Birthdays:
1960 ~ James Comey (né James Brien Comey, Jr.), 7th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He served from September 2013 until May 2917 when he was fired by President Trump. He was born in Yonkers, New York.
1955 ~ Jill Pipher (née Jill Catherine Pipher), American mathematician. In 2019, she began her 2-year term as the president of the American Mathematical Society. She was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
1949 ~ Bill Buckner (né William Joseph Buckner; d. May 27, 2019), 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 of Lewy Body dementia at age 69 in Boise, Idaho.
1946 ~ Sanjay Gandhi (d. June 23, 1980), Indian politician and son of Indira Gandhi. He was born and died in New Delhi, India. He was killed in a private airplane crash at age 33.
1946 ~ Patty Duke (née Anna Marie Duke; d. Mar. 29, 2016), American actress and Oscar winner who battled mental illness. She was born in Manhattan, New York. She died at age 69 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
1946 ~ Jane Birkin (née Jane Mallory Birkin; d. July 16, 2023), the British actress who became a French icon. She was the inspiration for the iconic Hermès Birkin Bag. In 1983, she was seated next to the Hermès CEO, when she complained that she couldn’t find a handbag that could hold all her items. She was born in London, England. She died in Paris, France of cancer at age 76.
1946 ~ Michael S. Ovitz (né Michael Steven Ovitz), American businessman and talent agent. He served as the President of The Walt Disney Company from October 1995 to January 1997. He was born in Chicago, Illinois.
1935 ~ Lee Remick (née Lee Ann Remick, d. July 2, 1991), American actress. She was born in Quincy, Massachusetts. She died at age 55 of kidney cancer in Los Angeles, California.
1922 ~ Nikolay Basov (d. July 1, 2001), Russian physicist and recipient of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the development of the laser. He died at age 78 in Moscow, Russia.
1922 ~ Don Hewitt (né Donald Shepard Hewitt; d. Aug. 19, 2009), American television producer and creator of 60 Minutes. He was born in New York, New York. He died of pancreatic cancer at age 86 in Bridgehampton, New York.
1920 ~ Clark Terry (né Clark Virgil Terry, Jr.; d. Feb. 21, 2015), African-American trumpet virtuoso who taught the art of Jazz. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He died at age 94 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
1918 ~ B.K.S. Iyengar (né Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar; d. Aug. 20, 2014), Indian guru who helped bring yoga to the west. He died at age 95.
1917 ~ June Taylor (née Marjorie June Taylor, d. May 16, 2004), American choreographer. She was the choreographer for the Jackie Gleason Show. She was born in Chicago, Illinois. She died at age 86 in Miami, Florida.
1916 ~ Shirley Jackson (née Shirley Hardie Jackson; d. Aug. 8, 1965), American author best known for her short story The Lottery. She was born in San Francisco, California. She died at age 48 of heart failure in North Bennington, Vermont.
1911 ~ Spike Jones (né Lindley Armstrong Jones; d. May 1, 1965), American bandleader, musician, and comedian. He was born in Long Beach, California. He died of emphysema at age 53 in Beverly Hills, California.
1909 ~ Edward L. Tatum (né Edward Lawrie Tatum; d. Nov. 5, 1975), American geneticist and recipient of the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research showing that genes control individual steps of metabolism. He was born in Boulder, Colorado. He died of heart failure at age 65 in New York, New York.
1908 ~ Morey Amsterdam (né Moritz Amsterdam; d. Oct. 27, 1996), American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Buddy Sorrell on The Dick Van Dyke Show. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He died of a heart attack at age 87 in Los Angeles, California.
1902 ~ Frances Bavier (née Frances Elizabeth Bavier; d. Dec. 6, 1989), American actress best known for her role as Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show. She was born in Manhattan, New York. She died 8 days before her 87th birthday in Siler City, North Carolina.
1897 ~ Margaret Chase Smith (née Margaret Madeline Chase; d. May 29, 1995), American politician and United States Senator from Maine. She served Maine as Senator from January 1949 until January 1973. She was born and died in Skowhegan, Maine. She died at age 97.
