International Worker’s Day
Birthdays:
1950 ~ Dann Florek (né Ezekial Dan Florek), American actor best known for his role as Captain Donald Cragen on Law and Order. He was born in Flat Rock, Michigan.
1945 ~ Rita Coolidge, American singer-songwriter. She was born in Lafayette, Tennessee.
1940 ~ Elsa Peretti (d. Mar. 18, 2021), Italian model who became an iconic jewelry designer. She had a long-term contract with Tiffany’s for her jewelry sales. She was born in Florence, Italy. She died at age 80 in Sant Martí Vell, Spain.
1940 ~ Yury Yershov, Russian mathematician. He was born in Novosibirsk, Russia.
1939 ~ Wilhelmina Cooper (née Wilhelmina Gertrud Frieda Behmenburg; b. Mar. 1, 1980), Dutch-American model who started her own modeling agency, Wilhelmina Models. She was born in Culemborg, Netherlands. She died of lung cancer at age 40 in Greenwich, Connecticut.
1939 ~ Max Robinson (né Maxie Cleveland Robinson, Jr.; d. Dec. 20, 1988), African-American journalist. He was born in Richmond, Virginia. He died of AIDS at age 49 in Washington, D.C.
1939 ~ Judy Collins (né Judith Marjorie Collins), American folk singer. She was born in Seattle, Washington.
1930 ~ Richard Riordan (né Richard Joseph Riordan), 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, California. He served as Mayor from July 1993 to July 2001. He was born in New York, New York.
1927 ~ Gary Bertini (d. Mar. 17, 2005), Israeli conductor. He died at age 77.
1926 ~ Peter Lax (né Lax Péter Dávid), Hungarian-born mathematician. He family left Hungary in 1941 during World War II. He became an American citizen. He was born in Budapest, Hungary.
1925 ~ Scott Carpenter (né Malcolm Scott Carpenter; d. Oct. 10, 2013), American astronaut. He was one of the original seven astronauts in the Mercury project. He was born in Boulder, Colorado. He died at age 88 in Denver, Colorado.
1925 ~ Helen Rae Bamber (née Helen Balmuth; d. Aug. 21, 2014), British campaigner who cared for torture victims. She was a psychologist and established the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. She worked with Holocaust survivors following the liberation of the concentration camps. She was born and died in London, England. She died at age 89.
1925 ~ Chuck Bednarik (né Charles Philip Bednarik; d. Mar. 21, 2015), American professional football player who epitomized football’s toughness. He was known as the “60-Minute Man” because he played both offense and defense on a regular basis. He was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He died in Richland, Pennsylvania. He was 89 years old.
1924 ~ Art Fleming (né Arthur Fleming Fazzin; d. Apr. 25, 1995), American television game show host, best known for hosting Jeopardy! He was born in New York, New York. He died in Crystal River, Florida of pancreatic cancer 6 days before his 71st birthday.
1924 ~ Evelyn Boyd Granville (née Evelyn Boyd), African-American mathematician. She earned her Ph.D. in mathematics from Yale University. She performed pioneering work in the field of computing. She was born in Washington, D.C.
1923 ~ Joseph Heller (d. Dec. 12, 1999), American novelist, best known for his novel, Catch-22. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He died of a heart attack at age 76 in East Hampton, New York.
1918 ~ Jack Paar (né Jack Harold Paar; d. Jan. 27, 2004), American comedian and television host. He was born in Canton, Ohio. He died at age 85 in Greenwich, Connecticut.
1917 ~ Ahron Soloveichik (d. Oct 4, 2001), Russian rabbi and biblical scholar. He died at age 84.
1917 ~ Danielle Darrieux (née Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux; d. Oct 17, 2017), French actress and great beauty who dominated the French cinema, stage, and television. She died at age 100.
1908 ~ Morris Kline (d. June 10, 1992), American mathematician. He died at age 84.
1907 ~ Kate Smith (née Kathryn Elizabeth Smith; d. June 17, 1986), American singer. She was known as the First Lady of Radio. She was born in Greenville, Virginia. She died at age 79 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
1900 ~ Ignazio Silone (né Secondino Tranquilli; d. Aug. 22, 1978), Italian novelist and political leader. He is best known for his power anti-Fascist novels. He died at age 78 in Geneva, Switzerland.
1864 ~ Anna Jarvis (née Anna Marie Javis; d. Nov. 24, 1948), American founder of Mother’s Day. She was born in Webster, West Virginia. She died at age 84 in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
1857 ~ Theo van Gogh (né Theodorus van Gogh; d. Jan. 25, 1891), Dutch art dealer and younger brother of painter Vincent van Gogh. He died of Dementia paralytic just six months after Vincent van Gogh’s suicide. Theo was 33 years old at the time of his death.
