December 7

Birthdays:

1956 ~ Larry Bird, American basketball player who had a long career with the Boston Celtics.

1952 ~ Susan Collins, American politician and Senator from Maine.

1949 ~ Tom Waits, American singer and composer.

1943 ~ Susan Isaacs, American author.

1943 ~ Nicholas Katz, American mathematician.

1942 ~ Harry Chapin (d. July 16, 1981), American musician.  He was killed at age 38 in a car accident.

1932 ~ Ellen Burstyn (née Edna Rae Gillooly), American actress.

1928 ~ Noam Chomsky, American linguist and philosopher.

1923 ~ Ted Knight (né Tadeusz Wladyslaw Konkpka, d. Aug. 26, 1986), America actor.  He died of colon cancer at age 62.

1923 ~ Alan Ford (d. Nov. 3, 2008), American Olympic swimmer known as the “Human Fish.”  He died a month before his 85^th birthday.

1915 ~ Eli Wallach (d. June 24, 2014), American actor.  He died at age 98.

1915 ~ Guido Zappa (d. Mar. 17, 2015), Italian mathematician.  He was 99 years old.

1910 ~ Louis Prima (d. Aug. 24, 1978), American musician and bandleader.  He was born and died in New Orleans, Louisiana.  He died at age 67.

1903 ~ Danilo Blanuša (d. Aug. 8, 1987), Croatian mathematician.  He died at age 83.

1873 ~ Willa Cather (d. Apr. 24, 1947), American novelist.  She died at age 73.

1863 ~ Richard Sears (d. Sept. 28, 1914), American businessman and co-founder of the department store, Sears and Roebuck.  He died at age 50 of Bright’s disease.

1823 ~ Leopold Kronecker (d. Dec. 29, 1891), Polish-German mathematician.  He died 22 days after his 68^th birthday.

1804 ~ Noah Haynes Swayne (d. June 8, 1884), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President Abraham Lincoln.  He served on the Court from January 1862 until January 1881.  He died at age 79.

1637 ~ Bernardo Pasquini (d. Nov. 21, 1710), Italian composer.  He died 16 days before his 73^rd birthday.

1545 ~ Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (d. Feb. 10, 1567), English husband of Mary, Queen of Scots.  He was the second husband of Mary.  He was murdered at age 21.

Events that Changed the World:

1988 ~ Yasser Arafat recognized the right of Israel to exist.

1988 ~ A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck in Armenia, killing nearly 25,000 people and injuring at least 15,000 people.

1982 ~ Texas used lethal injection for the first time in executing convicted murderer Charles Brooks, Jr. (1942-1972).

1972 ~ The last of the Apollo moon missions, Apollo 17, was launched.  The crew took the iconic photograph of the Earth, known as The Blue Marble.

1963 ~ Instant replay was first used during the Army-Navy football game.

1946 ~ A fire at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia killed 119 people.

1941 ~ The Imperial Japanese Navy executed a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  This was the was the event that thrust the United States into World War II.

1930 ~ The first commercial in the US was broadcast on the CBS radio orchestra program, The Fox Trappers.  I.J. Fox Furriers sponsored the radio show.

1917 ~ The United States declared war on Austria-Hungary during World War I.

1869 ~ Outlaw Jesse James (1847 ~ 1882) committed his first confirmed bank robber in Gallatin, Missouri.

1787 ~ Delaware ratified the United States Constitution.  It was the first state to do so, thereby becoming the first State in the Union.

1776 ~ The Marquis de Lafayette (1757 ~ 1834) arranged to enter the American military as a major general.

1732 ~ The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, London, England opened.

1703 ~ The Great Storm of 1703 was the strongest storm recorded in the southern part of Great Britain.  It struck landfall with estimated winds of up to 120 miles and killed over 9,000 people.

Good-Byes:

2011 ~ Harry Morgan (b. Apr. 10, 1915), American actor best known for his role as Col. Sherman Potter on the television sit-com M*A*S*H.  He died at age 96.

