July 27

Birthdays:

1975~ A-Rod Rodriguez (né Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez), American baseball player.

1957~ Bill Engvall (né William Ray Engvall, Jr.), American comedian and actor.

1952~ Marvin Barnes (néMarvin Jerome Barnes; d. Sept. 8, 2014), American basketball star who struggled off-court.  He was born and died in Providence, Rhode Island.  He died at age 62.

1949~ Maury Chaykin (né Maury Alan Chaykin; d. July 27, 2010), Canadian character actor.  He died on his 61^stbirthday from complications of a heart valve infection.

1948~ Peggy Fleming (né Petty Gail Fleming), American figure skater.

1947~ Betty Thomas (née Betty Lucille Nienhauser), American actress best known for her role as Lucy Bates on the television drama Hill Street Blues.

1942~ John Pleshette, American actor.  He is best known for his role as Richard Avery on the television drama, Knots Landing.

1938~ Gary Gygax (né Ernest Gary Gygax; d. Mar. 4, 2008), American “nerd” who invented Dungeons and Dragons.  He died of an abdominal aneurysm at age 69.

1937~ Don Galloway (né Donald Poe Galloway; d. Jan. 8, 2009), American actor.  He is best known for his role as Detective Sergeant Ed Brown on the television drama Ironsides.  He died of a stroke at age 71.

1937~ Andre Blay (d. Aug. 24, 2018), American businessman and VHS innovator who brought movies home.  He died at age 81.

1933~ Nick Reynolds (né Nicholas Wells Reynolds; d. Oct. 1, 2008), American folk musician and master of harmony who founded the Kingston Trio.  He was a bongo player.  He died of acute respiratory disease at age 75.

1931~ Jerry Van Dyke (né Jerry McCord Van Dyke; d. Jan. 5, 2018), American actor and younger brother of Dick Van Dyke.  He is best known for his role as Tag in the television sit-com, The Middle.  He died of congestive heart failure at age 86.

1929~ Jack Higgins (né Henry Patterson), English suspense novelist.

1927~ Guy Carawan (né Guy Hughes Carawan, Jr.; d. May 2, 2015), American folksinger who popularized We Shall Overcome.  He died at age 87.

1924~ Vincent Canby (d. Oct. 15, 2000), American journalist and critic.  He died of cancer at age 76.

1922~ Norman Lear (né Norman Milton Lear), American television writer and producer.  He was born in New Haven, Connecticut.

1916~ Elizabeth Hardwick (d. Dec. 2, 2007), American literary critic and novelist.  She died at age 91.

1907~ Irene Fischer (née Irene Kaminka Fischer; d. Oct. 22, 2009), Austrian-American mathematician.  They fled Nazi Germany in 1939.  She died in Boston, Massachusetts at age 102.

1905~ Leo Durocher (né Leo Ernest Durocher; d. Oct. 7, 1991), American baseball player and manager.  He died at age 86.

1904~ Lyudmila Rudenko (d. Mar. 4, 1986), Russian chess master.  She was the first woman to be awarded the International Master title.  She died at age 81.

1882~ Sir Geoffrey de Havilland (d. May 21, 1965), English aircraft designer and engineer. He died at age 82 of a cerebral hemorrhage.

1881~ Hans Fischer (d. Mar. 31, 1945), German chemist and recipient of the 1930 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died by suicide at age 63.

1835~ Giosuè Carducci (né Giosuè Alessandro Guiseppe Carducci; d. Feb. 16, 1970), Italian poet and recipient of the 1906 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 71.

1824~ Alexandre Dumas, the Younger (d. Nov. 27, 1895), French author.  He was the illegitimate son of the more well-known author Alexandre Dumas, the Elder. He is best known for Camille.  He died at age 71.

1801~ Sir George Biddell Airy (d. Jan. 2, 1892), English mathematician and astronomer.  He died at age 90.

1768~ Charlotte Corday (née Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d’Armont; d. July 17, 1768), assassin of Jean-Paul Marat.  She was executed by guillotine 4 days after killing Marat and 10 days before her 25^th birthday.

1733~ Jeremiah Dixon (d. Jan. 22, 1779), English surveyor.  He is best known for his work with Charles Mason (1728 ~ 1786) in determining what was later called the Mason-Dixon Line, after both surveyors.  Dixon died at age 45.

1452~ Ludovico Sforza (d. May 27, 1508), 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.

Events that Changed the World:

2012~ The 2012 Summer Olympics opened in London, England. The games ran through August 12, 2012.

1996~ A pipe bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1996 Summer Olympics.  One woman was killed and 111 people were injured.

1995~ The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.

1981~ Six-year old Adam Walsh (1974 ~ 1981) was kidnapped in Hollywood, Florida.  His body was found two weeks later.  His father, John Walsh (b. 1945), became an advocate for victims of violent crime and went on to host a television show entitled America’s Most Wanted.

1974~ President Richard Nixon (1913 ~ 1994) was charged with three articles of impeachment for obstruction of justice.

1955~ El Al Flight 402 was shot down by 2 fighter jets after straying into Bulgarian air space. All 58 passengers and crew members were killed in the incident.

1953~ The Korean War ended with the signing of a truce. The President of South Korea refused to sign the armistice, but agreed to observe it.  The United States, China and North Korea were signatories of the armistice agreement.

1929~ The Geneva Convention of 1929, which deals with the treatment of prisoners of war, was signed by 53 countries.

1921~ Frederick Banting (1891 ~ 1941) and his team of researchers at the University of Toronto proved that insulin regulates blood sugar.

1890~ The artist Vincent van Gogh (1853 ~ 1890) shot himself.  He would die two days later, on July 29 at age 37.

