Wednesday, January 27, 2021

January 27

Birthdays: 

1979 ~ Rosamund Pike (née Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike), British actress.  She was born in London, England.

 

1965 ~ Alan Cumming, Scottish actor.  He was born in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland.

 

1964 ~ Bridget Fonda (née Bridget Jane Fonda), American actress.  She is the daughter of Peter Fonda.  She is the granddaughter of Henry Fonda and the daughter of Peter Fonda.  She was born in Los Angeles, California.

 

1956 ~ Mimi Rogers (née Mariam Spickler), American actress and first wife of Tom Cruise.  Tom Cruise was her second husband.  She was born in Coral Gables, Florida.

 

1955 ~ John G. Roberts (né John Glover Roberts, Jr.), 17th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President George W. Bush.  He replaced William Rehnquist as Chief Justice.  He assumed the Office in September 2005.  He was born in Buffalo, New York.

 

1952 ~ G.E. Smith (né George Edward Haddad), American guitarist and songwriter.  He was the musical director for Saturday Night Live in its early years.  He was born in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

 

1948 ~ Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer.  He was born in Riga, Latvia.

 

1944 ~ Mairéad Corrigan, Irish activist and recipient of the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize.  She was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

 

1942 ~ Tasuku Honjo, Japanese immunologist and recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He was born in Kyoto, Japan.

 

1941 ~ Beatrice Tinsley (née Beatrice Muriel Hill; d. Mar. 23, 1981), British-born New Zealand astronomer and cosmologist.  She became an astronomy professor at Yale University.  She was born in Chester, England.  She died of cancer in New Haven, Connecticut at age 40.

 

1940 ~ James Cromwell (né James Oliver Cromwell), American actor best known for his supporting role in the 1995 movie, Babe.  He was born in Los Angeles, California.

 

1939 ~ Julius Lester (né Julius Bernard Lester; d. Jan. 18, 2018), African-American author of children’s books.  He was born in St. Louis, Missouri.  He died 9 days before his 79th birthday in Palmer, Massachusetts.

 

1936 ~ Samuel C.C. Ting (né Samuel Chao Chung Ting), American physicist and recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

 

1933 ~ Jerry Buss (né Gerald Hatten Buss; d. Feb. 18, 2013), American businessman and basketball owner who made the Los Angeles Lakers into winners.  He died of kidney failure 22 days after his 80th birthday.

 

1931 ~ Mordecai Richler (d. July 3, 2001), Canadian Jewish writer.  He died at age 70.

 

1930 ~ Bobby Blue Bland (né Robert Calvin Brooks; d. June 23, 2013), African-American blues singer who was as smooth as Sinatra.  He developed a sound that mixed with gospel and R&B.  He died at age 83.

 

1924 ~ Sabu Dastagir (né Selar Sabu; d. Dec. 2, 1963), Indian actor.  He is best known for his role in the 1937 film Elephant Boy.  He died at age 39 of a heart attack.

 

1924 ~ Rauf Denktaş (d. Jan. 13, 2012), Turkish intransigent leader of Turkish Cyprus.  He was the first president of Northern Cyprus from November 1983 until April 2005.  He was born in Paphos, Cyprus.  He died 2 weeks before his 88th birthday.

 

1921 ~ Donna Reed (née Donna Belle Mullenger; d. Jan. 14, 1986), American actress.  She died of pancreatic cancer 13 days before her 65th birthday.

 

1912 ~ Francis Rogallo (né Francis Melvin Rogallo; d. Sept. 1, 2009), American aeronautic engineer who invented hang gliding, now known as the Rogallo Wing.  He died at age 97.

 

1908 ~ William Randolph Hearst, Jr. (d. May 14, 1993), American newspaper magnate.  He was the second son of publisher William Randolph Hearst, Sr.  He died of cardiac arrest at age 85.

 

1903 ~ Sir John Eccles (né John Carew Eccles; d. May 2, 1997), Australian neuropsychologist and recipient of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 94.

 

1900 ~ Hyman Rickover (né Chaim Godalia Rockover; d. July 8, 1986), American admiral.  He was born in Poland.  He is known as the Father of the Nuclear Navy.  He died at age 86.

 

1886 ~ Frank Nitti (né Francesco Raffaele Nitto; d. Mar. 19, 1943), Italian-American ganster.  He was known as “The Enforcer.”  He was one of Al Capone’s top henchmen, and became boss after Al Capone’s arrest.  He was born in Angri, Italy.  He died by suicide at age 57 at the Chicago Central Rail yard.

