March 31

Birthdays:

 

1948 ~ Al Gore (né Albert Arnold Gore, Jr.), 45^th Vice President of the United States.  He served under President Bill Clinton.  He was also the recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.  He was born in Washington, D.C.

 

1948 ~ Rhea Perlman (né Rhea Jo Pearlman), American actress.  She is best known for her role as Carla on the television sitcom Cheers.  She was born in New York, New York.

 

1947 ~ Augustin Banyaga, Rwandan-born mathematician.

 

1944 ~ Angus King (né Angus Stanley King, Jr.), United States Senator from Maine.  He is serving as an independent.  He assumed office in January 2013.  He had previously served as the 72^nd Governor of Maine from January 1995 until January 2003.  He was born in Alexandria, Virginia.

 

1943 ~ Christopher Walken (né Ronald Walken), American actor.  He was born in New York, New York.

 

1940 ~ Barney Frank (né Barnett Frank), American politician from Massachusetts.  He was a member of the House of Representatives from January 1981 until January 2013.  He was the first openly gay member of Congress.  He was born in Bayonne, New Jersey.

 

1940 ~ Patrick Leahy (né Patrick Joseph Leahy), American United States Senator from Vermont.  He assumed office in January 1975.  He was born in Montpelier, Vermont.

 

1936 ~ Marge Piercy, American novelist.  She was born in Detroit, Michigan.

 

1935 ~ Judith Rossner (née Judith Louise Perelman; d. Aug. 9, 2005), American author, best known for her 1975 novel Looking for Mr. Goodbar.  She died of leukemia and complications from diabetes at age 70.

 

1935 ~ Herb Alpert, American trumpeter and band leader.  He was born in Los Angeles, California.

 

1934 ~ Richard Chamberlain (né George Richard Chamberlain), American actor.  He is best known for his role as Doctor Kildare in the television show of the same name.  He was born in Beverly Hills, California.

 

1934 ~ Shirley Jones (née Shirley Mae Jones), American actress and singer.  She was born in Smithton, Pennsylvania.

 

1934 ~ Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist and recipient of the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work leading to the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN.  He was born in Gorizia, Italy.

 

1932 ~ John Jakes (né John Williams Jakes), American author best known for his Civil War North and South trilogy.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1929 ~ Liz Claiborne (née Anne Elisabeth Jane Claiborne; d. June 26, 2007), American fashion designer.  She came from a prominent Louisiana family, whose ancestor was William C.C. Claiborne, Governor of Louisiana during the War of 1812.  She was born in Brussels, Belgium.  She died of cancer at age 78 in New York, New York.

 

1928 ~ Gordie Howe (né Gordon Howe; d. June 10, 2016), Canadian ice hockey player.  He spent 25 years with the Detroit Red Wings.  His nickname was Mr. Hockey.  He died at age 88.

 

1927 ~ César Chávez (né César Estrada Chávez; d. Apr. 23, 1993), American labor activist.  He died 23 days after his 66^th birthday.

 

1927 ~ William Daniels (né William David Daniels), American actor.  He is best known for his role as Dr. Mark Craig on the television drama St. Elsewhere.  He was born in Brooklyn, New York.

 

1926 ~ John Fowles (né John Robert Fowles; d. Nov. 5, 2005), British author best known for his novel The French Lieutenant’s Woman.  He died of heart failure at age 79.

 

1920 ~ Deborah Cavendish (née Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford; d. Sept. 24, 2014), Duchess of Devonshire.  She was the British aristocrat and Mitford sister who restored a country estate.  She died at age 94.

 

1914 ~ Octavio Paz Lozano (d. Apr. 19, 1998), Mexican diplomat and recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died 19 days after his 84^th birthday.

 

1906 ~ Shin’ichiro Tomonaga (d. July 8, 1979), Japanese physicist and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 73.

 

1890 ~ Sir Lawrence Bragg (né William Lawrence Bragg; d. July 1, 1971), English physicist and recipient of the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics.  At age 25, he was the youngest person to receive a Nobel Prize.  He shared the Nobel Prize with his father, William Bragg.  He died at age 81.

 

1885 ~ Pascin (né Julius Mordecai Pincas, d. June 5, 1930), Sephardi Bulgarian-American painter.  He suffered from depression and died by suicide at age 45.

 

1847 ~ Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev (d. July 19, 1878), Russian mathematician.  He died of blood poisoning at age 31.

 

1809 ~ Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (d. Mar. 4, 1809), Ukrainian-Russian playwright and author.  He died 27 days before his 43^rd birthday

 

1794 ~ Thomas McKennan (né Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan; d. July 9, 1852), 2^nd United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President Millard Fillmore, but only for 11 days from August 15 until August 26, 1850, because he found the job too stressful.  He died 2 years later at age 58.

 

1732 ~ Joseph Haydn (d. May 31, 1809), Austrian composer.  He died at age 77.

 

1730 ~ Étienne Bézout (d. Sept. 27, 1783), French mathematician.  He died at age 53.

 

1723 ~ Frederick V of Denmark (d. Jan. 14, 1766).  ).  He ruled from August 1746 until his death in January 1766.  He died at age 42.

 

1685 ~ Johann Sebastian Bach (d. July 28, 1750), German composer.  He died at age 65.

 

1675 ~ Pope Benedict XIV (né Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, d. May 3, 1758).  He was Pope from 1740 until his death 18 years later.  He died at age 83.

 

1596 ~ René Descartes (d. Feb. 11, 1650), French philosopher and mathematician.  He died of pneumonia at age 53.

