March 20

Birthdays:

1976 ~ Chester Charles Bennington (d. July 20, 2017), American rock singer who struggled with is demons.  He was the frontman for the band Linkin Park.  He committed suicide at age 41.

1959 ~ Mary Roach, American author.  She was born in Etna, New Hampshire.

1958 ~ Holly Hunter, American actress.

1957 ~ Spike Lee (né Shelton Jackson Lee), American film director.

1950 ~ William McChord Hurt, American actor.

1948 ~ Bobby Orr (né Robert Gordon Orr), Canadian ice hockey player.

1945 ~ Pat Riley (né Patrick James Riley), American basketball player and coach.

1940 ~ Mary Ellen Mark (d. May 25, 2015), American photojournalist who documented outcasts.  She was 75 years old.

1938 ~ Sergei Novikov, Russian mathematician.  He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1970.

1934 ~ Willie Lewis Brown, Jr., 41^st Mayor of San Francisco.  He served as Mayor from January 1996 until January 2004.

1931 ~ Hal Linden (né Harold Lipshitz), American actor.

1928 ~ Fred Rogers (né Fred McFeely Rogers, d. Feb. 27, 2003), American minister and host to a children’s educational TV show.  He died of stomach cancer less than a month before his 75^th birthday.

1926 ~ Harold Rosen (d. Jan. 30, 2017), American satellite pioneer who got the world talking.  He was known as the Father of the Communication Satellite.  He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.  He died at age 90 of complications of a stroke.

1925 ~ John Ehrlichman (d. Feb. 14, 1999), key figure in the events leading to the Watergate scandal that brought down the Nixon administration.  He was also the 12^th White House Counsel and served during the Nixon Administration.  He died of complications from diabetes at age 73.

1922 ~ Carl Reiner, American film director and comedian.

1921 ~ Alfréd Rényi (d. Feb. 1, 1970), Hungarian mathematician.  He died at age 48.

1917 ~ Yigael Yadin (d. June 28, 1984), Israeli archeologist, general and politician.  He died at age 67.

1911 ~ Alfonso García Robles (d. Sept. 2, 1991), Mexican diplomat and recipient of the 1982 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 80.

1908 ~ Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave (d. Mar. 21, 1985), English actor.  He died of Parkinson’s disease 1 day after his 77^th birthday.

1906 ~ Ozzie Nelson (né Oswald George Nelson, d. June 3, 1975), American bandleader and actor.  He died of liver cancer at age 69.

1906 ~ Abe Beame (né Abraham David Beame, d. Feb. 10, 2001), 104^th Mayor of New York City.  He served as Mayor from January 1974 through December 1977.  He died at age 94.

1904 ~ B.F. Skinner (né Burrhus Frederick Skinner, d. Aug. 18, 1990), American psychologist.  He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts at age 86.

1886 ~ Grace Brown (d. July 11, 1906), American murder victim who inspired Theodore Dreiser’s novel, An American Tragedy.  She died at age 20.

1884 ~ René Coty (né Jules Gustave René Coty, d. Nov. 22, 1962), 2^nd and last President of Fourth French Republic.  He served as President from January 1954 until January 1959.  He died at age 78.

1884 ~ Philipp Frank (d. July 21, 1966), Austrian-American physicist and mathematician.  He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts at age 82.

1879 ~ Maud Menten (d. July 26, 1960), Canadian physician and biochemist.  She made significant contributions to the study of enzyme kinetics and histochemistry.  She died at age 81.

1840 ~ Franz Mertens (d. Mar. 5, 1927), Polish mathematician.  He died 15 days before his 87^th birthday.

1834 ~ Charles William Eliot (d. Aug. 22, 1926), American mathematician.  He was the 21^st President of Harvard University.  He died in Northeast Harbor, Maine at age 92.

1828 ~ Henrik Ibsen (d. May 23, 1906), Norwegian playwright and poet.  He died at age 78.

1612 ~ Anne Bradstreet (d. Sept. 16, 1672), Puritan American poet.  She died in what is now North Andover, Massachusetts, at age 60.

43 BCE ~ Ovid (d. 17), Roman poet.  This is the traditional date ascribed to his birth.  He is believed to have been about 58 or 60 at the time of his death.

Events that Changed the World:

2015 ~ A Solar eclipse, equinox and a Supermoon all occurred on this date.

2003 ~ The United States began its military invasion of Iraq.

1995 ~ A religious cult launched a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, killing 12 and sickening thousands.

1987 ~ The United States Food and Drug Administration approved use of AZT, and anti-AIDS drug.

1985 ~ Libby Riddles (b. 1956) became the first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

1956 ~ Tunisia gained its independence from France.

1952 ~ The United States Senate ratified a peace treaty with Japan following World War II.

1915 ~ Albert Einstein (1879 ~ 1955) published his general theory of relativity.

1861 ~ An earthquake destroyed Mendoza, Argentina.

1854 ~ The Republican Party in the United States was organized in Ripon, Wisconsin.

1852 ~ Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 ~ 1896), was published.

1760 ~ The Great Fire of Boston, Massachusetts destroyed 349 buildings.

1616 ~ Sir Walter Raleigh (1552 ~ 1618) was released from the Tower of London after being imprisoned for 13 years.

1602 ~ The Dutch East India Company was established.

1413 ~ Henry V (1387 ~ 1422) became King of England.

Good-Byes:

2012 ~ Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg (b. Oct. 1, 1910), Polish-born Israeli rabbi and scholar.  He died at age 101.

2010 ~ Stewart Lee Udall (b. Jan. 31, 1920), 37^th United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from January 1961 until January 1969.  He died at age 90.

2004 ~ Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (b. Apr. 30, 1909).  She reigned as Queen until she abdicated the throne in favor or her daughter, Wilhelmina, in April 1980.  She died at age 94.

1997 ~ Sir V.S. Pritchett (né Victor Sawson Prichett, b. Dec. 16, 1900), British writer and critic.  He died of a stroke at age 96.

1994 ~ Lewis McDonald Grizzard, Jr. (b. Oct. 20, 1946), American humorist.  He died at age 47 of complications following heart surgery.

1993 ~ Polykarp Kusch (b. Jan. 26, 1911), German-born American physicist and recipient of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 82.

1983 ~ Ivan Matveyevich Vinogradov (b. Sept. 14, 1891), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 91.

1974 ~ Chet Huntley (né Chester Robert Huntley, b. Dec. 10, 1911), American television journalist.  He died of lung cancer at age 62.

1619 ~ Mathias, Holy Roman Emperor (b. Feb. 24, 1557).  He died 24 days after his 62^nd birthday.

1617 ~ François d’Aguilon (b. Jan. 4, 1567), Belgian Jesuit priest and mathematician.  He died at age 50.

1413 ~ King Henry IV of England (b. Apr. 15, 1367).  He was king from September 1399 until his death on this date 13 years later.  He died less than a month before 46^th birthday.

1190 ~ Pope Clement III (né Paulino Scolari, b. 1130).  He was Pope from December 1187 until his death on this date just over 2 years later.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.