1896 ~ Jimmy Doolittle (né James Harold Doolittle, d. Sept. 27, 1993), American general and pilot who led the first bombing raid on Tokyo during World War II. He was born in Alameda, California. He died at age 96 in Pebble Beach, California.
1895 ~ George VI, King of the United Kingdom (né Albert Frederick Arthur George; d. Feb. 6, 1952). He became King upon the abdication of his older brother, Edward VIII, King of the United Kingdom. He reigned as King from December 1936 until his death in February 1952. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth. He was of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha until 1917, when the family founded the House of Windsor. In 1923, he married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. He was the son of George V, King of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck. He was the father of Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom. He died at age 56 of a coronary thrombosis.
1816 ~ Abraham Hochmuth (d. June 10, 1889), Hungarian rabbi. He died at age 72.
1787 ~ Archduchess Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este (d. Apr. 7, 1816), Empress consort and third wife of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (1768 ~ 1835). They married in 1808. She was of the House of Austria-Este. She was the daughter of Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este and Maria Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Massa. She died of tuberculosis at age 28.
1784 ~ Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily (d. May 21, 1802), member of the Sicilian royal family. Upon her marriage to Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias (1784 ~ 1833), she became the Princess of Asturias. She was the first wife of four wives of Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias. After her death, he ascended to the throne as Ferdinand, VII, King of Spain. Because she died before he became king, she was never the queen consort. She was of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. She was the daughter of Ferdinand IV, King of Naples/Ferdinand III, King of Sicily and Archduchess. Maria Carolina of Austria. She died of tuberculosis at age 21.
1640 ~ Aphra Behn (d. Apr. 16, 1689), British playwright. She was born in Canterbury, United Kingdom. The actual date of her birth is not known, but she was baptized on Dec. 14. She died at age 48 in London, United Kingdom.
1631 ~ Anne Conway, Viscountess Conway (née Anne Finch; d. Feb. 23, 1679), English philosopher and author. She was married to Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway and is also known as Viscountess Conway. She died at age 47.
1546 ~ Tycho Brahe (né Tyge Ottesen Brahe; d. Oct. 24, 1601), Danish astronomer alchemist who developed a systematic approach for observing the planets and stars. He lost a part of his nose in a duel and wore a brass prosthesis. He died at age 54 of a mysterious illness in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire. He is the central character in the novel, The Book of Splendor, by Frances Sherwood.
1503 ~ Nostradamus (né Michel de Nostredame; d. July 2, 1566), French astrologer and seer who published collections of prophecies. The exact date of his birth is unknown; it is sometimes recorded as December 21, 1503. He was 62 when he died.
Events that Changed the World:
2020 ~ The first Covid-19 vaccine was administered in the United States. Sadly, it also marked the day in which over 300,000 Americans died of the disease.
2020 ~ A total solar eclipse was visible from parts of the South Pacific Ocean, Southern South America, and the South Atlantic Ocean.
2020 ~ The electoral college votes were cast confirming Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.
2020 ~ A total solar eclipse was observed across Chile and Argentina.
2017 ~ The United States Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal net neutrality for the internet.
2012 ~ An armed teenaged shooter entered the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and shot and killed 26 people, including 20 six- and seven-year-olds, as well as 6 teachers and school administrators before killing himself.
2008 ~ President George W. Bush (b. 1946) made his final trip to Iraq as President. An angry Iraqi journalist threw two shoes, nearly striking him, during a news conference in Baghdad.
1994 ~ Construction on the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China began. The project became fully functional in July 2012.
1981 ~ The Israeli Knesset ratified the Golan Heights Law, which extended Israeli law to the Golan Heights.
1964 ~ In Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Congress can use the Constitution’s Commerce Clause as a mechanism to fight racial discrimination. Associate Justice Tom C. Clark (1899 ~ 1977) authored the decision.
1962 ~ The United States’ NASA spacecraft Mariner 2 became the first spacecraft to fly past Venus.
1940 ~ Plutonium was first isolated in a laboratory in Berkeley, California.