 

1519 ~ King Henry II of France (d. July 10, 1559).  He was king from March 1547 until his death 12 years later.  He died at age 40 from an injury sustained to his eye during a jousting match.

 

1499 ~ Pope Pius IV (né Giovanni Angelo Medici; d. Dec. 9, 1565).  He was Pope from 1559 until his death 6 years later.  He is best known for presiding over the final session of the Council of Trent.  He was 66 years old at the time of his death.

 

1360 ~ Philippa of Lancaster (d. July 19, 1415), Queen consort of Portugal and wife of John I of Portugal.  She died at age 55.

 

867 ~ Zhao Zong (d. Sept. 22, 904), Chinese emperor of the Tang Dynasty.  He was Emperor from April 888 until December 900.  He is believed to have been 37 at the time of his death.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2013 ~ Easter Sunday.

 

1986 ~ Mexicana Flight 940 en route to Puerto Vallarta crashed into the mountains near Mexico City and killed 167 people aboard.

 

1966 ~ The Soviet Union launched Luna 10, which later became the first space probe to orbit around the moon.

 

1959 ~ Tenzin Gyatso (b. 1935), the 14^th Dalai Lama, was granted political asylum after crossing into India.

 

1931 ~ TWA Flight 599, which was carrying Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne (1888 ~ 1931), crashed in Kansas.

 

1931 ~ A massive earthquake destroyed Managua, Nicaragua, and about 2,000 people were killed.

 

1918 ~ Daylight savings time went into effect in the United States for the first time.

 

1917 ~ The United States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25M.

 

1909 ~ Serbia accepted Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

1906 ~ The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, which later became the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was established.  Its function was to establish rules for college sports.

 

1889 ~ The Eiffel Tower was officially opened.

 

1866 ~ The Spanish Navy bombed the harbor of Valparaío, Chile.

 

1492 ~ The Alhambra Decree was issued by King Ferdinand (1452 ~ 1516) and Queen Isabella (1451 ~ 1504) of Spain expelling all Jews and Muslims who refuse to convert to Christianity.  This Decree was not formally revoked until 1968.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2020 ~ Lisa Ewald (b. Apr. 4, 1966), American emergency nurse who treated coronavirus patients at the Henry Fort Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.  She died 4 days before her 54 birthday from complications of Covid-19.

 

2020 ~ Wallace Roney (b. May 25, 1960), African-American jazz trumpeter.  He was mentored by Miles Davis.  He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He died of complications from Covid-19 in Paterson, New Jersey.  He was 59 years old.

 

2020 ~ Frank Gabrin (b. 1959), American emergency room doctor who worked the front lines of he Covid-19 pandemic.  He became the first emergency physician in the United States to die from complications of Covid-19.  He was 60 years old.

 

2019 ~ Nipsey Hussle (né Ermias Joseph Asghedom; b. Aug. 15, 1985), American rising rap star who became a champion for South Los Angeles.  He was shot and killed outside his clothing store.  He was 33 years old.

 

2017 ~ Gilbert Baker (b. June 2, 1951), American gay activist who created the rainbow flag.  He was born in Chanute, Kansas.  He died at age 65 in New York, New York.

 

2017 ~ Richard Bolles (né Richard Nelson Bolles; b. Mar. 19, 1927), American clergyman who became a job-searching guru.  He was an Episcopal priest who wrote the book, What Color is Your Parachute?  He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  He died 12 days after his 90^th birthday.

 

2016 ~ Imre Kertész (b. Nov. 9, 1929), Hungarian writer and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He was a Holocaust survivor and his writings reflect his experiences.  He is best known for his quasi-autobiographical novel, Fatelessness.  He died of Parkinson’s disease at age 86.

 

2014 ~ Charles Keating (né Charles Humphrey Keating, Jr.; b. Dec. 4, 1923), American attorney and businessman.  He is best known for his role in the Savings and Loan scandal of the late 1980s.  In 1991, he was charged with 17 counts of fraud, racketeering and conspiracy.  He was given a 10-year prison sentence for his crimes.  He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He died at age 90 in Phoenix, Arizona.

 

2011 ~ Gil Chancy (né Gilbert Thomas Chancy; b. May 30, 1922), American Hall of Fame Boxer and trainer and boxing commentator.  He died at age 88.

 

2009 ~ Raúl Ricardo Alfonsin (b. Mar. 12, 1927), 46^th Argentine president who championed democracy after years of brutal authoritarian rule.  He died 19 days 83^rd birthday

 

2005 ~ Terri Schiavo (née Therese Marie Schindler; b. Dec. 3, 1963), American medical patient who was the center of a wrenching right-to-die dispute.  In 1990, she suffered from a cardiac arrest, and suffered irreparable brain damage due to the lack of oxygen to her brain.  She never recovered conscientiousness and was left in a comatose state.  Her husband and her parents found themselves on opposite sides of a dispute when her husband wanted to remove her feeding tube.  After years of legal battling, the feeding tube was removed and she died 13 days later at age 41.

 

2005 ~ Frank Perdue (né Franklin Parsons Perdue; b. May 9, 1920), American businessman and founder of Perdue Chicken.  He died at age 84.

 

2003 ~ Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter (b. Feb. 9, 1907), British-born Canadian mathematician.  He is known for the study of geometry.  He died at age 96.

 

2001 ~ Clifford Shull (né Clifford Glennwood Shull; b. Sept. 23, 1915), American physicist and recipient of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died in Medford, Massachusetts at age 85.