1866~ The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable was successfully completed, stretching from Valentia Island, Ireland to Heart’s Content, Newfoundland.

1865~ Welsh settlers began arriving in Chubut, Argentina.

1794~ Maximilien Robespierre (1758 ~ 1794) was arrested following for encouraging the execution of more than 17,000 “enemies of the French Revolution.”  He was executed the following day, on July 28.

1789~ The first United States federal government agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, was established.  It was later renamed the Department of State.

1694~ The Bank of England was granted a Royal Charter.

Good-Byes:

2017~ Sam Shepard (né Samuel Shepard Rogers, III; b. Nov. 5, 1943), American playwright who became a reluctant star.  He died of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at age 73.

2017~ Marty Sklar (né Martin A. Sklar; b. Feb. 6, 1934), American Disney imaginer who dreamed up theme parks.  He died at age 83.

2015~ Samuel Pisar (b. Mar. 18, 1929), Polish lawyer and author.  He was also a Holocaust survivor.  He died of pneumonia at age 86.

2013~ Bud Day (né George Everette Day; b. Feb. 24, 1925), American war hero who was imprisoned in Vietnam for five years.  He was a Colonel in the United States Air Force and served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.  He died in Fort Walton Beach, Florida at age 88.

2013~ Lindy Boggs (née Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne; b. Mar. 13, 1916), American politician and first woman from Louisiana to be elected to Congress.  She served as a member of the House of Representatives who legislated with charm.  She was born in New Roads, Louisiana.  She was also the mother of Cokie Roberts.  She died at age 97.

2011~ John Stott (né John Robert Walmsley Stott; b. Apr. 27, 1921), British Christian who evangelized the world.  He died at age 90.

2010~ Maury Chaykin (né Maury Alan Chaykin; b. July 27, 1949), Canadian character actor.  He died on his 61^st birthday from complications of a heart valve infection.

2003~ Bob Hope (né Leslie Townes Hope; b. May 29, 1903), English-American comedian and actor. He died at age 100.

1999~ Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov (b. Aug. 4, 1912), Russian mathematician.  He died a week before his 87^th birthday.

1993~ Reggie Lewis (b. Nov. 21, 1965), American basketball player.  He played for the Boston Celtics from 1987 until his death in 1993.  While practicing off-season at Brandeis University, he went into cardiac arrest and died.  He was 27 years old.

1988~ Frank Zamboni (néFrank Joseph Zamboni, Jr.; b. Jan. 16, 1901), American inventor of the ice re-surfacer that smoothes the ice for hockey and skating rinks. The ice re-surfacer that clears the ice on skating rinks was named after him.  He died at age 87.

1985~ Michel Audiard (né Paul Michel Audiard; b. May 15, 1920), French film director.  He died at age 65.

1980~ Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (b. Oct. 26, 1919), the last Shah of Iran.  He was overthrow by the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and sent into exile.  He died of cancer in Cairo, Egypt at age 60.

1963~ Garrett Morgan (b. Mar. 4, 1877), African-American inventor.  He is credited with inventing the gas mask, known at the time as a respiratory protective hood.  He died at age 86.

1960~ Julie Vinter Hansen (née Julie Marie Vinter Hansen; b. July 20, 1890), Danish astronomer. She died of heart failure 7 days after her 70^thbirthday.

1958~ Claire Chennault (né Claire Lee Chennault; b. Sept. 6, 1893), American military aviator.  The Chennault International Airport in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the former Chennault Air Force Base, is named in his honor.  He died of lung cancer in New Orleans, Louisiana at age 64.

1951~ Grace Andrews (b. May 30, 1869), American mathematician.  She was one of only 2 women listed in the first edition of American Men of Science in 1906.  She died at age 82.

1946~ Gertrude Stein (b. Feb. 3, 1874), American writer and art collector.  She died following surgery for stomach cancer at age 72.

1931~ Jacques Herbrand (b. Feb. 12, 1908), French mathematician.  He died from a fall while mountain climbing in the French Alps.  He was 23 years old.

1917~ Emil Theodor Kocher (b. Aug. 25, 1841), Swiss physician.  He was the recipient of the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the thyroid gland.  He died a month before his 76^thbirthday.

1883~ Montgomery Blair (b. May 10, 1813), 20^th Postmaster General of the United States.  He served in that office from March 1861 until September 1864 during the Lincoln administration.  He died at age 70.

1864~ John Putnam Chapin (b. Apr. 21, 1810), 10^th Mayor of Chicago.  He was in office from 1846 to 1847.  He was born in Bradford, Vermont.  He died at age 54 in Chicago.

1844~ John Dalton (b. Sept. 6, 1776), English physicist and chemist.  He is best known for his pioneering work in the development of modern atomic theory.  He died at age 77.

1759~ Pierre Louis Maupertuis (né Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertius; b. July 17, 1759), French mathematician.  He died 10 days before his 61^st birthday.

1510~ Giovanni Sforza (b. July 5, 1466), Italian lord and ruler.  He was the first husband of Lucrezia Borgia, but their marriage was annulled due to his impotence.  He died 22 days after his 44^th birthday.

1276~ King James I of Aragon (b. Feb. 2, 1208).  He was known as James the Conqueror.  He was King of Aragon from September 1213 until his death in 1276.  He died at age 68.

1061~ Pope Nicholas II.  He was Pope from January 1059 until his death on this date 2 years later.  The date of his birth is unknown.

959~ Chai Rong (b. Oct. 27, 921), 2^nd Chinese Emperor of the Later Zhou during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.  He ruled from February 954 until his death 4 years later.  He died of an illness at age 37.

