September 6

Birthdays:

1972 ~ Irdris Elba (né Idrissa Akuna Elba), English actor.  He is best known for his role as Stringer on the cable television series The Wire.

1971 ~ Dolores O’Riordan (née Dolores Mary Eileen O’Riordan, d. Jan. 15, 2018), Irish Cranberries singer who battled depression.  She died unexpectedly at age 46.

1968 ~ Nelson de la Rosa (d. Oct. 22, 2006), Dominican-born little person who was the Boston Red Sox’s good luck charm.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 38 years old at the time of his death.

1964 ~ Rosie Perez (né Rosa María Perez), American actress.

1963 ~ Alice Sebold, American author best known for her novel, The Lovely Bones.

1962 ~ Chris Christie (né Christopher James Christie), 55th Governor of New Jersey and United States Presidential candidate in the 2016 Presidential run.

1958 ~ Jeff Foxworthy (né Jeffrey Marshall Foxworthy), American comedian.

1954 ~ Carly Firoina (née Carla Carleton Sneed), American businesswoman and politician.  She was a United States Presidential hopeful candidate in the 2016 presidential run.  Prior to that she was the Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard.

1947 ~ Jane Curtain (née Jane Theresa Curtain), American actress and comedian.  She was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1944 ~ Swoosie Kurtz, American actress.

1943 ~ Sir Richard J. Roberts (né Richard John Roberts), English biochemist and recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of introns in eukaryotic DNA and the mechanism of gene-splicing.

1943 ~ Roger Waters (né George Roger Waters), British musician and member of Pink Floyd.

1939 ~ Susumu Tonegawa, Japanese biologist and recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the genetic mechanism that produces antibody diversity.

1937 ~ Swami Bhaktipada (né Keith Gordon Ham; d. Oct. 24, 2011), American Hare Krishna errant swami of West Virginia.  He was 74 years old.

1937 ~ Jo Anne Worley, American actress best known for her role on Laugh-In.

1930 ~ Charles Foley (d. July 1, 2013), American game designer who broke taboos with his invention of the game Twister.  He died at age 82.

1928 ~ Niels Diffrient (d. June 8, 2013), the American industrial designer who wedded form to function.  He was an industrial engineer who was a pioneer in the field of ergonomics.  He died at age 84.

1928 ~ Robert M. Pirsig (né Robert Maynard Pirsig; d. Apr. 24, 2017), American author who philosophized about the open road.  He is best known for his first novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  He died at age 88 in South Berwick, Maine.

1921 ~ Norman Joseph Woodland (d. Dec. 9, 2012), American inventor and co-creator of the bar code, known as the Universal Product Code.  He died at age 91.

1919 ~ Wilson Greatbatch (d. Sept. 27, 2011), American engineer and inventor whose tinkering invented the pacemaker.  He died 3 weeks after his 92nd birthday.

1917 ~ Philipp Frieherr von Boeselager (d. May 1, 2008), German officer who involved in the July 20, 1944 Plot, which was a conspiracy among high-ranking Wehrmach officers to assassinate Hitler.  He died at age 90.

1916 ~ Robert N. Anthony (né Robert Newton Anthony; d. Dec. 1, 2006); American organizational theorist and professor of management control.  He was born in Orange, Massachusetts and died in Hanover, New Hampshire.  He died at age 90.

1906 ~ Luis Federico Leloir (d. Dec. 2, 1987), Argentine chemist and recipient of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 81.

1899 ~ Billy Rose (né William Samuel Rosenberg, d. Feb. 10, 1966), American composer and bandleader.  His first wife was married Fanny Brice.  He died of lobar pneumonia at age 66.

1893 ~ Claire Chennault (né Claire Lee Chennault, d. July 27, 1958), American military aviator.  The Chennault International Airport in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the former Chennault Air Force Base, is named in his honor.  He died of lung cancer in New Orleans, Louisiana at age 64.

1892 ~ Sir Edward Victor Appleton (d. Apr. 21, 1965), English physicist and recipient of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 72.

1888 ~ Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (né Joseph Patrick Kennedy, d. Nov. 18, 1969), American banker and diplomat and patriarch of the Kennedy clan.  He died at age 81.

1876 ~ John James Rickard Macleod (d. Mar. 16, 1935), Scottish physician and physiologist.  He was the recipient of the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He was the co-recipient of the Nobel Prize, along with Frederick Banting, for their discovery and isolation of insulin.  He died at age 58.

1860 ~ Jane Addams (d. May 21, 1935), American social worker and woman’s suffrage leader.  She was the co-founder of Hull House in Chicago.   In 1931, she became the first woman recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.  She died at age 74.

1859 ~ Boris Yakovlevich Bukreev (d. Oct. 2, 1962), Russian mathematician.  He died about a month after his 103rd birthday.

1857 ~ Zelia Nuttall (née Zelia Maria Magdalena Nuttall, d. Apr. 12, 1933), American archeologist and historian.  She died at age 75.

