June 12

Birthdays:

1957 ~ Timothy Busfield (né Timothy Clark Busfield), American actor.  He was born in Lansing, Michigan.

1952 ~ Spencer Abraham (né Edward Spencer Abraham), 10^th United States Secretary of Energy.  He served in this position under President George W. Bush from January 2001 until January 2005.  He was born in East Lansing, Michigan.

1950 ~ Richard Ben Cramer (d. Jan. 7, 2013), American political journalist and author.  He was born in Rochester, New York.  He died of lung cancer at age 62 in Baltimore, Maryland.

1942 ~ Bert Sakmann, German cell physiologist and recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He was born in Stuttgart, Germany.

1941 ~ Chick Corea (né Armando Anthony Corea), American jazz and fusion pianist and composer.  He was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

1937 ~ Vladimir Arnold (d. June 3, 2010), Russian-born mathematician.  He died 9 days before his 73^rd birthday.

1931 ~ Rona Jaffe (d. Dec. 30, 2005), American writer.  She died of cancer at age 74.

1930 ~ Jim Nabors (né James Thurston Nabors, d. Nov. 30, 2017), American actor who played TV’s most lovable klutz.  He is best known for his portrayal of Gomer Pyle, who appeared first on the Andy Griffith Show, then became a spin-off.  He died at age 87.

1929 ~ Anne Frank (née Annelies Marie Frank, d. 1945), German-Jewish girl who wrote a diary while hiding from the Nazis during World War II.  She received a diary for her thirteenth birthday.  She and her family were ultimately caught and sent to the Belsen concentration camp where she died.  The exact date of her death is unknown, but she perished in the concentration camp in either February or March 1945.  She was 15 years old at the time of her death.

1929 ~ Lefty Rosenthal (né Frank Lawrence Rosenthal; d. Oct. 13, 2008), American Las Vegas gambler who survived a car bombing.  He was a professional sports better and organized crime associate.  In 1982, he survived an assassination attempt when a car bomb detonated when he started his Cadillac.  He was the inspiration for Martin Scorsese’s film, Casino.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He died of a heart attack at age 79 in Miami Beach, Florida.

1928 ~ Vic Damone (né Voto Rocco Farinola; d. Feb. 11, 2018), the American velvet-voiced crooner who wowed Frank Sinatra.  He died at age 89.

1925 ~ Adele Morales Mailer (née Adele Carolyn Morales; d. Nov. 22, 2015), American artist who was stabbed by her author husband, Norman Mailer.  She was his second wife.  She was born and died in New York, New York.  She died of pneumonia at age 90.

1924 ~ George H.W. Bush (né George Herbert Walker Bush; d. Nov. 30, 2018), 41^st President of the United States.  He served as President from January 1989 until January 1993.  He was the war hero and president who stood tall on the world stage.  He was born in Milton, Massachusetts.  He died in Houston, Texas at age 94.

1919 ~ Uta Hagen (née Uta Thyra Hagen; d. Jan. 14, 2004), German-born American actress.  She died at age 84.

1918 ~ C.J. Eliezer (né Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer; d. Mar. 10, 2001), Sri Lankan-born mathematician.  He died at age 82 in Melbourne, Australia.

1899 ~ Weegee (né Ascher Fellig; d. Dec. 26, 1968), Ukrainian-born American photographer.  He died at age 69.

1899 ~ Fritz Albert Lipmann (d. July 24, 1986), German-American biochemist and recipient of the 1953 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 87.

1897 ~ Anthony Eden, 1^st Earl of Avon (né Robert Anthony Eden; d. Jan. 14, 1977), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister from April 1955 until January 1957.  He died at age 79.

1888 ~ Zygmunt Janiszweski (d. Jan. 3, 1920), Polish mathematician.  He died at age 31 of influenza.

1827 ~ Johanna Spyri (née Johanna Louise Heusser; d. July 7, 1901), Swiss writer best known for her children’s book, Heidi.  She died about 3 weeks after her 74^th birthday.

1806 ~ John A. Roebling (né Johann August Röbling; d. July 22, 1869), German-American engineer.  He was the designer of the Brooklyn Bridge.  He died of tetanus at age 63.

1577 ~ Paul Guldin (né Habakkuk Guldin; d. Nov. 3, 1643), Swiss astronomer and mathematician.  He died at age 66.

1519 ~ Cosimo I de’Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. Apr. 21, 1547).  He died at age 54.

1107 ~ Gao Zong (d. Nov. 9, 1187), 10^th Chinese Emperor of the Song dynasty.  He reigned from his 20^th birthday in 1027 until March 1129, when he abdicated the throne in favor of his son.  He died at age 80.

Events that Changed the World:

2017 ~ American student Otto Warmbier (1994 ~ 2017), who had been arrested in North Korea for allegedly stealing a poster and sentenced to death, was returned to the United States.  He was in a coma and died 7 days after his return.

2016 ~ In Orlando, Florida a lone gunman rampaged an attack on a gay nightclub, which killed 49 people and injured over 50 others.

1997 ~ Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926) of Great Britain reopened the Shakespeare Globe Theater in London.

1994 ~ Nicole Brown Simpson (1959 ~ 1994) and her friend Ronald Goldman (1968 ~ 1994) were murdered outside her home in Los Angeles, California.  Nicole’s ex-husband, O.J. Simpson (b. 1947), was accused of their murders, but was later acquitted of murder.  Simpson was, however, held liable in the accompanying civil suit.

1991 ~ Boris Yeltsin (1931 ~ 2007) was the first democratically elected as the President of the Russian Republic.