July 26

Birthdays:

1980~ Jacinda Ardern (née Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern), Prime Minister of New Zealand.  She assumed office in October 2017.  While in office, in June 2018, she gave birth to a baby girl.

1966~ Tom Sachs, American contemporary artist.

1964~ Sandra Bullock (née Sandra Annette Bullock), American actress.

1959~ Rick Bragg (né Ricky Edward Brag), American author and journalist.  He is best known for his memoir, All Over but the Shouting.

1959~ Kevin Spacey (né Kevin Spacey Fowler), American actor.  His career derailed in 2017 following a sex scandal.

1957~ Santi Santamaria (né Jaume Santamaria i Puig; d. Feb. 16, 2011), Spanish Catalan chef who denigrated cooking’s avant-garde.  He died at age 53 of a heart attack.

1956~ Dorothy Hamill (née Dorothy Stuart Hamill), American ice skater.

1945~ Ken Kaiser (né Kenneth John Kaiser; d. Aug. 8, 2017), American Major League Baseball umpire who gave as good as he got.  He died of complications of diabetes 13 days after his 72^nd birthday.

1945~ Dame Helen Mirren (née Helen Lydia Mironoff), British actress.

1943~ Sir Mick Jagger (né Michael Philip Jagger), frontman for the Rolling Stones.

1940~ Mary Jo Kopechne (d. July 18, 1969), American secretary and aide to Teddy Kennedy.  She was killed when the car she was riding in that was driven by Ted Kennedy went off the road into Chappaquiddick Bay.  Her story is told in the 2017 movie entitled Chappaquiddick.  She died 8 days before her 29^th birthday.

1928~ Stanley Kubrick (d. Mar. 7, 1999), American film director.  He died of a heart attack at age 70.

1923~ Jan Berenstain (née Janice Marian Grant; d. Feb. 24, 2012), American author, who along with her husband Stan Berenstain (1923 ~ 2005), wrote and illustrated the children’s book series, The Berenstain Bears.  Jan died at age 88; Stan died at age 82.

1922~ Jason Robards (né Jason Nelson Robards, Jr., d. Dec. 26, 2000), American actor.  He died of lung cancer at age 78.

1922~ Blake Edwards (né William Blake Crump, d. Dec. 15, 2010), American movie director and husband of Julie Andrews.  He is known for the Pink Panther movies.  He died of pneumonia at age 88.

1921~ Jean Shepherd (né Jean Parker Shepherd, Jr.; d. Oct. 16, 1999), American radio host.  He is best known for the 1983 movie, A Christmas Story.  He died at age 78.

1909~ Vivian Vance (née Vivian Roberta Jones; d. Aug. 17, 1979), American actress and side-kick Ethel to Lucille Ball on the I Love Lucy television show.  She died of cancer 22 days after her 70^th birthday.

1907~ Donal McLaughlin, Jr. (d. Sept. 27, 2009), American architect and graphic artist who created the United Nations logo.  He died of esophageal cancer at age 102.

1897~ Paul Gallico (né Paul William Gallico; d. July 15, 1976), American author.  He wrote The Silent Miaow.  He died 11 days before his 79^th birthday.

1895~ Gracie Allen (née Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen; d. Aug. 27, 1964), American actress and comedian.  She was the wife of George Burns.  She died of a heart attack a month after her 69^th birthday.

1894~ Aldous Huxley (né Aldous Leonard Huxley; d. Nov. 22, 1963), English-born author.  He is best known for his novel Brave New World.  He died at age 69 of laryngeal cancer.

1885~ André Maurois (né Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog; d. Oct. 9, 1967), French author.  He died at 82.

1875~ Carl Jung (né Carl Gustav Jung; d. June 6, 1961), Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He died at age 85.

1856~ George Bernard Shaw (d. Nov. 2, 1950), Irish playwright and recipient of the 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died at age 94.

1829~ August Beernaert (néAugust Marie François Beernaert; d. Oct. 6, 1912), Prime Minister of Belgium and recipient of the 1909 Nobel Peace Prize.  He was awarded the Peace Prize for his work at the Court of Permanent Arbitration. He served as Prime Minister from October 1884 until March 1894.  He died at age 83.

1802~ Mariano Arista (d. Aug. 7, 1855), Mexican general and President of Mexico.  He was President from January 1851 until January 1853.  He died 12 days after his 53^rd birthday.

1739~ George Clinton (d. Apr. 20, 1812), 4^th Vice President of the United States.  He served under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and was Vice President from March 1805 until his death at age 72 in 1812.  He was the first Vice President to die in Office.

1727~ Horatio Gates (né Horatio Lloyd Gates; d. Apr. 10, 1806), retired British soldier who served as an American General in the American Revolutionary War.  He is credited for the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga.  He died at age 78.

1711~ Lorenz Christoph Mizler (d. May 8, 1778), German mathematician and physician.  He died at age 66.

1678~ Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. Apr. 17, 1711).  He reigned as the Holy Roman Emperor from May 1705 until his death in 1711. He was married to Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg.  He died of small pox at age 32.

Events that Changed the World:

2016~ Two Islamist terrorists men armed with knives attacked a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen, France.  A priest, nuns and congregants were taken hostage.  The priest was killed before the attackers were taken down.

2016~ Hillary Clinton (b. 1947) became the first female nominee for President of the United States by a major political party.  She was the Democratic nominee.

1990~ The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law.

1956~ Egyptian leader Gamal Nasser (1918 ~ 1970) nationalized the Suez Canal following the World Bank’s refusal to fund the building of the Aswan High Dam.

