December 27

Birthdays:

1975 ~ Heather O’Rourke (d. Feb. 1, 1988), American actress best known for her role in Poltergeist.  She died at age 12 of cardiac arrest caused by septic shock due to a misdiagnosed intestinal stenosis.

1969 ~ Sarah Vowell, American journalist and author.

1957 ~ Greg Mortenson, American humanitarian and author of Three Cups of Tea, which is about building schools for children in Pakistan.  In 2011, he was accused of misappropriation of funds intended for the building of such schools.

1952 ~ Tova Feldshuh, American actress, best known for her portrayal of Golda Meir in Golda’s Balcony.

1952 ~ David Knopfler, Scottish musician and member of Dire Straits.

1951 ~ Ernesto Zedillo (né Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León), 54^th President of Mexico.  He served as President from December 1994 through November 2000.

1948 ~ Gérard Depardieu, French actor.

1943 ~ Cokie Roberts (née Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs Roberts), American journalist from New Orleans, Louisiana.

1942 ~ Thomas Menino (d. Oct. 30, 2014), 53^rd Mayor of Boston.  He died at age 71.

1942 ~ Charmian Carr (née Charmian Anne Farnon, d. Sept. 17, 2016), American actress and designer best known for her role as Liesel von Trapp in the 1965 movie The Sound of Music.  She died at age 73.

1939 ~ John Amos, American actor.

1930 ~ Wilfrid Sheed (d. Jan. 19, 2011), English-born American writer.  He died 23 days after his 80^th birthday in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

1924 ~ Jean Bartik (née Betty Jean Jennings, d. Mar. 23, 2011), First Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) Computer programmer.  She was 86 years old.

1922 ~ James L. Stone (d. Nov. 9, 2012), American soldier who fought in the Korean War and who had to wait for his rare honor.  He earned the Medal of Honor in 1952 but rarely spoke of his war time.  He died at age 89.

1921 ~ Jan Leighton (né Milton Lichtman, d. Nov. 16, 2009), American actor who turned historical figures into pitchman.  He died at age 87.

1921 ~ Robert Lipshutz (d. Nov. 6, 2010), 17^th White House Counsel.  He served under President Jimmy Carter from January 1977 until October 1979.  He died at age 88.

1917 ~ Buddy Boudreaux (né John Landry Boudreaux, d. June 13, 2015), American big band and jazz musician from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  He was born in Donaldsonville, Louisiana.  He was 97 years old.

1915 ~ William Howell Masters (d. Feb. 16, 2001), American gynecologist and pioneer in human sexuality, along with his wife Virginia E. Johnson (1925 ~ 2013).  He died of Parkinson’s disease at age 85.

1906 ~ Oscar Levant (d. Aug. 14, 1972), American pianist, composer and actor.  He died at age 65.

1901 ~ Marlene Dietrich (née Marie Magdalene Dietrich, d. May 6, 1992), German actress.  She died at age 90.

1858 ~ Juan Luis Sanfuentes (d. July 16, 1930), President of Chile from December 1915 through December 1920.  He died at age 71.

1822 ~ Louis Pasteur (d. Sept. 28, 1895), French microbiologist who made major contributions to medicine.  He is best known for developing a process of using heat to kill germs, which is used today to preserve milk.  This process is known as pasteurization.  He died at age 78.

1571 ~ Johannes Kepler (d. Nov. 15, 1630), German astronomer and mathematician.  He died at age 58.

Events that Changed the World:

2007 ~ Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1953 ~ 2007) was assassinated.

1989 ~ The Romanian Revolution ended.

1985 ~ Palestinian guerrillas killed 18 people in the Rome and Vienna airports.

1983 ~ Pope John Paul II (1920 ~ 2005) visited his would-be assassin, Mehmet Ali Ağca (b. 1958), in prison and forgave him for attack on his life in 1981.

1979 ~ The Soviet Union invaded the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

1978 ~ Spain became a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship under Franco.

1968 ~ Apollo 8 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.  This was the first orbital manned mission to the Moon.

1945 ~ Twenty-nine nations signed an agreement thereby creating the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

1939 ~ A massive earthquake struck in Erzincan, Turkey, killing over 32,000 people.

1935 ~ Regina Jones (1902 ~ 1944), was ordained as the first female rabbi.  She later was murdered during the Holocaust.

1932 ~ Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City.

1927 ~ Show Boat, which is considered to be the first true American musical, opened at the Ziegfeld Theater on Broadway.  The musical was still enjoying wide-spread productions in 2012.  It is based on a book by Edna Ferber.

1845 ~ Ether anesthetic was used for the first time in childbirth by Dr. Crawford Williamson Long (1815 ~ 1878) in Jefferson, Georgia.

