Birthdays:
1982 ~ Ali Wong (née Alexandra Dawn Wong), American stand-up comedian and actress. She was born in San Francisco, California.
1978 ~ James Franco (né James Edward Franco), American actor. He was born in Palo Alto, California.
1968 ~ Ashley Judd (née Ashley Tyler Ciminella), American actress. She was born in Granada Hills, California.
1964 ~ Kim Weaver (née Kimberly A. Weaver), American astronomer and physicist. She was born in Morgantown, West Virginia.
1952 ~ Tony Plana (né José Antonio Plana), Cuban-born American actor. He was born in Havana, Cuba.
1950 ~ Lani Guinier (née Carol Lani Guinier; d. Jan. 7, 2022), 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.
1949 ~ Paloma Picasso (née Anne Paloma Ruiz-Picasso y Gilot), French-Spanish fashion and jewelry designer. She is the youngest daughter of artist Pablo Picasso. She was born in Vallauris, France.
1946 ~ Tim Curry (né Timothy James Curry), British actor, best known for his role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. He was born in Grappenhall, Cheshire, England.
1944 ~ James Heckman (né James Joseph Heckman), American economist and recipient of the 2000 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He was born in Chicago, Illinois.
1935 ~ Dudley Moore (né Dudley Stuart John Moore; d. Mar. 27, 2002), British actor. He was born in London, England. He died 23 days before his 67th birthday in Plainfield, New Jersey.
1933 ~ Jayne Mansfield (née Vera Jayne Palmer, d. June 29, 1967), American actress. She was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She was killed in a car accident in Slidell, Louisiana. She was 34 years old at the time of her death. One of her daughters is Mariska Hargitay (b. 1964), an actress known for her role as Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victim’s Unit.
1932 ~ Fernando Botero (né Fernando Botero Angulo; d. Sept. 15, 2023), Colombian artist and sculptor who glorified the grotesque. His signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political criticism or humor, depending on the piece. He was born in Medellín, Colombia. He died of complications of pneumonia at age 91 in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
1931 ~ Fred Brooks (né Frederick Phillips Brooks, Jr.; d. Nov. 17, 2022), American computer programmer with a sense of humor. He created the first operating system that could work across multiple computer hardware designs. He held a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Harvard University. He was born in Durham, North Carolina. He died at age 91 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
1930 ~ Dick Sargent (né Richard Stanford Cox; d. July 8, 1994), American actor. He is best known for his role as Darrin Stephens on the television sit-com Bewitched. He was the second actor to take that role. He was born in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He died of prostate cancer at age 64 in Los Angeles, California.
1925 ~ Hugh O’Brien (né Hugh Charles Krampe; d. Sept. 5, 2016), American dashing actor who played Wyatt Earp. He was best known for his role in Westerns. He portrayed Wyatt Earp in the television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp that ran from 1955 to 1961. He was born in Rochester, New York. He died at age 91 in Beverly Hills, California.
1919 ~ Henry Loomis (d. Nov. 2, 2008), American physicist who led the Voice of America and Public Broadcasting. He was born in Tuxedo Park, New York. He died at age 88 in Jacksonville, Florida.
1917 ~ Sven Hassel (né Børge Willy Redsted Pedersen; d. Sept. 21, 2012), Danish novelist who humanized German soldiers from the World War II era. He died at age 95.
1912 ~ Glenn T. Seaborg (né Glenn Theodore Seaborg; d. Feb. 25, 1999), American chemist and recipient of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was born in Ishpeming, Michigan. He died at age 86 in Lafayette, California.
1903 ~ Eliot Ness (d. May 16, 1957), American FBI agent best known as being an agent during the American Prohibition. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He died of a massive heart attack less than a month before his 55thbirthday in Coudersport, Philadelphia.
1883 ~ Richard von Mises (né Richard Edler von Mises; d. July 14, 1953), Austrian-born mathematician. He was of Jewish ancestry and with the rise of the Nazi party, he fled Austria and ultimately moved to the United States. He died in Boston, Massachusetts at age 70.