1948~ President Harry Truman (1884 ~ 1972) signed Executive Order 9981, which desegregated the United States military.

1947~ President Harry Truman (1884 ~ 1972) signed the National Security Act of 1947, thereby creating the Central Intelligence Agency, the United States Department of Defense, the United States Air Force, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the United States National Security Council.

1946~ Aloha Airlines began service from Honolulu International Airport.

1944~ The Soviet Army captured the Ukrainian city of Lviv from the Nazis.  Only about 300 of the 160,000 Jews Lviv survived Nazi occupation.

1941~ President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 ~ 1945) ordered the seizure of all Japanese assets in the United States in response to the Japanese occupation of French Indochina.

1918~ Emmy Noether (1882 ~ 1935) presented her paper, now known as Noether’s Theorem, was presented at Göttingen, Germany.

1908~ The United States Office of the Chief Examiner was established.  This agency was later renamed to become the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

1861~ General George B. McClellan (1826 ~ 1885) assumed command of the United States Army following the disastrous Union defeat during the American Civil War’s First Battle of Bull Run.

1847~ Liberia declared its independence.

1788~ New York State ratified the United States Constitution, thereby becoming the 11^th State of the United States.

1775~ The Second Continental Congress established the Office that would become the United States Post Office Department.  Benjamin Franklin (1706 ~ 1790) was the first Postmaster General.

1745~ The first recorded women’s cricket match took place near Guildford, England.  It was a match between the villages of Bramley and Hambledon, England.  The Hambledon team won.

1529~ Francisco Pizarro González (1470s ~ 1541) was appointed the governor of Peru.  He would late be killed by the Incan emperor.

Good-byes:

2018~ Bill Loud (né William Carberry Loud, b. Jan. 22, 1921), American father who headed An American Family.  An American Family was considered the first television reality show.  It aired on public television in 1973 and was about the daily life of an upper middle class family in California.  He died at age 97.

2017~ June Forey (née June Lucille Forer; b. Sept. 18, 1917), American actress who gave cartoon characters a voice.  She was best known as the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha Fatale from The Bullwinkle Show, and Cindy Lou Who from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  She was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.  She died at age 99.

2015~ Bobbi Kristina Brown (b. Mar. 4, 1993), American television personality.  She was the daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown.  She died of a drug overdose, in a similar manner to her mother.  She was 22 years old.

2015~ Ann Rule (née Ann Rae Stackhouse, b. Oct. 22, 1931), American true-crime writer who profiled serial killers.  She began her career as a police officer.  She was 83 years old.

2013~ J.J. Cale (né John Weldon Cale; b. Dec. 5, 1938), rock musician who wrote Cocaine.  He died at age 74.

2013~ Luther F. Cole (né Luther Francis Cole; b. Oct. 25, 1925), Louisiana Supreme Court Justice from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  He died at age 87.

2013~ Harley Flanders (b. Sept. 13, 1925), American mathematician.  He died at age 87.

2012~ James D. Watkins (né James David Watkins; b. Mar. 7, 1927), 6^th United States Secretary of Energy.  He served under President George H. W. Bush from March 1989 until January 1993.  He died of congestive heart failure at age 85.

2009~ Merce Cunningham (né Mercier Philip Cunningham; b. Apr. 16, 1919), the maverick American dancer who celebrated the body.  He died at age 90.

2000~ John Tukey (né John Wilder Tukey; b. June 16, 1915), American mathematician.  He was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts.  He died at age 85.

1997~ Kunihiko Kodaira (b. Mar. 16, 1915), Japanese mathematician.  He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1954.  He died at age 82.

1994~ James Luther Adams (b. Nov. 12, 1901), American theologian and professor at the Harvard Divinity School.  He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts at age 92.

1992~ Mary Wells (née Mary Esther Wells; b. May 13, 1943), African-American singer and member of The Supremes.  She died of cancer at age 59.

1986~ W. Averell Harriman (né William Averell Harriman; b. Nov. 15, 1891), 11^th Secretary of Commerce.  He served under President Harry S Truman from October 1946 through April 1948.  He then became the Governor of New York, where he served in Office from January 1955 through December 1958.  He died at age 94.

1984~ George Gallup (né George Horace Gallup; b. Nov. 18, 1901), American mathematician, statistician, and creator of the Gallup poll.  He died at age 82.

1980~ Kenneth Tynan (né Kenneth Peacock Tynan; b. Apr. 2, 1927), British theater critic and writer. He died of pulmonary emphysema at age 53.

1971~ Diane Arbus (née Diane Nemerov; b. Mar. 14, 1923), American photographer.  She died by suicide at age 48.

1960~ Maud Menten (née Maud Leonora Menten; b. Mar. 20, 1879), Canadian physician and biochemist.  She made significant contributions to the study of enzyme kinetics and histochemistry.  She died at age 81.

1952~ Eva Perón (née Eva María Duarte; b. May 7, 1919), Argentine actress.  She was also the First Lady of Argentine and second wife of Juan Perón.  She died of cancer at age 33.

1944~ Rezā Shāh Pahlavi (b. Mar. 15, 1878), Shah of Iran.  He was Shah from December 1925 until September 1941.  He died at age 66.

1941~ Henri Lebesgue (né Henri Léon Lebesgue; b. June 28, 1875), French mathematician.  He died a month after his 66^th birthday.

1937~ Gerda Taro (née Gerdt Pororylle; b. Aug. 1, 1910), German war photographer.  She photographed many events during the Spanish Civil War.  She is regarded as the first female photojournalist to cover the front lines of a war.  She was killed following a vehicular accident while covering the war events.  She died 6 days after her 26^th birthday.

