June 23

Birthdays:

1957 ~ Frances McDormand, American actress.

1948 ~ Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President George H.W. Bush.  He assumed office in October 1991.

1946 ~ Ted Shackelford, American actor.

1940 ~ Stuart Sutcliffe (d. Apr. 10, 1962), Scottish bass player who was briefly with the Beatles.  He died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 21.

1940 ~ Wilma Rudolph (d. Nov. 12, 1994), American runner.  She died at age 54 of cancer.

1937 ~ Martti Ahtisaari, Finnish politician and recipient of the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.

1929 ~ June Carter Cash (née Valerie June Carter, d. May 15, 2003), American country singer and wife of Johnny Cash.  She died at age 73.

1927 ~ Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse (d. Sept. 23, 1987), American choreographer.  He died of a heart attack at age 60.

1925 ~ Arthur “Art” Modell (d. Sept. 6, 2012), American NFL owner of the Cleveland Browns that the people of Cleveland loved to hate.  He died at age 87.

1913 ~ William P. Rogers (d. Jan. 2, 2001), 63^rd US Attorney General.  He served under President Dwight David Eisenhower from October 1957 until January 1961.  He also served as the 55^th Secretary of State from January 1969 until September 1973 during the President Richard Nixon administration.  He died at age 87.

1912 ~ Alan Turing (d. June 7, 1954), British mathematician and computer scientist.  He was the subject of the 2014 movie The Imitation Game.  He died committed suicide by cyanide poisoning 16 days before his 42^nd birthday.

1907 ~ James Meade (d. Dec. 22, 1995), British economist and recipient of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.  He died at age 88.

1894 ~ Alfred Kinsey (d. Aug. 25, 1956), American sexologist.  He died at age 62.

1894 ~ Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (d. May 28, 1972).  He abdicated the throne to marry American divorcée, Wallis Simpson, and then became known as the Duke of Windsor.  He died less than a month before his 78^th birthday.

1763 ~ Joséphine de Beauharnais (d. May 29, 1814), first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte.  She died 24 days before her 51^st birthday.

1703 ~ Marie Leszczyńska (d. June 24, 1768), Polish wife of King Louis XV of France.  She died 1 day after her 65^th birthday.

1612 ~ André Tacquet (d. Dec. 22, 1660), Flemish mathematician.  He died at age 48.

Events that Changed the World:

2016 ~ The United Kingdom held a referendum on whether or not to maintain membership in the European Union.  The vote was in favor to leave the EU.

2013 ~ Nikolas Wallenda (b. 1979) became the first man to successfully walk across the Grand Canyon on a high wire.  Why?

2001 ~ An 8.4 magnitude earthquake struck southern Peru.  The tsunami that followed killed at least 74 people and injured over 2,500 others.

1972 ~Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 was amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funding.

1969 ~ Warren E. Burger (1907 ~ 1995) was sworn in as the 15^th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He replaced Chief Justice Earl Warren (1891 ~ 1974), who retired.  Burger had been appointed to the High Court by President Richard Nixon.  He served in that Office until September 1986.

1960 ~ The United States Food and Drug Administration authorized Envoid to be the first officially approved combined oral contraceptive pill.

1958 ~ The Dutch Reformed Church admitted women ministers.

1956 ~ Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918 ~ 1970) was elected the president of the Republic of Egypt.

1942 ~ The first selections for the gas chamber at Auschwitz took place on a train full of Jews from Paris, France.

1926 ~ The College Board administered the first SAT examination.

1917 ~ In a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Senators, Red Sox pitcher Ernie Shore (1891 ~ 1980) retired 26 batters in a row after replacing Babe Ruth (1895 ~ 1948).  Ruth had been ejected from the game for punching an umpire.

1868 ~ Christopher Sholes (1819 ~ 1890) received a patent for the Typewriter.

1860 ~ The United States Congress established the Government Printing Office.

1810 ~ John Jacob Astor (1763 ~ 1848) formed the Pacific Fur Company.

1794 ~ Empress Catherine II of Russia (1729 ~ 1796) granted Jews permission to settle in Kiev.

1713 ~ The French residents of Acadia in Nova Scotia, Canada were given one year to give their allegiance to Britain or to leave the territory.  Ultimately, many decided to leave and relocated in what is now Southern Louisiana.  The descendants are known as Cajuns.

1611 ~ The mutinous crew of Henry Hudson, sent Henry, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in an open boat in what is now the Hudson Bay.  They were never heard from again.

Good-Byes:

2015 ~ Dick Van Patten (b. Dec. 9, 1928), American actor.  He died at age 86.

2013 ~ Frank Kelso (b. July 11, 1933), United States Secretary of the Navy.  He died 18 days before his 80^th birthday.

2013 ~ Kurt Leichtweiss (b. Mar. 2, 1927), German mathematician.  He died at age 86.

2011 ~ Peter Falk (b. Sept. 16, 1927), American actor, best known for his role as the title character in the TV series Columbo.  He died at age 83.

2009 ~ Ed McMahon (né Edward Peter McMahon, Jr., b. Mar. 6, 1923), American television personality who was the guffawing announcer who was Johnny Carson’s second banana.  He died at age 86.

2006 ~ Aaron Spelling (b. Apr. 22, 1923), American television producer.  He died at age 83.

2005 ~ Shana Alexander (b. Oct. 6, 1926), American journalist who became a fixture on 60 Minutes.  She died at age 79.

1998 ~ Maureen O’Sullivan (b. May 17, 1911), Irish-American actress.  She died at age 87.

1997 ~ Betty Shabazz (née Betty Dean Sanders, b. May 28, 1934), wife of Malcolm X.  She died a month after her 63^rd birthday from burns caused when her grandson set fire to her apartment.

1995 ~ Jonas Salk (b. Oct. 28, 1914), American biologist and physician.  He was best known for his discovery and development of a polio virus.  He died at age 80.

1980 ~ Sanjay Gandhi (b. Dec. 14, 1946), Indian politician and son of Indira Gandhi.  He was killed in a private airplane crash at age 33.

1976 ~ Chuck Taylor (né Charles Hollis Taylor, b. June 24, 1901), American basketball player and salesman.  He is best known for his association with the Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers.  He died one day before his 75^th birthday.

1976 ~ Imogen Cunningham (b. Apr. 12, 1883), American photographer.  She is best known for here botanical photographs and nudes.  She died at age 93.

1707 ~ John Mill (b. 1645), English theologian.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 61 or 62 at the time of his death.

79 ~ Vespasian (b. Nov. 17, 9), Roman emperor.  This is the traditional date ascribed to his death.  He was 69 at the time of his death.