June 11

Birthdays:

1959 ~ Hugh Laurie, English actor, best known for his role as Dr. House in the TV drama, House.

1943 ~ Henry Hill (d. June 12, 2012), American mobster turned State’s witness.  He died 1 day after his 69^th birthday.

1937 ~ Chad Everett (né Raymond Lee Cramton, d. July 24, 2012), American actor.  He died at age 75.

1937 ~ Robin Warren, Australian pathologist and recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1934 ~ Henrik, French-born Prince Consort of Denmark.  He is the husband of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

1933 ~ Gene Wilder (né Jerome Silberman, d. Aug. 29, 2016), American actor and husband of Gilda Radner.  He died at age 83.

1925 ~ William Styron (d. Nov. 1, 2006), American novelist best known for his books, Sophie’s Choice and The Confessions of Nat Turner.  He died at age 81.

1920 ~ Irving Howe (né Irving Horenstein, d. May 5, 1993), American literary and social critic.  He died at age 72.

1919 ~ Richard Todd (d. Dec. 3, 2009), British actor who played dashing roles.  He died at age 90.

1915 ~ Magda Gabor (d. June 6, 1997), Hungarian-American actress and sister to Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor.  She died 5 days before her 82^nd birthday

1915 ~ Nicholas Metropolis (d. Oct. 17, 1999), Greek-American mathematician and physicist.  He died at age 84.

1913 ~ Vince Lombardi (d. Sept. 3, 1970), American football coach.  He died of cancer at age 57.

1910 ~ Jacques-Yves Cousteau (d. June 25, 1997), French oceanographer.  He was also the co-developer of the aqua-lung.  He died 14 days after his 87^th birthday.

1909 ~ Natascha Artin Brunswick (d. Feb. 3, 2003), Russian-born American mathematician and photographer.  She died at age 93.

1899 ~ Yasunari Kawabata (d. Apr. 16, 1972), Japanese writer and recipient of the 1968 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 72.

1894 ~ Kiichiro Toyoda (d. Mar. 27, 1952), Japanese businessman and founder of the Toyota car company.  He died at age 57.

1880 ~ Jeannette Rankin (d. May 18, 1973), American politician and feminist.  She was the first woman to be elected into Congress, when in 1916, she was voted as a Representative from Montana.  She died 24 days before her 93^rd birthday.

1864 ~ Richard Strauss (d. Sept. 8, 1949), German composer.  He died at age 85.

1832 ~ Augustus Garland (d. Jan. 26, 1899), 38^th US Attorney General.  He served in that office from March 1885 until March 1889 under President Grover Cleveland.  He died at age 66.

1815 ~ Julia Margaret Cameron (d. Jan. 26, 1879), English photographer.  She was born in Calcutta, British India.  She died at age 63.

1776 ~ John Constable (d. Mar. 31, 1837), English Romantic painter.  He died at age 60.

1741 ~ Dr. Joseph Warren (d. June 17, 1775), American doctor and General in the American Revolutionary War.  He died 6 days after his 34^th birthday from injuries sustained in the Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill).

1572 ~ Benjamin Jonson (d. Aug. 6, 1637), English playwright.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but June 11 is generally ascribed to his birth date.  He died at age 65.

1456 ~ Anne Neville (d. Mar. 16, 1485), Queen of Richard III of England.  She died of tuberculosis at age 28.

Events that Changed the World:

2012 ~ Two massive earthquake hit northern Afghanistan.

1970 ~ Anna Mae Hays (b. 1920) and Elizabeth Hoisington (1918 ~ 2007) became the first American women to achieve and officially received the rank of US Army General.

1963 ~ Alabama Governor George Wallace (1919 ~ 1998) blocked the door of the auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two African-Americans from attending the university.  Later that day, National Guard troops accompanied the students, enabling them to register.

1963 ~ Buddhist monk, Thích Quảng Ðức (b. 1897), set himself afire in Saigon to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.