1939 ~ The League of Nations expelled the Soviet Union for invading Finland during the Winter War.
1918 ~ Women were allowed to vote in the 1918 general election in the United Kingdom for the first time.
1911 ~ Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872 ~ 1928) and his team became the first recorded humans to reach the South Pole.
1902 ~ The Commercial Pacific Cable Company laid the first Pacific telegraph cable from San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii.
1819 ~ Alabama became the 22nd State of the Union.
1814 ~ During the War of 1812, the Royal Navy seized control of Lake Borgne, Louisiana.
1780 ~ Alexander Hamilton (1750s ~ 1804) married Elizabeth Schuyler (1757 ~ 1854).
1542 ~ Princess Mary Stuart of Scotland became Mary, Queen of Scots (1542 ~ 1587) upon the death of her father, James V, King of Scotland (1512 ~ 1542). She was the only surviving child of King James. Mary was only 6 days old. She would be Queen from December 1542 until July 1567.
1287 ~ The sea wall on the Zuider Zee in the Netherlands collapsed, killing over 50,000 people during the St. Lucia’s flood.
557 ~ An earthquake severely damaged Constantinople (present day Istanbul).
Good-Byes:
2015 ~ Lillian Vernon (née Lilli Menacsche; b. Mar. 18, 1927), German-American businesswoman and founder of the Lillian Vernon Company. She died at age 88 in Manhattan, New York.
2014 ~ Bess Myerson (b. July 16, 1924), first, and to date the only, Jewish Miss America. She won the title in 1945. She was born in New York, New York. She died at age 90 in Santa Monica, California.
2014 ~ Sy Berger (né Seymour Perry Berger; b. July 12, 1923), American Topps salesman who reinvented the baseball card. He was born in New York, New York. He died at age 91 in Rockville Centre, New York.
2013 ~ Janet Dailey (née Janet Anne Haradon; b. May 21, 1944), American romance novelist. She was born in Storm Lake, Iowa. She died at age 69 of complications of heart surgery in Branson, Missouri.
2013 ~ George Rodrigue (b. Mar. 13, 1944), American artist from New Iberia, Louisiana most famous for his Blue Dogseries. He was born in New Iberia, Louisiana. He died of lung cancer at age 69 in Houston, Texas.
2013 ~ Peter O’Toole (né Peter Seamus O’Toole; b. Aug. 2, 1932), Irish actor. He is best known for his role as T.E. Lawrence in the 1962 movie Lawrence of Arabia. He died at age 81 in London, England.
2001 ~ W. G. Sebald (né Winfried Georg Sebald; b. May 18, 1944), German-born writer. He died in a car crash at age 57.
1998 ~ Norman Fell (né Norman Noah Fell, b. Mar. 24, 1924), American actor. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He died of bone marrow cancer at age 74 in Woodland Hills, California.
1998 ~ Annette Strauss (née Annette Louise Greenfield; b. Jan. 26, 1924), American philanthropist and mayor of Dallas, Texas. She was the second female mayor and the second Jewish mayor of the city. She died of cancer at age 74.
1994 ~ Orval Faubus (né Orval Eugene Fabus; b. Jan. 7, 1910), 36th Governor of Arkansas from January 1955 until January 1967. He is best known for his 1957 stand against desegregation of the public schools in Little Rock. He was born in Madison County, Arkansas. He died of prostate cancer 3 weeks before his 85th birthday in Conway, Arkansas.
1993 ~ Myrna Loy (née Myrna Adele Williams; b. Aug. 2, 1905), American actress. She was born in Helena, Montana. She died at age 88 in New York, New York.
1989 ~ Andrei Sakharov (b. May 21, 1921), Russian physicist and recipient of the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize. He was born and died in Moscow, Russia. He died at age 68.
1988 ~ Stuart Symington (né William Stuart Symington, III.; b. June 26, 1901), 1st United States Secretary of the Air Force. He was appointed to this office by President Harry S Truman and served as the Secretary of the Air Force from September 1947 through December 1950. He went on to become a United States Senator from Missouri. He was born in Amherst, Massachusetts and died in New Canaan, Connecticut. He died at age 87.
