Birthdays:
1970~ Queen Rania of Jordan (née Rania Al-Yassin).
1949~ Richard Gere (né Richard Tiffany Gere), American actor.
1949~ H. David Politzer (né Hugh David Politzer), American physicist and recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics.
1945~ Sir Van Morrison (né George Ivan Morrison), singer and musician.
1945~ Itzhak Perlman, Israeli violinist.
1935~ Eldridge Cleaver (né Leroy Eldridge Cleaver; d. May 1, 1998), American political rights activist during the Civil Rights Movement. He was an early leader in the Black Panther Party. He died at age 62.
1935~ Frank Robinson (d. Feb. 7, 2019), African-American baseball legend who broke racial barriers. He died of bone cancer at age 83.
1928~ James Coburn (né James Harrison Coburn, III; d. Nov. 18, 2002), American actor best known for his role in western films. He died of a heart attack at age 74.
1924~ Thomas Hudner (né Thomas Jerome Hudner, Jr.; d. Nov. 13, 2017), American Navy hero who reached across a racial divide. During the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War, Hudner deliberately crashed his aircraft in an attempt to save the life of his wingman, Ensign Jesse Brown (1926 ~ 1950), who was African-American. Unfortunately, Brown subsequently died from wounds he sustained in the battle. For his efforts, Hudner received the Medal of Honor. He was from Massachusetts. He died at age 93.
1918~ Alan Jay Lerner (d. June 14, 1986), American composer. He died of lung cancer at age 67.
1916~ Daniel Schorr (né Daniel Louis Schorr, d. July 23, 2010), American journalist. He was 93 years old.
1908~ William Saroyan (d. May 18, 1981), American writer. He died of prostate cancer at age 72.
1907~ William Shawn (né William Chon, d. Dec. 8, 1992), American journalist and long-time editor of The New Yorker. He died at age 85.
1903~ Arthur Godfrey (né Arthur Morton Godfrey, d. Mar. 16, 1983), American actor and television host. He died of emphysema at age 79.
1880~ Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (d. Nov. 28, 1962). She became queen at age 10, when her father, King William III, died. She was Queen from November 1890 until she abdicated in favor of her daughter, Juliana, in 1948. She died at age 82.
1879~ Emperor Taishō (d. Dec. 25, 1926), Emperor of Japan. He died of a heart attack at age 47.
1879~ Alma Mahler (née Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler, d. Dec. 11, 1964), Austrian-born socialite, composer and artist. She married three famous men, including the composer Gustav Mahler, the architect Walter Gropius, and novelist Franz Werfel. She died at age 85.
1871~ James E. Ferguson (né James Edward Ferguson, Jr., d. Sept. 21, 1944), 26th Governor of Texas. He served as Governor from January 1915 until August 1917. Several years later, his wife, Miriam, became Governor, making him the First Gentleman of Texas. He died 3 weeks after his 73rd birthday.
1870~ Maria Montessori (d. May 6, 1952), Italian educator. She died at age 81.
1823~ Galusha A. Grow (né Galusha Aaron Grow, d. Mar. 31, 1907), Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a Representative from Pennsylvania. He served as Speaker from July 1861 through March 1863. He died at age 84.
1542~ Isabella de’Medici (d. July 16, 1576), Italian princess. She is believed to have been murdered at age 33.
1168~ Emperor Zhangzong of Jin (d. Dec. 29, 1208), Chinese Emperor. He was emperor from January 1189 until his death in December 1208. He died at age 40.
12~ The traditional date ascribed to the birth of Caligula (d. Jan. 24, 41), a Roman Emperor known for his cruel despotism. He was assassinated by his Praetorian Guards, who then proclaimed Claudius, Caligula’s uncle, as Emperor. Caligula was about 28 years old at the time of his death.
Events that Changed the World:
2012~ A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck in the Philippines.
2006~ Edvard Munch’s famous painting, The Scream, which had been stolen in August 2002, almost 2 years to the day, was recovered by Norwegian police.
1997~ Diana, Princess of Wales (1961 ~ 1997) was killed in a car crash in Paris.
1991~ Kyrgyzstan declared its independence from the Soviet Union.
1920~ The first radio news program began broadcasting in Detroit, Michigan.
1895~ Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838 ~ 1917) of Germany patented his Navigable Balloon.
1886~ An earthquake in Charleston, South Carolina killed 100 people.
