today.nukz.net: Almanac November 29

William Thomas "Billy" Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American composer, pianist and arranger, best known for his successful collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington lasting nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take the 'A' Train," "Chelsea Bridge," and "Lush Life."

Events

561 – King Chlothar I dies at Compiègne. The Merovingian Dynasty is continued by his four sons — Charibert I, Guntram, Sigebert I and Chilperic I — who divide the Frankish Kingdom.
800 – Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Pope Leo III.
1394 – The Korean king Yi Seong-gye, founder of the Joseon Dynasty, moves the capital from Kaesong to Hanyang, today known as Seoul.
1729 – Natchez Indians massacre 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie, near the site of modern-day Natchez, Mississippi.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia comes to an end with the arrival of British reinforcements.
1777 – San Jose, California, is founded as Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe. It is the first civilian settlement, or pueblo, in Alta California.
1781 – The crew of the British slave ship Zong murders 133 Africans by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance.
1783 – A 5.3 magnitude earthquake strikes New Jersey.
1830 – November Uprising: An armed rebellion against Russia's rule in Poland begins.
1847 – The Sonderbund is defeated by the joint forces of other Swiss cantons under General Guillaume-Henri Dufour.
1847 – Whitman Massacre: Missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa, and 15 others are killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians, causing the Cayuse War.
1850 – The treaty, Punctation of Olmütz, is signed in Olomouc. Austrian Empire capitulates to Preussia, which took over the leadership of German Confederation.
1864 – American Indian Wars: Sand Creek Massacre – Colorado volunteers led by Colonel John Chivington massacre at least 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho noncombatants inside Colorado Territory.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Spring Hill – A Confederate advance into Tennessee misses an opportunity to crush the Union Army. General John Bell Hood is angered, which leads to the Battle of Franklin.
1872 – American Indian Wars: The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River.
1877 – Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph for the first time.
1885 – End of Third Anglo-Burmese War, and end of Burmese monarchy
1890 – The Meiji Constitution goes into effect in Japan and the first Diet convenes.
1893 – The Ziqiang Institute, today known as Wuhan University, is founded by Zhang Zhidong, governor of Hubei and Hunan Provinces in late Qing Dynasty of China after his memorial to the throne is approved by the Qing Government.
1902 – The Pittsburgh Stars defeated the Philadelphia Athletics, 11-0, at the Pittsburgh Coliseum, to win the first championship associated with a national professional football league.
1929 – U.S. Admiral Richard Byrd becomes the first person to fly over the South Pole.
1943 – The second session of AVNOJ, the Anti-fascist council of national liberation of Yugoslavia, is held in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina, determining the post-war ordering of the country.
1944 – The first surgery (on a human) to correct blue baby syndrome is performed by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.
1944 – Albania is liberated by the Albanian partisans.
1945 – The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia is declared.
1946 – The All Indonesia Centre of Labour Organizations (SOBSI) is founded in Jakarta.
1947 – The Partition Plan: the United Nations General Assembly recommends the partition of Palestine.
1947 – My Trach Massacre: First Indochina War.
1950 – Korean War: North Korean and Chinese troops force United Nations forces to retreat from North Korea.
1952 – Korean War: U.S. President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower fulfills a campaign promise by traveling to Korea to find out what can be done to end the conflict.
1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Atlas 5 Mission – Enos, a chimpanzee, is launched into space. The spacecraft orbited the Earth twice and splashed-down off the coast of Puerto Rico.
1963 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
1965 – The Canadian Space Agency launches the satellite Alouette 2.
1967 – Vietnam War: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces his resignation.
1972 – Atari announces the release of Pong, the first commercially successful video game.
1987 – Korean Air Flight 858 explodes over the Thai-Burmese border, killing 155.
1990 – Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council passes two resolutions to restore international peace and security if Iraq did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by January 15, 1991.
2007 – The Armed Forces of the Philippines lay siege to The Peninsula Manila after soldiers led by Senator Antonio Trillanes stage a mutiny.
2007 – A 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurs off the northern coast of Martinique. This affected the Eastern Caribbean as far north as Puerto Rico and as far south as Trinidad.

