January 24

Birthdays:

2012 ~ Princess Athena of Denmark.

1974 ~ Ed Helms, American actor.

1968 ~ Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast.

1961 ~ Nastassja Kinski, German-born actress.

1949 ~ John Belushi (d. Mar. 5, 1982), American actor and comedian.  He died of a drug overdose at age 33.

1947 ~ Warren Zevon (d. Sept. 7, 2003), American musician.  He died at age 56.

1943 ~ Sharon Tate (d. Aug. 9, 1969), American actress and wife of Roman Polanski.  She was murdered by Charles Manson and his gang.  Killed along with her were Abigail Folger (b. 1943) the coffee heiress, Wojciech Frykowski (b. 1936), a Polish writer, Jay Sebring (b. 1933), and Steven Parent (b. 1951).  At the time of her death, she was pregnant.  She was 26 years old at the time of her murder.

1941 ~ Aaron Neville, American musician.  He is from New Orleans, Louisiana.

1941 ~ Dan Shechtman, Israeli chemist and recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

1939 ~ Ray Stevens (né Harold Ray Ragsdale), American singer-songwriter known for his comic renditions of songs.

1931 ~ Lars Hörmander (d. Nov. 25, 2012), Swedish mathematician.  He died at age 81.

1925 ~ Maria Tallchief (né Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief, d. Apr. 11, 2013), Native American dancer hailed as America’s prima ballerina.  She died at age 88.

1918 ~ Oral Roberts (né Granville Oral Roberts, d. Dec. 15, 2009), American televangelist and founder of Oral Roberts University.  He died of pneumonia at age 91.

1917 ~ Ernest Borgnine (né Ermes Effron Borgnino, d. July 8, 2012), American actor whose tough guy act lasted 60 years.  He died at age 95.

1916 ~ Sam Maloff (d. May 21, 2009), American woodworker and furniture maker.  His family were Lebanese Jewish immigrants.  He died at age 93.

1915 ~ Robert Motherwell (d. July 16, 1991), American painter.  He died at age 76.

1888 ~ Ernst Hienkel (d. Jan. 30, 1888), German aviation engineer.  He died 6 days after his 70^th birthday.

1862 ~ Edith Wharton (née Edith Newbold Jones, d. Aug. 11, 1937), American novelist.  She is best known for her novel, The Age of Innocence, for which she won the 1921 Pulitzer.  She died at age 75.

1779 ~ Tsarina Elizabeth Alexeievna (d. May 16, 1826), German wife of Tsar Alexander I of Russia.

1776 ~ E.T.A. Hofmann (né Ernst Theodor Wilhelm (Amadeus) Hoffmann, d. June 25, 1882), German writer.  He is best known as the author of the novella, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, which became the basis of The Nutcracker.  He was also the subject of Jacques Offenbach’s opera, The Tales of Hoffmann.  He died at age 46.

1746 ~ King Gustav III of Sweden (d. Mar. 29, 1792).  He had been shot in the back 13 days earlier at a masquerade ball at Stockholm’s Royal Opera.  He was succeeded by King Gustav IV Adolf.  He died at age 46.

1712 ~ King Frederick II, also known as Frederick the Great (d. Aug. 17, 1786), Prussian king.  He died at age 74.

76 ~ Hadrian (d. July 10, 138), the date ascribed to the death of the Roman Emperor.  He was buried in Rome next to his wife, Vibia Sabina (83 ~ 137).  He died at age 62.

Events that Changed the World:

2010 ~ The New Orleans Saints won the NFC football championship, thus becoming one of the teams to paly in the Super Bowl in Miami.

2003 ~ The United States Department of Homeland Security officially began operation.  Tom Ridge (b. 1945) was its first head.

1984 ~ The first Apple Macintosh went on sale.

1966 ~ Indira Gandhi (1917 ~ 1984) began her first tem as Prime Minister of India.

1946 ~ The United Nations General Assembly passed its first resolution to establish the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.

1939 ~ A severe earthquake struck Chillán, Chile.  An estimated 28,000 people were killed.

1933 ~ The 20^th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, which changed the beginning and end date of terms for all elected federal offices.

1918 ~ The Gregorian calendar was introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People’s Commissars, effective February 14.

1916 ~ The United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, in which it found the federal income tax was constitutional.

1908 ~ Lord Robert Baden-Powell (1857 ~ 1941) organized the first Boy Scout troop in England.

1848 ~ James Marshall (1810 ~ 1885) discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento, California, which lead to the California gold rush of 1849.

