May 22

Birthdays:

1979~ Maggie Q (née Margaret Denise Quigley), American actress.

1978~ Gennifer Goodwin (née Jennifer Michelle Goodwin), American actress best know for her role as Mary Margaret in the television drama Once Upon a Time.

1970~ Naomi Campbell (née Naomi Elaine Campbell), British fashion model.

1965~ Jay Carney (né James Carney), White House Press Secretary.  He served under President Barack Obama from February 2011 until June 2014.

1954~ Shuji Nakamura, Japanese-American physicist and recipient of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1943~ Betty Williams, Irish activist and recipient of the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize.

1942~ Peter J. Gomes (né Peter John Gomes, Peter John Gomes, d. Feb. 28, 2011), African-American gifted preacher who spoke out for tolerance.  He was from Massachusetts.  He died at age 68.

1942~ Ted Kaczynski (né Theodore John Kaczynski), American mathematician and domestic terrorist.  He abandoned his mathematical academic career and turned anarchist and was known as the Unabomber.  His bombs killed 3 people and injured several others.  In April 1993, he was captured by the FBI.  He plead guilty and is serving a life sentence in prison.

1939~ Paul Winfield (né Paul Edward Winfield, d. Mar. 7, 2004), African American actor.  He died of a heart attack at age 64.

1938~ Richard Benjamin (né Richard Samuel Benjamin), American actor.

1934~ Peter Nero (né Bernard Nierow), American conductor and pianist.

1933~ Chen Jingrun (d. Mar. 19, 1996), Chinese mathematician.  He made significant contributions to number theory.  He died at age 62.

1930~ Harvey Milk (d. Nov. 27, 1978), American politician and gay rights activist.  He was assassinated in San Francisco.  He was 48 at the time of his death.

1928~ T. Boone Pickens (né Thomas Boone Pickens, Jr.), American businessman.

1927~ Peter Matthiessen (d. Apr. 5, 2014), American author who roamed the wild.  He died of leukemia at age 86.

1927~ George Andrew Olah (né Oláh György, d. Mar. 8, 2017), Hungarian chemist and recipient of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 89.

1927~ Michael Constantine (néGus Efstratiou), American actor.

1914~ Lipman Bers (d. Oct. 29, 1993), American mathematician.  He died at age 79.

1914~ Vance Parkard (né Vance Oakley Packard, d. Dec. 12, 1996), American journalist, author and social critic.  He died at age 82.

1912~ Herbert C. Brown (né Herbert Charles Brown, d. Dec. 19, 2004), English chemist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 92.

1907~ Sir Laurence Olivier, Baron Olivier (né Laurence Kerr Olivier, d. July 11, 1989), English actor.  He died at age 82.

1905~ Bodo von Borries (d. July 17, 1956), German physicist and co-inventor of the electron microscope.  He died suddenly at age 51.

1901~ Maurice Tobin (né Maurice Joseph Tobin, d. July 19, 1953), 6^th United States Secretary of Labor.  He served under President Harry S. Truman.  He served in that position from August 1948 until January 1953.  He had previously served as the 56^th Governor of Massachusetts from January 1945 until January 1947.  The Mystic River Bridge, now known as the Tobin Bridge, was renamed in his honor.  He died of a heart attack at age 52.

1859~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (né Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, d. July 7, 1930), Scottish physician and writer.  He was the creator of Sherlock Holmes.  He died at age 71.

1848~ Hermann Schubert (né Hermann Cäsar Hannibal Schubert, d. July 20, 1911), German mathematician.  He died at age 63.

1844~ Mary Cassatt (née Mary Stevenson Cassatt, d. June 14, 1926), American painter.  She died about 3 weeks after her 82^nd birthday.

1813~ Richard Wagner (néWilhelm Richard Wagner, d. Feb. 13, 1883), German composer best known for his series of operas, The Ring Cycle.  He died of a heart attack at age 69.

1783~ William Sturgeon (d. Dec. 4, 1850), English physicist and inventor of the electric motor.  He died at age 67.

Events that Changed the World:

2017~ A suicide bomber killed at least 22 people following an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. Over 50 other individuals were also wounded.

2012~ The Tokyo, Japan SkyTree opened to the public.  At 634 meters, was one of the tallest towers in the world.

2002~ A Birmingham, Alabama jury convicted former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry (1930 ~ 2004) of the 1963 murder of four young girls in the bombing of the 16^thStreet Baptist Church.

2002~ The remains of Chandra Levy (1977 ~ 2001), were found in a park in Washington, D.C., about a year after her disappearance.  She had been involved with a married Congressman, who had initially been implicated with her disappearance and murder.  Several years later, a homeless man was arrested and convicted of the murder.

1992~ Johnny Carson (1925 ~ 2005) hosted his last episode of The Tonight Showafter almost 30 years.

1992~ Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia joined the United Nations.

1980~ The arcade game, Pac-Man, was released by Namco.

1962~ Continental Airlines Flight 11, en route from Chicago, Illinois to Kansas City, Missouri, crashed in a clover field after a bomb exploded aboard, killing all 45 crew and passengers.  An investigation determined that the cause was a suicide bombing committed as an insurance fraud by a passenger.