 

1998 ~ Bella Abzug (née Bella Savitsky; b. July 24, 1920), American politician.  She was a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York State.  She was known for wearing big hats.  She died of breast cancer at age 77.

 

1983 ~ Christina Stead (b. July 17, 1902), Australian novelist.  She was born in Rockdale, New South Wales, Australia.  She died at age 80 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

 

1981 ~ Enid Algerine, Lady Jones (née Enid Bagnold; b. Oct. 27, 1889), British playwright, best known for her novel, National Velvet.  She died at age 91.

 

1980 ~ Jesse Owens (né James Cleveland Owens; b. Sept. 12, 1913), American athlete.  He is best known for competing in track in the 1936 Olympics that were held in Berlin, Germany.  He died of lung cancer at age 66.

 

1978 ~ Charles Herbert Best (b. Feb. 27, 1899), Canadian medical student who co-discovered insulin.  He was born in Maine.  He died about a month after his 79^th birthday.

 

1976 ~ Paul Strand (b. Oct. 16, 1890), American photographer.  He died at age 85.

 

1952 ~ Wallace White, Jr. (né Wallace Humphry White, Jr.; b. Aug. 6, 1877), United States Senator from the State of Maine.  He died at age 74.

 

1945 ~ Anne Frank (née Annelies Marie Frank, b. June 12, 1929), German-Jewish girl who wrote a diary while hiding from the Nazis during World War II.  She received a diary for her thirteenth birthday.  She and her family were ultimately caught and sent to the Belsen concentration camp where she died.  The exact date of her death is unknown, but she perished in the concentration camp in either February or March 1945.  She was 15 years old at the time of her death.

 

1945 ~ Hans Fischer (b. July 27, 1881), German chemist and recipient of the 1930 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died by suicide at age 63.

 

1935 ~ Prince Georges V. Matchabelli (né George Vasili Matchabelli; b. July 23, 1885), Georgian-American businessman and founder of Prince Matchabelli perfume company.  He died of pneumonia at age 49.

 

1931 ~ Knute Rockne (né Knute Kenneth Rockne; b. Mar. 4, 1888), football coach at the University of Notre Dame.  He was killed when the plane he was in crashed in Kansas, while en route to participate in the film, The Spirit of Notre Dame.  He died 27 days after his 43^rd birthday.

 

1917 ~ Emil Adolf von Behring (b. Mar. 15, 1854), German physician and recipient of the first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded in 1901.  He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the diphtheria antitoxin.  He died 16 days after his 63^rd birthday.

 

1913 ~ J.P. Morgan, Sr. (né John Pierpoint Morgan, b. Apr. 17, 1837), American financier.  He died 17 days before his 76^th birthday.

 

1907 ~ Galusha A. Grow (né Galusha Aaron Grow; b. Aug. 31, 1823), Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.  He was a Representative from Pennsylvania.  He served as Speaker from July 1861 through March 1863.  He died at age 84.

 

1877 ~ Antoine Augustin Cournot (b. Aug. 28, 1801), French mathematician.  He died at age 75.

 

1855 ~ Charlotte Brontë (b. Apr. 21, 1816), English author.  She is best known for her novel Jane Eyre.  She died 3 weeks before her 39^th birthday.

 

1850 ~ John C. Calhoun (né John Caldwell Calhoun; d. Mar. 18, 1782), 7^th Vice President of the United States.  He served under President John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson from March 1925 until December 1832, when he resigned the Office.  He went on to serve as the 16^th United States Secretary of State during the John Tyler and James Polk administrations, from April 1844 until March 1845.  Before becoming the Vice President, he had served as the 10^th United States Secretary of War under President James Monroe from December 1817 until March 1825.  He died 13 days after his 68^th birthday.

 

1837 ~ John Constable (d. June 11, 1776), English Romantic painter.  He died at age 60.

 

1727 ~ Sir Isaac Newton (b. Jan. 4, 1642), English mathematician, astronomer, physicist, philosopher and natural scientist.  He is credited with inventing a branch of mathematics called calculus.  Under the old calendar (the Julian calendar), Newton’s birthdate would fall on December 25, 1642, so that date is sometime listed as his actual birthdate.  He is believed to have been 84 at the time of his death.

 

1703 ~ Johann Christoph Bach (b. Dec. 6, 1642), German composer.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but he was baptized on December 18 (Dec. 8, 1642 under the calendar in effect at the time of his birth.)  He died at age 60.

 

1671 ~ Anne Hyde (b. Mar. 12, 1637), first wife of James II of England.  She converted to Catholicism shortly after her marriage to James II.  She died of breast cancer 19 days after her 34^th birthday.  She died before he became king, thus was never the Queen consort.

 

1631 ~ John Donne (b. Jan. 22, 1572), English writer and cleric in the Church of England.  He died at age 59.

 

1547 ~ King Francis I of France (b. Sept. 12, 1494).  He reigned from January 1515 until his death 32 years later.  He died at age 52.

 

1340 ~ Ivan I of Russia (b. 1288).  The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown.  He is believed to have been between 51 and 53 at the time of his death.

March 30

Birthdays:

 

1979 ~ Norah Jones (née Geetali Norah Jones Shankar), American singer-songwriter.  She was born in Manhattan, New York.

 

1949 ~ Ray Magliozzi (né Raymond Francis Magliozzi), American radio personality who, along with his older brother Tom Magliozzi (1937 ~ 2014), hosted NPR’s Car Talk.  He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

1945 ~ Eric Clapton (né Eric Patrick Clapton), English rock musician and composer.  Clapton was the first musician to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times.  He was born in Ripley, Surrey, England.

