January 6

Birthdays:

1970 ~ Julie Chen, American television journalist.

1960 ~ Nigella Lawson, British chef.

1955 ~ Rowan Atkinson, British actor best known for his role in Blackadder.

1950 ~ Louis Freeh, 10^th Director of the American Federal Bureau of Investigation.  He served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush from September 1993 until June 2001.

1946 ~ Syd Barrett (né Roger Keith Barrett, d. July 7, 2006), British singer-songwriter and founding member of Pink Floyd.  He died of pancreatic cancer at age 60.

1944 ~ Bonnie Franklin (d. Mar. 1, 2013), American actress and TV star who embodied the single mom.   She is best known for her role in the television sit-com One Day at a Time.  She died at age 69 of pancreatic cancer.

1944 ~ Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1941 ~ Jean Bethke Elshtain (d. Aug. 11, 2013), American academic who argued for a “just war” in Iraq.  She died of heart failure at age 72.

1940 ~ Oscar Lanford (d. Nov. 16, 2013), American mathematician.  He died at age 73.

1936 ~ Julio María Sanguinetti, President of Uruguay.  He served two terms, first from March 1985 to 1990, and second from 1995 to 2000.

1931 ~ E.L. Doctorow (né Edgar Lawrence Doctorow, d. July 21, 2015), American author who turned history into gold.  He is best known for his novel Ragtime.  He was 84 years old.

1930 ~ Vic Tayback (né Victor Tayback, d. May 25, 1990), American actor best known for his role as Mel on the television sit-com, Alice.  He died of a heart attack at age 60.

1927 ~ Jesse Leonard Steinfeld (d. Aug. 5, 2014), 11^th Surgeon of the United States.  He served under President Richard M. Nixon from December 1969 until June 1973.  He died at age 87.

1926 ~ Mickey Hargitay (né Miklós Hargitay, d. Sept. 14, 2006), Hungarian bodybuilder and husband of Jayne Mansfield.  He was the father of actress Mariska Hargitay.  He died of multiple myeloma at age 80.

1925 ~ John DeLorean (d. Mar. 19, 2005), American engineer and automaker.  He was the founder of the DeLorean Motor Company.  He died at age 80.

1924 ~Kim Dae-jung (d. Aug. 18, 2009), 15^th President of South Korea.  He served in Office from February 1998 through February 2003.  He was the recipient of the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 85.

1916 ~ Eugene T. Maleska (d. Aug. 3, 1993), American crossword puzzle creator and editor.  He died of throat cancer at age 77.

1912 ~ Danny Thomas (né Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz, d. Feb. 6, 1991), American actor.  He was the father of Marlo Thomas.  He died a month after his 79^th birthday.

1908 ~ Menachem Avidom (né Mendel Mlhler-Kalkstein, d. Aug. 5, 1995), Austro-Hungarian-born Israeli composer.  He died in Tel Aviv at age 87.

1883 ~ Khalil Gibran (d. Apr. 10, 1931), Lebanese poet and painter.  He died at age 48.

1882 ~ Sam Rayburn (né Samuel Tailferro Rayburn, d. Nov. 16, 1961), American politician from Texas.  He was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.  He died at age 79.

1880 ~ Tom Mix (né Thomas Hezikiah Mix, d. Oct. 12, 1940), American actor best known for his roles in Westerns as a cowboy.  He was killed in a car accident at age 60.

1878 ~ Carl Sandburg (d. July 22, 1967), American poet.  He died at age 89.

1857 ~ William E. Russell (d. July 16, 1896), 37^th Governor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1891 through January 1894.  He died unexpectedly, probably of heart failure, at age 39.

1811 ~ Charles Sumner (d. Mar. 11, 1874), American politician and United States Senator from Massachusetts.  He was a leader in the anti-slavery movement in Massachusetts.  He died at age 63.

1807 ~ Joseph Petzval (d. Sept. 19, 1891), German-Hungarian mathematician.  He died at age 84.

1793 ~ James Madison Porter (d. Nov. 11, 1862), 18^th United States Secretary of War.  He served under President John Tyler from March 1843 until January 1844.  He died at age 69.

1745 ~ Jacques-Étienne Montigolfier (d. Aug. 2, 1799), co-inventor along with his brother Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (1740 ~ 1810), of the hot air balloon.  He died at age 54; his brother died at age 69.

1654 ~ Jacob Bernoulli (d. Aug. 16, 1705), Swiss mathematician.  Under the Julian calendar, his birthday is cited as being on December 27, 1654.  Under the Gregorian calendar, his birthdate is considered to be January 6, 1655.  He was 50 at the time of his death.

1561 ~ Thomas Fincke (d. Apr. 24, 1656), Danish mathematician and physicist.  He died at age 95.

1412 ~ Joan of Arc (d. May 30, 1431), French military figure and Roman Catholic saint.  She led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years’ War.  She was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake.  She was approximately 19 years old as the exact date of her birth is unknown, although Jan. 6 is commonly accepted as her birthdate.

1367 ~ King Richard II of England (d. Feb. 14, 1400).  He would be overthrown in 1399 and died while imprisoned in London Tower in 1400 at age 33.

Events that Changed the World:

2005 ~ A train collision in Graniteville, South Caroling released about 60 tons of chlorine gas.  Nine people were killed and numerous others were injured.

2005 ~ Edgar Ray Killen (b. 1921) was arrested for the 1964 murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi.  He would ultimately be convicted on three counts of manslaughter and sentenced to 60 years in prison.

