Birthdays:
1987 ~ Ellen Page (née Ellen Grace Philpotts-Page), Canadian actress best known for her role as Juno in the movie of the same name. She was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
1977 ~ Jonathan Safran Foer, American novelist. He is best known for his novels Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. He was born in Washington, D.C.
1962 ~ David Foster Wallace (d. Sept. 12, 2008), American author. He was born in Ithaca, New York. He died by suicide at age 46 in Claremont, California.
1962 ~ Chuck Palahniuk (né Charles Michael Palahniuk), American journalist and novelist. He was born in Pasco, Washington.
1960 ~ Plaman Oresharski, Prime Minister of Bulgaria. He served as the Prime Minister from May 2013 until August 2014. He was born in Dupnica, Bulgaria.
1956 ~ Sally Jewell (née Sarah Margaret Roffey), 51st United States Secretary of the Interior. She served under President Barack Obama from April 2013 until January 2017. She was born in London, England.
1955 ~ Kelsey Grammer (né Allen Kelsey Grammer), American actor. He was born in Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands.
1953 ~ Christine Ebersole, American actress best known for being a member of the Saturday Night Live cast during the 1981-1982 season. She was born in Winnetka, Illinois.
1947 ~ Olympia Snowe (née Olympia Jean Bouchles), American politician from Maine. She served as a United States Senator from Maine from January 1995 until January 2013. She was born in Augusta, Maine.
1946 ~ Alan Rickman (né Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman; d. Jan. 14, 2016), British actor who was the voice of villainy. He was adored for his villainous turns in Die Hard and Harry Potter. He died of pancreatic cancer just over a month before his 70th birthday.
1946 ~ Tyne Daly (née Ellen Tyne Daly), American actress. She was born in Madison, Wisconsin.
1940 ~ John Lewis (né John Robert Lewis; d. July 17, 2020), African-American politician and civil rights activist. He was the civil rights icon who became the “conscience of Congress”. He was born in Troy, Alabama. He died of pancreatic cancer at age 80 in Atlanta, Georgia
1937 ~ King Harald V of Norway. He ascended to the throne in January 1991.
1936 ~ Barbara Jordan (née Barbara Charline Jordan; d. Jan. 17, 1996), African-American politician from Texas. She served as the United States House of Representatives from the State of Texas January 1973 until January 1979. She died of pneumonia at age 59.
1933 ~ Nina Simone (née Eunice Kathleen Waymon; d. Apr. 21, 2003), African-American singer and activist. She died at age 70.
1927 ~ Erma Bombeck (née Erma Louise Fiste; d. Apr. 22, 1996), American humorist. She died of complications from a kidney transplant at age 69.
1925 ~ Sam Peckinpah (né David Samuel Peckinpah; d. Dec. 28, 1984), American movie director. He died at age 59 of heart failure.
1924 ~ Robert Mugabe (né Robert Gabriel Mugabe; d. Sept. 6, 2019), 2nd President of Zimbabwe who liberated and ravaged his nation. He served as President from December 1987 until he was ousted in November 2017. He died at age 95.
1919 ~ Kehat Shorr (d. Sept. 6, 1972), Romanian-born Israeli shooting coach. He was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Olympics in Munich. He was killed at age 53.
1917 ~ Manson Whitlock (d. Aug. 28, 2013), American repairman who cherished typewriters. He died at age 96.
1907 ~ W.H. Auden (né Wystan Hugh Auden; d. Sept. 29, 1973), Anglo-American poet. He died at age 66.
1904 ~ Alexei Kosygin (d. Dec. 18, 1980), 8th Premier of the Soviet Union. The date of his birth is sometimes noted as on February 8 because of the calendar in use in Russia at that time. He died at age 76.
1903 ~ Anaïs Nin (né Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell, d. Jan. 14, 1977), French writer and diarist. She is best known for her erotic literature. She was born in France to Cuban parents. She died at age 73.
1895 ~ Henrick Dam (né Carl Peter Henrick Dam; d. Apr. 17, 1976), Danish biochemist and recipient of the 1943 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering the importance of vitamin K. He died at age 81.
1875 ~ Jeanne Calment (d. Aug. 4, 1997), French super-centenarian. She holds the record for the world’s substantiated longest-lived person. In 1965, Andre-François Raffray entered into a property deal with Calment to acquire her apartment upon her death. Raffray, then 47 years old, agreed to pay her rent until her death. She was at the time rather elderly and Raffray believed she would die soon. Instead, he died in 1995 at age 77. She went on to live two more years. She died at age 122 years and 164 days. In 2019, researchers have challenged her claim, and alleged that she actually died in 1934 and her daughter assumed her identity.
