Birthdays:
1971 ~ Jeremy Renner (né Jeremy Lee Renner), American actor. He was born in Modesto, California.
1966 ~ Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy (née Carolyn Jeanne Bessette; d. July 16, 1999), wife of John F. Kennedy, Jr. She was killed when the small plane husband was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while they were on their way to Martha’s Vineyard to attend a family wedding. She was born in White Plains, New York. She was 33 years old.
1964 ~ Nicolas Cage (né Nicholas Kim Coppola), American actor. He was born in Long Beach, California.
1963 ~ Rand Paul (né Randal Howard Paul), American ophthalmologist and presidential candidate in the 2016 United States Presidential campaign. He is a United States Senator from Kentucky. He assumed the Office in January 2011. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1957 ~ Katie Couric (née Katherine Anne Couric), American journalist and news reporter. She was born in Arlington, Virginia.
1956 ~ David Caruso (né David Stephen Caruso), American actor best known for his roles as Detective John Kelly on NYPD Blue, and as Lieutenant Horatio Caine on CSI:Miami. He was born in Queens, New York.
1941 ~ Sir John E. Walker (né John Ernest Walker), English chemist and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England.
1933 ~ Diane Leather Charles (d. Sept. 5, 2018), British runner who set a milestone for women. In 1954, she became the first woman to run a mile in under 5 minutes. She died at age 85.
1932 ~ Jhoon Goo Rhee (d. Apr. 30, 2018), Korean-born martial artist who popularized Tae Kwon Do in the United States. He died at age 86.
1928 ~ Clyde Snow (d. May 16, 2014), American forensic detective who read bones. He was a well-known anthropologist. He died at age 86 in Norman, Oklahoma.
1928 ~ William Peter Blatty (d. Jan. 12, 2017), American comedy writer who spooked readers with The Exorcist. He died of multiple myeloma 5 days after his 89th birthday.
1925 ~ Gerald Durrell (né Gerald Malcolm Durrell; d. Jan. 30, 1995), British naturalist and author. He wrote The Whispering Lands, which is about Patagonia. He died 23 days after his 70th birthday.
1922 ~ Jean-Pierre Rampal (né Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal; d. May 20, 2000), French flutist. He died at age 78.
1916 ~ Elena Ceauşescu (née Lenuţa Petrescu; d. Dec. 25, 1989), Romanian politician and wife of former Romanian president, Nicolae Ceauşescu, who was executed for her crimes against humanity. She was executed 13 days before her 74th birthday
1912 ~ Charles Addams (né Charles Samuel Addams; d. Sept. 29, 1988), American cartoonist who became famous for his dark humor. His cartoons were published in The New Yorker. His characters inspired The Addams family, which was a TV series in the 1960s, and later became a Broadway musical. He died at age 76.
1911 ~ Butterfly McQueen (née Thelma McQueen; d. Dec. 22, 1995), American actress, best known for her role as Prissy, Scarlett O’Hara’s maid in Gone with the Wind. She was born in Tampa, Florida. She died 16 days before her 85th birthday in Augusta, Georgia.
1911 ~ Jean Carroll (née Celine Zeigman; d. Jan. 1, 2010), American female comic who blazed new trails in stand-up. She was born in Paris, France. She died 6 days before her 99th birthday in White Plains, New York.
1910 ~ Orval Faubus (né Orval Eugene Fabus; d. Dec. 14, 1994), 36th Governor of Arkansas from January 1955 until January 1967. He is best known for his 1957 stand against desegregation of the public schools in Little Rock. He died 3 weeks before his 85th birthday.
1906 ~ Bobbi Trout (née Evelyn Trout; d. Jan. 24, 2003), American pioneering aviator. She was the first woman to set the record for the first non-stop refueling endurance. She was born in Greenup, Illinois. She died 17 days after her 97th birthday in San Diego, California.
1891 ~ Zora Neale Hurston (d. Jan. 28, 1960), African-American author. She was a part of the Harlem Renaissance. She was born in Notasulga, Alabama. She died of heart disease 2 weeks after her 69th birthday in Port Pierce, Florida.
1873 ~ Adolph Zukor (d. June 10, 1976), Hungarian-American film producer and co-founder of Paramount Pictures. He died at age 103.
1871 ~ Émile Borel (né Félix Édouard Justin Émile Borel; d. Feb. 3, 1956,), French mathematician, known for his work in areas of measure theory and probability. He died less than a month after his 85th birthday.