1926~ Robert Todd Lincoln (b. Aug. 1, 1843), oldest son of President Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln.  He served as the 35^th United States Secretary of War under Presidents James Garfield and Chester Arthur.  He served in that office from March 1881 until March 1886.  He died a week before his 83^rd birthday.

1925~ William Jennings Bryan (b. Mar. 19, 1860), American lawyer and politician.  He served as the 41^st United States Secretary of State.  He held that Office from March 1913 until June 1915 during the Woodrow Wilson administration.  He is most famous for his defense during the Scopes “Monkey” trial.  He died 5 days following the conclusion of the Scopes trial.  He was 65 years old.

1925~ Gottlob Frege (né Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege; b. Nov. 8, 1848), German mathematician and logician.  He died at age 76.

1863~ Sam Houston (b. Mar. 2, 1793), American political leader, Governor of Tennessee, President of the Republic of Texas, and Governor of Texas.  The city of Houston, Texas was named after him.  He died of pneumonia at age 70.

1863~ John J. Crittenden (né John Jordan Crittenden; b. Sept. 10, 1787), 15^th and 22^nd United States Attorney General.  He served his first term during the William Henry Harrison and John Tyler administrations, from March 1841 until September 1841.  He was Attorney General under President Millard Fillmore from July 1850 to March 1853.  He died at age 75.

1684~ Elena Cornaro Piscopia (b. June 5, 1646), Italian mathematician.  She was the first woman to receive a Doctor of Philosopher when she graduated from the University of Padua.  She died of tuberculosis at age 38.

1533~ Atahualpa (b. 1500), Incan Emperor who was murdered by Francisco Pizarro.  He was believed to have been about 33 years old at the time of his death.

1471~ Pope Paul II (né Pietro Barbo; b. Feb. 23, 1417).  He was Pope from August 1464 until his death of a heart attack 7 years later.  He was 54 years old.

432~ Pope Celestine I.  He was Pope from September 422 until his death 10 years later.  The date of his birth is unknown.

342~ Cheng of Jin (b. 321), Emperor of the Jin Dynasty.  The exact date of his birth is not known.

July 25

Birthdays:

1978~ Louise Brown (née Louise Joy Brown), the world’s first “test tube baby.”  She was the first person to have been born after conception by in vitrofertilization, or IVF.

1965~ Illeana Douglas (née Ileana Hesselberg), American actress.  She was born in Quincy, Massachusetts.

1941~ Emmett Till (né Emmitt Louis Till, d. Aug. 28, 1955), African-American teenager who was lynched and murdered in Mississippi, thereby galvanizing the American Civil Rights Movement.  He was 14 years old.

1930~ Mitzi Shore (née Lillian Saidel; d. Apr. 11, 2018), American stand-up matriarch who ruled Los Angeles comedy.  She co-foundedThe Comedy Store in 1972.  She died at age 87.

1924~ Frank Church (né Frank Forrester Church, III; d. Apr. 7, 1984), American politician and United States Senator from Idaho.  He died at age 59 from a pancreatic tumor.

1923~ Estelle Getty (née Estelle Scher; d. July 22, 2008), American sharp-tongued actress who brightened The Golden Girls.  She died 3 days before her 85^thbirthday.

1923~ Edgar Gilbert (né Edgar Nelson Gilbert; d. June 15, 2013), American mathematician.  He died at age 89 following a fall in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

1921~ Murray Handwerker (d. May 14, 2011), American businessman who expanded the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs, the company his father had founded.  He died at age 89.

1920~ Rosalind Franklin (née Rosalind Elsie Franklin; d. Apr. 16, 1958), British chemist whose research made it possible for Watson and Crick to discover the molecular structure of DNA.  She died of ovarian cancer at age 37.

1915~ Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (né Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr.; d. Aug. 12, 1944), the oldest son of Joseph and Rose Kennedy. He was a pilot during World War II. He was shot down and was killed 18 days after his 29^th birthday.

1905~ Elias Canetti (d. Aug. 14, 1994), Bulgarian-born novelist and playwright.  He was the recipient of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died 20 days after his 89^thbirthday.

1901~ Mohammed Helmy (d. Jan. 10, 1982), Egyptian physician.  He saved several Jews from the Nazis during World War II and has been recognized as Righteous Among Nations by Yad Vashem.  He died at age 80.

1898~ Eric Hoffer (d. May 21, 1983), American social and moral philosopher.  Shortly before his death, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  He died at age 84.

1896~ Josephine Tey (née Elizabeth MacKintosh; b. Feb. 13, 1952), Scottish author of mystery novels.  She died of liver cancer at age 55.

1894~ Walter Brennan (né Walter Andrew Brennan; d. Sept. 21, 1974), American actor.  He is best known for his role on the TV show, The Real McCoys.  He was born in Lynn, Massachusetts.  He died of emphysema at age 80.

1870~ Maxfield Parrish (né Frederick Parrish, d. Mar. 30, 1966), American artist.  He died in Plainfield, New Hampshire at age 95.

1848~ Arthur Balfour, 1^st Earl of Balfour (né Arthur James Balfour; b. Mar. 19, 1930), Scottish-English politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  He served as Prime Minister from July 1902 until December 1905.  He is best known for the Balfour Declaration, drafted in 1917, which was a letter recognizing the need for a Jewish state in the Middle East.  He died at age 81.

1847~ Paul Langerhans (d. July 20, 1888), German pathologist.  He studied the pancreas.   The Isle of Landerhans in the pancreas is named after him.  He died of renal failure 5 days before his 41^st birthday.

