Birthdays:
1973~ Sasha Roiz, Israeli-born Canadian actor.
1959~ Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor.
1958~ Sir Andre Geim (né Andre Konstantin Geim), Russian-English physicist and recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics.
1957~ Wolfgang Ketterle, German physicist and recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics.
1956~ Carrie Fisher (née Carrie Frances Fisher; d. Dec. 27, 2016), American Star Wars princess who chronicled Hollywood’s excesses. She died of a massive heart attack at age 60. Her mother, Debbie Reynolds, died of a broken heart the following day.
1950~ Ronald McNair (né Ronald Erwin McNair; d. Jan. 28, 1986), American astronaut. He was killed in the Challenger explosion. He died at age 35.
1949~ Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel.
1944~ Mandy Rice-Davies (née Marilyn Rice-Davies, d. Dec. 18, 2014), British model and showgirl best known for her association with Christina Keeler and her role in the 1960s Profumo scandal. She died of cancer at age 70.
1942~ Christopher A. Sims (né Christopher Albert Sims), American economist and recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.
1933~ Brock Yates (né Brock Wendel Yates; d. Oct. 5, 2016), American speed-loving writer who created Cannonball Run. He died 16 days before his 83rd birthday.
1929~ Ursula K. LeGuin (née Ursula Kroeber, d. Jan. 22, 2018), American science-fiction novelist who conjured fantastic worlds. She died at age 88.
1928~ Whitey Ford (né Edward Charles Ford), American Major League baseball player who stayed with the New York Yankees during his entire 16 year career as a ballplayer. He later became a coach.
1927~ Nadia Nerina (d. Oct. 6, 2008), South African-born ballerina who combined acrobatics with beauty. She died 15 days before her 81st birthday.
1927~ Fran Landesman (né Frances Deitsch, d. July 23, 2011), American lyricist and poet of the Beat Generation. She died at age 83.
1926~ Leo Kirch (d. July 14, 2011), German who build and lost a media empire. He founded the Kirch group. He died at age 84.
1925~ Celia Cruz (d. July 16, 2003), Cuban salsa singer. She died at age 77.
1921~ Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld (d. Mar. 30, 2015), Dutch astronomer. She died at age 93.
1921~ Jane B. Hart (né Jane Briggs, d. June 5, 2015), American senator’s wife who spoke her mind. Her husband was the Democratic Senator Phil Hart, from Michigan. She was a strong advocate for women’s rights as well as being active against the war in Viet Nam. She was also a would-be astronaut when she took part in a privately financed project to test women for fitness to enter NASA’s astronaut program and submitting to the same physical and psychological tests as were administered to the Mercury 7 astronauts. She was 93 years old.
1917~ Dizzy Gillespie (né John Birks Gillespie, d. Jan. 6, 1993), American trumpeter and bandleader. He died at age 75.
1914~ Martin Gardner (d. May 22, 2010), American author, mathematician and puzzlemeister. For 25 years he authored a column in Scientific American. He died at age 95.
1906~ Lillian Asplund (née Lillian Gertrud Asplund; d. May 6, 2006), last American survivor of the Titanic. She was also the last survivor with any memory of the disaster. She was 5 years old when the Titanicsank. She and her mother were rescued, but her father perished in the disaster. She was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and died in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. She was 99 at the time of her death.
1833~ Alfred Nobel (né Alfred Bernhard Nobel; d. Dec. 10, 1896), Swedish chemist and industrialist, noted for inventing dynamite. His will established a fund, largely based on profits from his dynamite, to be used to award outstanding individuals in various fields. The first Nobel prizes were awarded in 1901, the 5th anniversary after his death. Interestingly, there is no Nobel Prize in mathematics. He was 63 years old at the time of his death.
1823~ Enrico Betti (d. Aug. 11, 1892), Italian mathematician. He is best known for his work in topology. He died at age 68
1772~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge (d. July 25, 1834), English poet. He is best known for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. He died at age 61.
1687~ Nicolaus I Bernoulli (d. Nov. 29, 1759), Swiss mathematician. He died at age 72.
1449~ George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence (d. Feb. 18, 1478), brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England. He was convicted of treason against Edward IV and was executed in the Tower of London. He was 28 years old at the time of his execution.
1328~ Hongwu (d. June 24, 1398), Chinese founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He died at age 69.
Events that Changed the World:
2013~ Smog closed schools, roadways and the airport in Harbin, China.
1959~ President Dwight David Eisenhower (1890 ~ 1969) signed an executive order authorizing Wernher von Braun (1912 ~ 1977) and other German scientists from the United States Army to NASA.
1959~ The Solomon Guggenheim Museum, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 ~ 1959), opened to the public.
1945~ French women were allowed to vote for the first time.
1940~ Ernest Hemingway’s novel For Whom the Bell Tolls was first published.
1921~ The silent film, The Sheik, staring Rudolph Valentino (1895 ~ 1926), premiered.
1921~ President Warren G. Harding (1865 ~ 1923) delivered the first speech by a sitting United State President against lynching in the South.
