July 17

Birthdays:

1954 ~ Angela Merkel (née Angela Dorothea Kasner), 8^th Chancellor of Germany.  She was born in Hamburg, Germany.

1950 ~ Phoebe Snow (née Pheobe Ann Laub, d. Apr. 26, 2011), American singer and songwriter.  She died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 60.

1947 ~ Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (née Camilla Rosemary Shand), second wife of Prince Charles.  Prior to her marriage to Prince Charles, she had been married to Andrew Parker Bowles.

1942 ~ Connie Hawkins (né Cornelius Lance Hawkins, d. Oct. 6, 2017), African-American basketball star who was blocked in his prime.  He played for the Phoenix Suns from 1969 to 1973, but was barred from playing in the NBA after being linked to a college point-shaving scandal.  He wasn’t involved but it took years to clear his name.  He died at age 75.

1935 ~ Diahann Carroll (née Carol Diahann Johnson; d. Oct. 4, 2019), African-American actress who broke TV’s color barrier.  She died at age 84.

1935 ~ Donald Sutherland (né Donald McNichol Sutherland), Canadian actor.  He was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

1929 ~ Sergei K. Godunov, Russian mathematician.  He was the recipient of the 1959 Lenin Prize.  He was born in Moscow, Russia.

1928 ~ Joe Morello (né Joseph Albert Morello; d. Mar. 12, 2011), American drummer who swung in 5/4 time.  He was the drummer for the Dave Brubeck band.  He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.  He died at age 82 in Irvington, New Jersey.

1921 ~ Hannah Szenes (d. Nov. 7, 1944), Hungarian-born Israeli soldier who parachuted into Yugoslavia during World War II to help save the Jews of Hungary.  Technically, she died before the State of Israel had been established.  She was born and died in Budapest, Hungary.  She was executed at age 23.

1920 ~ Nils Bohlin (né Nils Ivar Bohlin; d. Sept. 21, 2002), Swedish mechanical engineer.  While working at Volvo, he is invented the three-point seat belt.  He died of a heart attack at age 82.

1920 ~ Gordon Gould (d. Sept. 16, 2005), American physicist and inventor of the Laser.  He died at age 85.

1917 ~ Phyllis Diller (née Phyllis Ada Driver; d. Aug. 20, 2012), American comedian who paved the way for female stand-up.  She was born in Lima, Ohio.  She died at age 95.

1913 ~ Bertrand Goldberg (d. Oct. 8, 1997), American architect and designer of the Marina City buildings in Chicago.  He died at age 84.

1912 ~ Art Linkletter (né Arthur Gordon Kelly, d. May 26, 2010), Canadian-American radio and television host.  He died at age 97.

1899 ~ James Cagney (né James Francis Cagney, Jr., d. Mar. 30, 1986), American actor.  He died of a heart attack at age 86.

1898 ~ Berenice Abbott (née Bernice Alice Abbott; d. Dec. 9, 1991), American photographer.  She died at age 93 in Monson, Maine.

1889 ~ Erle Stanley Gardner (d. Mar. 11, 1970), American mystery writer.  He is best known as being the creator of Perry Mason.  He was born in Malden, Massachusetts.  He died at age 80.

1888 ~ Shmuel Yosef Agnon (d. Feb. 17, 1970), Ukrainian-born Israeli writer and recipient of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 81.

1831 ~ Xianfeng (d. Aug. 22, 1861), 9^th Chinese Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.  He ruled from March 1850 until his death in August 1861.  He died at age 30.

1763 ~ John Jacob Astor (né Johann Jakob Astor, d. Mar. 29, 1848), American businessman.  St the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in America.  He died at age 84.

1745 ~ Timothy Pickering (d. Jan. 29, 1829), 3^rd United States Secretary of State.  He served under Presidents George Washington and John Adams from August 1795 until May 1800.  He had previously served as the 2^nd United States Secretary of War in the Washington Administration from January 1795 until January 1796.  He also served as the 2^nd United States Postmaster General from August 1791 until January 1795.  Following his tenure in the executive branch of government, he became a United States Senator from Massachusetts from March 1813 to March 1817.  He was born and died in Salem, Massachusetts.  He died at age 83.

