March 29

Birthdays:

1971 ~ Robert Lane Gibbs, 28^th White House Press Secretary.  He served under President Barack Obama from January 2009 until February 2011.

1968 ~ Lucy Lawless (née Lucille Frances Ryan), New Zealand actress.  She is best known for her role as Xena: Warrior Princess.

1964 ~ Elle Macpherson (née Eleanor Nancy Gow), Australian supermodel.

1961 ~ Ari Emanuel (né Ariel Zev Emanuel), American talent agent and brother of Rahm Emanuel.

1961 ~ Amy Louise Sedaris, American actress and comedian.

1957 ~ Christopher Lambert, American-born French actor.

1954 ~ Karen Ann Quinlan (d. June 11, 1985), American right-to-die cause célèbre.  At age 21, she went into a coma after a drug overdose.  For the next decade, she lived in a comatose state while the courts argued over the right to remove the artificial means keeping her alive.  She died at age 31.

1948 ~ Bud Cort (né Walter Edward Cox), American actor best known for his role as Harold in the 1971 movie, Harold and Maude.

1945 ~ Walt Frazier, American basketball player and sportscaster.

1943 ~ Eric Idle, English actor and member of Monty Python.

1943 ~ Sir John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He was Prime Minister from November 1990 until May 1997.

1941 ~ James Drewry Stewart (d. Dec. 3, 2014), Canadian mathematician.  He died of multiple myeloma at age 73.

1941 ~ Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr., American astrophysicist and recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1936 ~ Judith Guest, American author.  She is best known for her novel Ordinary People.

1927 ~ Sir John Robert Vane (d. Nov. 19, 2004), English pharmacologist and recipient of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in deciphering how aspirin works.  He died at age 77 from complications from having fractured his hip and leg 6 months earlier.

1927 ~ Martin Fleischmann (d. Aug. 3, 2012), Czech-born chemist who promised an energy miracle.  He is best known for his work with electrochemistry.  He caused a media sensation when a premature announcement of his cold fusion research could result in a nuclear reaction.  His family was Jewish and ultimately ended up in Great Britain.  He died at age 85.

1927 ~ John Joseph McLaughlin (d. Aug. 16, 2016), American journalist and host of The McLaughlin Group on public television.  He died at age 89.

1918 ~ Pearl Mae Bailey (d. Aug. 17, 1990), African-American singer and actress.  She died at age 72.

1918 ~ Lê Văn Thiêm (d. June 3, 1991), Vietnamese mathematician.  He died at age 83.

1918 ~ Sam Walton (né Samuel Moore Walton, d. Apr. 5, 1992), American retailer and founder of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores.  He died of multiple myeloma about a week after his 74^th birthday.

1916 ~ Gene McCarthy (né Eugene Joseph McCarthy, d. Dec. 10, 2005), American Senator from Minnesota and presidential candidate in the 1968 campaign.  He died at age 89.

1896 ~ Wilhelm Friedrich Ackermann (d. Dec. 24, 1962), German mathematician.  He died at age 66.

1874 ~ Lou Henry Hoover (d. Jan. 7, 1944), First Lady of the United States and wife of President Herbert Hoover.  She served as First Lady from March 1929 until March 1933.  She died of a heart attack at age 69.

1873 ~ Tullio Levi-Civita (d. Dec. 29, 1941), Italian mathematician.  He died at age 68.

1867 ~ Cy Young (né Denton True Young, d. Nov. 4, 1955), baseball pitcher.  He died at age 88.

1859 ~ Oscar Ferdinand Mayer (d. Mar. 11, 1955), Bavarian-born American entrepreneur and founder of the Oscar Mayer, Co., which is known for its hotdogs and cold cuts.  He died 18 days before his 96^th birthday.

1825 ~ Francesco Faà di Bruno (d. Mar. 27, 1888), Italian priest and mathematician.  He died 2 days before his 63^rd birthday.

1819 ~ Isaac Mayer Wise (d. Mar. 26, 1900), Bohemian-born American rabbi and founder of the Reform Movement in the United States.  He died 3 days before his 81^st birthday.

1816 ~ 10^th Dalai Lama (né Tsultrum Gyatso, d. Sept. 30, 1837).  He died at age 21.

1799 ~ Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14^th Earl of Derby (d. Oct. 23, 1869), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister in three separate terms, first from February 1852 until December 1852; then from February 1858 until June 1859; and finally from June 1866 until 1868.  He died at age 70.

1790 ~ John Tyler (b. Jan. 18, 1862), 10^th President of the United States.  John Tyler became the first Vice President to become President following the death of William Henry Harrison, who died within a month of taking office.  He was also the 10^th Vice President, although he served for only a month.  He died at age 71.

1629 ~ Tsar Alexis I of Russia (d. Feb. 8, 1676).  He died at age 46.  These are the dates of his birth and death using the Gregorian calendar.

