Birthdays:
1990 ~ Chris Colfer (né Christopher Paul Colfer), American actor best known for portrayal of Kurt Hummel on Glee. He was born in Clovis, California.
1975 ~ Jamie Oliver (né Jamie Trevor Oliver), English chef and author. He was born in Clavering, Essex, England.
1961 ~ Peri Gilpin (née Peri Kay Oldham), American actress best known for her role as Roz on Frasier. She was born in Waco, Texas.
1947 ~ Felix Dennis (d. June 22, 2014), British maverick publisher who built a magazine empire. His company pioneered hobby and computer magazines, as well as The Week. He died of throat cancer 27 days after his 67thbirthday.
1943 ~ Bruce Weitz (né Bruce Peter Weitz), American actor best known for his role as Sergeant Mickie Belker on the television drama Hill Street Blues. He was born in Norwalk, Connecticut.
1939 ~ Frank Bidart, American poet. He was the recipient of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He was born in Bakersfield, California.
1936 ~ Louis Gossett, Jr. (né Louis Cameron Gossett, Jr.), African-American actor. He was born in Brooklyn, New York.
1935 ~ Lee Meriwether (née Lee Ann Meriwether), American model, actress and Miss America 1955. She was born in Los Angeles, California.
1934 ~ Harlan Ellison (né Harlan Jay Ellison; d. June 28, 2018), American combative writer who became a sci-fi master. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He died 32 days after his 84th birthday in Los Angeles, California.
1931 ~ James Q. Wilson (né James Quinn Wilson; d. Mar. 2, 2012), American political scientist and authority on public administration. He was the scholar who revolutionized policing. He was born in Denver, Colorado. He died in Boston, Massachusetts at age 80.
1930 ~ William S. Sessions (né William Steele Sessions; d. June 12, 2020), 4th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from November 1987 until July 1993. He was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He died 15 days after his 90th birthday in San Antonia, Texas.
1927 ~ Peter Malkin (né Zvi Malkin; d. Mar. 1, 2005), Israeli spy who captured Adolf Eichmann. He was born in Poland, but his family moved to British Palestine in 1936 to escape the increased anti-Semitism. In 1939, he joined the Hagannah. After graduating from high school, he joined the Mossad. The story of Eichmann’s capture was depicted in the 2018 film Operation Finale. He died at age 76 in New York, New York.
1925 ~ Tony Hillerman (né Anthony Grove Hillerman; d. Oct. 26, 2008), American novelist who wrote mysteries and portrayed Navajo life. He was born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma. He died of pulmonary failure at age 83 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
1923 ~ Rodney S. Quinn (né Rodney Sharon Quinn; d. Oct 27, 2012), Secretary of State of Maine from 1979 to 1988. He was born in Portland, Maine. He died at age 89 in Scarborough, Maine.
1923 ~ Sumner Redstone (né Sumner Murray Rothstein; d. Aug. 11, 2020), American businessman and hard-driving media mogul who lived to win. He was the chairman of CBS and Viacom. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He died at age 97 in Los Angeles, California.
1923 ~ Henry Kissinger (né Heinz Alfred Kissinger), German-born American politician. He was the 56th Secretary of State and served under President Richard Nixon. He was also the recipient of the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize. He family left Germany in 1938 to escape from Nazi persecution. He was born in Fürth, Germany.
1922 ~ Sir Christopher Lee (né Christopher Frank Carandini Lee; d. June 7, 2015), British actor who brought monsters to life. He was known for his portrayal of Dracula and for being a Bond villain. He was born and died in Boston. He died 11 days after his 93rd birthday.
1915 ~ Herman Wouk (d. May 17, 2019), American conservative author who wrote historical epics. He is best known for such novels as The Caine Mutiny and The Winds of War. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He died 10 days before his 104th birthday in Palm Springs, California.
1912 ~ John Cheever (né John William Cheever; d. June 18, 1982), American author. He was born in Quincy, Massachusetts. He died of cancer about 3 weeks after his 70th birthday in Ossining, New York.
1912 ~ Sam Snead (né Samuel Jackson Sneed; d. May 23, 2002), American golfer. He was born in Ashwood, Virginia. He died 4 days before his 90th birthday in Hot Springs, Virginia.
1911 ~ Hubert H. Humphrey (né Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr.; d. Jan. 13, 1978), 38th Vice President of the United States. He served under President Lyndon B. Johnson from January 1965 until January 1969. He had previously served as a United States Senator from Minnesota. He earned his Master’s Degree from Louisiana State University. He was born in Wallace, South Dakota and died in Waverly, Minnesota. He died of cancer at age 66.
1911 ~ Vincent Price (né Vincent Leonard Price, Jr.; d. Oct. 25, 1993), American actor. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He died of lung cancer at age 82 in Los Angeles, California.
1911 ~ Teddy Kollek (né Tivadar Kollek; d. Jan. 2, 2007), Hungarian-born Israeli politician and mayor of Jerusalem. He was elected mayor 5 times beginning in 1968. He served in that office for 28 years. He died at age 95 in Tel Aviv.
