October 26

Birthdays:

1964~ Tom Cavanagh (né Thomas Patrick Cavanagh), Canadian actor best known for the leading role in the television show Ed.

1962~ Cary Elwes (né Ian Simon Cary Elwes), British actor best known for his role as Westley in the movie The Princess Bride.

1961~ Dylan McDermott (né Mark Anthony McDermott), American actor.

1959~ Evo Morales (né Juan Evo Morales Ayma), President of Bolivia.  He assumed the Office in January 2006.  He was the first indigenous president of Bolivia.

1947~ Hillary Rodham Clinton (née Hillary Diane Rodham), American politician, First Lady of the United States and wife of President William (“Bill”) Clinton.  She served as First Lady from January 1993 until January 2001.  She served as the 67^th Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, from January 2009 until February 2013.  In 2016, she was the Democratic candidate for President, however, she lost the election to Donald Trump.

1946~ Pat Sajak (né Patrick Leonard Sajdak), American game show host of Wheel of Fortune.

1945~ Pat Conroy (né Donald Patrick Conroy, d. Mar. 4, 2016), American southern author.  He wrote many novels and memoirs, including The Great Santini.  He died of pancreatic cancer at age 70.

1942~ Bob Hoskins (né Robert William Hoskins, d. Apr. 29, 2014), the stumpy British actor who made it big in Hollywood.  He died of pneumonia at age 71.

1935~ Gloria Conyers Hewitt, African-American mathematician.  

1926~ James L. Tolbert (d. Apr. 22, 2013), African-American Hollywood lawyer who fought for civil rights.  He was born in New Orleans to a jazz family.  He died at age 86.

1926~ Arnaud de Borchgrave (né Arnaud Charles Paul Marie Philippe de Borchgrave; d. Feb. 15, 2015), Belgium-born, swashbuckling reporter who lived the high life.  He specialized in reporting on international politics.  He died at age 88.

1922~ Madelyn Dunham (née Madelyn Lee Payne; d. Nov. 2, 2008), American grandmother of President Barack Obama.  She died a week after her 86^th birthday and just 2 days before Obama was elected President.

1919~ Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (d. July 27, 1980), the last Shah of Iran.  He was overthrow by the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and sent into exile.  He died of cancer in Cairo, Egypt at age 60.

1919~ Edward Brooke (né Edward William Brooke, III; d. Jan. 3, 2015), African-American pioneering senator from Massachusetts who transcended America’s racial divide.  He was a Republican politician who became the first African-American to win a Senate seat in a popular election.  He also served as the Attorney General of Massachusetts.  He died at age 95.

1916~ François Mitterrand (né François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand; d. Jan. 8, 1996), President of France from May 1981 until May 1995.  He died of prostate cancer at age 79.

1911~ Mahalia Jackson (d. Jan. 27, 1972), African-American singer.  She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.  She died from heart failure and complications of diabetes at age 60.

1911~ Shiing-Shen Chern (d. Dec. 3, 2004), Chinese mathematician.  He died at age 93.

1905~ Albert Brown (d. Aug. 14, 2011), American dentist.  He was the oldest survivor of the Bataan Death March.  He died at age 105.

1902~ Henrietta Hill Swope (d. Nov. 24, 1980), American astronomer.  She died a month after her 78^th birthday.

1902~ Beryl Markham (née Beryl Clutterbuck, d. Sept. 3, 1986), English pilot, writer and horse trainer.  She is best known for her book, West with the Night.  She died at age 83.

1883~ Napoleon Hill (né Oliver Napoleon Hill; d. Nov. 8, 1970), American self-help author.  He is best known for his book, Think and Grow Rich.  He died at age 87.

1865~ Benjamin Guggenheim (d. Apr. 15, 1912), American businessman.  He died on the RMS Titanic.  He was 46 years old.

1854~ C.W. Post (né Charles William Post, d. May 9, 1914), American food manufacturer and founder of Post Foods.  He was in ill health and, despondent over his illness, he committed suicide at age 59.

1849~ Ferdinand Georg Frobenius (d. Aug. 3, 1917), German mathematician.  He died at age 67.

1831~ John Willock Noble (d. Mar. 22, 1912), 18^th United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President Benjamin Harrison from March 1889 until March 1893.  He died at age 80.

1807~ Barbu Catargui (d. June 20, 1862), 1^st Prime Minister of Romania.  He served as Prime Minister from February 1862 until he was assassinated at age 54.  His assassin was never caught.

1803~ Joseph Hansom (né Joseph Aloysius Hansom, d. June 29, 1882), English architect and inventor of the Hansom cab.  He died at age 73.

1794~ Konstantin Thon (d. Jan. 25, 1881), Russian architect.  He designed the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow.  He died at age 86.

1685~ Domenico Scarlatti (né Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti; d. July 23, 1757), Italian composer.  He died at age 71.

1609~ William Sprague (d. Oct. 26, 1675), British-American settler and co-founder of Charlestown, Massachusetts.  He died on his 66^th birthday.

1491~ Zhengde (d. Apr. 20, 1521), 11^th Chinese Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.  He died at age 29.

Events that Changed the World:

2016~ A 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck in central Italy.

2015~ A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck in Afghanistan.

2003~ The Cedar Fire in California killed 15 people and destroyed over 2,200 homes in the San Diego area.

2001~ The USA PATRIOT Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush.  The acronym stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.

1994~ Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty.