 

1885 ~ Jerome Kern (né Jerome David Kern; d. Nov. 11, 1945), American composer.  He died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 60.

 

1872 ~ Learned Hand (né Billings Learned Hand; d. Aug. 18, 1961), American judge.  He served on the United States Federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1924 until 1951.  For the last 3 years of his tenure on the Court, he served as the Chief Judge.  He was appointed to the Federal Bench by President Calvin Coolidge.  He was born in Albany, New York.  He died at age 89 in New York, New York.

 

1859 ~ Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany (d. June 4, 1941).  He was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia.  He was married twice.  First to Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, and then to Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz.  He was the grandson of British Queen Victoria.  He had abdicated the throne in 1918 and fled to the Netherlands where he lived until his death at age 82.

 

1850 ~ Edward Smith (né Edward John Smith; d. Apr. 15, 1912), English captain of the RMS Titanic.  He went down with the ship.  He was 62 years old.

 

1850 ~ Samuel Gompers (d. Dec. 13, 1924), English-born American labor leader.  He was the founder of the American Federation of Labor.  He died at age 74 in San Antonio, Texas.

 

1832 ~ Lewis Carroll (né Charles Dodgson; b. Jan. 14, 1898), English writer and mathematician, best known for his children’s book, Alice in Wonderland.  He died 13 days before his 66th birthday.

 

1803 ~ Eunice Waite Cobb (née Eunice Hale Waite; d. May 2, 1880), American writer, social activist and public speaker.  She and her husband, the Rev. Sylvanus Cobb, were very active in the Universalist Church.  She was born in Kennebunk, Maine.  She died at age 77 in East Boston, Massachusetts.

 

1795 ~ Eli Whitney Blake, Sr. (d. Aug. 18, 1886), American engineer and inventor of the Mortise lock.  He was the nephew of inventor Eli Whitney.  He died at age 91.

 

1775 ~ Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (d. Aug. 20, 1854), German philosopher.  He died at age 79.

 

1756 ~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (d. Dec. 5, 1791) Austrian composer.  He died at age 35.

 

1708 ~ Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia (d. Mar. 4, 1728).  She was the daughter of Peter I and Catherine I of Russia.  She was born before her parents married.  She was married to Charles Frederick, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp.  She was of the House of Romanov.  She died at age 20 following complications of childbirth.  Her son was Peter III of Russia.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2006 ~ Western Union discontinued its telegram services.

 

1996 ~ Germany observed International Holocaust Remembrance Day for the first time.

 

1984 ~ Michael Jackson (1958 ~ 2009) suffered second-degree burns on his head while filming a Pepsi commercial.

 

1980 ~ Through cooperation between the United States and Canada, 6 American diplomats who had secretly escaped the embassy in Iran when the Iranians stormed the American Embassy, were returned to the United States.  This was known as the Canadian Caper and in 2012 was the subject of the fictionalized movie, Argo.

 

1973 ~ The Paris Peace Accords officially ended the Vietnam War.

 

1967 ~ A fire during the test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida killed astronauts Gus Grissom (1926 ~ 1967), Edward White (1930 ~ 1967) and Roger Chaffee (1935 ~ 1967).

 

1951 ~ Nuclear testing began at the Nevada Test Site when a 1-kiloton bomb was dropped on Frenchman Flat.

 

1945 ~ The Red Army liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, which had been built by Nazi Germany, in Poland.

 

1944 ~ The three-year Siege of Leningrad ended when Soviet forces liberated Leningrad from the Nazis.

 

1888 ~ The National Geographic Society was founded.  The first issue of its trademark magazine would be published in September 1888.  Its first issue would not contain any photographs.

 

1880 ~ Thomas Edison (1847 ~ 1931) received a patent for the incandescent lamp.

 

1825 ~ The United State Congress approved Indian Territory, thereby clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the infamous Trail of Tears.

 

1785 ~ The University of Georgia, which was the first public university in the United States, was founded.

 

1606 ~ The trial of Guy Fawkes (d. 1606) and others in the Gunpowder Plot began.  The conspirators would be found guilty and would be executed on January 31.

 

1343 ~ Pope Clement VI (1291 ~ 1352) issued the papal bull Unigenitus, which justified the power of the Pope and the use of indulgences.  It would take nearly 200 years before any clergy protested this, when Martin Luther (1483 ~ 1546) broke with the Catholic Church.