 

1937 ~ Warren Beatty (né Henry Warren Beatty), American actor.  He was born in Richmond, Virginia.

 

1934 ~ Paul Crouch (né Paul Franklin Crouch; d. Nov. 30, 2013), American televangelist who asked believers to dig deep.  He founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network.  He died at age 79.

 

1930 ~ John Astin (né John Allen Astin), American actor.  He was born in Baltimore, Maryland.

 

1929 ~ Richard Dysart (né Richard Allen Dysart; d. Apr. 5, 2015), American actor best known for his role as Leland McKenzie on LA Law.  He died 6 days after his 86^th birthday.

 

1928 ~ Tom Sharpe (né Thomas Ridley Sharpe; d. June 6, 2013), British novelist who fused satire and smut.  He died at age 85.

 

1926 ~ Anthony Smith (né Anthony John Francis Smith; d. July 7, 2014), British adventurer who crossed land, sea and air.  In 2011, well into his 80s, he sailed from the Canary Islands to the Bahamas.  He died at age 88.

 

1926 ~ Ingvar Kamprad (né Feodor Ingvar Kamprad; d. Jan. 27, 2018), Swedish entrepreneur and founder of IKEA who took Swedish style global.  He died at age 91.

 

1926 ~ Peter Marshall (né Ralph Pierre LaCock), American game show host.  He was born in Huntington, West Virginia

 

1919 ~ McGeorge Bundy (d. Sept. 16, 1996), 6^th United States National Security Advisor.  He served under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from January 1961 until February 1966.  He was from Boston, Massachusetts.  He died of a heart attack at age 77.

 

1919 ~ Robin M. Williams (né Robert Martin Williams; d. Mar. 18, 2013), New Zealand mathematician.  He died 12 days before his 94^th birthday

 

1913 ~ Richard Helms (né Richard McGarrah Helms; d. Oct. 23, 2002), 8^th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.  He served under Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon from June 1966 until February 1973.  He died at age 89.

 

1910 ~ Józef Marcinkiewicz (d. 1940), Polish mathematician.  He is believed to have died in the Katyn massacre near Smolensk during World War II.  The exact date of his death is unknown.

 

1902 ~ Brook Astor (née Roberta Brooke Russell; d. Aug. 13, 2007), American socialite and philanthropist.  She was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  Her third husband was William Vincent Astor.  She died at age 105.

 

1895 ~ Carl Lutz (d. Feb. 12, 1975), Swiss vice-consul to Hungary during World War II.  He is credited with saving over 62,000 Jews during the War. By issuing safe-conduct certificates that allowed Jews to emigrate to what is now Israel.  He is the Righteous Among the Nations.  He died at age 79.

 

1892 ~ Stefan Banach (d. Aug. 31, 1945), Polish mathematician.  He is considered to be the founder of modern functional analysis.  He died of lung cancer at age 53.

 

1880 ~ Seán O’Casey (né John Casey; d. Sept. 18, 1964), Irish playwright.  He died at age 84.

 

1874 ~ Nicolae Rădescu (d. May 16, 1953), Romanian general and Prime Minister of Romania.  He was the last pre-Communist Prime minister.  He served from December 1944 until March 1945.  He died at age 79.

 

1853 ~ Vincent van Gogh (né Vincent Willem van Gogh; d. July 29, 1890), Dutch painter.  He died by suicide at age 37.

 

1820 ~ Anna Sewell (d. Apr. 25, 1878), English novelist, who is best known for her novel, Black Beauty.  She died of tuberculosis just 26 days before her 59^th birthday.

 

1811 ~ Robert Bunsen (né Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen; d. Aug. 16, 1899), German chemist and inventor.  He developed the Bunsen burner.  He died at age 88.

 

1746 ~ Francisco Goya (d. Apr. 16, 1828), Spanish painter.  He died just over 2 weeks after his 82^nd birthday.

 

1606 ~ Vincentio Reinieri (d. Nov. 5, 1647), Italian mathematician.  The crater Reiner on the Moon is named in his honor.  He died at age 41.

 

1326 ~ Ivan II of Russia, Grand Prince of Moscow (d. Nov. 13, 1359).  He was known as Ivan the Fair.  He followed his brother, Simeon I, Grand Prince of Moscow and was succeeded by his son, Dmitri I, Grand Prince of Moscow.  He was married first to Fedosia of Bryansk, then to Alexandra Velyaminova.  He died at age 33.

 

1135 ~ Maimonides (né Moshe ben Maimon, also known as the Rambam, which stands for Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon, d. Dec. 12, 1204), preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher, rabbi and Torah scholar.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  It has been recorded as early as March 29 and as late as April 4, 1135.  March 30 is the generally accepted date of his birth.  Although he was born in Córdoba, Spain, he traveled extensively throughout the Mediterranean.  He died in Egypt at age 69.

 

892 ~ Emperor Shi Jingtang (d. July 28, 942) 1^st Chinese Emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty.  He reigned from November 936 until his death 6 years later.  He died at age 50.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2002 ~ A group of masked men attacked a synagogue in Lyon, France.  At the time of the incident, the building was unoccupied.  It was the first of a series of attacks on Jewish facilities in a week, which coincided with Passover observation.

 

1981 ~ President Ronald Reagan (1911 ~ 2004) was shot in Washington, D.C., by John Hinckley, Jr. (b. 1955)

 

1965 ~ A car bomb exploded in front of the United States Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam.  Twenty-two people were killed and nearly 200 were wounded.