1987 ~ United States President Ronald Reagan (1911 ~ 2004) challenged Russian Premier Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931) to tear down the Berlin Wall.

1978 ~ David Berkowitz (b. 1953), the “Son of Sam” killer was sentenced to 365 years in prison for the murder of at least 6 individuals.

1972 ~ The fast food restaurant chain Popeyes was founded in Arabi, Louisiana.

1967 ~ The United States Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Loving v. Virginia, which declared laws prohibiting interracial marriage were unconstitutional.  This event was depicted in the 2016 movie Loving.  Chief Justice Earl Warren drafted the unanimous decision.

1964 ~ Nelson Mandela (1918 ~ 2013), an anti-apartheid activist, was sentenced to life in prison for sabotage in South Africa.  He served 27 years in prison before being released.  He went on to become President of South Africa.

1963 ~ Medgar Evers (1925 ~ 1963), an African-American civil rights leader, was killed in Jackson, Mississippi by Ku Klux Klan member Byron de la Beckwith (1920 ~ 2001).  It would be nearly 40 years later before Beckwith was brought to justice.

1943 ~ German liquidated the Jewish Ghetto in Berezhany, the Ukraine.  Over 1180 Jews were lead to the city’s Jewish cemetery where they were shot and killed.

1939 ~ The Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, New York.

1898 ~ The Philippines gained its independence from Spain.

1860 ~ The State Bank of the Russian Empire was established.

1775 ~ During the American Revolutionary War, British General Thomas Gage (1718 ~ 1787) declared martial law in Massachusetts.  The British agreed to offer a pardon to all colonists who laid down their arms.  Only Samuel Adams (1722 ~ 1803) and John Hancock (1737 ~ 1793) would not be granted this amnesty.  If they had been captured, the British would have had them hanged for treason.

1665 ~ England installed a municipal government in New York City, the former Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam.  Thomas Willett (1605 ~ 1674) became the City’s first mayor.

1550 ~ The city of Helsinki, in what is now Finland, was founded by King Gustav I of Sweden (1496 ~ 1560).  At the time, Helsinki was a part of Sweden.

1429 ~ Joan of Arc (1412 ~ 1431) lead the French army in the second day of the Battle of Jargeau during the Hundred Year’s War.  The French captured the English commander, William de la Pole, 1^st Duke of Suffolk (1396 ~ 1450).

Good-Byes:

2019 ~ Sylvia Miles (née Sylvia Lee; b. Sept. 9, 1924), American actress and scene-stealer who never missed a party.  She was born and died in New York, New York.  She died at age 94.

2012 ~ Elinor Ostrom (née Elinor Claire Awan; b. Aug. 7, 1933), American economist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science.  She died of cancer at age 78.

2012 ~ Henry Hill, Jr. (b. June 11, 1943), American mobster turned State’s witness.  He died of heart disease 1 day after his 69^th birthday.

2011 ~ Geoffrey Fisken (né Geoffrey Bryson Fisken; b. Feb. 17, 1916), New Zealander sheep farmer who became a flying ace during World War II.  He died at age 95.

2003 ~ Gregory Peck (né Eldred Gregory Peck; b. Apr. 5, 1916), American actor, best known for his role as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.  He died at age 87 of bronchopneumonia.

2002 ~ Bill Blass (né William Ralph Blass; b. June 22, 1922), American fashion designer.  He died of throat cancer 10 days before his 80^th birthday.

1994 ~ Nicole Brown Simpson (née Nicole Brown; b. May 19, 1959), former wife of O.J. Simpson and murder victim.  She was born in Frankfurt, Germany.  She was killed less than a month after her 35^th birthday in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California.

1994 ~ Menachem Mendel Schneerson (b. Apr. 18, 1902), Russian-born Lubavitcher Rebbe.  He was the last rebbe of the Lubavitcher Hasidic dynasty.  He died at age 92.

1983 ~ Norma Shearer (née Edith Norma Shearer; b. Aug. 11, 1902), American actress.  She died of bronchial pneumonia at age 80.

1982 ~ Karl von Frisch (b. Nov. 20, 1886), Austrian ethologist and zoologist.  He was the recipient of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He studied the sensory perceptions of the honeybee.  He died at age 95.

1972 ~ Edmund Wilson (b. May 8, 1895), American writer and literary critic.  He was born in Red Bank, New Jersey.  He died at age 77.

1969 ~ Percival Proctor Baxter (b. Nov. 22, 1876), 53^rd Governor of Maine.  He served in Office as Governor from January 1921 until January 1925.  Baxter State Park, with Mount Katahdin, was named in his honor.  He was born and died in Portland, Maine.  He died at age 92.

1963 ~ Medgar Evers (né Medgar Wiley Evers; b. July 2, 1925), American civil rights activist who was murdered.  He was killed 20 days before his 38^th birthday.

1957 ~ Jimmy Dorsey (né James Dorsey; b. Feb. 29, 1904), American musician and bandleader.  He died of cancer at age 53.

1912 ~ Frédéric Passy (b. May 20, 1822), French economist and recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded in 1901.  He died 23 days after his 90^th birthday.

1900 ~ Lucretia Peabody Hale (b. Sept. 2, 1920), American journalist and author.  She died at age 79.

1778 ~ Philip Livingston (b. Jan. 15, 1716), early American patriot and signer of the Declaration of Independence.  He died at age 62.

816 ~ Pope Leo III (b. 750).  He was Pope from December 795 until his death on this date 21 years later.  He is also known as Saint Leo.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.