1909 ~ Delores Hope (née Delores DeFina; d. Sept. 19, 2011), American singer and philanthropist. She was the wife of comedian Bob Hope (1903 ~ 2003). She was born in New York, New York. She died at age 102 Toluca Lake, California.
1907 ~ Rachel Carson (née Rachel Louise Carson; d. Apr. 14, 1964), American biologist and environmentalist. She is best known for her book, The Silent Spring, which led to the banning of certain pesticides. The Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, which was named in her honor, is located in southern Maine. She was born in Springdale, Pennsylvania. She died of breast cancer at age 56 in Silver Spring, Maryland.
1897 ~ Sir John Cockcroft (né John Douglas Cockcroft; d. Sept. 18, 1967), English physicist and recipient of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in splitting the atomic nucleus. He died of a heart attack at age 70.
1894 ~ Dashiell Hammett (né Samuel Dashiell Hammett; d. Jan. 10, 1961), American writer of the detective novel. He and Lillian Hillman were long-time partners. He died of lung cancer at age 66.
1884 ~ Max Brod (d. Dec. 20, 1968), Czech writer, composer and journalist. He was a friend of Franz Kafka and is largely responsible for preserving much of Kafka’s writings. He died at age 84 in Tel Aviv.
1878 ~ Isadora Duncan (née Angela Isadora Duncan, d. Sept. 14, 1927), American dancer. She was killed at about age 50 when the scarf around her neck became entangled in the spokes of the automobile in which she was riding. The exact date of her birth is a bit of a mystery. Her birth is sometimes May 26, 1877.
1871 ~ Georges Rouault (né Georges Henri Rouault; d. Feb. 13, 1958), French painter. He died at age 85.
1837 ~ Wild Bill Hickok (né James Butler Hickok; d. Aug. 2, 1876), American lawman in the American Wild West. He was murdered at age 39 while playing poker.
1836 ~ Jay Gould (né Jason Gould; d. Dec. 2, 1892), American railroad developer and financier. He died of tuberculosis at age 56.
1819 ~ Julia Ward Howe (née Julia Ward; d. Oct. 17, 1910), American poet and abolitionist. She wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic. She died at age 91 in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
1818 ~ Amelia Bloomer (née Amelia Jenks; d. Dec. 30, 1894), American women’s rights activist. Women’s pants called Bloomers are named after her. She died at age 76.
1794 ~ Cornelius Vanderbilt (d. Jan 4, 1877), American industrialist and philanthropist. He was known as Commodore Vanderbilt. He was the founder of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He died at age 82.
1756 ~ Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (b. Oct. 13, 1825), King of Bavaria. He was king from January 1806 until his death in October 1825. He died at age 69.
1738 ~ Nathaniel Gorham (d. June 11, 1796), early American politician. He served as the 14th President of the Continental Congress. He was born and died in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He died 15 days after his 58thbirthday.
1626 ~ William II, Prince of Orange (d. Nov. 6, 1650). He died of smallpox at age 24.
742 ~ De Zong (d. Feb. 25, 805), Chinese Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. He reigned from June 779 until his death in 805. He died at age 62.
Events that Changed the World:
2019 ~ Memorial Day was observed in the United States.
2013 ~ Memorial Day was observed in the United States.
2006 ~ A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck in central Java. More than 5,700 people were killed and another 37,000 people were injured.
1999 ~ Slobodan Milošević (1941 ~ 2006) was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for crimes that were committed in Kosovo.
1995 ~ Actor Christopher Reeve (1952 ~ 2004) was paralyzed after falling from his horse in a riding competition. He would live another 9.5 years.
1942 ~ In Operation Anthropoid, Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich (1904 ~ 1942), was fatally wounded in Prague in an assassination attempt. He died of his injuries 8 days later. He was one of the main architects of the Holocaust.
1939 ~ The SS St. Louis, which had set sail from Hamburg, Germany earlier in the month, and was carry over 900 Jews fleeing from Nazi Germany, was turned away from Havana, Cuba. Only 28 of the immigrants were allowed into the country. After appeals to both the United States and Canada for entry were denied, the ship returned to Europe. When the ship returned to Antwerp, Belgium, several countries, including France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands took in the refugees. Over 250 of the passengers perished in the Holocaust.
1937 ~ The Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrian traffic. The bridge spans from San Francisco to Marin County, California. It would open for vehicular traffic on the following day.
1935 ~ The United States Supreme Court ruled in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, that the National Industrial Recovery Act was unconstitutional on grounds of an invalid usage of the Commerce Clause. Chief Justice Charles Hughes (1862 ~ 1948) drafted the majority opinion.
1933 ~ The United States Federal Securities Act was signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission.
1930 ~ The Chrysler Building in New York City opened to the public. At 1,046 feet, it was the tallest man-made structure at the time.
