November 2

Birthdays:

1966 ~ David Schwimmer, American actor.

1942 ~ Shere Hite, German sexologist and author.

1932 ~ Melvin Schwartz (d. Aug. 28, 2006), American physicist and recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 73.

1929 ~ Richard E. Taylor, American physicist and recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1918 ~ Alexander Vraciu (d. Jan. 29, 2015), American US Navy flying ace who dominated the Pacific during World War II.  He died at age 96.

1914 ~ Ray Walston (né Herman Raymond Walston, d. Jan. 1, 2001), American actor best known for his role as the Martian on the television show, My Favorite Martian.  He died of lupus at age 86.

1913 ~ Burt Lancaster (né Burton Stephen Lancaster, d. Oct. 20, 1994), American actor.  He died 2 weeks before his 81^st birthday.

1911 ~ Raphael M. Robinson (d. Jan. 27, 1995), American mathematician.  He died at age 83.

1911 ~ Odysseas Elytis (d. Mar. 18, 1996), Greek poet and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 84.

1865 ~ Warren G. Harding (d. Aug. 2, 1923), 29^th President of the United States.  He was President from March 1921 until his death of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 57 while in Office.

1815 ~ George Boole (d. Dec. 8, 1864), English mathematician and philosopher.  He died about a month after his 49^th birthday.

1799 ~ Titian Peale (d. Mar. 13, 1885), American photographer.  He died at age 85.

1795 ~ James Knox Polk (d. June 15, 1849), 11^th President of the United States.  He served as President from March 1854 through March 1849.  He had previously served as the 13^th Speaker of the United House of Representatives, from December 1835 until March 1839.  He died at age 53, shortly after his term as President ended.

1755 ~ Marie Antoinette (d. Oct. 16, 1793), Austrian wife of King Louis XVI of France.  She was guillotined during the French Revolution.  She died less than 3 weeks before her 38^th birthday.

1734 ~ Daniel Boone (d. Sept. 26, 1820), American frontiersman.  This is the date of his birth under the Gregorian calendar.  Under the Julian calendar, his birthday is noted as October 22.  He died at age 85.

1470 ~ King Edward V of England (d. 1483).  He was one of the two princes in the Tower of London.  The exact date of his death is not known, but he is believed to have been 12 at the time of his death.

Events that Changed the World:

1983 ~ President Ronald Reagan (1911 ~ 2004) signed a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a national holiday.

1964 ~ Saudi Arabian King Saud (1902 ~ 1969) was deposed by a family coup.  He was replaced by his half-brother, King Faisal (1906 ~ 1975).

1959 ~ Game show contestant, Charles Van Doren (b. 1926), admitted to cheating on the Twenty One.

1936 ~ The British Broadcasting Corporation began the BBC Television Service.

1936 ~ The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was established.

1930 ~ Haile Selassie (1892 ~ 1975) was crowned emperor of Ethiopia.  He would rule the country until November 2, 1974.

1920 ~ The first commercial radio station in the US, KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, began broadcasting.  The first broadcast reported the results of the US presidential election.

1917 ~ The Balfour Declaration was issued, which proclaimed British support for the establishment in Palestine as a national home for the Jewish people.

1898 ~ Cheerleading was started at the University of Minnesota.  Johnny Campbell lead the crowd in cheering on the football team.

1889 ~ North Dakota became the 39^th State of the Union.

1889 ~ South Dakota became the 40^th State of the Union.

1783 ~ General George Washington gave his “Farewell Address to the Army” in Rocky Hill, New Jersey.

Good-Byes:

2012 ~ Milt Campbell (né Milton Gray Campbell, b. Dec. 9, 1933), African-American superb athlete who won the 1952 Olympic decathlon.  He died about a month before his 79^th birthday.

2012 ~ Shreeram Shankar Abhyankar (b. July 22, 1930), Indian-American mathematician.  He died at age 82.

2008 ~ Madelyn Dunham (b. Oct. 26, 1922), American grandmother of President Barack Obama.  She died a week after her 86^th birthday.

2008 ~ Henry Loomis (b. Apr. 19, 1919), American physicist who led the Voice of America and Public Broadcasting.  He died at age 88.

2004 ~ Theo van Gogh (b. July 23, 1957), Dutch actor and director.  He was murdered at age 47 by a radical Muslim for his criticism of Islam.

1970 ~ Cardinal Richard Cushing (b. Aug. 24, 1895), Cardinal and archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts.  He died at age 75.

1966 ~ Peter Debye (b. Mar. 24, 1884) Dutch chemist and recipient of 1936 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 82.

1963 ~ Ngô Đinh Diêm (b. Jan. 3, 1901), 1^st President of South Vietnam, was assassinated following a military coup.  He was 62 at the time of his death.

1961 ~ James Thurber (b. Dec. 8, 1894), American writer and humorist.  He died about a month before his 67^th birthday.

1950 ~ George Bernard Shaw (b. July 26, 1856), Irish playwright and recipient of the 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 94.

1887 ~ Jenny Lind (née Johanna Marie Lind, b. Oct. 6, 1820), Swedish soprano.  She died less than a month after her 67^th birthday.

1859 ~ James Curtiss (b. Apr. 7, 1803), 11^th and 13^th Mayor of Chicago.  He served his first term from 1847 to 1848, and his second term from 1850 to 1851.  He died at age 56 after a long illness.