Birthdays:
1981 ~ Stephanie Beatriz (née Stephanie Beatriz Bischoff Alvizuri), Argentine-American actress. She is best known for her role as Detective Rosa Diaz on the television sit-com Brooklyn Nine-Nine. She was born in Neuquén, Argentina.
1974 ~ Elizabeth Banks (née Elizabeth Irene Mitchell), American actress. She was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
1967 ~ Laura Dern (née Laura Elizabeth Dern), American actress. She was born in Los Angeles, California.
1961 ~ George Stephanopoulos (né George Robert Stephanopoulos), American journalist. He was the White House Communications Director under President Bill Clinton. He was born in Fall River, Massachusetts.
1955 ~ Luisa Harris (née Luisa Mae Harris; d. Jan. 18, 2022), African-American professional basketball player. She was known as the Queen of Basketball. She was the only woman to be official drafted by the NBA when she was selected by the New Orleans Jazz in 1977. She declined the invitation to join the team because she was pregnant at the time. She was born in Minter City, Mississippi. She died at a month before her 68th birthday in Mound Bayou, Mississippi.
1954 ~ Peter Kaplan (né Peter Wennik Kaplan; d. Nov. 29, 2013), American New York editor who mentored a generation. He is known for modernizing New Journalism for the digital age. He was born in South Orange, New Jersey. He died of cancer at age 59 in Manhattan, New York.
1950 ~ Mark Spitz (né Mark Andrew Spitz), American Olympian swimmer. He won 7 gold medals at the 1972 Olympics. He was born in Modesto, California.
1944 ~ Peter Allen (né Peter Richard Woolnough; d. June 18, 1992), Australian singer and songwriter, and first husband of Liza Minelli. He died of AIDS at age 48 in San Diego, California.
1941 ~ Michael Apted (né Michael David Apted; d. Jan. 7, 2021), British movie director. He was born in Aylesbury, England. He died about a month before his 80th birthday in Los Angeles, California.
1937 ~ Roberta Flack (née Robert Cleopatra Flack), African-American singer. She was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
1932 ~ Robert Taylor (né Robert William Taylor; d. Apr. 13, 2017), American computer scientist and tech pioneer who kick-started the internet. He was born in Dallas, Texas. He died at age 85 in Woodside, California.
1930 ~ E.L. Konigsburg (née Elaine Lobl; d. Apr. 19, 2013), American author of children’s books. She is one of two writers to be the recipient of the Newbery Medal. She was born in Manhattan, New York. She died at age 83 of complications of a stroke in Falls Church, Virginia.
1930 ~ Lewis L. Judd (né Lewis Lund Judd; d. Dec. 16, 2018), American neurobiologist and psychiatrist who championed brain science. He was born in Los Angeles, California. He died at age 88 in San Diego, California.
1930 ~ Robert Wagner (né Robert John Wagner, Jr.), American actor. He was married to Natalie Wood when she died under mysterious circumstances. He was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1927 ~ Leontyne Price (née Mary Violet Leontyne Price), African-American soprano and opera star. She was born in Laurel, Mississippi.
1926 ~ Doug Larson (d. Apr. 1, 2017), American columnist. He was born in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He died at age 91.
1922 ~ Árpád Göncz (d. Oct. 5, 2015), 1st President of Hungary. He served in Office from May 1990 until August 2000. He was born and died in Budapest, Hungary. He died at age 93.
1920 ~ Alex Comfort (né Alexander Comfort; d. Mar. 26, 2000), English physician and author. He is best known for his book The Joy of Sex. He was also a poet, novelist, antinuclear activist, and an anarchist, as well as an authority on the biochemistry of aging. He was born in London, England. He died at age 80 in Oxfordshire, England.
1916 ~ Julia Hawkins, record-breaking runner in the Louisiana Senior Games. She took up running at age 100, and in 2021, ran the 100-meter dash in less than a minute. In 2022, she celebrated her 106th birthday. She was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. [As of November 2023, Julia Hawkins was still alive.]
1910 ~ Dominique Pire (né George Charles Clement Ghislain Pire; d. Jan. 30, 1969), Belgian monk and recipient of the 1958 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in assisting refugees following World War II. He died of complications following surgery 11 days before his 59th birthday.