1866 ~ August Paul von Wassermann (d. Mar. 16, 1925), German microbiologist. He developed the Wassermann Test that allowed for the early detection of syphilis. He died 23 days after his 59th birthday.
1821 ~ Charles Scribner I (d. Aug. 26, 1871), American publisher and founder of Charles Scribner’s and Sons. He died of typhoid at age 50.
1794 ~ Antonia López de Santa Anna (d. June 21, 1876), President of Mexico and Mexican general. He died at age 82.
1728 ~ Peter III, Tsar of Russia (d. July 17, 1762). He was the husband of Catherine the Great. He died under mysterious circumstances at age 34 and is believed to have been murdered.
1621 ~ Rebecca Towne Nurse (d. July 19, 1692), English colonist who was hanged as a witch during the Salem witch trials. She was 71.
1462 ~ Joanna la Beltraneja (d. Apr. 12, 1530), Queen consort of Portugal and second wife of King Alfonso V of Portugal. She died at age 68.
1397 ~ Isabella of Portugal (d. Dec. 17, 1471), daughter of King John I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster. She was the Duchess consort of Burgundy and third wife of Philip the Good. She died at age 74.
Events that Changed the World:
2012 ~ Mardi Gras.
1995 ~ Steve Fossett (1944 ~ 2007) became the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.
1975 ~ Former United States Attorney General John Mitchell (1913 ~ 1988) and former Nixon aides H.R. Haldeman (1926 ~ 1993) and John Ehrlichman (1925 ~ 1999) were sentenced to prison for their roles in the Watergate scandal.
1974 ~ The last Israeli soldiers left the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt.
1972 ~ President Richard Nixon (1913 ~ 1994) visited the People’s Republic of China, becoming the first United States President to visit the country.
1958 ~ The Peace symbol, which was commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, was designed by Gerald Holtom (1914 ~ 1985).
1948 ~ The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) became incorporated.
1947 ~ Edwin Land (1909 ~ 1991) demonstrated the first “instant camera”, the Polaroid Land Camera, at a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
1925 ~ The New Yorker began publishing.
1921 ~ Rezā Shāh (1878 ~ 1944) took control of Tehran following a successful coup.
1918 ~ The last of the Carolina Parakeets died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1885 ~ The Washington Monument was dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1878 ~ The first telephone book was issued in New Haven, Connecticut.
1848 ~ Karl Marx (1818 ~ 1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820 ~ 1895) published The Communist Manifesto.
1842 ~ John Greenough was granted the first United States patent for a sewing machine.
1808 ~ Russian troops crossed the border into Sweden and started the Finnish War. Ultimately, Sweden lost the eastern half of its country (now Finland) to Russia.
1613 ~ Mikhail I (1596 ~ 1645) was elected Tsar by a national assembly, thus beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia.
Good-Byes:
2020 ~ Lisel Mueller (née Elisabeth Neumann; b. Feb. 8, 1924), German-born poet. She was born in Hamburg, Germany. She and her family fled Nazi Germany in 1939 and settled in the United States. She died in Chicago, Illinois 13 days after her 96th birthday.
2019 ~ Peter Tork (né Peter Halsten Thorkelson; b. Feb. 13, 1942), American singer-songwriter and member of The Monkees. He was born in Washington, D.C. He died of cancer 8 days after his 77th birthday in Mansfield, Connecticut.
2019 ~ Stanley Donen (b. Apr. 13, 1924), American film director who mastered the movie musical. He is best known for such movies as Singin’ in the Rain and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. He died at age 94.
2018 ~ Billy Graham (né William Franklin Graham, Jr.; b. Nov. 7, 1918), American evangelist who administered to millions worldwide. He died at age 99.
2017 ~ Kenneth Arrow (né Kenneth Joseph Arrow; b. Aug. 23, 1921), American economist and recipient of the 1972 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He died at age 95.
2015 ~ Clark Terry (né Clark Virgil Terry, Jr.; b. Dec. 14, 1920), African-American trumpet and flugelhorn virtuoso who taught the art of Jazz. He died at age 94.
2012 ~ Barney Rosset (né Barnett Lee Rosset, Jr.; b. May 28, 1922), American provocative publisher who defied censors. He was the owner of the Grove Press publishing house. He led the fight to publish the uncensored version of Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Tropic of Cancer. He died at age 89.
2012 ~ Gladys O’Connor (b. Nov. 28, 1903), Canadian actress. She died at age 108.
2008 ~ Ben Chapman (né Benjamin F. Chapman; b. Oct. 29, 1928), American minor actor who was a major movie monster. He was best known for playing Gill-man in the 1954 horror film classic, Creature From the Black Lagoon. He died at age 79.
