January 10

Birthdays:

1961 ~ Evan Handler, American actor.

1953 ~ Pat Benatar (né Patricia Mae Andrzejewski), American musician.

1949 ~ Linda Lovelace (née Linda Susan Boreman, d. Apr. 22, 2002), American porn actress who was best known for her role in Deep Throat.  She was killed in a car accident at age 53.

1949 ~ George Foreman, American boxer.

1948 ~ Donald Fagen, American musician and member of the band, Steely Dan.

1945 ~ Spider Sabich (né Vladimir Peter Sabich, Jr., d. Mar. 31, 1976), American alpine ski racer.  He was shot and killed by Claudine Longet (b. 1942), his live-in girlfriend and former wife of Andy Williams, in what she claimed to have been an accident.  She was later convicted of misdemeanor criminal negligence in his death.  He was 31 years old at the time of his death.

1945 ~ Sir Rod Stewart (né Roderick David Stewart), Scottish singer.

1943 ~ Jim Croce (né James Joseph Croce, d. Sept. 20, 1973), American singer and songwriter.  He was killed in a plane crash at age 30 that had taken off from Natchitoches, Louisiana.

1939 ~ Sal Mineo (né Salvatore Mineo, Jr., d. Feb. 12, 1976), American actor.  He was murdered about a month after his 37^th birthday.

1938 ~ James “Jim” Bailey (d. May 30, 2015), American entertainer and female impersonator who became a diva.  He was 77 years old.

1936 ~ Stephen Ambrose (d. Oct. 13, 2002), American historian.  He was a history professor at the University of New Orleans.  He died of lung cancer at age 66.

1936 ~ Robert Woodrow Wilson, American physicist and recipient of the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1931 ~ Marlene Sanders (d. July 14, 2015), American reporter who blazed a trail for newswomen.  She was the mother of writer Jeffrey Toobin.  She died of cancer at age 84.

1930 ~ Roy E. Disney (d. Dec. 16, 2009), American businessman and nephew of Walt and Lillian Disney.  He died less than a month before his 80^th birthday.

1925 ~ Billie Sol Estes (d. May 14, 2013), Texas businessman and con man who bilked the government.  He is best known for his involvement in a business fraud scheme and his connection to Lyndon Johnson.  He spend several years in prison for swindling, mail fraud and conspiracy.  He died at age 88.

1919 ~ Milton Parker (d. Jan. 30, 2009), American businessman, restaurateur and co-founder of the Carnegie Deli.  He made the Carnegie Deli famous.  He died 20 days after his 90^th birthday.

1916 ~ Sune Bergström (né Karl Sune Detlof Bergström, d. Aug. 15, 2004), Swedish biochemist and recipient of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 88.

1913 ~ Gusváv Husák (d. Nov. 18, 1991), 9^th President of Czechoslovakia.  He served in that office from May 1975 until December 1989.  He died at age 78.

1911 ~ Norman Heatley (d. Jan. 5, 2004), British biologist and chemist who co-developed penicillin.  He died 5 days before his 93^rd birthday.

1904 ~ Ray Bolger (né Raymond Wallace Bolger, d. Jan. 15, 1987), American actor best known for his role as the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.  He died 5 days after his 83^rd birthday.

1898 ~ Katharine Burr Blodgett (d. Oct. 12, 1979), American physicist.  She died at age 81.

1891 ~ Heinrich Behmann (d. Feb. 3, 1970), German mathematician.  He died 24 days after his 79^th birthday.

1883 ~ Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (d. Feb. 23, 1945), Russian author.  He died at age 62.

1875 ~ Issai Schur (d. Jan. 10, 1941), German mathematician.  He died on his 66^th birthday.

1850 ~ John Wellborn Root (d. Jan. 15, 1891), American architect who helped develop the “Chicago School” style of architecture.  He designed the Rookery Building in Chicago.  He died of pneumonia 5 days after his 41^st birthday.

1843 ~ Frank James (né Alexander Franklin James, d. Feb. 18, 1915), American wild west outlaw.  He was the older brother of outlaw Jesse James.  He died at age 72.

1836 ~ Charles Ingalls (d. June 8, 1902), American farmer and father of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the writer of the Little House series of books.  He died at age 66.

1810 ~ Jeremiah S. Black (d. Aug. 19, 1883), 24^th United States Attorney General.  He served in the James Buchanan administration as the 23^rd Secretary of State from December 1860 until March 1861, and as the United States Attorney General from March 1957 until December 1860.  He died at age 73.

1769 ~ Michel Ney, 1^st Duc d’Elchingen (d. Dec. 7, 1815), French Marshal and commander during the Napoleonic Wars.  He was executed for treason about a month before his 47^th birthday.

Events that Changed the World:

2005 ~ A mudslide on California’s U.S. Route 101, the main coastal route between San Francisco and Los Angeles, killed 10 people and injured many more.

1990 ~ Time Warner was formed by the merger of Time, Inc., and Warner Communications.

1946 ~ The first United Nations General Assembly convened in London.  Fifty-one countries were represented.

1929 ~ The Adventures of Tintin, Europe’s most popular comic books, was first published in Belgium.

1927 ~ Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang (1890 ~ 1976), was first released.