Events that Changed the World:

2017 ~ The United Kingdom invoked Article 50 of the Constitutional Treaty for the European Union, thus beginning the formal Brexit process.

2004 ~ Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants.

2004 ~ Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia joined NATO as full members.

1974 ~ Local farmers in Xi’an, Shaanxi province in China discovered the Terracotta Army that had been buried with Qin Shi Huang (259 ~ 210 BCE), China’s first Emperor of Qin in the third century BCE.

1973~ The last United States troops left Vietnam.

1971 ~ Lieutenant William Calley (b. 1943) was convicted of premeditated murder for the My Lai massacre and was sentenced to life in prison.  His sentence was ultimately reduced to 20 years.

1962 ~ Arturo Frondizi (1908 ~ 1995), the President of Argentina, was overthrown in a military coup.

1961 ~ The 23^rd Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, granting residents of Washington, D.C., the right to vote in the Presidential elections for the first time.

1951 ~ Julius (1918 ~ 1953) and Ethel (1915 ~ 1953) Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage relating to passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.  They would later both be executed in June 1953.

1886 ~ Dr. John Pemberton (1831 ~ 1888) brewed the first batch of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia.

1871 ~ The Royal Albert Hall was opened by Queen Victoria (1819 ~ 1901).

1847 ~ During the Mexican-American War, United States forces, led by General Winfield Scott (1786 ~ 1866) took Veracruz after a siege.

1809 ~ King Gustav IV Adolf (1778 ~ 1837) of Sweden abdicated after a coup d’état.  At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland’s four Estates pledged allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, thereby beginning the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.

1638 ~ The first European settlement in what is now Delaware, was established by Swedish colonist and named New Sweden.

1500 ~ Cesare Borgia (1475 ~ 1507) was given the title Captain General and Gonfalonier by his father, Rodrigo Borgia, after he returned from his conquests in the Romagna.

1461 ~ Edward of York (1442 ~ 1483) defeated Queen Margaret (1430 ~ 1482) at the Battle of Towton, during the War of the Roses, to become King Edward IV of England.

Good-Byes:

2017 ~ Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov (b. June 25, 1928), Russian physicist and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 88.

2016 ~ Patty Duke (née Anna Marie Duke, b. Dec. 14, 1946), American actress.  She died at age 69.

2005 ~ Johnnie L. Cochran (b. Oct. 2, 1937), American attorney born in Shreveport, Louisiana.  He is best known for his defense of O.J. Simpson during his murder trial.  He died of a brain tumor at age 67.

1991 ~ Lee Atwater (né Harvey LeRoy Atwater, b. Feb. 27, 1951), American politician and political consultant.  He served Presidents Ronald Reagan and George WH Bush.  He died about a month after his 40^th birthday of an aggressive form of brain tumor.

1985 ~ Jeanne-Paule Deckers (b. Oct. 17, 1933), Belgian singer and nun, known as The Singing Nun.  She left the convent and moved in with Annie Pécher (1944 ~ 1985), her companion of 10 years.  On this date in 1985, she and Pécher committed suicide.  She was 51 years old.

1985 ~ Luther Leonidas Terry (b. Sept. 15, 1911), 9^th Surgeon General of the United States.  He served under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.  He is best known for his warnings against the dangers of tobacco usage.  He died of heart failure at 73 years old.

1944 ~ Grace Chisholm Young (b. Mar. 15, 1944), English mathematician.  She studied at Göttingen University in Germany and became the first woman to receive a doctorate in any field in Germany.  She died 14 days after her 76^th birthday.

1912 ~ Sir Robert Falcon Scott (b. June 6, 1868), English explorer and leader of the Scott expedition to the South Pole.  After reaching the South Pole, he and several other members of his expedition died of exhaustion and cold.  He was 43 years old.

1891 ~ Georges-Pierre Seurat (b. Dec. 2, 1859), French post-impressionist painter.  He died at age 31.

1848 ~ John Jacob Astor (né Johann Jakob Astor, b. July 17, 1763), American businessman.  St the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in America.  He died at age 84.

1792 ~ King Gustav III of Sweden (b. Jan. 24, 1846).  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.

1788 ~ Charles Wesley (b. Dec. 18, 1707), English pastor and leader of the Methodist church.  He is mostly known for writing over 6,000 hymns.  He died at age 80.

1058 ~ Pope Stephen IX (né Frederick of Lorraine, b. 1020).  He was Pope from August 1057 until his death 7 months later.  The date of his birth is unknown.

57 CE ~ Guangwu of Han (b. Jan. 13, 5 BCE), Chinese emperor of the Han Dynasty.  He is believed to have died at age 62.

87 BCE ~ Emperor Wu of Han (b. 156 BCE), 7^th Chinese Emperor of the Han Dynasty.  He ruled from March 141 ~ Mar 87 BCE.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  He is believed to have been 69 at the time of his death.