May 11

Birthdays:

1982~ Cory Monteith (né Cory Allan Michael Monteith, d. July 13, 2013), Canadian actor best known for his role as Finn Hudson on Glee.  He died of a drug overdose at age 31.

1963~ Natasha Richardson (née Natasha Jane Richardson, d. Mar. 18, 2009), American actress who suffered a severe head injury following a skiing accident. She was 45 years old.

1958~ Christian Brando (né Christian Devi Brando, d. Jan. 26, 2008), American actor and son of Marlon Brando.  He died of pneumonia at age 49.

1955~ John DeStefano, Jr., Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut.  He served as Mayor from January 1994 until January 2014.

1946~ Robert Jarvik, (né Robert Koffler Jarvik) American scientist and developer of the artificial heart.

1941~ Eric Burdon (né Eric Victor Burdon), British singer-songwriter.  He is best known for being the frontman of The Animals.

1933~ Louis Farrakhan (né Louis Eugene Walcott), American Nation of Islam leader.

1927~ Mort Sahl (né Morton Lyon Sahl), Canadian-born American comedian and actor.

1925~ Edward King (né Edward Joseph King, d. Sept. 18, 2006), 66^thGovernor of Massachusetts.  He served as Governor from January 1969 to January 1983. He died at age 81.

1924~ Ninfa Laurenzo (née Maria Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo, d. June 17, 2001), American restaurateur and founder of Ninfa’s restaurant. She was from Texas.  She died at age 77 of bone cancer.

1924~ Leonard Garment (d. July 13, 2013), White House Counsel.  He served under President Richard Nixon from April 1972 until August 1974.  He died at age 89.

1924~ Eugene Dynkin (d. Nov. 14, 2014), Russian-born mathematician.  He died at age 90 in Ithaca, New York.

1924~ Antony Hewish, British astronomer and recipient of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1918~ Richard Feynman (né Richard Phillips Feynman, d. Feb. 15, 1988), American physicist and recipient of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died of cancer at age 69.

1916~ Camilo José Cela (d. Jan. 17, 2002), Spanish writer and recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 85.

1911~ Phil Silvers (né Philip Silversmith, d. Nov. 1, 1985), American actor and comedian.  He died at age 74.

1906~ Jackie Cochran (née Bessie Lee Pittman, d. Aug. 9, 1980), American aviator and test pilot.  In 1953, she became the first woman to break the sound barrier.  She died at age 74.

1904~ Salvador Dalí (d. Jan. 23, 1989), Spanish surrealist painter.  He died at age 84.

1894~ Martha Graham (b. Apr. 1, 1991), American dancer and choreographer. She was 96 years old.

1891~ Angus MacFarlane-Grieve (d. Aug. 2, 1970), British mathematician.  He died at age 79.

1890~ Woodall Rodgers (né James Woodall Rodgers, d. July 6, 1961), Mayor of Dallas, Texas.  He served from 1939 until 1947.  He died at age 71.

1888~ Irving Berlin (néIsrael Isidore Baline, d. Sept. 22, 1989), Russian-born American songwriter and composer.  He died at age 101.

1881~ Theodore von Kármán (d. May 6, 1963), Hungarian mathematician, physicist and engineer.  He died 5 days before his 82^ndbirthday.

1875~ Harriet Quimby (d. July 1, 1912), American pilot.  She was the first woman to fly across the English Channel.  She was killed in a plane crash at age 37.

1852~ Charles W. Fairbanks (néCharles Warren Fairbanks, d. June 4, 1918), 26^thUnited States Vice-President.  He served under President Theodore Roosevelt from March 1905 until March 1909.  He died of nephritis less than a month after his 66^thbirthday.

1811~ Chang and Eng Bunker (d. Jan. 17, 1874), Thai-American conjoined twins.  Because they were from Thailand, then called Siam, co-joined twins became known as Siamese Twins.  Each brother married and collectively they had a total of 21 children.  They were 62 at the time of their death.

1720~ Baron Münchhausen (d. 1797), fictional German military officer created by writer Erich Raspe.  He is said to have told a number of far-fetched stories about his travel adventures, hence the disease known as Münchhausen Syndrome is named after him.

1366~ Anne of Bohemia (d. June 7, 1394), Queen of England.  She was the first wife of King Richard II. They were married for 12 years before she died of the plague less than a month after her 28^thbirthday.  The couple had no children.

482~ Justinian I (d. Nov. 14, 565), Byzantine Emperor.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been 83 years old at the time of his death.

Events that Changed the World:

2011~ A 5.1 magnitude struck in Lorca, Spain.

2010~ David Cameron (b. 1966) became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1996~ Eight people died while trying to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.  This event was depicted in Jon Krakauer’s book, Into Thin Air.

1996~ Shortly after take-off from Miami, Florida, ValuJet Flight 592 caught fire caused by improperly handled chemical oxygen generators in the cargo hold.  The crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 passengers and crew aboard.  Candalyn Chamberlain Kubeck (1961 ~ 1996) was the captain of the flight.  She died one day after her 35^thbirthday.  She was the first female commercial pilot to die in a plane crash.

1987~ Klaus Barbie (1913 ~ 1991) went to trial Lyon, France for Nazi war crimes he committed during World War II.  He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.  He died four years later in 1991.

