October 15

Birthdays:

1959 ~ Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, former wife of Prince Andrew of Great Britian.

1959 ~ Emeril Lagasse, American chef.

1946 ~ Richard Carpenter, American musician and, along with sister, Karen (1950 ~ 1983), made up the duo, The Carpenters.

1944 ~ David Trimble, Irish politician and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize.

1943 ~ Penny Marshall (née Carol Penny Marshall), American actress and film director.

1940 ~ Peter C. Doherty, Australian surgeon and immunologist.  He was the recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1937 ~ Linda Lavin, American actress.

1933 ~ Poppa Neutrino (né William David Pearlman, d. Jan. 23, 2011), American free spirit who rafted across the Atlantic Ocean.  He died in New Orleans, Louisiana at age 77.

1924 ~ Lee Iacocca, American businessman.

1920 ~ Mario Puzo (d. July 2, 1999), American author best known for his novel The Godfather.  He died at age 78.

1917 ~ Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (d. Feb. 28, 2007), American historian.  He died at age 89.

1908 ~ John Kenneth Galbraith (b. Apr. 29, 2006), Canadian-American economist. He died at age 97 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1893 ~ Carol II of Romania (d. Apr. 4, 1953).  He was King from June 1930 until September 1940.  He died at age 59.

1881 ~ Sir P.G. Wodehouse (né Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, d. Feb. 14, 1975), English author.  He died at age 93.

1878 ~ Paul Raynaud (d. Sept. 21, 1966), Prime Minister of France.  He served as Prime Minister from March 1940 until June 1940.  He died at age 87.

1872 ~ Edith Bolling Wilson (d. Dec. 28, 1961), First Lady of the United States and second wife of President Woodrow Wilson.  They married while Wilson was President.  She died at age 89.

1858 ~ John L. Sullivan (d. Feb. 2, 1918), American boxer.  He was born and died in Massachusetts.  He died at age 59.

1844 ~ Friedrich Nietzsche (d. Aug. 25, 1900), German philosopher.  He died at age 55.

1831 ~ Isabella Lucy Bird (d. Oct. 7, 1904), English explorer, writer and natural historian.  She died a week before her 73^rd birthday.

1763 ~ Johann Georg Tralles (d. Nov. 19, 1822), German mathematician.  The crater Tralles on the moon is named in his honor.  He died a month after his 59^th birthday.

1608 ~ Evangelista Torricelli (d. Oct. 25, 1647), Italian mathematician and physicist.  He is best known for his invention of the barometer.  He died 10 days after his 39^th birthday.

70 BCE ~ Virgil (d. Sept. 21, 19 BCE), Roman poet.  The traditional dates ascribed to Virgil’s birth and death.  He is believed to have been 50 when he died.

Events that Changed the World:

2013 ~ A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the Philippines, killing over 200 people.

2009 ~ President Barack Obama visited New Orleans.  It was his first visit as President.  He visited the Martin Luther King Charter School, located in the 9th Ward, and he held a “town meeting” at the University of New Orleans.

2009 ~ A Louisiana Justice of the Peace made news when he refused to marry an interracial couple.  The US Supreme Court determined that forbidding interracial couples is unconstitutional.  This was decided back in 1963 in the case, Loving v. Virginia.

2006 ~ A 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck Hawaii, causing considerable damage.

2001 ~ The Galileo spacecraft passed within 112 miles of Io, one of the moons of Jupiter.

1990 ~ Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen the Cold War tensions and open up the Soviet Union to the West.

1966 ~ Huey P. Newton (1942 ~ 1989) and Bobby Seale (b. 1936) founded the Black Panther Party.

1956 ~ Fortran, the first modern computer language, was shared with the coding community.

1954 ~ Hurricane Hazel struck the eastern seaboard, killing 95 people.  It was deemed a Category 4 storm when it made landfall in North Carolina.  Massive flooding as a result of the storm reached as far north as Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1951 ~ I Love Lucy began its broadcast.  The show ran for 6 seasons.