1863 ~ Anna Murray Vail (d. Dec. 18, 1955), American botanist and first librarian of the New York Botanical Garden. She was born in New York City. She died at age 92 in Vieux Logis, France.
1858 ~ Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (né Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman; d. Dec. 16, 1922), a Jewish lexicographer who was the driving spirit behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era. He died 3 weeks before his 65thbirthday.
1837 ~ Thomas Henry Ismay (d. Nov. 23, 1899), British shipping company owner and founder of the White Star Line, which later was the owner of The Titanic. He died of a heart attack at age 62.
1827 ~ Sir Sanford Fleming (d. July 22, 1915), Canadian engineer who introduced the Universal Standard Time to the world. He died at age 88.
1815 ~ Elizabeth Louisa Mather (née Elizabeth Louisa Foster; d. Feb. 5, 1882), American writer and social activist. She died about a month after her 67th birthday.
1800 ~ Millard Fillmore (d. Mar. 8, 1874), 13th President of the United States. He was President from July 1850 until March 1853. He had previously served as the 12th Vice President. He assumed the Presidency upon the death of Zachary Taylor. He died at age 74.
1786 ~ John Catron (d. May 30, 1865), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was nominated to the High Court by President Andrew Jackson. He served on the Court from March 8, 1937 until his death at age 79. The seat was established for him, and after he left the Court, the seat was abolished to prevent President Andrew Johnson from appointing any further members on the Court. He died in Nashville, Tennessee.
1718 ~ Israel Putnam (d. May 29, 1790), American Revolutionary War general, best known for his role in leading the Battle of Bunker Hill. He died at age 72.
1502 ~ Pedro Nunes (d. Aug. 11, 1578), Portuguese mathematician. The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been born on January 7, 1502. He died at age 76 in Coimbra, Portugal.
1502 ~ Pope Gregory XIII (né Ugo Boncompagni; d. Apr. 10, 1585). He was Pope from May 1572 until his death 13 years later. He is best known for commissioning, and being the namesake of, the Gregorian calendar. He died at age 83.
889 ~ Li Bian (d. Mar. 30, 943), 1st Chinese Emperor of Southern Tang. He was the founding emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Southern Tang. He ruled from November 937 until his death 4 years later. His second wife was Empress Song (d. 945). He died at age 54.
Events that Changed the World:
2021 ~ The United States Senate gathered the previous day to certify the Electoral College votes, the final step in confirming Joe Biden (b. 1942) as President before the inauguration. Several Senators objected to the Electoral Count, alleging voter fraud. Due to the riots and storming of the Capitol on the previous day, the count was suspended and wasn’t finalized until nearly 4:00 a.m., on this date.
2020 ~ A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck in Puerto Rico.
2015 ~ Islamic terrorists entered the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine office, in Paris, France, and opened fire killing 12 people, and injuring 11 others.
2010 ~ Muslim gunmen in Egypt fired on a crowd of Coptic Christians who were celebrating Christmas Mass. Nine people were killed including eight of the Christians and one Muslim bystander.
1999 ~ The United States Senate trial in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton (b. 1946) began.
1990 ~ The Leaning Tower of Pisa was closed to the public for safety concerns. After several years of corrective reconstruction and stabilization, the Tower reopened in December 2001.
1989 ~ Prince Akihito (b. 1933) was sworn in as emperor of Japan following the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito (1901 ~ 1998). He ruled until April 30, 2019 when he abdicated in favor of his son, Emperor Naruhito (b. 1960).
1980 ~ President Jimmy Carter (b. 1924) authorized legislation granting $1.5 Billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.
1979 ~ Pol Pot (1925 ~ 1998) and the Khmer Rouge were ousted from the Cambodian government.
1973 ~ Mark Essex’s (1949 ~ 1973) 8-day killing spree ended after he fatally shot 10 people and wounded 13 others at a Howard Johnson’s hotel in New Orleans. He was then shot and killed. The killing began when he began to target New Orleans police officers on New Year’s Eve.
1959 ~ The United States recognized the Cuban government of Fidel Castro (1926 ~ 2016).
1955 ~ Marian Anderson (1897 ~ 1993) performed in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera at the Metropolitan Opera. She was the first African-American to perform at the Met.
1942 ~ The siege of the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines, began. The Battle of Bataan was one the most intense phases of Japan’s invasion of the Philippines.