1829 ~ Maria Zakrzewska (née Maria Elizabeth Zakrzewska, d. May 12, 1902), German-born American physician.  She is best known for establishing the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston, Massachusetts.  She died in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts at age 72.

1766 ~ John Dalton (d. July 27, 1844), English physicist and chemist.  He is best known for his pioneering work in the development of modern atomic theory.  He died at age 77.

1757 ~ Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (né Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, d. May 20, 1834), French soldier and statesman.  He fought for American independence and was a leader in the French Revolution, which followed the American Revolutionary War.  He played a pivotal role in the American Revolutionary War.  He is known in the United States as simply Lafayette.  He died at age 76.

1729 ~ Moses Mendelssohn (d. Jan. 4, 1786), German-Jewish philosopher.  He died at age 56.

1666 ~ Tsar Ivan V of Russia (d. Feb. 8, 1696).  He ruled Russia jointly with his younger half-brother, Peter I.  He was Czar from May 1682 until his death in February 1969.  He was 29 years old at the time of his death.

Events that Changed the World:

1997 ~ The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales.

1991 ~ The name, St. Petersburg, was restored to the Russian city that had been known as Leningrad since 1924.

1986 ~ Two terrorists from Abu Nidal’s organization entered the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, Turkey during Shabbat services and killed 22 worshipers.

1955 ~ Istanbul’s Greek, Jewish and Armenian minority became the target of a government-sponsored pogram.

1940 ~ King Carol II of Romania (1893 ~ 1953) abdicated the throne due to protests from his countrymen.  He was succeeded by his son, Michael I (1921 ~ 2017).  Michael reigned until December 1947, when he was forced to abdicate for political reasons, and lived in exile.  Following the collapse of communism in Romania, Michael returned to Romania.

1930 ~ Argentine President Hipólito Yrigoyen (1852 ~ 1933) was deposed in a military coup.

1916 ~ The first self-service grocery store opened in the United States.  It was a Piggly-Wiggly in Memphis, Tennessee.  Its headquarters in now located in Keene, New Hampshire.

1901 ~ Six months into his second term, an assassination attempt was made on President William McKinley (1843 ~ 1901), by anarchist Leon Czolgosz (1873 ~ 1901).  McKinley would die from his wounds less than 2 weeks later.  Czolgosz was immediately arrested and tried.  He was convicted of murder on September 24 and executed on October 29, just 45 days after President McKinley’s death.

1870 ~ Louisa Ann Swain (1801 ~ 1880) of Laramie, Wyoming became the first woman in the United States to legally cast a vote in a general election.

1861 ~ During the American Civil War, Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant (1822 ~ 1885) captured Paducah, Kentucky, giving the Union control of the mouth of the Tennessee River.

1803 ~ John Dalton (1766 ~ 1844) began using symbols to represent atom of the different elements.

1628 ~ The Massachusetts Bay Colony was established.

1620 ~ In accordance with the Gregorian calendar, the Pilgrims set sail from Plymouth, England on the Mayflower to settle in the new World.  They anticipated arriving in the Virginia territory.  Under the Julian calendar, the date for the initiation of the sail would be considered September 16.

1522 ~ The only surviving ship, the Victoria, from Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition returned to Spain.  The Victoria was the first ship to successfully circumnavigate the world.

Good-Byes:

2018 ~ Burt Reynolds (né Burton Leon Reynolds, Jr.; b. Feb. 11, 1936), American Hollywood heartthrob who played it for laughs.  He died of cardiac arrest at age 82.

2018 ~ Richard DeVos, Sr. (né Richard Marvin DeVos; b. Mar. 4, 1926), American Amway founder who bankrolled conservative causes.  He died at age 92.  His daughter-in-law, Elizabeth DeVos, was the United States Secretary of Education during the Donald Trump administration.  

2017 ~ Lofti Zadeh (b. Feb. 4, 1921), Iranian mathematician and computer scientist.  He died at age 96.

2012 ~ Jake Eberts (né John David Eberts, b. July 10, 1941), Canadian film producer who aimed high for Oscar glory.  He produced such films as Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Driving Miss Daisy and Dances with Wolves.  He died of melanoma at age 71.

2012 ~ Art Modell (né Arthur Bertram Modell, b. June 23, 1925), American NFL owner of the Cleveland Browns that the people of Cleveland loved to hate.  He died at age 87.

2012 ~ Jerome Horwitz (né Jerome Phillip Horwitz, b. Jan. 16, 1919), American scientist who unwittingly created a treatment for AIDS.  He developed the compound zidovudine, known as AZT.  He died at age 93.

2011 ~ Michael S. Hart (né Michael Stern Hart, b. Mar. 8, 1947), American digital rebel who invented the e-book.  He was the founder of Project Gutenberg.  He died of a heart attack at age 64.

2011 ~ Wardell Quezergue (né Wardell Joseph Quezergue, b. Mar. 12, 1930), American “Creole Beethoven” of New Orleans, Louisiana.  He was born and died in New Orleans.  He died at age 81.