1864~ General William T. Sherman (1820 ~ 1891) began an assault on Atlanta, Georgia during the American Civil War.
1314~ King Håkon V Magnusson (1270 ~ 1319) moved the capital of Norway from Bergen to Oslo.
Good-Byes:
2013~ Jan Camiel Willems (b. Sept. 18, 1939), Belgian mathematician. He died less than 3 weeks before his 74th birthday.
2013~ Sir David Frost (né David Paradine Frost, b. Apr. 7, 1939), British journalist most famous for his interviews with U.S. President Richard Nixon. He was the master interviewer who got President Nixon to apologize. He died of a heart attack at age 74.
2011~ Betty Skelton Erde (né Betty Skelton; b. June 28, 1926), American aviatrix who raced into the record books. She held a land speed record and aerobatics pilot who set 17 aviation and automobile records. She helped create opportunities for women in aviation, auto racing, astronautics and advertising. She was born in Pensacola, Florida. She died at age 85.
2008~ Ike Pappas (né Icarus Nestor Pappas, b. Apr. 16, 1933), American journalist. He died of congestive heart failure at age 75.
2005~ Sir Joseph Rotblat (né Józef Rotblat, b. Nov. 4, 1908), Polish-English physicist and recipient of the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize. He was born in Warsaw, Poland, but left for England before the Holocaust. He had been recruited to work on the Manhattan Project, but left on grounds of conscience. In 1995, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in nuclear disarmament. He died at age 96.
2002~ George Porter, Baron Porter of Luddenham (b. Dec. 6, 1920), English chemist and recipient of the 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He died at age 81.
2002~ Lionel Hampton (néLionel Leo Hampton, b. Apr. 20, 1908), American jazz musician and bandleader. He died at age 94.
1997~ Diana, Princess of Wales (née Diana Frances Spencer, b. July 1, 1961), first wife of England’s Prince Charles and mother of Prince William and Prince Henry. She died at age 36 of injuries sustained in a car accident in Paris, France. The car she was in was driven by Henri Paul (1956 ~ 1997) and they were fleeing from the paparazzi.
1997~ Dodi Al-Fayed (b. Apr. 15, 1955), Egyptian lover of Diana, Princess of Wales. He was killed in the car crash that also killed the Princess. He died at age 42.
1986~ Urho Kekkonen (b. Sept. 3, 1900), President of Finland. He served as President from March 1956 through January 1982. He died 3 days before his 86th birthday.
1986~ Henry Moore (né Henry Spencer Moore, b. July 30, 1898), English sculptor. He died a month after his 88th birthday.
1985~ Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet (b. Sept. 3, 1899), Australian virologist and recipient of the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his contribution to the study of immunology. He died 3 days before his 86th birthday.
1979~ Sally Rand (née Hattie Helen Gould Beck, b. Apr. 3, 1904), American burlesque dancer. She died at age 75 from congestive heart failure.
1973~ John Ford (b. Feb. 1, 1894), American film director. He died of stomach cancer at age 79.
1969~ Rocky Marciano (né Rocco Francis Marchegiano, b. Sept. 1, 1923), American boxer. He was born in Brockton, Massachusetts. He was killed the day before his 46th birthday when the small plane he was in crashed.
1963~ Georges Braque (b. May 13, 1882), French artist, painter and sculptor. He died at age 81.
1945~ Stefan Banach (b. Mar. 30, 1892), Polish mathematician. He is considered to be the founder of modern functional analysis. He died of lung cancer at age 53.
1869~ Mary Ward (née Mary King, b. Apr. 27, 1827), Irish astronomer and entomologist. She was killed at age 42 when she fell under the wheels of an experimental steam vehicle.
1867~ Charles Baudelaire (né Charles Pierre Baudelaire, b. Apr. 9, 1821), French post, essayist and art critic. He was a pioneering translator of Edgar Allen Poe. He died at age 46.
1800~ John Blair, Jr. (b. Apr. 17, 1732), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was nominated by President George Washington, and was on the first High Court. He served on the Court from September 1789 until October 1975. He was replaced by Samuel Chase, who was also born on April 17. Blair died at age 68.
1654~ Ole Worm (b. May 13, 1588), Danish physician and historian. He died at age 66.
1422~ King Henry V of England (b. Aug. 9, 1386). He died of dysentery while in France. He was 36 years old. Upon his death, his infant son, Henry VI, became King of England.
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