May 28

Birthdays:

1971 ~ Marco Rubio, American politician.

1962 ~ Roland Gift, English singer and frontman for Fine Young Cannibals.

1960 ~ Mark Sanford, American politician and 115^th Governor of South Carolina.

1944 ~ Rudy Giuliani, American politician and 107^th Mayor of New York City.

1942 ~ Stanley B. Prusiner, American neurologist and recipient of the1997 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1940 ~ Maeve Binchy (d. 2012), Irish novelist.

1940 ~ Shlomo Riskin, American rabbi.

1934 ~ The Canadian-borne Dionne quintuplets, Annette, Cecile, Emilie (d. 1954), Marie (d. 1970), and Yvonne (d. 2001).  These were the first known quintuplets to survive infancy.

1917 ~ Barry Commoner (d. 2012), American biologist and political activist.

1916 ~ Walker Percy (d. 1990), Louisiana-born American author.

1912 ~ Patrick White (d. 1990), Australian writer and recipient of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature.

1908 ~ Ian Fleming (d. 1964), English author and creator of James Bond.

1888 ~ Jim Thorpe (d. 1953), American athlete.

1879 ~ Milutin Milanković (d. 1958), Serbian mathematician and astronomer.

1858 ~ Carl Richard Nyberg (d. 1939), Swedish inventor of the blow torch.

1818 ~ P.G.T. Beauregard (né Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, d. 1893), Louisiana-born Confederate General during the American Civil War.

1807 ~ Louis Agassiz (d. 1873), American paleontologist and geologist.

1764 ~ Edward Livingston (d. 1836), American politician from Louisiana.  He also served as the 11^th Secretary of State.  He served in President Martin Van Buren’s administration.  He died 5 days before his 82^nd birthday.

1759 ~ William Pitt the Younger (d. 1806), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1676 ~ Jacopo Riccati (d. 1754), Italian mathematician.

1660 ~ King George I of Great Britain (d. 1727).

Events that Changed the World:

1987 ~ Mathias Rust, a 19-year-old West German flew his private plane into Soviet Union air space and landed in Red Square in Moscow.  He was detained for over a year before being released on August 3, 1988.

1982 ~ British forces defeated the Argentines at the Battle of Goose Green during the Falklands War.

1964 ~ The Palestine Liberation Organization was formed.

1952 ~ Greece granted women the right to vote.

1937 ~ The Volkswagen automobile company was founded in Germany.

1937 ~ The Golden Gate Bridge officially opened for vehicular traffic.

1923 ~ The United States Attorney General determined that it is legal for women to wear trousers.

1892 ~ Naturalist John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.

1830 ~ President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act which Congress had signed into law two days earlier.  The Indian Removal Act forced the relocation of many Native American tribes.

1533 ~ Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, declared the marriage of King Henry VII of England to Anne Boleyn to be valid.

1503 ~ James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor were married in accordance with a Papal Bull issued by Pope Alexander VI.

Good-Byes:

2003 ~ Ilya Prigogine (b. 1917), Russian-Belgian chemist and recipient of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

1998 ~ Phil Hartman (b. 1948), Canadian actor and comedian.  He was killed by his wife in a murder-suicide.

1980 ~ Rolf Nevanlinna (b. 1895), Finnish mathematician.

1972 ~ Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (d. 1894).  He abdicated the throne to marry American divorcée, Wallis Simpson, and then became known as the Duke of Windsor.

1971 ~ Audie Murphy (b. 1924), American actor and soldier.

1946 ~ Carter Glass (b. 1858), 47^th Secretary of the US Treasury.  He served during President Woodrow Wilson’s term.

1849 ~ Anne Brontë (b. 1820), English novelist and poet.

1843 ~ Noah Webster (b. 1758), American writer and lexicographer.