2009 ~ Catherine Gaskin (b. Apr. 2, 1929), Irish-Australian romance novelist.  She died at age 80 of ovarian cancer.

2007 ~ Luciano Pavarotti (b. Oct. 12, 1935), Italian tenor.  He died of pancreatic cancer at age 71 years old.

2007 ~ Madeleine L’Engle (née Madeleine L’Engle Camp; b. Nov. 29, 1918), American author, best known for her children’s novel, A Wrinkle in Time.  She died at age 88.

2001 ~ Iosif Vorovich (b. June 21, 1920), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 81.

1998 ~ Akira Kurasawa (b. Mar. 23, 1910), Japanese film director.  He is best known for his film, Seven Samurai.  He died of a stroke at age 88.

1994 ~ James Clavell (né Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell, b. Oct. 10, 1924), Australian-born author and novelist.  He is best known for his Asian Saga series, which included Tai-Pan and Shōgun.  He was 72 years old.

1990 ~ Tom Fogerty (né Thomas Richard Fogerty, b. Nov. 9, 1941), American singer and guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revival.  He died at age 48.

1985 ~ Rodney Robert Porter (b. Oct. 8, 1917), English biochemist and recipient of the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died about a month before his 68th birthday.

1978 ~ Adolf Dassler (b. Nov. 3, 1900), German founder of Adidas, the sports gear company.  He was the younger brother of Rudolf Dassler, the founder of Puma.  Adolf died at age 77.

1972 ~ Victims of the Summer Olympic Munich massacre:

• Mark Slavin (b. Jan. 31, 1954), Russian-born Israeli wrestler.  He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  He died at age 18.

• Eliezer Halfin (b. June 18, 1948), Russian-born Israeli wrestler.  He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  He was 24 years old.

• Andre Spitzer (b. July 4, 1945), Romanian-born Israeli fencing master and coach.  He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  He died at age 27.

• David Berger (né David Mark Berger, b. May 24, 1944), American-born Israeli weightlifter.  He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  He died at age 28.

• Ze’ev Friedman (b. June 10, 1944), Polish-Israeli weightlifter.  He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  He was 28 years old.

• Amitzur Shapira (b. July 9, 1932), Israeli short-distance runner and coach.  He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  He died at age 40.

• Yossef Gutfreund (b. Dec. 20, 1931), Israeli wrestling judge.  He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  He died at age 40.

• Yakov Springer (b. 1921), Polish-born Israeli wrestler and weighlifting coach.  He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  The exact day of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been 51 years old.

• Kehat Shorr (b. Feb. 21, 1919), Romanian-born Israeli shooting coach.  He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  He was killed at age 53.

1966 ~ Hendrick Verwoerd (b. Sept. 8, 1901), 7th Prime Minister of South Africa.  He was best known for creating and implementing Apartheid in his country.  He was stabbed to death 2 days before his 65th birthday during a parliamentary meeting.

1966 ~ Margaret Sanger (née Margaret Louise Higgins, b. Sept. 14, 1879), American birth control activist.  She died a week before her 87th birthday.

1956 ~ Witold Hurewics (b. June 29, 1904), Polish mathematician.  He died at age 52 from a fall from a Mayan step pyramid in Mexico City.

1907 ~ Sully Prudhomme (né René François Armand Sully Prudhomme, b. Mar. 16, 1839), French poet and recipient of the first Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded in 1901.  He died at age 68.

1869 ~ John Rawlins (né John Aaron Rawlins; b. Feb. 13, 1831), 29th Secretary of War.  He served under President Ulysses S. Grant from March 1869 until his death 6 months later.  He died of tuberculosis at age 38.

1868 ~ Pierre Adolphe Rost (b. 1797), Louisiana judge and Confederate Commissioner.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

1782 ~ Martha Skelton Jefferson (née Martha Wayles; b. Oct. 30, 1748), wife of Thomas Jefferson.  Jefferson was her second husband as her first husband had died young.  She died at age 33 shortly after having given birth to her 7th child.  She is believed to have died due to complications of diabetes combined with childbirth.  Because she died nearly 19 years before Jefferson became President, she was never the American First Lady.

1724 ~ Jonathan Singletary Dunham (b. Jan. 17, 1640), Early American settler.  Although born in what is now Massachusetts, he settled with his family in what is now New Jersey.  He was the 8th great-grandfather of President Barack Obama.  He died at age 84.

1649 ~ Sir Robert Dudley (b. Aug. 7, 1574), British explorer and geographer.  He died a month after his 75th birthday.

1635 ~ Metius (né Adriaan Adriaanszoon, b. Dec. 9, 1571), Dutch mathematician and astronomer.  He died at age 63.

1566 ~ Suleiman the Magnificent (b. Nov. 6, 1494), Ottoman sultan.  He died at age 71.

972 ~ Pope John XIII (né Giovanni Crescentius).  He was Pope from October 1, 965 until his death on this date 7 years later.  The date of his birth is unknown.