October 30

Birthdays:

1961 ~ Larry Wilmore, American comedian and television host.

1951 ~ Harry Hamlin, American actor.

1946 ~ William Thurston (d. Aug. 21, 2012), American mathematician.  He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1982.  He died at age 65 of cancer.

1946 ~ Andrea Mitchell, American journalist.

1945 ~ Henry Winkler, American actor, best known for his role as The Fonz on Happy Days.

1941 ~ Theodor W. Hänsch, German physicist and recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1939 ~ Leland H. Hartwell, American biologist and recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1939 ~ Grace Slick, American singer in the bands Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.

1932 ~ Louis Malle (d. Nov. 23, 1995), French film director.  His third wife was Candice Bergen.  He died of lymphoma 24 days after his 63^rd birthday.

1928 ~ Daniel Nathans (d. Nov. 16, 1999), American microbiologist and recipient of the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of restriction enzymes.  He died less 17 days after his 71^st birthday.

1906 ~ Andrey Nikolayevich Tikhonov (d. Oct. 7, 1993), Russian mathematician.  He died 23 days before his 87^th birthday.

1900 ~ Ragnar Granit (d. Mar. 12, 1991), Finnish neuroscientist and recipient of the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 90.

1896 ~ Harry Randall Truman (d. May 18, 1980), American soldier.  He was best known for being a resident of Washington State.  He lived on Mount St. Helens and refused to leave his home despite evacuation orders when the volcano began to erupt in 1980.  He was killed as a result of the eruptions.  He was 83 at the time of his death.

1896 ~ Ruth Gordon (d. Aug. 28, 1985), American actress, best known for her role as Maude in the cult film Harold and Maude.  She was from Massachusetts.  She died at age 88.

1895 ~ Gerhard Domagk (d. Apr. 24, 1964), German bacteriologist and recipient of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in antibiotics.  The Nazis forced him to refuse to accept the Nobel Prize.  In 1947, he was finally able to accept the medal, however, he due to the lapse in time, he was unable to receive the monetary award.  He died of a heart attach at age 68.

1895 ~ Dickinson W. Richards (d. Feb. 23, 1973), American physician and recipient of the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the development of the cardiac catheterization.  He died at age 77.

1893 ~ Charles Atlas (né Angelo Siciliano, d. Dec. 24, 1972), Italian-born bodybuilder.  He died at age 80.

1885 ~ Ezra Pound (d. Nov. 1, 1972), American poet.  He died 2 days after his 87^th birthday.

1882 ~ William Halsey, Jr. (d. Aug. 16, 1959), American Navy Admiral.  He died at age 76.

1873 ~ Francisco I. Madero (d. Feb. 22, 1913), President of Mexico.  He was President from November 1911 until a coup in February 1913.  He was killed in a military coup at age 39.

1857 ~ Georges Gilles de la Tourette (d. May 26, 1904), French neurologist after whom Tourette’s syndrome is named.  He died at age 46.

1748 ~ Martha Skelton Jefferson (d. Sept. 6, 1782), wife of Thomas Jefferson.  Jefferson was her second husband as her first husband had died young.  She died at age 33 shortly after having given birth to her 7^th child.  She is believed to have died due to complications of diabetes combined with childbirth.  Because she died nearl 19 years before Jefferson became President, she was never the American First Lady.

1735 ~ John Adams (d. July 4, 1826), 2^nd President of the United States.  He was President from March 1797 until March 1801.  Prior to that he had served as the 1^st Vice President of the United States under George Washington, from April 1789 until March 1797.  He died at age 90 in Quincy, Massachusetts.

1632 ~ Sir Christopher Wren (d. Mar. 8, 1723), English architect and mathematician.  Following the Great Fire of London in 1666, he re-designed many of the city’s churches.  He is best known as being the lead architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.  He died at age 90.

Events that Changed the World:

2014 ~ Sweden became the first member of the European Union to officially recognize the Palestine.

1983 ~ Argentina held the first democratic elections after being under military rule for the previous seven years.

1974 ~ The boxing match between Muhammad Ali (1942 ~ 2016) and George Foreman (b. 1949) dubbed the Rumble in the Jungle took place in Zaire.  Ali won the match.

1973 ~ The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey was completed.  The bridge connects Europe with Asia over the Bosphorus.