1962 ~ Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin allegedly became the only prisoners to escape from prison on Alcatraz Island.  They were never seen after they disappeared from their cells, and their bodies did not wash up ashore.

1919 ~ Sir Barton won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the Triple Crown.

1917 ~ King Alexander (1893 ~ 1920) of Greece ascended to the throne after his father, King Constantine I (1868 ~ 1923) abdicated under pressure by allied armies occupying Athens during World War I.

1903 ~ Alexander I, King of Serbia (1876 ~ 1903) and his wife, Queen Draga (1864 ~ 1903), were assassinated in Belgrade by the Black Hand organization during the May Coup.

1776 ~ The Continental Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston to draft a declaration of independence.

1775 ~ During the Battle of Machias (Maine), which was the American Revolutionary War’s first naval engagement, the Continental navy captured a small British naval vessel.

1770 ~ Captain James Cook (1728 ~ 1779) discovered the Great Barrier Reef of the Australian coast after running aground on it.

1509 ~ King Henry VIII (1491 ~ 1547) of England married Catherine of Aragon (1485 ~ 1536).

Good-Byes:

2015 ~ Ornette Coleman (b. Mar. 9, 1930), African-American alto saxophonist and composer.  He was a musical maverick who revolutionized Jazz.  He died at age 85.

2014 ~ Ruby Dee (b. Oct. 27, 1922), American activist actress who stood up for civil rights.  She was 91 years old.

2013 ~ Robert Fogel (b. July 1, 1926), American economist and recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economic Science.  He died 20 days before his 87^th birthday.

2003 ~ David Brinkley (b. July 10, 1920), American television journalist and reporter.  He co-anchored the Huntley-Brinkley Report with Chet Huntley from 1956 thorough 1970.  He died a month before his 83^rd birthday.

2001 ~ Timothy McVeigh (b. Apr. 23, 1968), American terrorist.  He was executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.  He was 33 years old.

1999 ~ DeForest Kelley (b. Jan. 20, 1920), American actor best known for his role as Bones on Star Trek.  He died of stomach cancer at age 79.

1998 ~ Dame Catherine Cookson (b. June 27, 1906), British novelist.  She died 16 days before her 92^nd birthday.

1985 ~ Karen Ann Quinlan (b. Mar. 29, 1954), American right-to-die cause célèbre.  At age 21, she went into a coma after a drug overdose.  For the next decade, she lived in a comatose state while the courts argued over the right to remove the artificial means keeping her alive.  She died at age 31.

1979 ~ John Wayne (né Marion Robert Morrison, b. May 26, 1907), American actor.  He died of stomach cancer 16 days after his 72^nd birthday.

1930 ~ Henry Clay Folger (b. June 18, 1857), American businessman and philanthropist and founder of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.  He died 7 days before his 73^rd birthday.

1903 ~ Alexander I of Serbia (b. Aug. 14, 1876), King of Serbia.  He, along with his wife, Draga Mašin (1864 ~ 1903), was assassinated.  He was 26 years old; his wife was 38.

1903 ~ Draga, Queen Consort of Alexander I of Serbia (b. Sept. 11, 1864).  She and her husband were assassinated.  She was 38 years old; her husband was 26.

1903 ~ Nikolai Bugaev (b. Sept. 14, 1837), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 65.

1879 ~ William, Prince of Orange (b. Sept. 4, 1840).  He died at age 38.

1825 ~ Daniel D. Tompkins (b. June 21, 1774), 6^th Vice President of the United States.  He served under President James Monroe.  He had previously served as the 4^th Governor of New York State.  He died 10 days before his 51^st birthday.

1727 ~ King George I of Great Britain (b. May 28, 1660).  He died at age 67.

1488 ~ King James III of Scotland (b. July 10, 1451).  He was king from August 1460 until his death in 1488.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but it is believed to have been July 10.  He is believed to have been killed in battle at about a month before his 37^th birthday.

1183 ~ Henry the Young King (b. Feb. 28, 1155).  He died at age 28.