Birthdays:
1980 ~ Lin-Manuel Miranda, American playwright and composer best known for his production of Hamilton. He was born in New York City.
1974 ~ Kate Moss (née Katherine Ann Moss), English fashion model. She was born in London, England.
1959 ~ Sade (née Helen Folasade Adu), Nigerian-born singer. She was born in Ibadan, Nigeria.
1950 ~ Debbie Allen (née Deborah Kaye Allen), African-American choreographer. She was born in Houston, Texas.
1948 ~ Ruth Reichl, American chef and food writer. She was born in New York City.
1933 ~ Susan Sontag (née Susan Rosenblatt; d. Dec. 28, 2004), New York intellectual who became a celebrity. She was an author, filmmaker and political activist. She died of blood cancer 19 days before her 72nd birthday.
1932 ~ Dian Fossey (d. Dec. 26, 1985), American gorilla specialist. She was murdered by poachers in Africa. The exact date of her murder is not known, but it is believed to have been on December 26, 1985. Her body was found on the morning of December 27. She died 3 weeks before her 54th birthday.
1925 ~ J. Robinson Risner (né James Robinson Risner, d. Oct. 22, 2013), American ace pilot who led the Hanoi Hilton POWs during the Vietnam War. He died at age 88.
1924 ~ Katy Jurado (née María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García; d. July 5, 2002), Mexican actress. She made 72 films during her career. She died of kidney failure and pulmonary disease at age 78.
1921 ~ Francesco Scavullo (d. Jan. 6, 2004), American fashion photographer. He died 10 days before his 83rdbirthday.
1919 ~ Jerome Horwitz (né Jerome Phillip Horwitz; d. Sept. 6, 2012), American scientist who unwittingly created a treatment for AIDS. He developed the compound zidovudine, known as AZT. He died at age 93.
1911 ~ Eduardo Montalva (né Eduardo Nicanor Frei Montalva; d. Jan. 22, 1982), President of Chile. He served as President from November 1964 until November 1970. He died 6 days after his 71st birthday.
1910 ~ Dizzy Dean (né Jay Hanna Dean; d. July 17, 1974), American baseball player. He died at age 64 of a heart attack.
1908 ~ Ethel Merman (née Ethel Agnes Zimmerman; d. Feb. 15, 1984), American actress and singer. She died of brain cancer a month after her 76th birthday.
1907 ~ Paul Nitze (né Paul Henry Nitze; d. Oct. 19, 2004), 10th United States Secretary of the Navy. He served under President Lyndon Johnson from November 1963 until June 1967. He helped shape the Cold War defense policy. He was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. He died at age 97.
1901 ~ Fulgencio Batista (né Rubén Zaldívar; d. Aug. 6, 1973), Cuban military leader and President of Cuba he was overthrown in the Cuban Revolution in 1959. He died of a heart attack at age 72.
1901 ~ Frank Zamboni (né Frank Joseph Zamboni, Jr.; d. July 27, 1988), American inventor of the ice re-surfacer that smoothes the ice for hockey and skating rinks. The ice re-surfacer that clears the ice on skating rinks was named after him. He died at age 87.
1885 ~ Michel Plancherel (d. Mar. 4, 1967), Swiss mathematician. He died at age 82.
1853 ~ André Michelin (né André Jules Michelin; d. Apr. 4, 1931), French industrialist. He co-founded, along with his brother, the Michelin Tire Company. He published the first Michelin Guide, which was designed to promote his tire company. He died at age 78.
1825 ~ George Pickett (né George Edward Pickett; d. July 30, 1875), General in the Confederate Army. He died at age 50.
1821 ~ John C. Breckinridge (né John Cabell Breckinridge; d. May 17, 1874), 14th Vice President of the United States. He served under President James Buchanan from March 1857 until March 1861. He was from the State of Kentucky. He went on to become a general in the Confederate Army. He was then appointed to serve as the Confederate States Secretary of War. He died at age 54 following complications of surgery.
1728 ~ Niccolò Piccinni (d. May 7, 1800), Italian composer. He died at age 72.
972 ~ Sheng Zong (d. June 25, 1031), 6th Chinese Emperor of the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty. He ruled from October 982 until his death 49 years later. He died at age 59.
Events that Changed the World:
2017 ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. Day observed.
2006 ~ Ellen Sirleaf (b. 1938) became the first female elected head of state in Africa when she was sworn in as the President of Liberia. She served in that office until January 2018.
2003 ~ The Space Shuttle Columbia took off on its final mission. It disintegrated upon re-entry 16 days later, on February 1.
1979 ~ Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919 ~ 1980), the Shah of Iran and his family fled from Iran and relocated in Egypt.
1969 ~ Czech student Jan Palach (1948 ~ 1969) committed self-immolation in Prague in protest against the Soviet’s crushing of the Prague Spring. He would die of his burns three days later.
1964 ~ Hello, Dolly!, the musical starring Carol Channing (1921 ~ 2019), opened on Broadway. It ran for over 2,800 performances.
1920 ~ The League of Nations held its first council meeting in Paris, France.
1919 ~ The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, which authorized Prohibition one year after its ratification.