1906 ~ Lon Chaney, Jr. (né Creighton Tull Chaney; d. July 12, 1973), American actor best known for his role in early silent horror films. He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He died of heart failure at age 67 in San Clemente, California.
1905 ~ Walter A. Brown (d. Sept. 7, 1964), American businessman. He was the founder and original owner of the Boston Celtics basketball team. He was also instrumental in the development of ice hockey in the United States. He was born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. He died at age 59 on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
1902~ Walter H. Brattain (né Walter Houser Brattain; d. Oct. 13, 1987), American physicist and recipient of the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the transistor. He was born in Xiamen, Fujian, China. He died at age 85 in Seattle, Washington.
1901 ~ Stella Adler (d. Dec. 21, 1992), American actress and acting coach. She was born in Manhattan, New York. She died at age 91 in Los Angeles, California.
1898 ~ Bertolt Brecht (né Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht; d. Aug. 14, 1956), German writer and playwright. He is best known for his play, Three Penny Opera. He was born in Augsburg, Germany. He died of a heart attack at age 58 in East Berlin, East Germany.
1897 ~ John Franklin Enders (d. Sept. 8, 1985), American biomedical scientist and recipient of the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work with the polio virus. He is known as the Father of Modern Vaccines. He was born in West Hartford, Connecticut. He died at age 88 in Waterford, Connecticut.
1894 ~ Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (né Maurice Harold Macmillan; d. Dec. 29, 1986), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He served as Prime Minister from January 1957 until October 1963 during the reign of Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom. He was born in London, England. He died at age 92.
1893 ~ Jimmy Durante (né James Francis Durante; d. Jan. 29, 1980), American actor and comedian. He was born in New York, New York. He died 11 days before his 87th birthday in Santa Monica, California.
1890 ~ Fanya Kaplan (née Feiga Haimovna Roytblat; d. Sept. 3, 1918), Ukrainian-Russian social activist. She was executed after an attempt to assassinate Lenin. She was 28 at the time of her execution in Moscow, Russia.
1890 ~ Boris Pasternak (d. May 30, 1960), Russian writer and recipient of the 1958 Nobel Peace Prize. The Communist Party forced him to decline the award. His descendants were able to accept the Prize in his name in 1988. He is best known for his novel, Dr. Zhivago. He was born and died in Moscow, Russia. He died of lung cancer at age 70.
1883 ~ Edith Clarke (d. Oct. 29, 1959), American electrical engineer. She was the first female electrical engineer and first female electrical engineer to teach at the University of Texas, Austin. She died at age 76.
1868 ~ Prince Waldemar of Prussia (d. Mar. 27, 1879). German prince. He was of the House of Hohenzollern. He was the sixth child of Frederick III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal. He was the grandson of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom. He died of diphtheria at age 11.
1859 ~ Alexandre Millerand (d. Apr. 7, 1943), French lawyer and President of France from September 1920 until June 1924. He was born in Paris, France. He died at age 84 in Versailles, Occupied France.
1857 ~ Marie Alice Heine (d. Dec. 22, 1925), Princess consort of Monaco. She was the second wife of Albert I, Prince of Monaco (1848 ~ 1922). They married in 1889. He was her second husband. She had previously been married to Armand de Jumilhac, 7th Duke of Richelieu. They had married in 1875. They separated in 1902, but never formally divorced. She was an American from New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the daughter of Michel Heine and Marie Amélie Miltenberger. She died at age 67.
1846 ~ Ira Remsen (d. Mar. 4, 1927), American chemist. He is credited with discovering the artificial sweetener saccharin. He was born in New York City and died in Carmel, California less than a month after his 81st birthday.
1842 ~ Agnes Mary Clerke (d. Jan. 20, 1907), Irish astronomer. The lunar crater Clerke is named in her honor. She died 21 days before her 65th birthday in London, England.
1831 ~ Nadezhda von Meck (d. Jan. 13, 1894), Russian businesswoman best known as being the financial support for Peter Tchaikovsky. Although they never met, she provided him with financial support for over 13 years. She died of tuberculosis less than a month before her 63rd birthday in Nice, France.