1970~ A massive tornado struck Lubbock, Texas, killing 26 people.

1960~ In Buenos Aries, Argentina, four Israeli Mossad agents captured Nazi Adolf Eichmann (1906 ~ 1962), who had been living in a modest home with his family under the alias of Ricardo Klement.

1953~ During the 1953 Waco tornado outbreak, a massive tornado hit downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114 people.

1949~ Siam officially changed its name to Thailand.

1949~ Israel joined the United Nations.

1927~ The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded.

1910~ The Glacier National Park in Montana became official through an Act of Congress.

1894~ Over 4,000 Pullman Palace Car Company workers went on a wildcat strike against the Pullman Company.

1867~ Luxembourg gained its independence from Belgium.

1858~ Minnesota became the 32^ndState of the Union.

1846~ President James Polk (1795 ~ 1849) initiated the Mexican-American War after receiving a Declaration of War from Congress.

1647~ Peter Stuyvesant (1612 ~ 1672) arrived in New Amsterdam, now known as New York City, to replace Willem Kieft (1597 ~ 1647) as the Director-General of the Dutch colonial settlement.

1502~ Christopher Columbus (1451 ~ 1506) left on his fourth and final voyage to the West Indies.

912~ Alexander III (870 ~ 913) is said to have become the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire in this date.

Good-Byes:

2014~ Jeb Stuart Magruder (b. Nov. 5, 1934), American politician turned Presbyterian minister.  He was involved in the Watergate scandal and spent several years in prison.  After getting out of jail, he became a religious leader.  He died of complications of a stroke at age 79.

2013~ Joseph Farman (né Joseph Charles Farman, b. Aug. 7, 1930), British scientist who discovered the ozone hole over the Antarctic.  He died at age 82.

2006~ Floyd Patterson (b. Jan. 4, 1935), American heavyweight boxing champion.  He died at age 71.

2001~ Douglas Adams (néDouglas Noel Adams, b. Mar. 11, 1952), English author best known for his novel,The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He died of a heart attack at age 49.

1996~ Candalyn Chamberlain Kubeck (b. May 10, 1961), American commercial airline pilot.  She was the captain of ValuJet Flight 592 when it crashed into the Florida Everglades shortly after take-off.  She was the first female commercial pilot to die in a plane crash.  She died 1 day after her 35^thbirthday. 

1996~ Rob Hall (néRobert Edwin Hall, b. Jan. 14, 1961), New Zealander mountaineer who led many expeditions up Mt. Everest.  He died on one such expedition, which was recounted in Jon Krakauer’s book, Into Thin Air.  He was also the subject of the 2015 movie Everest.  He died at age 35.

1996~ Scott Fischer (b. Dec. 24, 1955), American mountaineer and guide.  He was best known for his ascents of the world’s highest mountains.  In 1996, he was leading a group of hikers up Mt. Everest when a sudden blizzard arose. He did not survive the storm.  He was the subject of the book, Into Thin Air: Death on Everest.  He was 40 at the time of his death.

1988~ Kim Philby (né Harold Adrian Russell Philby, b. Jan. 1, 1912), British spy and Soviet double agent.  He died in Moscow at age 76.

1985~ Chester Gould (b. Nov. 20, 1900), American cartoonist and creator of Dick Tracy.  He died at age 84.

1981~ Bob Marley (né Robert Nasta Marley, b. Feb. 6, 1945), Jamaican singer and musician.  He died of cancer at age 36.

1981~ Odd Hassel (b. May 17, 1897), Norwegian chemist and recipient of the 1969 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died 6 days before his 84^thbirthday.

1963~ Herbert Spencer Gasser (b. July 5, 1888), American physiologist and recipient of the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 74.

1960~ John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (né John Davison Rockefeller, Jr., b. Jan. 29, 1874), American entrepreneur and philanthropist.  He died at age 86.

1927~ Juan Gris (né José Victoriano González-Pérez, b. Mar. 23, 1887), Spanish painter and sculptor.  He died of renal failure at age 40.

1889~ John Cadbury (b. Aug. 12, 1801), English businessman and founder of the Cadbury Chocolate company.  He died at age 87.

1871~ Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1^stBaronet (b. Mar. 7, 1792), English mathematician and astronomer.  He died at age 79.

1849~ Juliette Récamier (b. Dec. 4, 1777), French businesswoman.  The chaise lounge, or réclamier is named after her. She died at age 71.

1812~ Spencer Perceval (b. Nov. 1, 1762), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister during the reign of King George III.  He was the first, and to date, the only, Prime Minister to have been assassinated while in office.  He was killed by a disgruntled citizen.  He was 49 years old at the time of his death.

1778~ William Pitt, 1^stEarl of Chatham (b. Nov. 15, 1708), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He was known William Pitt, the Elder, as his son of the same name was later Prime Minister of Great Britain.  He served in office during the reign of King George II, from July 1766 until October 1768.  He died at age 69.

1610~ Matteo Ricci (b. Oct. 6, 1552), Italian priest and mathematician. He died at age 57.

1572~ Moses Isserles (b. Feb. 22, 1530), Polish rabbi and Talmudist.  He died at age 52.

912~ Leo VI the Wise (b. Sept. 19, 866), Byzantine Emperor.  He died at age 45.