1909 ~ Ernest Shackleton’s expedition located the magnetic South Pole.
1883 ~ The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which established the United States Civil Service, was passed by Congress.
1547 ~ Ivan IV (1530 ~ 1584), also known as Ivan the Terrible, became 1st Tsar of Russia. Prior to this, the country was governed via the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
1412 ~ The Medici family was appointed the official banker of the Papacy.
1120 ~ The Council of Nablus was held, which established the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Good-Byes:
2019 ~ John C. Bogle (né John Clifton Bogle; b. May 9, 1929), American investor who stood for the little guy. He was the founder and chief executive of The Vanguard Group. In 1996, at age 66, he had a heart transplant. He died at age 89.
2017 ~ Eugene Cernan (né Eugene Andrew Cernan; b. Mar. 14, 1934), American pilot and astronaut who became the last man to walk on the moon. He died at age 82.
2014 ~ Hiroo Onoda (b. Mar. 19, 1922), Japanese soldier who refused to surrender in 1945 following World War II. It was not until 1974 that his former commander personally issued orders relieving him from his duties. He died at age 91.
2013 ~ André Cassagnes (b. Sept. 23, 1926), French toymaker and creator of the Etch-A-Sketch. He died at age 86.
2013 ~ Abigail Van Buren (née Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips, b. July 4, 1918), American advice columnist known to readers as Dear Abby. She counseled millions with her advice. Her identical twin sister, Ann Landers (née Esther “Eppie” Pauline Friedman Lederer; b. July 4, 1918), was also an advice columnist. Esther Friedman (Ann Landers) died on June 22, 2012, just 12 days before her 84th birthday. Pauline Esther Friedman (Dear Abby) died at age 94.
2010 ~ Glen Bell (né Glen William Bell, Jr., b. Sept. 3, 1923), American businessman and founder of Taco Bell restaurants. He died at age 86.
2009 ~ Andrew Wyeth (né Andrew Newell Wyeth; b. July 12, 1917), American artist who painted the American psyche. He died at age 91 and is buried in Cushing, Maine.
1986 ~ Herbert W. Armstrong (b. July 31, 1892), American evangelist. He was an early pioneer in radio and televanglism. He died at age 93.
1974 ~ Fred Seaton (né Frederick Andrew Seaton; b. Dec. 11, 1909), 36th United States Secretary of the Interior. He served under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He served in this office from June 1956 until January 1961. He had previously served as a United States Senator from Nebraska. He died just over a month after his 64th birthday.
1967 ~ Robert J. Van de Graaff (né Robert Jamison Van de Graaff; b. Dec. 20, 1901), American physicist and inventor of the Van de Graaff generator. He died in Boston, Massachusetts 27 days after his 65th birthday.
1957 ~ Arturo Toscanini (b. Mar. 25, 1867), Italian musician and conductor. He died at age 89.
1942 ~ Carole Lombard (née Jane Alice Peters; b. Oct. 6, 1908), American actress who was killed when the plane in which she was a passenger crashed. She was married to Clark Gable. She was 33 at the time of her death.
1942 ~ Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (b. May 1, 1850), seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He served as the 10th Governor General of Canada and the only British prince to hold this office. He was married to Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia (1860 ~ 1917).
1935 ~ Ma Barker (née Kate Clark aka Arizona Donnie Clark, b. Oct. 8, 1873), mother of several criminals who ran the Barker gang, including her son, Fred Barker (1901 ~ 1935), who was killed along with her in a shoot-out with the FBI in Florida. She was 61 at the time of her death. According to the book Public Enemies, by Bryan Burrough, she may not have been the genius behind the criminal activities of her sons.
1917 ~ George Dewey (b. Dec. 26, 1837), American naval officer who became known as the hero of Manila during the Spanish-American War in 1898. He was born in Montpelier, Vermont. He died 3 weeks after his 79th birthday.
1906 ~ Marshall Field (b. Aug. 18, 1834), American merchant and founder of Marshall Field’s and Company, a famous department store in Chicago. He was born in Massachusetts. He died at age 71 from pneumonia.
1834 ~ Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette (b. May 6, 1769), French mathematician. He died at age 64.
1817 ~ Alexander J. Dallas (né Alexander James Dallas; b. June 21, 1759), 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury. He served under President James Madison. He served in this Office from October 1814 through October 1816. He was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He died at age 57.
1794 ~ Edward Gibbon (b. May 8, 1737), English historian best known for his six-volume work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He died at age 56.
1598 ~ Feodor I of Russia (b. May 31, 1557). He was the Tsar of All Rus’ from March 1584 until his death in January 1598. He is believed to have been about 40 years old at the time of his death as the exact date of his birth is unknown, although it is often considered to have been May 31, 1557.
1387 ~ Elizabeth of Bosnia (b. 1339). She was the Queen consort of Hungary and Croatia and wife of Louis I, King of Hungary and Poland. The exact date of her birth is unknown, but she is believed to have been about 47 at the time of her death. She was murdered during an uprising.
309 ~ Pope Marcellus I (b. Jan. 6, 255), Pope from May 308 until his death in January 309. He died 10 days after his 54th birthday.
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