1744 ~ Elbridge Gerry (d. Nov. 23, 1814), 5^th Vice President of the United States.  He served under James Madison, but died at age 70, 18 months into his term.  He had previously served as the 9^th Governor of Massachusetts, from June 1810 until March 1812.  He is best known for the term “gerrymandering”, a process by which electoral districts are drawn with the intent to assist a particular candidate or party.  He was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

1698 ~ Pierre Louis Maupertuis (né Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertius, d. July 27, 1759), French mathematician.  He died 10 days before his 61^st birthday.

1499 ~ Maria Salviati (d. Dec. 29, 1543), Italian noblewoman.  She was the mother of Cosimo I de Medici.  She died at age 44.

Events that Changed the World:

2014 ~ Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over the Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard.

1996 ~ TWA Flight 800 on its way to Paris, France, exploded shortly after take-off, off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing all 230 people aboard.

1984 ~ The legal drinking age in the United States was raised from 18 to 21.

1981 ~ A structural failure in a walkway in the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri collapsed, killing 114 people and injuring over 200 others.

1955 ~ Disneyland was opened in Anaheim, California.

1945 ~ Winston Churchill (1874 ~ 1965), Harry Truman (1884 ~ 1972) and Joseph Stalin (1878 ~ 1953) met in Potsdam, Germany to decide the future of a defeated Germany following the close of World War II.

1938 ~ Douglas Corrigan (1907 ~ 1995), an American aviator from Texas, took off from Brooklyn, New York, ostensibly to fly back to Long Beach, California, but instead ended up in Dublin, Ireland.  From hence forth, he was known as “Wrong Way” Corrigan.

1936 ~ The Spanish Civil War began when an armed force rebelled against the recently elected leftist popular front government.

1918 ~ Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia (May 18, 1868 ~ July 17, 1918) and his family were executed by Bolshevik Chekists.

1918 ~ The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued survivors from the RMS Titanic, sank off the coast of Ireland by a German U-boat during World War I.

1917 ~ King George V of the United Kingdom (1865 ~ 1936) issued a Proclamation stating that the male line descendants of the British Royal family will use Windsor at their surname.

1902 ~ Willis Carrier (1876 ~ 1950) invented the first successful air conditioner.

1867 ~ The Harvard School of Dental Medicine was established in Boston, making it the first dental school in the United States affiliated with a university.

1762 ~ Catherine II (1729 ~ 1796), also known as Catherine the Great, became the Czar of Russia upon the murder of her husband, Peter III of Russia (1728 ~ 1762).

1429 ~ Charles VII (1403 ~ 1461) was crowned King of France.

1048 ~ Damasus II was elected Pope.  He was pope for only 23 days.  He died on August 9.

Good-byes:

2014 ~ Henry Hartsfield, Jr., (né Henry Warren Hartsfield, Jr.; b. Nov. 21, 1933), American Astronaut and shuttle pilot who kept cool under pressure.  He died at age 80 from complications following back surgery.

2014 ~ Elaine Stritch (b. Feb. 2, 1925), American Broadway actress who brought sass to the stage.  She died at age 89.

2012 ~ William Raspberry (né William James Raspberry; b. Oct. 12, 1935), African-American journalist and syndicated columnist.  He died at age 76.

2009 ~ Walter Cronkite, Jr. (né Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr.; b. Nov. 4, 1916), American broadcast avuncular journalist who was America’s favorite anchorman.  He was 92 years old.

2006 ~ Mickey Spillane (né Frank Morrison Spillane; b. Mar. 9, 1918), American author of detective novels and actor.  He died at age 88.

2005 ~ Sir Edward Heath (né Edward Richard George Heath; b. July 9, 1916), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He was Prime Minister during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, from June 1970 until March 1974.  He died 13 days weeks after his 89^th birthday.

2005 ~ Geraldine Fitzgerald (née Geraldine Mary Fitzgerald; b. Nov. 24, 1913), Irish-American actress.  She died at age 91.

2002 ~ Joseph Luns (né Joseph Marie Antoine Hubert Luns; b. Aug. 28, 1911), Dutch politician and 5^th Secretary General of NATO.  He died at age 90.