1877 ~ Ole Evinrude (né Ole Andreassen Aaslundeie; d. July 12, 1934), Norwegian inventor of the outboard motor. He died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at age 57.
1836 ~ Augustus D. Juilliard (d. Apr. 25, 1919), American business and philanthropist. He built the Juilliard School, the conservatory of music, dance and theater in New York City. He was born and died in New York, New York. He died 6 days after his 83rd birthday.
1832 ~ José Echegaray y Eizaguirre (d. Sept. 14, 1916), Spanish writer, civil engineer, and mathematician. He was the recipient of the 1904 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born and died in Madrid, Spain. He died at age 84.
1832 ~ Lucretia Garfield (née Lucretia Rudolph; d. Mar. 14, 1918), First Lady of the United States and wife of President James A. Garfield. She was born in Garrettsville, Ohio. She died at age 85 in South Pasadena, California.
1831 ~ Mary Louise Booth (d. Mar. 5, 1889), American writer and editor. She was the first editor-in-chief of the women’s fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar. She was born in Millville, New York. She died at age 57 in New York, New York.
1806 ~ Sarah Bagley (née Sarah George Bagley; d. Jan. 15, 1888), American activist for woman’s rights and labor reform. She was born in Candia, New Hampshire. She died at age 81 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1793 ~ Ferdinand I & V, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary (d. June 29, 1875). He served as Emperor of Austria from March 1835 until his abdication in December 1848. He abdicated following the Revolutions of 1848. He also served as King of Hungary. In 1831, he married Maria Anna of Savoy (1803 ~ 1884). There were no children of the marriage. He was known for his passive reign and was known as Ferdinand the Benevolent. He was of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. He was the son of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily. He was Roman Catholic. He died at age 82.
1452 ~ Fredrick IV, King of Naples (d. Nov. 9, 1504). He ruled Naples from 1496 until 1501 when he was deposed. He was married twice. His first wife was Anne of Savoy (1455 ~ 1480). His second wife was Isabella del Balzo (1465 ~ 1533). He was of the House of Trastámara. He was the son of Ferdinand I, King of Naples and Isabella of Clermont. He was Roman Catholic. He died at age 52.
Events that Changed the World:
2021 ~ A Covid-19 vaccine was available in all the States within the United States to anyone over the age of 16.
2019 ~ Good Friday.
2019 ~ Passover began at sunset.
2013 ~ Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev (1986 ~ 2013) was killed in a shootout with police. His brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (b. 1993), also ran over him in the get-away car. Dzhokhar, who was badly wounded, was captured later while hiding in a boat in a backyard in Watertown, Massachusetts. He would be found guilty of the bombing in a trial that ended almost exactly 2 years following the bombing event.
2011 ~ Fidel Castro (1926 ~ 2016) resigned from the Communist Party of Cuba’s Central Committee. He handed off the reigns to his brother, Raúl (b. 1931).
2005 ~ German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (1927 ~ 2022) was elected to be the 265th Pope of the Catholic Church, taking on the name Pope Benedict XVI. In February 2013, he became the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415.
1995 ~ The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was bombed killing 168, including many children. The bomb was later traced to Timothy McVeigh (1968 ~ 2001) and Terry Nichols (b. 1955).
1993 ~ The Branch Davidian compound outside Waco, Texas erupted into fire following a 51-day siege by the FBI. Eight-one people were killed, including the Branch leader, David Koresh (1959 ~ 1993).
1989 ~ While jogging in Central Park, Trisha Meili (b. 1960), a 28-year-old woman was brutally assaulted, raped and left for dead in what became known as the Central Park Jogger case.
1987 ~ The Simpson’s premiered as a short cartoon on the Tracey Ullman Show.
1956 ~ Grace Kelly (1929 ~ 1982) married Prince Rainier of Monaco (1923 ~ 2005) in a religious ceremony. They had been married in a civil service the day before.
1943 ~ The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began when German troops entered the Warsaw ghetto to round up the remaining Jews of the city.
1943 ~ Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann (1906 ~ 2008) deliberately took LSD for the first time. This day is sometimes known as “Bicycle Day” because he began to feel the effects of LSD on his bicycle ride home.
