January 26

Birthdays:

2008 ~ Paul the Octopus (d. Oct. 26, 2010), English octopus that had an uncanny ability to predict the winner for the Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup soccer games.  The octopus was 2 years old.

1961 ~ Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player.

1958 ~ Ellen DeGeneres, American actress, comedian and talk-show hostess.

1955 ~ Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American musician.

1950 ~ Jörg Haider (d. Oct. 11, 2008), Austrian politician who led the far right.  He opposed efforts to unify Europe and often praised Hitler.  He was killed in a car accident at age 58.

1949 ~ David Strathairn, American actor.

1946 ~ Gene Siskel (né Eugene Kal Siskel, d. Feb. 20, 1999), American film critic, who with Roger Ebert, had a long-running television show critiquing movies.  He died of a brain tumor 25 days after his 53^rd birthday.

1944 ~ Angela Davis, American feminist and activist.

1944 ~ Jerry Sandusky, former Penn State football coach and convicted child-sex offender.  His actions caused the downfall of the Penn State football team.  He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

1929 ~ Jules Ralph Feiffer, American cartoonist and writer.

1928 ~ Roger Vadim (né Roger Vadim Plemiannikov, d. Feb. 11, 2000), French actor and director.  He was married 5 times to several women including Brigitte Bardot and Jane Fonda.  He died of cancer 16 days after his 72^nd birthday.

1925 ~ Paul Newman (d. Sept. 26, 2008), American irresistible star who made rogues lovable.  He died of lung cancer at age 83.

1924 ~ Annette Strauss (d. Dec. 14, 1998), American philanthropist and mayor of Dallas, Texas.  She was the second female mayor and the second Jewish mayor of the city.  She died at age 74.

1918 ~ Nicolae Ceauşescu (d. Dec. 25, 1989), 11^th Romanian president and husband of Elena Ceauşescu (1916 ~1989).  He was executed for crimes against humanity after a brief summary trial.  He was executed a month before his 72^nd birthday.

1917 ~ William Verity, Jr. (d. Jan. 3, 2007), 27^th United States Secretary of Commerce.  He served in the Ronald Reagan administration from October 1987 until January 1989.  He died 23 days before his 90^th birthday.

1917 ~ Louis Silvie Zamperini (d. July 2, 2014), American Olympian who survived Japan’s brutal POW camps during World War II.  He was a long distance racer in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  He died at age 97.

1911 ~ Polykarp Kusch (d. Mar. 20, 1993), German-born American physicist and recipient of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 82.

1905 ~ Maria von Trapp (d. Mar. 28, 1987), Austrian-born singer and subject of the movie, The Sound of Music.  She was the stepmother and matriarch of the Von Trapp Family.  She died at 82.

1904 ~ Seán MacBride (d. Jan. 15, 1988), Irish politician and recipient of the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died 11 days before his 84^th birthday.

1892 ~ Bessie Coleman (née Elizabeth Coleman, d. Apr. 30, 1926), African-American civil aviator.  She was the first African-American woman pilot and the first African-American to hold an international pilot license.  She was killed at age 34 in a plane crash.

1891 ~ Wilder Graves Penfield (d. Apr. 5, 1976), Canadian-American neurosurgeon.  He is best known for treatment of epilepsy by surgery.  He died at age 85.

1880 ~ Douglas MacArthur (d. Apr. 5, 1964), American 5 Star General.  He served during World War II.  He died at age 84.

1857 ~ 12^th Dalai Lama (né Trinley Gyatso, d. Apr. 25, 1875).  He died of a mysterious illness at age 18.

1855 ~ John Barton Payne (d. Jan. 24, 1935), 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.

1838 ~ Yisrael Meir Kagan (d. Sept. 15, 1933), Lithuanian rabbi.  He died at age 94.

1833 ~ Cornelius Newton Bliss (d. Oct. 9, 1911), 21st United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President William McKinley from March 1897 until February 1899.  He died at age 78.

1832 ~ George Shiras, Jr. (d. Aug. 2, 1924), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President Benjamin Harrison.  He served on the Court from July 1892 until February 1903.  He died at age 92.

1826 ~ Julia Dent Grant (d. Dec. 14, 1902), First Lady and wife of President Ulysses S. Grant.  She died at age 76.

1763 ~ Charles XIV John of Sweden (d. Mar. 8, 1844).  He died at age 81.

Events that Changed the World:

2001 ~ A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck in Western India, killing up to 20,000 people and injuring numerous others.

1998 ~ President Bill Clinton (b. 1946) publically denied having relations with his former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky (b. 1973).

1980 ~ Egypt and Israel established diplomatic relations.

1965 ~ Hindi became the official language of India.

1924 ~ Five days after Lenin’s death, St. Petersburg, Russia was renamed Leningrad.  It remained Leningrad until 1991, when the name was changed back to St. Petersburg.

1915 ~ United States Congress established the Rocky Mountain National Park.

1905 ~ The Cullinan diamond, the world’s largest diamond, was found near Pretoria, South Africa.  The diamond weighed 3,106.75 carats.

1870 ~ Virginia rejoined the United States in post-Civil War America.

1863 ~ Union General Ambrose Burnside (1824 ~ 1881) was relieved of his command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign.  General Joseph Hooker (1814 ~ 1879) was his replacement.