 

1964 ~ The game show Jeopardy! made its debut.  The original host was Art Fleming (1924 ~ 1995).

 

1910 ~ The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi was founded by the Mississippi legislature.

 

1909 ~ The Queensboro Bridge opened, which linked Manhattan to Queens.  This bridge is also known as the 59^th Street Bridge.

 

1870 ~ The 15^th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted the right to vote to men regardless of race, was adopted.  It had been ratified on February 3, 1870; but became a part of the Constitution on this date.

 

1870 ~ Texas was readmitted into the Union following Reconstruction.

 

1867 ~ The United States purchased the Alaska territory from Russia for $7.2 M, or about 2 cents/acre.  United States Secretary of State William Steward (1801 ~ 1872) was in favor of this purchase and Alaska was initially referred to as Steward’s folly.

 

1856 ~ The Treaty of Paris was signed, thereby ending the Crimean War.

 

1842 ~ Ether anesthesia was used for the first time in an operation to remove a tumor from the neck of a patient.  Dr. Crawford Long (1815 ~ 1878) performed the operation in Georgia.

 

1822 ~ The Florida Territory was formally organized as an unincorporated territory into the United States.

 

Good-byes:

 

2020 ~ Ben Luderer (b. Sept. 29, 1989), American special education teacher and high school baseball coach.  He died of Covid-19 at age 30.

 

2020 ~ Joanne Mellady (b. 1952), American IT specialist who embraced adventure even after receiving a double lung transplant in 2007.   For years she had a mysterious lung infection.  After receiving her transplant, she took up hang gliding, skiing, skateboarding and kayaking.  She died at age 67 in Concord, New Hampshire of Covid-19.

 

2020 ~ Bill Withers (né William Harrison Withers, Jr.; b. July 4, 1938), American Rhythm and Blues hitmaker who walked away from fame.  He is best known for his 1971 song Ain’t No Sunshine.  He retired from his music career in 1985.  He was born in Slab Fork, West Virginia.  He died at age 81 of heart complications in Los Angeles, California.

 

2018 ~ Anna Chennault (née Chan Sheng Mai; b. June 23, 1923), Chinese-born power broker who schemed with Richard Nixon.  She was actually born in 1923, but her birthday is reported as being on June 12, 1925.  She married American General Claire Chennault in 1947.  He was 30 years her senior and died in 1958.  She was a prominent Republican member of the China Lobby.  In 1968, she sent word to South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu that if he boycotted the planned peace talks with North Vietnam, he would secure the full support of President Nixon.  She was born in Beijing, China.  She died at age 94 in Washington, D.C.

 

2016 ~ Seymour Lazar (né Seymour Manuel Lazar; b. June 14, 1929), American celebrity lawyer who embraced the counterculture.  He died at age 88.

 

2015 ~ Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld (b. Oct. 21, 1921), Dutch astronomer.  She died at age 93.

 

2013 ~ Phil Ramone (né Philip Rabinowitz; b. Jan. 5, 1934), American music producer who made the stars shine.  He produced albums for Paul Simon, Carly Simon, Billy Joel and countless others.  He died following surgery for an aortic aneurism.  He was 79 years old.

 

2009 ~ Herman Franks (né Herman Louis Franks; b. Jan. 4, 1914), American baseball catcher and manager.  He died at 95.

 

2008 ~ Roland Fraïssé (b. Mar. 12, 1920), French mathematical logician.  He died 18 days after his 88^th birthday.

 

2005 ~ Mitch Hedberg (né Mitchell Lee Hedberg; b. Feb. 24, 1968), American stand-up comedian.  He died at age 37 of a drug overdose.

 

2004 ~ Alistair Cooke (né Alfred Cooke; b. Nov. 20, 1908), English-born journalist and longtime host of Masterpiece Theater.  He died at age 95.

 

2002 ~ Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (née Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon; b. Aug. 4, 1900), Scottish Queen Consort of King George VI, and mother of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.  She was known as the Queen Mother.  She died at age 101.

 

1994 ~ William Arthur Ward (b. Dec. 17, 1921), American writer known for his inspirational maxims.  He died at age 82.

 

1986 ~ John Ciardi (né John Anthony Ciardi; b. June 24, 1916), American poet.  He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  He died at age 69.

 

1986 ~ James Cagney (né James Francis Cagney, Jr.; b. July 17, 1899), American actor.  He died of a heart attack at age 86.

 

1981 ~ DeWitt Wallace (né William Roy DeWitt Wallace; b. Nov. 12, 1889), American publisher and co-founder along with his wife, Lila Wallace, of Reader’s Digest.  He died at age 91.

 

1966 ~ Maxfield Parrish (né Frederick Parrish, b. July 25, 1870), American artist.  He died in Plainfield, New Hampshire at age 95.

 

1965 ~ Philip Showalter Hench (d. Feb. 28, 1896), American physician and recipient of the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died of pneumonia about a month after his 69^th birthday.

 

1950 ~ Léon Blum (né André Léon Blum; b. Apr. 8, 1872), Jewish-French lawyer and Prime Minister of France.  He served in that office for three terms, first for a month from March to April 1938; second from June 1936 until July 1937; and then for a month from December 1946 until January 1047.  He was influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 1800s. Post-World War II, he was a transitional leader in French politics.  He died 10 days before his 78^th birthday.

 

1949 ~ Friedrich Bergius (né Friedrich Karl Rudolf Bergius; b. Oct. 11, 1884), German chemist and recipient of the 1931 Nobel Prize in Chemistry in recognition of contributions to the invention and development of chemical high-pressure measures.  He died at age 64.