1927 ~ Mae West (1893 ~ 1980) was sentenced to 10 days in jail on obscenity charges for her play, Sex.
1903 ~ The Kishinev pogrom in Kishinev, Russia began. Tens of thousands of Jews were forced out of their homes and later emigrated to either what is now Israel or Western Europe and the United States.
1897 ~ The first Boston Marathon was held. The route ran from the Irvington Oval in Boston to Metcalf’s Mill in Ashland, Massachusetts. Fifteen runners began, but only 10 crossed the finish ling. John J. McDermott (1880 ~ 1948) won the race in 2 hours, 55 minutes.
1865 ~ The funeral for President Abraham Lincoln (1809 ~ 1865) was held in the East Room of the White House.
1839 ~ The Treaty of London established Belgium as a kingdom and guaranteed its neutrality. Leopold I (1790 ~ 1865) was the first King of Belgium.
1775 ~ The American Revolutionary War began with the first battle at Lexington, Massachusetts. The “shot heard around the World” took place in Concord, Massachusetts. 700 British troops marched into Lexington, Massachusetts intending to seize the Patriot arsenal. Instead, they faced 77-armed minute men under the command of John Parker (1729 ~ 1775). As the minutemen began to disperse, a shot rang out. It is not clear from which side the shot was fired. After the brief Battle of Lexington was over, 8 Americans were dead, 10 were wounded and 1 British soldier was injured. The American Revolution, however, had begun.
1782 ~ President John Adams (1735 ~ 1826) secured Dutch recognition of the United States as an independent government. The house he had purchased in The Hague became the first American embassy.
1770 ~ Marie Antoinette (1755 ~ 1793) married Louis XVI, King of France (1754 ~ 1793) in a proxy wedding. The formal wedding would take place a month later, on May 16, 1770.
1529 ~ After the Second Diet of Speyer banned Lutheranism, a group of rulers and independent cities in Germany protested, hence the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
1506 ~ The Lisbon Pogrom began in which Portuguese Catholics persecuted, tortured and murdered people accused of being Jewish. Jews in Portugal had been forced to convert to Catholicism following the Spanish Inquisition. The pogrom began during a draught and a “New Christian” noted that it would have been better to have rain than fire. Over 2000 Jews were murdered over the course of 2 days. When Manuel I, King of Portugal (1469 ~ 1521) learned of the massacre, he ordered the instigators arrested. Treatment of Jews in Portugal subsided for the remainder of Manuel’s life. After his death, mistreatment of converted Jews resumed.
Good-Byes:
2023 ~ Richard Riordan (né Richard Joseph Riordan; b. May 1, 1930), American investor who led Los Angeles through tumult. He was the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, California. He served as Mayor from July 1993 to July 2001. He was born in New York, New York. He died 12 days before his 93rd birthday in Los Angeles, California.
2021 ~ Jim Steinman (né James Richard Steinman; b. Nov. 1, 1947) American composer who specialized in bombast. He was Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell songwriter. He was born in Hewlett, New York. He died of kidney failure at age 73 in Danbury, Connecticut.
2021 ~ Walter Mondale (né Walter Frederick Mondale; b. Jan. 5, 1928), American politician and 42nd Vice President of the United States. He was considered the liberal standard-bearer who redefined the vice presidency. He served under President Jimmy Carter from January 1977 to January 1981. He had previously served as a United States Senator from Minnesota from December 1964 to December 1976. He lost in the 1984 Presidential election in a landslide to Ronald Reagan. He was born in Ceylon, Minnesota. He died at age 93 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
2020 ~ Skylar Herbert (b. June 3, 2014), African-American victim of Covid-19. She was the daughter of two Detroit, Michigan first responders. She had tested positive for Covid-19 in March and developed a rare form of meningitis and swelling of the brain. She was the first child with Covid-19 to die in Michigan. She died at age 5.
