October 25

Birthdays:

1984 ~ Katy Perry, American singer.

1975~ Zadie Smith, British novelist.

1957 ~ Nancy Cartwright, American voice actress best known as being the voice of Bert Simpson on The Simpsons.

1952 ~ Wendy Hall, British computer scientist and mathematician.

1944 ~ James Carville, American political scientist and Louisiana native.

1941 ~ Helen Reddy, Austrian musician.

1941 ~ Anne Tyler, American novelist.

1936 ~ Sir Martin Gilbert (d. Feb. 3, 2015), British historian.  He died at age 78.

1929 ~ Mira Slovak (d. June 16, 2014), Czech daredevil pilot who escaped the Iron Curtain.  He died of stomach cancer at age 84.

1928 ~ Jeanne Cooper (née Wilma Jeanne Cooper, d. May 8, 2013), American actress best known for her role as Katherine Chancellor on the soap opera, The Young and the Restless.  She died at age 84.

1928 ~ Marion Ross, American actress best known for her role as Mrs. Cunningham on Happy Days.

1927 ~ Jorge Batlle Ibáñez (d. Oct. 24, 2016), President of Uruguay.  He served as President from March 2000 until March 2005.  He died 1 day before his 89^th birthday.

1925 ~ Luther F. Cole (d. July 26, 2013), Louisiana Supreme Court Justice from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  He died at age 87.

1923 ~ Bobby Thomson (né Robert Brown Thomson, d. Aug. 16, 2010), Scottish-born baseball player who hit “the shot heard ‘round the world.”  He hit a three-run homer run for the New York Giants during the 1951 season, which gave the Giants a win over the Brooklyn Dodger and the pennant.  He died at age 86.

1921 ~ Michael I of Romania.  He reigned as King from July until June 1930.  He reigned for a second time from September 1940 until his abdication in December 1947.

1915 ~ Ivan M. Niven (d. May 9, 1999), Canadian mathematician.  He died at age 83.

1913 ~ Klaus Barbie (d. Sept. 23, 1991), Nazi war criminal.  He died in prison about a month before his 78^th birthday.

1912 ~ Minnie Pearl (née Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, b. Mar. 4, 1996), American country singer and comedian.  She died at age 83.

1910 ~ Tyrus Wong (d. Dec. 30, 2016), the Chinese-American artist who brought Bambi to life.  He was the lead artist on the 1942 Disney animated film, Bambi.  He died at age 106.

1895 ~ Levi Eshkol (né Levi Shkolnik, d. Feb. 26, 1969), Prime Minister of Israel.  He served as Prime Minister from June 1963 until his death in February 1969.  He died at age 73.

1888 ~ Richard E. Byrd (d. Mar. 11, 1957), American admiral and polar explorer.  He died at age 68.

1881 ~ Pablo Picasso (d. Apr. 8, 1973), Spanish artist and sculptor.  He died at age 91.

1864 ~ John Francis Dodge (d. Jan. 14, 1920), American businessman and co-founder of the Dodge company.  He died of influenza and pneumonia at age 55.

1843 ~ Pierre Lallement (d. Aug. 29, 1891), French inventor of the bicycle.  He died at age 47 in Boston, Massachusetts.

1840 ~ Helen Blanchard (d. Jan. 12, 1922), American inventor.  She received 28 patents between 1873 and 1915, many of which were improvements on the sewing machine.  She was born in Portland, Maine and died in Providence, Rhode Island.  She died at age 81.

1838 ~ Georges Bizet (né Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, d. June 3, 1875), French composer, best known for his opera, Carmen.  He died of a heart attack at age 36.

1825 ~ Johann Strauss, II (d. June 3, 1899), Austrian composer best known as the Waltz King.  He died at age 73.

1811 ~ Évariste Galois (d. May 31, 1832), French mathematician.  He died at age 20 from wounds suffered in a duel.

1782 ~ Levi Lincoln, Jr. (d. May 29, 1868), 13^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from May 1825 until January 1834.  He was from Worcester, Massachusetts.  He died at age 85.

1759 ~ Maria Feodorovna (née Sophia Marie Dorothea Auguste Luise, d. Nov. 5, 1828), Empress consort of Russia.  She was the wife of Tsar Paul I of Russia.  She died 11 days after her 69^th birthday.

1759 ~ William Grenville, 1^st Baron Grenville (d. Jan. 12, 1834), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister from February 1806 until March 1807 during the reign of King George III.  During his term, slave trade in Britain was abolished.  He died at age 74.

Events that Changed the World:

2010 ~ Mount Merapi in Java, Indonesia, began erupting.  The volcano erupted through November 2010.