 

1911 ~ Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (née Ellen Henrietta Swallow; b. Dec. 3, 1842), American industrial and environmental chemist.  She was the first woman admitted to MIT.  After her graduation, she became MIT’s first female instructor.  She was born in Dunstable, Massachusetts.  She died at age 68 in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

1853 ~ Abigail Fillmore (née Abigail Powers; b. Mar. 13, 1798), First Lady of the United States and wife of President Millard Fillmore.  She died of pneumonia 18 days after her 55^th birthday.

 

1842 ~ Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (b. Apr. 16, 1755), French portrait painter.  She created over 660 landscapes and 200 portraits.  She was born and died in Paris France.  She died 17 days before her 87^th birthday.

 

1559 ~ Adam Ries (b. Jan. 17, 1492), German mathematician.  He died at age 66.

 

943 ~ Li Bian (b. Jan. 7, 889), 1^st 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.

 

365 ~ Ai of Jin (b. 341), Chinese Emperor of the Jin Dynasty.  The exact date of his birth is not known.

March 29

Birthdays:

 

1980 ~ Chris D’Elia (né Christopher William D’Elia), American comedian and actor.  He was born in Montclair, New Jersey

 

1971 ~ Robert Gibbs (né Robert Lane Gibbs), White House Press Secretary.  He served under President Barack Obama from January 2009 until February 2011.  He was born in Auburn, Alabama.

 

1969 ~ Shinichi Mochizuki, Japanese mathematician specializing in number theory.  He was born in Tokyo, Japan.

 

1968 ~ Lucy Lawless (née Lucille Frances Ryan), New Zealand actress.  She is best known for her role as Xena: Warrior Princess.  She was born in Mount Albert, Auckland, New Zealand.

 

1964 ~ Elle Macpherson (née Eleanor Nancy Gow), Australian supermodel.  She was born in Killara, Australia.

 

1961 ~ Ari Emanuel (né Ariel Zev Emanuel), American talent agent and brother of Rahm Emanuel.  He was born in Chicago, Illinois.

 

1961 ~ Amy Sedaris (née Amy Louise Sedaris), American actress, voice actress comedian and writer.  She was born in Endicott, New York.

 

1960 ~ Jo Nesbø, Norwegian author of crime fiction.  He was born in Oslo, Norway.

 

1957 ~ Christopher Lambert (né Christopher Guy Denis Lambert), American-born French actor.  He was born in Great Neck, New York.

 

1954 ~ Karen Ann Quinlan (d. June 11, 1985), American right-to-die cause célèbre.  At age 21, she went into a coma after a drug overdose.  For the next decade, she lived in a comatose state while the courts argued over the right to remove the artificial means keeping her alive.  She died at age 31.

 

1949 ~ Dave Greenfield (né David Paul Greenfield; d. May 3, 2020), British keyboardist and singer-songwriter.  He was a member of the influential British punk band The Stranglers.  He wrote the music to the band’s biggest hit, Golden Brown.  He was born in Brighton, England.  He died at age 71 of Covid-19.

 

1948 ~ Bud Cort (né Walter Edward Cox), American actor best known for his role as Harold in the 1971 movie, Harold and Maude.  He was born in New Rochelle, New York.

 

1948 ~ Linda Sunshine, American author.  She was born in Brooklyn, New York.

 

1945 ~ Walt Frazier (né Walter Frazier, Jr.), American basketball player and sportscaster.  He was born in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

1943 ~ Eric Idle, English actor and member of Monty Python.  He was born in South Shields, England.

 

1943 ~ Sir John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He was Prime Minister from November 1990 until May 1997.  He was born in Sutton, England.

 

1941 ~ James Stewart (né James Drewry Stewart; d. Dec. 3, 2014), Canadian mathematician.  He died of multiple myeloma at age 73.

 

1941 ~ Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr., American astrophysicist and recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

1940 ~ Charles E.M. Pearce (né Charles Edward Miller Pearce; d. June 8, 2012), New Zealand mathematician.  He was born in Wellington, New Zealand.  He died at age 72.

 

1936 ~ John A. Durkin (né John Anthony Durkin; d. Oct. 16, 2012), United States Senator from New Hampshire.  He served in the Senate from September 1975 through December 1980.  He was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts.  He died at age 76 in Franklin, New Hampshire.

 

1936 ~ Judith Guest, American author.  She is best known for her novel Ordinary People.  She was born in Detroit, Michigan.

 

1927 ~ Sir John Vane (né John Robert Vine; d. Nov. 19, 2004), English pharmacologist and recipient of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in deciphering how aspirin works.  He died at age 77 from complications from having fractured his hip and leg 6 months earlier.

 

1927 ~ Martin Fleischmann (d. Aug. 3, 2012), Czech-born chemist who promised an energy miracle.  He is best known for his work with electrochemistry.  He caused a media sensation when a premature announcement of his cold fusion research could result in a nuclear reaction.  His family was Jewish and ultimately ended up in Great Britain.  He died at age 85.

 

1927 ~ John McLaughlin (né John Joseph McLaughlin; d. Aug. 16, 2016), American journalist and host of The McLaughlin Group on public television.  He was born in Providence, Rhode Island.  He died at age 89 in Washington, D.C.

 

1920 ~ Alene B. Duerk (née Alene Bertha Duerk; d. July 21, 2018), American naval officer.  In 1972, she became the first female admiral in the United States Navy.  She was born in Defiance, Ohio.  She died at age 98 in Lake Mary, Florida.