1985 ~ Roger Maris (né Roger Eugene Maris; b. Sept. 10, 1934), American baseball player. He was born in Hibbing, Minnesota. He died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 51 in Houston, Texas.
1984 ~ Vincente Aleixandre (b. Apr. 26, 1898), Spanish writer and recipient of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in Seville, Spain. He died at age 86 in Madrid, Spain.
1980 ~ Richard Gurley Drew (b. June 22, 1899), American engineer and inventor of Masking tape. He was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He died at age 81 in Santa Barbara, California.
1974 ~ Walter Lippmann (b. Sept. 23, 1889), American journalist and political commentator. He was born and died in New York, New York. He died at age 85.
1963 ~ Dinah Washington (née Ruth Lee Jones, b. Aug. 29, 1924), African-American singer and pianist. She was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She died of a drug overdose at age 39 in Chicago, Illinois.
1959 ~ Sir Stanley Spencer (b. June 30, 1891), British painter. He died of cancer at age 68.
1956 ~ Juho Kusti Paasikivi (b. Nov. 27, 1870), 7th President of Finland. He served as President from March 1946 until March 1956. He died 18 days after his 86th birthday in Helsinki, Finland.
1953 ~ Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (née Marjorie Kinnan; b. Aug. 8, 1896), American novelist who is best known for her novel, The Yearling. She was born in Washington, D.C. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 57 in St, Augustine, Florida.
1947 ~ Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (b. Aug. 3, 1867), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was Prime Minister from June 1935 through May 1937 during the reigns of Kings George V, Edward VIII and George VI. He died at age 80.
1943 ~ John Harvey Kellogg (b. Feb. 26, 1852), American surgeon and vegetarian advocate. He was from Battle Creek, Michigan and ran a sanitarium that focused on nutrition and exercise. He, along with his brother Will (1860 ~ 1951), became known for creating the breakfast cereal, Kellogg’s Cornflakes. He was born in Tyrone, Michigan. He died at age 91 in Battle Creek, Michigan.
1942 ~ Hubert Work (b. July 3, 1860), 29th United States Secretary of the Interior. He served under Presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge from March 1923 until July 1928. He previously served as the 47th United States Postmaster General under President Warren Harding from March 1922 until March 1923. He was born in Marion, Pennsylvania. He died at age 82 in Denver, Colorado.
1939 ~ Helene Kröller-Müller (née Helene Emma Laura Juliane Müller; b. Feb. 11, 1869), German-Dutch art collector and philanthropist. She was one of the first art collectors to recognize and value the works of Vincent Van Gogh. She was the founder of the Kröller-Müller sculpture garden, which is located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo, Netherlands. She was born in Essen, Germany. She died at age 70 in Otterlo, Netherlands.
1927 ~ Yulian Vasilivich Sokhotsku (b. Feb. 2, 1842), Russian mathematician. He died at age 85.
1902 ~ Julia Dent Grant (née Julia Boggs Dent; b. Jan. 26, 1826), 19th First Lady and wife of President Ulysses S. Grant. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She died at age 76 in Washington, D.C.
1878 ~ Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (née Princess Alice Maud Mary; b. Apr. 25, 1843), member of the British royal family. Upon her marriage to Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine (1837 ~ 1892) in 1862, she became the Grand Duchess consort of Hesse and by Rhine. She was his first wife. They had seven children. She was of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was the third child and second daughter of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert. She died of diphtheria at age 35. She was the first child of Queen Victoria to die.
1873 ~ Louis Agassiz (né Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, b. May 28, 1807), Swiss-born American paleontologist and geologist. He died at age 66 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1873 ~ Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria (b. Nov. 13, 1801), Queen consort of Prussia and wife of Frederick William VI, King of Prussia (1795 ~ 1861). She was of the House of Wittelsbach. She was the daughter of Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria and Caroline of Baden. She was born Catholic but converted to Lutheranism after her marriage. She died a month after her 72nd birthday.