1855 ~ Cecilia Beaux (d. Sept. 17, 1942), American painter. She is best known for her portrait paintings. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She died at age 87 in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
1852 ~ Calamity Jane (née Martha Jane Canary Burke; d. Aug. 1, 1903), American Wild West frontierswoman and sharpshooter. She was born in Princeton, Missouri. She died at age 51 in Terry, South Dakota.
1852 ~ Santiago Ramón y Cajal (d. Oct. 17, 1934), Spanish neuroscientist and recipient of the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in histology of the central nervous system. He is considered the father of modern neuroscience. He died at age 82 in Madrid, Spain.
1850 ~ Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (d. Jan. 16, 1942). British prince and 10th Governor General of Canada. He was the only British prince to hold this Office. He married Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. He was of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha until 1917 when the family became known as Windsor. He was the seventh child and third son of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert. He died at age 91.
1837 ~ Mother Jones (née Mary G. Harris; d. Nov. 30, 1930), American labor organizer. Her actual birthdate is unknown, although she was baptized on August 1, 1837. May 1 is ascribed to her birth because it is International Labor Day. She was born in Cork, Ireland. She died in Silver Spring, Maryland. She was 93 at the time of her death.
1825 ~ Johann Jakob Balmer (d. Mar. 12, 1898), Swiss mathematician and mathematical physicist. He died at age 72 in Basel, Switzerland.
1780 ~ John McKinley (d. July 19, 1852), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was nominated to the High Court by President Martin Van Buren. This seat was established by President Van Buren. He served in this position from April 1937 until his death 15 years later. During his term on the Court, he wrote 22 opinions, many of which were dissenting opinions that favored preserving States’ rights. He was succeeded by John Campbell. He had previously served as a United States Senator from Alabama. He was born in Culpeper County, Virginia. He died at age 72 in Louisville, Kentucky.
1769 ~ Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (d. Sept. 14, 1852), Irish-English field marshal. He served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for two terms in the early 1800s. He served his first term from January 1828 until November 1830, during the reigns of King George IV and King William IV. He served a second term for a month from November 1834 until December 1834 during the reign of King William IV. He is the individual referred to when one is speaking of The Duke of Wellington. He was born in Dublin, Ireland. He died at age 83.
1764 ~ Benjamin Henry Latrobe (né Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe; d. Sept. 3, 1820), English-American architect, most famous for his design of the United States Capitol. He has been known as the Father of American Architecture. He died at age 56 of yellow fever in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1751 ~ Judith Sargent Murray (née Judith Sargent; d. June 9, 1820), American activist for women’s rights and playwright. She was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts and died in Natchez, Mississippi. She was 69 years old at the time of her death.
1738 ~ Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii (b. May 1819). The exact date of his birth and death is unknown. He may have been born as early as 1736.
1594 ~ John Haynes (d. Jan. 9, 1653), 1st Governor of Colonial Connecticut from 1639 until 1636. He also served as the 5th Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1635 to 1636. He died at age 59 in what is now Hartford, Connecticut.
1527 ~ Johannes Stadius (d. June 17, 1579), German astronomer and mathematician. He died at age 52.
1238 ~ Magnus VI, King of Norway (d. May 9, 1280). He was King from December 1263 until his death in May 1280. He was also known as Magnus Haakonsson. His nickname was Magnus the Law-mender and was known for the modernization and nationalization of Norway. He was married to Ingeborg of Denmark. He was of the House of Sverre. He was the son of Haakon IV, King of Norway and Margret Skulesdatter. He died 8 days after his 42nd birthday.
1218 ~ Rudolph I, King of Germany (d. July 15, 1291). He ruled from September 1273 until his death in July 1291. He was married twice. His first wife was Gertrude of Hohenberg. His second wife was Isabella of Burgundy. He was of the House of Habsburg. He was the son of Albert IV, Count of Habsburg and Hdewig of Kyburg. He died at age 73.
Events that Changed the World:
2011 ~ United States President Barak Obama (b. 1961) announced that Osama bin Laden (1957 ~ 2001) had been killed by United States Special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Due to the time difference between Pakistan and the United States, bin Laden had actually been killed on May 2.
2011 ~ Pope John Paul II (1920 ~ 2005) was beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI (b. 1927). He would be elevated to sainthood on April 27, 2014.
2009 ~ Same-sex marriage became legal in Sweden.
2004 ~ Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the European Union.
2003 ~ In what became known as the Mission Accomplished speech, United States President George W. Bush (b. 1946) declared that the major combat operations in the invasion of Iraq had ended. It hadn’t ended. It was only a part of the Iraq War.
1999 ~ SpongeBob SquarePants premiered on Nickelodeon.