Births

1338 – Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III of England (d. 1368)
1427 – Zhengtong, Emperor of China (d. 1464)
1484 – Joachim Vadian, Swiss humanist (d. 1551)
1544 – Jungjong of Joseon (b. 1506)
1627 – John Ray, English naturalist (d. 1705)
1690 – Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, father of Catherine II of Russia (d. 1747)
1705 – Michael Christian Festing, English violinist and composer (d. 1752)
1711 – Laura Bassi, Italian scientist (d. 1778)
1747 – Ivan Mane Jarnovic, virtuoso violinist-composer (d. 1804)
1752 – Jemima Wilkinson, American preacher, settler of Jerusalem & Watkins Glen, New York (p. 7/1/1819)
1781 – Andrés Bello, Venezuelan poet and philosopher (d. 1865)
1786 – Syed Ahmad Shaheed, Indian Muslim revolutionist (d. 1831)
1797 – Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (d. 1848)
1798 – Alexander Brullov, Russian painter (d. 1877)
1799 – Amos Bronson Alcott, American writer, Transcendentalist philosopher, 1st superintendent for a school district (d. 1888)
1802 – Wilhelm Hauff, German poet and novelist (d. 1827)
1803 – Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist (d. 1853)
1803 – Gottfried Semper, German architect (d. 1879)
1813 – Franz von Miklosich, Slovenian linguist (d. 1891)
1816 – Morrison Waite, American jurist (d. 1888)
1818 – George Brown, Scottish-born Canadian journalist and politician, one of the Fathers of Confederation (d. 1880)
1818 – William Ellery Channing (poet) Transcendentalist poet (d. 1901)
1825 – Jean-Martin Charcot, French neurologist (d. 1893)
1832 – Louisa May Alcott, American novelist (d. 1888)
1835 – Empress Dowager Cixi, Chinese ruler (d. 1908)
1849 – Sir John Ambrose Fleming, British physicist (d. 1945)
1856 – Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, German statesman (d. 1921)
1857 – Theodor Escherich, German pediatrician (d. 1911)
1874 – Francis Dodd, British artist (d. 1949)
1874 – Egas Moniz, Portuguese physician, neurologist and Nobel laureate (d. 1955)
1876 – Nellie Tayloe Ross, American politician and 14th Governor of Wyoming (d. 1977)
1878 – John Derbyshire, English freestyle swimmer and water polo player (d. 1938)
1879 – Jacob Gade, Danish composer(d. 1963)
1881 – Artur Phleps, German Waffen-SS officer (d. 1944)
1881 – Julius Raab, Austrian politician (d. 1964)
1882 – Henri Fabre, Aviation Pioneer (d. 1984)
1888 – Joe Slater, Australian Rules footballer (d. 1917)
1894 – Lucille Hegamin, American singer and entertainer (d. 1970)
1895 – Busby Berkeley, American film director and choreographer (d. 1976)
1895 – William Tubman, Liberian politician (d. 1971)
1896 – Yakima Canutt, American actor and stuntman (d. 1986)
1898 – C. S. Lewis, Irish writer (d. 1963)
1899 – Andrija Artukovic, Croatian war criminal (d. 1988)
1901 – Mildred Harris, American actress (d. 1944)
1904 – Egon Eiermann, German architect (d. 1970)
1905 – Marcel Lefebvre, French Roman Catholic bishop (d. 1991)
1908 – Adam Clayton Powell Jr., American civil rights leader and politician (d. 1972)
1908 – N. S. Krishnan, Tamil film comedian (d. 1957)
1910 – Antanas Škema, Lithuanian writer, stage actor and director (d. 1961)
1915 – Billy Strayhorn, American musician and composer (d. 1967)
1915 – Ludu Daw Amar, Burmese dissident writer (d. 2008)
1916 – Fran Ryan, American actress (d. 2000)
1917 – Merle Travis, American singer/guitarist (d. 1983)
1917 – Pierre Gaspard-Huit, French film director
1918 – Madeleine L'Engle, American author (d. 2007)
1920 – Yegor Ligachev, Soviet politician
1921 – Dagmar, American television personality (d. 2001)
1921 – Jackie Stallone, mother of Sylvester Stallone
1922 – Michael Howard, British born American historian
1922 – Minnie Miñoso, Cuban baseball player
