March 20

Birthdays:

1976 ~ Chester Bennington (né Chester Charles Bennington; d. July 20, 2017), American rock singer who struggled with is demons.  He was the frontman for the band Linkin Park.  He died by suicide at age 41.

1959 ~ Mary Roach, American author.  She was born in Hanover, New Hampshire.

1958 ~ Holly Hunter, American actress.  She was born in Conyers, Georgia.

1957 ~ Spike Lee (né Shelton Jackson Lee), American film director.  He was born in Atlanta, Georgia.

1957 ~ Theresa Russell (né Theresa Lynn Paup), American actress.  She was born in San Diego, California.

1950 ~ William Hurt (né William McChord Hurt), American actor.  He was born in Washington, D.C.

1948 ~ Bobby Orr (né Robert Gordon Orr), Canadian ice hockey player.  He had a long career with the Boston Bruins.  He was born in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada.

1945 ~ Pat Riley (né Patrick James Riley), American basketball player and coach.  He was born in Rome, New York.

1940 ~ Mary Ellen Mark (d. May 25, 2015), American photojournalist who documented outcasts.  She was 75 years old.

1938 ~ Sergei Novikov, Russian mathematician.  He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1970.  He was born in Gorky, Soviet Union, now know as Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.

1937 ~ Lois Lowry (née Lois Ann Hammersberg), American writer of children’s literature.  She was the recipient of the 1990 and 1194 Newbery Medal.  She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii.

1935 ~ Bettye Washington Green (d. June 16, 1995), African-American chemist.  She worked at the Dow Chemical Company where she researched latex and polymers.  She earned her Ph.D at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.  She was born in Fort Worth, Texas.  She died at age 60 in Midland, Michigan.

1934 ~ Willie Brown (né Willie Lewis Brown, Jr.), 41^st Mayor of San Francisco.  He served as Mayor from January 1996 until January 2004.  He was born in Mineola, Texas.

1931 ~ Hal Linden (né Harold Lipshitz), American actor.  He was born in New York, New York.

1928 ~ Fred Rogers (né Fred McFeely Rogers; d. Feb. 27, 2003), American minister and host to a children’s educational TV show.  He died of stomach cancer less than a month before his 75^th birthday.

1926 ~ Harold Rosen (d. Jan. 30, 2017), American satellite pioneer who got the world talking.  He was known as the Father of the Communication Satellite.  He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.  He died at age 90 of complications of a stroke in Los Angeles, California.

1925 ~ John Ehrlichman (né John Daniel Ehrlichman; d. Feb. 14, 1999), key figure in the events leading to the Watergate scandal that brought down the Nixon administration.  He was also the 12^th White House Counsel and served during the Nixon Administration.  He died of complications from diabetes at age 73.

1922 ~ Carl Reiner, American film director and comedian.  He was born in The Bronx, New York.

1921 ~ Alfréd Rényi (d. Feb. 1, 1970), Hungarian mathematician.  He is best known for his contributions to probability theory.  He died at age 48.

1917 ~ Yigael Yadin (d. June 28, 1984), Israeli archeologist, general and politician.  He died at age 67.

1911 ~ Alfonso García Robles (d. Sept. 2, 1991), Mexican diplomat and recipient of the 1982 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 80.

1908 ~ Sir Michael Redgrave (né Michael Scudamore Redgrave; d. Mar. 21, 1985), English actor.  He died of Parkinson’s disease 1 day after his 77^th birthday.

1906 ~ Ozzie Nelson (né Oswald George Nelson; d. June 3, 1975), American bandleader and actor.  He died of liver cancer at age 69.

1906 ~ Abe Beame (né Abraham David Beame; d. Feb. 10, 2001), 104^th Mayor of New York City.  He served as Mayor from January 1974 through December 1977.  He died at age 94.

1904 ~ B.F. Skinner (né Burrhus Frederick Skinner; d. Aug. 18, 1990), American psychologist.  He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts at age 86.

1886 ~ Grace Brown (née Grace Mae Brown; d. July 11, 1906), American factory worker and murder victim who inspired Theodore Dreiser’s novel, An American Tragedy.  She died at age 20.

1884 ~ Philipp Frank (d. July 21, 1966), Austrian-American physicist and mathematician.  He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts at age 82.

1882 ~ René Coty (né Jules Gustave René Coty; d. Nov. 22, 1962), 2^nd and last President of Fourth French Republic. He served as President from January 1954 until January 1959.  He died at age 80.

1879 ~ Maud Menten (née Maud Leonora Menten; d. July 26, 1960), Canadian physician and biochemist.  She made significant contributions to the study of enzyme kinetics and histochemistry.  She died at age 81.