1987 ~ Pope John Paul II (1920 ~ 2005) beatified Edith Stein (1891 ~ 1942), who was born Jewish but converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite nun. She was gassed at Auschwitz during the Holocaust.
1982 ~ During Operation Black Buck, the British Royal Air Force attacked the Argentine Air Force during the Falklands War.
1982 ~ The 1982 World’s Fair opened in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Fair ran through October 31, 1982.
1971 ~ Amtrak took over operations of all United States passenger rail services.
1961 ~ The first American plane was hijacked to Cuba for political purposes.
1960 ~ Francis Gary Powers’ (1929 ~ 1977) U-2 spy plane was shot down when Soviet missiles attacked his plane while he was spying over Russian territory. This event is portrayed in Giles Whittell’s book, Bridge of Spies.
1956 ~ The polio vaccine as developed by Jonas Salk (1914 ~ 1995) became available to the public.
1950 ~ Guam became organized as a commonwealth of the United States.
1940 ~ The 1940 Summer Olympics were cancelled due to World War II.
1931 ~ The Empire State Building was dedicated in New York City.
1930 ~ The Planet Pluto was official named. Fifty years later it would be downgraded to a dwarf planet.
1927 ~ Imperial Airways, ancestor to British Airways, served the first cooked meals on a scheduled flight. Passengers were served a meal on a flight between London and Paris.
1915 ~ The RMS Lusitania left New York City for it cross across the Atlantic. It would be the 202nd and final crossing. Six days later, on May 7, it was torpedoed by a German U-Boat off the coast of Ireland. Nearly 1200 passengers and crew lost their lives in the disaster. The event is recounted in Erik Larson book, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania.
1900 ~ The Scofield mine disaster in Scofield, Utah killed over 200 miners, making it one of the worst mining disasters in the United States.
1898 ~ During the first battle of the Spanish-American War, the Battle of Manila Bay, the United States Navy destroyed the Spanish Pacific fleet.
1893 ~ The World’s Columbian Exposition opened in Chicago, Illinois.
1886 ~ Rallies were held throughout the United States demanding an 8-hour work week.
1885 ~ The original Chicago Board of Trade Building opened for business.
1884 ~ Moses Fleetwood Walker (1856 ~ 1924) became the first African-American professional baseball player when he played as catcher for the Toledo Blue Stockings. He only played for the team for one year.
1875 ~ The Alexandra Palace in London, England, reopened after having burned down in an 1873 fire.
1863 ~ The Battle of Chancellorsville during the American Civil War began.
1862 ~ The Union Army captured the City of New Orleans during the American Civil War.
1851 ~ Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1819 ~ 1901) opened the Great Exhibition in London.
1844 ~ Asia’s first modern police force was established in Hong Kong.
1840 ~ The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, was issued and put into use in the United Kingdom. The stamp was first used on May 6, 1840. This was the first usage of pre-paid postage, thus stamps from Great Britain do not identify the name of the country.
1807 ~ The Slave Trade Act of 1807, which abolished the slave trade within the British Empire, became effective.
1795 ~ Kamehameha I (1735 ~1819), the King of Hawaii, defeated Kalanikūpule and thus established the Kingdom of Hawaii.
1786 ~ The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Mozart (1756 ~ 1791) premiered in Vienna, Austria.
1759 ~ The Wedgwood pottery company was founded by Josiah Wedgwood (1730 ~ 1795) in Great Britain.
1753 ~ Carl Linnaeus (1701 ~ 1778) published his Species Planatarum, which became the impetus for the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature to use names for plant taxonomy.
1707 ~ The Act of Union which joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, took effect.
1328 ~ Under the terms of the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton, England recognized Scotland as a independent state.
Good-Byes:
2021 ~ Olympia Dukakis (née Olympia Mary Dukakis; b. June 20, 1931), American state veteran who had a cinematic second act. She was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. She died at age 89 in Manhattan, New York.
2021 ~ Helen Murray Free (née Helen Murray; b. Feb. 20, 1923), American pioneering chemist who helped invent a lifesaving diabetes test. She co-developed a dip-and-read diabetes test that revolutionized diagnosis of the disease. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She died at age 98 of complications of a stroke in Elkhart, Indiana.
2017 ~ Stanley Weston (b. Apr. 1, 1933), American licensing agent who put G.I. Joe in America’s toy chest. He sold the concept to Hasbro, but never made much money over the toy. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He died a month after his 84th birthday in Santa Monica, California.
2014 ~ Assi Dayan (né Asaf Dayan; b. Nov. 23, 1945), Israeli actor and youngest son of Moshe Dayan. He died of a massive heart attack in Tel Aviv, Israel. He was 68 years old.