1960 ~ Dr. Michael Woodruff (1911 ~ 2001) performed the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom.

1945 ~ Jackie Robinson (1919 ~ 1972) signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, thereby becoming the first African-American to play baseball in the major leagues.

1944 ~ Anne Frank (1929 ~ 1945) and her sister, Margot (1925 ~ 1945), were deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

1941 ~ Over 1,500 Jews from Pidhaytsi in the western Ukraine were sent to the Bełżec extermination camp.

1938 ~ Orson Wells (1915 ~ 1985) broadcast The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells, which cause a stir with radio audiences who were not aware that this was a radio play and not real news.

1905 ~ Tsar Nicholas II (1868 ~ 1918) of Russia granted Russia’s first constitution, thereby creating a legislative assembly.

1864 ~ Helena, Montana was founded after prospectors found gold at the “Last Chance Gulch.”

1485 ~ Henry VII (1457 ~ 1509) was crowned King of England.

1470 ~ Henry VI of England returned to the English throne after the Earl of Warwick defeated the Yorkists in battle.

Good-Byes:

2014 ~ Thomas Menino (b. Dec. 27, 1942), 53^rd Mayor of Boston.  He died at age 71.

2009 ~ Michelle Triola Marvin (b. Nov. 13, 1933), American actress who made the case for “palimony.”  She lived with actor Lee Marvin for years and when they split up, she sued for financial support.  She died of lung cancer 2 weeks before her 77^th birthday.

2009 ~ Claude Levi-Strauss (b. Nov. 28, 1908), French anthropologist and scholar who changed the study of humanity.  He died 29 days before his 101^st birthday.

2007 ~ Robert Goulet (b. Nov. 26, 1933), American actor and singer.  He died 27 days before his 74^th birthday.

2000 ~ Steve Allen (b. Dec. 26, 1921), American actor and television personality.  He died at age 78.

1997 ~ Sydney Newman (b. Apr. 1, 1917), Canadian screenwriter and co-creator of Doctor Who.  He died at age 80.

1975 ~ Gustav Ludwig Hertz (b. July 22, 1887), German physicist and recipient of the 1925 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 88.

1968 ~ Conrad Richter (b. Oct. 13, 1890), American writer and short-story author.  He died of a heart attack 16 days after his 78^th birthday.

1968 ~ Rose Wilder Lane (b. Dec. 5, 1886), American journalist and author.  She was the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  She died at age 81.

1965 ~ Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. (b. Feb. 27, 1888), American historian and author.  He died in Boston, Massachusetts at age 77.

1930 ~ Mary Harrison McKee (b. Apr. 3, 1858), American daughter of President Benjamin Harrison.  She served as First Lady during her father’s presidency after her mother, Caroline died.  She died at age 72.

1923 ~ Andrew Bonar Law (b. Sept. 16, 1858), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister from October 1922 through May 1923.  He died at age 65.

1912 ~ James S. Sherman (b. Oct. 24, 1855), 27^th Vice President of the United States.  He served under President William Taft.  He died in office and was succeeded by Thomas Marshall (1854 ~ 1925).  He died 6 days after his 57^th birthday.

1910 ~ Jean-HenryDunant (b. May 8, 1828), Swiss businessman and social activist.  He was a co-founder of the Red Cross.  He was also the recipient of the 1901 Nobel Peace Prize, the first such prize awarded.  He died at age 82.

1893 ~ Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott (b. Mar. 12, 1821), 3^rd Prime Minister of Canada.  He served from 1891 to 1892.  He died at age 72.

1867 ~ John Albion Andrew (b. May 31, 1818), 25^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1861 until January 1866.  He died at age 49.

1832 ~ Edmund Cartwright (b. Apr. 24, 1743), English clergyman and inventor of the power loom.  He died at age 80.

1809 ~ William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3^rd Duke of Portland (b. Apr. 14, 1738), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the reign of King George III, from March 1807 until October 1809, and he was the Prime Minister of Great Britain from April 1783 until December 1783.  He died at age 71.

1626 ~ Willebrord Snell (b. June 13, 1580), Dutch astronomer and mathematician.  He died at age 46.

1611 ~ King Charles IX of Sweden (b. Oct. 4, 1550).  He was King from March 1604 until his death in October 1611.  He died 26 days after his 61^st birthday.