1940 ~ During the Winter War, the Finnish 9th Division stopped and completely destroyed the Russian forces.
1928 ~ A flood along the River Thames in London killed at least 14 people and caused extensive damage to the city.
1927 ~ The first transatlantic telephone service was established from New York, New York to London, England.
1894 ~ William Kennedy Dickson (1860 ~ 1935) received a patent for motion picture film.
1785 ~ The first balloon flight crossed the English Channel from Dover, England to Calais, France, carrying Jean-Pierre Blanchard (1753 ~ 1809) and American John Jeffries (1745 ~ 1819).
1782 ~ The first American commercial bank, the Bank of North America, opened.
1610 ~ Galileo (1564 ~ 1642) observed four moons of the planet Jupiter, known as the Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa (although technically, the latter two were distinguishable until the following day).
1608 ~ A fire destroyed Jamestown, Virginia.
1566 ~ Pope Pius V (1504 ~ 1572) was elected. He was Pope from January 7, 1566 until his death in May 1572.
1558 ~ France took Calais, the last continental possession of England.
1325 ~ Alfonso IV (1291 ~ 1357) became King of Portugal.
Good-Byes:
2020 ~ Elizabeth Wurtzel (née Elizabeth Lee Wurtzel; b. July 31, 1967), American memoirist who chronicled her depression in the 1994 book Prozac Nation. She was born in New York City. She died of breast cancer at age 52 in New York City.
2020 ~ Neil Peart (né Neil Ellwood Peart; b. Sept. 12, 1952), Canadian virtuoso Rush drummer who took prog rock platinum. He was bornin Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He died in Santa Monica, California of brain cancer at age 67.
2018 ~ Anna Mae Hays (née Anna Mae Violet McCabe; b. Feb. 16, 1920), American army nurse who broke the military’s brass ceiling. She was the first woman to be promoted to the rank of General. She was born in Buffalo, New York. She died of a heart attack at age 97 in Washington, D.C.
2017 ~ Nat Hentoff (né Nathan Irving Hentoff, b. June 10, 1925), American jazz journalist who championed civil liberties. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He died at age 91 in Manhattan, New York.
2015 ~ Rod Taylor (né Rodney Sturt Taylor; b. Jan. 11, 1930), Australian actor who battled The Birds in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 movie. He died 4 days before his 85th birthday.
2013 ~ Richard Ben Cramer (b. June 12, 1950), American political journalist and author. He was born in Rochester, New York. He died of lung cancer at age 62 in Baltimore, Maryland.
2012 ~ Tony Blankley (né Anthony David Blankley; b. Jan. 21, 1948), the ex-Briton who became the speaker’s speaker. He was the press secretary to Newt Gingrich. He died of stomach cancer just 2 weeks before his 64thbirthday.
2012 ~ Herbert Wilf (né Herbert Saul Wilf; b. June 13, 1931), American mathematician. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He died of progressive neuromuscular disease at age 80 in Wyyewood, Pennsylvania.
2005 ~ Rosemary Kennedy (née Rose Marie Kennedy; b. Sept. 13, 1918), oldest daughter of the Kennedy clan. She was the Kennedy who inspired the Special Olympics. When she was 23 years old, her father arranged for her to have a frontal lobotomy, due to her behavioral issues. The procedure failed and she was institutionalized for the rest of her life. Her condition inspired her sister, Eunice, to form the Special Olympics in 1962. She was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. She died at age 86 in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.
1998 ~ Richard Hamming (né Richard Wesley Hamming; b. Feb. 11, 1915), American mathematician. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He died about a month before his 83rd birthday in Monterey, California.
1998 ~ Vladimir Prelog (b. July 23, 1906), Croatian chemist and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was born in Sarajevo, which at the time was under Austria-Hungary. He died at age 91.
1996 ~ Károly Grósz (b. Aug. 1, 1930), Communist leader of Hungary. He died of kidney cancer at age 65.
1989 ~ Hirohito (b. Apr. 29, 1901), Emperor of Japan from 1929 until his death in 1989. He was the Emperor during World War II. He died at age 87.
1984 ~ Alfred Kastler (b. May 3, 1902), French physicist and recipient of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Physics. He died at age 81.
1981 ~ William A. Feather (b. Aug. 25, 1889), American publisher. He was born in Jamestown, New York. He died at age 91.