2011 ~ J. Ernest Wilkins, Jr. (né Jesse Ernest Wilking, Jr.; b. Nov. 27, 1923), African-American nuclear scientist, mechanical engineer and mathematician. He entered the University of Chicago at age 13, becoming the youngest student ever to attend that school. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He died at age 87 in Fountain Hills, Arizona.
2008 ~ Philipp Frieherr von Boeselager (b. Sept. 6, 1917), German officer who involved in the July 20, 1944 Plot, which was a conspiracy among high-ranking Wehrmach officers to assassinate Hitler. He died at age 90.
2005 ~ Kenneth B. Clark (né Kenneth Bancroft Clark; b. July 14, 1914), African-American educator psychologist and civil rights activist who, along with his wife, Mamie Phipps Clark (1917 ~ 1983), fought segregation. He was born in the Panama Canal Zone. He died at age 90 in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. His wife was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas and she died at age 66.
2001 ~ Chandra Levy (née Chandra Ann Levy; b. Apr. 14, 1977), American murder victim. She was an intern with the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C. The exact date of her death is unknown, but she went missing on May 1, 2001. She disappeared 2 weeks after her 24th birthday. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio.
1998 ~ Eldridge Cleaver (né Leroy Eldridge Cleaver; b. Aug. 31, 1935), American political rights activist during the Civil Rights Movement. He was an early leader in the Black Panther Party. He was bornin Wabbaseka, Arkansas. He died at age 62 in Pomona, California.
1965 ~ Spike Jones (né Lindley Armstrong Jones; b. Dec. 14, 1911), American bandleader, musician, and comedian. He was born in Long Beach, California. He died of emphysema at age 53 in Beverly Hills, California.
1945 ~ Joseph Goebbels (né Paul Joseph Goebbels; b. Oct. 29, 1897), Nazi Minister of Propaganda. He and his wife Magda (b. Nov. 11, 1901) killed their children then both committed suicides to avoid trial for war crimes at the end of World War II. He was 47; his wife was 41 at the time of their suicides.
1945 ~ René Lalique (né René Jules Lalique; b. Apr. 6, 1860), French art nouveau jeweler and art deco glass artist. He less than a month after his 85th birthday in Paris, France.
1928 ~ Xiang Jingyu (b. Sept. 4, 1895), Chinese revolutionary. She is considered a pioneer of the women’s movement in China. She was one of the first female members of the Communist Party of China. In 1922, she became the first director of the Chinese Communist Women’s Bureau. She advocated for women’s education and organized mass labor strikes. She was ultimately arrested and executed for her political activities. She was killed at age 32.
1904 ~ Antonín Dvořák (né Antonín Leopold Dvořák, b. Sept. 8, 1841), Czech composer. He died of an undisclosed illness at age 62.
1873 ~ David Livingston (b. Mar. 19, 1813), Scottish missionary and explorer. He is known for exploring Africa to find the source of the Nile River. He died of malaria and dysentery in what is today known as Zambia. He was 60 years old.
1731 ~ Johann Ludwig Bach (b. Feb 14, 1677), German violinist and composer. He was a third cousin of Johann Sebastian Bach. He died at age 54.
1572 ~ Pope Saint Pius V (né Antonio Ghislieri, b. Jan. 17, 1504). He was Pope from January 1566 until his death 6 years later. He is best known for his role in the Council of Trent and the standardization of the rituals within the Latin Church. He died at age 68.
1555 ~ Pope Marcellus II (né Marcello Cervini degli Spannochi; b. May 6, 1501). He was Pope for only a month, from April 1555 until his death in May 1555. He died 5 days before his 54th birthday.
1539 ~ Isabella of Portugal (b. Oct. 24, 1503), Holy Roman Empress consort and wife of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. She was of the House of Aviz. She was the daughter of Manuel I, King of Portugal and Maria of Aragon. She died at age 35 following complications related to pregnancy.
1308 ~ Albert I, King of Germany (b. July 1255). He ruled Germany from July 1298 until his death in May 1308. He was married to Elizabeth of Carinthia. He was of the House of Habsburg. He was the son of Rudolph I, King of Germany and Gertrude of Hohenberg. The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been about 52 at the time of his death.
1277 ~ Stefan Uroš I, King of Serbia (b. 1223). He was King of Serbia from 1243 until 1276 when he was forced to abdicate. He is considered one of the more important rulers of Serbia. He was married to Helen of Anjou. He was of the Nemanjić dynasty. He was the son of Stefan Nemanjić and Anna Dandolo. He died at about age 55.
1118 ~ Matilda of Scotland (née Edith; b. 1080), first wife of Henry I, King of England. She was also known as Edith of Scotland. She was of the House of Dunkeld. She was the daughter of Malcolm III, King of Scotland and Margaret of Wessex. The exact date of her birth is unknown. She is believed to have been about 37 or 38 at the time of her death.
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