 

1186 ~ Henry VI (1165 ~ 1197), son and heir of the Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor (1122 ~ 1190), married Constance of Sicily (1154 ~ 1198).

 

Good-byes:

 

2018 ~ Ingvar Kamprad (né Feodor Ingvar Kamprad; b. Mar. 30, 1926), Swedish entrepreneur and founder of IKEA who took Swedish style global.  He died at age 91.

 

2018 ~ Mort Walker (né Addison Morton Walker; b. Sept. 3, 1923), American cartoonist who chuckled at Army life.  He created Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois.  He died at age 94.

 

2017 ~ Brunhilde Pomsel (b. Jan. 11, 1911), the German secretary who kept her Nazi past secret.  She was the private secretary to Joseph Goebbels and last surviving eyewitness to the Nazi power scheme but did not speak about her role in the War until after she was 100.  She died 16 days after her 106th birthday

 

2016 ~ Artur Fischer (b. Dec. 31, 1919), German prolific inventor who created a DYI essential.  He had more patents than Thomas Edison.  He was born and died in Waldachtal, Germany.  He died a month after his 96thbirthday

 

2015 ~ Yves Chauvin (b. Oct. 10, 1930), French chemist and recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.  He was born in Benen, Belgium.  He died at age 84 in Tours, France.

 

2015 ~ Charles Townes (né Charles Hard Townes; b. July 28, 1915), American physicist and recipient of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He invented the maser and the laser.  He was 99 years old at the time of his death.

 

2014 ~ Pete Seeger (né Peter Seeger; b. May 3, 1919), American folk singer, musician and composer who championed social change.  He died at age 94.

 

2013 ~ Stanley Karnow (né Stanley Abram Karnow; b. Feb. 4, 1925), American reporter who mastered the story of Vietnam.  He died 8 days before his 88th birthday.

 

2012 ~ Kevin White (né Kevin Hagan White; b. Sept. 25, 1929), American politician and 51st Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts.  He was the mayor who remade Boston.  He served as Mayor from January 1968 until January 1984.  He died at age 82.

 

2010 ~ Howard Zinn (b. Aug. 24, 1922), American historian who championed the masses.  He was a political science professor at Boston University, and it was his book, A People’s History, that made him famous.  He was born in New York, New York.  He died at age 87 in Santa Monica, California.

 

2010 ~ J. D. Salinger (né Jerome David Salinger; b. Jan. 1, 1919), American reclusive writer best know for his coming-of-age novel, The Catcher in the Rye.  He died in Cornish, New Hampshire 26 days after his 91st birthday.

 

2009 ~ John Updike (né John Hoyer Updike; b. Mar. 18, 1932), American novelist who captured the inner life of Middle America.  He died at age 76.

 

2008 ~ Louie Welch (b. Dec. 9, 1918), Mayor of Houston, Texas from 1964 until 1973.  He died at age 89.

 

2004 ~ Jack Paar (né Jack Harold Paar; b. May 1, 1918), American television show host.  He died at age 85.

 

1995 ~ Raphael M. Robinson (né Raphael Mitchel Robinson; b. Nov. 2, 1911), American mathematician.  He was born in National City, California.  He died at age 83 in Berkeley, California.

 

1993 ~ André the Giant (né André René Roussimov; b. May 19, 1946), French professional wrestler and actor.  He stood 7 feet, 4 inches.  He was best known for his role as Fezzik in The Princess Bride.  He died of congestive heart failure at age 46.

 

1973 ~ Colonel William Nolde (né William Benedict Nolde; b. Aug. 8, 1929), last American combat casualty of the Vietnam War.  He died the day the Peace Accords were being signed in Paris ending the conflict.  He was 43 years old.

 

1972 ~ Mahalia Jackson (b. Oct. 26, 1911), African-American singer.  She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.  She died from heart failure and complications of diabetes at age 60.

 

1972 ~ Richard Courant (b. Jan. 8, 1888), Polish-born American mathematician.  The Courant Institute of Mathematical Science in New York City was named in his honor.  He died 19 days after his 84th birthday.

 

1970 ~ Marietta Blau (b. Apr. 29, 1894), Austrian physicist.  She is best known for using nuclear emulsions to detect high energy particles.  Her work significantly advanced the field of particle physics.  During World War II, she was forced to leave Austria.  She returned to Austria, however, in 1960 and continued her work in high-energy experiments.  She was born and died in Vienna, Austria.  She died of cancer at age 73.