1926 – Tofik Bakhramov, Azerbaijani linesman (d. 1993)
1927 – Vin Scully, American baseball announcer
1928 – Tahir Salahov, Azerbaijani painter
1928 – Paul Simon, American politician (d. 2003)
1929 – Derek Jameson, English journalist and broadcaster (d. 2012)
1929 – Woo Yong Gak, South Korean prisoner
1930 – Shirley Porter, English politician
1931 – Shintaro Katsu, Japanese actor (d. 1997)
1931 – André Noyelle, Belgian cyclist (d. 2003)
1932 – Jacques Chirac, French politician
1933 – Horst Assmy, German footballer (d. 1972)
1933 – John Mayall, British blues musician
1933 – James Rosenquist, American artist
1935 – Diane Ladd, American actress
1935 – Thomas J. O'Brien, American bishop
1938 – Gene Okerlund, American wrestling interviewer and announcer
1938 – Kashiwado Tsuyoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 47th Yokozuna (d. 1996)
1939 – Peter Bergman, American comedian (d. 2012)
1939 – Domenico Monardo, American record producer
1940 – Denny Doherty, Canadian singer (The Mamas & the Papas) (d. 2007)
1940 – Chuck Mangione, American musician
1940 – Oscar Espinosa Chepe, Cuban dissident
1941 – Bill Freehan, American baseball player
1941 – Roberto Rodríguez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 2012)
1942 – Felix Cavaliere, American musician
1942 – Philippe Huttenlocher, Swiss opera singer
1942 – Maggie Thompson, American magazine editor
1942 – Chatrichalerm Yukol, Thai film director
1943 – Sue Miller, American author
1946 – Brian Cadd, Australian singer-songwriter
1946 – Silvio Rodríguez, Cuban poet
1946 – Suzy Chaffee, former Olympic alpine ski racer and actress
1947 – Petra Kelly, German politician (d. 1992)
1947 – Ronnie Montrose, American guitarist (d. 2012)
1949 – Stan Rogers, Canadian folk musician and songwriter (d. 1983)
1949 – Dutch Mantel, American wrestler
1949 – Jerry Lawler, American wrestler
1949 – Garry Shandling, American comedian, actor and writer
1950 – Kevin O'Donnell, Jr., American author (d. 2012)
1951 – Barry Goudreau, American musician (Boston)
1951 – Roger Troutman, American musician (d. 1999)
1952 – Jeff Fahey, American actor
1953 – Alex Grey, American artist
1953 – Christine Pascal, French actress, director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1953 – Jackie French, Australian children's author
1954 – Joel Coen, American film director, producer, and writer
1954 – Steve Rogers, Australian rugby league footballer (d. 2006)
1955 – C. David Johnson, Canadian actor
1955 – Howie Mandel, Canadian comedian
1956 – Hinton Battle, American dancer
1956 – Leo Laporte, American television personality
1956 – Eric Laakso, American football player
1957 – Matthew Rubel, CEO of Collective Brands Licensing
1957 – Janet Napolitano, American politician, 21st Governor of Arizona, & 3rd United States Secretary of Homeland Security
1957 – Jennifer Batten, American guitarist
1958 – Michael Dempsey, English musician (The Cure)
1958 – Devon Scott, American actress
1959 – Neal Broten, American ice hockey player
1959 – Rahm Emanuel, American politician
1959 – Rich Camarillo, American football player
1959 – Richard Borcherds, Fields Medal winner
1959 – Steve Hindalong, American drummer, percussionist, songwriter and producer (The Choir, Lost Dogs)
1960 – Howard Johnson, American baseball player
1960 – Cathy Moriarty, American actress
1961 – Masayoshi Yamashita, Japanese musician
1961 – Kim Delaney, American actress
1962 – Andy LaRocque Swedish musician (King Diamond)
1962 – Andrew McCarthy, American actor
1964 – Don Cheadle, American actor
1964 – Ken Monkou, Dutch footballer
1964 – Cork Graham, American journalist, actor and author
1964 – Tom Sizemore, American actor
1965 – Ellen Cleghorne, American comedian
1965 – Yutaka Ozaki, Japanese musician (d. 1992)