2008 ~ Robin Moore (né Robert Lowell Moore, Jr.; b. Oct. 31, 1925), American popular author who wrote The French Connection. He also wrote The Green Berets. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He died at age 82.
2008 ~ Evan Mecham (b. May 12, 1924) American loose-lipped governor from Arizona who was impeached. He served as governor from January 1987 until April 1988. He was impeached on charges of obstruction of justice and misuse of government funds. He died at 83 years old.
2008 ~ Sunny Lowry (née Ethel Lowry; b. Jan. 2, 1911), first British woman to swim the English Channel. In August 1933, she swam the English Channel in 15 hours, 41 minutes. She died at age 97.
1999 ~ Gertrude Elion (née Gertrude Belle Elion; b. Jan. 23, 1918), American biochemist, pharmacologist and recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She died a month after her 81st birthday.
1993 ~ Inge Lehmann (b. May 13, 1888), Danish seismologist and geophysicist who discovered the Earth’s inner core. She died at age 104.
1991 ~ Dame Margot Fonteyn (née Margaret Evelyn Hookham, b. May 18, 1919), British ballerina. She died of cancer at age 71.
1986 ~ Helen Hooven Santmyer (b. Nov. 25, 1895), American novelist, best known for her novel, … And the Ladies of the Club. She was 88 years old when this novel was published. She died at age 90.
1984 ~ Mikhail Sholokhov (né Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov; b. May 24, 1905), Russian writer and recipient of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He died at age 78.
1982 ~ Gershom Scholem (né Gerhard Scholem; b. Dec. 5, 1897), German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. He died at age 84.
1968 ~ Howard Florey, Baron Florey (né Howard Walter Florey; b. Sept. 24, 1898), Australian pharmacologist and recipient of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his role in the development of penicillin. He died at age 69.
1965 ~ Malcolm X (né Malcolm Little; b. May 19, 1925), Black American Muslim leader who was assassinated by other members of the Nation of Islam. He was 39 years old at the time of his assassination.
1950 ~ Gerhard Kowalewski (b. Mar. 27, 1876), German mathematician and member of the Nazi party. He is best known for the introduction of the matrices notation. He is also known as being a strong advocate for female mathematicians. He died at age 73.
1947 ~ Fannie Charles Dillon (b. Mar. 16, 1881), American composer and educator. She died 23 days before her 66th birthday.
1941 ~ Sir Frederick Banting (né Frederick Grant Banting; b. Nov. 14, 1891), Canadian physician who was the principal discoverer of how insulin functions in the human body. He, along with his co-worker John Macleod, received the 1923 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for this discovery. He was killed from injuries sustained in a plane crash at age 49.
1938 ~ George Ellery Hale (b. June 29, 1868), American astronomer. He died at age 69.
1935 ~ Giuseppe Moretti (b. Feb. 3, 1857), Italian sculptor and designer of the Vulcan statue in Birmingham, Alabama. The statute, which is made from iron from the Birmingham area, was created as the city’s entry into the 1904 World’s Fair, which was held in St. Louis, Missouri. He died 18 days after his 78th birthday.
1926 ~ Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (b. Sept. 21, 1853), Dutch physicist and recipient of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physics. He died at age 72.
1919 ~ Mary Edwards Walker (b. Nov. 26, 1832), American physician. She served during the American Civil War and as of 2018, she was still the only woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor. She was captured by the Confederate Army and was held a prisoner of war until a prisoner exchange was made. She died at age 86.
1910 ~ Boutros Ghali (b. 1846), Prime Minister of Egypt. He served as Prime Minister from November 1908 until his assassination on this date. The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been about 64 or 65 years of age.
1730 ~ Pope Benedict XIII (né Pietro Francesco Orsini, b. Feb. 2, 1649). He ruled as Pope from May 29, 1724 until his death on February 21, 1730. He died three weeks after his 81st birthday.
1715 ~ Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore (b. Aug. 27, 1637), governor of the province of Maryland. He inherited the colony of Maryland upon the death of his father. He died at age 77.
1677 ~ Baruch Spinoza (b. Nov. 24, 1632), Dutch-Jewish philosopher. He was born in Amsterdam of Portuguese-Jewish parents. Because he was a free-thinker, he was the most famous individual to be excommunicated by the Amsterdam Sephardic Jewish community. He died at age 44.
1513 ~ Pope Julius II (né Guiliano della Rovere; b. Dec. 5, 1443). He was known as the Warrior Pope and ruled from November 1503 until his death 10 years later. He died at age 69.
1437 ~ James I of Scotland (b. July 25, 1394). He reigned from April 4, 1406 until his death in February 1437. He was married to Joan Beaufort. The exact date of his birth is not known, but it is often considered to have been July 25, 1394. He was assassinated at age 42.
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