Friday, December 11, 2020

December 11

Birthdays:

1950 ~ Christina Onassis (d. Nov. 19, 1988), American-born Greek heiress and socialite.  She was the daughter of Ari Onassis and the step-daughter of Jackie Kennedy Onassis.  She died of a heart attack 3 weeks before her 38thbirthday.

 

1947 ~ Teri Garr (née Teri Ann Garr), American actress.  She was born in Lakewood, Ohio.

 

1944 ~ Brenda Lee (née Brenda Mae Tarpley), American singer.  She was born in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

1943 ~ John Kerry (né John Forbes Kerry), 68th Secretary of State.  He served in the second Barak Obama administration from February 2013 through January 2017.  He had previously served as a United States Senator from Massachusetts.  He was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2004 Presidential campaign.  He was born in Aurora, Colorado.

 

1939 ~ Tom Hayden (né Thomas Emmet Hayden; d. Oct. 23, 2016), American politician and political activist.  He was also married to Jane Fonda from 1973 until their divorce in 1990.  He died at age 73.

 

1938 ~ Fred Cox (né Frederick William Cox; d. Nov. 20, 2019), American NFL football kicker who helped invent the Nerf football.  He was a kicker for 15 years with the Minnesota Vikings.  He was born in Monongahela, Pennsylvania.  He died 21 days before his 81st birthday.  He died in Monticello, Minnesota.

 

1938 ~ McCoy Tyner (né Alfred McCoy Tyner; d. Mar. 6, 2020), African-American pianist and John Coltrane sideman who reshaped jazz.  He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He died at age 81.

 

1937 ~ Jim Harrison (né James Harrison; d. Mar. 26, 2016), American poet, novelist and essayist.  He was born in Grayling, Michigan.  He died of a heart attack at age 78 in Patagonia, Arizona.

 

1931 ~ Ronald Dworkin (né Ronald Myles Dworkin; d. Feb. 14, 2013), American legal scholar who based law in morality.  He was a Constitutional law scholar.  He was born in Providence, Rhode Island.  He died in London, England at age 81.

 

1931 ~ Rita Moreno (née Rosa Delores Alverio), American actress and dancer.  She was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico.

 

1927 ~ Stein Eriksen (d. Dec. 27, 2015), Norwegian Olympic champion who helped popularize skiing.  He won gold medals in the 1952 Winter Olympics.  He was born in Oslo, Norway.  He died just over 2 weeks after his 88thbirthday in Park City, Utah.

 

1925 ~ Paul Greengard (d. Apr. 13, 2019), American neuroscientist and recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He is best known for his work on the molecular and cellular functions of neurons.  He was born and died in New York City.  He died at age 93.

 

1923 ~ Lillian Cahn (née Lillian Lenovitz; d. Mar. 4, 2013), Hungarian-born businesswoman who co-founded Coach, Inc.  She died at age 89.

 

1922 ~ Grace Paley (née Grace Goodside; d. Aug. 22, 2007), American writer and political activist.  She died in Thetford, Vermont at age 84.

 

1918 ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (d. Aug. 3, 2008), Russian novelist and Soviet dissident who chronicled the evils of communism.  He was the recipient of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 89.

 

1912 ~ Carlos Ponti, Sr. (né Carlos Fortunato Pietro Ponti; d. Jan. 10, 2007), Italian film producer and husband of Sophia Loren.  He died a month after his 94th birthday.

 

1911 ~ Naguib Mahfouz (d. Aug. 30, 2006), Egyptian author and recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature.  He died at age 94.

 

1911 ~ Qian Xuesen (d. Oct. 31, 2009), Chinese aerodynamicist who put China in space.  He died at age 97.

 

1909 ~ Fred Seaton (né Frederick Andrew Seaton; d. Jan. 16, 1974), 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 was born in Washington, D. C.  He died just over a month after his 64th birthday in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 

1904 ~ Marge (née Marjorie Lyman Henderson; d. May 30, 1993), American cartoonist.  She was the creator of Little Lulu.  She died of lymphoma at age 88. 

 

1890 ~ Carlos Gardel (né Charles Romuald Gardès; d. June 24, 1935), French-Argentine tango singer and dancer.  He was killed in a plane crash at age 44.

 

1889 ~ Walter Knott (né Walter Marvin Knott; d. Dec. 3, 1981), American farmer and creator of Knott’s Berry Farm amusement park in California.  He died 8 days before his 92nd birthday.

 

1882 ~ Fiorello H. La Guardia (né Fiorello Henry La Guardia, d. Sept. 20, 1947), American politician and 99thMayor of New York City.  He served as Mayor from January 1934 through December 1945.  One of the airports servicing New York City was named for him.  He died of pancreatic cancer at age 64.

 

1882 ~ Max Born (d. Jan. 5, 1970), German physicist and mathematician.  He was the recipient of the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died 25 days after his 87th birthday.

 

1875 ~ Yehuda Leib Maimon (né Yehuda Leib Fishman, d. July 10, 1962), Israeli rabbi and politician.  He was a leader of the Religious Zionist Movement.  He died at age 86.

 

1873 ~ Josip Plemelj (d. May 22, 1967), Slovenian mathematician.  He died at age 93.

 

1863 ~ Annie Jump Cannon (d. Apr. 13, 1941), American astronomer.  She was also an advocate for women’s rights.  She died at age 77.

 

1843 ~ Robert Koch (né Robert Heinrich Hermann Koch; d. May 27, 1910), German physician, bacteriologist, and recipient of the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work with tuberculosis.  He is considered the Father of Modern Bacteriology.  He died at age 66.

 

1838 ~ John Labatt (d. Apr. 27, 1915), Canadian businessman and brewer.  He was the founder of the Labatt’s Brewing Company.  He died at age 76.

