May 9

Birthdays:

1972~ Dana Perino (née Dana Marie Perino), White House Press Secretary.  She served under President George W. Bush from September 2007 until January 2009.

1961~ John Corbett (né John Joseph Corbett), American actor.

1960~ Tony Gwynn, Sr. (né Anthony Keith Gwynn; d. June 16, 2014), the American baseball player known as the happy hitter who made pitchers weep.  He played 20 seasons for the San Diego Padres. He died of cancer at age 54.

1949~ Billy Joel (né William Martin Joel), American singer-songwriter.

1948~ Hans Georg Bock, German mathematician.

1946~ Candice Bergen (née Candice Patricia Bergen), American actress.

1942~ John Ashcroft (né John David Ashcroft), 79^thAttorney General.  He served under President George W. Bush from February 2001 until February 2005.

1940~ James L. Brooks (né James Lawrence Brooks), American television producer.

1936~ Albert Finney, Jr. (d. Feb. 7, 2019), British working-class actor who shunned Hollywood accolades.  He is best known for his role as Tom Jones in the 1963 movie of the same name.  He died of a chest infection at age 82.

1936~ Glenda Jackson (née Glenda May Jackson), English actress.

1927~ Manfred Eigen (d. Feb. 6, 2019), German biophysicist and recipient of the 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in measuring fast chemical reactions.  He died at age 91.

1921~ Father Daniel Berrigan (né Daniel Joseph Berrigan; d. Apr 30, 2016), American Catholic priest, political and anti-war/peace activist.  He died 9 days before his 95^thbirthday.

1920~ Frank Perdue (né Franklin Parsons Perdue; d. Mar. 31, 2005), American businessman and founder of Perdue Chicken.  He died at age 84.

1920~ Richard Adams (né Richard George Adams, d. Dec. 24, 2016), British author best known for his novel Watership Down.  He died at age 96.

1918~ Orville Freeman (né Orville Lothrop Freeman; d. Feb. 20, 2003), 16^thUnited States Secretary of Agriculture.  He served under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson from January 1961 until January 1969.  He died at age 84.

1918~ Mike Wallace (né Myron Leon Wallace; d. Apr. 7, 2012), American journalist and media personality.  He was the veteran journalist who always got the scoop.  He was born in Brookline, Massachusetts.  He died about a month before his 94^thbirthday.

1914~ Theodore W. Kheel (né Theodore Woodrow Kheel; d. Nov. 12, 2010), American labor lawyer with a knack for compromise.  He was 96 years old.

1912~ Géza Ottlik (d. Oct. 9, 1990), Hungarian mathematician. He died at age 78.

1882~ Henry J. Kaiser (né Henry John Kaiser; d. Aug. 24, 1967), American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding.  He died at age 85.

1874~ Howard Carter (d. Mar. 2, 1939), British archaeologist.  He led the expedition that found the tomb of King Tut.  He died of lymphoma at age 64.

1873~ Anton Cermak (né Antonín Josef Čermák; d. Mar. 6, 1933), Bohemian-born 44^thMayor of Chicago.  He served as Mayor from April 1931 until March 1933.  On February 15, 1933, he was with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Florida, when an assassin attempted to kill the President.  He was hit instead.  He died less than a month later from injuries suffered from the shooting. He was 59 years old.

1860~ Sir J.M. Barrie, 1^stBaronet (né James Matthew Barrie; d. June 19, 1937), Scottish writer best known for his play, Peter Pan.  He died at age 77.

1837~ Adam Opel (d. Sept. 8, 1895), German engineer and founder of the German car company bearing his name.  He died at age 58.

1800~ John Brown (d. Dec. 2, 1859), American abolitionist.  He was hanged for leading the October 16 raid on Harper’s Ferry.  He was 59 years old at the time of his execution.

1746~ Gaspart Monge, Comte de Péluse (d. July 28, 1818), French mathematician. He died at age 72.

1170~ Valdemar II of Denmark (d. Mar. 28, 1241).  He was known as Vlademar the Conqueror.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but is believed to have been in May 1170.  He died at age 70.

Events that Changed the World:

1980~ The Liberian freighter MV Summit Venturecrashed into the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, causing a large section of the bridge span to collapse.  Occupants of six cars and a Greyhound bus fell into the water and were killed.

1979~ Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian (1909 ~ 1979) was executed in Tehran.  He was the president of the Tehran Jewish Society and acted as the symbolic head of the Iranian Jewish Community.  His execution lead to the mass exodus of the Jewish community of Iran.  Only a handful of Jews remained in the country.

