December 2

Birthdays:

1981 ~ Britney Spears, American singer from Louisiana.

1973 ~ Monica Seles, Serbian-American tennis player.

1968 ~ Lucy Liu, American actress.

1963 ~ Ann Patchett, American novelist.

1948 ~ Elizabeth Berg, American author.

1946 ~ Gianni Versace (d. July 15, 1997), Italian fashion designer who founded the House of Versace.  He was murdered outside his home in Miami, Florida by Andrew Cunanan.  He was 50 years old.

1939 ~ Yael Dayan, Israeli writer and politician.  She is the daughter of Moshe Dayan.

1931 ~ Edwin Meese, 75^th United States Attorney General.  He served in that position from February 1985 until July 1988 during the Reagan administration.

1930 ~ Gary Becker (d. May 3, 2014), American economist and recipient of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.  He died at age 83.

1925 ~ Julie Harris (d. Aug. 24, 2013), Tony Award-winning stage and film actress.  She died at age 87.

1924 ~ Alexander Haig (d. Feb. 20, 2010), American brash general who became the 59^th Secretary of State.  He served as Secretary of Stat under President Ronald Reagan from January 1981 until July 1982.  He previously served as the 5^th White House Chief of Staff from May 1973 until September 1975 under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.  He died at age 85.

1923 ~ Maria Callas (d. Sept. 16, 1977), Greek-American opera singer.  She died at age 53 of a heart attack.

1885 ~ George Richards Minot (d. Feb. 25, 1950), American physician and recipient of the 1934 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work with pernicious anemia.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Brookline, Massachusetts at age 64.

1863 ~ Charles Ringling (d. Dec. 3, 1926), American circus owner and co-founder of the Ringling Brothers Circus.  He died the day after his 63^rd birthday.

1859 ~ Georges Seurat (d. Mar. 29, 1891) French post-impressionist painter.  He died at age 31.

1760 ~ John Breckinridge (d. Dec. 14, 1806), 5^th United States Attorney General.  He served under President Thomas Jefferson from August 1805 until his death in December 1806.  He died of tuberculosis 12 days after his 46^th birthday.

1754 ~ William Cooper (d. Dec. 22, 1809), American politician and founder of Cooperstown, New York.  He was the father of author James Fenimore Cooper.  He died 20 days after his 55^th birthday.

1729 ~ Josiah Bartlett (d. May 19, 1795), Governor of New Hampshire.  He served in Office from June 1790 until June 1794.  He was born before the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, so his birthday is sometimes given as November 21, 1729, under the Julian calendar, or December 2 under the Gregorian calendar.  He died at age 65 in Kingston, New Hampshire.

1694 ~ William Shirley (d. Mar. 24, 1771), British lawyer and politician.  He served as the Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.  He died at age 76.

503 ~ Emperor Jianwen of Liang (d. 551),  Emperor of the Chinese Liang dynasty.  The date of his death is not known, but he is believed to have been  about 47 at the time of his death.

Events that Changed the World:

2001 ~ Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

1991 ~ Canada and Poland became the first countries to recognize the independence of the Ukraine from the Soviet Union.

1988 ~ Benazir Bhutto (1953 ~ 2007) was sworn was in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to lead an Islamic country.

1982 ~ Barney Clark (1921 ~ 1983) became the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart, the Jarvek 7.  He survived for 112 days following the heart surgery.  The surgery was performed at the University of Utah Medical Center.

1976 ~ Fidel Castro (1926 ~ 2016) became President of Cuba.  Prior to this date, he had served as Prime Minister of Cuba.

1971 ~ The United Arab Emirates was formed by Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai and Umm Al Quwain.

1970 ~ The United States Environmental Protection Agency first began operations.

1961 ~ Cuban leader Fidel Castro (1926 ~ 2016) announced in a nationally broadcast speech that Cuba would adopt Communism.

1954 ~ The United States Senate voted to condemn Senator Joseph McCarthy (1908 ~ 1957) for conduct that brought the Senate into dishonor and disrepute as a result of his targeting American citizens and accusing them of communism.

1947 ~ The Jerusalem Riots of 1947 erupted in response to the approval of the 1947 UN Partition Plan.

1942 ~ Enrico Fermi (1901 ~ 1954) and his team initiated the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in what was referred to as the Manhattan Project.

1939 ~ La Guardia Airport officially opened in New York City when a TWA-DC-3 from Chicago landed minutes after midnight.  The airport quickly became one of the busiest airports in the world.

1927 ~ The Ford Motor Company unveiled the Model A.

1908 ~ Puyi (1906 ~ 1967) became last Emperor of China.  He was 2 years old.  He was the 12^th Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.  He ruled until February 1912 when he was forced to abdicate following the successful Xinhai revolution

1867 ~ Charles Dickens (1812 ~ 1870) gave his first public reading in the United States when he spoke at Tremont Temple in Boston, Massachusetts.