1960~ A 9.5 magnitude earthquake, called the Great Chilean Earthquake, hit southern Chile.  To date it is the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded.

1927~ A massive 8.3 magnitude earthquake struck near Xining, China.  Over 200,000 people were killed. 

1915~ The volcanic Lassen Peak in northern California erupted.

1906~ The Wright brothers were granted a patent for their “Flying Machine.”

1900~ The Associated Press was established as a non-profit news cooperation.

1872~ President Ulysses S. Grant (1822 ~ 1885) signed the Amnesty Act of 1872 into law, thereby restoring full civil rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.

1864~ After 2 and a half months, the Union Army’s Red River Campaign ended in failure.

1863~ During the American Civil War, Union troops began the Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana.  It lasted 48 days, and is the longest siege in United States military history.

1856~ South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks (1819 ~ 1857) beat Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner (1811 ~ 1874) with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate because Sumner had made a speech attacking Southerners who sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Kansas.

1849~ Abraham Lincoln (1809 ~ 1865) was issued a patent for his invention that allowed boats to be lifted over obstacles in a river.  He is the only United States President to date to hold a patent.

1819~ The SS Savannahleft port in Savannah, Georgia to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

1807~ Former U.S. Vice President, Aaron Burr (1756 ~ 1836) was indicted by a grand jury on charges of treason.

1762~ The Trevi Fountain in Rome was officially completed.  Pope Clemens XIII inaugurated the fountain.

1455~ At the First Battle of St. Albans, during the War of the Roses, Richard, Duke of York (1411 ~ 1460), defeated and captured King Henry VI of England (1421 ~ 1471).

1370~ In the Brussels massacre, several Jews were murdered and the rest of the Jewish community was banished from Brussels.

Good-Byes:

2015~ Marques Haynes (b. Mar. 10, 1926), American professional basketball player and Harlem Globetrotter who dazzled with his dribbling.  He was 89 years old.

2010~ Martin Gardner (b. Oct. 21, 1914), American author, mathematician and puzzlemeister.  For 25 years he authored a column in Scientific American.  He died at age 95.

1998~ John Derek (né Derek Delevans Harris, b. Aug. 12, 1926), American actor, director and photographer. He was married several times.  His last wife was actress Bo Derek.  He died at age 71 of cardiovascular disease.

1998~ José Enrique Moyal (b. Oct. 1, 1910), Israeli-Australian mathematical physicist and engineer.  He died at age 87.

1997~ Alfred Hershey (né Alfred Day Hershey, b. Dec. 4, 1908), American biochemist and recipient of the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 88.

1983~ Albert Claude (b. Aug. 24, 1899), Belgian biologist and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 83.

1974~ Irmgard Flügge-Lotz (b. July 16, 1903), German mathematician.  She is best known for her work in aerodynamics.  She died at age 70

1967~ Langston Hughes (né James Mercer Langston Hughes, b. Feb. 1, 1902), American poet.  He died at age 65 following complications of surgery.

1967~ Josip Plemelj (b. Dec. 11, 1873), Slovenian mathematician.  He died at age 93.

1949~ James Forrestal (né James Vincent Forrestal, b. Feb. 15, 1892), 1^st United States Secretary of Defense.  He served under President Harry S Truman from September 1947 until March 1949.  He was also the last cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy, from May 1944 until September 1947.  He died at age 57 from a fall, which may have been a suicide.

1898~ Edward Bellamy (b. Mar. 26, 1850), American author, socialist and utopian visionary.  He is best known for his novel Looking Backwards.  He was from Chicopee, Massachusetts.  He died at age 48 of tuberculosis.

1885~ Victor Hugo (né Victor Marie Hugo, b. Feb. 26, 1802), French novelist best known for his novels Les Misérablesand The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He died at age 83.

1868~ Julius Plücker (b. June 16, 1801), German mathematician.  He died 24 days before his 67^th birthday.

1851~ Mordecai Manuel Noah (b. July 14, 1785), Jewish-American writer, playwright, and journalist.  He died at age 65.

1802~ Martha Washington (néeMartha Dandridge, b. June 13, 1731), 1^st American First Lady and wife of President George Washington.  The Julian calendar notes her birthday as occurring on June 2, 1731.  She died about 3 weeks before her 71^st birthday.

1760~ Israel ben Eliezer (b. 1700), Polish rabbi.  He was also known as the Baal Shem Tov.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to be about 60 at the time of his death.

1667~ Pope Alexander VII (né Fabio Chigi, b. Feb. 13, 1599).  He was Pope from April 1655 until his death 12 years later.  He died at age 68.

1666~ Gaspar Schott (b. Feb. 5, 1608), German mathematician and Jesuit priest. He died at age 66.

1067~ Constantine X (b. 1006), Byzantine Emperor.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been 61 years old at the time of his death.

337~ Constantine the Great (b. Feb. 27, 272), Roman emperor.  Tradition holds that he was born on February 27.  He is believed to have died at age 65.