2020 ~ Steve Dalkowski (né Stephen Louis Dalkowski, Jr.; b. June 3, 1939), American fastball pitcher whose failure became a legend. He was a left-handed pitcher in the major leagues. He had a fastball that probably exceeded 100 mph. He was born and died in New Britain, Connecticut. He died at age 80 of dementia complicated by Covid-19.
2020 ~ David Toren (né Klaus-Günther Tarnowski; b. Apr. 30, 1925), German-born Holocaust survivor and New York patent attorney who waged a years-long legal battle to recover artworks stolen from his German family in 1938. He was born in Breslau, Germany (in current-day Poland). He was smuggled out of Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport. He died in New York City of Covid-19 just 11 days before his 95th birthday.
2016 ~ Walter Kohn (b. Mar. 9, 1923), Austrian-born physicist and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the understanding of the electronic properties of materials. He was born in Vienna, Austria. He died at age 93 in Santa Barbara, California.
2016 ~ Patricio Aylwin (b. Nov. 26, 1918), 32nd President of Chile. He served as President from March 1990 until March 1994. He died at age 97 in Santiago, Chile.
2015 ~ Oktay Sinanoğlu (b. Feb. 25, 1935), Turkish physical chemist and molecular biophysicist. He was born in Bari, Italy. He died at age 80 in Miami, Florida.
2015 ~ Betty Willis (née Betty Jane Whitehead; b. May 20, 1923), American graphic designer who made Las Vegas “fabulous” with her iconic neon sign “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas.” She was born and died in Overton, Nevada. She died a month before her 92nd birthday.
2013 ~ Kenneth Appel (né Kenneth Ira Appel; b. Oct. 8, 1932), American mathematician. He was the chairman of the Department of Mathematics at the University of New Hampshire. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He died in Dover, New Hampshire at age 80.
2013 ~ E.L. Konigsburg (née Elaine Lobl; b. Feb. 10, 1930), American author of children’s books. She is one of two writers to be the recipient of the Newbery Medal. She was born in Manhattan, New York. She died at age 83 of complications of a stroke in Falls Church, Virginia.
2013 ~ Al Neuharth (né Allen Harold Neuharth; b. Mar. 22, 1924), American publisher who revolutionized newspapers. He was the founder of USA Today. He was born in Eureka, South Dakota. He died 27 days after his 89th birthday in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
2013 ~ François Jacob (b. June 17, 1920), French biologist who solved a key riddle of genetics. He was the recipient, along with Jacques Monod, of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for originating the idea that control of enzyme levels in cells occurs through the regulation of transcription. He was born in Nancy, France. He died at age 92 in Paris, France.
2013 ~ Allan Arbus (né Allan Franklin Arbus; b. Feb. 15, 1918), American actor and ex-husband of photographer Diane Arbus (1923 ~ 1971). He was born in New York, New York. He died of congestive heart failure at age 95 in Los Angeles, California.
2012 ~ Levon Helm (né Mark Levon Helm; b. May 26, 1940), American musician. He was The Band’s purveyor of Southern grit. He was born in Elaine, Arkansas. He died of throat cancer at age 71 in New York, New York.
2009 ~ J.G. Ballard (né James Graham Ballard; b. Nov. 15, 1930), British novelist. He was born in Shanghai, Republic of China. He died at age 78 in London, England.
2001 ~ Meldrim Thomson, Jr. (b. Mar. 8, 1912), 73rd Governor of New Hampshire. He was Governor from January 1973 until January 1979. He was known for supporting strong conservative political values. He was born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. He died at age 89 in Orford, New Hampshire.
1998 ~ Gardner Dickinson (né Gardner Edward Dickinson, Jr.; b. Sept. 14, 1927), American professional golfer. He was born in Dothan, Alabama. He died following a long illness at age 70 in Tequesta, Florida.
1998 ~ Octavio Paz Lozano (b. Mar. 31, 1914), Mexican diplomat and recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born and died in Mexico City, Mexico. He died 19 days after his 84th birthday.
1993 ~ David Koresh (né Vernon Wayne Howell, b. Aug. 17, 1959), American cult leader of the Branch Davidians. He was born in Houston, Texas. He died by suicide at age 33 in Waco, Texas.
