2 weeks after his 82nd birthday in Bordeaux, France.
1788 ~ Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (b. Sept. 7, 1707), French mathematician. He died at age 80 in Paris, France.
1689 ~ Aphra Behn (b. Dec. 14, 1640), British playwright. She was born in Canterbury, United Kingdom. The actual date of her birth is not known, but she was baptized on Dec. 14. She died at age 48 in London, United Kingdom.
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