October 20

Birthdays:

1979 ~ John Krasinski, American actor.

1957 ~ Hilda Solis, 25^th United States Secretary of Labor.  She served during President Obama’s administration.  She served in that office from February 2009 until January 2013.

1953 ~ Keith Hernandez, American baseball player.

1950 ~ Tom Petty, American musician and frontman for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

1946 ~ Lewis Grizzard (d. 1994), American comedian and author.  He died at age 47 following heart surgery.

1946 ~ Elfriede Jelinke, Austrian author and playwright.  She was the recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature.

1942 ~ Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, German biologist and recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1936 ~ Bobby Seale, American activist and co-founder of the Black Panther Party.

1935 ~ Jerry Orbach (né Jerome Bernard Orbach, d. 2004), American actor.  He died of prostate cancer at age 69.

1931 ~ Mickey Mantle (d. 1995), American baseball player.  He died at age 63.

1927 ~ Dr. Joyce Brothers (d. 2013), American psychologist and columnist.  She died at age 85.

1925 ~ Art Buchwald (d. 2007), American columnist and humorist.  He died at age 81.

1907 ~ Arlene Francis (d. 2001), American actress and talk show host.  She died at age 90.

1891 ~ Sir James Chadwick (d. 1974), English physicist and recipient of the 1935 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 82.

1885 ~ Jelly Roll Morton (né Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, d. 1941), Louisiana jazz musician, born in New Orleans.  The date and month of his birth is actually unknown, although this is the date he always claimed.  His musical style was risqué, but his music lives on.  He died of respiratory problems at age 50.

1882 ~ Bela Lugosi (né Béla Ferenc Dezsö Blaskó, d. 1956), Hungarian-American actor, best known for his roles in early horror films.  He died at age 73.

1874 ~ Charles Ives (d. 1954), American composer.  He died at age 79.

1859 ~ John Dewey (d. 1952), American philosopher and educator.  He was born in Burlington, Vermont.  He died at age 92.

1784 ~ Henry John Temple, 3^rd Viscount Palmerston (d. 1865), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister for two terms.  The first term was from February 1855 through February 18858l and the second term was from June 1859 until his death on this date 6 years later.  He was Prime Minister during the reign of Queen Victoria.  He died 2 days before his 81^st birthday.

1632 ~ Sir Christopher Wren (d. 1723), English architect and mathematician.  Following the Great Fire of London in 1666, he re-designed many of the city’s churches.  He is best known as being the lead architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.  He died at age 89.

1616 ~ Thomas Bartholin (d. 1680), Danish physician and mathematician.  He died at age 64.

Events the Changed the World:

2011 ~ During the Libyan Civil War, National Transitional Council rebel forces captured ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi (1943 ~ 2011) and killed him in his hometown of Sirte.

1991 ~ A 6.8 Magnitude earthquake hit the Uttarkashi region of India, killing more than 1,000 people.

1981 ~ Two police offers and an armored car guard were killed during an armed robbery in Rockland County, New York.  The robbery was carried out by members of the Black Liberation Army and the Weathermen Underground.

1976 ~ A ferry boat crossing the Mississippi River between Destrehan and Luling, Louisiana was struck by a ship, killing 78 passengers and crew.  Only 18 people on the ferry survived.

1973 ~ The Sydney Opera House opened.

1973 ~ In what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre, in the wake of the Watergate Scandal, President Richard Nixon (1913 ~ 1994) filed US Attorney General Elliot Richardson (1920 ~ 1999) and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus (b. 1932) after they refused to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox (1912 ~ 2004).  Ultimately, Robert Bork (1927 ~ 2012) fired Cox.

1968 ~ Jacqueline Kennedy (1929 ~ 1994) married Aristotle Onassis (1906 ~ 1975).

1947 ~ The House Un-American Activities Committee began its investigation into Communist infiltration of Hollywood.  The result was the creation of a blacklist that halted the careers of many Hollywood actors and directors.

1904 ~ Chile and Bolivia signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which delimited the boarder between the two countries.

1883 ~ The Treaty of Ancón was signed between Chile and Peru.  Under the terms of this treaty, Peru ceded the Tarapacá province to Chile, thus ending Peru’s involvement in the War of the Pacific.

1818 ~ The Convention of 1818 was signed between the United States and the United Kingdom.  This document settled the border between the United States and Canada, which for most of its length follows the 49^th parallel.

1803 ~ The United States Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.

Good-Byes:

2014 ~ Oscar de la Renta (b. 1932), Dominican-American fashion designed who dressed the rich and fabulous.  He died at age 82.

2013 ~ Lawrence Klein (b. 1920.), American economist and recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Economic Science.  He died at age 93.

2012 ~ E. Donnall Thomas (né Edward Donnall Thomas, b. 1920), American physician and recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 92.

2012 ~ John McConnell (b. 1915), American activist and creator of Earth Day.  He died at age 97.

2011 ~ Muammar Gadhafi (b. 1942), Libyan dictator who was murdered after he was caught by rebels in his home town of Sirte.  He was the “mad dog” who ruled Libya for 42 years.  His fourth son, Mutassim Gaddafi (b. 1977), was also killed in the raid.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been born between 1940 and 1943, thus he was between 68 and 71 at the time of his death.

2011 ~ Jerzy Bielecki (b. 1921), Polish Catholic social worker who was sent to Auschwitz on suspicion of being a resistance fighter.  While in the concentration camp, he met and fell in love with Cyla Cybulaska, a Polish Jew.  The two escaped from Auschwitz, but were separated for 39 years.  He died at age 90.

2006 ~ Jane Wyatt (née Jane Waddington, b. 1911), American actress who played TV’s ideal suburban mom in her role in Father Knows Best.  She died at age 96.

1994 ~ Burt Lancaster (b. 1913), American actor.  He died 2 weeks before his 81^st birthday.

1987 ~ Andrey Kolmogorov (d. 1903), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 84.

1984 ~ Paul Dirac (b. 1902), English theoretical physicist and mathematician.  He was the recipient of the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 82.

1984 ~ Carl Ferdinand Cori (b. 1896), Czech biochemist and recipient of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 87.

1964 ~ Herbert Hoover (b. 1874), 31^st President of the United States.  He served as President from March 1929 until March 1933.  He had previously served as the 3^rd United State Secretary of Commerce from March 1921 until August 1928 under Presidents Warren G Harding and Calvin Coolidge.  He died at age 90.

1950 ~ Henry L. Stimson (b. 1867), 46^th United States Secretary of State.  He served under President Herbert Hoover from March 1929 until March 1933.  He had also served as the 45^th and the 54^th Secretary of War under Presidents William Howard Taft and Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, respectively.  He died a month after his 83^rd birthday.

1936 ~ Anne Sullivan (née Johanna Mansfield Sulliven, b. 1866), American educator and teacher of Helen Keller.  She died at age 70.

1935 ~ Arthur Henderson (b. 1836), Scottish politician and recipient of the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 72.

1926 ~ Eugene V. Debs (b. 1855), American politician and union leader.  He died less than 3 weeks before his 71^st birthday.

1910 ~ David B. Hill (b. 1843), 29^th Governor of New York State.  He served as Governor from January 1885 until December 1891.  He died at age 67.

1890 ~ Sir Richard Francis Burton (b. 1821), British geographer and explorer.  He died at age 69.

1740 ~ Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1685).  He reigned as the Holy Roman Emperor from October 1711 until his death in October 1740.  He died three weeks after his 55^th birthday.

1631 ~ Michael Maestlin (b. 1550), German astronomer and mathematician.  He died 3 weeks after his 81^st birthday.