Birthdays:
1955~ Olga Korbut (née Olga Valentinovna Korbut), Belarusian gymnast.
1955~ Debra Winger (née Debra Lynn Winger), American actress.
1953~ Pierce Brosnan (né Pierce Brendan Brosnan), Irish actor.
1951~ Christian Lacroix (né Christian Marie Marc Lacroix), French fashion designer.
1950~ J. Georg Bednorz (né Johannes Georg Bednorz), German physicist and recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physics.
1947~ Bob Edwards (né Robert Alan Edwards), American journalist and host of Bob Edwards Weekend on the satellite radio Sirius.
1937~ Yvonne Craig (née Yvonne Joyce Craig; d. Aug. 17, 2015), American ballerina who played Batgirl in the 1960s television series Batman. She died of breast cancer at age 77.
1931~ Paul Brodeur, American investigative science writer and novelist. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
1931~ Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (né Lowell Palmer Weicker, Jr.), 85th Governor of Connecticut. He served as Governor from January 1991 until January 1995.
1929~ Adrienne Rich (née Adrienne Cecile Rich; d. Mar. 27, 2012), American poet who gave a strong voice to feminism. She died at age 82.
1928~ Billy Martin (né Alfred Manuel Pesano, Jr., d. Dec. 25, 1989), American baseball player and manager of the New York Yankees. He was killed on Christmas Day in a single car accident. He was 61 years old.
1925~ Nancy Roman (née Nancy Grace Roman; d. Dec. 26, 2018), American astronomer who shattered glass ceilings to get Hubble into orbit. She was one of the first female executives at NASA. She is known as the Mother of Hubble for her role in planning the Hubble Telescope. She died at age 93.
1923~ Merton Miller (né Merton Howard Miller; d. June 3, 2000), American economist and recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. He died 23 days after his 77th birthday.
1919~ Liberace (né Władziu Valentino Liberace, d. Feb. 4, 1987), American pianist and entertainer. He died at age 67.
1917~ Ben Kuroki (d. Sept 1, 2015), American World War II airman who battled bigotry to fight for the United States. He was the only American of Japanese descent in the United States Armed Air Forces to serve in combat in the Pacific theater during World War II. He was 98 years old.
1916~ Ephraim Katzir (né Efraim Katchalski; d. May 30, 2009), Israeli biophysicist. He also served as the 4th President of Israel. He was President from May 1973 until May 1978. He died 14 days after his 93rd birthday
1913~ Woody Herman (né Woodrow Charles Herman; d. Oct. 29, 1987), American bandleader and musician during the Swing Era. He died at age 74.
1912~ Studs Terkel (né Louis Terkel; d. Oct. 31, 2008), American writer and oral historian who tapped into the heart of America. He died at age 96.
1906~ Margret Rey (née Margarete Elisabethe Waldstein; d. Dec. 21, 1996), German-born author, who along with her husband, H.A. Rey (né Hans Augusto Rey 1898 ~ 1977), created the Curious George series of children’s books. She died at age 90.
1905~ Henry Fonda (né Henry Jaynes Fonda; d. Aug. 12, 1982), American actor. He died of heart failure at age 77.
1897~ Zvi Sliternik (d. Oct. 17, 1993), Israeli entomologist. He died at age 96.
1861~ H.H. Holmes (né Herman Webster Mudgett, aka Dr. Henry Howard Holmes; d. May 7, 1896), American serial killer. He is one of the first recorded serial killers. He committed numerous murders in Chicago during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. He is the subject of the 2003 book, The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson. He was found guilty of murder and was executed 9 days before his 35th birthday.
1850~ Auguste Deter (d. Apr. 8, 1906), German woman and the first recorded Alzheimer’s victim. She died at age 55.
1845~ Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (also known as Élie Metchnikoff, d. July 15, 1916), Russian microbiologist and recipient of the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He is credited with discovering macrophages. He died at age 71.
1831~ David E. Hughes (né David Edward Hughes; d. Jan. 22, 1900), English scientist and musician. He was the co-inventor of the microphone. He died at age 68.
1824~ Edmund Kirby Smith (d. Mar. 28, 1893), Confederate General during the American Civil War. A dormitory at Louisiana State University was named in his honor. He died of pneumonia at age 68.
1824~ Levi P. Morton (né Levi Parsons Morton, d. May 16, 1920), 22nd United States Vice President. He served under President Benjamin Harrison from March 1889 until March 1893. He had previously served as Governor of New York. He was born in Shoreham, Vermont. He died on his 96th birthday.
1821~ Pafnuty Chebyshev (d. Dec. 8, 1894), Russian mathematician. He died at age 73.
1804~ Elizabeth P. Peabody (née Elizabeth Palmer Peabody; d. Jan. 3, 1894), American educator who funded the first kindergarten in the United States. She was born and died in Massachusetts. She died at age 89.
1801~ William H. Seward (né William Henry Seward; d. Oct. 10, 1872), 24th United States Secretary of State. He served under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson during the American Civil War, from March 1861 until March 1869. He is best remembered for engineering the purchase of what is now the State of Alaska from Russia. He died at age 71.
1718~ Maria Gaetana Agnesi (d. Jan. 9, 1799), Italian mathematician. She was the first woman to write a mathematical handbook. She is credited with writing the first book that discussed both differential and integral calculus. She died at age 80.
1611~ Pope Innocent XI (né Benedetto Odescalchi, d. Aug. 12, 1689). He was Pope from September 1676 until his death 13 years later. He died at age 78.
Events that Changed the World:
2007~ Nicolas Sarkozy (né Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bosca) took office as President of France. He served until May 15, 2012.
2005~ Kuwait granted the vote to women.
1991~ Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926) became the first British monarch to address the United States Congress.