1974~ Formal impeachments hearings against President Richard Nixon (1913 ~ 1994) began by the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.

1960~ The United States Food and Drug Administration announced it would approve the oral birth control pill.

1958~ Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Vertigo, premiered in San Francisco.

1949~ Rainier III of Monaco (1923 ~ 2005) became the Prince of Monaco.

1945~ The Channel Islands were liberated by British forces after five years of German occupation during World War II.

1942~ Nazi murdered the Jewish residents of Zinkiv, Ukraine. The Zoludek Ghetto in Belarus was also destroyed and its inhabitants murdered or deported.

1877~ A 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Peru.  Its aftermath was felt as far away as Hawaii and Japan.  Over 2,500 people were killed.

1868~ The city of Reno, Nevada was founded.

1386~ England and Portugal ratified their alliance by signing the Treaty of Windsor.  The treaty established their mutual support between the two countries.  This diplomatic alliances is still in force today.

1092~ The Lincoln Cathedral in Lincoln, England was consecrated.

Good-Byes:

2014~ Mary, Lady Stewart (née Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow; b. Sept. 17, 1916), British novelist, best known for her 5-book Merlin Chronicles, about the Arthurian legends. She died at age 97.

2012~ Vidal Sassoon (b. Jan. 17, 1928), English cosmetologist and hair stylist.  He died of leukemia at age 84.

2010~ Lena Horne (née Lena Mary Calhoun Horne; b. June 30, 1917), American singer and actress.  She died of heart failure at age 92.

2009~ Chuck Daly (né Charles Jerome Daly; b. July 20, 1930), NBA baseball coach for the Detroit Pistons and coach of the 1992 United States Olympic “Dream Team.”  He died of pancreatic cancer at age 78.

2004~ Alan King (néIrwin Alan Kniberg; b. Dec. 26, 1927), American comedian and actor.  He died at age 76.

2003~ Russell B. Long (né Russell Billiu Long; b. Nov. 3, 1918), United States Senator from Louisiana and son of former Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long.  He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana.  He died at age 84 and is buried in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

1999~ Ivan M. Niven (né Ivan Morton Niven; b. Oct. 25, 1915), Canadian mathematician.  He died at age 83.

1986~ Tenzing Norgay (néNamgyl Wangdi; b. May 29, 1914), Nepalese Sherpa who accompanied Edmund Hillary on the climb up Mount Everest in May 1953. He died 20 days before his 72^ndbirthday.

1981~ Nelson Algren (né Nelson Ahlgren Abraham, b. Mar. 28, 1909), American writer.  He is best known for his book, The Man with the Golden Arm.  He died at age 72.

1970~ Louise Freeland Jenkins (b. July 5, 1888), American astronomer.  She compiled a valuable catalogue of stars within 10 parsecs of the sun.  She was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.  The crater Jenkins on the moon is named in her honor.  She died at age 81.

1968~ Harold Gray (né Harold Lincoln Gray; b. Jan. 20, 1894), American cartoonist and creator of Little Orphan Annie.  He died at age 74.

1950~ Esteban Terradas i Illa (b. Sept. 15, 1883), Catalan mathematician.  He died at age 66.

1949~ Louis II, Prince of Monaco (né Louis Honoré Charles Antoine Grimaldi, b. July 12, 1870).  He died at age 78.

1931~ Albert A. Michelson (né Albert Abraham Michelson; b. Dec. 19, 1852), Prussian-born American physicist and recipient of the 1907 Nobel Prize in Physics for his design of precise optical instruments. He was the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize in science.  He died at age 78.

1914~ C.W. Post (né Charles William Post; b. Oct. 26, 1854), American food manufacturer and founder of Post Foods.  He was in ill health and, despondent over his illness, he died by suicide at age 59.

1905~ Ann Jarvis (née Anne Maria Reeves; b. Sept. 30, 1832), American activist and co-founder of Mother’s Day.  She died at age 72.

1805~ Friedrich Schiller (né Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller; b. Nov. 10, 1759), German poet and historian.  He died of tuberculosis at age 45.

1657~ William Bradford (b. Mar 19, 1590), English Separatist and politician and 5-term Governor of Plymouth Colony.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but this is the date generally ascribed to his birth.  He died at age 67.

1280~ Magnus VI of Norway (b. May 1, 1238).  He was King from December 1263 until his death in May 1280.  He died 8 days after his 42^ndbirthday.