1806 ~ Orville Browning (né Orville Hickman Browning; d. Aug. 10, 1881), 9th United States Secretary of the Interior. He served under President Andrew Johnson from September 1866 until March 1869. He also served as a United States Senator from Illinois. He was born in Cynthiana, Kentucky. He died in Quincy, Illinois at age 75.
1775 ~ Charles Lamb (d. Dec. 27, 1834), English essayist. He is best known for his Essays of Elia. He was born and died in London, England. He died at age 59.
1606 ~ Princess Christine Marie of France (d. Dec. 27, 1663) Duchess consort of Savoy and wife of Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (1587 ~ 1637). They married in 1619. She was of the House of Bourbon. She was the daughter of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de’Medici. She was Roman Catholic. She died at age 57.
Events that Changed the World:
2021 ~ The first of three severe winter storms swept through the United States in a 2-week period through February 27, 2021. Texas was especially hard hit and suffered a major power crisis. Over 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power and at least 225 people were killed directly or indirectly from the storm and resulting power outages.
2021 ~ The traditional Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
2007 ~ Barack Obama (b. 1961), then a United States Senator from Illinois, declared his candidacy for President in the 2008 elections.
1996 ~ The IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov (b. 1963) in a chess match.
1981 ~ A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel killed 8 people and injured about 200 others. The fire was determined to have been caused by arson.
1971 ~ Carole King’s Tapestry album was released.
1967 ~ The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. The amendment provides the succession plans in the event of a vacancy of the Office of President or Vice President.
1962 ~ Captured American U2 spy plane pilot Gary Powers (1929 ~ 1977) was exchanged for the captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (1903 ~ 1971). The prisoner exchange was recounted in the 2015 movie Bridge of Spies, which was based on a book of the same name.
1954 ~ President Dwight Eisenhower (1890 ~ 1969) warned against United States intervention in Vietnam.
1942 ~ The first gold record was presented to Glenn Miller (1904 ~ 1944) for his song, Chattanooga Choo-Choo.
1923 ~ Texas Tech University was founded as the Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas.
1863 ~ The fire extinguisher was patented by Alanson Crane.
1840 ~ Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1819 ~ 1901) married Prince Albert (1819 ~ 1861) of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
1763 ~ The Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War. France ceded Quebec to Great Britain.
1567 ~ The body of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (1546 ~ 1567), the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542 ~ 1587). He had been murdered.
1502 ~ Vasco da Gama (1460s ~ 1524) set sail on his second voyage, headed towards India.
1258 ~ Baghdad fell to the Mongols and the Abbasid Caliphate was destroyed, ending the Islamic Golden Age. The Siege of Baghdad had begun 11 days earlier, on January 29.
Good-Byes:
2022 ~ Duvall Hecht (né Duvall Young Hecht; b. Apr. 23, 1930), American Olympic rower who invented Books on Tape. He was a competitive rower and received a gold medal in the 1956 Summer Olympics. In 1975, he founded Books on Tape. Inc. He was born in Los Angeles, California. He died at age 91 in Costa Mesa, California.
2021 ~ Larry Flynt (né Larry Claxton Flynt, Jr.; b. Nov. 1, 1942), American pornographer, provocateur, publisher, and free-speech advocate who built an empire with Hustler. He was born in Lakeville, Kentucky. He died at age 78 in Los Angeles, California.
2021 ~ Fanne Foxe (née Annabelle Battistella; b. Feb. 14, 1936), Argentine dancer and stripper, best known for being involved in a 1974 sex scandal with Congressman Wilber Mills. She was born in Nueve de Julio Partido, Argentina. She died 4 days before her 85th birthday in Clearwater, Florida.
2019 ~ Jan-Michael Vincent (b. July 15, 1945), American hard-living actor and star of Airwolf who crashed and burned. He was born in Denver, Colorado. He died of cardiac arrest at age 73 in Asheville, North Carolina.
2017 ~ Mike Ilitch, Sr. (né Michael Ilitch; b. July 20, 1929), American entrepreneur who founded the Little Caesars pizza chain and relentlessly promoted Detroit. He was born and died in Detroit, Michigan. He died at age 87.