1848 ~ Franz Joseph I (1830 ~ 1916) became the Emperor of Austria.

1845 ~ President James Polk (1795 ~ 1849) announced in his State of the Union address that the United States should aggressively expand into the American West, in what has become known as Manifest Destiny.

1823 ~ President James Monroe (1758 ~ 1831) delivered a speech establishing the policy known as the Monroe Doctrine.  The Monroe Doctrine stated that efforts by European countries to colonize in North or South America would be regarded as acts of aggression and would lead to US intervention.

1804 ~ Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 ~ 1821) crowned himself Emperor of France, the first French Emperor in 1000 years, in a ceremony held at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

1775 ~ John Paul Jones (1747 ~ 1792) hoisted the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to what would become the American Stars and Stripes), on his ship, the USS Alfred, which became the first vessel to fly the flag.

1763 ~ The Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island was dedicated.  It was the first synagogue build in what would become the United States.

1697 ~ St. Paul’s Cathedral in London was consecrated.

Good-Byes:

2015 ~ Sandy Berger (né Samuel Richard Berger, b. Oct. 28, 1945), American 19^th United States National Security Advisor.  He served from March 1997 until January 2001 during the Bill Clinton administration.  He died of cancer at age 70.

2014 ~ Bobby Keys (né Robert Henry Keys, b. Dec. 18, 1943), American saxophone player who rolled with the Rolling Stones.  He died 2 weeks before his 71^st birthday.

2013 ~ Jean-Claude Beton (b. Jan. 14, 1925), French businessman and founder of Orangina.  He died at age 87.

2008 ~ Odetta Holmes (b. Dec. 31, 1930), American singer who gave voice to Black America.  She died 29 days before her 78^th birthday.

1993 ~ Pablo Escobar (b. Dec. 1, 1949), Columbian drug lord.  He was killed in a shootout one day after his 44^th birthday.

1990 ~ Aaron Copland (d. Nov. 14, 1900), Jewish-American composer.  He died 18 days after his 90^th birthday.

1987 ~ Luis Federico Leloir (b. Sept. 6, 1906), Argentine chemist and recipient of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 81.

1986 ~ Desi Arnaz (b. Mar. 2, 1917), Cuban-born actor and band leader.  He was the husband of Lucille Ball.  He died of lung cancer at age 69.

1982 ~ Marty Feldman (né Martin Alan Feldman ,b. July 8, 1934), English comedian and actor.  He died of a heart attack at age 48.

1966 ~ Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer (b. Feb. 27, 1881), Dutch mathematician.  He died at age 85.

1963 ~ Sabu Dastagir (b. Jan. 27, 1924), Indian actor.  He is best known for his role in the 1937 film Elephant Boy.  He died at age 39 of a heart attack.

1936 ~ John Ringling (b. May 31, 1866), American circus owner and brother of Charles Ringling.  He died on what would have been his brother, Charles’ 73^rd birthday.  John died at age 70.

1918 ~ Edmond Rostand (b. Apr. 1, 1868), French dramatist best known for his play, Cyrano de Bergerac.  He died at age 50 during the flu epidemic.

1892 ~ Jay Gould (né Jason Gould, b. May 27, 1836), American railroad developer and financier.  He died of tuberculosis at age 56.

1863 ~ Jane Means Pierce (b. Mar. 12, 1806), First Lady of the United States and wife of President Franklin Pierce.  She was born in Hampton, New Hampshire and died in Andover, Massachusetts.  She was 57 years old at the time of her death.

1859 ~ John Brown (b. May 9, 1800), American abolitionist.  He was hanged for his leading the October 16 raid on Harper’s Ferry.  He was 59 years old.

1814 ~ Marquis de Sade (né Donatien Alphonse François de Sade, b. June 2, 1740), French author, politician and philosopher.  He died at age 74.

1594 ~ Gerardus Mercator (b. Mar. 5, 1512), Flemish cartographer and mathematician.  He died at age 82.

1547 ~ Hernán Cortés (b. 1485), Spanish explorer and conqueror.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been about 61 or 62 at the time of his death.

1469 ~ Piero di Cosimo de’Medici (b. Sept. 19, 1416), Italian banker and politician.  He died at age 53.

1447 ~ Vlad II Dracul (b. Aug. 30, 1400).  He was the father of Vlad the Impaler.  His name in English means Vlad the Dragon.  The exact dates of his birth and death are not known.  He is believed to have been about 51 or 52 at the time of his death.

537 ~ Pope Silverius.  Little is know of this Pope other than he ruled from June 536 until he was deposed in March 537.