September 24

Birthdays:

1950 ~ Alan Samuel Colmes (d. Feb. 23, 2017), American radio host who became Fox News’ liberal voice.  He died of lymphoma at age 66.

1948 ~ Phil Hartman (d. May 28, 1998), Canadian actor and comedian.  He was on the cast of Saturday Night Live for several seasons.  He was killed by his wife in a murder-suicide.  He was 49 years old.

1948 ~ Gordon Clapp, American actor from North Conway, New Hampshire.

1941 ~ Linda McCartney (d. Apr. 17, 1998), American designer and photographer and wife of Beatle, Paul McCartney.  She died of breast cancer at age 56.

1936 ~ Jim Henson (d. May 16, 1990), American puppeteer and creator of the Muppets.  He died of toxic shock syndrome and pneumonia at age 53.

1923 ~ Raoul Bott (d. Dec. 20, 2005), Hungarian-born American mathematician.  He died at age 82.

1921 ~ Jim McKay (né James Kenneth McManus, d. June 7, 2008), American sportscaster.  He died at age 86.

1905 ~ Severo Ochao (d. Nov. 1, 1993), Spanish-American physician and chemist.  He was the recipient of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 88.

1902 ~ Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (d. June 3, 1989), Iranian Shi’ite leader during the Iranian revolution.  He was the 1^st Supreme Leader of Iran.  He died at age 86.

1898 ~ Howard Florey, Baron Florey (d. Feb. 21, 1968), Australian pharmacologist and recipient of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his role in the development of penicillin.  He died at age 69.

1898 ~ Charlotte Moore Sitterly (d. Mar. 3, 1990), American astronomer.  She died at age 91.

1896 ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald (d. Dec. 21, 1940), American novelist, best known for his novel, The Great Gatsby.  He died at age 44.

1895 ~ André Frédéric Cournand (d. Feb. 19, 1988), French physician and recipient of the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the development of cardiac catherization.  He died at age 92.

1883 ~ Franklin C. Mars (d. Apr. 8, 1934), American businessman and founder of Mars, Inc., the chocolate company.  He died of heart disease at age 51.

1870 ~ Georges Claude (d. May 23, 1960), French engineer and inventor.  He created Neon lighting.  He died at age 89.

1858 ~ Eugene Foss (d. Sept. 13, 1939), 45^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1911 until January 1914.  He died 11 days before his 81^st birthday.

1801 ~ Mikhail Orstrogradsky (d. Jan. 1, 1862), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 60.

1755 ~ John Marshall (d. July 6, 1835), 4^th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President John Adams.  He served in that office from January 1801 until his death in July 1835.  He had previously served as the 4^th Secretary of State, during the John Adams administration, a position he held from June 1800 until March 1801.  He died at age 79.

1717 ~ Horace Walpole, 4^th Earl of Oxford (d. Mar. 2, 1787), English politician and writer.  He died at age 79.

1625 ~ Johan de Witt (d. Aug. 20, 1672), Dutch mathematician.  He was also a politician and at age 46 he was lynched by an angry crowd.  He died about a month before his 47^th birthday.

1501 ~ Gerolamo Cardano (d. Sept. 21, 1576), Italian mathematician.  He died 3 days before his 75^th birthday.

Events that Changed the World:

2014 ~ Erev Rosh HaShannah.

2013 ~ A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck in southern Pakistan, killing over 300 people.

2005 ~ Hurricane Rita made landfall devastating western Louisiana and the Texas Gulf coast.

1968 ~ CBS first began airing 60 Minutes.

1962 ~ The United States 5^th Circuit Court of Appeal ordered the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith (b. 1933), its first African-American student.

1957 ~ Troops from the 101^st Airborne Division were sent to Little Rock, Arkansas under orders of President Dwight David Eisenhower (1890 ~ 1969) in an effort to enforce desegregation.

1948 ~ The Honda Motor Company was founded.

1906 ~ President Theodore Roosevelt (1858 ~ 1919) dedicated Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first National Monument.

1890 ~ The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints officially renounced polygamy.

1789 ~ The Office of the US Attorney General was established with the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789.

1780 ~ Benedict Arnold (1741 ~ 1801) fled to the British Army when the arrest of British Major John André (1750 ~ 1780) exposed Arnold’s plot to surrender West Point.

1664 ~ The Dutch Republic surrendered New Amsterdam to England.

787 ~ The Second Council of Nicaea met at the Hagia Sophia in what is present day Istanbul.

Good-Byes:

2016 ~ Buckwheat Zydeco (né Stanley Dural, Jr., b. Nov. 14, 1947), American accordion player, born in Lafayette, Louisiana.  He died at age 68.

2013 ~ Paul Dietzel (b. Sept. 5, 1924), American football player and coach who lived his final years in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  He was the head football coach at Louisiana State University from 1955 until 1961.  He died 3 weeks after his 89^th birthday.

2009 ~ Susan Atkins (b. May 7, 1948), American convicted murderer who was a member of the “Manson” family who killed Sharon Tate.  She was sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to life.  She died of brain cancer at age 61.

1991 ~ Dr. Seuss (né Thedor Seuss Geisel, b. Mar. 2, 1904), author of children’s books, such as The Cat in the Hat.  He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.  He died at age 87.

1975 ~ Earle Cabell (b. Oct. 27, 1906), Mayor of Dallas.  He was Mayor of Dallas when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  He died about a month before his 69^th birthday.

1945 ~ Hans Geiger (né Johannes Wilhelm Geiger, b. Sept. 30, 1945), German physicist best known as being the co-inventor of the Geiger Counter.  Unfortunately, the name of his co-inventor, Walther Muller, who was Geiger’s student, has been lost to history.  Geiger died 6 days before his 63^rd birthday.

1939 ~ Carl Laemmle (né Karl Lämmle, b. Jan. 17, 1896). German-born American film producer and founder of Universal Studios.  He died at age 72.

1938 ~ Lev Schnirelmann (b. Jan. 2, 1905), Russian mathematician.  His death at age 33 may have been a suicide.

1920 ~ Peter Carl Fabergé (b. May 30, 1846), Russian goldsmith and jeweler.  He died at age 74.

1904 ~ Niels Ryberg Finsen (b. Dec. 15, 1860), Danish physician and recipient of the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 43.

1896 ~ Louis Gerhard De Geer (b. July 18, 1818), 1^st Prime Minister of Sweden.  He served as Prime Minister from March 1876 until April 1880.  He died at age 78.

1742 ~ Johann Matthias Hase (b. Jan. 14, 1684), German mathematician.  He died at age 47.

1143 ~ Pope Innocent II (né Gregorio Papareschi, date of birth unknown).  He was Pope from February 1130 until his death 14 and a half years later.

1054 ~ Hermann of Reichenau (b. July 18, 1013), German composer, astronomer and mathematician.  He died at age 41.

768 ~ Pippin the Short (b. 714), Frankish king.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  He died at age 54.

366 ~ Pope Liberius.  He was Pope from May 352 until his death on this date 14 years later.  The date of his birth is unknown.