2014 ~ Shirley Temple Black (b. Apr. 23, 1928), American child star who became a United States Ambassador. She was born in Santa Monica, California. She died at age 85 in Woodside, California.
2010 ~ Charlie Wilson (né Charles Nesbitt Wilson; b. June 1, 1933), American member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas and “party animal” behind the movie Charlie Wilson’s War. He was born in Trinity, Texas. He died of a heart attack at age 76 in Lufkin, Texas.
2008 ~ Roy Scheider (né Roy Richard Scheider; b. Nov. 10, 1932), American actor, best known for his role in Jaws. He was born in Orange, New Jersey. He died of multiple myeloma at age 75 in Little Rock, Arkansas.
2007 ~ Charles Walgreen, Jr. (né Charles Rudolph Walgreen, Jr.; b. Mar. 4, 1906), American businessman and son of the founder of the Walgreen drug store chain. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He died less than a month before his 101stbirthday in Northfield, Illinois.
2005 ~ Arthur Miller (né Arthur Asher Miller; b. Oct. 17, 1915), American playwright. His second wife was Marilyn Monroe. He was born in Manhattan, New York. He died at age 89 in Roxbury, Connecticut.
2003 ~ Ron Ziegler (né Ronald Louis Ziegler; b. May 12, 1939), White House Press Secretary. He served during the Nixon Administration from January 1969 until August 1974. He was born in Covington, Kentucky. He died of a heart attack at age 63 in Coronado, California.
2002 ~ Vernon Walters (né Vernon Anthony Walters; b. Jan. 3, 1917), 17th Ambassador to the United Nations during the Ronald Reagan administration, from May 1985 until March 1989. He was born in New York, New York. He died at age 85 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
2001 ~ Abe Beame (né Abraham David Beame; b. Mar. 20, 1906), 104th Mayor of New York City. He served as Mayor from January 1974 through December 1977. He was born in London, England. He died at age 94 in New York, New York.
1999 ~ Joan Curran (né Joan Elizabeth Strothers; b. Feb. 26, 1916), Lady Curran. She was a Welsh scientist. She was instrumental in the development of radar and the atomic bomb during World War II. She invented the chaff, a radar countermeasure technique. She attended Cambridge University to study physics, however, because she was a woman, she was not awarded her degree. After she finished her courses, she began a graduate program. Again, she was not awarded an advanced degree because she was female. She was born in Swansea, Wales. She died of cancer in Glasgow, Scotland 16 days before her 83rd birthday.
1992 ~ Alex Haley (né Alexander Murray Palmer Haley; b. Aug. 11, 1921), African-American historian and writer, best known for his book, Roots, which was later made into a television mini-series. He was born in Ithaca, New York. He died of a heart attack at age 70 in Seattle, Washington.
1989 ~ Wayne Hays (né Wayne Levere Hays; b. May 13, 1911), American politician from Ohio whose career was cut short due to a sex scandal. He was a Member of the United States House of Representatives. He was born in Bannock, Ohio. He died of a heart attack at age 77 in Wheeling, West Virginia.
1966 ~ Billy Rose (né William Samuel Rosenberg; b. Sept. 6, 1899), American composer and bandleader. His first wife was Fanny Brice. He was born in New York City. He died in Montego Bay, Jamaica of lobar pneumonia at age 66.
1957 ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder (née Laura Elizabeth Ingalls; b. Feb. 7, 1867), American author. She is best known for her children’s books, such as The Little House on the Prairie, which depict life growing up in the American west. She was born in Pepin County, Wisconsin. She died 3 days after her 90th birthday in Mansfield, Missouri.
1939 ~ Pope Pius XI (né Ambrogio Damiano Archille Ratti; b. May 31, 1857). He was Pope from February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was the first Pope of Vatican City, which was established as a separate independent state in February 1929. Because of his strong opposition to communism, he signed agreements with both Musolini and Hitler and gave his full support to Franco. He was 81 at the time of his death.
1923 ~ Wilhelm Röntgen (né Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen; b. Mar. 27, 1845), German physicist and recipient of the 1901 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the X-ray. He died at age 77.
1918 ~ Ernesto Toedoro Moneta (b. Sept. 20, 1833), Italian pacifist and recipient of the 1907 of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was born and died in Milan, Italy. He died at age 84.