1966 – John Layfield, American professional wrestler
1967 – Zbigniew Szewczyk, Polish footballer
1968 – Jonathan Knight, American singer (New Kids on the Block)
1968 – Howard K. Stern, American attorney and reality TV personality
1969 – Pierre van Hooijdonk, Dutch footballer
1969 – Kasey Keller, American soccer player
1969 – Mariano Rivera, Panamanian baseball player
1970 – Mark Pembridge, Welsh footballer
1970 – Frank Delgado, American keyboardist (Deftones)
1970 – Larry Joe Campbell, American actor
1971 – Gena Lee Nolin, American actress
1971 – Gregory Byrne, American college administrator
1971 – Brad May, Canadian hockey player
1972 – Brian Baumgartner, American actor
1972 – Jamal Mashburn, American basketball player
1972 – Minoru Tanaka, Japanese pro-wrestler
1973 – Ryan Giggs, Welsh footballer
1973 – Sarah Jones, American playwright
1974 – Lin Chi-ling, Taiwanese model
1974 – Pavol Demitra, Slovak ice hockey player (d. 2011)
1974 – Ferenc Merkli, Hungarian Slovene priest, translator and writer
1975 – Andreas Ioannides, Greek-Cypriot footballer
1975 – Younis Khan, Pakistani cricketer
1976 – Anna Faris, American actress
1976 – Michalis Kakiouzis, Greek basketball player
1976 – Ehren McGhehey, American actor
1976 – Lindsay Mintenko, American swimmer
1976 – Chris Akins, American football safety
1977 – Maria Petrova, Russian figure skater
1977 – Juan José Gurruchaga, Chilean actor
1978 – Alessandro Fei, Italian volleyball player
1978 – Lauren German, American actress
1978 – Dimitrios Konstantopoulos, Greek footballer
1978 – Ludwika Paleta, Polish/Mexican actress
1978 – Benjamín Vicuña, Chilean actor
1979 – Simon Amstell, English comedian and television presenter
1979 – Francis Beltrán, Dominican baseball player
1979 – Game, American rapper
1979 – Neal Horgan, Irish footballer
1979 – James W. Alexzander, American Business Owner & Entrepreneur
1980 – Brian Wolfe, American baseball player
1980 – Chun Jung Myung, Korean actor
1981 – Nicholas Teo, Malaysian singer and actor
1982 – Lucas Black, American actor
1982 – Ashley Force, American race car driver
1982 – Krystal Steal American pornographic actress
1982 – Divya Spandana, Indian actress
1982 – Imogen Thomas, Welsh reality TV star
1983 – Tanner Glass, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Sitti Navarro, Philippine bossa nova artist
1985 – Evangelia Aravani, Greek model
1985 – Shannon Brown, American basketball player
1987 – Stephen O'Halloran, Irish footballer
1991 – Zac Sunderland, American sailor
1995 – Laura Marano American teen actress and singer

Deaths

521 – Jacob of Serugh, Syrian poet and theologian
561 – Chlothar I, king of the Franks (b. c. 497)
741 – Pope Gregory III
1253 – Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1206)
1268 – Pope Clement IV
1314 – Philip IV of France (b. 1268)
1330 – Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March (b. 1287)
1342 – Michael of Cesena, Italian Franciscan leader (b. 1270)
1378 – Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1316)
1530 – Thomas Wolsey, English religious figure (b. c. 1470)
1590 – Philipp Nikodemus Frischlin, German philologist and poet (b. 1547)
1595 – Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, Basque soldier and poet (b. 1533)
1600 – Nanda, King of Burma (b. 1535)
1626 – Ernst, Graf von Mansfield, German soldier (b. c. 1580)
1632 – Frederick V, Elector Palatine (b. 1596)
1643 – William Cartwright, English dramatist (b. 1611)
1643 – Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer (b. 1567)
1646 – Laurentius Paulinus Gothus, Swedish theologian and astronomer (b. 1565)
1661 – Brian Walton, English clergyman and scholar (b. 1600)
1682 – Prince Rupert of the Rhine (b. 1619)
1694 – Marcello Malpighi, Italian physician (b. 1628)