1844~ Thomas Eakins (né Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins; d. June 25, 1916), American artist.  He died a month before his 72^nd birthday.

1775~ Anna Harrison (née Anna Elizabeth Tuthill Symmes, d. Feb. 25, 1864), First Lady of the United States and wife of President William Henry Harrison.  Because her husband died a month after his inauguration, she never lived in the White House.  She was born in Morristown, New Jersey.  She died at age 88.

1750~ Henry Knox (d. Oct. 25, 1806), American general and politician.  He served as the 1^st United States Secretary of War from September 1789 until December 1794.  This position was established under President George Washington.  Fort Knox in Maine is named in his honor.  He died at age 56 from an infection after having swallowed a chicken bone.

1642~ Louis I, Prince of Monaco (d. Jan. 3, 1701).  He was Prince of Monaco from January 1662 until his death 9 years later.  He died at age 58.

1394~ James I of Scotland (d. Feb. 21, 1437).  He reigned from April 4, 1406 until his death in February 1437.  He was married to Joan Beaufort.  The exact date of his birth is not known, but it is often considered to have been July 25, 1394.  He was assassinated at age 42.

Events that Changed the World:

1994~ Israel and Jordan signed the Washington Declaration, formally ending the state of war that had existed since 1948.

1992~ The 1992 Summer Olympics opened in Barcelona, Spain.  The games ran through August 9, 1992.

1979~ Israel peacefully returned a section of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.

1956~ The Italian ocean liner, the SS Andrea Doria, collided with the MS Stockholmoff of Nantucket Island, and sank.  51 people were killed.

1952~ Puerto Rico became a United States Commonwealth, although the island had come under control of the United States following the Spanish-American War in 1898.

1868~ Wyoming became a United States territory.

1866~ The United States Congress passed legislation authorizing the rank of Five-Star General.  Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant (1822 ~ 1885) became the first 5-Star General.

1755~ The British governor, Charles Lawrence (1709 ~ 1760), and the Nova Scotia Council ordered the deportation of the Catholic Acadians.  Many of the Acadians settled in southern Louisiana and are now known as Cajuns.

1722~ Dummer’s War began along the Maine-Massachusetts border.

1603~ King James VI (1566 ~ 1625) of Scotland was crowned King James I of England, thereby bringing the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into a personal union.  The political unification, however, would not take place until 1707.

1593~ King Henry IV of France (1553 ~ 1610) converted from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.

1554~ Queen Mary I (also known as Bloody Mary, 1516 ~ 1558), married Philip II of Spain.

1547~ Henry II (1519 ~ 1559) was crowned King of France.

1137~ Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122 ~ 1204) married Prince Louis (1120 ~ 1180), the eldest son of King Louis VI of France.

Good-Byes:

2017~ Gretel Bergmann (née Margarethe Bergmann; b. Apr. 12, 1914), German-born Jewish field and track athlete who was banned by the Nazis from participating in the 1936 Summer Olympics.  At the June 1936 Olympic trials, she beat her rivals with a jump of 5 feet 3 inches, but was forbidden to compete in the Olympics and her jump was scrubbed from the record books.  She died at age 103.

2014~ Bel Kaufman (née Bella Kaufman, b. May 10, 1911), German-born American author who skewered school bureaucracy.  She is best known for book, Up the Down Staircase. She died at age 103.

2013~ Billy Guste (né William Joseph Guste, Jr.; b. May 26, 1922), Louisiana Attorney General.  He served as the Attorney General from May 1972 until January 1992.  He was born and died in New Orleans, Louisiana.  He died at age 91.

2009~ Harry Patch (né Henry John Patch; b. June 17, 1898), the British soldier who was the Great War’s last “Tommy.”  He died at age 111 years, 38 days.

2008~ Randy Pausch (né Randploh Frederick Pausch; b. Oct. 23, 1960), American professor whose last lecture inspired millions.  He died at age 47 of pancreatic cancer.

1997~ Ben Hogan (né William Ben Hogan; b. Aug. 13, 1912), American professional golfer.  He is considered one of the greatest golfers in the sport.  He died in Fort Worth, Texas 19 days before his 85^thbirthday.

1995~ Toru Kumon (b. Mar. 26, 1914), Japanese mathematician.  He died of pneumonia at age 81.

1987~ Malcolm Baldridge, Jr. (né Howard Malcolm Baldridge, Jr.; b. Oct. 4, 1922), American businessman and 26^th United States Secretary of Commerce.  He served under President Ronald Reagan.  He served as the Secretary of Commerce from January 1981 until his death at age 64 in July 1987.  He died following injuries sustained in a rodeo accident.

1986~ Vincente Minnelli (né Lester Anthony Minnelli, b. Feb. 28, 1903), American film director, husband of Judy Garland and father of Liza Minnelli.  He died of emphysema and pneumonia at age 83.

1966~ Frank O’Hara (né Francis Russell O’Hara; b. Mar. 27, 1926), American author.  He died at age 40 from injuries sustained after having been hit by a motor vehicle

1959~ Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog (b. Dec. 3, 1888), Polish rabbi.  He was the Chief Rabbi of Ireland from 1919 through 1936.  He also served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine from 1936 until 1948.  He died at age 70.

1958~ Harry Warner (né Hirsz Mojżwa Wonsal; b. Dec. 12, 1881), Polish-born American movie studio executive.  He, along with his brother, Albert (né Abraham Wonsal; 1884 ~ 1967), Sam (né Szmuel Wonsal; 1887 ~ 1927) and Jack (né Jacob Wonsal; 1892 ~ 1978), founded Warner Brothers.  Harry Warner was 76 years old at the time of his death.