1840 ~ Franz Mertens (d. Mar. 5, 1927), Polish mathematician.  He died 15 days before his 87^th birthday.

1834 ~ Charles William Eliot (d. Aug. 22, 1926), American mathematician.  He was the 21^st President of Harvard University.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Northeast Harbor, Maine at age 92.

1828 ~ Henrik Ibsen (né Henrick Johan Ibsen; d. May 23, 1906), Norwegian playwright and poet.  He died at age 78.

1811 ~ Napoleon II (d. July 22, 1832), French emperor.  He ruled for less than a month: from June 22, 1815 until July 7, 1815.  He died of tuberculosis at age 21.

1770 ~ Friedrich Hölderlin (née Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin; d. June 7, 1843), German poet.  He was born in Lauffen am Nackar, Germany.  He died at age 73.

1612 ~ Anne Bradstreet (née Anne Dudley; d. Sept. 16, 1672), Puritan American poet.  She died in what is now North Andover, Massachusetts, at age 60.

1469 ~ Cecily of York (d. Aug. 24, 1507), English princess and daughter of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville.  She died at age 38.

43 BCE ~ Ovid (d. 17), Roman poet.  This is the traditional date ascribed to his birth.  He is believed to have been about 58 or 60 at the time of his death.

Events that Changed the World:

2015 ~ A Solar eclipse, equinox and a Supermoon all occurred on this date.

2003 ~ The United States began its military invasion of Iraq.

1995 ~ A religious cult launched a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, killing 12 and sickening thousands.

1987 ~ The United States Food and Drug Administration approved use of AZT, and anti-AIDS drug.

1985 ~ Libby Riddles (b. 1956) became the first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

1956 ~ Tunisia gained its independence from France.

1952 ~ The United States Senate ratified a peace treaty with Japan following World War II.

1915 ~ Albert Einstein (1879 ~ 1955) published his general theory of relativity.

1896 ~ Chinese Emperor Guangxu (1871 ~ 1908) approved the Qing dynasty post office, marking the beginning of postal service in China.

1861 ~ An earthquake destroyed Mendoza, Argentina.

1854 ~ The Republican Party in the United States was organized in Ripon, Wisconsin.

1852 ~ Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 ~ 1896), was published.

1760 ~ The Great Fire of Boston, Massachusetts destroyed 349 buildings.

1616 ~ Sir Walter Raleigh (1552 ~ 1618) was released from the Tower of London after being imprisoned for 13 years.  He had been charged and convicted of treason for his involvement in the plot against Queen Elizabeth’s successor, King James I (1566 ~ 1625).

1602 ~ The Dutch East India Company was established.

Good-Byes:

2012 ~ Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg (b. Oct. 1, 1910), Polish-born Israeli rabbi and scholar.  He died at age 101.

2010 ~ Stewart Udall (né Stewart Lee Udall; b. Jan. 31, 1920), 37^th United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from January 1961 until January 1969.  He had also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona.  He died at age 90.

2004 ~ Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (née Juliana Louise Emma Marie Whlhelmina; b. Apr. 30, 1909).  She reigned as Queen from September 1948 until April 1980, her 61^st birthday, when she abdicated the throne in favor or her daughter, Wilhelmina.  She died at age 94.

1997 ~ Sir V.S. Pritchett (né Victor Sawdon Prichett; b. Dec. 16, 1900), British writer and literary critic.  He died of a stroke at age 96.

1994 ~ Lewis Grizzard (né Lewis McDonald Grizzard, Jr.; b. Oct. 20, 1946), American humorist.  He died at age 47 of complications following heart surgery.

1993 ~ Polykarp Kusch (b. Jan. 26, 1911), German-born American physicist and recipient of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 82.

1983 ~ Ivan Matveyevich Vinogradov (b. Sept. 14, 1891), Russian mathematician.  He died at age 91.

1974 ~ Chet Huntley (né Chester Robert Huntley; b. Dec. 10, 1911), American television journalist.  He died of lung cancer at age 62.

1619 ~ Mathias, Holy Roman Emperor (b. Feb. 24, 1557).  He reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from June 1612 until March 20, 1619.  He also reigned as the King of Bohemia from March 1611 until May 1617.  He died about a month after his 62^nd birthday.

1617 ~ François d’Aguilon (b. Jan. 4, 1567), Belgian Jesuit priest and mathematician.  He was born in Brussels, Belgium.  He died at age 50 in Anwerp, Belgium.

1413 ~ King Henry IV of England (b. Apr. 15, 1367).  He was king from September 1399 until his death on this date 13 years later.  He died less than a month before 46^th birthday.

1190 ~ Pope Clement III (né Paulino Scolari; b. 1130).  He was Pope from December 1187 until his death on this date just over 2 years later.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.