 

1830 ~ King Kamehameha V of Hawaii (d. Dec. 11, 1872).  He was King from November 1863 until his death in December 1872.  He died on his 42nd birthday.

 

1803 ~ Hector Berlioz (né Louis-Hector Berlioz, d. Mar. 8, 1869), French composer.  He died at age 65.

 

1781 ~ Sir David Brewster (d. Feb. 10, 1868), Scottish mathematician and physicist.  He is best known for his work in physical optics.  He died at age 86.

 

1725 ~ George Mason (d. Oct. 7, 1792), American statesman.  He was a delegate to the United States Constitutional Convention in 1787 and is known as being one of 3 men who refused to sign the Constitution.  He died at age 66.

 

1475 ~ Pope Leo X (né Giovanni di Lorenzo de’Medici; d. Dec. 1, 1521).  He was Pope from March 1513 until his death 8 years later.  He died 10 days before his 46th birthday.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2014 ~ The city of Detroit, Michigan came out of bankruptcy.  It had filed bankruptcy in July 2013, the largest municipal bankruptcy in United States history.

 

2008 ~ Bernard Madoff (b. 1938) was arrested and charged with securities fraud in an elaborate $50 billion Ponzischeme.  Madoff would eventually be convicted and sentenced to 150 years in prison.

 

2001 ~ The People’s Republic of China joined the World Trade Organization.

 

1994 ~ Russian President Boris Yeltsin (1931 ~ 2007) ordered Russian troops into Chechnya during the First Chechen War.

 

1980 ~ The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund, was enacted by the United States Congress.

 

1972 ~ Apollo 17 was the sixth and final Apollo mission to land on the Moon.  Its crew consisted of Commander Eugene Cernan (1934 ~ 2017), Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt (b. 1935), and Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans (1933 ~ 1990).

 

1946 ~ The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established.

 

1941 ~ Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, following the United States’ declaration of war against Japan.  The United States then declared war on Germany and Italy, thereby formally entering in the fighting during World War II.

 

1917 ~ During World War I, British General Edmund Allenby (1861 ~ 1936) entered Jerusalem on foot, in respect to the sacredness of the city, and declared martial law in Jerusalem.

 

1816 ~ Indiana became the 19th State of the Union.

 

1792 ~ King Louis XVI (1754 ~ 1793) of France was put on trial for treason by the French National Convention during the French Revolution.

 

1789 ~ The University of North Carolina was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly.

 

1688 ~ King James II (1663 ~ 1701) of England abdicated the throne when he was essentially deposed during the Glorious Revolution.  He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over England, Scotland and Ireland.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2012 ~ Ravi Shankar (né Rabindro Shankar Chowdhury, b. Apr. 7, 1920), Indian musician and sitar player.  He died at age 92.

 

2004 ~ Sheldon Hoard Kinney (b. Aug. 27, 1918), United States Admiral who sank three U-boats in one night during World War II.  He died of cancer at age 86.

 

1998 ~ André Lichnerowicz (b. Jan. 21, 1915), French mathematician.  He died at age 83.

 

1989 ~ Louise Dahl-Wolfe (née Louise Emma Augusta Dahl; b. Nov. 19, 1895), American photographer.  She died 22 days after her 94th birthday.

 

1978 ~ Vincent du Vigneaud (b. May 18, 1901), American chemist and recipient of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 77 in Ithaca, New York.

 

1971 ~ Maurice McDonald (né Maurice James McDonald; b. Nov. 26, 1902), American fast-food entrepreneur and co-founder, along with his brother Richard McDonald (1909 ~ 1998), of McDonald’s.  He was born in Manchester, New Hampshire.  Richard died at age 89; Maurice died 14 days of heart failure after his 69th birthday.

 

1964 ~ Sam Cooke (né Samuel Dale Cook; b. Jan. 22, 1931), American singer and musician.  He was murdered under mysterious circumstances at age 33.

 

1964 ~ Alma Mahler (née Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler; b. Aug. 31, 1879), Austrian-born socialite, composer and artist.  She married three famous men, including the composer Gustav Mahler, the architect Walter Gropius, and novelist Franz Werfel.  She died at age 85.

 

1941 ~ Émile Picard (né Charles Émile Picard; b. July 24, 1856), French mathematician.  He died at age 85.

 

1939 ~ Charles Walgreen (né Charles Rudolph Walgreen; b. Oct. 9, 1873), American businessman and founder of Walgreens drug stores.  He enlisted to fight in the Spanish-American War.  While in Cuba in the War, he contracted malaria and Yellow Fever.  These diseases ultimately lead to his death.  He died at age 66.

 

1938 ~ Christian Lous Lange (b. Sept. 17, 1869), Norwegian political scientist and recipient of the 1921 Nobel Peace Prize.  He died at age 69.

 

1880 ~ Oliver Winchester (né Oliver Fisher Winchester; b. Nov. 30, 1810), American businessman and manufacturer of the Winchester Repeating Arms.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in New Haven, Connecticut.  He died 11 days after his 70th birthday.

 

1872 ~ King Kamehameha V of Hawaii (b. Dec. 11, 1830).  He was King from November 1863 until his death in December 1872.  He died on his 42nd birthday.

 

1854 ~ Mateja Nenadović (b. Feb. 26, 1777), Serbian priest, historian and politician.  He is considered the 1st Prime Minister of Serbia.  He died at age 77.

 

1282 ~ Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (b 1223), the last native Prince of Wales was killed during the Battle of Orewin Bridge.  The exact date of his birth is not known.

 

384 ~ Pope Damasus I (b. 305).  He served as Pope from October 366 until his death 12 years later.  The exact date of his birth is not known.

 

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