September 18

Birthdays:

1961 ~ James Gandolfini (d. June 19, 2013), American actor most famous for his role as Tony Soprano on the cable TV series, The Sopranos.  He died of a heart attack at age 51.

1954 ~ Dennis Johnson (d. Feb. 22, 2007), American basketball player who played for the Boston Celtics.  He died of a heart attack at age 52.

1951 ~ Dee Dee Ramone (né Douglas Glenn Covin, b. June 5, 2002), American singer-songwriter and bassist for The Ramones.  He died of a drug overdose at age 50.

1951 ~ Ben Carson, American neurosurgeon and Republican Presidential candidate in the 2016 primaries.

1945 ~ P.F. Sloan (né Philip Gary Schlein, d. Nov. 15, 2015), American troubled pop rock singer who wrote a ‘60s protest anthem, the Eve of Destruction.  He was 70 years old.

1939 ~ Jan Camiel Willems (d. Aug. 31, 2013), Belgian mathematician.  He died less than 3 weeks before his 74^th birthday.

1939 ~ Fred Willard (né Frederick Charles Willard), American actor.

1924 ~ J.D. Tippit (d. Nov. 22, 1963), American police officer who was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald.  He was 39 years old.

1923 ~ Queen Anne of Romania (d. Aug. 1, 2016), wife of King Michael I of Romania.  She died at age 92.

1922 ~ Dorothy “Dottie” Thomas (d. Jan. 9, 2015), American dutiful wife who advanced medicine.  She worked closely with her husband, Dr. E. Donnall Thomas (1920 ~ 2012), on bone marrow transplants.  Her husband was the recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this research.  She died at age 92.

1920 ~ Jack Warden (d. July 19, 2006), American actor.  He died of heart and kidney failure at age 85.

1917 ~ June Forey (née June Lucille Forer, d. July 26, 2017), American actress who gave cartoon characters a voice.  She was best known as the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha Fatale from The Bullwinkle Show, and Cindy Lou Who from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  She was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.  She died at age 99

1914 ~ Jack Cardiff (d. Apr. 22, 2009), British cinematographer.  He died at age 94.

1910 ~ Josef Tal (d. Aug. 25, 2008), Israeli composer.  He died 3 weeks before his 98^th birthday.

1907 ~ Edwin McMillan (d. Sept. 7, 1991), American physicist and recipient of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died less than 2 weeks before his 84^th birthday.

1905 ~ Greta Garbo (née Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, d. Apr. 15, 1990), Swedish actress.  She was 84 years old.

1905 ~ Agnes de Mille (d. Oct. 7, 1993), American choreographer.  She died 19 days after her 88^th birthday.

1859 ~ John L. Bates (d. June 8, 1946), American politician and 41^st Governor of Massachusetts.  He was Governor from January 1903 until January 1905.  He died at age 86.

1857 ~ John Hessin Clarke (d. Mar. 22, 1945), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Woodrow Wilson.  He served as an Associate Justice from July 1916 until September 1922.  He died at age 87.

1819 ~ Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (d. Feb. 11, 1868), French physicist, best known for the invention of the Foucault pendulum.  He died at age 48.

1786 ~ Christian VIII of Denmark (d. Jan. 20, 1848).  He was king from December 1839 until his death 8 years later.  He was 61 at the time of his death.

1779 ~ Joseph Story (d. Sept. 10, 1845), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President James Madison.  He was 32 years old at the time of his appointment to the Court.  He served on the Court from November 1812 until his death 33 years later at age 65.  He died 8 days before his 66^th birthday.

1765 ~ Pope Gregory XVI (né Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, d. June 1, 1846).  He was Pope from February 1831 until his death 15 years later at age 80.

1752 ~ Adrien-Marie Legendre (d. Jan. 10, 1833), French mathematician.  He died at age 80.

1709 ~ Samuel Johnson (d. Dec. 13, 1784), British biographer and lexicographer.  He died at age 75.

1434 ~ Eleanor of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress (d. Sept. 3, 1467).  She died 15 days before her 33^rd birthday.

Events that Changed the World:

2014 ~ Scotland voted against its independence from the United Kingdom.

2009 ~ After a 72 year run, the soap opera, The Guiding Light, ended is final broadcast.  The show first aired on the radio beginning in January 1937, before becoming a television show.

