July 21

Birthdays:

1978 ~ Josh Harnett, American actor.

1973 ~ Ali Landry, American model and Miss USA 1996.  She is from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.

1968 ~ Brandi Chastain, American soccer player.

1966 ~ Sarah Waters, British novelist.

1957 ~ Jon Lovitz, American comedian.

1955 ~ Dannel Malloy, 88^th Governor of Connecticut.  He assumed Office in January 2011.

1951 ~ Robin Williams (d. Aug. 11, 2014), American comedian.  He committed suicide 21 days after his 63^rd birthday.

1948 ~ Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist.

1946 ~ Kenneth Starr, 39^th Solicitor General of the United States.  He served in the George W.H. Bush administration.  He is best known for his tenure as independent counsel in the Bill Clinton impeachment proceedings.

1943 ~ Edward Herrmann (d. Dec. 31, 2014), American actor.  He died of brain cancer at age 71.

1939 ~ John Negroponte, 1^st Director of National Intelligence.  He served in the George W. Bush administration.

1938 ~ Les Aspin (né Leslie Aspin, Jr., d. May 21, 1995), 18^th Secretary of Defense.  He served under President Bill Clinton from January 1993 until May 1995.  He died of a stroke at age 56.

1938 ~ Janet Reno (d. Nov. 7, 2016), 79^th United States Attorney General and first female to hold this post.  She served in the Clinton administration from March 1993 until January 2001.  She died at age 78.

1926 ~ Norman Jewison, Canadian director and producer.

1924 ~ Don Knotts (né Jesse Donald Knotts, d. Feb. 24, 2006), American actor best known for his role as Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith Show.  He died of lung cancer at age 81.

1923 ~ Rudolph Marcus, Canadian chemist and recipient of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

1920 ~ Isaac Stern (d. Sept. 22, 2001), Ukrainian-born violinist.  He died at age 81.

1899 ~ Hart Crane (né Harold Hart Crane, d. Apr. 27, 1932), American writer.  He is believed to have intentionally committed suicide at age 32 by throwing himself off a steamship.

1899 ~ Ernest Hemingway (d. July 2, 1961), American novelist and recipient of the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He committed suicide three weeks before his 62^nd birthday.

1893 ~ Hans Fallada (né Rudolf Wilhelm Friedrich Ditzen, d. Feb. 5, 1947), German novelist best known for his novel, Every Man Dies Alone.  He died at age 53.

1824 ~ Thomas Stanley Matthews (d. Mar. 22, 1889), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President James Garfield.  He served on the Court from May 1881 until his death 8 years later.  He died at age 64.

1816 ~ Paul Reuter (né Israel Beer Josaphat, d. Feb. 25, 1899), German-born British journalist and founder of Reuters news service.  He died at age 82.

1693 ~ Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1^st Duke of Newcastle (d. Nov. 17, 1768), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He was Prime Minister from March 1754 until November 1756 during the reign of King George II, and again during the reigns of King George II and King George III, from March 1757 until May 1762.  He died at age 75.

1653 ~ Sarah Good (d. July 29, 1692), American woman accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials.  She was convicted of witchcraft.  She was executed 8 days after her 39^th birthday.

1620 ~ Jean Picard (d. July 12, 1682), French astronomer.  He died at less than 2 weeks before his 62^ndbirthday.

1414 ~ Pope Sixtus IV (né Francesco della Rovere, d. Aug. 12, 1481).  He is best known for having had the Sistine Chapel build.  He was Pope from August 9, 1471 until his death 13 years later.  He died 22 days after his 70^th birthday.

Events that Changed the World:

1970 ~ The Aswan High Dam on the Nile in Egypt was completed after 11 years of construction.

1969 ~ Neil Armstrong (1930 ~ 2012) and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin (b. 1930) became the first humans to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission.  They had landed on the moon the day before.

1961 ~ Gus Grissom (1926 ~ 1967) became the second American go to into space.  His was a suborbital mission in the Mercury program.

1925 ~ John T. Scopes (1900 ~ 1970) was convicting of violating the Tennessee state laws for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in the so-called “Monkey Trial.”  He was fined $100.

1902 ~ Willis Carrier (1876 ~ 1950) invented the first successful air conditioner.

1873 ~ Jesse James (1847 ~ 1882) and the James-Younger Gang pulled off the first successful train robbery in the American West.  The train was robbed in Adair, Iowa.

1865 ~ Wild Bill Hickok (1837 ~ 1876) shot and killed Davis Tutt (1836 ~ 1865) in a duel in what is now regarded as the first western showdown.

1861 ~ The First Battle of Bull Run at Manassas Junction, Virginia, was the first major battle in the American Civil War.  It was a victory for the Confederate Army.

1831 ~ King Leopold I (1790 ~ 1865) of Belgium was inaugurated as the first king of the Belgians.

365 ~ A tsunami resulting from an estimated 8.0 magnitude earthquake in Crete, devastated the city of Alexandria, Egypt.  It is estimated that over 50,000 people died from the effects of the tsunami.

230 ~ Pope Pontian (d. 235) became the 18^th Catholic Pope.

356 BCE ~ The traditional date that the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was destroyed by arson.

Good-Byes:

2015 ~ E.L. Doctorow (né Edgar Lawrence Doctorow, b. Jan. 6, 1931), American author who turned history into gold.  He is best known for his novel Ragtime.  He was 84 years old.

2015 ~ Theodore Bikel (b. May 2, 1924), Austrian singer and actor.  He was named after Theodor Herzl, who was also born on this date.  He died at age 91.

2008 ~ Eugene Foster (b. 1927), American pathologist who linked President Thomas Jefferson to his slave, Sally Hemmings.  He died of renal failure at age 81.

2004 ~ Edward B. Lewis (d. May 20, 1918), American geneticist and recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 86.

1998 ~ Alan Shepard (b. Nov. 18, 1923), American astronaut.  He was the first American and second person to travel into space, although is initial flight was suborbital.  He died at age 74.

1982 ~ Dave Garroway (né David Cunningham Garroway, b. July 13, 1913), American journalist.  He committed suicide a week after his 69^th birthday.

1967 ~ Albert Lutuli (b. 1898), South African politician and recipient of the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize.  The exact date of his birth is not known.

1967 ~ Basil Rathbone (né Philip St. John Basil Rathborne, b. June 13, 1892), South African-born English actor.  He died at age 75.

1966 ~ Philipp Frank (b. Mar. 20, 1884), Austrian-American physicist and mathematician.  He died at age 82.

1948 ~ Arshile Gorky (né Vostanik Manoug Adoian, b. Apr. 15, 1904), Armenian painter.  He committed suicide at age 44.

1892 ~ Henry Gardner (b. June 14, 1819), Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1855 until January 1858.  He died at age 73.

1796 ~ Robert Burns (b. Jan. 25, 1759), Scottish poet.  He died at age 37.