1854~ Florence Nightingale (1820 ~ 1910) and a staff of 38 nurses went to aid soldiers injured in the Crimean War.
1824~ Joseph Aspdin (1778 ~ 1855) patented Portland cement.
1797~ The U.S.S. Constitution, better known as Old Ironsides,was officially launched. The ship is still docked at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts.
1520~ Ferdinand Magellan (1480 ~ 1521) became the first European to have discovered that body of water that now bears his name ~ The Strait of Magellan.
1512~ Martin Luther (1483 ~ 1546) joined the theological faculty at the University of Wittenberg.
1422~ Charles VII (1403 ~ 1461) became king of France in succession to his father King Charles VI, however he would not be officially crowned King until July 1429.
1209~ Pope Innocent III (1160 ~ 1216) crowned Otto IV (1175 ~ 1218) as the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
1097~ During the First Crusade, the Siege of Antioch began with Godfrey of Bouillon (1060 ~ 1100), Behemund of Taranto (1054 ~ 1111) and Raymond IV of Toulouse (1041 ~ 1105) leading the charge.
Good-Byes:
2015~ Marty Ingels (né Martin Ingerman, b. Mar. 9, 1936), American wild comic who wed a Hollywood star, Shirley Jones. He died of a stroke at age 79.
2014~ Ben C. Bradlee (né Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee, b. Aug. 26, 1921), American journalist newspaper editor who brought down a president. He was the editor of the Washington Postduring the presidency of Richard Nixon when the Watergate scandal broke. He died at age 93.
2012~ George McGovern (né George Stanley McGovern, b. July 19, 1922), American politician and anti-war “prairie populist” who ran against Richard Nixon for president in 1972. He died at age 90.
2009~ Jack Nelson (né John Howard Nelson; b. Oct. 11, 1929), American journalist who infuriated J. Edgar Hoover. He is best known for his coverage of the Watergate Scandal. He died of pancreatic cancer 10 days after his 80th birthday.
2003~ Louise Day Hicks (née Anna Louise Day; b. Oct. 16, 1916), American politician. She served in the United States House of Representatives for the State of Massachusetts. She died 5 days after her 87th birthday.
1992~ Jim Garrison (né Earling Carothers Garrison, b. Nov. 20, 1921), District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Louisiana from 1962 ~ 1973. He is best known for his investigations into the assassination of President John Kennedy. He died in New Orleans a month before his 71st birthday.
1990~ Tom Carvel (né Athanasios Thomas Karvelas, b. July 14, 1906), American businessman and founder of the Carvel brand of Ice Cream. He died at age 84.
1985~ Dan White (né Daniel James White, b. Sept. 2, 1946), American politician. He assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone (1929 ~ 1978) and Supervisor Harvey Milk (1930 ~ 1978). He was convicted of the murders and served time in prison. Less than two years after his release from prison, he committed suicide at age 39.
1984~ François Truffaut (né François Roland Truffaut; b. Feb. 6, 1932), French film director. He died of a brain tumor at age 52.
1980~ Hans Asperger (né Johann Friedrich Karl Asperger, b. Feb. 18, 1906), Austrian physician and psychologist. He is best known for his studies on mental disorders, especially in children. He died at age 74.
1979~ Beatrice Hicks (née Beatrice Alice Hicks; b. Jan. 2, 1919), American engineer. She was the first woman hired by General Electric. She was the co-founder of the Society of Women Engineers. She died at age 60.
1976~ Ida Browne (née Ida Alison Browne; b. Aug. 16, 1900), Australian geologist and paleontologist. She died at age 76.
1970~ John T. Scopes (né John Thomas Scopes, b. Aug. 3, 1900), American educator and defendant in the Scopes trial for attempting to teach evolution in the Tennessee schools. He was found guilty and fined $100. He died in Shreveport, Louisiana at age 70.
1969~ Jack Kerouac (né Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, b. Mar. 12, 1922), American writer. He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He is best known for his book, On the Road. He died of abdominal hemorrhages at age 47.
1969~ Wacław Sierpiński (b. Mar. 14, 1882), Polish mathematician. He died at age 87.
1881~ Eduard Heine (né Heinrich Eduard Heine, b. Mar. 16, 1821), German mathematician. He died at age 60.
1872~ Jacques Babinet (b. Mar. 5, 1794), French physicist and mathematician. He is best known for his contributions to optics. He died at age 78.
1841~ John Forsyth, Sr. (b. Oct. 22, 1780), 13th United States Secretary of State. He served under Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren from July 1834 until March 1841. He died 1 day before his 61st birthday.
1805~ Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (b. Sept. 29, 1758), British admiral. He defeated the French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar in Britain’s greatest naval victory in 1805. He died in battle at less than a month after his 47th birthday.
1505~ Paul Scriptoris (b. 1460), German mathematician. The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been 45 at the time of his death.
1422~ King Charles VI of France (b. Dec. 3, 1368). He was known as Charles the Beloved. He died at age 53.
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