2001 ~ The first mailing of the 2001 anthrax attack letters was mailed from Trenton, New Jersey.

1990 ~ Liechtenstein became a member of the United Nations.

1975 ~ Patty Hearst (b. 1954) was arrested after being on the FBI’s Most Wanted List for over a year for her role in a bank robbery following her kidnapping.

1974 ~ Hurricane Fifi struck Honduras killing over 5,000 people.

1948 ~ Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995) of Maine, became the first woman elected to the United States Senate entirely on her own, without having first completed another senator’s term.  Senator Smith was a long-term senator from the State of Maine.

1947 ~ The National Security Act established both the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency.

1947 ~ The United States Air Force became in independent branch of the United States Armed Forces.

1943 ~ Adolf Hitler ordered the deportation of the Danish Jews during World War II.

1943 ~ During Holocaust, the Jews of Minsk were massacred at the German extermination camp of Sobibór.

1934 ~ The USSR was admitted to the League of Nations.

1927 ~ The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) began broadcasting.

1922 ~ Hungary was admitted to the League of Nations.

1919 ~ The Netherlands granted women the right to vote.

1906 ~ A typhoon and tsunami struck in Hong Kong, killing about 10,000 people.

1889 ~ Hull House opened in Chicago.  It was America’s most influential settlement house.

1851 ~ The forerunner of the New York Times began publication.

1837 ~ Tiffany and Company was founded by Charles Tiffany (1812 ~ 1902) and John B. Young.

1809 ~ The Royal Opera House opened in London.

1793 ~ George Washington (1732 ~ 1799) laid the cornerstone of the Capitol Building.

1679 ~ New Hampshire became a county of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1180 ~ Philip Augustus (1165 ~ 1223) became king of France.

Good-Byes:

2013 ~ Ken Norton (b. Aug. 9, 1943), heavyweight boxer who broke Muhammad Ali’s jaw in a 12-round victory in 1973.  He died at age 70.

2012 ~ Stephen Sabol (b. Oct. 2, 1942), American filmmaker who exalted football.  He was the president, and one of the founders of, NFL Films.  He died about 2 weeks before his 70^th birthday.

2011 ~ Norma Holloway Johnson (née Normalie Loyce Johnson, b. July 28, 1932), African-American judge who oversaw the Monica Lewinsky probe.  She was from Lake Charles, Louisiana.  She died at age 79.

2006 ~ Edward King (b. May 11, 1925), 66^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1969 to January 1983.  He died at age 81.

1980 ~ Katherine Anne Porter (b. May 15, 1890), American author.  She is best known for her novel, Ship of Fools.  She died at age 90.

1977 ~ Paul Bernays (b. Oct. 17, 1888), Swiss mathematician.  He died a month before his 89^th birthday.

1970 ~ Jimi Hendrix (b. Nov. 27, 1942), American musician.  He died of an accidental drug overdose at age 27.

1967 ~ Sir John Cockcroft (b. May 27, 1897), English physicist and recipient of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 70.

1964 ~ Seán O’Casey (né John Casey, b. Mar. 30, 1880), Irish playwright.  He died at age 84.

1961 ~ Dag Hammarskjöld (b. July 29, 1905), Swedish economist.  He also served as the 2^nd Secretary-General of the United Nations.  He was killed in a plane crash on a mission to negotiate peace in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September 1961.  Later that year, he was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, being one of a very few honored with a Nobel Prize after death.  He was 56 at the time of his death.

1904 ~ Chief Joseph (b. Mar. 3, 1840), Nez Perce leader.  He died at age 64.

1891 ~ William Ferrel (b. Jan 29, 1817), American mathematician and meteorologist.  He died at age 74.

1872 ~ Charles XV of Sweden (b. May 3, 1826).  He reigned as king from July 1859 until his death 13 years later.  He died at age 46.

1783 ~ Leonhard Euler (b. Apr. 15, 1707), Swiss mathematician.  He died at age 76.

1180 ~ King Louis VII of France (b. 1120).  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been about 59 or 60 at the time of his death.

1137 ~ King Eric II of Denmark (b. 1090).  He was known as Eric the Memorable.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 46 or 47 at the time of his death.