 

1918 ~ Pearl Bailey (née Pearl Mae Bailey; d. Aug. 17, 1990), African-American singer and actress.  She died of heart disease at age 72.

 

1918 ~ Lê Văn Thiêm (d. June 3, 1991), Vietnamese mathematician.  He died at age 73.

 

1918 ~ Sam Walton (né Samuel Moore Walton; d. Apr. 5, 1992), American retailer and founder of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores.  He died of multiple myeloma about a week after his 74^th birthday.  He was born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma.

 

1916 ~ Gene McCarthy (né Eugene Joseph McCarthy; d. Dec. 10, 2005), American Senator from Minnesota and presidential candidate in the 1968 campaign.  He died at age 89.

 

1896 ~ Wilhelm Ackermann (né Wilhelm Friedrich Ackermann; d. Dec. 24, 1962), German mathematician.  He died at age 66.

 

1874 ~ Lou Henry Hoover (née Lou Henry; d. Jan. 7, 1944), First Lady of the United States and wife of President Herbert Hoover.  She served as First Lady from March 1929 until March 1933.  She died of a heart attack at age 69.

 

1873 ~ Tullio Levi-Civita (d. Dec. 29, 1941), Italian mathematician.  He is best known for his work on absolute differential calculus.  He died at age 68.

 

1867 ~ Cy Young (né Denton True Young; d. Nov. 4, 1955), baseball pitcher.  He died at age 88.

 

1859 ~ Oscar Mayer (né Oscar Ferdinand Mayer; d. Mar. 11, 1955), Bavarian-born American entrepreneur and founder of the Oscar Mayer, Co., which is known for its hotdogs and cold cuts.  He died 18 days before his 96^thbirthday.

 

1825 ~ Francesco Faà di Bruno (d. Mar. 27, 1888), Italian priest and mathematician.  He was born in Alessandria, Italy.  He died 2 days before his 63^rd birthday in Turin, Italy.

 

1819 ~ Isaac Mayer Wise (d. Mar. 26, 1900), Bohemian-born American rabbi and founder of the Reform Movement in the United States.  He died 3 days before his 81^st birthday.

 

1816 ~ 10^th Dalai Lama (né Tsultrum Gyatso; d. Sept. 30, 1837).  He died at age 21.

 

1799 ~ Edward Smith-Stanley, 14^th Earl of Derby (né Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley; d. Oct. 23, 1869), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister in three separate terms, first from February 1852 until December 1852; then from February 1858 until June 1859; and finally from June 1866 until 1868.  He died at age 70.

 

1790 ~ John Tyler (d. Jan. 18, 1862), 10^th President of the United States.  John Tyler was also the 10^th Vice President, although he served in that Office for only a month.  He became the first Vice President to become President following the death of an incumbent president.  President William Henry Harrison had died within a month of taking office.  Tyler died at age 71.

 

1629 ~ Alexis I, Tsar of Russia (d. Feb. 8, 1676).  He died at age 46.  These are the dates of his birth and death using the Gregorian calendar.

 

1123 ~ Shi Zong (d. Jan. 20, 1189), 5^th Chinese emperor of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty.  He ruled from October 1161 until his death in October 1189.  He died at age 65.

 

Events that Changed the World:

 

2017 ~ The United Kingdom invoked Article 50 of the Constitutional Treaty for the European Union, thus beginning the formal Brexit process.

 

2010 ~ Two female Islamic terrorists and suicide bombers struck in the Moscow metro system.  Forty people were killed.

 

2004 ~ Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants.

 

2004 ~ Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia joined NATO as full members.

 

1974 ~ Local farmers in Xi’an, Shaanxi province in China discovered the Terracotta Army that had been buried with Qin Shi Huang (259 ~ 210 BCE), China’s first Emperor of Qin in the third century BCE.

 

1973~ The last United States troops left Vietnam.  The Vietnam peace agreement had been signed 2 months earlier.

 

1971 ~ Lieutenant William Calley (b. 1943) was convicted of premeditated murder for the My Lai massacre and was sentenced to life in prison.  His sentence was ultimately reduced to 20 years.

 

1962 ~ Arturo Frondizi (1908 ~ 1995), the President of Argentina, was overthrown in a military coup.

 

1961 ~ The 23^rd Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, granting residents of Washington, D.C., the right to vote in the Presidential elections for the first time.

 

1951 ~ Julius (1918 ~ 1953) and Ethel (1915 ~ 1953) Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage relating to passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.  They would later both be executed in June 1953.

 

1929 ~ President Herbert Hoover had a telephone installed in the Oval Office.

 

1886 ~ Dr. John Pemberton (1831 ~ 1888) brewed the first batch of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

1871 ~ The Royal Albert Hall was opened by Queen Victoria (1819 ~ 1901).

 

1847 ~ During the Mexican-American War, United States forces, led by General Winfield Scott (1786 ~ 1866) took Veracruz after a siege.

 

1865 ~ Appomattox, the final campaign of the American Civil War, began.

 

1809 ~ King Gustav IV Adolf (1778 ~ 1837) of Sweden abdicated after a coup d’état.  At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland’s four Estates pledged allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, thereby beginning the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.

 

1638 ~ The first European settlement in what is now Delaware, was established by Swedish colonist and named New Sweden.

 

1500 ~ Cesare Borgia (1475 ~ 1507) was given the title Captain General and Gonfalonier by his father, Rodrigo Borgia, after he returned from his conquests in the Romagna.

