May 25

Birthdays:

1963 ~ Mike Myers, Canadian actor best known for his role on Saturday Night Live, and the Austin Powers films.

1944 ~ Robert MacPherson, American mathematician.

1944 ~ Frank Oz, American puppeteer and voice actor.

1943 ~ Leslie Uggams, American actress and singer.

1939 ~ Dixie Carter (d. Apr. 10, 2010), American actress.  She died of cancer at age 70.

1932 ~ John Gregory Dunne (d. Dec. 30, 2003), American author.  He was married to author Joan Didion.  He died at age 71.

1929 ~ Beverly Sills (née Belle Mariam Silverman, d. July 2, 2007), American soprano and opera singer.  She died of lung cancer at age 78.

1927 ~ Robert Ludlum (d. Mar. 12, 2001), American suspense-thriller writer.  He died at age 73.

1921 ~ Hal David (né Harold Lane David, d. Sept. 1, 2012), American songwriter, composer and lyricist behind the 20^th century’s greatest pop songs.  He died at age 91.

1921 ~ Jack Steinberger (né Hans Jakob Steinberger), German physicist and recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1898 ~ Bennett Cerf (d. Aug. 27, 1971), American publisher and co-founder of Random House.  He died at age 73.

1878 ~ Bill “Bojangles” Robinson (d. Nov. 25, 1949), American dancer and actor.  He died at age 71.

1865 ~ Pieter Zeeman (d. Oct. 9, 1943), Dutch physicist and recipient of the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 78.

1865 ~ John Mott (d. Jan. 31, 1955), American evangelist and recipient of the 1946 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 89.

1845 ~ Lipman Pike (d. Oct. 10, 1893), one of the first American professional baseball players and the first Jewish player.  He died of heart disease at age 48.

1803 ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (d. Apr. 27, 1882), American essayist.  He died less than a month before his 79^th birthday.

1786 ~ Peter III of Portugal (b. July 5, 1717).  He died at age 68.

1783 ~ Philip Pendleton Barbour (d. Feb. 25, 1841), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President Andrew Jackson.  He served on the Court from March 1836 until his death 5 years later.  He had previously served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.  He was a Representative from Virginia.  He died at age 57.

1725 ~ Samuel Ward (d. Mar. 26, 1776), 31^st Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island.  He died at age 50.

1713 ~ John Stuart, 3^rd Earl of Bute (d. Mar. 10, 1792), Scottish politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He was Prime Minister from May 1762 until April 1763.  He died at age 78.

Events that Changed the World:

2015 ~ Memorial Day was observed in the United States.

1982 ~ The HMS Coventry was sunk during the Falklands War.

1979 ~ Six-year old Etan Patz (b. 1972), disappeared just two blocks from his home in New York City, sparking an international search.  In 1983, President Ronald Reagan designated May 25 as National Missing Children’s Day.  In 2010, the case was reopened and in 2011, the police announced a suspect was in custody.  In May 2013, the State Court announced the case against the suspect could move forward.  In February 2017, a jury found the suspect guilty of kidnapping and murder.

1979 ~ American Airlines Flight 191 crashed during takeoff from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.  All 271 people aboard were killed, as well as two people on the ground.

1977 ~ The first Star Wars movie opened in theaters.

1968 ~ The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri was dedicated.

1955 ~ A severe F5 tornado struck Udall, Kansas, killing 80 people and injuring over 270 others.

1953 ~ KUHT, the first public television station in the US, began broadcasting from the campus of the University of Houston.

1953 ~ The United States conducted its first and only nuclear artillery test at the Nevada Test Site.

1935 ~ Babe Ruth hit his 714^th and final home run.

1925 ~ John Scopes (1900 ~ 1970) was indicted for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution in the Tennessee schools.

1895 ~ Oscar Wilde (1854 ~ 1900) was convicted of “committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons” and sentenced to 2 years in prison.

1878 ~ Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera, HMS Pinafore premiered.

1865 ~ An ordnance depot exploded in Mobile, Alabama, killing 300 people.

1659 ~ Richard Cromwell (1626 ~ 1712) resigned as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament.

1521 ~ The Diet of Worms ended when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500 ~ 1558) issued the Edict of Worms, which declared Martin Luther (1483 ~ 1546) an outlaw.

240 BCE ~ The first recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.

Good-Byes:

2015 ~ Mary Ellen Mark (b. Mar. 20, 1940), American photojournalist who documented outcasts.  She was 75 years old.

2009 ~ Amos Elon (b. July 4, 1926), Israeli author and journalist who loved and challenged his country.  He died at age 82.

2007 ~ Charles Nelson Reilly, II (b. Jan. 13, 1931), American comedian.  He died of pneumonia at age 76.

1990 ~ Vic Tayback (né Victor Tayback, b. Jan. 6, 1930), American actor best known for his role in Alice.  He died of a heart attack at age 60.

2009 ~ Amos Elon (b. 1926), Israeli author and journalist who loved and challenged his country.

1954 ~ Robert Capa (né Entre Friedmann, b. Oct. 22, 1913), Hungarian photographer and journalist.  He died after stepping on a landmine in Southeast Asia.  He was 40 years old.

1934 ~ Gustav Holst (b. Sept. 21, 1874), English composer.  He is best known for composing The Planets.  He died at age 59.

1919 ~ Madam C.J.Walker (née Sarah Breedlove, b. Dec. 23, 1867), African-American entrepreneur and philanthropist.  She was the first female self-made millionaire in America.  She made her fortune by developing and marking a line of hair products for black women.  She was born in Delta, Louisiana.  She died of kidney failure at age 51.

1866 ~ Nikolai Brashman (b. June 14, 1796), Czech-Russian mathematician.  He died less than a month before his 70^th birthday.

1632 ~ Adam Tanner (b. Apr. 14, 1572), Austrian mathematician and philosopher.  He died at age 60.

1555 ~ Gemma Frisius (d. Dec. 9, 1508), Dutch physician and mathematician.  He died at age 46.

1555 ~ Henry II of Navarre (b. Apr. 18, 1503).  He died at age 52.

1261 ~ Pope Alexander IV (né Rinaldo di Jenne, b. 1185).  He was Pope from December 1254 until his death.  The date of his birth is unknown.

1085 ~ Pope Gregory VII (né Hildebrand of Sovana, b. 1020).  He was Pope from April 1073 until his death 12 years later.  The date of his birth is unknown.

615 ~ Pope Boniface IV (b. 550).  He was Pope from September 25, 608 until his death on this date in 615.  The date of his birth is unknown.