1861 ~ Albert, Prince consort of the United Kingdom (né Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; b. Aug. 26, 1819), husband of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom. They married in 1840. He was of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld until 1826, when the family became known as the House of Saxe-Coburg-and Gotha. He was the son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. He died at age 42, possibly of typhoid fever or stomach cancer.
1860 ~ George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (b. Jan. 28, 1784), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was Prime Minister from December 1852 until January 1855 during the reign of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He died at age 76.
1831 ~ Martin Baum (b. June 15, 1765), Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born in Hagerstown, Maryland. He died at age 66 during an influenza epidemic in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1810 ~ Cyrus Griffin (b. July 16, 1749), American politician and last president of the Continental Congress. He was born in Farnham, Virginia, British America. He died at age 62 in Yorktown, Virginia.
1806 ~ John Breckinridge (b. Dec. 2, 1760), 5th United States Attorney General. He served under President Thomas Jefferson from August 1805 until his death in December 1806. He died in Office. He replaced Levi Lincoln, Sr., and was succeeded by Caesar A. Rodney as Attorney General. He had previously served as a United States Senator from Kentucky. He was born in Augusta County, Virginia, British America. He died of tuberculosis 12 days after his 46thbirthday in Fayette County, Kentucky.
1799 ~ George Washington (b. Feb. 22, 1732), American general during the American Revolutionary War and 1stPresident of the United States. He was born in Popes Creek, Virginia, British America. He died at age 67 at Mount Vernon, Virginia.
1788 ~ Charles III, King of Spain (b. Jan. 20, 1716). He ruled from August 1759 until his death in December 1788, and King of Naples and Sicily from May 1734 until October 1759. Under his reign, Spain became recognized as a nation instead of a collection of kingdoms and territories. He was married to Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony (1724 ~ 1760). He was of the House of Bourbon. He was the son of Philip V, King of Spain and Elisabeth of Farnese. He was Roman Catholic. He died at age 72.
1618 ~ Anna of Tyrol, Archduchess of Austria (b. Oct. 4, 1585), Holy Roman Empress consort and wife of Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (1557 ~ 1619). They married in 1611. There were no surviving children of the marriage. She was of the House of Habsburg. She was the daughter of Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria and Anna Juliana Gonzaga. She was Roman Catholic. She died at age 33.
1542 ~ James V, King of Scotland (b. Apr. 10, 1512). He reigned over Scotland from September 1513 until his death 29 years later. He married Princess Madeleine of France (1520 ~ 1537) in 1537. She died 6 months after they married. He then married Mary of Guise (1515 ~ 1560), who was the mother of his successor, Mary, Queen of Scots. He was of the House of Stewart. He was the son of James IV, King of Scotland and Margaret Tudor. He was Catholic. He died at age 30, probably of cholera or dysentery. He died when his daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots was just 6 days old.
1476 ~ Vlad III, the Impaler (b. 1431), the date commonly ascribed to his death. The exact dates of his birth and death are not known.
1311 ~ Margaret of Brabant (b. Oct. 4, 1276), Queen consort of Germany. She was the wife of Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor (2373 ~ 1313). When they married in 1292, he was known as Henry, Count of Luxembourg. In 1308, he was elected king of Germany, and she became the Queen consort. She died, however, before he became the Holy Roman Emperor, thus was never the Empress consort. She was of the House of Reginar. She was the daughter of John I, Duke of Brabant and Margaret of Flanders. She died at age 35.
1077 ~ Agnes of Poitou (b. 1025), Empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire. She was the second wife of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor (1016 ~ 1056). They married in 1043 and were the parents of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. She was of the House of Ramnulfids. She was the daughter of William V, Duke of Aquitaine and Agnes of Burgundy. The exact date of her birth is not known. She is believed to have been about age 52 at the time of her death.
872 ~ Pope Adrian II (b. 792). He served as Pope from December 14, 867 until his death exactly 5 years later. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 80 at the time of his death.
618 ~ Xue Rengao, Chinese Emperor of the Sui Dynasty. He was known as a fierce, but overly cruel leader. He was emperor for only 3 months before he was forced to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. He was executed shortly after his surrender. The date of his birth is not known.
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