Birthdays:
1954 ~ Angela Merkel (née Angela Dorothea Kasner), 8th Chancellor of Germany. She assumed office in December 1990. She was born in Hamburg, West Germany. Her family moved to East Germany when she was an infant.
1950 ~ Phoebe Snow (née Pheobe Ann Laub; d. Apr. 26, 2011), American singer and songwriter. She was born in New York, New York. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 60 in Edison, New Jersey.
1947 ~ Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (née Camilla Rosemary Shand), second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Prior to her marriage to Prince Charles, she was married to Andrew Parker Bowles.
1945 ~ Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia. He was of the royal family of the now-defunct Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He was married twice. His first wife was Princess Maria da Gloria of Orléans-Braganza. After they divorced in 1985, he married Katherine Clairy Batis. He was of the House of Karađorđević. He was the son of Peter II, King of Yugoslavia and Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark.
1942 ~ Connie Hawkins (né Cornelius Lance Hawkins, d. Oct. 6, 2017), African-American basketball star who was blocked in his prime. He played for the Phoenix Suns from 1969 to 1973 but was barred from playing in the NBA after being linked to a college point-shaving scandal. He wasn’t involved but it took years to clear his name. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He died at age 75 in Phoenix, Arizona.
1935 ~ Diahann Carroll (née Carol Diahann Johnson; d. Oct. 4, 2019), African-American actress who broke TV’s color barrier. She was born in The Bronx, New York. She died at age 84 in Los Angeles, California.
1935 ~ Peter Schickele, American musician, composer and educator. He is best known for his alter-ego, P.D.Q. Bach. He was born in Ames, Iowa.
1935 ~ Donald Sutherland (né Donald McNichol Sutherland), Canadian actor. He was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
1929 ~ Sergei K. Godunov (né Sergei Konstantinovich Godunov), Russian mathematician. He was the recipient of the 1959 Lenin Prize. He was born in Moscow, Russia.
1928 ~ Joe Morello (né Joseph Albert Morello; d. Mar. 12, 2011), American drummer who swung in 5/4 time. He was the drummer for the Dave Brubeck Band. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He died at age 82 in Irvington, New Jersey.
1921 ~ Hannah Szenes (d. Nov. 7, 1944), Hungarian-born Israeli soldier who parachuted into Yugoslavia during World War II to help save the Jews of Hungary. Technically, she died before the State of Israel had been established. She was born and died in Budapest, Hungary. She was executed at age 23.
1920 ~ Nils Bohlin (né Nils Ivar Bohlin; d. Sept. 21, 2002), Swedish mechanical engineer. While working at Volvo, he is invented the three-point seat belt. He died of a heart attack at age 82.
1920 ~ Gordon Gould (d. Sept. 16, 2005), American physicist and inventor of the Laser. He was born and died in New York, New York. He died at age 85.
1917 ~ Phyllis Diller (née Phyllis Ada Driver; d. Aug. 20, 2012), American comedian who paved the way for female stand-up. She was born in Lima, Ohio. She died at age 95 in Los Angeles, California.
1915 ~ Arthur Rothstein (d. Nov. 11, 1985), American photojournalist. He was born in New York, New York. He died at age 70 in New Rochelle, New York.
1913 ~ Bertrand Goldberg (d. Oct. 8, 1997), American architect and designer of the Marina City buildings in Chicago. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He died at age 84.
1912 ~ Art Linkletter (né Arthur Gordon Kelly; d. May 26, 2010), Canadian-American radio and television host. He was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. He died at age 97 in Los Angeles, California.
1911 ~ Yang Jikang (d. May 25, 2016), Chinese writer who chronicled China’s upheaval. She was born and died in Beijing, China. When she was nearly 60 years old, she was sent to a reeducation camp as part of China’s Cultural Revolution. During her 2-year imprisonment, she was denied access to books and was forced into hard labor. She died at age 104.
1902 ~ Christina Stead (d. Mar. 31, 1983), Australian novelist. She was born in Rockdale, New South Wales, Australia. She died at age 80 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
1899 ~ James Cagney (né James Francis Cagney, Jr.; d. Mar. 30, 1986), American actor. He was born in New York, New York. He died of a heart attack at age 86 in Stanford, New York.
1898 ~ Berenice Abbott (née Bernice Alice Abbott; d. Dec. 9, 1991), American photographer. She was born in Springfield, Ohio. She died at age 93 in Monson, Maine.
1889 ~ Erle Stanley Gardner (d. Mar. 11, 1970), American mystery writer and lawyer. He is best known as being the creator of Perry Mason. He was born in Malden, Massachusetts. He died at age 80 in Temecula, California.