1989 ~ Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning (b. May 13, 1907), British novelist, best known for her book, Rebecca. She was born in London, England. She died less than a month before her 82nd birthday in Cornwall, England.
1987 ~ Hugh Brannum (b. Jan. 5, 1910), American actor and composer. He is best known for his role as Mr. Green Jeans on Captain Kangaroo. He was born in Sandwich, Illinois. He died of cancer at age 77 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
1914 ~ Charles Sanders Peirce (b. Sept. 10, 1839), American philosopher and mathematician. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He died at age 74 in Milford, Pennsylvania.
1906 ~ Pierre Curie (b. May 15, 1859), co-discoverer, along with his wife, Marie, of Radium. He and Marie Curie were the co-recipients of the 1903 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was born and died is Paris, France. He was killed in a traffic accident less than a month before his 47th birthday when he walked out into a street in Paris and was hit by a buggy.
1882 ~ Charles Darwin (né Charles Robert Darwin; b. Feb. 12, 1809), English biologist and proponent of the theory of Evolution. He died at age 73.
1881 ~ Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (b. Dec. 21, 1804), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He served as Prime Minister for two terms, first from February 1868 until December 1868, and second from February 1874 until April 1880. He was born Jewish, but later converted to the Church of England. He died at age 76 in London, England.
1854 ~ John Davis (b. Jan. 13, 1787), 14th and 17th Governor of Massachusetts. In his first term, he served from January 1834 until March 1835. He was in office for his second term from January 1841 until January 1843. He also served as a United States Senator from Massachusetts, a position he served in from March 1835 until January 1841. He was born in Northborough, Massachusetts. He died in Worcester, Massachusetts at age 67.
1831 ~ Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger (b. June 5, 1765), German mathematician. The moon crater Bohnenberger is named in his honor. He died at age 65.
1824 ~ Lord Byron (né George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron; b. Jan. 22, 1788), English-Scottish poet. He died at age 36.
1776 ~ Jacob Emden (b. June 4, 1697), German rabbi and Talmudic scholar. He died at age 78.
1739 ~ Nicholas Saunderson (b. Jan. 20, 1682), English mathematician. He was blind. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been 57 at the time of his death.
1689 ~ Christina, Queen of Sweden (b. Dec. 18, 1626). She reigned as Queen from November 1632 until June 1654 when she abdicated the throne in favor of her cousin, Charles Gustav, who became known as Charles X Gustav, King of Sweden. She never married. She was of the House of Vasa. She was the daughter of Gustav II Adolph, King of Sweden and Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. She was born Lutheran. In 1654, she converted to Catholicism. She died at age 62 and is buried in the Vatican.
1658 ~ Kirsten Munk (b. July 6, 1598), second wife of Christian IV, King of Denmark (1577 ~ 1648). They married in 1615. It was a morganatic marriage so she was never the Queen consort. She was the mother of their twelve children. She was the daughter of Ludvig Munk and Ellen Marsvin. She died at age 59.
1567 ~ Michael Stifel (b. 1487), German monk and mathematician. He was an early supporter of Martin Luther. The exact date of his birth is unknown.
1390 ~ Robert II, King of Scotland (b. Mar. 2, 1316). He ruled from February 1371 until his death in April 19 years later. He was married twice. His first wife was Elizabeth Mure (b. 1320 ~ ?). They were the parents of Robert III, King of the Scots. His second wife was Euphemia de Ross (1329 ~ 1386). He was Euphemia’s second husband. He was of the House of Stewart. He was the son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland and Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert the Bruce. He died at age 74.
1054 ~ Pope Leo IX (né Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg; b. June 21, 1002). He was Pope from February 1049 until his death on this date 5 years later. He was 51 years old.
843 ~ Judith of Bavaria (b. 797), Frankish empress. She was the second wife of Louis the Pious (778 ~ 840). They were the parents of Charles the Bold. She was of the Elder House of Welf. She was the daughter of Welf and Hedwig, Duchess of Bavaria. The exact date of her birth is not known, but she is believed to have been 46 at the time of her death.
No comments:
Post a Comment