1920 ~ The League of Nations was established.

1920 ~ The Treaty of Versailles took effect, officially ending World War I.

1901 ~ The first great Texas oil strike occurred making Beaumont, Texas the first petroleum boom town in Texas.

1870 ~ The Standard Oil Company was incorporated by John D. Rockefeller (1839 ~ 1937).

1863 ~ London’s Underground, the world’s oldest subway system, opened its first passenger line, which ran between Paddington Station and Farringdon Station.

1861 ~ Florida seceded from the Union before the Civil War.

1812 ~ The first steamboat trip, from Pittsburgh, PA to New Orleans, LA traveling on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, was completed.

1776 ~ Common Sense, by Thomas Paine (1737 ~ 1809), was published.

236 ~ Pope Fabian (200 ~ 250) became the 20^th Pope of Rome.  He was Pope until his death in 250.

9 ~ The Western Han dynasty (206 BCE ~ CE 9) ended when Wang Mang (45 BCE ~ CE 23) began his own dynasty, the Xin dynasty.

49 BCE ~ The traditional date ascribed to when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war.

Good-Byes:

2017 ~ Clare Hollingworth (b. Oct. 10, 2011), British reporter who broke the news of World War II.  While traveling from Germany to Poland in 1939, she spotted and reported German forces amassing on the Polish border.  Three days later she was the first to report of the German invasion of Poland, which was called the “scoop of the century.”  She died at age 105.

2016 ~ David Bowie (b. Jan. 8, 1947), English musician.  He was the ever-changing British rocker who transcended music, art, and fashion.  He died of liver cancer 2 days after his 69^th birthday.

2015 ~ Robert Stone (b. Aug. 21, 1937), American novelist who chronicled American dreams gone south.  He died at age 77.

2014 ~ Larry Melvin Speakes (b. Sept. 13, 1939), American journalist and 16^th White House Press Secretary.  He served under President Ronald Reagan.  He was technically the acting press secretary because James Brady, who had been shot during the assassination attempt on President Reagan, retained his position and title even though he was unable to perform those duties.  He died of Alzheimer’s disease at age 74.

2007 ~ Carlos Ponti, Sr. (b. Dec. 11, 1912), Italian film producer and husband of Sophia Loren.  He died a month after his 94^th birthday.

1997 ~ Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd (b. Oct. 2, 1907), Scottish chemist and recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 89.

1986 ~ Jaroslav Seifert (b. Sept. 23, 1901), Czech poet and journalist.  He was the recipient of the 1984 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 84.

1981 ~ Richard Boone (b. June 18, 1917), American actor best known for his Westerns.  He died of pneumonia and throat cancer at age 63.

1980 ~ George Meany (né William George Meany, b. Aug. 16, 1894), American labor union leader.  He died at age 85.

1965 ~ Howlin’ Wolf (né Chester Arthur Burnett, b. June 10, 1910), African-American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist.  He died at age 65.

1971 ~ Coco Chanel (née Gabrielle Chanel, b. Aug. 19, 1883), French clothing designer and founder of the House of Chanel.  She died at age 87.

1961 ~ Dashiell Hammett (né Samuel Dashiell Hammett, b. May 27, 1894), American writer of the detective novel.  He and Lillian Hillman were long-time partners.  He died of lung cancer at age 66.

1957 ~ Gabriela Mistral (née Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, b. Apr. 7, 1889), Chilean writer, educator and diplomat.  She was the recipient of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Literature.  She was the first Latin American woman to be awarded this Prize.  She died of pancreatic cancer at age 67.

1951 ~ Sinclair Lewis (né Harry Sinclair Lewis, b. Feb. 7, 1885), American writer.  In 1930, he was the first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died about a month before his 66^th birthday.

1941 ~ Issia Schur (b. Jan. 10, 1875), German mathematician.  He died on his 66^th birthday.

1917 ~ William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody (b. Feb. 26, 1846), American frontiersman.  He died of kidney failure at age 70.

1883 ~ Dr. Samuel Mudd (b. Dec. 20, 1833), American physician, who was convicted of conspiring with John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.  He died of pneumonia 21 days after his 49^th birthday.

1862 ~ Samuel Colt (b. July 19, 1814), American firearms inventor and founder of the Colt’s Manufacturing Company.  He invented the modern revolver that bears his name.  He died of gout at age 47.

1833 ~ Adrien-Marie Legendre (b. Sept. 18, 1752), French mathematician.  He died at age 80.

1778 ~ Carolus Linnæus (b. May 23, 1707), Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist.  He is credited for setting the foundation for scientific nomenclature.  He died at age 70.

1662 ~ Honoré II, Prince of Monaco (b. Dec. 24, 1597).  He was the first to be called the Prince of Monaco.  He died 16 days after his 64^th birthday.

1276 ~ Pope Gregory X (né Teobaldo Visconti, b. 1210).  He was Pope for just over 4 years, from September 1271 until his death on this date in 1276.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 66 at the time of his death.

681 ~ Pope Agatho.  He was Pope for about 2 ½ years from June 678 until his death on this date in 681.  The date of his birth is not known.

314 ~ Pope Miltiades.  He is believed to have been North African.  He became Pope in July 311.  The date of his birth is not known.