2001 ~ Congress certified George W. Bush as the winner of the 2000 presidential election in a contested election with Al Gore.

1994 ~ Nancy Kerrigan (b. 1969) was clubbed in the knee at the US Figure Skating Championships, thereby ruining her chances in the Olympics.

1947 ~ Pan American Airlines became the first commercial airline to schedule flights around the world.

1930 ~ The first diesel-engined automobile trip, from Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City, was completed.

1929 ~ Mother Teresa (1910 ~ 1997) arrived in Calcutta, India and began her charity work among the poor and sick people of India.

1912 ~ New Mexico became the 47^th State of the Union.

1907 ~ Maria Montessori (1870 ~ 1852) opened her first school and daycare center in Rome, Italy.  It was intended for the working class children of the city.

1893 ~ The Washington National Cathedral was chartered by the US Congress.  United States President Benjamin Harrison (1833 ~ 1901) signed the charter.

1853 ~ President-elect Franklin Pierce (1804 ~ 1869) and his family were involved in a train wreck near Andover, Massachusetts.  His 11-year old son Benjamin was killed in the crash.

1540 ~ King Henry VIII (1491 ~ 1547) of England married Anne of Cleves (1515 ~ 1557).

1492 ~ Ferdinand (1452 ~ 1516) and Isabella (1451 ~ 1504), the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, entered Granada and completing the Reconquista.

1322 ~ Stefan Uroš III (1282 ~ 1331) was crowned King of Serbia.

1066 ~ Harold II (né Harold Godwinson, 1022 ~ 1066), the last Anglo-Saxon King of England was crowned.  He reigned for only 10 months before he was killed at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066.

1017 ~ Cnut the Great (995 ~ 1035) was crowned King of England.  He would go on to be crown King of Denmark and King of Norway.

Good-Byes:

2016 ~ Pat Harrington, Jr. (né Daniel Patrick Harrington, Jr., b. Aug. 13, 1929), American actor best known for his role as Schneider on the television sit-com One Day at a Time.  He died at age 86.

2013 ~ Ruth Carter Stevenson (b. Oct. 19, 1923), American art collector and founder of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas.  She died at age 89.

2011 ~ Donald Tyson (b. Apr. 21, 1930), American chicken farmer who built a food empire.  He was the founder of Tyson chicken.  He died at age 80.

2006 ~ Lou Rawls (né Louis Allen Rawls, b. Dec. 1, 1933), American singer.  He died about a month after his 72^nd birthday.

2004 ~ Francesco Scavullo (b. Jan. 16, 1921), American fashion photographer.  He died 10 days before his 83^rd birthday.

1993 ~ Rudolf Nureyev (b. Mar. 17, 1938), Russian-born dancer and choreographer.  He died at age 54.

1993 ~ Dizzy Gillespie (né John Birks Gillespie, b. Oct. 21, 1917), American trumpeter and bandleader.  He died at age 75.

1990 ~ Pavel Alekseyevich Čerenkov (b. July 28, 1904), Russian physicist and recipient of the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of Cherenkov radiation.  He died at age 85.

1981 ~ A.J. Cronin (né Archibald Joseph Cronin, b. July 19, 1896), Scottish physician and novelist.  He wrote the novel, A Song of Sixpence.  He died at age 84.

1944 ~ Ida Tarbell (b. Nov. 5, 1857), American journalist and social activist.  She died at age 86.

1932 ~ Julius Rosenwald (b. Aug. 12, 1862), American businessman and philanthropist.  He was and early president of Sears and Roebuck Company.  He established the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.  In addition, he contributed millions of dollars to support black education and Jewish philanthropies.  There is still a Rosenwald school in New Orleans, Louisiana.  He died at age 69.

1922 ~ Jakob Rosanes (b. Aug. 16, 1842), Austrian mathematician and chess master.  He was born in Bordy, which is now a part of the Ukraine.  He died at age 79.

1919 ~ Theodore Roosevelt (b. Oct. 27, 1858), 26^th President of the United States, and 25^th Vice President of the United States.  He became President following the assassination of William McKinley.  He served as President from September 1901 until March 1909.  He had previously served as the Governor of New York from January 1899 through December 1900.  Roosevelt was also the recipient of the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 60.

1918 ~ Georg Cantor (b. Mar. 3, 1845), German mathematician.  He died at age 72.

1884 ~ Gregor Johann Mendel (b. July 20, 1882), Austrian botanist and monk who theorized on the basic laws of genetics and heredity.  He was born in a region that is now part of the Czech Republic.  He died at age 61.

1882 ~ Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (b. Aug. 1, 1815), American lawyer and author, best known for his novel Two Years Before the Mast.  He died at age 66.

1852 ~ Louis Braille (b. Jan. 4, 1809), French teacher of the blind and inventor of the Braille system of printing and writing for the blind.  An accident at age 3, followed by a serious infection, left him blind.  He died, most likely of tuberculosis, 2 days after his 43^rd birthday.

1840 ~ Frances Burney (b. June 13, 1752), English novelist.  She died at age 87.

1834 ~ Richard Martin (b. Jan. 15, 1754), Irish activist and co-founder of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).  He died 9 days before his 80^th birthday.

1689 ~ Seth Ward (b. 1617), English mathematician and astronomer.  The date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been 71 at the time of his death.

1537 ~ Alessandro de’Medici, Duke of Florence (b. July 22, 1510).  He was assassinated at age 26 by his cousin, Lorenzino de’Medici.