1983 ~ In what was codenamed Operation Urgent Fury, United States invaded Grenada after its Prime Minister Maurice Bishop (1943 ~ 1983) was executed in a coup d’état.

1940 ~ Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. (1877 ~ 1970), became the first African-American general in the United States Army.

1917 ~ The date on the Julian calendar that marks the capture of the Winter Palace in Petrograd, Russia during the October Revolution.  This corresponds to November 7 in the Gregorian calendar.

1812 ~ During the War of 1812, the American frigate, the USS United States, commanded by Stephen Decatur (1779 ~ 1820), captured the British frigate, HMS Macedonian.

1760 ~ George III (1838 ~ 1820) became King of Great Britain.

1415 ~ King Henry V of England (1386 ~ 1422) defeated the French at Agincourt during the Hundred Years’ War.

Good-Byes:

2014 ~ Jack Bruce (né John Symon Asher Bruce, b. May 14, 1943), British musician and bassist who wrote Cream’s greatest hits.  He died of liver disease at age 71.

2013 ~ Marcia Wallace (b. Nov. 1, 1942), American actress.  She is best known for her role as Carol Kester on The Bob Newhart Show and as the voice of Edna Krabappel on The Simpsons.  She died of breast cancer 6 days before her 71^st birthday.

2008 ~ Gerard Damiano (b. Aug. 4, 1928), American hard-core film director who made Deep Throat.  He died at age 80.

2002 ~ Richard Harris (b. Oct. 1, 1930), Irish actor.  He died 24 days after his 72^nd birthday.

2002 ~ René Thom (b. Sept. 2, 1923), French mathematician and topologist.  He was the recipient of the 1958 Fields Medal.  He died at age 79.

1995 ~ Robert “Bobby” Riggs (b. Feb. 25, 1918), American tennis player.  He died at age 77.

1993 ~ Vincent Price (b. May 27, 1911), American actor.  He died of lung cancer at age 82.

1992 ~ Roger Miller (b. Jan. 2, 1936), American singer-songwriter.  He is best known for King of the Road.  He died of lung cancer at age 56.

1989 ~ Mary McCarthy (b. June 21, 1912), American writer, best known for her novel, The Group.  She died of lung cancer at age 77.

1986 ~ Forrest Tucker (b. Feb. 12, 1919), American actor.  He is best known for his role in as Professor Harry Hill in The Music Man, and for his role in the television sit-com, F. Troop.  He died of lung cancer at age 67.

1981 ~ Ariel Durant (né Chayna Kaufman, b. May 10, 1898), Russian-born American historian who, along with her husband, Will Durant (1885 ~ 1981), wrote a series of books on the history of civilization.  She died 2 weeks before her husband in 1981.  She was 83 at the time of her death.

1960 ~ Henry George Ferguson (b. Nov. 4, 1884), Irish engineer best known for his development of the modern agricultural tractor.  He died 10 days before his 76^th birthday.

1921 ~ Bat Masterson (né Bartholemew William Barclay Masterson, b. Nov. 26, 1853), American journalist, buffalo hunter, gambler and western lawman.  He died of a heart attack a month before his 68^th birthday.

1916 ~ William Merit Chase (b. Nov. 1, 1849), American painter.  He died a week before his 67^th birthday.

1892 ~ Caroline Scott Harrison (b. Oct. 1, 1832), American educator and 24^th First Lady of the United States.  She was the wife of President Benjamin Harrison.  She died while still in the White House of tuberculosis 24 days after her 60^th birthday.

1806 ~ Henry Knox (b. July 25, 1750), American general and politicians.  He served as the 1^st United States Secretary of war from September 1789 until December 1794.  This position was established under President George Washington.  Fort Knox in Maine is named in his honor.  He died at age 56 from an infection after having swallowed a chicken bone.

1760 ~ King George II of Great Britain (b. Nov. 9, 1683).  He died about 2 weeks before his 77^th birthday.

1733 ~ Giovanni Girolamo Saccheri (b. Sept. 5, 1667), Italian mathematician and Jesuit priest.  He died at age 66.

1647 ~ Evangelista Torricelli (b. Oct. 15, 1608), Italian mathematician and physicist.  He is best known for his invention of the barometer.  He died 10 days after his 39^th birthday.

1478 ~ Catherine of Bosnia (b. 1425), Queen consort of Bosnia.  The exact date of her birth is unknown, but she is believed to have been about 53 or 54 at the time of her death.

1400 ~ Geoffrey Chaucer (b. 1343), English poet.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 56 or 57 at the time of his death.

1154 ~ King Stephen of England (b. 1096).  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

625 ~ Pope Boniface V.  He was Pope from December 23, 619 until his death on this date 6 years later.  The date of his birth is not known.