1742 ~ Charles VII Albert (1697 ~ 1745) became the Holy Roman Emperor.

1679 ~ King Charles II (1630 ~ 1685) of England dissolved the Cavalier Parliament.

1328 ~ The marriage of King Edward III (1312 ~ 1377) of England to 12-year-old Philippa of Hainault (1314 ~ 1369) was celebrated.

Good-Byes:

2015 ~ Joe Franklin (né Joseph Fortgang, b. Mar. 9, 1926), American radio and television talk show host who bantered 300,000 guests.  He died at age 88 of prostate cancer.

2010 ~ Pernell Roberts (b. May 18, 1928), American Bonanza actor who hated his signature role.  He died of pancreatic cancer at age 81.

2010 ~ Robert Adam Mosbacher (b. Mar. 11, 1927), 25^th US Secretary of Commerce.  He served under President George H.W. Bush.  He held that position from January 1989 until January 1992.  He died at age 82.

2009 ~ Sandra Kay Yow (b. Mar. 14, 1942), American women’s basketball coach who championed her sport.  She died of breast cancer at age 66.

2006 ~ Christopher Shannon Penn (b. Oct. 10, 1965), American actor.  He died of cardiomyopathy at age 40.

1993 ~ Thurgood Marshall (b. July 2, 1908), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President Lyndon Johnson.  He served on the Court from October 1967 until his retirement in 1991.  He died at age 84.

1989 ~ Ted Bundy (né Theodore Robert Cowell, b. Nov. 24, 1946), American serial killer.  He is believed to have killed over 30 women.  He was born in Burlington, Vermont.  He was executed at age 42.

1988 ~ Werner Fenchel (b. May 3, 1905), German-born Dutch mathematician.  He died at age 82.

1986 ~ L. Ron Hubbard (né Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, b. Mar. 13, 1911), American founder of the Church of Scientology.  He died of a stroke at age 74.

1975 ~ Larry Fine (né Louis Feinberg, b. Oct. 5, 1902), American actor and one of the Three Stooges.  He died of a stroke at age 72.

1971 ~ William Griffith “Bill” Wilson (b. Nov. 26, 1895), American co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.  His organization is often called Friends of Bill W.  He was born in East Dorset, Vermont.  He died at age 75.

1965 ~ Sir Winston Churchill (b. Nov. 30, 1874), British statesman and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II.  He was also the recipient of the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died exactly 70 years after the death of his father, Lord Rudolph Churchill.  Winston was 90 years old at the time of his death.

1962 ~ Stanley Phillip Lord (b. Sept. 13, 1877), captain of the SS Californian the night the Titanic hit an iceberg.  He died at age 84.

1939 ~ Maximilian Bircher-Benner (b. Aug. 22, 1867), Swiss physician and creator of Muesli.  He died at age 71.

1935 ~ John Barton Payne (b. Jan. 26, 1855), 27^th United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President Woodrow Wilson from March 1920 until March 1921.  He died 2 days before his 80^th birthday.

1930 ~ Rebecca Latimer Felton (b. June 10, 1835), American politician.  She was the first woman to serve in the United States Senate, although she only served for one day.  She was a slave owner and a white supremacist from Georgia who often spoke in favor of lynching.  She died at age 94.

1924 ~ Anna Bayerová (b. Nov. 4, 1853), Czech physician.  She died at age 70.

1920 ~ Amedeo Modigliani (b. July 12, 1884), Italian painter and sculptor.  He died of tubercular meningitis at age 35.

1895 ~ Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (b. Feb. 13, 1849), British statesman.  He was the father of Winston Churchill.  Interestingly, Winston died exactly 70 years after the death of his father.  Lord Randolph died 20 days after his 45^th birthday.

1882 ~ Levi Day Boone (b. Dec. 6, 1808), 17^th Mayor of Chicago.  He served as Mayor from 1855 until 1856.  He did at age 73.

1856 ~ Rabbi Rechezkel of Kuzmir (b. 1775), Polish Hasidic leader.

817 ~ Pope Stephen IV (b. 770).  He was Pope from June 816 until his death 7 months later.  The exact date of his birth is not known.

772 ~ Pope Stephen III (b. 720).  He was Pope from August 768 until his death 4 years later.  The exact date of his birth is not known.

41 ~ Caligula (b. Aug. 31, 12), a Roman Emperor known for his cruel despotism.  He was assassinated by his Praetorian Guards, who then proclaimed Claudius, Caligula’s uncle, as Emperor.  Caligula was about 28 years old at the time of his death.