1695 – James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount Stair, Scottish lawyer and statesman (b. 1619)
1699 – Patrick Gordon, Scottish general (b. 1635)
1759 – Nicolaus I Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1687)
1780 – Queen Maria Theresa of Austria (b. 1717)
1797 – Samuel Langdon, American university president (b. 1723)
1830 – John Maurice Hauke, Polish professional soldier, general (b. 1775)
1847 – Marcus Whitman, Washington state pioneer (b. 1802)
1883 – Emperor Hiep Hoa, the sixth emperor of the Vietnamese Nguy?n Dynasty (b. 1847)
1924 – Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (b. 1858)
1927 – George Giffen, Australian cricketer (b. 1859)
1939 – Philipp Scheidemann, German statesman (b. 1865)
1941 – Frank Waller, American athlete (b. 1884)
1942 – Boyd Wagner, American World War II fighter pilot (b. 1916)
1953 – Alfons Fryland, Austrian actor (b. 1888)
1953 – Sam De Grasse, American actor (b. 1875)
1953 – Milt Gross, American comic book illustrator and animator (b. 1895)
1954 – Dink Johnson, American musician (b. 1892)
1957 – Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Austrian composer (b. 1897)
1967 – Ferenc Münnich, Hungarian Communist politician (b. 1886)
1972 – Carl Stalling, American composer (b. 1888)
1974 – James J. Braddock, American heavyweight boxer (b. 1905)
1975 – Graham Hill, English race car driver (b. 1929)
1980 – Dorothy Day, American journalist (b. 1897)
1980 – George J. Maloof, Sr., American businessman (b. 1923)
1981 – Fredric Wertham, German psychologist (b. 1895)
1981 – Natalie Wood, American actress (b. 1938)
1982 – Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (b. 1908)
1984 – Gotthard Günther, German philosopher (b. 1900)
1986 – Cary Grant, British-born American actor (b. 1904)
1987 – Irene Handl, English actress (b. 1901)
1991 – Ralph Bellamy, American actor (b. 1904)
1991 – Frank Yerby, African-American writer (b. 1916)
1992 – Jean Dieudonné, French mathematician (b. 1906)
1993 – J. R. D. Tata, Indian businessman, Industrialist, and pilot (b.1904)
1996 – Dan Flavin, American artist (b. 1933)
1998 – Martin Ruane, English professional wrestler (b. 1947)
1998 – Frank Latimore, American actor (b. 1925)
1999 – Gene Rayburn, American game show host (b. 1917)
1999 – Kazuo Sakamaki, Japanese naval officer (b. 1918)
2001 – Mic Christopher, Irish singer and songwriter (b. 1969)
2001 – George Harrison, English musician, actor, songwriter. (The Beatles) (b. 1943)
2001 – John Knowles, American author (b. 1926)
2002 – Daniel Gélin, French actor (b. 1921)
2002 – George "Two Ton" Harris, American professional wrestler (b. 1927)
2003 – Moondog Spot, American professional wrestler (b. 1952)
2004 – Anne Samson, Canadian Nun and supercentenarian (b. 1891)
2004 – Harry Danning, American baseball player (b. 1911)
2004 – John Drew Barrymore, American actor (b. 1932)
2005 – Wendie Jo Sperber, American actress (b. 1958)
2005 – David Di Tommaso, French footballer (b. 1979)
2006 – Allen Carr, English anti-smoking campaigner (b. 1934)
2007 – Henry Hyde, American politician (b. 1924)
2007 – James Barber, Canadian chef and writer (b. 1923)
2007 – Ralph Beard, American basketball player (b. 1927)
2007 – Roger Bonham Smith, American automobile executive (b. 1925)
2007 – Tom Terrell, American musicologist (b. 1950)
2008 – Jørn Utzon, Danish architect (b. 1918)
2009 – Robert Holdstock, English author (b. 1948)
2010 – Bella Akhmadulina, Russian poet (b. 1937)
2010 – Mario Monicelli, Italian film director (b. 1915)
2010 – Stephen J. Solarz, American politician (b. 1940)
2010 – Maurice Wilkes, British computer scientist (b. 1913)
2010 – Alfred Masini, American television producer (b. 1930)
2011 – Patrice O'Neal, American comedian (b. 1969)