1888 ~ Shmuel Yosef Agnon (né Shmuel Yosef Halevi Czaczkes; d. Feb. 17, 1970), Ukrainian-born Israeli writer and recipient of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature. He died at age 81 in Jerusalem.
1831 ~ Xianfeng (d. Aug. 22, 1861), 9th Chinese Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. He ruled from March 1850 until his death in August 1861. He died at age 30.
1763 ~ John Jacob Astor (né Johann Jakob Astor; d. Mar. 29, 1848), German-born American businessman. He amassed his fortune in a fur trade monopoly and smuggling opium into China. At the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in America. He died at age 84 in New York, New York.
1745 ~ Timothy Pickering (d. Jan. 29, 1829), 3rd United States Secretary of State. He served under Presidents George Washington and John Adams from August 1795 until May 1800. He had previously served as the 2nd United States Secretary of War in the Washington Administration from January 1795 until January 1796. He also served as the 2ndUnited States Postmaster General from August 1791 until January 1795. Following his tenure in the executive branch of government, he became a United States Senator from Massachusetts from March 1813 to March 1817. He was born and died in Salem, Massachusetts. He died at age 83.
1744 ~ Elbridge Gerry (d. Nov. 23, 1814), 5th Vice President of the United States. He served under James Madison, but died at age 70, 18 months into his term. He had previously served as the 9th Governor of Massachusetts, from June 1810 until March 1812. He is best known for the term “gerrymandering”, a process by which electoral districts are drawn with the intent to assist a particular candidate or party. He was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He died at age 70 in Washington, D.C.
1698 ~ Pierre Louis Maupertuis (né Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertius, d. July 27, 1759), French mathematician. He died 10 days before his 61st birthday in Basel, Switzerland.
1499 ~ Maria Salviati (d. Dec. 29, 1543), Italian noblewoman. She was married to Giovanni delle Bande Nere. She was the mother of Cosimo I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. She was of the House of Salviati. She was the daughter of Jacopo Salviati and Lucrezia di Lorenzo de’Medici. She died at age 44.
Events that Changed the World:
2016 ~ Three Baton Rouge, Louisiana police officers were ambushed and killed by a lone gunman in retaliation for the killing of Alton Sterling by police officers 12 days earlier. The shooter was later killed by a SWAT team.
2014 ~ Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over the Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard. An investigation by the Dutch Safety Board concluded that the airline was shot down by a Buk surface-to-air missile launched by a pro-Russian separatist group.
2014 ~ Eric Garner (1970 ~ 2014), an African-American, died while in a police chokehold in New York City. He had been arrested for selling cigarettes without the tax stamps. His death, which was ruled a homicide, raised questions about the appropriate use of force by police.
1996 ~ TWA Flight 800 on its way to Paris, France, exploded shortly after take-off, off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing all 230 people aboard.
1984 ~ The legal drinking age in the United States was raised from 18 to 21.
1981 ~ A structural failure in a walkway in the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri collapsed, killing 114 people and injuring over 200 others who were attending a tea party in the hotel’s lobby.
1955 ~ Disneyland was opened in Anaheim, California.
1945 ~ Winston Churchill (1874 ~ 1965), Harry Truman (1884 ~ 1972) and Joseph Stalin (1878 ~ 1953) met in Potsdam, Germany to decide the future of a defeated Germany following the close of World War II.
1944 ~ An ammunitions ship in Port Chicago, California exploded while being loaded. Three hundred twenty workers on the pier were killed in the explosion.
1938 ~ Douglas Corrigan (1907 ~ 1995), an American aviator from Texas, took off from Brooklyn, New York, ostensibly to fly back to Long Beach, California, but instead ended up in Dublin, Ireland. From hence forth, he was known as “Wrong Way” Corrigan.
1936 ~ The Spanish Civil War began when an armed force rebelled against the recently elected leftist popular front government.
1918 ~ Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia (May 18, 1868 ~ July 17, 1918) and his family were executed by Bolshevik Chekists.
1918 ~ The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued survivors from the RMS Titanic, sank off the coast of Ireland by a German U-boat during World War I.
1917 ~ George V, King of the United Kingdom (1865 ~ 1936) issued a Proclamation stating that the male line descendants of the British Royal family will use Windsor at their surname.
1902 ~ Willis Carrier (1876 ~ 1950) invented the first successful air conditioner.
1867 ~ The Harvard School of Dental Medicine was established in Boston, making it the first dental school in the United States affiliated with a university.
1850 ~ The star Vega was photographed through a telescope at Harvard University. It is the earliest known photograph of a star other than the sun.
1821 ~ The Kingdom of Spain ceded the territory of Florida to the United States.
1762 ~ Catherine II (1729 ~ 1796), also known as Catherine the Great, became the Czar of Russia upon the murder of her husband, Peter III, Tsar of Russia (1728 ~ 1762).