1934~ François Coty (né Joseph Marie François Spoturno; b. May 3, 1874), French businessman, perfumer and founder of Coty, Inc.  He died at age 60 of pneumonia.

1881~ Nathan Clifford (d. Aug. 18, 1803), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President James Buchanan.  He served on the Court from January 1858 until his death on this date 23 years later.  He replaced Benjamin Curtis and was succeeded by Horace Gray.  Prior to his appointment to the High Court, he served as the 19^th United States Attorney General.  He served as Attorney General during the James Polk administration.  He was born in Rumney, New Hampshire and died in Cornish, Maine.  He died 24 days before his 78^th birthday.

1843~ Charles Macintosh (b. Dec. 29, 1766), Scottish chemist and inventor of waterproof fabric, hence the reason raincoats are sometimes referred to as Macintoshes.  He died at age 76.

1834~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge (b. Oct. 21, 1772), English poet.  He is best known for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.  He died at age 61.

1790~ William Livingston (b. Nov. 30, 1723), 1^st Governor of New Jersey.  He was Governor from August 1776 until his death on this date 4 years later.  He was also one of the signers of the United States Constitution.  He was 66 years old.

1572~ Isaac Luria (b. 1534), Rabbi and Jewish mystic.  He was born in Jerusalem and died in Safed.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

1564~ Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. Mar. 10, 1503).  He reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from February 1558 until his death 6 years later.  He was married to Anne of Bohemia and Hungary.  He died at age 61.

1492~ Pope Innocent VIII (né Giovanni Battista Cybo; b. 1432).  He was Pope from August 1484 until his death on this date 8 years later.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.

July 24

Birthdays:

1982~ Elizabeth Moss (née Elizabeth Singleton Moss), American actress best known for her role as Peggy on Mad Men.

1982~ Anna Paquin (née Anna Helene Paquin), Canadian actress.  She received an Oscar for her performance in the 1993 movie, The Piano.

1968~ Kristin Chenoweth (née Kristi Dawn Chenoweth), American actress and singer.

1964~ Barry Bonds (né Barry Lamar Bonds), American baseball player.

1963~ Karl Malone (né Karl Anthony Malone), American basketball player.  He was known as The Mailman because he delivered the points.  He was born in Summerfield, Louisiana.  He attended Louisiana Tech University.

1951~ Lynda Carter (née Linda Jean Córdova Carter), American actress, best known for role as Wonder Woman on the television show of the same name.

1949~ Marc Yor (d. Jan. 9, 2014), French mathematician.  He died at age 64.

1949~ Michael Richards (né Michael Anthony Richards), American actor and comedian best known for his role as Cosmo Kramer in the television sit-com Seinfeld.

1936~ Ruth Buzzi (née Ruth Ann Buzzi), American actress and comedian, best known for her role in Laugh-In.

1935~ Pat Oliphant (né Patrick Bruce Oliphant), Australian-born American political cartoonist.

1932~ William Ruckelshaus (né William Doyle Ruckelshaus), American attorney and United States Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.  He was the first head of the EPA from December 1970 to April 1973 during the Nixon Administration.  He later served as the 5^th Administrator of the EPA during the Reagan administration, from May 1983 until February 1985.

1922~ Charles Mathias (néCharles McCurdy Mathias, Jr.; d. Jan. 25, 2010), American United States Senator from Maryland who was one of the last liberal Republicans.  He died at age 87.

1921~ Giuseppe Di Stefano (d. Mar. 3, 2008), Italian tenor whose career was cut short when he was brutally attacked outside his home in Kenya.  He was beaten by an unknown assailant in 2004 and never fully recovered.  He was 86 years old.

1921~ Billy Taylor (né William Taylor; d. Dec. 28, 2010), African-American pianist who proclaimed the jazz gospel.  He died at age 89.

1920~ Bella Abzug (née Bella Savitsky; d. Mar. 31, 1998), American politician.  She was a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York State.  She was known for wearing big hats.  She died of breast cancer at age 77.

1916~ John D. MacDonald (né John Dann MacDonald; d. Dec. 28, 1986), American author of thrillers and detective stories.  He died at age 70.

1914~ Frances Oldham Kelsey (née Frances Kathleen Oldham, d. Aug. 7, 2015), Canadian pharmacologist and physician who blocked a dangerous pregnancy drug.  She was most famous as the reviewer for the US Food and Drug Administration who refused to authorize thalidomide for market because she had concerns about the drug’s safety.  She died 2 weeks after her 101^st birthday.

1900~ Zelda Fitzgerald (née Zelda Sayre; d. Mar. 10, 1948), American writer and wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald.  She was killed in a fire at age 47.

1897~ Amelia Earhart (d. July 2, 1937), American aviator.  The plane she was piloting went missing on July 2, 1937, 3 weeks before her 38^th birthday.  She was attempting to circumvent the earth when she lost communications and was never heard from again.  She was legally declared dead on January 5, 1939, at age 41.

1895~ Robert Graves (né Robert von Ranke Graves; d. Dec. 7, 1985), English author best known for his book, I, Claudius, which was later made into a miniseries.  He died at age 90.

1889~ Agnes Driscoll (née Agnes Meyer; d. Sept. 16, 1971), American cryptanalyst.  In 1918, she joined the United States Navy where she became a leading code-breaker during both World War I and World War II.  She died at age 83.

1857~ Henrik Pontoppidan (d. Aug. 21, 1943), Danish writer and recipient of the 1917 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He died a month after his 86^th birthday.

1856~ Émile Picard (né Charles Émile Picard; d. Dec. 11, 1941), French mathematician.  He died at age 85.