1960 ~ Dorothea Lambert Chambers (née Dorothea Katherine Douglass; b. Sept. 3, 1878), British tennis player and coach. She won 7 Wimbledon Women’s Singles titles and a gold medal in the 1908 Olympics. She died at age 81.
1945 ~ Alexander Stirling Calder (b. Jan. 11, 1870), American sculptor. He was the father of son, also named Alexander Calder. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsynvania. Alexander the father died 4 days before his 75thbirthday in New York, New York.
1944 ~ Lou Henry Hoover (née Lou Henry; b. Mar. 29, 1874), First Lady of the United States and wife of President Herbert Hoover. She served as First Lady from March 1929 until March 1933. She was born in Waterloo, Iowa. She died of a heart attack at age 69 in New York, New York.
1943 ~ Nikola Tesla (b. July 10, 1856), Serbian-American physicist and inventor. He is born in what is now considered modern Croatia, but at the time of his birth was under the Austrian empire. He died of coronary thrombosis at age 86 in New York City.
1932 ~ André Maginot (b. Feb. 17, 1877), French politician and sergeant. He is best known for advocating the string of forts known as the Maginot line in France. He did not live to see the Maginot Line completed. The line of fortification proved to be very ineffective during World War II. He died of typhoid fever at age 54.
1912 ~ Sophia Jex-Blake (née Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake; b. Jan. 21, 1840), British physician and feminist. She was the first practicing physician in Scotland. She died 14 days before her 72nd birthday.
1893 ~ Jožef Stefan (b. Mar. 24, 1835), Slovenian physicist and mathematician. He died at age 57.
1882 ~ Ignacy Łukasiewicz (né Jan Józef Ignacy Łukasiewicz, b. Mar. 8, 1822), Polish inventor. He invented the Kerosene lamp. He died of pneumonia at age 59.
1872 ~ James Fisk, Jr. (b. Apr. 1, 1834), American businessman and stockbroker. He was known as Diamond Jimand was a Robber Baron. He was born in Pownal, Vermont but moved to New York City to become a stockbroker. He was murdered at age 36 by a disgruntled business associate in New York, New York.
1864 ~ Caleb Smith (né Caleb Blood Smith; b. Apr. 16, 1808), 6th United States Secretary of the Interior. He served under President Abraham Lincoln from March 1861 through December 1862. He then became a Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Indiana. He suffered from ill health and died at age 55.
1743 ~ Anne Sophie Reventlow (b. Apr. 16, 1693), Queen consort of Denmark and Danish third wife of King Frederick IV of Denmark. She died at age 49.
1715 ~ Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (née Mary Capell; b. Dec. 16, 1630), British noblewoman, botanist and gardener. She died 3 weeks after her 84th birthday.
1694 ~ Queen Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland (b. May 10, 1662). She was co-regent with her husband, King William III. She and her husband had no children. She died of smallpox at age 32. The dates of her birth and death are sometimes recorded in accordance with the Julian calendar, thus would appear as April 30, 1662 to December 28, 1694.
1655 ~ Pope Innocent X (né Giovanni Battista Pamphilj; b. May 6, 1575). He was Pope from September 1644 until his death in January 1655. He was born and died in Rome, Italy. He was 80 years old.
1536 ~ Catherine of Aragon (b. Dec. 16, 1485), Queen consort and first wife of Henry VIII of England. Henry’s attempt to have their marriage annulled ultimately led to England’s split from the Catholic Church. Henry defied the Pope and declared supremacy over religious matters, thereby allowing him to terminate his marriage to Catherine. She was the daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. She died 3 weeks after her 50thbirthday.
1451 ~ Antipope Felix V (b. Sept. 4, 1383). He died at age 67.
1355 ~ Inês de Castro (b. 1325), posthumously recognized as the Queen consort of Portugal. She and Peter may have been secretly married following the death of his first wife, Constanza Manuel. She was murdered at about age 30
1325 ~ King Denis of Portugal (b. Oct. 9, 1261). He was King from February 1279 until his death in January 1325. He was married to Elizabeth of Aragon (1271 ~ July 4, 1336). He died at age 63.
1131 ~ Canute Lavard (b. Mar. 12, 1096), Danish prince. He was the son of Eric I of Denmark. He was killed by his cousin, Magnus (later King Magnus I of Sweden), who viewed him as a threat to the throne. He was later canonized as a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
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