 

1967 ~ Astronauts killed in the Apollo I disaster:

 

v 1967 ~ Roger Chaffee (né Roger Bruce Chaffee; b. Feb. 15, 1935), American astronaut and crewmember of the ill-fated Apollo I, which caught fire during a test of the spacecraft.  He died 18 days before his 32nd birthday.

 

v 1967 ~ Edward White (né Edward Higgins White, II; b. Nov. 14, 1930), American astronaut and crewmember of the ill-fated Apollo I, which caught fire during a test of the spacecraft.  He was 36 years old.

 

v 1967 ~ Gus Grissom (né Virgil Ivan Grissom; b. Apr. 3, 1926), American astronaut and crewmember of the ill-fated Apollo I, which caught fire during a pre-launch test of the spacecraft.  He was also one of the original astronauts in the Mercury program.  He was 40 at the time of his death.

 

1951 ~ Baron Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim (b. June 4, 1867), President of Finland.  He served as President from August 1944 until March 1946.  He died at age 83.

 

1943 ~ Benjamin Tillett (b. Sept. 11, 1860), British socialist and trade union leader.  He died at age 82.

 

1940 ~ Isaac Babel (b. July 13, 1894), Jewish-Ukrainian writer.  He was executed as a spy at age 45.

 

1922 ~ Nellie Bly (née Elizabeth Jane Cochrane; b. May 5, 1864), American journalist.  She is best known for her record-breaking trip around the world and for her exposé into the treatment received by patients in mental institutions.  She died of pneumonia at age 57.

 

1921 ~ Justiniano Borgoño (b. Sept. 5, 1836), President of Peru.  He served as President for 4 months, from April 1894 until August 1984.  He died at age 84.

 

1910 ~ Thomas Crapper (b. Sept. 28, 1836), English plumber and inventor of the ballcock in the modern toilet. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he was baptized on September 28, 1836.  He died at age 73.

 

1901 ~ Giuseppe Verdi (né Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi; b. Oct. 9, 1813), Italian composer.  He wrote many operas.  His birthday is something given as October 10.  He died at age 87.

 

1893 ~ James G. Blaine (né James Gillespie Blaine; b. Jan. 31, 1830) 28th and 31st United States Secretary of State.  He first served in this office from March 1881 to December 1881 during the Presidencies of James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur.  He served his second term during the Presidency of Benjamin Harrison from March 1889 to June 1892.  He had also served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representative.  He served as a United States Senator from the State of Maine.  He was born in West Brownsville, Pennsylvania.  He died 4 days before his 63rd birthday in Washington, D.C.

 

1860 ~ János Bolyai (b. Dec. 15, 1802), Hungarian mathematician.  He was one of the founders of non-Euclidian geometry.  He died at age 57.

 

1851 ~ John James Audubon (né Jean-Jacques Rabin; b. Apr. 26, 1789), American ornithologist and painter.  He identified 25 new species of birds.  He died at age 65.

 

1731 ~ Bartolomeo Cristofori (b. May 4, 1655), Italian musical instrument maker and inventor of the piano.  He died at age 75.

 

1688 ~ Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang (b. Mar. 28, 1613), Chinese Grand Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty. She was the 4th wife of Hong Taiji, 1st Emperor of the Qing dynasty.  She died at age 74.

 

1547 ~ Anne of Bohemia and Hungary (b. July 23, 1503), Queen consort of Germany and Queen consort of Bohemia and Hungary.  She was married to Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor.  She died at age 43 shortly after giving birth to her 15th child.

 

1540 ~ Angela Merici (b. Mar. 21, 1474), Italian saint.  She founded the Company of St. Ursula, which was dedicated to the education of girls.  She died at age 65.

 

1311 ~ Külüg Khan (b. Aug. 4, 1282), Chinese Emperor of Yuan.  He reigned from June 1307 until his death in January 1311.  He died at age 29.

 

847 ~ Pope Sergius II.  He was Pope from January 1844 until his death 3 years later.  The date of his birth is not known.

 

672 ~ Pope Vitalian.  He was Pope from July 657 until his death in January 672.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been about 72 at the time of his death.

 

555 ~ Yuan Di (b. Sept. 16, 508), Chinese emperor of the Liang Dynasty.  He died at age 46.

 

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