October 2

Birthdays:

1970~ Kelly Ripa (née Kelly Maria Ripa), American talk show host.

1958~ Wayne Toups, Cajun musician and accordionist.  He was born in Crowley, Louisiana.

1951~ Sting (né Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner), British singer and frontman for the band The Police.

1949~ Annie Leibovitz (née Anna-Lou Leibovitz), creator of iconic photographs of celebrities.

1948~ Donna Karan (née Donna Ivy Faske), American fashion designer and founder of DKNY.

1945~ Don McLean (né Donald McLean, III), American musician.

1942~ Stephen Sabol (né Stephan Douglas Sabol, d. Sept. 18, 2012), American filmmaker who exalted football.  He was the president, and one of the founders of, NFL Films.  He died about 2 weeks before his 70^th birthday.

1938~ Rex Reed (né Rex Taylor Reed), American movie critic.  He graduated from the Louisiana State University.

1937~ Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. (d. Mar. 29, 2005), 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.

1933~ Sir John Gurdon (né John Bertrand Gurdon), English biologist and recipient of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery that mature cells can be converted to stem sells.

1925~ Clay Felker (né Clay Schuette Felker; d. July 1, 2008), American visionary editor who changed the face of magazines.  He was a co-founder of the New York Magazine.  He died of throat cancer at age 82.

1917~ Christian de Duve, Viscount de Duve (d. May 4, 2013), Belgian biologist and recipient of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died by self-induced euthansia at age 95.

1915~ Chuck Williams (né Charles Edward Williams; d. Dec. 5, 2015), American businessman and food lover and co-founder of Williams-Sonoma.  He died at age 100.

1907~ Alexander R. Todd, Baron Todd (d. Jan. 10, 1997), Scottish chemist and recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on the structure and synthesis of nucleotides, nucleosides and nucleotide coenzymes.  He died at age 89.

1904~ Graham Greene (né Henry Graham Greene, d. Apr. 3, 1991), English writer.  He is best known for such novels at The End of the Affair and The Quiet American.  He died of leukemia at age 86.

1897~ Bud Abbott (né William Alexander Abbott; d. Apr. 24, 1974), American comedian and half of the comedy team Abbot and Costello.  He died of cancer at age 76.

1895~ Ruth Cheney Streeter (d. Sept. 30, 1990), first director of the United States Marine Corps Women’s Reserve.  In 1943, she became the first woman to reach the rank of Major in the United States Marine Corps.  She died in Morristown, New Jersey 2 days before her 95^th birthday.  She is buried in Peterboro, New Hampshire.

1890~ Groucho Marx (né Julius Henry Marx, d. Aug. 19, 1977), American comedian and actor.  He died of pneumonia at age 86.

1879~ Wallace Stevens (d. Aug. 2, 1955), American poet.  He died in Hartford, Connecticut at age 75.

1871~ Cordell Hull (d. July 23, 1955), 47^th United States Secretary of State.  He served under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  He held that position for 11 years, from 1933 until 1944.  He was also the recipient of the 1945 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in establishing the United Nations.  He died at age 83.  He was the subject of Erik Larson’s non-fiction book, In the Garden of Beasts, which is about Hitler’s Berlin in the years leading up to World War II.

1869~ Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi aka Mahatma Gandhi (d. Jan. 30, 1948), Indian pacifist and spiritual leader.  He advocated non-violent disobedience.  He was assassinated by a Hindu extremist.  He was 78 at the time of his death.

1852~ Sir William Ramsay (d. July 23, 1916), Scottish chemist and recipient of the 1904 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work in identifying the inert gaseous elements.  He died at age 63 of nasal cancer.

1847~ Paul von Hindenburg (d. Aug. 2, 1934), German field marshal and 2^nd President of Germany.  He is best remembered as being the man who, when he was President of Germany, appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany.  He served as President of Germany from May 1925 until his death on August 1934.  He died at age 86.

1800~ Nat Turner (d. Nov. 11, 1831), American slave rebel who was hanged after inciting a slave uprising.  He was executed at age 31 for his role in leading the revolt.

1760~ Empress Xiaoshurui (d. Mar. 5, 1797), Chinese empress consort of the Qing dynasty.  She was the wife of Jiaquig Emperor.  She died at age 36.

1568~ Marin Getaldić (d. Apr. 11, 1626), Croatian mathematician.  He died at age 57.

1452~ King Richard III of England (d. Aug. 22, 1485).  Richard III was the last king of the House of York.  He was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field, and his defeat was the last decisive battle of the War of Roses. It is often considered the end of the Middle Ages in England.  His father was Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, and his mother was Cecily Nevelle, Duchess of York.  Richard’s death marked the end of the House of Plantagenet.  He was 32 years old.  He was succeeded by King Henry VII.  In 2013, Richard’s remains were found buried in what had become a parking lot in northern England.

Events that Changed the World:

2016~ Erev Rosh HaShanah.

2006~ A deranged gunman opened fire at an Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania in which five young school girls were murdered.

1996~ Aeroperú Flight 603 crashed into the Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff from Lima, Peru.  Seventy (70) people on board were killed.

1967~ Thurgood Marshall (1908 ~ 1993) was sworn in as the first African-American United States Supreme Court Justice.

1959~ The Twilight Zone made its television debut.

1950~ Charlie Brown and the comic strip Peanuts, the creation of Charles Schulz (1922 ~ 2000), made its debut.

1944~ German troops put an end to the Warsaw Uprising during World War II.

1919~ President Woodrow Wilson (1856 ~ 1924) suffered a massive stroke while in office, rendering him virtually unable to continue to govern.