1988~ United States Surgeon General C. Everett Koop (1916 ~ 2013) issued a report comparing the addictive properties of nicotine to heroin and cocaine.
1975~ Junko Tabei (1939 ~ 2016), a Japanese mountain climber, became the first woman to reach the top of Mt. Everest.
1974~ Josip Broz Tito (1892 ~ 1980) was elected president for life in Yugoslavia.
1966~ With the issuance of the “May 16 Notice” by the Communist Party of China, the Cultural Revolution began.
1951~ El Al Airlines began its regularly scheduled transatlantic flights. The flights were between what is now John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, England.
1943~ The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which had begun a month earlier, ended.
1929~ The first Academy Awards were awarded. The best picture was Wings. The Best Actor was Emil Jennings for his role in The Way of All Flesh. The Best Actress was Janet Gaynor for her role in 7th Heaven.
1920~ Joan of Arc was canonized as a saint by Pope Benedict XV.
1918~ United States Congress passed the Sedition Act of 1918, which made it illegal, and punishable by imprisonment, to criticize the government during wartime. The law was repealed in 1920.
1910~ The United States Congress authorized the creation of the United States Bureau of Mines. It was dissolved in March 1996.
1875~ Charles Elmer Hires (1851 ~ 1937) introduced root beer at the Centennial Exposition, which was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1874~ A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroyed four villages and nearly 140 people were killed.
1868~ President Andrew Johnson (1808 ~ 1875) was acquitted in his impeachment trial.
1866~ The United States Congress authorized the minting of the five-cent piece, the nickel.
1843~ The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest set out on the Oregon Trail. Approximately 1000 pioneers were in the initial trek.
1770~ Marie Antoinette (1755 ~ 1793) married Louis-August (1754 ~ 1793), who later became King Louis XVI of France, in a formal wedding ceremony. They had been married by proxy a month earlier. She was 14 and he was 15 years old.
1532~ Sir Thomas More (1478 ~ 1535) resigned as Lord Chancellor of England.
Good-Byes:
2014~ Clyde Snow (b. Jan. 7, 1928), American forensic detective who read bones. He was a well-known anthropologist. He died at age 86.
2013~ Heinrich Rohrer (b. June 6, 1933), Swiss physicist and recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics. He died 21 days before his 80th birthday.
2008~ Robert Mondavi (né Robert Gerald Mondavi; b. June 18, 1913), American winemaker. He died about a month before his 95th birthday.
2004~ June Taylor (née Marjorie June Taylor; b. Dec. 14, 1917), American choreographer. She was the choreographer for the Jackie Gleason Show. She died at age 86.
1990~ Jim Henson (né James Maury Henson; b. Sept. 24, 1936), American puppeteer and creator of the Muppets. He died of toxic shock syndrome and pneumonia at age 53.
1990~ Sammy Davis, Jr. (né Samuel George Davis, Jr.; b. Dec. 8, 1925), American entertainer. He died of throat cancer at age 64.
1985~ Margaret Hamilton (née Margaret Brainard Hamilton; b. Dec. 9, 1902), American actress best known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. She died in Salisbury, Connecticut of a heart attack at age 82.
1984~ Irwin Shaw (né Irwin Gilbert Shamforoff; b. Feb. 27, 1913), American author. He is best known for his books Rich Man, Poor Man and Beggarman, Thief. He died of prostate cancer at age 71.
1983~ Edouard Zeckendorf (b. May 2, 1901), Belgian doctor and mathematician. He is best known for his work on Fibonacci numbers. He died 2 weeks after his 82nd birthday.
1965~ Mary Carson Breckinridge (b. Feb. 17, 1881), American nurse-midwife and founder of the Frontier Nursing Service, which provided medical care to rural and under-populated areas. She died at age 84.
1957~ Eliot Ness (b. Apr. 19, 1903), American FBI agent best known as being an agent during the American Prohibition. He pursued Al Capone. He died of a massive heart attack less than a month before his 55th birthday.
1956~ H.B. Reese (né Harry Burnett Reese; b. May 24, 1876), American candy-maker and creator of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. He died 8 days before his 77th birthday.
1955~ James Agee (né James Rufus Agee; b. Nov. 27, 1909), American playwright. He died of a heart attack at age 45.
1953~ Nicolae Rădescu (b. Mar. 30, 1874), Romanian general and Prime Minister of Romania. He was the last pre-Communist Prime minister. He served from December 1944 until March 1945. He died at age 79.
1947~ Sir Frederick Hopkins (né Frederick Gowland Hopkins; b. June 20, 1861), English biochemist and recipient of the 1929 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He died just over a month before his 86th birthday.
1938~ Joseph Strauss (né Joseph Baermann Strauss; b. Jan. 9, 1870), American structural engineer and co-designer of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. He died at age 68.
1920~ Levi P. Morton (né Levi Parsons Morton, b. May 16, 1824), 22nd United States Vice President. He served under President Benjamin Harrison from March 1889 until March 1893. He had previously served as Governor of New York. He was born in Shoreham, Vermont. He died on his 96th birthday.
1830~ Joseph Fourier (né Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier; b. Mar. 21, 1786), French mathematician and physicist. He died at age 62.
1826~ Tsarina Elizabeth Alexeievna (née Princess Louise Marie Auguste of Baden, b. Jan. 24, 1779), Empress consort of Russia and German wife of Tsar Alexander I of Russia. She was of the House of Zähringen. She died at age 47.
1703~ Charles Perrault (b. Jan. 12, 1628), French author known for laying the foundation for the fairy tale. He died at age 75.
290~ Emperor Wu of Jin (b. 236), Chinese Emperor of the Jin Dynasty. The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been 54 at the time of his death.
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