2010 ~ Elizabeth Edwards (b. July 3, 1949), American lawyer and wife of politician John Edwards.  She blazed her own trail.  She died of breast cancer at age 61.

2006 ~ Jeane Kirkpatrick (b. Nov. 19, 1926), 16^th United States Ambassador to the United Nations.  She died 18 days after her 80^th birthday.

2003 ~ Azie Taylor Morton (b. Feb. 1, 1933), 36^th Treasurer of the United States.  She served under President Jimmy Carter.  She was the first African American to serve in this position.  She died of a stroke at age 67.

1998 ~ Martin Rodbell (b. Dec. 1, 1925), American biochemist and endocrinologist.  He was the recipient of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died 6 days after his 73^rd birthday.

1993 ~ Wolfgang Paul (b. Aug. 10, 1913), German physicist and recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 80.

1992 ~ Richard J. Hughes (b. Aug. 10, 1909), 45^th Governor of New Jersey.  He served as Governor from January 1962 until January 1970.  He died at age 83.

1985 ~ Potter Stewart (b. Jan. 23, 1915), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President Dwight Eisenhower.  He served on the Court from October 1958 until his retirement in July 1981.  He died following a stroke in Hanover, New Hampshire at age 70.

1985 ~ Robert Graves (né Robert von Ranke Graves, b. July 24, 1895), English author best known for his book, I, Claudius, which was later made into a miniseries.  He died at age 90.

1981 ~ Ava Helen Miller Pauling (b. Dec. 24, 1903), American humanitarian and social activist.  She was also the wife of scientist Linus Pauling.  She died 17 days before her 78^th birthday.

1979 ~ Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (b. May 10, 1900), British-born American astronomer and astrophysicist.  She died at age 79 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1975 ~ Thornton Wilder (b. Apr. 17, 1897), American dramatist.  He died at age 78.

1970 ~ Rube Goldberg (né Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg, b. July 4, 1883), American sculptor and cartoonist.  He died at age 87.

1947 ~ Nicholas Murray Butler (b. Apr. 2, 1862), American philosopher and diplomat.  He was President of Columbia University.  He was, ironically, the recipient of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize, considering his stance on Italy and Germany during World War II.  He also enforced the quotas on the number of Jews who could attend Columbia University.  He died at age 85.

1906 ~ Élie Ducommun (b. Feb. 19, 1833), Swiss journalist and recipient of the 1902 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 73.

1902 ~ Thomas Nast (b. Sept. 27, 1840), German-born American political cartoonist.  He created such figures as Uncle Sam and the Republican Elephant and the Democratic Donkey.  He died at age 62 in Ecuador.

1894 ~ Ferdinand Marie, Vicomte de Lesseps (b. Nov. 19, 1805), French diplomat and engineer who developed the Suez Canal.  The company he organized began work on the Canal in 1859 and completed the task 10 years later.  He died 18 days after his 89^th birthday.

1817 ~ William Bligh (b. Sept. 9, 1754), British admiral and politician.  He was the Admiral of the HNS Bounty, when his crew mutinied.  He survived, and 15 years after the mutiny, he became the 4^th Governor of New South Wales.  He died at age 63.

1815 ~ Michel Ney (b. Jan. 10, 1769), French Marshal and commander during the Napoleonic Wars.  He died about a month before his 47^th birthday.

1672 ~ Richard Bellingham (b. 1592), English-American politician and 8^th Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  The date of his birth is not known.

1254 ~ Pope Innocent IV (né Sinibaldo Fieschi, b. 1195).  He was Pope from 1243 until his death 11 years later.  The date of his birth is not known.

983 ~ Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 955).  The date of his birth is not known.

283 ~ Pope Eutychian.  He was Pope from January 274 until his death 9 years later.  The date of his birth is not known.

43 BCE ~ Marcus Tillius Cicero (b. BCE Jan. 3, 106), Roman politician and author.  These are the dates ascribed to his birth and assassination.  He died at age 63.