1861 ~ Louisiana seceded from the Union during the American Civil War period.

1841 ~ The United Kingdom formally occupied Hong Kong.  China later formally ceded Hong Kong to the United Kingdom.

1838 ~ Tennessee enacted the first prohibition laws in the United States.

1837 ~ Michigan became the 26^th State of the Union.

1788 ~ The British First Fleet, led by Captain Arthur Phillip (1738 ~ 1814), sailed in to what is now known as Sydney Harbor and founded the settlement that became Sydney, Australia.  Sydney became the first permanent European settlement on the continent of Australia.

1736 ~ Stanislaus I of Poland (1677 ~ 1766) abdicated the throne for the third and final time.

1700 ~ The Cascadia earthquake in northwest coast of the North America occurred, and was documented by tsunamis that occurred in Japan.

1564 ~ The Council of Trent issued its conclusion marking the distinctions between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

1531 ~ Thousand of people were killed by a massive earthquake that hit Lisbon, Portugal.

1500 ~ Vincent Yáñez Pinzón (1462 ~ 1514) and his group became the first Europeans to reach the land that is now known at Brazil.

Good-Byes:

2017 ~ Mike Connors (né Kreker Ohanian, b. Aug. 15, 1925), American actor best known for his role as Joe Mannix on the detective television show Mannix.  He died of leukemia at age 91.

2017 ~ Barbara Hale (b. Apr. 18, 1922), American actress best known for her role as Della Street on the TV show, Perry Mason.  She was 94 years old.

2016 ~ Abe Vigoda (né Abraham Charles Vigoda, b. Feb. 24, 1921), American actor.  He died about a month before his 95^th birthday.

2011 ~ Gladys Horton (b. May 30, 1945), American singer who was the Motown star who made the song Please, Mr. Postman famous.  She died at age 65.

2010 ~ Louis Auschincloss (b. Sept. 27, 1917), American novelist.  He died at age 92.

2008 ~ Christian Brando (b. May 11, 1958), American actor and son of Marlon Brando.  He died of pneumonia at age 49.

1998 ~ Shinichi Suzuki (b. Oct. 17, 1898), Japanese violinist and creator of the Suzuki method for teaching violin to young children.  He died at age 99.

1992 ~ José Ferrer (né José Vincente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón, b. Jan. 8, 1912), Puerto Rican actor and the first Hispanic actor to win an Oscar for his performance in the title role of the film Cyrano de Bergerac.  He died 18 days after his 80^th birthday.

1985 ~ Sol Leschinsky (né Solomon Aaron Leschinsky, b. Mar. 27, 1908), Canadian-born mathematician and inventor.  He died at age 76.

1983 ~ Bear Bryant (né Paul William Bryant, b. Sept. 11, 1913), American college football coach for the University of Alabama.  He died at age 69.

1979 ~ Nelson A. Rockefeller (b. July 8, 1908), 41^st Vice President of the United States.  He served under President Gerald Ford.  He also served as the 49^th Governor of New York State from January 1959 until December 1973.  He was the grandson of John D. Rockefeller, whose birthday was also July 8.  He was born in Bar Harbor, Maine.  He died at age 70.

1973 ~ Edward G. Robinson (né Emanuel Goldenberg, b. Dec. 12, 1893), American actor.  He was born in Bucharest, Romania.  He died at age 79.

1962 ~ Lucky Luciano (né Salvadore Lucania, b. Nov. 24, 1897), Italian-American mobster.  He was also known as Charles Luciano.  He died of a heart attack at age 64.

1942 ~ Felix Hausdorff (b. Nov. 8, 1868), German mathematician.  He died at age 73.

1932 ~ William Wrigley, Jr. (b. Sept. 30, 1861), American chewing gum industrialist and founder of the Wrigley Company.  He was also the owner of the Chicago Cubs, hence the name of the Cubs home field, Wrigley’s field.  He died at age 70.

1899 ~ Augustus Garland (b. June 11, 1832), 38^th US Attorney General.  He served in that office from March 1885 until March 1889 under President Grover Cleveland.  He died at age 66.

1895 ~ Arthur Cayley (b. Aug. 16, 1821), British mathematician.  He died at age 73.

1893 ~ Abner Doubleday (b. June 26, 1819), American general  He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter at the beginning of the American Civil War.  Although often credited with the invention of baseball, this is likely not true.  He died in Mendham, New Jersey at age 73.

1891 ~ Nikolaus Otto (b. June 10, 1832), German inventor and engineer.  He invented the Internal combustion engine.  He died at age 58.

1885 ~ Edward Davy (b. June 16, 1806), English physician and inventor.   He died at age 78.

1879 ~ Julia Margaret Cameron (b. June 11, 1815), English photographer.  She was born in Calcutta, British India.  She died at age 63.

1823 ~ Edward Jenner (b. May 17, 1749), British physician and pioneer of smallpox vaccinations.  He died at age 73.

1697 ~ Georg Mohr (b. Apr. 1, 1640), Danish mathematician.  He died at age 56.

1630 ~ Henry Briggs (b. Feb. 1, 1561), British mathematician.  He is best known for his work in logarithms in base 10.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been born on February 1, 1561.  He is believed to have died 5 days before his 69^th birthday.