2001 ~ Katherine Graham (née Katharine Meyer; b. June 16, 1917), American publisher.  She ran the Washington Post for over 20 years.  She died from a head injury a month after her 84^th birthday.

1980 ~ Boris Delaunay (b. Mar. 15, 1890), Russian mathematician and mountaineer.  He died at age 90.

1974 ~ Dizzy Dean (né Jay Hanna Dean; b. Jan. 16, 1910), American baseball player.  He died at age 64 of a heart attack.

1967 ~ John Coltrane (né John William Coltrane; b. Sept. 23, 1926), American musician.  He died at age 40 of liver cancer.

1961 ~ Ty Cobb (né Tyrus Raymond Cobb; b. Dec. 18, 1886), baseball pitcher.  He died at age 74.

1959 ~ Billie Holiday (née Eleanora Fagan; b. Apr. 7, 1915), African-American singer and songwriter.  She died of liver disease at age 44.

1956 ~ Bodo von Borries (b. May 22, 1905), German physicist and co-inventor of the electron microscope.  He was born in Herford, Germany.  He died suddenly at age 51 in Aachen, Germany.

1944 ~ William James Sidis (b. Apr. 1, 1989), American mathematician.  He was a child prodigy and entered Harvard University at age 11.  He died in Boston, Massachusetts of a brain hemorrhage at age 46.

1928 ~ Álvaro Obregón (b. Feb. 19, 1880), President of Mexico.  He served as President from December 1920 through November 1924.  He was assassinated at age 48.

1918 ~ The murder of the Romanov Family by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution.

Ø  Tsar Nicholas II Alexandrovich (b. May 18, 1868).  He was assassinated at age 50.

Ø  Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (née Alix of Hess and by Rhine, b. June 6, 1872), German-born wife and Tsarina of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.  She was assassinated at age 46.

Ø  Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia (b. Nov. 15, 1895).  She was the eldest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II.  She was 22 at the time of her assassination.

Ø  Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia (b. June 10, 1897).  She was 21 years old when she was assassinated.  She was the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last monarch of Russia.

Ø  Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia (b. June 26, 1899).  She was assassinated 21 days before her 20^th birthday.

Ø  Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia (b. June 18, 1901), youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, she was murdered along with the rest of her family on July 17, 1918, by Bolshevik secret police.  She was killed a month before her 18^th birthday.

Ø  Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov (b. Aug. 12, 1904).  He was the only son of, and heir apparent to, Tsar Nicholas II.  He was assassinated less than a month before his 14^th birthday.

1912 ~ Henri Poincaré (né Jules Henri Poincaré; b. Apr. 29, 1854), French mathematician and physicist.  He died of an embolism at age 58.

1903 ~ James Abbott McNeill Whistler (b. July 11, 1834), American painter, best known for his painting officially entitled Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, but more commonly known as Whistler’s Mother.  He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts.  He died in London 7 days after his 69^th birthday.

1887 ~ Dorothea Dix (née Dorothea Lynde Dix; b. Apr. 4, 1802), American prison and asylum reformer and social activist.  She was a strong advocate for mental health issues.  She was born in Hampden, Maine.  She died in Trenton, New Jersey.  She was 85 at the time of her death.

1845 ~ Charles Grey, 2^nd Earl Grey (b. Mar. 13, 1764), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister from November 1830 until July 1834, during the reign of King William IV.  He is also associated with Earl Grey tea.  He died at age 81, eleven years almost to the date of his departure as Prime Minister.

1793 ~ Charlotte Corday (née Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d’Armont, b. July 27, 1768), assassin of Jean-Paul Marat.  She was executed by guillotine 4 days after killing Marat and 10 days before her 25^th birthday.

1790 ~ Adam Smith (d. June 16, 1723), Scottish philosopher and economist.  He is best known for his book The Wealth of Nations.  He died a month after his 67^th birthday.

1762 ~ Peter III, Tsar of Russia (b. Feb. 21, 1728).  He was the husband of Catherine the Great.  He died under mysterious circumstances at age 34 and is believed to have been murdered.

924 ~ King Edward the Elder of England (b. 877).  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

855 ~ Pope Leo IV (b. 790).  He was Pope from April 847 until his death on this date 8 years later.  He was known as Pope Saint Leo.  The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 65 at the time of his death.