1831 ~ Charles Robert Darwin (1809 ~ 1882) began his journey on the HMS Beagle, during which he developed his theory of evolution.

1814 ~ The American schooner USS Carolina was destroyed during the War of 1812.  This ship, which was the last surviving the US Naval Commodore David Patterson (1786 ~ 1839) had raided from Jean Lafitte at Barataria Bay, Louisiana.  Due to Commodore Patterson’s delay tactics in moving his fleet to Mobile, the United States was ultimately able to claim a victory at the Battle of New Orleans.

1512 ~ The Spanish Crown issued the Laws of Burgos, governing the conduct of the Spaniards with regard to the Indigenous people of the Americas.  The laws forbid the mistreatment of the Native people and endorsed their conversion to Catholicism.

537 ~ The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey was completed.  It initially served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople.  In 1261 it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral.  In 1453, the building was turned into a mosque.  In 1931, it was secularized and opened as a museum in 1935.

Good-Byes:

2016 ~ Carrie Fisher (b. Oct. 21, 1956), American Star Wars princess who chronicled Hollywood’s excesses.  She died of a massive heart attack at age 60.  Her mother, Debbie Reynolds, died of a broken heart the following day.

2015 ~ Meadowlark Lemon (né Meadow Lemon, III, b. Apr. 25, 1932), American basketball player and team member of the Harlem Globetrotters.  He died at age 83.

2015 ~ Stein Eriksen (b. Dec. 11, 1927), Norwegian Olympic champion who helped popularize skiing.  He won gold medals in the 1952 Winter Olympics.  He died just over 2 weeks after his 88^th birthday.

2012 ~ Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. (b. Aug. 22, 1934), American general.  He led the coalition forces during the Gulf War.  He died at age 78.

2007 ~ Benazir Bhutto (b. June 21, 1953), 11^th Pakistani Prime Minister.  She was assassinated in a bombing attack after leaving a political rally where she was attempting another campaign to become Pakistan’s prime minister.  She was at 54 years old.

2004 ~ Donald L. Hollowell (b. Dec. 17, 1917), African-American attorney and civil rights advocate.  He was instrumental in the movement to desegregate public institutions in Georgia.  He died of heart failure 10 days after his 87^th birthday.

1999 ~ Geraldine Pittman Woods (b. Jan. 29, 1921), African-American embryologist.  She died at age 78.

1995 ~ Boris Vladimirovich Gnedenko (b. Jan. 1, 1912), Russian mathematician.  He died 4 days before his 83^rd birthday.

1983 ~ William Demarest (né Carl William Demarest, b. Feb. 27, 1892), American actor.  He is best known for playing Uncle Charlie on My Three Sons.  He died at of prostate cancer age 91.

1981 ~ Hoagy Carmichael (né Howard Hoagland Carmichael, b. Nov. 22, 1899), American singer-songwriter and composer.  He died at age 82.

1974 ~ Amy Vanderbilt (b. July 22, 1908), American etiquette authority.  She died at age 66 from injuries sustained from a fall from a window.  It is not clear whether or not the fall was accidental or a suicide.

1974 ~ Vladimir Fock (b. Dec. 22, 1898), Russian mathematician.  He died 5 days after his 76^th birthday.

1972 ~ Lester B. Pearson (b. Apr. 23, 1897), 14^th Prime Minister of Canada and recipient of the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.  He served as Prime Minister from April 1963 until April 1968.  He died at age 75.

1950 ~ Max Beckmann (b. Feb. 12, 1884), German painter and sculptor.  He died at age 66.

1944 ~ Amy Beach (b. Sept. 5, 1867), American pianist and composer.  She was the first American woman composer to achieve success with large-scale art music.  She was from New Hampshire.  She died at age 77.

1930 ~ Gyula Farkas (b. Mar. 28, 1847), Hungarian mathematician.  He died at age 83.

1923 ~ Gustave Eiffel (né Alexandre Gustave Bönickhausen, d. Dec. 27, 1923), French engineer and architect and designer of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.  He died 12 days after his 91^st birthday.

1836 ~ Stephen Austin (b. Nov. 3, 1793), American frontiersman in Texas.  He is sometimes referred to as the Father of Texas.  Austin, Texas is named in his honor.  He died of pneumonia at age 43.

1834 ~ Charles Lamb (b. Feb. 10, 1775), English essayist.  He died at age 59.

1381 ~ Edmund Mortimer, 3^rd Earl of March (b. Feb. 1, 1352), English politician.  He died at age 29.

683 ~ Gao Zong (b. July 21, 628), Chinese emperor of the Tang Dynasty.  He was Emperor from July 649 until his death in December 683.  He died at age 55.