1851~ Friedrich Schottky (d. Aug. 12, 1935), German mathematician.  He died 21 days after his 84^th birthday.

1802~ Alexandre Dumas the Elder (né Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie; d. Dec. 5, 1870), French novelist and playwright.  He is best known for his novels such as The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo.  He died at age 68.

1796~ John M. Clayton (néJohn Middleton Clayton; d. Nov. 9, 1856), 18^th United States Secretary of State.  He served under Presidents Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore from March 1849 until July 1850.  He died at age 60.

1786~ Joseph Nicollet (né Joseph Nicholas Nicollet, d. Sept. 11, 1863), French mathematician and explorer.  He also led three expeditions on the Mississippi River.  He died at age 57.

1783~ Simón Bolívar (d. Dec. 17, 1830), Venezuelan military commander and 2^nd President of Venezuela.  He had also served as the President of Peru and President of Bolivia.  He died at age 47.

1468~ Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria (d. Feb. 10, 1524).  Her first husband was Sigismund, Archduke of Austria.  He was 40 years her senior.  She was his second wife and she was her first husband.  After his death, she married Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. She died at age 55.

Events that Changed the World:

2001~ Simeon Sax-Coburg-Gotha (b. 1937), the last Tsar of Bulgaria when he was a child, was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Bulgaria.  He served as Prime Minister from July 2001 until August 2005.

1998~ A gunman burst into the United States Capitol and opened fire.  Two police officer were killed.

1974~ In United States v. Nixon, the United States Supreme Court ruled that President Richard Nixon did not have the authority to withhold subpoenaed White House tapes.  He was ordered to surrender the tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.  Chief Justice Warren Burger drafted the decision.

1937~ The State of Alabama dropped the rape charges against the Scottsboro Boys, 9 African-American teenagers who had been tried and convicted of the rape of a white woman in 1931.

1922~ The draft of the British Mandate of Palestine was formally confirmed by the League of Nations.  It went into effect on September 26, 1923.

1915~ The passenger ship the SS Eastland capsized while trying to dock in the Chicago River.  Nearly 850 passengers and crew were killed in this shipwreck.

1911~ Hiram Bingham, III (1875 ~ 1956) re-discovered Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas.

1901~ O. Henry (né William Sydney Porter, 1862 ~ 1901) was released from prison in Austin, Texas after serving three years for embezzlement from a bank.

1866~ Tennessee became the first state readmitted into the Union following the American Civil War.

1823~ Chile abolished slavery.

1701~ Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1658 ~ 1730) established a trading post at Fort Pontchartrain, which is present-day Detroit, Michigan.

1567~ Mary, Queen of Scots (1542 ~ 1587), was forced to abdicate.  She was replaced by her 1-year-old son, James VI (1566 ~ 1625).

1534~ Jacques Cartier (1491 ~ 1557) claimed the Gaspé Peninsula in Canada in the name of King Francis I of France.

Good-Byes:

2016~ Marni Nixon (née Margaret Nixon McEathron, b. Feb. 22, 1930), American actress and singer. She is best known for being the voice that was dubbed in such movies as The King and I and My Fair Lady.  She died at age 86.

2013~ Virginia Johnson (née Mary Virginia Eshelman, b. Feb. 11, 1925), sexologist and partner of Dr. William Masters.  She was the researcher who helped redefine sex.  She died at age 88.

2012~ Sherman Hemsley (né Sherman Alexander Hemsley; b. Feb. 1, 1938), American actor who gave heart to George Jefferson on the sit-com, The Jeffersons.  He died of cancer at age 74.

2012~ Chad Everett (né Raymond Lee Cramton; b. June 11, 1937), American actor.  He died of lung cancer at age 75.

2012~ Robert Ledley (b. June 28, 1926), American physiologist and physicist.  He is best known for inventing the CT scanner.  He died about a month after his 86^th birthday.

2007~ Albert Ellis (b. Sept. 27, 1913), American psychologist.  He died at age 93.

1997~ William Brennan, Jr. (né William Joseph Brennan, Jr., b. Apr. 25, 1906), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Dwight David Eisenhower.  He replaced Sherman Minton on the Court.  He was succeeded by David Souter.  He served on the Court from October 1956 until July 1990.  He died at age 91.

1993~ Anna Maurizio (b. Nov. 26, 1900), Swiss biologist best known for her study of bees.  She died at age 93.

1991~ Isaac Bashevis Singer (b. Nov. 21, 1904), Polish-born Yiddish author and 1978 Nobel Prize in Literature.  He wrote primarily in Yiddish.  He died at age 88.

1986~ Fritz Albert Lipmann (b. June 12, 1899) German-American biochemist and recipient of the 1953 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 87.

1980~ Peter Sellers (né Richard Henry Sellers; b. Sept. 8, 1925), British comedian and actor.  He is best known for his role as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies.  He died of a heart attack at age 54.

1974~ Sir James Chadwick (b. Oct. 20, 1891), English physicist and recipient of the 1935 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the neutron.  He died at age 82.

1934~ Hans Hahn (b. Sept. 27, 1879), Austrian mathematician.  He died at age 54.

1862~ Martin Van Buren (néMaarten Van Buren, b. Dec. 5, 1782), 8^th President of the United States.  He was President from March 1837 until March 1841.  He had previously served as the 8^th United States Vice President under President Andrew Jackson from March 1833 until March 1837.  He served as the 10^th United States Secretary of State during the Andrew Jackson administration from March 1829 until May 1831.  He was from New York State and had also served as the Governor of New York from January 1829 until March 1829.  He had previously served as a United States Senator from New York from March 1821 until December 20, 1828.  He died at age 79.