1429 ~ Charles VII (1403 ~ 1461) was crowned King of France.
1048 ~ Damasus II was elected Pope. He was pope for only 23 days. He died on August 9.
Good-byes:
2020 ~ Kimmie Lynum (née Kimora Lynum; b. Feb. 3, 2011), fun-loving African-American Florida girl who was due to start fourth grade, but became the State’s youngest Covid-19 victim. She was born in Gainesville, Florida. She died at age 9.
2020 ~ John Lewis (né John Robert Lewis; b. Feb. 21, 1940), 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.
2020 ~ C.T. Vivian (né Cordy Tindell Vivian; b. July 30, 1924), African-American minister and civil rights activist who preached non-violence. He was born in Boonville, Missouri. He died 13 days before his 96th birthday in Atlanta, Georgia.
2016 ~ Gary S. Paxton (né Larry Wayne Stevens; b. May 18, 1939), American musical rebel who produced Monster Mash. He was born in Coffeyville, Kansas. He died from complications of heart surgery in Branson, Missouri at age 77.
2014 ~ Henry Hartsfield, Jr., (né Henry Warren Hartsfield, Jr.; b. Nov. 21, 1933), American Astronaut and shuttle pilot who kept cool under pressure. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He died at age 80 from complications following back surgery in Houston, Texas.
2014 ~ Elaine Stritch (b. Feb. 2, 1925), American Broadway actress who brought sass to the stage. She was born in Detroit, Michigan. She died at age 89 in Birmingham, Michigan.
2012 ~ William Raspberry (né William James Raspberry; b. Oct. 12, 1935), African-American journalist and syndicated columnist. He was born in Okolona, Mississippi. He died at age 76 in Washington, D.C.
2009 ~ Walter Cronkite, Jr. (né Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr.; b. Nov. 4, 1916), American broadcast avuncular journalist who was America’s favorite anchorman. He was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. He was 92 years old in New York, New York.
2006 ~ Mickey Spillane (né Frank Morrison Spillane; b. Mar. 9, 1918), American author of detective novels and actor. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He died at age 88 in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.
2005 ~ Sir Edward Heath (né Edward Richard George Heath; b. July 9, 1916), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was Prime Minister during the reign of Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom from June 1970 until March 1974. He died 13 days after his 89th birthday.
2005 ~ Geraldine Fitzgerald (née Geraldine Mary Fitzgerald; b. Nov. 24, 1913), Irish-American actress. She died at age 91 in Manhattan, New York.
2002 ~ Joseph Luns (né Joseph Marie Antoine Hubert Luns; b. Aug. 28, 1911), Dutch politician and 5th Secretary General of NATO. He was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He died at age 90 in Brussels, Belgium.
2001 ~ Katherine Graham (née Katharine Meyer; b. June 16, 1917), American publisher. She ran the Washington Post for over 20 years. She was born in New York, New York. She died from a head injury a month after her 84th birthday in Boise, Idaho.
1980 ~ Boris Delaunay (b. Mar. 15, 1890), Russian mathematician and mountaineer. He was born in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire. He died at age 90 in Moscow, Soviet Union.
1974 ~ Dizzy Dean (né Jay Hanna Dean; b. Jan. 16, 1910), American professional baseball player. He was born in Lucas, Arkansas. He died at age 64 of a heart attack in Reno, Nevada.
1967 ~ John Coltrane (né John William Coltrane; b. Sept. 23, 1926), American musician. He was born in Hamlet, North Carolina. He died at age 40 of liver cancer in Huntington, New York.
1961 ~ Ty Cobb (né Tyrus Raymond Cobb; b. Dec. 18, 1886), American professional baseball pitcher. He was born in Narrows, Georgia. He died at age 74 in Atlanta, Georgia.
1959 ~ Billie Holiday (née Eleanora Fagan; b. Apr. 7, 1915), African-American singer and songwriter. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She died of liver disease at age 44 in New York, New York.
1956 ~ Bodo von Borries (b. May 22, 1905), German physicist and co-inventor of the electron microscope. He was born in Herford, Germany. He died suddenly at age 51 in Aachen, Germany.
1944 ~ William James Sidis (b. Apr. 1, 1989), American mathematician. He was a child prodigy and entered Harvard University at age 11. He was born in Manhattan, New York. He died in Boston, Massachusetts of a brain hemorrhage at age 46.
1928 ~ Álvaro Obregón (b. Feb. 19, 1880), President of Mexico. He served as President from December 1920 through November 1924. He was assassinated at age 48 in Mexico City, Mexico.
1918 ~ The execution and murder of the Romanov Family, the ruling family of Russia, by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution.