1912 ~ Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister (b. Apr. 5, 1827), English surgeon, who developed the practice of antiseptic surgery. He died at age 84.
1904 ~John A. Roche (b. Aug. 12, 1844), 30th Mayor of Chicago. He was Mayor from 1887 until 1889. He was born in Utica, New York. He died at age 59 of uremic poisoning in Chicago, Illinois.
1891 ~ Sofia Kovalevskaya (b. Jan. 15, 1850), Russian mathematician. She is known for her contributions to analysis, differential equations, and mechanics. She was born in Moscow, Russian Empire. She died of influenza 26 days after her 41st birthday in Stockholm, Sweden.
1887 ~ Ellen Wood (née Ellen Price; b. Jan. 17, 1814), English author. She died 24 days after her 73rd birthday.
1879 ~ Honoré-Victorin Daumier (b. Feb. 26, 1808), French artist, painter, illustrator, and sculptor. He was born in Marseille, France. He died 16 days before his 71st birthday.
1868 ~ Sir David Brewster (b. Dec. 11, 1781), Scottish mathematician and physicist. He is best known for his work in physical optics. He died at age 86.
1859 ~ Princess Anna of Saxony (b. Jan. 4, 1836), Archduchess consort of Austria and first wife of Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1835 ~ 1908). They married in 1856. She died shortly before her husband became the Grand Duke of Tuscany, so was never the Duchess consort. She was of the House of Wettin. She was the daughter of John, King of Saxony and Amalie Auguste of Bavaria. She was Roman Catholic. She died at age 23 of complications of childbirth.
1837 ~ Alexander Pushkin (b. June 6, 1799), Russian poet and author. He is considered the father of modern Russian literature. He died at age 37 from injuries sustained in a duel with his brother-in-law.
1829~ Pope Leo XII (né Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiore Girolamo Nocola Sermattei della Genga; b. Aug. 2, 1760). He was Pope from September 1823 until his death 5.5 years later at age 68.
1755 ~ Montesquieu (né Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu; b. Jan. 18, 1689), French lawyer and philosopher during the Age of Enlightenment. He died in Paris, France 23 days after his 66th birthday.
1722 ~ Bartholomew Roberts (né John Roberts; b. May 17, 1682), Welsh pirate. He raided ships off the Americas and West Africa. He is said to have raided over 400 ships. He was known as Black Bart. He was killed at age 39 while in the trying to raid the HMS Swallow.
1660 ~ Judith Jans Leyster (née Judith Jans Leijster; b. July 28, 1609), Dutch painter. She died at age 50.
1598 ~ Anne of Austria (b. Aug. 16, 1573), Queen consort of Poland and first wife of Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland (1566 ~ 1632). They married in 1592. She was of the House of Habsburg. She was the daughter of Charles II, Archduke of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. She was Catholic. She died at age 24 of complication of childbirth.
1567 ~ Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (b. Dec. 7, 1545), consort of the Scots and English husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. He was Mary’s second husband. He was of the Darnley branch of the Stuart family. He was the son of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox and Lady Margaret Douglas. He was Roman Catholic. He was murdered at age 21. His body was found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o’Field house in Edinburgh.
1524 ~ Catherine of Saxony (b. July 24, 1468), Archduchess of Austria. She was the second wife of Sigismund, Archduke of Austria (1427 ~ 1496); he was her first husband. He was 40 years her senior. After his death, she married Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1470 ~ 1540). She was his second wife. She was of the House of Wettin. She was the daughter of Albert III, Duke of Saxony and Sidonie of Poděbrady. She died at age 55.
1307 ~ Temür Öljeytü Khan (b. Oct. 15, 1265), Mongolian Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. He ruled from May 10, 1294 until his death on Feb. 10, 1307. He died at age 41.
1162 ~ Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem (b. 1130). He reigned over Jerusalem from December 1143 until his death 20 years later. In 1158, he married Theodora Komnene. He was of the House of Anjou. He was the son of Fulk of Jerusalem and Melisende of Jerusalem. The date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been 33 at the time of his death.
547 ~ St. Scholastica (b. 480), Christian nun and saint. She is the patron saint of education. The date of her birth is not known.
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