1939 ~ The New York Municipal Airport, later renamed LaGuardia Airport, was dedicated.

1928 ~ The airship, Graf Zeppelin completed its first trans-Atlantic flight and landed in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

1894 ~ In what became known as the Dreyfus Affair, Alfred Dreyfus (1859 ~ 1835) was arrested on trumped-up charges of spying.  His arrest was due to the fact that he was Jewish.

1878 ~ The Edison Electric Light Company began operation.

1863 ~ The Confederate submarine, the H.L. Hunley, sank during a test, killing 21 crew members, including its inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley (1823 ~ 1963).

1815 ~ Napoleon I (1769 ~ 1821) of France began his exile on Saint Helena.

1793 ~ Queen Marie-Antoinette (1755 ~ 1793) of France was tried and convicted and condemned to death.  She would be executed the following day, on October 16, 1793.

1764 ~ After observing a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, Edward Gibbon (1737 ~ 1794) was inspired to begin writing The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

1582 ~ Pope Gregory XIII (1502 ~ 1585) implemented the Gregorian calendar.  In Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain, this date immediately followed October 4 for this year only.  Implementation of the Gregorian calendar in other countries followed in later years.

1066 ~ Edgar the Ætheling (1051 ~ 1126) was proclaimed King of England, but he was never crowned.  He reigned only until December 10, 1066.

Good-Byes:

2012 ~ Norodom Sihanouk (b. Oct 31, 1922), Cambodian king and 1^st Prime Minister of Cambodia who reigned over independence and bloodshed.  He died 2 weeks before his 90^th birthday.

2011 ~ Sue Mengers (b. Sept. 2, 1932), American Hollywood talent agent who mastered her part.  She died of pneumonia at age 79.

2010 ~ Mildred Fay Jefferson (b. Apr. 4, 1926), African-American physician and anti-abortion activist.  She died at age 84.

2008 ~ Edie Adams (née Elizabeth Edith Enke, b. Apr. 16, 1927), American sultry singer who pitched Muriel cigars.  She died at age 81.

2000 ~ Vincent Canby (b. July 27, 1924), American journalist and critic.  He died at age 76.

2000 ~ Konrad Emil Bloch (b. Jan. 21, 1912), Russian-American biochemist and recipient of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died of heart failure at age 88.

1980 ~ Mikhail Lavrentyev (b. Nov. 19, 1900), Russian physicist and mathematician.  He died about a month before his 80^th birthday.

1965 ~ Abraham Fraenkel (b. Feb. 17, 1891), German-born Israeli mathematician.  He died at age 74.

1964 ~ Cole Porter (b. June 9, 1891), American songwriter.  He died of kidney failure at age 73.

1959 ~ Lipót Fejér (b. Feb. 9, 1880), Hungarian mathematician.  He died at age 79.

1945 ~ Pierre Laval (b. June 28, 1883), Prime Minister of France.  He died at age 62.

1934 ~ Raymond Poincaré (b. Aug. 20, 1860), President of France.  He died at age 74.

1930 ~ Herbert Henry Dow (b. Feb. 26, 1866), Canadian-American businessman and founder of the Dow Chemical Company.  He died at age 64.

1917 ~ Mata Hari (née Margaretha Geertruida Zelle McLeod, b. Aug. 7, 1876), Dutch dancer who was executed by firing squad for ostensibly spying for the German Empire during World War I.  She was executed as a spy at age 41.

1810 ~ Alfred Moore (b. May 21, 1755), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President John Adams.  He served on the Court from April 1800 until January 1804.  He wrote only one opinion while on the Court.  At 4 feet, 5 inches, he remains the shortest Justice to serve on the Court.  He died at age 55.

1715 ~ Humphry Ditton (b. May 29, 1675), English mathematician.  He died at age 40.

1389 ~ Pope Urban VI (né Bartolomeo Prignano, b. 1318).  He served as Pope from April 1378 until his death on this date 11 years later.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.