1927 ~ The Ford Motor Company stopped the manufacturing of the Ford Model T to begin changing their plants to be able to make the Ford Model A vehicles.
1883 ~ Alexander III (1845 ~ 1894) was crowned Tsar of Russia.
1863 ~ The Union Army made its first assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson in Louisiana during the American Civil War.
1703 ~ St. Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great (1672 ~ 1725).
1199 ~ John (1166 ~ 1216), also known as John Lackland, was crowned King of England He was the youngest of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. As the youngest son, he was not expected to either become monarch or inherit any significant lands, hence his nickname of John Lackland. He is best known as being king when the Magna Carta was drafted.
1153 ~ Malcolm IV (1141 ~ 1165) was crowned King of Scotland.
1096 ~ Count Emicho, as leader of the People’s Crusade, stormed through the Rhineland causing pogrom on Jews throughout the land. On this date he entered Mainz and at least 800 Jews were murdered.
Good-Byes:
2020 ~ Larry Kramer (né Laurence David Kramer; b. June 25, 1935), American author, playwright and gay rights activist. He was the AIDS activist who drew power from fury. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He died in Manhattan, New York about a month before his 85th birthday.
2019 ~ Bill Buckner (né William Joseph Buckner; b. Dec. 14, 1949), American All-Star baseball player who became a Red Sox scapegoat. He is best known for his fumble of the ball in the 1986 pennant race between the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox lost. He was born in Vallejo, California. He died at age 69 in Boise, Idaho.
2019 ~ James S. Ketchum (né James Sanford Ketchum; b. Nov. 1, 1931), American psychiatrist who conducted psychedelic experimentation on soldiers. He died at age 87.
2019 ~ Robert L. Bernstein (né Robert Louis Bernstein; b. Jan. 5, 1923), American publisher and human rights activist. He died at age 96.
2017 ~ Gregg Allman (né Gregg LeNoir Allman; b. Dec. 8, 1947), American musician. One of his 7 wives was Cher. He died of liver cancer at age 69.
2012 ~ Friedrich Hirzenbruch (né Friedrich Ernest Peter Hirzebruch; d. Oct. 17, 1927), German mathematician. He died at age 84.
2011 ~ Gil Scott-Heron (né Gilbert Scott-Heron; b. Apr. 1, 1949), American musician and reluctant founder of rap. He died at age 62.
2009 ~ Sir Clive Granger (né Clive William John Granger; d. Sept. 4, 1934), English economist and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He died at age 74.
2006 ~ Paul Gleason (né Paul Xavier Gleason; b. May 4, 1939), American actor best known for his role as the principal in The Breakfast Club. He died of lung cancer 23 days after his 68th birthday.
1990 ~ Robert B. Meyner (né Robert Baumie Mayner; b. July 3, 1908), 44th Governor of New Jersey. He was Governor from January 1954 until January 1962. He died at age 81.
1988 ~ Ernst Ruska (né Ernst August Friedrich Ruska; b. Dec. 25, 1906), German physicist and recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in electron optics. He died at age 81.
1987 ~ John Howard Northrop (b. July 5, 1891), American chemist and recipient of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He died by suicide at age 95.
1964 ~ Jawaharlal Nehru (b. Nov. 14, 1889), 1st Prime Minister of India of an independent India from 1947 until 1964. He was also the father of Indira Gandhi, the country’s 3rd Prime Minister. He died of a heart attack at age 74.
1949 ~ Robert Ripley (né LeRoy Robert Ripley; b. Dec 25, 1890) American cartoonist and collector of odd facts. He founded the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! newspaper. He died of a heart attack at age 58.
1910 ~ Robert Koch (né Robert Heinrich Hermann Koch; b. Dec. 11, 1843), German physician, bacteriologist, and recipient of the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work with tuberculosis. He is considered the Father of Modern Bacteriology. He died at age 66.
1867 ~ Thomas Bulfinch (b. July 15, 1796), American banker and writer. He is best known for the book Bulfinch’s Mythology. He was from Massachusetts. He died at age 70.
1840 ~ Niccolò Paganini (b. Oct. 27, 1782), Italian violinist and composer. He died at age 58.
1739 ~ Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach (b. May 11, 1715), German musician and organist. He was the 4th child of Johann Sebastian Bach. He died just 16 days after his 24th birthday.
1707 ~ Françoise Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan (b. Oct. 5, 1641), French mistress of King Louis XIV of France. She died at age 66.
1564 ~ John Calvin (né Jehan Cauvin, b. July 10, 1509), French theologian. He was an influential religious leader during the Protestant Reformation. He died at age 54.
1508 ~ Ludovico Sforza (b. July 27, 1452), Duke of Milan from October 1494 until September 1499. He is best known for commissioning di Vinci’s The Last Supper. He died at age 55.
927 ~ Simeon I of Bulgaria (b. 864). He ruled over Bulgaria from 893 until his death 24 years later. He was the first Bulgarian to be recognized as Emperor. The exact date of his birth is unknown.
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