1889~ Nicholas Creede (1843 ~ 1897) struck silver in Colorado during the last big silver boom in the Old West.

1789~ The proposed Constitutional amendments, the United States Bill of Rights, were sent to the States for ratification.

1552~ Ivan the Terrible of Russia conquered the Kazan.

1535~ Jacques Cartier (1491 ~ 1557) discovered the area where Montreal, Quebec is now located.

1187~ The Siege of Jerusalem.  Saladin captured Jerusalem after 88 years of rule by the Crusaders.

Goodbyes:

2017~ Tom Petty (né Thomas Earl Petty, b. Oct. 20, 1950), American musician Heartbreakers frontman who rejuvenated rock ‘n’ roll.  He died of a heart attack 18 days before his 67^th birthday.

2014~ György Lázár (b. Sept. 15, 1924), Hungarian politician who served as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People’s Republic of Hungary.  He served in this Office from May 1975 until June 1987.  He died just 2 weeks after his 90^thbirthday.

2013~ Abraham Nemeth (d. Oct. 16, 1918), American mathematician.  He was blind and is best known for developing a system allowing blind people to read and write mathematics.  He died less than 2 weeks before his 95^th birthday.

2009~ Marek Edelman (b. Jan. 1, 1919), Polish-Jewish fighter who helped to lead the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.  After the war, he went to medical school and became a cardiologist.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.  He is believed to have been born in 1919, but possibly as late as 1922.

2006~ Paul Halmos (né Paul Richard Halmos; d. Mar. 3, 1916), Hungarian-born mathematician.  He died at age 90.

2005~ August Wilson (né Frederick August Kettel, Jr., b. Apr. 27, 1945), African-American author and playwright.  He died of cancer at age 60.

2005~ Nipsey Russell (né Julius Russell, b. Sept. 15, 1918), American comedian.  He died just over 2 weeks following his 87^th birthday.

2003~ John Dunlop (né John Thomas Dunlop; b. July 5, 1914), 14^th United States Secretary of Labor.  He served in the Gerald Ford administration from March 1975 until January 1976.  He died at age 89.

1998~ Gene Autry (né Orvon Grover Autry, b. Sept. 29, 1907), American actor and cowboy singer.  He was known as the Singing Cowboy.  He died 3 days after his 91^st birthday.

1996~ Andrey Lukanov (b. Sept. 26, 1938), 40^th Prime Minister of Bulgaria.  He served as Prime Minister from February 1990 until December 1990.  He was the last Communist Prime minister.  He was assassinated 5 days after his 58^th birthday.

1994~ Harriet Nelson (née Peggy Lou Snyder, b. July 18, 1909), American actress.  She is best known for her role in the television comedy The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.  She died of congestive heart failure at age 85.

1987~ Sir Peter Medawar (né Peter Brian Medawar; b. Feb. 28, 1915), Brazilian-born British biologist and recipient for the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on organ transplants and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance.  He died following a stroke at age 72.

1985~ Rock Hudson (né Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., b. Nov. 17, 1925), American actor.  He died at age 59.

1982~ William Bernbach (b. Aug. 13, 1911), American creative advertising director.  He died at age 71.

1968~ Marcel Duchamp (b. July 28, 1887), French painter and artist.  He died at age 81.

1962~ Boris Yakovlevich Bukreev (b. Sept. 6, 1859), Russian mathematician. He died about a month after his 103^rd birthday.

1950~ John Francis Fitzgerald (b. Feb. 11, 1863), American politician and Mayor of Boston.  He was Mayor for two separate terms, first from 1906 until 1908 and second from 1910 until 1914.  He was known as Honey Fitz.  He was the father of Rose Kennedy and the grandfather of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.  He died at age 87.

1947~ Peter D. Ouspensky (b. Mar. 5, 1878), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 69.

1938~ Alexandru Averescu (b. Apr. 3, 1859), Romanian field marshal and Prime Minister of Romania.  He served as Prime Minister during the reign of King Ferdinand.  He died at age 79.

1927~ Svante Arrhenius (b. Feb. 19, 1859), Swedish chemist and recipient of the 1903 and the 1905 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 68.

1920~ Winthrop Crane (né Winthrop Murray Crane; b. Apr. 23, 1853), 40^th Governor of Massachusetts. He was Governor from January 1900 until January 1903.  He died at age 67.

1896~ Emma Darwin (née Emma Wedgwood; b. May 2, 1808), English naturalist and wife and first cousin of Charles Dickens.  She was the granddaughter of Josiah Wedgwood, of Wedgwood pottery fame.  She died at age 88.

1853~ François Arago (né Dominique François Jean Arago, b. Feb. 26, 1786), French mathematician.  He died at age 67.

1803~ Samuel Adams (b. Sept. 27, 1722), American patriot and leader during the American Revolutionary War. He served as the 4^th Governor of Massachusetts from October 1794 until June 1797.  He died 5 days after his 81^st birthday.  The Samuel Adams beer is named after him.

1780~ John André (b. May 2, 1750), British Army officer during the American Revolutionary War.  He was hanged as a spy by American forces.  He was 30 years old at the time of his death.

1764~ William Cavendish, 4^th Duke of Devonshire (b. May 8, 1720), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the reign of King George II.  He was Prime Minister from November 1756 until June 1757.  He died at age 44.

1264~ Pope Urban IV (né Jacques Pantaléon, b. 1195).  He was Pope from August 1261 until his death 3 years later.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been about 69 at the time of his death.