 

1461 ~ Edward of York (1442 ~ 1483) defeated Queen Margaret (1430 ~ 1482) at the Battle of Towton, during the War of the Roses, to become King Edward IV of England.

 

Good-Byes:

 

2020 ~ Tadashi Tsufura (b. Sept. 17, 1930), Japanese-American who, as a child, was forcibly removed from his California home and detained with his family in an Arizona internment camp.  He later became a beloved educator and principal in New York City.  he was born in Los Angeles, California.  He died of Covid-19 at age 89 in New York, New York.  His wife, Mabel Murakami Tusfura died 5 days earlier of Covid-19.

 

2020 ~ Philip W. Anderson (né Philip Warren Anderson; b. Dec. 13, 1923), American theoretical physicist and recipient of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.  He died at age 96 in Princeton, New Jersey.

 

2018 ~ Anita Shreve (née Anita Hale Shreve, b. Oct. 7, 1946), American novelist.  She was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  She died of cancer in Newfields, New Hampshire at age 71.

 

2018 ~ Rusty Staub (né Daniel Joseph Staub; b. Apr. 1, 1944), American towering slugger who became “Le Grand Orange” due to his red hair.  He was a professional baseball player and played for several teams, including the Montreal Expos.  He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.  He died in West Palm Beach, Florida 3 days before his 74^th birthday.

 

2017 ~ Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov (b. June 25, 1928), Russian physicist and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 88.

 

2016 ~ Patty Duke (née Anna Marie Duke; b. Dec. 14, 1946), American actress.  She died at age 69.

 

2014 ~ Ruth A.M. Schmidt (née Ruth Anna Marie Schmidt; b. Apr. 22, 1916), American geologist and paleontologist.  She died 24 days before her 98^th birthday.

 

2005 ~ Johnnie L. Cochran (né Johnny Lee Cochran, Jr.; b. Oct. 2, 1937), American attorney born in Shreveport, Louisiana.  He is best known for his defense of O.J. Simpson during his murder trial.  He died of a brain tumor at age 67 in Los Angeles, California.

 

1991 ~ Lee Atwater (né Harvey LeRoy Atwater, b. Feb. 27, 1951), American politician and political consultant.  He served Presidents Ronald Reagan and George WH Bush.  He was born in Atlanta, Georgia.  He died in Washington, D.C., about a month after his 40^th birthday of an aggressive form of brain tumor.

 

1985 ~ Jeanne-Paule Deckers (b. Oct. 17, 1933), Belgian singer and nun, known as The Singing Nun.  She left the convent and moved in with Annie Pécher (1944 ~ 1985), her companion of 10 years.  On this date in 1985, she and Pécher died by suicide.  She was 51 years old.

 

1985 ~ Luther Terry (Luther Leonidas Terry; b. Sept. 15, 1911), 9^th Surgeon General of the United States.  He served under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.  He is best known for his warnings against the dangers of tobacco usage.  He died of heart failure at 73 years old.

 

1944 ~ Grace Chisholm Young (née Grace Chisholm; b. Mar. 15, 1944), English mathematician.  She studied at Göttingen University in Germany and became the first woman to receive a doctorate in any field in Germany.  She died 14 days after her 76^th birthday.

 

1912 ~ Sir Robert Falcon Scott (b. June 6, 1868), English explorer and leader of the Scott expedition to the South Pole.  After reaching the South Pole, he and several other members of his expedition died of exhaustion and cold.  He was 43 years old.

 

1903 ~ Gustavus Swift, Sr. (né Gustavus Franklin Swift; b. June 24, 1839), American businessman and founder of the Swift meat-packing company.  He was born in Sagamore, Massachusetts.  He died at age 63 in Lake Forest, Illinois.

 

1891 ~ Georges-Pierre Seurat (b. Dec. 2, 1859), French post-impressionist painter.  He died at age 31.

 

1848 ~ John Jacob Astor (né Johann Jakob Astor; b. July 17, 1763), American businessman.  St the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in America.  He died at age 84.

 

1794 ~ Marquis de Condorcet (né Marie Jean Antoine Nicholas de Caritat; b. Sept. 17, 1743), French mathematician, political scientist and philosopher.  He was also a social advocate and was a strong supporter of women’s rights.  He was arrested and imprisoned during the French revolution.  He died at age 50 in prison by what may have been poisoning.

 

1792 ~ King Gustav III of Sweden (b. Jan. 24, 1846).  He ruled Sweden from February 1771 until his assassination in March 1792.  He had been shot in the back 13 days earlier at a masquerade ball at Stockholm’s Royal Opera.  He was married to Sophia Magdalena of Denmark.  He was succeeded by King Gustav IV Adolf.  He died at age 46.

 

1788 ~ Charles Wesley (b. Dec. 18, 1707), English pastor and leader of the Methodist church.  He is mostly known for writing over 6,000 hymns.  He died at age 80.

 

1058 ~ Pope Stephen IX (né Frederick of Lorraine; b. 1020).  He was Pope from August 1057 until his death 7 months later.  The date of his birth is unknown.

 

57 CE ~ Guangwu of Han (b. Jan. 13, 5 BCE), Chinese emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty.  He ruled from August 25 until his death in March 57.  He is believed to have died at age 62.

 

87 BCE ~ Emperor Wu of Han (b. 156 BCE), 7^th Chinese Emperor of the Han Dynasty.  He ruled from March 141 ~ Mar 87 BCE.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  He is believed to have been 69 at the time of his death.