Ø Nicholas II Alexandrovich, Tsar of Russia (b. May 18, 1868). He was Tsar from November 1894 until he was ousted in March 1917. He was married to Alexandra Feodorovna (née Alix of Hesse). He was of the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov. He was the son of Alexander III, Tsar of Russia and Maria Feodorovna (née Dagmar of Denmark). He and his family were executed during the Russian Revolution. He was 50 years old.
Ø Alexandra Feodorovna (née Alix of Hess and by Rhine; b. June 6, 1872), Tsarina consort of Russia. She was the German-born wife Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia. She was of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was the daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hess and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. She was the granddaughter of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom. She was assassinated at age 46.
Ø Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia (b. Nov. 15, 1895), member of the Russian Royal family. She was of the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov. She was the eldest daughter of Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna (née Alix of Hesse and by Rhine). She was 22 at the time of her assassination by the Bolshevik secret police during the Russian Revolution.
Ø Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia (b. June 10, 1897), member of the Russian Royal Family. She was of the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov. She was the second daughter of Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, the last monarch of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna (née Alix of Hesse and by Rhine). She was 21 years old when she was assassinated by the Bolshevik secret police during the Russian Revolution.
Ø Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia (b. June 26, 1899), member of the Russian Royal Family. She was of the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov. She was the daughter of Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, the last monarch of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna (née Alix of Hesse and by Rhine). She was assassinated 21 days before her 20th birthday by the Bolshevik secret police during the Russian Revolution.
Ø Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia (b. June 18, 1901), member of the Russian Royal family. She was of the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov. She was the youngest daughter of Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna (née Alix of Hesse). She was murdered along with the rest of her family on July 17, 1918, by Bolshevik secret police. She was killed a month before her 18th birthday.
Ø Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov (b. Aug. 12, 1904), member of the Russian Royal family. He was of the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov. He was the only son and heir apparent of Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna (née Alix of Hesse and by Rhine). He was assassinated less than a month before his 14th birthday by Bolshevik secret police.
1912 ~ Henri Poincaré (né Jules Henri Poincaré; b. Apr. 29, 1854), French mathematician and physicist. He died of an embolism at age 58 in Paris, France.
1903 ~ James Abbott McNeill Whistler (b. July 11, 1834), American painter, best known for his painting officially entitled Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, but more commonly known as Whistler’s Mother. He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He died in London 7 days after his 69th birthday.
1887 ~ Dorothea Dix (née Dorothea Lynde Dix; b. Apr. 4, 1802), American prison and asylum reformer and social activist. She was a strong advocate for mental health issues. She was born in Hampden, Maine. She died in Trenton, New Jersey. She was 85 at the time of her death.
1845 ~ Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (b. Mar. 13, 1764), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He served as Prime Minister from November 1830 until July 1834, during the reign of King William IV. He is also associated with Earl Grey tea. He died at age 81, eleven years almost to the date of his departure as Prime Minister.
1793 ~ Charlotte Corday (née Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d’Armont, b. July 27, 1768), assassin of Jean-Paul Marat. She was executed by guillotine in Paris, France 4 days after killing Marat and 10 days before her 25th birthday.
1790 ~ Adam Smith (d. June 16, 1723), Scottish philosopher and economist. He is best known for his book The Wealth of Nations. He died a month after his 67th birthday in Edinburgh, Scotland.
1762 ~ Peter III, Tsar of Russia (b. Feb. 21, 1728). He ruled Russia from January 1762 until his death in July 1762. He was the husband of Catherine the Great. He was of the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov. He was the son of Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and Anna Petrovna of Russia. He died under mysterious circumstances at age 34 and is believed to have been murdered.
1399 ~ Jadwiga, Queen of Poland (b. 1370s). She ruled from October 1384 until her death in 1399. She was married to Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania, who became known as Władysław Jagiełło II upon his marriage to Jadwiga. She was of the Capetian House of Anjou. She was the daughter of Louis I, King of Hungary and Elizabeth of Bosnia. The exact date of her birth is not known. She died in childbirth at about age 25.
1210 ~ Sverker II, King of Sweden (b. 1167). He ruled from 1195 until 1208 when he was defeated in the Battle of Lena. He was married twice. His first wife was Benedicta Ebbesdotter of Hvide. His second wife was Ingegerd Birgersdotter. He was of the House of Sverker. He was the son of Charles VII, King of Sweden and Christina Hvide. The date of his birth is unknown.
924 ~ Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons (b. 877). He was married several times. His first wife was Ecgwynn. His second wife was Ælfflæd. His third wife was Eadgifu. He was of the House of Wessex. He was the son of Alfred the Great and Ealhswith. The exact date of his birth is unknown.
855 ~ Pope Leo IV (b. 790). He was Pope from April 847 until his death on this date 8 years later. He was known as Pope Saint Leo. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 65 at the time of his death.
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