1984~ Stephanie Fae Beauclair (“Baby Fae”, October 14, 1984 ~ November 15, 1984), received a heart transplant from a baboon.  She had been born with a heart disease.  Although the surgery was successful, she died three weeks later of a kidney infection.

1977~ The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared this date as the eradication of smallpox, due to the widespread usage of vaccinations.

1967~ Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919 ~ 1980) crowned himself Emperor (Shah) of Iran and his wife, Farah (b. 1938), Empress of Iran.  He did this on his 48^th birthday.

1958~ Pan American Airways made its first commercial flight of the Boeing 707.  The flight went from New York City to Paris, France.

1905~ Norway became independent from Sweden.

1881~ The infamous Gunfight at the OK Corral between outlaw cowboys, Billy, Claiborne and Ike and Billy Clanton, and Marshall Virgil Earp and his brothers Morgan and Wyatt, in Tombstone, Arizona occurred.

1861~ The Pony Express officially stopped its operations.  It ran from April 3, 1860 through October 26, 1861.

1825~ The Erie Canal opened allowing boat traffic to pass between Albany, New York and Lake Erie.

1775~ King George III (1738 ~ 1820) of Great Britain declared the American colonies in rebellion and authorized a military response to stop the American Revolution.

1774~ The first Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia.

1640~ The Treaty of Ripon was signed, thereby restoring peace between Scotland and King Charles I (1600 ~ 1649) of England.

1520~ Charles V (1500 ~ 1558) was crowned the Holy Roman Emperor.

1377~ Stephen Tvrtko I (1338 ~ 1391) was crowned the first king of Bosnia.

Good-Byes:

2012~ Eloy Gutiérrez-Menoyo (b. Dec. 8, 1934), Cuban ex-revolutionary who was jailed by Castro.  He died at age 77.

2012~ Arnold Greenberg (né Arnold Shepard Greenberg, b. Sept. 2, 1932), American businessman and co-founder of Snapple.  He died of cancer at age 80.

2010~ Paul the Octopus (b. Jan. 26, 2008), English octopus that had an uncanny ability to predict the winner for the Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup soccer games.  The octopus was 2 years old.

2008~ Tony Hillerman (né Anthony Grove Hillerman, b. May 27, 1925), American novelist who wrote mysteries and portrayed Navajo life.  He died of pulmonary failure at age 83.

2007~ Arthur Kornberg (b. Mar. 3, 1918), American biochemist and winner of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 89.

1998~ Kenkichi Iwasawa (b. Sept. 11, 1917), Japanese mathematician.  He is best known for his influence on algebraic number theory.  He died at age 81.

1990~ William S. Paley (né William Samuel Paley, b. Sept. 28, 1901), American radio and television executive.  He died a month after his 89^th birthday.

1989~ Charles J. Pedersen (né Charles John Pedersen; b. Oct. 3, 1904), American chemist and recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died 3 weeks after his 85^th birthday.

1983~ Alfred Tarski (né Alfred Teitelbaum, b. Jan. 14, 1901), Polish-born mathematician.  He died at age 82.

1968~ Sergei Natanovich Bernstein (b. Mar. 5, 1880), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 88.

1957~ Gerty Cori (née Gerty Theresa Radnitz, b. Aug. 15, 1896), Austrian-born American biochemist and first American woman to win a Nobel Prize.  She was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work in the discovery of the mechanism by which glycogen is broken down in the body.  She died of myelosclerosis at age 61.

1957~ Nikos Kazantzakis (b. Feb. 18, 1883), Greek author best known for his novels, Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ.  He died at age 74.

1952~ Hattie McDaniel (b. June 10, 1895), African-American actress who won the 1939 Academy Award for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind.  She died at age 57 of breast cancer.

1945~ Aleksey Krylov (b. Aug. 15, 1863), Russian naval officer and mathematician.  He died at age 82.

1932~ Margaret Brown (née Margaret Tobin, b. July 18, 1867), American socialite and social activist.  She is best known, however, as being a Titanic survivor.  The 1960 Broadway musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown was based on her life.  She died of a brain tumor at age 65.

1931~ Charles Comiskey (né Charles Albert Comiskey, b. Aug. 15, 1859), American baseball player and founding owner of the Chicago White Sox.  He died at age 72.

1923~ Charles Proteus Steinmetz (né Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz, b. Apr. 9, 1865), Polish born mathematician.  He died at age 58.

1902~ Elizabeth Cady Stanton (née Elizabeth Cady; b. Nov. 12, 1815), American feminist and suffragette.  She died 17 days before her 87^th birthday.

1871~ Thomas Ewing, Sr. (b. Dec. 28, 1789), 1^st United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served from March 1849 until July 1850 during the administration of Presidents Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore.  He had previously served as the 14^th United States Secretary of the Treasury from March 1841 until September 1841 during the William Henry Harrison and John Tyler administrations.  He was the father-in-law of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.  He died at age 81.

1866~ John Kinder Labatt (b. 1803), Irish-Canadian brewer and founder of the Labatt Brewing Company.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

1773~ Amédée-François Frézier (b. 1682), French engineer, mathematician and explorer.  He is best remembered for bringing back to Europe several species of strawberries from South America.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

1764~ William Hogarth (b. Nov. 10, 1697), British painter.  He died about 2 weeks before his 67^th birthday.

1675~ William Sprague (b. Oct 26, 1609), British-American settler and co-founder of Charlestown, Massachusetts.  He died on his 66^th birthday.

899~ King Alfred the Great of the Anglo-Saxons (b. 849).  He ruled from April 871 until his death in October 899.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 50 at the time of his death.